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Schools need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.” Department for Education.
At Ascot Road Community Free School we promote British Values through a holistic curriculum, high expectations, and an environment which allows pupils to develop and demonstrate the skills and attitudes which equip them to contribute and participate in modern Britain.
We have a Junior Leadership Team which is democratically elected. Student who would like to be part of this team, nominate themselves and present to the school body why they believe they would make a positive contribution to the Junior Leadership Team. Their peers them vote for the people they would like to represent them. The elected members of the Team meet regularly to work towards school improvement actions. Pupil voice surveys are conducted yearly, through hearing and responding to children’s voice the SLT and staff work towards further improving our school.
Tolerance of those of Different Faith and Beliefs
At Ascot Road we celebrate the multitude of different cultures, faiths and beliefs in which make up our school and our community. This is achieved through enhancing pupils understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity. We allow, encourage children to discuss, ask questions and teach others about different faiths and beliefs. In addition to this we teach explicit RE lessons which furthermore develops an understanding and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. Assemblies and discussions are followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE. We use our Assemblies to learn about and celebrate different Religious Festivals and Celebrations. Celebrating and understanding diversity is embedded within our curriculum planning. We utilise the diversity of our school community and often have parents coming in to share their different cultures and religions with us. Children speak openly and freely about differences and show understanding and open-mindedness, not only are they displaying that they are well prepared for life in modern Britain, but that they are true Global Citizens.
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Bective Abbey
The Abbey was built on the banks of the River Boyne for the Cistercian Monks. The founder of the Abbey was Murchad O’Maeil-Sheachlainn, High King of Meath, in 1147 and has a close association with Mellifont Abbey. The Abbot of the time was a Spiritual Lord and sat on the Parliament of the Pale. It is largely in ruins today, but the Cloisters remains well preserved with some exquisite arches and figures.
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara, known as Temair in Irish, was once the ancient seat of power in Ireland, over 142 kings are said to have reigned there in prehistoric and historic times. In ancient Irish religion and mythology Tara was the sacred place of dwelling for the gods, and was the entrance to the otherworld. Saint Patrick is said to have come to Tara to confront the ancient religion of the pagans at its most powerful site.
Trim Castle
Trim Castle, the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland, was constructed over a thirty-year period by Hugh de Lacy and his son Walter. Hugh de Lacy was granted the Liberty of Meath by King Henry II in 1172 in an attempt to curb the expansionist policies of Richard de Clare, also known as Strongbow. Construction of the massive three storied Keep, the central stronghold of the castle, began circa 1176 on the site of an earlier wooden fortress. This massive twenty-sided tower, which is shaped like a cross, was shielded by a ditch, curtain wall and moat.
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Home›News›BC News›CJBC Debates the BC Investment Club on Divestment
María Clara Cobo / Gavel Media
CJBC Debates the BC Investment Club on Divestment
by Maria Clara Cobo
Members of Climate Justice at Boston College (CJBC) and Boston College Investment Club debated the fossil fuel divestment movement, which advocates that institutions remove their current investments from fossil fuel stocks due to climate change.
The debate aimed to discuss the Investment Club’s decision to invest part of their $600,000 portfolio in companies connected to the fossil fuel industry such as C&J Energy Services Inc., Chicago Bridge and Iron Company (CBI), and Flotek.
Matthew Barad, MCAS '20, and graduate student James Mazareas argued in favor of the divestment initiative as members of CJBC. Mark Pfister, Harrison Kenner, and Aldo Eysaman, all CSOM '18, argued against the movement as representatives of the Investment Club.
Barad started the debate by showing a series of graphics that illustrated the market summary for each of the companies they want to pull their current investments from.
“We are focused on the financial cost of divesting, and specifically in the loss you would incur by not divesting," he said.
One of the statistics cited CBI, which in a five-year performance experienced a 65% drop in their market value, from $54 to $18.
“The world is moving away from oil and gas extraction,” said Barad, pointing out that 50% of CBI’s losses occurred last year and amounted to $1.5 million. “If you want to sell and recover the losses, this is the best time.”
Mazareas cited Pope Francis’s encyclical on ecology, Laudato Si, which says that climate change is primarily the result of human activity and that we are responsible for changing our everyday actions to be more sustainable.
He argued that as a Jesuit, Catholic University, BC is falling behind other Catholic institutions such as Georgetown University and Marquette University, which are following Pope Francis's call for ethical and moral investments.
On the opposing side, Pfister argued that divestment a symbolic action that will not change the demand for fossil fuels from international households, corporations, and other entities.
“Symbolic actions warm hearts and they change minds, but endowment is very much a financial operation,” said Pfister. “The energy industry has different performance from the broader equity markets; diversification in the only free lunch in finance. It's the best way to ensure higher returns.”
The Investment Club claimed that divestment would hurt university endowment. They cited a study conducted by Hendrik Bessembinder at Arizona State University, which found that over a two-decade period, colleges that divested lost 12% of their endowment value. Divesting would bring tangible financial ramifications, which means that scholarships, funds, and university operations can come under peril.
“Would you be willing to not participate or receive sufficient scholarship funds for a moral issue like this? We think the answer to this question is no,” Kenner said. “The mission of BC is to train the next generation of problem solvers, not [to] take symbolic action in the year 2018, when we don’t know the outcome of our symbolic action.”
Furthermore, the Investment Club argued that as the entire global energy industry transitions from fossil fuel to the energy renewable approach, the industry and technology for green energy is not ready to handle the capacity of our global energy demand.
“We don’t yet have the battery capacity for green energy to be viable in and of itself,” Eysaman said. “We have to wait and we still have to rely upon conventional fossil fuel based resources to manage the base load that we use in our everyday lives.”
Barad rebutted his opponents by restating their argument.
“We are focused on the financial cost of divestment, and specifically really the losses you would incur by not divesting,” he clarified.
He stated that the argument that divesting from industry renewal would result in a loss of money is false. According to a Times of London report, universities that divested from fossil fuels found an average of 8.7% increase on their incurrence of their endowment investments from before and after they invested.
In addition, Barad refuted the Investment Club’s argument on global energy usage by claiming that there has been an increasing investment in green energy.
“To match that global energy usage is mostly resulting in renewable energy investment, not old ways because we know that those investments don’t work anymore,” Barad said.
The Investment Club, however, reaffirmed that the oil market is not dying; in fact, it is very much alive. The industry is open to having green energy come in, but it is also one that has continued to invest in oil and gas.
Kenner stated that they are not trying to fight against green energy. However, he thinks that it makes more sense to try and find companies to invest in research for creating technologies that will enable it to be used.
“We're open if you find individual companies that you don’t think have a reliable future; we’re open to having presentations on the cash flows and the merits of those individual investments,” Kenner said. “We don’t think that applying a binary rule is necessarily the right approach.”
At the end of the debate, the Investment Club seemed unconvinced by CJBC’s argument to divest from fossil fuels. The arguments made in the debate ultimately reflected that the environmental debate surrounding investment in the fossil fuel industry remains relevant both globally and in the BC community.
“The question is whether the Investment Club wants to lead the university and the world in standing up for our right to a clean and green future," said Barad. “At the end of the day, it's going to be more damaging to the endowment to remain invested in fossil fuels.”
Update: Feb. 22 at 10:15 p.m.
A previous version of the article incorrectly suggested that CBI is a fossil fuel company. This was updated to reflect that fact that CBI is an engineering, procurement, and construction company that produces technology used in the oil and gas sectors, and is in that way connected to the fossil fuel industry. Additionally, the sentence that read "Pfister argued that energy renewal alternatives are merely symbolic" was updated to include additional context. The quote that followed was extended to include his full argument.
Tagsbc investment clubCJBCdebateendowmentfossil fuel divestment
America, Oil and the XL Debate
Nicole Mailhoit / Gavel Media
University Does Not Respond to UGBC Call for Divestment
BC's Growing Endowment Fund
Photo Courtesy of Bill Ilott / Flickr
Gavel Media
Madison Polkowitz / Gavel Media
Image courtesy of Youtube
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You are here: Home / Articles / Famous Five / FAMOUS FIVE: Players for City and Reading
FAMOUS FIVE: Players for City and Reading
September 22, 2017 /1 Comment/in Articles, Famous Five, Nostalgia /by Matt
There are currently four ex-City players in the Reading squad, so it feels as opportune a moment as any to remind ourselves of a random quintet of other players who featured for both the Tigers and the Royals…
1: Stephen Hunt
Probably Reading’s most notorious player of the modern era simply for one challenge on a goalkeeper that defined his, and the goalkeeper’s, subsequent careers. Hunt’s knee went in on a diving Petr Čech during a match between Reading and Chelsea in 2006, leaving the keeper with a depressed skull fracture. It led to long recriminations from Chelsea fans (and a raging Jose Mourinho) and Čech has played every game since with a protective helmet. Hunt always denied any malicious intent but his infamy was sealed at that point.
He joined City in the summer of 2009 after Reading’s relegation and started brilliantly, scoring the first goal of the whole Premier League season at, of all places, Chelsea. For long periods, the chippy, skilful Irishman was City’s best player in a difficult, hurtful season and even when he was ruled out for the last couple of months with injury, the general incompetence elsewhere in the side meant he was still voted player of the year by fans.
His parting shot was crossing his crutches above his head to the East Stand during the lap of “honour” after the final game of the season, and again he moved to maintain a Premier League place after City’s demotion, joining Wolves. The recipient of 39 caps for the Republic of Ireland, he also played for Ipswich and Coventry before retiring last year.
2: Mick Tait
He’s on a historic list and will never leave it, but it’s fair to say attacking midfielder Mick Tait didn’t live up to expectations after he joined in a club record £150,000 deal from Carlisle in September 1979.
The manager who signed him, Ken Houghton, got the sack three months later and replacement Mike Smith wasn’t interested, happily getting two thirds of the money back in the summer of 1980 when Tait joined Portsmouth.
Tait was, however, a dogged individual and played senior football for 22 years, starting with Oxford as a 16 year old and ending with Hartlepool at 42. In between, he played for eight other clubs, and after seven years and two divisional titles at Pompey, joined Reading in 1987.
He was in the side that won the 1988 Simod Cup, quite famously for such a low profile competition, when having already dumped other top tier teams out in earlier rounds, they beat Luton Town 4-1 at Wembley. Tait, playing up front, scored one of the goals.
When Tait stopped playing for Hartlepool to become their manager in 1998, he had played 760 league games, the 13th most selected performer in English football history. The fewest he played for one club was 33 – at City.
3: Steve Swales
One of the footballing sons of Whitby, which feels like it could be quite an exclusive group, Swales began his career down the coast at Scarborough before heading south to Reading, where he played semi-regularly through injuries during a decline for the Royals.
A change of manager meant he was freed after three years, and he returned to Yorkshire for the remainder of his career, starting with a move to City under Warren Joyce, slotting in at left back and making sure in the process that Gregor Rioch would not need to darken black and amber doors again.
Joyce’s rebuilt defence included heroes of the future like Jon Whitney and Justin Whittle, so Swales was left out of the glory of the Great Escape a bit, but he proved to be a hardworking and consistent player.
Injuries took their toll afterwards and eventually he left in 2001. He went to Halifax Town but suffered relegation from the league the following year, and remained in non-league thereafter with a spell at hometown club Whitby Town, followed by stints nearby at Pickering and Bridlington. He now works on oil rigs.
4: Dennis Butler
Long-serving full back of the great 60s side who joined City from Chelsea in 1963 and spent six years supporting and protecting unrelated namesake Ian down the left flank as the Tigers ran riot up front, peaking with the exceptional Third Division title win of 1966.
It was said about Butler that he was so athletic and well balanced, he could run just as quickly backwards as he could forwards, a handy trait to have given that this attack-at-all-costs City era often meant the defence was left a bit wide open when possession was coughed up.
He made his debut on the opening day of 1962/63, missing only four games that season, and went largely unchallenged for the number 3 shirt until a spell out with a rare injury in 1968 allowed Don Beardsley an impressive run in the side. Butler’s last game for City was a 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough in November 1969, before he joined Reading. He stayed there for nearly five years, making nearly 200 senior appearances.
5: Liam Rosenior
Outstanding, conscientious right back who could well win any vote for the most successful freebie City has ever acquired. After making his name with Bristol City and Fulham, Rosenior joined Reading in 2007 and played Premier League football at the Madejski Stadium, before falling out of favour after relegation in 2008. He joined City in October 2010 as a free agent.
Instantly, it was obvious he was a fine footballer, comfortable at right back as City regrouped and learned to like themselves again under Nigel Pearson. Rosenior continued to excel under Nick Barmby and Steve Bruce, especially when the latter signed Ahmed Elmohamady and the two formed a superb partnership down the right flank. Sadly, the change to a 3-5-2 meant that Rosenior either played out of position or not at all, but even then he continued to perform as an uncomplaining squad member, and his stint at left wing back (including in the FA Cup final) was impressive.
In a move that upset a lot of fans, Bruce controversially released him in the summer of 2015 after 144 league games and he joined Brighton, who are now in the Premier League, although fitness issues and competition for places has meant Rosenior has found it difficult to play regularly. Such is his standing in the game, he is now a columnist for the Guardian, and everyone, including his nan, knows he should still be playing for City.
Bunkers Bill says:
“Such is his standing in the game, he is now a columnist for the Guardian”
surely that should read ‘Despite being a columnist in the Guardian, he enjoys a high standing in the game’?
PODCAST: Fulham, Sunderland, penalty spots and Okocha’s full bow̷... REPORT: Reading 1 City 1
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A Dose of Christmas Humbug
Today's Boston Globe reads, "Health Win in Hand." You can almost feel the exclamation point coming off the page. It follows with the caution, "Hurdles Ahead." Noting that the healthcare bill still faces the challenge of reconciling the two substantively different bills passed by both houses of Congress, not to mention Constitutional challenges and whatever other dirty tricks the Senate Republicans can muster between now and the passage of the reconciled bill, the Globe has a side article usefully informing its readers that this bill may still not become law because the coalition supporting the bill is so fragile it may come apart during the usually perfunctory reconciliation phase. That said, assuming that no 11th hour roadblocks are raised, universal health care is going to become law in the US. Our President has put a happy face on things, saying he got "95 percent of what I want."
On this Christmas Day, allow me to honor a ghost of Christmas past (and doing so as a virtually-atheist Jew, no less) by saying...HUMBUG!
Paul Krugman--not normally a man predisposed to cheery pronouncements just for the sake of feeling good--writes in the NYT that the bill, despite a number of flaws, really is a major accomplishment and will lead to improvement in the lives of Americans in the coming years. But he does provide an analysis of why so many people are so unhappy:
So why are so many people complaining? First, there’s the crazy right, the tea party and death panel people — a lunatic fringe that is no longer a fringe but has moved into the heart of the Republican Party. In the past, there was a general understanding, a sort of implicit clause in the rules of American politics, that major parties would at least pretend to distance themselves from irrational extremists. But those rules are no longer operative. No, Virginia, at this point there is no sanity clause...Finally, there has been opposition from some progressives who are unhappy with the bill’s limitations. Some would settle for nothing less than a full, Medicare-type, single-payer system. Others had their hearts set on the creation of a public option to compete with private insurers. And there are complaints that the subsidies are inadequate, that many families will still have trouble paying for medical care...Unlike the tea partiers and the humbuggers, disappointed progressives have valid complaints. But those complaints don’t add up to a reason to reject the bill. Yes, it’s a hackneyed phrase, but politics is the art of the possible. [my emphasis]
So what's a disappointed progressive to do?
Let me go out on a limb here--very, very far out on a limb--and suggest that maybe the nutso wing of the Republican party (which is now the de-facto leadership of the Republican party) has the right strategy, and maybe it is time for progressives to take a page from their playbook. The phrase that's been bandied about over the past year in relation to the tea-partiers is that they demand of their representatives that they "pass a political litmus test" demonstrating a level of ideological purity. We saw this most clearly in evidence in the New York 23rd Congressional race this November, where so-called "liberal" Republican Dede Scozzafava was abandoned by the Republican base in favor of 3rd-party candidate Douglas Hoffman, allowing Democrat Bill Owens to win in an overwhelmingly Republican district. The conventional wisdom of that election was that the far right had become so crazy that they would rather be out of power than have an electable candidate who wasn't absolutely ideologically pure. My own sense is that the Tea-Party choice, Hoffman, very nearly won the election (he lost by just over 3,000 votes out of 140,000 cast), and almost certainly would have won had he had an additional few months to gain momentum.
So while the strategy of demanding ideological purity failed the far right on the political equivalent of a broken play, I suspect it will pay long-term dividends. Even in marginal districts, potential Republican party candidates are going to be very careful not to run afoul of this very determined, apparently reasonably well-organized group. Yes, in the short run they may have some setbacks as they had in the NY 23rd. But next year I am willing to bet that Owens will be out and he will be replaced by someone approved of by "the base," maybe Hoffman himself.
Might it not be time to demand this from Democrats? Particularly Democrats running for Senate seats? Or even President of the United States? I am not suggesting that an ideological litmus test need to be applied to every single issue that faces us. But demanding support for the Public Option (which, after all, was the compromise position that progressives had decided to live with instead of a Medicare-For-All, single-payer system that would represent real change) would have been a starting point.
Anyway, perhaps Krugman is right and the reasons to be unhappy with the bill are not reasons enough to walk away from it. But I do note that Krugman's view is not universal among progressives, and I'm quite sympathetic to their viewpoint. Here is a great summary in an editorial for CNN online by the mightily courageous Congressional representative from the NY 28th district, Louise Slaughter. She has one line, nicely summarizing the critical difference between the House and Senate versions of the health care bill, that captures it all for me: "I do not want to subsidize the private insurance market; the whole point of creating a government option is to bring prices down." I have yet to hear anything from the leadership of the Democratic party that lucid. Perhaps it is time to think about withholding our support from leaders who do not speak or act as clearly as Congresswoman Slaughter.
Posted by Billy Rubin at 11:04 AM
Labels: CNN, Democratic Party, healthcare policy, NY Times, President Obama, Republican Party, Sarah Palin
Joe December 28, 2009 at 8:07 AM
Not sure if becoming more extreme will have healthy long-term effects. The problem in a system with non-linear feedback is that reactions can reinforce each other to the point where they tear the system apart.
I think that another answer is for more moderate citizens to support canditates who run against extreme ones. Essentially passing the extremist "litmus test" would give the opposing candidate access to financial resources from a national organization.
Do NOT Go Spelunking in Sub-Saharan Africa! (Plus ...
Cat Scans and Cancer
Flu Thoughts
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Friday, 03 Feb – Breaking A Promise Isn’t All Bad
February 3, 2012 Memorials, Ordinary TimeAloysius Ting
03 Feb – Memorial for St. Blaise, Bishop & Martyr; Memorial for St. Ansgar, Bishop
Blaise (d. 316) was a physician and Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia. He lived in a cave on Mount Argeus. He was a healer of men and animals. According to legend, sick animals would come to him on their own for help, but would never disturb him in prayer.
Agricola, governor of Cappadocia, came to Sebaste to persecute Christians. His huntsmen went into the forests of Argeus to find wild animals for the arena games, and found many waiting outside Blaise’s cave. Discovered in prayer, Blaise was arrested, and Agricola tried to get him to recant his faith. While in prison, Blaise ministered to and healed his fellow prisoners, including saving a child who was choking on a fish bone; this led to the blessing of throats of Blaise’s feast day.
Thrown into a lake to drown, Blaise stood on the surface and invited his persecutors to walk out and prove the power of their gods; they drowned. When he returned to land, he was martyred by being beaten, his flesh torn out with wool combs (which led to his association with and patronage of those involved in the wool trade), and then beheaded.
Blaise has been extremely popular for centuries in both the Eastern and Western Churches. In 1222, the Council of Oxford prohibited servile labour in England on his feast. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
Ansgar (801-865) was born to the French nobility. He was a Benedictine monk at Old Corbie Abbey in Picardy, and New Corbie in Westphalia. He studied under St. Adelard and St. Paschasius Radbert. He accompanied the converted King Harold to Denmark when the exiled king returned home.
He was a missionary to Denmark and Sweden. He founded the first Christian church in Sweden in c.832. He was abbot of New Corbie c.834. He was ordained Archbishop of Hamburg by Pope Gregry IV. He was a papal legate to the Sacndanavian countries. He established the first Christian school in Denmark, but was run out by pagans, and the school was burned to the ground. He campaigned against slavery.
He was Archbishop of Bremen. He converted Erik, King of Jutland. He was a great preacher, a miracle worker, and greatly devoted to the poor and sick. Sadly, after his death most of his gains for the Church were lost to resurgent paganism.
Ecclesiasticus 47:2-13
As the fat is set apart from the communion sacrifice,
so David was chosen out of all the sons of Israel.
He played with lions as though with kids,
and with bears as though with lambs of the flock.
While still a boy, did he not slay the giant,
and relieve the people of their shame,
by putting out a hand to sling a stone
which brought down the arrogance of Goliath?
For he called on the Lord Most High,
who gave strength to his right arm
to put a mighty warrior to death,
and lift up the horn of his people.
Hence they gave him credit for ten thousand,
and praised him while they blessed the Lord,
by offering him a crown of glory;
for he massacred enemies on every side,
he annihilated his foes the Philistines,
and crushed their horn to this very day.
In all his activities he gave thanks
to the Holy One, the Most High, in words of glory;
he put all his heart into his songs
out of love for his Maker.
He placed harps before the altar
to make the singing sweeter with their music;
he gave the feasts their splendour,
the festivals their solemn pomp,
causing the Lord’s holy name to be praised
and the sanctuary to resound from dawn.
The Lord took away his sins,
and exalted his horn for ever;
he gave him a royal covenant,
and a glorious throne in Israel.
King Herod had heard about Jesus, since by now his name was well-known. Some were saying, ‘John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’ Others said, ‘He is Elijah’; others again, ‘He is a prophet, like the prophets we used to have.’ But when Herod heard this he said, ‘It is John whose head I cut off; he has risen from the dead.’
Now it was this same Herod who had sent to have John arrested, and had him chained up in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife whom he had married. For John had told Herod, ‘It is against the law for you to have your brother’s wife.’ As for Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to kill him; but she was not able to, because Herod was afraid of John, knowing him to be a good and holy man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.
An opportunity came on Herod’s birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of his court, for his army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee. When the daughter of this same Herodias came in and danced, she delighted Herod and his guests; so the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me anything you like and I will give it you.’ And he swore her an oath, ‘I will give you anything you ask, even half my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist’ The girl hurried straight back to the king and made her request, ‘I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head, here and now, on a dish.’ The king was deeply distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to her. So the king at once sent one of the bodyguard with orders to bring John’s head. The man went off and beheaded him in prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard about this, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
It is John whose head I cut off; he has risen from the dead
Several years ago when I lived with my parents, I had a cat that caused some trouble to my neighbours. It would go into the neighbours’ home and defecate there. One day a particular neighbour set up a trap to catch my cat and took it to goodness knows where. I never saw my cat again. At Christmas that year, to make peace with the neighbours, I gave out vouchers to all my neighbours because I didn’t know exactly which neighbours’ homes my cat used to frequent. Only one neighbour returned my vouchers. Guess which one? The same neighbour continues to return all gifts in the subsequent years.
In today’s gospel reading, King Herod heard many rumours about Jesus, but the moment someone said it was John the Baptist who rose from the dead, Herod believed it. It was not because that particular rumour was more believable than the rest; it was because of Herod’s guilty conscience – the same reason why my neighbour returns gifts to us.
Herod’s no saint, and neither was David. Though a great king, David committed many sins nonetheless. But the difference between Herod and David is that David had a clear conscience. Whenever he committed a sin against God, the Lord often sent a prophet to teach him the error of his ways. David was humble and quick to learn from his mistakes. When David sinned and was shown the error of his ways, he was quick to repent and make amends. That is why David had a clear conscience.
Compare this with King Herod who, even when he realised he made a mistake, chose to protect his ego instead of breaking his word to the daughter of Herodias. But before we judge Herod, let us ask ourselves: Have I ever promised something to someone and realised that I couldn’t fulfil the promise, but insisted on trying to anyway?
We may think that it is noble to do that because we want to keep our promise. Herod thought so too. Am I saying that it is alright to break a promise? Actually, yes! If we already know early on that we cannot fulfil a promise, then it is better to break it now than to break it later. Three good things can come from it. First, the person is informed early on that you cannot fulfil your promise, and has time to find another way to get it done. Second, you don’t waste time and effort on a futile job and can devote what’s saved towards fulfilling other commitments made. Third, you have an opportunity to be humble and admit that you were wrong to have made that promise in the first place. Most importantly however, you will have a clear conscience.
If you’re anything like me, and you always want to help other people, you cannot help running into the problem of over-promising and under-delivering. It is better to under-promise and over-deliver. Try it today!
(Today’s OXYGEN by Daniel Tay)
Prayer: We pray for helpful people who over-promise and under-deliver. May we learn humility.
Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for people who tell us early that they cannot finish a job they promised to do.
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Jeff Jackson
Jeff's career in public service began after the attacks of September 11th, when he enlisted as a Private in the Army Reserve. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and was stationed in the tribal region north of Kandahar for his year-long deployment. After he came home, he attended law school at UNC-Chapel Hill with help from the G.I. Bill.
Jeff's military service continues to this day as a Captain in the JAG Corps with the Army National Guard. He drills monthly with the 130th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade based in Charlotte.
Prior to joining the General Assembly, Jeff worked as an assistant district attorney and tried over one hundred cases ranging from DWI to first degree murder. In the process, he saw up close the results of too little investment in public education, economic development, and mental health care.
Now the youngest Democratic State Senator in North Carolina, Jeff has helped build a bipartisan coalition to end gerrymandering, has formed the state's first Early Childhood Education Caucus, and has introduced many bills to modernize our criminal laws, including a law that will help thousands of North Carolina citizens regain the right to drive.
Jeff is married to Marisa, a marketing director, with two young sons. Haden, now 8 years old, attends third grade at a public CMS school. Owen just celebrated his second birthday. Jeff is a member of Myers Park Presbyterian Church.
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Rolling Stone Bomber Cover Causes Furor
Rolling Stone magazine, known for its glamorous covers of rock stars and other high-profile celebrities, caused a stir with its current issue featuring Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. With his tousled hair and facial scruff, the cover makes Tsarnaev look hip and cool, not unlike past iconic covers of Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison.
The caption reads “The Bomber: How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster.”
Several notable retailers, including CVS and Walgreens, have decided not to carry the issue in their stores.
“CVS/pharmacy has decided not to sell the current issue of Rolling Stone featuring a cover photo of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect,” the Rhode Island-based pharmacy chain said in a statement. “As a company with deep roots in New England and a strong presence in Boston, we believe this is the right decision out of respect for the victims of the attack and their loved ones.”
Other retailers who said they will not carry the issue include Rite Aid, Stop & Shop, the grocery chain the Roche Bros., and Tedeschi Food Shops, a Massachusetts-based convenience store chain.
Other critics of the cover, including Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, struck fast, accusing the magazine of offering Tsarnaev “celebrity treatment” and calling the cover “ill-conceived, at best” in a letter written by Menino to Rolling Stone publisher JannWenner.
“The survivors of the Boston attacks deserve Rolling Stone cover stories, though I no longer feel that Rolling Stone deserves them,” the letter concluded.
Rolling Stone, for its part, issued a statement on July 17 saying the story was part of its “long-standing commitment to serious and thoughtful” coverage of the most important current political and cultural issues.
“The fact that DzhokharTsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as many of our readers, makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens,” the statement said.
Rolling Stone did not address whether the photo was edited or filtered in any way in a brief statement offering condolences to bombing survivors and the loved ones of the dead.
In a blog posting on July 16, Rolling Stone detailed “five revelations” in the story by contributing editor Janet Reitman, including Tsarnaev’s increasing devotion to Islam while still in high school, as well as his older brother TamerlanTsarnaev’s possible mental illness, which the boys’ mother decided would be better treated by Islam than by a psychiatrist.
“Around 2008, Jahar’s older brother Tamerlan confided to his mother that he felt like ‘two people’ were inside him,” the blog posting reads. “She confided this to a close friend who felt he might need a psychiatrist, but Zubeidat believed that religion would be the cure for her son’s inner demons and growing mental instability, and pushed him deeper into Islam.”
Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 counts of a federal indictment. If the government decides to seek capital punishment, Tsarnaev could face the death penalty if convicted on one of 17 counts.
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Ari Emanuel’s Global Entertainment Co. “Endeavor” to Be Taken Public
Leland Winters
Owner Ari Emanuel says he is going to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “EDR,” according to registration documents filed publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Photo Credit: Facebook
Global entertainment, sports and content company Endeavor is being taken public.
Owner Ari Emanuel says he is going to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “EDR,” according to registration documents filed publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The goal for the company is to generate $100 million in the offering. According to the filing, as reported by cnbc.com, the company reported 2018 revenue of $3.6 billion. Net income was $231.3 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2018.
“Content is no longer defined solely by the traditional categories on which our businesses were founded,” the company said in its filing. “Television, movies and live events have been joined by others including podcasts, experiences, social media, multiplayer video games and e-sports. Wherever you are in the world and whatever way you define content, Endeavor is likely playing a role.”
CNBC reported that an IPO has been rumored “since Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell merged their talent agency with sports and modelling agency IMG in 2013. Since then, Endeavor has acquired the Ultimate Fighting Championship, professional bull riders, the Frieze Art Fair and marketing agency 160over90. Goldman Sachs will be the IPO’s lead banker along with KKR Capital Markets, the capital markets arm of the investment firm that helped Endeavor purchase UFC for more than $4 billion in 2016, according to the registration documents. J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank are also listed.”
The release of Endeavor’s IPO details was, according to Variety, “frustrating to some rival agency leaders, who fear it will be used by the WGA as ammo in the wrangling with ATA. In reality, the date of the disclosure was established some time ago, as Endeavor set in motion with the SEC its long-gestating plan to go public. The company could have postponed the filing until the WGA impasse had been resolved — as noted by competitors worried about the WGA dynamics — although that might have had a domino effect of delaying the rest of the IPO process. Endeavor has not indicated a target date for the public offering.”
Emanuel, the brother of former White House Chief of Staff and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel. Their father, Jerusalem-born Dr. Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a pediatrician who was active in the Irgun, a hardline Zionist militant group whose activities in Mandatory Palestine during the 1930s and 1940s led to its listing as a terrorist organization by the British authorities, the Jewish Agency and the 1946 Zionist Congress. Their mother, Marsha Emanuel, was a civil rights activist, and the one-time owner of a Chicago-area rock and roll club.
As a child, Ari was diagnosed as both hyperactive and dyslexic, and his mother spent many hours helping him to learn to read.
By: Leland Winters
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You are here: Home / Sports / Intramural sports looking to gain recognition
Intramural sports looking to gain recognition
By Jacob Martino, Guidon Staff Writer
Intramural sports are a great way for students to stay active and play the sports they love. While many of the students at Norwich University played sports in high school, they choose to stop once they get to college, turning to intramural sports as an outlet for fun and exercise.
Intramural sports are set up by other students and brought to life with the help of the university. They give students who do not have a chance to play college sports a chance to say they are part of a team, whether it’s a club or for the varsity level. The sports take place year-round and change within the seasons. “We look to have at least one each season, and depending on interest, we consider planning more,” said Nolan Aurelia, 22, a business major from Hartford, Conn.
With many of the students at the university not participating on a varsity sports team, the intramurals help students meet others who have the same athletic interests as themselves. “Intramurals at Norwich have never been great, and it’s a huge challenge to try and get people aware of intramural activities available,” Aurelia said.
This season, the staff attempted to get a co-ed softball league going throughout the school, but the plans fell through because not enough people were aware of the opportunity. “Ice hockey is always a desirable activity, but it is next to impossible to get ice time,” Aurelia added.
With having all these sports, it brings up the question, is there being money made out of this, and where is it going? One possibility might be as a great way to raise money for charities, “No charities, but definitely something we would like to do. We have to establish intramurals first,” Aurelia said. “No one has to play in these tournaments … that is the beauty of it all, there is no commitment, if you sign up then realize you don’t want to compete there is no issue.”
There are many students around the school that would be more than interested in being a part of one of the intramural teams because of the less competitive and fun atmosphere, according to Robert Rapoza, 23, a business major from Mansfield, Mass.“ I do believe intramural benefits students who do not play college sports because I believe some students would want to participate in a sport they enjoy without it being as competitive and strenuous at times, compared to a collegiate varsity athlete.”
“Only a handful of the students who go to Norwich actually came to here play sports; some of them probably played sports in high school, but did not get the chance to bring it to the college level. This is why it is important for schools to have intramurals, so everyone has a chance to play some type of sport,” said Ben Cormier, 22, a senior communications major, from Bridgewater, Mass.
When it comes to getting the word out about what sports are available for people to play, Cormier believes the best way to get students interested in playing would be to fundraise for the sports, so they can get some uniforms and equipment, which would make the students feel like they are on an actual team.
“For me, and I am sure for a lot people, a sport is always better when it feels like you are playing for something, if they set up tournaments, and had teams have their own jerseys and team names; there would be a better turn out,” Rapoza said.
A few weeks ago, the Campus Activities Board hosted a flag football tournament, offering as the top prize to the winning team their very own custom Tshirts. “If they have these tournaments for any type of sport, they should give out trophies to the winners, it would be cool to see them have an intramural trophy case here instead of just one for the regular sports,” Cormier said.
Playing a college sport takes time from a student who wants to participate in other activities, but students like Rapoza and Cormier, who both played football throughout the years here at Norwich, show that they have no issue playing intramurals if time permits.
Students have offered ideas for all kinds of different intramural sports. Aurelia said that they are working on having a huge full court basketball tournament after the holiday break next year.
“There is no specific prize yet for the winners, we actually do not know if this will go through, but if anyone has ideas we would love to hear about them,” Aurelia said.
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Tom Blees
Tom Blees is the author of Prescription for the Planet - The Painless Remedy for Our Energy & Environmental Crises. Tom is also the president of the Science Council for Global Initiatives. Many of the goals of SCGI, and the methods to achieve them, are elucidated in the pages of Blees's book. He is a member of the selection committee for the Global Energy Prize, considered Russia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize for energy research. His work has generated considerable interest among scientists and political figures around the world. Tom has been a consultant and advisor on energy technologies on the local, state, national, and international levels.
Five Points for Nuclear Power Discussions
by Tom Blees
A discussion of the pros and cons of nuclear power often pits an emotional point of view against a scientific point of view.
1) Nuclear waste: A viable solution to nuclear waste has been demonstrated at Idaho National Lab during the EBR-II project. Their recycling of over 30,000 fuel pins proved what can be done to reduce the radiotoxicity to a few hundred years. Argonne National Laboratory has now designed a commercial-scale facility that can recycle not only metal fuel (like that used in the EBR-II) but also spent oxide fuel from lightwater reactors like those currently in use (so-called nuclear waste) as well as spent fuel from the molten salt reactors expected to be deployed in the near future. It's a one size fits all approach, using proven technology, and it's ready to build now.
2) Backup power: Those serious about climate change must realize that using natural gas for "backup" is a Faustian bargain, since it not only produces lots of carbon dioxide but the leakage of methane (sounds less "natural" when you call it that) is a serious problem. Since hyd roelectric power is both regionally and climatically restricted (remember the last 3-year drought in California when its impressive collection of dams was nearly useless), anyone serious about getting away from fossil fuels must certainly have to look to nuclear power for backup. The argument that the life cycle carbon footprint of nuclear is bad is entirely bogus (as the IPCC has declared on various occasions), and in fact even the small footprint in such calculations assume enrichment facilities that are powered by fossil-fuel-supplied electricity. Since nuclear-sourced electricity can be used instead to power enrichment facilities, the carbon footprint would be far lower than either wind or solar.
That being the case, there is no reason that nuclear power (particularly advanced systems like molten salt and fast reactors) can't be mass-produced and deployed as "backup" power for renewables, thus abandoning fossil fuels for power generation.
3) Renewables alone cannot power modern societies: Despite the non-peer-reviewed flood of "studies" coming from Mark Jacobson at Stanford (and other lesser-known all-renewables preachers), serious energy analysts know that renewables are simply too unreliable (especially given their seasonal variations) to supply the power we need for civilization. There have been several metastudies that make that point, which can be found at the SCGI site. Nuclear power, however, is perfectly capable of providing all the power humanity needs 24/7/365, without emitting greenhouse gases. Read Roadmap to Nowhere, The Myth of Powering the Nation With Renewable Energy
4) Nuclear power is too expensive: This is almost true in the USA, where decades of no new construction and an upside-down regulatory environment has made nuclear very expensive indeed. But China, Russia, and South Korea manage to build reactors on time and budget at very competitive prices. New molten salt and fast reactor designs promise to be even cheaper (and safer) than the reactors currently being built by those countries. If the USA regulatory environment can be fixed then new reactor designs could be built here very economically. If not, other countries will leave our nuclear industry in the dust. It's already happening (see the four reactors soon coming online in the UAE, built by South Korea).
5) Nuclear will power the world: Climate change politics will eventually overcome even the ideologically-driven climate denial in the USA. When the point is reached where fossil fuel use is recognized as virtually suicidal, nuclear will have to be recognized as the one reliable "backup" system for renewables. Yet since sometimes (particularly in winter) there are weeks at a time when wind and solar produce virtually nothing (see the data for Germany over the last decade), nuclear backup will have to be built to such a level as to provide all the power needed for those times when wind and solar fail. In such a case, nuclear capacity to power the grid will be 100%. Yet nuclear power plants are just fine running at full power 24/7, and fuel costs are trivial. So if nuclear "backup" is built to the degree necessary, what will be the point of building solar or wind installations? Ultimately the logic of this situation will be self-evident and nuclear power will supply all we need, including the vast amount of energy that will be required to desalinate water on a heretofore unimaginable scale, and to move it to where it's needed. Nuclear power can also provide power to make carbon-neutral liquid fuels out of air and water. The technology is well-known and proven, it's just the cost and availability of the necessary power that keeps us from doing that today (extracting fossil fuel from the ground is cheaper).
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Vitamins and minerals are required for normal metabolism but which the body cannot manufacture itself and which must therefore come from external sources. Vitamins come from several sources including fresh fruit and vegetables (Vitamin C), carrots, liver (Vitamin A), cereal bran, bread, liver (B vitamins), fish liver oil (Vitamin D) and fresh green vegetables (Vitamin K). Many minerals are also essential in small quantities including iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium chloride and sulfur; and in very small quantities copper, zinc and selenium. The micronutrients, minerals, and vitamins[16] in fruit and vegetables may be destroyed or eluted by cooking. Vitamin C is especially prone to oxidation during cooking and may be completely destroyed by protracted cooking.[17][not in citation given] The bioavailability of some vitamins such as thiamin, vitamin B6, niacin, folate, and carotenoids are increased with cooking by being freed from the food microstructure.[18] Blanching or steaming vegetables is a way of minimizing vitamin and mineral loss in cooking.
The earliest use of the term in the post-industrial age appears to be in 1946 in The Farmer, a quarterly magazine published and edited from his farm by F. Newman Turner, a writer and pioneering organic farmer. The magazine sponsored the establishment of the Producer Consumer Whole Food Society Ltd, with Newman Turner as president and Derek Randal as vice-president.[66] Whole food was defined as "mature produce of field, orchard, or garden without subtraction, addition, or alteration grown from seed without chemical dressing, in fertile soil manured solely with animal and vegetable wastes, and composts therefrom, and ground, raw rock and without chemical manures, sprays, or insecticides," having intent to connect suppliers and the growing public demand for such food.[66] Such diets are rich in whole and unrefined foods, like whole grains, dark green and yellow/orange-fleshed vegetables and fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds.[63]
Cooking can prevent many foodborne illnesses that would otherwise occur if the food is eaten raw. When heat is used in the preparation of food, it can kill or inactivate harmful organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, as well as various parasites such as tapeworms and Toxoplasma gondii. Food poisoning and other illness from uncooked or poorly prepared food may be caused by bacteria such as pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Campylobacter, viruses such as noroviruses, and protozoa such as Entamoeba histolytica. Bacteria, viruses and parasites may be introduced through salad, meat that is uncooked or done rare, and unboiled water.[19]
Between the extremes of optimal health and death from starvation or malnutrition, there is an array of disease states that can be caused or alleviated by changes in diet. Deficiencies, excesses, and imbalances in diet can produce negative impacts on health, which may lead to various health problems such as scurvy, obesity, or osteoporosis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases as well as psychological and behavioral problems. The science of nutrition attempts to understand how and why specific dietary aspects influence health.
Quick and easy gluten-free dinner recipes also happen to be incredibly delicious. Try one of these mouthwatering gluten-free recipes for dinner, or make ahead for lunches during your busy week. Each recipe relies on protein, vegetables, and grains that all are gluten-free, but even if you don't have a gluten sensitivity or diagnosed issue, this recipe collection is a great source for tasty, comforting recipes you can make for the whole family. Be sure to read labels carefully; sometimes gluten hides in unexpected places.
Research has shown that grilling, barbecuing and smoking meat and fish increases levels of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). In Europe, grilled meat and smoked fish generally only contribute a small proportion of dietary PAH intake since they are a minor component of diet – most intake comes from cereals, oils and fats.[36] However, in the US, grilled/barbecued meat is the second highest contributor of the mean daily intake of a known PAH carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene at 21% after ‘bread, cereal and grain’ at 29%.[36]
Many people choose to forgo food from animal sources to varying degrees (e.g. flexitarianism, pescetarianism, vegetarianism, veganism) for health reasons, issues surrounding morality, or to reduce their personal impact on the environment, although some of the public assumptions about which diets have lower impacts are known to be incorrect.[3] Raw foodism is another contemporary trend. These diets may require multivitamin supplements to meet ordinary nutritional needs.
Peasant foods have been described as being the diet of peasants, that is, tenant or poorer farmers and their farm workers,[53] and by extension, of other cash-poor people. They may use ingredients, such as offal and less-tender cuts of meat, which are not as marketable as a cash crop. Characteristic recipes often consist of hearty one-dish meals, in which chunks of meat and various vegetables are eaten in a savory broth, with bread or other staple food. Sausages are also amenable to varied readily available ingredients, and they themselves tend to contain offal and grains.
Several studies published since 1990 indicate that cooking meat at high temperature creates heterocyclic amines (HCAs), which are thought to increase cancer risk in humans. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that human subjects who ate beef rare or medium-rare had less than one third the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate beef medium-well or well-done.[34] While avoiding meat or eating meat raw may be the only ways to avoid HCAs in meat fully, the National Cancer Institute states that cooking meat below 212 °F (100 °C) creates "negligible amounts" of HCAs. Also, microwaving meat before cooking may reduce HCAs by 90% by reducing the time needed for the meat to be cooked at high heat.[34] Nitrosamines are found in some food, and may be produced by some cooking processes from proteins or from nitrites used as food preservatives; cured meat such as bacon has been found to be carcinogenic, with links to colon cancer. Ascorbate, which is added to cured meat, however, reduces nitrosamine formation.[33][35]
Food is traded and marketed on a global basis. The variety and availability of food is no longer restricted by the diversity of locally grown food or the limitations of the local growing season.[110] Between 1961 and 1999, there was a 400% increase in worldwide food exports.[111] Some countries are now economically dependent on food exports, which in some cases account for over 80% of all exports.[112]
In the western world, finger foods are often either appetizers (hors d'œuvres) or entree/main course items. Examples of these are miniature meat pies, sausage rolls, sausages on sticks, cheese and olives on sticks, chicken drumsticks or wings, spring rolls, miniature quiches, samosas, sandwiches, Merenda or other such based foods, such as pitas or items in buns, bhajjis, potato wedges, vol au vents, several other such small items and risotto balls (arancini). Other well-known foods that are generally eaten with the hands include hamburgers, pizza, Chips, hot dogs, fruit and bread.
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Cinema Politica’s 2015 Audience Choice Award winner is…
The votes are in! After a very close race that accumulated thousands of votes, in which each of the top three films led the pack for at least 24 hours, we are proud to name Avi Lewis’s THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING as the winner of Cinema Politica’s Audience Choice Award for 2015.
Based on Naomi Klein’s best-selling book, and fuelled by her ongoing and passionate activism, THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING argues that global economic reform and meaningful climate change action are inextricably linked and fundamentally necessary. By positioning climate change as a potential catalyst for worldwide economic, cultural, and environmental reform, Lewis and Klein insist on meaningful action on local and global levels: humanity not only can save itself from itself, but we can also build a sustainable and fair world for future generations.
“The Cinema Politica audience is the world’s premiere documentary community - global, sophisticated, critical, and committed. So to get this award is absolutely thrilling for us! On behalf of the hundreds of people around the world who contributed to this long work, thank you - from the bottom of our revolutionary hearts.” – Avi Lewis
The enormous scope of THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING’s project (be sure to check out the team’s connected project Leap Manifesto here) makes everyone part of the problem while insisting that anyone can be part of the solution.
As mentioned earlier, the voting for this year’s award became a very close race between THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING and the neck-in-neck runners-up, Lenny Epstein’s TIL THE COWS COME HOME and Keegan Kuhn and Kip Andersen's COWSPIRACY: THE SUSTAINABILITY SECRET. What we find exciting about this —beyond that the cow has clearly become the most politicized animal on our screens this year— is how all three of 2015’s most popular films foreground their explicit calls to action. Whether campaigning for prison reform, environmental justice, or economic reform, all three of these films gloriously fulfill Cinema Politica’s mandate to inspire meaningful political action and social change by screening truth to power.
Congratulations again to Avi Lewis, Naomi Klein, and the entire crew of THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING, and thank you to everyone who voted!
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Rita's Italian Ice Opens Monday December 15th in Clairemont Village, FREE Offer on Opening Day!
“Ice, Custard, Happiness” Treat Store Opens in Bay Park
Rita’s Italian Ice, the world’s largest Italian Ice concept with over 600 stores will be opening its next location in the Clairemont Village Shopping Center in Bay Park on Monday, December 15, 2014 at 1 p.m.
All guests who visit Rita’s of Clairemont-Bay Park on Monday will receive a complimentary Rita’s regular sized Italian Ice in the flavor of their choice!
“We are excited to open in Clairemont-Bay Park to share Rita’s ‘Ice Custard Happiness’ with locals,” said Kurt Kuyper, Rita’s San Diego Managing Director. “Guests will find their own favorite treats like Rita’s Gelati, Italian Ice layered with Old Fashioned Frozen Custard, it’s our #1 treat! We invite the whole community to try Rita’s Italian Ice and our other Cool Treats!”
Rita’s of Clairemont-Bay Park is located at 3077 Clairemont Drive, San Diego, CA 92117. Hours of Operation are 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and noon to 9:00 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The ten “Treat Team” members hired from the surrounding community bring a fresh, local feel to the inviting new location. The new Rita’s Italian Ice will offer Cool Catering with quarts, gallons and 5-gallon containers of Italian Ice for events, groups, parties and fundraisers! Visit:RitasofClairemont-BayPark.com or our Facebook page for more details.·
For thirty years, Rita’s has been an East Coast favorite, with their motto, “Ice, Custard, Happiness TM” and is scooping up a big dose of happiness with their freshly made, delicious Italian Ice. Rita’s traditional Italian Ice is a smooth and delicious treat made with real fruit available in over 65 flavors. Guests enjoy Rita’s Ice including the most popular flavors, Mango, Cherry, Alex’s Lemonade, Swedish Fish®, and Cotton Candy, just to name a few! If Guests want a more decadent treat, Rita’s Cream Ice, is offered in silky smooth flavors like Mint Chocolate Chip and new flavors Strawberry Cheesecake and Gingerbread Cream Ice. Health-conscious guests can still enjoy a taste of Rita’s with Sugar-Free Italian Ice and Light Vanilla Frozen Custard.
Rita’s, the “Home of Cool Treats,” offers many delicious options in addition to Italian Ice, including: Misto® Shakes, a combination of Italian Ice and Old-Fashioned Frozen Custard blended into a cool, creamy, delicious customizable treat; a personalized Blendini®, Old-Fashioned Frozen Custard blended with Italian Ice and the guest’s choice of mix-ins such as Snickers®; or a Gelati, Italian Ice layered with creamy Old-Fashioned Frozen Custard. Other tempting treats, including Rita’s twist on an old-fashioned favorite, Milkshakes, are made with Rita’s famous Old-Fashioned Frozen Custard and are available in a variety of flavors and topped off with whipped cream. Some of Rita’s newest
additions will be offered and include Sundaes, OREO® Custard Cookie Sandwiches, as well as Light Custard!
ABOUT RITA’S FRANCHISE COMPANY
Rita’s Franchise Company, whose business is treats and mission is happiness, was founded 30 years ago, and is headquartered in Trevose, PA. Rita’s is the largest Italian Ice concept in the world, with over 600 stores in the U.S., its first international stores now open in China, and opening soon in Canada and the Philippines. The thirty-year old brand is continuing to grow nationally and internationally through franchise opportunities.
The popular chain offers a variety of “Cool Treats” including its famous Italian Ice, made fresh daily with real fruit, available in over sixty-five flavors. Old-Fashioned Frozen Custard, Sundaes, Light Custard, Frozen Custard Cakes, Custard Cookie Sandwiches made with OREO®, layered Gelati as well as its signature Misto® and Blendini® creations make up the menu. Since 1984, “Ice, Custard, Happiness,” has been the brand’s motto, and thirty years later, Rita’s is still dedicated to serving up a big dose of happiness with their freshly made, delicious, custom treats, in a fun-filled atmosphere. Get Rita’s. Get Happy!
Rita’s was ranked #1 in Nation’s Restaurant News “Consumer Pick’s 2014” for Service and Value in the Frozen Treat category and #1 among 18-24 year olds. Rita’s was named one of the Top 25 Franchise High Performers by the Wall Street Journal’s “Startup Journal”, and ranks #81 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s “2014 Franchise 500” list.
For more information about Rita’s Franchise Opportunities please visit: www.OwnaRitas.com or for more information please call 1-800-677-7482 or visit www.RitasIce.com.
ABOUT RITA’S GP, LLC
The new Rita’s Italian Ice locations are owned and operated by Rita’s GP, LLC, based in Old Town San Diego. Plans include opening more than 30 stores within the Inland Empire and San Diego County over the next few years. Other Rita’s now open include Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Encinitas, Rancho Peñasquitos, San Marcos, Vista, Oceanside Del Cerro, Santee, Mira Mesa, San Diego, and two stores in Escondido. For an updated map of all “Coming Soon” Locations visit www.RitasSanDiego.com and follow Rita’s rapid expansion as the “Ice Storm” blankets San Diego and the Inland Empire.
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Syrians mourn outside Al Razzi hospital after a Syrian rebel rocket reportedly struck a government-held part of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on 15 June. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels had fired some 250 rockets at several districts in western Aleppo city in just four hours, causing massive damage including the collapse of an entire building. (photo: AFP/George Oufalian)
Intense rebel shelling of Aleppo kills more than 30 (Reuters) More than 30 people have been killed in the most lethal rebel bombardment of the city of Aleppo since Syria’s conflict started four years ago, a group monitoring the war said on Tuesday, an attack condemned by a U.N. envoy visiting Damascus…
Pope Francis to receive Syriac Orthodox Patriarch (Vatican Radio) From 17-20 June, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of Antioch and All the East will be in Rome to meet with Pope Francis. The Syriac Orthodox Church traces its history to the first Christian communities established in Antioch…
Families of ISIS captives block north Lebanon highway (Daily Star Lebanon) Families of the nine Lebanese servicemen held hostage by ISIS blocked both sides of a north Lebanon highway Tuesday demanding to know if their loved ones were still alive. “We are standing here today to ask whether the servicemen are still there or if they were executed like some rumors said,” the brother of Army Sgt. Maj. Ibrahim Mgheit told reporters…
Patriarch Gregory: Most Lebanese think of emigrating (Fides) “According to a recent survey, 60 percent of the Lebanese are considering the idea of emigrating, and 35 percent of them are actually waiting for a visa,” said Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III of Antioch in his opening remarks at the yearly synod. The meeting of the Melkite Greek Catholic bishops, underway at the patriarchal summer residence in Ain Trez, will discuss the theme of family and emergency situations experienced by communities in Syria…
Mohammed Morsi death sentence upheld by Egypt court (BBC) An Egyptian court has upheld the death sentence imposed on ousted ex-President Mohammed Morsi over a mass jailbreak. The sentence was initially passed in May, but was confirmed after consultation with Egypt’s highest religious figure, the grand mufti. The death sentences of five other leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood and 101 others were also upheld. Morsi’s supporters have described the sentence as “farcical.” The verdict is subject to appeal…
Ecumenical patriarch hosts Halki Summit II (Huffington Post) Just days before Pope Francis is due to release his long-awaited and much-anticipated encyclical letter on climate change, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I organized the second Halki Summit in Istanbul, from 8 to 10 June. Entitled “Ecology, Theology, and the Arts,” this summer’s conference aimed to incorporate the artistic senses and spiritual dimension of environmental stewardship into the broader conversation on climate change…
Tags: Egypt Lebanon Christian Unity Aleppo Climate change
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Moment 2 Moment
Dope Artistry
Subscribe/Booking Info
info@cookiturner.com
Official Website for
Cooki Turner
Born into music honestly, from the traditional church background, to stage plays and arenas, Cooki Turner simply loves to share her gift. Knowing that music was her purpose and passion at a young age, she has been singing for over 20+ years. Her most favorite moments are creating a family environment on stage. Doing live music solo for the last 10+ years, she has made an art of bringing a unique vibe and sound to any venue she enters.
She has shared stages with, and has had the opportunity to give backing vocals, for artists such as Monica, Martina McBride, Trace Atkins, Bilal, Chrisette Michelle, Karen Clark-Sheard, Marvin Sapp, just to name a few. She finished her debut album "Heart of Me Vol.1 in October 2013. Receiving stellar reviews debut single "Try" is still toping charts in the US and the UK. She released her second single “Take Me Away” and added two amazing videos to her roster. Traveling coast-to-coast sharing her gift has been a blessing. In the beginning of 2015, she began to collaborate with producers Adam Ledbetter & Josh Norman on a special project, and with much preparation, she released her second EP- Moment to Moment Vol.2, a collected effort of both live and studio performances, on August 19th 2016. While receiving amazing reviews on singles Home & Goodbye Song, she began working with J. Lee The producer, and in October 2017, she executive produced a compilation project with him, titled Music Box. Not only lending her skills behind the scenes, she was featured on three songs, included the song Fresh Wind, which was nominated for a UK Soul Award. Always eager to learn and grow as a person and artist, Cooki recently relocated to Los Angeles in May 2017 and can’t wait to see what God has in store.
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Holy Saviour Parish Glen Waverley North
765 Highbury Road, Vermont South 3133
Email: glenwaverleynorth@cam.org.au
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Entries in Kyrgyzstan (8)
DOJ returns loot stolen by Kyrgyzstan ex-president
By Harry Cassin | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 at 8:28AM
The DOJ said Tuesday it has repatriated $4.5 million in corrupt proceeds by the former Kyrgyz Republic president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, pictured left, and his son Maxim Bakiyev.
tagged Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Maxim Bakiyev, asset recovery |
Russia demands Transparency International register as a ‘foreign agent’
By Richard L. Cassin | Monday, February 16, 2015 at 10:28AM
Prosecutors in Moscow warned the Russian branch of Transparency International to register as a foreign agent, TI-Russia said in a statement posted on its website Friday.
tagged Corruption Perceptions Index, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Nigeria, Transparency International, Transparency International Russia, Yelena Panfilova, foreign agent registration |
Forget the apples. Now it's Louis Vuitton
By Richard L. Cassin | Friday, December 14, 2012 at 3:37AM
Under the general topic of graft, school corruption is a well-recognized sub-genre.
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tagged Gift Giving, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Schools, South Korea, Teachers, Vietnam |
Tobacco Exec Escapes Jail Term
By Richard L. Cassin | Friday, October 22, 2010 at 8:08AM
Bobby Jay Elkin Jr., a former country manager in Kyrgyzstan for tobacco company Dimon Inc, now called Alliance One International, was sentenced to just three years' probation a $5,000 fine. He had pleaded guilty in August to a one-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
tagged Alliance One International, Bobby Jay Elkin, China, Greece, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan |
Two Tobacco Firms Settle FCPA Charges
By Richard L. Cassin | Friday, August 6, 2010 at 3:08PM
In an unusual tandem settlement, two unrelated U.S. tobacco companies and their foreign subsidiaries today resolved civil and criminal FCPA charges with the SEC and DOJ.
In the criminal cases, two foreign subsidiaries of North Carolina-based Alliance One International Inc. agreed to pay a total of $9.45 million in fines. And a Brazilian subsidiary of Virginia-based Universal Corporation agreed to pay a $4.4 million criminal fine.
Alliance One's Swiss and Kyrgyzstan subsidiaries pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia to separate three-count criminal informations charging them with conspiring to violate the FCPA and violations of the anti-bribery provisions and books and records provisions of the FCPA.
Universal's Brazilian subsidiary pleaded guilty to a two-count information in the Eastern District of Virginia. It was charged with conspiring to violate the anti-bribery provisions and books and records provisions of the FCPA, and with violating the FCPA's anti-bribery provisions.
The parent companies -- Universal and Alliance One -- entered into non-prosecution agreements with the DOJ and agreed to retain independent monitors for three years. They're cooperating in the ongoing investigations.
In the SEC civil cases, Universal and Alliance One were ordered to pay disgorgement of $4.58 million and $10 million respectively. The SEC charged both companies with violating the FCPA's anti-bribery provisions in Thailand. It also said Alliance One payed bribes in Kyrgyzstan, China, Greece, and Indonesia. And it said Universal made improper payments in Malawi and Mozambique. The SEC's complaints alleged both Universal and Alliance One violated the books and records and internal control provisions of the FCPA.
Alliance One was formed in 2005 with the merger of Dimon Incorporated and Standard Commercial Corporation, both wholesale leaf tobacco merchants. The FCPA violations were committed by employees and agents of foreign subsidiaries of both Dimon and Standard before the merger.
Earlier this week, Bobby Jay Elkin Jr., a former Dimon executive, pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to violate the FCPA. Elkin, 50, of Washington, D.C., was Dimon's country manager in Kyrgyzstan. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing date hasn't been set.
In April, the SEC brought a civil enforcement action against Elkin and three other former employees of Dimon. It charged them with violating the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and aiding and abetting violations. The defendants agreed to settle the charges, with two of them paying $40,000 in penalties. The SEC didn't impose financial penalties on Elkin.
Final sentencing for Alliance One subsidiaries is scheduled for October 21, 2010.
Alliance One International trades on the NYSE under the symbol AOI.
Universal Corporation trades on the NYSE under the symbol UVV.
View the DOJ's August 6, 2010 release here.
View the SEC's Litigation Release No. 21618 and Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 3170 (both dated August 6, 2010) in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Universal Corporation, Inc., Civil Action No. 01:10-cv-01318 (RWR) (D.D.C.) (filed August 6, 2010) and Securities and Exchange Commission v. Alliance One International Inc., Civil Action No. 01:10-cv-01319 (RMU) (D.D.C.) (filed August 6, 2010) here.
Download the SEC's civil complaint against Universal Corporation here.
Download the SEC's civil complaint against Alliance One International here.
tagged Alliance One International, Bobby Jay Elkin, China, Dimon Inc., Greece, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mozambique, Thailand, Universal Corporation |
Tobacco Exec Pleads Guilty
By Richard L. Cassin | Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 3:28PM
Bobby Jay Elkin Jr., a former executive from tobacco company Dimon Inc, now called Alliance One International, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Virginia to a one-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Elkin, 50, of Washington, D.C., was Dimon's country manager in Kyrgyzstan. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. No sentencing date has been set.
The DOJ said Elkin paid bribes of more than $3 million to foreign government officials in Kyrgyzstan from 1996 through 2004 to win business for Dimon. He made cash payments to officials of the Kyrgyz tobacco authority, part of the government, to obtain export licenses and gain access to government-owned tobacco processing facilities. He also bribed local government officials to obtain permission to purchase tobacco from local growers, and to the Kyrgyz Tax Inspection Police to avoid tax inspections and penalties.
In April, the SEC brought a civil enforcement action against Elkin and three other former employees of Dimon. It charged them with violating the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and aiding and abetting violations. The defendants agreed to settle the charges.
According to the SEC's civil complaint, Dimon was subjected to continuous audits by Kyrgyz tax officials. Some Dimon personnel devoted most of their work hours to answering questions from the tax inspectors. As soon as one audit finished, another would begin. The inspectors were never satisfied. Because Dimon once "failed to submit two reports to the tax office," they imposed a fine of about $171,741 and threatened to seize its bank accounts and tobacco inventory. The tax inspectors later offered to reduce the penalties in exchange for Dimon's cash payment.
Separately, the SEC said from 2000 to 2003, Dimon paid bribes to officials of the government-controlled Thailand Tobacco Monopoly.
Elkin wasn't penalized in the SEC civil action. He and the other defendants (two of whom paid penalties of $40,000) consented to the entry of final judgments permanently enjoining them from violating the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA (Section 30A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) and aiding and abetting violations of Sections 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B).
Alliance One International, Inc. was formed in May 2005 -- after the FCPA violations occurred -- with the merger of Dimon and Standard Commercial Corporation. The company trades on the NYSE under the symbol AOI.
Download a copy of the plea agreement in U.S. v. Bobby Jay Elkin Jr. here.
tagged Bobby Jay Elkin, Dimon Inc., Kyrgyzstan, Thailand |
Manhandled Abroad
By Richard L. Cassin | Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 2:28PM
The SEC said today that it brought a civil enforcement action against four former employees of Dimon, Inc., now Alliance One International, Inc. It charged them with violating the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and aiding and abetting violations. The defendants agreed to settle the charges.
From 1996 through 2004, Dimon's subsidiary in Kyrgyzstan paid more than $3 million in bribes to various government officials to purchase Kyrgyz tobacco. Defendant Bobby J. Elkin, Jr., 49, a former country manager for Kyrgyzstan, arranged the bribes through a bank account held under his name called the Special Account.
Another defendant, Baxter J. Myers, 65, a former regional financial director, authorized transfers from a Dimon subsidiary's bank account to the Special Account, and defendant Thomas G. Reynolds, 54, a former corporate controller, recorded the payments made from the Special Account in Dimon's books.
Dimon also paid bribes in a scenario familiar to many western companies operating in high-risk countries. Its office, according to the SEC's civil complaint, was subjected to continuous audits by Kyrgyz tax officials. Some Dimon personnel devoted most of their work hours to answering questions from the tax inspectors. As soon as one audit finished, another would begin. The inspectors were never satisfied. Because Dimon once "failed to submit two reports to the tax office," they imposed a fine of about $171,741 and threatened to seize its bank accounts and tobacco inventory. The tax inspectors later offered to reduce the penalties in exchange for Dimon's cash payment.
Separately, from 2000 to 2003, Dimon paid bribes of about $542,590 to officials of the government-controlled Thailand Tobacco Monopoly in exchange for about $9.4 million in sales contracts. Defendant Tommy L. Williams, 55, a former sales executive, directed tobacco sales from Brazil and Malawi to the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly through Dimon's agent in Thailand. He authorized the payment of bribes to government officials of the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly. These bribes were characterized as commissions paid to Dimon's agent in Thailand.
Defendants Myers and Reynolds agreed to pay civil penalties of $40,000 each. All four defendants also consented to the entry of final judgments permanently enjoining them from violating the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA (Section 30A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) and aiding and abetting violations of Sections 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B).
Alliance One International, Inc. was formed in May 2005 -- after the offenses described in the SEC's complaint -- with the merger of Dimon and Standard Commercial Corporation. The company trades on the NYSE under the symbol AOI.
View the SEC's April 29, 2010 Litigation Release No. 21509 in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Bobby J. Elkin, Jr., Baxter J. Myers, Thomas G. Reynolds, and Tommy L. Williams, Civil Action No. 1:10-cv-00661 (RMU) (D.D.C.) (filed April 28, 2010) here.
Download a copy of the SEC civil complaint here.
tagged Alliance One International, Dimon Inc., Kyrgyzstan, Thailand |
Leading Backwards
By Richard L. Cassin | Monday, April 12, 2010 at 7:54AM
There's no way to measure how much corruption the U.S exports to other countries. But sometimes events reveal what may be happening. The latest case is Kyrgyzstan and a revolution triggered largely by public disgust with so much sleaze.
Writing in Forbes, Ariel Cohen said, "What's behind the revolution in Kyrgyzstan? Its people were fed up with the graft, nepotism and authoritarian ways of deposed president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. The irony is that Bakiyev rose to power riding the same wave of public discontent and revulsion. It enabled him to depose Askar Akayev, his equally corrupt predecessor, five years ago."
Where did Kyrgyzstan's corruption come from? The U.S. has used the country as a staging area for the war in Afghanistan. "Many Kyrgyz demonstrators," according to Tom Malinowski in Foreign Policy, "were disgusted by signs that their leaders were personally profiting from the increasingly high payments they extracted from the United States for use of the country's Manas air base (and believed that the U.S. government stayed silent about their government's abuses to keep the base)."
In Afghanistan itself, President Hamid Karzai has accused the U.S. of importing corruption into his country. While it's tempting to think he's merely deflecting blame, that's not the whole story. Stephen M. Walt said last week, also in Foreign Policy: "But even as we are telling the Afghans to stop corruption, we are contributing to it by pumping vast sums of cold hard cash into Afghan society. According to yesterday's New York Times, part of our strategy in southern Afghanistan consists of flooding places like Marjah with 'hundreds of thousands of dollars a week,' in an effort to buy the loyalty of the local population."
U.S. companies also play a role in overseas corruption, as FCPA enforcement actions demonstrate. A story in the Chinese press in December 2007 said, "According to a report by local consulting company Anbound, of the 500,000 bribery cases investigated in China over the last 10 years, 64 percent involved foreign companies." It mentioned allegations involving Lucent Technologies Inc., IBM, Cisco and NCR. The story quoted a Beijinger as saying: "I cannot understand after many foreign companies complain about corruption and bribery in China, then why are they doing similar things?"
What should we do with news about American's role in fueling overseas corruption? We shouldn't declare our country hopelessly hypocritical and unworthy of the right to enforce the FCPA. But knowing that American money contributes to the graft we're supposed to be fighting should give us some humility. It's too easy to scold someone else's graft while justifying our own.
Above all, the news should remind those in charge that our actions need to be consistent with our words, including the words of the FCPA. Otherwise, the world will laugh in our face.
tagged Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan |
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Tag Archives: Loreto
Loreto, Italy (1291)
November 5, 2018 John Carpenter
In Loreto, Italy, a small house enclosed in a grand basilica is believed to be the house where the Virgin Mary lived and raised Jesus. On May 12th of 1291, the angels moved the house to a small town named Tersatto in Croatia. Very early in the morning the neighbors discovered it, and they were astonished to see this house without a foundation. They could not explain how it arrived there. Some days later, the Virgin Mary appeared to a priest of that place and explained to him where the house came from. She said,
picture #1: Angels lift Mary’s childhood home high into the air
“You should know that the house that was recently brought to your land is the same house in which I was born and grew up. Here, in the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel, I conceived the Creator of all things. Here, the Word became flesh. The altar that was moved with the house was consecrated by Peter, the Prince of the Apostles. This house has come from Nazareth to your land by the power of God for whom nothing is impossible. Now, so that you can give a testimony of this, be healed. Your unexpected and sudden healing will confirm the truth that I have declared to you today.”
picture #2: There were witnesses to the home’s flight overhead
The priest who had been sick for a long time was healed immediately and announced to the people about the miracle that had occurred. Pilgrimages to the Holy House began. The residents of this small town built a simple building over the Holy House to protect it from the elements of nature.
picture #3: Mary and Jesus sit on top of the flying house
After the three years and seven months, the house disappeared from Tersatto on the night of December 10, 1294 — never to return again. On that same day of December 10, some shepherds in the region of Loreto, Italy reported to have seen a house flying over the ocean, held by angels. There was an angel dressed with a red cape (St. Michael) who directed the others; the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus were seated on the house. The angels lowered the house on the place named Banderuola. Many arrived to visit this holy house, but there were also some who went to mug the pilgrims. For this reason, people stopped going there, and the house was again moved by the angels to a hill in the middle of a farm. The Holy House would not remain there for much longer either. The farm belonged to two brothers who began to argue over who was the owner of the house.
picture #5: Our Lady of Flight
For a third time the house was moved to another hill, placing it in the middle of the path. This is the place that it has occupied for 700 years. The residents of Recanati and Loreto truly did not know the story of the Holy House; they only knew of the miracles that took place there. Two years later, the Virgin Mary appeared to a hermit named Paul, and she told him the origin and the history of the Holy House:
picture #6: Inside the Virgin’s home where an altar was placed
“It was kept in the city of Nazareth until — with the permission of God — those who honored this house were thrown out by the enemies. Since it was no longer honored and it was in danger of being profaned, my Son wanted to transfer it from Nazareth to Yugoslavia and from there to your land.”
picture #7: Inside Mary’s house, looking at the back half
Paul then told this story to the townspeople and they began a process to verify the authenticity of the house. They first went to Tersatto and later to Nazareth. All of the descriptions of the interior elements and other details correlated. In Nazareth they discovered that it truly was the house of the Virgin Mary. The measurements of its foundation (left behind) were exactly the same as those of the little house in Loreto.
picture #8: Mary’s home interior, showing a protective ceiling added
A story recounts that the Bishop of Portugal visited the Holy House and wanted to take a stone to build a church in honor of the Virgin of Loreto. The Pope gave him permission, so the Bishop sent his secretary to remove the stone and take it back with him. The Bishop suddenly became sick — and when his secretary arrived, the Bishop was almost dead. The Bishop asked a few religious sisters to pray for him and, some days later, he received this message, “Our Lady says: ‘If the Bishop wants to recover, he should return to the Virgin Mary what he has taken from her’.” The secretary and Bishop were astonished about this since no one had known about the stone being taken from the Holy House. The secretary departed immediately to Loreto with the stone. When the secretary returned, the Bishop had been completely healed. For this reason, over the centuries, the Popes have prohibited the removal of any part of the Holy House under threat of ex-communication. (127)(128)
picture #9: Protective outer structure that houses the little home
In 1920, Pope Benedict XV declared Our Lady of Loreto as patroness of pilots. Seven years later, her medal hung on board Charles Lindbergh’s plane on his famous flight across the Atlantic Ocean. He stated that the medal’s rapping against the control panel woke him when he fell asleep at the controls – thus saving his life. (67:20)
ApparitionsItalyLoreto
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How to shoot your next adventure like a pro
Nook Tablet's Read and Record hands-on (video)
Brian Heater
The multimedia features on the new Nook Tablet mean more than just watching video and listening to music -- they actually give a bit of a boost to the reading experience, as well. One of the best implementations of this is the new Read and Record feature, an update to the Nook Color's Read and Play feature, which takes advantage of the Tablet's new mic to let users (parents in most cases, we assume) record narration to children's books. It's a simple but clever addition that certainly drives home the product's value for families.
The feature lets you record custom narration on each page of compatible texts, offering up the words as a script. Once recorded, the text can be saved with a simple icon, so kids can play it back themselves -- in the case of our hands-on demo, it was a gingerbread man (fitting, perhaps, given the OS we're working with). The feature is equally simple to use on both sides of the equation, and is a nice little bonus for parents who, for whatever reason, can't always be around to read to the kids. Video after the break.
In this article: android, barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, e book, e books, e reader, e readers, e-book, e-books, e-reader, e-readers, nook, reader, video
By C. Fisher, 7m ago
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Oppo's swiveling N1 smartphone to be available worldwide on December 10th for $599
Oppo promised that its swivel camera-toting N1 smartphone would arrive in December, and it's making good on that promise today by offering international launch details. An unlocked HSPA+ version of the 5.9-inch Android flagship should be available through Oppo Style and other outlets on December 10th, when it will cost $599 in the US and €449 in Europe. The company hasn't said whether this is the 16GB or 32GB model. There's also no mention of whether or not N1s with CyanogenMod pre-installed will arrive on the same day, although those who get the ColorOS-based phone should have a relatively easy time loading Cyanogen's firmware. You won't have to wait until the 10th to find out if the device is worthwhile -- our colleagues at Engadget Chinese have just reviewed the N1, and they believe that it competes well against many of its global rivals.
Source: Oppo (Google+)
Coverage: Engadget Chinese (translated)
In this article: android, coloros, cyanogen, cyanogenmod, launch, mobilepostcross, n1, oppo, oppon1, smartphone
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Home > Post
Detroit Free Press and Talmer Bank Extend Marathon Partnership
Talmer Bank signs on as co-title sponsor for an additional three years. The extension, through 2019, will result in nine consecutive years.
