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Michael Phelps On Growing Up With ADHD And The Importance Of Seeking Help
"I am thankful that I am how I am."
Heather Cichowski @heatherceditor
May is Mental Health Month. Throughout the month we will bring you stories about mental health and the importance of breaking surrounding stigmas, as well as highlighting those who live with related conditions and are advocating awareness.
There are over 17 million children in the United States who have had, or are living with, a mental health disorder. Stigmas surrounding these conditions often deter people from speaking up and/or seeking help however. This is why Child Mind Institute — a national non-profit aiming to help families and kids living with mental health conditions — has partnered with 31 celebrities for their My Younger Self campaign.
The campaign is helping to spread awareness about mental health by releasing a video every day in May featuring a celebrity offering advice to their younger selves about "growing up with a mental health or learning disorder."
Emma Stone helped launch the campaign. And Jesse Eisenberg and Carrie Fisher's brother, Todd Fisher, have also contributed videos.
In the newest video posted May 9, Michael Phelps opens up about growing up with ADHD.
ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a neuro-behavioral condition. The condition makes it difficult for people to concentrate and/or control impulsive behavior. It is a disorder that is three times likelier to be diagnosed in males and it's commonly diagnosed in kids. Contrary to what some think, it's not something people necessarily "grow out of" and symptoms can persist throughout a person's lifetime.
In the video, the former Olympic swimmer explains how his ADHD impacted his life growing up. Phelps explains it was difficult to sit still and he was "constantly bouncing off the walls." He also reveals how a teacher told him "he would never amount to anything" and they treated him differently than other students.
Despite the struggle, Phelps states that he is actually happy it happened. "It was a challenge and it was a struggle, but for me it was something I'm thankful happened," he explained.
"And I’m thankful that I am how I am. I look at myself every day and I’m so proud and so happy of who I am and who I’ve been able to become."
As for the advice he would give his younger self, the retired swimmer and new dad said, "If I could go back in time and I could tell my younger self something, I would tell him to believe what's in his heart and never give up."
Phelps also talks about the importance of seeking help.
"I think the biggest thing for me, once I found that it was OK to talk to somebody and seek help, I think that's something that has changed my life forever. And now I'm able to live my life to the fullest," he stated.
With more celebrities and prominent figures like Phelps speaking out about these mental health issues, it will hopefully encourage those struggling to know it's OK to speak up and get assistance.
If you, or someone you know, is struggling with mental health issues, there are a number of resources available to provide support. Check them out here.
Cover image via Everett Collection I Shutterstock
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Tags: mental health, mental health awareness, adhd, michael phelps, mental health awareness month, child mind institute, child mind institute, mental health month, child mind institute my younger self, my younger self campagin, my younger self videos, michael phelps child mind institute, michael phelps child mind institute my younger self, michael phelps my younger self, michael phelps adhd, michael phelps mental health, michael phelps mental health awareness
A Grain Of Saul: Why Controversial Bills Might Fix Democracy In America
Trump's new health care bill will, in fact, "be a great civics lesson for America."
Fashion & Beauty Heather Cichowski
Dove's Specially Designed Bottles Shows Beauty Truly Does Come In All Shapes And Sizes
"It’s deceivingly simple and quite nuanced: a message about our body conveyed by Dove bottles themselves."
Morning Spark Lindsay Geller
This Real-Life Lassie Saved A Family With Nine Children From Their Burning Home
“He’s pretty special... I believe it was supposed to happen."
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A top Iranian security official praised pro-Iranian Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile attacks against Israeli targets inside Israeli soil on Sunday.
Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said the attack changed the rules of the game and represent the willing of Tehran and its allies to confront Israel, US and its regional allies.
Hezbollah attacked a military vehicle and an army base Northern Israel on Sunday. No Israelis were injured by the attacks.
Iran has been criticized for supporting extreme armed groups in the region by providing financial supports, weapons and military training.
In a letter, published on Khamenei’s official website on Sunday, Hamas one of the Iranian proxies in the region expressed their gratitude to the Iranian regime for their supports.
Tehran announced in August that it increased Hamas funding to the unprecedented $30 million per month.
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Reports - Conference Books
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THE NEW SILK ROAD INITIATIVE: TURKEY’S STAKES IN THE GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECT
Analysis No : 2017 / 25
Author : S. Işık BORA
Download PDF :
Salih Işık BORA*
Trainee at AVİM
In the 16th century, one of the main drivers behind the Europeans’ quest to find sea routes to India which triggered the discovery of the Americas, was the reality that the Ottoman Empire limited[1] their access to the Silk Road trade system. The One Belt One Road initiative partly arises from a similar concern. China facing the prospect of an American denial to its access to maritime commerce, notably illustrated in the US military report from 2014 named «Deterring the Dragon »[2] is opting for a comparable solution for guaranteeing its access to trade. The US navy has the capabilities to fully block China’s access to maritime trade[3] and the report suggests that in a conflict scenario it will do so. 96% of Chinese products reach European and developing markets through sea routes[4]. The same is valid for China’s oil imports. Notably, China is dependent on the strategic Malacca strait and this was a major reason for making claims in the South China Sea. In this respect, the answer for China is not the discovery of a new route but the revival of an ancient one: the Silk Road.
It has been announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013 as the key policy of his term, is seeking to revitalise the trading routes across the Eurasian continent by building infrastructure on a massive scale. The Silk Road is a recurring reference point of the initiative as the land based part of it is called the «Silk Road Economic Belt» while its sea based component is named « the Maritime Silk Road ».
Apart from the previously explained geostrategic goal of reducing dependency to sea routes, the motivation behind this unprecedentedly large initiative, estimated to contain a total worth of up to 4 trillion dollars[5] (compared to 130 billion for the Marshall plan) of investments, is China’s internal politics and governance. There is a pressing need to develop its impoverished western provinces, export surplus production and reduce the politically menacing increasing inequalities between its coastal areas and the rest of the country, unable to benefit from this maritime trade[6]. The new continental trade is expected to stimulate regions in economic distress like Xinjiang. The Chinese approach is that this project is not geopolitical and will be a « win-win » for all the parties involved and this is true to a certain extent. Many countries could obtain benefits from the New Silk Road initiative. In fact, except the United States and Japan, all the major countries that have a presence in Eurasia are participating in it, including European states. Even though China’s principal goal is not do so, this initiative will inevitably contribute to a geopolitical shift and benefit some countries more than others. The gap between Western countries currently controlling and as a result benefiting from the prominence of maritime trade and Eurasian states marginalised in the current global economy is progressively going to narrow.
From an historical point of view, the hegemony of maritime trade and as a result the dominance of the world by coastal metropolises is an anomaly. As the Central Asia historian Christopher Beckwith points out[7], in the 16th century, Mumbai was a fishing village and Kolkata was not even found yet by the British while Central Asian cities like Samarkand and Merv were prospering. Atlantic Europe was not the core of the global trade but was merely its western end. However, the network called the « Littoral System » by Christopher Beckwith emerged during the Age of Discovery[8]. As a result, the maritime empires founded successively by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British could reap most the benefits of global trade. Since the Second World War, America is the western power that maintains control of these global sea lanes. The 200 years of Western hegemony was a mainly maritime one. As Robert Kaplan explains in his book Asia’s Cauldron, even though the gap is narrowing, China will not have the means to rival this prominence of the US navy in the following decades if ever. The One Road One Belt project could be a game changer because the revival of the Silk Road trade network could enable land-based trade and favour China, a continental power. Harold Mackinder, in the Geographical Pivot of History argued that with the development of railways such a continental power could unite Eurasia and threaten the dominant maritime empire, at the time referring to the British. Although, Mackinder has a military point of view and One Belt One Road is mostly a commercial project (even though there are concerns that China will seek to increase its military power projection), the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom evoked this this theory in a letter published by the Financial Times, illustrating its ongoing presence in the minds of people, even perhaps of decision makers.
Just as countries on the Atlantic Coast of Europe benefited from the Age of Discovery, certain countries (besides China) could move to a more favourable position. Among the countries that could see its importance increasing is Turkey due to its strategic location, at the end of both the Southern terrestrial road and the maritime road towards Europe. Originally, the Silk Road was crucially important in the History of both Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Many cities in Turkish territory are situated on the Historical Silk Road. While it is not yet a prominent agenda in the media, the country’s leadership is increasingly involved in this Chinese initiative notably as shown during President Erdogan’s appearance at the project’s first summit that took place in Beijing in 15th May 2017, along with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
This paper will aim to examine Turkish perspectives on the One Belt One Road project. First of all, this project is an opportunity for Turkey (I). However, multiple challenges and risks still need to be addressed for the One Belt One Road project to yield benefits (II).
The One Belt One Road Project: An Opportunity for Turkey
It is necessary to stress the fact that the One Road One Belt project provides many opportunities to Turkey. Currently, it is a peripheral country located at the easternmost extremity of a west-centric trade system (1). This position contributes to the unbalanced development of its western and eastern provinces (2). Additionally, Turkey’s southeastern neighbourhood is unstable and this reality is negatively affecting the country’s economic potential. The One Road One Belt project seems to carry promise to alleviate some of the factors linked to these security issues (3).
Turkey as a Peripheral Country
The current tendency of Turkish trade is towards diversification and improved exchanges with non-Western countries. In fact, the proportion diminished since the end of the Cold War. Notably trade volume with the Iraq, China, Iran and the South Caucasus increased. While it used to be more than 55% in 1999, the European Union still concentrates nearly 40% of Turkey’s trade[9]. On the other hand, the EU still accounts for 75% of Foreign Direct Investment to Turkey according to the same European Parliament report. Currently the two main trade axes are the Transatlantic and Transpacific ones having the United States at its centre. Turkey is merely a marginal element within the transatlantic part of this network. The TTIP project which aimed to create a free-trade zone between the United States and the European Union, also put Turkey in a disadvantage. In fact, the country, as a part of the European Customs Union would have to open its market to American goods while not being able to access the American consumer market under the same terms. The OBOR initiative is an opportunity for Turkey to change its peripheral status and to move to a more central position in worldwide trade. Various studies suggest that it will reduce the export times for products across Eurasia and thus vitalise trade. In fact the average exporting time is 8 days within the G7 group of developed economies, while among the OBOR countries it takes 50 days[10]. The reduction of this exporting time, will lead to higher trade intensities[11]. Turkey, being part of the customs union with the EU is in a good position to be the entry point to European markets for China. Asides from logistics, for political reasons, both China and Europe could prefer to choose this Turkish route over the Russian Eurasian Land Bridge. In the medium to long term, Chinese-Russian rivalry could increase substantially because of issues such as the Chinese migration to Siberia and competing influences in Central Asia. In the shorter term, the existing sanctions by western countries towards Russia and the tensions linked to the Russian annexation of Crimea are factors that could push European countries to opt for the Turkish route for obtaining Chinese products.
Aside from this land based « Silk road Economic Belt », the One Belt One Road project also contains the « Maritime Silk Road ». Turkey didn’t have the shipping capacity to become the major hub for this maritime route traversing the Indian Ocean towards the Eastern Mediterranean via the Red Sea. China opted for the Piraeus port in Greece as the principal western extremity of this maritime trade network, as COSTCO, the Chinese state owned shipping firm bought controlling shares of the port. Turkish ports, currently being expanded, are expected to play a complementary role in this maritime Silk Road.
As a consequence, Turkey’s position would shift from the margin of west-centric trade network to a more central position. This will have a favourable impact. According to a 2016 report, the OBOR initiative is expected to contribute to Turkey’s GDP around between 0.18 to 0.22% per year[12]. Moreover, besides the impact on general welfare, being a peripheral country has further negative effects on the development pattern.
Addressing Regional Disparities with The OBOR Project
Turkey’s peripheral role in this west-centric system is contributing to the unbalanced development of the country’s regions. The infrastructure is unevenly developed in the country as there is little incentive to build developed infrastructure than in the western provinces, well connected to the global economy and facing fewer security obstacles. Regions such as the Aegean, Marmara and Greater Istanbul regions, trading with Europe are prospering while the Eastern parts remain underdeveloped[13]. Among the negative effects of this structure, is the unbalanced urban growth in Istanbul, gradually turning to a megalopolis spending to encompass other surrounding cities such as Kocaeli and Tekirdag. Anatolian residents look to migrate to this region to take part in economic activities, mostly absent from their regions. 25 percent of Turkey’s population is still working in the agricultural sector[14] and this migration towards the Istanbul area is likely to continue further. Developing other, notably eastern provinces is essential. This is in a way, comparable to China’s divide between coastal areas and the inland. The One Belt One Road initiative could address this issue of unbalanced development as the construction of infrastructure will provide incentives to look eastwards. The investment and economic opportunities in these impoverished eastern regions could increase as they would take part in an emerging trade network. The planned Trans-anatolian high speed rail could contribute to their integration to the global economy. Cities such as Sivas and Erzurum, are on this railway and could become transit hubs on the New Silk road as they were within the old one.
During the initial phases of the project, it will mostly serve to get Chinese products to European markets, currently absorbing 16% of Chinese exports[15], the largest share of any economic entity after the United States (18%). However, the share of exports in China’s GDP has been decreasing and is expected to continue in this direction; after peaking at 37% in 2008, it decreased to 21% in 2015[16]. The Eurasian market will not necessarily be oversaturated with Chinese goods, especially not in the middle to long term. New exporting opportunities are also expected to appear increasingly. The eastern provinces could find themselves in an advantageous position not only as transit hubs but also as production centres, as the average wages are lower, the labor force is younger and companies seeking to export to expanding eastern markets could relocate there, especially considering that this initiative could be expected to alleviate security risks in the region.
A Commercial Project Wielding Security Benefits
Currently, there is an axis of instability that extends from West Africa to Central Asia, it negatively impacts economic prospects and quality of life in Turkey. Religious extremist terror groups are present in the Middle East and there are concerns that they are gaining ground in Central Asia. The spillover of these conflicts also generates vast numbers of refugees, in addition to economic migrants hoping to reach Europe via Turkey. A recent study by the Stanford economist Matthew Jackson suggests that trade agreements and alliances are more likely to reduce conflict and insecurity than balance of power politics or security based alliances[17]. Whether this thesis is universally valid or not, developmental approaches are evidently likelier to wield results than forceful institution building, notably demonstrated with the American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Asides from empirical research, History suggests that the revitalisation of the Silk Road trade network could improve cultural, intellectual and economic life in Central Asia and the Middle East. In fact, the downfall of the continental trade system arguably played a central role in pushing these regions to their current economic, social and political crisis as they previously were prospering within the world trade network.
The New Silk Road initiative is therefore a promising project to alleviate security risks in the region whether it is conflict or terrorism[18].
In conclusion we could see that the OBOR initiative is a promising opportunity for Turkey. The country could be emancipated from its peripheral role in the west-centric trade system by looking for opportunities eastwards (1). As a result, poorer regions within Turkey could be more integrated to the global economy (2). Moreover, the One Belt One Road project is promising for security and stability (3). However, another question one needs to ask is how the Turkish foreign policy could contribute to the creation of an international environment that will enable the success of this initiative.
Challenges and Risks Of The OBOR Project For Turkey: Adapting To A Changing Geopolitical Landscape
In fact, the One Belt One Road project is going to significantly alter the geopolitical landscape of Eurasia. This paper will argue that to fully obtain the benefits of the One Belt One Road initiative, the Turkish foreign policy will need to play an active role and adapt to these changing geopolitical dynamics. This role will need to concentrate on two priorities: avoiding conflict with Iran (1) and deepening commercial and political ties to the European Union (2).
Avoiding Conflict with Iran
Cooperating with Iran is a key factor for the success of the One Belt One Road project. The southern route of the New Silk Road might go to Turkey through Iran. As it has been suggested in the previous section of this paper China will seek to prioritise the southern route of the OBOR network. In his 2016 visit to Iran, Xi Jinping revealed the magnitude of Iran’s role within the OBOR initiative by expressing his desire to increase bilateral trade to 600 billion dollars in 10 years[19]. The partnership between the two countries also has strategic value, as China sees Iran as its natural ally in the Middle East for limiting US influence. These China-Iran ties are critical for the success of the OBOR initiative and the Chinese government will be expected to behave accordingly. Logically, Turkey-Iran ties are also crucial as these two countries will jointly form a bridge between Central and East Asia and Europe.
However, this segment of the proposed road seems to be its most vulnerable part. Currently, there are attempts to isolate Iran in the region by the United States and the Gulf states. While, unlike the previous decade, a US military intervention to Iran seems to be off the table, the security situation is precarious. The ongoing adversity between Saudi Arabia and Iran is threatening the region’s stability. Republican administrations whether its Bush’s or Trump’s seek to contain the Iranian regime and to precipitate regime change if possible. A 2012 report by the neoconservative think tank RAND corporation advocates for taking punitive action towards Chinese companies that deal with Iran in the fields of energy and infrastructure;
“If carrots are out, what about sticks? It seems reasonable to think that the United States might consider the use of punitive measures against China if positive inducements, which are mostly politically unpalatable, appear unlikely to succeed. This would include sanctions against Chinese defense and energy firms conducting business with Iran.”[20]
Needless, to say, this policy is absolutely incompatible with the success of the OBOR initiative. The US Republican and Saudi-led efforts to undermine Iran are not likely to prevent this rise but only to further destabilise the region, rendering the Silk Road initiative difficult.
The counterproductive results of this approach are increasingly realised by decision makers in the West. During the Obama administration, the European states appeared willing to lift sanctions to Iran and the French oil company Total recently signed a 4 billion contract with the country. Europe needs to diversify its hydrocarbon sources and Iran is clearly a candidate. Turkey should seek to become the transit route for this potential pipeline. The opportunities of a rapprochement with Iran are obvious to western business circles. Recently Boeing signed a 3 billion deal to sell airplanes to Iran. On the other hand, European states and public opinion manifested willingness to reconcile with Iran due to its struggle against the Islamic State and because of a growing lack of trust to Gulf monarchies, blamed for propagating religious extremism. Europe is mostly reluctant because of US pressure but a Democrat administration in the United States could provide an opportunity for such a rapprochement as Obama’s nuclear deal illustrated. On the other hand, Hasan Rouhani’s electoral success points to the reality that Iran’s population is increasingly inclined towards integration to the global economy and normalisation with the West.
Until now, Turkey compartmentalised its relationship with Iran to two distinct commercial and geopolitical spheres. The last 15 years, saw an increase of trade with Iran and the rationalisation of the relations between the two countries. However, geopolitically they found themselves in opposing sides, notably during the Syrian conflict. Until the current Qatar crisis, Turkey mostly favoured Saudi Arabia over Iran in the ongoing proxy conflict and this approach is not sustainable. In any case, engagement with Iran isn’t profitable for Turkey, especially if the OBOR initiative takes place.
In the long term, the One Belt One Road initiative participates in the long time trend of a rising Iran. Preventing this rise, even if possible will be prohibitively costly. Eventually, western actors like the United States and Europe will renounce from doing so. For Turkey’s case, Iran’s integration to the global economy could be beneficial. Turkey needs to anticipate this and establish multidimensional cooperation with Iran early on. Conflict with Iran is to be avoided and Turkey’s foreign policy should prioritise to do so.
One should also underline that, Turkey’s position between Europe and Iran within the New Silk Road network can be put to use.
Strengthening Ties to Europe
Apart from cooperation with Iran, a key factor that would guarantee the success of Turkey within the New Silk Road is its proximity to Europe.
European countries are crucial for the One Road One Belt initiative as the main motivation for the project was exporting Chinese goods to their markets. Turkey is the entry point of the southern route towards Europe. Currently the only existing railway link between China and Europe is the northern route transiting through Kazakhstan and Russia and it concentrates nearly 100% of the traffic[21]. However, as the first section of this paper showed, it is likely that the southern route through Turkey will become as important if not more. In this regard, Turkey is more advantageous than Russia as it has a much less antagonistic relationship with Europe. Currently, the EU is still imposing sanctions on Russia and this is unlikely to change unless there is a major shift of policy. Turkey is the easternmost country in the EU customs union, which makes it a potential transportation hub in the New Silk Road initiative. However, for this potential to be realised, Turkey needs to maintain and even strengthen its ties to Europe. The emerging partnership with China and possibly with Iran should not signify distancing from Europe. In fact, these new partnerships will be complementary to the European one. Turkey’s goal should be to consolidate its central position in this new trade network with a foreign policy, aiming to maintain balanced ties with different regions. These ties are vital for the development of soft infrastructure, notably with the modernisation of the customs union with Europe. In fact, this agreement negotiated in 1995 is out of sync with today’s needs[22] and its modernisation could yield benefits for Turkey’s role in the OBOR project.
Turkey’s full membership to the European Union and the Schengen zone is a very distant prospect if it is ever going to be possible. But the current tendency of the European Union is towards different levels of integration. There is widespread criticism of the EU’s governance, most notably of the 2008 recession and the following sovereign debt crisis. Among the proposals was a « Eurozone parliament » suggested by the economist and economic consultant for the french Socialist Party Thomas Piketty. Since Emmanuel Macron’s election in May, France and Germany have been dialoguing for the establishment of such a Parliament. In fact, for the founding core members of Europe, the need for further integration is obvious since the 2008 crisis but it would be politically impossible to get all members on board. In April 2017, after a summit at Versailles between the leaders of Germany, France, Spain and Italy it was announced that their policy was going to be one of a « Europe with multiple speeds »[23]. Depending on the outcome of the deal negotiated with Great Britain, a new layer of cooperation, outside the European Union could emerge as Brexit was among the developments that led to the discussion of such a multispeed Europe. Many suggested that the UK, despite leaving the EU, should join some form of European supranational structure. On the other hand, the entry of Eastern European countries to the Schengen zone and the Euro is still problematic. As shown by the Greek crisis, unless the EU evolves towards a federal state with fiscal transfers, countries with different levels of development can hardly coexist within the same currency area. The core countries of the Union such as France, Germany and Italy may have interests to pursue further integration. While the founding members seek further integration, the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary) also coordinate their foreign policy and their cooperation may evolve further. The structure of the EU could evolve to a more multilayered form. These developments signify that Turkey does not need to enter the European Union to have deeper ties with it. It could integrate the Union’s outer circle along countries like Britain.
One should also stress the fact that the OBOR initiative is going to expand China’s influence greatly and integration to Europe can counterbalance this influence. Due to its sheer size and level of growth, China will inevitably be advantageous on the bargaining table for trade deals and tariffs. However, the European Union as a whole increases the negotiation strength of the member states. It is the second largest consumer market in the world and would have strong leverage during such negotiations. Despite the constant criticism, the European Union enabled the member countries to inflict billion dollar fines to companies such as Microsoft and Google for their unfair practises. Without the leverage of access to a 500 million strong developed market, this would never be possible and the European countries would be condemned to be subjected to unfair trade practises. The same is true for Europe’s commercial links with China and Chinese companies. Turkey, while seeking benefits as an individual country should also integrate Europe to the furthest possible extent to obtain better terms for conducting trade. For obtaining benefits from the OBOR initiative, strong partnership with Europe is therefore a precondition for Turkey. Along with immediate cooperation, membership should be a long term goal.
* Salih Işık Bora continues his studies at the University College of Sciences Po Paris and London School of Economics.
[1] Ian Morris, Why the West Rules—for Now: The Patterns of History and what they reveal about the Future (Picador, 2010).
[2] Victor Vescovo, Deterring the Dragon… From(Under) the Sea (US Naval institute, 2014). The author examines the US navy’s possibility to blockade the Chinese coastline incase of military conflict.
[3] “The Geopolitics of China: a Great Power enclosed," Stratfor, last modified March 25, 2012, https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/geopolitics-china-great-power-enclosed
[4] “Land Transport Options Between Europe and Asia: Commercial Feasibility Study,” (U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Rambøll Danmark, 2006).
[5] “Our bulldozers, our rules,” The Economist, last modified July 2, 2016, https://www.economist.com/news/china/21701505-chinas-foreign-policy-could-reshape-good-part-world-economy-our-bulldozers-our-rules
[6] Shannon Tiezzi, "China’s prescription for troubled Xinjiang: The New Silk Road," The Diplomat, November 19, 2014.
[7] Christopher Beckwith, Empires of the Silk Road (Princeton University Press; 2009).
[9] European Parliament Directorate General for external policies, “Bringing EU-Turkey trade and investment relations up to date" (European Parliament: 2016).
[10] James Villafuerte, Erwin Corong, Juzhong Zhuang, "The One Road One Belt Initiative: impact on trade and growth," (paper presented at the 19th Annual Conference on Global Economic analysis, June 15-17, 2016)
[11] Murat Seker, “Trade performance in Eastern Europe and Central Asia” (Enterprise note no.19; World Bank, 2010).
[13] “Turkey’s Geographic Challenge,” Stratfor, last modified March 27, 2013, https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/turkeys-geographic-challenge ,
[14] Turkiye Istatistik Kurumu.
[15] Trading Economics.
[16] World Bank.
[17] Matthew O. Jackson, “Can Trade Prevent War?,” Insights by Stanford Business, last modified: May 28, 2014, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/matthew-o-jackson-can-trade-prevent-war.
[18] Christopher Beckwith, Empires of the Silk Road (Princeton University Press; 2009).
[19] Michael Tanchum, “China’s One Belt One Road project reshapes Mideast,” Jerusalem Post, last modified January 24, 2017, http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Chinas-One-Belt-One-Road-reshapes-Mideast-479492.
[20] “China and Iran: Economic political and military relations,” (RAND corporation Centre for Middle East Public Policy: 2012).
[21] Onur Uysal, “The Iron Silk Road: How will Turkey be involved,” Caucasus International (6), No:1, (2016).
[22] European Parliament Directorate General for external policies, “Bringing EU-Turkey trade and investment relations up to date" (European Parliament: 2016).
[23] Edouard Pfimlin, “Sommet de Versailles: pour une UE à plusieurs vitesses,” Le Monde, last modified: April 7, 2017, http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2017/03/07/sommet-de-versailles-pour-une-ue-a-plusieurs-vitesses_5090248_3214.html
© 2009-2019 Center for Eurasian Studies (AVİM) All Rights Reserved
Sajida Wasim - OBOR will balance declining western markets
West is aging fast, so western markets will shrink. In US, majority of poor non-white students are already in public schools. Upward mobility among non-whites is very low because of residential and school segregation. New Silk Road will help connectivity with countries with booming populations and help them to also provide more jobs for their young workforce.
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We have 15+ years experience contributing to, building, and leading open source communities. We've worked with every kind of technology organization: startups, tiny non-profits, ad hoc groups, and well-established projects with corporate backing. We know good governance. And we know it's not a one size fits all situation: Every community is unique and needs an approach to governance tailored for it according to its mission, history, demographics, and more.
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China seeks to accelerate trade talks with Japan, South Korea, EU
In Shanghai, Xi stresses need to combat unilateralism by 'tearing down walls'
CK TAN, Nikkei staff writer November 05, 2019 13:06 JST Updated on November 05, 2019 14:05 JST
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the second China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Tuesday. © Reuters
SHANGHAI -- President Xi Jinping said China was willing to sign trade deals with more countries, as he pledged to further lower tariffs and transaction costs to boost imports into the world's second-largest economy.
In an address at the opening ceremony of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Tuesday, Xi said that China's huge middle income group provided "unlimited potential."
"The Chinese market is such a big one that you should all come and see what it has to offer," Xi told the gathering that included French President Emmanuel Macron and other foreign dignitaries.
In his speech, Xi said China was ready to sign more "high-standard" free trade agreements and accelerate the negotiation process of free trade deals with the European Union, Japan and South Korea. He added that he hoped the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) could be signed soon. This is despite India's opposition to the deal on Monday.
The six-day expo is touted as a key diplomatic event for showcasing Beijing's commitment to economic liberalization. It comes amid a feud with the U.S. -- China's top trading partner -- over what U.S. President Donald Trump sees as unbalanced trade volumes and practices.
In a message that appeared to be aimed at Washington, Xi emphasized the need to stand up to unilateralism by "tearing down walls" and called on nations to embrace technological innovation as a means to develop their economies.
"Protectionism and unilateralism should be resolutely opposed to in a bid to jointly build a world economy of openness and cooperation," Xi said. "Efforts should be made on continuous reduction of trade barriers and further improvement of global value and supply chains to jointly nurture market demand."
Macron concurred with Xi, saying the trade war has already "hurt the world economy."
The French president said he recognized China's commitment to opening its markets, and urged Beijing to accelerate the process of enabling more foreign access to its economy, including participation in government procurement.
Held for the second year in a row, the expo has attracted over 3,000 companies from 150 countries. Last year, buyers agreed to commit to nearly $60 billion worth of deals
Xi's speech came nearly a week after concluding a key Communist Party meeting that reiterated the "centralized and unified leadership" in all aspects of life.
However, a European business group in China raised the alarm in August over Beijing's attempts to regulate the market through a social credit system where companies face the risk of penalty for failing to conform to rules that could include data disclosure.
"China's swing toward more party control has the raised the cost of doing business for foreign firms," Enodo Economics said in a recent note. The research company said random implementation of "murky" regulations and unannounced visits by fire safety or health inspectors were a norm. But such supervision has became "bigger" since Xi came into power in 2012.
Even so, for many, the promise of a growing middle income group estimated at 800 million people is hard to dismiss. The prospects for China's consumer market are the "most appealing," Stuart Tait, head of HSBC's commercial banking in Asia Pacific, said in an interview.
The London-based lender said in a report on Tuesday that five in nine Asian companies planned to expand intra-Asian trade with China, Japan and Australia.
"The shift toward higher quality goods and demand for services make China really an appealing market," Tait said.
China and Myanmar agree to accelerate key Belt and Road port
16 Asia-Pacific nations fail to seal RCEP trade deal
Chinese Communist Party plenum offers no solutions to Xi's problems
US-China trade talks 'virtually done' on agriculture and finance
China switches on 5G networks as tech rivalry with US grows
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Home / Media Centre / Press Releases / Azizi Developments reinforces HH Sheikh Mohammed’s vision for endurance riding
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Azizi Developments reinforces HH Sheikh Mohammed’s vision for endurance riding
Dubai, UAE, 17 July 2017: Azizi Developments, a fast growing real estate developer operating in the UAE for over a decade, successfully concluded its support and participation of the Toscana Endurance Lifestyle 2017 in Italy, where it reinforced the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to grow endurance riding and equestrian sport in the region and around the world.
Five races were scheduled over a span of two days, with a record breaking number of 516 riders from 43 countries competing for the richest prize value in its history in Europe, of 1,000,000 euros. With extraordinary support from HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum since its inception in 1998, the race has grown from an economic contributor, to a high-profile global event that attracts some of the best talent from around the world.
Mirwais Azizi, Chairman of Azizi Developments said: “We are pleased to continue our partnership with Meydan and support endurance riding as it underlines the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to further equestrian sports in the UAE and around the world. Azizi Developments is at the forefront of innovation extending beyond the conventional realms of our business and we remain committed to supporting world class international events along with our key partners, Meydan.”
Saeed Humaid Al Tayer, Chairman and CEO of the Meydan Group said: “We are proud to be associated with such a high profile international sporting event under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and in partnership with Azizi Developments. His Highness has played a pioneering role in encouraging endurance riding in the UAE and we are now witnessing its success in international markets as well. We are confident the sport will continue to grow and become even more inclusive over the next few years and as key sponsors, we will continue to lend it our unwavering support.”
Azizi Developments has been instrumental in developing some of the most outstanding properties across Dubai and inspiring community living in upscale locations, including Azizi Riviera at the prestigious Meydan One. As part of its partnership with Meydan, Azizi is also committed to supporting the growth of equestrian sport, especially endurance riding in the UAE and beyond. The brand’s flagship development, Azizi Riviera which is being developed in Meydan, offers access to the Meydan Racecourse, home of the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horse race event.
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You are here: Home BPD History Women Police
Women and the Baltimore Police Department
Timeline of some of Baltimore's Women in Law Enforcement
In the 1915 BPD Rules and Regulations, a Policewomen's job was described as
Rule 20 Page 48-49
Matrons of the Police Force (Policewomen)
1. Matrons of the Police Force (Policewomen), are conservators of the peace and members of the Force; they are amenable to the rules and regulations of the Department in so far as the rules and regulations respectively apply, subject to such modifications thereof, as may from time to time be defined by the Board of Police Commissioners or the Marshall in special and general orders.
2. They would report directly to the Marshal and will perform such special and general duties and make such reports as may be from time to time directed by the Board of Police Commissioners, or the Marshal.
3. Matrons to the Force (Policewomen), shall serve on probation for one year.
1912- The first Women Officer was hired under the title of Policewomen was Mary S. Harvey, EOD of June 19, 1912, her hiring was followed by that of Margaret B. Eagleston July 22, 1912
1914-17 October 1914 - The first female officer shot in the line of duty was Policewoman Elizabeth Faber. As she and her partner, Patrolman George W. Popp were attempting to arrest a pickpocket on theEdmondson AvenueBridge when they were both shot.
1925- 28 March 1925 - Two female members of the department were given their first lesson in pistol shooting. Baltimore policewomen received their first lesson in the use of firearms. Lieut. James O. Downes, expert marksman and instructor of the Baltimore Police Department's Pistol Team, explained the use of pistols to the two policewomen. Mrs. Mary J. Bruff and Miss Margaret B. Eagleston were the students who appeared at the Central police station yesterday.
1937 - For the first time in the history of the Baltimore Police Department, women have been advanced to the rank of Sergeant - Mrs. Cronin and Misses Lillie, Lynch and Ryan Promoted, The women, four in number, joined the force during or immediately after the World War, when there was a shortage of men, and functioned for a time as telephone and signal operators. Under terms of a bill signed Friday (28 may 1937) by Governor Nice, they will hereafter enjoy the rank and the pay, which is $46.50 a week as against their previous $40-of sergeants.
Reference info for the question had been raised
WWI or WWII
28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918
1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945
1937- First African American female Violet Hill Whyte, became Baltimore Police Department's first African American female officer hired. She worked out of the Western District for her 30-year career with the department, rose to the rank of Lieutenant. She was promoted to Sergeant in 1955 and Lieutenant in 1967. During her career, she never missed a day of work.
1937 - Four females were promoted to the rank of Sergeant, Mrs. Bessie C. Cronin, Ms. Mae E. Lillie, Ms. Clara Lynch and Ms. Margaret Ryan. First time in Baltimore Police History that a female made the rank of Sergeant.
1945 - 2 June 1945 – Policewoman Ada F Bresnan of the Baltimore Police Department, became the first woman elevated to the rank of Sergeant. Sgt. Bresnan was appointed to the department in November of 1929, and on October 10, 1944, was placed in charge of policewomen after the retirement of Miss Eva Eldridge, who held the post for 15 years. The staff now consists of four white women and two Negroes
1952 - Crossing Guards added, hired in June of 1952, trained and ready to take their posts in September at the start of the new school session. Guards made $25 a week to be paid bi-weekly during school sessions.
1953 - Mrs. Mary E. Hoy, Baltimore City Police Crossing Guard received the department's highest award “The Medal of Honor.” During that time School, Crossing Guards were employees of the Baltimore Police Department.
1969 -In May of 1969, we have our first father/daughter on the police department. Officer James F. Stevens and Policewoman Patricia A. Loveless
1969 - In October of 1969, we have our first female officer honored by the Criminal Justice Commission. Policewoman Mercedes Rankin
1970 - Helen Mackall - Crossing Guard was awarded the Medal of Honor, first African American women to be awarded the medal, she lost her leg saving a child that was nearly run over. During that time School, Crossing Guards were employees of the Baltimore Police Department.
1973 - 8 June 1973 - Gladys Aye became the first woman officer to enter the academy after the designation Policewoman was dropped and both men and women officers went by the single title of "Police Officer" this also gave female officers the opportunity to be promoted above the rank of Lieutenant. The change from Policeman and policewoman was in the works for nearly two weeks before it was officially announced on 11 June 1973
1973- 12 June 1973 - The Civil Service Commission authorized the single classification of "Police Officer" to replace the dual designation "Policeman / Patrolman" and "Policewoman / Patrolwoman". This reclassification was a continuation of the department's efforts in the area of equal employment opportunity. (Female "Police Officers" now had the same prerogatives and responsibilities as their male counterparts. Now only one competitive test for promotions is necessary. Thus, a single career ladder was established for all sworn members.)
13 June 1973 Sun Paper Part 1
This article verifies Police Officer Gladys Aye became the first woman officer to enter the academy after the designation Police Woman was dropped and both men and women officers went by the single title of "Police Officer." This also gave female officers the opportunity to be promoted above the rank of Lieutenant. The change from Policeman and policewoman was in the works for nearly two weeks before it was officially announced on 12 June 1973 and Officer Ayes was hired with the knowledge that she would hold the title Police Officer by the time the academy class began.
1975 - 20 March 1975 - Dorothy Woodcock became the first female aerial observer in Baltimore's Fox Trot unit, at the time they felt she could have actually been the first in the state.
1978- 24 October 1978 - Baltimore Police promoted the First Woman Police Major, Lt. Patricia Mullen, elevated two grades as she became Major Patricia Mullen. Promoted from Lieutenant of the Homicide Unit, Major Mullen was put in charge of Youth Section.
1979 - Officer Linda Flood became the first female assigned to plain clothes in the newly formed Stop Squad, which was responsible for arresting street-level drug dealers. She did not stop there; she would later become the first female African-American aerial observer in the helicopter unit.
1981 - Janice West became the first female officer assigned to the Mounted Unit
1982 - Police Officer Kathy Adams is the first female officer to become a member of our QRT (Baltimore's SWAT).
1983 - 15 January 1983 - The First Woman Promoted to District Commander - Major Bessie R Norris, was promoted to Major and assumed her duties as Commander of the Southwestern District
1983 - July 30, 1983 - The First Female K9 officer is assigned.Officer Charlene M. Jenkinsis handler to Max
1984 - Police Officer Donna M. Cooper was shot on November 2, 1984, and was the first female officer to be awarded the Citation of Valor.
2002 - Police Officer Crystal Deneen Sheffield was the first female officer to die in the line of Duty and also awarded the “Medal of Honor.”
2010 - Deputy Commissioner Deborah Owens was the highest-ranking female in the Department and the only female to reach that rank.
2011 - Officer Latosha Tinsley would be the first surviving female "Officer" to be awarded the “Medal of Honor.” There was a previous female recipient of the award, but while employed by the Baltimore Police department she was acting as a school crossing guard
We know this list is incomplete, we need more info, so if you have info, a first, or dates of when a unit, or event took place that involves our Women in Baltimore's Police Department; Please do not hesitate in getting that information to Kenny or me. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Our Ladies of the Law
Woman Appointed Sergeant of Police
Jun 3, 1945; pg. 10
Miss Anna F. Bresnan, Chief of Policewomen of the Baltimore Police Department, yesterday was appointed to Sergeant, by Hamilton Atkinson, Commissioner of the Police Department.
The first woman elevated to the rank of Sgt., Miss Bresnan was appointed to the force in November 1929, and on October 10, 1944, was placed in charge of policewomen after the retirement of Miss Eva Eldridge, who held the post for 15 years.
The staff now consists of four white women and two Negroes.
This was a detail in which Major Bolesta put Sue Ritz and Andrea Nolan on in January 1984. They were decoys for a purse snatching crew that were targeting elderly women in Sector 3 (Cross-country Blvd., Rogers Ave.) While Sue and Andrea walked foot, they were trailed by P/O Joe Drobrashelsky. One night while walking past the Fire Station on Cross-country, the firemen saw Officer Drobrashelsky trailing the ladies and thought he was the purse snatcher. Our fine women in law enforcement had to break cover to prevent their tail from getting a beat down by the fire department.
Baltimore's Finest
Baltimore City Police Department's First, and Second Policewomen
The first women hired under the title of, "Policewomen" by Baltimore City was Mary S. Harvey, EOD ofJune 19, 1912, followed by Margaret B. EaglestonJuly 22, 1912. She traveled the world to inspect how other departments were using female officers and reported back to the Marshal of Police. Mrs. Harvey, she passed away onMarch 26, 1934, in Tyron, Craven County, NC. Ms. Eagleston who was the second female officer hired, July 22, 2912, passed away on October 3, 1929, while she was still active in the BPD. Policewomen at that time were assigned to HQ under the Police Marshal and mostly dealt with Social problems, children, other types of crime involving women, as well as challenged individuals.
In 1914 the first woman officer to be shot in the line of duty within our agency was Elizabeth Faber she was shot 18 Oct 1914 on the Edmondson Avenue Bridge (Officer Faber survived her injuries, but resigned less than a year later due to those injuries, and somewhat might today be called PTS or PTSD - Women on the force at that time would not become armed until 1925; a full 11 years after the shooting of this officer, and 13 years after the first woman officer was hired. They were true pioneers in the Baltimore Police Force).
Sun Paper Photo by Ellis Malashuk
Policewomen Receive - Firearms Instruction
March 28, 1925 - Baltimore Sun Paper
Two female members of department given the first lesson in pistol shooting. Baltimore policewomen yesterday received in their first lesson in the use of firearms. Lieut. James O. Downes, expert marksman and instructor of the Baltimore Police Department's Pistol Team, explained the use of pistols to the two policewomen. Mrs. Mary J. Bruff and Miss Margaret B. Eagleston were the students who appeared at the Central police station yesterday. Several minutes later the basement of the building resounded with sharp reports (sounds of gunfire) as efforts were made to pierce the "Bulls-eye". The target was 6 feet in distance from the policewomen. Other policewomen will receive their first lesson next week. The distance of the target will be increased as Lieut. Downes plans to make each of five expert shots. With the exception of Mrs. Mary Harvey, none of the policewomen are familiar with firearms. The others are Miss Eva Aldridge and Ms. Mildred Campbell.
POLICE GET FIRST
WOMEN SERGEANTS
Quartet Advanced "Under
Terms Of Bill Signed Friday
By Nice - May 30, 1937
Mrs. Cronin and Misses Lillie, Lynch and Ryan Promoted Pay to be $46.50. For the first time in the history of the Baltimore Police Department, women have been advanced to the rank of sergeant. The women, four in number, joined the force during or immediately after the World War, when there was a shortage of men, and functioned for a time as telephone and signal operators. Under terms of a bill signed Friday (28 may 1937) by Governor Nice, they will hereafter enjoy the rank and the pay, which is $46.50 a week as against their previous $40-of sergeants. Recipients Listed The recipients of the promotions and their present positions are Miss Mae E. Little, clerk in the office of the commissioner. Mrs. Bessie K. Cronin, Northern District telephone operator. Miss Clara Lynch, Clerk, Missing Persons Bureau. Miss Margaret Ryan, clerk in the police
Headquarters. Miss Ryan is the senior of the four in point of service. She was appointed to the force on January 9, 1917, serving on the headquarters switchboard until she was advanced to the clerkship. She lives in 1100 Block Barkley Street. Appointed Same Day Miss Little and Mrs. Cronin, who live at 4329 Glenmore Avenue and 2716 Oak Street, respectively, were appointed on the same day. October 2, 1918. Miss Little served first as Central District operator before being transferred to the commissioner’s office. Mrs. Cronin has remained at her original post at the Northern district switchboard. Miss Lynch was appointed on January 10, 1921, originally worked at the Eastern district board, and went from there to headquarters.
First African American Female Hired
Violet Hill Whyte
In 1937 Violet Hill Whyte became the BPD's first African American officer hired by the force. She was assigned to the Northwestern / Western District for her entire career. In 1955 she was promoted to Sergeant and in 1967 she was promoted to Lieutenant, and retired shortly afterward. In The Afro American News Paper, they wrote of her -Baltimore's first Black Policewoman, Lieutenant Violet Hill Whyte, 88 died July 17, 1980, at the Keswick nursing home where she had been since November 1979.Born in Washington, DC Violet Whyte was the daughter of the late Rev. and Mrs. Daniel Hill. She was a graduate of Douglass High School and Coppin Teachers College. When she joined the force, she was assigned to the Northwestern District. (The old Western District)Her promotion to Sergeant took place in October 1955 and in the following February she was transferred to the Pine Street station.When the new Western station was opened in August 1959 she was named to head its detail of policewomen. Lieutenant Whyte never wore a uniform and was seldom armed; she worked on a variety of cases on narcotics, robbery, homicides, child abuse, and sexual delinquency.During her 30 years on the force, Lieutenant Whyte never missed a day at work and was willing to go out and work at all hours because she recognized the problems. In a 1963 AFRO-AMERICAN newspaper clipping, Lieutenant Violet Whyte stated: "I'm not afraid of work, my first case was to investigate a homicide and it was successful.” Lieutenant Whyte stated she found it easy to overcome racial antagonism. She received special training in police work in various seminars and universities. She served as commission to study problems of delinquency. During her 30 years on the police force, she proved that time and time again by working 16 to 20 hour days, often starting at 6 a.m. She collected clothing for prison inmates and needy people, made holiday baskets for the needy and counseled delinquent children and their families.
In an Afro-American newspaper report, they wrote of her - Baltimore's first Black Policewoman, Sgt. Violet Hill Whyte, 88 died July 17, 1980, at the Keswick nursing home where she had been since November 1979. Born in Washington, DC Sgt. Whyte was the daughter of the late Rev. and Mrs. Daniel Hill. She was a graduate of Douglass High School and Coppin Teachers College. When she joined the force, she was assigned to the Northwestern District. (The old Western District) Her promotion to Sergeant took place in October 1955 and in the following February she was transferred to the Pine Street station. When the new Western station was opened in August 1959 she was named to head its detail of policewomen. Sgt. Whyte never wore a uniform and was seldom armed, she worked on a variety of cases on narcotics, robbery, homicides, child abuse, and sexual delinquency. During her 30 years on the force, Sgt. Whyte never missed a day at work and was willing to go out and work at all hours because she recognized the problems. In 1963 AFRO clipping Sgt. Whyte stated "I'm not afraid of work, my first case was to investigate a homicide and it was successful. Sgt. Whyte stated she found it easy to overcome racial antagonism. She received special training in police work in various seminars and universities. she served as commission to study problems of delinquency.
Photo by Sun Paper Photographer Albert D. Cochran
Women and the Baltimore Police Department 1953
Here It Is, Girls – The Uniform That Will Stop Traffic Next Fall.
Designed by a woman and approved by 10 men who solemnly discussed such details as skirt lengths, stiff plastic visors versus soft cloth ones, heel heights, etc., this is the authorized costume for the newly created Women’s Auxiliary to the Police Force – The School Crossing Guard – who go on duty when classes reopen in September.
At the invitation of Police Commissioner Beverly Ober, the men, representing The Department of Education, Automobile Club, Safety Council, and Parent-Teacher Associations, met in the Col.’s office in the Central Police Headquarters to okay the outfit adapted by Mrs. Frederick B. Bang, of the Baltimore League of Women’s Voters.
Visor Adopted
There was some talk of an overseas cap, but since that type is used in so many capacities, the one with the visor was chosen.
This, plus a top coat of worsted gabardine, including a zip–in lining for winter, two white blouses, an inch-wide black knit tie, white cotton, and white wool gloves, and the necessary rain-wear comprises the uniform. It will cost about $140 – which the men believe was reasonable enough.
Wear Own Shoes
After a little conversation on the subject of shoes, the men decided “Since comfortable feet are an important factor” to let the ladies wear their own – provided “they are of navy blue calfskin – to match the belt and attached purse – with closed heels and toes and neither perforations nor decorations.” They may be pumps or oxfords.
“The height of the heel makes a big difference to some women,” Col. Ober observed.
The skirts will be 12 inches from the ground. The high visibility yellow rain cape, with a navy corduroy collar, will overlap the black zippered galoshes by 3 inches.
The matching cover will be one of the shoulder length jobs that snaps under the chin, thus protecting milady’s permanent on damp days. And her badge may be attached on both.
Col. Ober made it clear that he is only replacing traffic officers already on duty at school crossings and is not creating any new posts. There are, he explained, no funds available for additional guards.
He also suggested that potential members of the force mention, in their applications, the school in whose area they reside.
The salary is $25 a week will be paid bi-weekly during the school year.
Armed leg
With a heft of the hem, policewoman, Ethel T. Divens, a Baltimore policewoman draws a revolver from a stocking holster in a demonstration. This is one of several types of holsters that are being tested by the Baltimore Police Department. The city's policewomen have been issued guns for the first time; their work is being extended beyond the juvenile cases they handled in the past. The gun is a special designed .32 caliber revolver nicknamed, "The Cobra". Where to hide it is a subject under study at the department. In detective stories, the female officer carries her gun in her handbag. But in real life, this has its disadvantages as the handbag can be snatched – and as our women officers are used as decoys for purse snatchers – and it holds so many other things. Shoulder holsters can be hidden under a suit. But what happens on a hot summer day? The stocking holster is easy to get at but it tends to pull down the stockings, and drawing it could draw too much attention; especially if the holstered gam is shapely.
Mullen Named First Woman Police Major
25 Oct 1978 - Lt. Patricia Mullen, of the city Police Department, was promoted to major making her the highest appointed woman official in the history of the department.
Officer Dotty Woods
First Female Flight Observer in Baltimore's Fox Trot Unit
Possibly in the State of Maryland says source Baltimore Sun
From "Fifteen Years of Progress Donald Pomerleau"1982
On June 11, 1973, the Civil Service Commission authorized the single classification "Police Officer" to replace the dual designation "Patrolman" and "Police Woman". This reclassification was a continuation of the department's efforts in the area of equal employment opportunity. Female "Police Officers" now had the same prerogatives and responsibilities as their male counterparts. Now only one competitive test for promotions is necessary. Thus, a single career ladder was established for all sworn members.
This is the second part of a series featuring women in nontraditional jobs and who are the first of females in their jobs
In 1970 the Baltimore City Police Department had 53 female officers of which 12 were black. By this year that figure had grown to 163 with 91 being black. Females are not only proving themselves as officers but advancing into unique areas within the department and challenging their male counterparts. Three young ladies, Officer Janice West, Carolyn Hawkins, and Sgt. Linda Flood, all served the requested time on patrol before taking on jobs that earned them second looks, and double takes from the citizens they're out there protecting. Janice West, caught Baltimore's attention last year riding through the streets of Baltimore on a horse, she was the first woman to become a mounted police officer. "I chose mounted because it was something different. - I have never been on a horse before. The department was looking for women in that unit so I signed up for it." She recalls having to ride bareback for the first week and falling off, "I kept saying to myself why am I doing this? I should quit…" - "But then I realized what my ambitions were and I told myself to hang in there, the saddle would be better." Janice, a perfect model type, she stands 5' 10" and wears a size 9 dress; having graduated from the police academy in 1977 she was assigned to the southwest district. "There were not many women when I started some people thought I couldn't do the job but I knew I could", she said with an air of confidence, "I had my own way of handling situations, I just talked to people the way I felt they wanted to be talked to." Miss West states, "Most men she meets the idea of a woman having a different kind of career. They like the idea of a woman not being at home, or in the office." Her duties include issuing tickets and working in crowd control situations. Sometimes she comes down off her horse and works on foot at sporting events at the Stadium. "I really feel good about my job, I feel I've accomplished something. But this is just the first phase of what I really want to accomplish" Carolyn Hawkins a 1968 graduate of Carver vocational-technical high school, joined the department because "Insider work just wasn't for me" in high school while setting her sights on a dressmaking and design career, she had no idea she would eventually become a police officer. "Sometimes I felt like the men didn't want us there but I never had any problems." After graduation Ms. flood was soon on our way to achieving several firsts in the department assigned to the plainclothes division in 1979, she was the first female to work in the stopped squad, one of the department's tactical units. -
Then came the job as an Aerial Observer in the helicopter unit, another first and now, of the 55 black police officers promoted as a result of a suit filed by several black officers, Officer Flood now Sgt Flood was the only black female, to be promoted to the rank of Sgt. Currently the highest ranking female is Major Patricia Mullins and Lieut. Bessie Nourse, a 16-year veteran is the highest-ranking black female. Mrs. Violet Hill Whyte who died in July became the first black policewoman in 1937 and never missed a day on the job for more than the 30 years.
Police Promote Women to District Commander
Baltimore Sun paper 23 December 1982
Page D4
Police Promote Woman to District Commander
Baltimore city police Commissioner Frank J Battaglia announced several Christmas promotions yesterday, including the appointment of the first woman district commander in departmental history.
Lieut. Bessie R Norris, 49, Dean of students with the department’s education and training division,
The series of promotions was prompted by the upcoming retirement of Col. William L Rawlings chief of criminal investigations division. Col. Rowlands plans to leave the force January 15
Harry C Allender, now a major serving as deputy chief in charge of the central, Southwest and southern districts, was promoted to Col. and will replace Col. Rawlings. The new deputy chief will be Major Calvin Lewis, who is currently commander of the southwestern district.
Major Norris, an 18 year veteran of the force, or replace Major Lewis, in addition to being the first woman district commander, she is also the first black a woman to attain the rank of major.
A native of McBee, South Carolina Major Norris earned her associates degree from the community college of Baltimore 10 years after becoming a police officer. In 1976, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice from Coppin State University.
She was promoted to Lieut. in 1978 and served in the criminal investigations and personnel divisions before working of the shift commander at the Northwest district station. She was the first woman to be a shift commander in the districts.
Major Norris has been working in the education and training division since June. She previously worked in the department’s communication division.
In other promotions, Lieut. Joseph T Newman, head of the recently formed and highly publicized narcotics task force, was promoted to Capt. and named as head of the bisection in the criminal investigations division.
Capt. Newman, 36, had been a member of the force since 1969. He has worked in criminal investigations division since 1971. In 1980 he received a bronze star for his work and narcotics.
Police Career is Big Challenge for Women
Deborah I Greene Sun Staff Writer
The Sun (1837-1987); Mar 26, 1987;
pg. G5
Linda flood rarely thinks about the years as she spent flipping hamburgers on the grill or pounding away at a keyboard in the billing department of a store.
There weren’t many changes then. Certainly, nothing to compare to the scaling of an 80-foot wall, hovering in a helicopter high above the city, or posing as a decoy for rapist at dark city bus stops.
And when she remembers she is but one of three women lieutenants in the Baltimore City Police Department a force made up of thousands, and a hint of a satisfying smile creeps into the corner of her mouth.
“When I came here 12 years ago you could count the number of women in the department on one hand,” the 35-year-old supervisor said, “then, everyone was skeptical of me because not only did I have to prove myself because I was new, but also because I was a woman.”
During her police career, she has worked with the narcotics squad, the sex crimes squad, the helicopter squad and the internal investigations division.
She also was the first woman to graduate from the department’s tactical squad.
In the past two decades, Baltimore’s police force has been not only a challenge but a viable alternative for women entering the workforce.
Some women officer say that the skills they gather from more traditional roles have prepared them for their job as protectors of society, a career that involves more negotiation than physical confrontation.
“Women have for centuries successfully handled the hardest job in the world and that is being a wife and a mother – often as head of the household,” says agent Arlene Jenkins, a spokeswoman for the Police Department and a mother of two, “to me, that’s probably more difficult than being a police officer.”
“The same dedication and skills women have used in being a wife and mother are those they use in their job as police officers – skills such as negotiating, mediating, and counseling,” Asian Jenkins says. There are about 300 women on the police force currently made up of 1569 officers
officer Bonnie Keller chuckles when she remembers the rigorous 20 weeks of training and a difficult Academy course she undertook at the Academy five years ago.
“We took courses like sociology and psychology and I remember that there was always a lot of running. Running up and down steps, running around the harbor in 90° weather, and lifting tires over your head to build upper body strength,” said the five-year veteran.
“It never got easier but there was always a lot of support among the officers and it was a good feeling to know that the support you encountered in training you hoped you also would encounter on the streets,” says Lieut. Keller.
Some officers develop a “macho attitude” to deal with the skepticism they sometimes face among their peers and the public.
But there are times when a strong attitude is needed.
“Everybody has their own way of acting when you go out on the street. You never know if it’s going to be a simple call return in the something complex,” says officer Shirley Jean Wood.
Some women are reluctant to talk to family and friends about the stress that accompanies their job. Often, in the eyes of their children, they are seen as “supermoms,” balancing a household checkbook in one hand and a nightstick in the other.
Many say that despite their proficiency on the firing range, in combat, or while solving day to day problems for the public, their male counterparts remain skeptical of their achievements.
“I would like to thank that a lot of the old male viewpoint – that this is a man’s job and there was absolute, no room in this profession for women – has changed and is changing,” says Lieut. Bass.
“I think those who thought that a few years ago are learning through experience and observation that is just not so,” he added.
The number of women applying to the force is higher today than they were two decades ago when the Academy graduated a woman once or twice a year. However, the number of women promoted to higher rank in the department still remains low.
In addition to the three women Lieutenants, the department also has a Colonel and two Sergeants.
“You’ve got to be determined,” said Lieut. flood as she squared her white lieutenants, took her place at the podium and led the group of two dozen officers in the roll call
Female Detective makes History in Baltimore
BALTIMORE - Anastacia Oluoch is spending her 59th birthday Monday in a Baltimore jail. And the woman who helped put her there spent the day talking to ABC-2. Baltimore Detective Julie Pitochelli chased the fugitive around the world and finally brought her back to see justice served, making history with the police department. You don't have to tell Julie Pitochelli it's a man's world. As one of the 702 women in the 3,300 member Baltimore City Police Department, she already knows. She explains, "When I first got here I felt like I really had to prove myself." That was 19 years ago. But Detective Pitochelli's latest move has left no doubt about her abilities. She brought back the first international extradition suspect in the department's history, something no man on the squad has ever done. Pitochelli says helping the department hit that milestone isn’t about her gender, "I like people to judge me based on the work that I do, not because I'm a woman or anything else. I like my work product to speak for itself." In this case, it did and it wasn't easy. Pitochelli’s crammed case folder is evidence. With help from the FBI and Interpol, it took the detective five years to bring Anastacia Oluoch back from Africa. Oluoch fled Baltimore and the U.S. in 2007; accused of beating 90-year-old John Taylor, a patient she was caring for. It was a brutal attack caught on tape by the victim's daughter, Jaki. Pitochelli says, "This one was personal. We don't usually connect with family members as much as I did with Jaki. Five years working with her day in and day out, I consider her a friend now." It is a friendship forged in mutual motivation: righting a wrong and serving justice. Jaki pushed and Julie responded, showing the strength to lead a case from halfway around the world, but never losing the sensitivity it required at home. She tells ABC-2, “I have a way of making people feel at ease. They talk to me. They can tell me things they might not tell other police." Pitochelli helped convince Oluoch's family in Delaware to tell police where Anastacia had gone. She says she also helped build the case that had a Nairobi court send her back, “They had to believe we had enough evidence against their citizen to bring her back." The dedicated detective had collected more than enough over the years. Baltimore Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says, "It's refreshing to see how one case inspired her for the last five years to work so hard to bring this woman back to justice." And when it came down to Oluoch's return, it was Julie who got to escort her into Baltimore Police Headquarters. It was an emotional conclusion to an investigation half a decade in the making. Pitochelli says, “It was shocking and relief. I thought, ‘Oh my God, it's finally over’." But even after Oluoch’s return, there were some tense moments. Once back on U.S. soil, Pitochelli had concerns the fugitive would be released on bail. She was eventually held on no bail. Oluoch will be arraigned October 12th in Baltimore.
1865 - 6 women matrons appointed in New York City.
1880/86 - Police matrons appointed in 13 cities.
1888 - Massachusetts passed a law directing the appointment of police matrons in all cities of 20,000 inhabitants.
1910 - First policewoman appointed in Los Angeles
1924 - 145 cities employ policewomen, (Owings)
1927 - Above facts quoted (C.T.F.E.331)
1929 - Census of policewomen in the U.S.A. gives a total of 593} employed by 260 cities and 28 counties* Largest numbers New York 115s Detroit 45* Chicago 30* Washington 23; Los Angeles 22$ St. Louis 18j Cleveland 15. (Report of International Policewomen's Association) Organized as Women Bureaux*
1930 - Crime Prevention Bureau in New York employed 53 women, (C.T.F.E.509)
1934 - “A movement for the permanent establishment of Women's Bureaux in city police departments and appointment of properly trained and qualified policewomen in all communities”
The first woman who has been made a member of a Police Force “lives in St Paul, Minn. Her name is Mrs. Edwin T. Root and she was named a full-fledged Officer of the law by the Mayor of St. Paul” ….. From that information, I would say, St Paul, Minn had the first Woman Officer in the country.
In the 1915 BPD Rules and Regs, a Police Woman job was described as Rule 20 Page 48-49
2. They will report directly to the Marshal and will perform such special and general duties and make such reports as may be from time to time directed by the Board of Police Commissioners, or the Marshal.
Photo Courtesy Andy de la Vara
The Female Police Officer to the far left wearing a black dress with white color is "Nancylee Kleine" formerly "Nancylee Wilhelm"
We are working to build this page to explain the history of Women and the Baltimore Police Department if you have photos, and info, please help us out by contacting Ken Driscoll Ret. Det. Baltimore Police at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Copies of: Your Baltimore Police Department Class Photo, Pictures of our Officers, Vehicles, Equipment, Newspaper Articles relating to our department and or officers, Old Departmental Newsletters, Lookouts, Wanted Posters, and or Brochures. Information on Deceased Officers and anything that may help Preserve the History and Proud Traditions of this agency. Please contact Retired Detective Kenny Driscoll.
How to Dispose of Old Police Items
If you come into possession of Police items from an Estate or Death of a Police Officer Family Member and do not know how to properly dispose of these items please contact: Retired Detective Ken Driscoll - Please dispose of POLICE Items: Badges, Guns, Uniforms, Documents, PROPERLY so they won’t be used IMPROPERLY.
Please contact Det. Ret. Kenny Driscoll if you have any pictures of you or your family members and wish them remembered here on this tribute site to Honor the fine men and women who have served with Honor and Distinction at the Baltimore Police Department.
Anyone with information, photographs, memorabilia, or other "Baltimore City Police" items can contact Ret. Det. Kenny Driscoll at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. follow us on Twitter @BaltoPoliceHist or like us on Facebook or mail pics to 8138 Dundalk Ave. Baltimore Md. 21222
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Uriah Heep Forever
Working in one of the larger record stores I’d ever stepped into for much of the ’90s provided the opportunity to encounter a collection of characters that one might ordinarily have to do time to experience.
(an outcome that one co-worker narrowly avoided after being busted for manufacturing his own money)
Of these compatriots, The Drunken Frenchman was certainly one of the more memorable.
A good decade older than most of us, he had eased into the role of gruff, cantankerous elder so effortlessly that there was a yard no doubt lamenting his absence to chase neighborhood children from it.
The Frenchman quickly became a fixture in a group of a half dozen or so of us who would head straight from our shift to the cantina we had staked out as our own.
Throughout the successive rounds, The Frenchman would offer up bits of wisdom he’d accrued such as, if you’re good with your barkeep, you’re good, or, all a man needs is the love of a fine dog and an ingenue that understands him.
Questionable life lessons aside, The Frenchman likely knew as much about rock music, pre-1980, as anyone I have ever known, so there was usually a toast to commemorate the birthday of Hugh Grundy, original drummer for The Zombies, or the anniversary of the release of Small Faces’ Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake.
During one of those countless evenings, the discussion turned to the fact that there were acts whose heydey in the States might have been twenty years passed – and brief – and, yet, were able to still pack venues in Europe and even notch the occasional hit.
(I believe Status Quo having a Top Ten single in the UK prompted the topic)
“Once you’re in over there, you’re in forever,” The Frenchman noted. “Uriah Heep still tours in Europe.”
I took him at his drunken word.
The only time I’d ever heard Uriah Heep on the radio had been somewhere in eastern Ohio, maybe West Virginia, rolling down an interstate as the family made the annual, summer trek to the ancestral homelands of western Pennsylvania.
It was 1982, late summer, and music had, during the past six months, become the shiny, new object in my life. The idea of not having the radio stations I knew for two weeks was distressing.
I sat in the backseat of the car, jockeying for space with my brother and listening to a transistor radio until the final station familiar to me dissolved into a drone of white noise.
I was in uncharted territory, but I quickly learned to hunt, surfing the band for a song that I recognized to materialize.
Then, we hit a stretch of dead air and few options and I had to settle on a station that was a bit harder than the Top 40 to which I usually listened.
(it helped that they played Journey’s Stone In Love)
And I know that the station played a song by Uriah Heep as their name – and that of their new album, Abominog – struck me as totally bizarre.
Some fifteen years later, not long after The Frenchman informed us of Uriah Heep’s fervent fanbase in Europe, I visited the UK for the first time. Emerging from The Tube, listening to Smashing Pumpkin’s Adore on my Walkman, I stopped.
Covering a section of the wall was a massive poster…touting tour dates for Uriah Heep.
Here are four songs from Billboard magazine’s album rock chart from twenty-nine years ago when some unfamiliar radio station gave me my one and only (as far as I know) dose of Uriah Heep…
Uriah Heep – That’s The Way That It Is
from Abominog
I got to thinking about Uriah Heep after reading a recent entry at 70s Music Mayhem on the debut of what would be the band’s lone Top 40 hit, Easy Livin’, in the US during late July, 1972.
(I don’t think that I’d ever heard the song before)
That’s Just The Way It Is apparently got enough airplay to give the band their biggest album in a decade and it’s not a bad song at all. It’s catchy, rumbles along quite nicely, and certainly wouldn’t have sounded out of place next to Journey and Foreigner at the time.
Nazareth – Love Leads To Madness
from 2XS
I’m familiar with little by Nazareth aside from Love Hurts and its accompanying album, Hair Of The Dog. My buddy Will had an older brother and the eight track seemed to be permanently lodged in his Trans Am’s player.
I dig Dan McCafferty’s gruff vocals which I’ve heard influenced Axl Rose and Love Leads To Madness is pretty cool. With what little I do know of Nazareth’s catalog and the fact that they’re Scottish, I’d be interested in hearing more.
The Sherbs – We Ride Tonight
from Defying Gravity
My buddy Beej would go to visit relatives out west most summers. He’d return after a couple weeks with tapes of exotic songs recorded from the radio and The Sherb’s We Ride Tonight might have been on one of those mixes.
I did hear the song here and there on WEBN or 96 Rock, but I never knew who it was or what it was called. It was one of those songs that was filed deep in my brain, making cameos throughout the years and causing me to wonder if I’d imagined it.
We Ride Tonight is a taut rocker with a mysterious vibe and a chorus reminiscent of the Patti Smith/Bruce Springsteen classic Because The Night.
Billy Squier – Emotions In Motion
from Emotions In Motion
Billy Squier was about as popular as any act in my junior high/high school during his Don’t Say No/Emotions In Motion period.
There were three cities that were on most tour stops and within a two-hour drive of my hometown; Squier was playing one of them every few months, opening for some major headliner.
(there were more Billy Squier concert shirts per capita in my high school than any high school in America)
But it was straight-ahead, groove-driven rock that sounded great on the radio (and both Don’t Say No and Emotions In Motion had four or five songs that got played heavily in our part of the midwest).
1 Comment | 1982, Billy Squier, childhood, heartland rock, lost acts, Nazareth, one-hit wonder, pointless rambling, radio, random musings, record store, road trip, summer, The Sherbs, Uriah Heep | Tagged: 1982, 80s music, album rock, AOR, Billy Squier, Nazareth, Sherbert, The Sherbs, Uriah Heep | Permalink
Life Post Rapture (It’s Not Just The Pious Who Are Bummed)
Since that whole Rapture dealio surprisingly fizzled, I can’t help but think that the real losers were the non-pants wearing inhibitants of this planet.
Imagine how elated the animal kingdom would have been had several hundred million humans simply vanished.
I picture camels, cockatoos, coyotes – all creatures great and small – breaking into song and dance like cartoon characters at the idea of fewer of us humans mucking up the scene.
Word would obviously be spread by the whales as they are able to communicate to all of the world’s oceans through their song. I know this because Charlotte Rampling’s professor character said so in Orca.
(I feel that a Dino De Laurentiis’ flick I saw as a kid at the drive-in in 1977 is a credible source for ichthyological information)
I thought that Prof. Rampling also told the hungover college kids something about some philosopher who had speculated that God would return to earth as a whale.
Maybe The Old Fellow Who Cried Judgment Day needs to factor that concept into his calculations.
In the meantime, the animals no doubt have champagne on ice. Here are four animal songs…
The Judybats – Animal Farm
from Down In The Shacks Where The Satellite Dishes Grow
I’ve stumbled across songs from Southern jangle rockers The Judybats twice of late as I’ve looked for songs to post and I’m surprised that its taken me nearly twenty years to discover them.
(especially since I’ve had Down In The Shacks Where The Satellite Dishes Grow since it was released in ’92 when I snagged a promo copy)
Better late than never, though, and the charming Animal Farm is not only a cover of a song by The Kinks, but it’s nowhere near as dystopian as the classic novel of the same name.
Talking Heads – Animals
from Fear Of Music
One of my high school buddies was a rabid fan of Talking Heads, so I was familiar with the band’s catalog before the mainstream success of the stellar Burning Down The House and its parent album Speaking In Tongues.
I dig The Heads and own a good chunk of the band’s catalog, but there is a portion of their output that is difficult to embrace. If I had to choose one Talking Heads’ album, though, I would likely opt for the textured Fear Of Music.
Somehow I’d forgotten about the delightfully paranoid Animalson which David Byrne expresses his great distrust of the titular creatures – “I know the animals are laughing at us” – and concern that, since “they’re living on nuts and berries” and “they say they don’t need money,” “they’re setting a bad example.”
(damned socialist animals!)
The Fixx – Calm Animals
from Calm Animals
I’ve long liked the idea of The Fixx more than the actual band and much of their music. Their albums were uneven and I didn’t like One Thing Leads To Another even before it got played into the ground in the autumn of ’83.
But, when things truly jelled, The Fixx had some killer tracks – Red Skies, Saved By Zero, Secret Separation – and, listening to it for the first time in years, the more rocking Calm Animals is pretty cool.
Def Leppard – Animal
from Hysteria
It’s Def Leppard, man. I mean, once we’re gone, the animals are certainly going to have a major blowout and why wouldn’t they throw on some Def Leppard?
1 Comment | afterlife, apocalypse, cover songs, current events, Def Leppard, lost acts, mortality, pointless rambling, random musings, religious dogma, Talking Heads, The Fixx, The Judybats, undiscovered gems | Tagged: Def Leppard, Harold Camping, May 21, rapture, religious whack job, Talking Heads, The Fixx, The Judybats, The Kinks | Permalink
Today, My Best Friend…Tomorrow, Who Knows?
Sometime last week, during the spate of coverage on the demise of Osama bin Laden, I happened upon a program on the life of the iconic terrorist.
One of the people interviewed was described as bin Laden’s best friend as a teenager.
It must make a pretzel of the mind to have such a notorious character as a former best friend.
The first best friend that I can remember having was a kid named George. There’s little else I recall aside from his name and I have no recollection as to what earned him status as numero uno amigo.
I do recall that I stripped him of the title and I slotted another classmate into the position.
I wanted John as my best friend because he was tall, a head taller than everyone else.
(people have been placed in high office using such logic, but I was five)
I’ve had no contact with either of these kids in almost forty years, but it seems as though George is a DJ in the upper Midwest, so perhaps I was being prescient about the interest I’d someday have in music.
By the time I reached high school, I was in a transitional period with friendships. The concept of best friend had evolved into a group of eight or nine of us who would end up together in different permutations and numbers.
One of these buddies was a bit of a fire enthusiast and devotee of things that go kaboom.
During senior year, Kirk The Pyro went to California with another of our friends for spring break.
(most of us settled for wandering the malls in Cincinnati)
This dynamic duo returned to the grimness of March in the Midwest with tans and dynamite.
“Where did you get dynamite?”
“So, you brought dynamite from Tijuana on your flight home from California?”
It was a simpler world and a time when – relative to today – the airlines essentially had a don’t ask/don’t tell policy.
The interviewee on the television screen had described bin Laden as quiet and polite, their friendship rooted in a shared love for soccer.
I could only describe Kirk The Pyro as like Woody Woodpecker in human form and our bond forged by a common appreciation for antics, hijinks, and shenanigans.
And though I haven’t had contact with him since college, I also haven’t seen him become the target of a global manhunt.
Here are four friend songs…
Clarence Clemons And Jackson Browne – You’re A Friend Of Mine
from Hero
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band were probably as big as any act in my lifetime. During the mid-’80s. Born In The USA sold ten million copies and pretty much every song on the record got extensive airplay on the radio. The group’s success was so massive and demand for more music so great that b-sides like Pink Cadillac and Stand On It got played heavily.
E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons even had a solo hit during the winter of ’85 when he duetted with Jackson Browne on the upbeat and catchy You’re A Friend Of Mine.
The Rolling Stones – Waiting On A Friend
from Tattoo You
Personally, I’ve always thought that Waiting On A Friend was one of the Stones’ finest post-’70s moments. The song is so casual and the vibe so laid-back that it’s always welcome when it pops up on shuffle.
Apparently it was the first video by the Stones played on MTV (with reggae great Peter Tosh hanging out on the steps).
Grateful Dead – Friend Of The Devil
from Skeletons From The Closet: The Best Of Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead got discovered my generation while I was in college when A Touch Of Gray put the venerable band all over MTV. I liked the song and I even liked a lot of its parent album, In The Dark, which was played often in the record store where I worked.
I’ve also enjoyed stuff from their catalog as I’ve been introduced to it here and there, but I’ve never felt the rabid passion for The Dead that they inspired in a lot of my peers.
Jellyfish – He’s My Best Friend
from Spilt Milk
I discovered Jellyfish when the record store where I worked received a promo copy of the band’s debut, Bellybutton, in 1990. The psychedelic album cover was eye-catching and the music earned the group from San Francisco comparisons to greats like Queen, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, XTC, and Cheap Trick.
Despite plenty of swooning by critics, Jellyfish was unable to find mainstream success and would split up after just one more album, 1993′s Spilt Milk, but the group has continued to loom large in the hearts of power pop devotees for the past two decades.
Leave a Comment » | 9/11, childhood, childhood friends, Clarence Clemons, current events, Grateful Dead, history, Jackson Browne, Jellyfish, lost acts, media, militants, notorious characters, Osama bin Laden, Rolling Stones, solo ventures, strange acquaintences, televised events, underappreciated artists, underrated bands, undiscovered gems, unknown gems | Tagged: Clarence Clemons, E-Street Band, Grateful Dead, Jackson Browne, Jellyfish, Osama bin Laden, The Rolling Stones | Permalink
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Canada, Canadian Basketball, NBA, NCAA, FIBA, HS, U Sports
Troy Taylor: The Hammer’s New Talisman
SoundChek
Paul Hendren
Photo - Paul S. Hendren
Hamilton United’s Troy Taylor is always a blur when he steps onto the court. He is lightning quick and a physical specimen unrivalled in the Canadian Basketball League. He is a player who would run through a brick wall for his team and the wall would come out second best. But it has been Taylor’s basketball savvy away from the hardwood, not just his physicality, that caught the attention of CBL Founder and General Partner Butch Carter.
Taylor enjoyed a distinguished NCAA Division 1 career at the University of
Troy Taylor Hamilton United – Funny Face – Canadian Basketball League CBL – Photo – Paul S. Hendren
where he completed four productive years as the floor general, leading the Purple Aces through the competitive Missouri Valley Conference. The highlight of his university career came in his senior year when the Purple Aces made it through to the semi-finals of the CIT tournament.
It was, however, the time after his College playing days had concluded that the Indiana native’s basketball life had reinvented itself. It was a time away from the glitz and pageantry of being a D1 athlete Stateside when he took stock in his other strengths. Pining for the opportunity to play ball beyond college Taylor joined a group of local players to play for the Anderson Legends – a semi- professional outfit named after Kojack Fuller, a legendary local high school coach. Taylor was not just the team’s point guard but he was responsible for marketing the team and forging relationships with the Anderson community. Like many small American cities, Anderson and its shrinking population of 55,000 is a community in flux. Having lost General Motors, its main employer, several years ago the city had fallen on challenging times. The Legends, however, were an instant hit and the local community embraced the team and the fact that they represented one of the city’s major exports- high school basketball players.
“They were filling high school gyms here for a summer”, explained local Sports Editor George Bremer who has covered sports in Anderson for decades. “It was really fun and a chance for fans to see local kids playing together at a high level”, he added. Bremer reported that the team didn’t disappoint, winning most of their games with scores that consistently surpassed 100. “Troy basically ran the marketing of the team and it was a real grassroots operation that resonated throughout the community,” Bremer reported to CBLinsider.
Although the Legends didn’t affiliate themselves with any league Taylor reported that the team regularly invited teams from other leagues to their gym for a series of exhibition games. The outcomes of the games usually favored the Legends ,including victories over teams from the ABA, UBA and CBA. The results subsequently led to invitations by rivals for the Legends to join their leagues.
Must Read: Kebs Historic Victory Over Miracles Kicks Off Inaugural NBL Canada Season
It was a year before the CBL bounced its first Molten ball when the 27 year old crossed paths with Butch Carter and ever since they have fostered a mutual respectful relationship. Taylor admitted that he had a lucrative offer to play in Lithuania but has no regrets that he has been a pioneer with the CBL, making the trek from basketball-rich Indiana to what many fondly refer to as ‘The Hammer’ and Southern Ontario. “I see a lot of him (Butch Carter) in me, he’s a hard worker, I understand his vision and I like being around guys like that,” explained Taylor who will be entering the second year of a two year contract with the CBL. “It’s a great opportunity and it’s more than just the money, it’s about relationships,” he added.
He described the inaugural CBL season as being “solid” in many ways. “I was treated really well as were the other players, the money was always deposited in our accounts on time or early and I like the guys I played with in Hamilton”, he announced. Taylor was also able to network with local Hamilton businesses, securing some minor sponsorships for the team.
During the off season Taylor has been assisting league officials with their talent evaluations as it has been a primary goal of all involved with the league to have the best talent scouted before the league tips off in December. He recently joined CBL Director of Operations Garrett Kelly and Mark Anderson, his coach from Hamilton, to look at a small group of prospects who gathered in Pittsburgh. Kelly believes that the Anderson, Indiana native has a “good mind for the game” and is quickly learning the business side of the league. It is this side of the game of basketball that Taylor embraces. “I love all the behind the scenes stuff,” he explained.
Although a head coaching position does not appeal to Taylor as his primary goal in basketball he admitted that he has been spending some of his off season helping train members of the Indiana Fever of the WNBA. “I watched enough tape as a player, I don’t want to watch it again as a coach,” he proclaimed.
For Troy Taylor he has no regrets about joining the Canadian Basketball League, believing that he is well positioned in the future as his relationship with the CBL and his shared vision with Butch Carter will pay long term dividends. “I love what I’m doing and I have been put in a great position,” he stated emphatically.
Related Topics:Butch CarterCanadian Basketball LeagueCBLEvansville Purple AcesHamilton UnitedTroy Taylor
Canadian Basketball League: The Encore
After a tried and tested inaugural campaign the Canadian Basketball League readies for a second season.
There are many adjectives to describe Butch Carter. The Founder and General Partner of the Canadian Basketball League (CBL) has been described as being determined. Others who have rubbed shoulders with him have described him as being relentless. But there is one thing for certain about a man who is on a mission to see a professional development basketball league thrive on Canadian soil. He is certainly not a ‘ one and done’ type of fellow. He is not aborting his journey to see the CBL find a niche within Canada’s dynamic and ever changing sports landscape.
Prior to the inaugural CBL season Carter came armed with concepts from years of research as well as dialogue within the basketball and business communities. This summer he brings a year of first hand experiences after a season of trials and tribulations from four trailblazing franchises within the CBL’s single entity blueprint.
Carter is a firm believer that the league was very professional in how they set things up for the players. “Our living accommodation for players were very good and I think that players liked the way games were handled and set up,” he explained.
The league invested a great deal of its resources and energy into the television product and Carter was not disappointed. “Our partnership with YES TV was a resounding success,” he proclaimed. “Our Numeris ratings for our three products (CBL in 30, live CBL games and CBL in 30 -post game in Alberta) reached 300,000 people,” he added. Carter is hopeful that he will be able to broadcast 10-12 games throughout the 2017/18 season.
Although he noted that the talent level was better than anticipated he reported that he would like to retain 20 players from last season while adding an additional 15 young talented players to last season’s pool. He admitted that; “because we started late with funding last year there were about 15 players who shouldn’t have been in the league.” CBL teams will be holding as many as 20 tryouts in Canada and in the United States with the hope of inviting a talented pool of players to a super camp where roster spots will be finalized. He is hopeful that the G-league’s (Formerly the D-League) new rule prohibiting players without NCAA D1 experience from playing in the G-league unless they have FIBA experience will entice some players to the CBL. He is steadfast in the quality of player he saw during the first season. “I don’t think we have an NBA player but we have a couple of guys who have the length and I Q to give themselves a chance,” he announced.
Eric Jean Guillaume – Canadian Basketball League MVP – Photo Paul Hendren
Garrett Kelly (Scarborough) and Mark Anderson (Hamilton) will be returning for their second seasons as head coaches while Milt Palacio is looking at new challenges in the NBA’s G-League. But Carter reports that in March he assumed a new role within the NBA where he is responsible for mentoring retired NBA players who are looking to move into coaching. Under the NBA’s new collective agreement 14 former NBA players must be hired by the league as interns. Carter has identified potential new coaching candidates for league vacancies extending his search to such places as Portland, Oregon and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He believes that Garrett Kelly has set the bar pretty high in his expectations of what a young coach can bring to the league and he is confident that Kelly will some day be headed to greener pastures.
Must Read: Canadian Basketball League (CBL): Build It And They Will Come
Carter admitted that the long gap in time between the end of last season and the tip off for next season has been problematic. Many CBL players have expressed concern over the lack of information passed their way regarding their future in the league during the off season. Many CBL players , however, are locked up by two year contracts. Carter fully understands that one of the shortcomings of the league is the lack of a training facility based in Southern Ontario to offer players off season training or the lack of a trainer to travel to each player’s home town to offer a training regiment. He sees this connection as being paramount for player development – especially those interested in trying out in the in the G-league.
Carter’s improved relationships with facility managers throughout the CBL’s four existing markets should result in a seamless return to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre in Scarborough , the Guelph Griffin Athletic Centre , the Campus Recreation Centre at UOIT and the David Braley Athletic Centre at Mohawk College. He reports that the TPASC in Scarborough, a facility that he describes as being “world class”, has even asked him to bring in two teams. He describes the Durham Region as being an area of significant growth and a region where the league needs to increase its focus.
Expansion is not out of the realm of possibilities for the CBL as Carter is confident that a fifth team will appear in Ontario for the 2017/18 season. But he envisions Western Canada ripe for a new CBL conference down the road. He describes provinces west of Ontario as being facility rich with several new builds among CWUAA schools.
On March 18 the champagne was flowing at the Guelph Griffins Athletic’s Centre after Scarborough captured the first CBL crown. But for Butch Carter and the rest of the CBL thinks tank the encore will be far more important than the prelude.
Joey Puddister: Hard Hat
My road to the Professional Basketball and the CBL has been all about work. I’m from a small city called North Bay in Northern Ontario. It’s my home and I love that place but that being said there hasn’t been a whole lot of 6 foot white guys from North Bay who play pro basketball. In fact I think I’m the only player from North Bay to ever play pro ball. I have never been crazy talented or super athletic like most of my teammates are here in this league. I just got here from working hard.
My yellow hard hat (pictured) has been in my room since I was about 15. At first it was there because I needed to wear it to my bricklaying job with my uncle every day. But over time it became a symbol for me. It represents all the people in my life that taught me what it means to work. I’m very lucky to have been surrounded by these people.
My mom was is one of the toughest and hardest working people I’ve ever met, being a single mom raising three kids and working to support us could not have been easy. She is one tough lady and that hard hat represents her.
My uncles are all extremely hard working people that I learned a lot from. I worked for my uncle Dave for 6 or 7 summers doing construction and landscaping. From roofing to bricklaying to shoveling gravel. As hard as it was that job is the best thing that ever happened to me. After spending sometimes 12-13 hours in a day laying bricks or shoveling, one more sprint, ten more reps or extra time in the weight room seems like nothing. It taught me so much about what real work is. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and his employees because they really know hard work.
Joe Puddister Hard Hat Canadian Basketball League – CBL
My college coach saw the hard hat one time and asked about it. He liked the idea and actually brought a hard hat to practice where it became a tradition of everyone touching it before practice. It was sort of our way of clocking into work.
I have had great coaches throughout my career. I played for my hometown university and was lucky to be coached by Chris Cheng, He was starting his first university coaching job and was determined to not be out worked by anyone. We first became close after my first bad practice at training camp. It was our 2nd practise of the day and it went from 6pm-8:30pm. I had a bad practice and I wanted to stay at the gym until I felt better about it. He stayed at the gym with me until midnight shooting and going through drills. After that we had an immediate respect for each other and our respective work ethic. I learned a lot from coach Cheng.
My first coach growing up was Mr. Tougas. He was an extremely dedicated and enthusiastic coach that hated losing. He brought together 8 guys at a really young age and stuck with us. We started playing OBA together in grade 7 and stayed together as a team with the same guys for 6 straight years until we all graduated high school. Today I consider these guys my brothers. We spent so much time together growing up that it made us family. We were always on road trips for tournaments and when we went we lived at each other houses for years. That group of guys was and still is extremely humble and hard working. Every one of them went on to be successful in sports and in life in general. I think each of us feels satisfaction when a person within the group accomplishes something because we feel like we have all played a part in it. My hard hat is a reminder of these guys because i know they will never let me live it down if I don’t work as hard as i can at this opportunity.
Must Read: CBC and CEBL sign three-year broadcast deal
Joe Puddister – Canadian Basketball League – CBL
The last person the hard hat reminds me of is my old boss at this Chinese food restaurant I used to work at in North Bay. His name is Frankie, He owned the business and was the head cook. This man is a different kind of worker. A large part of his job is cooking and food prep for the next days. The restaurant is near my house and there is a window that looks right into the kitchen so when I drive by I could always see who is working. I would see him in there around noon every day. He would work from early afternoon until 2 or 3 in the morning, every day, 7 days a week for 20 something years. I have never heard of him complaining and I don’t even think he knows how. Whenever I would feel tired or worn out from school and basketball I think about Frankie and how it’s ridiculous for me to ever complain about being tired if he never does.
I brought my hard hat to my new place here in Toronto. It still sits on my desk as a reminder to make the most of this opportunity. My teammate Eric saw it and asked about it so I explained to him that I want to play basketball as long as possible so I don’t have to lay bricks when I go home to North Bay. Now before and during games he just looks at me and says “hard hat.” Basically saying go hard and shoot my shots reminding me about how hard i worked to get here and how much hard work it’s going to take to stay here.
Playing in the CBL is an incredible opportunity for me. I look around at the talent level of this league and it’s crazy. These guys are gifted, whether it be natural basketball ability or physically gifted with athleticism or both. They are just flat out gifted. In my case I don’t have all the natural gifts and abilities that these guys have but I try to bridge the gap by getting in extra lifts and shots as often as possible. Trying to go to work every day with a blue collar mindset that I learned from my family in North Bay
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I’ve spent a good part of my life in the library, a good part of my life in music venues and a good part of my life next to the record player. I grew up like most American suburban kids in the 1980’s, watching MTV and listening to top 40 radio. I also raided my friends’ parents’ record collections for all of the cool old stuff they had. “The Harder They Come” was one of the first albums I loved and it’s still one of my favorites. My songwriting heroes have always been the really smart ones who write great poetry over great tunes: Randy Newman, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, Bob Marley. My favorite singers were always the real churchy ones: Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Roberta Flack, Ralph Stanley, Dolly Parton, Toots Hibbert, The Staples. I also love raspy, intimate rock singers like Rod Stewart and Paul Westerberg. More than just about anything in life, I love a tune that you can’t wait to hear again, a story that takes you somewhere and a singer that you can feel in your heart.
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I started hanging out in Greenwich Village when I was 12 or 13, looking for old records, checking out poetry readings and watching punk rock matinees at CBGB. My brothers had a band and I was often their roadie. I went to college and studied English and Spanish literature in New York City. I still live there today. I love the city very dearly. I love the country too, but I feel most at home in downtown Manhattan.
I started filling up notebooks with little rhymes and verses from a very young age. In high school and college, I’d write songs in class while the teachers lectured. I started playing my first gigs in coffee houses and bars, wherever I could. I only knew a few chords and I knew nothing about singing. I was lousy but I got better. I learned a lot on the job. I sent my first demos to a club called the The Living Room and soon I was a regular performer there. I put together a band to back me and we played all over the place. I was playing a solo set at a music conference in Florida when I got approached to make my first album. I sent it to my local radio station WFUV and my song “In the City” got a lot of airplay. Since then I’ve played a lot of gigs in a lot places and put out two other albums. I’ve written and recorded a lot of songs, I’ve played on TV and on radio stations around the country and I wrote the score for an HBO movie.
Just like when I was a kid, I’m still filling notebooks with rhymes every day and freaking out about great writing and great songs. You can hear echoes of a lot of my old records in my stuff, whether it’s blues or country or Randy Newman or Jimmy Cliff or any number of things. I love keeping the roots alive in my music and I love the intimate experience of a song. I’d like to write a thousand more songs and play a thousand more gigs. You might see me on stage singing by myself, with a trio or with a six piece band. In whatever format I play, I’ll be going for something intimate and honest, trying to catch a good groove and tell you the story with all I’ve got.
Milton (guitar, vocals)
Julia Joseph (percussion, vocals)
Kile Kegerreis (bass)
Robert Weiss (drums)
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← BBC Radio 4 misleads on conscription in Israel
Yom Yerushalayim →
1) Ahead of Al Quds Day, the Henry Jackson Society has published a report on the ‘Islamic Human Rights Commission’ by Emma Fox.
“The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) is a London-based advocacy group established in 1997, inspired by the worldview of Ayatollah Khomeini and the revolutionary, theocratic societal aims he established in the Islamic Republic of Iran. IHRC has gained prominence in recent years for its pro-Hezbollah Al Quds Day parades, its controversial ‘Islamophobia Awards’ and the anti-Semitic rhetoric espoused by the group’s senior figures. However, less attention has been given to IHRC’s wider extremist links and terrorist sympathies. There is also a lack of understanding as to how extremist groups can exploit the charitable sector; obtain public funds; acquire status via academic associates; attain international recognition; and influence governments.”
2) At the ITIC, Dr Raz Zimmt reports on this year’s Al Quds Day theme.
“The “International Quds [Jerusalem] Day,” is held each year since 1979 on the last Friday in the month of Ramadan, following a ruling of the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ruhollah Khomeini. The event is intended to express the support for the Palestinian cause by Iran and the Muslim world and the “liberation of Palestine,” as well as to besmirch Israel, call of its eradication and defy the United States, the West and their Arab regional allies. […]
Iran, which is facing increasing pressured from the United States, wishes to turn “International Quds Day”, set to take place this Friday, May 31, 2019, to a show of opposition to the peace plan of President Trump, known as the “deal of the century.” On the eve of Quds Day, Ramazan Sharif, the Spokesman of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), declared that the slogan used for Quds Day rallies this year will be “the defeat of the Deal of the Century and stabilization of the Palestinian Question.” He lambasted the “deal of the century” and warned that its purpose is to eliminate Palestine.”
3) The ITIC also documents the “Strong Palestinian Authority rejection of the upcoming American economic workshop in Bahrain”.
“The United States and Bahrain recently announced an economic workshop in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, on June 25 and 26, 2019. The “Peace to Prosperity” meeting will constitute the overture of the American program for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, known as the “deal of the century.” Expected attendees are treasury ministers and businessmen from the Middle East and around the globe. The objective of the workshop is to encourage potential investment in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip that would lead to Palestinian and regional prosperity, which could be made possible by a peace agreement. Later, the Americans are planning to release the political aspects of the “deal of the century,” which will concern the unresolved core issues between Israel and the Palestinians.
Senior Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah figures rushed to announce their unreserved rejection of the economic workshop in Bahrain, despite the severe economic difficulties facing the PA.”
4) Robert Bernstein – the founder of one of the BBC’s most quoted and promoted NGOs, Human Rights Watch – passed away this week at the age of 96. In 2010 he gave a speech on Human Rights in the Middle East.
“During my twenty years at Human Rights Watch, I had spent little time on Israel. It was an open society. It had 80 human rights organizations like B’Tselem, ACRI, Adalah, and Sikkuy. It had more newspaper reporters in Jerusalem than any city in the world except New York and London. Hence, I tried to get the organization to work on getting some of the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly free speech, into closed societies – among them, the 22 Arab states surrounding Israel. The faults of democratic countries were much less of a priority not because there were no faults, obviously, but because they had so many indigenous human rights groups and other organizations openly criticizing them. […]
A Human Rights Watch Board member told The New Republic that they go after Israel because it is like “low-hanging fruit.” By that, I think he means that they have a lot of information fed to them by Israel’s own human rights organizations and the press, that they have easy access to Israel to hold their press conferences, and that the press is eager to accept their reports. The organization, most would agree, was founded to go after what I guess you would call “high-hanging fruit” – that is, closed societies, where it is hard to get in. Nations that will not allow you to hold press conferences in their country. Nations where there are no other human rights organizations to give you the information.”
By Hadar Sela • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged Al Quds day, Bahrain, Fatah, HRW, human rights, IHRC, Iran, London Al Quds Day, MEPP, Palestinian Authority, US Administration
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Home People Get Inspired Project The Get Inspired! Project – Linda Bell
The Get Inspired! Project – Linda Bell
Listen to the interview here!
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I have Linda Bell with me. Hi, Linda.
Linda Bell: Good morning.
Toni: How are you?
Linda: I’m fabulous, thank you.
Toni: Fantastic. So, Linda, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Linda: I have a cooking school that I am running. I do small group classes. My school is called The Culinary Classroom, and you can get all my class descriptions and find out the dates and everything you want to know at www.theculinaryclassroom.com. In a nutshell, we do small group parties, cooking classes, girls’ night out, couples date night, bachelorette party, a great way to entertain a client, small group team building. We have a lot of fun. We cook, we eat, we laugh and when we’re all finished, we have our wine and eat all of our goodies. It’s a fabulous three-hour experience.
Toni: It sounds it; believe me. Let’s go into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Linda: Inspiration to me is something that comes beyond myself. I really see it as a creative spark from the Universe. That being said, I think that we have to really pay attention to feel it and hear it. I think we really need to get in touch with ourselves and believe in ourselves and in that feeling that we get. I think it’s really linked to our God-given potential, but I do think it’s something that’s a spark of creativity beyond ourselves.
Toni: Do you think that it’s a learned behavior to pay attention and really receive something like that?
Linda: Absolutely. I think our minds typically are so cluttered up with the day-to-day duties and obligations that we have, and the little jibber-jabber voice that’s always going on, so I think it really does take practice and a sense of will to slow down and really listen to it and believing yourself enough that what you’re hearing and what you’re feeling has merit and value, and not to ignore it.
Toni: You obviously have had moments where you intentionally received that spark of creativity, so how have you put that inspiration into practice here in Berks County?
Linda: I think it was a slow process, and I think it came to me in bits and starts, so to speak. I think it had to do with my passion. I love to cook, and I’m really about all things culinary. My background is in teaching. I’m a retired educator, very recently retired, and spent my whole life devoted to teaching adults as well as younger children. I just inspired myself to continue being a student by going back and taking culinary classes and expanding my culinary knowledge and becoming more and more deeply involved with that, and then felt inspired to want to share with others.
I want to teach people what I’ve learned in culinary training, because I truly believe that the best way to control your own health is to learn how to cook and control your ingredients.
Toni: Do you remember the moment – or maybe several moments – but one that you can give us as an example of that time where you said, “This is it. This is what I’m going to do.”?
Linda: Again, I don’t know if it was exactly a moment, but it was a period of time where I just felt that burning feeling inside of me like, “This is what you’re going to do. I don’t know how you’re going to get there.”
At the time, I was still teaching full time, so I really didn’t know how it was going to happen. I didn’t know how it was going to unfold. This is not unique; you read about this all the time. People experience this. Take one step, one foot put in front of the next, and then the next thing you know, you’re putting the next foot there.
The first thing I thought was, “Maybe I should have a business card.” Then I thought, “I better get a website.” Then the next thing evolved. I think that you begin with an attitude that it’s already done.
Toni: Oh – I like that!
Linda: Yes. I felt that. I started with an attitude that this already has happened, and then I was just following the path.
Toni: So you took your inspiration and said, “Okay, this is it. It feels right. I’m going to do it.” But there’s a bravery that comes along with that as well.
Linda: It was scary. I mean, there were some times where I thought, “What are you doing? Why are you doing this? Are you out of your mind?” I just put that aside and just kept moving with that vision. I just kept thinking, “This has already happened. Now I’m just going through it.”
Toni: What a great thing for other people that are listening to this Project to hear. Who in Berks County inspires you?
Linda: I had to think about that. First of all, I must say my mother, although she’s passed away, was a fabulous inspiration, because that woman always chose to see a glass half full. I think that’s very important. I have so many wonderful friends, outstanding females that are friends, and mentors and inspiration. I’ve of course patterned and drawn from so many, but there is one that stands out.
Her name is Sicily Masciotti. Sicily is a woman that has incredible energy. She’s a long-time friend. She’s shared her talents and zest with so many people. She is a Shiatsu massage therapist, and she has her business, but she never stops learning. She has never slowed down. She has focus, vision and a work ethic, and just such an amazing quality of life with her family and all of her friends that she shares, and I really think that her zest and her energy for life and her willingness also to always be a student and learn something new, no matter what age, and never stop, has really been a very clear inspiration to me.
Toni: That is fantastic. You obviously have been inspired by her, because of the way you speak to the number of classes that you’ve attended. You said that you went to New York and attended classes, Rome, and did all of that before you actually said, “I’m going to do this,” right?
Linda: Right – because I think all of us are lifelong students. We teach; we learn; we share. We learn some more. I don’t ever want to be at that point in my life where I’m not really opening up my mind and trying to learn something brand new and improve my life, because I think that’s what it’s all about.
Toni: It reminds me of that great saying, “We teach what we need to learn.”
Linda: Right. That’s really true. A saying Julia Child also had – it was, “Find something you love, and become terribly passionate about it.” I think that’s it, no matter what age.
Toni: Absolutely; and stay inspired. What would you like your legacy to be, Linda?
Linda: I think that I’d like my legacy for the students that come to my classes to be something along improving their lives and understanding and appreciating the quality of good food and how to serve it. The ultimate act of self-love and valuing yourself is cooking for yourself and taking care of your body, and to prepare food for those you love is an act of love. On my website, I have something that I really like. It says, “We don’t pass out money to our friends. We typically give them food to show love.”
Toni: Absolutely.
Linda: So I would give them a dish of paella, but first I better know how to make it. I think that’s what it’s all about – if I can help people to move a little further along that and appreciate the quality of daily living by improving their eating habits not only for their health, but for their overall well-being.
Toni: That is fantastic. Linda, thank you for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project. This has been a delightful interview.
Linda: Thank you.
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Australia March 2018: Mitsubishi snaps first podium this millenium, Holden at lowest-ever #10
The Triton hops to its best ranking in 4 years, helping Mitsubishi to a record #3.
* Now updated with the Top 50 All-brands and Top 280 All-models – click on title to see *
New car sales in Australia edge up 1.5% year-on-year in March to 106.988 registrations, a new record for the month, beating last year’s high mark of 105.410 units. This is the 9th monthly record in the past 11. The year-to-date volume is also a new record at 291.538 sales, up 4.4% on the same period last year and erasing the previous three-month record of 285.328 established in 2016. It’s only a little over than a year ago in February 2017 that SUVs outsold passenger cars for the first time, and since then they have set sail never to be seen again. SUVs are up a further 9.7% to 45.525 and 42.6% share vs. 39.4% a year ago while passenger cars are down 7.3% to 36.120 and 33.8% share vs. 37% in March 2017, a spectacular volte-face in the Australian market. Meanwhile light commercials – including utes, local slang for pickup trucks – edge down 0.4% to 21.897 and 20.5% share vs. 20.9% a year ago. Year-to-date, SUVs are up 10.9% to 123.214 and 42.3% while passenger cars are down 5.7% to 102.470 and 35.1% and light commercials are up 9.4% to 57.380 and 19.7%. The remaining 3% of the market go to heavy commercials.
The Nissan X-Trail is the #1 SUV in Australia for only the 2nd time ever. Picture caradvice.com.au
In terms of sales channels, private sales drop 1.8% to 47.996, adding up to 139.215 YTD (-1.5%), business sales are stable to 44.690 adding up to 121.042 YTD (+9.9%), rental sales surge 40.7% to 7.386 and 13.785 YTD (+20.6%) and government sales fall 4% to 3.470 and 9.022 YTD (-2.8%). Petrol sales total 67.761, diesel 37.859, hybrid 1.202 and EV/PHEV 166 excluding Tesla which doesn’t communicate Australian sales. Looking into the origin of new car sales sold in Australia, Japan is tops at 33.539 (+9.1%) ahead of Thailand at 28.589 (+8%), South Korea at 15.021 (+2%), Germany at 8.461 (+6.8%), USA at 3.787 (-8.1%) and UK at 3.427 (-10.8%). Noteworthy is the fact that Hungary, Spain, South Africa, Mexico, Poland, China (765) and Argentina are now above Australia as local production ended in 2017 and 709 runout Australian-made cars were sold in March. Looking at Australian states an territories, New South Wales/Sydney is first again at 34.754 (-2.6%) above Victoria/Melbourne at 31.105 (+6.3%), Queensland/Brisbane at 21.591 (+1.8%), Western Australia/Perth at 8.821 (+1.3%), South Australia/Adelaide at 6.332 (-0.9%), Australian Capital Territory/Canberra at 1.816 (+7.9%), Tasmania/Hobart at 1.502 (-2.2%) and Northern Territory/Darwin at 1.067 (+12.8%).
The last time Mitsubishi was that successful in Australia, its best-seller looked like this.
Toyota remains by far the most popular carmaker in Australia in March but drops 3.9% to 17.6% share, nevertheless hitting its highest first quarter volume in a decade at 52.465 (+8.1%). Mazda follows at 9.1% but falls 7.2% whereas Mitsubishi soars 16.2% to 8.2% and a new March volume record, snapping the third spot overall off Hyundai down 3% to 7.9%. After extensive research in our Australian archives, we are the first media outlet to be able to point out that Mitsubishi ranks on the Australian podium for the first time this millenium. It is not Mitsubishi’s highest share of late: it hit 8.8% last December, its highest since June 2003 when the brand held 9.1% of the market (#4). The last time Mitsubishi’s share surpassed 10% was in September 2002 (10.4%), ranking 4th again. Then, Mitsubishi was a still local producer – its operations ran from October 1980 to March 2008 – and had seen its market share slump significantly since becoming a full importer. During the eighties and nineties, the Australian market was obliterated by Holden, Ford and Toyota, so it is entirely possible that Mitsubishi had actually never ranked #3 monthly before. At the time, Mitsubishi regularly posted market shares of around 12%, as it was the case in 1986, 1987, 1988 when the Magna alone held 7.8% of the market, and 1993.
The new Commodore can’t prevent Holden from falling to its lowest ever ranking at home.
Below Ford (-2.4%), Nissan gains 10.2% to reclaim the 6th spot it holds year-to-date and the best performer in the Top 20 is once again Honda up a whopping 79.8% to #7 with 5.2%. Subaru (+3.8%) is up three spots to #8, distancing Volkswagen (+0.3%). But there are more big news in the Australian brands ranking: after falling to its lowest ever ranking and share at home last month, Holden hits another new low in March. With deliveries down a steep 29.1% year-on-year the Australian brand is down a further two spots to #10, seeing its share fall to a lowest-ever 4.8%. Holden could fall outside of its home Top 10 for the first time in the coming months as Kia, which outsold it in February, is only 32 sales below at #11 in March. The two new launches that Holden is counting on to revive its record-low sales are sputtering: the Commodore is down 52% on the previous gen a year ago – with 516 of its 990 monthly score being the new imported model – and the Equinox has been down month-onmonth ever since launch at just 327 units vs. 364 in February, 384 in January and 679 in December… This despite aggressive market campaigns for both nameplates including seven-year warranty and roadside assist. Further down the ranking, Chinese LDV (+242.8%) and MG (+167.9%), Lamborghini (+180%), Alfa Romeo (+44.6%), Volvo (+35.5%), Isuzu Ute (+24.4%) and Audi (+23.3%) make themselves noticed.
Thanks to the new ZS, Chinese MG sales are up 168% year-on-year in March.
Over in the models ranking, the Toyota Hilux (+2%) signs its 10th monthly win over the past 12 months but loses the 4×4 ute battle to its archenemy the Ford Ranger (3.224 vs. 3467) itself up 6% and accounting for a record 61% of Ford sales in Australia this month. Below the Toyota Corolla (-10%), the Mitsubishi Triton is up 16% to #4, its highest ranking since June 2014 when it hit #3 and only its third Top 4 finish in the past 5 years – and ever (add May 2013). The Nissan X-Trail surges 41% to a record 7th place (previous best: #8 in January 2017 and January 2018), snapping the title of best-selling SUV in the country for only the second time ever after November 2015. Just below, the Mitsubishi ASX soars 69% to #8, equalling its record ranking also reached in December 2015. The Mazda CX-5 (+7%) comes in at #9 and #3 SUV – but retains the segment lead YTD – followed by the Toyota RAV4 (+5%) rounding out the Top 10. Just outside, the Isuzu D-Max is up 23% to #12, just below its all-time high of #11 hit last December, while the Honda CR-V is propelled up 241% by the new generation, with the Subaru XV (+88%), Honda Civic (+86%), Honda HR-V (+32%) and Toyota Prado (+21%) also in great shape inside the Top 30. The Hyundai Kona (#39) tops all recent launches (<12 months) ahead of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (#57).
Previous month: Australia February 2018: Holden drops to lowest ranking and share ever
One year ago: Australia March 2017: Hilux leads, SUVs beat passenger cars again
Full March 2018 Top 50 All-brands and Top 280 All-models below.
Australia January 2019: Mitsubishi shines, Kia breaks records in 10th consecutive market decline
The new generation Mitsubishi Triton has landed in Australia. The Australian new vehicle market is…
Australia June 2019: Kia (+1.9%) the only island of growth in 15th straight market loss (-9.6%)
The Kia Cerato is up to a record 6th place in June. This article has…
Australia August 2011: Mazda3 reclaims leadership UPDATED
Toyota Land Cruiser 70 * NOW UPDATED with the Top 175 best-selling models! See 'Read more'…
previous post: Australia February 2018: Holden drops to lowest ranking and share ever
next post: Australia April 2018: Tucson and Prado shine, Holden back up to #6
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Temporary Setbacks, Part II
December 31, 2013 § 1 Comment
Yesterday we visited the subject of temporary hearings in cases where ID is the sole ground. The practice across the state is, well, varied.
What about the manner in which temporaries are conducted?
In this district, we schedule all temporary hearings on a R81 return day. Many are negotiated to a settlement. The ones that do no settle are taken up for hearing in order from oldest filed to most recently filed. Each side is allowed one hour, total, for the presentation of all witnesses and other evidence. One hour is by consensus among bench and bar an adequate time to develop the pertinent proof. We had a chancellor once who limited proof to ten minutes per side, which produced a lot of groaning among the lawyers. I set an expiration date of six months on my orders in hope of promoting movement toward finality.
In other districts, I experienced a broad range of ways to approach temporary matters. In some districts, a temporary hearing can consume an entire day. I often wondered in those cases what the difference was between that ordeal and the final hearing. I also wondered where the chancellor found the time.
In many districts, the proof is limited:
One chancellor, now retired, would call the parties and attorneys to the bench, where all stood in reverent silence while the judge examined the parties’ 8.05’s. He seldom had any questions. He would simply say something like, “Okay, the wife will have custody and the husband will pay $250 a month child support. Next case.”
Another judge called the parties to the bench and based his temporary order on a colloquy with the clients with limited input from the attorneys.
In one district the judge allowed only the parties to take the stand. He would interrupt and ask his own questions until he was satisfied that he had a clear picture, then would say he had heard enough, and would direct one of the attorneys to draft an order.
Your experiences, I am sure, will vary. I would welcome your comments about how temporary hearings are handled in your area.
Temporary Setbacks, Part I
December 30, 2013 § 4 Comments
A reader of this blog in N. Mississippi emailed me with an interesting question week before last. He asked whether the following is a common practice in other areas of the state:
I have recently been on the receiving end of opposite counsel filing for divorce on sole ground of Irreconcilable Differences, asking for temporary relief-custody, support, use of home, setting for hearing. I have objected by 12b failure to make a claim for which relief can be granted. We have worked around the 2 cases without necessity of a ruling.
Before proceeding further, I can say that in this district it is a longstanding practice not to allow temporary hearings in cases where the sole ground for divorce is irreconcilable differences. Our thinking is that an ID divorce requires an agreement, either a PSA or a consent, for the court to act, and that absent that agreement no relief is possible. Please note that I am talking only about a complaint on the sole ground of irreconcilable differences, and not: (1) a complaint in which ID is an alternative ground; or (2) where there is a separate count for, say, custody.
The authority of a chancellor in such cases is MCA 93-5-17, which states that “The chancellor in vacation [and presumably during a term] may, upon reasonable notice, hear complaints for temporary alimony, temporary custody of children and temporary child support and may make all proper orders and judgments thereon.”
As far as I can discover, there is no case law on point. Temporary orders are not appealable, so the dearth of decisions is no surprise.
I polled some chancellors to see what the practice is in their districts, and, as one might suspect, the answers are all over the ballpark. Now, before someone opines that “we need to come up with a uniform practice” for temporaries, keep in mind that the statute specifically says that the chancellor “may” grant temporary relief. It has long been the practice that it is discretionary with chancellors whether to allow a temporary hearing at all, and, if so, the form of that hearing (more on that point in Part II). Here is what the various chancellors who responded said:
“If they allege and show ‘urgent and necessitous circumstances’ I would allow a temporary.”
“Assuming you are talking about temporary relief relative to custody and support and use of marital home incident thetero, yes we do allow temporary hearings.”
“I do not allow temporary hearings in ID divorces. The statutory premise for ID is agreement on all issues. I do not think you can expand on what the statute allows. I am sure that someone will opine that it could be done statutorily by ‘consent’ but I would counter that with, the issues tried by consent can be appealed, a temporary cannot. As an aside, it seems when you do a temporary in an ID the court may be tipping the scales one way or the other in the negotiations.”
“I have never conducted an actual hearing but I have signed agreed temporary orders incorporating the PSA.”
“[In this district] temp order[s] setting support and custody (at least) are issued in ID divorce cases all the time … to say this is a common practice in our district would be an understatement.”
“I do not allow temporary hearings on ID only complaints. I would sign [an order adopting] a stipulation between the parties …”
“No. Never. No justiciable issue.”
That’s about 20% of the chancellors.
If you wind up with a temporary hearing in an unfamiliar district, you would do well to contact a lawyer there who practices in that court and can let you know what to expect.
December 23, 2013 § Leave a comment
Have a Merry Christmas!
Next post December 30, 2013.
Dispatches from the Farthest Outposts of Civilization
Contending with Contempt
The ins and outs of contempt can get pretty confusing. There is civil contempt and there is criminal contempt, and there is direct criminal contempt, and there is constructive criminal contempt. There are different burdens of proof, and there are different due process requirements. In the heat of battle, it can be confusing.
The MSSC decision in Judicial Performance Commission v. Harris, handed down December 5, 2013, offers an opportunity to review the forms and requirements of contempt.
A previous post dealing with the subject is at this link.
Civil contempt enforces the right of a private party to enforcement of a previous court judgment in his or her favor. It is triable in seven days via R81 summons. The burden of proof is by a preponderance of the evidence (although some cases say it is by clear and convincing evidence).
Criminal contempt enforces the authority of the court. There are two categores: direct and constructive. The burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt.
Direct criminal contempt occurs in the presense of or within the sensory perception of the judge, and is punished instantly by the offended judge.
Constructive criminal contempt occurs outside the presence or sensory perception of the offended judge. It requires notice, an opportunity to defend, and other due process considerations, including the possibility of hearing before another judge.
The MSSC decision in In re Williamson, 838 So.2d 226, 228 (Miss. 2002), includes a helpful discussion.
As a judge I find some of these categories somewhat fluid. For example, when a party files a blatantly false and fraudulent document with the court, assuming the act is contemptuous, is it direct because it is presented to the judge as a pleading or evidence, or is it constructive because the act of filing took place outside the presence of the judge? Or, where a party in the course of testimony or in a pleading volunteers that he has done a clearly contemptuous act, is that direct or constructive? In my experience, it’s not always crystal clear when one is called upon to make the right decision.
As a lawyer, these distinctions may make a big difference to your client, whichever side you find yourself on. If all you’re seeking is to force compliance with a child support or alimony order, civil contempt is all you really need. If you try to get fancy and ask for criminal sanctions, you are propelling the case in a whole different direction with heightened burden of proof and more stringent due process requirements. If you are representing the alleged contemnor, you will want to be sure he or she is afforded all of the due process protection that applies. You might even want to argue for all due process protection in a direct criminal case simply because it would possibly allow the judge to cool down and the memory of your client’s reprehensible conduct to fade somewhat.
A Rule 54(b) Quandary
What does one do when the chancellor adds language to a ruling on a particular issue to the effect that it is certified as a final, appealable judgment, although the ruling leaves intact the lawsuit between the parties?
That is the quandary that confronted the Northeast Mental Health-Mental Retardation Commission in a case it filed against V.M. Cleveland to void a lease that it considered unreasonable. Cleveland filed a counterclaim asking for damages for breach of contract and for a declaration that the lease was enforceable. Both parties filed motions for summary judgment. The chancellor denied the Commission’s motion in toto, but granted Cleveland’s motion in part, ruling only that the lease was enforceable, and denying the remainder of the motion because there were genuine issues of material fact, etc. After he ruled on the two R56 motions, the judge added, on his own initiative, that “Insofar as the enforceability of the contract, the court certifies that this is a final decision, appealable pursuant to MRCP 54(b).”
Faced with uncertainty as to what it should do, the Commission filed both an MRAP 5 application for an interlocutory appeal, and an MRAP 3 notice of appeal. The agency frankly admitted to the court that it was unsure which was the appropriate avenue, if any, to take vis a vis an appeal.
On November 21, 2013, the MSSC denied the petition for interlocutory appeal, leaving the MRAP 3 appeal pending before the COA. The COA decided the case of Commission v. Cleveland with fairly predictable results on December 3, 2013. Judge Maxwell’s opinion for the court, lays it out:
¶12. Only final judgments may be appealed. Harris v. Waters, 40 So. 3d 657, 658 (¶3) (Miss. Ct. App. 2010). “A final, appealable[] judgment is one that adjudicates the merits of the controversy which settles all issues as to all the parties and requires no further action by the lower court.” Walters v. Walters, 956 So. 2d 1050, 1053 (¶8) (Miss. Ct. App. 2007) (emphasis added and internal quotation marks omitted).
¶13. “Rule 54(b) provides an exception to the final-judgment rule.” Harris, 40 So. 3d at 658 (¶4). Under this rule, the trial court may “direct the entry of a final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all of the claims or parties[.]” M.R.C.P. 54(b). “According to the official comment to Rule 54(b), the basic purpose of the rule ‘is to avoid the possible injustice of a delay in entering judgment on a distinctly separate claim or as to fewer than all of the parties until the final adjudication of the entire case by making an immediate appeal available.’” Harris, 40 So. 3d at 658 (¶5) (emphasis added) (quoting M.R.C.P. 54(b) cmt.).
¶14. However, for a judgment or order to be eligible for Rule 54(b) finality, “the case [must] include either multiple claims, multiple parties, or both, and . . . either one or more but fewer than all the claims [must] have been decided, or . . . all the rights and liabilities of at least one party [must] have been adjudicated.” M.R.C.P. 54(b) cmt. The comment makes clear that “[d]espite its apparently broad scope, Rule 54(b) may be invoked only in a relatively select group of cases and applied to an even more limited category of decisions.” M.R.C.P. 54(b) cmt. And “[a] decision that leaves a portion of the claim pending as to all defendants does not fall within the ambit of Rule 54(b).” M.R.C.P. 54(b) cmt. …
¶15. The chancellor’s grant of partial summary judgment did not decide a claim between the two parties. Rather, it merely decided an issue within their claims—whether the contract was enforceable. This decision resulted in the denial of summary judgment to the Commission. And the denial of summary judgment is an interlocutory order that may only be appealed by permission. Hinds Cnty. v. Perkins, 64 So. 3d 982, 984 (¶7) (Miss. 2011). The chancellor’s decision also led to the partial grant of summary judgment in favor of Cleveland. But none of Cleveland’s claims were fully resolved. The chancellor was clear in his order that, despite the contract being enforceable as a matter of law, full summary judgment could not be granted because there were still “genuine issues of material fact” concerning whether the Commission could validly take actions to rescind the contract.
¶16. Because the chancellor’s decision left a portion of Cleveland’s claim pending, the chancellor’s order did not fall within that “limited category of decisions” in which Rule 54(b) may be applied. M.R.C.P. 54(b) cmt. Thus, the Rule 54(b) certification is invalid, and the decision that is the subject of this appeal is not a final, appealable judgment. Lacking jurisdiction to address the merits of the chancellor’s decision, we dismiss the appeal.
Not having the benefit of the entire record, we are at somewhat of a disadvantage, but, if I understood the opinion correctly, the judge did finally adjudicate a key issue of Cleveland’s case, which was whether the contract was enforceable. I can understand why the chancellor thought the parties should have a shot at appellate review of that issue, since it was a major pivot point upon which both cases turned. If it were upheld, major litigation, time and expense could be avoided. If reversed, the litigation might be ended. Either appellate ruling might quite possibly have avoided a retrial in a subsequent appeal.
All that being said, I understand the COA’s position. Since most of Cleveland’s case remained unresolved, the explicit language of R54(b) was not satisfied.
I said here only last week that I wondered why all the confusion over R54(b) and how to remove the uncertainty once and for all. I don’t think this is the case that does the job.
The Cap on Division of Military Retirement — or not
Henry and Tracey Stout found themselves in a divorce proceeding after twenty-five years of marriage. After the entered into a consent, the chancellor divided the marital estate, awarding Tracey, among other things, 64.75% of Henry’s military retirement.
Henry appealed, arguing that Tracey was entitled to no more than 50% of his military retirement, based on the specific limitation of 10 USC § 1408(e), which states that: “The total amount of the disposable retired pay of a member payable under all court orders pursuant to section (c) may not exceed 50% of such disposable retired pay.”
The COA addressed Henry’s appeal in the case of Stout v. Stout, handed down December 10, 2013. Judge Roberts, for the majority, started his analysis by looking to other jurisdictions:
… This issue is a matter of first impression in Mississippi; therefore, it is prudent to consult the interpretations of this issue from other jurisdictions. In a slip opinion in Gonzalez v. Gonzalez, No. M2008-07143-COA-R3-CV, 2011 WL 221888, at *5 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011), the Tennessee Court of Appeals stated:
It appears that the United States military does not view § 1408(e)(1) as a limit. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service observes that “the amount of a former spouse’s award is entirely a matter of state law.” DIVIDING MILITARY RETIRED PAY 6 (2006), http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/garnishment/Speech5.pdf; see also UNIFORMED SERVICES FORMER SPOUSE’S PROTECTION ACT 2–3 (2010), http://www.redstone.army.mil/legal/data/1–usfspa.pdf (“If a state court awarded you 60% of your former spouse’s retired pay and you qualify under this statute to get direct pay, then you would collect 50% through the Finance Center and your former spouse would be responsible for providing the other 10% to you.”) DOMESTIC RELATIONS FROM A MILITARY PERSPECTIVE; FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS [http://www.cnic.navy.mil/navycni/groups/public/documents/document/cnicp_ a134503.pdf] (“The 50% maximum of DRP [disposable retired pay] is a limit on how much retired pay can be paid directly, but it is not a limit on how much a court can award.”).
Although not an exhaustive list, courts in Minnesota, Delaware, Texas, Alabama, Kansas, Washington, Maryland, and Iowa also take this view of the statute. [Footnote omitted] However, several states do consider there to be a 50% limit. [Footnote omitted] The majority view is that the statute is not an absolute cap, but rather a cap on what the government can pay directly to a spouse or former spouse. We find the majority view to be persuasive; therefore, the chancellor did not err in awarding Tracey more than 50% of Henry’s military retirement benefits. This issue is also without merit.
I find it interesting that the COA wound up dealing with this issue. If this is, as Judge Roberts found, an issue of first impression in Mississippi, aren’t those kinds of cases supposed to be the province of the MSSC?
Until the MSSC addresses it, then, we will be among the states holding that the 50% limit is a limit on what the government DFAS can be ordered to withhold, not a limit on what can be awarded by the court.
This is an important case for you to know and understand if you ever deal with military retirement, as do many of us in areas of Mississippi with military installations and military retirees.
Another aspect of this case bearing mention is the fact that the chancellor awarded a percentage of the military retirement as a part of equitable distribution, but did not place a value on the total of the benefit received. Henry charged that this was error. Judge Roberts addressed it this way:
¶17. Henry next argues that the chancellor erred in not determining a specific monetary value of his military retirement and assigning a percentage of that value to Tracey’s estate. Had the chancellor added in this value, Henry claims Tracey’s estate would have been much greater and alimony could have been avoided. Without that value, according to Henry, there is ambiguity in the equitable distribution of the marital estate. Military retirement benefits are considered personal property, and as such, are subject to equitable division in a divorce proceeding. Hemsley v. Hemsley, 639 So. 2d 909, 914 (Miss. 1994). The chancellor placed a monthly value of $1,770.53 per month, but did not determine a lump-sum value. Henry cites to no authority that a chancellor is required to determine a lump-sum value of military retirement benefits. Though not at issue in other cases, there is case law describing a chancellor solely determining the monthly value of the retirement benefits and not a lump sum. However, there is also case law that shows a chancellor actually put a lump monetary value on the retirement benefits. Neither line of cases instructs that one valuation is required or more appropriate than the other. We cannot find that the chancellor erred in not determining a lump-sum amount of the military retirement benefits awarded to Tracey. We also note that the chancellor did take into account the monthly amount Tracey would receive when she determined whether Tracey was entitled to alimony and if so, in what amount.
I wonder whether the discrepancy in case law cited by Judge Roberts is due to the fact that military retirement can be divided in equitable distribution or ordered to be paid as alimony, in the discretion of the chancellor. The cases referred to are not cited, so we do not know whether they are equitable division or alimony cases. Clearly, if paid as alimony its total valuation would be beside the point. As equitable distribution, I’m not so sure, because the value of the assets divided must be taken into account. In either case, however, as Judge Roberts pointed out, equitable division does not mean an equal division. The chancellor did an exemplary job limning out Tracey’s need for financial support post-equitable-division, so it is unlikely that placing a value on the benefits received in this case would have changed the outcome.
The Door to Equitable Distribution
It would seem to be self-evident that the door to equitable division of the marital estate is not open unless and until the trial court has a viable claim for divorce before it.
Yet, in the case of Brown v. Brown, decided by the COA on December 3, 2013, Kimberlye Brown argued that the chancellor erred when she denied Kimberlye’s prayer for equitable distribution after the chancellor had denied both parties a divorce, and, in addition, denied Kimberlye’s claim for separate maintenance. Kimberlye appealed. Judge Lee addressed the issue for the COA majority:
¶19. Kim contends that the chancellor erred in refusing to divide the marital estate. A chancellor has the authority to divide the marital estate after a divorce has been granted. Ferguson v. Ferguson, 639 So. 2d 921, 927 (Miss. 1994). In cases where only separate maintenance has been granted, however, a chancellor does not have the power to award either party a portion of the marital estate. In Daigle v. Daigle, 626 So. 2d 140, 146 (Miss. 1993), the supreme court stated that separate maintenance “is not a dissolution of a marriage and dividing of marital assets . . . .” And the court found that the chancellor erred by dividing the marital assets. Id.
¶20. Furthermore, in Thompson v. Thompson, 527 So. 2d 617, 622-23 (Miss. 1988), the court stated:
The legal duty of the husband to support his wife does not require that he convey any property to her. During cohabitation the wife has the legal right to live in the husband’s home, but he is under no legal duty to convey it to her. And after separation her legal rights are no greater than before. . . . [T]he court should not, under the guise of enforcing that contractual duty, deprive him of his lands or other specific property, where not necessary for the enforcement of that duty.
(Citations omitted).
¶21. By asking the chancellor to divide the marital assets in the absence of a divorce decree, Kim is asking for her legal rights to be greater than they were before the separation. The chancellor did not have the authority to divide the marital assets, because the claims for divorce had been denied. This issue is without merit.
Some of the toughest swivets I ever sweated out as a lawyer were the ones where I argued something I considered so elementary that I did not even bother to gather some authority to take with me, yet I discovered to my chagrin that the chancellor was blithely unaware of the law on the point. A senior chancellor once threatened to throw out my client’s contest of a modification petition filed against him because I had not filed an answer. To compound matters, the lawyer on the other side argued that an answer was absolutely required. Neither found the express language of R81 very persuasive. Ouch.
So you might want to tuck away the above language from the Brown case in that special place where you store your legal survival gear. It just might come in handy after you have successfully defeated your opponent’s claims for divorce and separate maintenance, and opposing counsel rises and says, ” … and now, your honor, about our prayer for equitable distribution …”
Scene in Mississippi
Add Another 54(b) Casualty
At some point (we may already be there), these will be so numerous that they will no longer be newsworthy, but there is yet another dismissed appeal for lack of a final judgment disposing of all issues, and no MRCP 54(b) certification.
The case is Estate of Norton: Jordan v. Norton, handed down by the MSSC December 5, 2013. I won’t bore you with the now-all-too-familiar details. This is a short opinion that you can read yourself in just a few minutes.
I am wondering whether these appellate misfires result from some kind of flaw in our rules, or whether the fault is in our stars, so to speak.
Is MRCP 54(b) ambiguous or unclear? It does not seem so to me, but that may be me looking through judicial-colored glasses with especially thick lenses. Is it unclear to lawyers who battle in the trenches?
Or is it that lawyers are acting out of an abundance of caution? If so, that seems like an expensive way to go, when a simple post-trial motion asking the judge for a 54(b) certification would cover one nicely.
I don’t know. Anyone have any ideas?
You are currently viewing the archives for December, 2013 at The Better Chancery Practice Blog.
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By Luke Harold / January 31, 2019
Formosa Cafe nearing local historic designation
After clearing the West Hollywood Historic Preservation Commission on Monday, the Formosa Cafe on Santa Monica Boulevard awaits City Council approval to become a local cultural resource.
The Formosa Cafe is one of the most famous relics of a bygone Hollywood era. Under new ownership, it will reopen this spring. (photo by Luke Harold)
“The iconic Formosa Cafe on Historic Route 66 played an important role in West Hollywood’s commercial development, especially in the growing film industry,” said Victor Omelczenko, board president of the nonprofit West Hollywood Preservation Alliance. “We’re happy to have the preservation year start off on such a fine note. Now, it’s up to the City Council to give its official approval.”
The Formosa, frequented over the years by singers, actors and mobsters during Hollywood’s Golden Age, closed suddenly in December 2016. There was some uncertainty about the building’s fate until 1933 Group, a hospitality company that specializes in renovating and reopening historic venues, secured a lease in spring 2017. The company has been working to restore the cafe, with a targeted late April or early May reopening. A spokeswoman for 1933 Group said the founders have been grateful for the support they’ve received from the community, including the nonprofit Los Angeles Conservancy.
Several key details of Formosa’s origins have been lost to history. Its architect and builder are unknown, according to the city of West Hollywood’s historic preservation records. The construction date is estimated between 1920-29. Located near a few major studios, the Formosa counted Elvis, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra among its regulars. Christopher Lloyd and John Cusack, who advocated for landmark designation when the cafe faced the threat of demolition in the early 1990s, were two of the Formosa’s contemporary regulars. It has also made several memorable cameo appearances in “L.A. Confidential” and other movies and TV shows.
The interior was renovated in mid-2015, a little more than one year before the Formosa closed. 1933 Group is working with the grandson of former owner Lem Quon to decorate the new Formosa with the same autographed celebrity photos and other artifacts that used to be on display, and the menu will have a “modern twist” on the Mongolian beef, Beijing chicken and other favorite dishes from the past.
A total of 762 places in West Hollywood have been designated as cultural resources, including 15 that have a national designation.
“[West Hollywood Preservation Alliance] believes the Formosa may be also historic on both a state and national level,” said Roy Oldenkamp, one of the organization’s board members. “We are additionally encouraged to see the [Historic Preservation Commission] put forth the request for a city nomination and hope more recognition of the Formosa Cafe will follow in the near future.”
Garcetti announces he will not seek White House
WeHo launches anti-gridlock campaign
Historic Preservation Commission Votes to Designate Formosa Cafe As a Cultural Resource – West Hollywood Preservation Alliance
[…] especially in the growing film industry,” WHPA board president Victor Omelczenko told the Beverly Press after the West Hollywood Historic Preservation Commission voted to recommend that the nearly […]
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How sexist is Doctor Who? – The Intro…
“Have you never heard of female emancipation, Brigadier?” – Liz Shaw
“There’s nothing ‘only’ about being a girl.” – Sarah Jane Smith
”You will do as the Doctor says or I will cut out your heart!” – Leela
With the TV shows I usually review all on summer breaks right now, I found myself a little short of something to keep me disciplined enough to produce regular blog posts. Then I remembered a recent article I’d read in that the official journal of the gender wars, The Guardian, that reported a study claiming to prove that, under Steven Moffat, Doctor Who was measurably more sexist than it had been under Russell T Davies.
Now, I’ve read many opinion pieces over the last few years making this assertion, but they were all pretty subjective – I chimed in with a more general opinion myself, here. But this was the first time I’d come across anyone claiming to have quantifiable evidence that Moffat was more inherently sexist than Russell T Davies. And it also occurred to me that Doctor Who has been running far longer than from 2005 to today – it actually started way back in 1963, and has changed format and style on numerous occasions over the years. Surely, a more instructive study would be to analyse every era of the show, from 1963 right up to the present day, rather than (apparently) utilising a crude measure to score points against a writer whose work you dislike compared to his predecessor?
Dykes to Watch Out For, the original strip from which the Test derives
The crude measure in question, used to quantify the level of sexism, is the Bechdel Test. For those unfamiliar with this, it’s a feminist staple used to illustrate the inherent male bias in most fictional media, based on three pretty simple criteria that, in a gender balanced story, should mostly be easy to meet:
The Test has been (fairly) criticised for being a very blunt tool, prone to picking up false positives. A commonly quoted example of a respected movie that fails on all three counts is The Shawshank Redemption – set in a male prison from the 1940s to the 1960s, it would have been patently unrealistic and tokenistic if it did have any female characters in it. Alison Bechdel, the originator of the Test, is a feminist cartoonist, and the Test has its origins in one of her comic strips; I doubt she ever expected it to become such a universal yardstick.
And yet, although there are notable examples of the Test not really being applicable, in general terms it is worth taking account of. You wouldn’t actually expect Doctor Who to do that well at it – it’s a show that was formulated in the 1960s, with the then standard format of a male lead accompanied by a female sidekick – not, originally, the Doctor himself, but Ian Chesterton. The Doctor was intended, originally, to have been a mysterious, Gandalf-style figure, with Ian and Barbara as audience identification figures. It was only later that the show took the title character to the level of central figure, and established the now notorious perception that his ‘companions’ were vacuous young ladies prone to screaming, twisting their ankles and needing to be rescued.
“I am woman, hear me roar.”
And yet, in some ways, the original ‘classic’ series of Doctor Who might do better than what’s become known as ‘Nu-Who’. The revival of the show in 2005 changed the format to a more modern style of drama, introducing personal lives for the Doctor’s female companions which included romantic relationships – not to mention the recasting of the Doctor himself into a (possibly) available romantic interest for them. In that kind of format, there’s surely a far greater risk of failing the Bechdel Test (as Sex and the City frequently does) because the female characters talk about nothing but men?
So, I thought a rather more comprehensive study would be to check every Doctor Who story since 1963. Could it be, for example, that the David Tennant era was actually more sexist (according to the Bechdel Test) than the William Hartnell era?
Doctors 1 and 10 had rather different attitudes to their companions…
So, I’ve been going through every story, and applying the Test to them. These are the rules I’m applying:
· Only televised stories from the show proper – no books, no Big Finish plays, no webisodes, no Comic Relief/Children in Need specials
· The criterion for “talking to each other” can’t simply be two lines where one female character says something (anything), the other responds in kind, and no other interaction occurs. At a bare minimum, one female character must say something to another, the second respond, and the first respond to that. In my view, even that’s a pretty generous version of “talking to each other”, but it’s what I’m applying.
· The Test to be applied by story rather than by episode, as generally accepted by canon. So Nu-Who two-parters count as one story, Trial of a Time Lord counts as four stories, etc
· The Test will be taken at its word – “named female characters” means just that. So, for example, the Inquisitor in Trial of a Time Lord won’t count – that’s a title, not a name.
I’m going to explain, as precisely as possible, whether/how each story meets or fails all three of the Bechdel criteria; but in addition to that, I’m going to comment with notes as to the less quantifiable aspects of how the story represents women. The original study quoted by the Guardian delves into this at some length; it’s necessarily more subjective, but makes some very interesting and (in my view) valid points. For example, it probably is fair to say that Steven Moffat frequently treats his female characters as plot devices first and characters second. But then (in my view), it would also be fair to say that he frequently does that with all his characters, regardless of gender.
Of course, it’s easy to find anti-female bias in Doctor Who, and with good reason. It’s a show created in the 60s, primarily by men (though it had the BBC’s first female producer), with a male lead character (though we now know that could change), and female ‘sidekicks’ – much like The Avengers, in fact. And yet, even though I was expecting to find a lack of gender balance, applying the Bechdel Test (and a couple of other factors) threw it into very sharp relief. The show often has very sketchy characterisation, but I hadn’t realised how few of its characters over the years have been women – in general, apart from the regulars, there was usually only one female character per story. Sometimes not even that.
Of course, there are a multitude of Doctor Who stories, far too many to fit into one blog post without it massively exceeding even my own usually wordy style. So I’m going to post my results Doctor by Doctor, with a summary of each Doctor’s gender balance at the end. The exception will have to be poor old Paul McGann, with his one story, which I’ll add as an addendum to the Sylvester McCoy post. I’m starting (logically enough) with William Hartnell, and I’ll post that simultaneously with this intro – it can be found here. I’ll follow up with a post each week, then a conclusion comparing what I have (or haven’t) been able to quantify.
I may not be the first to do this; I didn’t want to see anyone else’s attempts before writing my own notes on each story’s gender balance. But I’ve been crunching the data according to a variety of factors, and the final post, for all you statistics freaks, will sum up Bechdel failures and female representation in a number of ways – by Doctor, by producer, by script editor, by writer, and even by the story’s main villain. I’ll compare all of these as proportionally as I can to try and answer the question – just how sexist is Doctor Who?
Author Simon FernandesPosted on June 24, 2014 Categories Doctor Who Bechdel ProjectTags Alison Bechdel, Bechdel Test, Doctor Who, Rebecca Moore, Russell T Davies, sexism, Steven Moffat, Verity Lambert
4 thoughts on “How sexist is Doctor Who? – The Intro…”
Great stuff Simon, though I think you should count The Inquistor. It’s a bit like saying The Doctor isn’t a proper character because he uses a title and not his name. Similarly, I presume The Rani is a title and not the character’s name (otherwise it’s a bit odd in the use of the definitive article). I appreciate this rule for characters in more domestic dramas, as ‘cashier’, ‘cleaner’ on the credits list doesn’t make a drama less sexist because they’re played by women. But having a female Time Lord lead the trial does feel a more representative of women, given the relative scaricity of female characters on Gallifrey and it appears to be a Time Lord custom to use a non de plume. (Plus it’s a powerful, central role.)
Love to Barry, by the way.
Thanks Mike! Belated response: I know it seems harsh, but I’m going to take the Test at its word, and only count names rather than titles. It’s a fair point about the Rani, which I’ve addressed in my notes for her stories; there’s also a good argument, as you say, that the Doctor himself can’t count as a ‘named character’. In fact, this seems to have been a central plot of Steven Moffat’s recent run, and the semantics of the issue very much delved into in the dialogue – is ‘Doctor’ all the name he needs?
I am actually totting up the number of named male characters too, for a check of gender ratios, and in the interests of fairness, I’m excluding male characters under the same criteria. So I actually am excluding the Doctor himself (whatever Steven Moffat may say), and the Master (including his many aliases). So that should redress the balance a little:)
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Machinery's Handbook, 30th Edition, Large Print and Machinist Calc Pro 2 Combo
Now with Materials, Machinist Calc Pro 2 is a dedicated handheld machining math and reference tool to providing a complete assortment of machine shop solutions. Ideal for machining pros and shop owners who want to increase productivity and profits in the design, layout and set-up stages of production and reduce wear and tear on costly cutting tools, as well as students moving on to a career in manufacturing and machining.
Machinery's Handbook, 30th Edition, Large Print and CD-ROM Combo
Machinery's Handbook has been the most popular reference work in metalworking, design, engineering and manufacturing facilities, and in technical schools and colleges throughout the world for over 100 years. This combination delivers our Large Print edition plus the full volume on a CD-ROM with more than 1,000 bonus pages.
Machinery's Handbook, 30th Edition, Toolbox and Machinist Calc Pro 2 Combo
Machinery's Handbook, 30th Edition, Toolbox and CD-ROM Combo
Machinery's Handbook has been the most popular reference work in metalworking, design, engineering and manufacturing facilities, and in technical schools and colleges throughout the world for over 100 years. This combination delivers our Toolbox edition plus the full volume on a CD-ROM with more than 1,000 bonus pages.
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Tag: bran mak morn
Lord Dunsany – The King of Elfland’s Daughter
Dunsany makes it seem so easy. When people think of fantasy, they think of bricks full of descriptions and histories of non-existent worlds. I hear often how people don’t read fantasy because they don’t want a life commitment, because it’s more like studying the history of something rather than actual stories. If Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin are anything to go by, they have point.
What’s bizarre is why these type of literature is so popular and so often written. In 1924 Dunsany wrote a simple novel. In terms of difficulty, the only thing difficult about it is that sentences can be long and the language is slightly archaic. Compared to more modern fiction though, the prose flows more smoothly. The story is about a person who seeks out a magical bride and gets astonished by the Huge World Outside. Wikipedia sums up the story in one paragraph and it’s okay. Why didn’t more authors replicate this?
That’s because artists don’t just try to sell a product. They sell importance. Importance in art is important. Rappers keep those crappy Boom Bap beats because it’s important and real, and so people who hate music will keep listening to them. Tolkien’s overlong saga was important, and so every Fantasy author wants to be seen as important and pile on the words. Writing a book like Dunsany’s may be easier, but it doesn’t look as important. Too bad that importance has little to do with musical quality. Manic Street Preachers aren’t as famous as David Bowie, but “Stay Beautiful” is better than anything on Ziggy Stardust.
Writing and storytelling devices serve the themes, not the opposite. Dunsany writes simply because that’s the best way to express his ideas. This novel isn’t fantasy just because the world is invented. ‘Fantasy’ is the theme of this novel. For a generation that explored all physical frontiers, it’s quaint but the sense of wonder Dunsany explores can apply to anything life.
The King of Elfland’s Daughter is about seeing something so majestic, so beautiful that we become obsessed. It’s something that we also can never capture. We will continue searching for it and never find it. It’s not just Elfland. Alveric gets party members, each with his own obsession. We’re all mad when the right thing strikes us. No one is exempt from this. Even the people of Elfland, once they see Earth become obsessed with it. Everything is a place of wonder if you look at it from a distance. The constant usage of the phrase “Fields we know” emphasizes this. These fields look ordinary to us only because we know them, and the narrator has our point of view. For Lirazel, Earth is just as wondrous.
The price of such beauty is no satisfaction. You’re either yearning for it, or don’t fit in. Alveric constantly searches. When Lirazel can be in Earth, which is wondrous for her, she can’t find her place and never feels at home. Man is torn by his lust for wonder and his need for a stable home. Notice how Alveric carries a tent on his journey – even while traveling he needs something resembling a home.
Some do try to settle down. Another way to react to these wonders is fear. Alveric’s party have their obsession, but theirs isn’t as concrete as Elfland. When they see what real wonder looks like, they want to back away to their normal lives. Alveric himself despairs a little – that’s another price of seeing wonder. Back in the village we see that settling down doesn’t work. If we don’t go seeking the world, then it’ll just finds its way to us. You can be obsessed with it on your territory or not, but you’ll react to it. Even denying it is a reaction.
All these paragraphs of analysis – and I’m sure others can go something more in-depth – for such a simple book. That’s because Dunsany’s theme come before style and story. There are no digressions, no meaningless paragraphs of exposition. A chapter involving a man with a dark coat may at first seem like a digression, but even without the revelation it’s an exploration of Dunsany’s idea. In that chapter, magical creatures themselves aren’t infallible. They can get obsessed with something and follow it to things unknown.
Dunsany’s world isn’t physical, but is aware of ‘idea space’. His descriptions are always what it feels like, rather than what actually is. Worlds in fiction never exist. Telling me how tall a spire is, doesn’t actually tell me anything. So what? When Dunsany describes palace as “can only be told of in song”, it creates an image more mythic than any other physical description. If Dunsany’s book is difficult, it’s because of how expressive his language is. Nothing is described in direct physical traits, but every description is dripping with expression and poetics. Repetition never dulls the power of these words, because “fields we know” says more about them than anything else could.
He’s one of the few authors who can go off on long descriptions. Sometimes, his descriptions drip with so much wonder and awe that it speaks for itself. He describes flowers, in the same sentence, both as ‘unwithering’ and that time never touches them. Such repetition is redundant, but in the contexts it makes sense. Elfland is so wonderous that you have to traits in it using different ways, and you still wouldn’t capture it.
The result of such expressive and non-physical language is that Elfland and the Fields We Know feel actually feel real. We don’t experience the world in numbers. The Earth may move around the sun quite fast, but we don’t feel this speed. Fiction is never about displaying facts but about the human condition, since it is, after all, products of human thought. By tapping into how things feel like rather than how they actually are, Dunsany writes like how human beings experience the world.
The book’s only flaw, which must be deliberate, is that its characters can be fairly shallow. They’re clear archetypes, symbols that exist to explore ideas rather than complex human beings. It doesn’t detract too much, since the story is simple and demands such simple characters. Still, it would be nice if Dunsany dedicated a few more paragraphs to how his characters experience the world in their unique ways. He shows us their obsessions, but not how they deal with other things in the world. The book may explore its main topic quite well, but its lack of psychology and other subjects makes its vision too narrow. Great works of fiction have their main topics, but they also tend to dispense some unrelated views. Dunsany already shows great skill, so it makes you wonder what else he has to say.
The small flaws prevent this from being an all-time great book, but everything else makes this a cornerstone of the Fantasy genre. This is the book we should namedrop constantly when we discuss Fantastical fiction. Dunsany’s prose isn’t just beautiful, but his method of ‘worldbuilding’ is more engrossing and meaningful than other famous authors. Beyond the symbolic layer, it’s also a cute romance about two lovers who can’t let the kind-of-dimensional distance between their worlds separate them. Both as a love story and an exploration of human obsession, it’s a great book.
4.5 fields we know out of 5
Author The Brain in the JarPosted on April 30, 2017 Categories Literature, reviewTags a christmas carol, a conneticut yankee in king arthur's court, a midsummer night's dream, a princess of mars, a voyage to arcturus, a wizard of earthsea, a wrinkle in time, alice in wonderland, arthur, arthurian romances, beowulf, book, book review, books, bran mak morn, castle, conan the barbarian, daughter, dracula, dragonflight, dunsany, earthsea, elf, elfland, elves, eric of melnibone, fafhrd and the gray mouser, fairy tale, fiction, fiction review, five children and it, gobl market, gormenghast, ill met in lankhmar, island of the mighty, jirel of joiry, jurgen, king, king arthur, kull exile of atlantis, lilith, literary, literature, literature review, lord dunsany, love, lud-in-the-mist, lust, magic, mary poppins, medea, nine princes in amber, peter pan, phantastes, queen, read, reading, review, romance, sci fi, science fiction, shannara, sir gawain and the green knight, swords and deviltry, tarzan of the apes, the aeeneid, the bloody crown of conan, the book of wonder, the call of cthulu, the charwoman's shadow, the chronicles of narnia, the crystal cave, the dark is rising, the dream-quest of unknown kadath, the emperor of dreams, the enchanted castle, the farthest shore, the forgotten beasts of eld, the gods of mars, the hobbit, the horse and his boy, the iliad, the king of elfland's daughter, the king of the golden river, the lady of shalott, the last battle, the light princess, the little prince, the lord of the rings, the magician's nephew, the neverending story, the odyssey, the once and future king, the phoenix and the carpet, the princess and the goblin, the princess bride, the prose edda, the saga of king hrolf kraki, the savage tales of solomon kane, the silmarillion, the silve stallion, the silver chair, the sword of shannara, the tempest, the tomb of atuan, the voyage of the dawn treader, the water babies, the well at the world's end, the wonderful wizard of oz, the wood beyond the world, thw wizard of oz, titus groan, troll, vathek, village, watership down, wonder, wonderlustLeave a comment on Lord Dunsany – The King of Elfland’s Daughter
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A Lump in the Road
Journeying Toward the Pink Path
Protecting the Pecs
Chemo and Cocktails: A Young Survivor’s Guide
Breast Cancer Classification
Breast Lump or Mass
Breast or Nipple Pain
Breast Swelling & Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Nipple or Breast Skin Alterations
Nipple Retraction
Skin Irritation or Dimpling
Bone-directed Therapy
Breast Tissue Density
Breast Cancer During Pregnancy
Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine (Kadcyla)
Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel (Nab-Paclitaxel or Abraxane)
Anastrozole (Arimidex)
Capecitabine (Xeloda)
Cyclophosphamide (Clafen, Cytoxan, and Neosar)
Docetaxel (Taxotere)
Epirubicin Hydrochloride (Ellence)
Eribulin (Halaven)
Everolimus (Afinitor)
Gemcitabine Hydrochloride (Gemzar)
Goserelin Acetate (Zoladex)
Ixabepilone (Ixempra)
Lapatinib Ditosylate (Tykerb)
Letrozole (Femara)
Nerlynx (Neratinib)
Lynparza (Olaparib)
Breast Cancer Overview
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Breast cancer refers to the formation of malignant tumors in the breast tissue. Among the symptoms are a lump in the breast, a change in the breast’s shape and size, drainage from the nipples, dimpling of the skin, and red patches on the skin of the breast.
Eventually, these abnormal cells may start invading nearby organs — called metastasizing. The most common targets are beneath the arms, collar bones, in the chest behind the breast bones, and in the lymph nodes.
A non-invasive form of early breast cancer is ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which means the cancer is in the cells that line the ducts, but has not spread through the walls of the ducts to the breast tissue. Around 20 percent of the new cases that are diagnosed are DCIS, and nearly all women at this stage, if found early enough, can be cured, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Invasive ductal carinoma (IDC), considered the most common type of breast cancer (approximately eight of 10 invasive breast cancers are IDCs), starts in a milk duct but then breaches the duct to invade the breast tissue. The ACS notes that at this stage, it can metastasize to other organs in the body via blood vessels or the lymphatic system.
Lobular carcinomas: A woman can be diagnosed with non-invasive lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), where the abnormal cells form in the lobules, or milk-producing glands, of the breast and have not spread; or, invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), where the cancer cells have broken through the lobules to the fatty breast tissue. This type can spread to other areas of the body. Of the invasive breast cancers, about 1 in 10 are ILC.
A rare but aggressive condition is inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), where local lymphatic ducts are invaded by cancer cells, blocking fluid drainage and causing breasts that are swollen and and where the skin appears pitted, sort of like an orange peel. Oncologists now know the breast is not inflamed, although it may appear so. IBC accounts for about 1 to 3 percent of all breast cancers in the U.S. Because there is no lump and it may not appear on a mammogram, IBC is not diagnosed as often as some other breast cancers, and its chances of spreading are greater.
Rare types of breast cancer include Paget disease of the nipple. This cancer starts in the milk ducts, spreads to the skin of the nipple and to the areola.
Phyllodes tumor starts in the connective tissue of the breast (compared to carcinomas, which start in the breast ducts or lobules), and are generally benign, but not always.
There are types and subtypes of invasive breast carcinomas, and your physician can explain them in detail.
Clinicians note that not every lump found in the breast is a cancer. It might be a condition called duct ectasia or an ulcer. Still, if a man or woman feels a lump, it should be checked out right away. Early detection is imperative to treating and surviving breast cancer.
Both men and women can develop breast cancer, but it is vastly more common in women. The ACS estimates that only 1 percent of all breast cancers will develop in men, and a man’s lifetime risk of getting the disease is about 1 in 1,000.
Compare this to women: about one in eight women in the U.S. are estimated to get breast cancer at some point in their life. Breast cancer is the No. 1 cause of death in Hispanic women, and the No. 2 cause of death in U.S. women, according to mortality statistics. And 1 in 36 women is expected to die of breast cancer.
The ACS estimated that in 2015, about 292,000 women would be diagnosed with breast cancer, and about 40,000 would die from the disease.
Scientists have yet to find a cure for this deadly disease. There has been a gradual increase in lifespan and survival rates, especially in developed countries. Regular screening of women between the ages of 40 and 75 is considered necessary for women’s wellness, at least once every two years (annually is best).
To confirm a diagnosis of breast cancer, physicians require a biopsy of the breast tissue along with other lab tests. Radiation and chemotherapy, with or without targeted hormone therapy, are the most common means of treating breast cancer, depending on the stage and size of the tumor. Preventive measures include a complete surgical removal — known as a single or double mastectomy (partial or total removal of one or both breasts) — depending on genetic screening and the age of the patient. In some less-aggressive cases, physicians may approve breast conserving surgery (a kind of lumpectomy, which involves removing the lump from the breast, rather than the entire breast).
Epidemiology:
Breast cancer is the most common form of invasive cancer in women. It is the second leading cause of death in women, only behind lung cancer. In the U.S., the rate of incidence per 100,000 women for breast cancer is the highest (90), followed by Western Europe (78) and Northern Europe (73). Southern and Eastern Europe (56 and 49 respectively) and South America (42) have lower rates of incidence, and the lowest is seen in Asian countries (around 26 to 30). However, in countries like Japan, Singapore, and China, there has been an increase in the number of cases reported over the past few decades, perhaps because of a shift to a more Western lifestyle.
Etiology:
Genetic cellular abnormalities are attributed to the development of cancers, and breast cancer is no exception. Exposure to environmental pollutants, smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, lack of exercise, high cholesterol, and other unhealthy lifestyle options have also been suggested as triggers to genetic mutations which give rise to cancerous growth of cells.
The main genes studied in hereditary breast cancer are two of the tumor suppressor genes, BRCA1 and 2 (standing for Breast Cancer early Onset 1 and 2), located on the longer arms of chromosomes 17 and 13, respectively. They are responsible for the repair of damaged and broken DNA and destruction of faulty DNA which cannot be repaired.
Some other genes which have been studied in this regard include CHEK2, ATM, BRIP1, and PALB2, p53, STK11 and PTEN, the latter three being responsible for an array of genetic conditions like Li-Fraumeni, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, and Cowden’s syndrome respectively, which greatly increase the risk of developing breast cancer. Researchers concluded that women who develop breast cancer along with another form of epithelial cancer, and those who develop the disease at an earlier age, likely have a genetic predisposition for the disease, rather than falling prey to other risk factors.
Having a family member or a first-degree relative with breast cancer nearly doubles a woman’s chances of developing the condition. And, if that relative developed the disease at an age younger than 50, then the risk multiplies itself. The risk is increased four to six times if there is more than one first degree relative with the disease, along with similar age-dependent conditions.
Several risk factors also increase susceptibility towards developing breast cancer. They include:
Increasing age: It is probably the biggest risk factor for breast cancer. With every 10 years after menopause, the risk multiplies itself twofold. The disease is rare in women younger than 25, but most common in women between 50 and 75.
Geographical variation: The risk of developing breast cancer increases five times from a geographic move from a country where the disease has less of an incidence to one where the incidence and mortality rates are considerably greater. This is generally reflected in migrants within one or two generations, and in moves from developing countries to developed, urbanized countries. This indicates that environmental factors may play an important part in development of the disease.
Age at menstruation and menopause: Women who start menstruation early, before the age of 12, or reach menopause late, after 55, are at twice the risk of developing breast cancer than other women. However, women who have their ovaries removed by the age of 35 are at a reduced risk of breast cancer.
Late pregnancy: Having a first child later than 35 years also poses a higher risk of breast cancer among women. Having no children at all, and the absence of breastfeeding among women also pose equal risks of breast cancer at later stages in liffe. A second pregnancy soon after the first one reduces the risk.
Neoplastic and benign conditions affecting the breast, like ductal and lobular carcinoma in situ (DCIS, LCIS), previous history of breast or ovarian cancer, hyperplasia, papillomatosis, and microglandular adenosis, all contribute to increased risks of getting breast cancer in the future.
Previous medical conditions like Hodgkin’s lymphoma, or other epithelial cancers, which require radiation therapy, increase a person’s chances of developing breast cancer.
Exogenous hormones, mostly in the form of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy, have been a topic of research over their contribution to developing breast cancer. Some people using oral contraceptives with a mixture of estrogen and progesterone for 10 years or more have a 1.24 times increased risk of breast cancer. However, this risk decreases over a decade once they stop taking the pills. The same goes for hormone replacement therapy in menopausal women who take a mixture of estrogen and progesterone for more than five years; the risk appears to normalize within five years of stopping the therapy.
Lifestyle changes like being smoking, increased alcohol consumption, exposure to environmental pollutants and carcinogens, and use of certain drugs like diethylsilbesterol (DES, a drug prescribed to prevent miscarriage) pose a threat for developing breast cancer as well.
Read about Breast Cancer Signs & Symptoms
Note: Breast Cancer News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
Ines Martins, PhD
Inês holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, where she specialized in blood vessel biology, blood stem cells, and cancer. Before that, she studied Cell and Molecular Biology at Universidade Nova de Lisboa and worked as a research fellow at Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologias and Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência. Inês currently works as a Managing Science Editor, striving to deliver the latest scientific advances to patient communities in a clear and accurate manner.
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Breast Cancer News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
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FINDLAY AREA FRANCHISE AGREEMENT SIGNED
New BIGGBY COFFEE Location on its Way to Findlay
FINDLAY, Ohio—November 18, 2008 – East Lansing Mich.-based coffee retailer BIGGBY COFFEE has announced a new contract deal that will result in a franchise opening in the Findlay area in 2009.
The franchise will be the first for owner Angie Gillett. Locations are still being scouted, but the franchise will be the first BIGGBY COFFEE to open in Findlay. There are currently nine other locations in neighboring Toledo.
The rapidly expanding coffee franchise currently has 104 stores open across the U.S. It has another 66 under contract for development.
East Lansing, Mich.-based BIGGBY COFFEE was founded in March 1995 and began franchise operations in 1999. Today the Company has 104 stores open and an additional 66 under development across nine states including Michigan, Ohio, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, South Carolina and Wisconsin. BIGGBY COFFEE features more than 30 gourmet coffee, fine tea and frozen drink selections in addition to an assortment of pastries and other fine eatables. For more information about BIGGBY COFFEE, visit www.biggby.com.
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Twenty One Pilots’ Trench Review
By Will Jones on November 3, 2018 in Movies Reviews
After taking some well-earned time off, Twenty One Pilots makes a staggering return on their latest album, Trench, which shows off their growth both as musicians and people.
The band’s previous album, 2015’s Blurryface, launched them to unprecedented success. They became the first artists in history to have every single song on any particular album become certified either gold, platinum, or multi-platinum by the RIAA. For a little band from Columbus, Ohio, it was a big leap.
The dynamic duo of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun may be relatively new to the world of mainstream pop music but they’re practically seasoned veterans of performing and recording. Beginning as local hometown favorites, the band spent their time recording albums in their basements (fan favorites such as the cheekily-titled Regional At Best) and honing their live show. Notably, in 2011, they self-funded and self-promoted themselves to a sold-out show at Columbus’ own Newport Music Hall. This, alongside the audience’s rapturous reception of their live show, caught the attention of several members of the music business elite, leading to the band being signed to Fueled By Ramen within a few months.
From here, they released their first studio album, Vessel, in 2013. And while the album may not have been a commercial juggernaut, it earned the band a rabid fan base worldwide who would come to be affectionately known as the Clique. Joseph and Dun toured pretty much non-stop after the release of the album, funneling the profits they band was earning back into the budget of the live show to create an ever-expanding live show that grew more elaborate by the month. As the live-show grew bigger, so too did the audiences and venues. Through this relentless touring, the band was steadily cementing their status as pop’s greatest underdogs. After years of buildup, this was all capitalized on by the success of their second studio album, the aforementioned Blurryface, which spawned several multi-platinum singles and allowed the band to turn their live-show into a full-blown arena-filling behemoth.
Once again, touring became the band’s greatest weapon, as Blurryface’s success only grew in the following year. The album stayed on the Billboard charts for over one-hundred consecutive weeks and took the band to unparalleled new heights.
Which is why the release of their new album, Trench, this past week is such a major event. In the summer of 2017, Joseph and Dun opted to publicly retreat away from everything, from public appearances to social media, in order to lock themselves away and create their next album. In this silence, Trench was born.
