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You are here: Home » Business » Feel at home at Giant Sub
Feel at home at Giant Sub
Posted: 2:25 am, November 2, 2015 by News Staff
-Promoted post-
Owners Ty Barnhart and Geno Zanardi.
Eat, drink and watch the game
–The Giant Sub, a new local eatery located under Cool Hand Luke’s offers a wide variety of savory hot, cold cut, and New England style sub sandwiches. Owners Ty Barnhart and Geno Zanardi, both Paso Robles natives, came up with the idea earlier this year. They wanted a comfortable location for locals to enjoy great sub sandwiches with family and friends. Barnhart’s father, Gary Barnhart, owned and ran three restaurants in Banjor, Maine in the 1970’s, where the traditional New England style subs and many of the recipes came from.
After a few months of 20-plus hour days, they opened on July 22. The old location of Cafe Vio, which sat vacant for over five years, had to be upgraded. Zanardi, who also owns Paso Robles Plastering, reworked the floors, texturized the walls, built brick arches and more. “It was worth the work, Zanardi says, “I enjoy coming in and seeing people enjoying themselves, having a good time.”
Both Barnhart and Zanardi are passionate about supporting the local community where they were raised and are thankful to be a part of it. They are also passionate about sports, both local and national. There are four big screen TVs on the walls playing a wide variety of sporting events. They will be airing Monday Night NFL Football, Thursday Night NFL Football games and Sunday Football games, along with the MLB playoffs and World Series.
Sports night menus include items like Buffalo wings, and they have happy hour all day on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays.
Barnhart, a big Bearcat supporter, said he feels grateful for the overwhelming support the local sports community has given The Giant Sub. “I love seeing families come in after practices or games and enjoy a meal together.” Barnhart says.
Along with the sub sandwiches, they also serve delicious pasta, fresh salads, and daily soup specials. All food is made locally and freshly prepared. Both Barnhart and Zanardi say they enjoy the sounds of customers taking their first bite. Zanardi says, “you hear them take their first bite and sounds of satisfaction comes from their mouth, you know it’s good!” He boasts that the infamous “Bearcat” which is not listed on the menu but available for ordering is one of his favorites; it is hot pastrami, thick bacon with Swiss cheese and bread of your choice.
The Giant Sub offers a frequent buyer card, where customers can purchase 10 subs and get the 11th free. Brunch is now available on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. where $12 buys all-you-can-eat thick cut bacon, ham, eggs, home fries and hash browns, biscuits and gravy, quiche, fruit, omelets by order, mimosas using Tobin James champagne and more. They have 12 beers on tap including Barrelhouse, Figueroa Mountain, and Firestone and over eight local wines on tap. They also offer beer and wine sales to go. They will soon be serving hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, and onion rings.
The Giant Sub is located at 1111 Riverside Ave, Ste 101, Paso Robles, right under Cool Hand Luke’s. They are open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for lunch and dinner. For more information, visit www.TheGiantSub.com, call (805) 975-8281, or “like” them on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/thegiantsub.
Update: Police chief’s firearm located in Los Osos, suspect identified 2,363 views
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Happy Birthday to Me: A Film For Every Year I’ve Been Alive
I turn thirty-eight years old today. Because film has had such an important place in my life, I decided to share 38 movies, one for each year since I was born, that are not necessarily my favorites but have a important place in my life. Hope you enjoy.
Modern Romance (1981, dir. Albert Brooks)
This wasn’t a film I watched as a kid; I didn’t even see it until I was in my thirties. However, it has become one of those that gets deeper the more times I watch it. My favorite aspect of Modern Romance is the lack of sugarcoating adult relationships; Brooks isn’t afraid to show his ugliness in terms of selfishness and codependency. The female protagonist is just as a terrible, allowing Brooks’ manic adult child to manipulate and coerce. The punchline of the whole film is the endnotes which reveal that these people become stuck in a toxic cycle never seeming to be able to break from this horrible relationship. Modern Romance, for me, is a warning about what kind of a partner to never become. However, it is incredibly funny stuff. More in my review here.
The King of Comedy (1982, dir. Martin Scorsese)
When I was a kid, I would use a tape cassette recorder to make fake shows with my siblings, and we’d staple together paper into booklets to fashion magazines. So when I see a figure like Rupert Pupkin pop up on the screen, it makes me a little uncomfortable seeing what happens when you don’t transition fantasy into a creative drive and instead it becomes delusion. This film was poorly received at the time of its release, but now it resonates with such a pointed commentary on our society’s uneasy relationship with fame. In the last few years, it has begun to receive the acclaim it deserved
A Christmas Story (1983, dir. Bob Clark)
A Christmas Story has been overplayed to the point that it could be something I hate. However, I have to remind myself of a time before a Broadway musical and a 24 hour TBS marathon. I remember the first time I became aware of this film; it was during a trip to Gatlinburg, TN, in the Smokey Mountains. I was flipping through the channels in our hotel, and we came in a little after the start but ended up loving the whole thing. This was in the early 1990s, and that was around the time the film started getting noticed. Like the King of Comedy, A Christmas Story did poorly in its theatrical release but found an audience years later. There’s a god awful sequel that was straight to video in 1994 titled My Summer Story that is an excellent example of how bad it is when movie studios try to cash in on something way too late.
Dune (1984, dir. David Lynch)
This was my first exposure to David Lynch, who has gone on to be one of the most important creative influences in my life. The first version I saw of Dune was the “edited for television” one which has added material and is a two-night event. Critics and audiences are correct when they say Dune is a terrible film. It is a muddled and bloated film that took an unwieldy text and tried to make into the next Star Wars. Lynch will talk publicly about much he hated making this film, and that is pushed him back to making smaller, more personal movies. However, one of the reasons I do hold it in a particular place is that Lynch met Kyle MacLachlan who would go onto to be his muse in Twin Peaks.
Brazil (1985, dir. Terry Gilliam)
During college, this was one of my favorite films. I’d see pictures like Tim Bandits and the Monty Python movies before, but Brazil took those surreal comic sensibilities and paired them with a more dramatic tone. The film has been compared as 1984 as a comedy, but I think it’s much deeper than that. Brazil isn’t about an imagined future, its the present as seen through the eyes of a dreamer type. The worst aspects of reality are just as exaggerated as the protagonist’s positive view of his fantasies. Brazil was one of the first films where I figured out how to articulate why I prefer movies with endings that might traditionally be considered downbeat or bleak. I argue the place Sam Lowry finds himself at the end of the picture may be materially dark; he has figured out how to transcend what happens to him.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986, dir. John Hughes)
I watched this movie a lot in the late 80s/early 90s, and it is still a picture I sit down and watch if I come across it while channel surfing. Matthew Broderick has never been better than in this film; every role since has just not measured up to what he did with John Hughes’ material. This was the first Hughes film I saw, and it presented such a distinct voice compared to other movies I’d seen as a kid at the time. In the years that have passed, I’ve grown to like different movies by that filmmaker more, with Planes, Trains, & Automobiles becoming my favorite. Ferris is still one of the best teen comedies ever made, unafraid to be silly and unrealistic, most definitely capturing a tone of youthfulness that Hughes manages to understand better than other directors of the time.
Raising Arizona (1987, dir. Joel & Ethan Coen)
Like many of the film above, this was another first, my first exposure to the wild, unique world of the Coen Brothers. Raising Arizona might be the perfect introduction to these creators’ work because it features one of their most prominent collaborators, John Goodman, and lays out their off-center sense of humor so well. Nicolas Cage starred in this picture the same year he exploded in Moonstruck, and this is before his acting style became a schtick he’s been playing into. Keeping up with him is Holly Hunter, an actress I think has been extremely underrated in the decades that have passed. This makes me want to do a Holly Hunter marathon now that I think about it…
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988, dir. Frank Oz)
I can’t count the number of times I’ve watched this film since I first picked it up off the shelf of my local library when I was a teenager. This is one of my favorite comedies ever made because it plays so well to the strengths of its actors. Michael Caine gets to be suave & charming while Steve Martin gets to be manic & silly while they are both hilarious. I also think it would be a crime to ignore how good Glenne Headley is as Janet Colgate, the mark both Caine and Martin are out to dupe. There are many instances of her upstaging the two and running away with the film, especially her final scene. This is a movie that I know isn’t perfect but genuinely close to my heart and always will be. More in my review here.
The ‘burbs (1989, dir. Joe Dante)
This is one of the most formative films of my childhood. Our family checked it out from the local video store, and it became a must-watch for us all. Tom Hanks is pre-Forrest Gump and doing comedy, a genre I wish he would return to. He’s able to play the everyman yet pulls beautiful comedic reactions out of what could be a bland performance. The supporting cast is a fabulous mish-mash of comedic and dramatic actors which is what helps the film walk the line of comedy horror and pull it off. I would not say I like that particular subgenre, but Joe Dante is one of the few filmmakers who can do justice to both the organic laughs that can come out of a scary moment but also keep the audience feeling creeped out. More in my review here.
Misery (1990, dir. Rob Reiner)
While I probably watched Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride more as a child, this is the movie I remember more fondly, which speaks to my darker sensibilities. This was probably my first full exposure to a Stephen King story, and it’s a great one to start with. The plot is pretty good, but it is Kathy Bates’ performance as Annie Wilkes, the obsessed fan of James Caan’s Paul Sheldon, a Stephen King stand-in. The setting is another element I’ve always loved, a snowed-in house in the middle of the Colorado Rockies. Reiner does an excellent job of never delving into gratuitous gore but still making Annie’s torture feel painfully visceral. Paul Sheldon is brutalized over the course of the film, and we feel every beating and broken bone.
What About Bob (1991, dir. Frank Oz)
Here’s another fantastic Frank Oz film, another video store rental, and another formative childhood film experience. While some love Bill Murray via their nostalgia over Ghostbusters, I think back on What About Bob? with that level of fondness. It’s such a joyfully fun dark comedy where everything works out for the best, Dr. Leo Marvin won’t allow himself to see that. Richard Dreyfuss keeps up with Murray, and the two slowly switch types by the end of the picture. You have the wonderful Julie Hagerty, an underrated comic talent, showcase her talent for comedic reactions. The crux of the comedy comes from the escalation of Bob’s antics and the juxtaposed increasing mania of Leo while his family remains at baseline.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992, dir. David Lynch)
I love the Twin Peaks television series, but this was a film that took me a few years to warm up to. Where once I saw it as the weakest part of the franchise, it’s now my favorite piece of Twin Peaks media. The film causes you to realize how little we got to see the acting spotlight on Sheryl Lee, that most of her onscreen time in the television series was merely as a face. Working with director Lynch, Lee brings out the story of Laura Palmer and turns her into one of the most real and complex characters of the late 20th century. Fire Walk With Me can exist apart from the preceding television series or the revival mini-series. It is the story of a young girl trapped in an abusive home and can resonate through every corner of our culture.
The Last Action Hero (1993, dir. John McTiernan)
Much maligned upon its release; The Last Action Hero has the potential to be a cult sleeper movie. It was metatextual before that was cool and is a savvy and pointed satire on the 1980s action film made by a director of many 80s action flicks. It also stars who is arguably the face of action movies in America. I cannot imagine Tom Cruise allowing his movie star image and persona to be lampooned the way Arnold Schwarzenegger goes for in this picture. What the film had going against it was Jurassic Park and the massive marketing that played it as an earnest action film. This is the final note on the machine Hollywood built in the decade of greed, and it has a lot of exciting things to say.
Star Trek: Generations (1994, dir. David Carson)
I was so excited about this movie when I was a dorky young teenager. I was never a massive Star Trek fan, but I understood the legacy and scope of the franchise, and that this was a monumental event. It is not a film that ages well at all, and when time and greater film education takes place, you revisit Generations and find it to be a weakly written and structured film. Yes, it is cool that we see Captains Kirk and Picard together, but it never realizes the scale it should for such a landmark story. The transition from The Next Generation to the film world sees it bringing a lot of the tv aesthetics onto the big screen. The result is something that feels woefully cheap and gives Data a cringe-worthy subplot that goes nowhere.
12 Monkeys (1995, dir. Terry Gilliam)
I didn’t see this film until I was in college and while I think it is great, discovering it led me to the original film La Jetee. Written and Directed by Chris Marker, La Jetee is a photo-roman, a film told without moving images but still photographs accompanied by voice-over and music. Watching La Jetee for the first time is a pretty remarkable experience; it’s not like anything you’ve likely seen before. I also think the story at the core of both La Jetee and 12 Monkeys is a relevant heartbreaking tragedy. I’m a big fan of time travel when it is done right, and I especially love time travel when it’s used to tell sad stories about the inevitability of mortality (see Dark on Netflix). The tragic lyrically circular structure of La Jetee is one of my favorites.
The Frighteners (1996, dir. Peter Jackson)
This film was the bridge between Peter Jackson’s indie work and his eventual plunge into Lord of the Rings. It’s not the most exceptional picture ever made, but it is the last leading feature film role for Michael J. Fox. What struck me the most when I saw this film was how it does a similar thing to Ghostbusters. It walks the line between comedy and horror very well, not quite as good as Ghostbusters, but still very watchable. Frighteners exists in that realm of movies I don’t actively seek out, but if I catch them on tv, I will sit through the whole thing. At its, core Frighteners is no different from most big-budget summer noisemakers that hit theaters every year. I would argue that there’s a bit more love that went into the production that helps it stand out from the rest.
Starship Troopers (1997, dir. Paul Verhoeven)
The award for film I have done a complete 360 on goes to Starship Troopers. For years, I couldn’t get it through my thick skull that the mindlessness of this Paul Verhoeven flick is an intentional move. This isn’t a sci-fi alien killfest it’s a satire on fascist propaganda. I love the analysis that sees Starship Troopers as a metatext, a film that exists in the universe of Starship Troopers made to feed impressionable kids pro-supremacist propaganda. The actors are all too old to be teenagers, just like the worst film productions. Now in the age of “fellow kids,” the movie plays like adults trying to brainwash the youth. I am so glad I gave this picture a second chance because it’s become one of my favorite pieces of satire that continues to be relevant today.
The Truman Show (1998, dir. Peter Weir)
One of the all-time greats that I saw as a high schooler, yet another video store rental. I think it’s safe to say that the themes and philosophy Peter Weir presents played a formative role in shaping my viewpoint as a young adult. I don’t know if Jim Carrey has ever been better than he is here, backed by a strong supporting cast, but he’s the star of the show. What The Truman Show gave to me was a different perspective on free will and was a meditation on the ideas how we choose our lives or can allow others to shape them. You would think as I got older, the themes of the picture might dull and lose their complexity, but Peter Weir is one of those directors who makes movies that are timeless at their cores.
The Sixth Sense (1999, dir. M. Night Shyamalan)
This was the first film I saw in the theater as a college student. One weekend, it was suggested by someone (I think Andy, who had already seen it) that our group of friends should go. Being the horror neophyte I was, The Sixth Sense creeped me out. On subsequent viewings and with a better handle on the breadth of horror cinema I don’t see the film as scary anymore, but a very quiet and thoughtful picture about grief and guilt. It’s always a reminder of the M. Night that once was but is not there anymore. Between this and Unbreakable, you could get the sense that this filmmaker had a bright future ahead of him. However, then sometime around The Village or Lady in the Water, he lost his ever-loving mind, and it appears we will never get anything of this quality again.
George Washington (2000, dir. David Gordon Green)
The new millennium hit me with this stunning film, the first feature from David Gordon Green. Set in an economically depressed small town in North Carolina, we follow a group of children going through their lives. The main character is 12-year old Nasia who becomes interested in a shy, withdrawn boy named George. George wears a football helmet at all times due to his skull never fully hardening. A horrible tragedy strikes, and the children all spin in different directions with their reactions to the event. Green, who has gone in a very different path since this picture, teams with cinematographer Tim Orr to create a beautiful, poetic vision on the screen.
Amelie (2001, dir. Jean Pierre Jeunet)
I used to go to the movies by myself and would see certain films multiple times. I think I saw The Royal Tenenbaums and Donnie Darko three times each. There is no other film I’ve seen in theaters more than Amelie, at least four, maybe five, can’t remember exactly. As much as I love dark cinema and stories with sad endings, I could not help but get swept up in Jean Pierre Jeunet’s stylized Paris and his protagonist Amelie. Amelie is one of my favorite film characters, which reveals a deceptively complex persona as the story goes on. This isn’t a film about being mindlessly optimistic; it’s a film about genuinely feeling your emotions fully, imagining what the world can be without ignoring what it is, and making sure to protect the beautiful secret moments and things in your life from external cynicism. It is one of the first masterpieces of 21st-century cinema.
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002, dir. Phillip Noyce)
I don’t remember the context of why I went to see this in the theater, but it didn’t take long to get swept up in the compelling story. Three Aboriginal sisters are stolen away by the Australian government bureau over the native people. They are placed in an orphanage where they are to be trained as laborers and servants with the intent to be bred out of existence by intermarrying with the whites. When the opportunities arise, the girls escape and begin the over 2,000-mile journey through the middle of the inhospitable Outback to return home. This is based on an actual event, changing three native friends into sisters, and using those relationships to heighten the emotions of the story.
My Architect (2003, dir. Nathaniel Khan)
This documentary is profoundly intimate, telling the story of director Nathaniel Khan’s search to understand his deceased father, Louis Khan. Louis was a prominent American architect who focused on making buildings that were monolithic and didn’t hide the materials used in their construction. In his private life, Louis has a lover (Nathaniel’s mother) and a wife and family that knew of each other but never intersected until the funeral. Nathaniel travels across the globe, learning about his father through the context of his building, understanding that his painfully private patriarch told his story through these constructions. One of my favorite documentaries of all time that has a very good chance to get a cry out of you.
Birth (2004, dir. Jonathan Glazer)
I have been listening to the soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat for fifteen years now. Those opening bouncy notes and strings paint a picture of motion through a snowy winter landscape and eventually transition to a low creeping rumble of secrets about to explode. Nicole Kidman stars as a woman on the verge of a new marriage, her first husband dropping dead from a heart attack a decade earlier. A little boy shows up at her engagement party claiming to be her husband, reincarnated. Instead of turning this into an investigative story, Jonathan Glazer focuses on the remerging of grief in Kidman’s character and how she feels guilty about moving on with her life. A tiny film that flew under the radar but one of my favorites.
The Proposition (2005, dir. John Hillcoat)
This was one of the last films I watched in Nashville before I flew out to live in Bellingham, Washington for a year. It was a complete surprise; I tagged along with my roommate Ross who was going to see it with friends. What I found was an Australian western that merged the myths of the frontier present in American media with the hazy, dreamlike legends of the Aboriginal people. There is a profound sense of time moving in bursts and then slowing to a lazy crawl throughout the film. You never lose the epic foundations of this story of outlaw brothers and the tragedy that befalls them as a result of their crimes, but the writing by musician/poet Nick Cave puts in the head of the main character, experiencing his turmoil over the horrible choice he is forced to make.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006, dir. Tom Tykwer)
This is another often overlooked film that I think deserves more attention. Tom Tykwer the director behind Run, Lola, Run and who teamed with the Wachowskis on Cloud Atlas, adapts a novel about a fictional French serial killer from just before the French Revolution. Jean Baptiste Grenouille is an orphan who ends up an apprentice to a perfume maker and learns about the formula to construct a scent. Grenouille is highly adept with his nose, distinguishing the nuance between smells in his environment. He begins killing women and soaking them in oiled clothes to extract their aromas working on what he believes will be an ultimate scent. The music in this movie, composed by Tykwer, is one my favorite 21st-century soundtracks, so sweeping and atmospheric, perfect for this dark phantasmagoric story.
Zodiac (2007, dir. David Fincher)
For the longest time, I went back and forth on David Fincher. I still have certain movies I don’t click with, particularly Benjamin Button and Fight Club is grossly overrated. Zodiac was the first film of Fincher’s that clicked with me, and I can watch endlessly. The director does a fantastic job creating a sense of time and place, building the mystery of the Zodiac killer in a non-exploitative way while making sure the audience feels the horror of the killer’s actions. Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, and Mark Ruffalo share the screen as three men in different capacities investigating the crimes and the way their relationships deteriorate as the killings continue.
Waltz with Bashir (2008, dir. Ari Folman)
A powerful documentary made in a very different way. This is a recollection of the 1982 Lebanon war from the perspective of an Israel veteran. Instead of just interviewing people involved, he animates those interviews and presents animated recreations of events that happened to him and friends that served. This is not meant to be literal but allow the audience to see the psychology of what was happening to these young soldiers, how killing civilians affected them. Even if you are not familiar with the historical events, Folman does an extraordinary job of laying out facts in a way that will keep you aware of what is happening. This is one of those movies I saw multiple times in the theaters and is a unique experience.
In the Loop (2009, dir. Armando Iannucci)
A pitch-perfect satire on foreign policy in the United States and the UK in the 21st century. Comedy writer/director Armando Iannucci tells how a single comment from an otherwise inconsequential British minister spirals into a cross-Atlantic build up for war in the Middle East. The star here is Peter Capaldi, reprising his role as foul-mouthed director of communications Malcolm Tucker whom he played in the tv series The Thick of It. This is The Office if it was about global politics, with characters in the position we think of as staid and competent, revealed to be buffoons. In this age of uncertainty, Iannucci is happy to remind us no one is steering the wheel of the ship.
Rubber (2010, dir. Quentin Dupieux)
A car tire comes to live and develops psychic powers, which allows it to kill people. This is one of the strangest films of the last few years, and I love it. There’s a framing device of a group of people in the desert watching the events of the movie via binoculars. This is the audience, which brings up all sorts of questions about where the line between reality and fiction is in the film. Director Quentin Dupieux is a very odd man and has no qualms about getting weird with the premise which makes it even more compelling. You keep watching because you have no idea where all of this is leading to.
Bridesmaids (2010, dir. Paul Feig)
Probably the last comedy I saw in the theater I found funny. I have my issues with the direction Paul Feig has gone with his movies, leaning heavily into improv over good scripts and acting. The improv in this picture works because everyone is firing on all cylinders throughout. Bridesmaids also doesn’t use improv as a scene extending crutch, there is a story here, and character interactions add to the progress of that story. What it reminds us is that Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumlo need to write another movie together; their comedic and narrative sensibilities are perfectly matched.
Prometheus (2011, dir. Ridley Scott)
One of the great film disappointments of the decade. I was hyped to see Ridley Scott return to the Alien franchise being that his original film is the best of the bunch. The movie we ended up with had lots of fantastic ideas and concepts, but the execution was so muddled and poorly structured. I think Scott does a great job of working with his production designers to make his worlds look exciting and have a sense of history. He needed to do some substantial rewrites and decide what sort of film he wanted to make while also making his characters make better choices. The appearance of a neo-Alien at the end of the film confuses the whole production because for most of the picture it feels like it doesn’t want to be an Alien movie. A profoundly missed opportunity.
Oblivion (2013, dir. Joseph Kosinski)
On the flipside, we have this sleeper science fiction film that I believe we find an audience one day. Joseph Kosinski is a filmmaker with an evident vision of what he wants, just sometimes it gets mixed up in the translation from mind to the screen. In this future, humanity has fled to the moon of Titan and use hydro-generators on Earth to drain the oceans and provide power to the colonies. Jack Harper stays behind, living on a floating station that allows him to make repairs on the generators. It becomes clear that Jack has gaps in his memory and isn’t aware of what exactly is happening on Earth. An attack from scavengers on the surface leads him to discover the real history of what happened to humanity and his role in the present situation. If you haven’t seen this, there are some fantastic surprises and beautiful production design here.
It Follows (2014, dir. David Robert Mitchell)
This is one of the recent films that has been heralded as part of the contemporary horror resurgence. The movie follows a pretty simple 1980s horror type plot but adds subtle touches to make it stand out as something truly unique. There are some details that hint we are viewing a world that is not our own, so simple that you easily miss them. The evil entity at the center of the picture is vague enough to keep it terrifying, and the visual choices made to show this presence are pitch perfect. The manifestations hint at past victims or specific psychological triggers of the victims. There’s a death scene in the third act that I believe reveals that the evil is aware of characters’ abuses as children and that makes it all the more chilling that it chooses to represent those past evil people.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, dir. J.J. Abrams)
I was so excited for this film, and it lived up to that excitement for me. There will always be an endless supply of “fans” who want to pick apart things they claim they love. I’m no Star Wars mega-fan, but I love the series, and sense of legacy moving forward has brought. Abrams does a fantastic job of recreating what it felt like watching Star Wars for the first time, hitting the same plot notes, but with new characters. It’s part reboot, part sequel. Whereas the prequels dulled the sense of adventure I felt watching Star Wars, the Force Awakens made me excited to watch this franchise. While I haven’t enjoyed the spinoff movies, this core trilogy has me, and I’ve loved both episodes 7 & 8.
Christine (2016, dir. Antonio Campos)
This film surprised me with what an amazing biopic it is. A video surfaced on the early days of the internet of a Florida news reporter in 1974 killing herself on the air. It was real. This film seeks to humanize the woman in that shocking viral video and does a remarkable job telling the story of Christine Chubbuck. Christine lives in a time where female depression and anxiety are seen as eye rolling hysteria. It doesn’t help that she is in a field of work dominated by male talent who regularly demean and humor her work. When Christine goes through with her suicidal plans, our hearts ache because we completely understand why she feels so helpless but also want her not to give up because she is a talented reporter.
First Reformed (2017, dir. Paul Schrader)
Paul Schrader came screaming back into my purview with this stark, urgent film about the existential crisis that occurs when confronting the dire reality of climate change. Told through the eyes of Reverend Ernst Toller, a middle-aged pastor in upstate New York, we see him struggle with the political and financial machinations tied up in keeping his historic church out of disrepair. Through a meeting with a parishioner, Toller is forced to confront his apathy and ignorance of more substantial systemic injustice and decides to take harsh action to compensate. Ethan Hawke plays Toller and delivers a performance that demands your attention.
Eighth Grade (2018, dir. Bo Burnham)
Bo Burnham made this film about anxiety and used a middle schooler transitioning into high school as his protagonist. The lead role of Kayla is played beautifully by Elsie Fisher, giving a vulnerable funny and poignant performance. What struck me most, after working with students for over a decade, was how true Burnham wrote the voices of these characters. There’s a constant shaky foundation of enthusiasm and worry, kids eager to connect but always hesitant that they will do or say something to break that connection. Burnham can be so specific with the experience of adolescence while creating a story that speaks to everyone who struggles with anxiety in their lives.
Shazam! (2019, dir. David F. Sandberg)
Shazam (formerly known as Captain Marvel) has been my favorite superhero since I started reading about him as a kid. I was a little shaky about this film when I saw the trailer but reminded myself that a lighter tone is preferable to Zack Snyder completely horrible Superman films. I was pleasantly surprised by how true to the heart of the character Shazam was. I think we got the best adaptation we could hope for, and it makes me excited to see how they continue this character. It won’t be in my favorite films of 2019, but it is a movie that renews my hopes for positive DC superhero movies in the future.
Author PopCultPosted on June 21, 2019 June 21, 2019 Categories 2019, top list
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Potts Lawyers > Criminal Law > Commonwealth Offences > Sabotage
Sections 2.6610 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code states:
24AB. (1) In this section
“act of sabotage means the destruction, damage or impairment, with the intention of prejudicing the safety or defence of the Commonwealth, of any article-
(a) That is used, or intended to be used, by the Defence Force or a part of the Defence Force or is used, or intended to be used, in the Commonwealth or a Territory not forming part of the Commonwealth by the armed forces of a country that is proclaimed country for the purposes of section 24AA
(b) That is used, or intended to be used, in or in connection with the manufacture, investigation or testing of weapons or apparatus of war;
(c) That is used, or intended to be used, for any purpose that relates directly to the defence of the Commonwealth; or
(d) That is in or forms part of a place that is a prohibited place within the meaning of section 80;
“article” includes any thing, substance or material.
(2) A person who-
(a) carries out an act of sabotage; or
(b) has in his or her possession any article that is capable of use, and which he or she intends for use, in carrying out an act of sabotage, shall be guilty of an indictable offence
What the police must prove
In order for the Police to prove their case at Court, they must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt.
1. The accused carried out an act of sabotage; or
2. The accused had in his or her possession any article that is capable of use, and which he or she intends for use, in carrying out an act of sabotage.
It will be necessary for the Police in every offence to prove that the accused was the person who committed the offence. Click here to learn more about identification evidence.
Maximum penalty
The Maximum penalty for the offence of Sabotage is 15 years imprisonment.
Which court will hear the matter
This matter is Commonwealth Offence which means it is dealt with in the District or Supreme Court.
Possible defences
Possible defences to this offence include but are not limited to
The accused did not carry out an act of sabotage.
The act was not sabotage.
The accused did not have in his or her possession any article that is capable of use, and which he or she intends for use, in carrying out an act of sabotage.
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Minnesota Teenager Killed in Car-Tractor Crash
Andy Brownell
Minnesota State Patrol (Facebook)
Akeley, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Minnesota teenager was killed Friday in a traffic crash involving a farm tractor.
The State Patrol says 18-year-old Anneka Davis was a passenger in a car that collided with a tractor pulling a haybine at the crest of a hill on a rural highway. The car then went into the ditch and rolled. The crash was reported around 11:30 in the morning just south of the town of Akeley in Hubbard County.
The State Patrol report notes the young woman from Nevis was not wearing a seatbelt. The driver of the car, only identified as a 17-year-old boy, was wearing a seatbelt and was not injured. A second passenger, also not wearing a seatbelt, was transported to a hospital in Fargo with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the tractor was not injured.
News update: Fireworks Shell Fired into Minnesota Man's Face
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Source: Minnesota Teenager Killed in Car-Tractor Crash
Categories: Lifestyle, State News
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June 12: The Making Of The Democracy Day
Refer.ng earning forum / Entertainment / Events / June 12: The Making Of The Democracy Day 221 Views
June 12: The Making Of The Democracy Day. by DaSylva(m): 2:54am on May 15
The controversy is over. June 12, and not May 29, is the authentic ‘Democracy Day.’ On May 29, President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), newly elected governors and their deputies will be sworn in. But, the presidential inauguration will be low-key. To the President, June 12 is more suitable as Democracy Day because of its place in the nation’s history. It was on that date in 1993 that the late Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola, won the presidential election under the Babangida transition programme. But the former military president annulled the election, setting off a chain of reactions.
Although the winner did not get the crown, his immortalisation has become a psychological palliative and a soothing balm. President Buhari has given Abiola a posthumous award of Grand Commander of the Order of Federal Republic (GCFR). It is the highest in the land.
To many observers, the June 12 poll was a watershed. Before and after it, there has been no more credible exercise. It has remained a reference point for obvious reasons. The election unified Nigeria. Also, it expressed the country’s capacity for democratic resilience and sanctity of the ballot box. It was the symbol of the epic struggle for liberation under neo-colonial military adventurists.
Domestic monitors and foreign observers were unanimous that June 12 was the freest and fairest in the country. It was the climax of the elongated transition programme midwived by Babangida, who tossed millions of Nigerians around with his political experiments that were designed to fail. June 12 underscored the audacity of hope and its illusion under an insincere military ruler whose hand was heavy on the country. Its annulment was the height of betrayal by the gap-tooth General.
There were many casualties before the historic exercise. Old politicians of the first and second republics and some new breed were banned by the military after spending so much to campaign as presidential candidates. They were also clamped into detention along with their associates. The victims were Lema Jubril, Major Gen. Shehu Yar’Adua, Chief Olabiyi Durojaye, Mallam Adam Ciroma, Chief Layi Balogun, Chief Emanuel Nwnyanwun, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Chief Olu Falae and Dr. Olusola Saraki.
When the old brigade was shoved aside, the new brigade took the central stage. The two candidates-Abiola of the SDP and Alhaji Othman Tofa of the NRC- emerged from rigorous presidential primaries, following the exclusion of prominent chieftains from the exercise through the curious ban. Abiola’s running mate was Alhaji Babagana Kingibe while Tofa’s running mate was Sylvester Ugoh, former governor of Central Bank of ill-fated Biafra. But, it was evident that the Abiola/Kingibe ticket was more formidable. It was unstoppable, even by the military.
On poll day, Nigerians were determined to draw the curtains on military rule. They were not swayed by the campaign by the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN). Nigerians trooped out from across the federation to exercise their franchise. There was no disruption. The umpire, led by Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, was up and doing. The poll became a model. Nigerians, irrespective of their tribe and religion, thronged the polling booths to elect Abiola as president. Up to now, they are still awaiting the results. The effort was in vain. A winner emerged. But, military cruelty aborted the collective dream. Never has a country been ambushed by a soldier of fortune.
Decades after the annulment, the bewildered nation-state is yet to recover from the colossal damage. June 12 was a pan-Nigeria movement. The goal was to halt military brutality and enthrone a legitimate leader with a national outlook. The exercise ended the partisan divisions cruelly exploited by self-serving leaders. The victor, Abiola, became a prisoner. He never returned from detention alive.
The indomitable leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had predicted doom when many Nigerians embraced the Babangida transition programme. Having worked with the military, he understood the mindset of the soldiers. Military rulers, including Gen. Yakubu Gowon, under whom he served as minister, was reluctant to vacate power until he was toppled by Gen. Muritala Mohammed in 1975. Awo also knew that Babangida, the ‘Evil Genius’ from Minna, was full of prevarication.
When Awo declined to participate in the discussion on the country’s political future by the Political Bureau headed by Dr Cookey, he shunned the invitation. The sage declared that Nigeria had embarked on a fruitless search for democracy, adding that, when they imagined that the new order had arrived, they would be terribly disappointed.
Having studied IBB’s chameleon’s styles, Awo urged his followers to exercise caution and learn to deal with IBB with a long spoon. A few months later, the great politician passed on.
Between and 1986 and 1993, Nigeria became another IBB laboratory, where various kinds of experiments were carried out. On three occasions, the transition programme was postponed by IBB without any convincing explanation. Babangida cajoled unsuspecting politicians into forming political parties, which, according to the guidelines, should have national spread. When the electoral commission came up with their result sheets, they, in IBB’s reckoning, failed to measure up. The hammer fell on the 23 political associations. When politicians were banned, unbanned, detained, released and re-detained, Lagos lawyer, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, cried out that the entire transition programme was a fraud.
However, after the initial successful primaries, the exercise was cancelled and participants were banned. Suddenly, the parties were in want of candidates. It was at that stage that Abiola and Tofa appeared on the scene.
Abiola was a veteran presidential aspirant, even at that stage. Ten years earlier, he had wanted to contest on the platform of the banned National Party of Nigeria (NPN). His albatross was the Transport Minister, Dr. Umaru Dikko, who organised the party secretariat be shut to deny him nomination form. When Abiola emerged as the SDP candidate, he was perceived as a stranger. Kingibe, who later became his running mate, following pressures by the 14 SDP state chairmen, described him as someone who was on the sideline only to come and reap where he did not sow.
Abiola actually consulted with his bosom friend, Babangida, who gave his blessing. He also apologised to the Awoists over his alleged sins against Chief Awolowo. The group, led by Chief Adekunle Ajasin, resolved to support him. Many people recalled his philanthropic activities. His message of hope, particularly the abolition of poverty, was captivating.
The presidential debate was interesting. Abiola dwarfed Tofa because of his grasps of the situation; the economy, politics, security and other challenges.
On poll day, Nigerians were united by the festival of political change. On long queues, they were orderly as they cast their votes for candidates of their choice. As news filtered that MKO had won, the prices of goods and services came down
Abiola polled 8,341,399, which represented 58.36 per cent, defeating his rival, Tofa. Even, in Kano, where Tofa hails from, the SDP won. Fawehinmi also said that Abiola won in the Army barracks.
The Aare Ona Kankanfo of Yorubaland cried foul. A man of valour, he fought the military without the gun. He resisted frantic attempts to compromise him. At Epetedo, Lagos, he declared himself President, based on the unofficial results. He took a great risk. The consequence was fatal. Abiola declared: “On that day (August 27, 1993), the people of Nigeria, through their democratic expressions of June 12, 1993, expected me to assume the reins of government. I fully intend to keep that date with history.”
However, on August 27, 1993, Babangida set up an interim contraption headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, after he stepped aside. While progressive elements, including Pa Ajasin, Pa Ayo Fasanmi, Falae, Senators Iyocha Ayu, Bol Tinubu, Nwite, Bola Ige, Anthony Enahoro, Arthur Nwankwo, Ndubusi Kanu, Frank Kokori, Ayo Adebanjo, Olaniwun Ajayi, Balarabe Musa, Amos Akingba, Alani Akinrinade, and Beko ransom-Kuti decried the annulment, others like Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo said, although it was lamentable, the setting up of the ING was understandable.
Three months after the setting up of ING, Gen. Sani Abacha sacked the ING and set up a full military regime, after cajoling the political class to stabilise his regime As the clamour for the de-annulment of June 12 intensified, the military was on the prowl. Pro-democracy crusaders, including Tinubu, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Enahoro, Akinrinade, Commodore Dan Suleiman, Chief Raph Obiorah, Akingba and Wale Oshun-fled abroad. From there, they continued to fire salvos at the Abacha government. Before he fled abroad, Tinubu’s life was on the line. He was declared wanted by the military. His international passport had been impounded. He had to go underground. On October 9, 1993, his house on Victoria Island, Lagos was petrol-bombed. He also received threats on the telephone. He had to disguise as a ‘mallam’ on a motorbike to escape from the country through the ‘NADECO route’ to Benin Republic.
As the June 12 battle dragged on, some crusaders became weary. Religion and ethnicity were invoked. The struggle adorned an ethnic colouration. Gradually, the rank of June 12 travellers was divided. Some crusaders, including Lateef Jakande, Abubakar Rimi and Ebenezer Babatope, were trapped in the Abacha Government. It was suicidal to resign.
Abiola was sent into ‘prison’ without trial. He never returned alive. His wife, Kudirat, was murdered on the streets of Lagos. His business empire was crippled. His supporters dispersed. Although a brave High Court Judge, Dolapo Akinsanya, declared ING headed by Shonekan illegal, the verdict fell on deaf ears.
Later, political jobbers put the June 12 poll behind them as they jostled for seats in the 1994 National Conference set up by Abacha. The Ibadan politician, the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu, came up with inexplicable bail conditions for Abiola, who turned it down, vowing not to let Nigerians down.
June 12 continued to torment the military after Abiola’s death. Although Abacha passed on before Abiola, the symbol of the struggle was not released by Abacha’s successor, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. The circumstances surrounding Abiola’s death has remained in the realm of conjecture.
The June 12 struggle may, in part, be described as a lost battle. However, it gave birth to the clamour for restructuring by Afenifere. It also led to a power shift to the Southwest. However, the beneficiaries of the struggle in 1999 were the same class of politicians, military confederates and cronies, whose activities culminated into the June 12 debacle.
For 20 years, there has been an argument over whether May 29 or June 12 should be Democracy Day. On the two extremes of the debate are Obasanjo and Tinubu. To the former president, May 29 should be Democracy Day.
His reason was that on May 29, 1999, democracy was restored to Nigeria, following a successful transition programme midwived by Gen. Abubakar. The process threw up Obasanjo as a civilian president.
Obasanjo may not understand the significance of June 12. He was not one of the pro-June 12 crusaders. In fact, he said Abiola was not the messiah Nigeria was waiting for. He also supported the setting up of the ING.
In the opinion of Tinubu, many Nigerians are emotionally attached to June 12 than May 29. Since 1999, pro-democracy forces have always celebrated democracy on June 12, owing to its symbolism and what Abiola stood for in his lifetime. Also, progressive administrations in the Southwest have always declared a public holiday to mark June 12 since 1999.
Reference has always been made to June 12 as a model exercise that the nation should strive to re-enact in the national interest. But, there have been gaps between expectation and reality.
The heroes of June 12 are too numerous. Apart from the symbol, Abiola, others are Kudirat Abiola, Ajasin, Adesanya, Adebanjo, Olaniwun Ajayi, Tinubu, Durojaye, Ganiyu Dawodu, Lam Adesina, Alfred Rewane, Kofo Akerele-Bucknor, Cornelius Adebayo, Ndubusi Kanu, Abu Ibrahim, Polycarp Nwite, Senator Dantoro, Ibrahim Tahir, Ayo Opadokun, Falae, Arthur Nwanko, Obiorah, Enahoro, Olawale Oshun, Ige, Dan Suleiman, Akinrinade, Olisa Agbakoba, Kokori, Ndubusi Kanu, Prof. Nwosu, Justice Akinsanya, Ademola Adeniji-Adele, Femi Lanlehin, Wahab Dosunmu, Fawehinmi, Femi Falana, Balarabe Musa, Tunji Adebiyi, Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi, Joe Igbokwe, and Okunrinboye.
Re: June 12: The Making Of The Democracy Day. by (f): 10:23am on May 28
THE COUNTRY DAY
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Alyssa Rosenberg
Alyssa Rosenberg is a staff correspondent at Government Executive where she covers the federal work force. She writes regularly for National Journal and The New Republic.
How Women Built the Law
In his new book, Fred Strebeigh chronicles the struggle for equality of the sexes under law, all while personalizing the pioneers who fought for it.
Alyssa RosenbergFeb 11, 2009
When Elena Kagan takes office as solicitor general, she will become the first woman to hold the job on a permanent basis. This may only be the beginning of Kagan’s rise; she is a noted scholar on administrative law, presidential powers, and First Amendment law, and many observers predict that a term as solicitor general could prepare her for an eventual nomination to the Supreme Court. Kagan is is not the first dean of Harvard Law School to become solicitor general, the last was Erwin Griswold, who took the job in 1967. As dean, Griswold invited women law students, including future Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to an annual reception where he asked them what they thought they were doing occupying seats that could be filled by men. Ginsburg recalls that she told Griswold she hoped law school would help her understand her husband, then a year ahead of her. Another student, ribbing the dean, asked "What better place to catch a man?" This is just one of the anecdotes...
My Job Is Driving Me Crazy
NBC's Thursday-night lineup is full of employed but dissatisfied characters. What are they going to do now that the economy is tanking?
Alyssa RosenbergOct 30, 2008
Earl Hickey, Pam Beesly, Liz Lemon, and Jack Donaghy have next to nothing in common. They are, respectively, a small-time crook obsessed with heavy metal and karma, a receptionist with a flair for practical jokes, a TV writer unable to resist carbs, and a General Electric executive taken with the power of the market. But as the central characters in the three comedies that form the core of NBC's Thursday-night lineup, they have one thing in common: Their jobs are driving them crazy. Since 1981, NBC has built a ratings juggernaut by wooing viewers on Thursday nights with the moral dilemmas of the cops on Hill Street Blues , the romantic misadventures of Fraiser Crane on Cheers and Fraiser , and the evolving hairstyles of Rachel Green on Friends . Especially in the 1990s, those so-called "must-see TV" shows were fantasies about hip (or in the case of Seinfeld , winningly eccentric) neighbors in New York or affluent life in Seattle. The characters' jobs hummed away steadily and reliably...
A THOUGHT ON THE NRA.
Alyssa RosenbergAug 17, 2008
By Alyssa Rosenberg Sorry for not chiming in today, folks. It's been a lot of fun writing here this week and talking to ya'll; thanks for the thoughtful insights and good exchanges. Ezra's lucky to have you. I haven't written today because I spent the morning taking my first lesson in pistol shooting. I've never waded into a gun control debate before because I felt like I'd be writing with incomplete information if I'd never held or shot a gun. Now that I have, I can say that target shooting is pretty fun! But more importantly, before I went out and started firing, I had to read the National Rifle Association's Basics of Pistol Shooting handbook. ( Update : People seem to think that I've forgotten that a political official was shot to death this week, and that I was upset about it. Haven't forgotten. Still upset. Before you read on, remember that, cool? I do believe there is a difference between owning a gun, storing it responsibly, and using it safely and for target shooting, and...
By Alyssa Rosenberg There's a fairly pedestrian article in the Washington Post today about Burma's dysfunctional economy which is interesting not so much in and of itself, but for one of the people the author interviews. After he rose and fell in one business by working corrupt government channels, he's about to start another career as a human trafficker. William Finnegan had a terrific article on countertrafficking in the New Yorker back in May. While he blames the Bush administration for lack of real or serious committment to its anti-trafficking initiatives, both Finnegan's piece and this Washington Post article left me with the same impression: as long as there are significant economic dead zones in the ocean of the world economy, trafficking is inevitable.
"CIVILIZATION HAD CHOSEN, AND IT CHOSE US."
By Alyssa Rosenberg Bill Keller's piece on the resurgence of Russian and Chinese autocracy got slapped with one of the more unfortunate headlines I've seen in a while, but it's well worth a read. The key takeaway is here: The Chinese and Russians scorned each other’s neo-Communist models, but in some ways they have evolved toward one another. Both countries now tolerate a measure of entrepreneurship and social license, as long as neither threatens the dominion of the state. Both countries have calculated that you can buy a measure of domestic stability if you combine a little opportunity with an appeal to national pride. (The Chinese “street” felt no more sympathy for restive Tibetans than the Russian blogosphere felt for Georgia.) And both have discovered that if you are rich the world is less likely to get in your way. I think the specific ways in which Russia and China have become more similar is less interesting than the simple fact that they've grown more like...
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DVD Review – The Wolfman
Posted on 16 May 2016 by Ian Schultz
Some films may sound good on paper, but when it comes down to actually watching them it’s a painful experience. One such case is the Benicio Del Toro starring “reimagining” of The Wolfman which was an extremely troubled production which had two years of delays and reshoots until its final release. The initial version was going to be directed by Mark Romanek who left the project because of creative differences hand he was replaced by Joe Johnson who was a perfectly competent director in his own right but decidedly more mainstream.
The Wolfman is your typical werewolf film. Benicio Del Toro plays the Shakespearean Laurence Tolbert and he his brother disappeared under mysterious circumstances, so he turns back to his family estate and has an uneasy meeting with his father played by Anthony Hopkins. Naturally in the town there are gypsies that are amped nearby. Lawrence visits the gypsies during the full moon and there is a werewolf attack and he is bitten of course. His life takes a turn for the hairy.
Benicio Del Toro is a very logical casting as a wolfman due to his wolf like features and tries his best even though his attempt at a British accent leaves a lot to be desired. Emily Blunt does the typical damsel in distress perfectly fine but it’s been done before and better. Hugo Weaving plays the Scotland Yard inspector Francis Alberline and plays a relatively menacing inspector reminiscent of his career defining performance as agent Smith in the Matrix film. The DVD contains the extended version Max von Sydow which was left on the cutting room floor in theatrical cut.
The film was in development years before it went into production always with Benicio Del Toro as lead, but even with a pre production the film looks extremely rushed the CGI as so typically with CGI now looks extremely dated and at its ver worst cheap. When they actually use physical makeup effects by Rick Baker they were much more successful so much so that he was nominated for Best make up at the Oscars. Baker has recently retired because CGI has sadly taken away a large majority of his job as a make up artist and designer.
The Wolfman could have been an interesting updated reimagining of the universal horror brand but it falls flat. It took me three attempts to watch the film after falling asleep twice which is never a good sign. Universal are going to attempt to reinvigorate the brand of Universal monsters again and hopefully this time it’s much more successful. The first one of these will be The Invisible Man with Johnny Depp as the title character.
Previous Post Blu-Ray Review – The American Dreamer
Next Post Blu-Ray Review – The Firemen’s Ball
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Maxine Ambrose
Maxine Ambrose is a marketing and communications expert with over 20 years’ experience, concentrating mainly on B2B, business and consumer technology, electronics and telecommunications markets. Maxine provides companies with a broad range of services, from classic PR through to total marketing & communications management.
Although she has worked with many of the world’s biggest brands – such as Ericsson, Skype, Microsoft, Sony, Xerox, Texas Instruments, Cable & Wireless and Misys – Maxine has a passion for working with small and growing businesses. Over the past couple of decades, Maxine has helped tech entrepreneurs in the UK and worldwide to devise successful market-facing strategies and to then help execute them effectively.
Maxine is also a part-time marketing and communications consultant to Microsoft, supporting its BizSpark program, which since launch in 2008, has helped tens of thousands of tech start-ups around the world.
Example success stories during Maxine’s career include: helping one start-up to turn around its ineffective communications strategy to a rapid lead-generator in less than 6 months; helping an established brand launch a new product range and become number one in its market, without any advertising or direct marketing; and helping a brand new start-up to become established as the leading name in its sector, including number one in organic search result, despite a small budget.
“Maxine and Ambrose Communications have consistently performed when up against a tough industry and tight budgets. She is results led and we have seen a real up-swing in market interest for specific sectors we were targeting.” Paul Davis, a client when he was a marketing manager at 3M. Odette Lunter, when at tech SME Bibit (now part of RBS): “Maxine very quickly mastered our business case and, despite geographical and budget challenges, successfully translated it into a creative, consistent and well executed communications campaigns. I highly recommend her work.”
Maxine began her career in-house at Panasonic UK, before being head-hunted to JPFR – one of the leading tech PR agencies in the 80s and 90s – before heading up the UK technology client division for Edelman, the world’s largest independent PR & communications agency. Maxine was also awarded a Distinction from the Communications Advertising Marketing (CAM) Foundation. In late 1995, Maxine left Edelman to create her own full-service marketing and communications consultancy business, Ambrose Communications. This continues to thrive with a highly experienced team in the UK and worldwide, providing counsel and tactical support to both ‘blue chip’ organisations, growth SMEs and high-potential start-ups. She is also a regularly published author/journalist, sometimes in her own name, but often as a ghost-writer.
Enquire about Maxine Ambrose
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Here, there, and everywhere: when policing practices don’t line up with public good
The NYPD’s Stop and Frisk practices have garnered much attention recently, and rightly so. There have been a bunch of videos of men of color talking about their experiences with Stop and Frisk in NYC. The Open Society Justice Initiative just put out a video that covers the equivalent in Britain. Here’s the full report: Viewed with Suspicion: The Human Cost of Stop and Search in England and Wales.
Last year Open Society Foundations’ Public Health Project put out Criminalizing Condoms, an amazingly strong report comparing policing practices regarding the criminalization of condoms in Kenya, Namibia, Russia, South Africa, the United States, and Zimbabwe. There was also a good video that accompanied it and included the voices of people directly affected.
It’s good to remember that our policing problems in the United States are not unique. It’s also sad since this really hurts people and communities and it would be far better if nowhere had these problems. Even with Stop and Frisk, we in New York City are not isolated as people working on the issue may sometimes feel.
On a happier note, last week’s lobbying to support bill S1379/A2736 in Albany reported went well. Bill S1379/A2736 would ban the use of condoms as evidence of sex work in New York State. Red Umbrella Project has more information available here.
filed under Legal, Lessons Learned
tagged as and Zimbabwe, condoms as evidence, criminalizing condoms, Criminalizing Condoms: How Policing Practices Put Sex Workers and HIV Services at Risk in Kenya, england, Namibia, new york city, new york state, open society foundations, policing policy, public health, red umbrella project, Russia, S1379/A2736, sex workers rights, South Africa, stop and frisk, stop and search, the United States, Viewed with Suspicion: The Human Cost of Stop and Search in England and Wales, wales
Friends of PM Press, April 2013 Edition
Small package this month, but still really good:
Barred for Life: How Black Flag’s Iconic Logo Became Punk Rock’s Secret Handshake, by Stewart Dean Ebersole, photos by Jared Castaldi and Stewart Dean Ebersole.
Soft Money, a Filomena Buscarsela Mystery, by Kenneth Wishnia. I am so excited about this. I was completely sucked into the first book in the series. It was good mystery writing combined with a solid female protagonist. I’ll probably end up writing a combined review for both since I will be reading mostof the new book on the subway this weekend.
More information on Friends of PM Press can be found here.
filed under Friends of PM Press
tagged as books, friendsofpmpress, pm press, pmpress
When Activism Goes Online: Anonymous, Hacktivism and the Law Lecture at NYLS
A couple weeks ago I went to a “When Activism Goes Online: Anonymous, Hacktivism and the Law” at New York Law School, co-sponsored by the Institute for Information Law and Policy, National Lawyers Guild- National Office, and Students for Free Culture. The panelists were Kenneth Citarella, an adjunct professor at NYLS and former prosecutor who specialized in computer crimes starting in the 1980’s, Abi Hassen, Mass Defense Coordinator with the National Lawyers Guild, and Grainne O’Neill, a defense attorney specializing in the intersection of law and technology.
Citarella talked a little bit about his experience as a prosecutor of computer crimes very early on. One of his main points is that he strongly dislikes the word hacker, specifically because he doesn’t feel like he known what it means. Later on in the evening he emphasizes the difference between in person actions and actions mediated by technology, without clarifying exactly how. Mainly, I think that he served as a prosecution-side counter point to the other speakers. The most interesting thing for me was hearing how generally conservative he is in his interpretation and squaring that against his early involvement in the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which serves as a good reminder that civil liberties is an area where many people can find common ground.
O’Neill started by talking about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) of 1984. The CFAA was conceived of and passed in a time before the internet as we know it- both socially and technologically- and was passed to specifically protect financial institutions, the government, and interstate commerce. For purposes of the CFAA, “unauthorized access” is defined by the computer or website’s Terms of Service (TOS), violations of which would otherwise be only a matter of contract law, not criminal law. In effect, CFAA empowered private companies to dictate criminal law through their TOS. The CFAA’s definition of damages sets a low standard.
After covering the basics of what the CFAA, O’Neill compared the penalties for online behaviors to their closest offline equivalents. She placed a DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack as similar to a picket, since both are intended to provide visibility to the activists’ displeasure with the target. Theft of a cheap laptop in a coffee shop that contained sensitive information might be punishable by a year in jail, but accessing the same information via an unsecured wi-fi network would get up to 10 years in prison under the CFAA, and in that senario, the victim hasn’t lost use of anything. Even assuming that that the laptop is more expensive and taken from a home, burglary in New York has a maximum sentence of 7 years, which is still less than allowed for remote entry under the CFAA, and involves someone physically entering one’s home. After going over the potential disparate treatment of crimes based on the involvement of hacking or not, O’Neill reiterated that many online crimes are criminalized under non-online specific legislation and that we should look to our rich history of jurisprudence in seeking to address
Hassan put together a PowerPoint presentation which he titled “The Fifth Estate: Information Activism in the Age of Secrecy,” drawing on the idea that hackers and information activists (including whistleblowers) may work for the public good, as a watch dog, much as the press, or forth estate, has. An example of this he gave was Hamed Al-Khabaz, a Canadian student who was expelled from Dawson College after finding and reporting a major security flaw in his university’s storage of student information. He also emphasized the role of “lulz,” vaguely defined as humor or mischievous satisfaction, in hacking. His example of this was Guccifer’s release of George W. Bush’s remarkably bad self-portrait while showering.
Hassan’s presentation included a couple of really great quotations on related topics from Bloomberg and Thomas Jefferson. He showed graphs from Google and Microsoft of requests for user information from governmental agencies and emphasized the contradiction of increased government and corporate secrecy with the decrease of personal privacy and increase of individual surveillance at the same time. He also gave a great run-down of current major hacking cases in the United States:
Weev (his defense fund)
Matthew Keys (summary from wikipedia)
Paypal 14
Barrett Brown
LULZSEC/ ANTISEC (Hector Xavier Monsegur, a.k.a. Sabu, Jeremy Hammond, plus four more outside the United States)
And of whistleblower cases:
John Kiriakou, who exposed the CIA’s use of torture
Thomas Drake, William Binney, and J. Kirk Wiebe, who exposed NSA’s spying on American citizens through proper channels
The best part of the lecture was the question and answer session after the structured presentation. I didn’t take great notes on that part, and since the lecture was back on April 3rd, my memory is not good enough to flesh out the discussion. Highlights included: Citarella arguing that federal sentencing guidelines are frequently too ridgid and pointing out that in the case of Matthew Keys we should strongly consider the difference between what the end result of his giving out passwords was with what it could have been in understanding it’s treatment in the courts; Hassan building on his early talk of current cases and mentioning that 95% of cases end in pleas, largely because of the power that prosecutors have in their discretion regarding charges and requests; and O’Neill stating that the freedom to assemble is really the freedom to assemble anonymously and that it is the anonymity is key to the power of the freedom to assemble. Other items of discussion including emergent 4th and 5th Amendment issues as well an time-place-manner restrictions on in-person protests and how that translates into online activism.
filed under Lectures-Panels-Discussions, Legal, Tech
tagged as aaron swartz, abi hassan, activism, antisec, barrett brown, bill binney, bradley manning, cfaa, computer fraud and abuse act, digital, free speach, freedom to assemble, grainne o'neill, hactivism, hector xavier monsegur, institute for information law and policy, irl, j kirk wiebe, jeremy hammond, john kiriakou, kenneth citarella, lulzsec, matthew keys, meatspace, national lawyers guild, new york law school, nyls, paypal 14, sabu, students for free culture, thomas drake, weev, whistleblowers, william binney
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A Web-based Decision Aid for Prostate Cancer Screening
Designed to enhance knowledge and increase patient participation in the decision making process for prostate cancer screening (2007)
Awareness building and Improve decision making
Population Focus
This information has not been reported.
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American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation (Grant number(s) not available.)
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Beginning in 2012, new programs are scored on RE-AIM criteria. This program was posted prior to the inclusion of RE-AIM scores and does not have these scores included. Click on the information icon next to "RE-AIM Scores" above to learn more about RE-AIM.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death and the most frequently diagnosed non-skin cancer in American men. However, the overall health benefits of prostate cancer screening with the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test remain controversial. Given the controversy, the American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that patients and physicians engage in a process of shared decision-making (SDM) to decide whether to get a PSA test. To engage in SDM, the patient must understand the risks and benefits of the test. However, the amount of time available for physician-patient discussion during appointments is limited, and there is empirical evidence that a physician's unstructured verbal remarks regarding the risks and benefits of the PSA test may be misunderstood by patients. Alternative methods to inform patients about the risks and benefits of prostate cancer screening are needed.
The Web-based Decision Aid for Prostate Screening is a Web resource designed to provide patients with information about the risks and benefits of the PSA test. The decision aid was designed by physicians and reviewed by a general decision aid expert and several content experts with experience developing prostate cancer screening decision aids. Eligible patients are identified when they schedule their wellness appointment. Viewed prior to a physician appointment, the Web-based decision aid can help patients effectively participate in SDM with their physician in deciding whether to get a PSA test. The brochure and Web-based version provide identical content including information about prostate cancer, screening concepts, potential benefits, known risks, and current uncertainties about the PSA test. The decision aid may be sent to patients as a Web link in an e-mail or mailed as a brochure.
This program uses the following intervention approach for which the Community Preventive Services Task Force finds insufficient evidence: interventions promoting informed decision making for cancer screening (Informed Decision Making). Insufficient evidence means the available studies do not provide sufficient evidence to determine if the intervention is or is not effective. This does not mean that the intervention does not work. It means that additional research is needed to determine whether the intervention is effective.
To implement this intervention, the health care organization must acquire the materials, identify targeted patients, and mail or e-mail the materials to the patients to be viewed prior to their scheduled appointment. Time required will vary according to the efficiency of the procedure to identify targeted patients, prepare e-mails or brochures for mailing, and the number of patients targeted.
The intervention is targeted to men aged 50 to 70 years, without a history of prostate cancer.
The intervention is suitable for clinical settings such as health care organizations or practices, who serve men aged 50 to 70 years.
The required resource is the link to the Web-based information or a paper printout from the Web site: "Should you get a PSA test? A Patient-Doctor Decision" (http://www.acorn.fap.vcu.edu/psa/).
Men aged 50 to 70 with a scheduled health maintenance examination at a large family practice were telephoned about 2 weeks prior to their appointment and invited to participate. Of the 497 participants who agreed to participate, 90% were Caucasian and 84% were college educated. The majority of the participants were also in the high socio-economic group. The participants were randomly assigned to receive the decision aid in either a Web-based or brochure format, or to a control condition in which participants received no information about the PSA test prior to their appointment.
Outcomes included patients' perception of their control over the decision regarding prostate cancer screening (i.e., locus of decisional control) and patients' knowledge of the risks and benefits of prostate screen procedures. All outcomes were measured by self-report in questionnaires filled out immediately after the examination appointment.
Exposure to either decision aid (i.e., Web page or brochure) prior to the examination visit increased patients' perceptions that they had the primary role in making the decision regarding the PSA test, when compared to patients in the control group. For example, 56% of patients who reviewed the informational Web page and 54% of patients who reviewed the informational brochure reported that they (rather than their physician) made the decision regarding screening (with or without carefully considering the advice of their physician), compared to only 46% of patients who did not receive information prior to their visit (p<.05 for each experimental condition, compared to the control group).
In addition, 8% of patients who reviewed the informational Web page reported that their physician (rather than the patient) had the primary role in making the decision regarding screening, compared to 18% of patients who did not receive information prior to their visit (p<.05). The difference between the informational brochure and control group patients was not statistically significant.
Exposure to either decision aid also increased patient knowledge regarding the risks and benefits of prostate cancer screening. The percentage of correct answers on the knowledge scale was 54% in the control group, compared to 69% in the Web-based group (p<.001) and 69% in the informational brochure group (p<.001).
Although decisional conflict was not influenced by the intervention, the researchers observed that a larger percentage of patients (19%) reported that they had more control over the decision to get a PSA test than they desired, and a comparatively smaller percentage of patients reported their physician had more control than they desired (11%: p=.003), indicating that there are limits to the amount of control patients desire.
Krist, A. H., Woolf, S. H., Johnson, R. E., & Kerns, J. W. (2007). Patient education on prostate cancer screening and involvement in decision making. Annals of Family Medicine, 5, 112-119.
Kerns, J. W., Woolf, S. H., Flores, S. K., & Johnson, R. E. (2008). Patient perceptions of how physicians communicate during prostate cancer screening discussions: A comparison of residents and faculty. Family Medicine, 40, 181-187.
Krist, A., Woolf, S., & Johnson, R. (2007). How physicians approach prostate cancer screening before and after losing a lawsuit. Annals of Family Medicine, 5, 120-125.
Woolf, S. H., Krist, A. H., Johnson, R. E., & Stenborg, P. S. (2005). Unwanted control: How patients in the primary care setting decide about screening for prostate cancer. Patient Education and Counseling, 56, 116-124.
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Janet Jackson – No Sleep (Feat. J. Cole) (Official Music Video)
by PhillyCustoms July 24, 2015 9:15 am
Watch “No Sleep” By Janet Jackson Featuring J. Cole
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Tag: experimental
Pink Dolphin Presents: Scary Monsters (an electronic tribute)
https://pinkdolphinmusic.bandcamp.com/album/pink-dolphin-music-presents-scary-monsters-an-electronic-tribute
When anybody asks me who my favorite musician of all time is, I don’t hesitate to tell them that it’s David Bowie. He was a man who was of his time, ahead of his time, and before his time. Pop musicians before Bowie never really evolved their sound. Yeah sure Ozzy Osbourne’s sound drastically changed when he left Black Sabbath, and had Rand Rhoads as a guitarist. There are probably innumerable examples like that.
But nobody before Bowie, killed a persona at the height of it’s popularity, to pursue something entirely different. Not only would he pursue something different, but each time he changed his sound, he evolved his sound. The best analogy I can make is imagine a martial artist, who is the world’s greatest kick boxer. Who after winning the heavy weight championship of the world, decides to get into Sumo Wrestling. Trains super hard, and becomes the world champion of Sumo Wrestling, then changes to Brazilian Jujitsu. Meanwhile, as he changes from sport to sport he adds his own personal flair to it, adds it to another sport, and BAM he creates something entirely original and destroys the competitors while doing it.
So when any artist is doing a cover of Bowie, we’re also participating in a piece of musical history. That’s mainly because Bowie was the king of being into something “Before it was cool.” There’s so many different genres, artistic influences, cultural references, and soundscapes that it’s only now with the globalized digital world we live in that we can see how the fuck the underground gay scene, mimes, kabuki theater, Pink Floyd, and Andy Warhol can even be synthesized into something entirely new.
With this broad spectrum of musical creativity, an artist has so much to work with. Even in this album, since Bowie used so many different genres techniques, sounds, and influences that any artist doing a cover of Bowie can almost do anything, and still it’s within the realm of possibility for a Bowie song. For example if you ask me to play a Black Sabbath sounding song, I’m not going to bring out a synthesizer. Ask me to play a Kraftwerk sounding song and I’m not going to bust out my ole acoustic guitar. Ask me to make a David Bowie sounding song, and I can literally do anything.
So with that preface, let’s dive in and review this wonderful album. The first song Cyber Monday – It’s No Game (Part One) already starts strong with the very first sample. In Bowie’s original It’s No Game (Part 1) it starts off with what sounds to be a tape recorder, maybe a cassette, or even a Walkman. I don’t know. Mainly because I never grew up using a cassette player. Yet when Cyber Monday uses that old classic internet dial up tone, we already know what it is.
It’s genius because it does two things, one updates a classic, because more people probably remember the internet dial up tone than a cassette player. And two provides a sort of commentary on music itself. We aren’t finding music rummaging through Record stores, we find music by internet streaming services. This kind of meta-commentary is often used by Vaporwave and if you’re going to be covering David Bowie, what’s a better place to start than by using a variety of different genres?
Next we go to the actual musical arrangement of this song. Where instead of using heavy reverbed out guitar, they use these spacious shimmering synths. Which anybody who really has dived into Bowie’s catalog knows how forward thinking he was in regards to synthesizers, and pioneered many of the sounds we take for granted. Using synths to cover guitar based songs can be tacky, if not out right disrespectful, to an original song. Yet this is David Bowie we’re talking about. In South Park it’s a running gag that any idea that’s out there, “The Simpsons already did it.” Which in this case, any musical idea can be answered as, “Bowie already did it.”
So when in the original song, the guitar sounds like it’s hooked up to an amp that is sparking out, short circuited, and on fire. The question is: how you can provide the same type of sound using a synthesizer? Then the next question that has to be asked is: does it sound good? The answer to that is: yes, to both of those questions. The synths take on this razor thin electronic hum that sounds so sharp that it would cut your ear drum. It’s the perfect synth answer to the bizarre guitar tone on the original song, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better synth tone.
Yet there’s something missing in this track that’s not in the original. That is the sample of a Japanese woman speaking. Now when Scary Monsters was released in 1980, hearing a Japanese woman speak on an album would call back to some exotic, mysterious world. Since at that time, unless you were incredibly cultured, or were David Bowie himself, Japan was still an enigma to most Westerners. Now with anime, video games, manga, etc. Japan doesn’t really hold that sense of mystery. I already have some conception of Japan. So listening to it now, it doesn’t provide the same emotional response as it would back in 1980. So when Cyber Monday removes it from their cover. It improves the song for modern listeners.
Because let’s face it, if there was a movie that had a bunch of Indians eating frozen monkey brains it would seem tacky, stereotyped, and not true. But in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which was released in 1984, it seemed more believable. Mainly because people were ignorant of India, and it’s in that ignorance that you’re able to feel some sense of exploration into unknown territory. Yet we’re not as ignorant as we were 30 years ago. So when listening to this song now, it’s a great rock track with some Japanese woman speaking for some reason.
So next up is Foreign Technology – Up The Hill Backwards. The original Up The Hill Backwards is a lot more stripped down in terms of bizarre guitar tones. While at the same time is very vocal centered, with a droning organ, heavy hitting drums, and has an incredibly interesting groove. The main takeaway for this track would be, that it is a rock song. You could see almost any rock band covering it, and it would still work in their style. It’s a basic rock song, as much as David Bowie could be considered basic. With this simple foundation, the surprise will be how Foreign Technology utilizes this simple structure, to express their own sound.
So when listening to this track the first thing that you have to notice is the beefed up guitar tones. Then there’s the almost bagpipe sounding synths. Which before the droning organ in the background was so distant you’d swear you were hearing it from another county. You know when a cover is going to be great, when it already sounds ten times larger than the original.
The other thing is that while the original track was stripped down, it provides a lot of opportunity for experimentation. Which is in and of itself exciting, it’s like when you ask a Jazz musician to play their own version of say, Jingle Bells. Each musician’s interpretation of the song is going to sound incredibly different, yet each one is going to be jingle bells. You’re not excited to hear jingle bells, you’re excited to hear the artist play their version of it.
While the intro is hard hitting, beefed up, and sounds gigantic the rest of the track takes on a more spacious quality. Both in terms of sound, and thematically. While Bowie’s original song had the vocals in the forefront, and instrumentation in the back. This song does the complete opposite, and provides an entirely different kind of experimental tone. To begin with, the distorted vocals sound like an Astronaut floating out in space. Combine that with the reverb drenched spacious instrumentation, that constantly shifts, changes, and mutates. Kind of calls back to some sci-fi space exploration into some new unknown world. And what’s a more fitting tribute to the Man Who Fell To Earth?
Next up we have Depussy – Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). The original Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) is still as fresh today, as it was the day it released. It’s so entirely bizarre, and thoroughly entertaining. It’s the song that also kind of bridges that gap between Berlin Trilogy Bowie, and “Phil Collins” Bowie. Basically after overcoming drug addiction, experimenting with Kraut rock, electronic, ambient, and world music. All of this to spite his former manager who ripped him off. He needed a way to branch out from the world of experimentation to the popular mainstream. And no song really encapsulates this better than Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps.)
This song in particular, since it is the namesake of the album, has a lot of potential for any artist covering it. Since it is the song, of the album, that transitioned Bowie from Experimental artist to Phil Collins 2.0. There are either two ways to go about it, you can make it more pop friendly, or more experimental.
Or instead you can do what Depussy did, which is make the song live up to it’s name “Scary Monsters.” From the bass thumping Techno beat intro, to the menacing vocal growl, this track lives up to the name “Scary Monsters.” In fact if they ever made a remake of Blade (which I know they won’t because Hollywood sucks) this would be a perfect song for it. This song is so menacing, yet with the upbeat tone of the original song it doesn’t go overboard into edge lord territory. In fact with it’s fast paced hard hitting synths, it provides the track with a lot of energy, and provides action to an upbeat albeit experimental song.
This kind of heart pumping beat provides the song with a pop edge. Because let’s face it, everybody loves a song that pumps them up. There is nobody on Earth who just listens to music to contemplate the nature of existence. Sometimes you just want to let loose, get in a fight, dance at a club, or dunk on some fools who think they’re the next MJ.
So like the original song, while it is experimental, it still retains a pop edge. Though how David Bowie accomplished it, and how Depussy accomplished it are two entirely different means, they still nonetheless accomplished an experimental pop song. So while each version ended up in the same destination, the journey taken was wildly different.
Next up we have Destination – Ashes To Ashes (Destination’s Messed With Major Tom Mix). Ashes to Ashes is one of my all time favorite songs. Ever. I cannot understate how much I love this song. It’s a song that I would always skip, when I first discovered David Bowie. Mainly due to it’s bizarre intro, and the bizarre groove it had. Then there was David Bowie’s fragile vocals. His voice (which at the time) sounded like it was going through puberty. I couldn’t listen to the whole song all the way through. I kept skipping it, over and over again. It wasn’t until a girl I had a crush on started to date another guy that I was finally in the right headspace to listen to the song.
Which really fits in well with the theme of Ashes to Ashes. David Bowie’s first hit was Space Oddity. A song that got him to the top of the pops. Yet a song that almost doomed him to be a one hit wonder. Created during the time of the Apollo moon landing. It was a song about a man, Major Tom, an astronaut who gets launched into space. Who the public admires as a hero, only to then have his communication cut off from the rest of the world, and now drifts helplessly out in the black abyss of space.
Then Bowie defied expectations, became Ziggy Stardust, and became the rock star he longed to be. Then came the drugs, the alcohol, the terrible management, a divorce, sobriety, a different, sound, and now we get to Ashes to Ashes. A song where the heroic astronaut finally is able to get back into communication with the rest of the world. And when he does, the world is horrified to find out that he’s become a junkie. Where the general public doesn’t want to know what shirt he wears, rather they tell their kids that if “You wanna get things done, you better not mess with Major Tom.” A man that fell from grace to become a loser. So when a romantically rejected 16 year old me gave this song a second chance, well you can see why it resonated with me so much.
So with that kind of emotional baggage, Destination has a lot to live up to. The question is, are they able to live up to this epic tragedy? Well obviously I’m writing a review on it, so yes, they are. One of the reasons I passed on the song originally was because of the bassline, and the groove. It fit incredibly well with the theme of the song, that is of drug addiction, and emotional isolation. Everything felt off kilter and as a result you don’t immediately understand the tragic nature of the song during the beginning parts. Destination, on the other hand does an excellent job of setting up the immediate tragedy of the song.
How do they do it? Well it’s mainly due to the instrumentation that they’ve chosen. The plucking bass in the original highlights that kind of false sense of bravado when you’re under the influence. While the electronic keys provide that melancholy sound that the song is themed after. When you combine these two elements, at first listen, they clash together. Which is why I suspect I kept skipping this song when listening to it. Destination on the other hand does something different. They focus on the melancholy keys, distort it, allow it to mutate, and it conveys both inebriation and tragedy very effectively. While the bassline is instead replaced with this synth swirling around your ears.
By utilizing modern techniques of electronic music, Destination is able to convey the melancholy theme of the song in an incredibly effective way. Yet there is one thing that is impossible to do. That is have David Bowie’s vocals. Like I said before, David Bowie’s vocals, when I first listened to the track, turned me off from the track. His vocals were so vulnerable, and it sounded like he was fucked up when he sang about being fucked up. They were so experimental, and he pulled it off so well that it cannot be replaced. They are vocals that each time I listen to them, they resonate more and more with me. Mainly because I’ve matured both as an artist, and as a musician.
Don’t get me wrong I believe that the singer for Destination did a fantastic job. She has a beautiful voice, that is a pure joy to listen to. Yet in this track out of all the tracks in the album, I firmly believe that nobody can surpass Bowie in his vocal performance. It would be like if Hollywood did a remake of The Godfather. No actor would even remotely want any of those roles. Mainly because the shoes that they have to fill are far too large for any actor to fill. Likewise with this song, and Bowie’s experimental approach to his vocals, no singer could ever replicate the depth of emotion that he brought to the track. But I have to hand it to Destination they got closer to capturing the emotional vulnerability of Bowie, than I thought that anybody could.
Yet due to Destination’s strength of being able to effectively use synthesizers, utilizing nearly every tool at their disposal they were able to convey that level of emotion that was in the original. This track is a behemoth, it is so well done, that for any band to convey the complex emotions of the original deserves a listen. This out of all the songs on the track is the most daunting challenge, and Destination did an amazing job. It took a lot of courage to even cover this track, and I have my utmost respect for them as artists. They were Rocky Balboas against an Apollo Creed, and the fact they are able to go the distance and stand on their on two feet, is something to be proud of.
Next up is Dead Amps – Fashion and unless you literally have had no contact with the outside world for 30 years, you’ve undoubtedly heard this song. It’s an incredibly pop sounding song. While yes, it’s still David Bowie, and it still has his unique flair. It’s so popular that there’s a realm of possibilities with the song. To understand what I mean, take Black Sabbath’s Iron Man. It’s an incredibly popular song, yet there’s still a lot that can be done on it. For example, the guitars could be heavier, Ozzy could be replaced with anybody, the guitar solo could be improved, etc. It’s the same principle with this song. Bowie doesn’t have to be singing on it, like with Ashes to Ashes. It’s just a fun song about fashion.
So with that in mind we have to look at how Dead Amps approaches this song. Like I’ve said before it’s a fun song about fashion. So what they really have to do is capture that fun. After all David Bowie wasn’t just a pioneer in music, but in fashion as well. This song while at times is incredibly goofy, is also capturing Bowie’s emotional reaction to one of his favorite past times that is fashion.
So let’s see how they go about this. Instead of the guitar intro, they use a heavy distorted synth. Which works so well for this track. The guitars in the original, while yes they were excellent, they also could be seen as abrasive. Which can be attributed to the specific guitar tone that is used throughout the album. By using a fuzzy distorted synthesizer, the song is able to be more pop sounding, and thus friendlier. And if a song is friendlier, well it’s going to be more fun.
Then there’s the vocals where the track really shines. Like I’ve mentioned before there are some songs where the vocalist can be replaced, and it wouldn’t make a difference, or even improve the song. While Bowie is an excellent vocalist, his vocals are not needed in this track. Yet with Dead Amps female vocals, and particularly the chorus “Turn to the left, Turn to the right.” By double tracking the vocals, and adding a bit of female charm to the track, the track instantly becomes so incredibly fun. Then there’s the fact this is a male song, sung by a female there is a possibility of a duet, while before there was only Bowie. The interaction between male and female vocals works so well for this track. And then just to add even more charm there are the robotic vocals. Which is just the icing on the cake.
All throughout these various synths are used throughout the song, and provides it with such a campy feeling. Then when there is guitar it’s so well produced and does such a great job at providing a funky rhythm section that, I can honestly say that this song is great on it’s own, without the baggage of being a David Bowie cover.
Next up we have Nathan Carlson – Teenage Wildlife. It’s a David Bowie song that looks back to the past. To those 1950’s teenage Americana of getting your own car, and driving Pacific Coast highway. It’s his most nostalgic, and has those 50’s throwback sounds. With the crooning background vocals, old rock rhythm sections, of the 50’s with the perfected guitar tones of 1980. This is the song, where if you don’t like the guitar tone of the album, this is the track that you just have to admit sounds good. It captures that sense of nostalgia that we all falsely have of our teenage lives.
So I highly doubt that Nathan Carlson has the 1950’s as a frame of reference for his teenage years. I know nothing about the guy, but just call it a hunch. Then what would be our version of the 50’s? What genre tropes can we use to invoke those feelings of nostalgia? If only there was a retro genre that captured that wave of emotion of our youths…Oh yeah, retrowave. That was probably the worst sentence I’ve ever written, but you get the idea.
Even if you didn’t grow up in the 80’s, you had parents who listened to 80’s music. We all latch on to certain aspects of it, the synthesizers, the robotic vocals, the electronic bass, etc. If Bowie was alive today he would have remade his song the way that Nathan Carlson has. Because it’s not the particular sounds that makes this song what it is. But it’s the emotions the song invokes. That of nostalgia. For people in Bowie’s age range, it would have been the 50’s. For us it would be the 80’s-90’s. This song excels because it so well captures the 80’s aesthetic. Instead of great guitar tones, it’s great synth tones. Nearly every compliment of the original song can be attributed to this song, except it’s with synths.
Now we’re getting into some interesting territory with, Waffensupermarkt – Scream Like A Baby. The original track is very dramatic. With a nearly campy start, with it’s drama, then it’s spooky synthesizers, and various people’s vocals double tracked. Is a lot like Fashion in that it’s a fun song. All though it’s not because Bowie is really into babies screaming like he is into fashion, but because it’s just a fun campy song. I mean there is a misconception about experimental music. Most people have this image of a tortured soul living down deep in a basement. Alone with their synthesizer/guitar/whatever and making bizarre tragic music, to make sense of their bizarre tragic nature. When in actuality making experimental music is just having a party by yourself, and trying to see how much weird shit you can get away with.
So with a name like Waffensupermarkt what kind of music do you imagine they create? Hip hop? Bebop? Surf Rock? No. You don’t have a name like Waffensupermarkt without being experimental. Like I said before the track has a dramatic beginning, the riddle to this song is how Waffensupermarkt combines the drama, and experimentation into something his own. He beyond exceeds expectations.
The vocals are beyond creepy, and the synths can be so overpowering that they overwhelm you. Yet like I’ve said, making experimental music is incredibly fun. Listening to this track you know that this was probably a joy to make. Each synth is so unique, and something you’ve never heard before in your life, and just when it gets you to a point of familiarity, everything changes. Then you’re back to the experimental playground that Waffensupermarkt has provided.
Yet it’s the ebb in flow of the experimentation where the drama occurs. Where the atonal soundscapes provide the tension rather than Bowie’s dramatic vocals, and composition. By constantly shifting from the familiar to unfamiliar, we as a listener get conflict, resolution, and then more conflict. By embracing the experimental Waffensupermarkt is able to create a song that combines the creativity and forward thinking that Bowie was famous for. And it is definitely not a song for the faint of heart. Yet if you’re like me, make music, or just want to listen to something new. Then this would definitely be the track to checkout.
Now we’re in the homestretch 3 more songs to go. Next up is SutajioWest – Kingdom Come. Now Kingdom Come is another song that I believe is perfect. It’s the song where all the ideas of Scary Monsters come together and get ironed it. If I wanted to introduce someone to this album, this would probably be the song I would show them first. It does the best job at summarizing everything that the album is about. While at the same time, it’s a song that can stand on it’s own. Nearly everything about the track I believe is perfect the guitars, the bass, background vocals, Bowie’s vocals; everything is just perfect.
So now with SutajioWest he doesn’t really have the luxury of being able to create a summation of the cover album. Mainly because it’s a collaborative effort. Yet if there is one theme on this album it would be the creative interpretation of an artist who was renowned for his creativity. With that summation of the album SutajioWest does what this album does best, which is to be creative.
While the original song was very much a refinement of all the ideas that was throughout the album. SutajioWest creates something wildly different, yet somehow it captures the same kind of emotion. The song itself is about a man who has a rough life, either due to economic circumstance, or some emotional turmoil. Who just pleads for Kingdom come, where he no longer has to endure what he’s been put through.
Bowie used the backlog of all the techniques used in the album to convey this kind of quiet desperation, while SutajioWest has a different approach. From the distant vocals that sound so broken down, to the thumping trudging beat, and the synths that seem to never find a resolution, everything in this track paints a bleak picture. Then coupled with the electronic soundscape creates a cold and unwelcoming environment. While Bowie avoids synths during this song, and instead uses guitars, bass, and back up vocals. Bowie’s song sounds far more optimistic. While SutjijoWest’s cover sounds like a cold mechanized walk to the gulag. And what’s more relevant to our modern lives than some cold mechanized environment? Which like previous tracks on this album is a different journey to the same destination.
Now we get to the last song with vocals, Mark LaFountain – Because You’re Young. So with the original the track immediately starts off with some western kind of twangy guitar, and then there’s the glittering synths that flutter in the background. It’s again one of those incredibly upbeat fun songs that leaves the audience demanding an encore. The ending vocals in particular will knock you on your ass. It’s just so well executed, usually when you get to the end of an album, or on the B-side it’s where the creative spark of the artist begins to die. Yet with this song, it still maintains so much potential that it makes you excited to listen to the whole album all over again.
Yet this album is a collaboration, there isn’t any artist fatigue when there’s a collaboration like this. And when you listen to every track you can tell that each and every single artist has poured their everything into it. And Mark LaFountain is no different. While the bass was great in the original track, it’s in this track where the bass really takes off and becomes it’s own. I mean when listening to the original track, I’ve never thought the bass could be improved but God Damn Mark LaFountain has proved me wrong.
Then there’s his vocals. And God Damn this man can sing. Truly if there was a contender for a Bowie vocalist, this guy would be it. Nearly everything in the original has been improved in this track, and I don’t say that lightly. I mean David Bowie was known for being a great Saxophone player and I can imagine him listening to this, and going “Damn I should have played the sax in this song.” Then there’s the synths, guitars, everything is just pure excellence. If Mark LaFountain isn’t on your radar, then you need to readjust your life priorities and listen to this man’s music.
Finally we get to the end of this excellent album, of a collaboration of fantastic musicians with REKKT – It’s No Game (Part Two) [Instrumental]. Now even though the original had vocals, it wouldn’t be insulting to a David Bowie song for their to be an instrumental cover. After all this was a man whose B-side contained some of the greatest instrumentals of all time. And like the rest of the B-sides it departs from the main album by having an almost 50’s feel to it. With great backing vocals, old rock rhythm guitars, etc.
REKKT brings back the abrasive side of Bowie’s album. With a dubstep influence that fits perfectly with the bizarre guitar tones of the rest of the album. With a heavy synth that calls back memories to the Bowie produced Iggy Pop album it’s a great homage, and yet at the same time a great update. There’s one thing to retain an artists music to it’s purist element. But by that time you’re doing nothing more than just being a cover band. Bowie himself was incredibly creative and innovative at nearly every point in his career. By taking such a radical departure from the original source material, and yet at the same time utilizing some aspects that were lost in the source material. REKKT is both departing, and returning, to and from Scary Monsters.
And like I’ve said before this is a creative tribute to the artist who constantly changed his style, look, sound, and image all for the sake of his art. This collaborative effort is both a living monument to Bowie the artist, and to artists everywhere who were inspired by his work. REKKT recognizes this, and by creating an entirely new sound for an old classic, he is honoring Bowie the way he should be honored.
Every single artist on this album should receive nothing short of the highest praise. It takes a lot of balls to do a David Bowie cover. The man never lost his creative edge, and continued creating even when he was battling cancer. Not only did he continue to create but he continued to innovate. So when historians look back at this period of time, Bowie will be seen as something as a Mozart or a Beethoven. Some musical anomaly that happens only once in every generation. An artist who was able to constantly push the boundaries of what it meant to be an artist.
I believe that it’s impossible for any musician to deny David Bowie’s large presence on the music scene. We all have that moment of hero worship when it comes to his vast body of work, and for a group of musicians to create such creative works to honor him is nothing but spectacular.
This is a beautiful album that any Bowie fan should love, and appreciate. It will always remind us of why we fell in love with his music in the first place. And hopefully it will shine a light on the talented artists who did such a great job at honoring a great man. I knew from the moment this album was announced that it was going to be great, and it far exceeded my expectations. You all did a great job, and should be proud of yourselves. You have my sincerest thanks.
And with that I give this album my full recc.
Author fatherartoisPosted on June 27, 2019 Categories ReccsTags breakcore, Cyber Monday, David Bowie, Dead Amps, Depussy, Destination, Electronic, experimental, Foreign technology, Nathan Carlson, REKKT, Scary Monsters, SutajioWest, WaffenSupermarktLeave a comment on Pink Dolphin Presents: Scary Monsters (an electronic tribute)
Pool View: Victory Formation
A song comprised of guitar loops, harmonized screaming, Post Punk basslines, a beat switch up, and a fucking saxophone solo. If you just read that and are thinking to yourself, “How the fuck is this a song?” Well my friend, rest assured you’re normal. Pool View on the other hand is definitely not normal.
