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Lou Reed loved the blues. A personal remembrance
In 1989 I was working as an editor at the Hudson Reporter, a chain of small weekly newspapers based in Hoboken. I was also starting to freelance music writing as much as possible, already writing for Tower Pulse! And looking for more, more,…
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One Way Out praise, One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band
Publishers Weekly Reviews One Way Out
Publishers Weekly weighs in with the second review of One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band. Obviously, Im pleased that it's positive, but I also really like the reading and interpretation. Thanks PW. An excerpt: "One…
http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg 0 0 AlanPaul http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg AlanPaul2013-10-29 00:51:282016-06-16 17:19:09Publishers Weekly Reviews One Way Out
The making of "Sultans of Swing"
In 1997 or '98, Guitar World did a cover story on the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time. I wrote many of the entries and will repost a bunch of them over the next month or so. I've been listening to Mark Knopfler's new album Privateering,…
http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg 0 0 AlanPaul http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg AlanPaul2013-10-25 14:18:502013-10-25 14:18:50The making of "Sultans of Swing"
Derek and Susan "It's So Heavy"
I've been thoroughly enjoying the Tedeschi Trucks Band's new album Made Up Mind and was happy to come across this acoustic duo take of the album's "It's So Heavy" recorded on their bus. Derek has called this song their tribute to…
http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/DerekTrucks.jpg 528 648 AlanPaul http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg AlanPaul2013-10-23 20:22:292017-11-16 18:13:13Derek and Susan "It's So Heavy"
First One Way Out Review is in - Booklist
Highlights from the starred review in Booklist: Perhaps no music journalist has written as extensively about the Allman Brothers Band as Paul...and his deep familiarity with the band and its music shows everywhere in this fluid account. Framed…
http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg 0 0 AlanPaul http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg AlanPaul2013-10-17 15:07:572016-06-16 17:19:39First One Way Out Review is in - Booklist
I really like the North Mississippi All Stars
I am just finishing up a feature on the North Mississippi All Stars for Relix. I love the band and I love Luther and Cody Dickinson as people. I spent a fair amount of time hanging with Luther last June at Butch Trucks' Roots Rock Revival and…
http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg 0 0 AlanPaul http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg AlanPaul2013-10-09 19:10:572013-10-09 19:33:54I really like the North Mississippi All Stars
Howard Stern interviews Graham Nash and digs deep
I'm not the biggest fan of Howard Stern and have never spent hours listening to him. I find a lot of his schtick juvenile and just not funny. But, man, when he's engaged, he's a great, great interviewer. Having essentially unlimited time allows…
http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg 0 0 AlanPaul http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg AlanPaul2013-10-08 13:08:222013-10-08 17:24:09Howard Stern interviews Graham Nash and digs deep
The Making of Texas Flood
In honor of Stevie Ray Vaughan's birthday, the 30th anniversary of his debut recording and the release of a new version, Texas Flood (30th Anniversary Collection), I present the following story of the making of Texas Flood. This was written…
http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg 0 0 AlanPaul http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg AlanPaul2013-10-03 18:32:142013-10-03 18:32:14The Making of Texas Flood
Dixie Doc, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Pirates
Why I'm driving to Pittsburgh for a baseball game
Tomorrow morning, I will see my kids off to school, kiss Becky good bye, gas up my Chevrolet and drive 357 miles from my New Jersey home to see a baseball game in my hometown of Pittsburgh. It was not a difficult decision. The NL Wildcard…
http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg 0 0 AlanPaul http://alanpaul.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/alan-imus-300x158.jpg AlanPaul2013-10-01 03:18:442016-06-15 14:25:42Why I'm driving to Pittsburgh for a baseball game
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NYC Carriage Horses Become Part of Mayoral Race
animal activists, animal cruelty, Bill de Blasio, carriage horses, central park, Christine C. Quinn, gloria steinem, mayoral race, nyc
Will NYC Carriage Horses Be Banned With a New Mayor?
She may have dogs, but animal activists say mayoral candidate Christine C. Quinn is no animal lover. An ever-growing number of activists are voicing their opinions about Quinn in an effort to help elect a more animal-friendly mayor into office once Mayor Bloomberg’s final term is completed.
This could mean the end to an NYC tradition.
At the center of this controversy are the Central Park horse carriages. Quinn, much like her political ally, Bloomberg, supports the carriages, stating that these horse carriages employ 300 people and are a valuable source of income, even in the most economically difficult times. But animal rights activists not-so-politely disagree.
They claim that this is a basic form of animal cruelty. These horses travel through mid-town at busy times, and are periodically hit and injured by cars. They are concerned with the overall treatment of the horses, as well as their living conditions. In fact, as City Council speaker, Quinn herself sought to improve the horses living conditions, including requiring bigger stalls and heavy blankets.
Still, animal activists have seized on this one issue, which may prove disastrous to Quinn’s campaign. True, this is just one issue of many, however, with big names such as Alec Baldwin in the corner of the animal activists, this one issue could impact the opinions of thousands of on-the-fence voters.
One of Quinn’s democratic opponents, Bill de Blasio, is taking advantage of this controversy. “I grew up with the romantic notion that this was part of New York City culture,” he told the New York Times. “I had not really thought honestly about the ramifications of it.”
Now, he claims, he has thought of the ramifications, and wants to do something about it. On his first day in office, if elected, he’d ban the carriages, he said. And it’s not just horses. de Blasio is using this horse carriage controversy to catapult himself as the animal-friendly candidate. This past week he pledged to require sprinkler systems in all pet stores.
To Quinn’s credit, it’s not like she’s hunting cats and forcing dogs into slavery. She has two rescued dogs, whom she walks nearly every morning in her Chelsea neighborhood. She’s sought a no-kill policy for city shelters; she’s fought for laws to increase financing for animal care.
But the horse carriages are a sticking issue, at least for heavyweight activist Gloria Steinem, who has backed de Blasio for mayor and admits the carriage horse industry is a lingering issue between Quinn and her.
In the end, are the horses in Central Park a worthy cause to fight for, or are they being used as political pawns in the hopes to gain sympathy votes? Mayoral candidate Sal F. Albanese just wants these candidates to stop horsing around: ‘Bill says on the first day he’s going to ban horse carriages,” Albanese told the Times. “I’m worried about creating jobs on my first day.”
Richard has been rescued three times over by his lab/hound mix Gamgi, pit/boxer mix Lincoln, and cat Turtle. He strives to make every day an adventure for his pack, and is blessed to make a living by doing what he loves – writing.
joan67
DeBlasio all the way baby!
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The history of Puma shoes
You will never guess, but the story of the Puma shoe company is dramatic due to the World War, the Olympic glory and the brotherhood. The company began humbly. Rudolph and Adolf (Adi) Dassler, two brothers of Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, grew up with a father in a shoe factory and a mother with a small wash shop. Rudolph left his little brother during the First World War. Finally, in 1924, he returned to Herzogenaurach, where he started his own shoe company with the Adi Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. It was the first incarnation to become Puma's shoes. The brothers drove the factory out of their mother's laundry store. It was claimed that a standing bicycle was used to generate energy to run their equipment. In 1936, Adi decided to lead the country to the Olympic Village. There was a suitcase with a briefcase and a simple design: convince US sprinter Jesse Owens to wear the Dassler Brothers' spikes during the races. Adi was successful and won four gold medals after Owens in the summer of Dassler Brothers' athletic shoes worldwide.
Unfortunately, the Second World War was just around the corner. Both brothers joined the Nazi party, but at some point fell out during the war. The facts are not entirely clear, but the divide between the two brothers might have to do with his different political views or Rudolph's conviction that his brother turned to the Americans.
The result was that after the world's A II. In the war, the brothers shared the deal. Adi founded Adidas (from Adi Dassler), and Rudolph took Rudolf Dassler from Ruda. Ruda later baptized Puma again as the Pope of South America.
The dispute between the two brothers continued, as each company struggled to sponsor different athletes. In a particularly memorable business transaction, German sprinter Armin Hary agreed to wear Pumas for a significant prize at the 1960s Summer Olympics. He decided not to wear adidas (which he wore) after adidas resigned to wear the shoes. Hary wore the Puma under the 100-meter dash and triumphed. But he introduced himself to a few adidas at the medal ceremony. The sprinter hoped that both companies would pay, but Adi was so angry that he was not willing to deal with Hary for the rest of Hary's career.
Both brothers are extremely successful. Unfortunately, they never met. They were buried at the opposite ends of the same cemetery
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TransCanada Loses Again
They just gave up on a lawsuit in Nebraska over their attempt to assert extraordinary eminent domain rights:
TransCanada announced on Tuesday that the company will pull out of the lawsuit filed by over 100 Nebraska landowners challenging their right to use eminent domain to seize land for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Facing mounting legal expenses and a likely loss in court, the company will instead go through the Public Service Commission (PSC) review process it had originally hoped to avoid.
"We believe that going through the PSC process is the clearest path to achieving route certainty for the Keystone XL Project in Nebraska. It ultimately saves time, reduces conflict with those who oppose the project and sets clear rules for approval of the route," said a representative of the company in a statement.
The PSC process will take at least a year, and cannot move forward if and when President Obama rejects the federal permit for the pipeline.
“TransCanada realizes that LB 1161 is unconstitutional,” added Art Tanderup, a farmer whose land is on the proposed pipeline route. “This is a victory for landowners standing up to prevent a foreign corporation from taking their land for corporate greed through eminent domain. TransCanada pushed LB1161 through the legislature to avoid using the Public Service Commission procedure that they now want to follow. We believe that the PSC will not allow Keystone XL to be placed in the Sand Hills or over the Ogallala Aquifer but are confident President Obama will reject the pipeline before the PSC even has a chance to conduct a review.”
So, TransCanada, the company that ignores regulations, and leans on lawmakers to exempt them from regulations, and then has their pipelines blow up, has decided that their latest attempt to subvert the regulatory prices isn't going to work.
They lose, and the rest of us win.
I can live with that.
Labels: Energy , Evil , Legislation , Politics , regulation , Wanker
Stop Whining, Bitches
I am referring, of course to House of Saud:
Saudi Arabia has called on Bashar al-Assad to give up power or be removed by force, raising the global stakes at a time when the Russians are shipping troops and military hardware to Syria in an effort to prop up its beleaguered leader.
The threat was made on Tuesday by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Adel Al-Jubeir.
“There is no future for Assad in Syria,” Jubeir told journalists at the UN general assembly. “There are two options for a settlement in Syria. One option is a political process where there would be a transitional council. The other option is a military option, which also would end with the removal of Bashar al-Assad from power.”
“This could be a more lengthy process and a more destructive process but the choice is entirely that of Bashar al-Assad.” The foreign minister did not specify how Assad would be forcibly removed, but pointed out that Saudi Arabia is already backing “moderate rebels” in the civil war.
The Saudi intervention fuelled an already heated row at the UN over Syria’s future, where the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, issued a forthright defence of the Syrian regime, describing it as fighting a lonely and “valiant” battle against Islamic State extremists.
You know, I know that you have all kinds of butthurt over the fact that the secular* Arab government in Damascus is still standing, even after they created ISIS to attempt to create another Sunni dominated sectarian state.
You are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem.
The fact that you are unable to accomplish your agenda in that part of the world is a good thing.
*And murderous. The regime is murderous too, but the House of Saud has no problem with murderously genocidal regimes, see Bahrain as an example.
Labels: Civil War , Evil , Middle East , Stupid , Wanker
American Clusterf%$#
Not Syria this time, Afghanistan:
Afghanistan was plunged deeper into crisis a day after the Taliban seized the northern city of Kunduz, as the insurgents on Tuesday kept assaulting the reeling Afghan security forces and the government struggled to mount a credible response.
Not only did a promised government counteroffensive on Kunduz not make headway during heavy fighting on Tuesday, but the day ended with yet another aggressive Taliban advance, with insurgents surrounding the airport to which hundreds of Afghan forces and at least as many civilians had retreated, thinking it would be safe.
After more than a day of relative silence as the situation worsened around Kunduz, the American military showed the first signs of increased involvement in what the Pentagon called “a setback,” conducting at least two airstrikes, and reportedly more as attacks continued at the airport late Tuesday.
Beyond the Taliban’s gains in Kunduz, there was evidence that the insurgents were also pushing a broader offensive in northern Afghanistan, officials said. One particular point of concern was Takhar Province, just east of Kunduz, where the insurgents were said to be heavily assaulting military checkpoints and government facilities in several districts over the past two days.
The generals in Washington are beginning to look like ……… The Washington Generals.*
Seriously, can anyone remember the last time our military adventures have come even close to success?
*Until recently, the Washington Generals were the team that played, and lost, by design, to the Harlem Globetrotters thousands of time, and won once.
Labels: Afghanistan , Civil War , FAIL
It Appears that a Bear does Indeed Sh%$ in the Woods
Because the Pope was just outed doing something amazingly Catholic, and I do not mean that as a complement:
Pope Francis met privately in Washington last week with Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who defied a court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, adding a new element to an American tour that saw Francis attract huge crowds and articulate left-leaning positions on poverty, immigration, the environment and inequality.
Vatican officials initially would not confirm that the meeting occurred, finally doing so on Wednesday afternoon, while refusing to discuss any details.
Ms. Davis, the clerk in Rowan County, Ky., has been at the center of a nationwide controversy over whether government employees and private businesses have a legal right to refuse to serve same-sex couples. She spent five days in jail for disobeying a federal court order to issue the licenses.
On Tuesday night, her lawyer, Mathew D. Staver, said that Ms. Davis and her husband, Joe, were sneaked into the Vatican Embassy by car on Thursday afternoon. Francis gave her rosaries and told her to “stay strong,” the lawyer said. The couple met for about 15 minutes with the pope, who was accompanied by security guards, aides and photographers.
Notwithstanding the affection recently shown by progressive elements inside and outside of the Catholic Church, the Pope is, at the end of the day, Catholic, which means that he will continue to be antediluvian on issues like birth control and gay rights.
I am disappointed, but not surprised.
Labels: Civil Rights , LGBT , Religion
iPhone Users Just Love Their Walled Garden
Even if it means that Apple is censoring what news they can read:
Metadata+, a free app that catalogues fatal drone strikes by the United States, was pulled from the App Store this morning. Users were alerted via a notification that said the app was removed because of "exceptionally crude or objectionable content."
Metadata+ was developed by The Intercept's research editor Josh Begley. The app listed the date and location of drone strikes, as well as the victims, and sent notifications to users when a new strike occurred.
Begley struggled to get the App Store to accept his work—Mashable reports that Metadata+ was approved this February after five rejections. The sensitive topic of U.S. drone strikes seems to have been a problem for Apple: Begley was rejected last August because his app might be "objectionable" for many audiences.
Begley told Mashable that an Apple Review Team employee contacted him after several rejections and told him that if the app focused specifically on U.S. drone strikes, "it's not going to be approved."
So, it appears that not cheerleading for US drone strikes is unacceptable content for Apple, Inc.
What happens when the FBI comes and asks for a backdoor into your private communications?
At least Android is open source, so if there is a backdoor, someone can compile a version without some back door that has elements of the US state security apparatus leering looking at your private communications.
No wonder Apple is lobbying so hard for a bill in congress that grants them immunity for sharing data.
Labels: Business , Computer , Corruption , Evil
I've been taking the Metro to work for over two months now, and it's official: I cannot tell the difference between a crazy guy on the train who hears voices and someone having a conversation with a Bluetooth ear piece.
Labels: Communications , Deep Thoughts , Psychology , technology , Transportation
Tervor Noah's Debut
I watched his debut as host of The Daily Show, and it was a real stem winder.
I am seriously impressed.
It was funny, he made some fun of himself, and he was a bit bluer than John Stewart.
Obviously, this show was the product of many weeks of prep, so I expect some hiccoughs as they go from debut to routine, but it is a very good start.
I will note that he has not yet made my list of People I Do Not Want to Piss Off yet though.
Labels: Entertainment , Humor , Media , Politics
This is Satire, and it Sucks to Have to Say It
No, the Pentagon is now requesting a budget authorization to purchase gold plated F-35s, it is parody from Duffelblog:
The Pentagon released a report today requesting Congressional authorization for 500 gold-plated F-35 fighter planes.
The F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation multirole stealth fighter intended to replace numerous aging aircraft, including the A-10 Thunderbolt II and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The F-35 program has been fraught with problems, including numerous delays, cost overruns, and failure to deliver on promised operational performance.
The new variant, dubbed the F-35G, is proposed as an upgrade over existing F-35 models. In addition to 24K gold plating encasing its exterior, its cockpit is trimmed with wood grain paneling harvested from the endangered African blackwood tree and leather upholstery from the hide of the northern white rhinoceros. Its GAU-12/A 25mm rotary cannon is able to fire solid platinum rounds at a rate of 3300 per minute. Each round is handcrafted by a Swiss jeweler.
“In an ever-evolving battlefield, it is imperative to have a military equipped with tactical vehicles that offer versatility, adaptability, and mother of pearl ice buckets to keep champagne bottles cold during missions,” reads the Pentagon report. “Our service men and women deserve to fly in only the finest combat aircraft.”
Each F-35G unit is projected to cost 8.2 billion dollars, approximately twice the average annual GDP of some of the countries it is expected to bomb. The total cost, including development, procurement, operation, and sustainment, will top $15 trillion over the life of the program.
I will note that this is not that far from the truth.
Each B-2 bomber, for example, costs about $2.1 billion dollars.
With an empty weight of 158,000 lbs, and the current price of gold being $1,147.00/ troy ounce, it costs almost as much as if it were made of gold. (158,000 lbs of gold would cost $2,642,878,402.00)
Us weapons procurement is well and truly broken.
Labels: Defense Procurement , Military , Parody
If You Treat Your Employees Like Crap, It Flows to the Customer
It turns out that the Wal-Mart grocery business is lagging, because they suck at running supermarkets:
Wal-Mart's grocery business is getting crushed by competitors, according to analysts.
The retailer is plagued by negative customer feedback "due to lack of convenience in shopping Supercenter formats, below-average customer service, and below-average quality, freshness, and breadth of produce," Wayne Hood, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a recent research note.
As a result, Wal-Mart is losing grocery market share to rivals like Kroger and Publix, which have higher customer satisfaction ratings than Wal-Mart, according to Hood.
That's a troubling sign for Wal-Mart, which gets more than half of its revenue from groceries, and has been consistently offering lower prices than its rivals, Hood writes.
Grocery prices at Wal-Mart are approximately 10% to 15% lower at Wal-Mart compared to Kroger, according to Hood.
But the lower prices have failed to spur growth in Wal-Mart's grocery business, as illustrated in the graph below.
Basically, Wal-Mart sucks, but they are cheap.
Of course, dollar stores are cheaper and they are not suckier, and Target is a bit more expensive and much less sucky, and now it turns out that even the lowly supermarket chain produces stores that people are wiling to pay extra to go to.
Couldn't happen to a more repulsive company.
Labels: Business , Evil , Schadenfreude , Statistics
John Boehner Just Issued a Big F%$# You to the Teabaggers
I guess that it's one way to have some fun as he is heading out the door:
House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday that there will be "no" government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding, and signaled plans to pass the Senate stop-gap funding bill with help from Democrats.
"I expect my Democratic colleagues want to keep the government open as much as I do," Boehner, R-Ohio, said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
The interview was Boehner's first since announcing his resignation Friday.
The announcement came as Republican leaders spar over how to handle a series of budget extension proposals to keep the federal government operating past Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. Moderates within the House GOP caucus had been pushing for any plan that will avoid a shutdown while more conservative members had vowed to strip funding from Planned Parenthood programs at any cost.
If Boehner was still trying to remain speaker, he would not have done this.
Never underestimate the the power of someone who has given his last f%$#.
Labels: Budget , Congress , Legislation , Politics
Because Administrators Are Spending the Money on Bullsh%$ for Themselves Completely Unrelated to Education
Why Is College So Expensive if Professors Are Paid So Little?
This has been another episode of simple answer to simple questions.
Labels: Corruption , Education
If you've got a factory full of children in China assembling phones for 17 cents an hour, you've got a lot of nerve calling someone else opportunistic.
— Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter for the latest Steve Jobs biopic in response to Apple CEO Tim Cook's claim that he is being "opportunistic".
Burn cream to aisle 5.
Labels: Cinema , Good Writing , History , technology , win
Editorial of the Day
Brevity is the soul of wit
Michigan State Representative Cindy Gamrat, a Teabagger from the banks of the Kalamazoo river, was expelled from the state house because she and fellow rep (and fellow Teabagger) Todd Courser (who resigned) used state funds to cover up their adulterous affair.
A special election was called to replace her, and Gamrat is running for reelection.
The Grand Rapids Press and Kalamazoo Gazette editorial on this development is remarkably concise: (click for a larger image)
It's as if Ernest Hemingway wrote this editorial.
H/t Jim Romenesko
Labels: Corruption , Family Values , Good Writing , Hypocrisy , Politics , Schadenfreude , Sex
Because We Know that Eliminating Human Physical Contact Improves the Development of Children
Out on Mercer Island, Washington, the school district has banned the game of tag as a sweeping ban of all forms of physical contact between students:
Webster’s defines “tag” as “a game in which the player who is it chases others and tries to touch one of them who then becomes it.” Wikipedia explains that the game, also known in Britain as “it, tip you’re it” is “a playground game that involves one or more players chasing other players in an attempt to ‘tag’ or touch them, usually with their hands.”
So is the game of “tag” still “tag” if tagging is banned?
That is the question for the Mercer County School District in Washington state and for some unhappy parents.
It all started with a social media report earlier this week when a group of parents, responding to what they had heard was a ban on the game of tag in elementary schools, formed a group called “Support ‘tag’ at Recess.”
It was their impression that there was indeed a ban and the word soon spread to the news media.
A spokesman for the school district seemed to reinforce the impression with a statement:
“The Mercer Island School District and school teams have recently revisited expectations for student behavior to address student safety. This means while at play, especially during recess and unstructured time, students are expected to keep their hands to themselves. The rationale behind this is to ensure the physical and emotional safety of all students.
“School staffs are working with students in the classroom to ensure that there are many alternative games available at recess and during unsupervised play, so that our kids can still have fun, be with their friends, move their bodies and give their brains a break.”
“Good grief, our kids need some unstructured playtime,” mom Kelsey Joyce told the TV station. “It’s a game that practically everyone has played – but if you go to public school on Mercer Island, keep your hands to yourself.
“I totally survived tag,” said Joyce. “I even survived red rover, believe it or not.”
More significantly, the school board ignored the fact that physical touching is an necessity, particularly for developing children.
The reason that children play touching games is because children need touching.
Labels: Education , Entertainment , FAIL , Psychology
Well, This Helps with 5th Amendment Rights
In an insider trading scandal, a judge has ruled that prosecutors cannot force suspects to unlock their phones.
Basically, he said that the prosecution was asking for it "Just Because", and that was not sufficient reason:
The Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination would be breached if two insider trading suspects were forced to turn over the passcodes of their locked mobile phones to the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
"We find, as the SEC is not seeking business records but Defendants' personal thought processes, Defendants may properly invoke their Fifth Amendment right," US District Judge Mark Kearney of Pennsylvania wrote.
In the latest case, the SEC is investigating two former Capital One data analysts who allegedly used insider information associated with their jobs to trade stocks—in this case, a $150,000 investment allegedly turned into $2.8 million. Regulators suspect the mobile devices are holding evidence of insider trading and demanded that the two turn over their passcodes.
The defendants balked at supplying their passcodes, saying the Fifth Amendment protected them. The judge agreed and said that the government was going on a fishing expedition:
Here, the SEC proffers no evidence rising to a “reasonable particularity” any of the documents it alleges reside in the passcode protected phones. Instead, it argues only possession of the smartphones and Defendants were the sole users and possessors of their respective work-issued smartphones. SEC does not show the “existence” of any requested documents actually existing on the smartphones. Merely possessing the smartphones is insufficient if the SEC cannot show what is actually on the device.
The prosecution is not looking for evidence here.
What they are looking for is statements that impeach the defendants, and force them to cut a plea deal.
They want to find texts where these guys call their clients morons, or some such, knowing that they can then present this to a jury in order to make the jury hostile to their defense.
I wholeheartedly approve of this ruling.
Labels: Civil Rights , Corruption , Finance , Justice
This is a Feature, Not a Bug
The fact that the nominee for head of the FDA has extensive financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry should come as no surprise.
The revolving door has been spinning just as fast during the Obama administration as it ever has been:
It seems to be the season of the revolving door
in health care. The latest version got some media attention, because it involves one of the most important health care leadership positions in the US government, the Director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, the case actually seems much more serious than what the media has recently reported.
The only fly in the ointment was the matter of Dr Califf's ties to industry. The WSJ article included,
Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research, a Washington-based group focusing on medical-product safety, questioned his ties to the drug industry.
'Dr. Califf’s expertise and his close ties to the pharmaceutical industry are both well-known,' she said. 'His ties to industry have been a source of great concern to public-health experts when he was previously considered for FDA commissioner, and those ties raise important questions about this nomination.'
The MedPage Today article noted that Public Citizen's Health Research Group stated,
'During his tenure at Duke University, Califf racked up a long history of extensive financial ties to multiple drug and device companies, including Amgen, Astra-Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Merck Sharpe & Dohme and Sanofi-Aventis, to name a few,' Michael Carome, MD, the group's director, said in a statement. 'Strikingly, no FDA commissioner has had such close financial relationships with industries regulated by the agency prior to being appointed.'
'There are some who believe his relationship with [the drug industry] may be a problem, but most see it as a value-added factor in building a functional, more streamlined relationship with the industry in order to improve the speed with which truly effective and quality drugs and devices are made available, mitigate the excessive costs associated with pharmaceuticals, and influence policies and practices intended to improve health status.'
If that doesn't scare the hell out of you, it should.
What that nameless source just said is that this is the sort of guy who could make the approval of a drug like Thalidomide go through more smoothly.
Labels: Corruption , Drugs , medical , Politics , Public Health
The Flies Return to the Sh%$
By which I mean that homophobic bigot Kim Davis is officially changing her party affiliation to Republican. Good riddance:
A county clerk in Kentucky who was briefly jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples said on Friday that she and her family have switched to the Republican Party because the Democrats no longer represented them.
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, 50, who has said her beliefs as an Apostolic Christian prevent her from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, said they had changed parties last week. She was a long-time Democrat in eastern Kentucky.
"My husband and I had talked about it for quite a while and we came to the conclusion that the Democratic Party left us a long time ago, so why were we hanging on?" she told Reuters in an interview at a hotel in Washington, where she has traveled to be feted at a Family Research Council event later on Friday.
Not a surprise, really.
Since she is now making bank on being a bigot, she has to get that official American bigot membership card.
Labels: Bureaucracy , Civil Rights , Evil , LGBT , Politics
And here they are, ordered, and numbered for the year so far.
SWC Credit Union, Tampa, FL
So, another Credit Union.
I am not sure why, even as bank failures continue to fall, credit unions are on a pace to exceed last year.
Admittedly, the sample size is small, but this is atypical.
He Didn't Jump, He Was Pushed
In a surprise announcement, the worst Speaker of the House in the history of ……… well ……… history, John Boehner, made a surprise announcement that he will be resigning from Congress:
Speaker John A. Boehner, an Ohio barkeeper’s son who rode a conservative wave to one of the highest positions in government, said Friday he would relinquish his gavel and resign from Congress, undone by the very Republicans who swept him into power.
Mr. Boehner, 65, made the announcement in an emotional meeting with his fellow Republicans on Friday morning as lawmakers struggled to avert a government shutdown next week, a possibility made less likely by his decision.
Mr. Boehner told almost no one of his decision before making it Friday morning. “So before I went to sleep last night, I told my wife, I said, ‘You know, I might just make an announcement tomorrow,’ ” Mr. Boehner said at a news conference in the Capitol. “This morning I woke up, said my prayers, as I always do, and thought, ‘This is the day I am going to do this.’ ”
His downfall again highlighted the sinewy power of a Republican Party faction whose anthem is often to oppose government action. It also made vivid the increasingly precarious nature of a job in which the will and proclivities of politically divisive body must be managed. No House speaker since Thomas P. O’Neill Jr., who held the gavel from 1977 to 1986, has left the job willingly.
As much as I appreciate the standard line that Boehner left under his own power, I kind of doubt it.
If this was really about him being tired of a restive Congress, he would have left when he realized that he lacked the skill of vote counting, which is essential for a legislature.
I have repeatedly referred to him as the worst Speaker ever because, in the House of Congress most amenable to steam roller politics, he was constantly back on his heels, because he wanted the job of Speaker so badly that he was unable and unwilling to actually manage the house.
It simply makes no sense that he left left because he got tired. He left because some of his colleagues had "the talk" with him.
Still, if you favor the "left under his own power" theory, I would suggest that you read Charlie Pierce's take on this:
Way I figure it is this. In their private chat yesterday, Boehner explained to the pope the problems he was having with the flying monkey caucus, and Papa Francesco who, after all, heads a bureaucracy with a long history as a seething cauldron of ambition, scandal, murder and betrayal, as well as a unique tradition of crazy institutional proceedings (See: Cadaver Synod), listened to Boehner's plight and said, mildly, "Jesus H. Christ in a Fiat, my son, these people crazy. Get out while you can." That's the way I'm going to figure it, anyway.
It is a sane theory, but sanity does not apply in this situation.
Sanity has almost been as rare as competence during the Speakership of John Boehner.
Labels: Breaking News , Congress , Weird
Do You Know What Drug in Your Medicine Cabinet is Most Likely to Kill You?
If you answered Acetaminophen (Tylenol) you would be right.
An overdose of the drug can destroy your liver, and for some people, toxic effects can be as little as twice the therapeutic dose.
Well, the FDA is looking at tightening up regulations on the drug, and the maker of Tylenol ramped up a lobbying campaign to prevent the FDA protecting the public:
Recently filed court documents show the makers of Tylenol planned to enlist the White House and lawmakers to block the Food and Drug Administration from imposing tough new safety restrictions on acetaminophen, the iconic painkiller’s chief ingredient.
An executive with McNeil Consumer Healthcare – which counts Tylenol as its flagship product – told the board of directors for parent company Johnson and Johnson about a campaign to “influence the FDA” and block recommendations made by an agency advisory panel in 2009.
About 150 Americans a year die by accidentally taking too much acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. The toll does not have to be so high. Read the story.
After Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA’s top drug regulator, put off meeting with McNeil executives, the company’s president, Peter Luther, sent out an August 2009 email.
“We’re being too nice and too worried about stepping on FDA’s toes. It may be time to let members of Congress to put some pressure on FDA,” Luther wrote to other top executives. ”We have to make this our top priority and pull out all stops.”
Acetaminophen is considered safe when taken as directed. But in higher doses, the drug can cause liver damage and death. Studies show the drug is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S., with fatalities increasing seven-fold in the decade between 1995 and 2005 to more than 200 a year.
The previously unreported lobbying campaign was disclosed as part of a trial scheduled to start today in Atlantic City that promises to draw new scrutiny to McNeil’s efforts to protect its painkiller from additional regulation and disclosures about the full extent of its risks.
The case pits McNeil against Regina Jackson, a New Jersey state employee who claims she was hospitalized with elevated liver enzymes after inadvertently exceeding the daily recommended dose for Extra Strength Tylenol for a couple of days.
The Atlantic City case is being watched closely as it is the first to come to trial of more than two hundred lawsuits currently pending in state and federal courts that allege McNeil knew its drug was potentially dangerous while promoting its safety.
As detailed in a 2013 investigation by ProPublica and This American Life, McNeil has opposed warning labels, dosage restrictions and even public awareness campaigns over concerns of profitability.
At the same time, the investigation found that the FDA has delayed implementing suggestions to improve the safety of acetaminophen, taken by tens of millions of Americans every week. Though hearings began more than 38 years ago, the agency has yet to finalize regulations for the safe use of the drug.
The proposed lobbying campaign arose in response to a June 2009 meeting of more than three dozen scientists, researchers and pharmacists convened by the FDA to review the safety of acetaminophen.
The panel of independent experts endorsed a sweeping set of reforms. They recommended that the FDA reduce the total daily dose of acetaminophen, and make extra-strength pills available only by prescription.
McNeil officials viewed the recommendations as a threat to sales of Extra Strength Tylenol, according to R. Clay Milling, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys. McNeil makes about $400 million in revenue from its extra-strength line, compared with only about $14 million from regular strength Tylenol, Milling told the court, according to a transcript.
Milling, who reviewed internal McNeil documents as part of the lawsuit, told the court that a senior McNeil executive made a presentation to the Johnson and Johnson board about a plan that included contacting the White House, the Office of Management and Budget and lawmakers.
The current recommended daily dose for the drug is four grams per day — the equivalent of eight extra strength pills. But occasional reports in scientific literature have documented liver damage occurring after taking as little as two extra pills per day for several days.
The agency has worried about the prevalence of acetaminophen on the market — McNeil and its generic competitors have developed hundreds of over-the-counter products that contain the drug, increasing the risk that a consumer could inadvertently ingest dangerous levels.
The most recent FDA data show that acetaminophen remains, by far, the leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States, with the number of cases increasing.
Pharma greed is not just some asshole hedge fund puke raising prices.
It's also stuff like this, where companies like Johnson & Johnson call in chips to bought and paid for politicians so that they can keep killing people.
In fact, I think that the guys at J&J are worse. Unlike Martin Shkreli they knew that they were lobbying for the opportunity to profit off of killing hundreds of people a year.
Labels: Evil , Pharma , Politics , regulation
Someone is getting fired
On the Chicago TV station WGN, they did a story on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, and their likely soon to be fired graphics guy called up the badge that the Nazis forced Jews to wear in concentration camps:
The news director of a Chicago TV station apologized after a staff member mistakenly chose a symbol of Nazi Germany to illustrate a story about Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.
“Regrettably, we failed to recognize that the artwork we chose to accompany the story contained an offensive symbol,” the director, Jennifer Lyons, said in an apology on Wednesday. “This was an unfortunate mistake. Ignorance is not an excuse.”
The apology came the morning after Tom Negovan, an anchor with WGN-TV Chicago, read a 20-second description of the holiday. Over his shoulder, viewers could see a graphic of a Star of David badge emblazoned with the German word “Jude,” or Jew, on striped material of the kind used in Nazi prisoner uniforms.
Un-dirtyword-believable.
Labels: FAIL , History , Religion , Stupid , Video
Does a Bear Sh%$ in the Woods?
The other half of the couplet is the question, "Is the Pope Catholic?"
It appears that the right wing believes that the Pope is not Catholic, because clearly Jesus embraced those money lenders in the temple:
A while ago, Rush Limbaugh declared that Pope Francis is a Marxist, which is pretty much inconsistent with being a practicing Catholic. Now Representative Paul Gosar (R-Ariz) has announced that the Pope, in concluding that climate change is a threat to the planet, is advocating socialist views. As a result, he will boycott the Pope’s address to Congress on Thursday. According to Catholic doctrine, the Pope is the head of the Church, the Vicar of Christ, and an infallible authority on Catholic doctrine. But none of that, if one can use another familiar phrase, cuts any ice with Rep. Gosar.
If Pope Francis wants to devote his life to fighting climate change, Gosar said, he should do so on his personal time — not as pope. “To promote questionable science as Catholic dogma is ridiculous,” he intoned. This seems to be the standard line among political conservatives who are suffering from cognitive dissonance now that there is a Pope whose Catholicism is in doubt because he has distanced himself from the Republican Party line. James Inhofe, Chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, has declared: “The pope ought to stay with his job, and we’ll stay with ours.” Rick Santorum adds: “I think we [Catholics] are better off leaving science to the scientists and focusing on what we’re good at, which is theology and morality.” And Jeb Bush thinks that religion “ought to be about making us better as people, less about things [that] end up getting into the political realm.”
The irony here is pretty obvious. People like Gosar, Inhofe, Santorum and Bush have been playing the God card for years. They have been happy to use Christian religion in general, and Catholicism in particular, as a recruiting device and a campaigning platform for a variety of conservative political issues. Now they want the Pope to mind his own business and stick to morality and religion. One of the many things they are missing, however, is that climate change is a moral issue.
The term for this is "Cafeteria Catholics," and when the Catholic Church was busy doing things like denying communion to John Kerry because the only things that mattered were abortion and gay marriage, it was the conservatives who used it imply a lack of integrity.
I've got my weekly dose of schadenfreude over this.
Labels: Hypocrisy , Politics , Religion , Schadenfreude
This is a Truly Epic Rant
In fact, this rant about US missteps on Syria is good enough that I forgive the blogger's use of the Comic Sans font:
I have decided to voice my opinions on what the situations are in re the MENA area both abroad and in the US concerning Syria and Turkey. More tomorrow on Iraq. These are simply my opinions, feel free to disregard them and come up with your own:
- Petraeus wants John Allen's wretched job? Give it him. As I understand what happened, Allen found it to be impossible to argue successfully with the WH's collection of "those whose brains were destroyed in the process of obtaining a Ph.D in poly sci " led by the country's community organizer in chief. Let us see if Petraeus will do better. IMO Petraeus is a phony of the sort that David Hackworth used to describe as a "perfumed prince," in my words, a Byzantine courtier type whose fame was generated in a largely self orchestrated media campaign. Let us see if this "Great Captain" can unravel this skein of wormlike threads that he helped create. Perhaps Broadway Joe Scarborough will turn and burn with him?
It goes on from there, and it is truly a thing of beauty.
I also think that it is an accurate assessment, and it shows why the President of the United States cannot blithely accept the counsel of Council of Foreign Relations types, who subscribe to the "Green Lantern Theory of Geopolitics," which states that so long as the US maintains it will, it can accomplish whatever it wants.
It didn't work in the Bush administration, and it won't work now.
Labels: Civil War , Foreign Relations , Good Writing , Middle East , Philosophy , Stupid
Uruguay is Now My Favorite Latin American Nation
Last year, they legalized Marijuana, and now they have regected the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) international trade deal:
Often referred to as the Switzerland of South America, Uruguay is long accustomed to doing things its own way. It was the first nation in Latin America to establish a welfare state. It also has an unusually large middle class for the region and unlike its giant neighbors to the north and west, Brazil and Argentina, is largely free of serious income inequality.
Two years ago, during José Mujica’s presidency, Uruguay became the first nation to legalize marijuana in Latin America, a continent that is being ripped apart by drug trafficking and its associated violence and corruption of state institutions.
Now Uruguay has done something that no other semi-aligned nation on this planet has dared to do: it has rejected the advances of the global corporatocracy.
Earlier this month Uruguay’s government decided to end its participation in the secret negotiations of the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA). After months of intense pressure led by unions and other grassroots movements that culminated in a national general strike on the issue – the first of its kind around the globe – the Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez bowed to public opinion and left the US-led trade agreement.
TiSA involves more countries than TTIP and TPP combined: The United States and all 28 members of the European Union, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and Turkey.
Together, these 52 nations form the charmingly named “Really Good Friends of Services” group, which represents almost 70% of all trade in services worldwide. Until its government’s recent u-turn Uruguay was supposed to be the 53rd Good Friend of Services.
TiSA has spent the last two years taking shape behind the hermetically sealed doors of highly secure locations around the world. According to the agreement’s provisional text, the document is supposed to remain confidential and concealed from public view for at least five years after being signed. Even the World Trade Organization has been sidelined from negotiations.
But thanks to whistle blowing sites like WikiLeaks, the Associated Whistleblowing Press and Filtrala, crucial details have seeped to the surface. Here’s a brief outline of what is known to date (for more specifics click here, here and here):
1.TiSA would “lock in” the privatization of services – even in cases where private service delivery has failed – meaning governments can never return water, energy, health, education or other services to public hands.
2.TiSA would restrict signatory governments’ right to regulate stronger standards in the public’s interest. For example, it will affect environmental regulations, licensing of health facilities and laboratories, waste disposal centres, power plants, school and university accreditation and broadcast licenses.
3.TiSA would limit the ability of governments to regulate the financial services industry, at a time when the global economy is still struggling to recover from a crisis caused primarily by financial deregulation. More specifically, if signed the trade agreement would:
Restrict the ability of governments to place limits on the trading of derivative contracts — the largely unregulated weapons of mass financial destruction that helped trigger the 2007-08 Global Financial Crisis.
Bar new financial regulations that do not conform to deregulatory rules. Signatory governments will essentially agree not to apply new financial policy measures which in any way contradict the agreement’s emphasis on deregulatory measures.
Prohibit national governments from using capital controls to prevent or mitigate financial crises. The leaked texts prohibit restrictions on financial inflows – used to prevent rapid currency appreciation, asset bubbles and other macroeconomic problems – and financial outflows, used to prevent sudden capital flight in times of crisis.
Require acceptance of financial products not yet invented. Despite the pivotal role that new, complex financial products played in the Financial Crisis, TISA would require governments to allow all new financial products and services, including ones not yet invented, to be sold within their territories.
4. TiSA would ban any restrictions on cross-border information flows and localization requirements for ICT service providers. A provision proposed by US negotiators would rule out any conditions for the transfer of personal data to third countries that are currently in place in EU data protection law. In other words, multinational corporations will have carte blanche to pry into just about every facet of the working and personal lives of the inhabitants of roughly a quarter of the world’s 200-or-so nations.
As I wrote in LEAKED: Secret Negotiations to Let Big Brother Go Global, if TiSA is signed in its current form – and we will not know exactly what that form is until at least five years down the line – our personal data will be freely bought and sold on the open market place without our knowledge; companies and governments will be able to store it for as long as they desire and use it for just about any purpose.
Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, Uruguay doesn't count for a whole lot, the whole country has a population is less than that of Los Angeles, but it is the first time that any country involved in the negotiations has pulled out, and should make it easier for another nation to take this step, which means that that standing up to the interests of the US, which are primarily to support data brokers, pharma, IP restrictions, and the banksters.
This is a good thing for the people of Uruguay, and if it leads to more countries pulling out of this agreement, it will be a good thing for the world.
Labels: Foreign Relations , International Commerce , International Finance , Latin America
Headline of the Day
From the New York Times, we see the obituary for Hall of Frame catcher, Yogi Berra:
Yogi Berra Dies at 90; Yankee Star Built His Fame 90% on Skill, and Half on Wit
Berra was a standout as a catcher, as well as achieving success as a manager, but much of his fame came from his penchant for mangling the English language, with such memorable quotes as, "Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded," and, "It’s déjà vu all over again!"
The headline is a fitting homage to Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra.
Labels: Good Writing , Obituaries , Sports
What Happens When This Doesn't Generate a Media Sh%$ Storm?
Martin Shkreli, the hedge fund pharma executive who generated outrage when he bought a drug for rare diseases and boosted its price by over 5555%, has backed down after he got called out by the New York Times:
"Yes it is absolutely a reaction — there were mistakes made with respect to helping people understand why we took this action, I think that it makes sense to lower the price in response to the anger that was felt by people," Shkreli, 32, said.
Turing Pharmaceuticals of New York bought the drug from Impax Laboratories in August for $55 million and raised the price. Shkreli said Tuesday the price would be lowered to allow the company to break even or make a smaller profit.
Daraprim fights toxoplasmosis. The infection is particularly dangerous for people who have weakened immune systems, like AIDS patients, as well as for pregnant women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was among those who expressed outrage over the price increase. On Tuesday she outlined a plan she said would limit how much patients have to pay out of pocket for medications each month.
As I noted last night, after Glaxo Smith Kline sold the drug market rights and before Shkreli bought the drug, the price was raised by 1350%, from $1.00 to $13.50 a pill, but since it wasn't going from $13.50 to $750.00 a pill, nobody batted an eyelash.
Notwithstanding the protestations of contemptible greedheads like Martin Shkreli, generating unearned profits through financial engineering and exploitation of monopoly power benefits no one but contemptible greedheads like Martin Shkreli.
Labels: Business , Corruption , Drugs , Evil , Finance , medical , Public Health
Certain people should never own guns. It appears that ammosexuals, the people who fetishize guns, are over-represented in this group.
H/T DC at the Stellar Parthenon BBS.
Labels: Gun Laws , Psychology , Weapons
Get a Brain, Morans
Some inbred white bigots who don't know how to use a spell checker have decided that enough is enough, so they took to flying pro confederate banners over various monuments:
Community activists and historic preservationists got help from an unusual source to draw attention to their protest Saturday of statues of Confederate leaders on Monument Avenue during the first day of training for the UCI Road World Championships.
A small plane carrying a banner with a Confederate battle flag and the phrase “Confederate heros matter” circled above Monument Avenue, where the protest had gathered at the statue of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy.
The Virginia Flaggers, who took credit for the banner on their Facebook page, said the misspelling of “heroes” was “Pilot error. We sent the right spelling. We think the point was still made.”
“This is the first time he’s ever messed up,” Grayson Jennings, a spokesman for the Virginia Flaggers, said of the pilot in an interview. “I don’t think half the people even knew he messed up.”
Trust me, people know.
This is going to end up a major meme, kind of like this pic:
The stupid, it burns us.
Labels: Bigotry , History , Racism , Stupid , Wanker
This Is a Clear Case of Immoral Parasitism, and It's Pharma, so Not the Surprise
You know the story, hedge fund puke buys a pharmaceutical firm, takes an out of patent drug that costs a few bucks, changes the distribution method to make analysis by potential competitors more difficult, and then raise the price by 5555%: (No, this is not a decimal place error)
Specialists in infectious disease are protesting a gigantic overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old drug that is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection.
The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“What is it that they are doing differently that has led to this dramatic increase?” said Dr. Judith Aberg, the chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She said the price increase could force hospitals to use “alternative therapies that may not have the same efficacy.”
The Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association sent a joint letter to Turing earlier this month calling the price increase for Daraprim “unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population” and “unsustainable for the health care system.” An organization representing the directors of state AIDS programs has also been looking into the price increase, according to doctors and patient advocates.
Daraprim, known generically as pyrimethamine, is used mainly to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasite infection that can cause serious or even life-threatening problems for babies born to women who become infected during pregnancy, and also for people with compromised immune systems, like AIDS patients and certain cancer patients.
This is not the first time the 32-year-old Mr. Shkreli, who has a reputation for both brilliance and brashness, has been the center of controversy. He started MSMB Capital, a hedge fund company, in his 20s and drew attention for urging the Food and Drug Administration not to approve certain drugs made by companies whose stock he was shorting.
In 2011, Mr. Shkreli started Retrophin, which also acquired old neglected drugs and sharply raised their prices. Retrophin’s board fired Mr. Shkreli a year ago. Last month, it filed a complaint in Federal District Court in Manhattan, accusing him of using Retrophin as a personal piggy bank to pay back angry investors in his hedge fund.
With the price now high, other companies could conceivably make generic copies, since patents have long expired. One factor that could discourage that option is that Daraprim’s distribution is now tightly controlled, making it harder for generic companies to get the samples they need for the required testing.
The switch from drugstores to controlled distribution was made in June by Impax, not by Turing. Still, controlled distribution was a strategy Mr. Shkreli talked about at his previous company as a way to thwart generics.
Dr. Aberg of Mount Sinai said some hospitals will now find Daraprim too expensive to keep in stock, possibly resulting in treatment delays. She said that Mount Sinai was continuing to use the drug, but each use now required a special review.
“This seems to be all profit-driven for somebody,” Dr. Aberg said, “and I just think it’s a very dangerous process.”
You can read the details of his looting the last firm he ran here.
I would note that Mr Shkreli is not alone in this behavior: When Glaxo Smith Kline sold the marketing rights to the drug to CorePharma, the price of the drug was $1 a pill,
Is there anything that big finance can't make destructive and evil?
Remember Last Night, When I Used the Phrase, "Bush Crime Family?"
Well today, we learn of the orgy of political payback and cronyism in the next generation of the Bush family, we have George P. Bush turning the office of Texas Land Commissioner into an opportunity for his buddies to profit while ignoring state law that requires public notice of open positions:
Less than a year after being elected to lead the oldest state agency in Texas, Land Commissioner George P. Bush has dramatically remade the General Land Office by ousting most of its longtime leaders and replacing many with people with ties to his campaign and family.
Eleven of the top 18 officials on the agency’s organizational chart a year ago have been fired or forced out or have quit, and more could leave soon in an overhaul that Bush has described as a “reboot.”
In their place, Bush, a former Fort Worth resident, has given top jobs to two of his law school classmates, two relatives of members of two Bush presidential administrations and at least three others with ties to the family or other political leaders.
In all, Bush has hired at least 29 people who worked on his campaign or have political connections, according to a review of thousands of pages of personnel records. The agency did not advertise any of the openings publicly.
State law requires all agencies considering external candidates for a job to post the opening with the Texas Workforce Commission. Newly elected statewide officials often ignore the requirement for some core positions. Attorney General Ken Paxton and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller have been publicly criticized for doing it a few times this year.
But Bush’s hiring differs because it is so far-reaching, with hires ranging from a temporary transition director to five campaign veterans hired permanently for the new position of “regional outreach coordinator.”
Bush made many so-called appointment hires before even taking office but has continued them well into this year.
The General Land Office, established in 1837, oversees all state public lands and also leases mineral rights to oil and gas companies, generating billions of dollars for schools. Bush, the grandson and nephew of presidents and the son of current presidential candidate Jeb Bush, was elected in November.
“Any agency, board, bureau, commission, committee, council, court, department, institution, or office in the executive or judicial branch of state government that has an employment opening for which persons from outside the agency will be considered shall list the opening with the Texas Workforce Commission,” the law says.
Commission spokeswoman Lisa Givens said she did not know who was responsible for enforcing that law. The commission does not check to ensure that jobs are posted, she said.
The attorney general’s office referred questions about the law to the workforce agency.
Personnel records show that Bush directed at least 40 external hires from November to July but listed only four of those with the Workforce Commission.
The average salary for those four was about $65,000. The average salary for the 36 unposted jobs was $90,000.
Ten jobs went to campaign aides, including temporary transition director Trey Newton, who made $17,500 per month, and the five regional outreach coordinators, who are making $55,000 a year. Newton, the campaign engineer Bush once called “our Karl Rove,” left in January. He did not return a call seeking comment.
Another campaign strategist, Ash Wright, and his wife, Patty Wright, both got unposted jobs in December with annual salaries of $120,000 and $48,000, respectively. Both have left, with Ash Wright returning to Bush’s campaign.
The campaign’s spokesman, J.R. Hernandez, got a more permanent job as Bush’s chief of staff, with an annual salary of $110,000. Hernandez, the son of George W. Bush adviser Juan Hernandez and a 2008 college graduate, started the job exactly a week after the election. The application in his personnel file is not signed or dated, and there is no offer letter, making it hard to determine a timeline of employment.
The Bush family has been engaging in this sort of entitled privilege since my dad was in elementary school.
H/t Atrios.
Labels: Corruption , History , Politics , The Bush Crime Family
Elections is Weird
Somehow, after completely failing to deliver on its promises, and folding like a bunch of overcooked broccoli, Syriza still managed to emerge from the latest Greek elections the conclusive winner:
Alexis Tsipras will be sworn in as Greece’s prime minister later on Monday and his new government formally announced on Tuesday, Greek media said, after the leftist Syriza leader romped to an unexpectedly convincing election victory.
The result on Sunday was a personal triumph for the 41-year-old, who gambled on the snap poll last month to see off a revolt by party radicals over his U-turn on accepting more tough austerity measures in exchange for Greece’s third international bailout.
The premier-elect will now make renegotiating the terms of Greece’s debt mountain a top priority. He will attempt to build a broad consensus among the parties he defeated so as to strengthen his hand in talks with the country’s eurozone creditors, a senior Syriza source told Reuters.
Following a campaign that for weeks looked too close to call, Syriza won 35.5% of the vote – a fraction less than its previous total – against 28.1% for the centre-right opposition, New Democracy, giving the leftist party 145 seats in the 300-seat parliament.
Tsipras said he would renew his coalition with the small nationalist Independent Greeks party to give him the 151-seat majority he needs in parliament. The new government’s programme will be dictated by the punishing terms of Greece’s latest €86bn rescue package, which demands a radical overhaul of the country’s ailing economy and far-reaching changes to tax, welfare and pension systems. The cash-for-reforms deal is subject to quarterly reviews, with the first due next month.
I am thoroughly flummoxed by these results.
My guess as to the meaning of all this is that, "The whippings will continue until morale improves."
Labels: Currency , Elections , Europe , European Union
This is Significant………
It turns out that the aircraft that Russia is sending to Syria are not Su-27s or MiG-31s. They are top of the line Su-30SM multi-role fighters:
The Institute for the Study of War had spotted four Russian fighter jets at Al Assad International Airport in Damascus. The Kremlin may have sent air-to-air missiles to Syria along with the aircraft, the D.C.-based think tank added.
But Washington area consultant and War Is Boring contributor Chris Biggers pointed out on the blog Offiziere that ISW had misidentified the jets. As it turns out, Russia sent its maneuverable and deadly Su-30SM multi-role jets.
Recent satellite imagery acquired by Airbus of al-Assad International airport in Syria shows four Su-30SM aircraft, not four SU-27 Flanker as originally reported by the Institute for [the] Study of War. The aircraft are easily mistaken for the SU-27 due to the modern variant’s use of the same airframe. The only predominant identifier on satellite imagery separating these aircraft from the earlier model is the canards positioned forward on the fuselage which assist with the aircraft’s thrust vectoring capability.
Located on the north side of the runway at Latakia, the Su-30SM multi-role fighters are one of Russia’s more advanced 4+ generation aircraft, often compared to the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle. This variant is equipped with a passive electronically scanned array (PESA) BARS radar, fly-by-wire flight controls, modern ECM as well as thrust vectoring, making this a highly maneuverable and capable fighter.
In March 2012, Russia hired the Irkut Corporation to build a total of 60 Su-30SM fighters. While the new model was the first for the Kremlin’s air arms to feature the small canard positioned behind the cockpit, Irkut had already sold similar MKI and MKM versions to India and Malaysia, respectively.
The reason that this is important is because of the whole "Multi Role" thing.
The Su-30SM is not as well suited for the interception role as the MiG-31, top speed and ceiling are lower, but it can carry a much wider range of munitions, including the KH-58 anti-radiation missile, which has the capability to attack surface to air missile installations at ranges greater than 200 km, which could suppress NATO SAMs in Turkey that have largely prevented the Syrian Air Force from operating in the north of the country.
Syria is a complete clusterf%$#, (When the Assad regime is the best alternative, you know that you have completely screwed the pooch) , and now we are seeing increased Russian involvement in the conflict.
It's a mess, and it's getting scary.
Labels: Aviation , Civil War , Foreign Relations , Middle East , Russia
Hunter S. Thompson was a Prophet
In The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time, Hunter S. Thompson relates the following tale:
This is one of the oldest and most effective tricks in politics. Every hack in the business has used it in times of trouble, and it has even been elevated to the level of political mythology in a story about one of Lyndon Johnson’s early campaigns in Texas. The race was close and Johnson was getting worried. Finally he told his campaign manager to start a massive rumor campaign about his opponent’s life-long habit of enjoying carnal knowledge of his own barnyard sows.
“Christ, we can’t get a way calling him a pig-f%$#er,” the campaign manager protested. “Nobody’s going to believe a thing like that.”
“I know,” Johnson replied. “But let’s make the sonofabitch deny it.”
Well, right now, the UK is transfixed by the tale of PM David Cameron and Piggate:
Late last night, the Daily Mail published an astounding excerpt of an unauthorized biography of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, alleging that he placed a “private part” of his body into the mouth of a dead pig’s head while at Oxford University.
He put his nob in a pig’s mouth. Popped his todger into the poor swine’s gob.
It’s crucial when dealing with such an important and weighty story to have all the facts, so please let this Brit guide you through the revolting tale of prime ministerial pig porkery.
It is claimed that there are pictures, but this could be a, "Make the sonofabitch deny it," moment.
In either case, this is a profoundly weird moment in politics.
Labels: Agriculture , Europe , Politics , Scandal , Sex , Weird
Useful Idiot of the Day
Frank Rich, who seems not to understand that Donald Trump won't take the money out of politics simply because he's a rich guy who says so.
Whatever Mr. Rich is smoking, I want none of it.
Labels: Campaign Finance , Donald Trump , Politics , Presidential Campaign , Stupid , Wanker
Former president of Peanut Corporation of America, Stewart Parnell, was sentenced to 28 years in prison for knowing shipping salmonella contaminated peanuts around the country:
Former peanut company executive Stewart Parnell was hit with a virtual life prison term Monday for his 2014 conviction on crimes related to a salmonella outbreak blamed for killing nine and sickening hundreds.
A federal judge in Georgia sentenced the 61-year-old former head of Peanut Corporation of America to 28 years behind bars, imposing potentially the toughest punishment in U.S. history for a producer in a food-borne illness case.
U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands also sentenced the former executive's brother, Michael Parnell, 56, to serve a 20-year prison term. The relative and co-defendant was a broker who provided food manufacturing giant Kellogg's with peanut paste from his brother's company.
Mary Wilkerson, 41, a former quality control manager at the now-defunct peanut firm, drew a five-year prison term for her conviction on obstruction in the tragedy.
Sands also ordered both Parnells to surrender, rejecting defense arguments that the two should be allowed to remain free on bond pending appeals. The judge deemed them potential flight risks.
The case stemmed from Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention findings that traced a national salmonella outbreak to the Parnell company's peanut roasting plant in Blakely, Ga. The outbreak sickened 714 people in 46 states and may have contributed to nine deaths, the CDC reported.
The illnesses began in January 2009 and ultimately prompted one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history.
A federal jury convicted Parnell last September on 71 criminal counts, including conspiracy, obstruction of justice and introduction of adulterated food. The verdict came after prosecutors presented evidence that Parnell and the co-defendants knowingly shipped salmonella-tainted peanut butter from the Georgia facility to Kellogg’s and other customers — who in turn used it in products ranging from packaged crackers to pet food.
How about some similar sentences for corrupt bankers?
Labels: Corruption , Evil , Food , Justice , regulation , Safety
This is a Night for Weird History
I just discovered that Prescott Bush, George H.W.'s dad, and George W's and Jeb's grand dad, was one of the founders of Planned Parenthood:
Can you name any historical figures who helped Planned Parenthood kick off its first fundraising campaign back in 1947? If you first guessed some progressive liberal icon, you’d be wrong.
The die-hard public pro-life bona fides of George W. Bush and his brother and current GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush are undeniable. Jeb has repeatedly said that he would defund Planned Parenthood if he’s elected, and it’s been a promise he’s been making long before the Center for Medical Progress launched their viral undercover video campaign attacking the non-profit, claiming the organization was “selling baby parts.”
But a little known fact — first resurfacing in a 2005 article in SFGate — reveals that the grandfather and father of the last two Bush presidents, Prescott Bush, was the treasurer of the organization in its early years.
But even then, supporting a woman’s right to control over her own reproductive system was politically dangerous.
The political repercussions hit hard. Prescott Bush was knocked out of an expected victory for a Senate seat in Connecticut in 1950 after syndicated columnist Drew Pearson declared that it “has been made known” that Bush was a leader in the “Birth Control Society” (The old name of Planned Parenthood had been the Birth Control Federation of America.) Recall that contraceptives were controversial in those days — and remember that a constitutional right to use them wasn’t established until 1965, when the Supreme Court affirmed an implied right to privacy in Griswold vs. Connecticut.
Prescott Bush won a Senate seat two years later, and his son George and daughter-in-law Barbara continued to support Planned Parenthood even after George’s election to Congress from Texas. In fact, he was such an advocate for family planning that some House colleagues gave him the nickname “Rubbers.”
If I believed that there was an ounce of integrity in the Bush Crime Family, my head would hurt, but Poppy Bush made it patently clear that this was not the case when he turn his back on both his father's legacy and own his lifelong support of reproductive rights to become Vice-President. (And let us not forget that Prescott Bush's investment firm was shut down for acting as an agent of Nazi Germany in 1942.)
I don't think that this family would walk a straight line if their lives depended on it.
Labels: History , Hypocrisy , Politics , Reproductive Rights , The Bush Crime Family , Weird
I just saw a guy drive by in a bright yellow Lamborghini convertible.
My first thought was, "Why, after spending something near half a million dollars on a car, would you paint it the same color as a taxicab?"
Posted via mobile.
Visiting My Daughter in the City
We couldn't for everything she needed in one trip, so we came up this week.
She loves the City, and she loves AADA .
Have a picture of the Empire State Building.
Labels: family , travel
F-35 Testing Beginning to Resemble Lance Armstrong Blood Tests
It turns out that the recent "successful deployment of the F-35 in US Marine Corps exercises was nothing of the sort:
The Marine Corps triumphantly declared its variant of the F-35 combat ready in late July. In the public relations build-up, the recent demonstration of its performance on the USS Wasp was heralded as a rebuttal to the program’s critics.
But a complete copy of a recent memo from the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) — obtained by the Project On Government Oversight through the Freedom of Information Act — reveals that a number of maintenance and reliability problems “are likely to present significant near-term challenges for the Marine Corps.”
The Marine Corps named this demonstration “Operational Test One,” but it turns out it wasn’t actually an operational test, “in either a formal or an informal sense of the term.” To count as an operational test, conditions should closely match realistic combat conditions.
But DOT&E found the demonstration “did not — and could not — demonstrate that Block 2B F-35B is operationally effective or suitable for use in any type of limited combat operation, or that it was ready for real-world operational deployments, given the way the event was structured.”
The details buried inside the report’s annexes also show just how much trouble the crew faced in attempting to keep the F-35s selected for the demonstration flightworthy. Before the demonstration even began the Marine Corps had to swap out one F-35B with another “due to a fuel system fault that would have been impractical to fix at sea given the maintenance workload.”
In combat, not only would this kind of replacement be impractical, it would likely be impossible.
It goes on to state that the the WASP was emptied of other aircraft in order to facilitate F-35 ops, critical hardware and software not being present on the system, around 80 civilian contractors on board to keep the aircraft running, a prognostics and maintenance system that is basically non-functional, and a much lower operational tempo than promised.
This aircraft is a turkey, and I see no prospect of it being fixed.
Labels: Aviation , Corruption , Defense Procurement , Hypocrisy , Military
In Addition to Being a True Patriot, Edward Snowden Is Wicked Cool
He just showed up in robot form on Neil Degrasse Tyson's podcast to explain why we have not been contacted by aliens:
Whistle-blower Edward Snowden has some strong opinions on communications — even when those communications are coming from aliens.
The former intelligence-agency contractor turned fugitive was an unexpected guest on famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk podcast on September 18. And, inevitably, the two got to talking about extraterrestrials.
But Tyson scored an interview with him in New York City. How? Snowden rigged a robot that he can control from Russia, and rolled right into Tyson's office at the Hayden Planetarium in New York with his face displayed on the screen.
The conversation turned to encryption and cybersecurity, but here's where an astrophysicist differs from a journalist: Tyson's line of questioning quickly turned to how encryption relates to communication with ... aliens.
Tyson asked Snowden if a highly intelligent alien civilization might be communicating with encrypted messages. And Snowden had an unsettling answer.
First, Snowden said, let's assume that most advanced societies eventually realize that they need to encrypt their communication in order to protect it. This could also be the reason why we've never heard from other civilizations — their messages may have just been melding into the background static of the universe.
Here's Snowden's full answer, from the StarTalk podcast:
So if you have an alien civilization trying to listen for other civilizations, or our civilization trying to listen for aliens, there's only one small period in the development of their society when all of their communication will be sent via the most primitive and most unprotected means.
So when we think about everything that we're hearing through our satellites or everything that they're hearing from our civilization (if there are indeed aliens out there), all of their communications are encrypted by default.
So what we are hearing, that's actually an alien television show or, you know, a phone call ... is indistinguishable to us from cosmic microwave background radiation.
So it could be possible there are alien messages constantly hitting our satellites, and we just don't recognize them because they're so heavily encrypted. (The cosmic microwave background radiation that Snowden mentions is thermal radiation throughout the universe left over from the Big Bang. It basically looks and sounds like static to us puny humans.)
(emphasis original)
This is way cooler than I will ever be.
Labels: Astronomy , Civil Rights , Privacy , Science , win
Maybe Ron Paul Should Hit Marco Rubio with a Folding Chair at the next Debate
Looks to me like a sucker punch
Because if Rubio's staff is going WWE Raw on Paul's Staff, responding in kind might be well advised:
Video footage appears to show a top official for the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio punching the national political director of a rival candidate, Rand Paul.
The incident is alleged to have occurred during a conference on a Michigan island on Thursday night.
In a Facebook post early on Friday morning, John Yob, a Michigan-based political consultant who serves as national political director for the Paul campaign, said Rubio’s deputy campaign manager, Rich Beeson, punched him in a downtown bar on Mackinac Island.
“I ran into a guy named Rich Beeson, who frankly I didn’t even know who it was at first because he isn’t relevant in our political world,” Yob said.
“He literally physically assaulted me by punching me in the face. The state police are looking for him. I have it on video from multiple angles. This will play out in the national media in the next few hours.”
Shannon Banner, spokesperson for Michigan state police, told the Guardian it was not involved in the investigation, which is being handled by the Mackinac Island police department.
“It wasn’t a brawl,” the Mackinac Island police chief, Brett Riccinto, told the Guardian on Friday. “If anything, it was a shove. Literally, it was a shove. This thing has been blown way, way, way out of proportion.”
Riccinto, however, said a complaint had been made for assault, and it had been forwarded to the prosecutor to decide if charges would be filed. He confirmed the alleged incident occurred at Horn’s Gaslight Bar & Restaurant.
It really is the silly season in Republican politics.
Labels: Politics , Presidential Campaign , Stupid , Video , Violence
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We have successfully lobbyed in favor of restitution process, regarding confiscation and nationalization laws and decisions that link the Nazi occupation 1941-1944 and the forthcoming communist period.
We are especially proud of taking part in public pressure and successful passing the 2016 compensation law for heirless confiscated Jewish property, the first such law envisaged by the Terezín Declaration of 46 states in 2009.
Prague Holocaust Era Assets Conference: Terezin Declaration
Upon the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic we the representatives of 46 states listed below met this day, June 30, 2009 in Terezin, where thousands of European Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution died or were sent to death camps during World War II. We participated in the Prague Holocaust Era Assets Conference organized by the Czech Republic and its partners in Prague and Terezin from 26-30 June 2009, discussed together with experts and non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives important issues such as Welfare of Holocaust (Shoah) Survivors and other Victims of Nazi Persecution, Immovable Property, Jewish Cemeteries and Burial Sites, Nazi- Confiscated and Looted Art, Judaica and Jewish Cultural Property, Archival Materials, and Education, Remembrance, Research and Memorial Sites. We join affirming in this
Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets and Related Issues
– Aware that Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and other victims of Nazi persecution have reached an advanced age and that it is imperative to respect their personal dignity and to deal with their social welfare needs, as an issue of utmost urgency,
– Having in mind the need to enshrine for the benefit of future generations and to remember forever the unique history and the legacy of the Holocaust (Shoah), which exterminated three fourths of European Jewry, including its premeditated nature as well as other Nazi crimes,
– Noting the tangible achievements of the 1997 London Nazi Gold Conference, and the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, which addressed central issues relating to restitution and successfully set the stage for the significant advances of the next decade, as well as noting the January 2000 Stockholm Declaration, the October 2000 Vilnius Conference on Holocaust Era Looted Cultural Assets,
– Recognizing that despite those achievements there remain substantial issues to be addressed, because only a part of the confiscated property has been recovered or compensated,
– Taking note of the deliberations of the Working Groups and the Special Session on Social Welfare of Holocaust Survivors and their points of view and opinions which surveyed and addressed issues relating to the Social Welfare of Holocaust Survivors and other Victims of Nazi Persecution, Immovable Property, Nazi Confiscated Art, Judaica and Jewish Cultural Property, Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research, which can be found on the weblink for the Prague Conference and will be published in the Conference Proceedings,
– Keeping in mind the legally non-binding nature of this Declaration and moral responsibilities thereof, and without prejudice to applicable international law and obligations,
1. Recognizing that Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and other victims of the Nazi regime and its collaborators suffered unprecedented physical and emotional trauma during their ordeal, the Participating States take note of the special social and medical needs of all survivors and strongly support both public and private efforts in their respective states to enable them to live in dignity with the necessary basic care that it implies.
2. Noting the importance of restituting communal and individual immovable property that belonged to the victims of the Holocaust (Shoah) and other victims of Nazi persecution, the Participating States urge that every effort be made to rectify the consequences of wrongful property seizures, such as confiscations, forced sales and sales under duress of property, which were part of the persecution of these innocent people and groups, the vast majority of whom died heirless.
3. Recognizing the progress that has been made in research, identification, and restitution of cultural property by governmental and non-governmental institutions in some states since the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets and the endorsement of the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, the Participating States affirm an urgent need to strengthen and sustain these efforts in order to ensure just and fair solutions regarding cultural property, including Judaica that was looted or displaced during or as a result of the Holocaust (Shoah).
4. Taking into account the essential role of national governments, the Holocaust (Shoah) survivors’ organizations, and other specialized NGOs, the Participating States call for a coherent and more effective approach by States and the international community to ensure the fullest possible, relevant archival access with due respect to national legislation. We also encourage States and the international community to establish and support research and education programs about the Holocaust (Shoah) and other Nazi crimes, ceremonies of remembrance and commemoration, and the preservation of memorials in former concentration camps, cemeteries and mass graves, as well as of other sites of memory.
5. Recognizing the rise of Anti-Semitism and Holocaust (Shoah) denial, the Participating States call on the international community to be stronger in monitoring and responding to such incidents and to develop measures to combat anti-Semitism.
The Welfare of Holocaust (Shoah) Survivors and other Victims of Nazi Persecution
Recognizing that Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and other victims of Nazi persecution, including those who experienced the horrors of the Holocaust (Shoah) as small and helpless children, suffered unprecedented physical and emotional trauma during their ordeal.
Mindful that scientific studies document that these experiences frequently result in heightened damage to health, particularly in old age, we place great priority on dealing with their social welfare needs in their lifetimes. It is unacceptable that those who suffered so greatly during the earlier part of their lives should live under impoverished circumstances at the end.
1. We take note of the fact that Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and other victims of Nazi persecution have today reached an advanced age and that they have special medical and health needs, and we therefore support, as a high priority, efforts to address in their respective states the social welfare needs of the most vulnerable elderly victims of Nazi persecution – such as hunger relief, medicine and homecare as required, as well as measures that will encourage intergenerational contact and allow them to overcome their social isolation. These steps will enable them to live in dignity in the years to come. We strongly encourage cooperation on these issues.
2. We further take note that several states have used a variety of creative mechanisms to provide assistance to needy Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and other victims of Nazi persecution, including special pensions; social security benefits to non-residents; special funds; and the use of assets from heirless property. We encourage states to consider these and other alternative national actions, and we further encourage them to find ways to address survivors’ needs.
Immovable (Real) Property
Noting that the protection of property rights is an essential component of a democratic society and the rule of law,
Acknowledging the immeasurable damage sustained by individuals and Jewish communities as a result of wrongful property seizures during the Holocaust (Shoah),
Recognizing the importance of restituting or compensating Holocaust-related confiscations made during the Holocaust era between 1933-45 and as its immediate consequence,
Noting the importance of recovering communal and religious immovable property in reviving and enhancing Jewish life, ensuring its future, assisting the welfare needs of Holocaust (Shoah) survivors, and fostering the preservation of Jewish cultural heritage,
1. We urge, where it has not yet been effectively achieved, to make every effort to provide for the restitution of former Jewish communal and religious property by either in rem restitution or compensation, as may be appropriate; and
2. We consider it important, where it has not yet been effectively achieved, to address the private property claims of Holocaust (Shoah) victims concerning immovable (real) property of former owners, heirs or successors, by either in rem restitution or compensation, as may be appropriate, in a fair, comprehensive and nondiscriminatory manner consistent with relevant national law and regulations, as well as international agreements. The process of such restitution or compensation should be expeditious, simple, accessible, transparent, and neither burdensome nor costly to the individual claimant; and we note other positive legislation in this area.
3. We note that in some states heirless property could serve as a basis for addressing the material necessities of needy Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and to ensure ongoing education about the Holocaust (Shoah), its causes and consequences.
4. We recommend, where it has not been done, that states participating in the Prague Conference consider implementing national programs to address immovable (real) property confiscated by Nazis, Fascists and their collaborators. If and when established by the Czech Government, the European Shoah Legacy Institute in Terezin shall facilitate an intergovernmental effort to develop non-binding guidelines and best practices for restitution and compensation of wrongfully seized immovable property to be issued by the one-year anniversary of the Prague Conference, and no later than June 30, 2010, with due regard for relevant national laws and regulations as well as international agreements, and noting other positive legislation in this area.
Jewish Cemeteries and Burial Sites
Recognizing that the mass destruction perpetrated during the Holocaust (Shoah) put an end to centuries of Jewish life and included the extermination of thousands of Jewish communities in much of Europe, leaving the graves and cemeteries of generations of Jewish families and communities unattended, and
Aware that the genocide of the Jewish people left the human remains of hundreds of thousands of murdered Jewish victims in unmarked mass graves scattered throughout Central and Eastern Europe,
We urge governmental authorities and municipalities as well as civil society and competent institutions to ensure that these mass graves are identified and protected and that the Jewish cemeteries are demarcated, preserved and kept free from desecration, and where appropriate under national legislation could consider declaring these as national monuments.
Nazi-Confiscated and Looted Art
Recognizing that art and cultural property of victims of the Holocaust (Shoah) and other victims of Nazi persecution was confiscated, sequestered and spoliated, by the Nazis, the Fascists and their collaborators through various means including theft, coercion and confiscation, and on grounds of relinquishment as well as forced sales and sales under duress, during the Holocaust era between 1933-45 and as an immediate consequence, and
Recalling the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art as endorsed at the Washington Conference of 1998, which enumerated a set of voluntary commitments for governments that were based upon the moral principle that art and cultural property confiscated by the Nazis from Holocaust (Shoah) victims should be returned to them or their heirs, in a manner consistent with national laws and regulations as well as international obligations, in order to achieve just and fair solutions,
1. We reaffirm our support of the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art and we encourage all parties including public and private institutions and individuals to apply them as well,
2. In particular, recognizing that restitution cannot be accomplished without knowledge of potentially looted art and cultural property, we stress the importance for all stakeholders to continue and support intensified systematic provenance research, with due regard to legislation, in both public and private archives, and where relevant to make the results of this research, including ongoing updates, available via the internet, with due regard to privacy rules and regulations. Where it has not already been done, we also recommend the establishment of mechanisms to assist claimants and others in their efforts,
3. Keeping in mind the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, and considering the experience acquired since the Washington Conference, we urge all stakeholders to ensure that their legal systems or alternative processes, while taking into account the different legal traditions, facilitate just and fair solutions with regard to Nazi-confiscated and looted art, and to make certain that claims to recover such art are resolved expeditiously and based on the facts and merits of the claims and all the relevant documents submitted by all parties. Governments should consider all relevant issues when applying various legal provisions that may impede the restitution of art and cultural property, in order to achieve just and fair solutions, as well as alternative dispute resolution, where appropriate under law.
Judaica and Jewish Cultural Property
Recognizing that the Holocaust (Shoah) also resulted in the wholesale looting of Judaica and Jewish cultural property including sacred scrolls, synagogue and ceremonial objects as well as the libraries, manuscripts, archives and records of Jewish communities, and
Aware that the murder of six million Jews, including entire communities, during the Holocaust (Shoah) meant that much of this historical patrimony could not be reclaimed after World War II, and
Recognizing the urgent need to identify ways to achieve a just and fair solution to the issue of Judaica and Jewish cultural property, where original owners, or heirs of former original Jewish owners, individuals or legal persons cannot be identified, while acknowledging there is no universal model,
1. We encourage and support efforts to identify and catalogue these items which may be found in archives, libraries, museums and other government and non-government repositories, to return them to their original rightful owners and other appropriate individuals or institutions according to national law, and to consider a voluntary international registration of Torah scrolls and other Judaica objects where appropriate, and
2. We encourage measures that will ensure their protection, will make appropriate materials available to scholars, and where appropriate and possible in terms of conservation, will restore sacred scrolls and ceremonial objects currently in government hands to synagogue use, where needed, and will facilitate the circulation and display of such Judaica internationally by adequate and agreed upon solutions.
Whereas access to archival documents for both claimants and scholars is an essential element for resolving questions of the ownership of Holocaust-era assets and for advancing education and research on the Holocaust (Shoah) and other Nazi crimes,
Acknowledging in particular that more and more archives have become accessible to researchers and the general public, as witnessed by the Agreement reached on the archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen, Germany,
Welcoming the return of archives to the states from whose territory they were removed during or as an immediate consequence of the Holocaust (Shoah),
We encourage governments and other bodies that maintain or oversee relevant archives to make them available to the fullest extent possible to the public and researchers in accordance with the guidelines of the International Council on Archives, with due regard to national legislation, including provisions on privacy and data protection, while also taking into account the special circumstances created by the Holocaust era and the needs of the survivors and their families, especially in cases concerning documents that have their origin in Nazi rules and laws.
Education, Remembrance, Research and Memorial Sites
Acknowledging the importance of education and remembrance about the Holocaust (Shoah) and other Nazi crimes as an eternal lesson for all humanity,
Recognizing the preeminence of the Stockholm Declaration on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research of January 2000,
Recognizing that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted in significant part in the realization of the horrors that took place during the Holocaust, and further recognizing the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,
Recalling the action of the United Nations and of other international and national bodies in establishing an annual day of Holocaust remembrance,
Saluting the work of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF) as it marks its tenth anniversary, and encouraging the States participating in the Prague Conference to cooperate closely with the Task Force, and
Repudiating any denial of the Holocaust (Shoah) and combating its trivialization or diminishment, while encouraging public opinion leaders to stand up against such denial, trivialization or diminishment,
1. We strongly encourage all states to support or establish regular, annual ceremonies of remembrance and commemoration, and to preserve memorials and other sites of memory and martyrdom. We consider it important to include all individuals and all nations who were victims of the Nazi regime in a worthy commemoration of their respective fates,
2. We encourage all states as a matter of priority to include education about the Holocaust (Shoah) and other Nazi crimes in the curriculum of their public education systems and to provide funding for the training of teachers and the development or procurement of the resources and materials required for such education.
3. Believing strongly that international human rights law reflects important lessons from history, and that the understanding of human rights is essential for confronting and preventing all forms of racial, religious or ethnic discrimination, including Anti-Semitism, and Anti-Romani sentiment, today we are committed to including human rights education into the curricula of our educational systems. States may wish to consider using a variety of additional means to support such education, including heirless property where appropriate.
4. As the era is approaching when eye witnesses of the Holocaust (Shoah) will no longer be with us and when the sites of former Nazi concentration and extermination camps, will be the most important and undeniable evidence of the tragedy of the Holocaust (Shoah), the significance and integrity of these sites including all their movable and immovable remnants, will constitute a fundamental value regarding all the actions concerning these sites, and will become especially important for our civilization including, in particular, the education of future generations. We, therefore, appeal for broad support of all conservation efforts in order to save those remnants as the testimony of the crimes committed there to the memory and warning for the generations to come and where appropriate to consider declaring these as national monuments under national legislation.
Future Action
Further to these ends we welcome and are grateful for the Czech Government´s initiative to establish the European Shoah Legacy Institute in Terezin (Terezin Institute) to follow up on the work of the Prague Conference and the Terezin Declaration. The Institute will serve as a voluntary forum for countries, organisations representing Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and other Nazi victims, and NGOs to note and promote developments in the areas covered by the Conference and this Declaration, and to develop and share best practices and guidelines in these areas and as indicated in paragraph four of Immovable (Real) Property. It will operate within the network of other national, European and international institutions, ensuring that duplicative efforts are avoided, for example, duplication of the activities of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF).
Following the conference proceedings and the Terezin Declaration, the European Commission and the Czech Presidency have noted the importance of the Institute as one of the instruments in the fight against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism in Europe and the rest of the world, and have called for other countries and institutions to support and cooperate with this Institute.
To facilitate the dissemination of information, the Institute will publish regular reports on activities related to the Terezin Declaration. The Institute will develop websites to facilitate sharing of information, particularly in the fields of art provenance, immovable property, social welfare needs of survivors, Judaica, and Holocaust education. As a useful service for all users, the Institute will maintain and post lists of websites that Participating States, organizations representing Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and other Nazi victims and NGOs sponsor as well as a website of websites on Holocaust issues.
We also urge the States participating in the Prague Conference to promote and disseminate the principles in the Terezin Declaration, and encourage those states that are members of agencies, organizations and other entities which address educational, cultural and social issues around the world, to help disseminate information about resolutions and principles dealing with the areas covered by the Terezin Declaration.
A more complete description of the Czech Government´s concept for the Terezin Institute and the Joint Declaration of the European Commission and the Czech EU Presidency can be found on the website for the Prague Conference and will be published in the conference proceedings.
1. Albania
5. Belarus
7. Bosnia and Herzegovina
8. Brazil
9. Bulgaria
11. Croatia
18. FYROM
27. Luxembourg
28. Malta
31. The Netherlands
36. Russia
41. Switzerland
The Holy See (observer)
Serbia (observer)
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How can I have a First Information Report (FIR) registered at a Police station?
What is the procedure for transfer of investigation in case a party is not satisfied with investigation?
What is section 182 about the punishment for having a false case registered?
What is section 144 and what does it imply?
How can I have a First Information Report (FIR) registered at a Police station? Top
An FIR is an account of a cognizable (i.e. over which police has jurisdiction) offence that is entered in a particular format in a register at the police station. Every person has a right to report any matter at the concerned police station and have a criminal case registered in the form of an FIR. The matter may be reported orally or in writing to an officer at a police station or on patrol. An officer who receives an oral report shall reduce it to writing and cause it to be recorded in the FIR register. A certified copy of the FIR, signed by an officer bearing the stamp of the police station is to be provided to the person who reports the crime.
No police officer has the authority to refuse registration of a case. In case a crime is reported and a case is not registered, the person who reports the crime must inform the Sub-Divisional Police Officer or the Superintendent of Police responsible for law and order in that particular area.
What is the procedure for transfer of Investigation in case a party is not satisfied with investigation? Top
Police Act 2011, provides the authority (IGP) to issue an order for the transfer of investigation. Either of the parties to a case may request a transfer of investigation. In case a party is not satisfied with the quality of an investigation or the conduct of an investigating officer, he may approach the district’s Superintendent of Police, Investigation, or the concerned SP, the DIG or Addl IGP who has his office in the Inspector General of Police Office Balochistan. The complaint should preferably be made in writing with a copy of the complainant’s National Identity Card attached to it. The complaint must contain the FIR no. of the case and the name of the concerned police station and district.
The change is ordered by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Balochistan. A complaint may be submitted to the IGP or the Addl. IGP (Admn). The matter would be referred to DIGP Special Branch for his opinion regarding such transfer of investigation to Crimes Branch etc or a direct order by the IGP Balochistan for change of investigation to Crimes Branch can be issued.
Usually DIGP Crimes Branch Quetta does not recommend a case for transfer unless its investigation has been completed. The investigating officers generally continue investigating the case while it's transfer is being considered.
What is section 182 and the punishment for having a false case registered? Top
Section 182 of the Pakistan Penal Code provides for a maximum penalty of six months in prison or fine or both in case a person deliberately has a false case registered. The section is however non-cognizable, i.e. the police cannot automatically register a case under section 182. A court has to order police to proceed against a person under section 182; in case a complaint has been brought to the court by the police or another person.
What is section 144 and what does it imply? Top
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) empowers district administration to issue orders in public interest that may place a ban on an activity for a specific period of time. Such a ban is enforced by the police who register cases under section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code against violations of the ban. Section 188 carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison or fine or both.
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South-east football team kicking on
April 9, 2019 Brodie Cowburn Sport No comments
DESPITE missing out on an A-League license late last year, the push for a professional football side based in Victoria’s south-east has gone into extra time. Members of the “Team 11” bid confirmed last week that they would continue fighting for a future spot in the A-League despite Football Federation Australia’s decision in December 2018 to deny them a license.
A statement from Team 11 said that it “wishes to confirm its intention to keep alive its ambition of delivering a professional men’s and women’s football club to the south-east of Victoria.”
“All involved with the Team 11 bid were overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and disappointment from members of the south-east Victorian community in the wake of Football Federation Australia’s decision to award A-League licences elsewhere in December,” the statement said.
“This support, coupled with the bid’s unwavering belief that this booming, multicultural population of more than 1.7 million is capable of growing what could become Australia’s biggest football club, was crucial in convincing all involved to keep the bid going.”
The bid centred around the construction of a rectangular stadium on council-owned land in Dandenong. The construction of that facility depended on a state government investment of over $100 million.