Angela Spencer Ford (Talmer Bank) 248-766-2154 / aford@multiconnectmarketing.com
DETROIT, May 16, 2016 – Heading into a sixth year of a successful partnership, the Detroit Free Press Marathon and Talmer Bank and Trust have renewed the Bank’s sponsorship for an additional three years. While the current contract expires at the end of 2016, the extension through 2019 comes as last year’s Marathon reached a registration record of 27,696 runners. This upward trend is expected to continue for the 2016 race – taking place October14-16 – as registration already exceeds last year’s pace by 11 percent.
“Talmer Bank’s co-title sponsorship and our continued alliance shows the strength of the events over Marathon weekend – from the kids run to the full marathon – as well as Talmer’s commitment to our community,” said Barbara Bennage, executive race director of the Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon. “With Talmer Bank’s help, we can make the subsequent years of the Marathon even better. It is through their support, and the support of our other sponsors, that we are able to host such successful events, raise so much for charity, and create an inspirational running atmosphere.”
The Motor City Marathon began in 1963 and was acquired by the Detroit Free Press in 1978, growing significantly in those 38 years. Since 2011 alone, when Talmer Bank signed on as co-title sponsor, the event has increased registration more than 25 percent, money raised by charities has increased more than 80 percent, and the one-mile Kids Fun Run and U.S.-only half marathon have been added to the weekend lineup.
“Talmer Bank sees firsthand the positive impact the Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon has on Detroit, the people in the region and across the globe,” said Thomas C. Shafer, president of Talmer Bank and Trust. “Our collaboration with the Detroit Free Press gives Talmer Bank the opportunity to help thousands of people fulfill a dream, get in shape, run for the first time, challenge themselves, support someone special, or to just enjoy another amazing event in our community.”
Runners from Michigan, the United States and all over the world have traveled to Detroit to take part in this award-winning Marathon. The Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon is the only marathon to traverse international borders twice. Over the Ambassador Bridge and through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, the Marathon takes runners through Canada then back through historic neighborhoods and scenic areas of Detroit. Every runner has a place: from the Kids Fun Run and 5K on Saturday, to the international and U.S.-only half marathon or full marathons on Sunday. Even non-runners can participate by volunteering for any of the weekend events or attending the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealer’s Health and Fitness Expo, open to the public on Friday and Saturday of race weekend at Cobo Center.
For more information about the Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon, visit freepmarathon.com or follow the Marathon on Facebook at facebook.com/detroitmarathon or Twitter @freepmarathon.
About Michigan.com:
The Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon is owned and operated by Michigan.com. Michigan.com reaches the largest and most engaged consumer base in Michigan, and provides unmatched resources to help businesses activate new customers. For more than 180 years, our respected and trusted news and information brands have been the first choice of Michigan residents and businesses. We offer more than 60 multi-platform products and services to help businesses reach, engage and activate Michigan consumers. Michigan.com, a Gannett Company, oversees Gannett’s Michigan brands: Detroit Free Press, Lansing State Journal, Battle Creek Enquirer, Port Huron Times Herald, Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and Observer & Eccentric Media. Michigan.com manages the business operations of The Detroit News under the terms of a federal Joint Operating Agreement. It also is a sales representative for many national digital partners, including Cars.com and CareerBuilder.com.
About Talmer Bancorp, Inc.
Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, Talmer Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Talmer Bank and Trust. Talmer Bank and Trust, operating through branches and lending offices in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Nevada, offers a full suite of commercial and retail banking, mortgage banking, wealth management and trust services to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals. www.talmerbank.com.
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About HNDC
About Huntington Disease
Danielle Lehman
Chorea Reduced by Deutetrabenazine in Study led by HSG
JAMA publishes First-HD study
People with Huntington disease experienced improvements in chorea while taking deutetrabenazine (SD-809) compared to placebo, according to a paper published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Although the topline results of the trial have been released previously, the complete peer-reviewed publication about the First-HD clinical trial is now published in a premier medical journal.
Deutetrabenazine was investigated in the First-HD study, a Phase 3 clinical trial which was led by the Huntington Study Group
(HSG) on behalf of Teva Pharmaceuticals. In the double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, deutetrabenazine significantly decreased chorea, the involuntary movements that many individuals with HD experience.
“Patients’ chorea and motor scores improved compared to placebo over the course of 12 weeks,” said Samuel Frank, MD, HSG’s principal investigator of First-HD and director of the HDSA Center of Excellence at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “In addition, both the participants and their study physicians reported overall improvement.”
First-HD enrolled 90 patients at 34 HSG research sites between August 2013 and August 2014. The trial followed patients for 12 weeks on the medication and measured theirchorea, as well as patients’ and clinicians’ impression of improvement.
“As a physician who cares for people with HD, it’s gratifying to see positive results from a well-designed, fully enrolled trial. Until we find a cure, we aim to bring our patients more treatment options to relieve symptoms,” Frank said. “We are grateful to the people who participated in this trial and their families and support systems that made their participation possible. Research in the HD community depends on volunteers enrolling in trials.”
At the end of May, Teva Pharmaceuticals announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked for more data on deutetrabenazine, which had been under review to treat chorea associated with HD. The request for more data is common when the FDA is asked to approve new medications, and this is the first deuterated compound to be reviewed by the FDA. Michael Hayden, M.D., Ph.D., Teva’s president of Global R&D and chief scientific officer said Teva plans to respond to the request in the third quarter of 2016.
There is only one drug currently approved to treat chorea associated with Huntington disease: tetrabenazine. Deutetrabenazine is structurally related to tetrabenazine with deuterium atoms placed at key positions in the molecule, prolonging plasma half-life and reducing metabolic variability, without changing target pharmacology. This can translate into effective symptom control with fewer medication doses a day, lower total daily doses, and improved tolerance. In First-HD, both patient and clinician overall assessments were significantly better in the deutetrabenazine treated group compared to placebo after 3 months. The deutetrabenazine group improved in a quality of life measure while the placebo group worsened.
“Overall status and quality of life measures are especially relevant in chorea, where no single number captures what is clinically meaningful to patients themselves,” said Claudia Testa, MD, PhD, HSG’s co-principal investigator for First-HD and director of the HDSA Center of Excellence at Virginia Commonwealth University. “It’s exciting to see how treating an HD symptom can make a real-life positive impact.”
Much of the work that led to the completion of the First-HD trial was carried out by the HSG, a non-profit network of 400 Huntington disease experts from more than 100 medical centers throughout North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South America who are dedicated to seeking treatments that make a difference for people and families affected by the disease. For more information about the Huntington Study Group, visit www.huntingtonstudygroup.org.
Scientific, technical, logistical, and analytical support for First-HD was provided by the University of Rochester Clinical Trials Coordination Center (CTCC). The Clinical Trials Coordination Center is part of the Center for Human Experimental Therapeutics (CHET) and is a unique academic-based organization with decades of experience working with industry, foundations, and governmental researchers in bringing new therapies to market for neurological disorders. For more information about the Clinical Trials Coordination Center, visit http://www.ctcc.rochester.edu.
Teva Pharmaceutical acquired deutetrabenazine through its purchase of Auspex Pharmaceuticals last year. Deutetrabenazine is an investigational, oral, small-molecule inhibitor of vesicular monoamine 2 transporter, or VMAT2, that was granted Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of HD by the FDA.
A second deutetrabenazine trial, ARC-HD, which has completed enrollment, is investigating the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of the drug when individuals with HD switch from tetrabenazine to deutetrabenzine and the safety of longer term exposure. This trial, which includes participants who completed First-HD, is also being led by the HSG and the Clinical Trials Coordination Center for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Teva is also investigating the potential of deutetrabenazine to treat tardive dyskinesia, a disorder that causes involuntary and repetitive movements, and for tics associated with Tourette syndrome.
Newer PostFirst drug to reverse Huntington’s disease begins human trials
Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
CHDI Foundation
Enroll-HD
Huntington Study Group
© Copyright 2016 Hereditary Neurological Disease Centre
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Assad says 'factors not in place' for Syria peace talks
October 21 2013 22:17:00
BEIRUT/PARIS - Agence France-Presse
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks during an interview with al-Mayadin television station in Damascus, in this handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA on October 21, 2013. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview Monday that "factors are not yet in place" for peace talks despite efforts by world powers to convene a meeting next month.
In the wide-ranging exchange broadcast on Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen television, Assad also said he was willing to run for a third term in office.
His comments came as US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been pushing for a peace conference next month in Geneva, said any attempt by Assad to be re-elected would extend the country's civil war.
"No time has been set, and the factors are not yet in place if we want (a US-Russian peace initiative dubbed Geneva 2) to succeed," Assad told Al-Mayadeen.
"Which forces are taking part? What relation do these forces have with the Syrian people? Do these forces represent the Syrian people, or do they represent the states that invented them?" the embattled leader asked.
The United States and Russia have been trying to organize the Geneva 2 conference -- first announced last year -- on the heels of a deal which Syria accepted to destroy its chemical arsenal by mid-2014.
Assad has systematically refused to recognize as legitimate the National Coalition opposition umbrella group, which insists on his ouster, a demand the regime rejects.
"How can these forces represent the Syrian people if they live abroad. They don't dare to come to Syria... But claim to control 70 percent of Syrian territory," through fighting on the ground, he said.
"There are many questions about the conference... What is the framework of the conference?" Assad asked.
He has also repeatedly accused the Coalition of working under the orders of regional and Western backers.
"The solution (to Syria's war) must be a Syrian solution, regardless of whether foreign powers recognise it. It doesn't matter. What matters is that the Syrian people recognises it," said Assad.
"The issue is a Syrian issue... Whether the conference is held or not is not what matters most. The most important issue is, should the conference be held, will it succeed or not? That is the question. And up until now, the factors are not yet in place for it to succeed." Asked whether he would run for re-election, Assad, who succeeded his later father in 2000, said: "My answer depends on two factors. The first is the personal desire, and the second is the will of the people.
"Regarding the first point, the one related to me personally, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't run in the next election."
Brahimi in Baghdad
Assad's interview also came as UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was in Baghdad on the second leg of a regional tour to raise support for the peace conference, which according to the chief of the Arab League should be held on November 23.
The Syrian leader said he would welcome Brahimi back to Damascus as long as "he sticks to his mandate and does not overstep it." "He is tasked with a mediation mission. A mediator should be neutral," said Assad.
Brahimi has not visited Damascus since late 2012 when he came under harsh criticism from Syrian authorities for urging Assad not to run for re-election.
In the interview Assad also described Syria's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood as a "terror group", the blanket term used by his regime to refer to opponents and rebels that have risen against him since March 2011.
And he charged that oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia, a backer of the Syrian opposition, was carrying out US policy against his regime.
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Values of Turkey’s ruling AKP rapidly weakening: Former PM Davutoğlu
June 06 2017 12:07:00
AA photo
The values of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are “rapidly weakening,” former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said, commenting on a file that emerged online in 2016 that called for the resignation of several figures from the AKP.
“We witnessed an incident called the ‘Pelican Briefing.’ Unfortunately, this was done against many figures from the AKP,” Davutoğlu said in an interview on the Kanal 24 TV station.
The “Pelican Brief” was an anonymous Wordpress blog post that was published online on May 1, 2016, written by a man who claimed to be a staunch supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. It alleged that Davutoğlu had “betrayed” Erdoğan by not pushing hard enough for the executive presidential system and also by “collaborating with the West and its Trojan horses [inside Turkey] who want to topple the chief.”
Davutoğlu resigned several days later, leaving his post to Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım.
“The AKP is rapidly weakening its own values. Reputation assassinations are being conducted. What saddened us most was the silence of our friends on the issue,” Davutoğlu said, adding that similar attempts were being directed at the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), Mehmet Görmez.
Meanwhile, Davutoğlu and former Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç did not attend an iftar fast-breaking meal hosted by Prime Minister Yıldırım in Ankara on June 5.
Yıldırım had sent an invitation to former AKP lawmakers who were on duty between the 22nd and 26th terms for the iftar meal. Some 1,200 guests attended the event and two seats were reserved at Yıldırım’s table for Davutoğlu and Arınç but they were left empty.
Also on June 5, an Ankara court ordered the arrest of Arınç’s son-in-law, Ekrem Yeter, after police detained him as a part of an ongoing investigation into the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), widely believed to have been behind the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
‘On night of July 15, deputies risked lives’
Erdoğan slams former deputy PM Babacan over his resignation from AKP
Former Turkish Deputy PM Babacan resigns from AKP
Arrival of S-400s is in preparation process: Erdoğan
CHP head pays visit to Istanbul mayor
Erdoğan: Turkey abiding by international laws in East Med
MHP leader slams fresh debates on Turkey’s presidential system
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Fundraising talk at Kirkandrews Kirk
Kirkcudbright is well known as the artists' town but over the last 150 years artists have painted across the Stewartry. On Thursday 16th March, David Steel will be giving an illustrated talk entitled "Borgue in Scottish Art." David will tell the story of the many artists, some famous, some less well known who have chosen the parish of Borgue as the subject for a wide variety of paintings.
Festival Aims to Bring More Sex, Music and Poetry to Rural Scotland
Big Lit imports leading contemporary writers to darkest Dumfries and Galloway and provides a showcase for talent from the south west
Booker nominee Michèle Roberts will be one of the main attractions at Big Lit when she runs a workshop on writing about sex.
Organisers have today unveiled the programme for the four-day book festival in Gatehouse of Fleet from 16 to 19 April.
Secrets of Trusty's Hill revealed
Archaeologists Ronan Toolis and Christopher Bowles will reveal the secrets of Trusty's Hill at a talk at 2 pm in the Community Centre, Gatehouse of Fleet on Saturday 6 April.
Cally Designed Landscape Project Bags Major Scottish Civic Prize
At the Scottish Civic Trust My Place Awards 2011 a commendation was awarded to the Cally Designed Landscape Project, Gatehouse of Fleet. The award, which is supported by the Scottish Government, was presented by Fiona Hyslop, Minister for Culture and External Affairs at a special ceremony on 15 March at The Lighthouse in Glasgow.
National Award for the National Scenic Area
Dumfries and Galloway has won a national planning award for work in the region’s three National Scenic Areas (NSAs). Finance Secretary John Swinney presented the award to the NSA project for the community involvement in helping to conserve and enhance some of Scotland’s finest landscapes.
The Bakehouse
Formerly a bakery, and still featuring the original oven, the Bakehouse in the High Street is an arts venue promoting the literary arts live. Poetry readings and associated events take place most months. More.
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Drama at Kentucky Derby
The drama at the Kentucky Derby capped a weekend of captivating racing.
The stewards at Churchill Downs were certainly brave in making the decision to disqualify the winner Maximim Security, but whether it was the correct one will be debated for years to come.
The rule the stewards referred to states: “If a leading horse or any other horse in a race swerves or is ridden to either side so as to interfere with, intimidate, or impede any other horse or jockey, or to cause the same result, this action shall be deemed a foul. … If, in the opinion of the stewards, a foul alters the finish of a race, an offending horse may be disqualified by the stewards.”
Maximum Security (NJ.com)
So, the first decision the stewards had to make was whether a foul had taken place.
The answer to that question was a clear cut yes.
Maximum Security, who led from pillar to post in sloppy conditions, veers away from the rail rounding the final turn at the top of the straight. He thus impedes War Of Wills. The latter’s momentum was not only affected but he is forced outward and in doing so bumps Country House.
Probably the most badly impeded horse was Long Rainge Toddy, who was squeezed out between War Of Wills and Country House.
The stewards now had to decide whether the foul had altered the result.
After the incident Maximum Security runs back towards the rail and then in the straight he fends off all challengers bravely.
He crosses the line full of running, 1,75 lengths clear of Country House.
A long 22 minutes later the stewards announced their unanimous decision to disqualify Maximum Security.
The objection was lodged by jockey Flavien Prat, the rider of Country House, and this is the chief the decision has been deemed controversial as Country House was not badly affected by the incident.
Country’s House’s trainer Bill Mott admitted his horse had only been affected “slightly.”
He said, “It may have affected us slightly, but I would say it affected the other two horses dramatically. . . . They lost all chance, and those two horses lost their opportunity to win or place.”
Prat and Mott said the horse, and not the jockey, had caused the interference.
Maximum Security’s jockey Luis Saez said, “My horse shied away from the noise of the crowd and may have ducked out a little.”
Maximum Security’s trainer Jason Servis said, “I don’t think it changed the outcome of the race. It looks like something scared him in the infield, but I haven’t been able to watch it that close.”
However, Country House is now in the record books and at 65/1 odds is the second longest shot to win the famous “run for the roses” after 91/1 Donerail in 1913.
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott thus scored his first Kentucky Derby victory in his tenth attempt spread over 35 years.
It was Flavien Prat’s first win in his third attempt.
Maximum Security could have been claimed for US$16,000 before his debut, when Servis entered him in a maiden claimer.
He was the only unbeaten horse going into Saturday’s race and started 9/2 second favourite.
Most pundits believe he then proved himself the best horse in the race.
President Donald Trump also believed so and said on twitter, “The Kentucky Derby decision was not a good one. It was a rough and tumble race on a wet and sloppy track, actually, a beautiful thing to watch. Only in these days of political correctness could such an overturn occur. The best horse did NOT win the Kentucky Derby – not even close!”
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Discuss: Re-Engaging The Voters (Part 2)
All right, here's the second half of the "Re-engaging the Voters" thread, perhaps more appropriately called "getting the voters to re-engage".
In complete contrast to yesterday's post, for today's discussion we're going to work under the assumption that political parties and the system itself are doing everything they can to engage the voters, and they're just not going for it. The problem, to whit, lies with the voters themselves (not my position, for the record).
What can we do, as politically-minded people and members of parties, to make the voters WANT to engage with the process? What can we offer them to make it worth their while, in their opinions, to stay engaged? Mandatory voting? Tax credits with a "voter's receipt"? I'm opposed to both ideas, but I'm sure there are plenty more - other countries have dealt with these issues - what did THEY do?
Discuss... now. :)
If they don't vote, we graft a zipper to their mouth, which remains zipped until the next election.
Jun. 11, 2008, 1:55:00 p.m.
Kirk Schmidt said...
As you and I had discussed once, ES, I think as politically-minded people we can often be myopic about the whole issue; Since we hold voting as such a fundamental responsibility, it's very difficult to reasonably put ourselves into the shoes of those that don't and find solutions.
One only needs to look at a March 2003 study published by EC, Explaining the Turnout Decline in Canadian Federal Elections: A New Survey of Non-voters, to grasp how different voters and non-voters' views are - I urge you to specifically look at, say, #2 - Reasons for Not Voting, and #5 - Civic Duty, to understand how different we see things. For example - 55.9% of voters in 2000 saw voting as an essential civic duty, whereas only 19.2% of non-voters did. 10% said it wasn't an important civic duty at all... Then you look at reasons for not voting... 15% think it's meaningless? 23% simply have apathy or lack of interest.
I don't think it's about changing the voter per se, but about changing the perception of what that vote does.
In the last few pages of Chapter 4 of Manning's book, "Think Big," he describes the situation in 1993: "In the end, we lose all three seats in Edmonton by a total (after recounts) of 329 votes... In this case, the votes of a few hundred people would have made the difference between a federalist and separatist Official Opposition in the Canadian Parliament." Are stories like this enough to motivate people? Maybe in swing areas, but what about 'safe' areas?
Last night I met my campaign manager for coffee, and among other things, we talked a bit about declining voter turnout. He mentioned that maybe we need to try to find ways of getting communities hyped up about having 'the largest voter turnout in Canada' - almost a competition (obviously subject to all sorts of electoral legislation) - but the thought exercise was there; Can we motivate communities, instead of mere individuals, to vote in larger numbers? Does the spirit of competition merely do the same theoretical thing as mandatory voting, where many people vote because they have to, but do not necessarily research that vote?
Some things to think about...
son of gaia said...
First, a longish observation then a question for you to ponder - ok?
There are two principle models of what it means to help others.
In the first model, someone comes to us and asks for assistance with a problem, and we do what we can to assist them to resolve their problem - allowing them to define the problem themselves and also what an acceptable resolution of the problem would be, for them.
In the second model, people with specialized knowledge and expertise in some field define what they perceive to be "a problem" in people's lives and devise various means to acheive resolution of the perceived problem in a manner which is acceptable to the helpers. If the people whom the helpers perceive to possess this problem don't see their situation as being a "problem" for them, the helpers devise means and measures to ensure that these people will come to perceive their situation as a problem, just as the helpers do.
The first model is the basis of all true charity, whether between individuals or between governments/non-profit organizations and individuals.
The second model is the basis of all social engineering, nanny-statism and interventionist foreign policy. Its pretence to being charitable is false and fraudulent, as it frequently has ulterior motivations.
Question: if the people who are "not engaged" don't feel that is a problem for them - if they haven't come to you complaining about it and asking for help - why would you presume that their unengagedness needs to be "fixed"?
Jun. 11, 2008, 10:51:00 p.m.
@son of gaia:
I appreciate your point, but I do think it ignores a lot of grey in between your extremes. There are plenty of situations where people have needed help but not known it and not asked. In fact, by the logic you have given, I would even go so far as to argue that most common knowledge of health issues comes from your second scenario, and moves to the first as people better understand negative effects.
At what point do things go from being interventionist to charity? Does doing research into the harmful effects of something (say, smoking) go into the interventionist category, or the charity? Does researching psychological conditions count as interventionist (I would argue that many people would have trouble stepping outside their perception of reality and seeing whether or not they have a psychological condition or not)? I have known people who don't think it's a problem to drink and drive, for example.
Obviously these are examples where it has the potential to affect other people in negative ways, sometimes physical, sometimes emotional. So do we measure whether we *have* to intervene based on its negative externalities? Are there such negative externalities on democracy by the lack of voting?
So the question that you basically have brought up is: Is not voting, indeed, a problem? And, at what point are we being too interventionist?
I, for one, am completely against mandatory voting, but I do believe in explaining the importance of one's vote.
If we take a passive stance, offering to help people who want to know more about the system, and who seek to simply "know more" before they vote, that's good for the people who tink voting's important but have other reasons not to vote (say, not enough knowledge about the candidates).
If we believe that sharing our belief of the importance of voting with apathetic voters, perhaps through direct mail campaigns, phone campaigns, etc., are we being too interventionist? I would say, no, so long as it doesn't become some sort of crusade. Just like my workplace (a charity) seeks to educate people about positive health effects of fruits and vegetables, I seek to help people understand why I think it's important to vote. But I am in no way going to force them to the polls.
Is there an ulterior motive to all of this? If you look at ES and I, you might say, "Yes," since we both are candidates (or intend to be, albeit on different political stages and with different parties [or lack thereof]). But I would argue that if I were to never become a candidate, I still would believe in this cause.
As I explained to ES before as well, I think part of the problem with groups trying to get people to vote is that they try to appear "neutral", which only fuels the fire of mistrust. I think the solution is pan-partisan - everyone who is deeply engrained in a party stands together to say we think people should get out and vote. That way, regardless if people have ulterior motives or not, because they are identified with a party, they have laid their partisanship on the table - but because Tories, Grits, Dippers, Greens, etc., stand together, it sends a message that, despite any ulterior motives, we all believe in this cause.
Jun. 12, 2008, 8:00:00 a.m.
Son of Gaia: I'll concede your point. However, I think that it's folly for anyone to suggest that ALL people who didn't vote did so out of apathy, or out of honest-to-goodness disinterest.
A great many people to whom I spoke immediately after the provincial election indicated a desire to affect change, to exercise their franchise and exert some control over their own governance - but didn't know how to go about doing that. They weren't registered at their current address, didn't know where to go for voting information, didn't know where the parties stood, and didn't know how the system worked. Many others, who DID know those things, thought their vote wouldn't matter, given the popularity of the ruling party.
Now, by no means am I suggesting that ALL of the 50+% of registered voters who didn't cast a ballot in March fall into these groups... but certainly, we can at least examine what can be done to help those who WANT the help?
And, for those who don't... if it's genuine disinterest, I can completely accept that our help is neither wanted nor needed. If it's frustration stemming from a lack of understanding or a sense of powerlessness, though, I'd argue our society would be better served in making the resources available to help those people exercise their franchise.
Not suggesting we force the horse to drink... but we can at least make it easier to find the water.
Jun. 12, 2008, 10:02:00 a.m.
Kirk - thank you for your thoughtful response. It was interesting that you raised the subject of health interventions and the activity of charitable/non-profit organizations - because that is what my "models of helping" was originally a response to...
The point, really, is one of a sense of ownership with respect to whatever the issue is - in this case, being involved in the political process. I've tried to point out before, (and got a thunderous absence of response), that unless you can stimulate a sense of "owning" the issue in the people you hope to reach, you risk alienating them even further:
http://surrealitytimes.blogspot.com/2008/03/we-dont-want-change.html
I don't know what the solution is, but I can tell you that in my lifetime I've gone from being someone who was passionate about being involved to someone who just doesn't see the point anymore. I've voted in every election I had the opportunity to since I turned 18, I've worked on campaigns, I've been a member in two parties (currently not a member of any), and an issues activist during campaigns. At this point, I'm seriously considering never bothering to vote again. Why? Because I've come to believe that, regardless of what person or party you vote for, control over public policy will ultimately be determined by the lobbying activity of corporate & non-profit entities which occurs outside of the electoral process. I'm thoroughly disillusioned, now, and ready to give up.
Let me try to offer a practical and current example: the Human Rights Commissions/Tribunals controversy. First, filter out the idjits who think they have a "right to hate" and see an opportunity to knock down an obstacle to their going around being a loudmouthed bigot - this isn't about them. There is genuine outrage, spanning the ideological spectrum, over what people perceive to be a cabal of Human Rights technocrats running amok - to the point of violating their own principles on a routine basis, in pursuit of "winning" some abstract goal. I've been an anti-racist activist in Edmonton for decades but even I feel outraged by some of what has been revealed about the way these commissions and tribunals have been run.
The federal government, and all the parties that sit in it, need to take this very seriously. People know that there is pressure for a meaningful review of the HRCs coming from all parties and their voter supporters. If they fail to demonstrate that they are in control, if there is no meaningful review, thousands more people from across the ideological spectrum will conclude that entrenched cabals of unelected technocrats and their non-profit organization lobbyists cannot be overcome even by elected representatives - that, in fact, everyone we vote for ultimately becomes a puppet on their strings and that voting is itself a futile gesture.
Taft Stepping Down - In Related News, Water Is Wet...
Pilgrim in an Unholy Land
The Shift Hits The Fan...
Discuss: Determining Political Pay
If You Want Something Done Right...
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1944: Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith
Lillian Smith (1897-1966) was born in Jasper, Florida. Her family was the product of American aristocracy, yet the outbreak of World War One caused her father’s business to lose much of its income, and the family moved from Jasper to Clayton, Georgia in 1915. Once there, she attended a local college, then studied piano at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. She served as a music instructor in a school in China from 1922-25, before returning to the US as director of the Laurel Falls Camp for Girls, where she met Paula Snelling, who became her life-long romantic partner.
With Snelling, Smith created and edited Psuedopodia, a literary magazine designed to feature work about race in the South. Smith spent most of her life as a political activist, fighting against segregation. Her 1944 novel, Strange Fruit, about an illicit affair between a white woman and a black man, made her a public figure and the subject of much controversy.
She published several more novels, non-fiction books and many essays on the subject of discrimination. She gave many speeches and dedicated much of her life to fighting for equal rights. Lillian Smith passed away in Atlanta in 1966.
Strange Fruit takes place in the town of Maxwell, Georgia in the 1920s. The story radiates around an affair between Tracy Deen, the son of an established white family, and Nonnie Anderson, a college educated African American maid, delving into the pasts of these characters, their families and the history and social structure of Maxwell and the changes in that structure over the course of the preceding decades.
Obviously, a subject as charged as race in 1920s Georgia has to tread a narrow line. If it tries too hard to keep all the negative aspects of the time and place in between the lines, it comes across as false, as a revisionist or apologist work. If, on the other hand, it goes overboard in the other direction (e.g. portraying every white character as a sadistic Tarantino-esque villain), it comes across as caricature (e.g. Django Unchained). Smith’s book generally doesn’t fall to either of the above traps. She portrays the relationships between and within the black and white communities as complex, without trying to use this complexity to justify the predatory actions of much of the white community (yet she let’s us see the justifications the characters offer to themselves). The black community’s relationship with the white community is as complex as the other way around. Strange Fruit shows the codependence of these two communities: The whites need the blacks as laborers or servants, and are worried by the fact that the black community is moving north. This same control of industry in Maxwell keeps the blacks dependent upon the white community for employment, and as they start going to college, moving north, or serving in the military, that control begins to shrink. Nonnie and Tracy’s affair is a microcosm of the race relations of that time and place.
Strange Fruit is not a fun read. It’s laced with the type of moral ambiguity in regards to race that you find in books like Richard Wright’s Native Son. There is no clear ‘hero;’ the most blameless anyone can be in this book is as victim. The language in the book (the N-word appears frequently throughout) would certainly be off-putting to some people, especially considering that, to this day, there are moves to censor The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for the same type of language. But none of this is meant to imply that it isn’t a good book, just one that focuses on challenging the reader.
At the time it was published, Strange Fruit was banned in several places, notably Detroit and Boston, and for a few days was not allowed to be shipped through the U.S. Postal Service. This controversy only served to increase book sales. But as time went on, Smith’s popularity waned. Strange Fruit is only second book on my list that hasn’t had a full-length film adaptation (the first being 1917’s bestseller, Mr. Britling Sees It Through by H.G. Wells). Other films have been made using the same title, but (like Smith’s novel) the title is a reference to a Billie Holiday song.
Saul Bellow - Dangling Man
Jorge Luis Borges - Ficciones
W. Somerset Maugham - The Razor's Edge
Blackwell, Louise and Clay, Frances. Lillian Smith. New York: Twayne Publishing. 1971. Print.
Smith, Lillian. Strange Fruit. 1944. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. 1992. Print.
Labels: 1944, bestseller, book, fiction, historical fiction, lillian smith, novel, race, review, strange fruit
Truman Capote and David Frost Talk About Sex, Love, and Friendship
I just finished reading Breakfast at Tiffany's (an excellent novella (and A Christmas Memory is one of the saddest stories I've ever read)), so I thought I'd find leave you all with a little Capote today.
Labels: 1969, author, david frost, friendship, interview, love, sex, television, truman capote
1943 & 1953: The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
This is Lloyd C. Douglas’s second book on the list, the first being Green Light (1935). Douglas (1877-1951) is an Indiana born Lutheran minister. He found success as an author in 1929 with Magnificent Obsession.
The Robe follows Roman Tribune Marcellus and his Corinthian slave Demetrius in the early first century A.D. As punishment for insulting Prince Gaius Agrippa, Marcellus is sent from Rome to lead a garrison in Minoa near the Dead Sea. He and Demetrius accompany troops to Jerusalem to keep order during Passover week, and Marcellus is assigned to watch over the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He wins Jesus’s robe in a game of dice from some one of the other Romans present but, when he puts it on, has an emotional breakdown and returns to Rome.
Demetrius and Marcellus return to Rome. Demetrius begins to believe that there may be something to this Jesus fellow after all, and when Marcellus’s mental collapse is rectified by touching the robe again, he decides to learn more. Demetrius and Marcellus travel back to the Middle East and talk to the people who knew Jesus. Eventually, they both become Christians as does Marcellus’s love interest, Diana, back in Rome.
Like in Green Light (and The Inside of the Cup and TheKeys of the Kingdom), Douglas focuses on a less dogmatic version of Christianity, preferring to emphasize the importance of compassion and redemption. In fact, he challenges some of the New Testament miracles. In the 1986 introduction by Andrew Greeley: “It is a curious indication of the change in Catholicism that forty years ago Douglas was faulted for not being literal enough in his approach to the Bible and that now he might be criticized, especially by Catholic biblical scholars, for being too literal.”
One problem I ran into reading this was that I’m clearly not part of the audience Douglas was writing to. The novel heavily relies on not only knowledge of New Testament stories but a strong pre-existing emotional connection to Christianity. Most of the novels I’ve read so far that deal heavily with Christianity have been attempts to rebuke a purely dogmatic or hypocritical approach to the religion. From an outsider’s perspective, it baffles me how a multi-billion dollar industry can spring from an individual who was crucified for throwing the money-changers out of the temple, or how members of a religion based on a document eschewing the existing dogma and preaching love and tolerance can use that same document as an attempt to claim automatic moral and legal superiority, while others use it to promote prejudice and justify any political action. This novel, and the others like it, is aimed at reinforcing the faith and behavior of those who use religion as a positive personal and social force, while attempting to improve people the likes of which I’ve alluded to above.
Even when not the main subject, this view of religion appears in many of the books I’ve reviewed so far and has remained pretty relevant. In 1953, The Robe reached the number one spot again, in conjunction with the release of the film version starring Richard Burton and Jean Simmons.
If you are interested in New Testament theology or Christian literature, you’ll probably like The Robe. Otherwise, it’s probably not something you’d enjoy.
Ayn Rand - The Fountainhead
Antione de Saint-Exupery - The Little Prince
Jean-Paul Sartre - Being and Nothingness
Betty Smith - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Douglas, Lloyd C. The Robe. 1942. New York: Mariner Books. 1999. Print.
Kunitz, Stanley. Twentieth Century Literature: A Biographical Dictionary of Modern
Literature. New York: The H. W. Wilson Co. 1942. Print.
Labels: 1943, 1953, best seller, book, christianity, demetrius, fiction, historical fiction, jean simmons, jesus, lloyd douglas, marcellus, movie, novel, religion, religious fiction, review, richard burton, rome, the robe
Some Ramblings on Borges, Calvino, and Barth
I just finished reading if on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino (tranlsated by William Weaver). A great book, certainly, and one that I would have enjoyed in any circumstances, yet I was fortunate enough to, for no reason other than my own gratification, also be reading the Collected Fictions of Jorge Luis Borges (translated by Andrew Hurley). The effect is complementary.
In the introduction to his collection, The Garden of Forking Paths (1941), Borges writes: “It is a laborious madness and an impoverishing one, the madness of composing vast books – setting out in five hundred pages an idea that can be perfectly related orally in five minutes. The better way to go about it is to pretend that those books already exist, and offer a summary, a commentary on them… A more reasonable, more inept, and more lazy man, I have chosen to write notes on imaginary books.”
And so Calvino has wrote the openings to imaginary books, with their own contexts and authors and influences. But what struck me was a line from Borges’ story, A Survey of the Works of Herbert Quain, in which the narrator states: “For those ‘writers manqués,’ whose name is legion, Quain wrote the eight stories of Statements. Each of them prefigures, or promises, a good plot, which is then intentionally frustrated by the author.”
Not only is my reading of Calvino enriched by this, so too is my reading of Borges enriched by knowledge of its influence (or at least reflection) in Calvino’s novel. Another connection that springs immediately to mind, tying the Argentinian Jorge Luis Borges in 1941, to the Italian Italo Calvino in 1979, is the American John Barth in 1967, who states in his famous essay, The Literature of Exhaustion: “I suppose the distinction is between things worth remarking and things worth doing. ‘Somebody ought to make a novel with scenes that pop up, like the old children’s books,’ one says, with the implication that one isn’t going to bother doing it oneself.”
This essay (obviously including the majority of which not reproduced here) not only unites these two novels in a particular sense, that of suggestion and execution, but also connects them to that movement we call postmodernism, retroactively or in its future. Which is all a really long way of getting to the fact that influence and interpretation work retroactively. Borges himself said, in his essay Kafka and His Precursors: “the heterogeneous pieces I have enumerated resemble Kafka; if I am not mistaken, not all of them resemble each other. The second fact is the more significant. In each of these texts we find Kafka's idiosyncrasy to a greater or lesser degree, but if Kafka had never written a line, we would not perceive this quality; in other words, it would not exist. The poem "Fears and Scruples" by Browning foretells Kafka's work, but our reading of Kafka perceptibly sharpens and deflects our reading of the poem. Browning did not read it as we do now. In the critics' vocabulary, the word 'precursor' is indispensable, but it should be cleansed of all connotation of polemics or rivalry. The fact is that every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future.”
Labels: author, book, essay, fictions, if on a winters night a traveler, Italo Calvino, John Barth, Jorge Luis Borges, novel, postmodernism, short story, The Garden of Forking Paths, The literature of exhaustion
Kurt Vonnegut on Cat's Cradle, Technology, and Truth
Labels: cat's cradle, futurism, hiroshima, interview, kurt vonnegut, novelist, science, science fiction, technology, truth
1942: The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel
Franz Werfel (1890-1945) was born in Prague, Austria-Hungary, to a family of wealthy Jewish merchants. From a young age, he was immersed in several different religious cultures (most notably Jewish and Catholic), which informed much of his work. He attended a Catholic school and later served in the Austrio-Hungarian Empire’s army in World War One, eventually becoming a member of the Military Press Bureau.
Werfel was a well established member of the Austrian literary world, successful as a poet, novelist, and playwright. After the first world war ended, Werfel began an affair with Alma Mahler, widow of the Austrian composer Gustave Mahler, and was at the time married to the influential German architect, Walter Gropius. She divorced Gropius in 1920, eventually marrying Werfel in 1929.
In 1930, after touring the Near East, Werfel fought to bring the world’s attention to the Armenian genocide.
Werfel’s career continued to grow in Europe, but the rise of anti-Semitism led Werfel and Mahler to flee to France in 1938. In 1940, they snuck into Spain and made their way to the United States, settling in Los Angeles. In 1942, Werfel published The Song of Bernadette. He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles in 1945.
The Song of Bernadette is about Saint Bernadette Soubirous, a French peasant girl from the town of Lourdes who, in 1858, claimed to witness numerous apparitions of the Virgin Mary. It's the story of her conviction in her faith in the face of doubt, and the events that led to Lourdes becoming a major pilgrimage site.
The story of what led Werfel to write this novel is fascinating and may also have bearing on decisions he made about the story and characters.
"In the last days of June 1940, in flight after the collapse of France...my wife and I, had hoped to elude our mortal enemies in time to cross the Spanish frontier to Portugal...but had to flee back to the interior of France on the very night German troops occupied the frontier town of Hendaye. It was in this manner that Providence brought me to Lourdes... We hid for several weeks in the Pyrenean city. It was a time of great dread...
"It was, I repeat, a time of great dread. But it was also a time of great significance for me, for I became acquainted with the wondrous history of the girl Bernadette Soubirous and also with the wondrous facts concerning the healings of Lourdes. One day in my distress I made a vow. I vowed that if I escaped from this desperate situation and reached the saving shores of America, I would put off all other tasks and sing, as best I could, the song of Bernadette."
I can't help but be underwhelmed with The Song of Bernadette. Because Werfel wanted to paint an undoubtedly positive image of Bernadette, what we get is a character that is guileless and ingenuous and beyond any negative qualities. She is, literally, a saint. Since Bernadette starts out practically perfect (spiritually, at least), and there is no fall from grace, she ends up being a pretty static character. Unless you already have an emotional involvement in the story of Saint Bernadette, or see this book as an affirmation or your religious philosophies, it comes across as largely uninteresting.
Yet The Song of Bernadette falls between two more very religious novels on my list, 1941's The Keys of the Kingdom and 1943's The Robe. At a time when the U.S. was gearing up for another war and still recovering from a major economic disaster, an attempt to seek out solace and inspiration from religion makes a lot of sense. It's interesting to note that of the these three novels, one is by a Scot, one by a German, and one by an American.
Like The Keys of the Kingdom and The Robe, The Song of Bernadette had a major movie adaptation.
Also like the above-mentioned, Bernadette remains notable primarily in the genre of religious fiction, it's mainstream appeal having diminished in the intervening decades.
If you're interested in the story of Saint Bernadette or in modern religious history, you'd like The Song of Bernadette.
Albert Camus - L'Étranger
C. S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letters
Edith Hamilton - Mythology
Verlag, S. Fischer. Franz Werfel: A Life in Prague, Vienna, and Hollywood. New York: Grove
Weidenfeld. 1987. Translated from German by Anselm Hollo.
Werfel, Franz. The Song of Bernadette. New York: Viking Press. 1941. Print. Translated by
Ludwig Lewisohn
Labels: 1942, bestseller, book review, catholic, christian, fiction, franz werfel, german, historical fiction, novel, religious fiction, soubirous, the song of bernadette
Kurt Vonnegut couldn't write Kurt Vonnegut fan fiction
My thoughts on fan fiction are mixed. There have been a few good examples of works directly based on extant fiction (e.g. Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Robert Coover's A Political Fable, John Gardner's Grendel), but these are almost always professional, talented writers using the existing worlds and characters to go in a new direction. And, in the examples mentioned above, two are based on works no less than 400 years old, and the other uses a children's book character to emphasize satire. Furthermore, these were artists who felt that the best way to say what they had to say was through these characters.
Amazon's concerns are purely monetary. That's to be expected; it's a business. Here's a quote from the L.A. Times article on the subject:
"We've been very pleased with the success of the Kurt Vonnegut backlist on Kindle," said Donald C. Farber, a trustee of the Kurt Vonnegut Trust, in a statement. "With Kindle Worlds we have an opportunity to further his reach with today's readers."
Referring to the protagonist of "Slaughterhouse-Five," Farber continued, "Billy Pilgrim, unstuck in time, is going to quickly become a Kindle Worlds favorite."
Slaughterhouse-Five is on Modern Library and Time Magazine's lists of the 100 best novels of the twentieth century. This may sound silly to the people at Amazon, but Vonnegut's works are, quite frankly, art. More than that, they have become a unique and important part of our literary heritage. I'm not saying that his ideas or even his characters should never be used, but there is a difference between considering the merit of a submitted work and actively soliciting fan fiction. Simply put, if it were good enough to find a publisher, it wouldn't be published through your fan fiction program. If you write a story about Tralfamadorians and, after changing the name of their species and physical description, you can't sell that story to as SF magazine, it's not good enough to be published.
In case you were wondering, here are the rules for the Vonnegut fan fiction project. Pretty much anything the man ever wrote would be prohibited under these rules.
One rule is: "We don’t accept offensive content, including but not limited to racial slurs, excessively graphic or violent material, or excessive use of foul language."
This is a man who has a story called "The Big Space Fuck." Breakfast of Champions has a drawing of an asshole on page five. From God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: "Now Eliot came out of the lavatory, all naked and hairy, drying himself with a tea towel... Eliot now began to play unconsciously with his pubic hair. It was nothing extravagant. He would simply uncoil a tight spring of it, let it snap back into place."
Vonnegut's books have been burned because people have found the content offensive! His novels frequently end with the protagonist committing suicide! He routinely draws assholes in his books! And what counts as offensive content? He writes about World War 2. One of his novel's main characters is a Nazi propagandist. Try that without risking offending anybody. You've figured out how I feel about this, but maybe I should let Vonnegut speak for himself.
From Palm Sunday (page 221):
"I did want to make the Americans in my book talk as Americans really do talk. I wanted to make jokes about our bodies. Why not? Why not, I ask again, especially since Riah Fagan Cox [his ex-mother-in-law], God rest her soul, assured me that she herself was not wobbled by dirty words.
"If I had gone to Riah's friends...they would have insisted that the words should not be published anyway. It was bad manners to use such words. Bad manners should be punished.
"But even when I was in grammar school, I suspected that warnings about words that nice people never used were in fact lessons in how to keep our mouths shut not just about our bodies, but about many, many things -- perhaps too many things."
Posted by Matt Kahn at 11:26 PM 1 comment:
Labels: amazon, amazon worlds, author, fan fiction, kurt vonnegut, obscenity, Palm sunday, travesty, worlds, writer
1941: The Keys of the Kingdom by A. J. Cronin
Archibald Joseph Cronin (1896-1981) was born in Dunbartonshire, Scotland. His father died when he was seven, and he and his mother lived with his maternal grandparents before eventually moving to Glasgow. At the University of Glasgow, Cronin became a medical doctor, serving as a medical officer in the first world war and later as a general practitioner in small towns in Scotland and a mining town in Wales, before being appointed Medical Inspector of Mines. At the university, he also met Agnes Mary Gibson, whom he married in 1921. They had three children together and they were married for nearly sixty years.
He was laid up with an ulcer in 1930, requiring six months recuperation, during which time he wrote his first novel, Hatter’s Castle, which was an immediate success. He wrote several books before, in 1937, publishing The Citadel. The Citadel is to the British National Health System (NHS) what Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is to the US’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Not only a huge critical and commercial success, The Citadel established Cronin’s as an important literary figure of his time.
In 1939, Cronin and his family moved to the US, settling in places as disparate as Bel Air, California and Blue Hill, Maine. He remained a prolific writer for the rest of his life, and spent the last years of his life living in Switzerland. He passed away in Montreux in 1981.
The Keys of the Kingdom tells the life story of Francis Chisholm, a Scottish Catholic priest, from his childhood to his old age, focusing largely on his thirty five years spent in establishing a mission in Pai-Tan, China. Chisholm is an extremely sympathetic character, and, like most of the supporting characters, is written with a good amount of depth. The characters are the greatest part of this novel.
From the beginning, we know that Chisholm is not your dogmatic, stiff, hellfire-and-damnation cleric. The first chapter takes place when Chisholm has a vocation in Scotland in his old age, and is being investigated by the local bishop (the rest of the novel is chronological, starting from his childhood). He had complaints against him for saying things like, "Atheists may not all go to hell. I knew one who didn't," and "Christ was a perfect man, but Confucius had a better sense of humor."1 This is a trend I've been finding in a lot of the books on this list: pro-religion via being anti-dogma. That is to say, many of these books argue that reliance on dogma is not only bad, but directly detrimental to religion, arguing instead a form of what is essentially Humanism based on Christianity. The first book I reviewed, The Inside of the Cup, dealt with a priest discovering this. This trend continued. There were the good preachers in Elmer Gantry, Dean Harcourt in Green Light, and Casey in The Grapes of Wrath. Whereas a novel like Elmer Gantry tried to combat what Lewis saw as hypocrisy by exposing a negative figure, the others I've listed focus mainly on presenting a good preacher, an example of what religious officials should be. (I don't think it's a coincidence that the good preachers in the novels listed above rarely achieve any high status, as opposed to the Gantry-like characters.)
Chisholm's life is one long attempt to make the world a better place, which he does, to the extent that he is able. Other characters, often within the clergy, stand in his way, but this opposition is not generally due to malice or greed, but rather people who are more concerned with the number of baptisms at the missions than with the number of people who benefit from the mission. The amount of philosophical and theological monologues alone suggests that Cronin is using Chisholm to state his own religious views, which seem to be humanistic. Chisholm argues that the church should argue pacifism in times of war. He argues that good works, regardless of religion, are paths to salvation. Basically, he argues for human decency and kindness.
Like pretty much every book I've read here so far, this one was adapted to film:
The 1944 film starred Gregory Peck (who also played Pa Baxter in the film adaptation of The Yearling). It seems, though, that Cronin is better known outside the U.S. Most of the search traffic for his name comes from India and the U.K.,2 which is probably in no small part due to the importance of The Citadel in the U.K.
I wouldn't try to stop anyone from reading The Keys to the Kingdom, and it is certainly an enjoyable book. I don't feel that it's one that you need to go out of your way to read, though.
James M. Cain - Mildred Pierce
H. A. Rey and Margret Rey - Curious George
Bertolt Brecht - Mother Courage and Her Children
1. Cronin, A. J. The Keys of the Kingdom. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. 1941. Print.
2. Google Trends page
Labels: 1941, a j cronin, aj, bestseller, book, catholic, chisholm, english, gregory peck, movie, novel, religion, review, scotland, story, the citadel, the keys of the kingdom, theology
Truman Capote and David Frost Talk About Sex, Love...
Kurt Vonnegut on Cat's Cradle, Technology, and Tru...
Kurt Vonnegut couldn't write Kurt Vonnegut fan fic...
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Statutory InstrumentsIonstraimí Reachtúla
S.I. No. 254/1936 - Dublin District Milk Board Order, 1936.
View SIAmharc ar an IR
AmendmentsLeasuithe
STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS. 1936. No. 254.
DUBLIN DISTRICT MILK BOARD ORDER, 1936.
WHEREAS it is enacted by sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the Milk (Regulation of Supply and Price) Act, 1936 (No. 43 of 1936), that the Minister for Agriculture may, whenever and so often as he thinks proper, by order (in Part II of the said Act referred to as a milk (joint district) order) do the following things, that is to say :—
(a) declare that a particular area specified or delimited in such order shall be a sale district for the purposes of Part II of the said Act, and
(b) declare that a particular area (which may or may not include the whole or any part of the area declared to be a sale district by such order) specified or delimited in such order shall be a production district for the purposes of Part II of the said Act, and
(c) declare that the said two areas shall together be a joint (sale and supply) district for the purposes of Part II of the said Act, and
(d) define (in such manner and by reference to such things as the said Minister shall think proper) what shall constitute in relation to milk a retailer and a wholesaler respectively in respect of such sale district, and
(e) declare that, of the ordinary members of the board to be established under Part II of the said Act for such joint (sale and supply) district, either—
(i) such board shall consist of a specified number of producer members, a specified number of retailer members, and a specified number of wholesaler members, or
(ii) if, but only if, the said Minister is of opinion that there are then no persons carrying on the business of wholesalers in such sale district, such board shall consist of a specified number of producer members and a specified number of retailer members, and
(f) appoint a day to be for the purposes of Part II of the said Act the appointed day in respect of such joint (sale and supply) district, and
(g) appoint a day to be for the purposes of Part II of the said Act the day of entry on office of first elected members in respect of such joint (sale and supply) district:
AND WHEREAS it is enacted by sub-section (2) of the said Section 6 that the number of producer members of a board for a joint (supply and sale) district shall not in any case be less than one-half of the number of the ordinary members of such board:
AND WHEREAS it is enacted by sub-section (1) of Section 8 of the said Act that whenever a milk (joint district) order is made there shall be established, as on and from the date on which such order comes into force, a board for the joint district to which such order relates, to be called and known by such name as the Minister for Agriculture shall specify in such order, to fulfil in relation to such district the functions assigned to it by this Part of this Act:
NOW, I, SÉAMAS O RIAIN, Minister for Agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by the Milk (Regulation of Supply and Price) Act, 1936 (No. 43 of 1936), and of every and any other power me in this behalf enabling, do hereby order as follows :—
1. (1) This Order may be cited as the Dublin District Milk Board Order, 1936.
(2) This Order shall come into force on the 9th day of September, 1936.
2. In this Order the expression "the Act" means the Milk (Regulation of Supply and Price) Act, 1936 (No. 43 of 1936).
3. The Interpretation Act, 1923 (No. 46 of 1923), applies to the interpretation of this Order in like manner as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas.
4. The area specified in Part I of the Schedule to this Order shall be a sale district for the purposes of Part II of the Act.
5. The area specified in Part II of the Schedule to this Order shall be a production district for the purposes of Part II of the Act.
6. The several areas specified in Parts I and II of the Schedule to this Order shall together be a joint (sale and supply) district for the purposes of Part II of the Act.
7. The board, to be established in pursuance of sub-section (1) of Section 8 of the Act, for the joint (sale and supply) district to which this Order relates shall be called and known as the Dublin District Milk Board.
8. (1) Every person who is either—
(a) a person who carries on at premises situate in the sale district to which this Order relates the business of selling milk and who, in the opinion of the chairman of the Dublin District Milk Board, on the average, taken over such period (exclusive of any part thereof during which, in the opinion of the said chairman, there was an abnormal demand for milk in the said sale district) as the said chairman may determine, obtained direct from producers of milk less than two thousand gallons of milk per week, or
(b) a person who carries on at premises situate in the sale district to which this Order relates the business of selling milk and who did not obtain any milk direct from producers of milk during such period as the said chairman may determine, or
(c) a person who proposes to carry on at premises situate in the said sale district the business of selling milk, shall be in relation to milk a retailer in respect of the said sale district.
(2) Every person who carries on at premises situate in the sale district to which this Order relates the business of selling milk and who, in the opinion of the chairman of the Dublin District Milk Board, on the average, taken over such period (exclusive of any part thereof during which, in the opinion of the said chairman, there was an abnormal demand for milk in the said sale district) as the said chairman may determine, obtained direct from producers of milk not less than two thousand gallons of milk per week, shall in relation to milk be a wholesaler in respect of the said sale district.
9. The board for the joint (sale and supply) district to which this Order relates shall consist of the following ordinary members, namely—
(a) seven producer members,
(b) two retailer members, and
(c) three wholesale members.
10. The 1st day of October, 1936, is hereby appointed to be for the purposes of Part II of the Act the appointed day in respect of the joint (sale and supply) district to which this Order relates.
11. The 1st day of March, 1937, is hereby appointed to be for the purposes of Part II of the Act the day of entry on office of first elected members in respect of the joint (sale and supply) district to which this Order relates.
SCHEDULE.
JOINT (SALE AND SUPPLY) DISTRICT TO WHICH THIS ORDER RELATES.
SALE DISTRICT.
The area consisting of the county borough of Dublin, the administrative county of Dublin, and the urban district of Bray.
PRODUCTION DISTRICT.
The area consisting of the county borough of Dublin, and the administrative counties of Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Meath, and Louth.
Given under my Seal of Office this eighth day of September 1936.
(Signed) SÉAMAS O RIAIN,
Minister for Agriculture.
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Cesare “Caesar” Cardini – restaurateur
Italian emigrant who invented Caesar salad
Cesare 'Caesar' Cardini with the
ingredients for his famous salad
The restaurateur who history credits with inventing the Caesar salad was born on this day in 1896 in Baveno, a small town on the shore of Lake Maggiore.
Cesare Cardini was one of a large family, with four brothers and two sisters. In common with many Italians in the early part of the 20th century, his brothers Nereo, Alessandro and Gaudenzio emigrated to the United States, hoping there would be more opportunities to make a living.
Nereo is said to have opened a small hotel in Santa Cruz, California, south of San Francisco, while Alessandro and Guadenzio went to Mexico City.
Cesare left Italy for America in 1913. Records indicate he disembarked at Ellis Island, New York on May 1, having endured the transatlantic voyage as a steerage passenger, sleeping in a cargo hold equipped with dozens of bunk beds, which was the cheapest way to travel but came with few comforts.
He is thought then to have returned to Italy for a few years, working in restaurants in Milan, but ventured back to the United States in 1919. This time he settled, first in Sacramento, then in San Diego, on the Pacific Ocean and close to the border with Mexico.
During the Prohibition Era, from 1920 to 1933, when alcoholic drinks were illegal in the US, many restaurateurs in San Diego crossed the border in Tijuana, where there were no restrictions, and attracted streams of American diners.
Cardini had many thriving restaurants in California and, for
a while, in Tijuana, just over the Mexican border
The story is that Cesare – by now known as Caesar – opened a business in Tijuana, probably with his brother, Alessandro, who was calling himself Alex. They were always busy on the major public holidays and Cesare’s daughter, Rosa, claimed that Caesar salad came into being on Independence Day, 1924. With a packed restaurant, her father suddenly found himself running short of ingredients.
Whenever a diner found his choice of dish was no longer available, Cesare is said to have offered to make them a special salad, made with such a mouthwatering combination of ingredients they would be delighted they opted to try it.
In fact, the only salad ingredient he had left was some romaine lettuces. Yet with great theatre, he is said to have arrived at the table with a bowl of lettuce leaves, into which he tossed raw eggs, olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese and Worcestershire sauce, mixed them all together and invited diners to savour the flavour by eating the coated leaves by holding the stem with their fingers.
Needless to say, the combination of sweet lettuce and the creamy, tangy dressing proved a big hit. The restaurant became even more popular and over the next few years the recipe rapidly spread across America.
The Cardini brand is still on sale today
Wallis Simpson, the Socialite for whom the English king, Edward VIII, so controversially gave up the throne in 1936, is said to have introduced the salad to Europe by insisting that her French chef learned how to make it.
Meanwhile, back in Mexico, a change in the gambling laws caused tourism to Tijuana to go into decline, and Cesare Cardini, with wife, Camille, and daughter Rosa, moved back to the United States, first to San Diego in 1935, and then to Los Angeles in 1938.
Demand for the salad dressing continued, and friends began asking for bottles and jars to be filled with it so they might enjoy it at home. In time, Rosa began to sell bottles of the dressing on a market stall and was so successful her father decided it was worth producing on a commercial scale.
In 1948, he patented the recipe and established Caesar Cardini Foods, which gradually expanded its range of dressings and became an established name on tables across America and beyond.
Cardini died in 1956 after suffering a stroke at his Los Angeles home but Rosa took over the running of the company and developed the business to the extent that, at its peak, one in every four bottles of dressing on US tables had Cardini’s name on it.
She retired in 1988, although the name lives on. The licence to use the brand name is currently held by T Marzetti and Company, a business also founded by Italian emigrants, Teresa and Giuseppe Marzetti.
Rosa Cardini’s version of the origins of Caesar salad is not universally accepted. Paul Maggiora, a partner of the Cardinis, claimed to have tossed the first Caesar salad in 1927 for American airmen from San Diego and called it Aviator's Salad.
Alessandro Cardini also claimed ownership of the recipe, which he also called Aviator's Salad, while Livio Santini, who worked in the kitchen at Cesare’s Tijuana restaurant, said that he made the salad from a recipe of his mother, and that Cesare borrowed the recipe from him.
The waterfront at Baveno, Cardini's home town on the
western shore of Lake Maggiore
The lakeside town of Baveno, where Cesare Cardini was born, lies on the western shore of Lake Maggiore, just a few kilometres from its better known neighbour, Stresa. Both look out over the Borromean Islands, famous for their beautiful cultivated gardens. The attractions of Baveno include its mineral water springs, the pink granite that is quarried nearby and a series of opulent villas dotted along the nearby coastline, including the Villa Henfrey-Branca, noticeable for its castle-like turrets, where Queen Victoria was a regular visitor from Britain as a guest of the engineer Charles Henfrey.
The island of Isola Bella is a major tourist attraction
Although smaller in area than Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore is the longest of the Italian lakes, stretching for 65km (40 miles) from Arona in Lombardy to its northern extreme in Locarno in Switzerland. It is also extremely deep, plunging 179m (587ft) at its deepest. Because of its length, it has a different character at the Swiss end, where the scenery has an alpine feel, compared with the southern tip, which is at the edge of the Lombardy plain. The Borromean islands are the lake's biggest draw for tourists, with three of them - Isola Bella, Isola Madre and Isola dei Pescatori are accessible to the public.
Labels: 1896, Baveno, Business, Caesar Cardini, Caesar salad, Cesare Cardini, Food, Lake Maggiore, Rosa Cardini
Mario Andretti – racing driver
Simone Di Pasquale – dancer
Dante Ferretti – set designer
Giovanni Battista Morgagni - anatomist
Giovanni Battista de Rossi - Archaeologist
Mario Pavesi – entrepreneur
Domenico Ghirardelli – chocolatier
The Barber of Seville premieres in Rome
Massimo Troisi – actor, writer and director
Blessed Fra Angelico – painter
Raffaele ‘Raf’ Vallone – actor
Edda Dell’Orso – vocalist
Totò – comic actor
Valentina Vezzali – fencer
Benvenuto Cellini – sculptor and goldsmith
Michelangelo Cerquozzi – painter
Carlo Sartori – footballer
ENI – oil and gas multinational
Ezechiele Ramin – missionary
Nicola Salvi – architect
Amedeo Guillet – army officer
Amintore Fanfani - politician
Saint Agatha of Sicily – Christian martyr
Cesare Battisti – patriot and irredentist
Giovanni Battista Vaccarini - architect
Raimondo D’Inzeo – Olympic showjumper
Francesco Maria Veracini – violinist
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February 5, 2003: Rice Says She Is Sure that Iraq Is Linked to Al-Qaeda
When asked on CNN if there is a clear connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, National Security Adviser Rice replies: “There is no question in my mind about the al-Qaeda connection. It is a connection that has unfolded, that we’re learning more about as we are able to take the testimony of detainees, people who were high up in the al-Qaeda organization. And what emerges is a picture of a Saddam Hussein who became impressed with what al-Qaeda did after it bombed our embassies in 1998 in Kenya and Tanzania, began to give them assistance in chemical and biological weapons, something that they were having trouble achieving on their own, that harbored a terrorist network under this man [Abu Musab] al-Zarqawi, despite the fact that Saddam Hussein was told that al-Zarqawi was there.” [CNN, 2/5/2003; US House Committee on Government Reform, 3/16/2004]
Entity Tags: Saddam Hussein, Al-Qaeda, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Condoleezza Rice
February 6, 2003: US Politicians Question Why Bush Administration Highlights Training Camp as Justifying War Against Iraq without Actually Attacking the Camp
One day after Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the United Nations in which he detailed an alleged al-Qaeda-linked training camp in northern Iraq said to be producing chemical weapons (see February 5, 2003), a number of US politicians question why the US has not taken any action against the camp. The camp, located near the town of Khurmal in territory controlled by the Kurdish rebel group Ansar al-Islam, is said to be closely linked to Islamist militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Los Angeles Times reports that, “Lawmakers who have attended classified briefings on the camp say that they have been stymied for months in their efforts to get an explanation for why the United States has not launched a military strike on the compound…” Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) asks Colin Powell in a public hearing: “Why have we not taken it out? Why have we let it sit there if it’s such a dangerous plant producing these toxins?” Powell declines to answer, saying he cannot discuss the matter publicly. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) complains that she has been asking about striking the camp well before Powell’s speech based on intelligence given in private briefings, but, “We’ve been asking this question and have not been given an answer.” Officials have replied that “they’ll have to get back to us.” Representative Jane Harman (D-CA) notes that Powell’s speech could have cost the US an opportunity to prevent the spread of chemical weapons produced at the camp, saying, “By revealing the existence of the camp, it’s predictable whatever activity is there will probably go underground.” One anonymous US intelligence official suggests, “This is it, this is their compelling evidence for use of force. If you take it out, you can’t use it as justification for war.” [Los Angeles Times, 2/7/2003]
Entity Tags: Dianne Feinstein, Joseph Biden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Colin Powell, Jane Harman
Category Tags: Alleged Iraq-Al-Qaeda Links, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11
February 7-13, 2003: Orange Alert Causes Duct Tape and Plastic Sheeting Buying Panic
The government raises the threat level to orange. The announcement is made by Attorney General John Ashcroft, Homeland Security Secretary Ridge, and FBI Director Mueller. CIA Director George Tenet calls the threat “the most specific we have seen” since 9/11 and says al-Qaeda may use a “radiological dispersal device, as well as poisons and chemicals.” Ashcroft states that “this decision for an increased threat condition designation is based on specific intelligence received and analyzed by the full intelligence community. This information has been corroborated by multiple intelligence sources.” [CNN, 2/7/2003] Ashcroft further claims that they have “evidence that terrorists would attack American hotels and apartment buildings.” [ABC News, 2/13/2007] A detailed plan is described to authorities by a captured terror suspect. This source cited a plot involving a Virginia- or Detroit-based al-Qaeda cell that had developed a method of carrying dirty bombs encased in shoes, suitcases, or laptops through airport scanners. The informant specifies government buildings and Christian or clerical centers as possible targets. [ABC News, 2/13/2007] Three days later, Fire Administrator David Paulison advises Americans to stock up on plastic sheeting and duct tape to protect themselves against radiological or biological attack. This causes a brief buying panic. [MSNBC, 6/4/2007] Batteries of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles are set up around Washington and the capital’s skies are patrolled by F-16 fighter jets and helicopters. [BBC, 2/14/2003] The threat is debunked on February 13, when the main source is finally given an FBI polygraph and fails it. Two senior law enforcement officials in Washington and New York state that a key piece of information leading to the terror alerts was fabricated. The claim made by a captured al-Qaeda member regarding a “dirty bomb” threat to Washington, New York, or Florida had proven to be a product of his imagination. Vincent Cannistraro, former head of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center, says the intelligence turned out “to be fabricated and therefore the reason for a lot of the alarm, particularly in Washington this week, has been dissipated after they found out that this information was not true.” But threat levels remain stuck on orange for two more weeks. [ABC News, 2/13/2007] Bush administration officials do admit that the captured terror suspect lied, but add that this suspect was not the only source taken into consideration. Ridge says that there is “no need to start sealing the doors and windows.” Bush says that the warning, although based on evidence fabricated by an alleged terrorist, is a “stark reminder of the era that we’re in, that we’re at war and the war goes on.” [BBC, 2/14/2003] The alert followed less than forty-eight hours after Colin Powell’s famous speech to the United Nations in which he falsely accused Saddam Hussein of harboring al-Qaeda and training terrorists in the use of chemical weapons (see February 5, 2003). [Rolling Stone, 9/21/2006 ] Anti-war demonstrations also continue to take place world-wide. [MSNBC, 6/4/2007]
Entity Tags: Vincent Cannistraro, Tom Ridge, John Ashcroft, Robert S. Mueller III, Colin Powell, David Paulison, George J. Tenet, Saddam Hussein
Category Tags: Terror Alerts, Internal US Security After 9/11
February 8, 2003: Bush Assures US that WMD and Al-Qaeda Training Camps Exist in Iraq
In a radio address to the US nation, President Bush reiterates the two main reasons for military action against Iraq, named the certain existence of WMD and al-Qaeda training camps in Iraq. He says, “We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons—the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have.… We also know that Iraq is harboring a terrorist network headed by a senior al-Qaeda terrorist planner. This network runs a poison and explosive training camp in northeast Iraq, and many of its leaders are known to be in Baghdad.” [President Bush, 8/2/2003]
February 9, 2003: Prisoner Interviews Debunk Allegations of Al-Qaeda-Iraqi Government Ties
Journalist Jason Burke writes in the Observer about recent interviews he has conducted with prisoners held by Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. One prisoner, Mohammed Mansour Shahab, claims to have been an Iraqi government agent who repeatedly met with Osama bin Laden over a several year period. The New Yorker published an article in March 2002 largely based on Shahab’s allegations and concluded, “the Kurds may have evidence of [Saddam Hussein’s] ties to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network.” But Burke is able to find a number of inconsistencies and falsehoods in Shahab’s account, and after he points them out, Shahab does not deny that he was lying. Burke suggests that Shahab, like other prisoners being held by the Kurds, was lying in hopes of getting his prison sentence reduced since his Kurdish captors are looking to promote propaganda against their enemy, the Hussein government. Burke also interviews a number of prisoners belonging to the Ansar al-Islam militant group that is allegedly linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He does not see evidence of any link between that group and Hussein’s government and concludes, “Saddam may well have infiltrated the Ansar al-Islam with a view to monitoring the developments of the group (indeed it would be odd if he had not) but that appears to be about as far as his involvement with the group, and incidentally with al-Qaeda, goes.” [Observer, 2/9/2003]
Entity Tags: Jason Burke, Al-Qaeda, Saddam Hussein, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Ansar al-Islam, Mohammed Mansour Shahab
February 11, 2003: CIA Director Tenet Sees Poverty and Misery as Root Causes of Terrorism, but President Bush Believes Terrorists Hate US for Its Freedom
CIA Director George Tenet publicly states that “the numbers of societies and peoples excluded from the benefits of an expanding global economy, where the daily lot is hunger, disease, and displacement… produce large populations of disaffected youth who are prime recruits for our extremist foes.” However, in October 2004, the Washington Post will report that President Bush and most of his influential advisers do not see these factors, or US foreign policy, as the primary cause of terrorism. “Bush’s explanation, in private and public, is that terrorists hate America for its freedom.” Former CIA officer Marc Sageman will comment that the Bush administration’s analysis is “nonsense, complete nonsense. They obviously haven’t looked at any surveys.” He says that international polls show that large majorities in much of the world “view us as a hypocritical huge beast throwing our weight around in the Middle East.” Bush also believes that eliminating the top thirty or so al-Qaeda leaders can effectively destroy the group, while most analysts believe al-Qaeda is more of an ideology that will survive without its top leaders, and that root causes need to be addressed to make the ideology less appealing for potential new recruits. Wayne Downing, Bush’s counterterrorism “tsar” in late 2001 and 2002, will say: “This is not a war. What we’re faced with is an Islamic insurgency that is spreading throughout the world, not just the Islamic world.” Because it is “a political struggle, the military is not the key factor. The military has to be coordinated with the other elements of national power.” [Washington Post, 10/22/2004]
Entity Tags: George J. Tenet, Marc Sageman, Wayne Downing, George W. Bush
February 11 or 12, 2003: Powell Obtains Advance Copy of New Speech Allegedly by Bin Laden, Misrepresents Contents to Senate
Secretary of State Colin Powell obtains an advance transcript of a new audio tape thought to be from Osama bin Laden before it is broadcast on Al Jazeera, but misrepresents the contents to a US Senate panel, implying it shows a partnership between al-Qaeda and Iraq. [CNN, 2/12/2003] Following Powell’s initial claim the tape exists, Al Jazeera says that it has no such tape and dismisses Powell’s statement as a rumor. [Associated Press, 2/12/2003] However, later in the day Al Jazeera says that it does have the tape. [Reuters, 2/12/2003] It is unclear how Powell obtains the advance copy, and Counterpunch even jokes, “Maybe the CIA gave Powell the tape before they delivered it to Al Jazeera?” [CounterPunch, 2/13/2003] In his testimony to the Senate Budget Committee Powell says, “[Bin Laden] speaks to the people of Iraq and talks about their struggle and how he is in partnership with Iraq.” [CNN, 2/12/2003] Powell’s spokesperson, Richard Boucher, says that the recording proves “that bin Laden and Saddam Hussein seem to find common ground.” [Reuters, 2/11/2003; New York Times, 2/12/2003; Washington Post, 11/12/2003] However, although bin Laden tells his supporters in Iraq they may fight alongside the Saddam Hussein, if the country is invaded by the US (see November 12, 2002), he does not express any direct support for the current regime in Iraq, which he describes as “pagan.” [CNN, 2/12/2003] A senior editor for Al Jazeera says the tape offers no evidence of ties between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. “When you hear it, it doesn’t prove any relation between bin Laden or al-Qaeda group and the Iraqi regime,” he argues. [ABC News, 2/12/2003] Several news reports also challenge Powell and Boucher’s interpretation. For example, CNN reveals that the voice had criticized Saddam’s regime, declaring that “the socialists and the rulers [had] lost their legitimacy a long time ago, and the socialists are infidels regardless of where they are, whether in Baghdad or in Aden.” [CNN, 2/11/2003; New York Times, 11/12/2003] Similarly, a report published by Reuters notes that the voice “did not express support for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein—it said Muslims should support the Iraqi people rather than the country’s government.” [Reuters, 2/11/2003]
Entity Tags: Colin Powell, Richard A. Boucher, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Al Jazeera
Category Tags: Osama Bin Laden, Counterterrorism Policy/Politics, Alleged Al-Qaeda Media Statements
February 12, 2003: New Alleged Bin Laden Speech Is Aired Discussing Iraq, Speaker Says Saddam Is Finished
A new speech thought to be from Osama bin Laden is aired on Al Jazeera. On the 16-minute audiotape the speaker predicts the US will invade Iraq to “loot Muslim riches” and “install a stooge government to follow its masters in Washington and Tel Aviv… to pave the way for the establishment of a greater Israel.” He also advises Iraqis on defensive tactics al-Qaeda has tested in Afghanistan, recommending trenches against aerial bombardment and saying “what the enemy fears most is urban and street warfare, in which heavy and costly human losses can be expected.” He also stresses the capacity of “martyrdom operations” to inflict “unprecedented harm” on the enemy. He predicts the US will use an “enormous propaganda machine” and “intense air strikes” to “hide its most conspicuous weak points: fear, cowardice, and lack of fighting spirit among its troops,” who are fighting for “the criminal gang in the White House.” Bin Laden also attacks Arab leaders allied with the US, calling them hypocrites and apostates, but highlights only six Arab countries as being in need of liberation: Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Yemen. It is unclear why he omits Egypt and the Gulf sheikdoms, for example. He tells his supporters in Iraq that they may fight with Saddam Hussein’s “pagan” Ba’ath forces, as they are finished anyway. [Laden, 2005, pp. 179-185]
Category Tags: Osama Bin Laden, Alleged Iraq-Al-Qaeda Links, Iraq War Impact on Counterterrorism, Alleged Al-Qaeda Media Statements
February 12, 2003: Witness Says Future Madrid Bombers Are Planning Specific Suicide Bombing in Madrid
The wife of Mouhannad Almallah gave Spanish police stunning details about a group of Islamist militants planning attacks in January 2003 (see January 4, 2003), and she returns to the police to give them a new lead. She previously said that her husband, his brother Moutaz Almallah, Serhane Abdelmajid Fakhet, and Mustapha Maymouni have been holding meetings planning attacks. Now she says that her husband told her that “one day” he would like to attack the Torres Kio towers of the Plaza de Castilla, an important Madrid landmark, with a car bomb. That attack does not occur, but all the men she mentions will be killed or arrested for roles in the 2004 Madrid bombings, except for Maymouni, who will be arrested for a role in bombings in Casablanca several months later (see May 16, 2003). Police apparently take her warnings seriously because they begin monitoring her apartment one month later (see January 17, 2003-Late March 2004). The wife’s brother, who is also Mouhannad’s business partner, will testify in 2007 that Mouhannad also told him about a desire to destroy the Torres Kio towers. [El Mundo (Madrid), 7/28/2005; El Mundo (Madrid), 3/13/2007]
Entity Tags: Serhane Abdelmajid Fakhet, Moutaz Almallah, Mouhannad Almallah’s wife, Mustapha Maymouni, Mouhannad Almallah
February 12, 2003: Swiss Analysts Decline to Analyze New Bin Laden Tape
Swiss voice analysts at the Dalle Molle Institute for Perceptual Artificial Intelligence decline to examine a new recording issued by a man thought to be Osama bin Laden (see February 11 or 12, 2003 and February 12, 2003). The institute previously analyzed a speech made by a man thought to be bin Laden and concluded that the speaker was not actually him (see November 29, 2002). The institute says that the previous analysis was done at the request of a French TV channel and was “mainly motivated by pure scientific curiosity.” It also says that the poor quality of that recording coupled with the limited number of voice examples meant that it was unlikely the recording could ever be properly authenticated. [Swissinfo (.org), 2/12/2003] However, US officials tell CNN that “this tape was of much better quality than the previous one presumed to be from bin Laden, which Al Jazeera broadcast in November.” [CNN, 2/12/2003] The institute does not analyze any later tapes thought to be released by bin Laden.