Now you may think that I don’t like this track, far from it, I LOVE THIS TRACK. I have no idea how Pool View was able to combine any of these ideas, I have no idea how the formation of this song even came to existence, I have no idea what his influences are, I have no idea how he came up with this song.
This is kind of existentially terrifying for me, as a creative person I can kind of see the gears turning in someone’s head when they release a track. I can kind of pinpoint their influences, see who they borrowed from, what genre they’re paying homage to. Yet with this artist, I can’t.
It’s that full unbridled creativity that draws us into art. When we see something like Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, or even The Matrix. We’re blown away by the vision of its creators. Yet with each of those films, if we are culturally astute we can see the influences of other media. Star Wars is just Flash Gordan mixed with some Akira Kurosawa, Joseph Campbell, and WWII serials. The Lord of the Rings is an amalgamation of European myths. The Matrix is a homage to every sci-fi ever. Etc.
With this little microcosm of a song, maybe you hear a bit of musical influences. For me personally I heard a bit of Red Hot Chili Peppers in the intro. I heard a bit of Hip Hop, Jazz, punk, etc. Yet it’s the fusion of all these elements into something entirely new that astonishes me. It astonishes me because even though it seems familiar, it’s not. It’s like landing on an alien planet. It seems like Earth since it has life, and solid ground. But everything around you is so unfathomably different.
Everybody has heard the announcement that A.I. will eventually be creating music. And nearly every artist, musician, has had to roll their eyes at this statement. Yet for the people who believe in that, could an A.I. come up with a song as original as this? Fuck even 99.99999999% of the population isn’t creative enough to come up with something remotely as original as this.
So if you think that music as an art form is dying. I implore you to checkout this song. It is honestly amazing. It’s the type of song that you listen to, that makes you checkout some of your previous tracks, tracks that you thought were “Too weird,” and forces you to take that creative leap of faith. Because if you don’t, other artists like Pool View will.
Author fatherartoisPosted on June 11, 2019 Categories SinglesTags experimental, Hip hop, Pool View, Victory Formation1 Comment on Pool View: Victory Formation
Meme-Brane: Shriek
So with a name like Meme-brane I kind of expected this album to filled with meme music. Distorted minecraft music, Despacito 2: Electric Boogaloo, the Shrek movie played at .0000003 speed. I was ready to listen to the ear drum melting music of the Zoomer meme generation. Then I saw the cover art. “Hm, maybe there’s something more to this artist,” I thought to myself. And then I listened to it. My jaw dropped down to the floor, and I was blown away.
To begin with it has everything I love in electronic music. It has these bizarre sounds, heavy drums, this cold detached nihilism, layered synths, dirty guitars, etc. When a lot of people say they don’t like electronic music, they usually refer to how artificial it all sounds. That there is no humanity in it aka emotion. And most electronic music sounds like the life has been sucked out of it. This is not the case with Meme-brane. Nearly every track is perfectly arranged, structured, intricate, and meticulously thought out.
So a better comparison for this type of music would be instead of picturing a virtuoso playing a violin in front of a crowd. Imagine an author instead. When you read say, Hemingway, Faulkner, Salinger, or Tolstoy–you know that every single line that is written was written with a purpose. There isn’t a period, comma, or word that isn’t carefully chosen, poured over, and thought through. Even media that is a collaborative effort such as film, envies the ability of authors to single handedly create their own worlds. The modern electronic music producer has the same ability, and listening to Meme-brane you cannot help but feel that this author has complete mastery over his sound.
To start with this album review we have to go to the beginning. The first song n1 is an incredibly intro, and what caused me to be so excited for this album. It has this distorted Brian Eno-esque synth playing. Which is incredibly minimalist, but which serves the song, and as a result the rest of the album.
It’s like when an author starts with an amazing opener, like let’s say, A Tale of Two Cities starting line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That opening line provides so much mystery. You immediately want to know how something so contradictory could take place. If you read more in-depth you realize that this is an excellent foreshadowing, because you know that there is going to be a lot of drama. There are going to be incredible highs, and incredible lows. You know everything this book is going to be about in the very first line. Yet the enjoyment is to see how the author plays this out.
Likewise with this album with the distorted synth mantra being played, the heartbeat that sounds like the electronic pulse of a machine, the swirling distorted pad in the background, and the shimmering keys that are being played. It sounds more like the birth of an electronic beast. Since I’m at the age where everybody is getting married and having kids, there’s nothing a parent loves than hearing the heartbeat of their unborn child. I can’t tell you how many times people have come up to me with their phones and made me listen to their unborn child’s heartbeat. Though instead of a child, an electronic album is being born.
This is where the authorship shines through. This is where where we change from reviewing an album, to reviewing a world. A world that Meme-brane has invented, and immediately from the intro we are thrust into this sense of mystery. This is Meme-brane’s version of, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
So with the next track Exponentialism we see the formation of what this electronic birth has brought us. It immediately begins with where n1 left off at. A seamless transition that rewards the listener for listening to the whole album rather than one song. This bizarre little electronic beat limps along. It’s obviously not strong enough on it’s own, and as listeners, we know that something needs to be added to it. The question is what? And the mystery is how Meme-brane is going to add to this track.
So along comes another beat. That just feels a little off. This syncopation adds this feeling of unease. It’s off balance, something isn’t right. We need a resolution, and when we get bizarre vocal samples. We are still not getting much help. If the beginning was an electronic birth, this song is a struggle for survival. For when we do get music that does provide us with a resolution, it’s harsh, brutal, and violent. The synths are heavy, distorted, so sharp they’d cut your eardrum. The samples are so strange, and alien to us that it’s like the ambient sounds of an alien planet. Then there are the guitars that are so heavy, and distorted they’d make Slayer blush. This is not a peaceful resolution to the mystery we were presented with.
This is the music equivalent of man who wakes up and has amnesia, and when he looks into the mirror, fails to recognize the man looking back at him. Then when he returns to his room, he finds a blood trail, follows it, and finds a murdered woman in his bedroom. We as listeners know that this mysterious sound that Meme-brane has provided for us, is not going to be peaceful. There’s going to be conflict, there is going to be harshness, there is going to be drama, and more importantly there is going to be emotion. Something that every person who doesn’t like electronic music, feels that’s missing in electronic music.
Now the scene has been set. We know the general rules of the album, and the next song Exit Strategy compounds on the ideas that were introduced in the prior song. We’re introduced to that same syncopated drum beat, except this time this sinister synth growls in the background. In terms of say a novel, or a movie. This is the part in the act where we get over the initial shock of the mystery presented before us, and now we’re fully enveloped into the world the creator has presented before us.
This sonic soundscape of a world we listen to is as ominous as it is mysterious. The track ebbs and flows, and has that typical dynamics in music. Yet it’s not played out in a stereotyped manner. Usually when a track gets quiet, it’s more meditative, introspective, emotional, melodic, etc. Yet here in Exit strategy. The music is just filled with this ominous sound. It’s bubbling right beneath the surface. You can hear the building tension, as though a rage is building up inside of you. And then when it finally gets loud, it’s abrasive, harsh, confrontational, and overall beautiful.
Next up we have Three Skinny Sisters which starts off with this incredible drum beat. Personally I love variety when it comes to drumming. Sure, the best thing you can do is create a beat that serves the song. Yet when a drummer knows when to use every tool (or drum kit) at their disposal it creates a different kind of mood. That being said, it creates a mood. With the gate-reverb kind of sound, and tom fill ins. It has this 80’s throwback kind of sound. Mix that in with the basslines you got a groove. So now that there’s an electronic groove going on, what do you do next?
Well seeing as Meme-brane has this authorship going on, and given the previous songs, this isn’t going to be a simple groovy song. We’re already immersed into the world they created so with the introduction of this sinister atonal synth. It creates this ominous sound. Which is only more ominous with the introduction of an arp that is so sharp, so vicious, that it gets your blood pumping. Which culminates in this orgasmic fat thick sounding synth, and at the end a chaotic swarm of shrill synths swarm upon your ears. It’s one thing to create a groove, it’s a whole other matter when it’s sinister.
Next we get to (404) Hope Not Found. Which is probably one of the greatest song titles that has ever been created. I kicked myself as soon as I read it for not coming up with it myself. Even looking at the wave points of this track you’re already hinted at the buildup that will transpire. Nearly every song has this excellent crescendo in rising tension, and how to get you pumped up. Yet it’s in this track that I have to mention the pure creativity of Meme-brane’s sound.
As I’ve mentioned earlier the drums on every track is incredibly well done. Each serving the song, and each providing additional emotional context. Yet it’s in this track where you realize the creativity behind each track. The beat is this amalgamation of drums, distorted synth bass, and metallic hi hats. It’s the fusion of these elements which creates this unique sound. Most artists are comfortable in having a few tools at their disposal and using only those tools. In this track you get an understanding that Meme-brane is not only adept at crafting great music, but at the same time exploring the possibilities within each song. You can imagine Meme-brane tinkering on an individual synth, a cymbal, bass, or whatever to achieve that perfect sound. Experimenting, combining each texture to create something of their own.
So while I’m on the point of experimentation. It’s no surprise that this track has some of the most experimental sounds of the whole album. As as soon as you hear the distorted robotic vocals on (404) Hope not found, you can’t help but smile. It’s the kind of sound that as an artist you see all the time (either as a DAW plug in or guitar pedal), you’ve probably tinkered with it, but have never found the use for. Listening to it so well executed in this track, provides that kind of joy when you realize that a door has been opened. That there are more venues for creativity than you’ve realized.
Now as I’ve said, you have to look at this album through the lens of an author. Any great writer can tell you how to make something dark. So I’ll paraphrase George Lucas, it’s easy to make someone cry, all you have to do is to kill a puppy. That’s easy. Yet it’s the dichotomy between dark and light that creates great art. Or in other words, your audience needs a breather. They need something to lighten the load. Usually in film it’s those comedic moments, or maybe just a comfy introspective page in a book. Something that lightens the mood. Which the next track Angel Grinder does perfectly.
The synths have the complex melodic structure. Which given the previous track is an excellent way to settle your audience down. The complexity offers up an easy way to deescalate the harsh brashness of the previous tracks. While the melody offers up a way to truly lull you into a state of relaxation. Add on to this the soft pads in the background, and you’re already on a new state of chill.
Yet this song is called “Angel Grinder” and we’ve established the Angel. Now we gotta get to the Grinder. There’s this distorted synth, that gets introduced soon after the relaxing synths. It’s not enough to disrupt the peaceful mantra that you’re in, but it’s enough to say it’s not relaxing. Then there’s this ambient noise, a sort of guttural growl of a beat. Which kind of reminds me in those old Survival Horror games, where you find a safe room. There’s always this incredibly chill music that’s being played while at the same time a zombie is staring at you right outside the doorway.
When the beat kicks in, it adds a degree of energy to the track, a sense of momentum. The guttural growl of beat is still audible, but then there’s this clear synth being played, and quickly the guttural groan is gone. Then what is followed is a series of tape loops, glitches, electronic flourishes that pulsate, and flutter around, before finally finishing in this perfect ending. Where all the sounds die down except for that peaceful pad, that creates the ultimate chill atmosphere.
So after the relaxation that was Angel Grinder, we gotta get up, and the next song for that is Factorial. Which has a lot of energy compared to the previous tracks. Either due to tempo, or simply by the way it sounds. While the tracks previous to it, were this bubbling under the surface viciousness, this track is of pure momentum. This track also has some of the best synth structure I’ve heard in a long time. Every synth is made so well, and sounds so radically different from anything I’ve heard that I could write an entire review on them by themselves.
Then there’s the beat. The beat in this track doesn’t come out until a quarter way through. And when it does, it’s not like the rest of the percussion which is always a little bit off beat. It hits on time, and it hits like a truck. It’s an incredibly bass-y kick, that combined with the clear precise sounding synths, distorted guitars, and deep electronic hums all blend well together to create this really enthusiastic sounding song. Which is an incredible feat since nearly every song prior to this was used to create an ominous, vicious, brutal sound, and yet the same tools are being used to create an incredibly upbeat song. You can’t help but admire Meme-brane after listening to this song, for not creating a unique sound, but creating a unique sound that can create so many different emotions.
Next up we have, ArcheTriptych which has one of the most bizarre intros I’ve ever heard. The beat sounds almost like noise music, as it squeals, mutates, and pulsates through. Then the drum beat starts, and then forms the cacophony into harmony. Which as I’ve mentioned before, is something I truly enjoy. It’s always a joy to hear something, in anybody’s work, that sounds so weird and atonal to then morph into a melody, and it’s always fun to figure out how it’s done. In this track it’s mainly accomplished by anchoring the sound to the drumbeat and then add additional instruments.
Then as the track progresses, as the drums play along, the synths stutter and pause, and the guitar’s power chords surge throughout the track. A bizarro kind of groove begins to emerge. Whereas before when a song had a strong groove it had a sinister quality, this track in particular has such a strange and mysterious sound. It’s almost like the music equivalent of finding Cthulhu. Something so alien and foreign that it defies human imagination. When I say I have never heard of anything like this before that is 100% true, and I believe it’s due to Meme-brane’s background in creating Ambient music.
I’ve reviewed plenty of Ambient albums and ambient albums can have some of the most original ideas. Since by it’s nature it’s not tied down to any musical structure, it instead relies on textures, different kinds of sounds to create different kinds of moods. It’s in this track where you see how because Meme-brane had a background in Ambient music, that Meme-brane is able to create such evocative pieces of music. Even the genres that Meme-brane self titled himself after Synthwave, Industrial, Gothic, Breaks, etc. I can’t think of a single artist that is able to create such unique sounding music.
Finally we get to Veil of the Cryptographer. Which immediately shows the ambient influence. With a swirling electronic ambience, and deep growl of a synth, punctuated by a sharp and precise beat. With 8 songs preceding it, you’d think Meme-brane wouldn’t be able to surprise you, yet you’d be wrong. In nearly every song there are key characteristics that carry through. Key sounds that is unmistakably Meme-brane’s sound. Yet there’s always an introduction of either a new instrument, new arrangement, a new subtraction, sample, etc. That always surprises you. You never know what to expect, and with a song that’s 8 minutes long it defies imagination how Meme-brane is able to keep the creative juices flowing for so long.
The best comparison to make is that it’s like reading about an intense weight lifting program from Arnold Schwarzenegger. You hear about how many hours he poured into the gym, the amount of willpower he poured into being the best bodybuilder, and you sit back in awe thinking to yourself how that’s humanely possible. It’s the same principle with Meme-Brane’s creativity. When after 8 songs, and during an 8 minute long song, that Meme-Brane is still able to remain fresh, creative, you cannot help but admire this superhuman power of creativity that Meme-brane has unleashed onto the world.
This album is by far one of the most unique, and interesting sounds I’ve ever come across, and I implore anybody to check it out. For any artist who has writer’s block, listening to one track of Meme-brane, you’ll be able to come up with a thousand new ideas that you never thought was possible. As I said I came into this album review thinking it was meme music, and came out of it blown away. I still have no idea how Meme-brane was able to pull this off, and with that I give this album my full uncontested Recc. You must check this out.
Author fatherartoisPosted on June 2, 2019 June 4, 2019 Categories ReccsTags Ambient, Electronic, experimental, Industrial, Meme-Brane, Shriek, SynthwaveLeave a comment on Meme-Brane: Shriek
Cyber Shaman: Shaman’s Dark Electro vol. IV
There’s a loading screen in Fallout 2 that has always bothered me. It’s a man dressed in tribal clothes–tattoos, face paint, a skull necklace–wearing a Brotherhood of Steel helmet. The game takes place years after a nuclear holocaust. When man is on the brink of extinction. In the first game you encounter the Brotherhood of Steel, after voyaging out in this dark apocalyptic world, they are a breath of fresh air. They seem to be making scientific progress pushing humanity forward, and yet you have this lingering notion that they’re not going to survive. And they don’t.
We live in a time of technological comfort. Where everything is a keyboard stroke of coming true. Yet there is an existential angst that comes with that. What happens if it’s all lost? What happens if we lose it all? Are we all just brute beasts; doped up to forget our base nature?
We can see this conflict play out on Cyber Shaman’s Shaman’s Dark Electro vol. IV. In fact the very first song hints at this dichotomy and the conflict it brings. I mean, with a name like Guerro des son (War of sounds), and even the name “Cyber Shaman” brings about images of two complete opposites. Yet it’s in this dichotomy, that of the organic and that of the synthetic, which we hear throughout the album.
First off, Cyber Shaman is an amazing electronic music producer. I’ve mentioned earlier that musicians tend to lose their identity the more gear they have. Mainly because it causes them to become a jack of all trades and master of none. As a result their music sounds incredibly basic and bland. But not Cyber Shaman. Like a classical music composer Cyber Shaman is able to craft these individual synth textures, each one feeling fresh and unique. It hearkens back to when electronic music was first being made. When musicians threw away the manual to the synthesizer they were using because it was more fun to experiment and create new sounds, rather than use blatantly fake sounding strings. Or better yet, let me show you a clip of David Bowie, because who doesn’t like David Bowie?
Yet I said this album had a dichotomous nature, and I’ve only addressed the electronic side of things. Now let’s get into the organic. Throughout the album there is this amazing percussion, the first track Guerro des son does a great job of preparing the listener for the musical journey that they are going to make. With the bizarro percussion that is put through effects, and yet sounds like a junkyard drum kit. Or better yet, what a drum kit in an apocalyptic nuclear wasteland would sound like. Yes it’s put through a lot of effects, yet you can but hear the hint of tribal-like drumming throughout the album. The later songs compound on this idea, but this track is your first glimpse of what is yet to come.
The next track Renouveau (renewal) captures another aspect of the album that is quite unique to Cyber Shaman. Mainly it’s his ability to warp, and mutate each song. There’s a general sense of fluidity in his sound. Rather than being binary (Chorus, verse, Chorus) each track starts off with a motif only to mutate into something entirely different. And when I say motif, I don’t mean a series of notes that repeat themselves. Rather the motifs in this album are the individual synths and instruments used on each track.
The beginning of Renouveau sounds like you’re going on an underwater exploration. Only for the drums to harshly interrupt that tranquility. Then the track dissolves into this rhythmic electronic kind of seance. With the synths giving out this electronic howls. You can still hear–faintly–the underwater meditative kind of track in the beginning. Yet this track devolves from tranquility to that of anxiety. As though you while exploring deep underwater you encountered a cybernetic Cthulhu.
Now I’ve touched a lot on the percussion of Cyber Shaman, and yes it deserves all the praise it gets. But as I can’t make an argument on something being organic when I only provide one example. So for the next example we go to Attendre si peu (“wait so little” which is what google translate told me, so I’ll stick to it). Immediately it starts of with this guitar strumming, that so clean and then the distorted synths begin to disrupt this period of brief tranquility. The synths no longer sound like synths, they sound like the guttural noises a cybernetic monster would make.
Then as the electronic synths begin to fade away–as though they are low on power–you hear it. This lone trumpet. Which is so soulful, and so perfect for this track.
As I mentioned before there is a certain fear that comes along with technological process. A fear of losing it all. Where our overuse of technology can unleash a nuclear Armageddon, and we revert back to our primal nature. Yet, this is quite an abstract concept for music. After all how can this apply for an electronic music album? Well we can look to Myspace for that. One of the greatest tragedies in all of music is that almost all of it, we’ll never get to hear. Because it wasn’t written down. If you look at the historical epics, and tales of great music being heard, we have no idea what it sounds like. What was Alexander the Great’s favorite song? We’ll never know. What about Jesus, Buddha, Caesar, Cleopatra? What kind of music did they enjoy? We won’t ever know.
Likewise modern musicians find themselves in a similar predicament. We upload our music to streaming sites, hoping that it would be permanent. That maybe one day, somebody will hear it and really enjoy it. Yet as the Myspace fiasco showed us, nothing is permanent.
And nothing captures that kind of existential angst better than Attendre si peu. Where amidst the electronic digital behemoth a lone trumpet plays it’s beautiful siren call. The fact the whole album has this electronic orchestral feel to it, where everything sounds almost foreboding, and tribalistic–and to hear that lone trumpet. It’s an album worth listening to in order. Rather than cherry picking songs, because Cyber Shaman understands how to create music narratives. How to create a sense of consistency, lull the listener into complacency, and then only to surprise them with something so radically different that it becomes incredibly rewarding to find out.
So now that we’ve covered the existential fear of the digital era, now we go on to a different kind of fear. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Now it could be the I’m a nerd, and I like attributing science fiction to album reviews. Yet I cannot but help to bring the comparison to science fiction. Since this album is so electronically layered, and the medium, as they say, is the message.
Immediately the track begins with this electronic rhythmic wailing. As though you are observing an electronic black mass, done by machines. After all spiritualism/religion is a purely human phenomena. I don’t think Koko the Gorilla is really concerned about Gorilla Jesus. Yet there’s some existential angst that comes with the realization that there’s something out there that could become spiritual. For example there’s a certain kind of existential dread about meeting extraterrestrials, but then there’s the existential dread that they know something that we don’t. And their knowledge is so far removed from our grips of comprehension, that we become infinitely small in the universe. Where all religions turn to dust, and everything we believed for thousands of years, disappears within the blink of an eye.
Yet what if a machine becomes spiritual? What does that say about us? Was all of our spirituality merely the firing of neurons between synapses? Nothing more than electrical impulse? And the machines we create can have the exact same experience?
This song in particular hits that existential dread right on the head. As the black mass wails continue, a synth arpeggios along, and we faintly hear a sample. But we can’t make out what exactly it’s saying. Yet it is saying something. To us, it’s mere gibberish. But to the machines in the seance it could be a religious mantra, a black magic spell–anything. For in the time post-human–where all the skyscrapers become archaeological sites–we’ll never know what we’ll be remembered for. And that is a scary thought.
So with that kind of existential dread lingering throughout the album, Cyber Shaman, like any great artist knows when to alleviate that. The next 3 tracks build in an upbeat tone, Ridicule, L’Ordre, and finally to Métal Sucré (Sweet Metal) which is orgasmic to the ears.
Whether it’s the pads in the beginning that swirl around your ears, which is an oh so picturesque of a beginning. It almost begins like a robotic ballroom dance. With the synthetic violin playing this tender, vulnerable melody. It’s the kind of vulnerability you get when falling in love with someone. Where you strip down all the bravado, false assumptions, and get emotionally naked. And then you get actually naked for some baby makin’. Which let’s admit if you’re able to make a tender melody on an electronic instrument, is an impressive feat. Then there’s the actual context of the rest of the album, bordering on this cybernetic nihilism. Hearing this is such a catharsis. But it doesn’t end there.
Then you’re transported to some distant foreign country. The kind that you’d see in Indiana Jones. You know, something like Nepal–where even the people of Nepal think the Nepal of that movie is incredibly foreign to them. This is all propelled by middle eastern instruments, a brilliant percussion that gives the track momentum, synths that bubble in the background, and these beautiful female vocals. It’s the allusion to these cultural motifs, that’s ingrained in our collective unconscious that provides this track with so much momentum. That sense of exploring the unknown, that sense of adventure, the sense of action–which provides this track with so much of a catharsis.
Which is fitting after listening to an album that is so heavily electronic and has such an intense existential kind of atmosphere. I mean, why do we invent new technology? We do it because deep in our hearts, we are all explorers, and we want to know the mysteries of the universe. And we will keep pressing forward, regardless of the hazards, because the rewards are so much greater.
So finally we end with La Toune de la fin. Which begins with this focused synth melody. And when I say focused I mean a warrior’s kind of focus. A steel willed determination, which stands in contrast to the electronic distorted growl in the distance. Yes it’s an incredibly sinister sound, and one that does not provide a resolution. After all does our constant need to push technological limits account for the human condition? No. Yet here these two elements battle out, with amazing drums in the background, and the occasional melancholy piano keys. This is not such a clear cut answer, and I don’t believe Cyber Shaman wants to be resolved on this album.
Overall this album is a must listen for any music fan, or sci-fi nerd. Personally it was inspiring to see the limits of electronic music being pushed into new uncharted territory. And seeing creativity like that on display only drives me to be a better artist. Because these synths, and collage of sounds are something for any music listener to stop, and take a listen to.
So with his ability to create any amazing an electronic orchestra, I give this album my full recc. Please check it out.
Author fatherartoisPosted on May 8, 2019 May 8, 2019 Categories ReccsTags Cyber Shaman, Electronic, experimentalLeave a comment on Cyber Shaman: Shaman’s Dark Electro vol. IV
Jack Goldstein: LOVE, THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN EXISTENCE
There seems to be this line drawn in the sand between what is professional, amateur, and experimental. The amateur attempts to be professional, and when that fails they attempt to be experimental. That’s why there’s a stereotype of the “Film school” Director. That aspiring filmmaker who just can’t make the cut into professionalism, so they instead set their sights low to the experimental side of things.
Then there are the “Professionals” the people who set the standard. And because they set the standard; in their wake they leave behind a trail of imitators. That’s when things get boring. It’s how we get Zack Snyder, Generic Popstar A, B, and C–it’s how we get stasis. In that stasis we forget why we even love the art form that used to be so near and dear to us. If everything is the same, how can it speak to me?
Yet what happens when a professional turns to the experimental? Now that’s an interesting combination. That’s where we get our Kubrick’s, our Picasso’s, our Beatles’ and even our Kanye West. When listening to Jack Goldstein, it is impossible to believe that this person is an amateur. No, this is a professional. Not only is he a professional, but he is a professional in the avant garde.
Now that maybe a strange way to start a review, but I’ve just begun. The first track on this album, LOVE, THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN EXISTENCE, is an abnormal introduction. To begin with it doesn’t start off with the album’s strengths, which are mainly the vocals, until a good 30 seconds into the song. Instead we hear this pulsating ambient noise. This ambience is something strange foreboding, something so foreign and alien, and yet there’s no other way to start this song with a title like LOVE, THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN EXISTENCE. After all if you have an answer, you need a problem. This kind of answer/solution type of sound pops up throughout the album. In this track in particular it works incredibly well.
Why? You might ask. Well the ambient sound is unnatural, or maybe it is natural. It’s hard to tell. Whether it’s some ambient tape loop, some sample slowed down and reverbed out, or maybe just some synth put through some bizarre effects. Either way the droning nature of the noise creates this sort of unease. This introspective kind of feeling that what you’re listening to is unnatural, that it’s not quite the state we should find ourselves in. Yet, we still find ourselves in it. It’s a state of being unable to love. Whether it’s the job that you’re stuck in–all the while dreaming of a career up on the stage. The relationship you’ve settled for–seeing more and more flaws as the days progress. The mundane life you live–all while believing that there just has to be something more. All of these feelings wash over you, and then it happens. The vocal harmonies.
Suddenly you find yourself immersed in these heavenly vocals, while this soothing keyboard lulls your anxieties away. When Jack Goldstein presents a problem, such as the existential angst of modern existence, he’ll provide a solution. All in the span of little over a minute. And we’re just getting started.
WE’RE STARTING OUT is a not only a great song, but a nice segway to review the rest of this album. I mentioned this before that Jack Goldstein isn’t an amateur. There’s an orchestral beginning to this track, with an almost atonal string section. Yet it’s atonality isn’t chaos, rather it sits on the edge of harmony and chaos. Then comes the drums. The drums are so layered, so complex, and so creative; that it almost becomes this jungle kind of sound. The drums and bass of this track forms a foundation for Jack Goldstein to really experiment. There are flourishes of vocal harmonies, samples, keyboard flourishes, it’s got the whole nine yards. These sounds often ebb and flow within the track, providing emotional ups and downs as the track progresses. It’s in this ability to experiment and provide emotional clarity that Jack Goldstein shows off his craftsmanship; and what separates him from the “professionals” and the “amateurs.”
Next we have CINQUE PORTS. I already touched on how talented Jack Goldstein is at creating vocal harmonies, drum beats, samples, etc. But on this track he introduces another layer to his sound. The guitar. Now like I’ve said before, I am a sucker for somebody who knows how to use guitar tones. I’m the type of person who likes to watch people purchase, say, a telecaster and a gibson and watch them jam out. Mainly for entertainment, because I’ve got no life. But the other reason is because almost everybody plays guitar. Throw a stone in a crowd, and you’ll probably hit at least one guitarist. Yet what separates somebody who plays guitar, and somebody who plays guitar (besides the italics) is their ability to know how to craft a certain sound, and thus create a certain feel.
In the beginning you have this trebbly, thin, distant, sounding guitar, which then gets overtaken by this fat sounding trudge of a guitar. Each of these compliment each other, as the sound puts layers upon layers of different guitar sounds. Yet it’s not like listening to Bach, where (and please don’t hurt me) it’s so complex it feels like listening to a math problem. No this is something that you can hum along to.
Even the little glitchiness, cascade of guitar effects, and electronic bleeps and blurps provide little nuances. Kind of like when you’re watching an actor pull off an emotional scene, and the veins on their forehead protrudes, or snot comes out of their nose while they’re crying. While those are actors who are so into the role that they feel the emotion they’re conveying. This kind of emotional flourishes comes not from spontaneity but rather careful planning. After all this was recorded with modern equipment, trying to capture that live kind of sound with all of it’s human elements is incredibly difficult. Yet Jack Goldstein somehow manages to pull it off.
So the next song DUNGENESS does something that is incredible. How do you make a song lighthearted, fun, comfy, all the while being experimental? After all experimental music isn’t known for being upbeat. In fact it’s nearly impossible to find a song that’s experimental and that’s not abrasive. Yet here is DUNGENESS which is probably one of the most upbeat songs I’ve ever heard. How does he do it? Well with a banjo of course!
Now if you’re like me and you hear a banjo two things come to mind: Deliverance and Banjo Kazooie. Which I’m sure a lot of psychologists would have a field day with since one is about male on male sexual assault, and the other is an N64 children’s game featuring a bear and bird. Now this isn’t an instrument one would expect to find in a British avant garde album, yet here we are.
Now why do I bring up this instrument since there are a plethora of other instruments that are probably more important and more prominent in the track? Well as musicians we often find ourselves limited in due to genre, convention, what sells, image, etc. Yet we never really utilize everything that’s within our arsenal. Better yet, imagine being a painter and for some reason you never use the color orange. You paint picture after picture, and then one day you see somebody paint this beautiful painting using orange. It’s that sense of freedom knowing that if one thing is possible, then everything is possible. Which is why even though if you were to take out most of the obscure instruments of the track, and even Jack Goldstein’s father’s monologue, and replace it all with something more conventional–the track wouldn’t be as fun to listen to.
Then we get to BECKON CALL most of the music has been pretty optimistic, or I’d just say fun to listen to. BECKON CALL is when it gets real. It’s the kind of track that I’d imagine being played out in some moody detective movie in the 80’s that never has existed, because no movie during that time has been that good to deserve a song like this. It’s mainly due to the spaghetti western guitar strumming, the moody synths, and gritty trumpet playing. Something that would be playing while the detective is on the third act of his story arc–pours himself a whiskey without the ice–and has ran out of leads. We all know how the story plays out, yet it’s good artists who know just how, when, and why to subvert our expectations to then deliver a twist that everyone will remember. And Jack Goldstein knows when to deliver a good twist.
The sound then devolves into this cacophony of what sounds like Modern Jazz and then gets overwhelmed by this electronic swarm and then…You’re cruising. The sound develops into this moody kind of groove. That kind of groove you get when you’re in the zone, when you get over your two left feet, and dance in harmony with that beautiful girl in the club. And this isn’t some bump and grind kind of dancing–this is that soulful, baby making, take this girl home to mom but don’t tell her where you met her, kind of dancing.
Then the last piece of the song is a triumphant rock track. Something you could imagine Led Zeppelin playing sold out arenas towards. Which judging from the previous descriptions of this track you probably weren’t expecting. And I wasn’t expecting either, this track has more twists, and turns than a soap opera. Yet narratively speaking it all works. Kind of like when you watch a really good movie and they play a rock track, because the people who made the movie know it’s good, and know there’s reason to celebrate.
Which brings us to the last song, GHOST SIGN. THIS is how you end an album. The instrumentation feels like a college football team’s anthem, and it’s that sense of victory that this track ends with. Because after all listening to this album, you can’t help but feel that Jack Goldstein has accomplished something special here. Not since Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper has an album sounded so experimental and yet at the same time accessible. This isn’t an album to listen to, it’s an album to lose yourself to, to immerse yourself in the experience, and understand what pop music is capable of.
I said when reviewing this album that I haven’t heard any British music that’s been submitted to me that’s sounded bad. But GOD DAMN I didn’t expect it to sound this good either. This album comes out May 12th, and I URGE YOU TO BUY IT. I’m not getting paid for this, and there’s no benefit for me to shill this album. Yet I can’t help but want to show this to as many people as possible.
So undeniably this album gets my recc, and BUY THE ALBUM. This album NEEDS to be on your radar, because if it’s not you’re missing out, and there’s nothing worse than missing out.
Author fatherartoisPosted on April 20, 2019 April 20, 2019 Categories ReccsTags British, experimental, Jack Goldstein, Jungle, Pop, RockLeave a comment on Jack Goldstein: LOVE, THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN EXISTENCE
Ryan Deranged: Deranged EP
There’s been this kind of desire in music for awhile now. It’s like when Kurt Cobain said, that he wanted his band to be vicious like Black Flag, heavy like Black Sabbath, while poppy and melodic like the Beatles. While other bands had done it–specifically Husker Du and the Pixies–it was that unconscious idea that was brought up to the mainstream that made them the overnight success that they were.
Now hip hop kind of has that same kind of unconscious desire: to sound heavy like metal, to have the viciousness of punk, the nostalgia of vaporwave, and the instrumentation of electronic music. That’s kind of why, regardless of what Kanye does, music lovers can never really fault him. I mean how often does a hip hop track sound Psychedelic?
So what do unconscious desires have to do with Ryan Deranged’s album, Deranged EP? Simple it fulfills the desires you never knew you had.
So let’s dive into the first track of Deranged EP, Hamartia. In Soundcloud rap, the Navi sample, “Hey” in Ocarina of Time is kind of a staple. I mean I even have the Skull Kid’s laugh in one of my songs. If there’s ever a debate on whether someone is an industry plant or not; if one of their early songs doesn’t feature an N64 Zelda reference, then they’re probably a plant. Yet also the reason I point out this sample, is because it gives the track a really needed levity. What I mean by that is that there are hip hop groups that are experimenting with heavier, darker sounds; bands like Death Grips, $uicideBoy$, or GHOSTMANE. Yet I wouldn’t say those groups are “fun” in the way that Ryan Deranged is fun.
The best analogy I can come up with is picture punk rock, all the earnest bands singing about Anarchy, getting fucked up, social upheaval, and political views delivered with a sneer and sarcastic lyrical delivery. Then imagine the Misfits, who wore makeup to look like Ghouls in their devil locked hair, singing about B-movie horror movies, and Jaqueline Kennedy giving blow jobs. While the punk groups seem like outsiders with outsider opinions, who are abrasive, edgy, and do controversial shit to do controversial shit. The Misfits seem more like the class clown, and let’s be honest a class clown is always more preferable than an edgelord.
So Ryan Deranged has an incredibly “fun” kind of approach to what other bands have doing. As mentioned before the Navi sample, combined with the dirty synths that aren’t abrasive, the sword slice samples, and the distorted laugh sample. All of these individual elements builds up a track that is just sounds fun.
Now that I’ve kind of set the stage, let’s dive into the rest of the album. Chaos, has some amazing bars. The flow is absolutely on point–in fact let’s say that the sound isn’t your cup of tea. Anybody can admire a virtuoso even if they have no idea what is going on. I know nothing about soccer. I just know that you gotta get the ball in the goal. Yet if you were to show me a compilation of the greatest soccer plays ever made, I would be impressed. The same I would say for Ryan Deranged, even though he goes out on a limb with a unique sound, he at least has some virtuosity that even a casual listener of hip hop can respect. So with the imagery, as I described in his track on Hamartia, this track really embraces the fun of this kind of hip hop. With violins that sound like something that would be played on an early N64 horror game, distorted heavy synths, HEAVY 808’s, and glitchiness of some aspects of the track; it’s so over the top that it becomes enjoyable.
The next track If you don’t know now you know, sounds more like a cheesy video game boss kind of music, and I mean that in the best way. With the looped distorted laughter, brevity of the track, and that same signature distortion. It’s over before you know it, and the same applies for Opus Dei. Which again calls back to punk, where the Ramones would play 20 songs in 30 minutes or 30 songs in 20 minutes. With this whole album being under 10 minutes it’s really a breeze to listen through. Not just because of it’s length, but also due to the fact that the sound always manages to surprise you, while still sticking within Ryan Deranged’s sound. It’s such a unique sound that every synth, every 808, and every sample seems novel. In having this fully fleshed out style, played out in such a short amount of time, that it’s incredibly rewarding to listen to. After all Shakespeare said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” The songs by being shorter, keep all the bullshit out, and just focus on what matters–the music.
So with the last track, Babylon–which opens up with same amazing samples that call back some Sci-Fi Horror movie–it’s the best summary of what this whole album is. While most of soundcloud rap that’s experimental try to be abrasive, shocking, emo, and political; Ryan Deranged goes a different approach, and one that should be further explored in this genre of hip hop. Because if you try to be abrasive, shocking, emo, political, etc. all it needs is somebody to take the piss out of you, for everybody to see your music as schlocky. So when this album, that sounds like a video game Boss’ EP, embraces this campy sound–it adds something that is needed for this type of experimental Hip Hop to survive. Fun.
So I can’t give this album enough reccs. You gotta check it out for yourself. It’s the kind of album that everybody didn’t know they needed to hear, until they’ve heard it. With that I give this album my full recc.
Author fatherartoisPosted on April 7, 2019 Categories ReccsTags cloudrap, experimental, Hip hop, ryan derangedLeave a comment on Ryan Deranged: Deranged EP
Noisemad Succeeds to Impress
This post was written by The Scratch King you can follow him on twitter, instagram, and soundcloud.
It’s hard to make a good impression in a short amount of time, especially in the dog-eat-elephant world of underground music in 2019. That is, unless you’re Noisemad, fresh off the release of his new Deadcity EP. Three tracks in length, the project wastes no time submerging listeners in an ocean of polished production, aptly coupled with harsh, unrelenting lyrics. This is clearest on the intro track, “Meat Wagon,” which features a John Carpenter-esque key melody alongside a screamed refrain. It’s a powerful sonic package that’s hard to ignore. Noisemad doesn’t let up as the runtime continues, delivering equally razor-sharp lyrics through the second and third tracks, Red Light District and Wanted.
Coming in at about seven minutes, Deadcity EP is a quick but intense listen worth hearing.
Recc/10
Author fatherartoisPosted on March 5, 2019 March 7, 2019 Categories ReccsTags experimental, Harsh, Hip hop, Noise mad, The Scratch KingLeave a comment on Noisemad Succeeds to Impress
Johnnascus Questions Everything
In the microcosm of independently-released music, it’s all too common for relatively average projects to be erroneously labeled as experimental. Texas-based rapper/producer Johnnascus’ most recent release, Identity Crisis, is not one of these projects. Identity Crisis is an EP bursting with otherworldly bridges and authentic eccentricity, with genres within ranging from noise, to metal, to rap and even gaps of ambient. Johnnascus himself shows tremendous vocal range, bringing servings of screams, singing at a variety of pitches, and everything in between.
The first track, “Question Everything,” features a monologue setting the stage for the rest of the project, detailing meditation interrupted by an existential crisis. Playing out against a backdrop of haunting key melodies from producer Sleepy Randy, the track explodes into a stunning bevy of layered percussion and vocals. Similarly aggressive tracks can be found throughout the 36-minute runtime, including “My (A)sexuality” (prod. by Bruhmanegod), “Sad Satan LSD” (prod. By Bruhmanegod), and the self-produced “Gen Z.” The track listing here has no shortage of softer, more melodically-minded cuts either, including “2am,” with a stream-of-consciousness vocal flow that soars alongside a gorgeously mixed synth instrumental.
Identity Crisis is what so many projects dream to be: cathartic, polished, even unsettling. For any fan of music that doesn’t color inside the lines, it’s worth a listen.
Bigrecc/10
Author fatherartoisPosted on March 3, 2019 March 7, 2019 Categories ReccsTags experimental, Hip hop, Identity Crisis, Johnnascus, rap, The Scratch KingLeave a comment on Johnnascus Questions Everything
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SEC, NASAA, and FINRA Issue Senior Safe Act Fact Sheet to Help promote Greater Reporting of Suspected Senior Financial Exploitation
In recognition of the one-year anniversary of the passage of The Senior Safe Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have issued a fact sheet to help raise awareness among broker-dealers, investment advisers, and transfer agents of the Act and how the Act’s immunity provisions work.
The Senior Safe Act Fact Sheet provides information on the immunity and training provisions of the Act, as well as additional resources from the SEC, NASAA, and FINRA.
The Senior Safe Act was included as Section 303 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law on May 24, 2018. The Act addresses barriers financial professionals face in reporting suspected senior financial exploitation or abuse to authorities. Specifically, the Act protects “covered financial institutions” – which include investment advisers, broker-dealers, and transfer agents – and their eligible employees, affiliated persons, and associated persons (“eligible employees”), from liability in any civil or administrative proceeding for reporting a case of potential exploitation of a senior citizen to a covered agency. As an example, this immunity can be helpful when a firm wants to report potential exploitation but fears that the report could violate a privacy requirement.
The immunity established by the Act is provided on the condition that employees receive training on how to identify and report exploitative activity against seniors before making a report. In addition, reports of suspected exploitation must be made “in good faith” and “with reasonable care.” This immunity applies to individuals and firms.
“Financial professionals can provide a critical frontline role in identifying and reporting senior financial exploitation,” said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. “The SEC strongly encourages broker-dealers and investment advisers to train their personnel in accordance with the Senior Safe Act. We also encourage all investors, including our most vulnerable, to ensure they are dealing with a registered investment professional.”
“In reminding broker-dealers and investment advisers of the Senior Safe Act’s important immunity provisions, we hope to encourage firms to train their employees on how to detect and report suspected senior financial exploitation. Early detection and reporting are critical to help prevent elder financial abuse and the devastating financial and emotional impacts that ensue,” said Michael S. Pieciak, NASAA President and Vermont Commissioner of Financial Regulation.
“Protecting senior investors has long been a top priority for FINRA,” said FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook. “The Senior Safe Act seeks to empower financial professionals to detect and report cases of suspected abuse of senior investors and we believe it is important to broaden awareness and understanding of the Act throughout the securities industry.”
The Senior Safe Act Fact Sheet is available on the SEC’s website, NASAA’s website, NASAA’s Serve Our Seniors website, and FINRA’s website.
About the SEC:
The mission of the SEC is to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation. The SEC strives to promote a market environment that is worthy of the public's trust.
About NASAA:
Formed in 1919, NASAA is the non-profit association of state, provincial, and territorial securities regulators in the United States, Canada and Mexico. NASAA has 67 members, including the securities regulators in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. NASAA’s U.S. members are responsible for administering state securities laws, commonly known as “Blue Sky Laws.” For more information, visit: www.nasaa.org.
About FINRA:
FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity. It regulates one critical part of the securities industry – brokerage firms doing business with the public in the United States. FINRA, overseen by the SEC, writes rules, examines for and enforces compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws, registers broker-dealer personnel and offers them education and training, and informs the investing public. In addition, FINRA provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry utilities. FINRA also administers a dispute resolution forum for investors and brokerage firms and their registered employees. For more information, visit www.finra.org.
202-551-4125 news@sec.gov
Bob Webster, Director of Communications
202-737-0900 | bw@nassa.org
Angelita Plemmer Williams
Director, Media Relations, FINRA
Senior Safe Act Fact Sheet
The Senior Safe Act became federal law on May 24, 2018.[1] The Senior Safe Act does not mandate any action by financial institutions and regulators. However, for financial institutions and certain eligible employees (discussed below), affiliated persons, and associated persons (“eligible employees”), who satisfy its requirements, the Senior Safe Act provides immunity from liability in any civil or administrative proceeding for reporting potential exploitation of a senior citizen. As an example, this immunity can be helpful when a firm wants to report potential exploitation but fears that the report could violate a privacy requirement. This Fact Sheet provides general information regarding the Senior Safe Act with the goal of educating financial institutions and employees about the benefits of the Act.[2]
What is the Senior Safe Act?
The Senior Safe Act protects “covered financial institutions”[3] – which include investment advisers, broker-dealers, and transfer agents – and their eligible employees, from liability in any civil or administrative proceeding in instances where those employees make a report about the potential exploitation of a senior citizen (defined as not younger than 65 years) to a covered agency.[4] The immunity established by the Senior Safe Act is provided on the condition that (1) certain employees (discussed below) receive training on how to identify and report exploitative activity against seniors before making a report, and (2) reports of suspected exploitation are made “in good faith” and “with reasonable care.” This immunity applies to eligible employees and firms, but the requirements differ slightly, as discussed below.
The inspiration for the Senior Safe Act was Maine’s Senior$afe training program, an initiative launched in 2014 by the Maine Council on Elder Abuse Prevention that is designed to train financial professionals to detect and report cases of suspected senior financial abuse.
What types of employees are eligible for immunity under the Senior Safe Act?
An employee who serves as a supervisor or in a compliance or legal function (including as a Bank Secrecy Act officer), for a covered financial institution; OR
A registered representative, investment adviser representative, or insurance producer affiliated or associated with a covered financial institution.
What types of employees must be trained to receive the immunity provided by the Senior Safe Act?
The Senior Safe Act does not mandate that any employees be trained. However, to qualify for the immunity provided by the law, training must be provided to and completed by the employees who are eligible for immunity (see above) and those employees who may come into contact with a senior citizen as a regular part of their professional duties or may review or approve the financial documents, records, or transactions of a senior citizen in connection with providing financial services to a senior citizen.
What are the training requirements under the Senior Safe Act?
The Senior Safe Act provides that, to receive the immunity provided by the Act, the training must: (1) instruct any individual attending the training on how to identify and report the suspected exploitation of a senior citizen internally and, as appropriate, to government officials or law enforcement authorities, including common signs that indicate the financial exploitation of a senior citizen; (2) discuss the need to protect the privacy and respect the integrity of each individual customer of the covered financial institution; and (3) be appropriate to the job responsibilities of the individual attending the training.
How soon must employees be trained to receive the immunity provided by the Senior Safe Act?
For current employees, affiliated persons, and associated persons, as soon as reasonably practical. New employees or persons who become affiliated or associated with a covered financial institution have no later than one year from the date of hire, affiliation, or association to complete the training.
What records of training must be maintained?
Records of employees who completed the training and the content of the training must be maintained by the covered financial institution and made available to a covered agency with examination authority over the covered financial institution, upon request, except that a covered financial institution shall not be required to maintain or make available such content with respect to any individual who is no longer employed by or affiliated or associated with the covered financial institution.
How do the requirements for “individual immunity” and “institutional immunity” differ?
An eligible employee who has received the training and makes a disclosure to a covered agency in good faith and with reasonable care receives individual immunity pursuant to the Senior Safe Act. A covered financial institution also receives institutional immunity when an eligible employee makes a disclosure to a covered agency and all employees have received training to the extent necessary to qualify for immunity under the Senior Safe Act.
Does the immunity provided by the Senior Safe Act allow for contacting third parties?
No, the qualified immunity established by the Senior Safe Act applies only to disclosures made by a covered financial institution or an employee of such institution to a “covered agency,” not a third party.
Where can I find additional information?
SEC Resources:
SEC Seniors webpage
NASAA Resources:
Serve Our Seniors website
FINRA Resources:
FINRA’s Senior Investors webpage
Regulatory Notice 17-11, SEC Approves Rules Relating to Financial Exploitation of Seniors (March 2017)
FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors: 844-57-HELPS (844-574-3577)
FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors webpage
Report on the FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors (December 2015)
Protecting Seniors From Financial Exploitation (April 25, 2018)
FINRA Investor Alerts
[1] The Senior Safe Act, which was included as Section 303 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, was signed into law on May 24, 2018.
[2] This document should not be construed as providing legal advice.
[3] The Senior Safe Act defines the term “covered financial institution” as credit unions, depository institutions, investment advisers, broker-dealers, insurance companies, insurance agencies, and transfer agents.
[4] The Senior Safe Act defines the term “covered agency” to include a state financial regulatory authority (including a state securities regulator or law enforcement authority and a state insurance regulator); a state or local adult protective services agency; the SEC; an SEC-registered national securities association (e.g., FINRA); a federal law enforcement agency; or any Federal agency represented in the membership of the Financial Institutions Examination Council.
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Ghana And The Road To Nigeria By Pius Adesanmi
To the accompaniment of Phil Collins’s “That’s Just the Way it is”
by Sahara Reporters Dec 24, 2010
Dear Ghana,
Last week, you officially became a very important country in world geo-politics as you joined the league of oil-producing countries. The first gush of oil came after a ceremony attended by President John Atta Mills. I would have advised President Atta Mills and every member of Ghana’s leadership to travel to a village called Oloibiri in Nigeria and read what is written on the withered foreheads of the villagers before pumping that epochal first drop of oil in Ghana. It would have been a sobering learning experience for them. Anyway, welcome to the world of Nigeria, Angola, and Gabon. Now that you are no longer just a backyard producer of cocoa and gold, you will begin to notice significant shifts in how you are treated by the international community - defined as the countries of Western Europe and America. You see, in international relations, all men were not created equal. The rule here is Orwellian: the owner of black gold is infinitely more equal than the owner of gold and cocoa. Don’t even mention groundnut sellers like Senegal. They are not on the radar and will not be until the Americans discover in the future that groundnut contains ingredients that could cure obesity. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
Here are the early indications of your new status that you must watch out for: you will be promoted from occasional spectator status to enhanced spectator status during G8 and G20 summits; President Atta Mills will be invited to Washington in the first quarter of 2011 on a grand state visit and White House chefs will be taught to prepare gourmet kenkey; your Ambassador in Washington will suddenly become a very important man and will begin to receive lots of invitations to White House diners much to the displeasure of Nigeria and South Africa; your Ambassador will soon become the Dean of the African diplomatic corps in Washington. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
Hillary Clinton will now regularly mention a special relationship that has always existed between Ghana and the USA in her speeches - her speechwriters will arrange for more than 50% of African Americans to trace their root to a village near the Akosombo dam in 2011. Luckily, African Americans tend to discover and locate their roots wherever the wind of augury is blowing in Africa. Many of them discovered their Zulu and Xhosa ancestry when South Africa was the talk of the town in 1994. Oprah Winfreh may now announce that she is no longer of Zulu heritage but her ancestors were actually proud Akan warriors. And the brand new Reverend Al Sharpton Okomfo Anokye Junior may announce an emotional trip home to his roots in Kumasi. Hillary Clinton may start carrying a kente handbag in her public appearances; President Obama may now suddenly remember that his father’s family actually migrated from Ghana to Kenya sometime in the 19th century; some lunatic Republican Senator may declare loudly in Congress: “we are all Ghanaians!” People from Guyana in South America should expect their enlightened American neighbours or colleagues at work to say: “hey buddy, I heard that your African country now has oil. Good for ya!” That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
There is more: before the middle of 2011, the State Department will suddenly discover an old memo recommending the construction of a bigger and more functional American embassy in Accra that will rival the embassies in Baghdad and Kabul in size; before the end of 2011, AFRICOM commanders will recommend the establishment of a major Accra substation and Green Zone to pre-emptorily break the linkages between Ghanaian terrorists and their newly-discovered Ashanti relatives in the rugged regions of Yemen, Pakistan, and Afghanistan; China, as usual, will do her job more quietly and effectively than the noisy Americans to make sure that your black gold comes under the red flag and not the star-spangled banner. In other words, you own that oil the way a child in Africa is said to own a goat that he feeds and cares for only to discover the true owner of the goat the day it is slaughtered and he gets the entrails while the elders in the compound feast on the real meat. Somewhere between America and China, you will soon know who the real owners of the oil are. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
For now, the oil companies running the show are unknown British and American quantities called Tullow Oil Plc and Kosmos Energy LLC. Exxon Mobil is said to have sniffed around like a dog and walked out on a deal to buy Kosmos Energy’s share of the new booty in Ghana. That is because it is still morning yet in Ghana’s oil destiny. Don’t worry. ExxonMobil will be back. They always come back. The other big boys will also descend on Ghana once they secure China’s permission: BP, Shell, Chevron, Total Elf, and ConocoPhillips. I’m afraid the arrival of all these people will mark the official end of the independence you got in 1957. They will establish and run parallel governments in Accra complete with their own sovereign armed forces that will have the right to shoot down your citizens in broad daylight if they are deemed obstacles to pipelines. Henceforth, no one will win presidential elections in Ghana without their say-so. Five years from now, watch out for Wikileaks’s release of conversations between the American Ambassador in Accra and the CEOs of these Western oil companies. They will talk about Ghana’s president like an obedient school boy. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
My dear Ghana, please do not be distracted by these little things. Washington, Beijing, and the oil companies are the least of your problems. Your real problem now is Abuja. I am sure you know that little story about the road to hell being infinitely more attractive than the road to salvation? Hell, for you Ghana, is Abuja. Abuja is inhabited by an irresponsible political rulership that has done with Nigeria’s oil everything you should not do with your own oil. Whatever you do, do not take the road to Abuja with your oil. It is a sure road to perdition. You want to make sure you go the way of the United Arab Emirates with your oil. I am writing, therefore, to help you develop an early warning signal based on the colour codes developed by the Americans in the age of terrorism. The mechanism I am advocating will help you determine how dangerously close to Abuja you are at any point and quickly retrace your steps. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
You need to pay attention to the language of your citizens. The fumes of oil are worse than the fumes of alcohol. Oil inebriates in a far more lethal fashion. Your citizens may start using words, phrases, and sentences hitherto unknown in Ghanaian English. Monitor and police them closely. When regular Joes, sorry, regular Mensahs, suddenly begin to gather in Kwame Nkrumah Circle or Labadi beach in Accra to talk about “resource control”, that is bad news. Not good at all. You should put your warning signal in code yellow when this happens. From resource control, your politicians and public officials may suddenly begin to make a lot of noise about “onshore” and “offshore” dichotomy. When you begin to hear talk like that, put your alarm system in code orange. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
Watch your parliamentarians. They are not unaware of what their irresponsible counterparts are doing in the National Assembly in Abuja. It’s just that cocoa and gold could not in any way have guaranteed parity of extravagance with Abuja. Now that there is oil, parliamentary discourse in Accra may suddenly be exclusively reduced to the following keywords: estacode, upward budget review, upward contract review, supplementary appropriation, constituency projects, hardship allowances, newspaper allowances, furniture allowances, recharge card allowances, convoy allowances, renovation allowances, anticipatory approvals. I pity and fear for the Cedi. She will become an endangered species in the language of your politicians and government officials once the petrodollars begin to flow. They will carry out all their transactions in dollars and frown whenever Cedis are mentioned. They may begin to stash raw dollar bills in the presidential Castle in Accra. When all this happens, you are still in code orange. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
Watch out for the big brother and giant of Africa disease. It is worse than HIV/AIDS and has no cure. You see, oil is at once sociology and pathology. Behind every irresponsible national elite in Africa there is plenty of oil. And you must know that Nigeria’s national elite may be the king of irresponsibility, they have no monopoly over it. Your politicians and the new oil elite in Accra may forget that there is still hunger in Ho and Hohoe and begin to ship loads of dollars to places like Chad, Guinea, Niger Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Gambia, Mauritania, the Congos, and Sierra Leone. Rivalry with Nigeria being an ever-present stimulus, they may get ambitious and begin to fund every peacekeeping operation in the continent. They may even begin to tell ECOWAS and the AU that Ghana’s problem is not money but how to spend it. When this happens, Ghana is already in the outskirts of Abuja, approaching downtown Abuja at breakneck speed. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
If you want to travel the big brother route with your new petrodollars, you must always remember that no matter how much you give in aid to fellow African countries, your citizens will be the first to be stereotyped and spat upon when they visit those recipient countries. Well, you already know how you treat Nigerians in Ghana these days so we are not in strange territory here. And you know that our friends in South Africa now see a makwerekwere in every Nigerian despite millions of petrodollars sunk into the anti-apartheid struggle by Nigeria. Very soon, our friends in Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya will erect airport showers to disinfect the Nigerians they grudgingly allow into those countries after frisking worse than any indignity an African could suffer in a Euro-American airport. And remember that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ran to Washington to thank them for money and limbs that Nigeria lost while preserving her country even as the unconcerned Americans watched the carnage on TV with their hamburgers and budweisers in hand, between the NBA and the Super Bowl. It is not certain that Mama in Monrovia even remembers that Abuja spent the money to defend and later patch up her country, not Washington. Those are the little indignities of big brotherhood in Africa that you must be prepared for as you begin to flex some muscle with your oil. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
You want to ensure that things do not reach code red by which time your citizens will be talking of MEER – Movement for the Emancipation of Every Region. Somewhere above the cacophony of Kalashnikovs, a stupid oil billionaire may even announce publicly to Ghanaians that he does not know what to do with the five hundred million dollars he just made in profit from the sale of a single oil block. Once you get to this stage, it is too late. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.
Pius Adesanmi
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Posted by Steven Greffenius in Law and Society
Confederate monuments, Silent Sam, University of North Carolina
Silent Sam at the University of North Carolina is no more a symbol of white supremacy than is a statue of pilot Charles Lindbergh or philosopher Martin Heidegger. Moreover, motives of the people who commissioned the statue are irrelevant to its significance, in the same way an author’s purpose in writing a piece of literature is entirely irrelevant to its meaning for current readers. In their claim that statues erected during the first few decades of the twentieth century stand for racist attitudes, because the people who commissioned them had racist aims in view, the left has cooked up a factitious argument disguised as history.
What counts is the mix of symbolic meanings Confederate monuments hold for the people who view them now. Positive, negative, or mixed memories of the Ku Klux Klan may affect some people, but have small significance for others. The same goes for all the other threads of history that lead communities across the south to commemorate the Lost Cause, or those who fought for it. As in most wars, young men went off to join bands of brothers, and they died for loyalty to them. To commemorate their loyalty is not a horrible thing to do. It is a good thing.
The other side of the argument is that every generation decides which public monuments to preserve, and which monuments to store away. If members of a family dislike a portrait of a patriarch because he murdered his brother in a feud, they can discuss the matter, and remove the painting from above the fireplace. The same goes for a public square. People ascribe meaning to symbols in different ways, and they weigh those meanings differently. People generally try to respect these variations in judgment, too.
Apparently respect does not apply in the movement to remove Confederate monuments. The people active in this movement use persuasion only as an afterthought. Instead, they use force, vandalism, threats, intimidation, and every kind of aggressive behavior they can devise to have their way. Perhaps that is just the way we practice politics and exercise power these days. The same thuggish behavior evident on so many campuses spills over to the campaign to remove monuments.
As efforts to make these monuments anathema gather strength, others who want to preserve memories of the Confederate struggle object. Then you hear arguments about hundred-year-old motives, when those arguments could have been developed at any point during the last century. The arguments become useful only when removers need some history at hand to defend the indefensible.
Critical arguments about why monuments to the Confederacy do not belong in our public spaces are not a problem. No argument intended to persuade is ever out of bounds, no matter how weak or mistaken it might be. What is out of bounds? Taking statues down by force in the middle of the night, because your arguments fail to persuade: that is out of bounds. The University of North Carolina’s board of trustees decides which monuments appear on campus. If you cannot persuade the board of trustees to remove Silent Sam, you have to figure out non-coercive ways to advance your argument. You cannot form a band of vigilantes to do what you like. That is not how we operate in a republic.
If I am the UNC chancellor, I set Silent Sam back on his pedestal, alarm the base with an alert that goes to campus security, and expel students who try to damage it or take it down. I seek approval for these actions from the board of trustees, and explain them to students. Let vandals explain to their parents why, instead of a tuition payment, they need money to bail them out, because the university has filed a complaint against them for destruction of public property. Now your son or daughter, who went to school to learn something about civility and clear thought, needs an attorney, who can help your student explain to a judge why criminal behavior is justified in this case.
Instead, reports are that the trustees plan to put Silent Sam in storage somewhere. Mark another victory for the anti-fascist goons. No trustee wants a so-called student who insinuated his way into the university, then destroyed a monument because it seemed like a good thing to do, to accuse him of racism. That is the everlasting whip modern guardians of morality hold in every contest of this type: we accuse you as a white supremacist if you do not give your ground, and do as we demand. Try to resist us, and we will ruin you. So far, the campaign to remove Confederate monuments has thrived on this kind of implicit threat.
The common charge against the vandals is that they want to erase history. That is not the problem. As indicated above, if each generation has authority to select monuments they want to view, each generation can also interpret history to suit its own self-conception. The problem is that with its reliance on coercion and intimidation, vandals have brought primitive barbarism to public spaces. In that way, they collaborate with Neo-Nazi white nationalists, who stand ready with torches and clubs to protect the monuments.
What counts is the mix of symbolic meanings Confederate monuments hold for the people who view them now. Memories of the Ku Klux Klan may affect some people, but have small significance for others. The same goes for all the other threads of history that lead communities across the south to commemorate the Lost Cause, or those who fought for it. As in most wars, young men went off to join bands of brothers, and they died for loyalty to them. To commemorate their loyalty is not a horrible thing to do. It is a good thing.
Apparently respect does not apply in the movement to remove Confederate monuments. The people active in this movement use persuasion only as an afterthought. Instead, they use force, vandalism, threats, intimidation, and every kind of aggressive behavior they can devise to have their way. The same thuggish behavior evident on so many campuses spills over to the monument removal campaign. As efforts to make these monuments anathema gather strength, others who want to preserve memories of the Confederate struggle object. Then you hear arguments about hundred-year-old motives, when those arguments could have been developed at any point during the last century. The arguments become useful only when removers need some history at hand to defend the indefensible.
If I’m the board of trustees, I set Silent Sam back on his pedestal, alarm the base with an alert that goes to campus security, and expel students who try to damage it or take it down. Let them explain to their parents why, instead of a tuition payment, they need money to bail them out, because the university has filed a complaint against them for destruction of public property. Now junior needs an attorney, who costs far more than textbooks.
Confederate soldiers and their families are not villains, either now or in history. Vandals who pull down monuments to their memory are.
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Saleh Mamon
In memory of Sarah O’Connor, a victim of the Windrush scandal.
September 24, 2018 Saleh Mamon Leave a comment
Sarah’s death should not pass without us condemning the horror of the ‘hostile environment’ policy set up by Theresa May
Sarah O’Connor, one of the most prominent victims of the Windrush scandal, was found dead at her home on Sunday 16 Sept. She was just 57 year old- by all accounts this is a life cut short in this day and age when females from all ethnicities on the average live well into their seventies or eighties. With its pre-occupation with Brexit, her death has gone largely unnoticed by the main stream media except for the report in the Guardian whose correspondent Amelia Gentleman has assiduously followed the Windrush cases and brought the whole issue to the forefront only to be buried politically by clever public relations by the government in declaring an annual national Windrush Day on 22 June and the replacement of Amber Rudd by Sajid Javid as Home Secretary.
The coroner’s finding are expected to report death by natural cause but the key question is the extent to which her cruel treatment affected her health leading to an early death. Many would argue that this question is unanswerable and to an extent this is true but let us just consider the facts of her case. She migrated to Britain from Jamaica in 1967 at the age of six. She attended primary and secondary school here, worked continuously, at times for Ford in Dagenham and in retail, paid her taxes and national insurance, held a driving licence and voted in general elections. Having been married for 17 years to a British citizen, she has four children all of whom have British passports.
Her difficulties began in the summer of 2017 when she lost her job in a computer shop where she had worked for 16 years. She applied for a number of new jobs and was successful but unable to take up the posts because her employers asked her for a British passport, which she did not have. Having no other choice, she applied for benefits at the job centre to meet her needs but she was told that she was not eligible. She was asked by the benefits agency to prove she was in the country legally.
Conversely, an official decision was taken to categorise her as someone who was in the country illegally. In March this year, with no income from a job or any social security benefits, she was facing bankruptcy. She had to sell her car and ask her daughter for financial help to pay the rent and buy food. From the beginning of this year, she was so worried that she was afraid to open her front door for fear that bailiffs arrive to remove her possessions or immigration enforcement arresting her for deportation. She told Amelia Gentleman that “I can’t get another job without proving I’m legal and I can’t get the documents to do that. The stress of it is making me ill. When the doorbell goes I worry if it’s not the debt enforcers it’s going to be the immigration people, telling me I don’t belong here and trying to send me back to a country I don’t know”.
Her daughter, Stephanie O’Connor, saw how badly the immigration problems had affected her mother. She said “It made her very unhappy. I saw a complete change in her. She wasn’t the same mum any more. She felt like she wasn’t getting anywhere, and she was deflated. I was trying to keep her upbeat; she said she just wanted to give up”.
These testimonies show that the stress and anxieties that she was subjected to was tearing her life apart. She admitted being depressed. At this critical time, as an illegal, she had no access to NHS to seek help for her medical and mental condition. It is not difficult to imagine the immense insecurity and fear that bore down upon her. On top of this, in the weeks before she died, her landlord had given her notice of eviction and she was having great difficulty finding a new home. This could have been the last straw that broke her spirit and health.
There is a compelling body of medical evidence on how emotional stress can cause a range of illnesses. In our society, medics tend to shy away from linking life experiences such as unemployment, debt, evictions to illnesses because health is seen as isolated from the social context. Some scientists have found that heavy workloads, job insecurity and living in poverty can result in increased stress, leading to depression and higher risk of acute cardiovascular episodes. It is not outside the realm of our imagination to see that what Sarah under went damaged hear health irretrievably.
She had courage enough to speak out publicly against the injustice she had suffered and joined others who had similar experience at a meeting organised in Parliament by David Lammy MP on 1 of May. The immigration minister Caroline Nokes apologised to the half a dozen Windrush victims who were targeted by immigration enforcement. Soon after that she went through a naturalisation ceremony at the end of July and formally recognised as British. But the final year of her life when she tried to extract herself from a spiral of problems caused by the official decision to categorise her as illegal had taken its toll. It is now clear that no compensation was paid to her by the time of her death because her friends are crowd funding for the expenses of her funeral. This shows how reluctant the government is to pay compensation promptly to the Windrush victims.
Here was a working class black woman reduced to utter desolation. In the end, it all took a heavy toll. In Sarah’s case, the instrument was not a knife, a gun, violent assault or poison pill. It was a system of immigration enforcement, a ‘hostile environment’ for illegal immigrants set up under the Immigration Act of 2014 by Theresa May when she was the Home Secretary. The wielders were the bureaucrats in the home office, in social security, her prospective employers and her landlord. They exercised their powers with a chilling normality and cruelty without the slightest concern for her well being. Such dehumanisation is only possible when we have a political climate and culture which normalises the denial of jobs, housing, benefits, health to individuals who are labelled as illegal.
But for those who want racial justice, the politicians who put these cruel policies in place should be held to account. The hardline ‘hostile environment’ system is still in place. Theresa May who is now the Prime Minister still defends the system and wants to maintain it. Sajid Javid’s renaming the system as ‘compliant environment’ does not make any difference. We have immigration controls not on the borders but within civil society with checks carried out by private citizens such as doctors, teachers, landlords through fear of penalties. Black and ethnic minority people are disproportionally affected by it. Here we see state racism embedded in law extending through regulations to all other institutions in our society- hospitals, schools, work places, rented sector and banks. To reverse the policy, Theresa May would have to repeal her landmark legislation. This is not likely in spite of the Windrush scandal. The apologies and the gesture of declaring an annual Windrush Day are good public relations to bury the issue.
The hostile environment that entangled the Windrush victims is the same as that which has led to the detention of 3000 asylum seekers and refugees at any one time in 12 immigration removal outsourced to private companies which process nearly 30000 people every year. These vulnerable people are detained indefinitely without any judicial intervention under the executive power exercised by the Home Secretary. Almost fifty percent of the people detained are released because they have a justifiable claim for asylum. Amnesty found that this system causes serious harm to the detainees and their families.
To fight for justice for the Windrush generation, we have to fight this system of injustice. It is a fight on many fronts- for human rights, against unjust laws, against the immigration enforcement, against detention and deportation requiring a coalition of activists, journalists, lawyers and organisations to work together. We have to join those like Liberty who launched a campaign against indefinite detention to those like the Movement for Justice are continually demonstrating to close Yarl’s Wood and opposing any deportation. Regrettably the wholly unjustifiable weaponisation of anti-semitism against Jeremy Corbyn, a veteran anti-racist campaigner has diverted us away from the fight against racism and fascism. Only a labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn will be in a strong position repeal the legislation underpinning the ‘hostile environment’ policy and dismantle its infrastructure. It is imperative that we redouble our effort to fight racism at every level- popular, newspaper led, institutional and state. Anti-racism is inclusive and will bring all communities together to fight for justice. We should do this in memory of Sarah O’Connor to ensure that her memory does not die.
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Home > Theses and Dissertations > 5029
All Theses and Dissertations
The Elections of 1900 in Utah
R. Gary Penrod, Brigham Young University - ProvoFollow
The 1900 elections have been little touched in historical studies of Utah. However 1900 was a year of special interest and deserves an examination. In that year a Special Election was held, all state offices were up for renewal and a Presidential Election took place.
The special election was necessary because B. H. Roberts had been denied his seat in the United States Congress. Roberts was excluded because he was a polygamist. The Roberts case threatened to revive gentile versus Mormon antipathies in Utah. However, the most puzzling aspect of the 1900 elections is connected with the presidential vote. In 1896 Bryan, a Democrat, received 82.7% of the Utah vote for President. His Republican opponent, McKinley, polled only 17.2%. Yet nationally Bryan received 49.4% of the total vote while McKinley took 50.6%. In 1900 in Utah Bryan only received 48.1% and McKinley polled 50.7% of the vote. Their national percentages were little changed from 1896. Because there was a vote change of 34.6% men searched for some reason to explain such a dramatic shift of votes. Some people charged that the Mormon Church had entered politics and made a deal with the Democratic Party. People said this was done in return for assurances that the federal government would not press too hard on polygamy prosecutions and would stop the proposed anti-polygamy amendment to the Constitution.
This thesis will attempt to determine what happened in the 1900 elections in Utah. The thesis will also search for reasons for the results of the elections.
College and Department
Family, Home, and Social Sciences; History
http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
Penrod, R. Gary, "The Elections of 1900 in Utah" (1968). All Theses and Dissertations. 5029.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5029
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etdm576
Elections, Utah, Politics, government, 1896-1950, Mormon Church, Political activity
History Commons, Mormon Studies Commons, Political Science Commons
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Academic Research Blog
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Peoples Temple Collection; Box 23, Virtual Item 27 - Q873 - Part 2 - Unidentified Individuals Speaking | Special Collections & University Archives
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/nas/streaming/dept/scuastaf/collections/peoplestemple/MP3/Q873%20(Side%20B).mp3
Peoples Temple Collection; Box 23, Virtual Item 27 - Q873 - Part 2 - Unidentified Individuals Speaking
In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.
On June 9, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B102-C8. This tape was found to contain the following: Group discussion of People’s Temple and Jonestown by People’s Temple members in California.
There is no summary or transcript of this recording, but a full index is available on the Alternative Considerations of Jonestown website.
Original audio cassette tape recording digitized and made available as .mp3 audio file.
ms-0183_23.27 Part 2
Peoples Temple Collection, 1942-2015 Series 2: Audiovisual Materials, 1957-2010 Sub-Series 1: Audio Cassette Tapes, Summaries, and Transcripts, 1957-1979 Sub-Series 1: Audio Cassette Tapes, 1958-1978 Box 20 Item 25: Q873 - unidentified individuals speaking Item B: Q873 - Part 2
Peoples Temple (1955-1978)
Jones, Jim (1931-1978)
Jones, Jim, 1931-1978
Peoples Temple--History--Sources
The Jonestown Institute
The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
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Clady Media
June 4, 2015 by HillenSean
Banned in the US and UK, but coming to Donegal soon – sex, profanity and fireworks
Ever tried reading James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’?
Only 800 pages, more or less, a quarter of a million words, characterised by convoluted, stream-of-consciousness prose, meaning some sentences aren’t really sentences and those that are seem like they’re not.
Not to mention every chapter relates to an organ of the human body and also that while it’s about a day in the life of Dubliner Leopold Bloom, it’s also about the Mediterranean Sea adventures of the ancient Greek hero in Homer’s epic poem.
Like me, you probably stopped reading after 10 pages or so.
Now try imagining not only reading all 800, often unpunctuated, pages but transforming it into a captivating play entitled ‘Extracts from Ulysses,’ then coaching a large group of amateur actors in the backroom of a community center in a rural west Donegal Gaeltacht to deliver a delightful 90-minute theatrical production.
Roy Orbison-like, Learmont Murray stirs his coffee, the way he stirs life – in ever-widening circles (Photo by Columbia Hillen)
Enter stage left, Murray Learmont, thespian extraordinaire who turned 69 a few days ago and has not only directed a plethora of theatrical productions during his 20-plus years in the drama field, but has himself played roles as diverse as Captain Renault in ‘Casablanca,’ Polonius in ‘Hamlet,’ a preacher in ‘High Noon’ and Simon Dedalus, father of Stephen Dedalus, the hero in ‘A Portrait Of the Artist As A Young Man.’
On Bloomsday (Tuesday, June 16), Learmont and his enthusiastic, skilled troupe, the Cloughaneely Players, will perform their unique production before a hoped-for capacity audience in Arnold’s Hotel, Dunfanaghy Donegal, at 9pm. Don’t miss it. It’s a rare dramatic treat.
Together as One. (Photo by Moses Alcorn)
So why tackle such a complex literary challenge?
“It’s such a wonderful story of human experience, with such powerful dialogue,” says Murray, sitting over a coffee and a huge chunk of chocolate cake (mine, he was much more disciplined) at ‘Moonshine Café’ in Letterkenny last week. “It contains so many worlds within it, being the classic tale of Ulysses in a colourful turn-of-the-20th century Dublin setting with even a biscuit-tossing scene in the bar in the first chapter relating to Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant, hurling a huge rock at Ulysses.”
Ever-passionate about matters of the stage (Photo by Columbia Hillen)
Speaking passionately, he adds, “In Joyce’s novel you never lose the sense of surprise. While scenes fit into nicely one another, he surprises your expectations. The pitiful blind boy swearing at someone who accidently bumps into him – “God’s curse on you, whoever you are! You’re blinder nor I am, you bitch’s bastard!” being but one example. The author also makes no concessions, leaving it up to the reader to find things out. It is a modern piece both in thoughts and ideas, about relationships, and many of its themes are still very much relevant today.”
Production even features risque bedroom scenes (Photo by Moses Alcorn)
As for the task of reducing 800 hefty pages into theater form? “ I must say, the cut-and-paste capabilities of a modern-day computer really helped,” says Murray modestly, smiling. “But what I was really looking for was memorable dialogue and there’s just so much of that it wasn’t too difficult. Joyce captures exactly the way people speak. Of course, there were certain scenes I definitely wanted in like the bar scene where the one-eyed citizen abuses bloom in an anti-Semitic rant and the scene in the Ormond Hotel with the two barmaids laughing, saying ‘ “Aren’t men frightful idiots,’ which relates to the song of the Sirens in the classic myth.”
What’s that you say? (Photo by Moses Alcorn)
With a previous performance several weeks ago having met with strong positive reaction and the next due soon, how does he feel? “Very happy. It has been great fun doing what is, in effect, an ensemble production. Around 20 people, with everyone putting in their ideas. It has been a labour of love and, of course, I’m delighted it has been received so well.”
Murray Learmont: Serious about the stage, but with a ready laugh (Photo by Columbia Hillen)
Murray, who first read ‘Ulysses’ while in his 20s studying English literature at Glasgow University, had particular praise for lead actor, Pearse McGee, who plays Bloom and is on-stage throughout and for Maggie McKinney, who plays his wife, and has a challenging soliloquy at the end. Aside from the actors, Murray also praises Robert Shields, owner of Clady Media in Crolly, who supervised the sound system and Joanne Lindsay-Butler for set design.
Whatever you do, don’t look the other way! (Photo by Moses Alcorn)
Speaking about Joyce’s work and his role in the production, McGee said, “The novel deserves its reputation. It is a law onto itself. While it is, granted, a dense, multi-layered and hard-to-handle beast of a book, the sheer exuberance of the language can carry you through it, if you let it.”
On playing Bloom, he added, “It was a tough ask to get into the head of one of the great everyman characters, especially then having to portray him as the public man without showing the audience his inner thinking. Murray’s patience and boundless enthusiasm were invaluable to me in getting there and his sheer love of the source material clearly shone through at rehearsal, which helped to take a tough job and make it fun.”
Pretty as a picture, but what’s that in your hand? (Photo by Moses Alcorn)
McKinney, whose previous diverse roles have included Lady Macbeth, Ophelia and Helena in the Shakespearian classics “Macbeth,’ ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and a chorus girl in ‘Some Like It Hot,’ said she “loved” playing Molly Bloom. “I had not read the book, so it was interesting to learn about it. To begin with, the soliloquy was a little challenging, as it is Molly Bloom’s stream of consciousness and James Joyce left it unpunctuated and her thinking often flits from one memory to another, so it took a while to decipher this. Also, some of my lines were a bit risqué and I was a little concerned I might be shunned in the local community for using such improper language, but in context of everything else I had to say it worked and wasn’t too shocking, thankfully!”
Honestly, hand on heart – if I can but find it, I know it’s here somewhere! (Photo by Moses Alcorn)
‘Ulysses’ takes place at Arnold’s Hotel in Dunfanaghy, west Donegal, on Tuesday evening, June 16, commencing at 9pm. Book your tickets early by calling 00353 74 913 6208 as venue room capacity is 60 people. A second performance will take place on Thursday evening, June 25, at the Church of Ireland hall in Dunfanaghy.
You’re sooooo serious, you make me smile! (Photo by Moses Alcorn)
Maybe, upon advance request, they might even serve up the traditional ‘Bloomsday Irish breakfast’ of kidneys and gizzards.
Well-behaved angels all in a row! (Photo by Moses Alcorn)
Who’s that dapper, fashion guru (Photo by Moses Alcorn)
Posted in Donegal | Tagged A Portrait Of the Artist As A Young Man, Arnold’s Hotel, Bloomsday, Casablanca, Clady Media, Cloughaneely Players, Donegal Gaeltacht, Dubliner Leopold Bloom, Glasgow University, Hamlet, Irish theatre, James Joyce, Joanne Lindsay-Butler, Maggie McKinney, Moonshine Cafe, Murray Learmont, Pearse McGee, Polonius, Robert Shields, Simon Dedalus, Stephen Dedalus, theatre in Donegal, theatrical performances, Ulysses | 1 Comment
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Project on Transitional Democracies
According to the Project on Transitional Democracies web site, "The Project on Transitional Democracies is a multiyear project aimed at accelerating the pace of reform in Europe's post-1989 democracies and advancing the date for the integration of these democracies into the institutions of the Euro-Atlantic."[1]
"The Project on Transitional Democracies has been organized to exploit the opportunities to accelerate democratic reform and integration which we believe will exist in the broader Euro-Atlantic region over the next decade. The Project is a multi-year endeavor aimed at accelerating the pace of reform in Europe's post-1989 democracies and advancing the date for the integration of these democracies into the institutions of the Euro-Atlantic.
"The experiences of the Visegrad and Vilnius states in their pursuit of EU (European Union) and NATO memberships will serve as a model for the Project on Transitional Democracies.
"Our objective will be to encourage a broad dialogue between the social, educational, religious, and political institutions of the United States and Europe and the general public of other democracies and states in transition to democracy. While The Project does not advocate specific legislation, we expect to support the improvement of a general understanding of democracy and the strengthening of the key institutions of civic society."
Bruce Jackson, President
Julie Finley, Chairman, Board of Directors
Randy Scheunemann, Treasurer
Reference Documents -- includes documents on Vilnius Group.
2127 California Street NW
Related SourceWatch Resources
Gary Sick
Henry Jackson Society
Project for the New American Century
Retrieved from "https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Project_on_Transitional_Democracies&oldid=361872"
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Unprecedented summer heat in Europe ‘every other year’ under 1.5C of warming
Posted on 30 August 2018 by Guest Author
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief. Dr Andrew King is a climate scientist at the University of Melbourne and Dr Markus Donat is a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales
As summer gets underway in the northern hemisphere, much of Europe has already been basking in temperatures of 30C and beyond.
But while the summer sun sends many flocking to the beach, with it comes the threat of heatwaves and their potentially deadly impacts. Tens of thousands of people across Europe died in heatwaves in 2003 and 2010, for example, while the “Lucifer” heatwave last year fanned forest fires and nearly halved agricultural output in some countries.
With international ambition to limit global temperature rise to “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels now enshrined in the Paris Agreement, we have examined what impact that warming could have on European summer temperatures.
Our results, published today in Nature Climate Change, find that more than 100 million Europeans will typically see summer heat that exceeds anything in the 1950-2017 observed record every other year under 1.5C of warming – or in two of every three years under 2C.
Human influence on European climate
There has been a substantial amount of work showing that recent heatwaves and hot summers in Europe have been strongly influenced by human-caused climate change.
This includes the very first “event attribution” study that made a direct connection between human-caused climate change and Europe’s record hot summer of 2003. As a densely populated continent, recent hot summers and heatwaves have hit Europe with spikes in mortality rates.
Europe is also a particularly good location to study the implications of the Paris Agreement limits because it has among the longest and highest quality climate data in the world. This means we have a better understanding of what past summers in Europe have been like and we can evaluate our climate model simulations with a higher degree of confidence, relative to other regions of the world.
In our study, we looked at the hottest average summer temperatures across Europe since 1950 and found that for most of the continent these occurred in 2003, 2006 or 2010. There are exceptions, of course. For example, in Central England the hottest summer remains 1976.
You can see this in the graphic below, which maps the decade of the hottest summer across Europe. The darker the shading, the more recently the record occurred.
Map showing decade of warmest summer on record (since 1950). The darker shading shows more recent decades. Source: King et al. (2018)
Using the historical record hot summer between 1950 and 2017 in each location in Europe as a benchmark, we then examined the likelihood of a summer exceeding that record in model simulations. We assessed four different scenarios: a world without climate change, the world of today’s climate, a 1.5C warmer world and a 2C warmer world.
Consistent with previous studies, which have examined specific heat events in Europe like those in 2003 and 2010, we found that the likelihood of recording a new hottest summer today is higher than in a world without human-induced climate change.
Similarly, when we extend our analysis to the 1.5C and 2C world simulations, we find a continued increase in the likelihood of historically unprecedented hot summers at individual locations across all of Europe.
The impact on humans
Our next step was to estimate how many people would be exposed to historically unprecedented summer average temperatures in each of our four model worlds. For this analysis we kept population levels the same (at the 2010 level), rather than factoring in historical changes or future forecasts.
We found systematic increases in the number of people in Europe projected to experience unprecedented summer heat.
In a typical summer in the current climate, we would expect that 45 million Europeans would experience summer temperatures above the existing record for their location. However, in an average summer in a 1.5C world, we project that 90 million Europeans – about 11% of the continent’s population – would experience a summer warmer than any in recorded history. In a 2C world this figure would almost double again to 163 million Europeans (20% of the population).
We also find that the possibility of very high population exposure to historically unprecedented hot summers increases dramatically from the world of today to a 1.5C world or a 2C world.
The table below shows the likelihood of seeing a summer where 100-400 million Europeans experience a record summer in each of the four model worlds. You can see that more than 100 million Europeans (top row) will typically see unprecedented summer heat every other year under 1.5C of warming – or in two of every three years under 2C.
And while there is a negligible likelihood of seeing a summer where more than 400 million Europeans (bottom row) experience a new record hot summer under pre-industrial conditions or in the current climate. Yet in a 2C world, we project this would happen roughly every seven years.
The table shows the likelihood in a given year of a summer where more than 100, 200, 300 and 400 million people experience a summer beyond the observed record. Numbers in parentheses show 90% confidence intervals and redder colours indicate increased likelihood. Source: King et al. (2018)
Benefits of climate action
Our analysis illustrates that in a 2C world Europeans would experience more frequent and intense heat extremes than in a 1.5C world.
Despite the fact that restricting global warming would benefit the world’s poorest more than others, our study shows that for Europe specifically, taking stronger action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions need not be a purely selfless act. The countries and peoples of Europe, especially those in southern Europe which have borne the brunt of recent heatwaves and hot summers, would benefit from reduced exposure to heat extremes if the 1.5C Paris limit is met as opposed to the 2C global warming limit.
European emissions pledges are currently rated as inadequate in reaching either the 1.5C or 2C Paris targets. Our study strongly supports progressively more ambitious reductions to be proposed at the periodic stocktakes, the first of which will probably be in 2023.
While European countries are taking stronger action to curb emissions compared to many other developed nations, it is in Europe’s own interests to maintain and strengthen these pledges.
King, A. D. et al. (2018) Reduced Heat Exposure by Limiting Global Warming to 1.5C, Nature Climate Change, doi:10.1038/s41558-018-0191-0
Comments 1 to 1:
william at 05:21 AM on 1 September, 2018
Before long, this sort of weather will be un-precidented.
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BRANDON AMPHITHEATER · Fri, Aug 16, 2019 @ 07:00 PM
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KIDZ BOP AND LIVE NATION ANNOUNCE
“KIDZ BOP WORLD TOUR 2019”
#1 Kids’ Music Brand -- KIDZ BOP -- Brings First-Ever World Tour to Australia and London Before Heading to U.S., Canada, and Mexico This Summer
Tickets on Sale to General Public Starting Friday, December 14
NEW YORK, NY (December 6, 2018) – KIDZ BOP, the #1 music brand for kids, and Live Nation announce the global expansion of the KIDZ BOP live tour phenomenon with the launch of an all-new show for next year -- KIDZ BOP World Tour 2019. The KIDZ BOP Kids will perform in Australia, Germany, London, Mexico, and more, in addition to playing to 50+ cities across the U.S. and Canada. Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, December 14 at 10 am local time at LiveNation.com. Subway Fresh Fit for Kids® is an official partner of the KIDZ BOP World Tour 2019 in North America, and a leader in offering on-the-go families balanced, customizable meals, and better-for-you kids’ meals.