The statement put out by Team 11 outlined that their shareholders would continue to support of the venture, that Dandenong Council would continue advocating for the construction of a stadium in the municipality, and that Casey Council would continue planning for football facilities at Casey Fields. Construction of football facilities at the Casey Fields sports precinct in Cranbourne are already underway.
In late 2018, the FFA made the decision to overlook Team 11 in their A-League expansion process, instead choosing a team to be based out of Tarneit.
Major milestone for ‘Green Machine’...
Hillmen held goalless by Bulls...
Pythons a game clear on top
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| Impact | News | Bigwa Science Lab Construction Complete
Bigwa Science Lab Construction Complete
Funding was generously provided by the GHR Foundation out of Minneapolis, MN. A total of $458,222 in funding for the Bigwa Secondary School was was generously provided by the GHR Foundation to build labs for physics, chemistry, and biology and to upgrade science and math curriculum.
Funding was generously provided by the GHR Foundation out of Minneapolis, MN. A total of $458,222 for capital funding for the Bigwa Secondary School was given to build labs for physics, chemistry, and biology and to upgrade science and math curriculum. Funding was also used to upgrade teacher skills in science.
The strategic objectives of the Bigwa Secondary School capital project were:
To increase the capacity of the sister student graduates of Bigwa to minister in areas that will financially assist their communities.
To attain A-level status with the Tanzanian Department of Education for the Bigwa Secondary School.
The new science lab construction began on June 15, 2010 with a proposed completion date of January 2011.
Bigwa Secondary School for Sisters in Morogoro, Tanzania, is a residential high school for religious women who do not have a high school diploma. These women are typically in their twenties and have gone through the formation program in their communities. For a variety of reasons, such as a proclivity for educating only the boys in the family or poor access to a secondary school, they were not able to attend high school when they were the usual age for attendance.
In recent years, the school has also accepted local girls from the poorer strata of the area. Currently, enrollment is 340 students, of which 82 are sisters from Tanzanian congregations and 260 are girls from the region. The school is basically an O level school, which in the Tanzanian system means it is a terminal program emphasizing basic skills and crafts.
Girls in front of the Chemistry Laboratory
The Tanzania Catholic Association of Sisters (TCAS), which is the sponsor of the school, has asked ASEC to work with them to upgrade the school to a successful A level. This will enable more of its graduates to sit for the university entrance exam. University education is necessary to enter the professions such as nursing, teaching, and social work. Being prepared in such areas enables the sister to earn a salary and support her community, or it enables the community to sponsor a healthcare institute or a school and charge for its services. This in turn enables the religious community to care for and educate its members. The growing number of African religious, the aging of its first indigenous members, and the decline in the number of missionaries all make financial independence for these religious communities essential.
Sister Students of Bigwa School express their joy and gratitude for receiving new Science books. Front row left Sr. Generosa, headmistress Bigwa School; right Sr. Patricia Kijuu, Science teacher, standing at right, Sr. Lina Wanjiku. SLDI Coordinator East Africa.
Education in science and math are the key areas of the upgrade and will take additional training for the current faculty and a new facility. The current science lab is one classroom with almost no equipment. It will not accommodate laboratory classes, which are required as part of the curriculum.
Sr. Marietta says, “It is easier to understand Science when you touch because you are visualizing what is taking place and why things are happening…I now understand the purpose of experiments and study well because I am able to conduct experiments. I am grateful for the people who have helped us to have biology, chemistry and physics laboratories.”
The design for the new science laboratories was done by K.K. Associates in Dar es Salaam and included cost savings, more efficiency and introducing sustainable design techniques. Marywood University School of Architecture Dean Gregory Hunt traveled to Bigwa in February 2011 to help with the plans and to talk with the contractor.
This new facility is state-of-the-art and enables the school to truly upgrade its science program. Education in science and math are the key areas of the upgrade to an A level school, and will take additional training for the current faculty and a new facility.
The Bigwa Science teacher, Mr. Nevil M. Kasivu, is working well with the students and provides extra tutoring to students particularly Form 5 and 6.
Communities across Africa are counting on Catholic Sisters, but 80% lack the education needed to carry out their important mission work. You can be a Ray of Hope for a Sister who needs you by donating to her education today.
Scholarship Program, 2018 year in review
A year in review of ASEC's Scholarship Program for women religious in Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. Read about the program growth, celebrations and achievements as 2018 comes to an end.
22 ASEC scholarship recipients graduate from Bigwa Secondary School
ASEC donors supported the scholarships of 22 students who successfully graduated from Bigwa Secondary School in April, 2017. Sr. Maria discusses the success of Bigwa school in the area of society development.
2016 Bigwa Scholarship Recipients tell their stories
Read these short stories from 2016 Scholarship Program applicants from Bigwa Sisters School.
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Associate or Full Professor (Tenured) – Ph.D. Program in English – The Graduate Center at The City University of New York (CUNY)
By Webmaster on Wednesday, June, 19th, 2019 in Jobs. No Comments
Compensation: Competitive
Closing Date: Open until filled with review of applications to begin on July 15, 2019
Performs teaching, research and guidance duties in area(s) of expertise. Shares responsibility for committee and department assignments including administrative, supervisory, and other functions.
The Graduate Center is the focal point for advanced teaching and research at The City University of New York (CUNY), the nation's largest urban public university. With over 35 doctoral and master’s programs of the highest caliber, the Graduate Center fosters pioneering research and scholarship in the arts and sciences and prepares students for careers in universities and the private, nonprofit, and government sectors. The Graduate Center’s commitment to research and scholarship for the public good is exemplified by its more than 30 centers, institutes, and initiatives, including its Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC), a 200,000-square-foot facility in upper Manhattan designed to promote collaboration among scientists in global research and innovation.
The Graduate Center (GC) benefits from highly ambitious and diverse students and alumni who in turn teach hundreds of thousands of undergraduates every year. Through its public programs, the Graduate Center enhances New York City’s intellectual and cultural life.
The Ph.D. Program in English at the Graduate Center seeks an advanced Associate or full Professor in African American Studies or Black Studies, whose research and work cover any period of literary and cultural study. Areas of interest include African diaspora and Caribbean studies, the Black Radical Tradition, Black Feminisms, Black Queer Studies, gender and sexuality, and intersectional analysis of colonial histories and imperial formations. This is a tenured position that reports to the Executive Officer of the Ph.D. Program in English.
The Ph.D. Program in English is a major center for intellectual exchange and graduate training in the heart of New York City. As with other Ph.D. programs housed in the Graduate Center, the English department features a small cohort of “central-line” faculty who teach full time in the program and a much larger group of “consortial” faculty who teach and advise students at the Graduate Center in addition to their primary appointments at other colleges within the CUNY system. This arrangement provides our students with access to unparalleled breadth and depth in field coverage and approaches to scholarship, and enables the department to select the most accomplished researchers from the literary and cultural scholars who teach at eleven senior colleges and seven community colleges within CUNY. This appointment will be at the Graduate Center.
Recent hires at the Graduate Center in Anthropology, French, History, Philosophy, and Urban Education underscore an institutional commitment to the study of black life and thought on a global scale. The new appointment will be building on this commitment while strengthening both disciplinary and interdisciplinary offerings respectively in English and throughout the Graduate Center. The Associate or Full Professor will regularly teach, train, and mentor graduate students while conducting research and sharing their knowledge.
The position is expected to begin in Fall 2020.
For Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor:
Ph.D. degree in area(s) of experience or equivalent. Also required are the ability to teach successfully, demonstrated scholarship or achievement, and ability to cooperate with others for the good of the institution.
A preferred candidate should have:
Ph.D. in English or a related discipline.
Experience with graduate teaching, training, and mentoring.
Ability to teach graduate courses and supervise Master’s theses and Ph.D. dissertations.
A distinguished publication record. Extensive research experience in the history of black life and
thought as demonstrated by the publication of books and peer-reviewed articles.
A comprehensive agenda for future research.
Please apply using the link below:
https://home.cunyfirst.cuny.edu/psp/cnyepprd/GUEST/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL?Page=HRS_CE_JOB_DTL&Action=A&JobOpeningId=20437&SiteId=1&PostingSeq=1
Click on "Apply Now" which will bring you to the registration screen. If you are a new user, you must register to apply. If you already have a user ID, please use your existing ID to apply. Make sure to upload a cover letter, CV, and contact information for three (3) professional references (name, title, and organization). Please upload all documents as one file, in Word or PDF format.
Go to http://cuny.jobs/ and search for Job ID 20437.
Equal Employment Opportunity:
CUNY encourages people with disabilities, minorities, veterans and women to apply. At CUNY, Italian Americans are also included among our protected groups. Applicants and employees will not be discriminated against on the basis of any legally protected category, including sexual orientation or gender identity. EEO/AA/Vet/Disability Employer.
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Tue Jul 9
Medialink granted Best Commercial Value IP Award By CCG EXPO 2019
HONG KONG, July 9, 2019 - (ACN Newswire) - Medialink Group Limited ("Medialink" or the "Group", stock code: 2230.HK), a leading distributor of quality media content, announced today that it was granted the Best Commercial Value IP Award by China International Cartoon & Game Expo ("CCG EXPO") 2019, in recognition of the Groups success and contribution to the PRC animation industry.
Medialink has been engaging in animation content distribution and licensing in the PRC since 2000. Throughout years of hard work bringing quality international animation content to the market, Medialink is now PRC's largest Japanese animation distributor (based on revenue in 2017). Popular animation titles distributed in the PRC exclusively by Medialink includes 'My Hero Academia', 'Overlord III', 'Megalobox' etc. Riding on our experienced team, innovative ideas, credibility, market sense and hard work, the Group has established strong relationship with and won the trusts of both upstream and downstream business partners.
Ms. Lovinia Chiu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medialink, said, "We are happy to have received such an honour from CCG EXPO 2019, and congratulations to its 15th year of success. Thanks especially to our dedicated team of colleagues that has created effective marketing strategies to raise exposure and popularity of the animation titles we brought to the market, creating exceptional value to these IP brands. Moving forward, we will continue to bring quality content to the market, while also investing more resources to content production, with an aim of bringing more meaningful entertainment to the community."
CCG EXPO is a comprehensive exhibition of comics and games co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of the PRC and Shanghai Municipal People's Government, and co-organized by Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and TV, China Animation Comic Game (ACG) Group, (Shanghai) National Comics and Game Industry Revival Base, Shanghai Radio and TV Station and Shanghai Media Group (SMG). It is the one of the most acclaimed industry event in the Greater China region.
About Medialink Group LimitedMedialink Group Limited (2230.hk) is a leading distributor of third-party owned media content headquartered in Hong Kong with presence in the PRC, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Japan. The Group has been engaging in the business of media content distribution for over 18 years, and also operates the brand licensing business. Under the media content distribution business, the Group cooperates closely with media content licensors through entering into content distribution arrangements and distributes media content relating to animation series, variety shows, drama series and animated and live-action feature films. Under the brand licensing business, the Group is involved in licensing of various rights in relation to brands owned by brand licensors including 'merchandising rights' for the use in toys, apparels and footwear, health and beauty products, food and beverage; 'location-based entertainment rights' for events, theme parks, shopping malls, cafes and restaurants; and 'promotion rights' in the Asia Pacific region. According a report issued by Frost & Sullivan, the Company ranked number one among Japanese animation distributors in the PRC in terms of revenue in 2017.
Media Enquiries:Strategic Financial Relations LimitedCindy Lung Tel: (852) 2864 4867 Email: [email protected]Rachel Ko Tel: (852) 2114 2370 Email: [email protected] Suzanne Leung Tel: (852) 2864 4873 Email: [email protected]Website: www.sprg.com.hk [1][2][3][4]
Topic: Press release summarySectors: Daily Finance, Daily News[5][6] http://www.acnnewswire.com From the Asia Corporate News Network
^ www.sprg.com.hk (www.sprg.com.hk)
^ Daily Finance (www.acnnewswire.com)
^ Daily News (www.acnnewswire.com)
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Robert Timberg
Book Website
The Nightingale's Song
Robert Timberg discussed his book, "The Nightingale's Song," published by Simon and Schuster. Timberg, also an Annapolis graduate and Vietnam veteran, researched the careers of Oliver North, Robert McFarlane, Admiral John Poindexter, Senator John McCain, and Navy Secretary James Webb. He spent seven years interviewing and writing in an attempt to answer such questions as, How did North, McFarlane and Poindexter become involved in the Iran-Contra controversy?
Program Air Date: August 27, 1995
BRIAN LAMB, HOST: Bob Timberg, what's "The Nightingale's Song"?
ROBERT TIMBERG (Author, "The Nightingale's Song"): "The Nightingale's Song," Brian, is a tale of five men -- five larger-than-life men: Oliver North, John Poindexter and Bud McFarlane, the three men who were caught in the Iran-Contra scandal, Senator John McCain, who was a prisoner of war for five and a half years in North Vietnam; and James Webb, perhaps one of the Marines' most honored heroes of the Vietnam War, a critically acclaimed novelist and later Secretary of the Navy. This is their story, but what it also allowed me to do was to explore a fault line that I think first appeared within a generational divide, if you will. A fault line that first appeared during the Vietnam era in the 1960s and which I believe continues to haunt the nation three decades later. Essentially this fault line is between those who fought the war in Vietnam -- I'm talking about liberal conservatives and everyone in between -- and those who used money, wit and connections to avoid serving in that war.
LAMB: You live where?
TIMBERG: I live in Bethesda.
LAMB: Full-time job?
TIMBERG: Full-time job, I'm deputy chief of The Baltimore Sun Washington bureau -- a great American newspaper I might add.
LAMB: How many years did you work on this book?
TIMBERG: I worked on it for seven years. I had a one-year leave of absence that lasted five and a half years -- figured I'd be finished in two years. It wound up taking me seven. And so for five and a half years, I was doing nothing but this book, and then for a year and a half I was doing a full-time job and this book.
LAMB: What do you personally have in common with these five men?
TIMBERG: Well, this is the key. I mean, all five men are graduates of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis as I am. All were touched in varying ways by the Vietnam War and its aftermath and all became well-known during the Reagan years. I was also, like Oliver North, like James Webb and like Bud McFarlane -- I served as a Marine officer in Vietnam.
Interestingly, though, I was also at the time that the so-called Watergate of the 1980s broke -- the Iran-Contra scandal -- I was the White House correspondent for The Baltimore Sun. And suddenly, in this strange juxtaposition of circumstances, suddenly there were three men -- Oliver North, Bud McFarlane and John Poindexter -- suddenly at the heart of this scandal and there I was, as the White House correspondent, with very similar background. And it was this background, I think, that made me feel I needed to go off and try and answer the question of, how the heck did this happen? And after a year of covering Iran-Contra, that's what I did.
LAMB: At no place in this book do we hear your story.
TIMBERG: No. That's right. I'm a reporter. I'm a journalist. And it now looks like I'm an author. But this isn't my story. And you my story is of interest to close friends and family and a few have heard it. But this is their story and it's a better story.
LAMB: Do you mind me asking you about your story? If you -- even if you do mind me asking about your story, I'm going to ask you anyway. You can ...
TIMBERG: Well, let me say this. I've asked a lot of people a lot of questions and I've never let them squirm off the hook -- so if the role is reversed, I guess it's reversed. But this is -- I will tell you that this is not something that I'm especially happy to talk about -- but what do you want to know?
LAMB: Vietnam -- when did you go?
TIMBERG: Went in 1966 and got home in 1967.
LAMB: And what year were you at the academy?
TIMBERG: I was there in 1960 -- '60 to '64. Interestingly, everybody in this book brackets me. In other words, John Poindexter and John McCain, with the Class of 1958; Bud McFarlane was the Class of 1959; Jim Webb and Oliver North were the Class of 1968; I was the Class of 1964, so I didn't overlap with anybody. Actually I overlapped with Oliver North for a year. I was a senior when he was a plebe. I didn't know him. And I think, if you wouldn't mind, I'd also like to make it clear that this book is not a book about buddies of mine. These are people that I have never been social friends -- were not even, in fact, good sources, but they were these common experiences that we shared that I thought would give me an insight into how at least three of them had -- why they may have acted as they did.
LAMB: Who spent the most time with you?
TIMBERG: Everybody spent a lot of time. McFarlane, Webb and John McCain spent a lot of time right from the beginning. John Poindexter wouldn't agree to speak to me until something like three and a half years in. And Oliver North probably four years into my research. At that point, I probably spent a little less time -- substantially less time with Oliver North. At that point, though, he had written two books of his own and his story was very well known. At the same time, because I didn't think I would get a chance to speak to Poindexter or North, I did a lot of research around them. And so when I got to the point where their voice was -- when I could speak to them and explore things with them, at that point I knew a lot. I mean, I had to spend a week in their hometowns. I had talked to -- everything that moved I had talked to, everything from Boy Scout leaders to old girlfriends to family to people on the fringe. I just talked to a lot of people and so I knew a lot when I finally had a chance to actually speak to Poindexter and North. I mean, it was very important for me to hear their voices and for their voices to be in the book; particularly Admiral Poindexter, who was perhaps the least known or at least known with any sort of depth and perspective. That was really important to me and it would have been a major loss if Admiral Poindexter hadn't taken time to talk to me.
LAMB: Now a technical question: how can you be a Marine and go to the Naval Academy?
TIMBERG: Well, actually, as an old Navy man yourself, Brian, the Department of the Navy includes the Navy and the Marine Corps. And so the Naval Academy is the Academy for the Marine Corps.
LAMB: How many of these gentlemen on this page were in the Marines?
TIMBERG: Three. Bud McFarlane, James Webb and Oliver North.
LAMB: And after you got out of the academy in '64, where did you go first?
TIMBERG: The first place I went was Quantico, Virginia, which is Marine officers' training. It's equivalent, in a way, to boot camp for enlisted men, but tougher.
LAMB: And then where?
TIMBERG: Then I went to Camp Pendleton, California, for about eight months and then I was in the Marine Corps -- what you call mount-out. Essentially the Marines were going to Vietnam, and we were all going in units. It wasn't as in years later where there would be individual replacements. I went with my own unit as did mostly everybody else. We didn't go singly; we went as a unit.
LAMB: So what year did you get shipped to Vietnam?
TIMBERG: I think it was March of 1967. I think it was March.
LAMB: What were the circumstances when you got there?
TIMBERG: In Vietnam in 1967, this was still a rough war and we were still -- as it was, in fact, for another five years -- we were feeling our way. We were starting to build up. We were doing some large unit operations but, again, it was a lot of small unit operations. And, frankly, it seemed a lot of chasing ourselves.
LAMB: And what was your assignment?
TIMBERG: I was the assistant operations officer for what was called the first anti-tank battalion. It was a unit that no longer exists. It was essentially a very small -- we had these very small ugly vehicles called Ontos, which is the Greek word for thing. They had six 105-millimeter recoil-less rifles mounted on them and they were used against tanks, had there been tanks, which their weren't. They were used for direct support of the infantry and also on convoy duty.
LAMB: Did you see combat?
TIMBERG: Oh, yeah.
LAMB: How long were you in combat?
TIMBERG: Well, just about everybody was there. Even the people who were in the rear echelons in Vietnam saw something approaching combat. I mean, no place was safe. We were always out, but we weren't always, on a daily basis, under fire. So, it's hard to quantify.
LAMB: If you got there in March of '67, when did you come home?
TIMBERG: I came home in February of '68.
LAMB: And what kind -- I mean, when you read through this book and all these connections with everybody, how much of this was you yourself working out your experience there?
TIMBERG: Well, actually, you might -- I mean, I think the point we're edging to is, was I wounded over there? Yes, I was. And I came home and I had a few bad years and I then said it's time for me to go on with my life. And I did. I mean, I put Vietnam very much off to the side. In a way, this was -- in this way, at least, I think I feel particularly close to Senator McCain, who I think said, "Whatever happened, it's over. And whatever I'm going to be -- good, bad, whatever -- whatever destiny has in store for me, I'm going to make it happen, Vietnam or no Vietnam." And I essentially moved on from there.
I became a journalist almost by throwing a dart. There comes a time sometimes when you just have to do something, and it doesn't much matter what it is. And I was at a stage in my life where I just needed to do something and that meant I decided I was going to go to journalism school and I went -- got a master's in journalism at Stanford. And I became a reporter. And I went from there. I found out I was good at it. But I had no reason to really think that at the time. All I knew was I had to do something.
LAMB: Now when you came back from Vietnam, were you coming back because you were wounded?
TIMBERG: Right.
LAMB: Where did you go, initially?
TIMBERG: After I was wounded?
LAMB: Yeah.
TIMBERG: I went initially to a field hospital in Da Nang; then I went to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines; then I was in a hospital in Japan for about two months; and then the next year or so, San Diego Naval Hospital.
LAMB: For a year?
TIMBERG: Yeah, but it was -- you know, what I would have was -- yes. Yes. Yes. But I would have an operation and then I would spend a week in the hospital and go home for two or three weeks, come back and have another operation, go home for two weeks and I just did it over and over again.
LAMB: How many operations?
TIMBERG: A lot. It was a lot.
LAMB: When were you through with operations where you could go on with your life and you didn't have to worry about it anymore?
TIMBERG: Probably even after I went to Stanford and even after I got my first newspaper job there were times when I went back and would have some more surgery. Plastic surgery is the kind of thing that -- it's not like you can be a German war criminal and you go into the operating room and you come out and you're Robert Redford or vice versa. It doesn't happen that way. I mean, skin is like -- in many ways like a baseball glove. It's got to go through stages and there would be contractions, there would be healing, there would be setbacks and so there would be times when I would do it and I would go in to get another operation even -- I'd take a couple of weeks off and I'd get some operations. Started my first newspaper job at the Annapolis Evening Capital in 1970 and then I took off for another year and had some more operations and then I started it -- I went to work for The Baltimore Evening Sun in 1973. And when I came to my last operation there -- you can go on forever doing this stuff and I said, "That's it. I don't want to do this anymore." And so I haven't.
LAMB: When you sat down to talk to these five men, the fact that you had been through all this -- did it make it harder or easier?
TIMBERG: Well, you know, that's the thing. If I had done this book in 1973, '74, '75, it would be junk. I needed to get away from this. I needed to get it way, way out of my life and go on and do what I needed to do. And I did -- I never, frankly, had a compelling need to write this book until 20 years later when suddenly things happened and I could provide journalistic distance, where I could do something that I thought was worthy and not just a complaint.
And, you know, people have said to me, "This must have been really hard for you to go through this again -- go back through all of this." And the fact of the matter is, it was hard but it wasn't hard for that reason. It was hard because it was a hard book to research and write. And whatever frustration or anger that I felt -- it was the anger and frustration of a journalist because sometimes I thought this story isn't coming together. It's not -- there's something I need to know and I don't know it and -- but it was never, you know, afterflash. It was just journalistic craziness, if you will.
LAMB: "The Nightingale's Song," where did you get the title? What's it mean?
TIMBERG: There's a tale which may, in fact, be scientific truth, that a nightingale raised in isolation from other nightingales can never sing, but once exposed to the song of another nightingale it begins singing like it's been doing it all its life as if it has a template in its brain that gets triggered by the song of another nightingale. And as I working to try to make this all make sense, for this to fit together the way I thought it should, I heard this tale and in effect, it arrayed the iron filings for me. I mean, in this elaborate metaphor, Ronald Reagan is the nightingale -- the singer of the nightingale's song. And it was my sense that a good portion of this generation that I'm exploring -- those who went, if you will -- but in the aftermath of Vietnam, their voices, once very lusty and full-throated, had been stunned into silence by the homecoming. And throughout the '70s, that was the case.
And then, as we get into the late '70s, we have Ronald Reagan who says Vietnam was a noble cause. He didn't say it was a great war. He didn't even say it was a war that we should have won given the way we fought it, but he said what we did, what we tried to do when we went was just. And in a way, Ronald Reagan became the parade that nobody -- that Vietnam veterans never had. He was like a one-man welcoming committee when they came back and in many ways he rehabilitated the Vietnam veteran in the eyes of the nation. I mean, suddenly, veterans were not being viewed as baby killers. They weren't being spat on. Reagan said, "I'm proud of you. You did your duty. You're men I can count on, men I trust. Wear your uniform with pride." And it was as if he had given back -- given veterans back their voice. He re-empowered them. They became part of the body politic again in a very positive way, for the most part. And that -- in fact, those words of Ronald Reagan became the nightingale's song.
LAMB: Let me read you the last line of your book. "And Oliver North, testing his wings, perfecting his songs, had become the nightingale." Those are the last words you wrote for your book. Why did you decide to end it that way?
TIMBERG: Because I felt that President Reagan, whom -- as I'm sure you know from reading this book, does not walk away from this book in a very particularly positive way. Nevertheless, he was able, as a public figure, as a politician, as a president, to go, in many ways, over the head of the press. He was able to strike chords with the American people. In my sense, it was that Oliver North had many of those same qualities, that kind of charisma that led people to stand up and cheer and rally around him by the millions when he appeared before Congress and said to Congress, "I lied. I lied to you." And when I wrote that, Oliver North had just lost the election in Virginia for the United States Senate and I began -- as I wrote it, I felt that strongly, but I still questioned whether it was true in the final analysis, because he was, in fact, it seemed, flat on his back after that Virginia campaign.
And then I noticed like a month or so later, it said Oliver North is going to become a radio talk show host and it said he had like three stations he was going to be on and I thought, "Boy, old Ollie, he's going to have problems." And I looked about a week ago and I saw in the paper that North now has something like 121 stations that carry his talk show and I remember Chris Matthews -- he used to be Tip O'Neill's press secretary -- once referred to Reagan as the fastest man off the mat in American politics. And it may well be that we have not heard the last from Oliver North, that he may be pretty fast off the mat himself.
LAMB: Now this isn't -- you may not want to answer this question but right here are the five men that you write about. If you had to pick one of these men to spend an evening with in conversation, who's the best?
TIMBERG: I would enjoy spending an evening with all of them and for different reasons and probably with different things on the top of the bar -- like I might -- but I think the thing that I found that was surprising to me, given his image -- that was how much I enjoyed talking to Admiral Poindexter. And Admiral Poindexter -- there's kind of -- I think my book is filled with ironies. And one of my favorite ironies involves Admiral Poindexter and Senator McCain. Admiral Poindexter was the number-one man in his class at Annapolis. He was also the brigade commander at the highest leadership post. That stature that dual honor has been achieved probably by a handful of men at all the nation's service academies.
Senator McCain, on the other hand, graduated in that same class fifth from the bottom in a class of about 1,000. He was a congenital screw-up. Nevertheless, on Election Day 1984, as word of the Iranian arms sales -- the sale of arms to Iran supposedly in exchange for hostages -- at least as it was presented at that time -- was making its way back to the United States -- the story had originally appeared in a newspaper in Beirut -- and Admiral Poindexter was, in effect, on the verge of professional ruin -- John McCain, the fifth from the bottom of the class, was being elected to the United States Senate.
LAMB: There's the boxing story.
TIMBERG: The boxing story -- Jim Webb and Ollie North, same class -- Class of 1968 -- never really liked one another. It was like they were oil and water. At any rate, North had been in a terrible car accident in his plebe year and it was questionable whether he could ever return to the academy. By an enormous force of will and rehabilitation, he managed to come back and he was in Jim Webb's class. Both of them were boxers, but Webb had been boxing for years, almost from the time he was 12, 13. And he was very, very good. North was what somebody called a good Saturday night boxer. I mean, he just seemed to rise to the occasion. Webb, on the other hand, knew he could -- under ordinary circumstances -- could just take North apart. But Ollie had knee braces from his car accident.
People went up to Webb and said, "Hey, Jimmy, you hit Ollie too hard, you might kill him." And Webb knew this was baloney. How -- I mean, no one was going to let somebody in the ring with a steel plate in his head, which is one of the things he had heard. But somehow Webb got himself psyched out in this and when you box -- particularly when you box at the academy, because no one is a great stylist, you've got to go in there and you've got to meet -- you've got to fight to win, you've got to have -- you've got to be psychologically attuned to taking your classmate's head off, if you will. And Webb wasn't. I mean, he went in there, he was tentative, he was very stylish. He ducked, he moved and North looked kind of sloppy. But North landed some punches and this fight ended up with Ollie North beating Jim Webb in a fight that everybody else felt Jim Webb was going to win hands-down.
LAMB: Let me ask you about these five and just a quick thumbnail sketch of what they did in Vietnam. Let's just start with Jim Webb.
TIMBERG: Jim Webb was a platoon leader, a rifle platoon commander and he was also a company commander. He won the Navy Cross, which is the nation's second highest award for battlefield gallantry after the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Marine Corps very rarely awards the Congressional Medal of Honor to anybody that survives the experience. He won two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, several Purple Hearts. Webb is one of the toughest people I've ever met and remains so to this day. And yet -- and Webb was a superb Marine, but in one -- and this sort of in some ways lays a base line for what a lot of Vietnam veterans brought home with them and that -- during one two-month period, he had 56 of his men either killed or wounded. It was this grisly alchemy of war. It just turned his men into statistics. And Webb has -- he has never forgotten his men. He has never forgotten their names. He is perhaps a man who has been closer to his men than any officer -- you know, years later -- to this day --than anybody I know.
LAMB: Where is he today?
TIMBERG: Jim Webb today is not far from here. He's working on a -- as you know, he was Secretary of the Navy. He is now attempting to make his book -- the book he wrote shortly after Vietnam called "Fields of Fire," widely viewed as perhaps the best war novel to come out of the Vietnam War -- he's working to try to get it made into a movie. And Webb will do that. Webb was able to come back from Vietnam -- he never would have gotten out of the service. He was forced to get out because of combat wounds. And one day he was sitting in law class at Georgetown University, a class -- 125 -- of which he was the only Vietnam veteran and was hearing the war debated day after day, almost invariably in an anti-war setting and he just said, "I'm going to write a book that tells people what it was really like." Webb's credentials for doing this were zip. But he said, "I'm going to do it." And four years later, writing in longhand, 11, 12 drafts, several rejections, he did it and it was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and it's widely, widely acclaimed. And if Webb says he's going to make a movie out of it, Webb's going to make a movie out of it.
LAMB: Bud McFarlane's Vietnam experience?
TIMBERG: Bud McFarlane's Vietnam experience was -- he was an artillery officer. He went in with the first wave of Marines and the first wave of American forces in March of 1965. He was only there at that point for about a month, a month and a half, and his tour ended. He came back a second time. He was there during the Tet offensive of 1968, where he just saw incredible carnage. I mean, he was never wounded himself but he certainly saw friends, comrades killed and maimed. And he is, of course, as you know, perhaps the most intellectual of all the five men in this book.
But there's no question that for all that intellect, Bud McFarlane was there in a very, very serious way. And he left and he never -- like most of his other men, he could not quite put together what had happened. I mean, he thought the senior military leadership was seriously flawed, if not incompetent, but the thing that he really couldn't quite make fit together was the thing many of us couldn't fit together, which was the homecoming.
It wasn't that the war was so bad. I mean, war is just a terrible thing. But the Korean War was terrible. World War II was terrible. World War I was terrible. The Peloponnesian War was terrible. It was the homecoming. It was coming home after watching and seeing friends and comrades killed and maimed and suddenly being spit on, being called a baby killer. There was a chaplain who was with Ollie North's platoon -- I mean, not only were you being called this but the people who were doing it, the people who had, in effect, walked away in many ways from this war, were flourishing. It was as if there was no stigma attached to what, in earlier times -- and not all that much earlier -- was called draft dodging. And this chaplain who served with Ollie North's battalion in Vietnam, he said what that does is it dislocates loyalty. He says, "I can never trust the system again. It just now becomes a filter through which I view everything that happens." And a friend of Jim Webb's who's quoted in the book, says, "There's a wall 10 miles wide, 10 miles high and 50 miles thick between those of us who went and those who didn't and that wall is never going to come down."
LAMB: John Poindexter's Vietnam experience.
TIMBERG: John Poindexter fits into this book for a number of reasons but also because he never went to Vietnam. And he becomes a person through which I try -- I'm able to show, I think, how this Vietnam anger, hostility, sense of betrayal has worked its way into the military culture. You know, Navy men -- Navy pilots went to Vietnam but a lot of the Navy did not go to Vietnam. It was not -- almost every Marine went to Vietnam and a good portion of the people in the Army, but the Navy -- submariners -- they didn't go to Vietnam and the people who sail the ships -- many of them were off the coast but Admiral Poindexter did none of that.
But, nevertheless, the post-Vietnam culture that provided the military in the aftermath of the war a sense of "You can't trust the press. They're going to get it wrong -- consciously or unconsciously, the press told the story wrong in Vietnam" -- that's not necessarily true. I don't think that's true. I think of the people that I think of as my journalistic beacons -- the men and women who I think the most of as journalists -- some of them were the great reporters of the Vietnam War -- David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan -- I mean, men like this. I mean, they got it right. I don't think the military necessarily felt they got it right. But, nevertheless, the press can't get it right. Congress is going to screw it up. The president, in many cases, is not making decisions based on protecting our men. He's making it for political reasons. That culture has worked its way into the military. And I understand it and I think Admiral Poindexter was infected by it in a way that was akin to secondhand smoke. And he didn't have to be there for it to affect him.
LAMB: Ollie North's Vietnam experience.
TIMBERG: Ollie North was a platoon leader, a very heroic platoon leader, almost as highly decorated as Jim Webb. And perhaps at that point Ollie North was in many ways, at the top of his game. One thing I've always felt about Oliver North, I know the things he did and I think that anybody who reads this book will not feel that Ollie North walks away from it in any sort of positive way -- I think it's actually the fullest picture of Ollie North that's yet been written -- but Ollie North's greatest problem seems to me always was that at the White House he lacked -- for lack of a better phrase -- he lacked adult supervision. In the Marine Corps he had a very, very strong company commander -- a Marine captain named Paul Goodwin. As he moved his way up through the ranks, he invariably had somebody very good looking over his shoulder and making sure that Ollie's great enthusiasms didn't get him into trouble -- but were able to use in a very positive way Ollie's many, many strengths. And in Vietnam, it was the best.
As years progressed, there became less close watching of Ollie North and I think that's what got him into trouble. Not that he was evil or sinister, he just had very, very bad judgment at times and I always try to sort of figure how would I feel in this situation. If I were a company president, if I was a company commander, if I was a battalion commander, I would love to have an Ollie North working for me, but what I would need to do is I would say, "OK, this guy is very innovative, he's very enthusiastic and he's vigorous. He's charismatic. He's smart. But he has flaws." I mean, in fairness -- I mean, Ollie's not the only person that has flaws. I have flaws. We all do. But when you're a senior commander and you're somebody's boss, if you're going to use that person, if you're going to utilize his strengths, then you have to protect him from himself. You have to be aware of his weak points, too. And I don't think that happened. People used Ollie's strengths, but they never -- not never, but at a crucial time, they did not save him from himself. They did not exercise adult supervision.
LAMB: John McCain III.
TIMBERG: John McCain III, the madcap midshipman, the congenital screw-up, got shot down and spent five and a half years in a Vietnam prison. And his tale in prison is a tale of enormous heroism and strength and toughness.
LAMB: How much of what you wrote is new?
TIMBERG: A lot of what I wrote is new. I probably did 400 interviews for this book -- I mean, beyond the reading of the documents. Most of this book is new. This is not a recycling of old clips. This is original research that took -- what I had hoped would take two years, it took seven years. And I was glad to give it to it -- to give that time -- because the story demanded it and good reporters follow the story to the end.
LAMB: You said that you took a year off -- or a leave of absence that turned into five and a half.
TIMBERG: Five and a half years, right.
LAMB: You did not write a story for The Baltimore Sun for five and a half years?
TIMBERG: Right. I did not write a story for The Baltimore Sun or anybody else for five and a half years.
LAMB: How did you financially live during that time?
TIMBERG: Well, initially I had an advance from my publisher, Simon & Schuster, and that was going to be terrific if it took me what I -- my original plan was for it to take a year where I would just do my research and then I would try and write the book at night. Well, it became clear fairly quickly that that wasn't going to happen. So then I applied for and received a fellowship called a Woodrow Wilson fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars here in Washington. And that was going to be for 10 months and that kept going for 22 months, and that helped. That included a stipend. I you're ever going to write a book, the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington is the place to do it, because you have an enormous support structure, everything from notepads to research assistants to Xeroxing and they ask virtually nothing in return other than that you do something of value.
And I left here in March of 1991 and I think it was probably still up in the air as to whatever I produced was going to be something of value and then at that point, it was back where I started, which is in the basement of my house in Bethesda, a place that no one dare venture anymore. I mean, it's got files -- I began to think of myself as the troll of Bethesda. I'd just get up in the morning, go down to the basement. If I had to do interviews, I did that, but my life was pretty much -- that was it.
LAMB: Were you being paid at this point?
TIMBERG: No. My wife works.
LAMB: What's she do?
TIMBERG: She works for the Labor Department and I had some retirement pay from the Marine Corps. But I also had a home equity credit line which it turns out that you can use like firewood every month. But then it gets very, very scary when it gets up into high five digits and that's what happened. I just said I was going to finish this damn thing and I did.
LAMB: How many kids?
TIMBERG: I have four. When I started this thing, my oldest son was getting ready to start college. As of now, my oldest son and my next oldest son are both out of college, one out of graduate school and both newspaper reporters. My daughter is going into her senior year in college and my 10-year-old, who was, I guess, three when I started, is now off at baseball camp. He's 10. I mean, that was the other thing I did during that period in the wilderness, if you will, was I coached my son in Little League, which was my link to reality during that period.
LAMB: You probably don't know this but this whole program, which is about six years old, started with the Neil Sheehan book, which took 16 years to write.
LAMB: He wasn't wounded in combat nor was he in combat. He was a reporter but he worked for 16 years. What is it about this story that gets somebody like you to just give it all up for all these years to get it done? What drove you through this time?
TIMBERG: Well, to some extent, I think perhaps for Neil and me -- Neil is a great reporter and I'm a good reporter. And sometimes when you get something that you say, "God, this is a good story," there's just nothing that stops you until somebody shoots you or you finish. I mean, Vietnam, somebody said -- actually Ben Wattenberg quoted it to me but I think it may have been Daniel Yankelovich, the pollster, who used the term. He said, "Vietnam is an undigested lump." For those of us who went, we've never quite come to grips with what we found when we got home. Now that doesn't mean that we were immobilized by it, that we were -- that our lives couldn't go on.
This book is a book about survivors. This is about people who said, "OK. That happened, and there are a lot of parts about it I don't like, but I'm not going to join the unemployment lines. I'm not going to, say, turn against the war and say I shouldn't have gone." These people -- McCain, Poindexter, North, Webb, McFarlane -- they somehow put whatever anger, frustration, hostility that they felt aside and went on with their lives. And they have been very successful lives until Iran-Contra popped up and it was -- and it became evident that McFarlane, North and Poindexter, at least, had failed finally to put this aside -- as far aside as perhaps they should have. Essentially, it came out of the wings and blindsided them. That's my sense.
If I could just -- I feel like I've somehow given Senator McCain short shrift. Not only was Senator McCain in prison for five and a half years, he spent 31 months in solitary. He was also -- it was also said that no one was in worse shape when he was taken to the Hanoi Hilton, the prison in North Vietnam, than John McCain. And yet in these early months of his captivity, where he truly believed he did not have the potential to live out another year, the North Vietnamese tried to get him to go home. The reason they wanted him to go home is because his father was the senior military man in the Far East, outranking men even like General Westmoreland and Creighton Abrams in -- in Hanoi. He was what they call the commander in chief Pacific. And what the North Vietnamese hoped to do by sending Senator McCain home was to show the average American fighting man on the ground that if you're well connected, if you have friends in high places, if you've got a dad in high places, you're going to get special treatment under the American system. And John McCain somehow sensed that, knew that and became an enormously strong man in those days and said, "I'm not going." And that wasn't even good enough for them. They beat him to try and get him to go home. He would not go.
LAMB: There was a scene in the book where John McCain is being visited by a bunch of North Vietnamese and he just starts screaming the strongest language. What was that?
TIMBERG: Another group of dignitaries had gone in there and tried to say, you know, "We want you to go home," and tried to in some way curry favor with him in some way and they were hoping he would go home and say, "Oh, the North Vietnamese are great people" -- at the very least go home and not scream and holler and say, "They made me go. I didn't want to go." And he just cut loose with this string of profanity. And somebody who observed this -- another prisoner told me -- he said, these men came rolling out of there like tumbling tumbleweeds out of his cell, followed by this incredible string of obscenities cut loose by Senator McCain.
LAMB: Orson Swindle of Perot fame was a prisoner of war with him?
TIMBERG: Orson Swindle was very much a prisoner with him. Orson Swindle, who John McCain considers one of the bravest men who is in prison. I once asked John McCain, to what extent did your naval academy training assist you in being able to withstand what happened. And he said, "I'm not so sure it did all that much." He said, "Look at Orson Swindle. He went to Georgia Tech. He was as tough as they come." So ...
LAMB: John McCain came home to his ex-wife -- he's now remarried -- who was four inches shorter than when he left her?
TIMBERG: John McCain's wife, Carol McCain, while he was in prison, was in a car accident. Carol McCain had been a model. She was a statuesque model. In this accident, Carol McCain nearly died, was in a wheelchair, had 23 operations and lost about four inches on her legs. Talk about a person who was in terrible, terrible shape. She was that close to being dead. And this was in 1969. John McCain didn't get out of prison until 1973. About the first thing Carol McCain said to her doctors when she could speak again was, "I don't want John to know about this. He's got enough problems of his own. You know, we'll deal with it when he gets home." And John McCain never knew about Carol's accident until he was released from prison in early 1973.
LAMB: Jim Webb was banned from the US Naval Academy?
TIMBERG: Jim Webb was banned from the US Naval Academy -- informally banned but, nevertheless, clearly banned for writing two things. One was an article for Washingtonian magazine, which was titled -- he didn't title it but it was a fairly appropriate title -- called Women Can't Fight. What Webb's article essentially looked -- the service academies began admitting women under an act of Congress in 1976 -- Webb looked at this situation, found he was at the academy. He said, "The academy is changing. It was a crucible for warriors. Now it is not a crucible for warriors anymore" -- and questioned whether the academies had become much like other fine technical schools and perhaps not nearly as good as a technical school like an MIT. I mean, he just basically questioned whether women should be at the service academies. He also questioned the movement for women in combat. I should add that he did not question whether a woman should be President or a United States Senator or whether a woman should serve in very responsible positions in the armed forces. He did question whether women should be out on patrol in the boondocks with men.
And, as I say, he very seriously questioned the introduction of women into the service academies. Subsequently, he wrote a book, his second book, which was called a "Sense of Honor," which was about the Naval Academy, took place during 1968. And it portrayed the academy very much as it is. It wasn't the academy that tourists see -- these very well-dressed young men and now women beaming vanilla smiles at tourists. This was before the introduction of women and this was the Naval Academy of lusty, rough, tough young men. And it was, to my mind, a great book. I mean, it was the academy as it is. But academy authorities just were aghast -- absolutely aghast and Webb, who in 1984 became an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and then 1987 became the Secretary of the Navy, between 1980 and 1984 he was effectively banned from the Naval Academy.
LAMB: How did you write this? Longhand?
TIMBERG: Oh, no.
LAMB: Computer?
TIMBERG: No. You know, it's funny when I first -- yes, on a computer, on a word processor.
LAMB: Are you a fast writer?
TIMBERG: No, I'm a slow writer. I'm a slow writer.
LAMB: Did you have to leave a lot out? Did you have to give up after a while and put a lot of outtakes on the shelf to come out to a second book?
TIMBERG: The thing that was hardest for me was when I started this, I said, "This book's going to start at Annapolis and I'm going to look at the early years of these men in kind of flashbacks." Well, as I started my research, I began -- I realized just how powerful their early years had been and I wrote for all five men a chapter about their childhood, a chapter about the pre-Annapolis years. And they were some of the most colorful chapters in the book, and they were among my favorites. And then I realized in talking to my editors, that -- in my original plan, this book needed to start at Annapolis. And so I have five chapters sitting there that I think I'll give to the five principal figures just to let them have it.
LAMB: I suspect that not everybody that'll see this will know what these letters stand for.
TIMBERG: I suspect that most people will not but I suspect that every man or woman that ever graduated from Annapolis or went to Annapolis knows precisely what those five letters stand for.
LAMB: Guess they'll have to go buy your book because I'm not going to tell them.
TIMBERG: Nor am I.
LAMB: Have you changed any up here since you've written this book?
TIMBERG: Changed?
LAMB: After you'd come back from Vietnam and the experience you went through and all that. I mean, has working through this eight years changed you in any way? Do you feel any better?
TIMBERG: You know, I do. I felt -- as I said, I had put this stuff all off to the side, and it was only as I got drawn into it with my sense that -- I had this feeling when Iran-Contra broke and suddenly there's McFarlane, North and Poindexter right in the middle -- I felt like I knew more than I knew about this. And this was this aroma of Vietnam, that somehow the Vietnam War, at least in part, was involved here. I began to think of Iran-Contra as the bill for Vietnam finally coming due. But what I really became most interested in was this generational fault line, that distinction between those who went and those who didn't. And I never knew I wanted -- needed to tell that tale. But as I got deeper into this project, it became clear to me that I really wanted to tell this story. And I've told it, and I like to think now that I'm done with it.
LAMB: How do people treat you today about your experience in Vietnam?
TIMBERG: I don't think -- people don't talk to me about it. Now, you mean after I've written the book?
LAMB: No, just in general.
TIMBERG: Over the years?
LAMB: I'm talking about when you came back from Vietnam -- how you weren't very happy and people like this weren't very happy with the way the country treated them.
TIMBERG: What I did was, to a large extent -- I felt that sort of anger and hostility that many of my peers and comrades felt. And my sense was, I don't think it's good for me -- it's not mentally and psychologically good for me to be part of that. And to an extent, I really unplugged from old networks and I went off and I became a reporter. And up until a few months ago, when I became an editor, I was a reporter for a quarter century. And that's how I viewed myself. It's how I view myself today. And going and working on this book was like I plugged back in to these old networks and it became a kind of fascinating journey of rediscovery. But, as far as -- up until the time that I set off to work on this book, I didn't talk about Vietnam. I didn't avoid talking about it, but it wasn't one of those issues that I spent a lot of time on. I think I had this sense of -- it was Senator McCain, I think -- he has this sense that Vietnam can kill even today and let's keep it, as best you can, on the shelf. And I think those people who have been most successful have been able to draw on it for strength but not let it take over their lives.
LAMB: Have any of the five read your book that you know of? And if they have, what have they told you?
TIMBERG: Well, Senator McCain has read it and he -- Senator McCain is one of those who says, "Oh, yeah, great book, great book." I assume everybody has read it. I have heard nothing from Bud McFarlane, nothing from Oliver North. Admiral Poindexter has read it. And you've read it -- you know that nobody walks away from this book in particularly great shape, though certainly everybody at the very least has a few little razor nicks on them and certainly the three people who were caught up in Iran-Contra take some major body blows in this book. And yet, Admiral Poindexter, who wrote to me, tended to be very protective, not of himself, but of President Reagan -- President Reagan, who I feel failed Poindexter, McFarlane and North. And, you know, Admiral Poindexter said next to nothing about taking issue of other things that I had written about him. He just essentially threw his body between me and President Reagan.
LAMB: Here's the cover of the book. "The Nightingale's Song," the title. Our guest, Robert Timberg. And we thank you very much.
TIMBERG: Thank you, Brian.
The Five Myths of Television Power
Jimmy Breslin
Damon Runyon: A Life
Thomas Byrne Edsall
Andrew Burstein
America's Jubilee
The Book of Virtues
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Metrodome memories
It was July 15, 1982 when I attended my first Twins game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. A bunch of young, rag-tag ball players made up the Twins roster by that point in the season. Earlier in the year, owner Calvin Griffith jettisoned such notable veterans as Roy Smalley, Butch Wynegar, Rob Wilfong and Doug Corbett in an effort to shed payroll. As a result, the Twins fashioned a dreadful record of 28-59 going into this game against the Detroit Tigers.
Since we obtained our tickets to said game through the local rec center, my buddies and I were all stuck in the center field upper deck. See, as another cost savings measure the Twins organization wasn’t even making available tickets for the lower left field seats. The hope would be that fans who desperately wanted to be in the lower decks would instead opt for the more expensive seats around third and first base.
As young teenagers, my friends and I were in awe of indoor baseball. Imagine, no game would ever be rained out again! No more taking a bus all the way to the ball park and sitting in a torrential downpour waiting for the game to start! In our minds, the Metrodome was a veritable eighth wonder of the world! So it didn’t bother us in the least that the Tigers scored 11 runs in the top of the first inning. Even though the Twins would go on to lose 18-2, we had the time of our lives!
Over the next 28 seasons, I would attend scores of baseball games in the plastic ballpark. I was front and center for the surprising divisional race in the then American League West division back in 1984. I would also be among less than 10,000 fans present for a game the last weekend of the 1990 season when the Twins would finish in last place. Of course, I found a way to attend nearly twenty games the following year when my favorite baseball team made that magical “worst to first” run, winning their second World Series in five years! This year, for the first time ever, I was a partial season ticket holder.
So will I miss the Metrodome itself? Not in the least, considering what the Twins are getting in the new Target Field. But I will always cherish the memories of the many games I was privileged to watch!
Labels: Me, Sports
OK, calm down!
Perfect Peace
"O" for Obvious (or Overkill).
Plenty of gray areas
Where have you gone, Chris McAlister?
Rush flushed
Inevitable stupidity
Just a friendly reminder...
Welcome to my world, Brett
Hey.....
Another A.L. batting title?
Game 163.....again!!
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Friday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX, "Last Man Standing" Top Demo Race
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)
Primetime Preliminary Fast National Nielsen Data
(includes all DVR playback through 3:00 am)
Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/7/18):
FOX (3.799 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #1) was the demo champ on Friday with fresh installments from "Last Man Standing" (5.483 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1), "The Cool Kids" (4.329 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T2) and "Hell's Kitchen" (2.692 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T2).
CBS (7.648 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then was a close second with originals from "MacGyver" (6.394 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T6), "Hawaii Five-0" (7.777 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5) and "Blue Bloods" (8.773 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T2).
Next up was ABC (2.599 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) with new episodes of "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.813 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.6, #8) and "Speechless" (2.054 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9) followed by an encore of "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Holiday Special" (1.920 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T12) and a new "20/20" (3.446 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T6).
Meanwhile, NBC (2.513 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up its mix of "Blindspot" (2.827 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9), "Midnight, Texas" (1.875 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T12) and "Dateline NBC" (2.836 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9).
And finally, The CW (0.492 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with originals from "Dynasty" (0.591 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.2, #14) and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" (0.395 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.1, #15).
Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - 20/20
+12.50% - Blue Bloods
+12.50% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. 11/16/18)
0.00% - Last Man Standing (vs. 11/16/18)
0.00% - The Cool Kids (vs. 11/16/18)
0.00% - Hawaii Five-0
0.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - Blindspot
0.00% - Midnight, Texas
0.00% - Dynasty
-12.50% - MacGyver
-14.29% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. 11/16/18)
-16.67% - Speechless (vs. 11/16/18)
-50.00% - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+125.00% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. The Exorcist)
+37.50% - Last Man Standing (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
+20.00% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. Once Upon a Time)
+12.50% - The Cool Kids (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
0.00% - Dynasty (vs. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
0.00% - Speechless (vs. Once Upon a Time)
-10.00% - Blue Bloods
-27.27% - Hawaii Five-0
-28.57% - Blindspot
-44.44% - Dateline NBC
-55.56% - Midnight, Texas (vs. Dateline NBC)
-66.67% - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (vs. Jane the Virgin)
In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):
· In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.8/5; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.9/7; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/4 with an encore.
· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.5/3; "Late Show," 0.4/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 with an encore.
· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.2/4 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.
· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," 1.0/3 in metered-market households with an encore; CBS's "Late Late Show," 1.2/4 with an encore. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.4/3 in 18-49 with an encore; "Late Late Show," 0.2/2 with an encore.
· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.6/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.2/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.
Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/8/17):
CBS (8.465 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1) was the network to beat on Friday with originals from "MacGyver" (7.147 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3), "Hawaii Five-0" (8.931 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1) and "Blue Bloods" (9.319 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #2).
NBC (4.452 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then was the silver draw with new episodes from "Blindspot" (3.513 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #6) and "Dateline NBC" (4.922 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3).
Next up was FOX (2.083 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) with fresh installments of "Hell's Kitchen" (2.981 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5) and "The Exorcist" (1.184 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #10).
Meanwhile, ABC (2.259 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) offered up originals from "Once Upon a Time" (2.485 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7), "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD" (1.932 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7) and "20/20" (2.359 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7).
And finally, the fall finales of "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" (0.655 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12) and "Jane the Virgin" (0.638 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #11) on The CW (0.647 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the night.
+50.00% - Jane the Virgin (vs. 11/17/17)
+22.22% - Hawaii Five-0
+14.29% - Hell's Kitchen
+12.50% - MacGyver
0.00% - Once Upon a Time (vs. 11/17/17)
0.00% - 20/20
0.00% - The Exorcist
0.00% - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (vs. 11/17/17)
-16.67% - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
+50.00% - Jane the Virgin (vs. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
+16.67% - Blindspot (vs. Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon)
-8.33% - Hawaii Five-0
-20.00% - Hell's Kitchen
-33.33% - The Exorcist
-37.50% - 20/20
-47.37% - Once Upon a Time (vs. Last Man Standing/Dr. Ken)
-50.00% - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (vs. The Vampire Diaries)
-50.00% - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (vs. Shark Tank)
Source: Nielsen Media Research
[december 2018]
most recent ratings | view all posts
Disney Channel's "Amphibia" Delivers Its Strongest Week Yet
Disney Channel further spins the numbers for July 8-11.
Monday's Broadcast Ratings: "The Bachelorette" Continues Its Reign
ABC leads the evening in both total viewers and adults 18-49.
Sunday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Is Tops in Both Viewers, Demos
The network's unscripted lineup leads the night in both categories.
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: "Furious 7" Puts NBC on Top
The Peacock wins the low key evening in both total viewers and adults 18-49.
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: "Dateline NBC" Holds Off Demo Competition
The Peacock wins the night among adults 18-49 while CBS is still the most-watched network.
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: "Big Brother" Wins Reality Showdown
CBS is the most-watched network last night and shares the adults 18-49 crown with FOX.
"Saints & Sinners" Season Four Premiere Finishes #1 on Television Ahead of ABC, CBS, FOX, HBO, All Cable Networks Sunday Night 9:00-10:00 p.m. (ET) Among African Americans 18-49 & 25-54
Bounce TV further spins the numbers for Sunday, July 7.
HGTV's "My Lottery Dream Home" Starring David Bromstad Delivers Double-Digit Year-Over-Year Growth on Friday Nights
HGTV further spins the numbers for the season to date.
Wednesday's Broadcast Ratings: "The 2019 ESPYs" Put ABC in Front
The Alphabet claims top honors in both total viewers and adults 18-49.
Disney Channel's "Andi Mack" Scores New Summer Highs Ahead of Its Series Finale
Disney Channel further spins the numbers for the week of July 1-5.
Tuesday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX Tops Demos with MLB All-Star Game
The network's coverage leads the night among adults 18-49 while NBC is the most-watched network.
TV One's "The Bobby DeBarge Story" Ranks #1 on Television Saturday Night Among African Americans and Premieres as the Network's #4 Movie of All Time
TV One further spins the numbers for Saturday, June 29.
ESPN Sees Overall Viewership Success in June Led by Continued Upward Studio Show Trends
ESPN further spins the numbers for the month of June.
Monday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Continues Win Streak with "The Bachelorette"
The Alphabet once again leads the night in total viewers and adults 18-49.
more ratings >>
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Reminder – Library Closure from this afternoon
A reminder that after 5pm this afternoon, the library will be closed to readers for the duration of essential boiler works at the Unit. We hope to open again on Monday 7th July, though this may change if the works overrun. Updates will be posted on this blog.
The following other libraries with history of science, medicine and technology provision will be open during the summer:
Radcliffe Science Library http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/science
Bodleian Library Upper Reading Room http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/finding-resources/rooms/urr
History Faculty Library http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/history
Please continue to visit this blog and our twitter account @WelLibOxford for updates on the works or any changes in dates.
This entry was posted in News, Opening hours and tagged Opening hours on 20 June 2014 by .
Opening Hours w/b 16/6/14
Our opening hours for the week beginning Monday 16/6 will be as follows:
Monday-Wednesday, 2.15pm-5pm
Thursday, 2.15pm-4.30pm
On Friday, we will be staffed 2.15pm-5pm, but please be aware that the library will be being prepared for the first phase of the boiler works in the building, so access to the PC and Sun Rays will be limited, and there may be significant disruption.
As ever, please get in touch in advance of any visit, or if you require more information about alternative reading rooms during the upcoming closed period. Have a lovely, sunny weekend!
This entry was posted in Opening hours and tagged Opening hours on 13 June 2014 by .
Library Closure for Building Works 23 June – 4 July (incl)
This summer, the Wellcome Unit is undergoing major boiler and heating works which will mean that access to the library is not possible for two weeks over the summer.
Our last day open before these works will be Friday 20th June; our reopening date will depend on the completion of the works, but is intended to be Monday 7th July
In the meantime, we can still be contacted via email wellcomeunit.library@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. The following other libraries with history of science, medicine and technology provision will also be open during the summer:
We apologise for the inconvenience caused by these works, but hope it means that we will be able to extend an even warmer welcome than usual when they’re done!
This entry was posted in News, Opening hours, Uncategorized and tagged building works, News, Opening hours on 12 June 2014 by .
Wellcome Unit Seminar, Monday 16th June
Please join us for the final seminar of term – and of the academic year!
At: The Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine
Seminar Room, 47 Banbury Road, Oxford
Coffee is available from 2.00pm – Seminars begin at 2.15pm prompt
‘Reproduction, Gender, and Sexuality in the History of Medicine’
Conveners: Marisa Benoit and Julianne Weis
Week 8 – 16 June
Hilary Marland, University of Warwick
‘Girls’ bodies: The Ends of Health Advice Literature in Britain, c.1900′
This paper explores the creation of new models of ‘citizen girl’, as towards the end of the 19th century interest in the health of adolescent girls and its management was prompted by a medical discourse that emphasised the risks of youth in general and of female adolescence in particular. At the same time, girlhood was defined as a unique phase with opportunities for building good practices in terms of health. The press, magazines, general interest journals and advice books were utilised by an expanding range of ‘experts’ in addition to doctors to spread messages about methods of achieving good health: mental and physical. This was envisaged as being supported by the efforts of girls themselves, and became embedded in debates about their expanding opportunities at school, in the workplace, and sport and recreation, as well as their future roles as wives and mothers.
Hilary Marland is Professor of History at the University of Warwick. Her esearch focuses of the social and cultural history of medicine and health, particularly in modern Britain. Her PhD (Warwick 1984) explored medical practice in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the nineteenth century, resulting in her 1987 monograph Medicine and Society in Wakefield and Huddersfield, 1780-1870 (Cambridge University Press, 1987, 2008). She has also researched and published on the history of childbirth and midwifery, alternative medicine, medicine and the household, women and medicine, infant and maternal welfare, neurasthenia, child health, and the health of factory girls. I have an ongoing interest in women and mental illness and published Dangerous Motherhood: Insanity and Childbirth in Victorian Britain in 2004 (Palgrave-Macmillan). She has recently completed a book on medical and health advice literature for young women, Health and Girlhood in Britain, 1874-1920 (Palgrave-Macmillan). This explores the intersection of ideas on health, medicine and adolescence with debates on girls’ access to education, the workplace and recreation, and focuses on practices of health outside of medical institutions and girls’ engagement with advice literature.
She was Principal Investigator on a Wellcome Trust-funded project curing with water 1840s-1940s, that triggered her interest in domestic healing practices in the nineteenth century. She is currently researching the intersection of the household with new and traditional approaches to health and its technologies in the long nineteenth century, including surveys of recipe books and chemists’ prescription books. In 2010, with Dr Catherine Cox at UCD, she started work on a Wellcome Trust supported project on Irish migration and mental illness between the Great Famine and Irish Independence, which has resulted in a series of articles and a co-edited volume.
Please note there is no parking at the Unit
This entry was posted in Talks & events and tagged Wellcome Unit Seminars on 11 June 2014 by .
University of Kent, Situating Science and Technology in the Great War
Situating Science and Technology in the Great War,
Woolf College, University of Kent, 23 July 2014
Registration is now open for the ‘Situating Science and Technology in the Great War’ workshop, organised by the Centre for the History of the Science at the University of Kent. Registration is free, but places are limited. To register email D.W.Leggett@Kent.ac.uk. Further details are available on the workshop’s website http://www.kent.ac.uk/history/events/conferences/situating-science.html
The programme is as follows:
9:00 Coffee and registration
9:45 Welcome
10:00 Plenary. Graeme Gooday (University of Leeds) & Elizabeth Bruton (University of Leeds), Troublesome Telecommunications in the Great War
11:00 Coffee
11:30 Session I featuring Michael Weatherburn (Imperial College), ‘Another step towards industrial slavery’: scientific management, the Ministry of Munitions, and the gospel of efficiency in British manufacturing, 1915-21; Adrian Smith (University of Southampton), North Kent, the cradle of naval aviation: technological innovation and the Admiralty Air Department before and after August 1914; and Dominic Berry (University of Leeds), Agricultural modernity as a product of the Great War: founding the National Institute of Agricultural Botany, 1917-1921
14:00 Session II featuring Roy MacLeod (University of Sydney), ‘Into hostile camps’: reflections on the Professors’ war; June Barrow-Green (Open University), British mathematicians and the Great War; and Robert Bud (Science Museum), Responding to gas warfare’s emblematic role as science’s contribution to recent civilisation: narrating the conceptual architecture and history of science in the interwar years
16:00 Session III featuring Paul Cornish (Imperial War Museum), ‘The whole machine gun question needs to be closely examined’: placing the machine gun within the history of the Great War; Elizabeth Bruton (University of Leeds), Hydrophones, oscillators and transducers: early sonar and the “Fessenden oscillator” in the Royal Navy during World War One; and Brian Hall (University of Salford), ‘An experiment inside an experiment’: British tank communications on the Western Front, 1916-1918
17:30 Close
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on 10 June 2014 by .
Opening hours w/b 9/6/14
Our opening hours for next week will be as follows:
Monday-Wednesday, 2.15-5pm
Thursday, 2.15-4.30pm
Friday, 2.15-5pm.
As ever, please do get in touch in advance if you wish to arrange a visit. Have a lovely weekend!
This entry was posted in Opening hours and tagged Opening hours on 6 June 2014 by .
Wellcome Unit Seminars, Monday 9/6/14
Week 7 – 9 June
Bridget Gurtler, Princeton
‘Reproduction reconceived: cryopreservation in science, medicine, and American culture’
Bridget Gurtler holds a postdoctoral research fellowship with the Woodrow Wilson School and is a visiting fellow at the Center for Health and Wellbeing. Her research interests are in the history of medicine, science, gender, and health, with a particular focus on reproduction and reproductive technologies. Her current book project examines the evolution of assisted reproduction and parenthood in American medicine, families, and society. Focusing on the two hundred year history of artificial insemination, it investigates how popular and scientific ideas about gendered bodies, heredity, and risk shaped the transformation of sperm into a (frozen) commodity, were pivotal to separating the act of sex from reproduction, and laid the institutional foundations for the modern fertility industry. While at Princeton, she also looks forward to expanding her new research projects on the history of psychosomatic gynecology, urology, and andrology and to collaborations investigating the history of pediatric drug prescription practices in America. She received her Ph.D. in History from Rutgers University in 2013 where she was an Andrew W. Mellon Dissertation Fellow and holds a M.A. in History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a B.A. from Wellesley College.
This entry was posted in News, Talks & events and tagged Wellcome Unit Seminars on 5 June 2014 by .
Open Access and Monographs Forum
Open Access and Monographs: Oxford forum with publishers and funders.
Wednesday 18 June, 2pm-5.30pm
Radcliffe Humanities Lecture Room
A forum on current challenges and initiatives in open access monograph publishing. This is part of the Bodleian Libraries Open Access series and an opportunity for Oxford academics & researchers to feed into HECFE’s Monographs and Open Access Project (see http://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/rsrch/rinfrastruct/oa/monographs/).
Programme of speakers:
Introduction: Catriona Cannon (Interim Deputy Librarian, Bodleian Libraries)
Cecy Marden (Wellcome Trust, HEFCE Expert Reference Group)
Frances Pinter (Knowledge Unlatched, HEFCE Expert Reference Group)
Rhodri Jackson (OUP and OAPEN-UK JISC-funded project on open access monographs)
Geoffrey Crossick (HEFCE Expert Reference Group, Chair)
QandA. Panel joined by Sally Rumsey (Oxford Research Archive)
This session is for Academics and researchers, especially in the Humanities and Social Sciences, and is a must for those interested in issues around Open Access.
To book a place please visit http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZ005 .
This entry was posted in News, Talks & events, Training and tagged Talks & Events on 4 June 2014 by .
London Metropolitan Archives – Last chance to see a City of London Smallpox Map
SMALLPOX AND LONDON
Friday 6 June 10am-4pm
London Metropolitan Archives, 40, Northampton Road, London, EC1R 0HB
This is will be the last chance to see an original 1870s City of London smallpox map before it is packaged and put back into store. The London Metropolitan Archives, with funding from the Wellcome Trust, has conserved and digitised 5 large smallpox maps that plotted the outbreaks of the disease in London. They date from the 1870s, measure 4X3 metres and give us a wonderful insight into how the disease was spreading in different parts of the City.
We will be holding a public conference on the maps, smallpox and its impact in London. Specialist speakers include:
Dr Anne Hardy, the London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine,
Gareth Williams, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Senior Research in Philosophy, The University of Bristol
Staff from London Metropolitan Archives.
You will also see related archive material and one of the smallpox maps. Once the project has finished, the maps will be put back into storage and access will be via the digital copies. Do come along.
£10 (bring a picnic) Booking Essential: https://smallpox-in-london.eventbrite.co.uk
This entry was posted in News on 2 June 2014 by .
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Auditions for the Final Show of the 2017 Season!
Director Andrew Ranck will host 2 nights of auditions for Laughingstock, the final production of the 2017 Putnam County Playhouse Season. Auditions will be held Sunday, July 23 at 3 p.m. and Monday, July 24 at 7 p.m. in the Rehearsal Center at the theater.
This is Andrew's third year out at PCPH and His second show directing with us, last year he directed The Odd Couple (Female Version). Andrew is the Director of Putnam County Comprehensive Services. He was last seen in Curtains the Musical, playing Christopher Belling.
Andrew describes the show like this: “Murphy’s Law could be a replacement title for this fun romp that tells the tale of a summer theatre troupe that performs their repertory season in an old converted barn (Sound familiar???) with hilarious outcomes.
Everyone person in theatre has a tale of something that went wrong in a production, so imagine if all of these things happened at ONCE! That is Laughingstock. While the show is funny and the disasters come one right after another, the true heart of this show is summed up by all those involved: “We wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Come join us for the 4th and final show of the season at the Playhouse.”
The cast of Laughingstock includes 5 women and 7 men in a wide range of ages from teens to 70’s. For more information about the show and character descriptions, please go to the website at www.PutnamCountyPlayhouse.com. Those auditioning should be prepared to read from the script.
The Foreigner is coming to PCPH Stage!
Putnam County Playhouse’s second production of the 2017 season is a comedy by Larry Shue, “The Foreigner”. Show dates are July 13, 14, 15 and 19, 20, 21 and 22, 2017.
Tickets are available beginning Monday, July 10, 2017. Tickets for all three remaining shows of the 2017 season are available at the box office during weeks of each production or persons may call 653-5880 from 5-7 p.m.
“The Foreigner” is a comedy set in the early 1980’s in Tilghman County, Georgia, at a rural fishing lodge owned by Betty Meeks. The lodge is often visited by Froggy LeSeuer, a British demolition expert who occasionally runs training sessions at a nearby army base. This time Froggy has brought along a friend, a pathologically shy young man named Charlie who is overcome with fear at the thought of making conversation with strangers. So Froggy, before departing, tells all assembled that Charlie is from an exotic foreign country and speaks no English. Once alone the fun really begins, as Charlie overhears more than he should.
Alisa Isaacs-Bailey plays Froggy LeSeuer, who along with TJ Tincher as Charlie Baker, set the events in place for hilarity as she initiates the farce that Charlie is a foreigner and does not speak or understand English. Fishing lodge owner, Betty Meeks, is played by Kathy Arnold. Froggy’s friend Betty is infatuated with her new found foreigner and begins to believe she can communicate and understand Charlie.
Lodge resident Catherine Simms, a former Georgia debutant, is played Samantha Flannelly. Samantha and her brother Ellard, played by Cameron Wunderlick, who is believed to be somewhat of a slow learner, are heirs to the family’s fortune.
Reverend David Marshall Lee, played by Cameron Callahan, and is Catherine Simms fiancé and minister to the fine folks of Tilghman County, Georgia. Owen Musser, played by Bill Weiland, is the local county thug and has plans to disrupt the tranquility of Meek’s fishing lodge. Gordon Arnold and Mason Allen make appearances as members of the Tilghman County Militia.
TJ Tincher, Kathy Arnold, Cameron Wunderlich, Samantha Flannely
The Foreigner is directed by Jim Green with Tim and Caroline Good as assistant directors. Set design and construction is by Linda Gjesvold with technical direction by Dustin Bond and Tim Good. Costume design assistance and linguistics direction provided by Caroline Good. The production crew includes stage manager Mason Allen and his stagehands Gordon Arnold and Haley Wilson; sound board operator Darvelle Barger; light board operator Nicole Moore.
“The Foreigner” is sponsored by Rossok & Co. Insurance and Goodville Mutual.
The Children’s Workshop will be in production July 24 – 28 at the Playhouse. Additional information can be found at www.putnamcountyplayhouse.com.
‘The Addams Family”, makes its debut on the main stage on August 10th. Performance dates are August 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 2017.
Auditions for the Putnam County Playhouse final production of “Laughing Stock” will be held on Sunday, July 23, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. and Monday, July 24, 2017 and 7:00 p.m. Additional information can be found on at www.putnamcountyplayhouse.com.
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« Norman Bethune
CEMA Awards Gala »
Arctic Front
By Ken D. Coates, P Whitney Lackenbauer, William R.Morrison and Greg Poelzer*
Thomas Allen Publisher
261 pages $29.95
(Canscene) Four of Canada’s leading Northern specialists have won this year’s Donner Prize of $50,000 for 2008’s best book on public policy with a work addressing a matter of high importance to all Canadians; our presence in our much neglected Far North. The authors’ well-integrated presentation speaks well for their common resolve and also perhaps, for their editor’s ability to recognize the importance of their book.
Global warming, these Canadian scientists say, has hastened the melting of the polar ice cap and in the foreseeable future the Northwest Passage will be open to shipping most of the year. This, apart from environmental issues, could present threats to Canadian sovereignty.
The authors advise immediate action. The increasing presence of U.S. oil tankers, cruise ships and the recent planting of the Russian flag at the North Pole are all signs that Canadians must speak up for Canada.
The authors see the urgent need for some tangible form of government action but apart from commissioning studies governments have lacked the will to speak out. For instance, too few northerners are currently engaged in decision making yet they are Canadians and know the territory as their home.
The authors have no need to rant and rave. The clarity of their arguments is enough to wake us from a state of apathy and get off our butts and tell our leaders we want action.
In the last paragraph of the book they state: “Canada has long ignored the North… While the weight of history makes it difficult to imagine real change, the opportunity for a dramatically new approach stands before us. Canada needs to rediscover its North with the territories and aboriginal peoples as full partners. It must defend its northern flank from challenges even more significant and real than those of the past. The next decade promises to be the most important ten years in the evolution of Canada’s Arctic… With the right will and with the realization of he costs of long neglect and apathy Canada can re-define the North’s place in Confederation and in the process vault this country into a position of leadership in a circumpolar world.”
*The authors: Ken S. Coates is Professor of History and Dean of Arts at Waterloo University; P. Whitney Lackenbauer is an Assistant Professor of History at St. Jerome’s University, University of Waterloo; William T.Morrison is Professor of History at University of Northern British Columbia and Greg Poelzer is the founding Dean of Undergraduate Studies for the University of the Arctic and an Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Saskatchewan.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 1:27 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Webmaster: Ben Viccari
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What is wrong with these people?
There is no other way to describe it -- the juvenile chest-beating and wild-eyed taunting that passes for American foreign policy these days is just childish beyond belief.
Here are some telling quotes from Juan Cole's most recent Salon article about Iran.
First, there is America's ridiculous demonization of Iranian president Ahmadinejad:
. . . Iran expressed sympathy with the United States in the aftermath of those attacks and Iranians held candlelight vigils for the victims. Iran felt that it and other Shiite populations had also suffered at the hands of al-Qaida, and that there might now be an opportunity for a new opening to the United States.
Instead, the U.S. State Department denounced Ahmadinejad as himself little more than a terrorist. . . . He has been depicted as a Hitler figure intent on killing Israeli Jews, even though he is not commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces, has never invaded any other country, denies he is an anti-Semite, has never called for any Israeli civilians to be killed, and allows Iran's 20,000 Jews to have representation in Parliament.
There is, in fact, remarkably little substance to the debates now raging in the United States about Ahmadinejad. His quirky personality, penchant for outrageous one-liners, and combative populism are hardly serious concerns for foreign policy.
Then there is the constant "dumb"-beat of war, war, war from Cheney and his pet neocons, none of whom have ever actually fought in a war themselves:
. . . the American right has decided the United States needs to go to war against Iran. Ahmadinejad is therefore being configured as an enemy head of state.
The neoconservatives are even claiming that the United States has been at war with Iran since 1979. As Glenn Greenwald points out, this assertion is absurd.
And some of the military leaders who have spent the last five years screwing up Afghanistan and Iraq are now trying to save their reputations by pretending that they would have "won" in Iraq if only Iran hadn't been in their way:
. . . some elements in the U.S. officer corps and the Defense Intelligence Agency are clearly spoiling for a fight with Iran because the Iranian-supported Shiite nationalists in Iraq are a major obstacle to U.S. dominance in Iraq. Although very few U.S. troops in Iraq are killed by Shiites, military spokesmen have been attempting to give the impression that Tehran is ordering hits on U.S. troops, a clear casus belli. Disinformation campaigns that accuse Iran of trying to destabilize the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government -- a government Iran actually supports -- could lay the groundwork for a war. Likewise, with the U.S. military now beginning patrols on the Iran-Iraq border, the possibility is enhanced of a hostile incident spinning out of control.
See what I mean -- they actually thought that 160,000 soldiers could "dominate" a population of 26 million - er, maybe just 25 million now -- so it must be Iran's fault that they have failed so miserably.
Its like watching a little kid get mad and hold his breath 'til he turns blue.
Unfortunately, this little kid has a lot of guns.
I thought Iran's military parade last week was pretty childish, too, but maybe it takes one to know one:
The threat to target U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the unveiling of the Qadr-1 were not aggressive in intent, but designed to make the point that Iran could also play by Richard M. Nixon's "madman" strategy, whereby you act so wildly as to convince your enemy you are capable of anything.
So now Ahmadinejad has become a folk hero to millions in the Middle East -- just one more addition to the record of incompetence.
Here is a summary from one of Juan Cole's blogging partners, Barnett R. Rubin:
The Bush-Cheney administration has surrendered much of Afghanistan to the Taliban and much of Pakistan to al-Qaida. They have turned most of Iraq over to Iran, creating the very danger over which they now threaten another disastrous war; they have strained the U.S. Armed Forces to the point of exhaustion, turned the Defense Department over to private contractors, the Justice Department over to the Republican National Committee, and the national debt over to foreign creditors, while leading a party whose single most basic belief is supposed to be that individuals must take personal responsibility for their actions. And they dare to lecture us on national security?
Yes. And the rest of the world, too -- except that we're not listening anymore.
posted by Cathie from Canada : Tuesday, September 25, 2007 Link to this post Tweet
Dion unplugged
Swearing out ceremony
Dion loses, but Harper can't win either
Betray-Us
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Vegas' T-Mobile Arena to host Canelo-Jacobs
162dDan Rafael
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to host Canelo Alvarez-Daniel Jacobs fight on May 4
Dan RafaelESPN Senior Writer
2013 BWAA Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism
ESPN.com boxing writer since 2005
Five years at USA Today
Canelo Alvarez, boxing's biggest star, is returning to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for his middleweight world-title-unification fight against Daniel Jacobs on May 4, Golden Boy Promotions made official on Wednesday.
Ever since the 160-pound megafight was signed in mid-January, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya said that T-Mobile Arena was the likely site for the Cinco de Mayo weekend fight, but the deal took time to complete.
"Fights of this magnitude have a home, and that home is Las Vegas," De La Hoya said. "Ever since Canelo Alvarez introduced T-Mobile Arena to boxing fans, he has hosted his biggest fights there. On May 4, we expect a full house of fans from all over the world to watch Canelo capture another world title with a great victory over Daniel Jacobs."
Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 KOs), 28, of Mexico, will be fighting at T-Mobile Arena for the fifth time in his past seven fights. It was the site of both of his megafights with Gennady Golovkin in 2017 and 2018, as well as his knockout victory over Amir Khan in his first appearance at the arena in 2016 and his one-sided rout of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in 2017.
The fight will also be the second of Alvarez's record-breaking five-year, 11-fight, $365 million deal with sports streaming service DAZN, which he kicked off on Dec. 15 with a one-fight rise to super middleweight to knock out Rocky Fielding in the third round, earning a secondary world title at Madison Square Garden in Alvarez's New York debut. Now he is returning to Las Vegas, where most of his major fights have taken place.
"I inaugurated this arena to boxing at an international level, and it's a place where I have had some of my biggest fights," Alvarez said. "This fight against Daniel Jacobs will not be the exception. I am ready to capture another world title in front of a packed house, listening to the unconditional support of the fans in attendance, and also for those who will watch this fight through the screens of a huge platform in DAZN. I want it so when people talk about T-Mobile Arena, they say that is where Canelo Alvarez fights."
Jacobs (35-2, 29 KOs), 32, of Brooklyn, New York, has been primarily an East Coast fighter. The fight with Alvarez will be Jacobs' first fight in Las Vegas since his first world title fight and first loss, a fifth-round knockout to Dmitry Pirog in July 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
"I'm thrilled that this huge night has landed in Las Vegas," Jacobs said. "I made my debut there in 2007, but I haven't boxed there for nearly nine years. Scheduling the biggest fight of my career at T-Mobile Arena is the perfect occasion to return to the bright lights and shine on a massive stage. Canelo is a champion and he's fought the best, so it's an honor for me to face him, and of course it's a brilliant fight for the fans. But my legacy is on the line and I have a lot to gain -- I want to be a Hall of Famer one day, and this is the sort of fight that will get me there."
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You are here :: CES In the News » Two LA Affordable Housing Fighters
The Tidings
The Tidings is the weekly newspaper of the Los Angeles Archdiocese
'Our Workers Can't Afford to Live Here'
Two Veteran Community Organizers Tackle L.A.'s Burgeoning Rental Housing Crisis
By R. W. Dellinger
AGENCY LEADER - Francesca de la Rosa brings together constituents and communities impacted by the city's shrinking affordable rental housing. photo by R. W. Dellinger
When Francesca de la Rosa was a wet-behind-the-ears Los Angeles community organizer working on food security and hunger issues, struggling families would tell her they just couldn't afford fruits, vegetables and other healthy food because they were paying too much for rent.
"Everywhere I went, it was about housing," the 34-year-old native Angeleno recalls, holding out her arms, palms up.
Today, working for the Southern California Association of NonProfit Housing (SCANPH) as coordinator of Housing LA, promoting the building and preserving of affordable housing has, in fact, become her job.
Eighteen months ago, de la Rosa was hired to revitalize the citywide organization, which was started in 1999. Her daunting mission was to bring together the growing number of constituents and communities that found themselves severely impacted by Los Angeles' shrinking affordable rental housing market.
In the last five years, the city has lost more than 13,000 affordable housing units to condo conversions and demolitions, while the sub-prime mortgage loan fiasco has driven hordes of home owners back into the rental market, jacking up local rents in the process.
Housing is considered affordable when it costs 30 percent or less of a household's income. During 2006, 57 percent of renters in the City of Los Angeles and 56 percent in L.A. County spent 30 percent or more on housing, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
"It's not just housing advocates or housing legal attorneys who are saying, 'We need to do something,'" de la Rosa points out. "We have unions saying, 'Our workers can't afford to live here.' The faith community is saying, 'We have people in our churches who are living out of their cars on our grounds.'"
Three-point plan
Housing LA has proposed a three-point plan to put the brakes on the local crisis:
---Take the Housing Trust Fund out of annual budget wrangling by dedicating permanent sources of funds.
---Construct mixed-income housing, where developers have incentives to build moderate- and low-income home units.
---Preserve what affordable housing is left in residential hotels and apartments by stopping demolition and conversion to condominiums and luxury apartments. In addition, enforce rent-control laws to make sure tenants aren't forced out of their homes illegally.
De la Rosa, who says her sense of social justice was fostered by teachers at Mount St. Mary's College, is passionate about what the rental housing crisis is doing to Los Angeles.
"The cultural diversity and the uniqueness of our neighborhoods that's made Los Angeles Los Angeles, we're losing through gentrification and displacement of longtime residents of the city," she stresses. "So, first and foremost, we're losing the culture of L.A.
"We are quickly becoming a city of those who can afford living here and the majority who cannot. So we're losing our workers. Economically, we're losing our base of service employees. And there's such a high turnover rate among students at LAUSD [Los Angeles Unified School District], our district is losing money when families have to move.
"We're having increasing traffic problems because people are commuting from all over the place," she explains. "We are seeing the health consequences of people who are living in slum housing conditions who can't afford to buy food and other basic necessities. And then there's the stress of living on the street or on the verge of being displaced. I mean, the ripple effect just continues."
In short, de la Rosa says the housing crisis is nothing less than a moral dilemma.
"What kind of city are we if we're a city of people living on the street and a city that is comfortable with single mothers with children sleeping in cars or a city that's comfortable losing teachers because they can't afford to live here?
"A lot of people don't want to hear that housing is a human right. But I think on a basic level we all believe that people should be able to buy food, send their kids to school, hopefully have some sort of health care and, at least, have a home to call their own."
After a moment, the affordable housing advocate and community organizer says, "Everybody I think gets that. We get that, but we're falling way short in insuring that that's actually happening."
Less commitment
Even in the late 1970s - when Larry Gross and his Coalition for Economic Survival was fighting for rent control in Los Angeles, which became the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance in 1979 - the rental housing crunch wasn't as bleak as it is today.
"I think the housing crisis is more severe right now," the native New Yorker reports. "I think even back then in the days of rent control fights when people were being evicted, you could still find something affordable. You could still find a place in your community.
LESS COMMITMENT - Larry Gross believes "there's less commitment to build affordable housing and there's less funding for it" in Los Angeles. photo by R. W. Dellinger
"Today, that's almost impossible. And, you know, the existing housing is dwindling rapidly as we speak. The other thing is there's less commitment to build affordable housing and there's less funding for it."
Gross says people have the conception that L.A. has developed a pretty progressive government. But he thinks the City of the Angels is actually more conservative now than in the past. And he believes the culprit is term limits.
Politicians, well aware they're only going to be in a certain office a short time, are constantly planning their next campaign and election, which takes mega bucks. So going up against developers means going up against the hands that feed their political ambitions.
Moreover, he says local leaders are wrongfully hiding behind the state's Ellis Act, which allows landlords to evict tenants to "go out of business." He points out that the act states that apartments can't be re-rented, except at the same rent the evicted tenants were paying, for five years after the evictions. But most Ellis evictions have been used to convert rental units into condominiums.
"Soon it's going to be two years since we raised the issue that the city should be restricting condo conversions and old apartment demolitions," he notes. "And City Hall has refused. They've said it's illegal, but they're getting bogus information from the city attorney. Meanwhile, cities up and down the state have enacted housing laws to protect constituents."
Gross points out that 64 percent of Angelenos rent their homes, which is the highest ratio of renters to home owners of any big city in the United States. And these folks, especially those living in rent-controlled apartments and rooms, are terribly vulnerable.
Bull's-eye on your back
"If you live in a rent control unit and you're a long-term low-rent tenant, you're walking around with a bull's-eye on your back, literally," Gross says. "Because your landlord is going to do everything that they can to try to get you out through whatever means - legal or illegal."
Under Los Angeles City law, there are 11 legal reasons for evictions. Seven have to do with the tenant, such as failing to pay rent, causing damage, using the unit for illegal purposes and refusing the landlord reasonable access.