Entity Tags: Osama bin Laden, Dalle Molle Institute
Category Tags: Osama Bin Laden, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11, Alleged Al-Qaeda Media Statements, Hunt for Bin Laden in Pakistan
February 13, 2003: Blind Sheikh’s Son Captured in Pakistan
The Blind Sheikh’s sons Mohammad Omar Abdul-Rahman and Ahmad Abdul-Rahman in 1998. It is not clear which is which. [Source: CNN]Pakistani authorities raid an apartment in Quetta, Pakistan, and apparently arrest Mohammad Omar Abdul-Rahman, a son of the Blind Sheikh,’ Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. Supposedly, communications found at the apartment lead to the later arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (see February 29 or March 1, 2003). [New York Times, 3/4/2003] Government officials say he is a senior al-Qaeda operative who ran a training camp in Afghanistan before 9/11 attacks and also had a role in operational planning. Another son of the blind sheik, Ahmad Abdul-Rahman, was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001, but Ahmad was not considered to be high ranking. [Associated Press, 3/4/2003] But even though Mohammad Omar’s arrest is reported in the New York Times and elsewhere, there is no official announcement. In December 2005, his name will be on a list published by ABC News of high-detainees being held in a secret CIA prison (see November 2005). [ABC News, 12/5/2005] In 2006, the US will announce that it is emptying the CIA prisons and transferring all high-level prisoners to Guantanamo, but he will not be one of those transferred and it is unclear what happened to him (see September 2-3, 2006).
Entity Tags: Ahmad Abdul-Rahman, Mohammed Omar Abdul-Rahman, Omar Abdul-Rahman
Category Tags: Counterterrorism Action After 9/11, Key Captures and Deaths, Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman, High Value Detainees
February 14, 2003: CIA Produces Report Mentioning Suspicious Indicators of Terrorist Affiliation in 9/11 Hijackers’ Passports, Does Not Disseminate It
The CIA produces a report entitled “A Reference Guide to Terrorist Passports.” The report discusses a suspicious indicator of terrorist affiliation that was contained in the passports of at least three of the 9/11 hijackers, possibly more. The indicator was placed there deliberately by the Saudi government, which used such indicators to track suspected radicals (see November 2, 2007). However, this report is classified and is not disseminated, meaning that if a radical were to arrive at a US port with a passport indicating he was a terrorist, an immigration official would be unable to recognize the indicator and would admit him. Over a year after this report is completed, the 9/11 Commission will show a passport bearing this indicator to one of the immigration officials who admitted 9/11 hijacker Khalid Almihdhar to the US, but she will still be unable to recognize the indicator. [9/11 Commission, 8/21/2004, pp. 25, 27, 41 ]
Category Tags: Saudi Arabia, Counterterrorism Policy/Politics, Hijacker Visas and Immigration
February 14, 2003-June 4, 2004: Defense Secretary Rumsfeld Frequently Recounts Sultan Calling 9/11 a ‘Blessing in Disguise’
Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said. [Source: Government of Oman]In numerous public appearances, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recounts a conversation with the Sultan of Oman (Qaboos Bin Said) a month or two after 9/11. The sultan said to him words to the effect of that September 11 was a “blessing in disguise,” because it would “wake up the world, before terrorists get their hands on massive destruction, before they get biological weapons and kill not 3,000 but 30 or 300,000.” [US Department of Defense, 2/14/2003; US Department of Defense, 2/25/2003; US Department of Defense, 9/10/2003; US Department of Defense, 11/18/2003; US Department of Defense, 6/4/2004] When he is asked in an interview, “Do you feel that [9/11] was a wake- up call?” Rumsfeld responds, “I think so absolutely, yeah.” [PBS, 9/10/2003] Rumsfeld makes a similar claim in his prepared testimony for the 9/11 Commission in March 2004: “Think about what has been done since the September 11th attacks: two state sponsors of terrorism have been removed from power, a 90-nation coalition has been formed which is cooperating on a number of levels… All of these actions are putting pressure on terrorist networks. Taken together, they represent a collective effort that is unprecedented—which has undoubtedly saved lives, and made us safer than before September 11th.” [9/11 Commission, 3/23/2004]
Entity Tags: Qaboos Bin Said, Donald Rumsfeld
Mid-February 2003: Head 7/7 London Bomber Possibly Monitored by NSA, Stopped from Entering US
In his 2006 book The One Percent Doctrine, journalist Ron Suskind will claim that Mohammad Sidique Khan, the head suicide bomber in the 7/7 London bombings, was monitored as he attempted to fly to the US. According to Suskind, NSA surveillance discovers that Khan is coming to the US soon and has been in contact with suspect US citizens, including Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, an Islamist radical living in Virginia. E-mails between Khan, Ali, and others discuss plans for various violent activities, including a desire to “blow up synagogues on the East Coast.” FBI agent Dan Coleman, an expert on al-Qaeda, reads the intercepts and advocates either a very intensive surveillance of Khan when he is in the US, or not letting him in at all. Officials, including Joe Billy, head of the FBI’s New York office, worry about being held responsible if Khan is allowed into the country and then manages to commit some violent act. With Khan scheduled to come to the US in one day, “top bosses in Washington” quickly decide to put him on a no-fly list. Khan does fly to the US, and is stopped and sent back to Britain. As a result, he realizes the US is onto him and presumably takes greater precautions. [Suskind, 2006, pp. 200-203]
Confusion - However, when Suskind’s book is published in June 2006, a number of articles will dispute Suskind’s claim. For instance, Newsweek will report that “several US and [British] law-enforcement and counterterrorism officials” anonymously claim that Suskind is mistaken, and is confusing Sidique Khan with another British suspect named Mohammed Ajmal Khan. [Newsweek, 6/21/2006] The Telegraph reaches the same conclusion, and points out that Ajmal Khan pleaded guilty in a British trial in March on charges of providing weapons and funds to the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba. During that trial, it was revealed that he made several trips to the US and met with a group of suspected militants in Virginia, including one named Ahmed Omar Abu Ali.
Stands by Story - However, Suskind will resolutely stand by his story, saying, “In my investigation and in my book and in my conversations with people in the US government, there was no mistake or doubt that we are talking about Mohammad Sidique Khan, not Mohammed Ajmal Khan.” He says he was aware of the difference between the two and suggests British officials may have been trying to push Ajmal Khan instead to cover up their failures to stop the 7/7 bombings. The two officials mentioned by name in Suskind’s account, Coleman and Billy, apparently say nothing to the press to confirm or deny the story. [Daily Telegraph, 6/22/2006]
Visit to Israel - Curiously, it will be reported shortly after the 7/7 bombings that Khan visits Israel around this time, February 19-20, 2003, and the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv will claim he is suspected of helping two Pakistani-Britons plot a suicide bombing that kills three Israelis several months later (see February 19-20, 2003). [Guardian, 7/19/2005]
Entity Tags: Ron Suskind, National Security Agency, Joe Billy, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Mohammad Sidique Khan, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, Dan Coleman, Mohammed Ajmal Khan
Category Tags: 2005 7/7 London Bombings, Remote Surveillance, Londonistan - UK Counterterrorism, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11
February 16, 2003: Condoleezza Rice Alleges Iraqi Government Is Allowing Al-Qaeda to Operate in Iraq
Asked for concrete evidence that Hussein has links to al-Qaeda, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice points to the presence of operatives allegedly being hosted in Iraq. “Well, we are, of course, continually learning more about these links between Iraq and al-Qaeda, and there is evidence that Secretary [of State Colin] Powell did not have the time to talk about. But the core of the story is there in what Secretary Powell talked about. This poisons network with at least two dozen of its operatives operating in Baghdad, a man [Abu Musab al-Zarqawi] who is spreading poisons now throughout Europe and into Russia, a man who got medical care in Baghdad despite the fact that the Iraqis were asked to turn him over, training in biological and chemical weapons.” [Fox News Sunday, 2/16/2003; US House Committee on Government Reform, 3/16/2004]
Entity Tags: Condoleezza Rice, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Before February 17, 2003: Italian Military Intelligence Approves Kidnap of Milan Imam
The Italian military intelligence agency SISMI is briefed by the CIA on a plan to kidnap radical imam Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (a.k.a. Abu Omar) in Milan (see Noon February 17, 2003). SISMI agrees to the plan, but it appears other Italian agencies are not informed of it. The CIA will later claim the plan is even approved by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, although documentation to support this will not be produced. When Italian anti-terrorist authorities, who are monitoring Nasr and planning to arrest him, find he has been kidnapped, they will charge several CIA officers with breaking Italian law (see June 23, 2005 and After). [Washington Post, 12/6/2005]
Entity Tags: Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, SISMI, Central Intelligence Agency, Silvio Berlusconi
Category Tags: Counterterrorism Action After 9/11, Al-Qaeda in Italy
February 17, 2003: CIA Report Predicts More Than 90 Percent Chance Hussein and Terrorists Will Attack US with WMDs
Newsweek reports: “In recent weeks a small group of CIA analysts have been meeting as part of a ‘predictive analysis project’ to divine if and when Saddam might strike the United States with a weapon of mass destruction. The theory is that Saddam might slip one of his chem-bio or radiological weapons to al-Qaeda or some other terrorist group to create a massive diversion, a crisis in the American homeland that could stall an attack on Iraq.” The CIA has no hard evidence supporting this idea, but the CIA has calculated the odds, and in a report obtained by Newsweek, these analysts predict “that under the stipulated scenario there is a 59 percent probability that an attack on the US homeland involving WMD would occur before March 31, 2003, a 35 percent probability an attack would occur at a later date, and a 6 percent probability an attack would never occur.” But Newsweek will comment that “it is important to remember that the odds are determined by averaging a bunch of guesses, informed perhaps, but from experts whose careers can only be ruined by underestimating the threat.” [Newsweek, 2/17/2003] No such attack occurs.
Entity Tags: Al-Qaeda, Saddam Hussein, Central Intelligence Agency
Category Tags: Other Possible Moles or Informants, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11, Al-Qaeda in Italy
February 18, 2003: Alleged Al-Qaeda Member El Motassadeq Convicted in Germany for 9/11 Role
Mounir El Motassadeq, an alleged member of Mohamed Atta’s Hamburg al-Qaeda cell, is convicted in Germany of accessory to murder in the 9/11 attacks. His is given the maximum sentence of 15 years. [Associated Press, 2/19/2003] El Motassadeq admitted varying degrees of contact with Atta, Marwan Alshehhi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Said Bahaji, Ziad Jarrah, and Zakariya Essabar; admitted he had been given power of attorney over Alshehhi’s bank account; and admitted attending an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan from May to August 2000 (see May 22 to August 2000); but he claimed he had nothing to do with the 9/11 plot. [New York Times, 10/24/2002] The conviction is the first one related to 9/11, but as the Independent puts it, “there are doubts whether there will ever be a second.” This is because intelligence agencies have been reluctant to turn over evidence, or give access to requested witnesses. In El Motassadeq’s case, his lawyers tried several times unsuccessfully to obtain testimony by two of his friends, bin al-Shibh and Mohammed Haydar Zammar—a lack of evidence that will later become grounds for overturning his conviction. [Independent, 2/20/2003]
Entity Tags: Zakariya Essabar, Said Bahaji, Ziad Jarrah, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Mounir El Motassadeq, Mohammed Haydar Zammar, Germany, Marwan Alshehhi, Mohamed Atta, Al-Qaeda
Category Tags: Ramzi Bin Al-Shibh, Al-Qaeda in Germany
February 19, 2003: Expert with Access to Classified Evidence Claims There Is No Al-Qaeda-Iraqi Government Link
Shortly after 9/11, counterterrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna, a research fellow at the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, begins researching for his book, Inside al-Qaeda: Global Network of Terror. He examines several tens of thousands of documents acquired from al-Qaeda and Taliban sources. During the course of his investigation, he finds no evidence of an Iraqi-al-Qaeda link. In an op-ed piece printed in the International Herald Tribune on February 19, 2003, he writes: “In addition to listening to 240 tapes taken from al-Qaeda’s central registry, I debriefed several al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees. I could find no evidence of links between Iraq and al-Qaeda. The documentation and interviews indicated that al-Qaeda regarded Saddam, a secular leader, as an infidel.” [International Herald Tribune, 2/19/2003 Sources: Rohan Gunaratna]
Entity Tags: Rohan Gunaratna
February 19-20, 2003: Lead 7/7 London Bomber Visits Israel, Allegedly Assists Suicide Bombing There
Mohammad Sidique Khan, the lead suicide bomber in the 7/7 London bombings (see July 7, 2005), travels to Israel, staying there for only 24 hours. Israeli officials will confirm the visit in 2006. This is seven weeks before two British citizens, Omar Sharif and Asif Hanif, attack a cafe in Tel Aviv, Israel, with suicide bombs, killing three (see April 30, 2003). It is strongly suspected that Khan comes to Israel to help facilitate the bombing in some way, especially since Khan was seen in the company of Sharif and Hanif as far back as 2001 and was Sharif’s friend (see Summer 2001). However, Khan’s precise role, if any, in the cafe bombing is unknown, and apparently his connection to the two bombers will not be discovered by authorities until after the 7/7 bombings. [BBC, 7/9/2006]
Entity Tags: Asif Hanif, Omar Sharif, Mohammad Sidique Khan
February 22-March 15, 2003: CIA Milan Chief Flies to Cairo, Following Abducted Imam Who Is Allegedly Tortured
Robert Seldon Lady, chief of the CIA’s substation in Milan, Italy, travels to Egypt for three weeks. A radical imam named Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (a.k.a. Abu Omar) was kidnapped by the CIA in Milan five days before and taken to Egypt, and Lady will later be accused of being a party to the abduction (see Noon February 17, 2003 and June 23, 2005 and After). According to the Washington Post, “many counterterrorism analysts take [Lady’s trip to Egypt] to mean he took part in the initial interrogation.” A search of Lady’s villa will later turn up computer disks showing a flight reservation from Zurich to Cairo and cell phone records will show that a phone associated with Lady was used to place calls from Cairo during the period Lady is thought to be there. Nasr will later say he is tortured when in Egypt (see April-May 2004). [Washington Post, 12/6/2005]
Entity Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, Robert Seldon Lady, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr
February 24, 2003: Voice Analyst of Alleged Bin Laden Tapes Discusses Methodology in Interview
Popular Science magazine carries a rare interview with Tom Owen, a voice analyst who has worked on identifying Osama bin Laden in recordings allegedly released by the al-Qaeda leader. Owen worked for US media on the identification of bin Laden’s voice in a November 2002 recording (see November 12, 2002), assisted by a captain of the Saudi Interior Ministry’s forensics department he had apparently been teaching at the time. Owen, one of only eight forensic voice analysts certified by the American Board of Recorded Evidence, and other US experts identified the voice as bin Laden’s, although a Swiss facility disagreed (see November 29, 2002). The interview describes Owen’s lab and how he works, pivoting off the November recording. Owen criticizes the Swiss analysis, saying that the advanced biometrics software the Swiss used cannot work with the noise on the tape, as it is “designed to work with perfect samples.” Cleaning up the tape would not help, as this would remove the high and low frequencies a biometric system needs to make its identification.
Voice Identification Methodology - To identify voices, Owen uses a spectrograph, which produces spectrograms—“a kind of graphic speech rendering that has changed little since the 1940s”—that are then compared. His favorite tool for analyses is a “piece of vintage equipment—a reel-to-reel Voice Identification 700 spectrograph built in 1973,” which “differs little from the analog machines US Army intelligence officers built to identify and track German radio operators during World War II.” When analyzing a new recording thought to be from bin Laden, Owen compares the spectrograms it produces with spectrograms from a known bin Laden interview, such as one he granted to ABC in 1998 (see May 28, 1998). According to the magazine, there are “only a half-dozen words in common between the November tape and the ABC interview,” although the standards of the American Board of Recorded Evidence demand 20 identical words, preferably spoken in the same order.
Listening for 'Quirky Mannerisms' - However, Owen also listens for “the multitude of quirky mannerisms and pronunciation foibles peculiar to each voice,” because a trained ear can detect “the subtle whistle caused by a missing tooth, a person’s tendency to swallow in the middle of a sentence, even the way someone sets his or her jaw when speaking.” Owen plays the reporter what he calls a short-term memory tape, apparently a crucial tool in aural voice identifications. The spliced tape toggles between 2.5-second segments of bin Laden’s ABC interview and the November tape; Owen uses the tape to listen for peculiarities in a voice, especially when vowels are spoken. According to Owen, who says bin Laden’s voice is what the magazine calls “plenty peculiar,” the tape proves it is the “same guy” on the November tape and in the 1998 interview. However, the reporter comments: “To my untrained ear, it could be Darth Vader behind the static.… This is the sort of gray area that tends to make legal observers worry about the state of forensic science.”
Comments on NSA - According to the magazine, Owen’s technology is similar to that which the NSA probably uses to analyze voices, although Owen thinks the NSA has samples of bin Laden’s voice he does not. However, he does not think it has made biometric breakthroughs in analysis despite its advanced technology, which is “mostly devoted to listening.” [Popular Science, 2/24/2003]
Entity Tags: Al-Qaeda, Tom Owen, National Security Agency, Osama bin Laden
Category Tags: Osama Bin Laden, Alleged Al-Qaeda Media Statements
February 25, 2003: More 9/11 Terrorist Plotters Believed to Be in Germany
The Chicago Tribune reveals that there appear to be many more members of Mohamed Atta’s Hamburg cell than previously reported. While many members of the cell died in the attacks or fled Germany just prior to 9/11, up to a dozen suspected of belonging to the Hamburg cell stayed behind, apparently hoping to avoid government scrutiny. Many of their names have not yet been revealed. In some cases, investigators still do not know the names. For instance, phone records show that someone using the alias Karl Herweg was in close communication with the Hamburg cell and Zacarias Moussaoui, but Herweg’s real identity is not known. [Chicago Tribune, 2/25/2003]
Entity Tags: Karl Herweg, Zacarias Moussaoui
February 26, 2003: Whistleblower Believes FBI Not Prepared for New Terrorist Threats
Coleen Rowley, the FBI whistleblower who was proclaimed Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2002, sends another public letter to FBI Director Mueller. She believes the FBI is not prepared for new terrorist attacks likely to result from the upcoming Iraq war. She also says counterterrorism cases are being mishandled. She claims the FBI and the Justice Department have not questioned captured al-Qaeda suspects Zacarias Moussaoui and Richard Reid about their al-Qaeda contacts, choosing instead to focus entirely on prosecution. She writes, “Lack of follow-through with regard to Moussaoui and Reid gives a hollow ring to our ‘top priority’ —i.e., preventing another terrorist attack. Moussaoui almost certainly would know of other al-Qaeda contacts, possibly in the US, and would also be able to alert us to the motive behind his and Mohamed Atta’s interest in crop-dusting.” Moussaoui’s lawyer also says the government has not attempted to talk to Moussaoui since 9/11. [New York Times, 3/5/2003; New York Times, 3/6/2003]
Entity Tags: Richard C. Reid, Zacarias Moussaoui, US Department of Justice, Robert S. Mueller III, Coleen Rowley
Category Tags: Zacarias Moussaoui, Internal US Security After 9/11, Counterterrorism Policy/Politics
Late February 2003: DNA Identifies Passenger Remains, but Hijacker DNA Is Not Tested
Medical examiners match human remains to the DNA of two of the hijackers that flew on Flights 11 and/or 175 into the WTC. The names of the two hijackers are not released. The FBI gave the examiners DNA profiles of all ten hijackers on those flights a few weeks earlier. Genetic profiles of five hijackers from Flight 77 and the four from Flight 93 that did not match any of the passengers’ profiles have been given to the FBI, but the FBI has not given any DNA profiles with which to match them. [CNN, 2/27/2003]
Entity Tags: Federal Bureau of Investigation
February 28, 2003: CIA Refuses to Say Whether Bush Has Approved Enhanced Interrogation Techniques
CIA general counsel Scott Muller writes to Jane Harman (D-CA), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, but fails to respond fully to questions about the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques. [Central Intelligence Agency, 2/28/2003 ] Following a briefing earlier in the month about the legality of the techniques (see February 2003), Harman had written to Muller and CIA Director George Tenet asking whether using the techniques was good policy for the US: “I would like to know whether the most senior levels of the White House have determined that these practices are consistent with the principles and policies of the United States. Have the enhanced techniques been authorized and approved by the President?” She also urges the CIA not to destroy videotapes of detainee interrogations because they are “the best proof that the written record is accurate,” and their destruction “would reflect badly on the Agency.” [US Congress, 2/10/2003 ] In his reply, Muller completely fails to mention the tapes or say whether Bush has been consulted. He also says it would be inappropriate for him to comment on policy issues, merely that “it would be fair to assume that policy as well as legal matters have been addressed within the Executive Branch.” [Central Intelligence Agency, 2/28/2003 ]
Entity Tags: House Intelligence Committee, Central Intelligence Agency, George W. Bush, Scott Muller, Jane Harman, George J. Tenet
Category Tags: Destruction of CIA Tapes, High Value Detainees, Counterterrorism Policy/Politics
Shortly Before February 29 or March 1, 2003: Informant Helps Authorities Capture KSM
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed shortly after arrest. (Note: this picture is from a video presentation on prisoners the Pakistani government gave to BBC filmmakers. It has been adjusted to remove some blue tinge.) [Source: BBC's "The New Al-Qaeda."]9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) is apparently captured by US and Pakistani forces with the help of an informant. One week after KSM’s capture, said to take place on February 29 or March 1, 2003 (see February 29 or March 1, 2003), the Los Angeles Times will report, “Pakistani officials have… hinted that [KSM] was betrayed by someone inside the organization who wanted to collect a $25-million reward for his capture.” One Pakistani official says, “I am not going to tell you how we captured him, but Khalid knows who did him in.” [Los Angeles Times, 3/8/2003] In 2008, the New York Times will provide additional details. According to an intelligence officer, the informant slips into a bathroom in the house where KSM is staying, and writes a text message to his government contacts: “I am with KSM.” The capture team then waits a few hours before raiding the house, to blur the connection to the informant. Little more is known about the informant or what other information he provides. He apparently is later personally thanked by CIA Director George Tenet and then resettled with the $25 million reward money in the US. [New York Times, 6/22/2008]
Entity Tags: George J. Tenet, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Category Tags: Other Possible Moles or Informants, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Spring 2003: Spanish Authorities Turn Down Chance to Videotape Secret Meetings of Madrid Bombers
The Spanish inteligence agency Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) has a highly trusted informant named Abdelkader Farssaoui, a.k.a. Cartagena, placed within a group of suspected Islamist militants in Madrid (see September 2002-October 2003). Police have been monitoring this group for months and learning all about the group in part thanks to Farssaoui’s leads. Farssaoui is so trusted in the group that he is considered one of the group’s leaders, behind only Serhane Abdelmajid Fakhet and Mustapha Maymouni. Farssaoui attends all the group’s secret meetings, and since he is an imam he usually leads them in prayer. As a result, some of the others suggest holding some of the group’s long weekly meetings at Farssaoui’s residence. Farssaoui reports this to his handlers and suggests it is an opportunity to easily record the meetings with audio and video. However, Farssaoui’s handlers reject the idea, saying it is not necessary. [El Mundo (Madrid), 2/13/2006]
Entity Tags: Mustapha Maymouni, Centro Nacional de Inteligencia, Abdelkader Farssaoui, Serhane Abdelmajid Fakhet
Spring 2003: Aid to Afghanistan Falls Short of Promises
At the beginning of 2002, the US, Britain, and other countries around the world made large pledges of aid to Afghanistan (see November 2001-January 2002). But with a new war in Iraq taking considerable focus in the West, those pledges appear to be largely unfulfilled. In February 2003, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) says, “I think [the Bush administration has] already given up the ghost in Afghanistan. They’ve basically turned it over to the warlords.” In December 2002, President Bush signed a law authorizing close to $1 billion a year in aid to Afghanistan for the next four years. But one month later, when Bush submitted his actual budget to Congress, it authorized no money for Afghanistan aid whatsoever. Congress soon authorizes $300 million, but Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) notes that this amount “does not come near” the promise made a short time before. Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai, complains to the press, “What was promised to Afghans with the collapse of the Taliban was a new life of hope and change. But what was delivered? Nothing…There have been no significant changes for people.… [I don’t] know what to say to people anymore.” [Salon, 4/10/2003] As of early 2003, there are only about 3,000 Afghan soldiers who have been trained for the country’s new army, and many of those have quit because they had not been paid in more than six months. By contrast, there are roughly 200,000 fighters controlled by warlords. [Salon, 4/10/2003; Observer, 5/25/2003] A study of post-conflict zones done by Care International estimates that Bosnia is receiving international aid of $326 per person, and Kosovo $288 per person, but Afghanistan is receiving only $42 per person. There is one peacekeeper per 113 people in Bosnia, one per 48 people in Kosovo, but one per 5,380 in Afghanistan (and those are not allowed outside the capital of Kabul). [Observer, 5/25/2003] Only 3 percent of all international aid spent in Afghanistan has been for reconstruction, 13 percent is for emergency aid, and the rest is spent on security. One Afghan minister complains, “We don’t even have enough money to pay [government] wages, let alone plan reconstruction.” [Guardian, 9/20/2003] The Independent reports, “Afghans have also listened with astonishment as Americans portray their country’s experience since the overthrow of the Taliban as a ‘success’. Another Western observer summed up his views more acidly. ‘If the Americans think this is success, then outright failure must be pretty horrible to behold’.” [Independent, 2/24/2003]
Entity Tags: Joseph Biden, George W. Bush, Bush administration (43), Ahmed Wali Karzai, Chuck Hagel, Taliban
Category Tags: Iraq War Impact on Counterterrorism, Afghanistan
Spring 2003: Bin Laden Allegedly Meets Group of Militants in Pakistan’s Tribal Region
Osama bin Laden allegedly attends a gathering of Islamist militants in Pakistan’s tribal region. In 2011, after bin Laden’s death, the New York Times will claim that an unnamed Pakistani militant leader alleges that he sees bin Laden in the spring of 2003. Accompanied by Arab and Chechen bodyguards, bin Laden arrives unexpectedly at a meeting of nearly 100 militants at a mountain village in North Waziristan. Apparently, bin Laden doesn’t make his presence known to the entire gathering. However, the militant leader meets him briefly inside a house, and he is sure it is bin Laden because he met him once, prior to the 9/11 attacks. This leader is an informant for the Pakistani military at this time, but he will not tell the Times if he passes this information on to his Pakistani handlers. He will also claim that from about 2002 to 2004, bin Laden moves from place to place in the tribal region. He speculates that after the US begins drone strikes in the tribal region in 2004, bin Laden moves to one of Pakistan’s towns outside of the tribal region where drone strikes don’t reach. [New York Times, 6/23/2011]
Entity Tags: Osama bin Laden, New York Times
Category Tags: Osama Bin Laden, Hunt for Bin Laden in Pakistan
Spring 2003: US Green Berets Repeatedly Denied Permission to Go After Mullah Omar
There are several credible sightings by CIA and military informants of top Taliban leader Mullah Omar entering a mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan. A Green Beret team located at a base just minutes away are ready to deploy to go after Omar, but each time US military commanders follow strict protocol and call in the Delta Force commando team instead. But this team is based hundreds of miles away near Kabul and it takes them several hours to arrive in Kandahar. By that time, Omar has disappeared. Apparently this is part of a pattern only allowing certain Special Forces units to go after important targets. The Washington Post will report in 2004 that any mission that takes Special Forces farther than two miles from a “firebase” requires as long as 72 hours to be approved. And on the rare occasions that such forces are authorized to act, they are required to travel in armed convoys, a practice that alerts the enemy. [Washington Post, 1/5/2004]
Entity Tags: Mullah Omar, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment--Delta, Green Berets
Category Tags: Afghanistan
Spring 2003 and After: Spanish Police Increase Surveillance of Madrid Bombers
Spanish police have been monitoring an apartment on Virgen de Coro street in Madrid owned by the brothers Moutaz and Mouhannad Almallah since January 17, 2003 (see January 17, 2003-Late March 2004). Police are now aware that the Almallah brothers are part of a group of Islamist militants regularly meeting there. On March 3, police extend the surveillance to the apartment of Serhane Abdelmajid Fakhet, since he appears to be a leader of the group and the group holds meetings at his apartment as well (see March 3, 2003-March 2004). On March 14, police also start monitoring Mouhannad Almallah’s apartment (his brother Moutaz is mostly living in London) (see March 14, 2003). Over the next months, the surveillance of this group is intensified:
Police also keep a very close eye on the cars used by the militants. Police witness many of them taking evasive maneuvers while driving around town.
They notice the militants are taking evasive action such as frequently using pay phones and speaking in code, which are signs they are taking part in illegal activities.
They discover that Amer el-Azizi, a Spanish al-Qaeda operative wanted for a role in the 9/11 attacks, had probably escaped to Afghanistan in late 2001 using Mouhannad Almallah’s passport (see Shortly After November 21, 2001).
They find that Fakhet sometimes uses a car owned by relatives of Jamal Ahmidan (Ahmidan is the member of the group who will later lead the effort to buy the explosives for the Madrid bombings, see September 2003-February 2004).
One police report before the bombings says that all three apartments are “regarded as essential points of the logistical network to support the recruitment of ‘mujaheddin’” in Spain and that Moutaz Almallah makes the group an international threat, with links in Britain and the Netherlands. [El Mundo (Madrid), 8/10/2005]
Entity Tags: Serhane Abdelmajid Fakhet, Jamal Ahmidan, Mouhannad Almallah, Moutaz Almallah, Amer el-Azizi
March 2003: Informant Gives Spanish Police Big Tip That Could Stop Madrid Train Bombings
Antonio Toro. [Source: EFE]Rafa Zouhier, an informant for Spain’s Civil Guard, tells his handler that two of his associates, Emilio Suarez Trashorras and Trashorras’s brother-in-law Antonio Toro, are illegally selling explosives from a mine in the Asturias region of Spain. Toro had recently been released from prison. Zouhier’s handler, known only by the alias “Victor,” includes the information in a report in March 2003 and sends it to higher-ups. He mentions that the people Zouhier referred to have 150 kilograms of explosives ready to sell. [El Mundo (Madrid), 4/9/2007] He reveals the two even asked him how to make bombs which could be set off by cell phone, and says they have been illegally selling explosives since 2001. In June 2003, police conduct a surprise inspection of the mine where Trashorras works, and they begin surveilling both of them, even though Trashorras, Toro, and Toro’s wife are all also government informants (see June 18, 2004 and September 2003-February 2004). [Expatica, 9/1/2004; Expatica, 11/22/2004] Later in the year, Trashorras, Toro, and others will sell large quantities of explosives to Jamal Ahmidan, alias “El Chino,” which will be used in the March 2004 Madrid train bombings (see September 2003-February 2004). Those bombs will be timed to explode using cell phones (see 7:37-7:42 a.m., March 11, 2004). For some reason, this sale is not detected, even though Toro and Trashorras are being monitored. Victor will reveal what Zouhier told him in 2007 court testimony. He did not mention it in several earlier testimonies, and will claim he “forgot.” [El Mundo (Madrid), 4/9/2007] Zouhier will eventually be convicted and sentenced to more than ten years in prison, on the grounds that he knew about the deal between Ahmidan and Trashorras and did not tell his handler about that as well. Zouhier claims that he did, but is unable to provide any proof. [El Mundo (Madrid), 4/9/2007; MSNBC, 10/31/2007]
Entity Tags: Rafa Zouhier, Antonio Toro, Emilio Suarez Trashorras, Jamal Ahmidan, “Victor”
Category Tags: Other Possible Moles or Informants, Al-Qaeda in Spain, 2004 Madrid Train Bombings
March-May 2003: British Intelligence Fails to Stop Suicide Bombers before They Attack Israel; Fails to Ban the Group They Belong to Afterwards
Asif Hanif (left) and Omar Sharif (right) holding AK-47 rifles and a Koran. Apparently this is from a video filmed on February 8, 2003, in the Gaza Strip. [Source: Public domain]In March 2003, the British domestic intelligence agency MI5 arrests eight members of the Islamist militant group Al-Muhajiroun in the city of Derby. Two other Britons, Asif Hanif and Omar Sharif, are also identified as members of the group, but they are not arrested. MI5 is also aware that Sharif is connected to the Finsbury Park mosque where radical imam Abu Hamza al-Masri preaches. [Daily Mail, 5/5/2003; ISN Security Watch, 7/21/2005] When police raided Abu Hamza’s mosque in January, they even found a letter from Sharif to Abu Hamza inquiring about the proper conduct of jihad. The letter contained Sharif’s address in Derby. [O'Neill and McGrory, 2006, pp. 90-91] MI5 does not monitor either Hanif or Sharif, and instead simply keeps their names on file, believing them to be harmless. Later that same month, Italian undercover journalist Claudio Franco, posing as a Muslim convert, visits the London office of Al-Muhajiroun and meets Hanif. Hanif, unaware that he is being formally interviewed, tells Franco that he is sorry the poison ricin was allegedly seized in a raid elsewhere in London (see January 7, 2003) before it could be used in an attack. The next month, Hanif and Sharif travel to Israel and are killed on a suicide bombing mission which kills three others (see April 30, 2003). After the bombing, Al-Muhajiroun’s official leader, Anjem Choudary, calls the two bombers martyrs. The group’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, admits he knew both men. But the group is not banned. [Daily Mail, 5/5/2003; ISN Security Watch, 7/21/2005] Other members of the group will attempt to build a large fertilizer bomb in early 2004 (see Early 2003-April 6, 2004), but the group will still not be banned, then or later. (It will disband on its own in late 2004 (see October 2004).) Investigators also fail to discover that Mohammad Sidique Khan, the lead bomber in the 7/7 London bombings (see July 7, 2005), knew both men, was friends with Sharif and attended the same small mosque as he did (see Summer 2001), and traveled to Israel weeks before they did in a probable attempt to help with the bombing (see February 19-20, 2003).
Entity Tags: Omar Sharif, Mohammad Sidique Khan, Anjem Choudary, UK Security Service (MI5), Al-Muhajiroun, Asif Hanif, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed
Category Tags: Omar Bakri & Al-Muhajiroun, 2005 7/7 London Bombings, Londonistan - UK Counterterrorism
March 2003: Zelikow and 9/11 Commission Consultant Complete Outline of Final Report before Staff Start Writing It
9/11 Commission Executive Director Philip Zelikow and Ernest May, a long-time associate of Zelikow and consultant to the commission, complete an outline of the commission’s final report, although the commission has barely began its work and will not report for another 16 months. The outline is detailed and contains chapter headings, subheadings, and sub-subheadings. The outline anticipates a 16-chapter report (note: the final report only has 13) that starts with a history of al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden’s 1998 fatwa against the US. There will then be chapters on US counterterrorism policy, threat reporting leading up to 9/11, and the attacks themselves will be in chapter seven (in the final report, the day of 9/11 chapter is moved to the start).
"Blinding Effects of Hindsight" - Zelikow and May even have a chapter ten entitled “Problems of Foresight—And Hindsight,” with a sub-chapter on “the blinding effects of hindsight,” (actually chapter 11 in the final report, slightly renamed “Foresight—And Hindsight;” the “blinding effects” sub-heading does not appear in the final version, but the chapter starts with a meditation on the value of hindsight).
Kept Secret - Zelikow shows the report to Commission Chairman Tom Kean and Vice-chairman Lee Hamilton and they like it, but think it could be seen as evidence that they have pre-determined the outcome. Therefore, they all decide it should be kept secret from the commission’s staff. According to May it is “treated as if it were the most classified document the commission possessed.” Zelikow comes up with his own internal classification system, labeling it “Commission Sensitive,” a phrase that appears on the top and bottom of each page.
Staff Alarmed - When the staff find out about it and are given copies over a year later, they are alarmed. They realize that the sections of the report about the Bush administration’s failings will be in the middle of the report, and the reader will have to wade past chapters on al-Qaeda’s history to get to them. Author Philip Shenon will comment: “Many assumed the worst when they saw that Zelikow had proposed a portion of the report entitled ‘The Blinding Effects of Hindsight.’ What ‘blinding hindsight’? They assumed Zelikow was trying to dismiss the value of hindsight regarding the Bush administration’s pre-9/11 performance.” In addition, some staffers begin circulating a parody entitled “The Warren Commission Report—Preemptive Outline.” One of the parody’s chapter headings is “Single Bullet: We Haven’t Seen the Evidence Yet. But Really. We’re Sure.” [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004; Shenon, 2008, pp. 388-389]
Entity Tags: Lee Hamilton, Ernest May, Thomas Kean, 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow
March 2003: CIA Falsely Claims Kidnapped Imam Is in Bosnia
The CIA tells anti-terrorist authorities in Italy that it has reliable information that Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (a.k.a. Abu Omar), a radical Islamist cleric who was under joint Italian-CIA surveillance in Milan until recently, is in Bosnia. This is a deliberate lie; the CIA knows Nasr is in Egypt, as it recently kidnapped him and took him there, handing him over to Egyptian authorities (see Noon February 17, 2003). According to the Washington Post, the purpose of the lie is “to stymie efforts by the Italian anti-terrorism police to track down the cleric….” The Italians believe the CIA’s story for more than a year, but subsequently discover the CIA was involved in his kidnapping. [Washington Post, 12/6/2005]
Entity Tags: Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, Central Intelligence Agency
March 2003-July 2004: White House Has Better Relationship with 9/11 Commission’s Democratic Vice Chairman than Republican Chairman
The White House comes to prefer dealing with the 9/11 Commission’s vice chairman, Democrat Lee Hamilton, rather than its Republican chairman Tom Kean. Author Philip Shenon will comment: “The White House found that its best support on the Commission came from an unexpected corner—from Lee Hamilton.… Hamilton, they could see, was as much a man of the Washington establishment as he was a Democratic partisan. Probably more so.” This is because Hamilton, a friend of Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, “underst[ands] the prerogatives of the White House—in particular, the concept of executive privilege—in a way that Kean d[oes] not or w[ill] not.” White House chief of staff Andrew Card will comment: “I came to really respect Lee Hamilton. I think he listened better to our concerns better than Tom Kean.” The White House even comes to view Kean as disloyal, effectively operating as one of the Commission’s Democrats, while Hamilton is a de facto Republican (see Early July 2004). Kean will later say, “I think the White House believed Lee was more reliable than I was.” [Shenon, 2008, pp. 177] Hamilton previously helped Republicans cover up political scandals (see Mid-1980s and 1992-January 1993). He is friends with Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and trusts them to tell the truth (see Before November 27, 2002).
Entity Tags: Thomas Kean, Andrew Card, Lee Hamilton, 9/11 Commission, Philip Shenon
After February 2003: Militant’s Wife Continues Reporting on Group of Madrid Bombers
In January and February of 2003, the wife of suspected Islamist militant Mouhannad Almallah gave stunning details on the activities and planned attacks of a group of militants including her husband Mouhannad (see January 4, 2003 and February 12, 2003). She apparently grows estranged from him and sees him less and less in subsequent months. However, Spanish investigators are impressed with her revelations, especially since they had most of the group already under surveillance (see December 2001-June 2002). At some point, she is given a phone and a special number to call at any time she learns more about the group. The group frequently watches violent videos promoting jihad. For instance, one video shows a person in Afghanistan being buried up to his head in sand. There are also videos of radical imam Abu Qatada preaching. She manages to sneak some of the videos to the authorities and return them without being noticed. But most details about what warnings she gave after February 2003 remain unknown. [El Mundo (Madrid), 3/13/2007; El Mundo (Madrid), 3/13/2007]
Entity Tags: Mouhannad Almallah, Mouhannad Almallah’s wife
March 2003 and After: Alleged Leader of Al-Qaeda Bomb Plot Is Monitored in Britain but Mysteriously Never Arrested or Even Questioned
Mohammed Quayyum Khan. [Source: BBC]In March 2003, the British intelligence agency MI5 begins monitoring Mohammed Quayyum Khan (a.k.a. “Q”), a part-time taxi driver living in Luton, England, and born in Pakistan. He is said to be an associate of the radical London imams Omar Bakri Mohammed and Abu Hamza al-Masri. It is not known how MI5 first gains an interest in Quayyum, but apparently during a trip to Pakistan in 2003, Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI, tracks him overtly to warn him that they are aware of his activities. During a later court trial, an al-Qaeda operative turned informant named Mohammed Junaid Babar will allege that Quayyum:
Takes his orders from al-Qaeda leader Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi. He is said to be one of about three or four operatives working directly under this leader.
Arranges for Mohammad Sidique Khan, the head suicide bomber in the 7/7 London bombings, to travel to Pakistan and attend militant training camp in 2003.
Provides funds and equipment for militants fighting US troops in Afghanistan.
Is the leader of the 2004 British fertilizer bomb plot. Five of Quayyum’s associates will be sentenced to life in prison for roles in this plot.
In early February 2004, MI5 first discovers the existence of the fertilizer bomb plot while it monitors the various plotters meeting with Quayyum (see Early 2003-April 6, 2004). For instance, Omar Khyam, one of those who will later be sentenced to life in prison, is secretly videotaped meeting with Quayyum. Khyam will later admit that just before he left for militant training in Pakistan, Quayyum gave him money and said: “It’s better for both of us if we don’t meet each other. Because the security services may be monitoring me.” Yet when all the other members of the plot are arrested in late March 2004, Quayyum stays free. The Guardian will later report, “Despite the number of serious allegations leveled against him [in court], police and MI5 say they have never found sufficient evidence to arrest or charge him.” Quayyum is never questioned about his links to the fertilizer bomb plotters. After the 7/7 suicide bombings in 2005, he is not questioned about his verified links with the suicide bombers either (such as the monitored calls between him and the head suicide bomber (see Shortly Before July 2003)). He continues to live in Luton and is seen by a Guardian journalist working as a chef in a small cafe there. “He is thought to have since disappeared.” [Guardian, 5/1/2007; Guardian, 5/1/2007] Author Loretta Napoleoni will later comment that the lack of action against Quayyum is especially strange given the British government’s power to detain suspects for years without charge. She will say, “The press has proffered the hypothesis—neither confirmed nor denied by the special services—that Quayyum was a ‘Deep Throat’” mole or informant. [Antiwar (.com, 5/8/2007]
Entity Tags: Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, Abu Hamza al-Masri, Mohammad Sidique Khan, Mohammed Junaid Babar, Loretta Napoleoni, UK Security Service (MI5), Mohammed Quayyum Khan, Pakistan Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed
Category Tags: Other Possible Moles or Informants, 2005 7/7 London Bombings, Londonistan - UK Counterterrorism
February 2003 or After: 9/11 Commission Staff Set up ‘Back-Channel Network’ to Report on Executive Director Zelikow’s Behavior
Members of the 9/11 Commission’s staff who are suspicious of the partisanship of the Commission’s executive director, Philip Zelikow, establish what author Philip Shenon calls a “back-channel network” through which reports of Zelikow’s behavior can be passed. The staff members are suspicious of Zelikow because they think he is close to the Bush administration, in particular National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (see January 3, 2001), whose interests he defends on the Commission (see May-June 2004). The network’s aim is to “alert the Democratic commissioners when [staff] thought Zelikow was up to no good.” Commissioner Tim Roemer will say that he often gets phone calls late at night or on weekends at home from staffers who want to talk about Zelikow. “It was like Deep Throat,” he will later say (see May 31, 2005). Richard Ben-Veniste is another one of the Democratic commissioners involved in the network. [Shenon, 2008, pp. 375]
Entity Tags: Richard Ben-Veniste, 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, Tim Roemer
February 29 or March 1, 2003: KSM Reportedly Arrested in Pakistan, but Doubts on Circumstances Persist
A photo taken during KSM’s alleged arrest in Pakistan. [Source: Associated Press]Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) is reportedly arrested in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. [Associated Press, 3/1/2003] Officials claim that he is arrested in a late-night joint Pakistani and FBI raid, in which they also arrest Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, the purported main financer of the 9/11 attacks. [MSNBC, 3/3/2003] An insider informant allegedly tips off authorities to KSM’s location, and is given the $25 million reward money for his capture (see Shortly Before February 29 or March 1, 2003). However, some journalists immediately cast serious doubts about this arrest. For instance, MSNBC reports, “Some analysts questioned whether Mohammed was actually arrested Saturday, speculating that he may have been held for some time and that the news was made public when it was in the interests of the United States and Pakistan.” [MSNBC, 3/3/2003] There are numerous problems surrounding the US-alleged arrest of KSM:
Witnesses say KSM is not present when the raid occurs. [Associated Press, 3/2/2003; Associated Press, 3/2/2003; Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 3/2/2003; Guardian, 3/3/2003; New York Times, 3/3/2003]
There are differing accounts about which house he is arrested in. [Associated Press, 3/1/2003; Los Angeles Times, 3/2/2003; Los Angeles Times, 3/3/2003]
There are differing accounts about where he was before the arrest and how authorities found him. [Time, 3/1/2003; Washington Post, 3/2/2003; Washington Post, 3/2/2003; New York Times, 3/3/2003; New York Times, 3/4/2003]
Some accounts have him sleeping when the arrest occurs and some don’t. [Los Angeles Times, 3/2/2003; Reuters, 3/2/2003; New York Times, 3/3/2003; Daily Telegraph, 3/4/2003]
Accounts differ on who arrests him—Pakistanis, Americans, or both. [CNN, 3/2/2003; Los Angeles Times, 3/2/2003; New York Times, 3/2/2003; Daily Telegraph, 3/3/2003; London Times, 3/3/2003; Associated Press, 3/3/2003]
There are previously published accounts that KSM may have been killed in September 2002 (see September 11, 2002).
There are accounts that he was captured in June 2002 (see June 16, 2002).
These are just some of the difficulties with the arrest story. There are so many problems with it that one Guardian reporter says, “The story appears to be almost entirely fictional.” [Guardian, 3/6/2003]
Account by 9/11 Commissioners Conflicts - In addition, 9/11 Commission chairman Tom Kean and vice chairman Lee Hamilton will write in a 2006 book that the arrest is made in an apartment in Karachi and carried out by a joint CIA, FBI, and Pakistani team (see Early 2003).
Account by Musharraf Also Conflicts - Also in 2006, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will publish a memoir in which he claims that KSM was arrested on February 29, 2003 (instead of the widely cited March 1, 2003), and held by Pakistani forces for three days, “during which time we interrogated him fully. Once we were done with him and had all the information we wanted, we handed him over to the United States government.” [Musharraf, 2006, pp. 193]
Entity Tags: Thomas Kean, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Lee Hamilton, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, Pervez Musharraf
Timeline Tags: Torture of US Captives, 9/11 Timeline
Category Tags: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Key Captures and Deaths, High Value Detainees, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11
March 2, 2003: 9/11 Commission Executive Director Zelikow Tries to Prevent Staff Talking Directly to Commissioners
The 9/11 Commission’s executive director Philip Zelikow issues a five-page memo, entitled “What Do I Do Now?” telling newly hired staff members how to go about their jobs on the Commission. The most controversial part of the memo prevents staffers from returning calls from commissioners, stating: “If you are contacted by a commissioner, please contact [deputy executive director] Chris [Kojm] or me. We will be sure that the appropriate members of the Commission’s staff are responsive.” Author Philip Shenon will write that the staffers are surprised by this: “It occurred to several of the staff members, especially those with experience on other federal commissions, that Zelikow was trying to cut off their contact with the people they really worked for—the commissioners.”
Part of Memo Rescinded - When commissioner Jamie Gorelick learns of the restriction, she calls the Commission’s chairman and vice chairman, Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, and tells them this is unacceptable. Fellow commissioner Max Cleland also thinks the order is a bad idea, and will later say, “It violates the spirit of an open look at what the hell happened on 9/11.” Zelikow is forced to rescind this portion of the memo, allowing commissioners free access to the staff.
Other Restrictions - Other rules in the memo include:
Commission staff should not disclose the exact location of the Commission’s offices for security reasons;
Staffers should never talk to reporters about the Commission’s work, because “there are no innocent conversations with reporters.” Zelikow or his deputy should be notified of such calls. A breach of this rule can get a staffer fired; and
All staffers have to prepare a confidential memo describing potential conflicts of interest. Shenon will comment, “Staff members who knew some of Zelikow’s own conflicts of interest found it amusing that he was so worried about theirs.” [9/11 Commission, 3/2/2003; Shenon, 2008, pp. 83-85]
Entity Tags: Philip Shenon, Jamie Gorelick, 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, Max Cleland
After February 29 or March 1, 2003: Interrogators Threaten to Kill KSM’s Children
At some point after alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) is captured (see February 29 or March 1, 2003), interrogators threaten to kill his children if he does not co-operate with them. An “experienced agency interrogator” will tell the CIA inspector general that “interrogators said to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed that if anything else happens in the United States, ‘We’re going to kill your children.’” [Central Intelligence Agency, 5/7/2004, pp. 43 ] Two of his children are alleged to have been captured in late 2002 (see After September 11, 2002). According to author Ron Suskind, this is after CIA headquarters authorizes the interrogators to “do whatever’s necessary” to get information. However, according to a CIA manager with knowledge of the incident, “He [KSM] basically said, so, fine, they’ll join Allah in a better place.” [Suskind, 2006, pp. 230]
Entity Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Category Tags: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, High Value Detainees
Shortly After February 29 or March 1, 2003: Alleged 9/11 Mastermind KSM Tortured in Secret CIA Prison
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed shortly after arrest. (Note: this picture is from a video presentation on prisoners the Pakistani government gave to BBC filmmakers. It has been adjusted to remove some blue tinge.) [Source: BBC's "The New Al-Qaeda."]Following his arrest in Pakistan (see February 29 or March 1, 2003), al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) finds himself in CIA custody. After two days of detention in Pakistan, where, he will allege, he is punched and stomped upon by a CIA agent, he is sent to Afghanistan. After being transferred to Guantanamo in 2006, he will discuss his experiences and treatment with officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC—see October 6 - December 14, 2006). Mohammed will say of his transfer: “My eyes were covered with a cloth tied around my head and with a cloth bag pulled over it. A suppository was inserted into my rectum. I was not told what the suppository was for.” [New York Review of Books, 3/15/2009]
Naked - He is reportedly placed in a cell naked for several days and repeatedly questioned by females as a humiliation. He is attached to a dog leash and repeatedly yanked into the walls of his cell. He is suspended from the ceiling, chained naked in a painful crouch for long periods, doused with cold water, and kept in suffocating heat. [New Yorker, 8/6/2007; MSNBC, 9/13/2007] On arriving in Afghanistan, he is put in a small cell, where, he will recall, he is “kept in a standing position with my hands cuffed and chained to a bar above my head.” After about an hour, “I was taken to another room where I was made to stand on tiptoes for about two hours during questioning.”
Interrogators - He will add: “Approximately 13 persons were in the room. These included the head interrogator (a man) and two female interrogators, plus about 10 muscle guys wearing masks. I think they were all Americans. From time to time one of the muscle guys would punch me in the chest and stomach.” This is the usual interrogation session that Mohammed will experience over the next few weeks.
Cold Water - They are interrupted periodically by his removal to a separate room. There, he will recall, he is doused with “cold water from buckets… for about 40 minutes. Not constantly as it took time to refill the buckets. After which I would be taken back to the interrogation room.”
No Toilet Access - During one interrogation, “I was offered water to drink; when I refused I was again taken to another room where I was made to lie [on] the floor with three persons holding me down. A tube was inserted into my anus and water poured inside. Afterwards I wanted to go to the toilet as I had a feeling as if I had diarrhea. No toilet access was provided until four hours later when I was given a bucket to use.” When he is returned to his cell, as he will recall, “I was always kept in the standing position with my hands cuffed and chained to a bar above my head.” [New York Review of Books, 3/15/2009] However, he is resistant to these methods, so it is decided he will be transferred to a secret CIA prison in Poland (see March 7 - Mid-April, 2003), where he will be extensively waterboarded and tortured in other ways.
Entity Tags: International Committee of the Red Cross, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Central Intelligence Agency
Category Tags: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Destruction of CIA Tapes, High Value Detainees, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11, Counterterrorism Policy/Politics
Shortly After February 29 or March 1, 2003: KSM Allegedly Confesses He Has Recently Seen Bin Laden
Shortly after the arrest of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) (see February 29 or March 1, 2003), US investigators will allegedly find out that he had recently met with Osama bin Laden. Later in 2003, authors Nick Fielding and Yosri Fouda will claim that not long after KSM is transferred from Pakistani to US custody, he confesses that he had met with bin Laden within the past two months. Bin Laden is said to be in good health. KSM met him in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan after a journey involving a complicated network of phone calls and couriers. He also says that bin Laden has been concentrating his forces in South Waziristan, in Pakistan’s tribal region, and bin Laden has formed an alliance with Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Fielding and Fouda will note that this story seems confirmed by the fact that within days of KSM’s arrest, residents in the town of Chaman in Baluchistan said that US aircraft dropped millions of leaflets mentioning the $25 million reward for bin Laden’s arrest. KSM also allegedly claims to know that al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri recently returned to Quetta, Pakistan, after spending time in the Middle East. Also within days of KSM’s arrest, millions of leaflets about al-Zawahiri and his reward are dropped in that region. [Fouda and Fielding, 2003, pp. 184] It is likely that KSM is tortured during this time (see Shortly After February 29 or March 1, 2003). KSM will later say, “During the harshest period of my interrogation, I gave a lot of false information in order to satisfy what I believed the interrogators wished to hear in order to make the ill-treatment stop” (see March 7 - Mid-April, 2003).
Entity Tags: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Osama bin Laden
Category Tags: Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Osama Bin Laden, Hunt for Bin Laden in Pakistan
Between March 2003 and June 25, 2003: Top Al-Qaeda Prisoners Deny Al-Qaeda-Iraq Link
US officials admit that imprisioned al-Qaeda leaders Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaida have said in interrogations that bin Laden vetoed a long term relationship with Saddam because he did not want to be in Hussein’s debt. [Newsweek, 6/25/2003]
Entity Tags: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaida
Category Tags: Alleged Iraq-Al-Qaeda Links, High Value Detainees, Abu Zubaida
March 3, 2003: Bush’s Efforts in Fighting Terrorism Since 9/11 Are Called an ‘Abysmal Failure’
An article in the New Republic claims that “President Bush has repeatedly stifled efforts to strengthen domestic safeguards against further terrorist attacks. As a consequence, homeland security remains perilously deficient.” The article cites numerous examples to support this contention, and comments: “Bush’s record on homeland security ought to be considered a scandal. Yet, not only is it not a scandal, it’s not even a story, having largely failed to register with the public, the media, or even the political elite.” It points out numerous examples where the administration has opposed the spending of more money to protect against an attack and argues: “The White House appears to grasp that Bush’s standing on national security issues, especially after September 11, is so unassailable that he does not need to shore it up. Instead, the administration seems to view his wartime popularity as a massive bank of political capital from which they can withdraw and spend on other, unrelated causes. In the short run, this strategy is a political boon for Bush and his party. But, in the long run, it divides and weakens the nation against its external threats.” [New Republic, 3/3/2003] Here are some of the examples of evidence supporting this article’s arguments pointed out in this and subsequent articles:
Airports are said to be unacceptably vulnerable to terrorism. [Associated Press, 6/8/2004]
Terrorist watch lists remain unconsolidated. [United Press International, 4/30/2003]
Basic background checks on air security personnel remain undone. [Time, 7/8/2003]
The Treasury Department has assigned five times as many agents to investigate Cuban embargo violations as it has to track al-Qaeda’s finances. [Associated Press, 4/30/2004]
The White House has spurned a request for 80 more investigators to track and disrupt the global financial networks of US-designated terrorist groups. [New York Times, 4/4/2004]
Cases involving “international terrorism” have been fizzling out in US courts. [Los Angeles Times, 12/9/2003]
Experts have concluded that the Iraq War has diverted resources from the war on terrorism and made the US less secure. [MSNBC, 7/29/2003; Salon, 7/31/2003]
Investigations have shown that most chemical plants across the US remain dangerously vulnerable to a guerilla-style attack. Some plants have virtually no security at all, often not even locked gates. Explosions at some of these plants could kill more than a million people. Yet the Bush administration has so far successfully opposed strengthening security regulations, apparently at the behest of chemical industry lobbyists. [New Republic, 3/3/2003; New Jersey Star-Ledger, 1/28/2005]
There has been a huge increase in government spending to train and respond to terrorist attacks, but Time magazine reports that the geographical spread of “funding appears to be almost inversely proportional to risk.” [Time, 3/21/2004]
Several high-profile studies have concluded that despite its frequent “bear any burden” rhetoric, the Bush administration has grossly underfunded domestic security. [New Republic, 3/3/2003; New York Times, 7/25/2003]
Community-based “first responders” lack basic equipment, including protective clothing and radios. [New Republic, 3/3/2003; New York Times, 7/25/2003]
Spending on computer upgrades, airport security, more customs agents, port security, border controls, chemical plant security, bioweapon vaccinations, and much more, is far below needed levels and often below Promised levels. [New Republic, 3/3/2003]
Entity Tags: Al-Qaeda, Bush administration (43), Central Intelligence Agency, US Department of the Treasury, George W. Bush
Category Tags: Counterterrorism Policy/Politics, Internal US Security After 9/11
March 3, 2003-March 2004: Spanish Monitor Apartment of Madrid Bombings Mastermind
Beginning on March 3, 2003, Spanish police begin monitoring the apartment where Serhane Abdelmajid Fakhet lives. He will later be considered one of around three masterminds of the 2004 Madrid bombings. Fakhet’s apartment is on Francisco Remiro street in Madrid. Police discovered his apartment after monitoring an apartment on Virgen de Coro street where Fakhet and other Islamist militants regularly meet (see January 17, 2003-Late March 2004). Police discover that the militants sometimes hold meetings at Fakhet’s apartment as well. They identify 16 militants who meet there. They notice that Mustapha Maymouni, Fakhet’s brother-in-law, frequently sleeps on the floor there. Maymouni is arrested in Morocco later in 2003 for a role in the Casablanca bombings (see May 16, 2003). Monitoring of his house apparently continues through the date of the Madrid bombings. [El Mundo (Madrid), 8/10/2005]
Entity Tags: Serhane Abdelmajid Fakhet, Mustapha Maymouni
February-Late March 2003: US Intelligence Learns Al-Qaeda Called Off Chemical Bomb Attack in US, but Effectiveness of Bomb is Disputed
In February 2003, some radical militants are arrested in Bahrain. A joint US-Saudi raid of an apartment in Saudi Arabia owned by one of them reveals the designs for a bomb called a mubtakkar. This bomb is made of two widely available chemicals, sodium cyanide and hydrogen, which combine to create hydrogen cyanide. When turned to gas, it is lethal, and counterterrorism experts are highly alarmed at this technical breakthrough. CIA Director Tenet briefs President Bush about the mubtakkar bomb in early March. [Suskind, 2006, pp. 193-197; Time, 6/17/2006] Journalist Ron Suskind calls it a “nightmare delivery system—portable, easy to construct, deadly.” The CIA has a highly placed al-Qaeda informant codenamed Ali, and in late March they contact him to learn more about the bomb. He tells his CIA handlers that Yusef al-Ayeri, a Saudi in charge of al-Qaeda operations in the Arabian peninsula, visited al-Qaeda number two leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in January 2003. He told al-Zawahiri of an already advanced plot in the US. Operatives loosely linked to al-Qaeda had traveled to the US in the fall of 2002 and thoroughly cased locations in New York City. They would place the mubtakkar bomb in subway cars and remotely activate them. The group was ready to implement an attack in about 45 days. According to Suskind, several thousand people could be killed. But Ali learned that al-Zawahiri called off the attacks, though Ali does not know the reason why. The group did cancel the attack, and US intelligence never learns who exactly they were. President Bush and others puzzle why the attack was canceled and speculate that al-Qaeda put it aside in favor of an even bigger attack. [Suskind, 2006, pp. 216-220; Time, 6/17/2006] Suskind’s account will cause alarm when revealed in 2006. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) will say that authorities took the plot seriously but were never able to confirm its existence. Other officials will debate the effectiveness of the bomb and how many deaths it could have caused. [CNN, 6/18/2006] University of Maryland professor Milton Leitenberg later says of the bomb, “What you would get, in all probability, is a big bang, a big splash, but very little gas.” He also says that concentrations of key chemicals present in household materials are so low “you would get next to nothing” by using them, and one would have to get them from a chemical supplier or steal them from a laboratory. One counterterrorism official points out, “If this is such an amazing weapon, and the design for it is out there, why has no one ever used it?” [United Press International, 6/27/2006] An article by the private intelligence service Stratfor is also skeptical and suggests that al-Zawahiri called off the attack because it wouldn’t have been as deadly as if conventional bombs were used instead. [Stratfor, 6/21/2006] CIA Deputy Counter Terrorism Center Director Hank Crumpton will also later suggest that a team was recruited to stage the attack but apparently never was sent to the US. [Newsweek, 8/28/2007]
Entity Tags: Ron Suskind, Milton Leitenberg, Yusef al-Ayeri, Charles Schumer, George J. Tenet, Ali, Ayman al-Zawahiri, George W. Bush, Hank Crumpton
March 5, 2003: Al-Qaeda Operative Living in US Is Arrested in Pakistan
Majid Khan. [Source: Defense Department]According to his father, al-Qaeda operative Majid Khan is arrested by Pakistani soldiers and police at his brother Mohammed Khan’s house in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 5, 2003. Both brothers are interrogated by Pakistani and US agents. Majid Khan is eventually transferred to a secret US prison and will remain there until 2006, when he will be sent to the Guantanamo prison as one of 14 “high-value” detainees (see September 2-3, 2006). [Reuters, 5/15/2007] The US apparently considers Khan of high value due to his involvement in plots targeting the US. Khan moved to the US from Pakistan as a teenager in 1996 and graduated from a high school in Baltimore in 1999. According to US charges against him, he became involved in a local Islamic organization and then returned to Pakistan in 2002. An uncle and cousin who were al-Qaeda operatives drafted Khan there, and he started working for al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM). KSM worked with Khan because of Khan’s knowledge of the US, fluency in English, and willingness to be a suicide bomber. His family owned a gas station, and he allegedly plotted to blow up gas stations and poison water supplies in the US. [Baltimore Sun, 9/9/2006]
Entity Tags: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Majid Khan, Mohammed Khan
Category Tags: Key Captures and Deaths, High Value Detainees, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11
March 7 - Mid-April, 2003: Alleged 9/11 Mastermind Tortured in Poland
Communications antenna at Stare Kiejkuty, the Polish “black site” where Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was held for a time after his capture. [Source: CBC]9/11 planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, after being detained and abused for three days in US custody in Afghanistan (see February 29 or March 1, 2003 and Shortly After February 29 or March 1, 2003), is transferred to another CIA-run facility in Poland. [New Yorker, 8/6/2007; New York Review of Books, 3/15/2009] The facility is later identified as Stare Kiejkuty, a secret prison near the Szymany military airbase. Mohammed is flown in on a Gulfstream N379P jet known to prison officials as “the torture taxi.” The plane is probably piloted by “Jerry M,” a 56-year-old pilot for Aero Contractors, a company that transfers prisoners around the world for US intelligence agencies. [Der Spiegel (Hamburg), 4/27/2009] He is dressed in a tracksuit, blindfolded, hooded, has sound-blocking headphones placed over his ears, and is flown “sitting, leaning back, with my hands and ankles shackled in a high chair,” as he will later tell officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC—see October 6 - December 14, 2006). He later says he manages to sleep a few hours, for the first time in days. Upon arrival, Mohammed is stripped naked and placed in a small cell “with cameras where I was later informed by an interrogator that I was monitored 24 hours a day by a doctor, psychologist, and interrogator.” The walls are wooden and the cell measures some 10 by 13 feet. [New York Review of Books, 3/15/2009; Der Spiegel (Hamburg), 4/27/2009]
'I Would Be Brought to the Verge of Death and Back Again' - As he will later recall, it was in this detention camp that “the most intense interrogation occurred, led by three experienced CIA interrogators, all over 65 years old and all strong and well trained.” The interrogators tell him that they have received the “green light from Washington” to give him “a hard time” (see Late September 2001 and September 25, 2002). As he will later recall: “They never used the word ‘torture’ and never referred to ‘physical pressure,’ only to ‘a hard time.’ I was never threatened with death, in fact I was told that they would not allow me to die, but that I would be brought to the ‘verge of death and back again.‘… I was kept for one month in the cell in a standing position with my hands cuffed and shackled above my head and my feet cuffed and shackled to a point in the floor.” When he falls asleep, “all my weight [is] applied to the handcuffs around my wrist resulting in open and bleeding wounds.” The ICRC will later confirm that Mohammed bears scars consistent with his allegations on both wrists and both ankles. “Both my feet became very swollen after one month of almost continual standing.”
Interrogations - He is interrogated in a different room, in sessions lasting anywhere from four to eight hours, and with a wide variety of participants. Sometimes women take part in the interrogations. A doctor is usually present. “If I was perceived not to be cooperating I would be put against a wall and punched and slapped in the body, head, and face. A thick flexible plastic collar would also be placed around my neck so that it could then be held at the two ends by a guard who would use it to slam me repeatedly against the wall. The beatings were combined with the use of cold water, which was poured over me using a hose-pipe. The beatings and use of cold water occurred on a daily basis during the first month.”
'Alternative Procedures' - The CIA interrogators use what they will later call “alternative procedures” on Mohammed, including waterboarding (see After March 7, 2003) and other techniques. He is sprayed with cold water from a hose-pipe in his cell and the “worst day” is when he is beaten for about half an hour by one of the interrogators. “My head was banged against the wall so hard that it started to bleed. Cold water was poured over my head. This was then repeated with other interrogators.” He is then waterboarded until a doctor intervenes. He gets an hours’s sleep and is then “put back in my cell standing with my hands shackled above my head.” He sleeps for a “few minutes” on the floor of cell after the torture sessions, but does not sleep well, “due to shackles on my ankles and wrists.” The toilet consists of a bucket in the cell, which he can use on request, but “I was not allowed to clean myself after toilet during the first month.” In the first month he is only fed on two occasions, “as a reward for perceived cooperation.” He gets Ensure [a liquid nutritional supplement] to drink every four hours. If he refuses it, “then my mouth was forced open by the guard and it was poured down my throat by force.” He loses 18 kg in the first month, after which he gets some clothes. In addition, “Artificial light was on 24 hours a day, but I never saw sunlight.” [New York Review of Books, 3/15/2009]
Deliberately False Information - As he will later tell ICRC officials, he often lies to his interrogators: “During the harshest period of my interrogation, I gave a lot of false information in order to satisfy what I believed the interrogators wished to hear in order to make the ill-treatment stop.… I’m sure that the false information I was forced to invent… wasted a lot of their time and led to several false red-alerts being placed in the US.” [New York Review of Books, 3/15/2009] It will later be reported that up to 90 percent of Mohammed’s confessions may be unreliable. Furthermore, he will recant many of his statements (see August 6, 2007).
Entity Tags: Jack Goldsmith, “Jerry M”, Aero Contractors, International Committee of the Red Cross, David S. Addington, Central Intelligence Agency, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Stare Kiejkuty
March 7, 2003-May 18, 2007: Al-Qaeda Financier Tied to Pearl’s Death Disappears for Four Years, Then Dies
An ill Saud Memon shortly before his death. [Source: Daily Times]Saud Memon, a Pakistani businessman who owns the land where Wall Street Journal report Daniel Pearl is killed in late January 2002 (see January 31, 2002), apparently flees Pakistan for fear of being arrested for Pearl’s death. According to later newspaper accounts in Pakistan and India, Memon is arrested by the FBI in South Africa on March 7, 2003. He is kept at Guantanamo prison for more than two years and then handed over to Pakistani authorities. On April 28, 2007, some unknown men drop Memon in front of his house in Pakistan. He is deathly ill and unable to speak or recognize people. He dies less than one month later on May 18, 2007. Memon has been the top name on the list of Pakistan’s most wanted. In addition to having a suspected role in Pearl’s death, he helped fund the Al Rashid Trust, which has been banned for being an al-Qaeda front. While some suspect a US and/or Pakistan government role in Memon’s disappearance, it is not known for sure what happened to him for those four years. [Associated Press, 5/18/2007; Daily Times (Lahore), 5/19/2007; Indo-Asian News Service, 5/19/2007]
Entity Tags: Al Rashid Trust, Saud Memon
Category Tags: Pakistan and the ISI, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11, Key Captures and Deaths
After March 7, 2003: CIA Officer Takes Sightseeing Trip to See KSM Waterboarded
CIA manager Alfreda Frances Bikowsky takes an unauthorized trip to see alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) being waterboarded in Poland (see After March 7, 2003). Based on information from “two well-informed agency sources,” author Jane Mayer will write that Bikowsky is “so excited” by KSM’s capture that she flies “at government expense to the black site where Mohammed was held so that she could personally watch him being waterboarded.” However, according to Mayer, she is not an interrogator and has “no legitimate reason to be present during Mohammed’s interrogation.” A former colleague will say she went because, “She thought it would be cool to be in the room.” Her presence during KSM’s torture seems “to anger and strengthen his resolve, helping him to hold out longer against the harsh tactics used against him.” Bikowsky will later be reprimanded for this, and, in Mayer’s words, “superiors at the CIA scold […] her for treating the painful interrogation as a show.” A former colleague will say: “She got in some trouble. They told her, ‘It’s not supposed to be entertainment.’” [Mayer, 2008, pp. 273] Bikowsky may be interviewed by the CIA inspector general’s probe into torture (see July 16, 2003) and will later be considered for the position of deputy station chief in Baghdad (see (March 23, 2007)).
Entity Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, Alfreda Frances Bikowsky, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Alec Station
After March 7, 2003: Alleged 9/11 Mastermind KSM Repeatedly Waterboarded in Poland
After being transferred from Afghanistan to Poland (see March 7 - Mid-April, 2003), alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) is repeatedly waterboarded by the CIA, a technique simulating drowning that international law classifies as torture. He is only one of about four high-ranking detainees waterboarded, according to media reports (see May 2002-2003). [New Yorker, 8/6/2007; MSNBC, 9/13/2007; New York Review of Books, 3/15/2009] He will recall: “I would be strapped to a special bed, which could be rotated into a vertical position. A cloth would be placed over my face. Cold water from a bottle that had been kept in a fridge was then poured onto the cloth by one of the guards so that I could not breathe.… The cloth was then removed and the bed was put into a vertical position. The whole process was then repeated during about one hour. Injuries to my ankles and wrists also occurred during the waterboarding as I struggled in the panic of not being able to breathe. Female interrogators were also present… and a doctor was always present, standing out of sight behind the head of [the] bed, but I saw him when he came to fix a clip to my finger which was connected to a machine. I think it was to measure my pulse and oxygen content in my blood. So they could take me to [the] breaking point.” [New York Review of Books, 3/15/2009] Accounts about the use of waterboarding on KSM differ. He says he is waterboarded five times. [New York Review of Books, 3/15/2009] However, contradictory reports will later appear:
NBC News will claim that, according to multiple unnamed officials, KSM underwent at least two sessions of waterboarding and other extreme measures before talking. One former senior intelligence official will say, “KSM required, shall we say, re-dipping.” [MSNBC, 9/13/2007]
In 2005, former and current intelligence officers and supervisors will tell ABC News that KSM “won the admiration of interrogators when he was able to last between two and two-and-a-half minutes before begging to confess.” [ABC News, 11/18/2005] In 2007, a former CIA official familiar with KSM’s case will tell ABC News a sligntly different version of events: “KSM lasted the longest under waterboarding, about a minute and a half, but once he broke, it never had to be used again.” A senior CIA official will claim that KSM later admitted he only confessed because of the waterboarding. [ABC News, 9/14/2007] In November 2005, John Sifton of Human Rights Watch will say of waterboarding, “The person believes they are being killed, and as such, it really amounts to a mock execution, which is illegal under international law.” [ABC News, 11/18/2005]
The New York Times will claim that “KSM was subjected to intense and repeated torture techniques that, at the time, were specifically designated as illegal under US law.” Some claim that KSM gives useful information. “However, many of the officials interviewed say KSM provided a raft of false and exaggerated statements that did not bear close scrutiny—the usual result, experts say, of torture.” CIA officials stopped the “extreme interrogation” sessions after about two weeks, worrying that they might have exceeded their legal bounds. Apparently pressure to stop comes from Jack Goldsmith, head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, who is troubled about updates from KSM’s interrogations and raises legal questions. He is angrily opposed by the White House, particularly David Addington, a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. [New York Times, 10/4/2007]
The New Yorker will report that officials who have seen a classified Red Cross report say that KSM claims he was waterboarded five times. Further, he says he was waterboarded even after he started cooperating. But two former CIA officers will insist that he was waterboarded only once. One of them says that KSM “didn’t resist. He sang right away. He cracked real quick. A lot of them want to talk. Their egos are unimaginable. KSM was just a little doughboy.” [New Yorker, 8/6/2007]
A different ABC News account will claim that KSM was al-Qaeda’s toughest prisoner. CIA officers who subject themselves to waterboarding last only about 14 seconds, but KSM was able to last over two minutes. [ABC News, 11/18/2005]
In 2009, evidence will surface that indicates KSM was waterboarded up to 183 times (see April 16, 2009 and April 18, 2009).