Musically, the album takes their music in an entirely new and unexpected direction. Whereas previous records had sometimes been accused of being a bit light on groove, Trench is positively overflowing with it. A newfound emphasis is placed on Joseph’s stellar bass-playing abilities and Dun frequently incorporates off-kilter syncopations into the rhythmic DNA of each track. Even the snare beats of tracks like Morph and Chlorine incorporates a technique frequently employed by legendary producer Quincy Jones, where the beat of the drum and the electronic sound effect that coincides with it are distanced ever so slightly, so as to create what would later be termed as ‘micro-rhythm’ by esteemed musical academic Anne Danielsen.
All of this culminates in a sound that owes more to funk, soul, and R&B than it does to anything resembling modern pop or alternative music. Twenty One Pilots has always specialized in genre-bending, as even their earliest material contained hints of pop, rock, reggae, folk, and hip-hop. But never before has it all felt so seamlessly woven together. Arguably no other artist in music today could pull off a song like Pet Cheetah, which sees the band going from hard-hitting hip-hop verses into a gentle, emotive, piano-driven chorus. But in Joseph and Dun’s hands, it works perfectly. The entire album is a crash course of ever-changing tempos, genres, and influences, yet Joseph guides the listener through it with the precision of a master craftsman.
In news coverage of the album, much has been made of the fact that Trench is a dystopian concept album that tells the story of the walled city of Dema. And while it is certainly that, what’s far more impressive is the way in which Joseph uses this vast fictional canvas as a means of cutting deeper than he ever has before. While it would have been easy to hide behind his fictional world and litter the album with generalizations or facades in the name of the concept, Joseph openly broaches such topics as depression(Neon Gravestones), his relationship with his wife Jenna(Smithereens), his fear of letting listeners down(The Hype, Pet Cheetah), his grandfather’s death(Legend), and more in brutally honest ways.
This leads to the album having a meta-quality, in which Joseph is constantly offering a commentary to the work present on the album itself. While a great many artists over the course of history have crafted follow-ups to record-breaking albums that are essentially responses to that success, no one has ever done it quite like this. Joseph weaponizes his own writer’s block at the thought of failure, and turns it into one of the album’s most profound themes, as it frequently plays like a stream-of-consciousness tapped directly into Joseph’s own mind.
And while Joseph has never shied away from topics like suicide or depression before, he’s never been more capable of succinctly articulating his point than he is on the jaw-droppingly visceral Neon Gravestones. He’s able to offer up a nuanced and intricate view of the way in which our culture copes in the aftermath of celebrity suicide while also turning that same critical lens inward on himself.
Which means it’s only fair that I follow suit. On March 23, 2013, I took my best friend on our first date to see a band she and I had both recently fallen in love with; Twenty One Pilots. The show was at The State Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida, a small venue that probably only housed an audience of about forty people that night. Midway through the show, Tyler Joseph addressed the audience directly about their just-released debut album’s success or lack thereof. It was a slightly remorseful and unapologetically honest admittance of defeat. He acknowledged that perhaps not everyone would ‘get’ what they were trying to do with their music and pondered if maybe that was why the album hadn’t been as successful as it could have been. But that he ultimately found solace in the fact that his music seemed to resonate with us and told us all that, regardless of what the future held for them, they would never forget us.
I think about that night a lot and the stories it began. For Twenty One Pilots, it was just the beginning of a practically Campbell-ian hero’s journey that would see them become the most successful band in the world in just a few short years. And for me, it was the beginning of the most incredible journey of my life, one that reaches a major milestone this coming March 23, when I get to marry my best friend.
Since that night, we’ve seen Twenty One Pilots perform live ten times (with an eleventh on the horizon) and each time has grown increasingly spectacular. Songs that we once watched performed in The State Theater to mere dozens of people are now being performed in arenas and stadiums across the world to thousands.
I say all of this to say, I have loved Twenty One Pilots for a wealth of reasons for several years now. Their music, their shows, and the fact that they gave me the greatest gift in the world, even if they didn’t know it. And I can confidently say that Trench sees that band I love on full display throughout the entire album. In self-producing the album with occasional assistance from Mutemath’s Paul Meany, they have crafted the album that has been inside of them all along.
Trench is an astounding accomplishment that showcases the growth and maturity of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun not just as musicians but also as people. They’ve learned that while crashing cymbals and full-throated screaming can certainly get a message across, they can often communicate more with less. As brilliantly demonstrated in Neon Gravestone’s final moments or the entirety of album-closer Leave This City, in which Joseph’s articulations above a sparse piano arrangement deliver the most affecting moments of their entire catalog.
As Joseph sings the final lines of the album, telling listeners that “they know that it’s almost over”, it’s hard not to feel a sense of culmination. Twenty One Pilots has achieved everything they’ve ever dreamt of and more, yet Trench sees them refusing to take a victory lap or an easy cash-grab, instead creating the most versatile, coherent, and compelling album of their career.
Retro Recap: seaQuest DSV S1, E7 ‘Give Me Liberte’
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Spoiler-free 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' Review
The Works of Scorsese: What Kind of Man?
'Knives Out' Review
Win Passes to 'The Twilight Zone: A 60th Anniversary Celebration'
The Wizeguy: Toss A Coin
Joe Hill's 'Dying is Easy'
The Black Ghost #1 and #2
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Home People Scott Powell
Scott Powell
Associate Professor of Biology
SEH 6550
Powell Lab
Community and Evolutionary Ecology, Tropical Biology, Ant Biology.
In the Powell Lab, we work on research questions at the interface of community ecology and evolutionary biology. We primarily use ants to tackle these questions. We are particularly interested in the intimately connected questions of how species interactions have shaped trait diversification, and how species traits influence the assembly of contemporary communities. Please visit the lab website for more information, including ongoing research in the lab, current lab members, and a full list of publications.
**Please note that I am always on the lookout for dedicated and enthusiastic undergraduate and graduate students. If you are interested in the kind of research we do, I would love to talk with you about current research opportunities in the lab.
Ph.D., Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, U.K., 2005.
M.S., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, U.S.A., 2000.
B.S., Biological Sciences, Florida State University, U.S.A., 1997.
Camarota, F., Powell, S., Vasconcelos, H.L., Priest, G. & Marquis, R.J. (2015) Extrafloral nectaries have a limited effect on the structure of arboreal ant communities in a Neotropical savanna. Ecology, 96: 231-240.
Powell, S., Del-Claro, K., Feitosa, R.M. & Brandão, C.R.F. (2014) Mimicry and eavesdropping enable a new form of social parasitism in ants. The American Naturalist, 184: 500-509.
Price, S.L. Powell, S., Kronauer, D.J.C., Tran, L.A.P., Pierce, N.E. & Wayne, R.K. (2014) Renewed diversification is associated with new ecological opportunity in the Neotropical turtle ants. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 27: 242-258.
Powell, S. & Dornhaus, A. (2013) Soldier-based defences dynamically track resource availability and quality in ants. Animal Behaviour, 85: 157-164.
Powell, S., Costa, A. N., Lopes, C. T. & Vasconcelos, H. L. (2011) Canopy connectivity and the availability of diverse nesting resources affect species coexistence in arboreal ants. Journal of Animal Ecology, 80: 352–360.
Kaspari, M., Powell, S., Lattke, J. & O’Donnell, S. (2011) Predation and patchiness in the tropical litter: do swarm raiding army ants skim the cream or drain the bottle? Journal of Animal Ecology, 80: 818–823.
Powell, S. (2009). How ecology shapes caste evolution: Linking resource use, morphology, performance, and fitness in a superorganism. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 22: 1004–1013.
Powell, S. (2008). Ecological specialization and the evolution of a specialized caste in Cephalotes ants. Functional Ecology, 22: 902–911.
Powell, S. & Franks, N. R. (2006). Ecology and the evolution of worker morphological diversity: a comparative analysis with Eciton army ants. Functional Ecology, 20: 1105-1114.
Powell, S. & Franks, N. R. (2005). Caste evolution and ecology: a special worker for novel prey. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 272: 2173-2180.
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ST: TNG Season 5
Leave a comment Posted on February 25, 2019 June 17, 2019 Colm Meaney, LeVar Burton, Patrick Stewart, Reviews, ST: TNG Season 5, TV Reviews
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 Review
Series Title: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Network: First-Run Syndication (produced by Paramount)
Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, Colm Meaney, Whoopi Goldberg
DVD: R1, NTSC DVD
I skipped the first episode of Season 5, “Redemption Part 2” because I watched it and reviewed it with the previous season. Also, as this season ends with the cliffhanger of “Time’s Arrow Part 1”, I went ahead and watched Part 2 from Season 6 and will include that with this review. Season 5 starts strong, so strong I wrote-up a review of the episode, “Darmok” itself because I really enjoyed it. Other early episodes of Season 5 were very good, or thought-provoking, or at least entertaining. Unfortunately, by the time of discs 5 and 6 in this set, the quality really drops. One of the drawbacks of longer seasons is that episodes that would probably be rejected are produced instead. It’s almost a paradox – as fans or even casual viewers we always want more of our favorite shows – but the 1980s style of American TV production produced longer seasons with some excellent episodes, some really bad episodes, and many mediocre episodes. This was true across genres and production companies and was inherent in the production style of the 1980s and very early 1990s.
The other problem with ST: TNG is that there is no continuity between episodes, and everything is stand alone. This is especially true with season 5, which has no theme or real character development (with the exception of Alexander, but we will get to him). The need for Star Trek to “punch the reset button” after every single episode is one of the aspects of the show that irritated me when it originally aired, and now with nearly every show having an “arc plot” for at least the season, it really stands out as a problem. One of the problems with hitting the reset button so, so often, is that there is absolutely no sense of jeopardy for the characters, which undermines the plot.
The perfect example of this is “Ethics”. In “Ethics”, Worf and Geordie are in one of the cargo bays doing some sort of inspection, when a stack of barrels falls, knocks Worf to the ground and knocks him unconscious. He wakes up in sickbay, where Dr. Chrusher tells him his spinal cord has been crushed and he’ll never walk again. Worf, as part of his Klingon beliefs that we have never heard of before, then asks Riker as a friend to help him commit suicide because “Once a warrior can no longer stand to face his enemies – it is time.” There are, of course, multiple problems with this. First, it’s an ableist argument that “death is preferable to being in a wheelchair”. People in wheelchairs lead full and happy lives all over the world – the only “problems” they encounter are the obstacles put in their way by people who don’t rely on wheelchairs for transport – like stairs going into the main entrance of a building. Now in the ST: TNG episode both Riker and Crusher argue against Worf killing himself – going so far as to use his son, Alexander, against him, which of course has it’s own problems. But we don’t ever get a Klingon in a wheelchair. Because, wouldn’t you know it, an expert, experimental neuroscientist shows up, out of nowhere, with an experimental treatment where she essentially uses a 3-D printer to re-grow Worf’s spinal cord. Dr. Crusher has lots of discussions about using this experimental treatment which hasn’t even started human trials yet. And conveniently, there’s a disaster at a nearby Federation Colony and the Enterprise is turned in to a disaster triage center and sickbay. The experimental scientist, for no reason whatsoever, tries one of her other experimental treatments on a patient – and kills him. Dr. Crusher is livid, but her arguments in the episode make no sense. The first rule of being a doctor is: Do no harm. It’s made clear, there was an approved treatment for the patient’s issue, and it was a routine one. The experiment scientist ignores this treatment, in favor of trying her own. That’s a basic violation of medication procedure, medical ethics, scientific ethics, and logic. You always try the proven thing first – if it doesn’t work, or if the patient is known to have an allergy to the proven treatment, then you try something else. But you don’t walk in and try a brand-new experimental treatment, with no consent from the patient, before even trying the actual standard treatment. It’s dumb – and in a real hospital, the doctor who did that would be up on charges and probably have their license revoked.
In the end, though, the experimental scientist presents her experimental treatment to Worf. And the standard treatment of external neurostimulators on his legs hadn’t worked well for Worf (though it may have worked better given time). Worf makes an informed decision to try the experimental treatment, after discussing it with his son, Alexander, Riker, Crusher and the scientist. He understands the risks and sees it as “all or nothing”, which, frankly, makes sense for his character. He even explains both the possible benefits (he will walk again) and the possible risks (he will die) to his son. That works and makes sense. At that point, the scientist is following procedure. Her human (Klingon) experiment should be monitored by an IRB board, and a more general form of experiment would involve double-blind testing and a control group, but for this type of procedure, she is actually doing what she should be doing. During the procedure, things go well, and then they don’t. Worf “dies”. But of course, this is ST: TNG, so we know they won’t kill off a major character. And sure enough, when Worf is lying on his back, suddenly the monitors come back to life, and Worf survives. We see him getting physical therapy, but we know that he’ll be fine, and by the next episode, no one will even mention he broke his back. Sigh. There is absolutely no sense of jeopardy in the surgery scenes because we know Worf won’t die. There is very little sense of jeopardy throughout the episode because we know Worf won’t be permanently handicapped anyway. So the episode really ends up with the audience wondering, “What was the point?”
The episode “Violations” has Troi, then Riker, and finally Dr. Crusher, mind-raped by a telepath. Most of the episode focuses on Troi, who initially accuses the wrong telepath of the three on board the Enterprise. But Data researches several planets that the three telepaths visited, and discovers twenty-two cases of “unexplained comas”. The short coma was the first symptom of the attack (both Riker and Crusher also fall into comas). The episode, though, shows Troi’s attack several times and Riker and Crusher’s only once each. When Troi realizes that her attacker had planted a false memory of who attacked her to cover himself, and it correlates with Data’s evidence, she makes a formal complaint. The attacker will be dealt with severely by his people. The telepaths were “memory historians who were supposed to gently help people recover memories, which they then store. For people who voluntarily undergo the procedure – there are no negative effects. The rapist telepath was violating people without consent, and warping memories to make them traumatic. However, after Troi announces her mistake, the man she accused is let free, and the correct man is arrested – the episode just ends. Riker and Crusher are actually still in comas. And even, assuming they wake up in a day or two, all three of them (including Troi) are going to need considerable therapy to recover from their experience. The episode would have been more interesting if less attention had been paid to the attacks, and more to recovery – especially a realistic portrayal of recovery. This would have been especially true for Riker – it would have been interesting to see him vulnerable for a change.
“Cause and Effect”, directed by Jonathan Frakes, is an episode I’ve seen before in re-runs and I really like it. Basically, the Enterprise gets stuck in a time loop that always ends with its destruction. Because it’s a time loop, we see the crew doing the same things, saying the same things, at least three times. Because it’s television, there’s a short period in each loop where the crew actually learns something new – but because they are in a loop, they forget it the next time around. Eventually, they realize this and Data sends a message of a single word. And Data figures it out, changing what they do, and breaking the loop. When the captain asks for a check on the time with Federation standard – they discover they have been in the loop for just over 17 days. But the other ship they nearly hit? It’s been in the loop for 80 years. That’s not the only thing I like about the episode though. The direction starts off pretty standard – over the shoulder shots, switching back and forth to medium close-ups of whoever is speaking, etc. Then, as the same actions and dialogue happen, again and again, the direction changes – so in the first shot, the camera is behind Dr. Crusher during the first deal of the poker game. But by the third time around, it’s behind Data instead. The scene of Geordi going to Dr. Crusher is also filmed in standard television-style the first couple of times, but then, by the third time the camera is looking up from the floor. These unusual shots or even changes in camera position do two things: first since the dialogue is the same it keeps it from being boring, and secondly, it’s an almost sub-conscience trigger to the audience that “something is wrong”. Normally, a television director would not want to use such low shots or move the camera around as happened in this episode, but here, it adds to the story. Still, I did wonder about the ship from 80 years ago. Picard says they are going to send them to a Starbase, but you’ve got a whole STARSHIP’S worth of people who are 80 years out of date. At the very least they will need a crash course in Federation history and culture. Will they fit in? How will the Federation deal with people who, presumably, were listed as “missing and presumed dead”? Can they vote? What about work? Any knowledge they have is 80 years out of date. To put it in perspective, it’s like if an entire steamship of people from 1939 suddenly turned up in 2019. Think about that – Would they even be able to adapt? I wouldn’t mind a short mini-series following the crew of this ship that Picard rescued from the time loop.
“Masterpiece Society” and “The Outcast” both deal with issues and do so badly. The “Masterpiece Society” both defends genetic engineering of people (and a society with no one who has a disability or is different) and ends with twenty-something extra people on the Enterprise who decide to escape their pre-ordained fate. “The Outcast” was meant to be a pro-LGBT episode, but actually manages to do the opposite, suggesting that a society of gays and lesbians would persecute straight, hetero people (which is, of course, ridiculous and an argument of Conservatives who hate those who are different. Also, whenever Civil Rights are granted to another group – that group never “turn the tables” on their former oppressors – the people tend to be too busy living the lives that were formerly denied to them). “Cost of Living” has Deanna’s mother nearly marry exactly the wrong guy. Oddly enough, Alexander manages to dissuade her, simply by asking the types of questions a child would ask.
The less said about “The Perfect Mate”, the better. It’s a sexist disaster and I may write up a review of it by itself. But it basically suggests the true purpose of women is to serve men by becoming what they want. It’s terrible. That Picard buys into this idea and seems to agree that women are not people and don’t deserve protection by whatever the Federation has in terms of a charter of Rights and Freedoms of Individuals, makes it worse.
“The Next Phase” was interesting because Ensign Ro and Geordi get turned into ghosts by a combination of a disaster on a Romulan ship and a transporter accident. Of course, they figure out how to fix it, and do so just in time to prevent the Enterprise from being destroyed by the Romulan ship, but it’s nice to see Geordi and Ro paired off. The engineering aspects of the entire story are interesting too. The “reset button effect” is there (we know Ro and Geordi aren’t dead) but the story still manages to be interesting anyway.
The season ends with the two-part “Time’s Arrow”. Data’s 500-year old head is found by archeologists in a cave in San Francisco. In part 1, the Enterprise crew, especially Picard, try to avoid the inevitable. In Part II, Data ends up, by accident in San Francisco in the 1880s where he meets Samuel Clemens, Jack London, Guinan and eventually the main crew of the Enterprise who are trying to rescue him, as well as some aliens who are killing humans for “energy”. Part 2 suffers a little bit from the “reset button effect” – we know that Data will survive and everyone will end up back where and when they belong. But there are some interesting twists and turns none the less.
Overall, Season 5 started very strong, lost its way in the middle of the season, and picked up with the season finale. I can recommend it, even with the flaws, except for “A Perfect Mate”, and even Classic Trek had a few really bad episodes.
Read my Review of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3.
ST: TNG Star Trek
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Can You Trademark an LLC Name?
By: Tom Chmielewski
How to Trademark a Business Name in Florida
The name of a limited liability company, or LLC, can be trademarked, provided no one has established a trademark of that name first. A trademark can assure no one uses the same or similar name to identify knockoff products or services that could be mistaken for those your company provides. While trademark and copyright are often confused and mistakenly used interchangeably, when it comes to protecting your name, a trademark is what you need.
Copyright vs. Trademark
A copyright protects original artistic or literary work, but copyright law does not specifically protect names, titles or phrases. A trademark, as defined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, is a “word, phrase, symbol or design … that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods” from one party or company from those supplied by others. It's the brand name of a product or the company that makes the product. A service mark carries the same definition, except it identifies the source of a service instead of a product. While technically different, the term trademark or mark can refer to either trademarks or service marks.
Registration Not Needed
Legitimate use of your business name in commerce can establish your rights to use it as a trademark. The mark needs to appear on goods, packaging or displays associated with goods sold by your company produces. If your LLC is a service company, the company name must be used or displayed in the sale or advertising of services.
Advantages of Registration
While not required, registration with the USPTO has distinct advantages. Registration provides notice to the public of your claim and is a “legal presumption” of your ownership to the mark. You can bring an action on trademark infringement in federal court if your LLC's name is a registered trademark, and can file the registration with U.S. Customs and Border protection to stop the import of foreign goods that infringe on the mark.
Already using the company name in commerce can be a basis for your application to register the name as a trademark. In fact, the Patent and Trademark Office states that most applicants follow this route. But its use must be a “bona fide” use of a trademark in the ordinary business of trade, and not simply a use to reserve rights to the mark. To file an application based on the name's current use, you need to include a sworn statement or declaration that you use the mark in commerce, and list the date you first used the mark anywhere, and the first date you used it in commerce. The Trademark Office includes a properly worded declaration in its standard application form.
Conduct a Search
Before filing the application, conduct a search of the Trademark's database for any other claims to your company's name. If you want to trademark a company name with a design element you need to do a search by a design code, which includes numbers assigned to types of images and graphic elements. The Trademark Electronic Search System database provides a manual that includes the design codes. Your search, however, doesn't guarantee approval by the Trademark Office.
Submitting the Application
You can fill out and submit the application online with the Trademark Electronic Application System or TEAS. Paper forms are available, but take longer to process. The Trademark Office states that you should receive a response to a trademark application within four months of its filing. But the office warns the total time for processing the application can be nearly a year and even several years. Your basis for filing and any legal issues that arise will determine the actual time. You can still still claim a trademark by using the initials TM or SM after your company's name, usually in small type. You can't use the “R” in a circle ® trademark notice until your registration application is approved. Application costs as of 2010 range from $275 online to $375 for paper filings. Other fees may apply.
USPTO: What are Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights?
USPTO: Registering a Trademark
USPTO: Trademark Basics
USPTO: Fee Schedule
Tom Chmielewski is a longtime journalist with experience in newspapers, magazines, books, e-books and the Internet. With his company TEC Publishing, he has published magazines and an award-winning multimedia e-book, "Celebration at the Sarayi." Chmielewski's design skills include expertise in Adobe Creative Suite's InDesign and Photoshop. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Western Michigan University.
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Talk about bluegrass, old time music, and whatever…
Archive of early blog pages (2005 -> ’02)
Santa Barbara Folk Music: The 1960s
The Origins of Bluegrass Music
← The Sixties in Folk Music / 5. Phil Earl
The Sixties in Folk Music / 7. Howard Pelky →
The Sixties in Folk Music / 6. John Thomas
Posted on June 30, 2018 by Peter Feldmann
Music—A Lifelong Love Affair
The first sounds I can remember hearing were music. My dad had been lighting director and stage technician for the Brooklyn Opera Company, and his Victrola never stopped playing classical music and operas on those big old 78s. [They were big! Classical music was usually released on 12-inch 78s, with a playing time ca 5.5 minutes/side.-PF] When I was about three, he’d hold me on his lap so I could pick out those tunes on the piano, and he’d sing along with them…and me.
We made a transcontinental move from New York to Los Angeles in 1945 when I was four—in a 1936 Dodge and a 24-foot trailer—and settled in the San Fernando Valley, in Tarzana and then Reseda, when the Valley was walnut orchards, citrus groves, and the Red Line trolley car ran through it—to downtown and the beaches.
I started at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music when I was five—my dad and me on the Red Car every Saturday. I played my first solo concert at the Wilshire Ebell Theater when I was eight and was well on my way to being the new Van Cliburn. I played live on the radio when I was eleven—that performance was captured on a “wire recorder”—and I had my first record out on a 78.
At the same time, I was listening to Huggy Boy and Hunter Hancock on the radio—the early days of Rhythm & Blues—and I realized that my audiences were appreciative, but those other audiences were DANCING and having fun. Also at that same time, I’d been selected for the Tchaikovsky Competition in Paris—and found out how the game was really played in the “classical” field, whereby I got to be a “protégé” (boy-toy) for the “Fat Lady in Paris”—and I bailed. My “distinguished career” went down the drain.
My mom was horrified, my dad understood, and I went right into R&B and became John “Fats” Thomas—entertaining my friends at lunch hour in the cafeteria during junior and senior high school—probably drove “Blueberry Hill” and “Ain’t That A Shame” into the ground—and started writing my own songs in the process…and having fun!
And then, in 1957, I went to UC Santa Barbara—what a paradise! Two thousand students, five miles of campus beach, and seven girls to every guy. Learned how to drink beer and started going to beach parties, where some guys with guitars were sitting around serenading the girls and singing Kingston Trio songs. At that point I thought, “Hey—these are easy tunes—I can play them! I can join that fun circle!” But…one does not take a piano to the beach. So, I bought a Silvertone 6-string and a book that showed me how to mash the wires down, and went for it…picked up all the tunes off the records, got calluses, and finally put myself out there on those sandy stages and found the fun of playing with other guitar players and singers. I hadn’t done anything but solo piano, except for “Orchestra” at the conservatory, and stepped into a whole new world of music and fun!
I jammed around with some of those beach guitarists—kinda fun—more experience…and then I met Phil Earl. He shared a mutual love of the blues—the real blues—and he turned me on to Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Josh White, to mention a few—and he knew all the licks on the guitar. So I locked myself up for a weekend and learned every Josh White song from the album, note for note. We got back together again for another practice session, and it just clicked. Phil had an old Martin D-18, and he let me play it—adios Silvertone, hello new Martin D-18 for me!
Phil and I hooked up with a banjo player named Roffe Morris, and Danny Hudson on bass. We played at UCSB for the Galloping Gaucho Revue and the Roadrunner Review, and we played at the OMTAE coffee house in Isla Vista and the Contempus in Goleta (forerunner of the Nexus), and some parties. My first folk group, and we didn’t have a name—we just played.
Isla Vista, 1959
Roffe graduated ahead of us and moved to San Diego, and Phil and I kept jamming for a while. Then a friend at work, Riley Jackson, who had his own folk group—the Freeway Singers with Don Robertson and Bob Hoffman—introduced me to Howard Pelky and Ernie Brooks. I think we auditioned each other—and it was instant synchronicity, and total fun—and I joined The Channel Singers.
We developed a repertoire of many musical forms and styles—even had some “original” folk songs—and took it out there. We had played at the Noctambulist and a few other coffee houses and were visiting the Iopan one night when Bill Berner, the co-owner, said that the scheduled performer hadn’t shown up, and if we had our instruments, would we like to play? I think it took us about three minutes to get the axes out of the car and be tuned up and ready to go. More fun!!!
Being The Channel Singers was a completely unique experience for me. We got to open at various clubs for Joe & Eddie, the Kingston Trio, Bud & Travis, etc., many of whom are still friends of mine, and we were able to participate in a folk scene that was comparable only to the Greenwich Village scene—except we had beaches and much better weather and beach bunnies.
And the clubs were unique as well. The Iopan—a beautiful, three-story Victorian house—the fireplace, the living room/stage—the chandeliers, the polished stair rails—the epitome of warmth, coziness, intimacy, and no PA needed. When we saw Joe & Eddie’s first show there, and they rocked the place without amplification, I’m surprised the place didn’t fall down from the applause and the roar of the audience. The Iopan was the kind of place we all wish we could go to now—again.
There were several other clubs that we played—the Bluebird Café (opened by Peter Feldmann), Gatsby’s, and others—but the two major venues were the Rondo and The Nexus.
The coffee house scene was going through a transition—people started serving beer and wine, and the whole scene changed. Tony Townsend took over the Rondo and turned it into the hottest music spot downtown. It featured all of the best of the local performers (and a dud or two, but that’s what hootenannies were for—a precursor to The Gong Show, American Idol, and Karaoke), and a good time was had by all!
Back somewhere in the ’63-’64 period, the folk scene in Santa Barbara was seriously moving along—out of the coffee houses and into new clubs that served beer and wine, and where the patrons and the performers got a tad more rowdy—perhaps a bit more like Frisco and LA. So out in Goleta, real close to UCSB, a new place called the Nexus was opened where the Contempus used to be, at the intersection of Fairview and Hollister—in what had originally been a walnut-shelling factory, and right next to a tin building that had been an old-time cabinet shop—I think the original owner was named Dave Deras. It was turned into a great club—benches along the wall, pretty good-sized stage in the far left corner, pillows and small tables in the central area, and a nice long bar on the right as you walked in—light and dark beer on draft, candles on the tables, and a pretty good sound system.
It became a really great place for us folkies, like my group, The Channel Singers, and most of the other folk personas, like Don Robertson, Todd Grant, Tony Townsend, and others, to perform. It was a really fun, comfortable venue, where the interaction was close between the performers and the audience…if you spilled a beer on stage, it would probably splash on the front-row tables…lots of colored burlap on the walls and ceiling to create atmosphere and cover the tin roof.
Someone installed a new sound system, with JBL speakers hanging from the ceiling—I think a friend of our bass player, Ernie Brooks, installed them—but whoever did the wiring back down to the stage and the connections to the amplifier/PA on stage (back in the old days when we controlled our own sound, as opposed to having a sound man) used lamp cord instead of speaker wire, used lamp plugs instead of phone jacks, and set up a power strip to plug into. I’ll never forget when Howard Pelky, our banjo player and fellow guitarist, plugged it in for the first time to get us set up for our gig. Somehow all that stuff just went directly from the 110-volt wall socket directly to the 8-ohm JBL speakers hanging from the roof—the resulting screech and pop and explosion of those speakers was “a most awesome noise” with little bits of the speaker cones filtering down like ashes from a volcano—so much for THAT debut!!!
The Nexus did turn into one of the most happening places in Santa Barbara. We had regular Sunday afternoon hootenannies featuring other local artists like Sheri Geiger, René Leyva, The Terrytown Trio (later to become The Floyd County Boys), and anyone who had an ax and wanted to play and sing—gee, the forerunner of Karaoke—except you had to actually play AND sing. And someone got smart, opened a door in the wall to the space next door, and a pizza place was set up there. I can’t recall the name of it—before Petrini’s—or maybe the first Petrini’s—but that sure was fun—folk music, beer, and pizza—what more could anyone want???
Unfortunately, the place caught fire and burned down—always some questions about how a tin building burns down—but, shortly thereafter, the Nexus reopened across the street, in what had been a medical and dental office. The new Nexus was not nearly as cozy and comfy as the Nexus #1 but had a better stage and light system, and actually a “performer’s room.” There, I, as a member of The Channel Singers, had the pleasure of being the headline act and having this group from LA that nobody had ever heard of, called “The Stone Poneys,” open for us. Needless to say, I just wanted to listen to Linda Ronstadt and Bob Kimmell and Ken Edwards play all night…tough act to follow!!!
The coffee house scene in Santa Barbara, which started the whole folk music thing in the first place—mellow, laid back at the Iopan and the Noctambulist—turned into a whole different club scene—like the Rondo, Borsodi’s, and Baudelaire’s (who could ever forget Claire Rabe?) and The Bluebird Café (who could ever forget Peter Feldmann?) (Julie Felix?) (Gene McGeorge and The Scragg Family and Kajsa Ohman?).
Truly a turning point for the folk music scene in Santa Barbara. It was around the ‘65-‘66 period when a lot of things changed again in Santa Barbara. There weren’t very many places to play folk music, so Howard and I kind of drifted apart. I bought a Rickenbacker electric guitar and played with The Underground Railroad—made up of UCSB students—and we had a hot R&B band. I also played in a pick-up band with Mike (of Mike’s Drum Shop), Ron Fink on bass, and George “Stosh” Mamalakis (lead guitarist for the Tridents surf band) who worked at [H.T.] Bennett’s Music and sold me a Fender Strat (genuine 1964—pre-CBS) that I put a Jaguar pick guard on and a Fender Super Reverb amp with the four 10-inch speakers. We played around and opened the Ali Baba off lower State Street—the first “topless club.” Well, as they say, “It all depends on what you see in your work.” But we had a lot of fun, to say the least. It was all fun!!!
Travis Edmonson and I remained friends. He “camped” at my house for a few months after his split with Bud, and I produced and recorded him in a solo benefit concert for my Sigma Pi Fraternity at UCSB in May of 1966. And then all of us went our separate ways.
I returned to Santa Barbara in 1974, lived on Mountain Drive, got involved in all the music/Latin percussion/drumming, and went to Mexico in 1980. I lived in Yelapa, played in Puerto Vallarta (my new “tropical jazz” on piano) and also joined Gypsy Rock with Glenn Blakesley—folk rock—and toured for a couple of years—paid my dues sleeping on couches—and had a lot more fun.
Since then, I’ve gotten into production. I reconnected with Travis and produced and released the “Travis Edmonson/Live In Concert at U.C. Santa Barbara” CD, “Travis Edmonson/The Tucson Tapes,” and—most fun of all—we re-created “Bud & Travis—The Santa Monica Concert”—the one that you may remember as a double album. Well, we re-created the “real” set list and the concert sound, and put all the tunes in the right order. This couldn’t have happened on vinyl, but with CDs—a whole new way to go. All are available on Folk Era Records through Rediscover Music, and “Bud & Travis—The Santa Monica Concert” was submitted for a Grammy for Best Historical Album two years ago. We were up against Peggy Lee and some sound tracks—so we didn’t get one (yet)—but I’m proud to have been a part of re-creating musical history and to have had some recognition for all our efforts.
I was also delighted to be a part of helping to make “The Floyd County Boys/ Heart of Pain” CD become a reality after 39 years; and, in the process of making this book become a reality, to be able to share the new music of Sheri Geiger Odenwald, Tony Townsend, and Howard Pelky. It seems like we’ve all continued to grow, and share, and have fun, and, most especially, to keep the music alive and share the continuing joy and pleasure after all these years …
Music IS a lifelong love affair—and I couldn’t have asked for better people to share it with. My thanks to all of you. It was good then—and there’s more yet to come!
About Peter Feldmann
Peter Feldmann has long been a musical mainstay in Santa Barbara and Southern California. Besides actively performing bluegrass and old time music with a variety of groups, Peter is also known as a bluegrass historian, collector, music consultant, teacher, and producer, both of live concerts and radio/tv programs throughout the area. His music has been heard in clubs, concerts, saloons, universities, pre-schools, at weddings, wakes, parties, barn-raisings, calf-ropings, rodeos, auctions, fund raisers, wine tastings and chili cook offs. Peter founded Santa Barbara's Old Time Fiddler's Convention (1972), UCSB's Old Time Music Front (1964), and The Bluebird Cafe (1971). Through these and other outlets, he was the first to bring many prominent folk, blues, and bluegrass artists, including Bill Monroe, Mance Lipscomb, The Stanley Brothers, The New Lost City Ramblers, Fred McDowell, Furry Lewis, Rose Maddox, the Balfa Brothers, and many others to the Santa Barbara area. Peter also helped others access the music by teaching privately, and in group classes for Santa Barbara Continuing Education, UCSB Extension, and McCabes Guitars. He was the first on the West Coast to produce and market instruction Lps - three on How To Play Country Fiddle, and one each on Clawhammer Banjo, and Maybelle Carter Style Guitar. He still presents lectures on country music history at UCSB, Santa Barbara area libraries, and for various interest groups, festival workshops, etc. In 2006, he presented his monograph titled "The Big bang Of Bluegrass Music" (describing the origins of bluegrass 1938 - 1946) to the worlds first International Music Symposium at the University of Kentucky at Bowling Green. He has also been very active in radio, television, and film work, producing weekly shows on country and bluegrass music over a 21 year period on various commercial and public stations. Peter currently maintains three music-related websites, a music blog, and an entertainment service company, "BlueGrass West!", based in the Santa Ynez Valley in Southern California. Peter performs tunes and songs from the heart of America's musical treasure chest. His shows can include fiddle, guitar, banjo, and mandolin. Well-known as a historian and teacher, Peter is first and foremost an entertainer, sharing his respect, energy and love for the music with his fellow musicians, friends, and audiences.
View all posts by Peter Feldmann →
This entry was posted in Santa Barbara Folk Music: The 1960s and tagged Coffee House, Folk Music, Isla Vista, LA radio 1950s, Nexus, OMTAE, UCSB. Bookmark the permalink.
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Brush-tailed Rock‑wallaby (Ian Brown), Leionema lachnaeoides and Gang-gang Cockatoo (Alan Page)
bushcare
plant study group
wild TING
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of the Greater Blue Mountains
1. Threatened Species Legislation
2. What is a threatened “species”?
3. Species listed as threatened
4. Criteria for listing threatened species
5. Key Threatening Processes
6. Areas of Outstanding Biodiversity
7. Threatened Species in the GBMWHA
At national level, legislation pertaining to threatened species is contained in the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Commonwealth EPBC Act 1999). This legislation is due to be revised at the end of 2019.
At state level, legislation pertaining to threatened species is contained in the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW BC Act 2016). This Act came into effect in August 2017 and has replaced the previous NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
The NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994 deals with threatened fish, however a few dragonflies are included in this Act as “fish”.
Deane's Boronia
(Boronia deanei subsp. deanei)
(Alan Page)
In threatened species jargon, the term “species” may be used to describe all of the following:
an individual species, a subspecies, a taxon below a subspecies, or a recognisable variant of a subspecies or taxon,
a population of a particular species (being a group of organisms, all of the same species, occupying a particular area), and
an ecological community (an assemblage of species occupying a particular area).
3. Species listed as threatened under the NSW BC Act 2016
male Giant Dragonfly
(Petalura gigantea)
(Ian Baird)
Threatened species, threatened ecological communities and extinct species, species extinct in the wild and collapsed ecological communities are listed in Schedules 1, 2 and 3 of the NSW BC Act 2016. Within Schedules 1 and 2, species are grouped according to the degree of threat they currently face. The Schedules are regularly updated. Species may be added to or deleted from each of the Schedules.
Schedule 1 lists species and populations of animals, plants, algae and fungi which are:
critically endangered,
endangered, or
Schedule 2 lists ecological communities which are:
Schedule 3 lists:
species extinct in the wild, and
collapsed ecological communities.
4. Criteria for listing threatened species in the NSW BC Act 2016
Species listed as threatened under NSW legislation must be native to NSW or species (animals) known to periodically or occasionally migrate to NSW.
A species is eligible to be listed in Schedule 1 as:
a critically endangered species if it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in Australia or NSW in the immediate future
an endangered species if it is facing a very high risk of extinction in Australia or NSW in the near future
a vulnerable species if it is facing a high risk of extinction in Australia or NSW in the medium-term future
An ecological community is eligible to be listed in Schedule 2 as:
a critically endangered ecological community if it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in Australia or NSW in the immediate future
an endangered ecological community if it is facing a very high risk of extinction in Australia or NSW in the near future
a vulnerable ecological community if it is facing a high risk of extinction in Australia or NSW in the medium-term future
For the purposes of Schedule 3:
a species is eligible to be listed as an extinct species if there is no reasonable doubt that the last member of the species in Australia has died.
a species is eligible to be listed as a species extinct in the wild if it is known only to survive in Australia in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population well outside its past range or it has not been recorded in its known or expected habitat in Australia, despite targeted surveys, over a time frame appropriate to its life cycle and form. There are currently no listed ‘species extinct in the wild’.
an ecological community is eligible to be listed as a collapsed ecological community if all occurrences of the ecological community have moved outside the natural range of spatial and temporal variability in terms of its composition, structure or function. There are currently no ‘collapsed ecological communities’ listed.
Key threatening processes are listed in Schedule 4 of the NSW BC Act 2016. Threatening processes are listed because they:
adversely affect threatened species or ecological communities, or
cause species or ecological communities that are not threatened to become threatened.
In The NSW BC Act 2016, Areas of Outstanding Biodiversity are areas considered to contain irreplaceable biodiversity values.
An area may be declared as an area of outstanding biodiversity value if the Minister [for Environment] is of the opinion that:
the area is important at a state, national or global scale, and
the area makes a significant contribution to the persistence of at least one of the following:
multiple species or at least one threatened species or ecological community,
irreplaceable biological distinctiveness,
ecological processes or ecological integrity,
outstanding ecological value for education or scientific research.
The declaration of an area may relate to, but is not limited to, protecting threatened species or ecological communities, connectivity, climate refuges and migratory species.
Areas of Outstanding Biodiversity are listed in the Register of Declared Areas of Outstanding Biodiversity Value which is published on the website of the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.
At present, four Areas of Outstanding Biodiversity Value have been declared of which one is in the Greater Blue Mountains.
The small area of known natural habitat of the critically endangered Wollemi Pine within Wollemi National Park is a Declared Area of Outstanding Biodiversity Value.
7. Threatened Species in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area
Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area
The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area was formed from an amalgamation of eight adjoining conservation reserves: Blue Mountains, Kanangra-Boyd, Gardens of Stone, Nattai, Wollemi, Thirlmere Lakes and Yengo National Parks and Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve. It spans the traditional lands of the Darkinjung, Darug, Dharawal, Gundungurra, Wanaruah and Wiradjuri Aboriginal nations.
Australia ratified the World Heritage Convention in 1974. To be included on the World Heritage List, a site must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. The protection, management, authenticity and integrity of properties are also important considerations when listing is considered.
In 2000, the Greater Blue Mountains was granted World Heritage status because it satisfied two of the then criteria for natural values. At the end of 2004 the ten criteria of outstanding universal value were revised and renumbered. The Greater Blue Mountains was listed because it was deemed a site containing:
outstanding examples of on-going ecological and biological processes significant in the evolution of ecosystems and communities of plants and animals (former Natural Criterion ii, current Criterion ix)
important and significant natural habitats for the conservation of biological diversity, including threatened species of outstanding value from the point of view of science or conservation (former Natural Criterion iv, current Criterion x).
The World Heritage Area is vast, extending over 1.03 million hectares. Additions of land to the eight constituent reserves of the World Heritage Area since listing in 2000 are not yet a part of the World Heritage Area.
Threatened species in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area
In NSW there are almost 1000 threatened species and over 100 threatened ecological communities. The World Heritage Area supports about one-fifth of NSW’s threatened species. Threatened species that have been recorded in the World Heritage Area since European settlement include at least 28 mammal, 33 bird, 4 reptile, 7 frog, one dragonfly, one snail, 100 plant and a few fungus species. There are likely to be more.
Most threatened species in the World Heritage Area are listed under both the NSW BC Act 2016 and the Commonwealth EPBC Act 1999. A few species are currently listed under only one of these Acts.
A list of threatened plants and animals recorded in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area is provided below. The status of each species under the NSW BC Act 2016 and the Commonwealth EPBC Act 2016 is indicated. We are currently updating this list.
A list of GBMWHA Threatened Animals
A list of GBMWHA Threatened Plants
A map of the Society's Area of Interest
We are working on listing threatened populations and ecological communities within the World Heritage Area.
We are also working on listing additional threatened species, populations and ecological communities within the Society’s area of interest but outside of the World Heritage Area.
© 2020 Blue Mountains Conservation Society Inc.
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land
– the Dharug and Gundungurra people –
and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.
website by Waratah Software
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Business Zeal
What is the Difference Between a Non-profit and Not-for-profit Organization?
While a nonprofit deals with the vital issues of the society, a not-for-profit deals with smaller groups and concentrates on hobbies and interests. For an in-depth understanding of the two, Buzzle will explain the difference between nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations.
Home / Uncategorized / What is the Difference Between a Non-profit and Not-for-profit Organization?
“The terms “nonprofit” or “not-for-profit” refer to organizations that have been chartered at the state level. Typically, this means they have filed some sort of formation document with the Secretary of State.”
― Dave Richmond, Founding partner and President, Richmond Brothers, Inc.
Most organizations produce revenues and use them for their own purposes. Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and not-for-profit organizations are among those that work towards proper service and earning revenues; however, the revenue earned is not used for personal gain. One of the prime misconceptions people have is that nonprofits and not-for-profits are the same. Well, in essence, let’s say they are almost the same, yet there are certain subtle changes between the two. The latter is often referred to as a subset of the former in many countries. The nonprofit vs. not-for-profit comparison is enlisted in the subsequent paragraphs.
It is a large group with many people involved in achieving a higher goal.
Many issues that this organization targets are social and political.
The money earned by NPOs is used for the betterment of the organization.
A charitable organization may also be an NPO; however, the opposite is not true. An NPO does not necessarily operate as a charity.
Non-for-profit Organization
It is mostly a smaller group with less number of involved participants.
The group mostly concentrates on hobbies, public service, and other social interests.
The money earned may or may not be a large amount; however, whatever is earned is put back into the organization, improving it by various means.
Most of the not-for-profits are public service organizations, charities, and other voluntary businesses; in fact, apart from the profit exclusion, most not-for-profit organizations function similar to the for-profit organizations.
Factors of Differentiation
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The legal differences between nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations account for a major distinguishable point. A couple of other differences are provided in the table below.
Nonprofit Vs. Non-for-profit
Nonprofit Non-for-profit
Its mission is to serve the society in general – this may involve charity or volunteer work. It also undertakes other large-scale activities that contribute towards general public service. Its mission is also to serve the society; however, its purpose is to contribute towards mainstream charity after the internal expense distribution.
It is not targeted towards earning profits. The revenue earned is used for funds and other expenses that contribute towards the goal of the organization. No profit is used for private gain. NPOs mostly have volunteers, not paid staff. It does not aim at making profit either. However, the difference here is that it comprises paid staff. Therefore, whatever revenue is earned, the salaries are given, after which the money is put back into the business. There are no shareholders though.
It obligatorily receives charters at the state level. It has a separate, registered legal existence. Generally, it is not chartered either at the state or national level. The participant groups do not necessarily have a legal existence.
Membership dues, donations, program fees, fundraisers, etc. It mainly depends on grants and donations. Investment gains, investment income, merchandise sale, etc. It does not necessarily depend on donations; whatever money is earned, is given as a donation.
Tax Exceptions
A nonprofit is expected to make a profit, and the profit cannot be used for the benefit of the organization’s members. The IRS states that nonprofits are exempted from tax (certain criteria have to be met). It is considered more of a business league by the IRS; hence, it does not qualify for any tax exemptions.
Accounting schedules are more rigid as it has to report how the funding was spent. It also ensures that the generated revenue is more than the cost. Accounting schedules for not-for-profits are slightly less structured as they do not have to compulsorily report as to how the money was spent. It does not obligatorily target at increasing revenues. Whatever is left over after expenses, goes to charity.
Scholarship funds, museums, etc. Fishing club, sports club, credit unions, etc.
Nonprofits and not-for-profits do have slight differences, but taking the larger picture into consideration, it can be stated that they both are devoted to humanitarian service and wellness of the society. The differences may or may not matter. As responsible citizens, it is of primary concern that we contribute to such organizations as well, to help improve the society, and at large, the world in which we live.
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5 Steps to Integrate Tech into the Classroom
by BUSYTEACHER_admin 16,061 views
In many K-12 schools, technology has become an integral part of the classroom.
The days of treating technology as a separate subject and relegating it to weekly sessions in a computer lab are over. Schools are recognizing that technology is a valuable tool that can promote learning in almost any subject on a daily basis. Teachers who are less familiar with technology may feel insecure about using it as an instructional aide in the classroom. The fact that so many students grew up using computers and the Internet and are completely comfortable with technology may not help the situation. But with some basic instruction and planning, any teacher can overcome insecurities about technology and learn how to leverage it as a classroom tool.
Here are five resources teachers should look into while taking steps to integrate tech into the classroom:
5 Resources to Help You Integrate Tech into Your Classroom
Hundreds of educational websites are available that can be used as references for lesson plans and classroom activities. They range from highly professional sites, like PBS Teachers, Edutopia and Teach.com, that provide a variety of classroom resources for different grade levels, as well as professional development courses for teachers, to handcrafted websites and blogs that represent an individual teacher's labor of love. All-around useful websites for teachers are reference portals like Refdesk.com that include a set of links that change on a daily basis (including, in this case, Site of the Day, Fact of the Day, Word of the Day and Article of the Day), as well as permanent links to all kinds of useful references. Lists like Scholastic's 25 Best Websites for Teachers and the American Association of School Librarian's Best Websites for Teaching and Learning provide links to some of the most useful educational websites.
Many teachers have found that journaling helps students practice their writing skills while exercising their creativity. Blogging is a form of online journaling that allows teachers and students to share opinions and ideas. It can be used by students at almost every grade level. Blogging platforms like Weblogs at Harvard Law School, Kidblog.org and Edublogs are safe for classroom use, and support student and teacher interaction. Teachers can also use blogging to communicate with other teachers and with parents. For general information about getting started with blogging, see this wikiHow article on How to Start a Blog. To get an idea about how far students can go with blogging, see Edublog's Best Blogs of 2011.
Standard computer applications, like those found in the Microsoft Office Suite, have become indispensable tools in the classroom. Word processing programs like MS Word are already used by many students for essays and other written assignments. Word processors can also be used to create newsletters, scrapbooks, puzzles, flyers and even Web pages. PowerPoint is a presentation-creation application that can to create slideshows, group projects and oral reports. Excel and other spreadsheet applications can be used for statistical data tallying and chart, and graph construction. Calendars and timelines can also be created with Excel.
Helping students to become proficient in the use of these standard applications not only enhances their school experience but prepares them for college and careers. For schools and students on limited budgets, Office Suite X and Open Office are open source software applications that can be downloaded free of charge. Office Suite X's and Open Office's word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software are compatible with the Microsoft Office applications. Google Docs is another good source for free Office-like applications.
Assignments that include digital video production allow students to gain experience in communicating their point of view while developing media literacy. Video production also offers the perfect opportunity for teamwork and project-based learning. Students can use inexpensive digital cameras to film footage or create a video from digital photos and images found online. Free video editing software like Photo Story can be used to combine images, text, narration and music. For more information about student video production, visit Digital Video in Education and the University of Houston's Digital Storytelling website.
Perhaps the greatest educational potential of technology lies in digital simulations that allow students to manipulate virtual systems and worlds. Muzzy Lane's Making History series lets students take control of nations and military forces, and reenact key moments in the history of World War II. MIT's Revolution is an online role-playing game set during the American Revolution. The SIFMA Foundation's Stock Market Game allows students to track their virtual investments. These are just a sample of the dynamic educational simulations that can be used to immerse students in a subject area.
The importance of technology in the classroom reaches beyond individual classes and schools.
If the United States expects to stay competitive in an increasingly technology-driven global marketplace, then students need to feel comfortable with all aspects of technology, including the science, math and engineering that are behind the tech gadgets that the younger generation loves so much.
The White House recently unveiled plans for a new Digital Promise research center that will support the development of educational software and other instructional technologies. The center, which will be overseen by the U.S. Department of Education, will be supported by a large group of businesses and non-profit organizations. Former FCC Chairman Newton Minow and former NBC News President Lawrence Grossman spearheaded the movement to form the center, which is officially called the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies. More than 50 years ago, Minor referred to commercial television as "a vast wasteland." Today he's excited about the promises of digital technology in schools.
Brian Martinowich is a freelance writer for EarnMBADegree.com, a comprehensive resource guide for online mba degree programs. As the Community Manager of the global social good campaign, Tweet Drive, Brian enjoys helping others through his experiences and expertise with social media.
P.S. If you enjoyed this article, please help spread it by clicking one of those sharing buttons below. And if you are interested in more, you should follow our Facebook page where we share more about creative, non-boring ways to teach English.
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Book Review: Noam Chomsky’s ‘9-11: Was There an Alternative? ’
By Muhammad Ashraf
Title: 9-11: Was there an alternative?
Author: Noam Chomsky
Publisher: Seven Stories Press, 2011
Noam Chomsky’s book, 9-11: Was there an alternative?, is a new arrival to my college library. The title reminded me of an incident that took place during my visit to San Francisco city last month. I, along with some Pakistani Muslims, was coming out of a local Masjid after a Friday congregation. We were dressed in white, and one of us wore a green colored Pakistani turban. I guess we looked more like a bunch of Muslim clerics in religious attire, although most of us were not. While crossing a freeway at Shafter Avenue, Third Street, someone shouted, “Fuck you, fuck Islam, fuck Muslims”. Keeping in mind that 9/11 has left Muslims in America and indeed, all over the world, feeling increasingly vulnerable; I began to read Chomsky’s dissident narrative. It is one that raises several questions about the publicly accepted notions and theories regarding the ‘War on Terror’ proclaimed immediately following the World Trade Centre attack. Chomsky asks what the U.S wars since September 11 have accomplished. Was it right to wage war on an uncertain and nameless enemy? Was there an alternative? And should the U.S obey the rules and principles outlined by international organizations such as the United Nations?
‘9-11 Was There an Alternative?’ was published by Seven Stories Press in New York, to international acclaim, which proves the fact that many such dissident voices are constantly being heard by the public in an unprecedented way. The Editor’s note states, “if we indeed survive our government’s propensity for confrontation and violence over diplomacy, it may be because we break away from the news feed long enough to heed dissident voices like Chomsky’s, published in pamphlets, posted online, spoken at protests, and shouted from the rooftops.” The book was first published in November 2001, a mere two months after 9/11. The edition I read was published in 2011 with a new essay that Chomsky wrote after ‘Operation Geronimo’ in which Osama Bin Laden was assassinated. Chomsky narrates the killing of untold numbers of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, as an outcome of the ‘War on Terror’. He provides evidence for U.S military retaliations, which left thousands of innocent people displaced and murdered. He quotes British historian Anatol Lieven, who tells us that the war in Afghanistan is “destabilizing and radicalizing, risking a geopolitical catastrophe for the United States and the world – which would dwarf anything that could possibly occur in Afghanistan.”
Chomsky’s opinion is that the U.S invasion of Pakistani territory to carry out the political assassination of Osama bin Laden, served to aggravate anti-U. S sentiment in Pakistan. He quotes Eric Margolis, “He (bin Laden) repeatedly asserted that the only way to drive the U.S from the Muslim world and defeat its satraps was by drawing Americans into a series of small but expensive wars that would ultimately bankrupt them.” Chomsky further asserts that “the debt is being cynically exploited by the far right, with collusion of Democrat establishment, to undermine what remains of social programmes, public education, unions, and, in general, remaining barriers to corporate tyranny.” He goes on to analyse what he calls “the first 9/11”; when the U.S. helped replace the democratic government of Salvador Allande by the brutal regime of General Pinoche in Latin America. He insists that the series of incidents plotted by the U.S in Latin America is a form of hemispheric plague rather than “hemispheric defense” or “internal security”, and these actions set in motion the cycle of violence in Latin America.
He sheds light on the matter of the disposal of bin Laden’s body without an autopsy, describing it as gruesome, and says that an international law that mandates an inquiry whenever violent death occurs from government or police action was ignored. Even though these are not current debates, many past American government actions continue to influence the shape of the present world order. He claims that these are in reality international crimes and ought to be criticized as such. The existence of earthmovers, as he says, doesn’t change the fact that the earth is not flat. “Similarly, it is uncontroversial that Bush and associates did commit the supreme international crime, the crime of aggression.”
Much of the book is a collection of adapted excerpts from several interviews with him, in which he tries to re position the arguments he has in his new essay, written after the assassination of bin Laden. In ‘Not Since the War of 1812’ from the part titled ‘9-11’, he talks about geopolitical implications, and why they named this a ‘war’ against a nameless enemy unlike its predecessors, (‘intelligent bombs’) in Iraq and (‘humanitarian intervention’) in Kosovo. In the first part, he provides a disturbing answer to the question ‘Is the war on terrorism winnable?’ by analysing mainstream media’s manufactured consent, and validates the claim of crimes against humanity, instead of war on terror, by providing enough proof. He exemplifies the Nicaraguan government’s position in retaliating against attacks from external powers in the failed American counterterrorist invasions.
In this book, Chomsky also argues that “an assault that kills innocent Afghans would be virtually a call for new recruits to the horrendous cause of the bin Laden network and other graduates of the terrorist forces set up by the CIA and its associates 20 years ago to fight a HOLY WAR against the Russians, meanwhile following their own agenda.” And he consciously points out the atrocities that would increase the strength and ground support they entertain from the public, leaving dangerous messages. He consistently insists that September 11 was an event of historical importance, not because of scale, but because of the murder of innocent victims.
The book ends with an essay that tries to answer these four questions;
What are the reasons?
What’s the proper reaction?
And what are the longer term consequences?
As for the first, although there’s only thin evidence, he also repeats the assumed conclusion that the “guilty parties were bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network … organised into a military and terrorist force for normal reasons of States, not even for helping Afghans resist Russia.” He answers the second question by saying that “the basic reason, the national security council advised, is the recognition that the U.S. supports corrupt and brutal governments that block democracy and development, and does so because of its concern to protect its interests in Near East oil.” Turning to the third question, he concludes that “the answers are doubtless contentious, but at least the reaction should meet the most elementary moral standards” as well as “those who reject this standard simply declare that acts are justified by war”. Discussing the long-term consequences, he points out various immediate aftermaths, such as the increasingly large military bases in Asia, the expansion of overwhelming military advantages over the rest of the world, and an increased advantage to move on with the mission of global dominance.
Chomsky critiques America’s insistence on internal security and its impact on the lives of citizens in countries the U.S. imagines as threatening global peace. This book offers some disturbing insights into this mindset and is a thoughtful exposition on matters of global importance.
Muhammad Ashraf is currently a research intern at Madeenathunnor, Calicut, Kerala. He is an interviewer, writer and independent research fellow, specializing in the areas of Sufism, Islamic studies and cultural anthropology. He is also interested in tradition, philology and subaltern literature
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Tagged: 9-11, Authors, Book Review, Books, Islam and the West, Muhammad Ashraf, Noam Chomsky
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Mug Shots and Railroad Mythologies
In the early 1900s, the San Joaquin Valley—California’s geographical and agricultural center—was marked by the growth of community and opportunity brought about by the Southern Pacific Railroad’s longitudinal linkage of San Francisco and Los Angeles by way of the valley. The movement of passengers and cargo into, out of, and through the valley caused its population and its agricultural industry to grow tremendously. In the years following the 1876 completion of the railroad connection between San Francisco and Los Angeles, the residents of the valley’s northernmost county, San Joaquin County, may have viewed the maturation of their community with mixed feelings. Some may have felt deep satisfaction with the prosperity and opportunity the railroad had afforded the county’s agricultural towns, while others—especially those who had helped settle the valley—may have had feelings of deep mistrust and bitter resentment toward the Southern Pacific Railroad, whose past strategies of obtaining land throughout the valley had caused loss of property and even life.
Much of the animosity between settlers and the Southern Pacific centered around events that occurred in Mussel Slough, Kings County, in 1880. Settlers had migrated to the valley throughout the 1870s, encouraged by the Southern Pacific to occupy land that had been given to the railroad company as a subsidy. The settlers set about improving the acreage surrounding proposed railroad tracks by building homesteads and developing agricultural and irrigation projects, confident that when ready to purchase the land, they would not be charged for the improvements they had made through their own labor. Instead, the settlers, expecting to pay two-and-a-half dollars per acre, were faced with prices set by market demand, sometimes reaching as high as twenty dollars per acre. The settlers banded together to fight this injustice while U.S. marshals began evicting settlers throughout the area. On May 11, 1880, a small group of men, including a U.S. marshal, set foot on the homestead of Henry D. Brewer and were met by an assemblage of settlers, gathered to thwart such evictions. While it is unclear how the gunfight began—it has been attributed to a skittish horse knocking the marshal down, quickly followed by the chaos of gun blasts—it resulted in the deaths of seven men. The shootout, which made national headlines, was significant not only for the high death toll, but also for how the incident played into the charged mythos of the outlaw West and a burgeoning national resentment of big industry’s subjugation of the common man.
In 1901, just over twenty years after the tragedy at Mussel Slough, Frank Norris published his California novel The Octopus, a scathing denunciation of the railroad’s actions in the San Joaquin Valley. The novel contains a retelling of the events of Mussel Slough as the natural, violent result of the railroad’s greed and ruthlessness in the valley. Norris’s sentiment, coupled with a turn-of-the-century societal tension between agrarian lifestyles and the growth of industry, bitterly reminded many of the valley’s residents of the earlier animosity between the settlers and the railroads. Many valley residents agreed with Norris’s description of the reviled company as “the iron-hearted monster of steel and steam.”
Police record for Victorio Yopez, Description and photographs of San Joaquin County prisoners, Vault 308, California Historical Society.
It is through the lens of both these historical facts and their resulting cultural mythology that we recently viewed two volumes containing mug shots and descriptions of people arrested in San Joaquin County between 1902 and 1907. Each record includes a black-andwhite mug shot as well as information about the alleged perpetrator’s physical appearance, alleged crime(s), victim(s), and sentence. In particular, we were interested in the types of crimes that had taken place on the railroad, the suspects and victims involved, and the motives surrounding their crimes. Over the five years covered in the prisoner logbook, eight crimes were recorded as being committed against either a railroad company itself or railroad passengers and personnel. The descriptions of the crimes are dispassionate and provide no insight into motives or into the targeting of the railroad companies. In most cases the trespasses against the railroad companies were clearly crimes of opportunity, often recorded as petit larceny: an overcoat, blankets, and materials such as brass and iron were all recorded as burgled items. Punishment for the thefts varied, ranging from ten days in the county jail or a ten-dollar fine to three years’ confinement in San Quentin. One cannot help but wonder, though, about the motives in two of the more interesting crimes, both of which could have resulted in loss of life. A seventeen-year-old Swiss immigrant, Ernest Intergant, was sentenced to thirty days in the county jail for removing a railroad switch lamp from a Santa Fe Railway line on November 20, 1903. Although his crime was originally considered a felony—removing a switch lamp could cause derailment of the railcars, resulting in major loss of life or cargo—his sentence was reduced to malicious mischief. Two years later, on December 16, 1905, Victorio Yopez fired seven shots at several men seated in a Santa Fe railcar. The prisoner logbook records Yopez’s occupation as “R.R. [Railroad] Laborer,” which certainly provokes curiosity over the motivation for the shooting. Yopez was arrested the following day, pleaded guilty to the crime, and was sentenced to one-and-a-half years in Folsom prison.
Police record for Emma La Deux, Description and photographs of San Joaquin County prisoners, Vault 308, California Historical Society.
Then there is the crime of Emma LaDeux (often spelled “LeDoux” in later published accounts), a thirty-year-old woman from Amador County, California, who attempted to take advantage of the Southern Pacific’s services in the San Joaquin Valley by using the railroad as an unwitting accomplice in her criminal activity. Among more than two hundred arrest records in the same San Joaquin County logbook, Emma’s stands out, not only because she is one of only three women or because her crime (poisoning her husband to death with morphine) is shocking in its premeditated violence, but because—unlike her contemporaries— she could just as easily be posing for a portrait, instead of a mug shot for a police photographer. The photograph reveals a young woman, head held high, her gaze veering slightly away from the camera. A scarf is wrapped around her long neck, and an elaborately decorated hat is perched fashionably at an angle on her neatly styled hair. Although she must have realized the severity of the charges she faced, her composure was unwavering before the camera.
On March 23, 1906, Emma LaDeux (aka Emma Williams or Emma McVicker) killed her third husband, Albert N. McVicker, in the lodging house where they were staying. Afterward, she stuffed his body into a trunk and arranged for it to be sent to the nearby Stockton station. The logbook does not detail the destination she had in mind for the body, but clearly the railroad provided the perfect opportunity to get it as far away as possible from the murder scene. Unfortunately for Emma, the untagged trunk sat too long on the station platform and the odor quickly alerted station workers that something was amiss. For three days she avoided the authorities before being arrested in Antioch by a local deputy sheriff named Shine. According to the Haggin Museum, which holds the trunk in its collection, Emma was headed to meet a Mr. Jean LeDoux, the man she had married a year before without first divorcing the unfortunate Mr. McVicker—adding bigamy to her list of punishable offenses.
After her arrest, she was brought back to Stockton to await trial. It might have been hard for jurors to believe that such a slight, refined-looking woman—at five feet two inches and 110 pounds—could have commited such a heinous crime. Nevertheless, on August 7, 1906, the jury found her guilty of murder in the first degree and the presiding judge, Joaquin County Superior Judge W. B. Nutter, made history by sentencing Emma LaDeux “to hang at San Quentin”—the first woman in California to receive the death penalty. Emma’s luck, however, may not have been all bad. An addendum to her arrest record, scrawled across the bottom of the page in red, hints at a potentially more positive outcome to her case: “Took an appeal and is still in appeal at this time—Sept. 12, 1907.” In the end, Emma spent two years in the San Joaquin County Jail before getting word that her appeal was successful, her death sentence commuted to life in prison. Nearly fourteen years from the day she killed her husband and sent his body off to the train station, Emma was released from San Quentin on parole and walked free.
San Joaquin County’s shift from a rural, agrarian community to a more industrialized, agricultural center brought about an influx of wealth and population that, in turn, led to an influx of crime—a common growing pain of newly developing communities. In fact, enough criminal activity took place on or against the railroad and its property that the Southern Pacific would eventually install its own agents to combat lawlessness on the rails. The San Joaquin County prisoner logbook provides a small glimpse of a wide range of crimes involving the railroad within the suddenly booming agricultural county, demonstrating only one of a myriad of geographic, economic, and cultural shifts caused by the railroad’s presence in San Joaquin County and in the greater San Joaquin Valley.
To learn more about the railroad’s industrial and cultural impact on California, please visit the California Historical Society’s exhibition Overland to California, on view from March 21 through October 20, 2019.
Written by Jaime Henderson and Frances Kaplan, California Historical Society
at Monday, July 29, 2019 No comments:
Peoples Temple Publications Department photographs now available online
The California Historical Society is pleased to announce that 4,467 slides and negatives from the Peoples Temple Publications Department Records have been digitized and are available for public viewing and research online. The photographs provide new visual documentation of Peoples Temple’s political, religious, and cultural activities, as well as daily life in Redwood Valley, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Jonestown. This work was made possible by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The collection was processed by project archivists Isaac Fellman and Lynda Letona and digitized by Two Cat Digital of San Anselmo.
The Peoples Temple Publications Department Records contain a wealth of imagery depicting the demonstrations, rallies, and events organized by Peoples Temple. Before the mass migration to Jonestown in 1977, the Temple pursued an ambitious program of political action: defending leftist activists, getting out the vote for candidates for local office, working with mainstream media, maintaining relationships with other faith organizations, organizing cross-country recruitment trips, participating in rallies and demonstrations, and building alliances with celebrities and politicians. Photographs in the collection were taken by the Publications Department to support these activities.
Newly digitized photographs reveal the connections between Peoples Temple and local, regional, national, and international political and activist networks, situating the Peoples Temple movement within the 1970s context of urban politics, radical activism, communalism, internationalism, and Black Power. We hope that the online publication of these images will support a new generation of scholarship on Peoples Temple and Jonestown.
Teacher in school, circa 1976-1978; Peoples Temple Publications Department Records, MS 3791; California Historical Society.
Peoples Temple choir, 1974-1975; Peoples Temple Publications Department Records, MS 3791; California Historical Society.
Spiritual Jubilee, 1976 May 23; Peoples Temple Publications Department Records, MS 3791; Box 21; California Historical Society
Dennis Banks benefit, circa 1976; Peoples Temple Publications Department Records, MS 3791; California Historical Society.
Demonstration at International Hotel, 1977; Peoples Temple Publications Department Records, MS 3791; Box 24; California Historical Society
1976 summer trip: Peoples Temple members in Chicago, 1976; Peoples Temple Publications Department Records, MS 3791; California Historical Society.
Written by Marie Silva & Isaac Fellman, California Historical Society
Funding to process the Peoples Temple collection provided by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission.
Uncovering remarkable documents through Teaching California
The California Historical Society often relies on scholars in the field to illuminate new areas of collection and research. When exploring primary sources for our new Teaching California project, we came across two remarkable documents from our manuscripts collection that will soon be incorporated into our growing set of K-12 instructional materials. The first, a Spanish diary entry from California’s Mission period, and the second, a Chinese newspaper published in San Francisco shortly after the Gold Rush, both offer an insight into the daily lives of those living and working in two significant periods of California’s history. Below, we hear briefly from the two scholars who helped us translate these documents, including why these particular sources are important to them.
Diary entry of Captain Fernando Rivera y Moncada at Monterey on October 3, 1774; Fernando Rivera y Moncada diary, 1774-1777, MS Vault 48; California Historical Society.
The first document, highlighted for fourth graders studying the Mission period, is one of many brief, daily entries by Rivera y Moncada, the Spanish military commandant of Alta California, 1774-1777. Written a few years after the second Franciscan mission and presidio in the Californias was established in present-day Monterey county, the diary includes a list of soldiers, craftsmen, and other non-native people living in California at the time.
Rose Marie Beebe, Professor of Spanish based at Santa Clara University, California, undertook the translation of the 18th century Spanish-language document. She wrote about the entry’s significance:
“On October 3, 1774, Fernando de Rivera y Moncada, commander of the Monterey Presidio,
reported that the native peoples had started a large fire to the west of the fort. He knew what they
were doing: “They set fire to the field so that new growth will sprout up from the ashes.” Yet a
number of soldiers went out to extinguish the fire. They did so, Rivera wrote “to preserve the
Fields.”
Rivera’s remarks dramatically highlighted the different forms of food production that were present in colonial Alta California. The Spanish introduced European-style agriculture and were concerned that the crops that they had introduced into the region would not be able to grow in a charred landscape. The indigenous people, however, had lived for centuries from the food provided by the natural environment. They understood that fire was an important means of rejuvenating the soil that produced the fruits, berries, acorns, and other sustenance on which both they and the other living creatures with which they shared the California environment depended. Europeans were quickly exposed to this indigenous method of resource management. For example, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed into San Pedro Bay in 1542 and was greeted by thick fires onshore, causing him to name the place La BahIa de los Humos-- the Bay of Smoke. He may well have been witnessing a series of controlled burns. As contemporary scholar M. Kat Anderson has written, “Fire was the most significant, effective, efficient, and widely employed vegetation management tool of California Indian tribes.” (M. Kat Anderson, Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California’s Natural Resources (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), 136). Rivera’s diary demonstrated that over 200 years later, Europeans in California still did not fully understand the ecological wisdom that was an essential part of the indigenous Californians’ way of life.”
Below is Beebe’s English translation of the Moncada’s diary entry:
October 1 Señor don Juan Soler: Have three fanegas1 of beans and eight of corn sent to
the escolta2 at San Antonio. Because they have run out of lard and meat, send
them the same amount of rations of ham given to the men here, that is, five
ounces per ration. With regard to the cost [of the food] and the sacks [for
transporting the food], you and the corporals can come to an agreement on that.
And, if you should deem it necessary to notify me about any issue, I shall not
hesitate to intervene in whatever manner is most appropriate. Monterey, October 1, 1774. Rivera
[October] 2
Sunday Nothing to report.
[October] 3 A large fire was set west of us. It was burning the countryside and was drawing
closer to the presidio. Soldiers, young men, and even I, went out and managed
to extinguish the fire, not because the homes were at risk, but rather to preserve
the fields. The gentiles3 have a bad habit of creating this kind of work for us.
After their seeds have all been gathered and because they have no animals to
take care of, their main concern is their bellies. They set fire to the fields so
that new growth will sprout up from the ashes. It is also a way to catch rabbits
that are trying to escape from the dense smoke.
1 One fanega is equivalent to about 1.6 bushels.
2 The escort or squad of soldiers assigned to protect a missionary at a mission.
3 Non-baptized Indians.
The Golden Hills News. May 27, 1854. California Historical Society, Chinese in California Virtual Collection, Newspaper Collection, Box 2.
For seventh graders, Teaching California authors chose this Chinese newspaper from our collections for an inquiry set exploring San Francisco as a Site of Encounter. The front page of the May 27, 1854 edition of the Golden Hills News features both Cantonese language characters and one column of English text. The publisher's welcome note in English reads: "Merchants, Manufacturers, Miners, and Agriculturists, come forward as friends, not scorners of the Chinese, so that they may mingle in the march of the world, and help to open America an endless vista of future commerce."
Roland Hui, an independent historian based in San Francisco who helped with the English translation, had this to say about this special document:
“The Golden Hills' News is a very special newspaper. In the words of the famed historian Him Mark Lai, it was the first Chinese-language weekly in the world that embodied all the ingredients of a modern newspaper. And for me to play a part in sharing this treasure with a wider audience is extremely gratifying. In doing the translation, I had a fun time trying to figure out the original English names of places, people, and ships from which the Chinese versions were transliterated. The contemporary issues of the Daily Alta California helped me ascertain most of them. For those few that I could not find any reference, it will be hilarious to know how widely I missed the target.”
Below is an excerpt from Hui’s English translation of the Chinese portion of the newspaper:
[Front page, Purpose of the Newspaper] The purpose of publishing a newspaper is to promote commerce, provide knowledge, convey public sentiments, and communicate government regulations. Now, California is the meeting place of people from all over the world, and various countries have published their own newspapers except the Chinese. Therefore, although there are many Chinese merchants, they lack the skills to run their businesses, have limited general knowledge, and are powerless to make decisions. They do not fully understand business conditions, and are easily manipulated by tricksters; they are ignorant of government regulations, and are bullied by those with evil intensions. It is a pity that they, despite having years of experience, are struggling in their business and facing so many obstacles. This has prompted me to start this Golden Hills’ News, and use the Chinese language to describe daily happenings about Chinese and American business and government and legal affairs. It will be published every Saturday, so that people will know what is going on. If you have business news, we can advertise it here. That way, business will flourish, knowledge will expand, public sentiments will be felt, and government regulations will be understood; and to the Chinese this is by no means a small benefit. - Mr. Howard
Food prices:
Coffee: 18¢ per pound
Fine salted pork: $27/per large barrel
Medium salted pork: $22, $23 per barrel
Fine salted beef: $18, $20 per large barrel
Medium salted beef: $20 per barrel
Fine ham: 20¢ per pound
Fine bacon: 15¢, 16¢ per pound
Manilla fine sugar: 7¢, 8¢ per pound
Lard: 15¢, 16¢ per pound
Fine Chinese sugar: 9¢ per pound
Second-rate Chinese sugar: 8¢ per pound
Fine black tea: 50¢, 55¢ per pound
American fine sugar: 12.5¢ per pound
Chinese rice: 5¢, 6¢, 6.25¢ per pound
Carolina Rice: 6¢ per pound
Manilla rice: 3¢, 3.5¢ per pound
In this city, barbarians of different nationalities bully the Chinese too much. From now on, if a Chinese is harassed, beaten, or cheated, he can report it to Mr. Howard so an English notice can be translated and sent to all countries. Chinese do not have to suffer mistreatments in silence. Mr. Howard is located at 163 Clay Street, upstairs.
People from different countries who come to America and wish to become Americans can first go to court and take an oath. The court will issue a paper which can be renewed every two years. With that they can go to the hills to dig gold and do other things without having to pay for a license. If you wish to learn more, please visit Mr. Howard upstairs for a more detailed discussion.
Our Teaching California collections team has been busy researching and preparing documents like these over the past year, including working with our partners at the California History-Social Science Project to carefully incorporate over 60 primary sources from our collections into the project’s instructional materials.
Excitingly, we are creating newly-digitized copies of these primary sources for inclusion in Teaching California, and teachers will find these documents and more when we launch the project website later this year (more details to come). In the meantime, visit teachingcalifornia.org for more details about the project, and follow along here on our blog for more updates.
We look forward to uncovering more stories as we dig deeper into the primary sources in our collections!
The California Historical Society is working in partnership with the California History-Social Science Project (CHSSP) at UC Davis to establish and implement Teaching California: a free and expansive online set of instructional materials to support the State’s new K-12 History-Social Science Framework. This post comes from Kerri Young, Teaching California Project Manager. You can reach out to her at kyoung@calhist.org.
Labels: framework, primary sources, Teaching California
Teaching the Important, Honest, and Troubling History of Native California
This blog is reposted from the California History-Social Scient Project's blog. The original post can be found here.
Editor's Note: As we travel around California, one of the most frequent concerns we hear from teachers is that they don’t feel prepared to teach students about the history of California Indians. Elementary teachers have explained that they don’t know enough about pre-contact California, especially the history of indigenous people in their local area. Eighth-grade teachers reflect that their current resources are incomplete and don’t fully document the perspective of native peoples during the 19th Century. And high school teachers often remark they don’t have anything on native history after 1900. We’ve heard these concerns and in response, we’ve brought together a new team of scholars and members of native communities to design a workshop specifically focused on teaching the history of California Indians. Historians Shelley Brooks and Michelle Lorimer will lead the workshop, aided by the important scholarly contributions of Benjamin Madley, Steven Hackel, Clifford Trafzer, Khal Schneider, and Gregg Castro. This workshop will debut at our new Framework Conference series, which starts on September 10 at UC Irvine. Read below for a special blog post about the workshop, and learn more about the Framework Conference series here.
Native Americans on Alcatraz Island during the 1969-1971 occupation to reclaim native land.
In West Sacramento last month, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to apologize for California’s treatment of its Native population. As the governor explained, “That’s what it was, a genocide. No other way to describe it. And that’s the way it needs to be described in the history books.” In our new workshop, “Highlighting Native Californian History through the Framework,” we hope to guide teachers through this important, honest, and troubling investigation of California’s history.
California’s History-Social Science Framework calls for more complex examinations of California Indian history across grade levels and time periods. Our workshop will focus on ways to incorporate the history and culture of Native Californian peoples into lessons at both primary and secondary levels. Lessons that explore California Indian history provide teachers with unique opportunities to connect students with local history and contemporary Native communities that, historically, have been frequently misrepresented and not consulted in public representations of their groups.
Teaching about the history of California Indians also allows students to explore interdisciplinary themes that span the various fields of social and behavioral sciences, including history, geography, economics, civics (political science), anthropology, religious studies, and psychology. Investigations that focus on the lives of Native Californians both before and after foreign contact highlight important historical thinking strategies. Students learn to understand diverse perspectives, evaluate historical evidence, recognize continuity and change, assess cause and consequence, and unpack ethical considerations of the past.
We will investigate the experiences of Native peoples during transitional times in California’s history—guided by the major instructional shifts in the Framework. We will use inquiry to investigate primary source content from pre-contact, the California mission era, the Gold Rush, and the modern civil rights era. Teachers will receive classroom-ready materials for grades 3 (local history), 4 (California history), 8 (19th-century U.S. history), 10 (modern world history), 11 (modern U.S. history), and 12 (government). Many of these resources will come from our partnership with the California Historical Society and our shared Teaching California project, which will debut later this year.
Written by Michelle Lorimer, Ph.D., an historian and lecturer at California State University, San Bernardino, Shelley Brooks, Ph.D., and Beth Slutsky, Ph.D., who are both Program Coordinators at the California History-Social Science Project.
at Thursday, July 11, 2019 No comments:
Labels: framework, Native Americans, Native California, primary sources, Teaching California
Our Time Has Come
We’ve just added two new collections to CHS’s digital library: the Gay and Lesbian rights movement ephemera collection, and the Joe Altman Photographs of the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade - the event that is known today as the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration.
Preparing float at Spear St. before parade, 1979 June 24; Joe Altman photographs of the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parades, PC-040; Box 01, Folder 11; California Historical Society.
"Creative Award" winning women's float, Market St., 1979 June 24; Joe Altman photographs of the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parades, PC-040; Box 01, Folder 11; California Historical Society.
Joe Altman’s photographs of the 1979 Gay Freedom Day parade depict marchers and celebrants taking to the streets a little more than a month after the voluntary manslaughter verdict for Dan White in the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk sparked the uprising against the San Francisco Police Department and City Hall known as the White Night riots. Fittingly, the theme of the 1979 Gay Freedom Day was “Our Time Has Come.”
Gays Against Nuclear Power contingent, Market St. at California and Drumm Sts., Ferry Bldg. in background, 1979 June 24; Joe Altman photographs of the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parades, PC-040; Box 01, Folder 07; California Historical Society.
The gay and lesbian rights movement ephemera collection consists of flyers, brochures, announcements and newsletters from lesbian and gay rights activist groups working in Northern California in the 1970s.
Dan White Gets Special Treatment!, 1979; California social, protest, and counterculture movement ephemera collection, SOC MOV EPH; Box 1, Folder 13; California Historical Society.
Stay tuned for stories from these two unique collections in the coming weeks.
Written by Al Bersch, Metadata and Systems Librarian at California Historical Society
at Friday, June 28, 2019 No comments:
Labels: Dan White, Harvey Milk, Joe Altman, LGBTQ, LGBTQ History, Pride, San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade, San Francisco Pride Parade
The Transcontinental Railroad, African Americans and the California Dream
A pivotal moment for the era and a monumental industrial infrastructure achievement in the history of the United States, the transcontinental railroad completion in 1869 had a profound effect on American life which changed the nation forever. It was a revolution which reduced travel time from the east to west coasts from months to about a week, and at less cost than previous overland and by sea options, that open economic and cultural opportunities for the possibilities of the movement of people and goods. It opened California, other parts of the U.S., and the Pacific World to more travelers, tourists, emigrants, and settlers.
A settler colonialist and imperialist project, corporate and military organization hosted imported (mostly from China) laborers who were paid low wages to plow across and lay the tracks through indigenous people’s sovereign nation lands to connect the distant colony of California to become a vital part of the U.S. continental empire. The railroad companies produced pamphlets and magazines to recruit whites from the U.S. and Europe to settle in California and the West, and those who wanted to explore the Western landscape from the comfort of the modern railway car. Although not thought of as part of the audience for this promotion, African Americans would also learn and benefit from what the transcontinental railroad could offer.
Before, during and after the transcontinental line’s construction, in southern states, thousands of enslaved and then freedmen worked on the railroads grading lines, building bridges, and blasting tunnels. They working as firemen shoveling coal into the boiler riding alongside the engineer, and as brakemen and yard switchmen. They loaded baggage and freight, and sometimes drove the train. Even with racist resistance to blacks as they migrated to northern states that rose after the Civil War, the new freedmen joined their northern brothers in the few jobs like these mentioned which were open to them.
The post-Civil War years into the early decades of the twentieth century, black men gained employment on the transcontinental railroad, most often as Pullman Company’s Palace Car porters and waiters, helping to define American travel during the railroad transportation era. These Pullman porters, as they were called, made “porter” synonymous with “Negro,” and provided glorified servant work as valet, bellhop, maid, and janitor for luxury sleeper cars used for overnight travel. Pullman cars were like or better than the best of America’s hostelries of the era, only on wheels.
Paid low wages, Pullman porters had to make money in tips from the public to survive and thrive, which they unquestionably accomplished. These men worked long hours and faced routine racial discrimination, abuse and indignities. The exploitative working conditions were imposed by management supposedly to incentivize black employees to provide the best service, compliancy in following orders and resistance to unionization, and to intimidate them to be grateful for their jobs. Scholarly studies showed in the 1920s, the Pullman company hired the most African Americans in the U.S. and the porters were one of the worst exploited workers in the country. But even under these conditions the job did have life changing benefits.
Pullman porter jobs offered stable blue collar employment, the adventure, glamour and education of travel to many places, and escape from hard physical labor on the farm or in the factory. Interaction with more intelligent classes in the travelers who Pullman porters meet and served, and the information gained from these people and the publications they left behind on the trains, informed them about what was going on in the broader world. Porters passed this knowledge and publications on to their families and the black communities they passed through in their travels around the country.
Between 1867 and 1969, thousands of African American men changed history as they rode the nation’s railroads as Pullman porters. They were an example of upward mobility for black males during the nation’s railroad transportation era. They spread the word of higher wages and improved circumstances which helped energize the Great Migration of nearly 500,000 southern African Americans who moved to the North between 1915 and 1919, and those who followed in later decades during the twentieth century to western, as well as northern cities. They created the first labor union for African Americans, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (which also included the maids) in 1927, and helped build the 1950s–1960s phase of the civil rights movement.
California had its share of African American men who worked as Pullman porters and in other railroad jobs who migrated from southern states to its railroad hub cities during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They, like many African Americans, would have been attracted by California’s admittance to the Union as a free state in 1850, and the freedoms and opportunities this extended over the years. A history of less racially motivated violence and harassment directed towards African Americans was also an encouragement for migration to Los Angeles and other western cities. The opportunity for their children to attend public schools and the state’s 1893 anti-discrimination law were other factors which made California an enticing destination for new life opportunities.
John Wesley Coleman (1865–1930) worked as a Pullman porter for 12 years, after migrating with his family from Austin, Texas to Los Angeles at the time of an economic boom in 1887. An entrepreneurial clan, he and his relatives bought land and settled in Boyle Heights, a newly subdivided area just east of Los Angeles’ downtown and the river. They were some of the earliest African American settlers in Boyle Heights.
John Wesley Coleman and his family arrived in Los Angeles in 1887 from Austin, Texas and settled in the Boyle Heights District east of downtown. One of his early jobs in Los Angeles was working as a Pullman Porter, before he became a successful real estate investor, employment agent, and important civic leader. Photograph from The Negro Trail Blazers of California by Delilah Beasley, 1918.
Before and sometimes while Coleman worked as a railroad porter, he used his skill set and resources to take advantage of several employment and business development opportunities in his years of becoming an established Los Angeles citizen. By 1907, after ending his traveling around the country serving and meeting all types and classes of people as a Pullman porter, Coleman began one of his most enduring business endeavors. He opened an employment agency in downtown Los Angeles where he helped many African American newcomers find jobs.
Enormously successful in getting people employment up and down the Pacific coast, some observers in the African American media called Coleman the ”Employment King of Los Angeles.” Over the years, he also would accumulate and sell valuable regional real estate on his own and with relatives, and be a part of other business ventures such as the Hotel Coleman DeLuxe which provided services to primarily an African American clientele at Lake Elsinore, a resort town in Riverside County.
Among Coleman’s many significant civic leadership undertakings was in helping establish and support the Forum, founded in 1903. This organization encouraged collective action to advance and strengthen African Americans socially, intellectually, financially, and in Christian ethics. With a membership of all African American classes, the Forum fought against racial discrimination and engaged in philanthropic efforts. They supported black business development and patronage. They urged white-owned businesses and the government to employ African Americans in non-menial positions. Lasting until the 1940s, the Forum was one of the most important organizations in the history of African Americans in Los Angeles as it helped them develop a sense of community through providing a space for public discourse, civic organizing, political dialogue, and aided newcomers to network and assimilate into Los Angeles society.
While working as a Pullman porter, Arthur L. Reese (1883–1963) first traveled to Los Angeles and its environs. On a layover in 1902, he read in the newspaper about a new amusement pier and resort town construction by pioneering developer Abbot Kinney in an area to be called Venice of America on the Pacific Ocean’s Santa Monica Bay, just south of the city of the same name. Looking toward the future, Reese was interested to develop his own business and rode out on the streetcar to Venice to investigate what opportunities might be available for him with Abbot Kinney and his new venture. Soon after this, on his returned to Louisiana, Reese quit his railroad porter job and then moved to Los Angeles.
Arthur L. Reese discovered Los Angeles and Venice, California were he eventually moved, while on a layover from his Pullman Porter job in 1902. After moving to the region in 1904, Reese eventually became recognized as the “Wizard of Venice” due to the inventive decorations he designed for the Venice-of-America amusement center.(Photograph collage from the Arthur L. Lewis Family Archives)
Reese eventually established successful service oriented businesses which supported the needs of the Santa Monica and Venice business and residential community. Alongside his own business endeavors, he would become head of maintenance and decorations for the Kinney facilities and be very actively involved in Venice civic affairs with local business and other groups. Reese’s business operations would eventually extended into Los Angeles, and Lake Elsinore in Riverside County where he was part of a business partner in the Lake Shore Beach grounds, a resort site for African Americans. Over the years, Reese supervised a work force of a few dozen people which included several of his relatives who he inspired to migrate to California from Louisiana. Reese, his family members and other African Americans who worked with his and, or Abbot Kinney’s enterprises made up the early African American community which live in Los Angeles’ Venice beach community.
Like thousands of other African Americans in college, law and medical school, and other academic programs, Eugene Curry Nelson (1883–1962) spent summers working as a steamboat and railroad car waiter in the northeast U.S. In this temporary work, he earned a salary and tips which helped pay tuition and expenses for medical school and later the needed equipment for his professional office as a physician and surgeon. Born and reared in Charleston, South Carolina, he earned his undergraduate degree from Prairie View A&M University near Houston, Texas. He obtained his medical training degree from Meharry Medical School, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Dr. Eugene Curry Nelson, like so many young African American men and a few women when in college, law and medical school, and other academic programs, spent summers working on steamboats and railroad cars as waiters, porters and maids in the northeast U.S. to earn money to pay for tuition and other education. expenses. He moved to Los Angeles in 1914.
In 1911, Nelson commenced his medical practice in Virginia, before migrating to Los Angeles in 1914, where he settled and built a practice that included patients who were African American, white, and from other racial and ethnic groups. In Los Angeles, even before the end of the Jim Crow era in the middle decades of the twentieth century, it was not uncommon for African American physicians to have patients from the varied ethnic communities of the city. This occurred even as these doctors and other African Americans were discriminated against in most other professional, employment and social settings.
By 1924, Nelson was called “one of California’s wealthiest Negroes” by Noah D. Thompson in an article which appeared in The Messenger, a nationally circulated African American monthly published by A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen in New York. In additional to practicing medicine, Nelson invested in several businesses in finance, real estate, manufacturing, oil, and amusement. He also held leadership roles in undertakings to promote and develop African American businesses and civic participation for individual and group benefit. In the 1920s, Nelson was part of a group of very ambitious African American businessmen who bought the white owned, Parkridge Country Club in Corona, a Riverside County community, to operate as an interracial space of recreation and for a new African American community development in Southern California’s Inland Empire.
Coleman, Reese, Nelson and others who worked as Pullman porters and waiters exemplified the “New Negro” determined to achieve fuller participation in American society in a hostile white world. Along the way, these men helped give birth to the African American professional classes. The transcontinental railroad line offered them new opportunities for employment, broader knowledge about the U.S. for their personal betterment and that of their community. It facilitated the ability of Coleman, Reese, Nelson and many other African American men and their relatives to migrate to Los Angeles to live their California Dream of new life opportunities in a mild climate and sublime landscape.
Jefferson, Alison Rose. Living the California Dream, African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, in press.
Tye, Larry. Rising from the Rails, Pullman Porters ad the Making of the Black Middle Class. New York: Owl Books/Henry Holt and Company, 2004.
Written by Alison Rose Jefferson, MHC, PhD.
at Monday, June 17, 2019 No comments:
Labels: African American, Great Migration, Los Angeles, Pullman car, Pullman porter, Transcontinental Railroad, Venice Beach
Children's voices in the Archives : El Joaquin Newspaper
Children’s Voices in the Archives is a series of posts brought to you by CHS’s North Baker Research Library.
Reading through the historical newspaper issues of El Joaquin is a strange experience. El Joaquin was a newspaper published in the Stockton Assembly Center during Japanese incarceration. This was considered a ‘temporary detention center’--such centers or concentration camps as called by others were used from late March, 1942 until mid-October, 1942. The El Joaquin newspaper issues in CHS’s collections have a run from May 1942 to the Final Edition, September, 1942. It was published every Wednesday and Saturday by the El Joaquin Press, W.C.C.A. Assembly Center, Stockton, CA. Single copies were delivered to each ‘apartment’ free of charge.
The editors of the newspaper seem to take great pains to tread the line between boosting morale--in the face of a racist policy that used war as an excuse to force Japanese citizens and residents out of their households--and appeasing the people who were incarcerated, perhaps in the attempt to ensure their safety. In the first Volume (issue no. 1) one gets a sense of the appeasing tone the editors use to try to get everyone to cooperate: “However, our personal frustrations must be shelved temporarily for an undertaking which requires each individual to cooperate with his fullest and best effort” (p. 1). This appeal seems at once appeasing yet subversive. Why subversive? Let me explain.
The same Volume 1 (no. 4) introduces us to Pancho, the newspaper mascot. Pancho is a toothy El Joaquin staff character: “Little Pancho represents the spirit of the Center. He is Patient, Active and Neighborly, Courteous, slap-Happy and Orderly” (an acrostic for his name).
Pancho for President, June 10, 1942; El Joaquin, Vol. 1, No. 4; OV Vault 289, Stockton Assembly center; California Historical Society.
On closer study, little Pancho has an interesting backstory the reader may peruse in the El Joaquin Final Edition (page L3). When the newspaper staff discover little Pancho “perched pertly on the Art Editor’s desk” toting a huge sombrero with “patches of hair showing underneath” the staff writes that upon more close observation of this “mysterious object… we noticed that there was a face and even a body beneath the hat. ‘Hey,” we shouted, “What the ____.”
When they ask Pancho what he is doing there, Pancho replies, “Why… you know me. I helped develop the lands around here. I raised beets, celery, grapes, potatoes, and even carrots. I’ve been a doctor, lawyer, farmer, merchant, laborer and a scholar. You’ve seen me around -- everywhere. I came in when the evacuation order was issued, because I had to” (Final Edition, L3). The staff notes how their adopted mascot then leaps gracefully from the table to the right-hand corner of the front page with a cry of “Let it roll.” The story of Pancho within the pages of El Joaquin begins a subtle subversive thread of a character who is resilient and ready to take on the immense burden of captivity with an industrious spirit.
But the subversive hint doesn’t end here. Remember--the El Joaquin newspaper had to, by the nature of the people’s captivity, be tame since the captors and hired staff of administrators and center’s workers could read its contents. In the issues I reviewed, I didn’t find the significance of the name “El Joaquin.” I wondered if there was more to it than being emblematic of San Joaquin County, the center’s county location in Stockton. It turns out there may be more history there. Upon speaking with library staff at the San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum, the special collections staff thought that at first glance the newspaper was just named after the county. However, when the staff spoke with the Education Director, he mentioned that according to local lore the name has historical significance for one of the following reasons:
The newspaper was named after Joaquin Murrieta, a symbol of resistance.
Cover page, September 28, 1942; El Joaquin Final Edition, 1942; OV Vault 289, Stockton Assembly center; California Historical Society.
Joaquin Murrieta was a “legendary bandit who became a hero of the Mexican-Americans in California” during a time when Yankee miners pressured the legislature in Sacramento in 1850 to pass the Greaser Act and the Foreign Miners Act with the intent to drive out Mexicans (Encyclopædia Britannica). According to lore, Murrieta or several “Murrietas” responded to the oppression by “leading bands of outlaws that raided up and down the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, robbing gold miners and holding up stages” (Encyclopædia Britannica). Murrieta reached a symbolic status as a freedom fighter that has “long resonated and provided a powerful symbol of resistance for Chicano activists” (Encyclopædia Britannica). Could this resonance be the motive for the re-branding of El Joaquin Newspaper by the editors? Remember there is power in naming. Is it a reach to say that the branding of El Joaquin Newspaper by the editors was a subtle act of resistance? A way of reminding us of the historical implications of racist laws meant to favor one group over another and undoing it by capturing the original spirit of a Mexican migrant who wanted to settle with his bride in California?
Researchers must read between the lines and sometimes history is completely hidden from records and/or passed on as oral history. It’s hard to discover the “truth.” Remember the echoing lines, “Why… you know me. I helped develop the lands around here. I raised beets ... even carrots. I’ve been a doctor, lawyer, farmer, merchant, laborer and a scholar. You’ve seen me around -- everywhere. I came in when the evacuation order was issued, because I had to.” If the Japanese community saw themselves as Americans, they saw themselves as the traditional ideal of what Americans aspire to be: a helping hand, a laborer, a farmer, an intellectual. Whatever circumstance they are forced into, that ideal rises to meet the massive ‘challenge’ (an understatement in this context). Words are well but don’t always convey their true meaning. So we keep reading between the lines and between bodies’ gestures and actions.
What terribly complicates this captivity and the extent to which the captive can object, resist, or openly rebel are, of course, the children. Imagine if you were a parent under captivity. Imagine what you would do if you were forced out of your home and told that you and your children had to stay in an assembly center until further notice not knowing what will happen. What would you do?
The people at the Stockton Assembly Center and the newspaper staff got to work immediately-- organizing a nursery school; training Boy Scouts “the value of serving their communities” (A8, Final Issue); informing the “centerites” mothers that infant care would be provided as the dreams of the people were crushed when they were told they were being relocated to another new facility dubbed the “Arkansas project” (Final El Joaquin issue).
Pancho with travel bags, Aug. 8, 1942; El Joaquin, Vol. 2, no. 9. OV Vault 289, Stockton Assembly center; California Historical Society.
From church activities (Buddhist and Christian), to playing chess, performing Nisei symphonies, writing bittersweet poetry and humorous drawings, and setting up school lessons by dedicated volunteers serving as teachers in the center, the people of the Stockton Assembly Center arose to a difficult situation by uniting and organizing to make things work and to protect the children.
Kids playing chess, July 29, 1942; El Joaquin, Vol. 2, No. 6; OV Vault 289, Stockton Assembly center; California Historical Society.
“Night and a Mood” poem, September 28, 1942; El Joaquin Final Edition, 1942; OV Vault 289, Stockton Assembly center; California Historical Society.
When I say that reading El Joaquin is a strange experience I mean to reflect upon the strength of the human spirit--how we meet captivity by doing what we've always learned to do--laughing at ourselves; caring for the children, and ensuring that their minds and bodies keep active (I'm thinking of the Girls' All-Star Teams noted in the Final Edition); dancing with "shimmering hues of brightly colored kimonos" (Vo. II, No. 2); informing our community of the latest developments through print and word of mouth. This is what a resilient and resisting people do. One may ask the bold question: What else can you do when you hope that the lives of the children will continue and maybe even thrive despite the trauma of captivity.
History repeats itself but it need not. We can learn from our costly mistakes and those of our ancestors. We can grow wiser and be better humans. We can resist. We can protect each other if we unite and raise a cry of protest against injustice.
El Joaquin takes kids to center store, August 5, 1942; El Joaquin, Vol. II, No. 8; OV Vault 289, Stockton Assembly center; California Historical Society.
El Joaquin, 1942; OV Vault 289, Stockton Assembly center; California Historical Society.
Joaquin Murrieta. (2019, May 1). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 29, 2019 from
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joaquin-Murrieta
Nisei. (2017, September 11). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 29, 2019 from
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nisei
Stockton (detention facility). (2015, July 14). Densho Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:31, May 29, 2019 from https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Stockton%20(detention%20facility)/
Written by Lynda Letona, Assistant Archivist & Reference Librarian at California Historical Society (CHS).
Photos digitized by Marissa Friedman, Imaging Technician and Cataloger at CHS.
Labels: Children's Voices from the Archives, Japanese Americans, Japanese internment, North Baker Research Library, Stockton
Peoples Temple Publications Department photographs...
Uncovering remarkable documents through Teaching C...
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Voices from the Underworld: The Barbary Coast
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Catalogue Search for "series:(Occasional paper)" All Saints
Results 1 - 10 of 20
Sorted by Relevance Published Date (newest first) Published Date (oldest first) Title (A-Z) Title (Z-A) Main Author (A-Z) Main Author (Z-A)
The Development of critical reflection in the health professions
Book. English.
Published London: Higher Education Academy, Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre, 2004
Joined-up government
Published Oxford: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, c2005
'Joined- up government' is a key theme of modern government. The Labour government, first elected in 1997, decided that intractable problems such as social...
Jackie: an ideology of adolescent femininity
By McRobbie, Angela
Published Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies,University of Birmingham, 1978
Thomas Harrison: Georgian architet of Chester and Lancaster, 1744-1829
By Champness, John
Published Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies, 2005
This book on the life and work of architect Thomas Harrison includes many details on his buildings, using his influences and many contemporary drawings...
Picturing paradise: studies in eighteenth to twentieth-century gardens and garden design
Published Cambridge: University of Cambridge, Institute of Continuing Education, c2003
Thoughts on art education
By Arnheim, Rudolf
Published Los Angeles, Ca.: Getty Center for Education in the Arts, c1989
Out of sight but not out of mind: visually impaired people's perspectives of library & information services
By Davies, J. Eric
Published Loughborough: Library & Information Statistics Unit, Loughborough University, 2001
Economic evaluation model of National Electronic Site Licence Initiative (NESLI)'deals'
By White, Sonya
Published Loughborough: LISU, 2001
John Tunnard: a retrospective: Grey College 29 September - 22 October 2000
By Whitton, B. A. (Brian Alan), 1935-
Published London: Henry Dyson Fine Art, [2000]
Comparisons in early years education: history, fact and fiction
By Drummond, Mary Jane
Published Coventry: University of Warwick, Centre for Research in Elementary and Primary Education, 1999
Main Catalogue (95)
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From 88 197 198 1961 1969 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2011 To 88 197 198 1961 1969 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2011
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Conserving the Cockcroft-Walton generator
National Museum of Scotland,
Twists and turns: Stabilising an artefact for the David Livingstone exhibition
Proofread the Planets, Sub-Edit Space, and Don’t Forget to Look Up!
Cockroft
By Darren Cox
Darren Cox was previously an Assistant Conservator at National Museums Scotland.
Part of the Cockroft-Walton generator is now on display in the Grand Gallery at the National Museum of Scotland. It is made up of large oval metal capacitors spaced between finned, round, insulated Bakelite pillars and each diagonally connected by long, thin diodes.
All the component parts were found on shelves in a store room at the National Museums Collection Centre. Before any cleaning took place, we had a test run at constructing it. This gave us an idea of the height we could reach, the tools we would require on site and the order in which the components would be installed in the relatively confined location.
Cutting it down to size
It was decided that the generator would stand in the Grand Gallery, near the original entrance to the Museum. The first floor balcony in the main hall restricts the height to which the accelerator can be built. We also had to consider the size of the scaffolding, including a weight-bearing beam supported at the top to lift some of the heavier components over the glass rail and down into the space below, where the generator would eventually stand.
Comparing the on-site measurements of the area, with those from the test run made it clear that we would not have enough space to build up the whole generator. The generator in the original black and white photograph, which we were using as an instruction manual, was made up of fourteen capacitors (including the larger one at the top) and twelve diodes; it is now assembled with twelve capacitors and ten diodes.
Above: The complete Cockcroft-Walton accelerator at the University of Edinburgh.
The large, domed, dinghy shaped capacitor at the top weighs 200kgs and was transported on a custom-made frame. In advance of moving this to Chambers Street, a transportable jig made of corrugated plastic was constructed. To be certain the frame had a safe passage through the Museum, we walked this jig along the route from the delivery bay to the site in the Grand Gallery, through all the lifts, tight corners and doorways. Heights were also checked, and the goods lift (the only way into the Museum with this object) was the only close shave, with less than ten centimetres to spare.
Above: The top capacitor on its frame, in the goods lift.
A delicate move
Prior to the object arriving, a scaffold was constructed in the area with space for the generator to be constructed within. After the Museum had closed, all the parts were wheeled into the Grand Gallery, and using a two point lift the base was lifted up above the glass rail, pulled across and lowered into the space. Next, the top capacitor was raised to the top of the scaffold. This was suspended there until all the structure had been completed beneath and it could be lowered onto it.
The pillars, capacitors and diodes were built on top of this as high as we could using our smaller mobile scaffolds, which can be maneuvered around the object. The large top capacitor was then lowered down and attached to the top pillars. We finished work that night at about 2am. The whole object weighs 1282 kg (2826 lbs.) and is about 6 metres (19 feet 8 inches) tall.
Cockroft generator is now on display in the Grand Gallery at the National Museum of Scotland.
Read more about the Cockroft-Walton generator here.
- Posted 25th January 2013
My favourite museum object: Frozen tree in perspex
I am often asked what my favourite object in the National Museums Scotland collections is – which I find impossible…
By Dr Darren Cox
Bonding bugs and broken bits: the conservation of five modern glass art objects
How do you mend broken glass? When it comes to conserving delicate works of art you need a range of…
By Thea Christophersen
Ring of glass: a crystal clear challenge
As part of the Dan Klein conservation project, I worked on the sculpture Living as Two made by Lesley Wildman…
By Lydia Messerschmidt
And now in glorious Technicolor: the making of a digital colour reconstruction of the Umbrian Madonna and Child
Making a colour digital recreation of a 14th-century sculpture, where almost none of the original paint scheme has survived, is…
By Diana de Bellaigue
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Tag Archives: Coco Before Chanel
New Releases for the Week of November 20, 2009
You can bet there are more of these soulful looks where this one came from.
(Summit) Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Dakota Fanning, Rachelle Lefevre, Michael Sheen, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli. Directed by Chris Weitz
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware of the hype surrounding the second installment of the wildly successful juvenile vampire series by Stephenie Meyers. Here, soulful vampire Edward Cullen decides to leave his true love Bella in order to protect her from the dangers of the world of the undead, but in leaving her may inadvertantly expose her to even more danger. It will become up to her friend Jacob Black to protect her, but he harbors a secret of his own – and Jacob and Bella find an attraction happening that goes beyond friendship. Expect long lines of frenzied teen, pre-teen and post-teen girls this week.
See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Rating: PG-13 (for some violence and action)
(Warner Brothers) Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Kathy Bates, Quinton Aaron. From director John Lee Hancock (The Rookie) comes another true sports story about a homeless African-American boy who is taken in by a well-to-do white family and finds his life transformed at the same time transforming the lives of his new family. He goes on to become All-American football star Michael Oher.
Rating: PG-13 (for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references)
Coco Before Chanel
(Sony Classics) Audrey Tautou, Benoit Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain. Before she was one of the most influential names in fashion, Coco Chanel was an orphan who took an extraordinary journey to become the woman whose name became synonymous with modern fashion. Tautou gives an acclaimed performance in the title role.
Rating: PG-13 (for sexual content and smoking)
(Tri-Star) Starring the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long, Jessica Biel, Gary Oldman. The most recent entry into the animated feature sweepstakes is about an astronaut who lands on a new, earth-like planet – and finds it isn’t deserted. Now he must race against time in a xenophobic culture who wants to make him a permanent part of their Alien Invaders Museum to make it back to his command module before it is automatically recalled home without him.
Rating: PG (for mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humor)
(Lionsgate) Gabourey Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey. A young woman in Harlem circa 1987 overcomes adversity, parental abuse and an indifferent system to try and make something of herself. With a spirit that refuses to give up, and with the help of a precious few sympathetic souls, Precious triumphs over a world that has given her nothing but obstacles. This movie set a box office record for a single weekend opening in less than 100 theaters; now it is opening wide and is getting serious buzz for Oscar season.
Rating: R (for child abuse including sexual assault, and pervasive language)
Posted in New Releases | Tagged cinema, Coco Before Chanel, Dakota Fanning, Dwayne Johnson, Films, Gabourey Sidibe, Kristen Stewart, Mariah Carey, movies, No'Nique, November 20, Planet 51, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, Previews, Robert Pattinson, Sandra Bullock, Taylor Lautner, The Blind Side, The Twilight Saga: New Moon | 1 Reply
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Tag Archives: computer animation
Posted on April 6, 2010 by carlosdev
Hiccup and Toothless take flight.
(DreamWorks) Starring the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrara, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kirsten Wiig, T.J. Miller, Robin Atkin Downes, Phillip McGrade, Kieron Elliott, Ashley Jansen. Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean deBlois
Most of us have a preconceived notion of things. We live our lives in a kind of ordered routine, never questioning whether our ideas of how the world works are actually correct.
The village of Berk sits on a mountainous island in the North. It is, we are told, a very old village – but the houses are all new. That is because the village has a pest problem. Not spiders, termites or mosquitoes but dragons. Lots and lots of dragons of every shape and size. Dragons that breathe fire and swoop from the sky. Some have many eyes, others have many heads. Some are long and slender, others short and fat. They come in every color of the rainbow, and some are as black as night.
Those are the dreaded Night Furies, nearly invisible and lightning-fast. Rather than breathing fire, they emit a kind of pulse wave that flattens everything in its path. They are the most feared of all dragons and no Viking has ever seen one, much less killed one.
You see, the village of Berk has another pest, but those are the ones who actually live there. They’re Vikings and not just any Vikings, they’re Scottish Vikings. I know, I’m confused too; I had understood most Vikings to be Scandinavian but apparently I was mistaken. They’re Scots. All they’re missing are kilts. They do have, however, odd names meant to show how fearsome they are.
The most fearsome of the Scots…err, Vikings…is Stoick (Butler), a massive bull of a man with massive red hair and an equally massive red beard who is the most brave, most fearless and most ferocious of the Vikings. His son however, is not what you’d call a chip off the old block. His name is Hiccup (Baruchel) and he is as scrawny as his dad is beefy. He dreams of being a true Viking, a noble slayer of dragons but he doesn’t have the brawn and when the village is attacked, is banished to the armory to sharpen swords and spears with the one-armed, one-legged Cobber (Ferguson), who was once a fearsome warrior himself but now must content himself with training them and arming them.
One thing Hiccup is good at is engineering machines, and he creates a cannon that can launch a bolo a great distance. Despite the misgivings of Cobber and Stoick, he pulls out the cannon to a hillside but it is so dark he can’t see the dragons flying around in the night sky. Aiming and firing at what he hopes is a dragon, he is surprised when he actually hits something. However, he has a hard time being able to tell what it was and where it fell to.
Stoick knows that the Vikings are losing the war against the dragons. Their only hope to end this war once and for all is to find the dragons’ nest and destroy it. He intends to lead an expedition to do just that but before he goes Cobber advises him to put Hiccup into dragon fighter training, which Stoick knows will probably be another humiliation for his son, but he has really hit bottom.
Hiccup is in a class with the aggressive and pretty Astrid (Ferrara) as well as the cocky Snotlout (Hill), the overly intellectual Fishlegs (Mintz-Plasse) and the warring twins Ruffnut (Wiig) and Tuffnut (Miller). Cobber leads the class and as expected, Hiccup is an absolute failure. Cobber gives the class a book that contains all the information about the different types of dragons that the Vikings know about with orders to read it which the others almost disdainfully turn down. Hiccup takes the book to study it. Know thy enemy, after all.
In the meantime, he goes searching for the dragon he might have taken down and comes upon it in a quarry-like valley. It is all-black and nothing like what Hiccup expected. Here, at last, is his chance to kill a dragon, his chance to be a Viking, respected and admired.
Except the dragon is just as frightened as he is and Hiccup can’t bring himself to kill it. He resolves instead to get to know it, especially when he discovers that the dragon was wounded in the attack and is unable to fly out of the quarry or hunt. Hiccup helps to feed the dragon whom he names Toothless for its retractable teeth. Eventually Hiccup learns how to disable dragons with a single touch, and how to frighten them with eels and so becomes an unlikely success in his class. For his part, he designs a mechanical solution to help Toothless fly again and becomes Toothless’ pilot. The two become reliant on one another.
In the meantime, Stoick returns from an unsuccessful venture but is pleased and proud to hear that his son is finally doing well at something. Hiccup’s success in class has reaped the reward of the honor of being the first in his class to be allowed to kill a dragon. However, Hiccup has discovered that dragons are not the evil creatures the Vikings believe them to be and has learned the secret of their lair, the key to destroying the dragons altogether but within the lair is another secret that changes the dynamic altogether. Can he convince his father, who has never listened to a word he’s said his entire life, that he must change his viewpoint or will both dragon and men perish together at the hands of something far worse?
The latest from DreamWorks Animation may very well be among their best. It certainly ranks up there with Kung Fu Panda and Shrek. Directors Sanders and deBlois, who collaborated on Lilo and Stitch for Disney (deBlois also directed the excellent Sigur Ros concert film Heima), have made a film that soars, literally. The scenes in which Toothless and Hiccup fly together are some of the best animated sequences you’re likely to see this year. We saw the movie in IMAX 3D, and that lent a great deal of immersion to the proceedings. It comes as no surprise that the directors previously were responsible for Stitch; Toothless has a great deal of visual similarity to the alien creature of that movie.
The story, based on the book by Cressida Cowell, is very much Animated Feature 101 and doesn’t hold very many surprises. Still, the dialogue is witty in places and Baruchel is superb as the acerbic Hiccup. This is a movie that is certainly intended for much younger audiences (think single digits) and while adults might get a kick out of certain sequences (particularly the flying ones), for the most part it might bore older children and teens and some of the dragons might terrify the easily frightened.
Still, I found the movie has a certain lopsided charm that I can’t ignore. It’s one of those cases where the sum of the parts doesn’t equal to the whole, and the whole is greater than the sum of those parts. That’s a good thing, incidentally; even if I can’t necessarily explain that charm, I can nonetheless report that it’s there and worth experiencing for yourself.
REASONS TO GO: One of the best-looking non-Pixar animated features yet. Awesome dragon flight sequences will take your breath away. Seriously funny in places.
REASONS TO STAY: The plot is somewhat formulaic as far as family films go.
FAMILY VALUES: There’s some cartoon violence but nothing you don’t see on the Cartoon Network day after day. Perfectly fine for all audiences.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: A Night Fury dragon can be seen occluding the stars during the DreamWorks opening banner if you look carefully.
HOME OR THEATER: The flying sequences alone are worth seeing in a theater.
TOMORROW: The Go-Getter
Posted in New Releases | Tagged America Ferrara, based on a book, based on a childrens book, bolo, Chris Sanders, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, cinema, computer animation, Craig Ferguson, Cressida Cowell, Dean deBlois, dragons, Dreamworks, Dreamworks Animation, engineering, family films, feature animation, Films, friendship, Gerard Butler, How to Train Your Dragon, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Kirsten Wiig, longboats, loyalty, movies, reviews, Scots, sheep, teamwork, Vikings | 2 Replies
All in all, there are worse sights than an eager Wilderness Ranger when you open your front door.
(Disney) Starring the voices of Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, Delroy Lindo, John Ratzenberger, Bob Peterson, Jerome Ranft, David Kaye, Elie Docter, Jeremy Leary, Mickie McGowan, Danny Mann. Directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson.
Some people wait their entire lives for the adventure of a lifetime, only to see it pass us by. The truth is, the only reason not to go out and grab our dreams by the throat is our fear of leaving our familiar existence.
Young Carl Fredricksen (Leary) is a little shy but not about his favorite subject – adventurer Charles Muntz (Plummer). With a dirigible luxuriously outfitted for his family of dogs, Muntz goes to locations all over the globe to find strange and exotic creatures for study, and the newsreels of the time eat it all up. After a trip to South America and a particularly remote location called Paradise Falls – a land lost to time – Muntz returns with a skeleton of a large bird. Experts, however, decry the skeleton as fake. Disgraced and stripped of his membership in professional societies and stung by the assaults on his character, he takes off in his airship for Venezuela, vowing not to return until he has a live specimen to vindicate his name. He is not seen again.
Despite his hero’s fall from grace, Carl is not deterred in his worship. He meets young Ellie (Docter) who shares his obsession. She has even commandeered an abandoned house to serve as her personal airship. As talkative and outgoing as Carl is shy and timid, Ellie and Carl take to each other like cats to milk.
They grow up and marry. Now a man, Carl (Asner) becomes a balloon vendor at a zoological park where Ellie works as a docent. He buys her the old abandoned house where they played as children and work hard to make it their dream home. They go on picnics and watch the clouds drift by, but their dream is the same; one day to build a home on remote Paradise Falls.
They save their pennies for the trip, but life gets in the way. They continually have to borrow from their trip fund for everyday crises; auto repairs, home repairs, medical repairs. They have a good life, but not without its share of heartache. At last, there comes a day when Ellie isn’t able to make the climb up the hill to their favorite picnic spot. Faithful Carl stays with her in the hospital, but she knows where this is leading. She hands Carl her adventure scrapbook, meaning for him to read it. Not long after that, he must face life alone without her.
He opens her scrapbook regularly, but is unable to get past the section that reads “Stuff I’m Going to Do” believing that he failed to give her the adventures she dreamed of, knowing those pages would be blank. He is lost, cantankerous and alone, walking with one of those canes with four tennis balls on them. When Russell (Nagai), an overweight Asian-American Wilderness Explorer comes to his door asking him if he can aid Carl in any way (so he can get the final merit badge to become a Senior Explorer), Carl literally sends him on a snipe hunt. The good-natured Russell is only too happy to help.
Around their home developers are putting together one of those godawful mixed use apartment buildings with shopping and casual dining on the first floor. His home stands in their way, and they are constantly pressuring him to sell which he adamantly refuses to do, despite the best efforts of their construction foreman (Ratzenberger). When a construction worker backs into his mailbox which is marked by Ellie’s handprint, Carl loses it.
This gives the faceless developers the opening they need. Carl is taken to court where he is judged a menace to society. He is ordered sent to a retirement facility, which would allow the developers to raze his home to the ground.
Carl is faced with a decision. He can accept his fate and give up on life, or he can take the opportunity to finally become the explorer he and Ellie always wanted to be. With the ingenuity of a born balloonist, he ties thousands upon thousands of balloons to his home, fashions an ingenious steering system through his weather vane and heads up.
Flying over the city, he feels liberated for the first time since Ellie left. He settles into his favorite easy chair to enjoy his flight when there is, oddly, a knock at the door. When he opens it, he is startled to discover Russell, who had been chasing the Snipe (which he admits looked oddly like a field mouse) under the porch at the time of lift off. Russell had scrambled onto the porch and now was a reluctant stowaway. Carl, knowing that it is too dangerous to leave him exposed on the porch, invites him in.
After a storm tosses them about, they at last arrive on the plateau of Paradise Falls, but on the wrong side. They don’t have a great deal of flight capability because the helium is slowly leaking from the balloons. Carl means to drag the house to the opposite side of the plateau to at last retire to the place he and Ellie meant to be.
Before he can do that, he must contend with talking dogs, a rather persistent chocolate-eating bird and an embittered and obsessive Charles Muntz. He must also weigh doing the right thing against completing his dream, but what if doing the right thing would mean betraying the person who has meant everything to him his entire life?
This is being hailed as Pixar’s finest creation to date, and not without justification. First of all, there’s the look of the film. It is brightly colorful, virtually eye-popping in every detail. The animation is stylized, yes but with an amazing and rich detail that will make repeated viewings a pleasure.
Then there’s the tone. Director Pete Docter – who previously helmed Monsters, Inc and co-wrote WALL-E – has crafted Carl Fredricksen’s life with loving care. The opening sequence which essentially sets the table is a stunning bit of filmmaking. Poignant and heartbreaking in spots, it also has some laugh-out-loud funny moments. In many ways, Carl Fredricksen is the most complete character in terms of personality that Pixar has ever created. Fredricksen has a great big heart, but that heart has been broken. He is cantankerous, short-tempered and a bit selfish. He is far from perfect, but when the chips are down he comes through.
It is to Docter and Pixar’s credit that they create an action hero who is old and not in the best of shape. In fact, only Muntz is the kind of fit hero we are used to seeing in adventure movies. Russell is certainly out of shape and Dug (Ranft), the likable talking dog that befriends Carl and Russell, is more of a mutt than the sleek, menacing dogs that Muntz uses as his army.
This was the first animated film to open the Cannes Film Festival, an honor normally reserved for French live-action films, and an honor richly deserved. There is no doubt in my mind that this film is deserving of an Oscar nomination for Best Picture; whether or not that happens is anybody’s guess, but it certainly is a better movie than Finding Nemo and to my mind, Beauty and the Beast which did get the nomination in that category, the only animated feature thus honored to date.
Poignant without being sentimental and never talking down to its audience (which may blow some of the more heart-rending scenes right by younger viewers), this is another triumph for Pixar. Yes, the kids will love the bright colors, the action and the strange creatures of Paradise Falls, but their parents will appreciate the well-rounded characters, the thoughtful story and the uplifting message that we are never too old to begin an adventure. Up is one of the best movies you will see this year.
WHY RENT THIS: Simply put one of the best movies of the year. Poignant in places and funny in others, it presents a well-rounded and believable character in Carl Fredricksen. The colors are eye-popping; it’s a gorgeous movie to look at.
WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Some of the more heart-wrenching moments may go over the head of younger children, who may get restless in places.
FAMILY VALUES: Suitable for all but the very youngest of children.
TRIVIAL PURSUITS: The Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story can be seen in the streets while Carl’s house is rising, and also in the final scene in the parking lot.
NOTABLE DVD FEATURES: The Blu-Ray contains a new Dug animated feature, as well as footage from the filmmakers trip to Venezuela, which would inspire the Paradise Falls location in the movie.
TOMORROW: The Ugly Truth
Posted in DVD Review | Tagged aging, animated feature, Christopher Plummer, cinema, computer animation, Delroy Lindo, Disney, DVD Reviews, Ed Asner, exploring, Films, John Ratzenberger, movies, Paradise Falls, Pete Docter, Pixar, Up | Leave a reply
Posted on November 1, 2009 by carlosdev
Dino line dancing - the next big Hollywood trend.
(20th Century Fox) Starring the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Simon Pegg, Seann William Scott, Kirsten Wiig, Chris Wedge, Jane Lynch, Josh Peck, Bill Hader, Karen Disher. Directed by Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier.
For most of us, family isn’t the only thing – it’s everything. There are also all sorts of families, some not so readily apparent as others.
The Ice Age is in full swing and Ellie the Mammoth (Latifah) is expecting a child any day now. Her mate Manny (Romano) is of course as bumbling, moronic and well-intentioned as most cinematic expectant fathers. He builds a playground on which he has stuck snowballs to blunt the sharp branches on trees and beaks on birds. He goes into paroxysms of panic whenever Ellie has indigestion. Still, it’s a great time to be a mammoth. Everything is as it should be, with friends all around and Scrat (Wedge) chasing the ever-elusive acorns.
Still, not all is well in paradise. Diego the saber-toothed tiger (Leary) and Sid the sloth (Leguizamo) are feeling a bit left out. Diego, who is losing some of his predatory edge, having been outrun by a gazelle (Hader), decides to leave for greener pastures. Sid, being Sid, finds some strange eggs in an underground cavern and decides to adopt them as his own children. Scrat has discovered a rival, the seductive flying squirrel Scratte (Disher) who is maddeningly attractive.
Then the eggs hatch and instead of furry little mammals there are carnivorous reptiles – big ones. Think Tyrannosaurus Rex-sized. What’s worse, Mama Rex has come looking for her missing babies and is none-too-pleased to find them with warm-blooded types. She picks them up – and Sid too – and carries them back underground.
As annoying as Sid is, his friends decide to band up once again and go search for him in the cavern. Although Manny and Diego are skeptical as to Sid’s survival chances, Ellie and her entourage – Crash (Scott) and Eddie (Peck) the possums – are insistent, so down below they go.
They find a whole new world there, one of lush tropical vegetation, lava falls and lots and lots of dinosaurs. Some are friendly, some not so much. No time to wonder how this world got here or how it can sustain itself, they’ve got to find Sid. However, they need a guide to this world that is unfamiliar and dangerous. One is provided in Buck (Pegg), a one-eyed weasel (make of that what you will) who has spent years tracking down the gigantic white dinosaur who took his eye. Ahab, meet Moby Dick.
I will say this about Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – the animation is superb, keeping the cartoon-like qualities that satisfy the kids but keeping it real to satisfy their parents. Strangely, though, the performances are a bit flat. There’s no sense of fun and wonder that made the first two Ice Age movies so entertaining. Instead, you get the feeling that this was rushed through for the sole purpose of filling a spot on the Fox release schedule and making the big bucks that the first two did.
There is also a lot more of Scrat and his new partner here. Scrat has become more popular in many ways than the main characters of the story are. They use him for the trailers as well as the advertisements. Scrat, as in the first two movies, almost never interacts with the main characters. While his sequences are among the best and funniest in the movie, they seem almost like commercial interruptions and I suppose in a way they are. Gotta sell that Scrat merch, after all. Still, I’ve always loved the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons and the Scrat sequences are a lot like that.
This is very kid-friendly in every way with all that implies. When stacked up against the Pixar and DreamWorks movies, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur doesn’t compare very favorably. Still in all, it’s a pleasant if unchallenging 90 minutes of summertime fun, and the kids are going to want to see it regardless of whether you do or not. Accordingly, make plans to buy this for the tykes if you intend to have any peace in your household over the next few months. Don’t forget the toys, action figures and video games that are sure to be demanded in the wake of the movie.
REASONS TO GO: Extremely well-animated. Nothing here is all that offensive, and the Scrat sequences are hysterical at times.
REASONS TO STAY: Kind of boring, kind of bland.
FAMILY VALUES: Perfect summertime entertainment for bored kids – not so much for their parents.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The Buck character was based not on Crocodile Dundee so much, but on Frank Buck, a legendary hunter and adventurer whose exploits inspired the TV series “Bring ‘em Back Alive.”
NOTABLE DVD FEATURES: The Expanded 2-Disc DVD and Blu-Ray editions include the Scrat Pack, a collection of every Scrat short ever made, some of which are included on DVD editions of the first two films. There are also a couple of Ice Age games. Surprisingly, the DVD is presented in 2D whereas it was released theatrically in 3D. That’s a shame, because the 3D presentation was one of the best of recent years.
TOMORROW: Amelia
Posted in DVD Review | Tagged 20th Century Fox, animated feature, Bill Hader, cinema, computer animation, Denis Leary, dinosaurs, DVD Review, family movies, Films, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Jane Lynch, John Leguizamo, Kirsten Wiig, mammoths, movies, Queen Latifah, Ray Romano, Seann William Scott, Simon Pegg | Leave a reply
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MORTISE v. UNITED STATES
Bernard J. MORTISE and Cheryl L. Mortise, Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
Nos. 86, 87, Dockets 96-6046, 96-6048.
Decided: December 24, 1996
Before: FEINBERG, CARDAMONE, and McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judges. Paul L. Pileckas, Rome, NY, for Appellants. William F. Larkin, Assistant United States Attorney, Northern District of New York, Syracuse, NY, for Appellee.
On a Saturday night in early March, 1991, Bernard and Cheryl Mortise and their friends, the Wagners, were riding on All Terrain Vehicles (ATV's) in upstate New York on land owned by Oneida County (the “County”). ATV's are three or four wheel motorized recreational vehicles somewhat akin to motorcycles. The Mortises had their own ATV's, as did each of the Wagners.
They sported on logging roads near Route 49 close to the town of New London. The Mortises had made similar trips in the past; as before, the Mortises did not notice any signs or fences restricting the use of the land. On the fateful Saturday evening, unbeknownst to the Mortises, the County had given the 108th Infantry Regiment of the Army National Guard permission to use the same land for training exercises.
Three years earlier, in 1988, the County had entered into an agreement with 108th Infantry Regiment regarding the use of the land near New London. Under the Agreement, the National Guard would “on occasion” use the land for overnight field training exercises. The National Guard advised the County that blank ammunition and smoke would be used during some training exercises. The National Guard, for its part, had agreed that the United States would be responsible for any damage, injury or death caused by the National Guard during these exercises.
A. The Mishap
Near dusk, the Mortises and the Wagners travelled into the woods on the logging road. They had been driving on this particular land for a number of years, and noticed only the occasional hiker or ATV. This Saturday evening, however, Mrs. Mortise spied shadows in the woods, but thought nothing of it. The four continued up the wooded trail.
The Mortises did not realize that those shadows were cast by members of the 108th infantry Regiment. The Guardsmen were engaged in mock “wargames,” setting up mortar placements, and roaming the woods, armed with M-16 assault rifles, .9 millimeter semi-automatic pistols, and 81 millimeter mortars. As is common in such exercises, Guardsmen had placed trip wires near mortar placements. When faux “enemies” approached mortar placements they would trigger the tripwires, setting off smoke flares, and revealing the “enemy” position.
Lieutenant Thomas Hanley, the mortar platoon leader, saw the four ATV's travel into the woods on the logging road. He did not, however, try to stop them, or inform his men to take precautions because he assumed that other Guardsmen saw the ATV's as well. The Mortises had passed within a few yards of a mortar position. After the group went up the trail, a Guardsman rigged a tripwire across the road behind the ATV's, and attached it to a flare.
Around 9:30 P.M., the Mortises and their friends were returning from the woods, driving back down the logging road, single file. Mr. Mortise was in the lead, his wife was about 50 feet behind him, and the Wagners behind her. Mr. Mortise tripped the wire, igniting a flare that spewed debris over him and his vehicle. Instantly, Guardsmen in camouflage uniforms roared out of the woods. The Guardsmen pointed their rifles at Mr. Mortise's head, and “dry-fired” (i.e., no bullets) the triggers. Mr. Mortise pleaded with them not to shoot. The Guardsmen told Mr. Mortise to “shut up” and to shut off his ATV. One of the Guardsmen actually fired a blank round.
Mrs. Mortise saw the explosion, the Guardsmen raising their guns to her husband, and she heard the blank shot fired. She thought her husband had been shot and began to scream. A Guardsman told her to shut up. Moments later, Mr. Mortise approached her and told her to calm down. She wanted to run away, but Mr. Mortise told her not to because there were “too many of them.” The Guardsmen, convinced that the four ATV'ers were enemy decoys in the wargame, treated the Mortises brusquely, cursing, and telling them that they were “prisoners.”
Lt. Hanley soon arrived on the scene. He told the Mortises that they had stumbled into a National Guard training exercise, and that their capture had been a misunderstanding. He tried to explain the Guardsmen's confusion. After a brief conversation, the Mortises and their friends were allowed to leave, shaken by the outrageous conduct of the National Guard.
Mrs. Mortise subsequently entered the care of a psychologist. She has nightmares, and harbors fears of going out at night, of people in uniforms, and of shopping by herself.
B. The Mortises' Lawsuits
In December 1993, Mr. and Mrs. Mortise each filed individual lawsuits against the United States in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. (Hurd, Magistrate Judge ) In their complaints, the Mortises alleged that the negligence of the National Guardsmen caused them “mental and emotional injuries.” With the consent of the parties, the case was referred to Magistrate Judge David Hurd. The government filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that because the Mortises claims arose out of an assault-a tort for which the government has not waived sovereign immunity-the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction.
The Magistrate granted the government's motion, reasoning that a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress (which plaintiffs never asserted in the district court) was “the same” as a claim for an assault from which the government is immune, and that the Mortises' claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress failed to state a claim under New York law.
The Mortises now appeal, arguing that summary judgment was improper because there is a question as to whether there was a duty owed by the government to the Mortises as third-party beneficiaries of the contract between the National Guard and Oneida County. They also claim that there is a question of fact as to whether the Guardsmen's conduct was an assault, negligent infliction of emotional distress, or a combination of the two.
We review de novo a district court's grant of summary judgment. Williams v. Greifinger, 97 F.3d 699, 702 (2d Cir.1996) (citation omitted). Summary judgment is appropriate when, viewing all the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, there is no genuine issue of material fact. Buttry v. General Signal Corp., 68 F.3d 1488, 1492 (2d Cir.1995); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
The Mortises argue that there are jury questions whether the National Guardsmen's conduct constitutes assault or negligent infliction of emotional distress. We conclude that there is no legal basis either for a claim of assault or for a claim of negligent infliction of emotional distress. Because there is nothing for a jury's consideration, summary judgment was proper.
A. Immunity
In the formative years of our country, Chief Justice Marshall declared that “[t]he universally received opinion is, that no suit can be commenced or prosecuted against the United States.” Cohens v. Virginia, 19 U.S. [6 Wheat.] 264, 411-412, 5 L.Ed. 257 (1821). Sixty years later the Supreme Court retreated from absolute immunity to the more defensible position that the “United States cannot be lawfully sued without its consent in any case.” United States v. Lee, 106 U.S. 196, 204, 1 S.Ct. 240, 247, 27 L.Ed. 171 (1882). Thus, “sovereign immunity” protects the United States from suit unless Congress specifically abrogates that immunity by statute. See, e.g., Finn v. United States, 123 U.S. 227, 233, 8 S.Ct. 82, 85, 31 L.Ed. 128 (1887); United States v. Shaw, 309 U.S. 495, 504, 60 S.Ct. 659, 662-63, 84 L.Ed. 888 (1940).
Under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), the government has waived its sovereign immunity for a number of torts. 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq. Section 2680 of the FTCA, however, expressly refuses to waive sovereign immunity for any claims arising out of assault or battery. 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h). In short, any claim the Mortises have against the government for assault is barred for lack of jurisdiction.
B. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
The government spills much ink trying to persuade us that the Mortises' claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress has no merit. The effort, however, is feckless because the Mortises never made such a claim before the district court. It appears nowhere in the appellants' pleadings or their briefs. At oral argument, the Mortises' attorney specifically stated that the Mortises make no claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Hence, we will consider it no further.
C. Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
The Mortises concentrate most of their effort arguing that there are jury questions regarding their claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress. We rule, as a matter of law, that the Mortises have no claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress.
The liability of the federal government under the FTCA is generally determined by state law. See 28 U.S.C. § 2674; Metzen v. United States, 19 F.3d 795, 807 (2d Cir.1994). Hence, we look to New York tort principles to determine the Mortises' claim for relief on a theory of negligent infliction of emotional distress under the FTCA.
Under New York law, a plaintiff may establish such a claim in one of two ways: (1) the “bystander” theory; or (2) the “direct duty theory.”
A plaintiff may recover for a purely emotional injury under the “bystander” theory when: (1) she is threatened with physical harm as a result of defendant's negligence; and (2) consequently she suffers emotional injury from witnessing the death or serious bodily injury of a member of her immediate family. See Bovsun v. Sanperi, 61 N.Y.2d 219, 230-31, 473 N.Y.S.2d 357, 461 N.E.2d 843 (1984). Logically, Mrs. Mortise is the only one who could conceivably recover under a “bystander” theory, because she witnessed the bizarre attack on her husband. Mrs. Mortise's claim, however, is fatally deficient both because her own physical safety was never threatened and she did not see Mr. Mortise suffer a serious physical injury.
Under the “direct duty” theory a plaintiff has a cause of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress if she suffers an emotional injury from defendant's breach of a duty which unreasonably endangered her own physical safety. Kennedy v. McKesson Co., 58 N.Y.2d 500, 504, 462 N.Y.S.2d 421, 448 N.E.2d 1332 (1983); Green v. Leibowitz, 118 A.D.2d 756, 500 N.Y.S.2d 146, 148 (N.Y.App.Div.1986). The duty in such cases must be specific to the plaintiff, and not some amorphous, free-floating duty to society. See Johnson v. Jamaica Hosp., 62 N.Y.2d 523, 526-27, 478 N.Y.S.2d 838, 467 N.E.2d 502 (1984). Neither of the Mortises has a cause of action under a direct duty theory. While the Guardsmen may have had a generalized duty to prevent unreasonable risks of harm to passers-by, this duty was not specific to the Mortises.
To establish that there was a specific, unique duty owed to them, the Mortises maintain that they were third-party beneficiaries of the contract between Oneida County and the federal government. This argument smells of the lamp since it surfaces for the first time on appeal. The Mortises did not raise this third party beneficiary theory before the district court. We generally do not consider an argument for the first time on appeal unless to do otherwise would create manifest injustice. See Greene v. United States, 13 F.3d 577, 586 (2d Cir.1994).
In any event, the third party beneficiary theory is meritless. Generally, only an intended beneficiary of a contract may assert a claim as a third-party beneficiary. Cahill v. Lazarski, 641 N.Y.S.2d 124, 125 (N.Y.App.Div.1996). There is no indication that the agreement between the federal government and Oneida County was intended to confer a benefit on the Mortises. Indeed, there is no evidence that the government or the County even knew of their existence. The purpose of the contract was to release the County from liability for the actions of the Guardsmen. The agreement conferred no benefit on any entity other than the County. Any protection for passers-by, such as the Mortises, lay in general tort principles, not the contract.
Although the conduct of the National Guard was, as already indicated, outrageous, the law requires us to affirm the district court's grant of the government's motion for summary judgment.
McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judge:
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Global life science services platform unites under Catchword name: Eversana
By Erin Milnes
This week, the fast-growing life science services platform built in partnership with investment firms Water Street Healthcare Partners and JLL Partners unveiled its new name and brand: Eversana. Catchword developed the name, a blend of ever and sana (Latin for “healthy”), to convey the company’s long-term commitment to advance life sciences for a healthier world.
Eversana encompasses the six premier service providers that were merged over the past year to form the industry-leading platform: Dohmen Life Science Services, The Access Group, Alliance Life Sciences, Health Strategies Group, Triplefin, and Patient Experience Project.
“As our name implies, Eversana is poised to offer the services and products that support today’s needs and tomorrow’s future,” said Jim Lang, chief executive officer, in a release. “Together, we offer integrated solutions to the life science industry that address the shift to value-based, patient-centered care and deliver long-term sustainable value for payers, providers, channel partners, and patients.”
Water Street approached Catchword to name the company last May on a fast track for rollout early October. In partnership with the Water Street team, we developed thousands of names, then narrowed to several hundred that expressed the brand’s messages.
In addition to ever and sana, the name recalls versatility, suggesting the company’s range of services and ability to respond to the ever-changing life sciences industry, healthcare system, and patient needs.
Eversana employs more than 1,500 experts and professionals around the world that collaborate with more than 500 organizations to maximize the impact of new therapies.
Catchword developed the name, a blend of ever and sana (Latin for “healthy”), to convey the company’s long-term commitment to advance life sciences for a healthier world.
Tags: life sciences company, merger naming
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Indictment of Bishop Williamson sought
Prosecutors seek summary fine
Regensburg, Germany - Richard Williamson, a British-born Catholic fundamentalist clergyman who has claimed the Nazis had no Holocaust gas chambers, may face a summary fine in Germany, a judge disclosed Thursday.
In Germany, denying the Holocaust is a hate crime. If Williamson accepts the fine as a penalty for sedition, he would not have to appear in court.
Johann Ploed, a judge in the city of Regensburg, declined to say what the penalty would be, but said, 'It would likely be a fine.' The prosecutors had applied Wednesday for the fine, but only judges can order it. They needed a week to review the case, he said.
Pope Benedict XVI repealed in January the excommunication of Williamson, who has been consecrated a bishop by his own Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). Williamson's anti-Holocaust remarks on German soil to a Swedish interviewer became public knowledge soon after.
Speaking late last year, Williamson, 69, alleged that the Nazi gas chambers had never existed, and 'only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews' had been killed by the Nazis. He was speaking at an SSPX seminary near Regensburg.
Williamson has said through his lawyer that he was assured his remarks would not be broadcast in Germany, but only in Sweden, a nation where there is no law against Holocaust denial.
A Munich newspaper, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, said the prosecutors had received a letter from the Swedish television producers in which they denied offering any assurance to Williamson that the interview, conducted in English, would be broadcast in Sweden only.
Presiding judge Ploed said that since Williamson does not live in Germany, any summary fine could be served on his attorney instead.
Williamson's remarks outraged many Catholics and Jews, and led to criticism of the Vatican reconciliation with the SSPX splinter group.
Historical research using population data suggests between 5 million and 6 million European Jews were killed by privation and violence during the Second World War. The Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem estimates it has names of up to 4 million.
They met their deaths in different ways. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were 'exterminated' with gas at Auschwitz death camp.
Links From ChrisG 2 comments: Labels: Bishop Wiliamson, Holocaust, SSPX
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Beloved Bishop Rueger dies at 89; services Friday and Saturday
Most Reverend George E. Rueger, retired auxiliary bishop of Worcester, deceased at 89
Beloved bishop may be best remembered by the estimated 20,000 teens he confirmed
WORCESTER –The Most Reverend George Edward Rueger, retired auxiliary bishop of Worcester, died peacefully on Saturday, April 6, at Christopher House in Worcester. He was 89 years old.
Bishop Robert J. McManus said, “I am profoundly saddened by the death of Bishop George Rueger. He was a kind and gentle priest and bishop who dedicated every moment of his life to the people of the Diocese of Worcester whom he loved so deeply. His humility, which was grounded in a complete commitment to his vocation to the priesthood, was an inspiration for all of us who are ordained. As a good steward of all the gifts God gave him, he lived simply and shared all he had with those in need. May Christ greet his immortal soul with the words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Join me in my Father's house.’”
Bishop George Edward Rueger was born September 3, 1929 in Framingham, the son of Edward G. and Mary T. (Reddy) Rueger.
He attended South High School and St. Peter High School. After attending the College of the Holy Cross from 1949 to 1950, he entered Cardinal O’Connor Minor Seminary in Jamaica Plain. He completed his studies for the priesthood at St. John Seminary in Brighton. He also did post-graduate studies at Harvard University.
Father Rueger was ordained a priest Jan. 6, 1958 by Bishop John J. Wright in St. Paul Cathedral, Worcester. He served as assistant pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in East Millbury and St. Peter Parish in Worcester.
In June 1965 he was named the first headmaster of Marian Central Catholic High School, Worcester.
In 1974 he was named assistant pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Leominster. Two years later he was elected president of the diocesan Senate of Priests. In 1977 he was named pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Hopedale.
He was appointed diocesan Superintendent of Catholic Schools on Aug. 1, 1978, while remaining pastor in Hopedale. On Dec. 1, 1980 he returned to full-time ministry in Hopedale. Three months later, on Feb. 27, 1981 he was named pastor of St. Peter Parish.
Pope John Paul II named Bishop Rueger Auxiliary Bishop of Worcester and titular bishop of Maronana. Titular bishops are those who have been appointed by the Holy See to a see or diocese which, for all practical purposes, no longer exists. He chose “That They All May Be One” as his episcopal motto. It is taken from the Gospel of John (17:21-22).
On Feb. 25, 1987, he was ordained a bishop in St. Paul Cathedral. Bishop Timothy J. Harrington was consecrator. Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan, second Bishop of Worcester, and Bishop John A. Marshall, Bishop of Burlington, Vt., who had been a priest in Worcester, were co-consecrators.
Bishop Rueger served as auxiliary bishop for 18 years assisting Bishop Timothy J. Harrington, Bishop Daniel P. Reilly and Bishop Robert J. McManus.
In June 1998, Bishop Reilly named him to a new position, diocesan moderator of the curia, while he continued as vicar general. The curia are the agencies and offices that contribute to the operation of the diocese. The moderator is the chief operating officer and coordinator of daily activities.
After 47 years of service to the diocese, 18 of them as auxiliary bishop, and after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 in 2004, he submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul II, who accepted it.
In October that year, Bishop Rueger received the Collaborative Award for Education and Ministry and the St. Vincent de Paul Society announced the Bishop Rueger Fund for the Poor, honoring his dedication to those in need. The diocesan Adopt-A-Student program established the Bishop George E. Rueger Scholarship, to be given annually to honor the bishop’s support for education, according to Robert R. Pape, Adopt-A-Student chairman.
On the occasion of his 60th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood, he shared the following in an interview with The Catholic Free Press. “I think today that the priests have to continue in the way of holiness. The young generation coming along -- they have to realize how wonderful it is to change bread into the Body of Christ and to help a person who is steeped in sin to come to a life filled with love.”
“I think that every priest enjoys certain parts of the priesthood and he puts those uppermost in his mind,” the bishop continued. “Whatever parish he’s in, to the best of his ability, he proclaims Christ. And young and old, and all the people, come to love his priesthood as they witness him every day.”
”The thing I guess I want to say more than anything else: no matter where you go and whatever you do, you do it with joy and happiness, because you are reflecting, to the best of your ability, the Lord Jesus, the first priest. He sought to bring people closer to God, and so, in everything he did and said, he was being a priest.”
Bishop Rueger’s body will be received at St. Paul Cathedral on Friday, April 12 at 1 p.m. at a Liturgy of the Word. The viewing and visitation will take place from 2 – 7 pm. That evening a Vigil service with Vespers will take place at 7 p.m. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated the following day, Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral. The committal service and burial will follow in St. John Cemetery, Parker Road, Lancaster. The public is invited throughout the two days and the funeral liturgy will be carried on Charter TV3 (Channel 193) and livestreamed by diocesan TV Ministry at worcesterdiocese.org.
Funeral arrangements are under the care of Alfred Roy and Sons Funeral Home of Worcester.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Bishop Rueger can be made to Priests’ Retirement Fund or the Adopt-A-Student Program, Diocese of Worcester, 49 Elm Street, Worcester, MA 01609.
See Adopt-A-Student vimeo on Bishop Rueger from 2014.
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Guide for the Perplexed
« Prev Chapter XLIX. Figurative Expressions applied to… Next »
CHAPTER XLIX
THE angels are likewise incorporeal: they are intelligences without matter, but they are nevertheless created beings, and God created them, as will be explained below. In Bereshith Rabbah (on Gen. iii. 24) we read the following remark of our Sages: “The angel is called ‘the flame of the sword which turned every way’ (Gen. iii. 24), in accordance with the words, ‘His ministers a flaming fire’ (Ps. civ. 4); the attribute, ‘which turned every way’ is added, because angels are changeable in form they appear at one time as males, at another as females; now as spirits; now as angels.” By this remark they clearly stated that angels are incorporeal, and have no permanent bodily form independent of the mind [of him who perceives them], they exist entirely in prophetic vision, and depend on the action of the imaginative power, as will be explained when speaking on the true meaning of prophecy. As to the words “at another time as females,” which imply that the Prophets in prophetical vision perceived angels also in the form of women, they refer to the vision of Zechariah (v. 9), “And, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings.” You know very well how difficult it is for men to form a notion of anything immaterial, and entirely devoid of corporeality, except after considerable training: it is especially difficult for those who do not distinguish between objects of the intellect and objects of the imagination, and depend mostly on the mere imaginative power. They believe that all imagined things exist or at least have the possibility of existing; but that which cannot be imagined does not exist, and cannot exist. For persons of this class — and the majority of thinkers belong to it — cannot arrive at the true solution of any question, or at the explanation of anything doubtful. On account of this difficulty the prophetic books contain expressions which, taken literally, imply that angels are corporeal, moving about, endowed with human form, receiving commands of God, obeying His word and performing whatever He wishes, according to His command. All this only serves to lead to the belief that angels exist, and are alive and perfect, in the same way as we have explained in reference to God. If the figurative representation of angels were limited to this, their true essence would be believed to be the same as the essence of God, since, in reference to the Creator expressions are likewise employed, which literally imply that He is corporeal, living, moving and endowed with human form. In order, therefore, to give to the mind of men the idea that the existence of angels is lower than the existence of God, certain forms of lower animals were introduced in the description of angels. It was thereby shown, that the existence of God is more perfect than that of angels, as much as man is more perfect than the lower animals. Nevertheless no organ of the brute creation was attributed to the angels except wings. Without wings the act of flying appears as impossible as that of walking without legs: for these two modes of motion can only be imagined in connection with these organs. The motion of flying has been chosen as a symbol to represent that angels possess life, because it is the most perfect and most sublime movement of the brute creation. Men consider this motion a perfection to such an extent that they themselves wish to be able to fly, in order to escape easily what is injurious, and to obtain quickly what is useful, though it be at a distance. For this reason this motion has been attributed to the angels.
There is besides another reason. The bird in its flight is sometimes visible, sometimes withdrawn from our sight; one moment near to us, and in the next far off: and these are exactly the circumstances which we must associate with the idea of angels, as will be explained below. This imaginary perfection, the motion of flight, being the exclusive property of the brute creation, has never been attributed to God. You must not be misled by the passage, “And he rode upon a cherub, and he did fly” (Ps. xviii. 10), for it is the cherub that did fly, and the simile only serves to denote the rapid arrival of that which is referred to in that passage. Comp.: “Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt” (Isa. xix. 1); that is, the punishment alluded to will come down quickly upon Egypt. Nor should expressions like “the face of an ox,” “the face of a lion,” “the face of an eagle,” “the sole of the foot of a calf,” found in the prophecies of Ezekiel (i. 10 and 7) mislead you; for all these are explained in a different manner, as you will learn later, and besides, the prophet only describes the animals (ḥayyot). The subject will be explained (III. i.), though by mere hints, as far as necessary, for directing your attention to the true interpretation.
The motion of flying, frequently mentioned in the Bible, necessitates, according to our imagination, the existence of wings: wings are therefore given to the angels as symbols expressive of their existence, not of their true essence. You must also bear in mind that whenever a thing moves very quickly, it is said to fly, as that term implies great velocity of motion. Comp. “As the eagle flieth” (Deut. xxviii. 49). The eagle flies and moves with greater velocity than any other bird, and therefore it is introduced in this simile. Furthermore, the wings are the organs [lit. causes] of flight; hence the number of the wings of angels in the prophetic vision corresponds to the number of the causes which set a thing in motion, but this does not belong to the theme of this chapter. (Comp. II. iv. and x.)
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Make Primary Care Personal
Welcome to CARDIOLOGY ASSOCIATES CCPHP
At Cardiology Associates CCPHP, we believe that strong doctor-patient relationships are essential to helping you achieve optimal wellness. The concierge (membership-based) model at Cardiology Associates CCPHP allows patients to build a strong rapport with their physicians and collaboratively develop a personalized approach to their health.
Members are assured a more convenient, connected and collaborative relationship with the doctors of Cardiology Associates CCPHP. The structure of the membership program is designed with one simple focus: you. The amenities and enhancements of our program are designed to help support our Members’ healthy lifestyles.
Cardiology Associates CCPHP enables an innovative practice model that provides Members a more personalized healthcare experience with a focus on proactively managing their overall health and wellbeing. Learn more about the many amenities and enhancements of the program.
Mark Blum, MD, FACC
Dr. Mark Blum is a board certified cardiologist and Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He has practiced in Morristown, New Jersey for the past 27 years and is a full attending physician at Morristown Memorial Hospital, the major heart hospital in the state. He also served as the director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory.
Individual patient care with compassion remains the cornerstone of Dr. Blum’s approach. With ongoing dedication to providing the best medical attention available, his patients benefit from his devotion.
Dr. Blum is also active in clinical research, which has helped provide his patients with access to new medications and technology long before they are available to the general public. Early work in coronary stent research, radiation delivery systems to treat heart disease and electromagnetic cardiac imaging systems have led to major clinical advances in the field of interventional cardiology.
Dr. Blum graduated from the Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York and did his residency and cardiology training at the Mt. Sinai Hospital. Moving to New Jersey in 1988, he underwent further specialty training in interventional cardiology at the Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, before moving to Morristown with the introduction of the heart surgery program in 1989. Dr. Blum is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
Recognition of the above by his peers and patients have led to his being listed in the Castle Connolly Guide to Top Doctors in the New York Metro Area and being cited in the Top Physicians in America by the Consumer’s Research Council of America. Recently he was cited in New Jersey Magazine as a “best doctor” in the state. Download Dr. Blum’s brochure.
John Cosmi, MD, FACC
Dr. John Cosmi is board certified in interventional cardiology, general cardiology, and internal medicine. A native of Wayne, New Jersey, he pursued his undergraduate studies at Rutgers College in New Brunswick, where he majored in classics and biology, graduating with honors and being elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He attended New Jersey Medical School in Newark, where he was a recipient of numerous scholarships and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. Dr. Cosmi then completed his residency in internal medicine at New York University Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital in New York City, after which he was chosen to serve as chief medical resident.
Dr. Cosmi continued at NYU for cardiology fellowship, where he was elected fellow of the year twice and authored several scientific papers in the fields of echocardiography and myocardial infarction. He then completed an interventional cardiology fellowship at NYU and received board certification in both general cardiology and interventional cardiology. Dr. Cosmi practices both general and interventional cardiology at Morristown Memorial Hospital. He has special interests in preventive cardiology and coronary artery disease. Download Dr. Cosmi’s brochure.
David Ira Freilich, MD, FACC
Dr. David Ira Freilich is board certified in cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, and nuclear cardiology and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He has been in private practice in Morristown, New Jersey, for the past 25 years. Patient care is his primary focus, and he is committed to providing state-of-the-art care to his patients, with an emphasis on excellent communication, patient education, and ease of access.
Dr. Freilich’s expertise in non-invasive cardiology—which encompasses nuclear cardiology, echocardiography, transesophageal echo and stress-echo—is unsurpassed in the Morristown area. He has also published numerous research articles and abstracts on multiple topics, including physical chemistry, clinical pharmacology, and heart failure.
Dr. Freilich has been acknowledged by his peers as a leading physician and has been included in Best Doctors, Guide to America’s Top Physicians, and Guide to America’s Top Cardiologists. He has also received accolades for his resident and medical student education at Morristown Memorial Hospital, a major teaching affiliate of the Jefferson School of Medicine.
Dr. Freilich attended Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, after completing his major in chemistry in only three years at Brooklyn College of CUNY. He was awarded an honorary Jonas Salk Scholarship for medical research by an undergraduate at CUNY, as well as the prestigious New York Regent’s Scholarship in medicine, awarded to the top fifty scorers on the MCAT in New York State. Both his residency in internal medicine and his fellowship in cardiology were completed at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He then stayed on to practice cardiology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York until he moved to Morristown in 1991. Download Dr. Freilich’s brochure.
Leonid Mandel, MD, FACC
Dr. Leonid Mandel is board certified in interventional cardiology, general cardiology, internal medicine, echocardiography, nuclear cardiology. Having such broad expertise allows him to diagnose and treat all aspects of cardiac disease. He particularly enjoys procedural aspects of cardiology, including coronary interventions. Dr. Mandel is involved with the Heart Team and participates in percutaneous valve disease treatment.
A key tenet of Dr. Mandel’s philosophy of care is to take a more global view of a patient’s health and to help patients understand how their overall wellness impacts their cardiovascular health. He guides patients to optimal health outcomes by creating personalized care plans rather than taking the “one-size-fits-all” approach.
He received his undergraduate degree from Hofstra University with a major in philosophy and a minor in biology. He graduated Ross University School of Medicine with Highest Honors, receiving a Distinguished Scholar award and maintaining placement on the Dean’s List. He completed residency training at University of Connecticut School of Medicine, followed by Advanced Heart Failure fellowship at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center. He finished a fellowship in Cardiology with an additional year of Interventional Cardiology at Jefferson Medical College program at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Delaware, and entered cardiology practice in 2012.
Dr. Leonid Mandel grew up in Queens, New York, and is fluent in Russian. Download Dr. Mandel’s brochure.
Enhanced Coordination
As a member of this membership-based primary care practice, you will be able to receive enhanced supervision of specialty consultations and follow-ups, and coordination of your care.
More Connected Primary Care
By having more time to spend with each patient, our doctors at Cardiology Associates CCPHP can ensure enhanced connectivity through a more convenient, and collaborative approach.
Concerned about numerous healthcare trends that are negatively affecting doctor-patient relationships and the way care is delivered, Cardiology Associates CCPHP has collaborated with Castle Connolly Private Health Partners (CCPHP) to create a unique, concierge or membership-based practice model that provides a more optimized healthcare experience for both patients and providers.
In this model, the physicians of Cardiology Associates CCPHP has considerably fewer patients than typical primary care doctors. This allows them to have enough time to provide each and every patient with personalized, unhurried care. Members of Cardiology Associates CCPHP pay an affordable annual fee to take advantage of a wide array of member benefits and enjoy a more convenient, connected, and compassionate approach to healthcare.
Membership fees are payable to Cardiology Associates CCPHP, LLC, a business entity formed by Dr. Blum, Dr. Cosmi, Dr. Freilich, Dr. Mandel and CCPHP that is separate from their medical practice. Our doctors provide all professional services through their practice, Cardiology Associates CCPHP. Since the membership fees do not pay for any insurance-covered healthcare services, we recommend that our members maintain their health insurance. Contact us for more information.
Practice Philosophy
We are very pleased to announce our collaboration with Castle Connolly Private Health Partners, LLC (CCPHP) to offer you an innovative approach to cardiology care. Through this arrangement we are offering our patients the opportunity to participate in a more innovative approach to their cardiology care. Through this model, we will be able to build stronger, more collaborative relationships with our patients and provide them additional information and guidance to help them navigate an increasingly more complex environment. Cardiovascular disease impacts patients lives in a variety of ways, and questions come up all the time – some simple and some more complex. In this special membership program, our physicians will be available to members 24/7 via cell phone, text, e-mail, or virtual telemedicine visits to answer these questions.
As a member of Cardiology Associates CCPHP, you will also have the benefit of same-day appointments and other convenient scheduling options. When you come into your physician’s office we will have extended appointment times so that you can spend the time you need to discuss your concerns and collaboratively create a personalized approach to your wellness. We invite you to explore this site to learn more about the benefits of membership. Our membership advisors are also available to answer any questions available to members 24/7. Call (973) 264-9619.
ABOUT CCPHP & CARDIOLOGY ASSOCIATES CCPHP
CCPHP was established by Castle Connolly Medical Limited (CCML) in order to connect patients with top physicians in order to facilitate an optimal healthcare experience. CCML is a highly-regarded research organization best known for its America’s Top Doctors® publication. Cardiology Associates CCPHP and CCPHP have developed a membership program that will provide members with an array of amenities and enhancements, including enhanced connectivity to CCML’s elite compilation of America’s Top Doctors®.
Cardiology Associates CCPHP Membership Inquiry
95 Madison Avenue
Morristown, NJ, 07960
* Cardiology Associates CCPHP, LLC, the membership organization referenced on this website, is sometimes also referred to as “Cardiology Associates CCPHP” or as “Cardiology Associates Castle Connolly Private Health Partners, LLC,” as shown in the logo above.
Cardiology Associates CCPHP, LLC is acting on behalf of and at the direction of the physicians of Cardiology Associates CCPHP and their medical practice, pursuant to a Business Associate Agreement (as defined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended (“HIPAA”)), to assist Cardiology Associates CCPHP and their practice to inform you about, and to help make available, the Enhancements described on this website.
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009 — charliemarks
More and more working people are having to use more and more public services as the capitalist economy crumbles. Unemployment is in the millions, underemployment too.
Unlike the bankers and big businessmen, we can’t afford to hire financial advisers and accountants to help us deal with our problems, and if we lose the roof over our heads, we’re out on the street or a friend’s sofa – we can’t swan off to our second, third, or fourth home…
We need advice on housing and benefits, provided by local councils.
Unlike the bankers and big businessmen, we don’t have yachts or our own island to retreat to when we want to relax.
We might take a walk in the park, lend some books from the library, or visit the leisure centre to use the gym or have a swim in the pool – all provided by local councils.
Across England, Tory councils are preparing to slash spending, just when working people need help the most. Instead of boosting employment, Tory councils are ready to add to the dole queues. (But this won’t mean cuts in taxes – in fact, they’ll have to go up to help bailout bankers!)
Rather than expell these wreckers for the chaos they are planning, the Tory leadership in parliament is watching these councils and using their examples to draw up spending cuts top implement if they form the next government.