The announcement comes on the heels of KIDZ BOP’s 2018 tour -- its most successful tour in franchise history -- where the KIDZ BOP Kids played to hundreds of thousands of kids and families across North America.
The KIDZ BOP Kids, Billboard Magazine’s “#1 Kids’ Artist” for eight consecutive years, will kick off their World Tour in Australia during a special televised performance in January. The U.S. KIDZ BOP Kids will then join the British KIDZ BOP Kids to perform their first headlining show in the U.K at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith on April 20.
The tour continues next summer when the KIDZ BOP Kids bring their all-new show to North America -- beginning in San Diego, California on May 31 -- making stops at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, New York’s Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and more.
The brand-new show is an interactive experience for the whole family. The KIDZ BOP Kids will be performing some of today’s biggest hits “sung by kids for kids,” with engaging new set design, exciting choreography, and more. Additional tour dates to be announced in early 2019.
Victor Zaraya, President of KIDZ BOP, adds, “Over the past five years, we have established KIDZ BOP tours as an annual must-see live concert event for families, playing to sold out crowds in some of America’s most iconic venues from coast to coast. This year, we are excited to expand internationally to create first concert experiences and life-long memories for kids worldwide.”
Citi is the official presale credit card for the KIDZ BOP World Tour 2019. As such, Citi cardmembers have access to purchase U.S. presale tickets, which are available beginning Tuesday, December 11 at 10:00 am local time until Thursday, December 13 at 10:00 pm local time through Citi's Private Pass® program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.
Additional fan presales will run throughout the week, including offers for past KIDZ BOP ticket purchasers. Special VIP packages, which include a private party, exclusive merchandise, and a meet-and-greet with The KIDZ BOP Kids will also be available. Artist Group International (AGI) is representing the KIDZ BOP tour.
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Tag: racism
Rupi Kaur & Sexism In The Workforce
Published on November 4, 2017 December 3, 2018 by Mehar1 Comment
Can we collectively stop bashing women of color for absolutely nothing? For a while now, I’ve been seeing many people essentially “meme” Rupi Kaur’s poetry. If you don’t know who Rupi Kaur is, she’s an Indian-Canadian New York Times best selling author, most well known for her book, “Milk & Honey.” Kaur addresses a wide array of topics in her poetry. She is a young woman of color who tackles relevant issues within our communities such as racism, sexism, and physical/mental/sexual abuse. Yet, there are still people out there who seek out to make the lived experiences and trauma of a brown woman, into a joke. I guess I’m missing the punch line. This is much larger than what I’ve been witnessing happen to Rupi. The constant mockery of women of color, especially within the workforce, is so disgustingly common, and yet so rarely addressed.
I’ve seen many people attempt to “call out” Kaur on her writing style and create “memes” using her simplistic structure, but making obvious statements, rather than something meaningful. Now, I’m not sure if these people are bored or whatever, or think they’re being “woke” and making this into satire, but it’s honestly one of the most pathetic and ways to waste your time. It’s not satire; it’s literally making a mockery out of a woman of color having her voice heard (for once). People believe Rupi Kaur is too “hyped up” for her poems. Everyone is has a right to their own opinions, I’m not a crazed fan myself, but I’m not going to sit here and mock her. Kaur’s poetry is known for being simple and straightforward. Much like Nayyirah Waheed, author of the book “Salt” who uses a similar style in poetry. Both are powerful and thriving. I could pull out a whole library of old white men who have been praised for their mediocre writing, but I guess it’s only deemed as a crime when a woman of color becomes well known for her writing. Can I also just take a moment to address the fact that this is a desi woman making huge waves in mainstream literature, and for none other than writing about the very real abuse that exists within desi households. She actively addresses the mental/physical/emotional/sexual abuse that persists to live on through generations as it’s so commonly brushed under the rug in the name of protecting “honor.”
It’s not satire; it’s literally making a mockery out of a woman of color having her voice heard (for once).
Suddenly, I’ve been witnessing all of these self-proclaimed literature buffs, and poetry experts come out of the woodworks trying to troll on the poems that made Kaur a well known author. What even is poetry, though? Last time I checked, at its core and simplest definition, it’s a creative avenue for self-expression, reflection, and thought. In this situation, deciding whether Kaur’s work is considered poetry or not, is not a philosophical or enlightened gesture, nor is it an exercise of critique. The way I’ve been seeing people actively come at her writing, is an attempt at silencing a voice that challenges normative poetic paradigms and mainstream literature. Why is Kaur’s poetry not considered “real” or valid enough to earn the notoriety and praise that it has gotten? Is it because it’s accessible and enjoyable for those who haven’t read poetry since they were forced to in high school? Is it because it uses simple language, rather than complex words one would need to look up on Google or have a college degree to understand? Or maybe it’s because her writing is not exactly what a man would desire to hear. Her writing is highly competitive with current white authors and that fact is astonishing people. Rupi Kaur’s poetry sidestepped major publishers, but we still feel the need to tweet dumb crap about how her writing is so “basic” and obvious.
Whenever I see people actively making a mockery out of Kaur’s poetry, it infuriates me. It infuriates me because I see it as feeding into the system of white supremacy and patriarchy. I feel like there’s a really fine line between making conscious intelligent critiques and flat out making fun of and being an active contributor to this toxic, wasteful “call-out culture.” Of course, no one is perfect, and no one can be completely exempt from problematic behaviors. However, any and all memes I’ve seen pertaining to Rupi Kaur have been solely attacking her choice of writing style. I guess it really does fire people up that a woman of color is a New York Times bestselling author. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen basic white men and women maintain ranks on the New York Times bestsellers list, but have their works ever really been as scrutinized as Rupi Kaur’s?
The way I’ve been seeing people actively come at her writing, is an attempt at silencing a voice that challenges normative poetic paradigms and mainstream literature.
At the end of it all, it really comes down to internalized racism and misogyny. Rupi Kaur has curated and built up the courage to literally expose her trauma out there into the world. She is choosing to voice not only her truth in an honest way, but also the truths and trauma of so many people across the world, especially women. This ongoing “critique” of Kaur’s style, isn’t really about her writing at all. It’s a direct attack on a woman of color speaking her truth in a fashion that white men cannot easily ignore. She’s reaching people on a large scale. Sorry (not really sorry), but I’d rather see the name “Rupi Kaur” at the top of the New York Times bestsellers list, rather than another “John Smith” or whatever.
This isn’t specifically about Rupi Kaur; it’s about women of color in any field and how we have to endure struggle so much more than anyone else. We always have to tolerate unwanted scrutiny and work that much harder to attain success.
Categories Culture & Society•Tags chai, desi, feminism, feminist, life, literature, milk & honey, new york times, people of color, poc, poetry, racism, Rant, rupi kaur, sexism, south asia, south asian, thoughts, truth, woc, women, women of color, work, writing
Her Name Was Nabra Hassanen #JusticeForNabra
Published on June 21, 2017 January 28, 2018 by Mehar1 Comment
Nabra Hassanen. Don’t forget her name. A 17-year old Muslim girl who was brutally assaulted and murdered. All murders are senseless, but Nabra’s life was taken for no reason other than the fact that she was Muslim. Because she was visibly Muslim in her beautifully draped hijab. This was not about a parking dispute or any other junk excuse the media and police are attempting to label it as. This was an Islamophobic motivated hate crime. This was a terrorist attack.
I get it. A lot of people are too privileged to see, let alone care, about how people in power, public figures, and the media constantly demonize marginalized groups. I’m sick and tired of having to cater to their ignorance. Why is their ignorance costing us the lives of our brothers and sisters? Why do the lives of white Christians and Catholics seem to get way more airtime and global concern while Muslims are being persecuted right beside them and not even getting the least bit of respect? I am never one to compare tragedies, ever, but this is just feeding into the cycle of systemic injustice and oppression. I saw the outrage and heartbreak of my white coworkers when the Manchester attack happened recently. I saw newspapers stacked at the front desk sympathizing and “standing with” the people of London. Do people even realize the immense horror that just occurred in our own country? I don’t care if my coworkers know who Nabra is. I care about why they have a selective sensitivity and humanity towards only a certain group of people. This is a learned action. The media teaches us how we should think and feel, and this gravely skews our stances on justice and injustice. This was not about a traffic or parking dispute. How many times are the media and the police going to use that same excuse when Muslims are violently murdered in America? Whoever actually believes it had nothing to do with the fact that she was a visibly Muslim woman, really needs to wake up. It’s never about a parking dispute.
I am truly heartbroken. I sobbed upon hearing the news concerning my sister Nabra, who lost her life in this blessed month of Ramadan. Although I never knew her, it feels like I did. Nabra was my sister in Islam. A young Muslimah, a believing 17-year old girl in a world that is so against her. Muslim. Black. Woman. Much like many of my fellow Muslim women, her very existence was a political statement, a defiance against what most people in the West are seemingly “comfortable” with. I keep telling myself that I wish I were with her before she was attacked outside of the masjid. As if I could have done something. I wish I could have saved her. My heart goes out deeply to all of the people suffering in the world and my duas are forever with them, but this, this hits home on entirely other level. The fact that this has happened, let alone in the month of Ramadan, is exceptionally upsetting.
She was one of us. She was probably getting ready for these last few days of Ramadan and making plans for Eid. She had her whole life in front of her. To my fellow Muslim sisters, please be careful and be hyper-aware wherever you are. People have sick, evil, selfish intentions and unfortunately we are the ones who suffer the most from it. Especially my sisters who observe the hijab. I can’t even begin to try to think as awfully as the oppressors and attackers do when they act upon their violent thoughts.
Let’s take the very last few days of this blessed month of Ramadan to sincerely make dua for Nabra and her family. May she be granted Jannah al firdous, and may her family and friends find peace, justice, comfort, and sabr through Allah (SWT). May He replace the trauma of those who were with her that night with tranquility. Let’s also take time to reflect on this world that we live in, the state of this ummah, and the state of our own iman (faith). Keep this ummah in your duas every day, and try your best to renew your intentions and your iman each day, as if it was your last. Allah (SWT) Knows best and is the Most-Merciful.
There are many wonderful donations/charities being set up for Nabra and in her name. If you’d like to help support, here are a few:
https://www.piousprojects.org/campaign?id=394
https://www.launchgood.com/project/for_nabra#/
May Allah (SWT) protect all of my sisters in this world. May He grant us courage and steadfastness in our deen and may He bring peace to this hateful world. Ameen.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji‘un. To Him we belong and to Him we return.
Categories Culture & Society•Tags america, Islam, islamophobia, justice, justicefornabra, Muslim, muslimah, muslims, nabra, nabra hassanen, peace, pray, quran, racism, Ramadan, terrorism, truth, usa
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16:00 07.06.2019Photo30
This Week in Pictures: 1 June - 7 June
Sputnik's weekly photo gallery gives you a glimpse into what's been going on in different corners of the world over the past seven days.
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Take a look at the pictures of this week (June 16-22), which has been marked by tense and surprising World Cup matches and the scandal, surrounding the separation of immigrant children from their parents in the United States.
Is The Western Media Whitewashing Genocide in Yemen?
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As the holy month of Ramadan draws to a close, Muslims worldwide rejoice as they celebrate one of the most important observances in Islam.
Taliban Announces Eid Ceasefire With Afghanistan Authorities - Reports
Taliban on Saturday announced a three-day lull in fighting following a unilateral decision by the Afghan government to cease fire ahead of the end of a Muslim holy month, local media said.
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On Monday, Muslims across China and the rest of the world celebrated the Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Syria Tightens Security at Checkpoints Around Aleppo During Eid al-Fitr
Syrian army and police have put enhanced security measures at the checkpoints at the entrance to the city of Aleppo during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations timed to the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, a Sputnik correspondent reported Tuesday.
Putin Congratulates Russian Muslims on Eid al-Fitr Holiday
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian Muslims on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, the Kremlin said on Sunday.
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Putin Congratulates Russian Muslims on Eid al-Fitr Holiday - Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian Muslims on the advent of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
Drone Captures Muslims' Celebration of the End of Ramadan in Moscow
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18:18US Imposes Sanctions Against Iraqi-Militia Leaders Allegedly Tied to Iran
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Tamil Tigers would have been proud of Channel 4 documentary – Tehelka article
Sept 02, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s vanquished Tamil Tiger terrorists would have been proud of the documentary produced by Britain’s Channel 4 on Sri Lanka’s war, says a renowned terrorism expert in an exclusive to Tehelka, the investigative news magazine of India.
Describing the documentary titled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” as “Clearly an effort to sensationalise and shock with carefully selected and edited footage,” the writer, Shyam Tekwani, says ” the documentary weakens its case and invites an investigation into its own credibility and accountability to journalistic norms.” .
Tekwani, an Associate professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, a United States Department of Defense academic institute in Honolulu, Hawaii says that the documentary, “in its attempt to provide a stomach-turning narrative….is on shaky ground.”
Referring to the book “The Cage: The fight for Sri Lanka the last days of the Tamil Tigers” by Gordon Weiss, the spokesperson and communications adviser attached to the UN team in Colombo during the years that included the end of the war, the writer says Weiss tries to translate the most sensational event of the past two years in Sri Lanka – the military defeat of the LTTE – into humanitarian and war crimes terms. .
“The book contains faults and contradictions,… Weiss’s effort at doing his homework well fails at the most elementary levels,” the author concludes. .
“Both, book and documentary are produced with a crusader’s zeal. Although profoundly moving and rich with detail, victim narratives cannot replace rigorous large-scale analyses,” the expert says.
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India asks Sri Lanka to examine the war crime allegations made in the documentary July 16, Colombo: India on Friday asked the Sri Lankan government to examine in detail the allegations of...
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Sri Lanka’s Attorney General says government would review Channel 4 footage ater LLRC verdict June 12, Colombo: Attorney General of Sri Lanka, Mohan Peiris has said the government would review the Channel...
« After Gaddafi, a nightmare for NATO
Radio station manager attacked in Sri Lanka, three men arrested »
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Antebellum Period (1820–1860)
Virginia Slavery Debate of 1831–1832, The
The Virginia slavery debate occurred in the House of Delegates during its 1831–1832 session and was prompted by a slave insurrection in August 1831 led by Nat Turner. In the months that followed, about forty petitions, signed by more than 2,000 Virginians, urged the General Assembly to engage the problems associated with slavery. Some petitions called for outright emancipation, others for colonization. Many focused on removing from the state free blacks, who were widely . . .
Abrams–Civil
Abrams, Joseph (1791–1854)
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Anatomical Theatre
Andrews, C. W. (1807–1875)
Atkinson, Archibald (1792–1872)
Atkinson, W. (1796–1849)
Aulick, John H. (ca. 1791–1873)
Bagby, George William (1828–1883)
Baldwin, John Brown (1820–1873)
Barbour, B. Johnson (1821–1894)
Barbour, Lucy Johnson (1775–1860)
Barron, Samuel (1809–1888)
Bassett, Burwell (1764–1841)
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Bayly, Thomas Monteagle (1775–1834)
Beale, R. L. T. (1819–1893)
Billy or Blind Billy (ca. 1805–1855)
Blackburn, Samuel (1761–1835)
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Blackford, William (1801–1864)
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Blake; or the Huts of America (1859–1861)
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Bruce, James Coles (1806–1865)
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Burns, Anthony, The Trial of (1854)
Butt, Martha Haines (1833–1871)
Cabell, J. L. (1813–1889)
Cabell, William H. (1772–1853)
Caldwell, Alfred (1817–1868)
Campbell, Archibald W. (1833–1899)
Carter, Robert Randolph (1825–1888)
Carter, William Richard (1833–1864)
Caruthers, William Alexander (1802–1846)
Cary, Lott (ca. 1780–1828)
Cavaliers of Virginia, The (1834–1835)
Chambers, Edward R. (1795–1872)
Chilton, Samuel (1805–1867)
Civil War in Virginia, The American
Clotel;–Lee
Clotel; or the President's Daughter (1853)
Coalter, John (1769–1838)
Cocke, John Hartwell (1780–1866)
Cocke, Philip St. George (1809–1861)
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Confessions of Nat Turner, The (1831)
Conway, Moncure Daniel (1832–1907)
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Crozet, Claudius (1789–1864)
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Custis, Mary Lee Fitzhugh (1788–1853)
Custis, William H. B. (1814–1889)
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Daniel, Raleigh T. (1805–1877)
Daniel, William Jr. (1806–1873)
Daniels, Edward D. (1828–1916)
Davis, Ann Banks (1830–1907)
Davis, Hector (1816–1863)
Davis, Jefferson (1808–1889)
Davis, John A. G. (1802–1840)
Davis, John Staige (1824–1885)
Davis, Noah (1804–1867)
Davis, William Roscoe (d. 1904)
Dew, Thomas R. (1802–1846)
Dickinson, R. H. (1811 or 1812–1873)
Dinsmore, James (1771 or 1772–1830)
Dunglison, Robley (1798–1869)
Emmet, John Patten (1796–1842)
Enslaved House Servants
Fay, Lydia Mary (ca. 1804–1878)
Ferguson, John E. (1810–1859)
Fitzhugh, George (1806–1881)
Floyd, John B. (1806–1863)
Fossett, Joseph (1780–1858)
Foster, Kitty (ca. 1790–1863)
Fugitive Slave Laws
Harris, J. D. (ca. 1833–1884)
Harrison, Gessner (1807–1862)
Hinton, Corinna (1835–1887)
Hodges, William Johnson (d. 1872)
Hunt, Gilbert (ca. 1780–1863)
Jefferson, Thomas (1743–1826)
Jennings, Paul (1799–1874)
Jones, Peter K. (ca. 1834–1895)
Judge, Oney (ca. 1773–1848)
Kentuckian in New-York, The (1834)
Knights of the Horse-Shoe, The (1845)
Known World, The (2003)
Langston, John Mercer (1829–1897)
Lee, Mary Randolph Custis (1807–1873)
Lee, Robert E. (1807–1870)
Lee–Wise
Lee, Robert E. and Slavery
Letcher, John (1813–1884)
Lewis Miller's Virginia Slavery Drawings
Lumpkin's Jail
Lynching in Virginia
Manumissions
Minkins, Shadrach (d. 1875)
Mourning during the Civil War
Omohundro, Silas (1807–1864)
Poe, Edgar Allan (1809–1849)
Poplar Forest
Prentis, John B. (1788–1848)
Randolph, Martha Jefferson (1772–1836)
Religion during the Civil War
Ruffin, Edmund (1794–1865)
Ruffner, William Henry (1824–1908)
Schele De Vere, Maximilian (1820–1898)
Scott, Winfield (1786–1866)
Seaton, George Lewis (ca. 1822–1881)
Slave Clothing and Adornment in Virginia
Slave Housing in Virginia
Slave Literacy and Education in Virginia
Slave Trade, Eyre Crowe's Images of the
Slavery at the College of William and Mary
Slavery at the University of Virginia
Swallow Barn (1832)
Tait, Bacon (1796–1871)
The Republican Party of Virginia in the Nineteenth Century
Thomas, Philip (1831–1888)
Toler, Burwell (ca. 1822–1880)
Transatlantic Slave Trade, The
Trist, Nicholas Philip (1800–1874)
Tucker, Beverley (1784–1851)
Tucker, George (1775–1861)
Tucker, St. George (1752–1827)
Turner's Revolt, Nat (1831)
Tyler, John (1790–1862)
Underground Railroad in Virginia
University of Virginia Riot of 1836
Veney, Bethany (ca. 1815–1916)
Washington, John M. (1838–1918)
West Virginia, Creation of
Whig Party in Virginia
Winder, John H. (1800–1865)
Wise, Henry A. (1806–1876)
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Tunisia and Italy
Politics and Religious Integration in the Mediterranean
Aug 30-
Tunisia, Italy
In Tunisia and Italy, crossroads of the Mediterranean, study the interplay of regional politics, migration, and religion. Examine the ethics of solidarity, care, and resilience as you learn or advance your Modern Standard Arabic.
Study at the intersection of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.
As the northernmost country on the African continent, less than 100 miles south of Europe, Tunisia is the most Mediterranean country in North Africa, particularly in terms of customs and lifestyle. Hailed for its peaceful transition from an authoritarian to a democratic mode of governance, Tunisia is an ideal place to assess the complex political and religious linkages that define the geopolitical map in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
Spend three weeks in Sicily, Italy, the crossroads of the Mediterranean and often the first port of call for immigrants.
Tunisia and Italy share in the struggle for social and economic justice, democratization and sustainable development, social cohesion and immigrant integration, and ways of imagining a livable future. You will hear lectures at the European Center for International Studies and Initiative (CESIE) and SIT program’s host partner in Palermo. Visit NGOs and associations working with immigrants and meet with members from the North African immigrant community in Sicily to discuss the impact of religious practice on social identity formation. There will also be a 10-hour module on conversational Italian.
Live in the beautiful Tunisian village of Sidi Bou Said, inspiration to numerous artists.
Sidi Bou Said is a quiet town of blue and white buildings located on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The town has been home to artists Paul Klee and Yahia Turki, the “father of Tunisian painting,” and philosopher Michel Foucault. From here, you will travel frequently to nearby Tunis, Tunisia’s sprawling capital, where you’ll attend lectures by prominent academics from Tunis University and the Center for Maghreb Studies and visit historic and cultural centers, including the city’s seventh-century medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
See Tunisia’s ancient sites and stunning landscapes.
Explore the dunes and oases of the Sahara and traditional Berber mountain villages used as the set for the planet Tatooine in the Star Wars movies. You’ll see Turkish and Spanish forts, the ancient Roman city Utica, the historic city of Carthage, and the UNESCO World Heritage site Kairouan.
Do independent research or develop professional skills with an internship.
During an internship, you will spend four weeks with a civil society association, NGO, or small business developing professional skills and work experience. If you choose an Independent Study Project, you will conduct field research and write an academic paper.
Learn or advance your Modern Standard Arabic.
Migration | Identity | Resilience
None. The program is of interest to students studying political science, international relations, international studies, migration and refugee studies, European studies, Middle Eastern Studies, religious studies, global studies, sociology, and anthropology. Students with some background in French will be able to practice at their homestay in Tunis.
Political transformation, transitional justice, and democratization in Tunisia
International relations and religious integration in the context of Mediterranean mass migration
The interplay between secular politics and political Islam, religion and public life, religious practice and political affiliation
The role of art in articulating the vision of a more sustainable future
The role of the state and civil society in a divided society
The ethics of care and hospitality in the context of populism and assimilationist ideologies
The program’s thematic seminars address Tunisia’s experience with democratization and what it teaches us about negotiation, dispute resolution, and the establishment of sustainable democratic institutions. Students will be introduced to key aspects of political and religious integration in Tunisia and Italy following the Arab Spring, and will examine the impact of populist ideology on the ethics of care and hospitality. Lectures and excursions acquaint students with the impact of assimilationist and xenophobic ideologies on immigrants and the ethics of inclusive solidarities. The Arabic course focuses on Modern Standard Arabic and includes a component on the Tunisian colloquial dialect. The Italy excursion includes a 10-hour module on conversational Italian.
Immigration, Politics, and Religion in the Euro-Mediterranean Space – syllabus
(MDES/EURO 3500 / 3 credits / 45 hours)
Mass migration across the Euro-Mediterranean region has refocused the debate on Europe’s absorption capacity and immigrant integration. This interdisciplinary seminar takes Sicily as a case study to analyze the underpinnings of EU “open-door” policy and its impact on immigrant and religious “integration” and social cohesions in Europe. Students critically interrogate the viability of the nation-state as an integrative political category, analyze ways in which immigrant religious identity interacts with the idea of a laic Europe, and revisit conceptual articulations of the notions of citizenship and multiculturalism in light of political and cultural hegemonies based on the exclusion and marginalization of “otherness.” Lectures and field visits will also allow students to examine pressing issues of language and identity, Islam and religious affiliation as they interact with European secular modernity and impact subjectivity, political engagement, and integration. Contra the assimilationist discourse about exclusion, students are encouraged to think through counter-hegemonic ethics of inclusive solidarities. This seminar is delivered during the excursion to Italy.
Politics, Civil Society, and Migration in Tunisia – syllabus
(MDES3000 / 3 credits / 45 hours)
This interdisciplinary seminar addresses ways in which government politics and civil society action influence human mobility in Tunisia and the Middle East and North Africa region. The succession of revolutions in the region and the disintegration of authoritarianism in Tunisia and its replacement by nascent democracy have not only accented human mobility across North Africa and Europe but also created a new legal, economic, cultural, and political framework to deal with it. The seminar explores the diverse roles of state and civil society in the democratization process and shows the treatment of migration is shifting from the perspective of European safety and security to immigrant human rights and integration of asylum seekers. The dynamic role played by Tunisian NGOs explains the success of democratic transition and testifies to the humane and multifaceted question of human mobility in the region today.
Language Study — French or Arabic
(ARAB1003-1503 / 3 credits / 45 hours)
The Modern Standard Arabic course focuses on speaking, reading, and writing skills through classroom instruction, with additional opportunities for language learning with homestay families and on educational excursions. Students are placed in beginning, intermediate, or advanced classes, based on in-country evaluation, including oral proficiency testing. A short, non-credit introduction to Tunisian Colloquial Arabic is included in all language levels.
Intermediate French: French in Tunisian Contexts – syllabus
(FREN2003–2503 / 3 credits / 45 hours)
Advanced French: North African Francophone Literature – syllabus
This intensive course prepares students to use French in daily communication in Tunisia. Another major aim of the course is to facilitate access to the Tunisian host culture. Thus the course emphasizes the development of speaking and comprehension competencies. Reading and writing are also fostered, but chiefly to complement verbal proficiency and speech comprehension. Cultural context is built into the course. All of the four fundamental communicative skills of speech, comprehension, reading, and writing are imparted through traditional classroom instruction, field-based activities, and continuing homestay practice. Students are placed into appropriate language course levels based on estimated-ACTFL oral proficiency interviews and written exams (placement tests) conducted during orientation in Tunisia. The course is taught over nine weeks by highly experienced teachers who have specifically designed a reading manual for the learning needs unique to French students in Tunisia.
(ANTH3500 / 3 credits / 45 hours)
This seminar includes lectures on qualitative methods of research in social sciences and in particular in the critical global issue of Identity|Migration|Resilience a research proposal or internship proposal, and preparation of an application for review of research with human subjects. The seminar strengthens students' cultural awareness through exercises and discussions about researcher positionality and the ethics of fieldwork in Tunisia. All students participate in an overview of research design and methodological approaches to program themes. Ethical considerations related to conducting research or completing an internship will be discussed. The overall aim is to help students hone their experience-based learning processes and prepare them for the development of an Independent Study Project (ISP), which is largely based on the data gathered from primary sources, or an internship at a local organization.
In addition to taking the above courses, students will also need to enroll in one of the following two courses:
Conducted in Tunis or in another approved location appropriate to the project. Sample topic areas: role of women’s organizations in transforming feminist discourse; street art before and after the Tunisian revolution; reproductive health in Tunisia; illegal immigration from Tunisia after the Jasmine Revolution; political Islam in Tunisia; political agency among young people in post-revolutionary Tunisia; humanitarian efforts in Tunisia; political self-education among Tunisia’s youth.
Internship and Seminar – syllabus
(ITRN3000 / 4 credits / 120 hours)
This seminar consists of a four-week internship with a local community organization, research organization, business, or international NGO. The aim of an internship is to enable students to gain valuable work experience and enhance their skills in an international work environment. Specifically, students will conduct an internship in the context of social and political transition in Tunisia, and a focus will be on linking internship learning with the program’s critical global issue, Migration | Identity | Resilience. The seminar includes regular reflection and assessment meetings with the academic director to review the progress of the internship and learning associated with the internship experience. Students complete a substantial academic paper in which they process their learning experience on the job, analyze an issue important to the organization, and/or design a socially responsible solution to a problem identified by the organization. Students also conduct an oral presentation of their internship experience and findings.
Palermo, Sicily (3 weeks)
The three-week excursion to Italy is based in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, and includes tours of the cities of Cefalù, Taormina, Catania, and Bagheria. Sicily and Palermo boast a remarkable historical past that has included Punic, Greek, Roman, Arab, Norman, French and Spanish civilizations. Just over 90 miles from the Tunisian coast, Palermo commands the Strait of Sicily and already has an African and Oriental atmosphere. The city, which can be aptly called the crossroads of Mediterranean cultures and peoples, is also in a position that has made it the first port of call for immigrants both documented and undocumented.
Our partner in Palermo is the distinguished European Center for International Studies and Initiatives, (CESIE), an institution dedicated to growth through innovative and participative education. CESIE provides the logistics for the excursion and the pedagogic requirements for Italian language classes, and lectures and onsite visits for the course on immigrants’ integration. You will have access to the wide network of Palermo University academics and civil society activists, both secular and religious, such as the Jesuit foundation Caritas, Centro Danilo Dolci for mobility, and Moltivolti co-working space, all concerned with immigrants’ cultural, social, and economic integration.
Southern Excursion: Kairouan and the Sahara
This excursion will acquaint you with Tunisia's heartland, where you will experience the juxtaposition of traditional culture and the modern influences of globalization.
In the UNESCO World Heritage site Kairouan, the first Muslim settlement built after the conquering of North Africa in the 7th century, Islamic and Arab presence is still strong. A highlight of the excursion is El Jem's Roman amphitheater, the third largest in the world.
On the island of Djerba, you will visit Turkish and Spanish ribats (seafront forts), Africa’s oldest synagogue, and a Talmudic school in the Hara Kebira (Jewish quarter). You will discuss with the local rabbi and residents challenges of maintaining their faith in an overwhelmingly Muslim region.
En route from Djerba, you will visit troglodyte dwellings and traditional Berber mountain villages used as the set for the planet Tatooine in the Star Wars movies.
My experience in Tunisia with SIT was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life
My experience in Tunisia with SIT was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. The academic content was tremendously enriching, and I expanded myself greatly intellectually. The program is very well thought out.
Lindsay Novis, Fordham University
Mounir Khélifa, PhD, Academic Director
Mounir, a native of Tunisia, studied English at Tunis University and the Sorbonne and received his MA and PhD from Yale. A professor of English language and literature for more than two decades, he teaches poetry, poetics, and comparative literature at Tunis University. He has been director of English graduate studies at the University of Manouba and senior advisor in the cabinet of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, where he was responsible for cooperation with foreign institutions and curricular reform. He is a lifetime member of the Tunisian Academy for the Arts, Letters, and Sciences.
In addition to designing the program’s academic and field components, Mounir advises students, drawing on his understanding of American and Tunisian higher education systems, his knowledge of Tunisian culture, and his wide range of contacts.
Amina Ben Braiek, MA, Homestay Coordinator
Amina earned her BA and MA in English literature from Manouba University. In 2013, she was a Fulbright Arabic language teaching assistant at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. She also taught English at the Mediterranean School of Business in Tunis and worked in the Marketing Department of Vista Print, Tunisia. She is currently writing a doctoral dissertation on John Keats’s poetry.
Rahma Ben Mansour, MA, Student Services Coordinator
Rahma is a sociologist with expertise in migratory questions in the mediterranean region. In 2012, she received an excellence scholarship for a master's degree in sociology at Uludag University in Turkey where she wrote her thesis, “Modern Exodus: Syrian Refugee Crisis”. Along with her experience in Turkey, Rahma has worked with various nongovernmental organizations in Tunisia. In 2016, she returned to work at International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), then moved to southeastern Tunisia to serve as head of Towards a Resilient and Positive Migration in Africa (AMIPA), a European project targeting population affected by migration. Her portfolio includes several trainings by international experts on various ranges of techniques such as tools and methodologies of human-centered design, techniques of advocacy, and monitoring and evaluation.
Nesrine Baccara, MA, Laguage Coordinator
Nesrine has an MA in applied linguistics from Manouba University and an MS in education from Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania. She has taught English at the Tunis Business School and Arabic in the Critical Languages Scholarship Program. In addition, she is an ACTFL OPI tester of Arabic with full certification from the American Association of Teaching Foreign Languages, a certified practitioner in neuro-linguistic programming from the International Neuro-Linguistic Programming Trainers Association, and a meditation coach with World Peace Initiative foundation in Thailand.
Youssef Khelifa, MA, Office Manager
Youssef holds a BA and an MA in French literature from the University of Tunis. He taught French language in several Tunisian lycées before joining the Tunis Institute for Fine Arts and Urban Design as an assistant professor, teaching a seminar on French aesthetic discourse.
Lecturers for this program typically include:
Hafedh Chekir, MA
Hafedh is an international expert on youth demographics. A graduate of Tunis University and the Paris VI Institute of Political Studies, he was for many years the Arab World regional director in Jerusalem for the United Nations Population Fund. In this capacity, he acted as a consultant on population policies, demographic analyses and population projections, population surveys, and youth policies related to immigration.
Sleh Fredj, PhD
Sleh studied anthropology and sociology at universities in Tunis, Paris, and Michigan. He is a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Tunis Faculty of Human and Social Sciences. His fields of study are youth demographics, youth culture, and youth immigration, both documented and undocumented.
Asma Nouira, PhD
Asma has a PhD in political science. She specialized in law and Islamic studies, with emphasis on the state and Islam. She is an assistant professor of law and political science at the Faculty of Law, Economics, and Management at Jendouba University. She is a member of Unité de Recherche “État, Société et Culture” and “Groupe de Recherche Islamo-Chrétien” and author of Le Mufti de la République, la fonction et l’institution (2000) and Responses to Wahhabism in the 19th Century (2008).
Hamadi Redissi
Hamadi Redissi is a professor of public law and political science at the University of Tunis. He was a visiting scholar at Yale University in 2008 and at Fordham University in 1999. He has been a Fulbright scholarship recipient and has lectured at American universities (Yale, Fordham University, Colorado College, Loyola University, and the American Academy of Arts and Science in Boston). He is the author of L’exception Islamique, 2004; Les Politiques en Islam: Le Prophète, le Roi et le Savant, 1998; and Religion and Politics: Islam and Muslim Civilization (with Jan-Erik Lane), 2004. He recently published a book on the history of Wahhabism and in 2008 co-edited a collection of manuscripts refuting Wahhabism in nineteenth-century Beirut.
Livia Tranchina, BA
Livia has a bachelor’s degree in Latin and Italian Literature from the University of Palermo and taught high school Italian and Latin. After she retired, she began working with the NGO Centro Astalli, where she has been coordinating and organizing volunteers since 2002. Livia is also an intercultural mediator who leads school project to promote intercultural and interreligious dialogue and refugees’ social inclusion.
You will participate in a six-week homestay in greater Tunis with a host family familiar with the issues explored in your coursework. Homestay families are in the centuries-old neighborhoods of La Marsa, Sidi Bou Said, and Carthage. Students completing Independent Study Projects or internships in Tunis may extend their homestay by four weeks.
Other accommodations include hostels, small hotels, or independent apartments while on excursion to Italy.
The homestay experience in the words of an alumna:
“The homestay was an amazing experience and remains one of my best memories from Tunisia. My host family lived in La Marsa, a seaside suburb of Tunis. Because family plays such an important role in Tunisian culture, the homestay was a great way to immerse myself in the culture and get the most out of my experience. It gave me access to cultural activities and also provided me with support during my semester abroad.
“I arrived in Tunisia during the holy month of Ramadan, a month centered on family get-togethers full of delicious, traditional meals always followed by glasses of mint tea and pastries. Two other celebrations also centered on family and friends—Aid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan and Aid al-Aidha a few months later—gave me further cultural insight. These events were also fantastic opportunities to practice my burgeoning Arabic skills. The homestay enabled me to participate in these celebrations and made me feel welcome.
“The opportunities for food and celebration were clearly highpoints of the homestay experience, but living with my host family provided many other valuable benefits. My host family was incredibly welcoming and wanted me to get the most out of my stay. I was truly treated like a daughter and integrated into daily activities, whether those included cooking, shopping, or visiting friends and family. I gained a view of everyday life, but the homestay also helped me adapt. I used my host family as a resource for discussing adjustment issues and culture shock, and talking with them helped me feel more comfortable. My host family gave me a feeling of constancy and made the transition to living in Tunisia not just easier, but also so much more enjoyable. By the time I boarded my airplane home, I no longer felt like a tourist in Tunisia; I had established friendships and connections that I value to this day."
Krista Moore, Macalester College
Student Video - Isaiah Sciford
Your ISP will be conducted in Tunis or in another approved location appropriate to the project. Sample topic areas include: role of women’s organizations in transforming feminist discourse; street art before and after the Tunisian revolution; reproductive health in Tunisia; illegal immigration from Tunisia after the Jasmine Revolution; political Islam in Tunisia; political agency among young people in post-revolutionary Tunisia;; humanitarian efforts in Tunisia; political self-education among Tunisia’s youth.
Some topics students may want to explore as ISPs are:
Strategies for the prevention of youth radicalization in Tunisia and Italy
Immigrants’ integration: Secular and religious NGOs
Tunisian youths’ perceptions of immigration to Europe
Politics and religion: Christian Democracy and Ennahdha Islamist party
Ennahdha Islamist party and the Politics of Moderation
Browse this program’s Independent Study Projects / undergraduate research.
Internship and Seminar
This hands-on internship will take place during the last four weeks of the program. SIT academic internships are hands-on and reflective. In addition to completing the internship, weekly seminar sessions, and progress reports, you will submit and present a paper reflecting on your experience and relating it to the program’s themes.
The internships offered as part of this program are another great way not only to deepen your understanding of an aspect of the program that you find particularly interesting but also to build experience that will help you define your goals beyond college. Internships may encompass a range of sectors and fields.
Sample internships:
Promoting women’s involvement in government with the League of Tunisian Women Voters
Supporting LGBT rights campaigns at Shams
Fighting racism and promoting black consciousness at M’nemty
Providing social entrepreneurship support and financing at Yunus Social Business
Monitoring democratic institutionalization at the Tunisian Observatory for Democratic Transition
Checking government transparency and anti-corruption at I-Watch
A diversity of students representing different colleges, universities, and majors study abroad on this program. Many of them have gone on to do amazing things that connect back to their experience abroad with SIT. Recent positions held by alumni of this program include:
Journalist with ABC’s Eyewitness News, New York, NY
High school teacher
Intern at Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, Scotland
Volunteer with the Peace Corps
This program is eligible for a New Horizons Grant, a scholarship for our new programs. Award amounts are $2,500 for semester and $1,500 for summer programs. Students demonstrating need through their submitted scholarship application will be eligible.
Two thematic courses:
Politics, Civil Society, and Migration in Tunisia
Immigration and Religious Integration in the Euro-Mediterranean Region
Research Methods and Ethics course
Intensive language instruction in Modern Standard Arabic or French
All educational excursions to Italy and other locations in Tunisia, including all related travel costs
Independent Study Project or internship (including a stipend for accommodation and food)
All accommodations during the entire program period. This includes during orientation, time in the program base (Tunis), on all excursions, during the Independent Study Project or internship, and during the final evaluation period. Accommodation is covered either by SIT Study Abroad directly, through a stipend provided to each student, or through the homestay family.
Homestay (six weeks in greater Tunis)
All meals for the entire program period. Meals are covered either by SIT Study Abroad directly, through a stipend, or through the homestay family.
Tunisa Memories, a video by alum Bradley Toney
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Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 94 › Casey v. Galli
Casey v. Galli, 94 U.S. 673 (1876)
Casey v. Galli
94 U.S. 673
1. When a national banking association is insolvent, the order of the Comptroller of the Currency, declaring to what extent the individual liability of the stockholders shall be enforced, is conclusive. Kennedy v. Gibson, 8 Wall. 498, cited and approved.
2. When his order is to collect an amount equal to the full par value of the stock, the suit by the receiver against the stockholder must be at law, and that amount will bear interest from the date of the order.
Page 94 U. S. 674
3. In such a suit, the stockholder is estopped from denying the existence or the validity of the corporation.
4. No authority other than that conferred by Congress is required to enable a bank existing under a special or a general state law to become a national banking association. The certificate of the Comptroller is conclusive as to the completeness of the organization under the act of Congress in a suit against a stockholder to enforce his liability, or a party upon his contract with the bank.
5. A plea is bad which sets up that the Comptroller has decided to pay a large amount of claims for which the bank is not responsible, and that, aside from these claims, there are means enough to meet the just liabilities of the bank.
This was an action at law, brought in this Court by the receiver of the New Orleans National Banking Association to enforce the individual liability of the defendant as a stockholder of that institution.
The defendant is a subject of the Kingdom of Italy, and its vice-consul at the City of Philadelphia.
By agreement, and in order to present for the consideration of the Court several of the grounds of defense, the defendant filed a demurrer to the declaration and also pleas in abatement, without reference to the order of pleading them, and subject to the future direction of the Court in disposing of them. The plaintiff joined in demurrer to the declaration, and demurred to the pleas in abatement, and the defendant joined in demurrer.
The questions thus presented by defendant's demurrer are:
1. Whether the proceeding to enforce the liability of the defendant should not be in equity, and not at law.
2. Whether to sustain the action at law it is sufficient to aver the necessity of enforcing the liability, and that such necessity has been declared by the Comptroller of the Currency without stating facts from which the Court can determine the necessity.
3. Whether the order by the Comptroller to collect from each stockholder the entire amount for which he is liable is conclusive upon the defendant without the allegation of any facts showing the amount which he is liable to contribute.
The questions raised by the plea in abatement are:
4. Whether a majority of the directors, with the authority of the owners of two-thirds of the stock of a state bank, can change its organization into that of a national banking association
without any authority given by the state law in its charter or otherwise to make the change.
5. Whether the certificate of the Comptroller is conclusive as to the organization and existence of the association.
The pleadings are set out in the opinion of the Court.
MR. JUSTICE SWAYNE delivered the opinion of the Court.
The declaration avers as follows:
On and before the third day of June, 1864, the Bank of New Orleans was a banking corporation organized under the laws of the State of Louisiana, and as such carried on the business of banking until about the first day of July, 1871, when the bank, by due proceedings under the act of Congress, entitled "An Act to provide a national currency, secured by a pledge of United states bonds, and to provide for the circulation and redemption thereof," approved June 3, 1864, became a national banking association under said act of Congress, and as such took the name and style of the "New Orleans National Banking Association," and carried on the business of banking until the fourth day of October, 1873, when it failed and suspended payment.
Thereupon, the Comptroller of the Currency, after due proceedings had, appointed a receiver for the association, and it was put in liquidation under the act of Congress before mentioned and the acts amending it, and the plaintiff is such receiver, being lawfully appointed under the said act. By the conversion of the Bank of New Orleans into such banking association, every holder of the shares of the capital stock of said Bank of New Orleans became a shareholder of the capital stock of said New Orleans Banking Association to the amount of his shares, and as such subject to the liabilities imposed by said act of Congress on such shareholders. There is owing by the association to its creditors large sums of money. Its assets are insufficient to pay its debts. It has become necessary, in order to pay the debts, to enforce the liability of the shareholders. The Comptroller has decided that this shall be done. On the seventh day of June, 1875, by his order in writing, he required the plaintiff, as such receiver, to enforce such liability against each stockholder to the amount of the par value of his stock held at the time of the failure of the association. The capital stock of the association was $600,000, divided into twenty thousand shares of the par value of $30 each.
The defendant is an alien, a subject of the Kingdom of Italy and vice-consul, &c. At the date of the failure of the association, he was the owner of fifty shares of the capital stock of the par value of $30 for each share. By reason thereof, he is liable to pay the sum of $1,500. He has been specially requested to pay that sum, and has refused to do so. The plaintiff is, therefore entitled by force of the statute to recover the said sum of $1,500 with interest at the rate of five percent per annum.
It was agreed by the parties that demurrers, pleas, replications, and other pleadings might be filed without reference to the order in which they were properly pleadable.
The defendant demurred to the declaration and assigned the following causes:
1. That the defendant is bound to contribute ratably, and that the proper amount can be ascertained only in equity.
2. That the defendant is bound to contribute ratably to pay a large sum; that this sum is not stated in the declaration, and hence what would be ratable and proper does not appear.
3. That the obligation of the defendant is to pay into the hands of the Comptroller of the Currency a ratable portion of the debts of the association proved before him, and that the declaration does not show that any debts had been so proved.
4. That the declaration demands a larger sum than the defendant is required by the statute to pay, and also an additional sum by way of interest.
In regard to the first three of these objections, it is sufficient to say that Kennedy v. Gibson, 8 Wall. 498, is conclusive against them. It is there said that the amount to be paid rests in the judgment and discretion of the Comptroller, that his determination cannot be controverted by the stockholders in suits against them, and that when the order is to collect the full amount of the par of the stock, the suit must be at law. It is unnecessary to reproduce the reasoning of the court in support of these propositions. The sum to be paid being liquidated, and due and payable when the Comptroller's order was made, it follows that the amount bears interest from the date of the order. Otherwise there would be no motive to pay promptly, and no equality between those who should pay then
and those who should pay at the end of a protracted litigation. The defendant filed three pleas in abatement:
1. Nul tiel corporation.
2. That there was not then, nor when the plaintiff was appointed such supposed receiver of said New Orleans Banking Association, nor before nor since that time, any such corporation in existence, because the Bank of New Orleans had no power by its charter, nor authority otherwise from the State of Louisiana, to change its organization to that of a national banking association under the laws of the United states, wherefore it was prayed that the declaration be quashed.
3. That there was not then, nor when the plaintiff was appointed such supposed receiver of the New Orleans Banking Association, nor before nor since that time any such corporation in existence, because the owners of two-thirds of the capital stock of the Bank of New Orleans did not authorize the bank to be converted into a national banking association under the laws of the United states, nor to accept an organization certificate as such banking association, wherefore it was prayed that the declaration be quashed.
The plaintiff filed a joint demurrer to all these pleas. At the argument, the first plea was abandoned. The other two remain to be considered.
The pleas were properly framed in abatement, and not in bar. Jones v. Bank of Tennessee, 8 B.Mon. (Ky.) 122; Woodson v. Bank of Gallipolis, 4 id. 203.
The second plea is clearly bad. No authority from the state was necessary to enable the bank so to change its organization. The option to do that was given by the forty-fourth section of the Banking Act of Congress, 13 Stat. 112. The power there conferred was ample, and its validity cannot be doubted. The act is silent as to any assent or permission by the state. It was as competent for Congress to authorize the transmutation as to create such institutions originally.
The third plea is also bad.
The eighteenth section of the act requires the Comptroller to make a careful examination in all cases of original applications, and, if he found the association was "lawfully entitled to commence the business of banking," he was to give a certificate
to that effect, and it is declared that the association
"shall transact no business except such as is incidental to its organization, and necessarily preliminary, until authorized by the Comptroller of the Currency to commence the business of banking."
13 Stat. 101. A like examination and certificate are required by the forty-fourth section, where an existing bank organizes under the act. That section provides
"That when the Comptroller shall give to such association a certificate, under his hand and official seal, that the provisions of this act have been complied with, and that it is authorized to commence the business of banking under it, the association shall have the same powers and privileges and shall be subject to the same duties, responsibilities, and rules in all respects as are provided in this act for associations organized under it."
The declaration avers that the association became such by due and regular proceedings under the act. The plea denies the regularity of the proceedings in the single particular that the owners of two-thirds of the capital stock of the bank did not authorize the directors of said bank to convert it into a national banking association, nor to accept an organization certificate as such banking association. According to the law of pleading, what is not denied is conceded. The giving of the Comptroller's certificate is covered by the averment in the declaration, is not denied by the plea, and is, therefore, to be taken as admitted. The plea proposes to go behind the certificate and contradict it. This cannot be done. The Comptroller was clothed with jurisdiction to decide as to the completeness of the organization, and his certificate is conclusive upon the subject for all the purposes of this litigation.
It has the same effect, and for the same reason, as his determination and order with respect to the amount to be collected from each stockholder in the event of the failure of the association. No question can be raised in this collateral way as to either.
In Thacher v. West River National Bank, 19 Mich. 196, it was held that whether there was any defect in the process of organization was a question for the Comptroller to decide, and that
"his certificate of compliance with the act of Congress
removes any objection which might otherwise have been made to the evidence upon which he acted."
In this we concur.
There is another ground upon which both pleas must be held bad. Where a shareholder of a corporation is called upon to respond to a liability as such, and where a party has contracted with a corporation, and is sued upon the contract, neither is permitted to deny the existence or the legal validity of such corporation. To hold otherwise would be contrary to the plainest principles of reason and of good faith, and involve a mockery of justice. Parties must take the consequences of the position they assume. They are estopped to deny the reality of the state of things which they have made appear to exist, and upon which others have been led to rely. Sound ethics require that the apparent, in its effects and consequences, should be as if it were real, and the law properly so regards it. Eaton v. Aspinwall, 19 N.Y. 119; s.c. 6 Duer (N.Y.) 176; Cooper v. Shaver, 41 Barb. (N.Y.) 151; Camp v. Burne, 41 Mo. 525; Danbury & N. Railroad Co. v. Wilson, 22 Conn. 435; Ellis v. Schmock & Thomas, Bing. 521; McFarlan v. Triton Ins. Co., 4 Denio (N.Y.) 392; Rector & Co. v. Lovett, 1 Hall (N.Y.) 191; Topping v. Beckford, 4 Allen (Mass.) 121; Dooley v. Wolcott, id., 407; Eppes v. Railroad Company, 35 Ala. 33; Hamtramack v. Bank of Edwardsville, 2 Mo. 169; Jones v. Cincinnati Type Foundry, 14 Ind. 88; Worcester Med. Ins. v. Harding, 11 Cush. (Mass.) 285; Hughes v. Bank of Somerset, 5 Litt. (Ky.) 47; Tar River Nav. Co. v. Neal, 3 Hawks (N.C.), 520.
Demurrer sustained.
At a subsequent day of the term, pursuant to leave granted, three pleas were filed. The questions arising upon demurrers to the special pleas were argued by the same counsel.
Since the opinion of the Court was delivered in this case, the defendant obtained leave to plead further, and has filed three pleas. They are:
First, nil debet, upon which the plaintiff has taken issue.
Second, that the Comptroller of the Currency has
"determined
and decided to exact from the defendant, and from a number of stockholders of said National Banking Association less than the whole, such sums of money as would suffice to pay all the debts and liabilities of the said National Banking Association, with the intent and purpose to compel this defendant and others of said shareholders who may be solvent to contribute the entire sum necessary to pay the debts and liabilities of the said National Banking Association, without any contribution from those who are insolvent."
It is a sufficient objection to this plea that the Comptroller has ordered that each stockholder shall pay to the receiver the par of his stock. This order cannot be controverted in a suit against the stockholder. It is conclusive upon him, and makes it his duty to pay. Kennedy v. Gibson, 8 Wall. 498. What may be done or intended with respect to other stockholders is immaterial in his case.
The plea is also manifestly bad for vagueness and uncertainty.
Third, that the Comptroller has decided to pay a large amount of claims against the bank for which the bank is not responsible, and that, aside from these claims, there are means enough already in his hands to meet the liabilities of the bank.
The same objection lies to this plea as to the preceding one, and the same authority applies. If the receiver intends to violate or shall violate his duty in discharging the trust confided to him, the remedy must be sought in another proceeding. It cannot avail the defendant in this action.
Both demurrers are sustained.
The parties have filed a written stipulation submitting the issues raised upon the first plea to the court and waiving the intervention of a jury.
With respect to this issue, we find the proofs in the record amply sufficient to sustain the plaintiff's case.
Judgment must therefore be rendered against the defendant for the par of his stock, with interest, as claimed in the declaration, and costs, and it is
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Yinka Shonibare MBE (born London, England, 1962)
Dorian Gray [Scene 5]
resin print
print size: 30 x 37 1/2 in.
frame size: 34 x 40 1/2 x 1 1/4 in.
2017.25e
Object Label
Art is a liar, Yinka Shonibare claims. In this photographic sequence, the artist has refashioned the 1945 film The Picture of Dorian Gray, itself a refashioning of Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novel of the same name. In the original narrative, the handsome and youthful white title character trades his soul for outward beauty and youth: his painted portrait, rather than his physical body, will reflect the ravages of age and wrongdoing. The narcissistic Dorian declines into moral corruption yet physically reflects none of his age or degeneracy. The tale ends in tragedy, when Dorian attempts to destroy the now hideous portrait; instead, the portrait reverts to one of beauty and Dorian to an old, decrepit man as he kills himself instead. In Shonibare’s retelling, we see the title character’s transformation take place in his body, specifically when he encounters his reflection in a mirror.
By inserting himself into the role of an 1890s white English dandy, Shonibare, an Englishman of Nigerian descent and upbringing with a paralytic disability that forces him to use a cane, asks viewers to question and reconsider what he believes are inherently false historical and literary narratives. Surely, his presence would have been unlikely, if not impossible, in polite Victorian society. By placing himself in the role of Dorian Gray, Shonibare brings to light those who have been excluded from upper-class English society—and whose stories have been neglected in our histories. Shonibare’s cinematic images re-identify the fictional character Dorian Gray but also allow the artist to question the meanings of his own heritage: what does it mean to “be European” or “be African,” to represent or reflect the values of an entire continent? Further, by reimagining The Picture of Dorian Gray, a novel about inner and outer selves and how they do or don’t relate to each other, Shonibare offers the opportunity to question whether how we perceive ourselves is how we present ourselves. When we look at others, when, if ever, do outward appearances relate to inner realities?
From the exhibition: Other Side:
Art, Object, Self (August 12, 2017 – January 3, 2018)
Other Side:
Art, Object, Self
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Messianic Jewish Endtime Ministries in Taiwan: On Gays, Abortion and the Sabbath
Posted on March 13, 2017 by ladenframe
I’m always interested to see religious pamphlets when they come through my door, especially given the recent protests held by Taiwan’s Christian minority against the gay marriage bill.
Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen has treated these religious groups on the same footing as pro-gay marriage groups, despite a lot of misinformation spread by the former on the actual content on the bill (lots of talk of men marrying Ferris wheels and dogs).
Anyway, I got this leaflet through the door this week, which appears to be associated with or enamoured with the “Aleph & Tav Prophetic Endtime Ministries“, a sect of Messianic Judaism, and have translated selections of it that I thought were interesting as they relate to gay rights and abortion.
The first page is slightly odd, in that it first suggests that there has been an uptick in “earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, heat waves, damage to crops from cold spells, epidemics and terrorist attacks” and then states that most of these are the result of how humanity has destroyed the earth’s environment. He then points out, that actually earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are not related to global warming, but are rather a sign of god’s anger. He goes on to state that effects of global warming are far beyond what many scientists predicted, so god’s probably making global warming worse for us too.
After this the author goes into a rant about the Sabbath being from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, not Sunday as some Christians would have it. One line of this rant stood out to me:
不要再讓外邦人嘲笑我們不遵守十誡。
Don’t allow the people of foreign countries to continue to mock us for not observing the 10 Commandments.
This is interesting because it conflicts with statements made later on in the text, in which he criticizes Taiwanese people for blindly following Western conventions on the issue of abortion.
The second page is a little more interesting, and I’ve translated it in two parts. The first excerpt is as follows:
Warning! Warning!
The creator clearly tells humanity in the bible “Homosexuality is sin”, but nowadays, people with ulterior motives use “respect for human rights” as a shield to promote such evil behaviour among humanity. Their motive is to destroy and obliterate our next generation! Over recent years the number of homosexuals, drug users and even people infected with AIDS [sic.] on school campuses has clearly risen, which is closely related to the evil education policies (gender equality education, today in schools they no longer emphasize the idea of one man and one woman, but they advocate to allow for diverse genders)! There are even massive parades by homosexual groups in Taiwan every year, with singers launching concerts to support the cause and the media writing favourable reports about them, which has led to an intangible brainwashing and warping of the value systems of Taiwan’s young people so that they can no longer tell right from wrong!
The creator tells us in the bible that “homosexuals” are an object of his scorn, and are accursed! (The city of Sodom was destroyed because of the sin of homosexuality). What is most regrettable is that during the presidential election we chose a political party that supports diverse families and we chose a leader who supports homosexuals. This choice has led our country to be cursed! As all the people of Taiwan must take responsibility for their decision! Do you still remember? The day after the election (January 17, 2016) their were dark clouds in the skies all over Taiwan, and it rained everywhere! This is a sign that the heavens were weeping for this accursed piece of land, from that time onward there has been natural disaster after natural disaster, with frequent news of accidents, but this is just punishment and discipline, in the hope that our compatriots can wake up to this as soon as possible, and be cheated by this disingenuous rhetoric no longer, to prevent an even bigger disaster befalling us!
Dear compatriots, we hereby implore you to save our country’s next generation, to clearly express your opposition while we still have freedom of speech, otherwise when a disaster befalls us and we will be left with nothing but regret! We ask that Christians not remain silent, as silence is tacit agreement in the eyes of the lord!
Posted in Chinese Language, Curiosities, Notes, Politics, Religion | Tagged abortion, Christianity, 猶太教, Gay rights, Judaism, religion, 基督教, 墮胎, 婚姻平權 | Leave a reply
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Hannah Lydic
Ocean View, DE
Scoring Average 78.71
Bell National Rank: 59
Bell National Order of Merit Points: 153.25
Eagles: 1 (0.79%)
Birdies: 13 (10.32%)
Doubles: 9 (7.14%)
5/11/2019 Dupont Girls Classic @ Dupont CC
Place: T5
Total: 113 (+5)
Round 1:75 (+3) DuPont Country Club - Du Pont
DuPont Country Club -- 5/11/2019
E E E -1 -1 E -1 E +1 +1 +3 +4 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3
4 340 4 3 -1
DuPont Country Club -- 5/12/2019 (Started On 10)
+1 E E -1 E E +1 +1 +2 +2
IN 2911 36
5/4/2019 LPGA Tour Pure Silk Girls Junior Championship
Round 1:79 (+8) Kingsmill Country Club - River
Kingsmill Country Club -- 5/4/2019
E E E +2 +1 +2 +2 +3 +3
TOT 5975 71 39
4/13/2019 MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP @ Bulle Rock Golf Club
Round 1:73 (+1) Bulle Rock Golf Club
Bulle Rock Golf Club -- 4/13/2019
+1 +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +1 E +1 +1
3/30/2019 Commonwealth Classic @ Lake Monticello GC
Round 1:84 (+12) Lake Monticello Golf Course
Lake Monticello Golf Course -- 3/30/2019
+1 +2 +2 +5 +5 +7 +7 +7 +8 +8 +8 +8 +9 +10 +10 +11 +13 +12 +12
E E +1 +1 +4 +4 +4 +5 +7 +9 +9 +10 +10 +10 +11 +12 +13 +14 +14
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Midlands Academy of Musical Theatre presents "A Midsummer nights Dream" A modern immersive version of a Shakespeare classic
Friday 7th June 2019, 7:30pm
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About Midlands Academy of Musical Theatre presents "A Midsummer nights Dream"
Come along and enjoy the Midlands Academy of Musical Theatre's modern immersive take on a Shakespeare classic.
Set at a festival and encompassing many modern issues; without losing the witty humour written by Shakespeare himself, this is bound to be a show not to be missed.
The show will also feature live music composed by West End actor/musician Tomas Wolstenholme (Once), Movement by West singer/dancer/musician CiCi Howells (Saturday Night Fever, Carnaby Street, Threepenny Opera) and is directed by the Incredible James Williams of James Williams Associates.
Please bring Umbrellas and coats in case of unexpected rain.
Refreshments will be available to purchase on the day.
Please note, this is an immersive performance and you will be required to stand for most of the performance and follow the actors around the square as the plot advances. Wheelchair access is available.
Brief plot summary:
Theseus, the Duke of Athens, is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, A courtier seeks the Duke’s intervention because his daughter, Hermia, will not agree to his choice of Demetrius as a husband: she’s in love with Lysander. The Duke tells Hermia to obey her father, or either die or accept a life as a nun in Diana’s temple. Lysander and Hermia plan to elope, and they tell Helena, who is in love with Demetrius, but he hates her and loves Hermia. The lovers run away from Athens but get lost in the woods. They are followed by Demetrius, and then by Helena, who has told him of their intentions.
Oberon, king of the fairies, who lives in the woods, has quarrelled with his queen, Titania, over an Indian boy she refuses to give him. Oberon overhears Helena and Demetrius arguing and sends his mischievous servant, Puck, to get a flower whose juice has the power to make people fall in love with the first creature they see when the juice is placed on their eyelids while asleep. He instructs Puck to put some drops on Demetrius’ eyes. Mistaking the Athenian he seeks, Puck puts the flower juice on the eyes of the sleeping Lysander so that when he is woken by Helena he immediately falls in love with her and rejects Hermia.
Some artisans are rehearsing a play about the tragic love-story of Pyramus and Thisbe to present before Theseus on his wedding day. Bottom, the weaver, is to play the lover, Pyramus, while Flute, the bellows-mender, is to play Thisbe. The others play the parts of the Moon, the Wall and the Lion and they are directed by Quince, the carpenter. Puck overhears their rehearsals in the wood and he plays a trick on them by giving Bottom an ass’s head which frightens the others away. Bottom is lured towards the sleeping Titania whom Oberon has treated with the flower juice. On waking, she falls in love with the ass and entertains him with her fairies, but when Bottom falls asleep beside her, Oberon restores Titania’s sight and wakes her. She is appalled at the sight of what she has been in love with and is reunited with Oberon.
Puck removes the ass’s head and Bottom returns to Athens and rejoins his friends as they prepare to perform their play. Meanwhile the lovers’ arguments tire them out as they chase one another through the woods and when Demetrius rests, Oberon puts magic juice on his eyes so that both he and Lysander pursue Helena until the fourlovers fall asleep, exhausted. Puck puts juice on Lysander’s eyes before the lovers are woken by Theseus and Hippolyta and their dawn hunting party. Happily reunited to each other, Lysander with Hermia, Demetrius with Helena, they agree to share the Duke’s wedding day. The rustics perform the play of Pyramus and Thisbe before the wedding guests. As the three couples retire Puck and the fairies return to bless the palace and its people.
St Paul's Square,
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How Carrie Fisher's Space Adventures Helped Define My Generation
By Anna Leahy
I was 11-years-old when Star Wars was first released in 1977. My sister, two years younger, and I saw it together. To that point, we’d been raised mostly on princesses of the cartoon variety who sang of the princes they imagined would save them from their dreary lives. On television, we’d watched a genie who couldn’t show her navel and a witch who hoped her daughter wouldn’t inherit her super-human abilities. Both hid their powers from others under the guise of protecting their husbands’ careers.
When Princess Leia — Carrie Fisher — appeared in Star Wars, wearing a white robe that was easily replicated at home with a bed sheet (and then she later transitioned to boys’ clothes), we’d not seen anyone like her before. My sister and I were young enough to believe in her, to believe that, in the not too distant future, women would go to space and lead their nations. In 1977, only one woman, Valentina Tereshkova, had been to space, but she was Soviet, and she’d gone up before I was born. At the time, in the long lag between the Apollo moon missions and the space shuttle’s first launch, the United States wasn’t hurling anyone beyond the atmosphere. Yet Leia Organa offered us a story of what it would be like.
A year after Star Wars hit theaters, NASA included women in an astronaut class for the first time. Six smart, strong women turned into hopeful spacefarers. From that class, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983, less than a month after the third Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi, was released. In that third film, Princess Leia saves Han Solo from an eternity encased in carbonite, strangles alien slug and crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and wears a golden bikini in an out-of-character, pandering slave scene. By then, I had graduated from high school and was off to college. I was coming of age and trying to figure out how to be a grown-up woman.
NASA astronaut Sally Ride (1951 - 2012) in the interior of the Challenger space shuttle during the STS-41-G mission, October 1984. In 1983 she became the first American woman in space on the STS-7 mission. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Getty Images)
Space Frontiers—Getty Images
When my mother was eleven years old, in 1952, she went to the movie theater to watch Fisher’s mother, Debbie Reynolds, in Singing in the Rain. That was five years before Sputnik took to the heavens, the first human-made object to go to space. That makes my mother part of the Silent Generation, a woman who never understood Star Wars but who figured out how to go to law school and be her own kind of warrior. And I am supposedly Gen X, smashed between the Baby Boomers and Millennials. Jen Chaney has a great piece at Vulture about why the deaths this year of Fisher, David Bowie, Prince, George Michael, and even Muhammed Ali and Florence Henderson have hit Generation X particularly hard. Chaney is right: we feel as if we were alive for their whole celebrity lives. At least that’s true for the oldest among Gen X, like me, heard Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust as little kids and who transitioned from high school to college with 1999, Purple Rain and “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”
Yet, in part because of Princess Leia and Sally Ride, I think of myself not as Gen X, but rather, as Generation Space. I was born in a particular slice of history, between the launch of Sputnik in 1957 and the first space shuttle launch in 1981. I was a toddler when people walked on the Moon. Those of us born into Gen Space have never lived in a world in which space travel was not going on. Our first collective tragedy occurred on January 28, 1986, when the space shuttle Challenger broke apart less than two minutes after it left Earth’s surface with a schoolteacher and six other astronauts onboard. The youngest of Generation Space were in kindergarten then and never knew a world without Star Wars. We thought of the world differently because we could look back at it — at humanity — from out there somewhere.
When I was home for the holidays, I saw Rogue One with my sister. She wanted to capture nostalgia by repeating our movie-going of almost forty years ago. We were also reimagining a moment in time when it seemed possible for a woman in white garb to lead an alliance. We left the theater with our hearts warmed by the explanation of how Princess Leia and R2D2 ended up with those blueprints for the Death Star.
At the same time that we were reveling in this nostalgia, Carrie Fisher was on an airplane and her heart was giving out. She died four days later. John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, had died only a few weeks earlier. We’ll celebrate the fifty-fifth 55th anniversary of his flight in February. Now Fisher’s mother is gone, too, and my mother and Sally Ride both died of pancreatic cancer in 2012.
Neither Fisher, who was born almost a year before Sputnik, nor Glenn were Generation Space themselves. Instead, their deaths bequeath the future to us. Our hearts ache to see them go. We will remember and miss them for a long time. We are the adults of this world now. I like to think the future is Generation Mars, and Princess Leia remains the future for which we hope.
Anna Leahy is the co-author of Generation Space: A Love Story, due out February 2017 from Stillhouse Press. See more at www.generationspace.com.
MOTTO hosts provocative voices and influencers from various spheres. We welcome outside contributions. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of our editors.
Motto welcomes outside contributions. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.
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Donald Trump Says June 12 North Korea Summit 'May Not Work Out'
By Alana Abramson
Updated: May 23, 2018 4:49 AM ET | Originally published: May 22, 2018
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is in Washington Tuesday for a series of meetings with President Trump regarding the upcoming U.S. summit with North Korea – which could be in jeopardy following tough new rhetoric from Pyongyang and a new acknowledgement from Trump.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said there was a “substantial” chance the summit “may not work out” for June 12, but that a decision would be reached soon. “We’re moving along. We’ll see what happens,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, maybe it will happen later.”
Trump did not specify the conditions upon which the meeting would be predicated. The meeting between Trump and Moon came one week after North Korea suspended a meeting with South Korea over a joint military exercise with the United States, and threatened to cancel the summit with the U.S. South Korea has been instrumental in urging the two sides to come together.
President Moon arrived with his wife to Washington on Monday. He and Trump are scheduled for a meeting and a working lunch before he departs.
According to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency, President Moon’s national security adviser, Mr. Chung Eui-yong, told reporters en route to Washington that South Korea believes there is a “99.9 percent chance” the summit will still happen, but they are preparing themselves for a range of possibilities. The comments came before President Trump’s oval office remarks, but reveal how the U.S. and South Korea could be on different wavelengths when it comes to the summit. The meetings today, Chung explained, will be “candid discussions on how to make the North-U.S. summit a success and produce significant agreements and how to best implement those agreements.”
An official with the South Korean embassy, characterized the meeting between Trump and Moon as “an official working visit to exchange and discuss the two presidents’ thoughts and visions on the upcoming US-North Korea Summit,” according to a report from Yonhap The official also said Trump and Moon could discuss the U.S. forces deployed to South Korea, a point of contention because Trump wants to reduce the number stationed there.
During the meeting in the Oval Office, Moon told reporters he was confident in Trump’s peacemaking abilities, and that he the potential to bring prosperity to North Korea.
Trump also floated the idea of unifying North and South Korea. “Maybe in the future they will go back to one Korea,” he said.
North Korea said last week that it was considering cancelling the summit with the United States because it felt the U.S. was manipulating them into completely abandoning its nuclear weapon program. “We are no longer interested in a negotiation that will be all about driving us into a corner and making a one-sided demand for us to give up our nukes,” Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea’s first vice foreign minister, said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
The statement came after Trump’s new National Security Adviser, John Bolton, compared the situation with North Korea to Libya, whose leader, Moammar Gadhafi agreed to abandon the country’s nuclear weapons program in 2003 exchange for sanctions relief. Eight years later, Gadhafi was overthrown during the Arab Spring in 2011, which undoubtedly sparked fear in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
In the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said Kim would be “very happy” if the negotiations came to fruition.
A former North Korean official who defected to South Korea told TIME that members of the North Korean government orchestrating the summit want Bolton off the negotiating team. And the New York Times reported that Trump is increasingly doubting the benefits of meeting with Kim Jong Un following his most recent rhetoric, although Chung, Moon’s national security adviser, said he was unaware of those feelings.
“During phone calls between our two leaders or talks between our National Security Councils, I never got such an impression,” he told reporters, according to Yonhap.
– With reporting by Charlie Campbell/Beijing
Write to Alana Abramson at Alana.Abramson@time.com.
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Category Archives: Editor
Editor, Film
Zekun Mao talks importance of editing and new film ‘And The Dream That Mattered’
January 28, 2019 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment
Beginning her career working on documentaries, Zekun Mao knows the power of editing in terms of filmmaking. Simply changing the order of a couple of shots can create a huge difference. Editing, therefore, is very crucial, and the final step in the storytelling process. A good editor can lift the story, not only telling the story itself, but also creating this beautiful flow for the audience. A good editor can not only tell the most powerful story, but also bring the entire audience into the film, letting them experience the story by themselves. An editor, according to Mao, can not only guide audiences’ eyes, but also their hearts.
The Chinese native is now an internationally sought-after editor, having worked on several critically acclaimed films, including Our Way Home, Jie Jie, and Janek/Bastard. She always aims to be storyteller first, editor second, and this commitment to her craft is evident in all of her work.
One of Mao’s more recent films, And The Dream That Mattered, once again impressed audiences and critics alike. It follows an ambitious Asian actor who’s well on his way to Hollywood success when he returns home to Korea and soon discovers that even while reconnecting with family and loved ones, his creative journey ahead is even more lonely and difficult than he could have ever imagined.
“The ideas shown in the film are very contemporary and universal. They speak to a lot of young artists today, and the struggles they face in the modern world. I hope that by watching this, such people can find answers through their own interpretations of the film. I also hope it can encourage a lot of young artists today to pursue their dreams no matter what comes in their way. The film shows that even after a struggle, hard work eventually pays off,” said Mao.
Mao feels that the story, although it is about an actor, can apply to all artists. As an editor, she related to the story and the struggles the character goes through. She hopes many young people can feel something and know they aren’t alone when they watch the film.
Working on And The Dream That Mattered was an incredible experience for Mao. The film was shot without a typical script, in the style of a documentary, a genre she is extremely adept in. Her first step was to categorize the footage according to the emotions portrayed in it. Thereafter, she started building the narrative based on the ebb and flow of emotions in the footage. In doing so, Mao realized the film could play out like reading a book, and she decided to give each story segment a chapter name, summing up the main theme in each story.
“This project gave me a lot of creative freedom. Coming from a documentary background, the shooting style and the structure was very familiar to me. I enjoyed having nearly complete freedom in shaping the story according to what emotions I sensed throughout the footage. Because of this, I myself started reflecting on a lot of the questions that were posed in the characters’ lives. It felt not only like an editing process, but a life journey,” she said.
Mao lent a unique perspective to the narrative. The director and the actor both had their own ideas of what emotions they would emphasize in the film. Mao was able to filter through a lot of ideas from many team members and eventually put together a version that combined the best of everyone’s ideas, including her own. While working on the editing process, she suggested that the lead actor write letters to various important people in his life. These letters ended up being used as voice-overs throughout the film, which tied the film together.
And The Dream That Mattered has yet to make its way to film festivals, but it already took home the Best Independent Film Award at the Korean Cultural Academy Awards. Mao could not be more thrilled by the success the film has seen thus far. It has a lot of experimental elements to it, and it’s heartening for the editor to see such experimentation being appreciated.
“I’m happy that the writer, who is also the lead actor in the film, Jongman Kim, is getting the recognition he deserves. As the editor of this film, I’m thrilled that our hard work has the potential to bring about change to people’s lives,” she said.
Undoubtedly, Mao has had quite a career so far, and And The Dream That Matteredis just another example of what a force to be reckoned with she is. For those looking to follow their dreams and take on a career as a film editor, Mao says practice makes perfect.
“It is a hard job. It might seem very easy, just putting things together, but there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. It is an art form. You need to practice a lot. Editing is not just knowing how to use some software. It’s more about telling the stories. I would say be prepared. Be prepared to work very hard and be prepared to be criticized very hard too. Be patient, because it takes a very long time to figure out the best version of the story. Most importantly, be passionate, because it is a very exciting job,” she advised.
EditingEditorEntertainmentFilmFilm EditingFilm EditorfilmmakingInternational TalentMovies
Editor, Television
Editor Roma Kong shows of beauty of nail art with iconic Disney characters
September 17, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment
Editing, to Roma Kong, is like a simultaneous combination of surgery and magic. When she gets footage, she reviews the script and gets an idea for the direction of the story. That is when she starts cutting, splicing things together, and moving things around, until every part is put together, telling a clear story; that is the surgical aspect. When it comes to the magic, Kong believes that part comes in two ways. The first being that each story must evoke a certain feeling in the viewer, so it’s not only cutting and putting things together, but also adding emotion to it, whether this be through the music, the rhythm, the speed of the cuts, etc. The second, more often than not, is transforming the footage that may not tell the story they want and making it what they need, without any reshoots or work from the crew. That is where the real work for a film editor comes into play, and that is when Kong truly shines.
Born and raised in Lima Peru, the in-demand editor has impressed the masses with her work. She often collaborates with renowned production companies like Nickelodeon, with work on their online video series BTS Nickelodeon and Inside Nick, as well as Disney.
With Disney, Kong edited DIY Disney, an online series that allowed audiences around the world to see just what she is capable of. The videos amassed over 11 million views, and featured various crafts that viewers could partake in, offering simple and fun instructions using Disney films and characters. She also created another video titled “Disney California Adventure Food Crawl”, effectively launching the Disney Eats brand. She is quite the formidable editor.
“I would say my style of editing is very fluid, dynamic and fun. As a filmmaker, I strive to entertain the audience, so when I edit, telling a good entertaining story is the priority. I also love for cuts to be seamless, so I pay close attention to movement and try to make really smooth transitions between shots, even when making pop videos. I also work very fast which is something the people I’ve worked with have always appreciated,” said Kong.
Kong has a close working relationship with both Nickelodeon and Disney and is often the companies’ first editing choice when they have an innovative new online project to pursue. In 2017, Kong continued her work with Disney on their TIPS Disney series, featuring different videos showing the intricate work behind nail art, using some of Disney’s most celebrated productions.
“I think these videos really help bring more attention to a form of art many don’t really consider art. They allow the audience to truly appreciate the intricacy of the work these artists do. They give Disney fans great ideas on how to show their love for their favorite characters in very stylish ways, and they inspire other artists to create their own version,” said Kong.
The videos feature many beloved Disney film and television productions, as well as iconic characters. These include High School Musical, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Moana, Coco, Beauty and the Beast, and more. They were published through Disney’s expansive social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Together, they gathered over 7.6 million views.
“Seeing the comments from the audience on the videos and realizing how much they love them is heartwarming. Seeing people post about their own versions of what we showed them, is amazing. Reminds you that you’re not only making things for people to watch and forget about, people actually truly love these movies and characters and love showing their love for them and your video can persuade them to make something that they hadn’t thought about before,” said Kong.
Kong’s talent as an editor is evident in the TIPS Disney videos. She is very good at editing with music beats and for Disney Style, the Digital Brand that Tips Disney falls under. Her colleagues and her audience enjoyed the rhythm Kong put into the videos and how, by doing a very musical type of editing, made them fun and entertaining to watch. Because she has a very good eye for art and style, she knew exactly what the best shots were and what made the art look the most stylish and vibrant it possibly could. She understood the vibe of the brand very quickly and knew exactly what the executives wanted before they even knew themselves.
“I loved watching the intricate process of nail art in such a detailed way. I was constantly mesmerized by how hard it is to do, and I found myself with a lot more respect for nail artists. It’s such a great art and they’re all so talented. And also, being able to play with scenes from some of my favorite movies and use them to create something new was so much fun,” said Kong.
Kong worked on TIPS Disney from October 2017 to December 2017. It was an amazing experience for the editor. The Disney Style brand is her favorite out of all the Disney Digital brands. Making multiple videos for it was a great opportunity. The audience loves their content and as a result, the brand has a lot of engagement, and as an editor, making content that a lot of people would appreciate, and love was something that truly made the experience for Kong. It’s a fun brand to work for and it fits her editing style perfectly.
“Disney is the holy grail of the entertainment industry. Working for them is like hitting the jackpot of companies you can put on your resume. Being able to do that and have a Walt Disney Company ID with your picture on it, walking into the Studios with no problem at all is quite the dream come true,” Kong concluded.
DisneyDisney ChannelEditingEditorInternational TalentTelevisionTVWeb Series
Yun Huang talks editing powerful new film ‘Stardust’
July 8, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment
Editing is about emotion, and Yun Huang knows this well. In order to be successful in her field, she knows that understanding every detail in a script is a necessity. She does not simply put footage together, she tells a story, and she has to know the best way to captivate an audience.
“Being an editor provides me with a chance to tell the story to the audience in my way. I can alter a script if necessary and trust my emotional instincts. I connect with people. This job provides me with a great sense of accomplishment,” she said.
No matter what project she takes on, Huang is sure to keep the story at the forefront of her mind while editing. This is evident in all she does, from the powerful commercial “Choice” encouraging girls to follow their hearts, to the informative and telling docuseries Unveil China Outside China, educating its viewers all over the world on the country’s social and political happenings.
“The challenge of any new project is that I have to figure out how I can attract the audience best; for example, how to make an audience laugh at the point that we set up. I always go to the cinema or some film festivals to watch with audiences to see their reactions based on the editing. I should know their thoughts and therefore know how to make my work resonate with the audience,” said Huang.
Huang’s most recent film exemplified just how she connects with viewers. Stardust tells the story ofa male Chinese agent who, loyal to the country, finds out that his most trusted partner, a female Chinese agent, betrays their country. However, as the story progresses, he begins to question his beliefs and the truth.
“I like the story. I’m touched by the soldier’s loyalty to the country and their missions. I believe that showing this kind of emotion is what film is all about,” said Huang.
After premiering earlier this year, Stardust has gone on to several prestigious international film festivals. It was an Official Selection at both the Austin Spotlight Film Festival and Direct Monthly Online Film Festival, an Award Winner at Accolade Global Film Competition, and the winner of Best Action Short Film at Five Continents International Film Festival. With all this, Huang herself was awarded Best Editing at Festigious International Film Festival.
“I was so excited that it got so many awards, and I got an editing award. It just goes to show that hard work and determination will pay off,” she said.
Huang was both the video editor and colorist of this short film, and it was her first time working on a film in the action genre. Initially, she was unsure if she wanted to work on the project, normally leaning towards relevant dramas and documentaries. Before deciding to take part in the film, she talked with the director, Shihang Qu, several times. He told her that he really loved Wing Chun and other kinds of Kung Fu since he was a child, and he always dreamed of directing an action film. She was moved by his efforts, so she decided to take on the project and help the director achieve his dream.
“Shihang is very nice, and he listened to me and considered my suggestions. He accepted all my recommended changes. I really like being respected,” said Huang.
It took over six months to generate a final cut of Stardust. With every day they were shooting, Huang would then look at the footage. This is not a common process, and normally the editor receives all the footage at once in post-production. However, by adopting this style, Huang not only got a better understanding of the story, but also an idea of what the director envisioned. This also allowed her to make suggestions that were instantly implemented. For example, there is a shot of the main character in a scene when they were fighting with bad guys. The director had initially planned for it to be put in the middle of the film as it showed in the script, but Huang thought it would be better if it was moved forward in the story, as the opening scene. It instantly captivated audiences and allowed for the story to be told as a memory, slowing the pace of the beginning and speeding up at the end.
In the end, Huang changed the structure of the story which made the short film more attractive and meaningful. Her instincts as both an editor and storyteller are always fruitful, and she will no doubt continue to have an impressive career. Keep an eye out for her future work.
Chinese FilmmakersChinese TalentEditingEditorEntertainmentFilmFilm EditorfilmmakingMovies
Editor, Film Editors
Editor Ran Ro uses fashion as means of storytelling in new video
May 17, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment
Born and raised in South Korea, Ran Ro loves being a film and video editor. She enjoys arranging different shots together to tell a cohesive story, especially when a project largely relies on sound and music. As an editor, she gets to create moments between characters and helps the audience feel and see the world from the perspectives of those characters, and that, for her, is pretty special.
“Editing for me is almost similar to speaking in public except I get to trim or cut out parts that aren’t necessary before the speech happens. I’m a terrible public speaker though so editing is a much better way of communication for me because I can then finesse the ‘speech’, so to speak,” said Ro.
Ro has become a leader in the editing industry and recently has worked on many prolific projects, including a commercial for BackBeatRags celebrating their environmentally-friendly clothing line as well as a series of videos for Tastemade, creating culinary travel videos for digital distribution across all platforms, from Facebook to Instagram and everything in between. The highlight of Ro’s career, however, came just last year after her film In Between premiered and was recognized at film festivals around the world.
“It was very meaningful to me since the project was written based on my childhood experience of growing up with my grandmother. I was initially very hesitant to make the film, especially with difficult scenes that were set in otherworldly places and were complicated to execute. But with the help of my crew, we were able to make it happen and it was rewarding to see that the viewers resonated with the story,” she said.
Earlier this year, Ro collaborated with Elite Models to create a teaser video showcasing the new face of the agency. After noticing a lack of videos for the Los Angeles based branch, the director and Ro reached out to Elite Model Management and pitched an idea about making a showcase video for the new models at Elite. Once the project was approved to be made, Ro reached out to a team to get them on board, and the work began.
“It was incredible to work with such a passionate team and help Elite Model Management to showcase the new models by making content with beautiful imageries and a high production value,” said Ro.
Elite Model Management is one of the top agencies worldwide, and Ro recognized the need for a high-production value video for their marketing. The main goal on this project was to highlight the natural beauty of the models. Ro and her team had an idea of building a spacious palace with sheer linens where the sunlight would diffuse through them. She worked on making a visual treatment together with the director, pitched the idea to the management, and also found the music piece that best complimented the video. Also acting as a producer on the project, Ro recruited many that she believed would be a good fit.
Knowing that her editing would be driven by the music that would be chosen, Ro communicated with the cinematographer about the pace of the music, which affected his decision on the use of slow motion effects. She was very specific about the speed of the slow motion and it really enhanced the editing.
By understanding the director’s vision thoroughly while still having a vision of her own, Ro was essential to the project’s success. She was involved from the very beginning, and her commitment is evident in the final piece. She made sure that every detail in the production – from styling to the choice of music – was in line with the concept that was initially pitched. Her deep understanding of the project also facilitated the editing process, as throughout the entirety of filming she had a clear idea of which shot to use and how to structure the video while blending the visuals and music together to tell a powerful story about the agency.
“In addition to the company’s immense success, I really admire Elite’s mission – they embrace diversity, change and inclusiveness – I think those are the values that we need to be reminded of as filmmakers,” she said.
Using fashion as a means of storytelling was fascinating for the editor, and she believes it broadened her horizon as an editor. She knows the importance of versatility in her career and is always looking for new mediums to explore with her talents. She encourages those looking to follow in her footsteps to do the same.
“I think it’s extremely helpful to work on as many projects possible as an editor to find your editing style and what kind of content that you want to edit. I found it very helpful to work on the administrative side of post-production, as I learned and gained knowledge about the business and the post production workflow,” she concluded.
CommercialEditingEditorfashionFilm EditorVideoVideo Editor
Go behind-the-scenes of ‘Pumpkin and Fried Noodle’ with Editor Meibei Liu
April 6, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment
From the time Meibei Liu was a child, growing up in Shanghai, China, she loved watching movies. They would make her laugh, they would make her cry, and spending two hours enjoying a film became her favorite pastime. But being so young she would only take in the entire production, not appreciating the many roles scrolling past in the credits that it took to achieve the movie that just entertained her. However, this all changed when she was a teenager and decided to try making a movie of her own for fun. Despite enjoying films all her life, she knew nothing when it came to actually making one. It was a much harder process than she could have ever imagined, but she found herself constantly playing, pausing, rewinding, and cutting down parts of the film that she had made. She was a natural editor, and it was then when she fell in love with the art of editing. Now, years later, she has never looked back.
“Although the story was as naïve as it could be, the fun of making and editing the film just aroused my huge interest in filmmaking and also changed my life,” she said.
This past year, Liu has seen a lot of success worldwide. Her work on The Ballerina, The Shoemaker, and His Apprentice,Headshot, Dear Mamá, and Faith Need Not Change Her Gown have been celebrated at many international film festivals. Her first taste of such success, however, came back in 2013 when she worked on the documentary Pumpkin and Fried Noodle.
Pumpkin and Fried Noodleis a short documentary shot in Taiwan. It tells the stories of how two different families make their living as an outsider in a small village. Though tough, they still find their ways for inner peace and happiness. The film was selected for the Golden Sugarcane Film Festival, Taiwan’s first film festival where the filmmakers have to shoot and edit on site.