Entity Tags: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Central Intelligence Agency, John Sifton
March 9, 2003: Condoleezza Rice Suggests Hussein Could Work with Al-Qaeda to Attack US
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice goes on to speculate on CBS Face the Nation that Hussein may eventually decide to “enlist” al-Qaeda to attack the United States. “Now the al-Qaeda is an organization that’s quite disbursed and—and quite widespread in its effects, but it clearly has had links to the Iraqis, not to mention Iraqi links to all kinds of other terrorists. And what we do not want is the day when Saddam Hussein decides that he’s had enough of dealing with sanctions, enough of dealing with, quote, unquote, ‘containment,’ enough of dealing with America, and it’s time to end it on his terms, by transferring one of these weapons, just a little vial of something, to a terrorist for blackmail or for worse.” [Face the Nation, 3/9/2003; US House Committee on Government Reform, 3/16/2004]
Entity Tags: Condoleezza Rice
March 10, 2003: Dubious Arrest Video Raises Question of KSM-ISI Connection
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed shortly after arrest. (Note: this picture is from a video presentation on prisoners the Pakistani government gave to BBC filmmakers, and it is not from the ISI video. It has been adjusted to remove some blue tinge.) [Source: BBC's "The New Al-Qaeda."]One week after the purported arrest of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) in Pakistan (see February 29 or March 1, 2003), the ISI show what they claim is a video of the capture. It is openly mocked as a bad forgery by the few reporters allowed to see it. [ABC News, 3/11/2003; Reuters, 3/11/2003; Pakistan News Service (Newark, CA), 3/11/2003; Daily Times (Lahore), 3/13/2003] For instance, a Fox News reporter says, “Foreign journalists looking at it laughed and said this is baloney, this is a reconstruction.” [Fox News, 3/10/2003] Other information about the arrest also raises questions about his relationship with the ISI (see Spring 1993). At the time of KSM’s alleged arrest, he was staying in a neighborhood filled with ISI officials, just a short distance from ISI headquarters, leading to suspicions that he’d been doing so with ISI approval. [Lateline, 3/3/2003] One expert notes that after his arrest, “Those who think they have ISI protection will stop feeling that comfort level.” [Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 3/2/2003] Journalist Robert Fisk reports, “Mohammed was an ISI asset; indeed, anyone who is ‘handed over’ by the ISI these days is almost certainly a former (or present) employee of the Pakistani agency whose control of Taliban operatives amazed even the Pakistani government during the years before 2001.” [Toronto Star, 3/3/2003]
Entity Tags: Pakistan Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Category Tags: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Pakistan and the ISI
Shortly Before March 14, 2003: CIA Allegedly Prevents Bush from Mentioning Atta in Prague Claim in Speech
In 2007, Newsweek will claim that still-classified portions of a CIA cable reveal that some White House officials wanted to mention an alleged meeting between hijacker Mohamed Atta and an Iraqi agent in Prague in a speech President Bush was scheduled to give on March 14, 2003. But after learning of the proposed speech, the CIA station in Prague sent back a cable explaining why the CIA believed the meeting never took place. Accounts differ, but one source familiar with the cable will claim that the cable was “strident” and expressed dismay the White House would try to fit the dubious claim into Bush’s speech only days before the US begins a planned invasion of Iraq. There is no proof that Bush ever saw the cable and he ultimately does not mention the claim in his speech. A senior intelligence official at the time will later claim that the White House proposed on multiple occasions to mention the claim in speeches by Bush and Vice President Cheney. While Bush never mentioned it, Cheney did on several occasions before the Iraq war began. For instance, in December 2001, Cheney claimed, “It’s been pretty well confirmed, that [Atta] did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service…” (see December 9, 2001). [Newsweek, 9/13/2006]
Entity Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, Richard (“Dick”) Cheney, White House, George W. Bush
March 14, 2003: Afghanistan Becomes Number One Heroin Producer
The Afghan government warns that unless the international community hands over the aid it promised, Afghanistan will slip back into its role as the world’s premier heroin producer. The country’s foreign minister warns Afghanistan could become a “narco-mafia state.” [BBC, 3/17/2003] A United Nations study later in the month notes that Afghanistan is once again the world’s number one heroin producer, producing 3,750 tons in 2002. Farmers are growing more opium poppies than ever throughout the country, including areas previously free of the crop. [Associated Press, 3/27/2003]
Entity Tags: United Nations, Afghanistan
March 14, 2003: Justice Department Claims Military Can Ignore Laws against Torture, Assault, Maiming, and Drugging Detainees
The Justice Department sends a legal memorandum to the Pentagon that claims federal laws prohibiting torture, assault, maiming, and other crimes do not apply to military interrogators questioning al-Qaeda captives because the president’s authority as commander in chief overrides the law. The 81-page memo, written by the Office of Legal Counsel’s John Yoo, is not publicly revealed for over five years (see April 1, 2008).
President Can Order Maiming, Disfigurement of Prisoners - Yoo writes that infractions such as slapping, shoving, and poking detainees do not warrant criminal liability. Yoo goes even farther, saying that the use of mind-altering drugs can be used on detainees as long as they do not produce “an extreme effect” calculated to “cause a profound disruption of the senses or personality.” [John C. Yoo, 3/14/2003 ; Washington Post, 4/2/2008] Yoo asks if the president can order a prisoner’s eyes poked out, or if the president could order “scalding water, corrosive acid or caustic substance” thrown on a prisoner. Can the president have a prisoner disfigured by slitting an ear or nose? Can the president order a prisoner’s tongue torn out or a limb permanently disabled? All of these assaults are noted in a US law prohibiting maiming. Yoo decides that no such restrictions exist for the president in a time of war; that law does not apply if the president deems it inapplicable. The memo contains numerous other discussions of various harsh and tortuous techniques, all parsed in dry legal terms. Those tactics are all permissible, Yoo writes, unless they result in “death, organ failure, or serious impairment of bodily functions.” Some of the techniques are proscribed by the Geneva Conventions, but Yoo writes that Geneva does not apply to detainees captured and accused of terrorism. [Washington Post, 4/6/2008]
'National Self-Defense' - Yoo asserts that the president’s powers as commander in chief supersede almost all other laws, even Constitutional provisions. “If a government defendant were to harm an enemy combatant during an interrogation in a manner that might arguably violate a criminal prohibition, he would be doing so in order to prevent further attacks on the United States by the al-Qaeda terrorist network,” Yoo writes. “In that case, we believe that he could argue that the executive branch’s constitutional authority to protect the nation from attack justified his actions.… Even if an interrogation method arguably were to violate a criminal statute, the Justice Department could not bring a prosecution because the statute would be unconstitutional as applied in this context.” Interrogators who harmed a prisoner are protected by a “national and international version of the right to self-defense.” He notes that for conduct during interrogations to be illegal, that conduct must “shock the conscience,” an ill-defined rationale that will be used by Bush officials for years to justify the use of waterboarding and other extreme interrogation methods. Yoo writes, “Whether conduct is conscience-shocking turns in part on whether it is without any justification,” explaining that that it would have to be inspired by malice or sadism before it could be prosecuted.
Memo Buttresses Administration's Justifications of Torture - The Justice Department will tell the Defense Department not to use the memo nine months later (see December 2003-June 2004), but Yoo’s reasoning will be used to provide a legal foundation for the Defense Department’s use of aggressive and potentially illegal interrogation tactics. The Yoo memo is a follow-up and expansion to a similar, though more narrow, August 2002 memo also written by Yoo (see August 1, 2002). Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will suspend a list of aggressive interrogation techniques he had approved, in part because of Yoo’s memo, after an internal revolt by Justice Department and military lawyers (see February 6, 2003, Late 2003-2005 and December 2003-June 2004). However, in April 2003, a Pentagon working group will use Yoo’s memo to endorse the continued use of extreme tactics. [John C. Yoo, 3/14/2003 ; Washington Post, 4/2/2008; New York Times, 4/2/2008]
Justice Department Claims Attorney General Knows Nothing of Memo - Yoo sends the memo to the Pentagon without the knowledge of Attorney General John Ashcroft or Ashcroft’s deputy, Larry Thompson, senior department officials will say in 2008. [Washington Post, 4/4/2008]
Entity Tags: US Department of Justice, John C. Yoo, Larry D. Thompson, Al-Qaeda, Office of Legal Counsel (DOJ), Donald Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft, Geneva Conventions, US Department of Defense
Timeline Tags: Torture of US Captives, Civil Liberties
March 14, 2003: Spanish Police Hone in on Apartment of Madrid Bomber
On March 14, 2003, Spanish police begin intensively monitoring Islamist militant Mouhannad Almallah. They locate his house on Quimicos street in Madrid and begin monitoring it too. They notice that his brother Moutaz is frequently traveling back and forth between Madrid and London. Police also apparently begin videotaping the house, although details on that are unclear. [El Mundo (Madrid), 8/10/2005] Mouhannad had been a suspect since 1998, and Moutaz since 1995, and both had already been monitored to some degree (see November 1995). Both were linked to the al-Qaeda cell originally run by Barakat Yarkas. [El Mundo (Madrid), 3/2/2005] Surveillance on Mouhannad increased after police linked him to a group of militants meeting at the Virgen de Coro apartment owned and frequented by him and his brother (see January 17, 2003-Late March 2004). The police will continue to monitor him until the Madrid bombings. He will later get 12 years for his role in those bombings (see October 31, 2007).
Entity Tags: Moutaz Almallah, Mouhannad Almallah
March 14, 2003: President Bush Waives Last Remaining US Sanctions on Pakistan
President Bush waives the last set of US sanctions against Pakistan. The US imposed a new series of sanctions against Pakistan in 1998, after Pakistan exploded a nuclear weapon (see May 28, 1998), and in 1999, when President Pervez Musharraf overthrew a democratically elected government (see October 12, 1999). The lifted sanctions had prohibited the export of US military equipment and military assistance to a country whose head of government has been deposed. Some other sanctions were waived shortly after 9/11. Bush’s move comes as Musharraf is trying to decide whether or not to support a US-sponsored United Nations resolution which could start war with Iraq. It also comes two weeks after 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured in Pakistan (see February 29 or March 1, 2003). [Agence France-Presse, 3/14/2003]
Entity Tags: Pervez Musharraf, George W. Bush
March 15, 2003: Alleged Al-Qaeda Leader Captured in Pakistan, Disappears into US Custody
A Moroccan named Yassir al-Jazeeri is captured in Lahore, Pakistan, by Pakistani police and the FBI. Al-Jazeeri is not on any wanted list and there is virtually no known public information about him before his arrest, but a Pakistani official will call him one of the seven top leaders of al-Qaeda. He is said to be linked to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in some way, who was arrested in Pakistan not long before (see February 29 or March 1, 2003). He is soon transferred into US custody. Witnesses see him at a CIA operated portion of the Bagram prison in Afghanistan in late 2003 through early 2004. One fellow detainee will later claim that al-Jazeeri told him he had been tortured and permanently injured, and forced to listen to loud music for four months straight. In 2007, Human Rights Watch will list him as a likely “ghost detainee” still being held by the US (see June 7, 2007). [Human Rights Watch, 6/7/2007]
Entity Tags: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Central Intelligence Agency, Yassir al-Jazeeri
Category Tags: Key Captures and Deaths, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11
Mid-March 2003: Al-Qaeda Operative in US Is Arrested, Informs on Others
Iyman Faris. [Source: Justice Department]Shortly after al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) is captured in Pakistan in early March 2003 (see February 29 or March 1, 2003), US investigators discover an e-mail sent to KSM from an associate in the US. They learn the e-mail is from Iyman Faris, a truck driver living in Columbus, Ohio, who is a naturalized US citizen from Kashmir, Pakistan. Faris had been working on a plot to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge by cutting its suspension cables, but in the e-mail he complained to KSM that such a plot would be impossible to carry out. Faris is secretly arrested around the middle of March, and taken to a government safe house in Virginia. FBI agents threaten to have him declared an enemy combatant unless he cooperates, and also offer to move his extended family from Pakistan to the US if he does cooperate. He agrees, and begins phoning and sending e-mail messages to other al-Qaeda operatives while the FBI watches. A senior US official will later say: “He was sitting in the safe house making calls for us. It was a huge triumph for law enforcement.” Faris pleads guilty in early May to providing material support to al-Qaeda. [Time, 6/30/2003] In late June, Newsweek reveals Faris’s links to al-Qaeda and KSM, presumably ending his effectiveness as an informant. Interestingly, Newsweek notes that Faris got a speeding ticket in Ohio in May, suggesting he was being allowed to travel. [Newsweek, 6/15/2003] The charges against him are made public days after the Newsweek article. He later withdraws his guilty plea, but is subsequently convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. [CBS News, 6/14/2004]
Entity Tags: Iyman Faris, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Category Tags: Other Possible Moles or Informants, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Key Captures and Deaths, Internal US Security After 9/11
March 17, 2003: Ricin Scare in Paris is False Alarm
A suspicious substance is discovered in a train station locker at the Gare de Lyon in central Paris. Agents find two vials of powder, a bottle of liquid, and two other vials with liquid. The Interior Ministry says the contents of the vials are “traces of ricin in a mixture which has proven to be a very toxic poison.” [Newsday, 4/12/2003] Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy calls for greater public vigilance and says there could be a connection with a network of Islamic extremists who were detained around the capital in December. Officials have in the past linked ricin production to al-Qaeda and Iraq. On January 5, British police claimed to find traces of ricin in a raid on a London flat during which five men of North African origin with alleged al-Qaeda connections were arrested (see January 5, 2003). [BBC, 4/11/2003]
Terrorism Scare - The discovery sparks widespread terrorism concerns just two days before the invasion of Iraq. French authorities double the number of soldiers in the streets to 800 and order increased surveillance in train stations and ports. Flights are temporarily banned over nuclear power plants, chemical, petrochemical and other sensitive facilities. [Newsday, 4/12/2003] Ricin, which is derived from castor beans, is relatively easy to make and stockpile. If added to food or drinks, or injected into a victim, it causes severe and rapid bleeding to the stomach and intestines. If the poison gets into the bloodstream, it can attack the liver, kidneys and spleen, often leading to death. It may be inhaled, ingested or injected. There is no treatment or antidote. [New York Times, 4/12/2003]
Alleged al-Qaeda link - US officials said in August that the Islamic extremist group Ansar al-Islam tested ricin along with other chemical and biological agents in northern Iraq, territory controlled by Kurds, not Saddam Hussein. The group is allegedly linked to al-Qaeda. UN weapons inspectors, who left Iraq in 1998 after a first round of inspections, listed ricin among the poisons they believed Saddam produced and later failed to account for. [Newsday, 4/12/2003]
False alarm - The ministry soon downgrades the assessment, saying the traces of suspected ricin are too minute to be lethal. In fact, the substance later proves to be entirely harmless. Further Defense Ministry laboratory tests show the vials contain a mixture of ground barley and wheat germ. “Preliminary tests pointed towards ricin but they were not confirmed by more complete analysis,” an official says. [BBC, 4/11/2003] They said the grain was mistakenly identified as ricin because it consists of protein whose structure is similar to that of ricin. [New York Times, 4/12/2003] However, French officials are still not entirely satisfied that the substances found are not in some way related to a planned terrorist attack. A senior Interior Ministry says the substances may be “the product of an experiment” or the remains of an effort to produce a toxic weapon. Antiterrorism police agents will continue to investigate the incident, the officials says. [New York Times, 4/12/2003]
Entity Tags: Ansar al-Islam, Al-Qaeda, Nicolas Sarkozy
Category Tags: Terror Alerts, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11
March 17, 2003: Homeland Security Raises Threat Level, Advises Americans to Buy Duct Tape and Plastic Sheeting
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) raises the national threat level to orange, or “high.” DHS director Tom Ridge tells Americans, not for the first time (see February 7-13, 2003), to stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting as protection against biological and/or radiological attacks. [Unger, 2007, pp. 293] The duct tape and plastic sheeting recommendations have become something of a national joke by this point, with Saturday Night Live comedians riffing on the topic and a Tom Ridge impersonator performing while wrapped in plastic sheeting for Ridge and President Bush at a recent Gridiron dinner. Late-night talk show host Jay Leno recently said after having Ridge on his show: “When problems seem overwhelming, simplistic solutions always seem funny. Duct tape and plastic sheeting? When the threat level goes down, it’ll be downgraded to Scotch tape and two Ziploc bags.” On a more serious note, David Ropeik of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis says: “Ridge and the department need to come up with a better way of saying, ‘Be afraid.’ They say, ‘Be alert,’ and then out of the other side of their mouth they say, ‘Go about your normal lives.’ To most of us, those messages don’t mesh. They also need to be more specific. When the threat level goes from yellow to orange, tell us what we can do besides being more alert.” Gary Hart, the former Democratic senator who helped compile the report that eventually led to the creation of the department (see January 31, 2001), says: “The idea of using duct tape to protect yourself would resonate only if people could see the government taking action to protect you. But because the government has done so little against terrorism at home, it sounded as if they were saying, ‘You’re on your own.’” Ridge may have gotten the last laugh on Leno’s show, when Leno asked sardonically: “I’m sitting at home in my underpants watching the game and, boop, we’re in yellow. What do I do now?” Ridge replied, “Change shorts.” [New York Times, 3/17/2003]
Entity Tags: US Department of Homeland Security, David Ropeik, Gary Hart, Tom Ridge, George W. Bush, Jay Leno
March 17, 2003: President Bush Justifies Imminent US Invasion of Iraq, Claims Iraq Has WMDs and Al-Qaeda Links
In a televised address to the nation, shortly before the US officially begins its invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush justifies the need to use military force. He asserts that the US has “pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime without war,” but that Iraq “has uniformly defied Security Council resolutions demanding full disarmament.” He maintains that Iraq “continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised” and “has aided, trained, and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al-Qaeda.… Today, no nation can possibly claim that Iraq has disarmed.” Bush then gives Saddam Hussein an ultimatum, warning the Iraqi leader that if he and his sons do not leave Iraq within 48 hours, the US will use military force to topple his government. The choice is his, Bush says. “Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war, and every measure will be taken to win it.” He assures Iraqis that the US will liberate them and bring them democracy and warns Iraq’s military not to destroy its country’s oil wells or obey orders to deploy weapons of mass destruction. As to the issue of war crimes, Bush says: “War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished and it will be no defense to say, ‘I was just following orders.’” [US President, 3/24/2003]
Entity Tags: George W. Bush
March 17-18, 2003: FBI Alleges Al-Qaeda Likely to Attack to Help Saddam Hussein
On March 17, 2003, the National Alert Level is raised to orange. The FBI warns of terror strikes directed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein or “allied or sympathetic terrorist organizations, most notably the al-Qaeda network.” This warning clearly attempts to establish a connection between Saddam Hussein and the terrorist activities of al-Qaeda. Interestingly, this third orange alert comes three days before President Bush invades Iraq, opening what he calls the “central front of the War on Terror.” The attack claim is debunked by future CIA director Porter Goss, then the chair of the House intelligence committee. He states that there is no intelligence which suggests a new attack. [Rolling Stone, 9/21/2006 ] The next day, the Arizona National Guard is alerted and sent to an Arizona nuclear plant because “an attack by al-Qaeda agents [is] imminent.” No attack materializes. [News Hounds, 10/9/2004]
Entity Tags: Al-Qaeda, Saddam Hussein, George W. Bush, Porter J. Goss, Federal Bureau of Investigation
(Before March 18, 2003): CIA Conducts Major Review of Iraq Intelligence; Finds No Evidence of a Link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda
After the US Department of Defense publishes several reports linking al-Qaeda to Iraq, CIA Director George Tenet orders CIA researchers and analysts—who have maintained that there are no such links—to go through all the agency’s records on Iraq and al-Qaeda and search for evidence of the alleged relationship. CIA researcher Michael Scheuer leads the effort, which combs through about 19,000 documents going back nine or 10 years. Scheuer will later say, “there was no connection between [al-Qaeda] and Saddam. There were indications that al-Qaeda people had transited Iraq, probably with the Iraqis turning a blind eye to it. There were some hints that there was a contact between the head of the intelligence service of the Iraqis with bin Laden when he was in the Sudan, but nothing you could put together and say, ‘Here is a relationship that is similar to the relationship between Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah,’ which was what Doug Feith’s organization was claiming. There was simply nothing to support that.” [Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 11/24/2004; PBS Frontline, 6/20/2006; PBS Frontline, 6/20/2006 Sources: Michael Scheuer]
Entity Tags: US Department of Defense, Michael Scheuer, George J. Tenet
Between March 16 and 20, 2003: Associate of 9/11 Hijackers Possibly Escapes US
Gulshair Shukrijumah, Adnan’s father. [Source: Fox News]Suspect Adnan Shukrijumah is able to escape the US despite growing evidence of his involvement with al-Qaeda and even his connection with some 9/11 hijackers. Shukrijumah lives in Miramar, Florida, and neighbors claim to have seen him as recently as March 15 and 16, 2003. For instance, one neighbor, Orville Campbell, says he saw Shukrijumah at a neighborhood barbeque on the afternoon of March 16. On March 20, just four days later, the FBI announces a $5 million reward for Shukrijumah, after he apparently has left the country (see March 21, 2003 and After). Just after the announcement, the New York Times reports, “Residents of Miramar, Fla., said a man who appeared to be Mr. Shukrijumah was living there as recently as last weekend.” [New York Times, 3/21/2003] It is unclear why Shukrijumah was not monitored closely enough to prevent him leaving the US. CNN reports that Shukrijumah’s name first came up in documents recovered after 9/11 associate Ramzi bin al-Shibh was arrested in Pakistan in September 2002. Additionally, his name came up again in documents seized in early March 2003 when 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan. Those documents referred to him as someone who would carry out a suicide attack. Additionally, by March 19, Mohammed identified him as one of his deputies. [CNN, 3/22/2003; US News and World Report, 3/30/2003] But those were hardly the first times US intelligence saw a link between Shukrijumah and al-Qaeda.
His father, Gulshair Shukrijumah, was the imam of a Florida mosque, and appears to have been under suspicion before 9/11 because of his links to the “Blind Sheikh,” Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman, and others convicted of roles in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (2000-2001).
From November 2000 to the spring of 2002, the FBI in Florida investigated a group of Muslims it suspected of being terrorists, including Adnan Shukrijumah. Two members of the group were arrested in May 2002 and later found guilty and given prison sentences (see November 2000-Spring 2002). In April and May 2001, the focus was on Shukrijumah, but he was careful and the FBI was only able to prove that he lied on his green card application regarding a prior arrest (see April-May 2001).
An FBI informant, Elie Assaad, infiltrated the mosque run by Adnan’s father in early 2001, and grew suspicious of Adnan and his friend, 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta. However, his FBI handlers assigned him easier targets instead (see Early 2001). Assaad claims that shortly after 9/11, he grew very upset after he realized that Atta was one of the hijackers. “I curse on everybody. I destroyed half of my furniture. Uh, I went crazy.” Presumably Assaad would have told his FBI superiors about the link between Shukrijumah and Atta, if they didn’t know about it already. [ABC News, 9/10/2009]
It appears that 9/11 hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi attended the same small mosque as Adnan Shukrijumah and Atta. Shortly after 9/11, the FBI visited the mosque and asked Adnan’s parents if they recognized any of the hijackers and if Adnan knew Atta or had mentioned trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan (see 2000-2001).
In the spring of 2001, the FBI also investigated Shukrijumah in connection with another Florida-based Islamist militant group. While the FBI developed evidence against others in the group, Shukrijumah kept his distance from the main plotters and he could not be linked to their plans (see (Spring 2001)).
Shukrijumah was also seen going to the Miami District Immigration Office with Atta and one other man, who may have been 9/11 hijacker Ziad Jarrah (see May 2, 2001).
One article published in March 2003, shortly after the announcement of the reward money to find Shukrijumah, claims that in the months after 9/11, US agents went to his parents’ Florida home six times to ask about him, but he was never there. Furthermore, his parents claimed he had been gone since before 9/11 and rarely called. His parents also claim he is innocent of any links to Islamic militancy. [US News and World Report, 3/30/2003] It is unclear if the neighbors who knew Shukrijumah were mistaken that he was still in Florida well after 9/11, or if he was able to stay in the US for a long time without the FBI finding him.
Entity Tags: Marwan Alshehhi, Gulshair Shukrijumah, Elie Assaad, Ziad Jarrah, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mohamed Atta, Adnan Shukrijumah
Category Tags: Possible Hijacker Associates in US, 9/11 Investigations, FBI 9/11 Investigation
March 18, 2003: President Bush Sends Letter to Congress Justifying Decision to Invade Iraq
President Bush sends a letter to Congress justifying the invasion of Iraq. The letter is addressed to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and President Pro Tempore of the Senate Ted Stevens (R-AK). In the letter, Bush declares that he has determined that further diplomacy will not “adequately protect the national security of the United States.” Therefore, he is acting to “take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.” [US President, 3/24/2003; Unger, 2007, pp. 293] This mimics language from a bill passed by Congress in October 2002 (see October 11, 2002), which granted Bush the power to declare war against Iraq if a link with the 9/11 attacks is shown and several other conditions are met. [US Congress, 10/2/2002] But there is no evidence linking Iraq to the 9/11 attacks, a fact that Bush has previously acknowledged (see January 31, 2003).
Entity Tags: US Congress, George W. Bush, Ted Stevens, Dennis Hastert
March 19, 2003: US and Partners Invade Iraq
A building in Baghdad is bombed during the US invasion of Iraq. [Source: Reuters]The US begins its official invasion of Iraq (see (7:40 a.m.) March 19, 2003). While most observers expect a traditional air assault, the US planners instead launch what they call a “Shock and Awe” combination of air and ground assaults designed to avoid direct confrontations with Iraqi military forces and instead destroy Iraqi military command structures. [CNN, 3/20/2003; CNN, 3/20/2003; Unger, 2007, pp. 302] The initial invasion force consists of 250,000 US forces augmented by 45,000 British troops and small contingents from Poland, Australia, and Denmark, elements of the so-called “coalition of the willing.” [BBC, 3/18/2003; Unger, 2007, pp. 302]
Entity Tags: United States
March 21, 2003 and After: FBI Offers $5 Million Reward for Information on Atta Associate
The FBI issues a reward of $5 million for information on Adnan Shukrijumah, starting a world-wide manhunt that will last for years. Shukrijumah lived in the same area as most of the 9/11 hijackers and was reportedly seen with Mohamed Atta in the spring of 2001 (see May 2, 2001), when he was being investigated by the FBI over two terrorist plots (see April-May 2001 and (Spring 2001)). Information gleaned from detainees suggests that Shukrijumah is a top al-Qaeda operative who was trained in Afghanistan and is associated with 9/11 architect Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Jose Padilla (see June 10, 2002). In May 2004 Attorney General John Ashcroft will even single out Shukrijumah as the most dangerous al-Qaeda operative planning to attack the US. However, despite reported sightings in Central America, he is still on the run in 2006 and believed to be hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan. [US News and World Report, 4/7/2003; USA Today, 6/15/2003; FrontPage Magazine, 10/27/2003; 9/11 Commission, 8/21/2004, pp. 40-41 ; Los Angeles Times, 9/3/2006]
Flight Training - US authorities claim he is a pilot and has been receiving flight training outside the US for several years, though they do not release any evidence to substantiate this. His family insists that he is neither a qualified pilot nor an al-Qaeda operative. [USA Today, 6/15/2003; CNN, 9/5/2003] A senior Bush administration official says the government has evidence Shukrijumah had attended the Airman Flight School in Norman, Oklahoma, but does not say when. Other Islamist militants, including Zacarias Moussaoui, attended that school before 9/11 (see February 23-June 2001, May 18, 1999 and May 15, 1998). The director of the school claims there is no evidence of a student with any of Shukrijumah’s publicly revealed aliases. [New York Times, 3/21/2003]
Entity Tags: John Ashcroft, Adnan Shukrijumah, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mohamed Atta
Category Tags: Counterterrorism Action After 9/11, Internal US Security After 9/11
March 24, 2003: CIA Drafts Report about KSM Interrogation; KSM Will Later Change Story regarding Almihdhar
The CIA drafts a report containing statements reportedly made by alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) under interrogation at a black site. According to the report, KSM says that 9/11 hijacker Khalid Almihdhar did not receive specialized training at a course for al-Qaeda operatives scheduled for inclusion in the 9/11 operation in late 1999 because he had already received the training from KSM. In later statements, KSM will deny this and say he gave Almihdhar no such training, adding that he assumed Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda military commander Mohammed Atef had excused Almihdhar from the training (see Early December 1999). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 157, 493] The report also states that KSM says he sent Zacarias Moussaoui to Malaysia (see September-October 2000), that Jemaah Islamiyah leader Hambali helped Moussaoui when he was in Malaysia, and that KSM recalled Moussaoui from Malaysia when he discovered he was behaving badly there. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 490, 520] The US is already aware that Moussaoui had been to Malaysia, that Hambali and KSM were linked, and that Moussaoui behaved badly in Malaysia. [US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 3/8/2006; US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 3/8/2006] Details of the report will apparently be leaked to the media four days later (see March 28, 2003).
Entity Tags: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Central Intelligence Agency
Category Tags: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Zacarias Moussaoui, High Value Detainees
March 26, 2003: President Bush Turns Down Increased Budget for 9/11 Commission
Time magazine reports that the 9/11 Commission has requested an additional $11 million to add to the $3 million for the commission, and the Bush administration has turned down the request. The request will not be added to a supplemental spending bill. A Republican member of the commission says the decision will make it “look like they have something to hide.” Another commissioner notes that the recent commission on the Columbia shuttle crash will have a $50 million budget. Stephen Push, a leader of the 9/11 victims’ families, says the decision “suggests to me that they see this as a convenient way for allowing the commission to fail. they’ve never wanted the commission and I feel the White House has always been looking for a way to kill it without having their finger on the murder weapon.” The administration has suggested it may grant the money later, but any delay will further slow down the commission’s work. Already, commission members are complaining that scant progress has been made in the four months since the commission started, and they are operating under a deadline. [Time, 3/26/2003] Three days later, it is reported that the Bush administration has agreed to extra funding, but only $9 million, not $11 million. The commission agrees to the reduced amount. [Washington Post, 3/29/2003] The New York Times criticizes such penny-pinching, saying, “Reasonable people might wonder if the White House, having failed in its initial attempt to have Henry Kissinger steer the investigation, may be resorting to budgetary starvation as a tactic to hobble any politically fearless inquiry.” [New York Times, 3/31/2003]
Entity Tags: 9/11 Commission, Stephen Push, Bush administration (43)
March 27, 2003: Security Clearance of 9/11 Commission Members Stalled
It is reported that “most members” of the 9/11 Commission still have not received security clearances. [Washington Post, 3/27/2003] For instance, Slade Gorton, picked in December 2002, is a former senator with a long background in intelligence issues. Fellow commissioner Lee Hamilton says, “It’s kind of astounding that someone like Senator Gorton can’t get immediate clearance. It’s a matter we are concerned about.” The commission is said to be at a “standstill” because of the security clearance issue, and cannot even read the classified findings of the previous 9/11 Congressional Inquiry. [Seattle Times, 3/12/2003]
Entity Tags: 9/11 Commission, Slade Gorton, Lee Hamilton, 9/11 Congressional Inquiry
March 28, 2003: First Details of KSM’s Interrogations Leaked to Press
The first details of the interrogation of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) are leaked to the press and appear in the Washington Post. At least some of the information appears to come from a report on KSM’s interrogation drafted four days ago. According to the Post article, KSM claims that Zacarias Moussaoui, an al-Qaeda operative arrested in the US in August 2001 (see August 16, 2001), was not part of the 9/11 plot and was scheduled for a follow-up attack. He also says that Moussaoui was helped by Jemaah Islamiyah leader Hambali and Yazid Sufaat, one of Hambali’s associates. KSM reportedly says Sufaat attempted to develop biological weapons for al-Qaeda, but failed because he could not obtain a strain of anthrax that could be dispersed as a weapon. This information appears to be based on a CIA report of KSM’s interrogation drafted on March 24, which discussed KSM’s knowledge of Moussaoui’s stay in Malaysia, where he met both Hambali and Sufaat (see March 24, 2003). The Post notes that if KSM’s claim about Moussaoui were true, this could complicate the prosecution of Moussaoui. For example, it quotes former prosecutor Andrew McBride saying that “on the death penalty, it is quite helpful to Moussaoui.” [Washington Post, 3/28/2003] During the Moussaoui trial, the statement about Moussaoui’s non-involvement in the 9/11 operation will be submitted to the jury as a part of a substitution for testimony by KSM. [US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 7/31/2006 ] Moussaoui will escape the death penalty by one vote (see May 3, 2006). During this month, KSM is in CIA custody and is waterboarded 183 times over five days (see After March 7, 2003 and April 18, 2009). The claim about Moussaoui is not the full truth, as a communications intercept between KSM and his associate Ramzi bin al-Shibh in July 2001 showed that KSM was considering Moussaoui for the 9/11 plot (see July 20, 2001).
Entity Tags: Andrew McBride, Central Intelligence Agency, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
March 28, 2003: Independence of 9/11 Commission Called Into Question
An article highlights conflicts of interest amongst the commissioners on the 9/11 Commission. It had been previously reported that many of the commissioners had ties to the airline industry (see December 16, 2002), but a number have other ties. “At least three of the ten commissioners serve as directors of international financial or consulting firms, five work for law firms that represent airlines and three have ties to the US military or defense contractors, according to personal financial disclosures they were required to submit.” Bryan Doyle, project manager for the watchdog group Aviation Integrity Project says, “It is simply a failure on the part of the people making the selections to consider the talented pool of non-conflicted individuals.” Commission chairman Thomas Kean says that members are expected to steer clear of discussions that might present even the appearance of a conflict. [Associated Press, 3/28/2003]
Entity Tags: 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean, Bryan Doyle
March 28, 2003: Al-Qaeda Supporter Now In Charge of Security of Nation Closely Allied with US
The Los Angeles Times reports that, ironically, the man in charge of security for the nation where the US bases its headquarters for the Iraq war is a supporter of al-Qaeda. Sheik Abdullah bin Khalid al-Thani is the Interior Minister of Qatar. US Central Command and thousands of US troops are stationed in that country. In 1996, al-Thani was Religious Minister and he apparently let 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) live on his farm (see January-May 1996). Mohammed was tipped off that the US was after him. Some US officials believe al-Thani was the one who helped KSM escape, just as he had assisted other al-Qaeda leaders on other occasions. [Los Angeles Times, 3/28/2003] Another royal family member has sheltered al-Qaeda leaders and given over $1 million to al-Qaeda. KSM was even sheltered by Qatari royalty for two weeks after 9/11 (see Late 2001). [New York Times, 2/6/2003] Ahmad Hikmat Shakir, who has ties to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (see February 26, 1993), the Bojinka plot (see January 6, 1995), and also attended the January 2000 al-Qaeda summit in Malaysia (see January 5-8, 2000), was sheltered by al-Thani’s religious ministry in 2000. [Newsweek, 9/30/2002] Former counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke says al-Thani “had great sympathy for Osama bin Laden, great sympathy for terrorist groups, was using his personal money and ministry money to transfer to al-Qaeda front groups that were allegedly charities.” However, the US has not attempted to apprehend al-Thani or take any other action against him. [Los Angeles Times, 3/28/2003]
Entity Tags: Al-Qaeda, Richard A. Clarke, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Osama bin Laden, Abdallah bin Khalid al-Thani, United States, Ahmad Hikmat Shakir
Category Tags: Counterterrorism Action After 9/11, Other Government-Militant Collusion
March 30, 2003: Alleged Female Al-Qaeda Sleeper Agent Disappears in Pakistan
Aafia Siddiqui. [Source: FBI]Alleged al-Qaeda member Aafia Siddiqui vanishes in Karachi, Pakistan, with her three children. Although she and her family are Pakistani, she had been a long-time US resident until late 2002, and had even graduated with a biology degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The day after her disappearance, local newspapers will report that an unnamed woman has been taken into custody on terrorism charges, which is unusual since nearly all terrorism suspects have been men. A Pakistan interior ministry spokesman confirms that Siddiqui is the woman who has been arrested. But several days later, both the Pakistan government and the FBI publicly deny that she is being held. Later in 2003, her mother will claim that two days after her disappearance, “a man wearing a motor-bike helmet” arrives at the Siddiqui home in Karachi, and without taking off his helmet, says that she should keep quiet if she ever wants to see her daughter and grandchildren again. Beginning with a Newsweek article in June 2003, Siddiqui and her husband will be accused of having helped al-Qaeda as possible US sleeper agents. Siddiqui’s sister will claim that in 2004 she is told by Pakistan’s interior minister that Siddiqui has been released and will return home shortly. Also in 2004, FBI Director Robert Mueller will announce at a press conference that Siddiqui is wanted for questioning. Siddiqui divorced her long-time husband in 2002. The BBC will later report that, shortly before her disappearance, she married Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, a nephew of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and alleged participant in the 9/11 plot. “Although her family denies this, the BBC has been able to confirm it from security sources and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s family.” In July 2008, she will reappear in mysterious circumstances in Afghanistan, and then be transferred to the US to stand trial for murder (see July 17, 2008). Allegations continue that she was secretly held by the US or Pakistan some or all of the five years between 2003 and 2008. Her three children will not be seen following their disappearance. [BBC, 8/6/2008]
Entity Tags: Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Aafia Siddiqui
9:15 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. March 31, 2003: 9/11 Commission Says It Will Not ‘Point Fingers,’ Family Members Are Disappointed
After his opening comments on the first day of the 9/11 Commission’s first hearing, Chairman Tom Kean says, “We will be following paths, and we will follow those individual paths wherever they lead,” adding: “We may end up holding individual agencies, people, and procedures to account. But our fundamental purpose will not be to point fingers.” According to author Philip Shenon, there is “a rumble in the audience, even a few groans,” as the victims’ family members realize “what the Commission would not do: It did not intend to make a priority of blaming government officials for 9/11.” Shenon will add: “A few of the family advocates cocked their ears, wondering if they had heard Kean correctly. They had pushed so hard to create the Commission because they wanted fingers pointed at the government. And Kean knew it; the families had told him that over and over again in their early meetings. For many families, this investigation was supposed to be all about finger pointing. They wanted strict accountability, especially at the White House, the CIA, the FBI, the Pentagon, and other agencies that had missed the clues that might have prevented 9/11. The families wanted subpoenas—and indictments and jail sentences, if that was where the facts led.” [Shenon, 2008, pp. 99]
Lack of Publicity - This hearing and the next two do not receive much publicity and Commission Chairman Tom Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton will later call them “background policy hearings in front of a C-SPAN audience.” They will later say that at this point the Commission “was not ready to present findings and answers,” since the various staff teams are nowhere near completing their tasks. For example, the team investigating the air defense failure on the day of 9/11 will not even issue a subpoena for the documents it needs until autumn (see Late October 2003 and November 6, 2003). [Kean and Hamilton, 2006, pp. 127-8]
Close to a Disaster - Referring to various problems with the first hearing, including confusion over logistics, low turnout by the public, and the discontent from the victims’ families, Shenon will say that this first public hearing “came close to being a disaster.” [Shenon, 2008, pp. 97]
Entity Tags: Philip Shenon, 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean, Lee Hamilton
March 31, 2003: US Forces Overrun Supposed Militant ‘Poison Factory’ in Iraq, but Its Poison Capabilities Appear Overblown
A Kurdish soldier allied with US forces stands on the site where the Sargat training camp used to be. He holds a piece of a US cruise missile that hit the camp. [Source: Scott Peterson / Getty Images]US Special Forces working with local Kurdish forces overrun the small border region of Iraq controlled by the militant group Ansar al-Islam. This is where Secretary of State Colin Powell alleged militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had a ‘poison factory’ near the town of Khurmal where chemical weapons of mass destruction capable of killing thousands were made. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers says, “We think that’s probably where the ricin that was found in London probably came; at least the operatives and maybe some of the formulas came from this site.” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld comments, “We’re not certain what we’ll find but we should know more in the next three days - three or four days.” [New York Daily News, 3/31/2003] In a 2007 book, CIA Director George Tenet will claim, “Shortly after the invasion of Iraq, al-Zarqawi’s camp in Khurmal was bombed by the US military. We obtained reliable human intelligence reporting and forensic samples confirming that poisons and toxins had been produced at the camp.” [Tenet, 2007, pp. 277-278] He will further claim that the camp “engaged in production and training in the use of low-level poisons such as cyanide. We had intelligence telling us that al-Zarqawi’s men had tested these poisons on animals and, in at least one case, on one of their own associates. They laughed about how well it worked.” [Tenet, 2007, pp. 350] But Tenet’s claims seem wildly overblown compared to other subsequent news reports about what was found at the camp. In late April 2003, the Los Angeles Times will report that, “Documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times, along with interviews with US and Kurdish intelligence operatives, indicate [Ansar al-Islam] was partly funded and armed from abroad; was experimenting with chemicals, including toxic agents and a cyanide-based body lotion; and had international aspirations. But the documents, statements by imprisoned Ansar guerrillas, and visits to the group’s strongholds before and after the war produced no strong evidence of connections to Baghdad and indicated that Ansar was not a sophisticated terrorist organization. The group was a dedicated, but fledgling, al-Qaeda surrogate lacking the capability to muster a serious threat beyond its mountain borders.” A crude chemical laboratory is found in the village of Sargat, but no evidence of any sophisticated equipment is found. “Tests have revealed the presence of hydrogen cyanide and potassium cyanide, poisons normally used to kill rodents and other pests. The group, according to Kurdish officials, had been experimenting on animals with a cyanide-laced cream. Several jars of peach body lotion lay at the site beside chemicals and a few empty wooden birdcages.” While a lot of documentation is found showing intention to create chemical weapons, the actual capability appears to have been quite low. [Los Angeles Times, 4/27/2003] As the Christian Science Monitor will later conclude, the “‘poison factory’ proved primitive; nothing but substances commonly used to kill rodents were found there.” [Christian Science Monitor, 10/16/2003] Journalist Jason Burke will also later comment, “As one of the first journalists to enter the [al-Qaeda] research facilities at the Darunta camp in eastern Afghanistan in 2001, I was struck by how crude they were. The Ansar al-Islam terrorist group’s alleged chemical weapons factory in northern Iraq, which I inspected the day after its capture in 2003, was even more rudimentary.” [Foreign Policy, 5/2004]
Entity Tags: Richard B. Myers, George J. Tenet, Colin Powell, Ansar al-Islam, Donald Rumsfeld, Jason Burke, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
9:45 a.m.-10:15 a.m. March 31, 2003: New York Officials Testify to 9/11 Commission, Mayor Tries to ‘Blindside’ Inquiry
At its first public hearing, the 9/11 Commission takes testimony from New York Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Pataki arrives early and insists that he be allowed to speak immediately, so Commission Chairman Tom Kean interrupts the commissioners’ opening statements expressing their pride in serving on the investigation. Pataki then reads a prepared statement pledging the state’s co-operation with the investigation and leaves without taking questions. Bloomberg testifies next. He had originally said he would not appear, but would send a written statement to be read by somebody else. Then he agreed to appear, but said he would not take questions. Then he agreed to take questions, but insisted his police and fire commissioners would not accompany him. However, he arrives with both of them and says they will take questions. Author Philip Shenon will comment, “it was clear to the commissioners and the staff that the mayor was trying to blindside them,” as the Commission had not had the chance to prepare questions for the police and fire commissioners, vital witnesses in their inquiry. When Bloomberg enters the room to testify, in Shenon’s words, “In a gesture that seem[s] designed to make his disdain even clearer, he casually tosse[s] his prepared testimony onto the witness table before taking his seat, as if this were a routine meeting of the zoning board.” When he starts, he offers an aggressive defense of the way the city responded to the attack, and sharp criticism of the way federal emergency preparedness funds are distributed. Bloomberg conducts himself in this way throughout the inquiry (see November 2003), and Shenon will write that it is never clear if Bloomberg is “genuinely furious or if his anger [is] a well-choreographed show by the billionaire mayor to intimidate the 9/11 Commission.” The Commission does not schedule testimony from former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani for this day, as it wants to wait until it better understands his performance on the day of the attacks. [Shenon, 2008, pp. 96-98, 100-101]
Entity Tags: 9/11 Commission, George E. Pataki, Michael R. Bloomberg, Philip Shenon, Thomas Kean
11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. March 31, 2003: US Government Draws Harsh Criticism at First 9/11 Commission Hearing
Mindy Kleinberg. [Source: Public domain]Following introductory statements by 9/11 Commissioners (see 9:15 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. March 31, 2003) and questioning of New York officials, several of the victims’ relatives testify on the first day of the Commission’s first hearing. One relative is selected from each of the four organizations they have formed. [Shenon, 2008, pp. 102] The relatives are unhappy and, as the Miami Herald reports, “Several survivors of the attack and victims’ relatives testified that a number of agencies, from federal to local, are ducking responsibility for a series of breakdowns before and during September 11.” [Miami Herald, 3/31/2003] The New York Times suggests that the 9/11 Commission would never have been formed if it were not for the pressure of the 9/11 victims’ relatives. [New York Times, 4/1/2003] Some of the relatives strongly disagree with statements from some commissioners that they should not place blame. For instance, Stephen Push states: “I think this Commission should point fingers.… Some of those people [who failed us] are still in responsible positions in government. Perhaps they shouldn’t be.” [United Press International, 3/31/2003] The most critical testimony comes from 9/11 relative Mindy Kleinberg, but her testimony is only briefly reported on by a few newspapers. [United Press International, 3/31/2003; Newsday, 4/1/2003; New York Times, 4/1/2003; New York Post, 4/1/2003; New Jersey Star-Ledger, 4/1/2003] In her testimony, Kleinberg says: “It has been said that the intelligence agencies have to be right 100 percent of the time and the terrorists only have to get lucky once. This explanation for the devastating attacks of September 11th, simple on its face, is wrong in its value. Because the 9/11 terrorists were not just lucky once: They were lucky over and over again.” She points out the insider trading based on 9/11 foreknowledge, the failure of fighter jets to catch the hijacked planes in time, hijackers getting visas in violation of standard procedures, and other events, and asks how the hijackers could have been lucky so many times. [9/11 Commission, 3/31/2003]
Entity Tags: Mindy Kleinberg, Stephen Push, 9/11 Commission
Category Tags: US Government and 9/11 Criticism, 9/11 Commission, 9/11 Investigations
2:00 p.m. March 31, 2003: First Expert Witness for 9/11 Commission Promotes Iraq War
Abraham Sofaer of the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank, becomes the first expert witness to testify before the 9/11 Commission. He uses this opportunity to express his support for the war in Iraq. Sofaer, a former federal judge and State Department legal adviser, will later say that he was pleased to testify before the Commission and that he knew what an honor it was to be the first expert witness. According to author Philip Shenon, the witness list was drawn up by Philip Zelikow, the Commission’s executive director, who appears to be a supporter of the Iraq war (see June 14, 2002). Despite Sofaer’s experience, Shenon will think it “odd” that he is the first expert witness, as he has “no special expertise on the events of September 11.” Instead, he advocates the recent US invasion of Iraq and champions the concept of “preemptive defense” or “preemptive war,” even against a country that poses no imminent military threat. “The president’s principles are strategically necessary, morally sound, and legally defensible,” Sofaer says. He also criticizes the perceived policy of former President Bill Clinton, saying, “The notion that criminal prosecution could bring a terrorist group like al-Qaeda to justice is absurd.” In the future, he says, when an enemy “rises up to kill you,” the US should “rise up and kill him first.” He calls on the Commission to endorse the preemptive war concept, and, in effect, the invasion of Iraq. [Shenon, 2008, pp. 103-104]
Entity Tags: Philip Zelikow, Abraham Sofaer, 9/11 Commission, Philip Shenon
April 2003: 9/11 Commission’s Zelikow Refuses to Approve Half of Interview Requests for ‘Saudi Connection’ Investigators
Two investigators on the 9/11 Commission, Mike Jacobson and Dana Leseman, compile a list of interviews they want to do to investigate leads indicating that two of the 9/11 hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, were linked to elements of the Saudi government. The list is submitted to Philip Zelikow, the commission’s executive director, for approval. However, a few days later Zelikow replies that the twenty interviews requested is too much, and they can only do half the interviews. Leseman, a former Justice Department lawyer, is unhappy with this, as it is traditional to demand the widest range of documents and interviews early on, so that reductions can be made later in negotiations if need be.
'We Need the Interviews' - Leseman tells Zelikow that his decision is “very arbitrary” and “crazy,” adding: “Philip, this is ridiculous. We need the interviews. We need these documents. Why are you trying to limit our investigation?” Zelikow says that he does not want to overwhelm federal agencies with document and interview requests at an early stage of the investigation, but, according to author Philip Shenon, after this, “Zelikow was done explaining. He was not in the business of negotiating with staff who worked for him.”
More Conflicts - This is the first of several conflicts between Zelikow and Leseman, who, together with Jacobson, had been on the staff of the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry and had researched this issue there. Shenon will write: “Leseman was that rare thing on the commission: She was not afraid of Zelikow; she would not be intimidated by him. In fact, from the moment she arrived at the commission’s offices on K Street, she seemed to almost relish the daily combat with Zelikow, even if she wondered aloud to her colleagues why there had to be any combat at all.” [Shenon, 2008, pp. 109-111]
Later Fired, Evidence Deleted from Final Report - Zelikow will later fire Leseman from the commission for mishandling classified information (see April 2003 and (April 2003)) and will have the evidence of the Saudi connection gathered by Jacobson and Leseman’s successor, Raj De, deleted from the main text of the commission’s report (see June 2004).
Entity Tags: 9/11 Commission, Dana Leseman, Michael Jacobson, Philip Zelikow
Category Tags: Alhazmi and Almihdhar, Bayoumi and Basnan Saudi Connection, 9/11 Commission, Role of Philip Zelikow, 9/11 Investigations
April 2003: British Home Secretary Campaigns to Strip Leading Islamist Radical Abu Hamza of Citizenship
Items seized in a raid on Abu Hamza’s Finsbury Park mosque in January 2003. [Source: Daily Telegraph]After learning some information about the Islamist militant connections of leading London imam Abu Hamza al-Masri, British Home Secretary David Blunkett initiates a campaign against him. Blunkett introduces legislation to have Abu Hamza stripped of his British citizenship, which he acquired unlawfully (see April 29, 1986), and then either deported or interned. However, the British intelligence service MI5 fails to provide Blunkett with all the information it has about Abu Hamza, who has been an informer for MI5 and Special Branch since 1997 (see Early 1997 and Before May 27, 2004). Even after the relevant legislation is passed in April 2003, the process is drawn out by Abu Hamza, who appeals, delays the appeal process by not filing a defense, and then argues the government should pay his legal fees. [O'Neill and McGrory, 2006, pp. 284-5] A hearing will be held on the case in April 2004 (see April 26, 2004).
Entity Tags: David Blunkett, Abu Hamza al-Masri, UK Security Service (MI5)
Category Tags: Abu Hamza Al-Masri, Londonistan - UK Counterterrorism
April 2003: US Intelligence Analysts Complain about Pressure to Tie Iraq to Al-Qaeda
Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA deputy director of the US State Department Office of Counterterrorism, will say at a National Press Club briefing in February 2004: “By April of last year, I was beginning to pick up grumblings from friends inside the intelligence community that there had been pressure applied to analysts to come up with certain conclusions. Specifically, I was told that analysts were pressured to find an operational link between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. One analyst, in particular, told me they were repeatedly pressured by the most senior officials in the Department of Defense.” Johnson, who is also a former CIA analyst, adds: “In an e-mail exchange with another friend, I raised the possibility that ‘the Bush administration had bought into a lie.’ My friend, who works within the intelligence community, challenged me on the use of the word, ‘bought,’ and suggested instead that the Bush administration had created the lie.… I have spoken to more than two analysts who have expressed fear of retaliation if they come forward and tell what they know. We know that most of the reasons we were given for going to war were wrong.” [Bamford, 2004, pp. 333-334; Falls Church News-Press, 2/2004 Sources: Larry C. Johnson]
Entity Tags: Larry C. Johnson
April-June 2003: Spanish Authorities Recognize Cell of Future Madrid Bombers but Only Arrest One of Them after Cell Is Linked to Morocco Bombings
In April 2003, Spanish police alert judge Baltasar Garzon to the existence of an Islamist militant cell in Madrid. Garzon has generally led al-Qaeda related investigations in Spain. An intelligence report to Garzon details a cell led by Mustapha Maymouni. Its assistant leaders are said to be Driss Chebli, Serhane Abdelmajid Fakhet, and the brothers Hassan and Mohammed Larbi ben Sellam. The cell is linked to the radical Takfir Wal Hijra movement and the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (MICG). The MICG is said to be led by Amer el-Azizi, who escaped arrest in Spain (see Shortly After November 21, 2001), and an international arrest warrant has been issued for him. The cell has links to el-Azizi as well. In fact, the wife of one of the cell members recently told the authorities that Fakhet and others are staying in contact with el-Azizi by e-mail (see January 4, 2003), a lead that apparently is not pursued. In May 2003, suicide bombings in Casablanca, Morocco, kill 45, and the MICG is quickly identified as the group behind the attacks. Maymouni had gone to Morocco just before the bombings and is arrested there later in May (see Late May-June 19, 2003). On June 25, 2003, Chebli is arrested in Spain for his links to the Casablanca bombings. He will later be accused of a minor role in the 9/11 plot and sentenced to six years in prison (see September 26, 2005). However, the others are not arrested at this time. The police who are monitoring Fakhet will later say they do not understand why Fakhet at least was not arrested after the Casablanca bombings due to his link to Maymouni, who is his brother-in-law. Authorities will claim he was not arrested because there was no evidence he was involved in any plot. [El Mundo (Madrid), 3/3/2007] However, this cell is being monitored by a variety of means, including the use of an informant named Abdelkader Farssaoui, a.k.a. Cartagena (see October 2002-June 2003). Even before the Casablanca bombings, Farssaoui tells his handlers that this cell is discussing launching attacks in Morocco and Spain. [El Mundo (Madrid), 10/18/2004] Furthermore, a 2002 report said that Fakhet was preparing for “violent action” (see 2002). Farssaoui will later claim that he came across evidence that Fakhet was also an informant (see Shortly After October 2003). Fakhet will take over leadership of the group after Maymouni’s arrest and will lead most of them in carrying out the Madrid train bombings (see 7:37-7:42 a.m., March 11, 2004).
Entity Tags: Takfir Wal Hijra, Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, Serhane Abdelmajid Fakhet, Mustapha Maymouni, Mohammed Larbi ben Sellam, Driss Chebli, Abdelkader Farssaoui, Amer el-Azizi, Baltasar Garzon, Hassan ben Sellam
April 2003: 9/11 Commission’s Zelikow Blocks Access to Key Document by ‘Saudi Connection’ Investigators
9/11 Commission Executive Director Philip Zelikow prevents two investigators, Mike Jacobson and Dana Leseman, from viewing a key document they need for their work. Jacobson and Leseman are working on the ‘Saudi Connection’ section of the commission’s investigation, researching leads that there may have been a link between two of the 9/11 hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, and elements of the government of Saudi Arabia. Zelikow is also involved in another, related dispute with Leseman at this time (see April 2003).
28 Pages - The classified document in question is part of the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry, 28 pages that were redacted in the final report and concerned possible Saudi government support for two of the 9/11 hijackers (see August 1-3, 2003). The 28 pages were actually written by Jacobson and are obviously relevant to his and Leseman’s work at the 9/11 Commission, but Jacobson cannot remember every detail of what he wrote.
Stalled - Leseman therefore asks Zelikow to get her a copy, but Zelikow fails to do so for weeks, instead concluding a deal with the Justice Department that bans even 9/11 commissioners from some access to the Congressional Inquiry’s files (see Before April 24, 2003). Leseman confronts Zelikow, demanding: “Philip, how are we supposed to do our work if you won’t provide us with basic research material?” Zelikow apparently does not answer, but storms away. [Shenon, 2008, pp. 110-112]
Leseman Later Fired - Leseman later obtains the document through a channel other than Zelikow, and will be fired for this (see (April 2003)).
Entity Tags: Philip Zelikow, 9/11 Commission, Dana Leseman
April 3, 2003: Ex-CIA Director Foresees Many More Wars in Middle East
James Woolsey. [Source: Public domain]Former CIA Director James Woolsey says the US is engaged in a world war, and that it could continue for years: “As we move toward a new Middle East, over the years and, I think, over the decades to come… we will make a lot of people very nervous.” He calls it World War IV (World War III being the Cold War according to neoconservatives like himself ), and says it will be fought against the religious rulers of Iran, the “fascists” of Iraq and Syria, and Islamic extremists like al-Qaeda. He singles out the leaders of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, saying, “We want you nervous.” This echoes the rhetoric of the PNAC, of which Woolsey is a supporter, and the singling out of Egypt and Saudi Arabia echoes the rhetoric of the Defense Policy Board, of which he is a member. In July 2002 (see July 10, 2002), a presentation to that board concluded, “Grand strategy for the Middle East: Iraq is the tactical pivot. Saudi Arabia the strategic pivot. Egypt the prize.” [CNN, 4/3/2003; CNN, 4/3/2003]
Entity Tags: Iran, Al-Qaeda, Iraq, Syria, James Woolsey
Category Tags: US Dominance
(April 2003): Zelikow Fires ‘Saudi Connection’ Investigator from 9/11 Commission in Dispute over 28 Redacted Pages from Congressional Inquiry
9/11 Commission Executive Director Philip Zelikow fires one of the commission’s investigators, Dana Leseman, with whom he has had a number of conflicts (see April 2003). Leseman and a colleague were researching a possible link between two of the 9/11 hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, and elements of the government of Saudi Arabia.
Blocked - The firing stems from a dispute over the handling of classified information. Leseman asked Zelikow to provide her with a document she needed for her work, 28 redacted pages from the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry report she had helped research herself, but Zelikow had failed to do so for some time (see April 2003 and August 1-3, 2003). Leseman then obtained a copy of the report through a channel other than Zelikow, which is a breach of the commission’s rules on handling classified information. Some colleagues will later say that this is just a minor infraction of the rules, as the document is relevant to Leseman’s work, she has the security clearance to see it, and she keeps it in a safe in the commission’s offices. However, she does not actually have authorisation to have the document at this point.
'Zero-Tolerance Policy' - Zelikow will later say she violated the commission’s “zero-tolerance policy on the handling of classified information,” and that she “committed a set of very serious violations in the handling of the most highly classified information.” Zelikow is supported by the commission’s lawyer Daniel Marcus, as they are both worried that a scandal about the mishandling of classified information could seriously damage the commission’s ability to obtain more classified information, and will be used as a stick to beat the commission by its opponents.
Fired, Kept Secret - Zelikow is informed that Leseman has the document by a staffer on one of the commission’s other teams who has also had a conflict with Leseman, and fires her “only hours” after learning this. Luckily for the commission and Leseman, no word of the firing reaches the investigation’s critics in Congress. Author Philip Shenon will comment, “The fact that the news did not leak was proof of how tightly Zelikow was able to control the flow of information on the commission.”
'Do Not Cross Me' - Shenon will add: “To Leseman’s friends, it seemed that Zelikow had accomplished all of his goals with her departure. He had gotten rid of the one staff member who had emerged early on as his nemesis; he had managed to eject her without attracting the attention of the press corps or the White House. And he had found a way to send a message to the staff: ‘Do not cross me’.” [Shenon, 2008, pp. 110-113] Zelikow will later be investigated for mishandling classified information himself, but will apparently be exonerated (see Summer 2004).
Entity Tags: Daniel Marcus, Dana Leseman, Philip Shenon, 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow
April 6, 2003: Iraqi Training Camp Overrun by US Forces; Allegations Facility Was Used to Train Islamist Terrorists Is Found Baseless
Overhead photo of Salman Pak, with erroneous captioning. [Source: The Beasley Firm]US forces overrun the Iraqi military training facility at Salman Pak, just south of Baghdad. The facility has been identified by several Iraqi National Congress defectors as a training facility for foreign terrorists, possibly aligned with al-Qaeda (see November 6-8, 2001). [New Yorker, 5/12/2003; Knight Ridder, 11/2/2005] The day of the raid, Brigadier General Vincent Brooks attempts to give the impression that US forces have found evidence that the camp was used to train terrorists, telling reporters that the camp was hit “in response to information that had been gained by coalition forces from some foreign fighters that we encountered from other country, not Iraq, and we believe that this camp had been used to train these foreign fighters in terror tactics…. The nature of the work being done by some of those people that we captured, their inferences to the type of training that they received, all of these things give us the impression that there was terrorist training that was conducted at Salman Pak.” Brooks says that tanks, armored personnel carriers, buildings used for “command and control and… morale and welfare” were destroyed. “All of that when you roll it together, the reports, where they’re from, why they might be here tell us there’s a linkage between this regime and terrorism and that’s something that we want to break…. There’s no indications of specific organizations that I’m aware of inside of that. We may still find it as with all operations that we conduct into a place, we look for more information after the operation is complete. We’ll pull documents out of it and see what the documents say, if there’s any links or indications. We’ll look and see if there’s any persons that are recovered that may not be Iraqi.” [CNN, 4/6/2003] However, US forces find no evidence whatsoever of any terrorists training activities at the camp. The story had a sensational effect in the media, and helped feed the public impression that the regime of Saddam Hussein was connected in some way with the 9/11 terrorists, but others, from Iraqi spokespersons to former US intelligence officials, asserted before the March 2003 invation that the Salman Pak facility was built, not for training terrorists, but for training Iraqi special forces to combat passenger jet hijackers. The facility formerly housed an old fuselage, generally identified as being from a Boeing 707, used in the training, and has been used in counter-terrorism training since the mid-1980s. A former CIA station chief says the agency assisted the Iraqis in their training: “We were helping our allies everywhere we had a liaison.” The former station chief adds that it is unlikely that the Iraqis, or anyone else, would train for terrorist strikes in an open facility easily spotted by satellite surveillance and human observers. “That’s Hollywood rinky-dink stuff,” he says. “They train in basements. You don’t need a real airplane to practice hijacking. The 9/11 terrorists went to gyms. But to take one back you have to practice on the real thing.” The US forces comb through Salman Pak, and find nothing to indicate that the facility was used for anything except counter-terrorism training. [New Yorker, 5/12/2003; Knight Ridder, 11/2/2005] In 2004, a senior US official will say of the claims about Salman Pak as a terrorist training facility, “We certainly have found nothing to substantiate that.” [Knight Ridder, 3/15/2004] In 2006, the Senate Intelligence Committee will report similar findings (see ISeptember 8, 2006). The CIA doubted reports of Salman Pak being used as a terrorist training camp as early as 2003 (see January 2003). And former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter was debunking those stories in 2002 (see August 2002).
Entity Tags: Senate Intelligence Committee, Saddam Hussein, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Al-Qaeda, Iraqi National Congress, Vincent Brooks
Shortly After April 9, 2003: US Troops Find Many Forged Documents in Iraq that Attempt to Link Hussein and Al-Qaeda
In 2007, CIA Director George Tenet will write in a book, “Once US forces reached Baghdad (see April 9, 2003), they discovered—stacked where they could easily find them—purported Iraqi intelligence service documents that showed much tighter links between Saddam [Hussein] and [Abu Musab] al-Zarqawi, and Saddam and al-Qaeda.” CIA analysts work with the Secret Service to check the paper and ink, plus to verify the details mentioned in the documents. But “time and again” the documents turn out to be forgeries. “It was obvious that someone was trying to mislead us. But these raw, unevaluated documents that painted a more nefarious picture of Iraq and al-Qaeda continued to show up in the hands of senior [Bush] administration officials without having gone through normal intelligence channels.” [Tenet, 2007, pp. 356] For instance, one forged document found in December 2003 and reported on by the press will purport that 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta went to Iraq to be trained by Iraqi intelligence agents (see December 14, 2003). Tenet will not speculate who is behind the forgeries.
Entity Tags: George J. Tenet, Central Intelligence Agency
April 11, 2003-March 2004: Ten Cole Bombing Suspects Escape Prison in Yemen, Then Are Recaptured One Year Later
Fahad al-Quso, far left, Jamal al-Badawi, in center with black cap, and two other militants in a Yemeni prison in February 2005. [Source: Khaled Abdullah / Reuters / Corbis]Ten suspects in the USS Cole bombing escape from prison in Aden, Yemen. The suspects include al-Qaeda operatives Jamal al-Badawi and Fahad al-Quso, both thought to play important roles in the Cole bombing (see October 12, 2000). [Associated Press, 4/11/2003] All ten are recaptured in Yemen in March 2004. [New York Times, 3/20/2004] After al-Badawi is recaptured, some Yemeni officials try unsuccessfully to claim a multimillion-dollar US award. Newsweek will later comment that this suggests the escape was a scam. At the time, al-Badawi apparently is friendly with Colonel Hussein al-Anzi, a top official in the Political Security Organization, Yemen’s version of the FBI. Al-Anzi will later be fired. [Newsweek, 2/13/2006] Al-Quso will later be sentenced to 10 years in prison in Yemen for his role in the Cole attack, while al-Badawi will be given the death penalty. However, al-Badawi will later escape again (see February 3, 2006), then be pardoned, and then imprisoned again (see October 17-29, 2007). Al-Quso also will be secretly freed by the Yemeni government in 2007 (see May 2007). [New York Times, 9/30/2004]
Entity Tags: Jamal al-Badawi, Yemeni Political Security Organization, Hussein al-Anzi, Fahad al-Quso
Category Tags: 2000 USS Cole Bombing, Yemeni Militant Collusion
April 22, 2003: Afghan President Gives Pakistani President List of Taliban Leaders Living in Pakistan, No Action Is Taken on It
Mullah Dadullah Akhund. [Source: Associated Press]Afghan President Hamid Karzai travels to Islamabad, Pakistan, and meets with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. Karzai hands Musharraf a list of Taliban leaders living in Quetta, Pakistan, and urges Musharraf to have them arrested. The list includes the names of senior Taliban leaders Mullah Omar, Mullah Dadullah Akhund, and Mullah Akhter Mohammed Usmani. All are believed to be in Quetta. The list is leaked to the press. The Pakistani government denounces Karzai and denies any Taliban leaders are in Pakistan. The US government declines to back the list, even though the US embassy in Kabul had helped make it. Journalist Ahmed Rashid will later explain: “The Americans were already deeply involved in Iraq and wanted no distractions such as a cat fight between the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan. [The US] was unwilling to push the Pakistanis, and the Afghans were angry that the Americans had allowed Karzai’s credibility to suffer.” [Rashid, 2008, pp. 246]
Entity Tags: Mullah Dadullah Akhund, Hamid Karzai, Mullah Akhter Mohammed Osmani, Mullah Omar, Pervez Musharraf
Category Tags: Iraq War Impact on Counterterrorism, Haven in Pakistan Tribal Region, Afghanistan
Before April 24, 2003: 9/11 Commission Executive Director Zelikow Cuts off Commissioners’ Access to Congressional Inquiry Files
Tim Roemer. [Source: US Congress]9/11 Commission Executive Director Philip Zelikow strikes a deal with the Justice Department to cut the 9/11 Commission’s access to files compiled by the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry (see July 24, 2003) until the White House is able to review them. However, he keeps the agreement secret from the commissioners and, when Commissioner Tim Roemer, who had actually sat on the Congressional Inquiry and already seen the material, goes to Capitol Hill to read the files on April 24, he is turned away. Roemer is furious and asks: “Why is our executive director making secret deals with the Justice Department and the White House? He is supposed to be working for us.” [Associated Press, 4/26/2003; Shenon, 2008, pp. 90] He adds, “No entity, individual, or organization should sift through or filter our access to material.” [Associated Press, 4/30/2003] Author Philip Shenon will comment, “Roemer believed, correctly, that it was a sign of much larger struggles to come with Zelikow.” [Shenon, 2008, pp. 90]
Entity Tags: Philip Zelikow, 9/11 Commission, Tim Roemer, 9/11 Congressional Inquiry, Philip Shenon
April 29, 2003: Two Key 9/11 Figures Captured in Pakistan
Twenty-five al-Qaeda operatives are captured in Karachi, Pakistan, including two key 9/11 figures. The captured include Tawfiq bin Attash, better known by his nickname Khallad. He is considered one of the masterminds of the USS Cole bombing (see October 12, 2000) and attended a Malaysia summit where the 9/11 plot was discussed (see January 5-8, 2000). Also captured is Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, one of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s nephews. He made travel arrangements for and wired money to many of the 9/11 hijackers. One investigator will later say, “He was turning up everywhere we looked—like a chameleon.” [New York Times, 5/1/2003; Los Angeles Times, 5/21/2006] Both Aziz Ali and bin Attash will be sent to secret CIA prisons and remain there until 2006, when they will be transfered to the Guantanamo Bay prison (see September 2-3, 2006). Bin Attash will be extensively tortured while in US custody in Afghanistan (see April 29 - Mid-May, 2003). The identities and fates of the others captured with them are unknown.