The rest concern the landlord seeking in "good faith" to: move himself or his wife, children or parents into the building; demolish or perform work on the building or rental unit; remove the rental unit permanently from the rental market; and comply with a governmental agency's order to vacate the building.
"Most evictions center around condo conversions and demolitions," Gross reports. "A lot of it is legitimate. But underneath that there's a lot of landlords who are using conversions and demolitions as cover to get out of long-term low-rent tenants so they can jack up rents.
"There's also a huge trend by landlords who are prepaying their HUD mortgages in order to get out of Section 8 [federal government subsidized] housing, so they can upgrade their apartments and make more money."
During the Coalition for Economic Survival's 30-plus years in the Southland, there have been some major housing victories, including winning rent control in the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood. CES has also helped four tenant associations buy their HUD subsidized housing complexes, conducted campaigns to get laws passed combating slum housing and organized thousands of renters into tenant associations to stop evictions and rent increases.
Last December, after a lengthy grassroots struggle spearheaded by CES, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed into law significant increases in tenant relocation assistance. For example, renters who have lived in their apartments more than three years now get $9,040 when forced to move, while seniors, the disabled or parents with minor children receive $17,080.
Still, Gross says on many days he feels like the little Dutch boy running around sticking his fingers into the ever increasing holes in L.A.'s rental housing dike.
"Organizing people and putting more pressure on city council members is what it's about," he says. "The elected officials have to be held accountable, 'cause we've seen they're not going to do much about affordable housing on their own. They're hearing from the development and landlord communities, who give them big contributions and have access to them.
"We can't counter that," he acknowledges. "But we have the numbers. And our numbers are more than the developers' dollars."
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CyclingFederation of Nigeria is the body empowered by the Federal Government of Nigeria to govern and promote Cycling sport in Nigeria. Cycling as an organized sporting activity started back in Nigeria since 1972 and has grown over the years to a popular promotional and award winning sport. The Cycling Federation of Nigeria is a member of the African Cycling Confederation (CAC), and affiliated to International Cycling Union (UCI). Meanwhile, all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory Cycling Associations in Nigeria are affiliated to the Cycling Federation of Nigeria.
Cycling is one of the oldest sporting events in Nigeria. Before then, the sport was for leisure, recreation and to keep fit (physical fitness).The national governing body was made up of members nominated and approved from parts of the regions. Cycling is one of the most expensive sports due to cost of equipment and parts which are imported from developed and industrialized countries like Europe, America and Asia. The cost effect, make it difficult for many people or clubs to be involved or procure the special bicycle and outfits.
In the early 70s, the governing body of the sport was known as Nigeria Amateur Cycling Association. This body over ruled and regulated other bodies formed in then four (4) regions in Nigeria namely: Northern, Western, Mid Western and Eastern regions. It was introduces into the country as far back as the early days of colonialism. The ownership and use of bicycle by some privileged African then was indeed a mark of arrival. It was prestigious to own a bicycle in those days.
With improvement in the standard of living, more and more people in the society were able to own bicycles of their own. It was common in those days to find children and young adults ride bicycles for leisure, transportation and even some form of unregulated cycling for sports and competitive purpose.
The first coaching course took place in Kaduna at the Northern part of Nigeria. The second was at Ibadan, and then the third was at the University of Ife, from 19th August to September, 1976. Cycling competition was first organized in Nigeria on 18th – 24th November, 1973.
The first Cycling Club in Nigeria known as “ Armstong Cycling Club” was formed in Lagos in 1956 with Pa Sobayo as the founder and first Chairman. Other prominent members of the club then were Rev. Father Slattery, Chief Kunle Oyero and Prince T. O. Alade. A reliable source has it that the first President of Nigeria Hon. Nnamdi Azikwe was the patron of the Club. In 1962, a group of enthusiastic young men, like J. J Umoh, S. S Bassey, O. O Adeke and U. U Samuel joined the club as cyclists.
The first know modern cycling race in Nigeria was organized by “Raleigh” and it was held in Lagos in 1962. The race was won by of the pioneer cyclist J. J Umoh , information has it that the race was a distance of 20 miles.
After the creation of States from the then four regions, each State formed their Cycling Associations known as State Amateur Cycling Association. This body became the governing board to oversee the development of cycling. The state associations are overruled by the Nigeria Amateur cycling Association, which became known as Cycling Federation of Nigeria today.
The National governing body for Cycling known as Nigeria Amateur Cycling Association (NACA) came into existence in 1972 and Cycling was featured at the 2nd All African Games that was held in Nigeria in 1973.
Cycling has since then been participated in All African Games with laurels. Nigeria Cycling participated for the first time in the African Continental Championship that was held in Sharm-El-Sheik in Egypt in 2013 and won a Silver medal in the Elite Women Team Time Trial.
Cycling Federation of Nigeria
To encourage mass participation in Cycling and make it a veritable means of transportation,
recreation, wellbeing and livelihood in a safe environment.
© Cycling Federation of Nigeria
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Regulators and decision-makers, it's a dog's life
The recent High Court decision in Isbester v Knox City Council [2015] HCA 20 reinforces to regulators that their staff cannot act as jury, judge and executioner, and they must apply the principles of natural justice to each decision, acting without any perception of bias.
On 10 June 2015, the High Court in essence held that the same staff within a regulator cannot be involved in the prosecution of a criminal charge then sit on a review panel for a related matter, even if not acting as the final decision-maker, due to the perception of bias.
Facts of case
Ms Hughes was a Council employee who, as an authorised officer, charged Ms Isbester with an offence under s 29 of the Domestic Animals Act 1994 (Vic) relating to an attack by her dog.
Later, Ms Hughes sat as a member of a three-person panel which deliberated and recommended to the chairperson of that panel, who was the ultimate decision maker, that he make an order to destroy the dog under s 84P(e) of the same Act.
The High Court considered the question of whether there was a possibility that Ms Hughes could have prejudged the decision to destroy the dog after her involvement in the prosecution of the charges against Ms Isbester, and whether that could give rise to an apprehension of a conflict of interest.
Principles of bias
The well-known principle governing cases of possible bias was said in Ebner[1] to require two steps:
1. An interest which might lead a decision-maker to decide a case other than on its legal and factual merits.
2. A logical connection between that interest and the feared deviation from the course of deciding the case on its merits.
Ms Isbester had alleged that:
(a) Ms Hughes had such an 'interest' as a person bringing charges, whether as a prosecutor or other accuser, in the outcome of the hearing of those charges; and
(b) This interest would conflict with the objectivity required of Ms Hughes as a member of another decision‑making body deciding the consequential matter of whether to destroy the dog.
Joint judgment
In their joint judgment, the Honourable Justices Kiefel, Bell, Keane and Nettle held at [42] that:
It is not realistic to view Ms Hughes' interest in the matter as coming to an end when the proceedings in the Magistrates' Court were completed. A line cannot be drawn at that point of her involvement so as to quarantine the Magistrates' Court proceedings from her actions as a member of the Panel. It is reasonably to be expected that her involvement in the prosecution of the charges created an interest in the final outcome of the matter.
Of course, the "final outcome of the matter" was the decision of whether to destroy the dog.
Their Honours held at [43] that:
Having participated in obtaining the conviction for the offence under s 29(4), [Ms Hughes] organised the Panel hearing and drafted the letter advising [Ms Isbester] of it. She supplied the Panel with evidence, including further evidence she had obtained as relevant to the future housing of the dog. If Ms Hughes could not actually be described as a prosecutor with respect to the decision under s 84P(e), she was certainly the moving force.
A fair-minded observer might reasonably apprehend that Ms Hughes might not have brought an impartial mind to the decision under s 84P(e).
Their Honours confirmed that this was the case even though the primary judge had found that Ms Hughes had acted nothing other than diligently, and in accordance with her duties, or that she was in fact wholly impartial. They said that "natural justice required, however, that she not participate in the decision and because that occurred, the decision must be quashed."
So, the decision to destroy the dog was set aside. As they say, every dog has it's day...
Victorian Government clients seeking advice on investigations and the prosecution of criminal charges, can contact:
Jennifer Butler
Principal Solicitor
Greg Elms
[1] Ebner v Official Trustee in Bankruptcy; Clenae Pty Ltd v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (2000) 205 CLR 337
Labels: Administrative, Decision Making, Governance, Professional Discipline and Regulation, Prosecutions
Transforming procurement
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Alexander Henderson Steers Scotland Through Troubled Waters
This is the day that …Alexander Henderson died in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1646.
Henderson was born in 1583 at Criech, Fifeshire. He graduated at the University of St Andrews in 1603 and in 1610 was appointed professor of rhetoric and philosophy. Shortly after this he was appointed to the parish of Leuchars by Archbishop George Gladstanes.
Henderson’s sympathies were with the organised church, which made him extremely unpopular at first. He subsequently changed his views about church government and became a Presbyterian in doctrine and order. This paved the way for him becoming an outstanding leader and statesman for the Presbyterian cause in the resultant clashes with the English monarchy.
He was a natural leader and was eloquent and effective in dealing with the Crown. When King Charles I sought to impose episcopacy (the rule of bishops) upon the Church of Scotland, it was Henderson who led the fight against it. He helped with the final draft of the “National Covenant” which began its public signing at Greyfriars Church, Edinburgh on March 1st, 1638. He debated the famous Aberdeen Doctors and was later chosen Moderator of the Scottish churches at the Glasgow Assembly on 21st of November 1638. That gathering deposed all the Scottish bishops, excommunicated a number of them, repealed all acts favouring episcopacy, and reconstituted the Scottish Kirk on thorough Presbyterian principles.
As leader of the Covenanters he steered the Scottish Church as their elected moderator (1638-1658) through twenty stormy years. Through his handling of the First Bishop’s War he made a favourable impression on King Charles. When the Scots saw that the King was preparing for the Second Bishop’s War they took the initiative and invaded England, securing a decisive victory. King Charles acceded to all their demands, however the formal development of the treaty was a long process, which was overseen by Henderson.
His crowning achievement could well be that he oversaw the establishment of the Solemn League and Covenant, which passed through both houses of the British Parliament, which thus allowed for the two systems of church government to co-exist.
For the last six years of his life he was rector at Edinburgh University.
“His name,” writes W. Barker, is “revered as second only to John Knox in the Church of Scotland”.
Filed Under: Church History Tagged With: aberbeen doctors, alexander henderson, church of scotland, covenanters, edinburgh, first bishop's war, greyfriars church, john knox, king charles 1, presbyterian, presbyterianism, scotland, second bishop's war, university of st andrews
Andrew Melville’s Unrestrained Tongue
This is the day that … Andrew Melville was born in 1545. His family displayed the fighting Scottish spirit and his father died in battle when Andrew was just 2 years old. His mother died soon after and the lad was raised by his older brother.
With an aptitude for scholarship he outshone his peers in classic languages, studied abroad and became an educator himself. On his return to Scotland he was so effective in upgrading the universities there that they could not contain the students who wished to come.
Yet while this Scottish Reformer has been called “the father of Presbyterianism”, he was direct of speech and unafraid to speak roughly where he felt it appropriate.
As John Knox had withstood Queen Mary’s Romanist tendencies a generation previous, now the battle was with King James IV who declared that he was supreme “over all persons and causes, civil and ecclesiastical alike” (Fathers of the Kirk, page 48).
At an historic meeting in 1596 Andrew Melville called the King, to his face, “God’s sillie vassal,” and taking the king by the sleeve went on to remind him that there were two kingdoms in Scotland … and one of those was ruled by King Jesus, to whom King James IV must bow as a subject!
This fearless Scot was imprisoned in the Tower of London (1609-1611), in response to his writing a sarcastic review of English ecclesiastical practices. Then, at the request of a French noble, he was released to take up a professorship on the Continent. There he died, in Sedan, France, in 1622.
J.D. Douglas writes: “It was Presbyterianism of the type Melville had forged that ultimately won the victory some 80 years after his banishment and which still forms the basis of the national Church of Scotland today” (and of Presbyterian churches around the world). (Who’s Who in Church History, page 469).
Filed Under: Church History Tagged With: andrew melville, church of scotland, john knox, king james iv, presbyterian, presbyterianism, reformer, scotland, scottish reformer, tower of london
Archbishop Robert Leighton in Turbulent Times
June 25, 2008 by Chris Field Leave a Comment
This is the day that … Archbishop Robert Leighton died in London, in 1684.
He was born in 1611 … the exact date being unknown. Nor are we sure of the place. His father, Alexander Leighton, was an outspoken Puritan who incurred the wrath of the infamous Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. As a result, Laud had him branded on the forehead, fined 10,000 pounds Sterling, publicly whipped, one ear cut off and one nostril split. Oh, yes, and life imprisonment! (Fathers of the Kirk, page 85).
Son, Robert, attended Edinburgh University from whence he was nearly expelled for writing “witty verse” in which the red nose of one of the faculty figured!
He entered the Church of Scotland (which at the time had bishops), spending 10 years on the Continent. He returned in 1641 to a Church of Scotland that had rejected episcopacy in favour of Presbyterianism. For seven years he fitted in, but in 1648 he resigned and became principal of Edinburgh University.
The year 1660 saw Charles II on the throne and episcopacy was re-introduced into the Scottish church. Two-thirds of the ministers accepted the change – including Leighton, who was consecrated as a bishop. Three hundred ministers refused to accept the king as “supreme in all causes civil and ecclesiastical” and were ejected from their parishes. History knows these faithful pastors and their followers as ‘the Covenanters’.
Robert Leighton met with some of these “non-conformists and sought to heal the breach, to no avail.”
Robert was also a writer of great influence. He was devotional in style and his works impacted many, including Coleridge.
Some quotes from Leighton. Faith is an humble, self-denying grace; it makes the Christian nothing in himself, and all in God. God’s sweet dews and showers of grace slide off the mountains of pride, and fall on the low valleys of humble hearts, and make them pleasant and fertile. Were the visage of sin seen at a full light, undressed and unpainted, it were impossible, while it so appeared, that any one soul could be in love with it, but would rather flee from it as hideous and abominable.
In 1674 he resigned his archbishopric and passed his final decade “in quiet study and meditation!”
On his tombstone is the inscription: “In an age of utmost strife, he adorned the doctrine of God his Saviour by a holy life and the meek and loving spirit which breathes through his writings.”
Filed Under: Church History Tagged With: archbishop of canterbury, charles ii, church of scotland, covenanters, edinburgh university, presbyterian, puritan, robert leighton, scotland, william laud
Ebenezer Erskine, Contending for Truth
This is the day that … Ebenezer Erskine was born in Berwickshire, Scotland, in 1680.
His father was a Church of Scotland minister. Ebenezer, and his young brother Ralph, followed suit. But their respective ministries encountered stormy days.
The republishing of a volume that had first appeared 73 years earlier – The Marrow of Modern Divinity – was condemned as heretical by the General Assembly of the Scottish Church. Ebenezer Erskine, by this time a well-known preacher who oft-times resorted to open air meetings because his church could not accommodate the crowds, defended the Marrow volume. As a result he, and three other ministers, were suspended (August, 1733) and eventually deposed from the State Church.
Ebenezer Erskine became the leader of the Associate Presbytery, later known as the Secession Church, founded on 5 December, 1733 (The Cambaslung Revival, A. Fawcett, page 26). And he invited fellow open-air preacher, George Whitefield, to visit Scotland … on the condition that Whitefield would not align himself with the State Church. This Whitefield declined to do… “If the Pope himself were to lend me his pulpit,” he replied, “I would gladly proclaim the righteousness of Jesus Christ therein” (George Whitefield, by A. Belden, page 124). Thus the Secession Church began to denounce Whitefield – “and even called him an agent of the devil” (ibid, page 125).
Ralph and Ebenezer are counted among the great Puritan preachers and their published sermons display their engagement of the souls of men to command faith-filled holy living, such as in Ebenezer’s “The Wind of the Holy Ghost Blowing upon the Dry Bones in the Valley of Vision”. “What is the reason why many professors of religion have lost their wonted vigour in the way of the Lord, and are in such a languishing condition as to their soul-matters? The plain reason of it is this, they are glutting themselves with the pleasures of sense.”
Ebenezer Erskine died on 2 June, 1754, and within about 200 years “most of the ‘seceders’ had found their way back into the national church” (Who’s Who in Christian History? page 237).
Filed Under: Church History Tagged With: berwickshire, church of scotland, ebenezer erskine, holiness, preacher, puritan, puritan preachers, ralph erskine, scotland
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Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
Execute Westerfield, says San Diego jury, citing horrific slaying of 7-year-old
By Tony Perry
SAN DIEGO — After five days of deliberations, a jury recommended yesterday that David Westerfield be executed for the kidnapping and murder of Danielle van Dam, 7, whose disappearance in February turned out to be the first in a string of high-profile child abductions this year.
Westerfield, 50, a self-employed design engineer, showed no emotion as the verdict was read. One of his lawyers leaned over and told him, "I'm so sorry."
Danielle's mother, Brenda, cried, and the girl's father, Damon, shut his eyes. They left the courthouse without talking to reporters.
Superior Court Judge William Mudd set Nov. 22 to announce whether he will accept the jury's recommendation or reduce Westerfield's sentence to life in prison without parole. Only one death penalty in 10 San Diego cases has been reduced to a life sentence in the past eight years.
Two male jurors, who would not give their full names, said the most damning piece of evidence against Westerfield was the discovery of Danielle's blood on his jacket. The same jury on Aug. 21 found him guilty of murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography but was forbidden from discussing the case until yesterday.
"We really wanted David Westerfield to speak to us and give us what his state of mind was," said the jury foreman. Westerfield never took the stand in his defense.
Jurors said the horrific nature of the killing led them to recommend the death penalty.
The two jurors also said revelations about Brenda and Damon van Dams' marijuana use and extramarital sex, raised by Westerfield's attorneys, were considered irrelevant by the panel.
Westerfield lived two doors away from the van Dam family. The girl sold him Girl Scout cookies days before her abduction.
Danielle was last seen Feb. 1, when her father put her to bed in her second-story bedroom, decorated in her favorite colors, pink and purple. Her remains were found nearly a month later along a road outside the city, too decomposed to determine the cause of death or whether she had been sexually assaulted.
Defense attorneys had tried to convince jurors the "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" lifestyle of Danielle's parents left her vulnerable to attack. The kidnapper, they said, might have been someone who came to the home for sex or illegal drugs.
In his closing argument, lead defense attorney Steven Feldman had begged jurors not to hold his abrasive personality or controversial tactics against his client.
"I don't think we put a lot of weight on Feldman and his likability," said a second juror. "We really focused on what came out in court: the evidence."
Feldman limited his comments to, "We will not appeal this case on the streets of San Diego through the media." By state law, the case will automatically be appealed.
Feldman had argued during the penalty phase of the trial that Westerfield was not the "worst of the worst" and did not deserve to be executed.
San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst praised the jury for agreeing with his trial prosecutors — Jeff Dusek and George "Woody" Clarke — that Westerfield should be executed.
"Today, justice was done for Danielle van Dam, justice was done for her family," Pfingst said.
Danielle's blood was found in Westerfield's recreational vehicle and on his jacket. Her hair was found in the RV and the bedroom of his home, and fibers found on her body were identical to fibers found at the home.
In the upscale Sabre Springs neighborhood where Westerfield and the van Dams were neighbors, residents reacted with relief. "I'm happy," said Jojo Trine, who lives across the street from Westerfield's former house. "That's exactly right."
There were indications at least one juror was a holdout until the final moment. At midmorning, the jury foreman sent Mudd a note saying the jury was deadlocked. But when court convened in the early afternoon, the jury handed Mudd a unanimous decision.
Deluged with requests for interviews, the van Dams, through a spokeswoman, said they will speak today.
Danielle's slaying preceded other high-profile abductions this year, including those of Elizabeth Smart in Utah, Samantha Runnion in Orange County, Calif., and Cassandra Williamson in Missouri. Samantha and Cassandra were killed; Elizabeth remains missing.
Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.
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Isotopic signature
An isotopic signature (also isotopic fingerprint) is a ratio of non-radiogenic 'stable isotopes', stable radiogenic isotopes, or unstable radioactive isotopes of particular elements in an investigated material. The ratios of isotopes in a sample material are measured by isotope-ratio mass spectrometry against an isotopic reference material. This process is called isotope analysis.
Stable isotopesEdit
The atomic mass of different isotopes affect their chemical kinetic behavior, leading to natural isotope separation processes.
Carbon isotopesEdit
Main article: δ13C
Algal group
δ13C range[1]
HCO3-using red algae −22.5‰ to −9.6‰
CO2-using red algae −34.5‰ to −29.9‰
Brown algae −20.8‰ to −10.5‰
Green algae −20.3‰ to −8.8‰
For example, different sources and sinks of methane have different affinity for the 12C and 13C isotopes, which allows distinguishing between different sources by the 13C/12C ratio in methane in the air. In geochemistry, paleoclimatology and paleoceanography this ratio is called δ13C. The ratio is calculated with respect to Pee Dee Belemnite (PDB) standard:
δ C 13 s a m p l e = ( C 13 / 12 C sample C 13 / 12 C s t a n d a r d − 1 ) ⋅ 1000 {\displaystyle \delta {\ce {^{13}C}}_{\mathrm {sample} }=\left({\frac {{\ce {^{13}C/^{12}C}}_{{\ce {sample}}}}{{\ce {^{13}C/^{12}C}}_{\mathrm {standard} }}}-1\right)\cdot 1000}
Similarly, carbon in inorganic carbonates shows little isotopic fractionation, while carbon in materials originated by photosynthesis is depleted of the heavier isotopes. In addition, there are two types of plants with different biochemical pathways; the C3 carbon fixation, where the isotope separation effect is more pronounced, C4 carbon fixation, where the heavier 13C is less depleted, and Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) plants, where the effect is similar but less pronounced than with C4 plants. Isotopic fractionation in plants is caused by physical (slower diffusion of 13C in plant tissues due to increased atomic weight) and biochemical (preference of 12C by two enzymes: RuBisCO and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase) factors.[2] The different isotope ratios for the two kinds of plants propagate through the food chain, thus it is possible to determine if the principal diet of a human or an animal consists primarily of C3 plants (rice, wheat, soybeans, potatoes) or C4 plants (corn, or corn-fed beef) by isotope analysis of their flesh and bone collagen (however, to obtain more accurate determinations, carbon isotopic fractionation must be also taken into account, since several studies have reported significant 13C discrimination during biodegradation of simple and complex substrates).[3][4] Within C3 plants processes regulating changes in δ13C are well understood, particularly at the leaf level,[5] but also during wood formation.[6][7] Many recent studies combine leaf level isotopic fractionation with annual patterns of wood formation (i.e. tree ring δ13C) to quantify the impacts of climatic variations and atmospheric composition[8] on physiological processes of individual trees and forest stands.[9] The next phase of understanding, in terrestrial ecosystems at least, seems to be the combination of multiple isotopic proxies to decipher interactions between plants, soils and the atmosphere, and predict how changes in land use will affect climate change.[10] Similarly, marine fish contain more 13C than freshwater fish, with values approximating the C4 and C3 plants respectively.
The ratio of carbon-13 and carbon-12 isotopes in these types of plants is as follows:[11]
C4 plants: -16 to -10 ‰
CAM plants: -20 to -10 ‰
Limestones formed by precipitation in seas from the atmospheric carbon dioxide contain normal proportion of 13C. Conversely, calcite found in salt domes originates from carbon dioxide formed by oxidation of petroleum, which due to its plant origin is 13C-depleted. The layer of limestone deposited at the Permian extinction 252 Mya can be identified by the 1% drop in 13C/12C.
The 14C isotope is important in distinguishing biosynthetized materials from man-made ones. Biogenic chemicals are derived from biospheric carbon, which contains 14C. Carbon in artificially made chemicals is usually derived from fossil fuels like coal or petroleum, where the 14C originally present has decayed below detectable limits. The amount of 14C currently present in a sample therefore indicates the proportion of carbon of biogenic origin.
Nitrogen isotopesEdit
Main article: δ15N
Nitrogen-15, or 15N, is often used in agricultural and medical research, for example in the Meselson–Stahl experiment to establish the nature of DNA replication.[12] An extension of this research resulted in development of DNA-based stable-isotope probing, which allows examination of links between metabolic function and taxonomic identity of microorganisms in the environment, without the need for culture isolation.[13][14] Proteins can be isotopically labelled by cultivating them in a medium containing 15N as the only source of nitrogen, e.g., in quantitative proteomics such as SILAC.
Nitrogen-15 is extensively used to trace mineral nitrogen compounds (particularly fertilizers) in the environment. When combined with the use of other isotopic labels, 15N is also a very important tracer for describing the fate of nitrogenous organic pollutants.[15][16] Nitrogen-15 tracing is an important method used in biogeochemistry.
The ratio of stable nitrogen isotopes, 15N/14N or δ15N, tends to increase with trophic level, such that herbivores have higher nitrogen isotope values than plants, and carnivores have higher nitrogen isotope values than herbivores. Depending on the tissue being examined, there tends to be an increase of 3-4 parts per thousand with each increase in trophic level.[17] The tissues and hair of vegans therefore contain significantly lower δ15N than the bodies of people who eat mostly meat. Similarly, a terrestrial diet produces a different signature than a marine-based diet. Isotopic analysis of hair is an important source of information for archaeologists, providing clues about the ancient diets and differing cultural attitudes to food sources.[18]
A number of other environmental and physiological factors can influence the nitrogen isotopic composition at the base of the food web (i.e. in plants) or at the level of individual animals. For example, in arid regions, the nitrogen cycle tends to be more 'open' and prone to the loss of 14N, increasing δ15N in soils and plants.[19] This leads to relatively high δ15N values in plants and animals in hot and arid ecosystems relative to cooler and moister ecosystems.[20] Furthermore, elevated δ15N have been linked to the preferential excretion of 14N and reutilization of already enriched 15N tissues in the body under prolonged water stress conditions or insufficient protein intake.[21][22]
δ15N also provides a diagnostic tool in planetary science as the ratio exhibited in atmospheres and surface materials "is closely tied to the conditions under which materials form".[23]
Oxygen isotopesEdit
Main article: δ18O
Oxygen comes in three variants, but the 17O is so rare that it is very difficult to detect (~0.04% abundant).[24] The ratio of 18O/16O in water depends on the amount of evaporation the water experienced (as 18O is heavier and therefore less likely to vaporize). As the vapor tension depends on the concentration of dissolved salts, the 18O/16O ratio shows correlation on the salinity and temperature of water. As oxygen gets built into the shells of calcium carbonate secreting organisms, such sediments prove a chronological record of temperature and salinity of the water in the area.
Oxygen isotope ratio in atmosphere varies predictably with time of year and geographic location; e.g. there is a 2% difference between 18O-rich precipitation in Montana and 18O-depleted precipitation in Florida Keys. This variability can be used for approximate determination of geographic location of origin of a material; e.g. it is possible to determine where a shipment of uranium oxide was produced. The rate of exchange of surface isotopes with the environment has to be taken in account.[25]
Radiogenic isotopesEdit
Lead isotopesEdit
Lead consists of four stable isotopes: 204Pb, 206Pb, 207Pb, and 208Pb. Local variations in uranium/thorium/lead content cause a wide location-specific variation of isotopic ratios for lead from different localities. Lead emitted to the atmosphere by industrial processes has an isotopic composition different from lead in minerals. Combustion of gasoline with tetraethyllead additive led to formation of ubiquitous micrometer-sized lead-rich particulates in car exhaust smoke; especially in urban areas the man-made lead particles are much more common than natural ones. The differences in isotopic content in particles found in objects can be used for approximate geolocation of the object's origin.[25]
Radioactive isotopesEdit
Hot particles, radioactive particles of nuclear fallout and radioactive waste, also exhibit distinct isotopic signatures. Their radionuclide composition (and thus their age and origin) can be determined by mass spectrometry or by gamma spectrometry. For example, particles generated by a nuclear blast contain detectable amounts of 60Co and 152Eu. The Chernobyl accident did not release these particles but did release 125Sb and 144Ce. Particles from underwater bursts will consist mostly of irradiated sea salts. Ratios of 152Eu/155Eu, 154Eu/155Eu, and 238Pu/239Pu are also different for fusion and fission nuclear weapons, which allows identification of hot particles of unknown origin.
ApplicationsEdit
Archaeological studiesEdit
In archaeological studies, stable isotope ratios have been used to track diet within the time span formation of analyzed tissues (10-15 years for bone collagen and intra-annual periods for tooth enamel bioapatite) from individuals; "recipes" of foodstuffs (ceramic vessel residues); locations of cultivation and types of plants grown (chemical extractions from sediments); and migration of individuals (dental material).[citation needed]
ForensicsEdit
With the advent of stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry, isotopic signatures of materials find increasing use in forensics, distinguishing the origin of otherwise similar materials and tracking the materials to their common source. For example, the isotope signatures of plants can be to a degree influenced by the growth conditions, including moisture and nutrient availability. In case of synthetic materials, the signature is influenced by the conditions during the chemical reaction. The isotopic signature profiling is useful in cases where other kinds of profiling, e.g. characterization of impurities, are not optimal. Electronics coupled with scintillator detectors are routinely used to evaluate isotope signatures and identify unknown sources.
A study was published demonstrating the possibility of determination of the origin of a common brown PSA packaging tape by using the carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen isotopic signature of the backing polymer, additives, and adhesive.[26]
Measurement of carbon isotopic ratios can be used for detection of adulteration of honey. Addition of sugars originated from corn or sugar cane (C4 plants) skews the isotopic ratio of sugars present in honey, but does not influence the isotopic ratio of proteins; in an unadulterated honey the carbon isotopic ratios of sugars and proteins should match.[27] As low as 7% level of addition can be detected.[28]
Nuclear explosions form 10Be by a reaction of fast neutrons with 13C in the carbon dioxide in air. This is one of the historical indicators of past activity at nuclear test sites.[29]
Solar system originsEdit
Main article: Origin of the Moon
Isotopic fingerprints are used to study the origin of materials in the Solar System.[30] For example, the Moon's oxygen isotopic ratios seem to be essentially identical to Earth's.[31] Oxygen isotopic ratios, which may be measured very precisely, yield a unique and distinct signature for each solar system body.[32] Different oxygen isotopic signatures can indicate the origin of material ejected into space.[33] The Moon's titanium isotope ratio (50Ti/47Ti) appears close to the Earth's (within 4 ppm).[34][35] In 2013, a study was released that indicated water in lunar magma was 'indistinguishable' from carbonaceous chondrites and nearly the same as Earth's, based on the composition of water isotopes.[30][36]
Origins of lifeEdit
Main article: Abiogenesis
Isotopic fingerprints typical of life, preserved in sediments, have been used to suggest that life existed on the planet already by 3.85 billion years ago.[37]
Isoscapes
Isotope electrochemistry
^ Maberly, S. C.; Raven, J. A.; Johnston, A. M. (1992). "Discrimination between 12C and 13C by marine plants". Oecologia. 91 (4): 481. doi:10.1007/BF00650320. JSTOR 4220100.
^ Park S. Nobel (2009) Physicochemical and Environmental Plant Physiology. P.410.
^ Fernandez, Irene; Cadisch, Georg (2003). "Discrimination against13C during degradation of simple and complex substrates by two white rot fungi". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 17 (23): 2614–2620. Bibcode:2003RCMS...17.2614F. doi:10.1002/rcm.1234. ISSN 0951-4198. PMID 14648898.
^ Fernandez, I.; Mahieu, N.; Cadisch, G. (2003). "Carbon isotopic fractionation during decomposition of plant materials of different quality". Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 17 (3): n/a. Bibcode:2003GBioC..17.1075F. doi:10.1029/2001GB001834. ISSN 0886-6236.
^ Farquhar, G D; Ehleringer, J R; Hubick, K T (1989). "Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Photosynthesis". Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology. 40 (1): 503–537. doi:10.1146/annurev.pp.40.060189.002443. ISSN 1040-2519.
^ McCarroll, Danny; Loader, Neil J. (2004). "Stable isotopes in tree rings". Quaternary Science Reviews. 23 (7–8): 771–801. Bibcode:2004QSRv...23..771M. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.336.2011. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.06.017. ISSN 0277-3791.
^ Ewe, Sharon M.L; da Silveira Lobo Sternberg, Leonel; Busch, David E (1999). "Water-use patterns of woody species in pineland and hammock communities of South Florida". Forest Ecology and Management. 118 (1–3): 139–148. doi:10.1016/S0378-1127(98)00493-9. ISSN 0378-1127.
^ Cabaneiro, Ana; Fernandez, Irene (2015). "Disclosing biome sensitivity to atmospheric changes: Stable C isotope ecophysiological dependences during photosynthetic uptake in Maritime pine and Scots pine ecosystems from southwestern Europe". Environmental Technology & Innovation. 4: 52–61. doi:10.1016/j.eti.2015.04.007. ISSN 2352-1864.
^ Silva, Lucas C. R.; Anand, Madhur; Shipley, Bill (2013). "Probing for the influence of atmospheric CO2and climate change on forest ecosystems across biomes". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 22 (1): 83–92. doi:10.1111/j.1466-8238.2012.00783.x. ISSN 1466-822X.
^ Gómez-Guerrero, Armando; Silva, Lucas C. R.; Barrera-Reyes, Miguel; Kishchuk, Barbara; Velázquez-Martínez, Alejandro; Martínez-Trinidad, Tomás; Plascencia-Escalante, Francisca Ofelia; Horwath, William R. (2013). "Growth decline and divergent tree ring isotopic composition (δ13C and δ18O) contradict predictions of CO2 stimulation in high altitudinal forests". Global Change Biology. 19 (6): 1748–1758. Bibcode:2013GCBio..19.1748G. doi:10.1111/gcb.12170. ISSN 1354-1013. PMID 23504983.
^ O'Leary, M. H. (1988). "Carbon Isotopes in Photosynthesis". BioScience. 38 (5): 328–336. doi:10.2307/1310735. JSTOR 1310735.
^ Meselson, M.; Stahl, F. W. (1958). "The replication of DNA in E. coli". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 44 (7): 671–682. Bibcode:1958PNAS...44..671M. doi:10.1073/pnas.44.7.671. PMC 528642. PMID 16590258.
^ Radajewski, S.; McDonald, I. R.; Murrell, J. C. (2003). "Stable-isotope probing of nucleic acids: a window to the function of uncultured microorganisms". Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 14 (3): 296–302. doi:10.1016/s0958-1669(03)00064-8. PMID 12849783.
^ Cupples, A. M.; Shaffer, E. A.; Chee-Sanford, J. C.; Sims, G. K. (2007). "DNA buoyant density shifts during 15N DNA stable isotope probing". Microbiological Research. 162 (4): 328–334. doi:10.1016/j.micres.2006.01.016. PMID 16563712.
^ Marsh, K. L.; Sims, G. K.; Mulvaney, R. L. (2005). "Availability of urea to autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria as related to the fate of 14C- and 15N-labeled urea added to soil". Biology and Fertility of Soils. 42 (2): 137–145. doi:10.1007/s00374-005-0004-2.
^ Bichat, F.; Sims, G. K.; Mulvaney, R. L. (1999). "Microbial utilization of heterocyclic nitrogen from atrazine". Soil Science Society of America Journal. 63 (1): 100–110. Bibcode:1999SSASJ..63..100B. doi:10.2136/sssaj1999.03615995006300010016x.
^ Adams, Thomas S.; Sterner, Robert W. (2000). "The effect of dietary nitrogen content on trophic level 15N enrichment" (PDF). Limnol. Oceanogr. 45 (3): 601–607. Bibcode:2000LimOc..45..601A. doi:10.4319/lo.2000.45.3.0601. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-22.
^ Michael P. Richardsa,b,1 and Erik Trinkausc Isotopic evidence for the diets of European Neanderthals and early modern humans PNAS September 22, 2009vol. 106 no. 38 16034-16039
^ Handley, L.L; Austin, A. T.; Stewart, G.R.; Robinson, D.; Scrimgeour, C.M.; Raven, J.A.; Heaton, T.H.E.; Schmidt, S. (1999). "The 15N natural abundance (δ15N) of ecosystem samples reflects measures of water availability". Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 26 (2): 185–199. doi:10.1071/pp98146. ISSN 0310-7841.
^ Szpak, Paul; White, Christine D.; Longstaffe, Fred J.; Millaire, Jean-Francois; Vásquez Sánchez, Victor F. (2013). "Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Survey of Northern Peruvian Plants: Baselines for Paleodietary and Paleoecological Studies". PLOS ONE. 8 (1): e53763. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...853763S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053763. PMC 3547067. PMID 23341996.
^ Ambrose, Stanley H., et Michael J. DeNiro. 1986. "The isotopic ecology of East African mammals". Oecologia69 (3): 395–406
^ Hobson, Keith A., Ray T. Alisauskas, et Robert G. Clark. 1993. "Stable-Nitrogen Isotope Enrichment in Avian Tissues Due to Fasting and Nutritional Stress: Implications for Isotopic Analyses of Diet".The Condor95 (2): 388
^ Dyches, Preston; Clavin, Whitney (June 23, 2014). "Titan's Building Blocks Might Pre-date Saturn" (Press release). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
^ de Laeter, John Robert; Böhlke, John Karl; De Bièvre, Paul; Hidaka, Hiroshi; Peiser, H. Steffen; Rosman, Kevin J. R.; Taylor, Philip D. P. (2003). "Atomic weights of the elements. Review 2000 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. 75 (6): 683–800. doi:10.1351/pac200375060683.
^ a b Nuclear Forensic Analysis - Kenton J. Moody, Ian D. Hutcheon, Patrick M. Grant - Google Boeken
^ James F. Carter, Polly L. Grundy, Jenny C. Hill, Neil C. Ronan, Emma L. Titterton and Richard Sleeman "Forensic isotope ratio mass spectrometry of packaging tapes" Analyst, 2004, 129, 1206 - 1210, doi:10.1039/b409341k
^ González Martı́n, I.; Marqués Macı́as, E.; Sánchez Sánchez, J.; González Rivera, B. (1998). "Detection of honey adulteration with beet sugar using stable isotope methodology". Food Chemistry. 61 (3): 281–286. doi:10.1016/S0308-8146(97)00101-5.
^ PDF
^ Whitehead, Ne; Endo, S; Tanaka, K; Takatsuji, T; Hoshi, M; Fukutani, S; Ditchburn, Rg; Zondervan, A (2008). "A preliminary study on the use of (10)Be in forensic radioecology of nuclear explosion sites". Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. 99 (2): 260–70. doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2007.07.016. PMID 17904707.
^ a b Earth-Moon: A Watery "Double-Planet" Archived 2013-08-07 at the Wayback Machine
^ Wiechert, U.; et al. (October 2001). "Oxygen Isotopes and the Moon-Forming Giant Impact". Science. 294 (12): 345–348. Bibcode:2001Sci...294..345W. doi:10.1126/science.1063037. PMID 11598294.
^ Scott, Edward R. D. (December 3, 2001). "Oxygen Isotopes Give Clues to the Formation of Planets, Moons, and Asteroids". Planetary Science Research Discoveries Report: 55. Bibcode:2001psrd.reptE..55S. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
^ Nield, Ted (September 2009). "Moonwalk". Geological Society of London. p. 8. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
^ Zhang, Junjun; Nicolas Dauphas; Andrew M. Davis; Ingo Leya; Alexei Fedkin (25 March 2012). "The proto-Earth as a significant source of lunar material". Nature Geoscience. 5 (4): 251–255. Bibcode:2012NatGe...5..251Z. doi:10.1038/ngeo1429.
^ Koppes, Steve (March 28, 2012). "Titanium paternity test fingers Earth as moon's sole parent". Zhang, Junjun. The University of Chicago. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
^ A. Saal, et al - Hydrogen Isotopes in Lunar Volcanic Glasses and Melt Inclusions Reveal a Carbonaceous Chondrite Heritage
^ Mojzsis, Stephen J.; Arrhenius, Gustaf O.; McKeegan, Kevin D.; et al. (7 November 1996). "Evidence for life on Earth before 3,800 million years ago". Nature. 384 (6604): 55–59. Bibcode:1996Natur.384...55M. doi:10.1038/384055a0. hdl:2060/19980037618. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 8900275.
Carbon isotopes: you are what you eat
Hair-rising research
Ayacucho Archaeo Isotope Project
The pursuit of isotopic and molecular fire tracers in the polar atmosphere and cryosphere
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Confessions of a Conservation Officer
The Joy of Listing - Revisited
(c) Ruth Sharville, http://www.geograph.org,uk/ , licensed under a creative commons licence.
My very first post was about the evil machinations of Plymouth City Council and their determination not to admit that the post-WWII city centre they have inherited is actually one of the most remarkable pieces of urban design in the country. It therefore gave me no little leap of the heart to discover this week that another of its key buildings - originally the south west of England headquarters of the National Provincial Bank (above), of 1956-8, has been listed Grade II, thereby denying the "City Fathers" another site on which to erect some commercial tat of the sort they've been favouring recently, such as the notorious "Drake's Arse" shopping centre (below).
To quote from the list description:
The Royal Bank of Scotland, St Andrew's Cross, Plymouth, is designated for the following principal reasons:
* It is an inventive re-working of the traditional architecture of the bank which remains substantially intact, creating a compelling synthesis of traditional and modern architecture.
* It integrates high-quality decorative art works.
* It is one of the most important buildings of post-war Plymouth.
* It is a prominent and distinctive landmark.
This entirely welcome development comes hot on the heels of the listing of three Plymouth post-war churches, two by the exotically-named Louis de Soissons ("Louis-Emmanuel Jean Guy de Savoie-Carignan, Baron de Soissons" to his friends), and one the last work of Giles Gilbert Scott ("Giles" to his).
On the other hand, the City Council's press release "celebrating " the listing is a masterpiece of frustrated ambition, to anyone who has watched recent proposals with a fearful dread:
One of Plymouth city centre’s most impressive and imposing post-War buildings has been granted listed building status by the Government.
On the recommendation of English Heritage and with the support of Plymouth City Council, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has listed the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) building at St Andrews Cross at Grade II.
Although the building was not completed until 1958, the site adjacent to the Bretonside bus station had been identified for a flagship bank building as early as 1943, when Sir Patrick Abercrombie and J Paton Watson drew up a plan for Plymouth’s reconstruction following the widespread damage to the city centre during the bombing raids of 1941.
Abercrombie and Watson saw much of their Beaux-Arts plan come to fruition in the post-War rebuilding of Plymouth – the legacy of which (the planned city centre around the major axes of Armada Way and Royal Parade) is still with us today and will continue to influence planning decisions made both now and into the future.
The building stood at a visually prominent position within the plan at the east end of Royal Parade and was chosen to be not just a branch bank but the regional headquarters of what was then the National Provincial Bank. The architects (under the direction of BC Sherren) were therefore given a very generous budget allowing the extensive use of Portland stone for the exterior cladding and Travertine marble for the interior finishes.
Professor Jeremy Gould, Chair of Architecture at the University of Plymouth, has described it as the best ‘new’ building in Plymouth. Its listing represents a counterpoint to that in 2003 of the Pannier Market on the other side of the city centre – a very different building in terms of design and purpose but just as significant in the renaissance of Plymouth after the War.
The listing comes hot on the heels of the publication of the City Council’s Area Action Plan (AAP) for the city centre, now out for public consultation. This plan, which sets out the vision for the future of the city centre, recognises the important contribution made by high quality buildings along Royal Parade to the city’s character. The RBS building is specifically mentioned as an example of the grandeur and vision of the original Abercrombie and Paton plan.
On a wider scale the APP says: "It is crucial that key elements of the city’s heritage are respected and integrated into any changes made to the city centre." The listing of the RBS building gives it a statutory protection and acknowledges it as a nationally important landmark structure and therefore one of the key heritage elements of the City Centre AAP.
The Council's newly appointed Assistant Director of Economic Development, David Draffan, said: "The city centre is often criticised for having no buildings of significant quality. However, we have in the Royal Bank of Scotland a prestigious building of the finest quality which has now been recognised by English Heritage and I welcome this decision. The recently published City Centre Area Action Plan takes a realistic and sensible approach to protecting buildings of the highest quality but also ensures that future development in the city centre is encouraged to meet wider regeneration objectives.”
Councillor Ted Fry, Cabinet Member for Planning, Strategic Housing and Economic Development added: "Plymouth is a city of progress and development, yet one which is mindful of high quality buildings. The Royal Bank of Scotland building, in its commanding position at the end of Royal Parade, is an excellent example, as are the Dingles and Debenhams buildings along Royal Parade. This recognition by English Heritage is to be applauded.”
Though it's good to see them quoting Jeremy Gould (whose "list everything and declare a Conservation Area" report the City paid for then studiously ignored), do please refer back to the links in my very first post to see how highly Dingles and Debenhams were rated a mere 9 months ago...
Posted by Conservation Officer at 23:39 9 comments:
Labels: listed buildings, Plymouth, rubbish architecture
Portacabins are crap
OK, I'll admit I've not been very active here of late, and I'll also admit that the title of this post is purely to arouse the wrath of an officious git, and hopefully lead to some entertaining correspondence.
http://www.portakabin.co.uk/news/newstwo/
Many years after his officiousness was first revealed.
Normal service will, I hope, be resumed relatively shortly.
Conservation Officer
Caius Plinius
Good lord above...
Fantastic Journal
Fat. End of.
Nemesis Republic
UNESCO puts Liverpool on the WHS in danger list
Bad British Architecture
THE BLADE BUILDING, READING BY SHEPPARD ROBSON
A bear of little brain
Time flowing like a river in flood
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Dano Madden is a playwright, screenwriter and director, originally from Boise, Idaho. He was a 2016 Djerassi fellow and a 2015 MacDowell fellow. His plays have been produced and/or received development by Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Source Festival, The Artful Conspirators, World At Large Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The National New Play Network, Mile Square Theatre, Burnt Studio Productions, Northwest Playwrights Alliance, Idaho Theatre for Youth, Kitchen Theatre Company, Rutgers University, The University of Tulsa, Bloomsburg University, Lark Play Development Center, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Boise Contemporary Theater, Fordham University and Boston Theatre Works, among others. He is a five time Heideman Award finalist. He was the winner of the Kennedy Center’s 2007 National Student Playwriting Award and a finalist for the National New Play Network’s 2010 Smith Prize. Published works include: In the Sawtooths and Drop (Samuel French, Inc.), Beautiful American Soldier and Ella (Best American Short Plays 2005-2006 & 2009-2010), The Save (Playscripts, Inc.), The Soft Sand and Survival (Northwest Playwrights Alliance), The Raccoon, Leaving IKEA and Third Ward Scandal (Indie Theater Now) and monologues in The Best Men’s Stage Monologues and Scenes 2010 (Smith & Kraus) and Exceptional Monologues 2 (Samuel French, Inc.) In 2007, Dano was named one of “50 Playwrights to Watch” by The Dramatist magazine.
Dano is the co-creator, producer and writer for the 2016 web series Precious Cargo. Precious Cargo was named one of the 10 best web series of 2016 by Paste Magazine. Huffington Post recognized the show as one of the "most addictive web series of 2016." The series has been an official selection for numerous festivals, including the L.A. Web Fest, NYC Web Fest, Brooklyn Web Fest and Miami Web Fest.
Dano is the co-creator, producer and co-writer of the 2017 web series Brokers. Brokers has been selected for numerous festivals around the country, including: Portland Comedy and Film Festival, Richmond International Film Festival, NY Indie Theater Film Festival.
Dano's directing credits include: Whitman’s Brooklyn (The Artful Conspirators), Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and Backstory (Actors Theatre of Louisville, 24th Humana Festival). He is a three-time finalist for the National New Play Network’s annual showcase of new plays. Dano was the 2008-2009 National New Play Network playwright-in-residence at Interact Theatre Company in Philadelphia. He received his BA from Boise State University and his MFA from Rutgers University. Dano has taught at Stockton College, Rutgers University and at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in the Playwright’s Horizons Theatre School. He is currently a speech and drama teacher at the Marymount School of New York. Dano lives in Hoboken with his wife Lauren and their cats, Beth and Buster.
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Low Five: Worst moments of the 2016 Election
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush at a campaign event in Coral Gables, Fla., on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015. (Roberto Koltun/El Nuevo Herald/TNS)
Jeb Bush begs for applause and bear-hugs supporters
Jeb Bush, a man who doesn’t know how to put on a zip-up hoodie, politely asked the audience for applause at a New Hampshire campaign event. It was probably intended as a joke, but this is coming from a guy who got so excited when a voter voiced his support that he attacked the man with a hug. Throughout his campaign, Bush seemed like a little kid trying to follow in his daddy and big brother’s footsteps, but he just wasn’t cut out for the White House. Bush also took a lot of heat from the other candidates, so it’s no surprise that Bush had to ask the audience to clap for him after he made a statement about world peace.
Dee Duncin, a Marco Rubio supporter, holds a giant facial poster of Marco Rubio as they wait for him to arrive at West Miami City Hall to vote on Monday, Oct. 31, 2016 in Miami. (C.M. Guerrero/Miami Herald/TNS)
Rubio and Trump talk penis size
Marco Rubio seemed to have a lot of personal issues with Donald Trump, going so far as to make comments about orange skin, infamous hair and even “small hands” at a Virginia rally on Feb. 28.
“You know what they say about men with small hands,” Rubio said, pausing for the audience’s shocked laughter. “You can’t trust them!”
The following week, Trump defended his manhood on live television, saying “there’s no problem there,” giving us way too much information and scarring the nation for life. Rubio probably lost the primary for torturing us with the mental image of Trump’s sex organs. That is the last thing any of us want to think about, especially now that Trump has boasted about actions that constitute sexual assault.
Sen. Ted Cruz talks with people at the Community Bible Church in Beaufort, S.C., after sharing his testimony and thoughts with the congregation on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
Ted Cruz drops out
Even though we called him “The Zodiac Killer” on Twitter, we all seemed to have a little place in our hearts for Ted Cruz. Cruz looks like a real-life Kevin from “The Office,” read Dr. Seuss books in the middle of a Congressional meeting as part of a filibuster and still has more political experience than Trump. When it came down to the last few months of the primaries, Democrats were hoping Cruz would win the nomination because at least he had some idea of how government works compared to rival Trump. Instead, we were left with a man who accuses all Mexicans of being rapists, insults war veterans and doesn’t look like any beloved television character (unless you count a Teletubby).
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign rally in Sanford, Fla., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS)
Hillary barks like a dog onstage
At a rally in Nevada back in February, Hillary Clinton argued that a dog should be trained to bark when someone lies and follow Republicans around, alerting people to their untruths. To make her point, Hillary began barking. It would have been fine if she kept it short, but she barked seven times, which was just long enough to provide meme-makers with plenty of ammo.
Former New Mexico governor and Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson speaks at the Drug Policy Alliance’s 2011 International Drug Policy Reform Conference at the Westin Hotel in Los Angeles, California, November 3, 2011. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/MCT)
Gary Johnson has another “Aleppo” moment
We all know that Gary Johnson royally messed up when he replied to a question about the Syrian civil war-ravaged city that is ground zero for the world’s refugee crisis with, “What is Aleppo?” Johnson’s brain fart revealed he didn’t have much foreign policy knowledge. Later that month, by the time most people had forgotten about this incident, Johnson turned around and failed to name a single world leader he admired in an MSNBC interview. He claimed he was “having an Aleppo moment,” which was funny enough. But seriously, Johnson? At least he didn’t say he looked up to Vladimir Putin, unlike another candidate. He eventually came up with “the former president of Mexico,” but couldn’t think of his name.
-Compiled by Katrina Bond
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ABP Ipswich team completes 100 mile cycling challenge to raise funds for St Elizabeth Hospice
Image caption: ABP’s Ipswich team at the start of their cycling challenge in Covent Garden, London.
A team of 14 ABP colleagues competed in a gruelling 100 mile cycle ride in support of St Elizabeth Hospice and the ‘Elmer’s Big Parade’ charity trail in Suffolk.
Conquering a distance stretching from ABP’s head office in London to Old Customs House in Ipswich, the team raised more than £2,500 for St Elizabeth Hospice. St Elizabeth Hospice works with people living with progressive and terminal illnesses, offering expert care and support to help them, and their families.
Following the success of the ‘Pig’s Gone Wild’ art trail in 2016, which raised more than £200,000 for St Elizabeth Hospice, ‘Elmer’s Big Parade’ will run on the streets of Suffolk in 2019, marking the 30th anniversaries of both St Elizabeth Hospice and the much-loved children’s character, Elmer the patchwork elephant. The ‘Elmer’s Big Parade’ trail will provide a fantastic opportunity for local businesses, including ABP, to get involved in local fundraising and have fun at the same time as really making an impact.
Paul Ager, ABP Divisional Port Manager - East Coast, said: “We are proud to be supporting the important work done by St Elizabeth Hospice in our community, while at the same time creating a great place to work by encouraging colleagues to take part in fun and action-packed fundraising initiatives.
“Together with our colleagues, customers and stakeholders we have a busy programme of charity events planned for 2018/19 and are looking forward to continuing to support a range of worthy local causes.”
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Disney Hit With Lawsuit Over Children's Privacy
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LG V30 Revealed in Leaked Videos, Sports FullVision Display & Dual Rear Cameras
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How to watch new Android phone unveiling
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LG confirms details of the V30 launch including streaming of the event
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Anker unveils $35 Alexa-powered Eufy Genie smart speaker
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This probably wasn't the hoped-for reaction to Valve's new game reveal
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Stock Futures Lower as North Korea Threatens US in Guam
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Sharp Unveils New AQUOS S2 Smartphone With Notched Top Bezel
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Intel Teases New "Ruler" SSD Form Factor
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Zapdos Makes Its Way To Pokemon Go Today
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Dance to the music - Xbox is getting Spotify support starting today
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Overwatch Summer Games Event Now Live, New Skins Revealed
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Ahead Of Next Update, For Honor Is Free To Play This Weekend
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OnePlus announces limited edition OnePlus 5 Soft Gold
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Mobile Launches New Data Plan for Seniors
The offer requires proof of age and autopay each month. "For years, the carriers have been patronizing the generation that invented wireless". T-Mobile ( TMUS ) has announced a new unlimited data plan which will cost $60 a month, plus taxes and fees, for customers aged 55 and up. (more...)
Jai Lava Kusa makers reveal first look of Junior NTR's Lava
Now, the poster of Lava offers a look at his decent avatar. Going by the look, we can say if Jai is equivalent to Ravana then Lava is Ram with a smile that can instantly make you a fangirl or a fanboy. Popular Bollywood actor Ronit Roy is playing the antagonist in the movie, which has the music by Devi Sri Prasad. The film Jai Lava Kusa has excellent craze in fans and the audience. (more...)
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INTERVIEW-"No time for trial and error" as Cape Town's mayor leads green push
by Laurie Goering | @lauriegoering | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Wednesday, 8 March 2017 00:00 GMT
In this 2009 file photo, giant wind turbines dot the landscape at the Darling Wind Power national demonstration project near Cape Town. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
LED streetlights, roof-top solar water heaters, and a push for Cape Town to get a fifth of its energy from renewables by 2020
By Laurie Goering
LONDON, March 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - National leaders may have been the ones to sign the Paris Agreement to combat climate change – but when it comes to putting the deal into effect, "it is cities that drive most of the change", says Cape Town's mayor Patricia de Lille.
Since taking charge of South Africa's second biggest city in 2011, her administration has overseen the installation of LED streetlights on 25,000 roads, retrofitted 32 city buildings to make them more energy efficient and installed 46,000 roof-top solar water heaters.
A big plot of land in the city has been set aside for green companies that want to move in and build solar panels, wind turbines or other forms of clean tech.
Already U.S. electric car manufacturer Tesla has indicated it intends to open its first Africa office in Cape Town, de Lille said, and a Chinese manufacturer of solar-powered electric buses will come in next year.
Cape Town has an order in for 10 of the buses, the first of which will hit the streets later this year, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.
"They're going to save us a lot of money," said de Lille, 66, a former trade union leader and longtime South African politician.
"Our maintenance budget will be cut by 60 percent, as they're very easy to maintain. And to recharge the batteries we're also going to use solar energy."
Around the world, cities are increasingly at the forefront of action to curb climate change – and a growing number, from Cape Town to Paris to Sydney, are now run by women.
In two years, the number of women in charge of large cities leading on climate action has risen from four to 16, according to the C40 Cities network of more than 80 cities committed to addressing climate change, which is organising a conference for women leaders in New York this month.
De Lille said that women leaders are far from "the panacea for all of our problems". But when it comes to climate change, "you always see it is girls and mothers who are disproportionately affected. As women, we have to represent those voices of other women".
The poor in Cape Town have much to lose if climate change is not effectively dealt with.
Worsening flooding has hit the poor particularly hard, she said, and now extended drought – the worst in 100 years over the last two winters – has left the city's main water supply dam at just 23 percent of capacity. That is water for just 121 days, the mayor said.
The seaside city is looking for more water where it can – recycling water, treating effluent and pumping it back into the dam, tapping into old springs under the city and testing out desalination. But the solutions need to keep the poor in mind, de Lille said.
"Desalination is very expensive and once you go for expensive infrastructure and operating costs, it will put up the price of water" – something she would like to avoid, she said.
Mayor Patricia de Lille of Cape Town. Photo: Bruce Sutherland
RENEWABLE AMBITIONS – AND OBSTACLES
One of de Lille's key ambitions is to see Cape Town get at least 20 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020 – just three years away. Independent solar and wind power producers, hoping to feed energy into the national grid, have sprung up, including in Cape Town.
But Eskom, the national company that produces 95 percent of South Africa's electricity, has yet to sign agreements to purchase much of the renewable power, arguing the deals could put Eskom's finances at risk.
The company is waiting for the completion of two big and years-delayed coal-fired power plants it is building, designed to reduce energy shortages in the country.
The impasse has so far limited Cape Town's ability to source renewable power – and has led de Lille and the renewable energy firms to threaten lawsuits.
"I don't think they've got a right to block me buying clean renewable power from any independent power producer," the mayor said.
De Lille said that she's seen little pushback on her clean energy agenda at home and that, like many mayors, she spends her time focusing on "implementation, implementation, implementation".
"In government, things don't just happen by wishing," she said. But with good leadership, "later on, you find that people have now bought into the idea and understand the benefit of what we are achieving. Then it's much easier – you have leadership at all levels bought into the new way of doing things."
One thing she wishes she had, however, is more money. International funding to help developing countries address climate change is only slowly getting flowing and what arrives at the national government level does not always trickle down to cities, she said.
To change that, the world's mayors should work together "to say to these multilateral bodies that we want a say in how the resources are distributed", she said.
De Lille's term as mayor ends in 2021 – one reason her renewable energy goal is set for 2020.
"I'm going to push as hard as I can to get all or most of my targets embedded in this city so no one can change them again, so they can just come in and build on that," she said.
With climate change impacts worsening fast and few years left to bring about a wholesale shift to clean energy, "there's no time for trial and error", she said. "We have to make sure we do it right the first time."
(Reporting by Laurie Goering @lauriegoering; editing by Alex Whiting:; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
Climate Change General
UK lawmakers to count environmental cost of mass tourism
Climate activists disrupt British cities with 'summer uprising'
China greenhouse gas emissions soar 50% during 2005-2014 - govt data
Poland's opposition promises to cut out coal in top election pledge
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Electronic Hot Sale > Blog > Electronics > Obama to Nation: Terrorist Threat to US Is ‘Evolving’ but Beatable – NBCNews.com
Obama to Nation: Terrorist Threat to US Is ‘Evolving’ but Beatable – NBCNews.com
In only his third address to the nation from the Oval Office, President Barack Obama reassured Americans on Sunday night that the United States is equipped to meet the dangerous and “evolving” threat of terrorism.
As U.S. and other Western responses have gained ground against organized, wide-scale terrorist attacks, “growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds” of home-grown attackers are evolving, the president said.
“As a father to two young daughters who are the most precious part of my life, I know that we see ourselves with friends and co-workers at a holiday party like the one in San Bernardino. I know we see our kids in the faces of the young people killed in Paris,” Obama said.
“And I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure,” he said, before answering: “The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it.”
Full Transcript: President Barack Obama’s Address to the Nation
The president offered no new details on the investigation into the San Bernardino attack, saying that “so far, we have no evidence that the killers were directed by a terrorist organization overseas or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home.”
Instead, Obama compared the mass killing to attacks in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Fort Hood, Texas; and Boston, where, he said, “terrorists turned to less complicated acts of violence” and where the Internet erased “the distance between countries.”
Outlining the U.S. strategy against ISIS, which Obama described as a “cult of death” that “does not speak for Islam,” the president cautioned against a “costly ground war,” which he said would serve only as a recruitment tool.
“That’s what groups like [ISIS] want,” he said.
Related: Public Split On Biggest Worry — Terrorism vs. Gun Violence
Obama said the United States and its allies would continue disrupting plots, targeting terrorist infrastructure and finances, and providing training and equipment to Iraqi and Syrian fighters. He said he would also pursue a cease-fire agreement in Syria, which would allow for a “common goal” between the United States and Russia to pursue ISIS.
At home, Obama said, the State and Homeland Security departments will review the visa program that allowed Tashfeen Malik — who with her husband carried out the San Bernardino attack — into the country to determine whether stronger screening is needed.
Related: Obama Orders Review of Visa Program That Admitted California Shooter
Obama also made a pitch for gun control, saying it “should be more difficult” to buy high-powered assault-style rifles — like those used in last week’s attack — and that people on no-fly lists shouldn’t be allowed to buy guns.
“What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon?” he said. “This is a matter of national security.”
Obama’s remarks came amid an acrimonious political campaign that has seen Republican presidential contenders blast him over his handling of groups like ISIS.
On NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Lindsey Graham said the president had been “overwhelmed by radical Islam,” while Donald Trump suggested to the Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Candidates Forum in Washington last week that “there was something going on” with Obama because he refused to use the term “radical Islamic terrorism,” according to The Hill newspaper.
Obama’s address appeared to do little to persuade his Republican critics. On Twitter, Trump grumbled that the president still “refused to say (he just can’t say it), that we are at WAR with RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISTS.”
Well, Obama refused to say (he just can’t say it), that we are at WAR with RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISTS.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015
In a statement, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was a little more measured, saying:
“The path laid out by President Obama and supported by Hillary Clinton has not worked, and ISIS has only gained in strength. The attacks in San Bernardino should serve as a wake-up call for Obama and Clinton that the way to victory is not through the status quo but refocusing our efforts to defeat ISIS.”
Obama has rarely used the Oval Office — the most symbolic representation of his authority — to speak to the nation. He announced the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq from there in August 2010, and two months before that, he laid out his plans to secure American energy after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
A senior administration official said that after the Paris terrorist attacks last month, followed by numerous thwarted ISIS plots and then the San Bernardino shootings, Obama decided he needed to address “the significant concerns and very real and legitimate fears in the United States and around the world.”
The choice of the Oval Office for Sunday night’s address reflected “the seriousness with which we are taking the issue,” the official said. At the same time, the address was meant to “step back and provide context for people,” not to announce new policies or strategies, the official said.
Obama referred to history in reinforcing the message Sunday night:
“Let’s not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear, that we have always met challenges — whether war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks — by coming together around our common ideals as one nation, as one people,” he said. “So long as we stay true to that tradition, I have no doubt America will prevail.”
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As part of the drive to reduce Barbados’ dependence on fossil fuels, enhance security and stability in energy supply, improve the economy’s competitiveness, and enhance environmental sustainability, the Government of Barbados has established a Public Sector Smart Energy Program (PSSEP) which is designed to promote and implement the use of viable Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) measures in the public sector.
The PSSEP complements the Energy SMART Fund Project, which supports the achievement of the objectives of the Sustainable Energy Framework by private businesses and households in Barbados through a package of economic instruments targeting SMEs to address the main market failures that prevent the country from adopting RE and EE. Consequently, both the private and public sectors of the country will be actively contributing to the achievement of the overall objective of reducing the country’s fossil fuel dependency.
The PSSEP is funded by two (2) of Barbados’ Development Partners – the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the European Commission (EC). The IADB has provided resources of US$17 million (approximately BDS$34 million) under a loan agreement (Loan No. 2748/OC-BA), while the EC has provided Grant resources in an amount of €5.81 million (approximately US$ 7.664 million) under the 10th European Development Fund. The Grant resources are being administered by the IADB under Non-reimbursable Financing Agreement No. ATN/CF-13316-BA.
Components of the PSSEP
The PSSEP is comprised of three (3) major components as follows:
Component 1- Retrofit of government buildings with RE and EE technologies and public lights with EE technologies.
This component will finance: (i) the retrofit of approximately 85% of public lights with EE technologies; (ii) the retrofit of at least twelve (12) government buildings with EE technologies; and (iii) the installation of solar PV systems on these government buildings.
Component 2 - A pilot project and studies for encouraging the use of RE.
This component will finance: (i) a fleet of government electric vehicles powered by RE sources to promote low carbon transportation technologies in Barbados; and (ii) studies culminating in a business prospectus to facilitate the construction and operation of an ocean power plant.
Component 3 - Capacity building, institutional strengthening and public awareness.
This component will finance the following subcomponents: (i) capacity building and training to upgrade professional and technical skills; (ii) upgrade of capacity within the Government of Barbados in all sectors related to sustainable energy; (iii) public awareness campaigns at all levels to promote sustainable energy, such as schools, universities, labor unions, and broader civil society; (iv) a Project Execution Unit (PEU) for the PSSEP in the Division of Energy and Telecommunications as well as software for data collection; and (v) the monitoring and evaluation of the PSSEP, including the data collection and analysis of the impact, outcomes and output indicators of the Program.
Download PSSE Mid-term Evaluation ToR (741.71 kB)
Barbados National Terminal Company Ltd.
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Hivemind Acquires Hit Comic Series GIDEON FALLS for TV Adaptation Following Multi-Studio Bidding War
– Posted on June 28, 2018Posted in: TV, TV News
New Company from Veteran Producers Sean Daniel, Jason Brown, and Kathy Lingg Adds Co-President Dinesh Shamdasani; Scores Hit Comic Franchise from New York Times Best-Selling Author Jeff Lemire and Superstar Artist Andrea Sorrentino
Hivemind today announced that it has won an intense multi-studio bidding war and acquired the rights to bring the hit Image Comics comic book series, GIDEON FALLS, to television in partnership with co-creators Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. Hivemind’s Jason Brown, Sean Daniel, Kathy Lingg and Dinesh Shamdasani will executive produce the series alongside co-creators Lemire and Sorrentino with high-level creative talent already circling the project.
An atmospheric thriller colliding rural mystery and urban horror, the series follows an ensemble cast of seemingly random strangers – a washed-up Catholic priest, an uncompromising female sheriff, and a young recluse obsessed with unraveling a conspiracy buried in his city’s trash – as they become drawn into a mystery connected to a long-forgotten local legend.
Established in 2018, Hivemind is the new production entity from long-time producing partners Sean Daniel and Jason Brown, Bad Robot veteran Kathy Lingg and former Valiant Entertainment CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. Dedicated to partnering with high-level creative talent and globally recognized intellectual properties from the worlds of science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic books, video games, anime, and more, Hivemind recently inked a first-look deal with Amazon Studios. GIDEON FALLS marks a major new rights acquisition for the label, which will develop the series as an hour-long horror drama based on Lemire and Sorrentino’s repeatedly sold-out, critically acclaimed comic title of the same name that instantly became one of 2018’s biggest breakout hits upon its debut in March.
“GIDEON FALLS is psychological horror told with a deeply humanistic touch, a story about imperfect people who confront their own demons – imagined and supernatural alike,” said Hivemind Co-President Jason Brown. “It is this kind of expertly fashioned, character-focused genre storytelling that inspired us to form Hivemind, and it is our mission to collaborate with world-class authors, artists, and rights holders like Jeff and Andrea to bring their stories to the screen in an authentic way.”
GIDEON FALLS is the latest property to join Hivemind’s quickly expanding roster of film and television projects. The company currently produces the acclaimed science fiction series The Expanse – which recently made a historic move to Amazon – as well as Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of The Witcher, based on the series of novels that inspired the best-selling game franchise. Its next feature film will be Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark with producer/co-writer Guillermo del Toro and director André Øvredal, which begins production this summer.
“GIDEON FALLS is a story that is very near to our hearts, and Andrea and I could not be more excited to be partnering with Hivemind to bring the terror, and the story of Fred, Norton and The Black Barn, to an even wider audience,” said series co-creator and writer Jeff Lemire.
“It’s great to imagine GIDEON FALLS, and all these characters whom we’ve been working so hard to realize in the graphic novel, now coming to life on TV screens,” added series co-creator and artist Andrea Sorrentino.
GIDEON FALLS will also notably re-team Lemire with producer Dinesh Shamdasani, who joins Hivemind as Co-President. Lemire and Shamdasani previously collaborated on multiple best-selling comics projects, including The Valiant and Bloodshot Reborn, during his time at the helm of Valiant Entertainment, which Shamdasani departed following a major acquisition in early 2018. In addition to his duties at Hivemind, Shamdasani is also currently producing a big-screen adaptation of the Bloodshot comic book series for Sony Pictures with star Vin Diesel, director Dave Wilson, and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Eric Heisserer that is set to begin filming this summer.
“GIDEON FALLS is one of the most inventive stories anywhere comics today, colliding a psychologically complex and intellectually nuanced cast against a stark and terrifying terrain of science fiction and horror,” said Shamdasani. “It’s no surprise that it comes from the brilliant minds of two of the most talented creators in the comics medium – Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino – or that it sparked a massive multi-studio bidding war.”
Tags: Andrea Sorrentino, Gideon Falls, Hivemind, Jeff Lemire, TV News
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Center for America’s Veterans
Proctoring
Vitual Campus Tour
Department Services
Violeta Yas
Realizing a True Passion through Closed Doors
Gail Miller
Mark Jimerson
A meteorologist was not quite what Violeta Yas had in mind when she started her educational journey, but after the journalism media studies graduate landed a job with Telemundo, she found a new passion and returned to college to pursue it.
Born in Argentina, Violeta and her family moved to New York when she was 5 years old. She grew up in New Jersey and attended Rutgers University. Active in many athletics, Violeta dreamed of a job in the sports industry, so she chose to major in media studies. She freelanced sports writing for SPM Sports during college, covering men's and women's basketball and football. She remembers covering a women's basketball game where she noticed she was writing next to Buster Olney, a columnist for ESPN. "I was star struck. I couldn't believe I was writing right next to him," she said.
After Violeta graduated with her bachelor's degree in 2007, the job search began. However, it was not a success due to the fallen economy. After two years of persistent job searching, she gained a position with AccuWeather as a weather anchor. It wasn't the sports journalist position she wanted, but she would gain experience on air. She received extensive training in weather, science and terminology needed to put her in front of the TV. After several months, she began reporting the weather. She had been forecasting the weather for three and a half years when Telemundo discovered her. Telemundo is a division of NBCUniversal Hispanic Enterprises and Content. Telemundo recruited her for their weather team in Philadelphia contingent she earn her credentials to become a meteorologist. Her news director at Telemundo suggested the Online Broadcast or Operational Meteorology Certificate Program from Mississippi State University to gain her credentials.
Violeta researched the program and, without hesitation, applied. The three year certification program was developed with the aid of the National Weather Association. It required the completion of 17 courses of weather-related sciences and participation in the three day on-campus summer workshop.
Fast forward to Summer 2017, Violeta completed the certification. She said, "The flexibility of the program was a nice bonus because it provided me opportunity work while completing it. The information was relevant and very much needed for my profession." Expanding on the flexibility of the program, she flashed back to a time she was in mid-air flying across the country. "I actually opened my laptop to watch a lecture happening in Mississippi while flying above Missouri, en route to Los Angeles." Because of her persistence, Violeta is now a broadcast meteorologist. One day, she hopes to marry her two passions: sports and weather, to provide weather coverage for sporting events.
Discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran and or any other status protected by state or federal law is prohibited in all employment decisions.
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These Are The Parents Who Were Eating Dinner While Their Baby Starved To Death In The Next Room
May 19, 2018 DIY
When a five-month-old baby died from lack of food, the parents were arrested. The infant weighed only five pounds at the time of death. And now the parents are facing the consequences for ignoring the needs of their little one. When the medical examiner performed an autopsy on the infant, who died on February 27, they found that the child did not die from blunt-force trauma or other unnatural causes. No trauma was found, but the examiner was concerned given the infant’s low body weight.
When the baby was first born, records indicate that it weighed six pounds and two ounces. While it is usual for a newborn to lose some of its body weight shortly after birth, five months later the child should certainly weigh more than it did when it first entered the world.
Five-month-old babies often weight about 15 to 16 pounds depending on their length and sex.
The coroner also noticed that the infant had white gums. This indicates that the child was dehydrated, severely.
The child’s mother, 24-year-old Loreana Martinez, called Las Vegas Metro Police on February 25 to report that her baby had quit breather. First responders rushed to her residence and hurried the tiny baby to Sunrise Hospital. The child died two days later.
Medical personnel noticed during transport that the child looked malnourished. Because the paramedics could see the infant’s bones and rib cage and spinal cord, they were worried. The infant’s bones were poking out of its body.
The mother had taken the baby to the doctor in December 2017. The medical care provider told Martinez that her baby was not thriving because she was too small. At that time, the infant weighed about 9 pounds. So in a matter of two months, the child wasted away, losing nearly half of its already minute body weight.
The doctor scheduled Martinez in for a follow-up two weeks later. But the negligent mom skipped the appointments missing the dates on January 1, January 29, and February 13.
When the infant died, an officer arrived at Martinez’s home and arrested her and the baby’s 29-year-old father, Anthony Oceja. They were the prime suspects related to the little one’s death.
Martinez claimed that she tried feeding the baby solid foods. She would give the infant pureed bananas and pureed squash. But the infant became constipated and did not take to the solids. Instead, Martinez went back to giving the child breast milk.
During the last 48 hours of the baby’s life, Martinez told police officers that the infant “shout out” as she burped the baby and that his stool turned black as night. She claimed that she breastfed the baby numerous times each day for 45-60 minutes per feeding.
Las Vegas police arrived at the home of Martinez and Oceja to find four dogs. Three pit bulls in their collection were also malnourished.
And when officers looked at the pictures around the house, they saw that Martinez’s other children were also malnourished when they were young.
But the parents do not withhold food from themselves. When the baby stopped breathing, they claimed to be in the kitchen eating their dinner.
The parents are now in police custody at Clark County Detention Center. They face charges that include murder, child abuse, and neglect. They also face three counts of willful intent to maim, torture or kill an animal because of their mistreated dogs.
Martinez’s two other children were removed to protective custody. They are currently undergoing a medical examination to ensure their health has not been compromised.
The family’s neglected dogs are now in the care of Clark County Animal Control.
Mom Who Finds Giant Blisters On Baby’s Feet Finally Discovers Babysitter’s Dark Secret
Police Horrified By Reason Dad Gave For Letting His 5-Year-Old Starve
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In Concert is a web application for an experimental music collaboration project, inspired by open source principles. Musicians and non-musicians openly share ideas and source material to create a dencentralised network of compositions. Creativity doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
Background research:
I was particularly influenced by the writings of Lawrence Lessig, an American academic who has talked extensively about copyright laws and their effect on innovation. He argues that modern digital copyright laws have become too restrictive, stating ‘Why should it be that just when technology is most encouraging of creativity, the law should be most restrictive?’. I was also inspired by the open-source software movement which allows its own software to be studied, changed and redistributed, although potentially with the condition that users allow the same liberties to be taken with their own creations. Sampling and re-interpreting ideas has played an enormous role in the development of Popular Music forms such as Folk, Jazz, Blues, Rock and Hip-Hop. Alarmingly there has been a recent court case where a song was successfully sued for copyright infringement of an older song, not for any direct note for note lifting, but for being influenced by the style of the track (Pharrell’s Blurred Lines vs Marvin Gaye’s Got To Give It Up in 2013). Considering how important influence has been in the evolution of pop music, this can be seen to be a very dangerous precedent.
What I tried to achieve:
I had two main goals for my project. The first was to experiment with an open-source approach to music composition, as a protest against overly restrictive copyright laws that I would argue are damaging to the creative process. Rather than hide influence I wanted to celebrate it openly, where people can see connections between musical ideas.
The second goal was to trial a different method of musical collaboration. Rather than two or more people trying to collate their ideas into a single work, I wanted to create a space where musicians could maintain their individuality whilst sharing their ideas and source materials with each other. This space could then be set up as an interactive digital format for the public to explore and discover the connections between ideas.
My Process:
Initially, I knew I wanted to make a web-based application so that it would be easily accessible and receive contributions from as many people as possible. I chose p5.js as my framework due to my background with Processing (both created by the Processing Foundation), and also p5’s extensive sound library.
My first draft contained a traditional looking audioPlayer and the design of the soundShapes, where each track’s waveform is drawn as a circular shape. This worked well, giving the shapes a consistent aesthetic quality whilst maintaining their own individual characteristics. For example, tracks with a greater dynamic range tended to be spikier looking whilst tracks with a more uniform volume looked smoother. I liked the way the shapes seemed to represent little sound ‘organisms’, and I added to this effect by using Perlin noise to make the edges of the shape gently undulate.
I then adapted this circular design for the audioPlayer as well, where the inner circle is the playhead, and the outer edge is a visualisation of the track’s current amplitude.
I developed a helpMenu, which explained the connections between shapes, along with a hyperlink system as another method for skipping between tracks.
I moved the audioPlayer to the middle to attract more attention to its visualisation. I also tried displaying all connections at all times, although I later decided to make this optional with a button.
The helpMenu was moved to the bottom right corner, with messages to guide the user.
The circleSequencer consisted of a number of premade samples taken from a selected track which could be dragged onto the main interface and used to make a new remix.
Once a remix has been recorded, a pop up form allows users to add meta-data. When submitted, the track is saved and the browser is refreshed.
Reasoning for your choices:
One of the main themes of my project was the use of circular-based shapes. This was something I picked up on over time and starting to accentuate, beginning with the circular waveform soundShapes, then adapting the audioPlayer into a circular design, and finally creating the circleSequencer as a traditionally square-shaped sequencer re-imagined as a circle. This gave the entire project a strong sense of cohesion, but also emphasises the non-linearity of the format. Unlike the traditional music album, these songs could be experienced in a non-linear space where the close of one track would always lead into the start of another, with no defined ending point.
Another important feature was my choice not to display any hierarchy when drawing the connections between shapes. When looking at the connections, it is not possible to tell whether a shape is the child or parent of another (although this is clarified in the helpMenu). I did not want to create a sense where one shape appeared more important than another because it had come first or had more connections.
My reasoning for building the circleSequencer was mainly as a feature for the exhibition. I felt it was important to not only allow visitors to explore the pre-existing shapes, but invite them to contribute their own shapes using a simple remix tool. Therefore, the circleSequencer was built to be easily used by both musicians and non-musicians.
Challenges you faced:
One of the main challenges I faced was how to express the meaning of the connections between shapes. Because the project encouraged re-interpretation in any way imaginable, there was a wide variety of ways people re-imagined each other’s ideas and source material. Examples included a traditional sounding dance remix using audio stems, to a transplant of a vocal melody as a lead line in a song of a completely different style, to a semantic understanding of an instrument (eg: A keyboard that sounded like an alarm clock) used as subject matter for new lyrics. Because of this wide variety and complexity of meaning, the only satisfying way to explain it was to include a description of each track in the helpBar, which gave a short insight into how the track was made, with hyperlinks to other tracks that were used.
Another challenge I faced was p5’s lack of a function for saving a .wav to a specific file path. Their saveSound() function allows users to download a .wav on the client side. However, what I needed was the ability to save a user’s remix to a specific folder on the server. I therefore had to go into the code for the p5.sound library and add an additional function which converted a p5.soundFile into a .wav audio blob. From here, I could upload the blob to my local server where I could save it to the correct path.
Details on technical implementation:
For the exhibition, the project will be displayed on a computer running a local server created with Node.js. All the meta-data for tracks is stored in a JSON file which can be written to when a new soundShape is created.
One of the key processes I used was an algorithm to draw a circular shape made up of a series of points. In this way, I could adjust the radius of each point based on a corresponding amplitude value from a track’s waveform array at that point in time. This allowed me to display the waveform of a track as a circular shape. In the same way, I could visualise the current amplitude of the track with the audioPlayer as a circular series of points, which creates complex and beautiful patterns as it changes over time.
Another useful feature I developed was the hyperlink system in the helpMenu. This allowed users to click on a track name, which would then be immediately loaded into the audioPlayer. In order to do this, I marked all track names in the description and child links sections with html span tags and assigned them classes. By doing this, I could access the classes in my Javascript code and create a callback function to switch to their track when they are clicked on.
Possible future development:
In terms of future development I would like to firstly get the project officially online and encourage more contributions. It would be helpful to create a user login system and a download option for each track along with any source materials. I feel the project could also be made more social, perhaps giving users the opportunity to leave comments on each other’s tracks. I could also design some more remixing tools like the circleSequencer for non-musical users, expanding the idea of what a remix could be by focusing on other features such as lyrics, chords or melodies.
Here is a link to my source code on GitHub.
Lessig, L. ‘Free Culture, The Nature And Future Of Creativity’ (2003, The Penguin Group)
Lessig, L. ‘Remix, Making Art And Commerce Thrive In The Hybrid Economy’ (2008, The Penguin Press)
Miller, P (editor). ’Sound Unbound, Sampling Digital Music And Culture’ (2008, The MIT Press)
Code reference:
jscolor.js by Jan Odvarko (see http://jscolor.com)
'Chapter 6 - Autonomous Agents' from Shiffman, D. 'The Nature Of Code' (2012, Magic Book Project)
'Chapter 6 - Dynamic Data Structures' from Bohnscker, H / Groß, B / Laub, J / Lazzeroni, C (editor). 'Generative Design, Visualise, Program And Create With Processing' (2012, Princeton Architectural Press)
File Upload example from Binary JS library (see https://github.com/binaryjs/binaryjs/tree/master/examples/fileupload)
Socket.io example from Socket.io library (see https://github.com/socketio/socket.io)
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You are here: Cran World » Archives for March 2015
“Zombie” #10 most streamed tracks by Irish artists of all time
March 17, 2015 | Comments Off on “Zombie” #10 most streamed tracks by Irish artists of all time | by Jury | The Cranberries
The popular streaming platform Spotify has shared its list of the top 20 most streamed tracks by Irish artists of alltime to mark the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
“Zombie” is #10
“Take Me To Church” by Hozier tops the chart while The Script are in second place with their song “Hall of Fame”. U2 have five tracks in the list, and Sinead O’Connor’s song “Nothing Compares 2 U” is #20.
Full list available on the article published by independent.co.uk entitled “St Patrick’s Day: Hozier tops Spotify’s list of most-streamed Irish artists of all-time“
Happy St Patrick’s Day 🙂
independent.co.uk
More information about O’Riordan/Alexandrakis collaboration
March 12, 2015 | 5 Comments | by Jury | Dolores O'Riordan
Composer/producer Eric Alexandrakis continues to tease Dolores’ fans with new exciting bits of information about their collaboration. And it seems like this collaboration has an official title now:
“Electrons featuring Dolores O’Riordan”
Electrons is the name of Alexandrakis’ project which includes different musicians from bands like Duran Duran, The Cure, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and others.
A few weeks ago we reported about the new song “You Got What You Wanted”. Today there’s more information about this track:
The song is written and recorded by Eric Alexandrakis, Perry Bamonte (The Cure; lead guitar?), Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; drums), Dolores O’ Riordan (The Cranberries; vocal) and Andy Rourke (The Smiths; bass guitar).
As you can see, Andy Rourke from Dolores’ new band, Jetlag NYC, has joined the Electrons, too. The lyrics for “You Got What You Wanted” were written by Dolores O’Riordan and, according to the title, it may refer to the recent events in her life.
Yesterday Eric Alexandrakis has posted a new exciting photo on Facebook with the comment “Betcha wish you had one of these.“
Probably just a vinyl made to one copy or maybe just a photoshop montage of a record that does not really exist yet and we can only ponder how many songs the A-Side and B-Side of this vinyl have.
And there’s a clue as one of our readers, Mimi, posted a few days ago the following information regarding Dolores’ work with Electrons:
“They have quite a few tracks together:
“Robophobic Redemption” (by far the most amazing sounding thing Dolores has ever been on)
“Purple Heart Redemption” (very clubby)
“Trust” (a.k.a. “La Fine”)
“You Got What You Wanted” (haven’t heard it yet)
and more coming from what I hear.“
So… are we gonna have an ALBUM full of Dolores’ songs with Electrons?
Time will tell, or let’s just wait another hint from Mr. Alexandrakis 😉
The Cranberries #36 in what British people love the most in Ireland
March 10, 2015 | 1 Comments | by Axl | The Cranberries
No, Guinness is not what British people love the most in Ireland, Irish accent is!