Yesterday the shadow chancellor, George Osbourne, claimed the Tories were a “progressive” party. Lord Mandelson responded by claiming this was laughable. Truly, this was two bald men fighting over a comb…
Posted in Uncatagorised. Tags: credit crunch, job cuts, local government, poverty, recession, Tories, underemployment, unemployment. 1 Comment »
How to get credit flowing? Nationalise the banking sector, say Tories
Friday, March 13, 2009 — charliemarks
(Only kidding about the Tories bit! The rest of it is true, but please, stay with me…)
Wonko, for one, is not happy. No wonder: Paul Mason noted that on Friday
Wrekin Construction – a business with £50m of orders reportedly on its books – went into administration. It told the press that RBS had refused to extend an overdraft: it needed £3m. Now 600 civil engineering and railway construction jobs are at risk – and we’re supposed to be in the middle of a government-driven civil engineering boom.
It was partly Paul Mason’s insightful post that made me pen the following comment atDuncan’s Economic blog…
Arguably the best way to get credit flowing again is for the banks to be nationalised. I think this worked in Sweden quite well and here’s why:
Commercial decisions will still be made on who to lend to and at what cost to the lender – but public ownership will get around the one big obstacle, which is that the people running banks are looking to provide returns to the owners and so make decisions on lending in a different way. Instead of being cautious about lending because they are mindful that their job is to give a return to investors, they will be more eager to lend, but nonetheless mindful of risks, etc. We can see the government has reversed its previous policy with Northern Rock.
With public ownership it’s not about the sectional interest of shareholders (or even, the government as shareholder) but about the interest of the whole of our economy in the long term – ensuring that productive enterprises get the financing they need.
The big problem with all of this will be the EU’s rules on these matters. Sweden’s banking crisis and it’s recovery happened prior to the country becoming a member of the European Union. The political right likes to paint the EU as some kind of warmed-up Soviet Union, but in fact EU institutions would probably oppose nationalisation of the private banking sector on several grounds (competition rules, the rights of shareholders, etc.).
Now, it’s the kind of measure that might need EU approval, and might take a damaging length of time (look at the govt assistance to our car manufacturers – it was held up while the European Commission vetted it). But the government will have to be tough and say it will take the consequences from the Commission.
As to the future ownership in the banking sector, I think we would be wise to learn the lessons of this crisis: the shareholder-as-owner has proven dangerous.
Which financial institutions have been responsible and have not needed public money to bail them out? The building societies, owned by their customers: no one expects from building societies anything other than boring banking – no financial wizardry. Indeed, many of the failed institutions were once owned by their customers – Bradford and Bingley, Halifax, Northern Rock, etc.
As a customer and member of a building society, I don’t ask much more than a good service, either as a lender or saver; I certainly don’t demand of the people running it that they come up with more ways of making money. Now it might be argued that this kind of old-fashioned high-street banking doesn’t apply to the financing of bigger businesses – but my question would be, why not?
Posted in Uncatagorised. Tags: Bank of England, banking, capitalism, cooperatives, credit crisis, credit crunch, economics, Northern Rock, participatory democracy, productive economy, public ownership. Leave a Comment »
Govt response to recession’s mental health crisis is all talk
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 — charliemarks
No, really. Talking therapy.
As the UK economy slides further into recession, the prospect of millions out of work is putting pressure on individuals and families. Health secretary Alan Johnson and the minister for work and pensions James Purnell have announced more funding for mental health services to assist those made redundant by the economic crisis.
But what help is “cognitive-behavioral therapy”? Is it just a way of pacifying people who will be angry and upset that their hopes of prosperity are being ruined by the chaos of the capitalist system?
CBT encourages people to think about what they can do as individuals to improve their situation. Obviously, New Labour types like Johnson and Purnell would not naturally be promoting a therapy that encouraged people to look at how they can collectively overcome social problems – nor acting to prevent a mental health crisis by intervening in the economy to defend workers – but surely the failure of market fundamentalism to deliver “an end to boom and bust” should encourage politicians to think outside the box…
The Mental Health Foundation is calling on the government to treat the mental health epidemic caused by the recession as a public health issue:
The growing gap between rich and poor has caused a “social recession,” leading to low educational achievement, increased violence and poor community cohesion […]
The Foundation warns that “perpetual stress” and depression linked to public concern over excessive earnings has led to widespread social and health problems.
Radical shift
The charity’s report, Mental Health, Resilience and Inequalities, calls for a “radical shift” in understanding mental health as a public health issue, citing research from around the world that shows that affluent but unequal societies can have many problems.
It also recommends assessing all future public policy for its impact on people’s mental health.
The report’s author, Dr Lynne Friedli, said individual and collective mental health and well-being depended on reducing the gap between rich and poor.
“A large divide leads to a mentally unhealthy society, and many associated social problems. In the UK in particular, we’ve failed to acknowledge this link, preferring instead to blame the health and social conditions of those living on or near the poverty line on their own lifestyle choices. This in turn further stigmatises poverty, making disadvantage even harder to overcome,” she added.
Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said living with inequality had “very real effects on the mind and body,” adding: “Given the huge social costs of poor mental health, it’s vital we begin to treat it as a public health priority.”
Posted in Uncatagorised. Tags: capitalism, credit crunch, healthcare, inequality, Labour Party, poverty, unemployment. Leave a Comment »
Myners strike – words of wisdom from City insider turned govt advisor
Friday, January 23, 2009 — charliemarks
Yet another reject from the square mile has made it into government, take note!
Says Paul, who joined Labour because it was more “left wing” than the Liberals:
The capacity for soundly managed banks and markets to support the generation of wealth in the economy could never be matched by the public sector. That is why the government has a policy of supporting a return to an effective commercial banking sector, rather than nationalisation.
Ah, no comrade. The reason is that New Labour is committed to securing the power and wealth of the super-rich, as opposed to using the country’s wealth to re-invest in productive activities…
If Gordon Brown had really wanted to abolish the boom and bust of the capitalist economic cycle, he would have expropriated the banks years ago – not merely part-nationalise them by buying worthless shares.
As it stands, turbo-capitalism of the sort backed by New Labour has destroyed the manufacturing base of this country and damaged the social fabric of the country with mass unemployment. Many were bought off with the promise of a “housing ladder” to climb out of the working class, but now this bubble has burst along with the dream of a “popular capitalism”
The relentless pursuit of profit for the few has brought misery for the many. Now it has brought chaos for those who benefit the most – and they’ve called in the government, which has stepped in with wads of borrowed money which we will have to pay back in years to come (with interest!).
But never fear, we have utopians like Paul Myners in government. Men who can imagine a time when capitalism serves the many not the few. How fortunate he is to have such dreams – the rest of us must bear the reality of the recession: indebtedness, mass unemployment, and a rise in homelessness and crime.
Posted in Uncatagorised. Tags: banking, capitalism, credit crunch, economics, housing, Labour Party, public ownership, recession, socialism. Leave a Comment »
The bailout has failed – time to nationalise the banks
Sunday, January 4, 2009 — charliemarks
Word is that the Treasury is thinking of bailing out the banks again.
The Prime Minister denies its a priority, preferring to talk about how he’s going to create jobs to curb rising unemployment.
But it’s clear that the stated aim of the bailout – to increase lending to businesses and to new start-ups and small businesses in particular – has failed.
And without strong action, the recession will deepen – schemes to curb unemployment will have no effect unless they are matched by efforts to stop jobs being lost in the first place.
The only solution to the credit crisis is spelled out in the latest edition of Red Pepper:
Rebuilding banking
Leo Panitch argues that what is needed is for the banks to become a public utility
First, let’s be clear about capitalism – and with it the character of the state under capitalism. There is a conventional assumption, a leftover of the cold war perhaps, that somehow capitalism is essentially about the market and socialism is essentially about the state. In fact, a central historical feature of the state in capitalist societies is the role it plays as guarantor of private property and, most importantly for the smooth running of the financial markets, that it will always honour its bonds – that is, its borrowing from the private banks.
Because of this guarantee – the promise to pay others back from taxation revenue in the future – government bonds, whether issued to finance war or to finance welfare, constitute the least risky form of lending. As such, it forms the foundation of financial markets’ role in sustaining the ability of capitalists generally to accumulate – to continue to invest and make profits. This centrality of the state for capitalist accumulation is most notable with respect to those dominant states, like the USA, whose bonds are the foundation on which all calculations of value in global capitalism are based; states that host and support the main centres of international financial markets, such as New York and the City of London.
Understanding the role of the state in a capitalist society helps us to see why, when a government bails them out with public money, the bankers do not see this as the start of socialism. On the contrary, they see it as the government fulfilling its duty to the financial markets – whose smooth running it both depends on and sustains, by providing the basis of confidence in the credibility of the banking system.
So it is misleading to see government involvement in the banks – whether it be the pure bailout of the original Paulson program in the US, or the subsequent non-controlling equities taken by the US, British and other governments – as per se a move away even from neoliberalism. (It is also misleading to see neoliberalism as being about the withdrawal of the state from the markets – and therefore this current involvement of the state as a defeat of neoliberalism. The state under neoliberalism has been very active in promoting the vast expansion of financial markets and facilitating their volatile growth; and, as this volatility inevitably led to repeated financial crises, in keeping the financial system going from moments of chaos to moments of chaos.)
Does this mean that this present crisis of the financial markets is not an opportunity to debate and press for alternatives? And where do we start?
It is an opportunity because in this crisis it is clear that what has been misleadingly billed as the ‘free market’ has failed and is seen to have failed, and also because it is clear that states have been responsible for promoting what has now failed, and that they now need to come to the rescue of the banks. This concentrates the minds of most people on the problem: their pay cheques are deposited with banks, their pension savings are invested in the stock market, their consumption is reliant on bank credit, and is the roof over the heads, as heavily-mortgaged home owners.
It is notable in this respect that going back over the last century, alongside the various movements that arose to struggle for the vote for working people, there has always been pressure to control the financial system, and even to bring the banks under public ownership, reflecting a certain common sense that the financial system ought to be accountable to or even belong to the people – that money should be become a public resource and banks a public utility. Indeed, this democratic pressure system was not without results: some of the regulations that states did put on the banking system after previous crises were also a response to demands from below that people should not be fleeced by the bankers.
For example, the nationalisation of the Bank of England was meant to bring the government’s agent in the financial markets under democratic control – although in fact the Bank of England now acted inside the state as the voice of the City within the state, representing the power of financial capital.
The lessons began to be learnt in the wake of the rise of the new left and the crisis of the Keynesian welfare state in the 1970s. It was recognised that the only way to overcome the contradictions of the Keynesian welfare state in a positive manner was to take the financial system into public control. (The best popularly written example of this, and still worth reading today, is Richard Minns, Take Over the City: the case for public ownership of financial institutions, Pluto 1982.) The left in the British Labour Party was able to secure the passage of a conference resolution to nationalise the big banks and insurance companies in the City of London, albeit with no effect on a Labour government that embraced one of the IMF’s first structural adjustment programmes. We are still paying for the defeat of these ideas (and the industrial strategies referred to by Stuart Holland on page 22). It is now necessary to build on their proposals and make them relevant at the current juncture.
The scale of the crisis today provides an opening for the renewal of radical politics that advances a systemic alternative to capitalism. It would be a tragedy if a more ambitious goal than making financial capital more prudent was not on the agenda.
It is hard to see how anyone can be serious about converting our economy to green priorities without understanding that we need a democratic means of planning through new sets of public institutions that would enable us to take collective decisions about allocating resources for what we produce and how and where we produce the things we need to sustain our lives and our relationship to our environment. The reasons why trading in carbon offsets as a solution to the climate crisis is a dead end are shown in this financial crisis. It would involve depending on the kinds of derivatives markets that are so volatile and are so inherently open to financial manipulation and to financial crashes. (The recently published Green New Deal begins to address these questions.)
In terms of immediate reforms – in a situation where the only safe debt is public debt – we should start with demands for vast programmes to provide for collective services and infrastructures that not only compensate for those that have atrophied but meet new definitions of basic human needs and come to terms with today’s ecological challenges.
Such reforms would soon come up against the limits posed by the reproduction of capitalism. This is why it is so important to raise not merely the regulation of finance but the transformation and democratisation of the whole financial system. What is in fact needed is to turn the whole banking system into a public utility so that the distribution of credit and capital would be undertaken in conformity with democratically established priorities rather than short term profit. This would have to involve not only capital controls in relation to international finance but also controls over domestic investment, since the point of taking control over finance is to transform the uses to which it is now put. And it would also require much more than this in terms of the democratisation of both the broader economy and the state.
Of course, without new movements and parties that can rebuild popular class forces this will fall on empty ground. Crucial to this rebuilding is to get people to think ambitiously again. However deep the crisis, however confused and demoralised the financial elite inside and outside the state, and however widespread the popular outrage against them, this will require hard and committed work by a great many activists. We will need to put our minds to the hard questions of what the new institutions of democratic public finance would look like – and what kinds of movements would be needed to build them.
Leo Panitch’s book Renewing Socialism is published by Merlin Press. A further article on ‘The Current Crisis and Socialist Politics’ by Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin can be read online at http://www.socialistproject.ca
Posted in Uncatagorised. Tags: banking, capitalism, climate change, credit crunch, economics, Labour Party, neoliberalism, public ownership, recession, socialism, taxation. 2 Comments »
TUC calls for a worker-friendly new year
TUC new year message
In his new year message to trade union members published today (Tuesday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
‘2009 has to mark a decisive turning point, away from the neo-liberal market-always-knows-best conventional wisdom that brought our economy to the brink of a catastrophic collapse, towards a fairer, more balanced economy delivering sustainable prosperity.
‘This is going to be a grim year. Unemployment will increase every month. Some predict it will hit three million, but in truth no-one knows.
‘First because we have little experience of a recession driven by a financial collapse, and secondly because we do not know how bold our Government – and as importantly, other governments meeting together as the G20 in April in London – will be.
‘Government therefore has three priorities in the year ahead:
* it must take every action necessary to make the recession as short and as shallow as possible;
* it must develop the proper policy response to mass unemployment;
* it must use these and other policies not just to ensure that we do not repeat the mistakes that led to the financial collapse, but also to ensure that we emerge from recession as a fairer, greener and more sustainable economy.
Action to tackle the recession
‘The Government must be prepared to take further bold action to counter the recession and to save jobs.
‘The roots of this recession lie in the failure of the finance and banking sectors, and while the Government deserves praise for setting the international pace on the bail-out of banks, we do not yet have a banking system that is truly serving the interests of business or household borrowers. Banks are putting building up their own balance sheets and paying back government loans as their top priorities. But they also still hold high levels of ‘toxic’ debts which prevent them from dealing with other banks in a normal way. The Government and the Bank of England must therefore consider injecting even more support into the financial system to get credit flowing again.
‘The Government cannot be expected to come to the aid of every company that faces difficulties but it must be prepared to look at providing short term assistance to strategic companies in sectors vital to the future of Britain.
‘The Government should consider a further stimulus package in the Budget. Barack Obama’s team are already talking of a big package to boost the US economy. The UK should follow suit – and also use the April G20 summit in London to create a coalition of the willing to wage war on unemployment, poverty and recession.
‘As well as bringing forward planned infrastructure projects, ministers should be fast tracking new projects to ensure that further work can start when these finish. The UK is still suffering from a lack of investment in the key infrastructure a modern low-carbon economy requires.
Action to help the unemployed
‘Too much government policy towards the unemployed still tends to be trapped in the idea that there are enough jobs to go round, and that the unemployed either lack the skills or the motivation to get work. While of course with rights come responsibilities, the thousands of people losing their jobs every week throughout 2009 should not be treated as potential scroungers but victims of economic forces well beyond their control. They will need help through benefits and support through training and job search.
‘Despite its tough presentation and some objectionable policies such as workfare, there were some good proposals in the welfare reform Green Paper to make Job Centre Plus services better tailored to individual needs. Mass unemployment will make it even harder for those who normally find it more difficult to get work such as disabled people and those juggling child care and work. There needs to be specific help for such groups – such as an increase in child care, which in turn creates jobs.
‘The TUC has already called for better benefits, higher statutory redundancy pay and a bigger tax allowance for redundancy pay to provide more help for the newly unemployed. We now look for action in the Budget on these issues.
Action to create a fairer, greener and more sustainable economy
‘2009 is going to be tough, but it can still be made positive if it becomes a turning point – the year in which we set out to build a deliberately different kind of economy.
‘That first means recognising the mistakes of the past – made not just by this Government, but by governments and the economic and political establishment almost everywhere.
‘We have given far too much weight to the interests of the finance sector, and began to believe it could create wealth simply by moving it around, rather than through long-term investment in the goods and services that people want and need.
‘The challenges we face are clear. Even before the recession we were scarred by poverty, particularly child poverty. Our society was coming under increasing strain from growing inequality as a new class of the super-rich escaped their responsibilities to pay a fair share of tax. We had neglected important sectors of the economy as we gave preference to financial services. We have failed to do enough to meet the environmental imperative.
‘This challenges us all to put the measures we will need to beat the recession to a longer term purpose of building a better greener and fairer economy that can emerge the other side of the downturn.
‘This will require:
* a new kind of industrial strategy – not a return to picking winners and easy hand-outs, but strategic support to the sectors where we are already strong but could do better. Some will be in manufacturing, but others will be in services and parts of the economy often neglected in such discussions such as the creative sectors.
* A green industrial revolution that recognises that many industries will have to adapt to survive, but that also that the environmental challenge can generate thousands of productive worthwhile jobs, and build on the strength of our science base.
* An intensification of efforts to make society fairer – the recession should encourage the government to speed up efforts to eliminate child poverty.
* A fairer tax system. The government is right to increase borrowing to maintain the strength of the economy. But this borrowing and decent public services will have to be paid for, and 2009 must see a real debate on how to make the tax system fairer. There is a real demand for the super-rich to pay a fairer share. President Elect Obama has been a long-time supporter of a crack down on the tax havens used by multi-nationals and the mobile super-rich to avoid tax.
* A new kind of banking system that no longer threatens international economic stability and instead serves the rest of the economy and society. Britain’s banks already look very different. Some are now state-owned, some have large public stakes and all have received substantial help from the Bank of England and the taxpayer. At the very least we will need new regulatory structures to enforce stability but also to protect the consumer in a sector with less competition.
‘2009 will not be easy year, but it could be the turning point that will make 2010 not just the start of recovery, but the first steps in building a new economy.’
Posted in Uncatagorised. Tags: banking, childcare, climate change, credit crunch, economics, energy policy, inequality, neoliberalism, poverty, productive economy, recession, taxation, unemployment, unions, workers' rights. Leave a Comment »
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Mitch McConnell - Pronunciation (English)
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American criminal
[Bumpy Johnson]
Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson was an American mob boss and bookmaker in New York City's Harlem neighborhood. He was the main Harlem associate of Charles "Lucky" Luciano and what later became known as the Genovese crime family, and his criminal career has inspired films and television.
Frank Lucas
American drug trafficker
Frank Lucas was an American drug trafficker who operated in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was known for cu ...
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are al ...
American Gangster is a 2007 American biographical crime film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by Steven Zail ...
Dutch Schultz
Crime boss
Dutch Schultz was a New York City-area German-Jewish-American mobster of the 1920s and 1930s who made his fortune in organize ...
Hoodlum
Hoodlum is a 1997 American crime drama film that gives a fictionalized account of the gang war between the Italian/Jewish maf ...
Neighborhood in New York City, New York
Harlem is a neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is bounded roughly by Frederic ...
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McDowell News
Dejan Vasiljevic Sam Waardenburg Jose Alvarado Michael Devoe Ebuka Izundu Moses Wright Anthony Mack Anthony Lawrence Jr. Chris Lykes Sports Men's basketball Men's sports Basketball Men's college basketball College basketball College sports
Georgia Tech ACC Miami (FL)
Vasiljevic, Lawrence lead Miami past Georgia Tech
- Feb. 23, 2019 06:01 PM EST
Miami guard Dejan Vasiljevic (1) looks to pass to center Ebuka Izundu (15) as Georgia Tech guard Jose Alvarado (10) defends in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Coral Gables, Fla., on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald via AP)
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — It might be a short span, but Miami is finally enjoying the best stretch of its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule.
Dejan Vasiljevic scored 21 points to lead the Hurricanes to an 80-65 victory over Georgia Tech Saturday afternoon.
Anthony Lawrence finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and Ebuka Izundu scored 18 points for the Hurricanes, who have won three of their last five after a five game losing streak. Miami also began conference play with three consecutive losses.
"We're really clicking right now," Vasiljevic said. "We're playing really hard on defense and giving a lot of effort. Our offense is clicking at the right time and we're sharing the ball."
Vasiljevic scored 16 points in the second half. The junior guard shot 7-of-15 from the field and 5-of-11 3-pointers.
Lawrence finished one assist short of his first career triple double.
"I really wanted to get that triple double," Lawrence said. "I wasn't able to but we got a good team win. I'm happy."
The Hurricanes (12-14, 4-10 ACC) never trailed and were never threatened after a 13-3 run that helped open a 17-point lead midway through the first half. Chris Lykes, Anthony Mack and Sam Waardenburg hit 3-pointers that keyed Miami's surge. Lykes' short jumper with 8:09 remaining capped the run and increased the Hurricanes' lead to 30-13.
Lykes was Miami's fourth scorer in double figures with 11 points.
Lawrence's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Miami a 39-23 advantage at halftime.
"I'm very, very pleased with the victory," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "We played great defense in the first half. The guys really shared the ball in the first half."
The Yellow Jackets (12-16, 4-11) got no closer than 51-40 on Michael Devoe's 3-pointer with 14:01 remaining in the second half.
Miami responded with a 3-pointer from Vasiljevic and Lawrence's basket. Vasiljevic's last 3-pointer with 4:31 remaining gave the Hurricanes their largest lead at 70-52.
"The second half, our defense in the first six minutes was not very good and gave them a chance to get back in it," Larranaga said. "Fortunately, we played a lot better in the last 13 minutes and were able to come away with a terrific victory."
Jose Alvarado scored 20 points and Moses Wright finished with 19 points for Georgia Tech.
"Our energy in the first half was not as good as the second half," Yellow Jackets coach Josh Pastner said. "We lost the game in the first half."
BIG PICTURE:
Georgia Tech: Alvarado played 40 minutes for the second consecutive game. In addition to his 40-minute outing against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Alvarado also played entire games against Arkansas (Dec. 19) and Notre Dame (Feb. 10).
Miami: After shooting 36 percent in a 64-57 loss at Boston College Sunday, the Hurricanes improved to 48-percent shooting from the field against Georgia Tech. Miami also improved in 3-pointers, shooting 38 percent, 9 of 25, from beyond the arc after a 4-for-26 performance against Boston College.
ALUMNI CONTRIBUTION:
Former Miami guard Jack McClinton participated in a charity 3-point shooting session during a time out in the first half. Every made 3-pointer by McClinton resulted in $250 scholarship contributions toward Miami athletics. McClinton, who played at Miami from 2006 to 2009 and averaged 17.9 points per game in his Hurricanes career, raised a reported $2,500 in the 30-second shooting session.
NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF IZUNDU'S ABSENCE:
Izundu, Miami's only interior presence, was forced to sit after committing his fourth foul with 10:43 remaining in the second half. But the Yellow Jackets failed to cut into Miami's 61-43 lead after Izundu's benching. Izundu returned with 5:01 left and the Hurricanes ahead 67-52.
"We didn't do a good job of punching it inside," Pastner said. "We had some open 3 opportunities. When you're down, you're trying to get back in the game so you're going to take some 3s."
Georgia Tech: the Yellow Jackets conclude their two-game road set Wednesday at No. 3 Virginia.
Miami: the Hurricanes open a two-game road swing Tuesday at Wake Forest.
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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Three Southern Miss players shot, critically wounded
By John TaylorNov 14, 2010, 10:44 AM EST
Based on the sobering headline above, it goes without saying that Southern Miss’ upset win over No. 25 Central Florida is the very last thing on the Conference USA school’s mind.
While the details are very sketchy right now, a Mississippi State television station is reporting that three Golden Eagles were seriously wounded in a shooting early Sunday morning. The players, whose names are not yet known, are all in critical condition, WDAM-TV is reporting.
The school has refused to comment on the report, but head coach Larry Fedora and several members of the football program have been seen at a local hospital throughout the morning.
According to the station, the incident that led to the shootings began inside Remington’s Hunt Club in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, at around 1:20 local time this morning. The incident spilled outside, where the three football players were reportedly shot.
No arrests have been made in the shootings.
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Cheap Flights from Toronto to Kuala Lumpur
Flights to Kuala Lumpur •
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The Nepalese Princess
After marrying a Nepalese and a Chinese Princess, King Songtsen Gampo converted to Buddhism. These two marriages played a
crucial role in the spread of the new faith in Tibet.
More than hundred years later, King Trisong Detsen invited Shantarakshita, the Abbot of Nalanda to teach the Buddha Dharma and ordain the first monks. Shantarakshita immediately faced serious difficulties due to the strong opposition from the indigenous Bon. He convinced the king that only way out was to invite the Tantric Master, Guru Padmasambhava; he alone could subdue the forces adverse to Buddhism.
Shantarakshita also predicted that a dispute would arise between the two schools of Buddhism, the Indian and the Chinese. The issue was sorted out through the famous Samye Debate. After 2 years of intense discussion, the Indian path prevailed and a proclamation was issued stating that the Indian path was thereafter the orthodox faith.
Chinese historians have a tendency to forget that Bhrikuti, the Nepalese princess ever existed. For example in the White Paper on Tibet's Ownership published by the State Council in 1992 there is no trace of Bhikuti.
The White Paper says "Tibet is located in southwest China. The ancestors of the Tibetan race who lived there struck up links with the Han in the Central Plains long before the Christian era. Later, over a long period of years, the numerous tribes scattered on the Tibet Plateau became unified to form the present Tibetan race. By the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Tibetans and Hans had, through marriage between royal families and meetings leading to alliances, cemented political and kinship ties of unity and political friendship and formed close economic and cultural relations, laying a solid foundation for the ultimate founding of a unified nation. In Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the statue of the Tang Princess Wen Cheng, who married the Tubo tsampo [Songtsen Gampo], king of Tibet, in 641, is still enshrined and worshiped in the Potala Palace."
Now Bikruti has reappeared, just because Nepal is needed by Beijing to extend its influence over the Himalayan region. Nepal has fast becoming China's ally against India. Read the report of the Nepali President's visit to Lhasa.
Prez Yadav visits Potala Palace
The Himalayan Times
LHASA: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav visited the Potala Palace, a place of historic, archaeological and religious importance, here this morning.
The Potala Durbar was listed in the list of Word Heritage Sites in 1994 by the UNESCO.
President Dr Yadav was welcomed by the deputy chief of people’s government of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
The Potala Durbar was built by Songtsen Gampo some 1,300 years ago. Songtsen Gampo had married to Nepali princess, Bhrikuti, who is also the national luminary of Nepal. The 12-storied palace built into a stone like structure has 1,000 rooms.
The rooms are well decorated with the artistic idols of the Dalai Lamas, religious gurus, Songtsen Gampo, his wife Bhrikuti and another queen Wencheng.
The room having the idol of Bhrikuti was opened today.
Similarly, there is a large idol of the Dalai Lama Zamling Gyanchi weighing 721 kgs.
It had taken some 40 years to construct the palace where the tourists are allowed to visit in limited numbers based on the weight bearing capacity of the structure.
The palace has also relics inscribed in Nepali language depicting the art and culture of Nepal.
President Dr Yadav also visited Chokhang temple here and acquired various information about it.
The temple built circa 850 AD was named after Songtsen Gampo’s queens Wen Cheng and Bhrikuti.
Famous pilgrimage site for the Buddhists, the temple has the main gate facing Nepal, the birthplace of Bhrikuti. One can see the letters carved in Nepali language in various places of the temple where the idols of Lord Buddha have been installed.
On the occasion, President Dr Yadav also visited the Nepali market on foot at local Bharbor for some twenty minutes and acquired information about it.
Full of hustle and bustle as in Asan and Indra Chowk of Kathmandu, the bazaar is dwelt by the local Nepali community which is involved in trade.
Present on the occasion were the members of the visiting team and Consular General Ngaindra Prasad Upadhyay and other employees.
Moreover, President Dr Yadav inspected a new University in Tibet today.
The largest and well facilitated university of TAR has 1,070 people including the lecturers and employees.
The University Chief, Professors and the officials had welcomed President Yadav and briefed him about the university.
The President's entourage comprises the President’s daughter Anita, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Sharat Singh Bhandari, President’s advisor duo Dr Surya Prasad Dhungel and Hari Sharma, Nepali Ambassador to China Tanka Prasad Karki, Secretary at the President’s Office Baman Prasad Neupane, Foreign Secretary Dr Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Protocol Officer Muktinath Bhatta, Consular General at Lhasa Ngaindra Prasad Upadhyay, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Qiu Gouhong, high level officials and journalists.
President Dr Yadav will leave for Sian today on completion of his two-day visit to Tibet.
The President had arrived here on Tuesday on a weeklong goodwill visit in connection with his participation in the concluding ceremony of the Shanghai Expo-2010.
Meanwhile, chief of the People's Government of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China, Padma Choling paid a courtesy call on President Dr Ram Baran Yadav here today.
On the occasion, President Dr Yadav reiterated Nepal's commitment to one-China policy and expressed the determination to not allow Nepali territory to be used against China.
During the meeting, Dr Yadav also urged to speed up the campaign to extend road network up to the border transit points.
Noting that constitution writing and peace process is underway in Nepal, President Dr Yadav said, "Nepal expects support from China and Tibet in this regard."
The President also stressed on the need for a common concern and interest in improving the living standard of the people of the two countries through collaboration in the industry and trade sector.
On the occasion, Chief of the People's Government of Tibet, Padma expressed the confidence that activities against Tibet and China would not take place in Nepal, as Nepal has been giving high priority to one-China policy.
Referring to the cooperation of the Central Government to Nepal in expansion of road network, hydropower, infrastructure development, education and health among others, Padma said Tibet is also ready to provide cooperation as much as possible in the economic and commerce sector along with building the road network.
President Dr Yadav also attended a reception organized in his honour by the Chief of the People's Government of Tibet.
Also present on the occasion were Dr Yadav's daughter Anita, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sharat Singh Bhandari and other members of the entourage.
Labels: China, Nepal, Tibet History
Exercises on the Roof of the World
China is practicing hard in case of an eventual conflict. General VK Singh was right to speak of 'irritants'.
These exercises in Tibet can only be directed at India and this, when the Indian Prime Minister is soon to meet his Chinese counterpart.
Photos are impressive.
China holds first air-ground live ammunition drill in Tibet
By Liang Jun,
Near the foot of the snowcapped mountains on the Tibetan Plateau at an altitude of over 4,700 meters, the Tibet Military Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted its first air-ground live ammunition drill recently, according to PLA Daily.Troops of air force, armor, artillery and electronic warfare divisions participated in the exercise.
They overcame the effects on their physical and mental health caused by coldness and oxygen deficits and finished the first joint training and exercise. It will have a very significant role in exploring training patterns in mountainous and cold areas as well as improving combat capabilities.
Labels: China's Defence, Tibet
Liberated or Invaded?
China is celebrating with fanfare the 60th anniversary of 'Liberation' of Chamdo. It is not clear why Chamdo (and the Tibetans) needed to be liberated.
Liberated from whom?
Liberated from what?
Sixty years later, nobody can answer this question.
I am posting an extract of my book "The Fate of Tibet" about the so-called liberation. In fact it was purely a military operation. Hundreds of Tibetans were killed. Nobody was liberated. It is unfortunate that the Chinese government which pretends to a superpower status continues to propagate this lie.
China Invades Tibet: ‘The Gods are on Our Side!’
The rumours of an impeding attack had started trickling in from August.
Pannikar [the Indian Ambassador to China] knew it, he knew that the Chinese had already entered in the Chinese-controlled areas of Kham (Sikang). In a communication to the Chinese Foreign Office on 2 October he informed the Chinese that the Tibetan Delegation would be leaving India shortly to Peking and had expressed the hope that further military action would, therefore, not be necessary. "It will help the peaceful settlement of the Tibetan question if the Chinese troops which might have entered territory under the jurisdiction of the Lhasa authorities could restrict themselves to western Sikang."
In Chamdo, Robert Ford, the British radio operator employed by Lhasa had arrived in December 1949. He had already spent some months in Lhasa with another Englishman, Reginald Fox, who operated a radio set for the Tibetan Government.
Ford, ‘Phodo Kusho’ as the Tibetans called him, had brought with him brand new radio sets that he found nicely packed in crates when he first arrived in Lhasa. During World War II, when the Burma road was closed, the Lhasa government had authorized two Americans to proceed with a reconnaissance mission seeking possible supply routes between China and India. To thank the Tibetan Government, the President of the United States had sent three radio sets which were still packed in their crates in 1948. Many officials in Tibet were not keen to have foreigners operate these sets, but as no Tibetans had yet been trained to use them, they remained packed up in crates.
From Chamdo, Ford soon established a daily link with Lhasa. He was also able to monitor the world news from Beijing and Delhi.
From the remote capital of Kham Province, on new year’s day 1950, Ford heard an ominous communiqué broadcast by the People’s Republic of China: “The task for the People’s Liberation Army for 1950 is to liberate Taiwan, Hainan and Tibet.”
Soon after his arrival in Chamdo, one of Ford’s first tasks was the training of some young Indians of Tibetan stock who would be able to operate the radio sets. The idea was to send them to the Sino-Tibetan border to monitor the movements of the Chinese troops. This border which had been ‘shifting’ during the past decades and even centuries, was now situated some one hundred miles east of Chamdo and followed the course of the Upper Yangtse.
It is difficult to ascertain the true number of Tibetan troops stationed on the 200 mile long border along the banks of the Yangtse , Goldstein speaks of about 3,500 soldiers, but Ford estimated their strength to be much less.
Whatever might have been the number of Tibetan soldiers, they were no match for the Second Field Army led by the Political Commissioner in Sichuan. On the other side of the great river more than 40,000 much better equipped troops waited to ‘liberate’ Tibet.
One of the major problems faced by the Tibetans was the lack of unity between the local chieftains and the Lhasa government. It was not a new problem but a heavy toll would be paid for the antagonism between Lhasa and the Khampas at this crucial point in the history of Tibet.
The Chinese Liberation Army was also much better trained and disciplined than the Tibetans. They had received very clear instructions. A Proclamation stating the Three General Rules and the Eight Things to Keep in Mind had been issued. The General Rules were: “You must obey orders, You cannot take even one needle from the masses, you must turn over to the government things acquired from the enemy.”
The Eight Things to Keep in Mind included advice such as: “You must speak gently, you must buy and sell honestly, you must return the things you borrow, you must not tease or bother females, you may not abuse prisoners of war.”
On October 11 at 11 p.m., Ford had just finished speaking to his mother in England on the radio and was preparing to go to bed, when he heard a faint tinkle of bells coming from the east. “As bells grew louder I heard another sound, the clip-clop of horse’s hoofs.” Ford added, “…it passed my house on the way into the town. I saw the rider’s fur hat and the silhouette of the barrel of his riffle sticking up above his shoulder.” Ford immediately recognized an Army messenger riding towards the Residency where Ngabo Ngawang Jigme, the new Governor of Kham was staying.
The next morning Ford was awakened by his servant who announced: “Phodo Kusho, the Chinese are coming! They’ve crossed the river at Gangto Druga and killed all the troops.”
Gangto Druga was on the main trade route between Kangting and Chamdo. A Tibetan garrison was posted there.
Five days had already passed since the Chinese began the ‘liberation’, but for reasons known only to himself, Ngabo Shape had refused to spare a radio set for the border post to monitor the advance of the Chinese troops.
Ford tried many times to convince Ngabo to send a wireless set to Riwoche in August-September, but the Governor was not interested in listening to Ford, a very junior official in the Tibetan Government. From Ford’s side, he had to keep the etiquette in addressing the Governor and present his suggestions as politely as possible:
“Your Excellency, the spare portable radio is ready to go out at the shortest notice”, Ford told Ngabo, indirectly suggesting that a radio should be sent to the border.
”Good, Please keep the batteries charged,” replied Ngabo.
“They are always fully charged. Either or both of the Indian operators are also in constant readiness to go out,” hinted again Ford.
“Very good, we may need to send the station at any time,” answered Ngabo.
That day Ford did not want to leave the Residency without getting a clear answer about Riwoche: “Would you like me to send the radio to Riwoche now, Phodo?“ the Governor finally asked. “Yes, Your Excellency,” said Ford.
“You are afraid we shall be cut off in Chamdo?” asked the Governor. But Ngabo thought the army reinforcements had made the defence of Riwoche very strong. “Do not worry, Phodo, the gods are on our side.”
This discussion summarized the Tibetan world view. Unfortunately for them, the world had changed and the consequences would soon be tragic for old Tibet. Ngabo was not a military strategist and he could not have known about the conversation between Stalin and Mao. But at the time of this conversation, the Chinese Liberation Army had already attacked on many fronts.
The main border post at Gamto Druga had been overrun by the Chinese who used the same strategy as in Korea. Wave after wave of soldiers soon overpowered the Tibetan defenders, who fought well but were finally massacred.
In the meantime another Chinese regiment crossed the Yangtse above Dengo and advanced rapidly towards Dartsedo (Jyekundo), marching day and night.
In the South, the 157th PLA Regiment crossed the Yangtse and attacked the Tibetan troops near Markhan. When they reached Markhan, the local Tibetan Commander, Derge Se, surrounded by the Chinese troops, surrendered his force of 400 men.
Poor Ford! He had planned to use the southern route to escape. Now this route was also cut off. The net was slowly closing on Ford and on Tibet.
The northern front lost ground day by day and the headquarters of the central zone was soon lost to the waves of young Chinese soldiers. They caught the fleeing Tibetans at night in a place called Kyuhung where the Tibetans were decimated. The road to Chamdo was open.
Lhasa was finally informed on October 12 that the Yangtse had been crossed and that the Chinese had began to ‘fulfil’ their promise to ‘liberate’ the Roof of the World.
At the same time, the opera season was in full swing in Lhasa. The aristocracy and the Government were busy. For the Tibetan officials opera and picnic were sacred!
In Chamdo no one panicked, though the number of prayers was increased. More and more lay people joined the monks and began circumambulating around the monastery, the incense smoke went higher and higher in the sky, the gods had to be propitiated. Ford said that the monks believed that “only the gods could give Tibet victory - which was unanswerable - and they were doing their bit by praying. They would pray twice as hard, or rather twice as often, and that would be of more use than taking up arms.”
“The gods are on our side,” was the most often repeated mantra in the town.
The greatest excitement in Chamdo was the latest divination that Shiwala Rinpoche, the head lama of the local monastery, had just performed. It was on all tongues, the great news had spread like wildfire: “Shiwala Rinpoche says that the Chinese will not come.” Everywhere there was a sigh of relief. The Gods had won!
The Britisher in Ford commented that Shiwala Rinpoche’s statement was perhaps good for morale “but it seemed to me that something more Churchilian was needed.”
The Dalai Lama recalled: “The omen , if that is what it was, began to fulfil itself. Towards evening, during one of the performances, I caught sight of a messenger running in my direction. On reaching my enclosure, he was immediately shown in to Tathag Rinpoche, the Regent…I realized at once that something was wrong. Under normal circumstances government matters would have to wait until the following week. Naturally, I was almost besides myself with curiosity. What could this mean? Something dreadful must have happened.”
The young Dalai Lama said that he managed to peep into the Regent’s lodge and spy on him. “I could see his face quite clearly as he read the letter. He became very grave. After a few minutes, he went out and I heard him give orders for the Kashag to be summoned.”
The Dalai Lama discovered later that the letter was Ngabo’s telegram informing the Regent that the first outposts near the Yangtse had fallen.
“So, the axe has fallen,” the Dalai Lama later wrote. “And soon, Lhasa must fall.”
One of the problems as seen by the political leader of Tibet was that Tibetans were peace-loving people, non-violent by choice and to join the army was “considered the lowest form of life: soldiers were being held like butchers.”
In the circumstances and keeping in mind the deep division between the Tibetans from Lhasa and the Khampas, what could have been done?
Perhaps as the Tibetans themselves explain, the Karma of Tibet had ‘ripened’ and nothing or nobody could stop it.
Nevertheless, the Chinese lost thousands of men in fierce battles; the Dalai Lama remembers that “they suffered greatly from difficulties of supply on the one hand and the harsh climate on the other. Many died of starvation; others must have certainly have succumbed of altitude sickness.”
But Deng Xiaoping, Liu Bocheng and their men were used to hardship and bitterness. They had gone through worse when the Nationalists were trying to catch up with them during the Long March. It was without doubt easier for the People’s Liberation Army to fight ill-equipped Tibetans than the sophisticated weapons of McArthur’s troops in Korea on the eastern front.
In the meantime, Ford was trying to catch the latest world news on his wireless, but there was nothing about Tibet. One of the greatest dramas of the twentieth century was unfolding without anyone knowing it. When the world heard of it, it was already too late.
The Englishman was not happy with Ngabo who “seemed too cool and confident.”
Lhalu, the previous Governor of Kham had already left and though still in radio contact with Chamdo, was now out of reach for the Chinese.
Over, the next few days, many Tibetan officials came to Ford’s radio station to try to hear the reaction of Lhasa, thinking that the Kashag would immediately appeal to the world community for help. They expected Lhasa to respond quickly before it was too late. But nothing!
Nobody could understand what was going on!
One day Ford went to Ngabo to show him the news summary and he was reassured by the Governor not to worry. The Tsongdu and the Kashag were deliberating and once a decision was taken, it would be announced.
“Radio Lhasa had no more to say the next day, or the day after that.”
Finally about 10 days after the Chinese had crossed the Upper Yangtse, Ford heard an announcement from Delhi: Shakabpa and the Tibetan delegation were denying any attack on Tibet.
Labels: Chamdo liberation, China's Policy towards Tibet
The legacy of China’s last pilgrim
My article on Hu Hsu, the Chinese 'pilgrim' appeared in The New Indian Express this morning. His 101st birth anniversary is celebrated today. He was a great human being and a yogi, not running for publicity and recognition. Click here to read.
Labels: Article New Indian Express, Hu Hsu
While India is busy with Games
While India is busy with the postmortem of the Games, China is working hard to develop a modern infrastructure of roads, railway line and airports in Tibet.
What to say?
It is irritating as the Chief of Army Staff recently said: "We have two irritants. One, mainly in terms of how the situation is, in Pakistan where there is a problem of governance, where there is certain amount of support that is being given to some terrorists and where the internal situation is not very good, ....Similarly, we have a rising China, both economically and militarily. Although we have CBMs in place, although we have a very stable border, yet we have a border dispute."
In the meantime, the government continues to 'appease' China. DNA reported: "Anticipating the matter to come up in talks between prime minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao in Hanoi, Vietnam, on October 29, the government has told Delhi-based Jamia Millia Islamia University to suspend conferring an honorary doctorate on Tibetan leader in exile the Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama was to get the honour in November. The government obviously does not want to create further tension."
This is also irritating.
New Airport in Shigatse (Xigaze)
Tibet to open 5th civil airport next month
English.news.cn
LHASA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The fifth civil airport in China's Tibet Autonomous Region will open early next month, civil aviation authorities said Thursday.
Xigaze Peace Airport, located in Xigaze Prefecture, 48 km from Xigaze City, is 3,782 meters above sea level.
The airport terminals, decor, facilities and flight tests were completed, allowing it to officially open in early November, said Zhu Feng, secretary of the airport's Communist Party of China (CPC) branch.
However, Zhu said, no exact date had yet been set for the opening.
Construction, with an investment of 489 million yuan (74 million U.S. dollars), began on April 29 last year.
The airport is expected to have handled 230,000 passengers and 1,150 tonnes of cargo by 2020, according to the Civil Aviation Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region.
Tibet has four other civil airports in Lhasa, Nyingchi, Qamdo and Ngari.
In the past five years, China has invested heavily in building transport infrastructure in Tibet, pouring money into construction of highways, railways and airports to stimulate Tibet's weak economy and tourism.
New road in Chamdo prefecture (Eastern Tibet)
Chamdo West Road inaugurated
Jan, Mu Yuan & Drolma
China Tibet Online
The inauguration ceremony of Chamdo West Road is held at the newly built Conference Center in Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), photo taken on Oct. 21 by Drolma from China Tibet Online.
On Oct.21, the ceremony marking the completion of Chamdo West Road renovation project was held in Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
Chamdo West Road, the main road in Chamdo County, takes on a modern look after the 6-month renovation.
"The Chamdo Conference Center is not only a key project dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Chamdo, but also a project (including the construction, installation and decoration) of an extra aid-Tibet project with the fund allocated by the Prefectural Party Committee and Prefectural Government.
The Center covers an area of 18036.4 ㎡with a total investment of 99 million yuan. The construction of the center formally broke ground in June 2009 and was completed in Aug. 2010. As the host to various important events in Chamdo, the center is composed of a conference hall of 750 pax, a ballroom of 350 pax, Video Conference Rooms, etc. " said Wang Wei, Secretary General of Chamdo Local Administrative Office.
The renovation project of Chamdo West Road started on April 28th, 2010 with a total fund of 32.6 million yuan. The project included painting 39 buildings along the street with a total construction area of 88295 ㎡, fixing outdoor stairway of 2568 ㎡, decorating buildings and side walks, reinforcing guardrails, etc.
"Extending along dilapidated houses, the street used to look very old and shabby. Thanks to the renovation, the environment of the urban area has been improved with accessible transport facilities,"Dawa Tsering, the 55 year-old citizen of Chamdo, said happily.
Improvement of the facilities at the land Port between Nepal and Tibet
First large parking lot open at Zham Port, Shigatse
2010-10-21 elle li
Photo shows the newly opened parking lot at Zham Port, Shigatse Prefecture, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR),photo from Tibet Daily.
The first parking lot was recently opened at the Port of Zham of Nyalam County, Shigatse Prefecture of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
With an overall area of 12,000 square meters, the parking lot cost 18 million yuan and is expected to hold over 300 trucks.
The new facility has largely improved the infrastructure of the Port, ensuring further development of the local border trade.
In the past, there wasn't a large parking lot at Zham Port and its development was restricted somewhat by traffic congestion.
Labels: China's Defence, China's Policy towards Tibet, Tibet
Tibetans strike again in Amdo
Two years after the unrest of March/April 2008, the Tibetans of Amdo (Northeastern Tibet) are again in the streets. This time, it is the young students who demand a proper curriculum in Tibetan language.
These few photos are impressive.
By the way, it needs more courage to demonstrate in Rebkong or anywhere in Tibet than in the streets of Paris.
This reminds me of a recent interview with the Dalai Lama. He spoke about the problem of curriculum.
"More than 10 years ago, when Chen Kuiyuan was Party Secretary in Tibet [1992-200] , at a Party meeting, he mentioned that the ultimate threat to China (its separation from Tibet) is the Buddhist faith of the Tibetans.
Two weeks ago [interview took place in April 2010], I was in Switzerland, I met some Tibetans. They know very well about the Tibetan University in Lhasa; they told me that the level of Tibetan studies before Chen Kuiyuan was quite good. After Chen became Party Secretary, it changed. The Tibetan texts were banned. Only the Chinese curriculum was allowed and translated into Tibetan; the courses were [conducted] according to this curriculum.
Chen Kuiyuan saw the unique Tibetan culture heritage as a threat to separate Tibet from China. So, he systematically eliminated Tibetan [culture] from Tibet. This is one thing.
Then, last year, I met a Tibetan who has settled in Australia and visits Tibet from time to time and brings money to build schools in his native place. Last year, after he returned, he told me that one of his friends who works in the education field told him the present Party Secretary [Zhang Qingli] convened a meeting of Han officials only.
The Central government had asked Zhang to make some suggestions. In order to make these suggestions, he convened this meeting with Han officials only. For the education, they made the [following] suggestions to the Central Government: Chinese language should be the first language; it should be taught from Kindergarten. Then, all schools should emphasize about learning the importance of China and all monasteries should become like in the mainland, just museums with very few monks as caretakers.
Zang Qingli made these three suggestions.
The Chinese faced so many problems from the monasteries in March 2008. This meeting was held in 2009 to suggest a new education policy with these three points. If it is true or not, I have no way to cross-check [my information].
When someone asked the Dalai Lama if the term ‘cultural genocide’ used by him was not too strong, he explained that when he mentioned about 'cultural genocide': “I did not speak of strict ‘cultural genocide’, it was ‘conditional’, I said ‘a sort of cultural genocide’.
Two things: one, as mentioned earlier, officially, there is a lot of restrictions about Tibetan studies. When Chen Kuiyuan was there, whatever had a religious meaning was removed [from the curriculum]. Then when Jiang Zemin came, new restrictions [were put in place]. Before Party officials could have [in their house] an altar with some Buddha statues; they usually had an excuse like, “my old mother likes this statues”; although they are supposed to be genuine Communists, non-believers. When Jiang Zemin became Chairman, it was not possible anymore. In the meantime, some very high Chinese Party officials, including from the PLA had my picture on their mobile, the Demon’s picture! [laughing]”.
As long as the hardliners continue to rule China, the Tibetan issue will never be solved.
Security Tight in Tibetan Towns
Following large protests, Chinese authorities dispatch security personnel to Tibetan areas.
HONG KONG—Chinese authorities in the remote western province of Qinghai dispatched large numbers of security personnel to Tibetan areas following large-scale student protests over education policies this week.
Local sources said thousands of Tibetan high school and college students took part in the demonstrations on Monday and Tuesday in Tsolho (in Chinese, Hainan) and Rebkong (in Chinese, Tongren) amid fears they will be forced to adopt a Chinese-language-only curriculum.
An official who answered the phone at the Rebkong county education department said there were no demonstrations on Thursday.
"Things are calm now," she said, but declined to comment further. "You should ask my boss these questions," she said.
A monk at the Longwu temple who took part in the demonstrations said there were dozens of army vehicles and personnel still on the streets Wednesday, according to exiled Tibetan sources.
"There are large numbers of them, but we can't be sure of the exact number," said Dzoege, a researcher at the International Campaign for Tibet. "We only know that there were between 20 and 30 army trucks."
The protest began on Tuesday, sparked by students from the Tongren County No.1 Middle School. They shouted slogans such as "Racial equality! Free education!" as they marched.
Teachers protest monk participation
The monk said that when he and others from the Longwu monastery joined the march, some of the teachers at the scene objected, saying the issue was an educational one, not a political one.
An official who answered the phone at the Rebkong country education department said that all the top-level officials were out dealing with the incident.
Authorities on Wednesday moved to calm tensions as the protests spread.
A local governor addressed students and assured them that the Tibetan language would remain in the school curriculum even though an official document said the Chinese language would be the main language of instruction.
The education department official said the authorities had not backtracked on the plan to use Chinese in schools.
"No, we haven't [changed our language policy in response to the protest]," she said.
"Classes are still running normally," she said, adding that the high school students who protested were "unlikely" to be punished for taking part.
Calls to the Rebkong county police department went unanswered during office hours on Wednesday.
'Kicking up a fuss'
An employee who answered the phone at the Telecommunications Guesthouse in Rebkong's county seat said the march was not as large as 1,000 students.
Estimates of protest size given by Tibetan sources ranged from as low as 1,000 to as high as 5,000-8,000.
"There weren't very many people. They were all from a single school," she said. "Before, Tibetan was the main medium of instruction, and now it will only be an available subject, and Chinese will be the main language of instruction."
"That's why they are kicking up a fuss."
A local resident surnamed Lan said Chinese had been the main language of instruction in all the schools he had attended in the region.
"There is a school here which specializes in Chinese-medium teaching, and one which specializes in Tibetan-language instruction," Lan said.
"You can be taught in Tibetan or Chinese from year one, as if it's your native tongue."
"A lot of the Tibetans here are herders. Of course they can't understand Chinese," Lan added.
U.S.-based Chinese political analyst Wang Juntao said a number of misunderstandings had occurred between Tibetans and Han Chinese during the Tibetan unrest of 2008.
"We all know that the language you use to teach people in a given country or region is a clear sign of ethnic identity," Wang said.
"If all the teaching gets done in Mandarin, with Tibetan relegated to the status of special subject, then that's probably going a bit far," he said.
China "otherizing" ethnic groups
Dawa Tsering, spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile based in northern India, said the Chinese government appeared to be in the process of "otherizing" different ethnic groups in China.
"There has been a long-running dissatisfaction of this kind in Tibet," he said. "Now, some Tibetan students are standing up ... because previously they were teaching dialectical materialism and Marxism ... but they were doing it in Tibetan."
"The Chinese government can't tolerate this," he said. "There is a direct connection between [this protest] and cultural and religious freedoms."
The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, has accused Beijing of perpetrating "cultural genocide" in Tibet.
Beijing has run a high-profile "patriotic education" campaign among Tibetans since unrest spread across Tibetan regions from Lhasa in March 2008, requiring local people to denounce the Dalai Lama, whom the government rejects as a "splittist."
Original reporting in Cantonese by Bi Zimo, and in Mandarin by Tang Qiwei and Qiao Long. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
Labels: Amdo, Tibet, Tibet Unrest
The Sixth Generation and the Fourth Faction
There is an interesting debate in China today: was Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Premier 'putting on a show' when he spoke about democratic reforms in Shenzhen in August or more recently in the US (in an interview with Fareed Zakaria for CNN). Due to the extreme opaqueness of the regime in Beijing, the question is not easy to answer.
People like Yu Jie, the author of China’s Best Actor: Wen Jiabao do not believe that ‘Grandpa Wen’, as the Chinese media loves to call him, is a reformist. In an interview with BBC's Chinese service, Yu said: "Wen Jiabao and [President] Hu Jintao are like the two sides of a coin. They are on a tandem bike, heading in the same direction. I think they are playing the good-guy-bad-guy routine, like the harsh-dad-loving-mum sort of thing.”
In another interview, he affirmed: “they share the same goal, which is to strengthen their power base. I think they have more in common than differences. That's why I don't agree with the unrealistic view held by many Western scholars and China observers, as well as many Chinese people, that Wen is a reformist, that he is more open."
When the same question was asked to Du Daozheng, director of the editorial board at Yanhuang Chunqiu magazine (former Chinese edition of Asiaweek), he replied: “In my view [Wen] has always worked tirelessly for opening and reform. In terms of action, among the highest-level leaders in the Central Committee, he has not only made his position clear, but he has also worked very hard. His style and manner are about closeness and service to the people. …He is also a living person, with his own thread of life… This is not ‘putting on a show’. I think that his manner and actions are based on his wide knowledge and the excellent traditions of Chinese culture.”
Well, this does not help. We will probably have to wait a few decades to know who the real Wen is. One thing is however certain: Wen will retire in 2012/2013. Further, whether he speaks his mind or put on a show, nothing will happen to him after retirement because too many people in China believe reforms are necessary. The fact remains that the Premier of the State Council (Prime Minister) is today being censored.
The South China Morning Post last week mentioned a letter on written by some former senior editors and journalists (including the nonagenarian secretary of Mao). The Hong Kong paper wrote: "Sponsors of the open letter seemed most outraged by the fact that even Wen had been censored. They cited examples of his speech in Shenzhen on August 21, a talk with journalists in the US on September 22 and his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23.”
Living in a democracy, it is difficult to imagine a Prime Minister not free to speak his mind or portions of his speeches deleted by an all-powerful Publicity Department.
There is a more interesting side to Wen's declarations: it brings a new dimension to the on-going discussion/debate on what is supposed to be a smooth leadership transition in 2012.
A few months ago, most of the observers had already 'guessed' who would be the Middle Kingdom’s new leaders, not only in 2012, but also in the 2020’s.
The Jamestown Foundation published a paper ‘Changing of the Guard: Beijing grooms sixth generation cadres for 2020’ written by Willy Lam. The veteran China-expert explained: “President Hu and the Director of the CCP Organization Department Li Yuanchao have pulled out all the stops to elevate CYL-affiliated cadres from the Sixth Generation—those born in the early- to mid-1960s—to ministerial level positions. Foremost among these Young Turks are the Party Secretaries of Inner Mongolia and Hunan, respectively Hu Chunhua and Zhou Qiang. In the footsteps of late patriarch Deng Xiaoping, Hu may designate the successor of his successor by ensuring that either Hu Chunhua or Zhou will take over from the ‘core’ of the Fifth-Generation leadership, Xi Jinping, at the 20th Party Congress in 2022.”
For Hu and his colleagues of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, it may now only be wishful thinking since two new factors have crept into the scripted play.
One: the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Liu Xiaobo, the initiator of the Charter 08, a text signed by 300 prominent intellectuals, suggesting the introduction of some democratic reforms into the opaque one-party system of China.
As the Communist Party met last week to decide the next five-year plan and discuss China’s future, Beijing prevaricated on the fate of the new laureate; interestingly, Lui’s award has become a divisive issue in the precarious political equilibrium within the Party.
Two: I already mentioned the publication by a group of former senior officials of strongly worded open petition addressed to top legislative body, calling for an end of media censorship.
In the years to come, China is bound to witness new demands for the ‘fifth modernization’ dear to the intellectuals who wrote large posters on the Democracy Wall of the Tiananmen Square in 1979 (Deng Xiaoping had spoken of 4 modernizations).
Today these Elders (who probably participated to the censure of the Beijing Spring thirty years ago) asked for free speech, which, they believe is enshrined in the 1982 constitution. The points raised by them cannot simply be swept aside.
Wen’s utterances on democracy demonstrate that there is probably today another faction in the power struggle for the 2012 succession. The main factions may remain the Communist Youth League Clique (lead by Hu Jintao) and the Gang of Princelings (lead by Xi Jinping), but a 'reform faction’ seems alive and may even have some ‘popular’ support.
In the paper quoted earlier, Willy Lam says: “Yet Fifth and Sixth-Generations cadres have yet to display originality of thinking and capability for breakthroughs in governance. The dearth of visionary leaders could have an adverse impact on the nation’s ability to meet its goal of attaining superpower status in the coming decade or so.”
It is true that the present apparatchiks have no originality of thinking; most of them are obsessed with the China Model.
As Party’s publications explain, the China Model, far superior to the Western Model is “to absorb the nutrients from capitalist bodies so as to strengthen China’s socialist body ….to win time and accumulate strength via economic development in order to eventually conquer capitalism …to take advantage of China’s nationalized system and do the big things the CCP wants. With the success of the China Model …question the universality of the West’s values and the Chinese Communist Party can redefine the prevailing world ideology.”
The Party may consider the China Model as “a multi-dimensional system that covers almost every aspect of China’s development. It includes political, economic, cultural, social, and military sub-models”, but it appears again wishful thinking from the leadership.
However within China (and even within the Party) many believe that there are possibilities of ‘reforms’ and it is necessary if China really wants to build the harmonious society so dear to President Hu.
Is the ‘reform gang’ strong enough to tilt the balance and bring about real changes in China? Only the future will tell us. Could the Nobel Peace Prize to Lui Xiaobo, which was an 'embarrassment' for the Party, trigger the 'reform' faction to come in the forefront?
It appears that during the recent Plenum of the Central Committee of the CCP, the question was not raised, but it is difficult to know what is going on in the corridors of Zhongnanhai.
In the 2012 succession race, one should forget another faction: the People’s Liberation Army. In the recent months, the Army has shown that it can influence China’s foreign policy; we have seen it for policies vis-a-vis the US, Korea or Japan. The PLA clique will probably fight hard against the introduction of 'political' reforms into the party-unique system. Ironically even amongst the generals there are 'reformers'. General Liu Yazhou, Political Commissar of the National Defence University recently declared: "The secret of US success is neither Wall Street nor Silicon Valley, but its long-surviving rule of law and the system behind it... Democracy is the most urgent; without it there is no sustainable rise. Ideals of democracy are not restricted by national borders, or by historical ones."
Everything is not only opaque, but it is complicate.
In the meantime the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CCP has appointed Vice-President Xi Jinping as a Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission. It means that he will step in Hu’s three pairs of shoes in 2012 (PRC President, General Secretary of the Party and Chairman of the Military Commission).
Will Xi Jinping follow his father’s footsteps? Xi Zhongxun, an associate of Deng Xiaoping is still “remembered for his friendship to his colleagues, his tolerance to diverse cultures and religions, his idealism of an open market socialist country and his integrity in his beliefs.”
Xi Zhongxun was one of the architects of the economic reforms. He proposed and implemented Shenzhen, China's first economic zone which later became the standard model for the other economic zones. Will the Son emulate the father by introducing political reforms?
An interesting two years lie ahead.
Labels: China's Future, Xi Jinping, Xi Zhongxun
The Last Chinese Pilgrim
Have you heard of Xu Fancheng? Never heard of him? You are not the only one.
Those who visited the Pavilion of Puducherry at the World Exhibition in Shanghai may have come across a panel depicting Xu Fancheng’s amazing odyssey in India: ‘The key man in cultural exchanges between India and China’ as one panel depicts him.
This assertion might be true, but strangely enough, he is unknown in India; even the South Block Mandarins, always quick to find living symbols of the Chini-Hindi brotherhood, are unaware of him.
Ironically, it is a Communist publication, The China Daily (the largest English-language newspaper in the mainland) which first paid homage to the great scholar, artist and spiritual seeker.
In December 2009, The China Daily published a surprising article explaining the special place of Xu for the Chinese people who “cannot imagine that a scholar …could find [in India] a place to immerse himself in his quest for spirituality.” It noted that: “it is exactly what Xu Fancheng (1909-2000), a leading researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences did in India.”
It is worth quoting a few more lines from the Chinese newspaper: “In ancient times, Chinese scholars used to travel to India to study Buddhism and to bring back Buddhist scriptures, some of which have been well documented in history. But Xu spent a much longer time there than any of them, although he did not have to walk or ride horses and camels across deserts and snow-capped mountains to reach his dreamland”.
The Communist paper continued: “For 33 quiet and, for most part, penniless years, Xu worked as hard as the ancient pilgrims, studying and translating India's classical and modern writings. He was unaffected even by the loss of family members and the change of the national government back home. He spent most of those years in Sri Aurobindo Ashram.”
But who was really Xu Fancheng or Hu Hsu as he is still remembered in Puducherry?
Hu Hsu was born in Changsha, in the southern province of Hunan on October 26, 1909 into a well-off family. At that time, even though his family was involved in business, it was the normal practice for boys to get a classical education in literature and arts.
The discreet Xu once told one of his friends in the Ashram that Mao Zedong had been his history teacher in primary school. It is a fact that in 1917, the future Great Helmsman founded a night school in Hunan. Later Mao was later appointed assistant librarian at the University of Beijing. It is probably around that time that Xu met him this ‘very good teacher’.
Unfortunately for China, Mao’s destiny was not to remain a ‘good’ teacher.
A few years later, the young Xu came into contact with Lu Xun, one of the most prominent Chinese writers in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Lu had a large following among young intellectuals and is still considered today as the founder of modern Chinese literature. The two became friends.
Hu Hsu continued his studies at the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong. Interestingly the university’s motto was: "Study extensively; enquire accurately; reflect carefully; discriminate clearly; practice earnestly". During his entire life, Xu Fancheng faithfully followed this path.
He later moved to the Fudan University to study Western Literature. In 1929 with Lu Xun’s support, he obtained a scholarship to study Fine Art and Philosophy in Heidelberg, Germany where he stayed 3 years.
He came back to China in 1932 where he started to translate the works of Nietzsche into Chinese; soon becoming a Nietzsche expert.
In 1945, at the end of the WWII he decided to come to India. Flying from Kunming to Calcutta was an adventure in itself (during the war, 594 aircraft were lost, missing, or written off and 1,659 personnel killed or missing). But this was nothing for the young spiritual aspirant.
For several years, he lived in Visva-bharati in Santiniketan studying Sanskrit while teaching the History of Chinese Buddhism at Cheena Bhavana, the centre co-founded by Rabindranath Tagore and Tan Yun-shan in 1937.
It is at Tan’s initiative, let us not forget, that Jawaharlal Nehru visited China in 1939. A close friendship and mutual respect is said to have been forged between the two thereafter.
It is probably Tan who spoke about Sri Aurobindo and his Ashram to Xu Fancheng. In 1939, after having visited the Ashram and meeting the Mother, Tan had Sri Aurobindo’s darshan. He later wrote: "...As in the past China was spiritually conquered by a great Indian, so in the future too she would be conquered by another great Indian, Sri Aurobindo, the Mahayogi who, is the bringer of that light which will chase away the darkness that envelops the world today."
In 1951, Xu landed in Pondicherry. He remained there for 27 years, deeply immersed into studying, painting, teaching, translating, writing or simply being an ‘integral yogi’.
He translated into Chinese several Indian classics such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Upanishands, but also the major works of Sri Aurobindo, particularly The Life Divine. It is Xu who organized the first Chinese printing press in Pondicherry with the Mother’s support.
On October 30, 1962 (the Chinese had invaded India 10 days earlier), the Mother told one of her disciples: “I suddenly realized that the Chinese can't translate the way we do! In Chinese, each character represents an idea rather than a separate word; the basis is ideas, not words and their meanings, so translation must be a completely different kind of work for them. …But how interesting it must be [for Xu] to work with new ideas that way! The man is a genius!”
The death of Mao Zedong in September 1976 heralded a new era for China and the world. Those who had suffered the brutal repression of Mao’s policies began dreaming of a brighter and more peaceful future.
On December 18, 1978, hardly two years after the end of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, a small man (in size) climbed the rostrum for the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Deng Xiaoping was to change the face of China.
The same year, Xu decided to return to China and worked as a researcher in the Department of Religion in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. He continued to work quietly until he passed away on March 6, 2000.
Can you believe that it is The China Daily which asked: “Why are an old, lonely scholar born a century ago and the stuff that used to be called ‘Oriental mysticism’ and spirituality, drawing people's attention today when most students in China and India are being taught Western rationalism?” and then adding: “When Xu was pursuing his vocation single-mindedly, Chinese youths were flocking to Western countries' embassies or consul offices to apply for student visas”.
Yang Xusheng, a professor of Sinology in the Renmin University admits: “We have come to realize that seeing some of us become morally and spiritually hollow is as much painful an experience as seeing other people inadequately nourished and sheltered. Xu's research is unique for it reminds people that in order to seek a balanced life and economy, we have to go back to the questions raised by the first thinkers of our civilizations.”
Thirty years ago, though Deng Xiaoping announced that ‘to be rich is glorious’, the masses’ lives still remain hollow; it is perhaps time for China to meditate on the life and contribution of the last Chinese pilgrim. Hu Fancheng has definitively a message to teach to China's youth.
Labels: China's Future, Hu Hsu
The link between India and China
Soon after Jiang Qing, the disgruntled Chairman’s widow and her colleagues of the Gang of Four were removed from the scene, one of the leaders who had several times been ‘purged’ and in disgrace for several years, was back in the center of the political stage, Deng Xiaoping.
On December 18, 1978, hardly two years after the end of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, the small man (in size) climbed the rostrum for the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Deng was to change the face of China.
The new strong man of the Middle Kingdom proposed to the Central Committee an ‘open door’ policy as well as drastic economic reforms.
Thirty years later, China celebrated what Xinhua terms the “decision to open up the once-secluded country and reform its moribund economy”.
On the occasion, President Hu Jintao told an audience of more than 6,000 assembled in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing “Standing still and regressing will lead only to a dead end". He added that “China must continue the reform and opening-up drive, which in the past 30 years turned the once poverty-stricken country into one of the world's largest economies.”
The new path chosen by Deng would later be known as “socialism with Chinese characteristics”. Since then China has maintained an average annual growth rate of 9-10 % and this over the past three decades, making the developed world dream of a miracle à la Chinese for their own economies.
The years which followed Deng’s return were years of hope for the people of China who had greatly suffered during the different campaigns of Mao. One of the examples of the new wind blowing over China was the Beijing Spring in 1979 and the freedom slogans written by Wei Jingsheng and his colleagues on the Wall of Democracy in Beijing.
For the so-called ‘nationalities’ and particularly the Tibetans, the last two years of the 1970’s also became an era of relative freedom. One soon started seeing the first signs of detente in China as well as in Tibet. For many, the arrival of the pragmatic Deng Xiaoping in power could only augur positive changes.
He had written a 24-Character’s advice “Keep cool-headed to observe, be composed to make reactions, stand firmly, hide our capabilities and bide our time, never try to take the lead, and be able to accomplish something.”
The Panchen Lama, the second most important Tibetan religious figure after the Dalai Lama and Bapa Phuntso Wangyal, the ‘first Tibetan Communist’ who led the Chinese troops into the Tibetan capital in September 1951 had been released after more than 15 years in Chinese jails. They had managed to survive in the most inhuman conditions.
Wangyal still remembers the return of Deng Xiaoping: “He changed the course of Chinese history, ushering in a new era in politics, society, and the economy. The kind of ultra-leftist thinking that had produced the anti-rightist campaign and the disastrous Cultural Revolution was now suppressed, and those who had previously been imprisoned were being released — if, like me, they were still alive. One dimension of Deng’s new policy was the attempt to resolve outstanding international issues, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Dalai Lama and the exiled Tibetans.”
The return of Deng had other consequences, many Chinese who lived abroad returned to China. One of them was Hu Hsu, also known as Xu Fancheng (1903-2000).
I am posting here a remarkable article published by The China Daily in December 2009. The author points out: “In ancient times, Chinese scholars used to travel to India to study Buddhism and to bring back Buddhist scriptures, some of which have been well documented in history. But Xu spent a much longer time there than any of them, although he did not have to walk or ride horses and camels across deserts and snow-capped mountains to reach his "dreamland".
The article goes into the extraordinary journey of Hu Hsu. This year, we are celebrating Hu’s centenary.Though he was a great master of classical Chinese poetry, calligraphy, sculpture, and painting; though he knew eight ancient and modern languages; though he translated the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads and the major works of Sri Aurobindo into Chinese, how many know of him in India today.
Read The China Daily article.
In an unending search for spirituality
You Nuo
Wars, famine, state failure, revolutions, reform, economic boom. Most people in the world cannot think of much else when it comes to 20th-century China. To be honest, even most Chinese cannot think beyond them. They cannot imagine that a scholar from a society of constant upheavals could find a place to immerse himself in his quest for spirituality and life's meaning. But that is exactly what Xu Fancheng (1903-2000), a leading researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), did in India.
In ancient times, Chinese scholars used to travel to India to study Buddhism and to bring back Buddhist scriptures, some of which have been well documented in history. But Xu spent a much longer time there than any of them, although he did not have to walk or ride horses and camels across deserts and snow-capped mountains to reach his "dreamland".
For 33 quiet and, for most part, penniless years, Xu worked as hard as the ancient pilgrims, studying and translating India's classical and modern writings. He was unaffected even by the loss of family members and the change of the national government back home. He spent most of those years in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, an education center founded by Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950) and led by Mirra Alfassa (known as the Mother, 1878-1973), in Pondicherry, southern India, where he started translating some of Ghose's key philosophical works.
It was not until 1978, when a friend from Hong Kong convinced him that China was beginning to reform and open up and might make room for his intellectual quest, did he think of returning home.
When he arrived in Beijing, as his former CASS assistant Sun Bo recalls while talking to China Daily, "the old scholar had nothing except a little money from his Hong Kong friend no company and no personal belongings other than his manuscripts". Nor was there a homecoming ceremony, like the one presided over by the emperor when the famous Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang (602-664) returned from his 17-year study tour to India.
After the long absence, the motherland seemed a strange place to Xu in many ways. Very few people could remember who he was unless they went through the Chinese editions of Nietzsche, some of which Xu had translated while studying in Germany in the 1930s. Or, they could find his name in the research on Lu Xun (1881-1936). Lu Xun had a large following among young intellectuals who, angry at the state of the country, went to him for inspiration and to get their articles published in his magazine. Xu was one of them.
But like Sri Aurobindo, his Indian inspiration, Xu turned from being a radical young intellectual into a thinker, making Eastern philosophy his source of spirituality, something China shared with India in ancient times and could still be valuable for modern man's existence. And it will be more than being valuable, as we can know from Xu's writings and, more importantly, derive from his entire body of research. He re-emphasizes that man's inevitable journey from the industrial and bureaucratic systems of the modern times will be toward moral independence and spiritual well-being.
As Xu has said: "In a way, the destiny of mankind has been determined by the philosophies of ancient Greece, India and China, each with its genuine and independent roots. Without those, neither the Eastern civilizations nor that of the West can be thinkable If there is any meaning of academic research, and if it is to provide any useful service to mankind, then it must be to prepare for the coming of a great future - by revisiting the profound lessons of the past."
Xu was one of the scholars who, after being educated in the Chinese and Greek classics at home, had the luxury of spending a long time to focus on Indian philosophy and teachings. He had the longevity, too, which allowed him another 20-odd years to write about his experiences and thoughts without much interference. As his former CASS colleagues recall, Xu was exempted by leaders in his research institute from attending most of the staff meetings.
Among the huge number of Xu's translations in Chinese are the Bhagavadgita, 50 of the Upanishads, and the major works of Sri Aurobindo (such as The Life Devine and Essays on the Gita) and the Mother, who incidentally was also his close friend. Xu lived alone in an apartment in a six-story building without an elevator in eastern Beijing till his death in 2000.
Xu Fancheng's collected works, published in 16 volumes by the Shanghai Joint Publishing Company in 2006, show that he was not only a translator of Indian philosophical works. He was also an original writer, and even though most of his own creations are relatively short, they cover an extensive range, reflecting deeply on Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, as well as classical Grecian philosophy.
But Sun Bo, Xu's assistant in his later years, says the collected volumes do not contain all of his works. Some manuscripts, particularly the last book he was writing on Buddhism, went missing after his death.
Xu's death, incidentally, was a non-event like his return from India. But now, almost a decade later, his standing as a scholar of very high repute has grown across the country. His translation of the Upanishads has been reprinted twice, according to its editor Huang Yansheng, of the Chinese Social Sciences Publishing. The Upanishads primarily discuss philosophy, meditation and the nature of God, and form the core spiritual thought of and mystic contemplations of the four Vedas. In Indian philosophy terms, they are known as Vedanta(or the culmination of the Vedas).
"We have orders not just from universities and libraries," Huang says. "There have been individuals, too, from various backgrounds (who have ordered Xu's translations). They call us either to ask where they can buy it, or to request us to buy a copy for them."
Thanks primarily to Xu's efforts some Chinese universities have started teaching Sri Aurobindo's works, Sun Bo says. Indeed, on popular Chinese online search site Baidu.com (on the web as well as the news search) Xu Fancheng is no longer an obscure name. At least two biographies of Xu have been published as his life story and his translations of Indian classical text attract widespread intellectual attention.
But why? Why are an old, lonely scholar born a century ago and the stuff that used to be called "Oriental mysticism" and spirituality drawing people's attention today when most students in China and India, as well the entire developing world, are being taught Western rationalism?
When Xu was pursuing his vocation single-mindedly, Chinese youths were flocking to Western countries' embassies or consul offices to apply for student visas. It was a time when science and technology were considered the best formula to change China. Who would think of going to India to study philosophy in a dead language called Sanskrit when GDP is considered the best measurement of progress? says Yang Xusheng, a philosopher and professor of Sinology in the Renmin University of China.
"As it has turned out, it is not a road (the GDP road) on which you can travel very far," Yang says. "It is also getting very crowded, especially because Chinese and Indians have started joining in. So we have a crisis.
We have come to realize that seeing some of us become morally and spiritually hollow is as much painful an experience as seeing other people inadequately nourished and sheltered."
Xu's research is unique, Yang says, for it reminds people that in order to seek a balanced life and economy, we have to go back to the questions raised by the first thinkers of our civilizations - the Chinese, Indian, and Greek - and to integrate all their inspirations.
"Haven't you heard what Xu said he wanted to do but could not find the time for?" Yang says. "He had plans to translate the Bible and the Koran again to give Chinese readers a better translation of the holy books. And do you know why he wanted to do that?"
(China Daily 12/17/2009 page9)
(Photos Courtesy Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry)
Labels: China, Hu Hsu
A courageous woman: Tsering Woeser
Tsering Woeser is a courageous person. Despite the tight security in China, she never misses a chance to inform the readers of her blog of the situation inside Tibet.
Woeser is one of the signatories of the Charter 08 drafted by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lui Xiaobo.
Her Chinese husband, Wang Lixiong has also written extensively on Tibet. He recently published a Road map of Tibetan Independence. He says: "This roadmap derives from the watershed. I had not taken the possibility of Tibetan independence into serious consideration before the incident in Tibet in 2008. It serves as the watershed that compels me to realize that Tibetan independence, for a long time being a fantasy, has turned into an emerging issue and reached the eyesight of the public. This change is brought by none other than the 'anti-secession' institutions in China’s bureaucratic system."
"The Party ideology sees China, during the mid 19th to mid 20th Century, as a victim of Western imperialism. The Chinese consequently have remembered the humiliations, but have rarely considered China itself as an imperial power."
One can only admire people like Woeser or Wang. They bring hope that tomorrow's China will be different and more open.
Wang Lixiong who is apparently more free to move around than Woeser recently twitted with the Dalai Lama.
Beijing-based RFA Contributor Wins Women’s ‘Courage’ Award
But Chinese Authorities Bar Woeser from Accepting Honor in Person
Radio Free Asia
Today, Radio Free Asia contributor and freelance Tibetan blogger Tsering Woeser was honored with the 2010 Courage in Journalism Award by the International Women’s Media Foundation at a ceremony in New York. However, Woeser, who is based in Beijing, has long been denied a passport from the Chinese government, and could not attend the ceremony held in New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to accept the award in person.
“Courage is the defining trait in Tsering Woeser’s life and work,” said Dan Southerland, Radio Free Asia’s Vice President and Executive Editor, who attended the ceremony. “If only she were here in person to receive this distinguished award and know firsthand the recognition and respect she commands among her journalistic peers.”
Undeterred by orders and threats from official quarters, living under constant police surveillance, and subject to repeated attacks on her blogs and e-mail accounts, Woeser has persevered in reporting human rights abuses in the Tibetan region. Woeser continues to publish commentary on Radio Free Asia’s website and break stories about crackdowns in Tibet on her Chinese-language blog, Invisible Tibet. Because Woeser is a banned writer in China, her website is hosted abroad.
In April 2009, The New York Times cited Woeser’s blog as one of the few reliable news outlets for those able to circumvent China’s Great Firewall. Unfortunately for Woeser, this recognition also means living with risk. Sources and friends with whom she speaks are subject to detention and interrogation.
Woeser originally was a reporter and eventually became an editor for a government-controlled Tibetan literary journal. After the publication of her best-selling book Notes on Tibet, which was banned in late 2003, Woeser was told by authorities to change her point of view in order to keep her job. She refused. Woeser then moved to Beijing and began blogging. In a 2006 interview with Radio Free Asia, Woeser said she would never stop writing.
She said, “While I was working in an office in Lhasa, I was paid well. But I never felt free, and it bothered me ... When I was fired from the job, the incident led me to the freedom to express myself in writing.”
Labels: China's Policy towards Tibet, Woeser
Terror out of Africa
Terror out of Africa is the title given to my article on the al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb today published in The Pioneer. Click here to read.
Labels: Article Pioneer, France, Terrorism
Why Beijing seethes over the Nobel for Liu
My article on the new Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lui Xiaobo, Why Beijing seethes over the Nobel for Liu has been posted on Sify.com.
Labels: Article Sify, Lui Xiaobo
Xi finally made it
During the recent Plenum of the Central Committee of the CCP, Xi finally made it to the Central Military Commission. Hu Jintao would have not probably mind continuing for a few more years as PLA's boss, like his predecessor Jiang Zemin did, but the Party always decides.
Did you notice that in 2012, both France and China will have professional singers as First Ladies (if, of course, Sarkozy is reelected).
It could be an interesting duo.
I am wondering if Xi Jinping has kept the Rolex watch given by the Dalai Lama to his father Xi Zhongxun in the 1950's.
It is said that Xi Senior "was remembered for his friendship to his colleagues, his tolerance to diverse cultures and religions, his idealism of an open market socialist country and his integrity in his beliefs. He was one of the few upper level leaders who voted during the 1980s for open reform and was persecuted afterward for this bold move."
Will Xi Junior follow the same path?
Xi Senior was purged in the 1960's for having written a report on the Panchen Lama's 70000-character petition to Zhou Enlai. Mao did not appreciate the Panchen Lama's 'poisonous arrow'.
Xi Jinping appointed vice-chairman of Central Military Commission
(Source: Xinhua) 2010-10-19
BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has been appointed vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
The Fifth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee announced in a communique at the close of the four-day meeting Monday that the CMC was augmented to include Xi as a vice-chairman.
Xi is also member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
Born in 1953, Xi has served in a number of positions related to the armed forces and military reserve affairs during his previous tenures at national and local levels.
He was a military officer in active service when he worked as a secretary at the General Office of the Central Military Commission from 1979 to 1982.
He served as the first political commissar and first secretary of the Party committee of people's armed forces department of Zhengding County, Hebei Province, from 1983 to 1985 when he was the secretary of the county's Party committee.
Xi later served as the first secretary of the sub-military area commands' Party committees of Ningde and Fuzhou, both in Fujian Province, from 1988 to 1993.
From 1996 to 1999, he served as the first political commissar of the anti-aircraft artillery reserve division of Fujian provincial military area command, when he was deputy secretary of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee.
In 1999, Xi became vice director of the commission for national defense mobilization of Nanjing Military Area Command and director of Fujian Provincial commission for national defense mobilization, when he was promoted to acting governor of Fujian Province.
After a transfer to Zhejiang Province in 2002, Xi was appointed director of Zhejiang Provincial commission for national defense mobilization.
When Xi was promoted to secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, he was appointed the first secretary of the Party committee of Zhejiang provincial military area command.
Xi was first secretary of the Party committee of Shanghai Garrison when he was transferred to serve as Secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee in 2007.
Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou are the other two vice chairmen of the CPC Central Military Commission headed by President Hu Jintao.
Labels: China's Future, Xi Jinping
An Interview with the French Defence Minister
For historical, geographical and strategic reasons, India is
a major player in the region.
It therefore, unquestionably, has an important role to play in Afghanistan.
French Defence Minister
Mr. Hervé Morin was born on 17 August 1961 in Pont-Audemer, Eure (Normandy). He was reelected thrice since 1998 as an MP representing the constituency of Eure. He is leader of the New Center Party. After the presidential elections of 2007, his Party became an ally of the majority (UMP Party). He was later selected by President Nicolas Sarkozy to hold the important defense portfolio.
In an exclusive interview to the Indian Defence Review, the Defence minister answers questions by Claude Arpi on Indo-French relations, in backdrop of the forthcoming visit of the French President to India in December 2010 during which several agreements are likely to be finalised.
FRANCE AND INDIA
Q: Hon’ble Minister, could you give us a brief overview of Indo-French defence relations?
HM: We have a long-standing military cooperation. When India desired to diversify its military relations in the early 1980s, France responded and a relationship of trust was built, especially with the Mirage 2000s.
In 1998, India and France decided to raise their bilateral relation to a strategic level. The establishment of an Indo-French strategic partnership enabled us to strengthen our ties further and join our voices at international bodies. Whether it concerns its candidature for a permanent seat at the Security Council or the amendment of regulations for civil nuclear energy exportation, India knows that it can count on France’s support.
Since the beginning of our strategic partnership, a high-level defence committee has been meeting every year and other agreements have strengthened our bilateral relations. I would particularly refer to the founding of an annual forum on research and technology in 2002, and the signing of the Indo-French defence agreement in 2006. Further, joint military exercises are held every year between our air forces and navies. Our relation in all these areas has attained a high level of trust.
Mr. Morin’s visit to India (December 2009)
Q: What are you expecting from the Presidential visit in December?
HM: Last year, India was the Chief Guest for our national day parade on the Champs Elysées in Paris. On the occasion of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to France, our two countries reiterated their resolve to give a fresh impetus to our strategic partnership. Our defence relations constitute one of its principal pillars.
President Nicolas Sarkozy’s upcoming visit in December will make our partnership progress even further in all its facets, be it facing common threats, intensifying our operational cooperation, or bringing the projects for equipping the Indian armed forces, launched together, to their fruition.
Q: What are the most important projects underway with India?
HM: Our cooperation concerns the very heart of our security: counter-terrorism. This is even more indispensable as we often face similar kinds of threats in Afghanistan, in Europe and in India, as borne out by the attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. Further, we have a very promising operational cooperation, be it regarding anti-piracy operations, joint exercises or officer exchanges.
With regard to defence equipment, the Indo-French relation translates into the supply of strategic equipment (fighter aircraft, submarines), and also state-of-the-art technology for the entire gamut of the Indian armed forces’ requirements. As our own history has made us extremely sensitive to India’s desire to favour local production and develop the defence industry, this relation has always been characterised by mutual trust and technological cooperation. As always, we are following the true course of a partnership.
Mr. Morin with Service Chiefs (New Delhi, December 2009)
The chief project underway is the manufacture, under licence in India, of six Scorpene submarines at Mazagaon docks, Mumbai; it is a project to which we feel totally committed, alongside our Indian partners. Among other projects that have matured, one can cite the modernisation of the Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 fleet; two joint development projects - the Maitri project for a surface-to-air defence missile system, and the Kaveri fighter aircraft engine; the supply of reconnaissance and observation helicopters or, in the slightly longer term, the second phase of six submarines.
Q: For more than 50 years France has been a trusted supplier of military equipment to India. India recently floated a tender for purchasing 126 medium multirole combat aircraft. What are your hopes for what is being called the “contract of the century” in India?
HM: The Rafale is an exceptional aircraft, which meets the needs of the Indian Air Force particularly well.
I am sure that the field trials, completed in spring 2010, would have enabled the Indian Air Force and the Ministry of Defence to gauge fully the quality of this aircraft, which the French Air Force itself is equipped with. I have also noted that the trials were conducted with great professionalism within the strict deadlines.
Mr. Morin and his Indian counterpart (New Delhi, December 2009)
As part of this partnership, we are, of course, extremely attentive to the comments or specific requirements that the Indian Air Force or the Ministry of Defence may send us.
Q: Has the contract for refitting the Mirages been signed?
HM: The acquisition of the Mirage 2000 in the early 1980s was a very important step in bringing India and France close together. In this spirit, I earnestly hope that the modernisation of India’s Mirage 2000 fleet will be executed by Dassault, Thales and MBDA. I am confident that the negotiation of this contract will reach a speedy conclusion.
Q: What is the status of the Maitri project for joint development of surface-to-air missiles?
HM: The Maitri project for joint missile development is mentioned in the political Joint Statement made in September 2008. It commits the French company MBDA, and the DRDO from India in an as yet unparalleled project, which will involve extremely ambitious transfers of technology. The anti-aircraft defence system developed in India, which will use this missile, will meet the requirements of the Indian Air Force and the Navy as well as that of the the Army, should the latter wish to join the programme. I am confident of the completion of this joint project, which perfectly illustrates the spirit of our strategic partnership as it implies the joint development of a new weapons system.
Q: Do joint exercises like Garuda or Varuna contribute to improving interoperability between the Indian and French armed forces?
HM: The Varuna and Garuda exercises, involving our respective Navies and Air Forces, are major manoeuvres that enable us to develop and implement new tactics, which can be directly used, for instance, to fight piracy.
These joint manoeuvres are also internationally recognised for their high standards and stir much interest, as reflected in the participation of the Singaporean Air Force in the Garuda exercise held in France, in June 2010
Q: How can the Indo-French strategic partnership be improved with regard to defence?
HM: The President of the French Republic has emphasized on several occasions that the ties of the Indo-French strategic partnership contribute to stability and peace not only at the regional level but also at the global one.
As I had the opportunity to say to the Hon’ble Minister of Defence, Shri A.K. Antony, during my visit in December 2009, we can go even farther in enhancing our consultations on the regional situation – I am specifically referring to Afghanistan, where France is engaged – but also on major international issues. We could also intensify our cooperation at the theatres of operation where both our armed forces are deployed, piracy in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden being such a case. Lastly, we could develop more armament programmes that are efficient and adapted to the needs of both armed forces.
Q: Can one envisage France and India collaborating on a major joint project on research, development and production? India, for instance, already has such a project with Russia for a fifth generation fighter plane.
HM: The Indo-French relation is one of trust. Therefore, France is fully ready to undertake major cooperation projects on armament with India.
There already are two joint development projects: the Maitri missile project between the DRDO and MBDA, and the Kaveri engine that is to be jointly developed by the DRDO and SNECMA.
We must together explore other possible areas for applying this renewed cooperation, accompanied by real transfers of technology.
Q: What is your government’s policy vis-à-vis the sale of armament to Pakistan?
HM: Pakistan is an essential partner for fighting terrorism. Our dialogue with this country, including the military sphere, has but a single goal: reinforcement of Pakistani military capabilities for fighting radical extremists.
Q: How do you regard the evolving situation in Afghanistan today?
HM: The objective of our engagement in Afghanistan has been the fight against terrorism and ensuring the stability of this country, which is essential for the security of the entire zone. At the request of the Afghan government and in the framework of United Nations resolutions, we have maintained a military presence since 2001, the priority being the training of the new Afghan army and police. With almost 4000 men deployed on the field, we are fully assuming our share of the responsibility. As reiterated by President Nicolas Sarkozy on several occasions, we will stand by the Afghan people for as long as is required.
The presidential elections, and recently, the legislative polls, mark an important phase of the democratic process in this country, and we welcome the mobilisation and courage displayed by the Afghan people under particularly violent and tough conditions. With the support of the international community, the new Afghan authorities must henceforth formulate and implement a programme capable of meeting all the challenges that this country faces: security, governance, development. All the efforts of the international community must contribute towards helping the Afghans take charge of their own destiny, particularly with regard to security.
Q: What role do you envision for India in Afghanistan?
HM: France considers the regional aspect to constitute an important factor for the settlement of the Afghan crisis. For historical, geographical and strategic reasons, India is a major player in the region. It therefore, unquestionably, has an important role to play. Its contribution to Afghanistan’s reconstruction has, moreover, been welcomed by the international community as it brings direct benefits to Afghanistan’s economic development, the well-being of the local people and the consolidation of the rule of law.
Further, like all other countries participating in the ISAF, India constantly faces terrorist threats.
For all these reasons, we attach especial importance to our dialogue with the Indian authorities on the situation in Afghanistan.
Q: How do you envision the future of the French armed forces?
HM: Over ten years ago, we undertook unprecedented military reforms through professionalism and ending drafting. These reforms were indispensable, given the change in the missions assigned to our armed forces, which are essentially engaged in foreign theatres and peacekeeping operations.
Today, the threats still remain, as we see in Afghanistan, off the Coast of Somalia and the Sahel region. Hence, France continues to give priority to defence investments.
But given budgetary constraints, France endeavours to optimise its defence resources. Thus, we are pursuing our modernisation policy with a view to better management and making our military mechanisms more appropriate for the ground realities of our foreign engagements, particularly through greater efforts with regard to equipment.
As far as deterrence is concerned, we maintain a “strictly sufficient” arsenal, at the lowest level possible for preserving credibility, and which has been ensuring us peace since almost half a century.
My interview with Hervé Morin
Is Wen 'putting on a show'?
Visit of the French Chief of Defence Staff
The African Talibans
Tilting the fragile balance?
European laws and national interests
End Censorship, say Elders
Where are the Waters?
The Long Arms of the Mandarins
The Train in Tibet And The Clouds Over The Himala...
The Negotiations That Never Were
The strange destinies of Liu Xiaobo and Wen Jiabao...
Bullying Maoist tactics
Gansu in the headlines again
Grave implications of Chinese Hydro Projects
Google again
Nepal disrupts Tibetan polls
Missiles targetting India: a clarification
Is China rich?
Terrorism spreads to the fashion capital
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Working to enhance political interest and will among policy-makersZambia
In 2010, Zambia was the first country to receive funding from the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), a USD 1.2 billion funding window under the Climate Investment Funds. The programme in Zambia is implemented by the government with the World Bank as lead funding partner, and receives technical support from a variety of agencies. The current phase, which entails USD 36 million of funding, runs from 2013 to 2020, with three main pillars: participatory adaptation (with a strong focus on agricultural resilience and subnational planning), climate resilient infrastructure, and strategic support.
The programme is mentioned here for the latter component: strategic support. Since the outset, the PPCR in Zambia has placed emphasis on “winning over” national policy-makers to the climate change agenda in order to catalyze de facto support to climate-resilient policies. This has included collaboration with parliamentarians to provide knowledge and research on the impacts of climate change on agricultural production, and other sectors in the national economy. So far, the focus has been on the planning and financing ministries, in an effort to relocate policy development on climate from technical agencies to key decision-making departments. The programme also supports the Zambia Civil Society Network in managing a tracking tool, designed to monitor and publicize the government’s de facto climate-related expenditures.
Impact and lessons learned
The programme has played a key role in ensuring that climate resilience is now mainstreamed into Zambia’s major development plans and sector policies - most notably in agriculture, livestock and energy. In particular, the National Agriculture Investment Plan identifies a range of strategies, including Conservation Agriculture and CSA. Additionally, non-donor government expenditure on climate resilience doubled from 2014 to 2015, although it remains at only USD 1.5 million. Certain trade-offs remain evident: while climate concerns appear to have grown among policy makers large-scale energy and infrastructure issues still receive the most attention. Moreover, the strong focus on national policy-makers has meant that the engagement of decision-makers at sub-national levels has been cursory so far, constraining progress on the ground.
Pilot Program for Climate Resilience, Zambia. World Bank programme documents and reviews: http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P127254/zambia-strengthening-climate-resilience-ppcr-phase-ii?lang=en
BMZ (2013) Understanding Climate Finance Readiness Needs in Zambia: https://www.giz.de/expertise/downloads/giz2013-en-climate-finance-readiness-zambia.pdf
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Photo: CWS
Building a world where there is enough for all
CWS has worked in Asia and around the world for seven decades with one goal: helping build a world where there is enough for all.
We affirm the power of individuals and communities in creating their futures. We work to help people find solutions to the challenges and problems they face, and to seize the opportunities they have to – and build on – the change that comes from our partnership.
In Asia this means a poor rural family is able to start a home garden and raise chickens to ensure enough nutritious food, and a small income, for themselves. Or a community is able to have nearby access to clean, safe water for drinking, cooking, bathing and household chores. And unaccompanied and separated children seeking asylum are protected and sheltered and offered hope as well as safety.
At CWS we believe that there is enough food, water and justice for everyone in our world. Our aim and work is to build alliances among faith groups, civil society, advocates and communities and individuals needing support to secure their basic rights.
Student-led awareness-raising for trafficking prevention in Vietnam. Photo: CWS
CWS in Asia
CWS first worked in Asia as a leader of humanitarian action to support the people of Japan at the end of World War II. As part of the Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia, CWS, together with many other organizations, facilitated delivery of about 200 shiploads of relief and recovery supplies that helped more than 14 million people survive the aftermath of the war. Over the past six decades as CWS has evolved in Japan, our engagement has remained strong.
Our work in Asia has expanded greatly since 1946 and it has changed in response to humanitarian and development needs.
In 1954 CWS was among the first American agencies to provide aid – primarily medical and material – to 300,000-plus internal refugees in South Vietnam.
In the 1960s, CWS worked in Myanmar through the Myanmar Council of Churches and the Myanmar YMCA and in Indonesia through the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (CCI). In both countries, these groups and CWS worked together to support and implement humanitarian and development programs.
CWS has been working in Cambodia since 1979, and was one of the first humanitarian organizations allowed in the country when the Khmer Rouge era ended.
Since 1984 CWS has been active in initiatives to support the hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from Myanmar (Burma) who live in closed camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, and we continue to work with The Border Consortium as displaced families prepare to return home.
Since 2003 CWS has worked in Timor-Leste: at first through the Protestant Church of Timor-Leste, later directly with the national army, supported HIV/AIDS awareness-raising, education and prevention activities, and now expanding to development programs.
In 2008 a renewed partnership with The Church of Christ in Thailand was agreed to support child safeguarding protocols and practices in Church schools, universities, hospitals and congregations.
CCT Child Protection Code of Conduct writers’ workshop in Thailand. Photo: CWS
Today in Southeast Asia, CWS focuses significantly on integrated community development for improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), nutrition and livelihood opportunities. Some country teams also lead programs to support community-based disaster risk reduction; others work for refugee protection and basic rights; for improving health care for marginalized people; for HIV/AIDS awareness-raising and prevention, and for advocacy for nuclear risk reduction and response preparedness.
Together, as a regional team, CWS stands ready to respond to natural and manmade disasters in partnership with members of the global ACT Alliance and local organizations, including churches.
Our group at the learning exchange. In this photo, everyone is wearing scarves that were woven by women as part of one of our programs in Indonesia! Photo: CWS
In the broader Asia-Pacific region, CWS partners with many national and international non-government and government groups, including these:
ACT Alliance, a group of 150-plus churches and faith-based organizations working together in humanitarian assistance, advocacy and development initiatives across the Asia-Pacific region, and around the world.
Asian Disaster Reduction & Response Network (ADRRN)
Global Network for Disaster Risk Reduction (GNDR)
International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
The Border Consortium (TBC)
The Humanitarian Forum Indonesia (HFI)
Humanitarian Quality and Accountability
CWS is committed to globally recognized Sphere Project standards, and to keeping Core Humanitarian Standard commitments in our work. We also work with related initiatives and groups that seek to ensure quality and accountability in humanitarian action. In all emergency and crisis response activities in Asia, CWS follows core and technical minimum standards – which put the people we help in times of crisis or disaster at the center of our response.
Download the 2018 edition of The Sphere Project Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response.
A simulation exercise in Myanmar. Photo: CWS
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https://copyrightaid.co.uk/forum/
Incorrect copyright notice
https://copyrightaid.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1640
by jrk1510
I'm working with a client whose late mother was quite a well-known artist. She signed a licensing agreement many years ago and I have pointed out to the client (who is now the IP owner) that the copyright notice carried on the licensed products has been attributed to the publisher instead of the artist (including publishing dates, on some products), for over 30 years.
I can't find any case studies online that are similar to this case.
In the agreement, the first clause states that the copyright belongs to the licensor (the artist). I know that copyright is automatic but could anyone advise where we stand on this? Is this, therefore a breach of contract? Or worse?
I don't necessarily believe the publisher is trying to claim ownership of the IP but this could undermine my client's ability to exploit the IP through further licensing deals, as it may cast doubt on the ownership of the IP.
Any help or advice welcome!
by AndyJ
It may be necessary to distinguish between the original art work and the final product as far as the copyright notice is concerned. For example if the product was a coffee table book of the artist's work, then copyright in the published edition would belong to the publishers, but that wouldn't affect the underlying IP in the artwork itself. Something similar would apply to posters. However the more the product becomes an everyday useful item (say, like table mats), the less copyright there is in the actual product itself, and the more appropriate IP protection for the item lies with design right.
However none of that should in anyway affect the artist's continuing claim to copyright, assuming that the licensing agreement was just that, and not an assignment of copyright. The latter is a formal transfer of ownership. I assume that the agreement acknowledges that the licensor is in fact the creator of the art, and if so this would an important piece of evidence if there was ever to be a dispute over who is the rightful copyright owner.
The nature of the licensing agreement will also affect the future use of the artwork, for instance whether other licences can be issued. If the licensing agreement gave exclusive rights to the publisher, then this would prevent the artist (or her heirs) from exploiting the works for the term of the licence and within any geographical area specified. If the licence was non-exclusive then the artist would be free to issue other licences in parallel to the first. Since I assume the licensing agreement was drawn up by lawyers working for the publishers, I think an exclusive licence is more likely, and so it would be necessary to check the term of the licence before contemplating the issue of new licences. There may well be a reversionary clause in the licence which describes what should happen in the event of the artist's death or some other event such as the publisher ceasing to trade etc.
It would also be useful to see what the agreement says about the moral rights of the artist. These rights include the right to be credited as the author of the work, for the work not to be treated in a derogatory manner and so on. The moral right to be credited needs to be asserted by the artist and the agreement would be the logical place to record this fact. Moral rights cannot be transferred by assignment, although they may be waived. The only way moral rights can transfer is by testamentary disposition (ie a Will) or through the normal legal rules of inheritance in the case of someone who died without leaving a will. If the agreement stated that the artist was to be credited, but this in fact did not occur with the final products, then this omission may amount to a breach of the contract.
by ConnieKeefe
Hi Andy. Thanks for reply. Yes I am in UK. I constantly tell ebay about the listings but as they never reply even when using live chat or on the telephone, I never know if they are taking listings down. I have completed one of their vero forms as well. I know I can chase the seller, especially as he has a business address but I am at a loss as to how to get ebay to respond. All they ever do is say that they will deal with the matter but they never tell me what they will do. Ebay listings come and go so I have no idea if ebay are taking them down or they are running their course. I though ebay might deal with the seller if the same seller keeps relisting the same item, but so far that hasn't happened. The law seems a little grey about this because if I understand things correctly, infringing my copyright isn't a criminal offence but a business selling my videos for money is a criminal offence.
Imran,
I cannot see why you have posted in this thread on an entirely different topic. And you have not made it entirely clear what you are asking.
You refer to 'my videos' but give us no clue what rights you hold in the videos. Only a copyright holder or an exclusive licensee can take any legal action in respect of copyright, and this includes asking eBay to remove allegedly infringing products, so maybe eBay are unconvinced that you own these rights.
In any case, where infringement is alleged, the primary dispute lies with the person selling the disputed items. Since you seem reluctant to tackle the alleged primary infringer, it is hardly surprising eBay are unwilling to potentially damage their relationship with another seller, simply because you don't want to use the remedies available to you. Ebay is guaranteed immunity from liability under the EU eCommerce Directive as long as it has no knowledge that infringing items are being listed. The takedown procedure they operate is actually governed by the American Digital Millennium Copyright Act but the prcedures are very similar to the EU requirements. You have to notify them of each and every separate occurrence and you cannot expect them to protect your intellectual property if you are not prepared to put in the legwork. Ebay is not obliged to act on notifications it feels are either spurious or contain insufficient detail for them to identify the disputed listings.
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PeekPicks
CinemaPeek
Showing Appreciation for Quality Entertainment
Godzilla: The King of Monsters Rises
Two weeks ago, a film about a gigantic reptile with nuclear breath and a very recognizable scream was released into theaters. The films name? Godzilla. The film is an American reboot of the enormously famous and successful franchise which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston and Ken Watanabe; Directed by Gareth Edwards. But first, a little history before delving into a discussion concerning the reboot.
In August of 1945 the United States dropped two Atomic bombs in order to halt the Japanese military near the end of WWII. The first was on Hiroshima August 6 and the second on Nagasaki August 9. Both bombings decimated the two islands, leaving survivors with burns, radiation sickness and fear. Thus, the Japanese military entered into a treaty with America.
For the last sixty nine years, the Japanese people have lived within the shadow of the mushroom cloud. Its influence can be seen in a majority of the visual media that has come from that nation. Yet none of the animated features (anime) of films that have been made in Japan over the nearly seven decades have become as iconic to modern pop culture as the first Godzilla film.
Released in 1954, Godzilla, or Gojira introduced Japanese audiences to a towering monster born from nuclear radiation who rampages through Tokyo leaving devastation in its wake, mirroring the destruction experienced at the time the two atomic bombs were dropped. Clearly this was the filmmakers way of dealing with the horror of a nuclear holocaust.
In spite of the negative reception by Japanese film critics; who claimed that the motion picture exploited the devastation of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Gojira went on to make 152 million Yen ($2.2 Million USD) and sold over nine million tickets. It also spawned twenty seven remakes and even became popular in America, spawning a remake in 1998-which also resulted in an animated series-and this years reboot.
Godzilla is one of those franchises that benefits tremendously from an updated version. The reason for this is mainly because the visual effects are hopelessly outdated. If anyone has ever wondered why Godzilla’s appearance changes from film to film, it’s because the suit the actor wore had to be made from scratch every time. Though the idea of having an actor in a suit demolishing miniature buildings was both brilliant and innovative, it was problematic for that very reason. None of the suits survived the filming process fully intact.
It could be said that Steven Speilberg’s Jurassic Park opened the door for a film like Godzilla to be remade. Because of the advances in animatronics and CGI, as well as the combining of the two; the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and its sequels wouldn’t have been as believably realistic as they were. Likewise with Godzilla. A reptilian behemoth who towers over an average skyscraper. Putting an actor in a suit wasn’t really an option and neither was using puppets, simply because those techniques wouldn’t have been relevant to more modern audiences and its just campy now.
In Godzilla 2014, it is massively evident that CGI has come a long way in the sixteen years since the late nineties remake. From the first moment the King of Monsters appears on screen, to the end of the film, one would be hard pressed to deny how real Godzilla looks. This version of the monster doesn’t move like a human in a suit, a marionette. a stop motion figure ala King Kong 1933, or even a Jim Henson creation-hello Jabba the Hut. Nope. Not here. Every step, gesture,breath and glare looks natural and fluid. Godzilla moves the way a creature his size would really move. Oh, and those wacky martial arts stances from the older movies? Non existent.
Undoubtedly the visual effects alone are a reason to see this film. However, they are not the only reason. Edwards and his team managed to take all the elements that fans love about Godzilla and put them in one film. Specifically, Godzilla fighting other monsters of the same gigantic proportions, humans caught in the middle of the destruction trying their best to not be killed and the military doing what they do best. Preparing for the worst case scenario.
Amidst the turmoil, destruction and military decisions, there is another element that makes this version more than just a film directed by a fan with the greatest opportunity a fan could ever have-other than J.J. Abrams- a human antagonist. A character who isn’t just there to explain things but to actually get in on the fight; that of Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Lt. Ford Brody. At first glance, Brody is just a young career officer in the Navy who has issues with the fact that his father, Joe Brody (Cranston) can’t let go of the past. We won’t delve into that though. Spoilers…
The younger Brody gets a wake up call that is much larger-and dangerous-than he would have ever imagined. As a result, his opinion of his Father is changed in an instant and he quickly adopts the idea that he needs to get home to his own family and protect them. An interesting thing happens during his quest to do so. At some point he realizes that his fight to return to his family and to protect them is not so different from Godzilla’s fight to restore balance . After all, Dr. Serizawa (Watanabe) points out that Godzilla is natures guardian and in many ways a father is the guardian of his family. Thus, it is a father’s duty to restore balance within the family when things go awry.
Adding the element of a man who must overcome his fears and insurmountable odds to not only survive, but to fight and live, raises Godzilla from being nothing more than a monster versus monster film. Instead we have a relatable story that just happens to be built around the fact that gigantic monsters are engaged in a life and death battle in the middle of a city and human lives hang in the balance.
There is one final theme that we should touch on briefly that makes this Godzilla stand out from the others. While the 1954 film was an indirect reaction to the tragic-yes tragic-and devastating results of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and an outlet for the underlying fear of all-out nuclear war, the theme in this twenty first century Godzilla film appears to be that we humans tend to cause our own problems and in some cases-like the advent of nuclear arms-those problems usually end up being gargantuan in proportion to our own lives. In this film, it is the need to harness radiation for practical energy use and human curiosity that causes the first big-an understatement-bad monster to appear. Through out the film the humans-aside from Lt. Brody-make very poor decisions that only make things go from bad, to worse. Seemingly, there is an underlying notion within the film that suggests that our own human pride is our worst enemy. Even if there are dangers in the world beyond our control.
In the end, Godzilla 2014 is well worth watching in the theater-I strongly suggest IMAX for you Godzilla fans-whether you see it for the visual effects, Godzilla was your childhood hero, your boyfriend-or girlfriend-drags you to it, you like the idea of monster vs. monster/man vs monster/man vs himself in a movie, because it looks like a good flick with an awesome story and premise, or you really want to see how real Godzilla looks. You will not be disappointed.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review
Once again Sony Pictures has graced us with another Spider Man film called The Amazing Spider-Man 2. This marks the second film in which Andrew Garfield portrays the famous web slinger and he doesn’t disappoint. Neither does Emma Stone, reprising her role as Gwen Stacy. We are also introduced to three new villains: Electro/Max Dillon (Jaime Foxx), Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and Green Goblin, aka Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), although the main villain here is Electro. Green Goblin and Rhino show up later in the film.
The most pleasing thing about Garfield’s Spidey is that the actor brings to life the wisecracking, spirited web head found in Marvel comics. At times it seems as if Spider Man has jumped straight from the inked pages onto the silver screen. This is quite refreshing too, because a lot of the time when a sequel comes about, the main character has somehow changed between the first and second film-anyone remember the drastic change Peter Parker had made between Spider Man and Spider Man 2?-not the case in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Any changes that Peter Parker/Spider Man go through happen over the course of the story in the sequel-and they’re doozies.
Peter isn’t the only one going through changes in this film. The relationship between Gwen and Peter goes through its own metamorphosis as well. Max Dillon and Harry Osborn however, go through the most drastic changes, each becoming not only powerful super villains, but the embodiment of the psychosis they suffer from. Max, who only wants to be noticed and remembered instead of repelling everyone, becomes a creature whom attracts and absorbs all forms of electricity. Ironically the most repellent force of nature to humans. Harry Osborn, the son of Norman Osborn, who feels as though he’s been a throw away undeniably becomes one of the more repulsive villains from the Spider Man universe.
Through this observation, it appears that the main theme in The Amazing Spider Man 2 is that life changes us. Whether it be everyday things like graduating from school, deciding which college to attend, choosing to pick up a new career to make ends meet, or an extreme physical change. Except that there are two themes in this story, the second being that of finding hope within oneself when life takes a turn for the worst and in finding that hope, also discovering the strength to continue on.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is full of thrills, laughs, intense and heartbreaking moments. It is also chock full of spectacular visual effects, explosive action and even romance. Of all the movies to kick off the summer blockbuster blitz-yes it begins in May-this Spidey fan is more than pleased that this is the movie to do so. If you’re looking for a treat for your senses, or just a huge fan of Spider-Man check this film out. At the very least, it will be fun.
This is my own version of the deli scene from When Harry Met Sally. The setting is outside a coffee shop and instead of eating sandwiches, Harry and Sally are enjoying some coffee.
https://vimeo.com/home/myvideos
Because I am in school for a film degree, it is only natural that I will make a few short films. This is one that I wrote, directed, filmed and edited. It is an artistic film about the transformation a young woman goes through during a bath after a very rough day.
Sorry Tobey, Andrew is Spider Man Now!
In 2002 Columbia Pictures released Spider-Man the Motion Picture starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco. At the time, it was a highly anticipated film and did very well in the box office. However, the following two films in the franchise were met with disappointment despite their box office success due to weak plots and character development that did not make sense—especially in regards to Peter Parker.
Ten years later Columbia partners with Marvel to reboot the franchise and the result is The Amazing Spider Man with Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider Man and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy instead of Mary Jane Watson. In a number of ways this version is superior to the version released a decade ago. A Better plot and story arc, characters in touch with their humanity and fight sequences that seem to have leapt out of the pages of a Spider Man comic are the elements that make this a superb film.
An intriguing aspect of the newer Spider Man story is that this one attempts to answer the question that has burned in our minds for the last forty or so years: What happened to Peter Parker’s parents? Ultimately Peter is lead to his destiny while in search for that very answer. Unfortunately, finding a key to his past also brings unforeseen consequences that only Spider Man can vanquish.
A story this good needs characters that the audience can become vested in. Fortunately for all the cast in this movie pour every ounce of talent and experience into the people they portray. Especially of note are Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. However, each member of the cast seems born to portray the characters they embody. It will be difficult to see any of them in any other movie for a while.
For more than five generations Spider Man has been in comics, cartoons and video games. Anyone who has read the comics, watched the cartoons or played the video games knows that Spidey has a certain way of fighting—flipping, jumping and shooting webbing with the accuracy of a marksman—and we have all come to expect it. Spider Man’s fighting style is so accurate in the film, it is easy to believe that this is truly the Spider Man from the comics. It suffices to say that it was a joy to watch.
In the wake of the epic battles in The Avengers Movie, The Amazing Spider Man seems a tad smaller. That is far from being a flaw because this film is nothing short of amazing. Truly a must see this summer.
Papillon: A Review
How many times will a man attempt to escape from an island prison in spite of the fact that with the first attempt, he will be placed in solitary confinement for two years and each subsequent attempt will earn him an additional year added to the initial amount of time? In the film Papillon, released in 1973 and directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, the title character makes three attempts. According to those who made the film, which was based on the book; the actual number was nine. Do the math. Papillon spent a majority of his life sentence in solitary confinement.
True, there is some of that spent in relative freedom and that is shown in the film, but the most interesting aspect of this film is not the attempts themselves, but the extent to which Papillon, portrayed by Steve McQueen plans each escape only for the majority of them to fail and land him right back where he was trying to leave in the first place.
So then; why, after a multitude of failed escapes would he continue a seemingly fruitless endeavor? It could be that he has nothing better do, or he enjoys the challenge. The latter is in fact how McQueen portrays his character. Indeed, each plan of flight from the inescapable prison becomes more and more elaborate. From making an all out run for it, to filling a burlap bag with coconuts as a makeshift raft and jumping into the sea from a cliff.
A long the way, Papillon conspires with compatriots and sympathizers to his predicament. After all, Papillon’s single motivation is the fact that he is an innocent man wrongly accused of murder. By all means, this would be a reason for anyone of us to have the inclination to abdicate from captivity. Papillon’s apparent innocence is the cause for his fellow inmates commiseration to the idea of liberation.
Not only fellow prisoners, but even some conscripted to enforce the resolute confinement of the penitentiary appear willing to aide our would be escapist. Perchance they find it amusing and only do so for entertainment amidst the melancholy of their daily routine. This penchant for insincere support is illustrated in a scene where Papillon, Luis Dega-a part specifically created for Dustin Hoffman-and one other convict arrive at a location where a boat and supplies are said to be placed, only to discover that said provisions are either fake or in such ill repair as to be ineffective.
As if by grace a new ally emerges to accommodate Papillon and his companions with a better means of transport and the trio eludes capture. At least until they reach land fall. The flight to freedom turns into a blunder as they almost literally stumble upon a group of police from another country who are escorting a prisoner of their own. The situation worsens when Papillon hurls an ax at the men, resulting in one guards death. Luis Dega is wounded and can’t run away and the third member of their tiny troupe is wounded by gunfire, leaving Papillon to his own devices. Especially once the prisoner belonging to the new set of guards mets a savage demise.
At this point in the film, we are certain that Papillon has accomplished his goal. After some time passes, another bungle by the antagonist leads the Frenchman straight into the waiting jaws of the Spanish police who ship him to the French prison from which he had gone AWOL. Maybe this will finally convince the man that avoiding his prison time just is not going to happen. For the third time escape is thwarted and our upstart hero is thrust back into solitary and when we see him again, he’s an old man.
One would think that being old would slow such a man as Papillon down. Not likely. Instead he continues his quest for freedom despite being reunited with Louis, whom he had thought to be dead. It is here that we see just how calculating Papillon is as he studies the tide patterns of the small and very dangerous cove near his dwelling quarters and discovers an incredibly risky chance at freedom-if he can only manage to elude the inevitability of being dashed across the rocks below. We will live this bit a mystery as to persuade those reading this to view Papillon.
Although Papillon appears to be a sprawling drama, it is in truth a comedy of errors. This is evident by the number of failures Papillon endures in spite of-perhaps in mockery- of his apparent cleverness, reducing him in those moments to a blunderer. One may feel sad for the man who continuously beats feet for the wide open world, refusing to stay in his cage, but will find the absurdity of it all worth a few chuckles minimum.
Whether it is to see Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman in roles that seem unlikely in contrast to their repertoire, the immaculate cinematography, or to simply view a classic film, Papillon is a cinematic adventure, which merits inspection.
Moulin Rouge: A Story of Love
“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn; is just to love, and be loved in return.” This is a quote from the song Nature Boy written by Eden Ahbez and made famous by Nat King Cole in 1948. This single line from the composition is the central theme in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, surrounded by a myriad of ideals about love, freedom of expression; an homage to the first days of film and even a rekindling of an old American past time-the musical.
What makes the line from Nature Boy such a central theme is that the quote-slightly paraphrased in the film-is said numerous times throughout the movie. We first hear it in the very beginning of the film as a kind of introduction to the story as Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo) sings; “There was a boy. A very strange, enchanted boy. They say he wandered very far. Very far, over land and sea. A little shy and sad of eye, but very wise was he. And then one day, he passed my way. While he spoke of many things, fools and kings; this he said to me, ‘The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return.’” as if summarizing the events about to unfold before our eyes in an explosion of music, singing, color, comedy, drama and tragedy. At the same time the last sentence is spoken by Christian (Ewan McGregor), a central character in the story as he types the very words we hear. It is here we learn that the story of Moulin Rouge is his story and the prophetic sentence his message to us.
The sentence is repeated again by Christian, as he explains his idea for a play to the group of Bohemians who recruit him to replace their writer. Thereby supporting the previous affirmation and its importance to the story. The third and final recitation of the chorus to Nature Boy comes at the end as a curtain- not unlike the ones found in old 1900’s theaters and the very same one which opens as the title credits roll-closes over the final shot of the film. For the viewer, this creates the sense of closing a book, as if we had just read Christians story and are about to return it to the shelf.
The very act of repeating this theme three times emphasizes its importance and centrality to the story of Moulin Rouge. However, emphasis may not necessarily be Luhrmann’s goal. Instead, the director wants the audience to remember; above all other themes and messages within Moulin Rouge, this one particular phrase. Hence, it is thrice conveyed to us.
Why this single phrase? Why this one in particular? Perhaps there lies an answer within the body of the film and in how it is told to us. Luhrmann does not simply present an age old love story, though in many ways Moulin Rouge is just that. A love story.
Consider this. Christian falls in love with Satine (Nicole Kidman) at first sight and she with him. There love is strong and unwavering it seems. At least until the Duke (Richard Roxburg) sinks his teeth into Satine. As the story goes forth, Satine breaks Christians heart, claiming to love the Duke because of the security he can provide her with his riches. By the end, the Duke turns out to be filled with lust and desire rather than love, treating Satine as something to be possessed and she goes back to Christian. Thus, we have what appears to be the classic boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back formula, but this is not so. Moulin Rouge is not a story about romance and finding the love of your life. It is a story about love itself. Its power. Its endurability. Its risks.
When we take into account the numerous anthems of love infused into this hyper active spectacular, spectacular musical unlike any before it or since, we can truly see the tapestry being woven before us. Not unlike a quilt, Luhrmann patches together the best bits of some very famous songs to tell the story of Moulin Rouge and does it well enough that the songs become part of the narrative itself.
When Christian first realizes his feelings, he woos Satine by serenading her with Elton John’s “Your Song”. Later he convinces her of his love with such anthems as “All You Need is Love”, “Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong”, “In The Name of Love” and even “I Will Always Love You”. As much as she resists, Satine soon comes to realize how wonderful life is now that Christian is in the world.
As Christian accompanies the Bohemians to the Moulin Rouge for his meeting with Satine, songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend” and “Material Girl” serve as part of the entertainment at the…Cabaret burlesque show. Likewise, the lyrics to Queen’s “Show Must Go On” are a poignant sentiment to the feelings of Zidler (Jim Broadbent) and Satine as both succumb to the wishes and dominance of the Duke. Never the less the purpose of these anecdotes is only to push the narrative forward if only to enhance its theatricality.
Surely one can lose themselves in the attempt to name every popular song used in the film, but that would quickly become a distraction from the true meaning and message that makes a film like Moulin Rouge even remotely relatable. The message of love and what love must sometimes endure before gaining absolution. As if love needed such a thing as to be absolved.
In a sense, Christian is the embodiment of love. It gives him energy, drive, it comes easily to him. Perhaps naively so. After all, it is Christian’s relentless devotion to the power and promise of love that causes him to persuade Satine to rethink her aversion to the idea of being in love, because of its absence in her own life. Here is love at her doorstep and her instinct is to push it away, except that she has never really known love and as much as she’d like to, she cannot deny her need to have it in her life.
Perhaps Satine’s realization that her existence has been bereft of love is what drives her into Christian’s arms and to cherish him so completely, she is even willing to betray him to save him. Yet love-Christian-never wavers. Staying by her side in spite of the Duke. Vying for her right to be happy, to have joy, to have love. Even when Christian finally reaches his breaking point and confronts her, thanking her for curing him of his “…ridiculous obsession with love.” Satine then realizes that the only reason Christian’s heart broke so utterly, is because he loves her body and soul and that her own heart is breaking on the inside, because she truly loves him and she may have lost him forever. Precisely at this moment, when we believe all hope is lost; is when we are reminded that “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return.”
For all its theatricality, raucous pomp and comedic bravado, Moulin Rouge is now a classic film of the post-modern era and in spite of its hodgepodge of pop culture romanticism, the films message that love endures all things; even time and tragedy, is not missed by the audience. It stands as a resonant beacon for that timeless of all emotions-love.
Fargo: The Film That Inspired the Show
For a film that was made nearly twenty years ago, about an incident that occurred in nineteen eighty-seven; close to thirty years ago, Fargo still holds up as much as any classic film from the golden age of Hollywood does. This is in part to the approach of the Joel and Ethan Coen, that director/writier tag team responsible for such films as Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou and No Country For Old Men.
Primarily, the directors allow the story to tell itself, beginning with the set up, where Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) meets with Steve Bucsemi’s Carl Showalter and Peter Stormare’s Gaear Grimsrud hiring them to abduct his wife Jean; to the climax of the film where Police officer Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) confronts Grimsrud.
By allowing events to unfold linearly instead of using flashbacks or clever plot twists, the audience is given a sense of being a “fly on the wall” from scene to scene. This approach is effective because we are never left to wonder what will happen next and there is no need to explain why a specific event took place. The only questions the viewer might possibly ask are: “Could this situation get any worse?” or “How will this finally end?”
In answer to the former question, things do unravel rather quickly due to the bungling of Showalter and most especially Grimsrud, both of whom find themselves going from a supposedly effortless kidnapping, to multiple homicides and Lundegaard is forced to watch his perfectly formed plan to use his wife as a means of getting money go to absolute caca.
Another portion of the Coen’s approach that works well, is that they keep things simple, because the events themselves are complicated enough. To achieve this apparent simplicity, we are really only given three points of view: that of Lundergaard, Showalter/Grimsrud and Gunderson. We watch as Lundergaard must deal with his plan becoming increasingly complicated and dangerous, the abductors as they make one mistake after another and Marge as she follows the bread crumbs.
When the treatment of the story is combined with the beautiful cinematography and performances that are realistic rather than over the top and dramatic, the result is a film that is instantly timeless and iconic. So much so, that the film has inspired a television series based on it. Truly worth the effort to create it as well as the awards it earned.
Don Jon: A Film About Finding Fulfillment
If you are familiar with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, or JGL as he is popularly known; then you are more familiar with him as an actor rather than a writer/director. Don Jon is his directorial debut. In addition to directing this film, he is the star, writer and producer. Surely, tackling four positions says a lot about Gordon-Levitt’s talent , not to mention his dedication.
That dedication bleeds through on screen with the actor/director’s character Jon, who the actor portrays as convincingly as he has other parts in other movies like The Dark Knight Rises, or Looper. Never the less, Gordon-Levitt’s acting, nor the superb acting of the remaining cast, which includes; Tony Danza, Scarlett Johannson and Julianne Moore is the focus of this article.
Instead, the topic of import here is the message that Joseph Gordon-Levitt means to convey as writer/director. The reality of this film is palpable and rings so true one has to wonder if the story is not based on someone from Gordon-Levitt’s life, or at least someone he knows. Perhaps the characters and the specific story within Don Jon are fictitious, but the issues and problems the lead character faces are very real.
Here we have a young man whose priorities are: His body, the myriad of women he beds, his apartment, his car and porn. The latter appears to bring him more satisfaction and fulfillment than the second item in the list. This of course, is to his detriment, because he eventually finds himself in a relationship with a woman he “loves” yet he still does not find fulfillment with her.
Don Jon is not so much a comment on how pornography keeps men from finding satisfaction in their relationship, but rather that when it comes to men who think they get more out of looking at pornography, or sleeping with a new woman every day/week, than they do when in an actual relationship, are missing the big picture.
When Esther (Julianne Moore) asks Jon what it is that he gets from looking at pornography that he doesn’t from a relationship, his reply is pretty enlightening. “I can just lose myself in it.” he says. In that single sentence the root of the problem for Jon is revealed. Enjoying his internet activity more than being with a woman is not the problem. It is where his focus lies.
There in we find the message Joseph Gordon-Levitt wants to convey. Men and women often go from one person to another not solely because of a habit they have or just because of an addiction. Instead, they lose sight of where their focus should be due to the habits, addictions or even fears that get in the way of the things that are important. Such as losing oneself in another person whether it be a lover, friend, spouse, or family.
What makes Don Jon a successful film, is that it does not seek to embellish on real topics by making them fantastical or improbable, but takes a real issue and portrays it in a straight forward and objective fashion. We cannot hide from what happens on screen. It forces the viewer to observe their own life and how they approach relationships and what it is that they focus on in order to find fulfillment.
The Wolverine is Back Bub!
The Wolverine starring Hugh Jackman, is among one of the highly anticipated superhero films of the year. With this second stand alone Marvel film featuring the clawed mutant Wolverine, the filmmakers have an obstacle to overcome: the disappointing albeit successful X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Director James Mangold and Marvel do that by borrowing from Uncanny X-Men #172 published in 1983 where the X-Men battle baddies in Japan.
Some of the similarities between the film and comic other than location, are the inclusion of the characters Mariko Yashida, Harada, Yukio and Viper. In the film Viper is a mutant and American. In the comic she appears to be some kind of assassin and is Japanese. Other roles are switched as well, but for the sake of not having any spoilers, we’ll leave out those details. It’s merely interesting to notice what Hollywood does to make something different from the source material while keeping the essence of it alive.
In this “sequel” to X-Men: The Last Stand. Wolverine has exiled himself from The X-Men and retreated to Canada where he lives as a kind of mountain man and is haunted by Jean Grey’s spirit in his dreams. He is found by Yukio, a female Samurai with the ability to see people’s deaths, sent to invite Logan-Wolvie’s real name for those who are unaware-to Japan at the request of Yashida, a Japanese soldier whose life Wolverine saved during the bombing of Nagasaki and Mariko’s Grandfather; who is dying.
Compelled to pay his respects and attempting to escape his past, Wolverine accompanies Yukio to Japan and meets the man he saved sixty-eight years ago. While there he uncovers a plan to kill Mariko and decides to become her protector. This is a task which tests Wolverine’s spirit and perseverance in unexpected ways, aiding him in rediscovering his reason for being the hero.
One aspect of the film that is especially enjoyable, is the portrayal of Japanese customs and culture. Mangold ‘et al do this so well, that we are able to see Japanese culture through the eyes of the Japanese and for those familiar with the culture, it is a breath of fresh air because true Japanese culture tends to get reduced to Samurai philosophies in Western cinema.
Marvel should be proud of The Wolverine because it does a superb job of restoring the iconic legend to his proper visceral, animalistic persona. Perhaps the only critique from this fan of films and Wolverine is that Adamantium is stronger than steel, even Japanese steel; unless we are supposed to assume that the Katanas in the film are made of the same metal as Wolverine’s claws. Otherwise, bravo, well done, splendid and all that!
Also, be sure to stay after the credits for a treat that should get many an X-Men fan excited. This fan sure was!
Thoughts on Pacific Rim
When I was a very young boy, my father was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. At that time we were stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Because there was only one channel of American television-neither cable, satellite TV or the internet existed then-my brother and I would often switch to the Japanese programming. It didn’t really matter to us that we couldn’t understand the language, we really only watched for the action and thrill. We watched Ultraman battle giant monsters and other shows involving giant robots battling giant monsters.
While watching Pacific Rim, I was instantly transported back to those days and also remembered Godzilla reruns I had and have seen over the years: The colossal creature from the sea smashing through buildings like they were nothing more than paper mache, droves of people running for their lives. Then, a savior appears. Also massive in appearance; taller than the highest skyscraper. The two become locked in battle. Mountains are leveled, entire city blocks reduced to rubble. Who will be the victor? Thankfully the mechanical golem of steel and the very best in human ingenuity, combined with the bravery and skill of it’s human pilots arise victorious from the epic battle and live to fight another day.
That is the idea behind a film like Pacific Rim and Director Guillermo Del Toro does a fantastic job. The only draw back for me was that a majority of the battles take place in the ocean. I really would have loved to see one of the Kaiju get thrown through a hillside, pulverizing it into level ground, but that’s just the fan boy in me.
Pacific Rim is entertaining at the very least and I believe it opens the door-widely-for some Anime franchises such as Gundam, Robotech and Neon Genesis Evangelion to get the live action treatment. If you’re in the mood for a film where enormously gigantic monsters threaten the existence of the human race and all that stands between them and our extinction are a small band of pilots in mechas that make make the robot in Real Steel look like a toy; then Pacific Rim is precisely the movie for you
Star Trek: Into Darkness Review
Star Trek: Into Darkness reunites us with J.J. Abrams‘ incarnation of the famous Starship Enterprise crew about a year after the events of Abrams’ first venture with the franchise. It also puts Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg; Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin and John Cho back in their respective roles as cinemas most famous starship crew.
The action begins on an Alien world with red plants instead of green. Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy are fleeing from the indigenous species of the planet. While the Captain and the Doctor run for their lives, we are shown that the crew of the Enterprise work so well together, they can accomplish what appears to be impossible while at the same time, come dangerously close to failing. In order to succeed and save a single life, Kirk makes a decision that puts the Enterprise and the entire crew at risk. It is this decision that results in some dire consequences for Kirk and sets the mood of the film.
As the story progresses, we are introduced to John Harrison, who aids a family on the brink of losing their daughter to disease, in exchange for the destruction of a top-secret Star Fleet installation. Star Fleet brands him a terrorist and conduct a meeting with the senior officers of the Enterprise, Bradbury and other starships present. During the supposed classified meeting, the group is attacked and suffer a devastating loss.
In retaliation for the loss of a peer, Kirk asks Admiral Marcus to send the Enterprise to apprehend the fugitive. Marcus agrees and sends the Enterprise with a payload of newly developed and highly powered photon torpedoes that have an unknown power source. They must ask the questions: Is Marcus hiding something? Why was the development of such weapons so secret? What purpose do they serve?
While in pursuit of John Harrison, they learn that there is much more going on than what appears on the surface and that the criminal could turn out to be much more dangerous than originally believed. Once again pitted against insurmountable odds, Kirk and crew are tested in matters of morality, sacrifice and loss. Captain Kirk himself finds that he must choose between the needs of the many and the needs of the few.
All in all, J.J. Abrams does it again with masterful skill and tells a story that is thrilling and emotionally powerful. There are moments where Star Trek history is literally flipped over in a most surprising, yet brilliant way. Most definitely worth the watch.
Iron Man 3: The Man Under the Armor
Most of us by now have seen how Tony Stark became Iron Man-at least Hollywood’s version of the origin-we have also seen Iron Man square off against the only other man in the world capable of creating the same technology as him (Iron Man 2). In Iron Man 3 we get to see a “stripped down” version of Iron Man.
In other words, we get to see the “man behind the mask” as Tony Stark comes to terms with the fact that Iron Man is a super hero and the responsibilities that come with that. We see a Tony Stark who is unsure of his abilities and overwhelmed by his need to protect Pepper Potts after the events of The Avengers.
Enter The Mandarin: A new foe hell bent on teaching The United States a number of lessons through ruthless terrorist acts meant to undermine the capabilities of the American government.
Happy is injured while investigating a suspicious character that he spotted at Stark Enterprises . Tony learns that The Mandarin was somehow responsible for wounding his friend and threatens the terrorist. The Mandarin answers the challenge with explosive violence, separating Pepper from Tony.
While trying to find the woman he loves, Tony investigates The Mandarin and discovers some startling facts concerning individuals from his own past before he became Iron Man, or even created the arc reactor. Ultimately, Tony Stark learns that the traits and abilities he has are what make it possible for him to be Iron Man.
Oblivion: A Sci Fi Mystery
Jack Harper is a technician living sixty four years in the future. Earth is now a wasteland following a war in which an alien invader destroyed the moon causing earthquakes and tidal waves. Surviving humans have evacuated Earth for Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. Jack and his partner Victoria, are responsible for maintaining and repairing drones used to protect giant hydro collectors taking Earth’s water for use on Titan.
Everything has gone smoothly for the team with only two weeks left before they are able to join the rest of the humans living in an enormous space station orbiting the planet awaiting departure to Titan. Their daily routine is interrupted when a spacecraft crashes down not far from their station. Jack investigates and discovers a female survivor. The woman’s arrival and the impossible fact that she knows Jack’s name set in motion events that changes his view of Earth’s fate and reveals a past he had forgotten.
Oblivion stars Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough and Olga Kurylenko. The film provides some breath taking visuals and the story is very intriguing, though it could use a little more tension. However, this is not a thriller or an “all guns blazing” action-the action bits are done very well-Oblivion is in fact, an adventure about how the past can be of such great value, that without it we cannot hope to have a better and brighter future.
Jack the Giant Slayer: Simple Fairytale or Legend?
There are countless adults and children who know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and others who know the story of Jack the Giant Killer, but are any of us positive that the two stories are just two different perceptions of a much larger event? The new film Jack the Giant Slayer seeks to answer that exact question.
By blending the English tale Jack and the Beanstalk and the Cornish tale Jack the Giant Killer with Hollywood storytelling, the result is a fantastic legend of heroism and bravery centered on a farm boy who is anything but simple. Yet it is the simplicity of the film that makes it so enjoyable.
Here we have a story about a boy sent to do an errand for his Uncle and disappoints him only to rise–literally–to new heights and stature by facing the very Giants that had faded into legend in order to rescue the Princess.
The most endearing thing about the story of Jack the Giant Slayer is that Jack faces insurmountable odds, his own fears and rises above his status to save and protect a girl. The implications of that are tremendous. If we could all be so brave and selfless, everyone of us could be heroes to someone let alone an entire kingdom, or even a multitude of future generations. For that very reason Jack the Giant Slayer is far more than a simple fairytale. It is, in fact, legend.
The film stars Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Ian McShane and Stanley Tucci. It is rated PG-13 fantasy action violence, some scary scenes and brief language.
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Thomas Smith Tops Journal of Climate Citations in 2016
AMS Journal of Climate
© AMS
Thomas Smith is an author of three of the top 10 most cited articles over the past three years in the AMS Journal of Climate. All three were based on new and improved NOAA climate products:
o #2. Thomas M. Smith, Richard W. Reynolds, Thomas C. Peterson, and Jay Lawrimore, Improvements to NOAA’s Historical Merged Land–Ocean Surface Temperature Analysis (1880–2006), Journal of Climate, May 2008, Vol. 21, No. 10 was cited 579 times;
o #5. Richard W. Reynolds, Nick A. Rayner, Thomas M. Smith, Diane C. Stokes, and Wanqiu Wang, An Improved In Situ and Satellite SST Analysis for Climate, Journal of Climate, July 2002, Vol. 15, No. 13 was cited 436 times; and
o #6. Richard W. Reynolds, Thomas M. Smith, Chunying Liu, Dudley B. Chelton, Kenneth S. Casey, Michael G. Schlax, Daily High Resolution Blended Analyses for Sea Surface Temperature, Journal of Climate, November 2007, Vol. 20, No. 22 was cited 418 times.
For the complete list, see: http://journals.ametsoc.org/action/showMostCitedArticles?journalCode=clim .
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By David Dunn Reviews
“MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION” Review (✫✫1/2)
More like a city, or a gated community.
I’m really starting to get sick of these action movies. I know, I know, how do I get sick of action? Well, have you ever seen a television episode over, and over, and over again to the point where it frustrated you just to look at it? That’s where I’m at with these action movies that are getting recycled summer after summer after summer.
I was really hoping Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation wasn’t going to be another recycled action pic. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting it. The film is at a 93% from critics on RottenTomatoes, while users rate it at a 91%. Metacritic users rate it an 8 out of 10. Cinemascore polls it at an A-. Everyone around me seems to be fervently enjoying the action romp that is Mission Impossible. Everyone, that is, except me.
So what happened? Simply put, I think audiences were expecting something different from me. I’ve seen four of these movies now before watching Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, and with each one, I got something different. The first Mission Impossible pitted a younger Ethan Hunt against two opposing spy agencies, along with the gravity of seeing his entire team get killed on a deadly mission. The third Mission Impossible found Hunt breaking out of retirement to rescue his wife, who was held captive at the hands of a cruel terrorist threat. The fourth Mission Impossible found Ethan dealing with his wife’s death after the events of MI3. We won’t count Mission Impossible II, because that’s not a real Mission Impossible movie.
With Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Ethan Hunt (once again, portrayed by Tom Cruise) is pitted against both his own government and yet another secret spy agency named the Syndicate, comprised of insurgent IMF agents labeled as either missing or dead. That’s it. He has no personal investment in the story, no driving emotional force that focuses on him and him only. At one point in the movie, one of his closest friends gets kidnapped by the syndicate and he starts freaking out about it. Right. How many times did someone get kidnapped in your other movies, Ethan?
His supporting characters includes most of his crew from the fourth Mission Impossible. Ving Rhames is back as Vincent, returning once again to help Ethan Hunt since their first mission in the original Mission Impossible. The comedic relief Benji is once again portrayed by self-employed funny man Simon Pegg. Jeremy Renner returns as William Brandt, acting as Ethan’s voice of reason against all of his crazy ideas of stunts. Considering Cruise does all of his own stunts, I think Renner needs to be his voice of reason off-screen as well.
The first thing you need to know about Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is that the visuals do not disappoint. The one thing every movie in the series is most known for is its spectacle, and Rogue Nation keeps the tradition going strong. In one fight scene early in the film, Ethan was fighting a swarm of syndicate agents while handcuffed at both his wrists and ankles. In another, he’s quietly struggling against a sniper on top of a German opera production while the performance is still going on. My favorite is probably when he has to hold his breath under water for six minutes in what is essentially an underwater hard drive as he switches out two data disks. It’s important to note, Cruise actually trained with a diving specialist in order to hold his breath under water for three minutes. The sequence we see in the film was actually shot in one take with no edits.
The stunts we see in the film are impressive to say the least. The danger with a fifth entry, however, is that I’ve been impressed four times already. Whatever stunts are to come, I’m already expecting. And since I’ve seen these crazy stunts in four movies now, the effect is dulled before I even see it.
For instance, the big stunt people were excited for in this movie specifically was a sequence where Cruise is holding on outside of an airplane while it is taking off. Impressive as it was, it was the very first scene in the movie. Since I’ve already seen the trailer, I know Cruise survives this sequence, otherwise why would we even have a movie? How am I supposed to feel tension and excitement in a scene where I already know what’s going to happen?
The cast is appropriate, but ineffective. They serve the same roles they’ve done from other movies and that’s about it. How is Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt? The same he’s been for four movies now. How is Jeremy Renner? About as good as he was in Ghost Protocol, except now he’s less interesting because he doesn’t have the investment and guilt he had in Ghost Protocol. Pegg is the same. Rhames is the same. The only characters that are different are the new characters, which includes its baddie played by Sean Harris and its discount Bond girl played by Rebecca Ferguson. Again, what do these characters have to offer that we haven’t seen before? The late Phillip Seymour-Hoffman did a better job manipulating and pushing Ethan past his limits in the J.J. Abrams-directed Mission Impossible III than Harris did in this movie. And Ferguson? Did she not see Emmanuelle Béart in her brilliantly deceptive performance in the original Mission Impossible?
I caught myself saying one thing over and over again during the film: “I’ve seen this before.” For a movie series that’s lasted past five films, that’s not a good thing. Funny, this movie is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who is responsible for writing The Usual Suspects and Edge of Tomorrow and directing Jack Reacher, all films with their own unique interest and personality. Now he has made Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, and like Ethan’s assigned missions, his movie blew up in my face after it gave me what it was supposed to.
Tagged Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Benji, Blockbuster, Brandt, Christopher McQuarrie, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Edge of Tomorrow, Emmanuelle Béart, Ethan Hunt, Explosions, IMF, J.J. Abrams, Jack Reacher, Jeremy Renner, Mission Impossible, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Movie, Mystery, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Psychological, Rebecca Ferguson, Science-fiction, Sean Harris, Sequel, Simon Pegg, Spy, Stunts, Survival, Suspense, Syndicate, The Usual Suspects, Thriller, Tom Cruise, Vincent, Ving Rhames
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Def Pen
First To The Aux
Black In Style
Spotlight On Empowerment
2020 Music Festivals For The Culture
All In The Process Part III: Rapsody Talks About DoorDash Campaign, North Carolina Hip-Hop And Retirement In Rap
All In The Process Part II: Rapsody Opens About Her Family, Maintaining A Work-Life Balance And More
All In The Process Part I: Rapsody Discusses Her College Days, Meeting 9th Wonder And Working With Mac Miller
Welcome To The West: Honoring The Past, Present And Future Of West Coast Hip-Hop
Mary J. Blige Receives Lifetime Achievement Award At The 2019 BET Awards
Ryan Shepard
Mary J. Blige accepts the lifetime achievement award at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 23, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Mary J. Blige is a star that needs no introduction. For more than two decades, she has delivered hit after hit. More importantly, she has served as a living example of how to overcome obstacles in your personal and professional life. Through her anthems of pain and difficulty, she has always taught her fans how to overcome anyone and anything that may be in their way. Along the way, she has delivered thirteen studio albums, won more than her fair share of BET Awards and worked with music’s biggest names. As she continues to dazzle audiences worldwide, BET has elected to honor her with a lifetime achievement award.
In addition to receiving a lifetime achievement award, Mary J. Blige did what she does best, entertain and empower. Mary J. Blige was introduced by her longtime friend and former producer, Sean “Diddy” Combs. From there, she took the reigns and performed “My Life” followed by “No Drama” with a band accompanying her. Later on, the New York born star performed “I’m Goin’ Down” and “Real Love” featuring Notorious B.I.G. To close out her performance, the all-time great R&B star brought out Lil’ Kim, Method Man and more. Check out clips from her acceptance speech and performance.
.@maryjblige & @lilkim take us back with "I Can Love You" ? #BETAwards pic.twitter.com/0nDdKdYcM7
— BET (@BET) June 24, 2019
2019 BET Awards
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Dáil Statements on the Housing Strategy
Funding, Housing and Urban Renewal, Jobs, Meath, Navan, Rebuilding Ireland, Wesmeath
Wednesday, 20th July
Closing Statement by Minister of State Damien English
I want to thank everyone for your contributions today and yesterday on the new Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness – Rebuilding Ireland. Judging from the feedback here in the House, and from what I have seen and heard in the media and elsewhere, the Plan has been broadly welcomed. It is regarded as an ambitious and comprehensive starting point in the Government’s efforts and resolve to really deal with both housing and homelessness.
I must say that I have found the debate around housing and homelessness to be very well informed. I think members of this House, from all parties and none, have rightly prioritised these linked issues as the number one societal challenge facing the country. The setting up of the Special Oireachtas Committee, its sessions and its Report has helped to inform the debate.
Minister Coveney and I have also met with a very broad group of stakeholders in these areas. We hosted two very-well attended stakeholder forums, both of which generated constructive debate and feedback. This process has greatly added to our understanding of the housing system and how its difficulties are leading to homelessness for many people.
The housing system is a broad and inter-connected set of markets and sectors. Importantly, each sector and market impacts on a different group in society. In developing the Action Plan, Minister Coveney and I were acutely aware of the need to deal with each part of the housing system individually, but also to address the inter-connectivity and cross-dependencies as part of shaping the overall solution – to build more homes. In taking this approach, we have the dual objective of repairing the broad housing system, while at the same time providing real solutions for people.
For this reason, I was most pleased with the responses to the Plan that referenced the fact that, for the first time, Government was looking at housing in its entirety. That is really at the heart of this Plan. To really restore the housing system to a sustainable level, you need to deal with all the component parts. We looked under the bonnet of each sector and market of housing, and came up with key actions to help repair what is broken or what can be done more effectively in each.
It was through this analysis that we arrived at the five key Pillars:
Addressing Homelessness;
Accelerating Social Housing Delivery;
Building More Homes for the wider housing market;
Improving the Rental Sector; and
Making the best use of the housing we have.
Homelessness:
On homelessness, we have set a very clear target to have no families in hotels by mid- 2017, except in very limited circumstances. Long-term hotel accommodation for families is not acceptable and we will end it. The challenge here is to provide alternatives and trebling the Rapid Build programme to 1,500 homes is the key action.
In the meantime, we are going to ensure that services for families, and particularly children, in hotels and other emergency accommodation is far better including:
Enhanced liaison on family support, child welfare and child protection, including Family Resource Centres;
Access to early-years services;
School Completion Programmes;
Enhanced locally available practical supports for daily family life;
Access to free public transport for family travel and for school journeys; and
Practical supports and advice for good nutrition for those without access to cooking facilities.
The other side of homelessness is rough sleeping which is often compounded and tied in with mental health and addiction issues. This is a complex area that really requires close co-operation with both the Department of Health and the HSE. For that reason, we are trebling the funding for mental health and primary care services for homeless persons from €2 million to €6 million in Budget 2017.
In examining the social failing that is homelessness, one point was made again and again – that prevention is far better than cure. We are therefore targeting families and individuals worried about, or at risk of, homelessness with a new awareness campaign. For the families and individuals in mortgage arrears, we are providing more and better services, including free expert legal and financial advice and supports.
Social Housing:
The link between a lack of sufficient social housing and homelessness is clear. The lack of social housing options is also putting pressure on the rental sector, with a third of renters now supported by the State. Again, the target here is very clear – 47,000 new social housing homes by 2021 at a cost of €5.35 billion. It’s worth clarifying these figures once and for all:
On the money side, the Social Housing Strategy 2020, published in November 2014, committed to the delivery of some 35,600 social housing units in the period 2015 to 2020, supported by investment of some €3.8 billion. The social housing element of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan proposes a significantly increased level of ambition, aiming for the delivery of 47,000 social housing units, through build, refurbishment, acquisitions and leasing, over the 2016 to 2021 period, supported by Exchequer investment of some €5.35 billion; a further €200 million is being provided for the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund.
The €5.35bn investment proposed for the social housing area over the 2016-2021 period comprises some €4.5 billion in capital funding and €844 million in support of programmes funded from current expenditure. In terms of capital funding, the €4.5 billion being provided, represents a very significant assignment of resources towards addressing housing needs.
In summary, Minister Coveney has secured €2.2 billion of the available €5 billion capital fiscal space over the 2017 to 2021 period, €2 billion of this funding is being assigned to support the delivery of the 47,000 social housing units as set out in the Action Plan; and €200 million is for the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) which will provide much-needed enabling infrastructure on key sites to open up lands for early development.
This reflects a very clear demonstration on the part of the Government of the high priority that it assigns to tackling, in a comprehensive manner, the range of interlinked housing issues outlined in the Action Plan.
In relation to the output numbers
Of the 47,000 units, over 26,000 units will be built exclusively for Social housing, 11,000 will be acquired from the market, a portion of which will be newly built units and approximately 10,000 units will be leased by LAs and AHBs.
Building More Homes:
When the housing market is working well, there is a good supply of a range of new and second-hand homes for purchase, which cater for the entire span of the market from starter homes upwards. At the moment, we are producing half the 25,000 houses a year we need. Similarly, due to this shortage of new homes, the second-hand market is half what would normally be seen. The key graph on output is on page 30 of the Plan. It shows output predictions with the various elements of the Plan implemented versus the “business as usual” without these measures. If we don’t act decisively, we predict a continued scraping along the bottom in terms of output, or making small increases as the market slowly recovers. All the while, pent-up demand and our growing population is flying ahead.
We must get production of housing for starter homes and trade-ups back on track. At the moment, the landscape facing potential first-time buyers and expanding families looking for a bigger home is really challenging. A significant amount of analysis has been undertaken on the housing market, and the Plan addresses three key elements:
Costs, and
Realisable demand.
In terms of land, the State has to be more active, at both central and local levels, in terms of deciding where our new houses are going to be. We also have to work to keep the cost of land down, as it will impact on the eventual sales price and the affordability of these homes. In the Plan, we are going to champion the best use of State lands for housing. We will take immediate action to boost supply, as well as taking the more strategic view under the new National Planning Framework.
However, contrary to some views expressed across the floor, we are not “giving away” publicly-owned lands to private developers to make exorbidant profits on – we are looking to extract the maximum value for the State in terms of securing social units at a reduced rate, tying in developers to provide a minimum percentage of homes at affordable prices, as well as balancing these mixed-tenure developments with other private housing.
We have very good data on local authority sites and we are going to work with them to help bring housing on stream quickly. And we’re also in discussions with other State agencies and entities about the potential of their lands, many of which are in prime locations that are already well serviced. This will also create opportunities for builders and land owners. This is an area where a key link with social housing exists. How do you create truly integrated communities? You plan and build them like that.
Using incentives such as the €200m infrastructure fund and the new affordable rental model, we are going to run competitions for the best new developments. These will be attractive places to live and at affordable prices and rents. Private, rental and social housing will be designed and built together. We are going to challenge local authorities, land owners and developers to be innovative and to deliver quality product, at affordable prices and at scale.
After land, construction, finance and taxation are the significant costs of delivering a house. We are dealing with part of these costs through the €200m Infrastructure Fund, which should help to reduce some of the up-front costs for builders and have a knock-on impact on the price levels they’ll be setting. The NTMA and ISIF will also prepare an offer for developers to facilitate on–site costs. This is separate but complementary to the €200m Infrastructure Fund. Again, given the cost reductions, housing at more affordable prices should be achievable.
We will also reduce costs by taking some time and risk out of the planning process. Housing development proposals of over 100 units will go straight to An Bord Pleanála for priority decision within the 18-week statutory period. This is not, like some have said, to silence or dismiss local views and input in considering these applications – indeed, all developments will need thorough pre-application consultations with the relevant local authority to understand how this proposal will fit within the wider strategic context of local plans, and individuals will of course be able to submit observations on any applications to the Board, just as they can do under strategic infrastructure planning applications.
We are very focussed on supply but realisable demand is a key component of the equation. In our extensive engagement with stakeholders, the ability of people to secure the funding to buy homes and the length of time this takes was raised again and again. Simply put, the increased uncertainty around buyers, particularly, first-time buyers, leads to house builders being more cautious in terms of the amount of product they build and sell at any time.
In order to incentivise supply of starter homes at scale, the Government will bring forward in Budget 2017 a Scheme to help first-time buyers. It will be back-dated to the announcement yesterday and therefore builders and buyers can factor it in now – there is no need or value in stalling plans to build or buy – decisions that people take today will be able to reap the benefits of these measures from the Plan launch date (19th July).
I’m personally very committed to growing jobs in construction and encouraging young people to get an education in construction skills and disciplines. We are going to work very closely with SOLAS to this end. There are great opportunities and we need to ensure that the system can adapt and accommodate the likely increased demands for these professions. I’d also be very hopeful that people that had to emigrate might be encouraged to come home, once we get building at scale again.
Rental Sector
As Minister Coveney said yesterday, there wasn’t time to develop a full rental strategy in this Plan, so it will follow later in the year. We will bring early actions through to ensure where sales of large-scale single developments take place, tenants will have the right to stay in their homes. We’ll also ensure that the resolution service is fair and balanced between tenants and landlords.
As I mentioned earlier, we are also going to deliver a new affordable rental scheme as an early action. The Scheme will help low-income families and individuals with rental costs and will also help boost supply. The use of affordable rental on multi-tenure sites will be encouraged as part of the bid process for the €200m Infrastructure Fund.
When we examined the rental market, the link to student demand for accommodation was raised. Where there is an unmet demand for student accommodation, it displaces into the rental market which is already creaking in places. We are targeting the production of an addition 7,000 student places by 2019, in partnership with the Department of Education and the Higher Education Institutes, and other stakeholders.
Vacant Housing:
Another consistent message we received from stakeholders was that the Plan needed to tackle vacant properties. These vacant properties are having a very negative effect in urban and rural locations around the country. This was one area where there was broad agreement that vacant properties, particularly, in our cities, towns and villages need to be tackled.
Again, we are going for a two-pronged approach of immediate action to boost housing supply and a longer-term strategic approach. In the short-term, we are going to provide the Housing Agency with €70 million in ring-fenced funding to initially buy 400 vacant distressed properties from bank and investment portfolios. The Agency will then sell on the properties to local authorities or approved housing bodies and use the funding to buy more homes. We are targeting the provision of 1,600 by 2020.
We are also introducing a new Repair and Leasing Initiative. This will allow local authorities to provide grant funding to property owners to bring vacant properties up to standard. The local authority can then lease the properties for social housing. The grant being offset against lease costs.
Importantly, a lot of the problem vacant units are not houses but commercial properties. To deal with these, we are going to look at the Planning Code to see if we can make turning these units into residential simpler and faster.
I have a particular interest in urban and village renewal, given my areas of responsibility. I will lead an Urban Renewal Working Group to bring forward plans to use housing and community schemes in a collaborative way to improve city, town and village centres. We’ll also work with colleagues in the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to co-ordinate their schemes with ours and to bring forward joint demonstration projects.
While the Plan was broadly welcomed, there was also a consistent message that implementation is the key. I agree with that, as does Minister Coveney. As we were developing the Plan, we had already started on implementation.
We are putting in place a new Housing Delivery Office. This Office will support and assist the excellent staff in my own Department who have been working tirelessly to put together this comprehensive Plan and who will be central in delivering the key aspects across all five Pillars. There is a huge challenge ahead for all of us and I want to make sure that we have the system and supports in place in my Department, in local authorities and in the various agencies and bodies to ensure that projects and programmes are delivered.
What people want to see most flowing from this Action Plan is increased delivery of housing on the ground. The Action Plan for Jobs is a very successful model where time-bound and clearly assigned actions were a key feature. The Actions in this Plan are equally time-bound and assigned. Progress will be reported in monthly and quarterly Reports on progress under each of the 80+ actions, as well as progress on the pathfinder projects to test and demonstrate the Action Plan’s effectiveness. The reports and key statistics on progress will be available on the dedicated website www.rebuildingireland.ie
July 20, 2016 July 20, 2016 Admin Tagged Action Plan for Housing, Homelessness, Housing, Rebuilding Ireland Leave a comment
← Minister English urges Local Authorities to use almost €24m in funding and eliminate boarded up Council houses
Official opening of Respond 67 housing units in Waterford →
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By Dan Kennedy • The press, politics, technology, culture and other passions
The Return of the Moguls
The Wired City (2013)
Little People (2003)
Other Published Work
Woburn Files
Tag: Bill O’Reilly
A cheap shot from Keith Olbermann
On August 4, 2009 By Dan KennedyIn Uncategorized16 Comments
Keith Olbermann issued his declaration of independence last night. But in doing so, he smeared New York Times reporter Brian Stelter (photo), whose account of a peace settlement between Olbermann’s employer, MSNBC, and his nemesis Bill O’Reilly’s employer, Fox News, had created the need for Olbermann to renew his feud with O’Reilly in the first place.
Stelter reported last Friday that executives at both networks had moved to stop the on-air sniping between the two hosts. “Bill-O the Clown,” Olbermann’s pet nickname for O’Reilly, was frequently featured in his “Worst Persons in the World” segment. O’Reilly, for his part, had started taking aim at the corporate agenda of MSNBC’s owner, General Electric.
Although Stelter, not surprisingly, was forced to rely quite a bit on unnamed sources, he had an on-the-record comment from GE spokesman Gary Sheffer, who confirmed that a deal had been cut: “We all recognize that a certain level of civility needed to be introduced into the public discussion. We’re happy that has happened.”
Stelter also included a quote from Olbermann: “I am party to no deal.”
Seems pretty well nailed-down. Yet Olbermann, on last night’s “Countdown,” designated Stelter as his number-three villain in the “Worst Persons” segment, with O’Reilly coming in at number two. Among other things, Olbermann said:
Problem, Mr. Stelter asks me at least twice last week if there was such a deal, and I told him, on and off the record, there was not. And told him I rather obviously would have to be a party to such a deal. And I told him that not only wasn’t I, but I had not even been asked to be by my bosses. And he printed it anyway.
This is intellectually dishonest, as it implies that Stelter deliberately did not use Olbermann’s quote because it didn’t fit with what he wanted to write. In fact, Stelter did use it, and he placed it in context. It’s very clear from Stelter’s story that the deal had been cut by higher-ups, and that Olbermann might or might not go along.
Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch came in at number one for trying to muzzle O’Reilly. Hmmm … doesn’t that confirm that Stelter got it right?
Glenn Greenwald, who’s been blogging away at Salon ever since the Stelter story came out, criticized his ideological soulmate Olbermann last night, writing on Twitter, “Really surprised by the Olbermann denial – there’s lots and lots of evidence that the NYT’s description about what GE did is 100% accurate.”
Stelter himself took it in good humor after seeing his photo plastered on the “Worst Persons” segment. “Tonight: a reminder to take a new head shot,” he wrote on Twitter.
All in all, not a good moment for Olbermann. He may have reclaimed his independence. But he did so at the expense of sliming a journalist who’d broken an important, unflattering story about collusion by media moguls. At the very least, Olbermann ought to award himself the bronze.
Photo from Stelter’s Twitter feed.
The cultural divide that won’t go away
On June 1, 2009 By Dan KennedyIn Uncategorized3 Comments
The assassination of Dr. George Tiller, I write in the Guardian, shows once again that abortion is the cultural divide that won’t go away. Which is why Bill O’Reilly’s taunting name-calling — “Tiller the baby killer” — and his comparisons of Tiller to Nazis and Al Qaeda terrorists was so mind-blowingly irresponsible.