“I really liked that the documentary showed the culture of the village, and documented that beautiful, peaceful and friendly place, which was very different to the culture I was in growing up. It tells stories of outsiders in the villages and shows how they fight to live a better life and struggle to be part of the society over there. It’s also a story about women empowerment, telling how they managed to support the whole family without any help. Making a documentary about them was important because their way of living life and being in a difficult situation needed to be seen by others,” said Liu.
Because of the circumstances of the Golden Sugarcane Film Festival, only a pitch was submitted in hopes of qualifying as one of the ten slots. Once Liu and the rest of her team were selected, they were invited to Taiwan to make the film. During the week, Liu was with other filmmakers finding the subject to shoot and finding structure and stories. This allowed for faster editing, as she was able to spot what would work while filming. Then she finished each day with the editing. On top of this, she conducted interviews each day.
“Going there to make the documentary without knowing whether it will work or not; finding the story during shooting was like an adventure that needed a great sense of filmmaking, which I liked and wanted to be part of,” Liu recalled.
The film exemplifies how important editing is. Liu and the other nine filmmakers on the crew conducted several interviews with over ten different people, but in the editing room, Liu cut that down drastically, only showing two of the subjects that were interviewed. The film focused on their lives in detail, showing their philosophy of living rather than small aspects of many lives. Liu also made the decision of blending the two stories rather than showing one after the other, which helped lead to the warm and touching climax at the end.
“Meibei is very hard working. She edited our entire film within three days. She was very easy to work with, always there in the pre-production, making sure everything was right and very insightful about the story and production. In the post-production, she sacrificed her own personal time, which made the impossible schedule work in the end. Meibei is an editor who is very insightful and creative about creating story structure. She is amazing in terms of editing skills and at the same time, also very sensitive of capturing emotions of characters,” said Song Huang, Director.
Because of the competition, time was limited when making Pumpkin and Fried Noodle, requiring a fast, hardworking and passionate editor like Liu. On top of this, she was able to connect with the two women’s stories in a way that audiences can instantly see when watching the film, making it a true masterpiece.
Chinese EditorChinese FilmmakersChinese TalentDocumentary FilmDocumentary FilmmakerEditingEditorEntertainmentFilmFilm EditorfilmmakingMovies
Editor Xiaodan Yang refines artistic story in upcoming film “Summer Orange”
March 15, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment
Xiaodan “Christy” Yang was a teenager when she realized she was meant to be a filmmaker. At the time, she and her friends at their high school in China were just having fun with a video camera. They were so excited and curious about the tool and would pretend to interview students during lunch breaks. Quickly, this transformed to casting classmates in small productions, and Yang was the leader.
“The most classic one was a Titanic parody where I picked two leading characters to play Jack and Rose from the “audition”. Then we shot the “I’m flying” scene. Their acting was so hilarious and the whole process was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it and that’s the first time I started thinking that maybe I could be a real filmmaker someday. I wanted to bring larger audiences to tears of laughter and allow them to experience all sorts of emotions through my work,” said Yang.
Despite being in charge of her high school short films, Yang found her way to a more behind-the-scenes role in editing. Now, she is an award-winning editor and is recognized far beyond China for her talent. Through her work on dramatic films such as Kayla, Witness, Sixteen and It’s Not Just About a Film, Yang’s contributions as an editor shape these important stories into pieces of art, and all those who work with her know what an asset she is.
“I worked with Xiaodan on my film, Ashram, as well as a short film called The Review. I directed the films and she was my editor for both of them. To work with Xiaodan is to have a very smart, skilled and sensitive creative partner. She is very thoughtful about her editing decisions, and a very even-keeled and well-balanced guiding creative force for the project. She’s very competent and efficient, but also artistic and intuitive. She has strong communication and learning skills, which make us work efficiently,” said Matt Marlin, Writer and Director. “Xiaodan is a strong creative presence and also very flexible with working with different types of personalities. She often juggled multiple projects when working with me, and still made me feel like my project was at least an equal priority with the other things she was working on. She can roll with any notes I throw her way, and also push back when she believes in a creative decision strongly. She has a great intuition for how to best bring out the story from the footage provided.”
When working on the upcoming film Summer Orange, an artistic story, Yang knew it would be defined by the editing. When she first read the script, she was immediately captured by the characters and could feel the desolation they felt in every word. She instantly said yes to the project.
“Summer Orange is about a filmmaker dealing with his real life and the film he’s shooting. As a filmmaker myself, I felt close to him. As I was editing the film, the film also affected me in many ways. I was thinking deeply while working on this one,” said Yang.
The film follows Da, a film student in Los Angeles. During the time shooting his thesis film, his old friend, Lu, comes to visit him. It has been a few years since the two have seen each other, and they both have changed. At the same time, the relationship between Da and Xintong, the leading actress of his film, becomes ambiguous. With so many things going on, Da feels confused about film and reality.
“This is a very personal story for the director. Some plots and details come from his actual life experience. If other films are considered novels, this one is more like a prose. The story is sincere, but also abstract. Although nothing dramatic happens, the tone of the story is attractive. Sometimes life is just overwhelming, and people can’t do anything about it. The best part of this story is the dynamic between the characters. That was also my emphasis during editing,” said Yang.
Summer Orange is directed by Chen Xu, who also wrote the film. He had previously worked with Yang on Witness and It’s Not Just About a Film and knew her extraordinary editing talents would help captivate audiences to his subtle story. As the editor, Yang understood the director’s intentions of this story precisely. When going through the footage, every decision Xu made while shooting made sense to her and she knew just how to approach the editing. She could transform and breakdown the script without disrupting the artistic conception. As it was a calm story, the director chose to shoot the film in an objective way, meaning most of the shots were long takes. When Yang was editing, she watched each shot over and over to make sure she was choosing to highlight the best performances from each actor. After doing this, she still made sure not to cut the long takes, therefore ensuring the dynamic between each character was as close as possible to how it was originally shot, refining every take. She also slowed down her pace while editing and instead of simply thinking about what would be useful, she cared more about what felt right for the atmosphere.
Undoubtedly, Summer Orange will be a tremendous film and showcase what a formidable editor Yang is. It will premiere this May at none other than the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner and will expectedly make its way to several more festivals in the coming year.
“I feel so excited about the Cannes Film Festival, since it’s one of the best film festivals in the world. I believe this is just a good beginning, and more and more will come,” Yang concluded.
Chinese EditorChinese filmmakerChinese TalentEditingEditorEntertainmentFilmFilm EditorFilmmakerfilmmakingMovies
Behind the Scenes, Commercials, Editor, International Creative Talents, Uncategorized
SUN SHINES BRIGHTLY WHILE NOT SEEN
If you’ve ever known an artist, ever read a book about one, seen a film about one, or perhaps been one yourself…then you know that the goal is not to achieve fame (although that’s nice) or riches (also not horrible) but rather true artists simply want to create. The work for them is “work” only in the sense that it requires immense effort but not in a sense of begrudgingly performing a day to day task. Editor Wanqiu Sun eagerly communicates that she loves what she does and that every production she works on allows her to hone her skills. Ranging from TV productions to feature films to web productions and practically everything in between, Sun feels that her job is eternally one which allows her to shape a story, regardless of the medium or its presentation. While she has edited many an award-winning-film, she has also found herself utilizing her talent for commercials like those for Chang’an Automobiles. This series of 3-three minute commercials presented the company’s commitment to consumers and did so with the emotion that Sun’s touch is known for.
Chang’an’s relationship with their customers is analogous to that of editor and director. Passion, beauty, structure, and trust are requirements for a mutually beneficial partnership and pleasing results. People help display the story. In a film they are actors but in these commercials they were real employees of Chang’an. Each commercial presented an employee and how their work led to the benefit of the company’s customers. In one spot, we meet safety engineer Xin Li and the crash test dummy he works with exploring and ensuring the safety of the vehicles. Another presents the Designer Zheng Chen exploring his idea of design, how nature inspired him, and his concept of “power inside.” The final third commercial delves into the future of autonomous vehicles with Zhe Wang. This MIT graduate explains the culture which drew him to Chang’an and what lies ahead for the advancements in automobiles.
The structure of the advertisements were similar to TV and films in the sense that they were based around stories but there were still differences substantial enough to warrant a different approach from the editor. Sun focused on the initial visual impact. The ability of a commercial to attract the viewer’s attention supersedes that of a continual storyline. Wanqiu notes that the story during these productions was more prominent than most, a happy occurrence, but imagery was still the most crucial element for her to present. She explains the process stating, “For commercials, we sometimes won’t break down to what exact shots we will shoot before production. It’s more flexible in comparison to film. For these commercials, they had manuscripts before shooting. They were planning to go with a documentary style, to combine interviews with other footage. The locations were all real locations inside the factory, which meant that it looked different every day. If the majority of shots were planned before, it might have caused more problems during production. As the editor, I had to figure out where these shots could be placed according to the content we had in the manuscript. Cutting according to the original manuscript was around five minutes. I had to combine and rewrite the manuscript to bring the entire thing down to three minutes. Any information we’d lost from the manuscript had to be presented visually.”
Wanqiu’s work on these Chang’an commercials is proof that when there’s a great editor on the production team, especially one involved in pre-production, it makes the production much more efficient. Editors like Sun have the big picture and help the production team to predict problems and also fix those remaining in post. Transforming good material into great material and manifesting the unforeseen, editors are like ninjas who conceal themselves to make the cuts seamless. This analogy resonates with Wanqiu who remarks on her favorite editing, “There’s a fight scene in rain in The Grandmaster (Directed by Karwai Wong, Edited by William Chang), which is one of my favorite scenes in all of Chinese Film. Unlike other action movies, this one doesn’t focus on showing every movement of Kung Fu but more of the atmosphere and the spirit when people are fighting. It is very emotional. Everything seems so vague in the rain but you can feel their exact mood. Some people fight for power and fame and some fight for dignity. It is possible to analyze why we are feeling this way from editing.” The majority of her work has been in English speaking productions; the fact that her family in China gets to see her work every day on these Chang’an commercials gives her the chance to show that she is very much “in the ring.”
CommercialsEditor
Editor, Television, Uncategorized
HOLLYWOOD THROUGH THE EYES OF SHIMAN HU
Shiman Hu has loved movies for as long as she can remember. The feeling of being whisked to another reality and feeling that you are placed in the lives, the emotions, the reality of others and allowed to experience any motion that the creators of the film desires for you to experience…it’s been said many times but, it’s magic. This led her to investigate the secret behind this “magic” and to a career in film (and television) as an editor. Her skill and her love of cinema also led Yangyang Mu (the production manager of Hollywood Chinese TV) to offer Hu the position as editor for “Hollywood Club.” Yangyang states, “Our program shows the best part of great films within a limited duration. Beyond the other content we present, the demands of presenting these films and matching the original rhythm and message are quite substantial. It required a truly incredible editor and Shiman did an amazing job.” The program aspires to interest viewers in a wide array of movies, not just American films, in hopes of cultivating wide interest in all that the industry has to offer. The same diversity of films that first enchanted Shiman are what she worked to expose in a modern avenue, as a seed to present day and future film aficionados.
The program presents film as varied as: Avatar, No Country for Old Men, Confessions (famous Japanese film), Jurassic Park, and many others displays a range from Science Fiction to Dark Humor to love stories and much more. Hu divides each film into three different sections: the background (the work, the life and the problems encountered in the film), the climax of the film (how the character solves the problems he/she has encountered), and finally, the end of the film (what are they going to do at the end? Is the end good or bad?). As an editor of acclaimed films like The Sound of the Sea, Plus Slash Minus +/-, and others, Hu feels the weight of responsibility in maintaining a congruent tone to the original filmmakers desired message.
Not all films are equal in the challenge to present them in a condensed time frame. “Confessions” starring Takako Matsu was a formidable challenge to edit. A black comedy with a very tight rhythm to it, the film’s pace and excellence caused Shiman to make several attempts at editing it before she felt that she was respectful to both the film and filmmaker’s original intention. Matching the original film’s rhythm and ensuring the integrity of the narrative, she concedes that she learned an increased respect for the original editor’s work on this film…as with many others she has reviewed since. In particular, the early Hong Kong film “As Tears Go By” with its many complex stories, character cues, relationships between characters, and emotional interlacing created a Rubik’s Cube or editing for an editor. Of course, it’s Hu’s love of discovery that first led her to a career in film and challenges like this only stoked the fire.
“Hollywood Club” is not only for cinephiles. This also allowed the editor to exercise her TV editing chops honed during her time working at many different Sino TV programs. Everything from gossip surrounding celebrities like Justin Bieber and others to the top songs on the charts is covered on this program. The program not only plays the songs to the audience, but more importantly, introduces viewers to the background of the songs, producers and singers of the songs and explains the meaning of them. Hu combines the recordings of the songs and dialogue of the hosts, adjusting the appropriate volume and controlling the length of songs according to the time requirement of the program.
All of this means that the breadth of editing work encompasses serious/award-winning films to playful pop culture. Shiman concedes, “The skill required for this program is quite substantial. I might be reediting an existing movie trailer to meet the length of our program. The trailer’s sense of rhythm is very strong. I’m editing a film and distilling it down while keeping the voice of the filmmakers and the story intact. Hosts are presented on green screen and special effects software is used to give a modern look and accessibility that multimedia presentations demand and viewers expect. There are many layers in the editing software of the program. When we are making up the entire show, we pay careful attention to whether there are missing parts. The appearance must be very high-quality in spite of the limited time that we have to produce this. It takes a lot of work to make it look effortless and that is always my goal.”
Shiman Hu’s work on “Hollywood Club” is an example of how the most talented professionals in the production industry can vacillate between mediums, using their skills to better any scenario which they encounter. Whether at work on feature films, television talk shows, or any combination of these, Shiman Hu has carved out a welcome place for herself in the international production community.
Behind the Scenes, Editor, International Creative Talents, Sound Design and Sound Editing, Television, Uncategorized
HOW YOU WILL SEE, HEAR, & FEEL “CHRISTMAS IN MISSISSIPPI”
December 21, 2017 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment
In the entertainment world there are those who seek the spotlight and then there are those like YuXin Boon. This sound editor prefers the work off screen creating and supporting the performers and story onscreen. It’s not a vocation for those who love attention but for the professional who finds their fulfillment in creativity and empowering the story, it’s the perfect environment. Boon’s work is always about creating the perfect environment. It often focuses on the background sound elements which, if they weren’t in the periphery, might take one out of the story because of their omission. For the Lifetime Television film “Christmas in Mississippi” she was tasked with using her abilities to draw viewers into the relaxing holiday atmosphere that supported the storyline. As the background editor, YuXin created a cheerful ambience that many of us associate with one of the happiest seasons in our year.
“Christmas in Mississippi” perfectly communicates the sentiment behind the season in modern times. Photographer Holly Logan (Jana Kramer) returns to her hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi for Christmas as the town is recovering from a terrible hurricane that devastated it years earlier. Holly finds herself working alongside her high school sweetheart, Mike (Wes Brown) who she discovers gave up his music dream to take care of his brother’s son while his brother served in the country’s military. The two are swept up in the rekindling of their feelings and the joy of the season. The production’s post-sound supervisor Eric M. Klein loved Boon’s work on ‘Enchanted Christmas’ and thought the skills and professionalism she showed on that project could help take the sound of the new project [“Christmas in Mississippi”] to a new level.
YuXin’s approach to her work as Ambience and Foley editor is something she enjoys because it is both methodical & calculated as well as highly creative. During early spotting session that displayed characters walking inside a warehouse with numerous background actors preparing props for light show, Boon divided the movements into sub groups like: present wrapping group, decoration group, and tools carrying group. She inserted the sounds of paper rustling sound for the wrapping, cable tangle sound for decoration, and metal clicking for tools, all contributions via the Foley artist on the film. Adding ambience for another room in the warehouse in order to make them sound as if coming from the other side of the wall increased the depth and multidimensional feeling of a natural space. The essence of great sound/Foley editing is to present several perspectives of the sounds we experience in real life. YuXin’s highly detailed and though out plan for her work has made her such a sought out professional in a variety of productions. She gives a deeper insight into her mindset when creating as she explains, “I found out the recreation of warehouse ambience was the most difficult part of my work in this movie. The warehouse had a myriad of sounds happening at the same time. (Construction, decoration, paper wrapping, people talking, goods loading, fan spinning, etc.) and I wanted to cover those background movements as much as possible while keeping them balanced. Most of the construction ambiences I found in the [sound] libraries were too heavy for this movie and just didn’t match the scene. Instead of using one construction background with multiple sounds like drilling and sawing, I chose the ambience with one particular movement and combined different layers. For the scene with light construction, I added hammer, ladder, and pallet jack sound to make the scene sound busy. In this way, I provided more options to the director and supervising sound editors. It was easier for me to take out the ambience they didn’t like and keep others.”
There’s perhaps no better way to gain appreciation for those whom you work with as well as improve and excel in your own work than to experience firsthand the challenges of others. Boon was particularly excited that “Christmas in Mississippi” gave her the opportunity to work alongside Martin Quinones (ADR & Foley Recordist of ‘Christmas in Mississippi’) …literally! Because Boon was so microscopically aware of the actions of the actors/characters in the film, Quinones invited her on one of the session to do some of the actual Foley work, creating the recorded sounds that make audible movie magic, like squeezing a moist cloth to mimic the sound of straw stirring the cream in milkshake or the simple sounds of fabric rustling. While it could be easily overlooked and considered mundane, Boon felt that the simple recordings of leather and denim rubbed on a boom microphone would add to the believability of Mike (Holly’s high school sweetheart) during one particular scene, giving emphasis to his movement…which of course it did. Martin professes, “This was the second movie that ‘Wendy’ YuXin Boon and I worked on together and I was able to realize how thorough and detail oriented she is. Her laser-focus approach to sound editing, as well as her willingness to learn new methods and techniques clearly confirms that she makes the process of filmmaking better and more efficient.”
While she works at it, YuXin readily admits that being hyper focused and detailed is simply a part of her nature. Noticing every small detail might be an irritating trait for a person to have but finding a way to use it in a beneficial manner, such as this editor has done, results in appreciation and a successful career. Using the correct tool for the job is the way that YuXin Boon approaches her work on every production she takes part in and it’s doubtless that this is the way that those who hire her view her contributions to their productions. “Christmas in Mississippi” feels like the holidays and thanks to YuXin it most definitely SOUNDS like it as well.
Sound Design and Sound Editing
Editor Peter Hein digs into the emotion of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’
September 27, 2017 ewgpress Leave a comment
As an editor, Peter Hein does not begin his work until later in the process. He doesn’t figure out how it is shot, who will play what part, or what costumes they will where. He doesn’t stand behind the camera, looking for the right angles to frame a face. His role is much more nuanced. He does not write the story; he finds its heart and soul. During editing, he sees the emotion in each scene, and tweaks the storyline to truly hit home with its viewers. Whether it’s to make people laugh or cry, he gets every frame just right to connect with his audience. As an editor, he is responsible for the story coming together, and he is brilliant at it.
Hein is known in the United Kingdom for his exceptional work on many popular television programs. The Denmark native has worked on shows like X Factor and First Dates, as well as award ceremonies like The BAFTA Awards. He uses his extensive knowledge to glue audiences to their seats, ensuring they watch every moment of a show, feeling connected to the cast they see on screen.
This is perhaps most exemplified with his work on Britain’s Got Talent. The editor has been part of the show since its second season, and is consistently asked to come back due to his substantial contributions. Sophie Coen, the Senior Producer of the talent competition, says that Hein’s work is incredible, and he plays a large role in the editing team.
“Peter is a real team player and always goes the extra mile. He is a dream in the edit. He is creative, decisive, and hugely experienced. He is always positive and upbeat, even when presented with a very tricky story, and with incredibly tight deadlines he manages to make it work. He is a real joy to work with,” said Coen. “On Britain’s Got Talent, Peter would often be the editor that the show would depend on to make a story work. His passion drives his talent. He is one of the best editors I have worked with. He understands narrative, humor, and emotion. Peter is able to draw upon his varied experience to make the edit work. He is a lead editor – he can inspire, direct, and lead others. Peter thrives under pressure and always delivers amazing work.”
The Got Talent format has been extremely successful in many countries, and the United Kingdom is no different. Hein’s work is what makes auditions so captivating, and even those not living in the UK have been privy to his talents. Many of his videos from the show have gone viral, including the iconic Susan Boyle audition, which has tens of millions of views on YouTube alone. The video starts in a comical way, with the audience laughing at the unassuming singer. By the end, viewers are in tears by her talent and the judges’ reaction.
This is what Hein does with every scene he works on. During the audition process, he spends weeks sifting through footage for seven minutes of the show, but it is worth it. As the show progresses into live shows, he works to edit videos of the talents’ journeys prior to their performances. His work is what makes viewers root for different contestants.
“Britain’s Got Talent is one of the two hardest shows I’ve ever worked on. The days were very long in the earlier series because the show was still finding its feet. But the teams on that show have always been great, and the success and team effort makes it worth working on it. You get given a story and you try and make it the best you can, bring something to it nobody thought of before, whether that be the style or music choices. Anything to make it ‘pop’,” said Hein.
With Hein’s work, the ratings have grown substantially each year, and now it is one of the most successful television formats in the world. Hein brought his own sense of comedy and emotion to the show, resulting in such a feat. The show’s third season final was the highest rated television show that year, when Susan Boyle won the show. It even won a BAFTA award.
Despite his accolades, Hein finds working on the show to be a team effort. He loves who he works alongside, and finds everyone pulls together to make the best show they possibly can. The show has been on for eleven years and still entertains audiences with the same format, and that is because of the stories they are sharing with the world; stories that Hein plays a large hand in telling.
In the beginning, Hein wanted to work on Britain’s Got Talent because it was a new and growing format that would provide a different editing experience. At the time, he was extremely grateful for the opportunity. He still is today.
“I still find it incredible when people love what I do. It’s a real compliment to know that after all the years on the show I can still surprise and entertain people with how I edit. Britain’s Got Talent has a special warm feeling about it, it has always had that, and I feel like I done my part to give the show that well-loved feeling,” he concluded.
Britain's Got TalentBritish EditorBritish TalentEditingEditorFilm EditorTelevision
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The Journal: Rachel Carson's Legacy
Forty-five years after the publication of Rachel Carson's landmark book Silent Spring, which launched the modern environmental movement, her disturbing story of how toxic chemicals were poisoning the earth still resonates. Bill Moyers Journal looks at the life and legacy of Rachel Carson through an extraordinary portrayal of her in a one-woman play performed by veteran stage actress Kaiulani Lee.
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Shelby Steele, A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win.
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The Films of Pedro Almodóvar – #1: Bad Education
26 March, 2013 28 March, 2013 Michael Prescott
Michael Prescott
24-year-old Welsh writer on all things film. Background in Philosophy. Accidentally in Sheffield for 6 years and counting. Addicted to Kevin Spacey. Tweetable: @M_S_Prescott
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When treated to the films of Pedro Almodóvar, I can’t help but think the very same thing each time: they’re fucked-up (in the best possible sense). With Almodóvar you know you’re going to get a film that’s most likely seedy, part-philosophical, passionate about film, invested in romance and sex, asks questions about identity and revels in Spanish culture. And who else out there can claim to do even half of that?
The most overtly LGBT-relevant director since John Waters (who is even more fucked-up) has a number of themes that run through his work like a thread: identity, passion, obsession, gender, sexuality, cinema and revenge. Though the only previous works of his I’ve encountered are Law of Desire (1987), his most recent effort The Skin I Live In (2011) and Talk To Her (2002), it’s safe to say that each of these films heavily features most of the above subjects.
For the next few weeks we’ll look at three of his most popular works, starting with Bad Education from 2004. It was the first ever Spanish film to be given the honour – if that’s the right word – of opening the 57th Cannes Film Festival. Dealing with various issues (as his pictures tend to do), the most succinct way of describing it is an initially one-sided recollection of an abused childhood by Catholic priests via a film-within-a-film. Confused? You should be.
What this inevitably leads to is another Almodóvar-ism which, like the rest of the film, is something I’m cautious of revealing much information about for fear of giving anything away. Part of the wonder and magic of his films – be it Talk to Her or The Skin I Live In or any other – is the utter shock of the audience given the unexpected direction of the plot and the absurdness and extremity of the unfolding narrative.
But the detail in question, in this instance, is not totally unexpected. It’s a plot twist that you can partially see coming and partly don’t want to think about. Though not the most extreme in and of itself as far as Pedro’s twists go, the repercussions it has for the characters in terms of their actions and the highlighting of extremes to which they’re willing to go seemingly know no bounds. One of them even remarks that he’d be willing to go much further, presumably hunting glory and money, which is a worrying thought when you reach the end and realise exactly what it is he’s already done.
The story strand that deals with the paedophilic nature of the priesthood is something which the director can presumably relate to (hopefully not too intimately) from his experiences of growing up in La Mancha and based on his time at a Catholic boarding school. As it happens, these elements of the film give us a little bit of everything, including a few laughs which aren’t exactly what his pictures are known for. But some pithy one-liners get more than a giggle; no easy feat in a subtitled film.
Almodóvar often creates characters with an intense and creative edge – writers, directors, actors, models – and Bad Education is no different. The film-within-a-film angle that it provides gives us a unique, twisted insight into the history of the characters and, essentially, the respective professions of the individuals hint at what is yet to come. This is never truer than when it comes to Gael Garcia Bernal’s character (who – if you enjoy seeing so much of – gives an equally sexually-energised performance in Y Tu Mama Tambien) as his desire to act is more than a career but is instead borderline fundamentalism.
Though this is an eclectic film that bounces around many moments, moods, timelines and ideas, what remains thereafter is an oddly personal and punchy take on a number of subjects ranging from the infidelity of religious figures to sexual empowerment with the effect both of these are able to have on identity (or an ensuing lack of it). The brief and modest moments of innocence will resonate, particularly with a gay audience.
From the innocent sounds of an adolescent’s Spanish version of ‘Moon River’ to the cinema trip that evokes passion in the arts, bodies and hearts of these developing youngsters, Bad Education demonstrates what happens when worlds collide; the incompatibility of strict regimes of Franco and Catholicism pitted against the sexual freedom and liberation of the arts; a new generation with different ideas to a middle-aged, middle-class people with ancient values.
This film is perverted on every level and represents a warped dramatisation of the defining period of the life of two people which, under a less capable director, would turn into a flabby mess. But with Almodóvar you know what you’re going to get: a beautifully-crafted, wonderfully weird, explicit and raunchy fucked-up political, societal and philosophical film of ordered chaos. It refuses to hold back, and as a result it engages, excites and envelops its audience with its shocking yet fabulous events. What more could you want?
Next week: All About My Mother…
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Pingback: The Films of Pedro Almodovar – #2: All About My Mother
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Swetha D.
Education: Boston University, B.S. In Medical Science | Boston University School Of Medicine, Projected Graduation In 2023
Lives in Boston, MA, USA
Boston MCAT tutor Swetha D. is a medical student at Boston University School of Medicine and will graduate in 2023. She was initially intrigued by the discrepancies in healthcare through her clinical work in rural India and decided to pursue a career in medicine with a focus on global health. She will be a first generation medical professional. She completed her undergraduate degree in 2019 as part of the Seven Year Accelerated BA/MD program at Boston University. Swetha majored in Medical Science and minored in Psychology.
Swetha self-studied for the MCAT in 1.5 months after her sophomore year of undergrad and earned a 516 (94th percentile). She has experience tutoring students in the natural and social sciences at Boston University’s Educational Resource Center. In addition, she has experience teaching all four of the MCAT sections for a well-known test prep company.
As a first generation medical student, she knows how overwhelming it can be to take on a test like the MCAT and to navigate through pre-med. With her experiences, she wishes to help students create structured, personalized study plans and conquer challenging topics of the exam.
Prior to the start of medical school, Swetha spent 6 months in London volunteering at the Doctors of the World Surgery Center. She advocated for refugees, migrants, and vulnerable people to gain access to equitable healthcare. She hopes to practice as a surgeon for underserved populations.
In her free time, she loves to recreate recipes from her travels, play tennis, read mystery novels in her hammock, and visit lighthouses along the northeast coast.
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516 (94th percentile)
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TV ReviewsBabylon 5Season 1
Babylon 5: “Babylon Squared”/“The Quality Of Mercy”
Rowan Kaiser
Babylon 5Season 1
“Babylon Squared”/“The Quality Of Mercy” / “Babylon Squared”/“The Quality Of Mercy”
“Babylon Squared”/“The Quality Of Mercy”
“Babylon Squared” (season one, episode 20; originally aired 8/10/1994)
“I am serialized!” shouts Babylon 5 during “Babylon Squared.” It’s impossible to miss at this point. “Midnight On The Firing Line” contained one scene that seemed to promise that something more would happen. And “Signs And Portents” certainly had the feel of an episode from a serialized show. But if you sat down and described their events to someone, they wouldn’t seem that special. Two empires have tensions rise, but the crisis gets resolved, in the first; in the second, a major character has a difficult situation get resolved by a bizarre ally. “Babylon Squared,” on the other hand, offers no other explanation than that this is a tremendously ambitious show. The questions raised cannot be answered without a surprising (for the time) escalation of storytelling intensity.
Here’s what Babylon 5 has to deal with thanks to “Babylon Squared”: It has to explain where Babylon 4 went in time, to a great war between good and evil. To a lesser extent, it also has to explain how this happened: time travel, such a staple of the Star Trek universe, hasn’t been presented as a possibility here, and it isn’t explained at all. Sinclair’s flash-forward, which shows Garibaldi fighting off overwhelming unseen invaders on Babylon 5, is too intense to forget about. Finally, and most importantly, we see an aged Sinclair, who is treated with reverence and called “The One” by the alien Zathras, He is also clearly responsible, with Delenn (whose lack of direct appearance demands questions of its own), for stealing the station.
This kind of gamble reminds me of nothing more than the “Opera House” flash-forward from Battlestar Galactica, which appeared at the end of its long-running Kobol arc in its first and second season. There, like here, we had an intense look at a crucial moment in the future for several major characters. It acts as a promise; it says that there’s a deeper meaning to the whole story.
But B5’s promise is significantly better and more interesting than BSG’s Opera House (and this isn’t even going to get into the end results of the prophecies). Ironically, one of the reasons for that is that Battlestar Galactica was, 20-odd episodes in, a much better show than Babylon 5. B5 was struggling to find its footing for most of its first season, so it needed a jolt of intensity and mystery, which this episode provides. On the other hand, BSG had plenty of intensity and drama already, making its prophecy a distraction from what it had already done so well. Along those lines, “Babylon Squared” is a significant improvement over the average B5 episode, whereas BSG’s Kobol storyline is the first time that show meanders. This is also an effective delineation between the two shows, arguably the best non-Trek space operas on television: Babylon 5 started slow, but was remarkably effective at taking risks that paid off in the short and long term, while Battlestar Galactica started amazingly well and frittered that away by taking unnecessary risks.
There’s another major milestone in “Babylon Squared,” possibly as important as the prophecy, but much more subtle: the (non-Londo) comedy is working. It’s not great. It’s not even all that close to laugh-out-loud funny. But it isn’t cringe-inducing. It’s demonstrated in two early moments, both involving Sinclair and Garibaldi (who is the Most Improved Comedic Character here): their prank on a sleepy Ivanova at breakfast, and their banter while flying the shuttle to Babylon 4. “Wanna talk socks?” “No!” The alien Zathras also has entertaining verbal tics, giving the mystery of Babylon 4 some levity.
Improved comedy scenes makes Babylon 5 significantly better beyond the simple usefulness of being funnier. It starts to eliminate the biggest hurdle new viewers have in the series: its awkwardness. When it’s closer to “funny” than “corny,” it’s much easier to take the show seriously as important when you don’t wince at every fifth scene. It also gives the show another potential character development dimension. Both Sinclair and Garibaldi become notably more likeable during these conversations.
Combined with “A Voice In The Wilderness” before it and the season finale, “Chrysalis” soon after, “Babylon Squared” demonstrates that Babylon 5 has grown out of its awkward, stage-setting beginning. This is starting to become a show deserving of T.V. Club Classic status.
“The Quality Of Mercy” (season one, episode 21; originally aired 8/17/1994)
Sandwiched between “Babylon Squared” and “Chrysalis,” the first season’s two best episodes, “The Quality Of Mercy” seems like something of a distraction. It’s a standalone episode, for one thing, and it focuses on some of the less important characters: Lennier, Franklin, and Talia. As such, it does disrupt the momentum of the season.
Yet I do think that “Mercy” fits in with the overall improvement seen in the final third of season one episodes. For one thing, it’s structured much better and more confidently than previous episodes. It uses three small stories (two of which overlap) to maintain the momentum of the episode much better than some of the prior filler-dominated monster/case of the week episodes. There are also some twists along the way. The Franklin storyline seemed oddly resolved early, although its twist is rather predictable. Lennier using badass martial arts in a bar fight, on the other hand, was much more surprising.
“The Quality Of Mercy” is also a good, straightforward science fiction of a certain classical style. It asks the question of how technology can change human behavior. In this case, capital punishment is examined from two different directions. EarthGov has apparently banned the physical death penalty, but in its place it has “death of personality,” where a criminal’s mind is wiped, new memories are implanted, and the body sent to work serving society.
Babylon 5 doesn’t immediately explore the ramifications of this concept (yet—this isn’t the last time we’ll see it discussed on the show) but just opening the question is interesting enough. Is death of personality that different the death penalty? How does belief in the existence of the soul change the equation? What are the consequences for the society, for the people who have to deal with the rebuilt personality? Is there a moral hazard in presenting this as an option, since it seems less dramatic than physical death?
We spend less time on the alien healing machine, but it’s an entirely different approach to the same issue. The doctor who uses it suggests that it was designed for capital punishment, where the body of the criminal is harvested for the benefit of others in society. Indeed, she uses it to that effect herself. Yet she’s damaged by the experience, even though it was as ideal a situation as possible: the criminal was convicted, unrepentant and dangerous; and the beneficiary was a good person, in need of the medical aid, and acting in self-defense. Yet it still involved the death of another for her benefit. Guilt was inevitable.
The alien society that created the machine is never shown, and I think that’s a good move for the episode. This form of capital punishment is presented only as a theory, as a counter to the Human form of the death penalty. Further specific examination, especially a defense, would have turned the episode into a debate on the subject, much like “Believers.” That has its place, but I like the open questioning in this case.
We also see Centauri penis, so really, this episode can’t be bad.
The Great Spoiler Machine: As much as I enjoy “Babylon Squared,” I’m not quite so fond of its second part in the third season. Most of it has more to do with the mechanical nature of the second part of the episode. The characters mostly go through motions of telling the B^2 story from the other side. A small part of that is also the Sinclair/Sheridan switch, making Sinclair’s future much less interesting. However, given that the timing adds up to make it seem like “War Without End” would have been the original final episode of the series, I’m deliriously happy that the slow, elegiac “Sleeping In Light” took its place.
If you consider “Passing Through Gethsemane” a thematic second part of “The Quality Of Mercy,” that one is much, much, much more successful at expanding the ideas of the initial episode. Also, man, in retrospect, the monologue about the stims should have a flashing neon sign claiming “foreshadowing!”
Where’s Firefly in my list of best non-Trek shows? With less than 20 episodes, I don’t feel like it’s in the same realm of comparison. I do feel like it was on track to be the best, by a wide margin, if it had gotten to 50 episodes.
“Fasten, then zip. You?” Does anyone zip then fasten? I mean, sometimes I fasten and forget to zip, but that’s different.
“We’ve become UNSTUCK IN TIME, Commander, that’s why we have to get out of here.” That was an…impressive line reading.
“Not The One.” “Not the one what?” “You’re not The One.” Oh man, so many Compuserve discussions about those lines. SO MANY.
“Also its spleen, its kidneys, a veritable parade of internal organs.”
“I did the necessary thing. That is not always the same as the right thing.”
“Did you think these were just decorations?” I find it difficult to believe that, given Centauri political and economic expansionism, something so basic as their sexual reproduction organs are unknown to the rest of the galaxy.
Next week: Season One saves its best for last with “Chrysalis,” an episode I’d probably put in my top five of the entire series. Don’t miss it.
Recent from Rowan Kaiser
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How on Earth did Sense8 forget to provide emotional resolution in its finale?
Sense8’s quest for justice sends its characters home, with poignant results
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Rivard Report (https://therivardreport.com/city-council-to-vote-on-sa-tomorrow-amid-concerns/)
City Council to Vote on SA Tomorrow Amid Concerns
By Iris Dimmick | July 28, 2016
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Iris Dimmick / Rivard Report
The Planning Commission listens to concerns regarding the SA Tomorrow plan. in June 2016.
A draft of the SA Tomorrow comprehensive master plan was given the all-clear by the Planning Commission on Wednesday afternoon, but the document differs greatly from the one released two months ago.
Now the Comprehensive, Sustainability, and Multimodal Transportation plans – which total more than 1,000 pages with dozens of corrections, deletions, and clarifications – will go to City Council for review during a briefing and discussion on Wednesday, Aug. 3 at 2 p.m. followed by a public hearing at 6 p.m. SA Tomorrow will be up for final City Council approval the following Thursday, Aug. 11 at 9 a.m. Citizens can also sign up to speak during that meeting. Both are held at the Municipal Plaza Building. For meeting details and agenda, click here.
The coming public meetings will likely host many of the same voices that testified on Wednesday. Several spokespeople from inner city neighborhood associations asked the Commission to delay the vote on the Comprehensive Plan, citing a lack of representation in the process and a concern that the citywide plan will override their own neighborhood plans. Ultimately, a majority of commissioners found that the City’s public engagement method and the Comprehensive plan’s roadmap to incorporate existing neighborhood plans were not cause for alarm.
The draft document released in May has gone through rounds of public feedback and Planning Commission meetings, resulting in several deletions, language changes, and clarifications. Some fear these changes have resulted in a weaker policy-guiding document that favors developers, while others see a more flexible, “nimble” plan that can better adapt to changing political and economic forces.
The long-term plans were initiated by Mayor Ivy Taylor in 2014 to use SA2020 as a foundation to prepare for the estimated 1.1 million increase in San Antonio’s population by 2040. The three-pronged plan covers topics ranging from education, to housing, infrastructure, economic development, public health, development, and more. Public engagement officially launched in April 2015.
Martha Reyes and Jaime Payan provide feedback during the SA Tomorrow kickoff at the Alamo Convocation Center in April 2015. Photo by Joan Vinson.
“Approving this plan will set us out at the 50,000-foot level and then we can begin to drill down into regional centers (and neighborhood plans),” said George Peck, vice chair of the Planning Commission, before casting his vote of approval.
Click here to download the Comprehensive Plan draft revisions.
The Planning Commission removed two policy goals from the Sustainability Plan that called for the City to “evaluate and update” its Dark Skies Ordinance and another that would “develop and implement effective impervious surface standards for new development and redevelopment projects,” expanding those standards outside of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.
Click here to download the Sustainability Plan draft revisions.
The only plan that received unanimous approval was the Transportation Plan. The Commission approved the addition of language that incorporates Vision Zero – the goal to achieve zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries on roads – into its goals, but removed items that were considered too far-reaching.
“In Chapter 7 we had a couple of potential funding (mechanisms),” said Terry Bellamy, assistant director for Transportation Planning. “After discussion, we wanted to make sure that we did not put something in that would impact future cost of housing.”
The so-called “sprawl containment fee,” which would impose fees on developers who want to build outside of established activity and transit areas, was removed.
“It’s something that could surface back up,” Bellamy said, “but (not) right now.”
Click here to download the Multimodal Transportation Plan draft revisions.
The Planning Commission, as a recommending body, suggested several changes to the plan that were incorporated last week and more that were recorded on Wednesday. City Council still has the power to change the language of any element of the plan before it is approved.
City: Neighborhood Associations, Plans Will Not be Forgotten, Overridden
More than a dozen residents and neighborhood association representatives from Dignowity Hill, Monticello Park, King William, Beacon Hill, Olmos Park Terrace, River Road, Alta Vista, and Highland Hills said they felt left out of the SA Tomorrow planning process.
Barbara Witte Howell, who lives in River Road and was a member of the Comprehensive Plan’s Historical Preservation Working Group, said when the draft plan was released to the public in May 2016 she was shocked to find that it suggested smaller neighborhood plans should be “eliminated and replaced,” likely the result of having “not one neighborhood represented on the 211-person team of nine working groups.”
Several neighbors feared that the community and regional center plans that will be formed over the next several years will override long-established or developing neighborhood plans and allow high-density apartment complexes to take over single-family neighborhoods.
Many neighbors opposed the construction of this multi-family project in River Road that was approved by HDRC. Some fear more dense developments will be encouraged by the SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Master Plan. Image courtesy of Alamo Architects.
The working groups, set up to tackle different elements of the plans, including housing, public facilities, jobs and economic competitiveness, and more, were established by a large stakeholder steering committee.
Howell attributes the lack of neighborhood association participation to the former Planning and Community Development Director John Dugan, who was leading the SA Tomorrow effort until he left San Antonio in April 2016. When Bridgett White then took over as interim director, she firmly denied that there was any oversight on Dugan’s part.
The working groups were composed of technical experts, White said. “Those people still live in the community. They still live in neighborhoods.”
“The response rate could have been better (from neighborhood association leaders). It wasn’t enough,” Planning and Community Development interim Assistant Director Rudy Niño said of the City’s initial attempt to reach neighborhood associations. City staff then encouraged all association members to take part in the Neighborhood Workshops, he said, to some success.
While there were some neighborhood association leaders incidentally included in some working groups, there was no concerted effort to get neighborhoods on board until after the plan was formulated, Howell said.
“(City staff) worked furiously to get neighborhoods’ reactions to the plan draft,” she said, but it was too little, too late.
The same concerns about neighborhood plans emerged during the Planning Commission’s initial review of the draft in May. White said that feedback from commissioners and the public was recorded and is reflected in the draft to clarify, more so than it had before.
(Read More: Revisions Underway on Draft of San Antonio’s Comprehensive Plan)
Participants were asked to fill out feedback forms during a “digital” SA Tomorrow meeting in November 2015. Photo by Paul DiGiovanni.
The plan’s introduction states: “While the Comprehensive Plan is an umbrella policy and planning document with citywide implications, it does not alter or negate our existing neighborhood plans, community plans, sector plans or any other land use plans.”
In the revision, lengthy sections have been added to the Building Blocks section of the plan’s framework as well as Implementation to further reinforce the role neighborhood plans will play: “…existing neighborhood plans as defined in the existing (Comprehensive Planning Program) are still applicable until another plan at the Sub-Area Plan level (Level 3) or Specific Plan (Level 4) is completed for that particular geography. Sub-Area plans in particular should utilize existing neighborhood plans as a foundation and provide the platform through a coordinated planning effort for updated neighborhood level visions, values, goals, recommendations, and priorities.”
In other words, neighborhoods have control over their own plans, White said. Some neighborhood plans need updating, while others don’t even have one, and others have recently completed one.
“When we do the community planning, we’ll be able to identify those areas,” White said, adding that higher level plans will incorporate neighborhood plans.
Still, neighbors on Wednesday left with their concerns unaddressed, said Cosima Colvin, a member of the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Association.
“It’s still more to the City’s advantage than ours that it gets passed in its current condition,” Colvin said. “Although they say that our neighborhood plans will be used as a foundation … when they talk about updating our plans, they’ll have an eye on highly incentivized infill, high-density growth.”
“How much influence are we going to have,” she added. “How much is lip service?”
This is a disconnect that White recognizes and is confident will subside once the implementation process starts.
“The next step in terms of doing the community plans and regional plans and incorporating the neighborhood plans, I think that’s where we’ll be building that trust,” she said.
Niño noted that out of the estimated 300 official neighborhoods in San Antonio, less than a dozen were represented at the meeting.
Neighborhood leaders said the public wasn’t given enough notice about the proposed plan revisions, which were posted on the City’s website only last week.
Some Sustainability Goals ‘Overreach’
Two items in the Sustainability Plan stuck out to most Planning Commissioners on Wednesday: exploring the possible expansion of both the Dark Sky Ordinance, and impervious cover restrictions. Impervious cover is essentially anything (parking lots, buildings, etc.) that prevents water from being absorbed into the ground. Commissioners weren’t necessarily opposed to the idea of researching the two, but most took issue with how they were worded.
The strategy for the Dark Sky Ordinance said “evaluate and update” the ordinance based on research highlighting the energy savings and health benefits associated with having darker nights.
“As a result, the plan was, in my view, recommending a policy change that was beyond the scope of protecting our military,” said Commissioner Brad Carson, a local real estate and business attorney. The ordinance is intended to restrict lights around military bases to allow for optimal training and operation conditions.
“I support the military mission 100%, but anything beyond this requires more study and discussion by the community,” he added, “and I felt the current plan overreached in assuming that the ordinance should be updated.”
Carson, and a majority of the commissioners, had a similar problem with the language of describing how development should be limited in terms of impervious cover. It’s already restricted over the Edwards Aquifer. The plan calls for the City to “evaluate and update, if deemed necessary, impervious surface standards for new development and redevelopment projects outside of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.”
Expanding impervious cover restrictions would help protect rivers and other bodies of water, said Douglas Melnick, the City’s chief sustainability officer. The more impervious cover an area has, the farther and faster water travels to get to a stream, river, lake, soil, or aquifer. This increases the risk of flooding and poor water quality.
Chief Sustainability Officer Douglas Melnick briefs the Planning Commission on revisions made to the SA Tomorrow Sustainability Plan. Photo by Iris Dimmick.
“I support protecting the recharge zone, after all, I live here to,” Carson stated in an email after the vote. “But the wholesale revision of impervious coverage standards for the rest of the community outside of the recharge zone is, in my opinion, an overreach, especially when the other elements of the Sustainability Plan provide for other, more effective avenues to achieve the same goals, such as incentivizing low impact development (LID) practices.”
Melnick and his staff thought the “if deemed necessary” phrasing covered the concerns brought up by Commissioners last week during their preliminary review of the revisions.
Melnick defended the inclusion of the two items before they were voted out by a 5-4 Commission vote.
It was the public that brought these items into the plan, he said, “(San Antonians deemed them) worthy of evaluating as part of being a sustainable city in the future. That’s why it’s in the plan.”
Meanwhile, the commission and community revisions left several goals and strategies untouched.
“I think it’s important to note that the concerns of the Planning Commission and the community at the meeting focused on a very small percentage of the overall SA Tomorrow Plan,” Carson stated. “Of the 1,000+ pages in the Plan, the community and the Planning Commission … had questions and concerns about a only a handful of pages. All of those questions and concerns are normal, healthy, and, frankly, important…but I don’t want us to lose site of the fact that an overwhelming percentage of SA Tomorrow has the full support of the community, City staff, and the boards and commissions.”
Nirenberg and the Difference Between ‘Regulate’ and ‘Incentivize’
As one of three chairs of SA Tomorrow, Councilman Ron Nirenberg (D8) has been closely following changes to the Plans. He expressed concern over changes made to the plan that might weaken its effectiveness.
Words like “regulate,” “require,” and “establish” have been replaced with more flexible terms like “incentivize,” “promote,” and “consider” on more than a dozen strategies and goals throughout the Comprehensive, Sustainability, and Transportation plans. Many are located in the Comprehensive Plan sections that deal with sustainable, targeted development.
Councilman Ron Nirenberg speaks during a recent panel discussion. File photo by Kathryn Boyd-Batstone
“In order for us to have a meaningful blueprint for growth in San Antonio, I think it has to achieve a very delicate balance between incentivizing the better growth in urban form that we want to see and requiring a change in our development code,” he said during an interview with the Rivard Report before the meeting. “If we have a plan that simply suggests thing to consider rather than instruct policy change, have we really moved the needle?”
It’s the age-old balance between the carrot – incentives and fee waivers – and the stick – restrictions and new/increased fees. Developers, naturally, prefer incentives and resist regulation.
“(City Council) should be concerned about a plan that comes forward with just incentives — that’s all public dollars,” Nirenberg said, “and we can’t simply incentivize good behavior. We want predictability and fairness with regulation. Once we have that I think everyone benefits. … So unless the plan prescribes those conversations, they’re not going to happen with any consistency or intent.”
When asked about the possible implications of these term swaps sprinkled throughout the plans, City staff said they don’t necessarily dictate what tool – a carrot or stick – will be used.
“The intent is to be more flexible,” Niño said. “It doesn’t say that we can’t do anything, what it does is it actually provides us the ability to be more flexible and look at our incentive programs (and regulations) in the City.”
The new language broadens the tools available, he said.
“I think a lot of times people assign money (to language),” White said. “Sometimes you have to think outside the box with what you can do to accomplish that long-term goal.”
Changes made to the document were not inspired solely by the development community, Niño said. “We’ve had comments from neighborhood associations, we’ve heard from different community organizations,” and other stakeholders.
Ultimately, SA Tomorrow is supposed to guide the City forward with smart growth policies.
“By its nature, the details of any regulations, incentives, regional plans, and neighborhood plans that might arise out of SA Tomorrow must be left to future efforts by the City Council and the community,” Carson stated. “I think City staff was wise to revise overly restrictive language to give the City Council and the community the flexibility to be nimble in solving our current and future problems, as opposed to being locked into any one policy.”
For Nirenberg, however, the new language is too flexible.
“My hope is that we have guidance as opposed to platitudes,” he said.
Top image: The Planning Commission listens to concerns regarding the SA Tomorrow plan. Photo by Iris Dimmick.
Revisions Underway on Draft of San Antonio’s Comprehensive Plan
SA Tomorrow Plan Reignites Annexation Debate
Council to Vote on SA Tomorrow Plans, Anti-Idling Ordinance
Feedback Needed on SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan
About Iris Dimmick
Senior reporter Iris Dimmick covers City Hall, politics, development, and more. Contact her at iris@rivardreport.com
More by Iris
CITY PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
Iris Dimmick
3 thoughts on “City Council to Vote on SA Tomorrow Amid Concerns”
Andrew on July 29, 2016 at 8:48 PM said:
Just wanted to say I found this write-up to be better than the Express News’ coverage of the same topic. Thanks.
Iris Dimmick on July 31, 2016 at 4:10 PM said:
Thanks, Andrew.
I nerd out on planning stuff sometimes. This particular article was a bit long, but I wanted to make sure it was all out there in the event these changes are approved or overturned by City Council. If this is going to be our planning document through 2040, it should be vetted thoroughly.
Gil Garza on July 30, 2016 at 9:26 AM said:
The City has a list of neighborhoods and associations with contacts info that it asks communities to keep current.
Had the City been serious about neighborhood involvement it would have been pretty easy to attempt to get people out by the using existing list.
On the other hand, if the process itself is so complicated that it is burdensome for even the experts at the City to manage effectively, then it’s implementation seems bleak.
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Review: True West, a True Time Capsule at Steppenwolf Theatre
Vic Mensa Kicks Off This Summer’s Vans House Parties
By Kate Scott on June 4, 2018 • ( Leave a comment )
As the days get warmer and the nights get shorter, Chicago kicks into full summer mode with concerts and festivals all across the city. To start things off right, the House of Vans had their first summer party on the last day of May, starring none other than Chicago’s own Vic Mensa. The hip-hop superstar has been a Chicago staple for years but is now finally getting the attention he deserves on a national level. Having recently toured and opened for Jay-Z, Mensa will be headlining a number of summer festivals in the U.S. (and will almost certainly make some guest appearances in the Windy City). Before hitting these big stages, however, Mensa played the House of Vans with Chicago’s Kami and recently reunited hip-hop group The Pack.
As the House of Vans filled with hot and sweaty Chicagoans, Kami played a set of energetic songs with personal and powerful lyrics. Alongside Vic Mensa, Kami is one of the original members of Savemoney, a hip hop collective that features some of the biggest rappers in the city. Kami may not be as well known as Mensa, but he’s certainly making a mark here in Chicago. For his last song of his set, he jumped into the crowd to get everyone involved. I have yet to see another artist do this at the House of Vans, and I think his love for his fans and the music itself really showed.
After Kami, indie hip-hop hero Lil B brought his old group The Pack back for a high-octane show. The group’s claim to fame was, ironically, the single “Vans”, a song that is literally about how great the skate shoes are. Interestingly, the song received little airplay on MTV because it featured product placement, but the track blew up on MySpace (oh yes, MySpace) and gave the group a place in hip-hop history. While the group disbanded back in 2011, they still occasionally work together and have gained a new batch of fans, thanks to Lil B’s ardent following.
Finally, as the sun set and the House of Vans started cooling down just a little, Vic Mensa put on an incredibly emotional set, going so far as to throw out a concert-goer who had called a female fan a very derogatory word. “My shows are safe spaces, always”, he shouted as security grabbed the foul-mouthed offender. Mensa has always been political, but unlike other artists who make it all about themselves, Vic prefers to focus on his community and those who need help the most. A staunch critic of police, Mensa performed a unique version of his song “16 Shots”, combining his lyrics with NWA’s “F*ck the Police” backing track. Later on in the show, he dove right into the crowd saying that he wanted to get a huge mosh pit going. “If you don’t want to be hit…uhh put your hands up now!” he laughed as he started shouting “Be rowdy! Be rowdy!”
Vic Mensa’s set was not only passionate, it was a lot of fun. I for one am incredibly proud to know Mensa is from Chicago and is constantly repping our city as he’s on tour across the globe.
The House of Vans will continue to host summer house parties with some incredible artists and bands. For more information on these shows and how to snag a spot, click HERE.
All photos by Kate Scott.
Categories: Music, Reviews, Venues
Tagged as: Chicago Concerts, hip hop, House of Vans, Kami, Summer concerts, The Pack, Vans House Parites, Vic Mensa
Fresh Start to Your Week: 5/4 – 5/6
June at Midwest Independent Film Festival: The Charming, Musical Saints Rest
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Logan Paul & Prince Harry on Fortnite Ban
3 months ago 111 Den
Logan Paul says Prince Harry has a point over banning Fortnite.
Prince Harry sparked controversy after stating that Fortnite and other addictive games could be worse than alcohol or drugs and shouldn't be allowed because it starts addiction in young kids.
Logan Paul then jumped in and said he was once addicted to the game in the past and he said in an interview with TMZ about Harry's opinion he replied "That’s tough bro because I was actually addicted to World Of Warcraft when I was young, and because of that I found out what addiction was through video games which were weird, but I was, fortunately, able to escape the rabbit hole that is video games." Logan was then asked if he believes video games are as addictive as drugs and alcohol. he then replied "Yeah for sure, Maybe worse. You get sucked into a proper video game hole, you’re..."
After that in the YMCA in London where Prince Harry represents for Mental Health Charities, he also commented about it he also said "A game like Fortnite, for instance, may not be so good for children. Parents have got their hands up; they don’t know what to do about it."
Logan also said in a later interview "It doesn't end there. Logan worries VR is going to f up kids 20 and younger, who will no longer be able to separate games from reality."
In 2018, there were many reports about Fortnite, which caused addiction problems. Some of the young players even had to go into therapy because of that. Now pediatrician Dr. Michael Rich from Boston has spoken in an interview and talked about several extreme situations that have happened in the past because of a Fortnite ban. The pediatrician works at the Boston Children’s Hospital as head of the Interactive Media and Internet Disorders Department.
There have also been situations where parents have nearly divorced because of the child's Fortnite addiction. Now as it has over 250 Million registered plays it is one of the most successful games on the internet.
What are your thoughts about this? tell us in the comments below!
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The Long Arms of Scott Jensen
Former Assembly Speaker, now a school choice lobbyist, targeted six Democrats with negative ads that never mentioned the issue.
By Bill Lueders, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism - Dec 3rd, 2014 12:01 pm
Scott Jensen. Photo from State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2005-06.
At a recent board meeting of the nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause in Wisconsin, executive director Jay Heck mused, “I get the feeling that nobody remembers Scott Jensen anymore, even though he probably plays a greater role now than he did then.”
Jensen, as speaker of the state Assembly from 1997 to 2002, was “one of the most influential and divisive figures in Wisconsin political history,” the Associated Press noted earlier this year.
In 2006, as part of a broader scandal over the use of state resources for political campaigns, Jensen was convicted of three felony misconduct in office counts, later reversed on appeal. He ended up with a single misdemeanor conviction and a forfeiture.
Now Jensen is a lobbyist for the American Federation for Children, an advocacy group that supports school choice — using vouchers to direct public funds to private schools. AFC played a key role in the state’s recent elections, likely ensuring expansion of the state’s voucher program.
In an interview, Jensen laughs off Heck’s “compliment” but notes that AFC won six of the eight legislative races it targeted. “Our goal was to elect as many school choice supporters as possible, so we focused on races we thought would be close, where our efforts would make a difference,” he says.
School choice proponents, many from out of state, funneled $64,000 directly into candidates’ coffers in 2014, through AFC and another group. (The AFC-affiliated funder, Wisconsin Federation for Children Political Fund, filed its last report Nov. 26, a month late, risking a penalty of up to $500. Its Washington, D.C.-based administrator did not respond to an emailed question about the late filing.)
In addition, AFC made independent expenditures of $866,000 to boost or oppose candidates. This adds to the nearly $10 million in state electoral spending by school choice proponents between 2003 and 2012, as tallied by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
AFC’s spending in the Nov. 4 elections included $148,000 to help narrowly defeat Democrat Rep. Mandy Wright, a former teacher and school choice critic. It spent $123,000 to help Republican Todd Novak score a razor-thin win over Democrat Dick Cates. And it poured $240,000 into GOP choice proponent Howard Marklein’s successful bid for an open Senate seat.
Jensen is proud of these victories, which he says give it “a school choice majority in both houses.” He attributes this success to public support for school choice.
Yet, in its electioneering, AFC commonly doesn’t even mention school choice. It attacked Wright for allegedly using sick leave to attend a protest, which she insists is not true. It went after Cates for his vote on the local school board concerning the Pledge of Allegiance. And it ripped Democratic Rep. Gordon Hintz for threatening a female colleague and being cited in a massage parlor sting operation, both in 2011.
One of several AFC flyers targeting Rep. Gordon Hintz.
“It was pure character assassination,” fumes Hintz, who won by a meager three-point margin. “No issues. No mention of school vouchers. Just go for the throat.” AFC invested $107,000 in this race.
Jensen makes no apologies for using other issues to advance his group’s goals.
“We usually campaign on the issues that are most likely to move voters,” he says. The goal is to maximize “intensity.” He defends AFC’s attacks as accurate and even restrained. For instance, in Hintz’s case, “we didn’t have pictures with his pants around his ankles or anything like that.”
Hintz believes he survived his challenge because he addressed the choice issue head on. He asked why “billionaires from out of state” were backing his opponent and vowed to protect public schools.
But Jensen notes that other Democrats, including Wright and Cates, “actively campaigned against school choice” and lost. “I’m puzzled why the Democrats thought it would be a winning issue,” he says.
Certainly, Jensen and his group have proven that other issues are more potent.
Categories: Politics, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
One thought on “The Long Arms of Scott Jensen”
blurondo says:
A story about another escaped criminal.
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← Five takeaways from Health in All Policies 2019
When transport met housing… →
Northern Ireland is getting ahead
Of the four main constituent parts of the UK, only one of them saw bus use grow last year. It is the same one on track to having a smart and fully unified ticketing system across all forms of public transport, and which has also seen the use of its rail network double in 10 years. That’s Northern Ireland, where after decades of being sidelined as car dependency took hold, public transport is back.
The posterchild for the new found assertiveness and visibility of public transport in Northern Ireland is Belfast’s new Glider BRT system which spans the city east to west with a branch into the Titantic quarter of the city’s docklands. As a visitor to Belfast you can’t miss this striking new addition to Belfast city centre’s imposing street grid. Residents have taken to it too – it’s winning over passengers and raising the wider status of public transport in the process.
Glider works because it’s been thought through. It’s on-street and unguided but this format for BRT works in Belfast because of the specifics of the road network and the geographies served. These artics don’t get to give their rubbery midriffs much of a work out because the roads they serve are mostly straight, which makes the experience of using Glider feel more rapid transit. Some of Belfast’s roads are not just straight they are also wide enough to slot bus priority in without too much fuss (the city centre’s streets are also, helpfully, on a grid pattern). Where the roads narrow as they pass through inner city communities, getting bus priority in was trickier – however, rather than attempt to barrel bus lanes through for the benefit of suburbanites, the opportunity was taken to renew local streetscapes, giving local high streets a boost in the process.
If the overall concept has been thought through then so have the details. Stops were reduced and standardised to be more like tram stops. All ticketing is off-board. The vehicles themselves are no nonsense Belgian Van Hools which iron out the bumps in the road for passengers. The smoother ride gives more of a rapid transit feel. They also have air con. Because having big windows to gaze out of is lovely, but being trapped inside a rattly greenhouse – not so much.
The off-board ticketing also has some interesting beneficial side effects. Firstly, it makes dwell times shorter and more regular in duration, removing the background annoyance of the stop-start nature of conventional bus travel – making the experience more like rapid transit. It also means that passengers who don’t like that kind of thing can avoid the interaction anxiety which comes from having to negotiate with a driver in front of an audience. Yet, at the same time human interaction, in less theatrical form (unless you are fare dodging), is retained in the form of roving teams of jovial inspectors.
The well thought through concept and the well thought through details mean the whole adds up to a lot more than the sum of the parts. It’s what FirstGroup’s FTR should have been and wasn’t – despite the hype and sycophancy from the trade press, Department for Transport and so on that greeted its launch at the time. This isn’t plonking fancy new bendy buses on the streets, and walking away – it’s a whole new Belfast thing. People say they are getting the Glider rather than saying they are getting the bus. Suburban shopping centres are giving Glider the credit for higher footfall. Before it was implemented the media said all that bus priority would lead to is the shuttering up of local traders. Yet now look at Ballyhackamore – on a Glider route and voted one of the best places to live in the UK. And it’s also doing its bit for bringing communities together as some people from nationalist communities have been travelling on it across to unionist parts of town, and vice versa. Some of them for the first time in their lives.
If Glider stands out in the city centre, there’s something else that’s striking to those used to the messy, shouty state of play in many GB city centres (with all those different buses in different colour schemes proclaiming the merits of tickets you can only use on their services). It’s the calm and order in Belfast of the interlocking network of bus services which serve the city and Northern Ireland more widely. Metro for frequent urban Belfast services, a new high spec ‘Urby’ network for longer distance commuters, Ulsterbus for local services across Northern Ireland and then the Goldline coach network for fast services between towns and cities. It’s an easy to understand network which experienced overall growth in patronage last year.
All of this is possible because, firstly, the vast majority of public transport services in Northern Ireland are provided by Translink (a state-owned corporation). And, secondly, Translink is carrying out its remit, which is not to use a monopoly position to manage decline but to get out there and ensure that public transport plays its part in delivering the wider objectives Northern Ireland has for a thriving green economy based on healthy communities.
The end of decline management is also exemplified by the transformation of Northern Ireland’s rail network. In the sixties Northern Ireland was no more immune to the brutalising of its railway system than the rest of the UK – leaving some districts without any rail service at all. Until the early 2000s this residual rail service was the domain of veteran English Electric ‘thumper’ units which dolefully and noisily trundled their way around a bare minimum of trackwork. When, finally, approval was given for new trains it unleashed an astonishing growth in passengers – a doubling in 10 years.
Meanwhile, bringing the whole rail and bus shebang together are two major projects. The first is a rebuild of the current hub of both Northern Ireland’s rail and bus network at Great Victoria Street. It’s starting to feel its age and both the bus and rail terminals are struggling to cope with surging demand; so much so that some rail services can’t be squeezed into it – such as the Enterprise rail service to Dublin. Everything is going to change, including the name (it will be rebranded within a broader regeneration site known as Weavers Cross), when it becomes a new, more spacious interchange topped off with a significant commercial development.
The second major project is the modernisation of transport ticketing. There are already 28 million smartcard journeys annually and nearly half a million active smartcards. As the modernisation project is rolled out across more types of services and ticketing projects, Northern Ireland is one of the frontrunner territories in Europe for achieving smart, simple and fully integrated ticketing across its entire public transport network.
Finally, layered on top of everything is a marketing campaign that stresses the intrinsic advantages of public transport for both the individual traveller and Northern Ireland as a whole. The predominance of the car culture in Northern Ireland (and the consequent tendency of Belfast to gridlock) can be an advantage here – as you are starting from a clean slate with a fresh proposition. The aim is to make public transport a credible answer for policy makers looking at where best to invest in tackling wider social, environmental and economic goals and for individuals’ travel needs. ‘Get on board’ as the strapline has it.
Northern Ireland really isn’t so different from the rest of the UK to make it an invalid comparator or to make lessons untransferable and the rest of the UK really needs to start looking at what Northern Ireland is doing on public transport. Because whilst you weren’t looking – they got ahead of you.
Jonathan Bray is Director of Urban Transport Group
This blog originally appeared in Passenger Transport magazine.
Posted in Bus, Funding, Governance, Jonathan Bray, Rail, Uncategorized
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Why Make A Will
Child Support Computation with Variable Incomes
We all know that under current law, child support is computed based on incomes, and the determination of incomes is the first step. Varibale incomes such as commissions or bonuses involve extra calculations. Our firm was involved in a recent case in the Supreme Court of Georgia that dealt with this situation. The case was STOWELL v.HUGUENARD, S10A1700, Supreme Court of Georgia, Decided February 28, 2011.
The opinion starts off with the basics, stating "According to the child support guidelines, the first step a court must take when calculating the presumptive amount of child support is to determine the monthly gross income of both parents. OCGA § 19-6-15 (b) (1). OCGA 19-6- 15 (m) (1) requires the court to use the child support worksheet, which should be attached to the final court order, to determine and calculate the presumptive amounts of child support."
The goal is to compute a sum certain as child support. The opinion emphasizes that: "This final calculation will result in "the presumptive amount of child support, which is a sum certain single payment due to the custodial parent." OCGA § 19-6-15 (b) (7)."
Many times, parties in support cases have a history of regular but variable income such as bonuses or commissions. Historical income is to be averaged to determine current income for child support purposes. Generally, when income history is variable, the court shall average such income over a reasonable period of time. But, the relevant statute also appears to authorize the alternative approach of setting support as a percentage of variable income.
The relevant statute is 19-6-15 (f) (1) (D). This statute provides for the treatment of income that may vary as to amount and/or timing when calculating gross income for purposes of determining child support as follows:
"Variable income such as commissions, bonuses, overtime pay, military bonuses, and dividends shall be averaged by the court or the jury over a reasonable period of time consistent with the circumstances of the case and added to a parent's fixed salary or wages to determine gross income. When income is received on an irregular, nonrecurring, or one-time basis, the court or the jury may, but is not required to, average or prorate the income over a reasonable specified period of time or require the parent to pay as a one-time support amount a percentage of his or her nonrecurring income, taking into consideration the percentage of recurring income of that parent."
In today’s economy, a high income history does not mean that high income will continue. Bonuses or commissions may not continue to occur. When jobs are lost, new employment may not bring the same compensation. A history of high previous income is not an isolated situation. In the Stowell case, the court attempted to create a procedure where Mr. Stowell would pay child support on future commissions only when earned, on a percentage of future variable earnings. The Supreme Court reversed, and the ruling makes this difficult if not impossible to use this approach.
The Supreme Court made it clear that such a percentage of variable income procedure could be used only as a deviation. It also appears that such a procedure would be extremely difficult to do in an acceptable fashion. The court states more than once that the child support calculation must be a "sum certain". It is obviously difficult to reduce future commissions to a deviation in a sum certain before they ever occur.
Mr. Stowell had a history of earning commissions in his previous jobs. The appellate ruling appears to require that variable income such as his must therefore be averaged, to come up with a stated amount of income for the child support calculation.
The opinion is confusing as to whether such a percentage computation of child support could ever be accepted, even as a deviation. Even though the court says, in one part on the opinion, it could accept a percentage computation of child support as a deviation, in another it says such an approach “flies in the face” of the sum certain requirement (Emphasis supplied).
The court didn't say that such a percentage calculation is never acceptable. But, the dissent pointed out the impracticality of this approach. The dissent pointed out: "Even if the award at issue had been referenced somehow as a deviation on Schedule E, the majority sheds no light on how a deviation that is undetermined as to amount and timing could possibly be incorporated into the mathematical calculation of Stowell's monthly recurring child support obligation. This is, of course, because it cannot be done." (Emphasis supplied).
The majority opinion effectively closed the door on using a percentage calculation for future child support, even as a deviation, because the paying party would have a different child support amount every year. The court, in rejecting the trial court’s percentage approach, states “it is highly likely that Stowell will have a different child support obligation every year, which flies in the face of the requirement that the presumptive child support amount consist of "a sum certain" that may only be varied if the trial court specifically finds deviations that are supported by written findings of fact. OCGA § 19-6-15 (b) (7), (8)." (Emphasis supplied).
As the dissent says, it would be impossible to do any percentage calculation of child support on variable future income and end up with the same sum certain of support in each future year. Trial judges would likely be hesitant to attempt to craft one, in view of this opinion.
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Imagining a Time After Nations
July 19, 2018 July 20, 2018 ~ Randy Blazak
“Imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do.” – John Lennon
I was sitting in a refugee center in Leeds, England yesterday, listening to the story of migrants from many places, including Syria, Slovakia, and Kenya. Most are in a bind as the British nation decides what to do with the disastrous Brexit decision. The United Kingdom had been a part of the European Union, allowing Europeans to move freely about the continent. In 2016, while just enough Americans were voting (motivated, in part, by racist fears) for Donald “Would/wouldn’t” Trump, just enough Brits were voting (motivated, in part, by racist fears) to leave the EU.
Would Polish migrants have to leave friends and family and move back to Poland? Italians? Slovaks? Is the Britain just for the British? And what about the Syrian dentist who now has to work as London cab driver because his dental school credentials were no longer valid after he fled the war zone with his family? Who was “English” in a nation that proclaimed the global empire of Britannia? The black Jamaican? The brown Hindu? Racist groups like the English Defense League chant “Britain first!” (and Trump retweets their Islamaphobic posts), but who is “English” in the land invaded by Romans and Anglo-Saxons?
There was a time when there were no countries. Dinosaurs didn’t live in “Switzerland.” There was no Switzerland (formed in 1291 C.E.). Humans have walked the earth for 100,000 years and countries have barely been around for 2000 of those years. We had “tribes” and “lands,” but nations didn’t begin to appear until Japan was founded in 660 B.C.E., then San Marino (in what is now Italy) was founded in 301 B.C.E., and China was founded in 221 B.C.E.. People didn’t need passports 2000 years ago or even 200 years ago.
When I want to start my classroom discussion of the African slave trade, I draw on the chalkboard a picture of the Earth “upside down,” with Africa and South America on the top. The students are always confused and then I tell them that the little land mass pointing upward is Florida. They get it and laugh. The point is that white people created maps with their countries on top and black and brown people are “below.” North is “up.”
I’m old enough to remember the pictures of Earth from Apollo 8, fifty years ago. I was Cozy’s age and wondered where all the lines were that divided states and countries. My state was the pink one. Where was “Pacific Ocean” imprinted in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Was this a picture of Earth before men built walls and declared the people on the other side to be “murderers and rapists?” Or was this a picture from our future, after nations became obsolete?
In science fiction, aliens live on planets, not in countries. Spock was from Vulcan, not some country on Vulcan. Luke Skywalker was Tatooine, and all Tatooinoids hung together. What do they know that we don’t? If the Klingons can have planetary unity, why can’t we? But there we go planting American flags on the moon. God knows what Trump’s SPACE FORCE is going to do to Uranus.
As I wrote last week, no nation is guaranteed permanence. There will be a time when the United States of America ceases to exist. (It feels like that might be sooner than later.) There is also a time coming when no nations, in general, will exist. The question is – will we be here to enjoy that evolution in human existence, when there is no need for man made borders? Nation states? Meh.
This work I’m doing in Europe has reminded me of the limitation of these political inventions called “nations.” It seems like we should be smarter than this by now. While fascists clamor for a new nationalism so they can push some group out, more people see themselves as global citizens. A 2016 survey of 20,000 people in 18 countries found that half saw themselves as global, instead of national, citizens (30% of Germans and 73% of Nigerians). As Cozy recently told me, “Daddy, we don’t live in America, we live in Portland!”
So many of our problems are caused by the existence of these silly things called countries. That includes wars and economic exploitation. It’s OK that people suffer in factories to make our smart phones and other “can’t live without” items because they’re in other countries. It’s not like they’re real people. It’s us verses them, people (and non-people). Maybe we should go back to a time when there was only the various peoples of the Planet Earth. Would that be such a bad thing? The Vulcans would deem it logical.
Posted in Donald Trump, Fascism, Immigration, Politics, Refugees, Star Wars, War Apollo 7Donald TrumpEarthglobal citizenJohn LennonNationsRefugeesSpock
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5 thoughts on “Imagining a Time After Nations”
Here’s something to think about: there will come a time when all evil, sickness, disease, tears, and pain will be taken away. There will come a time when the lion will lay down with the lamb and there won’t be killing or bloodshed.
There will come a time when one nation will not rise against another nation. No more famine or wars. Doesn’t that sound glorious and peaceful? That time will come when Jesus will come to rule and reign on earth. Revelation 20 – 22 talks all about it.
What you speak of Randy follows what the bible says. I know you don’t believe it, but it has yet to be proven wrong.
food for thought. IMAGINE!
Ellen Morris Prewitt says:
That “right-side-up” globe is a good way to start this week.
That “right-side-up” globe is a good way to start the week.
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Author: Bryan Lee
Bryan is a columnist focusing on public policy, politics, and international affairs.
How to Prevent Another DAPL
by Bryan Lee • December 23, 2016
For the last few months, the Dakota Access Pipeline has captured the nation’s attention. After Energy Transfer Partners started construction on a pipeline near the Standing Rock Reservation, local Native American tribes protested the pipeline on the grounds that it could pollute their water supplies. Word of the protests spread and thousands of protesters flocked to Standing Rock. After months of confrontations between protesters and militarized police, the Army Corps of Engineers paused the project pending an environmental impact assessment.
The Native American tribes and environmentalists hailed this development as a victory, albeit a temporary one. Donald Trump, who will soon be taking office, has vowed to complete the DAPL and has signaled a willingness to carry out this campaign promise by filling his administration with oil executives and people who have invested heavily in the project. As a result, anti-DAPL protesters are gearing up for a long protest season.
What Can We Expect to See After the Brexit?
by Bryan Lee • June 30, 2016
On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom held a referendum on whether the nation should leave the European Union. This historic vote resulted in an unexpected victory for the Leave side, giving the government a mandate to start negotiations to leave the EU. Immediately following this news, financial markets and the Pound Sterling plummeted causing financial chaos around the globe. This reaction demonstrates that the international community is fearful about the impacts of a Brexit. As a result, it is worth exploring the impacts that it is likely to have.
The campaign season leading up to Brexit referendum was arduous and marred by deliberate misinformation, xenophobia, and nativism. After this campaign, the referendum resulted in an unexpected victory for the Leave side, which won 52% of the vote. However, this referendum, which was not legally binding, does not automatically withdraw the UK from the European Union. In order to withdraw, the UK will need a majority vote in Parliament to repeal the web of legislation that allowed the UK to accede to the EU. In addition, the UK will need to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to formally withdraw from the EU. Once Article 50 is invoked the UK will have two years to negotiate the terms of its departure.
Protectionism Is Not the Answer
Since Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency, he has ridden a wave of right-wing populism to become the Republican presidential nominee. Throughout this entire process, he has adopted a protectionist, anti-immigration, and nativist political platform. While Trump’s success in politics has shocked the American public, his rise is only part of a global trend towards protectionism as political parties like UKIP in the UK, the National Front in France, and AfD in Germany have steadily gained in the polls. All of these protectionist political parties claim that their policies will “make their country great again.” However, there is no economic basis to these claims and implementing these protectionist policies will cause severe damage to the global economy.
Since the end of World War II, the world has rapidly become more globalized and connected. However, since the 2008 Financial Crisis, the world has experienced a period of unprecedented economic stagnation, leaving hundreds of millions of people impoverished and facing a bleak future. Unfortunately, this has fostered political discontent and extremism throughout the world. Like previous times of economic hardship, this has encouraged the rise of nationalistic, right-wing political forces that have rejected globalization. The rise of the Brexit movement in the UK and Euroskeptic political parties reflect this trend.
Was EgyptAir Flight MS804 Brought Down by a Terrorist Attack?
by Bryan Lee • May 23, 2016
What brought down EgyptAir Flight MS804?
In the early hours of 19 May 2016, EgyptAir Flight MS804 disappeared from radar. This disappearance prompted a search and rescue operation by numerous navies and air forces to search for the missing plane. This search eventually found wreckage from the plane and the body parts of its passengers. The downing of this flight has sparked an investigation into its cause. Naturally, many people, including presidential candidates, suspect that the plane was downed by a terrorist attack. However, since the facts surrounding the downing of the plane are unclear, this claim is probably premature. As a result, the evidence for and against this theory should be analyzed.
Since the investigation is ongoing, the facts of the downing of the plane are fuzzy and subject to change. However, at the time of writing, it is believed that EgyptAir Flight MS804 was flying at 37,000 feet. It then made a 90-degree turn to the left, followed by a 360-degree turn as it descended rapidly. It then disappeared from radar at an altitude of 10,000 feet. It is also believed that the smoke was detected in the lavatory and avionics equipment two minutes before the plane disappeared from radar. Many people who have analyzed these facts have argued that it is consistent with a terrorist attack. They would rightfully argue that the smoke is suspicious and consistent with a quick-burning fire or explosion. Alternatively, the erratic flight path of the plane could be consistent with a struggle in the cockpit between the pilots and a possible hijacker. Both of these are consistent with a terrorist attack.
Why Is North Korea Arming the Democratic Republic of Congo?
The reason behind North Korea’s foray into central Africa
Since gaining independence from Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been chronically unstable and has been rocked by numerous coups and civil wars. DRC has always been a strategic country and as a result foreign powers have backed various actors throughout the years. However, according to a recent report, North Korea has joined the fray and provided the DRC government with arms and training for their troops. This, however, is illegal as the UN Security Council has placed an arms embargo that bans the export and import of weapons and military services to and from North Korea. This seemingly random and rather unusual scenario deserves an explanation.
DRC has been a strategic country since colonial times and has been valued by foreign powers for its abundant natural resources. DRC is abundant in resources like timber, diamonds, and tin. In recent years, DRC has also gained attention for its coltan resources. Coltan is a metal that is valued for its ability to old an electrical charge. As a result, this metal is used in almost all consumer electronics like smartphones, laptops, and videogame systems. This has made coltan a strategic resource in today’s economy. This resource is scarce and as a result, demand for this metal has caused its price to spike.
What Did the London Anti-Corruption Summit Achieve?
What steps did the London Anti-Corruption Summit make towards eliminating corruption?
On 12 May 2016, David Cameron hosted the Anti-Corruption Summit in London. This summit aimed to bring together world leaders to discuss ways to expose corruption, punish those responsible, and to eliminate institutionalized practices that encourage corruption. I previously wrote an article explaining why this conference was unlikely to result in meaningful reform. So far, many civil society organizations have claimed that the Summit was underwhelming and did not go far enough. However, some positive steps were taken and as a result, I believe that it is worth exploring the end result of this Summit.
In the days before the Anti-Corruption Summit, tension started to brew as David Cameron was caught on camera stating that “Nigeria and Afghanistan are possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world.” This was expected to cause problems as the Nigerian and Afghani presidents were high profile invitees to the conference. Fortunately, this faux pas appeared to have been forgiven and the summit was able to proceed in a cooperative manner. At the Summit, several commitments and provisions were agreed to and published in a communiqué. Some of these provisions are as follows:
What Can we Expect from the London Anti-Corruption Summit?
On 12 May, 2016, many world leaders will meet at a summit in London to discuss corruption. The objective of this summit is to foster international cooperation for combatting corruption. Since this is occurring in the aftermath of the Panama Papers, the summit is coming at a very opportune time when this topic is still salient amongst the public. However, while this summit has noble objectives, many have expressed skepticism towards it.
On 8 May 2016 Downing Street published a statement from David Cameron about the summit. This statement, which recognizes the myriad of poverty and security-related problems that corruption causes, stated Cameron’s desire to formulate and implement the first global declaration against corruption and mechanisms for combatting it. In the process, David Cameron set lofty goals for international cooperation to engage in anti-corruption efforts. To this end, David Cameron invited many prominent heads of state to his summit, the agenda of which includes exposing corruption, punishing those responsible, and eliminating cultures of corruption. The British government has expressed optimism that this will lead to meaningful anti-corruption reform.
What is Donald Trump’s Endgame?: Revisited
by Bryan Lee • May 8, 2016
Back in February, I wrote an article speculating about what Donald Trump was trying to achieve with his bid for the presidency. Given the strong social ties between the Trump and Clinton families, I concluded that Trump does not actually want to be president and that the likely reason for his candidacy was to help Hillary Clinton’s campaign. I argued that his campaign was a deliberate attempt to alienate the demographics that the Republican Party needs to win the general election. Since I wrote that article, Donald Trump has done just that and has become the GOP’s presumptive nominee. Hillary Clinton has also come close to winning the Democratic nomination. In light of these developments, it is worth revisiting my previous theory about Trump.
Since my previous article, Trump’s actions have largely conformed to the theory that I put forth. I argued that Trump would probably gain a following amongst the most extreme parts of the GOP and then leave the party, which would leave the Republicans divided and unable to contest the general election. However, Trump’s campaign has been unexpectedly successful and he has since become the frontrunner of his party. In this position, Trump has been able to sabotage the Republican Party. Trump has increasingly taken extreme “policy positions” and has, in the process, made him and the Republican Party very unpopular with important voter demographics. This has basically assured his defeat in the general election. His antics have also tarnished the reputations of many of the other Republican candidates and are threatening the reelection prospects of Republicans in the House and Senate. This has caused civil war within the party that has left them in disarray.
This Election Season Must Remain Non-Violent
With both Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropping out of the race, Donald Trump has become the Republican candidate for the general election. This nightmare scenario has set the stage for a turbulent general election season. This development, which has raised the specter of a dysfunctional future in which fascism rules America, has left many people in the US scared and angry. This has driven many people who oppose Trump to violently lash out, most recently at protests in Costa Mesa and Burlingame in California. This, however, is very short sighted and will only divide the country further.
I have previously written about how the use of violence in the name of anti-fascism will inevitably be used by Donald Trump to discredit his enemies. Despite this, anti-fascist protesters have continued to use violence to express their displeasure about Trump’s vitriolic ideology. They often justify this by arguing that anti-fascists and the United States as a whole will lose their credibility if people don’t make a vocal stand against Trump. In addition, they would argue that the public’s failure to react to Trump would amount to appeasement to fascism, which is comparable to how the Weimar Republic reacted to Hitler in the 1930s.
How Democratic is the Presidential Primary Process?
by Bryan Lee • April 18, 2016
The primary process is in need of reform
The Panama Papers Only Reveal a Small Portion of the World’s Shady Financial Activities
by Bryan Lee • April 9, 2016
Shady financial activities are way more common than you think
Mitt Romney is Running for the GOP Nomination
by Bryan Lee • March 29, 2016
Yet another potential shakeup in an already turbulent election season
Cracking Down on Muslims Doesn’t Make You Safer
The folly of trampling on the civil liberties of the Muslim community
Non-Violence is the Key to Anti-Trump Activism
How do you trump Trump?
The Lessons We Should Learn from the KKK Rally in Anaheim
by Bryan Lee • March 1, 2016
Why we aren’t celebrating at TFC.
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Bangladesh: Journey towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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Deepening Bangladesh-Brunei economic ties
At the invitation of Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin...
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Masonry’s Role in the 21st Century
The Masonic Influence on World History
Sometimes we forget how lucky we are to live in the country we do, and how important Masonry and the Shriners has been in creating the world we live in.
We often attend lodge and partake in the degrees, leave lodge and forget how they can help us in our daily lives.
We just need a reminder, in my former life, I drove for UPS for 27 years without a chargeable accident.
I would like to think that accomplishment had something to do with my outstanding driving abilities.
That may have had something to do with it, but UPS also played a major role also.
Every morning before leaving on our on time delivery missions, we attended a three minute safe driving meeting where safe driving procedures were taught, because of those constant reminders, we sometimes achieved five,ten, or fifteen thousand consecutive safe driving days.
It would be hard to determine how many lives those simple meetings saved.
Regardless of who we are, we all need constant reminders to keep our mission fresh in our lives, so it is with masonry and the Shriners, it is so easy to forget how we came to live in this great country, and how easy it would be for it all to slip away.
Looking back, I remember one evening, I was standing in my front yard as a child, I was probably only about six years old.
At the time I lived in southern Indiana and looking towards the east, I saw Washington D.C. going up in flames. I hardly knew what Washington D.C. was, I had heard it was our nation’s capitol, but being as young as I was I didn’t realize what the city stood for.
I just knew our government was in trouble and it seemed as if it was just a few years after the turn of the 21st century. It seemed to be really troubling times.
This was about 1950, so it seemed really far off, and I pretty much forgot about it.
Several years later, in the late 80s, I had to opportunity to speak with a very knowledgeable and intuitive lady. Someone who should have been famous, but wasn’t.
She solved her first murder when she was 9, and Duke University did studies on her brain to try and discover where she gained her intuitive abilities.
She gave me the same information about the coming turmoil, repeating what I had heard in my youth.
I listened to what she had said, but it never really registered, how bad it could get, we had just survived the protests of the sixties, how much worse could it be?
She said there would be much rioting and discontent, it would be mostly confined to the major cities and if we stayed out of them we would be fine.
She said the problems would come from the way the majority of our children had been raised after the sixties, the permissiveness and lack of control many parents had over their kids, and the way American society had forgotten what had made us great.
Soon after that, I went to a motivational seminar, where Zig Ziglar and others were speaking, he said the same things, I still didn’t heed the warnings.
I took it with a grain of salt and went about my way as many others had done who had heard the same warnings, after all, our parents and grandparents had been saying the same thing for years, the world was going to hell in a handbasket.
And we all swore that we would never sound like our parents.
Most of us were raised in a different world, and we raised our kids in that world, but somehow things changed and people forgot, or didn’t think it was important to remember any more.