Guinness “only” is number 2.
The Cranberries are number 36 which 25 years after their debut is not that bad. By comparison U2 is #16, Sinead O’Connor #17 (both recently released an album) Thin Lizzy #22 and The Pogues #10 amongst many other ultimate Irish legends.
The list of the 50 greatest Irish things was made according to a survey which took into account the opinions of more than 2000 people in the UK.
No doubt all of you readers/fans would have placed The Cranberries as reason #1 to love and visit Ireland.
The Cranberries Press
D.A.R.K.
Mono Band
Noel Hogan
The Voice of Ireland
Copyright © 1999-2019 Cranberries World. All rights reserved.
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Board index » Off Topic
2018 In Memoriam
Post subject: Re: 2018 In Memoriam
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
nacional.hr
From March 24th.
Just as the March of our Lives began, France will have to mourn 1 of their own - killed in the line of duty.
Lt. Col Arnaud Beltrame was killed when an ISIS foot soldier shot him in the neck after the gunman killed 2 and wounding 5. Police swarmed in killing the gunman after Beltrame was shot right after swapping himself for a woman that was held on gunpoint.
Beltrame was 45.
http://www.newsweek.com/arnaud-beltrame ... nce-859517
doyouremember.com
From March 20th:
Boston's TV personality Frank Avruch who became 1st nationally-syndicated Bozo The Clown, has passed on from heart disease. Avruch donned the costume from 1959 thru 1970.
Avruch was 89.
https://www.thewrap.com/frank-avruch-star-bozo-clown-dies-89/
theredlist.com
France's fashion Icon Count Hubert De Givenchy - who was the main designer that developed the wardrobe of Audrey Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, Greta Garb, Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis among others, has passed peacefully.
He was also the youngest founder at the age of 25 right after his days at Jacques Fath. He was also the recepient of the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (1983) and
Medal of l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1992)
Hubert was 91.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/obituaries/hubert-de-givenchy-dies.html
NBA G-League player Zeke Upshaw collapsed during a game with 49 seconds left and succumbed to cardiac arrest. Upshaw's team The Grand Rapids Drive were playing the Long Island Nets. The Drive were leading right before Upshaw collapsed in the court.
Upshaw was 26.
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2018/03/26/nba-g-league-player-zeke-upshaw-dies-after-collapsing-on-court.html
The NY Mets will mourn another legend from the 1973 World Series title.
Former slugger Rusty Staub has passed away this morning.
Staub was 73.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/22953337/long-new-york-mets-hitter-rusty-staub-dies-73
heightweighnetworth.com via contactmusic.com
Debbie Lee Carrington - actress / stuntwoman of diminutive size that landed her roles in Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi, Howard The Duck, Spaced Invaders, and well known for her supporting role in the 1990 version of Total Recall, has passed. Other credits include Batman Returns, Seinfeld, Child's Play, Men In Black, In Living Color among others.
Debbie was 58.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/obituaries/deborah-carrington-58-dies-actress-and-stuntwoman.html
criticsatlarge.com
Delores Taylor (Shown with her late husband Tom Laughlin [1931-2013]) actress from the famed Billy Jack series, has passed from dementia complications. Delores stared in 4 Billy Jack films starting with The Born Losers. Aside from co-producing the film, she also co-produced The Master Gunfighter with her Tom as the lead role. She was nominated for a globe in 1972 for New Star of the Year.
Delores was 85.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/delores-taylor-actress-in-billy-jack-films-dies-at-85/2018/03/27/efd5afd8-31f5-11e8-8bdd-cdb33a5eef83_story.html?utm_term=.711156af2faf
news-leader.com
Linda Brown Thompson - An activist who fought her right into attending a school where segregation was still in existence where she became the center of the Brown vs The Topeka, Kansas Board of Education, has passed. Brown-Thompson was 9 when her parents wanted to enroll what used to be an all-white school right before the board blocked their request. It prompted for the family to file a lawsuit against the Topeka Board of Education.
It took years to comply to end the segregation right after the Browns filed a 2nd lawsuit in 1955.
Linda was 75.
http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local_news/linda-brown-thompson-woman-at-center-of-brown-v-board/article_d3704f9e-3176-11e8-8a89-7b4facb12b06.html
storm.mg
Johan Van Hulst: teacher and Holocaust hero who saves hundreds of Jewish children from being sent to Nazi concentration camps during WWII. He was 107.
insidethehall.com
From March 28.
Daryl Thomas (Middle) - Member of the Indiana Men's basketball 1987 Championship team, has passed from a heart attack. Thomas was 52.
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/c ... 466772002/
all4women.co.za
From April 2nd.
Anti-Apartheid activist Winnie Mandela, former wife of the late Nelson Mandela, who fought a struggle to have her then-husband released. But in which in later life was marred by corruption that led to a divorce in 1996, has passed.
Willie was 81.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/04/02 ... at-81.html
thewrap.com
Master TV producer and writer Steven Bochco who brought us Hill Street Blues, LA Law, Doogie Howser MD, and NYPD Blue to the smallscreen has succumbed to leukemia. The 4-time Peabody award and 10-time Emmy award winning producer was 74.
http://www.tmz.com/2018/04/01/steven-bochco-dead-dies/
Former US Alpine Skiing coach and ABC Sports commentator Bob Beattie has passed. Beattie was color analyst for World Cup events, and play-by-play announcer alongside Frank Gifford during the Olympics in 1976,1980,1984, and 1988. He was also the co-founder of the World Ski Tour in 1966.
Beattie was 85.
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/02/b ... up-skiing/
thefotoartist.com
Passing away this past Wednesday - veteran Korean-American actor and voice actor Soon Tek Oh who was also the co-founder of the Asian-American company East West Players. Oh will be remembered in his roles such as the Lt. Yip in "The Man With The Golden Gun", Col. Yin in "Missing In Action 2: The Beginning", "Good Guys Wear Black", "The Final Countdown" as the captured Zero pilot (Shown with Katherine Ross), The Sensei in "Beverly Hills Ninja", and the memorable voice of Fa Zhou in Disney's Mulan.
He was also involved in TV roles in Hawaii Five-O, M*A*S*H, Airwolf, Logan's Run among others and made-for-tv movies.
Oh was 85.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... 85-1100765
wrestlingnews.co
Thomas Sullivan - better known as former in-ring wrestler and manager "Luscious" Johnny Valiant was struck and killed by a truck as he crossed a busy road.
"Luscious" was 71.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/20 ... treet.html
From March 7th.
A prayer for the town of Humbolt, Saskachewan after a bus that carried a junior hockey team was struck by a semi. The death toll now stands at 15. The Canadian team, The Humbolt Broncos were on their way to Nipawin for a semi-final game when the crash occurred. Of the 15, their head coach, team captain and a radio announcer were confirmed.
Our hearts go out to their families.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/canada-hockey-team-bus-crash-today-nipawin-saskatchewan-2018-04-07/
Military air casualties continue to mount. This week, the Air Force are mourning 1 of the elite Thunderbirds. Major Stephen Del Bagno was killed while flying Thunderbird 4 at the Nevada Test and Training Range at the Nellis Air Force Base just located near Las Vegas.
Major Del Bagno was 34.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/air-force-thunderbirds-pilot-dies-nevada-16-crash-54255051
This past Wednesday, 4 US Marines were killed when their CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from the 3rd Military Air Wing based in Miramar crashed in El Centro.
The 4 that were killed were Capt. Samuel A. Schultz, 1st Lt. Samuel D. Phillips, Gunnery Sgt. Derik R. Holley and Lance Cpl. Taylor J. Conrad.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/04/marine-helicopter-crew-of-4-is-presumed-dead-after-crash-in-california-authorities-say/
cyclist.co.uk
From April 8th.
The world of cycling are mourning the passing of Belgian cyclist Michael Goolaerts during the Paris-Roubaix event when he collapsed just 93 miles from the finish line. Goolaerts would go into cardiac arrest right before the arrival of medical teams. He was airlifted to a hospital at Lille. But he was pronounced dead.
Goolaerts was 23.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-cyc ... story.html
biphoo.com
2 more servicemen were identified this past week after Apache helicopter crashed Friday. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ryan Connolly, and Warrant Officer James Casadona were killed on site of the crash during a training routine in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 37-year-old Connolly was an instructor pilot and the 28-year-old Casadona was part of the 101st Airborne Aviation Brigade.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/08/politics/army-soldiers-identified-helicopter-crash/index.html
hiveminer.com
Mitzi Shore (Left - shown with the late Sam Kinnison) - Owner of the Comedy Store, and mother of Pauly Shore has passed on due to complications of Parkinson's Disease. She obtained sole ownership of the property right after her divorce from Sammy Shore whom he co-founded in 1974. Mitzi was 87.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/mitzi-shore-owner-of-the-comedy-store-and-maker-and-breaker-of-careers-dies-at-87/ar-AAvLMQg?OCID=ansmsnnews11&ffid=gz
chicagobluesguide.com
Yvonne Staples - baritone singer and member of the family group The Staple Singers, succumbs to colon cancer just 2 weeks after her diagnosis. Yvonne was 80.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/11/staple-singers-yvonne-staples-dies-at-80-remembering-her-through-song/
welovesoaps.net
Actor Tim O'Connor - Former soap star in ABC's Peyton Place who also starred in guest appearances and his role as Dr. Elias Huer in the short-lived 1979-1981 sci-fi series "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century". Tim passed away this past April 5th in his sleep.
O'Connor was 90.
http://deadline.com/2018/04/timothy-oconnor-dies-character-actor-best-known-for-role-on-peyton-place-was-90-1202363609/
deadline.com
Actor Eugene Francis: who played 4 films of the East Side Kids, has passed. Eugen was 100.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/eugene-francis-actor-in-4-east-side-kids-movies-dies-at-100/ar-AAvR9tT?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz
thecount.com
Art Abell: Radio personality and overnight host of the paranormal radio programs, has passed on Friday. The host of Coast to Coast AM and Midnight in the Desert was 72.
http://www.deadline.com/2018/04/art-bel ... 202364404/
chess-news.ru
Jan Tomas "Milos" Forman - 2-time Oscar winner for best director in "One Flew over the Cookoo's Nest" in 1975, and "Amadeus" in 1984, has passed from a short illness.
His 1st award he earned for his 1st US film was Cannes Film Festival GP. Along with his Oscars, it followed with 3 golden globe for the same 2 Oscar-winning films and "The People vs Larry Flynt" in 1996.
He also received the Czech Lion in 1998. And the Crystal Ball at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 1997.
Milos was 86.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-forman/forman-oscar-winning-director-of-cuckoos-nest-and-amadeus-dies-at-86-idUSKBN1HL0CQ
thefamouspeople.com
We will miss R. Lee Ermey. The Mail Call and Lock and Load host and the Golden Globe nominee for his role as Drill Sargeant Hartman in the classic "Full Metal Jacket" has succumbed to pneumonia. He also provided his voice in numerous cartoons.
Including his role as the rubber soldier in Toy Story.
Ermey - who was also a Staff Sergeant with the Marines - was 74.
SEMPER FI, GUNNY!!!!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/r-lee-ermey-‘full-metal-jacket’-golden-globe-nominee-dies-at-74/ar-AAvV1Xr?ocid=spartanntp&ffid=gz
Last edited by Placid on Tue Jun 26, 2018 12:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
heavy.com
It is 5 years since the Boston Bombing. Let's remember the 3 victims who lost their lives in the bombing and the officer killed in the line of duty.
WE ARE WITH YOU, BOSTON!!!!
Also passing away this month. Former Sixer and Hall Of Famer Hal Green (Shown with Wilt Champberlin).
Greer is the Sixers' all-time leader in points (21,586), field goals (8,504), field goals attempted (18,811), games (1,122) and minutes played (39,788). For his career, he averaged 19.2 points and 4.0 assists per game.
He was a 10-time All-Star, seven-time second-team All-NBA selection and won an NBA title in 1967.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. Greer was 81.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/277 ... -at-age-81
vabred.com
Sports author William Nack, the esteemed thoroughbred-racing writer from Sports Illustrated whose book about Secretariat paved the way for the popular 2010 film about the legendary Triple Crown winner, has died.
Nack died Friday at his Washington home from complications associated with cancer, his family announced. He was 77.
http://www.drf.com/news/secretariat-bio ... ck-dies-77
womansworld.com
The world of comedy, magic and TV has lost another pioneer. Harry Anderson - TVs beloved judge of Night Court fame has passed. Anderson was found at his home by police. No foul play is involved.
Harry was 65.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/entertainment ... ar-AAvXnEL
A nation mourns following the passing of former 1st lady Barbara Pierce Bush (Shown with Raisa Gorbachev) after succumbing to complications from congestive heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. All this after she decided to decline any kind of medical treatment.
The Former 1st Lady, wife, mother, humanitarian, literary advocate was 92.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/barba ... vZMTt_1|27
Also passing away. NPR radio personality Carl Kasell due to complications of Alzheimer's.
Kasell was 84.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/carl-kasell-npr-broadcaster-who-brought-gravitas-and-goofiness-to-the-airwaves-dies-at-84/ar-AAvZisG?OCID=ansmsnnews11
The wrestling world mourns. Bruno Sanmartino (Shown with Arnold Schwarzenegger)- a 2-time WWE champion, has passed due to health issues right next to his family.
The 2013 Hall of Famer was 82.
A TRUE LIVING LEGEND!!!!
http://www.wwe.com/article/bruno-sammartino-passes-away
gettyimages.com
Verne Troyer -Actor and stuntman that brought his major in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me as Mini-Me, was found dead in an apparent suicide due to huge levels of Alcohol.
Troyer was 49.
http://www.tmz.com/2018/04/21/verne-troyer-dead-at-49/
bbebookingagency.com
Tim Berling - music producer and well known as DJ Avicii, was found dead at a hotel in Oman. Avicii was a pioneer of the Electric Dance Movment who started at the age of 20. His constant touring took a toll on his health and was forced to retire from touring in 2016 after he was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. His death was possibly related to that and to the heavy drinking in 2014 that he forced to cancel shows.
Avicii was 28.
Death report.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/avicii-dead-musician-dj-swedish-tim-bergling-how-where-a8314936.html
2nd source:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/after-hospitalization-and-health-scare-avicii-retired-from-touring-in-2016-and-never-returned/ar-AAw7NbI?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz
arkansasonline.com
We may not have cartoons on Saturday mornings. But it will not be the same. Bob Dorough - another music "Jack of all Trades" (jazz pianist, singer, composer, songwriter, arranger and producer) and well known as the performer of the "Schoolhouse Rock" shorts, has passed away from natural causes.
Dorough was 94.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bob-dorough-schoolhouse-rock-performer-and-writer-is-dead-at-94/
steelersuk.com
Just yesterday:
Former Steeler Tight End Bennie Cunningham who has succumbed to cancer this past Monday. Drafted out of Clemson, Cunningham was part of 2 Super Bowl winning teams in 1978 and 1979.
Bennie was 63.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/04/24/former-steelers-tight-end-bennie-cunningham-dies-at-63/
From fanphobia.net
From April 23:
Philip D'Antoni - Producer for the French Connection that resulted an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award has passed on April 15th due to kidney failure. D'Antoni was also credited for the Steve McQueen film "Bullit", and for the "French Connection" follow-up "The Seven-Ups"
D'Antoni was 89.
http://popculture.com/movies/2018/04/23 ... ies-at-89/
From pollstar.com
The Nevilles will now mourn 1 of their own.
Saxophonist Charles Neville just passed away today after losing his battle to pancreatic cancer. Charles was 79.
Say hello to Fats for us.
https://www.usnews.com/news/entertainme ... dead-at-79
From msn.com
The NASCAR world are in mourning following the death of 1966 NASCAR Rookie Of The Year James Hylton who was killed along with his son James in an accident at the Interstate I-85 just around 6AM.
Hylton was 83.
https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2018/ ... -accident/
gannett-cdn.com
Pamela Gidley: Actress who played in a role in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, just passed away. She was 52.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... -1.3962518
From cbc.ca
Alfie Evans - the 23-month old boy who was caught in the middle of a court case where he was denied treatment for a degenerative neurological condition that left him in a vegetative state was pronounced dead after he was taken of life support.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/alfie-evans-dies-1.4640027
From allblackmedia.com
Mississippi rapping prospect Lonnie Taylor known as "Lil Lonnie" was shot and killed in 1 of 3 separate shootings that also claimed another life.
Taylor was 22.
https://blackchristiannews.com/2018/04/ ... -hometown/
From nydailynews.com
Former President of operations for the NY Islanders and Florida Panthers Bill Torrey has passed. Torrey was considered as the architect of the NY Islanders dynasty that brought 4 Stanley Cup titles from 1980 thru 1983.
"Bow-Tie Bill" was 83.
https://nypost.com/2018/05/03/bill-torrey-architect-of-islanders-80s-dynasty-dead-at-83/
From martialinfo.com
The Martial Arts world has lost a great Tae Kwon Do father. Grand Master Jhoon Goo Rhee (Shown with Bruce Lee) who became the Father of American Tae Kwon Do, has succumbed to shingles while being in hospice care. this past April 30th.
Jhoon also trained numerous celebrities and politicians thru the years.
Rhee a 10th degree black belt was 86.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jhoon-rhee-who-helped-popularize-taekwondo-in-the-united-states-dies-at-86/2018/05/01/db60f3da-4d45-11e8-af46-b1d6dc0d9bfe_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f6e95c570af8
From liveforlivemusic.com
John "Jab'o" Starks - Drummer who provided numerous songs for James Brown from the '60s and '70s, lost his battle to acute leukemia right after he developed myelodysplastic syndromes, a bone marrow disorder, in January 2017.
"Jabs" was 79.
https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/05/02/607734110/john-jab-o-starks-classic-james-brown-drummer-dead-at-79
From thewrap.com
Anne W Coates - Oscar-winning editor for the 1962 film "Lawrence Of Arabia". She was nominated for Becket (1963), The Elephant Man (1980), In the Line of Fire (1993) and Out of Sight (1998). She also received her 2nd Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.
Coates was 92.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/09/obituaries/anne-v-coates-admired-editor-of-acclaimed-movies-dies-at-92.html
From pwpix.com
Another Wrestling Blast From The Past has left us to the ring in the sky.
Nick Conrad Busick - well known for his in-ring persona "Big Bully" has passed away from complications of a cancerous brain tumor where it was transmitted into his spinal cord fluid. Busick was 1 of them odd-ball heels where he had Harvey Whippleman as his manager in which he donned his turtleneck sweater, his derby hat, a huge cigar and his handlebar mustache. The former cop and powerlifter was under the tutelage of the late Jerry Blackwell and wrestled in the WWE from the early 80s up until 1991.
Busick would also suffer from other health complications where he got hit with cardiac arrest in 2005. But was saved with a defibrillator.
Busick was 63.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2775046-former-wwe-superstar-nick-big-bully-busick-dies-at-age-63
moviemem.com
Iconic actress and bipolar disorder advocate Margot Kidder - who will be remembered for her role as "Lois Lane" in the original Superman "Quadrilogy' series, has passed peacefully at her home in her Livingstone, Montana home this past Sunday.
She was 69.
Say hi to Christopher and Jackie (Jackie Cooper who played Perry White) for us.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/14/entertai ... index.html
We like to send a special prayer to the families and loved ones of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard after the loss of 9 airmen who were killed in a plane crash this past May 2 near Savannah Ga. The plane and crew were part of numerous humanitarian missions from Hurricane strikes just as it was being ready to be de-commissioned. The WC-130 was part of the recovery efforts from Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Maj. José R. Román Rosado, - pilot, from Manati, Puerto Rico, who had served 18 years in the military. He is survived by his pregnant wife and two sons.
Maj. Carlos Pérez Serra, - navigator, from Canóvanas, Puerto Rico, who served 23 years in the military. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
1st Lt. David Albandoz, - pilot from Puerto Rico who recently resided in Madison, Alabama, and had served 16 years in the military. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
Senior Master Sgt. Jan Paravisini, - mechanic, from Canóvanas, Puerto Rico, who had served 21 years in the military. He is survived by his two daughters and a son.
Master Sgt. Jean Audriffred., from Carolina, Puerto Rico, who had served 16 years in the military. He is survived by his wife and two sons.
Master Sgt. Mario Braña, - flight engineer, from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, who had served 17 years in the military. He is survived by his mother and daughter.
Master Sgt. Víctor Colón, of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, had served 22 years in the military. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Master Sgt. Eric Circuns, - loadmaster, from Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, had served 31 years in the military. He is survived by his wife, two stepdaughters, and a son.
Senior Airman Roberto Espada, of Salinas, Puerto Rico. He had served three years in the military, and is survived by his grandmother.
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/9-airme ... d-1.525302
deadliestreports.wordpress.com
Blake Painter (Left in and undated photo with fellow Captain Keith Coburn of the Wizard) - Former captain of the Crab Fishing vessel Maverick in the reality series "Deadliest Catch" was found dead at his Oregon home.
Painter was 38.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/ ... smsnnews11
umterps.com
Cliff Tucker - Former Maryland Basketball player was 1 of 3 people killed in a car crash at Interstate 10 at Balmohrea, TX.
4 more people - including a 3-year-old wre injured in the crash where none of them wore seat belts.
Tucker was 29.
https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/ ... 650183002/
motorsports.nbcsports.com
Dr. Henry Bock: Former Indy Car Senior Medical Services director who also worked at the same position at the Indianapolis Motor Speed has passed.
Dr Bock was 81.
https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2018/ ... ies-at-81/
blues.com.pl
Edward Harrington known in the Chicago Blues world as Eddie Clearwater "The Chief" who began his roots as a gospel guitarist before heading to Chicago to become a blues guitarist, has passed this past Friday due to heart failure.
Clearwater was 83.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/06/02/ ... learwater/
Last edited by Placid on Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
moviefone.com
William Edward Phipps: Veteran and legendary actor remembered as the voice of Prince Charming in Disney's Cinderella, has succumbed from compliactions of lung cancer. Phipps was also credited in roles in War Of The Worlds, Invasion From Mars, Five.
Phipps was 96.
www.deadline.com/2018/06/william-phipps ... 202402581/
smelivenation.com
Dwight Clark - The most prolific tight end known for the "Catch that was heard around the World", has succumbed to ALS. Clark was part of the 49ers dynasty of the 1980s that brought 2 Super Bowl titles. And it was the "Catch" in the 1982 NFC Championship that took them to Super Bowl XVI for their franchise 1st title. He would later added Super Bowl XIX in 1985.
Clark was 61.
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2018/06/0 ... attle.html
usatoday.com via gannett-cdn.com
From June 4th:
Clarence Fountain 1 of the 2 last surviving members and co-founder of the blues band The Blind Boys of Alabama, has passed at 88.
www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2018/ ... 669420002/
https://twitter.com/CFDMedia/media
From May 29th:
Chicago Firefighter Juan Bucio was recently laid to rest. Bucio died while he and fellow CFD colleagues were searching for another missing boater - 28-year-old Antonio Perez. Just like Antonio, he was also a father of 2 children. Perez was eventually found a few days later.
Bucio was 46.
http://www.abc7chicago.com/society/cfd- ... l/3558618/
msn.com
Jerry Maren - known for being the munchkin and last surviving munchkin in the 1939 classic flick "The Wizard Of Oz" has passed in hospice care.
Maren was 98.
www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/wizard-of ... li=BBnb7Kz
Former Cardinal Infielder, manager and MLB's oldest Hall of Famer Alfred Fred "Red" Schoendienst who managed 2 World Series titles in the 1967 and 1969 and was a coach for the 1964 Cardinals and took temporary stints as manager in 1980 and 1990, has passed away during the 3rd inning between the game of the Cardinal and Marlins.
Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame who was ranked #2 for most all-time wins as a manager was 95.
www.mlb.com/news/hall-of-famer-red-scho ... -280117310
Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan, whose stint only lasted 3 years due to health issues that included alcoholism.
Kirwan was 68.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news ... 68-w521317
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Sunday, September 17, 2006 0
Pamela Sue Anderson and Courtney Love Roasted
This a totally funny video of both Pamela Sue Anderson and Courtney Love being roasted on the Comedy Central program.
Monday, August 28, 2006 0
Rolling Stones In Concert In Boston - Video
The Rolling Stones come to Boston September 20th; you can get tickets here, and see the video for "Paint It Black" below:
Wednesday, August 23, 2006 0
Tom Cruise Dumps Paramount So Paramount Dumps Tom Cruise
The buzz is all around that Paramount dumped Tom Cruise, but if you read the fine print to the story, it was the other way around.
It seems that Paramount reacted childishly to Cruise and Paula Wagner's decision to seek other movie financing. I don't know what they expect to accomplish, other than making a good deal for Cruise and some other organization just by proving his ability to draw headlines.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006 0
"Snakes On A Plane" Launches Samuel L. Jackson Into Cult Status
First it was "Pulp Fiction" and now, after a long layoff from cult moves, Samuel L. Jackson ups his cult status stock with the hit "Snakes On A Plane."
Now I haven't seen the movie -- yet. But I will. What fascinates me the most is the Internet-based viral marketing this movie's tapped. Wow.
Take a look at this blogger's post, where Samuel L. Jackson's pictured cussing about -- what else? -- Snakes on A Plane.
Here's a video interview of people who are going to see the movie:
William Shatner Roast - Leonard Nimoy
This is a clip of a totally funny roast of TV legend William Shatner. I saw this on Comedy Central and loved it.
Friday, August 18, 2006 0
Banarama - Cruel Summer Video
This is one of my all time favorite songs. I never tire of hearing it, and it's still hard to believe it's 23 years old. But Banarama's still going strong; their most recent album's called "Drama."
The Rolling Stones On The Mike Douglas Show
This is vintage video footage of the Rolling Stones on The Mike Douglas Show.
Black Velvet - YouTube Video With Alannah Myles
If you thought the timeless rock song Black Velvet was a product of The Wilson Sisters -- as I did -- you're flar wrong. The amazing voice behind this classic is of none other than Alannah Myles. Take a look and give a listen here:
Here are the lyrics (according to Songfacts, it's about Elvis Presley, but I thought it was refering to black men in the South, or an African American man she knew -- wishful thinking):
Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell
Jimmy Rogers on the Victrola up high
Mama's dancin' with baby on her shoulder
The sun is settin' like molasses in the sky
The boy could sing, knew how to move, everything
Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for
Black velvet and that little boy's smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please
Up in Memphis the music's like a heatwave
White lightening, bound to drive you wild
Mama's baby's in the heart of every school girl
"Love me tender" leaves 'em cryin' in the aisle
The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true
Every word of every song that he sang was for you
In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon, what could you do?
(Solo)
If you please, if you please, if you please
Bruno Kirby Of "When Harry Met Sally" Dies at 57
This report by Niki Finne makes you understand how short and precious our lives are. Click on the link to read it. Here's an except below:
From AP: Bruno Kirby, the veteran character actor who co-starred in When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers has died at age 57 in Los Angeles from complications related to leukemia, according to a statement today from his wife, Lynn Sellers. He had recently been diagnosed with the disease. "We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from Bruno's fans and colleagues who have admired and respected his work over the past 30 years," his wife said. "Bruno's spirit will continue to live on not only in his rich body of film and television work but also through the lives of individuals he has touched throughout his life."
Thursday, July 27, 2006 0
`N Sync's Lance Bass Says He is Gay - San Jose Mercury News
What's interesting about this is fans wondered if Bass was gay as far back as 2001, and yet he denied it at the time
`N Sync's Lance Bass says he is gay - July 26,2006 - San Jose Mercury News
Lance Bass, band member of 'N Sync, says he's gay and in a ``very stable'' relationship with a reality show star.
Bass, who formed 'N Sync with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, tells People magazine that he didn't earlier disclose his sexuality because he didn't want to affect the group's popularity.
``I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything,'' he tells the magazine.
'N Sync is known for a string of hits including ``Bye Bye Bye'' and ``It's Gonna Be Me.'' The band went on hiatus in 2002. Bass has also found headlines for undertaking astronaut training and failing to raise money for a trip into space.
Bass says he wondered if his coming out could prompt ``the end of 'N Sync.'' He explains, ``So I had that weight on me of like, `Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did.''
The singer says he's in a ``very stable'' relationship with 32-year-old actor Reichen Lehmkuhl, winner of season four of CBS' ``Amazing Race.''
Bass and Fatone, 29, are developing a sitcom pilot inspired by the screwball comedy ``The Odd Couple,'' in which his character will be gay.
``The thing is, I'm not ashamed -- that's the one thing I want to say,'' Bass says. ``I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life. I'm just happy.''
Here's Lance Bass at The Sundance Film Festival:
Wednesday, July 12, 2006 0
Superman Returns...As O.J. Simpson
Now before you get into a tizzy, I'm not implying that O.J, Simpson killed his wife. I don't believe he did. But he did do something that Superman does in Superman Returns, and so they have at least one action in common.
To determine what that is, read on.
I came into the theater wanting to like Superman Returns before I saw it. In other words, I came with a bias. I'm one of those who remembers watching the black-and-white "Superman" TV show as a kid. I was never really into the Superman comics, preferring Wonder Woman (!), but I did watch "The Super Friends" and "The Justice League of America" cartoons.
Then there was Richard Donnar's "Superman" -- a masterpiece of a film that launched the career of soap opera actor Christospher Reeve, who we think of as anything but now.
What made Superman an incredible film was that it was faithful to the character I and others of my generation remember as kids: the defender of truth, justice, and the American way.
And that doesn't go for invading Iraq.
In other words, Superman was part of my childhood. I never watched one episiode of the popular TV series "Lois and Clark" or "Smallville" for that matter. (Well, I did see one "Smallville" story, which was pretty good.) They don't present the Superman I remember.
In other words, I don't associate Superman with sex, child support, birth control, jealously, stalking, homelessness, or alcoholism. Yet Brian Singer's deals with all of these issues either directly or indirectly in Superman Returns.
A Work Not Marvelous, But I Do Wonder...
Superman Returns is the result of a 13-year collective quest to make a new Superman movie, an effort that seemed as if it was going to be stuck in development hell until it was saved by Director Brian Singer and Producer Chris Lee. Two years and $250 million later, Superman Returns was released on June 30, 2006.
Superman plays Brandon Routh, who like Reeve before him was a soap opera actor, and who basically looks like a cross between Reeve and Dean Cain from "Lois and Clark" -- he's more Reeve than Cain, to be sure. 23-year old Kate Bostworth takes on Lois Lane, a character set in Zeitgeist stone by Margo Kidder and Terry Hatcher.
The cast is rounded by the appearance of Frank Langella as Perry White, the editor of The Daily Planet. (As a momentary aside, Langella's getting a lot of work of late, and he's sinks his teeth into every role.)
Finally (at least for the purpose of this review) one of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey, plays Superman's enemy, Lex Luthor.
The question is how does each actor do compared to the ones who've come before them. My answer: not bad at all. It's not the actors that are the problem, it's the material they're given.
It's terrible.
The story goes like this: Superman crash land on Earth -- and right onto his adopted mother's farm -- after a five year absence. Apparently astronomers discovered the remains of Krypton so Superman went back to investigate the find for himself. After all it's his home planet.
The trouble is he left without telling anyone where he was going -- except his Mom. So after enjoying some sleep in a comfortable bed at home and a game of "fetch" so unfair to the dog the canine gives up, Clark Kent returns to Manhattan -- opps, Metropolis -- and to his old job at the newspaper The Daily Planet, courtesy of Editor-In-Chief Perry White.
Jimmy Olsen's there (played by Sam Huntington) as is Lois Lane, at least her chair's there; she's part of a press group on the maiden voyage of a Boeing 777 carrying a new Space Shuttle into the sky.
He's reacquainted with her after a spectacular scene segment -- hampered by one major flaw -- where Clark Kent / Superman saves the 777 from crashing into a baseball stadium after a midair malfunction directly related to the doings of Lex Luthor.
Clark Kent / Superman is obviously anxious to see Ms. Lane, but discovers that she's moved on. She's got a husband-to-be -- Richard, played by James Mardsen -- and a five year old kid with an asthma problem and a weird ability to throw pianos when excited. Right, five years old. When Clark Kent / Superman sees the photo of Lois new family and Olsen fills him in on the new beau, Kent cracks the picture frame in an anger he struggles to hide. This guys jealous, big time. But he's Superman, which means that he could do some damage if he gets pissed. Better a planet than a family, right?
When Clark Kent / Superman leans of the home address of Ms. Lane, he flies off as Superman to -- well, go there. He arrives and while floating in air, uses his X-ray vision to observe the activity of the Lane household. We and he see the action one room at a time, and I feel creepy. At this point, I started to put this segment together with the picture frame cracking accident and think of Clark Kent / Superman as...
O.J. Simpson.
Finally Clark Kent / Superman sees Lois and Richard in the kitchen and with his super hearing listens to her say she's not in love with Superman anymore. At this point, he hangs in the air for a moment just long enough to make you believe he may do something rash, like blow the house down. Just think if he caught them making love, which the segment seems to communicate the possibility of happening. What then? Pound his fist in anger hard enough to make them think there's an earthquake and stop?
Why the OJ comparison? Well, one thing he did was go to the home of the guy his wife was seeing and peer into his window while she was "doing it" with him. What did he do?
Well, both he and Clark Kent / Superman did get angry. In Clark Kent / Superman's case, he flew off to Earth orbit, crying.
He Can't Find A Home...
Clark Kent / Superman can't seem to find a place to live. On three occasions he says he's still looking for one. Never finds one. He just hangs in space listening to just about everyone on Earth, picking and choosing where he goes at any moment in time. That's fine, but it seems to take away from the responsible Clark Kent, who knows he needs a home and one would think a place to entertain other than the Fortress of Solitude. Instead we get the homeless Clark Kent.
On top of all that Clark Kent / Superman reacts with an annoying indifference to the kid he sires and this is where the material show it's problem of lack of passion. In real life, Clark Kent / Superman would have asked Lois why she wasn't on birth control or something. To be fair, he does sneak back to Lois home to see his kid, but then that's what bugs me yet again.
Why couldn't he have just asked Lois to see him?
Moreover, why didn't Lois invite him? I actually liked Kate Bostworth as Lois. She played the role of Lois as Mom real well.
I also liked Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor, that is until he and his men beat up Superman / Clark Kent in a scene way too violent for the Superman movies.
$250 Million For This?
Finally, I come to the matter of the special effects that give shape to this movie. The airplane save scenes were really great. But the whole effect just plain fell apart for me when the 777 was in the baseball stadium. The face that it's not really there is obvious by the bleed lines between the aircraft and the real life stadium. It just takes away from the impact of the scene.
It left me wondering where the $250 million went. For that money, they should have been able to realize resolution so detailed the bleedlines were eliminated, but no. Yes, there's two scenes in King Kong that have the same problem, but they're minor and small in time, and way outnumbered by some jaw dropping effects, like Kong himself.
But in Superman Returns these bleedlines are everywhere, even on Superman himself as he flies. It was disappointing.
Do I Or Don't I Want A Sequel?
As I write this, Superman Returns is being clobbered at the box office. It has two problems: Pirates of The Carribean II and it's $250 million price tag. "Pirates" arrghed up $132 million in just a weekend. That would pay for 50 percent of the cost of Superman Returns, which has made $142 million in two weeks, and it's revenue gain is declining; it only took in $21 million last weekend, and with more flicks coming out, the number of screens it's on will shrink, making the breakeven target of $250 million harder and harder to reach. Ouch.
I believe Superman deserves a better movie life than this. Given what Singer brought to the screen this time, I'm not excited to see the sequel. But given the box office, getting one made may be hard to do.
The lesson here is clear. Don't mess with a kid's view of a comic book legend by making him less of a hero. Adults know heroes are flawed, but we don't want our childhood ones to be.
The Superman in Superman Returns is not the Man of Steel I remember as a kid; he's not the one I want to see today. Apparently, many agree.
Heck, I'll bet O.J would too.
Sunday, July 02, 2006 0
Wonder Woman Movie Director Josh Whedon's Reported Script Trouble Scaring The Heck Out Of Wonder Woman Fans
Recently Wonder Woman Movie Director Josh Whedon did an interview where he said he found the script he's writing -- repeat, he's writing -- troubling. This bit of news sent Wonder Woman fans at Ultimate Wonder into a frenzy, with many fearing that the movie would be just terrible -- if it ever was made.
In this video below, Whedon' talks about his approach to the Wonder Woman Movie script.
Thursday, June 29, 2006 0
Spiderman 3 Teaser Trailer - The Real Trailer of Spiderman, Sandman, Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, and The Black Uniform
This seems to be the plotline fot the film, and it's followed by the actual trailer itself. This is the real-deal, as there's a "fake" running around YouTube. The third installment in the highly sucessful movie series -- I think it's one of the best in film history -- adds "Prmary Colors" Adrian Lester to the cast, and making him the first African American to hold a lead role in the series.
Here's the rumored plot:
Plot: Third film in the highly successful "Spider-Man" series sees several new villains and a new woman enter Peter Parker's life. With his secret now revealed to both Mary Jane and Harry, Peter must face the consequences of his actions and his new life together with Mary Jane as they finally form a relationship. Yet their newfound open display of love has yielded some unfortunate results, not the least of which is Peter's upset boss determined to make his life hell for causing his son emotional distress. Not helping is a young investigative reporter named Eddie Brock who Jameson has hired to find out why Mary Jane dumped his son for Peter - what's Parker's secrets?
At the same time an escaped prisoner hiding out on a remote beach is caught in a dreadful accident and finds himself turned into a shape-shifting sand creature. Peter's investigations into the past of this 'Sandman' (Thoman Haden Church from "Sideways" pictured) brings him in contact with two very different things that will inevitably alter his life. The first a young woman named Gwen Stacy, daughter of the city's new police chief who is developing a soft spot for Peter. The other, a black substance from an accident scene which 'merges' with Peter's costume and gives him new found abilities.
Things come to a head however when Harry Osborn, determined to take revenge against Peter for his father's death and now equipped with what he needs to pull it off, teams with The Sandman in a new variation of his father's Green Goblin guise and causes mayhem. In the ensuing chaos lives are lost, including people very close to Peter, whilst the black substance covering his suit separates from him and merges with a distraught Brock to form something else entirely - a creature unlike anything he's ever faced. A 'Venom' that he may not be able to stop.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 1
Star Jones Out Of "View" - Did Sandra Bernhard Cat Fight Push Her Over?
The View's ever lovely Star Jones annouced she's quitting ABC's women talk show "The View." But to make matters worse, The View's producer, Barbara Walters said today they've fired her.
I don't know the behind the scenes story, but given this racially-coded exchange with Sandra Bernhard which is in the video below -- some call it a cat fight -- it seems race may have played a role and not in the way you think.
It seems that Jones' may not have been the right demographic for the suddenly gay-friendly media. What I think happened is that Walters and her staff made some weird read on society and concluded they better get a lesbian voice on their show -- enter Rosie O'Donnell. But exit Jones?
Well, some people tend to think in a white - male - centered view, where anyone that's not white or male is considerred a minority, thus the stupid decision to trade one minority -- Jones -- for another -- O'Donnell.
Bernhard -- like Rosie -- is also Lesbian, and it's almost certain Lesbian women called for Jones' head after the exchange, and inspite of the fact that it was the acid-tongued Bernhard who opened her mouth too much. (Not to say I disagree with her on the matter of war and women. I mean, the World would be a better place if every woman refused to have sex with a bigot or a warmonger.)
It won't matter. O'Donnell's not a draw. The View will sink into oblivion.
While it's sinking, look at the video!
Tuesday, June 06, 2006 0
Jamie Fox Video On LL Cool J and J-Lo - In Oakland He Talks About His Run-In WIth LL Cool J and Telling J-Lo She Couldn't Sing
The Academy Award-winning star of the motion picture "Ray" Jamie Foxx gave a hilarious performance to a sold-out crowd at the Paramount Theater. In this video he talks about how rapper LL Cool J treated him on the set of Oliver Stone's movie "Any Given Sunday" -- leading to a series of altercations -- and that Jennifer Lopez (aka J-Lo) was upset with Foxx because he reportedly said she couldn't sing. A claim he didn't deny in this video.
Here's Jamie Foxx:
Billy Preston Passed Away - Video With George Harrison
Billy Preston -- known for his massive hit "Nothin From Nothin Leaves Nothin" -- passed away today at the age of 59. I remember him most for that song, and was totally unaware of his legal problems as reported by CNN. I prefer to remember his music. Here's a video of a concert he recently performed with George Harrison, and both formerly of The Beatles.
New Batwoman is a lesbian - DC Comics Rolls The Dice - CNN
Well, she's got great legs! That's all I have to say.
New Batwoman is a lesbian
Editor: 'We decided to give her a different point of view'
Thursday, June 1, 2006; Posted: 8:47 a.m. EDT (12:47 GMT)
NEW YORK (AP) -- Years after she first emerged from the Batcave, Batwoman is coming out of the closet.
DC Comics is resurrecting the classic comic book character as a lesbian, unveiling the new Batwoman in July as part of an ongoing weekly series that began this year. The 5-foot-10 superhero comes with flowing red hair, knee-high red boots with spiked heels, and a form-fitting black outfit.
"We decided to give her a different point of view," explained Dan DiDio, vice president and executive editor at DC. "We wanted to make her a more unique personality than others in the Bat-family. That's one of the reasons we went in this direction."
(DC Comics, like CNN, is a division of Time Warner.)
The original Batwoman was started in 1956, and killed off in 1979. The new character will share the same name as her original alter ego, Kathy Kane. And the new Batwoman arrives with ties to others in the Gotham City world.
"She's a socialite from Gotham high society," DiDio said. "She has some past connection with Bruce Wayne. And she's also had a past love affair with one of our lead characters, Renee Montoya."
Montoya, in the "52" comic book series, is a former police detective. Wayne, of course, is Batman's true identity -- but he has disappeared, along with Superman and Wonder Woman, leaving Gotham a more dangerous place.
The "52" series is a collaboration of four acclaimed writers, with one episode per week for one year. The comics will introduce other diverse characters as the story plays out.
"This is not just about having a gay character," DiDio said. "We're trying for overall diversity in the DC universe. We have strong African-American, Hispanic and Asian characters. We're trying to get a better cross-section of our readership and the world."
The outing of Batwoman created a furor of opinions on Web sites devoted to DC Comics. Opinions ranged from outrage to approval. Others took a more tongue-in-cheek approach to the announcement.
"Wouldn't ugly people as heroes be more groundbreaking?" asked one poster. "You know, 200-pound woman, man with horseshoe hair loss pattern, people with cold sores, etc.?"
DiDio asked that people wait until the new Batwoman's appearance in the series before they pass judgment.
"You know what? Judge us by the story and character we create," he said. "We are confident that we are telling a great story with a strong, complex character."
DiDio spent most of the morning fielding phone calls from media intrigued by the Batwoman reinvention.
"It's kind of weird," he said. "We had a feeling it would attract some attention, but we're a little surprised it did this much."
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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4th Amendment
Georgia Business
Georgia Public Safety
AllOnGeorgia
McBath Backing Bill to Address Drug & Alcohol Abuse on Campus
DEMOCRATIC HOUSE NOMINEE LUCY MCBATH. CREDIT: MCBATH'S FACEBOOK PAGE.
McBath Joins Trone in Introducing the Bipartisan Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act
Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-06) joined Rep. David Trone (MD-06) in introducing the Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act of 2019, a bill that would help institutions of higher education implement evidence-based programs to prevent alcohol and substance misuse on campus and support those with substance use disorders (SUDs). Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Chris Pappas (D-NH), John Joyce (R-PA), and Michael Guest (R-MS) also joined in introducing the bill.
The bill also promotes collaboration between institutions and the state agencies that administer related programs targeting SUD and encourages integration in campus-based health services between primary care, SUD services, and mental health services.
“The opioid crisis has ruthlessly swept through our nation targeting everyone in its path, including those on college campuses,” said Trone, founder of the Freshmen Working Group on Addiction. “I heard from students and college presidents in my district that they needed more resources to address how drugs and alcohol impact their campuses. This bipartisan bill will provide much-needed resources to institutions in order to address this gap.”
“Students deserve a safe place to learn and grow,” McBath said. “I’ve seen the heartbreaking effects of drug use on families at home in Georgia, and it’s our duty as lawmakers to provide resources to help the future of our country. I’m proud to join in this bipartisan effort to address the devastating effects of addiction, protect students, and fund these necessary programs.”
“The Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act ensures that students are not left behind in our bipartisan fight against the opioid epidemic,” said Johnson. “Prevention efforts should be collaborative and evidence-based. This bill will accomplish that goal, providing greater safety to our students and our communities.”
“If we hope to combat the opioid epidemic in a meaningful way, it is essential we provide our colleges and universities the resources they need to educate students on substance misuse and help those working to overcome addiction,” said Pappas. “The Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act takes a critical step in supporting students and curbing addiction by creating a safe environment in which they can learn and grow.”
“As a physician, I realize that there is not a community in the country that has not been impacted by the drug epidemic we are currently facing,” said Joyce. “Unfortunately, due to students not grasping the full dangers of drug use, many addictions begin on college campuses. This legislation will allow our institutions of higher education to implement result oriented programs to stem the tide of substance misuse by students. It will provide for improved drug education programs, recovery services, counseling and re-entry assistance that many schools lack. Doing everything possible to protect our children from substance use disorders should not be a partisan issue and I urge the leaders in the House to take up this critical bill.”
“This legislation would help reinforce our colleges and universities as institutions that prioritize the well-being of students and prevent substance use disorder,” said Guest. “Across our country, young adults on campuses are battling against the threat of addiction, so I am proud to use my position in this group to support a bill that encourages protecting our students from the potential consequences of substance use disorder.”
“The American Psychological Association endorses the Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act,” said Dr. Arthur C. Evans, Jr., CEO of the American Psychological Association Services, Inc. “In addressing the opioid epidemic, a major task ahead of us is ensuring that our nation’s students have access to evidence-based treatment and prevention services on college campuses. If enacted, this legislation will improve services at institutions of higher education, ensuring students struggling with substance use disorders have access to the appropriate services they need in order to complete their education.”
“Young adults are at particular risk for experiencing mental health and addiction issues, yet far too often institutions of higher education lack the resources to support them,” said Chuck Ingoglia, President and CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health. “We applaud this effort to open up funding for critical treatment and recovery services, along with peer supports and training to help faculty, staff and students recognize and respond to those who are in distress. This grant program is sorely needed and will contribute to better mental health and wellness on campuses across the country.”
“The prevention of substance abuse on college and university campuses remains a shared priority across functional areas within student affairs,” said Kevin Kruger, President of NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. “In order to better foster student success, our members must be empowered to use evidence and remove barriers associated with addiction and substance abuse for individual students and their campus environments.”
“The surge in opioid deaths nationally has reached crisis proportions and the impact on Generation Xers and Millennials has been particularly devastating,” said John Auerbach, President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health. “We need to provide prevention and treatment services for these young adults where they are. The Campus Prevention and Recovery Services Act of 2019 with its focus on evidence-based and campus-based services will be an important piece of a national strategy to stem the tide of these tragic drug deaths.”
“The American College Health Association looks forward to working with Congressman Trone colleagues to secure bipartisan support for the Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act,” said Devin Jopp, CEO of the American College Health Association (ACHA). “Enactment of this legislation will make an important contribution to efforts to combat drug and alcohol misuse on college campuses.”
“The addiction crisis has had significant impacts in communities across the country, and college campuses are not immune”, says Tim Rabolt, Executive Director of the Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE). “Providing the funding and infrastructure to adequately support students in recovery is a critical solution that needs to be embraced nationally. The Association of Recovery in Higher Education commends Congressman David Trone and all forthcoming cosponsors for reintroducing the Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act. We are in full support of this bill and the support it would ultimately provide for students in recovery for years to come.”
“Ultimately, collegiate recovery is in the business of saving, sustaining, and enhancing recovering students’ lives,” said Blake Schneider, ARHE Advocacy Committee Chair and Board Member. “As ARHE Advocacy Committee Chair, working in tandem with legislation as such would help fulfill this endless mission.”
Learn more about the Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act of 2019 here.
Read the bill text here.
This is a press release from the Office of Congresswoman Lucy McBath.
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Funeral Homes in AMSTERDAM
Funeral Homes > New York > Amsterdam
Amsterdam, NY Funeral Homes
The following funeral service provider list is in Amsterdam, New York. Please select a funeral home listing below to view more details about local services provided.
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Louisiana Red remembered by German fan - Pittsburgh Post Gazette
I've read, but from several conversations I had with him, mainly before or after shows. Going to the BMA's in 2010 I was lucky to be on the same flight with Red going from Amsterdam to Memphis and again on the way back. Coming "home" to Germany he was a different man. From all that I know I am sure that the 2010 BMA's crowned his career. May he rest easy now!Helmut Krug, Baiersdorf, Germany Subscribe to this comment's feed ...
Billy Strange dies at 81; guitarist, arranger for Presley, Nancy Sinatra - Los Angeles Times
Sun, Feb 26, 2012
Strange recalled in 2002, when "A Little Less Conversation," a song that he and Mac Davis had written for Presley 33 years earlier, suddenly was a hit again thanks to an electronic dance remix by Amsterdam DJ Junkie XL. "I lost a dear friend when Elvis died. I couldn't bring myself to go to the funeral of one who expired so needlessly and tragically." Strange's path intersected with that of another 20th century pop music titan when he and songwriter-producer Lee Hazlewood were auditioning songs with Nancy Sinatra for her debut album. "Lee and Billy came over and Lee was picking some things on the guitar, and I said, 'I like the one about the boots,' " Nancy told Larry King in 2002. "My dad, when he was leaving, he said, 'You're right. It's the one about the boots.' A hit song is a hit song. The only other time I felt that feeling was with 'Somethin' Stupid,' and it also went to No. 1." Strange served as arranger on most of her recordings and also played on many of them.
Una Mulzac, Harlem Bookseller With a Passion for Black Politics, Dies at 88
Sun, Feb 5, 2012
There’s nothing wrong with being a street sweeper,” she told The New York Amsterdam News in 1995. “It’s simply not the profession I have chosen.” Ms. Mulzac’s profession was selling books at Liberation Bookstore, a Harlem landmark that for four decades specialized in materials promoting black identity and black power. On one side of the front door, a sign declared, “If you don’t know, learn.” On the other: “If you know, teach.” She was convinced that the city’s purpose in asking her to sweep a strip of Malcolm X Boulevard was ... (New York Times)
NY Times writer who covered JFK assassination dies - Atlanta Journal Constitution
The shots ringing out in Dealey Plaza marked the beginning of the end of innocence." In this September 1971 photo, civil rights attorney William Kunstler, left, talks to Amsterdam News Publisher Clarence Jones, right, with New York Times reporter Tom Wicker, center, in the background outside Attica Prison in Attica, N.Y. Wicker, who covered President John F. Kennedy’s assassination for the Times, went on to serve as the paper's Washington bureau chief and columnist, has died at his home in Rochester, Vt. He was 85. (AP Photo/The New York Times, William E. Sauro) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES; NO ARCHIVE; FOR USE WITH TOM WICKER’S OBITUARY ONLY In this Sept. 13, 1963 photo,...
Klaas P. Honig, MD - The Suffolk Times
Java in the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He returned to the Netherlands to complete his education and medical school training at the University of Amsterdam. In 1940, when he was 17, the outbreak of World War II and the occupation of Holland interrupted his education. He avoided mandatory conscription in the German army by going into hiding in a remote region of Holland. In 1944 he returned to Amsterdam, joined the underground resistance and published transcribed BBC news broadcasts as the...
Derrick Bell, Pioneering Harvard Law Professor, Dies at 80
Wednesday in New York. He was 80. Mr. Bell, a resident of the Upper West Side, died of carcinoid cancer at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital at 114th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, said his wife, Janet Dewart. Mr. Bell was the first tenured black professor at Harvard Law School and later the first black dean of a law school that is not historically black. But he was perhaps better known for resigning from prestigious jobs than for accepting them. In his 20s, while working at the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, he was told to give up his membership in ... (New York Times)
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Refuse to Pay Government Debt Incurred for Unlawful and Oppressive Purposes ... It Is the Personal Debt of Those Who Ordered It to Be Incurred - Washingtons Blog
Refuse to Pay Government Debt Incurred for Unlawful and Oppressive Purposes ... It Is the Personal Debt of Those Who Ordered It to Be Incurred
There is an established legal principle that people should not have to repay their government's debt to the extent that it is incurred to launch aggressive wars or to oppress the people.
These "odious debts" are considered to be the personal debts of the tyrants who incurred them, rather than the country's debt.
Wikipedia gives a good overview of the principle:
In international law, odious debt is a legal theory which holds that the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation, such as wars of aggression, should not be enforceable. Such debts are thus considered by this doctrine to be personal debts of the regime that incurred them and not debts of the state. In some respects, the concept is analogous to the invalidity of contracts signed under coercion.
The doctrine was formalized in a 1927 treatise by Alexander Nahum Sack, a Russian émigré legal theorist, based upon 19th Century precedents including Mexico's repudiation of debts incurred by Emperor Maximilian's regime, and the denial by the United States of Cuban liability for debts incurred by the Spanish colonial regime. According to Sack:
When a despotic regime contracts a debt, not for the needs or in the interests of the state, but rather to strengthen itself, to suppress a popular insurrection, etc, this debt is odious for the people of the entire state. This debt does not bind the nation; it is a debt of the regime, a personal debt contracted by the ruler, and consequently it falls with the demise of the regime. The reason why these odious debts cannot attach to the territory of the state is that they do not fulfil one of the conditions determining the lawfulness of State debts, namely that State debts must be incurred, and the proceeds used, for the needs and in the interests of the State. Odious debts, contracted and utilised for purposes which, to the lenders' knowledge, are contrary to the needs and the interests of the nation, are not binding on the nation – when it succeeds in overthrowing the government that contracted them – unless the debt is within the limits of real advantages that these debts might have afforded. The lenders have committed a hostile act against the people, they cannot expect a nation which has freed itself of a despotic regime to assume these odious debts, which are the personal debts of the ruler.
Patricia Adams, executive director of Probe International (an environmental and public policy advocacy organisation in Canada), and author of Odious Debts: Loose Lending, Corruption, and the Third World's Environmental Legacy, has stated that:
by giving creditors an incentive to lend only for purposes that are transparent and of public benefit, future tyrants will lose their ability to finance their armies, and thus the war on terror and the cause of world peace will be better served.
A recent article by economists Seema Jayachandran and Michael Kremer has renewed interest in this topic. They propose that the idea can be used to create a new type of economic sanction to block further borrowing by dictators.
Jubilee USA notes that creditors may lose their rights to repayment of odious debts:
Odious debt is an established legal principle. Legally, debt is to be considered odious if the government used the money for personal purposes or to oppress the people. Moreover, in cases where borrowed money was used in ways contrary to the people’s interest, with the knowledge of the creditors, the creditors may be said to have committed a hostile act against the people. Creditors cannot legitimately expect repayment of such debts.
The United States set the first precedent of odious debt when it seized control of Cuba from Spain. Spain insisted that Cuba repay the loans made to them by Spain. The U.S. repudiated (refused to pay) that debt, arguing that the debt was imposed on Cuba by force of arms and served Spain’s interest rather than Cuba’s, and that the debt therefore ought not be repaid. This precedent was upheld by international law in Great Britain v. Costa Rica (1923) when money was put to use for illegitimate purposes with full knowledge of the lending institution; the resulting debt was annulled.
The launch of the Iraq war was an unlawful war of aggression. It was based on false premises (weapons of mass destruction and a connection between Iraq and 9/11; see this, this, this, this, this and this). Therefore, the trillions in debts incurred in fighting that war are odious debts which the people might lawfully refuse to pay for.
The Bush and Obama administrations have also oppressed the American people through spying on us - even before 9/11 (confirmed here and here) - harassment of innocent grandmothers and other patriotic Americans criticizing government action, and other assaults on liberty and the rule of law. See this. The monies borrowed to finance these oppressive activities are also odious debts.
The government has also given trillions in bailouts, loans, guarantees and other perks to the too big to fails. These funds have not helped the American people. For example, the giant banks are still not loaning. They have solely gone into speculative investments and to line the pockets of the muckety-mucks in the form of bonuses. PhD economist Dean Baker said that the true purpose of the bank rescues is "a massive redistribution of wealth to the bank shareholders and their top executives". Two leading IMF officials, the former Vice President of the Dallas Federal Reserve, and the the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City have all said that the United States is controlled by an oligarchy. PhD economist Michael Hudson says that the financial “parasites” have killed the American economy, and they are "sucking as much money out" as they can before "jumping ship". These are odious debts.
Bush, Cheney, Paulson, Geithner, Summers and others who ordered that these debts be incurred must be held personally liable for them. We the American people are not responsible to creditors - such as China, Saudi Arabia - who have knowingly financed these illegal and oppressive activities which have not benefited the American people, but solely the handful of corrupt politicians who authorized them.
Note: Of course, many mom and pop American investors hold U.S. treasury bonds as well. The size of their haircuts on U.S. bonds might - under a strict reading of the principle of odious debt - depend on whether or not they knew of the unlawful and oppressive activities of the U.S. government. Arguably, small individual investors tend to be much less knowledgeable about such matters than other countries such as China or Saudi Arabia.
marain February 12, 2010 at 12:02 AM
GREAT article! HOW do we do this, though? If we don't pay our taxes, IRS confiscates our property and we get thrown in jail. Even if we site "odious debts" as our defense and even if we were successful in this, it would take years to get it all through the judicial system and we would be financially ruined in the meantime. Maybe you are rather suggesting that a group of individuals bring a case against "B, C, P, G, S, et al". You should run this idea by Glenn Greenwald (Salon) and see what he thinks. I, for one, would be willing to sign on as a supporter if there is really any hope of succeeding.
The fact that banks have failed miserably to finance loans - even loans that we already funded ourseleves, through TARP - has been part of our landscape for quite some time (at least it seems like a long time).
But isn't this because of the WTO oppressive financial services "schedule" that Clinton secretly signed in 1999?
If I read the WTO documents correctly, the financial services "schedules" posted on the WTO website actually stop the U.S. from regulating all types of "financial services" here in the U.S. due to the purported global "discriminatory" effects of such. As strange as it sounds, from a global perspective, the WTO apparently believes that regulation would, by default, prove favorable to the U.S.
But, isn't that what we want? Or are the things WE want as citizens contrary to the wants & desires of the contolling "powers that be"?
Or, in keeping with this post, have decisions already been made without our knowledge or participation and/or have harmful actions been taken about which we know nothing? If so, are we citizens similarly committed?
Unless I'm missing something here, it certainly appears that the Obama/Bush/Clinton administrations have already secretly committed the United States to certain things to which we citizens did not agree. In reading the WTO service schedules (signed in 1999 by Clinton, but wholly facilitated later on by both Bush & Obama), it sounds like the United States is now only recognized in a global sense, and that actions taken by the United States can now only be understood in terms of their global effects.
Just as we citizens have no responsibility for and therefore should refuse to pay "odious debts" taken on by others - we also are not liable for unknown & secretly signed agreements that prove harmful to us.
Everything that was previously unexplainable fell into place as I read the wealth of information on the WTO website. Public Citizen also has significant information on the United States' apparent secret induction into the Global Hall of Fame. I am a voracious reader but would have known nothing about this issue had I not read about it first, here, on Washington's Blog.
The audacity of this administration forging ahead with yet another doublespeak trick: calling for more loans & regulation while knowing it absolutely would & could not happen. Knowing this, then it must also be true that this administration forked over the TARP funds even as they knew that the banks would not be funding any loans.
Tom Hickey February 12, 2010 at 9:40 AM
The thing that most people don't realize is that gvoernment "debt" is different from household debt because the government is the currency issuer. while others are currency users. Currency users must pay their debts from income, hence are revenue-constrained. But this is not true of the government, which issues its own currency, hence is not financially constrained under a fiat system such as is in place now.
Government debt is already paid for by the spending it offsets on the government's books. Government disbursement is through currency issuance that creates non-government net financial assets. It is this increase in NFA that is used in purchasing the debt, viewed on the macro level.
The debt is just a switch from demand deposits increased by deficit spending, which do not bear interest, into Tsy bills and bonds that bear interest, like switching funds from a checking account to a CD. Operationally, this is just switching one asset form (demand) for another (time).
The interest on government debt is also funded through currency issuance and increases NFA, like other disbursements.
All the handwringing over the national debt is just much ado about nothing. It is based on gold-standard thinking that is now obsolete.
We need to start a disavow the debt movement
Yes dude- you may go to jail. Freedom isnt free and doesnt have a Hollywood ending. There is a cost, something we Americans usually outsource to others if we can.
Live a swindled slave or risk being free. That is the choice 300 million of us must make, one by one, each alone, yet together a mighty, unstoppable force. (so far that choice has been for American Idle)
As for me and my house? We will not serve the Synagogue of Lord Rothschild.
Look, Folks. Right now the government through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (and many other ways) have this deal set up where the banks have an opportunity, the equivalent for which, is like getting to go to Las Vegas and gamble with the government's money.
If the banks lose? Not to worry for them, the government covers the losses. F&F buy all the drek.
If they win? Hooray! The government calls that evidence of the ongoing economic recovery, and even rising real estate prices. Hah!
This is what Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner have devised to restore the rapacious credit economy.
The only solution is to stop paying ALL debt back.
All debt is odious in such a manipulated marketplace.
The ever-increasingly convoluted rationale here is, if money is so laced with the sort of moral hazard at one level we know exists in these government bail out policies, then who is to tell me I should work to pay back what little money I have borrowed, and which I essentially had stolen from me through prices that are being manipulated?
Government economic policy is clearly not meant for my benefit.
The free market does not exist anymore, is all I can determine.
Just send me MY $100 million bonus.
Actually I'd settle for a few hundred grand right now! LOL!
Dave of Maryland February 12, 2010 at 10:38 AM
This one's easy to knock down.
So long as there are "elections" and so long as we go to them & vote, we've approved whatever the elected representatives decide to do. So long as that government exists, the debts it makes are the law of the land.
The real story of Odious Debt would be the Soviet repudiation of Tsarist debt. The Soviets made a revolution & then reaped the consequences, good & bad. All we do is sit around, complain, look for excuses & cop outs.
As you surely know, the U.S. is currently a rogue state - as are Israel & Britain (it can be justifiably claimed that the true "Axis of Evil" runs through Washington, D.C. - London - Tel Aviv). This is one reason some Americans have joined the Tax Resistance Movement. We Americans need to stop paying our financial treasure into the black hole in D.C. A very strong case can be made that it is immoral, illegal and unnecessary to pay federal income taxes to 'Uncle Sam'. Therefore, I urge you to consider joining the movement. Below is a portion of an online post concerning this subject, if you're interested. I feel certain that our stopping the paying of federal income taxes will have a faster braking effect on the U.S. war machine than will any American election!
We should all stop paying U.S. federal income taxes. Stop paying the people who are trying to bankrupt and exploit us!
U.S. federal income taxes are unconstitutional (not ratified in accordance with the U.S. Constitution) - according to "The Law that Never Was: The Fraud of the 16th Amendment and Personal income Tax". Its author, Bill Benson, was apparently sent to prison (by a judge whose income depended on U.S. taxes continuing to be paid) for his writing/actions, but Mr. Benson seemingly remains steadfast in his confirmed beliefs). www.amazon.com/law-that-never-was-Amendment/dp/B0006ELT78/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246119763&sr=1-2
U.S. federal income taxes are also illegal, according to the well-supported idea that the U.S. government and military are terrorist organizations frequently violating international law. According to U.S. law, it is a crime to financially support terrorists - therefore, we may conclude that it is illegal (even according to U.S. law!) to support the immoral, arrogant, incompetent 'Uncle Sam'.
Any American who pays such income tax, knowing that the U.S. federal government will spend over 1/2 of its discretionary budget on the bloodthirsty, socially-destructive killing machine AKA "The Pentagon", and also supports another rogue state AKA "Israel", thus becomes indirectly complicit in the crimes the US military/CIA/NSA/Israel military carry out.
(An overall history of some of those U.S. crimes can be read in the non-fiction comic book, "Addicted to War", by Joel Andreas, and/or the book "Rogue State, 3rd Edition: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower", by William Blum
(www.amazon.com/Rogue-State-3rd-Worlds-Superpower/dp/1567513743/ref=pd_sim_b_1).
Also, a very detailed history is compiled in "Killing Hope: U.S. Military and C.I.A. Interventions Since World War II-Updated Through 2003" (www.amazon.com/Killing-Hope-C-I-Interventions-II-Updated/dp/1567512526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261985835&sr=1-1 ). )
From http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/1675 :
"...Anti-militarist tax resisters are fond of noting Principle IV of the Nuremberg Principles... "The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior," the Principle reads, "does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him." The moral choice for
Milner is clear: withhold taxes from the government, in spite of the unpredictable risks. ..."
The consequences for war tax resistance are unpredictable, as are most direct actions for peace, so please think carefully about what you do, before acting. I for one know what I wanted to do, and am doing it.
"... The majority of tax resisters redirect federal income tax money independently, choosing to donate to a wide variety of local, national and international peace and justice organizations in critical need of financial support. ..."
Thanks for all the good you do.
Sam Bolivar
StrivingForJustice @ yahoo.com
We all must make decisions based upon our circumstances and conscience. Then we are each individually responsible for our decisions. I have made mine, and feel good in my heart about it. I hope you have the courage to do what your conscience advises you to do... After all, which is more frightening - the thought of going to prison, or the thought of being partly responsible for the bullets & bombs killing Iraqi/Afghani/American/etc. children? (Oh, and one more thing about the CIA - several writers have stated that it appears the CIA is profiting from drug dealing via Afghanistan! Just another thing to think about...)
Finances are the Achilles heel of 'Uncle Sam' - no money, no bloated politician salaries, no military-industrial complex! (^o^)
"Let them march all they want, as long as they continue to pay their taxes."
-Alexander Haig, U.S. Sec. of State, June 12, 1982
"If a thousand men [and women] were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood."
"The sinews of war are infinite money."
-Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman (BCE)
Please consider joining the Tax Resistance Movement. Below are some links:
www.warresisters.org/node/328
History of War Tax Resistance
http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/1675
Anti-War Activists Promote 'Tax Resistance’as Direct Protest
by Martha Baskin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_resister
3.1 Redirection
3.2 Refusing specific taxes
3.3 Refusing to pay
3.4 Paying under protest
3.5 Tax avoidance
3.6 Tax evasion
3.7 Reducing expenditure and income
Not so fast, Dave of Maryland. I refer you to Lynsander Spooners' "The Constitution of No Authority", which makes an excellent case that a constitution signed by a handful of men 225 years ago does not bind us to the government existing today unless we, each of us, agree that it is binding on us (no more than if it was possible for my grandfather to bind me to a contract before I was born). And if you believe the constitution is binding on us, fine, then you should realize that the the debt incurred by this and prior administrations is unconsitiutitoinal, because it went to fund unconstitutional undertakings - i.e., the undeclared wars of aggression; the unconstitutional welfarism and social programs; etc. The elected reprentatives violated their oaths by casting votes for funding of unconsitutional undertakings. In fact, the whole central banking and fiat money system is unconstitutional, unless you can point out in the consitutition where it says the government is free to engage in a debt/interest relationship with private banks and amass a $100 trillion in debt, generated by one criminal legislative measure after another. The debt might be the law of your land (which is fine; you'd better get busy paying back all those trillions owed by your native Slaveland), but it sure as hell is not the law of my land
With regard to taxation: it is unconstitutional for the government to directly tax U.S. citizens. What this means is that the government cannot tax or directly benefit from our labor. The only taxes that are constitutional are those that are distributed and/or evenly apportioned amongst all the citizens, or taxes that we can opt out of or decline. For instance, we can choose to ride our bicycles instead of choosing to drive our cars, & purchase the gasoline for those cars along with paying the embedded fuel taxes.
The IRS gets nervous when asked if direct taxation is legal. They will cite the sixteenth amendment as their taxing authority. But the sixteenth amendment discusses even apportionment, not direct taxation.
Ever wondered about the numerous tax cheats that "just happen" to work in the Obama administration? How could this realistically happen unless all of these people knew something we don't know? Could it be that the government taxes only those they have predetermined as peons - but excuse from taxes the clued-in "favored" who somehow learned the truth?
Meanwhile, we were "told" that tax-cheat Geithner - the "chief" pony that oversees the IRS and, as such, was barred from accepting the Treasury position - paid his huge tax bill but somehow was "excused" from paying the penalties.
But the steep penalties account for the sharp increase in taxes owed. If this country was in such dire economic straits at the time, why would the government not want this source of income?
More importantly, why did the IRS not prosecute Geithner for tax evasion earlier? Why did the IRS choose to ignore Geithner's quickly accruing tax bill?
What a farce!! As if we wouldn't notice it! And, I'll just bet similar favorable treatment was afforded to all those tax cheats that work in the Obama administration.
GT February 12, 2010 at 5:19 PM
All government debnt is odious debt, since the citizenry is not permitted to choose whether or in what amount the government contracts 'on their behalf' (according to the mythology of democracy).
IF a debt is contracted but a third party is forced (with violence or the threat of violence) to make the repayments, then the debt is void: the fact that a government can send its armed thugs to extract value from its livestock, is neither here nor there... people who pay protection money to the mafia are not seen as willingly complicit, and nor should taxpayers be seen as willingly complicit in the state's rapine... they may pay simply out of fear o f reprisal.
"Dave of Maryland said...
So long as there are "elections" and so long as we go to them & vote, we've approved whatever the elected representatives decide to do. So long as that government exists, the debts it makes are the law of the land."
What of people who refuse to participate in elections (i.e., those who realise that gang rape is not sanctified just because the gang is a majority of those who vote)?
You realy should be bright enough to uinderstand that 'none of the above' is the ONLY valid moral decision... and as such those who choose NOT to vote are actually the only morally-defensible participants.
What of situations in which the 'elected representative' engages in graft, or illegal actions (such as invading a sovereign nation under false pretences)?
By your logic, the US had no right to attack Germany, since every action of the regime was legitimate under German law and the German government of the day was formed by a coalition after a democrtic election.
Your position has absolutely no moral or theoretical justification, except that of the "majority rape is fine" logic of the prison yard. Its' reprehensible, and should be challeneged at every turn until people wake up.
PS Note to the webmaster: your OpenID validation mechanism doesn't work: this is the first site I have encountered that had trouble validating my OpenID credentials.
total avoidance of tax debt will not bring justice nor freedom as it is irresponsible. But were you, collectively, to decide another body to pay it to, say for instance your bankrupt states or local government bodies, to use and hold in trust until a better uncle sam government were established then you would be responsible and worthy of the liberty taken. Surely the stressed states and local governments would assist you in establishing such protocols even if it were merely set up as a credit towards future rates bills.
great gratitude for your acuity, your courage and your good intentions. It is only through suffering and striving that you will be able to win through,
The following website deals specifically with helping people who choose to stop paying their debts, it's quite helpful:
http://www.freetoprosper.com
While the costs of these foreign wars is not a trivial thing, but so is the costs associated with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Similar to any American family, the federal government needs to get its house in order: cut all sorts of spending (social security, medicare, medicaid, charity donations [Haiti], cease and desist all proposals for stimulus packages for companies. If we do these painful cuts than perhaps we can see the day when bills that put forward into Congress maybe paid by cash.
However the notion of odious debt cannot be claimed by Americans. We do not live in a dictatorship. So if we refuse the federal deficit, who would want to lend to us again. Especially the ones that have the most cash avaliable.
Deb Lagarde February 13, 2010 at 9:10 AM
As far as I know, if you work for the Federal Govt., even part-time (say, as a disaster relief person), or if you work for an entity (say, the state of Texas, or any Texas county or municipal govt.) that gets Federal funds...this likely includes public schools as well...then under the Constitution you must pay taxes. the Cobnstitution set up two types of govt.: soveriegn states, and the District of Columbia. The 16th amendment was originally meant to only tax employees of DC. But because of various fed agencies "squattering" so to speak, turning the law on its head and making ALL OF US now UNITED STATES CITIZENS (notice the all caps, ever see your Social Security card?), that means we are all now no longer Sovereign Citizens, so technically now all of us must pay taxes.
Since we know the 16th Amendment was never properly ratified, that would be the place to start. Now, if you don't want to pay taxes, then you have to live with the consequences. Consequences is something Americans don't do very well, so don't expect a huge amount of support for tax protesting (of course, so many folks are unemployed now that not paying taxes is a good option).
Who profits from the national debt? Who is the creditor? Who profits from America's military activities? Obviously not the American people they are financing throu debt and someone else is reaping the benefits.
nobodysaysBOO:
JUST LIE LIE LIE like a bush bastard,NEVER pay only lie!!!
This scum of a govnt deserves lies only,get creative and lie like bush everyone,NEVER tell these bastards the truth about ANYTHING!
Tell them you are black when you are red,tell them you are female when you are NOT,just lie like the govnt for no reason except decption!!
King of the Paupers February 15, 2010 at 8:53 AM
"Refuse to pay" and "go to jail?" Better to get on an alternative currency before accepting the consequences of bankruptcy on the impossible debt. Don't pay and get out legally. Forget refusal until you have to.
Here's something you may find relevant. mises.org/daily/1423
montu June 8, 2010 at 2:45 AM
Government disbursement is through currency issuance that creates non-government net financial assets.
debbie September 15, 2010 at 1:33 AM
Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer! I will post your blog and have my children check up here often. Thumbs up!
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The Legacy of Leon Trotsky: How far “Left” was the “Left Opposition”?
Posted on April 16th, 2013 Helian 5 comments
Trotsky was a lot like Blaise Pascal. Both were religious zealots, the former of a secular and the latter of a more traditional spiritual religion, and yet both left behind work that was both original and interesting as long as it wasn’t too closely associated with the dogmas of their respective faiths. In Trotsky’s case, this manifested itself in some interesting intellectual artifacts that one finds scattered here and there among his books and essays. Some of these document interesting shifts in the shibboleths that have defined “progressive” ideology over the years. As a result, by the standards of today, one occasionally finds Trotsky on the right rather than the left of the ideological spectrum.
For example, when it comes to media of exchange, he sometimes seems to be channeling Grover Cleveland rather than William Jennings Bryan:
The raising of the productivity of labor and bettering of the quality of its products is quite unattainable without an accurate measure freely penetrating into all the cells of industry – that is, without a stable unit of currency. Hence it is clear that in the transitional (to true socialism, ed.) economy, as also under capitalism, the sole authentic money is that based upon gold.
In the matter of gun control, Trotsky occupied a position to the “right” of Mitch McConnell:
The struggle against foreign danger necessitates, of course, in the workers’ state as in others, a specialized military technical organization, but in no case a privileged officer caste. The party program demands a replacement of the standing army by an armed people.
The regime of proletarian dictatorship from its very beginning this ceases to be a “state” in the old sense of the word – a special apparatus, that is, for holding in subjection the majority of the people. The material power, together with the weapons, goes over directly and immediately into the hands of the workers organizations such as the soviets. The state as a bureaucratic apparatus begins to die away the first day of the proletarian dictatorship. Such is the voice of the party program – not voided to this day. Strange: it sounds like a spectral voice from the mausoleum.
However you may interpret the nature of the present Soviet state, one thing is indubitable: at the end of its second decade of existence, it has not only not died away, but not begun to “die away.” Worse than that, it has grown into a hitherto unheard of apparatus of compulsion. The bureaucracy not only has not disappeared, yielding its place to the masses, but has turned into an uncontrolled force dominating the masses. The army not only has not been replaced by an armed people, but has given birth to a privileged officers’ caste, crowned with marshals, while the people, “the armed bearers of the dictatorship,” are now forbidden in the Soviet Union to carry even nonexplosive weapons.
Finally, Trotsky wasn’t “sophisticated” enough to buy into the Blank Slate. For example,
Competition, whose roots lie in our biological inheritance, having purged itself of greed, envy and privilege, will indubitably remain the most important motive force of culture under communism too.
His bête noire, Stalin, used to refer to him as “traitor Trotsky” because he was the leader of the “left opposition.” Times change, and so do ideological dogmas. Today he would probably be more likely to find himself among the “right opportunists.”
Blank Slate, Communism, Evolutionary psychology, Gun control, History, Human nature, Ideology, Russia, Russian revolution, Socialism ideology, Trotsky
5 responses to “The Legacy of Leon Trotsky: How far “Left” was the “Left Opposition”?”
Mike December 27th, 2014 at 15:21
This is a pretty banal attempt at a history of ideas kind of post. What Trotsky was trying to point to was what Orwell was trying to point to – the subversion of genuine liberation by fat men who seize power and oppress others using BS justifications.
Trotsky recognized that the disarming of the people would be the first prerequisite of this, and it holds true whether the ruling ideology or regime is left or ring wing. Articulating this does not mean he would be “among the right opportunists” today – that’s a specious and frankly risible statement.
I think your misreading comes from the fact that you conflate “liberal” with “left”. Gun control is a liberal shibboleth because liberalism (as black nationalists like Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X realized) so often ends up serving a placatory role in capitalist society, telling the oppressed that they shouldn’t rise up and demand a fair share but instead ask politely for it and hope.
Helian December 28th, 2014 at 08:12
It is a fact that Trotsky espoused certain positions that are today associated with the ideological right. That’s all my tongue-in-cheek comment about his “right opportunism” was meant to suggest. It would be interesting to see what ideological line Trotsky would take if he were around today. If he was serious about what he wrote in “In Defense of Marxism,” then he would have been forced to conclude that Communism had ended in a utopia. Obviously he would not actually have been a conservative. He was also too smart to buy into the hyper-moralistic secular Puritanism that prevails in academia today. No doubt he would have formulated the new “minimum program” that he alluded to in his last writings.
David Jones November 5th, 2015 at 00:39
Quote for today: Thomas Jefferson
“No free man shall ever be de-barred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain their right to keep and bear arms is as a last resort to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
One of the things, from the far shores of Australia, that strikes me about this comment is that its not the free, or even those who wish to protect themselves that are the problem, its the drug dealers, thief’s, criminals etc who wouldn’t stand up to the government on any ideological grounds, other than to support their destructive ways.
Surely gun control, allowing ownership to those with enough intellect to pass high school tests, but focusing on eliminating idiots, fools, the deranged etc can only improve the hope for survival of the ‘genuine’ citizen.
If the populace ever rose up against the government, really where would most of the gunshots be heard, probably in the rush to steal TV’s Ipods and generally loot and rape others.
In short, this argument strikes me as a romantic illusion, and I’m never sure if fighting the Nation State is the best way to defeat it. Personally my approach to the church is not to engage with it, this seems a far better strategy. Yes the Nation State is a different beast but the principle remains.
Apologies for ramble, went off topic, however we do have gun control here, and whilst we only have 1/30 of the population of the USA our gun deaths are less, and our massacres have been reduced since the sad, bad and mad have had barriers place between them and a sub machine gun.
Helian November 6th, 2015 at 08:02
The United States has a federal form of government, and gun control laws vary from state to state, city to city, etc. They were made so strict in the city of San Francisco that the last gun shop there was recently forced to shut down. Gun deaths are often disproportionately high in cities with the strictest gun control laws. They are minimal where I live, in the state of Idaho, which has minimal gun control. Comparing the United States and Australia is really equivalent to comparing apples and oranges. The same goes for Europe.
I am aware of most of the familiar arguments in favor of strict gun control. They are generally based on the assumption that the government will remain reasonably benign, and nothing much will ever change in the social order. Under such conditions, strict gun control would certainly reduce the number of gun deaths.
The problem is that, based on our history, including that of the recent past, such an assumption is completely unwarranted. As Jefferson suggested, governments can become tyrannies. Good governments can be overwhelmed by social chaos. In that case, the those who favor gun control argue, guns will still be useless, because citizens armed with firearms will have no chance against a state armed with modern weapons. That argument is also wrong. The sources of the great power of modern states, such as air forces and drones armed with smart weapons, are extremely fragile and vulnerable to attacks by a determined and armed citizenry. The same goes for nuclear weapons. The centers of state power are concentrated in relatively small urban centers. If citizens possessed themselves of a few nukes, the balance of power would change rather drastically. Obviously, one can never assume that those who are guarding these sources of power will never side with their fellow citizens. In fact, they have done so over and over again in the past.
In short, at least in my opinion, the best arguments for an armed citizenry do not apply if it can be assumed that society will never change. It is only when there are radical changes in society that arms become essential for survival. One can prove that assertion by simply looking around at what is going on in the world. It seems to me that the assumption that such things can never possibly happen in the United States or Australia is a very risky one.
Jacob Marbray July 26th, 2017 at 07:07
It is a truth that most of the world’s news provision is owned by right wing capitalists. Their purpose is to further the cause of capitalism and maintain the planet’s gap between rich and those in need. Left Insider offers left wing articles from reputable news sites such as Left Futures, Red Pepper, Novara, The Canary, Buzz Feed, Left Foot Forward etc. We all own the right to maximise our own qualities and we all have the obligation to assist others maximise theirs.
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heretical.com
Did Six Million Really Die?
[ DSM ]
Latest 2015 printing with reference amendments and a new back cover.
This publication is now banned by Amazon, eBay and Paypal.
‘The wise man wants to hear both sides of every question’
You may have heard of so-called Revisionists who “deny the Holocaust.” This publication, a revisionist best-seller, is an authoritative and detailed account of the facts behind the fiction. It details the Nazi plan for a Jewish homeland in Madagascar (blocked by the British); the Jewish declaration of war against Germany; the Wannsee Conference; the Einsatzgruppen; the Warsaw Ghetto; the chaotic state of the Concentration Camp system at the end of the war; fake photographs; and the “Final Solution.” This hard to find, extensively referenced publication is an essential addition to the library of anyone with an interest in WWII history.
Magazine format, 28 pages, illustrated with photographs. Published in Britain by the Historical Review Press (ISBN 978-0-906879-95-5) and available from the Heretical Press price £6.00 inclusive.
MAJOR SECTION HEADS:
Introduction to the 4th Edition
German Policy Towards the Jews Prior to the War
German Policy Towards the Jews After the Outbreak of War
Population and Emigration
The Six Million: Documentary Evidence
The Nuremberg Trials
Auschwitz and Polish Jewry
Some Concentration Camp Memoirs
The Nature and Condition of War-Time Concentration Camps
The Jews and the Concentration Camps: A Factual Appraisal by the Red Cross
The Truth at Last: The Work of Paul Rassinier
From Section One, German Policy Towards the Jews Prior to the War
Rightly or wrongly, the Germany of Adolf Hitler considered the Jews to be a disloyal and avaricious element within the national community, as well as a force of decadence in Germany’s cultural life. This was held to be particularly unhealthy since, during the Weimar period, the Jews had risen to a position of remarkable strength and influence in the nation, particularly in law, finance and the mass media, even though they constituted only one per cent of the population. The fact that Karl Marx was a Jew and that Jews such as Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht were disproportionately prominent in the leadership of revolutionary movements in Germany also tended to convince the Nazis of the powerful internationalist and Communist tendencies of the Jewish people.
It is no part of the discussion here to argue whether the German attitude to the Jews was right or not, or to judge whether its legislative measures against them were just or unjust. Our concern is simply with the fact that, believing of the Jews as they did, the Nazis’ solution to the problem was to deprive them of their influence within the nation by various legislative acts, and most important of all, to encourage their emigration from the country altogether. By 1939, the great majority of German Jews had emigrated, all of them with a sizeable proportion of their assets. Never at any time had the Nazi leadership even contemplated a policy of genocide towards them.
JEWS CALLED EMIGRATION ‘EXTERMINATION’
It is very significant, however, that certain Jews were quick to interpret these policies of internal discrimination as equivalent to extermination itself. A 1936 anti-German propaganda book by Leon Feuchtwanger and others entitled Der Gelbe Fleck: Die Ausrottung von 500,000 Deutschen Juden (Paris, 1936; The Yellow Spot: The Outlawing of Half a Million Human Beings , London, 1936) presents a typical example. Despite its baselessness in fact, the annihilation of the Jews is discussed from the first pages – straightforward emigration being regarded as the physical ‘extermination’ of German Jewry. The Nazi concentration camps for political prisoners are also seen as potential instruments of genocide, and special reference is made to the 100 Jews still detained in Dachau in 1936, of whom 60 had been there since 1933. A further example was the sensational book by the German-Jewish Communist, Hans Beimler, called Four Weeks in the Hands of Hitler’s Hell-Hounds: The Nazi Murder Camp of Dachau , which was published in New York as early as 1933. Detained for his Marxist affiliations, he claimed that Dachau was a death camp, though by his own admission he was released after only a month there. The post-war Communist regime in East Germany used to issue a ‘Hans Beimler Award’ for services to Communism.