MSNBC’s news-opinion dilemma
On September 8, 2008 By Dan KennedyIn Uncategorized5 Comments
It looks like the political cross-dressing act at MSNBC has reached its limit. According to Brian Stelter of the New York Times, talk-show hosts Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews will not anchor the cable network’s coverage of the upcoming debates or on election night, which should tone down the battle between NBC’s journalists and MSNBC’s opinionators.
I have quibbles about this, but overall I think it was the right move. Barack Obama has no bigger advocates in the mainstream media than Olbermann and Matthews, and it has looked strange all year to have serious journalists like Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, Andrea Mitchell and, before his death, Tim Russert seeming to answer to them. Recently, it all boiled over on the air.
Olbermann and Matthews reportedly will continue to appear as analysts, while David Gregory will serve as the anchor. That’s all fine. My larger concern is that in addition to being moved out of the anchor slots, they will also be expected to tone down their opinions, lest they run afoul of the Republicans’ current war against the media. Olbermann was exactly right in his revulsion at Republican efforts to stamp their brand on the terrorist attacks of 9/11, even if it was unseemly for him to do it from the anchor desk.
The problem, of course, is that there are no such scruples about the dividing line between news and opinion at Fox News. Stelter, for instance, does not question the fiction that Bill O’Reilly is not allowed to anchor Fox’s convention coverage, a piece of information that would be a surprise to anyone tuning in between 8 and 9 p.m. the last two weeks. Fox’s signature news personality, Brit Hume, is a good journalist, but he also leans noticeably to the right.
MSNBC this year is experiencing the first semi-success of its benighted existence by loading up on liberal political talk shows. Today Rachel Maddow debuts at 9 p.m., extending that trend. I don’t know how long it can last, since the network is still firmly ensconced in last place. But as long as network executives can find a way to keep the journalists and the talkers from ripping each other’s throats out, MSNBC has become a refreshing alternative to Fox News.
I just hope it’s Williams and Brokaw who are driving the anchor-desk shift — and not Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt.
When Barack O. met Bill-O
O’Reilly let Obama get in a few words, but he didn’t get carried away. After all, if Obama had been allowed to speak a complete sentence, it might look like O’Reilly was losing control of the show.
Bill O’Reilly and “shut up”
On July 17, 2008 By Dan KennedyIn Uncategorized23 Comments
In a letter to the Phoenix, Rich Goggin of Peabody says I was wrong to claim, as I did in the recent Muzzle Awards, that Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly “loves nothing more than to tell his guests to ‘shut up.'” Goggin instructs me thusly: “Except O’Reilly only did that once, seven years ago.”
Really. Now, I’m going to make an assumption, but I’m pretty sure the source of Goggin’s misinformation is O’Reilly himself. O’Reilly’s claim was included in Robert Greenwald’s documentary “OutFoxed.” It is followed by a hilarious stream of O’Reilly telling both guests and non-guests alike, over and over, to “shut up.” Here is the clip:
As Ronald Reagan once said, facts are stupid things. And if that’s not enough for you, Mr. Goggin, Jack Shafer of Slate wrote way back in 2003, “Bill O’Reilly says ‘shut up’ the way other people say ‘um.'” He follows that with one, two, three … OK, make that 30 examples.
I posted a comment to Goggin’s letter, but it doesn’t seem to have taken yet. I don’t know if he’s a Media Nation reader, but perhaps someone will send him this way. Meanwhile, my advice for him is to shut up.
Muzzling freedom of speech
On June 26, 2008 By Dan KennedyIn Uncategorized18 Comments
Please have a look at The Phoenix’s annual Muzzle Awards, a Fourth of July roundup of local anti-constitutionalism that I’ve been writing since 1998. You’ll see why Nat Hentoff likes to say that the human sex drive is exceeded only by the urge to censor.
Among those who get singled out are Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, whose agencies have banned a respected academic, Adam Habib, from the United States. Habib is scheduled to appear at an academic conference in Boston on Aug. 1, but that’s not going to happen unless the ban is lifted.
Habib is supposedly being kept out because he has ties to terrorism. But he denies it, and the government has provided no evidence to back up its claim. What we do know is that Habib, of South Africa, is a Muslim and has criticized the war in Iraq and U.S. policies in the Middle East.
Also getting whacked is Comcast, for firing longtime Boston television personality Barry Nolan over his campaign against Fox News blowhard Bill O’Reilly. Comcast was within its rights to terminate Nolan, but it was an utterly unnecessary, no-class move.
I’ll be on “NightSide with Dan Rea,” on WBZ Radio (AM 1030), at 9 p.m. today to talk about the Muzzle Awards. If you feel like calling in, don’t be shy.
Illustration is copyright © 2008 by K Bonami.
The rise of Keith Olbermann
Peter Boyer has a terrific profile of Keith Olbermann in the current issue of the New Yorker. The theme — the emergence of the opinion-news hybrid in television journalism, seen first on the right with Fox News, now on the left with MSNBC — is an important one following the death of the determinedly centrist Tim Russert.
Personally, I enjoy Olbermann’s “Countdown” quite a bit. His standards for accuracy are considerably higher than those of his nemesis, Bill O’Reilly. My fear is that craven network executives will take any sign of success and drive it right over the cliff. I hadn’t realized until I’d read Boyer’s piece that CBS News had courted Olbermann as its lead anchor before settling on Katie Couric — who, despite all the drama over her low ratings and rumors of her departure, does a perfectly respectable job of anchoring the evening newscast.
Olbermann’s name has also come up as a possible replacement for Russert on “Meet the Press.” Fortunately, the most plausible rumor of the moment is that Tom Brokaw will come out of retirement to helm the program through the election.
By all means, let Olbermann be Olbermann — hosting a news-and-opinion program, not pretending to be something he’s not.
Also work checking out: NPR’s “On the Media” recently did a piece on what it called “The Olbermann Effect.”
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Blog, Digital Publishing Awards, DPA Soirée, DPA19, News
Early-Bird Soirée Tickets Available Until May 13!
Hurry to purchase your tickets for the 4th annual DPA Soirée! On May 29th, the Gold and Silver winners will be revealed at the Soirée, with Gold winners in select categories receiving a $500 cash prize. The event will be held in Toronto at One King West and hosted by award-winning journalist and editor Eternity Martis.
Purchase an early-bird ticket here before prices go up on May 13!
May 10, 2019 May 9, 2019 Leave a comment
Blog, Digital Publishing Awards, DPA Winners, Interviews, Uncategorized
Interview Series: Shauna Rempel of Global News
In October 2017, the Global News investigation Canada’s Toxic Secret shone a light on pollution in Sarnia, Ontario. The city and its surrounding region, including the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, is popularly known as Chemical Valley due to its high concentration of petrochemical facilities. Global News investigated how recent chemical leaks and spills may be contributing to illness among local residents.
The impactful project lead to funding for a new health study on the impacts of air pollution in the Sarnia region. It’s also received many awards, including the Gold award for Best Social Storytelling at the 2018 Digital Publishing Awards.
With content shared across Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Medium, Canada’s Toxic Secret was able to reach a wide audience of Canadians. We spoke to Global News’ Shauna Rempel about the important role of social media in the investigation.
A Global News image used to promote the Toxic Secret project on Facebook.
I was curious to hear about the social media perspective behind the project, since you won the DPA award for Best Social Storytelling. Can you tell me about your role working on social?
I’m the national managing editor for social media and distribution, so I’m taking a look at it from more of a management perspective. I’m the editor for a lot of these things, but also assigning them to people on my team or attending the meetings for some of these bigger projects—attending the meetings and representing the social media team to give feedback as to how we want to approach it.
I was in months and months of meetings. This was quite a lengthy investigation and it involved not just Global News; it was a co-production with students from Ryerson and Concordia journalism schools, and of course the Toronto Star and a few other organizations.
Pretty much everyone on my team had some sort of part in the project, whether helping to create some of the graphics that went out on social media, or captioning the videos or distributing the videos, or adding to a Twitter thread, or moderating some of the comments and checking out the feedback that we were getting from the audience. It was a real group effort.
About how long did the project take to create?
The investigation was months in the making. On the social desk you tend to be involved more in the later stages of things. But Carolyn Jarvis, who was the lead journalist on this whole project, she’s very good at getting everyone involved. So I was getting regular updates from her.
But it was more in September that things started to really ramp up and we looked at all the elements—and there was a lot of video, a lot of images, just a lot of material to go through, and figure out what was going to work for what platform. We did it in three stages. That was the first time we did it in this way, and it’s actually become the template for all of our big rollouts for our big projects. All of our social rollouts now have some version of this template.
We did a pre-social treatment to try and get people excited and interested in it. And then when all the elements were coming out, different stories, different aspects of it, we were sharing it and sometimes re-sharing it the day it was published. Then afterwards we were doing more of a look back. It was being discussed by politicians; there was some fallout from it. So that provided opportunities to not only share the latest elements, but to say, “Now this has happened, as a result of this investigation.” To also share, “In case you missed it, here’s the full documentary again, here’s our main post about it.”
I was curious about the response you saw on social media after the initial push.
There was a lot of discussion amongst the opposition party, and Ontario’s environmental watchdog, who had condemned the fact that there was this population living so close to these known polluters and nothing seemed to be happening. It did lead to, in the aftermath, proposals for new standards to control air pollution. And we did a follow-up, about a year later. Some things had changed, but actually not a whole lot, in a year’s time since we did the initial investigation.
What kind of responses did you get from members of the public?
We had a lot of people discussing it, coming out in one way or another. There was a lot of sympathy amongst the viewers, I think, especially those who were watching the videos. We got messages to that effect. Some of it was people wondering why people were living in that area in the first place, and that started a good conversation, because then you would actually have other people weighing in on, well, maybe they grew up there, that sort of thing. Or, why shouldn’t they live there?
There was a good discussion in that regard, which is what we want. We want a talker. We like it when there’s actually more of a nuanced discussion instead of everyone sort of having a straightforward answer to it. We had over a million, 1.3 million views on the videos that we posted to Facebook, so that was a good indicator to us, too, that people were watching, that they were consuming it on social media.
People were weighing in and talking about pollution where they lived, and their concerns, as well. Folks were either sharing their own stories or comparing it; saying that they too had concerns about pollution, or they were happy to be living somewhere where things were better monitored.
We want this to be something that people can relate to. The videos, the images that we chose—we really wanted this to be something that people could relate to. The idea that someone’s young son got cancer and died after a very short battle with cancer, that’s something that goes beyond any particular city. That’s a universal experience that people could relate to, just the grief of losing a child so suddenly to cancer. That’s the sort of thing we’re trying to tap into, really tapping into the universal themes and the emotion behind it; while also, of course, we’re presenting the facts.
It was a lengthy investigation and there was lots and lots of information. But when sharing it with a social audience you really want to make sure you’re getting the attention, not just with facts and figures but also with people, with human emotion and human experience.
What sort of considerations you have to take into account—if you’re making this for broadcast, how will it work if you’re putting part of it on Facebook, or putting it on YouTube? Is that something that comes into play during the production?
For the documentary itself, it was really more with broadcast in mind. It was more when we were doing the shorter clips that we were really thinking about which ones would work best for a social audience. Our YouTube channel is quite strong, but we weren’t completely sure how many views we would be getting on YouTube. So I think the primary focus for that element was going to be for broadcast first and then seeing what we could put in, either extended interviews or various clips that we could do for a social audience.
A Global News social image featuring a local activist interviewed for the Toxic Secret report.
You mentioned the social process you used for this has become the template you’re using for future stories.
We don’t call it the Toxic Secret template, but we have found this was a good way of approaching anything. Not just our investigative stories, but if we had, let’s say a weeklong feature series that we’re rolling out, we’ve done this for several since then.
We’ve done this pretty much every time we have a major project that’s being published. We always do something ahead of time to tease it with content, to actually give people a bit of a fuller taste of it. And then of course the rolling out throughout the week, or as we have updates, and then trying to do more of a wrap-up, a look back on it. It can take various forms, it depends on the project and the elements. It’s not always a cookie cutter thing, one size fits all. That’s why I say it’s a template, but we do vary it, depending on what we’ve got and what’s available when and where the story leads us to.
Another example is #FirstTimeIWasCalled—this project was very social-focused, we were asking public figures and also the public to share their first brushes with discrimination. All stemming from a story that one of our anchors had about the first time she was called a slur, the first time she was judged by her skin colour. We found we had so much reaction to that that our wrap up just kind of kept going and going because we couldn’t fit it all. We would do one story wrapping up social media reactions, and then we’d send that out on our social channels, and then it would bring in more reactions so we would end up doing another round of it. That’s a great problem to have.
Or sometimes with this Toxic Secret project, we were getting a lot of reactions from politicians. There was a pledge that new standards for air pollution were going to be developed and released. So that gave us something more, something new to report on.
Do you find that there are certain stories, maybe like this one for example, that are more suited to social?
We do find that with the stories that immediately elicit a reaction, and that does tend to be ones that are people-focused, rather than ones that are focused on policy or process. Of course those are important stories as well.
But we do always want to get to the person involved and try to play them up big on social media. So I’m often the one saying—and everyone else has this instinct as well—if we don’t have a photo of someone who’s been interviewed for the story, then we have a problem. We make sure we have a photo of someone, if they’re telling their story, we make sure we play that up on the social media channels. So that people can relate to that person.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about the project?
I would reiterate that it was really a group effort, there were a lot of hands involved with it, and so I’m very pleased that it was recognized in this way. You don’t do any of these things for the awards, you don’t do it for the rewards, but it is nice to see hard work being recognized in this way.
I’m very happy that an award like this exists, because the social media aspect of things has become so ingrained in everything that we do; every aspect of our lives, every aspect of every industry, but especially in the media industry. But it almost gets taken as a given. There’s not always a lot of thought or understanding into what actually is involved with making the things that appear in your Facebook newsfeed or show up on Twitter or pop up in your Instagram feed. So it’s nice to see that work, which is largely behind the scenes, get recognized.
That’s so true. Do you think that social media will continue to be a major part of your work at Global, and continue to be a crucial component of sharing stories?
I do. I think that algorithms come and go, and there’s always some new flavour of the week that might appear on social media, and maybe some folks will shut down their accounts in protest—we’ve definitely weathered some storms when it comes to social media—but I really think it’s so ingrained. I think more these days of social media as just one of many distribution channels. It’s another way that people consume our content and learn about the world. I don’t think that’ll ever go away. It can evolve and change, and it should, because that’s what it’s been doing up until now. But I think it’s still going to be a very vital, very important part of what we do, of how we tell stories.
Interview conducted by Jill Blackmore Evans.
Finalists for the 4th Annual Digital Publishing Awards will be announced on May 2, 2019. Follow us on Twitter for the most up-to-date news.
April 4, 2019 April 4, 2019 global news, shauna rempelLeave a comment
Blog, Call for Entries, Categories, Digital Publishing Awards, DPA19, National Media Awards Foundation, News, Uncategorized
Early-Bird Deadline for the Digital Publishing Awards
Early-birds, you’re almost out of time—our discount comes to an end this Friday! If you want to save $25 per entry, be sure to make your submission(s) by midnight (ET) on January 25th. After that, entry fees will be $125 each.
All Canadian digital publications and digital creators are welcome to enter the awards. Many of the categories have a $500 cash prize for the gold winner, while our national publicity efforts promote all finalists and winners. Placing in the Digital Publishing Awards means getting your work read and recognized.
What’s more, the submission process is simple: review the categories, then click here to access the online submissions portal, and follow the steps provided. (Freelancers, remember that we also offer the freelancer support fund.)
Any and all questions can be sent to info@digital publishingawards.ca.
Work from 2018 that falls into the business-to-business category can be entered in the inaugural National Magazine Awards: B2B. The final deadline for the NMA: B2B program is February 1, 2019.
January 23, 2019 January 22, 2019 Call for Entries, Digital Publishing, DPA19, Early-Bird DeadlineLeave a comment
Blog, Digital Publishing Awards, DPA Winners, DPA18, Interviews
Interview Series: Matthew Halliday of The Deep
At last year’s Digital Publishing Awards, The Deep took home the award for General Excellence in Digital Publishing, in the Small Publications category. Founded in Halifax in 2017, The Deep Magazine grew out of co-founders’ Matthew Halliday and Chelsea Murray’s desire to create a home for impactful long form journalism in Atlantic Canada. The publication has quickly carved out a niche of carefully researched and reported pieces that bring to light “stories that don’t otherwise get told,” as executive editor Halliday puts it.
We called Halliday in Halifax to learn more about the story behind The Deep, the challenges and rewards of running a publication that focuses on one region, and what it was like to take home a DPA.
Could you tell us a bit about how The Deep was founded?
I am the co-founder, along with my partner Chelsea. Chelsea and I met in Toronto as magazine stream students in the Ryerson Master of Journalism program. We were mutual fans of deep dive, narrative long-form. Then we became personal partners there. I’m from Alberta, and she’s from New Brunswick, and she wanted to move out east. So about five years ago we did that. We worked in communications jobs and did freelance work—I’m now a full-time freelance journalist, as well as executive editor of The Deep.
We came out here and realized, Toronto and southern Ontario are pretty well served, comparatively, by magazines, but there isn’t a robust magazine culture across Canada in different regions, necessarily. So we wanted to bring that deep dive narrative writing to the East Coast; to provide a place where writers who had the chops and the experience and the desire to do it, could do it and get paid decently to [write] here, about this region.
You know The Atavist Magazine—that was kind of the model to begin with, one big story a month. We started it up in partnership with The Coast magazine, which is the alt weekly here in Halifax—like the NOW Magazine of Halifax—they provided some in-kind support, some resources, mentorship, that kind of thing. It’s a partnership with them, but editorially independent. And rather than just covering the city here, we cover all four provinces. We launched with a Kickstarter in October 2016, and then spent the winter of 2016-2017 working away at our first crop of stories, and then launched last August.
The Deep Magazine co-founders, Matthew Halliday and Chelsea Murray
What do you feel are the specific challenges of operating this kind of publication with a regional focus, or specifically with a regional focus on Atlantic Canada? What makes it different from a publication that caters to the whole country?
It is a drawback and a strength, in a way, that we have a narrower audience. It’s a much smaller audience than a national publication would have— there are 2.5 million people in the Atlantic region.
This is a region that’s sort of off the editorial map of Canada. The Globe went several years without even having anyone here in the Atlantic bureau. It’s a place that doesn’t get covered a lot, and when it does get covered it’s often from a stereotypical kind of perspective. A lot of parachute journalism; a lot of reporting that plays off stereotypes of the place that are maybe outdated, or don’t reflect the way people live here.
We get to tell the stories that don’t get told otherwise. And readers here have really responded. So I think focusing on a region that’s off the map a bit actually is a strength, because people here are really hungry for that kind of thing.
Illustration by Aziza Asat for The Deep, from Oscar Baker III’s story “A History of Violence”
Why do you think that might be the case, that this region gets sort of overlooked by other media?
Canadian media is highly concentrated in Toronto, and so there’s sort of a lack of awareness, often. I worked in Toronto media for years, and I know tons of people there, and I love them. I love the city, and I love the media and journalism community there. But nevertheless there is certainly sometimes a myopia that can develop when everybody’s in one place.
Even when people come from across the country, people develop that myopia sometimes. There’s sort of a lack of awareness, and a lack of interest in what’s going on elsewhere. Or the interest in what’s going on in that one part of the country gets conflated with national interests.
And then there’s the pure business case—it’s a smaller region. The GTA is three times the population of the entire Atlantic region, so there’s that as well.
Photo of Labrador by Jennie Williams for The Deep, from Matthew Halliday’s recent story “Homeland.”
You mentioned that you’re also working freelance; what’s it like balancing that with full-time editorial work?
Very difficult [laughs]. I worked at St Mary’s University, which is one of the universities in the city here, doing a communications role with them, and I left that earlier this year to go full-time freelance, and it’s been a great choice. I’ve had a lot of luck and success and it’s been really good.
Part of the reason I did that was so I could spend more time on The Deep. I didn’t want to be balancing a nine to five office job with The Deep and freelance.
The Deep is basically run out of Chelsea’s and my attic in our house. It’s kind of: work all day and The Deep at night, sort of thing. There is no separation, really. It’s a lot of work. We do love the work though! To work with some of the best writers in the region, to develop these editorial relationships and this back and forth and process of revision that doesn’t really happen a lot… Working on a story for six or eight months—which is not something that I think a lot of writers here get a chance to do, unless they’re writing for an out of region publication—that’s really rewarding and fun.
What are the challenges of working on stories for such a long time? It must present some different challenges from pieces that have a fast turnaround.
Part of it is, you want to make sure you’re doing something that is timely. It’s the same challenge that anyone would have at any major magazine, where there’s six months or a year lead times. But specifically out here, a lot of writers haven’t done that, maybe. It’s new to a lot of writers. You’re going to be working on this for half a year, it’s going to require a whole bunch of revision—that’s not something that a lot of people have done, necessarily. That can be new.
But yeah, just making sure it’s a story that is going to be relevant when it’s finally published. Making sure no one else picks up on it. Then again, that is the benefit of working in a region that doesn’t kind of get the coverage it deserves: you don’t get scooped as much.
You won the DPA for General Excellence in a small publication, and this is the award for a magazine that best fulfills its editorial mandate. I was wondering if you could say a bit about The Deep’s editorial mandate. What are its goals?
To tell those stories that don’t otherwise get told. In bullet form: to tell fascinating, entertaining, compelling, and important stories about this region that don’t otherwise get told. They don’t have to be East Coast-y in any particular way. The only stipulation is that there’s something that happened here, or that there’s some connection.
For example, we had a piece a few months ago—the writer [Oscar Baker III] is part Mi’kmaq, from the Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick, and part African-American, and grew up in Florida. His piece was mostly set in Florida, and talked about growing up in that world; the tension between those two cultures that informed his upbringing. So that was mostly in the southeastern United States, but there was that Atlantic connection.
What was it like, the experience of winning the award? What did that mean for you and everyone that collaborates with you?
It was great. Our readership has been really good, we have strong readership, so we know that people are out there reading the magazine. But we’re in a bit of a bubble. Chelsea and I are just working in our attic most of the time, separated from the world. We see feedback—we see traffic on the site, and we see feedback online, and that’s all great. But it feels sort of depersonalized, kind of distant, out there. So to be recognized by our peers in the industry is fantastic.
To go back to Toronto and see a lot of the people we worked with at magazines there, and have them saying, “Hey, this is a great thing you’re doing.” To be recognized by the publishing and magazine world is really very gratifying. We’re not in it for the awards, but it definitely gives us a boost to let us know that people are out there paying attention, and we’re doing something worthwhile.
Cover illustration by Aziza Asat for The Deep Magazine, from Chelsea Murray’s story “Joe and the Whale.”
Submissions for the 2019 Digital Publishing Awards will open on January 2, 2019. Click here for everything you need to know about submitting an entry, and follow us on Twitter for the most up-to-date news.
December 7, 2018 December 5, 2018 Digital Publishing, DPA Winners, Interview, Matthew Halliday, The DeepLeave a comment
Blog, Categories, Digital Publishing Awards, DPA19, News, Uncategorized
Announcing the Categories for the 2019 Digital Publishing Awards
The National Media Awards Foundation is pleased to announce the line-up of categories for the fourth annual Digital Publishing Awards. The awards will be across 23 categories, including one new category; Best Editorial Newsletter.
To review its Digital Publishing Awards program for 2019, the NMAF worked in consultation with a panel of industry professionals. Our thanks to this year’s Advisory Committee members, who provided invaluable guidance to crafting the 4th annual DPAs, include:
Matt Frehner – Head of Visual Journalism, The Globe and Mail
Philippe Gohier – Editor in Chief, VICE Québec
Lindsay Sample – Managing Editor, Discourse Media
David Topping – Senior Manager of Product, St. Joseph Communications, Media Group
Notable changes for 2019 include:
The awards for the three Best Service Feature categories (Lifestyle; Careers and Personal Finances; Family and Health), have been merged into one single category rewarding excellence in service journalism.
One new category has been added to the program: Best Editorial Newsletter. This award honours the outstanding work of an editorial team in creating original and engaging content via a regular email series that best serves its intended audience by maximizing the potential of digital publishing.
2019 DPA Categories:
Best Digital Editorial Package
Best News Coverage (Small newsroom)
Best Feature Article: Short
Best Feature Article: Long
Best Personal Essay
Best Arts & Culture Storytelling
Best Science & Technology Storytelling
Best Service Feature
Best Online Video: Short
Best Online Video: Feature
Best Online Video: Mini-Doc
Best Podcast
Best Digital Design
Best Photo Storytelling
Best Social Storytelling
Best Editorial Newsletter
Innovation in Digital Storytelling
Emerging Excellence Award
Leadership Excellence Award
General Excellence in Digital Publishing: Small, Medium & Large Publications
For complete category definitions, rules and judging procedures, visit digitalpublishingawards.ca.
2019 CALL FOR ENTRIES
Submissions for the 2018 Digital Publishing Awards will be accepted from January 2-31, 2019. The DPAs are open to all Canadian digital publishers— including those that support established brands in consumer & B2B magazines, newspapers, broadcast and other journalism, as well as those that serve their audiences exclusively as digital brands—published in either English or French.
We’re currently accepting nominations for individuals to serve on the jury for the 2019 DPAs, and join the great tradition of recognizing achievement by the creators of Canadian magazines and digital publications. We’re looking for nominations of individuals who bring different industry perspectives – from recognized leaders to celebrated emerging talents. We also aim for judging panels to reflect our country’s diverse Indigenous, cultural, and regional communities.
For news and updates about the DPAs, follow the Digital Publishing Awards on Twitter @DPAwards and #DPA19.
November 6, 2018 November 6, 2018 Leave a comment
Call for EntriesDecember 9, 2019
Call for Entries is Now Open
National Magazine Awards
National Magazine Awards: B2B
This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.
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> Babs
Written by Tony Jordan, this is the heart-warming story of Dame Barbara Windsor, the Cockney kid with a dazzling smile and talent to match who went on to become a British icon. Spanning 50 years, from 1943 to 1993, this drama introduces the people and the events that shaped Babs's life and career. It's a cold evening at the theatre in 1993 and while Babs gets ready to perform on stage, she contemplates her lonely childhood, her complicated relationship with her father, her doomed marriages, capturing the attention of theatre director Joan Littlewood and becoming the blonde bombshell in the Carry On films.
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Department of Computer Science DIKU
Professor Inauguration...
Professor Inauguration: Jon Sporring
From pixels to knowledge - Registering the big picture in data science
Jon Sporring has been appointed professor at the Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen (DIKU). The appointment will be marked by an inaugural lecture on 19 December 2018 at 2 p.m.
14.00 - 15.00: Inaugural Lecture: From pixels to knowledge - Registering the big picture in data science
Abstract: Modern imaging devices such as microscopes and synchrotrons provide data which are often too big and too complex for humans to analyse efficiently, and often we must rely on computer programs to extract knowledge from data.
Developing programs to analyse images give us novel, objective, and reproducible insights into images, which for some tasks are difficult to match by humans. For other tasks, it is a real challenge to develop versatile programs, and human interpretations are to be preferred.
Microscope images are of particular interest to me since an increasing number of different microscope techniques are being developed which produce views of structures at subcellular level at an unprecedented resolution and in increasing data quantities.
Further, since the images vary greatly in appearance and quality, techniques from computer vision and medical image processing are only partially applicable. Often improvements of existing or invention of new algorithms are required, which I find a great source of inspiration.
In this talk, I demonstrate how image analysis is used for statistical models of ultrastructures in nerve cells and I will give examples of how we have improved existing and developed new algorithms for image analysis.
15.00 - 15.15 Short break
15.15 - 17.00 Reception in the Canteen Area of the HCØ Building
Jon Sporring received his Master and PhD degree from DIKU in 1995 and 1998, respectively. Part of his PhD program was carried out at IBM Research Center, Almaden, California, USA.
Following his PhD, he worked as a visiting researcher at the Computer Vision and Robotics Lab at Foundation for Research & Technology - Hellas, Greece, and as assistant research professor at 3D-Lab, School of Dentistry, University of Copenhagen. In 2003, he started at DIKU. From 2008-2009 he was part-time Senior Researcher at Nordic Bioscience a/s. In the period 2012-2013 he was a visiting professor at School of Computer Science, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Jon Sporring also co-founded DigiCorpus Aps in 2012 and served as Chief research officer of the company from 2012-2016 developing computer vision based systems for automatic feedback for physiotherapeutic rehabilitation.
Today, Jon is affiliated to the Section for Image Analysis, computational modeling, and geometry at DIKU
Time: 19 December 2018, 14:00-17:00
Place: Auditorium 4, HCØ Building, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Cph Ø
Organizer: DIKU
Read also the news flash about Jon Sporring
DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø
tikr@di.ku.dk
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Mott the Hoople “Mott”
Categories: 1970s, Bands with a white guy with a huge afro, Bands with one really tall guy, Imortality, large collars, Mott the Hoople, My Favorte Record, Nostalgia, Stoner Album Covers, sublime and Uncategorized
Tags: 1973, alternate album covers, Augustus, conspiracy theories, die-cut, Dylan, Ian Hunter, Jesus, lyrics, Mick Ralphs, Mott the Hoople, Questions
My random system for picking records to write about landed on this one, which I may have touched on before, and hopefully will again, since it was such a huge record in my life. Then a couple of days later, in a thrift store, I saw this British pressing with a totally different cover—not that rare, or anything, but I’ve never seen it before, in person, somehow. This is the cover with a die-cut head-shape hole (which, I’ve read, was the bust of Augustus printed on transparent plastic! That part now gone. Also, why?)—and inside, a kind of amazing photo collage. The cover also looks like it was half spray-painted this shade of day-glow pink I didn’t think existed in 1973. I still prefer the US version, which is nothing special—four Seventies rock guys standing there with some stage lights—it’s almost comic in its datedness—but for me, pure nostalgia in its magic. I’ve forgotten a lot of my childhood, but I remember Scott Suter telling me to buy this record—we were in 7th Grade—and I did, intrigued by that band name that made no sense. The opening piano on “All the Way from Memphis”—that weird sound, something off about it, almost like the tape is slowed down or slightly manipulated (I’ll read about this somewhere, someday)—it just burned an indelible memory in my brain, and when I put it on now, it takes me right back there. There are a handful of things like that in your life—usually music is involved—and so I value those things like nothing else.
I think Mott the Hoople is the only band whose last two records are their best two, and it’s somehow not coincidental that they were named “Mott” and “The Hoople,” or that they came out in 1973 and 1974 (the two best years of popular culture, at least in the century surrounding my existence). In a way, they were both last records, because this is the last one with Mick Ralphs, who went directly from this to forming Bad Company. “The Hoople” is both remarkably the same and different than this record. I’ve long struggled and finally given up trying to pick my favorite of the two. Both versions of the band are great all the way through, but it’s Ian Hunter who’s at the center of the mess. It’s hard to make any sense of that guy. You can hear the Bob Dylan influence in everything he does, yet he sounds nothing like Dylan. I’ve gone through periods where I thought he was someone else in disguise, or even thought he was actually a woman. The conclusion I’ve finally come to is that he’s the most normal guy in the history of rock’n’roll, and also the strangest. It turns out it wasn’t Bowie who was the space alien, it was Ian Hunter. Though he might not be a space alien, but instead a ghost, or an android. I did something I never do, last year, and went to see an aging rock band live show—which was Mott the Hoople (with three of them from the ’74, “Hoople,” record) and so I did see the 80 year old Ian Hunter in person, and sure I was a few seats away, but it was like, next stop, Jesus. So the mystery just deepened (also hope—for what one can do at 80 years old).
A funny thing about this record is I’ve just kept listening to it over the years, never really got tired of it (though I don’t, you know, play it to death). When I was a lad, I liked the songs that rocked out more, while the ones with those alienating words (Hymn, Ballad) in their titles put me off a little. Now, those are my very favorite songs, just beautiful slower rock songs, with fairly incredible lyrics, worth checking out, if you never have—songs that I will most likely listen to again tomorrow, and next month, and early next year. Those, along with “I Wish I Was Your Mother” are now my favorite songs on the record. The whole thing is listenable, and also quite an oddity. The best rock music, for me, has always been that which is, how would you say it? Ill-fitting. Also, Ian Hunter’s voice, that’s just going to be knocking around in there, in my skull, like a cave painting, for the rest of my days, and after that, who can say.
0 Responses to “Mott the Hoople “Mott””
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Gene & Debbe “Hear & Now” »
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Good Test Plan
Amit Rathi
speichernGood Test Plan für später speichern
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Table of Contents Page
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 4
1.1. Overview of This New System .................................................................................. 4
1.2. Purpose of this Document ........................................................................................ 4
1.3. Objectives of System Test ...................................................................................... 4
1.4. Software Quality Assurance Involvement .................................................................... 4
2. Scope and Objectives .................................................................................................. 5
2.1. Scope of Test Approach - System Functions .............................................................. 5
2.1.1. Inclusions ........................................................................................................ 5
2.1.2. Exclusions ....................................................................................................... 5
2.2. Testing Scope ......................................................................................................... 6
2.2.1. Functional Testing ............................................................................................ 6
2.2.2. Interface Testing .............................................................................................. 7
2.2.3. Acceptance Testing ......................................................................................... 7
2.2.4. Final Acceptance Testing ................................................................................ 7
2.3. Testing Process ..................................................................................................... 7
2.4. System Test Entrance/Exit Criteria.......................................................................... 8
2.4.1. Entrance Criteria ............................................................................................. 8
2.4.2. Exit Criteria ..................................................................................................... 8
3. Test Phases and Cycles ............................................................................................. 9
3.1. Project Integration Test ......................................................................................... 9
3.2. Operations Acceptance Test.................................................................................. 10
4. System Test Schedule ................................................................................................ 11
5. Resources ................................................................................................................... 12
5.1. Human ................................................................................................................... 12
5.2. Hardware .............................................................................................................. 12
5.2.1. Hardware components required ........................................................................ 13
5.3. Software ................................................................................................................ 13
5.3.1. Test Host environments .................................................................................... 13
5.3.2. Test Branch Software ...................................................................................... 13
5.3.3. Error Measurement System .............................................................................. 13
6. Roles and Responsibilities ......................................................................................... 14
6.1. Management Team ................................................................................................ 14
6.2. Testing Team ......................................................................................................... 14
6.3. Business Team ....................................................................................................... 14
6.4. Testing Support Team ............................................................................................ 14
6.5. External Support Team .......................................................................................... 14
7. Error Management/Configuration Management ........................................................... 15
8. Reviewing & Status Reporting .................................................................................. 16
8.1. Status Reporting .................................................................................................... 16
8.2. Formal Review Process.......................................................................................... 16
8.2.1. Review Points .................................................................................................. 16
9. Issues/Risks/Assumptions .......................................................................................... 17
10. Signoff ........................................................................................................................ 19
11. Appendices ................................................................................................................ 20
12. Control Documentation .............................................................................................
1.1. Overview of System X
To aim of this phase of the project is to implement a new X System platform that will enable:
• Removal of legacy office systems
2 Only For IT People…rathiami@gmail.com
• Introduction of ABC
• Processing of Special Transactions
• No constraint on location of capture
• Enable capture of transactions for other processing systems
• New Reconciliation Process
• Positioning for European ECU Currency and future initiatives
This programme will result in significant changes to the current departmental and inter-office
processes. The functionality will be delivered on a phased basis.
Phase 1 will incorporate the following facilities :
• Replacement of the legacy System A
• New Reconciliation System
• Outsourcing system for departments in different european countries.
• New/Revised Audit Trail & Query Facilities
[Detailed inclusions are listed later in this document]
1.2. Purpose of this Document
This document is to serve as the Draft Test Approach for the Business Systems Development
Project.
Preparation for this test consists of three major stages:-
• The Test Approach sets the scope of system testing, the overall strategy to be adopted,
the activities to be completed, the general resources required and the methods and
processes to be used to test the release. It also details the activities, dependencies and
effort required to conduct the System Test.
• Test Planning details the activities, dependencies and effort required to conduct the
System Test.
• Test Conditions/Cases documents the tests to be applied, the data to be processed, the
automated testing coverage and the expected results.
1.3. Formal Reviewing
There will be several formal review points before and during system test. This is a vital element
in achieving a quality product.
1.3.1. Formal Review Points
1. Design Documentation
2. Testing Approach
3. Unit Test Plans
4. Unit Test Conditions & Results
5. System Test Conditions
6. System Test Progress
7. Post System Test Review
1.4. Objectives of System Test
At a high level, this System Test intends to prove that :-
• The functionality, delivered by the development team, is as specified by the business in
the Business Design Specification Document and the Requirements Documentation.
• The software is of high quality; the software will replace/support the intended business
functions and achieves the standards required by the company for the development of
new systems.
• The software delivered interfaces correctly with existing systems, including Windows 98.
[Detailed objectives are listed later in this document.]
1.4.1. Software Quality Assurance involvement
The above V Model shows the optimum testing process, where test preparation commences as
soon as the Requirements Catalogue is produced. System Test planning commenced at an early
stage, and for this reason, the System test will benefit from Quality initiatives throughout the
project lifecycle.
The responsibility for testing between the Project & Software Qualtiy Assurance (S.Q.A.) is as
• Unit Test is the responsibility of the Development Team
• System Testing is the responsibility of SQA
• User Acceptance Testing is the Responsibility of the User Representatives Team
• Technology Compliance Testing is the responsibility of the Systems Installation &
Support Group.
2. SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES
2.1. Scope of Test Approach - System Functions
2.1.1. INCLUSIONS
The contents of this release are as follows :-
Phase 1 Deliverables
o New & revised Transaction Processing with automated support
o New Customer Query Processes and systems
o Revised Inter-Office Audit process
o Relocate Exceptions to Head Office
o New centralised Agency Management system
o Revised Query Management process
o Revised Retrievals process
o New International Reconciliation process
o New Account Reconciliation process
2.1.2. EXCLUSIONS
When the scope of each Phase has been agreed and signed off, no further inclusions will be
considered for inclusion in this release, except:
(1) Where there is the express permission and agreement of the Business Analyst
and the System Test Controller;
(2) Where the changes/inclusions will not require significant effort on behalf of
the test team (i.e. requiring extra preparation - new test conditions etc.) and will
not adversely affect the test schedule.
[See Section 9.1.]
2.1.3. SPECIFIC EXCLUSIONS
• Cash management is not included in this phase
• Sign On/Sign Off functions are excluded - this will be addressed by existing processes
• The existing Special Order facility will not be replaced
• Foreign Currency Transactions
• International Data Exchanges
• Accounting or reporting of Euro transactions
Reference & Source Documentation:
1. Business Processes Design Document - Document Ref: BPD-1011
2. Transaction Requirements for Phase 1 - Document Ref: TR_PHASE1-4032
3. Project Issues & Risks Database - T:\Data\Project\PROJECT.MDB
4. The System Development Standards - Document Ref: DEVSTD-1098-2
5. System Development Lifecycle - Document Ref: SDLC-301
2.2. Testing Process
The diagram above outlines the Test Process approach that will be followed.
a. Organise Project involves creating a System Test Plan, Schedule & Test Approach, and
requesting/assigning resources.
b. Design/Build System Test involves identifying Test Cycles, Test Cases, Entrance & Exit
Criteria, Expected Results, etc. In general, test conditions/expected results will be identified
by the Test Team in conjunction with the Project Business Analyst or Business Expert. The
Test Team will then identify Test Cases and the Data required. The Test conditions are
derived from the Business Design and the Transaction Requirements Documents
c. Design/Build Test Procedures includes setting up procedures such as Error Management
systems and Status reporting, and setting up the data tables for the Automated Testing Tool.
d. Build Test Environment includes requesting/building hardware, software and data set-ups.
e. Execute Project Integration Test - See Section 3 - Test Phases & Cycles
f. Execute Operations Acceptance Test - See Section 3 - Test Phases & Cycles
g. Signoff - Signoff happens when all pre-defined exit criteria have been achieved. See Section
SQA will not deal directly with the business design regarding any design / functional issues /
queries.
The development team is the supplier to SQA - if design / functional issues arise they should be
resolved by the development team and its suppliers.
2.3. Testing Scope
Outlined below are the main test types that will be performed for this release. All system test
plans and conditions will be developed from the functional specification and the requirements
catalogue.
2.3.1. Functional Testing
The objective of this test is to ensure that each element of the application meets the functional
requirements of the business as outlined in the :
• Requirements Catalogue
• Business Design Specification
• Year 2000 Development Standards
• Other functional documents produced during the course of the project i.e. resolution to
issues/change requests/feedback.
This stage will also include Validation Testing - which is intensive testing of the new Front end
fields and screens. Windows GUI Standards; valid, invalid and limit data input; screen & field
look and appearance, and overall consistency with the rest of the application.
The third stage includes Specific Functional testing - these are low-level tests which aim to test
the individual processes and data flows.
2.3.2. Integration Testing
This test proves that all areas of the system interface with each other correctly and that there are
no gaps in the data flow. Final Integration Test proves that system works as integrated unit when
all the fixes are complete.
2.3.3. Business (User) Acceptance Test
This test, which is planned and executed by the Business Representative(s), ensures that the
system operates in the manner expected, and any supporting material such as procedures, forms
etc. are accurate and suitable for the purpose intended. It is high level testing, ensuring that there
are no gaps in functionality.
2.3.4. Performance Testing
These tests ensure that the system provides acceptable response times (which should not exceed
4 seconds).
2.3.5. Regression Testing
A Regression test will be performed after the release of each Phase to ensure that -
• There is no impact on previously released software, and
• to ensure that there is an increase in the functionality and stability of the software.
The regression testing will be automated using the automated testing tool.
2.3.6. Bash & Multi-User Testing
Multi-user testing will attempt to prove that it is possible for an acceptable number of users to
work with the system at the same time. The object of Bash testing is an ad-hoc attempt to break
2.3.7. Technical Testing
Technical Testing will be the responsibility of the Development Team.
2.3.8. Operations Acceptance Testing (OAT)
This phase of testing is to be performed by the Systems Installation and Support group, prior to
implementing the system in a live site. The SIS team will define their own testing criteria, and
carry out the tests.
2.4. System Test Entrance/Exit Criteria
2.4.1. Entrance Criteria
The Entrance Criteria specified by the system test controller, should be fulfilled before System
Test can commence. In the event, that any criterion has not been achieved, the System Test may
commence if Business Team and Test Controller are in full agreement that the risk is
manageable.
• All developed code must be unit tested. Unit and Link Testing must be completed and
signed off by development team.
• System Test plans must be signed off by Business Analyst and Test Controller.
• All human resources must be assigned and in place.
• All test hardware and environments must be in place, and free for System test use.
• The Acceptance Tests must be completed, with a pass rate of not less than 80%.
Acceptance Tests:
25 test cases will be performed for the acceptance tests. To achieve the acceptance criteria 20 of
the 25 cases should be completed successfully - i.e. a pass rate of 80% must be achieved before
the software will be accepted for System Test proper to start. This means that any errors found
during acceptance testing should not prevent the completion of 80% of the acceptance test
Note: These tests are not intended to perform in depth testing of the software.
[For details of the acceptance tests to be performed see
X:\Testing\Phase_1\Testcond\Criteria.doc]
Resumption Criteria
In the event that system testing is suspended resumption criteria will be specified and testing will
not re-commence until the software reaches these criteria.
2.4.2. Exit Criteria
The Exit Criteria detailed below must be achieved before the Phase 1 software can be
recommended for promotion to Operations Acceptance status. Furthermore, I recommend that
there be a minimum 2 days effort Final Integration testing AFTER the final fix/change has been
retested. [See section 9.3]
• All High Priority errors from System Test must be fixed and tested
• If any medium or low-priority errors are outstanding - the implementation risk must be
signed off as acceptable by Business Analyst and Business Expert
• Project Integration Test must be signed off by Test Controller and Business Analyst.
• Business Acceptance Test must be signed off by Business Expert.
3. TEST PHASES AND CYCLES
There will be two main stages of testing for the new application during System Test :-
• System Testing
• Operations Acceptance Testing
3.1. System Testing Cycles
The main thrust of the approach is to intensively test the front end in the first two releases, thus
raising approximately 80% of errors in this period. With the majority of these errors fixed,
standard and/or frequently used actions will be tested to prove individual elements and total
system processing in Release v0.3. Regression testing of outstanding errors will be performed on
an ongoing basis.
When all errors (which potentially impact overall processing) are fixed, an additional set of test
cases are processed in Release v0.4 to ensure the system works in an integrated manner. It is
intended that Release v0.4 be the final proving of the system as a single application. There
should be no A or B class errors outstanding prior to the start of Release v0.4 testing.
Test Cases by Release version:
Testing by Phase
Acceptance 1
Release v0.1 Functional 1
Regression 1
Release v0.3 Performance 1
Bash & Multi-User Testing
Technical 1
Release v0.4 Regression 1
Installation Test
Contingency Per Bug Fix Test Only
3.1.2. Automated Testing
Automated testing tools will be used in the test environment for functional and regression
testing. The main focus of the automated testing will be the regression testing of the previously
delivered functionality - i.e. when development version 0.2 of the software is delivered the
majority of the regression testing of the functionality delivered in development version 0.1 will
be automated. It is estimated that the full benefit of the automated testing will only occur when
the tests have been executed three or more times.
3.2. Software Delivery
During System Test the release of new versions of the software will be co-ordinated between the
Development Team leader and the System Test Controller. However, unless it concerns a fix to a
very serious error, new versions should only be released when a agreed targets have been reached
(i.e. the next version contains fixes to X or more numbers of bugs).
Release Schedule:
Functionality to v0.1 v0.2 v0.3 v0.4 v1.0
be Delivered * 1st May 17th May 31st May 18th June 29th June
1. Function A
2. Process B No New Bug Fix
3. Euro Reqs' Functionality contingency
4. Y2K Reqs. to be release
5. Inter Office Trans delivered only.
6. International Trans. in this
7. Other. release.
* (per functional spec, by priority)
It is intended that 80% of the functionality will have been tested in full prior to the Phase 3
All the functionality must be present in the Phase 3 Release.
No previously undelivered functionality will be accepted for testing after Phase 3.
There will be several formal review points before and during system test, including the review of
this document. This is a vital element in achieving a quality product.
1. Design Documentation - Requirements Specification & Functional Specification
2. System Test Plan
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3. Unit Test Plans & Test Conditions
4. Unit Test Results
6. System Test Progress/Results
8. Integration Test Results
9. Pilot Implementation Review
10. Project Review
The diagram above outlines the Test Approach. Boxes 1 - 6 show the major review stages prior
to Test execution. Boxes 7 - 10 show the phases planned for & after test execution.
While the above diagram concentrates on the testing aspect of SQA's role, there is an ongoing
role also, in ensuring the quality of the major deliverables throughout the lifecycle of the project.
SQA's role will be to ensure that all Quality Inspections occur for all the agreed deliverables and
that follow up actions and initiatives are pursued.
3.3.2. Progress/Results Monitoring
• Acceptance Test 1 Results
• Test Results - Release v0.1
• Performance Test 1 Results
• Regression 1 & 2 Results
• Technical Test Results
5.1. Human
Resource Type Resource Title No. Date Req'd Who Status
Project Business Analyst 1 - A.N. Assigned
Mgmt/Functional Other
Testing Test Controller 1 - A. Smith Assigned
Testers 4 1st May To Be Assigned
Test Support Team Support Programmers 4 15th May To be Assigned
Technical Support 1 1st May To be Assigned
WAN Support 1 25th May To be Assigned
Technical - External CIS Support 1 25th May To be Assigned
Bookkeeping Support 1 15th May To be Assigned
External Liaison 1 25th May C. Jones Assigned
Business Business Expert/ 1 1st May To be Assigned
5.2. Hardware
One seperate, controlled system will be required for the initial phase
of testing, setup as per one standard, complete office environment.
In order to maintain the integrity of the test environment his network
will not be accessible to anybody outside this project. The printers are
also exclusively for use by the test network.
Hardware components required
• 1 Network Controller
• 6 Networked PC's (See below)
• 1 DAP Workstation
• 1 Motorola 6520
• 1 Alpha AXP Server
• 1 Batch Waste Printer
• 1 HP LaserJet 4v Printer
PC Specifications
The 6 PC's required for the test environment will include the following:
1 x P100, 1Gb HD, 16Mb RAM [Current Minimum Specification]
3 x P166, 1.5Gb HD, 32Mb RAM [Current Standard Specification]
1 x P333, 2.5Gb HD, 64Mb RAM [Current Maximum Specification]
These specifications are the various specifications currently in use in different branches.
1 x Pentium running Windows NT is also required as the Test center for controlling and
executing the automated testing.
5.3. Software
Test IMS environments
Test IMS region X will be required for System Testing. Additional or amended
data will be populated where required.
Test Environment Software
System Test will be run on the following Software Versions :-
Custom Destop Vers.97.0.1
Visual Basic 5 Runtime Files
MS Office 97
Error Measurement System
This system test will use a bespoke MS Access database Error Management system.
A new database will be implemented for the sole use of this project.
[See Chapter x ]
6. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
6.1. Management Team
Project Leader - B. Ruthlenn
Ensure Phase 1 is delivered to schedule, budget & quality
Ensure Exit Criteria are achieved prior to System Test Signoff
Regularly review Testing progress with Test Controller.
Liaise with external Groups e.g. New Systems
Raise and manage issues/risks relating to project or outside Test Teams control.
Review & sign off Test approach, plans and schedule.
SQA Project Leader - C. Nicely
Regularly review Testing progress
Manage issues/risks relating to System Test Team
Provide resources necessary for completing system test.
6.2. Testing Team
Test Planner / Controller - D. Everyman
Produce High Level and Detailed Test Conditions
Produce Expected Results
Report progress at regular status reporting meetings
Co-ordinate review & signoff of Test Conditions
Manage individual test cycles & resolve tester queries/problems.
Ensure test systems outages/problems are reported immediately and followed up.
Ensure Entrance criteria are achieved prior to System Test start.
Ensure Exit criteria are achieved prior to System Test signoff.
Identify Test Data
Execute Test Conditions and Markoff results
Raise Software Error Reports
Administer Error Measurement System
6.3. Business Team
Business Analyst - E. Showman
Review high level / detailed test plans for System Test
Define Procedures
Resolve design issues
Resolve Business issues
Take part in daily test Error Review Team meetings
Business Representative - ?? (To be Assigned)
Execute User Acceptance Testing
Define Test Conditions/Expected Results for Business Acceptance Test
Resolve user issues
6.4. Testing Support Team
Support Programmers
Take part in daily Error Review Team meetings
Co-ordinate/provide support for system test.
Resolve errors
Re-release test software after amendments
Support Systems Testers
6.5. External Support Team
CIS Support
Provide CIS support, if required.
Resolve CIS queries, if required.
IMS Support
Provide System Test Support
Support IMS Regions
Resolve Spooling Issues (if necessary)
Bookkeeping Integration & Compliance (if necessary)
Resolve queries arising from remote backup
Bookkeeping Support
Provide Bookkeeping Technical support, if required.
Resolve queries, if required.
Provide support for hardware environment
Provide support for Test software
Promote Software to system test environment
Provide and support Test Databases
7. Error Management & Configuration Management
During System Test, errors will be recorded as they are detected on Error Report forms. These
forms will be input on the Error Management System each evening with status "Error Raised"
or "Query Raised". The Error Review Team will meet each morning (10am, Conference Room)
to review and prioritise DN's raised the previous day, and assign them or drop them as
appropriate. This team will consist of the following representatives:-
• A. Boring - Development Team Leader
• B. Curie - Business Analyst
• C. Durine - Test Controller
• D. Ewards - Business Representative
Errors, which are agreed as valid, will be categorised as follows by the Error Review Team :-
• Category A - Serious errors that prevent System test of a particular function continuing
or serious data type error
• Category B - Serious or missing data related errors that will not prevent implementation.
• Category C - Minor errors that do not prevent or hinder functionality.
Category A errors should be turned around by Bug Fix Team in 48 hours (this is turn around
from time raised at Error Review Team meeting to time fix is released to System Test
environment). In the event of an A error that prevents System Test continuing, the turnaround
should be within 4 hours.
Category B errors should be turned around in 1 day; while
Category C errors should be turned around in 3 days.
However, the release of newer versions of the software will be co-ordinated with the Test
Controller - new versions should only be released when agreed, and where there is a definite
benefit (i.e. contains fixes to X or more numbers of bugs).
8. STATUS REPORTING
8.1. Status Reporting
Test preparation and Testing progress will be formally reported during a weekly Status Meeting.
The attendees at this meeting are :-
• Byron Ruthlenn - Project Manager
• Dion Ryan- Business Design Team
• Pat Smith - Development Team Leader
A status report will be prepared by the Test Controller to facilitate this meeting. This report will
contain the following information :-
1. Current Status v. Plan (Ahead/Behind/On Schedule)
2. Progress of tasks planned for previous week
3. Tasks planned for next week including tasks carried from previous week
4. Error Statistics from Error Measurement system
5. Issues/Risks
6. AOB.
9. Issues, Risks and Assumptions
9.1. Issues/Risks
1. No further changes or inclusions will be considered for inclusion in this release except (1)
where there is the express permission and agreement of the Business Analyst and the System Test
Controller; (2) Where the changes/inclusions will not require significant effort on behalf of the
test team and will not adversely affect the test schedule. This is a potentially serious issue, as any
major changes to design will entail additional time to re-plan testing and to create or amend test
Resp : Byron Ruthlenn
Final list of inclusions to be Signed off.
2. The design of the software must be final, and design documentation must be complete,
informative and signed off by all parties prior to System Test proper commences.
Resp : D.A. Stone
3. A weakness in the 'phased delivery' approach is that the the high degree of interdependency in
the code means that the smallest changes can have serious effects to areas of the application
which apparently have not been changed. The assumption of the test team is that previously
delivered and tested functionality will only require regression testing to verify that it 'still' works.
I.e. testing will not be intended to discover new errors. Because of this I recommend that there be
a minimum 2 days regression testing AFTER the final fix/change has been retested. This
however, imposes a fixed time constraint on the completion of system testing which requires the
agreement of the Project Leader.
4. Automated Testing
The majority of the Regression testing will be performed using the automated test tool. However,
due to the workload required to implement (and debug) the test tool fully it is likely that the
return will only be maximised after the 3rd time running the regression test suite for each release.
The other major uses of the test tool are for (1) Load Testing, (2) Multi-User Testing, and (3)
Repetitive data entry.
Resp : Test Controller
9.2. Assumptions
• Software will be delivered on time.
• Software is of the required quality.
• The software will not be impacted by impending Y2K compliance changes to the external
software infrastructure - i.e. any external software changes will have to be compatible
with this application.
• All "Show-Stopper" bugs receive immediate attention from the development team.
• All bugs found in a version of the software will be fixed and unit tested by the
development team before the next version is released.
• Functionality is delivered to schedule.
• Required resources available.
• All service agreements will be met.
• The automated test tool will function & interface correctly with the software.
• All documentation will be up to date and delivered to the system test team.
• Functional and technical specifications will be signed off by the business.
• The Intranet will be fully functional prior to project commencement.
10. Formal Signoff
This document must be formally approved before System Test can commence. The following
people will be required to sign off :-
Group Signatures:
Project Manager Byron Ruthlenn
SQA Colm Jones
Testing Team Dion Hais
Development Team Erwin Smith
11.1. Purpose of Error Review Team.
Ensure maximum efficiency of the development and system testing teams for the release of the
new office software through close co-operation of all involved parties.
This will be achieved through daily meetings whose function will be to
• Agree status of each raised Error
• Prioritisation of valid Error's
• Ensure that enough documentation is available with Error's.
• Agree content and timescale for software releases into System test.
• Ensure one agreed source of Error reporting information.
• Identify any issues which may affect the performance of system testing.
11.2. Error Review Team Meeting Agenda.
• Review any actions from last meeting.
Classify and prioritise each Error.
• Review Error's raised for Duplicates etc.
• Agree priority of each Error
• Determine adequacy of documentation associated with raised Error's.
• Agree release content and timescale.
• Review of assigned actions from meeting.
• AOB
11.3. Classification of Bugs
1. An "A" bug is a either a showstopper or of such importance as to radically affect the
functionality of the system i.e. :
- Examples of showstoppers
- If, because of a consistent crash during processing of a particular type of application, a
user could not complete that type of
- Incorrect data is passed to legacy system resulting in corruption or system crashes
- Example of severally affected functionality
- Calculation of repayment term/amount are incorrect
- Incorrect credit agreements produced
2. Bugs would be classified as "B" where :
- a less important element of functionality is affected
- Example : a value is not defaulting correctly and it is necessary to input the correct
- data is affected which does not have a major impact
- Example : where, for instance, some element of client capture was not propagated to the
- there is an alternative method of completing a particular process
- Example : a problem might occur reading all the details of a credit - this change can be
manually input.
3. "C" type bugs are mainly cosmetic bugs i.e. :
- incorrect / no helptext on screens
- drop down lists repeat an option
11.4. Procedure for maintenance of Error Management system.
1. The Test Controller will refer any major error/anomaly to either Devopment Team Leader or
designated representative on the development team before raising a formal error record. This
has several advantages :-
- it prevents the testers trying to proceed beyond 'showstoppers'
- it puts the developer on immediate notice of the problem
- it allows the developer to put on any traces that might be necessary to track down the error.
2. All bugs raised will be on the correct Error form, and contain all relevant data.
3. These errors will be logged on the day they occur with a status of 'RAISED'
4. There will be a daily 'System Test Support Group' meeting to discuss, prioritise and agree all
logged errors.
During this meeting some errors may be dropped, identified as duplicates, passed to
programmer, etc.
5. The Error Log will be updated with the status of all errors after this meeting. e.g. with pgmr,
dropped, duplicate.
6. Once errors have been fixed and 'rebundelled' for a release the paper forms must be passed to
the Test Controller and he will change their status to 'Fixed to be retested'
7. Once the error has been retested and proven to be corrected the status will be changed to
'Closed'
8. Regular status reports will be produced from the Error system, for use in the Error Review
Team meetings.
11.5. Overnight Processing - Checking Accounting & Audit & CIS
Test Requirement Check Items Level of
When spooling complete the Summary report should be 1. Legacy Txs on 1. Checking
checked against : Report at
1. Similar Legacy Transactions V field level
2. Test Input forms Office Transactions
on 2. Checking
Report at
2. Summary report
Applic input forms
Accounting : after open/amend the amendment report should 1. Amendment 1. Satisfy as
be checked: report to
1. For rejected open/amend instructions reasons for
2. Detail should correspond to input Applic Forms 2. Amendment rejection
V 2. Checking
Test input forms at
Print off Account and Customer records and check field detail Bookkeeping - Input Checking at
against applic input forms/branch summary report tx's field level
Test Input
forms/Amend rpt
11.7. SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE MEASURES
(i) DATES.
- Start date of SQA involvement.
(ii) EFFORT.
- No. of SQA Man Days Test Planning
- No. of SQA Man Days Reviewing Test Plans
- No. of SQA Man Days Executing Tests
(iii) VOLUME.
- No. of Tests Identified
(iv) QUALITY.
- No. of Tests Passed First Time
- Percentage of Tests Passed First Time
- No. of Error's Raised During Regression Testing
- No. of Error's Generated as a Result of Incorrect Fixes
- No. of Error's Raised by Category (A/B/C)
- No. of Error's Raised by Reason Code
- No. of Error's Raised by High Level Business Function
(v) TURNAROUND.
- Average Error Turnaround Time
• 12. CONTROL DOCUMENTATION
12.1. Online Error Input Form
12.2. Check-Off Control Documentation
12.3. Verification/Checkoff & Output Testing
12.4. Online Non Fixed Error Report
12.5. Errors Assigned to Development Team
12.6. SQA Lines of Communication
12.7. Error Process Paths
12.8. System Test Support
12.9. Error Status Flow
Geschäftsprozess
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FremantleMedia International Sells Doc ‘The Coronation’ Into 70 Territories – Mip TV
April 8, 2018 8:21am
The Queen is heading around the world after FremantleMedia International sold documentary The Coronation into 70 territories.
The distributor revealed that it closed agreements on the Atlantic Productions doc, which aired on BBC One in the UK and Smithsonian Channel in the U.S. at Mip TV.
The Coronation has been picked up by broadcasters including CBC and Tele-Quebec (Canada), Prime (New Zealand), NatGeo (Latin America), France Television (France), DR (Denmark), Telefonica (Spain), Sky (Italy), NHK (Japan), BBC Persian (Middle East, Tajikistan & Afghanistan), RTBF (Belgium), Česká TV (Czech Republic), ERT (Greece), LTV1 (Latvia), Dutch public broadcaster EO (The Netherlands), NRK (Norway), Channel 1 (Russia), RTVS (Slovakia), NTV (Turkey) and TVB (Hong Kong).
Reed Midem To Separate Mip TV & Mipcom To Placate Hollywood Studios & International Distributors
The film marks the 65th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen’s Coronation and, for the first time on camera, The Queen shares memories of the ceremony, as well as that of her father, King George VI, in 1937. The doc also reveals the secrets of the jewels, including how they were hidden in a biscuit tin under Windsor Castle during World War Two. The Crown Jewels, which form part of the Royal Collection, consist of 140 items and contain 23,000 precious stones.
Jens Richter, CEO, FremantleMedia International said, “The Coronation is a truly special film. It is not only a fascinating insight into the history of the Crown Jewels and the Coronation ceremony, it has the ultimate commentary from Her Majesty The Queen who recalls this momentous event first-hand. It is a great privilege to be working with Atlantic Productions to bring The Coronation to a worldwide audience.”
Anthony Geffen, CEO of Atlantic Productions added, “The 1953 Coronation was a defining moment in modern history. To have The Queen tell us, for the first time, her own personal experience of this global event is a piece of television history. We are honoured to have been able to create this lasting historical document and are hugely appreciative of the collaboration with The Royal Household, our broadcast partners and FremantleMedia International.”
FremantleMedia International
Mip-TV
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Chunlee Leung
2006 The Donald Edward Bragg & Diane Sims Bragg Scholarship Recipient
Biography: Chunlee Leung is a proactive and steadfast young woman who longs to become an extraordinary businesswoman. She was born in Guangzhou, China, the daughter of a businessman, grew up in a working-class neighborhood, and now is majoring in Business Economics and minoring in Accounting at UCLA. In order to develop her life outside the financial and psychological shelter that her parents had built for her, Chunlee became determined to study abroad when she was sixteen. Chunlee’s positive attitude and perseverance enable her to fit into any culture. She immediately reached out to her peers after she transferred to UCLA, served in student government, and became involved in several volunteer programs in order to give back to the community. Her enthusiasm for the financial field and her interest in working as a financial advisor has been greatly enhanced as a result of her coursework. Through assisting Professor Sokoloff in the Department of Economics with his research papers, as well as interning at five different corporations, Chunlee has strengthened her analytical skills and built up a solid practical foundation.
Future Plans: Chunlee not only enjoys coming up with business strategies with a group of colleagues, but is also excited to serve clients. Chunlee plans to work as a financial advisor after graduation. Her goal is to focus on strategic aspirations to establish trust relationships with her clients and to serve their financial needs. She ultimately wants to run her own consulting firm.
What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am so glad to be the winner of the Donald Edward Bragg and Diane Sims Bragg Scholarship for the 2006-2007 academic year. The Bragg Scholarship not only satisfies my financial needs, and allows me to concentrate on my academic training and engage in extracurricular activities, but also greatly motivates me to pursue my dream of having my own consulting firm. I strongly believe that success belongs to people who believe in their dreams and work patiently to achieve them. I welcome any challenge that may still lie ahead and embrace them as opportunities to grow and to excel in life.
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Welsh secretary encourages schools to join global education programme
The Welsh secretary is encouraging schools across the country to get involved with the Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning programme
The Welsh secretary, Alun Cairns, visited Heronsbridge School in Bridgend yesterday to encourage more schools in Wales to sign up to the UK aid-backed Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning programme, which launched in England in September.
The programme aims to connect more than three million primary and secondary school pupils in the UK with schools in countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It will also train 60,000 teachers and school leaders in the UK and developing countries to equip pupils with the knowledge and skills to live and work in a global economy.
Cairns said: “The UK Government Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning programme is a valuable way for children here in Wales to gain a broader view of the world at an early age, learning more about the issues affecting countries in all corners of the globe. It is also an opportunity for schools around the world to benefit from the support and knowledge of British teachers.
“I urge primary schools and secondary schools across Wales to sign up to take part in such a meaningful scheme operating in a vast global network.”
Research has shown that ‘school linking’ can increase the quality of teaching and learning in the schools involved, improving both pupil engagement and teacher motivation.
International development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, added: “The Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning programme is a win for the UK and a win for the developing world.
“The programme will build deep and meaningful partnerships between schools and communities in the UK and countries all over the world.
“I have already heard heart-warming stories of how children taking part have come to realise just how much they have in common, and how much they have learned from each other, building lasting friendships.”
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Director of British Council Wales, Jenny Scott, commented: “Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning provides young people with an opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to thrive in an increasingly global society. The partnership between Heronsbridge School and schools in Africa shows the huge impact these connections can have on pupils, teachers and the local community. We hope schools across Wales will sign up to take part.”
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Marlyne Barrett
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Sharon Goodwin, "Chicago Med"
S. Epatha Merkerson stars as Sharon Goodwin, the venerable head of Chicago Med who, despite bottom-line pressures from the bureaucrats above, manages to advocate for the doctors in order to provide the best care at the hospital, on NBC’s drama “Chicago Med.”
Merkerson is an accomplished actress who has won critical acclaim for her work in theater, television and film. She is best known for her 17-season run as Lt. Anita Van Buren on NBC’s “Law & Order” where she won three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a drama.
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Current: IDC Market Glance: Collaborative Innovation, 1Q19
TECH SUPPLIER Feb 2019 - Market Presentation - Doc # US44796719
IDC Market Glance: Collaborative Innovation, 1Q19
By: Jeffrey Hojlo Program Director, Product Innovation Strategies
This IDC Market Glance provides a glance at the collaborative innovation market landscape. As innovation is a team sport that requires a cross-discipline team (internal and external) working across multiple business processes and systems, the "collaborative innovation" market encompasses a wide range of technology and service providers. Innovation does not mean only ideation, design, and new products and services; innovation takes place in design, R&D, and engineering certainly but also in manufacturing, supply chain, sales, marketing, and services. There are multiple tools and platforms that need to be in place to enable innovation to happen across an organization, from ideation, design, and development to manufacturing, delivery, and optimization of products and services. With that as a backdrop, our definition of collaborative innovation consists of the following segments:
Early-stage development, including ideation, product planning, product portfolio management (PPM), and digital innovation marketplaces — a new segment that is evolving rapidly as manufacturers begin to take a service-oriented approach to collaborative innovation
Design and virtualization, including virtual design, simulation, and formulation; software development; and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)
Product innovation platforms, including those from PLM and ERP providers
Service providers, which provide design thinking and strategic consulting, as well as R&D and engineering services
Commercialization, including product information management (PIM) and team collaboration web platforms
Social communities, including social media, crowdfunding, and crowdsourcing
In IDC's 2017 Product and Service Innovation Survey, manufacturers were asked what their business priorities would be in the next three to four years. The top 3 answers are improving sales and revenue generation, expanding to new markets, and improving the speed and success rate of product innovation. This will be challenging to achieve; however, there are multiple tools, technologies, and platforms available that can help manufacturers expand the scope of innovation and achieve these goals, as outlined in this market snapshot on collaborative innovation.
IDC Manufacturing Insights: Worldwide Product Innovation Strategies
Bamboo Rose LLC, Atos S.A., Patexia Inc., Tech Mahindra Limited, ESI Group SA, TIBCO Software Inc., Odoo SA, Planview, Inc., GitLab B.V., Google Inc., Inspirage LLC, inRiver AB, Mentor Graphics Corporation, Atlassian Pty Ltd., Workpoint LLC, Geometric Limited, Microsoft Corporation, HYPE Softwaretechnik GmbH, PropelPLM, Inc., Altium Ltd., Sina Corporation, Informatica Corporation, Radius Innovation & Development, Facebook, Inc., DXC Technology Co., GoFundMe Inc., LinkedIn Corporation, IdeaWake, Sopheon PLC, Plex GmbH, SAP SE, Skype Inc., Cadence Design Systems, Inc., Innosight Holdings LLC, IFS AB, HeroX, Aras Corp., HCL, HP Inc., ON24 Inc., Twitter, Inc., Imaginatik plc, GIT Holdings, IDEO LP, Selerant, Liaison Technologies Inc., Indiegogo Inc., Dassault Systemes SE, YouTube Inc., Lectra SA, Adobe Systems Inc., frog design Inc., MSC.Software Corp., Luminary Labs LLC, IBM, Arena Solutions, Inc., ProdPad, Serena Software, Inc., Strategyn, LLC, Epicor Software Corporation, Qmarkets, Synopsys, Inc., Wipro Limited, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, Common Pool, Agilo Software, GmbH, Hexagon AB, Infor, Inc., IQMS, NetSuite Inc., Linden Research Inc, LeverX Int., OpenText Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Accenture plc, InnovationLabs LLC, WhatsApp Inc., OVO ID, ANSYS Inc., Tencent Holdings Limited, Kalypso LP, Cisco Systems, Inc., Stack Exchange, Inc., PTC, Inc., NEO PLM, INC., Crowd Supply Inc., Infosys Limited, Deloitte LLP, Tongal Inc., GitHub Inc., Kickstarter, Inc., JetBrains s.r.o., Salesforce.com, Inc., Slack Technologies, Inc., Patreon, Inc., Riversand Technologies, Inc., IDEO Inc., Capgemini Services SAS, Viima Solutions Oy, Centric Software, Inc., Zuken Inc., WeChat, Diota, Stibo A/S, Gerber Technology LLC, IdeaConnection Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Limited, InnoCentive, Inc., Kaggle, Inc., Aha! Labs Inc., ProductPlan LLC, Altair Engineering Inc., Appirio Inc., Baidu, Inc., L&T Technology Services Ltd., Siemens AG, Autodesk, Inc., Brightidea, Inc., QAD Inc., Trello Inc.
Augmented and virtual reality, Collaborative applications, Engineering applications, Enterprise resource management applications, IT consulting services, Project and portfolio management, Social networking
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The puffer jackets is rarely off-the-menu right now, but just as it looked set to become a slightly stagnant market the off-duty look is entering new realms as next season it becomes a viable dressed-up option. Whether it's cropped and metallic, wrapped and tonal or mid-lenth and cinched, freezing temperatures will pose no problem on nights out next winter and we already can't wait.
After working for renowned fashion house Nino Cerruti, he branched out on his own, delivering his first women’s wear collection in 1974. Armani’s designs were always influenced by menswear, and his immaculate tailoring and cutting gave his pieces a timeless air. He is famous for his deconstructed jackets, which feature a softer shoulder and a longer line.
Very interesting list but I am surprised that Paul Poriet is not on this list. He revolutionized and created the modern fashion industry. Although in the end he could not survive in the industry he created his impact is huge. He was the first in many areas including freeing woman from corsets, using live models, creating a signature perfume, making an entire lifestyle brand, and modern marketing.
Experiment with elements of design like shape, form, silhouette, proportion, texture, pattern and colour. In fashion design process the term silhouette refers to express the overall shape and volume of the design. Silhouette is one of the most important design considerations and it is easy to overlook when working on paper in a two-dimensional context. Designer gives the perfect silhouette from the front side and from the back side or side view. It is the meaningful relationship between garment and body like A-line, I-line, V-line, two tiered silhouette etc.
London has long been the capital of the United Kingdom fashion industry and has a wide range of foreign designs which have integrated with modern British styles. Typical, British design is smart but innovative yet recently has become more and more unconventional, fusing traditional styles with modern techniques. Vintage styles play an important role in the British fashion and styling industry. Stylists regularly 'mix and match' the old with the new, which gives British style that unique, bohemian aesthetic that many of the other fashion capitals try to imitate. Irish fashion (both design and styling) is also heavily influenced by fashion trends from Britain.
Top-handled and either cutesy and retro or super-sleek in plain leathers, the most influential bag trend of the season will most definitely be anything that feels extra-ladylike and old-fashioned. Although jumbo totes and teeny-tiny mini bags could also be seen on the autumn runways, neither is particularly practical, unlike these this breed of elegant styles. "I find when something is vintage that piece has a much longer staying power since the style feels inherently classic, like the frame bag," says Lisa Aiken, Fashion Director at Moda Operandi. Roomy enough to fit your essentials into, classic enough to last an eternity and offered in enough variations to girls with multiple style personalities sated indeed.
Everyone knows this guy, and I bet you do, too. He’s one of the international fashion icons. Yves Saint Laurent became popular as a designer who re-designed menswear into feminine, beautiful garments for women. His name is also closely associated with the phenomenon of ‘ready-to-wear’ fashion clothing, ‘power suits’ for women and ‘smoking jackets’ for men.
Rei Kawakubo went to university and studied art and literature, like a lot of bright girls do. But then she taught herself how to design, set up shop, and soon started to change the fashion world. In 1973, she created her own company, Comme des Garçons Co. Ltd in Tokyo and opened up her first boutique store in Tokyo in 1975. Starting with women’s clothes, Kawakubo added a men’s line in 1978. Comme des Garçons specializes in anti-fashion, austere, sometimes deconstructed garments.
Christian Louboutin was born in France in 1963. He was expelled from school at age 16 and started working for the brilliant shoe designer Charles Jourdan two years later. In the early 1990s, Louboutin launched his own line of women’s shoes. He added his legendary red soles in 1993. The Louboutin brand is one of our favorites and his wonderful and unique shoes are all we want.
Colour is a basic consideration in the fashion design process. In most cases color is the first element that is noticed about a design and has a huge impact in how that garment is perceived. Different forecasting companies research and develop new and existing colour palettes from many sources like yarn technologists, international fabric fairs, leather suppliers, trimming merchants etc. some fashion magazine give inspirational colour guideline for fashion design.
Mood board is the summary of your design collections. Put everything together like fabric, trims and also express emotions and mood on your mood board in a way that’s not just beautiful but fascinating. Remember that, your mood board is a selling tool for your ideas, so make it exciting! Mainly it’s a design tool that will help you to stay focused and consistent as your line develops. Generally it is prepare for the communication purposes and explaining your vision to others like retailers, media etc.. It is also use for creating a range or a collection.
Jean-Paul Gaultier is a French fashion designer born on 1952 in Val-de-Marne, France. At age 18, he joined the house of Pierre Cardin before moving on to Jacques Esterel and Patou. The appearance of Gaultier’s collection was in 1976, but his own design house was only launched on 1982. Jean Paul Gaultier‘s sensual, irreverent style continually challenges stereotypical femininity, ignoring traditional gender roles by embracing androgyny and the freedom of sexuality. His style is known to challenge standard views of fashion.
In the 80’s, Ralph Lauren really became a force to be reckoned with, as his signature polo shirts for men, with their ubiquitous polo pony and rider, became coveted items for many different demographics. Available in every color of the rainbow, they lined his coffers and allowed him to put more money into his glamorous women’s wear lines; he especially enjoyed producing couture pieces and overseeing glossy runway shows.
There is only one thing you need to create the gothic fashion style: BLACK. Everything about the gothic style is black, from black hair to black lips, black shirts to black boots. Women who wear gothic fashions will typically be seen wearing tight-fitting clothing, intricate black dresses, and tons of chains, spikes, studs, and other exotic accessory styles. The overall look is designed to say ‘morbid’ and ‘mysterious’, and that is easily accomplished with the super dark clothing and accessories from head to toe.
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LV Launches High-tech Luggage Tracker That Works With Its Tambour Horizon Smart Watch
LV collaborates with French wireless services company Sigfox to create luxury high-tech tracker.
Taking a dip in technology, Louis Vuitton has announced the launch of their luxury luggage tracker. Priced £235, the Echo is the perfect tech for those who frequently travel with expensive luggage.
The low-energy device has been designed with a light sensor that will detect your bags’ location via a smartphone app or even LV’s Tambour Horizon watch. Bragging up to six months of battery power, the Echo luggage tracker is available in black or brown and can be charged using a micro-USB.
The new hi-tech fashionable tracker has been designed in collaboration with French wireless services company Sigfox, who confirmed that the luxury high-tech tracker is compatible with the Louis Vuitton Horizon luggage range, and allows for luggage-tracking in major airports around the world. “As global operations are split into three geographical zones, the use of Monarch unlocks endless applications in logistics and supply chain, the consumer market, and automated maintenance for the shipping, aircraft and railway industries,” Sigfox said.
The tracker device works with Louis Vuitton’s Horizon luggage range
Competing with Samsonite International, the world’s largest travel luggage company, who have also launched an advanced global tracking device, Louis Vuitton’s relatively minimal device is not alone. If the Echo is too much of a big spend for you, then note that you can get a more straightforward luggage tracker on Amazon for around £50.00.
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Lawrence L. Ferree, III
G. Peter Bunn, III
Kirk T. Ridgway
Jessica A.B. White
Brett T. Runyon
Alex S. Gilmore
Mr. Ferree has been a principal shareholder in the firm since 1980. He was licensed to practice law in Kansas and Missouri in 1974. Mr. Ferree completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas (B.S. 1969), and pursued his legal education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (J.D. 1973).
He is a member of the Kansas, Missouri, Johnson County, and Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Associations. He was elected vice president (1998-1999), president-elect (1999-2000) and president (2000-2001) of the Johnson County Bar Association.
From 1999 to 2010 he served as a board member of the Johnson County Bar Foundation. He served as President of the Johnson County Bar Association Property Law Committee from 2011 to 2016.
Judges and other attorneys have designated him to be AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated™ by Martindale-Hubbell®. This means that he has been recognized for having the “highest level of professional excellence” for both legal ability and ethical standards.
Mr. Ferree’s practice is primarily focused on representation of small business clients in general business, transactions, real estate and litigation. He has also represented the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office for over thirty years and defends deputies in litigation and counsels the Sheriff in personnel, contract, detention and numerous other law enforcement matters. He has also served as counsel for numerous homes, townhomes and condominium associations.
Mr. Ferree lives with his wife in Leawood. They have two adult children. They enjoy travel, walking the dog, tennis, golf, reading and socializing with a wide circle of friends and family.
Kansas Bar Association
Johnson County Bar Association
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
United States District Courts for Kansas and Western District of Missouri
United States Court of Appeals for Tenth and Eighth Circuits
Board of Directors of Homes Associations
Governing Board of Church
Habitat for Humanity Organizer & Volunteer
College Fraternity Foundation Board
AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated™ by Martindale-Hubbell®
Johnson County Bar Association President 2000-2001
Johnson County Bar Association Property Law Committee President 2011-2016
Johnson County Bar Association President’s Award 2005
Johnson County Bar Foundation Board 2000- 2010
Fellow Johnson County Bar Foundation
info@fbr2law.com
The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.
© Ferree, Bunn & Ridgway, Chartered. All rights reserved.
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The Latest: Trump adviser praises late atomic agency chief
VIENNA (AP) — The Latest on reaction to the death of Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (all times local):
President Donald Trump’s national security adviser says the death of U.N. atomic agency chief Yukiya Amano is a great loss for Japan, the United States and many people from around the world.
John Bolton tweeted condolences Monday on behalf of the United States and Trump on Monday after the International Atomic Energy Agency announced the death of director general Amano.
Bolton says he was proud to call Amano his friend and colleague and that he will be “sorely missed.”
Bolton says Amano’s commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and peaceful nuclear energy was unparalleled as he led the IAEA for nearly a decade.
Germany’s foreign minister says Yukiya Amano, the late chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, “made the IAEA stronger.”
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Monday cited the role of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog in monitoring Iran’s compliance with a landmark deal with world powers as an example of Amano’s “biggest-possible dedication, professionalism and independence.”
Germany is one of the countries that participated in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and is now scrambling to salvage it following the withdrawal of the United States.
The IAEA announced Amano’s death at age 72 but did not say when he died or what the cause was.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry is praising Yukiya Amano, the late chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In a statement, it says Amano not only tackled international non-proliferation issues such as North Korea’s nuclear weapons issue and Iran’s nuclear program but also contributed to development with “atoms for peace and development” as a goal.
It said, following the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident, Amano led “international efforts to improve nuclear safety based on the lessons learned from the accident while providing support for Japan.” The agency offered its “deepest condolences” to his family.
The Tokyo Electric Power Co., which ran the nuclear plant in Fukushima, northeastern Japan, where three reactors sank into meltdowns after a tsunami in 2011, also praised the diplomat, saying it “received so much support and guidance on the decommissioning efforts” at the power plant from him.
Jackie Wolcott, the U.S. ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, has expressed her “deepest condolences … upon the sad news” of International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano’s death.
Wolcott on Monday said Amano “was greatly respected as an effective leader, diplomat, and true gentleman by the entire staff of the U.S. Mission and by fellow diplomats and civil servants across the United States government.”
She said in a statement that “much of Mr. Amano’s life was dedicated to international peace, security, and development, not just his decade-long tenure as Director General of the IAEA but also throughout his diplomatic career, which included service in the United States.”
Amano was 72.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister has expressed his condolences over the death of Yukiya Amano, the head of the IAEA which monitored and verified Iran’s compliance with the nuclear related restrictions set by the 2015 nuclear deal.
Seyed Abbas Araghchi has tweeted that he had worked very closely with Amano and has commended his skills and professionalism on the job as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
He said their work together confirmed Iran’s full compliance with Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear accord Iran struck with world powers in 2015 that’s unraveling under pressure from the Trump administration. The U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the accord a year ago and Iran has recently inched past limits of its uranium enrichment set out in the accord.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief has expressed sadness over the death of Yukiya Amano, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general.
Federica Mogherini tweeted Monday that she was saddened by Amano’s death and called him “a man of extraordinary dedication & professionalism, always at the service of the global community in the most impartial way.”
Amano, a former Japanese diplomat, had extensive experience in disarmament and non-proliferation diplomacy, as well as nuclear energy issues, and had been chief of the key agency that regulates nuclear issues worldwide since 2009.
The news of his death comes at a time of increasing concern and escalating tensions about Iran’s nuclear program after the United States left a landmark 2015 deal with world powers that restricted Iran’s nuclear uranium enrichment program.
Mogherini said it had been a “great pleasure and privilege working with him.”
Yukiya Amano, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, has died at 72, the agency announced Monday.
The news of his death comes at a time of increasing concern and escalating tensions about Iran’s nuclear program after the United States left a 2015 deal with world powers that restricted the country’s nuclear uranium enrichment. Amano was heavily involved in the yearslong negotiations that led to the Iran nuclear treaty.
The Secretariat did not give a cause of death for Amano, or say when he died. The IAEA said its flag will be lowered to half-mast.
Defense Government News World News
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18 New sites join UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves
infocus_mab_nordhordland_en.jpg
© UNESCO/Evind Senneseth/Gulen/Nordhordland Biosphere Reserve - Norway
UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme today added 18 new sites in 12 countries to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, which now numbers 701 biosphere reserves in 124 countries around the globe.
The International Co-ordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB-ICC) meeting in Paris from 17 to 21 June approved these additions along with the extension of eight existing biosphere reserves, which in most cases also led to a change in their official names.
The Kingdom of Eswatini joins the MAB Network this year with the inscription of its first site, Lubombo Biosphere Reserve. The inscription of Nordhordland marks Norway’s renewed commitment to the biosphere programme, 22 years after the withdrawal its only other site, Northeast Salvbard Biosphere Reserve.
UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay said, “There is a pressing need to take action for biodiversity, for our shared environmental heritage. After diagnosing the issue at stake, highlighted by the recent report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the vitality of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves gives us cause for hope. Each UNESCO biosphere reserve is an open sky laboratory for sustainable development, for concrete and lasting solutions, for innovation and good practices. They seal a new alliance between the world of science and youth, between humans and the environment.”
UNESCO Biosphere reserves seek to reconcile human activity with the conservation of biodiversity through the sustainable use of natural resources. This reflects UNESCO’s key objective of fostering innovative sustainable development practices and combatting the loss of biodiversity by accompanying communities and Member States in their work to understand, appreciate and safeguard the living environment of our planet.
New reserves are designated every year by the International Co-ordinating Council for the programme, a body with a rotating elected membership of 34 UNESCO Member States. Established by UNESCO in the early 1970s, the Man and the Biosphere Programme is an intergovernmental scientific programme that aims to improve relations between people and their natural environment. It is a pioneering initiative at the origin of the very notion of sustainable development.
Sites designated this year:
Lower Mura Valley Biosphere Reserve (Austria) covers 13,180 hectares along the border with Slovenia and is part of the European Green belt. Surrounded by agricultural land, the Biosphere Reserve is Austria’s second largest alluvial forest on a major river. It is characterized by a high biodiversity of water-bound flora and fauna, including 50 fish species, of which 14 are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species. The creation of the Biosphere Reserve completes the commitment by Austria, along with Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia to protect the multi-river system of the transboundary Mura Drava Danube Biosphere Reserve.
Photo gallery https://en.unesco.org/galleries/lower-mura-valley-biosphere-reserve-austria
Lubombo Biosphere Reserve (Eswatini). The 294,020 hectare site, in the Lubombo Mountain Range, which straddles Mozambique and South Africa, is part of the Maputoland-Phondoland-Albany Biodiversity Hotspot and consists of forest, wetland and savannah ecosystems. Local Flora species include the Lubombo Ironwoods (Androstachys jonsonii), Lubombo Cycads (Encephalartos lebomboensis), the recently discovered Barleria species (Barleria lubombensis) and the Jilobi forest. Twenty of the 88 mammals identified in the area are only to be found only in the Lumomba region. Notable among these mammals are the White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer), Roan Antelope (Hippotragus equines), Tsessebe (Damaliscus lunatus) and the Suni (Nesotragus moschatus zuluensis), as well as threatened species such as the Leopard (Panthera pardus). The biosphere reserve is home to numerous conservation and monitoring projects, as well as commercial enterprises, industry, agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/lubombo-biosphere-reserve-kingdom-eswatini
Saleh-Moyo-Tambora “SAMOTA” Biosphere Reserve (Indonesia), situated between the Rinjani-Lombok and Komodo Island Biosphere Reserves, covers an area of 724,631.52 hectares, comprising five major ecosystems: small islands, a coastal area of mangrove, coastal, lowland and mountain forests, as well as savannah. The Biosphere Reserve is home to 146,000 people of diverse ethnic groups. Its core area plays an important role in conserving the region’s biodiversity while its buffer zone and transition area have agricultural potential for the production of fruit and vegetable, as well as rice, coffee and cacao, and animal husbandry. The beauty of the Tambora Mountains has tourist potential, while the Sumba Island communities attract cultural tourism.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/saleh-moyo-tambora-samota-biosphere-reserve-indonesia
Togean Tojo Una-Una Biosphere Reserve (Indonesia), covers an area of 2,187,632 hectares on an archipelago of 483 islands in Central Sulawesi, at the heart of the Coral Triangle, featuring the highest coral diversity in the world, as well as mangrove forests and small island ecosystems. The Togean Islands, part of the Biosphere Reserve, is host to 363 plant species, including 33 species of mangrove. They also contain animal species including tarsiers (Tarsius spectrum palengensis) and Togean monkeys (Macaca togeanus), as well as Togean babirusa, cuscus, dugong, whale and dolphin. Coral reef fish are abundant, with 596 species inhabiting the Togean Islands National Park. The area is also an important spawning site for turtles and fish. It is home to 149,214 people of great cultural diversity.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/togean-tojo-biosphere-reserve-indonesia
Po Grande Biosphere Reserve (Italy), is named after the Po River, which meanders through the site’s mosaic of ecosystems, among them marginal wetlands and oxbow lakes, fluvial islands, riparian forests, meadows, valleys and agricultural land. It covers an area of 286,600 hectares, and its buffer zone includes small islands, settlements and a marine area. Cultural diversity is very high in the Biosphere Reserve, whose establishment is a welcome addition to two recently created Biosphere Reserves along the Po River, Po Delta (2015) and Collina Po (2016). Connecting the three as ‘Po Grande’ is expected to contribute, notably, to the conservation, development and security of integrated water management in the region.
Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve (Italy). The 71,451 hectare biosphere reserve encompasses three different biogeographic areas: Alpine, Mediterranean and Illyrian, which contributes to its high biodiversity. Its wide-ranging collage of habitats are marked by various degrees of human intervention. It features rocky environments that alternate with forests, high grassland, mowed meadows, pastures, valleys crossed by water courses, and mountains. It is home to a wealth of rare and protected flora and fauna, including bear, lynx, wildcat, chamois, steinbock, deer, marmot, golden eagle, griffon vulture, peregrine falcon. Its forests are predominantly beech (Hacquetio-Fagetum, Dentario-Fagetum, Polysticho-Fagetum) mixed to varying degrees with hornbeam and South European flowering ash (Ostryo-Fagetum) and mugo pine. The biosphere reserve constitutes an important Alpine corridor, notably for large carnivores as well as birds. The area is also a meeting place of the Latin and Slav worlds with millennia of cultural interaction testified by its multitude of dialects, settlement methods, agricultural and artistic practices.
Kobushi Biosphere Reserve (Japan). The 190,603 hectare Biosphere Reserve encompasses most of the Kanto Mountains, including the main Okuchichibu ridge of 20 peaks rising above 2,000 metres. It is a watershed and source for major rivers, notably the Ara, Tama and Fuefuki rivers and Chikuma, or Shinano, River. The Biosphere Reserve features a wealth of geological formations and rock types with fauna that includes almost 40% of Japan’s recorded butterfly species, 24 of which are endangered. Mountains along the ridges, including Mount Kimpu and Mount Mitsumine, have long been objects of worship, entailing a ban on the felling of trees. The buffer zone in Nagano Prefecture is known for the production of highland vegetables and for its prized Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) whose timber was widely exported during the Meiji era. The transition area of Yamanashi Prefecture has traditionally been a centre for the cultivation of grapes, persimmons, peaches and other delicacies collectively described as the “eight rare fruits of Koshu.”
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/kobushi-biosphere-reserve-japan
Gangwon Eco-Peace Biosphere Reserve (Republic of Korea). The 182,815 hectare, largely mountainous, Biosphere Reserve at the watershed of the Taebaek Mountain Range in northern Gangwon Province, borders the southern limit of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to the north and reaches the east coast of the Korean Peninsula to the east. It is home to a wide range of rare and endangered flora and fauna. The buffer and transition areas inhabited by residents also serve as movement routes for rare and endangered animal species; they are thus consistent with a key value of the biosphere reserve programme – the co-existence of humanity and nature. Development plans for the Biosphere Reserve focus on eco-tourism using the ecological, cultural and social resources of the area, as well as the exploration of relics of the Korean War in the area.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/gangwon-eco-peace-biosphere-reserve-republic-korea
Yeoncheon Imjin River Biosphere Reserve (Republic of Korea). Located in the Chugaryeong Tectonic Valley, the Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 58,412 hectares encompassing the entire county of Yeoncheon and the Imjin River basin. Its core area consists of forests and cultural heritage protection zones, with the Imjin River as its centrepiece. The transition area outside the Biosphere Reserve’s core and buffer zone, includes residential settlements and farmlands. Temperate deciduous broad-leaved forests cover 60% of Yeoncheon County. Numerous animals travel to, and inhabit, the area around the river with its many rapids, swamps and wetlands, among them water spiders, red-crowned cranes, eagles, otters and wildcats. The Imjin River, mostly untouched by humans, is home to Korean endemic fish species, such as Acheilognathus gracilis and Tanakia signifier, and mammals, including water deer, otters and leopard cats. It serves as an ecological corridor to the DMZ and bridges inland areas with the ocean.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/yeoncheon-imjin-river-biosphere-reserve-republic-korea
Nordhordland Biosphere Reserve (Norway). Situated in the west of the country, the 669,800 hectare biosphere reserve encompasses both marine and terrestrial areas characterized by fjords and mountains. Salmon populate the fjords, and herring are to be found in coastal areas. Nordhordland Biosphere Reserve is home to a population of 54,000 people who maintain agricultural activities, notably sheep and crop farming, as well as fish farming, though many combine these activities with work in industry and energy generation. The biosphere reserve is developing sustainability in the area, with innovative CO2 capture and storage experimentation and the development of renewable energy to reduce the importance of oil exploitation. The biosphere reserve also aims to reinforce the conservation of several cultural landscapes by promoting tourism and local products. Nordhordland is the only biosphere reserve in Norway, following the withdrawal of Northeast Salvbard Biosphere Reserve in 1997.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/nordhordland-biosphere-reserve-norway
Roztocze Biosphere Reserve (Poland). Located in southeast Poland next to the Ukrainian border, the 297,000 hectare site forms a transboundary Biosphere Reserve with Ukraine’s Roztochya Biosphere Reserve. A scenic region of great natural and cultural value, it is also an important ecological corridor encompassing loess areas, a range of limestone hills covered by forests and ribbon fields, with deep river valleys and deposits of mineral waters and fossil wood. Visited by some 600,000 tourists every year, the site is home to approximately 160,000 residents whose livelihood chiefly depends on agriculture, forestry and tourism. However, unfavourable farming conditions, notably the fragmentation of farms, have stood in the way of modernization and let to a high level of emigration by young people. Development plans for the biosphere reserve seek to reverse this trend and allow the region to draw great benefits from its natural beauty and cultural heritage.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/roztocze-biosphere-reserve-poland
Lake Elton Biosphere Reserve (Russian Federation). The 207,340 hectare Biosphere Reserve bordering Kazakhstan contains a lake in an otherwise semi-arid and arid area whose history of salt mining and intensive agricultural exploitation, has raised issues concerning water availability and water pollution. Close 5,900 people live in 14 rural settlements and herder posts in the Biosphere Reserve, with seasonal variations almost doubling human presence in the area. The lake is important to nomads and their livestock, the only remaining agricultural activity in the Biosphere Reserve, and to numerous mammals and birds, including cranes, some of which belong to threatened species. The Biosphere Reserve aims to improve water management in the context of climate change, and develop ways to render agriculture and livestock-keeping more sustainable. Tourism development is also being planned to address the dual challenges of skilled labourer shortages and unemployment.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/lake-elton-biosphere-reserve-russian-federation
Alto Turia Biosphere Reserve (Spain). The 67,080 hectare Biosphere Reserve encompasses the middle course of the Turia River with the Turia Valley as at its northwest-southeast axis. A Mediterranean biogeographic region, it is characterized by diverse soils and vegetation, as well as hot and dry summers. Predominant arboreal species in the area include pine, oak and juniper. The main fauna found in the area are steppe birds, the Granada hare (Lepus granatensis) and the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). The white-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus) as well as the common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans). Endemic fauna include the Catalan barbel (Barbus haasi) and the Valencia chub (Squalius valentinus). Alto Turia is home to nearly 4,300 inhabitants and some 6,500 temporary residents living in eight municipalities and several isolated population centres. There are plans to develop the trade in local products of recognized quality to drive sustainable development in the territory.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/alto-turia-biosphere-reserve-spain
La Siberia Biosphere Reserve (Spain). Situated in central-western Spain and bordering the Villuercas-Jara-Ibores UNESCO Global Geopark, the 155,717.49 Biosphere Reserve features major freshwater reservoirs along the Guadiana and Zújar rivers in a landscape of large plains and oak forests. Notable rare plant species in La Siberia include Drosera rotundifolia and Pinguicula lusitanica and its fauna includes species in danger of extinction (notably the Iberian lynx, Lynx pardinus, horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, and Rhinolophus serotinum). Emblematic birds found in the area include the Iberian imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti), the golden kite (Milvus milvus), the black vulture (Aegypius monachus) and the black stork (Ciconia nigra). Reptile species include the ocellated lizard (Lacerta lepida), the Mediterranean pond turtle (Mauremys leprosa) and the Lataste’s viper (Vipera latasti). The Biosphere Reserve produces prized organic products including cork, charcoal, firewood and honey, and supports organic livestock, including merino black sheep. Sustainable development plans to boost social and economic activity have been developed to curb emigration, which has led to a 57% decline in the local human population since the 1960s.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/siberia-biosphere-reserve-spain
Valle del Cabriel Biosphere Reserve (Spain). Located in the Cabriel River basin in eastern Spain, the 421,765.93 hectare the Biosphere Reserve is characterized by a diversity of landscapes: mountains, rock formations shaped by the confinement of fluvial channels, agricultural use in alluvial plains, salt marshes and lagoons. Notable flora in the area includes Iberian gypsum vegetation (Gypsophiletalia), karstic calcareous grasslands, Mediterranean forests of endemic black pines, endemic forests of Juniperus spp, and pre-steppe areas of gramineous and annuals. Rich cultural heritage remains the area include Villar del Humo, part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula World Heritage site. Fluvial channels across the Biosphere Reserve serve as ecological corridors connecting the whole territory and enabling the distribution of vegetation and fauna, as well as facilitating the dissemination of ideas and customs. The inhabitants of the Cabriel Valley have adapted to the their environment by employing unique, ancient sustainable practices based on agricultural activity, livestock and water use, which have helped them conserve their specific tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/valle-del-cabriel-biosphere-reserve-spain
Vindelälven-Juhtatdahka Biosphere Reserve (Sweden). Straddling the Arctic Circle, the 1.3 million hectare Biosphere Reserve includes large parts of the Vindelfjällen nature reserve, the largest in northern Europe, and 34% of its total area is protected encompassing three Ramsar sites, a national park and 90 nature reserves. The northern part of the Biosphere Reserve is mountainous, forests cover its central part, while the south is a coastal area. The area is home to two distinct cultural communities, Swedish and Sami and their rich cultural traditions. Activities in Biosphere Reserve include mining, forestry, and reindeer husbandry, which enjoys official protection as a traditional activity of public interest. The Sami Parliament is officially responsible for ensuring that Sami interests are defended in spatial planning, while Samernas Riksförbund (SSR), the National Federation of Swedish Sami people, works more directly to support ‘samebys’ on planning issues. The Sami Parliament has, moreover, drawn up an action plan for Sami livelihoods and culture to deal with climate change.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/vindelalven-juhtatdahka-biosphere-reserve-sweden
Voxnadalen Biosphere Reserve (Sweden). Located in the central part of the country, the 341,533 hectare Biosphere Reserve encompasses the catchment of the River Voxnan. Extensive boreal woodlands cover much of its northwest while open farmland to be found in the more populated southeast. The site is also home to engineering, hydro energy and high tech companies and to 274 nationally endangered specifies of flora and fauna as well as 16 that are internationally threatened. Local authorities have introduced policies prioritizing the preservation of several species including wolves (Canis lupus) and wolverine (Gulo gulo), and their habitats. The site is notable for its Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland, inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2012. Thirteen-thousand people live in the site, which will seek to explore and demonstrate collaborative approaches to sustainable development on a regional scale.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/voxnadalen-biosphere-reserve-sweden
Isle of Wight Biosphere Reserve (United Kingdom). Covering an area of 91,496 hectares, including the 38,000 hectares Isle of Wight proper and marine areas along its 92 km coastline, the Biosphere Reserve is home to 140,000 inhabitants, making it the second most populous island in northern Europe. The Isle of Wight has a strong tradition of environmental action with numerous projects and initiatives promoting environmental education and awareness, increased community engagement, and healthier lifestyles and diets. The island is also developing eco-tourism and working with universities and institutions to foster environmental innovation and attract new investment, and testing new measures for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/isle-wight-biosphere-reserve-united-kingdom
Extensions and name changes
Chile—Archipiélago Juan Fernández Biosphere Reserve (formerly Parque Nacional Archipiélago de Juan Fernandez) Located 670 km from the coast of mainland Chile, the archipelago is home to one third of Chile’s endemic birds with an almost equal level of marine resource endemism of close to 25%. With a population of 926 inhabitants, the Biosphere Reserve’s development is focused on sustainable tourism. Its total surface area is increased from 9,967 hectares to 1,219,558 hectares, including 1,209,182 ha of marine areas.
Chile—Laguna San Rafael y El Guayaneco Biosphere Reserve (formerly Laguna San Rafael). Located in the Valdivian Forest/Chilean Nothofagus biogeographical region, Laguna San Rafael is an area of highly varied topography and great scenic beauty. The extension includes the Continental Patagonian Range with rivers and lakes, the Insular Patagonian Range, the Central Plain and the Patagonian Glaciers. Its total area is increased from 1,742,000 hectares to 5,130,462 hectares.
Ecuador—Galapagos Biosphere Reserve (former Archipiélago de Colón) extension and renaming. With an expanded area of 14,659,887 hectares, the site becomes one of the largest protected marine areas in the world. The Galapagos Islands are known for their exceptional endemic flora and fauna and are featured on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Kenya—Malindi Watamu Arabuko Sokoke Biosphere Reserve (formerly Malindi Watamu Biosphere Reserve). The area of the biosphere reserve increases to 487,278 hecates and now comprises two marine parks and the Arabuko Sokoke Forest. The extension improves the connectivity between various ecosystems, which range from coral reefs to mangrove forest and coastal dry forest. The biosphere reserve is a cetacean migration area and home to six taxa of endemic butterflies.
Republic of Korea—Jeju Island Biosphere Reserve. Extension from 83,094 hectares to 387,194 hectares to improve integrated and effective conservation of biodiversity. Jeju Island is one of the few sites in the world to have a triple designation as a UNESCO biosphere reserve (2002), a World Heritage site (2007, expanded in 2018) and a UNESCO Global Geopark (2010).
Spain—Los Valles de Omaña y Luna Biosphere Reserve. The site is extended to cover a surface area of 81,162 hectares with agriculture, mining (stone and sand quarry) and forest products as the main sources of revenue for its inhabitant.
Spain—Menorca Biosphere Reserve. Its total surface area is extended from 71,219 hectares to 514,485 hectares to contribute to the conservation of the site’s marine species and ecosystems, which were only partially represented in the original biosphere reserve.
Spain—Cuencas Altas de los Ríos Manzanares, Lozoya y Guadarrama Biosphere Reserve (formerly Cuenca Alta del Rio Manzanares), extension and renaming. Its total surface area is increased from 46,778 hectares to 105,654 hectares, to include a transition area, where sustainable economic and human development is fostered. The biosphere reserve is home to 99,200 inhabitants.
More information on UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
More Information on UNESCO’s Commitment to biodiversity
Photo gallery: https://en.unesco.org/galleries/mab2019
B-roll https://en.unesco.org/pressroom/brolls/man-and-the-biosphere
Media contact: Roni Amelan, r.amelan@unesco.org, +33(0)145681650
Science for a Sustainable Future, Geology, Ecosystems and Biodiversity
Photo galleries of the new biosphere reserves
Videos (B-rolls) of the new biosphere reserves
UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme names laureates of Young Scientists and Michel Batisse awards
[18 June 2019]
UNESCO's commitment to biodiversity
Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme
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Two-decade efforts to preserve Complex of Hue Monuments
The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has put many efforts to preserve and restore relics of the UNESCO-recognised Complex of Hue Monuments in Hue city, the former royal capital of Vietnam, over the past two decades.
VNA Sunday, February 18, 2018 15:10
Hue imperial relic site offers free entry during Tet
Monday, February 05, 2018 18:45
Thua Thien-Hue’s tourism enjoys auspicious start
Thursday, February 01, 2018 20:39
Hue Festival to honour city of world heritages
Wednesday, December 20, 2017 09:40
UNESCO world heritage in Vietnam
Thursday, November 23, 2017 17:08
Hue ancient citadel tops tourist destinations in Vietnam
Complex of Hue Monuments (Source: VNA)
Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has put many efforts to preserve and restore relics of the UNESCO-recognised Complex of Hue Monuments in Hue city, the former royal capital of Vietnam, over the past two decades.
Established as the capital of Vietnam in 1802, Hue was the political, cultural and religious centre under the Nguyen Dynasty until 1945. Many of its palaces, temples and pagodas remain almost intact, although some were bombed and ruined in the Anti-American Resistance War.
The province has allocated over 1.46 trillion VND (64.24 million USD) for funding the relic preservation and restoration between 1996 and 2017, including 933 billion VND (41 million USD) for the 2010 – 2017 period, according to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Dung.
The Prime Minister has approved an Adjusted Planning Framework for the Complex of Hue Monuments from 2010-2020 in June 2010, laying grounds for the province’s preservation work, Dung said.
As the result, more than 170 relics have been preserved, repaired and restored so far, including Ngo Mon (Meridian Gate), Dien Thai Hoa (Palace of Supreme Harmony), Hien Lam Cac (Pavilion of Radiant Benevolence from On-High), The Mieu (Complex of the Temple for the Worship of the Nguyen Emperors), Cung Truong Sanh (Truong Sanh Royal Palace), Dan Nam Giao (Esplanade of Sacrifice to the Heaven and Earth), Tomb of King Gia Long and Chua Thien Mu (Celestial Lady Pagoda).
The monuments have been touched with care, guided by the 1972 Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the National Heritage Law and a number of other regulations, in an attempt to avoid rebuilding them completely and ensure their authenticity.
The Hue Monuments Conservation Centre has carried out several studies to learn about ancient brick flooring, wells and history of each monument inside the complex. It has also collected royal decrees of the Nguyen Dynasty, produced publications on royal records and heritages and made archives of Nha Nhac (Royal court music), recognised as UNESCO intangible heritage in 2003.
The centre has been supported by international foundations, institutes and organisations from Japan, the US, France, Germany and Poland, which provided funding for the conservation and training for its staff to improve their capacity.
Japan has provided aid for relic conservation in Hue (the central province of Thua Thien-Hue) since 1990. The first large-scale project with Japanese funding, 100,000 USD, was to restore the Ngo Mon – the main gate to the Hoang Thanh (Imperial City) and a symbol of Hue.
A team of experts from Germany helped restore frescos in An Dinh Palace while those from Poland have supported the province in white ant prevention and restoration of To Mieu Temple Complex.
Thanks to such efforts, more than 2.5 million tourists were lured to the Complex of Hue Monuments in 2016, with half of them being foreigners, rising from only 2,000 in 1996.-VNA
central province of Thua Thien-Hue Vietnamplus Vietnam News Agency Nguyen Dynasty Complex of Hue Monuments former royal capital of Vietnam Hue Monuments Conservation Centre Related stories Thua Thien-Hue
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Chances for a New “Peace of Westphalia”?
Kancho Stoychev, Andrei Raichev
Kancho Stoychev, President of Gallup International Association, Zurich
Andrei Raichev, Director of the Ivan Hadzhiyski Institute of Sociology, Sofia
Resume: The situation which we now observe in the world, as far as the major political players are concerned, will probably continue for an unusually long time. Familiar protagonists-the current leaders-are set to retain their leading roles on the world stage: Putin for another 6 years, Merkel for nearly four more years, Macron for even longer, President Xi as long as he wishes to stay...
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The situation which we now observe in the world, as far as the major political players are concerned, will probably continue for an unusually long time. Familiar protagonists-the current leaders-are set to retain their leading roles on the world stage: Putin for another 6 years, Merkel for nearly four more years, Macron for even longer, President Xi as long as he wishes to stay...
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The situation which we now observe in the world, as far as the major political players are concerned, will probably continue for an unusually long time. Familiar protagonists-the current leaders-are set to retain their leading roles on the world stage: Putin for another 6 years, Merkel for nearly four more years, Macron for even longer, President Xi as long as he wishes to stay, and Erdogan for a long stretch too, while in the U.S. many pundits predict another presidential term for Donald Trump.
The major roles have already been cast, the actors are on the stage, but the plot of the play keeps getting more difficult to fathom. Why? Because the most “logical” prediction?that the world was once again bound to split in two halves (U.S.+Europe Vs. China+Russia)?is losing relevance. The optic of a new Cold War simply does not fit: it neither explains basic facts, nor does it provide adequate forecasts.
In this faulty optic Trump is made to look like a clown, Putin as aggressor, Xi as a lurking threat, while Macron and Merkel appear helplessly fussing over trifles as the ship is sinking; and Erdogan is looming as another danger.
This distorted logic has its origins in events has occurred decades ago?in the questionable notion that American “victory” in the Cold War would inevitably elevate the United States to global leadership (similar to ancient Rome’s elevation after the defeat of Carthage). Accordingly, an entire generation of Western politicians has become convinced that Russia and China are keen on revanche through a new round of confrontations. This logic might have worked properly had the world not entered into a stage of cardinal transformations, becoming more global than even the most ardent proponents of economic globalization could imagine: (1) A novel notion of sovereignty (in the sense of states being recognized by other states, i.e. “sovereignty” not based on power) has emerged and spread globally. In addition, (2) an unprecedented common understanding of nature (i.e. no one now questions the nature of the atom or of DNA) has emerged, combined with (3) consensus that peace is the natural state of mankind; and with (4) the global abandonment of the search for universal or “correct” ideology, religion, doctrine. Instant unlimited access of everyone to information negates not only habitual notions of time and space, but, in a certain sense, reality itself. All these are not merely new phenomena: they contradict the entirety of mankind’s previous experience.
“Heretofore, the technological advance that most altered the course of modern history was the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, which allowed the search for empirical knowledge to supplant liturgical doctrine, and the Age of Reason to gradually supersede the Age of Religion…The Enlightenment sought to submit traditional verities to a liberated, analytic human reason…[Nowadays] …data become regnant… Truth becomes relative. Information threatens to overwhelm wisdom,” as Henry Kissinger pointed out recently /The Atlantic/.
Political Regionalization
The global economy is not accompanied by global political regulations, and this inadequacy has resulted in efforts by national elites to construct regional networks. Macro-regions, based on sociopolitical rather than geographical characteristics, are emerging in the world. That is, regionalization represents the major political result of globalization. This is most evident in the case of Europe, but similar processes can be observed in the Arab World, in South America and even in the Far East. Over the last year and a half, also in the case of the United States, a huge country that by itself constitutes a kind of macro-region. Thus the new strategies adopted by the U.S. represent an attempt to move from the role of a global leader to the role of the leading region.
If these assumptions are correct, the question arises: How do people perceive this new situation, these novel regions, and these new units?
We are convinced that a huge inversion is taking place: the “nation” is perceived as the common past (common history and common language), while the “macro-region” is seen by its inhabitants as a common desired future, as joint destiny. This is an entirely novel, unfamiliar state for the human mind. A state so unusual and insufficiently analyzed, that even migrants have started moving from region to region rather than from nation to nation.
The new regionalization often is described as polycentrism/multi-polarity of the new world order, i.e. as a loss of leadership positions by the United States. This view has its merits, but the problem is that it gets us back into the Cold Warlogic where the U.S. is losing its dominant position, i.e. is suffering a defeat. However, in reality the U.S. is neither gaining, nor losing it is undergoing a transformation.
A simple historical analogy easily reveals why the notion of defeat is wrong. Did France suffer from the loss of its colonies in the mid-20th century (as it seemed in the 1960s), or was it liberated from that heavy burden (as is obvious nowadays)? And what about Great Britain or Holland where protests against decolonization happened in even Surinam... or Portugal, where a revolution erupted, producing among its major results the decolonization of Mozambique and Angola? The position of world’s sole leader for a quarter of a century brought the United States very questionable glory, and in addition significant lagging behind in infrastructure, as Zbigniew Brzezinski noted in his recent book Strategic Vision. What is more preferable: to represent the leading region of the world or to be the leader state, meaning that all of the world’s problems are laid at your doorstep?
That is why it is wrong to describe President Trump’s policies as chaotic shenanigans of a comedian, because in this case the substance of his performance, hidden behind showmanship, is missed. But if his policies are viewed through a different prism?as an effort to promote the interests of his region as he perceives them?then a coherent pattern of events emerges, revealing the sound common sense and the acumen of a businessman; in plain words, precise calculation. Whether one likes it or not, there is logic and there is coherence in Trump’s actions, rejection of neoconservatism and a return to classical, Nixon-style conservatism.
Trump’s opponents can hardly dare openly denounce this compelling logic. Under this constraint the diehard supporters of U.S. global leadership were virtually “compelled” to resort to the demonization of Russia as am issue over which to wage their battle. “Trump is a Russian puppet.” It is hard to invent a more absurd claim. But it has been made, and a virulent large-scale campaign has been launched under this pretext. It was a lazy, apparently simple and seemingly low-cost solution.
What impact has the campaign of ridiculing Trump and demonizing Putin made on the target audience?the global public opinion and mass awareness? A recent survey conducted by the Gallup International Association in 58 countries across the world has revealed that the adepts of political globalization have achieved precisely the opposite result: an increasingly growing number of people across the five continents would rather prefer to be governed by Putin. Considering the fiasco of the “Skripal case” (which is already resembling a vaudeville), it is hardly surprising that the Russian president has become the planet’s favorite.
The Gallup International survey has revealed another paradox: confidence in government is as a rule lower in developed democracies than in developing or authoritarian countries. The liberal elites have exclusive proprietorial claims on democracy. But the silent majority (i.e. the main genuine protagonist of democracy) has, surprisingly, started acting in utterly unpleasant ways. Does one need to cite relevant evidence to this point from recent elections in Europe or in the U.S.?
Why is the situation shaping up in that particular way? Why liberal policies, which were successful over such a long time, have started breaking down and failing?
Globalized Hypocrisy
This is happening because the Eurocentric elites have attempted to impose “politically correct” thinking not only as the form, but also as the content. How can one argue convincingly that the “nice Saudis” deserve universal praise for permitting females to drive cars? Or that Chinese communists deserve plaudits for their achievements, even if made at the cost of suppressing individual liberties? Or that Kim Jong-un is an admirable and gifted young man? And at the same time heap abuse on Putin, describing him as another Dart Vader!
The very core of the political posture assumed by Europe is problematic. It is the posture of global pontiff, the world’s highest priest. If Europe were a person and were examined by a psychoanalyst, the inevitable diagnosis would be “Maniac-depressive psychosis”?a mania that is openly admitted, debated, even condemned. At the core of delusion is the claim “Ours is the model with a capital M.” The latest manifestation of the syndrome was Europe’s infatuation with the “Arab Spring.” The collapse of several Arab countries, with tragic consequences for generations to come, was the result. (There is no social model in existence fit to be “adapted” and transplanted, nor are there universally valid social ethics and esthetics. Social models evolve only within specific historical contexts. But self-delusion is such a powerful stimulant that it can even provoke visions of “the end of history”?fortunately only in individual minds.)
Saying this, we certainly do not invite Europe to set fire to the banner of Locke?Voltaire?Montesquieu. We merely wish to emphasize that the export of models is a highly complex, often fatal, enterprise. France should have learned that lesson over two centuries ago after one of the original attempts to export “the free state” to Haiti.
The depressive syndrome, however, is a very complicated affair. Europe is suffering from a surfeit of consensus and from an acute deficit of goals. Social consensus and a social goal are similar since both are attributes of the future. But there is also a cardinal difference between the two. A goal describes a distinct future, but the community of forces in its support can be week and temporary. Consensus, in contrast, describes a rather indefinite future, but the community of its supporters is stable and surprisingly solid. In essence, “a goal” has at its core the word “must,” while consensus is bound with “cannot.” Consensus implies denouncing certain things (like violence, for instance). A goal, in contrast, always implies an achievement.
In other words, Europe’s depression, is caused by overindulgence with “cannot’s” and by “deficiency of goals.” Europe has burdened itself with too many “commandments” (in the ancient sense of the word?inhibitions) to such an extent, that no major European politician today would dare publicly mention the word “interests; he simply “must” find his projects in “values.” Initially this did seem to provide a solid basis for political constructs, but eventually it turned out that projects built on values cannot last and are liable to crumble.
The malady, however, is neither genetic nor fatal. The crisis of liberalism can also be interpreted as a manifestation of survival instincts, of the urge to renounce the messianic posture and the hypocrisy associated with it.
Political regionalization, the initial stage of which we are witnessing now, provides logical grounds for abandoning the Eurocentric hypocrisy of political correctness. This would inevitably lead to the erosion of the currently prevailing rules of economic globalization, to the revival of protectionism and nationalism. Enormous risks are, of course, involved in this process. But the greater risk is if we once again misinterpret history and ignore its lessons, reducing it to a simplistic black-and-white image garnished with sanctions. Sanctions achieve a single “result”?the creation of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver them, and more recently, of the unpreventable hypersonic weapons.
Regionalization (to emphasize once again, not in geographic terms!) is not some person’s idea or project. It is an objective process which leads to a series of inevitable results. Some of these are:
Entirely novel military balance
New formula for global currency/currencies
Regionalization of the costs of labor
Break-up of the global Internet network
Inter-regional economic rivalry
And numerous other effects, including the emergence of regional and global public opinion.
Two roads lead to the inter-regional balance: a long one (through clashes and military conflicts) and a short one?through agreements like the famous Treaty of Westphalia. Let us hope that this time no Thirty Yeas’ War would have to precede the “Peace of Westphalia” ...
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“We do not dream of the future anymore, we’re scared of it.”
Sergei Karaganov, Dmitry Suslov
The West’s Unilateral Cold War
Russia and the U.S.: The Way Forward
Konstantin Khudoley
Can Europe Sustain the Macron Moment?
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EPIPHANY TRUTH EXAMINER
Daily Manna
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing (epiphany) of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Titus 2:13
and Zedekiah's reign, which two events began at the same time, as the following references will prove: Ezek. 1: 1, 2; Jer. 29: 1; Ezek. 40: 1; 33: 21; 24: 1, 2, etc. Hence the overturning that Carl Olson tries to put into the third or fourth year of Jehoiakim was, even in the seventh year (Ezek. 20: 1; 21: 25-27) of Zedekiah, yet a future thing. It occurred in the latter's eleventh year; for the prophecies of chapters 20 and 21 were given to Ezekiel on the same occasion, i.e., in the seventh year, fifth month and the tenth day of his captivity and of Zedekiah's reign (Ezek. 20: 1). But even if it were, as Carl Olson claims, in the last year of Jehoiakim's reign, the entire overturning is stated as a future thing, which proves that the overturning could not in any sense refer to a past event such as he supposes to have occurred in the third or fourth year of Jehoiakim, but must have been future to Jehoiakim's last year.
As Jehoiakin's three months' reign simply filled out his father's eleventh year, he was not counted as reigning in his own right and time; hence God said to Jehoiakim that none of his seed should sit on David's throne, Zedekiah, the last of the kings, being his brother. God's statement on this point does not mean, as Carl Olson implies, that with Jehoiakim's third year his right to reign ceased and the Times of the Gentiles commenced. However, his view of three over turnings is contradictory to Ezek. 21: 25-27, and certainly is a marked example of how Azazel gives foolish thoughts to his mouthpieces. Our Pastor's explanation of the threefold repetition of the word "overturn" as being for a solemn emphasis is certainly reasonable and Scriptural. The overturning was that of Israel's royalty only; this was fulfilled in Zedekiah.
The next point in this connection respects his claim that Daniel's age was too great for his activities, toward the end of his career, which age by errors and guesses he gives as 112 years, if the 70 years began at
the end of Zedekiah's reign. This he claims favors his understanding of the Times of the Gentiles as beginning in the third or fourth year of Jehoiakim, when he claims Daniel was taken a captive. We answer as follows: The Bible shows that the first captives and the first set of sacred vessels were taken to Babylon in the end of the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (Jer. 52: 28; 2 Chron. 36: 6, 7), a little over 10½ years before Zedekiah's overthrow. This would cut seven years off of Carl Olson's figures for Daniel's age. Again, Cyrus became king of Babylon in Nov., 538, and his third year would have been from Nov., 536, to Nov., 535, hence a little over 70 years after Zedekiah's overthrow. This would make Daniel's stay in Babylon until Cyrus' third year about 81 years. Carl Olson guesses that Daniel was 20 years old at his taking to Babylon. Even if this were true, his age would then have been, not 112, but 101 years, in the third year of Cyrus. For a person of Daniel's temperate habits, and with the Law's promise of many years for the obedient, Daniel at that age would have been able to do the work described as his in his book. Anna, the prophetess, was at least 105 years old, and was quite active (Luke 2: 36, 37). In all likelihood Daniel was between 90 and 95 years old in Cyrus' third year. This point, therefore, does not favor the fourth year of Jehoiakim as the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles.
As an illustration of Carl Olson's "wild speculations and fanciful interpretations," we cite his claim that Adam was thirty years old at the time of his fall. He reasons that this must be so, because the Priests and Levites had to be thirty years old before they could serve, and because John and Jesus were thirty years old when they began their ministries! We answer as follows: These all having been born as undeveloped babes had to develop into manhood, which was attained at thirty years, according to the Law. But Adam was created in perfect manhood and not under the Law.
Hence what applied to them did not apply to him. No reason but Carl Olson's desire to have thirty years added to his chronology to give him a period for the operation of another set of foolish predictions and campaigns can be advanced for his theory that Adam was thirty years old at the time of his fall! The Bible nowhere intimates such a thought. It was born in Azazel's mind, and thence transplanted into the responsive mind of C. Olson. He claims that the 6,000 years since Adam's creation will end Oct., 1921, and that the 6,000 years from his fall will end 1951. He denies the truthfulness of the Parallel Dispensations. Like the Society leaders his views imply 51 Jubilee cycles of 50 years each since the last one before the captivity, despite God's saying (2 Chro. 36: 21) that all the Jubilee years were fully kept—fulfilled—during the 70 years of desolation; therefore he gives 1944 as the beginning of the antitypical Jubilee. He seems to have cast off both of its arguments in Studies, Vol. II. He thus has no antitypical great Cycle pointing out the antitypical Jubilee. In his chronology it would end before the end of his 6,000 years! This may account for its absence from his scheme of things. We understand that he denies that our Lord's Second Advent and the First Resurrection have set in and that the Great Company is a spiritual class. In fact, he claims that he must cut loose entirely from our Pastor's teachings on prophecy, and work on entirely "original" lines. Of course, with such a standpoint, Azazel will soon take away front him every vestige of prophetic truth! What we said above about the time symmetries of God's Plan and of the Pyramid measurements applies against all his chronological vagaries, as well as against the P.B.I. errors on Chronology.
The P.B.I. Editors are going astray on a number of subjects. Their chief errors concern the organization of the Church—a doctrinal error—and the chronology—a prophetic error. Above we have
pointed out their chief errors in these respects, as well as called attention to some of their revolutionism in practice, particularly in reference to their drawing up a Charter contradictory of the sample Charter—that of the W. T. B. & T. S.—for controlling corporations among Truth Levites. In their case the proverb is surely fulfilling—"He that says A must also say B." Surely Azazel is leading them on from one error to another, putting them under the delusion that their contradictions of our Pastor's teachings are advancing light! This has been his course with all sifters among Truth people, as the history of all six siftings shows.
Now they are losing the Truth on the subject of our Pastor being that Servant. However, they are spreading this error with Satanic cunning and Judas-like treachery. In an article in their April 1, 1922, Herald, entitled, Whom and What Shall We Preach? amid protestations of affection and appreciation for our Pastor—of the same kind that Judas showed our Master while betraying Him—they deny that there is any prophetical, symbolic or typical Scripture that specifically refers to him (H '22, 101, par. 2), claiming that such personal and individual references are made to Jesus and the Apostles alone. They claim that it would be speculation to refer any such Scripture to Bro. Russell, and that they, for their part, would refrain from such speculation. They have in this seemingly come to agree with their ally, ex-pilgrim Melinder, in Sweden, whose reasons for denying that our Pastor alone was that Servant were reviewed in P '21, 148, 149. They tell us that they have not changed in their attitude toward, and opinion of, our Pastor (H '22, 101, col. 2, par. 1). This would mean either that they did not formerly believe that he alone was that Servant, when they called him such, or that they are now falsifying as to their former view of him. In the same connection they say that they believe he was "a [italics ours] very wise and
faithful servant." Why did they not say that they believe that he was that wise and faithful servant? Their view that there is no Scripture that refers specifically to him implies that they deny that Matt. 24: 45-47 and Luke 12: 42-46 specifically refer to him. In gross hypocrisy they quote passages from his writings that rebuke the course of some brethren who applied too many Scriptures to him, as though he deprecated all Scriptural applications to him by the brethren. He himself—modestly, of course—applied Matt.
24: 45-47 and Luke 12: 42-44 to himself (D 613, 614; Z '96, 47, note particularly the second paragraph on page 47); and he never deprecated any one's doing the same. It was only when the brethren degenerated into angel-worship of him in their efforts to apply to him multitudes of inapplicable Scriptures that he deprecated and rebuked their course (Rev. 22: 8, 9).
The claim of the P.B.I. leaders that no other individuals than our Lord and the Apostles are referred to individually in the prophecies, symbols and types of the Bible not only contradicts what Bro. Russell says (C 25-59) on Dan. XI, but is also in direct contradiction of other Scriptures, e.g. Zech. 11: 8, 15-17. See Vol. VI, Chap. III. If one studies the deep cunning and mock affection with which the article under review is written, he can at once see its Satanic and Iscariot-like character. It is true that they do not in express words flatly deny that our Pastor is alone meant by the expression, that Servant. This would be too dangerous to say; for this would be against their policy of drawing away disciples after themselves, since it would turn many more away from them. But what they do say certainly means this. Their fighting his chronology is in line with their denial of his being that Servant. Their fellowshipping on most intimate terms with ex-pilgrim Melinder, who they know denies that our Pastor was that Servant is in harmony with the same thing; and Bro. Frew, a pilgrim of their
own making, at Richmond, Va., some time ago, before a Class there, denied that Bro. Russell alone was that Servant. Before long we may expect them to come out openly and deny him the exclusive honor of being that Servant. Their confounding the proper application to him of certain passages with the worshiping of angels, which he condemned, will deceive only such as have not received the Truth in the love of it; and their article on the subject is a Judas betrayal of him; and this Judas-like spirit may later express itself in a final betrayal of the representatives of the entire Christ class now living in the flesh.
The Herald Editors (H '22, 27, 28) are lukewarm and unsettled on whether the various items of Elijah's experiences and related acts from the time he saw the vision on Mt. Horeb (1 Kings 19: 11, 12) until Elisha's death (2 Kings 13: 20) are types. They admit that our dear Pastor looked upon them as types; but they are in doubt on their being such, and confess that at least up to the present they have seen no fulfilment of Elijah's and Elisha's experiences as given in 2 Kings 2: 1-19. Once some of them did see the antitypes of these things as occurring from 1874 to 1917; but through their Levitical uncleanness coming into the ascendency in their lives and works in 1918, they have lost the Truth on the subject; and, of course, denying the only factual explanation that can fit the case—see Chapter II of Vol. III—they can find no other set of facts to fit the typical events as their antitypes. This growing unsettlement of their confidence in this phase of the Truth that they once saw, like their rejection of the thought of our Pastor as being individually referred to in any prophetic, typical and symbolic Scripture (hence according to their view he is not referred to individually in Matt. 24: 45-47; Luke 12: 42-44), is proof positive that they are out of the Holy and are going into outer darkness. The Lord's way of proving their gross iniquity connected
with the Fort Pitt Committee in 1918 is thus being manifested more and more as the days go by! "If the light that is in thee become darkness, how great is that darkness!" This is the reason why they do not now see any antitype to 2 Kings 2: 1-19.
The P. B. I. has republished Studies, Vol. I and is advocating, among other ways, its use for the Pastoral work. This in itself is a good work and is appropriate for Gershonite Levites; for by such work they will lead people to repentance and faith and thus to justification, and then later on to consecration; and this is the proper work of the Gershonites (Vol. VIII, Chap. II); but their Jambresianism will teach such persons that they are candidates for jointheirship with Christ and the Divine nature, and in this way will work genuine mischief. Thus their chronological errors will pave the way for great disappointment to their converts.
Above we refuted their nominal-churchizing and heathenizing chronology on their year 606 B.C. The brethren will be glad to learn that a goodly number of their former adherents have withdrawn their support from them, since they gave out their errors on the Times of the Gentiles beginning in the third year of Jehoiakim. In fact, the New York P.B.I. church had so many members faithful to our Pastor's chronological teachings that at the following election of its officers they voted down as Elders I. F. Hoskins and H. C. Rockwell, the only two Herald Editors who were among their Elders. From the fact that that church at the same time elected Bro. Cooke, one of the P.B.I. Directors, as one of its Elders, we infer that the Herald Editors very likely falsified when they said that the P.B.I. Editors and Directors were unanimous in believing that the third year of Jehoiakim was in 606 B.C., and that it was the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles. If these P.B.I. Editors were not in Azazel's hands, and if they were not
blinded by him, surely our answers above would have rescued them from their delusion.
Despite the fact that we have proven that both the Scriptural and the secular chronologies disagree with their dating the third year of Jehoiakim as 606 B.C., they continue to reiterate this thought. In their Nov. 1, 1921, issue these Editors, in the main approvingly, print an article written by a Washington, D. C., brother who wishes his name withheld, but whose initials, J.A.D. (these are the initials of J. A. Devault, of Washington, D. C.) are given at the end of the article. Only on one point do these Editors express dissent, i.e., on the seventy years of desolation. J. A.D., knowing that their arguments on that point cannot be sustained, resorts to another artifice to gain the same end, i.e., of cutting off 19 years from the Bible chronology. It is indeed remarkable how errorists arrive at the same results by mutually contradictory processes of reasoning. They agree in their denial of the Truth, but reach that agreement by mutually contradictory reasoning. Thus they remind us of Samson's foxes: their burning tails are tied together, while their heads are in opposite directions!
It will be recalled that our Pastor said that prior to 536 B.C. secular chronology is uncertain, and that therefore God to give us full assurance provided us with His chronology, covering the period in which secular chronology is uncertain, and ceased to give us His chronology only when secular chronology became certain, i.e., from 536 B.C. onward. This is, therefore, certainly a reasonable proposition. But J.A.D. claims with much positiveness that it is reasonable that we accept secular dates prior to 536 B.C., if we do so from 536 onward. However, as he proceeds he guilelessly proves that his proposition is the unreasonable one; for he gives several secular chronological tables which differ as much as three years in what he claims are the 24 years immediately preceding 536.
It is just because of these contradictions in the secular chronologies immediately preceding 536 B.C. that our Pastor claimed that they were undependable, and therefore rejected them as correct before 536 B.C. Certainly his course was the reasonable one, and J.A.D.'s is the unreasonable one, as his own tables prove. We could not have asked him to give us better proofs for the unreasonableness of his position on this point than he has furnished us by giving us the proof from the secular chronologies that by their discrepancies and disagreements they are unreliable prior to 536 B.C. On this point we are by him reminded of the homely proverb: "Give a calf enough rope and he will hang himself." David's language certainly applies to this brother: "Tarry in Jericho until your beard be grown." "A little learning is a dangerous thing."
In the Herald (H '21, 311, col. 2, top) the claim is made that if Bro. Russell had had the arguments presented to him which the P.B.I. Editors use for their cutting off 19 years from the chronology, he would have agreed with the P.B.I.'s position on the point. But not only does our Pastor's refuting their main points in Studies, Vol. II and in later articles prove that he had studied and rejected them, but J.A.D. also proves that they were studied by our Pastor; for he claims (H '21, 325, par. 1) that he presented these very views to our Pastor, who later rejected his findings. Thus the P.B.I.'s position on this point is doubly disproven.
J.A.D. gives more folly (2 Tim. 3: 9) by what he says about Mordecai's age as a proof that the Times of the Gentiles must have begun in the third year of Jehoiakim; otherwise, he alleges, Mordecai would have been too old— about 150 years old—at the time of his Scripturally described activity. He cites in proof of this point Esther 2: 5-7 (H '21, 332), claiming from it that Mordecai went into captivity with Jehoiakim in Nebuchadnezzar's eighth year; whereas the passage
says that it was his great grandfather that then went into that captivity! Oh yes, his arguments are "remarkable corroborative testimony" in proof of the P.B.I. chronology! They are Jambresian folly (2 Tim. 3: 9)!
His main arguments for the cutting off of 19 years from the chronology are practically the same that we have already refuted above; hence to avoid repetition we pass them by. Later on we will refer to his efforts to make another "double" than the Biblical one taught by our Pastor. This we will do when reviewing similar features of an article in the Herald of May 1, 1922, in which the Herald endorses his view in an article entitled, More Study in the Chronology. This article was occasioned by a letter that they published which attacked their chronology, especially on the 70 years' desolation—the 70 Jubilee years—and on the Parallels. They still continue to maintain their "folly" on the 70 Sabbath-keeping years—the desolation of the land— as ending about 16 years after Israel's return from Babylon and 16 years after they began to sow seed and reap what the land yielded! Persons who, in the teeth of the clear Scriptural refutation of such a view of Sabbath-keeping on the part of the land as we gave above, will still maintain such a view are just what St. Paul says of antitypical Jambre—ever seeking and never attaining the Truth.
The writer of the letter cites against their view Moses' statement (Lev. 26: 31-35) that God would drive them out of their land and keep them out of their land, so that the land could enjoy the Sabbaths that they did not permit it to enjoy while they inhabited it. This passage expressly states that as long as they would be out of their land it would enjoy the Sabbaths that it did not enjoy while they were in it. The P.B.I. Editors try in a number of ways to evade this thought, among others, by half clearly, half obscurely conveying the idea that these Sabbaths were the Sabbaths that came every seven years, and not the
Jubilee Sabbaths; and then they intimate that these have been kept during the dispersion since 70 A.D. This cannot be true, because the present dispersion has lasted many more years than the number of all their Sabbatic years. The Prophet Zechariah (Zech. 7: 5, 12) conclusively proves that there were no Israelites in Palestine during the 70 years of Babylon's supremacy, thus corroborating 2 Chro. 36: 20, 21; Lev. 26: 31-35. Nay, Lev. 26: 31-35 refers to the Babylonian captivity, and its Sabbaths are the Jubilees, not the seventh year Sabbaths.
These Editors seek to evade the brother's objection by another method: they claim, despite our Pastor's rejection of that thought, that none of the captives of Israel were to be more than 70 years in Babylon; hence, they claim, this would include those who went into captivity 11 years before Zedekiah, which would make the time from his captivity until the return less than 70 years. In proof they quote Jer. 29: 1-10, particularly v. 10. They stress the fact that the captives here referred to went into captivity about 10 years before Zedekiah's overthrow; yet according to their contention none was to remain there more than 70 years in all. But they base their argument on a false translation. In v. 10 the phrase "at Babylon" should read "for Babylon," (see, among others, both Revised Versions) the thought being that after the first Gentile power had exercised its full period of 70 years of exclusive Gentile royalty, and hence 70 years after the crown was taken away from Israel at Zedekiah's dethroning, that Empire would cease to keep Israel any longer out of their land. This passage does not say how long those Israelites would be in captivity. It teaches that the first 70 years of the Times of the Gentiles would be Babylon's period of universal dominion. Hence during this period Israel would have no crown. But at the end of the first period of exclusive Gentile royalty over the earth
Israel would return. Therefore this passage proves the length of time from the dethroning of Zedekiah until Israel's return to be 70 years; thus instead of proving, it disproves the P.B.I. position. To base arguments on false translations, as these Editors here do, is poor reasoning and worse policy.
Next they refer to Jer. 25: 11, 12 to prove that all Israel was not out of the land 70 years. They claim that the expression "70 years" in the last clause of v. 11 applies only to the last clause of the verse, and not to the clause that says that the land would be a desolation and an astonishment. So far as this verse alone is concerned, it is impossible positively to assert what the P.B.I. Editors assert; for frequently for brevity's sake we omit the repetition of a phrase in a double sentence, when the phrase applies to both clauses, e.g., in the sentence, "He devastated the entire land and drove out its inhabitants by his army," everybody would understand that the expression, "by his army," belongs to both clauses. So in Jer. 25: 11 the expression, "70 years," belongs to both of its clauses. That this is true we assert on the authority of God Himself; for He Himself says in 2 Chron. 36: 20, 21 that Jeremiah's prophecy that the land would be desolate 70 years was fulfilled by God's driving them out of their land and keeping them in other lands, thus desolating it—until it was so bereaved of its inhabitants 70 years. If the P.B.I. view of the desolation were true, there would have been no need of driving them out of their land at all. All that would have been necessary for the P.B.I.'s kind of desolation would be to make the land unfruitful. In other words, sending them lean years for 70 years would have been the P.B.I. desolation, as 16 of their 70 years were lean years spent by them in their own land. But God said that the land's desolation—bereavement of the land of its inhabitants—not leanness, would last 70 years. In no other passage than Jer. 25: 11 does Jeremiah
foretell 70 years of desolation. Hence God's own explanation of Jer. 25: 11 shows that the expression "70 years" in that verse belongs to the desolation of the land as well as to the universal royalty of Gentile power represented in Babylon. Therefore the expression "70 years" in the verse under consideration belongs to both of its clauses; and it proves that the desolation of the land and Babylon's supremacy were contemporaneous; therefore they began at Zedekiah's dethronement. Moreover, God's own explanation of how the land would enjoy its Sabbaths is conclusive on this point: He said that as long as Israel would be in their enemies' land—therefore out of their own land—would the land enjoy its Sabbaths (Lev. 26: 31-34). Hence none of its 70 Sabbaths were kept while they were in it; and therefore the 16 years after Israel's return, claimed by these Editors as Sabbaths, were not such.
We, accordingly, conclude that the Editors' efforts to interpret Jer. 29: 10; 25: 11 in a way that makes them conflict with the clear teachings of Lev. 26: 31-36; 2 Chron. 36: 20, 21—and we might add Zech. 7: 5, 12, to which the P.B.I. Editors do not refer—in order to put upon these passages an interpretation contrary to their clear teachings, has completely failed. God's statements on this subject still stand, the P.B.I. Editors and their master, Azazel, to the contrary notwithstanding.
We desire to emphasize the fact that we mentioned when we first answered their errors on the Times of the Gentiles—their lines of reasoning are not original with them; they have plagiarized these things from one of the most inexact schools of nominal-church chronologians! Not only so, but worse yet, their lines of reasoning are exactly the same as the Second Death sifters used in 1908-11, when after rejecting the Biblical chronology which our Pastor taught they sought to introduce error on that subject. This was a part of
their contradictionism—the fifth slaughter weapon. After all, it should not surprise us that the P.B.I. Editors, as parts of antitypical Jambres, should agree with the 1908-11 Second Death sifters as parts of antitypical Jannes (2 Tim. 3: 1-9); for they are their soul mates and co-workers. As Jannes and Jambores before and in the interests of Pharaoh sought to overthrow the influence and works of Moses, speaking and acting through Aaron, so antitypical Jannes during the Parousia sought, before and in the interests of antitypical Pharaoh, Satan, to overthrow the influence and work of the antitypical Moses, the Christ class beyond the veil, speaking and acting through antitypical Aaron, the Christ class this side of the veil. And likewise antitypical Jambres now, during the Epiphany, is seeking before and in the interests of antitypical Pharaoh, Satan, to overthrow the influence and work of antitypical Moses, the Christ class beyond the veil, speaking and acting through the antitypical Aaron, the Christ class this side of the veil! This, dear brethren, is the rock-bottom solution of the cause of all these sifters' errors—the sixth slaughter weapon— revolutionism.
The P.B.I. Editors have finally come out with their new "double," which they seem to have borrowed from J. A.D. In his article, on which he gave a few comments above, he sets forth a double of 1864 years, whose first part, by subtracting 19 years from the Bible chronology, he makes end in 70 A.D. Beginning its second part in 70 A.D., he makes it reach 1934. In H '22, 138, col. 2, par. 2, the P.B.I. Editors endorse this view of the "double." Not only so, but they deny that our Pastor used the Parallel Dispensation to prove the time of our Lord's Second Advent (H '22, 139, col. 2, par. 4), which they say occurred about 1874. (How near 1874 in their opinion was it? we would fain ask.) In contradiction of this false statement that our Pastor did not use the
Parallels to prove the time of the Second Advent we refer our readers to B 247, also 234, 235. This statement of the Editors seems to prove that they are more familiar with the writings of Foolish Virgins than with those of our Pastor, whose findings they are rejecting for those of Foolish Virgins. Of course, the new parallel and other chronological errors cause them to reject the bulk of our Pastor's findings in Studies, Vols. II and III, despite their denial of this fact. In their June 1, 1922, issue they have finally "let the cat out of the bag": they show that they have gotten their chronological errors from H. Grattan Guinness (a foolish virgin, whose findings our Pastor both verbally and in the Tower rejected). Let the brethren realize this: that R. E. Streeter, who foisted these errors on the P.B.I., is more sympathetic with H. Grattan Guinness' errors than he is with our Pastor's truths. Even before our Pastor's death R. E. Streeter preached more or less of Guinness' views. It seems that he never quite gave up many views of the Second Adventists, whom he left when he came into the Truth. He has failed to heed the injunction of Is. 52: 11; he has touched the unclean thing; and as a result, he is unclean. In the letter occasioning the article in their May number, which we are now reviewing, the protesting brother—Bro. Cox of Boston, who gave up their pilgrim service because of their chronological errors—calls their attention to a number of the parallels already fulfilled as proving our understanding of the Parallel to be correct. But these Editors waive these parallels aside, claiming that they do not disprove their cutting off 19 years from the chronology. These Editors have many difficulties, and they are by their teachings proving that their false chronology contradicts practically everything as far as chronological harmony is concerned. They will have to surrender the harvest Parallels or change the harvest times. They will have to surrender 1878 as the time of Babylon's rejection
and the resurrection of the saints; for only by the Parallels are these dates proven for these events. In fact, they have made a sorry mess of almost everything chronological.
First let us look at the three Old Testament passages that treat of the "double," and see how each one of them contradicts their new "double." As the first of these we will briefly consider Is. 40: 1, 2. Their claim is that the "double" of these verses and "the appointed time" of the margin end in 1934. Do these verses and the facts of the case agree with such a thought? It will be noticed that these verses show that the "comfort" of which they treat was to be proclaimed to Israel after her double was finished, and after her appointed time was completed. But the facts prove that ever since 1878 this comfort has been preached to Israel. The decree of the Berlin Conference of nations and the circulation of Delitsch's Hebrew New Testament, were the first proclamations of this comfort. Shortly thereafter, our Pastor began to proclaim this comfort to them; and for years he and the Harvest people proclaimed it to the Jews. Yea, we know that from 1910 to 1915 he and they devoted much time to that message. In 1882 Leo Pinsker, the forerunner of Herzl, began among the Jews to preach this comfort. He was joined in this by many very prominent Israelites, such as Lilienblum, Levanda, Ruelf, etc., in a world-wide proclamation of this comfort. In 1895 Herzl wrote his Jewish State, which aroused that form of agitation that is called Zionism, in the narrow sense of that term. All Jewry is now receiving this comfort. Thus we see that the predicted comfort has been proclaimed ever since 1878; and the passage says that it would not be preached until after the "double"—the "appointed time"—was completed. Therefore the "double," the "appointed time" was completed before June 11, 1878, when the Berlin Conference began the proclamation of the comfort,
and before June 11, 1878, when Britain assumed the protectorate of Palestine for Turkey. Hence the P.B.I. view of the "double" contradicts this passage and its fulfilment. Thus their view is seen to be erroneous.
Again, their view is in violent contradiction of the second passage that treats of the "double"—Jer. 16: 15-18. Jehovah says in v. 18 that He would first punish their sins and iniquities double, before He would fulfill to them the promises of vs. 15, 16. But we know that ever since 1881 He has been bringing to Palestine ever increasing numbers of the Jews, from Russia and other countries (v. 15). We know that ever since 1878 Jehovah has been sending the "fishers" (v. 16) to draw the Israelites to Palestine with the bait of Zionism. These fishers, in part, have been those statesmen who have politically assisted Israel to return; in part those Israelitish agitators, e.g., those mentioned in the preceding paragraph, who, especially since 1881, have been arousing their persecuted brethren to go to Palestine, in hope of a home and a national government; and in part those spiritual Israelites who have been proclaiming the Biblical Zionism. Of these the harvest people and many "foolish virgins" in Babylon are examples. Thus we see that the "fishers" have been fishing them ever since 1878. But v. 18 shows that they would begin this fishing only after the "double" was over; hence the "double" was over when in the nights of June 6 and 11, 1878, the statesmen fishers as the pioneers began this figurative fishing. This consideration completely refutes the P.B.I. double ending in 1934.
Moreover, the hunting which was to follow the completion of the "double" began in 1881 with the Russian May laws, in consequence of which Jews were fiendishly rooted up from their homes in Russia, Poland, Romania and Galicia. A hunter offers no bait to his
game. He drives and kills them without offering them even a bait. Thus the persecutors and ravishers of Israel are meant by the hunters. The series of persecutions which began in the above countries in 1881 have been continued. The Kishenev massacre of 1903, in which over 500 of the Jews were slaughtered in cold blood, was one among many of the dark deeds of the ruthless hunters driving Israel to seek refuge in other countries, among other places, in Palestine. The terrible mistreatment of the Jews by the Russian, Polish and Romanian armies in the World War are only other examples of the havoc and ruin wrought among hunted Israel by these remorseless hunters, driving large numbers of them to Palestine. But v. 18 proves that the hunting would begin only after the "double" was over. Hence the "double" was over before the Russian May laws were enacted in May, 1881, whereby the hunters began their systematic work of scouring the countries for Israelitish game. Therefore the P.B.I. double, ending in 1934, contradicts this passage and is an error. Thus we see that the second Old Testament passage treating of the "double"—Jer. 16: 15-18—with its fulfilled facts completely refutes the P.B.I. double.
So, too, does the third Old Testament passage treating of the "double" refute the P.B.I. double as being 1864 years and ending in 1934. The P.B.I. Editors make some desperate efforts to twist this passage (Zech. 9: 12) into being a prophecy that makes the first part of the "double" end at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. They claim that the word "today" refers only to the time when Jesus spoke; but that Jesus was prophesying of what would be done in the year 70. Let us see if the facts of the case will permit of this twist; for it is nothing else than a twist. All are agreed that from Zech. 9: 9 to and including the words of v. 12, "Even today do I declare," refer to our Lord's experiences and words on the day
when He made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem—Nisan 10, 33 A.D. Several days later (Matt. 23: 38, 39) Jesus assures us of two things: (1) that their house—the house of Israel was Israel (Ezek. 37: 11-14; Acts 2: 36), not Jerusalem, as the P.B.I. Editors teach—had already entered into its desolation process (your house is [has been, not shall be] left unto you desolate, v. 38); and (2) that they nationally were blinded and would remain blinded until some time during His Second Advent ("Ye shall see Me no more until," etc., v. 39). Let us briefly consider these two things and we shall see that the "double"—the second part of the "double," the disfavor part—was already operating on Nisan 12, 33 A.D., when Jesus used the language of Matt. 23: 38, 39. That during the second part of the "double" Israel would experience God's disfavor the other two passages treating of the "double" prove (Is. 40: 2; Jer. 16: 13, 17, 18). But Matt. 23: 38, 39 prove that they were already, on Nisan 12, 33 A.D.—two days after Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem (Zech. 9: 9-12; Matt. 21: 4, 5)— suffering certain very important features of Jehovah's disfavor. Therefore this disfavor—the second part of the "double"—began before Nisan 12, 33 A.D., and accordingly 37½ years before the P.B.I.'s second part of their new double began. Hence they are proven by these passages to be in error as to when the second half of the "double" began; and these facts prove that the day the Lord declared the "double" unto them it began to operate. Thus His declaration was the pronunciation of the beginning of the double's operation, and not a prophecy of its coming years later.
Let us notice how Israel was made desolate that day. In the following particulars their house—the house of Israel, we repeat it, was Israel, not Jerusalem, as the P.B.I. claims—was made desolate that day in the following particulars: (1) as a nation they lost God's favor that day (Zech. 9: 12; Jer. 16: 13, 17, 18;
Gal. 4: 30); (2) mouthpieceship was taken away from them nationally on that day; (3) their priesthood and sacrifices were that day made inefficacious (Dan. 9: 27); (4) the promises of the Law were no more theirs nationally, only its wrath was thenceforth theirs nationally (1 Thes. 2: 15, 16, "is come," has come, not shall come); (5) on that day punishments began to be meted out to them: the cleansing of the temple, the public denunciation of their leaders, etc.; (6) on that day national insight into advancing Truth was taken from them (Luke 19: 42, 44; Matt. 23: 39); and (7) thenceforth nationally the Lord had only rebukes, rebuffs and punishments for them, and no more shielded them from wrong and evil, because of their increasing waywardness after they were bereft of His favor. These seven particulars prove that their house—Israel—not Jerusalem simply—was from Nisan 10, 33 A.D. desolate. That its desolation had other sad consequences is only in harmony with the fact that wrath was not completed at once, but was to continue throughout the Age. In view of these facts we can readily see how ineffectual are the P.B.I.'s efforts to twist Matt. 23: 38 (your house is left unto you desolate), which is a statement of a then existing fact, into a prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction in 70 A.D.! On the "double" they are as unfortunate as they have been on their other chronological repudiations. Satan, their leader, has in this also led them into the ditch!
After saying that many have been guilty of fanciful speculations on the parallel of the 1845 years, J.A.D. tries his hand on finding from the standpoint of an 1864 years' double a parallel for Israel's rejection in 33 A.D.; and he thinks that he has found it in 1897, in which year he claims as the parallel event that Zionism was born (H '21, 335, col. 2, par. 1)! How muddled he is on the subject is manifest from several things: (1) he attempts to parallel Israel's rejection—
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"I'm explaining a few things." – Evan Fowler 方禮倫
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Evan Fowler is a writer, essayist and commentator. He has written and been published on a broad range of topics, from art, literature and aesthetic, to social and political commentaries, with a particular focus on issues of culture and identity.
Cantonese：Not a Useless Language
At a local international school two girls, recently transferred from elite local schools, share a joke in their mother tongue. The joke is told in a mix of English and Cantonese — a language that they are most comfortable with and one able to convey the meaning and specific humour of what is a local and Cantonese joke. They are overheard by a teacher who promptly scolds them. “Cantonese is a useless language”, they are told, “it won’t get you into university, and it won’t get you a job”. Mandarin and English though are fine.
Last year, I felt compelled to write an article on Cantonese being the forgotten language of our international schools. In it, I outlined my concern that Cantonese, our local language and for the majority of Hong Kong people also our mother tongue, is being sidelined at schools that proclaim to be offering children an elite education. I argued that such a rejection of the language of Hong Kong was, intentionally or not, an act of political significance as it undermines people’s ability to connect with their own culture and identity. International schools may be giving our children a “global perspective”, but at the cost of them losing touch being local.
The failure to encourage Cantonese is more than a linguistic failing. It is a further measure of division in a city that is already struggling with an increasing social and economic divide. Mandarin is becoming the language of the internationally (or at least China) mobile. It is the language of the high end. Cantonese, in its own province, is increasingly the language of the less well-to-do, and the less connected. As with English before, this may not be quite true, but of greater importance to social harmony is not what is but what is perceived.
I am writing now not only to reaffirm my previous allegation, but to take it a step further: Cantonese is not only forgotten, it is being actively discouraged.
The situation I outlined at the start was described to me in detail by a student at a top international school. I recount it not only because I found it shocking, but as an example of one of many similar such incidences that I have either been told about or have experienced first hand. In many circles that should be moulding our future citizens, whether at schools, clubs or social gatherings, Cantonese is being discouraged.
Too often Cantonese is not seen as the “appropriate” or “national” language. But what do we mean by a national language? The nationalistic idea of a national language being an imposed and uniting language is, like the much of Chinese nationalism today, rooted in 19th century values. To believe that an imposed language, like Italian, and to a lesser degree even French, can help solidify the bonds of nationhood, is to believe that a nation can be created and such bonds can be imposed. It is an idea of nationalism that breed the fascist regimes of Europe. More importantly, it is an idea that has been superseded.
Today a national language is not an imposition but an acknowledgement of a language’s status amongst the people that make up a nation. From attempting to impose an artificial bond, an action that in most cases lead not to a sense of a people uniting with a nation but to to them feeling first alienated and then oppressed by it, today we seek to recognize and then strengthen those bonds that already exist. We realise that as nationalism must come from within and from a community, so must its language. This has lead in almost all modern nation states to the number of languages recognized as being national to rise. Where English once declared itself the sole national language, Welsh is now recognized. Experience has taught us that recognition rather than imposition draws people closer to the state.
Then there are those for whom Cantonese is a “useless” language. This not only demonstrates an extreme ignorance of local history and culture, it is also deeply disrespectful of local Cantonese speaking people. To imply that a language is merely an tool to qualify for an educational opportunity or a job, an attitude that is sadly not limited to certain expatriate teachers, demeans all those for whom the language is native.
Indeed, it is often forgotten that to be a “native” language speaker is not representative of proficiency in that language, but of that language’s role in defining the speaker’s identity. To be a native speaker is to understand ones self, ones culture and tradition, within this linguistic framework. It is for this reason that native speakers are employed to teach foreign languages when more than a mere functional command of the language is required.
It ought to be deeply concerning for all Cantonese speakers to know that expatriate teachers, who are themselves employed as native speakers of English, demean the native language of our city by telling our children that our language is useless. Such an attitude only demonstrates that these teachers not only have no respect for the language, culture and identity of local people, but also, more worryingly for teachers, that they are themselves insensitive to the value of language.
At the same international school, whilst the vast majority of students are children of Cantonese speakers, an increasing minority can or will not speak Cantonese. When attempting to strike up a conversation in Cantonese, I have often been left dumbstruck by the reply, “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Cantonese”. These students come from Cantonese speaking homes. This reply is made at best without emotion, though more often than not with a hint of pride. This pride is shameful, and leaves me feeling both sad and deeply disappointed – I am sad for their family, and ashamed that people with whom I share a home could be so callous with the heritage, history and culture, of our shared community. It is as if they are not only rejecting their own linguistic heritage, but their own people. If such an attitude in a teacher is a disgrace, in the student or in their parents it is a betrayal.
There is a war that has been declared on Cantonese. It is part of a wider war against the very identity of being a Hong Kong person. Cantonese speakers did not declare this war. They did not challenge China. They were and still consider themselves Chinese. But for how long will this be so? Beijing should consider this, and remember that history has shown that nations are not made from above but arise from below.
Cantonese speakers are not the aggressors. They are not asking Beijing to speak their language, nor adopt their values and customs. They are merely asking that their own language, values and customs be respected in their home. It is a fight for recognition.
All Hong Kong people I know are bothered by this linguistic challenge. Some choose to adjust, to couch the betrayal of themselves in terms of being “realistic”, and to drown their shame and their conscience in “opportunities”. Others, those with a degree of self-respect, and those I believe deserved to be respected, are reacting in their own ways. Most complain, but some too (including those associated with House News) are standing up to be counted, and to be counted for who they are.
When our government is to supine to represent its own people, and our business community too driven by share price to care, it is left to the people to act. When we are told Cantonese is not an official language of our city because “Cantonese is a dialect”, we must remind those that spread such fallacies that by the same token Mandarin may be called a dialect of Cantonese. We should highlight that most linguists, academics with no political position to tout, classify our mother tongue as a distinct language.
When we are greeted, as my aunt was recently, in Mandarin upon entering a brand name store, we must remind the sales staff that this is not Beijing. Send a letter to the company and ask them to consider, as a French fashion house, how a Parisian would react when being greeted in English upon entering their stores in Paris.
And when, as happened to my aunt, the sales staff walk away disinterested when you begin to speak Cantonese, and congregate around a Mandarin speaking customer already being served, do not do what my aunt did and be polite and leave. Demand to know what is wrong with speaking the language of Hong Kong in a shop in Hong Kong.
And when our children are told by an English speaking teacher that Cantonese is a useless language that will not get them a job, tell your children to ask the teacher not to allow their children to speak English either. After all, when Putonghua becomes the international language of business why should we persist with an archaic German dialect. It’s just a useless language.
(The original article is published on The HouseNews)
This entry was posted in Identity, Society on April 5, 2014 by Evan Fowler 方禮倫.
← Don’t Underestimate New Media Robert Chow’s Silent Majority – Neither Silent Nor a Majority →
Why claims that Hong Kong protesters support escalating violence could be wrong… and dangerous
Why Hong Kong’s malaise runs far deeper than an extradition bill
Hong Kong is still a colony: Why embattled leader Carrie Lam will not be allowed to resign
What happened in Hong Kong, and what might we expect?
Thank you, Carrie Lam
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Film Blitz
Just another WordPress film review site...
The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988)
July 26, 2019 Jim McLennan drama
Rating: B-
Dir: Ermanno Olmi
Star: Rutger Hauer, Sandrine Dumas, Dominique Pinon, Anthony Quayle
If ever there were a case of magically creating something from nothing, this would be it. Because despite containing very little actual content – it could easily have been a short film, hardly more than a tenth of its actual running-time of 127 minutes – this has an almost hypnotic appeal, due entirely to Hauer’s performance. He plays Andreas, a homeless man living under the bridges of Paris in some vague earlier age . One day, he is given 200 francs by an elderly man (Quayle), who wants Andreas, when he can, to pay back the donation at a nearby church. However, life keeps interfering: more than once, Andreas is literally on the doorstep of the church when he is diverted. Yet life also keeps giving him further opportunities to fulfill his promise. That’s something he wants do, for he is nothing if not honourable, despite having fallen on hard times.
It’s all very laid-back, Andreas drifting through life’s stream, and enduring the snakes and ladders on which he lands with stoicism. We gradually learn about his past, in a series of flashbacks, though even these are more like jigsaw pieces, which a viewer needs to assemble. Best as I can figure: He was a miner in Silesia, who had an affair and accidentally killed her husband, necessitating a quick exit. That’s how ended up in Paris, but a fondness for drink and loose women helped cause his downfall. That’s where we join him, and it’s the gentlest of roller-coaster rides. He gets a temporary job. He meets his old lover (Pinon). He finds money in a wallet. He encounters old friends. He falls for a cabaret dancer (Pinon). He gets given someone else’s wallet. And he drinks. A lot. If you’re looking for thrills of even the mildest kind, you’re definitely in the wrong place. It doesn’t help that the soundtrack is largely Stravinsky, and appears to have been plugged in from another movie.