Entity Tags: Khallad bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali
Category Tags: 2000 USS Cole Bombing, High Value Detainees, Key Captures and Deaths, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11
Late April 2003: Al-Qaeda Linked Arms Dealer Victor Bout Begins Flying Supplies to Iraq for US Army
In late April 2003, the first civilian cargo planes begin arriving in Baghdad, Iraq, after US-led forces took over the city. As many as sixty civilian flights and seventy military flights arrive at Baghdad International Airport, all of them filled with supplies to replenish the US military effort and for Iraq’s reconstruction. The US military officers in charge of the airport, such as US Air National Guard Major Christopher Walker have no idea how private supply contracts were made or with whom, but they note that most of the pilots appear to be from Russia and various Eastern European countries, flying rugged Russian-made aircraft. On May 17, 2004, the Financial Times reports that many of the planes delivering supplies to US troops in Iraq are actually owned by a Russian named Victor Bout, the world’s biggest illegal arms dealer. The United Nations has placed a ban on all dealings with Bout, due to his links to the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and many other militant and rebel groups around the world. Walker has never heard of Bout, but he is tasked to look into the allegations by his superiors. He quickly concludes that many of the planes flying into Baghdad daily are owned by Bout’s front companies, and that such Bout flights have been taking place over since the US reopened the airport. Bout’s companies have contracts flying in tents, food, and other supplies for US firms working for the US military in Iraq, including a large contract to fly supplies for Kellogg, Brown, and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, the company once run by Vice President Cheney. Bout’s companies also fly for US Air Mobility Command. Walker is reluctant to stop the flow of vital supplies, and leaves the issue to US military contracting officials to hire planes not linked to Bout. [Financial Times, 5/17/2004; Farah and Braun, 2007, pp. 214-224] However, the US military does not stop hiring and using Bout’s planes until about 2007 (see Late April 2003-2007). Walker will later speculate, “If the government really wanted him bad they could have come up with a pretext and seized his planes. But I guess they looked at Victor Bout and figured this guy’s an asshole, but he’s our asshole, so let’s keep him in business.” [Farah and Braun, 2007, pp. 251]
Entity Tags: US Military, Christopher Walker, Kellogg, Brown and Root, Victor Bout
Category Tags: Victor Bout, Iraq War Impact on Counterterrorism, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11
Late April 2003-2007: US Military Repeatedly Hires Victor Bout Companies for Iraq Supply Flights, Despite Sanctions and Media Reports
Beginning in late April 2003, when the first civilian cargo planes begin arriving in Baghdad (see Late April 2003), through at least 2007, Victor Bout front companies fly supplies into Iraq for the US military. Bout is the world’s biggest arms dealer, with links to the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and other militant and rebel groups around the world. The United Nations has banned all business dealings with his companies since before 9/11. Around October 2003, the CIA apparently learns that Bout’s planes have been flying into Iraq, but this warning does not lead to any action to stop such flights. [Farah and Braun, 2007, pp. 232]
Bout Flights Exposed by Media - Starting in May 2004, various newspapers occasionally report on how Bout front companies are supplying the US military. Some actions are eventually taken against him. For instance, on July 22, 2004, President Bush signs an executive order declaring Bout a “specially designated person,” permanently freezes his assets, and bans all US business with his companies. [Farah and Braun, 2007, pp. 225, 237]
Continued Collaboration - But the US military continues to hire Bout’s companies for Iraq supply flights. One Bout front company alone is estimated to make about 1,000 flights into US controlled air bases in Iraq by the end of 2004. [Farah and Braun, 2007, pp. 225] A Pentagon spokesman will later confirm that the US military gave at least 500,000 gallons of free airplane fuel to Bout’s pilots. US government contractors pay Bout-controlled companies roughly $60 million to fly supplies into Iraq. [ABC News, 3/6/2008] Journalist Stephen Braun will later claim, “The US military insisted they had no responsibility for Bout’s hiring, because, as [Deputy Defense Secretary] Paul Wolfowitz said, he was a ‘second-tier contractor’-in other words, hired by, say, [Kellogg, Brown, and Root] or FedEx, not directly by the Army or the Marines. But there were other reports of direct contracts. [The Defense Department] made no effort to put Bout on a no-fly list early on, and made only perfunctory follow-up efforts to find out the backgrounds of the companies flying for them.” [Harper's, 7/26/2007]
Bout Flights Continue - In early 2006, it will be reported, “The New Republic has learned that the Defense Department has largely turned a blind eye to Bout’s activities and has continued to supply him with contracts, in violation of [Bush’s] executive order and despite the fact that other, more legitimate air carriers are available.” [New Republic, 1/12/2006] In 2008, Douglas Farah, who co-wrote a 2007 book with Braun about Bout, will tell ABC News that Bout may have worked on behalf of the US government as recently as 2007. [ABC News, 3/6/2008]
Outrage - Gayle Smith of the National Security Council will comment in 2007: “It’s an obscenity. It’s contrary to a smart war on terror. Even if you needed a cut-out (to transport supplies) why would you go to the one on the bottom of the pile, with the most blood on his hands? Because he worked fastest and cheapest? What’s the trade-off? Where’s the morality there?” National Security Council adviser Lee Wolosky, who led a US effort to apprehend Bout before 9/11, will similarly complain, “It befuddles the mind that the Pentagon would continue to work with an organization that both the Clinton and Bush White Houses actively fought to dismantle.” [Farah and Braun, 2007, pp. 237]
Theories - Some officials and experts believe the US military is simply being incompetent by repeatedly hiring Bout. Others suggest there was some kind of secret deal. For instance, one senior Belgian Foreign Ministry official involved in efforts to try to arrest Bout comments: “Not only does Bout have the protection of the US government, he now works for them as well. It’s incredible, amazing. It has to be the only reason why he is still around and free.” [Farah and Braun, 2007, pp. 224-225] In 2006, Bout’s companies will supply weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon (see July 2006) and an al-Qaeda linked militant group in Somalia (see Late July 2006). Bout will finally be arrested by US agents in Thailand in March 2008 (see March 6, 2008).
Entity Tags: Lee Wolosky, US Military, Victor Bout, Gayle Smith, US Department of Defense
Category Tags: Victor Bout, Iraq War Impact on Counterterrorism, Counterterrorism Action After 9/11, Counterterrorism Policy/Politics
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Wellesley faculty defend an endangered 'colleague' – in China
http://www.jeffjacoby.com/13756/wellesley-faculty-defend-an-endangered-colleague
XIA YELIANG knows that he may end up behind bars. He knows that his career in academia — he is a distinguished professor of economics at Peking University — may be about to end. He knows that he may become a social pariah, as friends and colleagues face mounting pressure to avoid him. He knows the anguish his wife may suffer for her loyalty to him.
Economist Xia Yeliang, a professor at Peking University, was among the first signers of Charter 08, a manifesto for human rights and democracy in China. Now he faces a faculty vote on whether he should be fired.
Like his friend Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Peace laureate who has spent much of the past 25 years in Chinese prisons, Xia had few illusions about what he was getting into when he signed Charter 08, a valiant manifesto calling for human rights and an end to one-party rule in China. Since then Xia has grown increasingly outspoken in his defense of liberty and his condemnation of Communist Party censorship and persecution. So when he learned that the economics faculty at his university intends to vote this month on whether to expel him, he understood which way the wind was blowing.
"I prepared myself for the worst long ago," Xia told me when I reached him by Skype on Tuesday at his home in Beijing. "If I want to see constitutional democracy come to China, I must accept this. If it happens, I will bravely face it. I will not surrender; I will not back down." In recent years he has been harassed, threatened, and followed by the police. Several times he has been detained for several days and interrogated ("Why did you sign the Charter? What is your relationship with Liu Xiaobo? What instructions have you been given by foreign agents?") A faculty vote to oust a colleague is virtually unknown in China — the last case Xia knows of happened 30 years ago. Which means, he says, that "this is not coming from Peking University. It is coming from the central leadership."
With political repression in China growing more severe, Xia doesn't expect his faculty colleagues to risk their necks for him. Some have approached him privately to commiserate, but few dare say anything openly for fear of endangering their own careers. Profiles in courage are rare in academia anywhere, let alone under a government that recently issued a directive banning discussion of seven "dangerous" Western topics. Among the forbidden subjects: civil rights, judicial independence, and mistakes of communism.
Yet faculty members have come to Xia's defense. In Wellesley, Massachusetts.
At Wellesley College, more than 130 professors — almost 40 percent of the entire faculty — have signed an open letter vigorously defending Xia's right to express his political views without fear of retaliation. They weren't just spouting off. In June, Wellesley and Peking University launched a prestigious academic partnership that will include faculty and student exchanges, joint research, and virtual collaborations. But if Xia is fired because he champions democratic liberties and criticizes the Chinese Communist Party, the Wellesley professors warn, they "would find it very difficult to engage in scholarly exchanges with Peking University." Confronted with such an inexcusable breach of academic freedom, they will ask Wellesley's administration to shut down the new program.
If that's what it comes to, Wellesley's president says she'll do it. "We will follow our faculty's lead," H. Kim Bottomly told Inside Higher Ed. If Wellesley's professors rebel at partnering with a university that engineers the punishment of a pro-democracy dissident, the partnership will end.
The presidents of Wellesley College and Peking University signed off in June on an academic partnership that will involve faculty and student exchanges and joint research. Wellesley professors say that makes Peking economist Xia Yeliang their "colleague" — and makes it their duty to defend his academic freedom.
This isn't the first time that the faculty at a major US institution of higher education has objected to being morally stained by collaboration with an unfree, antidemocratic regime. Faculty members at Yale, for example, last year raised concerns about the "lack of respect for civil and political rights in Singapore," with whose harsh government Yale has teamed up to create a new school. In a recent essay, Yale political scientist Jim Sleeper argues out that Western universities hungry for the status and dollars such joint ventures generate are pursuing the chimera of "liberal education in authoritarian places." Professors should object. What kind of message is sent when schools ostensibly dedicated to free minds and unfettered thought ally themselves with some of the world's most repressive regimes? "Pretending that freedom of inquiry can be separated from freedom of expression," Sleeper writes, "is naïve at best, cynical at worst.
Wellesley's faculty show one way to grapple with the moral dilemma: Treat every endangered dissident at a partnering institution as a colleague, and vocally demand the same freedom for him that they would demand for themselves. Wellesley's collaboration with Peking University makes the fate of Xia Yeliang directly relevant to every Wellesley professor. Xia's Chinese colleagues may be too intimidated to raise the roof in his defense. His American "colleagues" don't have that excuse — and, to their credit, they know it.
(Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe).
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Hong Kong is being strangled, and the free world just watches
In extolling 'honorable' tyrants, Trump shames America
China's corporate tools
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July 18, 2019 4:17 pm You are here:Home Education Challenges of Returning to School in Adulthood
Challenges of Returning to School in Adulthood
Posted by Editor on August 16, 2012 in Education, Latest News | Comments Off on Challenges of Returning to School in Adulthood
By: Celia Martinez
As goes the old adage, “It’s never too late to go back to school.” Adults who’ve been out of school for quite some time might laugh this off while others keep the saying quietly tucked away in the back of their minds muttering “someday, someday.”
Yes it’s true: life happens. But whether individuals never went back to school after high school, or only took a few college courses and never graduated or are ready to pursue another degree, it can be a challenge to return to school after being out for so long.
“If [adult students] have already made up their mind and they want to return to school after a long absence, it can be difficult to shift gears from a professional setting back to the academic setting,” said Jeremy Joslin, assistant dean for the School of Continuing and Professional Studies at Loyola University.
Joslin said that for that reason, Loyola University offers an introduction course specifically designed for adult students to ease them back to school. The introduction course focuses on keys to academic writing and highlights all the resources available to the students. “We try to get them in touch with all the resources they have at their disposal to increase their odds of being successful,” Joslin said.
Time and finance is also a challenging factor according to Joslin, as many adult students are living on their own, may have families (spouse/children) and possibly be working 40 hours a week. So they may find it difficult to set time aside for class and study time, which is something to take into consideration before returning to school. “Adult students face so many more challenges than the typical 20-year old student,” said Joslin. “It’s difficult to pay tuition when you are paying a mortgage or paying rent.”
Joslin said that although there are a lot of obstacles that adult students may have to overcome if they want to finish their degree, its not impossible, but they should conduct research on the college or university and see what resources they have available, if any, for adult students.
But if returning to a university seems overwhelming, perhaps a community college may be better suiting. Community colleges won’t usually offer education courses specifically designed for adult students, but do tend to offer weekend and evening classes, and the cost of tuition is also much less.
Morton College Language Arts Professor, Michele Mohr believes that community college could be a better a way for adult students to ease back into school as the college offers classes starting at 7am going into 9pm or 10pm and weekend classes which can easily work around a nine to five work schedule. But what some might find surprising is that, according to Mohr, the average age of a Morton College student is 28 years old. This could be a plus for some individuals thinking about returning to school. “When you go to a university, you may find yourself surrounded by 18-year olds,” said Mohr. “Nothing wrong with that, but when you’re 28 or 35 or 40, you might feel uncomfortable.”
Mohr said that in her experience, adult students tend to be more focused in the classroom, but finds they sometimes have difficulty coming in to class or turning in assignments on time due to a hectic work schedule. “[Adult students] are usually in and out of the classroom and don’t take complete advantage of the resources available,” said Mohr. “But if they reach out to their professors, most of us will work with them.”
The important thing to take away is that it is possible to return to school and be successful and some colleges and universities offer broad programs, services and resources for adult students. Both Mohr and Joslin agree that students should do extensive research on the college/university they plant to attend, the degree in pursuit, the cost of tuition, and if possible, the work load, in order to boost the odds of being successful.
Mohr also suggested future students to talk to current students and the professors before signing up for classes to have an idea of what to expect. “Explore a little bit,” said Mohr. “Don’t just sign up for the first class you see,” she said.
Tags: Challenges of Returning to School in Adulthood
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Home Community The White House Readout on the President Obama’s Meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Aso
Readout on the President Obama’s Meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Aso
Communities - The White House
P resident Obama today held in-depth consultations with the Prime Minister of Japan on the global economic crisis and other areas for bilateral cooperation. The President underscored his firm commitment to the U.S.-Japan Alliance and called for continued progress in modernizing the Alliance by implementing the joint-realignment initiative.
The two leaders agreed to work closely and urgently, as the world’s leading economies, to stimulate demand at home and abroad, to help other countries respond to the global crisis, to unfreeze credit markets, and to seek concrete results from the April London Economic Summit and through the G-8. They agreed fully on the need to resist protectionism.
W ith respect to regional issues, they pledged to work closely through the Six-Party process to verifiably eliminate North Korea’s nuclear program and to deal with the problem of North Korea’s missiles, as well as other matters including Japan’s abducted citizens.
Noting the importance of stabilizing Afghanistan, President Obama expressed appreciation for Japan’s extensive contributions to date and strongly welcomed Japan’s intention to play a greater role in assisting Afghanistan as well as Pakistan to improve security and economic development.
The two leaders both saw climate change as a priority for both nations and discussed ways of working together, including in an effort to assist developing nations. They pledged to build on the strong record of joint research and development on clean energy technology. # # #
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Michelle Goh Senior Associate Director, ORANGETEE & TIE PTE LTD
Singapore is made up of a multi-racial demographic with many different cultures and social customs. A small island, this relatively young country has developed into a bustling hub of technology, arts and finance in the centre of Southeast Asia within decades. One can easily adapt to its diverse culture, lifestyle, customs, food and activities. All international festivals and occasions are celebrated with equal enthusiasm and excitement. International cuisines of different nationalities are also available at various food outlets.
It's natural for anyone to take some time to adapt to a new environment and culture. The following address a few points to help make the process a little easier.
Singlish
A person relocating to Singapore for better opportunities should get acquainted with our native languages for better communication. Singlish is a predominant slang here - a local form of English which also consists of words from different languages like Malay and Chinese, as well as Chinese dialects like Hokkien and Cantonese. For example, sentences here may be accented and ended with ‘lah', in similar fashion to how some Canadians may end their sentences with ‘eh'.
Most expatriates are often offered competitive salaries with additional benefits like bonuses and recreational facilities. Other examples of said benefits include an entertainment allowance, payment of school fees, housing, childcare and a transportation allowance. With these subsidies, expatriates may find housing, transportation, food and education costs relatively cheaper than in their own countries.
Taxes & Taxable Income
Taxes in Singapore are regulated by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). All Singaporeans and expatriates employed here are required to pay income tax. The income that is taxable comprise of profits earned from profession and business, income from fulltime as well as part-time work, interest earned from annuity and pension, dividends earned from company shares, property rent and royalty.
Housing in Singapore
When moving to Singapore for the first time, Expatriates usually rent a private apartment or house. With this in mind, it's not surprising to find expatriates concentrating in certain areas that have a wide variety of condominiums to choose from.
Consider the following factors when looking for a property for the first time in Singapore:
- Budget for rental
- Type and size of property you want to live in
- Distance to work and transportation links
- Proximity to international schools if you have any young children
- Restaurants and entertainment options to spend your free time in the neighbourhood
- Distance to the airport, if you or your partner plan or have to travel often
Budget and Property Prices
Rental prices fluctuate heavily depending on the supply and demand of available units. With constant development and upgrading within such a small land area, home and property prices can be rather steep, with many expatriates opting to rent instead. These prices vary greatly, depending on many different factors like location, amenities, and size of the home.
The following table gives a rough idea of the current price range you can expect:
LOCATION PROPERTY TYPE RENTAL RANGE
Central (Newton, Holland Village, River Valley, Orchard, Tanglin)
1-bedroom apartment S$3,000 - S$7,000
3-bedroom apartment S$4,500 - S$10,000
Penthouse / 4+ bedrooms S$6,000 - S$20,000
Terraced House S$6,000 - S$25,000
Bungalow S$15,000 - S$60,000
East Coast & Bukit Timah
Penthouse / 4+ bedrooms S$3,200 - S$8,000
Bungalow S$8,000 - S$20,000
For the latest prices, check our rental listings at PropertyGuru.com.sg
Property Type - House vs. Apartment
Typical condominiums in Singapore have a multitude of facilities - e.g. swimming pools, gyms, tennis courts, playgrounds, BBQ pits, etc. They are also usually within a walled compound with security guards. Do note that because plot sizes here are relatively small, only the very luxurious landed properties have pools and other facilities.
For somebody moving from a colder climate, please remember that Singapore has a tropical climate, with more small animals and insects around than what you may normally be used to. These tend to cause more problems in landed properties, especially those close to high density areas of flora. If your budget allows however, there are also some nice bungalows that will give you the luxury and privacy that a condominium would not be able to.
Various reliable housekeeping agencies here offer quality cleaning services for offices, apartments and homes. The two prominent housekeeping services companies in Singapore are the Housekeeper's Management Services and the Association of Singapore Housekeepers.
Singapore has one of the most modern and efficient public transportation systems in the world, and travelling from any point on the island to another does not take long under normal conditions.
Car ownership can be expensive here, but the roads are well maintained and somewhat less congested than in many other cities. Public transportation is also very effective, but tends to be more concentrated in areas where locals live (HDB estates). In any case, unless you live along the edge of Singapore, your commute would rarely exceed one hour.
The main options for getting around are:
Mass Rapid Transport (MRT)
Singapore's metro/underground train system currently has three lines, with the fourth partially finished. The map below shows the locations of each MRT station as well as details of the distance to the closest MRT station for each listing. Fares range from S$1 to S$2.10, depending on the distance travelled, and if you've had to switch from a bus, and vice versa. The map can be found at http://www.smrt.com.sg/trains/images/tn_networkmap_big_030811.jpg
Singapore also has an extensive bus network that covers a much larger area than the MRT. Calculated by the distance travelled, fares can range from S$0.71 to as high as S$4, depending on differing factors like distance travelled, and the type of bus service taken. More details on the bus services and the routes covered can be found at http://sbs.streetdirectory.com.sg/sbs/sbsindexsn.jsp?map=1.
Taxis here are generally plentiful and relatively cheap, compared to many other developed countries. Fares can start from S$2.80 to S$5.00, depending on the type of taxi one hails or calls. This would probably be the transport of choice for most single professionals living close to the city centre. It can sometimes be difficult to get one during peak periods, and additional charges apply for phone bookings and certain hours.
Owning a car here is more expensive, compared to many other countries, and is not really necessary here on a whole. Most save money by using a taxi; however, owning a car gives you the freedom to move around - and heading up to Malaysia every now and then for a round of golf might be a strong enough reason to get one.
Singapore is densely populated and traffic may slow down especially during peak hours. However, the infrastructure helps to smooth out some of the issues and public transportation on the whole is still considerably better than in some of the neighbouring countries. If you still intend on purchasing a car however, but be aware of additional charges that comes with owning one:
Purchase Price - Cars here are probably the most expensive in the world due to import duties and Certificate of Entitlement (COE - a permission to own a car for 10 years, after which it has to be renewed).
Road Tax - Depending on the size of the engine, you need to pay road tax annually. This can vary from a few hundred for a small car to thousands for an SUV.
Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) - A fee is charged during peak hours (from S$0.50 to a few dollars) to access certain roads and areas (mostly in the Central Business District (CBD)). ERP locations can be found at
www.lta.gov.sg/motoring_matters/motoring_erp_location_cbd.htm
Parking - Though there are parking charges in most locations in Singapore, please note that parking in the CBD can be especially expensive. Condominiums usually have parking charges included in the maintenance fee (which is paid by the landlord).
Petrol - It may come as a surprise, but petrol is probably the smallest component of your car ownership costs. It is currently around S$1.80 / litre.
You will also need to convert your driver's license into a Singaporean one within the year. This is a relatively straightforward process, but will require you to take the basic theory test. Please note that the traffic flow in Singapore is on the left side of the road (as in UK and Malaysia).
There are a multitude of schools of great repute in Singapore, including over 370 childcare centres, offering affordable and high quality childcare services.
We also have many international schools in Singapore to cater to the needs of expatriate children. For most large groups, you have a choice of sending your children to a school which follows your national curriculum while being taught in your native tongue. We've listed the main international schools in Singapore below - please check their websites for more information.
1 Lorong Chuan, Singapore 556818
http://www.ais.com.sg/
Bhavan's Indian International School
11 Mt Sophia Blk E, Singapore 228461
http://www.biissingapore.org/
Canadian International School
5 Toh Tuck Road, Singapore 596679
http://www.cis.edu.sg/
Chatsworth International School
37 Emerald Hill Road, Singapore 229313
http://www.chatsworth-international.com/
Dover Court Preparatory School
301 Dover Road, Singapore 139644
http://www.dovercourt.edu.sg/
DPS International School
36 Aroozoo Avenue, Singapore 539842
http://www.dps.com.sg/
EtonHouse International School
51 Broadrick Road, Singapore 439501
http://www.etonhouse.com.sg/
German School
72 Bukit Tinggi Road, Singapore 289760
http://www.gess.sg/
Hollandse School
http://www.hollandseschool.org/
International Community School
514 Kampong Bahru, Singapore 099450
http://www.ics.edu.sg/
ISS International School
21 Preston Road, Singapore 109355
http://www.iss.edu.sg/
Japanese Kindergarten
251 West Coast Road, Singapore 127390
Japanese School (Primary)
95 Clementi Road, Singapore 129782 (Clementi Campus)
11 Upper Changi Road North, Singapore 507657 (Changi Campus)
http://www.sjs.edu.sg/
Japanese School (Secondary)
KGS International Pre-School (Japanese)
16 Ramsgate Road, Singapore 437462
http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~yoko/kinder/kgs.html
Lock Road Kindergarten
10 Lock Road, Singapore 108938
Lycee Francais De Singapour
3000 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3, Singapore 569928
http://www.lyceefrancais.edu.sg/
Norwegian Supplementary School
c/o Royal Norwegian Embassy, 16 Raffles Quay #44-01 Hong Leong Bldg, S048581Tel:
25F Paterson Road, Singapore 238515
http://www.ofs.edu.sg/
Rosemount Kindergarten
25 Ettrick Terrace, Singapore 458588
http://www.rosemount.com.sg/
Rosemount International School
461 Telok Blangah Road, Singapore 109022
Sekolah Indonesia
20A Siglap Road, Singapore 455859
40 Woodlands Street 41, Singapore 738547
http://www.sas.edu.sg/
Singapore Korean School
74 Lim Ah Woo Road, Singapore 438134
http://www.koreansingapore.org/
Swedish Supplementary Education School
c/o Swedish Embassy, 111 Somerset Road #05-01 Singapore Power Building,
Swiss School
38 Swiss Club Road, Singapore 288140
http://www.swiss-school.edu.sg/
Tanglin Trust School
95 Portsdown Road, Singapore 139299
http://www.tts.edu.sg/
United World College of South East Asia
1207 Dover Road, Singapore 139654
http://www.uwcsea.edu.sg/
Waseda Shibuya Senior High School
57 West Coast Road, Singapore 127366
http://www.waseda-shibuya.edu.sg/
We have provided some other useful websites for additional school matters:
Directory of Local Schools - http://app.sis.moe.gov.sg/schinfo/SIS_DirSvc.asp
Studying in Public Schools - www.croxxing.com/english/info_overview.html - in german
Fee Structure Public Schools - www.croxxing.com/english/info_fees.html - in german
Ministry of Education - www.moe.edu.sg/
Foreign Student Information - www.moe.gov.sg/esp/foreign/ and www.moe.gov.sg/csc/csc_admission.htm#Foreign
Foreign Student Admission Application Form - http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/international-students/
CQT Application Form - www.moe.gov.sg/esp/foreign/CQTForm.pdf - not working and can't find a replacement
Advice for Expatriates to Place Children in Local Schools - www.moe.gov.sg/esp/eduinfo/
School Terms and Holidays - http://www.moe.gov.sg/schools/terms-and-holidays/
Pet Relocation
There are certain restrictions imposed for the relocation of a pet brought from places other than England, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. These pets are quarantined for around thirty days. The completed license has to be submitted two weeks in advance before the import. An amount of S$50 is charged for every pet.
There is also a ban on Pit Bulls, Tosas, Akitas, Dogo Argentinos, Fila Brazilieros and Neapolitan breeds in Singapore. The Animal, Meat & Seafood Regulatory Branch in the Singapore government can be approached for obtaining detailed information on import regulations.
Senior Associate Director
michgoh1118@gmail.com
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Kaboom! Due To Trump/GOP Tax Cuts, Exxon Mobile Will Invest $10 Billion In America's Infrastructure
Reaper Message Reaper
February 6 in General
On Tuesday, February 5, 2019 , ExxonMobil announced it would invest a whopping $10 billion in America’s infrastructure as it develops the Golden Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Sabine Pass. According to Exxon Mobil, “Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2019 and the facility is expected to start up in 2024.
Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, stated, “Golden Pass will provide an increased, reliable, long-term supply of liquefied natural gas to global gas markets, stimulate local growth and create thousands of jobs. The extensive experience of ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum provides the expertise, resources and financial strength needed to construct and operate an integrated liquefaction and export facility in the United States.””
The statement from Exxon Mobil read:
The $10+ billion liquefaction project will have capacity to produce around 16 million tons of LNG per year. It is expected to create about 9,000 jobs over the five-year construction period and more than 200 permanent jobs during operations. Preliminary estimates by an independent study indicate the project could generate up to $31 billion in U.S. economic gains and more than $4.6 billion in direct federal, state and local tax revenues over the life of the project.
https://news.exxonmobil.com/press-release/exxonmobil-qatar-petroleum-proceed-golden-pass-lng-export-project
Last January, Woods acknowledged that the tax reform law passed by President Trump and the GOP Congress had stimulated Exxon Mobil’s investment. He said, “At ExxonMobil, we plan to invest more than $50 billion over the next five years to expand our business in the United States. These investments are underpinned by the unique strengths of our company and enhanced by the historic tax reform recently signed into law.”
Exxon Mobil plans to invest over $50 billion over the next five years on the Growing the Gulf initiative, which is expected to create roughly 45,000 jobs.
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) commented, “At a time when America’s existing energy infrastructure in the Gulf Coast is already under strain from increased production, the importance of these kinds of investments can’t be understated. The project will also uniquely position U.S. manufacturers to compete around the world, provide a reliable, long-term supply of LNG, cement the United States as a global leader in energy production, and take the U.S. a step closer to energy independence.”
The effect the tax cuts had on corporations was explained in March 2018 by GT Reilly & Co:
For tax years beginning January 1, 2018 or later, the corporate tax rate has been simplified to a flat corporate tax rate of 21%. This removes the former tiered corporate tax rate structure approach of 15% to 34% for corporations with up to $335,000 in revenue, and 34% to 35% above $335,000. Corporations with non-calendar fiscal years will have a blended tax rate for the first year. For example, companies with a March 31 year end will have nine months at the old rate and three months at the new 21% rate … Prior to the TCJA, the corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT) was at a 20% rate, but corporations were exempt if they had average annual revenue under $7.5 million. Beginning in 2018, the new law repeals the corporate AMT. For corporations that paid the corporate AMT in earlier years, an AMT credit was allowed under prior law. The new law allows corporations to fully use their AMT credit carryovers, and the credit may be refundable.
1.https://news.exxonmobil.com/press-release/exxonmobil-qatar-petroleum-proceed-golden-pass-lng-export-project
2.http://americanactionnews.com/articles/exxon-mobil-to-invest-10-billion-in-american-infrastructure
3.https://www.shopfloor.org/2019/02/exxonmobil-announces-game-changing-10-billion-investment-gulf-coast-energy-development-supporting-9000-jobs/?utm_medium=NAMSocial&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=Infrastructure
4.https://www.shopfloor.org/2018/10/report-gulf-coast-infrastructure-ill-equipped-handle-expected-boom-u-s-energy-exports/
5.https://www.gtreilly.com/newsletters/article/tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-impact-on-corporations
That's $60 Billion dollars that this single company plans to invest on America's economy & infrastructure. And there are 100 other companies like it that are also doing the same thing. All because of the Trump/GOP tax Cuts that the media and Democrats said won't help our economy or our people.
MAGA indeed.
Rastaman Message Rastaman
Winning! Im so tired of winning. 73% percent of Americans who tuned in to watch the MAGA state of the union address today agreed with Trump and his speech. 43% Republicans agree with it, 30% independents liked it while only 27% disagreed with it and guess who those minority were? Democrats.
70% want to hear him talk about build the wall, 93% want him to talk about his great economy, 95 wanted to hear about him talk about national security and foriegn policy. Majority agreed he is the reason for the skyrocketing economy.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/poll-majority-viewers-give-trump-thumbs-state-union-speech-n843811
2020 is already in the bag. Weep my godless friends weep.
IronYouth Message IronYouth
rastaman, to be factual at least give the error of margin to these %. Its 3+ or -3. Don't spread fake trump news.
where is the collusion my niggas?
IronYouth Feb 2019
Rastaman Feb 2019
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A Simple Way to Neuter Goldman Sachs and Friends
Companies / Banksters Apr 30, 2013 - 12:37 PM GMT
Shah Gilani writes: TBTF is the acronym for "too big to fail."
It's the crazy notion that certain banks are so large and systematically important (which really means so threatening to financial systems) that they must be kept alive by the government, because their failure would wreak havoc on the economy.
How will they be saved from their own greed? And how will we be saved from their greed so we can kneel at their altars another day?
Central banks and governments, who are not as powerful as central banks, will backstop them with printed paper and taxpayer blood. That's how they'll be saved, grow bigger, and one day rule the world.
Oh, that already happened... never mind
But wait. Now there's a new TBTF on the block. And it's even crazier than the first.
Last week Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced their own TBTF bill; it stands for "Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness." I'm not kidding.
The Brown-Vitter Bill, as it's known - I much prefer the "TBTF Act" official title - is a thing of beauty.
It's so "in your face" (if you're a TBTF bank) that it's got a lot of those smirks on bankers' faces frozen (momentarily), making them look like the Jokers they are.
Here's what it says....
Brown and Vitter are pretty sure that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which is still mostly unwritten, is too ambitious to succeed.
Dodd-Frank is a joke because it is so unwieldy and so theoretically expansive. Not only will it never be completed, it was designed to be unwieldy so loopholes woven through all aspects of it would give banks the backdoor relief they need from it.
Brown and Vitter know this. So they've proposed legislation that leapfrogs the "molasses approach" to safeguarding the economy and the citizenry. Instead it attacks the very castles that are the TBTF banks.
They want to break them up. And they've come up with a simple way to do it.
The TBTF Act calls for banks with between $50 billion and $500 billion in assets to maintain an 8% capital ratio. Basically, that means they have to have 8% of their assets in equity, which amounts to an 8% buffer against all their assets losing 8% of their value.
Beyond that, it gets scary.
Because the too-big-to-fail banks are so much bigger and so much more of a threat on account of their size and interconnectedness, the TBTF Act calls for them (those with more than $500 billion) to maintain a 15% capital reserve ratio.
According to Goldman Sachs, who looked at the B-V bill, the big banks have raised their capital levels to $400 billion since the financial crisis, but will need an additional $1 trillion in capital if the B-V bill becomes law.
In other words, it's such a tall order, and one they won't be able to meet now, that they will have to sell assets and essentially break themselves up in order to comply.
Oh the humanity!
And that's not all the TBTF Act calls for.
It calls for bank holding companies (BHCs) to separately capitalize their affiliates. (BHC entities, by the way, are a device to manipulate regulations and capital requirements...yeah, that's what I said, because that's what they are.) That means no more shuffling assets and liabilities to play dangerous parlor games.
The Act also calls for banks to count off-balance sheet obligations (for real) and incorporate onto their balance sheets the counterparty risks they face with the trillions of dollars of derivatives exposure they routinely want regulators and us to assume is all kosher.
And what I especially like is that BHC affiliates that are not depository institutions, which will have to have their own capital, won't be granted any FDIC backstopping and won't have access to the Fed's Discount Window. Of course, they'll have to expand those ring-fence plans so the Fed doesn't create backdoor help by other means.
There's more to the TBTF Act, but suffice it to say, it essentially calls the breakup of too-big-to-fail banks and simpler, more straightforward "laws" that - to my greatest hope and enthusiasm - essentially reconstitute that old, venerable humpty dumpty... Glass-Steagall.
Will the TBTF Act have a snowball's chance in Hell?
No. Not without our support.
I look forward to hearing what you all think about the proposed bill - please leave your comments below. And I'm going to see what I can do about creating an avenue here, for us to reach out to our Congress, and everyone who needs to hear our footsteps, so we can be cause in the matter.
That includes telling them that we want TERM LIMITS.
We are watching them.
Source :http://moneymorning.com/2013/04/30/a-simple-scary-way-to-neuter-goldman-sachs-and-friends/
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Home > About Massey > News > Opinion: Does NZ need a banking Royal Commission?
Opinion: Does NZ need a banking Royal Commission?
AMP chief executive Craig Mellor announced his resignation after revelations that AMP clients were charged for advice they did not receive.
By Dr Claire Matthews
One banking boss collapsed under cross-examination, another resigned after revelations that clients were charged for services they did not receive. There’s no doubt Australia’s Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry has had the media glued to their seats.
But given the largest banks here are owned by the ‘Big Four’ Australian banks, New Zealand is following events with particular interest. The question that many are asking is, “Should we have concerns about the same issues in New Zealand?”
First of all, it is important to note that the Royal Commission’s remit ranges beyond the banks into the wider financial services market in Australia, but some of those organisations, such as AMP, also operate in New Zealand. To date, there have been two rounds of public hearings to address consumer lending and financial advice. The next round, in May, is focused on SMEs, and further rounds will follow.
So, let’s take a look at the issues raised so far and whether they apply to the New Zealand financial services environment.
Do we have a consumer lending crisis?
The main concerns raised during the first round of hearings on consumer lending related to loans made to people who could not afford them, and the involvement of mortgage brokers in the home loan process. In 2014, New Zealand added responsible lending principles to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003.
The Act says: “A lender must, in relation to an agreement with a borrower, make reasonable inquiries, before entering into the agreement, so as to be satisfied that it is likely that … the borrower will make the payments under the agreement without suffering substantial hardship” – that is, the lender must be confident the borrower can afford to repay the loan.
This should provide confidence that lenders in New Zealand are not making loans to people who cannot afford them, but Australia has similar regulatory requirements, which suggests this confidence may be misplaced. Nevertheless, while lenders may not get it right every time, there does not appear to be widespread examples of inappropriate loans being made in New Zealand.
Massey University banking expert Dr Claire Matthews.
Mortgage broker remuneration
The issue of mortgage brokers primarily relates to the way they are remunerated. In both countries, mortgage brokers generally offer their services free to their clients and are remunerated by the lenders via commission made up of an upfront payment and a trail commission paid until the loan is repaid. The Royal Commission has heard the structure of commission payments in Australia incentivises mortgage brokers to maximise the size and term of the loan to maximise their own remuneration.
The New Zealand situation is different, as the balance between upfront and trail commissions here are weighted towards upfront commissions. This view is supported by occasional complaints of churn by mortgage brokers seeking a new upfront commission by assisting a client to refinance with another lender.
Questions about the quality
While the hearings on financial advice are still underway, two key issues have been getting publicity: the quality of advice provided, and the charging of fees to dead clients.
The quality of advice issue appears focused on superannuation savings, and this is an area where there is a key difference between the two financial systems. New Zealand does not have compulsory retirement savings – the closest we have is KiwiSaver, which is fully implemented via managed investments with KiwiSaver providers. Much of Australia’s compulsory retirement savings are managed investments too, but Australians also have the option of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs). These have regulatory advantages over ordinary managed funds.
With SMSFs, the few members are usually also the trustees and have responsibility for complying with super and tax laws. There are considerable opportunities for professional advisers to assist with SMSF administration and management, for a fee. The issues raised at the Royal Commission appear to primarily relate to SMSFs and are not confined to banks. We don’t have anything equivalent to SMSFs in New Zealand, so similar issues are unlikely here.
It is worth noting, however, that concerns have been raised in New Zealand about the independence of bank staff providing advice, and the impact this may have on the quality of the advice provided. In part, this concern is about banks advising customers to purchase the bank’s own products, but this does not automatically mean that the advice is not appropriate, as has been suggested.
Charging the dead
Charging fees to deceased customers is also not necessarily wrong. It very much depends on the type of fees being charged and the service being provided. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission notes ongoing financial advice fees may cover regular reviews with the financial adviser, regular investment portfolio reports, access to the adviser, newsletters and seminar invitations. The estate of a deceased customer may still require some of these services, particularly the reports. A fee would therefore still be appropriate, but you would expect it to be a reduced fee due to the more limited service provided.
Do we need a Royal Commission here?
In New Zealand, public concern is focused primarily on the banks, so it is useful to examine statistics from the Banking Ombudsman. In the five years to June 2017, the Banking Ombudsman Scheme completed 1264 disputes, averaging 252 per year. Of those, 9.5 per cent were resolved solely in favour of the customer, with a further 22.2 per cent resolved with a result for both parties. By contrast, more than half (52.5 per cent) were resolved in favour of the bank, including those that were withdrawn or abandoned. This does not support widespread issues in the banking sector.
While New Zealanders regularly complain about their banks, and have an innate distrust of their motives, if a Royal Commission was held here I doubt there would be widespread problems uncovered. Sure, there would be cases of inappropriate behaviour by financial services firms and their staff, but I believe such cases would be isolated examples and not indicative of endemic issues within the sector.
The regulatory environment in New Zealand is similar to that in Australia, but sufficiently different to suggest the regulated behaviour would be different. Possibly more important is the culture of financial services firms in the two countries is quite different. But if a ‘lite’ version of the Australian Royal Commission was helpful in addressing New Zealanders’ distrust of the sector, then it’s an exercise that’s probably worth considering.
Dr Claire Matthews is the director of academic programmes at the Massey Business School and a financial services researcher.
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Politics of the Republic of China
This article is about the politics of the state commonly known as Taiwan. For the article about the politics of the People's Republic of China, see Politics of China.
Politics of the ROC, which is de facto located in Taiwan
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Additional Articles of the
Constitution of the Republic of China
Original Constitution
President (list)
Vice President (list)
Chen Chien-jen
Premier (list)
Su Tseng-chang
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Shih Jun-ji
Su Jia-chyuan
Deputy Speaker
Tsai Chi-chang
Ninth Legislative Yuan
President and Chief Justice
Hsu Tzong-li
Tsai Jung-dwen
Examination Yuan
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Chang Po-ya
Central Election Commission
Chairperson Lee Chin-yung
Legislative elections
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The politics of the Republic of China take place in a framework of a representative democratic republic, whereby the President is head of state and the Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) is head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in primarily with the parliament and limited by government. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The party system is dominated by the Kuomintang (KMT, "Chinese Nationalist Party"), which favors closer links to mainland China, and the Democratic Progressive Party, which favors Taiwanese independence.
The ROC currently consists of Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores) as well as portions of the Fujian Province (Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu) and several smaller islands. Taiwan's six major cities, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, and Taoyuan, are special municipalities. The rest of the territories are divided into 3 cities and 13 counties.
2 Political history
2.1 Republic of China on Mainland China, 1911–1949
2.2 Political structure
2.3 Republic of China on Taiwan since 1949
3 Political status and the major camps
4 Current political issues
5 National identity
6.1 Presidency
6.2 National Assembly
6.3 Executive Yuan
6.4 Legislative Yuan
6.5 Judicial Yuan
6.6 Control Yuan
6.7 Examination Yuan
7 Political parties and elections
7.1 Recent Elections
7.2 Political Parties
8 Political conditions
9 ROC and PRC
10 Administrative divisions
See also: Political status of Taiwan
The ROC is governed under the Constitution of the Republic of China which was drafted in 1947 before the fall of the Chinese mainland to the Communist Party of China and outlined a government for all of China. Significant amendments were made to the Constitution in 1991, and there have been a number of judicial interpretations made to take into account the fact that the Constitution covers a much smaller area than originally envisioned.
The government in Taipei officially asserts to be the sole legitimate government of all of China, which it defined as including Taiwan, mainland China, and outer Mongolia. In keeping with that claim, when the KMT fled to Taipei in 1949, they re-established the full array of central political bodies, which had existed in mainland China in the de jure capital of Nanjing (Nanking). While much of this structure remains in place, the President Lee Teng-hui in 1991 unofficially abandoned the government's claim of sovereignty over mainland China, stating that they do not "dispute the fact that the Communists control mainland China." However, the National Assembly has not officially changed the national borders, as doing so may be seen as a prelude to formal Taiwanese independence. The People's Republic of China has several times threatened to start a war if the government of Taiwan formalizes independence; as in the Anti-Secession Law. It should be noted that neither the National Assembly nor the Supreme Court has actually defined what the term "existing national boundaries," as stated in the constitution, actually means. The latter refused to do so claiming that it is a "major political issue".
Political history[edit]
Main article: History of the Republic of China
Republic of China on Mainland China, 1911–1949[edit]
The Presidential Building in Nanjing before 1949.
The original founding of the Republic centered on the Three Principles of the People (traditional Chinese: 三民主義; simplified Chinese: 三民主义; pinyin: sān mín zhǔ yì): nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood. Nationalism meant the Han Chinese race standing up against Manchu rule and Japanese and Western interference, democracy meant elected rule modeled after Japan's parliament, and people's livelihood or socialism, meant government regulation of the means of production. Another lesser known principle that the Republic was founded upon was five races under one union" (五族共和), which emphasized the harmony of the five major ethnic groups in China as represented by the colored stripes of the original Five-Colored Flag of the Republic. However, this five races under one union principle and the corresponding flag were abandoned in 1927.
In reality these three principles were left unrealized. Republican China was marked by warlordism, foreign invasion, and civil war. Although there were elected legislators, from its inception, it was actually a largely one-party dictatorship apart from some minor parties,[1] including the Chinese Youth Party,[2] the National Socialist Party and the Rural Construction Party,[3] with suppression of dissent within the KMT of communists. As the central government was quite weak, little could be done in terms of land reform or redistribution of wealth either. Politics of this era consisted primarily of the political and military struggle between the KMT and the Communist Party of China (CPC) in between bouts of active resistance against Japanese invasion.
Political structure[edit]
The first national government of the Chinese Republic was established on 1 January 1912, in Nanjing, with Sun Yat-sen as the provisional president. Provincial delegates were sent to confirm the authority of the national government, and they later also formed the first parliament. The power of this national government was both limited and short-lived, with generals controlling all of central and northern China. The limited acts passed by this government included the formal abdication of the Qing dynasty and some economic initiatives.
Shortly after the rise of Yuan Shikai, the parliament's authority became nominal; violations of the Constitution by Yuan were met with half-hearted motions of censure, and KMT members of the parliament that gave up their membership to the KMT were offered 1,000 pounds. Yuan maintained power locally by sending military generals to be provincial governors or by obtaining the allegiance of those already in power. Foreign powers came to recognize Yuan's power as well: when Japan came to China with Twenty-One Demands, it was Yuan that submitted to them, on 25 May 1915.
After the death of Yuan in 1916, the parliament of 1913 was reconvened to give legitimacy to a new government. However, the real power of the time passed to military leaders, forming the warlord period. Still, the powerless government had its use—when World War I began, several Western powers and Japan wanted China to declare war on Germany, in order to liquidate the latter's holdings there.
From the beginning to the end of Republican China, political power was generally exercised through both legal and non-legal means. Yuan ruled as a dictator, remolding the constitution as he saw fit; warlords withdrew from the Republic, ruling through military control; and Chiang based his political power on military power. During this time, Chiang ruled more as a dictator than as a leader of a one-party state. He used white terror tactics and various military campaigns to destroy the CPC, and the police and military apparatus were freely used to attack dissenters. However, Chiang's influence never extended beyond the Yangtze Delta, and the rest of the country was under the effective control of former warlords, and Chiang faced insurrections from them throughout the 1930s, even after the Northern Expedition, which had nominally unified the country. Regional political power remained strong throughout Republican China, and central authority deteriorated continuously until the Second Sino-Japanese War, to the point that Chiang became no more than the "head of a loose coalition," as observed by Albert Wedemeyer.
Republic of China on Taiwan since 1949[edit]
This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2016)
The Presidential Building in Taipei. The Presidential Building has housed the Office of the President of the Republic of China since 1950. It is located in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei. It formerly housed the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan, during the period of Japanese rule.
After the death of Chiang Kai-shek in 1975, Vice President Yen Chia-kan briefly took over from 1975 to 1978, according to the Constitution, but the actual power was in the hands of Premier Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), who was KMT chairman and a son of Chang Kai-shek. During the presidency of Chiang Ching-kuo from 1978 to 1988, Taiwan's political system began to undergo gradual liberalization.
After the lifting of martial law, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (民主進步黨) was formed and allowed to participate overtly in politics. After Chiang Ching-kuo died in 1988, Vice President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) succeeded him as the first Taiwan-born president and chairman of the KMT. Lee became the first ROC president elected by popular vote in 1996, despite the PRC's missile tests.
In 2000, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected president, marking the first peaceful democratic transition of power to an opposition party in ROC history and a decisive end to the KMT's monopoly in administration of the central government.[4][4]
In the 2004 presidential election, the day after being shot while campaigning, Chen was reelected by a narrow margin of 0.2%.[5] The KMT filed lawsuits to demand a recount, alleged voting fraud and staged huge rallies to demand a new election. The courts ruled that the election was accurate and valid.
In both of Chen's terms, the DPP and the independence-leaning Pan-Green Coalition failed to secure a majority in the legislature, losing to the KMT and the pro-unification leaning Pan-Blue Coalition. This has led to many impasses; the president in the ROC system does not have the power of veto, so the legislature does not feel the need to negotiate with the executive branch.
Political status and the major camps[edit]
One key issue has been the political status of Taiwan itself.[6] With the diplomatic isolation brought about in the 1970s and 1980s, the notion of "recovering the mainland" by force has been dropped and the Taiwanese localization movement strengthened. The relationship with the People's Republic of China and the related issues of Taiwan independence and Chinese reunification continue to dominate Taiwanese politics.
The political scene in the ROC is divided into two camps, with the pro-unification KMT, People First Party (PFP), and New Party forming the Pan-Blue Coalition; and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and strongly pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) forming the Pan-Green Coalition. Because of the dominance of the reunification-independence issue in Taiwan's political scene, it is difficult to categorise either camp as "right" or "left" on the conventional basis of economic or social policies.
Supporters of the Pan-Green camp tend to favor emphasizing the Republic of China as being a distinct country from the People's Republic of China. Many Pan-Green supporters seek formal Taiwan independence and for dropping the title of the Republic of China. However, more progressive members of the coalition, such as former President Chen Shui-bian, have moderated their views and claim that it is unnecessary to proclaim independence because Taiwan is already "an independent, sovereign country" and that the Republic of China is the same as Taiwan. Some members take a much more extreme view about Taiwan's status, claiming that the ROC is nonexistent and calling for the establishment of an independent "Republic of Taiwan". Supporters of this idea have even gone as far as issuing self-made "passports" for their republic. Attempts to use these "passports" however, have been stopped by officials at Chang Kai-shek International Airport.
While the Pan-Green camp favors Taiwan having an identity separate from that of China, some Pan-Blue members, especially former leaders from the older generation, seem to be strongly supportive of the concept of the Republic of China, which remains an important symbol of their links with China. During his visit to mainland China in April 2005, former KMT Party Chairman Lien Chan reiterated his party's belief in the "One China" policy that states that there is only one China controlled by two governments and that Taiwan is a part of China. PFP Party Chair James Soong expressed the same sentiments during his visit in May. In contrast to the positions of these two leaders of the older generation, the more mainstream Pan-Blue position is to pursue negotiations with the PRC to immediately open direct transportation links with China and to lift investment restrictions. With regards to independence, the mainstream Pan-Blue position is to simply maintain the ROC's current state, and being open to negotiations for unification after China is democratized enough to respect human rights.
For its part, the PRC has indicated that it finds a Republic of China far more acceptable than an independent Taiwan. Ironically, although it views the ROC as an illegitimate entity, it has stated that any effort on Taiwan to formally abolish the ROC or formally renounce its claim over mainland China would result in a strong and possibly military reaction. However, the defense of Taiwan by the US and Japan is likely, so it is not, in reality, clear what the PRC reaction would be. The US's current position is that the Taiwan issue must be resolved peacefully and that it condemns unilateral action by either side, an unprovoked invasion by China or a declaration of formal independence by Taiwan.[7]
Current political issues[edit]
A highway section in Taipei, Taiwan.
The dominant political issue today in the Taiwan Area in the Republic of China (ROC) is its relationship with the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that has jurisdiction over Mainland China. Specifically, many people in Taiwan desire the opening of direct transportation links with mainland China, including direct flights, which would aid many Taiwanese businesses that have opened factories or branches in mainland China. The former DPP administration feared that such links will lead to tighter economic and thus political integration with the PRC, and in the 2006 Lunar New Year Speech, Chen Shui-bian called for managed opening of links.
Mainland China and Taiwan resumed regular direct flights or cross-Strait relations on 4 July 2008, after six decades, as a "new start" in their tense relations. Liu Shaoyong, chair of China Southern Airlines, piloted the first flight from Guangzhou to Taipei (Taoyuan International Airport). Simultaneously, a Taiwan-based China Airlines flight flew to Shanghai. Five mainland Chinese cities will be connected with eight Taiwan airports, with 4 days a week, 36 round-trip flights across the Taiwan Strait, thereby eliminating time-consuming Hong Kong stopovers.[8] Other major political issues include the passage of an arms procurement bill that the United States authorized in 2001.[9] In 2008, however, the United States were reluctant to send over more arms to Taiwan out of fear that it would hinder the recent improvement of ties between China and Taiwan.[10] Another major political issue, is the establishment of a National Communications Commission to take over from the Government Information Office, whose advertising budget exercised great control over the media.[11]
Banking reform, including consumer finance (limiting rates on credit cards) and bank mergers, is also a major issue. Taiwan's financial sector is quite unwieldy, with over 48 banks, none of which have a market share over 10%. In addition, the government controls 50% to 60% of Taiwan's banking assets. The ultimate aim is the creation of large financial institutions that will then have the ability to compete internationally.
The politicians and their parties have themselves become major political issues. Corruption among some DPP administration officials has been exposed. In early 2006, President Chen Shui-bian was linked to possible corruption. The political effect on President Chen Shui-bian was great, causing a divide in the DPP leadership and supporters alike. It eventually led to the creation of a political camp led by ex-DPP leader Shih Ming-teh which believes the president should resign. The KMT assets continue to be another major issue, as it was once the richest political party in the world.[12] Nearing the end of 2006, KMT's chairman Ma Ying-jeou was also hit by corruption controversies, although he has since then been cleared of any wrong-doings by the courts.[13] Since completing his second term as President, Chen Shui-bian has been charged with corruption and money laundering.[14]
The merger of the KMT and People First Party (PFP) was thought to be certain, but a string of defections from the PFP to the KMT have increased tensions within the Pan-Blue camp.[15][16]
In 2006, due to the Pacific Sogo Department Store scandal, the pro-KMT Pan-Blue Coalition moved to impeach the President but failed to obtain the requisite number of votes in the legislature.[17] This failure led to a "Down Ah-Bian" campaign, which sought to pressure the president to resign from office. The campaign began on 1 September 2006. Campaign organizers claimed that the first day of the strike attracted 300,000 people in Taipei, while the police estimated the number to be closer to 90,000[citation needed]. The "Down Ah-Bian" event was being led by activist and politician Shih Ming-te (施明德) as a peaceful sit-in around the capital, besieging the presidential residence. While the protests have been largely peaceful, there have been isolated incidences of violence associated with the campaign, including fist fights between Pan-Blue and Pan-Green (pro-DPP) legislatures. The "Up Ah-Bian" event was organized to counteract the "Down Ah-Bian" campaign. On 13 October 2006, the Pan-Blue Coalition attempted again to pass a recall motion against the ROC President Chen Shui-bian, which also failed to garner sufficient votes in the legislature.[18]
On 3 November 2006, prosecutors in Taiwan stated that they have enough evidence to indict Chen's wife on corruption charges in connection with her handling of a secret diplomatic fund. According to the prosecutors, while Chen would not be indicted while in office, there is a possibility that he would be indicted after he leaves office.
In February 2007, Mr. Chen Shui-bian said that Taiwan will have to upgrade its weaponry to maintain the military balance with mainland China. He believes that Taiwan's advantage is slipping against mainland China's rising military prowess.[19]
National identity[edit]
Main articles: Taiwanese identity and Chinese nationalism
Roughly 84% of Taiwan's population descends from Han Chinese who migrated from mainland China between 1661 and 1895. Another significant fraction descends from Han Chinese who immigrated from mainland China in the 1940s and 1950s. But between 1895 and the present, Taiwan and mainland China have shared a common government for only 4 years. The shared cultural origin combined with several hundred years of geographical separation, some hundred years of political separation and foreign influences, as well as hostility between the rival Taiwan and China have resulted in national identity being a contentious issue with political overtones. Since democratization and the lifting of martial law, a distinct Taiwanese identity (as opposed to Taiwanese identity as a subset of a Chinese identity) is often at the heart of political debates. Its acceptance makes the island distinct from mainland China, and therefore may be seen as a step towards forming a consensus for de jure Taiwan independence.[20] The pan-green camp supports a distinct Taiwanese identity, while the pan-blue camp supports a Chinese identity only.[21] The KMT has downplayed this stance in the recent years and now supports a Taiwanese identity as part of a Chinese identity.[22][23]
According to a survey conducted in March 2009, 49% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese only, and 44% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese and Chinese. 3% consider themselves as only Chinese.[24] Another survey, conducted in Taiwan in July 2009, showed that 82.8% of respondents consider that Taiwan and China are two separate countries developing each on its own.[25] A recent survey conducted in December 2009 showed that 62% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese only, and 22% of the respondents consider themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese. 8% consider themselves as only Chinese. The survey also shows that among 18- to 29-year-old respondents, 75% consider themselves as Taiwanese only.[26]
Percentage of Taiwanese residents who consider themselves Taiwanese, Chinese or Taiwanese and Chinese according to various surveys.
Taiwanese and Chinese
Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission, Executive Yuan (April 2008)[27] 67.1% 13.6% 15.2%
TVBS Poll Center (June 2008)[27] 45% 4% 45%
Common Wealth Magazine (December 2009)[26] 62% 8% 22%
National Chengchi University (June 2010)[28] 51.6% 3.8% 40.4%
TVBS Poll Center (March 2009)[24][29] 72% 16% (not an option for this question)
TVBS Poll Center (March 2009)[24][30] 49% 3% 44%
Main article: Government of the Republic of China
Main office holders
President Tsai Ing-wen Democratic Progressive Party 20 May 2016
Premier Su Tseng-chang Democratic Progressive Party 11 January 2019
Executive Yuan
Legislative Yuan
Judicial Yuan
Presidency[edit]
Main articles: President of the Republic of China and Vice President of the Republic of China
The President is the head of state of the Republic of China and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president has authority over the five administrative branches (Yuan): Executive, Legislative, Control, Judicial, and Examination.
National Assembly[edit]
Main article: National Assembly of the Republic of China
The National Assembly of the Republic of China was elected in mainland China in 1947 to officially carry out the duties of choosing the president, to amend the constitution, and to exercise the sovereignty of the citizens, but in actuality, the Assembly's role in Taipei seemed to reconfirm the executive powers of President Chang Kai-shek. The National Assembly was re-established on Taiwan when the government moved. Because it was impossible to hold subsequent elections to represent constituencies in mainland China, representatives elected in 1947-48 held these seats "indefinitely." In June 1990, however, the Council of Grand Justices mandated the retirement, effective December 1991, of all remaining "indefinitely" elected members of the National Assembly, Legislative Yuan, and other bodies.
The second National Assembly, elected in 1991, was composed of 325 members. The majority was elected directly; 100 were chosen from party slates in proportion to the popular vote. This National Assembly amended the constitution in 1994, paving the way for the direct election of the president and vice president that was held in March, 1996. The National Assembly retained the authority to amend the constitution, to recall or to impeach the president or vice president, and to ratify select senior-level presidential appointments. In April 2000, the members of the National Assembly voted to permit their terms of office to expire without holding new elections. They also determined that such an election would be called in the event the National Assembly is needed to decide a presidential recall or a constitutional amendment. In recent years, the National Assembly has handed most of its powers to the Legislative Yuan, including the power of impeachment. In 2005, the National Assembly permanently abolished itself by ratifying a constitution amendment passed by the Legislative Yuan.
Amending the ROC constitution now requires the approval of three-fourths of the quorum of members of the Legislative Yuan. This quorum requires at least three-fourths of all members of the Legislature. After passing by the legislature, the amendment needs ratification from at least fifty percent of all eligible voters of the ROC regardless of voter turnout.
Executive Yuan[edit]
Main article: Executive Yuan
The Executive Yuan comprises the premier, vice-premier, and the cabinet members who are responsible for policy and administration. The President of the Republic appoints the Premier, who is officially the President of the Executive Yuan.
Legislative Yuan[edit]
Main article: Legislative Yuan
The main lawmaking body, the Legislative Yuan (LY), was originally elected in 1947. The first LY had 773 seats and was viewed as a "rubber stamp" institution. Like the National Assembly, representatives elected in 1947-48 held these seats "indefinitely" until the 1991 ruling. The second LY was elected in 1992. The third LY, elected in 1995, had 157 members serving 3-year terms. The fourth LY, elected in 1998, was expanded to 225 members. The LY has greatly enhanced its standing in relation to the Executive Yuan and has established itself as an important player on the central level. Along with increasing strength and size this body is beginning to reflect the recently liberalized political system. In the 1992 and 1995 elections, the main opposition party – the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) – challenged the KMT dominance of the Legislature. In both elections the DPP won a significant share of the LY seats, and the KMT held only half the seats in the LY. In 1998, however, the KMT increased its LY majority from 50% to 55% and continued to play a dominant role in the legislature as the leading opposition party. In the 2001 election, the DPP became the largest party after large losses suffered by the KMT.
Judicial Yuan[edit]
Main article: Judicial Yuan
The Judicial Yuan (JY) administers the ROC's court system. It includes a 15-member Council of Grand Justices (COGJ) that interprets the constitution. Grand Justices are appointed by the President, with the consent of the Legislative Yuan, to 8-year terms.
Control Yuan[edit]
Main article: Control Yuan
The Control Yuan (CY) monitors the efficiency of public service and investigates instances of corruption. The 29 Control Yuan members are appointed by the president and approved by the Legislative Yuan; they serve 6-year terms. In recent years, the Control Yuan has become more active, and it has conducted several major investigations and impeachments. The current president of the Control Yuan is Wang Chien-shien.
Examination Yuan[edit]
Main article: Examination Yuan
The Examination Yuan (ExY) functions as a civil service commission and includes two ministries: the Ministry of Examination, which recruits officials through competitive examination, and the Ministry of Personnel, which manages the civil service. The President appoints the Examination Yuan's President. The current President of the Examination Yuan is Wu Jin-lin.
Political parties and elections[edit]
Recent Elections[edit]
For other political parties, see List of political parties in Taiwan. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Taiwan.
e • d Summary of the 16 January 2016 Taiwanese presidential election results
President Vice president
Democratic Progressive Party Tsai Ing-wen Chen Chien-jen 6,894,744 56.12%
Kuomintang Eric Chu Wang Ju-hsuan 3,813,365 31.04%
People First Party James Soong Hsu Hsin-ying 1,576,861 12.84%
Total 12,284,970 100%
See also: Ninth Legislative Yuan
Democratic Progressive Party I NPP PFP N Kuomintang
Seat composition of the 9th Legislative Yuan
+/–
Democratic Progressive Party 5,416,659 44.59 50 5,370,953 44.06 18 68 28
Kuomintang 4,724,366 38.89 24 3,280,949 26.91 11 35 29
People First Party 156,212 1.29 0 794,838 6.52 3 3
New Power Party 351,244 2.89 3 744,315 6.11 2 5 5
New Party 75,372 0.62 0 510,074 4.18 0 0
Green–Social Democratic Coalition 203,658 1.68 0 308,106 2.53 0 0
Taiwan Solidarity Union 97,765 0.80 0 305,675 2.51 0 0 3
Faith and Hope League 71,101 0.59 0 206,629 1.70 0 0
Minkuotang 196,180 1.61 0 197,627 1.62 0 0 1
MCFAP 17,070 0.14 0 87,213 0.72 0 0
Non-Partisan Solidarity Union 27,690 0.23 1 77,672 0.64 0 1 1
Trees Party 30,224 0.25 0 77,174 0.63 0 0
Chinese Unionist Party 18,812 0.15 0 56,347 0.46 0 0
National Health Service Alliance 12,036 0.10 0 51,024 0.42 0 0
Free Taiwan Party 18,495 0.15 0 47,988 0.39 0 0
Peace Dove Alliance Party 10,318 0.08 0 30,617 0.25 0 0
Taiwan Independence Party 7,809 0.06 0 27,496 0.23 0 0
Constitutional Conventions of Taiwan 13,518 0.11 0 15,442 0.13 0 0
Others 31,693 0.26 0 – – 0
Independent 668,441 5.50 1 – – 1 1
Invalid/blank votes – – – – – –
Total 79 100 34 113 0
Registered voters/turnout – – – –
Source: CEC
Campaign flags in Taipei during a city council election, 2002.
Political Parties[edit]
As of July 2015, there are 277 officially registered parties in Taiwan. The aftermath of the 2000 Presidential election and the 2001 legislative election left the Taiwan fragmented among several political parties. These parties can be divided into "blue" factions (Pan-Blue Coalition) and "green" factions (Pan-Green Coalition), with the "blue" faction tending toward unification and a national identity that is linked with China and the "green" faction leaning toward a national identity based on Taiwan independence which is separate from the Chinese national identity. The complex structure of the party system in Taiwan was also influenced by the voting system which uses single non-transferable vote for legislative elections and first past the post for executive elections. Starting with the 2008 legislative elections, the SNTV system was discarded in favor of a mixed single member district (SMD) with proportional representation based on national party votes, similar to Japan.
The "blue" faction comes from the color of the KMT and includes the KMT, the People First Party, and the New Party. The "green" faction comes from the color of the Democratic Progressive Party and includes the Democratic Progressive Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
After 1986, the KMT's hold on power was challenged by the emergence of competing political parties. Before 1986, candidates opposing the KMT ran in elections as independents or "nonpartisans." Before the 1986 island-wide elections many "nonpartisans" grouped together to create Taiwan's first opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Despite the official ban on forming new political parties, the government authorities did not prohibit the DPP from operating, and in the 1986 elections DPP and independent candidates captured more than 20% of the vote.
The Civic Organizations Law passed in 1989 allowed for the formation of new political parties, thereby legalizing the DPP, and its support and influence increased. In the 1992 Legislative Yuan elections, the DPP won 51 seats in the 161-seat body. While this was only half the number of KMT seats, it made the DPP's voice an important factor in legislative decisions. Winning the Taipei mayor's position in December 1994, significantly enhanced the DPP's image. The DPP continued its strong showing in the 1995 LY race, winning 45 of the 157 seats to the KMT's 81. The DPP for the first time succeeded in outpolling the KMT in the November 1997 local elections, gaining 12 of the 23 magistrate and mayoral seats as opposed to the KMT's 8 and winning 43% of the vote versus the KMT's 41%.
The DPP membership is made up largely of the Hoklo people, the largest ethnic group in Taiwan. The DPP maintains that Taiwan is an entity separate from mainland China and supports an independent "Republic of Taiwan" as part of its platform. The recent downplaying of Taiwan independence by the DPP as a party, however, led to the formation by hard-line advocates of a new political party called the Taiwan Independence Party in December 1996.
Kuomintang (KMT)
Until 1986, Taiwan's political system was effectively controlled by one party, the KMT, the leader of which also was the President. Many top political officials were members of the party. The party claimed over 2 million members, and its net assets were reputed to total more than NT $61.2 billion, making it the richest political party in the world.
New Power Party (NPP)
People First Party (PFP)
A new opposition party was formed in the wake of the March 2000 presidential election by the runner up, a KMT maverick candidate. The People's First Party is composed primarily of former KMT and NP members who supported former KMT Taiwan Provincial Governor James Soong's presidential bid. The PFP currently had 17 members in the LY before the 2001 election, but increased its representation to over 40 in that election.
New Party (NP)
The New Party was formed in August 1993 by a group made up largely of second-generation mainlander KMT members who were unhappy both with corruption in the KMT and with what they saw as the "Taiwanization" of KMT ideology and leadership. The NP emphasizes "clean government" and the original KMT focus on unification with mainland China. NP influence remains modest and seems on the wane; it won 21 of the 164 LY seats in the 1995 elections but only 11 of 225 seats in 1998. The New Party was almost annihilated in the 2001 election as its members defected to the Peoples First Party.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU)
In 2001, supporters of former President Lee founded the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU). Even though Lee did not join this party, he is named its spiritual leader and most believe he endorsed it. The TSU was formed primarily because, as it took power, the DPP had to moderate its standing as regards to Taiwan independence, leaving a hole in the Taiwanese political spectrum. In a bid to help the "green" side achieve control in the Legislative Yuan, the TSU was formed to attract the radical votes left over from DPP and the localist support for KMT. The TSU had often expressed that it wanted to be the "decisive minority".
Other parties than the parties listed above include:
Taiwan Number One Party
New Nation Association
Taiwan Independence Party
Non-Party Alliance
Farmers' Party
Chinese Liberal Democratic Party
Third Society Party
Although some friction between 1949 Chinese immigrants and native Taiwanese still exists, it has abated with time, and there has been a gradual melding of the two communities. In 1972, then-Premier Chiang Ching-kuo began a concentrated effort to bring Taiwanese into more senior position in the central administration and the KMT. Upon his accession to the presidency in January 1988, Lee Teng-hui, who is a native Taiwanese, continued this process. Steps by the government to redress past wrongs such as setting up a memorial to the victims of the February 28 Incident have contributed to this process.
Political conditions[edit]
Changes in the political process were the result of the liberalizing trend that began in the 1980s under President Chiang Ching-kuo. In 1987, he lifted the emergency decree, which had been in place since 1948 and which had granted virtually unlimited powers to the president for use in the anti-communist campaign. This decree provided the basis for nearly four decades of martial law under which individuals and groups expressing dissenting views were dealt with harshly. Expressing views contrary to the authorities' claim to represent all of China or supporting independent Taiwan independence was treated as sedition. Vice-President Lee Teng-hui succeeded Chiang Ching-kuo as president when Chiang died on 13 January 1988. Lee was elected by the National Assembly to a 6-year term in 1990, marking the final time a president was elected by the National Assembly.
Since ending martial law, the Republic of China has taken dramatic steps to improve respect for human rights and create a democratic political system. Most restrictions on the press have ended, restrictions on personal freedoms have been relaxed, and the prohibition against organizing new political parties has been lifted.
As the National Assembly took action in 1994 to allow for the popular election of the president, the LY in 1994 passed legislation to allow for the direct election of the governor of Taiwan Province and the mayors of Taipei and Kaohsiung Municipalities. These elections were held in December 1994, with the KMT winning the governor and Kaohsiung mayor posts, and the DPP winning the Taipei mayor's position. In March 1996, Lee Teng-hui was elected president and Lien Chan vice president in the first direct election by Taiwan's voters. In 1998, the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou wrestled back control of the mayorship of Taipei from the opposition DPP's most prominent figure Chen Shui-bian. In the same elections, however, the DPP's Frank Hsieh managed to defeat Kaoshiung's KMT incumbent.
The position of elected governor and many other elements of the Taiwan Provincial Government were eliminated at the end of 1998. The stated purpose of this was to streamline administrative efficiency, but some commentators have argued that this was also intended to weaken the power base of Governor James Soong. In November 1997 local elections, the DPP won 12 of the 23 county magistrate and city mayor contests to the KMT's 8, outpolling the KMT for the first time in a major election.
In March 2000, Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-bian became the first opposition party candidate to win the presidency. His victory resulted in the first-ever transition of the presidential office from one political party to another in the ROC. The election also had the effect of splitting the KMT's support base. James Soong launched an independent bid for the presidency after failing to be nominated by the party. In response the KMT expelled Soong and his supporters. Soong and his supporters blamed then-KMT Chairman Lee Teng-hui of harboring pro-independence sentiments and purposely trying to aid Chen Shui-bian by splitting the KMT's vote by running the less charismatic Lien Chan along with Soong. After losing the vote narrowly to Chen and ahead of Lien, Soong established the People First Party. Lee Teng-hui was soon forced out of the KMT Chairmanship amid popular protests and riots demanding he take responsibility for the KMT's defeat.
In the months following the 2000 presidential election, Lee Teng-hui's supporters established the Taiwan Solidarity Union, which advocated a more radical brand of Taiwan independence than the DPP. For this, Lee was expelled from the KMT and the KMT gradually moved itself to a more conservative and pro-reunificationist position. This permitted the formation of two rival coalitions that have since dominated Taiwanese politics: the Pan-Blue Coalition formed by the KMT, People First Party, and New Party and the Pan-Green Coalition formed by the Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union.
In the 2001 LY elections, the DPP won a plurality of seats for the first time. However, the Pan-Blue Coalition held a small majority over the Pan-Green Coalition, causing much of President Chen's agenda to be derailed. This also gave independents in the legislature more power, some of whom founded the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union in 2004.
In a hotly contested election on 20 March 2004, President Chen Shui-bian was re-elected by 50.1% of the popular vote to a second term. The election was marred by a shooting incident the day before the election during which President Chen and his running mate Vice President Annette Lu were slightly wounded. While the opposition contested the results and suggested the shooting was staged to win sympathy (as President Chen had previously been slated to lose narrowly), it was the first time that the DPP has won an outright majority in an island-wide election.
The March election also included a "peace referendum". Historically, the issue of referendums has been closely tied to the question of Taiwan independence, and thus has been a sensitive issue in cross Strait relations. There were two referendums before the voters on 20 March 2004. The first asked in light of the PRC missile threat whether the ROC should purchase anti-missile systems. The second asked whether Taiwan should adopt a "peace framework" for addressing cross Strait differences with the PRC. However both referendums failed to obtain support from over 50% of registered voters, as required to be valid. The Pan-Blue Coalition campaigned against the referendum as unnecessary and urged voters to boycott it.
President Chen Shui-bian has called for major constitutional reforms by 2006 aimed at further reducing layers of government, and making other structural changes aimed at improving governance. The People's Republic of China has accused Chen of using the constitution issue to move Taiwan towards independence. He expressed opposition, however, in his 20 May 2004 inaugural address to using constitutional reform to alter the constitution's definition of Taiwan sovereignty.
The Legislative Yuan passed a set of constitutional amendments on 23 August 2004 that halve the number of LY seats and create single-member districts. The revisions also eliminate the role of the National Assembly and permit the public to confirm or reject future revisions passed by the LY. These constitutional amendments were ratified by the National Assembly in 2005.
Prior to the 11 December 2004 elections to the Legislative Yuan, signs indicated that the DPP would for the first time dominate the Legislative Yuan. Polls projected a huge pan-green victory, and the DPP's election tactics were based on them. This over-reliance on polls resulted in a huge setback. The pan-blue opposition managed to maintain their majority status within the Legislative Yuan, winning 114 seats out of the 225 seats. The Pan-Green only managed to win 101 seats. The remaining 10 seats were won by the independent candidates. Although the Pan-Green coalition increased their seats by one and the DPP remained the largest party, because of raised hopes the election was viewed as a disaster, and President Chen resigned his post as Chairman of DPP as a result.
On 3 December 2005, the KMT made major gains in municipal elections, taking 14 of 23 mayor or county magistrate seats, while the DPP retained only six seats of their previous 10. The pan-blue People First Party and New Party each took one seat, and an independent won one seat. The pan-green TSU was completely shut out. DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang had promised to resign to take responsibility for the defeat. This dramatic setback for the DPP and pan-greens was seen as a reaction to recent corruption scandals, and public disapproval of Chen Shui-Bian's apparent refusal to improve cross-strait relations.
A. M. Rosenthal, former executive editor of The New York Times accused China of fostering an "apartheid" policy toward Taiwan.[31] Dr Tan Sun Chen, Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, asserts that China's obstruction in the international community has led to a "political apartheid" which "harms the human rights, interests, and dignity of Taiwan’s people.".[32]
ROC and PRC[edit]
See also: Cross-Strait relations
Despite the differences between Taiwan and mainland China, contact between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has grown significantly over the past decade. The ROC has continued to relax restrictions on unofficial contacts with the PRC, and cross-Strait interaction has mushroomed. Since 1987, when the ban on travel to mainland China was lifted, Taiwan residents have made more than 10 million trips to mainland China. The ROC Bureau of Foreign Trade estimates that indirect trade with mainland China reached about US$61.639 billion, or 18% of the total trade of the ROC, in 2004. This indirect trade runs heavily in Taiwan's favor, providing another outlet for the island's booming economy. In an attempt to facilitate trade, in 1995 the Executive Yuan approved the construction of an offshore transshipment center at the port of Kaohsiung through which direct shipping with the mainland China would be permitted. In April 1997 the first sanctioned direct cross-Strait shipping began between selected mainland China ports and Kaohsiung for cargo being transshipped through Taiwan.