The fact that anti-Nazi genocide propaganda was being disseminated at this impossibly early date therefore, by people biased on racial or political grounds, should suggest great caution to the independent-minded observer when approaching similar stories of the war period.
The encouragement of Jewish emigration should not be confused with the purpose of concentration camps in pre-war Germany. These were used for the detention of political opponents and subversives – principally liberals, Social Democrats and Communists of all kinds, of whom a proportion were Jews such as Hans Beimler. Unlike the millions enslaved in the Soviet Union, the German concentration camp population was always small; Reitlinger admits that between 1934 and 1938 throughout the whole of Germany it averaged 20,000 or less ( The SS: Alibi of a Nation , London, 1956, pp. 256-257). The number of Jews was never more than 3,000.
–– The Heretical Press ––
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By Jamie Adair Richard III March 22, 2015
Richard III Funeral Procession Begins Today: Live Now (Live Updates)
Richard III reportedly had blonde hair, at least in childhood, and blue eyes. His eye color appears to be lost in some portraits in which his eyes appear to be dark.
The beginning of Richard III’s funeral procession starts today — an event that signifies the final chapter of a 500 year long story. His cortege is conveying his remains to Leicester Cathedral where they will be on display, effectively “lie in state” for the next four days. Richard’s burial is next Thursday.
In keeping with medieval tradition, the funeral procession is weaving through multiple stops.
In fact, if you are reading this right now (at 12:10 PM EST) you might be able to hear live radio coverage on BBC 4. (I think I only get the link from the US if I connect to the BBC website using a VPN to the UK.) It is also difficult finding links with live video feed for this event.
Richard III trending on Twitter. What medieval king has ever done that before?
Richard’s reburial is truly a unique event because no medieval kings has been found 500 years later and then reburied in a televised world-event type way. Has a medieval king’s discovery (or, possibly, burial) ever trended on Twitter before? Even though Richard only reigned for a couple of years, he has a tremendous worldwide following. From the sounds of it on the live radio feed, there is a feeling of community today in Leicester. Perhaps, this is a day for modern-day Ricardians and Tudor followers to reunite.
Richard, a possible historic inspiration for Tyrion Lannister, was famously found under a parking lot in August 2012. The Princes in the Tower, whose disappearance is infamously attributed to Richard III, is a repeated motif in Game of Thrones and ASOIAF.
Here is the Richard III burial page on BBC’s website.
As this historic event transpires, I will continue to update this post with more information and more resources.
***LIVE UPDATES****
Press refresh your browser (F5) to see updates.
Richard III’s hearse is drawing away from Bow Bridge. The ornate bridge, with its cast iron parapet, was built in 1862.
Bow Bridge in Leicester where Richard III’s funeral cortege passed earlier today. Image: Stephen Richard, Creative Commons.
Here is an image that is perhaps closer to how the bridge might have looked in Richard’s day:
Bow Bridge in 1791. Image: John Throsby, The History and Antiquities of the Ancient Town of Leicester 1791.
The funeral procession’s next port of call is Saint Nicholas Church, an ancient church that would have been there when Richard rode to the fateful battle. The pallbearers are removing the coffin from the hearse and just about to walk into the entrance of the church gates. St. Nicholas Church is the oldest church in Leicester. Some parts of the church date back to 880 CE (AD). Some form of it would have been standing when Richard was alive. The church is now Anglican.
St. Nicholas Church Image: Creative Commons.
The choir is singing, perhaps somewhat ironically, “Thou Knowest the Secrets of Our Hearts” by Henry Purcell. The minister is now leading the congregation in prayers. They just finished the Prayer for Repose. The coffin is being sensed (?) as a sign of respect for the departed. The congregation has now risen and the coffin is making its way out of the church. The choir is signing “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” I believe.
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” is an ancient sacramental chant that dates back to at least 275 CE (AD). It was originally a Greek chant, but when a Victorian schoolmaster set it to a French folk song’s tune, it became popular again.
Richard III has even permeated popular culture. Here Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) poses fidgeting with his rings in a manner reminiscent of Richard III’s portrait. Image of Tyrion copyright HBO.
The horse-drawn cortege is beginning to leave the church. The carriage is drawn by four horses where it is going to Leicester Cathedral, where the body will rest “in state” for four days. At the Cathedral service tonight at 6 PM there will be representatives from the Richard III Society, the University of Leicester, and Richard III’s (indirect) descendants. Here is an example of how the horses might have looked if Richard III had been buried in a state funeral during the Middle Ages:
Elizabeth I’s state funeral. You can just see the bier carrying her body in the background. From Wikipedia: “Horse-drawn bier flanked, as in modern times, by Gentlemen-pensioners carrying their axes ‘reversed’. The coffin has an effigy of the late Queen on top of it, and is flanked by knights holding banners and a canopy.”
The cortege is carrying Richard’s remains through the ancient city of Leicester, escorted by what sounds like four magnificent horses in addition to those drawing the carriage and motorcycle outriders. Representatives from the City of London police are also walking in this procession. The crowd is quite thick: arms stretch over heads to snap photos, and people toss white flowers, including white roses and white carnations, at the cortege. This is because the symbol of House of York was the white rose.
This evening (UK) there will be a service at Leicester Cathedral before Richard’s remains lie in state.
The announcers are saying that this event has gotten off to a slow start and there weren’t that many people until suddenly about 20 minutes ago. Some people, however, have been there since 6 AM and people have flown in from around the world. The announcer is also commenting that Leicester is an appropriate burial place for Richard since it is gritty which (perhaps) befits his controversial reputation. She also noted that people don’t care what Richard was like; they are just pleased to have him here in Leicester. And, Richard III is right in front of her.
Ladies are in black livery. They are followed by two more black horses, chomping at the bit, a solemn looking lady with a black crop, and Richard is right there. A pink rose was just dropped on the floor. The procession is walking at a steady pace, following the king. The crowd is following. The mood is of content and excitement in Leicester.
Leicester Cathedral. Image: Wikimedia Commons.
The cortege is just about to arrive at Leicester Cathedral. The announcer is noting that the light is perfect; it is almost twilight. The cortege is almost at the spot where Richard was hastily buried over 500 years ago. The coffin has arrived almost to the entrance at the Cathedral. The university will then relinquish responsibility for Richard to the church.
The international transmission rights will end in roughly six minutes I believe. BBC radio does not have international transmission rights after 6 PM UK time.
The Cathedral bells are tolling.
The university representative is handing over the documents, which granted the university license to exhume Richard, to the church.
The crowd pays rapt attention. The air is of quiet solemnity but also expectant. The assistant bishop is accompanying the representatives into Leicester Cathedral. There are four members of the nobility present — two from the York side and two from the Lancasterian (?) side. The theme of the services this week will be reconciliation. The coffin is being lifted gently off the carriage and onto the shoulders of the six coffin bearers.
The crowd has spontaneously broken out in applause. It isn’t raucous but applause of appreciation is how the announcer puts it. The coffin has now gone through the south door, accompanied by the Duke of Gloucester and
The Service of Compline is about to begin. A pall and ancient bible will be placed on the coffin. Compline is the final service of the day (in the medieval canonical hours). It seems that this carefully planned event has used symbols in a way in keeping with medieval culture. Richard’s remains entered the Cathedral of his final resting place at twilight, an appropriate symbol for his last journey, and at compline, as the last service of the day.
Another example of a medieval funeral, that of Richard II of England, who died 85 years before Richard III.
From the sounds of it, Richard III’s funeral cortege today had designated mourners in its procession. In the Middle Ages, designated mourners or attendants — that is, mourners who walked in the procession — often included the poor who were given new clothes, a black robe, and held a candle. (When the wealthy died, it was customary for them to remember the poor. The day of the funeral the poor were also often given small amounts of money, food, and drink.) In some funeral processions, such as that of Elizabeth of York, the number of attendants carrying candles equaled the number of years the person lived. And, some late medieval tombs would even included stone statues of mourners on them.
During the last few years of Richard’s life, he experienced great personal tragedy. His ten-year old son Edward of Middleham died in April 1484, less than a year after he became king. His wife Anne Neville quickly followed, dying of tuberculosis in March 1485. Five months later Richard himself would be riding through Leicester on his way to Bosworth field where he met his death.
Richard III with his wife (Anne Neville) and his son, Edward of Middleham.
This ends our coverage of Richard’s funeral procession. Sadly, the BBC did not obtain the rights to broadcast the funeral procession internationally past 6 PM UK time.
Links to Richard III Articles at History Behind Game of Thrones
For fun, I photoshopped this version of Tyrion’s portrait to place the portrait of the Princes in the Tower in his hands. I think it is an apt symbol.
Richard III, Theon
The Lost Princes and Tyrion’s Escape from the Tower
Tyrion, Bran, Joffrey, and the Princes in the Tower
The Princes in the Tower & the Murder of the Lannister Nephews
Richard III Burial Resources
Viewer’s Guide at The Telegraph
A discussion of the tomb design
Preparations in Leicester
Richard III General
Opening stone coffin
Richard’s facial reconstruction
Richard’s blonde hair – model changed
What did Richard III sound like?
Richard III deserves a state funeral like Margaret Thatcher
Richard III’s DNA
Reply March 22, 2015
I haven’t been able to watch this because I went out today with a monthly luncheon group I belong to. It will probably be on iplayer for a time however. Is the Bow Bridge mentioned in your article the one in East London? I worked in Bow for about 9 years and lived there for two. I read a history book (factual) about Bow and the surrounding area before it became urbanised – it contained a picture of a haycart going over Bow Bridge (whether it’s the same bridge as now I am uncertain) and you would hardly believe it was the same place as the modern built-up area. The disappearing English countryside is a sore point with me because there are the first few of 600 houses going up a little way down the road from me on previously open country as I type. People have to live somewhere but when there is derelict land that could be reclaimed…but I’m getting off topic.
Does Richard III have direct descendants Jaime? I thought his son died young…but then he could have had children or a child by mistresses or a mistress, I guess. Here am I living in Olde England and you (in the States) and Olga (in Australia) seem to be as knowledgeable if not more about Richard III.
I believe it is the Bow Bridge in Leicester. (Sadly, argh, I couldn’t see it. But they were in Leicester when they mentioned going by it.) I’ll add a sketch to the article above. However, your story is very evocative. I could picture the haycart as your wrote.
Ah, that’s so funny you picked up on the direct descendants. Lol. I will have to change that. I was writing quickly and fumbling for the write term. (I think they said “descendant” on the radio, but it is his sister’s ancestors I believe.) To the best of our knowledge, Richard III does not have any direct descendants. His son died. He did have eight (?) bastards I believe, but I’m not sure what became of their descendants (if any).
timetravellingbunny
Wait, where does the idea about eight bastards come from?! According to all sources, he had two acknowledged bastards, probably fathered in his teen years – John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet (who were old enough by 1483 to be knighted/appointed as Captain of Calais and to be married, respectively). There’s a story about some old guy called Richard who supposedly claimed in the 16th century that he was Richard III’s bastard son, but that’s all. I don’t think there are any other rumoured bastards of Richard’s.
Re: the bastards
I’ve read eight before, but I don’t remember the source off hand. A quick search in Google Books… This book says “at least seven” https://books.google.com/books?id=uwSfO-SbbfoC&pg=PA79&dq=Richard+III+bastards&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ud4QVaDoFcKYNpjXgsAF&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Richard%20III%20bastards&f=false
Admittedly this is *not* a great source, but it is late over here. 🙂
This book says he *acknowledged* three bastards (which doesn’t mean eg didn’t have others): https://books.google.com/books?id=PEc7AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT168&dq=Richard+III+bastards&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ud4QVaDoFcKYNpjXgsAF&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Richard%20III%20bastards&f=false
The first book appears to be a work of historical fiction, so it can’t be used as a source. No other source ever mentions more than two or three – John and Katherine were the two definitely acknowledged, and there’s an unconfirmed story that he acknowledged a third one, Richard, on the evening before the battle of Bosworth.
Lol. Those are fighting words. 🙂 So, saying “no other source” is a pretty bold statement. Have you read every single book ever written about the Wars of the Roses or Richard III? I haven’t and I have roughly a hundred books on both subjects in my living room. You can’t even say every single _primary_ source because there are the chroniclers and then there are things like court records, parliamentary rolls, private letters, and so on. It would be very difficult for anyone, even somebody like Michael Hicks I’d think, to have read every single item in existence, even though there aren’t that many that survived. That implies that you would have personally evaluated every one of those court documents where his name is mentioned, etc. So, I’m not trying to be snarky, but you are calling me on the carpet.
While I pulled that number out of my memory, I didn’t make it up. Arguably, I shouldn’t have said it without supporting it, but these are comments, not an article. When I cited the first “source,” I only glanced at the page in Google Books. But, it does indicate that perhaps this isn’t a coincidence and I didn’t merely conjure this number up out of thin air. Again, I’m not trying to be snarky, but you are making some pretty strong statements.
Also, note that I did put a question mark beside the eight bastards. (However, now I’m stubbornly maintaining I read it somewhere. 🙂 ) It is possible that I’m imagining it, but I doubt it because I remember the context – just not the source yet.
Whether or not somebody chose to acknowledge a bastard could be due to a variety of reasons, including knowing the bastard existed, believing the mother, not wanting to support more bastards, etc. Henry I acknowledged 20 or more bastards, which is exceptional, and he used them as part of his overall political strategy (e.g., he found them partners that helped him, was moderately concerned about their welfare, etc.)
Thanks for the link to the second one, it has more info on the third bastard, Richard, apparently born in 1469 and died in 1550. So, just like the other wo, born before Richard’s marriage. I wonder why it took him so long to acknowledge that one? If the story is true. So, it’s 100% confirmed he had two, and maybe a third one as well.
So, I’m looking through a few books…
Michael Hicks Richard III and Charles Ross both mention 2 acknowledged bastards.
Dan Jones mentions a third in his footnotes in his new Wars of the Roses book. Specifically he writes that Richard’s bastards were Sir John of Pontefract, Katherine Plantagenet, and possibly Richard Plantagenet b. around 1469 and who died in December 1550 having lived his life in London as an anonymous bricklayer. According to Dan Jones, the eighteenth-century antiquarian Francis Peck recorded a family legend he’d heard about Richard Plantagenet — apparently Richard P. was presented to Richard III the night before the Battle of Bosworth. As Jones notes, the story is unprovable.
Now it is bothering me where I read this though so I will take a look through a few more books.
Did I read every book out there?! That’s a pretty odd question to ask?! By that logic, nobody in the world could ever say anything about anything from history until they’ve read every single book in the world. Obviously, what I was saying is that there is no known primary source for the idea of RIII having more than 2 or 3 bastards – or else, I think logic says at least some of the many modern historical sources available – whether it’s those who hate RIII or those who like him or those in between, or just simple databases – would mention it. What are the chances that there is some primary source that nobody in the world knows of except one or two authors of historical fiction?
Anyway, I think I may have learned where the number of eight (?) bastards may have come from – I don’t know for sure, but someone on Tumblr who has a historical blog mentioned recently that Alison Weir claims in one of her books that Richard III had seven bastards and that three were fathered during his marriage, but gives no source and no evidence for it. Weir is also apparently notorious for 1) not giving the sources and references for many of her claims, 2) making claims and assumptions without explanation, such as “character X was thinking/intending this and this….” as if she has a direct connection to the historical figures’ minds, 3) having an extreme and obvious hate-on for Richard III. I don’t know if this is all true since I haven’t read any of her books, but the quotes from them I’ve read and some articles where she talked about her “historical discoveries” really made me go WTF and seem to confirm what people say. (Case in point: there was one article where she excitedly said she had just found new evidence of RIII’s guilt for the murder of the Princes in the Tower, and that, as it turns out, was the fact that he went to some cathedral while visiting a town and donated a lot to it, which apparently shows he must have murdered his nephews and felt guilty about it. Seriously.)
According to the people on that historical blog, Weir also, claims that Richard III was ugly (ha, we’ve seen the facial reconstruction in the meantime, she’s wrong) and that his scoliosis must have made him bad in bed (LMAO) so nobody would have wanted him, but then she also claims he had 7 bastards. Geez, at least keep your slander consistent! LOL
For the avoidance of doubt, I didn’t mention “descendants” to be a smarty-pants. So he got around a bit did Richard – if he had eight “bar sinister” children I would imagine the law of averages would dictate that at least SOME of them would have descendants alive now, though would those descendants be aware of their ancestry? I guess it would depend how “noble” their families were. I judge people by their characters rather than their rank but I am interested in history and records – at least in Medieval and Tudor times – seem to have been largely (though not exclusively) kept by the nobility or those who worked for the nobility so it is to their documents we must (largely) look for information about those times past.
Oh I didn’t read into it. 🙂 Thanks though for saying… He only acknowledged three bastards, so maybe the other bastards weren’t tracked? I’d need to dig up the source for the eight bastards. I think it was used to show Richard wasn’t a prude. All of his bastards were conceived before marriage I believe, but again I’m going by memory.
There really aren’t that many similarities between historical Richard and Tyrion, apart from the murdered nephew accusation and the fact that both became subjects of maligning and a popular play that portrays them as monsters, only with RIII it happened after his death. While I agree that you can see aspects of Richard in Tyrion, you can also seem them in Ned, Stannis and some other characters, but none of them is a perfect parallel.
If I were to take a guess, Richard had brown hair (many people with brown hair had blond hair as children, even I was blondish at 4 but now my hair is dark) and dark blue/grey eyes. That’s how it seems based on the portraits, and while portraits show all three York brothers with various shades of brown, there are accounts that call Edward blond and claim that Richard had darker hair than his brothers.
Hm, come to think of it, is “Stark” look more or less the York look (aka the look of Richard, Duke of York and Richard III, who resembled his father a lot)? Medium height (as opposed to the tall, muscular Edward IV and George), slim, longer and bonier face compared to the round-faced Edward IV, possibly brown hair and grey eyes…?
Interesting… The grey Stark eyes. I’m not sure about Clarence but Margaret of York had blue/grey eyes I believe. As for the hair, my hair is naturally very very dark blonde. It looks light brown, but it is technically blonde, acc the color charts. On the rare occasions I haven’t colored it, it looks lighter at the ends. Like Richard, I was blonde as a child, and I have dark grey eyes — and very pale skin. (I have a tan in my photo.) Just guessing based on my coloring, I suspect Richard would have been the same where his hair looked pretty close to brown with lighter ends or pieces and you can kind of see it in the portrait in this article. In fact, I’d almost wager the brown hair, pale skin, grey eyes thing is a common combo for people with grey eyes. I also believe that grey eyes are considered lighter than blue eyes (less melanin or something), so it makes sense for them to go with really pale skin. Therefore, Richard may have been quite pasty (like me 🙂 ) in real life.
Reply April 17, 2015
Kim Dz
I think the “8 illegitimate children” idea came first from the book The Royal Bastards of Medieval England” (Chris a given-Wilson) & was promulgated by Alison Weir. There is no contemporary source that I know of that backs this up. Richard acknowledged 2 children, John & Katherine. The 3rd, Richard of Eastwell, seems to have sprung up in legend after Richard III’s death, but there’s little to back up the claim. Interestingly, it’s now almost certain that we know Katherine was buried in St. James’s Garlickhythe in a London (the original church was almost completely destroyed in the great fire of 1666 & then bombed during WWII, so her grave is lost, although there is still a parish church standing and in use). It does not appear that she had children. John was (it is thought) eventually imprisioned by Henry VIII and executed around the same time as Perkin Warbeck & Edward of Warwick, Clarence’s son. If he had children they are unknown & lost to history. Also, the idea that Richard III went on Pilgrammage as some sort of penance for the killing of his nephews was put forth by Amy License, not Alison Weir (sketchy theory at best)
Sorry, re: my initial comment, that’s executed by Henry VII not Henry VIII – damn you autocorrect!
Reply October 8, 2015
Duchess of Lancaster
Oh, fidgety Richard III and his rings. There are also paintings of Edward IV, who is holding up his ring, and one from about 1520 in which Henry VIII is in exactly the same pose as your second portrait of Richard (which I think is generally thought to be a copy and the one that X-rays show the humped shoulder was added to). However, some art historians say the ring is to symbolize Henry’s devout piety — not fidgeting. Polydore Vergil helped out by saying that Richard III apparently had a nervous habit of half-drawing his dagger and resheathing it and also drew his rings on and off. I remember reading somewhere that Sir Thomas More used this info to make Richard seem more sinister.
There is an interesting short article at the BBC History Magazine site about hand gestures in portraits to draw attention to the ring as symbols of kingship, loyalty, authority, wealth and status. What drew my attention is that the ring also symbolized marriage — just like modern engagement and wedding portraits. I read somewhere on a Tudor website that a historian says the ring portraits like Richard’s (especially the one at the top of this article, which is probably closer to the original) pays homage to the consort, and the paintings of king and queen were made to displayed looking at each other, drawing attention to their wedding rings, and rings in medieval and renaissance weren’t always worn on the left hand. Plus the coronation ring was on there somewhere.
Anyway, the historian noted that painting a portrait is something that takes time and is deliberate — not like catching someone’s nervous tic in a snapshot. Just shows what political propaganda and creative playwriting can do! Richard didn’t know he would need an image consultant.
Also, the “censing” — this is swinging incense (in a censer) during a funeral Mass. And coronations, at least in the days of Edward, Richard and Henry. I think Cranmer mentioned censing in his description of Anne Boleyn’s coronation — which is difficult to read to but lovely. I have plenty of questions about what Richard did and why, but at last he got a decent burial. History does remember the winners (and some of the flamboyant losers).
I really enjoy your site — especially when you look at the art history, too. The Boticelli piece was great — and I really appreciate when you show the HBO actor portraits next to those they may be portraying: Richard III and Tyrion, Daeny and Elizabeth I, Cersei and Isabeau. Someone at HBO is looking at lots and lots of paintings.
And, I am curious — did you write the second part of the article on the time-traveler medieval wedding? I can’t seem to find it.
Thank you for the kind words about the site – that’s lovely of you.
A quick reply because it is past midnight here…
Re: the rings
I have read, possibly in one of John Ashdown Hill’s books, that Richard may have commissioned one of his portraits in the last months of his life, while he was looking for a bride. (That is, for his envoys to bring on trips to show to perspective brides or their fathers, etc.) All or most of the gestures and objects in medieval portraits are symbolic, as I’m sure you are aware. I’ve read (and I believe this is true) that many of the meanings of these symbols would be transparent to a medieval audience; however, their meaning has been lost to us today. I found that idea really intriguing.
In the case of Richard, all of your comments are really interesting. I do think – and I don’t remember what I said in this article — that it is possible his rings are a symbol that marriage was on his mind or that he was open to marriage. Interestingly just like a water glass can appear half full or half empty, you can perceive Richard III, in his portrait, as either pulling off his ring or putting it on. In the case of his desire to remarry, he might have been putting it on to show he wanted to wed or desired a wife/diplomatic alliance.
Re: the Botticelli article
Thanks for the compliments on the Boticelli article. I didn’t hear very much about it. When that happens, I always wonder if the article was a flop and if I should do more or less of that type of thing.
I was very pleased about HBO’s Emmy wins. I know many hard core book fans feel frustrated with the show, but I feel in my heart that they are two different mediums and I applaud the artistry that goes in to the show (eg studying art, making allusions to mythology and literature, the workmanship and artistry). I feel that if book fans criticize the show too harshly that other shows won’t attempt to rise to that level of artistry. Networks and showrunners will think “why bother?” I’m not saying people shouldn’t speak their minds, but I worry about the baby being thrown out with the bath water.
Re: the time travelers marriage article
No I haven’t finished the article I’m afraid. I really enjoyed writing it but I hit a bit of a roadblock when I tried to write about the jousts at Margaret of York’s wedding. It would be easier if I spoke Dutch or Flemish. I eventually found some somewhat detailed information about them and I should finish it at some point. I’m sorry about that.
Anyway thanks again for your comment and kind words.
This is a bit off-topic, Lady Lancaster, but a lady who comments on a history site I sometimes visit had a birthday recently so the various avatars wished her avatar a happy birthday. Someone posted an online birthday card (the lady is a Ricardian) with a picture of Richard III touching a ring with a caption about him counting how many people he planned to do away with….
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Traces of Henry VIII in Game of Thrones: Similarities Between Henry VIII and Robert Baratheon
In The Hunger Games series, Suzanne Collins uses history from Ancient Rome and the Hundred Years’ War. Like George RR Martin, Suzanne “meditates” on the effect of war throughout The Hunger Games series. Similar to Martin, Suzanne uses counterfactual (what-if) versions of history and, as far as I can tell, she did not create an historical “allegory.” We’re thinking of maybe doing a series of articles on The Hunger Games this summer. So, we are wondering, do you like The Hunger Games?…
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Navajo Metal Band Produces Album With Metallica Producer
I Dont Konform is made up of lead singer Kyle Felter, drummer Randell Keye Billy and bass player Brett Begay.
Laurel Morales
By Laurel Morales
Brett Begay plays bass for I Dont Konform. He says heavy metal helps him deal with his anxiety.
I Dont Konform lead singer Kyle Felter says he wanted a producer who used analog recording techniques. So Felter looked online and found Flemming Rasmussen. He records using vintage equipment then lays the tracks out on digital editing software to mix.
Randell Keye Billy has played drums since he was 15. He says when he's mad he beats on the drums to make sense out of it.
Tom Lilly, friend of the band, wears an I Dont Konform t-shirt outside the hogan where they practice.
A Navajo heavy metal band is releasing its first album May 27. They call themselves “I Dont Konform.” And unless you live on the reservation you probably haven’t heard of them. But they recently got the attention of one of the most sought-after producers in the world.
The band practices in what appears to be a traditional Navajo dwelling called a hogan in the dusty capital town of Window Rock. But, once inside, it’s a typical man cave complete with pinups and a velvet painting of an eagle. The amps are cranked but lead singer Kyle Felter said there are no neighbors to complain here.
“I love the anger of it I guess,” Felter said. “It gives me an adrenaline rush every time. After you’re done screaming in a mic and playing it’s just like you’re relaxed. You feel cleansed, I guess … Playing metal guitar is the best therapy for me.”
Felter, whose uncle sat him in front of Metallica and Pantera videos when he was a kid, isn’t the only one who has to release some aggression. Heavy metal has risen in popularity among young Navajos over the last couple of decades.
“What’s happening here you can’t find jobs,” Felter said. “You see everybody suffering from cancer... People drunk, it’s hard to live here but I want to live here.”
Felter wrote the track "EPA," it’s actually a more colorful name for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, after it accidentally spilled 3 million gallons of mine waste into a southwest river system two years ago.
I Dont Konform’s lyrics focus on the spill, but also on the tribe’s deadly legacy of uranium mining contamination. The EPA has been working with the tribe over the last several years to clean it up.
Felter sings: “To protect us not infect us is your responsibility, To nurture not to murder but now you turn your back for greed.”
The suicide rate among American Indians ages 15-24 is twice the national average.
Felter’s cousin, who played drums for the band, committed suicide last year. Felter wrote "Time To Go" as a tribute to the 29-year-old.
The band’s story coming from this place of oppression and depression is what appealed to Grammy award winning Metallica producer Flemming Rasmussen. Felter found him on the Internet. He thought they never stood a chance of getting Rasmussen’s attention but he knew he had to try.
“He’s like one of the top five producers in the world,” Felter said. “So he’s used to getting the best stuff all the time and we come in with these bombed out demos… It was about little less than a week later I got a response. I didn’t expect anything. He was like, ‘I really like you guys’ aggression in your music. You guys’ story is interesting. And he was like, 'I really want to get this project going.’”
The only problem was the money. Rasmussen’s studio is in Denmark. And he charged the band a $1,000 a day for a 10-day recording session. So the band raised the money hosting shows, selling food at flea markets and borrowing from their families.
Last summer they finally made the trip, which turned into an epic journey. They flew the cheapest way they possibly could on standby crisscrossing the country a couple times and sleeping in airports. It took them four days to get there.
Bass player Brett Begay was nervous.
“To me, it was scary because I’ve never been on a plane before,” Begay said. “I still can’t believe we went over there. We were the most interesting out there, which we’ve never been ... Standing there like what’s everybody staring at us for? It was like their first time seeing a Native American.”
Now back on the reservation "I Dont Konform" is getting ready to release the album at a music festival called Rock The Capital in Window Rock.
The band plans to use the proceeds from the concert and first album to pay back everyone they owe. They hope there’s enough left over to record a second album with Rasmussen next year.
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Joseph Minton
Kevin Peavy
Judy Cross
About Joseph Minton Antiques
Joseph Minton Antiques carries a unique selection of English, French, and Continental furniture and decorative objects. The collection includes chic and unusual finds from around the world, as well as many antique garden pieces. Mirrors are well represented.
As an interior designer, Joseph Minton has designed and created a myriad of beautiful and exciting projects from his Fort Worth office for over three decades. As an extension of this work, Joseph decided to share his expertise and collection to the public through Joseph Minton Antiques.
As a nationally recognized interior designer, Joseph’s work appears regularly in Architectural Digest, Southern Accents, Veranda, House Beautiful, Town and Country, and Texas Homes. He has been honored in “The AD 100: An Exclusive Guide to the World’s Finest Interior Designers”, and highlighted in “Town and Country’s Guide to the Top 55 Decorators in the U.S.”. In 1996, Joe was awarded the prestigious ASID Designer of Distinction Award for lifetime achievement.
Joseph Minton attended The College of William and Mary, where he received his Bachelor of Arts, then Southern Methodist University where he received a Doctor of Jurisprudence. Following graduation from S.M.U., he worked as a City Attorney for Fort Worth, Texas. His legal work is complemented by his service as 1st Lieutenant in the United States Air Force where he served as a Personnel Officer in England for several years. Living abroad sparked a craving for European antiques, collectibles and design, which could not be satisfied with a desk job.
After serving as a Trust Officer for the Continental National Bank of Fort Worth, Joe formed his first interior design firm, partnering with with David Corley. The birth of Minton-Corley Interior Design began the design legacy of Joseph Minton, which quickly became a prominent design influence, and continues to thrive and evolve.
Joseph Minton is currently the proprietor and owner of Joseph Minton Antiques in Dallas, Texas, the Minton-Corley Collection (fine European inspired furniture), and Joseph Minton Inc. (Interior Design Firm), located in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a member of ASID, the Texas Association for Interior Design, and is member of the American Institute of Architects. Joseph is a frequent contributor to D Home magazine, and a board member of both the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
In support of Joseph Minton Antiques, Joseph has assembled a dedicated staff to run the day to day operations of the showroom. Kevin Peavy serves as Director, and accompanies Joe on regular expeditions to acquire new pieces. Kevin has been with Joseph Minton Antiques for 12 years and, provides a vast knowledge of period antiques and silver. Kevin earned a B.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.
Judy Cross serves as Manager of Joseph Minton Antiques. She has 16 years of experience in the field, and has been with the company for 10 years. Judy has an expansive background of knowledge in Continental and American Antiques, and is committed to remain current with market research and pricing. Judy earned a B.A. from the University of Texas, Arlington.
Monday through Friday, 10-5 p.m., and by appointment.
Joseph Minton, Inc.
www.josephminton.com
1411 Slocum Street, Dallas, TX 75207 | 214.744.3111 | info@mintonantiques.com | Joseph Minton Design
©2011 Joseph Minton Antiques. All rights reserved.
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GST TAX
What is GST? Goods & Services Tax Law for Beginners
What is GST?
Goods & Services Tax is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based tax that will be levied on every value addition.
To understand this, we need to understand the concepts under this definition. Let us start with the term ‘Multi-stage’. Now, there are multiple steps an item goes through from manufacture or production to the final sale. Buying of raw materials is the first stage. The second stage is production or manufacture. Then, there is the warehousing of materials. Next, comes the sale of the product to the retailer. And in the final stage, the retailer sells you – the end consumer – the product, completing its life cycle.
So, if we had to look at a pictorial description of the various stages, it would look like:
Goods and Services Tax will be levied on each of these stages, which makes it a multi-stage tax. How? We will see that shortly, but before that, let us talk about ‘Value Addition’.
Let us assume that a manufacturer wants to make a shirt. For this he must buy yarn. This gets turned into a shirt after manufacture. So, the value of the yarn is increased when it gets woven into a shirt. Then, the manufacturer sells it to the warehousing agent who attaches labels and tags to each shirt. That is another addition of value after which the warehouse sells it to the retailer who packages each shirt separately and invests in marketing of the shirt thus increasing its value.
GST will be levied on these value additions – the monetary worth added at each stage to achieve the final sale to the end customer.
There is one more term we need to talk about in the definition – Destination-Based. Goods and Services Tax will be levied on all transactions happening during the entire manufacturing chain. Earlier, when a product was manufactured, the centre would levy an Excise Duty on the manufacture, and then the state will add a VAT tax when the item is sold to the next stage in the cycle. Then there would be a VAT at the next point of sale.
So, earlier the pattern of tax levy was like this:
Now, Goods and Services Tax will be levied at every point of sale. Assume that the entire manufacture process is happening in Rajasthan and the final point of sale is in Karnataka. Since Goods & Services Tax is levied at the point of consumption, so the state of Rajasthan will get revenue in the manufacturing and warehousing stages, but lose out on the revenue when the product moves out Rajasthan and reaches the end consumer in Karnataka. This means that Karnataka will earn that revenue on the final sale, because it is a destination-based tax and this revenue will be collected at the final point of sale/destination which is Karnataka.
Browse GST articles by Topic
Registration Returns Invoice
Transition to GST Composition Scheme Penalties & Appeals
News & Announcements Input Tax Credit Analysis & Opinions
GST Software Accounts & Record Time, Place & Value of Supply
Procedure Payments & Refunds GST Terms
Why is Goods and Services Tax so Important?
So, now that we have defined GST, let us talk about why it will play such a significant role in transforming the current tax structure, and therefore, the economy.
Currently, the Indian tax structure is divided into two – Direct and Indirect Taxes. Direct Taxes are levies where the liability cannot be passed on to someone else. An example of this is Income Tax where you earn the income and you alone are liable to pay the tax on it.
In the case of Indirect Taxes, the liability of the tax can be passed on to someone else. This means that when the shopkeeper must pay VAT on his sale, he can pass on the liability to the customer. So, in effect, the customer pays the price of the item as well as the VAT on it so the shopkeeper can deposit the VAT to the government. This means that the customer must pay not just the price of the product, but he also pays the tax liability, and therefore, he has a higher outlay when he buys an item.
This happens because the shopkeeper has paid a tax when he bought the item from the wholesaler. To recover that amount, as well as to make up for the VAT he must pay to the government, he passes the liability to the customer who has to pay the additional amount. There is currently no other way for the shopkeeper to recover whatever he pays from his own pocket during transactions and therefore, he has no choice but to pass on the liability to the customer.
Goods and Services Tax will address this issue after it is implemented. It has a system of Input Tax Credit which will allow sellers to claim the tax already paid, so that the final liability on the end consumer is decreased.
How does GST work?
A nationwide tax reform cannot function without strict guidelines and provisions. The GST Council has devised a fool proof method of implementing this new tax regime by dividing it into three categories. Wondering how they work? Let our experts explain this to you in detail.
When Goods and Services Tax is implemented, there will be 3 kinds of applicable Goods and Services Taxes:
CGST: where the revenue will be collected by the central government
SGST: where the revenue will be collected by the state governments for intra-state sales
IGST: where the revenue will be collected by the central government for inter-state sales
In most cases, the tax structure under the new regime will be as follows:
Transaction New Regime Old Regime Comments
Sale within the state CGST + SGST VAT + Central Excise/Service tax Revenue will now be shared between the Centre and the State
Sale to another State IGST Central Sales Tax + Excise/Service Tax There will only be one type of tax (central) now in case of inter-state sales.
A dealer in Maharashtra sold goods to a consumer in Maharashtra worth Rs. 10,000. The Goods and Services Tax rate is 18% comprising CGST rate of 9% and SGST rate of 9%. In such cases the dealer collects Rs. 1800 and of this amount, Rs. 900 will go to the central government and Rs. 900 will go to the Maharashtra government.
Now, let us assume the dealer in Maharashtra had sold goods to a dealer in Gujarat worth Rs. 10,000. The GST rate is 18% comprising of CGST rate of 9% and SGST rate of 9%. In such case the dealer has to charge Rs. 1800 as IGST. This IGST will go to the Centre. There will no longer be any need to pay CGST and SGST.
How will GST help India and common man?
The basis of Goods and Services Tax is the seamless flow of Input Tax Credit (ITC) along the entire value addition chain. At every step of the manufacturing process, businesses will have the option to claim the tax already paid in the previous transaction. Understanding this process is crucial for businesses. A detailed explanation here.
To understand this, let us first understand what is Input Tax Credit. It is the credit an individual receives for the tax paid on the inputs used in manufacturing the product. So, if there is a 10% tax that the individual must submit to the government, he can subtract the amount he has paid in taxes at the time of purchase and submit the balance amount to the government.
Let us understand this with a hypothetical numerical example.
Say a shirt manufacturer pays Rs. 100 to buy raw materials. If the rate of taxes is set at 10%, and there is no profit or loss involved, then he has to pay Rs. 10 as tax. So, the final cost of the shirt now becomes Rs (100+10=) 110.
At the next stage, the wholesaler buys the shirt from the manufacturer at Rs. 110, and adds labels to it. When he is adding labels, he is adding value. Therefore, his cost increases by say Rs. 40. On top of this, he has to pay a 10% tax, and the final cost therefore becomes Rs. (110+40=) 150 + 10% tax = Rs. 165.
Now, the retailer pays Rs. 165 to buy the shirt from the wholesaler because the tax liability had passed on to him. He has to package the shirt, and when he does that, he is adding value again. This time, let’s say his value add is Rs. 30. Now when he sells the shirt, he adds this value (plus the VAT he has to pay the government) to the final cost. So, the cost of the shirt becomes Rs. 214.5 Let us see a breakup for this:
Cost = Rs. 165 + Value add = Rs. 30 + 10% tax = Rs. 195 + Rs. 19.5 = Rs. 214.5
So, the customer pays Rs. 214.5 for a shirt the cost price of which was basically only Rs. 170 (Rs 110 + Rs. 40 + Rs. 30). Along the way the tax liability was passed on at every stage of transaction and the final liability comes to rest with the customer. This is called the Cascading Effect of Taxes where a tax is paid on tax and the value of the item keeps increasing every time this happens.
Action Cost 10% Tax Total
Buys Raw Material @ 100 100 10 110
Manufactures @ 40 150 15 165
Adds value @ 30 195 19.5 214.5
Total 170 44.5 214.5
In the case of Goods and Services Tax, there is a way to claim credit for tax paid in acquiring input. What happens in this case is, the individual who has paid a tax already can claim credit for this tax when he submits his taxes.
In our example, when the wholesaler buys from the manufacturer, he pays a 10% tax on his cost price because the liability has been passed on to him. Then he adds value of Rs. 40 on his cost price of Rs. 100 and this brings up his cost to Rs. 140. Now he has to pay 10% of this price to the government as tax. But he has already paid one tax to the manufacturer. So, this time what he does is, instead of paying Rs (10% of 140=) 14 to the government as tax, he subtracts the amount he has paid already. So, he deducts the Rs. 10 he paid on his purchase from his new liability of Rs. 14, and pays only Rs. 4 to the government. So, the Rs. 10 becomes his input credit.
When he pays Rs. 4 to the government, he can pass on its liability to the retailer. So, the retailer pays Rs. (140+14=) 154 to him to buy the shirt. At the next stage, the retailer adds value of Rs. 30 to his cost price and has to pay a 10% tax on it to the government. When he adds value, his price becomes Rs. 170. Now, if he had to pay 10% tax on it, he would pass on the liability to the customer. But he already has input credit because he has paid Rs.14 to the wholesaler as the latter’s tax. So, now he reduces Rs. 14 from his tax liability of Rs. (10% of 170=) 17 and has to pay only Rs. 3 to the government. And therefore, he can now sell the shirt for Rs. (140+30+17) 187 to the customer.
Action Cost 10% Tax Actual Liability Total
Buys Raw Material 100 10 10 110
Manufactures @ 40 140 14 4 154
Adds Value @ 30 170 17 3 187
Total 170 17 187
In the end, every time an individual was able to claim input tax credit, the sale price for him reduced and the cost price for the person buying his product reduced because of a lower tax liability. The final value of the shirt also therefore reduced from Rs. 214.5 to Rs. 187, thus reducing the tax burden on the final customer.
So essentially, Goods & Services Tax is going to have a two-pronged benefit. One, it will reduce the cascading effect of taxes, and second, by allowing input tax credit, it will reduce the burden of taxes and, hopefully, prices.
GST Law in India – A Detailed History
GST is not a new phenomenon. It was first implemented in France in 1954, and since then many countries have implemented this unified taxation system to become part of a global whole. Now that India is adopting this new tax regime, let us look back at the how and when of the Goods and Services Tax and its history in the nation.
France was the world’s first country to implement GST Law in the year 1954. Since then, 159 other countries have adopted the GST Law in some form or other. In many countries, VAT is the substitute for GST, but unlike the Indian VAT system, these countries have a single VAT tax which fulfills the same purpose as GST.
In India, the discussion on GST Law was flagged off in the year 2000, when the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee brought the issue to the table.
History of GST in India – Year by Year Events
The idea behind having one consolidated indirect tax to subsume multiple currently existing indirect taxes is to benefit the Indian economy in a number of ways:
It will help the country’s businesses gain a level playing field
It will put us on par with foreign nations who have a more structured tax system
It will also translate into gains for the end consumer who not have to pay cascading taxes any more
There will now be a single tax on goods and services
In addition to the above,
The Goods and Services Tax Law aims at streamlining the indirect taxation regime. As mentioned above, GST will subsume all indirect taxes levied on goods and service, including State and Central level taxes. The GST mechanism is an advancement on the VAT system, the idea being that a unified GST Law will create a seamless nationwide market.
It is also expected that Goods and Services Tax will improve the collection of taxes as well as boost the development of Indian economy by removing the indirect tax barriers between states and integrating the country through a uniform tax rate.
Categories newsTags GST, GST IN INDIA, GST TAXLeave a comment
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Honour100
First World War Commemoration
Commemorative Community Events
Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador
Recruitment of the First 500 – the Blue Puttees
Commemorating the recruitment of the first 500 soldiers in August 1914
Within four days of war being declared, the Newfoundland Government committed to raise a regiment of 500 soldiers. On August 22, 1914, a call for volunteers was issued and within days 335 had signed up; two thirds from St. John’s cadet brigades. By September 26, nearly 1000 volunteers had been recruited and went to the Church Lads Brigade building on Military Road in St. John’s to enlist. Roughly half passed the required medical exams and moved to tent lines established at nearby Pleasantville.
On August 17, 2014, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, Royal Newfoundland Regiment Advisory Council, and the Church Lads Brigade commemorated the anniversary of the First 500 recruitment drive. The day featured the following well-attended events:
A church service at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church
A marching procession from St. Thomas’s Church to the Church Lads Brigade Armoury
A triple plaque unveiling at the Armoury to commemorate the role of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and the Church Lads Brigade in the recruitment effort
An historical reenactment of the 1914 recruitment by the group ‘For King and Empire
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History of Haddenham Lodge
Lodge Meetings
Buckinghamshire Lodges Family Tree
Social & Charity Events
What is it / Why Join
What is Freemasonry
Why Join Freemasonry
The Masters List
Links & Contact
Masonic Weblinks
People become Freemasons for a variety of reasons, some as the result of a family tradition, some after being introduced by a friend and some as a result of researches which led them to want to join.
Those who become active members and who grow in Freemasonry do so principally because they enjoy it. They enjoy the challenges and fellowship that Freemasonry offers.
Participation in the dramatic presentation of moral lessons and in the working of a lodge provides a member with a unique opportunity to learn more about himself and encourages him to live in such a way that he will always be in search of becoming a better man, not better than someone else but better than he himself would otherwise be and therefore an exemplary member of society.
Each Freemason is encouraged to learn and show humility through initiation. Then, by progression through a series of degrees, he gains insight into increasingly complex moral and philosophical concepts, and accepts a variety of challenges and responsibilities that are both stimulating and rewarding. The structure and working of the lodge and the sequence of ceremonial events, which are usually followed by social gatherings, offer members a framework for companionship, teamwork, character development and enjoyment of shared experiences.
If you are interested in the principles of friendship, decency and charity, and also a Social environment for yourself, your partner and friends, and would like to meet us and get to know more, we too would be delighted to meet you, to spend time with you and to answer your questions.
For a Fraternity with a wonderful history that goes back many centuries, you might think it is difficult to become a Mason, surprisingly, it’s not difficult at all; it’s very straightforward.
You Just Ask!
Freemasonry is open to all men above the age of 21 years, there can be a consideration for dispensation for men who are 18 or over and wish to join.
If you wish to continue and want to explore joining (which we sincerely hope you will) then please fill in your details on the Contact form. From that information, we will arrange to meet up with you and provide further information.
Haddenham Lodge 8944 ©
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This weeks updates and crime trials.
Friday, 22 Mar, 2019
Steven Mark Abbott Jr., 33, of Hastings, pleaded no contest to larceny in a building. He was found guilty and sentenced by Judge Amy McDowell to serve six months in jail, with credit for 21 days served. He also was ordered to serve 18 months of probation and pay $6,383 in fines and costs, with $5,800 of that as restitution. The balance of Abbott’s jail time will be suspended upon successful completion of probation, payment of $2,100 and continued payments. He was ordered to pay the $2,100 by 5 p.m. March 1 or report to jail. His probation will terminate after six months, providing full payment has been made. A restitution hearing can take place within 30 days if requested. Probation oversight fees are $360, with assessments payable at $300 a month. A charge of breaking and entering a building with intent to commit larceny was dismissed.
Theresa Marie Brittain, 48, of Parchment, was found guilty of larceny in a building. She was sentenced by Judge McDowell to serve 64 days in jail, with credit for 64 days served; 12 months of probation; and ordered to pay $458 in fines and costs, and oversight fees of $240, with assessments payable at $75 a month. She is not allowed to have any firearms, must have Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring device for 60 days, mental health treatment and substance abuse assessment as recommended, a self-help group two times a week and comply with all other terms of probation. A charge of first-degree home invasion was dismissed.
Andrew Joel Brown, 33, of Lansing, was found guilty by Judge Michael Schipper of assaulting a police officer and fourth-degree fleeing and eluding a police officer. Charges of third-degree fleeing and eluding a police officer, resisting and obstructing a police officer and reckless driving were dismissed. Brown received concurrent sentences of 16 to 24 months in prison and was ordered to pay $2,236 in fines and costs.
Darci Stanton Ezinga, 49, of Hastings, pleaded no contest to stealing a financial transaction device and was found guilty by the court. Ezinga was sentenced by Judge McDowell to serve 90 days in jail, with credit for one day served, ordered to pay $258 in fines and costs and was placed on probation for 18 months. Sixty days of jail time will be suspended upon successful completion of probation. Ezinga was ordered to participate in a self-help group three times a week, perform 15 hours of community service each week and receive substance abuse assessment with treatment, as recommended. Oversight fees were waived. Assessments are payable at $10 a month.
Bruce Kendall Finkbeiner, 58, of Middleville, was found guilty of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, third offense. He was sentenced by Judge McDowell to 90 days in jail, with credit for 61 days served, and was ordered to pay $783 in fines and costs. He will be released and remaining jail time will be terminated upon payment of his full assessment. A charge of operating a vehicle on a suspended license was dismissed.
John Harvey-Burton High, 23, of Delton, was found guilty of receiving and concealing stolen property, a 2003 Honda motorcycle. He was sentenced by Judge McDowell to 30 days in jail, with credit for three days served and was ordered to pay $1,058 in fines and costs, including a DNA assessment of $60. High also was ordered to serve 36 months of probation and enter and complete the Barry County Adult Drug Court program. Charges of possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, as a second or subsequent offense, and unlawful license plate/registration or certificate of title were dismissed.
Zachary Ryan Kelley, 21, of Battle Creek, was found guilty of domestic violence and interfering with electronic communication. He was sentenced by Judge McDowell to a concurrent 90 days in jail on each count, with credit for 64 days served. Kelley was ordered to serve 18 months of probation. In addition, he must pay $758 in fines and costs, a probation fee of $360, participate in a Cognitive Outreach Group and complete the Alternative Directions program while in jail, as well as comply with all terms of probation. A charge of domestic violence was dismissed.
Cecil Douglas Lovely, 36, homeless, was found guilty of assault with intent to do bodily harm. He was sentenced by Judge McDowell to serve nine months in jail, with credit for 147 days served, and to pay $583 in fines and costs. He was placed on probation for 24 months; ordered to receive anger management and mental health counseling as recommended, as well as substance abuse and attend a self-help group three times a week. Lovely was ordered to have no contact with the victim and to complete the Kalamazoo Probation Enhancement Program. Three months of jail time will be suspended upon successful completion of probation and K-PEP after jail time. The probation fee is $480. Assessments are payable at $75 a month. Charges of assault with bodily harm and domestic violence were dismissed.
Cameron Robert-Scott McHenry, 25, of Kalamazoo, was found guilty of possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine/Ecstacy, and receiving and concealing stolen property, a GMC Jimmy vehicle. McHenry has prior multiple felony convictions in Allegan, Van Buren and Kalamazoo counties. Judge McDowell sentenced him to 12 to 48 months in prison, with credit for 169 days served. McHenry was ordered to pay $266 in fines and costs. A charge of operating a vehicle on M-43 while his driver's license was suspended was dismissed.
Shawn David Moored, 28, of Caledonia, pleaded no contest to a charge of larceny of $1,000 or more. He was found guilty and sentenced by Judge McDowell to serve 30 days in jail, with credit for 29 days served, ordered to pay $3,842; nearly $3,600 of that amount is restitution. The balance of the jail sentence will be suspended upon the successful completion of 12 months of probation. Probation fees were waived. Charges of possessing burglar’s tools and breaking and entering, or entry without breaking, were dismissed.
Nicholas Jon Olczak, 39, of St. Clair, was found guilty of possessing a controlled substance, methamphetamine. He was sentenced by Judge McDowell to six months in jail, with credit for 19 days served, and 24 months of probation. Jail time will be suspended upon successful completion of the Re-entry Independence through Sustainable Efforts drug court program. Olczak was ordered to pay $438 in fines and costs. His probation fee is $480; with assessments payable at $75 a month. His driver’s license will be suspended for 60 days and restricted for 365 days.
Steve Martin Patterson Jr., 40, of Hastings, was found guilty of breaking and entering a building with intent to commit larceny. He was sentenced by Judge McDowell to serve 12 months in jail, with credit for one day served, and to pay $1,072 in fines and costs, which includes $490 in restitution. Patterson was ordered to serve 36 months of probation and pay oversight fees of $360. He was ordered to serve 90 days in jail then be to released to the WRAP program with nine months of jail suspended and to comply with all other terms of probation. A second charge of malicious destruction of a building of more than $200 but less than $1,000 in damages was dismissed.
Cameron Shawn Summers, 27, of Otsego, was found guilty of domestic violence and interfering with electronic communication causing injury. He was sentenced by Judge McDowell to concurrent jail terms of six months and 75 days, respectively, with credit for 75 days served on each count. He was ordered to pay $658 in fines and costs and placed on 18 months of probation. The balance of Summers’ jail time will be suspended upon successful completion of probation and approval of residence by the adult probation officer. Included in the sentence are anger-management and substance-abuse counseling and a self-help group twice a week. No contact with the victim or the victim's residence is allowed. A probation fee of $360 is payable in assessments of $75 a month. Charges of interfering with electronic communication and domestic violence were dismissed.
Steven Mark Abbott Jr
Theresa Marie Brittain
Andrew Joel Brown
Darci Stanton Ezinga
Bruce Kendall Finkbeiner
John Harvey-Burton High
Zachary Ryan Kelley
Cecil Douglas Lovely
Cameron Robert-Scott McHenry
Shawn David Moored
Nicholas Jon Olczak
Steve Martin Patterson Jr
Cameron Shawn Summers
COPS-and-COURTS
Sunday, 09 Jun, 2019
Freeport woman dies in two-car collision
Driver dies in one-vehicle crash
National winner on exhibit
Remembering the moon landing
Barry County Fair attracting crowds
STEAM tent new to fair
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RFI stringer fined by Moscow court.
Reporters sans frontières "condemns a Moscow court’s decision to rule against freelance journalist and former Soviet dissident Alexandre Podrabinek in a lawsuit by Second World War veteran Viktor Semenov, who claimed he was offended by an online article last September criticising government attempts to paint a rosy picture of the Soviet era. In its ruling, issued on 27 January, the court ordered Podrabinek to pay Semenov 1,000 roubles (23 euros) in damages and publicly retract a line in his article that said: 'Your homeland is not Russia but the Soviet Union. Your country, thank God, has not existed for 18 years already.' ... Podrabinek, who also reports for Radio France Internationale from Moscow, has announced that he intends to appeal against the ruling and, for the appeal, it seems that he will have to assemble documents demonstrating that the Soviet Union has indeed ceased to exist." RSF, 29 January 2010.
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BBC.com hires new ANZ ad sales director as part of new national but (here is where I get confused) pan-regional focus.
"BBC.com has appointed Scott Hamilton as its Advertising Sales Director, ANZ. Focusing on the exploitation of the BBC.com brand offering in Australia and NZ, Scott will lead BBC.com's Sydney-based advertising sales team from BBC Worldwide's new headquarters in Macquarie Park, NSW. ... The appointment reflects a shift to a national focus for BBC.com. Current Regional Advertising Sales Director John Williams will move to a pan-regional focus over the next 6 months. He will work primarily to build the Asian sales business on behalf of both BBC.com and the BBC's 24 hour news channel BBC World News. ... BBC.com is the number one international online news provider across Australia and NZ with nearly 2.5 million ANZ unique users. It offers advertising opportunities across three platforms: online, mobile and VOD. Globally, the site reaches more than 50 million unique users and attracts more than 600 different advertising partners." BBC Worldwide press release, 29 March 2010. In one sentence, "shift to a national focus." In the next, "move to a pan-regional focus." Must be some sort of advanced marketing strategy.
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Al Jazeera English taken off Singapore's mio TV (updated again: AJE reports on Singapore homelessness).
"Singtel has officially dropped news channel Al Jazeera English (AJE) from its selection of MioTV options from 1st April. ... No word or reason had been given by Singtel on why they have pulled AJE from the airwaves. A check with the MioTV site does indicate that the dropped Middle East news channel has been replaced with 'newer adequate choices' such as Russia Today, CCTV 9 (China) as well as Euronews. I don’t really need to explain possibly how uninspiring the first two options are as respected news channels, given the state of politics and press freedom in bothRussia and China. Perhaps Al Jazeera has rattled the nerves of the ruling elite with a host of programs scrutinizing the socio-economic problems in Singapore, more so than any other news channel (including the venerable BBC World News). You can be sure CCTV 9, Russia Today and Euronews would almost have minimal, if not tame coverage on anything to do with Singapore." Dexter Lee, Icarus Flew Too High weblog, 3 April 2010. Mio TV is an IPTV service, and AJE is missing from its channel list. This terse announcement from mio TV via Google cache.
"In a letter to subscribers last month, SingTel said the news channel would be dropped from April 1 as mio TV 'strives to enhance our channel offerings'. Asked why the channel was removed, a SingTel spokeswoman told MediaCorp: 'mio TV constantly streamlines our content offerings in order to address the demands and requirements of our customers.' The pay TV operator did not answer queries about Al Jazeera's viewership figures. But the spokeswoman noted that mio TV has dropped fewer than 10 channels since it launched in July 2007. In the past two months, youth channel Sling and nature documentary channel Equator were discontinued. ... Al Jazeera did not reply to enquiries by press time. Singaporeans can continue to watch Al Jazeera reports on its English website." Ong Dai Lin,
Today (Singapore), 7 April 2010.
Update: "After barely a year, Al Jazeera has just been taken off the air. Now, it took some two years for the Singapore Government to allow us into the country in the first place. When we were finally given the go-ahead, the channel was confined to the fledgeling MIO network, which has extremely limited distribution. No reason has been given for removing us. Hard as it is to believe, I can't rule out the possibility that MIO management considers Russia Today and China's CCTV9 to be more reputable news sources than Al Jazeera English, and more appealing to their audience. Those stations are still available. But if the decision was a commercial rather than a political one, I wonder whether the Singapore Government will now allow the major cable operator, Starhub, to make its own commercial decision?" Teymoor Nabili, AJE Kuala Lumpur presenter, The Asia Blog, Aljazeera.net, 8 April 2010.
"Al Jazeera reports on the homelessness issue in Singapore. Singapore is a nation of homeowners, largely thanks to a comprehensive system of government subsidised housing. But despite the system’s overall success, the strict rules also mean that some people fall through the cracks." Aljazeera video report via The Online Citizen (Singapore), 5 April 2010.
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China Radio International and CCTV-9 might soon be rebroadcast in Jamaica (updated again).
"The Media Association Jamaica (MAJ) is in the dark about a proposal being considered by the Government to allow Chinese entities to start operating a radio and television station locally. ... 'The Cabinet has given approval for the pursuit of discussions in respect to a proposal received for cooperation between the Govern-ment of Jamaica and the Government of The People's Republic of China to transmit Chinese programmes over free-to-air radio and television stations," [Information Minister Daryl] Vaz told the media briefing. He said discussions were held at a ministerial level with a delegation from China Radio International and China Central Television on the possibility of establishing the stations. '(This is) To promote Jamaica-China relations and to deepen the appreciation and understanding of Chinese culture,' added Vaz.' The Gleaner (Kingston), 6 April 2010. VOA appears no longer to be a player in the English-speaking Caribbean.
"Information Minister Daryl Vaz says concerns that the proposed introduction of Chinese radio and television stations would lead to competition with existing commercial media entities, are unfounded. ... He said early indications are that they are interested in the rebroadcast of Chinese radio and television programmes in both the English and Chinese languages. Mr. Vaz noted that the proposal from the Chinese offers an opportunity to deepen appreciation for other cultures. He said similar arrangements are already in place with the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Alliance Francaise." Radiojamaica.com, 8 April 2010.
Update: "The Cabinet has approved talks between Jamaica and China on cooperation on the transmission of Chinese radio and television programmes in Jamaica. However, Minister with Responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Daryl Vaz, says the discussions are in the preliminary stage, and that China is only interested in the rebroadcast of Chinese radio and television programmes in English and Chinese." Jamaica Information Service, 14 April 2010.
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[In telling the following tale, I have no desire to again piss off anyone I've previously pissed off. Therefore, I'm specifically not using the name of one of the main characters. I'd still rather share a few beers with him than anything else.]
Flake (n) – Someone who doesn’t conform to the normal on-field or locker room standards in sports.
Hello. My name is Sully, and I’m a flake.
(Some of you: "Hi, Sully!")
Hey, never mind that stuff. I’ve got a question for you. What’s brown and sticky?
Give up?
A stick!
Some of you laughed (or at least smiled.) Others are clicking off of this page even as we speak (which we aren’t actually doing, since I’m typing and you’re reading, and OOPS! There goes the rest of them!)
The problem with being a flake is that some people have no sense of humor. If one of the main joys in your life is making jokes, the humorless fucks will never be best buddies with you. The best you can hope for with them is to not end up trading punches.
The problem with people who have no sense of humor is that most of them don’t realize it. They think because they laugh every so often they have one. No. It’s what you laugh at that counts. Chuckling while you pull the wings off of a fly doesn’t prove anything aside from your psychosis. And when you tell someone without a sense of humor that they have no sense of humor, they usually get pissed off. That's actually the best test for finding out if someone has a sense of humor, by the way. If they have a sense of humor, they'll crack a joke instead of getting steamed.
Anyway, I’ve always been a flake, a wing nut, a goofy bastard. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Of course, if I wanted to have it another way, then I wouldn’t be a flake. The true test of flakiness is if a person is absolutely content with being one. If you desperately want to be perceived some other way, then you aren’t truly flaky. You’re just a malcontented dweeb.
Why am I telling you this stuff? I figure it’s a good preface to telling you about something that happened a couple of weeks ago.
I own a catcher’s mask. Since I’m a catcher you might already have assumed that to be the case, but it never hurts to be sure everyone knows the specifics. Two years ago, during a game, the mask broke. It’s one of those goalie-style catcher’s masks, giving full coverage to the entire head. A snap fastener on the back of it somehow sheared off. When it did, I tried to repair it, but couldn’t quite get at how to do so. A guy who was on our team at that time graciously offered to take the mask and have it repaired. He said he knew someone who could do it, and he said he’d bring the mask back the next time he played with us. I was happy to hear that. I liked that mask a lot, and it had been a fairly expensive purchase. I thanked him. I expected to get it back in a week or two, and told him I’d be happy to pay for the repair.
I didn't see that guy, or the mask, for two years.
In the meantime, I played, I retired, I came out of retirement - I'm the Brett Favre of fast-pitch softball - and I borrowed masks from other teams when I was catching – always the old-style face-protection-only mask, which I hate - and I thought about buying a new mask, except I was playing first base or DH'ing more often than I was catching, and someone I know was contacting the guy on a semi-regular basis to retrieve the old mask and what I heard on my end, every so often, was that the guy would be bringing the mask to some game or other and I’d be getting it back soon. So, I never bought another one. And I never saw my mask.
This year, I found out I was going to be playing in a league that the guy who had my mask also was playing in. I figured this presented a swell opportunity to get my mask back. I e-mailed the guy at the start of the season and asked him if we could hook up someday before or after one of his games. He never answered my e-mail. At that point, I figure the guy isn’t even acknowledging my existence, let alone acknowledging the fact that he has my mask. I assumed we’d run into each other someday when our respective teams were either playing each other or scheduled back-to-back on the same field, and I’d talk to him in person then, but for the moment, since he seemed to be ignoring me and had been in possession of my mask for two years, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind concerning his intentions. Put it this way: it no longer appeared as though he was doing me a favor.
OK, there’s your background. Here’s where being a flake comes in.
Due to rain outs , holidays, and a team dropping from our Sunday league, the Bombers hadn’t played in three weeks. Jack Atton, our manager, sent out the following playful e-mail:
Good morning. My name is Jack Atton, and I was wondering if anyone would be interested in playing some softball this Sunday 9:00 a.m. at Smith Field??
Being a FLAKE, I responded...
Gee, Mr. Atton, I'd love to play! I have my own glove and everything!!! Some guy named XXX stole my mask, but I'm willing to play catcher without one!!! Gee Whilikers! Can we play TWO, maybe?!?
No biggie. The guy with the mask had never answered my e-mail, and also had never responded to any of Jack’s team e-mails (at least publicly) even though he was still on the e-mail list and nominally part of the team. I made my little jokes and forgot about it.
Except now, the guy answers that e-mail and he’s pissed:
Anyone can come to XXXXX to get mask at anytime I will leave in my backyard if you guys want. I have plenty of masks of my own. I have tried to get it back but went out of my way to get fixed and that was my part. I do not appreciate being accused of stealing a mask.
OK, I truly have no desire to piss off anyone. I answer his e-mail:
Hey, XXX, no offense - really - but I tried contacting you about the mask before and got no response. You've had it for close to two years now. As I understand it, XXXXX was trying to get it from you for a while, too, but somehow the mask never got back to us. Maybe 'stole my mask' wasn't the best way to put it, but it did get you to respond, right? :-)
Seriously, if you had it repaired, I appreciate that, and I want to pay for the repairs, too.
Peace?
He replies...
Lets clear the air. I have always tried to get mask to XXXXX... I will leave mask in my backyard for you to pick up if you want. I want it out of my basement as soon as possible. I have enough of my own junk down there. I only happened to see email because of yesterday so i have never get any contact from you. Please lets get this done today or tomorrow.
OK, fine. I'm happy, as long as I get my mask back and it’s fixed. I have some further private correspondence with him. I still offer to pay for the repair and even offer to buy him a beer. I don't want there to be any chance of hard feelings because I do actually like the guy. I remember, during one of the first games I played with him, that I had a horrible game - truly horrendous, something like four errors in three innings - and while I was sitting on the bench with my head down, mumbling to myself, XXX came over to me, put an arm around my shoulder, and said some kind words, something to the effect of we all have bad days, it's just a game, etc. (and I really wish I could give you his real name while I'm telling you this good stuff, because I don't forget niceness like that and he deserves his props for it.) However, each succeeding e-mail response from him seems more terse than the previous one. I’m trying to make nice, but he seems pretty much tired of talking. Maybe he was really busy; I don't know. In any case, it's a classic flake/not-a-flake interface.
Meanwhile, some of my teammates are graciously adding fuel to the fire, sending out e-mails such as this...
Too late to apologize, Sully... an all points bulletin has already been issued in XXXXX to be on the lookout for a semi-nude man in a catchers mask, cursing your name!!
Sorry, XXX, Sully is really a bully!
After all is said and done, it ends with XXX saying he’s putting the mask on his back porch and I can come by to pick it up whenever I want. I send one last one-word e-mail to him ("Thanks") and also send one to the team saying this...
I've arranged with XXX to pick up my mask tonight. Just want to make it clear to everyone that XXX did NOT steal my mask, OK? It was a joke.
... which is the sort of thing a flake often has to end up saying, unfortunately.
I drive to his place and get the mask, although not without a small bit of trepidation. What the hell, this guy is already pissed at me for calling him a thief, and I didn't feel I was really able to make peace via our e-mails, so driving to his place and inviting myself into his back yard, then leaving the back yard with what might appear to be a piece of his property, doesn’t exactly thrill me. I would have rather had a brew or two, but he could shoot me in the back and claim it was justified because I was a prowler.
I told the paranoid part of my brain to shut the fuck up, and I went and got the mask because, hey, it's my mask and it was the thing I had to do. He didn’t shoot me, of course. He DOES shoot off an e-mail to the mailing list that contains a joke...
You can call off the all-points bulletin. Sully has his mask back and with a free repair!
... so he does have a sense of humor and I guess we're not mortal enemies. In case I didn't make this point clear already, I'd still like to have a beer with him.
And I figure that’s that and happily ever after, etc., except the very first game I wear the mask again, it breaks in the second inning. Same exact problem. Whatever repair was made didn’t work.
I took the mask home and repaired it myself, which is what I should have done two years ago and everybody would have been happier. I duct-taped the crap out of it. It is now Frankenmask.
Truth be told, I kind of like how it looks. But, I’m a flake.
Meanwhile, back at Smith Field…
BOMBERS – 18 Courtesy Flush – 6
I’m loving this season. The Swingers (who were rained out of their only scheduled game this week) have won 6 of their last 7, and are now 6 – 5 – 1. As long as we don’t fall apart completely the rest of the way, we should make the playoffs. And, if we keep winning, there’s a real chance we could finish first in our division and receive a first round bye.
The Bombers now stand at 7 - 1, which is the best start in team history. And that makes perfect sense. We’ve got a loaded lineup, very good fielding, a fine pitching staff, and team chemistry is great. Jack Atton has done a swell job assembling this squad since I handed him the manager’s reigns 4 seasons back, and (more important than just putting the pieces together) he keeps everyone involved and on their toes. It’s almost impossible to manage a team and not have at least one or two guys feeling they're not being utilized correctly, but so far so good for Jack. He’s made all the right moves and everybody likes him. That’s an amazing accomplishment.
The unfortunately named Courtesy Flush (now there’s a name that would make me feel just fine about being a Master Batter, and if you don’t get that joke it means you didn’t read last week’s report) hasn’t had much success since entering the league. If I’m not mistaken, they’ve won one game up to now, and this is their third season. But, you know what? I give them all the credit in the world. They show up every week, they play with enthusiasm, and they are improving. They’re just a couple of good players away from being truly competitive, maybe only one player away if they can latch on to a lockdown pitcher. They have a decent enough nucleus so long as the good players don’t become discouraged and start dropping out.
With scores like we had this week, the usual superlatives about hitting won’t do. Almost everybody put up numbers that would be outstanding if they came against a higher level of competition, but aren’t so much when graded on the curve. That’s not to say anybody should be ashamed. You can only play whom you’re playing, and if your good numbers are less impressive because they were had in fairly non-competitive games, it’s not your fault. However, if I start listing every instance of a couple of hits or RBI, we’ll be here until next week. I’ll limit the shout outs to three truly outstanding performances.
Pat Atton had about as good a day as it’s possible to have in the leadoff position. He went 5 for 6, drew two walks, scored 7 runs, and had 7 RBI. Wow. Hell of a good job. As a former leadoff man, I truly appreciated the artistry of his day.
Big Jay Atton pitched both ends of the doubleheader. He ran his record this season to 5 – 0 (9 - 2, when you throw in his Swingers stats) and he’s been fairly much lights out much of the time. At the plate, he blasted a homer, and he leads the team in that category.
Final kudos to the newest member of the team, Charlie (he’s so new, I don’t even know his last name.) He’s a good outfielder with speed to burn. He’s also a hellacious hitter, cracking a double and two home runs. He had an astounding 10 RBI in his Bombers debut. Hell, I’ve had entire seasons where I didn’t rack up 10 RBI.
(Hey, I was a leadoff hitter, remember? It was my job to get on base. It was the other guy’s jobs to drive me in.)
Speaking of me, I went 2 for 3, drew 3 walks, scored 5 runs, and had two RBI. I hit two solid liners for the hits, and actually got good wood on the ball for the out, too, and that was nice after the slew of weak grounders and trivial pop-ups I’d had recently. If you’ll indulge me for just a little while longer, I’d like to tell you about my final at-bat.
The score was already 18 – 5. As I came up, the bases were loaded with nobody out. For some reason, Courtesy Flush pulled the outfield in to about 40 feet behind the infield. I mean, it was the most I’ve been dissed as a hitter in my entire career. I was already 2 for 3 with two walks, and both hits had been solid line drives. I don’t know what the hell they were thinking. Maybe they were just grasping at straws at that point, hoping to luck into a double play if I hit an at ‘em shot. Anyway, the temptation to try and stroke one over their heads was strong. If I hit anything that got past them, it might have been the cheapest grand slam in history. But I’m too old to start playing the game the wrong way. I was facing a pitcher who was having control problems and he didn’t give me a pitch good enough for me to go against what I knew was the right thing to do. I took four straight balls and walked to first, driving in a run. And I did literally walk to first base, slowly. I mean, if they were going to diss me that badly, then I felt I had a right to say, "I did the correct thing in this situation. I hope you realize that." I mean, they’re a nice bunch of guys, but still...
And that does it. No games for the Bombers next week. We’re off for the 4th of July. We resume play on the 11th versus the Moe Howard Club (and there’s a team name I really dig!) Tonight, I’m back behind the plate for the Swingers, and I'll be wearing Frankenmask. Life is good, man. Life is good.
BOMBERS STATS
The End Of Charlie's
Last time, I said that disaster was about to strike the little neighborhood stores, including Charlie’s. Before I tell you what that disaster was, I need to explain a bit more about our Lower Mills neighborhood during the 1960’s.
There were three places for the moms in the neighborhood to do their shopping at, aside from the mom and pop stores. The Purity Supreme was in Mattapan Square. That was beyond walking distance. If you wanted to shop there, you had to take the trolley, then carry your sacks of groceries home on it, as well as make the two or three block walk to and from the trolley stop at both Central Avenue and Mattapan. That put it out of consideration for most. The Stop & Shop was located on Morton Street, near the end of Galivan Boulevard. It was a good 10-minute walk from our house on Caddy Road, so the only time a mom went there was when an amazing bargain made the trip worthwhile. Most often, when serious shopping needed to be done, the First National was the place to go. It was about a five-minute walk from home, next to St. Gregory’s Catholic Church, in what was referred to as ‘The Village’.
Now, I hope you noticed that I said ‘walk’, not ‘drive’. This is because the moms rarely had access to a car with which to do their shopping. In those days, if a family had a car, that’s what they had: ONE car. Half the families didn’t have a car at all. As a result, most expeditions to the supermarket entailed returning home carrying your groceries by hand or by pulling them along in a wagon or cart. Walking even five minutes with your arms weighted down by four or five sacks of goods was no picnic. Neither was dragging a cart along bumpy sidewalks and streets, with the likelihood of something fragile and/or breakable being jostled out of your cart.
As a result, the smaller stores, closer in proximity and not unreasonably priced, did enough business to be profitable. If they offered friendlier service than you got at a supermarket, that was a plus. You could pay your utilities bills at McDonald’s. Charlie would grind your hamburger to specifications. And if you wanted something quickly, such as cigarettes or a quart of milk, you certainly didn’t want to walk fifteen minutes – or even five – to someplace where you’d have to wait in line for five more minutes to pay, and then have another longish walk back home.
One more very important thing: For many years, Bakers Chocolate had their headquarters along the Neponset River in Lower Mills. They were a national company, using a railroad spur to receive shipments of cocoa beans, and then shipping out chocolate products via that same railroad line. They decided to close the factory, moving their headquarters to the Midwest. This did two things of import concerning the neighborhood. First, it put a bunch of people out of work, giving them less discretionary income and puting them in a position where they had to find bargains. Second, it put a large parcel of land bordering River Street, home to a now useless railroad roundhouse, on the market cheap.
The Jewel Companies put two and two together and came up with a million dollar idea that spelled disaster for the mom and pop stores. They looked at the geography of the neighborhood; where the other supermarkets were; and the fact that this magnificently located parcel of land could now be had for peanuts. Then they bought the land and built a small shopping center on River Street. In addition to their own Star Market as the flagship tenant, they built an Osco's pharmacy. Gilchrist’s opened a department store in the complex, Brigham's opened an ice cream parlor, and a small bank moved in as well.
Now, not only could the moms of the neighborhood get their large grocery shopping done somewhere nearby, they could also get prescriptions filled, buy inexpensive clothes and toys, have a decent ice cream sundae, and cash checks. This spelled doom for the little neighborhood grocery stores, and it also croaked a whole bunch of other neighborhood stalwarts.
The first place to go out of business was Sam’s. He was almost directly across the street. The Star could sell meats more cheaply than he could and it was no further away for most folks. He stood no chance. Sam’s became a real estate office.
Next to go was Shirley’s. Hers was a barely-going concern to begin with, and The Star was only a half-block away. Her place was rebuilt into a residential dwelling.
A fruit-and-produce store, Orlando’s - where everybody bought Christmas trees every year, as well as vegetables - was next to fold. They couldn’t compete with Star’s prices. Star didn’t sell Christmas trees, but that business wasn’t enough to float Orlando’s through the other 11 months. They sold their building and it became a law office.
There were three neighborhood pharmacies when Osco’s opened. One folded immediately. When that happened, the other two were able to scrape by due to a loyal clientele. Getting folks to transfer their trust along with their prescriptions wasn’t as easy as getting them to buy their milk and eggs someplace new. However, they barely survived.
An ice cream store, Hendrie’s in Milton, closed. It was actually part of an ice cream factory, which still operated. However, even as part of a factory, they couldn’t compete with Brigham’s location in the shopping center.
(The main thing Gilchrist’s opening did was to keep business from going to the Mattapan Square stores of W. T. Grant’s and Woolworth’s, the two largest businesses in that commercial area. As a result, Mattapan Square businesses in general had less traffic, and stores that relied a bit more on impulse buying – restaurants, bars, movie houses – died a slow death, leaving that area depressed for years.)
McDonald’s was the next-to-last small store in Lower Mills to close. He held out for a couple of years, doing a business in comic books, cigars, men's magazines, and other items that The Star and their brethren either didn't care about or thought unprofitable. However, he finally called it a day, too. His land was used to open a sub shop called Spukie’s and (irony) a chain convenience store, L’il Peach, a few years down the road.
The only neighborhood store that survived more than a couple of years was Charlie’s. The only reason it survived was because Charlie Capabianco had given his life to his store. In return, the store gave him life. It was his life. There was nothing else he could do but keep the store open, even if it wasn’t making him any money.
And it wasn’t.
The first thing Charlie had to do, in order to survive, was lay off his teenage helper, Pete. He just plain couldn’t afford to have someone else on the payroll. He then started opening an hour earlier in the morning and sometimes staying open later at night. He concentrated his stock in things that people always wanted quickly – cigarettes, milk, cream - and things that the supermarket didn’t carry, or sold only in quantity, such as penny candies, small snack cakes, tonics, and iced treats like Fudgsicles, sold one at a time rather than in 12-packs.
We were too young to know all of the finances of these things at the time. I only realize in retrospect what he did to survive, and how much he was hurt by the Star. We had no idea how much cashflow he had lost. He still got a bit of adult business, but not much. However, he never lost the kid’s business.
He never lost the kid’s business because he was the guy who had given us treats on Halloween; who had trusted us enough to let us pick and choose our own penny candies; who stocked great treats - root beer and banana Popsicles - starting every year when school let out; who had let us feel like big deals when we got to eat a little bit of leftover hamburger from his grinder; who had taken every bottle we brought to him for a 2 cent or 5 cent return fee, even if he had never sold that brand of soda before and the bottle was caked with filth from where we found it along the banks of the river; and who had let our families put things ‘on the tab’ when we were broke.
As we became teenagers, his adult customers were few and far between. Only the most local of the locals, those who lived right around the store, came in to buy anything. Older retired gentlemen with no place else to go hung inside while we hung out in front, pitching pennies at his front wall.
When we reached 15 and 16, he let us sit inside and read the paper when we had nowhere else to go. His place became a hangout for the unemployed, the never employed, and the barely employed. While we tried to act like adults – smoking cigarettes behind our parent’s backs, and using ‘fuck’ every third word in sentences – Charlie sat at his counter, drinking his Old Granddad and barely breaking even.
And when we reached 18, 19 and 20, semi-hoods occasionally selling drugs, trading sports bets, playing quarter-half poker and desperately trying to come up with schemes to keep from working legitimate jobs, we hung out at Charlie’s all day, sitting around the store like we owned it, paying our clubhouse dues by purchasing the occasional pack of smokes, or maybe a bag of chips and a Coke. And, when he wasn’t arguing sports with us, Charlie dozed at the counter, one hand wrapped around his empty whiskey glass.
We tried to do right by him. Those of us who had cars would give Charlie a ride when he needed one, usually taking him home to his apartment on River Street when he closed up. If he wanted a new bottle, we’d make the run to the liquor store. There weren’t too many deliveries, but when one came, we unloaded the boxes and stocked the shelves, or took the overstock to the cellar. More than once, one of us removed a burning cigarette from his fingers after he fell asleep at the counter. If an actual customer came in – which was a rarer occurrence than ever – we rang up the sale for him and let him sleep.
Then we were all in our early 20’s. Well, even when we were little kids, Charlie had seemed old to us. Now, he actually was. And we knew – every one of us KNEW – that when he finally decided to call it a day, and close the store for good, he wouldn’t be with us much longer.
And that’s exactly what happened. Charlie’s, the store, closed. Less than a month later, Charlie Capabianco, the man, died. That was a bit more than 25 years ago now.
There’s a whole bunch of guys originally from that neighborhood, like me, who hold a very dear place in their hearts for that little Italian guy we literally grew up with; who might have been the first adult to treat some of us like adults; who gave us a place to hang, keeping us more-or-less off the streets and out of more serious trouble; who extended us credit when we were hurting; and who – God bless him – trusted us with the penny candy. Like I said earlier, 19 times out of 20 we repaid that trust with honesty.
I wish to hell it had been 20 out of 20.
Charlie's
[Another reprint. I still don't feel much like writing except for the weekly softball reports (and I know how much some of you love those.)
This is NOT about softball. It being Summer around these parts, I've decided to once again share the story of my old neighborhood 'Mom & Pop' store (although, as you'll soon see, there was only a 'Pop'.) The store was open year-round, but it is one of the places that immediately comes to mind for me when I think 'Summer'.
Charlie's store, nowadays...
Here's the story. I hope you enjoy it.]
I lived in the Lower Mills section of Dorchester/Mattapan, in the city of Boston, for the first 37 years of my life.
(The Post Office said I lived in Mattapan, but maps say it was Dorchester. Take your pick. I was right on the border.)
When I was a kid, during the 1960’s, there were many small neighborhood stores in the area. Within a five-minute walk of our home on Caddy Road, there were 6 or 7 places for a kid to buy things like baseball cards, penny candy, comic books, Cokes, Popsicles, Hostess and Drake’s cakes, and other necessities of a happy childhood.
When you wanted to check out the latest Green Lantern or Avengers, McDonald’s was the place to go. It was located at the intersection of River and Washington, and it had a wooden magazine stand that took up most of a complete wall, lined from one end to the other with not only the mainstays, like Superman and Batman, but also interesting new titles that the real junkie (me) would give a shot; stuff like The Hawk & The Dove, The Inferior Five, and Luke Cage, Hero For Hire.
(Trivia note: Luke Cage was the first black superhero character to have a whole title devoted to him. I remember visiting an older female relative at her house in Brockton and lying on a bed reading that first issue. She came into the room where I was doing so, looked at Luke Cage on the cover, and got a look on her face as though she had been physically violated. She said, "Is that comic book about a nigger?"
Until that point, I hadn’t thought that what I was reading was all that unusual. Luke Cage just looked really cool on the cover; that’s why I bought it. The story was good, and made sense, too. He had acquired some special powers – I forget exactly what and how - so he decided that he’d hire himself out, for money, to solve folk’s problems. I figured that’s what I might have done, too, if I had somehow gained superpowers. Anyway, thoughts concerning the race of the main character hadn’t entered into my decision to buy it. Her comment, however, made me feel very radical for reading literature that could have such a startling effect. I became a big Luke Cage fan. I bought every issue during its short-lived tenure, and whenever I was outside with one, I made sure that I carried it with the cover showing, just in case anyone was unsure of my credentials as a freedom fighter.)
In the unlikely event that McDonald’s didn’t have some title you craved, there was always Clover Drug, just across the Neponset River in the richer suburb of Milton.
(You’ve heard the phrase, "Born on the wrong side of the tracks?" Milton was literally on the other side of the trolley tracks from my neighborhood. Whenever my friends and I ventured over there, we were no longer fairly-well-behaved middle-class white kids, most of whom came from comfortable homes with loving parents. In our minds, we transformed into tough kids from the slums. We had no doubts concerning our ability to whale the piss out of any Milton kids who happened along. Of course, that’s how kids from the projects up on Morton Street probably felt when they came into OUR neighborhood, so it all evened out.)
Comic books were the only item of interest sold at Clover Drug, so you never went out of your way to go there unless you needed an issue that had the finale of a two-or-three-part story. You’d often end up waiting in line behind some matronly Milton woman having a prescription filled, and that might take a good 5 or 10 minutes – an eternity for a kid. McDonald’s had no such wait, and it also sold postage stamps, took payments for electric and phone bills, and provided other services that made it useful for moms and other grown-ups to send you there.
There were other "mom and pop" stores. Sam’s was sort of an all-purpose butcher shop that, in addition, sold baseball cards for some reason. It was located on River Street next to the liquor store, a decent place to buy a cold soda or a Slim Jim, even though the other mystifying liquids they sold were temporarily out of our age range. Shirley’s was a tiny place on Cedar Street, not known around the neighborhood for any specialty. It was basically where you went if every other place was closed. However, the undisputed king of the neighborhood stores in our area was Charlie’s, on Sanford Street. There were no comic books, but everything else a kid could ever want was available. And Charlie was there, too, which was the best thing.
The guy at McDonald’s (I assume, McDonald himself) never smiled, at least that I remember. He always had a stubby cigar jammed in his puss and you could feel his eyes burning into your back as you perused the comics. Sometimes you'd grab something you weren't quite sure you wanted and take it up to the counter to buy it just because you were spooked. Sam always seemed less-than-thrilled when a kid walked in. Shirley was friendly enough, I suppose, but we went there so rarely, it wasn’t really a consideration.
Charlie wasn’t a saint, by any means, but he talked to you as though you were a real customer, not just some pain-in-the-ass kid he had to deal with until someone with actual money showed up. And he trusted you. He let us go behind the counter and pick our own nickel or dime’s worth of penny candy, expecting that we’d be honest about the whole thing, not putting any in our pockets when he wasn’t looking. 19 times out of 20, we met his expectations.
Most important, aside from his proximity to our house – literally, just around the corner - was the fact that Charlie extended credit. If your parents were a bit short on cash that week, they’d send you to Charlie’s with an instruction to tell Charlie to "put it on the tab." After your purchases were totaled up, Charlie would write the amount, with grave flourish and in pencil, on the back of a torn up cardboard cigarette carton with your name at the top of it. These scraps were considered a sacred honor, and I never knew anyone who cheated Charlie out of what he or she owed. It was a neighborhood sign that you had reached adulthood when Charlie allowed you to start running your very own tab.