Yet it’s all rather more affecting than it seems, even if some scenes appear to serve little or no point (or, more likely, their point is so obtuse as to be entirely impenetrable). Olmi knows Hauer is the focus, and often just points the camera at his face, letting his actor’s expression put over the necessary emotions, rather than using words. It’s easy to understand why Rutger felt this was one of his favourite performances; he wasn’t usually given so much room, purely to act. It also helps that the film takes place in a dreamlike, largely uninhabited version of Paris, beautifully captured by Dante Spinotti, who enhances the atmosphere significantly. It’s probably the kind of movie that lingers, rather than making an immediate impression; one you’re more likely to find popping into your thoughts over the days to come. I still wouldn’t say the two-plus hours exactly flew past, yet I remained awake and interested; that’s more than can be said for some, conventionally “exciting” films.
Original review [from TC 3]. Hauer should be well known to readers, for his performances as a psychopath in The Hitcher, a barely-controlled psychopath in Wanted: Dead or Alive and a psychopath (medieval variety) in Flesh and Blood. Although always near-perfect, he never seemed to be out of second gear which made the prospect of him playing a down-and-out an intriguing one. Set in Paris, he is given 200 francs by a mysterious stranger (Quayle) with the request to pay it back to a church when he can. Unfortunately, he keeps meeting figures from his past who distract him from this goal and gradually tell us about his earlier life.
With no ‘action’ and almost no plot, the film relies heavily on Hauer, with him rarely being off the screen, so it’s a good job he’s up to the task. He seems very aware of the risk of over-acting, especially in a character of few words as he has here indeed, if anything he’s too subtle, making the viewer concentrate to avoid missing the gestures and looks without which some scenes are meaningless. Olmi shows us a different side to Paris from that normally filmed. Overall, perhaps the best tribute is to say that from now on, when I see Rutger Hauer, I’ll no longer automatically expect him to pull out a shot-gun and start blasting!
Anthony Quayle
Ermanno Olmi
Sandrine Dumas
A tribute to Rutger Hauer: 1944-2019
The Fight (2018)
One Must Fall (2018)
Fleisch (1979)
Radius (2017)
Seoul Station (2016)
The VelociPastor (2018)
Top 10 Films: 2019
Ladyworld (2018)
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Island Zero (2018)
Lifechanger (2018)
Jack vs. Lanterns (2017)
Besetment (2017)
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The Immigration Reform American Workers Deserve
Democrats have wholeheartedly taken up the issue of income inequality and stagnant real wages of working class families. Bernie Sanders has criticized our current trade policy; making it a centerpiece of his campaign. He does not support the purposed TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) trade agreement.
Here in Ohio, Sen. Sherrod Brown has been a longtime opponent of “free trade”. Former Gov. Ted Strickland, who has a good chance of unsetting Sen. Rob Portland (r) in the upcoming election, is also campaigning against trade deals that put Ohio workers in direct competition with cheap foreign labor and sends Ohio jobs overseas.
What does it matter if we send American jobs overseas for foreign labor to fill or we bring foreign labor into the U.S.? This is the disconnect of progressive economic labor policy.
In the relatively recent past, prominent liberals agreed that rapidly expanding the labor pool by bringing in millions of immigrants was not in the best interests of working Americans. Labor union leaders and civil rights luminaries, for a century right through President Bill Clinton, supported reducing the number of work permits for foreign laborers. They understood that such a move would spur wage growth and expand job opportunities for Americans.
A 1995 congressional commission, chaired by the charismatic civil rights leader and Democratic Texas congresswoman Barbara Jordan, recommended limiting immigration to 550,000 individuals a year. President Clinton praised the recommendation as a “balanced immigration policy that . . . protect[s] the American work force.”
There is no good reason to continue giving out one million new lifetime work permits every year, supporting guest worker programs and having a permissive attitude towards illegal immigration when over 15 million native and immigrant Americans already here are currently unable to find full-time jobs.
From 1924 to 1965, America sharply scaled back the number of immigrants it accepted. Without competition from a large pool of foreign-born laborers, American workers were better able to unionize and demand improved wages and benefits.
The share of income going to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans dropped from 43 percent in 1924 — the year lower immigration quotas were implemented — to less than 32 percent in 1965 — the year the quotas were replaced with the current immigration system.
The post-1965 influx of workers helped freeze wages. In fact, inflation-adjusted wages have actually declined over the last forty years. The average worker in 1973 earned a higher real wage than the average worker does today.
Economists have concluded that high levels of immigration are partially responsible for wage stagnation. Harvard professor George Borjas, an immigrant himself, has shown that expanding the size of any working cohort — as defined by age or education — by 10 percent through immigration reduces the wages of all native-born folks in that group by 2.5 percent. The effect on native-born men is even greater — a decline in wages of 3.7 percent.
For Americans without a high school degree, the wage losses are even more pronounced — about $1,200 for the years between 1990 and 2010.
Immigrants themselves are not at fault. The overwhelming majority of immigrants are industrious people who work hard. It is just that in America, hard work often is not rewarded. The strongest work ethic in the world cannot defeat the law of supply and demand. The more workers who need a job, the less employers have to pay to attract employees.
Our leaders have the power to stop this economic race to the bottom and boost wage growth. Scaling back the pace at which our nation admits new laborers from abroad would help disadvantaged immigrants who are already here. It would take job-market realities into account and give native and immigrant American workers the leverage to win back the wages and benefits they’ve lost over decades.
America has been and must continue to be a nation that does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, or national origin, but there’s no need to bring in one million permanent immigrants every year, allow guest worker programs, on top of illegal immigration when current residents cannot find good-paying jobs.
If progressive candidates are serious about standing up for American workers, they must consider greatly reducing the number of foreign laborers who have access to the American labor market through trade policy and immigration policy.
1 Comment | immigration, State of Ohio News, Uncategorized | Tagged: 1 percent, Barbara Jordan, Bernie Sanders, Clinton, democratic, Demoratic against Amnesty, foreign labor, George Borjas, guest workers, Harvard, illegal immigration, immigrants, immigration, Immigration policy, Immigration Reform, Income inequality, inequality, Jeff Detmer, middle class, progressive, Rob Portland, Sherrod Brown, Ted Stickland, TPP, Trade, work prmits, working class | Permalink
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Middle East Volatility amid Global Decline
Ongoing political turmoil produced uneven conditions for press freedom in the Middle East in 2012, with Tunisia and Libya largely retaining their gains from 2011 even as Egypt slid backward into the Not Free category. The region as a whole experienced a net decline for the year, in keeping with a broader global pattern in which the percentage of people worldwide who enjoy a free media environment fell to its lowest point in more than a decade. Among the more disturbing developments in 2012 were dramatic declines for Mali, significant deterioration in Greece, and a further tightening of controls on press freedom in Latin America, punctuated by the decline of two countries, Ecuador and Paraguay, from Partly Free to Not Free status.
These were the most significant findings of Freedom of the Press 2013: A Global Survey of Media Independence, the latest edition of an annual index published by Freedom House since 1980. While there were positive developments in Burma, the Caucasus, parts of West Africa, and elsewhere, the dominant trends were reflected in setbacks in a range of political settings. Reasons for decline included the continued, increasingly sophisticated repression of independent journalism and new media by authoritarian regimes; the ripple effects of the European economic crisis and longer-term challenges to the financial sustainability of print media; and ongoing threats from nonstate actors such as radical Islamists and organized crime groups.
The trend of overall decline occurred, paradoxically, in a context of increasingly diverse news sources and ever-expanding means of political communication. The growth of these new media has triggered a repressive backlash by authoritarian regimes that have carefully controlled television and other mass media and are now alert to the dangers of unfettered political commentary online. Influential powers—such as China, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela—have long resorted to a variety of techniques to maintain a tight grip on the media, detaining some press critics, closing down or otherwise censoring media outlets and blogs, and bringing libel or defamation suits against journalists. Russia, which adopted additional restrictions on internet content in 2012, set a negative tone for the rest of Eurasia, where conditions remained largely grim. In China, the installation of a new Communist Party leadership did not produce any immediate relaxation of constraints on either traditional media or the internet. In fact, the Chinese regime, which boasts the world’s most intricate and elaborate system of media repression, stepped up its drive to limit both old and new sources of information through arrests and censorship.
This infographic highlights countries with notable developments for press freedom during the past year.
To see a full-screen version of the infographic, click here.
As a result of declines in both authoritarian and democratic settings over the past several years, the proportion of the global population that enjoys a Free press has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade. The report found that less than 14 percent of the world’s people—or roughly one in six—live in countries where coverage of political news is robust, the safety of journalists is guaranteed, state intrusion in media affairs is minimal, and the press is not subject to onerous legal or economic pressures. Moreover, in the most recent five-year period, significant country declines have far outnumbered gains, suggesting that attempts to restrict press freedom are widespread and challenges to expanding media diversity and access to information remain considerable.
There were some promising developments during the year to partially offset these worrisome trends. Positive movement occurred in a number of key countries in Asia (Afghanistan and Burma), Eurasia (Armenia and Georgia), and sub-Saharan Africa (Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, and Zimbabwe), as well as in Yemen. Many advances occurred in the context of new governments that either rolled back restrictive legal and regulatory provisions or allowed greater space for vibrant and critical media to operate. Particularly noteworthy was the continued dramatic opening in Burma, which registered the survey’s largest numerical improvement of the year due to people’s increased ability to access information and the release of imprisoned bloggers and video journalists, among other factors.
Of the 197 countries and territories assessed during 2012, a total of 63 (32 percent) were rated Free, 70 (36 percent) were rated Partly Free, and 64 (32 percent) were rated Not Free. This balance marks a shift toward the Not Free category compared with the edition covering 2011, which featured 66 Free, 72 Partly Free, and 59 Not Free countries and territories.
The analysis found that less than 14 percent of the world’s inhabitants lived in countries with a Free press, while 43 percent had a Partly Free press and 43 percent lived in Not Free environments. The population figures are significantly affected by two countries—China, with a Not Free status, and India, with a Partly Free status—that together account for over a third of the world’s nearly seven billion people. The percentage of those enjoying Free media in 2012 declined by another half point to the lowest level since 1996, when Freedom House began incorporating population data into the findings of the survey. Meanwhile, the share living in Not Free countries jumped by 2.5 percentage points, reflecting the move by populous states such as Egypt and Thailand back into that category.
Continue reading essay
Freedom of the Press 2013 Release Materials:
Full Release Booklet
Global and Regional Rankings
Full 2013 Report
Note: Reports with asterisks in the following list are for territories rather than countries.
Press Release (Arabic)
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Home » Freedom in the World 2015
Discarding Democracy: A Return to the Iron Fist
Regional Trends
Read a Country or a Territory Report
- Select a Country or a Territory Report - Abkhazia * Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa) Congo, Republic of (Brazzaville) Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Crimea * Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia, The Gaza Strip * Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong * Hungary Iceland India Indian Kashmir * Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Nagorno-Karabakh * Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea Northern Cyprus * Norway Oman Pakistan Pakistani Kashmir * Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico * Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Samoa San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia Somaliland * South Africa South Korea South Ossetia * South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and Grenadines Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Tibet * Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Transnistria * Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine Ukraine Україна (Translation) United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam West Bank * Western Sahara * Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
Sheri Berman is a professor of politics at Barnard College, Columbia University.
Julio F. Carrión is an associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware.
Kathleen Collins is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Javier Corrales is Dwight W. Morrow 1895 Professor of Political Science at Amherst College.
Grzegorz Ekiert is a professor of government at Harvard University, director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, and a senior scholar at Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.
Robert Lane Greene is an editor at the Economist in London, and a former adjunct assistant professor of global affairs at New York University.
Steven Heydemann is vice president of applied research on conflict and director of Syria programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and previously served as director of the Center for Democracy and Civil Society at Georgetown University.
Melissa Labonte is an associate professor of political science at Fordham University.
Thomas R. Lansner is a visiting professor at the Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs.
Adrienne LeBas is an associate professor of government at American University’s School of Public Affairs.
Peter Lewis is an associate professor and director of the African Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.
Adam Luedtke is an assistant professor of political science at City University of New York, Queensborough Community College.
Ellen Lust is a professor of political science at Yale University and founding director of the Program on Governance and Local Development.
Peter Mandaville is a professor of government and politics and director of the Ali Vural Ak Center for Islamic Studies at George Mason University.
Carl Minzner is a professor at Fordham Law School.
Lincoln Mitchell is a writer and specialist in political development.
Alexander J. Motyl is a professor of political science at Rutgers University, Newark.
Andrew J. Nathan is Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University.
Philip Oldenburg is a research scholar at Columbia University’s South Asia Institute.
Tsveta Petrova is a fellow at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University.
J. Mark Ruhl is the Glenn and Mary Todd Professor of Political Science at Dickinson College.
Martin Schain is a professor of politics at New York University.
Samer S. Shehata is an associate professor and Middle East studies program coordinator at the University of Oklahoma.
Scott Taylor is an associate professor at the School of Foreign Service and director of the African Studies Program at Georgetown University.
Bridget Welsh is a senior research associate at the Center for East Asia Democratic Studies, National Taiwan University; an associate fellow of the Habibie Center; and a university fellow of Charles Darwin University.
Susanna Wing is an associate professor and chair of political science at Haverford College.
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المترجمون السوريون الأحرار | Free Syrian Translators
The “Free Syrian Translators” group translates articles and documentaries related to the Syrian Revolution into and from the Arabic Language
Editor’s Pick مواضيع متميزة
بقلم أعضاء الفريق
كتب ومنشورات Books & Publications
تصنيف حسب المواضيع
صفحة الفيس بوك
حساب تويتر
Ziad Majed زياد ماجد
Syria in Books
ترغب بالمساعدة؟
من الإنكليزية
من الفرنسية
من الألمانية
من الهولندية
من الإسبانية
من الإيطالية
Ins Deutsche
на русском языке من غير العربية
Uit het Nederlands
→ Books on Syria and the Syrian Revolution: Demystifying Syria
Eye Witness Accounts and Stories from within the Syrian Regime’s Prisons ←
Syria: Autopsy of a Regime
Posted on 18 مايو 2012 by المترجمون السوريون الأحرار
Nadia Aissaoui and Ziad Majed
More than a year has passed since the start of the Syrian revolution demanding freedom, dignity and the departure of the Assad family. Over ten thousand dead, a hundred thousand injured and more than 40 thousand refugees fled to Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordon as well as about a hundred and fifty thousand citizens who were arrested, twenty thousand of them are still in detention. All this in addition to damages to property and infrastructure and the systematic destruction of many regions.
The original article in French can be read here. An Arabic text is also available here.
Tens of reports have been published by various human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations Council for Human Rights, and Médecins Sans Frontières documenting verified cases and eye witness accounts. All these, as well as films and interviews conducted with doctors, activists, and defected soldiers ascertain that atrocities and violations are being carried out in Syria which can be classified as crimes against humanity.
On the ground, the demonstrations have continued and their numbers have increased to exceed an average of 600 demonstrations every Friday and have reached new areas in Damascus and Aleppo. Also in the last few weeks, the demonstrations spread to al Raqa and al Hasakeh in the North Eastern part of the country. Meanwhile, the number of defections from the army has risen as well as people volunteering to join what is known as the “Free Syrian Army”, leading to a doubling of military operations and clashes between this army and the pro-regime forces in Damascus Suburbs (“Reef Damascus”) as well as in Daraa, Homs, Idlib, and Deir Ezzor.
None of the (international and regional) initiatives or mediations efforts so far has succeeded in reaching a solution or settlement even if it is similar to the Yemeni one (i.e. hand over authority and power to the vice-president or to a military council to lead a transition period until elections are held and a new government is formed)…..
Therefore, the situation in Syria remains in a state of deadlock due to the divisions and confusion in decisions and approaches towards the situation. The regime is trying to benefit from this deadlock, hoping for a decisive security solution that will, from then on, suppress all forms of revolution in the cities and limit the demonstrations to a few rural areas, and crush the “Free Army” groups standing against it, in order to force outside players to negotiate with it and impose its continuity. The evolution of the revolution and its ongoing ability to gain greater momentum every week does not appear to show that the regime is succeeding in its security approach, even though it has now regained control of most of the areas which it had lost previously in Homs, Damascus Suburbs, and Jabal Zawyeh (in the North West).
Film: This is not an advertisement for a film. This is exactly what is happening in Syria.
In addition, some of the opinions and reactions to what is happening seem unable to comprehend many issues, more specifically, unable to try to think outside prebuilt attitudes that are naive and are based on a belief in conspiracy theories, or repetition of foolish phrases that can now be easily anticipated and expected, and raising questions about issues irrelevant to Syria to avoid taking a stand and condemning the regime’s crimes.
The following paragraphs discuss the “obvious facts” that are forgotten or deliberately ignored by some when it comes to Syria, the Syrian revolution, and the questions raised about the revolution and the regime.
How long has the Assad family been in power?
It is helpful to always remind readers that Syria is a republic (and not a kingdom), which has been ruled by a single family for 42 years. In this regards it is the only state in the Arab region and internationally, second to North Korea, that has been ruled by a father who passed down the rule to his son. Hafez al Assad assumed power following a coup in 1970 (when he was a defence minister in the Baath government) and ruled Syria until his death in 2000, when the constitution was modified to set the minimum age for the president to 34 years (it was 40 previously) to allow his son Bashar to nominate himself and bequeath the presidency to him. It has been 12 years since the son assumed power. However, the family rule is not limited to al Assad the father and his son. There is also Maher, Bashar’s brother, the head of the Fourth Army Brigade (the army’s best equipped and trained) and one of the leaders of the Presidential Guards. There is also Zoulhima Chaliche and Hafez Makhlouf, the paternal and maternal cousins, respectively, of the president who are responsible for the State Security apparatuses. There is also Asif Shawkat, the president’s brother in law and a senior Intelligence official. There is Atif Najib, the president’s maternal cousin who was responsible for Daraa governorate where the first massacres were committed and children were tortured, at the beginning of the Syrian revolution a year ago. There is also Rami Makhlouf, Bashar’s maternal cousin, the owner of the most important economic and financial privileges and agencies in the country. There is also General Mohammed Makhlouf, the president’s maternal uncle, and one of the architects of regime’s ongoing repression operations.
Therefore the family controls the backbones of politics, State Security, and economy. It manages the country and its people in partnership with officials from the Baath Party as well as some merchants and prominent businessmen.
What are the most prominent features of this rule?
Since its first coup in Syria in 1963, the Baath Party has enforced emergency law and this law has been in place for 48 years. The law prohibits demonstrations and gatherings, and establishment of political initiatives as well as restricting public and private freedoms and giving full rein to the State Security and military courts in any case classified as being associated with the security of the State. According to the constitution used for 30 years during the father’s rule and 11 years of the son’s rule, the Baath Party is the “leader of the State and society”. The party organises students in scouts and unions, and women as well as farmers, labourer, teachers, and athletes in associations and syndicates, and joining the party is a precondition for nomination to most senior pubic positions. The rule is therefore inspired by the experiences of Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin wall, in addition being a family rule similar to North Korea, and adopting an economic policy directed by government through its public sectors which continues to be inflated year after year. The regime used the minority issue in Syria to lay a foundation for support for it by depending on relatives and appointing a large number of officials from the region and minority which the Assads descend from. As a result, the close circle of senior military and State Security officials around the president became mostly occupied by Alawites. This closed circle in partnership with politicians and financiers from all sects ruled the country. In this regards, the regime is not Alawite in nature as propagated in many media outlets, but is a familial State Security based regime whose main pillars belong to the Alawite community and who tries to convince Alawites that it is the guarantor of their safety and their protector from marginalisation and persecution and that it is in power to represent the Alawites.
After 2000 and Bashar’s ascend to power, the “young” president kept the State Security and intelligence and political bases for the regime and, on the other hand, adopted a privatization economic policy which benefited his relatives and aids as well as some businessmen and investors especially in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo. Trade relationships with China, and then Turkey were established, though the later declined since the start of the revolution. The regime attracted investments from Qatar and the Gulf States starting in 2004, before they also stopped in 2011. On the issue of oil, a large portion of its revenues is managed directly by the president, by-passing the government and parliament, a tradition established by the father under the pretext of the “strategic interests” of Syria.
What is the Assad totalitarianism?
No Syrian city or town lacks a statue of Hafez al Assad. Since the start of the uprising, the revolutionaries have smashed hundreds of statues. Many organisations, schools, libraries, roads and public spaces are named “al Assad”. Photos of president al Assad, the father, together with his son Bassel (who died in a car accident in 1994) and his son Bashar, the president, are displayed in most Syrian streets and inside offices in public institutions and departments. Even Sunni Islamic schools established by the father in the second half of the eighties of last century after his war with the Muslim Brotherhood and his attempt, after eradicating them, to invest in the religious field in order to control it, were named by him as “Hafez al Assad schools for teaching the Quran”. All these are in addition to al Assad’s speeches and the “famous quotes” attributed to him and his son which form an “educational” material fed to citizens via media outlets and camps, as well as “National Education” classes and the Baath Party principles taught at school. More significantly, today, Syria itself is described by the regime supporters as “al Assad’s Syria”, and a fierce war is carried out between the opposition and the regime over the use of “Freedom” and “al Assad” in their slogans. While regime supporters call for “Allah, Syria and Bashar only” the opposition shout “Allah, Syria and Freedom only”. As the regime supporters chant “Al Assad our leader forever”, the opposition reply with “Freedom forever no matter what you do Assad”.
Hama, Tadmour, the Golan Heights, Palestine and Lebanon as addressed by Syrian Regime
Israel occupied the Golan Heights in 1967. Hafez al Assad was, back then, the defence minister. Syria tried unsuccessfully in 1973 (i.e. after al Assad became president) to regain its occupied lands during the war (the only Arab-Israeli war where the Arabs took the initiative) in which Egypt also tried to regain Sinai. Israel continued to occupy the Golan Heights and the two sides reached a ceasefire and disengagement of forces agreement, a ceasefire which has not been broken since 1974. In fact, following this ceasefire the Golan Heights have become the quietest amongst all border regions separating the Arab States and Israel. However the Syrian regime has substituted for the absence of any form of military resistance to liberate its lands with political rhetoric and statements which never failed to include mention of “resistance” and “confronting the enemy and its conspiracies”. The regime also employed this rhetoric and statements to accuse anybody in Syria who opposes the regime as being a participant in the Israeli conspiracy and to justify all its repression again its Syrian opponents as necessary to unify the front to face the occupation.
In 1976 the Syrian army invaded Lebanon, under cover from the Arab League, in coordination with the US State Department, and with the approval of Israel (the conditions and details of this invasion were outlined by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in his memoirs), under the pretence of stopping the civil war that started in 1975 and preventing the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), a participant in the war back then, from “controlling Lebanon”. So, the Syrian regime army occupied its neighbouring country (which also was invaded by Israeli forces in 1978 and 1982) until 2005. The regime controlled politics in Lebanon, and did not stop the civil war but instead directed it till 1992 and supported its allies there and assisted them in the final stages of the war against its remaining opponents. The regime also weakened the PLO and attacked several of the Palestinian camps where Palestinian fighters were present (Tel Zaatar, Beddawi, Bated, Sabra, Shatila, Burj Barajneh, Ein El Hillweh, and al Rashideh).
Following the regime’s alliance with Iran in its war with Iraq – ruled by its twin, but enemy, Baath party – it paved a way for Iran to play a role on the Lebanese stage, with Hezbollah being the most important outcome. After participating in the “desert storm” war against Iraq in 1991, under an American leadership, to liberate Kuwait, Hafez al Assad got a US-Saudi mandate to control Lebanon and form its government after the end of the civil war. He then agreed to peace talks with Israel and participated in the Madrid Conference and all following conferences. While doing all that, the regime continued with its statements broadcasted through its radio stations and its media outlets and its rhetoric about confronting imperialism and Zionism and defending Syria, Palestine, and the Arab World.
The regime also capitalised on Syria’s regional political roles to distract from the massacres it was committing inside Syria. Between 1980 and 1985 the regime killed, in stages, more than 40 thousand Syrians under the pretence of waging war against the several hundred members of the Muslim Brotherhood (and members of the Combatant Vanguard). The Hama and Tadmour massacres are engraved into people’s memories. The regime benefited from the silence (collusion) of the West during that time under the pretext of fighting Muslim extremism, and detained during the same period tens of thousands of Syrians with leftist and Islamic affiliations and forced tens of thousands others to leave Syrian and live in exile. In Lebanon and Palestinian camps, thousands were killed as a result of the wars waged directly by the regime or through its Lebanese proxies.
The Eastern Bloc, Arab Nationalism and Opposition
The Syrian regime benefited from its alliance with the Soviet Union and from the Soviet model it implemented, despite working in many instances with the United States, as we have mentioned, in particular during the invasion of Lebanon in 1976 and during the second Gulf war in 1991. These benefits were related to military aid, educational scholarships, and trade exchange. However the main benefit for the regime was its ability to present itself as the progressive regime in alliance with the leadership of the “working class and revolutionary forces” around the world.
Also, the regime’s persistent talk about the rights of the Arabs, justice, and socialism and the criticism of its media, on a daily basis, of regimes allied with Washington, made many people, who do not know Syria and the Orient and who observe them from a distance, think that such talk has a certain credibility. The regime utilised its ability to forge alliances with parties on opposing sides to limit the impact of its criticism of regimes collaborating with the “West”. Syria’s strategic position bordering Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, all which are countries interrelated with conflicts or suffering from internal wars, as well as Egypt’s receding role on the Arab stage after the Camp David Accords, allowed the regime to play an effective role in many cases or to lure international players looking, now and then, for compromises or settlements, into negotiations. Thus, for example, it negotiated the release of American and Europeans hostages that used to be kidnapped in Lebanon, and later on, negotiated the conditions for stopping the civil war in that country. The regime also negotiated with mediators in the Arab-Israeli conflict, during the Iraqi-Iranian war and then the American-Iraqi war, and negotiated with Turkey in regards to the Kurdish question after allowing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to use Syrian land to launch operations against Ankara despite continually participating in the oppression of Kurds and denying them their rights in Syria.
After the ascend of the son to power, the new president continued the same strategy. The 2003 Iraq war and the war on “Islamic terrorism” provided an opportunity to collaborate with international intelligence services to hand over Salafist jihadists who were allowed to enter Syria in order to export them to Iraq. After the rise of opposition to him in Lebanon, and the assassination of Lebanese politicians and intellectuals opposed to his control, and the rise of a popular revolt against him, al Assad, the son, lost his father’s inheritance in Beirut in 2005, and of course accused imperialism of causing that. However, the French reconciliation with him in 2008, after Chirac’s severance of relationships between 2004 and 2007, and normalisation of relationships with Saudi Arabia and the US, and the return of ambassadors to Damascus, stopped the assassinations and security incidents in Lebanon, which by itself is clear evidence of the regime’s responsibility for them.
Thus, the regime formulated, over 42 years, a terminology and a language centred around conspiracies and confronting Zionism and imperialism, despite not taking any actions on the ground expect to allow passage of Iranian weapons to Hizbollah to be used against Israel and then state that it leads the resistance in the region. There is no doubt that some left-winged Western circles or those opposing American policies who have a sketchy background on the Middle East, and who are fond of the dualities of conspiracies and resistances, were influenced by decades of the use of the same terms and language. They became similar to some National and left-winged Arabs who are benefiting from the Damascus-Tehran alliance and who are not interested in the issues of freedom and democracy in their countries.
The Arab Spring, the Syrian Revolution and the “Renewal of the Conspiracy”?
Following the start of the Arab Spring, just over a year ago, in Tunisia and Egypt, followed by Yemen, Libya and Bahrain, leftists and liberals worldwide, including Arabs from various political affiliations, celebrated change in the Arab region. However, with the start of the revolution in Syria- whose president declared in February 2011 that Syria is an exception and is safe from troubles because “the public are with him and because reforms are ongoing and because its foreign policies reflect the attitudes of people on the street”- the initial reaction of those celebrating the Arab revolutions was silence or an attempt to set apart what is happening in Syria from other cases, while others rushed to talk about their favourite topic: conspiracies! Thus those people were able to reuse the language and terms the Assad family regime had repeated for decades, and occupied themselves looking for the centres of power behind the conspiracies and plots. So at times it is a Salafi plot, other times it is American-Israeli, and yet on other occasions its Turkish, or it could be the Muslim brotherhood, or Qatar or all those combined. For example, Qatar and the al Jazeera channel were turned in a matter of days by the very same people who used to praise them for years into centres of plots and American treachery. Erdoğan, who was hailed as a National hero following the Gaza “flotilla incident” with Israel was rendered as a conspirator with Israel and Zionism. And slowly with time, debates about freedom and democracy, turned into debates about neo-colonial plans against the Arab Orient and the Palestinian question. NATO’s military intervention under authorisation of the UN (although it overstepped the intervention guidelines) against the tyrants of Libya all but confirmed this talk about conspiracy and plots despite the fact that all international players involved have stressed that the Libyan scenario cannot be repeated in Syria and in spite of the Russian and Chinese positions which from the beginning did not even allow decisive criticism of the crimes of the regime in Damascus, let alone intervene against it?!
Even with all the photos and reports and tens of thousands of films which demonstrate unprecedented cruelty, which make Mobarak’s, Bin Ali’s and al Khalifa’s regimes appear to be extremely gentle and compassionate in comparison, the talk about conspiracies and colonialism continue. Some “Pavlovian” left-wing authors who are oblivious to the people in their books and only consider regimes, borders, conflicts and secrets resorted to proposing questions to divert attention from what is happening in Syria, for example asking whether Saudi Arabia is a democratic country or discussing Qatar and its financial resources. As if there is doubt that the rule in Saudi Arabia is not democratic or as if no one knows that Qatar is rich in resources! Of course, those authors have never mentioned how their queries are related to the crimes and massacres that are committed by the Syrian regime in Daraa, Homs, and Idlib? Neither themselves or others sceptics of the Syrian revolution speak of the essence of the conspiracy they propose, and the reasons underlying the Arab failure and the confusion of International community, even working outside the UN’s Security Council and the obstacles presented by Russia and China. Off course, they ignored the Israeli position which is supporting the status quo in Syria and keen on maintaining the Golan Heights quiet and is gambling at isolating Tehran rather than Damascus… only superficial talk about conspiracies while forgetting the existence of the Syrian people who want freedom after 42 years of rule by the two Assad’s, the father and the son, and after decades of emergency law, and the one party policy, and tens of thousands of deaths.
Movie: Funeral of a martyr killed by the regime’s soldiers in Raqqa on the 16th of March 2012
The Islamist and the Minorities?
The regime supporters, who claim to support secularism, raise fears about the Islamic alternative to the Baath regime. In doing so, they avoid the question about despotism and freedom and turn to discussing secularism and Islamism, forgetting that the Assad Baath despotism does not uphold any secular values except for the slogans. The civil law in Syria is based on Shariah laws and the constitution considers Shariah laws as one source of jurisdiction and the new constitution recently proposed by Bashar stipulates the religion of the head of State to be Islam. Also, half a century of repression and banning of political activities does not leave anywhere except mosques as places for gatherings and forming sociopolitical connections.
Even worse than these artificial and fabricated double standards, is the statement whereby they claim to fear for “minorities” which the regime claims to protect. The definition of minorities covers Alawites and Christians in particular (as well as Druze included by some). Fans of this statement manage to combine two deplorable rationales. The first is an ignorant logic whereby issues are confused by the act of classifying people into sects and religious groups, and treating humans as mere numbers with no humanitarian qualities, or attitudes, or interests or values or disagreements all which distinguish between individuals and their choices. Hence, minorities are treated as a single basket case just because of their “moderate numbers”. The second rational is a moral one; fans of this logic want to defend a regime which crushes the majority of the people presumably because if the majority were successful in attaining their rights and forming a legitimate rule based on their wills, then the “minorities” will be in danger. And therefore the killing of the majority is necessary to protect the minorities! The immoral argument of those following this line of thought does not stop there. Even though they declare themselves to be secular, they are confessional and sectarian dividing the people into minorities and a majority based on religious affiliations. Also advocates of these two rationales oppose the philosophy of democracy (even though they pretend to be civilized and enlightened) and the principle of equality between people of all cultural backgrounds, by law and by their rights to freedom and political affiliation.
The irony is that the position of a number of left-wing individuals identifies with that of the extreme right (this phenomenon is demonstrated in France for example) when it comes to warning from Islamism and support of al Assad and their view that the results of elections in Tunisia and Egypt – after celebrating the revolutions there – prove their fear. Their respect for human rights, which they lecture people on, and their calls for the liberation of people, disappears into thin air when they consider issues taking place on the other side of the Mediterranean.
Nevertheless, if the Islamists assume power following free elections and then possibly lose it again by the ballot boxes, is that more dangerous than despotism, suppression, murders, and imprisonments? If a despotic rule lasts for one, two or three more years, does it mean that the alternative for it will not be Islamic (if we accept that what we see nowadays is truly Islamic)? Is the issue really about fears and stability, or is it in reality a form of racism that considers freedom a value that Arabs and Muslims do not deserve?
Let us for a moment believe the hypocrisy and naivety of those who say that the Syrian revolution is Salafi in nature. Does this justify the murder of thousands of people and pulling out fingernails of children under torture and slaughtering whole families? Is the murder or wounding of any human being, even if he is a Salafi, permissible? Those finding pretexts for the crimes deserve to be put on trial for racism, instigating murder or defending killers. In any case, this is one of the diseases of fascism.
Boredom, Foreign Intervention, Militarism and Chaos?
Some of those following the Arab revolutions might feel bored. In addition, the military intervention in Libya and the lack of detailed information about it as well as the elections in Egypt and Tunisia and the rise of Islamic parties there have all lead to a declining interest in the situation in Syria especially as the revolution has been going on for a while and reports of killings have become daily. However, all these reasons do not justify an absence of interest in the thousands of victims and do not justify talk about settlement with the murders or the absolute rejection of any foreign intervention. Nor does it justify the argument for continuation of despotism as an alternative to chaos. Foreign intervention is not limited to military action. It also encompasses medical and humanitarian aid, and applying political pressure and more sanctions, as well as launching law suits against those responsible and imposing bans on their travel, and expulsion of the regime’s ambassadors. Military intervention as a principle is not always unacceptable. Since the end of World War Two the role of the United Nations and the international community allows for foreign intervention to stop crimes against humanity. Foreign intervention has always been a subject of scepticism because of how it was carried out during the Cold War, previous cases of double standards being applied and many cases of no intervention or mismanagement. However, its necessity in itself is not an insult or accusation. The issue in the Syrian case is divisive even amongst Syrian themselves, even though, at least until now, a military form of intervention has not been proposed in decision-making and executive circles. The other issue is that discussions on intervention are not taking into consideration all previous experiences to produce a clear set of points of what is expected from such an intervention (Kosovo is a noteworthy case that deserves research).
Hypocrisy and demagogy come into mind when addressing the fear from chaos and civil war in Syria. Those fearful are asking hundreds of thousands of protestors demanding freedom and citizenship rights, and the families of more than 10 thousand deceased, to calm down, and accept the injustice and crimes against them and accept the continuation of the Assad family rule for a few more years in order to avoid chaos and for the sake of peace and stability. Therefore, the victims should stop their revolution against the regime to prevent a civil war, and the regime should not have to leave to avoid further bloodshed and to kick start a peaceful transition leading to elections!
The demagogic argument reaches its climax when some “researchers” and those claiming to be experts on the Middle East, whom were totally silent for the first six and seven months of the revolution, now warn from the dangers of militarism. They condemn the victims for trying to defending themselves, they denounce the defection of soldiers, who refused to kill their own people, from the regular army! Today they call for a peaceful revolution, which was/is going for months and which they were totally silent regarding it, or even sceptical of its aims and fearful of.
A point should be clarified here, the peaceful revolution which should be defended and advocated for everyday, and which is the defining and most wonderful feature of the Syrian revolution, has not ceased. The demonstrations are ongoing, even more frequently than before. The strikes and calls for civil disobedience are still ongoing, so are the distribution of brochures, and sit-ins, and the creative works which are regularly organised by the revolutionaries in Syria. Militarism has, unfortunately, become a reality as an inevitable consequence of the criminality of the regime and its refusal to step down. Many Syrians have become supportive of the military option because they think that the regime only understands the language of violence and that it will not stop its massacres and will not be toppled unless it is removed by force. Is their conclusion accurate? This is difficult to answer after all what has happened. The situation is constantly changing and shifting and in any case, Syrians have the right to try all means to emerge out of their long night.
Conclusion: Syria’s People
In conclusion, it is worthwhile to return to an issue forgotten by some of the “anti-colonialism” left-wing or the racists of the extreme right, despite there being not much difference between them when it comes to Syria. Geo-strategies, Islamophobia, looking for conspiracy plotters in Washington, Paris, Tel Aviv, Doha and Ankara as well as the discussions about minorities and the fear from the majorities all miss the major point. This central issue appears very simple, but entails many complexities and difficulties. It is the Freedom of the Syrian people and their right to live…
Compared to this Freedom and this Right, all the debates, the analysis, the confrontation of so called “imperialism”, and all the talk about Salafists and conspiracies are all minor details which do not and will not change the moral, or even the political, position: supporting the Syrian people until they are emancipated from despotism. After that Syrians can choose whatever they seek, they have the right to pass through experiences, which won’t be easy, until, after all their great sacrifices and after all what they have given over the long previous months, they achieve what they deserve: Living with Dignity and Freedom and in Peace under the sun of this world.
شاركها مع أصدقائك
انقر لإرسال هذا بالبريد الإلكتروني إلى صديق (فتح في نافذة جديدة)
هذه المقالة كُتبت ضمن التصنيف إلى الإنكليزية, اللغة. الوسوم: Al Assad family, Analysis, Arab Spring, Bashar Al Assad, Concept of Freedom, conspiracy theory, despotism, Hafez Al Assad, Islamism, Israel, Lebanon, minorities, Nadia Aissaoui, Palestine, Palestinian camps, political hypocrisy, Soviet Union, Syrian Regime, Syrian Revolution, Syrian revolution and the West, USA, Ziad Majed. أضف الرابط الدائم إلى المفضّلة.
One response to “Syria: Autopsy of a Regime”
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Similarly, 81 percent of voters in South Carolina believe that sexuality education should include information on contraception and abstinence. Students shall be presented with the latest medically factual and age-specific information regarding both the possible side effects and health benefits of all forms of contraception.
They may believe that sexual knowledge is necessary, or simply unavoidable, hence their preference for curricula based on abstinence. But they organized themselves in exactly that fashion. Requires that applicants teach information that is medically accurate and age appropriate and does not teach religion.
In the s, the universities embraced two antithetical agendas, both costly and reliant on borrowed money. I was raised by egalitarian parents who taught me the anatomically correct names for all of my body parts, as well as where babies come from, all before I entered elementary school.
Indigenous education Indigenous education refers to the inclusion of indigenous knowledge, models, methods, and content within formal and non-formal educational systems. Check out this example from a current AP history text that high school juniors are forced to read across the nation.
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Читать онлайн The Mystery of Flight 427. Adair Bill.
Bill Adair
THE MYSTERY OF FLIGHT 427
Inside a Crash Investigation
For Katherine
The important thing to understand about the rudder pedals is that they are unnecessary; like your wisdom teeth, they serve no very good purpose but can cause much trouble.
Wolfgang Langewiesche, 1944
Tom Haueter, John Cox, and Brett Van Bortel made this book possible because of their candor. For six years, they shared their private thoughts about the investigation and how the crash had changed their lives. They endured my frequent visits, telephone calls, and repetitive questions. I thank them for their patience and their willingness to open their lives to thousands of readers. I also appreciate the help I received from Trisha Dedik and Jean Cox, who discussed how the investigation affected their husbands.
I am grateful for the cooperation of the chairman of the NTSB, Jim Hall, and the managing director, Peter Goelz. The agency’s public affairs office initially rejected my proposal for a behind-the-scenes look at the investigation, but Hall and Goelz agreed because they believed they had a positive story to tell. They granted me special access to the investigators on the condition that I not publish anything until the report was complete. I also want to thank the NTSB public affairs staff, past and present, including Mike Benson, Pat Cariseo, Ted Lopatkiewicz, and Alan Pollock.
I appreciate the openness of people at Boeing. The company had never cooperated with a project like mine, but several key officials realized it was in Boeing’s interest—and the interest of passengers who fly its planes—to tell its side. I appreciate the support of Bill Curry, Liz Verdier, Russ Young, Sue Bradley, John Dern, and Steve Thieme. Boeing’s historian, Tom Lubbesmeyer, shared the company’s memos and marketing materials from the 1960s, which provided tremendous insight into the decision-making process when the 737 was designed. The Boeing engineers and pilots involved in the investigation—Jean McGrew, John Purvis, Rick Howes, Mike Hewett, Mike Carriker, and Jim Draxler—were honest about their feelings and frustrations about the NTSB. Because of their candor, I was able to write a more balanced book that reveals the tensions and disagreements of the investigation.
I am thankful for the assistance from people at USAir and the Federal Aviation Administration. At USAir: Rick Weintraub, Deborah Thompson, Dave Supplee, George Snyder, and Ralph Miller. At the FAA: Vikki Anderson, Dave Thomas, Drucella Andersen, Bud Donner, Ed Kittel, Eliot Brenner, Diane Spitaliere, Paul Turk, Bob Hawk, and Ned Preston.
Thanks also to Joe Formoso, Mike Demetrio, Tom Ellis, Michael Pangia, Russ Chiodo, John Kretz, Steve Okun, John Masor, Bob Flocke, and Keith Hagy.
I am deeply grateful to my colleagues at the St. Petersburg Times who helped with my series 28 Seconds , on which this book is based, and to the Times for waiving copyright on the material first published in the series. I am indebted to Richard Bockman and Neil Brown, who helped me shape the early drafts and provided crucial advice on how to tell such a complex story. Thanks also to Paul Tash, Sara Fritz, Chris Lavin, Susan Taylor Martin, Kelly Boring Smith, Bill Serne, Tom Rawlins, David Dahl, Sherry Robinson, Kitty Bennett, and Times attorneys George Rahdert and Allison Steele. I also thank my friend Don Phillips of the Washington Post , who provided help and encouragement along the way.
I am indebted to people who read drafts of the manuscript at various stages, including Pat Trenner, Eric Adams, Peter Wallsten, Scott Moyers, and John Donnelly. My agents, David Black and Gary Morris of the David Black Literary Agency, provided tremendous support during the ups and downs of the past six years. I am especially grateful to Mark Gatlin at the Smithsonian Institution Press for his enthusiasm and persistence about the project.
I thank my in-laws, Frank and Otey Swoboda, for providing me a place to write. My wife, Katherine, provided many valuable suggestions about the manuscript, and she and our children, Molly, Annie, and Miles, tolerated my frequent trips and my six-day workweeks as I finished the book. We’ll have time to play with the Sega Dreamcast now, guys.
The clock on the nightstand read 2 A.M., and Tom Haueter was wide awake. He was usually a leaden sleeper, dead to the world once his head hit the pillow. But tonight a nightmare had jolted him awake.
By day Haueter ran the investigation into the crash of USAir Flight 427. He was the consummate man in charge, all confidence and certainty. At night, though, his doubts sometimes overcame him. It had been nine months since the Boeing 737 corkscrewed out of the blue sky over Pittsburgh and dived into a hill at 300 miles per hour, but Haueter still didn’t know why it had happened.
He had run many investigations for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and this one had started like all the rest—the peculiar smell of death mixed with jet fuel and the adrenaline rush during the first few days of examining the wreckage. But the rush he received had long since passed. Investigators usually figure out the cause a week or two after a crash, but not this time. They had eliminated one theory after another—the promising ones, the far-fetched ones, and a few that were truly bizarre—and now it seemed they were back where they had started.
At the NTSB, solving a case was paramount. It was right there in federal law: “The board shall report the facts, conditions and circumstances relating to each accident and the probable cause thereof.” If an investigator couldn’t come up with the cause, he had failed. In the entire twenty-five-year history of the NTSB, only four cases had gone unsolved—and one of those involved a 737.
Indeed, Haueter was accustomed to solving every case, even seemingly impossible ones like the crash in Brunswick, Georgia, that killed U.S. senator John Tower. That case was especially difficult because the evidence was so sketchy. The Embraer 120 plane did not have a flight data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder. Haueter had to rely on radar data and the pilots’ last words with air traffic controllers. But ultimately the NTSB had found a piece of wreckage, no bigger than a coin, that revealed a flaw in the propeller system.
Many of Haueter’s colleagues at the board believed that he would never find the answer to the USAir crash. Some thought he should give up. “You’ve got nothing,” one investigator said. “It’s time to walk.”
Maybe it was. He fantasized about quitting. He was fed up with the office politics and the childish sniping between Boeing and the pilots union. He certainly could live without his beeper, without the calls in the middle of the night, and without his job stealing his weekends. It would be good for his marriage.
But his fantasies about quitting didn’t last long. He realized there was no way he could leave in the middle of the biggest mystery in NTSB history. His personal and professional pride was on the line. And there were lives at stake.
Haueter’s bosses were putting immense pressure on him. One of them said that if the USAir case went unsolved, Congress would abolish the NTSB. If the bozos at the board couldn’t solve this one, Congress would say, they might as well find a new line of work. That was just the kind of pressure Haueter didn’t need. He not only had to figure out whether the world’s most widely used jetliner had a fatal flaw, he also had to save his agency from extinction.
When he complained to a friend about the pressure, NTSB chairman Jim Hall got wind of it and intercepted Haueter one day as he was walking out of the office.
“Can you follow me down for a minute?” Hall asked.
They walked through the lobby, past the NTSB’s Most Wanted List of safety recommendations, and entered an elevator.
“You know, you don’t have to solve it,” Hall said.
“Jim, I appreciate that, but yeah, we do,” Haueter replied. “Greg and I need to know what happened. We don’t want this thing hanging over us. We’ve got four unsolved accidents. The safety board can’t afford a fifth.”
Haueter felt that he could solve it. He just needed time. But he worried about what might happen in the meantime.
In his nightmare, another 737 had crashed, which prompted Congress to launch a massive inquiry to find out why the NTSB had bungled the case.
Suddenly he was in a giant hearing room, facing a panel of angry congressmen. The TV cameras were zooming in on him. It seemed there were thousands of people in the room, and all of them had decided he was guilty. He was at the witness table, all alone .
“What happened?” a congressman demanded. “Why didn’t you do something sooner? Why didn’t you ground the fleet?”
Brett and Joan Van Bortel pulled into the parking lot shortly after sunrise, with a few minutes to spare before Joan’s 6:20 train. She was a marketing manager for Akzo Nobel, a big chemical company, and liked to get to work early, even when it meant a twelve- or fourteen-hour day. This would be one of those days. She was flying to Pittsburgh for a dinner meeting.
Joan took a trip nearly every week and had become a seasoned business traveler. She carried the same suitcase-on-wheels that pilots and flight attendants used, and she traveled light, taking only the bare essentials for each trip. Unfortunately, the prime spots for the chemical business were not the nation’s most glamorous cities. She spent a lot of time in Akron, Ohio, the rubber capital of the world.
Joan was an ambitious person. Her goal was to become Akzo Nobel’s highest-ranking woman. She was one of the first people to arrive in the office each morning and usually ate lunch at her desk so she could keep working. She told her employees that every call should be picked up by the third ring. She was not a chemist, but she took time to learn about the company’s products. She held training sessions to teach employees how to pronounce the chemical names and made them take written quizzes with questions like “How is rubber cured?” and “Name one of our products that has zinc in it.” When Joan stopped at a gas station, she got into long conversations with auto mechanics about the chemistry of tires.
As she and Brett kissed good-bye, Joan looked very professional in a stylish green-and-white suit, with her briefcase in hand. She wore her engagement ring, which had a distinctive marquise diamond surrounded by other diamonds. Brett had given her lots of jewelry, but this ring was her favorite.
She was five feet two—almost a foot shorter than Brett—with shoulder-length honey-brown hair, sparkling brown eyes, and a flawless smile. With her hair up, she resembled the actress Jessica Lange. Brett loved the way Joan was comfortable with a grunge look—big glasses, a baseball cap, and messy hair—and the way she could transform herself into a knockout. She exercised every day and was in great shape, which allowed her to indulge in an occasional bag of Skittles from the office snack machine.
While Joan was in Pittsburgh that night, Brett planned to stay home and install a tile floor in their kitchen. He had promised her the floor would be finished before she came home the following day.
Captain Peter Germano and First Officer Charles B. Emmett III first saw Ship 513 in Jacksonville, Florida. They had spent the previous two days flying to Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Toronto, Cleveland, Charlotte, and then down to Jacksonville, a trip that involved three different 737s. Switching planes during a trip was standard procedure for most airline pilots. Because of union work rules and government time limits, USAir pilots flew no more than eight hours per day, followed by a mandatory nine hours and fifteen minutes of rest. A typical USAir 737 was in the air for ten hours every day, however. That timing mismatch led to a complex and confusing schedule, as the airline tried to maximize productivity by switching crews on and off different aircraft throughout the day.
Ship 513 had spent the night in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, where mechanics performed a “transit check” on the plane, inspecting the hydraulic system for leaks, examining the wheels and tires, and checking the engine oil. There were no significant maintenance problems or pilot “squawks” that needed to be fixed. On the morning of September 8, a different set of pilots had flown the plane from Windsor Locks to Syracuse, Rochester, Charlotte, and then Jacksonville. Emmett and Germano were scheduled to take the aircraft to Charlotte, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.
Ship 513 was identical to the 220 other 737s that USAir flew. It had a shiny silver fuselage (painted planes were heavier, which meant higher fuel costs) and a pair of stripes, red and blue, running the length of the plane just below the windows. The tail was navy blue with red pinstripes and the airline’s simple logo in white letters. The company colors were also featured on the inside—the seats were navy blue with red and white decorations. The bulkhead that separated coach from first class was covered in a carpet that looked like a sunset. It was supposed to absorb sound so that people talking in coach wouldn’t bother the first-class passengers.
The first-class section had 8 leather seats, and coach had 118 fabric-covered ones, each designed to be as thin and lightweight as possible and still comply with federal safety standards to withstand a forward force of nine times the force of gravity, or 9 Gs. It was a sharp-looking plane, a big improvement over USAir’s previous colors, frumpy 1970s earth tones that one USAir official had described as “red on brown on red on brown.”
Ship 513 was seven years old, which made it a relatively new plane in the USAir fleet. Purchased in October 1987 for about $24 million, the plane had logged 23,800 hours—the equivalent of flying continuously for nearly three years. It had made almost 14,500 flights or “cycles”—the most critical measurement of a plane’s age. Each time an aircraft is pressurized for a flight, the airframe is subjected to stress.
The plane was part of the 300 series, which meant it was the third generation of 737s. The first generation, the 100 series, was introduced in 1967. Boeing designed the 737–300 to be in service for at least 75,000 cycles, but many planes continued to fly long after that. The life span was economic, ending when it became too costly to maintain the planes. Airlines typically kept jets for twenty to thirty years before trading them in for new models.
Emmett, Germano, and the flight attendants had arrived in Jacksonville about 11 P.M. on September 7 and checked in to the Omni Jacksonville Hotel, a downtown high-rise overlooking the St. John’s River. Germano ordered a turkey croissant sandwich from room service shortly before midnight and called his wife, Christine, back in Moorestown, New Jersey. He and his crew would be able to sleep late the next morning; they didn’t have to be back at the Jacksonville airport for their next trip until noon.
Their flight to Charlotte was uneventful.
On the next leg, to Chicago, a USAir pilot named Bill Jackson rode in the cockpit jump seat, a fold-down seat behind the pilots. It was common practice in the airline industry to allow pilots to ride for free so they could commute from their home city to their crew base. Many pilots preferred riding in the jump seat so they did not have to listen to annoying chatter from passengers.
About thirty minutes into the flight to Chicago, Andrew McKenna Sr., a passenger in first class, heard a strange gurgling sound. He was a seasoned traveler, the head of a major paper and packaging company, so he was accustomed to the noises inside big jets. But this was unusual, like water being forced out of a sink. It seemed to be coming from just above his head.
McKenna summoned the flight attendant and described the noise. He flew a lot, he told her, and he had never heard anything like it. She listened for a moment and then said she thought the sound was coming from the PA speaker. McKenna wasn’t sure that she was right, but he went back to his reading. He didn’t give the sound another thought.
The flight attendant picked up the intercom phone, called Germano in the cockpit, and reported that a passenger was hearing an unusual noise that seemed to be coming from the PA system. Germano turned to Jackson behind him in the jump seat and noticed that his knee was pressing on a microphone button. Jackson moved his knee, and the flight continued to Chicago without further complaints.
But after the plane landed at O’Hare and parked at Gate F6, passengers were still talking about the noise. The gate was packed with people waiting to board the plane for its next trip, Flight 427 to Pittsburgh. As the arriving passengers walked off, a woman whose husband was booked on Flight 427 overheard someone discussing the noise. She decided to call USAir to make sure her husband’s plane was safe.
The phone rang in the mechanics lounge beneath the F gates just as USAir maintenance foreman Gerald Fox walked in the door. He listened as the woman explained what she had overheard. She said she was concerned because her husband was on the Pittsburgh flight.
“I have two good mechanics on duty,” Fox told her. “If there is a problem with the airplane, it will be taken care of before leaving.” He hung up and walked outside to look for his mechanics. After searching for a few minutes, he walked up the metal stairs to Ship 513, which was being loaded for the trip to Pittsburgh. He found Germano in the covered Jetway just outside the plane and explained the woman’s complaint about the strange noise. Germano did not mention the microphone incident from the previous flight, but he did not seem concerned.
Germano said, “I have a good airplane.”
At the Akzo Nobel office in downtown Chicago, Joan had gotten busy with meetings and phone calls, so she was running late when she grabbed her bags at 3:45 P.M. and ran out of the office to catch the El train to O’Hare. She had only an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the airport, and several people at the office thought she would miss her flight. She had decided to take along a laptop computer so she could work on a report at her Pittsburgh hotel. This was the first time she’d carried a laptop, and she was worried that it might get zapped by the airport metal detector, but her coworkers assured her it would be fine.
Joan got off the train at O’Hare and dashed through the underground tunnels and up the escalator to Terminal 2. She tossed her suitcase and briefcase on the X-ray belt, walked through the metal detector, and grabbed her bags. She hurried past the shoeshine stand and the snack bar to Gate F6. She would have preferred to fly American or United—where she had most of her frequent flier miles—but neither of those airlines had many flights to Pittsburgh. Her travel agent had booked her on USAir, which had a big hub there.
At O’Hare, however, USAir was a bit player. The airline’s gates in the F wing looked like they hadn’t been improved since the days of the first Mayor Daley. Under yellowed ceiling tiles, passengers sat in cramped gray chairs and watched the CNN Airport Network on a blaring TV. The hallway echoed with the sound of footsteps and the clickety-clickety-clickety of suitcase wheels. The PA system kept telling passengers: “May I have your attention, please. For security reasons, keep your baggage with you at all times. Unattended baggage will be removed by the Chicago Police Department.” A red cardboard sign told passengers to watch for suspicious activity and to refuse packages from “anyone you do not know very well.”
Joan handed her ticket to the agent and walked down the Jetway toward Ship 513. She was in 14E, a middle seat just behind the wing. Though she preferred to sit on the aisle, nothing was available there. Flight 427 was packed. In the seat on her right was Robert Connolly, a financial consultant headed home to Pittsburgh. In the one on her left was a man from Virginia named John T. Dickens. The plane was so full that the Weavers, a family of five from Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania, had to sit in middle seats scattered around the cabin. Seven-year-old Scott Weaver was one row ahead of Joan, and his eleven-year-old sister, Lindsay, was one row back. The family was returning from a funeral for a nine-year-old cousin.
It was primarily a business flight. Eight U.S. Department of Energy employees were returning to Pittsburgh from a coal conference. Several of them had initially booked seats on later USAir flights but had switched to this one so they could get home earlier. Also on board were four people from US Steel, a lawyer from Westinghouse, and an account executive from a Chicago radio station. The man in 20C was a neuroscientist from the Scripps Institute for Oceanography. The grad student in 16A was flying to Pittsburgh for a job interview. The well-tanned guy with the baseball cap in 17F was a convicted drug dealer.
At the gate, Captain Germano was given the flight plan, the weather forecast, and the cargo manifest on a computer printout that stretched four feet long. Pilots often joked about the big stack of paperwork for each flight, saying that when the weight of the paper exceeded the weight of the airplane, it was safe to fly. The papers told Germano that Flight 427 was scheduled to leave at 4:50 P.M. Chicago time and land in Pittsburgh 55 minutes later. The plane would have a cruising altitude of 33,000 feet and would get a gentle push from a 31-knot tailwind. The plane would need 6,400 pounds of jet fuel, but it would carry more than twice that amount in case Germano had to divert to another city or go into a holding pattern.
The plane’s route looked like gibberish: ORD … GIJ … J146 … J34 … DJB … ACO … CUTTA1 … PIT, but Germano could read it like simple street directions. The three-letter codes stood for airports and navigation markers between Chicago and Pittsburgh. Flight 427 would climb away from O’Hare (ORD), over a point known as Gipper east of Gary, Indiana, and then up to jet routes J146 and J34. They were like interstate freeways in the sky, carrying high-altitude east-west traffic along the Indiana-Michigan border and then southeast toward Pittsburgh. Flight 427 would cross over a navigation point known as Dryer near Cleveland and then begin to descend near Akron, Ohio. It would follow a standard arrival route known as “CUTTA,” which was like a big funnel for planes from the northwest converging on the Pittsburgh airport.
Several pages of Germano’s paperwork dealt with the weather. There were SIGMETS—significant meteorological conditions—for Georgia and Florida, but none that would affect his brief flight over the Midwest. The weather in Pittsburgh looked perfect, sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-seventies. All of the Pittsburgh runways were dry.
The papers also gave Germano crucial information about the plane’s weight and the speed necessary to get off the ground. The plane would be carrying 11 tons of people and 3,700 pounds of cargo. The aircraft and its contents would weigh 115,000 pounds as it roared down the O’Hare runway. It would need to go at least 138 knots, or 159 miles per hour, to get airborne.
At the bottom of the main page, Germano saw this statement:
I HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF THIS FLIGHT PLAN AND NECESSARY ATTACHMENTS AND CONSIDER ALL CONDITIONS INCLUDING MY PHYSICAL CONDITION SUITABLE FOR THIS FLIGHT. I HAVE ADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE OF ALL FACTORS AFFECTING THE ROUTE, WEATHER, NAVIGATION, COMMUNICATIONS, TERRAIN, OBSTRUCTIONS AND ALL APPLICABLE PROCEDURES AND REGULATIONS.
Germano printed his name and his USAir employee number, then signed his name. The lives of 131 people on board were now his responsibility.
As the passengers stuffed their carry-on luggage into the overhead bins, baggage handlers filled the belly of the plane with 1,700 pounds of luggage and a ton of Business Week magazines that were ultimately headed to subscribers in the Carolinas. The flight was running about fifteen minutes late, so USAir mechanic Tim Molloy had extra time to walk around the plane and make sure it was safe. He circled Ship 513 twice, checking the tires, the wings, the rudder, the tubes that measure airspeed, and the fluid levels for the hydraulic systems. He made sure all the cargo doors were locked. No problems. The plane looked fine.
Either Molloy or mechanic Mark Kohut pushed the plane back with a USAir tractor—neither of them remembers who performed which task—and told the pilots by intercom that it was safe to start the engines. The mechanic then stood away from the plane and snapped the pilots a salute. Flight 427 was on its way.
The cockpit in Ship 513 was identical to every other USAir 737. With pilots switching planes two or three times a day, it was crucial that the instruments and controls be in exactly the same place in all the planes. The cockpit seemed to be filled with a hundred clocks. It was possible to equip 737s with more modern computer screens, but USAir chose to stick with the older-style “steam gauges” so that all its planes would be standardized.
The walls and panels of the cockpit were gray, a neutral color that allowed pilots to see the dials more easily. There were two seats with sheepskin covers, for the captain and the first officer, plus the fold-down jump seat behind them that could be used by Federal Aviation Administration inspectors or pilots hitching a ride from one city to another. A sign on the back wall of the cockpit said: LIQUOR TAX HAS BEEN PAID, a requirement because the airline served alcohol. The cockpit door had a small mirror on the inside so the pilots could straighten their hats and ties before saying hello or good-bye to passengers.
Many people who earn more than $100,000 a year have spacious offices, but not airline pilots. They work in a room smaller than a bedroom closet. The 737 cockpit is a familiar, comfortable place to them, however. The controls and instruments are laid out very logically. The most important controls are directly in front of the pilots—the rudder pedals and the wheel/control column. The most important gauges—airspeed, altitude, the attitude indicator, and the compass/navigational dial—form a T in the center of each pilot’s instrument panel. Switches and levers that are used less frequently are placed farther away. The circuit breaker panel, which is not used very often, is directly behind the seats. Above the pilots’ heads is a small compartment with an escape rope so they can climb out a window and slide down the fuselage if the cockpit door is blocked. Hidden beneath the jump seat is an ax, which pilots can use to chop into an electrical panel during a fire or to break out of wreckage after a crash.
By standardizing cockpits, the airlines are encouraging repetition. If pilots perform the same task repeatedly, it should become so automatic that they don’t make mistakes. That’s also the rationale behind requiring them to use checklists—to make sure that they flip each lever the same way, in the same order, on every flight. Checklists are no guarantee that a crew won’t screw up—the checklists themselves can become so rote that pilots race through them without doing what the list calls for—but when used properly they provide a good tool for helping the pilots go through the tasks consistently. Standardization is crucial because captains and first officers may never have flown together before. Pilots pick their trips based on their own personal schedules and their favorite cities, so the selection of a copilot is usually just a matter of luck. (A prized USAir trip was Baltimore–St. Thomas–St. Croix–Baltimore, which had a 25–hour overnight at a nice resort in St. Croix; the least popular were the red–eyes, such as the 2 A.M. Los Angeles–to–Pittsburgh flight.)
Germano and Emmett had been through the 737 checklists thousands of times and could probably have recited them from memory. But before the plane departed, the pilots were still required to go through them point by point. The lists had a unique rhythm, like a rap song with two singers alternating back and forth:
Fuel quantity?
15–6 required; 15–6 on board.
Oil and hydraulic quantities?
Checked and checked.
Fuel panel?
Seat belt sign?
Window heat?
Hydraulics?
A’s off; B’s on.
Pressurization?
On each flight the captain and first officer trade off the tasks of flying the plane and communicating with air traffic controllers, thus spreading the workload evenly and assuring that they both get a chance to fly. But a distinct pecking order is still in effect. The captain, whose uniform carries four stripes on the shoulder epaulets, has the ultimate responsibility. If the captain thinks that anything about the plane is unsafe, the flight won’t leave. Likewise, only the captain has the authority to abort a takeoff.
The top job comes with a few perks. USAir 737 captains made about $160,000 a year in 1994, whereas first officers made $110,000. Also, the captain traditionally gets to sit inside the cockpit while the first officer performs the walk-around inspection outside the plane, which can be a miserable task during rain or snow.
Germano, from Moorestown, New Jersey, was forty-five years old and had been flying since he was seventeen. He flew for the New York State Air National Guard and began his airline career with Braniff Airways in 1976. He started with USAir in 1981, initially as a flight engineer on the Boeing 727, then as first officer on the BAC-111 and then as first officer and captain on the 737. He was an accomplished pianist, had been married for nineteen years, and had two daughters, ages three and nine.
Emmett, who was thirty-eight, also began flying as a teenager. He started his career by flying corporate planes and in 1987 joined Piedmont Airlines, which was bought by USAir two years later. He was married and lived in the Houston suburb of Nassau Bay. He loved to sail, and he drove a Corvette with the Texas license plate 1USAIR. At six feet four, he was one of the tallest USAir pilots.
It was Emmett’s turn to fly, so Germano would be handling radio duties on the leg to Pittsburgh. Assuming that they followed standard airline procedures—as virtually every USAir pilot did—the taxiing and takeoff would have gone like this:
After one of the mechanics pushed the plane back with a tractor, Emmett turned the ignition switch and Germano moved a lever to start the No. 2 engine, the one on the right wing. After waiting about forty seconds for the engine to spool up, the pilots started No. 1. Germano moved a lever to engage the parking brake until they were cleared to leave. Emmett set the flaps on the wings to provide the extra lift it would take to get the plane airborne. (It is crucial to set the flaps. Two crashes in the late 1980s were the result of pilots’ forgetting to set them.)
The pilots then went through the “After Start” checklist, making sure that the generators and hydraulic pumps were on and the engine anti-ice was set properly. They checked for heat in the pitot tube, a sensor that measures airspeed, and then checked their shoulder harnesses to make sure they were snapped and secure.
“After-start checklist complete,” said Emmett.
Ground controllers cleared them to follow the taxiways until they reached Runway 32-Left, where they waited for another controller’s direction. It was shortly before 5 P.M. Central Time.
“Cleared for takeoff,” the controller said.
Emmett moved the throttle levers forward and pushed a button marked “TOGA,” which stood for “take off/go around.” That action energized the autothrottles so the plane’s flight-management computer would control the big CFM-56 engines. The computer would keep the power steady as the plane climbed.
The silver 737 began to roll down the runway. Just as Emmett removed his left hand from the throttle levers, Germano placed his right hand on them. It would be Germano’s responsibility to decide whether to reject the takeoff.
“Eighty knots,” Germano called out.
Emmett looked at his airspeed indicator to make sure it agreed. “Checked,” he responded.
The plane was nearing V-1, the speed at which it could no longer be stopped on the runway.
“V-1,” said Germano, removing his hand from the power levers. They were committed now. They had to fly.
“Rotate,” said Germano.
Emmett pulled back on the control column, lifting the plane’s nose into the Chicago sky. They were airborne.
“Gear up,” Emmett said.
Germano grabbed the gear lever—it had a small wheel on the end so it would be unmistakable—and flipped it up. The pilots heard a thump as the nose gear was pulled inside the plane.
Emmett relied on the autopilot most of the way. USAir wanted its crews to use the device as much as possible because it made the plane more fuel-efficient. It was like cruise control in a car. Emmett could set the desired airspeed, altitude, and heading on a panel just below the windscreen, and the plane would automatically follow that course. Ship 513 also had a flight-management computer that kept track of the plane’s route and position and told the autopilot when to turn, climb, or descend. The computer could be cranky, however. About thirty minutes into the flight, Emmett had trouble getting it to accept a command.
“Ah, you piece of shit!” said Emmett.
“What?” asked Germano.
“I said, ‘Aw, c’mon, you piece of shit!’ This damn thing is so fucking slow!”
Emmett cursed the computer twice more before it did what he wanted. “There it is,” he said, finally satisfied.
The plane was at 29,000 feet as it cruised along the Michigan-Indiana border and then over the sparkling waters of Lake Erie, before banking gently to the right and turning southeast toward Cleveland.
“USAir 427, cleared direct to Akron, rest of route unchanged,” a controller in Cleveland told Germano. “Give me the best forward airspeed, in-trail spacing.”
“Direct Akron, best forward, you got it,” Germano said. “USAir 427.”
They began a steady descent toward 24,000 feet. Once they reached that point, another controller told them to continue down to 10,000 feet, the point where they would enter the CUTTA arrival pattern into the Pittsburgh airport.
Germano tuned the radio to the recorded weather briefing. “Pittsburgh tower arrival information Yankee,” it said. “Two-one-five-two Zulu weather. Two five thousand scattered. Visibility one five. Temperature seven five. Dew point five one. Wind two seven zero at one zero.”
That meant the weather was ideal: 75 degrees Fahrenheit with scattered clouds and 15 miles of visibility. It was a perfect summer evening. The two pilots were relaxed. It was a Thursday shortly before 7 P.M. Eastern time, their last day of work that week. They chatted with a flight attendant about pretzels and sampled her fruit juice-Diet Sprite concoction.
“That’s good,” said Germano after taking a sip.
“That is different,” said Emmett. “Be real, be real good with some dark rum in it.”
“Yeah, right!” the flight attendant said.
The plane had crossed Ohio and was nearly to the Pennsylvania state line as it steadily descended toward 10,000 feet. About this time, the flight attendants were probably walking through the cabin to collect cups and cans. Passengers were told to put away computers and other electronic gadgets that might affect the plane’s navigational equipment.
“USAir 427, Pittsburgh Approach,” air traffic controller Richard Fuga told the pilots. “Heading one-six-zero, vector I-L-S Runway two-eight Right final approach course. Speed two-one-zero.” Fuga sounded as if he was in a great mood. His voice was playful as he directed planes toward the airport.
The pilots had been told to slow the airspeed to 210 knots and fly a heading toward Runway 28-Right. The plane was closing in on the Pittsburgh airport now, and Germano had listened to the latest radio briefing on airport conditions, which was known as “Yankee.”
“We’re coming back to two-one-zero,” Germano replied to Fuga. “One-sixty heading down to ten, USAir 427 and, uh, we have Yankee.”
A minute later, Fuga told them to descend to 6,000 feet. Germano acknowledged it, saying, “Cleared to six, USAir 427.” The pilots went through a preliminary checklist, making sure that the altimeters and other flight instruments were set properly.
“Shoulder harness?” Germano asked.
“On,” replied Emmett.
“Approach brief?”
“Plan two-eight-right, two-seven-nine inbound, one-eleven-seven.” They had set the navigation radios to align the plane with the runway.
Ship 513 was the last plane from the northwest in a big wave of arrivals. After landing in Pittsburgh, it would continue to West Palm Beach. But Emmett and Germano would switch to yet another 737 and fly the final leg of their trip across Pennsylvania to their home base, Philadelphia.
Fuga told Germano to slow the plane to 190 knots and
begin turning toward the Pittsburgh airport at a compass heading of 140.
Germano acknowledged, saying, “Okay, one-four-zero heading and one-nine-zero on the speed, USAir 427.”
One of the pilots switched on the seat belt sign, but then Emmett realized he hadn’t told the passengers to prepare for landing. “Oops, I didn’t kiss ’em ’bye. What was the temperature, ’member?”
“Seventy-five.”
“Folks, from the flight deck, we should be on the ground in ’bout ten more minutes,” Emmett announced over the PA system. “Uh, sunny skies, little hazy. Temperatures, temperatures ah, seventy-five degrees. Wind’s out of the west around ten miles per hour. Certainly appreciate you choosing USAir for your travel needs this evening, hope you’ve enjoyed the flight. Hope you come back and travel with us again. At this time we’d like to ask our flight attendants, please prepare the cabin for arrival. We’d ask you to check the security of your seat belts. Thank you.”
Germano was confused about the runway assignment. “Did you say two-eight Left for USAir 427?” he asked the controller.
“Uh, USAir 427, it’ll be two-eight Right,” Fuga said.
“Two-eight Right, thank you.”
Germano then listened to Fuga slow other planes to 190 knots, the equivalent of 218 miles per hour. “Boy, they always slow you up so bad here,” he said to Emmett.
“That sun is gonna be just like it was takin’ off in Cleveland yesterday, too.” Emmett said, laughing. “I’m just gonna close my eyes. You holler when it looks like we’re close.”
Germano chuckled. “Okay.”
They were about four miles behind Delta Air Lines Flight 1183, a Boeing 727 that was going to land ahead of them. Another plane, an Atlantic Coast Airlines Jetstream commuter plane, had just taken off and was about to enter their area.
“USAir 427, turn left heading one-zero-zero. Traffic will be one to two o’clock, six miles, northbound Jetstream climbing out of thirty-three for five thousand,” Fuga told them. The commuter plane was headed from 3,300 feet to 5,000, but it would stay miles away.
“We’re looking for the traffic, turning to one-zero-zero, USAir 427,” said Germano.
They started a gentle left turn. “Oh, yeah,” Emmett said, mocking a slight French accent, “I see zuh Jetstream.”
“Sheeez,” said Germano.
“Zuh,” said Emmett.
Thump . The plane suddenly rolled to the left. Thump .
“Whoa,” said Germano. The wings on the big 737 started to level off, but now the left wing rolled down again.
“Hang on, hang on,” Germano said. Emmett grunted.
One of them clicked off the autopilot, triggering the whoop-whoop-whoop of the autopilot warning horn.
“Hang on,” said Germano.
“Ohhh shiiiiit,” Emmett said in his slight Texas twang, sounding increasingly worried.
To passengers back in the cabin, the bumps initially felt like routine turbulence. But then the plane kept rolling left, and the nose pitched down toward the ground.
The pilots were desperately trying to figure out what was happening. One of them pulled back on the control column, trying to get the nose up.
“What the hell is this!!?” Germano exclaimed. Moments earlier, he had been able to see the horizon and a perfect blue sky. Now all he could see was the ground. Only twelve seconds had passed since the first hint of trouble.
The cockpit was chaotic. Stickshakers on the pilots’ control columns began rattling like jackhammers, warning them that the plane was stalling. The autopilot warning kept blaring whoop-whoop-whoop , notifying them that it had been disconnected. But that was the least of their problems. The plane’s traffic computer spotted the Jetstream a few miles away and its electronic voice shouted “TRAFFIC! TRAFFIC!”
“What the… !!!?” asked Germano.
The plane was still a mile up in the sky above the Green Garden Plaza shopping center, diving straight down at 240 miles per hour, twisting like a leaf and gaining speed. Out their front window, the pilots could see trees, roads, and the shopping center spinning closer and closer. As the plane corkscrewed down, passengers were pressed back in their seats by centrifugal force so strong that they had difficulty even lifting their hands off their laps. The wings had been robbed of their ability to fly, which made the plane shake violently, as if it were running over a thousand potholes.
“Oh!” said Emmett.
“Oh God! Oh God!” cried Germano.
The dials and gauges in the cockpit spun like clocks rushing forward in time. Germano shouted to controllers, “Four-twenty-seven emergency!”
The plane continued to dive toward a rocky hill.
“Pull!”
They were only 700 feet above the hill and diving at 280 miles per hour.
“God!” cried Emmett.
Germano screamed, “Pulllllllll!”
It had been just twenty-eight seconds since the first inkling of trouble.
Just before impact, Emmett sounded resigned, almost pleading, as he said, “Noooo…”
In the eerie darkness of the Pittsburgh TRACON, a windowless room filled with glowing radar screens, Richard Fuga saw the plane’s altitude suddenly drop to 5,300 feet.
“USAir 427, maintain six thousand,” he told them. “Over.”
He heard “emergency” and the pilots’ final cries. Either Emmett or Germano had kept his finger on the radio button as the plane fell.
The altitude on Fuga’s radarscope suddenly changed to three X s. That meant the plane was falling so fast that the FAA computer did not believe it. A moment later the plane disappeared from the screen.
Fuga called to them urgently. “USAir 427, Pittsburgh?”
“USAir 427, Pittsburgh?”
Still nothing.
Fuga gave rapid directions to another pilot and then called again for the missing plane. “USAir 427, Pittsburgh?”
He then said sadly, “USAir 427 radar contact lost.”
He asked other controllers to take over his flights and summoned a supervisor. He pointed to his screen. “Last radar and radio on 427, right here.”
Dozens of people saw the USAir plane fall. It was 7:03 P.M. in Hopewell Township, and the soccer games were in full swing on a field a few blocks from the hill. The 737 had flown over the soccer field and then rolled left and plunged toward earth.
“Look at that airplane!” shouted someone on the field.
In a car a mile south of the soccer field, Mike Price saw the plane twist out of the sky. “That airplane’s in trouble,” he told his father. It looked like someone had picked up the 737 by its tail and let it fall straight down. In the parking lot at Green Garden Plaza, Amy Giza had just climbed into her car and was reading the directions for a new set of math flash cards when her six-year-old son said, “Mommy, that airplane just fell out of the sky.”
George David, the owner of a 62-acre farm on Green Garden Road, was cutting flowers in his yard when he heard the roar of the plane’s engines. He thought it might be a truck racing out of control. Then he heard the explosion as the plane struck the gravel road that led to his neighbor’s house. Trees blocked everyone’s view of the actual impact, but lots of people saw the fireball erupt a moment later. Inside the Giant Eagle grocery store at Green Garden Plaza, the crash sounded like a huge crack of thunder.
A plume of smoke rose from the hill and drifted across Route 60, over the Beaver Lakes Golf Course. At least seventy-five people called 911. The first person to reach the Hopewell Township police department—entered into the log as “hysterical caller”—said a plane had crashed behind the shopping center. At fire stations throughout the Pittsburgh area, firefighters heard a series of tones and then “Zulu at Pittsburgh International Airport.” A Zulu call meant a disaster with at least twenty people killed.
More than forty fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars raced to the crash site, about ten miles west of the airport. When Engine 921 of the Hopewell Volunteer Fire Department reached the woods at the top of the hill, Captain James Rock hopped out and grabbed an ax and a pry bar. He was a professional firefighter at a nearby Air Force base and had taken part in many drills rescuing people from plane crashes. He dashed through the woods, ready to pry passengers out of the wreckage and save some lives.
He saw mangled luggage and airplane seats. He saw a man’s dismembered hand on the ground. He looked around feverishly. There was no one to save.
Firefighters pulled hoses into the woods and sprayed water on the wreckage and the trees to douse the flames. Others ran through the woods, shouting for survivors.
“Anybody here?!” they yelled. “Anybody need any help?!”
A police officer stood at the center of the debris, right where the nose had hit, and asked, “Where’s the plane?”
Down the hill at the shopping center the scene quickly became chaotic. Dozens of fire trucks and ambulances showed up, even though Hopewell Township authorities had not requested them. When fire chiefs and ambulance drivers throughout the Pittsburgh area heard there had been a plane crash, they just piled into their trucks and drove to Hopewell, eager to help.
They were not needed. There were a few fires to put out, and there was plenty of need for police to direct traffic and protect the crash site, but rescuers in dozens of ambulances and advanced life support trucks had nothing to do. This would be a cleanup operation, not a rescue call.
At FAA headquarters in Washington, a phone rang in the operations center on the tenth floor. It was the FAA nerve center for crashes, terrorism, and other mayhem, a place that looked like a remnant from the Cold War. In one room was a sophisticated TV-computer system that allowed the ops officer to watch all four major TV networks simultaneously. In another corner was a big radio panel with microphones and dials that looked like something out of Dr. Strangelove . It let the FAA communicate with airports and air traffic controllers if telephones got knocked out in a hurricane or a military attack.
The conference room next door served as a situation room, a place where FAA officials could plot strategy in a crisis and be in constant touch with people around the country. The phone system allowed elaborate conference calls for up to 240 people. That was especially useful after a crash, when the FAA wanted to link its accident investigators with their counterparts from the National Transportation Safety Board so they could make arrangements to travel to the site.
Ops officer Sharon Battle took the call about Flight 427 from someone in the FAA’s northeast regional office. She then pulled out the gray “Notification Record” that listed each office and government agency she needed to call. One by one, she went down the list, calling FAA administrator David Hinson and the rest of the FAA top brass, as well as the White House Situation Room, the FBI, and the CIA.
“We’d like to give you a briefing,” she told each of them. “USAir Flight 427, a Boeing 737, O’Hare to Pittsburgh at 6,000 feet. Radio and radar contact lost. Unknown fatalities or survivors at this time. Unknown if any ground injuries.”
She then made a round of calls to the accident investigators from the FAA and the NTSB. It was time to mobilize the Go Team.
John Cox and Bill Sorbie were in Pittsburgh for a USAir program called Operation Restore Confidence, a safety campaign about pilot mistakes and the need for pilots to follow procedures. The program had been in the works for months but had gotten new urgency because of the crash of USAir Flight 1016 in Charlotte two months earlier. It was USAir’s fourth fatal crash in five years, which had prompted the FAA to scrutinize the airline to make sure it had no systemic safety problems. Wind shear had thrown Flight 1016 to the ground, but NTSB investigators were likely to blame the pilots for flying into the storm.
Cox and Sorbie were USAir pilots and safety officials with their union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The union had surprisingly good relations with the company, especially on safety issues. A recent joint program was a case in point. The airline was having repeated problems with pilots who strayed from their assigned altitude, which not only could be dangerous but also could lead to FAA fines. So ALPA and the company agreed on a new procedure in which both pilots were required to call out their assigned altitude and then point their index finger at the altitude number on the instrument panel. That simple routine had reduced the number of deviations by more than 90 percent. The union and the airline hoped that Operation Restore Confidence would have the same kind of dramatic effect. The six-hour program began with statistics about mistakes by USAir pilots and then discussed how they could improve and standardize their procedures.
Like many pilots, Cox and Sorbie had chosen to live in Florida, where taxes and housing prices were low, and commute to their crew base (Baltimore for Cox, Philadelphia for Sorbie) when they had to fly a trip. Cox and his wife, Jean, a USAir flight attendant, lived in a waterfront home in St. Petersburg. Sorbie lived on a houseboat a few miles away in Tierra Verde. The Operation Restore Confidence meeting ended in the late afternoon, but the pilots decided to stay and have dinner at Mario’s, their favorite Italian restaurant, instead of rushing back to Florida. They finished dinner and were heading to their hotel with Don McClure, another ALPA official, when Sorbie’s pager went off, followed by McClure’s and then Cox’s. Within a minute, the three pagers sounded again.
“Oh, shit,” Sorbie said.
They got back to their hotel, a Hampton Inn at the airport, and went to Sorbie’s room. He called the ALPA official who had paged them and got the news: A USAir plane was down.
“This cannot be,” said Cox, who was still a member of the investigation looking into the crash of 1016. “This cannot be happening again.” He figured it wasn’t really a USAir jet. It was probably a USAir Express commuter plane. People often got the facts wrong in the first few hours after a crash.
But as the details emerged over the next hour it was clear that the plane was indeed a USAir 737, the same type of plane that Cox piloted.
They drove to the ALPA office near the Pittsburgh airport and spent ninety minutes on the phone notifying other people from the union and talking about which accident investigators should be summoned to the crash site. They were about ten miles away themselves, so Cox, Sorbie, and another ALPA official arranged for a police escort and headed west on Route 60 toward Hopewell Township. They showed their USAir ID badges to police officers at several checkpoints and then drove up Green Garden Road and parked in a driveway. As they climbed out of their rental car, they saw smoke still coming from the hill. They borrowed flashlights from an officer, walked under a line of police tape, and picked their way through the trees. A firefighter came up to them and asked, “Who are you guys?”
“We’re accident investigators from the pilots union,” they said.
“There’s not much here,” the firefighter said.
The pilots asked if there were any survivors.
“No, nobody will get out of this one.”
The first things Cox and Sorbie saw were some of the lightest items from the plane—EXIT signs and life jackets. As they got closer, they began seeing body parts and then larger pieces of the plane. Sorbie was struck by the lack of smells. After a plane crashes, there’s usually the sweet aroma of jet fuel. Sorbie sniffed the air but couldn’t smell it. Geez , he thought, I hope the pilot didn’t run the damn thing out of gas .
It was a surreal scene. The plane appeared to have crashed on a long dirt road, but debris had been blasted in every direction. There were no lights on the road, so the fire department had brought in portable lamps that sprayed the trees with a harsh white light and cast long shadows in the woods. Fires were spontaneously popping up in the trees, and firefighters ran over to extinguish them.
As the pilots got closer to the road, they noticed larger and larger pieces of wreckage, but most were no bigger than a car door. It looked like the 109-foot-long plane had disintegrated. They walked all around the woods, shining their flashlights on the largest pieces of wreckage. The engines were battered but still whole. The biggest piece was the tail, but it was badly banged up. As they walked carefully around the road and through the woods, Cox kept looking for parts from a second airplane, figuring that the 737 had been in a midair collision. But as he aimed the flashlight at the hundreds of pieces on the ground and in the trees, he saw only fragments of the big silver jet.
“Seen enough?” asked Sorbie.
“Yeah,” Cox said. “I’ve seen way more than enough.”
Brett Van Bortel’s company, Reed Elsevier, depended on business travelers like his wife, Joan. The company published the Official Airline Guide , known in frequent flier shorthand as the OAG , which listed complete airline schedules for every city in the country. Brett wrote brochures and magazine ads that portrayed the OAG as the bible of frequent travelers. He had even stirred up trouble with a billboard he had written. It stood just outside the entrance to O’Hare and read, O’HARE AHEAD, CARRY PROTECTION, with a picture of the OAG Pocket Flight Guide . City officials were not amused at the implication that people might need protection in their beloved airport, so the sign came down.
Brett was a child of suburbia. He and his two brothers grew up in West Chicago. His father was an executive with a food service company, his mom was a teacher. They lived in a spacious colonial house across the street from a picturesque forest preserve that had ponds and hiking trails. It was like an extension of the Van Bortels’ front yard—a huge place where Brett and his brothers could build forts and go camping. In the winter they went cross-country skiing through the tranquil forest; on the Fourth of July, they climbed to the top of an old landfill called Mount Trashmore and watched the fireworks.
Brett was on the track and swimming teams and played middle linebacker and center on the freshman football squad. He broke his neck in a bad car accident when he was sixteen, but recovered completely. He had always been the writer in the family, even as a boy. On his eighteenth birthday, an age when many boys are in full rebellion against their parents, he wrote his mother a sentimental poem about how much he loved her. He chose the University of Iowa because it had a great English department. His favorite writers were classic authors—Thomas Hardy, Jonathan Swift, and Shakespeare. But he also liked First Blood , the book that was the basis for the Rambo movies.
Joan had grown up on a farm in Melrose, Iowa, a tiny town about sixty miles south of Des Moines. Melrose was known as “Iowa’s Little Ireland” because most of its residents,
including Joan’s family, were Irish. Her parents grew corn and soybeans and raised cows. As the only girl in a family of five boys, Joan was spared most of the farm duties. That was just as well because she gradually discovered that she preferred living in the city. In choosing to go to the University of Iowa, Joan effectively said good-bye to farm life. (They say in Iowa that you go to the University of Iowa for culture and to Iowa State for agriculture. Joan had chosen culture.)
Joan and Brett were acquaintances for several years in college but did not start dating until their senior year. After they graduated, they spent a winter skiing in Vail, Colorado, and then moved to Chicago to start their careers. They had bought a ranch-style house on Riedy Road just before they were married. It was a fixer-upper with purple and green walls that desperately needed to be repainted. But they found it a lot more inviting than the sterile shoebox homes in nearby Naperville, the ones on streets with names like Whispering Woods, even though there wasn’t a single native tree for miles. The Lisle house would take some work, but they could give it personality. They were not do-it-yourselfers, but figured they could learn. Their first project was the bathroom. They gave it a new coat of paint and wallpaper, and Brett replaced the toilet himself.
His latest project was installing floor tile in the kitchen. He had just placed the last tile when the phone rang. It was Joan’s secretary.
“There’s been a plane crash,” she said. “I think Joan was on it.”
Brett flipped on CNN. The first words out of the television were
“…no survivors.”
“Oh, my goodness,” said CNN anchor Linden Soles. “Well, we had initial reports of 123 people aboard, possibly 130 if that’s counting a crew of 7. Are there a large number of emergency crews in the area right now, Sandra?”
“The whole county has responded—helicopters, ambulances, medi-rescue, police from all over the county,” the woman replied.
“Now, your estimation that there are perhaps no survivors from this crash—is that based on what you’ve seen or have you heard any confirmation from any emergency personnel?”
“We have not really had any confirmation on it, but our understanding is that there are no survivors, but we are not confirmed on that.”
Brett quickly dialed the number that CNN listed for USAir, but he kept getting busy signals. When he finally got through, the USAir employees were clueless. Brett said he thought his wife was on the plane that crashed. A USAir agent promised to have someone call back.
Brett’s brother Grant had come over to help tile the floor. He could see that Brett was upset. “What’s up?” he asked.
“I think Joan might have been in a plane crash,” Brett said. His words came out matter-of-factly; it was foolish to jump to conclusions, right? He didn’t know that she was on that particular plane. There were lots of flights from Chicago to Pittsburgh. What were the odds that she was on the plane that had crashed?
Joan’s secretary said she would go to the office and check Joan’s itinerary. In the meantime, Brett called Joan’s credit card company, hoping that she had charged the tickets and they would have the flight number. The company was no help. Then he tried calling Bob Henninger, the coworker Joan was supposed to meet in Pittsburgh. He left Henninger a message and then repeatedly called the hotel where Joan was supposed to stay. But the hotel operator kept telling him she had not checked in yet. Brett called again and again. Finally the operator connected him to a room. The phone rang.
Thank God! thought Brett. She’s alive!
The operator came back on the line: “I’m sorry. She hasn’t checked in.”
Minutes after the accident, a USAir supervisor typed a few commands into a computer to prevent anyone at the airline from seeing information about Flight 427. Reservation agents who tried to call up the passenger list got a curt response on their screen: UNABLE TO DISPLAY.
Copies of the passenger list were printed for only three locations—USAir’s situation room in Pittsburgh, its consumer affairs office in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the eighth-floor conference room at the airline’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia—the place that would come to be known as the Next-of-Kin Room.
Within an hour after the crash, about twenty-five grim-faced managers and vice presidents began to assemble in the big room. A technician hooked up telephones around the table and plugged in a computer that would be used to compile a master list. Flip charts were tacked to the walls so everyone could see important phone numbers and the names of the passengers. A TV in the corner was tuned to CNN.
ANCHOR LINDEN SOLES: I’m going to bring back Leo Janssens, who is the president of the Aviation Safety Institute. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a non-profit consumer watchdog group. Mr. Janssens, with the crashes and the run of bad luck that you were mentioning that USAir has encountered over the past five years—this is their fifth fatal crash—in three of those crashes, the aircraft were Boeing 737s. Is there any safety suspicion that we should be reading into that number?
JANSSENS: I really don’t believe so, because the Boeing 737 has been in service, airline service I’m talking about, for approximately 30 years. I don’t know the exact number of flight hours, but it’s got an excellent safety record. Sure there have been crashes, but I ride [the plane] all the time myself. It’s just really too early to tell what has happened and therefore I caution people not to be overly concerned at this point about the Boeing 737. USAir normally runs a very good airline. Of course, their safety record over the past five years has been less than admirable in terms of the rest of the industry.
Everything in the Next-of-Kin Room was battleship gray—the walls, the table, even the chairs. The color fit the mood. The USAir employees in the room had all volunteered for this duty, but it was the worst assignment they would ever get. They had to review the reservation lists and tickets for Flight 427, determine who had actually gotten on the plane, and then deliver the horrible news to the passengers’ families.
There was no legal requirement that an airline undertake this unpleasant task. After other sudden fatalities, such as car crashes or shootings, local police departments usually did the notification. They sent an officer or a chaplain to deliver the grim news in person. But when a plane crashed, one hundred to two hundred people were killed instantly, and only the airline readily knew their identities. With such an immediate need to inform so many people, it was impractical to alert police in the hometown of each victim. So it had become customary for airlines to deliver the news by phone.
It wasn’t fast enough, however. When you’re waiting to hear whether someone you love has died, any wait is too long. Television created unrealistic expectations. If the TV networks could cover crashes so quickly, it seemed reasonable to think that airlines could rapidly figure out who was on the plane.
But compiling a list of who actually boarded a plane was surprisingly hard. Many people made reservations and never showed up. Names got misspelled. First and last names got transposed. Long names got cut off by the limits of reservation computers. Babies didn’t need a ticket and often were not included on the passenger manifest. Occasionally people from other flights got on the wrong plane and didn’t realize it until they were in the air. There was an additional wrinkle: In 1994 the government had not yet begun requiring passengers to show photo ID, and people often traveled using someone else’s ticket.
Calls had already begun pouring in to USAir’s eleven reservation centers from friends and relatives who urgently wanted to know if their husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, or coworkers had been on Flight 427. The USAir agents could say if other flights had landed safely, but they had no information on 427. They could only promise to call back.
Ralph Miller, a USAir facilities manager and the office computer whiz, was in charge of the passenger list. It was his job to call the airline’s Pittsburgh situation room and the Chicago gate agents and go through the list person by person, comparing reservations with the actual tickets that had been collected at Gate F6 at O’Hare.
It was a slow process. The names weren’t alphabetized. Miller wasn’t sure if there were 125 or 126 passengers. There was confusion about five or six of them, including a two-year-old girl who was sitting with her mother and did not have a ticket. Several Department of Energy employees had been booked on later flights but were allowed to use their tickets on 427. The reservation and ticket totals didn’t match. Five or six people who turned in tickets at the gate were not on the reservation list. Another five or six were on the reservation list but had not turned in tickets. Names didn’t match. Joan’s credit card still had her maiden name, Lahart, so there was confusion about whether the person named on the card and Joan Van Bortel were two different people.
As Miller discussed the last few names for the list, he began to worry. Would he get the list right? Would he miss somebody? Would he put someone on the list who had not been on the plane?
Brett numbly walked outside to his car phone, intending to use it to keep calling the hotel and the airline. That would keep the house phone free in case USAir or Bob Henninger, the man Joan was meeting in Pittsburgh, called back. But as the night wore on, Brett became increasingly convinced that Joan had been on the plane.
When Henninger finally did call, Brett’s friend Craig Wheatley answered the phone. Henninger said he had gone to the Pittsburgh airport to meet Joan. At first, the flight was listed as fifteen minutes late. Then it was deleted from the TV monitors. When he went to the front counter, he was told that the plane had crashed.
Craig hung up the phone and came outside to tell Brett. He was a big burly guy who didn’t usually show emotions, but now he was shaking his head, crying.
He said, “I’m sorry, man.”
Brett just stood there, stunned. He felt like he was melting, like his shoulders could not bear the weight. At some point he wandered into his bedroom and lay on the bed on his stomach. He cried so hard that the tears streamed down his face and off his chin.
Brett’s parents, Bonnie and James Van Bortel, drove to his house and stayed with him as he kept dialing USAir on the car phone, trying to get confirmation that Joan was on the plane. It had been four hours since the crash, and the airline still couldn’t say if she had been killed.
“I need confirmation!” Brett told his mother.
“You know Joan would have gotten in touch with you if she was okay,” his mother said. “She’s gone.”
But Brett kept calling. When he finally got through, he screamed at the USAir employee, “Goddamn it! My wife is dead and you can’t tell me anything!”
“Hold on, please,” the USAir employee said.
Minutes went by. When the man finally came back on the line, he said, “We don’t have anything at this time. We’ll try and let you know as soon as possible.”
In the Next-of-Kin Room, the USAir managers crowded around the TV every time CNN issued a new bulletin about the crash.
JIM DEXTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: USAir Flight 427 from Chicago was just about to land in Pittsburgh before continuing on to West Palm Beach, Florida.
FIRST WITNESS: I looked up and I seen a plane. I didn’t hear any sound with it and it started nose-diving. And it seemed like it was going to pull up a little bit and it went on one side of its wing and it went straight down into the ground and blew up.
SECOND WITNESS: There was another couple with me and they said, “Oh my God, there’s a plane.” And we looked up and it looked like, you know, it was smoking and stuff and it just come down and exploded.
THIRD WITNESS: As soon as it went down I seen a big puff of smoke come up and like, sparks and fire.
DEXTER: The Boeing 737 went down seven miles from the Pittsburgh Airport in a wooded area behind a shopping center.
FOURTH WITNESS: Well, the three of us got in the truck and we ran up there in the truck and the third driveway, I think it was, we turned to the right. We must have walked maybe fifty yards and we kept hollering, the plane was exploding, and we kept hollering, “Anybody alive?” because we seen bodies all over the place.
FIFTH WITNESS: Couldn’t find anybody, didn’t hear nothing. Parts of the plane were laying all over the place. Little fires here and there. It was a bad scene.
When the bulletins ended, the USAir employees shook their heads in disbelief. Why them? They had just been through this ordeal two months earlier with the Charlotte crash. Why again?
The twenty-five phones in the room continued to ring with calls that had been forwarded from the airline’s reservation centers. The callers were crying and shouting, demanding to know who was on the plane. But the managers and vice presidents in the room were not allowed to say. USAir president Seth Schofield had insisted that no one be notified until the list was complete. Even if Ralph Miller had confirmed that Joan was on the plane when Brett called, the USAir managers who were answering the phones were not allowed to tell him. They could only take messages and place them in a box, where they were sorted by passenger name and prioritized so immediate family members would be called back first.
USAir was in chaos. The company had more experience dealing with crashes than any other airline in the 1990s—five in five years!—and yet it was overwhelmed.
There were communication foul-ups between the airline’s eleven reservation centers and the Next-of-Kin Room. Some family members were given the direct phone number to the room, others were not. Some USAir employees in the room had experience working on past crashes, but many others didn’t. And none of them had any formal training about what to do or what to say.
Each employee in the room was assigned about seven victims. The employees marked a manila folder for each one and began to fill the folders with reservation records and phone messages from relatives.
Posters were taped to the walls with the names of the passengers. Posters from previous crashes had a line beneath each name so the USAir employees could record where the person was hospitalized and what his or her status was—“critical” or “stable” or whatever. But the status lines were blank for the Flight 427 passengers because they were all dead.
About 10:30 P.M., three and a half hours after the crash, Miller finally nailed down the names of the last few people on the plane. He now had a complete list of the people who had been on Flight 427, but he couldn’t do anything with it. Schofield had arranged a quick charter flight to Pittsburgh, but he’d ordered that no families be notified until he approved the list. Now he was en route and could not be reached. None of the sullen-faced executives in the conference room wanted to override their boss. And so the people in the Next-of-Kin Room could only sit and field angry calls, without saying what they knew.
Finally Schofield landed in Pittsburgh, reviewed the list, and gave the go-ahead for the calls to begin. It was about midnight now, five hours after the crash.
“We’re handing out a confirmed list,” Miller told the group. “Throw anything else away. If you get calls, you can find out the next of kin and notify them.”
The managers in the gray room had a script that went something like this: “This is _____ from USAir. I’m sorry to confirm to you that _____ was on board Flight 427 and all passengers are presumed to have died.”
Some of the employees retreated to private offices so they could be alone when they delivered the news. They took frequent breaks, walking around the deserted hallways of the USAir legal department.
In the jargon of the airline industry, the count of passengers and crew on a plane is known as “souls on board,” or SOBS. It refers to the complete count of crew and passengers, to eliminate confusion of whether crew members were included. The USAir managers now had to deliver the horrible news about the souls on Flight 427.
Brett had ended up at his parents’ house, awaiting the official word that his wife was dead. He drank a glass of red wine and then fell asleep on the couch. When he woke up, there was a brief moment when everything seemed okay. Then it hit him. The plane crash. Joan was gone.
USAir had tried to reach Brett throughout the night at his house on Riedy Road. When the callers had trouble getting him, they apparently contacted the police department in Lisle to make sure he was okay. About 7 A.M., USAir finally tracked him down at his parents’ house.
“Mr. Van Bortel,” the airline representative said, “this is absolutely confirmed, sir. Your wife was on the plane last night.” The USAir guy sounded weird, almost excited about it, like an announcer telling Brett he had just won a sweepstakes.
Flowers began to arrive. Friends started dropping by to console him, bringing big trays of cold cuts and baked goods. After a while, Brett felt as though the walls were closing in. He took a walk across the road to a nature preserve with a close friend who had been one of Joan’s bridesmaids. It seemed to him as if days had passed since the crash, but it had not even been a full day yet.
A woman from USAir called and said she would be Brett’s family coordinator. She asked what Joan looked like and what clothes, shoes, and jewelry she was wearing. Brett thought the jewelry might provide some clues, especially since her engagement ring was one of a kind. The woman also asked him to send dental records to help identify Joan’s body. When Brett called the dentist to ask for the records, the magnitude of the devastation struck him. There was no body.
The flowers kept coming, filling every room in his parents’ house. Brett needed to get out again, so he went for a run in the forest preserve. He and Joan had often hiked through the preserve and played touch football there with friends. He ran a five-mile loop, cut through the woods, and then sprinted up Mount Trashmore. Up and back, up and back he sprinted, trying to burn off the anger and despair.
He wondered what life would be like without Joan. He had always thought they were meant for each other. He often quoted that old country-western song, that the right woman can make you and the wrong woman can break you. She was the right one for him.
That night he talked to his uncle, who was a pilot, and asked him about the crash and whether the government would figure out what happened.
“The NTSB is the best in the world at what they do,” his uncle said. “If it’s possible to find out what happened, they will find out.”
The phone rang just as Tom Haueter was sitting down with a bowl of popcorn to watch The Forbidden Planet . He loved sci-fi and was a big fan of the film, which set the standard for outer space movies when it was made in 1956. Haueter wasn’t supposed to
be on call for the NTSB’s Go Team on this particular night, but he had switched with another investigator who wanted the week off. It would be Haueter’s job to figure out why Flight 427 fell from the sky.
Within minutes he had two phone lines going, discussing arrangements with the FAA and his colleagues at the NTSB. “We’ve got a bad one,” he told his boss Ron Schleede. “USAir just lost a 737. It went off the radar near Pittsburgh.”
Haueter’s first priority wasn’t to solve the mystery, it was to find a hotel. He needed beds for several dozen investigators, a meeting room to serve as a command center, and a room for press conferences. Finding a place was difficult because USAir had snatched all the hotel rooms in the area in the first hour after the crash.
Haueter tried to call USAir’s accident coordinator, George Snyder, but kept getting a busy signal. When he finally got through, he persuaded Snyder to relinquish a Holiday Inn near the airport. Haueter then had to arrange for fax machines, copiers, and a dozen extra phone lines, including a special line that was for his use only, so he could receive calls from NTSB headquarters. He also had to worry about coffee. The agency’s rules were explicit: It would not pay for coffee. But hotels often provided regular and decaf on the big buffet tables without getting approval and then included the expense on the bill. He told a Holiday Inn employee, “We don’t want to see the big coffee bar set up.”
Haueter was not a coffee drinker. He had an abundance of energy in his trim six-foot frame and had no need for the extra caffeine. He was always in motion—skiing in Colorado, hanging drywall in his basement, flying his open-cockpit Stearman biplane. The license plate frame on his sturdy old Datsun 280Z read, I’D RATHER BE FLYING.
He had wavy blond hair, a moustache, blue eyes, and skin so fair that he wore a floppy hat when he investigated crashes in the hot sun. In a profession dominated by staid engineers, Haueter was a fresh voice. When he got excited, he was likely to use phrases that came from his boyhood in the small-town Midwest: “Holy mackerel!” “Gee whiz!”
He grew up around airplanes in Enon, Ohio, a one-stoplight town of 2,600 people that was midway between Dayton and Springfield. The town was so small that residents joked it was “none” spelled backward. His father was a prominent helicopter and airplane designer who died when Tom was twelve. After that, Tom spent lots of time with his grandfather, Elmer Vivian Haueter, who introduced him to flying. Tom still has a photo in his office taken on the day he got his pilot’s license, showing him as a gawky seventeen-year-old shaking hands with his flight instructor. He named his biplane E. V . in honor of his grandfather. He preferred the initials—there was no way he was going to name his plane the Elmer Vivian .
He got a degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University and then worked as an engineer and consultant for a string of aviation and energy companies. When one eliminated his job in 1984 and offered him a less desirable position, Haueter decided to find something more stable. He took a job at the NTSB reviewing safety recommendations. He was not enthusiastic about being a government bureaucrat, however, and figured he would bail out as soon as something better came along.
Instead, he grew to love the job. He got promoted to accident investigator and enjoyed being a “tin kicker,” picking through wreckage of a plane to find what caused the crash. The job got him out the office and gave him a chance to climb mountains, ride in helicopters, and see the world. He also got to put his curiosity to work solving mysteries, figuring out how things worked—or why they didn’t.
He discovered that the NTSB was surprisingly powerful. His recommendations to the FAA actually got results. He could look proudly at certain airplanes and know they were safer because of his work. The propeller system in Embraer 120 commuter planes was improved after his investigation found a flaw that caused the 1991 crash that killed Senator John Tower. The landing gear on thousands of Piper airplanes was fixed because Haueter discovered that a crucial bolt was prone to crack.
Seeing those changes was the reward of working for the safety board that didn’t show up in any paycheck. Every day Haueter could wake up and muse about how many lives he had saved that day.
He was a closet Trekkie. He didn’t dress up like a Klingon or hide a phaser in his underwear drawer, but he enjoyed the way Star Trek explored issues like race relations and the hazards of technology. He liked how everyone on the spaceship worked together. The people in the NTSB could learn a thing or two from the crew of the Enterprise .
Haueter met his wife, Trisha Dedik, in a carpool. They both lived in Great Falls, Virginia, and commuted thirty minutes to the concrete valley of federal buildings along Independence Avenue in Washington. Dedik, who had been divorced for a few years, liked the fact that Haueter could put aside his career to have fun on weekends. He wasn’t married to his job like so many Washington men. They began dating in 1988 and were married in 1993.
Dedik also had a fast-lane government job, as director of export controls and nonproliferation for the U.S. Department of Energy. That meant she was in charge of The List, the countries that were allowed to get nuclear fuel and technology to make bombs. As she put it, her job was “to make sure the Husseins of the world can’t get their hands on nuclear weapons.” Haueter and Dedik weren’t Washington celebrities, but they both had unsung government jobs that made the world safer. Haueter’s work led to better airplanes. Dedik’s kept the world from getting nuked.
As one of the rotating Go Team leaders, Haueter had grown accustomed to wearing a pager, carrying a cellular phone, and being called at home in the middle of the night. His Go Bag was perpetually packed with the tools of an accident investigator—an NTSB baseball cap, a first aid kit, gloves, and government forms. An avid juggler, he often took along a set of juggling balls to relieve his stress—although he forgot to pack them for this trip.
Haueter was a mechanical wizard who loved solving mysteries big and small. On one of his early dates with Dedik, he waited in her kitchen as she was upstairs getting ready. When she came down, her kitchen faucet was lying in pieces in the sink and Haueter was examining the inner workings.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I just wanted to figure out how it worked,” Haueter said.
He could build or fix practically anything. He built the interior walls in his basement and transformed a bare patch of concrete into a fancy bathroom. He often overbuilt, using an extra two-by-four when one would suffice. “Don’t give him a project you ever want to take apart,” Dedik said.
When he bought a vintage Stearman biplane in 1984, it arrived as a pile of rubble. For six years, he painstakingly reassembled the plane, replacing the rotten wing spars, covering the wings and fuselage with fabric and stitching it together with a special needle and thread. The result was a spectacular aircraft that he took for weekend hops around the Virginia countryside.
His bosses considered him one of their best investigators. He was a smart engineer who understood an airplane’s complex systems, a cautious detective who did not jump to conclusions, and a good manager who could deal with the egos involved in a big investigation. “If two 747s collide over New York,” said Schleede, “Tom can do it.” The only complaint that the top NTSB officials had about Haueter was that he could sometimes be too nice. He needed “to bare his teeth a little more,” Schleede said.
Haueter was forty-two but still showed a trace of the gawky teenager in the photograph of his first solo. His boyish looks and friendly demeanor occasionally made people question whether he was in charge. A Continental Airlines pilot once balked at Haueter’s request to ship a flight recorder, even after he flashed his NTSB badge. At crash sites, Haueter often wore a shirt and tie so people would realize that he was in charge—in contrast to other investigators, who wore their NTSB jumpsuits.
The problem had bugged Haueter for years. He felt the old tough-guy approach of running an investigation wasn’t effective anymore. You had to be open to suggestions and new ideas. Employees needed to feel free to express their thoughts. Yet he occasionally felt out of step at the safety board, which had the macho air of a men’s locker room. Any guy who was prone to use “Holy mackerel!” as an expletive had to prove himself.
By the time Haueter and the FAA were ready to dispatch investigators to Pittsburgh, the last airline flights had already departed. The pilots of the FAA’s Gulfstream jet, which was frequently used by the safety board, had run out of flying time for the day and needed a mandatory night of rest. So the NTSB and FAA officials agreed to wait until early the next morning.
Haueter got about two hours of sleep, scarfed down a granola bar and a glass of orange juice, and then drove his old VW station wagon to Hangar 6 at Washington National Airport, where the FAA and the Coast Guard kept their planes. As the team members from the FAA and the NTSB began arriving in the hangar lounge, Haueter could see that he was going to have more people than the plane had seats. He asked Ed Kittel, the FAA’s bomb expert, if he would take a commercial flight. Kittel agreed, and everyone else piled their stuff in the plane and climbed inside.
The passengers included NTSB chairman Carl Vogt, one of the five political appointees who ran the agency and voted on the probable cause of each accident. The board members took turns on Go Team rotation and led the nightly press briefings at crash sites.
Also on board was Greg Phillips, a frizzy-haired engineer. No one at the NTSB knew more about 737s than Phillips. He had worked with Haueter on a Copa Airlines 737 crash in Panama in 1992 and had spent months analyzing the rudder system of one that crashed in Colorado Springs in 1991. He had kept close tabs on 737 problems ever since. He maintained a list of suspicious incidents in his file drawer, like a detective tracking a killer.
As the FAA jet rumbled through the sky toward Pittsburgh, Haueter and several other Go Team members sat at a conference table in the back and discussed what they knew about the crash. Haueter flipped through the NTSB’s report on the Colorado Springs accident and read the board’s previous safety recommendations for the 737. He told Vogt about the problems making arrangements in Pittsburgh and the difficulty getting rooms from USAir.
“Carl, when we get there it will be complete chaos,” Haueter said. “But don’t assume I’m fucking up on the first day. It will get better.”
When the plane landed in Pittsburgh, FAA employees were waiting at the airport with the flight and voice recorders found in the wreckage. After the FAA jet was refueled, the recorders were flown back to Washington, where NTSB lab employees were waiting.
The line of rental cars carrying the Go Team snaked out of the Pittsburgh airport and along Route 60 toward Hopewell Township, a hilly suburb about ten miles away. It was 7:30 A.M., twelve hours since the crash. Haueter wanted a look at the site before his first meeting with people from Boeing, USAir, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), and other groups that would be participating.
Crash investigations are like political campaigns—they throw together a diverse group of people for a few weeks of twelve-hour days under extreme pressure. Everything has a temporary feel because so much of the manpower and equipment is borrowed. So it didn’t seem odd to Haueter that his first stop was at the showroom of a Chevy dealer, which was being used as a command post for the local emergency response. He introduced himself to the Hopewell Township officials and then accepted a ride up the hill in a Jeep Cherokee.
The sunny weather from the previous day had given way to a thick morning fog. A creepy mist rose from the asphalt. The woods along Green Garden Road were usually a popular place to see deer, but the animals had been scared away by the crash and the invasion of rescuers. Police and state troopers who guarded the site overnight heard pieces of wreckage falling from trees, but there were no sounds of life.
As his Jeep Cherokee climbed a driveway from Green Garden Road, Haueter noticed pieces of airplane insulation in the trees. The team climbed out of the Cherokee and walked into the woods. They saw more wreckage and the first body parts. Haueter saw a leg bone hanging in a tree. He stepped around a wing panel and glanced up. A dismembered arm was hanging from a branch, a wedding ring on one of the fingers.
He walked carefully around the edge of the debris. “Take a look,” he told the group, “but don’t move anything.”
The first goal in every crash investigation is to find the plane’s “four corners”—the nose, wingtips, and tail. If they are found miles apart, it means the plane broke up in the air and then rained to the ground, which suggests an explosion or sudden decompression. But if the pieces are all together, it means the plane was largely intact when it hit the ground. As he walked around the site, Haueter saw all four corners. They were horribly mangled, especially the nose of the plane, and he knew it was possible that other parts had broken off the aircraft before it crashed. But so far, the wreckage told him that the plane did not break up until it struck the hill.
Nobody spoke as they absorbed the horror. The woods now had a slight aroma of jet fuel—the plane apparently did have fuel on board when it crashed—and the stench of burned flesh. Haueter found that crash sites had unforgettable smells, slightly sweet and sickening. The investigators looked at the spot on the dirt road where the plane had apparently hit and then walked around to see the debris scattered in the woods. Surely this couldn’t be everything from the fifty-tons plane. Somebody asked, “Where’s the airplane?”
“It’s here,” said NTSB engine expert Jerome Frechette. “It’s all around us.”
Most federal agencies decorate their lobbies with color photos of their leaders or tacky paintings from a starving artists’ sale. But the NTSB lobby was different. Color photos of burning planes and twisted trains covered the walls. Airline and railroad executives cringed when they saw their mangled planes on public display, but the pictures were a perfect illustration of the NTSB’s job: to determine the probable cause of an accident and recommend changes so it would not happen again.
The agency’s roots went back to 1908, when the nation had its first fatal plane crash. The army was testing a Wright brothers’ plane at Fort Myer, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. Orville Wright had offered to take Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge of the Army Signal Corps for a demonstration ride. Selfridge was thrilled to get a chance to fly, waving merrily to friends on the ground as the plane circled the Fort Myer parade grounds. The plane was finishing its third loop when Orville heard two thumps. The plane lurched and plunged seventy-five feet into the field. “Instantly the dust arose in a yellow, choking cloud that spread a dull pall over the great white man-made bird that had dashed to its death,” the New York Times reported the next day. Selfridge was killed and Orville was seriously injured.
When Wilbur Wright first heard about the crash, he was sure that his reckless brother had been at fault. But after he and Orville analyzed the wreckage, they found it was a mechanical problem. The propeller cracked and cut through a wire that held the tail in place, which caused Orville to lose control. Their investigation was remarkably advanced for 1908, uncovering mistakes that they had made months earlier in stress tests for a bolt on the propeller. Wilbur’s explanation of the crash was quite similar to the NTSB probable cause statements ninety years later: “The splitting of the propeller was the occasion of the accident; the uncontrollability of the tail was the cause.”
As airlines began carrying mail and passengers in the late 1920s, a branch of the Commerce Department was given the responsibility for regulating aviation and investigating crashes. It was a risky time. Of the 268 airplanes in domestic airline service in 1928, about one-third were in accidents.
The government investigated all major crashes, but those involving famous people had more hoopla and greater significance. The 1931 crash that killed Knute Rockne, the legendary Notre Dame football coach, was especially important in establishing the cautious approach that the NTSB uses today.
The trimotored Fokker F-10A carrying Rockne was flying from Kansas City to Wichita when witnesses saw a wing break off. The plane crashed on a farm, killing Rockne and the seven other people on board.
Because the nation was eager to hear how Rockne had died, the Commerce Department’s Aeronautics Branch scrambled to tell what had happened. That was a dramatic change for the agency, which had always been secretive about its investigations.
Investigators initially blamed the crash on pilot error. They said the pilot had pulled out of a dive too sharply, which put too much strain on the wing. But then they found an engine with a missing propeller. They reversed themselves and said that ice had come off the plane and broken a propeller blade, causing severe vibration that snapped the wing. Five days later, the investigators changed their minds yet again when they found the missing propeller in one piece. They said the ice had “rendered inoperative certain of [the plane’s] instruments” and caused the plane to go into a steep descent. The wing snapped off as the plane came out of the dive. The embarrassing flip-flops prompted the New York Times to question in an April 9, 1931, editorial whether accident investigators could truly find the cause: “Who can tell from a mass of tangled wreckage what actually occurred?”
But eventually investigators found yet another cause: structural failure in the wings. The discovery was especially tragic because the Aeronautics Branch had known of the problem with Fokker planes before the crash and was considering grounding them.
The lessons of the Rockne investigation can be seen in the methodical, cautious approach that the NTSB uses today. The board is usually open about what it finds, describing each discovery at nightly press briefings, but investigators are careful never to speculate publicly about the cause of a crash. The probable cause is not announced until the five board members vote, about one year later.
Despite the embarrassing mistakes on the Rockne crash, accident reports from the 1930s show that investigators were becoming better at using wreckage, pilot interviews, and witness reports to determine what had happened. With no radar records to track a plane’s flight path, they often relied on witnesses from different towns to create a map of a plane’s final minutes.
Investigators of the thirties used the same basic techniques with wreckage that are used today. When they saw lots of pieces spread over a large area, they knew the plane broke apart in flight. Bent propeller blades told them the engine was operating normally when the plane hit the ground. An open drain valve in an empty gasoline tank meant the plane ran out of fuel. Metallurgists learned to distinguish between parts that broke of
f in flight because of vibration and those that broke on impact.
As planes got more sophisticated, so did crash investigations. X-ray machines were used to find metal fatigue. Investigators began reassembling wreckage to look for patterns in the broken metal. They even used passenger autopsies to solve cases. Flight data recorders got their start in the 1950s, providing basic information about altitude, airspeed, heading, and vertical acceleration on foil strips. If the recorders managed to survive a crash—and many did not—they could give investigators a rough idea of what had happened. Investigators began enlisting help from airlines, unions, and manufacturers to provide technical expertise, an approach that became known as the party system.
Tension has always existed between accident investigators and the agencies that regulate aviation. The Civil Aeronautics Board, which investigated crashes in the 1950s and 1960s, often got into spats with the Federal Aviation Agency (which became the Federal Aviation Administration in 1967). FAA administrator Elwood R. Quesada frequently angered the investigators by showing up at crash sites and spouting theories about what caused the accident. His behavior violated the post-Rockne rules about not speculating in public. The CAB frequently criticized the FAA for lapses in safety, but FAA officials saw that as a self-serving effort by the watchdog to get more money from Congress.
The NTSB was created in 1966 to consolidate the government’s safety offices. It investigates all types of transportation accidents—aviation, railroad, highway, marine, and pipeline. The 1966 law says the board should find the “cause or probable cause of major transportation accidents and disasters.” That phrase, which dates back to the 1930s, when the Commerce Department was conducting investigations, gives the NTSB some important wiggle room. It is probable cause because Congress believed there would be times when no one would know the absolute truth about why a plane crashed.
In a city of bureaucratic elephants, the NTSB is a mouse. It has only 450 employees and has to mooch off other government agencies in virtually every investigation. It calls the navy when it needs divers, the FBI when it needs bomb experts, and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) when it needs a coroner.
The NTSB is governed by five political appointees who serve five-year terms. They act as judge and jury after a crash. Investigators such as Haueter are the prosecutors who must convince the board that there is sufficient evidence for the probable cause. But the board often modifies or even rejects the staff recommendation.
The board has little official power, but it still manages to have an impact. When the board determines the cause of a crash, it sends recommendations to the FAA, the airlines, airplane manufacturers, and others. The board may ask for new pilot procedures, changes in training, modifications to an airplane, or all three. The targets of these missives often roll their eyes and sometimes refer to the NTSB as the “Not Too Smart Boys.” But the recommendations get results. More than 80 percent are enacted.
With such a tiny budget, the NTSB has to rely on the party system to get help for its investigations. The parties—airlines, airplane manufacturers, the FAA, and unions representing the pilots and mechanics—are invited to provide expertise. They work side by side with the investigators. Pilots explain sounds on the cockpit voice recorder, FAA officials explain how they tested a plane, and airline mechanics identify wreckage.
Representatives from the parties become the NTSB posse. They help at the crash site, attend the nightly meetings, and are invited to submit their ideas about the crash. The parties also benefit from being part of the team. If the NTSB discovers something wrong with an airplane, the team members from Boeing can make sure it gets fixed quickly. Likewise, if the NTSB finds that an airline has a shoddy maintenance program, the airline can correct the problem before it causes another crash.
Critics say the party system is a dangerous way to run an investigation. They say big companies such as Boeing and the airlines are more interested in protecting themselves from lawsuits and costly safety fixes than in finding the truth. The critics say the companies can overpower the NTSB and divert attention from the true cause. They liken it to a police homicide investigation. If the party system were used after a homicide, the suspected killer would be allowed to work side by side with the police. He would be given access to all the evidence and allowed to steer the detectives to other suspects. Arthur Wolk, a Philadelphia lawyer who represents families of plane crash victims, said once on Larry King Live that the NTSB protects big companies. “We all know that government is nothing more than a vehicle for special interests and Boeing is one of the biggest special interests in this country.”
Haueter liked the party system. Yes, it could be loud and ugly. Each party had its own interests at stake. The pilots union often protected its members, while Boeing defended its planes. The parties often clashed like Republicans and Democrats. But the safety board was well aware of their biases, and investigators were smart enough not to be bamboozled. Haueter felt the system provided healthy checks and balances.
Arguments were a big part of the NTSB culture. Although board members and investigators were careful not to speculate publicly about a crash, there were intense debates behind the locked glass doors at the NTSB offices in L’Enfant Plaza. Rudy Kapustin, a former investigator in charge, remembers having frequent loud arguments with colleague Bud Laynor during their daily commute home to the Maryland suburbs. They would argue nonstop during the thirty-minute drive and then exchange friendly good-byes. When they drove to work the next morning, they would pick up the argument right where they had left off. Two other safety board employees once got into such a heated argument in a conference room that they started slugging each other and had to be pulled apart. “If people watched the way we worked, they would be totally shocked,” Haueter said. “There’s yelling and screaming, but it works. All these major issues come out and they all get addressed.”
The safety board had a near-perfect record at finding the cause of a crash. After all, aviation was a black-and-white science. Engineers knew the exact speed at which a plane lifted off the runway and when it would stall and tumble to the ground. With flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders, they could do amazing calculations to figure out why a plane crashed. In the NTSB’s thirty-year history, only four major accidents had been unsolved. But one of those—a crash in Colorado Springs in 1991—involved the same type of plane used for Flight 427.
A Boeing 737.
After surveying the horror at the scene, Haueter drove to a USAir office building about ten miles away for his first meeting with the parties and the safety board employees who were taking part in the investigation. He didn’t like the fact that the meeting was held at USAir. He wanted an impartial setting, but the hotel meeting rooms were not yet available and he needed to get started.
Representatives of the NTSB, Boeing, ALPA, USAir, the FAA, and the machinists and flight attendants unions crowded into the conference room as Haueter explained the rules and how he was organizing the investigation. The place was so packed that people sat on the floor, stood around the back of the room, and crowded in the doorway. The parties stuck together, like teams getting ready for a big game. In one clump sat ALPA, in another sat Boeing. The conference room had been stripped of any evidence that it belonged to USAir. The walls were bare.
First Haueter explained how the investigation would be organized. Groups with representatives from the parties would look into different factors that may have played a role in the crash: weather, air traffic control, and operations, which covered such areas as fueling and cargo. Other groups would study the plane—its structure, engines, maintenance records, and the systems that moved the flight controls. Additional groups would interview witnesses, listen to the cockpit voice recording, analyze the flight data recorder, and study the pilots, even reviewing the details of their lives for the few days that immediately preceded the crash to see if they showed any signs of fatigue or depression. The group would even track down what Emmett and Germano ate for dinner the night before they died.
Next Haueter went over the rules. The parties were to provide technical help. They would also be in a position to respond quickly if the investigation uncovered a safety problem that needed an immediate remedy. But they could not discuss the accident publicly or talk with the press. He warned them even to be careful what they said if they were out for dinner. “I don’t want to hear from Mary, the waitress at Bob’s Bar, what the NTSB thinks the cause is,” he said.
Haueter, who was sensitive to complaints that he looked young, was pleased that he got an opportunity to assert himself and show he was in charge at a progress meeting that night. As he went around the room asking everyone his or her role in the investigation, USAir vice president Bruce Aubin responded that he was “observing.”
“Please leave,” Haueter told him.
“I’m not going,” Aubin said.
“Yes, you are,” Haueter said.
“Our company rules require that a senior…”
“No,” Haueter said. “Your company rules are in conflict with my rules. Please leave right now.”
The morning after the crash, the two “black boxes” from Flight 427 arrived at the NTSB’s laboratories in Washington, D.C. The boxes weren’t really black, they were bright orange, but they had earned the nickname because of their mystique. They survived accidents that humans could not, allowing investigators to hear the voices of the dead.
The boxes survive partly because they are in the plane’s tail, the section of the aircraft that usually has the least damage. They also are extraordinarily strong, resembling steel toolboxes from Home Depot painted with the words FLIGHT RECORDER DO NOT OPEN. Inside are steel cocoons to protect the audiotape or computer chips. They are built to withstand an impact of 3,400 Gs and a 2,000-degree-Fahrenheit fire for thirty minutes.
The cockpit voice recorder, or CVR, runs a continuous-loop tape of the last thirty minutes before a crash. The tape from the USAir plane had four channels of sounds—one from a microphone in the cockpit ceiling, one from each of the pilots’ headsets, and one from an oxygen mask in the jump seat. The CVR tapes are tightly controlled. Transcripts are released to the public, but only investigators are allowed to hear the actual recordings. The only exceptions are the rare instances when the tapes are played in court.
The tapes are creepy, like a cross between a horror movie and the Nixon White House recordings. They allow the listeners to eavesdrop on people going through their daily routine. Pilots talk about the “cabbage patch” (the airline’s headquarters) and “putting down the girls.” (Pilots still refer to flight attendants as girls. “Putting down the girls” refers to the point during final approach when pilots ask flight attendants to be seated.) They say things in a cockpit that they would never say in front of paying customers—they talk about turbulence so rough they’re afraid passengers will start vomiting and they make wisecracks about urinating. More than three-fourths of pilots are heard whistling or singing on CVRS. (Bob Rudich, the father of cockpit tape analysis, once wrote an article titled “Beware the Whistler,” contending that the whistling was a sign of complacency.) They chat about birds, food, weather, union work rules, and football scores.
The tapes can be embarrassing to airlines, revealing amazing sloppiness in the cockpit. Pilots of a commuter plane on a training flight in Nebraska, for example, sounded like teenagers out for a joyride. “Ye bo, look at all those Softball fields. I can really groove on them,” one pilot said. “We’re just like cruisin’ along here, aren’t we? We’re just, like, toolin’.” They talked about trucks and a prank where one pilot had used a Mr. Potato Head as a hood ornament. The captain said he wanted to pull another prank, using a front-end loader to place a friend’s Jeep on top of a fuel truck. A few minutes later, they apparently tried to execute a barrel roll and crashed in a field.
The pilots on Eastern Airlines Flight 212 in 1974 made racial slurs and gabbed about politics. “Well, hell, the Democrats, I don’t know who in the hell they’re going to run,” the first officer said. “If they’re going to run Kennedy, that’s…”
“That’s suicide,” the captain said.
The political gabfest went on for thirty minutes. The pilots talked about busing, the Vietnam War, Arab investments in the United States, President Ford’s pardon of Nixon, and the implications of Chappaquiddick on the political future of Senator Edward Kennedy. They were so deep in conversation that they silenced the warning systems on the airplane, ignored standard procedures, lost track of their altitude, and crashed short of the Charlotte, North Carolina, airport.
“Hey!” said the first officer right before impact.
“Goddamn!” said the captain.
When pilots realize they are about to die, their reactions vary. Some plead with the airplane. “Up, baby,” begged the captain of an American Airlines jet as it was about to plow into a Colombian mountain. Others are resigned to their fate. “We’re dead,” said the first officer of a Southern Air Transport cargo plane just before impact. A few shout final messages to their wives and girlfriends. “Amy, I love you!” cried the pilot of an Atlantic Southeast commuter plane just before it hit the ground. Many pilots curse, although the words have changed over the years—they used to nearly always say “shit,” but now a growing number say “fuck.”
The orange CVR box from the USAir plane was badly mangled, but the tape inside the steel cocoon was fine. In fact, it was one of the clearest the safety board employees had ever heard. Both Emmett and Germano had worn “hot” mikes—headsets similar to the ones astronauts wear. The mikes were so close to the pilots’ mouths that they picked up every word clearly. They even recorded the pilots’ breathing.
The room where the NTSB played tapes of pilots dying was the size of a small bedroom, with a conference table at the center and six chairs around the edge. At the end of the table were a computer and a small mixing board that allowed NTSB technicians to isolate sounds. Cockpit posters were tacked to the walls so team members could look at the switches and gauges that the pilots were using.
The job of the voice recorder team, which included representatives from the NTSB, Boeing, ALPA, the FAA, and the other parties, was to compile a transcript of the full thirty-minute tape, from the routine chatter at the beginning to the dramatic final seconds. The tape indicated that the pilots were fighting for control, but they never talked about what was happening. Germano said “Hang on” four times but never said why. Emmett cursed but said little else. The most haunting comment came just as the plane’s stall warning sounded, when Germano asked, “What the hell is this?”
Bud Laynor, the NTSB’s deputy director of aviation safety, called Haueter in Pittsburgh and told him, “This crew had no idea what happened. They never realized what was going on.”
The other orange box, the flight data recorder, takes constant measurements such as altitude, airspeed, and heading, allowing investigators to find out how the plane was behaving shortly before the crash. Primitive recorders were used on the first airplanes. The Wright brothers used one to keep track of airspeed, time, and the engine. Charles Lindbergh had one on the Spirit of St. Louis that measured altitude and time, to make sure he didn’t cheat on the world’s first nonstop flight from New York to Paris.
The government issued its first requirement for planes to have recorders in 1941, but the order was rescinded because of maintenance problems and poor reliability with the early boxes. The pilots union, ALPA, fought against having them on commercial planes because of fears that the recorders would be used as mechanical spies. But finally the union relented, partly because a recorder cleared an ALPA pilot who was falsely accused of flying too low. In 1957 the government issued another mandate that planes be equipped with recorders measuring airspeed, altitude, heading, and vertical acceleration. The boxes were primitive—a stylus moved up and down, scratching continuous lines on a strip of foil—but many of them survived crashes and provided valuable clues.
Today, modern recorders store their data on a durable computer chip that can take hundreds of measurements. It records basic parameters such as airspeed and altitude, and it shows what the pilots were doing—whether they were pushing on the rudder pedals or turning the wheel. That information can be especially valuable because it answers the man-or-machine riddle of many crashes.
The recorder on the USAir plane had only thirteen parameters—altitude, airspeed, heading, pitch (whether the nose was pointing up or down), roll (whether the wings were level or rolling down to the left or right), and engine power. It had only two measurements that told what the pilots were doing in the cockpit. One showed when they were pushing the button to talk with air traffic controllers, which allowed investigators to synchronize the flight data recorder with tapes from the CVR and the Pittsburgh control tower. The other showed whether they were pulling or pushing on the control column, the “stick” that made the plane climb or descend. The recorder did not measure what was happening with the rudder or whether the pilots were pushing on the rudder pedals. Haueter’s investigators would have to figure that out by themselves.
The labs of the NTSB are messy places. In the metals lab, twisted pieces of airplane wreckage are spread on a countertop like body parts awaiting an autopsy. In the flight recorder lab, mangled orange boxes are piled on a table, many still caked with mud. On a nearby wall is a bank of gadgets that look like a dozen VCRS—computers used to download the information from flight recorders. Another computer can convert the data into a color animation, to show a plane crash like a Saturday morning cartoon.
Technicians in the lab could see that the data recorder from the USAir plane was badly damaged. Dirt and yellow insulation from the plane had gotten inside the box when the 737 struck the hill. The steel cocoon that protected the computer chip had broken away from its mounts and smashed the circuit boards inside the recorder. But the cocoon had done its job. The data were fine. The technicians transferred the data into a computer, converted the raw numbers into rows and columns that were easier to read, and zapped it all by modem to the Pittsburgh command center at the Holiday Inn.
The command center had become a chaoti
c place. The phones rang constantly with calls from witnesses and others with theories about the crash. A swarm of people converged on Haueter every time he walked into the room, bombarding him with questions about computers, meeting times, phone calls, logistical arrangements. He wondered if he would ever get a chance to actually investigate the crash.
The first person at the Holiday Inn to see the data from Flight 427 was John Clark, a white-haired NTSB engineer. He sat cross-legged on the floor in a corner of the room, studying the results on his laptop computer. The numbers showed the plane was descending from an altitude of 5,984 feet when the left wing dipped. The wing stayed down for about fourteen seconds, then started to level off, then rolled down again. The nose had been up slightly when the wing dipped, but the nose quickly plunged toward the ground. The vertical Gs—the forces of gravity on the plane—told a frightening story. As the plane spiraled toward the rocky hill, the centrifugal force on the passengers and crew reached nearly 4 Gs. That meant a two-hundred-pound person like Emmett would have felt like he weighed eight hundred pounds. The numbers showed how quickly the pilots lost control. Just twenty-eight seconds elapsed from the first hint of trouble until impact.
As Clark looked down the column for the plane’s heading, he saw something unusual—an abrupt change, which meant the big 737 had suddenly yawed to the left like a car beginning to skid sideways on a wet road. Other measurements showed that a split second later the left wing rolled toward the ground and the plane plunged nose down. Clark knew many things could make a plane yaw and roll like that, but the most likely was a sudden move by the rudder.
He walked over to Haueter. The data were still rough, he said, but the big shift in heading was significant. “There is something going on here with the yaw,” he told Haueter. “It looks like this airplane had some type of rudder event.”
It was an encouraging lead. But NTSB investigators have an old saying: Never believe anything you hear in the first forty-eight hours. Early clues can be overrun by new evidence. The first few theories about a crash—known affectionately as the causes du jour —often don’t pan out.
Still, Haueter felt confident that he would be able to solve the mystery. It was only Day 1. They had good data and a clear CVR. They were making progress.
Before the crash, the hill off Green Garden Road had been a peaceful retreat from city life. It was a thirty-minute drive from downtown Pittsburgh, with thick woods separating it from the steady traffic on Route 60. Children often picked wildflowers in the meadows. Deer wandered through the woods and drank from a creek at the bottom of the hill. The only signs of urban life were the USAir jets that flew overhead, making their final approach to the Pittsburgh airport.
Flight 427 crashed on secluded land owned by George and Mildred Pecoraro, who had lived there for nearly thirty years. They had been displaced before. They lost access to the land when Route 60 was built in the early 1970s, but they moved back after they bought right-of-way and built a dirt road in 1981. They lived in a two-story house at the top of the hill, about one-fourth of a mile from where the 737 crashed. The night of the tragedy, they ended up in a nearby Hampton Inn and weren’t fazed by the fact that they were assigned to Room 427. Mildred said they weren’t superstitious.
Thousands of fragments from the big plane were blown hundreds of yards away, into fields owned by George David, a police officer in nearby Aliquippa. David grew hay on his 61 acres and loved the solitude of the place. The deer were so friendly they would eat apples right out of his hand. But now, the day after the crash, his peaceful hill looked like the site of a military invasion. Yellow and red police tape was strung around the trees. Helicopters pounded overhead as trucks from the National Guard, the Salvation Army, USAir, and Allegheny County brought supplies and volunteers. Tents were set up along the dirt road as field offices for the Beaver County coroner.
Down the hill, the Green Garden Plaza shopping center had become the nerve center for the crash, with TV satellite trucks parked bumper to bumper and more than two hundred reporters crowding around the command center. The Green Garden merchants all pitched in. The Hills department store gave blankets and other supplies. The Chevy dealer became a temporary headquarters for the Hopewell government. Stress debriefing was available at the New York Pizza Shop.
When Haueter saw the body parts scattered around the hill, he decided to treat the site as a biohazard area. Investigators had rarely worried about diseases before, but he had just taken the government’s training on biohazards and felt there was enough danger from blood and fluids to justify employing the full OSHA protections. The investigators would have to wear plastic suits.
Several local officials disagreed. Beaver County coroner Wayne Tatalovich told Haueter the plastic suits weren’t necessary. Sure, there were lots of fragmented bodies, Tatalovich said, but there wasn’t much blood. He felt the site would not be any more dangerous than a morgue. They argued for a while, but Tatalovich wouldn’t budge. He said Haueter’s team could wear the suits, but the coroners would not. Haueter warned everyone at the first meeting, “This is a biohazard zone. All safety board employees will have to respect that. I can’t force anyone else to wear them, but it’s a good idea.”
When the USAir plane plowed into the gravel road at 300 miles per hour, it shattered like a crystal vase thrown on a concrete driveway. The 109-foot plane splintered into hundreds of thousands of tiny fragments, many no larger than a plane ticket. The USAir logo was usually found on hundreds of items in the plane, but one of the airline’s mechanics noticed an odd pattern to the logos he found in the wreckage. They said “US” or “USA” or “Air,” but he could not find any logos that were intact. Everywhere he looked, USAir had been torn apart.
The site was littered with seat cushions, hundreds of shoes, and thousands of Business Week with the headline THE GLOBAL INVESTOR on the cover. The magazines were everywhere.
Passengers’ belongings were scattered through the woods and on the road. It was as if the crash had taken a snapshot of each person’s life, revealing that person through his or her possessions. There were plaid boxer shorts and another pair with red diamonds; sweatshirts from Purdue University and the New York Renaissance Festival; T-shirts for Hooters, Soldier Field, the Chicago Bears, Harley-Davidson, and Bugs Bunny. There were lots of mangled and burned books: Forrest Gump , the Pocket Prayer Book , Rush Limbaugh’s The Way Things Ought to Be, The Chamber , by John Grisham, a management training manual called Tiring Up Commitments During Organizational Change , and a copy of the Bible. Investigators also found lots of everyday stuff: a garage door opener, family snapshots, a Swiss Army knife, pocket calculators, Kodak film, a rosary, and a teddy bear.
While many of the local volunteers were vomiting in the woods or sobbing at the horror, Cox remained unfazed. He had been to many crash sites as an investigator for the pilots union, and he knew the smells and didn’t dwell on the body parts. He was there to look at wreckage, not people. He had been appointed the ALPA representative on the systems group, which was shaping up as the most important group in Haueter’s investigation. The systems members would examine the plane’s flight controls and hydraulics to see if they had caused the crash.
Each morning Cox joined the other members at Green Garden Plaza to be sealed inside his rubber suit. It was like getting dressed for surgery. They had latex gloves, boots, and surgical masks. The boots and gloves had to be taped to the suits, which made the outfits unbearably hot. With everyone wearing an identical white rubber suit, it was also difficult to tell people apart. They eventually wrote their names across their backs, as if they were wearing football jerseys. Everyone involved in the investigation also had to wear a colored bracelet to get access to the site. To foil trespassers, the color changed every day. Several people had been arrested trying to sneak onto the hill to take pictures of the wreckage and the body parts.
Cox’s first assignment was to pick through the flattened wreckage of the cockpit. Getting to it was difficult because of the trees and hilly terrain, so the systems group enlisted the help of the Allegheny County Delta Team, a paramilitary group of public works employees who responded to the crash like they were invading Kuwait. “You want a road? We’ll build you a road,” said one Delta member cheerfully. A few hours later, there was a gravel road straight to the cockpit.
Cox found that picking through the wreckage wasn’t easy. The investigators had to use a pulley on a big metal frame to lift the largest pieces. Some were buried several feet underground. Others had been flattened like aluminum cans. Much of the wreckage was buried beneath a thick layer of wire that looked like burned spaghetti. Their first priority was to see what they could learn from the gauges and switches. Cox was especially interested in finding bulbs from the cockpit warning lights. Lightbulb filaments stretch when they get hot, so the investigators could tell if a warning light had been on by measuring the filament. But Cox discovered that every light had been shattered.
The softest things in Ship 513 had survived with the least damage—seat cushions, handbags, and hundreds of shoes looked fine. But the rest of the plane was torn apart and hard to identify.
“That looks like junk,” said one of the Delta Team members, pointing to some twisted metal.
“It’s a nose-gear strut,” said Cox.
The gauges provided a few clues. The captain’s airspeed indicator was covered with mud, but when Cox cleaned it off, he saw the needle had stopped at 264 knots—the plane’s speed when it hit. A needle on the hydraulic pressure gauge indicated that the B system was at 3,100 pounds, which told Cox that it had full power when the plane crashed. The plane’s hydraulics are crucial because they move the landing gear and flight controls such as the rudder, elevator, ailerons, and spoilers. The needle for the second hydraulic system—the A system, which moved the landing gear—was missing.
Elsewhere on the hill, other teams were finding more clues. The 737’s engines were badly damaged, but the members of the power plant group could see that the fan blades were bent opposite to the way they rotated. That meant the engines were running at impact, which ruled out the possibility that engine failure had caused the crash. Everyone looked for parts from another plane, on the theory that the big 737 might have collided with a Cessna or a Piper. But so far, none had been found.
Cox was perfect for the systems group. He was a 737 pilot who knew every inch of the cockpit and, like Haueter, he loved dissecting the mechanical and electrical systems that made the plane fly. He was not a do-it-yourselfer as Haueter was—Cox was away from home too much to have time to build things—but they shared a fascination with solving mechanical mysteries.
Cox was a meticulous guy who kept his life and cockpit carefully organized. His bookshelf was a reflection of his personality: All the Tom Clancy hardbacks were on one shelf, all the books about flying on another. Paperbacks were together, separated from the hardbacks. An errant copy of his wife’s Martha Stewart Weddings put in an appearance on the maritime shelf, but it didn’t stay long. Cox kept their finances on their home computer, and he maintained precise records about where their money went. When his wife, Jean, came back from shopping, she had to separate the expenses into categories such as Household and Gifts.
Whether he was flying a difficult approach into O’Hare on a stormy night, driving 100 miles per hour in his sports car, or just balancing his checkbook, Cox was in control. On his business card he was “Captain John Cox.” He had 8,000 hours flying 737s, and he loved the plane. He had flown lots of others in his twenty-four-year career, but he had always preferred the 737. He liked its smooth landings and the solid way it handled a crosswind. “The airplane tends to make you look good,” he said. He loved the challenge of mastering a machine, maneuvering the fifty-ton bird through winds and clouds and heavy rain and still managing to touch down so gently that the passengers in back could barely feel it.
Cox also craved speed. The speedometer on his fire-engine-red Acura NSX went to 180 miles per hour. He had gotten the needle up to 125. He referred to the $80,000 sports car as “the toy,” but he treated it with reverence. When he parked at a store or restaurant, he put it in a remote corner of the lot, parked at an angle across two spaces so no one would nick his doors. He kept a cloth cover on the car, even when it was inside his garage. When he removed the cover, he folded it up carefully, one side at a time, as if he was folding a flag.
The son of a Birmingham banker, he grew up in a family that had no connection to aviation. But he got interested in airplanes as a toddler. One of his first words, uttered when he was two, was “Constellation,” the big plane that he watched taking off from the Birmingham airport. He got his private pilot’s license at age seventeen, flew charters and corporate planes at eighteen, and then joined Piedmont Airlines at twenty-six. He became a USAir pilot when the two airlines merged in 1989.
Cox was trim, with the graying hair, silver moustache, and tanned good looks that seemed standard issue for an airline pilot. He was one of ALPA’s technical experts, a rare pilot who understood the complex engineering of the planes he flew. Even his doodling was intricate. The margins of his notepads were filled with complex geometric figures that looked like M. C. Escher drawings.
His union had a Jekyll-and-Hyde reputation in aviation safety. C. O. Miller, a former NTSB official, often said that ALPA had done more to promote safety in the skies than any group except the federal government. The union had helped design the national air traffic control network and the instrument landing systems that guide planes toward a runway. It played a big role in changing cockpit design to reduce pilot mistakes (the easy-to-read T design on the instrument panel is one of its legacies), and it was a strong proponent of crew resource management, which has improved communication in the cockpit.
But so far as some critics were concerned, ALPA had a reputation as a union that used safety as an excuse to get more money and generous work rules. Najeeb Halaby, a well-respected FAA administrator from the early 1960s, once said there were two ALPAS—the one that made substantial contributions to safety and the one that masked its economic demands “under the guise of safety.” The problem, Halaby said, was that he could never be sure which ALPA he was dealing with.
Among accident investigators, ALPA had a reputation for sometimes making excuses for pilots when there was overwhelming evidence that they had screwed up. The union would claim the pilots were influenced by the design of the plane or try to blame air traffic controllers or some mechanical problem. In some crashes, it was obvious that the pilots had made a stupid mistake—they simply forgot to set the flaps for takeoff or they flew into a bad storm. But ALPA would throw up smoke screens and make excuses.
Cox, however, was respected at the NTSB because he was not a strident unionist. He was regarded as one of the Young Turks at ALPA who were more like accident investigators than defenders of the pilot brotherhood. He had taken the highly regarded accident investigation course at the University of Southern California and followed its open-minded approach. “The evidence leads you where it leads you,” he often said. If that meant a pilot was at fault, so be it.
There had long been a culture clash between Boeing and ALPA that was rooted in the starkly different styles of engineers and pilots. Boeing engineers existed in a black-and-white world of data. In their view, if you got enough data, you could do anything—build a perfect wing, design a better engine, or fix a faulty part. But they were perplexed by the macho personalities of the pilots who flew their creations. It didn’t help that in 1955 test pilot Tex Johnston shocked Boeing’s top brass by making a risky barrel roll in a prototype of the 707 in front of thousands of people. Boeing president William Allen was furious that a pilot had endangered the plane and so many people with such a daredevil maneuver. The engineers also resented ALPA’s long fight to get a third pilot in the 737 cockpit. The union said the third pilot was needed for safety, but officials at Boeing and the airlines saw it as a blatant attempt to get more people on the payroll.
On the other hand, pilots complained that the Boeing engineers didn’t appreciate them. The pilots felt they had a trait that couldn’t be measured on any chart: courage. They —not some beady-eyed engineer with a slide rule in his pocket—were responsible for hundreds of lives every day. When a pilot shot a tight approach into La Guardia on a snowy night, all the data in the world would not make the wheels touch down safely unless the pilot knew what he was doing. The engineers had no equations that mentioned guts.
In Hopewell, it was clear that Boeing and ALPA were rival teams. They were cordial with each other, but they didn’t mix much. Cox found that the Boeing investigators rarely spoke up and always traveled in packs. When everybody else got together for breakfast or dinner, the Boeing guys would go off on their own. Cox jokingly called Boeing a black hole—information went in, but it didn’t come out.
In the first few days after the crash, members of the CVR team listened to the cockpit tape many times. The team quickly identified most of the sounds on the tape, such as the snap of a shoulder harness, clicks from the elevator trim wheel, and the rat-a-tat-tat of the stickshaker. But there were a few thumps they could not identify. They listened to the sounds hundreds of times but could not recognize them. The thumps were muted and did not seem to originate from the metal fixtures of the cockpit. It was time for some experiments.
On September 11, three days after the crash, members of the CVR team arrived at Washington National Airport and walked to a gate where a silver USAir plane was parked. Their goal was to record a variety of sounds on the plane’s CVR to see if they matched the thumps from Flight 427.
Sounds on cockpit tapes were often as valuable as the pilots’ words. Investigators could calculate engine thrust from the distinctive hum of a jet engine. They could determine runway speed by counting clicks heard as the plane’s nose wheel ran over embedded lights. Sounds could be displayed on a graph like a fingerprint, with squiggly lines representing volume or pitch. B
y taking a fingerprint of a mysterious sound and comparing it with one from a known sound, investigators could look for a match.
Al Reitan, a voice recorder specialist with the NTSB, came to the airport with Mike Carriker, a Boeing test pilot, and Paul Sturpe, a USAir pilot. The silver plane at the gate was the same model as the accident airplane, a 737–300, with the same type of cockpit voice recorder. They turned on the plane’s auxiliary power unit to provide electricity to the CVR and began a series of tests.
They tried to imagine what might have happened in the cockpit to cause the thumps. They flipped switches and yanked on levers. They dropped notebooks on the floor and turned the trim wheel. They fiddled with the clip that held pilot checklists. They pulled on the flap handle and triggered the stick-shaker. They stomped their feet in the doorway and in the first-class galley.
Then they returned to the NTSB offices at L’Enfant Plaza and used a computer to draw the fingerprints. The strange thumps from the original Flight 427 tape showed up as dark spikes, like a fingerprint of a burglar. All they needed was a match.
They ran the new tape through the computer. The stomps and slams from the test also showed up on the screen as spikes. But they were distinctly different from the mysterious thumps on Flight 427. The fingerprints did not match.
Brett felt restless and overwhelmed by all the people who had stopped by to offer their condolences. At one point there were thirty or forty people crowded in his parents’ house, all with good intentions, but Brett couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to get out of there. He wanted to visit the crash site and say a final farewell to Joan.
USAir had said he could probably see the site and that he might be needed to identify Joan’s body. So Brett, his mother Bonnie Van Bortel, Joan’s brother Dan Lahart, and Brett’s friend Craig Wheatley had piled into his mother’s Jeep Cherokee and driven to Pittsburgh. Brett couldn’t concentrate on the road, so his mom and Craig took over the driving. As they arrived in Hopewell Township, the hill where Joan had died now glowed a brilliant white, lights ringing it like a crown. It almost looked beautiful.
“Craig, can you pull over?” he asked. They stopped about two hundred yards from the exit for Green Garden Road. Brett got out, knelt in the asphalt by the guardrail, and said a long prayer.
He was numb that weekend, still trying to make sense of the fact that Joan was gone. Everywhere he went, he carried a crystal frame with their wedding photograph that he had picked up on the way out of the house. Joan looked beautiful in the photo, with her hair pulled back, a perfect smile, and her hand resting gently on Brett’s arm. But the picture called attention to his loss. When he checked into a downtown hotel where USAir had rooms for the families, the bellman saw the picture.
“Did you know someone in the crash?” he asked.
Suddenly Brett was a celebrity, but for all the wrong reasons.
USAir was paying for the hotel rooms, meals, and other expenses. The company had offered to fly Brett and his family to Pittsburgh, but the last thing he wanted to do was fly, especially in a USAir plane. At the hotel, he met the airline employee who was assigned to be his liaison during his stay. A saleswoman for USAir, she seemed poorly trained and unprepared for the job. When they met, she broke down and cried.
Brett told her that he respected anyone who would volunteer for such a difficult job, but over the next two days, he realized that she was clueless. She rode around in a white limo and couldn’t remember the hotel where she was staying. She had a cellular phone so Brett could get in touch with her anytime, but the battery was dead and she did not know how to charge it. She kept flipping through legal pads, reciting directions from her bosses, but she was unable to answer his most basic questions if they weren’t addressed by the instructions on the pads. She seemed more interested in the airline’s needs than in Brett’s. The only time she seemed animated was when he mentioned talking to the media. “You can talk to the media,” she told him, “but we’d advise against it because you’re going through a period of grieving.”
She tried to explain how they were going to identify the bodies, using a grid system to locate the body parts. But Brett didn’t want to hear about it. “Great,” he said. “I’m glad you’re getting a little science lesson out of it while there are pieces of my wife laying up in that hillside.”
USAir had reversed itself. There would be no visit to the site and no opportunity to look at Joan’s body. Instead, USAir asked him to send books and perfume bottles that might have her fingerprints.
Airlines had a long tradition of helping families after a crash. The companies believed it was the compassionate thing to do and also was good for public relations. Most airlines assigned an employee to be a liaison with each family and paid for the family’s travel, funeral expenses, and many other costs. The airlines bought meals, made mortgage payments, and occasionally even paid a speeding ticket for a grieving family member.
Critics said there was an ulterior motive for the corporate kindness. The airlines could collect a dossier on the victims that could be used in court to fight for smaller awards. If the airline learned that a victim had a drug problem, for example, it might convince a jury to reduce the amount of the award because the victim would have had a shorter life expectancy. But the airlines insisted that their family coordinators were to help grieving relatives, not to ferret out details about the victim.
Some airlines were better prepared for a crash than others were. They had thick notebooks that spelled out how they should respond minute by minute, and they offered special training for employees who worked with the victim’s family. But not USAir. It was caught unprepared for the Hopewell crash, even though it had just handled the Charlotte accident two months earlier and had had three other crashes within the previous five years. No airline had as much experience with crashes in the 1990s as USAir did, but the company still seemed bewildered about what to do. USAir’s director of consumer affairs had written a plan to revamp the response for families and establish special training for the airline coordinators, but the plan had not yet been approved by top executives when the Hopewell crash occurred. As a result, Flight 427 families experienced a wide range of responses from the airline. Some said their USAir coordinators were compassionate and organized. Others, like Brett, thought they were ill prepared and insensitive.
To make matters worse, Brett and his family had to deal with the news media. They had been badgered by reporters the day after the crash, but Brett had refused to talk. A TV news crew tailed him as he drove from his parents’ house to his home in Lisle and then ran up to him in his yard. He told the reporter to leave. “I can’t do this right now,” he said. Another reporter was rude when the family declined to talk, but he eventually left.
The reporters were engaged in a painful ritual that follows a tragic death, whether the death results from a plane crash, a car accident, or a tornado. Reporters disliked the practice as much as the families did, but the stories were an expected part of news coverage after any disaster. They put a face on the tragedy. In newsrooms all over the country, editors studied the Flight 427 passenger list for anyone from their area. If they found someone, it gave them a stake in the crash.
A reporter was then assigned to find out everything possible about that victim. The assignment meant checking clips in the newspaper’s library to see if the victim had been in the news, looking at land records to see what the victim owned, and researching court records to see if the victim had ever been arrested or sued. Such inquiries might sound insensitive, but those sources were all public records, and they spoke volumes about the victim’s life. The reporters used city directories and called neighbors, who usually had nice things to say about the victim. The Chicago Tribune ’s story was headlined CHICAGOANS MOURN THEIR OWN. It quoted an unnamed relative of Joan’s saying that she “loved life. She was only going to be gone for a day. Just a day.”
Most reporters dreaded knocking on the door of a widower’s house and handled the task with sensitivity. Many families were willing to talk. It was their chance to commemorate the person they loved. If families preferred not to say anything, most reporters left politely. A few, however, were so intent on getting a tearjerker of a story and beating the competition that they were rude. After the ValuJet crash in 1996, TV camera crews hid in the bushes in a hotel parking lot and then jumped out when they spotted a distraught family. After the crash of TWA Flight 800, a reporter for a New York tabloid posed as a relative of a victim to get inside the hotel where the families were staying.
On Sunday, September 11, Brett sat in a front pew at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Moon, Pennsylvania, for a service to honor the victims. One hundred thirty-two candles burned on the altar, one for each person on the plane. Brett’s mother gave his hand a comforting squeeze. He clutched the wedding picture to his chest through much of the service, but occasionally tipped it down to look at Joan. At one point, a tear streamed from his cheek and splashed on the picture.
TV cameras were clustered at the back of the church, trying to capture the grief, but Brett didn’t give them much thought. Then, midway through the service, the priest encouraged the congregation to greet people sitting nearby. When Brett turned to a woman sitting behind him, she shook his hand but looked away nervously.
When the service ended, a different woman sitting beside Brett introduced herself and said her brother was killed in the crash.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, hugging her. “It’s so easy to forget about everybody else who lost, too.”
“I’ll pray for you, if you’ll pray for me,” she said.
“I will, I will pray for you,” Brett said. “I won’t forget.”
As Brett left, he stopped and did an interview with a TV reporter. But he never spoke to the woman behind him, who had turned away when he went to greet her. The next day, when he picked up the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , he was amazed to see the paper had printed his entire conversation with the sister of the victim. The woman behind Brett had been a reporter, writing down every word, yet she never identified herself.
The next day, Monday, September 12, was Brett’s birthday. Days earlier, he and Joan had talked about going out to dinner to celebrate. But now he was in Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh for another memorial service. About five thousand people packed into the square, a big turnout that was a testament to USAir’s large presence in the city. Brett sat in one of the front rows, beside a man from the Salvation Army. As they sang hymns, Brett couldn’t help but notice the guy’s voice. He had the worst singing voice Brett had ever heard. Brett chuckled a little and for just a moment felt a break from the relentless sadness.
Brett had never been much of a churchgoer—he believed you did not have to go to church to have religious faith—but he was comforted by the two services. He believed that God occasionally sent you a sign. During the service, a big jet passed overhead, its shadow racing over the crowd. Brett thought it was a sign that Joan was going to be okay.
Within minutes of the crash, reporters began calling USAir’s Arlington headquarters to ask if the airline was unsafe. The company seemed to have all the warning signs. It had been in deep financial trouble, losing $2.5 billion since its merger with Piedmont Airlines in 1989. It was under pressure to cut costs to compete with more efficient airlines that were charging rock-bottom fares. And now it had had its fifth crash in five years.
“For USAir, this is Apocalypse Now,” Gerald Myers, author of a book on corporate crises, told the Charlotte Observer . “This is more than a slippery slope for them; it’s a cliff. They’re getting themselves in the same position that Exxon got in with the Valdez or A. H. Robins with the Dalkon Shield.”
USAir’s financial problems had prompted the FAA to beef up inspections two years earlier. But the day after the Flight 427 crash, FAA administrator David Hinson said his agency had not found any serious problems. “We deem [the airline] to be safe,” Hinson said. “In fact, this afternoon I will be flying on USAir.”
At a press conference in Pittsburgh, USAir chairman Seth Schofield was swamped with questions about the airline’s safety record. He said the five crashes were not connected in any way.
“If I thought USAir was an unsafe airline, I would put the entire fleet on the ground until any problems were corrected,” Schofield said. (That is the standard response from an airline chief when his company’s safety record is challenged. ValuJet president Lewis Jordan used nearly identical words after the 1996 crash in the Everglades.)
In a message posted on company bulletin boards, Schofield warned his employees to be ready for rough times. “In the coming days, you will surely hear and read comments in the media and elsewhere that will offend and hurt you. I encourage you to lean on each other for support and, in doing so, you will strengthen each other.”
The New York Times asked statisticians if USAir’s safety record was worse than those of other airlines. Most agreed that plane crashes were random events that had no connection with a particular airline. But Arnold Barnett, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was quoted as saying, “If you got on a random USAir flight in the 1990s, your chances of being killed are nine times as high as if you got on a flight of any other airline.”
The hemorrhage had begun. USAir’s bookings fell drastically over the weekend.