Beijing has expressed a mixed view of these developments. PRC leaders are pleased at the development of economic ties and exchanges, which they believe helps their cause of reunification. However, the increase in contacts, combined with domestic political liberalization on Taiwan, also has resulted in more open discussion in Taiwan of the future of Taiwan, including the option of independence, to which Beijing is strongly opposed.
The trend in cross-Strait interaction is one of steady growth with, so far, only temporary setbacks due to political factors such as the PRC's reaction Lee Teng-hui's private visit to the U.S. in 1995 and the PRC's reaction his 1999 characterization of relations with mainland China as "state-to-state." Taiwan business representatives have concerns about issues such as safety, corruption, and contract disputes, which have led to increased caution and a search for alternative investment venues but not to pulling out from mainland China altogether. President Chen has yet to revise the previous administration's "no haste, be patient" policy regarding Taiwan-mainland China investment to prevent over-dependence on the PRC. As a result of this policy the ROC has placed restrictions on large-scale infrastructure investments on mainland China in 1997. Despite this, billions of dollars have been invested in mainland China by smaller firms.
The development of semiofficial cross-Strait relations has been incremental. Prior to April 1993, when talks were held in Singapore between the heads of two private intermediary organizations – Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the PRC's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) – there had been some lower-level exchanges between the two sides of the Strait. The April 1993 SEF-ARATS talks primarily addressed technical issues relating to cross-Strait interactions. Lower-level talks continued on a fairly regular basis until they were suspended by Beijing in 1995 after President Lee's U.S. visit. Unofficial exchanges resumed in 1997 through informal meetings between personnel of the two sides' unofficial representative organizations. Direct SEF-ARATS contacts resumed in April 1998, and the SEF Chairman visited mainland China in October 1998. A planned visit by ARATS Chairman Wang Daohan to Taiwan in the fall, however, was postponed following statements made by then-President Lee Teng-hui that relations between mainland China and Taiwan should be conducted as "state-to-state" or at least as "special state-to-state relations." Since his 20 May 2000 inauguration, President Chen has called for resuming the cross-Strait dialogue without any preconditions. President Chen has stated that such talks should be conducted on the basis of the "spirit of 1992," a reference to the agreement to hold the 1993 Singapore talks. The PRC, however, has insisted that President Chen must recognize the one China principle before talks can be held.
Main article: Administrative divisions of Taiwan
The Republic of China currently administers the island of Taiwan (Formosa), Penghu (Pescadores), Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu Islands. The whole country is divided into two streamlined provinces (Taiwan and Fukien) and five special municipalities. Since the provinces are streamlined, the cities and counties are directly governed by the central government, namely Executive Yuan. The central governed administrative divisions are listed below
Six special municipalities (直轄市 zhíxiáshì): Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, and Taoyuan.
Three provincial cities (市 shì): Chiayi, Keelung, Hsinchu.
13 counties (縣 xiàn): Changhua, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Hualien, Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung, Taitung, Yilan and Yunlin.
Elections in Taiwan
Foreign relations of Taiwan
List of political parties in Taiwan
Conservatism in Taiwan
Politics of China
Black gold (politics)
Iron vote
Legislative violence
History of Taiwan
^ "GREET THE NEW HIGH TIDE OF THE CHINESE REVOLUTION". Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. Marxists.org. 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2006.
^ Chang, Y.F. Bradford. "The Flood of Political Ideas in China During the 1920s". City University of Hong Kong.
^ "The Formal Establishment of an Anti-Japanese National United Front". PLA Daily. 1 August 2005.
^ a b "Opposition wins Taiwan presidency". BBC. 18 March 2000.
^ "Taiwan split after vote". BBC. 20 March 2004.
^ "The Official Position of the Republic of China (Taiwan) on China's Passing of the Anti-secession (Anti-Separation) Law" (Press release). Mainland Affairs Council, ROC Executive Yuan. 29 March 2005. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Sec. II-2: ""The Republic of China is an independent and sovereign state. Taiwan’s sovereignty belongs to the 23 million people of Taiwan. Only the 23 million people of Taiwan may decide on the future of Taiwan". This statement represents the greatest consensus within Taiwan’s society today concerning the issues of national sovereignty and the future of Taiwan. It is also a common position shared by both the ruling and opposition parties in Taiwan. A recent opinion poll shows that more than 90% of the people of Taiwan agree with this position."
^ "Overview of U.S. Policy Towards Taiwan" (Press release). U.S. Department of State. 21 April 2004.
^ "Direct China-Taiwan Flights Begin". BBC. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
^ Michael S. Chase (4 September 2008). "Caliber – Asian Survey – 48(4):703 – Abstract". Caliber.ucpress.net. doi:10.1525/as.2008.48.4.703. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
^ "US Keeps Taiwan at Arm's Length | David Isenberg". Cato.org. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
^ "NCC relinquishes power over China-related media". Taipei Times. 9 August 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
^ Bristow, Michael (26 October 2001). "Wealth probe for 'world's richest' party". BBC News Online. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
^ "Court clears Ma of graft charges". The China Post. 25 April 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
^ "Chen Shui-bian lied about Lien Chan-endorsed check". The China Post. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
^ "No headway in KMT, PFP merger talks". China Daily. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
^ "PFP rejects merger with KMT". Taipei Times. 1 May 2002. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
^ "Taiwan's Chen Survives Key Vote". BBC. 27 June 2006.
^ "Second recall bid fails in Taiwan". BBC. 13 October 2006.
^ "Taiwan President Sees Military Balance with China Slipping Archived 2013-01-29 at Archive.today". Associated Press, 7 February 2007.
^ Shambaugh, David L. (2006). Power shift. University of California Press. pp. 179–183. ISBN 0-520-24570-9.
^ Pares, Susan (24 February 2005). A political and economic dictionary of East Asia. Routledge. p. 267. ISBN 978-1-85743-258-9. The Pan-Blue coalition on the whole favours a Chinese nationalist identity and policies supporting reunification and increased economic links with the People's Republic of China.
^ Okazaki, Hisahiko (30 December 2008). "No sign of a 'peace agreement'". The Japan Times Online. Retrieved 15 July 2009. For one thing, I believe there is recognition that the awareness of Taiwanese identity is now irreversible. The KMT government did things like rename the "Taiwan Post" to "Chunghwa Post" as soon as it came in. But it did not take much time to perceive that it would cause a backlash among the Taiwan populace. The cross-strait exchanges have also brought about opposition demonstrations from time to time. This appears to be one of the reasons for the abrupt decline in the approval rating of the Ma administration.
^ "10 Questions: Ma Ying-jeou". TIME. 10 July 2006. Retrieved 15 July 2009. I am Taiwanese as well as Chinese.
^ a b c "ECFA issues and the nationality identification" (PDF). TVBS.
^ "Survey on President Ma's Approval Rating and Cross-Strait Relations After First Year of Direct Flights" (PDF). Global Views Survey Research Center. 24 July 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
^ a b 天下雜誌民調顯示：6成1民眾擔心經濟傾中 7成5年輕人自認台灣人 (in Chinese). Retrieved 10 January 2010.
^ a b 附表十二:民眾對自我認同的看法 (PDF) (in Chinese). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
^ 資料庫─台灣民眾 台灣人/中國人認同趨勢分布 (in Chinese). National Chengchi University. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
^ Quote: "Table 12: In Taiwan, some people identify themselves as Chinese, some identify themselves as Taiwan (sic). Do you identify yourself as Taiwanese or Chinese? (Do not prompt both Taiwanese and Chinese)"
^ Quote: "Table 13: In Taiwan, some people identify themselves as Chinese, some identify themselves as Taiwan (sic). Do you identify yourself as Taiwanese, Chinese or both Taiwanese and Chinese?"
^ Rosenthal, A.M. "China's 'Apartheid' Taiwan Policy." The New York Times, 4 December 1995.
^ Sun Chen, Tan. Joining the Global Village: Taiwan's Participation in the International Community. Republic of China (Taiwan). Accessed 5 August 2007.
Steve Tsang, The Cold War's Odd Couple: The Unintended Partnership between the Republic of China and the UK. I.B. Tauris, 2006. ISBN 1-85043-842-0.
Steve Tsang (ed.), If China Attacks Taiwan: Military strategy, politics and economics. Routledge, 2006. ISBN 0-415-38018-9.
Politics of Asia
Political parties in Taiwan
(Legislative Yuan seats)
Democratic Progressive Party (68)
Kuomintang (35)
New Power Party (5)
People First Party (3)
Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (1)
Locally represented
Chinese Unification Promotion Party
For Public Good Party [zh]
Congress Party Alliance
People's Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party
Tianzhou Peaceful Unity Family Party [zh]
Youth Sunshine Party [zh]
Minor parties
China Democratic Socialist Party
Chinese People's Party
Chinese Youth Party
Faith And Hope League
Free Taiwan Party
National Health Service Alliance [zh]
Peasant Party
Taiwan First Nations Party
Trees Party
List of political parties
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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Republic_of_China&oldid=903469989"
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DMX Pays $1.5 Million Damages
The Dog must give up the cash for defaming the mother of his child...
Yonkers rapper DMXs failure to show up to court on 11 January 2008 has turned out to be a very costly mistake.
The rapper and actor has been ordered to pay a massive $1.5 million for defaming Monique Wayne, the mother of his child after he claimed she raped him.
DMX, real name Earl Simmons missed the court hearing on Friday (January 11), but was ordered by Court Judge Thomas Smith to pay the substantial damages in his absence.
The Never Die Alone movie star must pay $1 million dollars in punitive damages and $518,000 in compensatory damages. The case relates to an interview that the rapper did with Sister 2 Sister magazine, where he claimed that the mother of his child, Monique Wayne sexually assaulted him at a hotel in 2003 which led to her pregnancy.
"She raped me," DMX claimed in the article. "DNA says it is (my child). I dont know. If I did (have sex with her) I would remember. It aint like shes a pretty girl."
28 year old Monique Wayne from Baltimore sued DMX for defamation of character in October of 2006. She was initially seeking $6 million in damages over the interview.
Wayne told US publication The Post: "It's not so much the price, it's the point I wanted to get across. Let him think about what he's going to say before he says it."
More From DMX
Have A Punny Little Christmas Thanks To MTV Base
Joe Young Is Making A Real Name For Himself Alongside DMX, Wiz Khalifa & Max B
DMX Attacked By Fan, Man Tries To Choke Rapper
DMX Arrested For Speeding In Arizona
DMX Released From Jail After 8 Months
Slippin'
DMX Back In Jail
DMX Calls Plies 'One Of The Worst'
Baby On Cash Money: "Right Now We're So Great..."
DMX: "I'm Good; Life Is Good, God Is Great..."
Baby: "I Just Think Right Now We're So Great..."
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About indesit
(Information is gathered from the manufacturer's official website)
With the recent acquisition of Indesit Company SpA, in October 2014, Whirlpool's organization in EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) counts approximately 24,000 employs, has a sales presence in 35 markets and 15 manufacturing and technology research centers in 8 countries.
Whirlpool is now the largest player in the region, with its three pan-European brands, Whirlpool, Indesit and KitchenAid, two regional brands, Hotpoint and Bauknecht, and a number of other local brands, including Scholtes, Ariston, Laden, Polar and Ignis, which reached annual sales of approximately EURO 5 billion in 2015, and around 25 Million products shipped in 140 countries worldwide.
Multitech became an official indesit Cyprus Authorised Distributor in 2017
Employees: 24.000
Sales: $5 B
Following the acquisition of Indesit Company S.p.A., we are in the process of combining our operations and integrating our businesses across the EMEA region.
On December 31st, 2016 Whirlpool Europe S.r.l. merged into Indesit Company S.p.A.. That same day Indesit's name changed to Whirlpool EMEA S.p.A..
In 2017, the EMEA region will have a new home in the vibrant heart of Lombardy.
Headquarters will move to Milan in an award-winning building perfectly suited for Whirlpool's world leadership position and its strong orientation to innovation, design and sustainability.
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P.S.A.'S · 5th May 2013
KITIMAT PUBLIC MARKET SET FOR SUNDAY
Walter McFarlane
Kitimat’s first Public Market is this Sunday May 5th. It will take place in the Doctor’s Offices Parking lot and Greenspace of Mountainview Square.
“It opens to the public at 10 am, again the same rules as last year, no dogs in the market area and we’ll have designated areas for smoking because there is a lot of food and eating with their kids and stuff. We already have venders signing up, we have registration available at the Food Share office at 540 Mountainview Square,” said Elizabeth MacDonald.
MacDonald told us she’s had calls from Terrace, Smithers and Prince Rupert. They hope to have live music for the grand re-opening of the market.
This year, they are also splitting up the fair into three sections. One for food, one for venders and one for garage sales, which is a new addition. MacDonald told us people can expect to find: “Pretty much what you’d expect to find driving around to the garage sales. People will come down and set up a table and sell whatever they’d hope to recycle in the community rather than throwing it out.”
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Moving the Paradigm
September 15, 2011 By: NCVeditor Category: Ecology, Economy, Peter Bergel
From Growth and Domination to Sustainability and Cooperation
by Peter Bergel
On Tuesday night a reported 100,000 Americans joined Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz for a national conversation about breaking the partisan gridlock in Washington, DC. It was another great example of the growing willingness of ordinary people to reclaim their power from those to whom they have delegated it, only to see it abused.
Schultz was a suitable leader for this conversation because he had recently organized CEOs from more than a hundred companies to halt contributions to U.S. political campaigns until DC office holders stop their political wrangling and behave in a financially responsible manner. He also encouraged those who joined him to spend their money to stimulate growth in their own industries.
Widespread Mobilization Below the Mainstream Radar
The national conversation was organized by a group called No Labels, one of a growing number of organizations calling for large-scale changes in a global social-political-financial system that is no longer serving most of those who live under it. Most of these efforts are being ignored by mainstream media, but are nonetheless doing powerful organizing that is transforming the practical definition of “peace.” Some other examples:
The Earth Charter Initiative is an extraordinarily diverse, global network of people, organizations, and institutions that participate in promoting and implementing the values and principles of the Earth Charter. This document presents a comprehensive vision of a world that works for everyone.
The Great Transition Initiative is another group offering visions and pathways for a hopeful future. In March, they issued a manifesto called “Beyond the Growth Paradigm: Creating a Unified Progressive Politics.”
Push4Peace is an international media, marketing and fundraising campaign whose mission is to help aggregate and accelerate the work of multiple existing peace initiatives into a coordinated movement to inspire people everywhere to take action towards creating a culture of peace.
The Shift Network aims to empower a global movement of people who are creating an evolutionary shift of consciousness that in turn leads to a more enlightened society, one built on principles of sustainability, peace, health, and prosperity. They say that now is the time for an “upgrade to our planetary operating system.” Push4Peace and The Shift hope to reach out to over a billion people by the end of 2012.
The Foundation for Global Collaboration and Peace is a New York State non-profit that aims to inform, engage and connect the global community by serving as a resource center for participatory peace, in order to promote equality, inter-community communication, cross-cultural collaboration, peaceful conflict resolution and global peace building.
Rebuild the Dream organizes of a “Contract for the American Dream” which has been endorsed by more than 130,000 Americans. This effort is closely allied to MoveOn.org.
Ethical Markets is the brainchild of radical economist Hazel Henderson, this group offers the “Green Transition Scoreboard,” a set of social investment indexes, and a wealth of other sustainability tools.
A Future Without War believes that “we can, within twenty-five to thirty-five years from the time we officially resolve to do it, create a future in which war is not only unacceptable, it is abhorrent and obsolete.” Their plan is called “Shaping the Future – A Proposal to Hasten a Global Paradigm Shift for the Security and Well-being of All Children Everywhere.”
Repeace and Beyond War are other similar organizations.
Common Good Bank, a part of Common Good Finance, offers an exciting, innovative way to keep our money in our home communities and use it to work for the local common good.
Move to Amend is working to repeal corporate personhood and protect us from domination by corporate financial interests.
Evolve to Survive
These are just a few of the components of the vast network of people and organizations currently working to create a world that works for everyone. Entrepreneur Paul Hawken wrote about this diverse network in his 2007 book, Blessed Unrest, but it has become more sophisticated and self-aware since. Environmentalist Bill McKibben, in calling Hawken’s book “the first full account of the real news of our time,” recognized that this network represents an evolutionary step forward which is absolutely critical to the survival of our species.
This evolutionary step is comprised of two paradigm shifts:
1. Moving from a growth paradigm to a sustainability paradigm.
2. Moving from a domination paradigm to a cooperation paradigm.
Using growth as the measure of success has been described as “the ethic of the cancer cell.” We now understand that unrestrained growth is no more sustainable for an economy than it is for a cell. There are natural limits imposed by resource availability and space which cannot, in the real world, be ignored forever. Attempting to do so in the quest for short-term profits threatens our species — as well as most of the others on the planet — with extinction. The meaning of “sustainable,” on the other hand, is that decisions we make today do not foreclose the ability of future generations to make similar decisions.
The historical arrow of human progress has pointed in the direction of wider sharing of power in human societies since the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 AD moved us away from the divine right of kings. Corporate-led successes in reversing that arrow over the past 30-40 years are now asserting the divine right of capital, but the future of freedom, compassion, justice and strength lies in the direction of greater cooperation and sharing.
We must learn to measure every policy decision against these two crucial paradigm shifts. We must ask, “Will this decision make our community/region/nation/world more sustainable?” and “Does this decision allow those affected by it to have input into it?”
When we have learned to apply these measures instinctively, as some indigenous peoples have, we will be on our way to social maturity.
Peter Bergel is the Executive Director of Oregon PeaceWorks and the editor of The PeaceWorker online news magazine. He has been working for social change for half a century. This article was distributed by PeaceVoice.
Tags: cooperation, evolution, paradigms, peace, power, sustainability
← Students Help Make the Change
A Cooperative Economy →
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March 5, 2017 Joseph Comment
A cause has been found that can explain the recent disruption of Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3).
Essentially, it was a typo.
Amazon released a statement this past Thursday, saying that an authorized employee on it’s S3 team was debugging an issue within its billing system, when the employee incorrectly entered a command. The result wound up removing a larger set of servers than intended.
According to the Synergy Research Group, Amazon Web Services (AWS) owns around 40% of the cloud computing market. And around 152,000 websites use Amazon’s S3 service, according to the research firm SimilarTech.
This means that major players such as Netflix, Spotify, Github, and Buzzfeed were all affected by this outage, as well as tens of thousands of other websites that rely on AWS for hosting and cloud-based storage.
Even DownDetector, the website used for showing where real time web service outages are occurring, was no match.
sorry all. current #AWSdown brought down https://t.co/XYZ5iegXtd. We're curled up on the floor in a fetal position until its over pic.twitter.com/lErFYzvX5m
— DownDetector (@downdetector) February 28, 2017
Amazon, Cloud Computing, Hosting
August 15, 2016 Joseph Comment
Can you believe that we just celebrated the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web?
August 6th, 1991, marked the day when the first website was launched. It was Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the site as a way of sharing information between computers and users.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee is The Father of The World Wide Web
In his early life, Berners-Lee was fascinated with toy trains and developed electronic gadgets to control them. When he got to college, he turned an old television into a computer. Obviously, he had a natural born understanding of the way things work.
As a software engineer at CERN, the large particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, he started to see major problems with sharing information between the scientists. The Internet was already making it possible for computers to be connected. He discovered that information could be shared through a technology called hypertext.
In March of 1989, he shared his proposal and by August 6 of 1991, he had the first website launched.
The Way We Live Has Forever Changed
Of course it took quite some time for the culture to understand the implications of this incredible technology. Over the years, developers have taken the Internet and World Wide Web and simplified it enough for anyone to use it.
If Berners-Lee hadn’t given up proprietary rights to the project, there is no way that we would be able to access information so readily. The way we conduct business, relationships, and daily tasks have forever changed on account of our ability to use the Internet and websites.
Early on, people mainly used websites for scientific research. Now they use it for so much more such as:
Connecting with family and friends
Watching television
The number of things we do online will only increase over the years as the technology becomes more developed.
More Websites Are Published Every Day
The current number of websites is well over 1,065,000,000. With the ease of technology, anyone and everyone can have a website. Now, more than ever, people will publish any number of things online, from their business to their art and articles, from family photos to music and random thoughts that are 140 characters long.
We don’t know what the next 25 years of the World Wide Web will look like, but if it’s anything similar to the first 25 years, it will certainly change how we live and think.
The Top 10 Trending Searches On Google in 2014
December 23, 2014 Joseph Comment
Every year, Google will release a list of the subjects and topics that people have searched for over the past 12 months.
Below is both the list for US search trends, and the list for global search trends.
US Trending Searches
Global Trending Searches
Conchita Wurst
Google, trends
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Philadelphia Archbishop: No Communion For Gay Couples
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput announced last week that couples in “irregular” relationships cannot receive Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Chaput's pastoral guidelines are his interpretation of Amoris Laetitia (the joy of love), the document issued by Pope Francis on marriage and the family.
Chaput asserts that Catholics in same-sex relationships, those remarried without a church annulment and cohabitating people may not hold a position of responsibility in the church.
Calling such unions “irregular,” Chaput said that allowing such people to serve on parish councils, instruct the faithful or dispense communion would “offer a serious counter-witness to Catholic belief, which can only produce moral confusion in the community.”
Chaput was among the bishops who advised Francis in 2015 on creation of Amoris Laetitia, which was widely seen as closing the door in the Roman Catholic church on marriage equality.
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Trump's Pick For U.N. Ambassador, Nikki Haley, Defended South Carolina's Gay Marriage Ban
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina as his choice for ambassador to the United Nations.
Haley, an Indian-American woman, would add ethnic and gender diversity to Trump's appointments to top posts in his administration.
In a statement announcing his decision, Trump praised Haley as a “proven deal-maker” and having a “track record of bringing people together regardless of background or party affiliation.”
In the same statement, Haley called the appointment, which requires Senate confirmation, an “honor.”
Haley endorsed and campaigned with Florida Senator Marco Rubio ahead of the South Carolina presidential primary.
After she called on Republicans to reject the “angriest voices,” Trump lashed back, tweeting: “The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!”
Haley has a mixed record on LGBT rights. As governor, she defended South Carolina's constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual unions, saying that she was “doing her job.”
“The citizens of South Carolina spoke,” she told reporters in 2013. “They spoke something that I, too, believe, which is marriage should be between a man and a woman. I'm going to stand by the people of this state, stand by the constitution, I'm going to support it and fight for it every step of the way.”
In January, however, she promised that the next Republican president would “respect” all marriages.
“If we [Republicans] held the White House, we would respect differences in modern families, but we would also insist on respect for religious liberty as a cornerstone of our democracy,” Haley said.
In April, Haley called a proposed bill that sought to prohibit transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice “unnecessary.”
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Constitutional Conundrums: The Rise and Fall (?) of an Eligibility Crisis
The eligibility crisis in Australia was drawn out, brutal and unexpected. After nearly a year of High Court deliberation and judgment, section 44 is no longer an unknown commodity at kitchen tables around Australia. A handful of judgments, more than 10 parliamentarians rendered ineligible, and 15 by-elections and Senate recounts - the crisis spanned all five disqualifying limbs of section 44. In the space of a year more litigation arose from section 44 than in any other time in our constitution’s history.
At the near end of the crisis, the NSW Society of Labor Lawyers are bringing you two experts in the field for a Q&A on the intricacies of this chapter in constitutional history. Was there a theme in the Court’s approach to constitutional interpretation? What grey areas still remain? And where next (if anywhere at all) for section 44 reform?
We will be joined by Professor George Williams AO, Dean of UNSW Law and author of the leading textbook “Blackshield and Williams: Australian Constitutional Law And Theory”, and Professor Helen Irving FASSA, constitutional law professor at the University of Sydney, author of “Five Things to Know about the Australian Constitution”, and most recently “Citizenship, Alienage, and the Modern Constitutional State: A Gendered History”.
The panel will be moderated by James Mack, junior counsel in the cases Re Gallagher and Alley v Gillespie.
Attendees must register online using the below form prior to the event. Questions can also be submitted prior to the event using the online form available here. We encourage you to submit your question early for consideration.
October 16, 2018 at 6pm - 9pm
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Lv 32, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
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British Aid is Dishonest and Immoral!
British aid is probably the most dishonest and immoral policy adopted by any British democratic government at any time. It is nothing more than the British Establishment’s attempt to maintain the Colonial superiority it lost around one hundred years ago.
Sixty years ago, the Government decided – for no discernible reason – that Britons retiring abroad would have their pensions frozen at the point of leaving the UK. Those pensioners would no longer be paid according to the National Insurance contributions they made during their working lives, when they mandatorily invested in the government pension insurance scheme. Until around 2000, pensioners were not told about the withdrawal of accumulated pension benefits until they had moved overseas, many with little more income to look forward to since private pensions until the 1970s/1980s were few and far between. Many of those early pensioners fought in WW2 and returned to help rebuild a shattered UK, not realising that the new mandatory National Insurance scheme had already been manipulated to betray everything for which they had fought.
But there was a hidden, untold reason. One by one, parts of the former British Empire were demanding independence from colonial exploitation, independence from British rule. Britain, depleted by WW2, was powerless to prevent the movement towards state independence but the ruling class could not face being unable to boast about ‘the sun never setting on the British Empire’. They needed a way to dispel their spite. The frozen pensions’ policy was it! Over sixty years, the British government not only denied billions of pounds to its own pensioners, it also deprived countries of those billions where the pensions would have been spent – mostly the Commonwealth countries.
Today, the Department for International Development (DfID) spends £12 billion a year and more on projects to help countries improve standards of health, education and development. However, many of those projects would not have been necessary if the billions of frozen pensions had been paid in the first place. Sixty years of additional income would have helped many of the countries to carry out the very projects which DfID is ‘gifting’ to them now. But then, UK Government would have lost the ability to continue the Colonial exploitation hidden within the Overseas Aid system.
In a recent debate on the huge amount allocated for overseas aid, a number of MPs proclaimed themselves to be ‘proud’ of being part of this Colonial gesturing and it may be worth questioning why so much pride. For that we should start with a newspaper ‘sting’ a couple of years ago when MPs were offered the opportunity to start an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to support a questionably governed paradise country. Dozens of MPs clamoured into the meeting, one question on their lips: when can we visit this paradise and what sort of accommodation will we have access to? Here we have the clue to today’s ‘pride’ in spending £12bn of taxpayers’ money on overseas projects. Many of the MPs who expressed their support have visited, and continue to visit, countries where aid has been allocated – expenses-paid trips to wave the Colonial British flag and brag about the British ‘mother’ government’s ability to give money away. No-one has yet questioned how many, with their taxpayer-paid airline tickets, took the opportunity to arrange a convenient rest-and-recuperation detour on the way.
Plans have recently been passed by the House of Commons (though not yet the House of Lords) for a dramatic increase in the amount of aid that can be channelled through the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC, wholly owned by DfID). CDC may be given up to £6bn to spend on spurious projects, even though it has been unable to demonstrate adequately that the money it has already spent has done anything to create jobs or indeed to make any lasting difference to people’s lives in some of the world’s poorest places where it is said to have spent money. Development minister Rory Stewart has said that Britain had a “moral obligation” to invest in the CDC, which he described as a proven development model; but then, he would say that wouldn’t he?
CDC has been questioned about its lack of transparency and its use of offshore tax havens. Tax havens! How can the British Government possibly justify the use of tax havens, which are traditionally accessed by the wealthy to avoid tax in the countries where their wealth has been made? With the secrecy that surrounds tax havens we must seriously question where that aid money actually ends up; tax havens and zero proof of any effective benefits should suggest very big questions that need to be asked.
But perhaps the greatest dishonesty of all is the government’s constant moan that it does not have money to end the frozen pensions policy; it does not have money to end food parcels in the UK; it does not have money to address the crises in mental health and elderly care; and it does not have money to rescue the National Health Service which was once the pride of Britain. What the Government must now face is the very real situation that taxpayers should not have the tax they pay hi-jacked into spurious projects in questionable countries when there is so much need amongst Britons who have paid for the respect and dignity and security they now deserve. Respect and dignity and security for British citizens should be a top priority yet all are being abandoned or ignored for a lack of money. After all:
5p in every £ spent on overseas aid could end the frozen pensions policy
5p in every £ spent on overseas aid could end the need for food parcels in the UK
50p in every £ spent on overseas aid could made a significant difference to mental health and elderly care
That would still leave £4 billion for overseas aid – far more than many other countries give away!
The message for the Government must be – away with the dishonesty and hypocrisy and lack of transparency; British citizens demand the respect, dignity and security they have paid for!
British Tax must be used for British citizens first!!
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Technology & applied sciences
> Noosquest > Knowledge - Savoir > Topics - matiere > Corpus... > Topics Wiki Scheme
Portal:Nanotechnology. Portal:Artificial intelligence. Portal:Internet. Portal:Google. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is an American multinational Internet and software corporation specialized in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. It hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products. The company was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while the two were attending Stanford University as Ph.D. candidates. Google was first incorporated as a privately held company on September 4, 1998, and its initial public offering followed on August 19, 2004. At that time Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt agreed to work together at Google for 20 years, until the year 2024. The company's mission statement from the outset was "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful", and the company's unofficial slogan – coined by Google engineer Amit Patel and supported by Paul Buchheit – is "Don't be evil".
In 1998, Brin and Page founded Google, Inc. Browser Usage. Portal:Information technology. The Computing and Information Technology Portal Ethernet /ˈiːθərnɛt/ is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks (LANs). Ethernet was commercially introduced in 1980 and standardized in 1985 as IEEE 802.3. Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies. The Ethernet standards comprise several wiring and signaling variants of the OSI physical layer in use with Ethernet.
The original 10BASE5 Ethernet used coaxial cable as a shared medium. Later the coaxial cables were replaced by twisted pair and fiber optic links in conjunction with hubs or switches. Since its commercial release, Ethernet has retained a good degree of compatibility. WikiProjects connected with computing and information technology: Directory of pages for Portal:Information_technology Purge server cache. Portal:Telecommunication. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Electrical engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism.
The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century with the commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical power supply. The field now covers a range of sub-disciplines including those that deal with power, optoelectronics, digital electronics, analog electronics, computer science, artificial intelligence, control systems, electronics, signal processing and telecommunications. The term electrical engineering may or may not encompass electronic engineering. ...that Intelsat 1, known as Early Bird, launched in 1965, provided either 240 voice circuits or one two-way television channel between the United States and Europe. ...that the first telephone message was transmitted in 1876 from one room in Alexander Graham Bell’s house to another. Purge server cache. Portal:Free software.
Portal:Library and information science. Portal:Computer security. The Computer security Portal The jdbgmgr.exe virus hoax involved an e-mail spam in 2002 that advised computer users to delete a file named jdbgmgr.exe because it was a computer virus. jdbgmgr.exe, which had a little teddy bear-like icon (The Microsoft Bear), was actually a valid Microsoft Windows file, the Debugger Registrar for Java (also known as Java Debug Manager, hence jdbgmgr).
Featuring so odd an icon among normally dull system icons had an unexpected counterpoint: an email hoax warning users that this is a virus that somehow came into your computer and should be deleted. This hoax has taken many forms and is always very popular among non-expert users that find this icon suspicious. The email has taken many forms, including saying its purpose was to warn Hotmail users of a virus spreading via MSN Messenger, or even to alert about a possible virus in the orkut web community. More... More... Purge server cache. Portal:Cryptography. Cryptography Portal Cryptography (from Greek κρύπτω, "to hide, to conceal, to obscure", and γράφω, "to etch, to inscribe, to write down") is, traditionally, the study of means of converting information from its normal, comprehensible form into an incomprehensible format, rendering it unreadable without secret knowledge — the art of encryption.
Cryptography is often used to replace or in combination with steganography. In the past, cryptography helped ensure secrecy in important communications, such as those of spies, military leaders, and diplomats. In recent decades, the field of cryptography has expanded its remit in two ways. Firstly, it provides mechanisms for more than just keeping secrets: schemes like digital signatures and digital cash, for example.
Selected article Selected picture Andrey Bogdanov, Dmitry Khovratovich, and Christian Rechberger presented the first key-recovery attacks on full AES. [1] Mathematics-related portals. Portal:Computer programming. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Henry "Bill" Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2009, excluding 2008, when he was ranked third, in 2011 he was the wealthiest American and the second wealthiest person.
During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder, with 6.4 percent of the common stock. Created by IBM, the IBM Port-A-Punch was a pocket-sized device intended to quickly create punched cards. Here are some things you can do : Purge server cache. Portal:Python programming. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Selected article The IPython interactive shell running in gnome-terminal on Ubuntu 11.04, showcasing the introspection and system shell command features. A number of popular articles in the computer press have discussed the advantages of IPython, and it is a component of the SciPy package. It lends itself well to rapid-prototyping and can often be seen in conjunction with Matplotlib for scientific and engineering work. IPython can also be used as a system shell replacement, especially on Windows which has a minimally capable shell.
IPython's default behaviour is largely familiar from Unix shells, but it allows customizability and the flexibility of executing in a live Python environment. read more Selected biography Van Rossum was born and grew up in the Netherlands, where he received a masters degree from the University of Amsterdam in 1982. Read more Categories Quotes Quotations related to Python at Wikiquote Purge server cache. Portal:Java. Java Platform, Micro Edition Java ME was designed by Sun Microsystems, acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2010; the platform replaced a similar technology, PersonalJava.
Originally developed under the Java Community Process as JSR 68, the different flavors of Java ME have evolved in separate JSRs. Sun provides a reference implementation of the specification, but has tended not to provide free binary implementations of its Java ME runtime environment for mobile devices, rather relying on third parties to provide their own. As of 22 December 2006, the Java ME source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License, and is released under the project name phoneME. As of 2008, all Java ME platforms are currently restricted to JRE 1.3 features and use that version of the class file format (internally known as version 47.0).
Java ME devices implement a profile. Connected Limited Device Configuration Mobile Information Device Profile Information Module Profile Connected Device Configuration Notes. Portal:Agriculture and Agronomy. Agriculture in Ethiopia is the foundation of the country's economy, accounting for half of gross domestic product (GDP), 83.9% of exports, and 80% of total employment.
Ethiopia's agriculture is plagued by periodic drought, soil degradation caused by overgrazing, deforestation, high population density, high levels of taxation and poor infrastructure (making it difficult and expensive to get goods to market). Yet agriculture is the country's most promising resource. A potential exists for self-sufficiency in grains and for export development in livestock, grains, vegetables, and fruits. As many as 4.6 million people need food assistance annually. Ethiopi's major staple crops include a variety of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and coffee. Sorghum, millet, and corn are cultivated mostly in warmer areas at lower altitudes along the country's western, southwestern, and eastern peripheries. Portal:Biotechnology. Portal:Contents/Technology and applied sciences. Portal:Technology.
Related: reference - Wiki,pdf&text - Artificial Intelligence - Telecom - Privacy & Google - Topics - matiere - Education - Enterprise
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Home > Research > Researchers > Dr Jonathan Read > Publications
Dr Jonathan Read
Senior Lecturer in Biostatistics
E-pub ahead of print
Domestic river water use and risk of typhoid fever: results from a case-control study in Blantyre, Malawi
Gauld, J. S., Olgemoeller, F., Nkhata, R., Li, C., Chirambo, A., Morse, T., Gordon, M. A., Read, J. M., Heyderman, R. S., Kennedy, N., Diggle, P. J. & Feasey, N. A., 30/05/2019, In : Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Differential mobility and local variation in infection attack rate
Haw, D. J., Cummings, D. A. T., Lessler, J., Salje, H., Read, J. M. & Riley, S., 22/01/2019, In : PLoS Computational Biology. 15, 1, 16 p., e1006600.
Who interacts with whom? Social mixing insights from a rural population in India
Kumar, S., Gosain, M., Sharma, H., Swetts, E., Amarchand, R., Kumar, R., Lafond, K. E., Dawood, F. S., Jain, S., Widdowson, M-A., Read, J. M. & Krishnan, A., 21/12/2018, In : PLoS ONE. 13, 12, 17 p., e0209039.
Pneumococcal carriage in households in Karonga District, Malawi, before and after introduction of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination
Heinsbroek, E., Tafatatha, T., Phiri, A., Swarthout, T. D., Alaerts, M., Crampin, A. C., Chisambo, C., Mwiba, O., Read, J. M. & French, N., 19/11/2018, In : Vaccine. 36, 48, p. 7369-7376 8 p.
Mitigating bias in observational vaccine effectiveness studies using simulated comparator populations: Application to rotavirus vaccination in the UK
Hungerford, D., Vivancos, R., Read, J. M., Bonnett, L. J., Bar-Zeev, N., Iturriza-Gómara, M., Cunliffe, N. A. & French, N., 29/10/2018, In : Vaccine. 36, 45, p. 6674-6682 9 p.
Prevalence and risk factors of community-associated methicillin-resistant carriage in Asia-Pacific region from 2000 to 2016: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Wong, J. W., Ip, M., Tang, A., Wei, V. W., Wong, S. Y., Riley, S., Read, J. M. & Kwok, K. O., 12/10/2018, In : Clinical Epidemiology. 10, p. 1489-1501 13 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
Primary Care Influenza-like Illness Surveillance in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 2013-2015
Todd, S., Huong, N. T. C., Thanh, N. T. L., Vy, N. H. T., Hung, N. T., Thao, T. T. N., Phuong, H. T., van Doorn, H. R., Hang, V. T. T., Chau, N. V. V., Read, J. M., Lalloo, D. G. & Boni, M. F., 09/2018, In : Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. 12, 5, p. 623-631 9 p.
Prevalence and risk factors of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) carriage in Asia-Pacific region from 2000 to 2016: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Wong, J., Ip, M., Tang, A., Wei, V., Wong, S., Riley, S., Read, J. M. & Kwok, K. O., 08/2018, In : International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 73, Suppl., p. 135-136 2 p.
A systematic review of transmission dynamic studies of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in non-hospital residential facilities
Kwok, K. O., Read, J. M., Tang, A., Chen, H., Riley, S. & Kam, K. M., 18/04/2018, In : BMC Infectious Diseases. 18, 1, 13 p., 188.
Rotavirus vaccine impact and socioeconomic deprivation: an interrupted time-series analysis of gastrointestinal disease outcomes across primary and secondary care in the UK
Hungerford, D., Vivancos, R., Read, J. M., Iturriza-Gόmara, M., French, N. & Cunliffe, N. A., 29/01/2018, In : BMC Medicine. 16, 1, 10 p.
Temporal variation of human encounters and the number of locations in which they occur: A longitudinal study of Hong Kong residents
Kwok, K. O., Cowling, B., Wei, V., Riley, S. & Read, J. M., 01/2018, In : Interface. 15, 138, 10 p., 20170838.
Prospective cohort study to investigate the burden and transmission of acute gastroenteritis in care homes: a study protocol
Inns, T., Pulawska-Czub, A., Harris, J. P., Vivancos, R., Read, J. M., Beeching, N. J., Allen, D. J., Iturriza-Gomara, M. & O'Brien, S. J., 1/11/2017, In : BMJ Open. 7, 11, 7 p., e018867.
Cohort Profile: a study of influenza immunity in the urban and rural Guangzhou region of China: the Fluscape Study
Jiang, C. Q., Lessler, J., Kim, L., Kwok, K. O., Read, J. M., Wang, S., Tan, L., Hast, M., Zhu, H., Guan, Y., Riley, S. & Cummings, D. A. T., 04/2017, In : International Journal of Epidemiology. 46, 2, 7 p., e16.
A comparison of hemagglutination inhibition and neutralization assays for characterizing immunity to seasonal influenza A
Truelove, S., Zhu, H., Lessler, J., Riley, S., Read, J. M., Wang, S., Kwok, K. O., Guan, Y., Jiang, C. Q. & Cummings, D. A. T., 11/2016, In : Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. 10, 6, p. 518-524 7 p.
Early impact of rotavirus vaccination in a large paediatric hospital in the UK
Hungerford, D., Read, J. M., Cooke, R. P. D., Vivancos, R., Iturriza-Gómara, M., Allen, D. J., French, N. & Cunliffe, N., 06/2016, In : Journal of Hospital Infection. 93, 2, p. 117-120 4 p.
Design of a study to examine contact mixing and acute respiratory infection in Ballabgarh, Haryana
Kumar, S., Amarchand, R., Gosain, M., Sharma, H., Dawood, F., Jain, S., Lafond, K., Widdowson, M-A., Read, J. M. & Krishnan, A., 04/2016, In : International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 45, Suppl. 1, p. 282 1 p.
Social contact networks and mixing among students in K-12 schools in Pittsburgh, PA
Guclu, H., Read, J. M., Vukotich, C. J., Galloway, D. D., Gao, H., Rainey, J. J., Uzicanin, A., Zimmer, S. M. & Cummings, D. A. T., 15/03/2016, In : PLoS ONE. 11, 3, 19 p., e0151139.
In-season and out-of-season variation of rotavirus genotype distribution and age of infection across 12 European countries before the introduction of routine vaccination, 2007/08 to 2012/13
Hungerford, D., Vivancos, R., Read, J. M., Pitzer, V. E., Cunliffe, N., French, N., Iturriza-Gómara, M. & EuroRotaNet network members, 14/01/2016, In : Eurosurveillance. 21, 2, 12 p., 5.
Pneumococcal acquisition among infants exposed to HIV in rural Malawi: a longitudinal household study
Heinsbroek, E., Tafatatha, T., Chisambo, C., Phiri, A., Mwiba, O., Ngwira, B., Crampin, A. C., Read, J. M. & French, N., 1/01/2016, In : American Journal of Epidemiology. 183, 1, p. 70-78 9 p.
Enhancing disease surveillance with novel data streams: challenges and opportunities
Althouse, B. M., Scarpino, S. V., Meyers, L. A., Ayers, J. W., Bargsten, M., Baumbach, J., Brownstein, J. S., Castro, L., Clapham, H., Cummings, D. A. T., Del Valle, S., Eubank, S., Fairchild, G., Finelli, L., Generous, N., George, D., Harper, D. R., Hébert-Dufresne, L., Johansson, M. A., Konty, K. & 16 othersLipsitch, M., Milinovich, G., Miller, J. D., Nsoesie, E. O., Olson, D. R., Paul, M., Polgreen, P. M., Priedhorsky, R., Read, J. M., Rodríguez-Barraquer, I., Smith, D. J., Stefansen, C., Swerdlow, D. L., Thompson, D., Vespignani, A. & Wesolowski, A., 1/12/2015, In : EPJ Data Science. 4, 1, p. 1-8 8 p., 17.
Testing the hypothesis of preferential attachment in social network formation
House, T., Read, J. M., Danon, L. & Keeling, M. J., 12/2015, In : EPJ Data Science. 4, 1, 13 p., 13.
Persisting high prevalence of pneumococcal carriage among HIV-infected adults receiving antiretroviral therapy in Malawi: a cohort study
Heinsbroek, E., Tafatatha, T., Phiri, A., Ngwira, B., Crampin, A. C., Read, J. M. & French, N., 10/09/2015, In : AIDS. 29, 14, p. 1837-1844 8 p.
Estimating the Life Course of Influenza A (H3N2) Antibody Responses from Cross-Sectional Data
Kucharski, A. J., Lessler, J., Read, J. M., Zhu, H., Jiang, C. Q., Guan, Y., Cummings, D. A. T. & Riley, S., 3/03/2015, In : Plos Biology. 13, 3, 16 p., 1002082.
Effectiveness of screening for Ebola at airports
Read, J., Diggle, P. J., Chirombo, J., Solomon, T. & Baylis, M., 3/01/2015, In : Lancet. 385, 9962, p. 23-24 2 p.
European red squirrel population dynamics driven by squirrelpox at a gray squirrel invasion interface
Chantrey, J., Dale, T. D., Read, J. M., White, S., Whitfield, F., Jones, D., McInnes, C. J. & Begon, M., 10/2014, In : Ecology and Evolution. 4, 19, p. 3788-3799 12 p.
Social contacts and the locations in which they occur as risk factors for influenza infection
Kwok, K. O., Cowling, B. J., Wei, V. W. I., Wu, K. M., Read, J. M., Lessler, J., Cummings, D. A., Peiris, J. S. M. & Riley, S., 22/08/2014, In : Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 281, 1789, 9 p., 20140709.
Risk factors for UK Plasmodium falciparum cases
Pinsent, A., Read, J. M., Griffin, J. T., Smith, V., Gething, P. W., Ghani, A. C., Pasvol, G. & Hollingsworth, T. D., 4/08/2014, In : Malaria Journal. 13, 8 p., 298.
The Contribution of Social Behaviour to the Transmission of Influenza A in a Human Population
Kucharski, A. J., Kwok, K. O., Wei, V. W. I., Cowling, B. J., Read, J. M., Lessler, J., Cummings, D. A. & Riley, S., 26/06/2014, In : PLoS Pathogens. 10, 6, 8 p., 1004206.
Social mixing patterns in rural and urban areas of southern China
Read, J. M., Lessler, J., Riley, S., Wang, S., Tan, L. J., Kwok, K. O., Guan, Y., Jiang, C. Q. & Cummings, D. A. T., 22/06/2014, In : Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 281, 1785, 8 p., 20140268.
The spatiotemporal association of non-prescription retail sales with cases during the 2009 influenza pandemic in Great Britain
Todd, S., Diggle, P. J., White, P. J., Fearne, A. & Read, J., 2014, In : BMJ Open. 4, 4, p. 1-9 9 p., e004869.
Social encounter networks: characterizing Great Britain
Danon, L., Read, J. M., House, T. A., Vernon, M. C. & Keeling, M. J., 22/08/2013, In : Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 280, 1765, 10 p., 20131037.
Close encounters of the infectious kind: methods to measure social mixing behaviour
Read, J. M., Edmunds, W. J., Riley, S., Lessler, J. & Cummings, D. A. T., 12/2012, In : Epidemiology and Infection. 140, 12, p. 2117-2130 14 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Literature review
Social encounter networks: collective properties and disease transmission
Danon, L., House, T. A., Read, J. M. & Keeling, M. J., 7/11/2012, In : Interface. 9, 76, p. 2826-2833 8 p.
Evidence for antigenic seniority in influenza A (H3N2) antibody responses in Southern China
Lessler, J., Riley, S., Read, J. M., Wang, S., Zhu, H., Smith, G. J. D., Guan, Y., Jiang, C. Q. & Cummings, D. A. T., 19/07/2012, In : PLoS Pathogens. 8, 7, 11 p., 1002802.
Modelling the impact of local reactive school closures on critical care provision during an influenza pandemic
House, T., Baguelin, M., Van Hoek, A. J., White, P. J., Sadique, Z., Eames, K., Read, J. M., Hens, N., Melegaro, A., Edmunds, W. J. & Keeling, M. J., 22/09/2011, In : Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 278, 1719, p. 2753-2760 8 p.
Location-specific patterns of exposure to recent pre-pandemic strains of influenza A in southern China
Lessler, J., Cummings, D. A. T., Read, J. M., Wang, S., Zhu, H., Smith, G. J. D., Guan, Y., Jiang, C. Q. & Riley, S., 9/08/2011, In : Nature Communications. 2, 9 p., 423.
The use of satellite imagery in contact/travel questionnaires
Lessler, J., Read, J. M., Riley, S. R. & Cummings, D. A. T., 1/06/2009, In : American Journal of Epidemiology. 169, Suppl. 11, p. S59-S59 1 p., 236.
Epidemic prediction and control in weighted networks
Eames, K. T. D., Read, J. M. & Edmunds, W. J., 03/2009, In : Epidemics. 1, 1, p. 70-76 7 p.
Dynamic social networks and the implications for the spread of infectious disease
Read, J. M., Eames, K. T. D. & Edmunds, W. J., 6/09/2008, In : Interface. 5, 26, p. 1001-1007 7 p.
Networks in epidemiology
Eames, K. T. D. & Read, J. M., 2008, Bio-inspired computing and communication: First Workshop on Bio-Inspired Design of Networks, BIOWIRE 2007 Cambridge, UK, April 2-5, 2007 Revised Selected Papers. Lio, P., Yoneki, E., Crowcroft, J. & Verma, D. C. (eds.). Berlin: Springer Verlag, p. 79-90 12 p. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; vol. 5151).
Stochasticity generates an evolutionary instability for infectious disease
Read, J. M. & Keeling, M. J., 09/2007, In : Ecology Letters. 10, 9, p. 818-827 10 p.
Disease evolution across a range of spatio-temporal scales
Read, J. M. & Keeling, M. J., 09/2006, In : Theoretical Population Biology. 70, 2, p. 201-213 13 p.
The invasion and coexistence of competing Wolbachia strains
Keeling, M. J., Jiggins, F. M. & Read, J. M., 10/2003, In : Heredity. 91, 4, p. 382-388 7 p.
Disease evolution on networks: the role of contact structure
Read, J. M. & Keeling, M. J., 7/04/2003, In : Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 270, 1516, p. 699-708 10 p.
HeathMod: a model of the impact of seasonal grazing by sheep on upland heaths dominated by Calluna vulgaris (heather)
Read, J. M., Birch, C. P. D. & Milne, J. A., 06/2002, In : Biological Conservation. 105, 3, p. 279-292 14 p.
Exploring the density-dependent structure of blowfly populations by nonparametric additive modeling
Lingjaerde, O. C., Stenseth, N. C., Kristoffersen, A. B., Smith, R. H., Moe, S. J., Read, J. M., Daniels, S. & Simkiss, K., 09/2001, In : Ecology. 82, 9, p. 2645-2658 14 p.
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'Refugees from Syria' - a cultural backgrounder for host communities and practitioners
March 15 2015 marked the 4 year anniversary of the Syrian refugee crisis, with more than 3.8 Million Syrians having fled the country, primarily seeking refuge in Syria’s neighbouring countries including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, as well as Egypt. In December 2014, the UNHCR has called on the global community to offer an overall 130.000 resettlement and other admission places for Syrian refugees 2013-2016. Approximately 84.000 places have so far been pledged, and Europe has so far counted the largest number of arrivals. Seeing that the conflict in its current state makes it unlikely for Syrian refugees to return, it is crucial that these persons receive reception and integration support that will allow them to integrate permanently and to become a full member of society in their host country.
To plan and implement good quality reception and integration programmes, those working with Syrian refugees post-arrival - including both experienced actors and the many new actors for whom these programmes mark a first involvement in receiving and supporting refugees – require up-to-date information on Syrian refugee populations, and opportunities to share experiences, exchange best practices, and pilot new and innovative approaches.
The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), a U.S.-based private non-profit organisation working to promote language learning and cultural understanding has produced numerous publications providing key information about various refugee populations, used to prepare host communities and actors involved in the reception and integration process and to provide information on the population’s history, culture, religion, language, education, and resettlement needs through the work of its Cultural Orientation Resource Center. In the context of the Syrian refugee crisis, the Center has produced a backgrounder on the Syrian refugee population in English aimed at providing valuable information for actors involved in the reception of Syrian refugees resettled to the US. To make this information available to relevant actors in Europe, the European Resettlement Network has initiated translation into 6 European languages including Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Spanish and Swedish, which are available below:
Click here to download the CAL publication 'Refugees from Syria' in Dutch
Click here to download the CAL publication 'Refugees from Syria' in English
Click here to download the CAL publication 'Refugees from Syria' in Finnish
Click here to download the CAL publication 'Refugees from Syria' in French
Click here to download the CAL publication 'Refugees from Syria' in German
Click here to download the CAL publication 'Refugees from Syria' in Spanish
Click here to download the CAL publication 'Refugees from Syria' in Swedish
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Hopscotch world record broken
A New York state church has broken a Guinness World Record for playing hopscotch.
The Asbury First United Methodist Church said more than 700 people played simultaneous games of hopscotch during Thursday night’s Block Part. This beats the previous Guinness record of 650 people.
Senior Minister Stephen Cady said that “we were trying to figure out as a church what could we do to bring people together and this was an idea someone sat around the table and said what about hopscotch.”
Cady said the church wanted to bring people to together at a divisive time for the country.
Outstation Boys & Girls U-12 Soccer Champs
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A teacher - key to the future
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Name these saltwater fish
Would you rather be a fish? Dive in and treat yourself to a fun and fishy five-minute challenge!Some of these fish can be...
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The Enchanted Table and other stories
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Significance of Esala Poya
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Daddy's cuddly little princesses!
Earth is our home
The planet Earth in the solar system is spherical in shape. Earth is the only planet we can live in. There is oxygen, water...
In the night camp
There was a boy called Will. He was a small child. He wanted to stay in a night camp. He told his parents this. The next day...
Achievements & Events
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Timothy McVeigh: A CHRISTIAN TERRORIST?
It appears that there are some out there who have asserted the claim that the Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh was a Christian or at the least, a self-professed Christian. This claim sadly enough, had been used in different arguments for varying ranges of issues.
For instance, Minister Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam (NOI) in a speech at a Chicago mosque referred to how the mass media did not state that terrorist Timothy McVeigh was a Christian.
Farrakhan is quoted by Cybercast News Service (CNS) as saying:
"Even though his crime was the most horrific committed up until that time, no one said Christian Timothy McVeigh, they just said Timothy McVeigh.”(SEE NOTE 1)
The writer of this article also recalls that right after September 11th, other Islamic leaders besides Farrakhan have made the same claim about McVeigh being a “Christian”. Mike Tyson was an example of a prominent Muslim who also referred to McVeigh as a Christian after the 9/11 incident.
DAN BARKER ASSERTION IN PARTICULAR
Interestingly enough, Muslims were not the only one who has been saying this. The atheist Dan Barker has been as well. In a particular editorial in “Freethought Today”, that serves as the regular newspaper publication of Freedom From Religion Foundation (the organization Dan Barker belongs to), they had a piece titled “Christian Terrorism In Oklahoma City”. (See NOTE 2)
Dan Barker asks rhetorically:
“Why is no one calling the Oklahoma City bombing suspects ‘Christian terrorists’?”(SEE NOTE 3)
The heart of the matter to Barker’s essay was the claim that McVeigh was in his understanding, a Christian. (SEE NOTE 4) It was to him, something that was obvious yet people tried to “see” God into the tragedy in a positive light instead:
“Ignoring the obvious religious connections here, everyone seems eager to turn this tragedy into an opportunity to acknowledge a deity.”
He then takes the moment to attack Christianity and the concept of belief in God from the fulcrum that the Oklahoma City Bomber was a “Christian” even having the audacity to go on and blame Christianity for the bombing:
“Since Christianity has a history of bloody persecution, wouldn't it make more sense for Freeh to identify religion as the culprit here?
Though Barker went tangent into other unrelated areas in his essay, we would be focusing this article more narrowly to the issue that is the fulcrum, the crux of his essay: Was Timothy Mc McVeigh a Christian?
NO WAY, MCVEIGH
How anyone could say McVeigh was a Christian is beyond this writer’s mind. His action and deeds definitely does not reflect that of a virtuous believer. Even more, there has not been any quotation of the Oklahoma City Bomber professing any Christian faith. Barker does not quote a single reference to back his allegation. On the contrary we see that there is documentation that he did not accept the Christian faith.
In an article by United Kingdom’s “The Guardian” about McVeigh’s execution, we find this reference:
“In his letter, McVeigh said he was an agnostic but that he would "improvise, adapt and overcome", if it turned out there was an afterlife. "If I'm going to hell," he wrote, "I'm gonna have a lot of company." His body is to be cremated and his ashes scattered in a secret location.”(SEE NOTE 5)
Note the above that McVeigh “said he was an agnostic” but not only that, but that he was defiant about hell itself and remain unrepentant. Then we also find the same statement that he was an agnostic admitted by Lou Michel during a cyber interview with CNN. Lou Michel spent hours interviewing McVeigh in writing a book titled, “American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing”. Michel’s words are enlightening:
Lou Michel: McVeigh is agnostic. He doesn't believe in God, but he won't rule out the possibility. I asked him, ‘What if there is a heaven and hell?’
He said that once he crosses over the line from life to death, if there is something on the other side, he will -- and this is using his military jargon – ‘adapt, improvise, and overcome.’ Death to him is all part of the adventure.”(SEE NOTE 6)
If McVeigh never admitted to being a Christian but rather stated that he was an agnostic, how did Dan Barker and others come to this false conclusion? It appears that at least in Barker’s case, he desires to hijack this false assertion to take the opportunity to slander Christianity. Whatever is the case, God would be the ultimate Judge and its this author’s prayer that Barker and others like him repent to knowing knowledge of Jesus as Lord and Savior.
--Jimmy Li
Morano, Marc. “Farrakhan Warns of Armageddon if US Retaliates.” Cybercast News Service 17 September 2001:
The date of this opinion piece was May, 1995. Though it is a bit of an older writing of Barker, it must still be dealt with as the organization Freedom From Religion Foundation still has this accessible on their website online without any retraction. The link to it can be accessed at http://ffrf.org/fttoday/1995/may95/oklahoma.html
Barker, Dan. “Christian Terrorism In Oklahoma City.” Freethought Today May 1995
From the context of this particular essay Barker uses the term Christian and Catholic loosely and even interchangeable. This seems to be his belief as can be seen in even his other writings such as his book, “Losing Faith in Faith”.
Borger, Julian. “McVeigh faces day of reckoning.” The Guardian June 11th 2001.
Entire transcript at http://www.cnn.com/COMMUNITY/transcripts/2001/04/04/michelherbeck/
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Printed from http://tektonics.org/.php
Uri Yosef on a "Sinless Jesus" and on Micah 5:2
Uri Yosef's article titled "Sinless Jesus?" as might be expected addresses the claim of Jesus as the perfect sacrifice by trying to show that Jesus wasn't, well, perfect. After a decent summation of the Christian view on this subject, and a few words on the consistency of Jesus' words with Jewish teachings of his era, Yosef starts off with the question, "Did Jesus Violate Any Torah Commandments?" His first objection is that Jesus violated Genesis 1:28:
And G-d blessed them [Adam and Eve], and G-d said to them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."
Jesus did not procreate; so, Yosef says, scratch that command and Jesus' perfect record.
But let's consider these words from Glenn Miller's article, "Did the Bible lie about Jesus being married?" -- which shows that the rabbis of Jesus' day sure didn't seem to think Gen. 1:28 had the force Yosef thinks it did:
It would have been 'normal' for [Jesus] to have been married, but not obligatory for that time (or any other time, for that matter).
The rabbinic literature--which is what people sometimes use to argue that celibacy was a capital offense(!)--notes and gives rules for exceptions to rules which were themselves non-binding:
"Celibacy was, in fact, not common, and was disapproved by the rabbis, who taught that a man should marry at eighteen, and that if he passed the age of twenty without taking a wife he transgressed a divine command and incurred God's displeasure. Postponement of marriage was permitted students of the Law that they might concentrate their attention on their studies, free from the cares of support a wife. Cases like that of Simeon be 'Azzai, who never married, were evidently infrequent.
He had himself said that a man who did not marry was like one who shed blood, and diminished the likeness of God. One of his colleagues threw up to him that he was better at preaching that at practicing, to which he replied, What shall I do? My soul is enamored of the Law; the population of the world can be kept up by others...It is not to be imagined that pronouncements about the duty of marrying and the age at which people should marry actually regulated practice." [HI:JFCCE:2.119f]...
Philo describes another Jewish sect of both men and women--the Therapeutae --who were celibate in their studies and pursuit of wisdom and the holy life (De Vita Contemplativa 68f).
But the dominant class of individuals who were 'allowed' or 'expected' to be celibate were prophetic figures, throughout Jewish history:
The prophet Jeremiah:
"But the Essenes, Qumran, and the Therapeutae were not the only examples of Jewish religious celibates who were considered in a reverent light around the time of Jesus. The OT was not lacking in at least one celibate religious figure, and later interpretation of the OT added some others. The one case from the OT is the tragic prophet Jeremiah. Far from being some positive religious commitment, celibacy was for Jeremiah a tragic personal sign, a lived-out prophetic symbol of the destruction of life that awaited the sinful people of Judah (Jer 16:1-4)."
We have, then, at least one example of an OT prophet for whom celibacy was not a minor matter, an optional life style. It was, by the order of Yahweh, a very literal and painful "embodiment" of Jeremiah's prophetic message of judgment, pronouncing imminent doom as punishment for the apostasy of God's people." [MJ:1.339]
John the Baptist (and possibly his prototype Elijah]:
"We should not be completely surprised that another fiery prophet of judgment around the time of Jesus also seems to have been celibate, namely, John the Baptist. Granted, our sources do not speak explicitly of John's celibacy; as usual, we are left with arguments from indirection and inference. But, even apart from Luke's picture of the boy John being raised in the wilderness until the time he began his ministry (at Qumran?),"' the mere fact that this ascetic prophet feeding on locusts and wild honey roamed up and down the Jordan Valley and the Judean wilderness, apparently with no fixed abode as he proclaimed a radical message of imminent judgment on Israel, makes it probable that John was a celibate (Mark 1:4-8).... It may be no accident that Mark closes the story of John's execution by Antipas with the words: ". . . his [John's] disciples came and took his corpse and laid it in a tomb" (6:29).
Without intending to reflect on the fact directly, Mark may be in effect seconding what Luke implies: there was no wife, children, or other family around John to see to one of the most sacred obligations incumbent on family members in Judaism: arranging for and participating in the obsequies of a husband or parent. In his radical itinerant prophetic ministry, John may have consciously been imitating Elijah, an OT itinerant prophet of judgment, who not only was interpreted as an eschatological figure in later Judaism (as early as Malachi and Ben Sira) but was also interpreted as a celibate by various patristic writers (e.g., Ambrose and Jerome). [MJ:1.339f]
Although the Rabbinic writers stressed the importance of marriage for procreation, it is noteworthy that this prophetic ideal of celibacy still showed up in the rabbinics:
"Judaism saw nothing wrong in portraying as celibate the great primordial prophet, seer, and lawgiver Moses (though only after the Lord had begun to speak to him). We see this interpretation already beginning to develop in Philo in the 1st century A.D. What is more surprising is that this idea is also reflected in various rabbinic passages. The gist of the tradition is an a fortiori argument. If the Israelites at Sinai had to abstain from women temporarily to prepare for God's brief, once-and- for-all address to them, how much more should Moses be permanently chaste, since God spoke regularly to him (see, e.g., b. Yabb. 87a).
The same tradition, but from the viewpoint of the deprived wife, is related in the Sipre on Numbers 12.1 (99). Since the rabbis in general were unsympathetic--not to say hostile--to religious celibacy, the survival of this Moses tradition even in later rabbinic writings argues that the tradition was long-lived and widespread by the time of the rabbis. We should note once again the typology seen in Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and the recycled Moses figure: the prophet who directly receives divine revelation that is to be communicated to his beloved yet sinful people Israel finds his whole life radically altered by his prophetic vocation.
This alteration, this being set apart by and for God's Word, is embodied graphically in the rare, awesome, and--for many Jews--terrible vocation of celibacy....While accepting the idea of an ancient figure like Moses as celibate (at least during his ministry to Israel), the rabbis did not as a general rule allow celibacy among their rabbinic colleagues and disciples. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (end of 1st century A.D.) is said to have equated a man's refusal to procreate offspring with murder. One rare exception, according to the same rabbinic passage, was Rabbi Simeon ben Azzai (a younger contemporary of Eliezer ben Hyrcanus), who paradoxically recommended marriage and procreation, though he himself remained unmarried. When accused of not practicing what he preached, he replied: "My soul is in love with the Torah. The world can be carried on by others" (b. Yeham. 63b).65
Yosef therefore does not even show knowledge of his own religious history. The "command" to marry (and those which Yosef claims follow from it) clearly could be and was superseded in certain circumstances. Presumably Yosef understands that the Sabbath law, absolute though it is, can be circumvented for a greater good; so likewise the marriage "command" -- and nearly all others one wishes to consider.
Sometime recently Yosef updated his article with a response to ideas contained in the above (though whether from here, I do not know). He claims first that a "detailed analysis of the relevant Rabbinic writings is beyond the scope of this essay" though he deigns to say, without any detail, that "when presented in their proper context, they no longer support the claim." No doubt we will never see that "context" actually presented.
Yosef thereafter replies to but one example given, that of Jeremiah, which he portends to refute by citing Jer. 16:2 ("Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.") and then declares that this "order is tied to a particular geographical location for a specific reason". Of course Yosef still has not solved the problem, since it is just as answerable to say that Jesus was single as an order "for a specific reason" (here, it would be that the church was his bride) and thus Yosef only assists our case.
Yosef's next is under the heading, "Honoring and Respecting Parents." After showing this in Exodus, Yosef writes back with examples we have become accustomed to:
Luke 2:40-50 -- Yes, the Temple incident. Yosef does not fully exegete the passage but says it shows disrespect. As with Morgan, I have to wonder how Yosef is able to detect disrespect without hearing Jesus' tone of voice. However, from Malina and Rohrbaugh in the Social Science commentary [299], that if anything, it was considered proper for a son to "talk down" to his mother at this age. This was "the first indication of a break with biological family" which was expected of young men. By comparison one may consider cultures where to do otherwise would be to be a "momma's boy".
Yosef is not approaching the text with ancient values and mores in mind; this was not "disrespect" or dishonor in any sense.
Matthew 12:46-50 -- where Jesus speaks of his crowd being his mother and brothers. Of course one again may note the premise above of devotion to a higher mission taking precedence over family in such cases; at the same time, this coldness likely did not originate with Jesus; and actually there is some question as to whether in a Semitic context this would be considered coldness at all, since the expression could mean that Jesus' family members "are such not merely by human bonds, but especially because they obey the Father." This amounts to an invitation to join an extended family: Jewish synagogues of the first century, and many movements today, use familial terminology.
And yes, John 2:4, of which we have said:
The term here is "Jesus' normal, public way of addressing women" (John 4:21, 8:10, 19:26, 20:31; Mt. 15:28; Lk. 13:12). It is also a common address in Greek literature, and never has the intent of disrespect or hostility. [Brow.GJ, 99].
The same term is used in Josephus Antiquities 17.17 by Pheroras to summon his beloved wife. [Beas.J, 34]
As for the second part of the response, it reads literally: "What to me and to you?" This is a Semitic phrase that indicates that the speaker is being unjustly bothered or is being asked to get involved in a matter that is not their business. It can be impolite, but not always. (cf. 2 Kings 3:13, Hos. 14:8) [Brow.GJ, 117] The intent must be determined by the context, and the first part of Jesus' saying does point to the latter intent.
Malina and Rohrbaugh [Social-Science commentary, 299] add that such implication of distance was in fact quite proper in a society where men were expected to break the maternal bonds by a certain age. Jesus' reaction is entirely respectful and appropriate in this context. Yosef, therefore, is commenting out of contextr.
Matthew 10:34-7 -- here, Yosef needs to look at the verses previous to these to see just who it is Jesus is saying will be the problem:
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 10:16-33)
Far from saying what the place of parents is, Jesus is here predicting that Christians will become the victims of violence BY WAY OF their family: It is the persecutors who wield the sword and become the foes, and parents will be the dishonoring informants. Yosef has the sentiments precisely backwards.
Luke 14:26. It's actually another "priority" case and Yosef not knowing the world and culture his own faith was rooted in. Abraham Rihbany (The Syrian Christ, 98f) points to the use of "hate" in the Bible as an example of linguistic extreme in an Eastern culture. There is no word, he notes, for "like" in the Arabic tongue. "...[T]o us Orientals the only word which can express and cordial inclination of approval is 'love'." The word is used even of casual acquaintances. Extreme language is used to express even moderate relationships. Reflecting, Biblical Hebrew has no equivalent to comparative adjectives or adverbs. One can say "tall" but not "taller" or "tallest".
Luke 14:26 falls into a category of "extreme language," the language of absoluteness used to express a preference, and may refer to disattachment, indifference, or nonattachment without any feelings of revulsion involved. The closest example comes from Genesis 29:30-1:
And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.
Here, "hated" is clearly used synonymously with one who is loved less. Let it be added that if Jacob hated Leah in a literal way, it is hardly believable that he would consent to take her as his wife at all! (See also Judges 14:16 and Deut. 21:15-17.)
Such extremes of feeling would be atypical, but the extremes are not meant to be taken literally; the point is that one master will get more dedicated labor than the other. Now let's move into some secular works with the same sort of hyperbolic language. Fitzmeyer's Lukan commentary offers this example from Poimandes 4:6:
If you do not hate your body first, O child, you will not be able to love yourself.
Would Yosef suppose that this teaches literal hatred of the physical body? It does not -- it emphasizes the need to give preference to the whole self before the body alone. Literal hate of the body would have us cutting it with razors or hitting it with blunt objects -- an extreme practiced in some Eastern faiths, but not among the Greeks.
Here is another example from a war song in the Poetae Lyrici Graeci (see James Denney, "The Word 'Hate' in Lk. 14:26," Expository Times 21, 41-42): it is said that in battle, men "must count his own life his enemy for the honor of Sparta" -- is this a literal hatred of one's own life being taught? No! It is emphasizing the need to make one's life secondary for Sparta's sake. Here's a final example from Epictetus 3.3.5: "The good is preferable to every intimate relation." This is just a more abstract version of Luke 14:26.
Therefore Yosef fails, anachronistically, to show that Jesus violated any commandments in this category.
In an update, Yosef added a new "sin" to the list, an alleged violation of a law requiring burial of the dead. Cited in this regard as expected is Matthew 8:21-22//Luke 9:59-60, "And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
In one sense, Yosef is actually right here; Jesus here does assert his prerogative to overrule the law -- for the more important mission of saving souls. In that respect Jesus is no more violating the law than would be a Jew who picked up an animal out of a pit on the Sabbath so it would not starve. On the other hand, as Keener's Matthew commentary notes [275], parallel phraseology in other sources suggests that the "dead" here are the spiritually dead; the Semitic idiom "I must first bury my father" can be used to refer to parents not yet dead, so that in essence, the man is putting Jesus off for an indeterminate period -- even years.
Another possibility is that what the man is asking for is not permission to bury his father immediately after death as needed, but to perform a "secondary" burial performed a year later, and thus the man is asking for a delay of as much as a year before he can serve with Jesus. Thus yet again Yosef is off the mark.
Yosef's formerly third (now fourth) category is, "Celebrating Pesakh/Passover." Noting that the seder requires unleavened bread, Yosef objects:
Yet, as we read the Gospel accounts of the last supper, we find Jesus and his disciples eating ordinary bread...One may want to argue that the NT authors meant unleavened bread. However, upon checking these accounts in the Greek language, it is evident that the word for 'unleavened bread' is "azumos" (e.g., Mt 26:17; Mk 14:1,12; Lk 22:1,7). The Greek scriptures use the word for ordinary leavened bread, "artos", for what was consumed at the last supper (Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22; Lk 24:30).
Of course one may ask, if this is so, who else violated some laws, since Jews were supposed to not even have such bread around for Jesus to buy. But this argument, which seems to appear often on anti-missionary sites, misses something important. Azumos is not a word for "unleavened bread" but just a word for "unleavened," period, as in 1 Cor. 5:7:
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
Paul says to his readers, "You are unleavened"! Is he saying they are made of bread? Of course not. Artos is a word for all bread, with or without leaven, and does not tell us any such thing as Yosef suggests. Beyond this Yosef argues from silence that there is neither lamb nor bitter herbs mentioned, but the Gospels are not exactly intended as travelogues giving a full menu (and in a high context setting, would not need to).
In short Yosef fails to find any violation of the Passover regulations here.
In section 5, Yosef refers to command of "Love and Brotherhood," beginning with "Attitude toward Gentiles." Noting Torah commands to love Gentiles, Yosef appeals to Jesus' treatment of the Syrophoenician woman. Once again Miller has the prescription for this:
Historically, Jesus is taking his disciples aside for some very needed rest. So, William Lane (NICNT:in.loc.):" The purpose of Jesus' withdrawal to Tyre was to secure the rest which had been interrupted both in the wilderness (Ch. 6:30-34) and in the district of Gennesaret (Ch. 6:53-56). The house provided a place of retreat for Jesus with his disciples."
Jesus went into the vicinity of Tyre--not the city. He was trying to escape notice, and get some badly needed rest for His disciples. The woman would have had to travel to find Him...
Of greater interest is the placing of this pericope in both gospels. It not only records Jesus' withdrawal from the opposition of the Pharisees and teachers of the law (cf. 14.13) but contrasts their approach to the Messiah with that of this woman.
They belong to the covenant people but take offense at the conduct of Jesus' disciples, challenge his authority, and are so defective in understanding the Scriptures that they show themselves not to be plants the heavenly Father has planted. But this woman is a pagan, a descendent of ancient enemies, and with no claim on the God of the covenant. Yet in the end she approaches the Jewish Messiah and with great faith asks only for grace; and her request is granted...