Charlie, whose full name was Charlie Capabianco, was a thin man of medium height, perhaps 5’ 7” or so. He always seemed to have a two-day growth of stubble on his face – never clean-shaven, but also never with an actual beard or mustache – and his gray/black hair was receding. He had the dark complexion common to Italians of Sicilian heritage. In my youth – or, at least, in my youthful memory - he always wore the same clothes: a light gray button-down waistcoat of the sort associated with meat cutters; dark green corduroys; black shoes; and a plaid shirt under the butcher’s jacket. He had slightly outsized features for his small frame – big hands, a not-quite-Durante-but-still-substantial nose, thick avoirdupois lips, and ears that (when taken with the nose and lips) didn’t look out of place. He usually sat behind the counter on the right-hand side of the store, next to the long glass-enclosed penny candy display case, on a small wooden stool. The cash register, and pile of tabs next to it, sat on the shelf behind him. He rarely left that stool. As a matter fact, about the only things that got him off of the throne from which he ran his small empire were when he was called upon to get an item situated on a high shelf, out-of-reach from a customer, or when he was asked to grind hamburger.
We kids always looked forward to our parents sending us to Charlie’s for ground hamburger. This couldn’t happen today if you went to a million different stores across America, but it happened at Charlie’s. When he was done grinding the meat, he’d let the kid whose family ordered it run his finger around the opening that dispensed the ground-up chuck, taking the small remnant of raw meat for a tiny snack. I don’t know how that sounds to you, but to us kids it was delicious and a rare treat. None of us ever died from it.
(Another thing that could never happen today: Charlie sold cigarettes. If one of your parents was out of smokes, and didn’t feel like going to the store themselves, they’d send you for a pack. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t odd for other grown-ups to see you walking down the street and shout to you, "Jimmy, would you mind running down to Charlie’s and getting me a pack of Camels?" That was a cause for rejoicing. The cigarettes themselves cost only 25 cents in those days, so the person would give you a quarter for them, but they’d also – depending upon their current cash-flow and overall generosity – give you either a nickel or dime for yourself, for doing them the service. And, in those days, a dime pretty much put a kid in business for the entire day.
When you went for the smokes, you also took a trip behind the counter to pick out 10 cents worth of penny candy – and it really was penny candy, too. In some cases, the candy cost LESS than a penny. There were these things called Mint Juleps that went two for a penny. God only knows what they were made of to cost so little, but they were spearmint, hard and chewy, and a pocketful of them would allow you to rot your teeth from sunup to sundown.)
I said before that Charlie was no saint. While he generally treated kids decently, and let them do such wonderfully death-defying things as scrape raw meat from his grinder, he drank Old Granddad whiskey pretty much all day. One of the things I recall about Charlie, with particular fondness, was how he would pour the last drink from his whiskey bottle and then do a pantomime wherein he “wrung out” the empty bottle, pretending to squeeze it vigorously, producing one or two more drops. He also wasn’t averse to calling you a little cocksucker if you did something he didn’t like; perhaps dropping a coke bottle, necessitating him to get off of his stool to mop it up, or if he thought you might be stealing a piece of candy. His mean outbursts were rare, though – probably justified, too, now that I look back on it - and most of the kids thought of him as a sort of extended member of the family, albeit one who was sometimes half-drunk.
I want there to be no doubt: We loved this guy, even if he drank like a fish and sometimes called us obscene names. Let me see if I can tell you one more story that shows him in the right light.
Charlie usually closed up at around 6:30 or 7 o’clock each night. On Halloween, however, when we kids would go out trick or treating, Charlie kept his store open late. And kids from blocks around went there, knowing that Charlie would put some treat into their bags. This was an Irish-Catholic neighborhood, in the days when birth control wasn’t prevalent, so that meant LOTS of kids. And some of these kids probably never went to Charlie’s any other time of the year. It didn’t matter. Charlie gave something to every kid, and not just one of the cheap two-for-one Mint Juleps, either. Everybody got a bag of chips or a pack of cupcakes or some other nice higher-priced item.
Charlie didn’t have to stay open. None of the other little stores did. And he didn’t have to give us 10-cent goodies. A one-cent piece of Bazooka Joe would have been enough to get rid of us, and with a smile on our faces, too. But he did stay open, and he did give us the expensive treats. That’s why he was loved, and why, after all of the other little stores had long since closed, Charlie’s was still open.
Charlie’s was a profitable concern when I was very young. As a matter of fact, he had so much business, he hired an assistant, a teenager from the neighborhood named Pete. Pete dressed in the same manner as Charlie, with the button-down gray coat, but he stocked shelves, swept the floor, and did other manual labor, leaving Charlie time to drink his whiskey undisturbed by such tasks.
Life was good. Charlie, and all of the other owners of small stores in the neighborhood, prospered. Then, disaster struck, although most of us didn’t realize just how disastrous it was at the time...
Return Of Return Of The Cicada Killers
[In my continuing quest to recycle everything I've ever written, I am re-posting this piece which I've re-posted at least once before. It is pertinent because the creatures mentioned herein have, indeed, returned again. And just a tad earlier than usual, too, thus giving me something to post right when I feel like being lazy and not writing anything new, so if I knew of a treat to give them - aside from a Cicada - I'd be more than happy to do so as a way of showing my thanks. However, if you still have a problem with this being a re-run, just be thankful it's not about softball. Softball does get mentioned, in an off-hand sort of way, but no statistics or anything else will rear their ugly heads to intimidate the less mathematically inclined.]
RETURN OF THE CICADA KILLERS
The firm for which I work, Marketing Messages, is located in Newton, Massachusetts. At our building, we have a fascinating insect population for two months out of each year. Every July, the Cicada Killers come out to play.
If you've never encountered a Cicada Killer, you're missing something big. And I do mean BIG. They are the largest damned wasps I've ever seen. Here is a picture that provides some idea of their size.
And that doesn't really do them justice. When they're alive and flying around, they look bigger. Here's one standing next to a water pipe. The pipe segment is perhaps four inches long and an inch-and-a-half wide.
The thing about them, though, is that they appear dangerous, but are actually completely harmless.
(Unless you're a cicada, of course, in which case they will KILL YOU.)
The first time visitors to our building encounter these biplanes flying around near our entrance, they're likely to get frightened. You can't blame someone for feeling that way. These things are almost big enough to saddle, and most wasps would just as soon sting you as look at you. However, here is the thought process of your average Cicada Killer:
He flies up to within ten inches of your chest and looks you over.
He says, "Duh... are you a cicada? Doy... guess not! Ooooh, look! I think that's a cicada over there!"
He flies off to look at a big rock.
A minute or so later, he comes back to within ten inches of your chest. He looks you over again.
He says, "Duh... are you sure you're not a cicada? Doy... guess not! Ooooh, look! I think that's a cicada over there!"
He flies off to have a look at a Buick.
After a while, you realize they won't harm you. So, you walk right through bunches of them hovering about, and you say, "Get out of my way, you chowderheads!" And then they do, because they want to see if that passing UPS truck might be a cicada.
Some folks in this building kill them. Why? I suppose because it makes them feel big or something. I can't imagine a less-thrilling sport than hunting these thick-as-a-brick creatures. I mean, they fly right up to within a foot of you, with no more guile or reticence than Paris Hilton. Where's the thrill in bringing your boot down on such a thing as that? Hell, if I took a softball bat out of my trunk at noon, I could swat them all out into the street by the time my lunch hour was over. Big deal.
I like to watch them, actually. They're amazingly industrious. When building a nest, they get down on the ground and dig dirt like a dog, throwing it out with their hind legs in prodigious amounts. For instance, I left work last night, not a sand mound of theirs in sight, and came in this morning and saw this...
That's about 7" x 7", a couple of inches high, and dug by ONE wasp. That's like you or me building a duplex in one night.
Using only our legs.
While taking time off to go up to passing tractor-trailers in hopes that they might be something good to eat.
Oh, one last thing (in case you didn't click on the link above and find this out already.) The Cicada Killer adults don't actually kill the cicadas. The females - since the males have no stinger - paralyze the cicadas and transport them back to their nests. Then they place the still-living-but-paralyzed cicadas in the nest with a new Cicada Killer egg. When the new one hatches, it eats the cicada.
Yuck! I'm mighty glad I'm not a cicada!
(You, too, no doubt.)
The Cicada Killers go away by the end of August, having finally caught cicadas and lain eggs (and whatever else they do during their brief lifespan - perhaps catch a Buffett concert or some other summery activity.) Anyway, if you run into some of them, just say, "Get out of my way, you chowderheads!"
(Unless you actually are a cicada, in which case you'll be toast.)
(Credits: I took the photo of the living wasp, while I stole the photo of the dead ones from this website. However, the photo of the dirt mound was taken by my former co-worker Sarah Colvin, who actually got down on the ground next to it and took the shot while the resident Cicada Killer was hovering within inches of her head trying to decide if she was something good to eat. After figuring out that she wasn't, it then flew off to investigate a jeep.)
Happy Fathers Day, Jack!
Today’s Bombers re-cap is brought to you by the letter C.
C stands for Clutch.
But first, we're going to have a history lesson. This won't mean much to some of you, but I think it's important to have folks new to the team know something about what came before them. What follows are the Top 10 All-Time best seasons by Bombers hitters. This is subjective. These are MY choices. Nobody else had a vote.
Player Year AB H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG BB K OB% SLG% OPS R
Jay Atton 09 53 38 4 2 6 30 .717 7 0 .750 1.208 1.958 27
Conrad Pacquette 07 53 26 4 3 10 42 .491 1 0 .500 1.245 1.745 23
Tough call between these two for the top spot. Conrad had the better power numbers, but Jay was more consistent overall. Jay set records for Average, On-Base Percentage, and OPS. Conrad still holds the records for Home Runs, RBI, and Slugging Percentage. Basically, I gave the nod to Jay because he had his year while also giving the team a 3 – 2 record as a starting pitcher (which has nothing to do with being a hitter, but I had to decide it somehow.)
P. Stavrinos, Jr. 01 66 40 6 0 7 30 .606 2 1 .618 1.015 1.633 29
Stav was magnificent all-around that year, playing a superb shortstop as well.
Ron Johnson 95 50 28 0 0 8 27 .560 9 3 .627 1.040 1.667 16
Ron was easily the best hitter on the Bombers for the first four years of the team, leading the team in OPS every year. His record of 8 Home Runs - from 1995, the first year of the team - was not topped until Conrad Pacquette hit his 10 in 2007. We won 5 games all year in 1995. Without Ron, we win zero.
Charlie White 05 60 32 4 6 7 32 .533 11 4 .606 1.150 1.756 25
Charlie had 17 extra-base hits, still a record (tied by Conrad Pacquette in 2007.) Charlie also set the standard for triples, with 6 (tied by Cam Zirpolo in 2009.)
Scott Sarro 97 80 39 6 1 6 33 .488 14 1 .564 .813 1.377 35
Thirteen years later, that 35 is still the record for runs scored in a season. Scott was a magnificent outfielder and had a great eye at the plate, as witnessed by the 14 – 1 walk to strikeout ratio.
Billy Botting 08 70 43 8 1 6 32 .614 1 2 .620 1.014 1.634 31
Billy’s 43 hits are the team record.
Jay Atton 05 52 26 9 5 1 25 .500 8 1 .567 .923 1.490 23
Jay tag-teamed with Charlie White in 2005 to provide one of the best one-two punches in Bomber history.
Matt Stone 04 66 37 8 4 1 31 .561 3 1 .580 .848 1.428 19
Matt was a Bomber for 12 years, and consistently good as a hitter.
Jay Atton 01 40 22 3 2 3 24 .550 6 0 .609 .950 1.559 14
Jay’s third appearance on my list. This time, he supported Phil Stavrinos, Jr., in 2001.
There’s always room for argument with these sorts of lists. I’ll list a few more seasons that I considered (just by name and year, no stats – I’m tired of typing in the entire lines.)
Jay Atton '07
Matt Stone '99 & '00
Matt Widiger '04
Jeff Gabriel '97
Ron Johnson '96 & '97
And, of course, there are some guys who had great seasons in the field, or pitching (or who played under adversity while taking one for the team, and whose contributions don’t show up on any stat sheet.)
Now that I’ve filled up enough space, let’s get to the actual ball played this week. We’ll start with M Street and then get to the Bombers.
SWINGERS – 9 MasterBatters – 5
SWINGERS – 16 L Street Tavern – 9
The Swingers have now won 6 of their last 7, and we are firmly in 3rd place in our division. That’s the last playoff spot and we control our own destiny.
These were two particularly important and satisfying wins. The MasterBatters (now there’s a team name that makes me glad I’m a Swinger) are the team directly above us in the standings, so this win gives us hope of possibly catching them before season’s end. Jay Atton pitched, giving up 5 in the first and then holding them scoreless over the final six innings. Jay has been great the past couple of weeks (including his Bombers outings, more on those in just a minute.) Josh Lebron threw for us in the win over L Street and he was swell, too, despite the 9 runs. The Swingers defensive woes continue, but we’re still hitting well enough to overcome the errors. L Street is in the division above ours, so this was our most impressive win to date (think Appalachian State over Michigan.)
I went 1 for 5 in the two games, catching both, drew a couple of walks, had 3 RBI, a run scored, and a double. If I can pick it up a little over the final part of the schedule, I have a chance to post some decent numbers at M Street. I have to pick it up, though. I’m not getting good wood on the ball lately (more on that during the Bombers segment, too.)
M Street Softball Website
Swingers Stats
BOMBERS – 8 Dot Rats – 6
A couple of really satisfying wins. We came up big when it counted, securing the wins by scoring 3 in the 7th inning in the first game, and 2 in the 7th in the second game. The Dot Rats (“Dot”, for those not from Boston, is what some people call Dorchester) were the runners-up last season. We have now completed what should have been the toughest part of our schedule with a 5 – 1 record. We should cruise into the playoffs barring some sort of decimation of our roster.
(I know that sounds cocky, but it’s true. We won these while missing two of our biggest sticks – Robbie Rogers and Josh Lebron – and without the flexibility afforded by having Josh Lebron on hand to pitch. We fielded just enough healthy players for game two.)
Since this post is already stat heavy, I may as well continue in that vein. Here are the outstanding performances from Sunday.
Cam Zirpolo 6 for 8, 3 runs scored, RBI
Pat Atton 5 for 8, 3 runs scored, RBI, double
I mention those two first because it was Fathers Day. Here’s what their Dads did.
Emilio Zirpolo 3 for 7, run, walk, 3 RBI
Jack Atton 1 for 6, run, walk, strikeout, 2 RBI
Jack’s line doesn’t look all that great, but his hit was the biggest one of the day. We trailed the second game, 8 – 7, going into the bottom of the final inning. Jay Atton (Jack’s nephew, 4 for 7, run, walk, 2 RBI, pitched both ends) led off with a single to right. Emilio Zirpolo then drew his walk, and he represented the winning run at first base. Following an out, Manny Dominguez – playing hurt all day – reached, loading the bases. That brought Jack to the plate.
Jack took a strike. Then another. The second strike appeared to be both high and outside, and Jack stepped out of the box.
(The umpire was calling a pretty expansive strike zone all day, but that one still appeared just a bit outside of it.)
The next pitch came in slightly low and outside, not Jack’s pitch, but Jack had to protect against the strikeout. He lashed at it and scorched it into left center, Jason and Emilio scoring, game over.
Happy Fathers Day, Jack! And Happy Fathers Day, Emilio, too! On a day when they got to play ball with two sons who had marvelous days, one dad got the winning hit, and the other scored the winning run. How excellent is THAT?
(Even better, the doubleheader started with Pat Atton singling and ended with his dad’s single for the win. The second batter in the first game was Cam Zirpolo, who singled, and, as I said, his dad scored the winning run. Talk about storybook stuff. Could any of those guys possibly have asked for a better Fathers Day doubleheader? I doubt it.)
A couple of other guys deserve mention. Danny Espinosa continued his great play, going 4 for 7 with 6 RBI. Check out the stats page and compare his stats and Big Jay Atton’s stats. Fascinatingly similar. Fast Freddy Goodman, who went 3 for 4 and drew 2 walks, had the other nice day.
Interesting stat of the day: The Bombers accomplished these two wins while getting only two extra-base hits - two doubles. It was all grind it out and guts.
Me? Last week I said that, barring injuries, this team needs me like you need a third nostril for your nose. That’s still true. However, this week we had some injuries and some guys who couldn’t make the games, so I was needed. I didn’t do as well as I might have liked at the plate – aside from a walk my first time up, I did nothing but hit weak grounders – but I caught the second game, played first for the opener, and if I’m not there we don’t have enough players to fill the field in game two. And that’s why everybody on a roster is important. You never know.
If you got all the way to the end of this, I thank you for that. No more softball talk until next Monday, I promise. But I'll have an interesting tale about my mask!
Dad, 16 Years After
[Originally published two years ago, and entitled "Dad, 14 Years After", I've made only the slightest of edits.]
My father died 16 years ago today. He was 62 years old.
At the age of 56, while he was in the hospital for something else, he suffered a heart attack. The doctors who examined him determined that he had had multiple previous attacks, but had probably passed them off as an upset stomach or perhaps a muscle spasm. Shortly after this diagnosis, he underwent triple-bypass surgery.
He was never quite the same afterwards. That isn’t to say he never had any good days again, or that he never laughed, but the bad days far outnumbered the good, and the laughs were less numerous than they had been before.
The main problem was this: before the surgery he carried an inner sense of utter invincibility. He had been a boxer earlier in life, so he feared few men when it came to physical encounters. He served in the navy during the Korean conflict, so had discipline and grace under fire. He had briefly attended seminary, so had a rock-solid belief in God. He also had innate inherited intelligence. He wasn’t some pug with a cauliflower ear, ducking imaginary flocks of birds. He was erudite, had a great memory for jokes, and trained his somewhat pudgy fingers to do amazing things with cards. He also trained himself to become a very decent amateur chef. So, he was extremely independent, with a belief that he could accomplish almost anything to which he set his mind. He asked others for help on occasion, but he always knew that, when push came to shove, he could do it himself if need be.
After the surgery? He was as weak as a kitten. He became exhausted from a walk around the block. Just getting dressed was a chore. He did almost no exercise because he feared another attack. As a result of the no exercise - and by not giving more than a cursory nod to changing his diet - his heart went from bad to worse. He was regularly in the hospital with congestive heart failure.
He had almost always been a bit overweight during the years that I knew him, but heavily muscled. As time passed following the heart surgery, his weight went up and he lost muscle mass. I recall trying to make him feel better, on a visit to his house in New Hampshire, by giving him a nice backrub. I was shocked when I felt bone under my fingers where once there had been thick slabs of muscle.
Before I go on, I’d like to make sure that you know my father wasn’t some pitiful character. He had a pretty rich life, overall. He traveled to exotic places, made love to beautiful women, ate high off the hog, and got to realize more dreams than most. One of his favorite expressions, usually spoken about some poor unfortunate soul who never even had a chance to realize his dreams, was “He never got a kick at the cat.” Well, my father had enough kicks at the cat to cost it all nine lives and then move on to a new cat altogether. This is the anniversary of his death, however, so despite the abundance of good times, that’s what I need to get to.
On the day he died, he was in the hospital - again. I had taken the day off from work, and I planned on driving from Boston up to Plymouth, New Hampshire, where the hospital was, and visit with him. Then I’d go to his house in Thornton, about 15 miles up the road, to mow the lawn and do a couple of other housekeeping chores. I was going to get an early start, perhaps 6am or so, to avoid traffic and to give myself plenty of time.
At about 4am, our phone rang. It was my Dad. He told me that he wasn’t feeling too good, that the doctors were going to have him doing some tests, and that I should just enjoy my day off and not make the ride, since we wouldn’t be able to spend much time together. I asked him if he was sure about it. He said that he was. I told him I loved him, he said that he loved me, and I left it that I’d call him the next day, or maybe the day after, to re-schedule a visit.
At about 8am, the phone rang again. It was my Dad’s primary physician, calling to tell me that he was dead.
If I had taken the ride up there as scheduled, I would have arrived at about 8:30 or 9:00. He would have already passed. And there I would have been, alone in Plymouth, crying. In addition, MY WIFE would have gotten that hideous phone call, and then had to wait in dread to pass the news on to me. Instead, I was home, and MY WIFE hugged me as the tears came. MY WIFE gave me the hug, God bless her, but being home to receive it was my Dad’s last gift to me.
He died on Thursday, June 16th, 1994. His wake was on the following Sunday.
It was Father’s Day.
These are some pictures of my Dad, from infancy up to the year of his passing. I hope you enjoy them. If your own father is still living, even if it’s a few days before or after Father’s Day, do yourself a favor. Give him a call. If he's near you, and he likes such things, give him a nice backrub. I guarantee you won’t be sorry. Ask anyone whose Dad is no longer around. Being sorry only happens if, while you have the chance, you don’t take advantage of the opportunity.
My Dad, with his Mom & Dad.
With his cousins, Patty & Dorothy.
Confirmation, probably at Saint Andrew's.
Wedding to my Mom, 1955.
With Democratic presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson, during my Dad's run for Congress, in 1956.
I'm in this picture, but you can't see me. I'm hiding in my Mom's stomach.
I bought the same tie My Dad is wearing in this photo, independent of knowing My Dad had once owned it, years after his death. The pattern is a plaid, Dress MacPherson. That was his mother's (My Grandmother's) maiden name.
Me, My Grandmother Sullivan, My Dad - Hialeah Race Track, Florida. I was such a snazzy dresser in those days.
With My Dad in Monaco.
With Mom and Dad in Amsterdam.
My Dad with my Grandfather Sullivan, London.
The realization of a lifelong dream. My Dad's thoroughbred race horse, More Now, winner of the first race on April 15th, 1971, at Suffolk Downs, East Boston, Massachusetts. He owned a minority share in the horse. It was the only horse he ever owned any part of, although he had money invested in many horses throughout the years...
He and My Mom were divorced about a year later. Not the only factor, I'm sure.
My Dad was Tony Soprano before Tony Soprano. Note the defunct brands of beer - Schlitz and Schaefer.
One of My Dad's lovely culinary creations. He crafted this bird from an apple, using his jackknife, while on an airplane. Nowadays, you could get arrested for such a thing.
Always a well-dressed man. He took many cruises in his later years. No doubt, this was just prior to one of them.
On one of his many trips to Singapore. He worked for Singapore Airlines, so attended many meetings there. It was a long haul to go to a meeting.
My Dad and I in Thailand, circa 1977, I'd say from the clothes and my skinniness.
Hong Kong, same trip as above.
My Dad during a trip to Teheran, Iran. This was prior to the Shah being deposed and Khomeini coming into power.
As I said, always a well-dressed man. Not his car. He looks right at home with it, though, doesn't he?
In the press box at Suffolk Downs. Note the carrot/pepper palm trees on the table, which were no doubt his creation. Everybody else worked there. My Dad hung there. The professional handicappers considered him their equal. He really was quite good.
With his friend, Sidney Yeung, on the occasion of their joint 55th birthday party.
My Dad's street sign. He petitioned the town to have the name of his dirt road in New Hampshire changed. They said OK, as long as he had a sign made. He did, and there it is. He was mighty proud of it. After his death, the bastards changed the street name back and took down the sign. I wish I had it. So far as I know, it was just taken to the dump.
This is what I said to my Dad every night I was in the same house with him at bedtime. It was said as it is written here, without what would seem to be some necessary punctuation. It was said without pauses, like a magical incantation. I haven’t said it to him for 16 years, but here again, for good measure.
Good night God bless you.
Swingers, Bombers, And Rock & Roll
Now THAT is one magnificent rock ‘n roll photo. Attitude, beer and whiskey bottles, cigarette butts strewn on the floor, egg cartons on the rehearsal room walls, and a bass player who looks like he just crawled out of a dime bag.
(I thought about saying, "... and they have Jesus Christ on bass!", but then decided the less I compare myself to God, the better off I'll be in the long run.)
The band is Live Wire (a.k.a. Powerline) and the time period is circa 1981. I’m the bass player. I’ve shared a few stories about my time in that congregation (Here, Here, and Here, the last with a link to one of our original tunes, performed live, including my bass solo.) And, this past Saturday, three of us got together to jam as a power trio – Ron Frattasio on guitar, Steve Giusti on Drums, and me (a.k.a. Jimi LaRue, back in the day) on Bass.
Want to hear a bit of the jam session? Maybe you do, but, sorry, no. I was hoping to put something out here, but we still sound way too rough. Instead of the tight hard rock outfit we once were, we’re still feeling our way around and the sounds are no better than a second-tier garage band. Thirty years worth of rust takes a while to shake off. But the jams are fun, and I just got that photo from our one-time singer (Thanks, Marty!) and had to show it to you.
Meanwhile, surrounding that musical excursion back in time, I played ball on Thursday night, Friday night, and Sunday morning. In other words, for four straight days, via music and sports, my 53-year-old ass pretended it was 20-something again.
I am blessed beyond measure to be able to do this stuff.
How many people can recapture, for even a few minutes, the days of their youth? And I keep getting to do so in a manner that transports me utterly and completely into those moments, rarely having to acknowledge the ravages of time. The only thing that brings me back to reality is when I have to run the bases. That’s when I suck wind and concede that the rock ‘n roll lifestyle I once indulged in makes it necessary for me to have a pinch runner once in a while.
Philosophical whining aside, the ball has been very satisfying this season. My weeknight team, the Swingers…
(I can’t say that I’m thrilled with that name. Yeah, it’s semi-clever, but when you wear uniform pants as tight as mine, and that sort of team name is emblazoned across your chest, you can’t help but wonder how many people you run into, on the way to and from games, just think you’re some sort of aging sexual deviant.)
(Which I am, of course, so that makes it all the worse.)
Anyway, the Swingers have been playing some decent ball of late, raising our overall record to 4 – 5 – 1, following an 0 – 4 – 1 start to the season. We’re back in contention for the final playoff spot in our division, something I would have truthfully considered an improbability not too long ago. I didn’t think the defense on this team could possibly make enough plays to keep us in the race. It’s still a problem, to be sure – I haven’t seen this many stone-fingered hands outside of a sculpture museum - but the team is a beast on offense, and the recent addition of a couple of good pitchers (Big Jay Atton and Josh Lebron, both also playing with my Sunday team, the Bombers) has helped the defensive effort via inducing more easily-fielded types of plays; pop-ups, weak grounders, and strikeouts. When our pitchers are on, and our batters are hitting to their averages, we’ll have enough to overcome our defensive deficiencies. Either of those things goes sub-par, though, and our bad defense will croak us quick, fast, and in a hurry. Still more than half the season to go, so we’ll see how many nights we can outslug our error-prone fielders.
Swingers team statistics
Meanwhile, the Bombers are strong, strong, strong. If this isn’t finally our year, I don’t know when it ever will be.
BOMBERS – 13 Reds – 5
BOMBERS – 16 Reds – 13
These wins bring our record to 3 – 1, and we’ve completed 2/3 of what, going into the season, I figured would be the roughest stretch of games we’ll face. Our first four have been against the defending champs and the runners-up from two of the previous three seasons. Our set next week will be against the runners-up from last year. If we come out of this start with a winning record – and all we need is a split next week – then it should become relatively easy for us until the playoffs.
Look at the type of doubleheaders some of our guys had for this week:
Danny Espinosa – 6 for 6, 2 doubles, a walk, 5 runs scored
Big Jay Atton – 6 for 6, 2 Home Runs, 6 RBI
Cam Zirpolo – 4 for 8, 2 Home Runs
Robbie Rogers – 3 for 7, 2 Home Runs, 5 runs scored
And, damn! The first dinger by Rogers was one of the most vicious hits ever seen in this league.
The left field fence on Smith is a long way away for softball. There are actually two fences – a ten-foot fence maybe 340 feet straight down the line, then a taller fence about 20 feet beyond the first one. They both enclose a track and field complex belonging to Harvard University. In the 16 years I’ve played in this league, I had never seen anyone clear the fence.
I was coaching third base at the time. Robbie came up to lead off the third and...
***POW!***
He hit a towering LINE DRIVE that cleared the first fence and was still in the air when it clanged off of the taller inside fence. Unreal. I high-fived him as he rounded third, and it was such a mighty stroke that the players from another team, on another diamond altogether, turned toward our bench in unison and applauded. I’ve never seen anything like that before.
This is the first time I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a teammate of Robbie’s, but I’ve known him for a few years. He’s been a fixture in the previously mentioned M Street Softball League for a long time, winning some home run titles and also the annual home run hitting contest. I’ve played against him. It’s more fun having him on my side, that’s for sure.
(By the way, he’s convinced he can clear the tall inner fence. If he does, I’ll buy him the best steak dinner in Boston. It’ll be worth it to see it. Same offer holds for any of my teammates who do it, but I think Robbie is the only one I have to worry about. That’s no slam on the other guys, some of whom have a good power stroke, but most of them – Big Jay or Danny, for instance – aren’t the type to pull the ball with that much air under it. We’ll see what happens. Maybe it’s like when Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. Once he showed it could actually be done, lots of other runners started doing it and now a four-minute mile is considered slow in elite competition. Maybe by the time we hit the playoffs, everybody will be doing it, including me.)
(Yeah, right. I’m lucky if I can clear a tall second baseman these days, never mind a left field wall.)
Everybody on the Bombers contributed to the two wins, not just the folks I’ve named so far. Great team effort. I’ll give another quick shout out to Big Jay Atton. Aside from his perfect day at the plate, he tossed game one and only gave up three earned. On top of that, he managed the team in the absence of our skipper, Jack Atton, who had personal business to attend to. Good pitching, perfect day at the plate, perfect record as manager; can’t get much better than that.
Personally, I went 3 for 6. That sounds good, but it was as weak a 3 for 6 as you could imagine. I had one solid hit. The other two were a weak little grounder I barely beat out and a pop up that found a home between three fielders. But, hey, the team won two. I don’t give a damn if I never get another hit as long as we keep winning. Barring injuries, this team needs me about as much as your nose needs a third nostril. I’m fine with that. I put in my dues the previous fifteen years. I’ll cash in now and enjoy the ride.
P.S. Go Celtics!
Sounds Of The Game
Fast Freddy Goodman shows us what goes into ballpark hot dogs
In general, getting older has not meant much to me. That is, I haven’t had too many age-related complaints so far. Sure, I gripe about the world in general as much as any old fart, but it’s not because I find myself falling apart in any of the myriad ways usually associated with aging. It’s just that modern life sucks spectacularly, in some respects, when compared to the relatively recent past. My bleating is usually confined to bemoaning the loss of some part of the outside world rather than some part of me. However, there is one physical loss that I really am sad about, and that's the loss of my eagle-like eyesight.
When I was a kid, I had 20-15 vision. That meant I could see at 20 feet what most others had to be within 15 feet of to see clearly. Ted Williams, the great slugger for the Red Sox, was said to have had 20-10 vision, and I figured if he could hit .406 with his vision, and ‘normal’ folks hit .270 with their crummy 20-20 vision, then it was reasonable to assume I would split the difference and hit about .337 in the majors. That did not turn out to be the case, but I was consistently able to read billboards and street signs from up to a city block farther than when they’d come into focus for my friends. Outside of sports, there was little practical use for such a skill (unless I had pursued a career as a sniper) but it did come in very handy in one way that personally gratified me. I’d buy a seat in the bleachers at Fenway Park and view the game as easily as the folks who paid twice as much to watch it from the grandstands. The action being 500 feet away presented no hindrance to my enjoyment.
I mention this because, a few weeks ago, I found myself in the right field grandstands at Fenway with my friend, Fast Freddy Goodman, and I couldn’t see shit. Even when I put on my glasses (which I had never had a need for until the age of 47) I still wasn’t able to see things as sharply as when I was a kid. The glasses only correct to 20-20.
Of course, being in the right field seats at Fenway is no bargain for seeing a game under the best of circumstances. Most of the seats face approximately toward second base, necessitating always turning your head to the left in order to see home plate (and then you’re looking through about 8,000 heads in front of you, so you can’t see it anyway.) Since I couldn’t really watch the game in any way that afforded me pleasure, I sat back and listened to it. And (here comes the old-fart-bitching portion of our program) it sucked. You can’t hear even a tiny portion of the actual game these days. No crack of the bat; no ball thwacking into the catcher’s mitt; no "Strike!" or "Out!" or "Safe!" from the umpire. Every aural space is filled with hideous music, canned crowd chants, superfluous announcements from the P.A. system, advertising noise accompanying the video scoreboard, and, on top of those annoyances, most of the fans are attempting to hold conversations by shouting at one another over the general cacophony. The only fans not talking to each other are the self-important dickheads on their cell phones calling home to ask if they’re on camera (and, as far as I’m concerned, bringing a cell phone into a ball park should be punishable by having a flaming hot Fenway Frank shoved up each of your nostrils. As a matter of fact, that would be funny enough to get me to hand out cell phones at the gate to the unsuspecting. And I’d pay for the franks, too.)
At what point did sporting events themselves become not enough to hold a patron’s attention?
When I was a kid, the only sounds at a ballpark - at Fenway, in any case - not coming from the game itself were player introductions by Sherm Feller and the organ playing of John Kiley. Had cell phones been around then, and someone had had the temerity to pull one out and make a call during the game, the fans in that section probably would have grabbed the thing and shoved it up his ass while Kiley played a rousing rendition of "The Mexican Hat Dance". Had anyone tried to start The Wave, they would have been carted away to the Massachusetts Home For The Terminally Bewildered.
Certain people I am acquainted with – Hi, Daryl! – find baseball a hideous bore. I always used to counter such complaining by saying that baseball is the thinking man’s game, and if you find it boring, well, it’s not because the game is stupid. Now I have to acknowledge that argument as being false. There is absolutely no way for anyone to even begin to think at a baseball game these days. As soon as any sort of cogent thought begins to form in your head, it’s time for a sausage race, or time to guess tonight’s attendance, or time to sing Sweet Caroline, for God’s sakes (although I do have to admit to getting a certain perverse pleasure from imagining some visitor from out of town hearing 35,000 Sox fans singing a Neil Diamond tune and trying to fathom why. The fact that there is no good reason is what makes it an especially entertaining thought.)
The ball park – any ball park – used to be a pastoral place, green and relaxing, where you could watch a ballgame unfold while enjoying a bit of sun and the ambiance peculiar to the sport. If the game went four hours, or went into extra innings, or – pleasure of pleasures! – you attended a doubleheader, so much the better. That was just more enjoyment. Now, however, the "baseball is too slow!" crowd, their charge led by the cretins at FOX, has seized the day. They've done their damnedest to turn major league baseball into football. What they've succeeded in doing is to make attending a game something much less than pleasurable for fans from a generation or two previous; neither a thinking game nor a game of constant adrenalin rush, but some hybrid monstrosity of sport containing not enough of either to satisfy.
Despite my moaning, baseball IS still the thinking man’s sport. It’s just that you have to do your thinking at home with the sound turned down on your TV (or, better yet, with the game on your radio, where you often can use your imagination to create any ballpark and any era you like.) Actually being at the ballpark, these days, is good for getting drunk on lousy beer and stuffing your gullet full of questionable food choices. That used to be only part of the experience, but now it is the best part of it. What a shame. For me, ticket prices have gone through the roof and entertainment value has plummeted to the sub-basement. I’m sure mileage varies tremendously for most baseball fans as shown by ever-increasing attendance figures. For me, though, I think my last baseball game at Fenway may have been my last baseball game at Fenway. I loved the company – Fast Freddy is always a kick to be with – but I can’t imagine subjecting myself to that experience again.
(Of course, if you invite me to a World Series game, I’ll accept. I may be crotchety, but I’m not totally insane.)
P.S. Some real ballplayers, The Bombers, finally resume play this Sunday. I'll have a wrap-up of that action come Tuesday (I'm taking Monday off.) See you then.
No Dye, No Beer, No Toes, No Youth On Parade
3 Falsehoods, 1 Truth
Ask Poochie - 3
Why "Beat L.A.!" Is Noble
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Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films, as he assembles a small, highly select group of agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary.
--Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Official Website
Be Gone, Rose-Colored Glasses!
Disappointed dad face.
A lot of readers have called me out on being blindly supportive of S.H.I.E.L.D., and while I was at first defensive, I have realized that they are right. I have neglected to point out the glaring weak point of S.H.I.E.L.D. Although I am willing to forgive a lot, that doesn't mean there aren't flaws to forgive.
Initially, I defended the vague and underdeveloped characters on S.H.I.E.L.D., seeing it as a typical team-show writing device, having the audience slowly get to know the characters over time (like Leverage or Criminal Minds). While I still stand by the potential of Coulson's team, I am disappointed in the how they are written, their lack of back story (except for Skye, but who cares), and their lack of chemistry (except for FitzSimmons, who are delightful).
The most frustrating aspect of these characters is that they have so damn much potential. Some of them are even downright likable. FitzSimmons' banter is amazing! Their familiar banter is reminiscent of childhood friends and Simmons alone is more adorable than a cute animal sub-Reddit. However, we literally don't know anything about them except that they met sometime in college in the UK. Thrilling stuff.
Melinda May kicks ass, yes, but am I the only one who wants to see her in a role other than team mom? Lone Wolf could do with a story more interesting than cake, and Skye . . . oh, Skye . . . what to do with her. I understand that Skye is supposed to be increasingly conflicted about her role on Team Coulson, but what the hell is her role? And does anyone care or am I the only person who thinks that the writers are so busy telling us that she is sympathetic they keep forgetting to show us a sympathetic side?
Speaking of Skye, we have heard not a whisper of the Rising Tide since the pilot. What happened to them being the first priority of Team Coulson? Shouldn't they be utilizing a "former" member to track them down? Or at least mentioning it? At all?
Furthermore, no headway has been made on Coulson's mysterious resurrection other than his former agent asking why he was different. You haven't seen him in years and surprise! A lot has happened. Yes, he could be different because he is a real life decoy that will pave the way for Age of Ultron (personal theory), or he could have fought aliens and come back to life and be coping with that. Don't you give me the dramatic music and cut away. Lazy writing.
Also, the arcs of individual episodes are wickedly predicable. If they don't shape up, it may even border on procedural crime drama territory: fun but I'm wondering what else is on.
I am running two weeks behind (apologies), and I hear the Rising Tide features in episode five, so there is hope! And ultimately, there is hope for S.H.I.E.L.D. There is potential. It just seems like the writing team who delivered us The Avengers is scared of pushing the limits further in case they alienate either the fans or the studio. And guess what? There is no place for that kind of twisted irony when you are writing a comic book TV show. I'm enjoying the show, I really am, but I expect more. Take risks. Be weird. Have fun. Do something new! In case you haven't noticed, that's kind of the sandbox you're playing in.
Rosemary could easily be an elusive agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. provided the admission exam was solely enthusiasm based.
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Marvel Legends Face Off Series 1
Sculptor - Phil Ramirez
Once a weakling Army recruit drafted into World War II, Steve Rogers was given an experimental serum to transform him into the world's greatest fighter. He would become a super soldier his fellow countrymen could depend on, and look up to as the defended the world from the Nazi invasion. The embodiment of all that his great county stands for, Captain America lead his troops to victory, much to the chagrin of the one who would always stand in his way: Red Skull, a Nazi so evil, even Hitler himself was frightened. Mortal enemies locked in the oldest and most bitter of rivalries in the Marvel Universe, Red Skull threatens to spread his message of hate in an attempt at world dominance, as the Sentinel of Liberty, Captain America, is there to stop him at every turn.
More Red Skull...
Red Skull At The Movies
Hugo Weaving in Captain America: The First Avenger ( 2011 )
This site is a private action figure photo gallery, and is in no way affiliated with ToyBiz, Hasbro, Disney, Marvel Enterprises or Marvel Studios.
All comic book characters are the licensed property of Marvel Comics.
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News » Headlines
‘Dawn chorus’ of approval for community-minded roofer Terry
There are not many people who can persuade their neighbours to rise at dawn ready to join in a 34-mile walk at 5.30am! However, that’s what community-minded roofer Terry Maguire does.
Each year for the past six years he had been joined by scores of residents for the annual The Big Walk, a tour of every single street in Newton-le-Willows, near St Helens, collecting donations to help young people participate in clubs and other activities in the Merseyside town.
The money is managed through Business for Youth, a registered charity that Terry set up to support local good causes and of which he is chairman. This year’s The Big Walk 6 on Saturday, 9th June, raised an impressive £4,000-5,000.
Maguire said: “The Big Walk is a way of bringing the community together and literally asking them to stand up for Newton-le-Willows. This year there were 117 on the start line.
“It’s not everywhere you can ask people to wake at 4am to get to the start for 5.30am. But we’ve had families with children, also grandparents and dogs. We visit every street and road in the town and people can join in on the route.”
Maguire's community work earned him a nomination as a ‘Local Hero’ in the National Federation of Roofing Contractors 2018 UK Roofing Awards. Sponsor SIG Roofing recently helped him with materials to establish a headquarters for Business for Youth.
“Graeme Ritchie from SIG Roofing in Warrington (formerly known as Cheshire Roofing Supplies) was able to source a lot of sheeting for us to clad our hut with which we’re very grateful for,” said Maguire.
Money from The Big Walk goes towards supporting a wide range of local activities, from dance groups to sports events, gardening clubs to swimming. Five percent of the 2018 sum will go to the town’s St Mary’s Junior and Infant Schools and Lyme Community Primary School, which won a Design a T-shirt competition launched to encourage collaboration between schoolchildren.
When not spending ‘countless hours’ in support of Business for Youth, Maguire is a Director of TMR (NW) Ltd, a roofing business he established in 1991 and which employs a team of three.
Inspiration to do something for the local community came to Maguire in April 2011 when, having challenged himself to walk from Newton-le-Willows to Caernarfon, a friend suggested he do it for charity.
“I thought ‘what am I concerned about’ – kids hanging around on street corners with nothing to do, and ‘how can I raise money’ – by approaching local businesses,” he said.
The following year he walked to Gretna Green.
The first The Big Walk was in 2013, which he organised himself. He was later joined by a now seven-strong committee and they formalised the charity in 2016.
Maguire said: “Each year it gets that little bit bigger. Newton-le-Willows is a small place but with a wonderful spirit. There’s a fantastic bond in the community and a great bunch of junior and adult volunteers. It is very rewarding in so many ways.”
The annual National Federation of Roofing Contractors UK Roofing Awards recognise the best of the best in the roofing sector. As the awards’ headline sponsor, SIG Roofing was also pleased to support the Local Hero award as a way of acknowledging outstanding roofing contractors who go the extra mile for their local community and are so often unsung heroes.
SIG Roofing celebrates ‘Local Heroes’ at this year’s UK Roofing Awards
Derbyshire MP praises stair supplier
Naylor identified as UK National Champion at European Business Awards
How will tax changes affect your business?
Flame's fast-spreading growth recognised
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Law Firm Warns Of Looming Katrina Lawsuit Deadline
Legal Business 2008/02/28 22:05
That's significant not only in it being leap year, but it's also exactly six months until the deadline for anyone with a Katrina insurance dispute to file a lawsuit against insurance companies. Now one law firm is launching a campaign telling people who haven't decided whether to take their claim to court, not to wait until it's too late.
The Merlin Law Group has already fought for hundreds of people unhappy with how their insurance companies handled their Katrina claims. Attorney Chip Merlin says he worries about the thousands who have yet to join the battle.
"There's a whole bunch of people who've filed claims and they've been paid," said Merlin. "Sometimes they've been paid a little bit, sometimes they've been paid a lot. But they're still owed some more. Insurance companies bank on people just giving up."
Beginning February 29th, the Merlin Law Group will start running print and television ads letting people know the clock it ticking down.
"The deadline effectively stops people's ability to collect from the insurance company," Merlin said. "You have to have a lawsuit filed by that time. It doesn't mean the lawsuit is over with. It just means you have to have it filed."
Merlin says he's not concerned about where people who lost their homes and businesses go to find legal representation, just that they go and quickly.
"I don't think it's right for insurance companies to cheat people and not pay the full amount that's owed," said Merlin. "I've devoted my adult life to this and I believe that, regardless if they go to my law firm or any other law firm anywhere, it would be really wrong in our society if we allowed insurance companies to cheat people. They shouldn't just let the claim go away because they don't think it's worth the hassle."
Attorney Chip Merlin says many attorneys don't charge to review the merits of a claim, and will work on contingency. He says as the deadline for Katrina suits loomed in Louisiana last year, people were lined up outside the courthouse.
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Historic Sites of Manitoba: École Provencher / Provencher School (320 Avenue de la Cathedrale, Winnipeg)
Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
École Provencher’s history extends back to the earliest Catholic school in the Red River settlement. About 1818, the first missionary in the region, Father (later Bishop) Provencher, used his chapel as a school where he taught boys the four Rs: reading, writing, arithmetic and religion. In 1844, the Grey Nuns assumed responsibility for the school.
In 1906, the School Board constructed a school at the site where École Provencher stands today, at 300 Avenue de la Cathedrale. It was a modest three-storey brick and limestone building, featuring an entry tower surmounted with an elegant ogee roof. The central 12-room portion of the current building is the original 1906 section. Built in 1912, the west wing doubled the size of the school to 25 rooms. The basement of the school had shops for teaching industrial arts. Dating back to 1911, this could be the earliest shop class taught in Winnipeg. The Provencher School Cadet Corps is one of the oldest cadet corps in Manitoba. The school basement doubled as a firing range. Some of the heating ducts still have dents from stray bullets. The Corps’ old drum, along with the school’s trophies and memorabilia, is displayed proudly in a striking stairwell vitrine.
On 4 January 1923, the school was severely damaged in an explosion and subsequent blaze causing an estimated $175,000 in damages, leaving only blackened outer walls standing. While massive repairs were undertaken, students shared the facility of St. Joseph’s Academy across the street, attending half-day classes. Designed by local architect G. W. Northwood, the rebuilt school opened its doors in January 1924 and was formally re-opened on 27 March 1924 by St. Boniface Mayor R. J. Swain, School Board Chairman J. A. Marion, and Principal J. H. Fink.
École Provencher celebrated its centenary in 2006. As part of the celebrations, the entire façade of the school was sandblasted back to its original bright limestone face. You can see the difference between the cleaned facade and untouched stone on the left side of the picture. Located on the front grounds of the school are two plaques mounted on a large stone. One marks the 90th anniversary of the school and was unveiled on 21 April 1996. The other celebrates J. N. Provencher as founder of the first school in the West in 1818 and was unveiled on the centenary of his death on 6 June 1953.
Joseph Henry Fink [Brother Joseph] (1874-1935)
Joseph Henry Bruns (1908-1973)
W. P. Moran
1957-c1967
Brother Albert Laurin
Brother Henri Guitard (receiving class), Miss Mary Anne Lamarre (grade 1 junior), Miss Adrienne Marion (grade 1 senior), Miss Albina Baril (grade 2 junior), Miss Antoinette Baril (grade 2 senior), Miss Antoinette Keroack (grade 3), Brother Fred Schilling (grade 4), Miss Gratia Laurendeau (grade4), Pierre Chabalier (grade 5), Brother Edward Gabel (grade 6 junior), Brother Alphonse Doucet (grade 6 senior), Brother Hebert Leles (grade 7 junior), Brother Wilfred Paul (grade 7 senior), Brother Aloysius Thein (grade 8 junior), Brother Peter Resch (grade 8 senior), Brother Eugene P. Kuhn (manual training), Brother Henry J. Grenon (high school grades), Brother J.B. Baty (high school grades), Brother Leo. Bank (high school grades)
Acclaimed author Gabrielle Roy, a Grade 1 teacher at École Provencher, taught there from 1930 to 1936.
Among the other teachers of Provencher School was Marie Anna Marion.
Photos & Maps
Provencher School (no date)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 96.
Provencher School (circa 1922)
Source: Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 7 September 1922, page 5.
Provencher School (2008)
Source: Reid Dickie
Provencher School (April 2017)
Source: George Penner
Provencher School monument (2010)
Source: City of Winnipeg
Site Location (lat/long): N49.89110, W97.11385
denoted by symbol on the map above
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Provencher School No. 997 (1898-1968)
“Provencher School staff is announced,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 27 August 1920, page 2.
“Important St. Boniface Schools,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 7 September 1922, page 5.
“Incendiarism is suspected by board officials,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 4 January 1923, pages 1 & 3.
“Provencher School destroyed by fire,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 4 January 1923, page 3.
“Rebuilding work to be undertaken soon,” Manitoba Free Press, 5 January 1923, page 2.
“St. Boniface,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 8 January 1923, page 12.
“Provencher School destroyed by lighted cigar or cigarette butt,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 6 February 1923, page 3.
“New Provencher School,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 13 March 1923, page 15.
“Schools by-law given majority,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 18 April 1923, page 3.
“St. Boniface to rebuild school,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 10 May 1923, page 17.
“Provencher school to open about Jan. 14,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 23 December 1923, page 1.
“Provencher School formally opened,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 28 March 1924, page 2.
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Information for this page was provided by The City of Winnipeg’s Planning, Property and Development Department, which acknowledges the contribution of the Government of Manitoba through its Heritage Grants Program.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer, Gordon Goldsborough, Reid Dickie, and George Penner.
Page revised: 15 July 2017
This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society.
Browse lists of:
Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | Other
Please note that inclusion in this collection does not mean that a particular site has special status or protection. Some sites are on private property and permission must be secured from the owner prior to visiting.
Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes.
Search Tips | Suggest a Site | FAQ | Acknowledgements
Send inquiries to the MHS Webmaster.
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© By Stuckincustoms.com
Temples and majestic palaces of Seoul
South Korea, beyond the walls
Respectful, immense and pulsing, this is Seoul, with nearly 25 million people in the metropolitan area, where you can find and do basically anything. A jungle of concrete and neons, this city is a feast to the senses, and it seems impossible to go from a busy avenue with skyscrapers and street vendors to the peaceful atmosphere of the Buddhist temples, but it happens in Seoul.
It has been receiving loads of tourists mainly from Asia, most of them attracted by the recent success of the Korean pop culture, the modernity and organization of the city. Seoul is a cosmopolitan place not only made with concrete, but also with some green areas, design and culture, traditional such as the tea houses, or modern like the karaoke bars.
Here comes some of the best places to see in Seoul as a tourist but, remember, diving into the daily life and doing as the koreans do is fantastic and very rewarding in a place like this. To start, the Dongdaemun Market, one of the busiest places for centuries, has today over thirty thousand shops squeezed in a ten blocks area and sells basically everything. The Changdeokgung Palace Complex is a good choice to get in touch with Korea's history, a palace adorned and heavily coloured from the 15th century that's today an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bongeunsa Temple, the biggest and most visited Buddhist temple is richly decorated and offers a calm and peaceful atmosphere to the tourists that could only be found in those places. And, guess what, crossing the street you're gonna find a huge Mall that will show you why Korea is a hyper modern country. After all of the K-pop, you'll probably want to escape the rush and Namsan Park may be the perfect place for it. On the top of a mountain in the centre of the city, the Namsan Park has many things to see, such as a library, dome fountains, an aquarium and the Seoul Tower, from which you can have an awesome view of the city. There's no excuse to not to visit this town... It's amazing!
Link: www.worldbesthostels.com/best-hostels/city/seoul.html
By: By Stuckincustoms.com
Published on 20-Feb-2015
Section City Live
08.13.2014. NAMU Guesthouse If there is a word that describes well Namu Guesthouse, the word is lovely. The hostel is lovely fro...
Palmers Lodge - Hillspring at Willesden Green
Yoho Hostel
Balmers Hostel
La Posada de Huertas
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You are here: Home » News » Automotive, Aerospace and Rail » Neste MY Renewable Jet Fuel wins award for reduction of black carbon emissions
Neste MY Renewable Jet Fuel wins award for reduction of black carbon emissions
Neste MY Renewable Jet Fuel has won an award for its role in reducing black carbon emissions in a competition jointly organised by the Climate Leadership Coalition, the Bioenergy Association of Finland, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, the Finnish Environment Institute, and the Central Association of Chimney Sweeps.
The purpose of the competition was to find examples of effective ways to reduce black carbon emissions. The competition was divided into five categories, and Neste won in the category for solutions reducing black carbon emissions.
The competition was part of a campaign aimed at speeding up emissions reduction, finding new solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing understanding of how black carbon accelerates climate change.
“We are very pleased with this recognition for Neste MY Renewable Jet Fuel and its role in reducing black carbon emissions. Air traffic is a significant source of black carbon emissions, which is also the fastest growing mode of transportation worldwide. However, the amount of black carbon emissions from aviation fuel can be effectively reduced by using cleaner fuels such as Neste MY Renewable Jet Fuel,” said Neste’s Senior Vice President of Innovation, Lars Peter Lindfors.
The amount of air traffic worldwide is predicted to double over the next 20 years. According to research by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the use of renewable fuels could significantly reduce particulate emissions from aircraft engines by as much as 70%. This prediction is comparable to the results that can be obtained with the use of renewable fuels in diesel engines.
Neste’s renewable jet fuel can be mixed with fossil fuel up to 50%, and so it has good potential to bring about a significant reduction in the amount of black carbon emissions from aviation. More detailed research on the impact of renewable aviation fuel on particulate emissions is ongoing.
The Arctic regions are warming more than twice as fast as the planet on average. Approximately 20–25% of Arctic warming is caused by black carbon, which is made of very fine soot dust. Black carbon particulates heat up the atmosphere, and when they fall to earth on snow and ice they absorb sunlight, which accelerates the melting of ice and snow.
Black coal particulates are emitted through the use of wood, coal and other biomass as fuel in households, transportation, machinery, power plants, as well as through the burning of surplus oil and gas in oil fields.
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The Merry Makers and my family - Compass ABC1
My sister and her son are going to be on the tv show, Compass, on ABC1 on Sunday night at 10pm.
My sister is a single mum and a teacher. Her son has Down Syndrome. They are in a dance troupe called The Merry Makers. They were in the documentary film about the troupe, called The Music in Me, and the book, Love is in the Air. Being part of the group has meant so much to them. The Compass program is about the Merry Makers performing in Disneyland last year.
http://www.merrymakers.com.au/
If I talk about one sister, I should talk about the rest of the family. If the above is enough for you, stop reading now.
I have five sisters and two brothers. My mother always loved kids and wanted a big family. She was a stay at home mum, and helped out at school and sports. When she was 52, she had a stroke and has been disabled ever since. She’s now becoming quite frail. My father is also aging and has ongoing medical problems.
My next sister is a single mum to a child, now grown, who is diabetic. She had a child previously, who she put up for adoption. She kept in touch with her first child through letters, and now her child is a mother herself, and we all know her and her family. My sister works a stressful job in sexual health.
My middle sister was the conservative one. She is the only one who had a wedding. She married, had four children, then studied to be a teacher. When she was diagnosed with cancer she was given three years to live. The prognosis was right. When she was offered a job as a teacher she couldn’t accept because she was dying. She died two and a half years ago. She was tested because my brother was having pre-cancerous polyps removed from his bowel and told us we should all be checked. She was already at Stage 4, with secondaries. Her doctors told us the gene for this cancer has been identified and we can all be checked. We could have one gene for it, or two, which would mean it passes onto our children, or none. We’ve all been tested. I have none. Others in the family have more.
My youngest sister is a preschool teacher. She is single and has no children of her own, which wasn’t necessarily her plan
My brothers live a little further away from us. They are each married, and have four and five children. Their wives work. The brother who is closest in age to me (I made his wife’s wedding dress - they got married when they were 20 and 21) is also a volunteer surf lifesaver.
You can see a range of mothering issues right here in my family.
It reads like a pretty heavy family, but it doesn’t feel that way, being in it. And we all support my sister and her son in The Merry Makers.
Posted by Motherhugger at 6:01 PM
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Foreign Affairs,Gulf Cooperation Council,Muslim World League,OIC
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns the atrocities committed in Stockholm
Saudi Arabia has condemned in the strongest terms the brutal terrorist attack on Stockholm of 7 April 2017. On Friday, an official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom’s strong condemnation of the truck attack that occurred in the centre of the Swedish and led to the death and injury of a number of people. The ministry source offered condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and government of Sweden, to whom he expressed the kingdom’s solidarity.
The Kingdom’s sentiments were mirrored by member of the Gulf Cooperation Council for Arab States. The GCC Secretary General Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, described the attack as a heinous terrorist crime that is contrary to moral and humanitarian values, stressing the GCC’s solidarity with the Kingdom of Sweden.
The atrocities were also denounced by the Muslims World league’s Secretary General Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Isa, who underlined the organisation’s firm stance against terrorism: “Such acts targeting innocent people and the stability and security of safe societies have nothing to do with Islam as they contradict all human and international values and principles.” He offered condolence to the families of the victims, as well as the government and people of Sweden, wishing the injured a quick recovery. Dr Al-Isa called on all world leaders to stand united in confrontation of terrorism and tackle the reasons of such acts which attempt to destabilize the world’s security and stability.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation too deplored the attacks, with the OIC Secretary General Dr Yusuf Ahmed Al-Othaimeen expressing the Organisation’s solidarity and support for the Swedish government and people, and stressing that the criminals behind this heinous crime are the most dangerous enemies of humanity.
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Notre Dame, INwww.nd.edu
Although Notre Dame is a Catholic school and requires students to take at least two theology courses, it welcomes students of all faiths. It is highly selective, reporting that almost 90% of its students were in the top 10% of their high school classes. And while the university is best known for its humanities and business programs, it's also strong in the sciences. The pre-med track is especially grueling: The university warns students that it's a challenge to maintain a 3.0 GPA with those courses. About 95% of students finish within six years, meaning Notre Dame has one of the highest graduation rates in MONEY's rankings. Alumni are valued in the job market, reporting early career salaries of about $62,500, according to PayScale. And many go on to celebrated careers: Grads include talk show hosts Regis Philbin and Phil Donahue, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Major League Baseball Vice President Joe Garagiola Jr., and football hall of famer Joe Montana. Notre Dame's Fighting Irish, including the football team, compete in Division I sports; the school has 23 varsity teams in all, and sports are a big part of the university's social life.
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Call of duty 2 big red one pc game download
Call of duty 2 big red one pc game download. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (Game) 2019-05-08
Wednesday, May 08, 2019 4:05:08 PM Dennis
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (Game)
Configuration files can store a number of customisation options, including various graphics settings and custom keybindings, making them an important resource for game tweaks. Graphics Settings are distinct from Video Options, which holds data on resolutions, frame rate caps, V-Sync support, etc. Typical Graphics Settings include shadows, texture detail, reflections, ambient occlusion, environmental details, volumetric effects, etc. Unique to this installment is the direct military footage used in certain cutscenes from the , with voiceovers by and the voicework of several actors from the miniseries. The Video Options section holds the data for all of the video options that can be tweaked in a game. Roland Roger of the 1st Infantry Division throughout numerous operations in North Africa and Western Europe. Future: Big Red One for Xbox is a new introduction to the series of Call of Duty.
One can realize the future by analyzing that Call of Duty has been engaged in releasing new and refined version. How to play: There is nothing to ponder while you are about to play your call of duty 2nd version as it is quite similar to the previous ones of the game. At the end, also include possible adverse effects of frame rate unlock, if applicable. Unlike most other games in the series, Big Red One focuses on only one soldier Sgt. The game has unleashed on Nov 1, 2005 in North America.
Save game files store game progress and can be used to make backups of progress in a game, or to share your progress with others. Some games cap their frame rates for various reasons. Please present the data as concisely as possible using a bullet-pointed list. Please follow this structure in order to avoid your submission from being removed. The second console spin-off of the series after , Big Red One is the first game in the series developed by Treyarch during acquisition of , which developed expansion and was released in tandem with the second main installment. Overview Call of Duty 2: Big Red One is a historical-military first-person shooter developed by and published by for the , , and on November 1, 2005. It would be a definite suggestion for the lover of to Download Call of Duty 2 Big Red One for Xbox and experience it.
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One PC Full Version Free Game Download
You just remember the previous codes and you are all set to go with the game. Call of Duty 2 Big Red One has been developed by Trey arch. There should be one instruction per bullet point. In most games, Video Options will be in a separate menu to Graphics Settings. This section holds the data for how to unlock the frame rate cap. .
It is the last game in the series released on the GameCube. For an example of how this data should be presented, please use our as a guide. The save data location section holds two different types of data: the location of save game files and location of configuration files. . .
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One PC game options, settings and fps cap unlock
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All News & Updates
#GoingToBat: Bryce Harper dedicated to improving lives of kids with cancer
It’s hard to imagine a better start to a major-league career than what Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper has displayed through the first four-plus years of his.
Just 24-years-old, Harper is already a five-time All Star, National League MVP, Silver Slugger Award winner and a recipient of the National League Hank Aaron Award and Golden Spikes Award. The 2012 NL Rookie of the Year hasn’t slowed down since his rookie campaign, and he’s on his way to another big season in the nation’s capital.
While everyone knows the Las Vegas native for his on-field performances and as the face of the Nationals, Harper’s off-field efforts deserve recognition as well.
Harper founded his charitable foundation, Harper’s Heroes, in 2013 to help children fighting cancer. Harper said the motive behind Harper’s Heroes was witnessing cancer strike his high school best friend.
Jade-“think my muscles are bigger than yours?” Absolutely little lady..Flex on em! Love my job #harpersheroes
A post shared by Bryce Harper (@bharper3407) on Jun 13, 2017 at 9:31pm PDT
“This is something that really hits home for me,” Harper said in August 2016. “I had a couple friends and family members that have gone through it. So, when I was growing up, I never wanted to do it for the cameras or for the TVs or anything like that. This was all just for me to bring the families in and see the smiles and get them away from the everyday life and that struggle.”
Every summer since the program’s inception in 2013, Harper looks to give children affected by cancer an unforgettable day to remember. He invites the children, as well as their families, out to meet him and catch a game at Nationals Park.
In August 2016, he teamed with New Era Caps to design a hat for Harper’s Heroes, with part of the proceeds from sales going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
“I really enjoy the fashion side. … I really enjoy going out and trying to get different things out there that people would like to wear,” Harper said at a press conference last August revealing the cap. “I really went in there thinking about a vintage-style cap that people could wear with anything, if they wanted to wear it to the ballpark, to the grocery store or anything.”
Harper’s philanthropic efforts are not just recognized by his biggest fans, but by some of the biggest members of the Nationals organization.
“You talk about faces of the franchise, you couldn’t have a better ambassador, not only for the game of baseball and Major League Baseball, but also this city and District of Columbia here and Washington,” Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo told The Washington Post. “He’s a true Washingtonian in his heart. He loves the area, loves the fan base, and he’s a young player who is making an impact on and off the field, which endears him to our fan base here in Washington and to us in the front office.”
You can follow Harper’s Heroes on Bryce’s personal Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
You can read more about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by visiting their official website.
To purchase a New Era MLB Harper’s Heroes 9TWENTY Cap, visit NewEraCap.com or MLBShop.com.
Major Leaguers are #GoingToBat for causes near and dear to them, as they personify the Players Trust’s motto to ‘care, act and inspire.” To learn more about the charitable interests and activities of Bryce Harper and other Major Leaguers, please click here.
Players Trust and KaBOOM! build playground in...
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Players Trust grants $100,000 to Jackie Robinson...
NEW YORK, April 12 – Major League players will commemorate the day Jackie Robinson shattered the... READ MORE
Players Choice Awards honor on-field and community...
NEW YORK, Oct. 12 – The players on each club who received the most votes from their peers for the... READ MORE
Main, Michael Weiner Scholarship for Labor Studies
2019 Michael Weiner Scholarship for Labor Studies...
NEW YORK, Sept. 3 -- The Major League Baseball Players Trust today announced that the 2019 Michael... READ MORE
Buses for Baseball, Main
Buses for Baseball Rolls On
About 50 young people fighting serious illnesses enjoyed a game at historic Dodger Stadium on Monday... READ MORE
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Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur enter sem fininal of Champions League 2019 | 57 years later Tottenham reached the semi-finals, Liverpool-Barcelona match in the last-4
Tottenham beat Manchester City on the basis of Away goal in the quarterfinals.
Liverpool beat FC Porto 4-1 in the second leg, the first leg was won by 2-0
Tottenham Hotspur last reached 1962 semi-final
Sports desk England's football club Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur reached the semifinals of the Champions League. Liverpool beat Portugal Club FC Porto 4-1 in the second leg of the quarter-finals. In the first leg he won 2-0. At the same time, England's Manchester City City defeated Tottenham 4-3 in the second leg. The first leg was won by Tottenham 1-0. Together with both the matches, the score was 4-4. On the basis of Away goal, Tottenham reached the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, Liverpool will compete with Spain's Barcelona. He will play against this Barcelona in 12 years. On the other hand, Tottenham's team will play against the Ajax club in the Netherlands. Tottenham reached the semi-finals for the second time. Last time in 1962, he was stopped by Portugal's club Benfica in making the final place.
Liverpool defeated Barcelona in 2007
Liverpool defeated Barcelona 2-1 in the first leg in the pre-quarterfinals played in 2007. The second leg was won by Barcelona 1-0, but Liverpool's team reached the quarter-finals on the basis of Away goal.
Liverpool's eighth straight win
Liverpool's team never lost in the 17th match. This is his consecutive eighth win. For the Liverpool in this match, Sadeo Mane scored 26th, Mohammad Salah scored 65th, Roberto Fermino scored 77th and Virgil Van scored in the 84th minute for Liverpool. At the same time, Eder Militao scored for Porto in the 68th minute.
In the first 11 minutes of City-Tottenham match, four goals
The match started very fast between Manchester City and Tottenham. In the first 11 minutes, both the teams together scored four goals. City's Stirling made the team 1-0 in the fourth minute, but Son Hugh-Min of Tottenham scored goals in the 7th and 12th minute to give the team 2-1 ahead. In the 11th minute, Bernardo Silva of the City scored the score in par.
Aguero and Lorentz scored after Half Time
In the 21st minute of the match, Sterling and Sergio Aguero scored the goal in the 59th minute to give the city 4-2 ahead. Fernando Lorent of Tottenham scored a goal in the 73rd minute to score 4-3. After this there was no goal in the match and Tottenham reached the final-4 on the basis of goal.
Sri Lanka's World Cup squad: Dimuth Karunaratne becomes captain, Jeevan Mendis, Siriwardana, Vandersay comebacks | Sri Lanka's team to make Malinga's place in place, running out of 2015
Champions League quarter-final second leg: Barcelona beat Manchester United in semis Barcelona to beat Manchester 4-0 in semi-finals
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« Mar Sep »
NSIEAB 4:02 PM on 07/26/2016 Reply
Tags: ecumenism (4), ieab (29), Indigenous, mission (5)
“Do not forget us”, plea from the indigenous leaders of the Guarani-Kaiowá to the IEAB
Last week, members of the IEAB were part of an ecumenical mission in favor of the rights of indigenous peoples
The Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil – IEAB, was part of the ”Ecumenical Mission” for the second consecutive year. This is a partnership with the CESE – Coordinator of the Ecumenical Service, CIMI – Indigenous Council, CEBI – Center for Biblical Studies and CONIC – National Council of Christian Churches in Brazil. Over the past year the illegal exploitation of land by loggers, landowners and fazenderos are a symptom of a national problem that Brazil confronts regarding land ownship.The region of Mato Grosso do Sul is one of the most affected. The Guarani-Kaiowa and the Terena people, who are still awaiting the demarcation of the their indigenous land, suffer the consequences of a strong wave of violence as a result of these unresolved land issues. Hundreds of Guarani-Kaiowa and Terena people have been removed from their ancestral homes for agribusiness in the form of soya plantations and cattle raising.
According to CIMI, over the past 12 years, more than 500 people committed suicide and another 390 were brutally murdered in the onslaught of removing families from areas for agribusiness, which originally belonged to the indigenous people. The different organizations that form the ecumenical mission strongly advocated for an investigation of the abuse suffered by the Guarani-Kaiowa and Terena people. On June 14, near the village of the Guarani-Kaiowá in the municipality of Caarapo, an indigenous community health worker Achilles Clodiodi Rodrigues de Souza, twenty-three years old, was shot dead, and another 5 Guarani were taken with severe gunshot wounds to the local hospital in Dourados/MS. As reported by the residents of the area, men in trucks, tractors and motorcycles were shooting for all sides.
After the incident, a large group of indigenous people dispersed and occupied land in order to protect themselves. This has generated conflict with the owners of those lands. Clodiodi was buried at the site of the attack and his grave has become a symbol of the struggle of the Guarani-Kaiowa and Terena peoples to regain their land.
Days 14 and 15 July, return of the mission: “N’handeru had said that there will be resistance!”
The IEAB took part along with other members of the ecumenical mission in a public act in front of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. The ecumenical group expressed its total support to the indigenous cause, pleaded for the immediate end to killings and conflicts and to work towards the resolution of the conflicts.
In attendance were Bishop Flavio Irala, Bishop of the Diocese of Sao Paulo and President of CONIC, Dom Naudal Alves Gomes, Bishop of the Diocese of Curitiba and chairman of the National Committee of Public Incidence of IEAB, the missionaries that are members of Mission Desk of The IEAB, Monica Vega and Heidi Schmidt, Vagner Mendes, staff member of the Secretary General of the IEAB, Rev. Hugo Sanchez, Rector of the Mission of the inclusion in Campo Grande – MS, along with the parishioners Emanuel, Lucy, Cleide and Maria Helena.
A very powerful moment was experienced as the tribes greeted and danced together and welcomed the religious leaders who came to express their support to the native people. They danced together and the ecumenical mission was blessed in accordance with the Guarani-Kaiowa and Terena people’s faith.
Meeting with the Federal Justice Judge
After the public act in support of the rights of indigenous peoples, the members of the mission, together with the indigenous people, were received by the attorney general of the state. The attorney general explained all the legal measures that were taken since the last gathering in Oct 2015. The indigenous leaders took the opportunity to bring their grievances, especially the lack of effective responses to their pleas, with particular emphasis on the long overdue demarcation of their indigenous land. The ecumenical mission committed itself to follow-up in this process. At the end of the meeting the caravan continued its journey toward Dourados, where they arrived in the evening and were hosted by St Andrew’s Catholic Church. St Andrew’s parish offered dinner and a time for conversations with 3 Guarani leaders. As we sat in a circle and listened attentively to the stories and the pleas of the Guarani-Kaiowa, it was very clear that the indigenous people carry within an ancestral pain due to the loss of their land and the way of living at the hands of the landowners. The haunting echo of the few words told to us by the leaders still resonates as the lament of the prophets of the Old Testament, “do not forget us”.
Visit to Caarapo
The village of the Guarani-Kaiowa is located at the Yvu farm, more than 270km from Campo Grande, the state capital of Mato Grosso do Sul. This was the meeting place for the caravan and the indigenous leaders, together with their people. This was another powerful moment in which different cultures and faiths meet together in search for dignity, solidarity, and support. The
ceremony was opened by the Cacique (chief), with words of welcome and appreciation for the concern of the churches towards the indigenous cause. With pauses for prayers, the leaders and visitors shared profound, sacred moments with songs and conversations. After sharing a meal the whole group moved to the graveside of Clodiodi, where in a circle of prayer the silent reverberation of grief was deeply felt, and the blood-stained Brazilian flag waved above us in the wind.
Visit to the Apka’i: the Power of the Ancestors
Chief Damiana is the leader of a small indigenous community on the banks of the river. This community was bulldozed, destroying their homes, killing some men, women and children, and were expelled from their ancestral land. Chief Damiana anguishes as she has not been able to bury the dead in their land, and the ancestral cemetery is now part of a farm. Now she stands vigil from the roadside where she has made her dwelling place with the few belongings left to them.
She stands there as a marker to those not only traveling by car and bus, but to remind us all that at the margins of the road we always find the injured, waiting for a Samaritan who can take them to an inn for rest and recovery.
The IEAB continues to support the struggles of the Guarani-Kaiowa
We know as Church that the struggle continues, that much blood has been spilled, and that greed behind the profits that come from these lands destroys hundreds of peoples and their livelihood and culture each and everyday. As Church we commit ourselves to advocate for them in Brazil as well as abroad. This is the plea of a people who are Brazilian, and bonds us to the struggles of all humanity to preserve our style of life, our lands, and our beliefs.
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« Hess is More record release party! Available on Nublu Records Oct. 11th
WAX POETIC at JOE’s PUB »
Creation Keeps The Devil away, new album by Hess is More out now!
Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and provocateur, Mikkel Hess has been hard at work on a new album since 2009’s Hess Is More – Hits was selected as one of Time Out Magazine’s Top 10 Albums of the Year . Having scored for theater, composed for films and collaborated with artists on performance pieces, Mikkel curates a process that resembles something akin to that of a collagist – taking inspiration and integrating references from art, film, music and magic. The resulting, all-encompassing approach has drawn comparisons to everyone from Erlend Oye and Jon Brion, to CAN and the music you might find on Smalltown Supersound. Hess has evolved this genre-defying project, collaborating with local musicians and fellow Dane, cowriter/producer Rasmus Bille Bahncke for the past two years on the fantastic new album, Creation Keeps the Devil Away available now on Nublu Records.
Available on iTunes, Amazon,
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You are here: Home / News / Community News / Names in the News / AAPI community loses a legend
AAPI community loses a legend
March 24, 2016 By Northwest Asian Weekly
Professor Don T. Nakanishi (Photo by Eric Agar/Daily Bruin)
Professor Don T. Nakanishi, a pioneer in the field of Asian American Studies, died on March 21. He was 66.
Nakanishi was the Director Emeritus of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, the largest and most renowned research and teaching institute in Asian American Studies in the nation.
Born in East Los Angeles to former incarcerees of Japanese American concentration camps, Nakanishi earned undergraduate and doctorate degrees in political science from Yale and Harvard, respectively.
He is recognized for developing the fields of Asian American political and educational research. Nakanishi was the first to demonstrate that Asian Americans, despite their high group levels of education and income that are usually associated with active political participation, had very low levels of voter registration and voting.
A prolific writer and highly influential teacher, Nakanishi wrote over 100 books, articles, and reports on the political participation of Asian Pacific Americans and other ethnic and racial groups in American politics.
With his passing, Nakanishi leaves behind his wife, Dr. Marsha Hirano-Nakanishi, and son, Thomas.
Filed Under: Names in the News Tagged With: 2016, AAPI, Asian American Studies, Asian Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Director Emeritus, East Los Angeles, Japanese American, Vol 35 No 13 | March 26 - April 1
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David J. Eckhart
Mr. David J. Eckhart joined NW Financial in 2013. Mr. Eckhart brings with him over 30 years of experience in the interest rate hedging and reinvestment marketplace with an emphasis on interest rate management. He has been involved in all facets of public finance, from underwriting and financial advisory work to reinvestment products and hedging instruments (i.e. swaps).
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Eckhart was a founding partner of Investment Management Advisory Group, Inc. (IMAGE), established in 1992. While at IMAGE, he specialized in innovative financing techniques where he assisted in the structuring and execution of various market hedging and investment products for transportation, governmental, not-for-profit, and corporate clients. His broad experience has proved invaluable in many instances where a full understanding of the comprehensive financing structure has enabled him to develop creative solutions that ultimately help clients get challenging deals completed in the most financially advantageous manner. Mr. Eckhart was an innovator in the marketplace, developing ideas such as escrow restructuring strategies that created significant value for municipal issuers. Under Mr. Eckhart, IMAGE grew to be one of the largest independent firms in the marketplace, managing the placement of over $100 billion of derivative products, as well as financings totaling over $160 billion in principal.
Mr. Eckhart also served as an investment banker with Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc. for seven years, where he was the head of the Transportation Group involved in structuring several innovative financings for many types of issuers including cities and counties, hospitals, airports, prisons, resource recovery and others.
Finance M.B.A
FINRA Licenses
50 (Municipal Advisor Representative)
52 (Municipal Securities Representative)
63 (Uniform Securities Agent)
Contact David at deckhart@nwfinancial.com
Download David’s V-Card
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SERGEANT BOSTON CORBETT is forever known in history as the man who shot and killed John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, in April of 1865. Less well known is the fact that Corbett lived in Camden for several years, at 308 Mechanic Street and later on Pine Street below South 4th Street, and served as pastor of the Memorial Methodist Protestant Church on Broadway below Kaighn Avenue.
Much has been written about Boston Corbett. Deeply religious and often described as mentally unstable, accounts by those who knew and served with the man offer a different perspective of him, at least through the mid 1860s. Probably the most accurate and personally revealing account came from Byron Berkley Johnson in his book, Abraham Lincoln and Boston Corbett, with Personal Recollection of Each, published in 1914. Corbett himself is quoted at length. This book can be downloaded as a PDF file by clicking on the link, and frankly is a "must-read".
After having served as a private in the 12th Regiment, New York State Militia in 1861, Boston Corbett enlisted as a Private on August 4, 1863 at the age of 31, joining Company L, 16th Cavalry Regiment New York on September 5, 1863. He was promoted to Full Corporal on September 6, 1863. Corbett was demoted to Full Private on Feb 26, 1864. Corbett was taken prisoner at Centrevill (near Culpepper), Virginia on June 26, 1864 and sent to the notorious Andersonville camp, from which he briefly escaped. After falling ill at Andersonville, he was paroled on November 19, and after a month's recovery returned to his regiment. In the meantime, Corbett had again been promoted, this time to Full Sergeant on Oct 31, 1864.
On April 25, 1865 under the command of First Lieutenant E.P. Doherty, Sergeant Corbett was part of a detail seeking to arrest John Wilkes Booth, who had assassinated President Abraham Lincoln a few days before. Although orders had been given to take Booth alive, Sergeant Corbett shot the assassin, who a few hours later.
Doherty's report of the incident is below, his comments about Corbett bear repeating:
"I would call the attention of the commanding general to the efficiency of Sergt. Boston Corbett, Company I,, Sixteenth New York Cavalry, who was untiring in his efforts to bring the murderers to justice. His soldierly qualifications have been tested before this occasion, and, in my judgment, are second to none in the service."
After his encounter with John Wilkes Booth in April of 1865, Sergeant Corbett mustered out with Company L, 16th Cavalry Regiment New York on August 17, 1865 at Washington, DC.
George Reeser Prowell's History of Camden County, New Jersey states that Boston Corbett was the second pastor of the Memorial Methodist Protestant Church on Broadway below Kaighn Avenue and was replaced in 1867. Boston Corbett remained in Camden until 1878. The 1870 Federal Census, taken August 2nd of that year, shows Boston Corbett residing in South Camden, lodging at the home of Isaac Boggs, his wife Sarah, and their 12-year old daughter Anna. Corbett's occupation is listed as "Preach Gospel". He also worked as a hatter, his pre-Civil War occupation..
An 1877 news article in the West Jersey Democrat states that Corbett was living on Pine Street below South 4th Street. He was still in town in 1878, but not for long. The City Directory for 1878 shows Rev. Boston Corbett as pastor of the Independent Methodist Church at 328 Pine Street, where he also resided. He left Camden for Cloud County, Kansas that year, where he tried his hand at farming, homesteading 80 acres. This did not turn out well.
In March of 1880 Boston Corbett was granted an invalid's pension for his Civil War service.
The G.A.R. secured Corbett a post as doorkeeper for the Kansas State Legislature. Corbett, whose sanity had been questionable BEFORE the Civil War, became unhinged one day in 1887 and fired twelve shots, fortunately none of which hut anyone. He was sent to an insane asylum. Boston Corbett escaped the following year, and after visiting a fellow es-Andersonville prisoner, Richard Thatcher, in Kansas, was never heard from again.
Corbett's eventual fate is unknown. Sources have him dying in fires in Minnesota and Kansas, leaving the United States for Mexico, and spending his last days in Oklahoma. A number of imposters claimed to be Corbett but were all discredited in time.
Sergeant Boston Corbett
Captain Edward P. Doherty
16th New York Cavalry Regiment
Doherty had just been promoted to Captain
photographed by Matthew Brady
First Lieutenant Doherty's Report
HDQRS. DETACHMENT SIXTEENTH NEW YORK CAVALRY,
Washington, D.C., April 29, 1865.
Lieut. Col. J. H. TAYLOR,
Asst. Adjt. Gets. and Chief of Staff, Dept. of Washington.
COLONEL: I have the honor to report that on Monday, April 24, 1865, I received the following order:
HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF WASHINGTON, TWENTY-SECOND ARMY CORPS,
COMMANDING OFFICER DETACHMENT SIXTEENTH NEW YORK CAVALRY:
SIR: The major-general commanding directs that you detail twenty-five men, well mounted, to be commanded by a reliable and discreet commissioned officer, to report at once to Col. L. C. Baker, Special Agent, War Department, 217 Pennsylvania avenue, opposite Willard's Hotel. Report your action.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. R. SEWALL,
Lieutenant and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
HEADQUARTERS DETACHMENT SIXTEENTH NEW YORK CAVALRY,
Lieut. E. P. DOHERTY,
Sixteenth New York Cavalry:
SIR: You are hereby detailed for the duty specified in the preceding order, and will report immediately to Col. L. C. Baker for instructions.
J. SCHNEIDER,
Captain, Sixteenth New York Cavalry, Commanding Detachment.
In pursuance to the foregoing orders I reported to Colonel Baker, at the time and place specified, and received the following information and instructions. He informed me that he had reliable information that the assassin Booth and his accomplice were somewhere between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. He gave me several photographs of Booth and introduced me to Mr. Conger and Mr. Baker, and said they would accompany me. He directed me to scour the section of the country indicated thoroughly, to make my own disposition of the men in my command, to forage upon the country, giving receipts for what was taken from loyal parties, and to land at or near Belie Plain at all hazards, to swim my horses ashore if I could not and otherwise, and return when I thought proper. I embarked upon the steamer John S. Ide, at Sixth-street wharf, this vessel having been plated at my disposal by the following order:
ASSISTANT QUARTERMASTER'S OFFICE, RIVER TRANSPORTATION,
Sixth-Street Wharf, Washington, D.C., April 24, 1865.
CAPTAIN OF STEAMER JOHN S. IDE:
SIR: Having received on board twenty-five men and horses, proceed down the river, subject to the orders of the officer in charge; having performed the duties required of you, return to this city and report to me.
E. S. ALLEN,
Captain and Assistant Quartermaster.
I then proceeded down the river to Belle Plain, and having landed my force I issued the following order to the captain commanding the vessel:
Off Belle Plain, Va., April 24, 1865.
Capt. H. WILSON,
Commanding Steamer John S. Ide:
CAPTAIN: You will please moor off, after landing my command, to a place of safe anchorage, not to exceed one mile from this place, and there await further orders. Should you not receive a dispatch from me before the 26th instant at 6 p.m. return to Washington. Should you see any of the enemy's force report the fact to the gunboat. Forage will remain on board your boat.
E. P. DOHERTY,
First Lieutenant, Sixteenth New York Cavalry, Commanding Detachment.
I then proceeded in the direction of Fredericksburg, and after advancing about three miles I turned southwest and struck the Rappahannock River about twelve miles above Port Conway, 6 a.m. There I met two fishermen, who informed me of a member of surgeons living in the vicinity, and having previously learned the fact that Booth was crippled I deemed it proper to visit the different surgeons and search their premises, making such inquiries and examinations as were thought necessary; this being accomplished, and, finding no traces of the assassin or his accomplice, Mr. Conger requested me to furnish him four men and a corporal, which I did, and he moved down the Rappahannock, following its course. I then marched with the remainder of my command, making a detour of some fifteen miles by the way of King George Court-House, forming a junction with Mr. Conger at Conway's Ferry at 2 p.m. April 25,1865.