When the changes came they were so subtle, hardly anyone noticed.
This is how most cultures decline and finally disappear, being taken over by a more barbaric society, until they no longer exist.
Soon it was the turn of the century, and the things I had seen and was told about began coming true.
It seemed chaos was everywhere, no self control or discipline, no respect for the law, or others, profanity, everything that was right was wrong , and everything that was wrong was right.
Bad behavior became condoned and accepted, anyone who disagreed and remembered the values taught them at a younger age, were condemned and ridiculed.
The world had been turned upside down, and all the problems of the world somehow seemed to be the fault of the United States.
You hear constantly on the media and from some politicians how horrible a place the United States is, how cruel we are to minorities, the disabled, etc.
That isn’t reality,
I found during my travels, this is not the way the average person across the globe feels, that is only media and political rhetoric, designed to sell ads and garner votes by pandering to humanity’s basic trait, fear.
Many today have forgotten how to think, or reason, and logic, forget it.
Today, I would like to discuss logic and how it leads from one phase of our life to another, often without even our knowledge and how applying logic to our lives we can restore faith in America.
Logic teaches us to guide our reasoning discretionary in the general knowledge of things, and directs our inquiries after truth. A regular train of argument whence we infer, deduce, and conclude according to certain premises laid down and we are given the facilities to conceive and reason where we are able to move from one graduation to another until the point in question is finally known or determined.
Sometimes life, guided by an unseen friend, unknowingly follows logic beyond our comprehension and we wind up somewhere and learn something other than what our original intentions may have been.
Such was the case several years ago when I had the opportunity to spend some time in the outback of Australia. Originally, the purpose of the expedition was to photograph various areas of the country with the goal to publish a photo book on the life of the Australian people, including the aborigines.
This particular morning, we were on our way to Ayres Rock, or Uluru as the aborigines call it. A giant monolith in the middle of Australia, the largest sacred site in the world. It’s about five miles in circumference and about 1300 feet tall.
The bus picked us up at about 6 AM and as it made the final stop at another hotel to pick up the last two people, a cute young lady and her brother boarded the bus.
By the time the young lady boarded, the only remaining seat was next to me, being quite shy, she reluctantly sat next to me.
More interested in getting some sleep than starting up a conversation, it was nap time.
A few hours later I woke from my nap and discovered the young girl had fallen asleep on my shoulder.
Being the perfect gentleman that I am, and quietly deciding what my next move would be , I never moved so as to not disturb her.
Here I am, on a bus , 10,000 miles from home,in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of people I’m never going to see again, and I have a cute young girl sleeping on my shoulder, thank you God.
Soon she woke up, and realizing where she was, she was quite embarrassed.
Wanting to strike up a conversation, I asked where she was From. “Switzerland” was the reply. She said she was traveling around the world with her brother and her final stop would be in the United States to visit her fiance who was a cadet at the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
So much for my well thought out evil plans.
She then asked about me and I informed her I was from the United States.
She then asked rather rudely, I thought,”What are you doing over here in Australia?”
Picking up my shattered ego, and searching for an answer, I replied that I was with a group of 150 photographers that were photographing various parts of the continent and were planning on publishing a book.
I asked her why she asked why I was in Australia.
Her reply,”If I lived in the United States I would never go anywhere else, you have everything there anyone could ever want or need.”
“WOW” I had never thought that before.
A 19 year old kid from Switzerland just told me something I had never really totally realized before.
I never forgot that.
A couple of weeks later, nearing the end of our journey, we entered the tiny town of Daly Waters in the Northern Territory, a couple of hundred miles south of Darwin.
After spending nearly a month in the outback, removed from the rest of the world, most of us had forgotten what day it was , it really didn’t matter as long as the driver got us where we needed to be when we needed to be there. By that time most of us didn’t want the adventure to end and remembering the day just made the time seem shorter.
As we entered the tiny village with a population of seventeen, I noticed an old C-47 with U.S. markings sitting on an abandoned runway. At the time I never thought much of it.
We entered the pub, looking for something to quench our thirst.
To our surprise, the pub was nearly full, this was unusual , even by Aussie standards. It was the middle of the afternoon in the middle of the week.
I wasn’t sure what day it was, but I knew it wasn’t the weekend, we were scheduled to be in Darwin on Saturday, this wasn’t Darwin, so it had to be the middle of the week.
Getting a drink, someone asked an older gentleman what they were celebrating.
He replied they were celebrating the fourth of July.
We were startled, why would they be celebrating this America holiday?
His answer was that Australia was really appreciative about how the Yanks had bailed the Aussies out during WW2 when the Japanese attacked them.
Totally unprepared, Australia would have fallen had it not been for help from the United States.
It was gratifying to see people appreciate what America had done in the past.
It was sure a far cry from the rhetoric from the media.
I could go on and on, there have been numerous times the same theme has been conveyed to myself, and I’m sure to others as well.
Most people, even today realize, in spite of our faults, what a force for good the United States has been in world affairs.
Our local Shriner’s center has a weekly luncheon for the nobles who are able to attend.
A few years ago, a visiting noble from Massachusetts introduced himself and related how he was ninety-three years old, a world war two and Korean war veteran and how he was concerned about the direction the country was headed.
As he walked back to his seat, he stopped, put his hand on my shoulder and with a tear in his eye, said,”I just don’t want to leave this world in the shape it’s in.”
Here is a retired veteran, who has already given more to his country than most of us would even think about doing, wanting to do more.
That’s something you can hang your hat on.
In this country, We don’t fight for a president, a congress or a government, we fight for an idea, an idea born several thousand years ago and carried down through the ages by men seeking light. An idea that finally reached fruition by a group of about two hundred men a couple hundred years ago in a hot humid room in Philadelphia .
The idea of freedom and liberty, the idea that men and women should be able to choose how to live and run their lives with the least amount of government interference possible.
That is what our men and women in the military and law enforcement fight for every day of their lives.
We Americans sometimes forget how lucky we are to live in the country we do, and enjoy the freedoms most others in the world can only dream about.
The same can be said for masonry, and its appendant bodies, masonry or a version of it has been around since the dawn of time. The secrets of masons in masonry will tell you everything you need to know, to not only lead a good life, but improve the lives of others and our country.
Aside from the 13 masonic signers of the Declaration of Independence
Our country had an impressive beginning during the inauguration of George Washington as our first president.
Those who accompanied Washington during the inauguration ceremony, Roger Sherman, Alexander Hamilton, Baron Von Steuben, General Henry Knox, and John Adams, all were masons, except for Adams.
Reportedly, there were many more present, the governors of all 13 states, and many in Washington’s administration.
Many didn’t keep good records in those days, but many more were probably masons and some thought to be masons, even though there were no records to prove it , many conclude Jefferson was a mason , judging by his writings and conversations he had with others.
What do we need to do to restore faith in America?
America has lost it’s spiritual foundation, many are seeking, but they don’t know what they are seeking, the young want answers, when things go bad, as they always do, they aren’t satisfied with the answer, that it’s just :God’s Will.”
The church’s only teach about the God without, many today are looking for the God Within.
I believe that masonry teaches that.
The planet is rebooting as we did in the 60s, some things are disappearing and many others are appearing.
Many of the old ways, thankfully, are falling by the wayside, making way for a new and better version.
All we need to do is to not throw the baby out with the bath water, discard what doesn’t work and keep what works.
How do we know what to keep?
How do we change to keep up with the times and still keep what is important?
Our rituals, and basic tenets and landmarks are unchangeable.
Remember what made this country great and all the good we as Americans have done in the world.
As I try to explain in my book, “The Wisdom of Our Ancestors,” I list 39 different principles we were taught growing up that are no longer taught to many of our young people, I’m sure there are more, but that is all I could think of.
All we need to do is get back to the basics and apply the time worn principles of masonry.
The laws of nature and nature’s God,
The golden rule.
Obviously, there were no masons as such, in times of ancient Sumeria and Egypt, but many carried the ideals of masonry, Ancient Egypt even had their version of Hiram, and there is strong evidence that rituals similar to the masonic rituals were performed in some of the pyramids, such as the Giant pyramid of Giza and the pyramid of Unas in Saqqara.
Every religion and culture has some version of these basic values, there must be some truth to them.
How do we, as masons, return our country to its rightful standing in the world and before God?
I don’t think anyone has the complete answer.
We just use logic
We can only influence those who are in our circle of influence, our family and friends by living the values that were taught us by our ancestors, and masonry.
Sooner or later, people get it. I woke up one morning and realized how smart my grandparents were, they never graduated from elementary school and had more common sense than most Harvard graduates.
Masonic tenets and symbols have always played an important part in world history, many of which have been in existence since the beginning of time.
We will never have all the answers, we just take one step forward, and follow our guide, the answers will be given to us at the proper time.
Masonic teachings have carried the world through time immemorial.
We walk by faith, not by sight.
While we have advanced technically far superior to those that came before us, we have lagged behind in spiritual knowledge.
Your comments are welcome
adventure, America, culture, freedom, God
Sedona Vortex Rock Formations
Puerto Rico: View From San Cristobal
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The 'Summer of Trump'
By Chris Spatola - 07/28/15 06:00 AM EDT
In the hit sitcom "Seinfeld," character George Costanza is, at one point in the show, relieved of his job with the New York Yankees. After discovering that his severance package from the organization will last him about three months, character Costanza vows to use that summer most effectively. As one example, he offers that he'll read a book from beginning to end, in that order. Concluding his hopeful and confident thoughts on his three months of paid unemployment, Costanza rises and emphatically shouts, "I proclaim this, the 'Summer of George'!"
While we can't be certain that the "Summer of Trump" was proclaimed as vociferously, one thing we can be certain of is that as Trump's campaign continues to build steam, pundits and analysts are clamoring to understand how such a character could be leading the Republican presidential field in New Hampshire.
According to an NBC-Marist poll, Trump has garnered support from 21 percent of potential GOP primary voters. He's followed by former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) at 14 percent, Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) at 12 percent and Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) at 7 percent. While this still means that 80 percent of those polled don't support Trump, his unfiltered approach, initially perceived as nonthreatening, has generated an upward trend and a buzz that has analysts and candidates scratching their collective heads.
"There's a movement going on; this is more than me," Trump said last Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" when discussing the latest poll results. "People are tired of these incompetent politicians in Washington. I can't say I'm unhappy or anything, I'm just not that surprised."
A CNN/ORC International poll released on Sunday revealed that 52 percent of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents want the brazen billionaire to stay in the race. This is the same guy who, at a summit in Ames, Iowa last weekend, said of former prisoner-of-war Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainMeghan McCain promotes July 17 as #GBMday to raise awareness of father's cancer The peculiar priorities of Adam Schiff Ocasio-Cortez fires back at Lindsey Graham: 'Graham wants to bring back 1950s McCarthyism' MORE (R-Ariz.), "I like people that weren't captured, ok?"
Trump is reality television in an age in which sound bites and sensationalism proliferate. Voters at this point in the elective process don't look at Trump as a politician. They don't see him as a part of the political machine that they hate — the part that is poll- and focus-group driven, the part that is polished and inauthentic.
Trump reflects the public's anger about politics. He has a stylistic appeal and a directness that resonates with a vocal minority of voters who feel left behind economically, culturally and as a result, politically. Trump is not rooted in a dogmatic ideology. No one knows what he really believes on policy. But the people who turn out at his rallies don't care. His inconsistency may actually be endearing.
The reason Trump is leading in polls is that he effectively sells a loud and proud, straight-shooting authenticity to a base that is sick and tired of politicians. There is a vocal, small market to which Trump's xenophobic rhetoric appeals. One of those markets, as I wrote in The Hill back in May, is in Iowa. Trump is playing to a part of the Republican Party that traffics in prejudice and fear. A part that believes immigrants are rapist, drug-dealing criminals; that homosexuals are corrupting the "sanctity" of marriage and ... yada, yada, yada.
Trump is not going to win the Republican nomination. At some point, he'll go away. At some point, the 80 percent of Republicans who do not support him will coalesce and the Summer of Trump will end. While his style may be fresh and appealing, he is ultimately Donald Trump Donald John TrumpAmash responds to 'Send her back' chants at Trump rally: 'This is how history's worst episodes begin' McConnell: Trump 'on to something' with attacks on Dem congresswomen Trump blasts 'corrupt' Puerto Rico's leaders amid political crisis MORE, and, with that fact, comes a lot of baggage. Voters may not trust presidential candidates Hillary Clinton (D) or Bush, but Trump is infinitely more untrustworthy than either.
The paradox with Trump is that, while a national election will never take him seriously, the thirst for a bold candidate has been real. If you ignore his race-baiting rhetoric for a moment, what you see is a candidate who has struck an angry, populist tone that has risen above the white noise of a crowded Republican primary. Americans are fed up with the establishment. They are fed up with politicians who perpetuate a broken system and who only care about winning the next election. Americans are tired of the same old ideology.
While markets in national elections have a way of self-correcting, the one thing we've learned from Trump's bombastic approach is that there is a market, and a tangible thirst for an anti-establishment, instinctive approach to campaigning. The question post-Trump will be if a serious candidate can tap into the emotional, tell-it-like-it-is authenticity that Trump has employed. History and, perhaps more to the point, politics would suggest it is an unlikely strategy.
For now, we may just have to sit back and marvel at the Summer of Trump, and recognize that it's real — and spectacular.
Spatola is a West Point graduate and former captain in the U.S. Army. He currently serves as a college basketball analyst for CBS Sports and SiriusXM radio.
Tags 2016 presidential election 2016 Republican primary Donald Trump Jeb Bush John Kasich Scott Walker John McCain Seinfeld
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Lalita Noronha, Her Skin Phyllo-thin: Poems, Reviewed by Dan Cuddy
Lalita Noronha, Her Skin Phyllo-thin: Poems. Finishing Line Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1-62229-562-3, 27 pages, $12.00.
Lalita Noronha’s book of poems is small, although not quite as thin as the adjective in the title, but the size of a book is not an indication of quality. Think of this book as a jewel box. The poems are many faceted and they shine and sparkle with individual color.
Parts of the book are memoir-like memories, personal, up close. The book was written to remember and honor the poet’s mother and to reflect on the mother-daughter relationship. For instance in “Sponge Bath”:
I watch how the aide chucks my mother’s chin,
Scrubs her neck, rubs behind her ears,
Picks up her fallen breasts,
Lifts her legs, scours between,
Thuds them down.
Hey, I want to shout, slow down, not so rough,
But dare I disrupt, dare I find another caretaker?
I—who did not stay,
And won’t for much longer—
Have no say in such matters.
Is there guilt, regret? There is certainly love and the realization of the aged mother now the child. This is certainly a universal feeling. However, one biographical fact , along with the expressive precision of the poetry, lifts the situation out of the commonplace. The poet’s birth country is India. Her mother visited her daughter in the United States but remained in India. The divide is spatial as well as temporal though the bonds of family and affection still, in the circumstances, provide connection. The scene in “Mother’s Passport” as she is on the tarmac boarding the plane to return home understates all so powerfully:
She has shown her passport,
Midnight teal, Ashoka lion seal,
The Republic of India embossed in gold,
It’s getting old, soon to expire, she’s told.
She nods,
Yes, she knows,
She knows,
Turns and waves goodbye.
There are other poems in the book that are portraits of the poet’s own sensibility. Lalita Noronha’s writing is infused with Indian culture but it is also informed by science and an appreciation for the visual arts. Five of the twenty-six poems are descriptions and interactions with works of art. Here is one stanza from “The Kiss” that illustrates the beauty and magic of the poet’s writing. The work of art is Rodin’s sculpture.
It’s the way your hand rest
On her thigh,
Barely touches
Her buttock,
Your thumb poised above,
The way she sits
Sideways astride between
Your legs opened wide.
Science too plays a large part in Ms. Noronha’s world, as it should considering that she was both a research scientist and a science teacher at St. Paul’s School for Girls in Baltimore. Here is a stanza from her poem “Specimen Child”:
I observe you,
My little diatom
On a slide, 40× magnified,
In a buoyant drop of water,
Your intricate, silicate cell walls
Etched with fine lines
And brilliant glassy designs.
The excerpts above demonstrate the poet’s exquisite music with the rhyme and assonance, and her eye is visible everywhere in her words. That’s why I call her book a box of jewels. The poems are satisfying both emotionally and artistically.
© Dan Cuddy and Lalita Noronha
Lalita Noronha is a native of India who first came to the United States on a Fulbright travel grant and earned her Ph.D. in microbiology. She is a widely published scientist, poet, and writer. Her literary work has appeared in over eighty journals, magazines and anthologies, including The Baltimore Sun, The Christian Science Monitor, Catholic Digest, Crab Orchard Review, The Pedestal Magazine, and Gargoyle. Her collection of short stories Where Monsoons Cry won the Maryland Literary Arts Award. She is currently seeking a publisher for her novel, Vimala’s Childen. She is a fiction editor for the Baltimore Review, and a science teacher at St. Paul’s School for Girls, Baltimore, Maryland.
Dan Cuddy is an editor of Loch Raven Review. Previously he was a contributing editor with the Maryland Poetry Review and with Lite: Baltimore’s Literary Newspaper. He has been published in many small magazines over the years, such as NEBO, Antioch Review, and Connecticut River Review. In 2003, his book of poems, Handprint On The Window, was published by Three Conditions Press.
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click here to download 107 page .pdf [342 kb]
Walter E. Williams
Walter E. Williams is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
I must have been forty years old before reading Frederic Bastiat’s classic The Law. An anonymous person, to whom I shall eternally be in debt, mailed me an unsolicited copy.
After reading the book I was convinced that a liberal-arts education without an encounter with Bastiat is incomplete.
Reading Bastiat made me keenly aware of all the time wasted, along with the frustrations of going down one blind alley after another, organizing my philosophy of life. The Law did not produce a philosophical conversion for me as much as it created order in my thinking about liberty and just human conduct.
Many philosophers have made important contributions to the discourse on liberty, Bastiat among them. But Bastiat’s greatest contribution is that he took the discourse out of the ivory tower and made ideas on liberty so clear that even the unlettered can understand them and statists cannot obfuscate them.
Clarity is crucial to persuading our fellowman of the moral superiority of personal liberty. Like others, Bastiat recognized that the greatest single threat to liberty is government.
Notice the clarity he employs to help us identify and understand evil government acts such as legalized plunder. Bastiat says, “See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.”
With such an accurate description of legalized plunder, we cannot deny the conclusion that most government activities, including ours, are legalized plunder, or for the sake of modernity, legalized theft.
Frederic Bastiat could have easily been a fellow traveler of the signers of our Declaration of Independence. The signers’ vision of liberty and the proper role of government was captured in the immortal words “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain Unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among Men. . . .” Bastiat echoes the identical vision, saying, “Life, faculties, production—in other words individuality, liberty, property— that is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it.”
Bastiat gave the same rationale for government as did our Founders, saying, “Life, liberty and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it is the fact that life, liberty and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.” No finer statements of natural or God-given rights have been made than those found in our Declaration of Independence and The Law.
Bastiat pinned his hopes for liberty on the United States saying, “ . . . look at the United States. There is no country in the world where the law is kept more within its proper domain: the protection of every person’s liberty and property.
As a consequence of this, there appears to be no country in the world where the social order rests on a firmer foundation.” Writing in 1850, Bastiat noted two areas where the United States fell short: “Slavery is a violation, by law, of liberty. The protective tariff is a violation, by law, of property.” If Bastiat were alive today, he would be disappointed with our failure to keep the law within its proper domain.
Over the course of a century and a half, we have created more than 50,000 laws. Most of them permit the state to initiate violence against those who have not initiated violence against others.
These laws range from anti-smoking laws for private establishments and Social Security “contributions” to licensure laws and minimum wage laws.
In each case, the person who resolutely demands and defends his God-given right to be left alone can ultimately suffer death at the hands of our government.
Bastiat explains the call for laws that restrict peaceable, voluntary exchange and punish the desire to be left alone by saying that socialists want to play God.
Socialists look upon people as raw material to be formed into social combinations. To them—the elite—“the relationship between persons and the legislator appears to be the same as the relationship between the clay and the potter.”
And for people who have this vision, Bastiat displays the only anger I find in The Law when he lashes out at do-gooders and would-be rulers of mankind, “Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don’t you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough.”
Bastiat was an optimist who thought that eloquent arguments in defense of liberty might save the day; but history is not on his side.
Mankind’s history is one of systematic, arbitrary abuse and control by the elite acting privately, through the church, but mostly through government. It is a tragic history where hundreds of millions of unfortunate souls have been slaughtered, mostly by their own government.
A historian writing 200 or 300 years from now might view the liberties that existed for a tiny portion of mankind’s population, mostly in the Western world, for only a tiny portion of its history, the last century or two, as a historical curiosity that defies explanation.
That historian might also observe that the curiosity was only a temporary phenomenon and mankind reverted back to the traditional state of affairs—arbitrary control and abuse. Hopefully, history will prove that pessimistic assessment false.
The worldwide collapse of the respectability of the ideas of socialism and communism suggests that there is a glimmer of hope.
Another hopeful sign is the technological innovations that make it more difficult for government to gain information on its citizens and control them.
Innovations such as information access, communication, and electronic monetary transactions will make government attempts at control more costly and less probable.
These technological innovations will increasingly make it possible for world citizens to communicate and exchange with one another without government knowledge, sanction, or permission.
Collapse of communism and technological innovations, accompanied by robust free-market organizations promoting Bastiat’s ideas, are the most optimistic things I can say about the future of liberty in the United States. Americans share an awesome burden and moral responsibility.
If liberty dies in the United States, it is destined to die everywhere. A greater familiarity with Bastiat’s clear ideas about liberty would be an important step in rekindling respect and love, and allowing the resuscitation of the spirit of liberty among our fellow Americans.
the writings of thomas paine volume 1 .pdf
george washington's farewell address to the american people
"war is a racket" major general smedley darlington butler usmc
new american theology of civil submission - the romans chapter 13 scam
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What a Clinton or Trump Presidency Could Mean for the Student Debt Crisis
Nov. 6, 2016 / By Ben Novotny
The student debt crisis will be one of the most important issues facing the next President, no matter who is elected Tuesday.
Student debt has tripled in the past decade to almost $1.3 trillion, with more than 25 percent of borrowers either delinquent in paying off their loans or in default, according to a 2015 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.
There are now 43 million Americans who carry student loan debt, with the class of 2016 owing an average of over $37,000 in student loans, up from six percent from the class of 2015, according to StudentLoanHero.com, a loan assistance site.
Both the Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump presidential campaigns have released proposals to deal with the issue. After defeating Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the primaries, Clinton worked with Sanders to build off his higher education plan that would guarantee free in-state tuition at public colleges and universities for students from families that make less than $85,000 a year. Under her plan, students from families with incomes up to $125,000 would be eligible in 2021.
Clinton has also promised that community college would be free for all students, according to her campaign website.
While Trump’s campaign website does not provide many details about higher education policies, the platform focuses on shifting student loans to private banks instead of the federal government, a Trump policy director told Inside Higher Ed.
Trump has also said he’d “largely eliminate” the Department of Education. Though the Republican nominee for President hasn’t said how he would pay for his college education plan, he has said that as President institutions with large endowments would risk losing their tax-exempt status if they do not spend more of their money on students, according to Inside Higher Ed.
With the election near, many Long Beach college students had long made up their minds on which candidate is better positioned to mitigate the student debt crisis.
David Ochata, a freshman at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) who has accumulated $5,000 in student debt during his first year of college, says he favors Clinton’s plan since it would help him have more money in his pocket.
“I feel like this debt is going to prevent me from being able to pay for things that I might want or need later in life,” says Ochata.
Another CSULB student, sophomore Daniel Huynh, says Clinton’s plan is preferable to Trump’s, but he has reservations.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough,” says Huynh, who believes that public colleges should be free regardless of family income. “Student debt scares me a lot. It’s like a cloud over my head.”
In addition to free community college, Clinton’s plan would also allow college graduates to cap their monthly student loan payments at 10 percent of income, with the loans forgiven after 20 years. In a stance that aligns him more with Democrats, Trump has said he also favors income-based repayment plans and student loan forgiveness after 15 years.
“I agree with it wholeheartedly because I know that even with financial aid, there are still many who can’t afford to attend a public college or university,” said Allen Gonzales-Willert, a 22-year old student at CSULB.
The Clinton campaign says that closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy will pay for the plan, which is projected to cost $500 billion over 10 years. Students are expected to contribute by working 10 hours a week, according to her plan as issued last year.
Clia Zwilling, a 27-year old recent graduate of Whittier Law School and president of Long Beach Young Republicans, is against Clinton’s college plans. She says it would be too costly.
“Closing loopholes would not be enough,” said Zwilling via email. “The reality is we could pay off our own student loan debt individually or we could have to live with paying for everyone else’s student loan debt through taxes for the rest of our life.”
While the Clinton campaign says that colleges would be held accountable for reining in tuition costs, they have not provided specific details how they would do so.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and other experts have noted that as some colleges receive more government subsidies, they often continue to raise tuition and pocket the aid. Zwilling worries that Clinton’s approach would enable public colleges and universities to get away with this pattern.
“Hillary’s proposed policy would only make colleges more expensive,” wrote Zwilling. “Once we see public colleges increase their tuition, then private colleges will start to increase their costs, and the students who belong to households above $125,000 will also have increased debt.”
She believes Trump’s plan to have private banks, not the federal government, lend money to students might lead to more competitive interest rates.
“Before Trump was even running for President, different think tanks believed that this [approach] could help the crisis since the government has its hands too meddled with public institutions,” wrote Zwilling.
Others don’t like the idea of doing away with federal loans like the Pell Grant program, which help low-income students.
“It’s totally backwards and dangerous,” says Montoya of Trump’s plan to privatize student loans. “Non-federally backed loans are more expensive than federally backed loans.”
Despite the ballooning student loan crisis, young people say focus on the issue had lost traction. The issue never came up at any of the three debates.
“I think it was neglected,” says CSULB student Keelin Dunn, who says when Sanders was running for President, the issue was front and center. “There hasn’t been much focus on youth issues, and a lot of the major things that affect us are being ignored.”
Tags: clinton, csulb, election, student debt, trump
Ben Novotny
Ben Novotny is an alumnus of California State University, Long Beach where he majored in Journalism and minored in American Studies. At CSULB Ben was a staff writer for The Union Weekly, the student-run campus newspaper and was actively involved with the school's TV production studio. Ben was a Contributing Writer for The Long Beach Post and the Long Beach Business Journal and has been a Youth Reporter at VoiceWaves for four years.
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Report on Karymsky (Russia) — 23 July-29 July 2008
Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 23 July-29 July 2008
Global Volcanism Program, 2008. Report on Karymsky (Russia). In: Sennert, S K (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 23 July-29 July 2008. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Volcano Profile | Weekly Report (23 July-29 July 2008)
KVERT reported that seismic activity at Karymsky was above background levels on 18, 19, and 23 July and at background levels during 20-22 and 24-25. Explosive activity that produced ashfall was seen by area volcanologists. Interpretation of the seismic data suggested that on 19, 21, and 23 July possible ash-and-gas plumes rose to altitudes of 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. Observations of satellite imagery revealed a thermal anomaly in the crater during 19-21 July. The Level of Concern Color Code was raised to Orange.
Based on information from the Yelizovo Airport (UHPP), the Tokyo VAAC reported that on 25 July an ash plume rose to an altitude of 6.1 km (20,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NE.
Sources: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
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Ideological Preparation for the Expulsion of the Palestinians, Continued
by Neil Godfrey
Filed under: Politics & Society
Tags: Israel-Palestine, Masalha: Expulsion of the Palestinians
Previous posts in this series covering Nur Masalha’s book, Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of “Transfer” in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948: . . .
Zionist Founding Fathers’ Plans for Transfer of the Palestinian Arabs
Redemption or Conquest: Zionist Yishuv plans for transfer of Palestinian Arabs in the British Mandate period
The Weizmann Plan to “Transfer” the Palestinians
Zionist Plans for Mass Transfer of Arabs: Alive But Discreet
Pushing for Mass Transfer of Arabs & Warning of “Rivers of Blood”
Compulsory Arab Transfer Necessary for a Jewish State
The Necessity for Mass Arab Transfer
Expulsion of the Palestinians – Pre-War Internal Discussions
Expulsion of the Palestinians: Caution and Discretion during the War Years
Expulsion of the Palestinians: Insights into Yishuv’s Transfer Ideas in World War 2
Expulsion of the Palestinians, Part 11
Zionist leaders were always alert for opportunities to work with Arab countries that neighboured Palestine in hopes they could assist with plans to transfer the Arab population out of Palestine. Earlier we saw one such attempt to negotiate a plan with Jordanian leaders (1937), and in 1939 another hopeful meeting to work with the Saudi Arabian king was organized.
The plan was to promise King Ibn Saud a major role in a future Arab federation and more immediately to provide him with substantial financial aid to resolve economic hardship his kingdom was at that time enduring.
To approach the Saudi king the Zionist leaders happily found willing support from Harry St John Philby, British orientalist and advisor to the king [see the Wikipedia linked article for his “colourful” career and that of his son]. Philby’s contact in London was the famous British historian Lewis Namier who was closely associated with the Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann and was the political advisor to the Zionist Jewish Agency led by Moshe Shertok.
The 6 October, 1939 meeting
The above four British and Jewish gentlemen met in London to come up with a plan to put to the Saudi king.
It was proposed that all Arabs would be transferred out of Palestine except for an enclave in Jerusalem, which was to become akin to the Vatican City.
The Jews in return would support King Ibn Saud’s bid for leadership of an Arab federation.
£20,000,000 would also be given to the Saudi King, although Shertok wanted the money to go towards paying for the resettlement of the Arabs to be uprooted from Palestine. Weizmann expected the money to be raised by wealthy Jews and from grants from the United States government.
King Ibn Saud’s response to the proposal?
We learn from letters of Weizmann that the king reportedly excoriated Philby for thinking he could be bought with a “Zionist bribe”.
The British Labour Party Resolution, 1944
Zionist lobbying paid off with the British Labour Party, no doubt helped by the fact the Party included some very influential Zionists in its executive leadership. In 1944 the party introduced a pro-Zionist resolution (to be voted on later in that year) that read in part:
Let the Arabs be encouraged to move out as the Jews move in. Let them be compensated handsomely for their land and let their settlement elsewhere by carefully organized and generously financed. . . . indeed we should re-examine also the possibility of extending the present Palestinian boundaries, by agreement with Egypt, Syria or Transjordan.
Records of the Jewish Agency executive meetings inform us today how thrilled Zionist leaders like Ben-Gurion were with the Labour Party’s position, “gratified that the ‘Gentiles’ were endorsing the concept.” At a Jewish Agency executive meeting on 7 May 1944 Ben-Gurion is recorded as saying:
Zionism is a transfer of the Jews. Regarding the transfer of the Arabs this is much easier than any other transfer. There are Arab states in the vicinity . . . and it is clear that if the Arabs are removed [to these states] this will improve their condition and not the contrary.
The British government’s policy, however, had been to limit Jewish immigration because of the limited capacity of the existing Arab population in Palestine to accommodate the new arrivals. Ben-Gurion and other Zionists were accordingly somewhat concerned about the Labour Party resolution’s wording that linked Jewish settlement of Palestine with the transfer of the native Palestinian population. But minutes of meetings and diaries of the Zionists show that out of the pubic eye the took for granted the necessity of the transfer of the Arabs. At another Jewish Agency executive meeting on 20 June 1944, the director the the Agency’s department for immigration reminded Ben-Gurion and others,
“When we bring a plan for transferring one million Jews to the Land of Israel we cannot avoid the transfer.”
Ben-Gurion further pointed out that
the Holocaust had not yet been fully exploited to the benefit of Zionism because the Allies were still preoccupied with the pursuit of victory: the greatest opportunity for the Zionists was bound to emerge after the war. (Masalha, 160)
Enthusiastic Voices for Arab Transfer as Germans to be Transferred in Europe
Some of the views of the Jewish Agency executive expressed in 1944 May and December meetings:
Eliahu Dobkin: said he failed to understand why some of his colleagues wanted caution in moving towards transfer of the Arabs given that the same transfer policies were about to be carried out in Europe.
Buber and Magnes — Voices against the prevailing mood
David Werner Senator: argued that transferring the Palestinian Arabs to Iraq was morally and politically justified because the same policy was to be applied to the German population in Poland and Czechoslovakia. Senator spoke against the “binationalist” positions of Martin Buber and Judah Magnes. Buber and Magnes spoke of morality in politics but Senator responded (according to records of the Jewish Agency executive meeting 16 December 1944)
stating that he felt no moral qualms about advocating forcible Arab removal: considering the catastrophe of European Jewry “against the transfer of one million Arabs, then with a clean and easy conscience I declare that even more drastic acts are sanctioned.”
The Ben-Horin Plan
The Middle East: Crossroads of History
Another Zionist leader and newspaper editor, Eliahu Ben-Horin, published a book in 1943 — The Middle East: Crossroads of History — that became the basis for former U.S. president Herbert Hoover’s plan. Ben-Horin’s plan was for an Arab transfer to Iraq or a “united Iraq-Syrian state” and the establishment of a pure Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River:
I suggest that the Arabs of Palestine and Transjordania be transferred to Iraq, or a united Iraq-Syrian state. That means the shifting of about 1,200,000 persons. A larger number were involved in the Greco-Turkish exchange of population; many more in the internal shifts in Russia….
The Palestinian Arabs will not be removed to a foreign land but to an Arab land…. The distance between their old and new homelands is small, involving no crossing of oceans or seas, and the climatic conditions are the same, if the transfer and the colonization project are well planned and systematically carried out, the Palestinian fellah will get better soil and more promising life conditions than he can ever expect to obtain in Palestine. The city Arab, too, can find a much wider field for his activities and ambitions within the framework of a larger and purely Arab state unit. (Crossroads of History, 224f)
Ben-Horin estimated it would take no longer than eighteen months for a mutual transfer of Arabs to Iraq-Syria and Jews from Iraq, Yemen and Syria to Palestine.
The evacuation project should be carried out with “firmness.” He added:
such a solution being both just and practicable, the Jews and the Arabs will soon develop good neighborly relations…. The one imperative pre-requisite to such a happy development is the absolute determination on the part of the major nations that will dictate the peace and lay the foundation for future world-order — that this and no other solution of the Arab-Jewish problems be adopted and carried into effect. (Crossroads)
Ben-Horin sought support from powerful figures and succeeded in attracting the interest of the Herbert Hoover, and Hoover soon took up Ben-Horin’s ideas and advocated them as the Hoover Plan, making them public in the press 19 November 1945. A Supreme Court Justice publicly joined Hoover in promoting his plan. The plan was presented as a positive solution for all parties:
every man of good will… will welcome Mr Hoover’s plan as an expression of constructive statesmanship. When all the long-accepted remedies seem to fail, it is time to consider new approaches. The Hoover plan certainly represents a new approach, formulated by an unprejudiced mind well trained in statesmanship, relief and rehabilitation. Should they, the Arabs, respond to the idea, we shall be happy to cooperate with the great powers and the Arabs in bringing about the materialization of the Hoover Plan.
The Ben-Horin / Hoover Plan was not a political heavyweight in changing events in the Middle East but it was evidence of a growing ideological mood for Arab transfer. In the wake of the 1948-49 war when Palestinian Arabs were fleeing from their lands and cities, Ben-Horin’s plan started to look very reasonable to many:
In May 1949, during the last stage of the Palestinian refugee exodus, Harper’s magazine published an article by Ben-Horin entitled “From Palestine to Israel.” The editor noted that in an earlier article in the magazine’s December 1944 issue, Ben-Horin had advocated a plan which at the time
looked far-fetched… that the Arabs of Palestine be transferred to Iraq and resettled there. Now, with thousands of Arab refugees from Palestine facing a dismal future, the transfer idea appears to be a likely bet… in view of the sound character of Mr. Ben-Horin’s earlier judge-merits and prophecies, we feel we can bank on his word about present-day Israel: ‘it works.’
The Significance of All of the Above, and Previous Posts
Hashomer Hatzair emblem
Not all Jews supported the idea of transferring the Arabs, though their voices were unfortunately outnumbered. One group opposing transfer was Hashomer Hatzair,
dismissed the transfer plans as “dangerous,” “ant-socialist,” and even ill-advised. (Masalha, 165)
Nevertheless,
the general support they received and the attempts to promote them by mainstream offical and Labor Zionists, particularly those leaders who were to play decisive roles in 1948 – Ben-Gurion, Weizmann, Shertok, Kaplan, Golda Meyerson, Weitz, and so on – highlight the ideological intent that made the Palestinian refugee exodus in 1948 possible. (Masalha, 165. Bolding added)
Next: The 1948 Exodus….
Masalha, Nur. 1992. Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of “Transfer” in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948. Washington, D.C: Institute for Palestine Studies.
Neil Godfrey
Neil is the author of this post. To read more about Neil, see our About page.
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Posted on 2019-05-10 13:13:42 GMT+0000 by Neil Godfrey. This entry was posted in Politics & Society and tagged Israel-Palestine, Masalha: Expulsion of the Palestinians. Bookmark the permalink.
r.g.price
2019-05-10 15:18:12 GMT+0000 - 15:18 | Permalink
It’s difficult to imagine a more dramatic turning of the tables. Clearly, the Palestinians are the Jews and the Jews (more correctly, the Israeli government) have become the Romans.
Shlomo Sand, The Invention of the Jewish People, is a “must read” on this topic. Zionism is a house of cards where each card is a myth.
Peter Grullemans
Benjamin Freedman’s 1961 speech in Washington is a “must listen” on the topic of a warning to the West about how Zionist leaders during WW1 and WW2 engineered the British supervision of the return of Jews to Palestine. To me the state of Israel today is like a co-tenant in a lease who was harassed by the neighbours, fought them and is now changing the terms of the lease out of spite, ignoring the wishes of the other tenant and landlord.
[Video deleted by Neil]
Not a co-tenant. The Zionists had no moral right to invade Palestine and set up a state there. They were invaders. They were the ones who started harassing the neighbours. Palestinians did not go to Poland or Golders Green and start harassing people there. They were living at home when the foreigners came to take over.
RoHa, the Turks were in control before the British in WW1 and I think the Arabs and Jews were co-tenants in a sense after WW1. While the Arabs “harassed” the Jews by trying to expel them completely, which failed, I agree that the Jews harassed the Arabs first, I think you are right, but the Arabs applied disproportionate force to their peril. Ever since then it’s been the Jews harassing the Arabs with US help. The solution to the Palestinian problem seems to me to go back to the Balfour Declaration of about 1917 and abiding by its spirit. That will mean the Jews have to give up an enormous amount of land and recognise that it was meant to be one state, not two, no walls, no apartheid. The US and Israeli governments do not agree, they want a stronghold for the wealthy elite.
Peter, RoHa makes exceedingly clear that the Zionists have no right to even be in Palestine at all. The empire that’s “in control” at a given time is irrelevant. A co-tenant is suppose to be legitimately there. And pay the owner. The owner happens to be the Palestinian people.
Hi Joe, “the Zionists have no right to even be in Palestine” is not accruate. Some Jews are Zionists but not all Zionists are Jews. All I’m saying is that it seems to me that if the Balfour Declaration (BD) was or still is abided by then Jews and Arabs have a chance to co-exist peacefully. At the same time, I consider that the BD was crafted cunningly and if exposed for what it really was, has huge implications for the low integrity of Zionism and of the British and US governments of their day and therafeter, and of course the Isreali government itself, as long as the former refuse to pressure Israel to comply with the UN resolutions which are consistent with the BD. Have you heard Freedman’s 1961 speech yet ?
Peter, your comment about Zionist leaders “engineering” the British supervision of the return of Jews to Palestine runs contrary to the information and clear record presented in the series of posts here. Or am I misinterpreting the rhetoric and implications of “engineering”? I have no idea who Benjamin Freedman is but have been advised that he is a holocaust denier and antisemite. I cannot vouch for those accusations but as long as they are unchallenged perceptions I am very concerned about his place in the discussion.
The very concept of Zionist leaders “engineering” political leaders smacks of antisemitism. Influence is one thing, but “engineering” is quite different and reminds one of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Or have I misunderstood your intended meaning?
For the record, I have never heard of Benjamin Freedman until now and have been given no reason to take up any interest in learning more about him or his views. My focus is entirely on the historical record itself, and as that is presented in a spirit of humanity for all. I trust this series of posts will go some small way to alerting a few to another side of the story that is never or rarely heard via Western media, and that there is no suggestion in any of these posts that any fault or blame lies with any ‘race’ or ‘people’ or ‘genetics’ — but entirely with specific political interests and individuals, often well-meaning and idealistic but tragically flawed and doomed in their consequences. Above all I want to be careful not to tarnish the intentions and motives (let alone natures) of a whole collective on the basis of what some individuals or groups within that larger body do.
Hi Peter. I have restored your comments and my own responses to them with some editing (to my responses, not yours). I have rephrased some parts of my responses that may have been over-touchy when first written, and want to accept that we are engaged in this discussion out of good intentions.
I have to reiterate, though, that my reading of Benjamin Freedman’s speech is a disturbing experience that is clearly anti-semitic and should be excluded from a serious discussion of the history of Israel and Palestine — as I have attempted to explain in other comments here.
Hi Neil. Thank you for taking the time to clarify your ideas. I sense you and I have significant differences on several levels, but I hope that we can learn from each other’s experience, knowledge and abilities.
You seem to be uneasy with my anti-Zionist sentiments. I think that you equate them as anti-semitic i.e. ant-Jewish, which is not my intention. Rather I am inclined to believe that the elders of Zion were, in WW1 and WW2, and are, in the current 911 fraud, willing to jeopardise any ordinary Jewish lives as victims of their grand plans; again I would use the word “engineer”. I believe that rich and powerful people engineered 911, not men in caves, and not all Jewish, and sacrificed (i.e. murdered) over 3,000 US citizens and provoked the conflict that cost millions of lives in the Middle East as well as immeasurable on-going suffering.
In the same way I see the Zionist leaders factored in the risk of mammoth collateral damage to Jew and non-Jew alike and I agree with Freedman’s conclusions that we are to be warned and on notice. You can shun my view but I see the same selfish evil at work, as Freedman does, in the Roman fraud that is our Bible. And in that Fraud, Jews were deceptively painted as the bad guys ! Yes let’s give preeminence to historical facts, as far as we can establish them. It may come down to who you trust, and why.
It would be as fantastic to say that I do not recognise the state of Israel as that I do not recognise the Australian government. But that won’t stop me from feeling ashamed and sorry that the British invaded this land and treated the residents as animals. I wonder if the Zionists engineered the Arab war against the Jews that eventually led to the state of Israel in the same way that the US today is provoking Iran ?
With best wishes, Peter
Who are these “elders of Zion”? That is a term from a well-known antisemitic tract, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It is a fraud. A hoax.
I never really understood the term “self-hating Jew” until I read Freedman’s speech. He is himself an anti-semite and has embraced Christianity to remove himself from his race.
There is no evidence at all for the conspiracy theory about Jews or anyone else apart from Al Qaeda and the 19 perpetrators being responsible. We have all the substantial evidence to verify that it was an Al Qaeda operation. On what serious evidential grounds can anyone seriously doubt it? There can be no question on that score. There is no evidence — only often misinformed or partially informed suspicion and speculation to suggest that the US or Jewish “elders” or any such group had anything to do with it.
You cannot just make claims like that without providing evidence, not speculation and inference or gut feeling.
(You mentioned Chomsky before, saying you saw similar claims in his work. Chomsky’s work is grounded sentence by sentence in hard evidence. You find nothing at all like the unsupported Freedman assertions in Chomsky’s works.)
Your dismissal of “men in caves” suggests an unfamiliarity with Al Qaeda and the terrorists involved in 9/11 and many other terrorist acts this century. They are not barbarians. Those 19 were well educated; Al Qaeda was and is led by very highly educated people. They are engineers, scientists, they know how to do stuff. They are not “men in caves”.
My take on Freedman is that he is correct because his first hand information fits my world view and I have not come across any war historians who can refute his assertions. I’ve been wrong before to trust opinion leaders and welcome correction about Freedman.
I don’t know where I heard the term “elders of Zion”. I may have heard it from you not knowing the original context. It doesn’t matter, the inference is “the powers that be” in Zionism. This is not being anti-Jewish or as some put it crudely, anti-Semitic. One bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch, just as the bad apples in the US who in my view engineered 911 don’t spoil every person in the US; I don’t hate all Americans.
Could the best engineers and scientists in Al Qaeda have orchestrated 911 ? could they have diverted the Norad command ? Demolished Building 7 ? Removed the steel from the site immediately after the collapse ? Influenced the suppression of the facts in the official report ? Arranged to find the passport photo of one of the hijackers in the rubble and cinders of the collapsed buildings ? Arranged to remove the footage from cameras around the Pentagon that would have shown the approach of the object that hit it ? I refer you to the documentary “Loose Change” and Pastor Ray Griffin’s presentations. Hence my men in caves analogy, which I stand by.
I am a mythicist in matters of the Bible, the modern state of Israel and 911. I’ll be 64 next month. It would be a pity if I spent the rest of my life in an ever growing state of delusion. What matters is that we together strive for peace, dialogue and disarmament. I’ll be attending the IPAN conference in Darwin 2-4 August 2019. It would be great to meet you or any of the Vridar bloggers there. (Independent Peaceful Australia Network).
My take on Freedman is that he is correct because his first hand information fits my world view and I have not come across any war historians who can refute his assertions.
Mere assertions cannot always be easily refuted. All I can do is ask for evidence (not inferences and rhetorical questions) and go where the evidence leads. I cannot follow mere assertions however much they might comport with my world view. And I hope that I no longer let my world view decide for me what evidence I should accept or reject. I think a more reliable approach is to allow evidence to shape one’s world view and to be open to modifying one’s world view accordingly.
I have been posting a lengthy series on the Zionist movement that led to the expulsion of the Palestinians and trying to make each post grounded in hard data, hard evidence, the diaries, the minutes of meetings, and so forth. If one follows that evidence one can see exactly how the Zionist state of Israel came about, and how the leaders of the Zionist movement “engineered it”, including — quite openly — the outcomes of meetings they had with political and financial interests in the UK and USA. All of that evidence fully and adequately explains everything. There is no room for or evidence for some “secret conspiracy”. Yes, there were secret meetings but they were minuted and those are all on the record, as per those posts. There was nothing “conspiratorial” about them in the sense Freedman and others speak of.
It sounds like you view mythicism as a kind of conspiracy theory — like Israel being founded by a Jewish conspiracy and 9/11 being hatched by a different conspiracy from 19 who flew the planes. I think any idea of Christianity being the outcome of a similar type of conspiracy theory is simply unsupportable. There is simply no evidence and the events in question are simply too complex to explain in such terms.
As for your other questions about 9/11, if you think it through one must surely come to accept that if all of those specific points were part of some conspiracy then we have such a massive and large-scale conspiracy to imagine, one that necessarily involved many, many persons to carry out. It is far easier to believe a conspiracy like 9/11 being carried out by only a handful of persons. Otherwise it simply could not be kept secret. Have you really thought through your questions on 9/11 seriously? Looked for the facts and explanations? Or accepted inferences from them that suit your world view? We know exactly how the 19 persons carried out every step of their conspiracy. Your questions seem to overlook the evidence we have for what happened. They seem to want to raise inferences rather than study the actual evidence.
On the supposed diverting of the NORAD command, see
9/11 Live: The NORAD Tapes
NORAD’s Performance on 9/11 and Hollow Conspiracy Theories
I am no longer in Darwin, sorry. I trust you’ll have a successful meeting.
Hi Neil, My world view changes as I get more or better information. My world view was suspended when Hilary Clinton lost the last US election, and then it morphed a bit, but I must say is still on hold in some areas. Trump publicly promised “When I am elected you will know who flew those planes into the buildings” after having made several allegations of 911 cover up. Yet he has not mentioned it again. Something fishy is going on. I tried to feed my world view on more common sense.
No Neil I do not see Israel as founded by a Jewish conspiracy as you put it. By now I thought you realised that I clearly distinguish between Jewish and Zionist. George Galloway, former UK MP, taught me that.
Yes I do see mythicism as a kind of conspiracy. I’m inclined to give credence to J. Atwill’s Caesar’s Messiah. But interestingly the term conspiracy can be used in the loose sense. The ignorant and illiterate of Bible days roughly corresponds to the distracted and apathetic of today.
I consider it naive to attribute as much intelligence to the 19 hijackers of 911 as you do. I see them as pawns brainwashed by the masterminds. I don’t have all the answers. And unlike you Neil I do think it could be kept a secret. What I’m saying is that the official version of the story is as nonsensical as the Bible was nonsensical but believed for 2,000 years.
And come on, Building 7, what the ? It defies common sense for it to collapse as it did. That alone should be enough to give you reason to ask more questions.
I’ve read your NORAD anti-conspiracy links. So what’s your point ? That it’s wrong to think that the NORAD management were complicit ? It seems to me that they were not involved but that those pulling the strings were much higher up than NORAD.
If you want to look at evidence with me Neil, please see Loose Change :
Have you seen the 911 presentations by Pastor Ray Griffin ?
Have you read Thierry Meyssan’s book “911 The Big Lie” ? Would you like to review it and critique it on Vridar ? I could send to you Poste Restante anywhere or to a PO box if you like.
Best wishes, Peter (and thanks for the discussions. I appreciate so much of your work)
“When I am elected you will know who flew those planes into the buildings” after having made several allegations of 911 cover up. Yet he has not mentioned it again. Something fishy is going on.
The only fishy thing is that Trump was playing to the conspiracy theorists about 9/11 and when he was in office he knew there was nothing more to be told than what is on the public record. There is no secret or mystery about who was reponsible for 9/11. None at all. The suspicious question some conspiracy theorists raise are all easily answered.
Trump promised lots of things in the election but simply went quiet on them after he was elected. That’s what politicians generally do. Part of the job description you might say.
George Galloway is an antisemite, sadly. I used to like his principles until he went overboard with antisemitism.
See the post earlier on how we try to deny our racism since WW2.
I have read enough of the 9/11 conspiracy things to know they are junk. There is no mystery about the collapse of the tower — simply consult the answers to your questions by specialists. They all make perfect sense to me and are consistent with laws of physics.
People are not “brainwashed” in the sense you and many seem to think. That’s a dehumanizing myth. They were engineers, chemists, who trained for years to pull it off, all with unlimited financial backing from we-know-who. I fail to see any mystery. I cannot understand your dismissal of the clearly human and understandable response or lack thereof of NORAD. It is entirely consistent with how people and the world works.
Hi Neil, I’m responding to your comments of 25/6/19 above including
“I cannot understand your dismissal of the clearly human and understandable response or lack thereof of NORAD. It is entirely consistent with how people and the world works. ”
Neil this is your world view coming out, which is contrary to mine. We obviously find eachother’s world views incomprehensible.
For example, how you can simply accept that NORAD’s errors coincided perfectly with the other elements of 911 on the day. How your world view constrains you to believe that engineers and chemists who trained for years to pull it off would leave it to uncertainty that NORAD would get confused on the day. Or could some of that unlimited financial backing you refer to have found its way into or from the deep state networks that control NORAD ?
You refer to specialists who have resolved the collapse of Building 7. Whose payroll are they on ? What’s their stake in the matter or their world view ? Have you not heard of Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth ? Have you seen the footage of the actual collapse ? Its a deck of cards with the base pulled out from under it. Please explain to me how you can accept that ? If the collapse makes perfect sense according the laws of physics then I will stand corrected.
Physics is not my field. I work in finance. There was fervent stock exchange trading in put options in the weeks before the event that indicate the existence of inside knowledge of the catastrophe and the downward price effect that it would have on the shares of the insurance company that had to pay out for the destruction of the buildings. My world view is shaped not just by my personality here, but my professional knowledge and experience.
911 was also a pretext for the disposal of Saddam Hussein for his alleged weapons of mass destruction, which he did not have. The US could pull this off with enough public uncertainty to prevent an uprising against their government. Bush and Blair remind me of the Caesars, Obama the Messiah and Trump a Pope.
George Galloway is no more an anti-semite than I am. Like me, he’s an anti-Zionist. George and I maintain that not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews. I have explained this to you before. Why do you not get it ?
What did you think of “Loose Change, Final Cut” ? Did you watch it ?
We should meet and have a cup of tea together one day. You know my email address, if you’re in Sydney, please contact me.
Best wishes, Peter
No, Peter. I have read the online transcript of Benjamin Freedman’s 1961 speech in Washington and long before I finished it was very obvious to me that it is anything but a “must listen”. It is an antisemitic diatribe. It resorts to Jewish conspiracy theory tropes. It is the antithesis of the study I have been posting here based on the archival research of the historian Nur Masalha.
I deplore, denounce, reject the entire sentiment and message of Benjamin Freedman’s1961 speech. The speech represents the antithesis of the historically verifiable understanding and information that I am attempting to share here. History is made by specific individuals with political and ideological interests and they generally find themselves in conflict with opposing forces among their own people, as I have pointed out in this and other posts. Historical knowledge emerges through a study of the documentary evidence.
Race-based conspiracy theories have no place here or anywhere else.
Neil while I respect the sincerity of your views I don’t understand them. What did Freedman say that is incorrect ? He is anti-Zionist, not anti-Jewish. Let’s retire the term “anti-Semitic”. Frankly after the 911 fraud I am easily sold on what you call conspiracy theories, as long as they are factually based. You can call me a conspiracy theorist if you like, I’ll just smile. Seriously, how can you suggest I or Freedman am lumping all Jews in with the obvious Zionistic schemes that exacerbated WW1 and WW2 ? I think its better to listen to Freedman’s speech than read a transcript, as you get his emotional side which does not come through in print, and one can misinterpret the vibe with print.
I Made some comments on the effect and importance of the Balfour Declaration, did you not publish these ? Or did they get removed in another the thread that you removed ? If possible could you please put them back as a separate thread ?
I would rather read the transcript in order not to miss the details. He says many times he has the evidence but it is too much to introduce it all in his speech. Yet even just clear references to something we could consult would be sufficient to establish his point. I know of no evidence at all that supports his claims of Jewish Zionist conspiracy and he gives no reason for anyone to seriously think there are any.
If you are persuaded more by the emotional tone than a clear examination and checking of the facts, the supporting evidence, then you are not thinking like an honest historian.
Here is what you wrote about the Balfour Declaration:
The solution to the Palestinian problem seems to me to go back to the Balfour Declaration of about 1917 and abiding by its spirit. That will mean the Jews have to give up an enormous amount of land and recognise that it was meant to be one state, not two, no walls, no apartheid.
All I’m saying is that it seems to me that if the Balfour Declaration (BD) was or still is abided by then Jews and Arabs have a chance to co-exist peacefully. At the same time, I consider that the BD was crafted cunningly and if exposed for what it really was, has huge implications for the low integrity of Zionism and of the British and US governments of their day and therafeter, and of course the Isreali government itself, as long as the former refuse to pressure Israel to comply with the UN resolutions which are consistent with the BD.
Neil it seems that more comments I made in the last 24 hours have disappeared, been deleted or disregarded. Have you removed them ? I took a copy this time and repeat them here :
Hi Neil, thank you for displaying my comments on the Balfour Declaration above.
I still think you should listen to the Freedman speech at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUUsst5V_8Y You will not miss details as you can just as easy “rewind” and in fact you will be able to judge the sincerity of the man by his tone. By his emotion I meant that in the neutral sense, not that he’s emotionally upset; on the contrary he’s very level headed indeed, speaking with conviction and purpose, he does not rant and rave.
I do want to be an honest historian; and do not wish to be racist. I would welcome guidance from anyone with accurate historical knowledge about what is not correct in Freedman’s analysis. Neil can you actually tell me what Freedman said that you believe is not historically correct ? He asserts that he was an adviser to US President Woodrow Wilson (1856 – 1924), so don’t you regard that as a good credential ? And why would he lie ? Whose payroll could he be on ? Is he crying sour grapes because his advice was not heeded by the US President ? Is he deranged ? Or is he, as I am inclined to accept, that he is correct in his analysis ? His views line up well with the subsequent history of the US government : the private control of their money supply, the reality of the US military industrial complex, their support of Israel, policies to destabilise the Middle East.
My Jewish friends tell me that Chomsky as a Jew is a “self-hater”, which I think is an insincere way of trying to discredit him. I think that Freedman gets labeled likewise because, when he discovered and exposed the Zionist schemes in WW1 and WW2, and renounced Judaism, he was regarded as a traitor to the cause, but again, we must not confuse Judaism with Zionism.
I have never heard anything comparable to what Freedman says in his speech from Chomsky.
Here is what I find objectionable in Freedman’s speech:
He begins by speaking of Zionists but before long always refers to ‘the Jews’ as a totality.
As per the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, he says the “Zionists and their co-religionists have complete control of our government” . . . “Zionists and their co-religionists rule this United States as though they were the absolute monarchs of this country.”
He claims that the Jews conspired to have the United States enter WW1 in order to defeat Germany just at the point when Germany had victory “in the bag”, so to speak, and the Jews made their move at that moment in order to bribe Britain into giving them Palestine.
They [Zionists] told England: “We will guarantee to bring the United States into the war as your ally, to fight with you on your side, if you will promise us Palestine after you win the war.” . . . .
In other words, they made this deal: “We will get the United States into this war as your ally. The price you must pay us is Palestine after you have won the war and defeated Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey.”
He goes on, as per the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, to say the Jews controlled “all the mass media”, the banks, etc. They used their media and financial power to turn the United States overnight from being pro-German to being anti-German — all so that they could get the US into the war and so get the reward of Palestine from Britain.
we were suckered into — that war merely so that the Zionists of the world could obtain Palestine.
The Balfour Declaration was the British Government’s reward or payment to the Jews for getting the U.S. to help them win the war.
The Germans finally realized why the U.S. entered the war when at the Peace Conferences they learned for the first time that the Jews had been promised Palestine for manipulating the U.S. to join in.
The Jews had been treated extremely well in Germany up until then, better than in any other country in the world. It was only when the Germans learned they had been betrayed or “sold out” in that way by the Jews that they turned against them.
“We’ve been so nice to them”; and from 1905 on, when the first Communist revolution in Russia failed, and the Jews had to scramble out of Russia, they all went to Germany. And Germany gave them refuge. And they were treated very nicely. And here they sold Germany down the river for no reason at all other than they wanted Palestine as a so-called “Jewish commonwealth.” . . . .
The Jews themselves admitted that. It wasn’t that the Germans in 1919 discovered that a glass of Jewish blood tasted better than Coca-Cola or Muenschner Beer. There was no religious feeling. There was no sentiment against those people merely on account of their religious belief. It was all political. It was economic. It was anything but
Germans held the Jews responsible for their defeat and Freedman in fact says they were correct to do so. The Germans were guilty of nothing, Freedman says, only of being successful and thus earning the envy of Britain, France and Russia who decided they wanted to destroy Germany for no good reason. And then, Freedman says,
the Jews were responsible for her [Germany’s] defeat
He also says the Jews were 98% of the communists at that time, and as communists were trying to take over Germany after the war. They also controlled all the media and economy, of course.
The Jews of the world now declare a Holy War against Germany. We are now engaged in a sacred conflict against the Germans. And we are going to starve them into surrender. We are going to use a world-wide boycott against them, that will destroy them because they are dependent upon their export business.
The Jews of the world, Freedman goes on to “explain”, declared an economic boycott of Germany worldwide in order to smash the German economy — Even though, ….
Now up to that time, not one hair on the head of any Jew had been hurt in Germany. There was no suffering, there was no starvation, there was no murder, there was nothing.
Freedman accuses the Jews at this point of intending to “starve Germany into surrender into the Jews of the world”.
Freedman mentions the word “anti-Semitism” and says he doesn’t like the word because it is “meaningless”. It is meaningless, he later explains, because the only real semites in the world are Arabs and those claiming to be Jews are really a “Turko-Mongoloid” race.
He says the “Jews” were responsible for World War One, for the world-wide economic boycott against Germany, and for World War Two. The Jews were in a life and death struggle against Germany, he says, to see who would survive.
Meanwhile Germany decided to rearm in order to defend the world against Communism and save Christian civilization in Europe.
Freedman speaks of
Defense against 40,000 little Jews in Moscow that took over Russia, and then, in their devious ways, took over control of many other governments of the world.
Freedman says the Jews (in 1961, as he is speaking) “may be planning this World War III” — in order to hold on to Palestine.
But as for the Jewish race, he says they are not really Jews, but a warlike and spiritually degenerate race:
If Jesus was a Jew, there isn’t a Jew in the world today, and if those people are Jews, certainly our Lord and Savior was not one of them, and I can prove that. . . . those people who call themselves Jews, were originally Khazars.
They were a warlike tribe that lived deep in the heart of Asia. And they were so warlike that even the Asiatics drove them out of Asia into eastern Europe . . .
Now, they were phallic worshippers, which is filthy. I don’t want to go into the details of that now. It was their religion the way it was the religion of many other Pagans or Barbarians elsewhere in the world.
He says their king became so disgusted with their degeneracy that he decided to adopt a monotheistic religion and by chance elected Judaism. Once claiming to be Jews they could now, Freedman says, tell others in the world to give them the land of Palestine:
“Well, you want to certainly help repatriate God’s chosen people to their Promised Land, their ancestral homeland, It’s your Christian duty. We gave you one of our boys as your Lord and Savior. You now go to church on Sunday, and kneel and you worship a Jew, and we’re Jews.”
Now, these Pagans, these Asiatics, these Turko-Finns. . . they were a Mongoloid race who were forced out of Asia into eastern Europe. . . . — so they [Khazars] all became what we call today, Jews!
This deception, Freedman goes on to explain, is “one of the great lies . . . that is the foundation of all the misery that has befallen the world.”
He then compares the solution to this “Jewish problem”, these people who “couldn’t get along” with anyone else in the world, to “flushing the toilet” — sending them “back” to their “homeland”, Palestine.
He goes on to speak of Jews bribing governments, “stuffing their mouths with money”.
He then introduces some “secret” information only he knows as a “Jew” — that on the Day of Atonement the Jews take a vow that secretly absolves them from any vow they may appear to make in the world. In other words, Freedman announces that no Jew can be trusted, everyone is a liar, they all secretly vow that they are free to break any vow.
He warns that the Jews have control of the U.S. just as they once had control of Germany, and that they will lead the U.S. to ruin and defeat in another world war just as they ruined Germany in WW1.
Jews, he also makes clear, are the mainstay of the communists. The communist conspiracy and threat is really a Jewish conspiracy and threat.
But he’s not an “anti-Semite” because,
Just like ‘anti-Semitic’. The Arab is a Semite. And the Christians talk about people who don’t like Jews as anti-Semites, and they call all the Arabs anti-Semites. The only Semites in the world are the Arabs. There isn’t one Jew who’s a Semite. They’re all Turkothean Mongoloids
Does anything more need to be said. Freedman’s speech is rank anti-semitism to the core.
Chomsky is not on the same planet.
Neil thank you very much for spending the time to review Freedman’s speech, I appreciate it greatly. Your reaction is very interesting. It’s basically a harrumph, and I mean that academically, not personally. I will have to agree to disagree with you respectfully as I see the substance of Freedman’s speech, though damming to Zionism, believable and consistent with my world view.
You said very little to actually expose the facts asserted by Freedman, as if to say “listen to him – it’s ridiculous!” For example the vows that Jews can break is a real Biblical teaching, another relic, like child sacrifice which the Jews practiced.
Your comment “He begins by speaking of Zionists but before long always refers to ‘the Jews’ as a totality” makes me think that Freedman may indeed have gone too far, I’ll have to revisit the speech to check, thank you for pointing that out.
I do not agree with you that “Freedman’s speech is rank anti-semitism to the core”. It makes sense to me that rich Jews betrayed or sacrificed poor Jews in the whole gambit of WW1, WW2, Palestine, the holocaust and the State of Israel. I mean that the way I understand Freedman, and am inclined to accept it, is that the Zionists who engineered to get the US into the war, must have known that it would be a rocky road ahead for Jews if the scheme was later uncovered. Yet they felt it had to be done to re-establish a homeland for the Jewish people.
I know some of my views are marginal. My stance as Jesus mythicist has shown me that. I am not exactly happy to be harrumphed, but am getting used to it. Let’s keep dialoguing.
Peter, Freedman establishes nothing at all as a fact. His speech is nothing but a tirade of assertions. It is entirely in the wake of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and has nothing to link it with serious academic research such as you will find in the writings of Masalha or Chomsky. Nothing, not a single fact. It is entirely ant-semitic in the sense of being anti-Jewish, speaking of the Jews as a perfidious, treacherous race responsible for all the evils in this world.
How can you fail to appreciate that that is rank antisemitism?
Peter, I implore you. Do read the posts of Masalha that I have posted here. There is nothing, nothing, in any of them that provides the slightest iota of evidence for anything Freedman (or you!) assert. Nothing. Stick with the evidence, with reality. Zionism is bad enough but if we lose bearings and let our protest embrace antisemitism we have lost the cause. We become the enemy.
I deplore everything stated, every detail, every sentiment, every assumption, every innuendo, in Freedman’s 1961 speech.
Your comments justify everything left here by Bob de Jong and Joe Wallack and their ilk. They do not target me because I deplore all that they deplore — except I do not twist words or insinuate hidden meanings as they try to do to me.
Peter, I have your other comments nested comfortably here but they are probably not showing up to you (even in “awaiting moderation” status) because they were in response to other comments that I have also withdrawn for now.
My response might seem overly touchy but I cannot forget that this blog was once removed from online status by powers-that-be as a result of a flippant complaint over supposed “plagiarism” when a disgruntled Christian complained about my analysis of his blog post. Far worse allegations have been made against this blog and I don’t underestimate the potential damage they can do. Among those “far worse allegations” are those that try to brand me as a terrorist sympathizer and antisemite. I have been in the blogging world long enough to know that a blog is not judged by its critics on the basis of posts alone but also on how comments are perceived by critics. I don’t always have time to read all comments left here but I do, whenever I have an opportunity, make sure I read anything that is added to a post that has the potential to raise serious controversy — such as posts relating to terrorism and Israel-Palestine.
We now have Bob de Jong twisting my words to accuse me of all sorts of reprehensible sentiments and I do have other critics online whom I have long since blocked (but who are still there) and I have no way of knowing if any of them are in a position or with the intent to carry out more harm or even mere harassment to me both here and when I travel and to this blog and its ability to maintain a presence on the web. I do know from other forums that some of those persons maintain a livid hatred of me and some of the posts I write here, and that they do have an interest in shutting Tim and me down. I don’t wish to be taken offline again because it’s a horrid mess of a business to get back up again. (I do not have the support of a large agency or team behind me; it’s just Tim and me and whatever resources we can lay our hands on at the moment.)
That is where I am coming from, so I hope you will understand if I am perceived as being overly careful about anything that might jeopardize me, Tim, the blog. We’ve been shut down once before. We know that certain persons are still looking for an opportunity to repeat that exercise. I can only ask for understanding.
Good day Neil.
– Masalha’s views seem to me to be compatible with Freedman’s; what do you think M. is correct about that F. is not ?
– With Chomsky, I was not suggesting that any of his views are like Freedman’s, though some may be. I was just saying that they are both often labeled by Jews ass self-haters.
– What would Freedman’s motives be if he was anti-Jewish ? I repeat : why would he lie ? Whose payroll could he be on ? Is he crying sour grapes because his advice was not heeded by the US President ? Is he deranged ?
– I do not yet accept that he was anti-Jewish, rather, I see him as anti-Zionist. I will get back to you on your comment about what you refer to as his broad sweeps in the speech.
– Do you see him similar to a former Christian, now atheist, who hates the church ? I know that’s not the best illustration. As a former Jew, he seems to be labeling the majority of Jews, Ashkenazim, as fake Jews, (no disrespect on my part) since they are from proselyted and conscripted peoples and can claim no bloodline to the Jews of first century Israel (Judea).
– I welcome factual refutation of Freedman’s assertions about the WW1 and WW2 dynamics. Do you have any ?
– Would any professional / trained historians care to comment ?
– the fiasco and intrigue of the 911 fraud and resultant current the Middle East turmoil echo Freedman’s expose to me, in that the US government and military-industrial complex are essentially puppets and vegetables controlled by Zionists and multi-billionnaires.
” The Mandate is a reprehensible document drawn up, not by the Mandate’s Commission . . . but by the Zionists themselves in collusion with the British Government in the interests of the National Home. It was never debated in Parliament, but was issued under an Order in Council. This is the true origin of the trouble in Palestine. A fictitious right has been invented, namely, that ‘ the historic connection ‘ of the Jews with Palestine gives them a special status in the land. This supposed ‘ historic connection ‘ is none other than an ancient imposture.” Frances E. Newton: “The Mandate for Palestine,” 1946.
Btw many thanks for all these posts. They should be required reading
Hi Blake. I made a friend this week who is Jewish (at a seminar at a synagogue in Sydney by a visiting US Assyriologist). We chatted in the train on the way home. When I mentioned that I felt that understanding the Balfour Dec (BD) was a key to addressing the Palestinian-Israeli problem he said, and I’ll try to paraphrase, that the Arabs should have accepted it’s terms rather than fight against it. This puzzles me as I understand the BD to just be a commitment by UK to assist Jews to migrate and settle in Palestine, as co-tenants with existing Arab residents, stating that such migration must be without prejudicing the rights of the resident Arabs. We didn’t finish the conversation as he had to get out at Central, but I hope to meet him again to continue our friendship and discussion. Do you think the BD had “terms” or was it just an inadequately drafted document that opened the way for conflict, in the same way that random British colonial borders set by the UK and French Forbes and Piquot (probably spelled that wrong) has led to so much tribal conflict in the Middle East and Africa ? Was and is there an impasse where Arabs resisted Jewish migration and Jews used that rebellion to justify to themselves the creeping capture of more and more Arab land ?
Bob de Jong
Hi Neil, you mention that “The above four British and Jewish gentleman (sic) met in London”. Are you sure that Philby was Jewish, I read that he was a Muslim?
Philby was not Jewish which is why I wrote “the above four British and Jewish gentlemen . . . ” and explicitly identified which ones were Jewish in the post. The link I supplied pointed out that he converted to Islam in 1930 and the image I displayed strongly suggested his love of Arabian culture. He was also a Zionist.
I did not approve of your other comment because you said it was a reference to a Holocaust denier (a source I am not interested in) and you did not explain its relevance to the post.
Bob, I despise your ongoing outrageous twisting of my words and attempts to smear me with the filth of antisemitism and have accordingly spammed your subsequent comments. I note your inability to address the content of this or previous posts in the series and attempts to turn attention on your ignorant fantasies about me.
joe2.5
Where did comments by RoHa and myself, as well as the colonialist take on them by Grullemans disappear? Is this some kind of a joke where we are baited to comment and than erased wholesale?
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Christine on When Did James Become the Brother of the Lord?: “"What we have is a tradition that fairly consistently understood James to be the biological relative of Jesus, even when…” Jul 18, 11:27
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Giuseppe on When Did James Become the Brother of the Lord?: “According to Acts, the first Christians were called Nazarenes. And Epiphanius talks about this pre-christian sect. https://vridar.org/2011/05/11/earliest-nazarenes-evidence-of-epiphanius/” Jul 17, 13:45
Neil Godfrey on When Did James Become the Brother of the Lord?: “I'll try to catch up with comments soon, and get back to posting again just as soon. Meanwhile I'm continuing…” Jul 17, 10:28
Neil Godfrey on When Did James Become the Brother of the Lord?: “Only because the whole section between verses 18 and 24 is questionable in relation to the Marcionite debates. I could…” Jul 17, 10:26
Austendw on When Did James Become the Brother of the Lord?: “Neil - why did you include Galatians 1:21-24 as part of the interpolation? There is nothing in the Irenaeus passage…” Jul 16, 23:57
MrHorse on When Did James Become the Brother of the Lord?: “re "afterall, the brothers of the Lord were called also Nazarenes." What passages or literature do you have in…” Jul 16, 23:56
r.g.price on The Mystery of the “Amazing” Jesus in the Gospel of Mark: “A lot of these things are very formulaic. But interestingly, the term "amazed" isn't found very much in the Bible,…” Jul 16, 20:41
Amer on The Mystery of the “Amazing” Jesus in the Gospel of Mark: “Funny - I read “amazed” in Mark very differently to you Neil ... I read it as ‘intrigued’. I sense…” Jul 16, 19:33
When Did James Become the Brother of the Lord? 2019-07-12 23:46:49 GMT+0000
“This Is Why I Have Come” (from where?) 2019-07-11 12:43:00 GMT+0000
The Mystery of the “Amazing” Jesus in the Gospel of Mark 2019-07-08 01:00:03 GMT+0000
The Only Way to Make Sense of the Gospels 2019-07-06 16:16:34 GMT+0000
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Kahuzi-Biega National Park
(Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Identity, social cohesion, changes in local population and community
Proposed construction of a highway (issue resolved)
Uncontrolled arrival of refugees causing deforestation and poaching
2000 Emergency assistance to World Natural Heritage of the ... (Approved) 5,400 USD
1999 Support to Resident Staff of Garamba, Virunga, Kahuzi ... (Approved) 20,000 USD
1995 Purchase of a vehicle for Kahuzi Biega National Park (Approved) 30,000 USD
1994 Financial contribution for the protection of ... (Approved) 25,000 USD
1992 Review of the state of conservation of World Heritage ... (Approved) 3,750 USD
1988 Purchase of a 4x4 Jeep for Kahuzi Biega National Park (Approved) 20,000 USD
1980 Equipment for Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Approved) 15,120 USD
November-December 2001: World Heritage Centre mission
2001 Report on a mission led by the Director of the World Heritage Centre to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 24 ...
2000 Report on intermediary mission to the DRC
1996 Suivi systématique de deux sites du patrimoine mondial: Parc National de Virunga, Parc National de Kahuzi-Biega ...
1979 Mission au Zaïre (19-30 août 1979) (Parc National du Kahuzi-Biega)
A proposed mission to the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, to be led by the Director General of UNESCO and tentatively scheduled for late March 2002 had to be postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. The Director-General’s Office has however reiterated its commitment to re-schedule this mission for early 2003 with a view to soliciting support of the Heads of State and high-level authorities in each of the three countries to respect their obligations under the Convention and strengthen the conservation of World Heritage sites, particularly those in eastern DRC.
The inter-Congolese dialogue that commenced in February 2002 has concluded with relations between Kinshasa and the rebel authorities controlling most of the northeast DRC showing considerable improvement and hopefully benefiting the state of conservation of Garamba National Park and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the near term. The inter-Congolese dialogue however, failed to solve prevailing tensions and disagreements between the Kinshasa Government of DRC and the rebel regime based in Goma that controls territories in the east and southeast of DRC. Hence, the situation in Kahuzi Biega and Virunga National Parks, the two World Heritage sites most impacted by war and civil unrest in eastern DRC, is cause for continuing concern. The state of conservation of Salonga National Park, predominately under the direct authority of ICCN-Kinshasa also appears to be of concern because of the small number of staff who have to ensure the protection of the 36,000 square kilometre Park with difficult access conditions. Salonga is situated in an area that forms a frontier between areas controlled by the Kinshasa Government and the rebel regime based in Goma and hence has considerable presence of armed groups that also threaten its conservation status.
The UNESCO/DRC/UNF Project successfully organized a training workshop on biodiversity monitoring in Kinshasa from 19 to 23 March 2002 where representatives from all the five World Heritage sites of DRC and their NGO partners and other ICCN staff were present. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Co-ordination Unit of the UNESCO/DRC/UNF project were jointly responsible for the organization of the training workshop. The participation of site and other ICCN staff from all parts of DRC was one of the examples of on-going inter-Congolese cooperation amongst civilians and professionals of DRC and their international partners to promote World Heritage conservation. A report of the workshop is expected to be ready before the end of 2002.
The implementation of the UNESCO/DRC/UNF Project activities in Kahuzi Biega was set back due to conflicts involving the decision, taken by the new ICCN authorities in Goma, to transfer the Director of the Park and replace him with another individual from the ICCN cadre. One of the UNESCO/DRC/UNF Project partners, GTZ (Germany), expressed dissatisfaction with the non-consultative manner in which the decision was taken and the impact this action could have on the continuity of project activities. The Project Co-ordination Unit and the Centre facilitated a meeting from 26 to 28 April 2002 in Nairobi, Kenya, between ICCN-Goma and its counterparts from ICCN Kinshasa and ICCN-Beni/Bunia; the meeting was moderated by a neutral expert and the Project Co-ordination Unit. Agreements have been reached to avoid the repetition of such conflicts in the future and the Centre is in the process of reviewing recommendations of the meeting and communicating them to the authorities of the GTZ Project and other partners to ensure their continuing support and collaboration for the conservation of the Kahuzi Biega National Park.
On 17 January 2001, the 3,469 metre Nyirangongo Volcano in Virunga National Park erupted from a fissure on its side. The Nyirangongo, along with the active Nyamulagira volcano, forms the western end of the Virunga Massif chain of eight volcanoes and is located at the southeastern most point of the World Heritage site. Three lava flows spread to the town of Goma 12 miles south, destroying an estimated 40% of the town as well as at least 14 villages on the way, and flowed into Lake Kivu. At least 40 persons died as a direct result of the eruption, however another 50 were killed in a gas station explosion several days later, caused by the ignition of tanks from the hot lava. As many as 500,000 people fled the area into neighbouring Rwanda, but returned within days.
A resource centre for gorilla conservation located in Goma was destroyed and staff and wildlife rangers made homeless. It was reported that the gorillas of the Park had suffered no direct impact from the eruptions, as a wide valley separates Nyiragongo from the nearest group of gorillas on the upper slopes of Mt Mikeno, but it was predicted that chimpanzees and other wildlife in the forest around Nyiragongo would be devastated, and the eruption would affect every level of the mountain’s ecosystem. A report from the Coordinator of the UNESCO/DRC/UNF Project noted that there was potential for noxious gas problems and that the Park post at Kibati was destroyed.
In April 2002 IUCN was informed by the Park that the re-definition of the Park’s boundaries had commenced, involving a process of collaboration with political and community leaders. A mission to Virunga National Park was undertaken on 22 March 2002, involving representatives of the environmental service; officers of the provincial government and land administration; officers of the PEVI Kacheche (Programme d’Education Virunga); police; the Provincial Director of ICCN, as well as active and retired Park guards. The objective of the mission was to clarify and clearly demarcate the boundaries of the Park in the areas invaded particularly by crop growing. Certain parts of the Park have been particularly affected by crop growing, deforestation, the construction of housing and the influx of Ugandan and Rwandan immigrants with their cattle. These problems have arisen from the high population density surrounding the Park, widespread poverty and unemployment, the current socio-political context, the lack of logistical equipment and the lack of law enforcement with regard to illegal encroachments. The northern sector of the Park has not had the benefit of international projects other than those supported by DFGF/Europe for work on gorillas, and the area has suffered from environmental degradation. The province of North Kivu in the north of the Park could not be accessed during the mission due to the security situation and Park staff are unable to monitor the west bank of Lake Edouard. A new director in the Beni sector has been appointed and work has commenced to mark the boundaries despite certain opposition groups. The Provincial government in this area is also more responsive to the problems of the Park than in the Goma area.
The mission had some success, particularly in showing, by way of involving other authorities, that the protection of the Park’s resources is not only the concern of ICCN but of all Congolese people. Since the mission, there appears to be some reduction in encroachments and associated impacts. However, there remains a negative attitude amongst the population and strong opposition to the Park authorities. The mission report recommends that ICCN should reinforce its means of communication with the local population while severely penalizing violators of Park laws; guards should be provided with means of communication and equipment to facilitate greater ease of movement around the Park, and an official report should be sent to the highest authorities urging the removal of Ugandan and Rwandan immigrants from the Park, particularly from Kiolirwe (south) and Karuruma (north).
The need for community support activities benefiting conservation of the World Heritage sites has been widely recognized and has been the focus of the UNESCO/Belgium Government Project whose implementation began in late 2001. The first workshop under this project, to define and develop specific activities in and around each of the five sites was planned for February 2002 in Beni but had to be postponed following the disruptions caused to normal life in and around Virunga after the volcanic eruptions in January 2002. This workshop will now be convened from 25 to 30 July 2002 and will facilitate improving staff-community relations in and around World Heritage sites of the DRC, including Virunga National Park.
26 COM 21A.2
World Heritage sites of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
1. Regrets the widespread damage caused by the volcanic eruption in January 2002 and requests the Director-General to transmit its sympathies and solidarity to the people of Goma through appropriate UN and other channels;
2. Requests the Director-General to consult with the UN authorities and other appropriate partners to put in place natural-disaster-prevention and risk-assessment systems to protect lives and minimize damage to property in the event of future eruptions;
3. Notes the efforts of the UNESCO/DRC/United Nations Foundation (UNF) Project to support the conservation of all five World Heritage sites of DRC and requests that a detailed progress report be submitted for examination by the Committee at its 27th session in June/July 2003;
4. Takes note of the fact that the state of conservation of Garamba, Kahuzi Biega and Salonga National Parks and the Okapi Faunal Reserve remain unchanged from conditions reported to the 25th session of the Committee;
5. Expresses its serious concerns over the illegal encroachments and settlements in Kiolirwe and Kararuma in the Virunga National Park, some of them being attributed to people coming from across the border with Rwanda, and requests the Centre to urgently find ways and means to alert the authorities in Goma and in Rwanda of the need to fully respect the integrity of the Virunga National Park;
6. Calls for urgent and high-level diplomatic initiatives to check illegal encroachments and settlements threatening the Virunga National Park and to ensure that all authorities in Eastern DRC and Rwanda respect the international significance and neutrality of World Heritage sites and assist site staff and other conservation authorities to effectively protect those sites;
7. Welcomes the forthcoming visit of the Director-General to the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda in early 2003 and requests the Director-General to take all possible steps to promote transborder co-operation between the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda for the conservation of Virunga National Park and other World Heritage sites in the Great Lakes Region of Africa;
8. Recommends that the Centre concentrate its efforts to strengthen conservation in areas in and around the World Heritage sites of the DRC that are returning to normality as on-going UN peace-building efforts in the country take root;
9. Invites its Chairperson and the Director-General to take all other possible diplomatic measures, e.g. writing to the UN Secretary General, to Heads of States and important personalities in other concerned States Parties etc., to build international solidarity to promote peace and other necessary conditions for effective World Heritage conservation in Eastern DRC;
10. Retains the five National Parks: Virunga, Garamba, Kahuzi Biega and Salonga and the Okapi Faunal Reserve on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The Committee may wish to adopt the following:
"The Committee notes with regret the widespread damage caused by the volcanic eruption, particularly to the people of Goma, and requests the Centre to transmit its sympathies and solidarity to the people of Goma through appropriate UN authorities resident in Goma. The presence of active volcanoes is part of the outstanding universal values of the World Heritage site and eruptions are likely to occur again. The Centre and IUCN may consult with the UN authorities in DRC and appropriate partners to put in place natural disaster prevention and risk assessment systems in order to minimize damage to property and lives during future eruptions. The Committee welcomes the efforts to clarify and demarcate the boundaries of Virunga as a first step to enhance its conservation from encroachments and other associated impacts. The Committee notes other efforts of the UNESCO/DRC/UNF Project to continue supporting the conservation of all five World Heritage sites of DRC and requests a detailed report on progress made be submitted to the 27th session of the Committee in June 2003. The Committee requests the Centre to contact appropriate authorities to find ways and means of resolving transborder encroachment issues in Kiolirwe and Karuruma in Virunga. The Committee welcomes the possibility of a UNESCO Director-General led mission in early 2003 and requests that the mission places special emphasis in promoting transborder cooperation between DRC, Rwanda and Uganda for the conservation of World Heritage sites in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. The Committee decides to retain all five sites of DRC in the List of World Heritage in Danger".
Criteria: (x)
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National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers
(Haiti)
Deliberate destruction of heritage
Water (rain/water table)
a) Lack of a Management Plan;
b) Lack of a Conservation Plan;
c) Water damage;
d) Vandalism;
e) Seismic activities;
f) Lack of a Risk Preparedness Plan.
2010 Post Earthquake Technical Assistance for the Assessment ... (Approved) 49,300 USD
1994 New exhibition panels and purchase of climate control ... (Approved) 17,510 USD
1994 One-month on-site training activity for 5 architectural ... (Approved) 4,100 USD
1994 Emergency measures and structural consolidation of the ... (Approved) 73,000 USD
1987 Training courses at the National History Park-Citadel, ... (Approved) 25,000 USD
1983 Masonry work and purchase of equipment for the ... (Approved) 20,000 USD
1982 Equipment and construction material for the restoration ... (Approved) 57,200 USD
September 2006: UNESCO Havana Office Technical Visit.
2006 Rapport de mission technique; Parc national historique – Citadelle, Sans Souci, Ramiers; 11-18 septembre 2006
On 27 November 2009, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report on the occasion of the “Workshop on the preparation of the Retrospective Inventory and Retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value (of the properties included on the World Heritage List) and an introduction to the Second Cycle of the Periodic Reporting for the Latin America and Caribbean Region” which took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This report informed of actions taken as a follow-up to the 2006 Technical Visit by the UNESCO Havana Office and underlined urgent concerns to be addressed. The State Party was represented by the Director of the Institute for the Preservation of the National Heritage (ISPAN).
As stated in the above mentioned report, the National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers has sufferered from a number of issues, including development pressures focusing on the City of Milot, extraction of materials from the site, large numbers of visitors, vandalism, deforestation and an overgrowth in vegetation. The site is also severely affected by natural disasters in the form of earthquakes, flooding and the hurricane impacts during the season which runs from June to November each year.
On 12 January 2010, the State Party witnessed a catastrophic earthquake which resulted in structural damages to the property. After the Preparatory Meeting for the Establishment of an International Coordination Committee (ICC) for Haitian Culture on 16 February 2010 held at UNESCO Headquarters (Paris), discussions took place with the Ministry of Culture of Haiti, the Director of ISPAN and the Advisory Bodies to identify the following urgent actions to be undertaken at the site:
a) an assessment of damages and structural risk,
b) implementation of urgent conservation work,
c) finalization of conservation, management and risk preparedness plans.