Theologically, Jesus was sent (as Messiah) to the Jew only. The biblical intent was that the Nation of Israel would accept the Messiah, receive the Spirit, and turn-around and evangelize/minister to the whole world (as they will some day--Romans 11.15). The Gentiles were included in the covenant promises to Abraham, but the blessings to them would come "through Abraham" (Gen 12.3). Cf. Jesus remarks in John 4: "Salvation is from the Jews." So, His PUBLIC ministry was semi-confined to the nation of Israel. [In fact, this scene is the only known traveling of the adult Jesus outside of Palestine--and it was to hide!]
But, AS A JEW HIMSELF (not as the Jewish Messiah), Jesus had a responsibility to non-Jews. As a private citizen, He was to show kindness to foreigners (Lev 19.33ff; Ex 22.21; Dt 10.18ff). Israel was supposed to be a 'kingdom of priests'--to mediate to non-Israel the blessings of God (Ex 19.6). Jonah is an OT book whose central theme is Jewish evangelism of gentiles (Assyria)...
And a key point:
Pedagogically, we have to remember that Jesus (as were traditional rabbi's of the day) was fond of using questions, challenges, and puzzles to engage a student in the learning/growing process (e.g. Mt 13.51; 15.34; Mt 16.13; 17.25; 19.17; 20.22; 20.32--esp. 22.41; Mk 3.4; Lk 10.36; Lk 20.17; John 5.6).
...Seeing exactly the subtle hint that Jesus has provided in the image, she agrees with Jesus (the adversative 'but' in many English translations is simply NOT in the text at all--the kai gar is everywhere else in the NT translated "for even"!), and points out that sometimes the puppies get little morsels BEFORE their regular feeding time, by simply hanging around the dinner table and catching the parts not used by the kids.
Jesus is deeply moved by such a powerful faith--He addresses her in Matthew with "O, Woman!"--a Greek construction (in Hellenistic Greek, not Classical) indicating deep emotional response (Carson, EBC, Matthew, p.356).
Jesus compliments her on her great faith, and explains that the demon has already left her daughter--(and that, by implication, there is no need for Him and the disciples to travel to her home.)
Notice that there is not the slightest indication that the woman felt insulted, discouraged, or even frustrated in this narrative--and also notice that this woman's incredible faith is immortalized forever in the NT (cf. Mk 14.9!).
Miller sums it up:
First, Jesus has made an implicit commitment to allow the disciples to rest. If Jesus were to go with this woman, the crowds would be thronging them, and they would be right back where they were in the last 2-3 chapters. Jesus has to "draw the line" somewhere. There is a time to rest and a time to work.
Jesus' comment to the disciples about 'the lost sheep of Israel' does two things: (1) it 'sets them up' pedagogically on a different track for His dialogue with the woman; and (2) SOMEHOW, encourages them to let the woman into His presence.
This latter point could be accomplished in a number of ways, many of which are not able to be conveyed in the text. We know, for example, of several cases of irony/sarcasm in Jesus' words that can only be learned from the setting (cf. Luke 13.33: In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day -- for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! or John 16.31: "You believe at last!" Jesus answered. )
For all we know, this verse might have been said with a 'tired irony'--something like the modern--"I was sent only to the Lost Sheep of Israel--yeah, right!". In any event, his words or his tone or his gestures encouraged them to 'let her in'.
The woman now makes a request "(come to my house and) perform an exorcism" which conflicts with Jesus' current 'mission' to provide rest for his disciples. But instead of saying "No," he turns the event into a three-pronged teaching and development session--for her, for his disciples, for us--WITHOUT compromising His commitment to his disciples' rest, or His compassion for this woman's need.
He responds with a mini-parable or image of supper-time, little children, and their inside pets. This image is so well chosen, that it will deliver two 'payloads' to two different audiences....SHE will hear the words of Jesus and make the equivalencies of "children-disciples"//puppies-me". She will understand Jesus to be saying that she WILL GET FED, but that He must take care of His disciples FIRST. There is not a 'NO' in Jesus' words at all--just an implicit "WAIT." This "WAIT vs. NO" scenario is what prompts the woman to persevere. Either the image or the tone of Jesus encourages her to make her quick-witted response.
The image Jesus has chosen is an image of endearment, not insult. The picture of supper-time, with little kids at the table, and their pet "puppies" (the Greek word for 'dog' here is not the standard, 'outside' dog--which MIGHT BE an insult--, but is the diminutive word, meaning 'household pets, little dogs') at their feet, maybe tugging on their robes for food or play. The puppies, dear to the children and probably so too to the master (cf. 2 Sam 12.3f: but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.), were to be fed AFTER the children (notice: not DENIED food--there was no "NO" in Jesus image--only "WAIT"). But the temporal order is clear--Jesus must take care of His disciples FIRST, and if meeting her need involved interrupting their rest and GOING SOMEWHERE, then it was going to have to wait.
Implicit in Jesus' image, however, is a very obvious 'hint' to the woman as to how next to proceed. His word choices are interesting. He COULD HAVE SAID "it is not fitting to take the children's food and give it to the (outside) dogs", but instead said "it is not fitting to take the children's food and TOSS it to the (inside) pets." The image, using the different Greek form for "inside puppy-pets" rather than that of the "outside dog" (cf. Luke 16.21), makes the "toss/inside puppy-pets" stand out in the saying.
If the woman had ever had any inside pet-related experiences, she would have instantly visualized the obvious--the little pets NEVER sit still away from the table--they are always (esp. the puppies) 'hounding' the children, with the often result of a morsel here or there BEFORE their real mealtime. The hint is there; and the quick-witted woman instantly seizes upon it.
Now we move to a section, "Attitude toward Jews," and on this one, Yosef is again anachronistic. How did Jesus violate laws to love fellow Jews? According to Yosef, by calling other Jews hypocrites, fools, etc.
He's anachronizing on love: Agape does not mean not confronting others with error or sin, or not engaging in such polemic. As we have noted elsewhere, a key difference in understanding the meaning of agape is to recognize that our culture is centered on the individual, whereas ancient Biblical society (and 70% of societies today) are group-centered. What is good for the group is what is paramount. Hence when the NT speaks of agape it refers to the "value of group attachment and group bonding" [Malina and Neyrey, Portraits of Paul, 196].
Agape is not an exchange on a personal level and "will have little to do with feelings of affection, sentiments of fondness, and warm, glowing affinity." It is a gift that puts the group first.
With that in mind, it may be best to understand agape as a parallel to another known concept of today -- not love, but tough love. The most famous example of such "tough love" known today is the New Jersey high school principal Joe Clark who cleaned out his high school and made it a safe place for those who wanted to learn. Clark was no soft sentimentalist! He kicked those out of school who disrupted the learning of others. He used physical compulsion to do it as needed. He used a bullhorn to get people's attention.
Is this agape? Yes, it is! It is the Biblical form of agape in which Clark valued what was best for his students as a whole versus what the individual wanted. In light of Jesus' confrontation with the Pharisees and others, it will take a complexity of emotion we find foreign, but conceptually, it is certainly possible to love one's enemies, and yet also attack them; and the same for one's disciples or allies. Like Clark's disruptive students, the Pharisees were a threat to the well-being of others; so likewise Peter when he made his error. They spread deception and falsehood and kept others from entering the Kingdom of God with their deceptions; or else led people down the wrong path and away from spiritual maturity.
In such a scenario, not only is it right and proper, for the sake of agape, to confront and confront boldly; it may be the only responsible thing to do to keep the "disease" or error from spreading and afflicting more souls.
In the ancient world, and even today, insults and polemics were a way to shame and discredit an opponent. So agape does include verbally attacking and discrediting one's opponents, or confronting other believers, when they are in the wrong. Jesus speaks to these men not as his enemies, but as enemies of the truth. There is no indication that he speaks to them as personal enemies, for all of his comments reflect their deception of others; the personal relationship between the parties does not even come into the picture. They were enemies for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
And so, Yosef's objection to "vicious, violent language" is out of place and out of time.
Next up, Yosef finds a violation of a command about "Cutting Down or Destroying Fruit Bearing Trees" where Jesus killed the fig tree. Problem is here, to start, the passage Yosef thinks Jesus violated is Deut. 20:19-20, which refers to what not to do when a city is being besieged by Israel. This was not a law against single-person destruction of single trees. So the claim is errant to begin with, and doesn't even consider the point that the tree's destruction served a greater purpose: to serve as an enacted parable that would be a sign for others and lead some to believe in him and be saved. Is Yosef going to tell us that one tree cannot be sacrificed for the sake of human eternal life?
(Note: In an updated edition by Yosef, this last entry was removed.)
Next up: "Did Jesus Change (Add to, or Take Away from) Torah Commandments?" Yosef offers subcategories starting with "Adultery." His first cite is John 8:3-11, where Jesus tells the people not to stone the adulterous woman.
Yosef says Jesus "changed the penalty" -- did he now? Yosef is out of context, yet again: the penalty had already been "changed" by the Romans, who forbade the Jews to enact their laws. So Yosef has a choice, and it's the one they were also offering Jesus: Do we enact the penalty, and risk Rome on our heads, and the lives that would be lost as a result?
(This one is also removed in the newer edition, though something different, for which our answer is the same, is now in a footnote.)
Next up, Matthew 5:27-8 where Jesus says one commits adultery even in one's heart. Yosef claims that in Deuteronomy, "desire is not considered sinful":
Deuteronomy 21:10-13 - (10) When you go forth to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God has delivered them into your hands, and you have taken them captive, (11) And see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her, that you would have her as your wife; (12) Then you shall bring her home to your house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; (13) And she shall take off the garment of her captivity, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month; and after that you shall go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
The word "desire" here is NOT one of sexual attraction, but of delight and love -- which may obviously include or involve sexual attraction, but does not require it! It is the same word used in Deut. 7:7: "The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people..." Yosef is taking advantage of a resemblance in English.
After re-iterating about Jesus' singleness (see above), Yosef moves on to "Dietary Laws." On this account Yosef is right -- and also wrong. Yes, Jesus' teachings abrogated the diet restrictions. But Yosef does not ask for the WHY of those restrictions.
In ancient societies, purity codes like the diet laws "are a way of talking about what is proper for a certain place and a certain time...Pollution is a label attached to whatever is out of place with regard to the society's view of an orderly and safe world." It involves "drawing the lines that give definition to the world around us..." More than this: Purity in the ancient world "is fundamentally concerned with the ordering of the world and making sense of one's everyday experiences in light of that order, which is usually conceived as being a divine ordering of the cosmos..."
Ancient cultures like Israel's "draw extensive lines of purity, of clean and unclean, in an attempt to create a model of God's cosmic order and to help an individual locate his or her place in that order so that the person may know when pollution has been contracted and what needs to be done to dispel it, so that access to the holy God and his benefits will remain open." Breaches of boundaries are "unclean". From the Israelites food laws, something like a lobster which lives in the water, yet has legs, is ritually unclean because it breaks the boundaries between land and sea. Pilch and Malina [Handbook of Biblical Social Values, 24] also note the example of garments not being of mingled textiles (Lev. 19:19, Deut. 22:11).
Yosef apparently has no conception of this, for if he did, he would realize that abrogation of the food laws -- which defined the covenant people -- would go along with Jesus' expansion of the new covenant to all people. There was no longer any boundary between Jew and Gentile. Thus Jesus did not encourage a violation but a supercession that reflected the intentions of the diet laws.
As an aside, Yosef adds: "Yet, when speaking to Gentiles, three of the four 'laws' given by Paul in Ac 15:29 pertain to things that may not be consumed!" Yosef has the intent of the decree wrong; a reading of the material in its social context reveals something different [With.AA, 461n]: The part of the decree dealing with meat offered to idols is better understood when we realize that only the wealthy ate meat with any regularity. Otherwise, a working-class Gentile usually only ate meat at public celebrations at pagan temples. The ban on sexual activity (fornication) likewise makes sense in the context of pagan festivals where such activities were part of the process. The prohibition on things that are strangled relates to a pagan belief that strangulation of the sacrificial animal transferred the spiritual vitality of the offering to the idol itself.
At the same time, the prohibition on blood relates to the pagan practice of tasting of the blood of the sacrifice. The decree, therefore, is comprehended best as a prohibition of attending pagan feasts and all that entailed.
Next issue: "Divorce." Here Yosef claims that Jesus disagreed with Deut. 24:1-2, but he is unaware that the view Jesus offered was the same as that of the strict rabbinic school of Shammai.
Next, "Fasting." Yosef notes that the Torah commands observation of fasts on certain holidays. He cites Mark 2:18-20 against this, but there is no evidence that this was stated with reference to a prescribed time of fasting.
Then we have, "The Sabbath". Yosef cites as a violation Mark 2:23-6 and uses the alleged Abiathar error and more to accuse Jesus:
In addition to the factual errors in these passages (Ahimelech was the High Priest, not Abiathar; and the priests did not violate the law in giving the showbread to David and his men), which reflect the lack of his knowledge of the Hebrew Bible, it is apparent that Jesus disagreed with the Torah on the rules that pertain to Shabbat. The disciples were obviously not learned enough to know that the picking of grain on Shabbat was a violation of Torah law. And, Jesus, Instead of heeding the Rabbinic authorities and correcting his disciples' behavior (as he himself taught should be done [Mt 23:3]), he instead attempts to justify their actions and challenges the authority of the Rabbis. So, by changing the commandments about Shabbat, Jesus condoned the violation of Shabbat by his disciples.
But as Casey shows in Aramaic Sources of Mark's Gospel, Jewish commentators of Jesus' day agreed that there WAS a violation of the law, and they explained the violation just as Jesus did, as a matter of necessity [154]. Casey also notes [147] that evidence "strongly suggests that the prohibition of plucking did not enter the generally accepted halakah until it was promulgated by the rabbis in the third century CE."
A new section suggests that Jesus was in violation of the Law by disobeying the Sanhedrin, but if that is the case, then we ask Yosef: Were the priests also to be obeyed when they erected an Asherah pole in the Temple?
A section is now also added on alleged abuse of Is. 7:14 by Matthew, for which we remand Yosef here for an discussion on exegetical principles accepted by his religious forebears.
Finally it is suggested that because Jesus was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness," he must not have though he was sinless; Yosef is not informed that this was, indeed, a "demonstration" -- Jesus, as leader of his community, would have been obliged to lead the way by example -- but that this does not make it an efficacious example.
In closing, Yosef suggests that Jesus did himself no service by hanging around with "shady characters such as tavern/innkeepers and prostitutes" and by accepting hospitality from " people who, in all likelihood, did not observe all regulations concerning ritual cleanliness and dietary laws..."
As our close we can only remind Yosef of words of warning that preceded judgment on Israel: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." (Hos. 6:6)
On Micah 5:2
The original form of this article was addressed to Tovia Singer. Since then, I have been charged with error on a point within, but in trying to investigate discovered that Singer's article is no longer online and that a nearly identical version is online by Uri Yosef.
Since no one seems to be able to explain this, I am neither admitting to error nor saying I did not make one, because I am not convinced that Yosef's article duplicates Singer's. Instead I will simply rewrite this article addressed to Yosef's version as it appears in December 2006.
Uri Yosef's argicle, entitled Bethlehem: The Messiah's Birthplace is not comparable in depth to Miller's detailed work here, and actually does get thoroughly refuted by it (combined with supplemental material found here), especially on the issue of whether "Bethlehem" is a clan or a city.
Here's an answer: by the rules of midrash, and the ancient perception of "probabilities," and the intimate identification of said clan with their ancestral city, it doesn't make any difference if Micah meant the clan and not the city. But there are a couple of points Yosef makes an issue of that are worth highlighting and that Glenn's item does not cover.
Yosef objects to what the KJV does (never mind what Biblical scholars do; he consults none, and barely tips a hat to other translations) in making Micah 5 translated differently than the same Hebrew word is translated elsewhere. The critical issue of course is what exactly the Hebrew word does support, and in that regard, the word in question, 'olam, is one we have seen before -- as noted from James Barr's Biblical Words for Time, this is a word that means "in perpetuity" -- Hebrew having, as Barr notes, no actual word for "eternity". As we noted in other places:
The word olam is also used to describe the tenure of a slave, indicating that his service will last for the entirety of his life. One might argue that this indicates a time that ends, but the parallel usage of olam with the phrase "as long as he lives" in 1 Sam. 1:22-28 indicates that what lies behind olam in these cases is something of a figurative sense of "forever" that stresses the permanence of the person's condition.
What this means is that 'olam can only mean "forver" if the context says so (eg, if it referred to God). And Jewish thought contemporary with early Christianity does allow for the idea that the Messiah was eternal. So one can hardly disqualify a midrashic application of this passage to Jesus on the basis of the use of 'olam. Far from being "disastrous to Christian theology" as Yosef claims, it nestles quite comfortably with it.
Other than this, Yosef claims that the "Messiah cannot be born in the insignificant place that is the lowest on the totem pole," buy why this is so, he fails to explain. One may as well argue that Moses could not have been born in pagan Egypt.
In the end, however, Yosef has to admit, "this prophecy speaks of Bethlehem as the Messiah's place of origin, though not necessarily his place of birth."
Not necessarily? So then what's the point of Yosef's objection?
Finally Yosef asks, "Using the logic of the Christian claim, and considering the many thousands of people having come from Bethlehem during its history, how is it possible to identify which one of them was the Messiah?"
Well -- that he was resurrected from the dead might be a useful signal?
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The Sta. Rita Hills are situated in a transverse maritime throat, a pure east-west series of rolling hills that have no barriers between the hillside vineyards and the adjacent Pacific Ocean. This unusual occurrence provides strong winds, morning fog and cool temperatures. Together, these conditions lengthen the growing season, limit vine yields, and provide grapes with a rare combination of full ripeness, concentration, excellent structure, minerality and acidity.
Located on the western end of the Santa Ynez Valley, the soils in the Sta. Rita Hills contain less clay and more calcium than those in the eastern end of the valley, and because the area is nearer to the Pacific, temperatures are also cooler. As a result, the classic cool-climate varietals Pinot Noir and Chardonnay thrive in the Sta. Rita Hills, while to the east Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, Grenache and Sauvignon predominate.
In 1998, Sanford Winery and Vineyards was among a group of winemakers and growers who petitioned the U.S. Government to recognize the Sta. Rita Hills as an American Viticultural Area (AVA). An AVA is a precisely defined geographical area that has demonstrably distinctive soil, climate and other growing conditions.
In 2001, the Sta. Rita Hills received official certification as an AVA, distinct from the larger Santa Ynez Valley AVA that has existed since 1977.
The certification officially acknowledged what the wine world had understood for years. As early as 1977 the famed wine critic Robert Lawrence Balzer touted the 1976 Pinot Noir produced from the Sanford and Benedict Vineyard as the finest he had tasted yet from California.
The Sta. Rita Hills AVA covers approximately 100 square miles extending from four miles west of Highway 101 at Buellton to two miles east of Lompoc on both sides of the Santa Ynez River. The northern boundaries are formed by the south-facing slopes of the Purisima Hills and the southern boundaries are formed by the north-facing slopes of the Santa Rosa Hills.
www.terlatowines.com
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In the brief review of the month’s magazine
As I have pointed out before November is the month for REMEMBRANCE. At the beginning of the month we remember and celebrate All the Saints of God together with all the Holy Souls as we remember those whom we have loved but see no more.
On November 5th we are bidden to remember the overthrowing of a plot to topple the government of the Day on Bonfire Night. On November 11th and on the nearest Sunday we are also bidden to remember the fallen of two World Wars and of conflicts since that time on Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday. That is quite a lot of remembering to do in a very short period – some of that remembering goes back to the dawn of Christianity as we celebrate ALL SAINTS DAY, while some of the remembering is much closer to the present time, indeed some of the remembering may be of people we have only recently lost.
Remembrance serves several different functions, it allo us to express the love we have for those we knew who have died. It can be a way we express thanks for those who gave their lives in the service of their country and for the good of all humankind. It can be a way of helping us not to make the same mistakes again that were made in the past and in a very positive way it can encourage us to work to create a better and more just World for ourselves and for future generations. Remembrance is a good thing if we use it rightly.
Remembrance is at the heart of the Christian Faith, every time we meet together to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, as Our Lord commanded us at the Last Supper, we are told to do this in remembrance of him. This remembrance even has a special name it is call ANAMNESIS. It is a sort of remembrance that seeks to go beyond other types of remembering it is remembrance that makes real in the present that which is remembered in the past so that in the Eucharist we remember the Last Supper and the actions and words of Our Lord not just as historical events but as events which have a definite meaning and reality for us in the here and now. The sacrifice of Our Lord on the Cross, his offering of his very self for the salvation of the World is made real for us in our remembering of it. We are not just thinkers or dreamers or bystanders we become a part of the very reality we are calling to mind.
I hope that whatever or whoever you remember this November will bring you a sense of oneness with that memory, a hope for the future, a lesson for the present and above all in the Eucharist a sense of the presence of Christ in our midst and of his saving help to us who call upon him and remember him at the Altar.
Wishing you all every blessing
Your Priest and Vicar
Fr Nicholas Davis
Jennifer expressed her thanks to all the donations given towards flowers for our churches. Fourteen areas of our church needed to be covered and 14 arrangers were on hand to do this.
Harvest Meal
Thanks were given by Frances, for all who helped out with the Haervest meal.
The group were pleased to have Fr Nicholas at the last meeting to preside at what was now becoming the Annual Harvest Eucharist. Brenda was hoping to have visited the Women’s Refuge before you read these notes.
Les Clayden
It was announced with great sadness that a former member of our church for many and then of St Leonard’s at Lexden had recently died, aged 100.
He was a founder member of the St Raphael Club which I attended until it closed down, and he had been president of it. In the year before he died, I spoke with him, as I completed a book of the history of that club.
Deanery news
Terry once again gave his detailed news of the events going on in the local area.
Belfry news
On Wednesday 16th Setember 2015, a quarter peel of Plain Bob Doubles, was rung to celebrate the Golden Wedding of John and Paula. A week before, it had been a quarter peal of Grandshire Doubles to celebrate the Queen becoming the longest serving monarch.
McMillan Coffee Morning
At the fund raising event that was held at the Thursday Open Afternoon on 8th October 2015, the sum of £62.80 was raised. Some people were unable to attend, and the sum increased up to £120.
Friends of All Saints
A party of 27 made the trip to visit Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge. As usual this started in the rain. A stop was made enroute at Bury St Edmunds to see the lovely gardens there. Overall a profit of £70 was made for the Friends’ Fund.
News from Stanway Lodge
A detailed two page report came to us from Clara.
With Advent soon approaching; there was talk about Advent Calendars and Candles, and the preparations ongoing for Christmas.
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An echo of history as Locomotive 4141 carries George H.W. Bush to his final resting place
By Brittney Martin Washington Post
December 2, 2018 — 10:09pm
HOUSTON – When the curtain parted in College Station, Texas, revealing a two-toned blue locomotive standing nearly 16 feet tall and bearing the number 4141 in his honor, former President George H.W. Bush looked around excitedly, his face breaking into a smile.
One word left his lips: “Wow.”
Thirteen years later, that same Union Pacific locomotive will escort the 41st president to his final resting place in College Station on Thursday after funeral ceremonies in Washington and Houston.
The train carrying his remains will leave a Union Pacific Railroad yard in Spring, a town north of Houston, and travel the 70 miles to College Station. Bush will be buried there, alongside his wife, Barbara, and daughter Robin on the site of his presidential library at Texas A&M University.
The locomotive, painted the same blue colors that adorned Air Force One during Bush’s presidency, was unveiled by the company in October 2005. At the time, Bush was fascinated by the train’s mechanics and asked whether he could take it for a spin, according to Mike Iden, a retired Union Pacific general director of car and locomotive engineering.
After some brief training and under the supervision of an engineer, “the former president operated the locomotive for about 2 miles,” Iden said.
George H.W. Bush looks out of the cab of Union Pacific locomotive 4141 at its 2005 unveiling in College Station, Texas.
An Associated Press article at the time said the unveiling stirred memories in Bush of his childhood travels with his family. “We just rode on the railroads all the time, and I’ve never forgotten it,” Bush said.
Presidential funeral trains
During previous centuries, trains carried numerous presidents to their funerals. Abraham Lincoln’s body — with that of his son, Willie, who had died three years earlier — was carried by train more than 1,600 miles from Washington to Springfield, Ill. The slain leader’s portrait was affixed to the front of the engine for the entirety of the trip.
Ulysses Grant, James Garfield, William McKinley, Warren Harding and Franklin D. Roosevelt also took their final journeys by rail. The last such cortège, for Dwight Eisenhower in 1969, involved a specially prepared baggage car. The train traveled through seven states — Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri — before reaching its final destination in Abilene, Kan.
“It’s an opportunity for a large swath of the population to pay their final respects to someone who has done so much for our country,” Scott Moore, a Union Pacific senior vice president, noted Saturday about the plans for Bush’s funeral week. “Having a train like this pulled by a locomotive specifically about this man is just really unprecedented.”
The route from Spring to College Station will pass through several towns, including Hufsmith, Pinehurst, Magnolia and Navasota. Hufsmith is barely a dot on the map these days. But 2 miles away, the mayor of Tomball fondly remembers Bush’s visit for the city’s centennial celebration in 2007. It was the first time a president, past or present, had been there.
“He came out, and we presented him with a key to the city, and he actually kissed me on the cheek,” Mayor Gretchen Fagan said. “My mother-in-law said that when she got home, there were messages on her voice mail saying, ‘Oh my gosh, the president of the United States just kissed your daughter-in-law!’ ”
Bush took pictures with people for over an hour after the event. “It was such a pleasure,” Fagan recalled. “The people of Tomball were just so excited.”
Navasota Mayor Bert Miller said he’s not sure whether Bush ever visited the city, but he has memories campaigning for him in 1980.
“I remember — with my grandfather — doing some politicking for him back when he was [campaigning for] vice president with President Reagan,” Miller said Saturday. “I was real young at the time.”
Navasota is about 20 miles from Bush’s presidential library at Texas A&M, where the former president was a regular fixture after his library opened there in 1997. He occasionally dropped in on classes at the Bush School of Government and Public Service and was even spotted at the rec center when in good health.
By car, the ride from Houston to College Station typically takes 90 minutes, but the announced schedule for Locomotive 4141 will be twice as long. The university said Saturday that the president’s casket will be unloaded at a railroad stop near campus. The funeral procession will then travel down George Bush Drive, with a brief arrival ceremony followed by a private interment. The campus will be closed Thursday.
At the locomotive’s unveiling, Bush stuck his head out of a window and flashed Texas A&M’s familiar “gig ’em” sign: A thumbs up.
British lawmakers block path for no-deal Brexit
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For late president's service dog, 'mission complete'
Bush mourned as statesman, man of uncommon decency
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Queen’s University Belfast students unveil special version of iconic DeLorean car
Students at Queen’s University Belfast celebrated Back to the Future day in style this week as they unveiled a customised electric version of the iconic DeLorean car.
The project began in June 2013, with the University aiming to equip young engineers with the expertise needed to build the electric vehicles of the future. Back to the Future Day, celebrated on 21 October, featured the DeLorean which was built in the local Dunmurry factory and produced less than 9,000 of the cars, which are now collectors’ items due to the cult status of the film.
The fully restored DeLorean will be at the Ulster Musuem and project director Dr David Laverty said: “We took delivery of the car itself in September 2014 which is when the real conversion process began and the whole purpose is to inspire the next generation of electrical engineers, so we are leaning on the celebrity status of the car and the fact that it was built in Belfast.”
Are you interested in applying to Queens University Belfast to study engineering? Arrange a free consultation today.
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Fire pits again in budget crosshairs
by SEBASTIAN RUIZ San Diego Community News Group
The city’s fire pit program could go up in smoke next summer if the city fails to raise about $173,000 by Dec. 31 to save the program that is hailed as a cornerstone of local beach culture.
City Park and Recreation Department officials said removal of the fire pits could begin by the end of June if funding is not found. The issue was expected to be heard by the City Council beginning Wednesday, Dec. 9, as the City Council delves into a new, daunting round of budget-cutting decisions. A final vote is tentatively planned for Monday, Dec. 14.
The issue may also not be as cut and dried as a budget matter. Deborah Lee, district manager for the California Coastal Commission’s San Diego coast area, said the city needs a permit to remove the 186 fire rings in parks and beaches or it could potentially face stiff penalties — possibly as much as $6,000 per day for violations. The city can apply for a permit at no charge but the process could take six to eight weeks, Lee said.
“If the city does want to pursue it, we’re hoping they’ve looked at a number of alternatives,” Lee said.
Such alternatives could include relocating the fire pits to locations cheaper to service, Lee said. As an example, Lee said the city of Coronado applied years ago to remove fire pits because of an “overconcentration” in some areas but ended up simply relocating them.
The fire pit program, which requires a full-time staff of two and a frontloading tractor, was placed on the chopping block a year ago before an anonymous donor stepped up and contributed nearly $260,000 to keep the program running through June 2010.
As the city’s staff works to cobble together a plan to close next year’s estimated $179 million budget shortfall — largely driven by the recession — the city could snuff the program and dispose of the concrete fire pits, said Rachel Laing, spokeswoman for Mayor Jerry Sanders’ office.
The city’s current fire pit donor program fund, established to save the fire pits through private, individual donations, sits at a little more than $1,200. Vavi Sports and Social Club donated the largest sum of $250, according to the city documents.
That’s hardly enough to keep the program.
“We’ll keep them (fire pits) if our economy recovers and … if we could get into a position where we could replace them,” Laing said.
Cutting the program would save about $105,000 in salary expenses, with additional savings by cutting associated benefits, Laing said. Though the positions would be eliminated, employees working the program may “not necessarily” be laid off, Laing said.
However, the positions are but two of 530 full-time equivalent positions Sanders proposes to eliminate across city departments. Fire department and public safety positions could also get the ax to help save about $82.6 million, according to city officials. About 200 of those positions being considered for elimination are currently filled, according to a statement by the mayor’s office.
Along with the fire pits, the Park and Recreation Department could cut additional positions, if the City Council approves the mayor’s proposed 18-month budget reductions this week and next, according to Park and Recreation Department Director Stacy LoMedico.
“They (fire pits) are on the reduction list,” LoMedico said “If the reduction is taken, we’ll be working with the California Coastal Commission staff to determine if any permits are required [before removal].”
While the city maneuvers itself to cut staff and services citywide, some in the community are organizing to save their beloved fire pit program. A Facebook webpage and a website, www.savethefirepits.com, has sparked a small movement.
The website includes an online petition to “save the fire pits.”
Though site administrators could not be reached, the website reads: “… Fire Pits on the beaches have survived for decades, through prosperous and lean times. Let’s not let the city use these tight times as the excuse to eliminate them forever. This is an opportunity to reduce the costs, but not destroy a San Diego tradition.”
SeaWorld to hold fireworks on Saturdays throughout summer
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Primetals Technologies Optimizes Pickling Line-Tandem Cold Mill for Hyundai Steel in just a few Weeks
After a short refurbishment, all performance tests were successfully completed in just four weeks
The capacity of the pickling line-tandem cold mill has been increased to supply an additional strip galvanizing line
Prior analysis enabled targeted modernization with reduced investment sums
Primetals Technologies optimized the drive and automation equipment of the pickling line-tandem cold mill (PLTCM) no. 1 at the Dangjin plant of Hyundai Steel, a Korean steel producer, within a short period of time. After a refurbishment phase at the end of 2018, all the agreed proofs of performance for the production of more than 20 different product groups were completed by January in a period of just four weeks. The production capacity of the PLTCM was substantially increased at the same time, which now enables it to supply cold-rolled strip to an additional strip galvanizing line at the Suncheon plant. The refurbishment was preceded by a detailed analysis of the weak points of the entire plant and the development of a targeted refurbishment concept. This increased the production potential of the existing lines and minimized the investments needed for new equipment.
The analysis preceding the refurbishment showed that, instead of replacing the entire drive train, only the drive trains on stands two and three had to be replaced to eliminate the weak points. The available installed reserves of stands one, four and five were utilized and the load optimally redistributed to achieve the required increase in throughput for the complete plant. New transformers and cycloconverters were installed on stands two and three, and new motor and gear units were mounted on the existing foundations. The "Motor Utilization Model – MUM" newly developed by Primetals Technologies was used for the first time to make the maximum possible use of the installed performance reserves of the new and existing stand motors. The load was distributed optimally to adapt it specifically to the product mix and to obtain the best possible dynamic use of the forming forces of the individual stands. The objective was to achieve the maximum degree of forming along the complete line, and to come as near as possible to the load limits of the individual stands.
The continuous power of the new machines is around 36 percent higher and they allow the rolling work to be optimally redistributed in the tandem mill. Some of the low-voltage drives were also replaced. For example, the rollers on the infeed side are now equipped with motors and drives that are up to 50 percent larger in order to deliver the required pulling force at higher speeds. In addition to the renewal of the drive equipment, the technological controls in the basic automation and the Level 2 rolling regulations were modernized. The refurbishment of all parts of the plant was planned in great detail and completed right on schedule within the timeframe of 15 days. It was even possible to hold the first tests of the rolling operation one day earlier than scheduled. The first strip was successfully rolled as planned on December 14, and the plant was brought up to its previous throughput within three days.
All the verifications for more than 20 individual product groups – mainly interstitial free grades and other products for the automotive sector – were completed by the end of the first month. The plant also significantly surpassed the contractually agreed parameters within the first few weeks.
PLTCM no.1 at Hyundai's Dangjin site now has a capacity of around 1.8 million metric tons per annum. It processes cold steel strip in widths ranging from 600 to 1,800 millimeters. The entry thicknesses can vary between 1.2 and 6 millimeter, and from 0.25 to 3 millimeters on the exit side. The maximum strip speed is 1,400 meters per minute. The line consists of four four-high stands and one six-high rolling stand. Primetals Technologies had equipped the line with process automation back in 2006.
First coils produced at Korean steel producer Hyundai Steel's Dangjin plant after the pickling line-tandem cold mill (PLTCM) no. 1 had been restarted. Primetals Technologies optimized the drive and automation equipment of the PLTCM within a short period of time.
Source: Primetals Press Releases
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State Budget Focuses on Funding What Works
Judiciary Committee Studies Probation and Parole Reform
Senate Approves Bill to Expand Job Training Program Availability
Legislative Update: School Safety, Election Reforms and Agriculture
Fish-for-Free Day Scheduled for July 4
Lawmakers completed work on the state budget last week by passing a spending plan that meets the core responsibilities of government, does not include any tax increases, and provides new resources for career training and agriculture. The plan also sets aside approximately $300 million in the state’s Rainy Day Fund in case of a recession, economic downturn or natural disaster to ensure future budgets can be balanced without a tax increase.
The main focus of the budget is on funding programs that have the biggest impact in Pennsylvania communities. This includes additional funding for career and technical training, new funding to combat the heroin and opioid epidemic, increased funding to support domestic violence victims and rape crisis programs, restored cuts for school safety, substantial increases for child welfare programs on the county level, and funding for numerous programs to help individuals facing economic hardships.
I spoke about several of these programs during my remarks about the budget on the Senate Floor. Video of my remarks is available below.
The goal of probation and parole should be to help people turn their lives around and re-integrate into the community. Unfortunately, the current system falls short of this goal in many ways. This not only deprives offenders of a second chance to rebuild their lives, but also leads to inflated costs to taxpayers.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a pair of hearings last week to examine bipartisan legislation I introduced along with Senator Anthony Williams to update probation policies to reduce the amount of time and money that is devoted to probationers who have completed their sentences.
The hearings included testimony from a variety of experts, including judges, district attorneys, criminal justice reform advocates, victims’ groups, and many other individuals and organizations who are committed to improving the current system.
A complete lineup of testifiers and video of both hearings are available here.
As co-chair of the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, I was pleased to join Governor Wolf and a number of my colleagues and criminal justice reform advocates for a news conference to celebrate the automatic sealing of 30 million low-level criminal records by 2020 in Pennsylvania due to the enactment of the Clean Slate Act in 2018. Pennsylvania is the first state in the nation to authorize this step to give past offenders a second chance to rebuild their lives without the stigma of a non-violent criminal conviction on their record.
Career and technical schools offer many different programs that provide a pathway for students to find family-sustaining jobs. The Senate has approved a bill that I authored to help make these programs available to a broader number of students.
In current practice, technical schools can only establish a branch campus within the same county as the primary site. A school that wanted to open a branch campus in a different county would be forced to deal with a mountain of red tape in order to secure another license for the second location. This severely limits the kinds of training programs that are available in many communities.
My bill would eliminate this restriction and allow schools to create branch campuses in neighboring counties and other locations within 60 miles of the primary location. More details about the proposal are available here.
Legislative Update: School Safety, Election Reforms, and Agriculture Bills Move Forward
As lawmakers worked to pass a fiscally responsible state budget, the Senate and House of Representatives also approved several packages of bills designed to address pressing needs in our communities.
After supporting a broad school safety bill last year, I was pleased to support additional reforms this year that will help minimize the risk of violent incidents in our schools by focusing on student behavioral health and trauma-informed education. More on this package of bills is available here.
A package of election reforms also earned final passage in the Senate. The bills would allow voters who are registered as independents to vote in primary elections, address ballot printing costs, eliminate straight-party voting, and create a special board to review election laws to help improve election security and reduce costs.
Additionally, a broad package of bills to support Pennsylvania farmers earned final approval and were signed into law this week. The measures included a number of bills to help beginning farmers and protect the future of the agriculture industry, while at the same time helping current farmers deal with existing challenges. More details about the bills are available here.
Thank you to Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, InfraSource, the United Way of Washington County, Southpointe Construction and McCluskey Contracting for teaming up to make some amazing improvements at the LeMoyne Community Center. All of the volunteers deserve kudos for a job well done!
In order to help more beginning anglers enjoy the sport of fishing, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is offering a Fish-for-Free Day on July 4 that will allow anyone to legally fish in Pennsylvania without a fishing license. All other applicable laws still apply.
More details are available here.
I was proud to join Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Brookvar and my colleagues from the General Assembly to kick-off the 100th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s ratification of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed American women the right to vote.
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Home » Jamie Grace
Jamie Grace Harper may be the world’s only musician with Tourette syndrome, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, echolalia, anxiety disorder—and a Grammy nod. Nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song (for her breakout hit “Hold Me”), Harper, 20, attended February’s Grammy ceremony with her family; the rest of the year, she lives in Atlanta with her parents, James and Mona Harper, cofounders and pastors of Kingdom City Church.
Harper is open about her struggles with Tourette syndrome, which started when she was about 8 years old in the form of tics—involuntary movements and sounds—and an obsession to repeat certain behaviours and phrases. “It took our lives for a spin,” she says of the diagnosis. “I learned early on that Tourette’s is not life-threatening, but it is life-altering.”
Harper has been crazy busy since releasing her debut album, One Song at a Time, in September 2011. In addition to more than 100 shows, she’s been working on a new album, writing a novel, recording a Christmas song (with older sister Morgan) for a holiday project, speaking on the Revolve Tour (for teen girls), acting in a movie (Grace Unplugged, due in 2013), and, incredibly, graduating from college, with a degree in children’s ministry from Point University (formerly Atlanta Christian College). All before her 21st birthday.
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Charlotte police blotter — Saturday July 1 through Friday July 7
By The Citizen on July 20, 2017 No Comment
As submitted by the Shelburne Police Department
Saturday, July 1, 5 a.m. Charlotte Fire, Rescue, and Shelburne Police were dispatched to Ferry Road and Vermont State Police was notified after a caller reported a motorist in distress at the Charlotte Ferry Dock. The vehicle tried to get on a Lake Champlain Transportation Ferry and got stuck. The occupants were returned to shore and the vehicle was removed by a wrecker.
Monday, July 3, 7:07 a.m. Charlotte Rescue Paramedic assisted Vergennes Rescue at a medical call in Panton. The patient was transported to the hospital.
Monday, July 3, 4:20 p.m. Charlotte Rescue Paramedic assisted Hinesburg First Response at a medical call in Hinesburg. The patient refused transport to the hospital.
Monday, July 3, 9:22 p.m. Charlotte Fire was dispatched to assist the U.S. Coast Guard with returning a boat to shore on Lake Champlain. The boat was towed back to Point Bay Marina.
Tuesday, July 4, 5:47 p.m. Charlotte Rescue was dispatched to Upper Old Town Trail after a caller reported a medical emergency. The patient was transported to the hospital.
Thursday, July 6, 7:05 a.m. Charlotte Rescue was dispatched to Hinesburg Road after a caller reported a medical emergency. The patient was transported to the hospital.
Thursday, July 6, 11:01 a.m. Charlotte Rescue Paramedic assisted Vergennes Rescue at a medical call in Panton. The patient was transported to the hospital.
Thursday, July 6, 8:55 p.m. Charlotte Fire and Rescue were dispatched to Mount Philo Road after a caller reported an oven fire. The fire was extinguished with no reported injuries.
Friday, July 7, 12:31 p.m. Charlotte Fire, Charlotte Rescue, Shelburne Fire, and Shelburne Police were dispatched to Ethan Allen Highway (U.S. Route 7) after a caller reported a one-car motor vehicle collision with injuries. All patients refused transport to the hospital.
Charlotte police blotter — Saturday July 1 through Friday July 7 added by The Citizen on July 20, 2017
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Consider a Roth 401(K) Plan — and Make Sure Employees Use It
Insights & Resources | Thought Leadership
Roth 401(k) accounts have been around for 13 years now. Studies show that more employers are offering them each year. A recent study by the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) found that Roth 401(k)s are now available at 70% of employer plans, up from 55.6% of plans in 2016.
However, despite the prevalence of employers offering Roth 401(k)s, most employees aren’t choosing to contribute to them. The PSCA found that only 20% of participants who have access to a Roth 401(k) made contributions to one in 2017. Perhaps it’s because they don’t understand them.
If you offer a Roth 401(k) or you’re considering one, educate your employees about the accounts to boost participation.
A 401(k) with a twist
As the name implies, these plans are a hybrid — taking some characteristics from Roth IRAs and some from employer-sponsored 401(k)s.
An employer with a 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b) plan can offer designated Roth 401(k) accounts.
As with traditional 401(k)s, eligible employees can elect to defer part of their salaries to Roth 401(k)s, subject to annual limits. The employer may choose to provide matching contributions. For 2019, a participating employee can contribute up to $19,000 ($25,000 if he or she is age 50 or older) to a Roth 401(k). The most you can contribute to a Roth IRA for 2019 is $6,000 ($7,000 for those age 50 or older).
Note: The ability to contribute to a Roth IRA is phased out for upper-income taxpayers, but there’s no such restriction for a Roth 401(k).
Unlike with traditional 401(k)s, contributions to employees’ accounts are made with after-tax dollars, instead of pretax dollars. Therefore, employees forfeit a key 401(k) tax benefit. On the plus side, after an initial period of five years, “qualified distributions” are 100% exempt from federal income tax, just like qualified distributions from a Roth IRA. In contrast, regular 401(k) distributions are taxed at ordinary-income rates, which are currently up to 37%.
In general, qualified distributions are those:
Made after a participant reaches age 59?, or
Made due to death or disability.
Therefore, you can take qualified Roth 401(k) distributions in retirement after age 59? and pay no tax, as opposed to the hefty tax bill that may be due from traditional 401(k) payouts. And unlike traditional 401(k)s, which currently require retirees to begin taking required minimum distributions after age 70?, Roth 401(k)s have no mandate to take withdrawals.
Not for everyone
A Roth 401(k) is more beneficial than a traditional 401(k) for some participants, but not all. For example, it may be valuable for employees who expect to be in higher federal and state tax brackets in retirement. Contact us if you have questions about adding a Roth 401(k) to your benefits lineup.
? 2019
Two Tax Law Changes That May Affect Your Business's 401(k) Plan
When you think about recent tax law changes and your business, you’re probably thinking about the new 20% pass…
Prevent Hackers From Wiping out Your Employees’ 401(K) Accounts
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TOP-STORY
Column: Embrace the new Arizona and ASU basketball rivalry
Published Dec 30, 2017 11:31pm
Updated Dec 31, 2017 8:50am
By Alec White
Simon Asher | The Daily Wildcat Arizona's Rawle Alkins, right, and Deandre Ayton, left, pump up the crowd with only 1.3 seconds left on the clock after a clutch win against ASU.
This is what a college basketball rivalry is supposed to feel like.
For years, the Arizona and ASU rivalry has been a bloodbath on the gridiron and mostly an afterthought on the court. But for 40 minutes on a Saturday in December, it certainly didn’t feel that way.
A palpable buzz before the game began was followed by gut-wrenching twists and turns on both sides and ended where the Wildcats eventually wound up with a nail-biting 84-78 win over the No. 3 ranked and now, no-longer-undefeated, Sun Devils.
There were endless things to love about the game: the back and forth nature of play, the screaming fest between head coaches Sean Miller and Bobby Hurley as well as the end of game butterflies usually reserved for March.
Arizona and Arizona State lived up to the hype, and then some.
The matchup between the Pac-12’s best will be one for the record books. It was the first time that Arizona and ASU meet as ranked opponents since 1995 and it was also the first time that UA defeated the Sun Devils when both teams were ranked. The Wildcats had been 0-4 up until tonight.
Even without a student section, the McKale Center proved just how fearsome it can be. Heck, Deandre Ayton said he couldn’t even hear himself talk during a couple possessions. The atmosphere proved just how much this rivalry meant.
This game was a chance for the Sun Devils to escape the shadow of its cross-town rival and lay claim to the title of best team in the state and even the country. That shadow still remains but for those wondering if this loss will keep them down for long, here’s your answer: it won’t.
This year’s Arizona State team proved it can run with the best of them. It went into Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas and pulled off an upset over the No. 2 ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Less than a month later, it went into the McKale Center where Arizona has only lost twice in the last 79 games, and almost pulled off another unthinkable win.
With ASU head coach Bobby Hurley reeling in more high profile recruits and getting the most out of his players, it doesn’t seem like this rivalry is going away anytime soon.
So embrace it.
The Bruins of UCLA have been long been considered the true rival to the Wildcats in college hoops, but Arizona State is making strides to challenge that. The Duke’s and North Carolina’s of the world get to experience the madness twice a year, every year. And with the Pac-12 unbalanced scheduling, UA and UCLA won’t play twice a year, every year. UA and ASU will.
It will take time and consistency for the Arizona and ASU basketball rivalry to become a perennial heavyweight slugfest. At the start of the season, a rivalry this intense and worth watching seemed alien, even for television networks. Half the country (approximately) missed out on the dual in the desert thanks to the game being broadcast by the Pac-12 Network.
But life moves fast and the Sun Devils have positioned themselves as one of the best teams in college basketball. With a win over the Sun Devils, the Wildcats proved that they can be the type of team that many were expecting at the start of the year.
For 40 minutes, two teams provided a spectacle that has been missing for the last generation.
Save the date. On December 30th, 2017, a new rivalry was born.
Follow Alec White on Twitter
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washingtonpost.com > Nation > Green
A floating city springs up to contain gulf oil spill
BP oil spill cleanup and containment
BP, the government and an army of volunteers are fighting to contain and clean the millions of gallons of oil spewing from the site of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
» LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
By Joel Achenbach
Dead ahead through the helicopter windshield, it appears like a mirage at the hazy horizon: a city in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.
A city on fire.
Just a few months ago, the site of the disaster, 42 miles from the last marsh grass at the very tip of the Mississippi River Delta, boasted a solitary drilling rig called Deepwater Horizon. Now that rig rests upside down in the mud at the bottom of the gulf, and in its place is a roaring industrial complex, an emergency operation unlike anything in the history of the petroleum industry.
More than 60 vessels are trying to capture the oil, burn it, disperse it, whatever it takes, while two giant rigs are drilling relief wells and officials keep their eyes on the weather reports, racing to kill the leaking well before a hurricane forces everyone to scatter to calmer waters.
This waterworld is hot, noisy and dangerous. Two flares create hypnotic focal points for the flotilla. The drill ship Discoverer Enterprise, parked directly on top of the well that exploded on April 20, is capturing oil from the well and burning gas separately. The other flare, larger, brighter, looking like an umbrella of fire turned on its side, shoots from a pipe on the well-servicing rig Q4000, which is burning both oil and gas.
If the weather turns violent, all this will have to be hastily disassembled. Right now there's a storm in the southern gulf, named Alex, the first named Atlantic tropical storm of the season, but it is moving west and appears to be on a path to spare the Deepwater Horizon site.
Officials remain anxious. Forecasters say it will be a busy storm season. This makeshift city can't ride out a major storm. The Enterprise will need up to five days of warning before gale-force winds arrive to decouple from the well that BP named Macondo, after the fictional city in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude." Ships and rigs will sail away, leaving the well to gush freely until they return.
Among the vessels that would have to leave are the two enormous rigs that are drilling relief wells, which are critical to killing the Macondo well. Development Driller III was the first to begin operations, and it has burrowed more than 11,000 feet below the sea floor, homing in on the blown-out well. It can already pick up magnetic signals from Macondo's steel casing.
The second, Transocean's Development Driller II, started later and isn't as deep yet. It is 324 feet by 258 feet, dominated by a 228-foot derrick. It is here that a handful of journalists dropped in this weekend for a tour of disaster-response life.
"We want to get this thing done so bad -- it hurts. But you can only do it at a certain pace," said Mitchell Bullock, 61, the BP well-site leader, a job that more traditionally is known as "the company man." As with the Deepwater Horizon, this rig is leased by BP but is largely staffed by Transocean employees.
Even though this is an emergency operation, performed under the heat lamp of global media attention, it is also business as usual. There is no sense of crisis. The people on the rig are doing what they do best: drilling a well. They're making a hole in the bottom of the sea.
Jeremy Marts, 31, is a driller, operating out of the auxiliary drill shack. It's air-conditioned, with a glass top, protected by steel grating, that offers a view of 149 sections of drill pipe racked to the rafters, each pipe 122 feet long, at 34 pounds per foot: heavy-duty stuff that's ready to be linked together for the miles-long drilling operation.
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Calypso Rose meets PM
Calypso Rose, the Calypso Queen of the World today met with Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley today at the Office of the Prime Minister as she continues to celebrate her recent Album de
Musique de Monde (World Music Album of the Year) award.
A statement by the Office of the Prime Minister said the Prime Minister used the occasion to personally congratulate Mc Cartha Sandy-Lewis on her historic win and expressed his pride in her illustrious career and sterling representation of Trinidad and Tobago on the international stage.
Calypso Rose’s winning album Far From Home was released in 2016 and continues to enjoy phenomenal success both in Trinidad and Tobago and abroad.
The single Leave Me Alone from the album is one of the most popular songs circulating on the airwaves and played at Carnival fetes this year.
ECA relieved FATCA bill passed
Met Office warns of rough sea conditions
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Griffith takes issue with media again, defends camouflage outfits
Police Commissioner Gary Griffith is insisting that he and officers of specialized units of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) have not violated the police uniform.
Griffith says he has taken note of an article published in today’s Trinidad Express newspaper, pointing to his decision to wear the digital kit.
He said, however, that wearing the kit on several high-risk operations and exercises does not constitute a violation.
The statement added: "Having said that, the CoP is not surprised that these detractors would be making attempts to focus on what he wears instead of the job he continues to do by effecting strategies within the Police Service to secure this country. Therefore, “while the country is asking the police to reduce crime, certain entities continue to focus on what I wear, while criminals are focusing on disrupting the lives and safety of law-abiding citizens and threatening peace, law and order.”
Griffith says that days after encouraging certain arms of the media against glamorizing persons of interest by giving them prominence, several polls were conducted and the vast majority in every poll agreed that the media should be careful against sensationalizing and glamourizing and to providing balanced articles.
"It is apparent that instead of exhibiting maturity and accepting these recommendations, certain entities intend to “prove a point”, as if to say no one must tell them how to do their jobs including the public, even though this is what they do to others on a daily basis. The very next day to prove its point, the Trinidad Express blasts a headline story about a person of interest, who faces over 20 charges, including sexual and other offences," the statement said.
The commissioner argues that certain units in the TTPS have worn camouflage for decades.
"It must be noted that MultiOptional Police Section (MOPS), have worn this uniform for over 20 years; and there was never a concern by Anand Ramesar, who now has a concern. Additionally, it is the same TTPSSWA that submitted requests for digital camouflage uniforms to be worn. His comments are now very mischievous. The Police Uniform Committee has also submitted and recommended this uniform; and to further clarify, one would note that when the CoP wears the kit, he doesn’t wear it with police insignia or markings," the statement by the commissioner said.
The statement added: "The Commissioner also notes the comments of the “one man” activist group, Fixing T&T. It seems their way to Fix T&T is to send releases about the CoP, by sending over 23 releases at an average of one per week for the last six (6) months; the latest release being about the Police Red Alert. Fixing T&T continues to refuse to state who else he represents or who he is speaking on behalf of. However, in spite of his attempts at constant distractions, the TTPS and the wider population has noted that the Red Alert strategy has yielded positive results, by ensuring that for the first time in over a decade, not one shot was fired in any hot spot community in this country. He seems disturbed about this."
The Commissioner says, “I have been briefed that there are very strong forces that would use all arms to try to deflect my focus on doing my job; and they would come from all avenues. I therefore ask members of the public to be conscious of these actions by different elements and you have my assurance that I will not be swayed to the sidelines to deal with their irrelevant attempts to adhere to their agendas.” The CoP states, “If my critics have become that desperate to the point that this is the irrelevant matter that they want to talk about and also to put as a front page story, then I know that I am on the right track in performing my duties. Commissioner Griffith strongly advises, “Do not focus on what I wear, while I put my life on the line, instead, be a part of the solution by avoiding sensationalism and glamourizing criminals.”
Gary Griffith
Favourite count ids:
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More security lights for Savannah as Carnival in full swing
Shotgun, marijuana seized in Cedros
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(pathdoc/shutterstock)
Web Only / Features » January 31, 2019
How the Demonization of “Gossip” Is Used to Break Women’s Solidarity
Gender oppression shaped the notion of “idle women’s talk.”
BY Silvia Federici
This conception of ‘gossip,’ as we have seen, emerged in a particular historical context.
The following is an excerpt from Silvia Federici's book, Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Women.
Tracing the history of the words frequently used to define and degrade women is a necessary step if we are to understand how gender oppression functions and reproduces itself. The history of ‘gossip’ is emblematic in this context. Through it we can follow two centuries of attacks on women at the dawn of modern England, when a term commonly indicating a close female friend turned into one signifying idle, backbiting talk, that is, talk potentially sowing discord, the opposite of the solidarity that female friendship implies and generates. Attaching a denigrating meaning to the term indicating friendship among women served to destroy the female sociality that had prevailed in the Middle Ages, when most of the activities women performed were of a collective nature and, in the lower classes at least, women formed a tight-knit community that was the source of a strength unmatched in the modern era.
Traces of the use of the word are frequent in the literature of the period. Deriving from the Old English terms God and sibb (akin), ‘gossip’ originally meant ‘godparent,’ one who stands in a spiritual relation to the child to be baptized. In time, however, the term was used with a broader meaning. In early modern England the word ‘gossip’ referred to companions in childbirth not limited to the midwife. It also became a term for women friends, with no necessary derogatory connotations. In either case, it had strong emotional connotations. We recognize it when we see the word in action, denoting the ties that bound women in premodern English society.
We find a particular example of this connotation in a mystery play of the Chester Cycle, suggesting that ‘gossip’ was a term of strong attachment. Mystery plays were the product of guild members, who by creating and financing these representations tried to boost their social standing as part of the local power structure. Thus, they were committed to upholding expected forms of behavior and satirizing those to be condemned. They were critical of strong, independent women, and especially of their relations to their husbands, to whom—the accusation went—they preferred their friends. As Thomas Wright reports in A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England During the Middle Ages (1862), they frequently depicted them as conducting a separate life, often “assembling with their ‘gossips’ in public taverns to drink and amuse themselves.”
Thus, in one of the mystery plays of the Chester Cycle representing Noah urging people and animals to enter the ark, the wife is shown sitting in the tavern with her ‘gossips’ and refusing to leave when the husband calls for her, even as the waters are rising, “unless she is allowed to take her gossips with her.” These, as reported by Wright, are the words that she was made to utter by the (clearly disapproving) mystery’s author:
Yes, Sir, set up your sail,
And row forth with evil hail,
for without fail,
I will not out of this town,
But I have my gossips, everyone,
One foot further I will not go.
They will not drown, by St. John
And I may save their lives!
They love me full well, by Christ!
But you let them into your boat,
Otherwise row now where you like
And get yourself a new wife.
In the play the scene ends with a physical fight in which the wife beats the husband.
“The tavern,” Wright points out, “was the resort of women of the middle and lower orders who assembled there to drink and gossip.” He adds: “The meetings of gossips in taverns form the subjects of many of the popular songs of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, both in England and France.” As an example, he cites a song, possibly from the middle of the fifteenth century, that describes one of these meetings. The women here, “having met accidentally,” decide to go “where the wine is best,” two by two to not attract attention and be detected by their husbands. Once arrived, they praise the wine and complain about their marital situations. Then they go home, by different streets, “telling their husbands that they had been to church.”
The literature of mysteries and morality plays belongs to a period of transition in which women still maintained a considerable degree of social power, but their social position in urban areas was increasingly under threat, as the guilds (that sponsored the production of the plays) were beginning to exclude them from their ranks and institute new boundaries between the home and public space. Not surprisingly, then, women in them were often chastised and represented as quarrelsome, aggressive, and ready to give battle to their husbands. Typical of this trend was the representation of the ‘battle for the breeches,’ where the woman appeared as the dominatrix—whipping her husband, straddling across his back, in a reversal of roles clearly intended to shame men for allowing their wives to be ‘on the top.’
These satirical representations, expressions of a growing misogynous sentiment, were instrumental to the politics of the guilds that were striving to become exclusively male preserves. But the representation of women as strong, self-asserting figures also captured the nature of the gender relations of the time, for neither in rural nor urban areas were women dependent on men for their survival; they had their own activities and shared much of their lives and work with other women. Women cooperated with each other in every aspect of their life. They sewed, washed their clothes, and gave birth surrounded by other women, with men rigorously excluded from the chamber of the delivering one. Their legal status reflected this greater autonomy. In Italy in the fourteenth century they could still go independently to court to denounce a man if he assaulted or molested them.
By the sixteenth century, however, women’s social position had begun to deteriorate, satire giving way to what without exaggeration can be described as a war on women, especially of the lower classes, reflected in the increasing number of attacks on women as ‘scolds’ and domineering wives and of witchcraft accusations. Along with this development, we begin to see a change in the meaning of gossip, increasingly designating a woman engaging in idle talk.
The traditional meaning lingered on. In 1602, when Samuel Rowlands wrote Tis Merrie When Gossips Meete, a satirical piece describing three London women spending hours in a tavern talking about men and marriages, the word was still used to signify female friendships, implying that “women could create their social networks and their own social space” and stand up to male authority. But as the century progressed the word’s negative connotation became the prevalent one. As mentioned, this transformation went hand in hand with the strengthening patriarchal authority in the family and women’s exclusion from the crafts and guilds, which, combined with the process of enclosures, led to a “feminization of poverty.” With the consolidation of the family and male authority within it, representing the power of the state with regard to wives and children, and with the loss of access to former means of livelihood both women’s power and female friendships were undermined.
Thus, while in the Late Middle Ages a wife could still be represented as standing up to her husband and even coming to blows with him, by the end of the sixteenth century she could be severely punished for any demonstration of independence and any criticism she made against him. Obedience—as the literature of the time constantly stressed—was a wife’s first duty, enforced by the Church, the law, public opinion, and ultimately by the cruel punishments that were introduced against the ‘scolds,’ like the ‘scold’s bridle,’ also called the ‘branks,’ a sadistic contraption made of metal and leather that would tear the woman’s tongue if she attempted to talk. This was an iron framework that enclosed the woman’s head.
A bridle bit about two inches long and one inch wide projected into the mouth and pressed down on top of the tongue; frequently it was studded with spikes so that if the offender moved her tongue it inflicted pain and made speaking impossible.
First recorded in Scotland in 1567, this torture instrument was designed as a punishment for women of the lower classes deemed ‘nags’ or ‘scolds’ or riotous, who were often suspected of witchcraft. Wives who were seen as witches, shrews, and scolds were also forced to wear it locked onto their heads.15 It was often called the ‘gossip bridle,’ testifying to the change in the meaning of the term. With such a frame locking their heads and mouth, those accused could be led through town in a cruel public humiliation that must have terrified all women, showing what one could expect if she did not remain subservient. Significantly, in the United States, it was used to control slaves, in Virginia until the eighteenth century.
Another torture to which assertive/rebellious women were subjected was the ‘cucking stool,’ or ‘ducking stool,’ also used as a punishment for prostitutes and for women taking part in anti-enclosure riots. This was a sort of chair to which a woman was tied and “seated to be ducked in a pond or river.” According to D.E. Underdown, “after 1560 evidence of its adoption begins to multiply.”
Women were also brought to court and fined for ‘scolding,’ while priests in their sermons thundered against their tongues. Wives especially were expected to be quiet, “obey their husband without question” and “stand in awe of them.” Above all they were instructed to make their husbands and their homes the centers of their attentions and not spend time at the window or at the door. They were even discouraged from paying too many visits to their families after marriage, and above all from spending time with their female friends. Then, in 1547, “a proclamation was issued forbidding women to meet together to babble and talk” and ordering husbands to “keep their wives in their houses.” Female friendships were one of the targets of the witch hunts, as in the course of the trials accused women were forced under torture to denounce each other, friends turning in friends, daughters turning in their mothers.
It was in this context that ‘gossip’ turned from a word of friendship and affection into a word of denigration and ridicule. Even when used with the older meaning it displayed new connotations, referring in the late sixteenth century to an informal group of women who enforced socially acceptable behavior by means of private censure or public rituals, suggesting that (as in the case of the midwives) cooperation among women was being put at the service of upholding the social order.
Gossip today designates informal talk, often damaging to those that are its object. It is mostly talk that draws its satisfaction from an irresponsible disparaging of others; it is circulation of information not intended for the public ear but capable of ruining people’s reputations, and it is unequivocally ‘women’s talk.’
It is women who ‘gossip,’ presumably having nothing better to do and having less access to real knowledge and information and a structural inability to construct factually based, rational discourses. Thus, gossip is an integral part of the devaluation of women’s personality and work, especially domestic work, reputedly the ideal terrain on which this practice flourishes.
This conception of ‘gossip,’ as we have seen, emerged in a particular historical context. Viewed from the perspective of other cultural traditions, this ‘idle women’s talk’ would actually appear quite different. In many parts of the world, women have historically been seen as the weavers of memory—those who keep alive the voices of the past and the histories of the communities, who transmit them to the future generations and, in so doing, create a collective identity and profound sense of cohesion. They are also those who hand down acquired knowledges and wisdoms—concerning medical remedies, the problems of the heart, and the understanding of human behavior, starting with that of men. Labeling all this production of knowledge ‘gossip’ is part of the degradation of women—it is a continuation of the demonologists’ construction of the stereotypical woman as prone to malignity, envious of other people’s wealth and power, and ready to lend an ear to the Devil. It is in this way that women have been silenced and to this day excluded from many places where decisions are taken, deprived of the possibility of defining their own experience, and forced to cope with men’s misogynous or idealized portraits of them. But we are regaining our knowledge. As a woman recently put it in a meeting on the meaning of witchcraft, the magic is: “We know that we know.”
You can read a review of Silvia Federici's book, Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Women, here.
Silvia Federici is a feminist activist, writer, and a teacher. In 1972 she was one of the cofounders of the International Feminist Collective, the organization that launched the Wages For Housework campaign internationally. In the 1990s, after a period of teaching and research in Nigeria, she was active in the anti-globalization movement and the U.S. anti–death penalty movement. She is one of the co-founders of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa, an organization dedicated to generating support for the struggles of students and teachers in Africa against the structural adjustment of African economies and educational systems. From 1987 to 2005 she taught international studies, women studies, and political philosophy courses at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. All through these years she has written books and essays on philosophy and feminist theory, women’s history, education and culture, and more recently the worldwide struggle against capitalist globalization and for a feminist reconstruction of the commons.
Ahahahahahahahahahaha!
Posted by barb on 2019-02-19 16:37:27
you take the low road
and I'll take the high road
Posted by fuster on 2019-02-15 15:52:26
LOL! You are just making the point of the article for them. Good job. Bugger off, yer own self!
I did no whining, you silly twit.
I offered the opinion that the article was a load of crap.
twas yourself that expressed nothing other sexist idiocy.
bugger off, fool
Your "reply" added nothing to the conversation whatsoever. You didn't discuss WHY you felt like you did or give any reason, you simply whined. Show us your fucking "intellect" by saying something of fucking value instead of being a typical "man" and complaining about a story which is about women.
gee whiz.
I must have forgotten my place and dared to express myself as though men had equal rights of expression and equality of intellect
Says a man
I have been obtaining 86$/hourly from operating a web-based work from home... My acquaintance shared with me information on how she is averaging close to $4000 each month by working a job she found from the internet... I got very amazed and have decided to have a go with it... Today i feel very lucky she demonstrated to me this, and want to recommend it to each person to give it a go... Here is what i do> EYE.CA/MhO
Posted by Dorthy on 2019-02-03 13:24:44
what a small load of trivial carp this is
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Peter A. Zahka, II, P.C.
Dedham, MA 02026
E-Mail: info@zahkalaw.com
SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
Juris Doctor, 1982
Cum Laude, 1979
Economics and Mathematics (minor: Sociology)
Member of the Bar, Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1982)
Massachusetts Bar Association
Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts
community service:
Dedham Rotary Club (Past President)
Dedham Town Meeting Representative
Dedham Board of Selectmen (Former Member & Vice-Chairman)
Dedham Planning Board (Former Member & Chairman)
Dedham Zoning Board of Appeals (Former Member)
Dedham Building, Planning & Construction Committee (Former Attorney Member & Chairman)
Dedham Sign By-Law Review Committee (Former Member)
Church of St. John of Damascus (Past President)
Law Offices of Peter A. Zahka, II, P.C.
Welcome to the Law Offices of Peter A. Zahka, II, P.C. The Law Offices of Peter A. Zahka, II, P.C., is a general practice firm representing both individual and business clients on a broad range of legal matters including personal injury, real estate, landlord/tenant, probate, estate planning, and business. In addition, the Law Offices of Peter A. Zahka, II, P.C., is recognized for its work in the areas of land use, zoning, and municipal licensing and permitting.
Attorney Peter A. Zahka, II has been a practicing attorney for over 25 years. Prior to starting his own firm in Dedham, MA in 1990, Peter worked for the law offices of Connor & Hilliard, P.C. in Walpole, MA.
Peter represents both individual and business clients on a broad range of legal matters including personal injury, real estate, landlord/tenant, probate, estate planning, and business. In addition, Peter is recognized for its work in the areas of land use, zoning, and municipal licensing and permitting.
Peter graduated cum laude with an undergraduate degree from Boston University in 1979 and graduated Juris Doctor in 1982 from the Suffolk University School of Law.
Peter is a member of the Bar, Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1982), Massachusetts Bar Association and the Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts.
Peter prides himself with the services he has given to the Dedham community, including the Dedham Rotary Club (Past President), Dedham Town Meeting Representative, Dedham Board of Selectmen (Former Member & Vice-Chairman), Dedham Planning Board (Former Member & Chairman), Dedham Zoning Board of Appeals (Former Member), Dedham Building, Planning & Construction Committee (Former Attorney Member & Chairman), Dedham Sign By-Law Review Committee (Former Member), Church of St. John of Damascus (Past President).
Law Offices of Peter A. Zahka, II P.C. � 2010 | Home | Disclaimer
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Drivers: You Won’t Believe What Could Get You A Ticket
Police are on the lookout for distracted driving throughout the month of April. Here's what's considered distracted driving, and how much you will pay for that offense.
Bottom line when you're behind the wheel: Keep your eyes on the road, where they belong.
The police call this mission "U Drive. U Text. U Pay." But it's not just texting that will get you in trouble. Since April is National Distracted Driving Month, you better watch out, because there will be lost of extra law enforcement on our roadways.
WHAT IS CONSIDERED DISTRACTED DRIVING? Well, it's not just texting or talking on the phone. Any of the following are considered distracted driving:
-- Drinking and eating
-- Talking to passengers
-- Doing your makeup, shaving, or any other personal grooming done behind the wheel
-- Using a navigation system (What????!!!)
-- Reading maps (or other things that you might take your eyes off the road to read)
-- Watching a video (duh!)
-- And even adjusting a radio, or any control on your dashboard, steering wheel, etc.
Having said that, texting is considered the worst offender, because it requires the driver's visual, manual, and cognitive attention.
HERE ARE THE FINES:
For talking or texting on a handheld device, the fines have gone up. You can now expect to pay a minimum of $200 for a first-offense, at least $400 for a second offense, and at least $600 for a third offense PLUS a possible 90-day license suspension!
Our state is among only four nationwide to receive a dedicated federal grant to combat distracted driving. Why? Well, because of the numbers:
According to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety administration, the latest data shows 3,450 people were killed in distracted driving crashes within a year, and an estimated 391,000 were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver.
But those figures are even worse in our state, where over half of all crashed in one year involved driver inattention. That's a rate NINE TIMES HIGHER than the next-highest contributing crash factor, which was speeding!
Filed Under: Drivers: You Won't Believe What Could Get You A Ticket
Categories: Articles, Community, Lifestyle, Lou and Liz, National News, New Jersey News, News, Parenting
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Clarion Call for 14k Christians
May 4 | 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
San Angelo Stadium
1621 University Ave, San Angelo, TX 76904 United States
director@dtsa.org
Colt McCoy, former University of Texas stand-out and current Washington Redskin quarterback has confirmed to be the fourth quarter speaker of the evening.
Mr. McCoy was the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns from 2006–2009 and won the 2008 Walter Camp Award, was the 2008 Heisman Trophy runner-up and was a 2009 Heisman finalist.[2][3] McCoy is second to Boise State's Kellen Moore in games won by a NCAA Division I quarterback. In his senior year, he won 13 of the top 15 major college player awards including quarterback of the year, offensive player of the year and outstanding football player of the year.
In addition Bishop Michael Sis, Bishop Joseph Garlington and Minister Gloria Pope will be speaking.
LET’S FILL THE STADIUM!!!
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Wyoming’s Estimated Prophet: John Perry Barlow
Audio Interviews, Journalism, News
John Perry Barlow (1947-2018)
By Aaron Davis
[Note: In 2005, I had the pleasure of a candid phone interview with John Perry Barlow, and subsequently meeting Mr. Barlow a couple of months later at the Pink Garter Theatre in Jackson Hole. The conversation was the crux of my first cover story at a newspaper as a freelance journalist. I love The Grateful Dead and the lore than surrounds the band, and talking shop with a fellow songwriter that I had so much respect for meant a lot to me. This piece was originally published on July 27, 2005 in Planet Jackson Hole Weekly followed by an extended Q&A version that was re-published August 16, 2005 on Jambase.com. For the first time, thirty minutes of audio from the interview can be streamed at the bottom of this page, or stream it here.]
Uncharted waters must be discovered before they can exist. John Perry Barlow – 57-year old computer guru, journalist, lyricist, consultant, economist, speaker, father, former rancher, environmentalist and nomad – is a Cora, Wyoming (population = 70) native that has always forged ahead with the creative perseverance to make waves. Known by Grateful Dead fans as the co-lyricist, with Bob Weir, of some the Grateful Dead’s most recognized anthems, he penned “Cassidy,” “Mexicali Blues,” “Looks Like Rain” and “Estimated Prophet” among others.
But to know Barlow as just a Grateful Dead lyricist is missing out on an array of colorful tidbits about Mr. Barlow. He has lived a multi-dimensional life since the old days of growing up as a rowdy young hippie in cowboy country, son of Norman Barlow, president of the Wyoming Senate in 1960-61. Barlow took off to the east and graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., in 1969 with high honors in comparative religion before operating the Bar Cross Land and Livestock Company, a large cow-calf operation in Wyoming that he sold in 1988. He then dove into the computer world, right as the Internet was but a sprout, and has been credited with coining the term “cyberspace” to describe it.
Around the same time, in 1990, he and Mitchell Kapor founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that promotes freedom of expression in digital media, which he continues to serve as vice chairman.
Barlow has written for a diversity of publications, including Communications of the ACM, Mondo 2000, The New York Times, and Time. He has been on the masthead of Wired Magazine since it was founded. His piece on the future of copyright, “The Economy of Ideas,” is taught in many law schools, and his “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” is posted on thousands of Web sites.
In 1997, he was a Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, and since 1998, he has been a Berkman Fellow at the Harvard Law School. In June 1999, FutureBanker Magazine named him one of the 25 Most Influential People in Financial Services, even though he’s not in financial services.
Leslie Peterson, who has known Barlow since he was a kid, called him “one character of a guy.” She continued, “He taught himself everything about the computer in what seemed like overnight. He has always been brilliant, a good horse hand, skier, extremely sophisticated and definitely irreverent.”