Up to this time we had found no trace of the assassin or his accomplice. I then stopped to feed. It was thought by the detectives that we would not find any traces of the assassins. After feeling, however, I determined to push across the ferry; Mr. Conger, one of the detectives, remained at the house. Mr. Baker, the other detective, accompanied me to the ferry, where I met a negro, who informed me that men answering the description crossed the day before, and that one of them had been into Mr. Roland's house. Mr. Baker, and myself proceeded to the house of Mr. Roland, and there, after exhibiting the photographs, we concluded that we were on their track. I dispatched three men in a small boat to bring over a scow, which was on other side of the Rappahannock River; I also dispatched one man to inform Mr. Conger that we had track of the assassins, and to come down immediately. Mr. Rollins, at the ferry, informed me that two men were brought there from Mathias Point by a negro, to whom they had paid $15, and wanted to engage him, Rollins, to take them to Orange Court-House; that he refused to go so far, but they engaged him to take them to Bowling Green for $10; that these men showed great anxiety to get across the river, and wished him (Mr. Rollins) to use his small boat, and they would pay him extra; that Herold told him that they were brothers, and that Booth was wounded at Petersburg; that he refused his small boat for the reason he was using it putting out his fishing net; that, at about this time, three Confederate soldiers came up and shook hands with one of them. Herold then came to the house and apologized for not taking the horse and wagon, and said he had met an old schoolmate, and that they were going to ride in "twain." Mrs. Rollins said the three soldiers were Capt. Willie Jett, Lieutenants Ruggles and Bainbridge; that Captain Jett was courting a young lady by the name of Goldman, whose father kept a hotel at Bowling Green. In the meantime the horses and men were being ferried across as rapidly as possible. At 6 p.m. my whole command was across, and I moved on toward Bowling Green. On the road, absent three miles from Port Royal, I met a negro on horseback; not, wishing to lose time I rode ahead of the column and directed the negro to turn back and ride beside myself. I learned from him that the party that we were in quest of had all returned except Capt. Willie Jett (rebel). Proceeding along we arrived at a house seven miles from Bowling Green. I learned here that some of Mosby's men had been along the day before and taken three horses from three Yankee soldiers. Messrs. Conger and Baker entered the house and were informed that the party who had passed there the previous day had all returned except Captain Jett. The house of Mrs. Clark, some four miles distant, was spoken of as a place where some of the party might be. I determined, however, to push on to Bowling Green and secure the said Captain Jett. Arriving within about half a mile of the town I dismounted ten men, who were ordered to accompany Mr. Baker into the town. Mr. Conger, Rollins (the guide), and myself rode ahead and surrounded the house; the dismounted men shortly afterward arrived and surrounded the house and outhouses; this was about 12 o'clock midnight We knocked about fifteen minutes at each door without receiving and reply; at length a negro appeared on the street who showed the way to the negro house in rear, and on entering I asked a negro where Willie was, meaning Captain Jett; he replied that he was in bed. Conger inquired where the room was, &c. In a few moments Mrs. Goldman opened the door, and we asked for her son; she showed us up stairs, and we found Jett and her son in bed, partly undressed. We took Jett down stairs and informed him our business, telling him that if he did not forthwith inform us where the men were he should suffer; that no parley would be taken, &c. He requested that two of the party withdraw and leave him with one, and he would make a full statement of what he knew of the assassin's whereabouts. This was granted. Mr. Baker and myself had scarcely left the room when he told Mr. Conger that he would show us the place. On learning this I took him in my own charge. His horse was got out, he was mounted, and we went back to the house of Mr. Garrett, about twelve miles from Bowling Green. I ordered my command to surround the house, and, as a precautionary measure, sent six men in rear of the barn and outbuildings. While I was placing my men around the buildings the detectives knocked at the door, which was opened by the elder Mr. Garrett, who was much excited; he said the men who had been there went to the woods the previous evening. While engaged in conversation the son of Mr. Garrett came in, advising the father to tell where they were. I seized this man by the collar, and pulled him out of the door and down the steps, put my revolver to his head and told him to tell me at once where the two assassins were; he replied, "in the barn." I said "show me the barn." We started on the run for the barn, I holding him by the collar, calling on my men to follow me and surround more closely the building I should indicate. In the meantime another of the Garrett sons appeared, who was seized by one of the detectives and ordered to get a candle. He immediately procured a candle. On arriving at the barn I left the Garrett I had in charge with some of my men, and posted my men around the barn. This accomplished, I returned to the front of the barn, and found Garrett coming out of the barn; it appears that he had been sent in there during my absence to summon Booth to surrender. This I disapproved, as there were soldiers enough there to perform such duty. Booth, however, refused to surrender. The detectives were in favor of firing the barn, which I opposed, declaring my intention to wait until daylight and I would send my men through the four different doors and overpower the assassin, but after consultation the project of burning the building was abandoned for the time being. In the meantime considerable conversation took place concerning the surrender of Booth between Mr. Baker, myself, and the assassin. Sergt. Boston Corbett, Company L, Sixteenth New York Cavalry asked permission to enter the barn alone, which I refused. Booth all this time was very defiant and refused to surrender. At one time he said if we would draw up in line fifty paces off he would come out, adding that he was lame and had only one leg. This, however, I refused. Booth up to this time had denied there was anyone in the barn besides himself. Considerable conversation now took place between myself, Booth, and the detectives. We threatened to burn the barn if he did not surrender; at one time gave him ten minutes to make up his mind. Finally, Booth said, "Oh; Captain, there is a man here who wants to surrender awful bad:" I answered, and I think Mr. Baker did at the same time, "Hand out your arms." Herold replied, "I have none." Baker said, "We know exactly what you have got." Booth replied, "I own all the arms, and intend to use them on you gentlemen." After some little parley I said, "Let him out." Some one objected. I ordered Garrett, the younger son, who had the key, to unlock the barn, which he did. I partially opened the door, and told Herold to put out his hand, which he did. I then told him to put [out] his other hand. I took hold of both his wrists and pulled him out of the barn. Almost simultaneous with my taking Herold out of the barn the hay in the rear of the barn was ignited by Mr. Conger, and the barn fired. Sergt. Boston Corbett, Company L, Sixteenth New York Cavalry, shot the assassin Booth, wounding him in the neck. I entered the barn as soon as the shot was fired, dragging Herold with me, and found that Booth had fallen on his back. Messrs. Conger and Baker, with some of my men, entered the barn and took hold of Booth. I proceeded with Herold to find a rope to secure him, there being no irons for that purpose. The assassin Booth lived about two hours. In the meantime a doctor was procured, who remained with Booth till he died. I procured a wagon, sewed up the body in a blanket myself, and placed it in the wagon. I then proceeded to Port Royal, where we arrived at 9 a.m. April 26, 1865, and crossed the river in a scow. While crossing my command Mr. Baker, without authority, moved off with the body of the assassin, taking with him the two men who had been previously detailed as a guard to the body, also one of the prisoners (Captain Jett, rebel). I was some time crossing my command, and experienced some difficulty in bringing Herold and the two Garretts along, having only one horse to mount the three; thus delay was occasioned. After proceeding some distance I procured an additional horse. Fearing some accident might happen to the body of the assassin and the prisoner Jett, whom Mr. Baker had taken with him. I dispatched an orderly to tell Mr. Baker to halt. The orderly rode over four miles at full speed, when, overtaking Mr. Baker, he told him to halt until the column came up. This Mr. Baker, however, did not do, but continued on missing me and the road. I arrived at Belle Plain at 6 p.m., and found the corpse had not yet arrived. I felt great anxiety, and was about to apply to Major Bosworth, Sixteenth New York Cavalry, who was at Belle Plain with his command, for a detachment of men to go in search of the body, when Mr. Baker arrived. I immediately asked him where the prisoner, Captain Jett, was. He replied, "he did not know; he had escaped." After a short delay the body of the assassin Booth was placed on board the steamer John S. Ide, and we proceeded to Washington, where I delivered over the body of Booth, Herold, and the two Garretts to Col. L. C. Baker, at 3 a.m. the 27th day of April, 1865.
The command consisted of twenty-six enlisted men of the Sixteenth New York Cavalry, and myself, the two gentlemen, Messrs. Conger and Baker, sent by Colonel Baker, making a total in all of twenty-nine men. I would say that great credit is due to all concerned for the fortitude and eagerness they displayed in pursuing and arresting the murderers. For nearly sixty hours hardly an eye was closed or a horse dismounted until the errand was accomplished. I would call the attention of the commanding general to the efficiency of Sergt. Boston Corbett, Company I,, Sixteenth New York Cavalry, who was untiring in his efforts to bring the murderers to justice. His soldierly qualifications have been tested before this occasion, and, in my judgment, are second to none in the service. Mr. Rollins, at Port Conway, is also worthy of notice for his willingness to impart all the information he possessed. In conclusion I beg to state that it has afforded my command and myself inexpressible pleasure to be the humble instruments of capturing the foul assassins who caused the death of our beloved President and plunged the nation in mourning.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
EDWARD P. DOHERTY,
First Lieut., Sixteenth New York Cavalry, Comdg. Detachment.
THE BULLETIN of The CAMDEN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY - February 1960
“MAD HATTER" - The Man who Shot the Man who Shot Lincoln
By Arthur D. Pierce and Howard R. Kemble
The year was 1870. The address was 308 Mechanic Street. Camden, New Jersey. The occupant of the house was the man who shot the man who shot Abraham Lincoln. His name was Boston Corbett.
Corbett's residence in Camden for the best part of a decade is known to few, just as Corbett's brief but blazing day in the sun has been largely forgotten. Yet the man was a hero to millions, and had he not been more than slightly cracked he might have become a figure familiar in history books to this day. His career was fantastically colorful, and he possessed the faculty of creating excitement wherever he went.
Most of the period Corbett lived in Camden he was pastor of the Memorial Methodist Protestant Church, located on the west side of Broadway below Kaighn Avenue. By that time, however, his erstwhile glamour had worn thin and he was so far removed from the public consciousness that newspapers began to publish stories about his death. Like Mark Twain's, it was "greatly exaggerated." Said the West Jersey Press, on April 3, 1872:
"The papers are incorrect. Mr. Corbett is a resident of Camden, is in good health, and has as fair a prospect of long life as any of those who have been pronouncing his death"
Born in England, reportedly in 1832, his parents named him Thomas P. Corbett, and he was but seven years old when the family removed to Troy. New York. Young Corbett later became a hatter- and soon indeed, a mad hatter! He is recorded as having had jobs in various cities of the East. While he was in New York he married, presumably while quite young. Little is known of this marriage save the fact that his wife died during delivery of a stillborn daughter.
This tragedy, however, unhinged Corbett's mind. First he took to drink; then he "got religion" when the Salvation Army converted him on the streets of Boston. But so extreme was his conversion, so loud, incoherent and vehement his exhortations to others, that he embarrassed his fellow-evangelists. They finally persuaded him to carryon elsewhere, and alone. Before leaving town, however, Corbett felt that he should commemorate the city of his conversion. So he abandoned the "Thomas P." and took the name "Boston."
Corbett was equally embarrassing to any hat-makers who gave him jobs. Let a fellow-workman mention taking a drink, or utter some careless oath, and Corbett would disrupt the assembly line, get on his knees, and make a long and fervent prayer.
Came the Civil War and Corbett lost not a moment in joining up. The Union Army little dreamed what it was getting; but its officers soon were to find out. Shortly before his induction Corbett preached a wild sermon. He startled the women in his audience by declaring his intention not only to enlist, but to shoot any Southerner on sight. Declared Boston: "I will say to them 'God have mercy on your souls,' and then pop them off."
In his excellent book "Myths After Lincoln", Lloyd Lewis tells of a day of drilling in Franklin Square, New York, when Colonel Butterfield, commanding his regiment, burst out with profanity over the awkwardness of the raw recruits. Corbett stepped out of line and saluted:
"'Colonel, don't you know you are breaking God's law?' asked the private firmly but kindly.'"
"Take him to the guardhouse,' howled Butterfield." They took Boston to the guardhouse. But that bothered him not at all. He liked martyrdom. Soon he was shouting hymns in a loud voice. When the infuriated Colonel gave orders to stop, Corbett merely sang louder. Baffled, Butterfield finally sent word that if he would apologize for insulting his superior officer he would be released. Corbett sent back a message that "I have only offended the Colonel, while the Colonel has offended God, and I shall never ask the Colonel's pardon until he has asked pardon of God." Butterfield threw up his hands. Corbett was freed.
In one famous encounter Corbett alone held twentysix Confederates at bay, until his ammunition ran out. At that point stories differ. One says he hid in a well where the enemy found him, coolly eating a sandwich. The other holds that after his guns were useless he started at the Confederates with clubs, swinging wildly while the enemy colonel, Mosby, looked on in astonishment and admiration.
Captured, Corbett was sent to the notorious Andersonville prison. Characteristically, he escaped, only to be recaptured by bloodhounds. Later he was exchanged, when the Confederates thought he was a physical wreck. Yet after only a month's rest he was back in the fray and it does not seem at all surprising that he should turn up among the twenty-seven Union men who were surrounding a barn on the road to Bowling Green, Virginia. In that barn was trapped John Wilkes Booth, the man who shot Lincoln.
Strict were the orders. No one was to fire without command. Planned were a great public trial and a ceremonious hanging. The whole nation would be shown, in Booth's punishment, what fate awaited assassins. Boston Corbett, however, took orders only from God, and he had ignored so many orders from the Army that this one probably did not impress him very much.
After Booth refused to surrender, and tried to play for time by endless talk from within his hideout, the barn was set afire. Corbett had been stationed some thirty feet from the barn and through a large crack in the wail he could see, in the light of the flames, the trapped prisoner moving about in hope of escape.
Suddenly a shot was heard above the crackling of the burning wood. Booth fell to the floor. Some thought he had shot himself. But Boston quickly corrected that impression. Boston said he had fired the shot, and it had struck Booth in almost the spot where Booth's bullet had hit Lincoln. While the murderer of tile President was being carried from the blazing barn, Colonel Conger summoned Corbett and said: "Why did you fire against orders?" Boston replied: "The Almighty directed me."
Separated from the service, with some $1600 reward money in his pocket, Boston took to the lecture platform, as so many heroes have before and since. Religious and patriotic societies clamored to hear him- but none clamored more than once. Instead of telling his eager audiences what they wanted to hear- how he shot the man who had shot Lincoln- Boston gave them long, incoherent talks on religion, talks so wild they bored his audiences and sent people hurrying for the doors. Soon his fame had vanished, a job in the hat-business vanished also -and Boston Corbett turned up in Camden, as pastor of the little church on Atlantic Avenue.
Apparently Camden had a calming effect on Corbett, for he lasted a number of years as pastor and remained in the city almost a decade, a longer: stay in one place than any he had made up to that time.
On July 25, 1877, the West Jersey Press noted:
“Boston Corbett, whose other name is "The man who shot Wilkes Booth,' and who has been heard of from one end of the country to the other, is riow in very destitute circumstances at his home on Pine Street below Fourth in this city.' He is completely broken down in health, and without friends or money. For some years he has labored as a local Methodist preacher, but his remuneration from that source has been absolutely nothing. He is a hatter by trade, but can obtain no employment. Is it not sad that, after what he did for his country, he should be left to suffer in a Christian community?" '
After various wanderings, of which little is known, Corbett, in 1886 was given a job as doorheper for the Kansas Legislature. This had been arranged by the G. A. R. In February 1887, however, on a drowsy day when the legislators were debating at leisure, Boston quietly locked the door, and brought out two large- and loaded-revolvers. Telling the Legislators that God demanded their lives, Boston let loose with both guns at once. Twelve blasts went in all directions. The frantic solons dived under chairs, hid behind trash baskets, and tried to butt open the doors. But Boston's aim was not what it had been on the night he shot the man who shot Lincoln. Nary a Legislator was hit.
So, once again Boston Corbett made headlines. The West Jersey Press quoted the following from the Sioux City (Iowa) Times:
"Poor Corbett! He ran with McDowell, fortified with McClellan, charged with Hoover, fought it out under Grant, and shot Booth on his own account. But the talk of the Kansas Legislature was too much for his endurance, and now he is crazy."
Corbett may have lost his aim, and he may have lost his mind. But he had not lost his gift for escaping his captors. On May 26, 1888, while marching along a road with other inmates of an asylum, Boston spotted a horse tied to a post. Dashing from the line he quickly: climbed into the saddle and rode off in a cloud of dust.
Corbett's days thereafter are befogged with mystery.
Reports of his "discovery" in one place after another were noted as late as 1905, but none was definitely confirmed. There is some evidence that he made his way to Oklahoma, was therein 1901, and passed this remaining days in the state. In his "Indian Trails and Early Paths", however, Charles S. Boyer states that Corbett perished in a snowstorm near the Soldiers' Home in Leavenworth. Kansas. He gives no date. In any case, Boston finally found peace at the end of a turbulent trail.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For decades after Booth's death, the role of Boston Corbett was not seriously questioned. However, certain latter-day historians have been arguing that Boston did not shoot Booth after all. Yet beyond that conclusion even the "revisionists" disagree. Some have argued that Col. Conger shot Booth; others that Lieutenant Baker shot him; still others that Booth shot himself. Neither the "revisionists" nor the authors of this article were on hand to see who shot whom. But the following facts are beyond dispute: Corbett is the only man who admitted shooting Booth. He admitted it on the scene; and he admitted it again on the witness stand. Conger specifically denied firing the shot. So did Baker. And the shot was fired at an angle which makes suicide seem improbable. That Conger himself believed Corbett fired the shot is evidenced by the fact that he took him to Washington for court martial, on charges of disobeying orders -the orders being NOT to shoot Booth. Finally, when Secretary of War Stanton dismissed the charges, he said: "The rebel is dead- the patriot lives. He has saved us continued excitement, delay and expense. The patriot (Boston Corbett) is released."
RESEARCH CREDITS
Myths After Lincoln. by Lloyd Lewis; 1929, New York, Harcourt, Brace & Co., Inc.
Indian Trails and Early Paths by Charles S. Boyer, 1938, Camden, N. J., The Camden County Historical Society.
Various contemporary newspapers, particularly the West Jersey Press.
Harper's Weekly - May 13, 1865
Sergeant Corbett, the soldier who shot Booth, belongs to Company L, Sixteenth New York Cavalry. He was born in London, England, in 1832, and came to this country when seven years of age. He has lived in Troy, New York, where he learned his trade as hat-finisher, and subsequently worked in Albany, Boston, Richmond, and New York. He enlisted in the latter city in the Twelfth New York State Militia. While residing in Boston he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. Never having been baptized, he was at a loss what name to adopt, but after making it a subject of prayer he believed himself instructed to take the name of Boston, his place of conversion. Last June a detachment of the Sixteenth was sent to the vicinity of Culpepper, where they were hemmed in by Mosby, and nearly all compelled to surrender except Corbett, who stood out manfully, and fired his revolver and twelve shots from his breech-loading rifle at his assailants before surrendering, which he did after firing his last round of ammunition. Mosby, in admiration of the bravery displayed by Corbett, ordered his men not to shoot him, and received his surrender with other expressions of admiration. He was taken to Lynchburg and thence to Andersonville, where he experienced, during five months of imprisonment, the same treatment as others have so numerously testified to. Out of fourteen members of his company, fellow-captives, but one besides himself returned. Upon one occasion he made his escape, but was tracked by bloodhounds and returned to captivity. When exchanged he was but a skeleton, and has not yet fully regained his health.
One of the most remarkable characteristics of Corbett is his fervent religious enthusiasm. In a letter to his pastor last February he wrote :
"Do try and lead him" [speaking of an acquaintance] " to Jesus. Brother Irvine is here with me, and we often kneel together and besiege the throne of grace, and bless God He makes us happy in His love. We do not forget our pastors and churches and brethren ; and we feel that we are not forgotten by those whom we have left for a while. Last night another brother who belongs to our regiment had a season of prayer with us, after reading the Word; and we three were just as happy as in a Big Meeting. Brother Corbett shouted, and nobody was hurt by it. Glory to God!" Further on he says "Give those dear little ones a kiss for me. God bless them ! I wish to be remembered with the kindest Christian love," etc.
Sergeant Corbett is well known in this city. He was a constant attendant of the Fulton Street Meeting, and greatly annoyed it by what was considered his fanaticism. He took part frequently, and in his prayers was in the habit of adding "er" to all his words, as O Lord-er, hear-er our prayerer." When any thing pleased him he would shout, "Amen," " Glory to God," in a sharp, shrill voice, to the great horror of the official who controls the meeting. All remonstrance was in vain, and he shouted to the very last. He enlisted in the Twelfth Regiment, and made conscience his guide there. He was perpetually in hot water because he would follow the order of his conscience rather than the military order. He prayed in the corner of his tent regularly night and morning, nor could the taunts or jeers of his associates turn him aside. He was often seen in the guard-house, with his knapsack full of bricks as a punishment, with his Testament in his hand, lifting up his voice against swearing, preaching temperance, and calling upon his wild companions to " seek the Lord."
One day, at a dress parade in Franklin Square, opposite our office, Butterfield cursed and damned the regiment for something he did not like. Corbett stepped out of the ranks and reproved the Colonel for breaking God's law. He was, of course, put under arrest. He made up his mind that the time for which he enlisted expired at twelve o'clock at night on a certain day. He gave notice that he should go home when his time was out. He was put on picket duty, and as the hour of midnight was sounded he laid his gun down on the line and marched off. He was tried by a court-martial and sentenced to be shot. The order was not executed, but he was drummed out of the regiment.
Sergeant Boston Corbett's
Civil War Pension Record
Boston Corbett
Edward V.D. Joline
Camden Republican Club
Stars and Stripes - November 23, 1964
Thanks to Mike Coccia for his help in creating this web-page
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INDEPENDENT COUNTRY
Kemp/Powell 1996: The Lost Ticket
Campaign finance laws prevented it from happening, and we're still paying the price.
In the mid-1990's, millionaire publisher Steve Forbes wanted his friend, supply-side crusader and former Congressman Jack Kemp, to run for President. Kemp refused, mainly because of the fund-raising he would have had to do. Forbes would have gladly bankrolled Kemp's campaign, but our insane campaign-finance laws prohibited it. Because individuals were allowed to spend on their own campaigns, however, Forbes decided to run for President himself. Kemp endorsed Forbes as the Republcian nominee, angering front-runner Bob Dole. Although Dole did get the nomination, in the end the Forbes' campaign was a success, because Dole chose Kemp as his running mate, and Dole agreed to campaign on a platform of tax cuts, which was the primary issue for Forbes, Kemp, and the Republican base.
Bob Dole had some similarities to the 2008 nominee John McCain. They are both war heroes. They both were from the "moderate" wing of the GOP, more concerned about the budget than taxes. Each fought a bitter primary battle with someone named "George Bush" eight years before winning the nomination themselves. Each were divorced and remarried in the party of "family values." Each were in their 70's when they did get the nomination, and seemed to triumph primarily because
a) of weak, unpopular, or uncharismatic rivals, and
b) GOP loyalists paid their debt of gratitude to them: Dole for being an effective "leader of the opposition" in Bill Clinton's first term; McCain for his extreme pro-war position, which is now the defining characteristic of the Republican Party.
Of course, there are key differences. Dole was the typical "Main Street" or "mainstream" Republican of the 1960's-90's, defending the party line without being too closely aligned with the Northeastern Establishment, Supply-Siders, the Religous Right, or any other faction. McCain, in contrast, gained fame as a "maverick" by often telling a liberal media what it wanted to hear.
As candidates and nominees, both Dole and McCain had to run "to the Right" to appease some factions. But Dole's main problem was with "Supply Siders" who cared more for reduced tax rates than for balanced budgets, and in Kemp he chose the most prominent author of Reagan's first tax-cut bill.
It was a solid choice. One could disagree with Jack Kemp, but not with his intelligence, experience, or credentials, or the ways he could balance the ticket geographically and ideologically.
Of course, Colin Powell, the former National security Advisor under Ronald Reagan and commander of the Persian Gulf War under George H.W. Bush, would have been a more historic choice. To white America's eyes, the African-American Powell was the antithesis of the resentment-filled antics of a Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. But Powell was still too liberal on abortion and affirmative action to satisfy "middle America." Dole, who in his long tenure as Senate Republican leader accommodated all bases, was already perceived as too moderate, and he was forced to run to the Right to energize the Republican base, and this disqualifed Powell. Not because Powell was black, but because he was too liberal.
Had Kemp himself campaigned for the nomination, he would not have needed to accommadate the social or anti-tax conservatives; they would have enthusiastically voted for him, and Kemp could have had the political capital to appeal to Republican Left-Moderates, something Dole did not have. If Kemp won the nomination, a Kemp-Powell ticket may still have lost, but it would have been a more historic campaign. If there was a Kemp-Powell ticket in 1996, there would not have been four white men on the ticket in 2000. There would not have been four white men on the ticket in 2004.
Dole didn't really stand a chance in 1996. The country seemed to be running fairly well under Bill Clinton, whose worst scandal (Lewinsky) and greatest crime against the country, Constitution, and humanity (bombing Serbia for no reason) were yet to come. The race may have been closer had Ross Perot not run, but Clinton's margin over Dole was greater than the total Perot vote. And Kemp himself, had he chosen to go to the fundraisers and mount the campaign, probably would have lost to Dole in the 1996 primaries anyway, because the bigwigs owed more favors to Dole. In that sense, not much would have changed.
But here is the frustrating thing about our election process. Multi-millionaires like Steve Forbes and billionaires like Ross Perot were effectively prevented by campaign finance laws from funding anyone but themselves. Certainly, there own egos played a role, but they were not definitive. The campaign finance deception is that if big-funder A (such as Steve Forbes) supports candidate B (like Jack Kemp) because of agreement on the issues, and if candidate B wins the election by campaigning on those issues, then the candidate will then go against the wishes of voters to cater to the big-funder.
This just isn't credible. Votes determine election results, not money. Elected office-holders owe their jobs to the voters, not to moneyed interests. Money can only be used to make arguments for or against an issue or candidate. But other people's money can not force a voter to vote for a candidate pledged to oppose the voter's own interests. In the long run the "special interest money" tends to reflect the personal interests of voters in a district, which in turn determines the Representative's vote. Rural congresspersons vote for gun rights not because the gun lobbyists favor them, but because their own voters favor them.
Likewise, if Jack Kemp, in personality and platform, better reflected the values of Republican Party primary voters in 1996, he would have won the nomination by catering to these voters, not by catering to the needs of his financiers. But because of the campaign contribution limits laws, he would have had to raise money through an exhausting nickel-and-dime process where Dole had the advantage from the outset. No sane person would have gone through that, and Kemp did not.
Yes, "special interest money" can corrupt a politician who works for the few and against the wishes of the majority of his constituents. But if he's re-elected, how is that the money's fault? If the politician really worked against the people's interests, what other reason would they have for not removing him?
I won't judge the past, but these days there's no excuse to blame "money" for high incumbency re-election rates. The actions and votes of polticians can easily be found on the Internet. The problem with "corrupt" elections is not special interest money, but voter apathy. And this is not a criticism of non-voters, but rather of voters who view it as their "patriotic obligation" to vote for one candidate or the other, without seriously examining their positions and, especially, their actions.
If we want to pinpoint what's wrong with America's political system, don't blame the non-voters, and don't blame the money. The root of the problem lies in those who vote for certain candidates because of likeability or party identification, without actually investigating their preferred candidat's record.
If we had real freedom in our elections, we may have had a Kemp-Powell ticket in 1996. As a result, we would probably have had much better choices in 2000 and 2004. And the results of those contests would probably have resulted in better tickets today.
That said, I am more or less glad that the Democrats have selected an African-American and the Republicans have selected a woman this year. Even if the selections themselves may be dubious, perhaps they will bode well for the future. And if we liberated our campaign finance laws, the better future will come to us even sooner.
James Leroy Wilson blogs at Independent Country and writes for DownsizeDC.org. Views expressed here do not reflect the views of DownsizeDC.org
» jim102670@yahoo.com
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PutLocker-Movies7
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major, S 125 & Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15
by admin June 12, 2019 June 12, 2019
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major, S 125 & Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 ()
Genre : Music
Company : Sony Music Entertainmant
Cast : Хатия Буниатишвили, Зубин Мета
Descriptions Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major, S 125 & Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15
Sony Classical in cooperation with Paramax Films and Dolby releases the world premiere of the first classical concert on video mixed in the new sound technology of Dolby Atmos®. Captured by Paramax Films in the orchestra’s home city of Tel Aviv in July 2015, Khatia Buniatishvili and Zubin Mehta unite in a concert with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at its resident venue of Charles Bronfman Auditorium. Available on DVD and Blu-ray, last-named with Dolby Atmos technology, the legendary conductor and the 2016 ECHO Klassik Award winning pianist showcase a performance of the piano’s most famous orchestral repertoire; Beethoven’s infectious and virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 1. and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with its waves of sound and grandiose third movement. Last concerto proven to be “a superb showpiece for Buniatishvili, whose technical prowess, theatrical manner and innate glamour mark her out as a natural Liszt interpreter” writes the Guardian.
Sony Music Entertainmant
Jill Billcock: The Art of Film Editing
The Odd Girl
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» Paradis
» Wall Rose
» Training Corps Barracks & Grounds
Forget-me-not. [Mara]
Author Topic: Forget-me-not. [Mara] (Read 4092 times)
Axel Falkenrath
[ may, 846 ]
"I'm not hanging back and waiting for you!" Axel called over his shoulder, looping around a tree nonetheless, accelerating with a touch of gas to gain height.
It was a typical lesson of practising with omni-directional gear, skating trees and dealing with any Titan dummies they'd come across. Mara had sought him out for her partner, claiming that she needed extra practice and that she wanted to see how he handled speed to learn. Of course, he'd immediately agreed, and promised to at least show her some of the techniques he was working on perfecting. He knew he wasn't the best of his class for sure, and even more doubtful on the entire 104th Cadet Corps, but he still reckoned he was one of the best.
It was his speed that he was most confident with. Landing was hazy, he hadn't yet worked out how to land properly at speed without either jogging along thin air until his feet touched the ground - which usually resulted in him tripping - or landing on a branch beside the trunk and then sliding down the bark to the ground. Mara was better at that, he reckoned, but he didn't want to admit that he was struggling at anything. Especially when she'd acted relieved when he promised to show her how he handled it.
Rushing past a closer copse of trees, he fired a hook to the next tree and yelled back over his shoulder, "Titan ahead!" The wooden structure leered through the trees, neck stretched fowards and up, the cushion unmarked. They'd gotten there before any others at least. "I'll take it from the east, you go from the west," he shouted, applying gas and firing off a second hook to change direction.
Mara Sonnenschein
Re: Forget-me-not. [Mara]
Mara wasn't too proud to admit that she was not the most skilled of cadets. Since her friendship with Axel had blossomed, she'd noted that he wasn't especially keen on pronouncing his weaknesses even when she offered to work with him. He'd refused to spar with her at first, until she'd finally convinced him, only to lose early in. It hadn't been hard to work out why he'd refused on that - after apologising, he had kept up his honest streak of pointing out that she was better suited to spar with 'people at her level'. If it weren't for her aches, she might have been insulted.
Practising with ODM gear was different though. He'd easily enough agreed to that, to her immense relief. She confessed to her own inability to handle it well. So when he declared that he wouldn't wait for her, Mara stammered out, "Wait! I told you, I can't--" But he'd already gone.
Her hands fiddled clumsily with her gear, panic briefly crossing her face before she found the right hold and charged forwards. It took her a moment to remember to fire the first hook, and then kicked in the gas in an attempt to catch up. He was fast, she had to admit, but he also wasn't going straight. Instead, he moved around trees, while she found a beeline to follow and gain ground on him. Is he doing it deliberately to hang back for me, or is this how he always is? she asked herself.
There was no time to ask, as he called out about a dummy.
"Go from-- what?!" she yelled, watching him swerve to a side with wide eyes. Did she follow him or go in the opposite direction? He liked to cover everything he could, so maybe opposite? Was he giving her a chance to go for it dead on instead? So many questions! And he not close to ask.
She chose to go straight on, eyeing the cushion. Okay, she could do this. Maybe he wanted to see how she handled it and then he could tell her how to improve. Retracting a hook and firing off the next one, she continued on, removing her blades and raising them up as she neared. There it was, right in front of her.
A shadow fell over her face. "AXEL!"
icon credit
He was too tied up in the mission, however fake, that he had to accomplish. Teamwork was important, it could save lives - by splitting off, a Titan could only follow one if it was quick enough, leaving at least one person to get around to the nape. The likelihood of both being eaten by the same Titan would decrease, or so he theorised and had proposed to others as a possibility. Plus, if one missed, the other could take it.
As he was faster, by splitting off directions and going for it, he would be able to slice the cushion nape open and move out of the way before Mara took it. Blades raised, he flung himself with a burst of gas towards the nape. He was in the process of pulling them forwards when she appeared in his line of sight, also going in for the nape.
Panicked, he added more gas, spiralling up and yet catching his ankle on her poised blades.
With a cry of pain, he tumbled down, failing to reach the hand grips in time to fire off a hook. A patch of grass and flowers just barely cushioned his fall, and he groaned, face down. A leg angled upwards, blood seeped from the side of his ankle and trickled down his calf. It had been deep enough to sting and pulse, though thankfully he'd avoided most of the blade. Any lower and he might have passed out. The sharpness of the blades were hardly the most friendly of tools. It exercised more caution to use the real deal.
Horror filled her as she watched his approach, which doubled as he went to correct himself. She, too terrified to remember anything, frozen in the air, did nothing. It tripled when she felt the tug on her blade, and realised it had cut him. Kicking in some gas only once he was already falling, she fired off a hook and used it to pull herself closer, landing relatively neatly despite the panic bubbling up within her. Her blades dropped to the ground. He groaned on the ground, and blood trickled over his skin.
"Axel!" she said, trying to provoke a proper verbal response. Blood made her feel a little sick, but she knew she had to check on the injury. With her eyes screwed up, she moved over and then opened them. It wasn't deep enough for her to overly panic, but it still looked not great.
How was she going to stop the bleeding though? If they were going to get back, then she'd have to carry him maybe. Small as he was, she wasn't sure if she could manage that. It didn't sound as if there was any water around to clean it either. "I'm going to use my jacket to wipe up some of the blood," she told him, grateful for the day's warm weather.
Removing her jacket, she pressed the inside of it against the cut, trying to soak up some of the blood and stem the bleeding.
Pain throbbed in his ankle, and the warm trickle of liquid down his leg didn't help. Hearing his name called, he managed another groan. "I told you..." he grumbled, pressing his cheek against the leaves he'd crumpled, "Go from the west." There was no way she had come from the west as he'd said if she had made it to the nape at the same time as he had. There were rules for a reason. Orders for a reason.
Not uttering a complaint at the idea proposed, he twisted his neck to try and watch her. She was better at the medical side of support than he was, he expected. Mara was soft, looking for others above herself more than he, and not a force to be reckoned with on the training grounds. It would make more sense for her to focus on ways of helping others than training herself.
"Ow!" The feeling of fabric pressing to the cut intensified the stinging sensation. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he tried to relax as long as he expected it to take. As soon as he felt satisfied with the time - barely ten seconds - he jerked his knees and pulled his legs to himself, rolling over onto his back.
Axel pulled himself to sit, shooting a dark glare at her. "If you listened to me, that wouldn't have happened. And you didn't even pull the blades down when you noticed me. How slow are your reactions?" Though the sting was fading, his tone grew harsher as he thought more on the mistakes that had caused the accident.
As he reminded her of what he had said, some colour drained from her face. West! Of course it had been west, when he had gone... some way. But that made sense, to split up... he must have had it all timed out, she realised. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, but focused on dealing with his cut first. It would do him no good if she left it. Given his tendency to grumble, it would just increase it.
Pulling her jacket away as soon as enough time seemed to have passed, she checked the cuts. The blood glittered, but hardly spilled out, which was something. As he spoke, she searched the undergrowth, looking for any sign of yarrow. It was in season, so some must have bloomed by now.
"I couldn't hear you," she admitted, spotting a bunch of white petals and crawling over to them. "I thought, maybe, you... I don't know what I thought. I'm sorry, I did it wrong, I know I did, and I really am sorry," she said, her voice trembling. No, she wouldn't cry, but she didn't think she could speak for much longer. Why had she made such a mistake? Now he was angry with her.
Mara plucked yarrow from the ground, shuffling over on her knees to the fallen boy. "I can help with this, I just need to crush it up," she mumbled, staring at the leaves and then popping them into her mouth. Bitterness filled her mouth as she chewed, collecting them with her tongue and spitting it onto her hand. "It might sting a little," she added, brushing the wet mix onto his cuts.
As she explained and apologised, his eyes darkened. So there wasn't even an excuse for it. The tremble in her voice was the only thing that softened him. It sounded like she meant it. Through all his conversations and time spent with her, he knew she must. Though he couldn't forgive her quite so easily, he did nothing more than grumble over it for the moment, waiting as she collected the herb.
If there was one thing he could trust her on, it was knowing she was good with medical training. Pairing up on occasion in class had taught him that she was better at it than he. "What is it? What will it do?" he questioned, seeking distraction and education simultaneously. As long as she made sure it wouldn't keep bleeding. He didn't want socks heavy with blood while he limped on back to the barracks.
Axel gasped as the yarrow covered his wound, the sting cooling the heat at the bloodied spot. "Might," he growled, shooting her a quick glare. "Seriously though, why didn't you sheathe your blades? You didn't answer that. I get that you probably didn't hear me but come on." He just couldn't understand the thought process. If it had been him beneath her, he was certain it would never have happened. Which helped nothing. Either way, it had happened.
Forgiving her so quickly would be his next challenge.
"It's yarrow," she explained lightly, fixed on making sure the chewed leaves were fully covering the marked lines of his injury. "It stops bleeding, and can also stop infections. It can help with a lot of other things too, but it's useful like this. Chewing it helps release more so it'll work faster. I think. Or maybe dry is better..." She heistated, struggling to work out which version was said to work best in situations such as these. But it was already done, so she'd just have to hope it worked well for him.
His grouchiness continued, but she tried to ignore it. After all, he was in pain. "I said, I'm sorry. I can't do anything to change it," Mara murmured, sitting back and keeping an eye on the bloody, leafy wound. "It felt like I just... froze, I guess. I saw you, and then I didn't know what to do, so I just... kept going. I didn't know how to stop. It was like I forgot everything." Her speech sped up as nervousness gripped her, expecting him to sting her with his words in return for her stupidity. She had hurt him, after all, and it had all been because she hadn't just asked what he'd said, or done anything to avoid the accident.
What would the others think? Maybe they'd think she was an idiot as well, and then how was she going to graduate? She'd have to go back home maybe, and do nothing, never knowing what she was really meant to do.
Yarrow. He'd have to remember that. Trust Mara to know the medicinal uses of plants. Her little flower obsession had creeped him out at first. He remembered her offering him some kind of flower bracelet once, and the look of disappointment when he'd refused to wear something that would just fall off his wrist or die before the day's end. Axel still refused to wear anything like that, but he'd at least held his tongue when she brought them up.
At least the plants still had some usage. The best he could think of was the odd decoration to the bakery's creations. Lavender sprigs...
Removing himself from the memory abruptly, the boy listened to her explanation. She was upset, and getting more upset. Was she going to start crying? "Okay," he said with a resigned sigh. "I understand. That doesn't mean you're off the hook or anything," he added quickly, before her chirpiness could interrupt him, "but I get why you didn't avoid it."
He shifted his leg, groaning with the strange feeling of the plant pasted to the wound, and the sting of the cut. "We're going to have to get back to the rest of the class. I'll have to see a medic anyway," the boy muttered, thwacking a flowered twig by his head away from tickling his cheek.
Tears hadn't quite brimmed at her eyes, but a feeling of overwhelm attacked her sinuses, threatening them. Mara kept as calm as she could. It wasn't that she was worried about him seeing her cry, but she expected it would only irritate him. Then again, a lot of things seemed to annoy the boy, even if they were quite uncontrollable.
As he spoke, she blinked at him, warm hope rising as he said he understood. It didn't fade at the idea of her not being off the hook - whatever that was supposed to mean. "I won't do it again," she promised.
Getting him back to the others was going to be difficult. Maybe he could balance and use his gear to propel himself? Or she could carry him, but she felt that wouldn't go over well. She wasn't great at manoeuvring as it was, let alone carrying somebody. Though practice was practice. "I could try carrying you back, if you like?" she suggested, looking down at the straps across her body, then glancing back to him.
"Better not," Axel grumbled, staring at the ground as though it had personally offended him. A moment later, his eyes raised and fixed on her. "Next time, I'll get you back," he added, with an edge of teasing to his voice. It was close enough to humour for it to accompany a smirk, a simple twitch of his lips at the corner. He would. Somehow.
Scoffing at her suggestion, he shook his head. "No, thanks. You'd probably just drop me into brambles." The words were harsher than he intended, and in that heartbeat he saw the damage they did. Too far, not casual enough to be seen as the joke he'd hoped to make.
"Mara." His hand reached for hers, curving over the dainty knuckles until his fingers overlapped the back of her hand. Even shielding from view the little white scar she'd earned somehow. Maybe he'd ask one day. "It's fine. You made a mistake. I'd like to hold that against you," he confessed, supposing honesty would be more appreciated. "But I can't. You're too... you to do that."
His playful tease elicited a smile from the girl. It shattered at the harsh words that followed her suggestion. Did he think so little of her? Her lower lip trembled. Then the tears she had been holding back slipped down her cheeks. Perhaps it were true. She was weak, and as small as he was, as light as he seemed, it would be difficult. If she dropped him, it wouldn't just be his ankle that hurt.
From height, or even landing improperly, it could kill him.
Her hair covered her face as she let out blubbering sobs. Once the gates had opened, the tears didn't want to stop. She was a quiet crier, but it felt loud in the silence of the forest.
Mara felt his hand pass over hers, clutching. The warmth settled her a little, but it was what he said she latched onto. Her fellow cadet's soft words soothed her fears, and she let herself drown sorrows to his voice. "Thank you," she whispered, still shielded by her hair. "I'm sorry, Axel. I... I didn't m-mean for you to get hurt." That much, she was sure, he knew, but she had to say it.
"We could... walk b-back together. I can s-support you?" Her questioning tone betrayed her anxiety of messing up once more.
Axel didn't handle crying very well. While it was nothing to be ashamed of, he was certainly averse to dealing with it. He wasn't a comforter, he never had been, and he felt, being strong-willed as he was, that it wasn't something he was particularly expected to be. Holding onto Mara's hand was the extent of his ability to soothe. A few awkward pats of his finger were as far as he could go.
"I know you didn't. If it were intentional, I'd know, and you wouldn't be standing there," he pointed out. His tendency to get into fights wasn't unknown. Nobody trying to hurt him would be able to go this long without a punch already thrown. Besides, Mara was about as threatening as a rabbit.
Thinking on her offer, he nodded in agreement. "That'll work."
With a grimace, the boy shifted himself and let go of her hand. With it placed upon the ground, he pushed against the dirt and managed to lift his backside from the undergrowth. "Help," he grunted, reaching out with his other hand.
Mara, still downcast, nodded in understanding. She knew Axel well enough to know of his temper, and that he rarely took insults or challenges well. Hurting him in such a way, if it had been intentional, why wouldn't he retaliate? There were no reasons she could figure out that he'd have not to.
She hadn't realised they were still holding hands. When he let go, she blinked, and her cheeks burned. Oops.
Grabbing hold of his hand, the girl helped to haul him up, trying her best not to jerk him upwards in fear of splitting the wound even more, or doing any extra damage. Once he was up, she ducked under his arm, pushing her shoulder against his ribcage, and secured his arm around her neck. "How's that?"
Her eyes flicked to the ground, at the a cluster of petals next to the bush he'd fell into. "Hey. Look," she murmured, pointing with her little finger. "Those are forget-me-nots." Her gaze glazed, happy. Then her cheeks reddened, darker this time, as she whispered, "Those are perfect for today."
With her help, he managed to get onto his feet, using her to lean his weight away from his injured leg. Pain swelled, and he seethed, hissing between his teeth. It was fine. With the makeshift medicine she'd put on, it would be unpleasant and uncomfortable, but do for the time being. "That's fine."
Her tangent on flowers made him stop, look, and frown. "So? Unless they're magic cure-alls, what's the point of them?" Other than to breathe, especially through disgusting stench. If they were the fragrant sort. A weird name for flowers. Forget-me-not. Probably a funeral flower. That thought softened him up, but he still didn't get why she was so enchanted by them. "Seriously, how are they perfect? Are they cure-all flowers?"
"The... whatever it is, it's sliding off," he pointed out, holding up his leg where the mixture had begun to slide down. "Can't you wrap it with anything? Look." He started to shoulder off his jacket.
Tags: axel mara 846
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Potomac Speleological Club
About PSC
Mission Statement Club History Club Leadership Club Bylaws (PDF) Membership Information
About Caving
Getting Started Caving FAQ Cave Rescue
Contact PSC
The first discussion of forming a new caving group in the Washington, DC area occurred at a restaurant in Georgetown after a D.C. Grotto meeting in the fall of 1957. On December 7, 1957, in Arlington, VA, the Potomac Speleological Club (PSC) was formed by eight charter members: Grayson Harding, Elbert Miller, Jerry Nettles, E. Thomas Pierce, Paul Damon, Byron Cassel, Wayne Bell, and Tom Tucker, to: “further promote general interest in speleology and its related sciences, and to explore caves for scientific information and to make known its findings which will be published each month.” The new group called its newsletter The Potomac Caver.
Early projects included the exploration of caves in Germany Valley, WV continuing a project started by the Pittsburgh Grotto and the Baldwin’s Hill project in the Front Royal, VA area (this project included exploration and mapping of caves in that area).
Original meetings were held in private homes until the club became too large. In September 1958 the club began to meet at the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation. At that point the club had 21 members. In January 1959, meetings were moved to that Department’s new building on Park Drive (the Lubber Run Recreation Center) and these meetings have continued there at the same time and place since then.
When the PSC was formed, it was hoped that the NSS would let the group become a grotto. The request was turned down because of an NSS policy allowing only one grotto per city. The PSC sought to become an NSS affiliate in 1958 by contacting Dr. Oscar Hawksley, NSS Vice-President for Organizations. This is different from actual grotto status inasmuch as: “an affiliate of the NSS is another independent organization whose aims and ambitions parallel those of the NSS.”
Most of the membership felt that the affiliation would be a great asset to the reputation of the PSC which was looked upon at this time by many old-time NSSers as an “outlaw” group. Affiliation was granted by Dr. Hawksley, however, the affiliation was not something PSC was to keep. Sometime later the NSS published a list of affiliated organizations, and the PSC was not included. A letter to the NSS asking why resulted in their name being included on the next published list. That was the last time the NSS admitted having granted the PSC affiliate status. For several years, the PSC was officially ignored by the NSS. Later, when the PSC decided to settle the issue, the NSS took official Board action to say that it was not their policy to grant affiliate status to any other American caving organization. The Board further stated that Dr. Hawksley had not had the power to grant such a status in the first place.
Through the years, pride has kept the PSC an independent group, even though it has supported the NSS and many of its members are also NSS members. The Virginia Region of the NSS (VAR) voted to grant the PSC membership in 1967.
The PSC took over the responsibility for the cavers’ Field House in Riverton, WV, in 1963 from the Pittsburgh Grotto. The house was run by Jerry Nettles until this function was turned over to an official committee of the PSC in the fall of 1969. The PSC Field House in Germany Valley was the focus for caving in Pendleton and surrounding counties in West Virginia. People staying at the Field House often found themselves called out for rescues of various severity. So many people were pulled out of nearby Hellhole cave that a cartoon appeared in the PSC Caver suggesting that forms requesting rescues be provided at the bottom of the entrance drop.
In 1976, the death of one of the owners of the PSC Field House caused the PSC to examine what they wanted out of a field house. The families could not agree on ownership of the house and forced it to be sold. Whether the club should try to buy the Germany Valley Field House that had been such a large part of the club, or to move operations closer to the active caving areas generated a considerable amount of controversy, heated discussions and some bad feelings. The controversy abated when the new owners of the house continued to rent it to the club. The Field House was the scene of much activity practically every weekend and many close associations were formed in the valley, especially with Mrs. Nellie Smith and Sheriff Estyl Lambert.
The PSC Field House near Riverton, WV continued to be a center for club activities in particular the survey of Hellhole Cave led by Bob Anderson and others. Following the disastrous flood in November of 1985 the Field House was used to support relief efforts and many PSC members helped out. In 1986 the owners of the Field House sold it and evicted the club. Fortunately another house was located in the Smoke Hole Gorge. The new house was more remote making it ideal for parties. The driveway, however, is occasionally impassable to two wheel drive vehicles in winter.
Through the years the PSC has become legally incorporated, manages the Field House, and is a member of both the Cave Rescue Network and the Highlands Conservancy. Members have provided major support for the annual Old Timers’ Reunion over Labor Day and used to be regularly involved in the Treasure Mountain Festival held in September in Franklin, WV.
A major project of the group was “SIMMER”, the ‘push’ expedition for exploring the area in and around Simmons-Mingo Cave in West Virginia. This was a VAR project in the fall of 1973. SIMMER attracted cavers from all over the region and was probably the most massively organized caving trip ever seen. The planning was led by Bob Lutz and it was estimated that time spent on planning and preparation exceeded time spent underground by a factor of ten to one. Teams were set up for exploration, in cave support, surface support, administration, and work in the Elk River area caves.
On the surface, communications, mess, shower, and camping facilities were provided. Underground, the exploration teams were provided with pre positioned supplies, camps, communications with the outside and support teams.
Although the expedition was not successful in that they did not find another entrance in the Dry Fork area, the cave was pushed further and much was learned about how to organize a large group of cavers for an extended period of time underground. Because the expedition was a Region project, this knowledge was widely dispersed among the cavers in the Region.
The PSC continued trying to find the back door to Simmons Mingo until May 1977 when a party finally made the connection to the back of Simmons Mingo cave from Oil Drum Falls Cave.
In 1982 the Simmons-Mingo Cave survey project was revived under the leadership of Linda Baker and monthly trips were organized. After a near disaster when Stan Carts’ van overturned on an icy road, Linda decided to forego winter trips and use those weekends for working on the data. The goal was to resurvey the entire cave using old surveys as a guide whenever possible. Several members of the previous effort became regulars on the new survey including Bob Thrun, Dick Sanford, and Stan Carts. Many new members became active in the survey some of whom had no previous survey experience.
In order to gain easier access to the far back regions of Simmons Mingo a new entrance was dug at Stan’s Blowing Rock. This entrance avoided the extremely tight places just inside the Oil Drum Falls entrance, though it wasn’t always pleasant as it frequently blew cold air and dripped water. Indeed! it was occasionally referred to as Stan’s Sucking Ice Hole.
The remains of the campsite left over from Project SIMMER had never been fully removed from the cave. During various trips much of the telephone wire was balled up and removed. However, it took many more trips, including a final sweep trip led by G. Brace and Lewis Carrol, to remove the bulk of the material from the camp and close the final chapter of Project SIMMER.
PSC members have been active in surveying Caves in Pendleton County, WV including the caves at Trout Rock. PSC members were in a large part responsible for the acquisition of the Trout Rock property for the NSS and were mostly opposed to the NSS’s trial closure of Trout Cave which ended in 1991. PSC had many participants in major cooperative projects to push and survey Friars Hole and Organ Cave in West Virginia. PSC members also joined in the resurvey of Paxton’s cave in Allegheny County, VA. PSC members have a long tradition of assisting in Region meetings, the Old Timers Reunion, and also assisted in the 1983 NSS Convention in Elkins, WV. PSC members have also provided labor for Fred Grady’s paleontology projects in Hamilton Cave, New Trout Cave, Cave Mountain Cave, and various other sites.
Nationally, PSC members have been significant participants in the survey and exploration of Roppel Cave, Mammoth Cave, and Fisher Ridge in Kentucky.
Internationally, PSC members have been active in the multi-year Jamaica Cockpits cave survey expeditions led by Mike DiTonto, in the Costa Rica project, and in a survey project in Chiapas, Mexico which has yielded an 8 km cave and many deep pits so far.
To date more than 600 people have become members of PSC and the club exchanges newsletters with over forty publications.
More About PSC
© 2019 Potomac Speleological Club. All Rights Reserved.
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MINISTER OF HEALTH AND MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS OF BANGLADESH CALL ON PRESIDENT OF INDIA
Mr. Mohammed Nassim, Minister of Health and Mr. Anwar Hossain Manju, Minister of Environment and Forests, Government of Bangladesh called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (April 12, 2016).
The President told the Ministers that India attaches highest importance to its relations with Bangladesh. The Government of India is determined to further strengthen its relations with Bangladesh. The year 2015 was a historic year in India-Bangladesh relations as it witnessed implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement. Our efforts are to further expand this cooperation to include new vistas of cooperation and also to reintegrate the economies of the region, particularly with India’s North East.
Reciprocating the President’s sentiments, the Bangladeshi Ministers said relations have never been as good as they are today. There isa huge mindset change in both countries and the younger generation is now in the forefront, which bodes well for the future.
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RON 'BUMBLEFOOT' THAL On Leaving SHRAPNEL RECORDS In 1997: 'It Just Wasn't What I Signed Up For'
Former GUNS 'N ROSES and current SONS OF APOLLO guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal says he left Shrapnel Records after his first two solo albums because "it just wasn't what I signed up for." The Mike Varney-created label is widely considered to be the preeminent home for experimental and shred guitar players and released Thal's 1995 debut solo album, "The Adventures Of Bumblefoot" and 1997 follow-up, "Hermit". Thal launched his own label, Hermit Inc., in late 1997 so he could license his albums on his own.
Asked why he split with Shrapnel, the label responsible for launching the careers of notable players such as Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert, Vinnie Moore and Tony MacAlpine, Thal told Skyler Isaac of Shakat Journal (see video below): "It just wasn't what I signed up for. It wasn't what I thought we had agreed on what it would be. Artistically and everything. It just wasn't. So I needed to get out of that contract and start doing things differently. So I started my own label and started licensing out. I had different distributors in Japan, in Europe, and things progressed."
During the same chat, Thal spoke about how he first got into music, saying: "When I first started developing an interest in music, I was five years old and the KISS 'Alive!' album came out in the mid-'70s. As soon as I heard that, I just knew that's what I wanted to do and I started working toward it. I put together a band [and] was writing songs. We would make demos using multiple cassette recorders and figuring out how to multi-track using them, just as kids using whatever was available to us in our imagination, our creativity. That was it, but I didn't want to be a guitar player. I knew I wanted to make music. I just didn't know how and what tool I would be using or tools to make that happen, so I originally wanted to be a drummer. My brother wanted to be a drummer, so he was older, [and] he got to be the drummer. I wanted to be a bass player. I went to a music store to start taking bass lessons, but I was this tall and the bass was this tall and there was no way I could handle it at that age. I was too little; they didn't have kid-size stuff there. They lied to me and said in order to play bass, you have to play a kids-sized acoustic, nylon-string acoustic guitar for two years. After that, you graduate to bass. So, I did it and I stuck with guitar and eventually I figured out how to play bass on my own. Yeah, I got tricked into playing guitar."
Although Thal has scored music for shows such as "Hogan Knows Best", "The Real World" and "The Osbournes", mainstream recognition has largely eluded him. "You know, my music isn't exactly on the radio every day," he said. "It's been on TV almost every day and people don't know it, but it's been on TV a lot and I think that's the thing about my music is that it's always been geared more for TV and film and it gets in a lot of that stuff, but it's not radio-formatted, it's not the usual thing."
Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006, replacing Buckethead. He played with the band for eight years and performed on "Chinese Democracy". He has also released nine full-length solo albums over the past 23 years, most recently 2015's "Little Brother Is Watching", which was reissued on CD and vinyl in August 2017 by MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson's EMP Label Group.
SONS OF APOLLO will record its sophomore album in January, but due to the busy schedules of the group's individual members, the record is not expected to be released until 2020.
SONS OF APOLLO's debut album, "Psychotic Symphony", was released in October 2017 via InsideOut Music.
Tags: bumblefoot
METALLICA's KIRK HAMMETT: 'At This Particular Point In Our Lives, Playing The Heavier Stuff Is Appealing To Us'
Watch KISS's Guest Appearance On 'The Price Is Right'
Watch Pro-Shot Multi-Cam Footage Of DAVID LEE ROTH's 'Eat 'Em And Smile' Solo Band Reunion At 'Ultimate NAMM Night'
NITA STRAUSS Says 'It's Been Great' Touring With Her Manager/Boyfriend JOSH VILLALTA
DAVE MUSTAINE Was 'Very Flattered' To Be Asked To Participate In 'Experience Hendrix' Tour
RED DRAGON CARTEL
The Hunt For White Christ
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STATIC-X Kicks Off 'Wisconsin Death Trip' 20th-Anniversary Tour In Tempe (Video)
STATIC-X kicked off its reunion tour Tuesday night (June 18) in Tempe, Arizona. The North American trek, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of STATIC-X's platinum-certified "Wisconsin Death Trip" album and pays homage to late STATIC-X frontman Wayne Static, features co-headliner DEVILDRIVER and support from DOPE.
Fan-filmed video footage of the Tempe concert can be seen below.
While the identity of STATIC-X's touring singer has not been officially revealed, strong rumors suggest that DOPE frontman Edsel Dope is pulling double duty during the trek and performing with drummer Ken Jay, guitarist Koichi Fukuda and bassist Tony Campos.
Two months ago, Jay, Fukuda and Campos released a statement in which they addressed the criticism they received from some STATIC-X fans who were seemingly offended by what they perceived to be a cheap attempt to present the band's new singer as a pale imitation of Wayne.
They wrote: "The search for a touring vocalist for STATIC-X was not an easy one. First, we wanted to keep the continuity that STATIC-X has always had on stage. It has always been four guys. Drummer, guitarist, bassist and a singer who also plays guitar. In addition, we wanted to select someone that we had familiarity with. Someone who knew us and someone who knew Wayne and someone who had a connection to our community. Someone who would take this personally, because this is very personal to all of us.
"Once we found our guy, we began to discuss the stage show and the visual presentation for the tour. In the end, it was actually our touring vocalist who suggested that he wear a mask on stage. Out of respect for Wayne and for the band, he didn't feel that it would be right for his own image or identity to be placed in the center of something that he had nothing to do with creating. This struck the three of us as an incredibly selfless and humble gesture.
"The truth is, he could have been very self-serving and looked at this as an opportunity for him to raise his own profile and to put his name and face out there for all of you to see. Instead, he expressed the exact opposite intentions. He also explained that the idea of wearing a mask would allow him the freedom to get lost in the vibe of STATIC-X and to completely disconnect from his own identity and ultimately serve STATIC-X better. Further, he expressed that the mask itself, along with his performance each night could act as a unique part of the memorial to Wayne. A tribute, for lack of better words.
"Before we moved forward with any of our creative decisions, we first shared our ideas and designs with Wayne's family. They have given us their full support every step of the way.
"Let us also acknowledge that Wayne was much more to STATIC-X than our talented vocalist and guitarist. His trademark static-electrified hair proved to be just as unique and identifiable to STATIC-X as his incredible voice. In time, the STATIC-X hair would become a signature part of the band's identity as well as its identifiability.
"The mask was already something that was decided on, so the hair just naturally followed…
"All of this has allowed us to channel the vibe and the spirit of STATIC-X through another vocalist, without taking any of the focus away from the four people who originally created STATIC-X and brought you 'Wisconsin Death Trip' 20 years ago.
"The motivation is simple and the result is undeniable… The mask, the hair, and the overall presentation we have chosen immediately makes you think of Wayne Static and STATIC-X. In the end, that is ALL that this is about.
"This is about STATIC-X. This is about the 20th anniversary of 'Wisconsin Death Trip', and the nightly / global memorial to our brother Wayne Static. Anyone who doesn't 'get it' is just not looking closely enough.
"We OBVIOUSLY wish that Wayne was here doing this with us. Ufortunately, that is not an option. Rather than putting someone else's face in his place for our 20th-anniversary tour, we have chosen to memorialize him and to ultimately to immortalize him. In our hearts, there is no greater display of respect than what we are doing.
"We were never interested in performing with a hologram and using pre-recorded vocals. We didn't feel that STATIC-X performing with a 'special guest' singer that everyone recognized would accomplish the 'Wisconsin Death Trip' vibe or experience.
"For us, this is all materializing better than we could have hoped and we have no doubts that we are gong to to bring the fans an amazing 'Wisconsin Death Trip' experience. The stage production is insane and the band is sounding legit as fuck!
"In closing, we know that Wayne would be honored by all of the love and effort that has gone into this. We know that Wayne will be with us each night, in spirit, as we celebrate 'Wisconsin Death Trip' around the world.
"Project Regeneration", featuring the last recordings of Static, will be released later this year. The rest of the group's original lineup will also be featured on the album and in the music videos.
STATIC-X is currently focused on finishing 12 tracks for "Project Regeneration", with almost all of them set to feature Wayne's lead vocals.
STATIC-X is in the process of finalizing a label partner in order to ensure that "Project Regeneration" will be promoted and distributed worldwide, just like all of the band's previous albums.
Last fall, STATIC-X released a teaser featuring clips from a brand-new music video, as well as five new STATIC-X tracks — "Road To Hell", "Something Of My Own", "Terminator Oscillator", "Hollow" and "Disco Otsego" — along with a personal message from Campos about the inspiration behind "Project Regeneration".
Wayne Static died in November 2014 after mixing Xanax and other powerful prescription drugs with alcohol, according to the coroner's report. The 48-year-old, whose real name was Wayne Richard Wells, was found dead in his Landers, California home.
Static founded STATIC-X in 1994 and achieved commercial success with "Wisconsin Death Trip", which included the rock radio hit "Push It".
The group issued five more studio albums before disbanding permanently in June 2013. Static had been pursuing a solo career at the time of his death.
Tags: static-x
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Former JOURNEY Singer STEVE PERRY Calls Off Trial Over Release Of 1991 Demo Recordings
LIVING COLOUR Singer Is Collaborating With ADRENALINE MOB Guitarist On 'Bluesy' And 'Funky' Album
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Bonnaroo 2012 Recap: Radiohead, D’Angelo, Skrillex & More [Photos/Videos]
Bonnaroo 2012 saw performances by Radiohead, D’Angelo, Skrillex and more!
Back in June 2002, a moderate amount of jam bands took over 700 acres of pig farm land in Manchester, Tennessee, a remote town about 60 miles southeast of Nashville.
Over the course of the course of three days, the band Widespread Panic played two transformative sets, Trey Anastasio of Phish rocked the crowds and Norah Jones delivered a heartfelt set that helped to establish her in what would ultimately be her breakthrough year.
Even with minimal advertising, the festival sold all of its 70,000 plus tickets in advance, and all ticket buyers were treated to, as Rolling Stone would later call it, one of the top fifty moments in rock and roll.
This festival was named Bonnaroo, and ten years later, it’s not only going strong, but with each passing year it manages to get bigger and better.
Although it started off as a (mostly) jam band festival, this Tennessee titan has evolved. In 2009, the seminal rap group Beastie Boys headlined the festival. In the years that followed, Jay-Z and Eminem did the same.
Yet the fest has not completely abandoned its roots. Bonnaroo has become a smorgasbord of genres, a festival for the hippies and the hipsters. This year’s eleventh festival, which reached its conclusion only a few days ago, was once again filled with extraordinary performances from some of the world’s most superlative artists. Here are some of them.
Radiohead performing at Bonaroo 2012
Bonnaroo differs from other festivals, in that the organizers do not schedule any other performances up against the headliners.
Even if they did, no one would have missed the set from this legendary British alternative outfit.
Returning to the main stage that they conquered back in 2006 (a performance oft noted as one of Bonnaroo’s all-time greats), Thom Yorke and company did not fail to meet the astoundingly high expectations.
If anything, those expectations were exceeded. The gigantic video screens behind them often played unnerving close-ups of Yorke’s eyes, emphasizing the paranoia that comes with a standard Radiohead song.
But the screens also played a state of the art light show, and the while the band played liberally from their most recent album, they found time for classics like “Karma Police” and “Paranoid Android.”
Watch: Radiohead – “Bodysnatchers” – Bonnaroo 2012 (Official Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Torb6lQkK8&feature=player_embedded
Red Hot Chili Peppers at Bonaroo 2012
The Saturday night headliner had as much buzz as the previous night’s. The California veterans made their first festival appearance and did so with the same gusto and manic energy they have been thrilling fans with for over 25 years.
The rhythm section of bass player Flea and drummer Chad Smith showed off their usual flair on classics like “By the Way” and “Give it Away,” but it was new guitar player Josh Klinghoffer that stole the show, shredding with the serious skills that predecessor John Frusciante was famed for.
Watch: Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Look Around” – Bonnaroo 2012 (Official Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZMQzmmCExs&feature=player_embedded
Skrillex at Bonaroo 2012
Bonnaroo has several reasons that it remains an outlier on the festival circuit, chief among them being that whereas other festivals stop playing music typically before midnight, festivalgoers at Roo are dancing to some of the world’s hottest DJs and electronic acts until the sun comes up at seven. This year, Rooers were treated to a set by dubstep giant Skrillex, and his sensational and sensationally loud set had the fest alive with dancing and pleasure.
Many who were not able to crowd under the tent were forced to brave a rare spot of rain at the Manchester farm. For the intoxicating sounds of this young phenom, they were more than happy to abide.
Watch: Skrillex live at Bonnaroo
Questlove and D’Angelo
D’Angelo performing at Bonaroo 2012
Over the course of its run, Bonnaroo has cultivated some magical and surprising moments. Few rival what Questlove, the hip-hop maven and drummer for The Roots, was able to accomplish this year. For his late night superjam, a Roo tradition in which performers take the stage and simply jam for hours, Questlove was able to recruit D’Angelo, the neo soul luminary who has not performed in North America since 2000.
The two men heroically took on covers of Jimi Hendrix, Parliament/Funkadelic, Led Zeppelin and even The Beatles, and transformed all of these classic tunes to soulful, thrilling grooves. Welcome back D’Angelo.
Watch: D’Angelo & Questlove Superjam – Bonnaroo 2012 (Official Video)
The Beach Boys at Bonaroo 2012
While Bonnaroo organizers are possibly a little more inclined to include more contemporary artists, they are known to recruit veteran performers as well. This year, they were able to snag The Beach Boys, who have recently reunited. It turns out, they haven’t lost any of their melodic magic. Brian Wilson and crew had Rooers singing and hearts melting while they performed standards like “God Only Knows” and “Wouldn’t it be Nice.”
Bonnaroo is a one of a kind experience that every audiophile should come to fully realize at least once. The magic will always be in heavy supply, just like it was this year.
Watch: The Beach Boys live at Bonnaroo 2012
Watch more performances at Bonnaroo’s official Youtube channel.
images via lsdimension.com, stereogum.com, soulculture.co.uk, purevolume.com
Beach BoysBonnarooBrian WilsonChad SmithconcertD'AngeloEminemFleaJohn FruscianteJosh Klinghofferlive musicmusic newsneosoulNorah JonesRadioheadrock musicRolling Stone Magazinesoul and r&bThe Beastie BoysTrey AnastasioWidespread Panic
jeromestix
Jerome Manson music concert fanatic who loves to write about his passion. He attends concerts of all types and blogs about music venues and the music industry for selectaticket.com.
Brooklyn Museum Involves Community with 'GO' Artist Project
Creative Feature: #BlackMusicMonth - Billie Holiday
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Tag: bleeding
Suffering from Colds in the Eighteenth Century
Posted on January 9, 2013 by Lisa Smith - Databases, Early Modern History, History of Medicine, Letter-writing, Patronage, Remedies
I apologise for my unexpectedly long absence from the blog, occasioned by a nasty cold followed by an even worse chest infection. But now that I’m on the mend thanks to a course of antibiotics, I have the luxury of sufficient oxygen in my blood stream to reflect on colds in days of yore.
A sick man with a cold. Coloured lithograph, 1833. Credit: Wellcome Library, London.
While nobody ever dies from the common cold, complications from colds can be debilitating or even fatal: chest infections, pneumonia, pleurisy… And these sorts of problems regularly developed in eighteenth-century patients. For fun, I trawled through the database for symptoms nearest my own to see how patients would have treated their colds. It’s not a pretty picture: lengthy and dangerous illnesses and ineffective and uncomfortable treatments.
Patients rarely consulted Sloane for recent or urgent problems, but colds often slipped into the chronic category. Elizabeth Southwell, in an undated letter,* noted that her cold had already lasted two weeks. In 1708, Elizabeth Howland referred to hers lasting three weeks. Lord Lempster, who had a chronic lung condition, had already been suffering from a cold for two weeks when his doctor James Keill wrote to Sloane on June 22, 1710. As if that wasn’t long enough, the winner of these misery sweepstakes was the Earl of Thanet who reported on July 31, 1712 that he had been taking remedies for is cold since June 12.
These weren’t just gracefully fading colds, moreover, but ones that worried sufferers. Keill had anticipated Lord Lempsters’s death, given his laboured breathing; the patient remained seriously ill when Keill wrote again on July 9. Lord Lempster, Southwell and Howland had all started to spit occasional blood in their phlegm. Southwell’s cough was so violent she had given up on taking most remedies, except diacodium (a painkiller made of poppies). The Earl of Thanet and Howland both suffered from chest pains, which can indicate the onset of a serious chest ailment, while the Earl and Southwell had sore throats. Howland was also constantly hot, which she attributed to a sharpness and heat in her blood. Colds that wouldn’t clear up might have different–and apparently hot–effects, as Dr. Keill suggested when diagnosing Lord Lempster’s problems as a stoppage of blood rather than the more serious inflammation of the lungs. Either way, these were serious complications from what started as a cold.
Although there were other remedies used, the treatments focused primarily on diet, bleeding, blistering and purging. The Earl and Howland both drank milk, then known for its healthful benefits in lung ailments. The Earl and Southwell ate fruit–possibly to keep their bowels regular. Southwell had eaten figs, while the Earl had tried and rejected oranges (proposing instead pears). All four patients were bled. Southwell, for example, had been bled twice and Lord Lempster at least three times (10 ounces, 8 ounces, and 8 ounces). Keill also suggested that Lord Lempster try blisters and purging; the Earl initially used blisters, but thought a bit of purging could also be useful. Other remedies described included powder of pearl (the Earl), chalybeates to cause vomiting (Lempster), barley water, linseed oil, sarsaparilla and China tea (Howland). The main goal of the remedies was to reduce inflammation of the lungs, break up the stoppages of the blood, or to cool the blood.
The fates of these eighteenth-century patients? Elizabeth Howland (c. 1658- 1719) and the Earl of Thanet (1644-1729) lasted many years after. Elizabeth Southwell (1674-1709) was the youngest sufferer and she died within a few years of her illness (though not necessarily related). Lord Lempster (1648-1711) was already chronically ill before he contracted his cold, and continued poorly for another year and a half before he died.
Whatever the rationale behind eighteenth-century explanations of and treatments for colds, I’m just glad that I didn’t have to suffer bleeding, purging, and blisters in addition to the misery of a chest infection!
*After 1705 when she had a son. The letter refers to visiting her young ill son.
Tags: bleeding, blisters, blood, blood-letting, chalybeates, chest infection, china tea, cold, colds, common cold, cough, coughing, diacodium, Earl of Thanet, Elizabeth Howland, Elizabeth Southwell, James Keill, Lord Lempster, milk, pleurisy, pneumonia, purging, sarsaparilla, sore throat
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Home » Biography » people » Personal Quotes of Freddie Mercury
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Personal Quotes of Freddie Mercury
If I didn't do this well, I just wouldn't have anything to do...I can't cook, and I'd be a terrible housewife.
I'm just a musical prostitute my dear
The bigger the better; in everything.
Years ago, I thought up the name Queen...It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid...It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it.
"I am as gay as a daffodil." (Speaking in 1974)
"All my lovers asked me why they couldn't replace Mary but it's simply impossible. The only friend I've got is Mary and I don't want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other, thats enough for me. I couldn't fall in love with a man the same way as I have with Mary." (On Mary Austin, late 70s interview)
"Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private in order to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with me in the fight against this terrible disease." (Statement released on 23 November 1991)
Oh, I was not made for heaven. No, I don't want to go to heaven. Hell is much better. Think of all the interesting people you're going to meet down there!
Modern paintings are like women, you'll never enjoy them if you try to understand them.
I think I'm totally original. I'm sure there are many people who see themselves in me, but that's to them. I'm me, basically, and that's how I like to be.
My voice takes a beating. The more vocal gymnastics I do in the studio, the more I have to do on stage.
The Carmen Miranda of rock 'n' roll. But what can I say? I'm a flamboyant personality. I like going out and having a good time.
Oh God, I pray I'll never get AIDS. So many friends have it. Some have died, others won't last much longer. I'm terrified that I'll be next. Immediately after each time I have sex I think, 'Suppose that was the one? Suppose the virus is now in my body? I jump in the shower and scrub myself clean, although I know it's useless and anyway it's too late.
Fame and success have brought me everything, except a loving, on-going relationship. I seem to eat people up and destroy them no matter how hard I try to make things work. Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat, screaming with fear because I'm so alone. That's why I go out looking for someone who will love me, even if it's just for a one-night stand. I fall in love far too quickly, and I end up getting hurt and scarred. It seems I just can't win.
I am a manipulator of life.
I have to go out every night. I hate staying in one room for too long anyway. I just like to keep moving.
[on his band Queen] We're in the music business. It's in my blood. The only thing I can do is to write music and perform. That's what I'm going to be doing and I think all of us are going to be doing until we die.
I'm not married to music, I'm married to love.
I always knew I was a star, and now the rest of the world seems to agree with me.
I'm a very tragic person, but there's always an element of humour at the end.
The most important thing, darling, is to live a fabulous life. As long as it's fabulous, I don't care how long it is.
I don't think I'll make old bones and I don't care. I've lived a full life. I really have done it all and if I'm dead tomorrow I don't care a damn
One of my early inspirations came from Cabaret (1972). I absolutely adore Liza Minnelli, she's a total wow. The way she delivers her songs, the sheer energy, the way the lights enhance every movement of the show. I think you can see similarities in the excitement and energy of a Queen show. It's not glam rock, you see; we're in the show-business tradition.
[on Queen] We're the bitchiest band on earth, darling. We're at each other's throats. One night Roger Taylor was in a foul mood and he threw his entire bloody drum set across the stage. The thing only just missed me - I might have been killed.
I don't like to explain what I was thinking when I wrote a song. I think that's awful, just awful. When I'm dead, I want to be remembered as a musician of some worth and substance.
I like to enjoy myself and what better way to do it than on stage in front of 300,000 people?
I'm just an old slag who gets up every morning, scratches his head and wonders what he wants to f**k.
I love George Michael because he moves so well and has a sense of dignity and fun.
Something like Bohemian Rhapsody didn't just come out of thin air. I did a bit of research, although it was tongue-in-cheek and it was mock-opera. Why not? I certainly wasn't saying I was an opera fanatic and I knew everything about it.
I don't want to keep playing the same formula over and over again, otherwise you just go insane. I don't want to become stale. I want to be creative.
I'm a flamboyant person. I like to live life. I certainly work hard for it, and I want to have a good time. Don't deny me that. It might not come again and I want to enjoy myself a little.
I liked to sing, I don't know, call it natural gift or whatever, you know, I'm not afraid to say it. It's just I like to sing and then I suddenly realized that I could actually write songs and then make my own music rather than before I would, you know, sort of copy Elvis Presley songs and things as I do, then I realized that I could actually write my own songs and do it my own way. Then suddenly, you know, there was a little taste of success.
In terms of press and things, I'm a very hated person, but I hate the press as well. So that goes both ways, but to me I think I've learned to live with it. I'd be a liar to say I'm not hurt by criticism because I mean everybody is, you know, of course I want everybody to say I'm wonderful and they like my songs, but I mean I don't mind actually a sort of genuine well thought out criticism, but I mean of course you're going to get... just... people review our albums without even listening to them and things like that, but I mean that's the way of the world and before I used to get really mad and start tearing my hair out but now I don't have anymore sleepless nights, so just I learned to live with it. Let them all come.
It's lovely to hear that We Are The Champions is a song that's been taken up by, you know, football fans 'cause that's a winners' song which keeps coming back, I can't believe that somebody else hasn't written a new song to take it over.
I relax in ways most people can't understand. I can relax by actually just sleeping on a plane when I'm flying for 20 minutes, that's my relaxation. That's all I need. I don't need too much sleep. I don't, you know, I don't need tons of sleep, I can go with 3 or 4 hours sleep every night. That's enough for me. I recharge my batteries in that short a time and I'm up again.
When I'm dead are they going to remember me ? I don't really think about it, it's up to them. When I'm dead, who cares ? I don't.
[on Jimi Hendrix] He really had everything a rock & roll star should have - style, presence; he didn't have to force anything. He'd just make an entrance and the whole place would be on fire. He was living out everything I wanted to be.
[speaking at his last concert with Queen at Knebworth Park, August 9th, 1986] Earlier on there were rumors of us splitting up, but I mean - fuck 'em - how can you split up when you have an audience like this?
[on rumors he had AIDS] AIDS changed my life. I was extremely promiscuous but I stopped that. Anyone who is promiscuous should have a test. I'm fine. I'm clear.
[on Manhattan in the 1980s] It's sin city, but you have to come away at the right time. Stay a day too long, and it grips you. Very hypnotic. It's all tripping in at 8 or 9 every morning, and taking throat injections so I can still sing. It's a real place. I love it.
[on what other people thought his songs were about] If you hear it, darling, then it's there.
We started off on a sort of heavy metal footing in the days of Led Zeppelin. I think Led Zeppelin are still one of the greatest heavy metal bands that ever lived.
[in 1985] I think right now George Michael is very very good.
Stevie Wonder, writing a ballad, you just can't top that guy.
A concert is not a live rendition of our album. It's a theatrical event. I have fun with my clothes onstage; it's not a concert you're seeing, it's a fashion show.
I've worked hard for money. Nobody's given it to me dear! I've earned it so it's mine to do what I want with. So if I want a pyramid in Kensington and I can afford it, I'll have it.
by » Unknown
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Sept. 28, 1924 | First Around-the-World Flights Touch Down in Seattle
From learning.blogs.nytimes.com - September 28, 2015 10:27 AM
The flight began on April 6, 1924, when four Douglas World Cruiser planes, named the Seattle, Chicago, Boston and New Orleans, set off from Seattle to Alaska, then over the Pacific to Japan, through Asia, the Middle East and Europe, over the Atlantic to Newfoundland via Iceland and Greenland, and finally over America from Boston back to Seattle.
Imagine 175 days to make it around the world. Happened thanks to the Army program called "World Flight" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_World_Cruiser - here is a video clip from the adventure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tux_MRsC9l4 - and, useless trivia, but mom used to work for the company that built the planes (Douglas Aircraft) but not in 1924 - that was the year she was born - Douglas went on to become McDonnell Douglas and then Boeing. One of the planes was named Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_World_Cruiser In much later years, it was my privilege to do an around the world flight starting in Chicago - in 72 hours! And when Star Trek arrives.........
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Prosecutors to retry Kellen Winslow Jr. on rape charges
By JULIE WATSON
VISTA, Calif. (AP) Former pro football player Kellen Winslow Jr. will be retried after a jury convicted him of raping a homeless woman but failed to agree on eight other criminal charges, including the rape of a 54-year-old hitchhiker and an unconscious teen in 2003, California prosecutors said Friday.
Assistant District Attorney Dan Owens said at a hearing in San Diego County Superior Court that five women who testified against Winslow at the first trial will be back on the witness stand at a second trial set for September.
"A sexual assault victim having to go forward with testimony in court a second time is never easy so we will certainly support them through that process," Owens said.
Winslow, who played for Cleveland, Tampa Bay, New England and the New York Jets, was convicted Monday of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman and two counts of lewd conduct involving two other women.
A judge declared a mistrial on the remaining charges after the jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked. The remaining charges include six felonies, including the two counts of rape and a sodomy charge for the attack on the homeless woman. Winslow also will be retried on two misdemeanor charges of elderly battery and abuse.
One of the convictions for a lewd act occurred in front of a 77-year-old woman at his gym, although he was acquitted of the same charge involving the same woman on a different occasion at the gym.
If convicted of multiple accounts of forcible sex offenses, Winslow would face up to life in prison. The single conviction carries a maximum sentence of nine years.
The judge denied a defense request that Winslow, 35, be released on $1 million bail and home confinement with GPS monitoring. Prosecutors said that while he was free on bail last January Winslow approached an 18-year-old high school senior walking near his home in Encinitas and told her she was attractive and asked where she lived. The lewd act in front of the 77-year-old woman he was convicted of also happened while he was out on bail.
The judge ruled him a danger to the community and a flight risk, especially now that he has been convicted.
Winslow earned more than $40 million over 10 seasons in the NFL and is the son of Chargers Hall of Fame receiver Kellen Winslow, who attended all of the first trial and Friday's hearing.
His defense attorneys attacked the credibility of the five women and pointed out inconsistencies in their stories in the first trial. They say the sex was consensual.
Winslow did not testify and his attorneys declined to say whether he will at the second trial. They say they plan to appeal the convictions.
His new trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 30. His lawyers asked for his sentencing hearing to be postponed until he is retried.
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Stephen Kimber > What Lies > 1997 Hotel Bombing… > Looking for loophol…
Looking for loopholes in El Paso
Cuba’s Granma newspaper says Luis Posada Carriles’ lawyers are trying to use a legal loophole to prevent the court from hearing key evidence in his case.
Posada, the alleged mastermind of both the 1976 bombing of Cubana Airlines Flight 455 and also the 1997 Havana hotel bombing campaign, is scheduled to go on trial at the Federal Court in El Paso, Texas, in January 2011 on immigration-related charges.
Bombed Aché disco in Havana.
He’s accused of lying in his 2005 application for asylum in the U.S. when he claimed he wasn’t involved in the hotel bombing campaign. Those attacks resulted in the death of an Italian-Canadian businessman and injuries to dozens of others.
Prosecutors had intended to use evidence originally gathered in Cuba in connection with the attacks as part of its case but the defence is now arguing that material should be excluded because an earlier court order required such evidence be turned over to the court before December 1, 2009.
The defence claims it won’t have time to consider that evidence before the January trial.
Ironically, Posada is not charged with organizing the bombing campaign—a terrorist act—but merely of lying about his involvement—a lesser charge.
sk15admin
1997 Hotel Bombing Campaign
1997 hotel bombings
What Lies – The Book
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The history of St. Mary's Convent, Allahabad, rests on the foundation of the Congregation of Jesus (the former Institute of Blessed Virgin Mary) by our Venerable foundress Mary Ward, who believed firmly that "Women in time to come will do great things!" We are a part of a journey which began with Mary Ward in 1585. In response to the needs of her time, Mary Ward founded the Institute in 1609, to cater to the education of girls, with the special emphasis on moral and spiritual foundation.
Inspired by her zeal and enthusiasm, the CJ sisters came to India at an invitation from Bishop Anastasius Hartmann, to the then Superior General of the CJ sisters, Mother Catherine de Graccho, in Nymphenburg - Germany. The pioneers to India, a group of five young sisters from Germany set out in 1853 across the oceans to the unknown strange land of India. After reaching Bombay by ship, they embarked upon a perilous journey across the vast peninsula of India in a Bullock cart and reached Patna, where they founded the first house and school in India, St. Joseph's Convent, Patna.
In the years that followed, these brave women and others who followed them worked whole - heartedly to spread God's Kingdom in the Indian subcontinent, establishing new convents and reaching out to the poor and needy in the northern parts of India through the ministries of education, health care, care of youth and orphans. In the year 1866, Bishop Anastasius Hartmann intended to open a new Convent of the IBMV (CJ) sisters in Allahabad and appealed to Mother General for more sisters. By the time the 8th Party of sisters arrived in India, the Convent and Boarding school at Phaphamau was almost ready. The sisters moved into the Convent of January 1ih, 1866. On January 15th, 1866, the boarding school was opened with two pupils, Mary Elise and Nina Frizzone.
Though the number of students increased gradually, since the sisters had to face endless problems in Phaphamau, they first shifted to Elgin Road in Allahabad, then temporarily to Lowther Castle and finally in February 1888 (or 1886), to 32 Thornhill Road (Maharishi Dayanand Road), where we are today. The Catholic Diocese of Allahabad had offered a piece of leased land, within the campus of St. Joseph's Cathedral to the sisters to build their school, where a spacious red-brick building had been erected. The original building exists to this day, and is considered one of the Heritage buildings of the city on account of its unique architectural style. Around it many other structures have been constructed in the course of years to accommodate the ever increasing number of students.
DELVING INTO THE PAST
St. Mary's Convent is a name synonymous with education, values, culture and a sense of responsibility. Till now, SMC was like a tale untold, a glorious saga of selfless work done by the missionaries in the Allahabad province.
Flipping through the logbooks and the old records, we tried to peek into the past, which at first seemed like a purple haze, but as the haze cleared itself, with each page unfolding a new story, it brought forth the eternal legend of St. Mary's Convent - as witnessed by the walls and corridors of this edifice.
145 years back, a dream named SMC began with a vision 'spe labor levis' (Latin) - hope lightens work. We all know that our school was established in 1866, and after reading more about its foundation, we come to know about its beginnings in Phaphamau, and how, later in the 19th Century, it came to Allahabad. But with it was born St. Anne's, also known as the Convent girls free school, or the Catholic free school. The earliest records that are available are those dated back to 1866 when St. Anne's and St. Mary's existed as two separate schools in the same compound. The present Primary school building was in fact the place where St. Anne's stood.
The schools were run by the missionaries with the aid of extended funds by the British Government and the local municipal corporations.
There is a few such mentions of grants given to the schools by the Red Cross society.
The schools were under the strict supervision of the inspector of European schools in charge of the North Western Provinces and Oudh.
As the 20th Century dawned, it marked its beginning by the celebrations of the 50 years of apostleship of IBMV in India in 1904, at the end of which the student count reached 90. In 1927, the name day of the school was for the first time celebrated by all the pupils on the 8th of September. The school had an active participation from the students.