The dream of every accident investigator was to find the Golden BB. That was the NTSB nickname for some tiny piece of wreckage that instantly explained why a plane crashed. There were just a few Golden BBs in aviation history—a disk from a jet engine that broke apart and caused the crash of a United Airlines jet in 1989, and a latch on a DC-10 cargo door that caused a Paris crash in 1974. But usually investigators had to be plodding and methodical, eliminating one theory after another until they zeroed in on the real culprit. It typically took several weeks before investigators knew the cause, but the NTSB usually took twelve to eighteen months to officially complete a case.
That wasn’t fast enough for the news media. Reporters were ruthlessly competitive and eager for scoops, which meant they couldn’t wait until the safety board completed its report. In the Flight 427 case, they began speculating about the cause before the NTSB even got to the scene, calling pilots, trial lawyers, and former safety board members and asking them about previous accidents involving the plane. The Seattle Times and the Dallas Morning News both pointed out that the 737’s rudder system had been under scrutiny because of a possible flaw in a hydraulic valve that could make the rudder go the wrong direction. The NTSB frowned on that kind of speculation, preferring to make its own pronouncements as it discovered the evidence, but reporters were merely doing in public what Haueter and his team were doing behind closed doors.
The hunger for information about a crash dates back to the first aviation fatality involving the Wright brothers’ plane. Reporters swarmed onto the field at Fort Myer seconds after the crash and ignored requests to move back until the army sent in soldiers on horses that practically trampled the reporters. As recently as the 1980s, reporters were allowed to visit crash sites, stepping over wreckage and dead bodies. But the proliferation of Action News and Eyewitness News and twenty-four-hour cable news channels led to such intense coverage that crash sites are now quickly roped off and reporters are herded as far away as possible. The NTSB typically gives only one or two briefings a day, a short one in the early afternoon and a more detailed one about 7 or 8 P.M.
The NTSB briefings were like a high-stakes game of Twenty Questions. The NTSB stuck to the facts, explaining the evidence without putting it in context. Reporters had to read between the lines and figure out which tidbits were truly important. The game was especially difficult for new reporters, because the NTSB representatives often spoke in jargon, leaving many journalists dumbfounded about what it meant. A handful of aviation reporters from the major newspapers and TV networks knew how to play the game, but most people at the nightly briefings were local journalists who had never dealt with the safety board.
The NTSB’s Aviation Investigation Manual warned about the press. It said investigators should be careful about using cellular phones because reporters might intercept the calls. It said the investigator in charge “should be aware that reporters will be looking to him/her for body language or facial expressions during the Member’s briefing and should, therefore, maintain as neutral an expression as possible.” The manual also gave advice on what to say when reporters asked speculative questions: “Rely on tried and true phrases such as ‘That is one of the many things we will be looking at’; ‘It is much too early to tell as this point’; ‘Right now we are not ruling anything out.’”
The first day in Hopewell, someone had leaked to reporters a copy of the air traffic control transcript. Haueter was angry that it was leaked, because it was not the FAA’s official transcript (which would not be done for days, after every voice had been identified), and it might contain errors. But as he expected, the transcript dominated the news coverage, along with the preliminary information he released from the flight data recorder.
The second day, investigators on the hill found suspicious parts from the thrust reversers, the engine doors that open when a plane lands. These devices reverse the jet blast to slow the plane on the runway. If a thrust reverser opened in flight, it would be catastrophic, like slamming on the brakes on one side of a car. The 737’s engines had safety locks that were supposed to prevent the reversers from activating until the plane was on the runway, but workers on the hill had found evidence that they might have deployed. Also, the workers could not find key pieces that usually locked the reversers in place. At his nightly meeting with investigators at the Holiday Inn, Haueter recounted the findings but warned them not to jump to conclusions.
“Let’s not focus just on this thrust reverser,” he said. He was skeptical about the theory because it did not match the flight recorder, which showed the plane’s engines at idle just before it plunged from 6,000 feet. Also, the fact that it was the right reverser did not match the data that showed the plane rolling to the left. The Boeing investigators urged Haueter not to tell the press because the evidence was incomplete. But Haueter and Vogt decided they should tell reporters everything they had, regardless of whether it was incomplete. If they didn’t mention the reversers at the briefing, the news would probably leak out anyway. (The NTSB was notorious for leaking to the press. Peter Goel
z, the agency’s managing director in the late 1990s, joked that the NTSB’s official seal should have an eagle clutching a sieve.)
That night at the briefing, Vogt explained the discovery but cautioned reporters that the reversers could have popped out when the plane struck the ground. The press dove for the story, THE CAUSE? MAYBE THE ENGINE, said a headline in the St. Petersburg Times , THRUST REVERSER SUSPECTED IN USAIR JETLINER CRASH/DEVICE COULD HAVE CAUSED NOSE DIVE, said the Houston Chronicle .
But the next day the thrust reverser theory unraveled. Investigators found locks that showed the reverser doors were closed when the plane hit. The first cause du jour had been ruled out.
Amid all the chaos, Haueter tried to account for every piece of the plane. Nearly all of the wreckage seemed to be on the hill, but a few pieces were turning up elsewhere. A passenger’s business card and some light insulation from the plane were found two and a half miles downwind from the hill. Could that mean the plane had exploded in flight? Clark, an expert on airplane performance, sat down with his laptop computer and launched a program he’d written called WINDFALL. The program used information about wind and the plane’s flight path to estimate where wreckage might have fallen. It said that if pieces had fallen from the plane, they would probably be behind the shopping center.
On September 14, an army of more than 150 volunteers, search-and-rescue team members, and NTSB employees gathered in the parking lot at Green Garden Plaza to start a massive search in the triangle-shaped area that WINDFALL had identified. For several hours, the team members crawled through bushes, waded through creeks, and peeked in backyards.
One volunteer, a USAir flight attendant, paddled a rowboat to the middle of a pond to investigate a mysterious object floating on the water, only to find it was insulation from a building. Another volunteer found something that looked like a rocket in someone’s backyard. It was rushed back to the FAA’s bomb expert, who determined that it was a spare part for a home furnace. Searchers in a helicopter spotted a suspicious panel hanging in a tree and a ground team hurried to find it, but it turned out to be a “DuckTales” kite.
When the search ended, the only items found away from the hill were insulation and light debris that had been carried in the hot plume of smoke. Once again, it looked as if the big jet was intact until it struck the hill.
At his press briefing, Haueter recounted the search. He said USAir employees in Chicago reported nothing unusual about the flight. Engine bolts in the wreckage were cracked, but those cracks probably occurred when the plane hit the ground. The plane’s logbook showed no problems with Ship 513. They had not found the Golden BB.
Dave Supplee was accustomed to seeing 737s taken apart. A USAir mechanic on the overnight shift in Tampa, Florida, he could fix anything on a plane—radios, hydraulic pumps, even the cranky APU generators that always seemed to be breaking down. Supplee, thirty-six, was a safety official with his union, the International Association of Machinists, and was on call anytime there was an accident involving a USAir plane. An hour after the Hopewell crash, he got a call from John Goglia, the union’s accident coordinator. “Let me warn you now,” Goglia said in his thick Boston accent, “this one is not pretty. There is total destruction of the aircraft.” Two years earlier, Supplee had worked on another USAir crash, Flight 405 at LaGuardia, but that scene wasn’t nearly as gruesome as the one in Hopewell.
Supplee was an ideal member for the NTSB’s structures group because he could identify the mangled parts lying on the ground and hanging in the trees. “Yeah, this is your air-conditioning bypass valve,” he said. “This is your hydraulic pump.” His group painted lines for a grid to keep track of the wreckage, so they could look for patterns in where the items landed.
When he first arrived at the scene, dressed in his white rubber suit, Supplee felt a sudden emptiness, as if all the life had been drained from the area. He tried not to think about the carnage around him. When he saw a hand or a foot lying on the ground, he called the coroner’s team over. They tagged it, noted the location with a colored flag, and then put it in a one-gallon Ziploc freezer bag. As the week wore on, the foot-high red and yellow flags sprouted everywhere, like survey markers at a construction site. Initially, red flags were supposed to designate body parts and yellow ones, wreckage. But there were so many body parts that they quickly ran out of red and had to use flags of all colors. It was a strange sight—a rainbow of flags flapping in the wind, an unintended memorial to one of the most gruesome air crashes in U.S. history.
Late one afternoon Supplee was assigned to find the plane’s cargo doors. There was a theory that one of them might have blown out in flight, so Haueter wanted to know if they were all on the hill. A coroner’s team had been working with Supplee’s group, picking up body parts, but the coroners had stopped for the day. Just after the team walked away, Supplee discovered pieces of door trim. Figuring that the rest of the door was buried just below the surface, he and other members of the structures group dug into the rocky soil.
When they pulled up the door, they found a woman’s arm partially covered by the navy blue sleeve of a flight attendant’s uniform. Right beside the arm was a purse. An ALPA investigator opened the purse and found the woman’s passport and wallet. He opened the wallet and saw the cheerful picture of April Lynn Slater, one of the flight attendants. Suddenly death on the hill wasn’t anonymous anymore.
Supplee looked around in hopes that someone from the coroner’s team was still nearby, but they were all gone. It was late afternoon now and everyone was leaving. Supplee realized he would have to leave the arm on the hill for the night. It bothered him that it would be left behind in the darkness until the coroners retrieved it the next day.
A few hours later at the nightly progress meeting, he broke down crying when he told the investigators from the flight attendants union what he had found. When he returned to his hotel room, Supplee called his mother and told her about the horror of the site. She couldn’t understand why he had volunteered for the job. “Why are you there?” she asked. “Why are you putting yourself through this?”
“I just couldn’t imagine not being here,” he said. “I have to do this.” He felt he was making a contribution to safety. That was the paradox about the whole ordeal. Crashes made flying safer.
Many investigators coped with the horror by building imaginary walls. Instead of looking at the body parts scattered around the site, they focused on the wreckage. Haueter told them, “Concentrate on metal, not on people.” Supplee followed that advice but found that he still got upset at the end of the day, when he went back to his hotel room and collapsed on the bed. He would turn on the TV, hoping to forget about the crash, but it would be on every channel.
As the hill got soaked by storms and then baked in the sun, it took on the horrible odor of rotting flesh. Many investigators put cologne, orange juice, or Vicks VapoRub on their surgical masks to counteract the stench. Haueter put a sweet-smelling ointment called Tiger Balm in his moustache.
Supplee was haunted by the sharp smell of bleach. Each time the investigators left the crash site, they had to scrub their hands in a bleach solution to wash away any germs that might be present in the body parts. Supplee then washed his hands with soap to get rid of the bleach smell, but it would not go away. He smelled it every time he put a forkful of food in his mouth, every time he brushed his teeth. The Clorox seemed to be deep in his pores. He took shower after shower, but the smell lingered, triggering flashbacks of the carnage on the hill.
John Cox’s biggest emotional challenge was picking through the cockpit. It was as if someone had destroyed the office where he worked every day. He did not know Emmett or Germano, but they were all part of the pilot brotherhood. Cox found skull fragments and parts of the pilots’ brains on the autopilot panel, but he did not get emotional. He also found a finger with a ring still attached, but even that didn’t bother him. The tragedy did not affect him until he pulled away a thicket of wiring and found Emmett’s epaulets, the shoulder stripes that pilots wear to denote whether they are a captain or a first officer. The epaulets were still attached to Emmett’s shirt, which was splattered with mud.
“One of ours,” Cox said sadly. They had found Emmett, but it just as easily could have been anyone from ALPA. It could have been Cox himself.
He suggested that they take a ten-minute break, but the other investigators wanted to keep working. Cox said he desperately needed a break. He walked away, tears streaming down his cheeks.
The emotion erupted again during dinner at Mario’s, an Italian restaurant that was a favorite of the pilots. Cox tried to convince his ALPA colleagues that he could work on both crash investigations—Flight 1016, the Charlotte accident that had occurred two months earlier, and the one in Hopewell. But the other union members were skeptical.
“You can’t do this,” one of the union officials said. “It’s just too much.”
“Let me find a way,” Cox said.
They talked about what a challenging job it was. Cox found it rewarding—the hunt for clues, the idea that he could help solve the mystery of a crash, and the belief that he could actually make flying safer. But he was overwhelmed. He was working in a steamy rubber suit all day long and was getting only three or four hours of sleep each night. He started crying, right there in the corner booth at Mario’s.
“All right,” he said finally. “You’re going to have to take me off of 1016.”
The next day, he felt invigorated. The Mario’s episode had cleansed him.
“I hit the wall last night,” he told his colleagues. “But I’m better now.”
Many people in the Pittsburgh area regarded Beaver County as a Podunk kind of place. Ever since the steel mills shut down, it had been a bedroom community that emptied every morning as people drove to jobs in neighboring Allegheny County, which included Pittsburgh. Allegheny was bigger, richer, more sophisticated, and had the airport, the museums, the colleges, the Steelers, and the Pirates. Beaver County had the Hopewell High School Vikings.
No one expected the county coroner’s office to be especially sophisticated at body identification procedures. The office was a throwback to the 1960s, with old furniture and a creepy opaque-glass door with CORONER in black letters—it looked like something from a Hitchcock movie.
In a typical year, the tiny office did only 100 autopsies. Two or three of those were unidentified bodies that were found in the woods, but otherwise the coroners knew the name of every dead body they saw. Suddenly they had 132 victims, with bodies torn apart worse than anyone had ever seen, and they had to identify them all.
The coroner’s office sent six teams to the site to photograph and document the remains. Figuring that people sitting in different parts of the plane would be found in the same areas, the teams carefully recorded the location of each body part on the hill. They used a grid system of letters and numbers to indicate the placement, such as “IW32” or “KW920.” Unfortunately, there proved to be no correlation between the location of the body parts and where passengers sat on the plane. Bodies had been blown in every direction.
The bagged body parts were stored in a refrigerated truck on the hill until they could be driven to the morgue at the 911th Airlift Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit at the Pittsburgh airport. A giant hangar normally used for big C-130 transport planes had been appropriated for the massive task of identifying the dead.
Wayne Tatalovich, the county coroner, accepted help from virtually anyone who offered—the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, the FBI, and local hospitals and dental schools. As the Ziploc bags arrived, they were X-rayed to find any wreckage that had been mixed with the remains. An FAA bomb expert examined each body part for evidence of explosives. If there were bones in the bag, an anthropologist tried to determine if they were from a male or a female and attempted to estimate the person’s age. Teeth were sent to dentists, who compared them against records submitted by the victims’ families. Fingers went to an FBI team in the hangar that tried to take fingerprints.
The scale of the effort was staggering. There were 132 people on the plane, but 1,800 Ziploc bags. Workers on the coroner’s teams made lots of mistakes. They wrote down the wrong letters for the grids where body parts were found. Their logs and photographs were inconsistent and incomplete. Their computers kept breaking down. Some were using Macintosh computers, others were using PCs, and the lists could not be transferred from one computer to the other. Volunteers who logged the findings into the database made repeated errors. In the space where they were supposed to list which personal effects were found with the remains, they often wrote, “Yes.”
Tatalovich worked to keep the process as dignified as possible. Someone said prayers over the 911th’s PA system. Once the body parts had been identified, chaplains escorted the remains to a hearse. Tatalovich made sure that the passengers’ bloodstained money was replaced with new dollar bills from a local bank before wallets were returned to family members.
Each day a committee of pathologists met around a conference table to decide when they had enough information to identify someone. Most were identified through dental records or fingerprints, or both. If those methods didn’t work, pathologists moved to more creative criteria—using skin color, the serial number of a hip replacement, wires in chest bones from open-heart surgery, or distinctive jewelry found on the body parts. The death certificates all said the same thing: “Accidental death due to severe blunt force trauma.”
The process went slowly. A week after the crash, Joan’s body still had not been identified.
To build an airtight case—if he ever came up with the cause—Haueter had to rule out every other possibility, no matter how far-fetched. So it was standard procedure to run drug and alcohol tests on the pilots. The tests nearly always were negative, but they had to be done to assure people that the pilots were not intoxicated. The tests were easy to perform as long as the pilots’ bodies were intact.
In this crash, there were no bodies. Only parts. And Haueter had to be certain that the parts he was testing truly came from Emmett and Germano. Fingerprints and dental records had been sufficient to identify most passengers, but Haueter wanted to use DNA tests on the pilots to be 100 percent sure about the drug and alcohol results.
Genetic code known as DNA, which is unique in every human being, had been used to identify murderers and war victims. But DNA testing was relatively new in the early 1990s and had not been widely used for plane crashes. It seemed to be a perfect solution to Haueter’s dilemma, however, because the tests could positively identify the pilots’ remains.
The coroners from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology who were helping with the investigation had body tissue that they believed came from the pilots—part of the upper left arm and back muscle for Germano and the back muscle for Emmett. But they had to find other blood or tissue from each pilot or a relative so they could match the sample with one that was known to have his DNA. Emmett had no children, but his mother was still alive and her DNA would be similar to his. She agreed to give a blood sample to a local doctor. When the experts compared her blood with the DNA from the back muscle, it matched well enough that the experts were sure the muscle had come from Emmett.
The NTSB ran into difficulty getting a match for Germano, however. His parents were no longer alive, and his wife did not want to provide blood samples from their children. Then someone in the investigation remembered a foot that had been found in the cockpit area. The FBI could match it with a footprint taken of Germano when he was in the air force. Unfortunately, by the time the pathologists realized it could be used for DNA, the foot had been placed in a casket to be sent to Germano’s family. Haueter quickly called Tatalovich.
“I need a piece of the foot,” he said.
They just closed the casket, Tatalovich told him.
“I need a piece of that foot. Open it and clip off whatever the AFIP guys need and take it to them.” Haueter could not believe his own words. He was making decisions about a dead man’s foot.
Tatalovich was concerned that he wouldn’t have much to send back in the casket to the family.
“Don’t take out the whole foot, just take off a little chunk,” Haueter said. Tatalovich agreed.
When they compared Germano’s foot with the footprint, it matched. Then they compared the DNA from the foot with the muscle. It matched.
The muscle specimens for both pilots were then sent to the FAA’s Civil Aeromedical Institute in Oklahoma City for analysis; no drugs were found. The tests disclosed a small amount of alcohol in both samples, but that would have been caused by the natural chemical changes in the muscle since the crash. Haueter was now sure that the pilots had not been intoxicated at the time of the crash.
Paul Olson, the man who sat in Seat 17F, was a convicted drug dealer. He had started selling marijuana as a teenager and then switched to cocaine when marijuana sales declined. He was a smart businessman in the thriving South Florida market, adjusting his product line when demand changed. He was a wholesaler. Suppliers dropped bundles of marijuana or cocaine a few miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, and Olson fished them out and sold them to other dealers. He was said to have been a millionaire by age twenty-one.
But the lavish life came to an end. Olson got caught, was convicted, and had to serve five years in federal prison. When he got out, he said he had turned over a new leaf and had become a law-abiding citizen. He took a job as a driver with a seafood company. His only link to the past was a requirement that he testify against other drug dealers.
When federal prosecutors called him in the summer about testifying against the alleged leader of a notorious Chicago drug ring, Olson told his fiancée that he was nervous about it. “I thought that part of my life was behind me,” he said. Yet he seemed relaxed when he arrived at the Chicago offices of the U.S. attorney on September 8. He wore a T-shirt and a baseball c
ap. He had a good tan. He and the prosecutors talked for a few hours, discussing his possible testimony, but they decided he wouldn’t be much help. The meeting ended early, and Olson, who had been scheduled on another flight, was rebooked on Flight 427.
After the crash, an assistant U.S. attorney called USAir and told them about Olson. Haueter got the news a day or two later but was assured by the FBI that Olson would not have been a target for a hit man. He was small potatoes. He was never part of the Witness Protection Program, in which the federal government finds new homes and identities for key witnesses. It was simply that the terms of his drug conviction required him to testify in other cases.
But Olson made for a great conspiracy theory. Maybe someone had blown up the plane to silence him! As the week wore on without the NTSB finding an apparent cause, the conspiracy theories picked up steam. That’s how a small but vocal segment of people deals with uncertainty. In the absence of concrete answers, they blame the forces of evil—the Mob, the Trilateral Commission, the CIA. And just for good measure, they say the federal government covered up the whole thing.
The press, which was getting less and less from the nightly NTSB briefings, pounced on the story, FLIGHT 427 VICTIM LINKED TO DRUG CASH, read the headline in the Chicago Tribune . The Gannett News Service called him a “mystery federal witness” and quoted attorney F. Lee Bailey as saying, “I believe a bomb caused it, particularly after I found out what went on in the cockpit. In my view, in the totality of what we know so far, the scenario is consistent with a bomb. I think two bombs might have gone off in sequence.” The bomb theory was fueled by a New York Times story the same day that quoted an unnamed “aviation official in Washington” who described a mysterious “whoomp, whoomp” sound followed by a surprised grunt from one of the pilots and a voice in the cockpit asking, “Jeez, what was that?” (That mistake in the Times story—Germano actually asked, “What the hell is this?”—was typical of press coverage in the early days after a crash. Reporters were so eager to get scoops that they relied on anonymous sources—in this case someone with a secondhand account of the tape who got important facts wrong.)
Reporters kept badgering Haueter with questions about Olson, even though the FBI had said publicly that there was no evidence that anyone had tried to kill him. Finally Haueter got frustrated and called the FBI again. Was there more to the Olson story than he had been told?
No, the agent said. “He’s nobody.”
The early clues from the crash argued against a bomb. The plane’s wreckage, including the four thousand copies of Business Week , was concentrated in a tight area on the hill. If a bomb had gone off in midair, Business Week would have rained from the sky for miles. They would still be finding copies in Cleveland. But Haueter couldn’t be sure. He needed to rule out every possibility, no matter how silly it was. So he asked Ed Kittel, the FAA’s bomb expert, to do a thorough examination of the wreckage.
Kittel was one of the world’s premier experts on airplane explosions. He spent twenty years as a bomb disposal officer for the navy, including time that he vaguely refers to as “working with the intelligence community.” He had intense blue eyes, a neatly trimmed beard, and short hair that was still cut to navy standards. On his desk in the FAA’s Washington headquarters was a picture of his two-year-old son with an antique detonator. His computer’s screen saver read, “There’s no problem that cannot be solved by the proper amount of high explosives.”
Kittel knew that bombs left a calling card. If one had exploded inside the USAir plane, hot gas from the bomb would have spread quickly, deforming everything it touched. The wreckage would be pitted with tiny holes that resembled craters on the moon. It would also have black streaks that would radiate from the origin of the blast and would not wipe away with a finger. By comparison, a fire after the plane hit the ground would be cooler and slower. The metal would not get pitted. The soot would wipe away with a finger. The problem for Kittel was that the 737 was in tens of thousands of pieces. He had to check every one.
So he positioned himself on the hill at the place where wreckage was sprayed with Clorox and checked each piece of wreckage like a supermarket cashier in a moon suit. For days, he kept at it, inspecting virtually every piece. He held them, turned them over, and searched for the telltale pockmarks. He found no sign of a bomb.
The wreckage was then trucked to a USAir hangar at the Pittsburgh airport and spread out on the floor in the rough shape of the plane. The idea was to look for burn patterns and broken metal that might indicate an in-flight fire or bomb. But once again, Kittel saw no evidence of either. The burn marks were randomly scattered around the plane, which meant the pieces had not caught fire until the plane struck the ground and the parts mixed together.
At the makeshift morgue at the Air Force Reserve hangar, Kittel’s partner Cal Walbert examined body parts for evidence. If a bomb had gone off in the cargo compartment, pieces of it would have been captured in the passengers’ legs and buttocks. The coroners X-rayed every Ziploc bag, removed any foreign matter, and placed it in recycling bins. Walbert sifted through twenty bins and found fragments from seats, plastic trays, and overhead bins, but nothing to indicate a bomb.
Kittel told Haueter that he was positive: A bomb had not brought down Flight 427. But that night at the Holiday Inn, a reporter ambushed Haueter as he came out of the press conference.
“I know this is a bomb,” the reporter said.
Haueter grabbed Kittel, introduced him to the reporter, and said, “Ed, is there any doubt in your mind that this was not a bomb?”
“None,” Kittel said. “We have no indication of a bomb of any kind.”
The crackpots had started calling on September 9, blaming the crash on the devil, Russian death rays, and the Prince of Darkness. The calls were dutifully forwarded to the NTSB witness group. The group had two purposes: to field calls from people with theories about the crash and to interview anyone who had seen Ship 513 fall out of the sky.
Witnesses to plane crashes were notoriously unreliable. They often confused the order of events and embellished their stories. But interviewing them was a standard part of every investigation, and occasionally someone actually saw something important. The 427 group got names of witnesses from newspapers and TV news reports and then tracked them down, taking a plastic model of a USAir plane so people could demonstrate what they had seen. Most said the plane had rolled left and then plunged nose down toward the hill, as the flight data recorder indicated. But they could not agree on whether it made an unusual noise. Some heard a growling sound. A kindergartner thought it sounded “funny.” Others heard nothing out of the ordinary. A USAir utility worker who happened to be on the soccer field behind Green Garden Plaza was sure that he saw smoke coming from the front of the right wing. Others saw no smoke. One man saw a mist and believed the plane might be dumping fuel. A food service employee said one of the engines looked like it was cocked to the side. Other witnesses said the engine was fine.
The witness group got lots of calls from retired airline pilots and well-meaning frequent fliers who said the crash reminded them of problems they’d experienced on other flights—some that were years earlier. One man said an electromagnetic field from power plants might have harmed the 737’s “fly-by-wire” system (he apparently did not know the 737 was not a fly-by-wire plane). A retired pilot from Stuart, Florida, faxed an elaborate scenario suggesting that a flap failure surprised the pilots. He ended his scenario with “Precious little time and mind frozen with fear.”
Another caller said he had a dream that a flight attendant was standing in the cockpit and fell on the captain when the plane banked, causing the captain to lose control. The man said only pilots should be allowed in the cockpit. If that wasn’t feasible, others in the cockpit should wear a restraining belt to keep them from falling into the pilots. The NTSB witness group kept a log of each interview, noting whether a follow-up was recommended. In the follow-up column for the man with the cockpit theory, one of the witness team members wrote, “Possible psychiatric help.”
Haueter got a postcard that read, “Give me $50,000 and I’ll ask the Prince of Darkness for no more plane crashes.” Haueter joked that it was a risky investment. The guy wasn’t promising the crashes would stop. All he said was that he would ask .
Witness group member Kimberly Petrone, a USAir flight attendant, took a call from a man who said he was a psychic and had a dream about the accident. He had envisioned a clear blue sky and then the word “hydraulic” written in the clouds.
Petrone couldn’t take the guy seriously. “What’s the lottery number going to be tomorrow?” she asked.
“I’m not that kind of psychic,” he said. “I just sense things.”
This is the paradox of aviation history: Birds inspired us to build the first airplanes a century ago, but an errant flock could bring a 737 crashing to the ground and give us a humble reminder that humans were not meant to fly. Birds and planes had an uneasy coexistence from the start. Calbraith Rodgers, the first man to fly across the United States, was also the first to be killed by a bird collision. His Wright brothers plane struck a gull in 1912 and crashed in the surf at Long Beach, California. Since then, bird-plane collisions have killed more than one hundred people in the United States and countless others around the world. The 1960 crash of a Lockheed Electra in Boston, which killed sixty-two people, was caused by a flock of starlings and gulls, and a 737 crash in Ethiopia that killed thirty-five people was blamed on speckled pigeons.
A few birds of modest size could do serious damage to a $40 million plane, breaking through the nose or the windshield or crippling the engines. When a four-pound bird hit a plane going 260 knots the bird had the force of fourteen tons.
The FAA gets two thousand “bird strike” reports in a typical year, but an estimated eight thousand strikes never get reported. Gulls account for one-third of the collisions, followed by ducks/geese/swans, blackbirds, doves, and raptors. (The FAA also keeps track of ground collisions with other wildlife. In a typical year, deer are struck by planes forty-three times. Other collisions involve coyotes, dogs, skunks, muskrats, and possums. Reptiles are a smaller risk, although planes struck two alligators from 1992 to 1996.)
At the airports with the worst bird problems, employees drive around in trucks playing tapes of screeching birds over loudspeakers. The tapes sound like a flock of starlings being tortured. If that doesn’t scare the birds away, the workers pull out shotguns and fire blanks into the air. With stubborn birds, the employees occasionally shoot to kill. The world experts on bird-plane problems work for an air force unit called the Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) Team. The BASH Team visits air force bases to warn pilots about the problem and make sure airfields are not attractive to birds. They tell fighter pilots that a single turkey vulture can be as dangerous to an F-16 as a round of artillery.
The FAA sets standards to make civilian planes bird-resistant, saying they must withstand the impact of birds as heavy as eight pounds. Tests to certify the engines look like a bizarre stunt from a David Letterman show. The engineers put dead birds in a cannon and shoot them into the spinning fan of a jet engine.
At the crash site, theories about birds emerged in the first few days. A bird collision might account for the mysterious thump on the cockpit tape, and it might explain why the plane suddenly rolled to the left. Maybe a big goose broke through the skin of the plane and jammed the rudder system. Or maybe it got lodged in the slats, the movable panels on the front of the wings.
John Cox was skeptical. In his twenty-year career as a pilot he had collided with several birds, and he knew they could be dangerous. But he doubted that birds had caused this crash. He kept saying, “Have to be a hell of a bird to bring down a 737.”
No feathers were found in the wreckage, and air traffic controllers said they saw no birds on radar at the time of the crash. But five witnesses said they had seen birds in the area the previous evening or the morning of the accident. A retired army colonel called to say that he had seen “thousands” flying over Hopewell three nights earlier. The operations group checked with a bird expert at the University of Illinois, who said it was unlikely but possible for birds to be at 6,000 feet.
At the hangar where the wreckage was being assembled, investigators walked up and down the makeshift aisles, looking for anything birdlike. They paid special attention to the wings and the nose, where birds were most likely to hit. But the only evidence they found was a pair of feet from a goose that someone had left in one of the engines as a prank—a stunt that infuriated Haueter. Dozens of people studied the wreckage, but no one saw any sign of a bird.
That didn’t satisfy the team from Boeing, which was especially interested in the bird theory. (Haueter noticed that Boeing was always keenly interested in theories that shifted blame away from its airplane.) Rick Howes, Boeing’s coordinator, reminded Haueter of the destructive power of buzzards and how they had caused several crashes. Howes said he was interested in the left wing slats, where a broken hinge might have been caused by a bird. He thought the NTSB should do a full-scale reconstruction of the leading edges of the wings and the area just behind the nose, known as the forward pressure bulkhead. Once those sections were reassembled, the investigators could examine them with a special black light that would make bird residue glow.
Haueter was pretty sure birds weren’t a factor, but he wanted to be positive. He agreed to do the reconstruction. “Let’s bring the theory up now and bury it,” he said. “I don’t want to have it haunting me a year from now.”
Greg Phillips was nearly killed investigating a 737 crash. A flight controls specialist with the NTSB, he had been sent with Haueter to Panama in 1992 to figure out why a Copa Airlines 737 had suddenly twisted out of the sky at 25,000 feet and crashed. As he searched the jungle for wreckage, Phillips felt a sting on his arm and slapped away what he thought was a caterpillar. Back in his hotel room, he began to feel ill. His stomach ached, his fever rose, he shook with chills. He felt like he was falling down a long, dark hole. Lying there naked, he thought he was going to die. He crawled out of bed and put on some pants. If he was going to die, he was going to go wearing pants. He recovered sufficiently to take the first flight home to Washington, and blood tests showed he had been bitten by a black scorpion, which was often fatal.
Phillips got interested in accident investigation as an engineering student at the University of Evansville in Indiana. In 1977 the school’s basketball team had been killed in the crash of a DC-3 because of a problem with the plane’s rudder. Phillips read everything he could about the crash and decided he wanted to be an investigator. After he graduated, he designed airplane components for Cessna in Wichita, Kansas, and for Northrop in Los Angeles until he saw an ad for an NTSB job in Aviation Week and Space Technology in late 1987.
He had frizzy brown hair, button eyes, and a dimple on his chin. He always sounded happy, even when he was buried in work and about to be sent on a fifteen-hour flight to yet another crash. Like his friend Haueter, Phillips loved to put things together. He was building an RV-8, a lightning-fast experimental plane that could be used for aerobatics. He drove a Porsche 944 and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and brewed his own beer. Phillips had the perfect personality for the safety board’s culture of caution. He was thorough and always skeptical. When other investigators were convinced about some kind of malfunction, Phillips was often the last holdout, constantly looking for more evidence.
Many investigators came across as dispassionate. They were like homicide detectives. They didn’t get wrapped up in the tragedies they saw because every day brought a new one. But Phillips wasn’t afraid to discuss his feelings about what he saw in the field. He said his job reminded him how fragile life is. “There’s no guarantee for the next day,” he said. “You can’t put off expressing emotions to people you love.” After an accident he often spent extra time with his wife, Debbie, and his two teenage boys, savoring each moment with them.
Phillips was blunt about the limits of technology. “You can’t have a perfect airplane,” he said. “I don’t think perfection exists.” The systems on modern jetliners were so complex that no human being could possibly account for the myriad ways in which things might fail. Yet he never worried about his own safety when he flew. He felt that the manufacturers built solid airplanes, that pilots were well trained, and that the government did a good job of regulating the airlines and the manufacturers. “The system works,” he said.
When he arrived on the hill in his rubber suit, the largest piece of wreckage he saw was the tail. On the wreckage map, the tail was piece No. 1, right at the center, like a big X on a treasure map. The rest of the plane had been squashed and shredded by the impact, but the tail was in surprisingly good shape. That was good news to Phillips because two of the primary flight controls were on the tail: the rudder (the movable vertical panel that made the plane’s nose go right or left) and the elevators (the horizontal panels that made the nose go up or down). Fire had devoured an eleven-by-four-foot section of the vertical stabilizer, which was the big fin area in front of the rudder, and there was a chunk missing from the top portion of the rudder panel itself. But inside the tail, the hydraulic devices that moved the rudder were in good condition.
Phillips’s approach on the hill followed the classic NTSB method. He had his team examine each component from the flight control system, even if the component was unrelated to the rudder. It was far too early to jump to conclusions. They did not want to zero in on one theory too fast, the way the investigators of the Knute Rockne crash did, only to find later that they had neglected something important.
His team found the other mangled flight controls—the ailerons (the wing panels used for banking and turning), and the flaps and slats (the devices on the front and rear of the wings that provided extra lift during takeoffs and landings). For each one, they also found the actuators—the hydraulic or mechanical devices that moved the panels. Phillips’s team carefully measured and photographed everything, to record whether the panels were up or down, right or left at impact. By measuring where things broke or where they bent, they were able to put together a snapshot of what the plane was doing when it struck the road.
The group spent a lot of time examining the device that moved the rudder, which was called the power control unit. Amazingly, it had survived the crash
with virtually no damage.
“This thing is in pretty good shape,” Cox said when he saw it.
Phillips was relieved. He knew that the rudder unit would be the subject of many tests. One of his biggest regrets from the Colorado Springs crash was that the rudder system had been badly damaged, making it difficult to test some of the theories. Phillips’s first goal with the USAir wreckage was preservation. He needed to make sure the evidence wasn’t altered when his team moved it from the hill to the hangar and then shipped it to a lab for a detailed inspection.
A yellow construction crane was brought in to lift the big tail section onto a flatbed truck. Workers tied nylon straps around it and stood back as the diesel engine strained to pick it up. When Cox heard the engine groaning, he worried for a moment that the crane might drop the huge piece. But the tail lifted slowly into the air, and the workers used ropes to direct it onto the truck. Once it was secured, the truck drove to the decontamination station so it could be sprayed with the Clorox solution. The process reminded Cox of his planes’ being de-iced. The wreckage was covered with a tarp to hide it from the snooping eyes of the media, and then it was driven to the hangar.
Phillips and his group decided to send the key pieces to two labs on the West Coast. Most devices from the rudder and aileron systems would go to the Boeing Equipment Quality Analysis lab outside Seattle, which was regarded as one of the best places in the world for forensic analysis of a plane crash. The rudder power unit would go to a Parker Hannifin plant in Irvine, California, where the units were manufactured.
The rudder unit had been carefully cut from the tail of Ship 513. Its hydraulic lines were capped to keep the fluid inside. It was packed in a padded trunk and sealed with several layers of shipping tape. Phillips and other members of the group signed their names on the tape so it would act like police evidence tape. When Phillips got the box on the West Coast, he could check the tape to be sure that no one had opened the trunk and tampered with the evidence.
Hidden in the tail of every 737 was a hydraulic device that acted as the muscle to move the plane’s big rudder. It was about the size and shape of an upright vacuum cleaner and was known as the power control unit, or PCU.
Inside the PCU was an ingenious valve. It was shaped like a soda can and was strong enough to move the rudder when the plane was going 500 miles per hour. The gadget had an impossibly dull name—the dual concentric servo valve—but engineers used an amusing hand gesture to show how it worked. They curled the fingers of one hand to create a hole and then stuck their index finger in and out, as if they were demonstrating sex.
That was how it worked. When a pilot pushed on a rudder pedal, he moved a tube the size of a pencil in and out of the soda can. Holes in the tube allowed hydraulic fluid to squirt against a piston, which pushed the rudder to the right or left.
The 737 rudder valve was unique because it had two tubes, one inside the other. Both moved back and forth. That design was revolutionary in the arcane world of hydraulics. It allowed Boeing to use one power control unit instead of two, which helped it fit in the tight confines of the tail and trimmed at least fifty pounds off the final weight, saving airlines thousands of dollars in fuel over the life of a plane.
The valve-within-a-valve also had an important safety feature. If one tube jammed, the other one could still move and neutralize the rudder.
At least, that was how it was supposed to work.
Investigators had suspected a problem with the rudder valve in the Colorado Springs crash, but the evidence had been too sketchy. The valve was damaged and difficult to test. This one, however, was in perfect condition. So Phillips’s trip to the West Coast had the potential to wrap up the investigation quickly and neatly. All he needed was to find a tiny flaw, and the mystery would be solved.
But as he flew to Seattle, he wasn’t fantasizing about solving the case. He was being his usual cautious self, fretting about the test plan for all of the flight controls—not just the rudder—to make sure he didn’t forget anything.
“We can’t just stay focused on the rudder,” he told his group when they gathered in a lab at Boeing’s big plant in Renton, Washington. There was mounting evidence pointing to the rudder, but Phillips did not want to exclude other possibilities and then discover he had missed something crucial. He said he would be open to any idea, any test. “No question is too trivial.”
The lab, in a giant gray building beside Interstate 405, about ten miles southeast of Seattle, resembled a high school science classroom, with drab yellow walls and lots of counter space for tests. The technicians who worked there were the unsung heroes at Boeing. They were a notch lower on the food chain than the engineers who got most of the glory, but they were just as important. They tested hundreds of airplane parts every year to make sure they were safe and durable. They could figure out why a window cracked, why an actuator leaked, how to improve a toilet seat.
They had lots of gadgets to help them examine broken parts—microscopes that let them see tiny imperfections in plastic and borescopes that could peek inside a device. The technicians were like a band of renegade nerds. For kicks, they once used the borescope to check out a guy’s ingrown nose hair.
Phillips’s group planned to test anything that could have played a role in the crash—the main rudder power unit and its backup, the standby PCU; the rudder trim actuator, which adjusted the rudder constantly to keep the plane flying straight; and the hydraulic devices that moved the ailerons. The wreckage arrived in big wooden crates, all sealed with tape, just as the rudder crate had been, to make sure no one tampered with the evidence. Everything reeked of Clorox.
Phillips, Cox, and the other team members met in a conference room to decide how each piece would be tested. Phillips insisted on a consensus for every step. They would not proceed until all team members—from the NTSB, the FAA, Boeing, ALPA, and the machinists union—agreed.
They methodically inspected and tested each item. Some parts were taken to another Boeing building and X-rayed to search for internal cracks. The team was looking for anything out of the ordinary—scrapes, leaks, dents, electrical fluctuations—that might explain what had gone wrong on Ship 513.
One theory about the crash was the possibility of “runaway trim” of the rudder. Normally, pilots could turn a dial to trim the rudder to adjust for crosswinds and keep the plane flying straight. But an electrical malfunction might have made the trim “run away,” sending the rudder swinging to one side. The trim actuator, about the size of a box of animal crackers, was badly dented from the crash. But one of the Boeing technicians figured out a way to hook a testing device to it. When he measured the amount of electricity that went in and out of the device, the electrical readings showed the trim was centered. Runaway trim had not caused the crash.
They examined dozens of other pieces the same way, taking photographs and carefully documenting the condition of each piece. On the hydraulic pressure gauge, a tiny indentation known as a “witness mark” provided valuable information. When Cox found the gauge at the crash site, it had one needle pointing to 3,000 pounds per square inch (psi), which showed that the “B” hydraulic system was operating normally when the plane crashed. Unfortunately, the “A” needle had broken off. But when the technicians put the gauge under a microscope, they could see a distinct mark indicating that the A needle had also been pointing to 3,000 psi. That meant both systems were working properly and they could rule out a hydraulic failure.
After scores of tests, they came up empty. Everything they tested was working fine when the plane struck the road. It was time to go to Irvine, California, and see what they could learn from the soda can valve.
At the time of the Hopewell crash, Boeing was number one in a dwindling group of airplane makers. Lockheed and Fokker were no longer building airliners, and McDonnell Douglas was struggling. Boeing’s primary competition was Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European companies based in Toulouse, France.
In Seattle, Boeing was the city’s largest private employer and a mighty economic force. You couldn’t drive far on a major highway without seeing the company’s familiar italic logo. The major plants were along East Marginal Way on the edge of Boeing Field; in Everett, a town north of Seattle where the wide-body jets were assembled; and south of Seattle in Renton, where the 737s and 757s were made.
Boeing sometimes lagged behind its competitors in developing new planes—a practice that earned the company the nickname the Lazy B—but it seemed to gamble at the right times. In that regard, the 737 was typical. When Boeing officials were debating whether to build the plane in the early 1960s, archrival Douglas was already several years ahead with the similar-sized DC-9. Boeing president William Allen was dubious about building the 737 because his chief competitor was so far ahead. He had struggled through the high costs and development problems of the three-engine 727 and was not sure the company could afford another painful birth so soon.
The 737 was designed for short-haul flights of five hundred to a thousand miles, serving airports that otherwise might not get jet service. Boeing planned to offer customers an optional gravel kit, so the plane could land on an unpaved runway. Early designs had the engines on the tail, as on the 727, but they were later moved to the wing because placing them there would allow seats for six more passengers.
By 1964 many Boeing executives felt that the 737 project was dead. But a handful of believers led by chief engineer Jack Steiner pushed to keep the project alive. They said costs could be reduced because the plane would be heavily based on the 727. The new plane would have many of the same parts as its sibling.
Designers tried to simplify every aspect of the 737 to save money and increase reliability. By combining two parts into one—such as the rudder’s unique valve-within-a-valve—the designers would have fewer things that could break. That was crucial if they were to achieve the ambitious goal of 99 percent reliability. They also simplified the cockpit and pilot workload so the plane could have a two-person crew instead of the costly three that were needed for the 727.
Steiner, an intense workaholic who wore Buddy Holly glasses, decided to sneak behind his boss’s back to convince the board of directors to support the 737 launch. It was easy for Steiner to reach board member Ned Skinner, because he lived nearby; Steiner simply walked over to Skinner’s house and gave him the sales pitch. Then Steiner tracked down three other board members and gave them the same message. The lobbying campaign worked. The board decided in 1965 to build the plane.
When the first 737 came off the assembly line in Renton in January 1967, it was christened by seventeen stewardesses with seventeen bottles of champagne, representing the number of airlines that had ordered the plane. When Allen spoke at the dedication, he noted that the small plane had been overshadowed by bigger jets being developed—the 747 and the supersonic transport. The 737 might be small, he said, but it would fill an important niche for shorter flights. “We expect the 737 to serve long and well on the air routes of the world.”
It took nearly twenty years for the plane to make a profit, but the 737 is now the best-selling jetliner in the history of commercial aviation. Boeing boasts that its 99.2 percent reliability is the best in the world. There are more than 3,800 of the planes in use, with 700 in the air at any given moment. The 737 is so successful that Boeing now makes the “Next Generation” models, with longer ranges, more-efficient wings, quieter engines, and more-modern cockpits.
The plane that crashed in Hopewell was a 737–300, a model that some pilots called the Quichewagon. The 300-series was the first to have a flight-management computer, which enabled pilots to enter complicated routes into the computer so the plane could virtually fly itself. The computer helped them find the most fuel-efficient altitudes, saving up to 7 percent in operating costs. Pilots who relied on the high-tech device were said to be less macho. They were the quiche eaters.
The 737 was dull but efficient, with all the sex appeal of a four-door sedan. Other planes had mean-sounding nicknames like Mad Dog and Mega-Dog, but the 737’s monikers sounded downright wimpy: Fat Albert, Guppy, and Fat Little Ugly Fellow (FLUF). Boeing was famous around the world for its gigantic 747, the premier long-haul airplane. When a 747 took off from a runway, people stopped and watched the 400-ton machine climb into the sky. But the smaller 737 rarely stopped traffic, since so many of them were making so many flights. Watching a 737 take off was about as exciting as watching a minivan pull out of a garage.
The lackluster image of the 737 was largely a function of its plain-vanilla use. The big 747s flew twelve-hour missions on long, glamorous routes such as New York to Paris or Los Angeles to Honolulu. The pipsqueak 737s flew short hops like Baltimore to Buffalo or Detroit to Little Rock. The 737 was a relatively basic machine. New planes were “fly-by-wire,” with computers sending electrical signals to move the flight controls. But the 737 still relied on old-fashioned cables that ran beneath the cabin floor.
The plane had an excellent safety record, but so did virtually every other modern plane. The 737–300, -400, and -500 planes had nine “hull losses” (the industry euphemism for a crash), for an accident rate of 0.43 for every million flights. The 737’s rivals, the DC-9 and the Airbus A320, had higher rates, but the differences were insignificant. Crashes were rarely caused by the same mechanical problem. About 70 percent of crashes were blamed on pilots, and only 10 percent on malfunctions.
Yet two or more crashes caused by the same problem in a plane could destroy the plane’s image and make airlines stop buying it. A design flaw that led to crashes of the de Havilland Comet in the 1950s nearly doomed the plane. The same thing happened to the Lockheed Electra in the early 1960s after a series of accidents were blamed on engine vibration. The DC-10’s reputation deteriorated so much after two spectacular crashes in the 1970s that airlines began canceling orders.
So Boeing had a lot at stake in the Flight 427 investigation. There now had been two mysterious 737 crashes with similar circumstances. Boeing had to reassure its jittery customers that its plane did not have a fatal flaw.
Some airlines were so nervous about the crash that they instantly reacted to every theory that came up. When the NTSB raised the possibility that one of the plane’s thrust reversers had suddenly deployed in flight, a few carriers immediately called and said they wanted to disconnect them. Boeing officials sent telex messages to the airlines nearly every day for the first two weeks, telling them in one message, “We would like to stress that, contrary to some media reports, at this point the NTSB has not concluded there was a partial in-flight thrust reverser deployment. Boeing has no recommended operator action at this time. If the investigation shows any specific actions are recommended or required, operators will be notified.”
Boeing had a special team to deal with crashes—Air Safety Investigations, which was a select group of engineers run by a shrewd manager named John Purvis. The team’s mission was to help the NTSB and determine whether Boeing needed to fix any problems with the plane. For Flight 427, Purvis’s office was overseeing an unprecedented effort involving more than a hundred Boeing employees. Engineers who designed flight controls were studying the 737 rudder system for possible flaws. Aerodynamic experts were studying the numbers from the flight data recorder, trying to estimate when and how far the rudder had moved. The company’s structures experts were helping the NTSB make sense of the wreckage.
The crash was so important to Boeing that the chief engineer for the 737, Jean McGrew, had been appointed to work with Purvis and oversee the company’s response. McGrew said his mission for Flight 427 was simple: to help the safety board find the cause of the crash, and—if the 737 was to blame—fix it. It bothered him that some people thought Boeing might be trying to cover up flaws in the plane to save money. McGrew said he was open to any theory, even if it meant Boeing might be at fault.
From his boyhood in Missoula, Montana, McGrew seemed destined to be an aviation engineer. He delivered the Missoulian newspaper and used his profits to buy model airplanes. He loved the challenge of designing and building something that could actually fly. He started his career with the Douglas Aircraft Company as a young expert on flutter, the potentially catastrophic condition that can make an aircraft shake so violently it breaks apart. He liked flutter because it was complicated. Some engineers preferred a single, more simple discipline, but McGrew chose flutter because it involved virtually every aspect of aerospace engineering—structural mechanics, stress analysis, design, and aerodynamics. The more complicated, the better.
He was an early computer expert who introduced Douglas engineers to the power of the PC. He rented an Apple II and holed up in a Manhattan hotel room, crunching numbers to prove that their new MD-80 jet could safely land on LaGuardia Airport’s runway pier. He also was one of the first guys at the company to have a computerized Rolodex.
In 1989 he retired from McDonnell Douglas and jumped to Boeing, which was the aerospace equivalent of switching from Pepsi to Coke. He became the chief engineer for the 737, which meant he was the plane’s godfather, responsible for any design changes.
He was so smart that his mind seemed to leap ahead during meetings, solving problems that weren’t even on the agenda. His mind was like a mainframe. He studied a problem, processed the data, and reached a conclusion. One of his kids once gave him a gold Slinky on a plaque that said, RELAX, a reminder that he often got wrapped up in his job, but he rarely had time to play with it.
McGrew had a wry sense of humor and a love of tennis, boating, and spicy food. He solved problems with a cool, analytical approach and calculated everything to close tolerances. He knew precisely how long it took to get to the airport and always cut it close so he wouldn’t be sitting at the gate wasting time. He fit well into the Boeing engineer-dominated culture. He looked the part—a thin fifty-six-year-old man with wire-frame glasses and a pocket protector that he kept hidden inside his shirt pocket, as if he were slightly embarrassed about it. He loved computers, but he was not the kind
of guy who would surf the Web or play games. To McGrew, computers were tools, not toys.
His decision about wearing a pocket protector was calculated with the same logic he used for everything else. He wanted pens and pencils within reach, but he didn’t want stains on his dress shirts. Never mind if the pocket protector looked nerdy. Data in, data out. A decision was made, his pockets were protected.
Boeing and USAir kept elaborate records on everything that was done to every plane, and Ship 513 was no exception. There was paperwork virtually every time a mechanic touched it, even for the routine transit check the night before the accident. The papers said the mechanics at the Windsor Locks, Connecticut, airport had examined the engines, checked the brakes and tires, switched on the exterior lights, and checked the galleys and lavatories.
The NTSB examined the maintenance records and found that 513 had suffered the usual ailments and hiccups of a seven-year-old plane—a blown tire, a fuel line problem, tiny cracks in a floor beam, a few spots of corrosion—but nothing extraordinary. Investigators scoured maintenance records and found a few “carryover” items, minor problems that did not need to be fixed right away. The engine thrust reversers were showing some wear. And the cabin floor was soft and spongy at Row 5 and was fixed with a temporary patch.
A year before the crash, the plane had undergone the rigorous USAir “Q check,” a three-week exam in which mechanics inspected every beam and panel. The plane had gotten the requisite minor checkups since then, and it complied with the latest safety requirements from the FAA. Ship 513 seemed to be in great shape.
Cox checked his records and found he had actually flown it several times, but not in the last several months. Each 737 had its own quirks. They felt different to pilots because of their age, their individual equipment, or because they occasionally got banged by a passenger walkway. Some were cranky and had a rougher ride than others. But 513 was known for a smooth and steady ride. When Cox spoke with a colleague who had flown it recently, the pilot said he was sorry 513 was gone.
“It was a good one,” he said.
When the systems group arrived at the Parker Hannifin plant in Irvine, Cox, the ALPA representative in the group, could feel tension in the air. To the Parker employees, this was like a visit from an IRS auditor. The NTSB group was there to see if the rudder power control unit—Parker’s bread and butter—had caused a crash that killed 132 people. Employees were jittery.
With the help of Parker technicians, the NTSB team pulled the silver-colored unit out of the crate and methodically took it apart, piece by piece, examining each one under a bright light. They checked one of the filters and found nothing out of the ordinary. A group member acted as the scribe to document the tests. He wrote, “No large particles.”
They checked the O-ring seals on the filters. The scribe wrote, “No deficiencies.” They opened one end of the power unit and peered inside with a borescope. “No evidence of impact marks or abnormal wear marks.” They opened another cover plate and peered inside at the fluid.
It twinkled.
Cox could see tiny pieces of metal in the fluid, glittering in the lights. “Is this normal?” he asked another team member. The guy shrugged.
The question circulated through the group. Was it supposed to twinkle? Wasn’t hydraulic fluid supposed to be cleaner? Finally, someone from Parker piped up. The area was downstream of the metal parts, and it wasn’t unusual to get tiny particles there. Still, no one knew how much twinkle was too much. They looked inside with a microscope and videotaped the tiny particles. Then they drained the fluid with a syringe and sent it to be tested.
The next day, they hooked the power control unit to a test bench that looked like a refrigerator turned on its side with dials and switches on the back. The bench acted like a hydraulic pump on an airplane, providing pressure to the unit. Some members of Phillips’s team believed the test could bring their first breakthrough. The valve-within-a-valve might be jammed, which would make its piston go hard to one side once hydraulic pressure was turned up. That would explain the crash.
Expectations for the test were so high that Phillips had invited Carl Vogt, the chairman of the safety board, to watch. Vogt and everyone in the systems group stood around, intently watching the piston. A technician drained the last of the fluid from the unit and collected it in a clean container so they could send it to Monsanto, the manufacturer. They installed a special cover on the unit so they could watch how the valve and the levers inside reacted. They would be able to see if it went haywire.
A technician flipped a switch and started the purple hydraulic fluid flowing at 360 pounds per square inch, about one-tenth the normal pressure. The bench vibrated with a steady hum of the pump. No one spoke. Everyone was listening for a hiss or gurgle or belch or some other strange sound that the valve might have made before it threw 132 people to a horrible death. It seemed as though everyone in the room was holding his breath, waiting for the big moment. Everyone craned to see the valve, watching for a jam or a sudden movement.
The piston just sat there. The valve didn’t budge. They might just as well be staring at a rock garden.
A technician moved a lever to simulate the pilots’ stepping on the rudder pedals, and the slides inside the valve went back and forth smoothly. The scribe wrote, “Servo valve acted normally.” They turned up the pressure to a full 3,000 pounds per square inch, the normal pressure on a 737.
A technician stood beside the power unit and pushed and pulled the lever harder and harder. He tried to get it to reverse, slamming it as hard as possible. “No piston reversal,” the scribe wrote. The technician tried slamming it to the left. “No piston reversal.” Then the group tested the yaw damper, an electrical device that made tiny adjustments to the rudder. “Passed. Passed. Passed. Passed. Passed. Passed. Passed. Passed. Passed.”
The technicians removed the unique valve-within-a-valve and put it through a battery of tests. They probed it, flushed it, shined a light through it.
“Passed. Passed. Passed. No abnormalities found. No abnormalities. No anomalies. No anomalies. Normal wear pattern. No anomalies.”
The power control unit was fine. The scribe ended the notes with a summary:
“The unit is capable of performing its intended functions as specified by Boeing…. Testing validated that the unit was incapable of uncommanded rudder reversal.”
Phillips signed his name at the bottom of the page.
On a clear autumn day, Joan’s friends and family came to the Saint Michael Catholic Church in Wheaton, Illinois. They lined up to sign the guest book beneath a photograph of Joan in her wedding dress. At the altar was another Joan photo, surrounded by candles and hundreds of flowers—carnations, dark red roses, and baby’s breath. There was no casket. It was eight days after the crash and Joan’s remains had not been identified.
Brett hugged people as they arrived. A few days earlier, he was worrying about mundane things like floor tile and getting to work on time. Now he had to deliver a eulogy for the woman he loved.
The priest who had counseled Brett and Joan before their marriage thanked everyone for coming and said that their presence in the church was a testament to the richness of Joan’s life. “Death is not something to be explained,” he said. “It is quite beyond our understanding.”
Friends and relatives walked up for Holy Communion, knelt at the altar, and solemnly dipped pieces of bread into the wine. When Communion was over, Brett stood up and slowly walked to the podium, brushing his short auburn hair back from his forehead.
“When this occurred,” he said tentatively, “it left me with a terrible, empty feeling inside. Going to Pittsburgh put this in perspective. There were one hundred thirty-two victims on that plane. Imagine all of us here tonight, multiplied by one hundred thirty-two, and you begin to get some scope of this plane crash. I would just like to offer my blessings for all of them as well, and all of the other people that are suffering through the same things.”
He got a faint smile as he described Joan.
“Many times my friends and I would be sitting around the house watching a football game and Joan would be with us. She actually would watch the games. I’d say, ‘Oh, no! Face mask!’ and she’d say, ‘Oh, no, that’s encroachment.’ She knew more about it than anybody I know. I always enjoyed going to work functions and parties with her. There would be an occasion or two where she would get up and speak. It was just remarkable to see the transformation from the woman I know that always played to my needs, to see her take on an executive’s demeanor almost instantly, standing up and delivering a nice speech.”
Brett said he had always been skeptical about religion and had never gone to church regularly, but he had been praying and watching for a sign from God that Joan had gone to heaven. He said he had received two since she died.
“I know I will get through this, as we all will, with difficulty and great pain,” he said. “There’s not much more I can say other than I loved her more than anything else in this world…. She’s gone forever.”
He paused. “I would just like to end with an Irish proverb that we both enjoyed:
May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
May the rains fall softly on your fields
And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Three weeks after the crash, the Beaver County coroner still had not identified Joan’s remains. Don Moore, a USAir pilot working in the morgue, had talked with Brett several times and sent him photographs of engagement rings found on several hands, but Joan’s ring was not among them. Brett was in Melrose, Iowa, for another memorial service in honor of Joan when Moore called again. Brett was getting annoyed.
“Look,” he told Moore, “it’s got two triangular-shaped diamonds, two oval-shaped ones, and a marquise in the center. It’s very unique.” Moore promised to call back.
The phone rang again a few minutes later.
“Did she have a very thin, simple gold band for a wedding ring?” Moore asked.
“Mr. Van Bortel, we’ve identified your wife.”
Joan’s belongings arrived a few days later in a zippered white pouch that said, “Joan Van Bortel, aka Lahart, Gilbert Funeral Home.” Inside were her checkbook, a phone bill, and some shattered credit cards. Her wedding and engagement rings were also included, although the engagement ring was missing a diamond. Brett hoped he could find the diamond at the crash site.
He had grown increasingly annoyed with USAir. The airline seemed to be backing away from its promises to pay some of his expenses. His family coordinator from the airline would not tell him who was sitting beside Joan. He knew she was in Seat 14E, but he wanted to know who was beside her when she died.
A week later, Brett drove to Hopewell Township to look for the missing diamond and to bury a gold brooch on the hill. The NTSB had finished its work there, and the Hopewell police were allowing family members to visit as long as they had an escort. Brett had arranged for Major Robert Pfeiffer of the Salvation Army to accompany him. He had met Pfeiffer when he visited Pittsburgh the weekend after Joan was killed. The night of the crash Pfeiffer had arrived on the hill very quickly, when the wreckage was still smoldering.
On this day they met in the parking lot at Green Garden Plaza and then proceeded up a driveway that led to the crash site. As they walked through the woods, Brett asked how it had looked immediately after the crash. Pfeiffer described the scene and the odd way some things were not damaged, such as an intact briefcase that was near others that had been shredded. As they walked through the trees toward the road, a boy came up to them.
“Hey, mister!” the boy said to Brett. “Wanna piece of the plane?” The boy was carrying slivers of aluminum.
“Goddamn NTSB,” Brett muttered under his breath. Didn’t they collect everything? How could they leave evidence behind? The wreckage was supposed to be safely inside a hangar somewhere. How could they solve the mystery if they didn’t have all the puzzle pieces?
Brett stood there for a minute, trying to make sense of it all and then finally said sure, he’d take a piece. He looked around and found lots more. One was the size of his forearm. He walked down the road to the area where the nose had hit and knelt in the dirt. He was saying a quiet prayer when a woman tapped him on the shoulder.
“Your wife was on the flight?” the woman asked.
“Her name was Joan,” said Brett.
The woman started crying. “My husband was…”
They hugged. The woman said she was Tina Connolly and that her husband was Robert Connolly, a financial consultant who was returning from a business meeting in Chicago. Brett explained that he had been trying to find out who sat beside Joan. Tina said she had been trying to find out the same thing—who had been sitting with her husband.
“Do you know where Joan sat?” she asked.
“Sure. Fourteen-E.”
Her eyes widened and her chin quivered. She called to the man with her, who was her brother-in-law, and asked, “Do you remember where Bob sat?”
He shouted back, “Fourteen-F.”
It took Brett a second to realize what that meant.
They stood there, staring at each other in amazement. Brett handed her a card about the scholarship fund he had set up in Joan’s honor. The card had Joan’s photograph on it. “Do you have a photo of your husband?” he asked.
“No,” she said. She pointed to her brother-in-law. “But this is his identical twin.”
They talked for forty-five minutes, discussing their experiences since the crash and plotting how they could compile a seating chart by talking with other families. Finally Tina left and Brett returned to bury the brooch.
Deciding to leave Brett alone, Pfeiffer climbed up an embankment to a wreath of silk roses. There were 132 roses on the wreath, each one tagged with a passenger’s name.
Brett knelt in the dirt. He had not brought anything to dig with, and there were no sticks around, so he pulled out the piece of wreckage the kid had given him and used it to dig a little hole. He set the gold brooch inside and covered it up. He said a prayer and watched his tears fall to the dirt.
Just as Pfeiffer got to the wreath, a small gust of wind blew one of the roses to the ground.
He bent to pick it up and looked at the name on the tag: Joan Van Bortel.
Pfeiffer came down to the road and handed the rose to Brett.
“Brett, it’s a sign from God.”
Brett filled his pockets with the wreckage of Flight 427, with squares of aluminum and a big bolt with a serial number on the side. There was so much debris that he could have filled a pickup truck. He took it back to his home in Illinois because he wanted proof that the NTSB had left evidence behind.
He had read in Newsweek that some crashes had been solved by evidence as tiny as a filament in a lightbulb. If that was the case, why didn’t the NTSB take every piece? He called the Newsweek reporter who had written the story and described what he had found. The magazine ran a brief item about his findings in its Periscope section on November 7,1994. The magazine quoted Brett as saying, “It’s not like we had to excavate. The pieces were lying at our feet.” An unnamed NTSB spokesperson was quoted as saying that investigators “took everything that was usable. We knew we were going to leave some pieces behind but we don’t think they’re of any consequence—what’s left is for souvenir hunters.” That infuriated Brett. Souvenir hunters?! Why would anyone want a piece of an airplane in which 132 people were killed?
A few days later, Mike Benson of the NTSB public affairs office called Brett and tried to explain further. Benson said the wreckage was left because investigators were getting a repetitive pattern. The smaller pieces were of no significance. Benson did ask him to send the bolt, however. But a few weeks later, Brett got a letter from the NTSB saying the bolt was of no consequence.
Brett had gone years without crying, but he was now breaking down every day. He went days without laughing. He thought it was strange, how he had always taken laughing for granted. But there was nothing in his life that was the least bit amusing. His first good laugh finally came when he noticed that Joan had left the price tag on the crystal frame he had taken to Pittsburgh. That was typical of her. She didn’t worry about the small stuff.
It took several weeks to tell the bureaucracy that Joan had died. He found that the government, Joan’s employer, Azko Nobel, and the credit card companies were sympathetic, but it was still painful to tell the story again and again. He increased his running. It was just about the only thing that provided any relief. He could put his mind on hold and focus on the pain in his legs instead of the one in his heart. He drove to the forest preserve where he and Joan had often hiked, and he ran sprints up and down Mount Trashmore. He put hundreds of miles on his mountain bike, riding a long trail that connected several nature preserves. He wore Joan’s engagement ring on a chain around his neck now. It hurt sometimes when he rolled over in bed and the little prongs that had held the missing diamond dug into his chest, but Brett did not want to repair it. He wanted the ring left exactly as they had found it at the crash site.
Life felt meaningless to Brett, so he quit his job. He spent his days reading books about death and grief. He also visited the tiny Lisle library to read articles about the Flight 427 investigation, the FAA, and aviation safety. He learned that the FAA had a dual mandate—to regulate and promote aviation—simultaneously. What a conflict of interest! Critics said that the agency had a “tombstone mentality” and did not act until people had died.
His bitterness against USAir grew. He felt that the airline had been unresponsive to his requests about the Flight 427 seating chart. It wasn’t until he and Tina Connolly had started compiling names that the airline decided to tell families who had been sitting beside their loved ones. He was also mad that the airline had reneged on some of its offers to pay for a church contribution and to fly friends and relatives to Joan’s memorial service. The more he read about USAir’s safety record, the more he disliked the company. The Pittsburgh crash was the airline’s fifth fatal accident in five years. The FAA had beefed up its inspections of the company a couple of weeks before the Pittsburgh crash because of the other accidents. If Joan had known that, he doubted she would have flown USAir.
When Haueter’s air traffic investigators checked radar tapes for other planes in the vicinity of Flight 427, they found that the
closest was a Delta Air Lines 727 that was 4.2 miles ahead. That was more than a mile beyond the FAA’s minimum spacing, so there was plenty of room between them. But when the air traffic group mapped the radar tracks of both planes, investigators discovered that the instant at which Flight 427 crossed the Delta jet’s wake was the exact moment when things started to go wrong.
Big jets left wakes in the sky just as cruise ships left them in the water. Wakes were powerful spinning tubes of air the size of sewer pipes that kept spinning after a plane was miles away. They were invisible, but definitely noticeable. When a plane encountered a wake, it felt like a strong bump or it jostled the plane slightly to one side. Pilots could easily recover, but they might have to roll their wings level or adjust their heading.
Wake turbulence experts from NASA studied Flight 427’s radar data and said there was plenty of evidence of a wake encounter. The calm weather on September 8 had been ideal for long-lasting wakes. The flight data recorder showed that the USAir plane’s indicated airspeed jumped from 190 to 195 knots in one second. A big 737 cannot speed up that quickly, but that kind of change is often caused by an encounter with wake turbulence, which alters the flow into the airspeed sensors. But the NASA experts doubted that the wakes could have caused the accident. They might have rolled the plane slightly, but they weren’t strong enough to flip the 737 upside down.
One of Haueter’s bosses, Bud Laynor, was especially interested in the effects of a wake. As test after test cleared the plane’s rudder valve, Laynor became more and more intrigued by the possibility that the wake had severely jostled Flight 427. But Haueter thought that was impossible.
“If that’s so,” he told Laynor, “why aren’t we crashing them every day at National Airport?”
Still, Haueter acknowledged that it was possible that the wake had triggered some other kind of malfunction. The bumps may have activated the yaw damper, a device that made tiny adjustments to the rudder to make a flight smoother. If there was some kind of jam in the hydraulic valve, the rudder might have suddenly turned to one side—a problem known as a hardover.
Unfortunately, the government and the airline industry knew relatively little about wake turbulence. Engineers knew that wakes could be strong, but they didn’t know how strong or how planes would behave when they crossed wakes at different angles. So Laynor began to push for a special flight test. He wanted to fly a 737 behind a 727 to re-create the conditions before the crash. Special equipment would measure the effects on the plane and show whether the wake could have flipped Flight 427 out of the sky.
The wreckage had been in the Pittsburgh hangar for seven weeks, the odor growing worse each day. It was a musty mixture of jet fuel, Clorox, and God-knew-what-else. The plane seemed to be decaying.
Dave Supplee, the USAir mechanic from Tampa, had been summoned back to the creaky hangar to rebuild the front sections of Ship 513. That wasn’t unusual in a crash investigation, to put wreckage back together and look for patterns. But most accidents left large pieces that could easily be identified. That was not the case with Flight 427. There were thousands and thousands of pieces that were blackened, scarred, dented, flattened, and chipped. Putting them together was akin to working the world’s most difficult jigsaw puzzle after the family dog had chewed up the pieces and they had been set on fire.
At Boeing’s insistence, Haueter agreed that his structures team would reassemble the wheel wells, rudder cables, the leading edges of the wings, the floor beams, and the forward pressure bulkhead (the area just behind the nose of the plane). The group would examine the wreckage for evidence of birds, explosions, cracks, or fires. Haueter was still considering the possibility of a sudden failure of the rudder cables, a collapse of the floor beams or an explosion in the wheel well, a critical area where the landing gear came close to vital hydraulic lines, pumps, and cables.
Much of the USAir wreckage had been laid out on the hangar floor in the rough shape of the plane, but thousands of small, unidentified pieces had been tossed into three giant Dumpsters. The contents were poured onto the floor, and Supplee and other team members waded in.
“We’re going Dumpster diving!” they exclaimed.
For two days they rummaged through the piles, looking for pieces they could recognize. Most were no bigger than a business card and were so badly charred that they looked like burned peanut brittle. The team started with the floor beams but found only 15 to 20 percent of them. So Supplee and his colleagues dove into the pile again.
Full-size blueprints had been spread out under Plexiglas so the team could locate each piece. Once Supplee found a piece that looked familiar, he searched for its location on the blueprint. He got a huge feeling of accomplishment when he was able to find the right spot. But the task was maddening. He kept asking, “Where’s the rest of the plane?”
After several days, everyone realized the effort was impossible. There were huge gaps at the front of the plane. The wreckage had been so badly burned or so disfigured by the impact that there was no point in continuing. Supplee was discouraged. It seemed as if they had accomplished so little.
Still, the wreckage provided a few answers. Notches on the floor beams showed that the rudder cables had cut into them, which meant the cables were taut at impact and had not broken in midair. The burn pattern on the reassembled wreckage was random, which indicated that there was no fire or explosion until the plane hit the ground.
The partial reassembly of the front sections of the plane also allowed the structures team to look for evidence of birds. It was a long shot. Bird blood or feathers could have been washed away by the Clorox solution. But it was worth a check, especially around the slats, the movable panels on the leading edge of the wings. Boeing officials continued to suggest that a bird might have hit the slats right at the hinge. That could have caused the slat to pop up, making the plane roll to the left.
The bird scenario was one of a dwindling number of theories. Haueter was also interested in the gurgling sound that passenger Andrew McKenna had reported on the plane’s previous flight from Charlotte to Chicago. The NTSB got an early explanation of the sound a few days after the crash, from a USAir pilot who sat in the cockpit on that flight and said his knee was leaning on a PA microphone button. But the issue had popped up again because of theories involving the electronics and equipment bay, where the computers and gyros were kept. There had been a few other incidents where water from the lavatory toilet had leaked into the bay and short-circuited the electronic hardware. The phenomenon was known as “blue water contamination,” a nice way of referring to toilet water.
USAir had not been much help in pursuing the suspicions about the gurgling sound. The safety board had asked for a complete list of passenger names and phone numbers for the Charlotte-Chicago flight McKenna was on, but the airline had provided only thirty of them. To add to the mystery, Gerald Fox, USAir’s O’Hare maintenance chief, did not tell investigators about the call he received about the strange noise until three months after the crash. The woman who reported the sound to Fox had never been found, nor had several other people who talked about the sound at Gate F6.
After dozens of phone calls, Haueter’s investigators could track down only thirteen passengers, and only two of those had heard an unusual noise—McKenna and a woman who was sitting a few rows behind him. The woman did not think the sound was unusual, and she accepted the flight attendant’s explanation that it came from the PA system. Haueter decided to put the gurgling inquiry to rest. The pilot’s explanation about the noise was reasonable, and it seemed unlikely that the sound was important. If there had been leakage of blue water that caused a short circuit, it probably would not have made a sound and could not have moved the rudder as far as estimates said it had gone.
In the meantime, Flight 427’s power control unit continued to pass every test. Samples of hydraulic fluid from the PCU, along with samples from other USAir, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines planes, were sent out for testing. The safety board even spiked one sample with bleach to make sure technicians from Monsanto did not tamper with the results. The Flight 427 samples passed, although several of them were unusually dirty.
Technicians at Boeing tried a test using a typical rudder valve and hydraulic fluid so gummed up with particulates that it looked like Dijon mustard. The contamination was much worse than anything the investigators had found on the plane, but they wanted to see how much the valve could endure before it malfunctioned. The fluid was so thick that it kept destroying Boeing’s hydraulic pumps. But in test after test, for thirty hours, the equivalent of stomping on the rudder pedal five thousand times, the valve worked fine.
The bird theory was still alive, mostly because Boeing was so insistent about it. Members of the structures group were back at the Pittsburgh hangar, where the windows had been covered with black paper. They shut off the lights, donned strange-looking orange sunglasses, and shone a black light along the wreckage. The sunglasses were supposed to make it easier to see the faint glow from bird remains. It was a bizarre scene: people wearing weird sunglasses walking slowly around the wreckage, waving a black light the size of a baseball bat.
On the number three leading edge slat, they saw a faint glow. They brought the light closer. It wasn’t bright, but it was definitely stronger than the surrounding area. They switched on the hangar lights and examined the spot carefully. It was a small clump of material that looked like dirt or mud. It wasn’t bird proof by any means, but it was worth testing.
It was time to call Roxie Laybourne, the world’s premier expert on feathers.
Laybourne, who was eighty-four years old, was a legend among crash investigators. She was a tiny woman with short gray hair and thick eyeglasses who worked at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. She wore a white lab coat and Reeboks, and she walked hunched over because of back and neck problems. She had begun studying feathers in 1960 after a Lockheed Electra collided with a flock of starlings in Boston, killing sixty people. Suddenly the government cared a lot about birds.
Identifying them was an odd but necessary task in aviation. Engine and airplane manufacturers needed to know how well their products could take a direct hit from a laughing gull, a Cuban whistling duck, or—their biggest fear—a Canada goose. Once they got Laybourne’s reports, they knew how much damage different birds could cause, which enabled them to improve their products to better withstand a bird strike.
Examining feathers under her microscope, Laybourne had discovered unique patterns in the stringy fragments of feathers called downy barbules. Some barbules had little triangles, others had rings. She found similarities between birds from the same family, even those that lived thousands of miles apart. Pigeons and doves were easiest to identify because the nodes on their barbules looked like crocuses. The hardest were songbirds because their nodes all looked alike.
With tiny feather fragments—some no bigger than bread crumbs—Laybourne solved thousands of bird strike cases. In one, she used a fragment of down from a pilot’s shoulder patch to identify the herring gull that broke through the canopy of a Harrier military jet. She also used her skills to help Customs identify birds smuggled into the United States, and she once helped the FBI catch a murder suspect.
Laybourne’s office at the museum was a reflection of her unusual occupation. Her bookshelf included Birds of Nepal and Raptors . On her door were a poster from the Israeli Air Force warning pilots to watch out for birds and a Far Side cartoon that showed Santa Claus and his reindeer splattered on the nose of a jumbo jet. She was philosophical about the conflict in the skies. “As long as you have man and birds flying,” she said, “you have the potential for problems.”
Cindy Keegan, the head of the airplane structures group for the Flight 427 investigation, brought the suspicious clump to the museum. But when Laybourne saw the tiny brown sample, she doubted she could be much help. It was smaller than a dime, a mixture of sand and dirt but nothing that even remotely looked like a feather. She eyeballed it for a moment and then examined it under the magnifying glass she wore around her neck. Nothing. She pulled off the cover on the microscope, put a sample on a slide, and took a closer look. Still nothing.
The next day, two other bird strike experts happened to stop by her office. One, Major Ron Merritt, headed the Air Force’s famous BASH Team. The other, Eugene LeBoeuf, was the FAA’s chief bird scientist. After examining the sample, they agreed that it was only dirt and vegetation.
Laybourne phoned the NTSB. “There’s no bird material here,” she said.
The data recorder on Flight 427 was like an eyewitness to the crash with one eye closed. It took only thirteen measurements of the flight, which provided an incomplete picture of what happened. It saw the plane yaw to the left and then roll out of the sky, but it didn’t see why. That meant the NTSB and Boeing had to make educated guesses about what had happened. Investigators were pretty sure the sudden yaw was caused by the rudder. No other flight control on a 737 could cause that kind of movement. But they did not know whether the rudder moved because the pilots stomped on the pedals or because something went wrong in the hydraulic system.
That had become the central question in the investigation: Was the crash caused by man or machine? As other theories were ruled out, Boeing and ALPA began to differ about why the rudder had moved. Boeing kept raising the possibility that the pilots had mistakenly stomped on the pedal, whereas ALPA kept suggesting the rudder system had malfunctioned.
The small number of measurements on flight data recorders was a function of money. If it were up to the NTSB, every airplane in the United States would be required to have 300-parameter boxes immediately. But the airlines balked at that request because it cost tens of thousands of dollars to equip each plane with the more advanced recorders. It wasn’t that the boxes were any more expensive. The recorder on Flight 427 could easily have handled dozens of additional parameters. It was the multitude of new sensors and wiring that ran up the cost. Because the 737 was a relatively basic airplane with steel cables that moved the flight controls, it was costly to install sensors. A newer, fly-by-wire plane could be equipped with a sophisticated flight recorder more cheaply because the sensors and computers were already there.
Boeing assigned some of its smartest aerodynamic engineers to perform a kinematic analysis of the crash. Their goal was to take the undisputed facts from the thirteen measurements in the flight recorder and come up with estimates for things the box did not record, such as movement of the wheel and the rudder. The job was even tougher because the plane had been bounced around by the wake from the Delta 727. There was no doubt that the wake had jostled the USAir plane, but it was up to the engineers to figure out which movements were caused by the wake and which were caused by the ailerons and rudder.
The debate about why the rudder moved was fueled by the fact that 737 pilots rarely used it in flight. Pilots of smaller planes had to use the rudder during turns, but the aerodynamics of the 737 were different, and there was no need to use the rudder during a turn. Pilots used it primarily for landings in strong crosswinds and in the rare case of engine failure.
To help sort out what had happened to Flight 427’s rudder, the NTSB and Boeing decided to try a technique known as a backdrive. Engineers took the numbers from the flight data recorder and fed them into the computer that ran Boeing’s M-Cab flight simulator. The M in “M-Cab” stood for “multipurpose,” which meant the simulator was a chameleon. It could be programmed to perform like any Boeing jet. M-Cab was usually used for dull engineering tests, but this time it would be used to re-create the crash and see how 132 people had died.
It was a ghost flight. The plane would roll and twist the same way it had on September 8, as if the pilots were still at the controls. The instruments would spin the same way they had in Ship 513, and the control column would move back and forth as if Emmett were still pulling on it, trying to prevent the crash.
In a cavernous room three stories high, M-Cab stood like a long-legged elephant with a Boeing logo on the side. Its legs resembled huge shock absorbers, allowing the cab to rock back and forth so pilots believed they were flying. It was built to fool the pilots, using gravity, motion, sound, and computer displays to give a realistic sensation of flight. There was a sense of danger when M-Cab was about to start, as if the big beast might go crazy, fall off its legs, and crash to the ground. That was especially true with the Flight 427 work because in order to simulate the deadly plunge of the plane, Boeing had to push back the mechanical safety stops that limited how far M-Cab could go.
The brains of the beast were in a computer room next door, where technicians controlled the cab. Computers the size of refrigerators were lined up at one end of the room. At the other end, technicians and engineers could watch the white cab and talk to the pilots through an intercom. Pilots referred to the Flight 427 simulation as “rock and roll.” They often began the rides by saying, “Let ’er rip.”
Haueter walked across the ramp to the white cab and climbed into the mock cockpit. He was curious to find out what the ride would show. He had studied charts about what had happened to Flight 427 dozens of times, but it would be much better to feel what the pilots had encountered instead of looking at lines on a piece of paper.
He knew the pilots had made a crucial mistake. They pulled back on the control column at a critical time, and that made the plane stall. Had they just pushed the stick forward and let the plane lose some altitude, they probably could have prevented the crash. Also, the pilots had not acted quickly enough to turn the wheel completely to the right, which might have countered the effects of a rudder hardover, regardless of whether it was caused by man or machine.
Haueter was not shy about blaming pilots. He had gone toe to toe with ALPA on the 1988 crash of Delta Flight 1141 in Dallas—Fort Worth, and he’d been amazed at how ridiculous the union had been, claiming there was some kind of malfunction of the plane that caused it to crash a few seconds after takeoff. But Haueter and the other investigators were convinced that the pilots h
ad simply forgotten to set the flaps, the panels on the wings that gave the plane extra lift so it could get off the runway. Haueter had also blamed pilots for a crash in Hawaii—the guy flew right into a cliff—and one in Alabama in which the pilots got hopelessly lost. Yet he was still skeptical about whether Emmett or Germano would have stomped on the pedal and held it there. Good pilots—especially ones with thousands of hours like Emmett and Germano—just didn’t do that.
Haueter took the right seat, where Emmett had sat. He reached below to a lever and adjusted the seat until his feet could reach the rudder pedals. He was about to see how 132 people had died, but he would not get choked up about it. He coped with the gruesome side of his job by building a big emotional wall. The facts got in, but the horror stayed out. Still, he expected it would be a bumpy ride and figured he would get a good jolt from the G-forces.
The cockpit looked the same way it had to Emmett and Germano. The altimeter read 6,360 feet. The airspeed indicator read 190 knots. Looking through the cockpit window, Haueter could see blue and green squares that were supposed to represent Hopewell Township and the surrounding area. Jim Kerrigan, a Boeing engineer riding with Haueter, told the M-Cab technicians that they were ready. Flight 427 began again.
M-Cab descended from 6,300 feet and banked slightly to the left. Haueter heard the steady click-click-click of the rudder trim. It felt like a routine turn. Boeing did not have a copy of the cockpit tape, but Haueter had heard it so many times he knew what the pilots would say at each moment. Oh, yeah, I see zuh Jetstream. Sheeez. Thump. Whoa . The cab jerked to the left and then back again, rattling the metal seats and panels and tossing Haueter left and right. Hang on, hang on . Another jerk to the left and then the whoop-whoop-whoop of the autopilot warning horn. Haueter had been watching the computer image of a blue sky and hazy horizon out the cockpit window, but suddenly all he could see was the green and blue squares of the ground, looming closer. Hang on. Ohhh, shiiiiit. What the hell is this!!? He had his hands lightly on the control column and felt it come back, as if the phantom pilots were trying to pull the nose up to avoid certain death. He felt the stickshaker go off like a jackhammer, warning that the plane was stalling. He was almost face down now, watching the ground spin closer and closer. Oh shit! Pull! The jackhammer continued rat-a-tat-tat-rat-a-tat all the way down, until the ground filled the windscreen God! Pulllllllll! and the cab jerked to a stop. Noooo .
As violent as the end was, Haueter was surprised that the initial yaw and roll were so smooth. He had expected to get bounced around more severely before he was rolled to the left. But the whole thing happened seamlessly and fast. They were making a routine turn like they had thousands of times, and twenty-eight seconds later they were dead.
Haueter flew it again. He let the machine jerk him back and forth as he looked for some sort of cue that would have triggered Emmett or Germano to stomp on the rudder pedal. A 737 pilot might use the rudder in a crisis, to quickly counteract a roll. But in that case a pilot most likely would step quickly on the pedal and let it out—not hold it down all the way to his death. As the phantom pilot again pulled the stick back, Haueter searched for a reason they might have held the rudder.
He couldn’t think of one.
He flew it ten more times. The more he flew, the more unlikely it seemed to him that Emmett or Germano had stomped on the rudder pedal. There were a few bumps from the wake, but nothing that would make them press the rudder all the way. Instead, it felt like an aerobatic move called a spin entry. A stunt pilot deliberately held the rudder in and pulled back on the stick so the plane would flip out of the sky and corkscrew toward the ground.
Haueter unsnapped his seat belt and climbed out of the chair. As he walked out of the simulator, he was even more convinced. Nothing had happened to Flight 427 that would have made a seasoned pilot stomp on the pedal.
Within days of the crash, families of the victims of Flight 427 were inundated with mailings from lawyers.
“It is most difficult to intrude into your life at this time, but you do need help, not only spiritual, but legal as well,” wrote the Cleveland firm of Miller, Stillman, and Bartel. The letter promised the firm would “only accept five families from any one disaster, as each family is entitled to our utmost time and individual attention.” Included was an ad that listed the death and injury cases the firm had handled—planes, trains, automobiles, even “slips and falls.”
Brett received mailings from about thirty lawyers. He piled them on his office floor in a two-foot stack. A few were downright tacky. One lawyer sent a refrigerator magnet. Another sent a videotape.
“First I want to offer my sincere condolences,” Houston lawyer John O’Quinn said on the five-minute tape. “I realize that sudden losses such as this are very difficult to deal with, and unfortunately at this time your mind is probably not prepared to make certain important decisions which unfortunately must be made.” The tape apparently had been recorded specifically for families of the Flight 427 victims. “I assure you that USAir already has its attorneys working on the case… in the best interests of USAir and not necessarily in your best interests.” Newspaper headlines flashed on the screen showing examples of his firm’s victories, followed by a toll-free phone number that families could call.
For a trial lawyer, a plane crash case is a sure thing. It’s not a question of whether a plaintiff such as Brett will win, but how much he’ll win. As in other types of personal injury cases, the lawyers usually work on contingency, getting paid only when their clients win. (Which means that, in airline cases, the lawyers always get paid.) The contingency fees are typically 15 to 25 percent, although some lawyers get as much as 35 percent.
The settlements are based on the odd practice of determining the price of a human life. To people outside the legal system, it seems cold and insensitive to try to translate a human life into dollars and cents. How could USAir and Boeing possibly repay Brett for the love he shared with Joan? How could they put a dollar value on her life? But by filing a lawsuit against them, Brett was seeking money as compensation for her death, which meant the court would have to determine what Joan was worth.
Much of the money came not from the airlines and aircraft manufacturers but from their insurance companies, which meant that lawsuits from a crash had little direct effect on an airline’s bottom line. USAir had $850 million in coverage spread among seven companies in the United States, England, and France. The largest, Associated Aviation Underwriters of Short Hills, New Jersey, had 30 percent of the coverage and would be the lead insurer to handle claims on the policy and negotiations with the victims’ lawyers. It’s likely that those seven companies had gone to the insurance markets in London and gotten “reinsurance” on the policy, which spread the risk among more investors. USAir has never disclosed how much it paid for this coverage, but the trade journal National Underwriter reported that insurers canceled and renegotiated USAir’s coverage after the Charlotte crash—one month before the Hopewell accident—to raise rates or extend the payment schedule. The journal referred to USAir as the “hapless carrier.”
Boeing had its own coverage, probably with some of the same companies that USAir did, but Boeing did not publicly discuss details of its insurance and, unlike USAir, it was not required to file a statement of coverage with the government. USAir and Boeing also would not say how they would divide their liability for the crash. In previous cases, airlines and aircraft manufacturers have often started with a certain split, say fifty-fifty, and then revised the proportion as it became clear which company was more at fault.
Although many people criticized lawyers for soliciting clients after a disaster, Brett found that the mailings were helpful in that they explained the process of a wrongful death case. He didn’t know much about the legal system, and the information that he received answered many questions. But ultimately he decided to go with Corboy Demetrio Clifford, a Chicago firm that had not sent him a single piece of mail. The firm, which had been recommended by his father’s lawyer, was so well known for aviation cases that it did not need to solicit clients. Its offices took up two floors in a tower at 33 North Dearborn Street, across from the Cook County court building. The walls and cabinets in the law firm were polished mahogany, the desks were marble. The firm won so much for its aviation cases that it could afford a lot of mahogany.
The firm was headed by one of the city’s most famous trial lawyers, a white-haired legend named Philip Corboy. He was famous for winning millions for clients—$25 million for the family of a passenger killed in the 1989 United Airlines crash in Sioux City, Iowa, and nearly three hundred other verdicts and settlements for $1 million or more. A competitor called him “the Hoover vacuum of the personal injury business.” Brett met Corboy briefly, but ended up dealing primarily with partners Robert Clifford and Michael Demetrio.
They didn’t waste a minute filing Brett’s suit. Within hours after he signed the contract to hire them on October 12, his suit was hand-carried across Dearborn Street to the clerk’s office in Cook County Circuit Court. The decision to file there was a strategic one. Cook County juries were famous for giving big awards, and Corboy Demetrio Clifford had considerable clout there. The Chicago court was sure to be a better venue than Pittsburgh, where USAir was a major employer and was regarded as the hometown airline.
Brett said his decision to sue USAir and Boeing was more about justice than about money. He wasn’t looking to get rich. He would get plenty of money from life insurance policies and workmen’s compensation for Joan. What he wanted was to get revenge against the companies he believed had killed her.
And so Brett’s revenge became Case No. 94 L 12916, Van Bortel v. USAir Inc., the Boeing Company and Gerald E. Fox . By naming Fox, the airline’s Chicago maintenance foreman, Brett stood a better chance of keeping the case in Cook County rather than having it transferred to Pittsburgh, where many other cases were being filed. The lawsuit mentioned a host of possibilities that could have caused the crash: inadequate maintenance, the thrust reversers, the rudder system, the electrical control system. It said the airline “allowed USAir Flight 427 to crash into the ground.” In the complaints against Boeing, the suit said the 737 was “unreasonably dangerous” because its rudder system or thrust reverser did not respond properly or because it had a faulty anti-collision warning device or had an engine that fell off. The suit said Fox “carelessly and negligently failed to properly conduct the preflight maintenance and/or inspection of Flight 427.” The scattershot nature of the complaint was standard practice for trial lawyers. It was too early to know the cause of the crash, so they made a broad range of accusations. The suit said Brett “has sustained pecuniary loss and damage, including loss of society and companionship, love and affection, as a result of her death.”
The accident record for 737s was better than those of many other jets. But the record carried a disturbing asterisk that haunted the NTSB investigators: the Colorado Springs crash. It was one of only four cases that the NTSB had never solved.
United Airlines Flight 585 was supposed to be a twenty-minute hop from Denver to Colorado Springs. Skies were clear, but the Colorado Springs airport was having gusty winds.
“Nice lookin’ day,” Captain Hal Green said to First Officer Trish Eidson as the plane taxied away from the gate. “Hard to believe the skies are unfriendly.” As they headed toward the runway, one of the pilots whistled.
The two pilots talked about the danger of rotors, the spiraling winds that came off the mountains. Green said he knew a pilot who had flown through one. Eidson said she knew they were dangerous and that they “could tear a wing off.”
The flight was so short that as soon as they climbed to 11,000 feet they had to begin preparations for landing. Eidson tuned to the latest weather report for Colorado Springs, which said the airport had a low-level wind shear advisory with winds gusting to 40 knots. An air traffic controller gave her directions to descend and turned them toward the airport.
“Cleared to land,” the controller said. “Wind three-two-zero at one-six, gust two-niner.”
“Okay, we’re cleared to land three-five, United 585,” Eidson replied. “Getting any reports lately of loss or gain of airspeed?” She wanted to know if planes were encountering trouble because of the turbulence.
“The last air carrier was the one that reported that, a 737,” the tower said.
“Could you repeat it please?”
“Yes, ma’am, at five hundred feet, a 737–300 series reported a five… correction, a fifteen-knot loss. At four hundred feet, plus fifteen knots and at one hundred fifty feet, plus twenty knots.”
“Sounds adventurous,” Eidson replied. “United 585, thank you.”
She then said to Green, “I’ll watch that airspeed gauge like it’s my mom’s last minute.”
They were parallel to the runway, preparing to turn to their base leg and then make their final descent. “Okay, start around there now and wheels down final,” Green said.
“Gear is down, three green,” Eidson said. “Speed brakes armed, green light, flaps are five, green light, hydraulic brake pressures are normal, final descent checklist complete.”
As they descended toward the runway, their airspeed changed suddenly.
“We had a ten-knot change there,” Eidson said.
“Yeah, I know. Awful lot of power to hold that airspeed,” Green said.
It went up ten more. “Wow,” said Eidson.
Twenty seconds later, she said, “Oh God.”
The plane was rolling sharply to the right.
“Oh!!!!”
The pilots tried to adjust the flaps, apparently trying to abort the landing and go around.
“Oh my God!” Eidson screamed. “Oh my God!”
The plane crashed nose first into a park three miles from the airport and exploded in a fireball. All twenty-five people on board were killed. A witness said the aircraft had looked like it was on a dive-bombing mission.
The NTSB explored dozens of theories about the engines and the plane’s rudder. Many leads went nowhere. Investigators studied sound frequencies on the cockpit tape to explore whether the engines were operating normally. But gaps in the sounds prevented them from drawing conclusions. They searched for an elderly couple who reportedly had been splattered with a bad-smelling liquid as the plane flew overhead, but the couple could not be found. As in the Hopewell crash, the flight recorder was of limited help. It had only five parameters and because the plane was in turbulence, it was difficult for NTSB engineers to determine whether the movements of the plane were caused by the weather or by its flight controls.
Much of the evidence pointed to the rudder and the likelihood of a slow-moving swing to the right. Tests in flight simulators showed that could have caused the accident. Investigators discovered that the plane’s standby rudder actuator—a backup device that would be used only if other hydraulic systems failed—had spots where metal had scraped against metal. And in the week before the crash, pilots of the same airplane had twice experienced sudden yaws to the right, problems that were attributed to minor malfunctions in other rudder components. But tests on the power control unit were inconclusive. Many PCU parts were badly burned in the crash, which raised doubts about the validity of the tests.
Engineers found that a jam in the soda can valve could not have created the slow turn by the rudder that would have been needed to match the flight recorder. Also, internal stops in the valve would have prevented other malfunctions from moving the rudder very far. And even if there had been a malfunction, Green and Eidson should have been able to counter the rudder easily with other controls.
Weather experts studied satellite pictures of Colorado on the day of the crash, looking for evidence of a powerful rotor, the horizontal tornadoes that Green had mentioned before takeoff. A glider instructor said he saw a rotor hit the ground the day of the accident, blowing off tree branches and damaging car hoods. Pilots in the area had reported turbulence and downdrafts. A 737 pilot reported a “good sinker.” But another 737 pilot described it as a normal windy day in Colorado. Meteorologists said rotors usually made a loud roaring sound, but witnesses to the crash said they didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary.
When the NTSB asked the parties to submit their ideas, Boeing and ALPA offered starkly different explanations for the crash. Boeing blamed the wind. The company said a powerful rotor struck the plane at low altitude and “did not allow sufficient height for recovery.” But the pilots union said the evidence was inconclusive, that there were strong indications of heavy winds, but the possibility of mechanical problems could not be ruled out.
Ultimately, the safety board could not reach a conclusion. After long discussions, the board decided it did not have enough for either theory. There was strong evidence implicating the rotor, but not enough to prove that it caused the crash. There was evidence that the rudder may have malfunctioned, but that should not have been enough to flip the plane. When the NTSB published its final report on the crash, the cover carried big blue embarrassing words: UNITED AIRLINES 585—UNCONTROLLED COLLISION WITH TERRAIN FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS.
Safety board investigators pledged to keep looking for a cause. “We’re worried,” NTSB official Ron Schleede told the Washington Post , “that we may have overlooked something.”
The Colorado Springs crash had haunted the safety board investigators ever since. To some, it was an embarrassing admission of defeat, UNDETERMINED REASONS. Those were painful words, an acknowledgment that the NTSB wasn’t up to the job. But to others, that was the responsible approach: to lay out the evidence and admit that it wasn’t conclusive.
Flight controls specialist Greg Phillips worked on the Colorado Springs investigation and was involved in many of the tests on the valve, but he believed there wasn’t enough evidence to blame the airplane. Still, he kept a running list of 737 rudder incidents in his file drawer. Three months before the USAir crash, he met with Boeing officials about several rudder-related incidents and questioned whether Boeing had adequately informed airlines about fixing a rudder system component. When he flew to Pittsburgh, he didn’t need to bring the charts from the Colorado Springs flight data recorder. He had them memorized.
When the Colorado Springs and Hopewell crashes were reduced to lines on a graph, there were a few similarities. The charts for airspeed and altitude showed the same basic arches. At first glance, the flights looked like mirror images
of each other, the United plane rolling right, the USAir plane rolling left. The cockpit tapes showed that both crews were caught by surprise.
But there were major differences. The United plane was at 1,000 feet, the USAir plane at 6,000. The United plane was going much slower, using more flaps on its wings. The United plane was in windy weather, the USAir plane was in calm. Boeing discounted the similarities, saying that the company still believed the Colorado Springs crash was caused by the rotor. Jean McGrew, Boeing’s chief 737 engineer, said the only similarity between the two accidents “was that they are both 737s.”
Al Dickinson, the lead investigator in Colorado Springs, was a friend of Haueter’s. Dickinson was smart, a good investigator. But in the years since the crash, the guys in the office had come to look at Dickinson differently. He would always have an albatross around his neck because he had investigated the big one and come up short. Haueter reassured Dickinson that his work on United 585 had formed the foundation for everything Haueter did on the USAir crash. The NTSB was much farther along because of Dickinson’s persistence, Haueter told him. But Haueter was determined that his crash would not be unsolved. He vowed that the words UNDETERMINED REASONS would not appear in his report.
On a Saturday in January 1995, Haueter drove to his office in L’Enfant Plaza to finish some paperwork in preparation for the public hearing on the crash. The office was like a ghost town, dark and lonely on weekends. Haueter didn’t like the silence, but he could get a lot of work done with no interruptions. He worked for several hours and then put on his jacket to leave. As he walked out, he went by a conference room and noticed some posters on the walls. He stepped inside.
The posters were tacked up on three walls of the cramped room. Each of them represented a second or half-second increment of Flight 427. The thirty-two posters showed the view that Germano would have had from the captain’s seat, coupled with Boeing’s estimates of how the wheel and rudder pedals had moved. Boeing had used footprints to show how the rudder moved, a subtle dig at ALPA that suggested the pilots moved the rudder with their feet.
Haueter had seen the same data hundreds of times—in charts, video animations, computer spreadsheets, and M-Cab—but this suddenly brought everything together. He walked along the wall, studying where the rudder pedals had supposedly moved. The USAir 737 had been jostled by the wake of the Delta plane and then rolled to the left. That made sense. Then one of the pilots tried to stop the roll by turning the wheel to the right. That made sense. Then the left rudder pedal went in briefly and came out. That made sense. One of the pilots probably tried to slow the plane as it was rolling back to the right. But then the left pedal went in again, almost all the way.
That made NO sense.
Why would a pilot keep applying left rudder when the plane already was rolling left? That would be like a driver realizing his car was veering toward a cliff and then turning the wheel to go over the cliff sooner.
Haueter kept studying the drawings and the rudder estimates, checking when the rudder came in and when the wheel moved. It all seemed out of sync. Then a light went on in his head. What if the rudder drawings were reversed? Instead of pushing on the left pedal, maybe the pilot was pushing on the right pedal, but there was some malfunction in the power control unit that caused a reversal and made the rudder go the wrong way.
Suddenly it all made sense. The pilot had been stomping on the right pedal, trying to stop the big plane from rolling left, but the rudder wasn’t responding. In fact, he was actually pushing the rudder the opposite way, causing the plane to roll out of control. That would match the grunts and confusion on the cockpit tape. When Germano said, “What the hell is this?” maybe he was referring to rudder pedals that were not responding the way they should.
Haueter left the room, took the elevator downstairs, and went outside. He walked down the stairs beside the subway station and took a shortcut beneath the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a beehive-shaped building beside L’Enfant Plaza. As he crossed D Street in the brisk winter weather, he thought about what he had seen.
He didn’t know what could have made the rudder reverse. Phillips had subjected the power control unit to every malfunction they could dream up and it had withstood every one. And there were no marks showing that the valve had jammed or reversed.
He jaywalked across Seventh Street and walked beneath the railroad tracks, where a platoon of pigeons had found shelter from the cold January weather. He turned right on Maryland Avenue, saw the dome of the U.S. Capitol looming in front of him, and then crossed Independence Avenue to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. This was Haueter’s secret retreat, the place where he went to escape his worries. He occasionally sneaked over on workdays when he needed to clear his head and get inspiration from the world’s greatest collection of historical planes. He was always impressed at how much progress had occurred in such a short time, from the Wright brothers to the moon landing in one lifetime. There was still a little boy inside Haueter who marveled at the beautiful planes. Even if he couldn’t fly them, he would love to just sit in them.
He walked in the main doors, beneath the Voyager plane that had circled the globe, and headed for the west end of the building. He walked up the stairs to the second floor beneath a silver DC-3. FLY EASTERN AIR LINES, THE GREAT SILVER FLEET, it said on the side. He browsed in the World War I gallery and then went to the Pioneers of Flight room. He stopped in front of the Lockheed Sirius, a red two-seater with big silver pontoons that Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh had flown to the Far East. Charles Lindbergh had always been one of Haueter’s heroes. A picture of the Spirit of St. Louis hung on his office wall.
As Haueter admired the plane, his thoughts circled back to the investigation. He felt more confident than ever that the rudder had reversed. It made perfect sense. Now he just had to figure out why.
It didn’t take long for nasty jokes about USAir to show up on the Internet. One list suggested new advertising slogans for the airline: “When you just can’t wait for the world to come to you”; “Complimentary champagne during free-fair”; and “The kids will love our inflatable slides.” Another list claimed to have the cockpit tape with the final words of Flight 427’s pilots:
“Pittsburgh will be our final destination.”
“Let’s see if this baby can do 300!”
“Oh stewardess! Oh yes! Oh yes! Oh no…”
“Assume the position.”
USAir was an easy target for wisecracks not just because of the five crashes but also because it had never been considered a big-time airline. American and United had been major carriers since the early days of commercial aviation, serving big cities across the country. But USAir’s roots were a hodgepodge of regional airlines that served the blue-collar towns the big airlines didn’t care about.
USAir began in 1939 as a quirky little company called All American Aviation that went dive-bombing for airmail packages in the Allegheny Mountains. Most of the towns were too small or remote to justify full air mail service, so All American’s planes dove toward a contraption that looked like a football goalpost, dropped a container of mail, and then snagged the outgoing package with a hook. A clerk inside the plane reeled in the package as they flew to the next town.
The years when All American was grabbing packages in Punxsutawney and Oil City and Slippery Rock helped it develop an image of a gritty regional airline serving the Rust Belt. And while All American was becoming famous for the drudgery of picking up envelopes, carriers such as Pan Am and United were flying wealthy business travelers to the nation’s biggest cities, earning reputations for pampering them with luxurious service.
By 1953, All American had changed its name to Allegheny Airlines and had begun carrying passengers. It had a fleet of thirteen DC-3s serving such cities as Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Newark. Over the next twenty-five years, Allegheny grew steadily by merging with Lake Central and Mohawk to become the main regional carrier in the Northeast. But it still was not in the same league as the big guys. Passengers complained about mediocre service and dubbed it “Agony Airlines.”
With the government tightly regulating the airline industry, Allegheny was limited to routes in the Northeast. But the company had a solid market. The government was generous in setting fares, and most airlines could make a profit with planes that were half empty. Then came the revolution, the deregulation of the airline industry in 1978. Allegheny was freed to compete for national routes. It began flying to Phoenix, Tucson, New Orleans, and Raleigh and changed its name to USAir to get rid of the small-time image. Because it did not have the critical mass that the big carriers had, USAir had to buy other airlines to grow. The company’s chairman, Edwin I. Colodny, was a visionary who understood that under deregulation an airline had to be big to survive. He bought Pacific Southwest Airlines in 1987 to get a toehold in California and then merged with North Carolina-based Piedmont Airlines in 1989.
But those mergers gave USAir indigestion that lasted for years. Colodny misjudged the difficulty of combining three very different companies, which created a mishmash of cultures, airplane types, and offices that took years to sort out. The Piedmont employees resented the swiftness of the merger and the way their friendly Southern company had been swallowed overnight by a bunch of Yankees. In defiance, many pilots continued to wear their Piedmont wings and drew graffiti of the Piedmont logo in USAir cockpits. Likewise, USAir was unprepared for the brutal competition on the California routes, where Southwest Airlines and America West were slashing fares. USAir soon made an embarrassing retreat from California, conceding most intrastate routes to its competitors.
Airlines have always been especially vulnerable to changes in the economy. When the economy is bad, people don’t fly. And once it improves, people are slow to resume flying. The airlines are both a leading economic indicator and a lagging follower. They feel a recession sooner, and it takes them longer to recover. But USAir felt the dips even more than its competitors did because it had such high costs and the mergers made the company so inefficient. It had an expensive mix of nine different airplane types, which meant more spare parts, more training, and more maintenance hangars. Even before the mergers, USAir had higher costs because it was heavily unionized and it operated in the most expensive region in the country. The mergers added an extra layer of complications. Other airlines had two or three hubs spaced across the United States, but suddenly USAir had five clustered in the East. The company had too many reservation centers, too many crew bases, too many hangars. It was a recipe for red ink.
USAir had lost money every year since the 1989 Piedmont merger, for a total loss of $2.5 billion. The company chairman, Seth Schofield, had taken steps to shrink the fleet and close hubs, but the airline was still so inefficient that its operating costs were far and away the highest in the industry. The back-to-back crashes in Charlotte and Hopewell dealt a painful double whammy, scaring away thousands of customers. The airline lost $10 million in bookings because of the Charlotte crash and another $30 million in just three weeks after the Hopewell crash. Its stock price had fallen by 35 percent two months after the crash, down to just $4.25 a share. Some airline analysts were predicting that the company was headed for bankruptcy court.
USAir had tried to rebuild its image. Schofield and senior vice presidents held meetings with big corporate customers to reassure them about the airline’s financial health and commitment to safety. In a letter to more than a million of the airline’s frequent fliers, Schofield wrote: “I want to reassure you that your confidence in the operational integrity of USAir is of paramount importance to us.”
By mid-November, it seemed the campaign was paying off. Bookings had rebounded almost to normal levels. It appeared the airline had turned the corner.
Then came the story in the New York Times .
TROUBLES AT USAIR: COINCIDENCE OR MORE? asked the front-page headline on Sunday, November 13, 1994. The story painted a picture of sloppiness and cost cutting at the beleaguered airline, where pilots departed without enough fuel and where a maintenance supervisor tried to save money by letting a plane fly with an inoperative stall-warning system. The Times followed the classic formula for a blockbuster investigative story—scary anecdotes, lots of statistics, quotes from worried experts, and weak-sounding denials from the airline. The newspaper said it had obtained “a previously undisclosed report” from the FAA and quoted federal officials who “spoke on the condition that their names be withheld.” A front-page chart showed that the risk of dying on USAir was 5 deaths per 10 million passengers, compared with 1.5 deaths for other major airlines. Once again the USAir name was being linked with death.
The story ricocheted around the country. Newspapers that subscribed to the New York Times News Service published shorter versions of it the same day. It was picked up by the Associated Press and became the lead item on TV newscasts in many cities. Sunday is the slowest news day of the week, so producers were happy to get a story with some pizzazz. “Shocking discoveries raise questions about safety procedures at USAir,” said a Detroit news anchor. “USAir is under attack for its safety record,” said one in Philadelphia. The New York Post said, “USAir’s future is in doubt after revelations that it skimped on safety precautions to cut costs, airline industry experts said yesterday.”
USAir officials had tried last-minute damage control, but to no avail. General counsel James T. Lloyd sent a letter to the Times two days before the story was published that read in part: “It is possible to look through the tens of thousands of reports that accumulate over time and build a picture that distorts the fundamental truths.” His argument got a brief mention in the story, but it was overshadowed by a mountain of evidence that said the airline had a safety problem. When USAir officials saw the story, they felt they were victims of a hatchet job.
Rick Weintraub, a former Washington Post reporter who had just been hired to be the airline’s chief spokesman, quickly put together a fact sheet that criticized the Times for making sweeping allegations that were incorrect or misleading. It said the anecdotes about nine planes leaving without sufficient fuel were correct but that most of them returned before taking off. It disputed the Times ’s claim that pilot mistakes were a common thread in three of the five crashes and another claim that said the airline was in such dire straits that it was losing $2 million per day. The fact sheet pointed out that the Times buried more-favorable comments about USAir toward the end of the story.
The Times story was correct in reporting that USAir pilots were having difficulty adhering to company procedures. That was the whole point of Operation Restore Confidence, which had begun before the Hopewell crash. The NTSB found notes from August 1994 meetings that showed pilots often did not follow company procedures. When FAA inspectors observed one hundred USAir pilots, only forty-six followed the company’s Pilot Handbook . Nine days before the Times story, USAir 737 flight manager Jim Gibbs held a meeting on the problem of pilots not flying by the book. “We must have failed to either train or enforce the standardization,” he said, according to notes of the meeting. “Now we must find a way to correct the problem.”
But the Times story exaggerated USAir’s troubles by giving the story so much space, putting the most damaging evidence on the front page, burying the more balanced comments inside and relying on easy dial-a-quote comments from people who didn’t know the intricacies of aviation. (Ralph Nader: “The problem was that these mergers came with a price. They diverted management attention and took a lot of revenue that could have been spent on safety.”) USAir was correct in saying that it was easy for reporters to pluck incidents from the FAA’s databases to distort an airline’s safety record. Indeed, it is difficult to measure the vague concept of safety. The FAA databases are designed so the regulators can spot problems before they cause a crash—not to see which airline is most likely to kill you. Accidents are so rare that it’s usually unfair to use them to draw conclusions about a single airline. The Times made that point deep in its story, but it also used a chart on the front page that showed the likelihood of dying was more than three times higher on USAir than on the other carriers. And while the lengthy Times story was somewhat balanced, the abbreviated versions used by other newspapers around the country were more one-sided. The long, detailed Times story got boiled down to a simple message: USAir was unsafe.
The impact was swift and powerful. The airline’s bookings plummeted again. Airline analysts said they were increasingly worried about the possibility of a bankruptcy filing. Employee morale sank to new depths, as ticket agents suffered through wisecracks from customers. Three days after the story was published, Schofield sent a bulletin-board message that tried to give everyone a boost. “I salute you for your patience and professionalism in handling these pointed conversations calmly and with confidence,” he wrote. He quoted aviation expert John Nance from a TV appearance saying, “You can take any airline in the country and find examples of things that sound this bad when taken out of context, in isolation, raise them into scrutiny, and scare everybody to death. But when you really look at this airline’s heart and soul of operations, they’re no less safe than any other major carrier.”
Schofield urged employees not to be bitter. “I know that it is painful to see and hear negative and distorted media coverage. Our best response, however, is to prove critics wrong by action, not words. We know we’re a safe and reliable airline. We must continue to demonstrate that to our customers in every action we take and every contact we have with them.”
Five days later, USAir launched a major public relations campaign to try to rescue its reputation. It appointed retired U.S. Air Force general Robert C. Oaks as vice president for corporate safety and regulatory compliance. USAir also said it was hiring PRC Aviation of Tucson, Arizona, “a respected and experienced aviation consulting company,” to co
nduct a thirty-day audit of the airline’s safety policies and procedures. Schofield said the auditors “can go anywhere, ask anyone anything, can look at any records, manuals, bulletins, letters or messages they think are germane to safety at USAir. There are no limits.”
The airline then bought full-page ads in major newspapers to publish messages from the company’s employees and unions. The ALPA chairman’s letter said safety was the pilots’ first priority. The head of the flight attendants union said USAir was totally dedicated to “operational integrity.” Two mechanics said they would not hesitate to ground any plane if it was unsafe. A customer service supervisor said passengers’ well-being was foremost in the minds of USAir employees. Schofield concluded the series with a message that said safety “is the foundation for all we do.”
John Cox sat down at the conference table in the NTSB listening room and put on a set of headphones. He and USAir pilot Ed Bular had come to hear the cockpit tape from Flight 427 to see if they could identify the mysterious thumps that had baffled the investigators for months. Cox had heard tapes from other crashes before, and he could never erase them from his memory—the routine of the cockpit quickly deteriorating into shouts, screams, and death. But listening to the tapes was a necessary part of an accident investigation and, as a pilot with eight thousand hours in 737s, he might recognize something that others did not.
He and Bular sat across from each other at the small table. Al Reitan, an NTSB sound technician, sat at the head of the table so he could control the tape player. They began by listening to all the cockpit sounds for the final ten to fifteen minutes of the flight. That was a necessary step for Cox, to listen to the entire tape so he could get over the drama of the event, the fact that he was listening to two fellow pilots scream and die. He was amazed by the sound of the plane being buffeted, a violent shaking caused by insufficient air crossing the wings to keep the plane flying.
“The buffeting sounds like a goddamn freight train,” Cox said.
Reitan then isolated each of the four channels on the tape—Germano’s microphone, Emmett’s, the jump seat microphone, and the mike in the ceiling above the pilots’ heads. Both pilots sounded cool and confident, Cox thought. There was good rapport between them, and they were flying by the book. Emmett said very little in the final thirty seconds. His most expressive comment was a worried “Ohhh shiiiiit.” But Cox thought that was understandable because he was the flying pilot and was trying to figure out what was happening to his airplane. Germano was more expressive, but he never said what he believed was happening. His most telling comment was when the plane stalled, when he asked, “What the hell is this?”
Reitan used filters to block out the extraneous noise so the pilots could focus better on the voices. He used a computer to trap snippets of sounds and play them repeatedly. He trapped the thump and played it back again and again. Sheez Zuh Thump Clickety-click. Sheez Zuh Thump Clickety-click. Sheez Zuh Thump Clickety-click . Over and over the pilots listened to it, like an old record album with a scratch on it. But after hearing it dozens of times, they could not identify the sound. “Beats the hell out of me,” Cox told Bular. He thought it sounded like a briefcase falling over on a carpeted floor. But cockpits were not carpeted, and there was not much space for a briefcase to fall over.
Several hours later when Cox walked out of the room, he was convinced that the pilots had been caught by surprise by something they hadn’t encountered before. He believed the tape proved the pilots had not done anything wrong. It offered no evidence that one of them stomped on the left rudder pedal and held it down. To the contrary, it showed the airplane was doing something the pilots did not expect.
Cox said later, “There is a gremlin in that airplane.”
McGrew, Boeing’s chief engineer for the 737, listened to the same tape and came to the opposite conclusion. He had to fight for months to get the NTSB to allow him to listen to it, because he was not officially part of the investigation. When he finally heard it, he used the same cool approach that he used for everything else. He concentrated on gathering data, hearing every sound he could, and didn’t think much about the screaming.
McGrew came away convinced that the pilots were startled by something and then overreacted. He heard it in the tone of their voices when they said “Sheez!” and “Zuh!” They had no idea what hit them. McGrew heard nothing to indicate that the pilots believed the plane was malfunctioning. There was no mention of the rudder pedal or anything else not working properly. He noticed they never communicated about the fact that they were twisting out of the sky. When Germano shouted, “Pull! Pull!” McGrew knew it was the wrong thing to do. They should have pushed the stick forward to gain speed.
The tape made it all clear to him: the pilots got startled, stomped on the pedal by mistake, and then pulled back on the stick, stalling the airplane. The crash was clearly caused by pilot error. He wanted others to listen to the tape because he was convinced they would have the same reaction he did.
Months after hearing the tape, McGrew awoke in the middle of the night, haunted by the sounds he had heard. He wondered what the passengers felt as the plane was spinning toward the earth. What do you think about when you know you’re about to die?
The different interpretations of the tape showed how the rivalry between ALPA and Boeing was increasing. As the investigation wound into its fifth month with no conclusive evidence as to why the rudder had moved, the two groups were beginning to disagree more often. In the absence of solid facts, both sides retreated to positions that protected their turf. It was as if Boeing and the pilots union had a default setting, like computer software. Until they got proof to the contrary, they didn’t budge.
The two sides remained cordial, but the rivalry was apparent. Cox enjoyed taking friendly jabs at the Boeing team. He tapped McGrew on the shoulder at their first meeting and said, “I know what did it.” Cox held up a copy of the Weekly World News , a supermarket tabloid that had this headline: USAIR FLIGHT 427 COLLIDED WITH A UFO! The article reported: “Federal investigators are looking into the possibility that the crash of USAir Flight 427 was caused by a collision with a UFO—a possibility supported by the discovery of a passenger’s hastily scribbled note that says, ‘Massive, glowing, as big as a house. Oh my God! It’s going to hit!’”
McGrew got a chuckle out of it, but he and the other Boeing investigators were wary about Cox and the rest of the ALPA guys. They felt that ALPA was overprotective of the pilot brotherhood and would go to great lengths to protect a fallen pilot, even when he was to blame.
Brett decided to go back to Pittsburgh for the January 1995 public hearings on the crash, where the safety board would lay out the evidence it had amassed. He chose to fly because it simply wasn’t practical to drive from San Diego, where he had spent several weeks staying with his brother. But he had been very careful about choosing how to get there. He picked American Airlines because it was the only major carrier that flew to Pittsburgh and did not have any 737s.
As the plane prepared for takeoff, the man sitting beside him noticed Brett was clenching his seat.
“Nervous flier, huh?” the man asked.
“Yeah,” Brett said.
“They say your odds of dying in a plane crash are higher than winning the lottery.”
Brett couldn’t let that go. He reached into his wallet and pulled out the card about the scholarship fund he had started in honor of Joan.
“That plane that crashed in Pittsburgh,” Brett said, “my wife was on it.”
“Oh my God,” the man said.
Then the man told Brett about his own personal tragedy, that his daughter had been molested by his ex-wife’s new husband. Brett had heard lots of those sad stories since Joan died. When people found out about his tragedy, they wanted to share their own horrible tales, reassuring him that he wasn’t alone in suffering. A Newsweek photographer told Brett that his brother took a drug overdose. A cab driver said his parents died when he was twelve. A woman who handled Joan’s pension said her brother and his wife were in an accident with a drunk driver, which had killed their child and put them both in comas. Tragedies everywhere. Until this happened, Brett had no idea that life could be so miserable for so many.
The man beside him said he was a born-again Christian and that he had decided to forgive the guy who had molested his daughter. “I’ve realized that if I want to be forgiven by God, I’ve got to forgive the people who harm me.” That really struck a chord with Brett. He had never really bought all the hype about being born again, but the guy was right. Brett realized that he couldn’t stay angry forever.
The next day he took a cab from his downtown hotel out to Hopewell to visit the crash site again. He brought a video camera so he could record the scene for Joan’s family. He had talked with them often in the five months since the crash. He hired an artist to do an oil painting of Joan from a photograph and gave it to her parents for Christmas.
He trudged through the snow, narrating while he described the site. He took a wide shot of the spot where the nose of the plane struck the road. “You can see it’s not very big at all,” he said. “It’s not much bigger than a family room, really.”
He walked to the plastic wreath, which sat on a big easel with American flags on one side. “This is that wreath I was telling you guys about, where Joan’s rose blew off just as the guy from the Salvation Army was walking up to it. There are still a lot of them on there. They are glued on there pretty good. It’s still kind of an amazing thing to me.”
He then visited the Sewickley Cemetery, where USAir had built a memorial that listed all 132 victims. He zoomed in on Joan’s name and then read the inscription on the headstone very quickly, as if he was in a hurry to leave: “Strengthen our course with every prayer, let Heaven’s breezes speed us there, and grant us mercy evermore as we sail to Heaven’s shore.”
Pittsburgh was brutally cold the week of the public hearing. Several inches of snow covered the lawn outside the Pittsburgh Hilton and Towers, and the roads were filled with an ugly gray slush. The hearing was conducted in the hotel’s ballroom, a cavernous space with nineteen-foot ceilings that was set up like a giant courtroom. Haueter and his investigators sat at raised tables on one side, as if they were the prosecutors in the case. The parties—Boeing, the pilots union, the FAA—were positioned just below Haueter, huddled at tables as though they were the defendants. The meeting was run by NTSB chairman Jim Hall, who presided like a judge. In the audience were several hundred spectators, including about one hundred relatives of the victims. Some of them clutched photographs of Flight 427’s passengers. Others had photos pinned to their jackets and sweaters.
The NTSB called it a public hearing, but that was a misnomer. Many families had the impression that they would be able to stand up at a microphone and ask questions, just as they would at a city council meeting. But at an NTSB hearing, the public was to be seen and not heard. This meeting was the agency’s chance to show its work and explain the evidence. There would be no time for questions from the crowd.
There would be no breakthroughs, either. Haueter and his investigators had spent the past five months talking with the people who would testify, so it was unlikely that the NTSB would learn anything new. If a break in the investigation ever occurred, it would be in a lab somewhere, not in a big ballroom in Pittsburgh.
On the first day of the hearing, the board released the docket, a foot-high stack of reports, memos, letters, charts, and graphs. Much of it was technical gibberish—details about dual-concentric servo valves, rudder blowdown, and chip-shear strength. There were pages and pages of data from the flight recorder and photocopies of federal aviation regulations. Nowhere in the big package was there any guidance to understanding what it all meant—no underlined words, no comments in the margins, no Post-it notes. It looked like Haueter had emptied his file cabinet and ordered somebody to make copies. But it was consistent with the cryptic way the NTSB operated. It released hundreds of thousands of facts and allowed the public to decide which ones were important.
Haueter began the hearing by reading an account of the five-month investigation: “On September 8, 1994, at about 7:03 Eastern Daylight Time, USAir Flight 427, a Boeing 737–300, registration N513AU, crashed while descending to land at the Pittsburgh International Airport.” He played a video animation of the moments right before the crash. The video showed a plain white 737 (USAir had balked at putting the airline’s logo on the animated plane) that bobbled a bit, rolled smoothly to the left, and then plunged nose down. The video ended while the plane was still at an altitude of 4,000 feet. (A Boeing video played later in the day was more dramatic. It showed the view Emmett and Germano would have seen, with the ground spinning closer and closer until impact.)
Haueter explained the basics of the investigation—the recovery of the wreckage, the reconstruction in the hangar, the backdrive work in the simulator, and the multitude of tests on the rudder system. He didn’t say they were stumped, but he made it clear that they had not found the answer. “Mr. Chairman, at this time, I am not aware that any party to the investigation or any other persons or organizations have raised avenues of investigation that we have not pursued fully, or are currently examining.”
One by one, Haueter, Phillips, and other NTSB officials asked the witnesses to tell what the NTSB had found. Haueter and Phillips knew the answers to most questions before they asked them; the point of the big production was not to uncover new facts but to let the public hear the old ones. It was peculiar—NTSB investigators asking outsiders to describe what NTSB investigators had done—but that was how the agency worked. In the safety board’s just-the-facts-ma’am culture, it was preferable to let outsiders take the spotlight. That approach allowed the investigators to be impartial and kept them from speculating publicly about the cause.
Bill Jackson, the pilot who had ridden in the cockpit on Ship 513’s previous leg, testified how his knee was pressed against the microphone button, which would explain the gurgling sound the passenger heard in first class. An FBI agent testified about the examination of wreckage and how the agency had ruled out the possibility of a bomb. A parade of Boeing engineers explained the NTSB’s efforts to jam the rudder PCU, the simulations in M-Cab, and the tests on hydraulic fluid. All showed that the rudder and the 737 had performed properly.
McGrew had never testified at an NTSB hearing, but when he walked into the ballroom and saw the families sitting in a special section he realized that the purpose of the hearing was not to advance the investigation. This hearing was just a big show, a way for the NTSB to get publicity. After answering general questions about his education and his job at Boeing, he used the remaining questions to convey his main points—that the plane had passed every test and that Boeing was committed to safety.
He said his boss had told him “to go out and find the cause and, if it’s anything to do with the airplane, fix it.” He spoke proudly of his plane and its safety record, like he was boasting about his kid’s SAT scores. He wasn’t basing this testimony on some emotional tie he had to the plane, of course. It was all based on hard data. And the data showed his plane was incredibly safe. More than 2,600 737s were now in use in ninety-five countries, he said. The 737 had the best reliability of any airliner and—this was the data talking, mind you—the rate of 737 hull losses was extremely low.
Unfortunately for Boeing, McGrew did not come across well on the witness stand. His cool reserve about the plane’s record made him appear smug, and much of his testimony sounded rehearsed.
Toward the end, Phillips tossed him a softball question, asking if there was anything else he wanted to say. McGrew seized the opportunity, pointing out that the PCU from the USAir plane would not reverse, that the fluid was not significantly contaminated, and that there was no evidence of a jam. “That leads us, based on that data, to think that the rudder was doing what it was asked to be doing.”
In other words, the pilots did it.
The most unusual event of the week came during the lunch break on the second day, when about twenty family members held a press conference in a tiny meeting room down the hall from the ballroom. They took turns stepping up to the microphones to complain about the shoddy treatment they had received from USAir. “We believe the system for notification of next of kin is deeply flawed,” said Marita Brunner, whose brother-in-law Jeffrey Gingerich was killed in the crash. “It increases the anguish for the families.”
Joanne Shortley said she started calling USAir the minute that she suspected her husband, Stephen, was on the plane, but all she could get was a busy signal. When she finally got through, a USAir employee took her phone number and said the airline would call back. Her brother called the airline and was told that Stephen was not on the flight. Joanne’s children cheered. But hours went by and Stephen did not come home. Finally, the airline called back at 2:45 A.M. to say that he was on the plane. Like Brett, Joanne thought that her USAir coordinator was poorly trained and unprepared for the family’s grief. “She was not equipped in bereavement,” Joanne said at the news conference. “She was a saleswoman.”
Judy Lindstrom, whose husband, Gerald, was killed in the crash, complained that USAir had blocked her efforts to get a list of other families. “We had a great need to see each other and be with each other. I was told this was not something the airline would disseminate. We found out later that many of us had made the same request. We had to scramble and scratch to get together.” The families said they were forming the Flight 427 Air Disaster Support League to urge the government to appoint a family advocate who would help families after a crash. “We are demanding that this process be taken away from the airline,” Marita Brunner said.
Brett agreed with the group’s complaints, but he didn’t attend the news conference. He had kept his distance from the group. He wasn’t much of a joiner, and he did not want to get too wrapped up in the crash. It seemed as if some people in the group wanted to make the crash the centerpiece of their lives. He didn’t. He knew that he had to move on. He spent much of the week reading the docket in his room and exercising in the fitness center.
Reporters left the news conference and cornered Deborah Thompson, the USAir
director of community affairs, on the mezzanine outside the ballroom. Was it true, they asked, that USAir had done a poor job?
Thompson said the process of identifying the passengers had gone slowly, but that the airline wanted to be sure the list was accurate. “You don’t want to give wrong information,” she said. She acknowledged that the family coordinators had not been trained and said that the airline planned to start training people so they would be better prepared in case of a future crash. “We want to do a better job. But that’s not to say I think we’ve done a bad job.”
Jim Hall, the NTSB’s new chairman, had just replaced the retiring Carl Vogt. A short man with sandy hair and a mild Tennessee drawl, Hall was a Vietnam veteran, a longtime Democratic activist, and a friend of fellow Tennessean Al Gore Jr. When he was nominated for the job in 1993, Washington Post columnist Al Kamen called Hall “a politically connected white male Democrat whose only transportation experience apparently is a driver’s license.”
Hall appeared to be a lightweight because he didn’t talk like an engineer. He used folksy Tennessee phrases and often sounded like Andy Griffith on Matlock . While other people were talking about dual concentric servo valves, Hall would be recounting something his mother had taught him. It didn’t help that he had a dog named Trixie in his office.
A friendly brown-and-white Welsh Corgi, Trixie belonged to Hall’s special assistant, Jamie Finch. Hall was an animal lover, but his three dogs and four cats were back home with his family in Tennessee. So he was glad to have Trixie around, even though she occasionally pooped on his carpet. He would throw tennis balls for her and reach down and pat her during meetings. At Christmas, he and Trixie walked through the office wearing matching Santa hats. She even had her own NTSB badge that said her title was “Safety Dog.”
The truth was that Hall was not a lightweight at all. He was a savvy political operator who knew how Washington worked. He was a loyal soldier in the Clinton-Gore crusade to make government more responsive to taxpayers. He was well connected at the White House and in Congress, so he had the clout to get the money and staff that the NTSB needed. But he also had an outsider’s perspective and would fuss at the NTSB engineers to make sure that they explained their findings in everyday English. In the NTSB’s ongoing fights with the FAA, he used his political skills behind the scenes and then, if that didn’t work, he would offer a few choice comments to the media.
Before Hall arrived, the safety board had not paid much attention to victims’ families. Investigators would politely answer questions, but they thought their job was to find out why planes crashed, not to provide grief counseling. When Hall heard that the families were unhappy and had formed a support group, however, he told the NTSB staff to help them. In his view, helping the families was exactly what the Clinton-Gore approach called for. He asked the NTSB staff to set aside reserved seats in the ballroom for the families and arranged a meeting with them one night after the testimony. He had Haueter come along to answer questions.
About a hundred family members came to the meeting room on the mezzanine level. Hall opened the session by explaining the NTSB’s role and the purpose of the hearing. Haueter updated the families on the investigation and went through the plans for the remainder of the hearing. Then it was time for questions. The 737 sure seemed to have lots of rudder problems, someone said. Why not ground it?
That wasn’t up to the NTSB, Haueter said. His agency would only make recommendations to the FAA, and it needed solid evidence before it made such a serious request. So far, he hadn’t found the evidence.
Why have Boeing people up there? someone else asked. “They’re just going to lie to you.”
Haueter and Hall explained the party system. “These people know the plane’s systems best,” Haueter said.
Someone else was amazed about the lack of measurements on the flight data recorder. “Why aren’t you doing anything about that?”
“Look, you’re preaching to the choir. The safety board has been saying that for years,” replied Haueter. Hall vowed to bring up the issue with the FAA.
The families had a litany of complaints about USAir—the long delays in confirming who was on the plane, the poorly trained employees, and the airline’s refusal to share the names of other families.
Hall listened and came away convinced that the families had been mistreated. The things they wanted were reasonable. USAir didn’t have to pamper them, but the company should have shown a little common decency. Hall would have preferred that the airlines do it on their own, but they had shown they did not care enough to do it right. It was time for the government to get involved.
The hearing revealed growing tension between the NTSB and Boeing. The company had fought some of the NTSB’s requests for data, had stamped “PROPRIETARY” on several items and said the board could not release them to the public because of Boeing’s confidentiality agreements with the airlines. Days before the hearing, the NTSB learned about several 737 incidents that Boeing did not include on a list that Phillips had requested.
Haueter was surprised that the company was so disorganized. He didn’t think Boeing was deliberately hiding anything, but he was disappointed that it could not keep track of important data. Chairman Hall was furious. He reminded a Boeing official of the request for all incidents and asked, “Is that simple enough?”
Another Boeing official acknowledged that the company should have included a rudder incident involving an Air France 737 on the list, but the report did not sound serious to Boeing employees when they first heard about it. When the testimony concluded, Hall told McGrew he was concerned that the company’s list of 737 incidents was incomplete. “When we end up in a situation, Mr. McGrew, just to be straight with you, that we request information and then another party sends us information that is pertinent that we didn’t get from you, it causes concern.” Hall said he knew that things fell through the cracks, but he told McGrew to “go back and examine every crack so we don’t have any question that there’s been any incident with this rudder or any of these systems that might assist us.” Hall then apologized for being so harsh. “I’m from Tennessee and I don’t know to express myself any more than just that way.”
McGrew was angry. He felt like he had been used so Hall could get his name in the press. The NTSB staff knew all the details about the Air France rudder kick. Either they didn’t tell Hall or Hall conveniently ignored it so he could land a few punches on Boeing. McGrew did not like the fact that politicians were getting involved in plane crash investigations. The NTSB was becoming a political beast, under enormous pressure to come up with an answer. And McGrew was not sure they would come up with the correct answer.
As the hearing concluded, reporters gathered around Haueter and Hall to get their reactions to the week. Haueter had consistently told the press that he was confident he could solve the mystery. A reporter asked how he could be so confident with so little good evidence.
“It’s based on experience and the data available,” Haueter said. “I’ve seen two other accidents I’ve worked on where I had much less data than this, much less help than this, and we determined probable cause very definitively. I can’t say I identified any new alleys [to investigate] this week… but there are a lot of avenues available that have to be fully explored.”
As McGrew returned to his office in Renton, he was more confident than ever that nothing was wrong with his airplane. It bothered him that critics were saying Boeing might be covering up a hidden flaw in the plane. McGrew said he felt no pressure from lawyers or anyone else to protect the plane. If the 737 had a flaw, Boeing wanted to find it.
McGrew approached that mission with vigor. He spent hours reading reports on the crash and led daily meetings of Boeing engineers. Ninety-five Boeing employees had worked 42,000 hours on the investigation, with twenty-three of them dedicated to it full-time. It had cost Boeing $1.5 million. McGrew had become obsessed with the crash. Occasionally, he awoke at 3 A.M. with questions about a theory, crawled out of bed, put on his bathrobe, and went downstairs to his home computer. He would pull up a spreadsheet of 427’s flight data and try adjusting ratios and parameters to see what effect they would have. Then he would go into the office that morning and ask one of his engineers to try a new computer run.
He kept a list of theories titled “Items Under Consideration.” It had eighty-five possibilities, including everything from bird strikes to thrust reversers. All but eleven had been ruled out. Many of those eleven were long-shot theories that were likely to be disproved by future tests. The investigation had largely become a tug-of-war between two theories—a rudder system malfunction and a mistake by the pilots.
From the start, McGrew had been open to the possibility that something was wrong with the 737. That was the classic engineer’s approach, to consider every possible failure mode of your creation. That’s why redundancy is such an important concept in aircraft design. If something fails, there is at least one backup, often two. The rudder system had lots of redundancy. Every lever inside the power control unit had a second lever that moved in concert, in case one should break. In the valve itself there were two slides in case one should jam. It was powered by two hydraulic systems in case one should fail. And there was a standby actuator with its own valve in case the main PCU stopped working.
But McGrew’s plane had come up clean. Test after test failed to find anything wrong with the 737 rudder system. The PCU would not reverse, the valve didn’t leak, and there were no marks to indicate that it had jammed. The hydraulic fluid from the USAir plane had been dirtier than it was supposed to be, but tests found that made no difference. You could make the fluid as thick as Dijon mustard and the valve could still do the job. The bottom line, as summed up by Phillips in his report, was that the PCU was “capable of performing its intended functions.” Besides, the worldwide fleet of 737s had an extraordinary twenty-seven-year record, with 65 million flight hours and an extremely low crash rate. If there was a flaw in the rudder system, it would have shown up years earlier. McGrew felt it was time to take a closer look at the human part of the equation—the pilots.
The NTSB had spent weeks studying and testing the PCU, but McGrew felt the investigation had barely looked at Emmett and Germano. What kind of training had they had? What did previous incidents tell about how they responded to wake turbulence? The NTSB had not explored these areas very much.
McGrew kept using the word “startled.” There was plenty of evidence that the pilots had been surprised by something—maybe a bird, the wake turbulence, or another plane—at the moment that Germano said “Sheeez!” The surprise could have caused Emmett to jerk the wheel too far to the right. When the plane quickly rolled in that direction, Emmett might have tried to stop the roll by slamming his foot on the left pedal and continuing to press on it without realizing what he was doing. There also was no question that the pilots had made a huge blunder by pulling back on the control column. That stalled the airplane and gave them virtually no chance to recover. Yet that mistake got virtually no attention from the safety board.
On February 15, 1995, Boeing went on the offensive and faxed Haueter a seven-page letter that said the NTSB should take a closer look at the pilots. It cited a British report that attributed many military accidents to “overarousal,” when pilots were so surprised by an alarming situation that they could not recover. The letter said a perceived emergency was all it took to startle the pilots (a subtle reference to the moment when Flight 427 was jostled by the wake turbulence). The Boeing letter also cited an FAA study that said a pilot might take up to ten seconds to respond after being startled. “The NTSB should explore, from a review of the literature and all available databases and records, whether the Flight 427 flight crew could have responded to the unexpected and startling encounter with significant wake turbulence by (1) making an inadvertent application of left rudder, or (2) having an accidental or cognitive failure that led to an application of left rudder,” the letter said.
Cognitive failure . That was a delicate way of saying the pilots screwed up.
The letter said there were numerous examples of accidents caused by pilots stomping on the wrong pedal. The 1985 crash of a Midwest Express DC-9 was caused by pilots who responded to an engine failure by pushing the rudder the wrong direction. A 1992 Air National Guard crash of a C-130 was caused by the same mistake. The letter asked Haueter to explore Emmett’s and Germano’s backgrounds to see if they had been trained to use the rudder or had flown other planes in which they would have used it more heavily. The letter said Haueter also should look into the fact that the pilots pulled back on the control column.
Haueter had mixed feelings about whether they would have stomped on the rudder pedal. His ride in M-Cab had made him doubt that two seasoned pilots would have made such an obvious error. But like the Boeing engineers, he was concerned about pilots becoming too complacent in modern cockpits. Unlike the “stick-and-rudder” pilots of the old days, modern crews had become too much like computer programmers. They relied heavily on the autopilot and flight-management computers, which could practically fly an entire trip. So Haueter agreed to delve more deeply into Emmett’s and Germano’s training. Besides, the investigation had sunk into a lull and he had been looking for something to get everybody thinking again. The letter was just the jolt he needed. He faxed a copy to the pilots union.
It didn’t take long to get the predictable response. ALPA went ballistic. Suggesting that pilots screwed up was akin to shouting a racial slur at them. Herb LeGrow, ALPA’s coordinator for the crash investigation, thought that Boeing was looking for a scapegoat. “We don’t want to see the reputations of the pilots compromised because [the safety board] can’t find an answer to what caused the accident,” he said in an interview in his Clearwater, Florida, home. LeGrow, a USAir 767 pilot who had worked on more than a dozen accident investigations, was also worried that Boeing would use its Washington clout to pressure the NTSB into blaming the pilots. He said ALPA might be small, but it was not afraid to go head to head with Boeing. “It’s David and Goliath at this point. If it gets down and dirty, I’m willing to fight. We’ll sharpen up our slingshots and fight them.”
LeGrow and Cox fired off a letter to the safety board saying that Boeing was trying to raise doubts about the pilots and divert the investigation. The letter countered each point that Boeing had made. It said the cockpit tape showed that the pilots were not overreacting to the wake turbulence but were “struggling in an attempt to gain control of an uncontrollable aircraft.” The letter said it was unfair to make a comparison with military crews because airline pilots fly considerably more hours. In ALPA’s view, there was no need for a further exploration of Emmett’s and Germano’s backgrounds because the investigation so far “revealed that these individuals were fully qualified and had exemplary records.”
LeGrow and Cox said there was no connection between the USAir crash and the pilot-error accidents cited by Boeing. The Midwest Express and C-130 crashes were engine failures at low altitude. “In USAir 427, there is no evidence that the flight crew applied an inappropriate flight control input. In fact, there is a significant amount of evidence which could lead to the conclusion that the aircraft experienced a mechanical malfunction.” The ALPA letter also defended the pilots for pulling back on the control column: “It should be noted that at the onset of the event, traffic beneath USAir 427 was a real issue. At that point, maintenance of altitude was, in fact, critical. No action by the crew could have stopped the roll…. By the time control column position became an issue, ground impact was inevitable.”
LeGrow concluded the letter by saying that the pilots “fought for the lives of their passengers” and suggested that Boeing’s letter was written by its lawyers: “Everyone recognizes the manufacturer’s product liability problem. The issues of civil litigation should not be allowed to infiltrate an NTSB investigation. The traveling public deserves the answers to what truly caused this accident.”
McGrew was not surprised that ALPA had a near meltdown over the Boeing letter. That was typical of the union, he thought. It always seemed to want to protect the brotherhood, even when the facts might suggest otherwise. It seemed as if ALPA wanted to perpetuate a myth that every pilot was perfect and never made mistakes.
The roots of ALPA’s defensiveness about pilot error dated back to the late 1920s and early 1930s, when airline managers pushed pilots to fly long hours and take risks in dangerous weather. Pilots who tried to be safe often got fired. At least twelve of ALPA’s twenty-four founders were killed in accidents. But when a plane crashed, “pilot error” seemed to be the government’s automatic response. Rarely, if ever, did the airline get blamed, even if it had ordered the pilot to fly into a snowstorm. It was easy to blame dead pilots because they could not defend themselves. Ever since then, one of ALPA’s fundamental principles has been to clear the names of dead pilots.
When an ALPA member got blamed for a crash, it was a black eye for the entire organization. The union also had a stake because it acted like a law firm, defending pilots who were accused of violating federal air regulations. That was part of the reason for such high union dues (about $4,000 per year for a 737 captain). If pilots got into trouble, the union provided a lawyer and a technical representative (a pilot such as Cox) who defended the accused during the hearings and appeals. The union was good at representing its members, often convincing airlines and the FAA that they should reduce or drop charges, but that effectiveness made people at the NTSB, the FAA, and Boeing skeptical when ALPA said it would be unbiased in a crash investigation. How could the union defend its members and be unbiased?
It was rare that you ever saw Cox sweat, let alone make a mistake. He had tremendous self-confidence, which is why you felt so good with him in the captain’s seat. But on one flight in 1973, he got so frightened that he was afraid everyone on the plane was going to die.
He was nineteen, home from college for Christmas break and flying occasional trips as copilot on a Cessna 421, a two-engine propeller plane. On one flight he was assigned to be copilot to take several businessmen from Birmingham, Alabama, to Erie, Pennsylvania. The plane was heavily loaded with people and luggage, so Cox and the captain planned to stop in Pittsburgh and refuel. The plane picked up ice as it descended through the clouds to Pittsburgh, but they were not worried. Rubber boots on the leading edge of the wings inflated to crack the
ice so it would fall off, and the propellers were heated so ice wouldn’t build up on the blades.
They landed in Pittsburgh without difficulty and spent about thirty minutes getting refueled. On the ground, they made a cursory check of the weather, but only for Erie. They had gotten through the clouds around Pittsburgh without difficulty and figured the weather there was no big deal.
They took off and started to climb back through the same clouds, which topped off at 5,800 feet. As they climbed, they realized that the small Cessna was taking on a tremendous amount of ice. It got so thick on the wings that the boots stopped working. Then they heard a horrible sound like a machine gun. Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam . It was the sound of the propellers hurling ice at the fuselage. The ice was building up so fast that the plane was getting dangerously heavy. They had the engines at full power, but the plane could barely climb.
Cox looked out the window and saw ice growing on the wingtip fuel tanks. It was forming a menacing-looking icicle a foot and a half long and growing by the minute. Another blob of ice had developed on the spinner, the hub at the center of the propeller blades, and it too was growing. The windshield was so covered with ice that it was opaque, and the pilots had diverted all the heat in the plane to the vents on the windshield. That made the cockpit extremely hot and left the passengers freezing in the back, but it was having little effect on the windshield. If Cox or the captain wanted to look outside, he had to squint through a tiny strip right above the vents where the ice had melted. Cox was sweating a lot—a combination of heat and fear.
The ice was so thick and heavy that the plane lost its ability to climb, even at maximum power. Cox and the captain discussed what they should do. They didn’t want to return to Pittsburgh because they would have to go back through the nasty clouds. So they decided to continue to Erie, where the weather was slightly better. At that point, Cox wondered if they would survive. He wasn’t thinking about dying, exactly. He was worrying about what would happen if they had to set the plane down in trees. It would rip the aircraft apart. At that point, dying would be a foregone conclusion.
As the captain flew the plane, Cox radioed to air traffic controllers, telling them the plane had a severe ice problem and that they were descending to the MOCA—the minimum obstacle-clearing altitude. It was the lowest they could fly and not worry about crashing into mountains and radio towers. Now that they were descending, the ice appeared to stop growing. It hadn’t shrunk, but at least it wasn’t getting worse. Cox was sweating so much now that he had soaked through two shirts. He normally wore his shirts buttoned all the way up and his ties tight around his neck, but now he had the collar unbuttoned and his tie loosened. His heart was racing.
When he flipped the lever to lower the landing gear, he heard the strain of the electric motors trying to open the gear doors. Grind, grind, grind . Then he realized what was happening: The doors had been frozen shut by the thick layer of ice on the belly of the plane. The pilots might never get the gear down. They would have to make a belly landing.
Grind, grind, grind . It sounded like the motors were ready to give up. Crack! The right gear door burst through the ice and opened. The gear went down. The plane wobbled a bit from the sudden drag on the right side of the plane.
Crack! The left door opened and down went the gear. They could land now… if they could only see the runway.
The captain had used the instrument landing system to line up and descend toward the runway. The ILS was designed for moments precisely like this one, so pilots could approach a runway without seeing it until the last minute. They squinted through the slit in the windshield, searching for the runway lights. As they finally saw the lights and prepared to land, Cox was thinking, If we keep the plane lined up, we should be okay .
Thirty feet above the runway, the plane stalled and plunged nose down toward the pavement. There was so much ice that it changed the aerodynamics of the aircraft and made it stall sooner than expected. The captain pushed the throttle lever forward and jerked back on the control column to bring up the nose.
Bam! The plane hit the runway on all three landing gear simultaneously. Ice broke from the belly and smashed into a million pieces on the runway. They taxied the plane to the terminal and opened the door. As the passengers got off, they teased the captain about the hard landing. “That was one of your worst,” one passenger said. Cox and the captain gave each other a knowing look. If the passengers only knew how close they had come to dying!
Thinking back on that flight, Cox could see several mistakes. They were in a hurry and got careless. They didn’t check the weather reports as thoroughly as they should have. They should never have flown in such bad conditions. Cox’s willingness to admit when pilots made mistakes was one of the reasons he was so well respected at the NTSB. He represented a new generation of ALPA investigators, one that was not so protective of pilots.
Yet, in the case of Emmett and Germano, Cox resisted any suggestion that they were to blame. He would grudgingly concede that it had been a mistake for them to pull back on the stick, but he would quickly add that it was an understandable response. At that point, they were watching the ground loom closer and closer. It was natural that they would want to pull the nose up to survive. Besides, Cox said, there was no procedure for pilots to follow if they had a rudder hardover. Such a situation was not mentioned in the pilots’ manuals, and it was not covered in their training. Plus, Emmett and Germano had had virtually no time to diagnose the problem and then decide what to do; it was only eight to ten seconds from the first bump caused by the wake turbulence until the plane was unrecoverable.
Pilot-error accidents have been around as long as there have been pilots. Modern statistics show that pilots are the primary cause in about 70 percent of commercial jet crashes. In a 1992 Anniston, Alabama, crash that Haueter investigated, the captain, a new employee of the airline, became subservient to the first officer. They were both trying to be cool and calm, ignoring the fact that neither of them knew where the airport was. At one point the captain said, “Hopin’ no one on here’s a pilot,” an indication that he hoped passengers wouldn’t notice the strange flight path they were taking. Both pilots were lost but would not admit it. They thought they were south of the Anniston airport, but they were actually north of it. The plane crashed in trees seven miles from the airport, killing the captain and two passengers.
Other pilot-error crashes are caused by simple mistakes, often in combination with faulty warning systems. In the Delta 1141 crash that Haueter investigated in Dallas, the pilots forgot to set the flaps, a critical step that gives the wings extra lift for takeoff. That alone should not have caused the crash, since the pilots had to go through a checklist to make sure the flaps were set and the Boeing 727 had a warning system that would sound an alarm if they started a takeoff roll without the flaps extended. But the pilots were rushing during the checklist. When the flight engineer called, “Flaps?” the first officer responded, “Fifteen-fifteen-green light” without actually looking to make sure they were set. The takeoff warning system should have sounded a horn about that mistake, but it had been having intermittent problems and did not sound as the plane started to take off. The plane got twenty feet off the ground, bounced tail-first at the end of the runway, and crashed into an antenna, killing fourteen people.
The numbers on pilot error can be misleading because not many crashes can be attributed to a single factor. Investigators often say a crash is the result of many links in a chain. If any link had been broken, the accident would not have happened. The pilots may make the ultimate mistake, but they may be responding to bad weather, malfunctions in the plane, poor design in the cockpit, lack of training, inaccurate information from air traffic controllers, or a lack of proper rules from the FAA. If that takeoff warning system had been working, the captain of Delta 1141 probably would have stopped the plane safely on the runway. In Why Airplanes Crash , authors Clinton Oster, John S. Strong, and C. Kurt Zorn write that pilot error was the initiating factor in only 11 percent of airline crashes from 1979 to 1988.
Airplane manufacturers have been remarkably successful at reducing pilot-error accidents with new warning systems that tell pilots when they are in trouble. The devices are like fussy robots in the cockpit that shout at the pilots when there is trouble nearby. All airliners in the United States now have a traffic collision avoidance system, or TCAS, that shows other planes on a screen and yells “TRAFFIC! TRAFFIC!” when one gets dangerously close. (That warning was heard on Flight 427’s cockpit tape as the USAir plane began to spiral down, probably because the TCAS saw the Jetstream plane a few miles away.) Big jets also are equipped with a ground-proximity warning system that hollers “TERRAIN! TERRAIN! PULL UP!” when a plane gets too close to the ground or a mountain. Those kinds of accidents—known as controlled flight into terrain, or CFIT—have dropped by 43 percent since the warning systems were mandated.
As chairman of the human-performance group, Malcolm Brenner had to explore Boeing’s suspicions about the pilots. The cousin of comedian David Brenner, he was the most eccentric person involved in the investigation. A towering six-foot-three psychologist, Brenner had a quick wit and seemed more like a college professor than a crash detective. He got so excited when he discovered good data that he got chills. When it was exceptionally good data, he felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. He spoke of humans the same way a zoologist talked about giraffes or elephants. Humans were the species that he studied. Never mind that he was one, too.
Brenner grew up in West Philadelphia, studied psychology at Boston University, earned his master’s degree at Stanford University, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Before he landed the job with the NTSB, he had worked as a psychologist for NASA, an undercover private detective, a limo driver, and a Santa Claus. He said his biggest contribution to highway safety was when he quit being a limo driver.
In the engineer-dominated world of accident investigation, the human-performance experts were the odd ducks. Other investigators dealt with solid, indisputable evidence—bent fan blades that told whether an engine was spinning or a broken gauge that showed a plane’s airspeed when it crashed. But human performance dealt with fuzzier issues—what a human did and why.
In the initial probe, the NTSB had tracked down Emmett’s and Germano’s friends, coworkers, relatives, and everyone else who had seen the pilots before the crash. They were asked about the pilots’ moods, what they ate for breakfast and dinner, even how much they slept. A safety board handbook said such checks were important because “it is often possible to find problems in the individual’s background that foretell the problems of the accident.”
Brenner found that Germano, forty-five, had been happily married for nineteen years and had two young children. He had been a pilot for the air force, Pilgrim Airlines, and Braniff before joining USAir. He had a clean FAA record, no criminal history, and he rarely drank. His pilot training records were generally positive, with comments such as “very consistent and smooth pilot,” “nice job,” and “excellent landings.” The only negative comment had come years earlier from a check pilot who wrote that he rated Germano in the “lower 10 percent.”
Brenner sent questionnaires to the pilots’ families and scoured public and private records about them. He found that Germano got seven and a half hours of sleep in a typical night and had a ruptured disk in his back that had been removed six months before the crash. He also had mild allergy problems and suffered from a runny nose and postnasal drip. He received a traffic ticket a year before the crash for failing to give a proper signal. He was said to be cheerful the day before the accident, when he flew three legs and had a layover in Jacksonville. He joined other crew members in singing “Happy Birthday” to one of the flight attendants, and he ordered a turkey croissant from room service shortly before midnight.
Emmett had been married for two years and had no children. He had taken flying lessons as a teenager, became a corporate pilot, and then was hired by Piedmont, which merged with USAir. He had clean driving and flying records and no criminal history. A check pilot who rode with him in a simulator test described him as “well-prepared… a sharp guy.” Fellow pilots described him as “exceptional… the kind of first officer you’d want to fly with.” He had responded calmly when a plane had a hydraulic failure one month before the Flight 427 crash. His wife said he was an occasional drinker and usually slept eight hours. A USAir chief pilot told investigators that Emmett was a dependable guy who reminded the chief pilot of his son.
Brenner’s amiable personality was a big asset in investigating the pilots because he frequently had to call grieving relatives. He had tracked down wives, husbands, girlfriends, and boyfriends to ask about a dead pilot. But running the Flight 427 human-performance group had not been easy. It had some of the strongest personalities in the investigation, especially Curt Graeber, a human factors expert from Boeing.
Graeber had an in-your-face approach that was the polar opposite of Brenner’s lighthearted style. A former army lieutenant colonel who had been assigned to NASA and the space shuttle Challenger investigation, Graeber believed the NTSB had done a poor job of looking into the pilots’ backgrounds. He thought the safety board had asked shallow, easy questions of the pilots’ coworkers and ended up with a predictable profile of above-average guys who were loved by everyone. Graeber thought the NTSB should have asked tougher, more pointed questions that would go deeper into the pilots’ training records and how they performed in the cockpit.
Graeber viewed Brenner as a weak manager who let the group’s meetings drift into pointless discussions. Instead of staying focused on the pilots, the group would go off on tangents about wake turbulence and servo valves and then someone would say they should stick to the facts and the conversation would abruptly end. Brenner seemed unwilling to take charge and keep the group focused. “Malcolm is supposedly the best human factors guy [the safety board has] got, which is a sad statement,” Graeber said.
But Brenner felt he had to give everyone a chance to air his or her opinion. He knew they were at the edge of what could be proved scientifically, but he wanted to consider every possibility. To address Boeing’s questions, he enlisted a pathologist to study the broken rudder pedals and try to determine if the pilots were pushing left or right at impact. (The doctor concluded left, but that was later called into question because he was not a metallurgist.) He and other group members tracked down further training records to determine if Emmett and Germano had aerobatic experience (none of any significance) and interviewed two Southwest Airlines 737 pilots to see whether they had used the rudder when they encountered a sudden roll in March. (The pilots did, but one pushed right, the other left.) Brenner’s group also reviewed medical records for the USAir pilots to see if they had been treated for any problems that might affect their behavior in the cockpit. (They had not, although Germano had gotten allergy shots to treat his runny nose and postnasal drip.)
When it was all added up, Brenner’s team had lots of evidence but nothing close to a conclusion. The pilots had little aerobatic experience, but they should not have needed any special training to recover from wake turbulence. Some clues suggested that they had pushed the pedals, but they could have done that right before impact. Ultimately the team was stymied. On June 6, 1995, Brenner’s group approved this statement: “There is no way we can conclude for certain that the crew did or did not put in rudder input.”
In the eyes of the Cook County Circuit Court, the value of Joan’s life would be determined primarily by coldhearted economics—how long she would have lived, how much she would have earned in her lifetime, and how much she would have spent. To calculate that number, economists would use life expectancy tables, details about Joan’s health, estimates of her career earnings, and Brett’s account of her household chores.
Brett’s lawyers would make an initial settlement proposal to USAir’s insurance company, based on prior cases and Joan’s earnings. But if the company balked at that number—and that was usually what happened—his law firm would hire an economist to do a more scholarly report based on the interrogatories and depositions about Joan.
In previous crashes, airlines and their insurers had occasionally delved into the private lives of crash victims by hiring private detectives to question neighbors and coworkers of the victim. Airlines called it the search for truth, so they could pay a fair price for a claim. In one famous 1986 case, Delta Air Lines fought for the right to mention in court that a passenger was gay. The airline said the man’s sexuality was relevant because of the possibility that he might have gotten AIDS and therefore would have had a shorter life. In other cases, airlines have dredged up information about victims’ marital infidelities, drug addictions, and alcohol abuse. But only rarely did airlines hire private detectives. Usually the important details about a victim emerged from interrogatories and depositions.
Awards in plane crash cases averaged $2 million, but they could be much higher for people in high-paying jobs with a long career ahead of them. A planeload of young doctors would be a lot more expensive than a plane full of sixty-year-old grocery-store cashiers. The family of a $300,000-per-year surgeon won a $7.4 million verdict after a 1992 USAir crash. The family of Rodney Culver, a running back with the San Diego Chargers who was killed in the 1996 ValuJet crash, received $28 million.
USAir’s chief counsel for the Flight 427 cases was a brash Washington attorney named Mark Dombroff Although Boeing had its own team of lawyers from a prominent Seattle firm, Dombroff and a Chicago law firm had taken the lead for settling the cases. Boeing and USAir never revealed how they had agreed to divide up the liability, but it was clear that Dombroff and the insurance company Associated Aviation Underwriters were speaking for both USAir and Boeing.
Brett’s first legal skirmish with USAir and Boeing had been about the venue for the case. Dombroff
removed the case to federal court in Chicago so it would be transferred to federal court in Pittsburgh, which was likely to be more favorable for USAir. But Brett’s lawyers managed to get the case back to Chicago because they had shrewdly listed Gerald Fox as one of the defendants. Fox was the USAir maintenance chief at O’Hare who had the gurgling-sound conversation with Germano. That gave the case a toehold in Chicago and helped convince a federal judge to keep it in Cook County Circuit Court.
In the file folder for Brett’s lawsuit, Case No. 94 L 12916, Joan was referred to as “DECEDENT.” USAir’s first step in determining the size of the award was to send Brett an interrogatory, a series of broad questions about Joan’s lifestyle, education, career, and income. It would give Dombroff and the insurance company an overview of Joan’s life so they could begin settlement discussions.
State complete details concerning DECEDENT’S employment history, including military service. Include in your description the title, position or rank of each job held, the name and business address of the person or entity employing DECEDENT at each job, the dates each employment began and ended, the type of work involved in each job, the name of the immediate supervisor for each job, the salary, wages, sources and total yearly compensation (including fringe benefits) received for each job, and the date and reason any employment was terminated.
Brett replied that Joan had been a waitress at J.C.’s Cafe in Iowa City, Iowa, while she attended college, earning minimum wage plus tips; she was assistant manager of a restaurant in Vail, Colorado, at $10 per hour; and then she took the job with Akzo Nobel Chemical, where she earned $46,000 per year plus a bonus. For her reason for leaving Akzo, Brett and his lawyers wrote: “Self-explanatory.” There was no need to write “killed in plane crash.”