The State Party is preparing an Emergency International Assistance request for the World Heritage property, and an Inter - institutional mission is being organized by the World Heritage Centre in close cooperation with the Advisory Bodies.
34 COM 7B.110
National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers (Haiti) (C 180)
1. Having examined Document WHC-10/34.COM/7B.Add,
2. Expresses its deep regret at the loss of life and devastation caused by the 12 January 2010 earthquake in Haiti and thanks the State Party for providing all elements and support necessary for carrying out the emergency mission in spite of the extreme difficulties being experienced;
3. Acknowledges the efforts of the Institute for the Preservation of the National Heritage (ISPAN) in establishing a close collaboration with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies and appreciates its deep commitment to the preservation of the cultural heritage of Haiti;
4. Takes note of the key factors affecting the property as indicated by the report submitted by the State Party in November 2009;
5. Also acknowledges the effective inter-institutional collaboration established between the States Parties, the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in the preparation and carrying out of the inter-institutional mission to the property in a prompt and timely manner;
6. Commends the dedication and commitment shown by the Ministry of Culture and Communication to protect the property in spite of the difficult situation and humanitarian crisis;
7. Notes with concern, however, that there are limited capacities to ensure an effective decision-making process and satisfactory management of the property to ensure that the Outstanding Universal Value of the property is sustained;
8. Also notes with concern that new infrastructure and development proposals aimed at increasing tourism could impact adversely on the vulnerable property;
9. Requests the State Party to establish an agreement for inter-ministerial cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and Communication and CIAT (Inter-sectorial Council of Territorial Planning) to prioritize and coordinate actions, within the framework of territorial planning, with the aim of preserving the Outstanding Universal Value, integrity and authenticity of the property;
10. Fully endorses the recommendations provided by the technical mission report and also requests the State Party to implement them, should the situation allow it, giving priority to the following aspects:
a) To halt the construction of Route RN003 within the limits of the property pending the development of other alternatives to be evaluated, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines of the World Heritage Convention,
b) To halt the plans for the immediate foreseen touristic development at the property pending the finalization of the conservation and management plan,
c) To establish a local conservation management unit on site,
d) To complete and approve the conservation plan including a comprehensive risk management approach by July 2011, and the management plan including provisions for public use of the property by July 2012, in consultation with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies,
e) To submit the Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value and complete the Retrospective Inventory of the property, including the official delineation of the boundaries of the property and its buffer zone, as well as their related regulatory measures;
11. Calls upon the international community to ensure, in every way possible, its support for the implementation of the recommendations to rapidly approve the financial and human resources to assist the State Party in the integrated conservation of the property;
12. Encourages the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to set up an action plan and technical, institutional and financial strategies to implement all the urgent actions identified by the mission;
13. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2011, a detailed report on the state of conservation of the property and advances made in conservation, management and risk preparedness planning, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 35th session in 2011.
Draft Decision: 34 COM 7B.110
2. Expresses its deep regret at the devastation caused by the 12 January 2010 earthquake in Haiti and thanks the State Party for providing all elements and support necessary for carrying out the emergency mission in spite of the extreme difficulties being experienced;
4. Also acknowledges the key factors affecting the property as indicated by the report submitted by the State Party in November 2009;
5. Further acknowledges the effective inter-institutional collaboration established between the Haitian Government, the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in the preparation and carrying out of the inter-institutional mission to the property;
6. Encourages the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to set up an action plan and technical, institutional and financial strategies to implement all the urgent actions identified by the mission;
7. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2011, a detailed report on the state of conservation of the property and advances made in conservation, management and risk preparedness planning, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 35th session in 2011.
Criteria: (iv)(vi)
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St Bonaventure University Rescinds McCarrick Honorary Degree
Photo Credit - Mark Wilson / Getty Images
ALLEGANY, N.Y. (AP) — St. Bonaventure University in upstate New York is rescinding an honorary degree bestowed to former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who's accused of engaging in sexual misconduct with minors and adult seminarians.
The private, Franciscan Catholic university posted a statement on its website Monday saying its Board of Trustees voted on Friday to rescind its honorary doctorate of humane letters awarded to McCarrick in May 2011.
University president, Dr. Dennis R. DePerro, said the school has "an unwavering commitment to stand in solidarity with all survivors of sexual abuse."
The Vatican removed McCarrick from public ministry in June after it determined allegations he sexually molested a teenager more than 40 years earlier were credible. McCarrick later resigned from the College of Cardinals in July.
Filed Under: Allegany, sexual abuse
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Patricia Buckley Ebrey
(1947-03-07) March 7, 1947 (age 72)
New Jersey,[1] U.S.
University of Chicago, Columbia University
Thomas G. Ebrey
Scientific career
Chinese history (Song dynasty), Art history, Women's studies
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, University of Washington
Patricia Buckley Ebrey (born March 7, 1947) is an American historian specializing in cultural and gender issues during the Chinese Song Dynasty. Ebrey obtained her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago in 1968 and her Masters and PhD from Columbia University in 1970 and 1975, respectively. Upon receiving her PhD, Ebrey was hired as visiting assistant professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she became an associate professor in 1982 and a full professor three years later.[1] She is now a professor at the University of Washington.[2]
Honors[edit]
Ebrey has received a number of awards for her work, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation.[1][3] Ebrey's The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period received the 1995 Joseph Levenson Book Prize from the Association for Asian Studies, her 2008 work, Accumulating Culture: The Collections of Emperor Huizong, received the Smithsonian Institution's 2010 Shimada Prize for Outstanding Work of East Asian Art History.[3][4]
Selected bibliography[edit]
Aristocratic Families of Early Imperial China: A Case Study of the Po-ling Ts’ui Family (1978)
Kinship Organization in Late Imperial China, 1000-1940 (1986)
Confucianism and Family Rituals in Imperial China: A Social History of Writing About Rites (1991)
Marriage and Inequality in Chinese Society (1991)
Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period (1993)
Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook (1993)
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (1996)
A History of World Societies (1999)
Women and the Family in Chinese History (2002)
Accumulating Culture: The Collections of Emperor Huizong (2008)
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, second edition (2010)
Emperor Huizong (2014)
^ a b c Scanlon, Jennifer; Cosner, Shaaron (1996). American Women Historians, 1700s–1990s: A Biographical Dictionary (PDF). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 66–68. ISBN 0313296642. [permanent dead link]
^ "Patricia Ebrey". University of Washington. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
^ a b "Patricia Buckley Ebrey to Receive 2010 Shimada Prize for Outstanding Work of East Asian Art History". Smithsonian Institution. 2 February 2011. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
^ "AAS CIAC Levenson Book Prize Winners". Association for Asian Studies. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
NKC: mub2012716319
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patricia_Buckley_Ebrey&oldid=903781011"
Writers from New Jersey
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Women art historians
American sinologists
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Columbia University alumni
University of Washington faculty
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Women's historians
Joseph Levenson Book Prize recipients
American women historians
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Woodrow Wilson Foundation
This article is about the American organization which granted prizes for international peace established in 1921. For the teaching fellowship program established in 1945, see Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation; the Woodrow Wilson Foundation was an educational non-profit created in 1921, organized under the laws of New York, for the "perpetuation of Wilson's ideals" via periodic grants to worthy groups and individuals. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the chair of the group's governing National Committee, coordinating fundraising activity of parallel groups in each of the 48 states; the group sought to gather a $1 million endowment fund, the interest on, to pay for the group's cash awards. A national fundraising drive to raise the endowment was launched on January 16, 1922, but despite extensive organization and relentless publicity only half the financial target was raised by February 15. With its medal and endowment to allow for annual financial prizes, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation in its initial iteration resembled the Nobel Foundation and its Nobel Prizes, albeit on a smaller financial scale.
Beginning in 1963 the Woodrow Wilson Foundation financed publication of Wilson's collected works and related documents, a 69-volume series entitled The Papers of Woodrow Wilson. The difficulty and expense of this nearly 30-year project drained the energy and finances of the organization, terminated in 1993 — one year before completion of the Wilson Papers project; the original idea for establishment of an endowed fund to make financial awards to individuals and groups best advancing the ideals of Wilsonianism was credited to Mrs. Charles E. Simonson of New York, active in a women's group called the Political Equality Club of Richmond County; the fund was envisioned as a way to make permanent the memory and legacy of Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States from 1913 to 1920. The Woodrow Wilson Foundation was provisionally established on December 23, 1920, with formal organization completed at a meeting held in New York City on March 15, 1921; the organization was established independently of former President Woodrow Wilson but named in his honor by organizers, who pointed to Wilson having "further the cause of human freedom" and for having been "instrumental in pointing out effective methods for the cooperation of the liberal forces of mankind throughout the world."Organizers planned on raising funds in order to make cash awards to help support the world of individuals and groups that had rendered "meritorious service to democracy, public welfare, liberal thought, or peace through justice."
It was hoped to raise $1 million to endow the foundation. Based upon prevailing interest rates of the day, it was reckoned that a $1 million endowment would generate about $50,000 in interest each year in perpetuity, enabling annual awards in that amount. Chairman of the National Committee of the Wilson Foundation from 1921 was former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and future President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt asserted that by donating to the endowment fund of the Wilson Foundation, "the American people will be given and opportunity to express their appreciation of Mr. Wilson's services to humanity."Executive Director of the fund at the time of its establishment was editor of the internationalist news magazine The Independent, Hamilton Holt. Financier Cleveland H. Dodge was named the chair of the provisional Executive Committee; the temporary Executive Committee included 9 other luminaries, including close Wilson adviser Edward M. House, American representative to the Paris Peace Conference Frank Polk, the wife of publishing mogul Malcolm Forbes.
Other prominent supporters of the project included businessman and former ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr. and Adolph Ochs, publisher of the New York Times. The Woodrow Wilson Foundation was based in New York City, with its national office located at 150 Nassau Street; the organization was formally governed by a National Committee, consisting of more than 250 representatives from each state, which elected in turn a National Executive Committee to handle the day-to-day operations of the organization. During the main fundraising campaign to build the organization's endowment fund, which launched in October 1921, the Wilson Foundation named chairs for each state to coordinate fundraising activities on a state basis. These, in turn, named county chairs to help localize fundraising activity; this system was analogous to the wartime sales of Liberty bonds, which made similar use of formal state and local officers to coordinate sales. By the end of September 1921, chair of the National Executive Committee Cleveland Dodge boasted that 37 of the 48 American states had been organized on such a basis.
Three more states were organized in the first half of October, running the total to 40. On December 2, 1921, a meeting of the National Committee was convened in New York City, including representatives from around the country. Chief on the agenda was the need to determine the mechanism for awarding the Foundation's prize awards; the National Committee began the process of naming 15 permanent trustees of the Wilson Foundation's assets, recommending Franklin Roosevelt, Cleveland Dodge, feminist leader Carrie Chapman Catt, university president E. A. Alderman, William Allen White of Kansas; the other 10 trustees were to be named by the Executive Committee, the National Committee decided. The 15 Trustees were to provide annual funds, generated through investment of the endowment in government securities, to a 25-member "Jury of Awards," the members of which were to serve 9-year terms. Plans were made for the gathering of "$1,000,000 or more" to provide a permanent endowment for the Wilson Foundation's prizes.
Donors were to receive an attractive certificate in acknowledgment of their
National Library of the Czech Republic
The National Library of the Czech Republic is the central library of the Czech Republic. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture; the library's main building is located in the historical Clementinum building in Prague, where half of its books are kept. The other half of the collection is stored in the district of Hostivař; the National Library is the biggest library in the Czech Republic, in its funds there are around 6 million documents. The library has around 60,000 registered readers; as well as Czech texts, the library stores older material from Turkey and India. The library houses books for Charles University in Prague; the library won international recognition in 2005 as it received the inaugural Jikji Prize from UNESCO via the Memory of the World Programme for its efforts in digitising old texts. The project, which commenced in 1992, involved the digitisation of 1,700 documents in its first 13 years; the most precious medieval manuscripts preserved in the National Library are the Codex Vyssegradensis and the Passional of Abbes Kunigunde.
In 2006 the Czech parliament approved funding for the construction of a new library building on Letna plain, between Hradčanská metro station and Sparta Prague's football ground, Letná stadium. In March 2007, following a request for tender, Czech architect Jan Kaplický was selected by a jury to undertake the project, with a projected completion date of 2011. In 2007 the project was delayed following objections regarding its proposed location from government officials including Prague Mayor Pavel Bém and President Václav Klaus. Plans for the building had still not been decided in February 2008, with the matter being referred to the Office for the Protection of Competition in order to determine if the tender had been won fairly. In 2008, Minister of Culture Václav Jehlička announced the end of the project, following a ruling from the European Commission that the tender process had not been carried out legally; the library was affected by the 2002 European floods, with some documents moved to upper levels to avoid the excess water.
Over 4,000 books were removed from the library in July 2011 following flooding in parts of the main building. There was a fire at the library in December 2012. List of national and state libraries Official website
The Biblioteca Nacional de España is a major public library, the largest in Spain, one of the largest in the world. It is located on the Paseo de Recoletos; the library was founded by King Philip V in 1712 as the Palace Public Library. The Royal Letters Patent that he granted, the predecessor of the current legal deposit requirement, made it mandatory for printers to submit a copy of every book printed in Spain to the library. In 1836, the library's status as Crown property was revoked and ownership was transferred to the Ministry of Governance. At the same time, it was renamed the Biblioteca Nacional. During the 19th century, confiscations and donations enabled the Biblioteca Nacional to acquire the majority of the antique and valuable books that it holds. In 1892 the building was used to host the Historical American Exposition. On March 16, 1896, the Biblioteca Nacional opened to the public in the same building in which it is housed and included a vast Reading Room on the main floor designed to hold 320 readers.
In 1931 the Reading Room was reorganised, providing it with a major collection of reference works, the General Reading Room was created to cater for students and general readers. During the Spanish Civil War close to 500,000 volumes were collected by the Confiscation Committee and stored in the Biblioteca Nacional to safeguard works of art and books held until in religious establishments and private houses. During the 20th century numerous modifications were made to the building to adapt its rooms and repositories to its expanding collections, to the growing volume of material received following the modification to the Legal Deposit requirement in 1958, to the numerous works purchased by the library. Among this building work, some of the most noteworthy changes were the alterations made in 1955 to triple the capacity of the library's repositories, those started in 1986 and completed in 2000, which led to the creation of the new building in Alcalá de Henares and complete remodelling of the building on Paseo de Recoletos, Madrid.
In 1986, when Spain's main bibliographic institutions - the National Newspaper Library, the Spanish Bibliographic Institute and the Centre for Documentary and Bibliographic Treasures - were incorporated into the Biblioteca Nacional, the library was established as the State Repository of Spain's Cultural Memory, making all of Spain's bibliographic output on any media available to the Spanish Library System and national and international researchers and cultural and educational institutions. In 1990 it was made an Autonomous Entity attached to the Ministry of Culture; the Madrid premises are shared with the National Archaeological Museum. The Biblioteca Nacional is Spain's highest library institution and is head of the Spanish Library System; as the country's national library, it is the centre responsible for identifying, preserving and disseminating information about Spain's documentary heritage, it aspires to be an essential point of reference for research into Spanish culture. In accordance with its Articles of Association, passed by Royal Decree 1581/1991 of October 31, 1991, its principal functions are to: Compile and conserve bibliographic archives produced in any language of the Spanish state, or any other language, for the purposes of research and information.
Promote research through the study and reproduction of its bibliographic archive. Disseminate information on Spain's bibliographic output based on the entries received through the legal deposit requirement; the library's collection consists of more than 26,000,000 items, including 15,000,000 books and other printed materials, 4,500,000 graphic materials, 600,000 sound recordings, 510,000 music scores, more than 500,000 microforms, 500,000 maps, 143,000 newspapers and serials, 90,000 audiovisuals, 90,000 electronic documents, 30,000 manuscripts. The current director of the Biblioteca Nacional is Ana Santos Aramburo, appointed in 2013. Former directors include her predecessors Glòria Pérez-Salmerón and Milagros del Corral as well as historian Juan Pablo Fusi and author Rosa Regàs. Given its role as the legal deposit for the whole of Spain, since 1991 it has kept most of the overflowing collection at a secondary site in Alcalá de Henares, near Madrid; the Biblioteca Nacional provides access to its collections through the following library services: Guidance and general information on the institution and other libraries.
Bibliographic information about its collection and those held by other libraries or library systems. Access to its automated catalogue, which contains close to 3,000,000 bibliographic records encompassing all of its collections. Archive consultation in the library's reading rooms. Interlibrary loans. Archive reproduction. Biblioteca Digital Hispánica, digital library launched in 2008 by the Biblioteca Nacional de España List of libraries in Spain Media related to Biblioteca Nacional de España at Wikimedia Commons Official site Official web catalog
National Library of Latvia
The National Library of Latvia known as Castle of Light is a national cultural institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture of Latvia. The National Library of Latvia was formed in 1919 after the independent Republic of Latvia was proclaimed in 1918; the first supervisor of the Library was Jānis Misiņš, a librarian and the founder of the Latvian scientific bibliography. Today the Library plays an important role in the development of Latvia's information society, providing Internet access to residents and supporting research and lifelong education; the National Library was founded on 29 August 1919, one year after independence, as the State Library. Its first chief librarian and bibliographer was Jānis Misiņš who made his immense private collection the basis of the new library. Within a year, until 1920, the stocks had grown to 250,000 volumes. Starting in the same year, all publishers were obliged to hand in a deposit copy of their works. Since 1927, the Library has published the National Bibliography of Latvia.
There were significant additions in 1939 and 1940, when the State Library took over many of the libraries and collections of the Baltic Germans, most of whom resettled to the Reich. Among these was a large part of the collection of the Society for History and Archaeology of Russia's Baltic Provinces, est. 1834, the primary historical society of the Baltic Germans. In 1940, holdings encompassed 1.7 million volumes, so that they had to be stored in two different locations in the Old Town. During the German occupation of Riga, the State Library was renamed Country Library, eliminating reference to a sovereign Latvian state). Under Soviet rule, it was known as State Library of the Latvian SSR. According to Soviet customs, in 1966 it received an honorary name, commemorating Vilis Lācis, a writer and the late prime minister of Soviet Latvia. From 1946, literature deemed'dangerous' from the Soviet perspective was withdrawn from the shelves and could be accessed only with a special permit until 1988.
In 1956, the State Library moved into its new building at Krišjāņa Barona iela. Since the reestablishment of national independence 1991, the institution has been called National Library of Latvia. In 1995, it received as a permanent loan the Baltic Central Library of Otto Bong, a collection pertaining to the history, regional studies and languages of the Baltic countries. In 2006, the National Library joined the European Library online service; the Library's holdings today encompass more than 5 million titles, incl. about 18,000 manuscripts from the 14th century up to modern times. One of the characteristic cornerstones of the NLL, which characterizes every national library, is the formation of the collection of national literature, its eternal storage and long-term access; the NLL is a centre of theoretical research and practical analyses of the activities of Latvian libraries. The Library carries out the functions of the centre of Latvia Interlibrary Loan, ensures the library and information service to the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia – the Saeima, implements the standardisation of the branch.
Since the outset, its main concern has been the national bibliography. The massive union catalogue Seniespiedumi latviešu valodā received the Spīdola Prize in 2000 and was awarded The Beautiful Book of the Year 99. In 2005, the Letonikas grāmatu autoru rādītājs was published, providing information about versatile branches of science and representatives of various nations, Latvia being the main focus of their publications; the NLL includes several collections of posters. Digitising collections at the NLL started in 1999. At present the Latvian National Digital Library Letonica, formed in 2006, holds digitized collections of newspapers, maps, sheet-music and audio recordings. In 2008 NLL launched two major digital projects. Periodika.lv is the NLL's collection of digitized historical periodicals in Latvian with the possibility to read full texts and search page by page. Latvia has Dance Festivals organized every four years; the historical materials from the first Song Festival in 1864 till the Latgale Song Festival in 1940 can be explored in another digital collection of the National Library of Latvia.
The first discussions about the need for a new National Library had started in 1928, the significance of the project of this century was further confirmed by the high-level international recognition. In 1999 all 170 UNESCO member states during its General Conference adopted a resolution, calling the member states and the international community to ensure all possible support for the implementation of the NLL project; the continuous growth of the Library had made it necessary to transfer parts of the stocks into other buildings. Thus, in 2013, NLL was distributed between five locations in Riga. Furthermore, some stocks were being stored since 1998 in a depot in Silakrogs outside the capital; these inconveniences convinced the Parliament to approve a new building on the left bank of the Daugava. On 15 May 2008, after discussions lasting for many years, the state agency Three New Brothers and the Union of National Construction Companies signed the contract on the construction of the new National Library of Latvia.
On 18 May 2014, the main facility of the Library at Krišjāņa Barona iela was close
The système universitaire de documentation or SUDOC is a system used by the libraries of French universities and higher education establishments to identify and manage the documents in their possession. The catalog, which contains more than 10 million references, allows students and researcher to search for bibliographical and location information in over 3,400 documentation centers, it is maintained by the Bibliographic Agency for Higher Education. Official website
The United States of America known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U. S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D. C. and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico; the State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean; the U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The diverse geography and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century; the United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776; the war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties; the United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.
By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power; the United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U. S. Moon landing; the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation, it is a representative democracy.
The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, other international organizations. The United States is a developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for a quarter of global GDP; the U. S. economy is post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U. S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, worker productivity.
The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, is a leading political and scientific force internationally. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci; the first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq. to George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army, Lt. Col. Joseph Reed. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort; the first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776. The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the'United States of America'".
The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be'The United States of America'". In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence; this draft of the document did not surface unti
History of China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty, during the king Wu Ding's reign, recorded as the twenty-first Shang king by the written records of Shang dynasty unearthed. Ancient historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian and the Bamboo Annals describe a Xia dynasty before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period, Shang writings do not indicate the existence of the Xia; the Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River; these Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations arose millennia before the Shang. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization; the Zhou dynasty supplanted the Shang, introduced the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule.
The central Zhou government began to weaken due to external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC, the country splintered into smaller states during the Spring and Autumn period. These states became warred with one another in the following Warring States period. Much of traditional Chinese culture and philosophy first developed during those troubled times. In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang conquered the various warring states and created for himself the title of Huangdi or "emperor" of the Qin, marking the beginning of imperial China. However, the oppressive government fell soon after his death, was supplanted by the longer-lived Han dynasty. Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly. In the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD 1912, routine administrative tasks were handled by a special elite of scholar-officials. Young men, well-versed in calligraphy, history and philosophy, were selected through difficult government examinations.
China's last dynasty was the Qing, replaced by the Republic of China in 1912, in the mainland by the People's Republic of China in 1949, resulting in two de facto states claiming to be the legitimate government of all China. Chinese history has alternated between periods of political unity and peace, periods of war and failed statehood – the most recent being the Chinese Civil War. China was dominated by steppe peoples, most of whom were assimilated into the Han Chinese culture and population. Between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese dynasties have ruled parts or all of China. Traditional culture, influences from other parts of Asia and the Western world, form the basis of the modern culture of China. What is now China was inhabited by Homo erectus more than a million years ago. Recent study shows that the stone tools found at Xiaochangliang site are magnetostratigraphically dated to 1.36 million years ago. The archaeological site of Xihoudu in Shanxi Province has evidence of use of fire by Homo erectus, dated 1.27 million years ago, Homo erectus fossils in China include the Yuanmou Man, the Lantian Man and the Peking Man.
Fossilised teeth of Homo sapiens dating to 125,000–80,000 BC have been discovered in Fuyan Cave in Dao County in Hunan. Evidence of Middle Palaeolithic Levallois technology has been found in the lithic assemblage of Guanyindong Cave site in southwest China, dated to 170,000–80,000 years ago; the Neolithic age in China can be traced back to about 10,000 BC. The earliest evidence of cultivated rice, found by the Yangtze River, is carbon-dated to 8,000 years ago. Early evidence for proto-Chinese millet agriculture is radiocarbon-dated to about 7000 BC. Farming gave rise to the Jiahu culture. At Damaidi in Ningxia, 3,172 cliff carvings dating to 6000–5000 BC have been discovered, "featuring 8,453 individual characters such as the sun, stars and scenes of hunting or grazing"; these pictographs are reputed to be similar to the earliest characters confirmed to be written Chinese. Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 7000 BC, Dadiwan from 5800 BC to 5400 BC, Damaidi around 6000 BC and Banpo dating from the 5th millennium BC.
Some scholars have suggested. Excavation of a Peiligang culture site in Xinzheng county, found a community that flourished in 5,500 to 4,900 BC, with evidence of agriculture, constructed buildings and burial of the dead. With agriculture came increased population, the ability to store and redistribute crops, the potential to support specialist craftsmen and administrators. In late Neolithic times, the Yellow River valley began to establish itself as a center of Yangshao culture, the first villages were founded. Yangshao culture was superseded by the Longshan culture, centered on the Yellow River from about 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Bronze artifacts have been found at the Majiayao culture site, The Bronze Age is represented at the Lower Xiajiadian culture site in northeast China. Sanxingdui located in what is now Sichuan province is believed to be the site of a major ancient city, of a unknown Bronze Age culture; the site was first discovered in 1929 and re-dis
University of Chicago [videos]
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. The university is composed of an undergraduate college, various graduate programs and interdisciplinary committees organized into five academic research divisions and seven professional …
An early convocation ceremony at the University of Chicago.
View from the Midway Plaisance.
Cobb Lecture Hall, part of the Main Quadrangles, was the first and most expensive of the campus' original 16 buildings. Designed by Henry Ives Cobb (no relation to benefactor Silas B. Cobb) and constructed in 1892, it was modeled after Gothic buildings at University of Oxford.
Many older buildings of the University of Chicago employ Collegiate Gothic architecture like that of the University of Oxford. For example, Chicago's Mitchell Tower (left) was modeled after Oxford's Magdalen Tower (right).
Columbia University [videos]
Columbia University is a private Ivy League research university in Upper Manhattan, New York City. Established in 1754, Columbia is the oldest institution of higher education in New York and the fifth-oldest institution of higher …
The Library at Columbia University, ca. 1900
1857 building
College Walk
History of China [videos]
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty, during the king Wu Ding's reign, who was recorded as the twenty-first Shang king by the written records of Shang dynasty unearthed. Ancient historical texts such as …
Timeline of Chinese history
10,000-year-old pottery, Xianren Cave culture (18000–7000 BC)
Bone Arrowheads, Peiligang culture (7000–5000 BC)
Butterfly-shaped ivory vessel with the pattern of two birds facing the sun, Hemudu culture (5500–3300 BC)
Song dynasty [videos]
The Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song …
Emperor Taizu of Song (r. 960–976), a court portrait painting
A portrait of Emperor Taizong of Song (r. 976–997), National Palace Museum, Taipei
A wooden Bodhisattva from the Song dynasty (960–1279).
A Liao dynasty polychrome wood-carved statue of Guan Yin, Shanxi Province, China, (907–1125)
Art history [videos]
Art history is the study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts; that is genre, design, format, and style. The study includes painting, sculpture, architecture, ceramics, furniture, and other decorative objects. — Art history is the history of different groups of …
Venus de Milo, at the Louvre.
Giorgio Vasari, Self-portrait c.1567
Anton von Maron, Portrait of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, 1768
Photographer unknown, Aby Warburg c. 1900
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign [videos]
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a public research university in Illinois and the flagship institution of the University of Illinois System. Founded in 1867 as a land-grant institution, its …
John Milton Gregory, the university's first president
Green Street in Campustown
Panorama facing north on UIUC's Main Quad
Round Barns found on the University of Illinois Experimental Dairy Farm Historic District part of ACES
University of Washington [videos]
The University of Washington is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. — Founded in 1861, Washington was first established in downtown Seattle approximately a decade after the city's founding to aid its economic …
Territorial University students in 1864
Grammar, Class of 1883
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition on the UW campus toward Mount Rainier in 1909
Geyser Basin at the University of Washington, 1919
Biblioteca Nacional de España [videos]
The Biblioteca Nacional de España is a major public library, the largest in Spain, and one of the largest in the world. It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos. — History — The library was founded by King Philip V in 1712 as the Palace Public Library …
Image: Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid) 09
Image: Plaza de Colón (Madrid) 02
Image: Madrid Biblioteca Nacional 02
National Library of Latvia [videos]
The National Library of Latvia also known as Castle of Light is a national cultural institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture of Latvia. The National Library of Latvia was formed in 1919 after the independent Republic of …
The main building of the National Library of Latvia in Riga
The historical main building, Krišjāņa Barona iela 14
Interior of the library
Conference hall Ziedonis
Woodrow Wilson Foundation [videos]
This article is about the American organization which granted prizes for international peace established in 1921. For the teaching fellowship program established in 1945, see Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. — The Woodrow Wilson Foundation was an educational non-profit created in 1921 …
Leading members of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation calling upon Wilson at his home in 1923: (L-R) Rose Davney Forbes, Boston; Mrs. Charles E. Simonson, New York; Caroline Rautz-Rees, Greenwich, CT; and Hamilton Holt, New York, Chair.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, shown here in 1913 as a young cabinet official in the Wilson administration, was Chairman of the National Committee of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.
Engraved certificate given by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation to donors to its 1922 endowment fund drive.
Smithsonian Institution [videos]
The Smithsonian Institution, founded on August 10, 1846 "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge," is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James …
Aircraft on display at the National Air and Space Museum, including a Ford Trimotor and Douglas DC-3 (top and second from top)
The Smithsonian Castle doorway
Bibliothèque nationale de France [videos]
The Bibliothèque nationale de France is the national library of France, located in Paris. It is the national repository of all that is published in France and also holds extensive historical collections. — History …
Reading room, Richelieu site
View of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, François-Mitterrand site
Bibsys [videos]
BIBSYS is an administrative agency set up and organized by the Ministry of Education and Research in Norway. They are a service provider, focusing on the exchange, storage and retrieval of data pertaining to research, teaching and learning – historically metadata related to library resources …
Screenshot of the Oria search page, showing a search for "Wikipedia" at the University of Bergen Library
Integrated Authority File [videos]
The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and …
GND: Screenshot of the German National Library (Browser: Opera 11.62).
National Library of the Czech Republic [videos]
The National Library of the Czech Republic is the central library of the Czech Republic. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture. The library's main building is located in the historical Clementinum building in Prague, where approximately half of its …
Baroque library hall in the National Library of the Czech Republic
Système universitaire de documentation [videos]
The système universitaire de documentation or SUDOC is a system used by the libraries of French universities and higher education establishments to identify, track and manage the documents in their possession. The catalog, which contains more than 10 million references, allows students and …
Screenshot from the Système Universitaire de Documentation (Sudoc)
Virtual International Authority File [videos]
The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of several national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. — History — Discussion about having a common international authority started in the late 1990s. After …
Screenshot 2012
James Cook [videos]
Captain James Cook was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. He made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the …
James Cook's 1775 chart of Newfoundland
Endeavour replica in Cooktown, Queensland harbour – anchored where the original Endeavour was beached for seven weeks in 1770
Portrait of James Cook by William Hodges, who accompanied Cook on his second voyage
A statue of James Cook stands in Waimea, Kauai commemorating his first contact with the Hawaiian Islands at the town's harbour in January 1778
Charlize Theron [videos]
Charlize Theron is a South African and American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and the Silver Bear for Best Actress. — Theron came to …
Theron in March 2018
Theron at the premiere of North Country at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival
Theron at WonderCon in March 2012 promoting Prometheus
Theron at the 2013 Crystal Award Ceremony for Exploring Arts in Society
Battle of Poltava [videos]
The Battle of Poltava was the decisive victory of Peter I of Russia, also known as "the Great," over the Swedish forces under Field Marshal Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld, in one of the battles of the Great Northern War. — It is widely believed by historians to have been the beginning of the …
The Battle of Poltava by Denis Martens the Younger (1726)
Orthodox church on the battlefield.
The Poltava Monument in Stockholm, Sweden.
The inscription on the monument in Stockholm: "To the fallen sons of the Fatherland" (Latin: "Filiis pro patria occisis").
Strasbourg [videos]
Strasbourg is the capital and largest city of the Grand Est region of France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located at the border with Germany in the historic …
Strasbourg seen from Spot Satellite
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor visiting Strasbourg in 1414, detail of a painting by Léo Schnug
Panorama from the Barrage Vauban with the medieval bridge Ponts Couverts in the foreground (the fourth tower is hidden by trees at the left) and the cathedral in the distance on the right.
Strasbourg, Cathedral of Our Lady
Battle of Crécy [videos]
The Battle of Crécy, also spelled Cressy, was an English victory during the Edwardian phase part of the Chevauchée of Edward III of 1346 during the Hundred Years' War. It was the first of three famous English successes during the conflict, followed by Poitiers in 1356 and Agincourt …
Image from a 15th-century illuminated manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles
Battle of Crécy (19th-century engraving)
English gun used at the Battle of Crécy
Edward III counting the dead on the battlefield of Crécy.
Imperial State Crown [videos]
The Imperial State Crown is one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and symbolises the sovereignty of the monarch. — It has existed in various forms since the 15th century. The current version was made in 1937 and is worn by the monarch after a coronation (St Edward's Crown having been used to …
Image: Imperial State Crown of George I
Image: Imperial State Crown of Queen Victoria
Image: Elizabeth II & Philip after Coronation
Image: Back of the Imperial State Crown
Second Crusade [videos]
The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by King Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098 …
St Bernard in stained glass, from the Upper Rhine, c. 1450
The Siege of Lisbon by D. Afonso Henriques by Joaquim Rodrigues Braga (1840)
Louis VII of France
Raymond of Poitiers welcoming Louis VII in Antioch
Bordeaux [videos]
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne in the Gironde department in Southwestern France. — The municipality of Bordeaux proper has a population of 252,040. Together with its suburbs and satellite towns …
Clockwise from top: Place de la Bourse by the Garonne, Allées du Tourny and Maison de Vin, Pierre Bridge on the Garonne, Meriadeck Commercial Centre, front of Palais Rohan Hotel, and Saint-André Cathedral with the Bordeaux tramway
Coins of the Bituriges Vivisci, 5th–1st century BC, derived from the coin designs of Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul. Cabinet des Médailles.
Merovingian tremisses minted in Bordeaux by the Church of Saint-Étienne, late 6th century. British Museum.
Édouard Manet: Harbour at Bordeaux, 1871
1804 dollar [videos]
The 1804 dollar or Bowed Liberty Dollar was a dollar coin struck by the Mint of the United States, of which fifteen specimens are currently known to exist. Though dated 1804, none were struck in that year; all were minted in the 1830s or later. They were first created for use in special proof coin …
The Spanish milled dollar was declared legal tender in the United States in 1793.
Rama III, the King of Siam, received the second set of coins distributed by Roberts.
Said bin Sultan was the recipient of a coin set containing an 1804 dollar.
A Class III 1804 dollar
Art and engraving on United States banknotes [videos]
In early 18th century Colonial America, engravers began experimenting with copper plates as an alternative medium to wood. Applied to the production of paper currency, copper-plate engraving allowed for greater detail and production during printing. It was the transition to steel engraving that …
Eight pence note (1778), engraved and printed by Paul Revere
Image: US NBN IL Lebanon 2057 Orig 1 400 C
Image: BEP BURT Concordia
Image: BEP BURT Landing of the Pilgrims
Lenny Kravitz [videos]
Leonard Albert Kravitz is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. His "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop, folk, and ballads. In addition to singing lead and backing vocals, Kravitz …
Kravitz in 2013
Kravitz in Brasília, Brazil on March 19, 2005
Kravitz performing in Madrid on June 30, 2012.
Lenny Kravitz live.
Shaquille O'Neal [videos]
Shaquille Rashaun "Shaq" O'Neal, is an American retired professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program Inside the NBA on TNT. He is widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of the National Basketball …
O'Neal in 2011
In 8 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers (1996–2004), O'Neal won three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002 and appeared in the 2004 NBA Finals.
O'Neal with Miami in 2007
O'Neal with Phoenix teammate Steve Nash.
Vincent van Gogh [videos]
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 …
Self-Portrait, 1887, Art Institute of Chicago
Vincent van Gogh photographed in January 1886
Sunflowers (F.458), repetition of the 4th version (yellow background), August 1889. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Wheatfield with Crows, 1890. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Mississippi River [videos]
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. Its source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it flows generally south for 2,320 miles to the …
Mississippi River near Fire Point in Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa
The beginning of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca (2004)
Former head of navigation, St. Anthony Falls
Confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, viewed from Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin
Castle [videos]
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages by predominantly the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is …
The Alcázar of Segovia in Spain overlooking the city
Built in 1385, Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, England, is surrounded by a water-filled moat.
Santa Maria da Feira Castle in Portugal, with its 15th-century pinnacles
The Norman "White Tower", the keep of the Tower of London, exemplifies all uses of a castle including city defence, a residence, and a place of refuge in times of crisis.
Patrick Dempsey [videos]
Patrick Galen Dempsey is an American actor and racing driver, best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in Grey's Anatomy, starring with Ellen Pompeo. He saw early success as an actor, starring in a number of films in the 1980s …
Dempsey in 2016
Dempsey at the 2008 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.
Dempsey waves to the crowd at the 2015 Indianapolis 500 where he served as the Honorary Starter
Necklace of the Stars [videos]
The Necklace of the Stars is a diamond necklace originally made for Queen Consort Maria Pia of Savoy. It is a piece of the Portuguese Crown Jewels. — History — The Necklace of the Stars was made in 1865 for the wife of King Luís I of Portugal, Queen Cosort Maria …
The Necklace of the Stars.
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The Latest: Mississippi River won’t be as high as feared
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Latest on Tropical Storm Barry (all times local):
Forecasters expect the Mississippi River to crest about 2 feet (0.6 meters) lower in New Orleans than previously predicted — good news for those who feared the river might spill over the levees that protect the city.
The National Weather Service said Friday night that the river will rise as high as 17.1 feet (5.2 meters) by Monday in New Orleans.
Forecasters had earlier thought the river would crest Saturday at about 19 feet (5.8 meters) in New Orleans. The levees protecting the city range from about 20 to 25 feet (6 to 7.5 meters) high.
Officials on the other side of a wide tidal basin from New Orleans are warning residents whose houses flooded in 2016 that they may face a repeat from Tropical Storm Barry.
St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister said in a news release Friday night that flooding is likely over the next several days in low-lying areas.
Spokesman Ronnie Simpson says about 700 homes in the Tchefunce (chuh-FUNK-tuh), Bogue Falaya (BOH-guh fuh-LY-uh) and Bogue Chitto river basins flooded in the spring of 2016.
The parish government says people who live in those areas should complete flood prevention work and seriously consider getting their families to higher ground.
Brister says National Weather Service models show that the rivers could rise very quickly, making evacuation difficult.
St. Tammany Parish is on the other side of the Lake Pontchartrain (PONCH-er-trane) from New Orleans.
Ahead of Tropical Storm Barry’s landfall, residents of southwestern Louisiana have been filling their shopping carts with supplies, including bottled water, canned goods and bread.
A Walmart Neighborhood Market in Lake Charles was packed with shoppers late Friday afternoon. Some shelves, including those in the bread aisles, were nearly empty.
Fifty-five-year-old Scott Daley maneuvered two shopping carts that carried bottled water, gallons of milk and frozen meat.
He says he has five small children and although he’s worried about possible flooding in the city, he and his family still plan on riding out the storm.
Another shopper, 31-year-old Trameka Tompkins, said she wasn’t too concerned about the storm. She said she expects to be at work Saturday night at Lowe’s.
Lake Charles is about 190 miles (305 kilometers) west of New Orleans.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has signed an emergency declaration ahead of Tropical Storm Barry, which is expected to bring heavy rainfall to the state.
Bryant signed the declaration Friday afternoon as Barry was pushing northward into Louisiana. Parts of south and central Mississippi were expected to be soaked, and flood warnings are posted. Residents have been filling sandbags and stocking up on groceries and bottled water.
Choppy waters were rocking boats on St. Louis Bay in Hancock County, which borders Louisiana.
New Orleans residents are stocking up on supplies as many plan to heed city officials’ advice to “shelter in place” ahead of Tropical Storm Barry’s arrival.
A Costco parking lot was thinning out Friday afternoon because the store was closing early.
But employee Henry LeGarde says the sprawling lot was full earlier Friday. He says the hottest commodity was bottled water.
In anticipation of the heavy rains expected to fall, residents all over town have parked their cars on the city’s medians in hopes the slightly elevated grounds would protect their vehicles.
The strengthening storm is expected to blow ashore early Saturday near Morgan City, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans.
Still recovering from 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, the city of Houston is helping neighboring Louisiana as Tropical Storm Barry looms.
Mayor Sylvester Turner’s office on Friday announced a Houston Relief Hub and a call for donations ranging from diapers to batteries to bottled water. The statement says relief items will be delivered directly to New Orleans.
A city of Houston tweet says some residents were “preparing to help our neighbors in New Orleans and the greater Louisiana area” as Barry headed toward the coast.
Harvey made landfall in South Texas in August 2017, then dumped nearly 50 inches (127 centimeters) of rain on parts of flood-prone Houston, causing numerous bayous to overflow.
Houston is located 340 miles (547 kilometers) west of New Orleans. It took in about 150,000 evacuees after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005.
There have been long lines at New Orleans’ international airport as people try to flee Tropical Storm Barry.
Tamara Lumpkin was heading home to Prince George’s County, Maryland on Friday. She’d come for a sorority convention that ended a day early because of the storm.
Lumpkin says it took only six minutes to rebook her flight once she explained the reason.
The first-floor baggage claim area was nearly deserted.
One new arrival was 64-year-old David Caton of Boca Raton, Florida. He said he flew in a day earlier than planned to make sure he got to see The Rolling Stones.
He knew the concert had been postponed from Sunday to Monday, but wanted to get in before the storm.
Search-and-rescue teams are stationed at three places in Mississippi in preparation for torrential rainfall from Tropical Storm Barry as it pushes north from the Gulf of Mexico.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman T.J. Werre (WARE-ee) said Friday the teams are on the Gulf Coast, at Camp Shelby military base near Hattiesburg and in Pike County in the southwestern part of the state near the Louisiana state line.
The coast is expected to receive tidal surge and the southwestern part of the state is expected to see the heaviest rainfall from Friday to Sunday.
About 550,000 acres (222,580 hectares) in the rural Mississippi Delta, north of Vicksburg, has been flooded for months — much of it, farmland. Werre says the storm could exacerbate that problem as it moves north along the Mississippi River.
More than 120 children from across the U.S. attending a summer program at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge have been evacuated to Texas amid concerns about flooding as Tropical Storm Barry approaches Louisiana’s coast.
A Rice University statement says the middle and high school students were brought by bus overnight to the campus in Houston and arrived around 4 a.m. Friday.
The students are part of three-week Duke University program for high-achieving students. Rice officials offered to help, citing its availability of campus housing and proximity to Baton Rouge. Both cities are along Interstate 10.
Parents were given the option to pick up their children from LSU, but students attend from across the country.
Rice officials also say the campus of the private school would be available for the evacuated students to finish their course if significant flooding happens in the Baton Rouge area.
Tropical Storm Barry is maintaining its strength as it moves toward Louisiana, where it threatens to bring heavy rains and flooding.
A Friday afternoon advisory from the U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm’s maximum sustained winds remain near 65 mph (104 kph). The hurricane center says additional strengthening is expected and the storm is forecast to be a hurricane when its center reaches the coast.
The slow-moving storm is prompting fears of flooding in New Orleans and surrounding areas. Hurricane warnings are in effect along the Louisiana coast.
A voluntary evacuation has been called for a Louisiana parish near Tropical Storm Barry’s expected landfall Saturday.
St. Mary Parish President David Hanagriff says many people have already left areas below the Intracoastal Waterway, where a voluntary evacuation was called Thursday. He says Friday’s voluntary evacuation was called after the storm’s predicted course shifted a bit west, putting the parish on the storm’s rainy eastern side.
Hanagriff says shelters will be opened, though he couldn’t say when.
He says drainage canals and ditches are being pumped to as low a level as possible, to create a reservoir for at least some of the rain predicted. Pumps sent by the state are being staged in Morgan City, where about 10,000 to 12,000 of the parish’s 50,000 to 55,000 residents live.
As Tropical Storm Barry approaches the state’s coast, tourists in New Orleans are being asked to “shelter in place” in their hotels if they don’t have confirmed airline reservations for flights out of the city.
The message came Friday at a news conference by city officials. The director of Louis Armstrong International Airport said long lines formed early Friday as many visitors sought early departures. And Kristian Sonnier (SAWN’-yay) of the local tourism agency, says people who don’t get flights out won’t be able to shelter at the airport.
Officials said one major convention, the annual meeting of Delta Sigma Theta Sorrority was wrapping up early.
The slow-moving storm is prompting fears of flooding in the region. Hurricane warnings are in effect along the Louisiana coast. The storm’s center is expected to come ashore Saturday.
Tropical Storm Barry is beginning to lash metropolitan New Orleans with its outer bands.
National Weather Service forecaster Christopher Bannan says one of those bands late Friday morning passed over the agency’s Slidell office, where the storm brought a wind gust of 25 mph (40 kph).
Bannan says the primary concern of forecasters in Louisiana remains the heavy rainfall and potential for significant flooding.
About a third of an inch of rain had already fallen at the weather service’s Slidell office before noon Friday.
Forecasters say Barry could dump 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain across a swath of Louisiana including New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Since Hurricane Katrina, groups of Louisiana residents calling themselves the Cajun Navy have used their own boats to rescue people from floods in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and other states.
The founder of one such group, United Cajun Navy, tells New Orleans station WWL-AM that many Louisiana members are scrambling to protect their homes as Tropical Storm Barry approaches, so out-of-state members are heading to Louisiana to be ready. Todd Terrell says the group has volunteers from seven states.
Terrell says members have been working to fill sandbags in the Baton Rouge area. He says his goal was 5,000 sandbags in three days and they’d filled three times that in a day-and-a-half.
He says they’re also delivering sandbags to people who are handicapped veterans, or disabled, and cannot get sandbags themselves.
The Rolling Stones have postponed their New Orleans concert as Tropical Storm Barry approaches the area, but the group’s website says the show will go on a day later.
The concert had been scheduled for Sunday after the group’s appearance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival earlier this year was canceled so singer Mick Jagger could get medical treatment.
The message on the rock group’s website says fans should hold on to their tickets because they will be honored the next day.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Barry is strengthening as it approaches the Louisiana coast and is again expected to become a hurricane when its center reaches land.
In a Friday morning advisory, the hurricane center said Barry’s maximum sustained winds have increased to near 65 mph (104 kph) with additional strengthening expected before landfall.
A storm surge warning has been issued for Lake Pontchartrain and eastward to Biloxi, Mississippi.
The slow-moving storm is prompting fears of flooding in the region.
Hurricane warnings are in effect along the Louisiana coast. The storm’s center is expected to come ashore Saturday.
Another coastal Louisiana parish has ordered evacuations as Tropical Storm Barry approaches from the Gulf of Mexico.
The Lafourche (luh-FOOSH) Parish Sheriff’s Office says there’s a mandatory evacuation for Port Fourchon (foo-SHONH) and other areas south of the Leon Theriot (“Terry-oh”) Lock in Golden Meadow.
The government has set up a dozen locations around the rest of the parish for people who need sandbags. Officials say people must bring their own shovels.
For people who have no safe place to evacuate, the parish has opened a shelter at the Raceland Recreation Center. People are advised to bring their own bedding, medication and food and water for three days, as well as identification. Children must be with adults, and the only animals allowed are service animals; no pets.
The National Weather Service in New Orleans says water is already starting to cover some low lying roads in coastal Louisiana as Tropical Storm Barry approaches the state from the Gulf of Mexico.
In a Friday morning tweet, the weather service says tides are rising and water levels are expected to peak Saturday.
Forecasters say there’s still a chance Barry will strengthen to a hurricane for a short time as it comes ashore on the Louisiana coast, where hurricane warnings are in effect.
National Hurricane Center director Ken Graham says people should be concerned even if Barry comes ashore as a tropical storm instead of a hurricane because its slow movement will bring hazardous drenching rain either way.
Speaking Friday, Graham said the storm’s slow movement means there’ll be more rainfall.
Forecasters say there’s still a chance Barry will strengthen to a hurricane for a short time as it comes ashore on the Louisiana coast, where hurricane warnings are in effect. Pockets of Louisiana could get rainfalls as high as 25 inches (63 centimeters).
Tropical Storm Barry is slowly churning off the Louisiana coast as communities from the coast to New Orleans keep a close eye on its predicted path.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Friday morning that the center of the storm was about 95 miles (155 kilometers) southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River and its top winds were blowing at 50 mph (85 kph).
Forecasters stress that the slow movement of the storm is likely to bring a massive drenching, with pockets of Louisiana experiencing rainfalls as high as 25 inches (63 centimeters).
Hurricane warnings are in effect along the Louisiana coast. The storm’s center was expected to come ashore late Friday or early Saturday. It could grow into the first hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Tropical Storm Barry’s wind and rain are starting to hit Louisiana as New Orleans and coastal communities brace for what’s expected to be the first hurricane of the season.
A hurricane warning was in effect along the Louisiana coast, and forecasters said the storm could make landfall as a hurricane by early Saturday.
But it’s the storm’s rains that are expected to pose a severe test of New Orleans’ improved post-Katrina flood defenses. Barry could bring more than a foot and a half (0.5 meters) of rain to parts of the state as it moves slowly inland.
PreviousForecasters: Mississippi River expected to crest at 17.1 feet, not 19 feet; New Orleans levees are at least 20 feet tall
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Humans of William & Mary
love & understanding
Women of William & Mary
One Last Thing 2018
Map of Good Vibes
Charter Day 2016
Applying Knowledge to Serve
by wmhumans December 9, 2018 December 8, 2018
What is an activity or an extracurricular that you’ve been involved in that has been particularly meaningful to you?
I’ve done a lot over the time that I’ve been here, but the one thing that has been the most consistent is my involvement with Baptist Campus Ministries. I came to school not expecting to be in a campus ministry, but a friend convinced me to go. It’s been a really interesting space for me to grow, because I come from a very conservative family. There was a disjunction for me because I didn’t grow up believing in the same sorts of things that my parents and my church supported. Coming into a space that was more inclusive was very meaningful, but also being able to be a part of that and come to terms with a lot of negative feelings I still had towards the church has been interesting. I’ve also been a small group Bible study leader for the past two years. I’ve tailored our discussions to be about how we can talk about the church in a more critical light to make it a more inclusive space for people of different sexualities, gender identities, and things like that.
How has your personal perception of religion changed as a result of your involvement with the campus ministry?
I definitely came into college as an atheist, but through Baptist Campus Ministries I’ve found a renewed faith in some form of a higher power. My spirituality is very different than a lot of Baptists. I think that most people who are involved in campus ministries have a very well-formed, concrete idea of their beliefs. But for me, I had to reconnect with religion through thinking about how I can use this framework of Christianity and my understanding of Jesus to better emphasize love and compassion and care for others in a way that makes sense to me.
What are your thoughts on how religious organizations on campus can progress and change for the better – do you have any specific ideas about that?
Definitely – something that has been important to me is bridging the gap between the rest of campus and the campus ministries because I think we can tend to be very insular and isolated from the rest of campus. I’ve noticed that people within campus ministries tend to only hang out with other people in the campus ministries, and it’s seen as almost negative to be a part of other things. There’s a certain level of worldliness that this ought to take precedence. But I think Christians have a calling to go out into the world and seek out people that are different from them and to have an exchange of viewpoints. If we’re having these exchanges, then maybe I can show you Jesus through my experiences and then through listening to others, I can better understand perspectives that are different from my own. I’ve tried to bring people that aren’t associated with campus ministries into our discussions and then to bring people in campus ministries outside of their bubbles. It’s really been my goal to combine those two worlds to form a more inclusive and understanding community. In particular, my small group this year focused on science and religion, and how science and Christianity often conflict. We’ve been exploring how that’s such a false dichotomy – you can believe in a higher power and faith, but you can also believe in the Big Bang and physics. We also talked about climate change earlier in the year, and how that’s so important in the discussion of communities that are more affected by climate change in relation to environmental racism. There’s a Christian moral imperative to address that. So again, just bridging the gap between this bubble that Christians often live in and the rest of the world has been really valuable to me.
The individual that nominated you for Women of William & Mary also mentioned your involvement in Vox: Planned Parenthood Generation Action. In what ways has your faith contributed to or possibly conflicted with that?
I haven’t been as involved in Vox this year as previous years, but in previous years I’ve tried to be an advocate for people that are pro-choice. That definitely conflicts with the typical views of the church and church doctrine. I actually had the chance to speak at a Vox event about being religious and pro-choice, and I think again it comes down to having a social justice mindset. All Christians are called to love others, and I think there’s nothing loving about deciding that people can’t make choices about their own bodies. It’s been an interesting tension because a lot of people in campus ministries don’t have that same mindset as me. But at the same time, there’s still been a space for me to share different viewpoints with those in the campus ministries, and I’ve really appreciated getting to talk about Vox in our large group meetings. If we can start a dialogue, we’ll be more likely to get things done and find commonalities. Pro-choice or not, we can agree that we want less people to have abortions. But that’s not the narrative that people who are pro-life may not acknowledge about people who are pro-choice. But when we start conversations and both sides try to understand the other more, there’s a greater chance for compromise. This year I’ve been able to start a community within my small group where we specifically talk about issues that Christians don’t typically like to talk about, like abortion, sex, and what’s it like to be in the LGBT community and the church. It’s an open space for conversation, its judgment-free, and we’ll all still care about each other at the end of the day.
Is your small group only female?
No, although I would say Baptist Campus Ministries as a whole has more girls in it, but there are a few girls in my small group.
That’s interesting, because I know that some other religious organizations on campus specifically separate their small groups by gender. I’d imagine that it’s actually really productive to have both included because it provides an opportunity for more perspectives to be shared.
Definitely, and I’ve been aggressively against having specific male and female small groups in Baptist Campus Ministries, just because I think that when you really get down to it, the experiences of men and women aren’t all that different.
Another aspect that I remember from your nomination is the person stating that anyone can study or talk about doing something, but you would be the one to actually step up and directly face an issue. Why do you think you choose to be a participant rather than just an observer?
Particularly at William & Mary, I think we have a tendency to lean towards academia, but that isn’t necessarily where my strengths lie. It’s great to talk about issues, but I like to figure out what the actual impact of our words are. Everything in theory is only useful for its practical value. I want to explore what we can do with information and how we can take actions that will actually invoke change in communities. At the end of the day, my mindset is “can I do something with my life that improves the lives of others?” Although I think academia and the pursuit of knowledge are incredibly worthwhile, what is knowledge if you’re not using for the benefit of someone else? I think that people in academics and William & Mary students have a responsibility to acknowledge that they get to go to college and should explore how they can use the things they learn to impact others.
I grew up in a very rural community, and quite frankly, going to college was not the norm or the expectation for people from my area. I’m a first generation college student, and I think maybe twenty to thirty people, out of my graduating class of one hundred and forty people, went on to a four year college. I grew up around people who did not have access to knowledge, and who were stuck in a lot of cycles of poverty, addition, poor healthcare, and all these negative things. There’s this whole other realm of people who are talking about these issues that people face, but aren’t making any attempts to address them. As people of privilege, we have a moral imperative to do things for other people who are in need. So I think that’s been what drives me to want to take direct action within communities, specifically bridging the gap between the bubble of William & Mary and the broader community.
How has that mindset been apparent in your involvement with Greater City Williamsburg?
I was involved with Greater City from my sophomore year to my junior year. We know that poverty in Williamsburg is a big deal, but Greater City tried to bridge the gap between what we know and what we’re doing. I think Greater City does a really good job of getting into communities, talking to people, feeding people, fostering friendships, and creating a space where students can create relationships with people that they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. I think the median family income of William & Mary students is something like $75,000, and that’s insane because so many people in Williamsburg are living below the poverty line. So, I really appreciate the work that Greater City does in bridging the gap between what we know and what we can do for people.
There were so many activities that were listed in your nomination application, and I feel like that really speaks to your commitment to community development.
For sure, those activities have made my time at William & Mary so meaningful – Baptist Campus Ministries, Vox, Greater City, and then I also work for AidData, Virginia Institute for Marine Science, and I’ve been an RA.
One final question that we’ve wanted to ask all of our Women of William & Mary nominees is, what’s a piece of advice that you would give to other female students?
I think what a lot of William & Mary students struggle with is being confident. So I would say, if you’re doing what you love, then you’re doing something worthwhile. Know that you can do it, whatever it is. If you love it, do it even if it’s hard and even if it seems like it’s not worthwhile at times. You should never feel like you have to apologize for who you are or how you interact with the world. I’m thinking in particular of a friend of mine that I’ve been getting to know better recently. She always apologizes for things, and I just want to tell her that I can see how well she’s doing and that she doesn’t have to be sorry for trying. I think we all get to William & Mary and realize that there’s a lot of smart people here, and so we feel the need to apologize for not being good at everything. But no, you’re doing amazing, and the people around you here are happy to help you realize that.
Categories: Women of William & Mary
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Ups and Downs, and Everything in Between.
Laugh the Hardest.
The Journey of Doing Things.
Excited about life.
Learn, think, and grow.
Path of Spirituality.
One Loving House.
Gratitude Journal.
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Infection (disambiguation)
Honey (Andy Williams album)
Honey (Jay-Z and R. Kelly song)
Honey (Jimmy McGriff album)
Almost Human (TV series)
A wound is a type of injury which happens relatively quickly in which skin is torn, cut, or punctured (an open wound), or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion (a closed wound). In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin.
According to level of contamination a wound can be classified as
Clean wound, a wound made under sterile conditions where there are no organisms present in the wound and the wound is likely to heal without complications.
Contaminated wound, where the wound is as a result of accidental injury where there are pathogenic organisms and foreign bodies in the wound.
Infected wound, where the wound has pathogenic organisms present and multiplying showing clinical signs of infection, where it looks yellow, oozing pus, having pain and redness.
Colonized wound, where the wound is a chronic one and there are a number of organisms present and very difficult to heal (i.e. a bedsore).
Open wounds can be classified according to the object that caused the wound. The types of open wound are:
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Wound
An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organization by a foreign species.
Infection (medical) may refer to Neonatal infection
Infection (journal), a medical journal
Infection may also refer to:
"Infection" (Babylon 5), a 1994 episode of the television series Babylon 5
"Infection" (Stargate Atlantis), a 2008 episode of Stargate Atlantis.
Infection (2005 film), a 2005 American horror film set in Lawton, California.
Infection (2004 film), the English title of the Japanese film Kansen
Infection (2003 film), a 2003 Croatian film
Infection, a horror podcast novel by Scott Sigler
Infection, a game type in the games Halo 3 and Halo: Reach
Infected may refer to:
Infected, a song from the film Repo! The Genetic Opera
Infected (video game), PlayStation Portable game published by Planet Moon Studios
Infected (The The album), 1986
Infected (Hammerfall album), 2011
"Infected" (song), a single released in 1994 by Bad Religion
"Infected", a 2001 single by Barthezz
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Infection_(disambiguation)
Honey is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the spring of 1968 by Columbia Records. The album made its first appearance on Billboard's Top LP's chart in the issue dated June 8, 1968, and remained there for 40 weeks, peaking at number nine. It entered the UK album chart shortly thereafter in July and reached number four over the course of 17 weeks, and the Recording Industry Association of America awarded the album Gold certification on November 1 of that year.
The album was released on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on March 23, 1999, the other album being Williams's Columbia release from the spring of 1969, Happy Heart. This same pairing was also released as two albums on one CD by Sony Music Distribution in 2000. The Collectables CD was included in a box set entitled Classic Album Collection, Vol. 1, which contains 17 of his studio albums and three compilations and was released on June 26, 2001.
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Honey_(Andy_Williams_album)
"Honey" is a 2002 song by R&B singer R. Kelly and rapper Jay-Z. It was also co-written by the song producers, Poke and Tone. It was released in late 2002 as the first single from The Best of Both Worlds. It peaked at number 109 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song charted at number 35 on the UK singles chart and 84 on the Australian singles chart. There is no music video for this song.
Weekly charts
Billboard.com – Official song page on Billboard.com
Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Honey_(Jay-Z_and_R._Kelly_song)
Honey is an album by American jazz organist Jimmy McGriff featuring McGriff's performances of contemporary soul music hits recorded in 1968 and first released on the Solid State label.
AllMusic gave the album 3 stars.
"(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" (Aretha Franklin, Teddy White) - 2:22
"Respect" (Otis Redding) - 2:03
"Chain of Fools" (Don Covay) - 3:37
"We're a Winner" (Curtis Mayfield) - 2:06
"Up, Up and Away" (Jimmy Webb) - 2:45
"Tell Mama" (Clarence Carter) - 2:15
"Honey" (Bobby Russell) - 2:30
"I Thank You" (David Porter, Isaac Hayes) - 2:04
"I Got the Feelin'" (James Brown) - 2:10
"Baby, I Love You" (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector) - 2:46
"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (Steve Cropper, Otis Redding) - 2:09
Jimmy McGriff - organ
Uncredited musicians - trumpet, trombone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, guitar, electric bass, drums
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Honey_(Jimmy_McGriff_album)
Skin is the soft outer covering of vertebrates. Other animal coverings such as the arthropod exoskeleton have different developmental origin, structure and chemical composition. The adjective cutaneous means "of the skin" (from Latin cutis, skin). In mammals, the skin is an organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of ectodermal tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and internal organs. Skin of a different nature exists in amphibians, reptiles, and birds. All mammals have some hair on their skin, even marine mammals like whales, dolphins, and porpoises which appear to be hairless. The skin interfaces with the environment and is the first line of defense from external factors. For example, the skin plays a key role in protecting the body against pathogens and excessive water loss. Its other functions are insulation, temperature regulation, sensation, and the production of vitamin D folates. Severely damaged skin may heal by forming scar tissue. This is sometimes discoloured and depigmented. The thickness of skin also varies from location to location on an organism. In humans for example, the skin located under the eyes and around the eyelids is the thinnest skin in the body at 0.5 mm thick, and is one of the first areas to show signs of aging such as "crows feet" and wrinkles. The skin on the palms and the soles of the feet is 4 mm thick and the back is 14 mm thick and is the thickest skin in the body. The speed and quality of wound healing in skin is promoted by the reception of estrogen.
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Skin
Almost Human is an American science fiction/crime drama that aired from November 17, 2013, through March 3, 2014, on Fox. The series was created by J. H. Wyman for Frequency Films, Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television. Wyman, Bryan Burk and J. J. Abrams are executive producers. After one season, Fox canceled the series on April 29, 2014.
In 2048, the uncontrollable evolution of science and technology has caused crime rates to rise an astounding 400%. To combat this, the overwhelmed police force has implemented a new policy: every human police officer is paired with a lifelike combat-model android.
John Kennex (Karl Urban), a troubled detective, has a reason to hate these new robot partners. Almost two years previously, Kennex and his squad were raiding the hideout of a violent gang known as InSyndicate, but ended up being ambushed and outgunned. Kennex tried to save his badly injured partner, but the accompanying logic-based android officer abandoned them both because the wounded man's chances of survival were low and it wouldn't have been "logical" to save him. An explosion then took off Kennex's leg and killed his partner.
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Almost_Human_(TV_series)
dailyskinhealth.com
businessskincenter.com
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dubaiskincenter.com
naturalhomeopathycures.com
panamaskincenter.com
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Amazon adds 10 additional Boeing 767-300F freighters
Amazon continues to invest in ways to provide fast, free delivery for customers.
Today, the company announced an expansion of its partnership with Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (ATSG) by leasing an additional 10 aircraft to support Amazon’s growth. Amazon previously leased 40 Boeing 767 freighter aircraft in 2016, 20 of those with ATSG, all of which are now flying serving customers in the Amazon Air network.
The 10 additional cargo planes will consist of Boeing 767-300 aircraft, will be operated on Amazon’s behalf by an ATSG airline, and will join the air cargo operation over the next two years.
Amazon Air’s operation launched in 2016 supporting package delivery to the rapidly growing number of customers who love fast delivery, great prices and vast selection. With advanced algorithms and software used for capacity and route planning, the Amazon Air operation can transport hundreds of thousands of packages per day. In addition, with Amazon’s dedicated air network, Amazon is able to deliver packages to its customers faster – 40 aircraft are flying in and out of gateway operations at over 20 airports, making two-day shipping possible almost anywhere in the U.S.
Amazon will open a new Regional Air Hub next year at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, and the Air Hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will open in 2021. Recently, Amazon also announced a gateway operation to launch in Wilmington, Ohio, in 2019 as well as an expanded operation in Rockford, Illinois. Since its launch, Amazon’s air cargo operation has invested millions of dollars and created thousands of new jobs at locations across the U.S.
Amazon has launched several initiatives to ensure fast delivery speeds and supply chain capacity for its customers, including its Delivery Service Partner program, Amazon Flex, the company’s mobile application that allows individuals to sign-up, be vetted and begin delivering for Amazon, a dedicated network of over 10,000 trailers to increase trucking capacity and, now, the expanded fleet of air cargo planes. These efforts join Amazon’s robust worldwide network of more than 185 fulfillment centers where the company uses high-end algorithms, robotics, machine learning and other technological innovations to increase delivery speeds for customers. Amazon is now bringing the same technological expertise to efforts in the transportation space to increase shipping capacity for customers.
This entry was posted in Amazon Air, ATI-Air Transport International, Prime Air and tagged Amazon Air, Amazon Prime, ASTG, ATI, Prime Air on December 21, 2018 by Bruce Drum.
← British Airways to fly to Split, Croatia from London City Boeing delivers the first 737 MAX airplane to Royal Air Maroc →
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Smokin’ New Technology to Produce Flu Vaccines
By the Children’s Health Defense Team
CHD NOTE: After the recent media uproar about the CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald’s resignation, which focused on the inappropriateness of her ownership in tobacco stock, the CHD team decided to investigate further. What we uncovered is new technology that utilizes tobacco leaves to produce vaccines in a much shorter time frame and clinical trials are already underway using this new technology to produce flu vaccines here in the US. So maybe Fitzgerald’s stocks had nothing to do with smoking tobacco cessation and everything to do with vaccine production?
By nearly everyone’s admission, this year’s influenza vaccine has been a colossal flop. In any given year, flu shot effectiveness in the United States varies widely anyway, but this year’s estimates point to rock-bottom effectiveness of 10%. The previous low over the past five years was an estimated 19% for the 2014-2015 influenza season, when public health researchers concluded that the shot “offered little protection” against the predominant influenza strain. (This does not even take into account research showing that individuals who get the flu shot year after year have diminished protection and are at greater risk of spreading the flu to others.) The figure below shows the flu vaccine’s inconsistent levels of effectiveness since 2004.
Influenza vaccine effectiveness, 2004-2017 (Source: CDC)
Pharmaceutical companies and public health officials acknowledge the issue of “suboptimal” influenza vaccine effectiveness and blame it on a variety of factors, including the conventional flu vaccine production process that uses eggs or cultured mammalian cells and requires a six-month lead time. With the exponential growth of the biotechnology industry, a search has been underway to genetically engineer vaccines that are less cumbersome and more cost-effective to make.
…interest in molecular farming strategies has skyrocketed in the past decade alongside the push to develop ever more vaccines.
The emerging technology of plant-based vaccine production, or “molecular farming,” inserts viral vectors that contain specific genetic information into plants; these genetic instructions tell the plants to produce target proteins that later are harvested to make vaccines. This is called recombinant protein production. Although initial attempts to produce vaccines in plants date back to the early 1990s, interest in molecular farming strategies has skyrocketed in the past decade alongside the push to develop ever more vaccines.
The pivotal role of military dollars
Interestingly, one of the parties most invested in the plant-based model of vaccine production is the US military. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded trials that showed plant-based vaccine production to be capable of making 10 million doses of flu vaccine in 30 days while bearing infrastructure costs that reportedly were 10 times lower than for other vaccine manufacturing methods. DARPA was enthusiastic about these results.
DARPA views potential pandemics and biodefense as matters of national security and—guided by its strategic objective of “harnessing biology as technology”—has sought to acquire capability for quick, on-demand production of vaccines to “enable [an] agile, robust, and rapid surge response.” After launching an Accelerated Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals program in 2005 to begin studying plants as a vaccine manufacturing platform, DARPA began pouring additional millions into these efforts in 2009 when the H1N1 influenza virus appeared on the scene.
…consumers seemingly “like the idea of creating something positive from a plant with such negative stigma.”
Rehabilitating tobacco—and tobacco stocks
Various properties of tobacco make it an excellent vehicle for molecular farming and for influenza vaccines, in particular. Proponents of tobacco-based vaccine production cite tobacco’s “winning attributes” (including the fact that it is “robust and hearty” and grows to maturity quickly) and also report that consumers seemingly “like the idea of creating something positive from a plant with such negative stigma.”
The mention of tobacco’s public relations problems is noteworthy in the context of Brenda Fitzgerald’s January 31, 2018 resignation from her post as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Media reports embarrassed the nation’s top public health official into resigning when it became apparent that she had financial conflicts of interest, including sizeable investments in both the tobacco and vaccine industries, among others. Fitzgerald’s published tobacco investments include holdings in Japan Tobacco (JT), the world’s third largest and fastest growing tobacco company (with one-third ownership by the Japanese government). Japan Tobacco makes leading cigarette brands such as Camel and Winston and boasts of having “roots in many of the most famous tobacco companies around the world,” including RJ Reynolds in the US and Gallaher Group in the UK.
Although the media uproar about the CDC director’s resignation focused mostly on the inappropriateness of Fitzgerald’s tobacco investments, the news reports ignored the increased blurring of distinctions between the tobacco and pharmaceutical sectors. For example, recognizing the limited prospects for growth in traditional tobacco sales, Japan Tobacco launched a pharmaceutical division in 1987, which develops, manufactures and sells prescription drugs for metabolic and autoimmune diseases as well as “viral infection.” Even as JT’s tobacco market “struggles amid a tough business climate,” its pharmaceutical arm is “growing rapidly” and shareholders are pushing for it to become a “core operation.” JT also has been forging strategic partnerships with biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies for many years, including obtaining exclusive rights in 1999 to market eventual lung cancer vaccines. All of this exemplifies two converging global trends toward the pharmaceuticalization of the tobacco industry and reliance by the pharmaceutical sector on vaccines as their engine for growth. Given the CDC’s central role in vaccine production and distribution, these types of overlapping relationships cast Fitzgerald’s financial commitments to companies like JT in an even more questionable light.
Reflecting a similarly dizzying entanglement between pharmaceutical and tobacco ambitions, another Japanese company—Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC)—is one of the industry leaders in the tobacco-to-vaccine technology. MTPC acquired the technology in 2012-2013 when it partnered with the Quebec-based biotech firm Medicago to develop and commercialize influenza and other vaccines. It went on to purchase most of Medicago the following year—with the exception of roughly 38% of the company already owned by the tobacco giant Philip Morris! Medicago perfected the plant-based vaccine production technology at a deluxe 97,000 square foot DARPA-funded greenhouse in North Carolina.
MTPC expects to bring the tobacco-based vaccine technology to market in the US (where approval standards are less rigorous than in Japan) in fiscal 2018 or 2019. With DARPA and US Army funding and Medicago sponsorship, the results of pre-clinical studies and Phase I clinical trials that examined the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines already have been published. Poised to finalize its clinical trials this year in the U.S., MTPC anticipates over $700 million in annual sales by fiscal 2020, a sales target that, if achieved, would represent nearly one-fifth (18.4%) of the estimated $3.8 billion annual market for flu shots globally.
It is difficult to ascertain whether JT and MTPC are competitors or collaborators, but the two certainly frequent many of the same circles. For example, Japanese drug researchers often disclose financial and research support from both companies, and the two businesses both are members of the Japan Microbiome Consortium. Both also have drug development and distribution agreements with the same third parties.
Will more collaboration be in the two companies’ future, as JT seeks to build up its vaccine business and MTPC looks for tobacco producers with the expertise to help tobacco-based vaccine manufacturing come fully online? And how much of all this did Dr. Fitzgerald know when she purchased Japan Tobacco stock shortly after her appointment to direct the CDC’s four-billion-dollar-a-year vaccine program?
Note: A follow-up Children’s Health Defense article will examine safety considerations pertaining to these newer vaccine technologies.
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The Vaccine Program: Betrayal of Public Trust & Institutional Corruption—Part 6 of 7.
“A Foolish Faith In Authority Is The Worst Enemy Of The Truth”– Albert Einstein
By Vera Sharav
Note from the Children’s Health Defense Team: Following is Part Six in Vera Sharav’s seven-part exposé of the complex and widespread corruption that exists in the vaccination program, the deceptive practices by officials of “authoritative” international public health institutions and further evidence of the callous disregard for the plight of thousands of children and young adults who suffer irreversible harm. Sharav’s research is a must-read by those in our community.
This recourse to authority is an attitude reminiscent of the American eugenics movement, when public health officials and academics at elite universities, embraced the pseudo-scientific tenets of eugenics, which were the basis for abhorrent discriminatory policies, including forced sterilization policies that were launched in the USA.[60]
The internal CDC documents reveal that in addition to major methodological flaws and inconsistencies, CDC scientists and Danish scientists collaborated in outright fraud. Thorsen and his co-authors manipulated the results by excluding the largest outpatient clinic in Copenhagen – comprising 20% of autism cases in Denmark – from the pre-1992 cohort – thereby artificially inflating the autism incidence in Denmark after 1992 when thimerosal had been eliminated from children’s vaccines.
Furthermore, the authors of the Pediatrics (2003) article falsified their findings by omitting the 2001 data from their published report. The published report claims an astoundingly high (implausible) increase in the autism prevalence rate in Denmark after the phase-out and removal of thimerosal between 1990 and 1999.
This case reveals much about the corrupted vaccine literature. Indeed, the research community has not only failed to examine Thorsen / CDC research fraud, journal editors are knowingly facilitating fraudulent research articles to influence vaccination policies that put thousands of children at risk, depriving them of living normal lives.
The publicly accessible, internal CDC correspondence[1] allows anyone to trace the underhanded route that led to the publication of the Madsen/Thorsen/ et al report in the journal Pediatrics – after it was rejected by the Lancet and by JAMA. A written communication between Dr. Thorsen and high ranking CDC official, Coleen Boyle (2003) reveals that when the paper was first submitted to Pediatrics with the 2001 data included; it was criticized by one peer-reviewer:
“The drop of incidence shown for the most recent years is perhaps the most dramatic feature of the figure, and is seen in the oldest age group as well as the youngest.” The reviewer questions the authors’ failure to discuss “the possibility that this decrease might have come about through elimination of [T]himerosal.”
The internal CDC documents further show that CDC brought pressure to bear on journal editors to publish the Danish studies. Dr. Cordero, Assistant Surgeon General, National Center on Birth Defects & Developmental Disabilities used his influence to persuade Dr. Lucey to publish the Madsen / Thorsen study, “Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism”
“I am writing in support of an expedited review and consideration of the enclosed manuscript… Specific aspects of vaccinations have been subject to inquiry includ[ing] the MMR vaccine and thimerosal…For thimerosal there are limited data…The Danish study is a powerful epidemiologic study …a key strength of the study is the ability to examine rates of autism prior to and after the discontinuation of vaccines containing thimerosal in Denmark in 1992. Contrary to what would be expected if thimerosal was linked to autism, the authors did not observe a decline in the rate of autism with the removal of thimerosal…
Its findings provide one strong piece of evidence that thimerosal is not causally linked to autism.” [Exhibit V: Cordero letter to Lucey]
How is it that even as thousands of journal papers are retracted from the scientific record – Retraction Watch counted more than 14,000 retractions– some are retracted for spurious reasons, others provide no explanation – yet, deliberately manipulated, fraudulent reports that were crafted to conceal vaccine safety hazards, have never been removed from the scientific literature. In fact, they continue to influence public health policy inasmuch as they were published in “authoritative” “high impact” journals.
In the case of Pediatrics, a fraudulent study was published despite the fact that its editors knew that the 2001 data was omitted from the final version.
US public health officials not only failed to disavow the fugitive’s research, federal officials have continued to collaborate and to co-author papers with him.
Dr. Thorsen continues to collaborate with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network.
Federal dollars continued to flow to studies in which he was or is involved.
Thorsen is the named author of at least 19 reports following his fugitive status – “after his “disappearance”. The journals include: Pediatric Neurology (2016), PLoS One (2015), Pediatric Research (2014), Journal of Autism Development (2013), PLoS One (2013) (NCBI search)
Both the HHS and DOJ continue to use his research as grounds to reject vaccine injury claims in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation.
No retraction of the articles he was associated with during and subsequent to his 2004 to 2010 alleged criminal activities has occurred.
The entire US public health machine acts as if the indictment never occurred.
Public health officials and the news media are using fear and exaggeration about the risks of infectious disease in the U.S., as well as the risks posed by un-vaccinated children, which is pitting neighbor against neighbor and parent against parent. They use the classic divide and conquer strategy.
Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), responded to Thorsen’s indictment stating:
“even if the allegation against Thorsen is true, it does not mean his science is bad… Let’s assume it is true that he embezzled money, the notion that it casts the science into question is false. For these big epidemiological studies, it is hard to believe that one person could effectively change the data.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2010)
Dr. Offit is considered to be a leading authority, an ardent and outspoken vaccine defender/ promoter. This statement encapsulates the low regard that vaccinologists have for the integrity of vaccine science. Of course, like most vaccine promoters, Dr. Offit’s blatant conflicts of interest have enabled him to “vote himself rich”. [61]He is quoted in Newsweek (2008) stating that the millions he made from the rotavirus vaccine patent: “was like winning the lottery.”
I believe that even if the allegations of embezzlement are not true, the evidence is indisputable that the studies produced by Poul Thorsen, and published in premier medical journals, are fatally flawed. By altering the inclusion criteria, excluding data that contradicted the authors’ claimed conclusion relegated the study to the ash heap of fraudulent junk science.
Furthermore, the following two studies “were conducted and results published without legally–required ethics clearances.”
A Population-Based Study of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccination and Autism” was published by The New England Journal of Medicine (2002);
The validity of Childhood Autism in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register (co-authored by CDC scientist Diana Schendel) was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2010).
“CDC officials knew that the psychiatric registry records were reviewed without required permissions and they covered it up. In what are completely unethical acts by all involved, the team members went into damage control mode and decided that they likely could obtain permission for ongoing and future studies.
They concluded that it would probably be impossible to get permission for research that was already finalized (and published). It is absurd that experienced federal grants management officials even discussed the idea of seeking a human subject safety review retroactively. These are serious ethical violations. [sic] they shed light on the pervasive culture of corruption at the CDC.”[62]
In January 2013, a Congressional hearing on autism[63] convened by the Government Oversight Committee.
Dr. Coleen Boyle (had by then been promoted to) Director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, and Dr. Alan Guttmacher, Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute of the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) defended their agencies but provided no substantive information.
Boyle and Guttmacher evaded pertinent questions. When asked about why the number of children with autism has surged, they testified that autism has no known cause or cure; their focus was statistical tracking and detection tools.
When asked if CDC had sought constituent input?
Are there studies looking at the very aggressive way that we’re over-vaccinating our children”?
Are you looking at the impacts of combinations of vaccines”?
Boyle responded, “We know that vaccines save lives.”
No response was given to the following questions:
What steps were taken to ensure the integrity of the studies in which Thorsen was involved?
Why did the FDA and HHS take thimerosal out of all children’s vaccines except just the one or two or three, if there was no problem?
Both Republicans and Democrats were exasperated by the evasive responses.
Dr. Boyle finally acknowledged: “We have not studied vaccinated versus unvaccinated [children]”.
Dr. Guttmacher tried to impress the committee with non-specific claims of accomplishments: the NIH $169 million budget allocation for autism in 2011; he claimed “effective interventions…recent advances in networks” but could not give an example of an effective autism treatment resulting from the last 10 yrs in which the NIH had spent $500 million dollars on autism research, Dr. Guttmacher responded that progress had been “elusive” due to lack of funding. He did not wish to respond to the question, why thimerosal was still used in multi-vial vaccinations?
“I’m just sitting here, and I’m listening to all this. There’s something wrong with this picture. There’s something wrong… When you’ve got this combination of shots, and you go from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 88, it seems to me somebody would say, wait a minute, let’s put the brakes on this, and at least let’s try to figure out whether the multiple-shot situation is causing this —
If I’m giving a baby nine shots in a day whether that—I mean, how much impact that’s having… you said there’s a body of evidence with regard to vaccines…
Mr. Chairman, I don’t know where we go from here… if we’re going to err, let’s err on the side of keeping children safe even if we have to [sic] do a pause and give one shot a day.”
Mark Blaxill, the author of The Age of Autism (2010), which documents that autism did not exist before the introduction of vaccines in the 1930s. Blaxill presented testimony on behalf of Safe Minds:
“Autism is a public health crisis of historic proportions. Autism is a public health crisis of historic proportions. Worse than poliomyelitis. It’s devastating a generation of children and their families. We need to face up to the reality Autism is a national emergency. Autism rates didn’t just rise, they multiplied.The old surveys didn’t just miss 99% of children with autism.
It’s horrible but true; reported rates of autism have risen simply because there are more cases of autism. In the midst of this crisis, the federal agencies responsible for the health of our nation’s children have failed in their duty. CDC’s negligence has led the way. Many believe CDC has actively covered up the evidence surrounding autism’s environmental causes.
NIH has received the lion’s share of Congressional funding, money they have wasted on status quo research and gene studies. It’s absurd to focus on genetic research in this crisis, there’s no such thing as a genetic epidemic. In the financial world, the result of the pressure to manipulate numbers to provide the answers bosses want has a name – securities fraud…what CDC has given us is the medical equivalent of securities fraud. All to avoid the inconvenient reality of the autism epidemic.
In 2006, Congress gave the NIH a mission to “combat autism.” You authorized $850 million for that mission… NIH spent most of that money on the great autism gene hunt while blackballing environmental researchers and defying parent concerns. It’s been a colossal waste of money and time. Not a single case of autism has been prevented. Not a single child received improved treatments. We need to conduct independent research into the great unmentionables, mercury, and vaccines, connections that we’ve documented in the earliest cases.
We need accountable new leadership. Please root out the failures, the waste, the fraud, the negligence and the abuse of these agencies that aren’t doing their jobs.” Blaxill’s latest book, co-authored by Dan Olmsted is DENIAL: How Refusing to Face the Facts about Our Autism Epidemic Hurts Children, Families, and Our Future (2017)
Cong. Bill Posey made an announcement, and submitted new information for the Congressional Record: “I have information that the fugitive doctor had been involved in [sic] 21 of the 24 studies with CDC”.
Another Major Episode of CDC Fraud & Scientific Malfeasance Came to Light
In 2014, Dr. William Thompson, the senior CDC epidemiologist who co-authored the 2004 study published in Pediatrics blew the whistle and revealed that fraud had been committed by CDC authors (himself included) to conceal the higher risk of autism for African American baby boys who were vaccinated prior to 36 months and prior to 24 months of age. Beginning in 2013, in taped conversations with Dr. Brian Hooker, Dr. Thompson revealed how CDC destroyed evidence of the risk for autism. He provided primary documented evidence – a copy of data that had been deleted from the published article in Pediatrics (2004) the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.[64]
“We hypothesized that if we found statistically significant effects at either the 18-month or 36-month threshold, we would conclude that vaccinating children early with the MMR vaccine could lead to autism-like characteristics or features.”
When CDC scientists did find a statistically significant causal relationship between MMR and autism in African American boys, according to Dr. Thompson’s eyewitness account, CDC removed 260 black baby boys from the dataset and destroyed the data. The analysis in the published report in Pediatrics misrepresents the risk of having eliminated data from the dataset. That constitutes fraud.
Dr. Thompson stated that he wrote a letter alerting Dr. Julie Gerberding to the findings and suggested that the Institute of Medicine safety review committee should be informed of the risk, prior to its consequential February 2004 meeting. Dr. Thompson was reprimanded for contacting Dr. Gerberding and was put on administrative leave. He was threatened with being fired. In his taped conversation with Dr. Hooker – which was central in the film Vaxxed – he expressed shock by his own action:[65]
“Oh my God. I cannot believe we did what we did. But we did.” “It’s the lowest point of my career, when I went along with that paper. I went along with this, and we didn’t report significant findings.”
“I am completely ashamed of what I did. I have great shame now. I was complicit, and I went along with that paper. I have great shame now, when I meet families with kids with autism, because I have been part of the problem.”
Dr. Hooker re-analyzed the complete CDC dataset in 2014, including the data that had been omitted from the published study in Pediatrics (2004). It showed statistically significant adverse effects at both 24 months and 36 months (RR 3.36, 95% CI 1.50-7.51, p = 0.0019). The higher relative risk of autism for African American infant boys, vaccinated with MMR prior to 36 months, was (330%) compared to other babies. His re-analysis was published online by Translational Neurodegeneration on August 8, 2014:[65]
“The present study provides new epidemiologic evidence showing that African American males receiving the MMR vaccine prior to 24 months of age or 36 months of age are more likely to receive an autism diagnosis.
The results show a strong relationship between child age at the administration of the first MMR and autism incidence exclusively for African American boys which could indicate a role of the vaccine in the etiology of autism within this population group. The particular analysis was not completed in the original Destefano et al (CDC) study… the CDC study limited the total African American cohort to include only those individuals who possessed a valid State of Georgia birth certificate which decreased the statistical power of their analysis.”
However, Dr. Hooker’s article came under attack; pressure from the shadowy cyber enforcement squads,[66] that act as a police force to suppress every independent vaccine study that challenges the mantra: “there is no link to autism… vaccines are safe and effective”.