On the 15th of August, 1947, the students of St. Mary's high school and St. Anne's middle school performed together in the music hall while they jointly celebrated the historic event of India having achieved independence and of welcoming the new Bishop of Allahabad diocese.
St. Anne's did untold good to the poor of Allahabad until in 1947, after the independence, all the children were admitted in St. Mary's. The former St. Anne's was renovated and became the Teachers' Training College in 1950. Much later, the TTC was shifted to where it is presently, and the former building is now the Primary school.
Early in 1948, Mahatma Gandhi's assassination was mourned with a memorial service in the cathedral.
In 1954, under Rev. Mother Angela, half days on Saturdays were introduced. And in 1960, Rev. Mother Hermine introduced our first ever uniform - navy blue pleated skirts with white blouses and monograms.
INSPIRING CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS (1866-1966)
In the April issue of "Catholicus" Fr. A. G. Rego wrote: "A Centenary is always a landmark in the history of any institution. But the celebration of an educational and missionary institution, in a land like India, is an event pregnant with meaning and expectancy; on occasion like this the past and the present merge with the future to bring out the message and efforts of those who in the past have laboured and spent themselves and the vigour and dynamism of those who today carry on the noble traditions, to witness the Light, the Truth and the Life, to make Christ known where He is well nigh a stranger, and to plant the Church in receptive virgin soil.
Rev. Mother Hermine (the superior of St. Mary's Convent) organized with the help of her devoted community, staff and students elaborate celebrations from 18th to 23rd Feb.
There were religious, cultural, social, intellectual and physical activities - all planned on a colossal scale to mark such an important event. What must have impressed all those who attended the celebrations was the sense of divine, which was given due importance and emphasis, and which ran like a golden thread through all the festivities."
Compiled by
Shivani Saran
Arpita Chandra
(Session - 2009-2010)
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Die Seele Europas - The Soul of Europe
Main_EN
The Soul of Europe 2019
The Soul of Europe – 2005-2018
Nine conferences from 2005 to 2018
from Amsterdam to Tbilisi, Georgia
to the short report about the conference in Tbilisi 2018
This initiative, aimed at investigating the being of Europe, its soul, tasks and problems, was started in 2005 in Amsterdam. The first conference took up the theme of the relationship between citizens and politics, but soon the range of questions expanded to include the perspective of the place where the participants met: What colour or colour shade can the Dutch folk soul give to the Soul of Europe? And what does the Soul of Europe expect from Central Europe and Anthroposophy?
The main focus of the next conferences, the first of which was held in 2007 in Budapest, was the question of how the countries in Eastern and Central Europe came to terms with the radical changes taking place in the years from 1989 to 1991. Did the great hopes connected with these events bring results? What kind of particular problems remained because the old pressure groups from the Soviet period continued to control political life with all the phenomena of corruption, accompanied by unrestrained economic liberalism, and with an enormously growing gap between the rich and the poor? The development of the Eastern and Central European countries proceeded in very different directions. Some managed to make a great step towards civil society with more or less stable economy and integration into the European Union. Others bob up and down because the preconditions for a healthy economy haven’t been met.
The next six conferences moved from Prague (2008) via Gdansk (2010), Varna at the coast of the Black Sea in Bulgaria (2014), Simeria in Romanian Transylvania (2015), Lahti in Finland (2016) to Kiev in Ukraine (2017). Each time a specific program emerged from the co-operation between the Section of Social Sciences at the Goetheanum and the local Anthroposophical Societies. Thus a kind of rainbow was formed by the peculiarities of the countries and the general questions of a common Europe.
In Budapest, where in 1956 the first attempts to extricate from the Soviet hegemony of Moscow failed, the aim of the conference held 51 years later was to bring together people from the West, the Middle and the East. It became clear already at the first meeting in Amsterdam that a real mutual understanding must be based on a thorough knowledge of the differences between East, Middle and West Europe. The iron curtain had established not only a geographical border, but at the same time a deep gap in the mutual understanding of Eastern and Western Europe. In this connection Middle Europe has a specific task.
In Prague, 40 years after the Prague spring, the main focus of the conference were the different forms of society and how true humanity can find its place in them. This was followed by the theme of Threefold Social Order in Gdansk, the place where the Solidarity movement emerged in 1980. Each time, the conferences took up new questions: In Varna, the Bulgarian friends traced the old mystery streams of the Thracians, the Greeks and later the Bogomils, all of them contributing various impulses to the formation of Europe.
In 2014 and 2015 certain things happening in Europe shook seriously the confidence in a continuous development. Crimea was unexpectedly snatched from Ukraine and integrated into Russia. A war, which is still going on, started in eastern Ukraine. Innumerable masses of people fled from the Orient and Africa to Europe. Thus, the main theme of the next conference in Simeria, Rumanian Transylvania, was the question: How can we foster and strengthen the peacebuilding forces? In fact, peacebuilding forces depend on the mutual understanding between human beings of foreign origin, other religion and different culture. The conference in Lahti in 2016 was also concerned with the mutual understanding between human beings. The precondition for such understanding is an enhanced consciousness of what it means to be human.
In 2017 the conference moved further to the East – to Kiev. On the premises of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, which goes back to the very beginnings of Christianity in the Old Rus, West, Middle and East Europe met in a very special way. The theme of this conference was linked to the questions of the very first meeting in Amsterdam: what specific contribution the people belonging to a given nation, in this case the Ukrainian nation, can make to the development of Europe? Far from reaching conclusive answers, the manifold differences between East, Middle and West were explored in informal lively conversations, furthering the understanding of “the other”.
Tbilisi 2018
In 2018 the conference went on its way to Tbilisi in Georgia. Again we gathered around the questions: What might be the specific contribution of the culture of a nation to the development of Europe? What is Europe? is it a geographical concept? or a cultural-spiritual ideal? Such questions can arise in a country which, according to traditional geography, does not belong to Europe but has contributed already in “prehistoric time” to the development of European culture and was imbued by Christianity earlier than in all other European countries.
A group of friends from Tbilisi, coordinated by Nodar Belkania, had prepared the conference in a wonderful way. The organization, the meals, accomodation of the guests – all worked perfectly.
The content of the talks can be outlined in just a few words. Other than in former conferences the polarity of East and West was not touched upon. Nodar Belkania gave in his introductory talk an outline of the spiritual history of Georgia in such a way, that one got the impression: the highlights of Georgian culture have not been affected by the national element. Openness towards the influences arising on all sides merged into a specific cultural space which was in close contact to the world regions of Europe and the Middle East. The special relationship to Russia, beginning in the 19th century was of great importance for both countries. Otar Kvrivishvili, architect, showed in his contribution medieval highlights of ecclesiastic architecture as expression of deep christianity – Georgia was christianized already at the beginning of the 4th century. Wonderful examples of this architecture were the aim of the excursions before and after the conference. Gia Bughadze, painter and scientist of fine arts, showed in his contribution astonishing connections between the Greek-Spanish painter El Greco and the Georgian painter Pirosmani. Nargizi Tiszlarishvili, priest of the Christian Community in Tbilisi, told us in a moving way how deep had always been her love for her country, Georgia, how beautiful it was for her, and how she had then in a way lost orientation when destiny took her abroad to Germany. The enlargement of her world view, the detachment from the ties to her own nation lead her to a new much wider experience of the world. When one is going back into the one’s own folk one can experience anew what one has received from the national background and what are the tasks given to the individual human being by the Folk Soul. Rati Amaglobeli, in Georgia a well known young poet, contributed a story from the Georgian poet Vasha Pshavela: The path of a man from a Caucasus tribe from his being uprooted from the traditions of his tribe to being banished because his conscience did not allow him to continue in a certain tradition. That is the paht from being part of a group to individualization which is successful only on the bases of a Christian impulse. – These were the contributions from the Georgian speakers.
Gerald Häfner made the link from the contributions above described to general questions of social, economic and cultural developments in Europe. Friedrich Glasl emphasized questions of the development of the individual human as well as of the small and large social groups in organizations and states. Paul Mackay in the last contribution spoke about the cooperation of man with the Hierarchy of the Angels, with the Folk Spirit and with the present working Spirit of Time, Michael.
Two special events may be mentioned. On the second evening a group of young actors performed Goethe’s Faust in Georgian under the direction of Valerian Gorgoshidze – the powerful Georgian language, the inventive direction and the full devotion of the young folk left a deep impression on all of us. On the following evening another group of six young people performed Georgian folk songs from different areas of the country.
Three excursions were offered before and after the conference: first a tour through the old city of Tbilisi, second a visit to Saguramo, the estate of the famous Ilja Chavchavadze, to Djvari and Mtskheta, and third a full day excursion to two important old churches – Samthavisi and Atenis Sioni – and to the ruins of the very old city of Uplistsikhe.
Gratefully and full of new impulses the participants returned to their own countries. The next conference takes plae in Brussels from August 23-25, 2019.
For a long time, in the consciousness of many Western and Central European countries, Europe extended as far as the Iron Curtain. There was almost no knowledge of what was behind it. It was blocked out. All attention was directed to the foundation of the European Union as an economic union. But from the very beginning, the idea included thoughts about a greater Europe. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakthrough in the countries of East Central Europe, the consciousness of the border in Europe moved a bit further towards East from Estonia to Bulgaria. This led to the enlargement of the EU. But Ukraine and Russia belong also to the spiritual totality of Europe, right to the Urals. The fact is often excluded that these countries, too, carry basic European values. The political antagonism of the US and Russia hinders like a ghost the free view of this truth. Consequently, it becomes difficult to experience these countries as an integral part of Europe, even when one thinks theoretically that the Urals are the boarder of Europe.
On 15 July, 1923 Rudolf Steiner gave a very enlightening lecture on this theme. Marie Steiner published it with the title “The Imagination of Europe”. (GA 225) He described how for a long time there was something like a wall or “wallpaper”, stretching from the Urals to the area of the Volga, to the Caucasus and over the Black Sea right to the Mediterranean Sea. This wall had the task of preventing retarded ahrimanic spirits who lived in the areas eastwards from bringing their influence to Europe. Thus, until medieval times, particularly the forces of thinking could be developed without being disturbed. Later, this wall was torn with the consequence that satyr- and faun-like beings began making their advances towards the West and causing damage. They joined together with luciferic beings coming from the West which carried abstract materialistic ideas and ideals to the East. This gave rise to an ardent liaison between beings without head but with strong will, coming from the East, and beings with brain forces, coming from the West, which brought about the experiments of Bolshevism in Eastern Europe. In 1989, after a period of 72 years – the life span of human beings – Bolshevism seemed to have totally lost its spiritual impulse. But the influence of such dark beings on the social structures in Eastern Europe went on. Economic liberalism as such can lead to a brotherly social and economic order only if respect and appreciation of the other human being are part of it. But what happened in the whole of Eastern Europe was an economic liberalism where the theoretical economic freedom – a luciferic idea – established a combination with the most ruthless egotism. The result is corrupt governments, bureaucracy and oligarchical regimes – structures of ahrimanic power. In a similar way, national ideas combined with “belly” forces from the depths of history, resulting in nationalism, chauvinism and xenophobia – very problematic phenomena, making their way in the last years in many East European countries. And the fusion between the orthodox church with its deep faith and the power structures in some countries is nothing else than a dirty co-operation of high but corrupt ideals with unconscious and subversive affinity to retrogressive cultural forces.
Europe is on the path of finding anew its tasks in the world orchestra – otherwise it will lose itself. “The Soul of Europe” conferences wish to make a contribution on this path.
Hans Hasler
© 2019 Die Seele Europas - The Soul of Europe. All Rights Reserved.
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The History Project II
The UAE’s 40th anniversary had been looming over us for about 6 months; we knew we had to provide readers, viewers and listeners something unique that contributed to understanding the UAE’s very short albeit accelerated history. Soon enough, 40@40 was born. 40@40 was the (almost impossible) brain-child of our Multimedia Editor Karen Davies and students from NYU Abu Dhabi’s Al Hemyan Project. The aim was to visually depict the history of the United Arab Emirates through 40 unique objects. Our deadline? The nation’s 40th birthday. Let the treasure hunt begin.
Not only did we have to ask around to find these objects, appeal to collectors, citizens or long-term residents who may have barely found value in these items, but we also had to find the sources articulate and knowledgeable enough to speak about them. We began shooting our first object in late July, and ended shooting our last object around the beginning of November. Shoots ranged from in-studio shoots, to “on-the-road” make-shift shoots where we essentially had to set-up and light a believable studio environment in the weirdest, tiniest and hottest of spaces.
October 4, 2011. Sharjah, Children's Museum. We had locked ourselves into the kids portion of the museum to set up a studio. Here's Deepthi giving the tea-boy some of the Arabic Coffee they had given us through the window as there was no other way to enter or leave without disrupting the set.
The main initial challenge for Deepthi (Multimedia producer at The National) and I was studio lighting. We always knew how to work with available light, no matter how tricky it was, we would figure out a way to make it work. But with studio lighting we were just kind of…thrown into it. Thankfully, fashion photographer Tina Chang and Photo Editor Brian Kerrigan gave us a good ol’ guidance push and then we were sent flying.
Aching backs, lots of sweat induced by ridiculous humidity, broken fingernails, pangs of hunger and thirst went into shooting, editing and producing this project. We also had some good laughs, poking fun of ourselves and the fact that we were entrusted to handle invaluable objects with such great care.
Abu Dhabi, The National's Studio - "We need a baby!" Handling one of the first wooden stethoscopes used by the first doctors at the Oasis Hospital in Al Ain (around 1961). This little instrument massively bought down infant mortality rates.
The project was well-received by Emiratis and expats alike. Ultimately, we really hoped it would provide the people of UAE with a visually compelling resource on the nation’s development in under half a century. We were also sooooo happy to hear that the project won 3rd place at NPPA’s January Monthly Multimedia Contest. Click here or the main image at the top of the page to go to the 40@40 site.
Blog | 40@40, 40th anniversary, abu dhabi, archival footage, dubai, film, film archiving, heritage, history, history project, independence, Ras Al Khaimah, Sheikh Zayed, UAE, united arab emirates | 0
A Little History of the World
December 28, 2010 by SiteOwner
I get insanely inspired everytime I walk into Kinokuniya at Dubai Mall, I spend hours in there, clumsily carrying a handful of books that I manage to pick up, walking through various rows, flipping through pages, reading book reviews and analyzing book covers.
As always, I end up with a pile of books I never get down to reading. I was recently handed E.H Gombrich’s A Little History of the World. The author sounded vaguely familiar, I find out of course he wrote the bible of art history books “The Story of Art”, over 700 pages or so of an art history textbook that I was forced to become best friends with when studying for my AP exams in high school.
Anyway, Gombrich wanted history to be more accessible to children, and thought that if history was explained to a child in simple terms, they would be able to grasp historical events quite easily. He took it upon himself to write this book in six weeks, he would spend his day researching historical chunks in the library, then spend his nights writing the corresponding chapters.
I’m about halfway through the book, and can I just say I am LOVING it. This book is colorful, informative, and most importantly fairytale-like. Gombrich writes as if he’s reading a bedtime story to a child.
Something I learnt about whilst reading today was the origins of the Oracle of Delphi. As a child, I was pretty familiar with the story of the Oracle of Delphi, throughout my childhood she appeared in films, cartoons, video games, you name it. Historically, the Delphi temple was in a volcanic region, and in this temple there was a small fissure in the ground where vapour would rise, if anyone inhaled it clouded their minds and made them say silly things which seemed like they were drunk. The Greeks thought god was speaking to them that way and put a priestess to sit over that small fissure while other priests sat there deciphering her babble.
how hilarious is that.
anyway, I highly recommend this book for anyone who’s looking back to getting on the reading train again, it’s totally great.
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Wishing For Wednesday #59
Gotta love Wednesdays!
First up this WFW, an intriguing children's book co-written by Lauren Oliver! Something about the synopsis just makes me want to read it, kinda helps it's probably going to get you in the mood for Halloween!
Second is a book by one of my favourite authors and it sounds so exciting! Magical Emerald, theft, disguises and adventure....so much need!
As per, GoodReads and buy links so you guys can easily add them!
The Shrunken Head
What you will find in this book:
–A rather attractive bearded lady
–Several scandalous murders
–A deliciously disgusting Amazonian shrunken head
–Four extraordinary children with equally extraordinary abilities
–A quite loquacious talking bird
Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in
Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife-
thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events. When the museum’s Amazonian shrunken head is stolen, the four are determined to get it back. But
their search leads them to a series of murders and an explosive secret about their pasts.
This sensational new series combines the unparalleled storytelling gifts of Lauren Oliver with the rich
knowledge of the notorious relics collector H.C. Chester.
What you will NOT find in this book:
–An accountant named Seymour
–A never-ending line at the post office
–Brussel sprouts (shudder)
–A lecture on finishing all your homework on time
–A sweet, gooey story for nice little girls and boys.
The Shrunken Head is out October 8th, pre-order your copy....here!
Add it to your TBR...here!
Newt's Emerald
Lady Truthful will inherit her family’s most valued heirloom on her eighteenth birthday. Until the Newington Emerald is stolen.
Lady Truthful, nicknamed “Newt” by her boy cousins, discovers that to her horror, the people closest to her have been framed for the theft. But Newt won’t let their reputations be damaged by rumors from a false accusation. Her plan is simple: go to London to recover the missing jewel. Despite her best intentions, a young lady travelling alone is frankly unacceptable behavior. So Newt and her aunt devise another plan…one that entails men’s clothing and a mustache.
While in disguise, Truthful encounters the handsome but shrewd major Harnett, who to her amazement volunteers to help find the missing emerald under the assumption that she is a man, Henri de Vienne. But once she and her unsuspecting ally are caught up in a dangerous adventure, Truthful realizes something else is afoot: the beating of her heart.
Truthful has far more than romantic complications to worry about. The stolen emerald is no ordinary heirloom-it is the source of the family’s luck and has the power to yield vast magic. It would be completely disastrous if it fell into the wrong hands. The fate of England depends on Truthful securing the emerald.
Newt's Emerald is out October 13th, pre-order your copy....here!
Add it to your TBR....here!
Labels: Curiosity House, Garth Nix, H C Chester, Lauren Oliver, Newt's Emerald, The Shrunken Head, WFW, Wishing For Wednesday
Six of Crows
Buy or Borrow: Buy. Just do it.
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.
I just....I can't even right now. I had to have a day before I wrote this, after I read the book, to process the pure awesomeness that I have read. I have been so so SO excited for this book. I am a huge fan of the Grisha trilogy, and I wish I had the time to re-read them before I read this but it was no matter because it was so easy to slip back in to the world of the book as if you hadn't left it at all. I had so much excitement for the book and I wasn't the least bit disappointed. It was everything I was hoping for and more and now I'm desperate for the next book! It's going to be a long wait and I'm impatient as it is, but with the ending of the book it's going to be even worse!
Everything you loved about the Grisha trilogy is present in the book, but with a different setting and a different set of characters brought to colourful life off the page. The writing was evocative and beautifully descriptive right from the start, drawing you in to the world of the story as the atmosphere settles over you like a blanket and the real world ceases to exist.
The opening, quite frankly, was quite chilling. It didn't half send shivers down my spine as I was reading as well as setting up the book perfectly and capturing your attention. You where intrigued from the start, compelled to keep reading even when you should be sleeping, or you know....eating. The intrigue didn't stop, there where little tidbits that kept you intrigued as you tried to work out backstories and what was going on with the mission and so on. You wanted to know more and more as you started to put the pieces together.
The book has different POV's, Inej (who is the first one we meet), Kaz, Nina, Matthias and Jesper. Each has a different and distinctive narrative, each is engaging and adds a different view to the other characters and the city itself. Each has a unique viewpoint based on where they're from, who they are and what they've experienced which makes it particularly fascinating to read each POV. In some cases you see both sides of a story, there's never a repeated scene but from different POV's. You learn more about the characters and their pasts. Each POV adds something to the story or the characters or the world.
From the first chapter we're thrown in to the shadowy streets and action as we meet Inej, Kaz and Jesper for the first time. I've got to say....I loved them all instantly, as well as Nina and Wylan when we met them. I was a bit torn on Matthias however, as I liked Nina so much! There's more than meets the eye to all of them and I immediately wanted to know more about them, they had such rich histories and backgrounds to them. You learn loads about the characters, yet I still found myself wanting to know more about them as the book was coming to a close. Or maybe I just wanted to hang on to them a bit longer. I'm not entirely convinced that there isn't anything more to be learned about the characters!
Inej is a complete badass, and the quiz said I was most like her....I WISH! She had an interesting past, and one that wasn't the happiest either, and I loved watching her overcome what happened to her. Kaz is kind of scary. He's super intelligent and very cunning shall we say. The thing with Kaz is that you like him and understand him and why he acts the way he does, but sometimes, usually during another characters POV, you can't help but kind of want to smack him one. Or you kind of dislike him a little bit in a moment or two. Nina is probably my favourite, it's kind of hard to have a favourite with this lot! She was a badass as well, they all are in their own way. I loved her attitude in general to be honest, she was snarky and sassy and made me chuckle. Matthias had an incredibly interesting background and it was particularly interesting because of how it relates to the story and Nina. I kind of wanted to like him but sometimes I just wanted to smack him one because I loved Nina so much, but then I understood his behaviour and I loved watching his character try to come to terms with what he was doing and his feelings for Nina. Jesper made me chuckle from the go and I'd really like to know more about him. Wylan is kind of the odd one out when you consider his lineage, shall we say. He's not a criminal and he's not from the gan per se. I mean he is, but he's kind of the fringes I think. I loved watching him change over the course of the book and get to the place he was at the end.
If you couldn't tell from that, the characters are a colourful, lively and well written bunch. There's more to them than meets the eye, they each have different motivations, beliefs and backgrounds. They're full of depth and while you learn a fair bit about the characters, there's still more to know I'm sure! There's supporting cast, other gang members, the bad guys and so on, and all of them are as well created as the main characters. Some of them you just love to hate. Others you just hate. Some you might even like a little bit!
Coming back to the world of the Grisha is a lot like coming home. But this time you're exploring a different part and it's equally as rich and enchanting as Ravka. You cheer and grin at all the mentions of places, events and people from the Grisha trilogy. The settings are all vividly painted, and they spring up around you as you read, while the atmosphere seeps off the page and draws you further in to the world and the events of the book.
The atmosphere of the book is a very real thing. You can feel the tension, the suspense radiating off the page as a tangible thing, feel the high stakes hovering over you as the story speeds towards the end.
I love the different influences to the book in the language and the settings and the people and everything. There was a scene in particular that reminded me of the Roman gladiators but with a twist. I love the rich customs and cultures of the different parts of the world, I loved them in the Grisha trilogy and I love them in this one! I basically really need a book that's just all the mythology and legends and history for each of the different peoples of the world of the book. I would so read that avidly. Everything about this book just feels so authentic and real and that's largely due to the detail in the book, the things like all the different customs and cultures.
Six Of Crows is definitely like Oceans 11 but better. I really tried to think of another comparison but I really couldn't, but it's not really a comparison. I mean it's like Ocean's 11, but it's completely different at the same time because of all the originality of the world of the book. The plot is intricate. The plan the crew have is intricate. There's intricate relationships and histories, and the book is all one web of intricacy that you're determined to untangle but fail epically as each new twist and turn surprises you. The plot is just so perfectly woven with all these different threads and keeping you surprised.
The relationships in the book, like I said, where intricate. I loved the dynamics between the gang, each is linked. Some more closely than the others. I loved the friendships and I loved the other relationships even more. I basically loved all the relationships no matter if it was romantic or friendship or what. There's some romance in the book you see. But it's very subtle romance and not the main point of the book at all. Take the romance/relationship between Matthias and Nina for example, it's fascinating because of all the history between them. It's not an easy one, there's struggle because of who the both of them are and where they're from and what they are, and so it's interesting to watch them interact. The feelings are already there and it's just....brilliant watch them fight it and then you know.....waiting to see where it goes. As subtle as the romance as, you still cheer when it comes to fruition. I'm no sure if the others are all the way to romance yet, but we'll see. Either way...it's going to be very interesting and not at all easy.
Six Of Crows is a fantastic addition to the world of the Grisha. It was everything I wanted and more, I was grinning as I was reading even when it was bits I shouldn't have been grinning at because I was so happy to be reading another Grisha novel and back in the world. Slipping back in to the world was easy, and it was like you never left. The characters where so ridiculously full of depth, with personal histories as rich as the world of the book. They came to life, they brought the world of the book to life as much as the vivid world building did, they where lively and colourful and funny and complex. The settings where vivid and sucked you in, the atmosphere was a tangible thing and you found yourself completely lost in the world of the book with no idea of time or reality. It's one of those books you're compelled to keep reading and really don't want to put down.
Six Of Crows, I should warn you, brings the feels. It's funny, there's loads of quotes I noted because they made me laugh as well as quotes that I just liked because of the meaning behind them. I found myself chuckling along to the book and glad I wasn't on public transport. But despite the humour of the book, the book is full of other emotions. There's sad parts, angry parts, bits that break your heart, bits that make you all angry and want to murder on behalf of the characters. So many feels. There's action, and it's completely epic. I loved reading the fight scenes and the general badass-ness of the characters. I should also warn you to prepare for suspense, tension and heart-stopping moments.
Don't even get me started on the ending. I mean....you can't just leave people hanging like that!?! I'm so incredibly excited for the next book and the new mission, and learning more about the characters and seeing where relationships and friendships and just everything goes. The direction it's going to take, or at least that I think it's going to take after things mentioned in the final chapter....is going to be so freaking exciting. I can't wait to be back in the world, with the characters that I love a ridiculous amount, and being surprised by the truly shocking plot twists that just come faster and faster as the book builds up to the end after following a perfect pace. Also, I want to be in the crew....okay I'm done gushing!
Posted by Alisha at 10:00 1 comment:
Labels: Fantasy, Favourites, Grisha, Leigh Bardugo, review, Six Of Crows, Teen, The Grisha Trilogy, YA
The Traitor
Tomorrow, on the beach, Baru Cormorant will look up from the sand of her home and see red sails on the horizon.
The Empire of Masks is coming, armed with coin and ink, doctrine and compass, soap and lies. They'll conquer Baru’s island, rewrite her culture, criminalize her customs, and dispose of one of her fathers. But Baru is patient. She'll swallow her hate, prove her talent, and join the Masquerade. She will learn the secrets of empire. She’ll be exactly what they need. And she'll claw her way high enough up the rungs of power to set her people free.
In a final test of her loyalty, the Masquerade will send Baru to bring order to distant Aurdwynn, a snakepit of rebels, informants, and seditious dukes. Aurdwynn kills everyone who tries to rule it. To survive, Baru will need to untangle this land’s intricate web of treachery - and conceal her attraction to the dangerously fascinating Duchess Tain Hu.
But Baru is a savant in games of power, as ruthless in her tactics as she is fixated on her goals. In the calculus of her schemes, all ledgers must be balanced, and the price of liberation paid in full.
When you open the book and start reading, the first thing you'll see are the words "This is the truth. You will know because it hurts" and truer words where never spoken. Or rather typed. This book destroyed me utterly. There's a quote from one of my favourite shows, "evil isn't born, it's made" and it's relevant in this case as you become attached to Baru, utterly support her....and then read helplessly on as she destroys you. You witness the creation of a monster, but it's a monster you've come to care for so you're left not really knowing how to feel.
There's no magic or mythological creatures and so on, you read a fantasy that's all about humans and betrayal and treachery and power. Essentially you end up horrified by humans and what they're capable of. We first meet Baru as a young girl and watch her start on her path to becoming kind of a monster. I really liked her. I liked her intelligence, I liked her wit, I liked how strong she was, how well written and brought to life she was. You come to love her and support her, and cheer her on, but as much as she's a hero she's also a villain and you end up recoiling or, if Game of Thrones has hardened you, at the least flinching at her crimes. There is so much to her and I can't wait to see what happens to her next.
It has to be said, this book is a complete ride. Looking back, there where clues that should have prepared me for the ending or tipped me off. As it was, I missed every single one of them and unwittingly merrily came upon the end of the book and ended up being utterly shocked and surprised. I actually dropped the book. There are so many twists and turns to the book that you don't see coming that you're on edge as you read.
The Traitor really got under my skin and I felt some pretty strong emotions while I was reading, which all pale in comparison to the utter.....devastation that the ending of the book brought. Because it gets under your skin, it really hits you hard. In short, this book is so well done that it has one hell of an impact on the reader and anyone saying they dislike it is only doing so because they loved it so much and then ended up pretty much heartbroken over the ending.
There is so much backstabbing in this book you could make a drinking game of it, and you probably should to help you get through the ending. Seriously I keep mentioning it because you all need to prepare yourselves! The politics of the world are intricate and you come to understand them intimately as you read, but everything to do with the politics and history is written so compellingly that you don't end up bored from reading page after page about it like in some other fantasy books, no, you end up fascinated.
The world created is vivid, and rich. I read an ARC and as such had no map to refer to. No matter. The world was so well created and described I could picture where everything was clearly, as well as what each place was like. The characters, both main and secondary, are written so well they are given a spark life and are dramatic and lively players in the world.
The Traitor is an utterly emotionally devastating, yet completely brilliant read. Dickinson is subtle with his cruelties and his emotional manipulation of the reader, and it serves to create an emotional punch when everything comes to it's climax and conclusion. This book is diverse, it's emotional, it's rich in it's world building and politics, giving you the information you need to understand why everything is happening in the world. Baru is a compelling hero with villain tendencies. Or is it villain with hero tendencies? I'm not entirely sure. But she was one hell of a fantastic, strong lead. All in all it's an incredible fantasy book but you need to prepare yourselves for the emotional slaughter!
Labels: Fantasy, review, Seth Dickinson, The Traitor
This Wednesday I have more exciting reads to add to your TBR!
First up is a book that needs to not be judged by its cover or title, trust me, read the synopsis and I'm sure you'll all be as intrigued as I am! Siblings...highwaymen, magicians, kings and more!
Next up is a book that I literally had no idea was happening until not long ago, I thought this series has ended as a trilogy but this is the fourth book! It's from a different characters POV but hopefully we'll see some of the old characters! Just in time for halloween too!
Swords and Scoundrels
Vocho and Kacha are champion duelists: a brother and sister known for the finest swordplay in the city of Reyes. Or at least they used to be-until they were thrown out of the Duelist's Guild.
As a last resort, they turn reluctant highwaymen. But when they pick the wrong carriage to rob, their simple plans to win back fame and fortune go south fast.
After barely besting three armed men and a powerful magician, Vocho and Kacha make off with an immense locked chest. But the contents will bring them much more than they've bargained for when they find themselves embroiled in a dangerous plot to return an angry king to power....
Swords and Scoundrels is out October 8th, pre-order your copy....here!
A Mad Zombie Party
Ali Bell and Cole Holland's crew of zombie slayers thought they'd won the war against Anima Industries, the evil company responsible for capturing and experimenting on zombies in an effort to discover the secret to immortality. In the last epic clash, the slayers lost many of their crew and closest friends. But Frosty, the ice man himself, has not recovered from one casualty in particular—the love of his life, Kat Parker.
On the path to self-annihilation, Frosty receives a message from beyond—Kat's spirit returns, insisting he partner with rogue slayer Camilla Marks. Frosty will do anything for Kat. Except that. Camilla is the one who betrayed them all, leading to Kat's death.
But when Anima rises from the grave to become a force the slayers may not have the strength to overcome, Frosty, Camilla and all the slayers will have to work together to survive. And one broken slayer will learn that sometimes, the line between hate and attraction is blurred…and the road to redemption isn't through revenge, but in letting go of the past and grabbing hold of the future.
A Mad Zombie Party is out October 8th, pre-order your copy...here!
Labels: A Mad Zombie Party, Alice In Zombieland, Gena Showalter, Julia Knight, Swords and Scoundrels, WFW, Wishing For Wednesday
Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR
I'm back with TT Tuesday, I know I said I'd do it more regularly and then I failed pretty spectacularly...but here we go! Don't forget to comment telling me your Fall TBR books! I don't know why I'm saying Fall....I'm British, we say Autumn!
So, my Fall TBR, there's a fair few books on it and picking just 10 is haaaaarrrrrdddd, but I've managed. A couple of them are ones I've been sent to review but most are not!
1. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
So basically, I have my TBR arranged in to "Next In Series" "First In Series" and "Stand Alone", because I'm fancy like that. This is in the "First In Series" TBR and I kinda wanna read all the next in series books first....but there's a read along for this going on over on Tumblr and I'm so intrigued I don't think I can wait.
2. Night School: Endgame by C.J. Daugherty
So, this has been sitting on my shelves for ages and it's the last in one of my favourite series so I'll definitely be getting around to this in the near future.
3. Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch
I've been lucky enough to receive an ARC of this therefore I'm gonna be reading it super early because I can. But first I'll be re-reading the first book because I have the time for once!
4. The Sword Of Summer by Rick Riordan
Again, super lucky and received an ARC....definitely have no self control and will end up reading this really early! I'm so excited for this! I'm such a Percy Jackson fangirl and I've been waiting for this entirely new series for ages I mean...this one is all Norse mythology and Gods and I can't even with the excitement!
5. The Fiery Heart/Silver Shadows/The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead
I should probably have done this separately, but I didn't so whatever. I've probably mentioned before how these are the last three in a series, and like literally the last half of that series, and I never got round to them and then everyone was freaking about the end of the fifth book so I thought I'd wait until the last one was out then read them all together....
6. Legacy Of Kings by Eleanor Herman
Does this need an explanation? Reimagining of Alexander the Great...it'd be rude not to.
7. The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
Everyone's been raving about this so I decided to bump it up the TBR!
8. Ink And Bone by Rachel Caine
First book in a new series by one of my favourite authors....definitely merits a bump.
9. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
This is yet another book getting a bump from me because I'm impatient and everyone raves about this one!
10. Kiss Of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
My aunt brought me the fancy hardback edition of this straight from Barnes and Noble Texas, again, this is another book everyone on Tumblr has been raving about so it gets a bump.
All in all it's highly doubtful I'll stick to my system and read all the next in series books first because I keep bumping other books :')
Ah well, GoodReads pages are linked. Go forth and swell your TBRs!
Labels: Alexandra Bracken, C J Daugherty, Eleanor Herman, Mary E Pearson, Rachel Caine, Rachel Hartman, Renee Ahdieh, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan, Sara Raasch, Top Ten Tuesday, TT Tuesday
Fresh out of Cambridge University, the young Mycroft Holmes is already making a name for himself in government, working for the Secretary of State for War. Yet this most British of civil servants has strong ties to the faraway island of Trinidad, the birthplace of his best friend, Cyrus Douglas, a man of African descent, and where his fiancée Georgiana Sutton was raised.
Mycroft’s comfortable existence is overturned when Douglas receives troubling reports from home. There are rumors of mysterious disappearances, strange footprints in the sand, and spirits enticing children to their deaths, their bodies found drained of blood. Upon hearing the news, Georgiana abruptly departs for Trinidad. Near panic, Mycroft convinces Douglas that they should follow her, drawing the two men into a web of dark secrets that grows more treacherous with each step they take...
I'm a bit of a Sherlock Holmes fangirl, it has to be said. So how could I not take the opportunity to read the story of his older brother Mycroft? Mycroft has always intrigued me and this book goes some way to show you how he became the person he is when we meet him in Sherlock Holmes books.
This story is full of adventure and danger, with a nice mystery that's fun to try and put the pieces together before the big reveal. The book also had a nice amount of humour to it, to have you chuckling once or twice. I found our two protagonists to be likeable and fun to read about, I enjoyed the relationship between the two and I came to like their characters more and more as I read, rooting for them and hoping for them to come out on top. Even though it is fairly obvious they would succeed...what with Mycroft being in the Sherlock books and so on...but still!
I was completely fascinated by the legendary Douen and Lougarou, I really wanted to know more about the stories surrounding them and everything, and it's something I'll be looking in to myself. I'm such a sucker for myths and legends to be honest.
Much like the characters, the book itself and the plot and so on, are all very well written. I found it easy to read the book and get lost in it. I liked the pace of the book and the prose. The book has you engaged from start to finish, riveted, trying to put pieces together, but failing as something surprises you. The historic detail was spot on, and perfectly done. There are some particularly well done scenes between Mycroft and Sherlock that had me internally squealing, not to mention the very end of the book!
All in all it was an enjoyable read and I wouldn't be opposed to it being turned in to a series, because why not? Mycroft is usually in the background and it's great to get to know him, it makes him seem less...aloof? Whether reading or watching something Sherlock, I always feel as if he's kind of aloof or separate, but this book kind of solidified him in my mind as a real person/character, which doesn't make sense but yeah.
Labels: Anna Waterhouse, book, book review, books, Fiction, Historical, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mycroft Holmes, review, Sherlock Holmes
WFW gets more exciting each week!
First up is another of my stumbled upon on GoodReads books, I couldn't resist the synopsis! Monsters and armies....intriguing right?!
Second is the sequel to a book I LOVED! So many sequels are out this year that I feel like I've been waiting years for, and I know some of you have been waiting for this one!
So pre-order and/or add to your GoodReads TBR!
An Inheritance Of Ashes
The strange war down south—with its rumors of gods and monsters—is over. And while sixteen-year-old Hallie and her sister wait to see who will return from the distant battlefield, they struggle to maintain their family farm.
When Hallie hires a veteran to help them, the war comes home in ways no one could have imagined, and soon Hallie is taking dangerous risks—and keeping desperate secrets. But even as she slowly learns more about the war and the men who fought it, ugly truths about Hallie’s own family are emerging. And while monsters and armies are converging on the small farm, the greatest threat to her home may be Hallie herself.
An Inheritance Of Ashes is out October 6th, pre-order your copy...here!
Sky Key
Endgame is here. Earth Key has been found. Two keys—and nine Players—remain. The keys must be found, and only one Player can win.
Queens, New York. Aisling Kopp believes the unthinkable: that Endgame can be stopped. But before she can get home to regroup, she is approached by the CIA. They know about Endgame. And they have their own ideas about how it should be Played. Ideas that could change everything.
Kingdom of Aksum, Ethiopia. Hilal ibn Isa al-Salt narrowly survived an attack that leaves him horribly disfigured. He now knows something the other Players do not. But the Aksumites have a secret that is unique to their line. A secret that can help redeem humanity—and maybe even be used to help defeat the beings behind Endgame.
London, England. Sarah Alopay has found the first key. She is with Jago—and they are winning.But getting Earth Key has come at a great cost to Sarah. The only thing that keeps the demons at bay is Playing. Playing to win.
Sky Key—wherever it is, whatever it is—is next. And the nine remaining Players will stop at nothing to get it.
Sky Key is out October 6th, pre-order your copy....here!
Labels: An Endgame Novel, An Inheritance Of Ashes, James Frey, Leah Bobet, Sky Key, WFW
Twelve Kings
Sharakhai, the great city of the desert, center of commerce and culture, has been ruled from time immemorial by twelve kings—cruel, ruthless, powerful, and immortal. With their army of Silver Spears, their elite company of Blade Maidens, and their holy defenders, the terrifying asirim, the Kings uphold their positions as undisputed, invincible lords of the desert. There is no hope of freedom for any under their rule.
Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings’ laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha’ir. What she learns that night sets her on a path that winds through both the terrible truths of the Kings’ mysterious history and the hidden riddles of her own heritage. Together, these secrets could finally break the iron grip of the Kings’ power...if the nigh-omnipotent Kings don’t find her first.
Oh my this book was....sweeping, engrossing, absorbing...astounding. It really gave my imagination a stretch and was filled with all the things I love in a good fantasy novel, I couldn't put it down and as the book was coming to a close I was desperately hoping for it to carry on longer. The wait for the next book will be difficult, as while some questions where answered, there where many left unanswered and I'll probably spend time thinking back on those questions. Not to mention the fact that the next book, and in fact the rest of the series, was expertly set up without sacrificing any of the plot of this book. It was a rich fantasy read and the kind you end up completely obsessed with and fully invested in.
There is nothing quite like a book that starts off with a cracking fight scene, you're straight in there and you just know you're going to love it. From that point it was all go really, there was plenty of action as you're drawn in to the world and start to learn about it. And what a world it is. But more on that in a moment. We're talking action right now, and the book has plenty of it. Fight scenes that will have your pulse racing and have you on the edge of your seat, and kind of have you wishing you where as badass as Çeda. They where perfectly written and you could practically see it happening before your eyes, and along with the fast pace, you end up pretty much glued to the book.
As for the world, it was astounding and so fantastically crafted. It was so vivid you could smell the smells of the bazaar, see Çeda and her friends, feel the atmosphere and the vibe of the place. It pulls you in to the world of the book perfectly and has you completely engrossed. I don't think I have accurate words to describe just how completely amazing the world building was. I'm so itching to see more of the world that was created, you get the impression it's fairly extensive and there's much of it to be explored, and I hope we can in the next book!
The book also has a very rich background history to it, as well as intricate legends and myths. I was fascinated reading about this other world and their history, politics, Gods, customs and so on. Completely riveted and loving reading every little bit about it, especially as all of it was woven in to the plot instead of one massive info dump. The sections of it in the plot that where kind of chunky, where written so compellingly that you didn't really notice if it was a long passage just on the history/mythology of it, and you always wanted to know more and more about the world.
Çeda is my kind of character. I loved her determination and tenacity, her intelligence, her skills and learning more about her page by page and in each flashback chapter. You rooted for her from the start, and then more and more as you learned more. You where on her side, willing her to do well, to achieve what she wanted. Like if some other character was mean to her, then you kinda disliked that character and where like "boo you". I can't describe quite what it is, but I just loved her. I wanted to know more about her, she came alive off the page and helped to bring the world of the book to life. I just understood her and how she operated.
There's a cast of incredibly interesting and colourful characters in the book, each as lively as Çeda, each so well written that they come to life off the page. Emre, who had such a depth of backstory to him, such emotion and who you kind of wanted to smack at times, but liked him nonetheless and kind of rooted for him to do the right thing. Ramahd, who you felt for but also....kinda wanted to smack because clearly Meryam was up to no freaking God and he's completely blind to it or whatever. He, like Emre, had a tragic backstory and there was more to him than met the eye. The Kings, you get one King's point of view along with Emre, Ramahd and Çeda and he was an...interesting point of view, he's clearly playing some kind of game but we still don't know what. Each King is so different from the others and we didn't get to meet all of them properly, so I'm excited to meet more of them properly.
These are just some of the main characters. There are plenty of other characters, The Blade Maidens, I'm so eager to learn more about them, particularly the ones in Çeda's Hand. We where just starting to get to know them towards the end of this book. There's Macide and his...group, who are most certainly more than they appear, but I can't say more because spoilers. The Asirim who have an interesting background and who you want to know more about because you want to understand them. For most of the book they're these incredibly sinister figures and then towards the end your perception of them changes entirely. There's so many other characters who where so well characterised and brought to life despite the fact they where a lesser character and not seen often.
There are different POV's, like I mentioned above, and they each add interesting threads to the main threads of the story being woven. The plot really does thicken with each POV change and new bit of information learned. Not to mention the flashback chapters that add plenty of extra threads. You end up with such a deep understanding of the world and characters, as well as knowing something big is coming and not all is as it seems. Each change is perfectly timed and smoothly changes from narrative to narrative, each as engaging as the last.
I realize I've been mentioning all these characters and rich and intricate history to the world. Don't get me wrong though. I should mention that while the world has a complex structure to it, it's described so you can easily understand and come to grips with it fairly early on. Everything after that just adds to it rather than adding confusion, it enhances your understanding of the world and takes you deeper in to the world.
Twelve Kings is easy to read and follow, is what I'm saying, it's not over complicated with the writing or having too many characters to keep track of without some kind of spreadsheet, like with Game of Thrones. It's complex and intricate without confusing you or making it hard to read. It's a complex fantasy you truly can't put down and enjoy because you can easily get to grips with the world and who's who and everything else. You never felt like the book was too long or like it was dragging, you actually wanted more and more and wanted it to carry on for a good couple hundred more pages.
I loved all of the Gods and mythology behind them. Now that is one area I really want to know more about because again, there's clearly more than meets the eye and it's one of the incredibly fascinating areas. I'd love to actually see more of them in the next book too because I'm so intrigued by them.
Twelve Kings is a blend of past and present, like I've already mentioned, there are looks in to the past that show you what happened to bring the characters to the place they are at when we meet them in the book, that show you how they became the way they are and give you an incredibly deep understanding of the character. The flashbacks answer questions about characters, and the flashbacks are always relevant to an upcoming chapter or a chapter that had recently gone by. A lot of the time I read the flashback chapters and I was like "aaaaaah".
As well as this fantastically done blend, and a complex plot, there where so many twists and turns and these twists and turns got more shocking as you raced towards the end of the book. I was always surprised, I'd have kind of half worked out a reveal and then be either, you know, half right, or completely wrong or kind of right but with an added bit of information I hadn't worked out. The book kept me on my toes that's for sure!
Twelve Kings is a skilfully written, complex and engrossing book, set within a rich and vividly created world with characters that, no matter how big a part they have, come to life off the page due to their characterisation and depth. The plot is thrilling, compelling, intricate and gives us one part of a large overall story that's going to be one hell of a ride. You find yourself constantly surprised, caught up in moments of suspense, and practically holding your breath during the fantastically written fight scenes. There's rich mythology and history to the world that helps bring it to life, and the book, while complex, is still easy to get to grips with concerning said rich history and politics. I loved every page and can't wait for the next book to get back to the world!
Labels: Bradley Beaulieu, Fantasy, review, The Song Of Shattered Sands, Twelve Kings
Sorcerer To The Crown
The Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers, one of the most respected organizations throughout all of England, has long been tasked with maintaining magic within His Majesty’s lands. But lately, the once proper institute has fallen into disgrace, naming an altogether unsuitable gentleman—a freed slave who doesn’t even have a familiar—as their Sorcerer Royal, and allowing England’s once profuse stores of magic to slowly bleed dry. At least they haven’t stooped so low as to allow women to practice what is obviously a man’s profession…
At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers and eminently proficient magician, ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up. But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…
I was so intrigued when I read the synopsis for this and so excited to be sent a copy to review by the publisher! I'm a bit early with this review, by the time you read this on my blog, I'll have finished it over a week ago but I decided to just jump in with it! It was such a fun and rich read that had me laughing, booing, shaking my head and getting way too emotionally involved in it!
First of all, it's got to be said, I started this right after I'd just finished reading and reviewing a kids book SO, it took me a couple of pages to get my brain in gear and get used to the writing style and way of speech of the characters. Some people may struggle or may not like the writing style, I did find it heavy in the beginning before I got used to it and then I didn't really notice. It's delightfully authentic, I think, but was occasionally a wee bit stilted in the dialogue. It is very beautiful to read though, and some beautiful descriptions, not to mention relationships. I did rather love Zacharias's relationship with Mrs. Wythe.
The world of the book is an alternate London where magic is used freely, but only by the men of course because us mere women are too "delicate" to be able to use it. The magic isn't as....flowing shall we say, as it used to be and there's all this background history and these intricate politics between England and Fairy and France and other places. It was fascinating to read about all of it and like I said, it was very rich but explained in such a way that it wasn't thrown at you all at once, and you could follow it and understand fairly quickly and early on. It all helped to suck you in to the world and make the world of the book so engrossing.
The world building was fantastic. I can't say I've ever visited Regency era London (har har) but I got a definite feel for the place. A bit too full of sexism and bigotry for my tastes, I spent a great deal of time feeling rather outraged on our characters behalf. Not that everything is all hunky dory nowadays but still. You got a very brutally truthful and realistic look at the time period, and the world building was so imaginative and enchanting that you could completely lose yourself in the world of the book. I mean....there's magic, dragons, fairies, vampires, various other familiars and a murderous mermaid. To name a few. You get completely swept in to the world and your imagination certainly gets a workout.
I found the world of the book and the magical system of the book to be original and imaginative and I loved reading about. I do love books with rich mythology/history/etc to them and this book, like I said, is full of it so you're completely sucked in to the book and it's such a magical place to be in this book. If not...ya know....a time you'd ACTUALLY want to be in. Or at least I wouldn't. The magical system of the book was very well done and I enjoyed the whole deal with the French bit. I'm not saying anything too specific because spoilers!
I've got to say, the "Society"/"Nobles" or whatever you want to call them could give Gossip Girl a run for it's money. It was like a regency GG but with more murder and deviousness. It was a complete and utter snakepit, backstabbing and betrayal all over the place and even the blokes weren't above being bitchy. So much of history is romanticised and everyone's like "oh I'd love to live in that time" or whatever, but this book is realistic and truthful and accurately portrays what a, quite frankly, crappy time it was to live in. Not least for POC. I'm actually still feeling quite outraged!
The plot is fast paced and had some laugh out loud moments, it really was a fun read. The romance took a while to come to fruition and wasn't the main point of the plot completely, it was woven in to the plot perfectly and wasn't an easy romance at all. At some points I didn't get the romance seeing as (as you'll see when I talk characters below) at points I didn't think Prunella cared about Zacharias at all, certainly she didn't care what effect her actions would have on him and his position, which was kind of horrible of her considering all he did for her! As I was reading I was guessing at things as I tried to work out what was going on from the plot threads we had so far, but there where so many twists and turns that when it all started to come together I was pleasantly surprised and when it does come together you realise just how intricate the plot is with all the threads woven together. You realise the full extent of the plot, basically.
Zacharias I connected to first, and I became quite ridiculously protective of Zacharias. I mean, here he is, he's getting treated horrifically by his fellows, including people he actually gave a leg up in the Society, people keep trying to murder him and he's completely and utterly burdened by duty and his position and everything he has to sort out. So I really felt for him, and I was rooting for him to basically sort everything and say a giant F you to the Society. He was such an interesting character and so well written I completely loved him from the start.
Which is why I could never quite decide if I liked Prunella. Initially and at various other parts of the book, I really liked her. She was feisty, she made me laugh, she knew what she wanted and was another very interesting character with an interesting and mysterious family past. BUT. At times, she would royally screw things up for Zacharias with her general selfishness that she dressed up a lot as ambition and she was quite cold about achieving it. At those times, I was never sure if I actually liked her or not. Perhaps if I hadn't liked Zacharias quite so much I would be able to say I 100% loved her but I can't say that because of my poor Zacharias and how she messed things up for him!
Both characters face so much prejudice and you really see it in the book, it's brutally honest about it and doesn't try to dress it up or make it all romantic or whatever. So much bigotry. So much sexism. Colonialism at it's "finest" (read: worst). It was incredibly well done, and sensitively done. I found the relationship between Zacharias and Sir Stephen particularly interesting.
Sorcerer To The Crown features a complex plot, made up of many threads that give you plenty of surprises when the plot twists. Each of these threads comes together to create a satisfying ending to the book, leaving things fairly nicely wrapped up. It's fast paced, has plenty of humour to create some laugh out loud moments, and is very beautifully written. Sorcerer To The Crown gives you a brutally authentic look at this particularly....I can't even find the right word, but it's bad, time period and doesn't pull it's punches when showcasing the darker sides to the time period usually glossed over or romanticised in other books. With an imaginative and vivid world, and full of magic and magical creatures, it's an enchanting read that'll have you staying up late to read just that one more chapter.
Labels: Fantasy, Magic, Regency, review, Sorcerer To The Crown, Zen Cho
The Secret Fire
Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Finished Series I have YET To...
The Blackthorn Key
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Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC | Toby Marshall
Toby Marshall is a founding member of Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, where he represents plaintiffs in class actions, collective actions, and other complex litigation. Through his dedicated advocacy, Toby has recovered tens of millions of dollars for workers who were cheated by employers and consumers who were taken advantage of by businesses. He has also obtained substantial injunctive relief for individuals whose rights were violated by governmental entities.
Toby has tried and won significant lawsuits in state and federal courts. In Wilbur v. Mount Vernon, for example, he served as co-lead counsel in a civil rights class action brought against two Washington municipalities. The plaintiffs alleged the cities were violating the United States Constitution by failing to provide meaningful assistance of counsel to thousands of low-income individuals accused of misdemeanors. After a nine-day trial, Toby and his team obtained a complete victory for their clients and the class. The judgment drew national attention, with the New York Times noting this was “the first time a federal court had appointed a supervisor to oversee a public-defense system.” Attorney General Eric Holder called the result “pivotal” and said it “will help us meet our constitutional and moral obligations to administer a legal system that matches its demands for accountability with a commitment to due process.”
In Ramirez v. Precision Drywall, Toby served as lead counsel in a wage and hour class action brought against a company allegedly violating Washington’s wage laws by failing to pay overtime compensation to its employees and improperly deducting from pay for work tools. After a five-week jury trial, Toby obtained a judgment in excess of $4.17 million on behalf of the workers and class members.
In addition to his trial advocacy, Toby has successfully briefed or argued appeals before the Washington Supreme Court, the Washington Court of Appeals, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. His appellate work includes the cases of Demetrio v. Sakuma Bros. Farms., Inc.; LaCoursiere v. CamWest Development, Inc.; Smith v. Jem Group, Inc.; and McGinnity v. AutoNation, Inc.
Toby is currently a member of the amicus and legislative committees of the Washington Employment Lawyers Association. He has authored friend-of-the-court briefs in key employment cases decided by the Washington Supreme Court, including Becerra v. Expert Janitorial, LLC; Wash. State Nurses Ass’n v. Sacred Heart Med. Ctr.; and Anfinson v. FedEx Ground Package Sys., Inc. In 2013, Toby was the Chair of the Washington State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section. He regularly speaks at seminars on employment and class action issues.
Toby graduated from the University of Washington School of Law, where he served on the Moot Court Honor Board and was selected to the Order of Barristers. He is a member of the Washington Employment Lawyers Association (WELA), the Washington State Association for Justice (WSAJ), the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA), and the Public Justice Foundation. In 2014, Toby received the Champion of Justice Award from WACDL and the President’s Award from WDA for his work in Wilbur v. Mount Vernon. He has been named to the Super Lawyers list in Washington Law & Politics.
Sample Achievements
Wage and Hour Class & Collective Actions
Ramirez v. Precision Drywall, Inc. – Obtained judgment in excess of a $4.17 million on behalf of 325 drywall workers who alleged Precision Drywall and its officers failed to pay them for overtime work and made unlawful deductions to their pay. Served as lead counsel throughout case, including trial, and successfully defended judgment on appeal.
McGinnity v. AutoNation, Inc. – Obtained arbitration award in excess of $2.6 million on behalf of 500 employees deprived of earned vacation benefits. Served as co-lead class counsel throughout case and successfully defended award on appeal.
Janitorial Workers Actions – Negotiated seven-figure settlements in class and collective action cases brought against national janitorial employer. Settlements approved in 2012.
Manufacturing Company Lawsuit – Negotiated six-figure settlement on behalf of 260 employees who alleged that their employer failed to pay them for all hours worked and failed to provide them with rest and meal breaks. Settlement approved in 2011.
Labor Services Company Lawsuit – Negotiated seven-figure settlement on behalf of 1,300 employees working for labor services company in Washington. Employees alleged they were not paid for all hours worked, did not receive proper rest and meal breaks, and had unlawful deductions taken from their wages. Settlement approved in 2010.
Barnett v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. – Obtained $35,000,000 settlement on behalf of 88,000 Washington employees alleging various wage and hour violations. Settlement approved in July 2009 after seven years of litigation.
Consumer Protection Class Actions
Brown v. Consumer Law Associates, LLC – Negotiated seven-figure settlement on behalf of certified class alleging violations of Washington’s Debt Adjusting Act. Settlement approved in 2013.
Bronzich v. Persels & Associates, LLC – Negotiated seven-figure settlement on behalf of class alleging violations of Washington’s Debt Adjusting Act. Settlement approved in 2013.
Smith v. Legal Helpers Debt Resolution LLC – Negotiated multiple settlements totaling more than $2.2 million on behalf of class alleging violations of Washington’s Debt Adjusting Act. Settlements approved in 2012 and 2013.
Ruebel v. Olympic Racquet & Health Club, Inc. – Negotiated six-figure settlement on behalf of class alleging defendants wrongfully threatened to terminate health club contracts. Settlement approved in 2012.
Odom v. Microsoft Corp. – Represented certified nationwide class of consumers alleging Microsoft and Best Buy engaged in unfair and deceptive acts in the promotion of MSN internet access service. Settlement approved in 2010.
Splater v. Thermal Ease Hydronic Systems, Inc. – Obtained seven-figure settlement in class action brought on behalf Washington consumers whose homes contain allegedly defective hydronic tubing.
Other Complex Litigation
Wilbur v. Mount Vernon – Obtained declaratory judgment and significant injunctive relief on behalf of thousands of indigent persons, with court ruling that defendants violated the United States Constitution by depriving class members of their right to counsel. Served as co-lead counsel throughout litigation, including trial.
Yakima Mega-Dairy Cases – Worked on team that obtained groundbreaking settlements in lawsuits alleging three Yakima dairies improperly stored and disposed of manure, leading to environmental pollution and groundwater contamination. Under consent decrees signed by a federal court in 2015, the dairies agreed to make significant operational improvements, including the installation of impermeable liners in manure lagoons to prevent leakage, the limitation of manure applications in nearby fields, and the provision of clean drinking water to area residents. In a precedent-setting ruling issued prior to the settlements, the court concluded that when manure is mishandled by industrial farms, it is a solid waste for purposes of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Individual Cases
Discrimination Case Against Fortune 500 Company – Negotiated favorable settlement for African-American manager who had been terminated after 26 years based on false allegations of sexual harassment.
Giard v. Marine Services Northwest, Inc. – Obtained $224,664 judgment after bench trial for client who purchased defective yacht.
Olson v. Fred Meyer Stores, Inc. – Obtained $200,000 jury-trial verdict for employee with breast cancer who was terminated in violation of Washington Law Against Discrimination.
Reported Cases
Demetrio v. Sakuma Bros. Farms., Inc., ___ P.3d ___, 2015 WL 4366459 (Wash. July 16, 2015)
Community Ass’n for Restoration of the Environment, Inc. v. Cow Palace, LLC, 80 F. Supp. 3d 1180 (E.D. Wash. 2015)
LaCoursiere v. Camwest Development, Inc., 181 Wn.2d 734, 339 P.3d 963 (2014)
Becerra v. Expert Janitorial, LLC, 181 Wn.2d 186, 332 P.3d 415 (2014)
Smith v. Jem Group, Inc., 737 F.3d 636 (9th Cir. 2013)
Wilbur v. City of Mount Vernon, 989 F. Supp. 2d 1122 (W.D. Wash. 2013)
Wash. State Nurses Ass’n v. Sacred Heart Med. Ctr., 175 Wn.2d 822, 287 P.3d 516 (2012)
Anfinson v. FedEx Ground Package Sys., Inc., 174 Wn.2d 851, 281 P.3d 289 (2012)
Brown v. Consumer Law Assocs., LLC, 283 F.R.D. 602 (E.D. Wash. 2012)
Khadera v. ABM Indus. Inc., 701 F. Supp. 2d 1190 (W.D. Wash. 2010)
McGinnity v. AutoNation, Inc., 149 Wn. App. 277, 202 P.3d 1009 (2009)
Easter v. Am. W. Fin., 381 F.3d 948 (9th Cir. 2004)
Stewart v. Estate of Steiner, 122 Wn. App. 258, 93 P.3d 919 (2004)
Professional Organizations and Activities
Washington State Bar Association
King County Bar Association
Washington State Association for Justice
Washington Employment Lawyers Association
Amicus Committee
Washington Appellate Project, Board Member
WSBA Labor & Employment Law Section Executive Committee
Chair, 2013
Treasurer 2011, 2012
KCBA Labor & Employment Law Section Pacific Coast Labor & Employment Law Conference Planning Committee and Trial Skills Subcommittee – 2010, 2011
Toby J. Marshall & Eric S. Beane, Prosecuting & Defending Class Actions After Certification: Perspectives on and strategies for litigating post-certification issues and trying class actions, Law Seminars International Eleventh Annual Comprehensive Conference on Class Actions, June 2015
Toby J. Marshall, Chelsea D. Petersen, Beau C. Haynes & William B. Stafford, Employment Class Actions: Current Trends in Certification; Hybrid Wage-Hour Actions; and Approaches and Challenges to Aggregate Damages, Law Seminars International Tenth Annual Comprehensive Conference on Class Actions, June 2014
Toby J. Marshall, Matthew Zuchetto,Guardian of the Innocent, King County Bar Bulletin, March 2014. Originally published in the March 2014 issue of the King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin. Reprinted with permission of the King County Bar Association.
Toby J. Marshall, The Fundamentals of Filing Wage and Hour Claims, University of Washington School of Law Students for Labor & Employment Justice Wage & Hour Seminar, February 2014
Toby J. Marshall, Determining Worker Status Under the Washington Minimum Wage Act: Anfinson and the Economic-Dependence Test, 12th Annual Labor and Employment Law Seminar, November 2012
Michael J. Loeb & Toby J. Marshall, Mediating Wage and Hour Class and Collective Actions, NELA Spring 2012 Seminar, March 2012
Toby J. Marshall, Class Action Implications at Intake, WELA Fall CLE, October 2011
Daniel F. Johnson, Shannon Smith & Toby J. Marshall, Using Consumer Laws to Better Represent Your Injured Clients: Schnall v. AT&T Wireless Panel Discussion, WSAJ 1st Annual Winter Conference, December 2010
Toby J. Marshall, Wrapping Up — Settlements, Judgments, Appeals and Enforcement, National Business Institute Seminar on the Mechanics of Washington Civil Procedure, October 2009
Toby J. Marshall, Recovering Paid Vacation Benefits — What Employees Need to Know to Make the Best Case under Washington Law, Trial News, July 2008
Named to Super Lawyers list by Washington Law & Politics (2015, 2014)
President’s Award, Washington Defender Association (2014)
Champion of Justice Award, Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (2014)
Named to Rising Stars list by Washington Law & Politics (2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2005)
California State University, Sacramento – cum laude – B.A.
University of Washington – J.D.
Order of the Barristers
Moot Court Honor Board — Member and Vice President of Regional Competitions
University of Washington School of Law Mock Trial Competition (2002) — Winner, Best Speaker, Best Brief
Fourteenth Annual Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (2002) — Best Overall Brief
Thirteenth Annual Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (2001) — Semi-Finalist
Univ. of Wash. School of Law Environmental Law Competition (2000) — Winner, Best Speaker, Best Brief
US District Court, Western District of Washington
US District Court, Eastern District of Washington
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Toby J.
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Libby Page : The Lido : An Interview
Libby Page is the author of The Lido. A perfect summer read when you're sitting by the pool and catching some rays.
Photo Credit: Natalie Dawkins
I’m Libby Page, an author and keen outdoor swimmer living in London, England. My debut novel The Lido is published in the US in July 2018.
What made you want to write this story?
The book is set in Brixton, a neighborhood in South London where I lived as a student. Although it is a busy, somewhat hectic area, I was also really struck by the strong sense of community there. But I noticed that it is a community under threat with big chains moving in and rising rental prices pushing out small business owners who have lived and worked there for generations and threatening spaces like libraries and independent shops. It made me think about what we lose when these special community places disappear from our towns and cities, and the importance of protecting the places we love. As I’m a keen swimmer myself the lido (or outdoor pool) seemed a great place to discuss these themes of community. At lidos people of all backgrounds come together and share special moments – they aren’t just pools, there are real hubs of the community. The idea grew from there.
Which character do you think you are most like?
When I first moved to London as an eighteen-year-old I shared similarities with Kate: I came from a small town and found the city overwhelming at first. Now I’d like to think I’m more like Rosemary. My local community is really important to me: I like to shop at my local greengrocers and have become friendly with the owners of the nearby café where I often go to write. I also swim regularly and it has made me much more comfortable in my body than I was when I was younger. Like Rosemary, I now don’t hesitate about getting undressed in the communal changing room. It’s where the best chat is!
How long did it take to write?
I spent about six months planning the book, then a year writing it. After that came another year of trying to get a literary agent in order to get published.
Do you have any stories about being a kid and going to a public pool?
I went swimming a lot as a child, particularly when my sister and I went to stay with my grandparents – they always took us to the local pool. Near my hometown there was also a small outdoor pool in a local village that we had lessons in when I was very little: I remember the water being freezing but there being a lovely view of the countryside beyond the walls. But as much as I enjoyed it, I was never a very confident swimmer – I was more of a splasher than anything else. It’s only over recent years that I’ve become much more seriously interested in swimming and have learned to be more confident in the water.
What has it been like seeing your book blow up in the media and have it acquired for film rights? Did you ever picture this book being turned into a movie?
This has all been very surreal for me as I really wrote The Lido because it was a story I wanted to tell and because I love writing. I didn’t have any real expectations of it getting published – I just wrote it because I wanted to. But now that it is out there in the world it is such a joy for me to hear people responding positively to it. And selling the film rights was very exciting! I never expected it to be made into a film but I certainly did picture certain scenes very visually when I was writing. A lido is just such a beautiful setting that I can certainly picture it very clearly: the light on the turquoise water, people jumping in and splashing, the sky blue above it all… They are very cinematic places!
What do you love about Kate and Rosemary's relationship?
I love that Kate and Rosemary’s friendship prove that age doesn’t need to be a barrier to friendship. The emotions we feel are universal, regardless of our age and background. Kate and Rosemary are united in some ways by their loneliness: they experience it for very different reasons but the feelings are the same. But they also come to share a love of outdoor swimming, and I think interests like this can be a great way to meet people from all walks of life. Both Kate and Rosemary learn so much from each other and grow as women because of their friendship, which is what I think good friends do for us – regardless of what age they are.
Fun Facts about Libby Page the author of The Lido
Libby Page went to The London College of Fashion with a BA in fashion journalism and then went onto work at The Guardian. At 23 she quit her job and traveled around the U.K. swimming, and figuring out how to write this novel. Her hard work paid off with a published book and film rights sold. Find her book in the U.S. wherever it's sold out July 10, 2018, by Simon and Schuster UK. Follow her on Twitter @LibbyPageWrites and Instagram @TheSwimmingSisters.
If you were stuck on an abandoned island what five items would you want with you?
My luxury items would be an enormous notebook, my fountain pen and an endless supply of ink cartridges (I don’t know if that counts as one item!) so I could write. Practical items would be a penknife and a water filtration system!
If you could meet any author living or dead and have a croquet match with them who would you play against?
As a child I was a huge fan of the Harry Potter books, so the child in me would have to say JK Rowling! I just love how she inspired a whole generation of children to really love reading and I find her a very inspiring individual.
If you could go back in time where would you travel to?
Difficult question! My best friend lives in Paris, in Montmartre, and I try to visit her a couple of times a year. I’m really interested in the history of the area – the old cabaret clubs where famous bohemian artists and writers hung out together in the late 19th / early 20th century. So I’d say I’d love to go back to Paris during that era just to witness it all and see the area I know so well when it was alive with artists and creative people. It would make walking around the area today with my friend even more special.
Source: Photo by Charles Larose on Unsplash
Newer PostSara Letourneau: An Interview
Older PostStephen Markley : Ohio : An Interview
Theater reviews and new stories from the actors and directors of stage
Interviews from authors, bloggers and everyone in between
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I just love these cryptic symbols, sigils or seals what H.P. Lovecraft has offered us via his stories.
According to Sumerian mythology, Marduk was the God who defeated the Ancient Ones long before the creation of matter as we know it. Against him in battle were the fierce TIAMAT, KINGU, and AZAG-THOTH. Once he had destroyed these demons, he created the universe from the flesh of TIAMAT, and humanity from the blood of KINGU mixed with his own breath. You will come across these names in the description of the Fifty Names, which were titles given to Marduk by the Elder Gods after he had helped them to defeat the Ancient Ones. This is nothing less than the Biblical story of the war in heaven and the fall of Lucifer; and, in fact, it was recorded by the Sumerians even before there was a Jewish religion, as the Sumerians were the first civilization in the Middle East and their holy books and legends became the basis for much that we read in the Old Testament. The Tower of Babel, for instance, is very probably the Ziggurat (or temple) of Babylon. which was originally a Sumerian city before it was captured by the Assyrian hordes.
Logos And Signs
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Home > •Jobs• > 5 Jobs Hiring in New Orleans Right Now
5 Jobs Hiring in New Orleans Right Now
by trepwise September 26, 2017
•Jobs•
The city is (slowly) cooling off into fall, and though the leaves may not be changing, there’s certainly opportunities to change your career path. We’ve rounded up several fantastic organizations hiring in New Orleans, and we wanted to pass them along to you.
1. Vice President & Executive Director, City Year New Orleans
Be the leader of one of the most impactful programs in the city. City Year helps students and schools succeed. Fueled by national service, City Year partners with public schools in high-need communities to help meet the holistic needs of all students. Started in 2005 after Katrina, the program now boosts 50 Americorps members serving at six schools in New Orleans. Through their work, 88% of math students increased their test scores 80% of students tutored in literacy increased their test scores 87% of teachers said the AmeriCorps members improved the overall focus of students and order in the classroom.
The Vice President & Executive Director is responsible for leading and managing site staff and AmeriCorps members to ensure operational success and growth by generating resources and building support from the public and private sectors. This executive serves as a vital link between the local New Orleans market, the City Year Central Region, and the City Year national office. Site supervision includes the functional areas of: revenue, service impact and school partnerships, development, management and retention of corps and staff, and site board development and relations.
2. Grant Writer, The Emerge Center
The mission of the Emerge Center is to empower children with autism and individuals with communication challenges to achieve independence through innovative and family-centered therapies. Emerge seeks a part-time grant writer to pursue funding opportunities from private foundations and government entities. The ideal candidate would be able to commit to a minimum of 20 hours per week and would be compensated by the hour, with the rate dependent on skills and experience. The grant writer would be considered a contract employee and would report to the leader of Emerge’s Development Team.
3. Data Analyst, The Data Center
We wouldn’t know as much as we do about New Orleans without the Data Center. Both Allison Plyer and Lamar Gardere are towering figures in their field, and The Data Center is the most trusted resource for data about Southeast Louisiana. Founded in 1997, we are fully independent and we are experts at bringing data together from multiple sources. In doing so, we are uniquely able to step beyond the limits of analyzing data from just one perspective and take a 360–degree look at issues that matter most to our region from the government, business, nonprofit, and community perspective. In these ways, the Data Center realizes its mission to build prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable communities by making informed decisions possible.
The Data Analyst is key member of the team. The key function of the Data Analyst is to ensure the accurate, appropriate, and timely gathering, processing, and preparation of data from a variety of sources. This is achieved through rigorous adherence to standards of research and collaboration within a multi-disciplinary team to analyze, visualize, and present data for publication and dissemination to a broad base of constituents. To all you data fanatics, don’t miss this one.
4. Major Gift Officer, National World War II Museum
The National World War II Museum remains one of New Orleans’ culture treasures and a top destination for tourists and locals alike.The Museum is in a capital campaign to raise funds for a multi-phased expansion project with a $400m goal. Offering a compelling blend of sweeping narrative and poignant personal detail, The National WWII Museum features immersive exhibits, multimedia experiences, and an expansive collection of artifacts and first-person oral histories, taking visitors inside the story of the war that changed the world. Beyond the galleries, the Museum’s online collections, virtual field trips, webinars, educational travel programs, and renowned International Conference on World War II offer patrons new ways to connect to history and honor the generation that sacrificed so much to secure our freedom.The National WWII Museum seeks a Major Gifts Officer experienced both in capital campaigns and in smaller exhibition and educational projects associated with museums or other cultural institutions.
The Major Gifts Officer will be responsible for securing five-to-seven-figure gifts from individuals for the duration of the Capital Campaign in support of the expansion project and for the endowment campaign. This position reports to the Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement and will be part of a highly professional fundraising team with regional prospect assignments, operating from a centrally managed base in New Orleans.
5. Event & Sales Manager, The Drifter Hotel
The Drifter’s is the city’s new hot spot. Between impromptu fashion shows and disco pool parties, it’s safe to say this position would involve some fabulous work-play balance. Not too mention, can you turn away from a position at an organization that bills itself as, “exist[ing] as an action & reaction to our culture to harbor the contemporary traveler and the disruptive innovator”? We think not.
The Events & Sales Manager will be responsible for the hotel’s events, programming, venue sales, group sales, and event marketing. The focus is to continually create incredible “on-brand” experiences at the hotel, drive F&B sales, venue sales, and create special events. This individual will understand all operations of the hotel, including F&B, event staffing, guest services, and reservations. The Sales Manager will participate in active sales solicitation; uphold policies and selling techniques with emphasis on maximizing occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) and network through active participation in community and professional associations, activities and events. The Sales Manager will work some evenings and will be responsible for closing the venue at least once a week. The Sales Manager reports to the Assistant General Manager.
trepwise
a growth consulting firm
We power organizations to maximize their potential.
Latest posts by trepwise (see all)
Local Consulting Firm Continues to Expand with New Hires - July 10, 2019
Field of Dreams: Leveraging Design Thinking to Manage a Winning Team - June 17, 2019
trepwise Continues to Grow with Staff Promotion - May 17, 2019
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Victor Moses retires from Nigeria’s Super Eagles
Victor Moses, 27, has announced his retirement from international football to focus on his “Chelsea career and his young family.”
Moses retires having played 38 games for Nigeria, scoring 12 goals since his debut in 2012.
He was an integral member of the Super Eagles’ side that won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, scoring twice and being named in the Team of the Tournament as well as picking up the Fair Player of the Tournament prize.
Moses tweeted his decision this afternoon with an explanation for his decision to retire at the age of 27, saying he wanted to ‘focus fully on his club career and my young family, as well as to allow the next generation of Super Eagles stars the opportunity to step up and to flourish’.
Moses retires having played 38 games for his country, 34 of those while at Chelsea. He scored 12 goals.
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The Celebration of St. Blaise
On the saints day, churchgoers arrive from distant Dubrovnik areas, dressed in national costumes.
They carry their church emblems, and as they come before the church, they salute the patron saint by twirling the banners in such a manner that they never touch the ground.
The holy mass is held in the morning in an overcrowded church. Afterwards, a procession of priests and churchgoers line up for a procession through the street Ulica od puča. Holy reliquaries are carried on this occasion: the Byzantine crown of St. Blaise, the hand and leg reliquaries, the holy monstrance, and the shroud of Jesus. This multitude proceeds along the main street of Dubrovnik, the famous Stradun, and subsequently returns to the church.
In Dubrovnik, the ruins of the Church of St. Steven located at Pustijerna is tied to one of the most beautiful and most important legends of this southern city of stone. According to the tale, Venetian ships anchored before the city walls on the eve of February 03rd, 971, in the middle of winter. The Venetians gained free access to medieval Dubrovnik under the pretense of stocking up on food and water for their journey eastwards. However, their spies carefully noted the number of guards on the city walls, as well as the amount of amunition in the arsenal.
In the middle of the winter night, when the streets lay deserted, Priest Stojko, the parish priest, went from the city square towards Pustijerna and the Church of St. Steven. He found the church open, and inside, the troops of a heavenly army led by a grizzled old man. He addressed the priest with a request that he inform the city fathers of how the Venetians planned to attack Dubrovnik. The old man had repelled them from the city walls with his own army for a number of nights already. He was garbed as a bishop, with a mitre on his head, and a staff in his hand. When Stojko asked him to identify himself, he answered that his name was Vlaho.
So it was that on a winters night, Dubrovnik met its patron, St. Blaise. The next day, his messenger did in truth confront the city fathers with the message. The Venetians knew that they had been discovered when they noted the hasty activity on the city walls and the closed city gates, and so moved on.
The opening of the city gates
Already in the following year, in 972, Dubrovnik began to celebrate a day in honour of the patron saint. His first church was built near the city gates. A century of prosperity and freedom would pass. It was only in 1026 that the first remains of St. Blaise, the martyr and bishop of Sebaste, were transferred to Dubrovnik It is known that he died a martyrs death for the emperor Diocletian, and that he lived in the 3rd century in Sebaste in Capodocsia.
The citizens of Dubrovnik marked February 03rd as their greatest holiday in memory of the nights events. A day when the city gates are wide open to all friends and churchgoers of the region.
In former times on the saints day, the Rector would leave the palace wrapped in a red toga. The Bishop of Dubrovnik would hold a mass for all the gathered nobility, the city plebeians and the priesthood. In front of the Palace and the Rector, specially garbed market-maidens would dance with baskets overflowing with figs, oranges and freshly baked rolls. The city would be festively decorated. Churchgoers would arrive in festive national costumes from far away village parishes, that extended to the far reaches of the Dubrovnik Republic, carrying their church banners.
The saint that proclaims spring
Not much has changed in over a thousand years of patron saint celebrations in the city located under Mount Srđ. True, Dubrovnik no longer has its Rector or nobility, but the beautiful stone Rectors Palace is still here. As well as the neighbouring baroque Church of St. Blaise, and up towards Pustijerna, fourth in line, the Dubrovnik Cathedral.
Regularly, on February 02nd, Dubrovnik celebrates its Virgin Mary Candlemas. An old saying is then repeated: Candelora, winters gone, followed by Saint Blaise, who says it is untrue. Indeed, on this day, when inland cities are bathed in rain, and Europe is frequently swept by snow, Dubrovnik is full of mimosa, narcissi, and - sunny, springtime days. In the morning, white pigeons are released in front of the saints church, and prayers are said in front of the altar by the faithful the entire day. The priests bless everyone with a cross shaped out of two intertwined candles, and raise a silver monstrance to their lips, the work of Dubrovnik goldsmiths. The monstrance contains a bone from the throat of a saint known as a miracle-worker in Sebaste, who healed by touch.
On the saints day, churchgoers arrive from distant Dubrovnik areas, dressed in national costumes. They carry their church emblems, and as they come before the church, they salute the patron saint by twirling the banners in such a manner that they never touch the ground. The holy mass is held in the morning in an overcrowded church. Afterwards, a procession of priests and churchgoers line up for a procession through the street Ulica od puča. Holy reliquaries are carried on this occasion: the Byzantine crown of St. Blaise, the hand and leg reliquaries, the holy monstrance, and the shroud of Jesus. This multitude proceeds along the main street of Dubrovnik, the famous Stradun, and subsequently returns to the church.
In Dubrovnik on this day, it is difficult to say what is more beautiful and more exciting: the national costumes of Primorje, Župa Dubrovačka or Konavle. It looks like the return of old traditional times. Focus is drawn towards the colorful church banners, and their fluttering, on the square behind Orlando and the group of trombunjera, who carry short, broad rifles on their shoulders. Long ago in Dubrovnik, the noise they issued used to frighten enemies away.
They emit volleys before entering the city, and at Brsalje, where rifle and cannon shooting were practiced in the days of the Republic. Only when the city is covered in evening darkness, and the saints reliquaries are resting in the treasury, do the village confraternities return home. Green laurel wreaths decorate the front of the beautiful baroque entrance of the saints church, while the stained-glass windows on the façade shine. The statue of St. Blaise gazes down at the passers-by from the city walls, elaborate buildings and churches, with an outstretched hand that holds a model of the city as it has for centuries, as if to bring it closer to the heart and embrace of the patron.
2016 – THE YEAR OF SAINT BLAISE
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Cyberattacks: Is Washington Hyping The Threat To Justify Regulating The Internet?
By Jerry Brito and Tate Watkins
CSMonitor.com
Arlington, Va. —
We marched into Baghdad on flimsy evidence and we might be about to make the same mistake in cyberspace.
Over the past few weeks, there has been a steady drumbeat of alarmist rhetoric about potential threats online. At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this month, chairman Carl Levin said that “cyberweapons and cyberattacks potentially can be devastating, approaching weapons of mass destruction in their effects.”
The increased consternation began with the suspected Chinese breach of Google’s servers earlier this year. Since then, press accounts, congressional pronouncements, and security industry talk have increasingly sown panic about an amorphous cyberthreat.
Bush administration cybersecurity chief Michael McConnell recently warned that the United States “is fighting a cyber-war today, and we are losing.”
According to McConnell, now a vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, “our power grids, air and ground transportation, telecommunications, and water-filtration systems are in jeopardy.” More recently, Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D) and Olympia Snowe (R) wrote about “sophisticated cyber adversaries” with the potential “to disrupt or disable vital information networks, which could cause catastrophic economic loss and social havoc.”
Yet none of the prognosticators of disaster presents any evidence to sustain their claims. They mention the Google breach, but that was an act of espionage that, while serious, did not lead to catastrophe.
There have been and continue to be many “cyberattacks” on government and private networks, from the Korea attacks to the denial-of-service attacks during the Georgia-Russia war. To be sure, these attacks are a serious concern and we should continue to study them.
But so far, these types of events tend to be more of a nuisance than a catastrophe. The biggest result is that websites are down for a few hours or days.
This shows that security should be a serious concern for any network operator. It does not show, however, that these attacks can lead – much less have ever led – to the types of doomsday scenarios that politicians imagine. There is no evidence that these attacks have ever cost any lives or that any type of critical infrastructure has ever been compromised: No blackouts, no dams bursting, no panic in the streets.
The cyberalarmist rhetoric conflates the various threats we might face into one big ball of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. This week for example, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency announced that a cyberattack could be the next Pearl Harbor.
Cyberwar, cyberespionage, cyberterrorism, cybercrime – these are all disparate threats. Some are more real than others, and they each have different causes, motivations, manifestations, and implications. As a result, there will probably be different appropriate responses for each.
Unfortunately, the popular discussion largely clumps them into the vague and essentially meaningless “cyberthreat” category.
Let’s take a deep breath.
Before we can effectively address any of these amorphous “cyberthreats,” we must first identify what, specifically, these threats are and to what extent the federal government plays a role in defending against them.
The war metaphor may be useful rhetoric, but it is a poor analogy to the dispersed and different threats that both public and private information technology systems face.
The fact is, as long as we have had networks, they have been under attack. But over the past 20 years network operators have developed effective detection, prevention, and mitigation strategies.
This is why we should be wary of calls for more government supervision of the Internet. Last week, as part of its National Broadband Plan, the Federal Communications Commission began an inquiry into whether to establish a “voluntary cybersecurity certification program.” Through the program the FCC would certify communication service providers based on a set of cybersecurity standards developed directly by the FCC, or indirectly through a third party.
More ominously, Senators Rockefeller and Snowe have introduced the Cybersecurity Act of 2010 that aims to change how the Internet works in the name of security. It would also create a national system of licensing for security professionals, and would dole out millions of dollars in cyberpork to “regional cybersecurity centers” and other programs.
At the heart of calls for federal involvement in cybersecurity is the proposition that we reengineer the Internet to facilitate better tracking of users in order to pinpoint the origin of attacks. The Rockefeller-Snowe bill looks to develop such a “secure domain name addressing system.”
That’s a slippery slope.
And there’s the fact that we have seen a wasteful military-industrial complex develop before, and in this rush to “protect” we might be seeing a new one blossoming now. The greater the threat is perceived to be – and the less clearly it is defined – the better it is for defense contractors like Booz Allen Hamilton, which last week landed $34 million in Defense Department cybersecurity contracts.
That money could certainly be put to better use right now.
Anyone concerned about net neutrality or civil liberties – in particular online privacy and anonymity – should take notice. Before the country is swept by fear and we react too quickly to the “gathering threat” of cyberattacks, we should pause to calmly consider the risks involved and the alternatives available to us.
Rather than pass a sweeping “cyberdefense” bill right away, Congress should take the time to untangle the different threats that confront us and make sure they are addressing each appropriately. If not, we will be saddled with an overreaching one-size-fits-all result.
Giving the military and federal agencies the tools to protect their online assets might be an appropriate first response. But reengineering the Internet and imposing standards and licensing on the most innovative sector of our economy should give us pause. There is no reason to rush to action.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 8:51 pm and is filed under Government Evil, New World Order, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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August 21, 2014 By
The Little Compton Historical Society (LCHS) was awarded a 2013 Major Grant of $10,000 to support Remembering Adamsville, a community-oriented local history project celebrating the history and heritage of Adamsville, Rhode Island, a village within the town of Little Compton.
Over a dozen community volunteers were trained to collect and transcribe oral histories, assisted with research, and encouraged their neighbors to participate in the town-wide project. These volunteers connected with residents to collect 58 oral histories and over 200 images and documents, which were added to the Historical Society’s archives. The oral histories and images were used to tell Adamsville’s stories through online, indoor, and outdoor exhibitions, a book of oral histories, and public programs that welcomed over 3,000 family visitors between July and October 2013.
We have confirmed our strong belief in the power of oral history to unite a community. When my story and your story are equally sought and equally treasured, we connect in a shared local history, and we remember how much we all matter.”
—MARJORY O’TOOLE, PROJECT DIRECTOR
« FEATURED GRANTS
DOCUMENTARY FILM »
Remembering Adamsville
LITTLE COMPTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A community-oriented local history project celebrating the history and heritage of Adamsville, Rhode Island.
Do you have a project idea that would enrich the public life of our state?
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