Fully describe DECEDENT’S health for the ten (10) years prior to death. Include in your description any injury, illness, diseases, or condition suffered by DECEDENT and, for each injury, illness, disease or condition suffered, describe how any effect was manifested… identify all health care providers of any kind… and set forth the reasons for said consultation and/or treatment. Also state whether DECEDENT was ever refused life or disability insurance.
Brett and his lawyer said Joan was in excellent health, that her only significant problem in the past ten years had been a kidney infection. She had regular exams with her doctor and gynecologist and routine visits with her dentist. She had never been refused life or disability insurance.
Describe DECEDENT’S eating, smoking and alcoholic intake habits and state whether DECEDENT, at the time of his/her death or at any time during the ten (10) years prior to that date, took any medication (narcotic or otherwise) or other type of drug, whether DECEDENT ever participated in Alcoholics Anonymous or any similar 12-step or self-help group, the identity of such medication, drugs or groups and the reasons for same.
“Decedent’s eating habits were normal,” Brett and the lawyers wrote. “Plaintiff’s decedent consumed alcohol only socially and did not smoke. Plaintiff’s decedent did not take any medications (with exception to an occasional aspirin for an ailment), narcotic or otherwise, on a regular basis in the ten (10) years prior to her death. Plaintiff’s decedent did not participate in any self-help group.”
Brett knew the lawsuit was the only legitimate way he could get revenge against Boeing and USAir. He thought that the companies knew about the 737’s rudder defects and rolled the dice with passengers’ lives, believing that the malfunction would not occur again. In his view, they made life-and-death decisions for innocent people and seemed to be accountable to no one. Boeing and USAir seemed to think they were above the law.
In his lowest moments during the months following the crash, he became so angry that he briefly fantasized about committing some act of violence against Boeing, to put the company and its families through the same horror he was going through. Those thoughts of personal vengeance and violence were short-lived, however. He realized that the only legal way to retaliate was to hurt the companies in their balance sheets, to win an award so large it would hurt their bottom lines. He hoped an expensive settlement would pressure Boeing to fix the problems with its airplanes. He figured the company might decide it was cheaper to fix the planes than to become involved in additional lawsuits.
Associated Aviation Underwriters, the airline’s insurance company, had begun settling cases in January 1995 for an estimated $2 million each. But Brett was in no hurry. He had received about $800,000 from Joan’s insurance policies and workers’ compensation coverage. He used some of it to set up a scholarship fund in Joan’s name to send a young woman from her hometown to the University of Iowa. He also set up college trust funds for each of Joan’s ten nieces and nephews. He felt Joan would want him to do positive things with the money. He said, “I want her life to have a contribution to this world.”
A beep-beep-beep echoed through the USAir hangar in Pittsburgh as the front-end loader tilted the giant Dumpster and then drove in reverse, emptying it on a plastic tarp. The contents came out as a muddy, solid block, like a brown ice cube popped out of a tray. It was March 6, 1995, still so cold that the fifteen volunteers could see their breath.
The volunteers, from the NTSB, USAir, and families of the victims, had come to recover passengers’ belongings from the frozen mess. Hundreds of items—watches, teddy bears, books, wallets, and jewelry—had already been returned to families. But many other items had mistakenly been thrown in the trash bin and left outside during the frigid winter. Leaders of the family group, the Flight 427 Air Disaster Support League, had been complaining for months that they didn’t get back all the items they should have. After they saw the big trash bins during a visit to the hangar, they kept pestering USAir and the safety board until they got permission to look inside.
The families were still furious with USAir. Not only were they angry about the airline’s performance immediately after the crash, but they were also unhappy with the company’s decisions about the crash memorial and a burial service. When the airline held a service for the burial of unidentified human remains, families could see two caskets. But the airline did not mention that thirty-eight other caskets had already been buried. USAir, which had followed the advice of the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association, said it was trying to be sensitive by avoiding the display of lots of caskets, but the families said they had been deceived.
The memorial was also a point of controversy. Shortly after the crash, USAir had announced that it might buy the Hopewell site to build a monument. That pleased many family members, who wanted a place that would honor their relatives. Several had launched a separate effort to buy the land, but they put their plans on hold when they heard that USAir was interested. The airline scrapped the idea, however, and instead chose to provide three big tombstones at a cemetery ten miles from the crash site.
The granite monument read: IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS INTERRED HERE WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 8, 1994.
Many of the families were unhappy with that inscription. It did not mention the crash or Flight 427. Once again, the airline’s efforts to be sensitive had backfired. (The airline then built a granite bench across from the monument with the inscription THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO THE PASSENGERS AND CREW ON USAIR FLIGHT 427.)
The families were also upset at USAir for refusing to bring the first batch of personal effects to the Hilton during the January public hearing. The relatives had said it would be more convenient to go through them at the hotel, but the airline had refused. USAir officials were afraid the media-savvy family group would turn the whole thing into a big spectacle, with mangled personal effects displayed for the TV cameras.
With all of the other mistakes USAir had made, it was natural to blame the airline for leaving the items in the Dumpster. Mike Benson, an NTSB spokesperson, tried to direct the blame that way, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the NTSB presumed there was nothing valuable inside, since USAir employees had looked through the Dumpster. But USAir said the trash bins were the safety board’s responsibility. The truth was that no one realized there was anything valuable inside. The NTSB investigators were intent on finding significant parts from the plane. The material in the Dumpster looked like burned trash. Haueter knew there were burned, shredded clothes inside, but he never thought a family member might want them back.
“May I have your attention, please!” Cindy Keegan, the NTSB investigator who headed the structures group, called to the volunteers. “What we’re looking for here are any personal articles, whether it be a watch or whatever.”
One person saw a muddy piece of clothing in the pile and asked, “Did you say you wanted clothing?”
Yes, she said, they should pick out anything that belonged to the people on the plane.
The volunteers wore white coveralls and gloves. A few wore surgical masks, a remnant from the worries about biohazards. John Kretz and Marita Brunner, the leaders of the family group, stood at the back of the pile. When volunteers brought something, Brunner cleaned off the mud and wrote a description of the item on her clipboard:
Casio multi-function calculator—telephone directory, etc.
Sony Microcassette recorder
Woman’s yellow vinyl damask manicure set
Pink hair brush
Speedo eye goggles—swimming
Garage door opener Master Mechanic 750MM K722
Green and white striped Dept. of Energy golf umbrella
Accutron man’s watch
Macintosh Users Guide for Macintosh PowerBook 160/180
Man’s manicure set/maroon leather case
Golf balls—1 Top Flite Logo Reedsburg Country Club; 2 Titleist; 3 Blue Max Trumbull Marriott; 1 Maxfli DDH-100
2 hair brushes, 1 Avon
1 pair scissors
A surprising number of items had passengers’ names on them. Dennis Dixon, whose wife was killed in the crash, found her shredded briefcase. The volunteers found a luggage tag and business card for David Huxford, a Maryland computer consultant who was heading home after a business trip. They found Kevin Rimmell’s Blockbuster Video card and Dewitt Worrell’s business card holder.
They also found three fragments of human bones.
The phone rang just as Haueter and his wife, Trisha Dedik, were headed out on a Friday night. It was Ron Schleede, one of Haueter’s bosses. Within minutes, Haueter and Schleede had a three-way call going with Greg Phillips, the systems group chairman. For two hours, they talked about the latest developments in the USAir case and where they should go next. So much for Haueter and Dedik’s Friday night plans.
Dedik was livid. The crash had consumed her husband’s life. It interrupted dinners and dates and weekend plans. It kept him at the office late and sent him out of town. He was obsessed by it. They would be having a perfectly nice conversation, and then she would see his mind drift away as he contemplated some damn theory about the damn accident. And then, right in the middle of their conversation, he’d say something about the crash, as if he had not been listening to a word she said.
She would reply, “I don’t care.” She was afraid the investigation was going to destroy little bits and pieces of the man she loved until there was nothing left.
People from the NTSB and Boeing called him at home, day or night. Everything was an emergency, even when it really wasn’t. It reminded Dedik of the story of the little boy who cried wolf. These guys—and they were nearly all guys—were always crying wolf. Worse, they treated her like she was Haueter’s secretary. It infuriated her. “I don’t care about the office, I don’t care about 427, I don’t care about anything,” she told him one night. “The victims are dead. There is nothing you can do about it. You know what? It’s not going to make any difference whether you solve this today or tomorrow. There is nothing that is so important that you have to deal with it right now.”
She had an important job, too, keeping the world safe from a nuclear disaster. She worked hard and traveled the globe to negotiate with other countries and make sure they were complying with international agreements. But she didn’t obsess about her job, and she knew how to draw a line between work and the rest of her life. When she left the office, she left her job behind. That was one of the things that she had liked about Haueter when they met—he had a life outside his job. He was different from the other Washington men. But Flight 427 had changed him.
Some nights when he arrived home, she would tell him not to say a word about the investigation. Other nights she would give him ten minutes to talk and then make him promise not to bring it up again.
She asked him once, “Is it so awful to have an investigation unsolved? Does that mean you’re a failure?”
Some people in aviation, and a few at the board, thought that too much emphasis was being put on coming up with the probable cause. To them, the NTSB frequently got tied in knots trying to find the precise cause of a crash and did not focus enough on preventing future accidents. The reformers, led by retired NTSB aviation safety chief C. O. Miller, wanted the board to issue “findings” after each crash, with the emphasis on preventing accidents and reducing hazards.
But to Haueter and most others at the NTSB, it was important to name the probable cause. They thought that the public needed answers about why a plane crashed. It gave everyone a sense of closure, and it gave people confidence that it was safe to fly. If the board didn’t name a probable cause in USAir 427, people would wonder for years whether the 737 was safe.
Haueter was a long way from solving the mystery, however. It was nine months after the crash, and the investigation had stalled. They’d done hundreds of tests on the rudder system and come up empty. Many other theories had fizzled. Several colleagues at the safety board thought Haueter should admit he was stumped and give up.
With no new leads, Haueter went back to old theories that had been ruled out. It was a sign of how desperate he had become. Leads that had been dismissed nine months earlier were alive again. He was willing to consider anything, even if it did not involve the rudder.
Brenner and operations group chairman Chuck Leonard conducted a second interview with Fred Piccirilli, a witness on the soccer field who thought he saw smoke coming from the plane before it hit the ground. The wreckage showed no sign of an in-flight fire, but Piccirilli had credibility because he was a USAir maintenance employee. He had come up to Hall at the hearing in Pittsburgh and told him about the smoke, so Hall asked the investigators to talk to him one more time. In the second interview, he again said the smoke was “orangish-reddish-brownish” and was coming from a spot in front of the right wing. He saw no fire but said the smoke remained in the air after impact and dissipated slowly. His account hadn’t changed much from the first time. The problem was, there was not a single piece of evidence that backed up what he said.
The bird theory had also been born again. Never mind that no one had found a single feather in the wreckage or that Roxie Laybourne had conclusively ruled out the suspicious clump. The Boeing investigators had persisted about the theory, saying it was possible a bird had broken through the nose of the plane and hit a rudder cable. They wanted to do one final check of the wreckage with a black light to look for bird remains. This would be their last chance because the NTSB was about to release control of the wreckage to AAU, USAir’s insurance company, which planned to put the pieces in crates and move them to a warehouse.
Supplee, the USAir mechanic, had been summoned back to the Pittsburgh hangar to help conduct the final bird check. He thought the whole exercise was a waste of time. They had already ruled out birds, yet Boeing persisted with any theory, no matter how absurd, that would clear the airplane.
When he walked into the hangar, Supplee noticed that the musty smell of chlorine and jet fuel had faded since his last visit six months earlier. The windows had again been covered so his team could work in darkness. They donned the ridiculous-looking yellow-orange glasses that supposedly made it easier to see the glow from bird remains. They had two black lights, so they split into teams and started on different sides of the wreckage. Supplee and a forensic expert from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology went to the place where the leading edge of the wings had been partially reassembled and waved the light over it. Nothing glowed. They moved to other piles of wreckage. Supplee picked up each piece, and the guy from AFIP waved the light over it. Still no glow. They checked hundreds of pieces and did not see anything glow.
Suddenly they heard a shout from across the hangar, where a Boeing team member had a second black light.
“Guys! Look at this!”
Everyone hurried over. They could see a piece of wreckage glowing like a Jimi Hendrix poster in a dorm room. If this was a bird, it must have been a big one. How could they have missed it before? Then they removed their glasses and shone a flashlight on the wreckage. It wasn’t a bird. It was the fluorescent paint they had used to draw grid lines at the crash site. They must have painted the wreckage by mistake.
They laughed and went back to the tedious job of inspecting each piece. A little while later, the AFIP expert noticed a slight glow on one piece. “Might have something here,” he said. It was shaped like an X, about one and a half inches long and half an inch wide. Supplee could see it clearly through his glasses. They took a Q-tip and a solution and swabbed the area gently to get a sample. When they added a solution to test for organic materials, it glowed slightly.
But lab tests were negative. Once again, birds had been ruled out.
Some days for Haueter went like this:
9 A.M. Boeing calls and whines about the investigation.
10 A.M. ALPA calls and whines.
11 A.M. It is USAir’s turn, followed by a second Boeing whining session after lunch. Haueter wanted to shout: “Give me a break!”
He believed in the party system, but on many days the parties behaved like children. In the absence of solid answers, they had retreated to positions that protected their own interests. Boeing and Parker Hannifin, the manufacturer of the PCU, saw no evidence that the rudder system had malfunctioned. They still wanted Haueter to spend more time scrutinizing the pilots. But ALPA and USAir saw no evidence that the pilots had made a mistake. They wanted Haueter to conduct more tests on
the rudder system.
Haueter was frustrated by the lack of progress. Many clues pointed to the rudder system, but he and Phillips could not find any proof that it had failed. The power control unit not only passed every test, it seemed to have the strength of a superhero. So, in May 1995, Haueter decided they should step back and take a broader look at the plane, instead of just focusing on the rudder. Maybe they would discover some wild idea that would lead them to the solution.
He, Phillips, and Vikki Anderson, the lead investigator for the FAA, flew to Greensboro, North Carolina, and rented a car to drive to Winston-Salem, where USAir had a big maintenance hangar. The tan-colored hangar was big enough to hold three 737s for inspections that USAir called Q checks, the major overhauls where planes were stripped to their frames so mechanics could replace anything that did not meet FAA standards. A 737 got a Q check every 11,000 flight hours, or roughly once every three to four years. It was a great place to look for inspiration because everything in the planes was exposed. The 737s looked like they were naked.
A steady rain fell outside the hangar as they wandered around one of the stripped planes, looking at the maze of cables and wires that were normally hidden by the floorboards and the aluminum skin. They scrutinized the wing, trying to see anything that might have caused the smoke the witness had reported, and crawled into one of the baggage compartments. Phillips was struck by how much older planes smelled like coffee. They carried so many thousands of gallons of coffee over the years that it seemed to permeate everything. It was a familiar, comfortable smell.
They sat in the cramped baggage compartment and talked about the possibility that an obese passenger fell through the floor and landed on the rudder cable—an idea that had been dubbed “the fat guy theory.” Would the fat guy have pulled on the cable enough to move the rudder? Probably not, but it might be worth testing, Phillips said. They looked at the plane’s tail and discussed what might have happened if a bird had struck the vertical fin. Could that have turned the rudder?
USAir mechanics had tagged along to answer questions. “Do you have any ideas?” Anderson asked them. “Is there anything, no matter how far out, that you have noticed about the plane?” They had a few suggestions, but they were all theories that the NTSB had considered before. Anderson went up to the cockpit and sat in one of the seats. She stepped on the rudder pedals, turned the wheel, and moved the control column up and back. She was struck that it was such a simple airplane, about as sophisticated as an old VW Beetle.
She and Phillips went to the wheel wells, where the hydraulic lines converged and where the landing gear was stored in flight. A USAir mechanic who accompanied them was concerned about the vulnerability of the hydraulic lines there. If a tire blew out, it could do serious damage, he said. Boeing had once had screens that protected these fragile components, but the company had stopped using them.
“I’ve always wondered about things being in such a small place,” the mechanic said.
“I have, too,” Phillips said. But he had found no evidence of such an explosion in the wreckage.
They spent lots of time around the tail, looking at the power control unit and how it fit inside the vertical fin. Could a bird have broken through the tail and hit the cables or rods that led to the PCU? Haueter doubted it. The angle of the vertical fin would make it hard for a bird to break through. It would be deflected before it could pierce the skin.
Rain was pouring down as they had lunch at a pub near the hangar and then took a commuter flight back to Washington. It had been a good chance to see the innards of the plane, but they felt no closer to knowing what had happened.
Boeing had a theory about the pilots’ feet. The company wanted to test the damaged pilot seat tracks to determine if they indicated where Emmett and Germano were sitting. The pilots might have been so far from the rudder pedals that they had to stretch to use them. Maybe that caused one of the pilots to push too long and hard on one of the pedals.
The seat tracks, metal strips that allowed the pilots to slide their seats forward and backward, were brought to the NTSB’s metals lab in Washington. Metallurgists inspected the tracks, but they were so mangled that the experts could not find proof of whether the seats were too far back. Besides, the position of the seat was not important, since each pilot had a crank that adjusted the rudder pedals forward and backward, so even when a pilot had the seat back as far as it would go, the pedals could be in the proper place. At six-three, Emmett was so tall that it was logical that he would have his seat back.
Cox felt that Boeing was going to ridiculous extremes to blame the pilots. “Boeing is desperately trying to do anything they can to clear their airplane,” he said. He was resolute that the pilots were not at fault. “I still think it’s a systems problem with the airplane.”
A few days later Cox and the other investigators flew to the NASA-Ames Research Center near San Francisco to take a ride in one of the world’s most advanced flight simulators. The idea—also suggested by Boeing—was to see if Germano and Emmett had been so startled by the wake turbulence that they could not recover the plane.
The NASA vertical motion simulator, or VMS, was part of SimLab, the world’s most advanced laboratory for studying pilots. The lab gave out patches with the simulator’s logo, which had four stars and arrows pointing in every direction. It looked like a recipe for motion sickness.
The VMS resembled a wandering elevator inside a cavernous ten-story building. Like Boeing’s M-Cab simulator, it could be programmed to perform like many different aircraft—fighter planes, big transport jets, even the space shuttle. It felt more realistic than other simulators because the cab could go up and down sixty feet, compared with just a few feet on M-Cab. That gave pilots a better illusion of the ups and downs in a plane. For the Flight 427 test, airsickness bags had been taped to the walls, just in case.
Malcolm Cohen, a NASA expert on the inner ear, had been invited to determine if the pilots had lost their bearings when the plane started to flip. He rode twelve times—several with his eyes closed—and was surprised at how smooth the ride was. He said it was so smooth that the pilots should not have been disoriented. Cox had watched the simulator go back and forth a few times before his turn and said it would be “an E-ticket ride,” like the most thrilling ones at Disney World. He then walked across the ramp, buckled himself into the left pilot’s seat, and put on the headphones. The safety board had brought along the cockpit tape so riders could listen to the crew.
The cab moved down to one side of the big tower, as if the NASA people were getting ready to fire it from a slingshot. The ride began. It was much smoother than M-Cab, without the jerks of the mechanical stops. Again and again, Cox rode the simulator, concentrating on a different element each time. He watched the instrument panel on some rides and looked out the windows on others. The simulator’s windows showed a computerized display of the ground and sky that changed as the plane moved.
He had seen a similar display in Boeing’s M-Cab, but he noticed something new this time. He was surprised at how quickly the plane went nose down and the windscreen filled with the ground. It seemed like the pilots were helpless to do anything. To Cox, it was more evidence that the crew was fighting to survive, but the plane was not responding.
Haueter hardly ever got scared when he flew, but he did get the jitters during a flight in a USAir plane in the summer of 1995. The plane was just like Ship 513, a 737–300. It was approaching Washington National Airport when it hit turbulence. Startled, Haueter sat up straight and quickly looked around to find the horizon through the windows, to see if the wing had rolled down too far. What was going on? Had the plane had a rudder hardover? Unfortunately, the people beside him had pulled down the window shade. He looked out the windows on the other side, but he couldn’t tell how far the plane had rolled. A quick thought flashed through his mind: Wouldn’t it be ironic if the chief investigator for 737 crashes was killed in one?
The plane leveled off, and Haueter breathed a sigh of relief—but he vowed to get a window seat in the future.
A big reason for his jitters was that he felt the 737 needed immediate safety fixes. They had not come up with the probable cause, but he and Phillips felt they had found enough problems with the rudder system to ask the FAA to mandate some improvements. That was typical in a high-profile investigation. The NTSB often made safety recommendations long before it determined the probable cause. Phillips had written a fifty-page memo calling for eighteen safety improvements, most involving the rudder. The memo said the FAA should immediately require Boeing to devise a procedure for pilots to handle a rudder hardover. Phillips was concerned that pilots would be caught by surprise if they had an incident and wouldn’t know how to respond. The memo also called for long-term design changes to the PCU to prevent a hardover.
In response to Boeing’s inability to track rudder problems with its databases, Phillips also called for a joint program between government and industry to keep a database on maintenance and operational problems. He had been surprised that a company as sophisticated as Boeing could not easily list 737 rudder incidents.
Haueter thought the memo made a good case for the changes. He also wanted to get a jump on the FAA, which was writing its own safety study on the 737 and relying heavily on what Phillips had learned. Haueter did not want the FAA to get credit for the NTSB’s work. “These guys are going to beat us to the punch with our data,” Haueter told Bud Laynor, the NTSB’s deputy chief of aviation safety.
Laynor was a navy-trained pilot and engineer who had designed flight control systems on airplanes and NASA spaceships. At sixty-one years of age, he was in great physical shape, with short brown hair cut like he was still at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and a thin, leathery face with creases in the cheeks. Laynor was the most respected technical expert at the board, so his approval for Phillips’s memo was crucial. Without it, the memo would go nowhere.
When Phillips wrote it in the spring of 1995, he figured it would go through the usual editing by NTSB managers and would emerge essentially intact. But after a few weeks he was surprised that nothing had happened. The memo seemed to be stuck on Laynor’s desk. When he saw Laynor in the hallway one day, Phillips mentioned the memo. “What about those recs?” Phillips asked.
“I’ll get to them,” Laynor said.
But when he did get to them, Laynor decided the memo was premature. The 737 had more than 60 million flight hours, and not even one crash had been linked to the alleged rudder problem. The NTSB had no evidence that anything in the PCU had malfunctioned. Without proof, he felt it was premature to say there was a problem with it. Besides, the valve had a built-in backup. If one slide jammed, there was a second slide to oppose the jam so the rudder could still move or return to neutral.
Laynor didn’t argue much against Phillips’s memo, he just sat on it. The memo stayed on his desk, gathering dust. Phillips, normally one of the NTSB’s most cautious, gentle investigators, complained loudly to everyone that the fixes were crucial. These were not a bunch of crackpot recommendations, he said. There were persuasive arguments for each of them.
Haueter agreed. He felt so strongly about the safety fixes that he went over Laynor’s head to Hall. But Hall was unwilling to get involved. If Laynor wasn’t ready for the recommendations, no one was. The 737 safety fixes would have to wait.
Laynor was still interested in theories about the wake turbulence from the Delta plane. He said it was too much of a coincidence that Flight 427 had flown through the precise spot where the Delta plane had been seventy seconds earlier. He figured the wake had to play some role in the pilots’ loss of control. He kept pushing for a flight test with a 737 and a 727 to show whether the wake was strong enough to flip a plane.
To Haueter, it was ridiculous to think that a wake could flip a 737. He repeatedly said that planes would be falling out of the sky every day if that were true. But he knew that he had to test Laynor’s hypothesis. If he didn’t, the wake turbulence theory would haunt them for years.
The FAA had its own 727 that could be used for the tests, but Haueter found it surprisingly hard to get a 737. They were the best-selling jets in the history of aviation, so he figured that some owner somewhere would be willing to lease one for a month. But he kept getting turned down. The 737s owned by the major airlines were all booked, and they couldn’t spare one for a month, even though the NTSB was going to pay. Leasing companies had some available, but they didn’t want to help. They were afraid the plane might be damaged by the test and did not want the publicity linking their plane to one that killed 132 people. Haueter offered to paint it white so that no one would know the owner, but he still couldn’t get any takers.
Finally, he went to Hall and said he needed help. The test was worthwhile, Haueter said, but no one wanted to participate. Could Hall exercise some leverage and find a plane?
Hall got on the phone with FAA administrator David Hinson, and they jointly called USAir chairman Seth Schofield. Suddenly USAir changed its tune. The airline would loan a 737.
Everyone agreed that the $1 million cost of the tests would be split by the NTSB, the FAA, Boeing, and USAir. ALPA decided it could not afford to contribute, which Haueter thought was a bit cheap. Here’s a bunch of guys making $160,000 a year, but they couldn’t afford to support the tests?
Jim Cash had the creepiest job in aviation. As the NTSB’s expert on cockpit tapes, he listened to pilots die every day. He estimated that he had heard about three hundred die horrible deaths, plus several hundred more who had been fortunate enough to survive. It was fitting that Cash was shy and soft-spoken. He heard pilots hollering and screaming every day, but when he talked, his voice was so quiet that you had to strain to hear him. He was forty-three, with rosy cheeks and a boyish face. There were no aviators in the Cash family when he grew up in upstate New York—his dad had a blue-collar job at a power plant, his mom was a housewife—but Cash built model airplanes and got interested in flying. He was awarded an ROTC scholarship to Syracuse University and studied electrical engineering. It wasn’t that he really wanted to be an engineer, it was a matter of survival. He hated writing and liberal arts and figured his best hope for graduating was to be an engineer. He joined the air force and flew F-4 fighter planes, but you would never know it by talking with him. He had none of the ego or bluster of a fighter pilot. He was in the air force for eight years but chose to leave when he was due for a desk job.
He couldn’t find anything he liked at an aerospace company and stumbled across an opening in the NTSB sound lab. He had no experience listening to cockpit tapes (air force planes usually do not have them because the military does not want the tapes to fall into enemy hands), but his experience as a pilot and his skills as an electrical engineer made him ideal for the job. Like Haueter and Phillips and seemingly everyone else at the safety board, Cash loved to build and fix things. He built a pool in his backyard and spent four years restoring a ’72 Porsche 914.
Cash was renowned for finding clues in the tapes. He knew the distinctive clicks of a flap lever and the grind of the landing gear. By studying the whines of the engines, he could tell if they were operating at full power. His office at the NTSB was a darkened room that was stacked high with audio equipment—amplifiers, tape players, audio mixers, and graphic equalizers. But the place where he worked his magic was a powerful Unix computer that ran a program called WAVES. It allowed him to translate sounds into squiggly lines that showed frequency, volume, and energy. When he wanted to identify a strange click or rattle, Cash compared that fingerprint with one from a known sound. He spent lots of time recording sounds on airplanes on the ground so he could match them with the mysterious noises. He was like a police fingerprint expert, always looking for a match.
It had been ten months since the crash, and the NTSB still had not identified the thumps heard on the 427 cockpit tape. Cash had taken the tape to the FBI’S sound laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, to see if they came from gunshots or an explosion, but the FBI found that the thumps did not have the unique signatures of sounds from a gun or a bomb. Since then, Cash had spent hours studying the thumps on his computer. He discovered that there actually were three distinct sounds, the first coming just as Emmett completed the sentence “Oh, yeah, I see zuh Jetstream.” But Cash had been unable to match the signature with any of the sounds from the stomping-slamming doors test conducted at National Airport a few days after the crash.
If the thumps had been heard at any other time on the cockpit tape, Cash would not have worried about them. Tapes often had sounds that couldn’t be identified. Human beings and airplanes made so many noises that it would be difficult to identify them all. But Cash thought it was important to find the source of the thumps because they occurred at the most crucial time, right before the plane rolled left and twisted toward the ground.
It was fortunate that he had four channels of sounds on the tape. Most 737 tapes had only three—one for each pilot and one from the area microphone in the ceiling. But someone on Ship 513 had mistakenly left the jump seat mike on, which meant there was a fourth source of sounds.
As he studied the squiggly lines on his computer one day, Cash noticed that the thumps were picked up by the microphones in the ceiling and the jump seat but not by the headset mikes that Emmett and Germano were wearing. That meant the sound was probably traveling through the frame of the airplane rather than through the air, which suggested it came from outside the cockpit. He also noticed an important difference in the sounds: the ceiling mike picked up the first thump 9/100 of a second before the jump seat mike did. He thought that was an important clue.
Late one summer night, Cash and a few helpers arrived at the USAir terminal at National Airport. They boarded a 737 parked at a gate and switched on the plane’s power. As the voice recorder was running, an FAA employee crawled through the baggage compartment and pounded on different spots with a rubber mallet.
They used two walkie-talkies. The FAA employee announced his location right before he pounded, so they could log where the sounds came from. When Cash got bac
k to his office and examined the sounds in WAVES, he checked the timing of each to see which ones had the same 9/100 of a second interval. He found a match when the FAA employee pounded on the fuselage about twelve to sixteen feet behind the cockpit mike. That meant the sound came from Row 1 or Row 2 in first class.
He was halfway there. He knew the location of the thumps. Now he just had to figure out what caused them.
Every time a 737 burped, Vikki Anderson’s phone rang. It didn’t have to be anything serious. The usual hiccups of a plane—minor autopilot problems, rudder anomalies, or bumps from wake turbulence—were now being reported by 737 pilots as potentially serious incidents that might be related to the USAir crash. Many pilots had become jittery about the 737.
As the FAA’s lead investigator on the crash, Anderson provided technical help to the NTSB, to explain how the FAA certified the 737 and how it inspected USAir. She also had to help the FAA decide if there was any need to take action because of the crash. She had been a Braniff flight attendant for twenty-three years and had joined the FAA because she had grown weary of the vicious cycles in the airline business, when Braniff would go bankrupt and then reemerge to fly again. She talked about the airline like it was a movie with sequels, Braniff I, Braniff II , et cetera.
She started with the FAA as a cabin safety specialist, analyzing flight attendant training and evacuation plans, and then moved to the agency’s accident investigation office nine months before the Hopewell crash. This was her first major accident. As she was flying to Pittsburgh the morning after the crash, she wondered if she could handle the gruesome job. She wasn’t sure she could deal with body parts lying everywhere. She had done well in the months since then because she was forthright about her feelings. While many men in the investigation bottled up their emotions, Anderson was honest about what she was going through. She was a fun person to work for, easygoing, thorough, and well organized.
Only a handful of women were part of the tight fraternity of crash investigators, but Anderson had worked hard to learn the ropes. She read every crash book she could find, and she wasn’t bashful about asking questions. She would freely admit when she was baffled by an engineer’s mumbo jumbo. She kept the FAA team organized and made sure meetings didn’t drag on too long. A tiny woman with big brown eyes and a warm sense of humor, she could liven up the most dreary meeting. When they discussed the gurgling sound that Andrew McKenna had heard in Seat 1A, Anderson suggested it was someone sitting in 3A gargling. When she visited the Winston-Salem hangar, she said she was open to all theories about the crash, “even the one about Russian death rays.”
The FAA had declared the 737 safe. An independent team of FAA engineers and inspectors had conducted a Critical Design Review of the plane for six months and found no major problem that could be linked to the accidents in Hopewell and Colorado Springs. The team listed twenty-seven recommendations to improve the plane, everything from new screens in the wheel wells to a consistent definition of the word “jam,” but it found no serious problems with the plane.
Yet, despite the FAA’s assurances about the plane’s safety, pilots remained nervous. In cockpits and airport hallways, 737 pilots eagerly swapped gossip about recent incidents and discussed what they would do if their planes suddenly began to roll. At least once a month, Anderson would get a call from the FAA security guard saying there was a pilot at the front door who wanted to talk to someone about the crash. Sometimes the pilots had theories, other times they just wanted to find out the latest from the investigation. One young pilot—Anderson doesn’t remember his name or his airline—was surprisingly nervous about the 737. He needed reassurance that the plane he flew was not going to fall out of the sky. Talking to him was eye-opening. It made her realize that some pilots were truly scared.
Anytime a pilot reported a problem that sounded the least bit serious, the FAA and the NTSB quickly sent a team to check it out. A July 1995 incident in Richmond, Virginia, was typical. Anderson’s boss, Bud Donner, interrupted her during a meeting and said, “Vikki, I’m going to need you in a little bit. We’ve got another little adventure.”
A USAir plane carrying forty-eight passengers was making a left turn toward the runway when it suddenly rolled to the right. The captain shut off the autopilot, but the roll continued. He quickly turned the wheel and pushed the left rudder pedal to regain control of the plane. The rolling stopped, the plane leveled off, and they landed safely.
Anderson and Donner discussed the event and decided it sounded serious enough to send people to Richmond. FAA investigator Jeff Rich quickly rented a car and raced down I-95 to the airport. The NTSB also dispatched someone.
The plane was still parked at the gate when Rich arrived. For three days, he and other investigators crowded into the cockpit and ran tests on the plane’s navigational computer, programming the computer so it thought the plane was flying and then checking to see how it might have sent a faulty signal. In the meantime, the plane’s flight recorder was sent back to Washington to be analyzed in the safety board’s lab. Ultimately, the roll was blamed on a faulty autopilot and on the pilots themselves, who did not realize the autopilot was steering the plane.
Two weeks later, Anderson’s home phone rang while she was in the shower bathing her cocker spaniel, Pepe Lopez (a dog her kids named after a brand of tequila). An Aviateca 737 that originated in Miami had crashed into the side of a volcano in El Salvador, killing all sixty-five people on board. The plane was making a final approach to San Salvador during bad weather. Early reports suggested that there weren’t many similarities with Flight 427, but no one could be sure. Clues to the Hopewell crash might be lying on the side of the volcano. Anderson packed her bags and flew to El Salvador.
Her first view of the crash came from the TV in her hotel room, which showed grisly pictures that would never be shown in the United States. The bodies were relatively intact, which told her this was a much different accident from Pittsburgh. The plane had probably struck the volcano with a glancing blow. The next day she got a Jeep ride as far up the 7,000-foot volcano as possible, but she had to climb the rest of the way in her blue FAA jumpsuit, wearing a 30-pound backpack loaded with tools, water, cameras, and biohazard gear. She had thought she was in great shape, a three-times-a-week runner, but the volcano was so steep that she had to crawl the last 50 feet on her hands and knees. When she reached the 6,400-foot level, where the plane had crashed, she lay on the ground gasping for breath, then looked up and saw an eighty-year-old Salvadoran woman grinning at her.
Anderson figured the woman had probably passed her going up the mountain. Maybe Anderson wasn’t in such good shape after all.
Anderson and investigators from Boeing, the NTSB, and the Salvadoran government climbed through the jungle and inspected the wreckage. The voice recorder was found and was sent back to the NTSB lab, but the plane’s data recorder was missing. Anderson figured a villager who lived near the volcano had probably stolen it, thinking it was some kind of safe box with money inside. That kind of looting was common at crashes in Third World countries. Investigators could often tell they were nearing a crash site because they started seeing people sitting outside their homes in airplane seats.
After analyzing the wreckage and the voice recorder and interviewing an air traffic controller, the investigators decided that the pilots were at fault. They had approached the airport from the wrong direction and had flown into the side of the volcano. The Richmond and El Salvador accidents ended up on a list with more than fifty other 737 incidents that were explained by mechanical malfunction, pilot mistakes, wake turbulence, or bird ingestion. They did not answer the riddle of Flight 427.
The Flight 427 Air Disaster Support League was making progress in its effort to improve treatment of families after a crash. On June 20, 1995, members of the league and three other crash groups met with Chairman Hall and Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena at the NTSB offices in Washington. The families from the other crashes had the same complaints as those from Flight 427: It took too long for the airline to figure out who had died, the coordinators for the airlines were inadequately trained, and the companies did a poor job of returning personal belongings.
Aides to Pena and Hall scribbled notes as the families listed their complaints. One of Pena’s aides kept reminding him to leave for another appointment, but he stayed for an additional forty-five minutes. He and Hall came away convinced that the government needed to help. They directed staff members to draw up legislation creating a new government office to assist families after a crash.
That summer, the Flight 427 Air Disaster Support League was organizing two days of events to mark the first anniversary of the crash. The group planned to have four memorial services, including one at the crash site on the night of the anniversary, and a luncheon for the families the following day.
Brett had not been active in the league. He agreed with its goals, but he wanted to keep his distance. When he and Joan’s brother Dan Lahart arrived in Pittsburgh for the anniversary, they stayed at the same hotel as other league members did, but they planned to skip the meetings and all but one of the memorial services. When they ate dinner at the hotel restaurant the night before the anniversary, they sat in a dark corner so they could have privacy.
Brett was hardly thrilled to be there, but he wanted to pay tribute to Joan and attend a memorial service at the place where she had died. He had endured the most painful days in the past year—his birthday, Christmas, her birthday—and hoped they wouldn’t hurt as much in the future. He had not dated anyone since he lost Joan and was not sure he ever could. “If I meet someone in the future that I want to marry, she will know deep down inside that this would not be happening, we would not be having children, had I not lost the first love of my life,” he said.
Brett and Dan visited the coroner’s office in the morning, to check whether any of the unclaimed shoes or jewelry belonged to Joan. None did. Then they drove to Sewickley Cemetery to see the monument to the passengers. It was a beautiful day, just like the day Joan died. Workers were planting 132 tulips that would honor the victims. Brett and Dan got choked up. They chatted with a woman whose husband had been on the plane. She said she often visited the memorial in the early morning and found the cemetery very peaceful.
But Brett didn’t find it the least bit peaceful, for it was directly in the flight path to the Pittsburgh airport. As he gazed at a memorial to the victims of one of the worst plane crashes in the nation’s history, USAir planes roared overhead. He felt as though they were taunting him.
Gradually, George David was getting his property back. It had been a year since he heard the Boeing 737 roar through the air and crash on the edge of his 62-acre farm, but he still found remnants of the crash. Despite the huge cleanup effort, no one from USAir, the NTSB, or Beaver County had bothered to remove the hundreds of yards of red police tape around his property that was stamped DANGER—HAZARDOUS MATERIALS. On misty days he could still smell the aroma of jet fuel. His farm had once been a great place to hunt deer, but most of them had been scared away by the men in plastic suits.
In the year since the crash, David, a police officer and part-time hay farmer, had watched a parade of cars go down his dirt road, ignoring a dozen NO TRESPASSING signs. He didn’t mind it if the visitors were families of the victims or USAir flight attendants who wanted to see where their coworkers had died. He had even hung a wreath in a tree for one of them. But he hated the souvenir hunters and the gawkers. Once, a woman walked up to him shouting, “Hey! Hey!” as he was quietly tracking a deer, which scared away the animal. Another guy had the nerve to come up to David’s door and snap a picture of David and his fiancée watching TV. What could anyone possibly want with that picture? Another time, he got into an argument with a stranger who refused to leave. Finally, David slugged the guy and he ran away.
David and the two other families that owned the crash site felt they had been considerate for a whole year, allowing hundreds of people to visit and leave crosses and wreaths on their property. But they were ready to reclaim their peace and quiet. They decided no more visitors would be allowed after the anniversary. “I’ve got to get my life back,” David said.
Brett met David during a visit to the crash site a few hours before the candlelight memorial service. “I’m sorry about your loss,” David told him.
Brett had never spoken with anyone who had seen or heard the crash, and he was curious about what David remembered. He wanted to know what the plane had sounded like, whether David had seen it, how soon he’d gotten to the wreckage.
“It was roaring,” David said. “It sounded like a Mack truck coming down a hill.”
The small clearing that had been littered with airplane wreckage and body parts a year earlier was coming back to life. Grass was sprouting. Leaves had grown back on many of the trees, although some remained scarred by the crash and the fire, stripped of any sign of life for fifteen or twenty feet up the trunk. More than a dozen wreaths and mementos had been placed around the site. A crucifix was tacked on a blackened tree trunk. A cross was planted in the hill like a tombstone for passenger Leonard Grasso. Joanne Shortley had left a love message for her husband, Stephen, that said, “JS + SS” with a big heart, like something she would have written on a locker in junior high. Brett walked around the crash site searching the ground for the diamond from Joan’s engagement ring. He knew it was silly to think that it might still be lying out in the open after a year, but stranger things had happened. This was the place where Joan’s rose had been blown off the wreath, after all. Brett looked up several times at the USAir planes that flew over the crash site, about one per minute. They were probably at the same altitude as Joan’s plane had been, filled with people who never considered that life might suddenly end.
He and Dan returned to the hotel to get dressed and then went back to Green Garden Plaza to get a ride to the memorial service. They were in one of the first buses that crunched up the gravel road and stopped near the site. Brett got out and walked down toward the place he called ground zero, where the plane’s nose had hit the road. A few people crouched along the road arranging candles in the shape of hearts. Brett walked back up the hill as several hundred family members gathered around the Reverend Thaddeus Barnum, the leader of the service. Brett stood right behind a tree where a baseball cap had been posted in honor of one of the passengers. The hat was labeled SUPER GRANDPA.
A 737 happened to fly overhead at 7 P.M., just as the service began. Brett looked up at it. “Let there be silence among us,” said the pastor as the plane’s roar faded in the distance. At 7:03, the precise moment of the crash, church bells rang throughout Pittsburgh in honor of the victims. Everyone at the service said the Lord’s Prayer and recited the Twenty-third Psalm. Then the pastor said, “I know many people could not come back to this site. I am very glad that you did, to come and know and feel and remember and touch and taste and to feel again, the memory of those you’ve lost.”
That night, as he ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant near the hotel, Brett felt relief that he had gotten through the anniversary. He had experienced a lot of anxiety leading up the ceremony, and now he was glad to move on. But the next day the sadness returned. Life seemed a dull gray once again. At times he would forget about the crash, when he would be having fun with his brothers or his mom or his friends. But then he would suddenly think, How can I be sitting here having a good time when Joan is dead? A friend called them “grief bombs.” When one exploded inside him, he lost track of what he was saying. He became quiet and often excused himself to get some fresh air.
Three days before the anniversary, USAir surprised Wall Street analysts by announcing that it would make a pre-tax profit for the year. That was a remarkable turnaround for a company that had seemed so close to filing for bankruptcy a year earlier. The company’s stock, which had sunk to 3% after the crash, had rebounded as high as 14 in June 1995.
The rebound had less to do with what USAir did than what others had done. Continental Airlines, which had invaded USAir’s East Coast stronghold a year earlier with its low-cost “Cal-Lite” service, pulled out in the spring, which allowed USAir to raise ticket prices enough to be profitable again. Most important, the public forgot about the airline’s crashes and safety problems. They were old news by the summer of 1995. With no new crashes or incidents, people again were content to put their lives in the hands of USAir.
As John Cox walked up the stairs to the USAir plane at Boeing Field in Seattle, he saw the word “EXPERIMENTAL” in big letters over the door. The sign beneath it read, THIS AIRCRAFT DOES NOT COMPLY WITH FEDERAL SAFETY REGULATIONS FOR STANDARD AIRCRAFT. The USAir plane had been specially equipped for the tests. It had a flight data recorder that took thirty measurements, more than twice as many as the box on Flight 427. First-class seats had been removed and replaced with computers and video equipment. Seven tiny video cameras were installed in the cockpit, in the windows overlooking the wings, on the wingtips, and on the tail. The plane had been loaded with several tons of sand to simulate the weight of passengers and luggage.
Haueter did not expect any breakthroughs from the flight tests. He was doing them just to appease the parties and put to rest Laynor’s questions about the wake. Yes, the wake had jostled the plane and may have initiated whatever went wrong on Ship 513. But it surely didn’t flip the plane out of the sky. He was confident the tests would show that.
There would be two sets of tests, one in Seattle and one in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Seattle flights were called the simulator validation tests, which was an effort to keep M-Cab honest. Much of the investigation had been based on M-Cab’s computer estimates about how 737s behave. S
ome people—most notably the head of the FAA, David Hinson—wanted to be sure that M-Cab accurately portrayed real 737s. The tests would also give the investigators a chance to learn about the crossover point, the precarious moment in flight when the plane was at the mercy of the rudder. It was an aerodynamic quirk that Cox called “the hole in the flight envelope.”
At higher speeds, a plane would be going fast enough that the ailerons on the wings could easily counteract a sudden movement by the rudder. The pilots simply turned the wheel. But if the rudder suddenly went hardover at speeds slower than the crossover point, the plane would roll out of control unless the pilots knew exactly what to do. They had to gain airspeed quickly and turn the wheel fully the opposite way of the rudder. But pilots of 737s were largely unaware of the phenomenon.
When the plane was certified in 1967, Boeing told the FAA that if a pilot lost control of the plane because of a failure in the rudder valve, the problem could be countered by using the ailerons. The company later discovered that there were speeds at which that wasn’t true, but the discovery was not regarded as critical. Boeing did not mention the crossover point in its flight manuals or alert airlines or pilots about it. The company did not believe the crossover point was a big deal.
Members of the NTSB aircraft performance group had noticed the crossover point during tests in M-Cab, but they needed data from a real 737 to determine precisely where it was. That information could help to settle the debate between Boeing and ALPA about whether the pilots could have prevented the crash.
The plane, which had a radio call sign of “Boeing 053” instead of a USAir flight number, took off into sunny skies the morning of September 20, 1995. It headed north over the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the spectacular coastline along the Canadian border. Cox, Boeing test pilot Mike Carriker, and USAir pilot Jim Gibbs each had a chance to feel the crossover point for himself.
When Cox got his turn in the cockpit, he pulled the throttle back to slow the airspeed to 190 knots, with the flaps set at “1,” just as they had been for Flight 427. He steadily pushed his foot on the left rudder pedal and simultaneously turned the wheel to the right to keep the plane from rolling, a maneuver known as a steady-heading sideslip.
He flew for miles at that fragile point, balancing the wheel and the rudder pedal. If he slowed to just under 190, he started to lose control. He had to push the stick forward to lower the nose and gain airspeed to recover.
Something is wrong here , Cox thought. The crossover point was way too high. He had expected it to be down around 170 knots, but it was actually at 187. The other two pilots tried the same maneuver and had slightly different interpretations of the speed, but they agreed on an important fact: Flight 427 was right at the crossover point when it flipped out of the sky.
Haueter, who had stayed in Washington, got an excited call about the discovery from Tom Jacky, the NTSB engineer who headed the performance group.
“They ran out of roll authority,” said Jacky.
“You’re kidding,” said Haueter.
“If you slow the airplane up, you don’t have enough wheel to stop the roll.”
“Holy shit!” Haueter said.
With the Seattle tests complete, Cox and the other pilots flew the plane across the country to Atlantic City for the wake turbulence tests. The FAA had agreed to loan its 727, a plane used primarily for research, to play the part of the Delta plane that was four miles ahead of Flight 427. The FAA jet had been equipped with special smoke generators on its wings.
Wakes were usually invisible, but the 727’s smoke generators made them show up as spinning white tubes. They twisted across the sky like an abstract painting. The dual wakes would keep spinning for minutes, and depending on the winds, they would turn, curl, and bounce off each other. Standing near the runway when the FAA plane flew past, Cox could hear the whooosh from the spinning tube of air as it lingered long after the plane was gone.
The next day, Cox got to see the phenomenon from the air as his 737 flew in and out of the 727’s wakes. They were stronger and closer together than Cox and the other pilots had expected. They marveled at the way the lines twisted and soared in the sky. It was as if they could finally see the pothole that they had been running over all these years.
“Oh, that was neat,” Cox said to Boeing pilot Mike Carriker in the cockpit after they watched the wakes twirl back and forth. “I liked that.”
For a week they tried 160 different conditions behind the 727—flying across the wakes, going up and down through them, and holding the wings, tail, or engines in them. For several tests, they took their hands and feet off the controls and rode the wakes like a roller coaster.
As Haueter had expected, there were no breakthroughs. The pilots could easily recover from a wake, no matter the angle at which they flew into it. When Phillips asked Cox whether he was startled by the wake, Cox said he was not. Reacting to the wake, he said, “is as natural as breathing.”
But the engineers learned a lot about wakes. They learned how long they lasted and how they could roll a plane. Haueter and Cox said afterward that the tests were well worth the $1 million price because the data could be used by researchers for years.
The biggest breakthrough of the Atlantic City tests involved the mysterious thumps that had been heard on Flight 427’s cockpit tape. Cash, the shy sound expert, had rigged the voice recorder in the 737 so it was identical to the one on Flight 427, and he had Carriker fly in and out of the wakes.
Carriker and the other pilots heard whooshing sounds when they flew in the wakes, but the sounds were not consistent. When Carriker landed, he told Cash the sounds didn’t match the thumps from 427.
Still, Cash believed he might find a match. Noises often sounded different on the tape because the cockpit microphone picked up sounds through the airframe. Cash took the recording back to his hotel room, put headphones on, and queued up the tape.
Bingo! Exactly the way it sounded on Flight 427! The thump was caused by the Delta plane’s wake. He could finally rule out the theories about explosions and birds. He called Haueter the next morning. “We’ve got a really good match,” he said.
The sparring between Boeing and ALPA had remained behind the scenes, confined to phone calls and closed-door meetings. The angry exchange of letters about pilot error had not been released to the public. But as the two rivals prepared for the second hearing in Springfield, Virginia, in November 1995, it appeared that the conflict would go public.
It was highly unusual for the NTSB to have a second hearing, but Chairman Jim Hall wanted it to release findings of the flight tests and give an update on the investigation. Hall wanted to reassure people that the crash had not been forgotten. He often said that the NTSB was working on three accidents: “Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh.” The safety board chose suburban Springfield for the hearing because it was the closest place to Washington that had an available ballroom.
Boeing and ALPA came to Springfield with sharply different goals. The union wanted to keep the focus on the plane and emphasize the crossover point, but it was walking a thin line. Its leaders did not believe the 737 was unsafe—Cox and hundreds of other union members still flew it every day—but they wanted to emphasize the plane’s problems and show that the 737 needed safety fixes.
The union leaders expected Boeing to come out with guns blazing, raising questions about whether Emmett and Germano had made mistakes in the cockpit. So ALPA prepared two strategies to respond through the news media. A normal, subdued approach would be used if the debate was civil. But if the hearing turned into nuclear war, the union would use tougher words. Cox was not on the initial list to testify, but two days before the hearing ALPA leaders decided that he should. They wanted to give the union’s account of the flight test to counter the presentations from several Boeing witnesses. The union was wary of John Purvis, Boeing’s chief accident investigator, who could cross-examine witnesses like a crafty trial lawyer. The ALPA leaders were afraid that Purvis might try to back Cox into a corner by asking hypothetical questions and challenging Cox for not being a test pilot.
Boeing’s goal was just the opposite from ALPA’s: The company wanted to keep the focus on the possibility of pilot error. McGrew was convinced that Emmett and Germano had been startled by the wake turbulence, had made a crucial mistake by pulling back on the stick, and had failed to turn the wheel right and keep it there. Boeing witnesses would remind everyone that there still was no evidence that the plane had malfunctioned, emphasize that the wake turbulence was “an initiating event,” and raise the possibility that one or both pilots had stomped on the rudder pedal. The word “startled” would be used a lot.
The hearing in the Hilton ballroom was again set up like a giant trial, with Boeing attorneys and engineers clustered around one table, the ALPA team at another. The other parties in the investigation—USAir, the machinists union, the FAA, the valve manufacturer Parker Hannifin, and the flight attendants union—also had tables. But this would primarily be a showdown between Boeing and ALPA.
The hearing had a sideshow as well, a press conference by Philadelphia trial lawyer Arthur Wolk. A news release said that Wolk would “unveil the real causes of the Boeing 737 crashes that continue to baffle the NTSB.” The investigators regarded Wolk as a lawyer eager for a headline. Most of the press corps skipped his news conference and went to dinner. A few reporters showed up, along with Vikki Anderson, the FAA investigator. She sat in the back row, dutifully taking notes. (After the news conference, she said the head of the FAA had asked her to attend and write down Wolk’s theories. The FAA was open to suggestions from anyone, she said.)
Wolk lashed out at the party system, saying, “Boeing has been involved in every single aspect of this. It makes no sense to have the company that has the most to lose involved in the investigation.” Using a model of a USAir plane, Wolk showed how the plane had rolled out of the sky. He said the PCU was faulty because the valve could reverse, but he could offer only the same theories the safety board had been chasing for months. The reporters asked a few questions, munched on free potato chips, and left.
At the hearing the next day, as Cox walked up to testify, USAir lawyer Mark Dombroff whispered to a company official, “Cox is about to dump on Boeing.” But Cox was cautious. He explained his concerns about the crossover point and his surprise that it occurred at 190 knots/flaps 1, a routine speed and setting for an approach to an airport. “I would have expected more padding underneath,” he said. He delicately questioned the accuracy of Boeing’s simulator but said he was pleased that the company was going to correct it. He said he would not be disoriented by wake turbulence if he encountered it during a flight.
The Boeing witnesses had a different spin. Carriker, the test pilot, stuck to the company line that the soda can valve should prevent rudder hardovers. Boeing did not require any pilot training for a hardover, he said. “We don’t train for events that don’t occur.”
When the parties got their turn, ALPA leader Herb LeGrow asked a pointed question to remind everyone that Carriker had never flown for an airline. That tactic was used by both parties at the hearings. Boeing and ALPA tried to land punches on each other and toss softballs to their own people. Carriker struck a nerve with ALPA when he referred to “average” pilots. That brought laughter from the room because everyone realized that in the union’s view there was no such thing as an average pilot. They were like children from Lake Wobegon. They were all exceptional.
LeGrow also sparred with McGrew, the Boeing engineer, about the crossover point and the company’s willingness to include ALPA members on a new Roll Team that was investigating reports of sudden rolls by 737s. McGrew said, “We at Boeing have offered to the parties and to the NTSB in the past to please send representatives at any time to come and sit with us as we go through this investigation. We would be happy to accommodate you.”
The union official shot back, “Mr. McGrew, I’ve been the coordinator of this accident since September 8th of last year and I have received no such communication from the Boeing Airplane Company.”
“Excuse me, Mr. LeGrow, but I made that same statement sitting at the stand back in January.” Later, McGrew scoffed at the importance of the crossover point. “Our basic position today is that the airplane has proved its airworthiness over the years and that this is probably not a significant item,” he said. Boeing was planning improvements to two rudder system components, but neither one appeared to have played a role in the Hopewell crash. “There were no faults found in the mechanical systems of the airplane,” he said.
Once again, McGrew’s self-confident manner came on strong. He got snippy when anyone suggested that anything was wrong with the airplane. Haueter questioned whether older 737s should be required to meet current safety standards, but McGrew said it wasn’t necessary. “If you buy a toy wagon for your child, and it wears well and is still usable when he’s your age and has [his own] child, should you go out and re-fit it again? It’s perfectly functional and works, nothing wrong with it.”
Haueter grinned and said, “I guess using your analogy, we wouldn’t put airbags in cars nowadays.”
McGrew retorted, “I think now we’re getting into arguing the relative safety statistics of the automobile versus the airplane. And I think you’ll lose.”
Relations between Boeing and the safety board were getting rocky. NTSB officials said Boeing had not told them about the Roll Team until two days earlier—even though the team had been investigating the incidents for more than a month. Boeing had distributed a packet of lists and charts showing that many “suspicious” rolls reported by 737 pilots were actually encounters with wake turbulence. Boeing’s point was that there was no gremlin in the plane and that pilots just overreact when they hit a wake.
Included in the Boeing packet was the Roll Team’s list of 737 incidents and the company’s conclusion on each one. The first twelve were attributed to wake turbulence, five were blamed on minor airplane malfunctions, and three on pilots. If Boeing had left Flight 427 off the list, the NTSB would not have made such a fuss. But there it was, listed as “Roll Event No. 2.” The “Boeing conclusion” for the crash was listed as “wake turbulence.”
That was heresy. Only the NTSB was supposed to determine a probable cause. It looked as if Boeing was saying it had solved the case while the safety board was still stumped. Yes, the wakes might be a factor, but they were not the primary cause. McGrew and other Boeing officials apologized when they testified, saying that the Roll Team was a sincere attempt to help the airlines. They said it never crossed their minds that it might be related to the investigation. McGrew likened it to other minor changes that Boeing had made to the 737 without any need to notify the safety board. “I must tell you that we probably won’t tell you when we change the brand of tires that we start putting on airplanes, either.”
Hall was miffed. He told McGrew that the Roll Team looked like a parallel investigation without the NTSB, That could damage the integrity of the safety board’s effort, Hall said. The board should be notified of any work that might be related. “It’s like the Holiday Inn. The best surprise is no surprise.” McGrew took his licking on the stand without complaining further, but again he felt he was a victim of Hall’s grandstanding. The NTSB staff not only knew about the Roll Team, McGrew said later, but there was an NTSB person on the team.
Still, McGrew faulted himself for not doing a better job of communicating with the NTSB, informing the top officials ahead of time. He was a great engineer, but he realized he still had a lot to learn about politics.
In an interview a month later, Hall was still complaining about Boeing’s behavior. “I think somebody [at Boeing] went brain-dead, to think they’ll put together a team to look at rolls, but it had nothing to do with this investigation.”
Hall had promised Haueter and Phillips that he would let them keep the investigation going as long as they needed, until they had exhausted everything. But he was growing pessimistic. “It looks like it will be very difficult” to solve the mystery, he said. “I’ve always said that good luck comes only after hard work. We’ve certainly worked hard enough. Maybe that will help us.”
When the rickety 737 landed at Boeing Field, the pilots were relieved. They said it had been a white-knuckle flight. The old bird just didn’t have much life left in her.
The plane, Ship 213, was what USAir called a “runout.” It had flown for twenty-seven years, but the airline found it was no longer economical to keep it. In contrast to the newer plane used in the Atlantic City flight tests, USAir squeezed every last mile out of Ship 213 and then donated it to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The wings and tail were going to get chopped off so the fuselage could be used as a theater. John Little, the museum’s assistant security manager, greeted the pilots as they got off the plane and peeked inside the cockpit. It must have been a scary flight, he decided. There was a Bible on top of the instrument panel.
A USAir maintenance official had realized that the plane would be ideal for a series of destructive tests of some of the most bizarre theories—that a rudder cable had snapped in flight or that a fat guy had stepped through the floor onto the cable. No one had pushed too hard for them. They were the kind of tests that might bend an airframe, so they couldn’t be performed on a jet that would ever be flown again. But the retired plane gave them a perfect opportunity. The tests would allow the investigators to see the forest instead of the trees. They had run hundreds of experiments on individual components of the 737. Now they could see how everything on the plane worked together.
On the first day of the rudder tests, Haueter and Hall held a press conference at the Museum of Flight, which was adjacent to Boeing Field. The podium was set up directly beneath a green-and-white replica of the B&W, Boeing’s first plane. Haueter played a video and explained how the tests would be conducted. Hall then announced that he was appointing a panel of “the greatest minds in hydraulics” to review the NTSB’s work on the Hopewell and Colorado Springs crashes to see if there was anything else they should do. It was an extraordinary step that showed the NTSB was practically desperate.
Haueter didn’t like the idea of an expert panel. Why did they need a bunch of so-called experts? Phillips knew more about the 737 rudder system than just about anybody on the planet. It was as though Flail was saying the NTSB wasn’t smart enough to figure it out. But Phillips had actually been one of the people behind the idea. He and another NTSB engineer thought it would be helpful to have an impartial panel to bring new brainpower and validate the safety board’s work. Maybe fresh
eyes would see something that the safety board had not. Hall said his direction to the panel would be this: “If there’s anything we missed, tell us.”
As Hall spoke in the museum, the rudder tests on Ship 213 were under way down the street in a hangar where Boeing had once fixed B-52s. The pipsqueak 737 was parked between two gargantuan 777s, the shiny new Boeing aircraft that had just started flying. The tiny USAir plane had been opened up like a patient on the operating table. A tail section had been removed so Boeing technicians could attach wires to the PCU. Two Boeing vans were parked beside the plane. One was filled with computers and test equipment that would keep track of the results. The other van was like a life support system, pumping the 737’s systems with false information so the old bird would think it was still flying. A gallon of Starbucks House Blend was parked beside the plane, to provide fuel for the investigators.
The fat guy theory had been discounted by just about everyone. McGrew joked that it was possible only if the fat guy wore high heels, which would have broken through the floor. But everyone had agreed to one last test. The plane’s floorboards had been removed so the investigators could see the cables that ran beneath passengers’ feet. Technicians climbed into the cargo bin, where they could look up through the cables into the passenger cabin. They hooked a ratchet onto the rudder cable that would simulate the weight of the fat guy. By cranking on the ratchet, they could add weight in 50-pound increments. The device had a weight gauge so they could watch as the guy went from skinny to obese. Other investigators stood outside the plane, watching to see if the rudder moved. If it slammed hardover, they would know the fat guy was more than just a joke.
“Ready?” someone asked.
“Okay,” Phillips said.
The guy started at 50 pounds, more of a kindergartner than a fat guy. No movement of the rudder.
He got heavier, up to 100. Still no movement.
At 150 pounds, the rudder barely budged. At 200, there was a slight movement, and at 250, a tiny bit more. The instruments in the van showed the rudder had moved only 3.2 degrees, an insignificant amount. (By contrast, the rudder on Flight 427 actually moved about 21 degrees.)
Later that day they tried the cable-cut test. Someone sat in the cockpit and moved the rudder pedals to make sure they worked properly, doing slow sweeps back and forth. Then the pilot took his feet off the pedals and a technician cut one of the cables with a big bolt cutter.
Twaang! The noise echoed like a gunshot through the huge hangar as the cable snapped and recoiled through the plane like a broken rubber band. Outside, Cox saw the rudder panel shudder, but it didn’t turn. Technicians installed a new cable and cut it in a different spot. Twaang! But again, the rudder didn’t turn.
They did more than one hundred other tests and the plane passed them all. The rudder system still seemed to be invincible. But Phillips remained surprisingly optimistic. He knew they were still a long way from finding the cause, but he was patient. Each test gave them new data and brought them another step closer.
Across the street in the M-Cab simulator, Boeing’s lobbying campaign was under way.
M-Cab had become a tool of persuasion to show how Emmett and Germano could have prevented the crash. At McGrew’s suggestion, Boeing engineers had installed a switch that allowed anyone sitting in the pilots’ seats to take control of Flight 427 and, without much effort, to keep the plane from crashing. It was a roller coaster ride with a message. Point the nose down (Emmett or Germano had mistakenly tried to pull it up), twist the wheel, and you have saved 132 lives.
Boeing invited Hall to ride the latest simulation to see how easily the crash could have been avoided. If Hall, a country lawyer who was not a pilot, could save the plane, surely Emmett and Germano should have.
Boeing test pilot Michael Hewett, a balding former navy pilot who looked strong enough to bench-press a 737, led Hall across the ramp into the white cab and invited him to sit in the right pilot’s seat. Hall would act as the first officer on Flight 427. The simulator would reenact a rudder hardover, and then Hall would have the opportunity to recover the plane to keep it from crashing.
Hewett believed that pilots had to assert themselves in the sky but that the crew of Flight 427 had failed to take charge. He said the cockpit tape showed that Captain Germano had “no command presence.”
In the simulator, Hewett’s point was simple: The pilots could have avoided the crash by easily turning the wheel completely to the right and pushing the stick forward to let the airplane gain a little speed. The 737 would have lost altitude, but everyone would still be alive. Hewett summed it up by saying that to pilots, “speed is life.”
Hall buckled himself in and M-Cab started its imaginary flight, cruising along at 6,000 feet. Cox was also riding in the simulator, sitting in the observer seat just behind them. Hall had invited him along because he knew Hewett was going to do a hard sell and he wanted Cox to provide a counterpoint.
Hewett started by demonstrating the recovery himself. He said the standard reaction time for a pilot allows three seconds, so he would count off before he recovered. When the plane started to go nose down, as the phantom pilots pulled back on the stick, Hewett flipped the switch to take control of the plane and counted, “One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three.” He then turned the wheel to the right, gained control of the plane, and leveled off. He had prevented the crash.
Now it was Hall’s turn. When the rudder suddenly went hardover, Hall followed Hewett’s instructions and quickly turned the wheel to the right. “Hold it! Hold it!” Hewett told him. The simulator started to plunge toward the ground, but he stopped the roll and brought the nose back up. “Ease it out,” Hewett said. Hall had saved the plane.
“That’s with no pulling or pushing at all,” Hewett said. All he’d had to do was turn the wheel right and hold it there.
Hewett then mentioned one of the mysteries of the cockpit voice recorder—the fact that neither pilot had given any clues about what was happening to the rudder. If the PCU was jammed, “Wouldn’t you be saying, ‘It’s jammed! Goddammit, it’s jammed!’?”
They flew again and Hall again recovered. But Cox didn’t like the way the session was going. It seemed to him that Hall was hearing only Boeing’s side of the story. He told Hall that it was understandable that the pilots pulled back on the stick. If they looked out the window, all they saw was the ground looming closer. “The airplane is not responding the way they want it to,” Cox argued. “The windscreen is full of the ground and it is understandable that they would try to reduce the number of variables that they are facing.”
“But,” said Hewitt, “anybody who has ever been trained in a jet knows, with the stickshaker going off, the only way to recover is to let up on the stick. His first reaction should have been to push up on the stick.”
Hall tried again. “There’s the rudder in full hard,” Hewett said. “Right wheel! Right wheel!”
But Hall turned left. The plane crashed.
“I almost recovered,” Hall said.
After the session, Hall said Hewett was too heavy-handed. The Boeing engineers had had nearly eighteen months to figure out how to recover. Emmett and Germano had had just ten seconds. “No one who was flying the plane had been trained what to do,” Hall said.
FAA Offices
“This valve,” said Boeing hydraulics engineer Ed Pfafman, “is what we consider our safety feature.”
Another Boeing engineer boasted that the unique valve-within-a-valve and a separate backup unit would create three ways to move the rudder on the new 737, which he said was “above and beyond the call of duty.” Some planes had only two.
But as the Boeing engineers explained the plans for the 737’s rudder system, FAA officials were skeptical. They were worried that the valve-within-a-valve might not be sufficiently redundant.
“The thing that is disturbing me is that you have more eggs in one basket here,” said FAA official Charlie Hawks. “It does shake me a little bit,” he added. “At this moment, at least, I’m still a little jumpy about it.”
The valve had been invented by Robert R. Richolt, a young Boeing engineer who had designed sophisticated valves on the Lockheed Electra. He had been so successful that he had retired and was living on a yacht when he was hired by Boeing. The dual valve was first used on the rudder of the 707 and the elevators in the 727. Richolt’s 1963 patent application for the 737 said the valve was “fail-safe” and that the device “provides an override feature in case the main slide becomes seized…. This eliminates the quick reaction time required of the pilot to prevent a crash.”
Redundancy is a fundamental tenet in designing airplanes, a concept that engineers jokingly call the “belt and suspenders approach.” If your belt fails, your pants are still held up by your suspenders.
On many transport jets, such as the older 727, there was redundancy on the tail itself. The rudder was split into an upper panel and a lower panel. If one malfunctioned, the other one could control the plane or be turned the opposite direction to neutralize the problem. But that wasn’t the case on the 737, which, during Boeing’s push for fewer parts and better reliability, was designed with one big rudder panel.
The 737 rudder system was unusual. On most big jets, rudders are powered by separate valves rather than by the valve-within-a-valve. Many planes, such as the newer 757 and 767, have a special feature called a “breakout.” If two valves detect that the other one is jammed, they break it out of the system.
But despite their reservations in the mid-1960s, FAA officials ultimately decided that the unique 737 valve met federal standards. The rules back then were relatively vague—they said that manufacturers must protect against failures “unless they are extremely remote.” That phrase was not defined, which gave Boeing leeway. The company convinced the FAA engineers that Richolt’s invention complied.
The first 737 flew in early 1967 with Richolt’s valve in its tail.
The FAA, an automatic party on every NTSB investigation, assigned more than a dozen employees to the Flight 427 probe. The team was led by Vikki Anderson, the former flight attendant, and included FAA test pilots, inspectors, engineers, and a doctor from the agency’s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. The team had representatives on each of the important NTSB groups. There was a lot at stake for the FAA because it had certified that the 737 was safe. If the plane got blamed for the crash, the FAA would also get blamed.
The investigation revealed two faces of the FAA: the aggressive midlevel employees who handle the day-to-day scrutiny of Boeing, and the cautious top-level managers who occasionally sound like Boeing cheerleaders.
Steve O’Neal was an FAA bureaucrat, but he looked more like a friendly bartender than a paper-pushing drone. He was a gentle man with thinning brown hair and a thick moustache, forty-two at the time of the crash, with two stepdaughters and two grandchildren. He was a dog lover (he had an old Samoyed named Casey who was losing her vision), and he was passionate about flying. He could never afford to do much piloting on his own, but his job as an FAA flight test engineer in Renton allowed him to take test flights several days each month. He usually rode in the cockpit to make sure the plane met each FAA requirement. He had flown thousands of times, but he still got a thrill when the pilots took the plane to the edge of its limits, stalling it at scary angles and then recovering.
O’Neal spent his days studying failure modes, the myriad ways in which an engine or a flight control could malfunction. He had to be sure that those failures were benign or extremely improbable or that there was an adequate backup system to provide redundancy. He was especially proud that he had caught a complicated failure mode on three Airbus models involving a hydraulic failure. Airbus changed its pilot procedures because of his discovery.
In the 427 investigation, O’Neal was assigned to the NTSB aircraft performance group, which analyzed the flight data recorder. He was an independent thinker and was not shy about making suggestions that might be unpopular with his bosses. In a meeting with FAA managers about a month after the crash, he suggested grounding the entire fleet of 737s. Two of the planes had crashed in similar circumstances, he said, and the safest approach was to keep them on the ground until the safety board figured out the cause.
The idea went nowhere. Everyone else in the room felt there was insufficient evidence for such a dramatic step, which would have catastrophic consequences for virtually every airline in the country. Realizing that his idea had no support, O’Neal backed down. He was a conscientious employee, but he was also realistic. He knew he didn’t have proof that the 737 had a flaw. But he continued to have qualms about the plane and urged friends and relatives to fly other planes if possible. He worried that 737 pilots would not be able to recover if they had a rudder hardover.
The other face of the FAA was Thomas McSweeny, a top official in charge of airplane certification. McSweeny was a twenty-two-year veteran of the agency, having previously worked eight years for an aerospace company. He was not formally a member of the Flight 427 investigation, but as the FAA’s chief regulator of airplanes, he was in charge of any NTSB safety fixes that grew out of the accident.
The difference between McSweeny and O’Neal was politics. O’Neal worked in a job that allowed him to be an aggressive regulator without much concern for the political realities of the FAA or the costs to the manufacturers. If he thought the FAA should do something, he would propose it, even if it was unlikely to get past the scrutiny of the FAA’s economists and top officials. But McSweeny was a political animal who had to be realistic about what could be done.
McSweeny often came across as a cautious bureaucrat rather than an aggressive regulator. When he talked about safety proposals, whether they were for the 737 or some other airplane, he was likely to sound like a spokesperson for the manufacturer. One reason for that was the FAA’s awkward position anytime someone questioned the safety of a plane. If the FAA failed to give a hearty endorsement that a plane was safe, the agency was essentially admitting it had done a lousy job. If the plane was unsafe, then the FAA must have screwed up by not spotting the problem first. McSweeny could have gotten around that easily enough if he’d just sounded as if he was tough on the companies he regulated, but in the view of NTSB officials, he often came across like a salesman for the companies. Even when the FAA mandated safety changes to the 737, he sounded like a booster of the plane.
“They are really not design defects,” he said during a press conference to announce rule changes for the 737. “They are improvements to the design.” Boeing engineers used the same language to explain any fixes to the 737, calling them “improvements to an already safe design.”
Relations between McSweeny and the NTSB were strained. That was no surprise, since the NTSB was the aviation watchdog. It needed to uncover problems at the FAA to justify its existence. Safety board officials liked to grouse about the bureaucratic sluggishness of the FAA and how protective the agency could be of the companies it was supposed to regulate. “McSweeny drives us nuts,” Haueter said. “It sounds like he’s speaking for Boeing.”
Likewise, many people at the FAA complained about the safety board’s political grandstanding and its holier-than-thou approach. Relations were further strained because the safety board got mountains of favorable press coverage and the FAA often got pummeled.
McSweeny seemed to have a strong dislike for the NTSB. He occasionally asked his staff to find out the agency’s next move so he could preempt the board with regulatory action. He told FAA staffers that one of his goals for the 737 Critical Design Review was to beat the NTSB to the punch. If everything worked out, McSweeny would get his report back long before the NTSB solved the case and the FAA would get the credit.
The review began two months after the Hopewell crash and took about six months. The result was an inch-thick report that made twenty-seven recommendations about the plane. It called for better pilot training, fixes to the 737’s erratic yaw damper, and clarifications for vague language in the federal air regulations. But when FAA officials described the findings in an executive summary, they made it sound as though the report was a ringing endorsement of the plane. They stressed that their review found no serious problems with the 737. “No safety issue has been found that requires immediate corrective action,” the executive summary said. The twenty-seven recommendations will “enhance an already safe design.”
As Brett walked into the thirteenth-floor conference room on September 23, 1996, to give a deposition, he thought about snubbing USAir lawyer Ann P. Goodman by refusing to shake her hand. After all, she represented the airline that had killed Joan, so it seemed perfectly reasonable that he didn’t have to be nice to her. Brett, wearing a tie that Joan had given him shortly before the crash, had come to the offices of McCullough, Campbell, and Lane in Chicago so the lawyers could determine how much Joan’s life was worth. USAir had the right to ask probing questions about their marriage, their income, even their sex life, to determine how big an award he was entitled to receive. Brett resented the whole process. “They killed my wife,” he said before the deposition, “and now they get to invade my privacy.”
It had been nearly two years since the crash, and Brett was finally showing the first major signs of healing. He had stopped wearing his wedding band, sold his house in Lisle, and moved into a lakefront condo in Chicago. For the first year and a half after the crash, he had worn his wedding ring every day. But he was afraid people were beginning to think he was a weirdo who could not let go of the past. He tried putting it on the chain around his neck with Joan’s battered engagement ring, but they kept clanking together. So he put the wedding band away and watched the tan line on his finger gradually fade.
He had done a few freelance jobs, writing ad copy to sell day planners, but it was not very inspiring work. He did not want to be hawking calendars the rest of his life. So he immersed himself in a plan to build a chain of restaurants. He knew that people wanted more tha
n food when they dined out; they wanted an experience. A new chain called the Rainforest Cafe had taken an environmental theme and dazzled customers with life-size mechanical animals and a realistic jungle. He thought, Why not do the same thing with dinosaurs?
The appeal of dinosaurs was timeless. Every generation of kids seemed to be progressively more obsessed with them, yet no one had thought to franchise them. So Brett read everything he could about dinosaurs, the restaurant business, and the making of Jurassic Park . He called companies that made mechanical dinosaurs and asked them for pictures, videotapes, and prices. To avoid giving away his idea, he said he wanted to start “a small private collection of dinosaurs.”
He knew it was a long shot, but it was the perfect time to try something new. He had no dependents, few obligations, and little to lose. He visited prehistoric exhibits and dinosaur companies in Utah, Arizona, Kentucky, and Michigan. Some of the mechanical beasts looked surprisingly realistic. Others looked old and ratty. Back home in Chicago, he scoured the Internet for information about theme parks and entertainment companies. He had no experience in the restaurant business, but he got help from his father, who was an executive in a company that ran school cafeterias.
Brett came up with a name—T. Rex’s Dino World Cafe—and hired an artist to do a colorful logo of a tyrannosaurus with a mischievous grin. He also came up with a slogan (“The only restaurant where you’re not at the top of the food chain”) and designed a business plan and a presentation for investors. The centerpiece of each cafe would be a life-size T. Rex. Another area in the restaurant would have velociraptors, which were scary, long-legged dinosaurs that would periodically run out of the bushes and look as though they were about to attack customers at their tables. There also would be an area for families with small children that would have a tame brachiosaurus. The project consumed him. The more he worked, the less he thought of the crash.
In response to Brett’s lawsuit, Boeing and USAir had blamed God. The airline said it had made all the necessary inspections of the plane and had followed federal rules. It said the crash “resulted from an Act of God, unavoidable accident, sudden emergency or conditions or occurrences for which USAir is not liable or responsible.”
Boeing said essentially the same thing in its response. “Plaintiff’s damages, if any, were directly and proximately caused by an act of God for which Boeing is not liable.” It was boilerplate language used as a standard defense in many lawsuits, but when Brett heard about it, he was furious. How could they blame God for the crash? That made it sound like God willed the crash to happen. The companies seemed to be ducking any responsibility.
Now he was in a law office taking an oath to tell the truth about Joan. He decided to be respectful, so he shook Goodman’s hand and sat down in a chair that looked out over the Chicago River. The court reporter sat to his left, while Goodman took a seat directly across from him. Mike Demetrio, Brett’s lawyer, sat at the far end of the table and appeared to be immersed in a magazine. But he was actually listening carefully to every word, ready to object at any moment.
“Please state your full name for the record,” Goodman said.
“Brett Alan Van Bortel.”
“Let the record reflect this is the discovery deposition of Brett Alan Van Bortel being taken pursuant to the notice for today’s date,” she said. “Mr. Van Bortel, my name is Ann Goodman. I’m one of the attorneys representing USAir in this matter.”
Goodman was a petite, humorless woman with blond hair who was the Chicago-based lawyer for USAir. Dombroff, the airline’s lead attorney, worked in Washington, so he had retained Goodman’s firm to handle much of the work on the Cook County lawsuits. Reading from Dombroff’s lengthy script of questions, Goodman robotically asked about Brett’s homes and mortgages. Then she abruptly switched gears and asked about drugs. Each question elicited just a fragment of information, so it took ten or twenty questions to get to anything of substance.
“Are you currently taking any medication?”
“Have you taken any medication today?”
“No, I have not.”
“Have you taken any medication in the last twenty-four hours?”
“What medication are you currently taking?”
“On an irregular basis when I travel, Xanax. It’s an anti-anxiety drug for air travel, I guess.”
“And you only take it for air travel?”
“Before and during flights. That’s about it.”
Goodman asked lots of questions about Brett’s employment, from the days when he operated a ski lift in Vail through his writing job for the company that published the Official Airline Guide . Then she began asking about Joan.
“Did you marry a woman by the name of Joan Lahart, correct?”
“Joan Elizabeth Lahart.”
“How did you happen to meet?”
“A friend of a friend, very casual, distant type of acquaintance. I had only met Joan briefly and it wasn’t until later on that we started dating.”
“What was it that attracted you to Joan?”
“I don’t know that I could put that in a nutshell,” Brett said. “It would be a combination of many things, but I thought she was a very beautiful woman and a very strong-willed and motivated woman.”
Goodman seemed to jump randomly from topic to topic. She asked about Brett’s and Joan’s hobbies and interests, whether they went to college or professional football games, then about the names and ages of each of Joan’s brothers, then how much they had paid for the house on Riedy Road, and then about the night of the crash.
“Was Joan required to make a business trip for Akzo Nobel on September 8, 1994?”
“I guess I would quibble with required ,” Brett said. “I don’t know if they made her, but she went on her trip for Akzo, yes.”
Goodman asked Brett to describe the last time he had seen Joan and how he found out about the crash. Demetrio had heard the same painful questions at several depositions with his clients, and he was mystified as to why the USAir lawyers persisted in asking them.
“Did you see her on September 8 before she took off for the airport?”
“When did you see her on September 8th?”
“It was our ritual for me to drop her off at the train station in Lisle for her 6:20 train, which I did that morning.”
“What did you say to her, and she say to you.”
“I think I just said, ‘Love you and good-bye.’”
“Did you talk to her during the course of the day?”
“Did she say anything to you at the train station?”
“She just, I think, repeated that back to me. We knew we’d speak on the phone later that day.”
Goodman asked about every tragic detail—what they said when they spoke that afternoon, how he heard about the crash, when he called USAir, when he got confirmation that she had been on the plane, and when he received Joan’s remains. Then she asked about Brett’s visits to see a psychologist.
“Did Dr. Pimental help you?”
“In some ways, but ultimately, no.”
“How was she able to help you?”
“I would say helping me understand myself better and my reaction to it, but I ultimately came to the conclusion that no one but God was ever going to change what happened, and talking about it would not help me.”
Back to mortgage questions. Goodman wanted to know how much Brett had paid for his new condo on Lake Shore Drive, how big a mortgage he had, what his interest rate was. And then she abruptly shifted gears again.
“How would you describe your marriage to her?”
“Excellent. We got along like best friends. I was very fortunate. I don’t know why or how it happened, but I was one of the people that had one of the very good ones. I was very lucky.”
“Did you plan to have any children.”
“Had you made any attempts to start a family?”
“Were you waiting for a certain period of time?”
“How long had you planned on waiting?”
“About another year.”
“How would you describe your physical relationship with Joan?”
“Very good. I don’t know, I guess I’m uncomfortable describing it. It was very good.”
“You had normal sexual relations with her?”
“On a regular basis?”
“What was the frequency?”
Brett looked at Demetrio to see if he would object. When Demetrio did not, Brett looked back at Goodman, pitying her for having to ask such a question. She probably goes home and hates herself , Brett thought.
Brett answered the question.
Goodman asked who did the cleaning, took out the garbage, did the laundry, shoveled snow off the driveway, did the grocery shopping, the cooking, and the dishes. Who paid the bills? Did he have his bank statements from 1994? How much was the electric bill? The gas bill? How was Joan’s health? Did she smoke? How much did she drink? How much did she weigh? Was she ever convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor?
Brett answered all her questions.
“Are you currently engaged?”
“Have you dated anyone recently?”
Demetrio had known that one was coming. “I’m going to object to that question for the same reasoning that I objected to it at all the other depositions, and based upon that particular question, I’d instruct him not to answer,” he said.
“I will state what my answer to your objection is,” Goodman replied, “that it goes to the discovery process.”
“Great,” Demetrio said, still unconvinced. “I understand, just like I did all the other times.”
Goodman abandoned the question and went to the next one. “Do you have any plans to remarry?”
“No,” Brett said.
As Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 neared Richmond, Virginia, the night of June 9, 1996, Captain Brian Bishop felt a bump from the back of the plane. “Did you feel that?” he asked the first officer.
Before Bishop got an answer, the plane’s nose veered right and the right wing dipped toward the ground. Back in the passenger cabin, a flight attendant was tossed into a row of seats. Bishop stomped on the left rudder pedal, but it felt stiff. He turned the wheel to the left and added power to the right engine. That stopped the plane from rolling, but he could not get the wings level. He pressed on the left rudder pedal with all his weight, but could not get it down. The plane was stable, but was flying with the right wing tipped precariously toward the ground. The 737 was heading straight for the lights of downtown Richmond.
Bishop glanced out the window, looking for an area with no lights. If he had to put the plane down, he wanted to do it away from homes and buildings. Suddenly the rudder seemed to release and the wings leveled off. Bishop told the first officer to start the emergency checklist for a sudden roll.
“Autopilot off,” the first officer said.
“Off,” Bishop said.
“Yaw damper off.” One of them reached to the switch on the ceiling.
But then there was another thump, and the right wing dipped again. It seemed as if the pilots were losing control.
“Declare an emergency,” Bishop said. “Tell them we’ve got a flight control problem.”
The first officer relayed that message to the Richmond tower. A controller gave them a new heading to the airport, but Bishop was having trouble turning the airplane. He had the wheel cranked to the left and was putting most of his weight on the left rudder pedal, but he could not get the wings level. He was worried that he might not make it to the airport.
Then the rudder seemed to release again, allowing Bishop to level the wings. His first officer told the controller they could make the turn toward the airport. They were about five or six miles away now. They hurriedly went through the landing checklist. Bishop knew that a plane was more vulnerable to rudder problems when it flew low and slow, so he told the first officer, “I’m going to stay high and fast.” Bishop was afraid that if the strange problem happened again he would not be able to recover.
As they descended toward the runway, fire trucks were waiting with red lights flashing. The plane touched down and rolled almost to the end of the pavement. The first officer told controllers the plane was okay and asked that the fire trucks stay away so passengers would not be alarmed. As they taxied to the gate, Bishop realized that he was so scared his knees were shaking.
He picked up the microphone to make an announcement to the passengers, but then he wondered what he would say. Anything he said would just make it worse. He put the microphone back.
Haueter and Phillips heard about the incident the next day. At first they thought it was a minor malfunction unrelated to the USAir crash. But then they discovered that Bishop had reported earlier rudder problems with the same plane. They headed for Richmond.
Eastwind was a new airline based in Trenton, New Jersey. It had only two planes, both of them 737–200s formerly flown by USAir. The planes had been repainted with Eastwind’s logo, a squiggly line along the windows and, on the tail, a bumblebee wearing sunglasses. The airline had dubbed itself “the Bee Line.”
Three weeks before the Richmond incident, Bishop had felt a slight rudder kick in the same plane when he departed Trenton and leveled off at 10,000 feet. It felt like the copilot had tapped the rudder pedals. He circled back and landed. Mechanics inspected the power control unit and replaced a coupler for the yaw damper, a device that made tiny adjustments to the rudder to keep the plane flying straight. The 737 yaw damper had a reputation for frequent malfunctions, so that seemed to be a logical fix. (The yaw damper could move the rudder only 2 or 3 degrees, so Haueter and Phillips did not believe it could have caused the full 21-degree movement that led to the crash of Flight 427.) Bishop tested the plane the next day, and the rudder pedals felt fine. The plane went back in service.
Now it was on the ground again, being dissected by engineers from the NTSB, USAir, and Boeing. They discovered some curious things. When mechanics had hooked up the yaw damper, they rigged it wrong. Instead of being limited to 3 degrees either direction, the yaw damper could move the rudder 4.5 degrees right and 1.5 degrees left. (That had not been a problem on Flight 427, however. The PCU had been rigged correctly.)
The Eastwind flight data recorder was rushed back to the NTSB lab to see if the engineers could decipher what had happened. It showed the plane had some strange rudder movements. It had initially gone to 4.5 degrees, presumably because the device on the yaw damper had been rigged wrong. But there was a second movement when it went to about 7 degrees and stayed there for twelve to fourteen seconds. That big a movement could not be explained by any sort of misrigging. It looked like the rudder had gone hardover.
The thirty-nine-year-old Bishop was a wiry former commuter pilot who did not have the polish of the typical airline captain. He had stringy brown hair and was always dashing to airport smoking lounges for a quick cigarette before departure. He had had the misfortune of working for two airlines that went out of business, so he had driven an airport snowplow until he got the job with Eastwind. He had a gritty personality that Haueter liked. His experience in flying small commuter planes came in handy when the rudder kicked. He used asymmetric thrust—putting more power in one engine—to keep the plane flying straight. That was a common approach for a “throttle jockey” flying a small turboprop, but it was rare for a 737 captain.
Boeing officials said Bishop had overreacted. Sure, there had been a malfunction in the yaw damper, the company said, but pilots were notorious for exaggerating their accounts of a sudden roll. Boeing said there were problems with gyros feeding information to the Eastwind flight data recorder that raised doubts about whether the rudder had truly gone to 7 degrees.
Haueter thought that the incident gave him a unique opportunity to test an airplane that may have had a hardover. He knew Eastwind was crippled while the plane was grounded in Richmond—the plane was half of the airline’s fleet—but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try flight tests with a crew that might have encountered a hardover.
The parties agreed on two tests. One would measure how a 737 would react to a yaw damper problem. The other would see how a pilot would react to a sudden rudder movement. Bishop would be the guinea pig.
The day before the test, Michael Hewett, the Boeing test pilot, and several NTSB investigators arranged a conference call with Bishop to explain how the test would go. As usual, Hewett was brash—so brash that Haueter thought he was trying to bully Bishop into thinking he hadn’t responded the right way.
“Stop it!” Haueter said. “You’re trying to intimidate this guy.”
Hewett said he was just trying to get Bishop to understand what had happened that night. Hewett seemed to have doubts about Bishop’s competence. “When I put my wife and children on an airliner, I expect the people flying up front to be as good as I am.”
Haueter was furious. He thought that Boeing was trying to influence the test.
Hewett was equally angry. He thought the NTSB was acting like the Gestapo, limiting what questions he could ask. He wasn’t trying to influence Bishop; all he wanted was an accurate story from him.
The first test was done without Bishop. The Eastwind plane was configured exactly the way it had been when Bishop had his scary incident at 4,000 feet, with the same PCU, the same yaw damper. The only change was in the cabin, where seats had been removed so Boeing could install its flight-test computers. The mood was tense at a preflight briefing as Hewett and the NTSB went over the test plan. They didn’t know if there was a gremlin in the tail, and no one could be sure that Hewett would be able to control the plane if something went haywire. The route took the plane out to a restricted military area over the Atlantic Ocean so they could try maneuvers away from a populated area. If the rudder went hardover, they wouldn’t wipe out a neighborhood. But Hewett was not nervous at all. He thought the NTSB was overreacting by insisting that the plane fly over the ocean.
Once the plane climbed into the sky, Haueter figured it was safe. The critical time was takeoff and landing. When a plane was flying faster than 200 knots, pilots could easily recover from a hardover.
Hewett and an FAA test pilot flew out over the Atlantic and put the plane through the maneuvers, kicking the rudder right and left. The plane flew poorly because its controls seemed to be out of alignment, but the pilots found no problem with the rudder. They returned to Richmond.
Before Bishop got on the plane for the second flight, Haueter warned him about Hewett. “Look, the purpose of this is I want to know your perceptions. Don’t let anybody talk you out of anything. Take a piece of paper so you can write something down immediately after it happens so it will be fresh. We want t
o know how similar this is to what you had the night of the ninth, as best as you can recall.”
Bishop took the controls and flew the same as he had on June 9. Without warning, Hewett gave a quick hand signal. An FAA pilot behind them pushed a button that suddenly moved the rudder 4.5 degrees. The plane started to roll.
Bishop quickly stomped on the opposite rudder pedal, which stopped the roll and made the plane roll back toward wings level.
Was that what happened on June 9? Hewett asked.
No, Bishop said, the test was much slower. “This isn’t even a tenth of what we felt that night.”
“Well, it was dark out, you weren’t expecting it,” Hewett said. He seemed to be offering excuses to show that Bishop had exaggerated.
“This wasn’t even close,” Bishop said.
Haueter had studied dozens of suspicious 737 incidents since the crash and had found reasonable explanations for nearly every one. Many were yaw damper problems, some were autopilot malfunctions, and lots were encounters with wake turbulence. But the more he studied Eastwind, the more it matched Flight 427. He believed Bishop’s account, which was corroborated by the first officer, that the rudder pedal would not move. The flight data recorder also verified their accounts and showed that the plane was cross-controlled, meaning that the rudder was turned at the same time the ailerons were going the other direction. The only problem in the pilots’ stories was their confusion about the timing of the events, which was common for all pilots. Haueter concluded that the Eastwind incident was eerily similar to 427, with one important difference. The plane’s speed was 250 knots, well above the crossover point, so Bishop was able to recover before it crashed.
On the two-year anniversary of the crash, by pure coincidence, John Cox took a USAir 737 to Pittsburgh. He was scheduled for his six-month training session at USAir’s simulator center near the Pittsburgh airport. As the plane approached the city, Cox was sitting in Row 8 of coach, studying a pilot handbook about things that can go horribly wrong on a plane—engine fires, takeoff stalls, autopilot failures. The passengers sitting around him might have gotten heartburn if they had seen what he was reading, but to Cox it was like studying for final exams.
The USAir emergency checklist had been improved because of Flight 427. Now there was a procedure for “Uncommanded Yaw or Roll,” which called for the pilot to turn off the autopilot, grab the wheel firmly, and turn off the yaw damper. The cover of the checklist also had changed, listing the general approach for pilots anytime a plane was in trouble:
Maintain aircraft control
Analyze the situation
Identify the emergency
Use the appropriate checklist
Cox wasn’t nervous about his six-month checkup, but he wanted to make sure he aced it. He double-checked the list of maximum fuel temperatures and silently recited the engine fire procedure (“Auto-throttle off, throttle idle, start lever cutoff, fire handle pull. If light doesn’t go out in thirty seconds, rotate handle”). As the flight attendants prepared the 737’s cabin for arrival in Pittsburgh, he was so caught up in preparing for calamities that he didn’t notice the time—7:03 P.M.
Two years to the minute since Flight 427 had crashed into the hill.
The next day in the simulator, he dealt with one crisis after another. He was climbing out of Philadelphia, leveling off at 10,000 feet when bang! —the No. 2 engine seized up. He went through the memory procedure for an engine fire. Once the situation was under control, he pulled out the checklist and started going through it with the first officer. An instructor pounded on the cockpit door, pretending to be a flight attendant.
“What is going on!? What was that bang?” the instructor shouted.
The weather in the simulated Philly was lousy, so Cox diverted the plane to Baltimore and landed with one engine. He then departed for Charlotte and found horrible weather there, too. He had to use the 737’s auto-land system, which can land the plane in thick fog. More mishaps followed. The plane began to stall after takeoff. Another engine problem. And then his beeper went off.
He glanced down at the beeper and saw the number. It was LeGrow, the union’s chairman for the Flight 427 investigation. At the next break Cox walked to the pay phone and called him.
“Hey, Herbie, what’s going on?” Cox asked.
“John Boy, have you checked your Aspens?” LeGrow asked, referring to the ALPA voice mailbox system.
“You’re going to like it,” LeGrow said. “Kenny has the safety recommendations. They couldn’t be any better. They are just what we wanted.”
“Yes!” Cox said, punching his fist in the air like a pitcher who just struck out a .300 hitter.
He walked back to the simulator and told the instructor, “Four-twenty-seven is drawing to a close. And we’re going to like the results.”
Greg Phillips’s recommendations for the 737 had come back to life because Laynor, the safety board official who had blocked them, had retired. They found a much more receptive audience in Bernard Loeb, the new head of aviation safety, and his deputy, Ron Schleede. That broke the logjam and meant that Haueter and Phillips could try again to get approval. The recommendations that were going to the board members were essentially the same list from Phillips’s memo eighteen months earlier. They called for sweeping changes to the 737 and the way it was flown. They did not specify what Boeing should do—“We don’t want to be junior engineers telling them how to do it,” Haueter said—but they essentially meant that Boeing would have to install a limiter on the rudder or change the ailerons so pilots would have more roll control. The list also called for fixes to the yaw damper, a better method for pilots or mechanics to detect a jam in the valve, a new cockpit indicator to show pilots when the rudder moved, and new procedures telling pilots how to respond to a hardover.
Cox was ecstatic when he returned to St. Petersburg the next day, calling the recommendations a watershed event that would prevent future crashes. “I’m so happy, I am doing double back flips,” he exulted. “We’ve now got the mechanism in these recommendations to fix the airplane.”
McGrew was feeling burned out. He was overdue for a vacation and felt drained. His son said he looked like he had aged five years since the crash. It had been only two. He had lost enthusiasm for the investigation and thought that others at Boeing were in the same rut. In the first two years there had been a high level of energy throughout the company to solve the mystery, but nearly everyone had since moved on to other projects and now when they worked on 427 it was hard to get them fired up again.
To make matters worse, he had been removed from his job as the 737 chief engineer and given a different position, overseeing new Boeing models. It was a lateral move, but he did not want to go. His bosses didn’t mention burnout as a reason for his reassignment, but McGrew figured that was one of the factors. He stayed involved in the Flight 427 effort, but he found less time each week to work on the investigation.
He was frustrated at the NTSB’s lack of effort in studying the pilots. Sure, the human factors team had pursued several leads that Boeing wanted, but McGrew had heard that Brenner, the NTSB human factors investigator, believed the pilots had their feet on the floor and never knew when the rudder went in. How could Brenner say such a thing? There was no conclusive proof of that, and in McGrew’s view, there was evidence to the contrary. McGrew and most people at Boeing still believed that Emmett or Germano (most likely Emmett, since he was the flying pilot) had mistakenly slammed his foot on the pedal and then pulled back on the control column, stalling the airplane and causing the crash.
McGrew and other Boeing officials had been traveling the world to reassure airlines about the safety of the plane. They were under tremendous scrutiny. A series of stories in the Seattle Times said Boeing had not responded to the rudder problems, despite many incidents. McGrew found that allegation preposterous. He said the company had thoroughly investigated the incidents and had found no systemic problem.
He said he felt no pressure from Boeing management to defend the plane and had done so only because there was no evidence that the rudder system had malfunctioned. Likewise, he said, the company’s costs for lawsuits had no effect on what he did. “If it’s a ton of money, that’s too bad,” he said one day while driving up Interstate 405 to a meeting. “If there’s something wrong, you’ve got to fix it.” He was convinced that Emmett and Germano just got into a situation that was over their heads.
McGrew and other officials thought it was time to throw the equivalent of a Hail Mary pass. They would go over Haueter’s head directly to the board members, the five political appointees who would vote on the probable cause. Rick Howes, the Flight 427 coordinator in Boeing’s air safety investigation office, made a courtesy call to Haueter. Howes said Boeing was going to be “aggressive” in informing the board.
The result was a spiral-bound booklet called the “Boeing Contribution to the USAir Flight 427 Accident Investigation Board.” It was the classic Boeing approach—slick color renderings of what Germano saw from the cockpit and a view from behind the plane, matched with Boeing’s analysis. The renderings were the same ones that Haueter had seen on the posters in the conference room a year and a half earlier, but this time they had Boeing’s comments on why the plane was innocent:
The rudder system on the Boeing 737 airplane has been operated successfully for 73 million flight hours. In all of these hours of service history, there has been no known occasion when there was a full uncommanded rudder input. Nor has there been any known occasion when a rudder malfunction produced an event that was not controllable by the flight crew. Most important, the extensive investigation conducted to date into the rudder system used on USAir Flight 427 confirms that this system was fully operational during the upset.
Boeing was careful not to criticize the pilots too much. The booklet said it was understandable that they had made a mistake after they were startled by the wake turbulence: “It is known that pilots respond to roll upsets by using rudder. It is also well documented that rudder inputs once made can be forgotten or ignored and maintained for the remainder of the flight.” The booklet said Emmett and Germano were surprised when they were jostled by the wake turbulence. They tried to respond to the roll, but overcorrected with the left rudder pedal.
“In all likelihood, the crew became absorbed in making other control inputs as the upset sequence developed, and simply failed to perceive that a full rudder input had been made.” The booklet quoted from a USAir document that said when pilots respond to upsets, “our biggest problem has been stepping on the wrong rudder!!” The booklet said there was no evidence of any failure of the rudder PCU and that Flight 427 would have been recoverable if the pilots had not pulled back on the stick. It ended with this:
Boeing believes there are persuasive reasons to support a conclusion that the USAir Flight 427 accident was caused by an unexpected encounter with wake turbulence, rudder commands by the crew and a failure to apply correct recovery techniques.
Haueter believed that the “Boeing Contribution” was designed to kill Phillips’s safety recommendations. The booklet didn’t mention them, but it arrived the week before the board was scheduled to discuss them and it clearly tried to deflect attention away from the plane.
But the booklet ended up having no effect on the recommendations. The safety board delayed them by two weeks so that Bob Francis, the board member working on the TWA 800 crash, could have more time to review them, but the safety fixes were approved unanimously with no significant changes.
The recommendations were sent to David Hinson, the FAA administrator, in an exhaustive twenty-six-page letter that cited the Eastwind incident and the crashes of USAir 427 in Pittsburgh and United 585 in Colorado Springs. The letter said the investigation of the USAir crash had not been completed, but that the NTSB had found 737 safety problems “that need to be addressed.”
McSweeny, the FAA aircraft certification chief, was his usual defensive self in responding to the recommendations. He downplayed their importance, saying that the FAA had been addressing many of the same issues with previous airworthiness directives that grew out of the Critical Design Review. He said they would consider the NTSB’s recommendations but that “you want to be very careful when you change [the 737]. You need to make sure that your tinkering does not cause a problem.” Once again, McSweeny sounded as though he was protecting Boeing.
Bendix Electrodynamics
A hydraulic valve had to pass a battery of tests to get accepted by Boeing. One test shook it violently, like a can of house paint in a mixer. Another test moved the valve back and forth 5 million times. The most brutal test froze the valve to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit and injected it with hot hydraulic fluid. That represented the worst imaginable condition—an overheated hydraulic pump when the plane was in frigid air at 35,000 feet. Hot fluid would shoot into the frozen valve, causing it suddenly to expand. The test was called thermal shock.
Boeing did not manufacture its own valves, just as it didn’t build most of the parts for its planes. Instead, it relied on hundreds of suppliers such as Bendix. The company did not make the unique valve for the 737’s rudder, but it was bidding to make a similar one for Boeing’s giant new plane, the 747. Bendix engineers built a prototype of the valve to undergo the standard battery of tests—the paint shaker, the marathon, and thermal shock.
The tests were held in a gray stucco building in an industrial section of North Hollywood, not far from the Burbank airport. The lab, which took up most of the first floor, was filled with a thick, oily smell from all the hydraulic fluid. The room was a veritable torture chamber for a hydraulic valve. The lab even had special steel containers called crash boxes that were used the first time a valve was pressurized, in case it exploded.
Upstairs was a man named Ralph Vick, an engineer who worked on some of the company’s most important projects. Vick was not directly involved in the bid for the 747 valve, but he kept close tabs on the tests because he—like everyone else in the company—desperately wanted to win the big Boeing contract.
The torture tests on the 747 valve were no different from hundreds of others performed in the Bendix lab that year. The technicians placed the valve in a tiny freezer and hooked up the hydraulic lines. Once the valve had cooled to sub-zero, they flipped a switch and heard the steady whine of the hydraulic pumps. They moved the valve back and forth, as if a pilot were stepping on the pedals. Then someone flipped another switch, and piping hot fluid shot inside. Usually the valve kept moving. But this one strained and then stuck for a few seconds.
It had failed the test.
When Vick heard about the results, he knew it was a setback but not a catastrophe. The valve was an amazingly tight device, with only a few millionths of an inch between each slide, so a very tiny design error could cause a jam. The Bendix engineers went back to their drawing boards and redesigned the tolerances. The new valve passed without problems.
L’Enfant Plaza Hotel
Vick unpacked his suitcase in his hotel room and sat down at the desk with a legal pad. He had come to Washington for the first meeting of the “Greatest Minds in Hydraulics” to review Haueter and Phillips’s work. The goal of the panel was to look for new tests that the safety board should try. At sixty-seven, Vick was a quiet, serious man, a good choice for the group because he had designed dozens of valves and had been awarded twenty-five patents. He was quite familiar with the unique valve-within-a-valve used for the 737 rudder.
Sitting in his hotel room, he recalled the Bendix test thirty years earlier when hot fluid hit cold metal and the prototype valve stuck for a few seconds. That jam turned out to be no big deal—a redesign took care of the problem. But he wondered if the rudder valve on the USAir plane had stuck the same way. He sketched a brief outline of the test on a piece of paper and gave it to Phillips the next day.
“I think we should look at this,” Vick said. “It may be something.”
The NTSB had not done a thermal shock test on the 427 valve because there had been no comments on the cockpit tape about a hydraulic problem. If one of the pumps had broken, it would have triggered a warning light in the cockpit and the pilots would likely have mentioned it. But Phillips agreed to try the test. He was open to any suggestion.
The power control unit from the USAir crash would be frozen to 40 degrees below zero, similar to the outside air temperatures at 30,000 feet, and then it would be pumped with hot hydraulic fluid.
No one expected a breakthrough. The 737 valve had passed its own thermal shock test when it was certified in the 1960s. Besides, the temperature range was far more extreme than anything the PCU encountered in real life. Boeing officials viewed the test as a waste of time. McGrew said a 737 would encounter thermal shock conditions only if it flew to the moon.
On August 26, the Greatest Minds in Hydraulics and Phillips’s systems group gathered at Canyon Engineering, a tiny hydraulics company in an industrial park in Valencia, California. Cox thought the place looked more like a garage than a modern test facility. They had chosen Canyon because the chairman of the expert panel worked there, but the company did not have the sophisticated test equipment that Boeing and Parker did. Phillips brought the PCU in a sturdy navy blue chest, like a violinist carrying his prized Stradivarius. He took the 60-pound case to his hotel room each night to make sure that no one could tamper with the device.
At Canyon the PCU was placed in a big white Coleman cooler, the same kind you would take on a picnic. It looked like an amateur setup. Holes were cut in the cooler for pipes and tubes and then sealed with gray duct tape. When someone opened the cooler, frost formed on the PCU, making it look like a giant Popsicle. Cox and several others in the room said they were concerned that the temperatures were not controlled closely enough to produce legitimate results. But they forged ahead with the tests to see what would happen.
The group tested two PCUs—a new one straight from the factory and the one from the crash. To make sure that the hydraulic fluid was similar to Flight 427’s, they used fluid dra
ined from other 737s. They used a pneumatic cylinder to act like the pilot’s feet, pushing the valve back and forth. The room filled with a steady rhythm of clicks and hisses as the cylinder moved the valve left and right.
Click, hiss, click, hiss . They put the factory PCU through its calisthenics at room temperature, testing it fifty times. It responded normally. They let gaseous nitrogen into the cooler and watched the temperature gauges plummet to minus 30 or 40 degrees, to simulate the cold air at 30,000 feet. Click, hiss, click, hiss . No problems. Finally, they tried two tests to simulate an overheated hydraulic pump, heating the fluid to 170 degrees. Click, hiss, click, hiss . The hot fluid hit the cold valve, but there were no problems. The factory PCU worked great.
They removed it from the Coleman cooler and installed the PCU from Flight 427. Click, hiss, click, hiss . No problems at room temperature. Click, hiss, click, hiss . The frigid unit was blasted with hot fluid, but it still worked fine. It was their last day in Valencia, and the tests were going so smoothly that several people started to pack up and say good-bye. Another theory had been ruled out. It was time to move on.
They had reached the most extreme condition. The PCU was depressurized, frozen with the nitrogen gas, and then injected with piping-hot fluid. They made the test especially severe by performing it with the A and B hydraulic systems separately, so the hot fluid would not be diluted by cooler fluid from the other system.
The hot fluid hit the cold valve. Click, hiss, click, hiss, click, hiss, click, hisssssssssssssssssss .
The hissing changed pitch. The valve had jammed.
“It didn’t come back,” said someone in the room.
“That’s interesting,” said someone else. “Reeeeaaalllll interesting.”
A second later, the arm went back to neutral and began cycling again. Click, hiss, click, hiss .
They stopped the test and talked about what had happened. Did they have a breakthrough? Nobody could be sure. The test conditions were so poorly controlled that any result was questionable. A computer operator who had been collecting test data had mistakenly deleted everything, so they had little evidence of what they had seen. Everyone agreed to try it again.
Click, hiss, click, hisssssssssss. Click, hisssssssssss . The valve was moving slower than it was supposed to. Click, hisssssssssssssssssssssssss . It stuck again.
They agreed that the test should be done again in a more controlled setting. The Boeing team criticized the tests, saying they were too extreme and that the valve could have been damaged. So the next morning, Phillips woke up at 4 A.M. and drove to Parker-Hannifin so they could perform a test to make sure the valve was okay.
The test was crucial. When they had first examined the valve after the crash, they had not found any scratches inside it. If they found scratches now, it would prove that a jam left a scratch, which would indicate there had not been a jam on Flight 427. Also, a scratch would mean that the valve had been altered since the crash, which would rule out any further tests. The whole theory about a valve malfunction would go down the drain.
The Parker technicians took the valve apart, measuring and documenting each piece. They put them under a microscope, examining each surface for scratches or scrapes. They found none and no evidence of a jam. Phillips breathed a sigh of relief.
They had proved that the valve could jam—and leave no evidence behind.
Six weeks later, Phillips’s group reconvened in a Boeing laboratory in Seattle. This time, instead of testing the PCU in the Coleman cooler, they used a specially designed foam box with a window on top. The box’s cooling system was more powerful and precise, with temperatures closely monitored by a computer.
They ran through the same tests they had done in Valencia, starting with the factory PCU at room temperature and then trying a variety of thermal shocks. There were no clicks and hisses this time because the pneumatic system had been replaced by a hydraulic one. In some tests, the technicians just pulled on a lever to move the valve. Once again, the factory PCU passed every test.
The technicians removed it and replaced it with the PCU from Flight 427. It passed the first tests with no trouble. Then came Condition G, a repeat of the most extreme test in the Coleman cooler. They removed hydraulic pressure from the PCU and let it soak in the cold air until it reached minus 40 degrees. The system A hydraulic fluid was heated to 170 and shot directly into the PCU. The technician moving the valve back and forth felt it slow down. He didn’t notice it bind, but a computer showed it had jammed momentarily. They repeated the action, and the technician felt the lever kick back when he tried to move it to the right. He tried again, felt it stick to the left and then jam.
Once again they had shown that the 427 valve was unique. It jammed when the factory unit did not.
Yet Boeing was right. The extreme temperature range necessary for a thermal shock just didn’t happen in real life. And there was no proof that it had happened on the USAir plane.
Despite their skepticism, Boeing engineers said they would examine the charts from the tests for anything unusual. They might learn how the valve and rudder reacted to a jam.
A few days later, in a building overlooking Paine Field in Everett, a young Boeing engineer named Ed Kikta sat at his desk, reviewing the charts. He could see the test data on his computer screen, but he liked to print the results so he could study them more closely. The charts showed the flow of hydraulic fluid during each test, higher when it was pushing the rudder and down to zero when it was not. Kikta expected that when the outer valve jammed during the thermal shock, the inner valve would compensate and send an equal amount of fluid in the opposite direction, which would keep the rudder at neutral. That was the great safety feature of the 737 valve. It could compensate for a jam.
But as Kikta studied the squiggly lines for the return flow, he saw dips that were not supposed to be there. When he matched them to another graph showing the force on the levers inside the PCU, he made an alarming discovery. When the outer valve had jammed, the inner valve had moved too far to compensate. That meant the rudder would not have returned to neutral, the way it was supposed to.
The rudder would have reversed.
That could be catastrophic. A pilot would push on the left pedal, expecting the rudder to go left, but it would go right.
To make sure he hadn’t made a mistake, Kikta showed the results to the other engineers in the room. They agreed with his interpretation. It appeared that the valve had reversed. Kikta looked up and saw that his boss, Jim Draxler, was putting his coat on, getting ready to leave. Kikta stopped him.
“I think I’ve found something in the data,” Kikta said. “We might have a problem here.” Draxler took his coat off, set down his briefcase, and listened to what Kikta had to say. The consequences of his discovery were enormous. If he was right, it meant the PCU was not performing the way Boeing had promised. The valve-within-a-valve was supposed to provide redundancy if one slide jammed. But this meant a single jam could cripple a plane.
The next morning Draxler convened a group that he called his grizzled veterans, engineers who had lots of experience with flight controls. Kikta explained his findings and showed them the charts. Draxler went around the room, asking each one about the significance of Kikta’s discovery. They were unanimous: It was a serious problem that needed to be fixed quickly.
Boeing sprang into action. The company ordered Parker Hannifin to run its own tests to check Kikta’s conclusions. Parker engineers confirmed the results and discovered that when they jammed the outer valve, the levers in the PCU appeared to flex slightly, which allowed the inner valve to line up with the wrong holes.
Boeing was notorious for being the slow-moving “Lazy B,” but not this time. Fear was a powerful motivator. Engineers usually needed weeks to get an airplane for a test, but now they got one off the assembly line in just twenty-four hours. The plane landed at Boeing Field and was pulled into the B-52 hangar where the fat guy tests had been held. As a cold downpour fell outside on the night of October 29, 1996, the 737 was rigged with the special device that Parker had built to simulate the jam. Hewett, the Boeing test pilot, climbed into the cockpit while Kikta stood on a platform on the tail of the plane, watching the rudder and the PCU. Hewett pushed on the pedals, moving the rudder from side to side. The first two tests went smoothly, and the rudder operated as intended.
Then came a more rigorous test. Hewett slowly stepped on the left pedal and the rudder moved properly. He then jammed his foot on the right pedal as hard as he could. It kicked back with tremendous force.
The rudder swung the wrong direction.
Further tests showed that the likelihood of the rudder reversing depended on where the outer slide jammed. If it jammed closer to its neutral position, the rudder was less likely to reverse. But if it jammed when it was farther from neutral, a reversal was more certain. It was about midnight now and everyone was exhausted. They all drove home worrying about what they should do to fix the plane. “Everyone was concerned,” Draxler recalled later. “We didn’t know what it meant, how it all fit together.”
The next day, Boeing notified the FAA that the company had found a problem with the rudder PCU but wanted twenty-four hours to figure out how to deal with the problem. The FAA agreed.
Intense meetings went on all day in Renton and Everett as the Boeing engineers discussed how to respond. They broke into two teams, one to come up with a plan for how pilots could detect and respond to a jam and another to look at long-term design changes to the PCU. They worked into the night. By 11 P.M., they got approval from senior management for a pilot test and some short- and long-term changes to the PCU.
The next day, Halloween, about ten Boeing officials drove to the FAA office in Renton, a big mirrored cube of a building beside Interstate 405. They weren’t sure what the FAA would do. Would the agency want to ground the airplane? The PCU no longer protected against jams the way it was supposed to, which could mean that the plane no longer met certification standards.
About twenty-five Boeing and FAA officials gathered in a conference room. McGrew took a seat just beneath a smiling photo of FAA administrator David Hinson. In the corner were a TV and a VCR, with the clock display flashing “12:00” throughout the meeting. Draxler began by explaining what they had found in the tests, with Hewett frequently interrupting to give his perspective. It took a unique kind of windup to trigger the phenomenon, they said. You had to press on one pedal and then stomp hard on the other to make the primary slide line up with the wrong holes and cause the reversal.
Did this match what had happened to the USAir plane? an FAA official asked.
The Boeing engineers said all they knew from the test was that if you jam the outer slide, you could get a reversal. Jams were extremely unlikely because of the many filters in the hydraulic system, which removed particles before they caused problems. In thirty years and more than 50 million flights, there had been only seven confirmed jams. None had resulted in an accident or injury. And there was no evidence that one had occurred on the USAir plane.
Another FAA official pointed out that the new evidence seemed to counter Boeing’s claims that the pilots had caused the crash.
McGrew spoke up. “We’ve received a lot of public criticism about hiding things and not wanting to spend a lot of money,” he said. “But I frankly don’t care [what it costs]. If there is something wrong with the airplane, I want to fix it.”
Steve O’Neal, the FAA flight-test engineer, was impressed by McGrew’s comments. Until that point, O’Neal had felt McGrew was overprotective of the airplane. But McGrew now seemed sincere in saying that he was open to anything.
The meeting ended. Boeing said it would issue an alert service bulletin to warn airlines about the condition. The bulletin would require mechanics to perform a test every 250 hours, stomping on the pedals to check for jams. The FAA planned to issue an emergency airworthiness directive that mandated the tests. Boeing also said it would develop a long-term plan to redesign the valve to prevent a reversal. That fix was likely to take several years.
These directives were more symbolism than real action, designed to reassure the public that the FAA was taking action. The engineers knew the tests would not be very effective. They would catch a jam if it occurred at the precise moment of the test, but a jam could still occur at any time.
Despite the seriousness of Boeing’s discovery, FAA officials say they did not give serious thought to grounding the 737 fleet. The plane had a good safety record, they said, and a jam was still considered highly unlikely. Even O’Neal, who had wanted to ground the fleet two years earlier, agreed with his bosses this time.
While the Boeing-FAA meeting was going on in Renton, Haueter and Phillips were 2,000 miles away in Pittsburgh, unaware of the dramatic developments. They had returned to the Holiday Inn near the Pittsburgh airport to meet with all the parties. Haueter and each of his group leaders gave updates on the investigation. Phillips reviewed the results of the thermal shock tests (without knowing of Boeing’s finding) and discussed what work still needed to be done. Rick Howes, the Boeing coordinator for the investigation, sat through the all-day meeting without saying a word about the company’s big discovery.
There was the usual sparring between ALPA and Boeing—this time over Boeing’s latest estimates of the rudder movement—and then the meeting ended uneventfully. Haueter put a slide on the overhead projector with a comment that an English scientist once made to Charles Lindbergh. Haueter said it had become the slogan of the 427 investigation: “Everything that happens was once infinitely improbable. Therefore, nothing that happens should be surprising.”
People chuckled and the meeting broke up. Haueter, Phillips, and Tom Jacky, the NTSB performance chairman, took a flight back to Washington. As they got off the plane at National Airport and walked toward the subway station, Haueter’s beeper went off. The NTSB had a new pager system that could transmit words as well as phone numbers.
Haueter glanced down at it. MAJOR FINDING REL TO PIT / DEFECT FOUND ON SERVO VALVE, the pager said.
“This is a joke,” he said. “This isn’t real. Some jerk has figured out our paging system.” They went their separate ways and headed home.
The message had come from Schleede, Haueter’s boss, who had been working late in the NTSB office when McGrew and John Purvis, the head of Boeing’s accident investigations, called to tell him about the finding. Schleede transmitted the message to Haueter and then walked downstairs to the bar at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, where Hall was having a drink.
“Jim,” Schleede said, “I think we’ve got it.”
The next day, the FAA briefed Haueter, Phillips, and other NTSB officials about the finding. Haueter realized that it was a major piece of his puzzle.
“This isn’t the way I thought it would end,” he told Phillips as they walked back after the meeting. “I expected it was going to be a fight all the way to the end, putting all these little pieces together, with people saying we wouldn’t have enough evidence. And all of a sudden here is something no one expected.”
That day, Boeing sent a telex message to every airline in the world that flew 737s:
Alert Alert Alert Alert Alert Alert Alert Alert
Boeing Alert Service Bulletin 737-27A1202 dated November 1, 1996
The dual servo valve is designed to overcome the effects of a jammed primary or secondary slide. Although there has never been a report of a secondary slide jam, tests just completed at Boeing have shown that, under certain conditions, some jams of the secondary slide can result in anomalous rudder motion.
Anomalous rudder motion. It was a Boeing euphemism for a catastrophic situation—a rudder jam and a reversal.
Cox heard rumblings about the discovery on Halloween night but didn’t hear the news until the morning of November 1, when the alert was issued. He had spent an extra day in Pittsburgh and was summoned to the office of USAir vice president/flight operations William Barr. A group of pilots and safety officials were meeting to discuss the service bulletin and how USAir should respond. There were major implications for USAir because it had the third-largest fleet of 737s in the world.
Barr asked Cox point-blank, “Is the airplane safe?”
“Yes,” Cox said. He was convinced that a jam was still highly unlikely and that, even if one occurred, pilots could recover. USAir had been the first airline to raise its minimum speed above the crossover point, so USAir pilots had an extra cushion of safety. And the airline’s pilots were already doing a rigorous rudder check, which meant they were effectively conducting the test before every flight.
That afternoon Boeing issued a carefully worded press release that downplayed the seriousness of the discovery:
Boeing recently discovered that, under certain conditions, a jam of the PCU’s secondary slide could possibly interfere with the intended operation of the unit. The discovery was made by several Boeing engineers during a careful review of data generated by a National Transportation Safety Board test for the effects of thermal shocks on the PCU….
“This is the nature of our business,” said Charlie Higgins, Boeing vice president/airplane safety and performance. “We identify very unlikely possibilities and take steps to eliminate them, or at least to further reduce their likelihood of ever happening. That’s one of the ways we keep enhancing the safety of the aviation system.”
It was too late for Cox to fly back to St. Petersburg, so he ended up at a Motel 6 near the Pittsburgh airport, watching reports on the rudder discovery on CNN. “This could wrap up 427 quickly,” he said in a phone conversation between reports. “This could be the ‘Aha!’” He said the lack of markings inside the valve was evidence that the gremlin in the rudder system “is a thief in the night. It leaves no trail.”
He praised Boeing for being so forthcoming about the discovery. “I’m extremely pleased. They stepped forward.”
Just before Thanksgiving, Phillips went back to the Parker plant in Irvine to compare the valve from the USAir plane with the ones from the Eastwind and the factory PCUs. He wanted to find out if there was something that made the 427 valve jam when the others would not.
Every rudder valve was slightly different. All valves had to meet certain Boeing and FAA standards, but the holes for hydraulic fluid on each one were never exactly the same. The tests so far suggested that some valves could be more prone to reverse than others.
At Parker, the three valves were each disassembled and examined and then hooked into a test rig to see how far off neutral they had to be moved before the rudder would reverse. The factory valve performed the best.
It would not reverse until the outer slide was 38 percent extended. But the USAir and Eastwind valves would reverse more easily, when the slides were 12 and 17 percent extended, respectively. Also, a measurement of the distance between the valve slides found that the USAir unit was considerably tighter than the other two.
That was the final piece of evidence that Haueter had waited for. At last he had proved that the USAir valve was unique. After three years and hundreds of tests, he now had a scenario for what had happened to Flight 427.
It went like this:
It was a smooth flight from Chicago to Pittsburgh, so there was not much movement by the yaw damper. That lack of movement might have allowed particles to build up in the hydraulic fluid. There could have been a modest thermal shock to the PCU because of a problem with a hydraulic pump—not enough to set off a warning to the pilots but enough to send hot fluid rushing into the cold valve, making it suddenly expand.
The PCUs on other 737s might have tolerated that without trouble. But the valve on this particular USAir plane was especially tight. The thermal shock and the contaminants caused a jam. And the jam happened when one slide inside the valve was slightly off center and more likely to reverse. The pilot or the yaw damper was commanding the rudder to go right, but it went hardover to the left.
All of this occurred at the most vulnerable speed for a 737, when the plane was flying at 190 knots—the crossover point when a rudder hardover could not be countered by turning the wheel. The pilots compounded the problem when they pulled back on the control column, which made the plane lose speed and stall. The plane spiraled down and crashed into the hill in Hopewell.
It always takes a chain of events to cause a crash. In this case, it took the wake turbulence, the startling of the pilots, the fact that the plane was flying at the crossover point, the uniqueness of the valve, the jam and reversal, and the mistake of pulling back on the stick. If any one of those things had been different, the crash would not have occurred.
What the hell is this? Haueter thought he finally knew the answer.
He had moles in Boeing who gave him inside information about the company’s strategy, alerting him when Boeing was preparing a full-court press to lobby the NTSB or when the company was softening its approach. The moles disagreed with the Boeing position of blaming the pilots, which Haueter found reassuring. He was glad that some Boeing employees had made their own decisions and believed the rudder had reversed. Haueter suspected there also were NTSB moles who told Boeing what he and Phillips were thinking. So he wasn’t surprised when Howes, the Boeing coordinator for the investigation, called shortly before Christmas 1996.
“We understand there are people at the NTSB who, if they wrote the report today, would find fault with the airplane,” Howes said. “We don’t know how you can possibly say that. We’d like to know who these people are so we can help straighten them out.”
“Rick,” Haueter said, “I don’t know how the report is going to go until it goes to the five board members. But many people have quite frankly told me that they think the airplane rudder system caused the accident—and several of those work for Boeing.”
The Boeing team realized it was facing long odds. Haueter was still holding weekly conference calls with the parties, but they had less to discuss each week. After one call in early 1997, McGrew, Howes, and aerodynamic expert Jim Kerrigan sat in the Boeing air safety conference room looking glum.
The “Boeing Contribution” had been a flop. M-Cab had not been convincing. Haueter and Phillips wanted to blame the plane. It looked like Boeing was about to lose.
“It’s a feeling of banging our heads against the wall,” sighed Kerrigan.
They could not understand why Haueter and Phillips had become so narrowly focused on the plane. There were no conclusive data that showed there had been a jam—no scrapes, no marks. Yes, they had discovered a new failure in the rudder system, but there was no proof it had occurred on 427. Haueter and Phillips had a purely circumstantial case and had not seriously considered the circumstances on the other side, which suggested the pilots had caused the crash.
“You would hope the management of the NTSB doesn’t form opinions ahead of time,” Howes said, but everyone in the room knew that was wishful thinking. All three engineers thought the NTSB was obsessed with finding a cause for the crash and making sure the board did not end up with another unsolved case.
McGrew acknowledged that Boeing had made a few strategic mistakes in the investigation. The whole episode had been an education for him about the politics of aviation safety. He had always believed that all you needed to prove a point was solid data, but this investigation showed that the NTSB was getting more and more political under Hall and that Boeing had to play the political game if it wanted to succeed. McGrew said he had not done a good job of communicating with Hall and other NTSB officials along the way.
The realization that Boeing was about to lose was especially painful because so many employees had invested so much time in the investigation over the past two years. “People have burned a lot of hours on this,” said Howes. “To have it come down to something we don’t think is right is very discouraging.”
Deep down, McGrew was convinced that the pilots caused the crash, but he didn’t think there was enough evidence to list that as the probable cause. “We still cannot say we know what made the rudder go in. We think we know, but we’ll never know for sure.”
A friend called Brett the day after Boeing’s announcement about the thermal shock discovery. “Hey, did you hear? They found the cause of Joan’s crash.”
Brett rushed out and bought the November 2 Chicago Tribune , but the paper did not have anything about the discovery. He found an item in the Wall Street Journal two days later, but it was a short story that did not capture the magnitude of the finding. He was losing hope that they would ever be able to prove what had happened. It was clear the rudder was to blame. Why couldn’t the NTSB finally pin it on Boeing and USAir?
“I feel like Nicole Brown Simpson’s relatives,” Brett said. “There’s this mass of information, but they can’t get a conviction.”
He had gotten a mixed response from entertainment companies when he made his pitch about T. Rex’s Dino World Cafe. Everyone seemed to like the concept, but nobody would commit any money for a prototype. After several rejections from big companies, Brett decided to raise the money himself. He would give it a year. If he didn’t succeed, he’d find a new job.
The possibility of getting rich from the restaurant was one of the driving forces for him, but he did not think of his lawsuit that way. It was a tool of vengeance. “The money doesn’t mean that much. I got a fair amount from life insurance and that hasn’t brought me any happiness.”
He said he had finally realized that Boeing and USAir were both so huge that even a multimillion-dollar payment would barely cause a ripple in their finances. “There isn’t enough money in the world to make them suffer,” he said. In his view, Boeing and USAir were ducking responsibility in their court filings and public statements about the crash. Brett told Demetrio that in order to settle the suit he wanted an admission of guilt from the companies.
“You and I will be a fossil on another planet before that happens,” Demetrio said.
On January 15, 1997, Brett happened to flip on the TV as he sat down to eat his lunch. A network was covering Vice President Al Gore’s speech to a conference on aviation safety and security.
“As you know,” Gore said, “the investigations into the crashes of Boeing 737s in Colorado Springs and Pittsburgh have not yet been closed. But those investigations have identified improvements that could help eliminate the chance of rudders playing a role in future accidents. These changes can and should be made without delay.”
Brett listened intently. It sounded like the 737 was getting fixed.
“Boeing has developed modifications to the rudders of older 737s that will improve safety,” Gore continued, “and they are going to begin retrofitting those planes, largely at their own expense, without waiting for a government mandate. Under a schedule to be developed by the FAA, these improvements will be made in the next two years. This is a major action: it affects some 2,800 planes worldwide, 1,100 of them here in the United States.”
Tears welled up in Brett’s eyes. It sounded as if the government was actually doing something to prevent another crash. He felt vindicated. He had believed all along that there was some kind of flaw in the rudder system. He felt as though he had reached the end of a long road.
At a news conference later that day, Boeing officials announced the specifics. The company would modify every 737 rudder valve so it could not reverse. A limiter would be installed on the PCU to prevent the rudder from going hardover. And, in a reminder that Boeing still believed the pilots were at fault, the company said it would pay for sensors on the rudder pedals. The next time a pilot stomped on the pedal by mistake, it would show up on the flight data recorder.
Haueter was disappointed that Gore praised Boeing repeatedly and made only a passing mention of the NTSB. Gore made it sound as if Boeing, out of the kindness of its heart, had generously offered to spend $150 million to fix the PCUs. Never mind that the changes were a direct result of the work by him and Phillips!
“We dragged these people kicking and screaming for the last two years, and all of a sudden they are getting all the credit,” Haueter said. “We have just been pounding them and pounding them, and now we don’t exist.”
His boss, Bernard Loeb, shared his anger. “Boeing didn’t do this because their hearts told them to do it. Their lawyers told them to do it,” Loeb said. “They didn’t have a goddamn choice.”
The same thing had happened two months earlier when Boeing made the dramatic discovery about the reversal. Whom did Boeing call then? The FAA. The company acted like the NTSB didn’t matter. Haueter had called Howes, the Boeing coordinator, and hollered at him about the fact that Boeing had not notified the NTSB about the thermal shock finding. Howes had sat through the entire Halloween meeting without saying a word. But he insisted to Haueter that no one at Boeing had told him about it.
Haueter had discovered the downside of being the watchdog. To the public and the news media, NTSB investigators were crusaders for safety who could do no wrong. They were the guys in the white hats who found everybody else’s mistakes. But when given the chance, the groups that the NTSB had attacked welcomed the opportunity to fire a few zingers back. So when Boeing and the FAA announced a safety fix, they rarely gave the NTSB credit.
The Boeing announcement was shrewdly timed. Haueter had been working on a new set of recommendations that called for immediate pilot training about the risk of a hardover. He felt that Boeing was trying to preempt him by announcing the rudder system changes first.
Boeing also managed to steal the thunder from Dateline , the NBC newsmagazine that had been working on a segment about 737 rudders for several months. A Dateline crew had been out to Renton and interviewed several Boeing officials. Boeing made sure that Dateline correspondent Chris Hanson got a chance to ride in M-Cab. Two weeks before Gore’s announcement, rumors circulated through the investigators that Dateline was about to slam Boeing for the rudder problems. The segment was scheduled to air January 19.
But then came Gore’s announcement on January 15, with Boeing saying it would improve the plane. That took the wind out of the Dateline segment, which ended up being a surprisingly positive piece that said the airplane was getting fixed.
Malcolm Brenner, the eccentric NTSB psychologist, had made his name at the safety board by studying a drunken sailor. He and Jim Cash, the sound expert, had done a groundbreaking study of radio tapes of the Exxon Valdez accident that indicated the ship’s captain was drunk. To show he was intoxicated just before the ship ran aground, they counted the number of seconds it took him to say each word. He slurred the phrase “Exxon Valdez,” saying it 24 percent slower right before the accident than he had thirty-three hours earlier.
Speech analysis was still a very new tool for plane crash investigations. For a 1985 Japan Air Lines crash, Japanese investigators measured the pitch of the pilots’ words to calculate when they were affected by stress after a sudden decompression. According to the investigators’ calculations, a calm Japanese male spoke at a frequency of 150 hertz, but they found that the pitch of the captain’s voice got as high as 410 hertz after the pilots heard a bang. The pitch of their voices also indicated the pilots were feeling the effects of hypoxia because they had neglected to don their oxygen masks.
Brenner decided to use the same technique on Flight 427’s tape. The result might settle the debate over the Boeing theory that one of the pilots panicked because of the wake turbulence and slammed his foot on the rudder pedal. Brenner also hoped to look for correlations between the pilots’ grunts and when the rudder moved, which might indicate when they had pushed on the pedals.
Brenner and three outside experts studied the cockpit tape one word at a time. Using Cash’s WAVES program, they counted syllables and measured the pitch and volume of each sentence. Germano had said “four-twenty-seven” seventeen times during the tape, which gave them a consistent phrase to measure. As stress increases, humans raise the pitch of their voices. Anything above 300 hertz is considered screaming, an indication that the person has panicked.
They analyzed the way Germano said it each time. His average pitch was 144 hertz before the plane hit the wake turbulence, but it jumped to 214 hertz the last time he said it, which was about seventeen seconds after the wake turbulence. When they looked at his other comments on a bar graph, they saw a gradual increase in his frequency, which indicated that his stress level had progressively increased until he screamed and panicked at the end. There was no evidence that Germano had become “overaroused” when they hit the wake, as Boeing had suggested. They also found no evidence in Germano’s voice that he was trying to forcibly move the controls during the emergency. That was an important detail because it focused attention on Emmett, who had been the flying pilot on the Chicago-Pittsburgh leg of the trip.
The results were less conclusive about Emmett. Scott Meyer, a navy sound expert, said Emmett’s grunts indicated that he was straining, but it was not clear whether the straining came from pushing his feet on the rudder pedals or moving the wheel with his arms. The sounds of straining stopped once the autopilot was switched off, which allowed Emmett to turn the wheel more easily.
Alfred S. Belan, a sound expert from Russia who had analyzed hundreds of cockpit tapes, used a novel approach to figure out what Emmett did. He analyzed the word “shit.”
Emmett had said the word during a calm moment about twenty minutes before the crash. He was trying to program the plane’s navigational computer, but kept having trouble. “Aw c’mon, you piece of shit!” he said. He said it two more times—once as the plane was starting to point nose down and a final time just before the crash. Belan compared his breathing each time and studied color graphs from Cash’s WAVES program. The graphs turned “shit” into orange lines that looked like a salmon filet, but Belan could look at them and see the difference between a grunt, Emmett’s inhaling, and the word.
When people make a great physical effort, they take forced and rapid breaths. When Emmett said, “Aw c’mon, you piece of shit” to the flight-management computer, his breathing was normal. But after the plane was jostled by the wake, he grunted, and his voice showed signs of straining. When Emmett said the word seven seconds later, he said it softly and was not straining. That suggested he was no longer fighting the wheel or rudder pedals. It was easier to turn the wheel at that point because the autopilot had just been switched off. The final time Emmett said “Shit!” he was straining again, probably because he was pulling back on the control column, trying to pull the plane’s nose up as the ground loomed closer.
Brenner thought that the sound analysis disproved Boeing’s allegations that the pilots panicked early. The change in pitch was more gradual, proving that they didn’t panic until well after the wake turbulence. Germano said “427 emergency!” to air traffic controllers seven seconds after the stickshaker went off, which Brenner regarded as a rational, constructive action—to let controllers know the plane was in trouble.
Brenner’s biggest finding involved the grunts.
He put Emmett’s heavy breathing and grunts on a time line and noticed that they perfectly matched the theory of a rudder reversal. They occurred during the crucial three-and-a-half-second period when investigators believed the reversal occurred.
Emmett’s soft grunt at the beginning came four-tenths of a second after the rudder began to reverse, when he would have felt the pedal pushing back against his right foot. He grunted louder about one second later, the time when the rudder pedals would have fully snapped back against his pushing. It was a nearly perfect match that indicated Emmett had been struggling against the rudder pedal but couldn’t stop it from reversing.
It was the best evidence yet that the rudder had reversed.
In January of 1997 Haueter had a difficult time sleeping. Many nights he found himself lying awake in the big four-poster bed that he shared with his wife, worried that another 737 would crash. The FAA had issued a slew of airworthiness directives that mandated changes to the 737 and how it was flown, including many that had been requested by the NTSB, but the agency had not acted on the NTSB recommendation that Haueter considered the most important—fixing the rudder’s power control unit.
It had been two months since Vice President Gore had said Boeing would fix it, but Haueter had seen little action. Where was the urgency? Boeing and the FAA were taking a leisurely pace. The FAA—particularly McSweeny—often sounded like an apologist for Boeing. The FAA had mandated a weekly test for rudder jams, but the test was virtually meaningless. It would tell pilots if the PCU was jammed at that instant, but it didn’t tell whether a PCU would jam in the future. Haueter thought that pilots needed to be warned more clearly about the problems.
It was time to light a fire under the FAA.
If Haueter had been a politician, he would just have held a news conference and spoken his mind. But that was not how the NTSB operated. There were unwritten rules of engagement about how to blas
t the FAA. It was done discreetly, usually by letter to the FAA administrator, which was conveniently faxed to aviation reporters around the country.
Haueter believed the 737 no longer met federal safety standards. He talked with colleagues about whether he should recommend that the entire 737 fleet be grounded but decided he didn’t have enough evidence for such a drastic step. The plane’s fatal accident rate was low compared with those of other planes—even if the rudder PCU did not meet federal standards. The odds of a jam and a reversal were still remote. Nevertheless, he was worried there might be another crash.
In the letter, he used strong words. Haueter had grown more self-assured in the two and a half years since the crash. He’d been promoted to chief of major investigations, which meant he was now the head of all the big accidents, including the ValuJet crash in Miami and the granddaddy of them all, TWA 800. He was not shy about blasting the FAA and Boeing when he felt he had to. The ten-page letter, signed by Hall and endorsed by the other four board members, laid out Haueter’s case about how the soda can valve on the USAir plane was unique and more prone to reverse. The letter called on the FAA to alert pilots about the potential for a reversal and to speed up the process to fix all PCUs in the fleet. His words were surprisingly frank. He said the 737 was not as safe as other planes because the PCU was vulnerable to a reversal.
To make sure that the message got prominent play, Haueter, Loeb, and public affairs director Peter Goelz held a background briefing with reporters from the New York Times , the Washington Post , and the TV networks. Within hours, the news was spread to millions of viewers.
“Federal air safety experts are now satisfied they know what caused the mystery crash of a USAir Boeing 737,” Dan Rather said a few hours later on the CBS Evening News . “It was the rudder.” Without naming anyone at the safety board, CBS reporter Bob Orr said investigators “believe a malfunction in the Boeing 737’s rudder system rolled the plane into a fatal dive. And they suspect a similar failure caused the crash of a United Airlines 737 in Colorado Springs in 1991.”
NBC anchor Tom Brokaw said, “There may be an answer tonight to questions that for years have perplexed investigators of two deadly plane crashes. That answer is certain to raise new fears about the world’s most widely used airliner, the Boeing 737.”
Haueter watched the NBC report at home and felt tremendous relief. His worries about the plane had been told to the world. He wasn’t holding a secret anymore. Everyone knew what he knew.
In the meantime, Boeing had gone into damage control mode. It faxed a statement to the press that said: “Boeing is and has been working with suppliers on an already aggressive schedule” to fix the rudder system. The changes “will serve to make a safe airplane even safer.”
That had become the 737’s mantra, chanted by people at Boeing, at the airlines, even at the FAA. It was the perfect phrase to put a positive spin on the message. The 737 wasn’t dangerous. They were simply making it better.
Despite heavy news coverage about the NTSB’s letter, there was barely a ripple of reaction from the public. The New York Times reported “a collective shrug of indifference” from passengers. “Travel agents, corporate travel managers and other industry officials said yesterday that most passengers demonstrated unshaken confidence in the overall safety of air travel,” the Times said, “and appear to feel that the Government would have grounded the nation’s fleet of 1,100 737’s if they were truly dangerous.”
Boeing’s deft response minimized the repercussions for the company. Its stock price had not been affected by any of the 737 announcements. Wall Street didn’t seem to notice what the NTSB said. Airlines seemed satisfied that Boeing was fixing any problems that the plane had, and they continued to flood the company with orders for new 737s.
Boeing wanted more tests that would push a 737 to its limit. A Boeing test pilot would fly over the Pacific Ocean and try rudder hardovers and other maneuvers to gather new data about the crossover point. Cox thought the tests were unnecessary and were being done to help Boeing defend itself from lawsuits. Worse, Cox was concerned that there might be an accident, which would lead to the immediate grounding of the entire 737 fleet. He joked that 737s would make good restaurants, which was a good thing because that’s all they would be useful for if a Boeing test pilot dropped one into the Pacific.
But when investigators arrived in Seattle for the tests in the first week of June 1997, Boeing shocked everyone. For the first time, company engineers acknowledged that a jam and a reversal in the PCU could match the kinematic estimates for Flight 427. Until that point, Boeing had adamantly resisted any suggestion that a reversal caused the crash. The Boeing position had been firm: The pilots screwed up. But new estimates by Boeing’s engineers provided a surprisingly close match between Flight 427’s rudder and results from the jam/reversal tests. Boeing stopped far short of saying the plane was to blame, but just an acknowledgment that it was possible was a huge step. It was like Ronald Reagan saying nice things about communism.
Boeing’s new position won Haueter’s admiration. “Holy mackerel, I’m shocked,” he said. “They have been fairly up front lately.”
Cox also praised his rivals from Boeing for being so honest with data that appeared to indict their product. “The entire week was a night-and-day difference,” Cox said. “They were very forthright, there was not any of the partisanship.”
The flight test was uneventful. Boeing pilots compiled new data about the crossover point and hardovers and did not crash in the Pacific. But the most revealing event came when the plane returned to Boeing Field for a ground demonstration of a rudder reversal. The plane, which had just come off the assembly line for Southwest Airlines, was fitted with the special rig in its tail to jam the valve.
Haueter had asked for the demonstration to show what a rudder hardover would have felt like to Emmett and Germano. It took two steps to cause the reversal. You pressed down with one foot to move the valve’s secondary slide into position, and then you had to stomp quickly with the other foot, which resulted in the second rudder pedal’s snapping back, as if it was trying to throw your foot off.
It was a warm, sunny day in Seattle, once again proving that the city’s reputation for rain was a myth perpetuated by natives who didn’t want anyone else to move to their beautiful city. It was so bright that people standing on the pavement beneath the plane had to wear sunglasses. In the cockpit, Brenner sat down in the right seat beside Mike Carriker, the Boeing test pilot. The six-foot-three Brenner was the same height as Emmett, and he had to put the seat all the way back to be comfortable. He slowly pushed each rudder pedal as far as it would go, as if he were doing a routine check of the rudder before takeoff. He then jammed his foot on the left pedal, causing the reversal. The left pedal began coming up, pushing relentlessly against his foot, fighting him all the way until it reached the upper stop. He did the test a dozen more times and found that the rudder pedal overpowered him every time. He was amazed by the force. In a fight with a jammed PCU, a human could not win.
Brenner had spent two and a half years trying to understand what had happened in 427’s cockpit. He knew the pilots so well that he knew their pant sizes. He knew their allergies, their marital histories, and what they ordered from room service. He had heard the cockpit tape hundreds of times, had spent hours in M-Cab and weeks poring over the flight data. But not until this moment, when the pedal came snapping back, did he truly understand what had happened. It was creepy. Brenner felt as though he was reliving those horrifying seconds at 6,000 feet. For a brief moment, he became Emmett. Oh, yeah, I see zuh Jetstream . He pushed on the rudder pedal to recover from the wake but felt it snap back. Oh shit . It was unrelenting. No matter how hard he pushed, the pedal Ohhh shiiiiiiittttt kept fighting back as the plane rolled to the left and then spun out of control God! toward the gravel road in Hopewell. Nooooo .
Brenner was convinced. The rudder had reversed.
Phillips had a similar reaction. He was still the most cautious investigator at the safety board. Long after Haueter and others had become convinced that a reversal in the PCU had caused the crash, Phillips was reluctant to draw a conclusion. Some people at the board thought he was a little too cautious and too protective of the airlines and the manufacturers. But after trying the demonstration and seeing Boeing’s new estimates, even Phillips seemed convinced that there had been a reversal.
Once again Haueter was working late.
Since his promotion, he’d gotten a better office with a sign beside his door that said NO WHINERS, but he had not bothered to get a nameplate with his new title. He had written his name on a piece of paper and taped it over the name of his predecessor.
He still had responsibility for the USAir investigation and often worked into the night. His wife, Trisha Dedik, had grown accustomed to his calls saying he would be an hour or two late, but she could never be sure exactly when he would get home. John Purvis, the head of accident investigations for Boeing, had just called their house to look for him. Dedik told Purvis her husband was still at the office, but then Purvis had called again, still looking for him. Dedik was fed up with the Boeing guys. They called at all hours and made it sound like everything was urgent. They treated her like she was Haueter’s secretary.
Though he had called Dedik to say he was headed home, Haueter ended up working for another hour before calling again to say that this time he was really leaving. Dedik was furious. She took a book into bed and read until she heard the thunder of their garage door when he arrived home. She switched off the light and pretended to be asleep. He came into the room and kissed her on the shoulder, but she was too mad to face him.
The next morning, she told him to call Purvis in Seattle, where it was three hours earlier.
“Trisha, it is five-fifteen or five-thirty in the morning out there,” Haueter said.
“So? He doesn’t care. He is calling here at ten-thirty or eleven o’clock at night. Call him right now.”
“Trisha, I’m not going to call him.”
Some days she wished that he would leave the NTSB and find a job that was less demanding, where he didn’t have to carry a beeper and work so late. She had never understood the whole preoccupation with beepers. Her office had given her one, but she stuck it in a kitchen drawer and promptly forgot the number.
“If I had to reach you, how would I?” Haueter asked her. “I can’t beep you. You can always beep me.”
“If it’s really important,” she said, “someone will find me.”
As the fourth anniversary of the crash passed, Haueter began plotting his strategy to convince the board members to approve a final report that would say the rudder had reversed. He knew that Bob Francis would be his biggest hurdle.
Francis, a tall, balding man known for wearing identical blue oxford shirts and khaki pants every day, was a former FAA official who had become something of a national celebrity after his nightly briefings on the TWA and ValuJet crashes. He considered himself the diplomat of the safety board and said he liked to work out disagreements behind the scenes. But the investigators disliked him because he did not attend their briefings or read their reports before he spoke to the press. They believed he was weak with the FBI during the TWA probe and had become too close to Boeing.
Francis had disagreed with Haueter about several of the 737 safety recommendations over the years and had not signed off on them until Haueter agreed to soften the language. In this case, Francis was not convinced that Haueter had enough proof to blame the 737 for the crash.
“I think he’ll fight us,” Haueter said. “For some reason, Bob does not like to be controversial with industry. He just backs away. He says he is concerned with the credibility of the agency and wants to make sure that we work with people and try to get them to come along. He thinks we should do more things with gentlemen’s agreements. Unfortunately, gentlemen’s agreements don’t work.”
Stilly Francis had a history of ultimately voting with the other board members, even when he disagreed. “While on one hand he seems to favor Boeing over us,” Haueter said, “in the final analysis, he has always signed the bottom line to go with the staff.”
John Goglia, the most colorful character on the board, had decided not to vote in the Flight 427 case. A burly Bostonian, Goglia was a former USAir mechanic who had represented his union in the investigation until he was appointed to the safety board by President Clinton. He said he wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety. “I’m controversial enough as it is,” he said.
Haueter was worried that the board might reject his report or go with a weak probable cause. If that happened, he had a secret weapon: the families.
The 1996 ValuJet crash had shown how powerful they could be with the safety board. At the final meeting on the crash, the board was minutes away from adopting a probable cause that blamed the FAA and a maintenance company when Goglia suddenly recommended blaming the airline too. The family members—many holding big photographs of the crash victims—applauded and cheered. The emotional demonstration pressured the board to adopt Goglia’s recommendation. Haueter figured he could use the USAir families the same way—if necessary.
If the board still balked, he planned to quit. He’d gotten three job offers from engineering and aviation companies recently and had turned them all down. He and Trisha didn’t want to move away from Washington, and he did not want to desert the NTSB during its toughest investigation. But the offers had shown that he was valuable, and he was willing to take a new job if the board snubbed him.
Boeing and ALPA got one last chance to take shots at each other in their final submissions to the NTSB. The submissions were like closing arguments in a criminal trial. Once they were turned in, Haueter and his bosses would largely cut off communications with the parties. The report would be written in private, and the parties would probably not see it until the final board meeting. The investigators were like cardinals meeting in the Vatican to pick a pope. No one would know the outcome until white smoke poured from the NTSB chimney.
In previous crashes, the submissions had been long, boring letters written in the language of engineers. But Flight 427 was different. The parties were targeting not the NTSB investigators, who had pretty much decided to blame the airplane, but the five board members who would vote on the case. The submissions also had a broader audience: the public and the courts. Each side wanted to reassure customers and juries of its innocence.
Haueter viewed the submissions as an important part of the contentious party system. He knew they would be filled with bias, but he felt they brought a healthy discussion and helped the NTSB sort out the facts. He was eager to see them because he had heard there were internal fights at Boeing and at ALPA.
His moles at Boeing said there were two distinct camps within the company. One wanted to lay the blame squarely on the pilots, saying there was no evidence that the plane had malfunctioned. The other camp was more cautious and wanted to admit that there was no conclusive proof either way.
He also heard of a similar fight within ALPA about whether to mention the mistake the USAir pilots had made in pulling back on the stick. One group wanted to ignore that fact to avoid conceding that the pilots made a big error. The other camp wanted to acknowledge it and then show that the pilots were doing their best, given that they had no training about rudder problems or the crossover point.
The sixty-eight-page ALPA submission had no charts or drawings, but it presented a clear, point-by-point case to show why the plane was at fault. It portrayed Emmett and Germano as helpless victims of a sudden malfunction. It said they fought to regain control but could not overcome the problems of the 737. The union’s report made a circumstantial case that the valve had jammed and reversed. It conceded that there were no marks to prove a jam but said the thermal shock test showed that some jams did not leave a mark.
“The situation was perilous,” ALPA wrote. “The more the aircraft turned to the left, the stronger the first officer’s tendency to apply increased right rudder pedal pressure; the harder he pushed on the right rudder pedal, the more certain it became that the jam would not clear.”
In building its case, ALPA agreed with Brenner’s interpretation of the first officer’s grunts, saying there was a distinct correlation between the grunts and when the rudder would have reversed. But ALPA stopped short of saying the plane should be grounded. Cox and other ALPA pilots continued to say that a rudder hardover was “a low-probability event.” The union also dodged the touchy question of the pilots’ pulling back on the stick. It was mentioned only briefly in the report and was not characterized as a mistake.
The submission from USAir also blamed the plane. Relations between the airline and Boeing had been strained, especially since USAir had decided to buy a fleet of new planes from Airbus, Boeing’s archrival. In its submission, USAir complained that Boeing had not warned anyone about the risks of the crossover point: “Under any circumstances then known to the airline industry, the actions of the crew of USAir Flight 427 were reasonable and correct…. The crew had seven seconds, at most, in which to recognize, analyze and recover from a previously-unknown malfunction.”
The Boeing submission came in a glossy spiral binder and was professionally typeset with headlines and subheads. There were foldout charts of the flight data, drawings of the rudder system, and a table that compared the evidence for pilot error against the possibility of a PCU jam and reversal.
The eighty-three-page report appeared to be a compromise of the two camps within Boeing. It was not as absolute and righteous as the company had been a year earlier with the “Boeing Contribution,” the blatant lobbying attempt that had been such a flop. Whereas that document had been unwavering in its conviction that the pilots were to blame, the new report conceded that there was no proof: “In Boeing’s view, under the standards developed by the NTSB, there is insufficient evidence to reach a conclusion as to the cause of the rudder deflection.”
One section cautioned the NTSB about trying to name a probable cause when there was insufficient evidence. It said there had been a “clamor for a definite and expedi
tious explanation” and urged the safety board to be careful. “In order to avoid the wrong answer, it is essential that any cause identified by the Board in this accident investigation be supported by facts and evidence. Mere suspicion, inference and conjecture must not suffice.” It quoted Hall as saying that the only thing worse than not being able to solve a case would be to come up with the wrong solution.
The Boeing submission said there was no connection between 427, the Colorado Springs crash, and the harrowing incident on the Eastwind plane. According to Boeing, a new computer analysis of Colorado Springs confirmed what the company had maintained all along: A powerful wind had thrown the plane to the ground. Boeing dismissed Eastwind as a minor event caused by a rudder device that was misrigged and said there was no proof that the Eastwind valve had jammed, just as there was no proof in the USAir valve.
The Boeing report seemed to have been written largely by the engineers who wanted to blame the pilots. It said the NTSB did not have enough evidence to assign a probable cause—unless the safety board wanted to blame the pilots. In that case, there was plenty of evidence.
The report offered a strong defense of the 737 rudder system and explained why it would not have malfunctioned on Flight 427. Nearly every place that the report mentioned the possibility of a jam, it used the word “hypothetical.” (“Hypothetical scenarios exist that would provide a full rudder deflection to blowdown. However, very specific conditions are required for each hypothetical failure scenario.”) The word appeared at least nineteen times.
But when Boeing discussed pilot error, the word “hypothetical” was not used. The report said airline pilots were often startled by wake turbulence, overreacted, and stomped on the rudder. That was a fact. In Boeing’s view, pilot mistakes were not hypothetical.
To show how a pilot could keep his foot on the pedal, Boeing cited the problem of “unintended acceleration,” when a driver of an automobile mistakenly stomps on the gas pedal instead of the brake, a mistake that has destroyed front windows in many 7-Elevens.
The company offered a scenario showing how the pilots could have caused the crash: Emmett was so relaxed before the wake turbulence that he referred to the Jetstream in “a drawn-out, feigned French accent.” When the plane was jostled by the wake, Emmett pushed on the rudder pedal once or twice to level the wings. He was so startled that he did not realize that he kept pressing on the rudder. He then pulled back on the stick, which stalled the airplane and made it crash.
Boeing did not discuss the dangers of the crossover point, or the fact that the pilots had not been warned about it. But the company’s submission said that Emmett and Germano could have recovered by simply turning the wheel to the right.
The message was subtle but clear: The 132 people on the plane would be alive today if the pilots had done the right thing.
In a surprise to everyone in the investigation, the FAA chimed in with a submission a week after Boeing did. The FAA was always a party in NTSB investigations, but it rarely made a submission. Its relations with the safety board were rocky, so FAA officials were selective about when to pick fights. In most investigations, the FAA sat quietly and took its licking when criticized by the NTSB. But this time the agency adopted an unusual tactic: It told the NTSB there wasn’t enough evidence to name the probable cause.
“The FAA, upon review of the evidence, cannot conclude that a failure mode… has been identified. Any causal findings, to be legitimate, must have conclusive evidence to support findings of a hardover or reversed rudder. Such evidence has yet to be found.”
Haueter was struck by how much the FAA submission sounded like Boeing’s. In his view, the FAA was just posturing to protect itself. If the NTSB blamed the airplane and said it didn’t meet federal safety standards, everyone would want to know why the FAA hadn’t grounded the plane. He thought the FAA was trying to preempt the NTSB by saying there was insufficient evidence.
Haueter believed he had enough evidence. No, he didn’t have absolute proof that the valve had jammed. But he had an extremely strong case that it was the most likely cause. Now he had to convince the most important audience: the board members.
The report was marked “DRAFT—Confidential” when it went to board members in early February 1999. It was five hundred pages long—so big that it had to be held together with a rubber band instead of the usual binder clip. It was the longest crash report in the NTSB’s history.
The probable cause statement was succinct. It said the pilots lost control because the rudder reversed. The report was sharply critical of the 737, saying the plane was not as safe as it should be. Boeing was fixing the rudder valve to prevent a reversal, the report said, but that was “not an adequate fleet-wide remedy.” The report warned that the plane was still vulnerable to rudder malfunctions that could have “catastrophic results,” and it said there could be additional 737 rudder problems that had not been discovered.
The report said the FAA should replace the unique rudder valve with one that is “truly redundant,” which could be done by adding a second valve or splitting the 737’s single rudder panel into two.
The report was very much a group effort. Haueter and his investigators had written long sections that had been compiled and edited by an NTSB report writer. But the person with the greatest influence over it was Bernard Loeb, Haueter’s boss.
Loeb was an intense, opinionated man who had become the NTSB’s director of aviation safety midway through the investigation. He had an in-your-face style and wasn’t shy about telling people they were wrong. Peter Goelz, the safety board’s managing director, recalled that once, during an argument about Flight 427, Loeb had called him an idiot. Loeb was renowned for being a micromanager. George Black, an NTSB board member, jokingly called Loeb and his staff “the Borg,” after the evil force on Star Trek that controls the brains of drones.
Some people at the NTSB thought that Haueter relinquished too much power to Loeb and didn’t challenge him enough. Haueter himself was frustrated that Loeb had such a heavy hand, but Haueter felt that he went as far as he could. He stood up for the ideas that mattered, but ultimately he had to respect that Loeb was his boss.
Indeed, Loeb’s aggressive style was valuable. Haueter’s “Holy Mackerels” and his friendly disposition sometimes made him seem overly tentative. Loeb became the strong advocate the investigation needed at the end, someone with status and a loud voice who could get the final report approved. Loeb’s style was in keeping with the safety board’s culture of argument. The shouting matches got all the conflicts out into the open. A weak theory—or a weak investigator—didn’t last long.
Loeb was pushing a theory that was like a three-legged stool. He thought that, individually, none of the three incidents gave the NTSB enough evidence to blame the problem on a rudder reversal but, collectively, the three provided enough proof that the rudder had jammed and reversed.
New simulations by NTSB computer whiz Dennis Crider showed that a reversal would explain all three incidents. Crider’s most important finding was this: The rates of rudder movement on the three planes were nearly identical. That was powerful evidence. It was highly unlikely that three pilots on three different days in three different airplanes would move the rudder at exactly the same speed.
Loeb and Haueter now were focused on counting votes. Goglia had disqualified himself from voting, but they still needed three of the four remaining board members. If Francis voted against them, they needed everyone else.
Haueter was nervous that they wouldn’t get the votes. He had heard rumors that the board members were split 2-2 on whether to blame the plane. They were said to be skeptical about the report and wanted to blame the crash on “undetermined reasons.”
Undetermined reasons .
Those were the big blue words on the cover of the Colorado Springs report, and Haueter winced at the thought of them on his report. If they appeared on the Flight 427 report, Haueter feared he would be remembered “as the guy who flubbed it.” Even worse, the 737 would continue flying with its elusive rudder problem, and the NTSB would have no leverage to force Boeing to fix it.
Haueter was concerned that Crider’s findings were not having an impact with the board. Crider had to keep revising them as he made last-minute discoveries, but the numbers always added up to the same conclusion—a rudder reversal. Haueter was afraid it looked to the board members like the investigation was in chaos and was biased toward that conclusion.