On August 27, the journal removed Hooker’s article with the statement: “This article has been removed from the public domain because of serious concerns about the validity of its conclusions. The journal and publisher believe that its continued availability may not be in the public interest”. There was no specific fault or mistake cited.[68]
On the same day that Dr. Hooker’s article was removed from the journal’s website, Dr. Thompson acknowledged the following in a statement issued by his lawyer (August 27, 2014):
“I regret that my co-authors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the journal Pediatrics. The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism. Decisions were made regarding which findings to report after the data were collected, and I believe that the final study protocol was not followed.”
“My concern has been the decision to omit relevant findings in a particular study for a particular subgroup for a particular vaccine. There have always been recognized risks for vaccination and I believe itis the responsibility of the CDC to properly convey the risks associated with receipt of those vaccines.
I have had many discussions with Dr. Brian Hooker over the last 10 months regarding studies the CDC has carried out regarding vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes, including autism spectrum disorders. I share his belief that CDC decision-making and analyses should be transparent.”
Dr. Thompson then forwarded the documents to a U.S. Congressman William Posey who has repeatedly requested a congressional investigation.[69]
“Mr. Speaker, I believe it is our duty to insure that the documents that Dr. Thompson are not ignored. Therefore I will provide them to members of Congress and the House Committees upon request. Considering the nature of the whistleblower’s documents as well as the involvement of the CDC, a hearing and a thorough investigation is warranted.“So I ask, Mr. Speaker, I beg, I implore my colleagues on the appropriations committees to please, please take such action.”
On August 26, 2014, Sharyl Attkisson, an investigative journalist who earned numerous awards as CBS science correspondent (1993-2014), conducted taped telephone interviews with Dr. Frank DeStefano,[70] Director of CDC Immunization Safety, who co-authored the Pediatrics (2004) study.
He confirmed the verity of the confessions of CDC whistleblower, Dr. William Thompson about the omission from the published Pediatrics report, of children in the dataset, for whom there were no birth certificates here.
In a telephone interview, DeStefano defended the study and reiterated the commonly accepted position that there’s no “causal” link between vaccines and autism. But he acknowledged the prospect that vaccines might rarely trigger autism.
“Wouldn’t say it’s a myth, I’d say[sic] all the evidence, thus far, points to that there’s not a causal association between vaccines and autism…It’s a theoretical possibility…It’s hard to predict who those children might be, but certainly, individual cases can be studied to look at those possibilities.”
Attkisson writes, “They’re not even trying. A CDC spokesman told me that:
“the agency is not currently investigating the relation between vaccines and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Further, CDC does not have any planned research addressing vaccines and autism. CDC believes that this topic has been thoroughly studied and no causal links have been found. Current CDC ASD related research focuses on determining how many people have ASD and understanding [other, not vaccine-related] risk factors and causes for ASD”.[71]
When Dr. Thompson attempted to leave, CDC gave him a $24,000 bonus – a retention fee. Apparently, CDC continues to employ Dr. Thompson, because they feel more secure with him as an agency employee, enabling them to scrutinize his activities. Clearly, they feared his being outside the agency, which would risk that he might disclose additional CDC secrets.
CDC Continues to Conceal the Authentic 1999 Verstraeten VSD Study Findings.
When a request was filed with CDC to provide Dr. Verstraeten’s original dataset for independent analysis, CDC officials claimed the data were “lost.” Even after approval was granted, Dr. Mark Geier was blocked from gaining access to CDC’s Vaccine Safety Dataset which is the data CDC relied upon its study published Pediatrics. CDC continues to disseminate false reassurances in its “Science Summary Fact Sheet” claiming: “The evidence is clear: thimerosal is not a toxin in vaccines… there is no relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism in children.” As its “evidence,” CDC cites the Danish studies.
In January 2017, the President and Executive Vice President of the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a press release in opposition to a federal vaccine commission on immunizations.
Fernando Stein, MD, FAAP and Karen Remkey, MD, MBA, MPH, FAAP stated: since we already know that: “vaccines are safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines save lives.” AAP declared that there is no need for further examination pf vaccine safety:
Vaccines prevent forms of cancer.
Claims that vaccines are linked to autism have been disproven by a robust body of medical literature.
Claims that vaccines are unsafe when administered according to the [CDC’s] recommended schedule have likewise been disproven by a robust body of medical literature”.
However, when asked to provide citations to any peer-reviewed study that supports AAP’s claim that “vaccines prevent forms of cancer” or to cite the “robust body of medical literature” that supports its claims, the AAP declined, with a “no comment” response. (Immunization News, 2017)
CHD NOTE: This concludes Part Six. The final segment of this series will be entitled: Multiple Industry-Saturated Collaborating Partners Set the Agenda for Vaccination Policies.
Previously published articles: Sharav’s Introduction to the full article, L’affaire Wakefield: Shades of Dreyfus & BMJ’s Descent into Tabloid Science, outlines her well-researched and documented belief that, “Public health officials and the medical profession have abrogated their professional, public, and human responsibility, by failing to honestly examine the iatrogenic harm caused by expansive, indiscriminate, and increasingly aggressive vaccination policies.” Part One focuses on how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the vaccine industry control vaccine safety assessments, control the science of vaccines and control the scientific and mass channels of information about vaccines. In Part Two Ms. Sharav interprets the complex web of internal CDC documents, revealing how key CDC studies and CDC-commissioned studies were shaped by use of illegitimate methods. Part Three takes a closer look at the Brighton Collaboration and the extraordinary influence these stakeholders have in the business of vaccines and their power to control the science and research and manipulate reports to further their own interests. Focusing on the HPV vaccine, in Part Four Ms. Sharav explores how a global network of government/academic and industry stakeholders can suppress information about genuine scientific findings and, when needed, engage in corrupt practices to thwart the airing of information about vaccine safety issues. CDC’s childhood vaccination policy rests on the denial of safety hazards posed by vaccines and CDC officials are intent on shielding the policy and vaccination schedule at any cost. Part Five examines documentation and internal correspondence that reveals how CDC used its influence and subsequently rejected scientific studies that contradicted the sacrosanct vaccine safety mantra.
More about the author: Vera Sharav is a Holocaust survivor and a fierce critic of the medical establishment. This article was originally published at www.ahrp.org. Stat news recently published an article about her and her work.
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Can this technology put an end to bullying?
February 11, 2019 Alok Tecnology 0
Breaking up with your first love is hard to do, but at the age of 18, it was a particularly traumatic experience for Nikki Mattocks. Rather than the clean break she had hoped for, she found herself being bombarded with hateful messages on social media from her ex-boyfriend’s friends. One even urged her to kill herself.
“I withdrew a lot. The messages made me so depressed and led to me taking an overdose,” says Mattocks. She is just one of millions of people around the world who have found themselves the victim of bullying. Even in our modern, progressive society, it is too often overlooked and commonly dismissed as a rite of passage, but bullying affects between a fifth and a third of children at school. Adults suffer similar rates of harassment at work.
• The signs of disease no one can see
• How your voice betrays a doomed romance
• What single word defines who you are?
Yet research has shown that bullying can leave a lasting scar on people’s lives, causing long-term damage to their future health, wealth and relationships. And the increasing amount of time we spend online exposes us to forms of bullying that, while faceless, can be just as devastating. Young people subjected to cyberbullying suffer more from depression than non-victims and are at least twice as likely to self-harm and to attempt suicide.
Luckily for Mattocks, her break up and the subsequent cyberbullying occurred just as she was about to start university. In this new environment she was able to make new friends who helped her.
“It [cyber bullying] changed my outlook,” she says. “It made me a kinder, stronger person.” Mattocks now works as a mental health campaigner, helping others who face bullying. She believes more needs to be done to curb bullying online.
Social media has provided bullies with a new way to target their victims, but often those who they attack do not report these incidents (Credit: Getty Images)
But while our access to technology is increasing the potential for bullying – 59% of US teens say they have been bullied online – it could also help to stamp it out. Computers powered by artificial intelligence are now being deployed to spot and deal with cases of harassment.
“It is nearly impossible for human moderators to go through all posts manually to determine if there is a problem,” says Gilles Jacobs, a language researcher at Ghent University in Belgium. “AI is key to automating detection and moderation of bullying and trolling.”
His team trained a machine learning algorithm to spot words and phrases associated with bullying on social media site AskFM, which allows users to ask and answer questions. It managed to detect and block almost two-thirds of insults within almost 114,000 posts in English and was more accurate than a simple keyword search. Still, it did struggle with sarcastic remarks.
Abusive speech is notoriously difficult to detect because people use offensive language for all sorts of reasons, and some of the nastiest comments do not use offensive words. Researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, are training algorithms to detect hate speech by teaching them how specific communities on Reddit target women, black people and those who are overweight by using specific words.
The tool was able to pinpoint less obvious abuse, such as words like “animals” which can be intended to have a dehumanising effect
“My findings suggest that we need individual hate-speech filters for separate targets of hate speech,” says Haji Saleem, who is one of those leading the research. Impressively, the tool was more accurate than one simply trained to spot keywords and was also able to pinpoint less obvious abuse, such as words like “animals” which can be intended to have a dehumanising effect.
The exercise in detecting online bullying is far from merely academic. Take social media giants like Instagram. One survey in 2017 found that 42% of teenage users have experienced bullying on Instagram, the highest rate of all social media sites assessed in the study. In some extreme cases, distressed users have killed themselves. And it isn’t just teenagers who are being targeted – Queen guitarist Brian May is among those to have been attacked on Instagram.
“It’s made me look again at those stories of kids being bullied to the point of suicide by social media posts from their ‘friends’, who have turned on them,” May said at the time. “I now know firsthand what it’s like to feel you’re in a safe place, being relaxed and open and unguarded, and then, on a word, to be suddenly be ripped into.”
Instagram is now using AI-powered text and image recognition to detect bullying in photos, videos and captions. While the company has been using a “bullying filter” to hide toxic comments since 2017, it recently began using machine learning to detect attacks on users’ appearance or character, in split-screen photographs, for example. It also looks for threats against individuals that appear in photographs and captions.
Online bullies can target people from behind a veil of anonymity provided by the internet while victims can face hatred from complete strangers (Credit: Getty Images)
Instagram says that actively identifying and removing this material is a crucial measure as many victims of bullying do not report it themselves. It also allows action to be taken against those who repeatedly post offending content. Even with these measures, however, the most scheming bullies can still create anonymous “hate pages” to target their victims and send hurtful direct messages.
But bullying exists offline too, and in many forms. Recent revelations of sexual harassment within major technology firms in Silicon Valley have shone a light on how bullying and discrimination can impact people in the workplace. Almost half of women have experienced some form of discrimination while working in the European tech industry. Can technology offer a solution here too?
A timestamped record of an incident around when it occurred could make it harder to cast doubt upon evidence later drawn from memory
One attempt to do this is Spot – an intelligent chatbot that aims to help victims report their accounts of workplace harassment accurately and securely. It produces a time-stamped interview that a user can keep for themselves or submit to their employer, anonymously if necessary. The idea is to “turn a memory into evidence”, says Julia Shaw, a psychologist at University College London and co-creator of Spot.
A time-stamped record of an incident around when it occurred could make it harder to cast doubt upon evidence later drawn from memory, as critics of Christine Blasey Ford attempted to do after she gave testimony against Brett Kavanaugh.
Another tool named Botler AI goes one step further by providing advice to people who have been sexually harassed. Trained on more than 300,000 US and Canadian court case documents, it uses natural language processing to assess whether a user has been a victim of sexual harassment in the eyes of the law, and generates an incident report, which a user can hand over to human resources or the police. The first version was live for six months and achieved 89% accuracy.
“One of our users was sexually assaulted by a politician and said the tool gave her the confidence she needed and empowered her to take action,” says Amir Moravej, Botler AI founder. “She began legal proceedings and the case is ongoing.”
Revelations about sexual harassment and discrimination at high profile technology companies in Silicon Valley have triggered protests and walk outs by staff (Credit: Getty Images)
AI could not only help to stamp out bullying, it could save lives too. Some 3,000 people around the world take their own lives each day. That’s one death every 40 seconds. But predicting if someone is at risk of suicide is notoriously difficult.
While factors such as someone’s background might offer some clues, there is no single risk factor that is a strong predictor of suicide. What makes it even more challenging to predict is that mental health practitioners often have to look at evidence and assess risk in a five-minute phone call. But intelligent machines could help.
The algorithms were able to predict whether a patient would attempt to end their life in the week following an instance of self-harm
“AI can gather a lot of information and put it together quickly, which could be helpful in looking at multiple risk factors,” says Martina Di Simplicio, a clinical senior lecturer in psychiatry at Imperial College London in the UK.
Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Florida State University trained machine learning algorithms to look at the health records of patients who self-harm. The algorithms were able to predict whether a patient would attempt to end their life in the week following an instance of self-harm, with an accuracy of 92%.
“We can develop algorithms that rely only on data already collected routinely at point of care to predict risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours,” says Colin Walsh, assistant professor of biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, who led the study.
While the study offers hope that mental health specialists will have another tool to help them protect those at risk in the future, there is work to be done.
“The algorithms developed in this study can fairly accurately address the question of who will attempt suicide, but not when someone will die,” say the researchers. “Although accurate knowledge of who is at risk of eventual suicide attempt is still critically important to inform clinical decisions about risk, it is not sufficient to determine imminent risk.”
Algorithms that can search for the signs of bullying on social media can help to highlight perpetrators so they can be stopped (Credit: Getty Images)
Another study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was able to identify individuals who were having suicidal thoughts with 91% accuracy. They asked 34 participants to think of 30 specific concepts relating to positive or negative aspects of life and death while they scanned their brains using an fMRI machine. They then used a machine learning algorithm to spot “neural signatures” for these concepts.
The researchers discovered differences in how healthy and suicidal people thought about concepts including “death” and being “carefree”. The computer was able to discriminate with 94% accuracy between nine people experiencing suicidal thoughts who had made a suicide attempt and eight who had not, by looking at these differences.
“People with suicidal ideation have an activation of the emotion of shame, but that wasn’t so for the controls [healthy participants],” says Marcel Just, director of the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging at Carnegie Mellon University. He believes that one day therapists could use this information to design a personalised treatment for someone having suicidal thoughts, perhaps working with them to feel less shame associated with death.
While such tailored treatments might sound futuristic, search and social media giants are trying to identify people in crisis. For example, when someone types a query into Google related to attempting suicide, the search engine offers them the help line of a charity such as The Samaritans instead of what they were looking for.
Facebook last year began to use AI to identify posts from people who might be at risk of suicide. Other social media sites, including Instagram, have also begun exploring how AI can tackle the sharing of images of self-harm and suicide-related posts.
In serious cases, Facebook may contact local authorities and has worked with first responders to carry out more than 1,000 wellness checks so far
Facebook trained their algorithms to identify patterns of words in both the main post and the comments that follow to help confirm cases of suicidal expression. These are combined with other details such as whether messages are posted in the early hours of the morning. All this data is funnelled into another algorithm that is able to work out whether a Facebook user’s post should be reviewed by Facebook’s Community Operations team, which can raise the alarm if it thinks someone is at risk.
Social media posts and mobile phone data can identify mood changes that could help to predict if someone might try to take their own life (Credit: Getty Images)
In serious cases, Facebook may contact local authorities and has worked with first responders to carry out more than 1,000 wellness checks so far.
“We’re not doctors, and we’re not trying to make a mental health diagnosis,” explains Dan Muriello, an engineer on the team that produced the tools. “We’re trying to get information to the right people quickly.”
Facebook is not the only one analysing text and behaviour to predict whether someone may be experiencing mental health problems. Maria Liakata, an associate professor at the UK’s University of Warwick, is working on detecting mood changes from social media posts, text messages and mobile phone data.
“The idea is to be able to passively monitor… and predict mood changes and people at risk reliably,” she says. She hopes that the technology could be incorporated into an app that’s able to read messages on a user’s phone.
While this approach could raise privacy concerns, thousands of people are already willingly sharing their deepest thoughts with AI apps in a bid to tackle depression, which is one predictor of suicide. Mobile apps like Woebot and Wysa allow users to talk through their problems with a bot that responds in ways that have been approved for treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy.
In the same way, machines may also be able to help intervene and stamp out bullying too. But until AI perfects a way of detecting the most subtle and cunning bullying tactics, the responsibility will still lie with us.
“It can’t just be computers doing the whole fight,” says Nikki Mattocks.
bullying?
How to build a self-driving car
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transcending silence...
Rape in the American Civil War:
Race, Class, and Gender in the Case of Harriet McKinley and Perry Pierson
Maureen Stutzman
In a period that shook and uprooted many social institutions, the study of rape in the Civil War can reveal a wealth of information on how social ideologies began to change as a result. After all, rape is the quintessential expression of patriarchal control over women’s sexuality. Since sexual practices, ideologies, and definitions are cultural constructs created by the specific social forces active at a particular point in history, experiences of sexual power are based on factors of gender, race, and socioeconomic status. In this essay, I analyze the court-martial case of Perry Pierson and Harriet McKinley in which a white man was charged for the rape of a black woman during the Civil War. In doing so, I will explore how the intersections of race, class, and gender are represented in this trial. I argue that this case illustrates the first chance for black women to pursue legal justice for crimes against them. By situating this case in a broader framework of 19th-century incidents of rape and rape trials, I also show that the experiences of women and men involved in rape trials shifted due to the social changes caused by the war.
Black Women & White Men: Harriet Mckinley and Perry Pierson
Race, Gender & Respectability
Women's Resistance
Endotes
Historian LeeAnn Whites argues, "The Civil War constituted a critical watershed in the development of the nation and the American social order." [1] More specifically, the war was a determining factor in the structure of race, class, and gender relations in the United States. Studying the attitudes toward rape at a particular historical moment can shed a great deal of light on these social relations. Historian Sharon Block has written, "Rape is a quintessential inversion of patriarchal control over women’s sexual activities," and yet one must understand rape with "careful attention to the historical moment in which those acts occurred."[2] In the context of the Civil War, which shook or uprooted many social institutions, studying rape can reveal much about how the social ideologies of the antebellum period were changed by the war. It can also help us understand why social interactions play out the way they do today. Since sexual practices, ideologies, and definitions are cultural constructs created by the specific social forces active at a particular point in history, experiences of sexual power are based on factors of gender, race, and socioeconomic status.[3]
The military courtroom is a particularly interesting place for analyzing the performance of race, class, and gender. In the words of sociologist Sherryl Kleinman, "In feminist fieldwork studies, performance does not imply that individual agency (a virtuoso performance) is all that matters. We look for ways that these performances are culturally scripted as well as improvised. Do these scripts, when enacted, largely reproduce or challenge sex, race, and class inequalities?" [4] Courtrooms are highly ritualized settings in which actors play certain roles and cultural scripts are carefully followed. There are particular "cultural rape narratives" that affect the course and outcome of trials. These narratives are "culturally pervasive tales of proper intergender sexual behavior that affect the crafting of courtroom and rape narratives at trials."[5] However, during periods of social upheaval, these scripts can be rewritten and the revisions are then reflected in courtroom proceedings. In reading the transcripts of these courts-martial it can be seen that while they were highly scripted and followed a pre-determined pattern for rape trials, they also contained moments in which the characters moved away from their scripts, demonstrating agency that both reinforced the attitudes toward race, class and gender of the time period and that challenged them.
As in modern-day rape prosecutions, Civil War era prosecutions privileged certain groups over others. Because women in the 1800s were viewed as the property of men, their trials were not about their own violation, but about an attack on one man’s property by another man. For elite white women, this system of patriarchy offered some protection from rape as they were valued for their sexual purity, which was guarded by white men. Poor women and women of color, however, as "economically dependent and racially marginalized women," were offered less protection from rape and were less likely to successfully press charges against an alleged rapist.[6] It is in this context that the case of Harriet McKinley and Perry Pierson occurred. Historian Lawrence Stone has written, "People who are hauled into court are almost by definition atypical, but the world that is so nakedly exposed in the testimony of witnesses need not be so. Safety therefore lies in examining the documents not so much for their evidence about the eccentric behavior of the accused as for the light they shed on the life and opinions of those who happened to get involved in the incident in question."[7] It is with this attention to the entire court record and focus on all testimony, questioning, and behavior in mind that I have examined this court-martial case for a glimpse into the world inhabited by the people involved. This case reveals valuable information about the intersections of race, class, and gender in the courtroom and how these intersections shifted due to the social changes caused by the war.
In the National Archives in Washington, D.C. one summer, I uncovered the names of 76 men who were charged with rape or attempted rape, as well as the names of the 69 women assaulted by these men. Historian Thomas P. Lowry, looking at the same records and attempting to develop an index by crime, discovered the cases of 262 other men.[8] Thus far, 335 cases of rape or attempted rape brought before a court-martial have been discovered. Of the 76 men whose names I discovered, 20 were identified as "colored." There was an overwhelming number of Privates in rank, although there were also a few Corporals, Sergeants, and Lieutenants charged. Of the 69 women who were pressing charges or had charges pressed on their behalf, there were twenty identified as "colored" and only five identified as white. The remaining 44 women were not identified by race. However, upon close reading of the cases and according to social conventions of the time period, we can speculate that white was the "default" race. In other words, if a woman's race was not identified, it meant that she was white. Also, the only situations in which the women were identified as white were cases in which the accused rapist was identified as "colored." I found no cases in which a black man was accused of raping a black woman, which evidences the invisibility of that crime in the court system.
Once I had a handle on the demographic breakdown of the cases, I took the analysis further. I was interested in determining if a man was more likely to be accused of rape while also being charged with other crimes, and how the race of the alleged rapist and the victim related to the accusations. I discovered that the majority of rape or attempted rape charges were accompanied by other accusations. Forty-two percent of the accused white men were only brought under the rape charge or the related assault charges. All of the men with unspecified races were charged with additional crimes, and 67% of the "colored" men were accused of further charges. I was also interested in how the race of the alleged rapist and victim impacted the sentence received. If the accused man was given a sentence for other crimes committed but found not guilty of the rape charge, I counted him in the "acquitted" category. Fifty percent of the "colored" men found guilty of rape or attempted rape were executed while only 20% of the white men received the same punishment. Twenty-five percent of the "colored" men were acquitted, and about an equal percent of white men (22%) were acquitted as well. Whereas a black man found guilty of rape was often hung, there were more white men who were sentenced to a substantial amount of time in jail. I was also interested in how the rank/civilian social position of the man impacted his sentence. The majority of men accused with rape or attempted rape were privates. None of the white men with a rank above private were executed while all of the "colored" men with a rank above private were. Also, the one man in all the files identified as a slave was executed, suggesting the serious racial disparities faced by men tried by a court-martial. In terms of dates and location, the breakdown that I discovered was quite predictable. The majority of alleged crimes were committed in the South, where almost all of the fighting occurred and where most Union Army soldiers were stationed. They also occurred, for the most part, in 1863 and 1864.
Although each of the cases contains an interesting story with more useful information, I could not examine them all due to time constraints. In my initial analysis, I was interested in several different aspects of the cases. The first of these factors was a testimony given by the woman who was allegedly raped. Since I wanted to discover the woman's reactions to questions and the way she was treated in the courtroom, it was important that the case I chose to analyze featured testimony by the woman, as many cases did not. I was also interested in seeing if the defendant had been allowed to cross-examine the woman charging him with rape. The following case piqued my interest as it contains both of these elements. Additionally, it deals with the rape of a black woman by a white man, a social dynamic that provides considerable insight into the attitudes of the time. In the pages of this transcript, stories unfold which reveal that while rape is an act of gendered power, it cannot be separated from other social hierarchies, as it is integrally tied to race and class oppression.[9]
[Return]
Perry Pierson, Company "H" 33rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was tried on July 17, 1863 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee for the rape of Harriet Elizabeth McKinley. The specification for the charge read,
In this that he, Private Perry Pierson, Company "H" 33rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry, did by force and violence have carnal knowledge of the body of Harriet Elizabeth McKinley, a colored woman, without her consent or will. This in the neighborhood of Guy’s Gap, State of Tennessee on or about July 10th, 1863. [10]
Pierson was represented by a lawyer who was a fellow solider in the 70th Regiment of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Pierson was one of few men to procure the services of a lawyer. Despite his relatively advanced legal defense, Pierson was found guilty of the crime and sentenced to one year of hard labor and four months without pay. This sentence was light for the seriousness of the crime he committed but still incredibly significant, as before the war white men were simply not charged for raping black women. In fact, this case marks one of the first opportunities for black women to bring cases to court and prosecute white men for crimes against them.
The fact that a white soldier was charged with the rape of an enslaved woman is very important. Prior to the Civil War, this was unheard of. Sharon Block writes, "No rape conviction against a white man…for raping an enslaved woman has been found between at least 1700 and the Civil War."[11] The few cases prior to this involving sexual assaults against black women were cases in which the accused man was also black. Even this, however, was quite rare and as slavery became more prevalent, the cases in which enslaved men assaulted enslaved women were most likely settled outside the courtoom.[12] The existing racial and power structures prior to the Civil War enabled white men to have almost unlimited access to black women with no legal punishment. A "proslavery ideologue," William Harper, argued that the sexual accessibility of black women to white men protected white women from being "debauched" by white men's "hot passions."[13] Since black women were, in his words, "a class of women who set little value on chastity," it was not considered rape when they were sexually assaulted by a white man. Once the Civil War began, many of the old societal beliefs of the South were shaken. This is represented by the fact that Harriet was able to bring her case to trial and was served with justice. Eugene Genovese explains that in the antebellum period, "rape meant, by definition, rape of white women, for no such crime as rape of a black woman existed in law."[14] In this way, this case created a new script that included the voices of black women. In the past, white men had unlimited access to black women's bodies, and although these men remained privileged over black women, there was at least some opportunity for legal justice.
The court-martial of Perry Pierson occurred in July of 1863, a few months after the Emancipation Proclamation was passed on January 1, 1863. The case may reflect changing attitudes, especially among Union army officers, towards enslaved women. It also reflected the frustration that, although the Proclamation had been passed, the U.S. government was unable to enforce it in the states that had seceded. This was made more complex by a statement from Harriet during her testimony. Harriet said that Pierson, upon seeing her and a few other enslaved women on the road, told her "to get up behind him on the mule, and I would be a slave no more."[15] Harriet refused him, potentially suspicious of his motives. Pierson, although he may have been trying to free Harriet from her enslavement, may have been trying to trick her to come with him in order to rape her. Because she was a black woman, he may have thought of her as a sexual object that he and his fellow soldiers should have access to. This also shows that, despite the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, societal attitudes toward black women had not completely changed.
In the case against Perry Pierson, Harriet was the first witness called to testify. By testifying, she was acting with agency and using a voice to speak out against her aggressor. "Colored" female slaves were expected to remain invisible in the legal system, and because they were unable to legally marry, all of their sexual relations were suspect.[16] Harriet, however, did not accept this, and although it is impossible to determine whether she agreed or was forced to testify, by testifying she was breaking out of the established role for a female slave. This agency was denied for women, particularly black women, in the period preceding the Civil War.[17] The defense in this case attempted to rely on pre-war beliefs to continue to deny Harriet a voice. When she was called to the stand, the defense immediately objected. It was expressed in several of the other cases that white people believed that a "colored" person, particularly a woman, could not understand the nature of an oath and thus could not be trusted to tell the truth when sworn in as a witness. The transcript reads,
The prisoner objected to the reception of this witness testimony on the grounds that 'she was not a qualified witness, being a colored woman.' The commissioner's room was then cleared for deliberation and after mature consideration the objection was not sustained.[18]
Harriet was allowed to testify over the objections. In several other cases involving black women, they were asked questions to prove that they were able to understand the nature of an oath before their testimony was accepted. Although Harriet was identified in the charge and specification as a "colored" woman, she was identified as a "mulatto" woman prior to her testimony.[19] This may have meant that Harriet appeared to be part white, further complicating the racially designated roles played in the courtroom.
Once the Commission established that Harriet was allowed to testify, the other "colored" women testifying were accepted without question. This was different, however, than some of the other cases in which the defense objected to all black witnesses introduced by the prosecution. However, this may have also been different given Pierson had the aid of counsel. Although not many accused men requested the help of a lawyer, Pierson hired 1st Lieut. S.K. Hampman, 70th Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, to defend him. Perhaps Hampman was a lawyer before he enlisted in the Army, meaning that much of Pierson's defense relied on the conventions of civilian courts and the defense strategies of accused rapists from before the war. In this way, the script of the trial is very much like those cases in the antebellum period.
The questioning of the witnesses seems to adhere closely to the standards outlined by Sir Matthew Hale, chief justice of England and author of the legal guide Historia Placitorum Coronae. In this guide, Hale laid out the standards that established cultural attitudes towards sexual violence cases. It also held that the court could ask particular questions which women were forced to answer. When Hale wrote the guide, black women were not allowed to testify about rape in court, so his standards were not intended to be applied to them. In Pierson’s trial, the Judge Advocate seemed to be aware of this criteria and applied it to the case. By doing this, it extended attitudes used towards white women’s rape to black women. Although these attitudes perpetuated patriarchy and discredited many women’s charges of rape, it was a breakthrough for black women. They were now in a position to argue that they had been raped and placed on a more equal legal footing with white women.
During Harriet’s testimony, the Judge Advocate asked her a number of questions devoted to establishing how much she resisted. "A woman’s cries not only signified her lack of full-fledged consent to her attacker but also signified to anyone within shouting distance her complete resistance."[20] Matilda McKinley, another "colored" woman also enslaved by Joseph McKinley, testified on behalf of Harriet. In her testimony, she was asked if the man made a lot of noise while dragging Harriet out of the house, and whether Harriet "hollow[ed] long and struggle[d] much?"[21] Matilda responded that "She hollowed and said oh quit if you please! Do quit! She hollowed as though she wanted to be let alone." The question was intended to determine if there was anyone who would have heard the commotion. In many cases, the woman was asked how many miles she was from the nearest house at the time of her rape, meaning that if a woman was close enough for someone to hear her cries but didn’t help her, it could be assumed that she was not really resisting and that the intercourse was welcomed. During the cross-examination by the defendant, Harriet was asked, "At the time you say he had you down, and you was [sic] making a loud noise, did any of the other present come to where you were?"[22] Harriet replied that "they tried to come but one of the men held 'Tildy' and would not let her come. She tried to come. The old woman was coming to help me when they saw Master coming and they broke and run."[23] She testified that the other women present knew that she was screaming and resisting and would have come to her aid if it had been possible.
The Judge Advocate was also interested to know about her physical resistance; whether she hit Pierson and how she tried to fight him off. In her description of the assault, Harriet described how she desperately tried to escape from her pursuing assailant. She explained that she and Matilda had locked themselves in a room until their lives were threatened and that she climbed out of the window to get away from Pierson. She also said,
He dragged me past a post, and I caught hold of it, and he told me if I did not let loose, he would slap the hell out of me. Then he dragged me around the smokehouse, and tried to make me lay down, and I wouldn't. He then caught hold of my shoulders, flung his knee in my back and threw me on the ground.[24]
The court then asked her, "Did you try to keep him from throwing you down, and could you not have prevented him from doing so?" It seems slightly ridiculous that after her lengthy explanation of how much she tried to fight him off that they would still ask her if there was anything else she could have done. Matilda McKinley also testified to the desperate way Harriet tried to resist. When the court asked if Pierson had much trouble dragging Harriet behind the smokehouse, Matilda told them, "Yes Sir, she fell down on the floor and hollowed for me to help her, I was sitting in a cradle, and she caught hold of it and he dragged her and me and the cradle halfway across the house."[25] If they had any doubts that she had not resisted to great extent it would have been considered consensual but with the extensive testimony about her physical resistance it should have been clear that Harriet was not consenting and was raped.
In addition to physical resistance, injury to the body as a result of the attack was important in order for the court to believe a woman’s claims of assault. Sharon Block explains, "Visible physical injuries minimized the possibility that a woman had willingly engaged in sexual relations that she now regretted and charged as rape."
[26] The court commissioner asked Matilda, "did you examine the person of [Harriet] Elizabeth after the ravishment, and if so did you see any blood on her clothes?"[27] Matilda replied simply, "no, Sir." This could have meant that she did not examine Harriet or that she did not see any blood. If it was taken to mean that there was no blood the court may have seen this as proof that there was no actual physical damage and thus discredited the story. Or they could have taken it to mean that Harriet had been injured, but Matilda had not seen it. It is interesting, however, that with the violence and amount of force that Pierson used to drag Harriet behind the smokehouse, there was no other mention of her physical harm.
Related to the concerns about physical injury sustained during the attack, there was a strong focus in the questioning and testimony in most of these cases on the intimate bodily functions of all those involved. In addition to the questions about blood asked of Matilda, there was a substantial amount of questioning related to penetration. Prior to the war, there was much debate as to whether a rape could have occurred without "emission."[28] By the time of war, the "emission" criteria had been discredited but the view still remained that it was not rape unless there was penile penetration.[29] The Judge Advocate asked Harriet, "did, or did not, the prisoner actually accomplish sexual intercourse with you: that is, did he or did he not insert his private part into you?"[30] Matilda, who used the term "ravish" to describe the rape, was forced to define it in more graphic, explicit terms. She seemed resistant to do so, saying, "I saw him throw her down and get on her and do what he wanted to do- that’s what I call 'ravishing her.'" Pierson then questioned Matilda on whether or not she saw definite penetration. Pierson asked, "at the time I ravished her, as you term it, are you sure there was actual penetration?" To which Matilda replied, "Yes Sir, I saw him 'get it in' when he had her down."[31] He did not let it rest at that, however, and again asked her, "were you in a position to see my private member enter her?" This was very frank and explicit questioning. Perhaps, as Harriet and Matilda were black women, they were not spared answering such questions because they were not perceived to have the fragile sensibilities of an elite white woman, who would have been offended by such questions. Sharon Block discusses several cases in which elite white women, who pressed rape charges, were very vague about the actual details of the rape in court and whose rapists were found guilty of the charges.[32] In the two cases I analyzed involving white women, there were questions devoted to intimate bodily details, but none quite as graphic as in this case. This could be related to the fact that this case was the earliest of the three and the courts were moving away from focus on penetration and emission, which preoccupied cases during the early nineteenth century.[33] With or without discussion of penetration and emission, there was a preoccupation with the intimate details of the body in much of the testimony in all three cases.
Framing much of this courtroom discourse is the question of respectability. Being black meant that McKinley was not able, simply because of her race, to live up to the standards of a respected woman of that time. Although she said herself that she was a virgin and was not married, the court may have been hesitant to believe her. Constructions of black women’s sexuality at the time were biased, and most men saw young black women as lustful and dangerous.[34] Knowledge of prior sexual experience was very important to establishing the credibility of a witness. It was commonly believed that "not only were unchaste women more likely to consent to sexual intercourse on any given occasion, but they were more prone to lie about their sexual behavior."[35] Harriet was asked by the defendant, "Have you ever had carnal intercourse with a man prior to the time, referred to, with the prisoner?" She replied, "No, never in my life." Stating that she was a virgin would have helped her case, as long as the court was willing to believe her. The questioning about her marital status and her prior sexual history would have helped the court determine how respectable a woman Harriet was, which was also linked to how likely she would have been to consent.
Despite all the frank discussion of bodily functions and the inquiry into Harriet’s previous sexual experiences, one thing that was never explicitly mentioned was her age. In both of the other cases I analyzed, in which the women were white, the ages of the women involved were clearly stated. It can be inferred that Harriet was not an older woman since Aunt Leah, who was called a "granny," is obviously older than she. It is significant because the Judge Advocate asked Harriet, "did he do that thing that only married people do?"[36] Having read so many other cases in which the act of rape was referred to as "carnal intercourse" or "ravishing," this was different and stood out to me. It sounds as if he were speaking to a child or young woman and did not want to use explicit language. It was also a reinforcement of the attitudes of the time that sex outside of marriage was improper. He may have been treating her this way because she was a woman and should have been spoken to in a polite and proper way, regardless of her race. This would have been out of the ordinary because Harriet was enslaved, and most white men would not have taken careful consideration to be respectful of her.
In Harriet’s testimony, it was quite obvious that the women tried to fight off their attackers in any way possible, coming to each other’s aid even if that meant putting themselves at risk. When Harriet first escaped from Pierson, she described how "Aunt Leah…caught hold of his hand and held him until I got over the fence."[37] This seems to me like an extremely brave thing for two "colored" women to have done when faced with a group of at least three white soldiers who were armed and threatening them. Throughout the testimony, it can be seen that the women did everything they could to help and protect each other. While Pierson was raping Harriet, the other women in the house tried to stop him, one even grabbing a "saw knife." "Aunt Leah," who tried to help Harriet with the knife, was taking an extremely huge risk. If she had attacked Pierson and wounded or killed him, she would have suffered the consequences. As can be seen from the case of Celia, a slave woman in Missouri who was repeatedly raped by her master and then convicted and hung after murdering him to prevent the rapes from continuing, Aunt Leah would have faced serious legal repercussions for attacking the white solider.[38] Matilda McKinley, also acting quite bravely, came to testify for the prosecution on behalf of Harriet McKinley. She corroborated Harriet’s story and answered explicit questions about whether she was able to actually see penetration.
Although no specific mention of it was made in the transcript of this case, Matilda was also assaulted. One of the other soldiers, not identified in this case, was charged in a separate case with her attempted rape. William Lindsay, also of the 33rd Indiana, pleaded not guilty to the charge but was sentenced to four months hard labor. The specification of the charge read,
In this that he, Private William Lindsay, Co "F" 33rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry, did by force and violence, attempt to have carnal knowledge of the body of Matilda McKinley, a black woman, without her consent or will. This in the neighborhood of Guy’s Gap, Tennessee, on or about July 11, 1863.[39]
The testimony in Harriet's case alluded to the events described in the transcript of Matilda's case. Harriet said, "…one of the men held 'Tildy' and would not let her come" to help free Harriet from Pierson. Matilda said in her own testimony that, at the scene of the assault, there was one soldier who was retaining Aunt Leah and one that "was holding me down and would not let me move." When Hugh Thomas Bragg, also of the 33rd Indiana and present at the house at the time of the assault, was called to testify, he explained that William Lindsay was there and that Bragg went outside with "the old granny," presumably Aunt Leah, while Lindsay and Matilda remained inside. Although this incident was not discussed in Pierson's court-martial, some of the details of Harriet's case were discussed at the court-martial for William Lindsay. The court, therefore, was aware that both women had allegedly been assaulted. This may have had an impact on both their verdict and the successful sentencing of Lindsay and Pierson.
Hugh Thomas Bragg, a white soldier from Pierson's regiment, was the final witness called to testify. It is unclear as to the part he played in allowing the rape to happen since, according to the two women, all the soldiers present were holding someone back to prevent them from interfering in the rape. Bragg said that he was there but knew nothing of what happened between Pierson and Harriet, whom he identified as "the mulatto woman." His testimony could not prove the rape didn't occur, as he admits to being inside the house and not in a position to see what happened outside. He even said, "I stayed in the house. What else was done I do not know."[40] He did offer some confusing testimony. When asked by Pierson if he remained in the house until Pierson returned, he said he did not. This was inconsistent with his other statements. If he went outside where the women were and the rape was occurring, how could he have said he knew nothing of what happened?
Since he testified that he had no idea what was going on, the court could take that to mean that Harriet was not yelling as much as she claimed, or perhaps she was not even yelling at all and had actually consented. However, he did offer testimony that would have been very important to the court. He functioned as a character witness and explained that Pierson had been a "good and faithful soldier, and respected as such in the company."[41] As a white man and a soldier, his testimony most likely would have had more weight with the court. Despite the fact that there was testimony from the woman Pierson was accused of raping, as well as a witness who supported that testimony, he was given only one year hard labor. Considering that there are documented cases in which a soldier was hung for being absent without leave, this seems an extremely light sentence. As a white man and a "good and faithful solider," Pierson was given a light sentence for the rape of an enslaved "colored" woman.
Despite the wealth of information offered in the pages of this case, there are still many questions. For example, Harriet says that "when they saw Master coming they broke and run."[42] Was it Joseph McKinley who pressed charges against Pierson? Was he the one who brought the incident to the attention of the military authorities? If so, why did he not testify? One can also wonder about Pierson’s motives when he offered to let Harriet ride his mule to free her from enslavement. However, one can only speculate about the answers. Despite these questions, much can be gained from the study of this case. It marks a change in legal proceedings in our country and documents a moment that helped define the way our society conducts rape cases today. In addition, it can help us trace the development of the race, class, and gender interactions that we witness and experience every day. For example, we can see how our culture of blaming the victim is a remnant of the early focus on women's responsibility for their own reputation and "purity." It also provides a clear early example of white men’s hyper-sexualization of black women, a continuing problem. However, there is also an important historical breakthrough for black women. Prior to the war, "although rape could be a very difficult crime for a white woman to prove, black and enslaved women were usually de facto (if not de jure), prevented from bringing criminal charges against almost any defendant."[43] In the early years of the Civil War, however, this changes and marks the first time that black women's voices were present in the courtroom. More specifically, this case allowed them to tell their own stories of sexual assault and to act with agency to determine the legal outcome of their cases.
[1]LeeAnn Whites. The Civil War As a Crisis in Gender (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995), 2. [Return]
[2] Sharon Block, Rape and Sexual Power in Early America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006), 7.
[3] Block, 2-3.
[4] Sherryl Kleinman, Feminist Fieldwork Analysis (California: Sage Publications, Inc., 2007), 97.
[5] Andrew E. Taslitz, Rape and the Culture of the Courtroom (New York: New York University Press, 1999), 19.
[6] Block, 12.
[7] Martha Elizabeth Hodes. White Women, Black Men: Illicit Sex in the Nineteenth-Century South (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), 11.
[8] Thomas P. Lowry, Sexual Misbehavior in the Civil War (Xlibris Corporation, 2006), 114-178.
[10] National Archives: Record Group 153, Entry 50, File MM746.
[11] Block, 65.
[12] Block, 177-178.
[13] Bynum, 9.
[14]Melton A. McLaurin, Celia, a Slave (New York: Avon Books, 1991), 111.
[15]MM746.
[16]Block, 183.
[17] McLaurin, 138.
[18] MM746
[20] Block, 132.
[21]MM746
[22] MM746.
[33] Block 134-141.
[34] Angela Y. Davis. Women, Race and Class (New York: Random House, 1981), 176.
[35] Bardaglio, 73.
[38] McLaurin, 16-37.
Block, Sharon. Rape and Sexual Power in Early America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
Davis, Angela Y. Women, Race and Class. New York: Random House, 1981.
Hodes, Martha Elizabeth. White Women, Black Men: Illicit Sex in the Nineteenth-Century South. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
Kleinman, Sherryl. Feminist Fieldwork Analysis. California: Sage Publications, Inc., 2007.
Lowry, Thomas P. Sexual Misbehavior in the Civil War. Xlibris Corporation, 2006.
McLaurin, Melton A. Celia, a Slave. New York: Avon Books, 1991.
National Archives: Record Group 153, Entry 50, File MM746.
Taslitz, Andrew E. Rape and the Culture of the Courtroom. New York: New York University Press, 1999.
Whites, LeeAnn. The Civil War as a Crisis in Gender. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995.
Edited by Nora Lum & David Garuz
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Israel says Gaza offensive to intensify
Israel's prime minister has ordered the military to intensify operations in the Gaza Strip to free a captured soldier.
Olmert has rejected doing a deal over the captured soldier
"I have given instructions to intensify the strength of action by the army and security services, to hunt down these terrorists, those who send them ... and those who harbour them," Ehud Olmert said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Israel sent troops and tanks into the south of the territory on Wednesday after Palestinian gunmen seized Corporal Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid last Sunday. It has threatened to begin military operations in the north of Gaza to target Palestinians who have been firing rockets into Israel.
The group holding Shalit has offered to give Israel information about him in exchange for the release of hundreds of prisoners, a deal Israel has rejected.
"These are difficult days for Israel, but we have no intention of giving in to any form of blackmailing," Olmert said on Sunday. "Everyone understands that giving in to terror today means an invitation to the next act of terrorism, and we will not act that way."
Olmert addressed his cabinet after an air strike on the empty offices of Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister.
Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, called the attack "inadvisable."
"I remain very concerned about the need to preserve Palestinian institutions and infrastructure," Annan said. "They will be the basis for an eventual two-state solution and are thus in the interests of both Israel and the Palestinians. It would therefore seem inadvisable to carry out actions that will have the opposite effect."
Israeli security forces said the
offensive could last months
Israeli security forces have said the operation in Gaza could last months. "We have to take a deep breath ... There is no magic solution," said Yuval Diskin, head of the Shin Bet.
A negotiated end to the crisis appears increasingly unlikely. Palestinian officials said Egyptian-led diplomatic efforts to free Shalit were continuing but making little progress because of Israel's offensive. "I'm not hopeful," senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said.
Major General Amos Yadlin, the Israeli army's chief of intelligence, said the mediation efforts were stymied because no one knows whom to talk to about Shalit.
"The Egyptians are trying to mediate, but most of the negotiations they are doing with themselves," he told the Israeli cabinet, according to a participant in the meeting.
Hamas's armed wing responded to the missile strike on Haniya's office by threatening to attack Israeli power plants, institutions and schools if more air strikes were carried out against Palestinian infrastructure.
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Bethesda, United States
#92United States
Forest, Parkland
Devereux Emmet, Robert Trent Jones Sr., Rees Jones
The Blue Course
Congressional Country Club in the DC suburbs takes its name from the fact that membership has included congressmen, senior officials and even presidents since it opened in 1921. The Blue Course was the work of legendary designer Donald Ross, and is the more prestigious of the two eighteens here. Ross's vision largely remains intact, though many minor alterations have been made over the years. The US Open Championship was played here in 1964 and again in 1997, and in preparation for the latter competition Rees Jones refurbished the greens, converting most of them into clover leafs with 3-4 pin positions, and arranged the bunkering along the fairways to correspond to the distances that the pros drive. There is near the clubhouse a short hole that causes some consternation, having served as the 18th in 1997 and now serving as the 10th. This quibble aside, Congressional is a great club with a correspondingly luxurious clubhouse.
The Gold Course
The Gold Course has always been shorter than its cousin. It has been renovated twice; the first time by George Fazio and Tom Fazio redoing the final nine holes in 1977. And the second time in 2000, the course got a complete renovation by Arthur Hills. Not only did Hills lengthen the course, he also reconstructed the tees, fairways, greens, and cart paths. The course is now as challenging as the Blue Course. It now measures 6,844 yards (6,258 m) from the back tees. It is a par 71 with a slope rating of 73.6/135.
Richard Luebke
Skyline Country Club
Absolutely the most fascinating clubhouse anywhere. 5 U.S. Presidents founded the club just outside Washington DC. It is a very cool golf course. Hilly and tree lined fairways prevail. #18 is a great finishing hole with the green sitting behind some water...
See all 1 review
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Bethesda (Maryland)
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Potomac, The United States
Burning Tree Club
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Show the review
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Alzheimer's Patients Mentor Medical Students To Increase Knowledge And Reduce Stigma
While the global population is aging, and the personal and economic burdens due to Alzheimer's disease and related disorders are skyrocketing, the number of doctors trained to effectively diagnose and treat people with Alzheimer's is already woefully inadequate.
+Alzheimer's Reading Room
People With Early-Stage Alzheimer's Mentor Medical Students To Increase Knowledge And Reduce Stigma
Experts in health policy and practice have indicated the need for more comprehensive education for health care professionals in dementia and aging to meet the needs of the growing number of older adults in the United States.
The Gist
According to the American Geriatrics Society:
There are currently approximately 7,500 certified geriatricians and fewer than 1,600 certified geriatric psychiatrists in the United States. It is projected that approximately 30 percent of the 65-plus patient population will need to be cared for by a geriatrician and that each geriatrician can care for a patient panel of 700 older adults. Based on these numbers, approximately 17,000 geriatricians are needed now to care for about 12 million older Americans.
Due to the projected increase in the number of older Americans, it is estimated that approximately 30,000 geriatricians will be needed by 2030. To meet this need, this would require training approximately 1,200 geriatricians per year over the next 20 years.
Few graduates of medical schools in the United States are pursuing advanced training in geriatrics. In 2010, a mere 75 residents in internal medicine or family medicine entered geriatric medicine fellowship programs. This is down from 112 in 2005.
"This is a challenging situation for older individuals, families and our healthcare system," said Maria Carrillo, Ph.D., Alzheimer's Association vice president of medical and scientific relations.
At the same time, a program developed by the Northwestern University Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago — and replicated now in Massachusetts, Missouri and New Hampshire — provides opportunities for first-year medical students and persons diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's to participate together in experiential learning programs. In the Buddy Program, medical students are paired with individuals with dementia, and the "buddies" plan a year of regular meetings around mutually satisfying activities.
These programs are improving medical student knowledge and familiarity with Alzheimer's while also heightening sensitivity and empathy toward people with the disease, according to new data reported today at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference® 2013 (AAIC® 2013) in Boston.
How to Reduce Memory Loss
Is Alzheimer's World an Irrational Place?
Communicating in Alzheimer's World
The Seven Stages of Alzheimer's
The goals of the Buddy Program are to:
Educate medical students about Alzheimer's disease by increasing their knowledge base, heightening their awareness of skills and strengths that remain in persons with Alzheimer's and familiarizing them with care/support issues and effective communication skills.
Introduce students to research and practice opportunities in fields related to aging and dementia.
Provide persons living with dementia an opportunity to serve as a mentor to a future doctor.
"We want to expand future physicians' knowledge of, interest in and attitudes toward Alzheimer's and dementia in order to increase the number of physicians capable of caring effectively and compassionately for patients with these diseases and their families," said Darby Morhardt, MSW, LCSW, research associate professor in cognitive neurology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
To date, the Buddy Program has paired 167 medical students and persons with dementia over 16 years. Scores on a Dementia Knowledge Test, created by Morhardt and colleagues in 2000, reveal modest improvement in student knowledge.
Analysis of student journal entries, a program requirement following each activity, yield themes that include heightened sensitivity and empathy toward persons with Alzheimer's, increased recognition of remaining strengths and a change in students' preconceptions of dementia.
According to Morhardt,
"Many students remark on the comfort and enjoyment they experience with their mentor and for some an increased comfort over the course of the year."
For example, one student wrote, "I feel like my interactions with (my mentor) are becoming more fluid as I begin to ask fewer complex questions and incorporate his viewpoint into my own speech. I also feel more comfortable 'jumping in' when (my mentor) struggles for too long with a word or sentence without threatening his independence. I understand so much more about (my mentor's) experience than I could even imagine before we met."
First-year medical students are selected based on interest and willingness to commit to these program requirements: 1) attendance at two 90-minute orientation sessions and monthly process meetings; 2) four hours per month in activity with their buddy for one academic year; and 3) submission of a semi-structured journal report following each visit. A pre-/post-dementia knowledge test assesses student's objective learning, and student journal entries are qualitatively analyzed for themes.
Three Successful Replication Programs
The program has been successfully replicated at Boston University (2006), Dartmouth College (2010) and Washington University (2012). Each replicating program has integrated unique modifications while keeping the primary elements in place.
The Boston University program (PAIRS, Partners in Alzheimer's Instruction Research Study) produced several innovations, including the use of a textbook geared toward students and non-specialists; an additional comprehensive dementia knowledge test to better assess students' factual learning; scales to measure attitudes toward Alzheimer's and dementia; measures of physician empathy; and an end-of-the-year reflective essay encompassing students' PAIRS program experiences — including what they have learned throughout the program and how they envision that these experiences will affect their subsequent careers.
"Students in the PAIRS program have consistently demonstrated improvement in factual knowledge, as well as gaining valuable new experiences and perspectives related to caregiver and personal aspects of Alzheimer's disease, such as the frustrations of living with memory loss," said Andrew Budson, M.D., director of the education core at the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center. "Students' empathy for patients and caregivers has increased, and they report decreased stigma and negative attitudes toward people with Alzheimer's."
The Dartmouth TALES (The Alzheimer's Learning Experience for Students) program has modified the structure of the Northwestern Buddy Program in the following ways: (1) In addition to first- and second-year medical students, Dartmouth College pre-medical students and master of public health students are permitted to enroll in the program; (2) two students are paired with each person with Alzheimer's and generally visit the person with Alzheimer's together; and (3) students in the program are given a survey of attitudes about Alzheimer's disease before beginning the program and after completing it. Nine medical students, 11 graduate students and 42 undergraduates have enrolled since the program began in 2010.
"While our students typically enter the program with generally positive attitudes toward Alzheimer's disease and those who have it, the experience of being in the program further improves their attitudes on nearly every dimension that we assess," said Robert B. Santulli, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
Modifications to the model by Washington University (DUO, Dementia Understanding Opportunity) include a reduced time requirement to two hours per month and a modified recruitment partnership focusing on students with general geriatric interest, in lieu of neurology students. The DUO Program is midway through its pilot year and has recruited 40 percent more student participants than anticipated with a wait list for interested persons with dementia.
In addition to the quantitative measures implemented from the Buddy Program, participant feedback and monthly reflections continue to provide rich data for future qualitative analysis. Several themes for further analysis, such as whether DUO's fewer partner hours can provide the same benefit as the longer hourly requirements of the existing Buddy-inspired programs, have already been identified.
About AAIC
The Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) is the world's largest conference of its kind.
SOURCE Alzheimer's Association
To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room.
Labels: alzheimers , Alzheimers Dementia , buddy program , Dartmouth TALES , dementia , Dementia Understanding Opportunity , DUO , geriatric psychiatrists , geriatricians , health , life news , medical science , pairs
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AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
Home Genome
What Is a Genome?
A genome is the complete set of DNA that contains all of the instructions for building, maintaining, and running an organism. Every organism has a distinct genome. There is a dog genome, a daisy genome, a human genome, and so on.
A genome includes all of an organism’s genes. It’s all of the DNA that tells each of the cells of that organism when, where, and at what level to turn on each gene—and much, much more. One way to think about a genome is as a giant recipe book with directions to create another life form.
What Is a Genome Project?
A genome project is a research effort to sequence the DNA and identify the genes that belong to an organism. Sequencing the DNA means figuring out the sequence of the bases, or building blocks, in the DNA. If we think about the genome as a recipe book, DNA sequencing is figuring out the order of the letters in that recipe book.
One example of a genome project is the Human Genome Project (HGP), which was an international collaboration that ran from 1990-2003. It successfully sequenced most of the 3.2 billion base pairs of the human genome, at a cost of around $3 billion. Over a decade-and-a-half later, the same can be done in a matter of days for $1,000 or less.
Another example of a genome project is The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The goal of this project was to determine the genetic mutations associated with cancer, both in genes and outside of genes.
Genome vs. Gene
A genome is the complete set of DNA that has the instructions for a living thing. A lot of these instructions come in the form of stretches of DNA called genes. A gene is one of the many instructions that it takes to build, run, and maintain a living thing.
Going back to our recipe book analogy, one way to think of the relationship between a genome and a gene is to imagine that the genome is a recipe book and that each gene is one of the recipes in the book.
What Is Genome Mapping?
Like its name implies, genome mapping creates a map of the genome. It makes it easier for researchers to find what they are looking for. It is different from a genome sequence in that it is less detailed.
For example, a genome map might map out where each of the 20,000 or so human genes are located instead of laying out all 3.2 billion base pairs. This makes it easier for researchers to find a gene they are interested in.
The two main types of genome maps are linkage maps and physical maps. A linkage map shows the relative positions of genes based on how frequently they're inherited together. A physical map, on the other hand, shows exactly where the genes are located in a genome.
How Many Base Pairs Are There in the Human Genome?
The human genome has just over three billion DNA base pairs made up of four types of bases: thymine (T), adenine (A), guanine (G), and cytosine (C). Because most human cells have two copies of the human genome, most cells have over six billion base pairs. If you were to print out all of the base pairs in the genome, it would fit into 200 phone books with 500 pages each.
How Is Genomics Different from Genetics?
Genomics looks at all the genes and/or DNA in an organism. But genetics usually focuses on a single gene. An example of genomics would be using someone’s DNA to figure out where their ancestors came from. However, an example of genetics would be a study that looks at how changes in one gene might influence someone’s risk for getting breast cancer.
Discover your origins and more with AncestryDNA.
DNA Sugar
When you hear the word sugar, you may think of the white table sugar which sweetens coffee or tea. But when it comes to DNA, the sugar involved is ...
5 Myths About AncestryDNA® Tests
Over 7 million people have taken an AncestryDNA® test, but despite its rising popularity, several myths persist. Here are 5 myths about ...
What Are Genes?
Distinct stretches of DNA called genes help determine how your body develops over time. Learn more at Ancestry!
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Nabeel Khoury
How Will the Outcome of the Midterms Affect Trump's Policy Options?
Democrats captured the House of Representatives while Republicans strengthened their Senate majority in the US midterm elections on November 6.
We asked our analysts what they believe are the policy implications of this outcome. Here’s what they had to say*:
Oil, Arms, and Counterterrorism: A Look At Saudi Options and How Far the Kingdom May Go
Far from putting an end to the story, the Saudi government’s official explanation of what happened to Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Istanbul on October 2 has been met with a deluge of incredulity, sarcasm, and accusations that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for both the murder and the cover-up that followed. Given the wide opprobrium in the US Congress, media, and private sector, it is yet to be seen whether the West, particularly the United States, will punish Saudi Arabia with sanctions.
Khoury Quoted in Bloomberg Businessweek on Saudi Damage Control
Khoury Quoted in Deustche Welle on What Khashoggi Case Means for Prince bin Salman
The Khashoggi Affair: Back to the Future
From the abuses of the male guardianship in Saudi Arabia to arrest and torture of dissenters in Egypt and the jailing of environmentalists and journalists in Iran, the Middle East is rife with human rights abuses. Nor is this something new. Authoritarian regimes in the Arab world, both monarchical and republican, since their independence from colonial powers have routinely used repressive measures to keep their opposition at bay and their broader population quiescent. Saddam Hussein notoriously put down a Kurdish rebellion in Halabja in 1988, gassing 5,000 people during the larger campaign of al-Anfal which reportedly killed over 50,000 Kurds. Syria, even before Assad’s bloody war against his opposition in 2011, routinely jailed, tortured, and killed opposition figures; and had no compunctions against tracking them into neighboring countries, particularly Lebanon, in order to do so.
The Arc of Crisis in the MENA Region
On Tuesday, October 9th, the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East held a conference to discuss the nature of foreign involvement in ongoing conflicts in the region as well as the resilience of Jihadism in the post-2011 period. The conference coincided with the launching of a report, “The Arc of Crisis in the MENA Region: Fragmentation, Decentralization, and Islamist Opposition,” which explores a number of trends in governance that have emerged since the Arab Spring.
The War in Yemen: Playing With Fire
Officials in US President Donald J. Trump’s administration have repeatedly described the ongoing conflict in Yemen as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, hence justifying the United States siding with a country that many US officials view as “our strong ally” against Iran.
Ironically, the Yemen policy of Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, was also Iran-centric, lending the Saudi-led coalition vital logistical and intelligence support in order to get grudging support from Riyadh for his nuclear deal with Iran.
Both administrations have been guilty of looking at Yemen solely through the prism of Iran policy. In both cases, Yemen has suffered the consequences.
Yemen: The Battle for al-Hodeida Between War and Peace
There are three possible outcomes to the ongoing battle for Hodeida. First, the Saudi-led coalition succeeds in ousting the Houthi fighters from airport, seaport, and city. Second, the Houthi forces succeed in thwarting the land assault, but remain surrounded from the south and the east. Third, both sides accept a UN sponsored compromise, placing airport and seaport under an international force to keep the flow of humanitarian assistance going and provide a lifeline to civilians across the country. In all three options, the war continues grinding agonizingly on, though obviously the compromise option would not only provide relief to the civilian population of Hodeida, but also serve as a possible stepping stone to a broader peace agreement in the war-torn country.
Khoury Quoted in Yahoo! on Iraqi Cleric Moqtada Sadr
Khoury Quoted in AFP on Moqtada al-Sadr
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Three UX design challenges that need to be tackled to establish smart speaker technology.
2016 signalled the beginning of a monumental shift in the world of UX with the growth of voice interaction technology in the form of Amazon Echo and Google Home.
This technology has been in development for a long time with the first tentative steps having been made with Apple’s Siri mobile assistant. Voice command on phones has been around for a while but the public have been slow to fully adopt such features into their day-to-day life.
Amazon and Google are seeking to change that with the development and release of fully voice controlled personal assistants. Such a leap forward fundamentally challenges the way in which we perceive our relationship with technology as we begin to interact with devices as if they were human. This introduces a vast new challenge for UX designers as they must map out the first steps of a breakthrough which will redefine the role that technology may play in our lives.
The arrival of such technology presents problems for the industry as initial success rates may not be an indicator of whether of whether it becomes a mainstay in the market, you only have to look at the expectation vs reality of Google Glass to realise just how hard the market can be to predict.
However, the signs with voice recognition do appear to be positive with many people arguing that it is the biggest shakeup in the way we interact with technology since the arrival of the touchscreen. As voice control continues to gain momentum and reduce the primacy of the visual interface, it is important to consider what will be the biggest challenges facing UX designers as they attempt to build a platform that is increasingly able to mimic human interaction.
1. Breaking down resistance to change
It is widely acknowledged that the general public still do not feel totally comfortable when it comes to having a conversation with a computer. One of the main reasons for this is that there is a wide margin for error within an interaction, with current technology only being able to offer a limited number of responses. A poll carried out Creative Strategies found that only 6% of the owners of voice controlled gadgets felt comfortable using the technology in a public space.
If Amazon is to realise its ambition of having Alexa become a key part of every office space, they have a long way to go with regards to breaking down the sense of taboo. Marcus Turner of Enola Labs stated in an interview with Forbes that “people are very resistant to change. Some don’t believe that, but change management is difficult for many people”.
It will be an enormous challenge for UX designers to create an experience whereby a machine is able to imitate human interaction, speech patterns and improve the quality of the response given to such an extent that it will make people more willing to communicate with it.
2. Translating a visual shopping experience into audio
One of the key integrated feature with Amazon Echo has been the ability to purchase items with the device through voice control. This has proved to be a massively difficult task as shopping whether in a store or online has always been a primarily visual experience. Transferring transactions to a non-visual and voice controlled platform is particularly challenging as it requires the user to have absolute confidence in the competence of the computer to select the correct item.
Perhaps, we can already see Amazon’s doubts in attempting to create a purely audio shopping experience with the release of the Echo Show which features a touch screen, showing that people still maybe do not trust voice control to carry out something as basic as a weekly shop. Building up confidence between the user and the technology in this area will be key to giving such devices are far more commercial angle that the wider business community will be more willing to invest in and exploit.
3. Adding personality
One of the most complicated areas of innovation with regards to voice controlled AI has been the ability to give devices such as Echo and Google Home somewhat of a personality that will provide a more interactive and therefore immersive experience. The current range of commands for these devices is incredibly limited due to the technology being in its infancy but there is a desire across the sector to develop these devices into proper personal assistants that are capable of carrying out even the most unexpected of requests.
It is fair to say that this is where Google has a huge advantage due to its almost unlimited pool of information that a company like Amazon or Apple does not have access to. This could set the barriers of entry to the market incredibly high as vast resources and data sets are required in order to create a highly functioning AI system of this type.
The ability for a machine to surprise a user with its response is key to creating an immersive experience. Marcus Turner argues that so far we have lived in a way in which we have had to learn to interact with technology. The time has now arrived for technology to learn how to interact with us and the ability to implement a user experience that is able to somewhat mimic a personality will be key to leading the way in the market.
It is increasingly looking like the future of technology will be dominated by devices that are hands free and voice controlled (shown by Amazon’s desire to dominate the mobile market with the technology behind Alexa). Such a future presents a vast challenge to UX designers as they attempt to map out a user experience for a technology which should have limitless possibilities as AI continues to improve. Companies must adapt to the growing prevalence of digital personal assistants as they look to integrate themselves within these systems in a similar way to which the market for apps on both iOS and Android grew substantially with spread of such devices.
Companies must explore ways in which they can integrate themselves with a technology that continues to seem so abstract in its current form. The challenge is immense as devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home fundamentally shift our understanding of what it to interact with a computer but done correctly there is the possibility of a more immersive and efficient experience than ever before. It is a moment in which UX will come to the fore as experience begins to take on a more obviously important role than the simplicity of the aesthetic.
Published on 18-07-2017
The state of UX in Belgium
Evolve or go extinct. Why companies must embrace UX.
What does it mean to be a UX expert?
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HomeTagImpressionism Archives - Arts & Collections
Art FocusCelebrating 150 Years of Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse is widely thought of as one of the great artists of the 20th century. His mastery of colour as expression, displayed through a body of work spanning half a century, has won him extensive recognition and respect among art critics and more casual art enthusiasts alike. He is regarded, along with his contemporary and friend Pablo Picasso, as responsible for revolutionary developments in both visual art and sculpture in modern art. This year, marking the sesquicentennial of Matisse’s birth, provides an opportunity to reflect on...
Art FocusNational Gallery Announces New Impressionist Exhibition
Natalie Mellor
This autumn, London’s National Gallery will house a new impressionist exhibition, Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cézanne, displaying the artwork of major impressionists and post-impressionists. As the Courtauld Gallery temporarily closes to make way for a major transformation project—Courtauld Connects—26 pieces from the establishment’s impressionist and post-impressionist art collection will be displayed at the National Gallery. Showcasing leading impressionists The impressionist exhibition—which is opening on 17 September—will be arranged chronologically with 12 sections for each...
Art FocusWorks by Claude Monet Set to Be in the Tate Britain’s Exhibition
Six paintings by Claude Monet featuring the Houses of Parliament will be brought from the U.S., Germany and France to London, where they will join the Tate Britain’s exhibition—Impressionists in London, French Artists in Exile (1870-1904). It maps the journey embarked on by French Impressionists, who sought refuge in Britain during the 19th century. While there are 19 paintings within this series, depicting the impressive political Westminster monument from different perspectives, none of them currently...
Art FocusPainting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse
The Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts will bring together over 120 works, from public institutions and private collections across Europe and the USA, including 35 paintings by Monet. Arguably the most important painter of gardens in the history of art, Monet was also an avid horticulturist who cultivated gardens wherever he lived. As early as the 1860s, a symbiotic relationship developed between his activities as a...
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Best to be clear from the get-go: I’m not a terrible admirer of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films. Any of them. They’re not horrible or anything (well, maybe the third one), but for the most part, they are too glossed over. Too clean and happy and forced. J.K. Simmons helps make them bearable, as does a batshit crazy Willem Dafoe, and, later, Alfred Molina.
Point is, I wasn’t fan of the originals, and when it was announced that a new Spider-Man reboot was being released just five years after Raimi’s last Spidey flick, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
So, I offer up with virtually no surprise that Marc Webb’s well-intentioned revision is as unnecessary as I thought it might be. Despite casting better actors than Raimi did, The Amazing Spider-Man offers nothing new. Nothing new to the Spider-Man franchise or to comic book movies in general. It’s glossy, clean, happy and forced. I honestly don’t think the filmmakers involved should be surprised if a little irritation is thrown their way – we’ve been here before, and damn recently, too.
Webb’s film isn’t a whole hell of a lot different than Raimi’s first Spider-Man movie (I know it may not be fair to compare, but when they’re this similar, how can I not?). Raised by his aunt and uncle after his parents’ mysterious deaths, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is a high school nerd who, after a set of absurdly convenient circumstances, finds himself bitten by a scientifically engineered spider, thereby adopting some groovy super powers. When his uncle (Martin Sheen) is murdered, he sets out to find the guy who did it, but winds up, you know, saving the world instead.
I mentioned convenient circumstances before, and at the risk of harping on nagging plot holes (as I did in my Avengers review), there are a few things that simply cannot go unmentioned here. In order to achieve his super powers, Peter finds himself in a secret lab at Oscrop Tower, which is headed by Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans). So, if you are willing to accept that Peter was able to 1.) Get 10 steps through Oscorp’s lobby dressed like a stoned-out hipster from the ‘90s, 2.) Be issued a security badge without showing any form of identification, and 3.) Sneak away and access a super secret lab with a temporary intern security badge then, sure, I guess you can appreciate what’s happening.
Look, I get it. I understand that, yes, this is a super hero movie, which requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief from those watching it. I know not everything in The Amazing Spider-Man is meant to be taken literally. I’m cool with giving a little slack, but scenes like the one I just described isn’t me giving the film a hard time, it is lazy, convenient filmmaking.
And that’s just one of the reasons this flick didn’t work for me. Others include CGI that looks no better than the Spider-Man from 2002, and the film’s curious rush in the time it introduces its villain, to the time said villain decides to take over the world (seriously, it’s a matter of minutes… usually there is some grandiose planning to be done).
The question: is The Amazing Spider-Man better than Raimi’s Spider-Man? I’m the wrong person to ask. There are parts of Raimi’s first and second films that I enjoyed a lot, and there are a handful of things here that I cared for (namely Campbell Scott as Peter’s father, Emma Stone as Peter’s love interest and Dennis Leary as a police captain), but for me to say one is better than the other is to assume that they are different enough to be critiqued separately. Which, really, they are not. D+
thevoid99 July 4, 2012 at 10:30 PM
Yeah, I think I'll skip this. I just have no interest in seeing this though I did love the first 2 Spider-Man movies.
Oh, I still want the $7 of the $9 I spent on Spider-Man 3, the remaining $2 is for that entire cameo sequence by Bruce Campbell.
Alex Withrow July 5, 2012 at 8:03 AM
Ha nice. And what a cameo that was. Definitely worth the $2. The rest of it? Yuck.
Mr_Sheldrake July 4, 2012 at 11:16 PM
Yeah, this was incredibly bland and hard to enjoy. Blah.
I want to say something like, "Yeah, it's such a shame." But it's not. I guess this is what happens when you make movies so similar so close together.
Nikhat July 5, 2012 at 1:29 AM
Yaay another person who didn't like it! I'm so sick of telling people why I dislike this film. I, on the other hand, am quite a big fan of the first Spiderman (and that only), 'cuz it was just one of those cinematic trips in the formative years of one's life that they can't forget.
This one, was so unnecessary, and I felt badly made, and the villain sucked, and the ending was dumb, and worst of all- completely wasted the brilliance that is Emma Stone.
I could not agree more with every single thing you said. Bland, boring, lame villain, cheap ending, and an underused Stone. Just criminal.
Ruth July 5, 2012 at 1:32 AM
YES! Only Peter f***ing Park would go into a room filled with glowing, neon spiders, and poke at their webs. Grr. I don't remember Sam Raimi's films enough to say whether or not this is better, but it was so uninspired. Oh Garfield, at least we know he can be in much better films.
Uninspired is a really good word to use in regards to this flick. There's just nothing to it at all. I think it'll go away very very quickly.
Eep. I just heard it's the first planned in a trilogy....
I just heard that too! Honestly, that completely depends on box office returns.
(Pauses. Checks Box Office Mojo.)
Aaaaand it set an opening day record. Yep, we'll be seeing two more of these.
Spider-Man 3 is probably the greatest comedy of the 21st Century
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOtpeYERu9w
Ha, yeah, that was a really really unfortunate scene to show up in any movie ever. Just awful.
Josh July 5, 2012 at 9:12 AM
I was a fan of the first two, but I'm not the least bit excited to see this. Still, I'll probably give it a look in the next week or so.
Thanks for the follow by the way!
Thank YOU for coming onto the site and reading/commenting so much. Glad to have e-met you.
And yeah, I'd say this is completely skippable.
Sati. July 5, 2012 at 9:53 AM
Great review! This film really doesn't interest me at all, but I may see it some time for Stone and Ifans. Rebooting the franchise so soon just seems absolutely unnecessary for me.
Alex Withrow July 5, 2012 at 10:35 AM
Yeah, unnecessary indeed. And considering this made a goddamn killing in the brief time it has been out, we can definitely expect two more of these. Let's hope they put something a little more thrilling together.
Candice Frederick July 5, 2012 at 10:06 PM
the story definitely lacked, but the talent was at least good.
Yeah I think that's fair. Hopefully the sequels will fare a little better.
Eric July 8, 2012 at 8:00 PM
Ouch. Well, I have noticed that we have similar views on superhero movies, so if you don't like this one then I probably won't care for it either. I might skip this one altogether.
Honestly, you wouldn't be missing anything if you skipped out on this. It simply adds nothing new. Such a shame for the talent involved. Sigh, oh well.
Budai Robert December 23, 2014 at 2:41 PM
When I was just a kid I read 3 or 4 Spider man comic books because I love Spider-Man (1994 TV series). Then I saw Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and it was a (bad) carbon copy of the original. It was good(to bad), but 1.Tobey Maguire don't know how to act, 2. Kirsten Dunst is too good to this series of (bad) films, her character is sucks(she cheats Spider-Man in every film), 3. Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina are Golluming, 4. They rehash the story over and over, 5. Bad CGI effects, 6. Too clean and happy and forced. The only good thing about this films J.K. Simmons, JUST THAT. The third film is horrible, but it goes in so bad its good area. When Tobey Maguire danced I laughed so hard and Spider-Man was dead.
The Amazing Spider-Man IS GREAT. 1. Andrew Garfield IS Spider-Man, 2. Emma Watson is helpful, 3. I bought the DVD and my Grandma likes it, 4. It shot from the point of view of Spider-Man, 5. This film respect the comics better, 6. The Amazing Spider-Man is darker than Spider-Man. Overall Spider-Man: C; Spider-Man 2: C+; Spider-Man 3: between D+ and C-;The Amazing Spider-Man: B.
Alex Withrow December 29, 2014 at 3:14 PM
It's actually really refreshing to hear a Spider-Man fan not call Spider-Man 2 a masterpiece. None of these films really do it for me (though I do love J.K. Simmons). Did you like The Amazing Spider-Man 2?
Ha ha! I don't to see it. Will be terrible. It will ruin ALL the spider-man films. Probably I'll never see it.
Yeah, I don't blame you.
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In Character: Philip Seymour Hoffman
The best part about highlighting Philip Seymour Hoffman for this column is that I (or you, or them) could pick most any five roles he’s done, and call them his best.
I typically like to take a few paragraphs to justify the inclusion of an actor in this column, but honestly, Philip Seymour Hoffman needs no introduction. The man is the character actor. And, if you’ve held an even moderate interest in film for any of the past 15 years, chances are you know exactly what I mean.
Five Essential Roles
Scotty J.
I could probably retype the line, “I’m a fuckin’ idiot,” a few dozen times and most would understand why Scotty J. is essential to Hoffman’s oeuvre.
As the confused, fumbling lackey of Jack Horner’s pornography production company, Scotty J. hangs around the set performing whatever gopher task the talent asks of him. This includes, but is not limited to, wearing his fantastically awful shirts a few sizes too small, trying not to stare obsessively at Dirk Diggler’s diggler, and, in the film’s most hilariously desperate moment, proclaiming his love for Dirk with a New Year’s kiss.
Scotty J. is a minor role, but one that Hoffman owns every step of the way. Next time you watch the film, pay attention to whenever Hoffman is on screen. Even when he’s mildly out of focus in the background, he’s completely on his game, grimacing with some perplexed, disheveled face. A perfect performance.
Love Liza (2002)
Wilson Joel
After his wife kills herself for unexplained reasons, Wilson finds what he assumes to be her sealed suicide note and instead of opening it, lets it sit idly as his life slowly begins to corrode. To fill the void of his longing and desperation, Wilson takes to huffing gas, and huffing it often. The beauty (and, it should be noted, rarity) of this performance is that, because it is laced with dark humor, it perfectly blends all of Hoffman’s best attributes together.
We sympathize with Wilson, but never pity him. We laugh at him, but never mock him. There is simply no other actor who could pull off the desperation and comedic timing of Wilson Joel than Philip Seymour Hoffman. It’s a subtle, nuanced performance that is played to excellence.
Dean, a.k.a. The Mattress Man
It’s all in the introduction. Jon Brion’s snares pound mercilessly as Robert Elswit’s camera pushes in from afar. The phone rings, and we quickly approach Dean from behind. He answers the phone while standing, and what follows is one of the very finest exchanges two movie characters have ever shared on screen.
Now, given the performances I’m not including as some of Hoffman’s five essential roles, the inclusion of Dean may seem like an unusual choice. To explain. I find Punch-Drunk Love to be as unique and tender a romance as anything released in the past decade. It’s whimsical, odd, and I completely adore it. And then there’s the Mattress Man. This silly, not-at-all imposing figure who barks so tremendously, but bites so pathetically. The phone conversation mentioned above is one of my favorite scenes of Paul Thomas Anderson’s career. It gets me everytime, and Hoffman is chief to thank for that.
25th Hour (2002)
Jacob Elinsky
Everything you need to know about Jacob Elinsky is in the way he dresses. It’s the last night before his best friend is sent to prison for seven years. Planned are cocktails at a trendy dive bar, before descending into the darkness of one of Manhattan’s most exclusive clubs. It’s a night of regret, goodbyes, and style. And what does Jacob wear? Cheap slacks, a lazy shirt, an old man's jacket, and a Yankee’s baseball cap. That says it all, and Hoffman fills the shoes of the character seamlessly.
Jacob is an honest, weak man who, when tested, makes the decision to enforce his morals rather loosely. There’s something about Jacob’s desperation that makes this character so unforgettable. He spends the entire film lecturing his friends (and students) about the poor decisions they’ve made, but when push comes to shove, he’s really no better then the rest of them.
We’re all familiar with Spike Lee’s infamous dolly shot, in which he places the camera and the actor on a dolly, creating a moving image of a floating character. It’s one of Lee’s most iconic devices, and the most telling dolly shot of Lee’s career may be Jacob Elinsky leaving the bathroom of a club, gliding across the floor, staring helplessly at the camera. Poor bastard.
Owning Mahowny (2003)
Dan Mahowny
Dan Mahowny is Hoffman flexing his best, most subtle desperation. As a trusted bank manager based in Toronto, Mahowny is a guy who’s good at his job, but, unbeknownst to his employer, is skimming money from the bank to fulfill his gambling addiction.
Every weekend, Mahowny leaves Toronto a slightly miserable bank manager, and arrives in Atlantic City a god, treated like royalty by the staff of his favorite hotel. Now, a film like this could stick to formula and become a thriller of paranoia. Will Mahowny pay the bank back before they discover his scheme? But the movie, and Hoffman’s performance, is too wise for that.
Owning Mahowny, which is based on a true story, is an excellent character study that never begins to stray into sensationalism. It tells it like it is, in gritty, honest detail, and Hoffman carries it home.
Andy Hanson
A quick note about screaming. Screaming in movies is hard. Really hard. I don’t mean screaming out of fear. I mean screaming out of anger, or, especially, sadness. It’s such an animalistic thing, to scream. And to watch it on film, or rather, to watch it convincingly on film, is actually rather rare. Now, there is a scene in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead in which Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character pulls his car over to the side of the road. He’s just buried his mother, and he is fully aware that it is his fault. But at this particular time, with his confused wife sitting in the passenger seat, Andy decides to verbally take his aggression out on his father, who is nowhere in sight. The resulting scene is the most fearless, gut wrenching moment of Hoffman’s career. Everything we need to know about Andy Hanson – his pain, his struggle, his jealously and regret – is packed into 30 seconds of primal furor.
And that’s just one goddamn scene from this movie.
Frankly, there are roughly a dozen roles that could be labeled as Hoffman’s best. I’ve seen them all, and none of them grab me quite the way his Andy does. From the moment we meet him (and, if you’ve seen the movie, you remember exactly how we meet him), we know that he’ll be trouble. Andy is such a tortured, layered character, that when his inevitable downfall arises, it should be damn near impossible for Hoffman to commit convincingly. Damn near.
Other Notable Roles
In Almost Famous
Scent of a Woman (1992)
Hard Eight (1996)
Happiness (1998)
Flawless (1999)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
State and Main (2000)
Cold Mountain (2003)
Along Came Polly (2003)
Empire Falls (2005)
Capote (2005)
The Savages (2007)
Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)
Doubt (2008)
Moneyball (2011)
The Ides of March (2011)
Previous installments of In Character include:
Philip Baker Hall
Erland Josephson
Joe Pantoliano
Teddy Casimir August 7, 2012 at 5:14 PM
I'm so ashamed that several of his films are on my watchlist and I have yet to check them out. I only hear great things about Pihlip, but still have not seen him perform. I will rectify that within a month.
Alex Withrow August 9, 2012 at 10:08 AM
Oh so you've never seen a PSH performance? Man, you've got a world of talent waiting before you. Enjoy!
Trevor Keith Greetham August 7, 2012 at 6:16 PM
Fuck yes! One of my favorite actors and some of his best roles on display here! That's really rad of you to highlight Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. Great film that is not talked about often enough. Lumet said of it "In a well-written drama, the story comes out of the characters. The characters in a well-written melodrama come out of the story." Hoffman really comes out of the events happening and adapts. My favorite role of his is probably Allen from Happiness its just so creepy(odd who they replaced him with in Life During Wartime though) or Dean from PDL. I also like him in MI3. So fucking exited for The Master!
Ha nice, glad you're such a PSH fan. That Lumet quote is fuckin' brilliant - dude was a master. I LOVE PSH's role in Happiness, just the ultimate creep.
Sooo pumped for The Master!
MovieNut14 August 7, 2012 at 6:22 PM
Boy, this one was inevitable, wasn't it, Alex?
Among my top five performances of his are (in no order) 25th Hour, Capote, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Almost Famous and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.
However, the best performance of his in my opinion was not on the silver screen. It was on stage as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. Hoffman has this sort of presence that's just greater when he's performing before an audience and boy, I felt it when I watched him in the play.
I would have loved to have seen him on stage as Willy Loman.
Great PSH picks. Man, I bet he KILLED as Willy Loman. Few can capture angst the way PSH can. In fact, I'd love to see him in any play. Someday.
Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of my favorite actors. I haven't seen all his movies, but I agree with your choice of his role in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. And damn, what a disturbing movie that was. My second pick would be Magnolia. I also thought he was great with Laura Linney in The Savages.
All great picks. Really digging this BTDKYD love... I had no idea so many people dug that movie as much as me. Fantastic in Magnolia (his tears with Moore are a highlight of that film, to me). The Savages was a movie that I thought had great acting, but was extremely forgettable as a whole. Either way, great actor indeed!
Josh August 7, 2012 at 6:52 PM
Surprised you hadn't done one of these posts on him already. I've been meaning to see Owning Mahowny, and I somehow overlooked Love Liza. (The best thing about reading other people's blogs is discovering more films to see. And, boy, do I here.) :)
I love all of those other performances, but I actually prefer Hoffman's performance in Doubt to his in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Both are fantastic, but he does screaming even better in that role. And I honestly can't tell from his performance: did he or didn't he? Aww, it's maddening.
Great post man!
Ha, glad you find movie ideas on my site! I highly recommend those two indies - PSH is fantastic in them.
He definitely screams something fierce in Doubt. I didn't care for that movie (at all), but I thought the four central performances were fantastic. Maybe I should watch it again...
SDG August 7, 2012 at 7:31 PM
I love that you picked Before the Devil Knows You are Dead. That movie scares me.
No doubt, Phillip Seymour Hoffman is one of the most talented actors in the industry because, as you said, just pick any 5 roles he did and they are damn near 5 best roles he did.
Ha, it scares me too! PSH is definitely one of the best there is right now. Always delivers, no matter the genre.
Sati. August 7, 2012 at 9:25 PM
Hands down my favorite thing you wrote in the series! Brilliant choices. His work in Before The Devil...would probably be my pick too. There are two scenes that will never fade from my mind - the one that after his wife leaves he starts, seemingly peacefully trash the apartment - the moment when he gets the bowl and marbels fall on the glass table is amazing. Another is when he shoots the guy through a pillow. I also adore his work in Synecdoche and Doubt - for me he was the best part of the cast in the latter, such an amazing performance. Many people rave about Daniel Day Lewis but for me Hoffman is the most versatile and capable actor working nowadays.
Thanks Sati! The slow trashing of the apartment is the antithesis of the screaming scene I mentioned, and it is fucking amazing. I love what he does with that moment. You just want him to slam that bowl into the glass table, but no... so painful the way he plays it.
Squasher88 August 7, 2012 at 9:33 PM
I can never understand people who hate PSH. He's so consistently great. I can't even pick a top 5 for him, but my favourite is definitely Doubt.
Me and you both - PSH is the man. Glad to see so much Doubt love here. not a movie I'm particularly fond of, but love him in nonetheless. Have you seen Before the Devil Knows You're Dead?
Squasher88 August 14, 2012 at 2:37 PM
Yes, I've seen it. Don't like it that much, but again he's great in it.
Alex Withrow August 14, 2012 at 2:49 PM
Nice, fair enough.
thevoid99 August 7, 2012 at 10:21 PM
I love Philip Seymour Hoffman. Definitely one of the best actors working today. My favorite performance from him is and always going to be Lester Bangs in Almost Famous. It's been on Cinemax lately and I just can't help but watch that film whenever it's on. It's one of my favorites and will be a subject of my favorite film series later this year.
"The Doors? Jim Morrison? He's a drunken buffoon posing as a poet. Come on, give me the Guess Who. They have the courage to be drunken buffoons which makes them poetic. Give me some White Light, White Heat. Iggy Pop! Amen!"
Fuckin' love him in Almost Famous.
"Who are you listening to?"
"Stillwater..."
[Slams phone]
thevoid99 August 9, 2012 at 4:11 PM
"Fuckin' kid is on drugs".
Jack August 7, 2012 at 10:58 PM
Heh, you finally did this post. Started reading, thinking, "heh, I love me some Philip Seymour Hoffman, gonna be great reading about all these movies I'll definitely have seen and nodding along to the righteous opinions on display." I've seen two of the six. Fuck you, Alex!
In all seriousness, more great roles of Hoffman's:
The Big Lebowski - his deadpan delivery of "No, Dude, that had *not* occurred to us" gets me every time. Awesome character. Classic subversion of a time-honoured noir cliche (the butler) by bringing the sycophancy to the forefront.
Happiness - When he cumshots on the wall...pretty horrifying mental image there. Could spend all day listening to PSH screaming sexual abuse down the phone.
Magnolia - Such a lovely and caring character.