Haueter and Loeb were also frustrated by Phillips, who was reluctant to blame the crashes on rudder reversals. Phillips said the reversals were a plausible explanation, but that he didn’t have enough solid evidence to be definitive. “I can’t lay a part in front of you and say this is what broke,” he said. He felt the NTSB lost credibility if it pushed too hard for a cause when the evidence wasn’t solid.
Haueter thought his friend was being wishy-washy. He said Phillips would go out to Boeing and come back sounding as though he had been brainwashed. He kept telling Phillips that they had a strong case and had some latitude because they only had to come up with a probable cause.
As Crider scrambled to finish the new computer simulations, Boeing, which knew all the angles to work at the NTSB, was busy lobbying the board members. Boeing had taken each of the board members for a ride in the M-Cab simulator to show how easily Flight 427’s pilots could have saved the airplane. The company also had provided the board members with a video about the plane that discussed the extensive plans for safety improvements.
USAir was doing its own lobbying, trying to persuade the board members that the plane was at fault and thus putting the airline in the odd position of arguing that every 737—including the 200 that the airline itself operated—had a safety problem. A USAir official came to the NTSB offices and showed the board members a horrifying video that combined a computer animation of the crash with the actual cockpit voice tape. It gave board members a chance to see and hear two pilots fight and scream and then die, to emphasize USAir’s position that the pilots had no idea what the plane was doing.
Haueter and Loeb figured they had a good chance with two of the board members—Chairman Jim Hall and John Hammerschmidt. Hall did not have the technical background to understand the intricacies of the valve, but he had been suspicious of Boeing and seemed to have high regard for the staff recommendations. Hammerschmidt, a shy man who was virtually invisible as a board member, was also expected to go with the staff recommendation.
Bob Francis was shaping up to be just as difficult as Haueter had feared. He said the report was too absolute about the rudder reversal and that it was overly critical of the FAA. In his view, the NTSB had “fairly shaky evidence” and should not be so critical. He met with Hall in the chairman’s office and said he would vote against the report unless it was toned down.
The other key board member was George Black, a brainy highway engineer from suburban Atlanta. He spent far more time studying the evidence than the other board members and filled a spare office with engineering reports, maps of the plane’s radar track, and a small plastic model of a 737 that he used to demonstrate the crash. He scrawled a sign for the door that said, THE WAR ROOM.
No one was sure how Black would vote. He liked to play devil’s advocate, throwing out new ideas that often contradicted each other. He liked to tease Boeing executives about the possibly dismal future for the 737, their best-selling product, if the rudder was blamed for the crash. “Boeing has no corporate sense of humor,” he grumbled.
Black was convinced that the plane had a problem in its rudder system. He had discussed the crash with pilots and engineers and decided that Emmett and Germano would not stomp on a rudder pedal and hold it to their death. He was especially impressed with Crider’s simulations and Brenner’s work matching the grunts to the precise moments at which the rudder appeared to reverse. He was not persuaded by Boeing’s M-Cab ride and thought it was understandable that the pilots—unaware of the dangers of the crossover point—could lose control of the plane.
Yet he thought the report was too strong. “Tom and Bernie come in here thumping the report like it were the Torah,” he said, but they still had no proof. He said the board members had some latitude because they were naming the probable cause, but he wondered, “At what point does this rise to the level ‘probable’?” He also was concerned that Crider’s simulations were a little too perfect, matching the reversal scenario every time, even when Crider had to make adjustments. Haueter assured Black that the reversal scenario was just one of several that could match, but Black was still wary. He worried that Loeb and his deputies were too adamant about the plane.
Suddenly, right in the midst of the deliberations, there was another 737 scare: a USAir MetroJet plane had a strange rudder incident.
Shortly before noon on February 23, 1999, MetroJet Flight 2710 was cruising at 33,000 feet over Maryland when the pilots noticed the wheel suddenly turn to the left. They quickly realized the autopilot was turning the wheel to compensate for rudder movement. But the pilots had not touched the rudder pedals. The copilot then put his feet on the pedals and discovered that they were displaced to the right. He turned off the autopilot and pushed on the left pedal to return the rudder to the center position, but the pedals seemed to be jammed.
The pilots quickly followed an emergency procedure that had been developed by Cox and another USAir pilot. They turned off the yaw damper, the device that makes small adjustments to the rudder, and activated the standby rudder system, which uses a backup hydraulic valve instead of the main one. The rudder pedals moved back to the center.
The pilots announced to passengers that they had a flight control problem and then landed at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. After they parked at the gate and everyone got off, a platoon of investigators from the safety board, the FAA, ALPA, and USAir arrived and began removing evidence. They took the two flight recorders, the yaw damper coupler, the rudder PCU and its valve-within-a-valve, and one liter of hydraulic fluid.
The flight recorder showed that the incident was very different from the Pittsburgh crash. Instead of the fast-moving hardover, the MetroJet rudder had moved slowly to its limit. One FAA official called it “a slow-over.” The incident was even more curious because the plane had one of the new, improved rudder valves that prevented a reversal, and the valve showed no signs of a jam.
The incident left Haueter and Loeb scratching their heads. It added urgency to their work in the final weeks before the board meeting, but it also raised some troubling questions. Had they found all the problems that might lurk inside the rudder system? Did the valve have a different flaw that they had not uncovered? Had there been a jam somewhere else in the PCU? Cox, who had blamed the USAir crash on a “gremlin” in the plane, said the MetroJet incident showed there was “another gremlin in the tail of the 737.”
It also revealed a major shortcoming of all their work. Haueter’s team had some of the smartest engineers in aviation, supplemented by the Greatest Minds in Hydraulics. Boeing had deployed its best and brightest and called in people with decades of experience. But for all that brainpower, they still had not come up with a definitive answer about what had happened to Flight 427. That was remarkable because they were not dealing with a million lines of computer code or a newfangled electronic gadget. They were dealing with an old mechanical device—an ordinary valve designed when John F. Kennedy was president. And now, more than thirty years later, they were struggling to understand the gadget and the myriad ways it could work.
“I don’t even think the inventors understand it,” said Steve O’Neal, the FAA flight test engineer. He said the MetroJet incident suggested that more changes were needed in the rudder system. “We just hope another 737 doesn’t come screaming out of the sky in the meantime.”
George Black, the NTSB board member, was worried that the MetroJet incident revealed that the investigators had been too fixated on the valve and had missed a problem elsewhere in the plane. He knew they had ruled out hundreds of possibilities—everything from bird strikes to the fat guy theory—but he was still worried that they were missing the real problem. He was concerned that they would approve the report and then end up having to revise it later. “Are we premature?” he asked. “We want to make sure we don’t start off down some path and decide it was unnecessary.”
As they debated the wording of the report, Black and Francis were particularly concerned about one of its findings, which lambasted the FAA for certifying the 737 rudder system. The finding said that the 737 would not have been certified if the FAA had insisted on “a high level of safety.”
If that was true, the board members said, the NTSB should be calling for the entire 737 fleet to be grounded—which would be viewed as a ridiculous request. The plane had 92 million flight hours and one of the lowest crash rates of any transport jet.
Black and Francis also complained that the report’s recommendations for the rudder system were too specific, reading like a mandate for Boeing to split the system into two separate valves. They said the NTSB should not tell Boeing or the FAA how to design airplanes. The board should recommend broad principles and leave the details to the experts. Black kept invoking a philosophy used by physicians: “Do no harm.”
Haueter and Loeb insisted that they did not want to ground the plane, which would put entire airlines out of business and wreak havoc with the world’s economy. But they argued that the rudder system needed to be redesigned because a single failure could cripple the plane. Indeed, two years earlier, the five board members had unanimously approved a safety recommendation letter that said the 737 was not as safe as other planes.
While the other board members debated the wording, Hall began to strategize how he could get a unanimous vote. He believed a 4-0 decision was critical in order to maintain the board’s credibility on such a touchy issue. Hall was comfortable with the strong wording in Loeb and Haueter’s report, but he was perfectly willing to tone it down to get a 4-0 vote.
He was in a bind. If he kept Loeb’s strong language but ended up with a 2-2 deadlock, the whole four-year investigation would go down the drain. The FAA and Boeing might end up doing nothing to fix the plane. On the other hand, if the report was weakened too much, there was a risk that Loeb would get angry and publicly criticize the board. Loeb had never explicitly made such a threat, but he didn’t have to. He was about to retire and had nothing to lose. He was well regarded among aviation reporters and a complaint from him that the board wasn’t tough enough would surely
make front-page headlines.
The deliberations showed the NTSB as a dysfunctional family. Francis rarely spoke with other board members or with the investigators, yet he complained that Loeb wouldn’t permit his underlings to speak freely. But Loeb and the staff complained that Francis was aloof and had not spent much time studying the accident. Likewise, relations between Black and Loeb were strained. Black felt that Loeb was too abrasive and that he stifled discussion of ideas.
Hall appointed his assistant, Deb Smith, to act as a peace negotiator. She shuttled back and forth from Francis to Black to Loeb, trying to broker a compromise. Black and Francis had tremendous leverage in getting the changes they wanted. Francis, using his special counsel, Denise Daniels, as his own peace negotiator, sent a lengthy memo that detailed his concerns. He said he would vote against the entire report unless the changes were made. His complaint was primarily about tone. He wanted the report softened so it did not sound so absolute that the rudder had reversed.
There were lengthy debates about a single word. The draft report had said the 737 needed a rudder system that was “truly redundant.” Loeb and Haueter had added “truly” to strengthen the sentence so McSweeny, the FAA safety official, would not have any wiggle room. They were afraid if they simply said the valve was not redundant, McSweeny would retort that it was redundant. By adding “truly,” they gave the sentence more impact.
Black, who was often annoyed by Loeb’s aggressive style, was not about to accept Loeb’s word. Black suggested “reliably redundant,” which ultimately was adopted as the final wording.
The group also debated whether to ask the FAA to establish an independent panel to assess the 737’s rudder system. The panel, which would have representatives from Boeing, the FAA, the NTSB, and academia, would conduct a year-long examination and make recommendations on how the plane could be improved. Loeb regarded that as a waste of time. The NTSB was supposed to be the independent safety agency, he said. There was no need to call in another independent group to validate their work. That just undermined the NTSB’s authority. But Black and Francis liked the idea of an independent panel that would take a broad look at the 737’s problems and make an impartial recommendation. The suggestion for the panel got added to the report.
After exchanging drafts by E-mail, the board members also decided to tone down the probable cause statement. Instead of Loeb and Haueter’s definitive assertion that a rudder reversal had caused the crash, the board members softened it to say the sudden movement by the rudder was “most likely” caused by a jam and reversal.
As the final meeting neared, it appeared that Smith and Daniels had brokered a compromise. But as they walked into the hotel ballroom, they were nervous that the deal might unravel.
The final meeting on Flight 427 was held at the Springfield, Virginia, Hilton on March 23 and 24, 1999. The big room looked like a movie set. Blue lights illuminated the curtains. The board members sat behind a wooden desk like a jury deciding if the 737 was guilty of murder.
Chairman Hall opened the meeting by reading a statement that said the event was part of the Government in the Sunshine Act, which required federal agencies to do their work “in open session.” But in fact, all of the real debate had occurred behind closed doors long before the meeting.
It was one of the biggest days in Haueter’s career, and his wife, Trisha Dedik, had come to watch. Haueter hadn’t slept well the night before the meeting, waking up several times worrying about the outcome. But as he tossed in bed, he couldn’t pin down any single thing that was likely to go wrong.
The ballroom was packed with about three hundred people. Relatives of Flight 427’s passengers sat in a special section, many wearing photos of the victims on buttons or chains around their necks. Brett Van Bortel took a seat in the last row of the family section. He didn’t realize it, but sitting in the row directly behind him were the people he blamed for Joan’s death—top officials from Boeing and USAir.
Brett was looking healthy and confident. It had been four and a half years since the crash, and he had healed as much as anyone could. He was dating again and engrossed in his job at a mutual fund company. He listened attentively as Haueter began his presentation.
“Today, the investigative staff is pleased to present the report on the crash of USAir Flight 427,” Haueter said. He noted that it had been the longest investigation in the safety board’s history.
Over the next several hours, Haueter and his team explained the 737 rudder system and why they believed it had reversed on the USAir, United, and Eastwind planes. They spoke in absolutes, as if there was no doubt about what happened.
“The pilot is surprised and pushes harder—as hard as he can,” Malcolm Brenner said about Flight 427. “But instead, the controls reverse and move the rudder all the way to the left.”
Brenner talked about the risks of the crossover point. He said Emmett, Flight 427’s first officer, discovered “for the first time in his career” that he could not turn the wheel to bring the wings level and stop the plane from rolling out of control. The veteran pilot was helpless as the big 737 began to plummet toward the ground.
Crider, a goateed former McDonnell Douglas engineer who was considered a genius with flight data, used so much jargon in his presentation that many people in the audience had no idea what he was saying. But they understood when he summarized the 737 incidents by saying, “A rudder reversal scenario will match all three events.” In the audience, Boeing engineers could only listen and bite their lips. They had no opportunity for rebuttal. This was the NTSB’s show.
Smith and Daniels sat behind the board members wondering if their compromise would fall apart. But as the board questioned Haueter and his staff, there were no hints of any disagreements. As the session stretched into late afternoon, Hall decided to adjourn and resume the following day, although many NTSB staff members wanted to wrap it up that evening.
The next morning, Haueter was feeling confident as he drove his Toyota 4-Runner to the hotel. “Everything we wanted to say is now out there,” he said. “I feel pretty good about that.” But as he pulled into the hotel parking lot, Haueter could see that his message about the 737 was not getting the attention he had hoped it would. There were only two TV trucks in the lot. Many network crews had been diverted to the Pentagon because U.S. planes had begun bombing Yugoslavia a day earlier. Hall’s decision to extend the meeting to a second day also diluted the impact, because reporters had to write two incremental stories instead of a single, more powerful account. In many newspapers the 737 decision would be relegated to a short story buried inside.
When Hall reconvened the meeting, board members asked the investigators a few more questions. The questions indicated that they had no major disagreements with the report.
Hall then read the conclusions, the thirty-four findings that built the case for the probable cause. The entire room—the Boeing engineers, the USAir officials, the reporters, Brett and the other family members, Haueter and his staff—had waited nearly five years for this moment.
The USAir Flight 427 flight crew was properly certificated and qualified…. No evidence indicated any preexisting medical or behavioral conditions that might have adversely affected the flight crew’s performance.
The first set of conclusions dealt with what had not happened, to show that the NTSB had ruled out bombs, birds, and a midair collision. The conclusions were designed to satisfy the conspiracy theorists who still believed someone had blown up the plane.
USAir flight 427 did not experience an in-flight fire, bomb, explosion or structural failure.
Hall moved on to the findings that built the case for the valve reversal. He read Conclusion No. 8, which even Boeing could support:
About 1903:00, USAir flight 427’s rudder deflected rapidly to the left and reached its left aerodynamic blowdown limit shortly thereafter.
The next finding ruled out pilot error. All of Boeing’s lobbying—the hours and hours of phone calls, the visits from company executives, the “Boeing Contribution,” and all the rides in M-Cab—had failed to persuade the safety board.
Analysis of the human performance data, including operational factors, does not support a scenario in which the flight crew of USAir Flight 427 applied and held a full left rudder input until ground impact more than 20 seconds later.
Hall switched gears and read several conclusions about the Colorado Springs crash. It was an extraordinary moment. The board was reopening the eight-year-old investigation and declaring that it had solved the mystery.
Analysis of the CVR, Safety Board computer simulation, and human performance data, including operational factors, from the United Flight 585 accident shows that they were consistent with a rudder reversal.
When Hall got to the conclusion that blamed the Colorado Springs crash on a reversal, the families broke into applause. But Hall admonished them, “Please, no demonstrations.”
He then read the probable cause statement for the USAir crash—four and half years of investigation boiled down to two sentences:
The probable cause of the USAir Flight 427 accident was a loss of control of the airplane resulting from the movement of the rudder surface to its blowdown limit. The rudder surface most likely deflected in a direction opposite to that commanded by the pilots as a result of a jam of the main rudder power control unit servo valve secondary slide to the servo valve housing offset from its neutral position and overtravel of the primary slide.
Translation: The rudder probably reversed. The fault was with the airplane, not the pilots.
“Any comment or discussion?” Hall asked, but no one replied. “If not, do I hear a motion that the findings and probable cause be adopted?”
Hammerschmidt made the motion and Francis made the second.
“Seconded,” Hall said. “All in favor, please signify by saying ‘aye.’”
“The findings and probable cause are unanimously adopted by the National Transportation Safety Board,” Hall said.
Behind him, Smith grinned at Daniels and raised her eyebrows in relief.
In the audience, some family members wept. Others choked back their tears.
Hall invited the board members each to make a final statement. Francis spoke of the importance of flight data recorders. Hammerschmidt said the investigation provided valuable research on wake turbulence. Black said it had been a frustrating experience.
“We engineers normally like to base our decisions on hard, cold facts—measurable things, things we can lay our hands on,” he said. “And while there is much evidence in these accidents, the vast majority of it is not hard, cold evidence.” He said he and his family often flew 737s and that the plane had “a good, documented safe history. There’s an awful lot of successful flights out there.”
As Black left the stage, he told reporters he had misgivings about the case. “I damn near voted against it,” he said. “This is a circumstantial case.”
Hall, renowned for blasting the FAA and Boeing, was uncharacteristically muted. He told reporters that he flew 737s every week, an endorsement of their safety. His only strong comments dealt with the FAA’s sluggishness on flight data recorders. He said little about the rudder. (He later said he was subdued because he did not want to anger the FAA before it began the 737 engineering study.)
After the meeting, Boeing officials held a news conference in the only meeting room they could find in the small hotel—the bar. The company took a conciliatory approach on the 737 report, and no longer pushed the pilot-error theory.
“We respect the board’s opinion,” said Charlie Higgins, Boeing’s vice president for airplane safety. He said new rudder valves being installed in 737s “completely eliminate any possibility of a reversal.”
The company will “do everything we can to look at the 737 rudder system and see if there is anything that can be improved,” he said. Higgins looked to the back of the room where several family members stood, and acknowledged their loss.
“I’d like to sincerely offer our condolences to the families,” he said. “It’s small consolation to them, but I believe this accident has improved aviation.”
Out in the hallway Brett said he felt vindicated.
“Pretty hard-hitting,” he said to his lawyer, Mike Demetrio.
“I agree,” Demetrio said. “They took the approach that the plane was deficient from Day One.”
Demetrio said some people were worried that the board would cave to pressure from Boeing, but that didn’t happen. “Today, I think the taxpayers got their money’s worth from the federal government,” he said.
Brett stepped inside the temporary NTSB office across from the ballroom and thanked several of the investigators. He told Loeb, “I really appreciate your being vocal yesterday.”
“That’s what they pay me to do,” Loeb said.
A few minutes later Brett said he was pessimistic that Tom McSweeny, the FAA official in charge of airplane certification, would agree with the NTSB’s recommendations. Brett and other family members had met with McSweeny that morning, and Brett came away with the impression that the FAA official was more interested in making excuses than in being aggressive about the rudder problem.
Brett said he regretted that the NTSB had been unable to solve the Colorado Springs mystery eight years earlier. If they had solved it, he said, “Joan would be alive today.”
Upstairs in the FAA office, McSweeny stubbornly refused to give the NTSB credit. He said his agency would take further action about the 737, but he said it was not because of anything the NTSB had done. He said the FAA would call for faster minimum speeds to ensure that 737s did not fly slower than the crossover point, but he insisted, “We’re doing that because of the unexplained MetroJet incident. It is not a response to this meeting.”
When Haueter returned to the NTSB office at L’Enfant Plaza, everyone was glum. They were angry about Black’s and Hall’s comments. The board members were backing away from the report they had just approved. “The report was adopted unscathed, but it felt like cold water was thrown on it,” Haueter said.
To perk up the troops, he went downstairs to the L’Enfant Plaza mall and bought four bottles of champagne and some plastic glasses. He summoned the Flight 427 team to the conference room.
They reminisced about the investigation. Malcolm Brenner told the group that Haueter must be blessed with some kind of superhuman hormone that kept him going when others were ready to quit. Someone else proposed a toast to Eastwind pilot Brian Bishop, who had survived a rudder reversal, saved fifty-five lives, and given the NTSB key evidence about what was wrong in the 737.
“To Captain Bishop,” one of the investigators said, and they all clinked their plastic cups together.
With the NTSB investigation complete, lawyers for USAir, Boeing, and the families quickened the pace of their settlement talks. The companies were eager to settle with all families before the Cook County trial, scheduled to begin in November 1999.
Two years earlier, USAir’s insurance company had offered Brett $2 million to settle. The company told Demetrio that it was a reasonable offer because that’s what the company had paid other people in similar circumstances. Brett didn’t think $2 million was enough. He said he wanted to go to court.
To reach a settlement amount for Joan, both sides had hired economists and accountants. They had estimated her lifetime earnings if she had not been killed in the crash, as well as the cost for Brett to hire someone else to perform her household chores. The economists then subtracted the “terminated consumption”—the amount Joan would have spent each year on clothes, food, and so on. The calculations were all part of the painful but necessary process of setting a price on Joan’s life.
There was no agreement on the numbers. The economist hired by Brett’s lawyers estimated his total loss from Joan’s death at $1.6 million to $1.8 million. An economist hired by USAir estimated the loss at $1.4 million, while one hired by Boeing came in at $833,000.
One reason for the disparity was that the parties disagreed on how long Joan would have worked before retiring. The economist hired by Brett’s firm assumed 31 years after the crash, USAir used 29.5 years, and Boeing assumed 28.5. Also, Brett’s economist came up with a higher value for Joan’s household chores. For 1999, for example, he said the chores were worth $10,974. USAir’s estimate was $9,993, while Boeing’s was $7,011.
Why such a range? The economists used different sources for their calculations and applied various factors to adjust them for the future. Their assumptions usually benefited their client’s interests. In general, the economist used by Brett’s lawyer relied on more generous assumptions, while the USAir and Boeing economists used more conservative figures.
The numbers provided a starting point for the settlement talks. In 1998, a year after Brett rejected the $2 million offer, his lawyer, Mike Demetrio, had made a counteroffer to USAir and Boeing, asking for $5 million. Demetrio said that figure reflected the $1.8 million estimate from his economist, plus a sizable amount for Brett’s “loss of society,” the legal term for the loss of love and companionship when a spouse dies. There also was a “significant premium” to account for the long delay since the 1994 crash, Demetrio said.
But USAir and Boeing couldn’t respond because the companies were too busy fighting each other about how much each should pay. At some depositions, the Boeing and USAir lawyers were “screaming at each other at the top of their lungs,” Demetrio said. “It was like watching my third-grader on the playground.”
In February 1999—about one month before the NTSB meeting—Boeing and USAir lawyers put aside their feud and floated the possibility of a $3 million settlement. But Brett again said it was too low. The case was headed for trial.
He viewed the trial as his revenge against the companies. He said he wanted “to stick it to them financially” and embarrass them in court. The USAir and Boeing executives would get a public grilling from Demetrio and other lawyers. For weeks, the companies would be battered by the bad publicity.
As the trial date neared, both sides knew there would be last-minute settlement talks. That was the nature of crash lawsuits. The parties often settled only a few hours before the trial was to start. There were five cases left in Cook County, including Brett’s. They were scheduled to be tried together.
The lawyers had put together powerful exhibits to sway the jury and create public relations problems for Boeing and USAir. The biggest was a full-size, fully functional 737 tail. It was three stories h
igh and painted in USAir’s colors. The lawyers planned to put it outside the courthouse and demonstrate a rudder reversal in full view of the public and the news media. For Boeing and USAir, that would be a public relations nightmare.
Demetrio and the other plaintiff’s attorneys had another powerful prop: a four-foot-long replica of a USAir 737 with a removable top. Demetrio was going to lift the top off and show jurors the inside. He planned to say: “This was where Joan Van Bortel was sitting.”
Negotiations began Monday, November 1, two days before the trial was supposed to start. By the evening of November 2, USAir and Boeing had come up with a new offer for Brett: $6 million. It was double their last offer and $1 million more than Brett’s request a year earlier.
Demetrio called his client shortly before 5 P.M. “We think it’s a good offer,” he said.
“Do I have time to think about this?” Brett asked.
Demetrio said he needed an answer that night.
Sitting in his office in Oak Brook, a Chicago suburb, Brett pondered his options. He had wanted a trial to publicly embarrass Boeing and USAir and force them to be more responsible with safety issues in the future. He felt that Boeing was largely responsible for the crash, that the company knew about the rudder problem after the Colorado Springs accident but did nothing to correct it. Brett believed the company had rolled the dice with people’s lives rather than paying to fix the planes. He also blamed USAir for allowing the plane to have dirty hydraulic fluid, which he believed had contributed to the crash.
On the other hand, Brett wanted to start a foundation named after Joan to pay for scholarships. The money would allow him to start it immediately. Six million dollars was triple the original offer, and Demetrio said it was high for a victim with no children. If Brett went to trial, he would be taking a big risk. He might get less money, and he might not see it for years because of appeals.
Or the trial might give him a lot more.
Time was of the essence. Joan’s father had died recently, and her mother was getting older. Brett wanted Joan’s mother to know that the scholarship foundation was going to be a reality. So he called her at home in Melrose, Iowa, and asked her opinion. She said she was comfortable with Brett making the decision.
After he hung up, Brett came up with a novel way to decide.
Fate had put Joan on Flight 427, so it might as well be fate that decided whether he should settle. He would flip a coin. Maybe God or Joan’s hand would decide which way it landed.
He reached into a drawer where he kept his spare change and grabbed a quarter. It was from 1987, which seemed appropriate because that was the year he and Joan had started dating. Heads he would go to trial. Tails he would settle.
He flipped the coin and was sure it would come up heads. As it tumbled through the air, he thought about the trial and what it would be like. The quarter landed on the carpet.
Tails.
It was time to settle.
He took a long walk and then called Demetrio from his cell phone. He wanted to be sure a settlement wouldn’t prevent him from writing a book about his experiences. Would there be a gag order?
No, Demetrio assured him. Brett was free to talk.
“Let’s end it,” Brett said.
USAir Flight 427 changed aviation forever.
At the NTSB’s urging, the FAA conducted an unprecedented study of the 737 rudder system. An independent panel of hydraulic engineers and flight control experts spent a year studying the valve, flying 737 simulators and analyzing extreme failures that were not fully explored in the Flight 427 investigation.
In its final report, the panel agreed with the NTSB and warned that the 737 rudder system was susceptible to many failures and jams that could be catastrophic. The group recommended better training for 737 pilots and, in the long term, a complete redesign of the plane’s rudder system.
As a result of the report, the FAA and Boeing announced in September 2000 that the unique valve-within-a-valve rudder system on all 737s would be replaced by a two-valve system, similar to the one used on other planes. The announcement marked a surprising and dramatic change for Boeing and the FAA. Both had insisted for years that the redesign was unnecessary.
Boeing said it would pay the entire cost of the new rudder system, estimated to be more than $240 million. The company said the new system should be installed in all 737s by 2007.
In the meantime, all 737s have been equipped with improved valves that cannot reverse. The planes also have better yaw damper couplers (the computers that command small adjustments to the rudder) and pressure limiters (devices that limit how far a rudder will move). Pilots have been alerted to the crossover point and have been trained to identify and recover from rudder problems.
After years of complaints from the NTSB, the FAA mandated that airlines upgrade flight data recorders to take additional measurements such as rudder pedal position, a change that should make it easier for investigators to determine the cause of future crashes. Instead of the thirteen parameters recorded on the USAir plane, they now must have at least seventeen.
Tom McSweeny, the FAA official who was criticized for being soft on Boeing, left the FAA in the fall of 2001. He is now director of international safety and regulatory affairs for Boeing.
USAir changed its name to USAirways in early 1997 after former United Airlines head Stephen Wolf became chairman. One of Wolf’s first priorities was a new image that has helped erase the memories of the airline’s five crashes. USAirways repainted its fleet, announced plans to buy new Airbus planes (the airline said the 737 problems were not a factor in the decision), and improved amenities for frequent travelers. A plan to merge with United Airlines fizzled in 2001, so USAir once again talked about consolidating and cutting costs. Its future was unclear as this book went to press.
Boeing merged with its rival McDonnell Douglas in 1997. One of the biggest challenges for the gargantuan company has been keeping up with demand. Sales of 737s remained strong and were unaffected by the controversy over the rudder. In 2000 Boeing produced more than twice as many 737s as in 1994, the year of the crash.
The painful experiences of the families of Flight 427 and other crashes prompted Congress to pass the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act, which requires airlines to have detailed plans for responding to a crash and notifying family members. An airline must notify the next of kin as soon as it verifies that the passenger was aboard the plane—regardless of whether other names have been confirmed, and the airline must consult with families about plans for human remains and personal effects. Also, the law says attorneys cannot make unsolicited contact with families until at least thirty days after an accident.
Under the new law, the NTSB is designated as the main federal agency to help families after an aviation disaster. Many safety board investigators, including Haueter, did not want their agency to take on that responsibility because they believed it conflicted with the safety board’s investigative mission. But Chairman Jim Hall said it was consistent with the government’s role to help people in need. Since the passage of the act, airlines and the NTSB have been praised for their treatment of families.
In late 2000, Tom Haueter was promoted to deputy director of aviation safety, the second-highest aviation job in the NTSB. He says he is confident that his team solved the mystery of Flight 427, although it’s possible that the 737 rudder system may have other failure modes that haven’t been found. “The big lesson is to keep pushing,” he says. “In 585 [the Colorado Springs case], we ran out of data and quit. In 427, we didn’t quit.”
In the summer of 2001 the NTSB released a revised report on United Airlines Flight 585, the Colorado Springs crash. It incorporated the findings of the Flight 427 investigation and the new conclusion that the United plane most likely had a rudder reversal. The words “FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS” no longer appear on the cover.
Haueter still flies in 737s on business trips, but his constant talk of rudder problems has frightened his wife, Trisha, to the point that when they go on vacation, she insists on flying in a different type of plane.
Jean McGrew retired from Boeing in 2000. He says the crash investigation took a heavy toll on him and was a big factor in his decision to retire. Always blunt about his feelings, he says he is still convinced the pilots caused the crash.
However, McGrew says he is glad the 737’s unique rudder valve is being replaced. “It was not as good as it should have been,” he says. “It could have been more fail-safe than it was.”
He has strong feelings about the NTSB and how it was run by politicians: “I think they ought to take the politicians and get rid of them.”
John Cox was promoted to fly the Airbus A320 for USAirways and in 2001 was named chairman of ALPA’s Executive Air Safety Committee, the union’s top safety job. During the USAir investigation, a fellow pilot sent him a book with this inscription: “John, there are people alive today that otherwise would not be except for your work in safety, and I thank you for that.”
On September 9, 2000, the day after the sixth anniversary of the crash, Brett Van Bortel got engaged to Victoria Hartz, a woman he had been dating for several years. They were married in July 2001.
His lawyers received $1.5 million, which was 25 percent of his settlement. After other expenses were deducted, Brett ended up with $4.18 million. He is using $1 million for the Joan Lahart-Van Bortel Memorial Scholarship Fund. Each year, it provides a four-year scholarship for a young woman from Joan’s home county in Iowa to attend college. Brett also used some of his settlement to take Joan’s mother and brother to Ireland.
Brett says he has healed as well as anyone can. Coping with the crash “is something that never gets better, it just recedes further in the past.”
As I completed interviews for this book in 2001, many people at the NTSB wanted to take credit for the success of the Flight 427 investigation. There were so many conflicting claims that it took me several days to sort them out. Ultimately, I decided it doesn’t matter who came up with the idea for the independent engineering panel or who devised the phrase “reliably redundant.” The truth is that the Flight 427 investigation was an extraordinary team effort. If it weren’t for the odd mix of characters and brilliance and pure good luck, the case might still be open.
Haueter’s quiet persistence kept the investigation plodding along when some at the safety board wanted him to give up. His friendly, low-key style allowed a healthy exchange of ideas. His friend Greg Phillips, the systems group leader, was an important voice of caution. Phillips kept the NTSB from rushing to judgment and blaming the valve when there was insufficient proof.
Loeb, the aggressive manager, provided an important spark when the investigation reached its lowest point. He cleared the way for the first batch of safety recommendations and became the forceful advocate Haueter needed at the end.
Chairman Hall’s lack of technical experience and his country bumpkin persona often frustrated the investigators. But his outsider perspective led to the most important breakthrough. It was Hall’s idea to create a panel of the Greatest Minds in Hydraulics, a suggestion that some investigators—including Haueter—opposed. The panel proposed the thermal shock test, which became the turning point of the investigation.
Board members George Black and Bob Francis also provided an important perspective, toning down a report that was stronger than the facts justified. They made sure it was based on solid ground.
The NTSB party system has often been criticized for supposedly allowing companies to manipulate an investigation. But in this case, it worked marvelously. The key discovery in the investigation—that the valve could reverse—was made not by someone at the NTSB but by an engineer at Boeing. The company provided immeasurable technical experience to the probe, as well as millions of dollars in tests that the tiny safety board could never have afforded. The constant fighting between Boeing and ALPA crystallized the issues for the safety board and ensured that every theory was considered.
During the six years I worked on this book, I heard a lot of criticism of the NTSB. I approached the investigation with an open mind. I considered the possibility that the party system was flawed or that the NTSB was a puppet that could be controlled by a powerful corporation such as Boeing. But I found just the opposite. The party system led to important breakthroughs, and Haueter and his investigators were not cowed by the mighty Boeing Company. I also believe that the NTSB’s messy internal fights led to a more solid report and that the tension between the NTSB and the FAA creates a healthy check and balance.
In the case of Flight 427, the system worked.
The View from the Cockpit
Using information from the flight data recorder and the radar track, photographer Bill Serne re-created the final 28 seconds of Flight 427. He shot the pictures from a helicopter matching the altitude and pitch to show what the pilots would have seen out their window as the jet spiraled down. A note about altitude: The plane crashed into a hill that was about 1,300 feet high, so impact occurred at 1,300 feet, not zero.
(Photographs copyright 1999 St. Petersburg Times)
28 seconds to impact, altitude 6,000 feet.
“Oh, yeah, I see zuh Jetstream.”
“Sheeez.”
“Oh God… Oh God.”
2 seconds to impact, altitude 1,800 feet.
1 second to impact, altitude 1,500 feet.
Joan Van Bortel. She left for the airport so late that coworkers thought she would miss her flight.
(Photo courtesy of Brett Van Bortel)
Brett and Joan Van Bortel at a company party on September 2, 1994, six days before the crash. Joan had lots of ambition. She wanted to be the highest-ranking woman at Akzo Nobel.
The grisly scene on the hill. Investigators had to sift through dirt and vegetation to find the tiny pieces of wreckage.
(Photo courtesy of the FAA)
Plastic suits. Investigators had to wear protective clothing and be decontaminated with a bleach solution.
The scene in the Pittsburgh hangar. The wreckage was laid out in the shape of an airplane.
An impossible jigsaw puzzle. Investigators found a few large pieces of the wing and fuselage, but most were no bigger than a car door.
NTSB chairman Jim Hall amid the wreckage.
A piece of Ship 513s fuselage. The plane virtually disintegrated when it struck the hill.
The plane’s battered logbook, recovered from the wreckage. The log showed that Ship 513 had no significant mechanical problems before the flight.
The mangled flight data recorder. It took only thirteen measurements and could not answer the fundamental question of the investigation: Did man or machine cause the crash?
(Photo by Bill Serne; copyright 1999 St. Petersburg Times)
Tom Haueter. He brought a refreshing dose of Midwestern charm to the investigation. “Holy mackerel!” he frequently exclaimed.
Jean McGrew. Boeing’s chief engineer for the 737 believed the pilots were startled and caused the crash.
Greg Phillips holding the unique rudder valve from the USAir plane. He was the mos
t cautious voice at the NTSB. While other investigators were convinced there was a malfunction, Phillips was still unsure.
A ghost ride in Boeing’s M-Cab flight simulator. M-Cab rides allowed investigators to re-create the final seconds of Flight 427 and feel the same bumps and twists that the pilots did.
Roxie Laybourne. The world’s expert on feather identification was called in to determine if a bird caused the crash.
John Cox. The USAir pilot believed there was “a gremlin” in the plane that made the rudder malfunction.
Brett Van Bortel at the crash site on the first anniversary. He looked up at the sky as a USAir 737 passed overhead.
Mementos in the woods. This tree, photographed on the one-year anniversary, still bears scars from the crash.
The investigators talk with the press before the flight tests. From left, Bud Laynor, Mike Benson, Tom Haueter, and Tom Jacky.
The wake turbulence test. Pilots flew the USAir 737 through the wakes of another plane to see if turbulence played a role in the crash.
Cox (visible in the cockpit) flies the USAir 737 during the tests. A T-33 chase plane flies beside the 737 to take photos.
Haueter in his Stearman biplane. To get a break from the pressures of the investigation, he went flying.
Testing the fat guy theory in a Boeing hangar. The investigators wondered if an overweight passenger had stepped through the floor onto a rudder cable.
Tom Haueter and his wife, Trisha Dedik. She grew frustrated as the investigation consumed her husband and interrupted their life together.
A memorial to the crash. The names of Flight 427’s 132 passengers are etched in granite at the Sewickley Cemetery outside Pittsburgh.
Brian Bishop. The Eastwind Airlines pilot experienced a rudder incident that was eerily similar to that of Flight 427.
Malcolm Brenner. The NTSB human-performance expert studied the pilots’ grunts and cursing for clues about what happened.
ailerons Panels on the wings that control the roll of the plane and allow it to bank to the right or left.
ALPA The Air Line Pilots Association, a labor union.
control column The “stick” in the cockpit that pilots use to make the plane climb and descend. On top of the control column is the wheel, which is used to control the roll of the plane.
crossover point The critical airspeed at which a full swing by the 737’s rudder cannot be counteracted by the ailerons. When a plane has a rudder hardover while flying slower than the crossover point, the pilot must speed up to regain control.
CVR Cockpit voice recorder. Also known as a “black box,” it records sounds and pilot conversations that help investigators determine what caused a crash.
flaps Movable panels on the wings that provide extra lift for a plane at slower airspeeds.
fly-by-wire A computerized system in newer airplanes that sends electronic signals to move the flight controls. The Boeing 737 is not a fly-by-wire plane. It has cables that move back and forth to send commands to the flight controls.
hardover A malfunction that occurs when the rudder or another flight control suddenly moves as far as it can, usually because of a problem with a hydraulic device.
jump seat A fold-down seat in the cockpit that allows an FAA inspector or a company official to observe the pilots. Most airlines allow their pilots to ride in the jump seat to commute from their home city to their crew base.
M-Cab The special Boeing flight simulator in Seattle that was used to re-create the crash and test scenarios about what happened.
party system The NTSB practice of allowing companies and labor unions to take part in an investigation.
power control unit (PCU) The hydraulic device that moves the rudder or another flight control. The rudder PCU on the 737 is about the size of an upright vacuum cleaner.
rudder The movable vertical panel on the tail. On the 737, pilots use it primarily when landing in a strong crosswind or on the rare occasion when they have an engine failure.
servo valve A soda can-size valve inside the PCU. The 737 has a unique version known as a dual concentric servo valve. It has two tubes that slide back and forth. The slides send bursts of hydraulic fluid against a piston that moves the rudder.
stall The result when a plane no longer has enough air moving over its wings to stay aloft.
stickshaker A device that rattles the pilots’ control columns to warn them that the plane is about to stall.
wheel The steering wheel—like device in the cockpit that pilots use to move the ailerons and flight spoilers, the panels on the wings that cause the plane to roll to the left or right. The wheel is on top of the control column.
windscreen The front window on an airplane, like a windshield on a car.
yaw damper A device that creates a smoother ride by making hundreds of small adjustments to the rudder during a flight.
This book is based on hundreds of hours of interviews that I conducted over six years with the principal characters—Tom Haueter, Brett Van Bortel, John Cox, and Jean McGrew. I spent many Saturdays in Haueter’s living room and went flying with him in his Stearman. Likewise, I spent many afternoons in John Cox’s home in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he taught me about airplane systems, rudder valves, and crash investigations. He persuaded USAir to allow me to ride with him in the cockpit for a four-day trip in January 1997, a trip that helped me better understand the life of a pilot. We had a grueling overnight in Boston and one that was not so grueling in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
I traveled to Seattle three times to interview McGrew and spoke with him by phone on several other occasions. A Boeing public relations official was present for most of those interviews, but McGrew was still candid in expressing his feelings about the NTSB.
I interviewed Brett Van Bortel in Chicago four times, visited the crash site with him on the first anniversary of the crash, and was with him during the final meeting in Springfield, Virginia. We exchanged E-mail frequently and spoke often by phone.
I also interviewed emergency workers in Hopewell Township, FAA officials, Brett’s friends and relatives, the NTSB investigators on Haueter’s team, the NTSB board members (except for John Hammerschmidt, who declined to be interviewed), USAir employees, Boeing engineers and test pilots, and Roxie Laybourne, the Smithsonian feather expert. (See list below.)
I was present for many of the scenes in the book, including both public hearings, Chairman Jim Hall’s ride in the M-Cab simulator, a portion of the “fat guy” tests, and the final meeting in March 1999. I was able to write about several other scenes—including Joan’s memorial service, the first anniversary ceremony, and the recovery of passenger belongings from the trash bins in March 1995—thanks to videotapes that were recorded by family members or friends.
Other scenes are reconstructed based on the recollections of the main characters. When possible, I verified their accounts with others. During that process, I discovered that Haueter, Cox, and Brett each had a remarkably accurate memory and a keen eye for detail. In addition to the interviews, I relied heavily on transcripts of the public hearings and the NTSB’s huge docket on the crash, which includes more than 10,000 pages of investigative reports and documents from USAir and Boeing. Depositions from the Chicago court file provided details about the scene aboard Ship 513 when Andrew McKenna heard the gurgling sound and the scene at O’Hare before the plane departed for Pittsburgh.
I relied on the excellent coverage in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for details about the days immediately following the crash and on the Palm Bench Post for the profile of Paul Olson, the convicted drug dealer on the plane. I also relied on the New York Times cover-age of Orville Wright’s crash in 1908 and the Knute Rockne crash in 1931.
The section on Boeing’s history and the development of the 737 is based on old memos in the company’s archives, and on two superb books: Legend and Legacy , by Robert Serling, and Plying High , by Eugene Rogers.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Tom Haueter, investigator-in-charge Trisha Dedik, Tom Haueter’s wife
Greg Phillips, systems group chairman
Jim Cash, cockpit voice recorder analyst
Malcolm Brenner, human factors specialist
Tom Jacky, aircraft performance specialist
NTSB managers
Bud Laynor, deputy director of aviation safety (until 1996)
Bernie Loeb, director of aviation safety, 1996–2001
Ron Schleede, deputy director of aviation safety, 1996–1999
Peter Goelz, managing director
John Clark, director of aviation safety, 2001–
Chairman Jim Hall Deb Smith, Jim Hall’s assistant
John Goglia
Robert Francis
Denise Daniels, Robert Francis’s special counsel
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA)
John Cox, systems group member and USAir pilot
Herb LeGrow, coordinator for USAir 427 investigation
Keith Hagy, manager of accident investigation
Bill Sorbie, chairman of central air safety committee/USAir
Jean McGrew, chief engineer for the 737
John Purvis, chief of air safety investigations
Rick Howes, air safety investigator and coordinator for USAir 427
Michael Hewett, flight test pilot
Michael Carriker, flight test pilot
Ed Kikta, hydraulics engineer
Jim Draxler, systems engineer and Ed Kikta’s boss
Jim Kerrigan, senior principal engineer
Mike Denton, 737 chief engineer (1997)
Jack Steiner, vice president (retired)
Martin Ingham, specialist engineer
Ragnar Nordvik, regional marketing director
Paul Martin, senior instructor pilot
USAir
Ralph C. Miller, manager of the Next-of-Kin Room
Deborah Thompson, director of consumer affairs
Dave Supplee, mechanic and accident investigator for the machinists union
Vikki Anderson, accident investigator
Thomas McSweeny, director of aircraft certification
Steve O’Neal, flight test engineer
Ed Kittel, bomb expert
Ken Frey, systems engineer
Sharon Battle, operations center officer
David Canoles, director air traffic effectiveness
David Thomas, director of accident investigation
Bud Donner, manager of accident investigation
Les Berven, engineering test pilot
Dick Paul, engineering test pilot
Brett Van Bortel
Bonnie Van Bortel, Brett’s mother
Mike Demetrio, Brett’s attorney
Brian Bishop, Eastwind Airlines pilot
Federico Pena, Secretary of Transportation
Wayne Tatalovich, Beaver County coroner
Russ Chiodo, Beaver County director of emergency operations
Captain James Rock, Hopewell Township volunteer firefighter
Fred David, Hopewell Township police chief
George David, owner of farm adjacent to crash site
Rudy Kapustin, former NTSB investigator
Nancy Edwards, coworker of Joan Van Bortel
Jen Brundage, friend of Joan Van Bortel
David Hause, deputy medical examiner, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Roxie Laybourne, feather expert, Smithsonian Institution
John Little, assistant security manager, Museum of Flight
John Kretz, executive director, Flight 427 Air Disaster Support League
Don Hunt, professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Michael Pangia, attorney
Ralph Vick, member of Expert Panel on Hydraulics
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——. “Morgue Workers’ Somber Job at an End.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , October 8, 1994.
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——. “With Factors Ruled Out, USAir Crash Emerges as Puzzle.” New York Times , September 17, 1994.
“Conference Is Called on Rockne Air Crash.” New York Times , April 18, 1931.
Cooke, Patrick. “When Airplanes Crash, Flight Recorders Often Tell Why.” Air and Space , July 1988, 31–37.
Creedy, Steve. “Audit Deems USAir Safe, Revises Procedures.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , March 18, 1995.
——. “Schofield Retiring as Chief of USAir.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , September 7, 1995.
Cushman, John H., Jr. “Crash Investigators Broaden Their Inquiry.” New York Times , September 13, 1994.
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© 2002 Bill Adair
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Adair, Bill.
The mystery of Flight 427: inside a crash investigation / Bill Adair.
eISBN: 978-1-58834-402-1
1. USAir Flight 427 Crash, 1994. 2. Aircraft accidents—Investigation—United States. 3. Aircraft accidents—Pennsylvania—Hopewell (Beaver County: Township) I. Title.
TL553.525.P4 A33 2002
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Translations by: Thomas O. Lambdin (Coptic version)
B.P Grenfell & A.S. Hunt (Greek Fragments)
Bentley Layton (Greek Fragments)
Commentary by: Craig Schenk
I: Commentary
The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of traditional Sayings (logoi) of Jesus. It is attributed to Didymos Judas Thomas, the "Doubting Thomas" of the canonical Gospels, and according to many early traditions, the twin brother of Jesus ("didymos" means "twin" in Greek).
We have two versions of the Gospel of Thomas today. The first was discovered in the late 1800's among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, and consists of fragments of a Greek version, which has been dated to c. 200. The second is a complete version, in Coptic, from Codex II of the Nag Hammadi finds. Thomas was probably first written in Greek (or possibly even Syriac or Aramaic) sometime between the mid 1st and 2nd centuries.
There has been much speculation on the relationship of Thomas to the canonical Gospels. Many Sayings in Thomas have parallels with the New Testament Sayings, especially those found in the synoptic Gospels. This leads many to believe that Thomas was also based on the so-called "Q" Document, along with Matthew, Luke, and Mark. Indeed, some have speculated that Thomas may in fact be "Q". Unlike the synoptic Gospels, and like "Q", the Gospel of Thomas has no narrative connecting the various Sayings. In form, it is simply a list of 114 Sayings, in no particular order. Comparison with New Testament parallels show that Thomas contains either more primitive versions of the Sayings, or developments of more primitive versions. Either way, Thomas seems to preserve earlier traditions about Jesus than the New Testament.
Although it is not possible to attribute the Gospel of Thomas to any particular sect, it is clearly Gnostic in nature. As the preamble indicates, these are "secret sayings", and are intended to be esoteric in nature. The Sayings are not intended to be interpreted literally, as their New Testament parallels often are, but to be interpreted symbolically, as attested by Saying #1. While a literal interpretation may make sense, only by understanding the deeper meanings of the Sayings can one truly understand them. Thus in Saying #114, it is to be understood that "male" symbolizes the pneumatic (spiritual, or Gnostic) Christians, and "female" symbolizes the psychic (unenlightened, or orthodox) Christians, rather than actually referring to males and females. Keep in mind that true understanding of this text was meant to come from PERSONAL contact with the Divine, inspiration from within.
I will now present translations of both the Greek and Coptic versions of the Gospel of Thomas. Of the 114 Sayings in the complete work, and all of the fragments of the Greek text. Also, the Greek version contains one Saying not found in the Coptic version, which comes between Sayings 32 and 33 of the Coptic version. I will enter the Coptic version first, as it is more complete, followed by the Greek version. After both translations, I've provided a listing of New Testament parallels for all 114 sayings for easier comparison.
Note that for the Coptic version, I use the standard NHL translation, except for saying 70, where I have substituted the translation found in Elaine Pagels' "The Gnostic Gospels", as it seems a better translation. Peace & Enlightenment be yours!
IA: Editorial Symbols
I have followed the Nag Hammadi Library standard for typographical symbols in this file. Text contained within [square brackets] indicates a damaged portion of the manuscript where the translators have attempted a reconstruction. Text within (parentheses) indicates comments or text added by the translator for clarification purposes. Text within <pointed brackets> indicates a scribal error (spelling, grammatical, etc) in the original, where the translator has made a correction. Text within {funky brackets} indicates superfluous text added by the scribe.
II: Coptic Gospel of Thomas
P) These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.
1) And He said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death."
2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."
3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say, 'See, the Kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
4) Jesus said, "The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child seven days old about the place of life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same."
5) Jesus said, "Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest."
6) His disciples questioned Him and said to Him, "Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?" Jesus said, "Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered."
7) Jesus said, "Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man."
8) And He said, "The Kingdom is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the large fish without difficulty. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
9) Jesus said, "Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on the rock, did not take rood in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed(s) and worms ate them. And others fell on the good soil and produced good fruit: it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure."
10) Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes."
11) Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is alive. When you come to dwell in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?"
12) The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that You will depart from us. Who is to be our leader?" Jesus said to them, "Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being."
13) Jesus said to His disciples, "Compare me to someone and tell Me whom I am like." Simon Peter said to Him, "You are like a righteous angel." Matthew said to Him, "You are like a wise philosopher." Thomas said to Him, "Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom You are like." Jesus said, "I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated by the bubbling spring which I have measured out." And He took him and withdrew and told him three things. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?" Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the things which he told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up."
14) Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth - it is that which will defile you."
15) Jesus said, "When you see one who was not born of woman, prostrate yourselves on your faces and worship him. That one is your Father."
16) Jesus said, "Men think, perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world. They do not know that it is dissension which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and two against three, the father against the son, and the son against the father. And they will stand solitary."
17) Jesus said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind."
18) The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us how our end will be." Jesus said, "Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning; he will know the end and will not experience death."
19) Jesus said, "Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being. If you become My disciples and listen to My words, these stones will minister to you. For there are five trees for you in Paradise which remain undisturbed summer and winter and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever becomes acquainted with them will not experience death."
20) The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what the Kingdom of Heaven is like." He said to them, "It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds. But when it falls on tilled soil, it produces a great plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky."
21) Mary said to Jesus, "Whom are Your disciples like?" He said, "They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have back our field.' They (will) undress in their presence in order to let them have back their field and give it back to them. Therefore I say to you, if the owner of a house knows that the thief is coming, he will begin his vigil before he comes and will not let him into his house of his domain to carry away his goods. You, then, be on your guard against the world. Arm yourselves with great strength lest the robbers find a way to come to you, for the difficulty which you expect will (surely) materialize. Let there be among you a man of understanding. When the grain ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in his hand and reaped it. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
22) Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to His disciples, "These infants being suckled are like those who enter the Kingdom." They said to Him, "Shall we then, as children, enter the Kingdom?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter [the Kingdom]."
23) Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one."
24) His disciples said to Him, "Show us the place where You are, since it is necessary for us to seek it." He said to them, "Whoever has ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he (or "it") lights up the whole world. If he (or "it") does not shine, he (or "it") is darkness."
25) Jesus said, "Love your brother like your soul, guard him like the pupil of your eye."
26) Jesus said, "You see the mote in your brothers eye, but you do not see the beam in your own eye. When you cast the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to cast the mote from your brother's eye."
27) <Jesus said,> "If you do not fast as regards the world, you will not find the Kingdom. If you do not observe the Sabbath as a Sabbath, you will not see the Father."
28) Jesus said, "I took my place in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in the flesh. I found all of them intoxicated; I found none of them thirsty. And My soul became afflicted for the sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts and do not have sight; for empty they came into the world, and empty too they seek to leave the world. But for the moment they are intoxicated. When they shake off their wine, then they will repent."
29) Jesus said, "If the flesh came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. But if spirit came into being because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty."
30) Jesus said, "Where there are three gods, they are gods. Where there are two or one, I am with him."
31) Jesus said, "No prophet is accepted in his own village; no physician heals those who know him."
32) Jesus said, "A city being built on a high mountain and fortified cannot fall, nor can it be hidden."
33) Jesus said, "Preach from your housetops that which you will hear in your ear {(and) in the other ear}. For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place, but rather he sets it on a lampstand so that everyone who enters and leaves will see its light."
34) Jesus said, "If a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit."
35) Jesus said, "It is not possible for anyone to enter the house of a strong man and take it by force unless he binds his hands; then he will (be able to) ransack his house."
36) Jesus said, "Do not be concerned from morning until evening and from evening until morning about what you will wear."
37) His disciples said, "When will You become revealed to us and when shall we see You?" Jesus said, "When you disrobe without being ashamed and take up your garments and place them under your feet like little children and tread on them, then [will you see] the Son of the Living One, and you will not be afraid"
38) Jesus said, "Many times have you desired to hear these words which I am saying to you, and you have no one else to hear them from. There will be days when you look for Me and will not find Me."
39) Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys of Knowledge and hidden them. They themselves have not entered, nor have they allowed to enter those who wish to. You, however, be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves."
40) Jesus said, "A grapevine has been planted outside of the Father, but being unsound, it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed."
41) Jesus said, "Whoever has something in his hand will receive more, and whoever has nothing will be deprived of even the little he has."
42) Jesus said, "Become passers-by."
43) His disciples said to him, "Who are You, that You should say these things to us?" <Jesus said to them,> "You do not realize who I am from what I say to you, but you have become like the Jews, for they (either) love the tree and hate its fruit or love the fruit and hate the tree."
44) Jesus said, "Whoever blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the Son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either on earth or in heaven."
45) Jesus said, "Grapes are not harvested from thorns, nor are figs gathered from thistles, for they do not produce fruit. A good man brings forth good from his storehouse; an evil man brings forth evil things from his evil storehouse, which is in his heart, and says evil things. For out of the abundance of the heart he brings forth evil things."
46) Jesus said, "Among those born of women, from Adam until John the Baptist, there is no one so superior to John the Baptist that his eyes should not be lowered (before him). Yet I have said whichever one of you comes to be a child will be acquainted with the Kingdom and will become superior to John."
47) Jesus said, "It is impossible for a man to mount two horses or to stretch two bows. And it is impossible for a servant to serve two masters; otherwise he will honor the one and treat the other contemptuously. No man drinks old wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. And new wine is not put into old wineskins, lest they burst; nor is old wine put into a new wineskin, lest it spoil it. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, because a tear would result."
48) Jesus said, "If two make peace with each other in this one house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move Away,' and it will move away."
49) Jesus said, "Blessed are the solitary and elect, for you will find the Kingdom. For you are from it, and to it you will return."
50) Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where did you come from?', say to them, 'We came from the light, the place where the light came into being on its own accord and established [itself] and became manifest through their image.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?', say, 'We are its children, we are the elect of the Living Father.' If they ask you, 'What is the sign of your father in you?', say to them, 'It is movement and repose.'"
51) His disciples said to Him, "When will the repose of the dead come about, and when will the new world come?" He said to them, "What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it."
52) His disciples said to Him, "Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and all of them spoke in You." He said to them, "You have omitted the one living in your presence and have spoken (only) of the dead."
53) His disciples said to Him, "Is circumcision beneficial or not?" He said to them, "If it were beneficial, their father would beget them already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become completely profitable."
54) Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven."
55) Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother cannot become a disciple to Me. And whoever does not hate his brothers and sisters and take up his cross in My way will not be worthy of Me."
56) Jesus said, "Whoever has come to understand the world has found (only) a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world."
57) Jesus said, "The Kingdom of the Father is like a man who had [good] seed. His enemy came by night and sowed weeds among the good seed. The man did not allow them to pull up the weeds; he said to them, 'I am afraid that you will go intending to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them.' For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be plainly visible, and they will be pulled up and burned."
58) Jesus said, "Blessed is the man who has suffered and found life."
59) Jesus said, "Take heed of the Living One while you are alive, lest you die and seek to see Him and be unable to do so."
60) <They saw> a Samaritan carrying a lamb on his way to Judea. He said to his disciples, "(Why does) that man (carry) the lamb around?" They said to him, "So that he may kill it and eat it." He said to them, "While it is alive, he will not eat it, but only when he has killed it and it has become a corpse." They said to him, "He cannot do so otherwise." He said to them, "You too, look for a place for yourself within the Repose, lest you become a corpse and be eaten."
61) Jesus said, "Two will rest on a bed: the one will die, and other will live." Salome said to him, "Who are You, man, that You, as though from the One, have come up on my couch and eaten from my table?" Jesus said to her, "I am He who exists from the Undivided. I was given some of the things of my Father." <Salome said,> "I am Your disciple." <Jesus said to her,> "Therefore I say, if he is <undivided>, he will be filled with light, but if he is divided, he will be filled with darkness."
62) Jesus said, "It is to those [who are worthy of My] mysteries that I tell My mysteries. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."
63) Jesus said, "There was a rich man who had much money. He said, 'I shall put my money to use so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouse with produce, with the result that I shall lack nothing. Such were his intentions, but that same night he died. Let him who has ears hear."
64) Jesus said, "A man had received visitors. And when he had prepared the dinner, he sent his servant to invite guests. He went to the first one and said to him, "My master invites you.' He said, 'I have claims against some merchants. They are coming to me this evening. I must go and give them my orders. I ask to be excused from the dinner.' He went to another and said, 'My master has invited you.' He said to him, 'I have just bought a house and am required for the day. I shall not have any spare time.' He went to another and said to him, 'My master invites you.' He said to him, 'My friend is going to get married, and I am to prepare the banquet. I shall not be able to come. I ask to be excused from the dinner.' He went to another and said to him, 'My master invites you.' He said to him, 'I have just bought a farm, and I am on my way to collect the rent. I shall not be able to come. I ask to be excused.' The servant returned and said to his master, 'Those whom you invited to the dinner have asked to be excused.' The master said to his servant, 'Go outside to the streets and bring back those whom you happen to meet, so that they may dine.' Businessmen and merchants will not enter the Places of My Father."
65) He said, "There was a good man who owned a vineyard. He leased it to tenant farmers so that they might work it and he might collect the produce from them. He sent his servant so that the tenants might give him the produce of the vineyard. They seized his servant and beat him, all but killing him. The servant went back and told his master. The master said, 'Perhaps <they> did not recognize <him>.' He sent another servant. The tenants beat this one as well. Then the owner sent his son and said, 'Perhaps they will show respect to my son.' Because the tenants knew that it was he who was the heir to the vineyard, they seized him and killed him. Let him who has ears hear."
66) Jesus said, "Show me the stone which the builders have rejected. That one is the cornerstone."
67) Jesus said, "Whoever believes that the All itself is deficient is (himself) completely deficient."
68) Jesus said, "Blessed are you when you are hated and persecuted. Wherever you have been persecuted they will find no Place."
69) Jesus said, "Blessed are they who have been persecuted within themselves. It is they who have truly come to know the Father. Blessed are the hungry, for the belly of him who desires will be filled."
70) Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
71) Jesus said, "I shall destroy [this] house, and no one will be able to rebuild it."
72) [A man said] to Him, "Tell my brothers to divide my father's possessions with me." He said to him, "O man, who has made Me a divider?" He turned to His disciples and said to them, "I am not a divider, am I?"
73) Jesus said, "The harvest is great but the laborers are few. Beseech the Lord, therefore, to send out laborers to the harvest."
74) He said, "O Lord, there are many around the drinking trough, but there is nothing in the cistern."
75) Jesus said, "Many are standing at the door, but it is the solitary who will enter the bridal chamber."
76) Jesus said, "The kingdom of the Father is like a merchant who had a consignment of merchandise and who discovered a pearl. That merchant was shrewd. He sold the merchandise and bought the pearl alone for himself. You too, seek his unfailing and enduring treasure where no moth comes near to devour and no worm destroys."
77) Jesus said, "It is I who am the light which is above them all. It is I who am the All. From Me did the All come forth, and unto Me did the All extend. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find Me there."
78) Jesus said, "Why have you come out into the desert? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a man clothed in fine garments like your kings and your great men? Upon them are the fine [garments], and they are unable to discern the truth."
79) A woman from the crowd said to Him, "Blessed are the womb which bore You and the breasts which nourished You." He said to her, "Blessed are those who have heard the word of the Father and have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say, 'Blessed are the womb which has not conceived and the breasts which have not given milk.'"
80) Jesus said, "He who has recognized the world has found the body, but he who has found the body is superior to the world."
81) Jesus said, "Let him who has grown rich be king, and let him who possesses power renounce it."
82) Jesus said, "He who is near Me is near the fire, and he who is far from Me is far from the Kingdom."
83) Jesus said, "The images are manifest to man, but the light in them remains concealed in the image of the light of the Father. He will become manifest, but his image will remain concealed by his light."
84) Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you rejoice. But when you see your images which came into being before you, and which neither die not become manifest, how much you will have to bear!"
85) Jesus said, "Adam came into being from a great power and a great wealth, but he did not become worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have experienced] death."
86) Jesus said, "[The foxes have their holes] and the birds have [their] nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head and rest."
87) Jesus said, "Wretched is the body that is dependant upon a body, and wretched is the soul that is dependent on these two."
88) Jesus said, "The angels and the prophets will come to you and give you those things you (already) have. And you too, give them those things which you have, and say to yourselves, 'When will they come and take what is theirs?'"
89) Jesus said, "Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not realize that he who made he inside is the same one who made the outside?"
90) Jesus said, "Come unto me, for My yoke is easy and My lordship is mild, and you will find repose for yourselves."
91) They said to Him, "Tell us who You are so that we may believe in You." He said to them, "You read the face of the sky and of the earth, but you have not recognized the one who is before you, and you do not know how to read this moment."
92) Jesus said, "Seek and you will find. Yet, what you asked Me about in former times and which I did not tell you then, now I do desire to tell, but you do not enquire after it."
93) <Jesus said,> "Do not give what is holy to dogs, lest they throw them on the dung-heap. Do not throw the pearls to swine, lest they grind it [to bits]."
94) Jesus [said], "He who seeks will find, and [he who knocks] will be let in." 95) [Jesus said,] "If you have money, do not lend it at interest, but give [it] to one from whom you will not get it back."
96) Jesus [said], "The Kingdom of the Father is like a certain woman. She took a little leaven, [concealed] it in some dough, and made it into large loaves. Let him who has ears hear."
97) Jesus said, "The Kingdom of the [Father] is like a certain woman who was carrying a jar full of meal. While she was walking [on] a road, still some distance from home, the handle of the jar broke and the meal emptied out behind her on the road. She did not realize it; she had noticed no accident. When she reached her house, she set the jar down and found it empty."
98) Jesus said, "The Kingdom of the Father is like a certain man who wanted to kill a powerful man. In his own house he drew his sword and stuck it into the wall in order to find out whether his hand could carry through. Then he slew the powerful man."
99) The disciples said to Him, "Your brothers and Your mother are standing outside." He said to them, "Those here who do the will of My Father are My brothers and My mother. It is they who will enter the Kingdom of My Father."
100) They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to Him, "Caesar's men demand taxes from us." He said to them, "Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God, and give Me what is Mine."
101) <Jesus said,> "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother as I do cannot become a disciple to Me. And whoever does [not] love his father and his mother as I do cannot become a [disciple] to Me. For My mother [gave me falsehood], but [My] true [Mother] gave me life."
102) Jesus said, "Woe to the Pharisees, for they are like a dog sleeping in the manger of oxen, for neither does he eat nor does he let the oxen eat."
103) Jesus said, "Fortunate is the man who knows where the brigands will enter, so that he may get up, muster his domain, and arm himself before they invade."
104) They said [to Jesus], "Come, let us pray today and let us fast." Jesus said, "What is the sin that I have committed, or wherein have I been defeated? But when the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, then let them fast and pray."
105) Jesus said, "He who knows the father and the mother will be called the son of a harlot."
106) Jesus said, "When you make the two one, you will become the sons of man, and when you say, 'Mountain, move away,' it will move away."
107) Jesus said, "The Kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine sheep and looked for that one until he found it. When he had gone to such trouble, he said to the sheep, 'I care for you more than the ninety-nine.'"
108) Jesus said, "He who will drink from my mouth will become like Me. I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will become revealed to him."
109) Jesus said, "The Kingdom is like a man who had a [hidden] treasure in his field without knowing it. And [after] he died, he left it to his son. The son did not know (about the treasure). He inherited the field and sold [it]. And the one who bought it went plowing and found the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished."
110) Jesus said, "Whoever finds the world and becomes rich, let him renounce the world."
111) Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will be rolled up in your presence. And one who lives from the Living One will not see death." Does not Jesus say, "Whoever finds himself is superior to the world?"
112) Jesus said, "Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul; woe to the soul that depends on the flesh."
113) His disciples said to Him, "When will the Kingdom come?" <Jesus said,> "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'Here it is' or 'There it is.' Rather, the Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."
114) Simon Peter said to Him, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of Life." Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
III: Fragments of Greek Gospel of Thomas
Several fragments of a Greek version of Thomas were found among the Oxyrhynchys Papyri in the late 19th century. These fragments consist of the preamble, and sayings 1-6, 26-28, 30-32, 36-38, and 39, as well as a saying not found in the Coptic version, which follows 32. These fragments are found on Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1, 654, and 655. Generally, the sayings are essentially the same in both versions. However, the equivalent of saying 30 adds the end of the Coptic version's saying 77. The translation used here is a combination of thranslations by B.P. Grenfell and A.S. Hunt and Bentley Layton.
P) These are the secret sayings which were spoken by Jesus the Living One, and which Judas, who is called Thomas, wrote down"
1) He said to them: "Whoever hears these words shall never taste death."
2) [Jesus said]: "Let him who seeks not cease until he finds, and when he finds he shall wonder; wondering he shall reign, and reigning shall rest."
3) Jesus said, "If those who attract you say, 'See, the Kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is under the earth,' then the fish of the sea will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom of God is inside of you, and it is outside of you. [Those who] become acquainted with [themselves] will find it; [and when you] become acquainted with yourselves, [you will understand that] it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
4) Jesus said: "Let the old man who is full of days not hesitate to ask the child of seven days about the place of life; then he will live. For many that are first will be last, and last, first, and they will become a single one."
5) Jesus said: "Recognize what is before your face and that which is hidden from the you will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest, nor buried which shall not be raised."
6) His disciples asked him and said to him, "How do you want us to fast? And how shall we pray? And how [shall we] give alms? And what kind of diet shall we follow?" Jesus said, "Do not lie, and do not do what you hate, for all things are disclosed before truth. For there is nothing hidden which shall not be shown forth."
27) Jesus said: "Unless you fast to the world, you shall in no way find the Kingdom of God; and unless you sabbatize the Sabbath, you shall not see the Father."
28) Jesus said: "I stood in the midst of the world, and in the flesh I was seen by them, and I found all drunken, and I found none among them thirsty. And my soul grieved over the souls of men, because they are blind in their heart and see not. [...]
30/77) Jesus said: "Where there are [two, they are not] without God, and when there is one alone, [I say,] I am with him. Raise the stone, and there you will find me; cleave the wood, and there I am."
31) Jesus said: "A prophet is not acceptable in his own country, neither does a physician work cures upon those that know him."
32) Jesus said: "A city built on the top of a high hill and fortified can neither fall nor be hid." --) Jesus said: "Thou hearest with one ear, [but the other thou has closed].
36) Jesus said, "Do not worry from dawn to dusk and from dusk to dawn about [what food] you [will] eat, [or] what [clothing] you will wear. [You are much] better than the [lilies], which [neither] card nor spin. And for your part, what [will you wear] when you have no clothing? Who would add to your stature? It is he who will give you your clothing.
37) His disciples said to him, "When will you be visible to us, and when shall we behold you?" He said, "When you strip naked without being ashamed, and take your garments and put them under your feet like little children and tread upon them, then you will see the child of the Living, and you will not be afraid."
IV: Canonical Comparisons of Thomas Sayings
I have grouped the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas into 5 categories. Sayings that are variants of or close parallels to canonical passages (22 of these), sayings that appear more remotely parallel or similar in some way (28), sayings which contain parts parallel to several unconnected passages (13), sayings parallel to non-canonical traditions of Jesus (only 1 of these), and those with no apparent parallels (50!!). Due to space limitations, I have decided only to cite passages, and you can go through and compare them using any Bible. I haven't attempted to make any comparisons to the various Apocryphal or other Christian and Gnostic texts.
A: Variants/Close Parallels
9: Mt13:3-8, Mk4:3-8, Lk8:5-8
10: Lk12:49
16: Mt10:34-36, Lk12:51-53
20: Mt13:31-32, Mk4:30-32, Lk13:18-19
26: Mt7:3-5, Lk6:41-42
34: Mt15:14, Lk6:39
35: Mt12:29, Mk3:27, Lk11:21-22
41: Mt25:29, Lk19:26
45: Mt7:16-20, Lk6:43-46
54: Mt5:3, Lk6:20
64: Mt22:3-9, Lk14:16-24
65: Mt21:33-39, Mk12:1-8, Lk20:9-15
66: Mt21:42, Mk12:10, Lk20:17; Psalm118:22
73: Mt9:37-38, Lk10:2
86: Mt8:20, Lk9:58
89: Lk11:39-40
93: Mt7:6
94: Mt7:7-8, Lk11:9-10
100: Mk12:13-17, Lk20:22-25
103: Mt24:43, Lk12:39
107: Mt18:12-13, Lk15:3-7
B: Remote Parallels
1: Jn8:51
3: Lk17:21
5: Mt10:26, Lk10:2
8: Mt13:47-48
17: 1Cor2:9; Isiah64:4
30: Mt18:20
31: Mk6:4, Lk4:23-24, Jn4:44 32: Mt5:14
36: Mt6:25, Lk12:22
44: Mt12:32, Mk3:28-29, Lk12:10
48: Mt18:19, Mk11:23-24
57: Mt13:24-30
59: Jn7:34, Jn13:33
71: Mk14:58
78: Mt11:7-9, Lk7:24-26
95: Lk6:34-35, Lk14:12-14
96: Mt13:33, Lk13:20-21
99: Mt12:46-50, Mk3:31-35
109: Mt13:44
113: Lk17:20-21
C: Multiple Parallels
14a: no parallels
14b: Lk10:8-9
14c: Mt15:11, Mk7:15
21b: Mt24:43, Lk12:39
21c: Mk4:26-29
22a: Mt18:3, Lk18:17
22b: Mt5:29-30, Mk9:43-48
24a: Jn13:36
24b: Mt6:22-23, Lk11:34-36
33a: Mt10:27
33b: Mt5:15, Mk4:21, Lk8:16, Lk11:33
39a: Lk11:52
39b: Mt10:16
43a: Jn8:25
43b: Mt7:16-20, Lk6:43-46(?)
62a: Mt13:11, Mk4:11, Lk8:10
62b: Mt6:3
69a: Mt5:8 (cf. Thomas saying 68)
69b: Mt5:6, Lk6:21
76a: Mt13:45-46
76b: Mt6:20, Lk12:33
79a: Lk11:27-28
79b: Lk23:29 91a: Jn9:36
91b: Lk12:54-56
D: Non-Canonical Parallels
42: Some stands of Islamic tradition attribute this saying to Jesus.
E: No Parallels
All the following sayings have no parallels in the Bible or other non-Gnostic traditions:
Commentary & Typing by Craig Schenk 6/17/92
Made available to the net by Paul Halsall
My-Manuscript
Apochrypha
Addition to Esther
Bell and the Dragon
Epistle of Jeremiah
Paul to the Laodiceans
Prayer of Azariah
Tobit or Tobias
Bavbylon
Bible-KJV
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Man Stabbed to Death Aboard San Francisco Area Train
Larsen, Who Threw Only Perfect World Series Game, Dies at 90
Med School Free Rides and Loan Repayments: California Tries to Boost Dwindling Doctor Supply
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Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James dunks during the first half of the team's NBA basketball game. (AP/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
LeBron Sets Triple-Double Mark, Lakers Hold off OKC 112-107
LOS ANGELES — To LeBron James, triple-doubles are not a goal.
They are only a side effect of the consistent, brilliant all-around play he has been dishing out for 17 NBA seasons, with no slowdown in sight.
“Coach (Frank) Vogel came in here and said, ‘Congratulations,’ and I thought he was joking about my seven turnovers. I really don’t know what to think about it. I just think it’s a pretty cool stat to know, and I’m glad it happened in a win.” — LeBron James
Triple-doubles also don’t mean much to LeBron without wins attached to them, so James was pleased when his latest statistical superlative occurred during yet another successful night for the surging Los Angeles Lakers.
James became the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double against every team in the league, and Anthony Davis scored 34 points during the Lakers’ fifth straight victory, 112-107 over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
James finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to post a triple-double against his 30th opponent for the NBA-leading Lakers, who have won 12 of 13 after a perfect four-game homestand. James was more surprised than thrilled by his latest statistical achievement, particularly while a different statistic glared at him from the box score.
“Coach (Frank) Vogel came in here and said, ‘Congratulations,’ and I thought he was joking about my seven turnovers,” James said. “I really don’t know what to think about it. I just think it’s a pretty cool stat to know, and I’m glad it happened in a win.”
James Is Fifth in NBA History
James has five triple-doubles in the Lakers’ last 10 games, getting four in victories. There’s a reason for this spree: Although James has constantly filled the stat sheet since he joined the league in 2003, he is leading the NBA this season with 11.1 assists per game, nearly four more than his career average. He has at least 10 assists in six consecutive games, the longest streak of his career.
Vogel has put the ball in James’ hands constantly on offense, and his playmaking acumen has grown along with his chemistry with Davis, as they demonstrated repeatedly against the Thunder. Seven of LeBron’s assists came on baskets by Davis.
“Amazing,” Davis said. “To be able to do that against every team is something special. I mean, (it’s) trippy that he’s been playing for a long time, so it was a matter of time before it happened, but just a tribute to all his hard work.”
James is fifth in NBA history with 86 triple-doubles, but the four players in front of him — Oscar Robertson, Russell Westbrook, Lakers great Magic Johnson and Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd — hadn’t done it against 30 teams. Kidd, who did it against 28 teams, has served as a role model for James’ efforts as a tall point guard.
“He’s just playing terrific basketball,” Vogel said. “For him to be doing what he’s doing in his 17th year is just nothing short of remarkable. There’s no reason to believe he can’t sustain that for the rest of the season and help us make a real strong playoff push.”
The Thunder Won’t Have to Wait Long for a Rematch
Dennis Schröder scored 20 of his season-high 31 points in a phenomenal first half for the Thunder, who have lost four of five despite two solid performances at Staples Center. Danilo Gallinari added 25 points in his former home arena, and Nerlens Noel had 15.
“That’s why (James) is considered probably the best of all time, but I think we did a great job on him. They obviously hit some tough shots.” — Dennis Schröder
“That’s why (James) is considered probably the best of all time, but I think we did a great job on him,” Schröder said. “They obviously hit some tough shots.”
One night after the Thunder barely missed an upset win over the Clippers thanks to a last-minute 3-pointer by former star Paul George, Oklahoma City couldn’t quite catch up to the powerful Lakers despite keeping the game close all night.
“There’s a lot of things we did well in there,” Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan said. “But, you know, we came up short in all these games. I think the one sign you can point to is both teams, the Clippers and the Lakers, are really, really good teams, so we’re competing well at a high level. But we’ve just got to do more in order to be able to finish and close out games.”
The Thunder won’t have to wait long for a rematch: These teams meet again in Oklahoma City in three days.
Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis (3) goes to the basket as Oklahoma City Thunder’s Steven Adams (12) dfends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Thunder: F Hamidou Diallo missed his third straight game with a left knee sprain. … Schröder got a technical foul in the third quarter for confronting Davis at the free throw line after Davis dunked and was fouled.
Lakers: Kyle Kuzma left the court in the second quarter with an eye abrasion after teenager Darius Bazley hit him in the right side of his face with an elbow on a drive. Kuzma returned to the bench in the second half, but with obvious damage above his eye. He didn’t return to the game, although Vogel said he was available if necessary. The Lakers plan to re-evaluate him within the next 24 hours.
Closeout Sequence
James’ 3-pointer put the Lakers up 109-98 with 3:08 to play, but the Thunder scored nine straight points to cut the Lakers’ lead to two on Gallinari’s free throws with 1:24 left.
After Danny Green got a key offensive rebound for the Lakers, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drilled a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left. James missed two free throws moments later to keep the Thunder in it, but Oklahoma City couldn’t score again.
Point Guards Behave
Chris Paul had four points, 10 assists and five rebounds for the Thunder, and he didn’t appear to clash with Rajon Rondo, his opponent in a fight early last season while he was with the Rockets. Rondo had eight points and a season-high 10 assists.
Thunder: Host the Lakers on Friday.
Lakers: Visit the Thunder on Friday.
ClippershistoryLakersLeBron JamesLos AngelesNBAPaul GeorgeThunderwins
Fresno Is the Heart of California’s Tight-Knit Hmong Community
Q&A: Mark Ruffalo on Playing the Lawyer Who Took on DuPont
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Gwyn Morfey
thoughtbot
SGAK
How do you handle player death?
The Spartan Beast isn't a street game in any conventional sense. It's a gruelling 12-mile trek through knee-high mud and neck-deep rivers, with obstacles ranging from "rope climb" to "ditch full of ice" to "20m of monkeybars above a lake". Fail to complete - not attempt, complete - any obstacle and you must do 30 burpees. You win the game by completing the course; you lose by quitting.
But, actually, it has a lot in common with street games. There are aesthetics: we're given a pep talk at the start by a man dressed in full Spartan regalia. Some people are in costume. There are elements of cooperation and competition among players. There are crew (at least until it gets dark, but that's another story) who create the experience.
In street games, rules can't be enforced as rigidly as they can in computer- or board- games, and the Beast shares this attribute, too. The crew have some discretion.
I witness this first hand: I'm a few miles from the finish, walking carefully along the balance beams, 20m of zig-zagging sideways planks covered in slippery mud. A crewmember is watching me. If I put a foot down, I've failed the obstacle; she should scream "burpees!" at me, inflicting another few minutes of intense cardio.
What will happen then is that I will go down for the first burpee, stay down, and get medevaced out. I know this and probably she does too. I'm already staggered, barely walking, a victim of extreme exertion and intense cold, with no food other than a handful of energy gels. My pulse is fast and weak; at a road crossing a mile back, my race partner threatened to flag down a car and get me out of here.
If that happens, the race is over, and I lose.
And perhaps that's the right thing. It'll be crushingly disappointing for me (and for my partner, who will feel honour-bound to leave with me), but a game you cannot lose is not a game at all - it's a tour. The reason La Noche De Los Muertos is still the best street game I have ever played is because of the glorious intensity of it: there was no negotiation, no reasoning, and no second chances. You win or you die. Knowing this makes for an absolutely heart-pounding experience, an even more intense version of the Ironman modes of computer games where you can't restore a previous savegame.
Also, having any kind of assistance undermines the meaning of victory, both for this player and for others. "I win!" becomes "I win, but..". The winner's club gets less exclusive.
Normally this would be a gloriously tense moment, the kind of do-or-die that I strive to create in game designs because it tells great stories, win or lose. But I don't have any capacity left to feel excitement. In Left 4 Dead, if you're knocked down twice, you can carry on, but the world goes black-and-white, the sound effects are distorted, and you're constantly reminded that another hit means the end. I feel like that. The medical reality of failure is so present now that I don't care any more; I don't have anything left.
So I do my best, but I slip and put a foot down, just for a second.
She doesn't call it. Neither do I. I finish the obstacle and walk on.
And at that point the game changes. It's full dark, now, and most of the crew have gone home, leaving us on our honour. We see others limping around obstacles, or half-heartedly attempting them and then moving on, without the burpees. I reach an eight-foot wall, try to climb it, slip, and land on my neck. I get up, eventually, and stagger around it to the finish line.
On balance, I think this was the right result. I'm sure the Elite Wave, with prizes and bragging rights, is rigidly enforced. But if every wave ran by those rules, the total audience for this race would be much smaller - and the casualty count would be higher. This kind of 'autoscaling' difficulty is the same thing I try to create in street games; Citydash reports your score against the teams immediately ahead of and behind you, so there's still strong competition even for 22nd place. In Heist, the guards will try hard not to see you if they've busted you three times already.
They can autoscale the other way, too. On my fourth run at 2.8 Hours Later it was getting too easy for me, so I brought a couple of friends along as VIPs that I had to protect. It didn't go well - but it made the game interesting again. I've even done this in races; in the Grim Blackout I ran through the water hazards, even though there's a track around them, because that's what I was there for.
In the case of the Beast, because the penalty for failure is so extreme - wait an hour in the cold for pickup, a humiliating ride in the back of an ambulance, owing a debt to a partner who could have carried on - it makes sense for it to be more carefully administered. The other way, of course, is to reduce the penalty. In Outbreak, if you're "killed" you can carry on as a zombie. In Night Watch you can immediately try again. In Citydash your options are reduced, but there are still things you can do.
I've been thinking a lot about aesthetics and plot design, and concluded that good street games don't try to write stories. They create worlds, and players write the stories. I think it's the same with challenges: the game should create the challenging environment. But the players make the challenges themselves.
Read more articles on life, or drop me a line.
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Sir Hugo Swire (East Devon) (Con)
9. What support his Department provides for the (a) study and (b) treatment of Lyme disease. [910030]
The Minister for Care (Caroline Dinenage)
The National Institute for Health Research is supporting the study of Lyme disease by researching markers that would offer a faster and more accurate diagnosis. Meanwhile, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published clinical guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease for healthcare professionals.
Sir Hugo Swire
Lyme disease is often misdiagnosed or diagnosed late, which results in widespread suffering such as joint pain, paralysis and brain damage. Will the Minister therefore join me in congratulating the charity Caudwell LymeCo, which has pledged £1 in research funding, and will her Department commission research on a better test for the disease?
Caroline Dinenage
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this issue. We know that the outcome of Lyme disease depends on whether it is diagnosed and treated at an early stage. That is why my Department commissioned four separate independent systematic reviews of all the relevant literature on the diagnosis, treatment, transition and prevention of the disease, which were published in December 2017 and which assess the existing evidence for the research community, research funders and the public. We welcome all independent researchers who want to do more work on that basis.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
My constituents have faced many challenges in relation to Lyme disease. They have had to go overseas in order to be tested and given a diagnosis. However, the NHS does not recognise those tests. What is the Minister doing about that?
Most people are diagnosed and treated successfully by GPs and recover uneventfully, but in a few cases people who are diagnosed late or are not treated adequately may develop significant complications. That is why the National Institute for Health Research welcomes applications for research funds.
Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)
22. Earlier this month I visited a young lady in my constituency who was living a perfectly good life but was then struck down by Lyme disease. She has not left the House in over 12 months and is in terrible pain all the time. The NHS in this country did not find a diagnosis from her blood sample; it had to be sent to Germany to get the diagnosis. An awful lot more needs to be done to help these people. [910045]
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this: we do need to do more in this space, and that is why we are investing over £1 billion a year in health research through the National Institute of Health Research.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
What evaluation is being put in place to see how effective the 2018 NICE guidelines for clinicians on managing Lyme disease are in improving the treatment of this dreadful disease?
All NICE guidelines are permanently kept under review. If the research we are investing in throws new light on any issues, that will always be taken into consideration.
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The Jewish Traveler: Lvov
By admin | Jewish Travel, Ukraine | No Comments
The soul of erstwhile Jewish Galicia can yet be conjured up with a trip to one of the region’s principal—and still resplendent—capitals of culture.
Hadassah magazine – April, 2008
It’s early evening and a small minyan is chanting Minha inside Bais Aron V’Yisroel, Lvov’s only active synagogue. Led by Chief Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo Bald, the men say the same prayers Jews have been reciting for centuries in this western Ukrainian city that was once the hub of Jewish culture in Galicia.
Although the number of practicing Jews is now a tiny fraction of what it was before the Holocaust, Bald and other Jewish leaders in Lvov are determined to reinvigorate the community and preserve its rich Jewish past.
Rynok Square
For visitors, a number of sights evoke memories of the area’s vibrant—and tragic—Jewish heritage.
This city of 800,000, known as Lviv in Ukrainian, suffered relatively little damage in World War II. The result is an Old Town, anchored by cobblestoned Rynok Square, featuring more than 40 buildings in a variety of architectural styles—Renaissance, Baroque, classic and Art Nouveau.
With ornate fountains, red-roofed buildings and green-domed churches, Lvov bears some resemblance to Florence. Indeed, UNESCO, which has made Old Town a World Heritage Site, described Lvov as “an outstanding example of the fusion of the architectural and artistic traditions of Eastern Europe with those of Italy and Germany.”
Jews settled in Lvov soon after it was founded in the mid-13th century by Prince Danylo Halytsky of Galicia. The city took its name from the prince’s son, Lev. It is believed the principality’s early Jews arrived from Byzantium and Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and neighboring lands.
Jewish ghetto memorial
One hundred years later, Lvov was renamed Lwow when it was taken over by Casimir the Great of Poland, who gave Jews equal rights. Jews from Germany fleeing the plague and persecution began arriving, soon becoming prominent in trade and handicrafts.
By the end of the 14th century, Lvov, a walled city, had two Jewish settlements, one inside the walls, one outside. The two areas maintained separate synagogues and mikves but shared a cemetery. By 1550, about 1,000 Jews lived in Lvov.
In the early 17th century, a violent conflict arose between the Jews and Jesuits over the Golden Rose Synagogue, which had been constructed in 1582 inside the city walls by the Nachmanovich family. The Jesuits claimed for themselves the land on which the synagogue was built; however, the Jews were able to refute the charge, and the synagogue remained standing until the Holocaust.
Galicia became part of the Hapsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1772, when Lvov again changed names, this time to Lemberg. Jewish rights were curtailed and, by 1800, only wealthy and educated Jews who adopted the German way of life were allowed to live outside the city’s Jewish quarter (by this time, the distinction between the communities inside and outside the walls had ceased to exist, and the main quarter was outside the walls). Most Jews earned a living as shopkeepers or craftsmen.
At the end of the 18th century, Lvov became a center of the Hasidic movement and, in 1844, a Reform temple opened. By 1910, the Jewish population was 57,000.
At the end of World War I, Jews were caught in the middle as Poles and Ukrainians fought for control of eastern Galicia. Pogroms broke out in 1918, leaving 70 Jews dead. Lvov eventually returned to Polish control between world wars. During this time, there were Jewish schools, newspapers and about 50 functioning synagogues. The Jewish population reached a high of 110,000 in 1939, one-third of Lvov’s total population.
When World War II began, Lvov came under Soviet control and the Jewish population swelled to more than 200,000, as refugees poured in from German-occupied Poland. The Germans captured the city in June 1941 and more than 6,000 Jews were killed almost immediately in pogroms carried out by the local population, fueled by rumors that Jews had participated in the execution of Ukrainian political prisoners.
In November 1941, the Germans set up a Jewish ghetto, which eventually had more than 100,000 occupants. Soon after, the Germans began transporting Jews from the ghetto to the Belzec death camp, 60 miles to the north in Poland. Thousands were also sent to the Janowska labor camp in the northern outskirts of Lvov where most were shot by firing squads. The Germans completely liquidated the ghetto in June 1943. By the time the Soviets recaptured Lvov in July 1944, only a few hundred Jews remained.
After the war, Jews slowly returned to Lvov from other parts of the Soviet Union, but religious expression was not allowed under Communism and anti-Semitism persisted. The postwar Jewish population reached a high of 30,000 in 1978, but has since dwindled due to emigration, primarily to Israel, Germany and America.
About 5,000 Jews now live in Lvov, many elderly and impoverished. The Jewish community center, operated by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, tries to assist with a variety of social services and educational programs. The center is housed in the four-story Hesed Arieh (Lvov Jewish House; 30 Kotlarevski Street; 011-380-322-389-860; which opened in 2004. Also on the premises is a one-room museum with photographs and Judaica, including a mid-19th-century Torah scroll. Ada Dianova, formerly a popular Ukrainian stage actress, is the facility’s director.
Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo Bald
Bald has led Bais Aron V’Yisroel Synagogue since 1993, when he was sent to Ukraine by the Karlin-Stolin rebbe. His wife, Sara, helped establish the Acheinu Lauder school, which now has an enrollment of about 60 children. The synagogue offers restaurant services by order for groups, families or individuals. It also organizes bus or car transportation, translators, guides, archive investigations and kosher food.
Community activist Meylakh Sheykhet, who heads the local bureau of the Union of Councils for Jewsof the Former Soviet Union, leads an Orthodox prayer group that meets in a building adjacent to the ruins of the Golden Rose Synagogue (54 Starojevrejskaja Street). There is also a small kosher canteen in the building. In addition to feeding the poor, the kitchen can provide kosher meals to visitors.
Meylakh Sheykhet at the ruins of Golden Rose Synagogue
While Jewish leaders say that relations with most of the community at large are positive, there remains an undercurrent of anti-Semitism in Lvov. Jewish monuments and buildings are regularly vandalized and anti-Semitic slogans appear on fences and walls throughout the city.
Bais Aron V’Yisroel, a modest yellow building not far from the train station (4 Brothers Miknovski Street; 380-322-383-804), was built in 1924. Architect Aba Kornbluth designed it in the tradition of Renaissance synagogues of the 17th century. The Nazis used the building as a stable and the Communists later converted it into a warehouse. It was returned to the Jewish community in 1989.
Inside the synagogue, there are a number of hand-painted frescoes depicting animals, birds, a Torah and other Jewish symbols. The frescoes suffered significant damage due to many years of neglect during Soviet times but were recently brought back to splendor as part of a major interior restoration project under the supervision of architect Aron Ostreicher, who is known for reconstructing synagogues around the world. Funding was provided by American George Rohr and other philanthropists. Bais Aron V’Yisroel was rededicated in late 2007.
Bais Aron V’Yisroel, Lvov’s only active synagogue
The Golden Rose Synagogue, which for centuries was the center of Jewish culture in Lvov, was burned down by the Nazis in 1942. Part of the structure’s northern wall has survived and it bears a plaque written in English, Hebrew and Ukrainian. Sheykhet is raising money to clean up debris at the site and conduct an archaeological excavation in hopes of recovering Jewish artifacts dating back more than 400 years.
Little remains of the old Jewish quarter of Lvov. A pink building at 3 Ugolna Street is the site of a mid-19th-century synagogue, yeshiva and mikve. It survived the Holocaust and was the city’s only functioning synagogue between 1945 and 1962, when it was closed by the Soviets.
Two other prominent synagogues that did not survive the Holocaust are recalled today with markers.
In the Old Market Square, near where the city was founded in the 13th century, a plaque marks the location of what was the largest Reform synagogue in Galicia. A few blocks away, near an outdoor market at the corner of Sanska and Vesela Streets, is the site of the former Hasidic Grand Synagogue, originally built in the 17th century. Both structures were destroyed in 1941.
One of the more exotic looking buildings in the city, the former Jewish Hospital (8 Rappaport Street), was built in 1904. It features a Moorish-style multicolored dome decorated with Stars of David. The building still functions as a gynecological hospital.
A memorial to the victims of the Lvov ghetto stands at Chornovola Street, near the railroad bridge. Built in 1992 with government funding, at one end of the monument there is a large statue of a Jew staring up at the heavens with one hand open in hope, the other clenched in protest. A menora at the front of the memorial is inscribed in Ukrainian with the words “remember and keep in your heart.”
The Museum of the History of Religions (1 Muzeina Street) displays about 50 items of Judaica, including an early-20th-century matza-making device. Thousands of other artifacts confiscated from the Jewish community during the Communist era, many never seen by the public, remain stored in Lvov museums. Jewish leaders are petitioning the government for their return.
About 15 minutes by car from Old Town is the site of the Janowska labor camp. A large memorial stone inscribed with “200,000” recalls the number of people who were murdered there, most of them Jews.
Other Sights
For a stunning view of Old Town and the green-domed churches below, climb the wooden staircase in the clock tower in the 19th-century Town Hall, in Rynok Square.
The ornate Ivan Franko Opera and Ballet Theater, built at the turn of the 20th century, is located at the north end of the city’s main street, Prospect Svobody (Freedom Avenue). There are several performances a week.
Town Hall Clock Tower
About 20 miles north of Lvov is Zhovkva, a former artists’ colony. Jews settled there at the end of the 16th century and, in 1700, built the Grand Synagogue, one of the largest in Galicia. Its interior was mostly destroyed in the Holocaust, but its pink Renaissance-style exterior and some inner frescoes of Torah passages as well as the Ark have survived. The building was partially restored after the war and converted into a furniture store. It now sits empty.
Drive 85 miles south of Lvov to reach Ivano-Frankivsk, a metropolis of about 200,000 residents named after the famous Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The town is the major gateway into the Carpathian Mountains, where hiking and skiing are popular activities. The mountain area also offers the opportunity to see rural Ukrainian villages that time seems to have forgotten.
Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem, whose short stories were the basis for Fiddler on the Roof, lived in Lvov for several months in 1906 and was involved with the Yiddish theater there. The site of his residence, an apartment building at 1 Kotljarska Street, bears a large plaque honoring its former tenant.
Plaque at the former home of Sholem Aleichem
Martin Buber, the Jewish philosopher and social activist, was born in Vienna in 1878 but spent much of his childhood in Lvov with his grandfather Solomon Buber, a renowned scholar in his own right. Martin Buber wrote about Zionism, Hasidism and is perhaps best known for his essay on existence, “I and Thou.”
Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal was living in Lvov when the Nazis invaded in 1941. He and his wife were imprisoned in Janowska , from which Wiesenthal escaped in 1943. He fought with the partisans before being recaptured in 1944. Two years after being liberated from the Mauthausen concentration camp, he helped establish the Jewish Documentation Center in Austria. Wiesenthal, author of The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness (Schocken), later moved to the United States and dedicated his life to bringing Nazi war criminals to justice.
Books, Films
Eliah Yones provides an in-depth account of the Holocaust in Lvov in Smoke in the Sand: Jews of Lvov in the War Years, 1939-1944 (Gefen). After escaping the Lvov ghetto to the nearby forests, Yones joined the partisans in fighting the Germans. His book details the role of the Judenrat (Jewish council), which provided work for as many as 5,000 people in the ghetto at one time.
Robert Marshall’s In the Sewers of Lvov: A Heroic Story of Survival From the Holocaust (Scribner) chronicles the plight of 20 Jews who survived by hiding for more than a year in the city’s sewer system.
The Jews of Poland—Five Cities: Bialystok, Lvov, Krakow, Vilna and Warsaw (Ergo) is a documentary account of the vibrancy of Jewish life in the region before the Holocaust. It was filmed in 1938-1939 and is available in both Yiddish and English.
More recently, portions of Schindler’s List were shot in Lvov’s Old Town, as production costs there were lower than in Krakow, where the story is set.
Tour guide Alexander Denisenko, owner of Travel Ukraine Agency (380-506-710-725), has studied at Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Israel and is an expert on the Holocaust and Jewish sights in the region. He can also help with genealogy research at the local branch of the Ukrainian Central Historical Archive (3 Soborna Street), the largest repository of genealogical information about Jews in Galicia.
Lvov meat market
There are no kosher restaurants in Lvov, although Seven Piglets (9 Bandera Street; 380-322-975-507) is a good choice for authentic Ukrainian cuisine and offers several vegetarian options.
The Opera Hotel (45 Prospect Svobody; 380-322-259-000), located across the street from the Ivan Franko theater, is a newer establishment with clean and comfortable rooms and within walking distance of most Jewish attractions.
There are no direct flights from the United States to Lvov, but there are connections from Vienna, Frankfurt and Warsaw. as well as train and bus connections from Kiev, Odessa, Krakow and other East European cities.
However one arrives, it is worth spending several days in Lvov. Strolling down the cobblestoned streets in the Old Town and admiring the eclectic architecture is perhaps the city’s greatest pleasure.
Visiting Lvov also presents an opportunity to see a Jewish community that, despite serious challenges, courageously continues to observe centuries-old traditions.
© 2009 Dan Fellner
Cruising the unusual
By admin | Bulgaria, Croatia, Cruising, Italy, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine | No Comments
Offbeat Black Sea itinerary offers fascinating stops
East Valley Tribune – July 15, 2001
“Excuse me,” a shopkeeper said as my wife and I passed his stall in the bazaar in Kusadasi, Turkey. We were browsing our way through the endless rows of knockoff designer goods, including bogus Rolex watches, Lacoste shirts and Louis Vuitton purses.“Best-quality merchandise,” he told us. “Authentic fakes.”
Venice’s bustling Grand Canal
Kusadasi was the fourth stop on our recent 12-day Renaissance cruise that visited mostly off-the-beaten-path ports on the Adriatic, Aegean and Black seas.
Some of the goods for sale we saw along the way may have been inauthentic, but the trip was filled with the type of genuine experiences increasingly difficult to find on many itineraries that visit all-too-familiar ports overrun with other cruise ships.
Indeed, to a growing number of cruise connoisseurs, the Caribbean and Alaska just don’t cut it anymore. Instead of sailing to St. Thomas or Skagway, they are more interested in visiting places such as Morocco and Malta. And they want to get there with all of the creature comforts and convenience that cruising offers.
While the trip started and ended in fairly well-known and popular destinations – Venice and Istanbul – it was the ports in between that attracted us to this particular itinerary. The ship stopped in non-tourist-oriented countries such as Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia – places in which we would be just as likely to see horse-drawn carts as souvenir shops.
First, though, we met our ship in Venice, where there are plenty of souvenir shops and tourists. But the city is so charming and unique, the crowds are worth enduring.
Venice was built on water more than 1,000 years ago and consists of 118 islands, all linked by bridges and canals. Everyone gets around by gondolas or motorized water taxis and buses, as cars and trucks are not allowed in the city.
We took an evening gondola ride, which glided us through the city’s narrow canals and gave us an up-close glimpse of its 12th-through 18th-century Gothic and Renaissance buildings. While sipping champagne, we were serenaded by a tenor who belted out Italian standards. It was tranquil and romantic, but pricey. The 45-minute trip cost $80 per person.
A ride on a water bus through the city’s bustling Grand Canal, its two-mile main drag, is far less taxing on the budget and offers an interesting look at how the city manages to function just fine with no cars. You’ll share the waterway with the locals commuting to work, police and fire boats, and maybe a wedding or funeral procession. We even saw a garbage boat pick up trash from Venetian homes.
The next stop on our cruise itinerary was across the Adriatic Sea in picturesque Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Dubrovnik, Croatia’s Old Town
Dubrovnik was heavily damaged 10 years ago when it was shelled by Serbs and Montenegrins from the surrounding mountains during Croatia’s successful struggle for independence from Yugoslavia.
But the city has been beautifully restored. It’s difficult to spot signs of the war. The heart of Dubrovnik is its Old Town, which is surrounded by a 1 ½-mile-long wall. For $2, you can climb the stairs to the top of the wall and take one of the most scenic walks in the world. Red-roofed homes, palaces, church steeples and the blue waters of the Adriatic can be seen below.
The Old Town features a marbled pedestrian promenade known as the Placa. Aside from shops and cafes, there’s a Franciscan monastery housing a pharmacy that’s been in operation since 1317.
From Dubrovnik, we sailed through the Ionian Sea to Piraeus, Greece, about seven miles southwest of Athens. Most passengers opted to take an excursion into Athens to see the Acropolis. However, we had already been to Athens and instead chose a tour that took us down the Saronic coast to scenic Cape Sounion, on the southeastern tip of mainland Greece.
The cape is home to the famous Temple of Poeidon, perched on a cliff overlooking the sea. Several columns of the temple remain, which dates back 2,500 years. The poet Lord Byron was so inspired by the place that he carved his name on one of the columns.
For those interested in archaeology, it’s hard to top the ruins of Ephesus, just a few miles outside the port of Kusadasi, on Turkey’s west coast. Ephesus, dating back to 1000 B.C., is one of the best-preserved ancient cities in the world.
A stroll down the city’s main marble street leads to a number of interesting structures, including temples, baths, a 25,000-seat stadium still used for concerts today, and the two-story Library of Celsus that housed 12,000 scrolls.
Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey
But the Ephesians liked to do more than read. Right across the street from the library sits the remnants of a brothel.
Near Ephesus are the ruins of St. John’s Basilica, which is believed to be the original burial site of John the Apostle, and the single remaining column of the temple of Artemis, known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Don’t be put off by the admission charge to Ephesus – seven million Turkish liras. Turkey’s inflation rate is now running at a whopping 70 percent, and its currency has been devalued. As soon as you pull a dollar bill out of your wallet, you instantly become a Turkish millionaire. Seven million liras translate into less than $6.
This makes the Kusadasi bazaar a shopper’s paradise. It’s hard to resist buying a Turkish carpet, and you can watch them being made by hand in front of many shops. Leather goods, jewelry and brass also are pervasive.
As a gesture of hospitality, it’s common for Turkish shopkeepers to offer their clientele hot tea as they browse. It will help soothe your nerves for the obligatory bargaining, which is as intense as you’ll encounter anywhere.
The ship left Kusadasi for the four Black Sea ports on our itinerary, Odessa and Yalta in Ukraine; Constantza, Romania; and Varna, Bulgaria. On the way, we sailed through the Bosporus, a narrow 20-mile strait that begins in Istanbul and separates Europe from Asia.
Not many cruise lines visit the Black Sea, and it’s a chance to observe how former Communist countries are making the transition to a free-market economy. As soon as we arrived in Odessa and were besieged by beggars, we could see how difficult the transition has been for some.
The tourism trade is still in its infancy in these countries. This means you won’t find many five-star hotels, people who speak English and stores that accept dollars. But you will see some fascinating historical sites and a population truly welcoming of visitors (and in dire need of their foreign currency).
Odessa is the largest city on the Black Sea, with a population of more than 1 million. Many of them live in drab, look-alike apartment buildings built long before the Ukraine independence from Russia 10 years ago. Our guide told us that the city’s unemployment rate is nearly 50 percent.
The city is perhaps best known to Americans for its massive Potemkin Staircase,
Potemkin Staircase; Odessa, Ukraine
immortalized in the landmark 1925 Eisenstein film “Battleship Potemkin.” The staircase, which has 192 steps leading up from the harbor to the main part of town, was built in 1837. Odessa also boasts some fine museums and an opera house built to resemble the one in Vienna.
Scenic Yalta, located on the southern coast of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, is a popular summer resort area for eastern Europeans. The town is nestled beautifully in the Crimean Mountains and with good beaches, gardens and a subtropical climate, it’s no wonder that Russian czars and 19th-century writer Anton Chekhov chose to live there. Chekhov’s home is now a museum, and it features a piano Rachmaninov played when he visited.
Yalta made history in 1945 when it hosted Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin for a conference at the Livadia Palace, at which the fate of postwar Europe was decided. Inside Livadia, which was built in 1911 as the summer residence of Russia’s last czar, Nicholas II, you can see the table and chairs where the three men actually signed the agreement as well as other memorabilia from the historic event.
Our next port, Constantza, Romania, is a poor and dilapidated city of about 300,000 people, and seemingly, just as many stray dogs. Romania still is trying to recover from the brutal reign of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who plunged the country into economic ruin before he was executed in 1989.
We found it interesting that in Constantza’s National History Museum, there was not one mention of Ceausescu, who ruled Romania for 22 years.
“People want to forget him,” our guide told us.
There isn’t much in the way of sightseeing in Constantza, but we enjoyed a trip to the Murfatlar Vineyard in the Romanian countryside, about eight miles outside the city. Romania produces some good wines, and a bottle of Murfatlar’s best vintage will set you back only $4. While we sampled cabernets and pinot noirs, we were treated to a Romanian folk-dancing show.
Varna, Bulgaria, is a major naval and commercial shipping port rich in Greek and Roman history. The Varna Archaeological Museum has some remarkable displays, including objects recovered from a 1972 excavation in the area dating back 6,000 years. Most interesting is a display of the oldest specimens of gold jewelry ever discovered.
The city also has some well-preserved Roman baths dating from the 4th century and the impressive 19th-century Orthodox Cathedral of the Assumption, built to resemble the Cathedral of St. Petersburg.
Our journey ended in Istanbul, Turkey, a congested city of 13 million people that spans two continents – Europe and Asia. Every day, 3 million of the city’s residents commute from one continent to the other, either by ferryboat or bridge across the Bosporus.
We spent only a day in Istanbul – not nearly enough time to explore its many palaces, mosques and bazaars.
Istanbul’s 400-year-old Blue Mosque
But we did get to see the 400-year-old Blue Mosque, named for its 21,000 blue tiles, and the 6th-century Hagia Sophia, once the largest church in the Christian world, and now a museum that houses the remains of the famous wall mosaics of Christ and the Virgin Mary.
No trip to Istanbul would be complete without a stop in the famous Grand Bazaar, where you can find more than 4,000 shops on 60 streets. It’s easy to get lost in the labyrinth of corridors and passages, so unless you have a good sense of direction, don’t stray too far from the central shopping street.
And it’s worthwhile to learn one word of Turkish before you go – “hayir.” It means “no,” a word you’ll need to use repeatedly to fend off the persistent vendors.
All told, the ship visited nine ports on seven countries and two continents over 12 days. A couple of “at sea” days along the way enabled us to catch our breath from the hectic pace of sightseeing.We saw some exotic places that we probably would have been reluctant to visit on our own.
Cruising offers a nice blend of comfort and adventure. Trekking through ancient ruins, shopping in a Turkish bazaar and witnessing new democracies emerge in the former Soviet bloc can be exhilarating.
But it’s always nice to return to the ship at the end of the day, to a five-course dinner and a clean bathroom.
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Ushuaia: Journey to the End of the World
Buenos Aires’ Kosher McDonald’s
Oregon’s Dazzling Neon Sign Museum
Cruising the Columbia River Gorge
Monaco: Playground of the Rich and Famous
Cruising Back Into Jewish History
Norway’s Spectacular Sognefjord
The Jews of North Macedonia
Skopje: Statue City
The Irrawaddy: Cruising Back in Time in Myanmar
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Dan Fellner is a member of the speakers' bureau (AZ Speaks) of the Arizona Humanities and is available to give highly visual and informative presentations on a number of travel-related topics, including travel writing, Eastern Europe, Asia and Jewish life overseas.
To inquire about booking the author for a speaking engagement, for travel-writing editing/consultation, to purchase the rights to a photo, or to place a customized ad on Global-Travel-Info, contact the author at dhfellner(at)hotmail.com or use the contact form on the left.
© 1999-2020 Dan Fellner
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Jordan Edwards Shooting Death
By Gelson - Aug 29, 2018
Who is Jordan Edwards?
15-Years-Old, Jordan Edwars lived in Balch Springs, Texas.
He was a first-year student at Mesquite High School where he played football.
On 29th April 2017, Jordan Edwards, a black teen was shot in back of the head by Ex-police officer, Roy Oliver (37-Years) in Balch Springs, Texas and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Officer Roy Oliver fired three rifle (armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic) rounds into a vehicle, striking Edwards in the head and killing him.
In the car there were four more. Two were Jordan's brothers and another two were his friends where his brother (16-Years), Vidal Allen was driving the car.
At the time of shot, Jordan was riding in the front passenger's seat of a vehicle driving away from a party and he was unarmed.
On 5th May 2017, Roy Oliver, was fired from the police department and was arrested.
He turned himself into police later that day and was released after posting $300,000 in bail.
On 3rd May 2018, Oliver's murder trial was postponed for a second time, and was rescheduled to begin August 20.
On 28th August 2018, Oliver, ex-cop was found guilty of murder.
Thousands of people began using the hashtag #jordanedwards on social media in response to the shooting.
The mother of Jordan Edwards thanked jurors Tuesday for convicting her son's killer rather than letting him "walk away".
Daryl Washington said, "It's about every African-American, unarmed African-American, who has been killed and who has not gotten justice".
He added what happened to Jordan never should've happened.
Authorities said they found evidence suggesting Oliver "intended to cause serious bodily injury and commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that caused the death".
According to the Washington Post Fatal Force database, more than 980 people were killed by police in 2017.
Previously, in the year 2013, Roy was supposed to testify in a DUI Case for being angry, hard to contact and using vurgal language and was suspended for two days.
Permalink: https://gossipgist.com/jordan-edwards-death
Model Christina Carlin-Kraft Found Dead On her Bedroom
Gelson / August 25, 2018
UEFA Champions League Awards 2018
Liam / September 01, 2018
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Student Spotlight: Nekitta Beans
A recent graduate from the School of Social Work, Beans now works as Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC) in Washington, D.C.
Nekitta Beans, a recent graduate of The University of Alabama’s School of Social Work, lives in Washington, D.C.’s Ward 8 neighborhood. She came here for her field placement as a part the Master of Social Work Program. As an intern for Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC), Nekitta’s work was in policy and advocacy, lobbying for others on Capitol Hill and participating in the 36th Annual Social Work at the United Nations in New York City. “It was challenging, but if I can do two classes, an internship and a new city at the same time, I can do anything.”
Nekkita’s drive was evident at FSFSC. So impressed with her dedicated and outstanding work, they offered a full time position upon graduation. Foregoing her moment on stage at commencement, Nekitta drove home to pack her car, hug her loved ones and turn back for Washington.
Her role with FSFSC is an immersive one, living in the neighborhood and sharing the experiences of her clients as their neighbor, wondering if she’ll ever grow accustomed to the street sounds and sirens as they seem to be. In some ways, this community of 75,000 is not much different from the town of 5,000 where Nekkita was raised.
In the small town of Philadelphia, Mississippi, six-year-old Nekkita lost her mother, and her world shifted farther off its axis with each coming day. Left in the care of her abusive stepfather, she and her siblings soon entered the foster care system, saddled with the emotional confusion of fear and relief. Nekkita does not shy away from her past. “I share my story, because it might help somebody or motivate one person to action.”
When asked why she chose to pursue social work for her own career, Nekitta is quick to clarify. “Social work chose me. It saved my life.”
That life eventually led her to UA. She admits she wrestled with imposter syndrome as a first-generation college student on a big campus. While she felt she did not belong the first day of class, her social work cohort quickly became the support she needed to kindle her fire. “I chose The University of Alabama, because it is one of the best programs in the country. I have a rich, strong connection to my faculty and staff.”
“My experience at UA taught me to demonstrate true grit. I was able to put my heart in it and learn to balance passion with priorities. To think critically and outside the box. It all positively contributes to the work I do now, making me a better social worker.”
Resolved to improve the lives of her neighbors in Washington, Nekitta is now fully immersed in her work, developing her experience and enterprising new ways to be the most effective. She is teaching parenting and job-readiness classes in prisons, grant writing and successfully relocating families. Every day in Washington is another day she meets her goal. “I want to dedicate my life to saving children, to saving people who can’t help themselves.”
The University of Alabama, the state’s oldest and largest public institution of higher education, is a student-centered research university that draws the best and brightest to an academic community committed to providing a premier undergraduate and graduate education. UA is dedicated to achieving excellence in scholarship, collaboration and intellectual engagement; providing public outreach and service to the state of Alabama and the nation; and nurturing a campus environment that fosters collegiality, respect and inclusivity.
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Game of the People
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Aberdeen wary of the Glasgow gap
ABERDEEN may be Scotland’s third club at the moment but their financial figures for 2018-19 highlight the chasm between the Dons and the Old Firm, Celtic and Rangers. Derek McInnes’ team plays host to Rangers this week with nine points separating the Gers from Aberdeen.
This is only one aspect of the difference between the two clubs – Aberdeen’s turnover may be close to £ 16 million, but Celtic and Rangers generated revenues of £ 83 million and £ 53 million respectively in 2018-19. Furthermore, Aberdeen’s wage bill of £ 9.2 million is dwarfed by Celtic’s £ 56 million and Rangers’ £ 34 million.
Aberdeen finished fourth in the Scottish Premiership in 2018-19, their lowest position since 2013. Since Derek McInnes took over in the summer of that year, Aberdeen had not finished outside the top three and had been Premiership runners-up for four consecutive seasons. In 2017-18, they had reduced Celtic’s margin at the top from 30 to nine points.
Despite a marginally less successful season, Aberdeen’s turnover increased by 3% to £ 15.9 million, with gate receipts up by 13% to £ 5.4 million. Aberdeen’s average attendance at Pittodrie was 14,113 which was 5% lower than the 2017-18 campaign. The Dons lost Adam Rooney to Salford City at the start of the season, who were then in the National League in England. The transfer was something of an eyebrow-raiser in Scotland for Salford, the non-league club backed by the so-called “Class of 92”, paid £ 375,000 for Rooney and were reputed to be paying him £ 4,000 per week.
Despite higher gate receipts and commercial income, Aberdeen made an operating loss of more than £ 1,000,000 and an overall loss of £ 5 million. Aberdeen have only made an overall profit once in the past 10 years. Broadcasting income totalled £ 3.1 million, some 17% lower than 2017-18. The club also suffered an impairment charge of £ 4.25 million in connection with the Pittodrie Stadium.
Aberdeen have been looking to move for the best part of a decade after realising that further development of Pittodrie was not possible given the age of the ground and restrictions from the land surrounding the stadium. The club has found a site at Kingsford and the judicial review was favourable. Aberdeen admitted that the funding for a new £ 45 million stadium is still in its early stages, but the sale of Pittodrie, which has been valued at £ 11 million, should help. In the meantime, the club continues on a path of cost efficiency and increasing turnover, despite local economic challenges.
The Aberdeen coffers should be swollen a little if they sell leading scorer Sam Cosgrove, the 22 year-old who joined from Carlisle United in 2017-18 and has scored 37 goals in 51 games, including eight in the Scottish Premiership this season. Championship clubs in England, Stoke City and Middlesbrough, have shown an interest in the former Everton youngster. Manager McInnes has said that it is a possibility that Beverley-born Cosgrove will be sold. Another player that could be on his way is highly-rated Scotland defender Scott McKenna, who handed in a transfer request earlier this season.
Aberdeen have lost just three times this season in the league, but two of those defeats were demoralisingly heavy, 4-0 at home to Celtic and 5-0 away at Rangers, two results that underlined the relative strength of the Glasgow sides. Aberdeen went out of the Europa League to Rijeka in the qualifying rounds after winning through two rounds.
New chairman Dave Cormack, a US-based software entrepreneur, recently took over after Stewart Milne stepped down after 22 years. Cormack has promised £ 5 million in fresh investment to add to the £ 11 million he has already pumped into the club. Furthermore, AMB Sports & Entertainment have taken a 10% stake. Aberdeen have also announced a partnership with the dynamic MLS club Atlanta United, which is part-owned by AMB. Atlanta president Darren Eales has joined the Aberdeen board.
Cormack has one eye on closing the gulf between his club and the likes of Celtic and Rangers: “The new investment and partnership with Atlanta will allow us to punch above our weight and try to level the playing field against significantly higher income generated by Celtic and Rangers.”
While this sounds exciting, it also represents part of a growing trend with US investors and clubs looking to Scotland and other European countries. While Eales says this is not part of a multi-club strategy akin to the approach of Red Bull or City Football Group, if the Atlanta partnership is successful, it could just whet their appetite for further investments in other countries. It’s early days, but with a new stadium somewhere in the future and a broadening of relationships, the future could be very exciting for Aberdeen.
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Photo: PA
GOTP Editorial - NF Jensen December 4, 2019 December 6, 2019 Aberdeen, European football, finance, Pittodrie, Scotland, Scottish Premiership, top slot
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Home / Opinion / How unmarried Americans are changing everything
How unmarried Americans are changing everything
Posted on Thursday, September 21, 2017 by CNN in Opinion
It wasn’t long ago that being single after a certain age was considered a recipe for lifelong misery. Up until 1970, the average woman married before she was legally old enough to have a drink at her wedding, and the average man married at 23. A woman still single at the ripe old age of 26 was what the Japanese call Christmas Cake — past her pull date and destined to spoil. A man not married by the end of his 20s was considered irresponsible, if not “deviant.”
As late as 1976, 93% of women aged 25 to 29, and 90% of men that age, had already married. By 2014, that was true of only 46% of women and 32% of men in that age group.
The rising age of marriage since the 1980s has worried many. In 1986, Newsweek darkly warned that a woman unmarried at age 35 had only a 5% chance of ever finding “Prince Charming,” while a single woman aged 40 was more likely to be killed by a terrorist than to find a husband. According to a chorus of marriage promoters in the 1980s and 1990s, singles were lonely, unhappy, unproductive members of society. Only marriage could turn them into useful citizens, reliable employees, and happy, healthy individuals. Many believe this today.
So it was a radical idea in the 1980s when the Buckeye Singles Council of Ohio called for a National Singles Week to celebrate the lives and achievements of single Americans. It’s called Unmarried and Single Americans Week now, and takes place in the third week in September.
But as researcher Bella DePaulo notes, things have changed — slowly but radically — for unmarried and single people. New research shows that most never-married individuals, whatever their age, lead happy, healthy and helpful lives. On average, unmarried individuals have a wider network of friends than married couples and visit more frequently with neighbors. They also provide more practical help to parents, other relatives and coworkers than do their married counterparts.
And it is no longer true that marriage delayed is marriage foregone. Marriage has not become obsolete. It just takes up less space in our lives and in society as a whole than it used to.
Today unmarried people comprise more than 45% of the adult population in the United States. They head more than 47% of our households, and make up fully half of our workforce.
These figures are sometimes taken to mean that Americans are turning their backs on marriage. In 2014, the Pew Research Center predicted that one in four adults might never marry at all. But most Americans still marry, although at older ages. As of 2014, 80% of Americans had married by age 45, the same percentage of that age group as in 1976.
And many people marry even later. Sociologist Philip Cohen estimates that 85% of white women and 78% of black women will marry. This is a smaller racial difference than is usually reported, because, although black women have significantly lower marriage rates than white women until their early thirties, they actually marry at slightly higher rates after about age 33.
Cohen calculates that a white woman who reaches age 45 without marrying has a 26% chance of marrying at some later point, while a never-married black woman aged 45 has a 49% chance of doing so.
The fact is, marriage is alive and well, but it has become only one of a series of living arrangements and interpersonal entanglements that most Americans will experience in the course of their lives. Cohen notes that back in the 1950s, Americans could, on average, expect to be married for three-quarters of the prime years of their adult work and family lives, from age 18 to 55. By 2015, marriage occupied “only about half of those 37 years.”
Alternatives to marriage have multiplied in the later years of life as well as the earlier ones. For people in the middle years of life, marriages have actually become more stable over the past three decades. Marriages begun in the 1990s are lasting longer than those that began in the 1970s and 1980s, and those begun in the 2000s seem on track to last even longer.
But the divorce rate of people over age 50 has doubled since 1990, and the rate for people 65 and older has tripled.
Marriage is no longer the only, or even the chief, place where people make most of their major personal, occupational, residential and financial decisions, or where they incur obligations to others. More than a third of women who give birth in any given year are now unmarried. And at the other end of the age spectrum, older adults are the fastest growing group of cohabitors in the country.
This is a game-changer, both for our emotional lives and our social policies. As a society, we can no longer act as though married couples are the only people who need support for their caregiving obligations, from employer-provided healthcare for dependents to legal recognition of their interdependencies.
As individuals, we need to stop postponing financial and legal planning until we have “tied the knot.” Just as many people need prenuptial agreements, others need non-nuptial ones.
We also need to stop treating every unmarried person as an incomplete half of a married-couple-in-waiting. Certainly there are lonely and depressed singles out there. But often these are divorced or widowed people who depended too much on marriage as their support system and failed to maintain the friendships and reciprocities that singles tend to cultivate more carefully than their married counterparts.
Maybe it’s time for us married couples to stop being so free with advice to our single friends and recognize that we have things to learn from them — such as nurturing our social networks rather than simply cocooning with our “soul mate.”
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Fox’s Chinatown segment a tired disgrace
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‘Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil’: Angelina Jolie Talks Redefining The Power Of Women
By eelyajekiM | @ | October 18th, 2019 at 7:38 pm
Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil is the sequel to the 2014 alternative fantasy which gave audiences a new perspective on everyone’s favorite sorceress. Set five years after the first film, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) finds herself having to give Aurora (Elle Fanning), her besty and queen of the moors, away to Prince Phillip (Harrison Dickinson), who has just proposed to her. Although the two are deeply in love, Maleficent isn’t so convinced given her past history with humans. Her disdain only deepens when she is invited to meet Prince Phillip’s parents at a cordial dinner, where Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer), his mother, subtly disrespects the all-powerful sorceress and plans to use the wedding as a means for the humans to go to war against the fairies.
Geeks Of Doom was invited so sit down with their fellow journalists at the official Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil press conference, where Jolie, Pfeiffer, and Fanning all talked about their characters, making a fairy tale feel modern, and more.
Topics: Features, Interviews, Movies, Sequels
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Maleficent, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, Michelle Pfeiffer, Walt Disney Studios
Movie Review: Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil
By eelyajekiM | @ | October 15th, 2019 at 10:00 pm
Director: Joachim Rønning
Writer: Linda Woolverton, Noah Harpster, Micah Fitzerman-Blue
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, Michelle Pfeiffer
Rated PG | Minutes: 118
You never know what to expect from Disney’s live-action adaptations of their animated classics. At times, they can be just as wonderful as their animated counterparts. Other times, they are just hollow, lacking any sort of distinguishing features. But for Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, starring Angelina Jolie, it is the first sequel of its kind for the studio. This means, there are new stories to see and hear, new worlds to explore, new characters to meet, and more reasons to love the antihero fairy whose cold heart was warmed by Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning).
Sure, the first film was merely a CGI-saturated feature that could not match Jolie’s performance, but with the sequel has a much better cast, a fantastic story, and more epic action sequences. Check out the full review below.
Topics: Movie Reviews, Movies, Reviews
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, Elle Fanning, Imelda Staunton, Joachim Rønning, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Linda Woolverton, Maleficent, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Michelle Pfeiffer, Noah Harpster, Sam Riley, Walt Disney Studios
‘Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil’ Trailer: A Villainess Comes Home
By eelyajekiM | @ | July 8th, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Although it wasn’t the most well-received of the Disney live-action adaptations of their animated classics, Maleficent went on to be one of the biggest blockbuster films of 2014. As such, it deserved to get a sequel. Flash-forward five years later, we are getting that with Angelina Jolie returning to reprise the role that she was born to play in Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil. However, the title character’s happiness won’t be continuing, as Aurora (Elle Fanning) has a new fiance, whose family promises to care for her the way that Maleficent never could. But are their intentions true or are they hiding something? And what other surprises are in store for the audience. Check out the trailer and more here below.
Topics: Movies, News, Sequels, Trailers
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, Elle Fanning, Harris Dickinson, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Maleficent, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sam Riley, Walt Disney Studios
‘Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil’ Trailer: Angelina Jolie Returns To Celebrate The Season Of The Witch
By eelyajekiM | @ | May 14th, 2019 at 10:00 am
Disney has released the first teaser trailer for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, the sequel to the hugely successful Maleficent. Angelina Jolie returns to play the titular scorned winged sorceress who cursed Princess Aurora to be put under eternal sleep that can only be dispelled by a kiss. But unlike the traditional live-action adaptations, the film took a much different approach by having the film take place from Maleficent’s perspective and exploring why she was bitter towards the kingdom and the young princess.
Now she’s back, along with Elle Fanning, who reprises her role as Princess Aurora. Joining them will be Michelle Pfeiffer as a new character created for this film. Check out the new trailer and six new images from the film below.
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Disney, Duncan Henderson, Ed Skrein, Harris Dickinson, Imelda Staunton, Jeff Kirschenbaum, Joachim Rønning, Joe Roth, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Linda Woolverton, Maleficent, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, Matt Smith, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Michael Vieira, Noah Harpster, Sam Riley, Walt Disney Studios
‘Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil’ Gets A Teaser Poster and New Release Date
By eelyajekiM | @ | March 6th, 2019 at 2:08 pm
It’s been a while since we’ve seen any news from Maleficent 2, the sequel to the very popular reimagining of Sleeping Beauty. Starring Angelina Jolie, the film pictured the title character as a protagonist who was wronged by a scheming king who took her wings away thereby taking her powers away. She would eventually get them back, and like most fairy tale endings, they all lived happily ever after.
But there was no way that a huge success like that wouldn’t be followed up with a sequel. And that’s what we are getting. The sequel has a brand new title and now will go by Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. Not only that, but there is a new release date and a teaser poster. Check them all out below.
Topics: Movies, News, Photos, Posters, Sequels
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, Elle Fanning, Harris Dickinson, Joachim Rønning, Linda Woolverton, Maleficent 2, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Michelle Pfeiffer, Noah Harpster, Robert Lindsay
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Nov 12, 2009 Apr 25, 2014 Ellen
New Rowing Film
One of the loyal readers of this blog, Hélène in France, sent an e-mail earlier today, telling me about an upcoming rowing film, La Régate [The Regatta]. The film is about the fifteen year old boy, Alex, who lives alone with his aggressive father. To escape the violence, Alex takes to the oar and decides, at all costs, to win the rowing Championships of Belgium.
The film is directed by the Belgian Bernard Bellefroid, who was born in 1978. He graduated in 2003 from the National Film School of Belgium (INSAS) and has previously made documentary films. La Régate is Bellefroid’s first longer feature film, which is produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. It will be released in France in February 2010. However, I find it unlikely that the film will find it’s way to the U.S., which is a pity.
If you would like to get more information about this film, click here (information in French!). Many thanks to Hélène!
Rowing Films
Youth Rowing
Instead of boring my friends with my need to catalog my life through music, I'm putting it here.
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Hélène says:
To see the film crew, during the shooting, here is a link : http://www.listal.com/video/101610886
You will see an interview with Sergi Lopez…
Göran R Buckhorn says:
Even more thanks to Hélène!
The trailer is now available (in French) at :
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18946278&cfilm=138684.html or on Youtube searching for “La Regate”…
Again, thank you very much, Hélène.
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AXS Interview, Entertainment, Interview, Music, Women Who Rock January 15, 2019
Interview: Madame Mayhem Discusses New Single, ‘Broken’, Memorable Moments
Co-written with Breaking Benjamin’s Keith Wallen, Manhattan-born singer/songwriter Madame Mayhem is back with her infectious new single, “Broken.”
The new track, which features the powerful rhythm section of Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, Winery Dogs) and Ray Luzier (Korn, KXM) continues the dynamically gifted artist’s trend of delivering infectious melodies, hard-hitting rhythms and soaring vocals.
AXS recently spoke with Madame Mayhem about “Broken” and more in this exclusive new interview.
AXS: How did your new single, “Broken,” come about?
Madame Mayhem: It’s always cool when you can collaborate with people who hold you accountable and can bring something of their own to the table as well. I’ve written a bunch of songs with Keith Wallen and “Broken” is one that came out of those sessions. I always like it when listeners can relate to a song in their own way. For me, “Broken” is a song about the feeling you get when you’re in a relationship with someone and both of you know it’s over, but both of you are afraid to admit it.
AXS: What was the writing process like?
MM: I always say this but it’s true: there’s really no one set way to write. I could go in with a bunch of lyrics and Keith may have a bunch of riffs. Sometimes we may use them and other times we may just scratch it all together and talk about what we’re feeling right now. We’ll both come prepared but sometimes it can all go out the window and we’ll start with something new. It’s very organic.
AXS: Where do you draw inspiration for your lyrics?
MM: The lyrics usually come from the struggles and frustrations I’ve been through. It’s therapeutic to get the song out, and when I hear people say that they feel the same way it makes me feel that I’m not alone. It’s writing from truth.
Interview with Madame Mayhem by Clicking here!
Filed under: Entertainment, Madame Mayhem, Music
Director Harrison Smith Talks ‘Death House,’ New Projects
Interview: Theresa Caputo discusses ‘Live! The Experience’ event coming to Bethlehem, PA
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exploring philadelphia's urban landscape
Ask Hidden City
Stones And Stories At Mount Moriah Cemetery
July 16, 2013 | by Dan Papa
Memories overgrown | Photo: Dan Papa
It is an estimated 380 acres of pastoral land and forest, home to wild foxes and deer, an arboretum’s worth of plant life, and a treasure trove of history etched in stone. And yet Mount Moriah Cemetery, one of the largest cemeteries in Pennsylvania, remains largely unknown, hidden by weeds.
Straddling the western edge of the city on Cobbs Creek, half of the cemetery resides in the borough of Yeadon and half in Philadelphia. For many years this place was neglected, and eventually abandoned. Amazingly, there is currently no legal owner of this property; the last known member of the Mount Moriah Cemetery Association, the governing body of the cemetery since its inception, died in 2004.
Founded in 1855, Mount Moriah was one of the popular rural burial grounds for the victorian elite of Philadelphia, along with Laurel Hill and the Woodlands. But unlike those other well preserved grounds, a quick stroll around Mount Moriah shows just how neglected it’s been. Headstones are buried and broken, monuments are toppled over. A huge ball of granite sits in Cobbs Creek. Massive obelisks and mausoleums are obscured by dense forest growth.
Return to nature | Photo: Dan Papa
There is a strange beauty in this return to nature, almost like looking at the ruins of an ancient city, but there is also a terrible loss of history. People still come to this cemetery looking for their ancestors, sometimes digging through shrubs, bushes and poison ivy to do so.
On a Saturday I talked to board members from Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, a non-profit that in the last two years has taken serious action in cleanup and maintenance of this land. They were busy on mowers and weed whackers, volunteering their time to maintain the history preserved here.
Calling herself the “renegade” of the group, board member Donna Morelli comes across as the sheriff of Mount Moriah. Sporting a handgun on her hip and riding an ATV around the property, she relates her personal investment at the cemetery. Her house and backyard are directly adjacent to the grounds, and she witnessed people dumping trash nearby, a common practice in recent years.
“I started sitting out here on the weekends at night,” she says. “I ended up catching them in the afternoon and got them to clean up a little bit, and then we had a little showdown. Since then, we’ve been pretty good on this side.”
Morrelli says she works in the cemetery basically every day, mowing paths through dense areas to make sure they stay accessible. Because of an abundance of ticks, she contracted Lyme disease and was forced to quit her job. But her passion for the history of this place drives her to continue. “It’s hard to keep me out of here,” she says. “My husband is not thrilled about it.”
“There were times when we were pulling sofas, mattresses, abandoned cars out of this place,” says board Treasurer Ken Smith. He estimates that only a quarter of the grounds can be maintained by volunteers. That’s worth noting considering the population of the buried. “Officially, there’s 150,000 people interred here,” Smith says. “Unofficially, we have a feeling it’s over 300,000.”
Friends communications director and board member Ed Snyder, a cemetery enthusiast who operates the blog The Cemetery Traveler, graciously led me on a tour of the grounds. We walked to the upper portion on the Yeadon side to the Naval Asylum section. Soldiers who were treated at the Naval Hospital on Grays Ferry Avenue dating to the Civil War are buried here. Incredibly, this part of the cemetery, as well as a small military plot on the Philly side, is regularly maintained by the federal government. The mowed grass and neat grids of white headstones lie in stark contrast to the surrounding overgrown sections. A metal sculptural anchor, damaged most likely by someone attempting to steal it for scrap, stands as a monument.
The architect’s tools | Photo: Dan Papa
Back on the Philly side, Snyder led us to the Masonic Circle, isolated and overgrown. This section is designed as a circle within a circle, illustrating the Mason’s geometric theories. The center is marked by a tall marble column, topped with the compass. Around the edges additional monuments can be glimpsed, but the relentless summer growth obscures nearly everything.
This section also includes the former site of Betsy Ross’ grave. In 1976, city officials decided to move the Ross grave to Old City for the Bicentennial. According to Snyder, they found no remains under her stone and so continued to dig out a large area of the family plot, until the first bones found were declared to belong to Betsy Ross. Today the site is marked with a bare flagpole.
Again on the Yeadon side, a cluster of large mausoleums and obelisks stand on a hill that until recently was overrun by 10 years of invasive tree growth. Board members cut down the trees with chainsaws over the winter. Then on a large spring cleanup day, organized by the Friends of Mount Moriah and supported by Comcast, seven wood chippers were provided by Asplundh to remove the cut trees.
Snyder says on cleanup days in the spring and fall, when work is easier because of less growth, it is normal for 100 volunteers to show up. “Often those people are descendants of people who are buried here,” he says. “We have access to the records, so we will help them find their ancestors’ graves, and it’s a very emotional experience. We get people traveling from all over the country.”
Ownership of Mount Moriah Cemetery is in complicated legal limbo. Currently moving through the court system, assignment of a new owner is an ongoing process. Once this happens, the Friends group speculates that essential grant funding will become much more accessible. Snyder speculates that the last administrators of the cemetery office may not have been the owners at all. They abruptly abandoned the office, leaving the historic records to be damaged by water.
Stephen Decatur Button’s gatehouse, standing in ruin | Photo: Dan Papa
Until a new owner emerges, the Friends group does not have authority to touch the buildings or monuments on the site. This explains the deteriorated state of the Victorian brownstone gatehouse on Kingsessing Avenue. Designed by Stephen Decatur Button, the gatehouse was declared endangered by Preservation Pennsylvania in 2004.
Friends Board President Paulette Rhone speaks eloquently about her vision for Mount Moriah. “I see it as a wonderful green open space for the community, for the city of Philadelphia and beyond,” she says. “In the mid 19th century people came and picnicked on the graves of their family. We [would like to] have walks and bike rides and sporting events and kids learning history—learning the dash in between the birth and death date. Learning about sociology, horticulture and the environment. Kids know about technology but they don’t know how to just learn from the environment, and that is my goal. I see it as an opportunity for so many people, and I’m just delighted to be a part of that.”
Learn more about the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery at their web site HERE. To launch a gallery from the cemetery, click any of the photos below.
Tags: Cemeteries Mount Moriah Cemetery Southwest Philadelphia
Dan Papa Dan Papa is a filmmaker, photographer, and musician living in West Philly. He is interested in history, landscape, and Himalayan culture. Visit his website at dan-papa.com, on Instagram @danpapa85, and on Twitter @danpapa85.
Davis says:
My parish has an isolated plot there essentially for those who could not afford their own burial plots. For many years we engaged a contractor to mow it but ultimately he gave up and we haven\’t been able to find anyone to continue that work considering the difficulty of dealing with the cemetery as a whole.
I didn\’t realize it was you, Flat Mary Road, until reading this article. I wish I had known when we talked that day because I probably would have asked you more questions then you did I. Is the band still together? I still would love for you guys to play for us sometime if you are. Keep in touch. It was nice talking to you and take care.
Soldat says:
I also sport my a sidearm when I come here, but I highly encourage everybody to go on a work day and to help clean it up. The place and those buried there deserve it.
Carol Ann Kibiger Johnaon says:
Thank you so much for your hard work. When I was little I remembered it as a beautiful place. Was so disappointed when we had to bury my sister there. Later she was moved to a beautiful place. My parents got rid of their ownership to the rest of their plots where we as a family thought we were going to lay at rest. God Bless all of you.
© 2011-2020 Hidden City Philadelphia
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Home / Tips and Tricks / Billboard Magazine, now a music publication, was once a record for who?
Billboard Magazine, now a music publication, was once a record for who?
Answer: Circus Performers
Today, Billboard Magazine is known as the newspaper which created (and still does) music history. Getting you on the Billboard music charts is the high achievement of many a musician's career. Long before Billboard tracked music, however, it was a newspaper that was much different than the one we know today. In its very first incarnation, which came to the press in 1
894, Billboard was a magazine that literally focused on billboards, posters and paper advertisements placed in public places along with poster posters (people who put up promotional posters).
It was originally titled Billboard Advertising and it was a commercial newspaper for advertising. Very quickly, however, the magazine began to carry ads and information about circuses, fairs, carnivals, vaudeville and burlesque shows. From there, the Billboard magazine continued to become the record for the entertainment industry record, and circus artists around the world read it to keep up with what's happening in the industry.
In 1907, they began to cover the film industry, but quickly moved to cover music. In the 1920s, they even created a radio broadcasting station in addition to covering the development of phonograph and radio technology. When the 1930s came out and jukeboxes appeared all over the country, they began publishing what would continue to be the iconic Billboard Music Chart. In the 1960s, the archives theme park / exhibition elements were split into a separate publication, and Billboard completed its conversion to the music industry's icon it is today.
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Here’s Everything We Know About HBO’s New ‘Watchmen’ Series, Coming to TV Soon
Written by Arnie Ross on October 13, 2019
This post is also available in: Русский
Game of Thrones, arguably HBO’s most successful and critically acclaimed original series of all time, is is about to give us its eighth and final season. But HBO is hoping to once more catch lightning in a bottle with another popular adaptation for the small screen. Enter the Watchmen series.
First, some backstory of the Watchmen comic book run
Just in case you’ve lived under a rock for the last 32 years, Watchmen is a 12-issue comic book mini-series (later collected into a single volume). Published by DC Comics and created by comics legends Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in 1986, Watchmen took the comics world by storm.
It has sold over 1 million copies and is the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award. It was also listed in Time magazine’s list of “100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to the Present.” Combining a murder mystery with conventional superhero tropes, politics and heavy symbolism, Watchmen is a milestone in comic book history.
In a nutshell, Watchmen is set in an alternative 1985 where the very existence of superheroes has altered the course of history. The country, under the leadership of Richard Nixon (during his fourth term) is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. With this backdrop, a group of superheroes try to solve the mystery of who murdered their colleague, The Comedian.
Watchmen was adapted into a 2009 feature film
In 2009, Zach Snyder helmed the movie adaptation that people claimed couldn’t (and shouldn’t) be done. The reaction of critics and fans is split, with a 64% critic rating and a 71% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. (Well, I thought it was cool.) One of the first superhero movies with a R rating, it failed to pull in the numbers that Warner Bros. Pictures was hoping for, and is widely considered a flop.
But enough backstory, let’s get back to HBO.
The backstory of the upcoming HBO Watchmen series
Damon Lindelof of Lost and The Leftovers has been developing a Watchmen series for HBO for a while. (He’s the creator as well as a writer and executive producer.) The cast list on IMDB is as long as your arm, including such notables as Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Regina King, Louis Gossett Jr., Jean Smart and Frances Fisher.
In May 2018, Lindelof posted a five-page open letter to the fans of Watchmen on Instagram. Even way back then he provided a few clues as to what we might expect from the Watchmen series.
Day 140.
A post shared by Damon (@damonlindelof) on May 22, 2018 at 11:00am PDT
The letter is wordy, heartfelt and deeply personal — but on top of all that, it provides some insight as to what to expect from the series. In particular, how Lindelof’s Watchmen will differ from the original:
We have no desire to ‘adapt’ the twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago. Those issues are sacred ground and they will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted. They will, however, be remixed. Because the bass lines in those familiar tracks are just too good and we’d be fools not to sample them.
Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament. When the New Testament came along it did not erase what came before it … it all happened. And so it will be with Watchmen. … To be clear, Watchmen is canon. Just the way Mr. Moore wrote it, the way Mr. Gibbons drew it and the way the brilliant John Higgins colored it.
So HBO’s new Watchmen series will stay in the Watchmen universe but be updated to the current day. Between that and the cast list, we’ll likely see older versions of the characters who survived the comic. Finally, the non-linear nature of Lindelof’s open letter seems like a wink that we’ll be able to expect the same thing from the show, combining new and established characters.
Unlike the 2009 film, which took place in New York City, the upcoming TV series is rumored to be set in — of all places — Tulsa, Oklahoma. Footage of the series that has been released by HBO features quite a few law enforcement officers in Tulsa Police uniforms.
And cementing the source material’s moody vibe, Lindelof has tapped Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame) and Atticus Ross to score the Watchmen series. The duo previously did the same for The Social Network, Gone Girl and Jonah Hill’s Mid90s.
The new Watchmen series premieres Sunday, October 20 on HBO.
DC Comics HBO user-created-content
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Tag Archives: human survival
To give the simplest summary of the latest film from Ridley Scott and first-time screenwriter Cormac McCarthy, the Counselor (Michael Fassbender), deeply in love with his fiancée Laura (Penelope Cruz), tries to make a quick score in a one-time drug deal with Reiner (Javier Bardem), his girlfriend Malkina (Cameron Diaz) and middleman Westray (Brad Pitt). The deal backfires, and now The Counselor is wrongfully targeted by a Mexican drug cartel.
So Cormac McCarthy, Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz in a monumental cinematic failure, what happened?
Let’s be clear. The true author of The Counselor is Cormac McCarthy, not Ridley Scott. The artistic choices that McCarthy is attempting with the script are evident. He seems to have a disdain for exposition, as most of the scenes start and end before the typical story movements in a plot. What remains are these existential conversations that occur after a lot of the action has taken place.
McCarthy thinks that by removing story explanation, the film’s themes and ideas will float to the surface. The dialogue just drones on and on and on non-stop, having the viewer scratching their heads trying to keep up with it. As a result, there is no time to absorb the themes and ideas that McCarthy is trying to communicate. Audiences can tune to a different syntax (i.e. Yoda or Nadsat from A Clockwork Orange) and absorb heavy themes, but it is hard to do both at the same time.
Michael Fassbender carries the film sufficiently on his shoulder by adding as much believability as possible and together with Penelope Cruz make a good solid emotional anchor with their love story. Javier Bardem does his trademark brand of ‘psychotic hair acting’, fashioning a spiky hairstyle that looks like he is forcibly pulling out his hair with hair gel. Brad Pitt’s character just seems like an odd combination of character quirks that comes off more shallow. It is hard to buy Bardem and Pitt’s characters because gangsters would never philosophize and advise their underlings like old wise sages.
Cameron Diaz is the odd one out and it is hard to judge her performance. It took me a while to realize that Malkina character was from Barbados, and apparently she put on an accent for it, but it was undetectable. The role is something we never seen from Diaz before and it is a wild explosive left-field character. I just don’t know what to make of it. Every actor is delivering on what is written, but it’s hard to judge if it’s good or bad acting because the performances do not add up to the sum of its parts. The actors are not to be blamed.
The final conclusion I can draw is that director Ridley Scott and the cast believed that Cormac McCarthy has written something great and have proceeded to honor it by acting it out unedited as if it was Shakespeare. Had they been more critical about the screenplay and its mechanics, something more profound definitely could have been made. From what McCarthy is trying to say with these themes, he would have done better by just writing a philosophy paper about greed and corruption. As a bleak morality tale, it is not at all compelling.
The Counselor is not a film I would recommend people to see for leisure, but anybody with an interest in screenwriting should give it a watch to study the forensics and learn what not to do, even if you are a critically acclaimed novelist.
Prometheus by Ridley Scott
tagged as biker, blood, box office flop, Brad Pitt, business associate, Cameron Diaz, cheetah, Chockstone Pictures, Cinematography by Dariusz Wolski, cocaine, Cormac McCarthy, corruption, crime, 畢彼特, 米高法斯賓達, decapitation, Directed by Ridley Scott, drug kingpin, drug trafficking, Editing by Pietro Scalia, existentialism, exotic pet, 金美倫戴雅絲, 黑權大狀, femme fatale, greed, human survival, impersonating a police officer, Javier Bardem, lawyer, Michael Fassbender, middleman, middleman Westray, murder, Music by Daniel Pemberton, nameless character, neo-noir, Nick Wechsler, Nick Wechsler Productions, No Country For Old Men, Paula Mae Schwartz, Penélope Cruz, produced by, razor wire, Ridley Scott, Scott Free Productions, sex scene, shootout, Starring, Steve Schwartz, studio, The Counselor, The Road, thriller, Written by Cormac McCarthy, 刑事律師，為了搵快錢竟染指跨國毒品交易，滿以為自己有能力全身而退，卻不知世途險惡，最終身陷連場失控的意外旋渦，更禍及未婚妻及同謀伙伴, 列尼史葛, 哈維爾巴頓, 導演, 彭妮露古絲, 演員
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Historians of Netherlandish Art
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Craig Stephen Harbison (1944-2018)
Craig Stephen Harbison, age 74, died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest on May 17, 2018 in his home in Hadley, Massachusetts. A prominent scholar of Northern Renaissance Art, Craig taught art history for more than 30 years, primarily at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He was a long-time member of HNA, serving for two years as Treasurer of the organization.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 19, 1944, Craig grew up in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He attended Oberlin College, where he majored in art history and studied under Wolfgang Stechow. There he met his wife of 37 years, Sherrill Rood, whom he married after graduation in 1966.
Craig went on to pursue a Ph.D. at Princeton, becoming one of Erwin Panofsky’s last students and completing his dissertation with Robert Koch. He received his degree in 1972, two years after taking his first teaching job at the University of California, Davis. From 1972 to 1974 he taught Oberlin College, his alma mater. He began his career at the University of Massachusetts immediately thereafter.
Craig authored two widely read and admired books on Northern Renaissance Art: Jan van Eyck: The Play of Realism (1991, paperback 1995) and The Mirror of the Artist: Northern Renaissance Art in Its Historical Context (1995), the latter published in six languages. He wrote many articles reflecting a wide range of interests, including Italian Renaissance art, for compendia and journals such as The Art Bulletin, Art History, Art Quarterly, The Burlington Magazine, Oud-Holland, Renaissance Quarterly, Simiolus, and Word and Image. He also contributed to several BBC television programs on Northern Renaissance Art.
In some ways, Craig eschewed the conventions of scholarly art history; he believed in an imaginative, personal response to works of art. In his review of Craig’s book on Van Eyck (The Art Bulletin, 75, 1 (1993): 176), Christopher S. Wood wrote, “….These are imaginative readings, and they should not be subjected to ordinary scholarly ordeals of verification. They are blueprints for a rejuvenated criticism of older art.” In particular Wood noted: “Van Eyck’s art, we are told, is ambivalent, shifting, experimental, ironic, ludic, self-divided; at once materialistic and spiritual, pretentious and skeptical, audacious and anxious. So were fifteenth century people. (So is Harbison’s book, for that matter).” Anyone who knew him would recognize this as a pretty good description of Craig himself (except that he was anything but pretentious). As Craig’s son Colin noted at his father’s memorial service, the word to best sum up Craig’s character was “complex.”
Craig’s remarkable teaching and mentoring skills benefited undergraduate and graduate students, as well as junior faculty, at the University of Massachusetts and elsewhere. Awarded his university’s College of Humanities and Fine Arts Outstanding Teaching Award in 1998, Craig served on more than 50 MA and MFA committees, chairing more than 15. He served twice as Director of his department’s graduate program, and three times as department chair. In positions of academic leadership, he always offered a clear and ambitious vision for the future of Art History within the broader humanities.
After his retirement, Craig came out as a gay man and spent the next 15 years growing into himself. He had a lifelong love for live and recorded opera. He was a chef, an artist and photographer, and an avid reader. He was a generous and thoughtful friend, and unconditionally loving and proud father and grandfather.
Craig is survived by his brother Robert Harbison of London, England; his former wife, Sherrill Rood Harbison; his two children, Hanne Harbison of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Colin Harbison of Fairfax, Virginia; and his three grandsons, Amon Harbison Koopman, and Aidan and Nathan Harbison.
Monika Schmitter
The University of Massachusetts, Amherst
© 2020 · Historians of Netherlandish Art. All Rights Reserved. · Terms of Use
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Previous Article / Next Article
HealthMatters Kentucky: A Multi-Level Approach to Building Health Promotion Capacity
by Lindsey Catherine Mullis and Kathy Sheppard-Jones
Photo caption: For participants in HealthMatters Kentucky, exercising with others supports physical and social wellness.
We all recognize that healthy lifestyle choices are beneficial for everyone. However, startling national data show that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are disadvantaged in regards to health and wellness outcomes (National Core Indicators™, 2014). Unfortunately for Kentucky, those disparities are even higher, with over 70% of those on Kentucky’s Supports for Community Living Medicaid waiver being overweight or obese, and only 14% engaging in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity three days a week. These statistics resulted in a call to action for Kentucky. HealthMatters Kentucky, as a part of larger scale-up initiative, is a health promotion program aimed at improving health and health promotion of people with IDD throughout the state.
A combination of stakeholder engagement, purposeful planning, community input, training, and resource development is resulting in increased opportunities and knowledge that is positively impacting health outcomes for people with IDD in Kentucky. Partners in this collaborative include the Human Development Institute (HDI) at the University of Kentucky, Kentucky’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities; the Kentucky Division of Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities; provider agencies supporting individuals with IDD around the state; and the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Developmental Disabilities and Health (RRTCDD), University of Illinois at Chicago. The power of the collaboration is that it addresses, and helps ameliorate, the disconnect that can occur between academia, state policymakers, and community organizations, harnessing the combined strategies utilized by these entities to enable successful statewide health promotion scale-up efforts.
In December 2010, recommendations were made to the state on the critical need to improve health outcomes for Kentucky. That spring, HDI provided a training opportunity for university staff and faculty, agency providers, state trainers, and students using the evidence-based HealthMatters curriculum developed at RRTCDD (Marks, Sisirak, & Chang, 2013; Marks, Sisiark, & Heller, 2010). This unique training audience started conversations about what could be done, and how various partners could work together. In January 2012, HDI was able to offer mini-grants to 12 organizations that devised projects or plans to incorporate health and wellness into their communities, using their own unique strengths and interests. Some developed community gardens; others offered weekly health programming. The next step was to offer health education that highlighted a model of peer coaching. Nineteen organizations engaged in this program, impacting over 100 people who received their services, while also starting dialogues with staff around health and wellness. In 2013, an amended Supports for Community Living waiver went into effect that included a new focus on health objectives. In the following months, the collaborations and powerful data of successful health promotion programming provided the fuel to create a new position at HDI for a statewide health and wellness coordinator, with the first objective of implementing a statewide scale-up of the HealthMatters program.
The purpose of this scale-up is to test and describe an innovative framework to ensure sustainable adoption of HealthMatters by local service providers, and to demonstrate how tailored frameworks can be used to scale-up a health promotion program across a network of service providers. In addition, as part of a research study with the RRTCDD the scale-up will not only have a positive impact on health outcomes for people with IDD in Kentucky, but in other states as well through the larger overall reach of the HealthMatters scale-up initiative.
To date there are 15 organizations from all corners of the state taking part in HealthMatters Kentucky. Participants with IDD are in groups that range in size from as small as six to over 50 as several organizations are offering programming for all agency personnel. A part of the HealthMatters Kentucky agreement is that each location develop an onsite wellness committee. This component is critical for sustainability efforts to develop a culture of healthy behavior change within the organization. The committee is comprised of at least three staff members as well as self-advocates, community leaders, executive administration, and local health professionals. Meetings are held regularly to discuss health and wellness goals along with identification of resources needed to achieve those goals that go above and beyond the scope of the HealthMatters programming.
The role of the health and wellness coordinator is to assist with training efforts for the scale-up and to offer support to the initiative. Helpful resources are routinely made available at the initiative Web site (http://www.wellness4ky.org) including supplemental lessons and activity ideas, health messages, success stories, and motivational resources. The biggest challenge has revolved around the idea of adapting exercises or level of programming. The solution has been to support the ground-up approach of always starting at the same level while thinking outside the box and then adapting accordingly to meet individual needs. This applies to individuals with or without disabilities, especially regarding health. For example, one person might want to lose weight as a health goal while another might want to gain strength and independence. Healthy living is unique to each person, and HealthMatters Kentucky supports people in learning what it means to them to be healthy, and how to take the steps to live that healthy lifestyle.
One of the most interesting points to come out of this venture has been the dynamic between staff and participants with IDD. Everyone can benefit from health promotion programming that includes learning how to make healthy choices and be successful in working towards individualized health goals. The most successful programming efforts have been at the locations where the staff are included in the healthy culture change. Some locations have “biggest loser” contests with both staff and participant winners losing over 50 pounds in 12 weeks, while others provide a pedometer daily-steps challenge for the entire organization. Several have created walking, gardening, or cooking groups that include staff and the local community. It is this component of inclusion and equality in leading a healthy lifestyle that truly makes for remarkable changes.
Examples of expansions at the individual level include the information from the wellness committees based on the HealthMatters programming that is being communicated to case managers and support coordinators. The individual goals are being incorporated into the recommendations made to the support team for individual support plans (plans of care) to support people in pursuing their healthy lifestyle goals.
Kentucky was the first state to start the HealthMatters scale-up and the inspiring successes have prompted other states to follow, including Alaska, Illinois, and Missouri. There are sure to be more positive health outcomes to come.
Marks, B., Sisirak, J., & Chang, Y. C. (2013). Efficacy of the HealthMatters program train-the-trainer model. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 26, 319-334.
Marks, B., Sisirak, J., & Heller, T. (2010). HealthMatters: The exercise and nutrition health education curriculum for people with developmental disabilities. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
National Core Indicators™, Human Services Research Institute and National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services. (2014). Consumer outcomes: Final report. 2012-2013 NCI adult consumer survey data. Retrieved from http://www.nationalcoreindicators.org/upload/core-indicators/2012-13 _Consumer–Survey_FINAL_Report.pdf.
Lindsey Catherine Mullis is Health and Wellness Coordinator at the Human Development Institute, University of Kentucky, Lexington. She may be reached at lindsey.c.mullis@uky.edu. Kathy Sheppard-Jones is Interim Director at the Human Development Institute. She may be reached at kjone@uky.edu.
Citation: Traci, M., Hsieh, K., Anderson, L., & Gaylord, V. (Eds.). (Winter 2016). Impact: Feature issue on supporting wellness for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, 29(1). [Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration and Research and Training Center on Community Living]. Retrieved from https://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/291/
The PDF version of this Impact, with photos and graphics, is also online at http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/291/291.pdf.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
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Board game about susta...
Board game about sustainability designed by a research project wins award
Savanna Life was designed by an interdisciplinary team working with a game designer to facilitate involvement and discussion about natural resource management and sustainable futures in the cross-boundary Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem (GSME) in Kenya and Tanzania.
Preliminary results show that women outperform men.
University of Copenhagen and Norwegian University of Science and Technology win first place in the Ecosystem Services in practice award at the 10th ESP World Conference with the board game Savanna Life.
The board game was designed by an interdisciplinary team working with a game designer to facilitate involvement and discussion about natural resource management and sustainable futures in the cross-boundary Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem (GSME) in Kenya and Tanzania.
The board game simulates real-life challenges enabling the players to experience the consequences of human population growth and other adverse environmental trends and to safely explore different alternative livelihood strategies as well as to facilitate discussion about how to co-create a sustainable future.
The GSME is world-famous for harbouring one of the world's last remaining large wildlife migrations consisting of more than a million wildebeest and other herbivores migrating across the ecosystem tracking the availability of grass. The Tanzanian and Kenyan national economies are highly dependent on tourism income from game viewing in protected areas that include the Serengeti National park and the Maasai Mara National Reserve. However, these protected areas are under increasing pressure from the rapidly growing surrounding human population and expanding agriculture and livestock production. Relations between adjacent rural communities and park staff is increasingly strained with intensified efforts to enforce regulations.
The potential of board games
Games are increasingly popular in natural resource management and human-wildlife conflict resolution. Through playing games, stakeholders can gain a better understanding of the complexity of a natural resource management problem including the feedback loops they are part of and the consequences of their actions for others. The constructed reality of the game also provides a space to explore different strategies and their outcomes without suffering the consequences. Perhaps more importantly, games facilitate discussion between stakeholders that may reduce conflicts, serve to identify possible solutions and guide decision-making towards the informed design of effective management interventions.
Women outperform men
The game has so far been played in 12 communities as well as with district staff and protected area managers in Tanzania and Kenya in 2018 and 2019. Data on players preference and performance is currently being analysed by the researchers that developed the game.
The preliminary analysis shows that women generally outperform men playing the games within communities and that district staff in both countries, who are responsible for implementing policy instruments to ensure a sustainable future, generally performed poorer than any other group playing the game. This suggests that district staff has a problematic incentive structure that needs attention, and that women may be the better agents of change striving for sustainable natural resource management in the GSME,
Martin R. Nielsen, associate professor at University of Copenhagen and project partner in the Savanna Life project
Future of Savanna Life
Games will be distributed to distric administrations in the GSME for them to use in their work with communities and the aim is also for the game to be used in training of district staff and protected area management staff.
More about the project
http://www.savannalife.no/
AfricanBioServices.eu
https://africanbioservices.eu/
News from NTNU
https://norwegianscitechnews.com/2019/12/gaming-their-way-to-sustainable-development/
Another prestigious award for the UCPH project ‘It’s Our Forest Too’
VIDEO: New UCPH led Danida project to investigate resilience and land rights in Kenya
When development and conservation clash in the Serengeti
Martin Reinhardt Nielsen
mrni@ifro.ku.dk
+45 353-31726
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