Almost Famous - I was reading some Lester Bangs and, seriously, the dude was an utter madman. No modern-day rock publication would publish that stream-of-consiousness shit he wrote. Pretty cool guy, though, one of the first guys to praise the Stooges, and they ended up more-or-less inventing punk rock. Hoffman is great as him. I think I just enjoy hearing characters discuss rock music, though.
Synecdoche, New York - Not a particularly fantastic movie, but his centric performance is a spectacular hit. I mean, he puts everything he's got into it, made me think of '70s De Niro or Pacino. A character study needs a great character actor.
Hard Eight - Saw this for the first time the other night and his cameo is fuckin' hilarious.
When I'm a big-shot director (which will definitely happen), I'm gonna make sure he's in all my stuff. Totally versatile and brilliant dude. And, yeah, you should definitely watch Four Lions! That film would probably be even better if they'd've managed to squeeze Hoffman in there somewhere. I'm sure he can do an English accent.
Haha, you got some work to do then brother!
Love all your picks for the reasons you mentioned. His cameo in Hard Eight is priceless, the way he throws those damn dice... dude is a maniac!
Gregory Roy August 7, 2012 at 11:48 PM
Pleased to see Before the Devil Knows You're Dead as the Best of the Best. Excellent performance by Hoffman and a very underrated movie as well. Totally took me by surprise the first time I saw it.
Gregory Roy August 8, 2012 at 11:19 AM
Also excited for his part in The Master. I cannot wait any longer for that movie to come out.
Oh yeah, I think he's going to kill in The Master - can't wait for that one either. Glad to hear you like his BTDKYD as well!
Tyler August 7, 2012 at 11:48 PM
Superb list. I love the choices of Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk Love and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. The latter I just saw very recently for the first time, and Hoffman's performance blew me away.
For me, one of his essential roles is Synecdoche, New York (which is also one of my favourite films). Hoffman was born to work with Charlie Kaufman, and the result is nothing short of incredible. Synecdoche is a fucking amazing movie and Hoffman shines in it.
Thanks man. I do like his work in Synecdoche, but that's a flick I've given two gos at and am left wondering what I'm missing. I appreciate parts of it, but it just doesn't click for me.
Maybe I'll have another round with it here soon.
Andy Buckle August 8, 2012 at 1:21 AM
Before the Devil Know's You're Dead at #1. Word. Love Hoffman. He is great in everything, but Devil is one of my personal favourites.
Nice man, a rare agreement between you and I haha.
blahblahblah Toby August 8, 2012 at 3:51 AM
This was great. I featured Hoffman on two lists last august, happily none of your picks were on my "Bottom Five."
But I did pick Love Liza as a "most unseen" of his great roles, typically amazing performance from him there.
Awesome, glad to hear some Love Liza love. That movie definitely deserves a wider audience. Glad none of my picks were on your bottom!
Robert August 8, 2012 at 9:32 AM
I've come to realize lately that Hoffman may be my favorite actor. And what's funny is I used to hate him. I'm not sure what happened.
And now that I've said that, I have to admit that there are quite a few of his films that I still need to see.
Hoffmann is awesome in Punch Drunk Love. The confrontation scene at the end will be a Favorite Scene Friday someday for sure. "That's that!"
He's great in The 25th Hour. I always did love that he was wearing that cap in the club.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is such a devastating movie. I might never watch it again.
The great thing about Hoffman is how he can play both a schlubby guy/jokster like in Along Came Polly (or Twister! No Twister love??) and a crazy, evil bastard. I actually thought his performance in Mission Impossible 3 was pretty great.
Remember his scene with Fiennes in Red Dragon. *shiver*
Awesome In Character!!!
P.S. So stoked for The Master!
Thanks man! I get how you weren't initially a PSH fan. I actually hear quite a few people say they couldn't stand him at first but eventually saw the light. All good either way.
I LOVE him in Twister haha. Groovy little role. He's a perfect creep in M:I-3: "And then I'm gonna kill you right in front of her."
Dan August 8, 2012 at 12:23 PM
Wow, it's really hard to narrow down Hoffman's career to six performances. I think you did a very good job. I'm not a huge fan of Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, but he's excellent in it. Even though it's a small performance, it would be tough for me not to include Almost Famous in there. I also like his understated role in Magnolia, though it's hard to argue with your picks. You've already got two PT Anderson movies in there, so you have to mix it up. Nice job!
Thanks Dan! He's absolutely perfect in Almost Famous and Magnolia. Have you seen Love Liza and/or Owning Mahowny? Really good in those two.
Eric August 8, 2012 at 12:26 PM
Quite possibly my favorite actor working today. Dude is awesome in everything he's in, and I am very happy that you included Owning Mahowny as an essential. Very underrated film.
Yes indeed! Glad to hear you're such a PSH fan. Can't wait for The Master!
Sam Fragoso August 9, 2012 at 5:51 AM
My sentiments are in alignment with the person above me, Hoffman is brilliant in everything.
Nice Sam, glad you like his work. Have a favorite PSH performance?
Diana August 12, 2012 at 11:24 AM
I'm so happy to see him in this series, he is a fantastic actor, I love him. Although I will always love him in Boogie Nights, there are other outstanding parts, like Capote or Magnolia. I have to see Before the Devil knows you're dead soon!
Glad to hear you like him. And yes, BTDKYD is a must!
eddie August 16, 2012 at 6:36 PM
Personally, I'm partial to his performance in Magnolia, although the fact that I think that's one of the best movies ever made might be slanting my opinion a little.
Oh he is so good in Magnolia. I love the moment with Moore after she hits the phone away from him. Lot going on there. Very well played.
Dave August 29, 2012 at 11:52 AM
I have nothing to add to this except to say:
I love this. Awesome dude, awesome post. Between your post and the great comments, I'm basking in the glow of Philip Seymour Hoffman right now, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it.
Alex Withrow August 29, 2012 at 12:42 PM
Ha, thanks man! I was thrilled that people dig PSH so much. Dude rocks.
maskofgojira March 24, 2013 at 11:39 AM
I love PSH - he's probably one of my favorite actors working right now. He never seems to put a foot wrong in any of his movies (even the one's I'm not crazy about, he's always great in them). This is a great post and it's great to see some love for some more underappreciated PSH films. A personal favorite of mine would be his role in Happiness - it's just such an odd performance that suits him to a T (imo).
Alex Withrow March 25, 2013 at 11:01 AM
Thanks so much for the compliment, really glad you dug the post!
PSH is incredible, isn't he? I really wanted to include his Happiness performance in the essential roles, but if there was ever a difficult career to break down, it was this one. He's perfect in that film.
And just like that...he's gone.
Alex Withrow February 3, 2014 at 3:16 PM
And I'm still utterly dismayed.
Henrik J. May 13, 2014 at 7:59 PM
I still can't believe he's gone. He was one of my all time favorite actors and i always looked forward to what he did next. I have never seen him give a bad performance or just phone it in for a paycheck. Even in that awful Ben Stiller comedy he did he gave it everything. He was a true professional and that always showed on screen. I'm really looking forward to seeing his last movies, even if it's gonna be really hard to sit through them now. This is one of those times it's just impossible for me to choose a favorite. I recently re-watched The Master again and he is absolutely fantastic in that one. That performance is definitely up there among my favorites of all time.
Alex Withrow May 14, 2014 at 11:57 AM
Me too man, me too. You know, I almost did include his work in Along Came Polly here, just to prove that he was always so good. And obviously, if I wrote this today, The Master would most definitely be included. What power.
Stergios May 20, 2014 at 10:42 PM
I had a little trouble commenting on this post, because, you know, I'm not sure I've really come to terms with the fact that this otherworldly actor is not longer with us, but, my God, I just felt the need to be among the people here writing a few words about his phenomenal (and by this I mean PHENOMENAL) talent. Whatever you write or say of course for this marvel of an actor isn't going to come across to his greatness, but whatever, I believe I had to write a little something. Well, I will say this: When I watched "Synecdoche, New York", I think I couldn't speak for a few seconds after the credits started to roll. And that hadn't to do only with the film being so utterly brilliant (to me, this film is at the Top 10 films of all time if we make a list with the 1000 films of all time or something), it mainly had to do with Philip Seymour Hoffman's almost unbearably haunting performance. I can't think of many films and many actors in my life having that kind of impact on me. I mean, seriously, the last scene of the film is pure genius from both Kaufman and Hoffman. The latter touched the ultimate here I believe. I think his performance in this film should be what any aspiring actor had to see again and again to prepare properly for what we call "acting". It's the kind of performance that shatters the wall between playing a role and transforming into the role completely. It's almost disturbing to watch. And yet, so beautiful. I can't praise him enough for his astonishing body of work and obviously his masterclass in "The Master" (which I know you couldn't possibly include in a post dating in August 2012) and his terrifying tour de force in "Capote" come pretty close, but his portrayal of Caden Cotard marks his quintessential performance for me. Everything that made him so damn incomparable as an actor, from his unbelievable technical skills and his emotional rawness to his trademark desire for rich, uncompromising characters is here. It's like he decided to put the whole acting toolbox in one performance of something. In my humble opinion, it's just the best of his of his best of his best of his... It's a performance "bigger than life" in a film that is "bigger than life". So the list with my Top 10 performances of his would be the following:
1) Synecdoche, New York
2) The Master
3) Capote
4) Before the devil knows you're dead
5) Doubt
6) Magnolia
7) Flawless
8) Happiness
9) Charlie Wilson's War
10) The big Lebowski
I've seen all of his films and I think in each one of them he commands the screen like only a handful of actors (male or female) can claim they ever did. It's another great list of yours, man. Keep up the good work.
I’m still not over this one either man. Was just watching 25th Hour last night, and the way he bumbled and fumbled his way through that movie is ingenious. He was so damn good, in everything.
Love your list, and Synecdoche is something I really need to give another go. I feel like, now that I’ve gotten a bit older, I’ll appreciate it more. Probably give it a rewatch this weekend. Also love that you ranked Flawless so high. I adore him in that film.
I saw BTDKYD last week, and despite being a colossal Lumet fan- I didn't really take to it.
That being said- WHAT A PERFORMANCE. Such a shame we lost such a man so early- when he had so much more left to give. Its been a while, but I can say I still mourn his loss. So many memorable and outstanding roles.
Interesting that Capote didn't make the list ;) but these are certainly better.
This is the only In Character I've actually thought about going back and updating. I looked at it a few weeks ago, and I don't agree with my assessment now. Plus The Master would definitely make the cut today (it hadn't been released when I wrote this).
Mark Woollon July 23, 2015 at 11:10 AM
Oh god yes. He was excellent in it. His final scene was just... Such a fine actor.
In Character: Chiwetel Ejiofor
Movie Questionnaire Blogathon
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Celeste and Jesse Forever
My Favorite Scene: the Films of Tony Scott
10 Perfectly Trashy Action Flicks
In Character: Steve Buscemi
10 Scenes That Earn Brad Pitt a Career Pass
Hope Springs
The Bourne Legacy
Birthday Beach Break
My Favorite Scene: In the Line of Fire
My Top 10 Directors of All Time
The Liebster Blog Award
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Opening Membership and Minds
Delegates vote at AAUW National Convention in Seattle, Washington, 1949. From AAUW Archives.
On display at the AAUW national office is a certificate from the National Council of Negro Women, signed by the council’s founder and president, Mary McLeod Bethune. The citation recognizes AAUW for “revising its constitution to prevent membership exclusion based on race, religion, or national origin.” The story behind this certificate is one of the most significant stories in AAUW’s history.
Photograph, Mary Church Terrell. Image courtesy of National Park Service.
It begins with Mary Church Terrell, one of the first African American women to earn a college degree. Terrell’s family valued education, and she attended Oberlin College, receiving her bachelor’s degree in 1884 and her master’s degree in 1888.
After earning her degrees, Terrell moved to Washington, D.C., and taught at the public M Street High School, where Robert Herberton Terrell, the District’s first African American municipal court judge, was a teacher and later principal. They were married in 1891.
Terrell’s list of accomplishments is lengthy. She served on the D.C. Board of Education from 1895–1906 and was the first president of the National Association of Colored Women (now the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs) and a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
In 1946, Terrell was invited to join the AAUW Washington (DC) Branch by member Clarence Swift. This membership invitation caused a sharp division in the branch when some members opposed Terrell’s admittance because she was African American. The irony is that Terrell was once a national member of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae and AAUW; her name is listed in a directory from 1905–06. And according to some of our archives, she was also a former member of the Washington branch — the same branch that in 1946 was resisting her membership.
Certificate from National Council of Negro Women recognizing AAUW, 1949. On display at AAUW.
The national leaders of AAUW ordered the branch to accept Terrell’s application for membership or be dissolved, because AAUW had never explicitly excluded women based on race in its membership criteria or bylaws. In 1948 the branch sued AAUW in district court and won. AAUW appealed the court’s decision but lost. With this controversy unresolved, AAUW President Althea K. Hottel consulted her friend, former Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts, who advised her that AAUW should revise its bylaws to clarify its membership requirements to prevent exclusion by race.
Hottel visited branches across the country to explain the bylaws revision and stress that a vote to change them should happen at the first possible opportunity. At the 1949 National Convention in Seattle, AAUW members voted overwhelmingly (2,168 to 65) to revise the bylaws so that the only requirement for membership was to be a woman with a college degree from an AAUW-approved university.
This revision helped clarify that there was one and only one requirement for AAUW membership, reaffirming that women college graduates of all races were eligible for membership. The change highlighted AAUW’s commitment to the democratic, egalitarian principles on which our organization was founded. The branch members that had opposed Terrell’s membership quit AAUW and formed their own group, the College Woman’s Club of Washington, D.C. The remaining AAUW members stood proudly with Mary Church Terrell.
By: Suzanne Gould | Issue: Community | Tags: AAUW History, Civil Rights, Membership | February 28, 2014
Debra Witcher says:
I appreciate the stride that Mary Church Terrell made. Her persistence led the AAUW to change its bylaws and to stand by and uphold its “commitment to democratic, egalitarian principles” so that African American female scholars like myself have the privilege of merit-based membership affiliation and free will participation in an organization that has been empowering women and making strides in society since 1881. While making sacrifices is inevitable; biases make sacrifices greater than necessary in the stride to equity and access in education and other sectors of our society. Such biases include tokenism, racism, genderism, and ageism. Beneath it all there lies a force that is going to sore past the prison guards of the past into a future with equity and access for all. A future where each and every one of us will have a roles in our communities based on merits and the content of our character, and we will lead our communities out of the rubble of biases and into a future of equity and access for all.
A One-Woman Crusade for Justice : AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881 says:
[…] highlight here). She assumed the presidency of AAUW in 1947, when the organization struggled with racial integration in its oldest branch, and she faced the issue of branch autonomy versus national standards for […]
AAUW Issues
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Following the Fellows
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US women's hockey team to sit out world championship in protest
Posted: 11:44 AM, Mar 15, 2017
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The U.S. women's hockey team is skipping a big tournament in its own backyard to make a point about fair pay.
The women say they will sit out the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship, which starts later this month in Michigan, unless they can make progress in negotiations with USA Hockey, the sport's governing body in the United States.
The American women are the reigning tournament champions.
They say they've been trying to get fair wages for more than a year. They also want the same treatment as the men's team when it comes to equipment, staff, per diems, publicity and travel.
"We are asking for a living wage and for USA Hockey to fully support its programs for women and girls and stop treating us like an afterthought," captain Meghan Duggan said in a statement. "We have represented our country with dignity and deserve to be treated with fairness and respect."
It's not the first time a U.S. women's team has raised the issue of unequal treatment.
Last year, the national women's soccer team filed a complaint against U.S. Soccer with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, saying its members are paid less than men. The commission has yet to rule.
Alex Morgan, one of the stars of the women's soccer team and an outspoken advocate for equal pay in that sport, tweeted her support to the hockey players.
The team says USA Hockey pays the women $1,000 a month during the six months before the Winter Olympics and virtually nothing for the next three and a half years.
The women do get some money from the U.S. Olympic Committee during that period. But about half the women have one or two other jobs, and many depend on their families for financial support, the team says.
"USA Hockey has a long-standing commitment to the support, advancement and growth of girls and women’s hockey and any claims to the contrary are unfounded," USA Hockey said in a statement on its website.
Click here to read USA Hockey's entire statement .
The world hockey games start March 31. The American team has vowed not to show up for training camp, which starts March 21, unless it makes progress in negotiations.
The women's team also says USA Hockey spends about $3.5 million a year to promote boys' hockey, without comparable support for girls.
The run-up to the 2014 Winter Olympics showed the inequality, the women say: Only the men's team was invited to the unveiling of the jerseys for both teams. And the inside, which was supposed to list all the years the U.S. won gold, left out the women's title in 1998.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2017 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
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McDonald's to switch to cage-free eggs
By: Associated Press, CANDICE CHOI
McDonald's says it will switch to cage-free eggs in the U.S. and Canada over the next decade, marking the latest push under CEO Steve Easterbrook to try and reinvent the Big Mac maker as a "modern, progressive burger company."
Under pressure to revive slumping sales, McDonald's has already announced a number of changes since Easterbrook stepped into his role earlier this year. In March, the Oak Brook, Illinois company said it would switch to chickens raised without most antibiotics. And in April, it said it would raise pay for workers at company-owned stores, which represent about 10 percent of its domestic locations.
The decision to switch to cage-free eggs, meanwhile, signals a growing sensitivity among customers to animal welfare issues. That has been fueled in part by places like Chipotle that have made animal welfare standards part of their marketing.
Animal welfare activists also have long called for the banishment of battery cages, which confine hens to spaces so small they're barely able to move. For at least the past 10 years, the Humane Society of the United States has pressed McDonald's to switch to cage-free eggs at the company's annual shareholders meeting, said Paul Shapiro, the group's vice president of farm and animal protection.
"It's a real watershed moment," Shapiro said of the decision by McDonald's. "It makes it clearer than ever that cages just do not have a future in the egg industry."
Regulatory changes could also be making it easier for companies to agree to change. In California, a law now requires that egg-laying hens be given enough space to stretch, turn around and flap their wings.
Among the companies that have said they will switch to cage-free eggs are Subway and Starbucks, although neither of those chains has laid out a timeline for when they expect the transition to be complete.
Already, McDonald's says it buys about 13 million cage-free eggs a year in the U.S. But that is still less than 1 percent of the 2 billion eggs it uses annually to make menu items such as Egg McMuffins. Overall, only about 6 percent of the nation's egg-laying hens are cage-free, according to the United Egg Producers. Chad Gregory, CEO of the industry group, said he expects that figure to climb.
Marion Gross, senior vice president of the North American supply chain at McDonald's, said the company is working with its existing egg suppliers to convert housing systems for hens. Gross said she thinks the change will be "truly meaningful" to customers.
"They know how big we are, and the impact we can make on the industry," Gross said.
McDonald' is also likely to increase its egg purchasing over time; starting Oct. 6, the company plans to offer select breakfast items all day in the U.S.
AP Modified 2015
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Central Asian Arts
Central Asian Arts Analytical Essay
Looks at the arts of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkestan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Published on Aug 11, 2009 in Anthropology (Cultural) , Ethnic Studies (Asia) , Sociology (General) , Asian Studies (General)
$19.95 Buy and instantly download this paper now
This paper examines the distinct styles of textiles, folk arts, architecture and music developed in Central Asia, which reflect the diverse values of the different cultures. These art forms have changed over time through cultural syncretism, innovation and revivalism of earlier forms, the author relates. Today textiles and music are the two most common art forms; whereas, in the past, the two most popular were architecture and folk music.
Textiles and Embroidery
From the Paper:
"The music of Turkmenistan is similar to that of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. It too consists primarily of singing a capella, accompanied by a lute; another instrument called the gijak, similar to the cello, is sometimes used. The performers are called bakshy, and are traditionally traveling performers who also function as shamans or traditional healers. The bekshy often perform at special ceremonies such as weddings and babies baptisms. However, the importance of their healing practices has diminished because of the emergence of the Islamic sheikhs' prominence."
Sample of Sources Used:
Fitz-Gibbon, Kate and Andrew Hale. (2000). Ikat: Splendid Silks of Central Asia. Sydney: Laurence King Publishers.
Harris, Collette. (2006). Muslim Youth: Tensions and Transitions in Tajikistan. Sussex, UK: Westview Press.
Knobloch, Edgar. (2001). Monuments of Central Asia. New York: I.B.Tauris.
Mallett, Marla. (2008). Contemporary Uzbek Suzanis. Textiles and Tribal Oriental Rugs. Retrieved: December 8, 2008 <http://www.marlamallett.com>
Paine, Sheila. (2007). Embroidery from Afghanistan. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Cite this Analytical Essay:
Central Asian Arts (2009, August 11) Retrieved July 18, 2019, from https://www.academon.com/analytical-essay/central-asian-arts-115786/
"Central Asian Arts" 11 August 2009. Web. 18 July. 2019. <https://www.academon.com/analytical-essay/central-asian-arts-115786/>
The World Bank's Report on "The East Asian Miracle"
This paper summarizes the various views taken by the World Bank on Asian economic development before the crisis, and how the effects of the Asian crisis threw the Bank's judgment.into doubt.
4 sources | 2001
This paper contains 4 shorter essays that discuss different issues in Asian Studies.
Real Art
A discussion of what defines art and other questions that are central to the philosophy art.
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Field crops, grasses, plant fibers, spices, tree crops, herbs
Teuber, Larry R. Department of Agronomy and Range Science, Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Davis, California.
Graham, J. H. Waterman-Loomis Company, Highland, Maryland.
Origin and domestication
Establishment, management, and harvesting
Genetics and plant breeding
Seed production and standards
The world's most valuable forage legume, Medicago sativa, also known as lucerne, and less often as purple medic, medica, snail clover, median herb, Burgundy hay or clover, and Chilean clover. Alfalfa is often referred to as the queen of forages. It is produced worldwide on more than 32,000,000 hectares (79,000,000 acres). The United States, Argentina, Canada, Russia, Italy, and China are the world's major producers of alfalfa. The chief producing areas in the United States include California, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. See also: Fabales; Forage crops; Legume; Legume forages
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Nex Gen – Ibiere Seck Follows In Some Big Footsteps
August 1, 2018 /0 Comments/in News /by Dustin Snipes
In 1995, the trial of O.J. Simpson riveted the nation, and Ibiere Seck, a teenager in Washington state, was no different. One person in particular mesmerized her: Johnnie Cochran.
“He had a way about him,” she says. “I felt like: That’s what I want to do.”
She became determined to follow in his footsteps. She wound up doing a better job at that than she could have possibly imagined—not only attending Cochran’s alma mater, not only practicing in his city, but working at his firm: The Cochran Law Firm in Los Angeles.
“Johnnie Cochran’s office is still in the same condition it was when he passed away [in 2005], and my office is right next door to his,” she says. “To be able to go into work and know that just on the other side of that wall, Mr. Cochran sat—it’s humbling. It never gets old for me.”
SECK’S PARENTS raised their large family—10 children in all—in Seattle. They were artists: Her mother was a jeweler, her father a musician and painter. Originally from Senegal, her father was also a griot (pronounced GREE-oh)—a West African storyteller.
“These were people in the community who were tasked with maintaining the history of the community,” says Seck. “Whenever there was a significant event, it had to be passed on in a responsible way. … It was their responsibility to share with the community what had occurred [in their family] up until this point. My father was born into that.”
Seck’s parents instilled a strong sense of family and self. Her mother, seeing Seck’s promise from a young age, encouraged her to become an attorney. “My mother planted the seed,” she says. “I think she recognized when I was young that I could have this amazing opportunity to have an incredible education, and do good work in my community.”
Although she did well in school, she eventually found herself self-conscious about being one of the few students of color in her class. As a result, when she was a preteen, she was homeschooled for two years, then enrolled in American Indian Heritage, a small, largely Native American school specializing in arts and culture. For Seck, it was eye-opening.
Recognizing how much her classmates knew their own family histories, she became determined to do the same with hers. Upon graduation, Seck left for Senegal for a year, staying with relatives, and meeting aunts, uncles and a grandmother she’d never known. For the first time, she was surrounded by people who “looked like me,” she says, “and I saw the beauty in them and in myself.”
It was also the first time she realized how much opportunity she had been born into. Seck had seen poverty in America, she says, but nothing like what she saw in Senegal.
“Something awoke in me,” Seck says. “That’s really when I started to see that I have all of these incredible opportunities, that I truly am privileged, and that I was going to do everything in my power to take advantage of it.”
At Northeastern University in Boston, Seck planned to become an attorney—just not the specifics. “Something along the lines of civil rights,” she says. “I felt like the criminal justice system was corrupt in a sense … just based on what I saw in my communities—how I felt like people of color were targeted. I had a strong sense of this injustice; I knew I wanted to be an advocate.”
She became one sooner than she expected. In her junior year, as part of a campus expansion, the school announced plans to tear down the freestanding John D. O’Bryant African-American Institute and relocate it into an existing building. It had been a system of support for students of color since the 1960s, and Seck, president of both the black student union and black student newspaper, found herself in the middle of a fight. Students, teachers and staff marched, protested and staged a 40-day sleep-in. Eventually, university officials acquiesced: The building remains to this day. For Seck, the experience was a turning point.
“I learned that if you believe in something and you are selfless, good things can come,” she says. “And I remember thinking how much more I could accomplish with a law degree.”
After the LSATs, law school brochures flooded Seck’s mailbox. One of the schools, Loyola, had launched a program that spotlighted illustrious alumni in outreach to prospective students. When Seck opened the brochure, the face staring back at her was Johnnie Cochran.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to find out more about this school,’” she says. “I found out that Loyola has one of the best trial advocacy programs in the nation.”
She applied and was accepted, and it didn’t take long for Seck to home in on her path. In her first year, she became interested in a civil rights symposium taught by Gary C. Williams; for a summer internship, she worked for a big firm.
“I made a ton of money—more money than I’d ever seen in my life,” she says. “But I absolutely hated it. I was done. I knew: ‘I am going to work for the people and be a trial lawyer for the people.’”
Seeking trial experience after graduation, she applied for a job with a Little Tokyo-based attorney who needed an associate to help with trial prep. She didn’t get the job, but the attorney was so impressed he asked if he could recommend her to an attorney at a different firm.
That attorney was Joe Barrett, a partner at The Cochran Firm.
“I was highly impressed,” says Barrett, now at Affeld Grivakes. “She was very advanced in her skills and maturity, and had a magnetic personality. She has a thirst for knowledge.”
One month later, Seck got the call.
“[It was] The Cochran Firm, saying, ‘We’re hiring. Do you want a job?’” she remembers. “I’ve never looked back.”
SPECIALIZING IN CATASTROPHIC INJURY, wrongful death and sexual abuse of minors, Seck has quickly carved out a name for herself in the field of civil rights litigation. She gained national attention for her work on a sex abuse case in which her client, a young teenager, was repeatedly assaulted by a coworker while both did custodial work with U.S. Metro Group, a facilities service. The abuse went on for over a year.
The civil case landed with Robert Simon, co-founder of the Simon Law Group, who was working with attorney Thomas Feher; Simon reached out to see if Seck could help. The two knew each other from board work in LA. “She has always been a star,” says Simon.
At first, says Seck, the case didn’t look good. When she and the victim first met, the girl was using drugs heavily and was being held at a facility in Orange County. “She was just in a really, really bad state,” says Seck. “I was thinking, ‘Who is going to believe her?’ But once I sat down with her and heard her story and the details that she provided, there was no way you could deny that it occurred.”
Over months of meeting with the girl, getting to know her, talking about everything besides the assault case—movies, books, family, school—she began to earn the girl’s trust. That was key. “She trusted no one,” says Seck. “She had been betrayed in so many ways that she just didn’t believe anyone was looking out for her best interests.”
After trust was established, Seck says, “We were able to do some really incredible work on her case.” This included hiring a private investigator to find other employees who had been victimized by the same man, and building a case to prove that U.S. Metro knew about his actions and kept him on payroll regardless—even once honoring him as employee of the year.
“The strategy was to expose [U.S. Metro] as the liars that they were,” says Seck. “They knew from the time they received the first complaint of harassment that they should have shown this man the door. Instead, they [held] him up in the company in such a way that all of his victims felt like they would never be heard, they would never be believed, and they would just have to shut up and take his abuse.”
After initially being offered a $5,000 settlement, their client won a $2.6 million verdict in Van Nuys, one of the more conservative districts in the Los Angeles area.
Seck’s work didn’t stop with the verdict. She reunited her client with a former foster family in the Bay Area and helped her move there. Seck arranged for a financial planner to set up a trust, allowing the girl to finish high school and begin a cosmetology program—the first step in her long-term plan, created with Seck’s help and encouragement, toward one day owning her own salon.
“We spent a lot of time mapping out what kind of life she wanted to live,” says Seck. “She is now 20 or 21 and doing well.”
For their efforts, Simon and Seck won the Consumer Attorneys of California’s Street Fighter of the Year Award in 2016. Simon notes that Seck’s outstanding efforts hinged on her passion, and, much like her father and relatives back in Senegal, her abilities as a storyteller.
“Ibiere is the most fearless advocate,” Simon says. “She will speak up about anything if it’s not right. In a courtroom, she comes across as soft and caring. I remember her doing direct questioning with the plaintiff, very powerful and emotional stuff, and incredible storytelling. She speaks from the heart.”
LATELY, SECK HAS TURNED HER ATTENTIONS to her own family, having recently given birth to her second child. She and her husband, who live in the View Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, also have a 6-year-old son. Just weeks after giving birth, Seck was working again while simultaneously caring for her newborn daughter.
“I attended the National Trial Lawyers Summit in Miami [in January],” she says. “I took my daughter on her first flight.”
Her current cases include representing victims of sexual abuse across the country, and working with the victims of the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, in which 36 people were killed when an artist’s warehouse burned to the ground.
She tries to visit her parents in Seattle once a year, and her relatives in Senegal every other year, and to involve her children in her work as much as possible. “I have made it a point to talk to my son about my work, in the hopes that he understands why it is that I do the type of work that I do,” she says.
Seck was never able to meet Johnnie Cochran. But among those who did know the legendary attorney, she’s already made a lasting impression. “He would be proud,” says Barrett, “to know that Ibiere Seck is a leader at his firm.”
She has now opened her own law firm, Seck Law, P.C. where her primary practice is catastrophic injuries, wrongful death and sexual abuse of minors. Ibiere was recently elected Secretary of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, the largest plaintiff trial lawyers association in the nation, and will lead the association as its President in 2024. She is the immediate past-president of the National Black Lawyers: Top 40 Under 40.
BY DUSTIN SNIPES
https://www.awtriallawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/images_blog_ibiere-seck.jpg 667 1000 Dustin Snipes http://www.awtriallawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/logo.png Dustin Snipes2018-08-01 16:15:202019-04-13 11:05:18Nex Gen - Ibiere Seck Follows In Some Big Footsteps
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Molly Tuttle
Wednesday / July 17, 2019 / 8:00 p.m.
A virtuosic, award-winning guitarist with a gift for insightful songwriting, Molly Tuttle evolves her signature sound with boundary-breaking songs on her compelling debut album, When You’re Ready. Already crowned Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards on the strength of her EP, Tuttle has broken boundaries and earned the respect of her peers, winning fans for her flatpicking guitar technique and confessional songwriting. Graced with a clear, true voice and a keen melodic sense, the 25-year-old seems poised for a long and exciting career. When You’re Ready, produced by Ryan Hewitt (the Avett Brothers, the Lumineers) showcases Tuttle’s range and versatility, proving that she is more than simply an Americana artist.
Since moving to Nashville in 2015, the native Californian has been welcomed into folk, bluegrass, Americana, and traditional country communities—even as When You’re Ready stretches the boundaries of those genres. Over the past year, Tuttle has continued to accumulate accolades, winning Folk Alliance International’s honor for Song of the Year for “You Didn’t Call My Name” and taking home her second trophy for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year (the first woman in the history of the IBMA to win that honor).
Tuttle grew up in California in a musical family, performing at festivals with her father and two brothers. As a young girl, she took violin lessons but eventually grew more interested in playing guitar. By age 11, Tuttle was attending bluegrass jams and decided that she wanted to do more singing. She took voice lessons from one of her neighbors, a classical vocal coach who taught proper technique without sacrificing phrasing. As a young woman interested in bluegrass, Tuttle admired bold songwriters such as Hazel Dickens, and looked up to Bay Area bluegrass musicians such as Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick.
After graduating from high school in Palo Alto, Tuttle enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she studied in the American Roots Music Program, focusing on guitar performance and songwriting.
Berklee Today: Young Bluegrass Virtuosos
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Maxfield Anderson
Thursday / July 18, 2019 / 5:30 pm
Hannah Siglin
Wednesday / July 31, 2019 / 12:30 pm
Jobi Riccio
Friday / August 2, 2019 / 12:00 pm
Sam Adams Park
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Green energy in the Baltic states: Lack of will
By Kristine Kolosovska
EU Directive 2000/71/EC, binding to all member states, says that 21.1 percent of all energy sources must be produced from renewable energy sources by 2010 's an ambitious target. The document elaborates the principles of sustainable development in Europe in order to decrease dependency on imported energy. It sets out specific targets for green energy generation for each member state and proposes a range of support mechanisms for promoting renewable energy that may be implemented in local legislation.
The most successful support tool to date is a fixed-tariff scheme that outlines the sales price of green energy (usually higher than the price of electricity produced from traditional sources) for a specific time period. As a result, green energy policies were successful in such countries as Germany, Spain and Denmark, which now are the world leaders in utilizing green energy. However, other tools that follow free market principles failed to work properly; so-called green certificates, tendering systems, and tax incentives failed to produce sufficient impetus for investment attraction.
The Baltic states have included green energy targets in their national legislation. Latvia and Estonia have set out the feed-in tariff support mechanism in their electricity acts. In accordance to this legislation, the electricity network operator is obliged to buy the electricity produced from renewable courses far above the usual electricity price. But with the growth of applications from investors for the permits to install the green energy generators (mainly wind and hydro energy), the governments began to create administrative barriers: limiting the number of megawatts that may be installed; putting ceilings to the maximum amount of energy that the network operator will buy from the green energy generators; creating quotas on the number of market participants; and decreasing the feed factor in the tariff.
No doubt, when it comes to profitability of large state monopolies, the government abandons goals of sustaining environmental development for future generations, employment opportunities (especially in the rural areas) and the overall welfare of society.
In a nutshell, among the two groups of argumentation for and against green energy 's e.g. the environmental and the economical 's the later always wins. The facts speak for themselves: after Denmark abandoned its feed-in-tariff scheme, not a single megawatt of green generator was installed in the country. In the framework of opportunity cost of capital, investors do not see green energy business as a business that can bring sufficient return to justify the risk taken. At the same time, outstanding state support in Europe has made a revolution in green energy technologies. The green energy production costs decreased fivefold in 20 years. Wind, hydro-energy, biomass energy generations have become more efficient and effective. Combined heat and power plants (CHP) proliferated Europe-wide.
Still, the costs to install renewable energy generators are still higher than the costs of traditional fossil fuel. But on the backdrop of rising fuel prices and depleting resources, green energy should be given support.
What can be done in the Baltics? Well, the obvious: governments have to show political will. Having given the guarantees, they should not abandon green energy. The rules of the game should be transparent and clear (how a dialog between business and government usually works). The greatest emphasis should be put on the implementation of international environmental projects within the Kyoto Protocol Joint Implementation schemes that allow trading with Emission Reduction Units with countries that cannot achieve their Kyoto targets. Social education, green energy promotion, feasibility studies - all this has to be in place to get the support of local societies.
Finally, the most important issue - access to financing. As a rule, it is almost impossible to get bank financing for such projects, mainly because bankers are unsure about the legislative guarantees for investors to receive the expected income and be able to sell energy produced from the grid.
According to EU Directive 2000/71/EC, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have to achieve their renewable energy target by 2010. With the existing level of "support," there is no sign that the target will be achieved.
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Ku Klux Klan Essay
3482 Words14 Pages
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan is a secret society based on hatred and violence. The Klan claims that it stands for only law-abiding rallies and activities, but the Klan has been known for having hypocritical views throughout it’s existence. No matter where the Klan is headed, violence is sure to be the destination. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan claim that the Bible is on their side. They claim that the Bible condones their activity. Nowhere in the Bible is killing thy neighbor encouraged. They claim they are not out to destroy America, but rather to save it. How is it possible to save America with hate and violence? The Klan exists only to hold onto the beliefs of the Confederacy, but hanging on to the past only…show more content…
Also, a sentimental thought was present in adopting the color scheme, as white and red were the Confederate colors. Be it said to the credit of the women of the South who designed and made with their own hands more than four hundred thousand of these Klan robes for both horses and riders, not a word was said by these women to anyone about them and not one single secret concerning them was ever revealed. -page 8 of Ku Klux Klan, A Century of Infamy by William Pierce Randel This account was published in 1924. The six founders were unable to fill a complement of den officers. At first there was no Grand Scribe. The original den leader, Frank McCord was called Grand Cyclops; his chief lieutenant, known as Grand Magi, was Captain Kennedy. James Crowe was chosen Grand Turk, a kind of marshal or master of ceremonies. Calvin Jones and Captain Lester were Night Hawks, or couriers, and Richard Reed was the first Lictor or outer guard. New titles were created for the next few members to join. After these positions were filled, the new members were to be called Ghouls. The name of this secret organization was one of the first things that was discussed. They wanted a name that was original and one that would send a tingle down the spine of their victims. The title came from a Greek word kuklos which means a band or circle. James Crowe suggested that the word be split in two and
The Ku Klux Klan Essay
The Ku Klux Klan A cult is a type of religious organization that stands apart from the larger society. These groups often have a charismatic leader and they create their own radical beliefs. A cult that is very widespread in the United States and claims to be largely apparent throughout the world is the Ku Klux Klan or the "KKK". The Ku Klux Klan is a cult that claims to be promoters
Ku Klan And Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan 2 Abstract The Ku Klux Klan was formed in Tennessee during December, 1865. They were originally made by former confederate soldiers to keep balance in society. After their job was done they went years without being heard of again. This time they grew in popularity and used their power to intimidate others to get their way. They killed and harassed many people. After years of destruction beginning from the late 1800’s all the way through mid 1900’s, they lost their power. There
The Ku Klux Klan In the southern states of the USA, the period known as “Reconstruction” created a pressure and fear and hate for the African Americans among many of the southern white people. This was because the African Americans were now free people and had the same rights as the white people. This angered many white people and they created groups to support their beliefs and to allow people with the same ideas to gather together and share their ideas. This is
The Ku Klux Klan And The Klan
The Ku Klux Klan has massively reduced by 1927. While it peaked from having over 3 million members in 1925, it had no more than several hundred thousand in 1927. Night riding of the Klan led to at least 50 people getting flogged during a two year period. Outcries of the populace of Georgia and the Carolinas brought arrests and convictions of the Klan. Therefore, the Klan was forced to retreat. The Klan endured other handicap when local Klan in the North chapters began to develop ties with American
The Resurgence Of The Ku Klux Klan
investigation is to delve into the question of: to what extent was the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s a reflection of societal change? In order to assess this question from multiple perspectives on the topic, research is needed to further look into the Klan’s motives both prior to their revival as well as after. Events in the 1870s, when the Klan ended, as well as events in the 1920s, when the klan was reborn, will be considered in this investigation in order to make connections between
general. They have a "my way or no way" attitude, and it shows in examples like the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan itself was based on ignorance and bigotry. They established the Klan because they were bored, but little did they know how much their small club would impact American history. The Klan started slowly with few members but then it grew to 550 000 at the official end of the Klan. The Ku Klux Klan’s eventual collapse and early declined in active protests against blacks was due to the probing
KKK or Ku Klux Klan. Rosa Parks added to the topic of the KKK by saying, “It was just a matter of survival… of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl and hearing the Ku Klux Klan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down” (Parks). The KKK, scattered through the US, has increased and decreased as they try to accomplish their mission by using lethal tactics. The club’s history all started in the south. The Ku Klux Klan originated
The Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan, better known as the KKK, was started in Tennessee in 1866. The people who believed in "White Pride" came together against the advancement of African Americans, Jews, and other minorities. The KKK members were very violent and used harsh actions to get their point across, but their actions were supported by their strong belief in their religion and the culture in which they were brought up in. The Klan did as it believed, they did what they thought
The Ku Klux Klan ( Kkk )
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) came into being in 1865 and was widespread in the southern states of the USA. It was founded by former Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee. It was a movement, formed after the civil war of America, to oppress the Republican Party’s policies of reconstruction. Few years after its formation, the movement engaged in war, fear and hatred in the war-ravaged south. The group’s activities during this period have had adverse effects on the American society that still haunt them
The Beginning Of The Ku Klux Klan
The start of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in 1866, expanded throughout most of the southern states by 1870. This Klan is known for its discrimination against African Americans, which has had major effects on today’s society. “Making or perceiving differences and distinctions,” is the definition of discrimination (Webster dictionary). Not only did they discriminate against Africans Americans but also Jews, and Catholics (history,com staff). Since the birth of the KKK society was not only affected by the
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Debbie Storey, President & CEO
Debbie Storey is the President and CEO of the nonprofit AT&T Performing Arts Center. She has a passion for leading teams and making a difference for and through people.
Prior to joining the Center full time, Debbie led large organizations in various parts of BellSouth and AT&T operations. Her most recent role was EVP Mobility Customer Service, and prior to that she spent four years as Senior Vice President of Talent Development and Chief Diversity Officer at AT&T, responsible for identifying and developing leaders across 240,000 employees in 60 countries, aligning managers with the company’s priorities, and driving employee engagement. She oversaw the award-winning AT&T University, as well as the company’s efforts to leverage diversity and inclusion to drive innovation and growth. Throughout her career, she held positions in customer service, sales, distribution, supply chain, operations, network, M&A, digital & social media, and HR, first at BellSouth and then AT&T.
Debbie is the author of Don’t Downsize Your Dreams: Leadership Inspiration for Women. She has been a featured keynote speaker, moderator, and panelist at meetings and conferences throughout the country, where she has spoken on topics ranging from leadership and diversity to education and workforce transformation. She has been featured in print and digital media, including Forefront Magazine, Business Digest (France), WE Magazine, Racing Toward Diversity, and Profiles in Diversity, as well as radio and TV interviews and numerous books on leadership, risk taking, and confidence.
A native of Boston, Debbie holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from UGA’s Terry College of Business. Debbie serves on the Terry College Emeritus Board and Dean’s Advisory Council, the St. Petersburg Warehouse Arts District Board, and as a Strategic Advisor to an AI (artificial intelligence) company, Afiniti.
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Anderson '07 to visit campus before rocking the Redstone
Lauren Anderson Music
Redstone Room tickets
An Augustana alumna who's found success in Nashville will speak on campus before performing at Davenport's Redstone Room Friday.
Lauren Anderson '07 is promoting her recently released EP, “Game,” and will spend the rest of 2018 touring the Midwest with her band. She will speak at 3:30 p.m. Friday in Potter Hall in the Bergendoff building. Her show at the Redstone begins at 8 p.m.
Anderson is a music and pre-music therapy major who went on to earn a master's in music therapy. After several years working as a music therapist for hospitalized children and at-risk youth in Kansas City, she began performing solo gigs. But "passions don’t die easily," according to her bio, and she decided to take the plunge into a performance career.
“Lauren has always demonstrated the ability to find herself in her music,” said Dr. Sangeetha Rayapati, professor of music and head of Augustana’s voice program. “By touring and producing her music she’s getting to do what she felt deep down inside early on, only now it’s all coming to fruition.
“Lauren discovered her passions and strengths early on and was the type of student who didn’t stray from pursuing a path less traveled,” said Dr. Rayapati. “When she was at Augustana that path was music therapy, but since graduating she’s demonstrated her ability to continue learning and growing as an artist. I think it’s wonderful that she’s focusing her career on what’s she’s now most passionate about – live performance.”
In Kansas City, Anderson assembled a band and started doing more shows. Her first EP, “Do & Hope,” was released in 2014, quickly followed by the 2015 debut of her first full-length CD, “Truly Me.”
Anderson, a native of Chicago, was named 2015 Female Vocalist of the Year at the Midwest Music Awards.
According to her bio, she began piano lessons at the age of 8, was an active member of several choirs and began taking classical voice lessons in high school. At first, she planned on becoming an opera singer, but quickly realized that rock and soul music were more her style.
"That openness to where life can take you is an amazing example to our students," said Dr. Rayapati.
Kevin Carton, 309-794-7323
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sport, local-sport, wheelchair rugby, Richard Voris, Chad Graham, Winmalee, Winmalee High School
Richard Voris can't imagine life without wheelchair rugby. The Winmalee-raised athlete will take to the court with Chad Graham, also from Winmalee, and his NSW Gladiator team-mates for the Wheelchair Rugby National Championships from June 28. "It's a very tactical sport and I train five days a week for it," Voris, who moved to Sydney earlier this month, said. "It's the only full contact disability sport in the Paralympics. It doesn't matter if you have little function or a lot of function, everyone's involved on court. "It gets you back to feeling what it was like before your accident." The 28-year-old acquired a spinal injury at the age of 19 in an accident at a swimming pool in the Blue Mountains where he was hanging out with friends. Voris heard about wheelchair rugby from a friend during spinal rehabilitation, taking up the sport in 2013, and he's never looked back. "It's very exciting and fast-paced, people go flying," the former Winmalee High student said. He and Graham are also part of Australia's national wheelchair rugby team, the Australian Steelers, and in May they versed teams from the USA, Great Britian and Japan at a highly competitive match-up in the US. "The Japanese team are lightning quick and some are close to 40 years old. There's a long lifespan for players in this sport if you look after your shoulders in this sport." Voris would love to represent Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, and the wheelchair rugby world championships in two years' time. He's keen to address the stigma around disability sport and it "not being as entertaining as able-bodied sport". Everyone is welcome to watch the national championships at the Quaycentre in Homebush from June 28-30.
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June 21 2019 - 1:30PM
Winmalee athletes Richard Voris and Chad Graham ready for Wheelchair Rugby National Championships
Ilsa Cunningham
Richard Voris can't imagine life without wheelchair rugby.
The Winmalee-raised athlete will take to the court with Chad Graham, also from Winmalee, and his NSW Gladiator team-mates for the Wheelchair Rugby National Championships from June 28.
Fast and furious: Winmalee athletes ready for Wheelchair Rugby National Championships
Ready to rumble: Richard Voris and Chad Graham from Winmalee are part of the NSW Gladiators team contesting the Wheelchair Rugby National Championships in Sydney from June 28-30.
Richard Voris
Chad Graham
Blue Mountains trio: NSW Gladiators Chad Graham and Richard Voris from Winmalee, with up and coming player Alex Partington (centre) from Springwood.
"It's a very tactical sport and I train five days a week for it," Voris, who moved to Sydney earlier this month, said.
"It's the only full contact disability sport in the Paralympics. It doesn't matter if you have little function or a lot of function, everyone's involved on court.
"It gets you back to feeling what it was like before your accident."
The 28-year-old acquired a spinal injury at the age of 19 in an accident at a swimming pool in the Blue Mountains where he was hanging out with friends.
Voris heard about wheelchair rugby from a friend during spinal rehabilitation, taking up the sport in 2013, and he's never looked back.
"It's very exciting and fast-paced, people go flying," the former Winmalee High student said.
He and Graham are also part of Australia's national wheelchair rugby team, the Australian Steelers, and in May they versed teams from the USA, Great Britian and Japan at a highly competitive match-up in the US.
"The Japanese team are lightning quick and some are close to 40 years old. There's a long lifespan for players in this sport if you look after your shoulders in this sport."
Voris would love to represent Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, and the wheelchair rugby world championships in two years' time.
He's keen to address the stigma around disability sport and it "not being as entertaining as able-bodied sport". Everyone is welcome to watch the national championships at the Quaycentre in Homebush from June 28-30.
Discuss "Fast and furious: Winmalee athletes ready for Wheelchair Rugby National Championships"
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Social Q's: How to Survive the Quirks, Quandaries and Quagmires of Today (Hardcover)
Office attire and e-mail misfire. Twitter snafus and dating miscues. Philip Galanes hears an awful lot of WHAT SHOULD I DOs?!
“I’m pretty sure the woman who swims laps next to me at the Y is peeing in the pool. What should I do?”
It started in 2008, when Galanes began the “Social Q’s” advice column for the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times.
“My boyfriend has an identical twin that I’m strangely hotter for than I am for him. What should I do?”
Since then, the questions come faster than a drunken starlet behind the wheel of a speeding Maserati.
“My Dad seems to have mixed up my cell phone number with the number of the woman he’s seeing behind my mother’s back. He sends her sexy texts that are freaking me out. What should I do?”
A cornerstone of The New York Times’s Styles section, Philip Galanes confronts today’s most awkward and pressing questions. Branded with an inimitable voice— witty and wise, sharp and saucy—Philip tackles unanswered questions and brand-new subjects with laugh-out-loud dish and practical wisdom. Not only about the new ways to thank a friend for throwing you a bridal shower (at a strip club), or when it’s appropriate to tell Nana to stop dressing like the latest Pop Tart, but also how to navigate a new age crowded with Tweets, twits, OMGs, and WTFs.
Social Q’s is a knockout book that will guide you swiftly through the treacherous terrain of modern etiquette—and keep you laughing for days.
Philip Galanes is the author of “Social Q’s,” the advice column published weekly in the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times. Philip is also an entertainment lawyer and novelist. He was born and raised in New England, and graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School. He occasionally sidelines as an interior designer, and his projects have been published in Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, New York magazine, and The New York Times. Visit him at PhilipGalanes.com.
“SOCIAL Q'S by Philip Galanes is the one book you need to help guide you through some of life's toughest social challenges! It's smart, funny, and incredibly practical.” —Peter Walsh, New York Times bestselling author of Lighten Up and It’s All Too Much
“Philip knows his way around an awkward situation—but enough about us!” —Kathie Lee & Hoda
"I love Philip Galanes’ New York Times column! And the book is a must! Social Q’s is a beacon of light in the foggy haze of today's world." —Jessica Seinfeld
"Consider SOCIAL Q's your funny, wise and indispensable guide for honing, improving and finessing YOU—your own special creation!"—George Wayne, contributing editor, Vanity Fair
“Zesty, zingy, zippy, zany. Everything I want to say about the funny and very talented Philip Galanes starts with the letter z. He and SOCIAL Q’S are truly zonderful.”—Henry Alford, humorist and author of How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still On This Earth)
“Life in the 21st century is one rude awakening after another. But now we have Philip Galanes’ SOCIAL Q’S to the rescue—very smart, very funny advice for sidestepping any etiquette A-bomb.”—Kendall Farr, author of The Pocket Stylist and Style Evolution
“Philip Galanes has made a name for himself as a weekly columnist doling out important advice on social etiquette and now has collected all this wisdom in one terrific book called Social Q's. But all this leaves me to wonder what an expert on social etiquette was thinking when he asked a busy woman in the throes of redecorating her apartment to take valuable time away from her rabbit to write a book blurb?”—Amy Sedaris
"Social Q's is a hilarious set of solutions to all the problems we're lucky to have. A must-read survival guide."—Christian Landers, author of Stuff White People Like
Reference / Etiquette
Humor / Topic / Men, Women & Relationships
Paperback (November 27th, 2012): $14.00
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Many Canadians are driving high, according to new StatCan cannabis data
OTTAWA — A new Statistics Canada survey has found about 1.4 million Canadians reported they had been a passenger in a vehicle driven by someone who had consumed cannabis in the previous two hours.
In addition, one in seven cannabis users with a driver’s licence said they had got behind the wheel at least once within two hours of using the drug in the past three months. Men were nearly two times more likely than women to report this behaviour.
With the Trudeau government’s Cannabis Act set to become law on Oct. 17, Statistics Canada has begun measuring the social and economic impacts of legalized cannabis through a quarterly national cannabis survey.
The second quarter data found that about 4.6 million people nationally, or close to 16 per cent of Canadians aged 15 and up, reported using cannabis in the prior three-month period. This was similar to what was reported in last quarter.
The vast majority of respondents — 82 per cent — also said they probably wouldn’t increase their consumption once pot is legalized, which was also relatively unchanged over last quarter.
The latest data was collected from mid-May to mid-June and includes data for the provinces, as well as the territorial capitals.
What We Know So Far
Cannabis will soon be legal in Canada, but pot for pooches may take longer
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Mike Myers books and biography
Biography (Click to expand)
Scarborough, Ontario
This article is about the actor. For other uses see Michael Myers
Michael "Mike" Myers (born May 25, 1963 in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada) is an Emmy-winning British-Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer, whose notable film roles include the titular characters of Wayne's World, the Austin Powers series, and Shrek.
2 Hurricane Katrina controversy
3 Catch-phrases
4 Notable characters
Both of Myers's parents are from Liverpool, England, and Myers has British, as well as Canadian, citizenship. His ethnic heritage is English, Scottish and Irish.
One of Myers' first acting jobs was with Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner in a TV commercial when he was nine years old. Myers graduated from high school in 1982 and was immediately accepted into Toronto's Second City improvisational comedy troupe. He made numerous appearances, including as Wayne Campbell, on Toronto's Citytv in the early 1980s, on the alternative video show "City Limits" hosted by Christopher Ward. In 1985 he was one of the founding members of The Comedy Store Players, an improvisational group based at The Comedy Store in London. The next year, he starred in the British children's TV programme Wide Awake Club, parodying the show's normal exuberance with his own "Sound Asleep Club", in partnership with Neil Mullarkey.
Myers was a member of the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live television program from 1989 to 1995, where he performed characters like Dieter, Linda Richman, and Wayne Campbell from Wayne's World.
The character of Linda Richman was based on Myers's real-life mother-in-law, a woman of New York Jewish extraction who is actually named Linda Richman. Myers has been married to Linda Richman's daughter, Robin Ruzan, since 1993; however, they have filed for divorce.
In 1992, Myers and comedian Dana Carvey took Wayne's World to the silver screen in a full-length motion picture based on the SNL sketch. It ended up being one of the most successful movies of the year and the following year a sequel was made - Wayne's World 2.
In 1997, Myers introduced the world to Austin Powers, with the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Myers played the title role, and other characters in the film. In 1999, he played one of his first non-comedic roles in the film 54 where he played Steve Rubell, proprietor of New York City's famous Studio 54 (a 1970s discoteque). The film was moderately successful, and Myers' performance was widely praised. Myers later parodied the club as "Studio 69" in 2002's Austin Powers in Goldmember.
In June 2000, Myers was sued by Universal Pictures for $3.8 million for backing out of a contract to play Dieter, the SNL character, in a feature film. Myers said he refused to honor the $20 million contract because he didn't want to cheat moviegoers with an unacceptable script - one that he himself had written. Myers countersued, and a settlement was reached after several months where Myers agreed to make another film with Universal. That film would be The Cat in the Hat, released in November 2003 and starring Myers as the title character. It was a role he was ecstatic to play. Also in 2003, Myers was given a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.
Myers is a member of the band Ming Tea along with former Bangles guitarist and vocalist Susanna Hoffs. They performed the songs BBC and Daddy Wasn't There for the Austin Powers movies.
In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted among the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. As of September 29, Myers has been signed on to play the lead role in the upcoming biopic of The Who drummer Keith Moon. The film will be produced by Roger Daltrey, Nigel Sinclair and Paul Gerber. He also supports Liverpool Football Club. And was at the champions league final, he could not watch the penalties.
Hurricane Katrina controversy
Rapper Kanye West denounces President Bush's response to, and the American media's portrayal of, Hurricane Katrina, while Myers looks on calmly.
On September 2, 2005, Myers was paired with rapper Kanye West for a 90-second segment, part of a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, on NBC. The event stirred criticism when West deviated from the script to criticize the media portrayal of black people in New Orleans and also commented, "George Bush doesn't care about black people" before the camera cut away to comedian Chris Tucker. On October 1, Myers appeared in the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. He was featured in a short clip with West (the musical guest for the episode), and jokingly stated that the US had revoked his citizenship (he is not known to be a U.S. citizen) and that FBI agents are monitoring him.
Catch-phrases
Myers has spawned many American catch-phrases from both his Saturday Night Live characters and subsequent films. Some lines from the Austin Powers films ("Oh, behave!" "Yeah Baby! Yeah!" "Shagadelic!" "Shall we shag now or shag later?" "Do I make you horny baby, do I?" "Get in mah belly!" "Shh!") Some lines from Wayne's World include ("Not!" "Schwing! and "Party Time, Excellent!"); his angry Scotsman from SNL ("If it's not Scottish, it's crap"), Linda Richman ("Talk amongst yourselves..." "I'm getting verklempt!" "It's like butter!"), Dieter ("Vould you like to touch my monkey?") and more besides. The quotability of Myers' characters increased his popularity, but also led to criticism; illustrated by a scene from the sit-com Frasier, when Frasier's father relentlessly quotes Austin Powers lines during a long car trip until Frasier growls, "Dad, I'm begging you..."
1992 Wayne's World Wayne Campbell
1993 So I Married an Axe Murderer Charlie Mackenzie/Stuart Mackenzie
1993 Wayne's World 2 Wayne Campbell
1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Austin Powers
1998 The Thin Pink Line Tim Broderick
1998 54 Steve Rubell
1998 Pete's Meteor Pete
1999 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Austin Powers
1999 Mystery, Alaska Donnie Shulzhoffer
2001 Shrek Shrek (voice)
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Austin Powers
2003 View from the Top John Witney
2003 Shrek 4-D Shrek (voice)
2003 The Cat in the Hat The Cat
2004 Shrek 2 Shrek (voice)
2007 Shrek the Third Shrek (voice)
2007 Shrek the Halls (TV) Shrek (voice)
2009 See Me Feel Me: Keith Moon Naked for Your Pleasure Keith Moon
The following characters were created by Myers:
Dieter (Saturday Night Live)
Wikipedia article, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Austin Powers International Man Of Mystery
By Mike Myers
Movies , Tv Scripts
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Home/News / Leadership change for Cargill’s Swiss business entity
Leadership change for Cargill’s Swiss business entity
6 January 2016 - Geneva, Switzerland. Gert-Jan (G.J.) van den Akker will assume the presidency of Cargill’s Swiss legal entity, Cargill International SA, Switzerland (CISA) on 1 February 2016. Based at the company’s Geneva office, van den Akker heads up Cargill’s global agricultural supply chain businesses and is a member of Cargill’s Executive Team, having re-joined Cargill on 1 December 2015.
Van den Akker will take over the presidency of CISA from Tom Intrator, who will retire on 31 January 2016, after a career spanning 32 years at Cargill. In addition to his CISA responsibilities, Intrator co-led Cargill’s global energy, transportation and metals businesses.
David Dines, previously US based co-leader with Intrator, has assumed leadership of Cargill’s energy, transportation and metals business based out of Geneva and has been appointed to Cargill’s Executive Team. Dines has been with Cargill since 1992 and has held a series of senior roles within the company.
Cargill began operations in Switzerland in 1956, when it was one of the first international companies to set up a trading hub in Geneva. Since that time, the company has established a diverse trading portfolio, employing over 700 people in seven locations around the country. It has operations spanning grain and oilseeds trading, ocean transportation and logistics, petroleum trading, energy and risk management, trade and structured finance, commodity risk management, as well as animal nutrition production and distribution.
Louis de Schorlemer – [email protected] Tel : + 32 15 401 636
Corinne Holtshausen – [email protected] Tel: +44 1932 8761 204
Cargill provides food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services to the world. Together with farmers, customers, governments and communities, we help people thrive by applying our insights and 150 years of experience. We have 150,000 employees in 70 countries who are committed to feeding the world in a responsible way, reducing environmental impact and improving the communities where we live and work. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.
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Case Name:
Carroll-Byrne et al v. Air Canada et al
Court:
Nova Scotia Supreme Court File: Hfx No. 438657
Date Filed:
Class Members:
All passengers on board Air Canada Flight 624 (“Flight 624”) which departed Toronto bound for Halifax to arrive on March 29, 2015, excluding any on-duty members of the flight crew.
Co-counsel:
Ray Wagner, Wagners
In the early morning hours of March 29, 2015, Air Canada Flight 624 crashed on its landing approach at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. The weather conditions at the time were poor and the Airbus A320, which was enroute from Toronto, carried 133 passengers and five crew members.
All passengers and crew aboard Flight 624 were able to escape the aircraft. Injuries as a result of the crash included broken bones, scrapes, scratches and many neck and back problems that remain ongoing. A large number of passengers on Flight 624 also suffered severe psychological trauma as a result of the crash. The class action will seek to obtain appropriate compensation for the harm caused to the passengers.
UPDATE: December 14, 2016
On December 12 and 13, 2016, the Honourable Justice Denise Boudreau heard the Plaintiffs’ motion to certify the lawsuit concerning the crash of Flight 624 as a class action.
Justice Boudreau provided her oral decision to all counsel on December 13, 2016. We are pleased to report that the motion to certify was successful against all defendants.
A copy of the Certification Order may be found under the Court Documents heading.
Below are links to the following Court Documents:
Notice of Certification
Order re Certification
Amended Notice of Action and Statement of Claim
For more information about the class action click on the links below:
http://www.wagners.co/current-class-actions/ac624-crash-halifax-airport#overview
To register to be included as a Class Member in the class action, please go to the link below:
http://www.wagners.co/current-class-actions/ac624-crash-halifax-airport#registration
This website is intended to provide general comments on developments in the Flight 624 class action. It is not intended to be a comprehensive review nor is it intended to provide legal advice. Readers should not act on the information contained on this website without seeking specific legal advice on their particular situation. Class counsel will be pleased to provide legal advice to individual class members.
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Chapman Taylor’s award-winning hospitality projects
With a host of award-winning hospitality projects in our portfolio, most recently winning ‘Best Futura Mega-Project’ at the 2018 MIPIM Awards for Mui Dinh Ecopark resort. Chapman Taylor is a global industry leader in producing user-experience-focused hospitality developments of all sizes and types. We have experience in creating everything from individual hotels and villas through to large-scale, mixed-use masterplans incorporating several hospitality elements. We know how to create an unbeatable experience, keeping on top of the very latest developments and trends in the sector. Here, we look at some of the key hospitality projects Chapman Taylor’s international studios have worked on recently:
Radisson Blu 5* Hotel & Spa, Karjat, India
Radisson Blu Resort & Spa is a 102 room hotel retreat situated on the Ulhas River in Karjat, Maharashtra, a two-hour drive from Mumbai and Pune. Opened in 2016, the luxury hotel is connected by a series of courtyards and benefits from views across the river to the foothills of the Sahyadri Mountains. The project was initially designated ‘Park Plaza Resort- 4-Star Category’, but the architectural design concept helped the client upgrade the development to ‘Radisson Blu Resort – 5-Star Category’.
The hotel, completed in 2016, has been rated by the Carlson Group as the "best Radisson resort property in India". Chapman Taylor was the lead design architect for the project, including the development of the landscape concept - one of the key components of the masterplan.
AlRayyan Hotel – Curio Collection by Hilton, Doha, Qatar
Directly connected to the Mall of Qatar, this is the first Hilton hotel opened under its Curio Collection in the Middle East, at Al Rayyan, Doha. The hotel provides easy access to shops, restaurants and leisure facilities at the Mall of Qatar. The hotel is defined by a dramatic internal atrium, its excellent F&B facilities and the infinity pools at the roof level.
Chapman Taylor was the design architect for both the Mall of Qatar and the AlRayyan Hotel, which won International Retail and Leisure destination 2017 at the Global RLI awards.
Mui Dinh Ecopark, Vietnam
Intended as an unrivalled hospitality led mixed-use development in eastern Vietnam, the 728 hectare masterplan is inspired by the rich local history of Mui Dinh. Six resort hotels and a boutique hotel provide a total of 7,000 rooms, with an additional 500 ocean-facing mountain villas. All the residents will have access to many leisure facilities, including a theme park, a casino, a beach club and a mountain clubhouse. The Vietnamese government has recently approved the urban plan for Mui Dinh.
Chapman Taylor’s Bangkok studio prepared the concept masterplan for this striking development, which is currently under construction. The project won ‘Best Futura Mega Project’ at the prestigious 2018 MIPIM Awards.
Crystal City, Dead Sea, Jordan
The 153,000m² GBA Crystal City lies on a superb site at the mouth of the Wadi Ma’in at the Dead Sea, with views into a dramatic gorge and over the sea. A mixed-use development, it is planned as a major tourist destination for Jordan. The gated residential component is at the south of the site, with a 5-star hotel, waterpark and beach club being grouped in the centre and north of the plot.
The entire area will be given a special character by the wide variety of terraces, which are defined by pools, promenades and an amphitheatre fronting onto the coastline. Chapman Taylor has produced the masterplan concept design for this large resort development
Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan
A new resort town on a 1,300 hectare site on the eastern shore of the bio-diverse Lake Issyk Kul - once a stopover for traders on the ancient Silk Road. Combining leisure, entertainment, hospitality, education and agricultural production in a landscape sympathetic to the area’s outstanding beauty, the resort is designed to become a major international destination for eco-tourists.
Chapman Taylor developed the masterplan for this multi-use project beside this historically and ecologically significant lake.
Island Paradise Resort, Antigua
Island Paradise is a major new resort on a group of islands in the beautiful Caribbean island paradise of Antigua. The masterplan is made up of four islands of varying size and mainland peninsula areas, with a total area of 36 hectares. All of the sites have extensive coastlines of mangrove and beach-lined waterfront. Guests fly into Antigua and arrive at a stunning reception centre on Barnacle Point before being taken by yacht to the tropical island resorts.
Chapman Taylor has provided the masterplan concept for Island Paradise, the largest mixed-use development proposal in the whole of the West Indies. It is a key ingredient in determining the future prosperity of Antigua and its status as a world-class destination.
Mandarin Oriental Spa, Retail Boutique and Ciao Restaurant, Bangkok, Thailand
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a landmark in Bangkok, asked Chapman Taylor to renovate three areas of the hotel. The spa redesign renovated the exterior entrance, added two new facial treatment rooms and updated the Royal Suite. Existing treatment rooms were redesigned, a 25m² relaxation area added, back-of-house areas relocated and public areas renovated.
The 67m² retail boutique features a timber gable ceiling, large louvered windows and teak flooring. Natural brass, timber cladding and lavish fabrics are complemented by a statement chandelier. The renovation of the Neapolitan-themed Ciao Terrazza restaurant involved the use of stepped architecture and cast iron and brick wall finishes. Chapman Taylor was lead designer on the spa, retail boutique and restaurant, and also managed the construction phases, with the projects completed between 2015 and 2017.
Chapman Taylor has an unparalleled track record in designing world-class hospitality developments, ranging from major resorts with multi-hotel and residential accommodation to 5-Star hotels in major cities around the world. We have a clear understanding of the major aspects of the customer’s experience, which we carefully incorporate into our design proposals.
For more information on our experience in hospitality design, please contact:
Radisson Blu 5* Hotel & Spa Karjat, India
AlRayyan Hotel - Curio Collection by Hilton Doha, Qatar
Mui Dinh Ecopark Mui Dinh, Vietnam
Crystal City Dead Sea, Jordan
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New retail complex with movie theater coming to Charleston waterfront
Posted by Casandra Properties on Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 at 1:00pm.
Riverside Galleria to open in the Charleston section of Staten Island
Set on 21 acres of waterfront property on Arthur Kill Road adjacent to The Outerbridge Crossing, Riverside Galleria will house a host of retailers, outdoor restaurants, movie theater, an upscale supermarket and wetland preserve.
The 457,000 square foot retail complex is being developed by Melohn Properties, Inc., which has offices in St. George.
Bounded by the Outerbridge Crossing to the north, Arthur Kill Road to the east, Richmond Valley Road and Mill Creek to the south and the Arthur Kill Waterway to the west, the project is expected to break ground in early 2016 and open for business in 2017.
“Staten Island right now doesn’t have sufficient retail to serve the needs of the community. A lot of people are going to New Jersey to shop. So the idea is when they are driving over the Outerbridge they have to pass right by our development,” said Jay Valgora, principal of the Manhattan-based STUDIO V Architecture, the architect for the project.
Riverside Galleria will include a large promenade affording visitors an up close view of the waterfront, a 55,000-square-foot multiplex cinema and restaurants that provide outdoor waterfront dining.
Valgora said he hopes to begin the city’s mandated Uniformed Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) to obtain all necessary approvals by the end of the summer or early fall.
Developers will create a pedestrian connection to the water by constructing a series of walkways and terrace that will compliment the landscape. They will also complete a series of road widening to open up new physical and visual access to the property.
The center will contain parking for 1,850 cars.
“We are creating a whole new lane on our property out to Arthur Kill Road; this is to take traffic off of Arthur Kill Road and it will prevent traffic from backing up on Arthur Kill Road,” said Valgora.
“There will be three different entrances to the development. And we are also building a whole new street onto Richmond Valley Road,” he added.
Valgora’s design will preserve 10 acres of wetlands on the site and create natural buffers. The buildings will contain green roofs and sustainable components.
“We’re going to improve the quality of the wetlands and increase the degree of hydrology. Not only are we preserving the wetlands, but we’re going to enhance the wetlands through a state-of-the art building design that captures the storm water in a rain garden and filters and puts it into the wetlands ,” said Valgora, noting his firm is working closely with the state Department of Environmental Conservation on the project.
On the property is the 18th century Captain Abram and Ruth Dissosway Cole House that isn’t landmarked, said Valgora.
“We decided to preserve the 200-year-old home and we are creating a garden around it. We are putting a cool restaurant in there, and it will be a fantastic place for a wedding,” he said.
Casandra Properties, is the leasing agent for the project and they are actively seeking retailers and local restauranteurs to locate within the complex.
“What we found is that the South Shore has fragmented retail, there’s no concentration of apparel,” said James Prendamano, managing member of the St. George-based Casandra Properties, Inc., the leasing agents for the project.
“We are trying to stay away from chains. …We are incorporating a couple of different site plans that includes a higher-end grocer and there will be a concentration of apparel retailers,” he added.
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Register Columnists »
Robert Kinghorn is a deacon of the Archdiocese of Toronto.
You can read his column, "The Church on the Street" in The Catholic Register.
You can contact him at robert.kinghorn@ekinghorn.com
Church on the street: Secrets of street reveal pain… and joy
The summer had been warm and humid, and unlike many churches that can afford air conditioning, the church on the street had to find its own way of surviving the muggy evenings.
Published in Register Columnists
Church on the street: Don’t be afraid to ‘put out into the deep’
In a remote fishing village, the people became accustomed to the pounding of the heavy seas which imperiled every boat leaving their harbour, but they never could become accustomed to the deaths. The deaths of fishermen caught in the grip of an uncompromising ocean in the dead of night.
Church on the Street: A reminder that ‘we are all one of them’
It is wonderful the theology we learn in coffee shops.
Church on the Street: Restaurant served big plate of humanity
When I started out on the Church on the Street, I gave little thought to some of the logistics of such a ministry apart from determining that it would be 8 p.m. onwards every Thursday evening.
Published in Robert Kinghorn
The Church on the Street: Searching for divine power in the eyes of a stranger
Some nights it does not take long for the temperature to plummet. I don’t mean the thermometer, but the temperature of the street.
Robert Kinghorn: Young evangelists heed cries of the poor
Recently I found myself in the basement of a downtown church surrounded by a confirmation class of children, teachers and parents. The church sits in an area where the outreach of the Church on the Street is most challenging, and the class had responded to the call of Pope Francis in The Joy of the Gospel: “We cannot passively and calmly wait in our church buildings; we need to move from a passive ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral mission.”
The Church on the street: A gift of thanks on Christmas morn
Unless you have been homeless, as Mary and Joseph were on that first Christmas, it is difficult to understand the deep peace a roof over your head can bring.
The Church on the Street: Moment of grace enhances a noisy night
The universality of the Catholic Church is never more evident than in the sacraments and the love for the poor. These foundation stones inform its spiritual life and stand as an eternal witness to the love of Christ.
Amid violence streets still have their moments of grace
There are few, if any, parishes in Toronto that had three shooting deaths in the first month of the year and followed them up with two more in the next few months. Add to this an epidemic of drug overdoses and a picture of lawlessness could emerge.
Canadian heritage can be found on our streets, too
In the wake of Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations, I have been reflecting on how the Canadian Catholic Church is perceived on the streets.
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Veendam - February 5, 2021 (7 Nights)
7 Nights Western Caribbean Cruise From Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Ship: Veendam
Fri, Feb 5, 2021 Fort Lauderdale, Florida -- 4:00 pm
Sat, Feb 6, 2021 Havana, Cuba 7:00 am --
Sun, Feb 7, 2021 Havana, Cuba -- 2:00 am
Sun, Feb 7, 2021 At Sea -- --
Mon, Feb 8, 2021 Cienfuegos, Cuba 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Tue, Feb 9, 2021 Ocho Rios, Jamaica 10:00 am 5:00 pm
Wed, Feb 10, 2021 George Town, Cayman Islands 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Thu, Feb 11, 2021 At Sea -- --
Fri, Feb 12, 2021 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 7:00 am --
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PQ pitches tighter language restrictions to boost French
New legislation introduced by Quebec's minority Parti Québécois government would add new restrictions on the use of English in the workplace and access to English schools.
Party promised changes to rules for small businesses, CEGEPs during election campaign
CBC News · Posted: Dec 05, 2012 12:09 PM ET | Last Updated: December 6, 2012
Passing a French exam would be a challenge for some CEGEP students in Montreal 2:34
The amendments to the province's language charter, often referred to as Bill 101, were introduced in the national assembly Wednesday morning. The bill also proposes amendments to the province's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
Among the proposals in the new Bill 14 is the widening the types of businesses that are required to comply with the rules set out in the French Language Charter. Currently, Bill 101 only applies to companies with 50 or more employees. The changes would mean it would apply to businesses with as few as 26 employees.
It requires companies to implement "francization measures" that include the use of French in meetings and internal communications, and training on any new software or other work tools that are changed to comply with the legislation.
Companies that provide goods or services would be required to implement further measures, including adjusting work schedules and evaluating an employee's level of French, to ensure customers are served in the province's official language.
Bill 14 also makes vague reference to closing a loophole that allows students who aren't otherwise eligible to attend English public schools to do so by first attending a private school.
"The same rule applies to instruction in English received as a result of trickery, deception or a temporary artificial situation the sole purpose of which is to circumvent the provisions of this Act," the bill reads.
When it comes to French in schools, the PQ wants to add a requirement that children attending public day care be "familiarized" with the French language.
In order to graduate from CEGEP, students will also need to demonstrate a knowledge of spoken and written French at a level deemed appropriate to function in French-speaking Quebec society.
Bill 14 highlights
Amendments to the Charter of the French Language:
Designation of a minister responsible for language matters, planning and policy.
Educational institutions must take reasonable steps to ensure that students receive sufficient training in French to prepare them to interact and flourish in Quebec society.
Businesses that employ 26 to 49 regular employees must make French the everyday language of the workplace.
Businesses that serve the public must communicate with customers in French.
Amendments to the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms:
French is defined as the official language of Quebec and a "fundamental factor of its social cohesion."
Every person has a right to live, receive an education and work in French in Quebec.
Immigrants to Quebec have a right to learn French and to benefit from reasonable measures to facilitate their integration.
Campaign promises
During the campaign for the September election, the PQ promised to widen the scope of Bill 101 to include smaller companies with the aim of further protecting the French language, originally pledging to require that all businesses that employ more than 10 employees to use French in all staff communications.
The proposal was met with opposition. In September, members of Montreal's anglophone community protested in front of Quebec's National Assembly to oppose the PQ's intentions to reinforce the language law.
Following the vocal opposition to its planned changes, the PQ has stepped back from the platform promise.
The Charter of the French Language was originally adopted in 1977 to reaffirm that Quebec's common language is French.
The Platforms: Parti Québécois
PQ would make language law tougher
Revised Bill 101 'expected' to affect English colleges
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"Occupy" protests go global
A man dressed as an "evil banker" stands outside Saint Paul's Cathedral in central London as protestors gather on October 15, 2011. Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, people began taking to the streets across the world Saturday, targeting 951 cities in 82 countries.
Credit: LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images
Occupy Vancouver protesters have set up a small tent city outside the Vancouver Art Gallery in downtown Vancouver, Monday, Oct. 17, 2011.
With "Occupy" protests hitting several cities across the country, new data shows the top one percent of Canadians took home 11 percent of total income in 2009. They were still affected by the recession - it marked a slight decline from the 12 percent of the nation's total income they pocketed in 2008.
Credit: AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward
Two security guards stand at the entrance Monday Oct. 17, 2011, to the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam, seen plastered with slogans in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Credit: AP Photo/Peter Dejong
Protesters participate in a demonstration against the influence of bankers and financiers near the European Central Bank on October 15, 2011 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Thousands of people took to the streets today in cities across Germany and in other countries in demonstrations inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests in the United States. Activists are demanding an end to the free-wheeling ways of global financial players whom they see as responsible for the current European and American economic woes.
Credit: Johannes Simon/Getty Images
A protester holds a candle after a sit-in demonstrating against the influence of bankers and financiers in front of the Reichstagsgebaeude on October 15, 2011 in Berlin, Germany.
Credit: Carsten Koall/Getty Images
Berlin police officers carry a protester after a sit-in demonstrating against the influence of bankers and financiers in front of the Reichstagsgebaeude on October 15, 2011 in Berlin, Germany.
A protester holds a banner after a sit-in demonstrating against the influence of bankers and financiers in front of the Reichstagsgebaeude on October 15, 2011 in Berlin, Germany.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks to demonstrators from the steps of Saint Paul's Cathedral in central London on October 15, 2011. Around 800 people rallied in London's financial heart Saturday amid a heavy police presence as part of world protests against corporate greed and budget cutbacks.
A man dressed as Jesus sits amongst other protesters holding placards on the steps of Saint Paul's cathedral in central London on October 15, 2011.
A protester scuffles with police during the "Occupy London" protest outside St Paul Cathedral on October 15, 2011 in London, England.
Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
A large group of demonstrators gathered near the London Stock Exchange to protest against the banks' handling of the financial crisis, outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London, October 16, 2011, on the second day of an occupation by demonstrators affiliated with the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.
Clashes broke out at an anti-capitalist protest in Rome attended by tens of thousands of people as part of a global day of protests inspired by the "Occupy Wall Street" and "Indignant" movements, with one group setting fire to a government office and riot police firing tear gas and water.
Credit: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images
Protesters are pictured near a car in fire during a demonstration in Rome on October 15, 2011.
Credit: MARIO LAPORTA/AFP/Getty Images
Protesters attack a police vehicle during a demonstration in Rome on October 15, 2011.
Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images
Police block a street during demonstrations in downtown Rome on October 15, 2011.
Protesters break the window of a bank during a demonstration in downtown Rome on October 15, 2011.
A demonstrator holds a poster reading "Throw a shoe at Silvio" during a demonstration, in Rome on October 15, 2011.
Police fire tear gas in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011.
Credit: AP Photo/Angelo Carconi
A police officer subdues a protester in front of the St. John in Lateran basilica during clashes in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011.
Credit: AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
A van belonging to the Carabinieri (Italian paramilitary police) is engulfed in flames after protesters set it on fire during clashes in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011. Italian police fired tear gas and water cannons after agitators in a demonstration against corporate greed turned the rally into a riot Saturday, smashing shop and bank windows, torching cars and hurling bottles.
Credit: AP Photo/Roberto Monaldo, Lapresse
Protesters are sprayed by riot police water cannon in downtown Santiago, on October 15, 2011.
Credit: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
A man show a paper reading "game over" during a demonstration in Rome on October 15, 2011.
A protester holds a sign reading "The Universe is indignant with the system of a planet with slaves," during a demonstration in downtown Santiago, on October 15, 2011.
Credit: CLAUDIO SANTANA/AFP/Getty Images
Protesters demonstrate in front of La Moneda Presidential palace in Santiago, on October 15, 2011, during a worldwide demonstration against corporate greed and government cutbacks.
Demonstrators protest in downtown Santiago, on October 15, 2011, after a worldwide demonstration against corporate greed and government cutbacks.
Masked demonstrators throw projectiles to anti-riot police squad during a demonstration, in Rome on October 15, 2011.
Protesters participate in a demonstration against the influence of bankers and financiers near the European Central Bank on October 15, 2011 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Vancouver police keep their eyes on protesters at the Vancouver Art Gallery as thousands of people participate in the Occupy Vancouver protest on October 15, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Credit: Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images
Protesters throw garbage bags at Barcelona's stock exchange, on October 15, 2011, during a worldwide demonstration against corporate greed and government cutbacks.
Credit: CESAR MANSO/AFP/Getty Images
Demonstrators gather in front of the Parliament during a demonstration in Lisbon on October 15, 2011.
Credit: LUIS MANUEL NEVES/AFP/Getty Images
A masked man protests at Revolution Park in Guadalajara, Mexico on October 15, 2011, after a worldwide demonstration against corporate greed and government cutbacks.
Credit: HECTOR GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images
As demonstrators associated with the "Occupy Wall Street" movement protest in Times Square on October 15, 2011 in New York City, thousands took to the streets in cities across the world in demonstrations against the global financial system that began here in New York.
Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Thousands of protesters gather at the Vancouver Art Gallery as they participate in the Occupy Vancouver protest on October 15, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. An estimated 2,000 people participated in the Vancouver occupation.
Protesters wear pig masks and business suits at the ancouver Art Gallery as thousands of people participate in the Occupy Vancouver protest on October 15, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
A woman holds up a protest sign at the Vancouver Art Gallery as thousands of people participate in the Occupy Vancouver protest on October 15, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Hundreds of protesters embrace at the Culture square in San Jose, Costa Rica, on October 15, 2011, during a worldwide demonstration against corporate greed and government cutbacks.
Credit: EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP/Getty Images
A protester holds a sign reading "Fed up and we are many" at a demo at the Revolution Monument in Mexico City, on October 15, 2011, during a worldwide demonstration against corporate greed and government cutbacks.
Credit: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
A banner hanging from a building at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, on October 15, 2011, reads, "Indefinite wild general strike," during a worldwide demonstration against corporate greed and government cutbacks.
Credit: DANI POZO/AFP/Getty Images
Protesters demonstrate at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, on October 15, 2011, during a worldwide demonstration against corporate greed and government cutbacks.
Credit: DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP/Getty Images
Some 300 "Occupy Ottawa" demonstrators gather at Confederation Park near Canada's National Defense headquarters in Ottawa on October 15, 2011 as they join a worldwide movement of street demonstrations against corporate greed and biting cutbacks in a rolling action targeting 950 cities in 82 countries.
Credit: MICHEL COMTE/AFP/Getty Images
A protester holds a flare in Barcelona, on October 15, 2011, during a worldwide demonstration against corporate greed and government cutbacks.
People listen to a speaker as they take part in a picket in front of the Paris town hall on the first day of a worldwide protest against income disparity and corporate greed, on October 15, 2011.
Credit: JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images
Some 6,000 people march in Brussels on October 15, 2011 during a demonstration of the so-called "Indignants" from Belgium, England, France, the Netherlands and the United States. Protesters targeted their ire at governments and banks, with groups sporadically kicking out at branches of Dexia bank along their route.
Credit: THIERRY CHARLIER/AFP/Getty Images
Some 6,000 people march in Brussels on October 15, 2011.
One of 6,000 people marching in Brussels on October 15, 2011 takes a picture of a vandalized automatic teller machine during a demonstration of the so-called "Indignants."
People take part on October 15, 2011 in an "Occupy" protest in The Hague.
Credit: VALERIE KUYPERS/AFP/Getty Images
A protester holds a placard outside St Paul's Cathedral during the "Occupy London" protest on October 15, 2011 in London, England.
Demonstrators gather around banners reading "Capitalism is cannibalism" during a protest against the power of the financial markets, in Belgrade, October 15, 2011. Several hundred people on Saturday gathered in Sarajevo, Belgrade and Podgorica in the first "Occupy" protest in the Balkan countries, rallying against "neoliberal capitalism" and unemployment. In the Serbian capital, some 100 people gathered for the first such protest, carrying placards "Solidarity is our power" and "Today Wall Street, tomorrow Belgrade."
Credit: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images
Protesters place placards on a statue outside St Paul's Cathedral during the "Occupy London" protest on October 15, 2011 in London, England.
Greek "indignants" chant slogans at central Athens Syntagma square in front of the Greek Parliament during a demonstration on October 15, 2011.
Swedish and international protesters hold banners as they take part in the "Occupy Stockholm" demonstration held at Sergels Torg in Stockholm on October 15, 2011.
Credit: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images
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CDCR Meets with Local Officials on Future of El Paso de Robles Correctional Facility
PASO ROBLES – Today, representatives from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) met with local leaders from San Luis Obispo County and Paso Robles to talk about the future of the El Paso de Robles Correctional Facility. The meeting was convened by CDCR to provide an informational update to the city and county about the status of the repurposing options for the El Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility. The facility is planned for closure as a Division of Juvenile Justice facility on July 31, 2008, in response to a declining juvenile population statewide.
“The state has partnered with the local community in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo County for many years, and has always sought to be a good neighbor. There is a strong desire at the state and local level to reuse this facility in a way that is beneficial to the local community and the state,” said Bernard Warner, CDCR Chief Deputy Secretary for Juvenile Justice. “We are optimistic that we can come up with a reuse plan that will keep good jobs in the local community, while continuing with our mission to improve public safety by providing rehabilitation to inmates.”
Since the proposed closure of the juvenile facility was announced in early January, CDCR has committed to keeping the community informed, as well as to solicit public comment on proposed reuse of the 150 acre facility, which first began operation as a California Youth Authority facility in 1947. After the upcoming closure of the youth facility was announced, CDCR conducted a site evaluation to determine options for reuse.
A reuse concept discussed with local officials today is the possibility of converting the facility to house low-level older male inmates (50+ years of age). The facility previously housed an average daily population of approximately 1,000 wards, and could be relatively easily converted to be used for this lower-level older male inmate population. This proposed reuse would ease adult overcrowding and provide infill bed options to the adult prison operation, while maintaining local jobs.
Environmental impact reviews and public hearings on the proposal discussed today are forthcoming, and the state remains open to discussing additional or alternative uses of the property as a correctional facility.
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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger participated in an inmate graduation ceremony today at the California Institution for…
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