Childhood friend and architect John Carney said, “You could always count on the most interesting people at Barlow’s ranch … a Buddhist monk, a rock ’n’ roll musician, a president’s son, people are attracted to him. John has always been frighteningly smart in my opinion … a smart ass too, so he got knocked around a bit as a kid.”
With this month [July 2005) being the 40th anniversary of the birth of the Grateful Dead and the 10th anniversary of the death of Jerry Garcia, fans around the country are reflecting upon what made the band and their songwriting legendary. Here’s Barlow, in true form, talking about songwriting, his relationship with Bob Weir, politics, his pending 4th Amendment case, and Wyoming in the ’60s.
“Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.”
— Excerpt from Barlow’s “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace.” (1996)
So how the hell does a rural Wyoming cowboy kid meet up with the Grateful Dead?
“I was a rebellious kid and my father was a politician,” Barlow began to explain. “Over the course of my fourteenth year my Mormon Boy Scout troop turned into a motorcycle gang. We all bought little Honda motorcycles. We thought we were a lot worse than we probably were, but the locals thought we were bad enough. My father was told that if he ever wanted to get re-elected anything, he was going to have to get me the hell out of sight. So he sent me off to prep school and there I met the guy [Bob Weir] who was going to become the rhythm guitar player for the Grateful Dead and he and I have been one another’s official best friend ever since.”
Barlow and Weir were two rebelious peas in a pod – both having no capacity to follow the rules. Weir eventually got kicked out of Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs were they had met. Though Barlow wanted to rebel and leave the school as an act of protest, the two didn’t reunite until after the Acid Tests.
“I had heard about them [acid tests] and was deeply offended along with everybody else in my sort of Eastern Orthodox Church of LSD,” Barlow reflected. “We thought it was a very serious sacrament and should not be handed out in bathtubs for people to drink as much as they want.”
Barlow had met and become close friends with LSD purveyor Dr. Timothy Leary while the west coast acid scene was taking shape. So when the Grateful Dead decided to head east in 1967, Barlow was there to introduce them to a new friend.
“I first saw the Dead the first of June 1967 at a place called Champagne A Go Go which was a little club in New York which had about 160 seats. Then I took them up to Timothy Leary’s estate a couple of days later in Millbrook, New York and got to know them all a lot better…and reconnected with my friend, Bobby Weir. Though not before we got the shit kicked out of ourselves sitting underneath the Washington Bridge by some toughs from Long Island who thought our hair was too long. He tried to get them to stop by getting them to sing ‘Hare Krishna’ which almost worked.”
With LSD becoming a major player in the social scene in the late 60s it’s hard to imagine the Grateful Dead without it, especially with Owsley Stanley around. His obsession with dosing as many people as possible stretched the boundaries further than anyone had anticipated. But perhaps there was a tangible philosophy behind it all. If everyone expanded their senses and could escape their own reality for a few, well several hours, wouldn’t everything change?
“We all had this experience that made us feel like the world that we perceived with our conventional awareness was actually kind of a dream that overlay another reality that was not being taken into account by any of the beliefs or institutions that we knew. In those heady days, I think we all thought that once this insight was generally shared, everything would change. And gradually it is and has. If we had any sense we would have realized that you weren’t going to make a change that fundamental overnight. And, in fact, I think you could make the argument that everything that is going on politically in America is a continuation of that war that was established at that point between the 50s and 60s. Right now it’s still the 50s versus the 60s.”
Around 1971, Weir started trying to write songs with Robert Hunter, but they couldn’t get along. By this time, Barlow had fell in thick with the Dead and had been bumming around with them for several years. Caught in the middle of a songwriting battle between Hunter and Weir, Barlow found himself in an unlikely position.
“Hunter turned to me and said, ‘why don’t you take him, he’s your friend!’ I said, ‘well I’m not sure I know how to write songs.” He said, ‘well you know how to write poetry,’ which was more-or-less true because I had been a poet in college, mostly because I felt like I could ride around on a motorcycle to the women’s colleges in New England and recite poetry of my own composition and do o.k. I told [Robert Hunter] that I would give it a shot, went out and tried to write a song, and it was ‘Mexicali Blues.’”
“Mexicali Blues” was the first of over 25 songs he would go on to pen for the Dead, a majority of which were co-written on his ranch in Wyoming. This was a time when the Dead were going through a cowboy period, so a good cowboy song seemed to fit in just fine. But sometimes the songwriting was more of a struggle, literally.
“Weir and I actually got into a fist fight over one song. Feel Like a Stranger…I was really against that song. It just seemed like (laughs)…like nothing I wanted to write a song about when it started to come, but he was encouraged by the beginnings of it and wanted to make it kind of…Well, he actually turned out to be right, as he was just enough of the time so I should have known to oppose him as strenuous as I did when I thought he was absolutely dead wrong.
Barlow’s catalog of incredible memories with the Dead is more than a book’s worth of material, but he opted to share a couple of songwriting memories that stood out as some of the most memorable, for various reasons.
“There was one written in Wyoming, well in large part, which was a song called Cassidy. The chords to that song were written in Marin County in this funny little ranch that we had up in West Marin. There was a girl living on the ranch that had a child the night that Weir was coming up with the chords, and the child was named Cassidy. And subsequently Bobby came out to Wyoming where we were trying to write songs for his solo album called “Ace.” We were in an isolated homestead house on another part of the ranch from the main operation…my ranch…and snowed in and kind of crazy, trying to write songs together really for the first time. We fooled around with some words for Cassidy and nothing much came. Then he had to leave and start recording some of this stuff because he had a tight studio schedule, and we didn’t have that one done.
I found out that my father was dying…took him down to the hospital in Salt Lake. I had to go out with the Caterpillar and plow out a bunch of stack yards so that they’d be able to get the hay sleds in and out while I was gone if I had to be down there with him for a while. While I was out plowing, I kept running those chords around in my head thinking about the girl Cassidy that had been born and also about Neal Cassidy who had died not long before, who had been a great hero of ours. He’s one of most remarkable human beings I have ever met. And thinking about how we come in to the world and go out of the world and how there’s a kind of continuity. While I was out there plowing snow the words just formed themselves into a melody that went with the chords and there it was. It just appeared. Then I headed out to watch my father die.”
Not only was Barlow writing tunes for the Dead in the 1980s, but he was also starting a family, ranching, and teaming up with Dick Cheney on a number of environmental issues for Wyoming—including passing the Wyoming Wilderness Act and ridding the Wind River Mountains of acid rain. Yeah, that’s right, Cheney, but the co-conspirators didn’t get along on all of the issues, which eventually led Barlow to write “Throwing Stones.”
“That’s the only explicitly political song we ever wrote. And the story behind that was that I was having a serious argument with Dick Cheney at that point, who I’d help get elected and been a pretty good congressman for the stuff that I was interested in, which was environmental stuff.
Then he got into this obsession with the Russians and this conviction that we had a clash of cultures that had to be resolved by whatever means, and so he helped base the MX Missile in Wyoming. And I got so freaked out that somebody was so determined to win a political battle that he was literally willing to endanger all the life on planet Earth that I felt like I had to say something…so I wrote that song. And like I say, I owe Dick a lot for that song.”
These days Barlow is a busy man, working as a consultant and software designer for a British company while also finding time to write some tunes for String Cheese Incident and hang with his three daughters at Cheese shows. Questioning his experience with SCI surfaced mixed emotions.
“They unilaterally changed some things that I wasn’t comfortable with having changed, so I’m not sure that I want to do that anymore…but I probably will, I love those guys.”
Barlow seems to be as close to Weir as he’s ever been and talks of penning more songs together have taken place, but most importantly, in consideration of their friendship.
“The last time we tried, neither of us were happy with the results and it jeopardized our relationship. At a certain point you decide whether it’s more important to preserve and old friendship that to write a song. Given the various kinds of trouble we’ve had with one another over the years I don’t know if there’s much we could do to destroy that friendship. But nevertheless, it’s a lot like being married. It’s actually a lot like being married. Bobby has a very interesting mind. It’s irregular. Sometimes it can seem like he’s just being perverse, and sometimes he is just being perverse. But sometimes he really is on to something and will take quite a long time for it to be visible.”
[News Feb 7, 2018: As stated by The Guardian, “John Perry Barlow, ‘visionary’ Internet pioneer, press freedom advocate and Grateful Dead lyricist, has died aged 70.”]
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Mladen Djankovich
Consultant, Personal Trainer, and Life Coach in Los Angeles, CA
Mladen Djankovich is a successful entrepreneur, marketer, and consumer trend expert based in Los Angeles, CA. He is the CEO of Rocking Inc. and co-founder of its subsidiary RockerMama LLC. Mladen co-invented the award-winning Ready Rocker™ – the world’s first truly portable, patent-pending rocker. Prior to his current mission to reinvent the way the world rocks, Mladen co-founded BookedOut and held roles as both its COO and CMO. BookedOut is a cloud-based mobile app/platform founded in 2013 that manages marketing event logistics and staff for some of the world’s biggest brands. It was acquired in 2016 after becoming a frontrunner in the on-demand gig economy.
Mladen is an alumnus of Indiana University, graduating with a major in marketing from IU’s Kelley School of Business along with a minor in literature. Mladen Djankovich is a seasoned corporate strategist and marketer. He sharpened this business acumen after a decade developing global brands, gaining experience on the agency side while at WPP/Wunderman and IMG in New York City and on the brand side at AT&T in Chicago. Mladen has driven notable enterprise growth in the retail, luxury, and general consumer sectors.
Mr. Djankovich has been featured on major media such as E! News, Today, NBC, CNBC, FOX, CBS, and ABC. His achievements have been highlighted in The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, New York Magazine, Us Weekly, People, In-Style Magazine, and Robb Report to name a few. He currently resides in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and two children.
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www.linkedin.com/in/dan-smith-8652928
President, Commerce Group 1, LLC
Dan is the founder of and principal investor in Commerce Group 1, LLC, provider of several web-based services and products. He’s also Chairman and principle investor of Insite Managed Solutions which provides Six Sigma-based contact center expertise, including site assessments/benchmarking, training, performance improvement, process build & transfer, and staff augmentation. Insite Customers include Google, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and Tennessee, Southwest Airlines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, General Motors, and Apple. Smith is a 1989 graduate of the University of Miami School of Business, having earned a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing and currently serves as a member of the Miami Business School’s Board of Overseers. As a member of the University’s President’s Council. He acts as an ambassador for many university initiatives. Smith serves as a guest speaker to undergraduate courses at the University of Miami. He previously served on the University’s Hurricane Club Council Advisory Committee, which supports the Athletic Department. He is a member of The Aspen Institute’s 2012 Class of Henry Crown Fellows. The Henry Crown Fellowship is designed to engage the next generation of leaders in the challenge of community-spirited leadership. It brings together executives—most from the business world, all entrepreneurs, all under 45—who have already achieved success in their chosen fields. The two-year program comprises a structured series of four seminars and each Fellow undertakes an individual leadership project. Smith and his wife Cindy have lived in Atlanta for 30 years. They both love the Miami Hurricanes and travel to almost every home football game. In addition to his professional endeavors he is actively committed to his community, Serving as a member of Junior Achievement of Georgia’s Leadership Council.
Henry Crown Fellowship Program
Class XVI: 2012 True North Class
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Bongiwe Njobe
www.sablimited.co.za
Bongiwe
Njobe
Founder & Executive Director, ZA NAC
Bongiwe Njobe is the founder and executive director of ZA NAC Consulting and Investments. She started on this venture after almost ten years working in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Sector (FMCG) sector and over ten years in the Agricultural Public Sector. Formerly, she was an independent consultant in the areas of agriculture, food security, governance and CSR. Bongiwe was the executive director for corporate sustainability at Tiger Brands and director of corporate affairs at South African Breweries Ltd, a subsidiary of SABMiller. Prior to this, she served two terms as director general of the National Department of Agriculture. She previously held the posts of deputy director general and chief director in the same department. Her work experience in agriculture includes farm management in Zambia and Tanzania; academic work at the School of Agriculture and Rural Development of the University of Pretoria; and business experience through her work as manager of Whitbi Enterprises. She has also worked on gender issues, land and agricultural policy matters, and conservation development programs, as well as at the Foundation for Research Development, where she was program coordinator for the University Development Program. Bongiwe has an MSc in Agriculture from Bulgaria where she completed a thesis in the field of plant breeding. She has served on the boards of various private sector, NGO and parastatal organizations, and has published a number of discussion and conference papers. Currently, she serves as director of the Vumelana Advisory Fund and Pan-African Capital Holdings, is a member of the Board of the Industrial Development Corporation, and is a trustee of Kagiso Trust. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Africa Leadership Initiative - South Africa
Class I: Inaugural Class
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David Sylvester
Partner, 3rd Gen Law Group LLP
David Sylvester is a partner with 3rd Gen Law Group LLP, where he represents emerging technology companies. Prior to joining 3rd Gen Law in 2012, David was a partner at Venture Philanthropy Partners, a philanthropic investment organization, and a partner for over 18 years at the law firm of WilmerHale. He began his legal career representing Silicon Valley technology companies in the early 1980s at Fenwick & West. David has been active in the community throughout his career. A New Orleans native and former resident of the Calliope Housing Projects, David spent at least a week a month in New Orleans during 2005-2007 contributing to both informal and formal rebuilding efforts. David served as board president of AHC, Inc., a private nonprofit provider of affordable housing in the Mid-Atlantic region. He has also sat on the governing boards of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Capital Association; Heads Up, a provider of after-school and summer programs in D.C.; and The Idea Village, a nonprofit business accelerator helping to build an ecosystem for entrepreneurs in New Orleans. He currently serves on the Board of Advisors of The Idea Village and on the governing boards of Venture Philanthropy Partners, Isidore Newman School, and New Schools for New Orleans. David earned his BA from Stanford University and his JD from the University of Virginia. He is married to Palma Joy Strand and they have three children, now in their 20s, who attended magnet programs in the Arlington Public Schools as well as private schools in D.C. He is a Fellow of the 16th class of the Pahara - Aspen Education Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
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AID LEAP
A motley group of international aid bloggers, practitioners, and critics. Interested in impact, poverty, evidence, and throwing things off planes.
Latrine Humour
An ambivalence towards Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
February 1, 2016 February 1, 2016 / aidleap
For a number of years now I’ve worked, researched, and advocated against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). And, yet, I still find myself with a sense of ambivalence towards the practice.
FGM/C, which is also known as Female Genital Mutilation or Female Circumcision refers to the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Over 125 million girls and women have undergone FGM/C worldwide.
The health consequences of FGM/C are devastating. According to the World Health Organization, FGM/C causes immediate and long term health consequences including pain, shock, bacterial infections, infertility, risk of childbirth complications, and sometimes even death. Consequently, some have argued that female “circumcision” is a form of “female genital mutilation” and should be eradicated (See the late Efua Dorkenoo’s “Cutting the Rose”).
Furthermore, FGM/C can be seen as a form of male control over and subjugation of women. Frequent justifications for the practice include ensuring virginity and purity before marriage and preventing infidelity during marriage. And let’s not forget that in most cases FGM/C is practised on minors, not of ‘consenting age’ and lacking informed choice.
So far, so unambiguous. FGM/C is a harmful practice which causes so much suffering. So why do I find myself ambivalent towards the work I’ve been doing over the last few years to advocate against it?
It is partly because I’ve also come to realise that anti-FGM/C campaigns can harm, as well as help women. FGM/C is a deeply culturally embedded practice. Consequently, it is not generally perceived as a form of “mutilation” by those who undergo the practice (See Ahmadu 2000). Women who do not undergo FGM/C could become ostracised from their own community or might be unable to marry. Also, is it really my place to determine what others can and can’t do to their own bodies?
Moreover, some people have claimed to detect racist connotations underlying the notion of “female genital mutilation”. Why is it that genital surgeries in the West – more snappily known as “designer vaginas” – are condoned, yet, as Uambai Sia Ahmadu argues, the same procedure on “African or non-white girls and women” is considered “Female Genital Mutilation”, even when it is conducted by health professionals. I personally think there is something very wrong with society if girls and women think they need to surgically alter their genitals…. However, Ahmadu’s points certainly raise some important questions.
In essence, my ambivalence is between a universalist, zero tolerance approach and an open, culturally relative one. Is there a way to combine the two positions? Marie-Bénédicte Dembour suggests embracing the ambivalence and adopting a mid-way position – to “err uncomfortably between the two poles represented by universalism and relativism” (Dembour 2001:59). Using the metaphor of a pendulum, Dembour argues that for FGM/C neither view can exist without the other because as soon as one stance is taken, you have to adjust to the other. In one context, FGM/C may be accepted; it may be practised out of love to ensure a daughter can be married. But in another context, e.g. in the UK, it may be seen as a form of child abuse. Dembour illustrates this point in reference to changing trends on legal decisions on FGM/C in France; moving to severe sentences in the 1980s and early 1990s and back to acquittals in the mid-1990s. She explains that having moved too far in one direction, the judiciary felt uncomfortable with this position and moved back to a more lenient one.
Arguably, Dembour’s approach is a cop-out. It doesn’t provide any clear, forward direction. And, yet that is likely the point. FGM/C is a highly complex practice – there’s no definitive way forward, otherwise wouldn’t we already have figured that out?
Perhaps my way forward is to fit in-between the two poles and move towards either one depending on the context. For example, in a situation where I am clearly an outsider as a white woman from a non-practising community living in the UK, I find it difficult to condemn those who are not living in my own country for practising FGM/C. Our world views, knowledge, contexts are so very different and I, therefore, have no legitimacy condemning what they can and cannot do to their own bodies. In this situation, I find myself moving towards cultural relativism. However, I do feel that for those women and girls likely at risk or affected by FGM/C in the UK, I lean towards universalism and will advocate against FGM/C.
I’d like to open this discussion for others to contribute to. FGM/C is a highly sensitive and controversial issue, with multiple viewpoints on it. Do you agree with my reasoning here? And do you have other situations you’ve experienced that I and others also in this dilemma might be able to learn from and consider?
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5 thoughts on “An ambivalence towards Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting”
For me, much of this debate comes back two main issues:
1) Informed consent. In general I agree with the sentiment that people should have the right to do as they prefer with and to their own bodies. If those who undergo FGM/C are truly informed and truly consent (hard to evaluate, I know), then I suppose I do not have an in-principle issue against FGM/C.
2) What we do about the supposed trump card of culture. We change culture all the time. Don’t defecate in the open. Eat leafy greens. Breastfeed newborns immediately. Swirl the contents of the PUR sachet for 10 minutes… IEC messaging, advocacy campaigns, all different kinds of “sensitization”, and even some of our collective marketing and donor education all promote cultural change in some way.
My own opinion is that FGM/C is one small piece of a much larger, highly complicated, tangle of issues. It is easy to latch on to because it sounds so over-the-top, especially to Western audiences. But to focus on FGM/C apart from everything else it’s enmeshed in probably isn’t going to work (and may carry some unfortunate unintended consequences). None of which is reason to NOT address FGM/C, but rather to be smarter about how we do it, and perhaps also smarter about the why–seeing it, not as a sole thing to pick on, but as one part of a much more complex set of problems.
aidleap
Hi J,
Thanks for your comment – really great to get more views on this. Definitely in agreement that FGM/C is a highly complex and interlinked issue. It’s about poverty, human rights, education, women’s rights, and many, many more issues. Taking a holistic, comprehensive approach to address FGM/C will be more successful. However, as the issue has become more mainstreamed in the media, it’s become the “hot topic”, particularly for donors, with little thought on the bigger picture.
Hans Gutbrod
essentially any major issue has some tensions. This is the case for abortion, factory farming, the way we exploit our planet, any practice of development, humanitarian intervention, and so on and so forth. While there is an temptation to show these issues as clear cut (for a number of reasons), very few of those issues ultimately are.
Note that some of your arguments of accepting FGM/C could, for example, have been made to defend slavery. (“Oh, but she’ll NEVER find a man if she’s free!”) Perhaps the important thing here to recognize is that all sorts of logically coherent arguments can be made, depending on the premises you start from. The fundamental question you need to answer is what kind of moral framework you choose, in order to evaluate the questions you discuss. Without a good answer on that, answers you give are likely to remain incoherent, in a good number of ways. Arguably Richard Rorty and Alisdair MacIntyre are the authors to read, on these issues, since these are deep normative issues that do require a degree of grounding in ethics.
An entirely different question is how you tackle an odious practice (and one that is odious in part because it can’t easily be reversed). Here indeed engagement and empathy may be critical, and summary moral judgements aren’t likely to have much of a constructive impact.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/23/conversion-via-twitter-westboro-baptist-church-megan-phelps-roper
You compare FGm to vaginoplasty. I don’t support vaginoplasty, but the two practices seem quite different to me. FGM is performed on children and teenagers, and is fairly universal in the places it is practiced. Vaginoplasty is performed in adult, and often middle-aging women, and is quite a rare practice. (If you had to be, say, thirty to have your genitals sliced off, how many women would do it? )FGM is socially mandatory, as you point out, with severe consequences for holdouts. Vaginoplasty is private — it’s not as though you’re neighbors are going to ostracize you, or your relatives are going to badger you until you have your vagina tightened. Socially, i am trying to say, the two practices are quite different. Also, does vaginoplasty destroy sexual feeling? Cause lasting pain? make menstruation and childbirth difficult? (I realize not all FGM is that extreme, but lots is.)
The cultural relativism argument you make could be used to defend any practice, from slavery to capital punishment to denying women votes or other human rights. Why isn’t racial segregation okay in the US south? It was certainly a cultural tradition. Why isn’t female infanticide okay? In many cultures it was, and is, quite normal. What about child marriage, forced marriage, the murder of “unchaste” girls and women? Culture is often not such a pretty thing. But cultures change.
The question of how best to stop FGM is a whole other question.
I’m always interested that there’s no parallel discussion of male circumcision in the FGM discussions. From what I understand the male circumcision for pre-teen boys (not babies) in Kenya is also a potentially dangerous, harmful, and disruptive experience for the boys, as it for the girls. Is it just because the western audience is used to male circumcision?
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ContributedFeatured
Soden: The Secret Technical Manual of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu
This fascinating research about the secret technical manual of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu is the result of a collaboration between Aikido Journal and Guillaume Erard. A special thanks to Guillaume for sharing his expertise and work with the Aikido Journal community.
Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu (大東流合気柔術) is a koryu, one of Japan’s ancient martial arts schools, but unfortunately, its origins are far less well documented than that of most others. However, it shares with those the same secrecy when it comes to its technical catalog. Regardless of the specifics of its inception, the wider diffusion of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu only began rather recently, when in the late 19th century, Takeda Sokaku started to teach seminars across Japan. It wasn’t until his son Tokimune took over as headmaster that a more-or-less standardized curriculum came to be formulated and publicized to some extent. In spite of this effort, the nature of the technical progression in Daito-ryu, and the considerable time necessary to master its arcane make it so that only few practitioners are ever exposed to its deep teachings. Thus, beyond the rather basic level covered by the first Hiden Mokuroku scroll, which includes over 100 techniques, there are relatively few documents that describe the higher level material.
One of those rare documents was historically held by the Takumakai, a Daito-ryu organization formed by the students of Hisa Takuma and Nakatsu Heizaburo [read more about Nakatsu Heizaburo here], two direct pupils of Takeda Sokaku. What makes this record even more special is that it consists in over 1,500 photographs, illustrating over 500 techniques. It was compiled into a collection called Daito-ryu Aiki-budo Densho Zen Juikkan (大東流合気武道伝書全十一巻), better known as Soden (総伝), and it was usually only made available to advanced practitioners of the Takumakai, so relatively few people have been able to look at it in its entirety. The late Stanley Pranin was given a copy on microfilm by Hisa Takuma himself, and since his untimely passing, Josh Gold, his successor as the editor of Aikido Journal, has entrusted me with the task of continuing some of Stanley’s work on archives related to Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu. I would like to offer a short introduction to this exceptional document, which is still little known to most aikido practitioners, in spite of the fact that it is of particular relevance to them, as we shall see.
The origins of Soden
The origins of Soden can be found in the Kansai region, and more precisely, in Osaka’s Asahi Newspaper. There, a small group of the journal’s security service received martial instruction for several years. From 1934 to 1936, the group learned from Ueshiba Morihei, who later founded aikido, and from 1936 to 1939, it is Ueshiba’s own teacher, Takeda Sokaku, who took over the teaching at the journal. After the classes, some of the students had taken up the habit to secretly photograph themselves performing the techniques that they had just learned on that day using the newspaper’s substantial photographic material. According to the legend circulating within the Takumakai, this took place after each class behind the teacher’s back, while he was taken to the bath by Hisa Takuma, the leader of the group.
More than 1,500 pictures were taken and were carefully preserved in envelopes. A few years later, between 1942 and 1944, Hisa Takuma undertook the daunting task to organize these pictures in several volumes. Some explanations on how to perform the techniques were also added, most likely not directly by Hisa but based on his instructions. An important point to keep in mind is that Takeda Sokaku awarded the Menkyo Kaiden (a document that certifies that a teacher has taught the entirety of his knowledge to his student) to only two people in his entire life. Hisa Takuma being one of them, this probably made him the ideal person to undertake such work.
The structure of Soden
A total of 547 techniques are recorded in the Soden, but according to Mori Hakaru, who was appointed director of the Takumakai by Hisa, there are hundreds of additional techniques that were taught at the journal. Some of those techniques were taught informally by Hisa to his own students, but others were not, which indicates that much might have already been lost, and it gives us an incentive to preserve and study the material contained in the Soden. It should be noted that the pictures were taken by members of the journal’s security department, and not by professional photographers, so even though the quality is generally quite good, it is variable throughout, especially in terms of exposure. Considering that Stanley was given a microfilm version of Soden by Hisa, and not fully developed pictures, the variable quality could also be due to the processing and digitization process.
Volumes 1 to 6
This section gathers the techniques taught by Ueshiba Morihei. Interestingly, they appear under the name aikido (合気道) in Volumes 1 through 5. The precise reason why this term was used here is unknown but the Soden’s publishing coincides with the start of the popularization of Ueshiba’s art under the name aikido, and in particular, its registration in 1942 with the Dai Nippon Butokukai. It is possible that Hisa could have chosen to use this name to contrast with the techniques taught by Takeda Sokaku contained in the subsequent volumes. Throughout his life, Hisa quite happily referred to what he was teaching as “aikido,” and it could also have been a mark of respect towards his first teacher. The relationship between the two actually lasted well after Ueshiba’s departure from Osaka in 1936, and he even awarded Hisa the 8th Dan in aikido in 1956.
All I can say about the use of the title “Aikido” is that this is the moment when Ueshiba Sensei began spreading Aikido, and that name became very well known. That may be why Hisa Sensei used this name.
Mori Hakaru – Aiki News #129, p. 11-17
Ueshiba Morihei used to travel to Osaka every month to teach the Asahi group, and he also used to send some of his students to teach in his place, including Yukawa Tsutomu, Shirata Rinjiro, Funahashi Kaoru, Shioda Gozo, and Yonekawa Shigemi. The latter is prominently featured as Ueshiba Morihei’s uke in the famous demonstration that was shot at the Asahi Journal in 1935, as well as in the set of pictures that were taken at the Noma Dojo the following year. The first five volumes of Soden therefore constitute a third essential piece of information for us aikidoists who wish to understand the techniques taught by Ueshiba Morihei during this very important transition time for aikido.
The people seen demonstrating the techniques are mostly Yoshimura Yoshiteru as tori and Kawazoe Kuniyoshi as uke. Nakatsu Heizaburo is also visible as uke on some of the pictures. The photographs of these volumes were taken in one of the newspaper’s resting rooms that was covered with traditional tatami. The background curtain served to hide the futon that were stacked in the back. It is likely that this room also served as a dojo early on, before the practice was eventually moved to the Sonezaki Police Station in the Kita ward of Osaka. While a lot of the techniques gathered in this section are considered to be for beginners and intermediate-level students, there is also some rather difficult material.
Interestingly, the first three techniques found in Volume 1 are performed from a seated idori position and look like ippondori, gyaku ude dori, and kuruma daoshi, which are the first techniques of the Hiden Mokuroku curriculum that most Daito-ryu practitioners know today.
Technique from the first volume (tori/left: Yoshimura Yoshiteru, uke/right: Kawazoe Kuniyoshi)
Volume 5 contains some techniques performed against several attackers (taninzudori) and on those, Nakatsu Heizaburo serves as second uke. According to Hisa Takuma, taninzudori techniques were not considered to be martial techniques, but rather, devices to be used in demonstration to impress a neophyte audience. Considering that the Asahi Journal group was meant to learn techniques for the sole purpose of defending the journal’s staff and assets against terrorist attacks, one can only speculate on why they might have been taught those seemingly non-applicable techniques.
The taninzudori are not high level techniques, they are not martial techniques, they are just staged for the demonstrations. It amazes people who do not know what the real martial arts are and makes them think that the Daito-ryu is splendid. These techniques are a form of propaganda.
Hisa’s words as quoted by Amatsu Yutaka (天津 裕) – Aiki News #129, p. 28-31
That said, a number of the techniques present in the subsequent volumes, containing the material taught by Sokaku, are not necessarily practical techniques per se, and they might have been including as part of a technical progression rather than for the isolated efficacy.
Excerpt of Volume 5 showing a taninzudori technique (tori/center: Yoshimura Yoshiteru, Uke/left and right: Kawazoe Kuniyoshi and Nakatsu Heizaburo)
The sixth volume, which contains the more advanced techniques taught by Ueshiba Morihei, is entitled Dai Nihon Sogo Budo Asahi Ryu Jujutsu (大日本綜合武道旭流柔術). Nakatsu Heizaburo is performing the majority of the techniques here. It is interesting to note that this is the only section in the entire Soden that has no explanations to accompany the images. According to Amatsu Yutaka, a close student of Hisa Takuma, some explanations were added in some later copies of Soden but unfortunately, Stanley’s copy must be anterior to those.
Excerpt from Volume 6 showing Nakatsu Heizaburo performing the advanced techniques taught by Ueshiba Morihei.
From there on, the volumes no longer bear the name aikido but, instead, that of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Gokui Soden (大東流合気柔術極意総伝), which is understandable since they focus exclusively on the techniques taught by Takeda Sokaku. Once again, Nakatsu Heizaburo is seen performing a great number of the techniques. Interestingly, it seems that the technical abilities of Nakatsu, who was also a 6th dan Judoka from the Kodokan, are quite highly regarded in the Daito-ryu world, which might explain why he was so frequently demonstrating the higher-level material.
There was a man named Nakatsu Heizaburo who practiced with Hisa Sensei in those days. According to Takeda Tokimune Sensei he was the most skilled technically among those who practiced at the dojo and was even better than Hisa Sensei.
Mori Hakaru, Director of the Takumakai – Aiki News #81, July 1989, p.22
It has to be noted that as we advance through the volumes, the number of photos available for each technique decreases. Indeed, from an average of three photos per techniques in the first volumes, some of the later techniques are only illustrated with one single shot. This is probably due to the fact that Japan was facing increasing difficulties during the war and that resources became scarce. Technically speaking, the techniques shown here make a more substantial use of the legs, which is one of the hallmarks of the superior Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu techniques.
Do not throw the enemy far away. If you throw far, it will be difficult to use your legs, moreover, if the enemy knows how to take ukemi, the projection will have no effect. You should crush the enemy at your feet. This is the basic principle of Takeda’s Daito-ryu.
Hisa Takuma’s words as quoted by Amatsu Yutaka – Aiki News #129, p. 28-31
Excerpt from Volume 7 showing Nakatsu Heizaburo perform the advanced techniques of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu taught by Takeda Sokaku
The following sections are not Soden volumes per se, they consist of extra material added by Hisa. Upon closer scrutiny, none of the techniques presented in parts 10 and 11 are actually new, but interestingly, the explanations do vary from those of corresponding techniques found in Volumes 1 to 9.
The tenth chapter is called Aikido Dai-jukkan Keisatsukan Yoto Waza Hitsuto (合気道第十巻警察官用捕技祕傳). It contains techniques taught to law enforcement officers. Hisa Takuma also described some of these techniques in his other textbook called Hogi Hiden (捕技秘伝), as well as in a later article published in the now defunct Shin Budo Magazine and republished by Stanley Pranin in Aiki News issues 87 through 90. Hisa introduced them as follows:
Why can’t police officers, who still practice arts like Judo and Kendo, avoid such sacrifices [i.e. dying or being wounded]? The main reason is that they have to arrest criminals without killing or injuring them. I do not think that Judo or Kendo, as they currently exist, are sufficient for that, so I developed police tactics that allow them to stop or interrogate criminals safely without being wounded. I modeled these tactics to the secret techniques of Daito-ryu Aiki-budo techniques. After being invited to present some of these techniques to police officers, I made some of them public in the Hogi Hiden manual, and I have widely distributed it among the police.
Hisa Takuma – Shin Budo Magazine, November 1942
Excerpt from Chapter 10 showing arrest techniques for the police.
This final section is entitled Aikido Daijuikkan Joshi Goshinjutsu (合氣道第十一巻女子護身術) and it compiles twelve self-defense techniques that were taught specifically to women. The person demonstrating those techniques is Tokunaga Chiyoko. A martial artist in her own right, she was later involved in negotiating with the Japanese Ministry of Education for the reinstatement and codification of naginata in schools in the 1950’s. Still in Shin Budo, Hisa Takuma introduced those techniques as follows:
Women are not naturally as strong as men. However, it is not difficult for them to protect themselves and defeat an attacker once they have learned the martial arts. Since martial arts do not depend on physical strength, it does not matter if the attacker is stronger. It is in this that lies the extraordinary power of the martial arts. Let me introduce Aiki Budo techniques in a usable form for female self-defense and show you how they work through photographs.
Excerpt from Chapter 11 presenting techniques especially for women (tori/left: Tokunaga Chiyoko; uke/right: Yoshimura Yoshiteru)
It is interesting to note that at the end of this section, a number of pictures show a group of middle school girls practicing what is described as Aiki Budo. The date is unknown but it is likely that those pictures were taken at the same time as that of the Soden publication, i.e. in the early 40s, which is quite significant. One should note that only the nine officially recognized Budo are officially allowed to be taught as part of the Japanese education system. This was started under the tutelage of the Dai Nippon Butokukai and those disciplines include Aikido, Judo, Jukendo, Karatedo, Kendo, Kyudo, Naginatado, Shorinji Kempo, and Sumo. The first person who started to modify the ancient Japanese combat techniques in order to teach them within an educational context was Kano Jigoro, the founder of Kodokan Judo. It was far from a straightforward endeavor though, and Kano had to submit several unsuccessful applications, and each time to modify further the original koryu Ju-jutsu techniques, before he could eventually get to a Judo that was deemed fit to be taught to youths.
We saw earlier that the early 40’s was precisely the time when the name aikido was registered with the Dai Nippon Butokukai, most likely for similar purposes. According to Hirai Minoru, who was Ueshiba’s representative to the Butokukai, the term aikido was not solely intended to serve as an moniker for Ueshiba’s art, but it was meant to gather a number of other Ju-jutsu, and considering the terminology used and their shared history, it is likely that Aiki Budo fitted rather well within that framework.
Mr. Hisatomi proposed the establishment of a new section including arts for actual fighting based on jujutsu techniques [and he] argued for his proposal energetically and explained that “aikido” would be a better name than aiki budo for this new section, because it would be better to stress the idea of “michi” or way. He proposed that the name “aikido” be used as term to designate an all-inclusive budo and I agreed with him.
Hirai Minoru – Aikido Journal #100, 1994
Middle school girls practicing Aiki Budo in Osaka (c. 1940).
What is left of the Soden techniques today?
The Soden is only a part of the techniques taught at the Asahi Journal dojo, and given that all the contemporaries of this era are no longer of this world, many techniques have simply been lost through time. Moreover, even though during Hisa Takuma’s lifetime, his students learned some Soden techniques (though not all, and not necessarily in the order of the book), the organization later decided to adopt the curriculum developed by Takeda Tokimune in Hokkaido. The students who joined the organization after Hisa’s death therefore learned primarily the techniques of Hiden Mokuroku, and the study of the Soden material became relegated to special seminars.
Moreover, contrary to what some people think, the possession of Soden does not in any way guarantee an understanding of the techniques it contains because, as we have seen, the explanations, if any, are rather succinct. It should also be kept in mind that the photos were taken by students who had seen them only once, Takeda Sokaku being known from never demonstrating the same techniques more than once. It is therefore possible that their execution was not perfect. Of course, the Soden was never meant to have any other function than that of a memory aid; it was certainly not thought to be a teaching tool, and Hisa himself only rarely referred to it during his own classes. In fact, the same thinking can extend to all the Daito-ryu rolls and books: students are expected to take their own notes and documents are only issued after the practical learning has taken place.
A roll is something you get after, it’s not something you learn from. […] Please memorize the techniques now, because I will not write them on your Menkyo Kaiden certificates.
Hisa Takuma’s words reported by Mori Hakaru – Aiki News #82, p. 15
In addition, the number of people who have received a thorough instruction of the Soden techniques is very small nowadays and some of the techniques may already have more or less fallen into oblivion.
However, I do not know if he [Hisa Takuma] remembered 100% [of the techniques] because he never referred to Soden pictures when he was teaching.
Mori Hakaru – Aiki News #82, p. 14
Mori Hakaru and some of Takumakai’s top members have studied the Soden for almost ten years in order to reconstruct some of the forgotten techniques, basing themselves on other elements of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu’s curriculum. A video taken in the 1970’s, during Hisa Takuma’s lifetime, details some of Soden’s techniques. Outside of the Takumakai, this is probably the only way left for many practitioners to witness those techniques. Let’s hope that there will be a sufficiently large number of people taking an interest in learning these techniques in the future so that they can continue to be passed on to the next generations!
I would like to thank Aikido Journal and Josh Gold for giving me access to those precious documents.
Asahi News Dojo Daito-ryu Aikijujitsu Guillaume Erard Heizaburo Nakatsu Morihei Ueshiba Soden Sokaku Takeda Takuma Hisa
Guillaume Erard is a permanent resident of Japan. He trains at the Aikikai Headquarters in Tokyo, where he received the 5th Dan from Aikido Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba. Guillaume regularly gives Aikido seminars throughout Europe as well as lectures on its history. He studied with some of the world's leading Aikido instructors, including several direct students of O Sensei, and has produced a number of well regarded video interviews with them. Guillaume also holds the title of Kyoshi in Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu and serves as Deputy Secretary for International Affairs of the Shikoku Headquarters. He is passionate about science and education, and holds a PhD in Molecular Biology.
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Keoni May says:
This was an excellent article, on the origin of Aikido.
There were many Daito Ryu techniques, that were too severe on the joints or made people fall down at unnatural angles, that caused permanent injuries or death.
These Daito Ryu techniques, were weeded out of the Aikido curriculum, to avoid permanent injuries or death.
This way, Aikido could be practiced, at a flat out speed, without permanent injuries or death.
If your statement was true and we follow your logic, that would imply Daito-ryu practitioners have a very short lifespan practicing the art!
I can tell you from personal experience that your statement about the danger of practicing Daito-ryu is false. My advice is to go find a Daito-ryu dojo and experience it for yourself before drawing conclusions about the past or about the art.
Guillaume Erard says:
Some of the elements of Daito-ryu were indeed removed to create Aikido but Daito-ryu itself has a pretty structured technical curriculum that is geared towards long term progression, and the techniques are therefore taught in a way so as not to cause permanent injuries or death.
By the thread here that I started trying to get to the bottom of the name usage it seems that Minoru Hirai was wrong about the history and usage on the name Aikido. The question would be was he really “wrong” or was there something else behind his answer.
http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25243
Thanks Igor, yes I am aware of this discussion. I think that in terms of the idea that the goal was to integrate Ueshiba’s school, and possibly a bunch of other more or less linked entities, to the DNBK is plausible, but I do share Ellis’ suspicions that it was probably not a huge group. Also, the term “Aikido” must have been floating around well before that. Incidentally, I am not aware of any rebuttal issued by Nidai Doshu or any other Aikikai official following Hirai’s interview. I would have thought that they might have objected if his statement was completely untrue.
Well, honestly I don’t see why would the Aikikai object at all. It fits the postwar narrative of O’sensei “studying various martial arts” (not Daito ryu) pretty well because it actually makes it seem how there were other arts that fit the “Aikido” description. Also it helped the late Hirai in terms of recognition, and popularization, by adding the suffix “Aikido” since it was officially recognized by the DNBK. It’s basically a win-win situation.
Sorry I do not understand the logic of your first sentence at all. In fact, whenever I brought up the topic with a number of very senior Aikikai Shihan, all sounded more keen to suggest that the term “Aikido” was Ueshiba Sensei’s own.
In most of the world, even today, Aikido practitioners whatever the rank just go with the official ideology of O’sensei studying various martial arts until one day he achieved enlightenment like Buddha and became a pacifist. Probably even those high ranking Shihan had the same idea because that’s what for the most part was the official narrative disseminated by Kisshomaru. Therefore thinking of Aikido as an umbrella term actually fits that narrative pretty well because rather than O’sensei being a Daito ryu practitioner and gaining knowledge through Daito ryu and adapting everything to his Daito ryu core, he actually achieved his skills and mostly off course his “enlightenment” by studying various “Aikido-like” martial arts that were all know under that same term in the DNBK. That’s the basic logic, everything fits, even if it actually doesn’t.
Schröder says:
Is there any chance that we will see publication of the material?
I wouldn’t hold my breath since as I said in the article, the Takumakai and other direct students of Hisa are pretty strict about who has access to it. Moreover, I believe that some of the material in it may actually fall under Japanese copyright laws.
On a personal standpoint, I frankly would not see the point of releasing it without some detailed personal instruction and analysis to go with it. As an example, most Aikidoka’s hands are already full trying to makes sense of the material which is found in Budo Renshu. I recall a video where some have even attempted “rediscover” the techniques, to appalling results. This is all the more ironic when in fact, the content has never been lost and is crystal clear to any mid-level Daito-ryu practitioner.
The bottom line, I think, is that we need more work on the tatami for any of this published material to keep its true value. There are still people who know some of it, and the Takumakai, for instance, is actually pretty welcoming to anyone who wishes to learn. The thing is that is that in terms of the techniques of Soden, it takes a darn long time.
If you are interested in Soden or Daito-ryu and it’s relationship to Aikido I encourage you to visit a Daito-ryu dojo. I echo Guilliaume’s advice that you will not get much benefit from any of the Soden books without direct experience and why try when you can get direct transmission from legitimate teachers? Takumakai is a very open Daito-ryu organisation with some fantastic generous teachers with very deep skill sets. I will be blunt, you will not reverse engineer Daito-ryu Soden practice from a book no matter your background, there are too many fine details that you simply will not have without direct Daito-ryu instruction from a legitimate teacher.
Stefan Schröder says:
Well, please keep in mind that the density of Daito-ryu dojos drops sharply when leaving Japan.
While many of the prolific writers and authors on AJ have devoted their lives entirely to the study of the budo, my guess is that most of the readers are just regular people that have a wide range of responsibilities that prevent them from traveling exhaustively, just to get to the nearest Daito-ryu dojo. For my part, there is not a single Daito-ryu dojo in my part of the country and I cannot and will not comment on the quality of instruction in other parts of the country. Takumakai doesn’t seem to operate a single dojo in Germany or – if they do – they are hard to find.
But my main argument is more fundamental. What would Stanley Pranin have said about your argument? To keep this good stuff secret, because it’s difficult to learn and people should instead attend their training more regularly. Stanley has devoted his life to publicize information about Aikido and Daito-ryu. Information that needs to be free, and not jealously guarded against enemies. I am interested in this material, because I feel it’s important from a historical perspective. It has often been claimed that O-sensei removed techniques from his curriculum. I would like to know, what these techniques were and judge for myself. I am finding Aikido challenging enough and I wouldn’t dream of learning Daito-ryu from a book. (Although I have read consistently that quite a few important karate-teachers in the West started their careers exactly that way: by learning from a book.)
I have a coffee-table book with paintings by Monet and van Gogh. Do you think that I got that because I believe that this would make me an artist? No. I have it because I enjoy looking at it. Studying the pictures is intrinsically meaningful and if I can nick one or the other technique, it’s all the better, but I don’t require it.
I almost didn’t even bother to comment on the copyright argument, because of its weakness. ALL published material is under copyright law one way or the other. I didn’t ask you to publish it. The Takumakai should have an interest in doing so. Or see the art wither.
You might want to consider the fact that Stanley had this document for a very long time and that he never took any step to publish it. I have not spoken to him about it so I cannot presume of the reason.
You seem very critical of the Takumakai and I don’t really understand why. Note that a series of slides were published in Aikido Journal several years ago where Kawabe Sensei (Takumakai Shihan) was demonstrating some of the Soden techniques, with added instructions in English. To be frank, this is already going much further than what I personally would have done. A video was also created in the 80’s where many techniques were demonstrated.
The Takumakai is doing precisely that you seek: it is making sure that people receive deep and adequate instruction, using this document, and the curriculum defined by Tokimune, so that the art does not wither. All things considered, and compared to many other schools, it is doing a pretty good job, and the limitation is more on the side of the people who claim they want to learn (I get emails on a very regular basis), but don’t/can’t take any real step to truly do so. I don’t see what releasing the Soden would do to help. The information is already being passed on in the most efficient way possible. They have an open door policy and people who truly want to learn just have to take the trouble to go and train with them.
I think that at the heart of our disagreement is the fact that I (and others) believe that wider and uncontrolled diffusion does not equate to preservation of quality. You might come from the opposite side of the argument and I can respect that. We just have to agree to disagree I guess.
Richard Dymond says:
Can we get a copy????
It is unlikely. For details, please see my previous response to Schröder.
Very interesting information on a subject not normally available to the general public. Thank you!
You are welcome! Nothing really new here but the information was quite scattered around various publications, including some Japanese exclusive, so I thought it would be nice to compile it here.
Michael J Ruppert says:
Thank you for this Article,
It was very informative, and interesting.
Please keep the information coming.
Godspeed.!
Paulo Motta says:
First of all, arigato gozaimashita for the informative post.
I have to bug you and humbly ask you to reconsider the publication in whatever way.
I don’t have and probably never will have access to a Daito Ryu dojo, this is the reality of many. But I would still be interested in seeing it, maybe even learning a small portion of it. Why not?
Thank Paulo for your interest. As I explained above, this is not something that we would be able to do, only the Takumakai, or the heirs of Hisa Sensei, would be legally able to do so.
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The Rabbi’s strength and faith grow as she continues to see that God does, indeed, work in strange ways.
“The Rabbi Finds Her Way.. very quickly into our hearts. Authors Robert Schoen and Catherine deCuir introduce a cast of memorable original characters and create a wonderful role model, Pearl Ross-Levy, for female and male rabbis alike.”
—Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs, D. Min, DD, Bat Yam Temple of the Islands, Sanibel, Florida Former President-World Union for Progressive Judaism
Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth Israel, West Hartford, Connecticut
“The book was so funny, warm, and enticing. I couldn’t put it down!”
—Cantor Ilene-KeyscTernplessMairOakland, California
“The Rabbi Finds Her Way is a captivating glimpse into the world of a young female rabbi and her congregation. Robert Schoen and Catherine deCuir give Judaism a funny, poignant, illuminating voice through their protagonist, Rabbi Pearl Ross-Levy, who will steal your heart. A must-read for readers of any faith!”
—Gail Tsuldyama, Author of The Samurai’s Garden and Women of the Silk
Robert Schoen is the author of On God’s Radar— My Walk Across America and the award-winning book What I Wish My Christian Friends Knew About Judaism. He lives in Oakland, California.
Catherine deCuir is a cantorial soloist, jazz vocalist, and fiction writer. She lives in Albany, California.
STONE BRIDGE PRESS, P.O. BOX 8208, BERKELEY, CA 94707 / 510.524.8732 / sbp@stonebridge.com
Posted in 2019, 5779, July, Ram's Horn, Sivan
Compiled by Aitz Chaim over many years, this list is maintained by the Ram’s Horn. Please send any corrections or additions to editor@aitzchaim.com
May the source of peace send peace to all who mourn, and may we be a comfort to all who are bereaved.
Name of
Deceased English Date of Passing Hebrew Date of Passing Deceased Relationship to
Congregant
Dawn Schandelson Sep 3, 2018 23 Elul, 5778 Wife of Arny Schandelson, Mother of Brett and Scott Schandelson
Irving Langsam Jul 3, 1991 21 Tammuz, 5751 Father of Helen Cherry
Alvin Magalnick Jul 3, 2010 21 Tammuz, 5770 Brother of Elliot Magalnick
Gregory Scott Merriman Jul 10, 2007 24 Tamuz, 5767 Father of Laura Merriman
Natalee Holly Kelman Jul 10, 2013 3 Av, 5773 Daughter of Evelyn Kelman
Beverly Espelin Jul 12, 2007 26 Tammuz, 5767 Mother of Dawn Schandelson
Hilda Schandelson Jul 17, 1962 15 Tammuz, 5722 Mother of Arnold Schandelson
Rachel Foxman July 18, 2014 20 Tamuz, 5774 Sister of Marty Foxman
Miriam Fischer Jul 20, 1953 8 Av, 5713 Mother of Robert Fischer
Maurice Jacoby Jul 27, 1976 29 Tammuz, 5736
Posted in 2019, 5779, July, Ram's Horn, Yahrzeit
This is a reminder about the lay services led by Devorah Werner the first Friday of the month, July 5, at 6:00 P.M. at the Bethel, with a milchig (dairy) potluck to follow.
Yes, this is the day after the Fourth of July, and yes, there will be a milchig (dairy) potluck afterwards.
Hope to see as many of you there as possible. We will have a gathering no matter how few or how many come.
The address for the Bethel is 1009 18th Avenue Southwest. click here for map and directions.
Posted in 2019, 5779, Events, July, Ram's Horn, Sivan
This is a reminder about the lay services led by Devorah Werner the first Friday of the month, June 7, at 6:00 P.M. at the Bethel. **THERE WILL BE NO POTLUCK THIS TIME.**
Hope to see you there.
Posted in 2019, 5779, Events, Iyar, June, Ram's Horn
Al Nagel Jun 4, 2010 22 Sivan, 5770 Uncle of Meriam Nagel
Ann Magalnick Jun 6, 1987 9 Sivan, 5747 Mother of Elliot Magalnick
Minnie Goldberg Jun 8, 1983 27 Sivan, 5743 Grandmother of Jerry Weissman and Robert Fineman
Claire Hochfeld Meyer Jun 10, 1958 22 Sivan, 5718 Mother of Diane Sherick
Samuel Thall Jun 10, 1992 9 Sivan, 5752 Father of Terry Thall
Sigmund Oppenheimer Meyer Jun 11, 1986 4 Sivan, 5746 Father of Diane Sherick
Elsie Dorman Jun 14, 2004 25 Sivan, 5764 Aunt of Marjorie Feldman
Lillian Nagel Jun 16, 1999 2 Tammuz, 5759 Aunt of Meriam Nagel
Rhoda Barrett Jun 17, 2000 14 Sivan, 5760 Cousin of Nadyne Weissman
Charles Cohn Jun 21, 1930 25 Sivan, 5690 Father of Arlyne Reichert
Zollie Kelman Jun 23, 2008 20 Sivan, 5768 Husband of Evelyn Kelman
Morris Goldberg Jun 25, 1955 5 Tammuz, 5715 Grandfather of Jerry Weissman and Robert Fineman
Regan Holsclaw Jun 27, 1970 23 Sivan, 5730 Son of Arleen Heintzelman
Miriam Foxman June 27, 2014 29 Sivan, 5774 Mother of Marty Foxman
Hugh Getzenberg June 27, 2016 21 Sivan, 5776 Relative of Anne Getzenberg
Posted in 2019, 5779, June, Ram's Horn, Yahrzeit
NEW FROM BEN GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV
The Flying STAR robot, a hybrid flying crawling quadcopter robot
Flying STAR, a Hybrid Crawling and Flying Sprawl Tuned Robot FSTAR is a robot fitted with a sprawling mechanism, wheels and propellers allowing it to both run and fly using the same motors. It can fly at 15m/s and run on the ground at 2.6 m/s. The combined capabilities of running and flying allow FSTAR to fly over obstacles or run underneath them and move inside pipes. The robot can reduce its width to crawl in confined spaces or underneath obstacles while touching the ground.
The robot can be used for safe package deliveries, search and rescue applications, manufacturing chains, agriculture, maintenance, cleaning, filming, and entertainment.
The robot was developed in the Bio-Inspired and medical Robotics Lab at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev (ME department).
Posted in 2019, 5779, Events, Iyar, May, Ram's Horn
ISRAEL IN HER 71ST YEAR
As of May 2019, Israel’s population is 9,009,000. About 74.2% are Jews, 21% Muslim or Christian Arabs, and the rest non-Arab Christians and others. (Central Bureau of Statistics)
Citizens aged 0-20 comprise 43% of Israel’s population. The largest group within that category is 5- to 14-year-olds (18%). The latter category is largest in Jerusalem, making up 21% of its population. (Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem)
Jerusalem is Israel’s most populous city, with about 883,000 residents. Tel Aviv-Yafo (Jaffa) comes in second (439,000) and Haifa third (280,000). (Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem)
In Tel Aviv, the largest population segment by age is 35-44 (about 17%), while in Haifa the two highest population groups are ages 5-14 and 35-44 (12% each). (Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem)
The most common family name in Israel is Cohen (one in 50 people). Agbaria is the most common surname among Muslims, Khoury among Christians and Halabi among Druze. (Central Bureau of Statistics)
The most common first names for boys in Israel are Muhammad, Yosef, Ariel, Omer, Adam, David, Daniel, Lavi, Eitan and Uri. The most popular names for girls are Tamar, Abigail, Miriam, Sarah, Adele, Yael, Noa, Shira, Noya and Lia. (Population and Immigration Authority, 2017-2018)
A high-tech superpower
Israel has the highest number of startups per capita in the world. (2018 Global Startup Ecosystem Report)
Israel hosts about 8,200 active high-tech companies. (IVC Research Center)
30 Israeli venture capital funds raised $2.55 billion in 2018, the largest sum ever raised by Israeli VCs and 69% more than in 2017. (IVC)
Israel ranks fifth overall on the 2019 Bloomberg Innovation Index, moving up from #10 in 2018. In the R&D Intensity category, Israel ranks #1.
Israel’s expenditure on research and development (R&D) as a percentage of its GDP (4.21%) is the highest in the world. (OECD)
Israel ranks #2 among top 10 countries for scientific research, based on the number of scientific research papers released, the number of patents registered, the percentage of GDP spent on R&D and the number of researchers per 1,000 people. (RS Components)
More than 350 multinational corporations have R&D centers in Israel, including IBM, Intel, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Merck, HP Indigo, J&J, GE, Siemens, Qualcomm, Applied Materials and Samsung.
Israel has the world’s highest per capita number of such centers. (IVC, Ministry of Economy and Industry)
Every year, about 1,400 startups are founded in Israel and some 800 shut down. (Israel Innovation Authority)
Thirteen Israeli-founded companies with headquarters or development offices in Israel are “unicorns,” privately held startups valued at $1 billion or more: Payoneer, Taboola, Outbrain, Gett, Infinidat, ironSource, eToro, OrCam, Lemonade, Fiverr, JFrog, WalkMe and Via. (TechAviv)
The most lucrative acquisition of an Israeli company took place in 2017, when Intel bought Jerusalem-based Mobileye for $15.3 billion.
Intel is making the largest-ever corporate investment in Israel: An $11 billion production plant planned in Kiryat Gat.
Intel, which employs about 12,800 Israelis in five centers throughout the country, is the most active foreign corporate investor in Israel, putting $435 million into more than 90 Israeli companies — $120 million in 2018 alone. (IVC, Intel Capital Israel)
Healthy, happy and long-lived
Israel has the lowest rate of diet-related deaths in the world. (Global Burden of Disease Study, Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation)
Israel ranks fifth in the world for healthy longevity and 11th in the world for overall happiness. (2018 United Nations World Happiness Report)
Average life expectancy for Israeli men is 80.7, and 84.6 for women, as of 2017. (Central Bureau of Statistics)
Israel ranks 10th on the 2019 Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index.
88.6% of Israelis say they are pleased with their lives. (Central Bureau of Statistics)
85% of Israelis over the age of 20 feel safe walking alone in the dark in their residential area. (Central Bureau of Statistics)
A tree, fruit and veggie empire
In 1948, about 2% of Israel was covered in trees. Now it’s up to around 8.5%. Since its establishment in 1901, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National fund (KKL-JNF) has planted more than 240 million trees in Israel.
Israel is one of the only countries in the world that ended the 20th century with more trees than it had at the start. (KKL-JNF)
As of the end of 2018, every Israeli has access annually to an average 152 kilograms of fruit and 154kg of vegetables. (Central Bureau of Statistics)
In 2017, the leading crops produced in Israel were potatoes, tomatoes, carrots and peppers on the vegetable side; and bananas, apples, avocados and grapes on the fruit front. (Central Bureau of Statistics)
Citrus fruit is Israel’s largest agricultural export, adding up to $230 million in 2017. The value of all Israel’s fresh and processed agricultural exports was about $2.2 billion in 2016. (Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development)
A flourishing tourism industry
In 2018, Israel welcomed a record-breaking 4,120,800 million incoming tourists.
The Western Wall in Jerusalem is the most-visited tourist site, followed by other sites in Jerusalem’s Old City: the Jewish Quarter, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Via Dolorosa, Mount of Olives and the Tower of David Museum. Outside Jerusalem, the most popular tourist sites are Masada, the Church of the Annunciation, Tel Aviv Port, Capernaum and Caesarea. (Ministry of Tourism)
In 2018, almost half of all Israelis (4.1 million) traveled abroad – 2.2 million of them once, and 1.9 million twice or more. (Central Bureau of Statistics)
The Israel Hotel Association lists 370 member hotels, encompassing a total of 54,864 rooms. This number does not include hundreds of small boutique hotels and bed-and-breakfasts (tzimmers) across Israel.
The most expensive hotel rooms in Israel are the Noble Suite at Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem and the Presidential Suite at the Ritz Carlton Herzliya, each approximately $5,000 per night in high season.
Invested heavily in water desalination and conservation
Israeli households, industry and agriculture consume 2.1 billion cubic meters of water every year. (Mekorot National Water Carrier)
Israel recycles 87% of its wastewater for agriculture, much more than any other country in the world. Some 31% of irrigation water originates from wastewater treated at more than 150 plants. (Mekorot)
Sixty to 80% of Israel’s municipal water, adjusted according to season and real-time demand, flows from large coastal desal plants in Sorek, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Palmachim and Hadera. (Mekorot)
Sorek is the largest seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant in the world. The 100,000-square-meter facility can produce 624,000 cubic meters of water daily — 20% of domestic water consumption. (IDE Technologies)
Knowing the birds and the bees
As of 2019, Israel counts some 545 resident species of birds. (Israeli Birding Portal)
Every year some 500 million birds of 150 to 200 species migrate across Israel in their twice-yearly pilgrimage to and from warmer climes in March and November.
Israel has about 500 beekeepers with a total of 110,000 hives. (Israeli Honey Board)
Israel’s annual honey yield is about 3,000 tons.
About 1,600 tons of honey is consumed by Israelis every Rosh Hashana to symbolize the hope of a sweet Jewish New Year ahead. (Israeli Honey Board
Extraordinarily well educated
Twelve Israelis have been awarded Nobel prizes: S.Y. Agnon, Menachem Begin, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Daniel Kahneman, Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, Robert Aumann, Ada Yonath, Dan Shechtman, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel.
Israel has the highest number of engineers and scientists per capita. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Israel ranks third among OECD countries for the percent of its population that has attained higher education and fifth for its total expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Israel boasts a literacy level of 97.8% of citizens above the age of 15. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Israel is home to 66 institutions of higher education: Seven research universities, one open university, 23 teacher-training colleges, 21 academic colleges and 14 private colleges. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
A small Israeli-Arab village in the Lower Galilee has one of the highest numbers of doctors per capita in the world.
Tel Aviv trivia
Coastal Tel Aviv-Yafo boasts many distinctions apart from being the heart of Israel’s startup culture.
Tel Aviv is the world’s 10th most expensive city, tied with Los Angeles. (The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2019 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey)
Tel Aviv is Israel’s most expensive residential area. The average price of owner-occupied dwellings was ₪2,176,700 ($610,053) in the second quarter of 2018 (GlobalPropertyGuide) and 68 apartments priced at over ₪5 million ($1.3 million) were sold in Tel Aviv during the first half of 2018 (madlan.co.il).
Time Out of London ranks Tel Aviv the best city in the Middle East.
There are 13 beaches along Tel Aviv-Yafo’s coastline, visited by some 8.5 million people annually. (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality)
Tel Aviv has the highest number of pet dogs per capita in the world, at one pooch per every 17 residents. (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality)
Tel Aviv has been called the world’s top destination for vegan tourists (Daily Meal) and vegan capital of the world (The Independent). The highest concentration of vegan restaurants is in the Florentin neighborhood.
Of the 21 Israeli residents listed on the Forbes 2019 World Billionaires list, many live in Tel Aviv — including the wealthiest Israeli man, Roman Abramovich (who was listed by Forbes as Russian although he got Israeli citizenship in 2018) and Shari Arison, the richest woman in Israel.
Random awesome factoids
Israel has more than 230 museums, believed to be more museums per capita than any other country in the world. (CNN Travel)
Israel shipped $61.9 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2018. The top five exports are gems and precious metals (24% of total exports), electrical machinery and equipment (13.8%), pharmaceuticals (9.1%), optical, technical and medical apparatus (8.6%) and machinery including computers (7.8%). (World’s Top Exports)
There are more vegans (5%) and vegetarians (8%) per capita in Israel than anywhere else in the world.
In 2017, Israel hosted the world’s largest animal rights march, drawing some 30,000 activists. (PETA)
Every day, Osem produces one million bags of Bamba, Israel’s top-selling snack. Surveys show that 90% of Israeli families buy Bamba on a regular basis.
Israel has won nine Olympic medals since 1952: one gold in sailing, one silver in judo, and seven bronze (four in judo, two in sailing and one in canoeing).
Israeli rhythmic gymnast Linoy Ashram set a world record with a score of 20.65 points in the clubs event at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup Championship in 2018.
Guinness World Records certified in April 2019 that Isaak Hayik of Or Yehuda, Israel, is the oldest soccer player in the world.
A new Guinness World Record was set for most people using virtual reality displays at the same time, when Israeli company Mobileye made a presentation to 1,867 business leaders at the 2017 YPO Edge conference in Vancouver, Canada.
Posted in 2019, 5779, Iyar, MAJCO, May, Ram's Horn
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES CONFERENCE IN CLEVELAND, 07/28-08/02/2019
NOTE FROM JANET TATZ: Many of you have heard Ellen Baumler, Montana historian extraordinaire, present in the past. Ellen has a key interest in the history of Montana Jewry and has offered many lectures on that topic. She has also led walking tours of “Jewish Helena” including the Home of Peace cemetery. As you can see from this program announcement, Helen has recently been accepted to present on this topic at a conference in Cleveland. Perhaps you were anticipating being in Cleveland or know a friend or relative who lives in that area. Please share the news.
May 2019 Contact: Sandra Golden, Publicity Chair, IAJGS
For release: Upon receipt publicity@iajgs2019.org
Area resident to speak at 39th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy set in Cleveland
Dr. Ellen Baumler of Helena has been selected as a presenter at the 39th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Cleveland, Ohio, July 28 – Aug. 2, 2019.
Baumler’s presentation, “Montana’s Pioneer Jewish Communities: A Lasting Legacy,” explores Montana’s historic Jewish communities. The gold rush brought Jewish pioneers from Germany, Prussia, Austria, and Poland as well as New York and Chicago to Montana. Opportunity drew these adventurers to mining settlements where business and religious beliefs brought them together. Jews set up the first businesses at Bannack, Alder Gulch, and at most mining boomtowns. They seized entrepreneurial opportunities and became miners, barbers, tailors, bankers, attorneys, and cattlemen, but it was especially in the stepping-stone roles of merchant and provider that many achieved economic stability and civic status in a single generation. Without rabbis or synagogues, they established benevolent societies, maintained holidays and traditions, and planted the roots of Judaism in Montana. Their legacies are the seeds of today’s Jewish congregations that flourish across the state.
Details of the conference, including registration and hotel information, are posted on the conference website: www.iajgs2019.org.
“We are excited to be able to bring this conference to Cleveland this summer, with the city’s many attractions and vibrant Jewish community,” said Ken Bravo, of Cleveland, IAJGS president and co-chair of the 2019 conference with Jay Sage, IAJGS vice president, of Newton, MA.
Sage commented, “With today’s growing interest in genealogy, a conference like this provides excitement and information to many individuals looking to explore their roots. For those of Jewish ancestry, it also offers tips for their unique challenges and research in tracing their ancestors and an opportunity to interact with a group of individuals from similar backgrounds.
Local host for the conference is the Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland.
Among features of the annual conference are:
More than 200 programs, lectures, panel discussions and workshops, focusing on genealogy methodology, available archival resources, and the history of all Jewish communities
Presentations aimed at all Jewish genealogists, from first-timers to conference veterans
A vendor Exhibit Hall and Resource Room with genealogy experts, mentors, and archivists for a one-stop research experience at the conference site
Networking via popular Special Interest Group (SIG) and Birds of a Feather (BOF) meetings and luncheons
In-depth DNA workshops
The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) is an umbrella organization of more than 85 Jewish genealogical organizations worldwide offering the world of Jewish ancestry where you live. The IAJGS coordinates and organizes activities such as the annual IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy and provides a unified voice as the spokesperson on behalf of its members. The IAJGS’s vision is of a worldwide network of Jewish genealogical research organizations and partners working together as one coherent, effective, and respected community – enabling people to succeed in researching Jewish ancestry and heritage. Find the IAJGS at www.iajgs.org and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.iajgs.org
Posted in 2019, 5779, August, Events, July, May, Ram's Horn
FIFTH ANNUAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL IN BOZEMAN
From www.bozemanmagazine.com
Posted in 5779, Events, Iyar, June, May, Ram's Horn, Uncategorized
A MIXED MARRIAGE: ALIVE AND WELL IN THE GREAT FALLS JEWISH COMMUNITY, BY JOY BRESLAUER
I was born three months premature in the early 1950’s and weighed a pound and twelve ounces. I wasn’t expected to live, and it was considered a miracle that I did. I was put in an incubator for 76 days in an environment of pure oxygen to save my life. Doctors were just beginning to find out that too much oxygen could damage eyesight. That is why I am blind. Family legend has it that when my dad saw the hospital bills, he said, “Oh, Joy!” Hence, my name.
Family legend also has it that I was very verbal at a young age, and my dad used to tell me that I talked like a fish. My family and I were in church one Sunday morning, and I knew it was getting near the end of the service when the pastor said, “Let us pray.” My two-year-old voice rang out in the quiet of the church: “You talk like a fish.” My dad was laughing so hard he had to leave.
One day in the lunch line at Great Falls High, my best friend asked me if I was a Christian. “Of course I am, isn’t everybody?” I naively replied. That was when I began to realize that no, not everybody was a Christian. I wondered why there are so many belief systems out there from which to choose, what distinguishes one from another, and what would motivate a person to choose one over the other without belonging to the flavor of the month club.
As I attended college and became an adult, I began to ask questions. The leaders in the church I attended told me that I asked too many questions, and that I should always remember that God is God and I am not, that His ways and thoughts are higher than mine, and I shouldn’t question them because I probably wouldn’t understand the answers anyway, and He is under no obligation to explain himself to me, a mere mortal, in a way that my finite mind could understand. Being a child of the sixties, this didn’t make much sense to me, so I embarked on a spiritual quest which included the study of comparative religion. I eventually made my way back to Christianity, but in the process I learned about many other religions and ways of thinking and living out one’s faith. Among the things I learned was that one can be born Jewish, but one cannot be born Christian.
I also learned that intelligent people can be tripped up by charismatic leaders with tragic results. Jonestown was a case in point. Jonestown hit me especially hard, and motivated me to study the Scriptures more intently and purposefully, thinking that the more familiar I became with real money, the easier I would be able to spot the counterfeit.
Several years later I was given the surprise gift of a Braille Bible by the church I was then attending. I dove into it with all fours and didn’t come up for air for almost a year, during which I read and reread the whole thing from cover to cover many times, something I still enjoy. But I digress.
After college, I got a job in my home town, got my own place, and started living my own life. I thought I had the world by the tail. Not very many blind people I knew were working at all, let alone full time, starting out at $2.17 an hour when the minimum wage was $1.65. I eventually worked my way up to over $11.00 an hour. Not bad for a woman in Great Falls, Montana, at the time, and virtually unheard of for a woman with a disability. I loved my job, and I worked to live. I laughed all the way to the bank.
I eventually married someone I had known since kindergarten, who was also blind. (It took him seventeen years to convince me.) Within two years we bought our first house together and got our first dog from the pound a week later. We had two children, a girl and a boy, within the next five years. We moved our happy little family to Billings with our jobs, but our marriage fell apart shortly thereafter. He said later that the grass on the other side of the fence may have looked greener, but it still had to be mowed. I became a single working mom for about ten years. I eventually moved back to Great Falls at the end of 1998 with a new husband and two grown kids. Well, one was grown and married, and one was a teenager living with us who was almost grown. as anyone who has ever raised a teenager knows, the mid to late teen years are some of the most difficult for kids and parents alike. It tested us all, but we all survived relatively unscathed, although some of that took decades to come to fruition. God has thankfully restored the years the locusts have eaten.
And then there is the matter of this new husband. He is also blind. He and I met at a mutual friend’s house at a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. He had just received a new guide dog, Sanders, with whom I formed an immediate bond. I didn’t have a guide dog at the time, and had never met one up close and personal. I didn’t pay much attention to the dog owner. All I knew about him was that he was a professor, he had lived in a big house on a hill with his first wife, from whom he was now divorced, he had no kids, and he was Jewish.
I had never had a male friend who was not a boyfriend, and I had never been able to stay friends with an ex-boyfriend or ex-husband, so I was pleasantly surprised that we became friends, and not just friends, but really good friends, without being friends with benefits or having any other ulterior motives. On our first real date, we went out to dinner and to a symphony concert. We discussed over dinner the fact that each of our previous marriages had ended in divorce, and that if we were ever to be blessed with a second chance, what we would want in a new relationship, never dreaming for a moment that we each were talking to our future spouse. We talked about the fact that neither one of us could abide shallow meaningless relationships. We talked about religion and a lot of other things. I began to appreciate his intelligence, his wry but often hidden sense of humor, the way he treated a lady like a lady, and the fact that he seemed to really listen to what I had to say and value my opinions, and to genuinely care about what I thought and how I felt. One of my quests in life became how to make him laugh. Although I thought he had so much going for him, there were two problems: He was blind and he was Jewish. I had already been a leading lady in that blind-husband-failed-marriage movie, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that again. I eventually had to sit myself down and say self, how would you like it if someone rejected you for that very same reason and no other? How fair would that be? I decided that it wouldn’t be very fair at all, so I let that part go and enjoyed his company and let the chips fall where they may.
Then there was the Jewish part. By this time our relationship was taking off like a rocket, which was unusual for me, since I don’t trust easily and I like to take things more slowly. I wasn’t even looking for a relationship or a marriage partner. Turns out he was. When I first went to synagogue with him, the student rabbi wondered who this girl-of-the-week was, and how long she would last. She outlasted them all. She decided to hang on for dear life and enjoy the ride. And what an enjoyable ride it has been.
When things got more serious, I learned that the student rabbi wouldn’t have married us even if she could have, because it would have meant uniting a Jew and a non-Jew in a sacred covenant with God. She said that she had seen lots of other mixed marriages, where either the battle for dominance of one religion over the other would eventually tear the husband and wife and perhaps both extended families apart, especially if children were involved, or the husband and wife would both become nonreligious. I struggled with that, too. I knew that Christians are encouraged to marry other Christians. I knew we wouldn’t have to fight over which religion we would raise our kids in, but what other unforeseen problems might we face. The student rabbi did suggest some passages and rituals to include in our blended marriage ceremony, which took place at the church I was attending at the time. Sanders was the ring bearer. the Jewish community had a special oneg just for us. A couple of brave souls from the local Jewish community attended our church wedding, which I learned later is against the law for them. Long after we were married, I heard a rabbi remark in passing that he would much rather marry a gay or lesbian couple than a Jew and a non-Jew.
Some other interesting things I have learned are that you don’t have to believe in God to be Jewish, that there is a difference between a cultural or secular Jew and a religious Jew, that there are several different sects of Jews, just as there are several different sects of Christians. Some are more liberal and some more conservative than others. Some have more modern music and some don’t have any at all, just like some Christians. Some have big debates about what Scriptural language means, or what English translation, if any, can be trusted, or the true meaning of Hebrew words, just like some Christians do. There always seem to be continuing debates in both religions concerning what is truth and what is myth, and whether you can tell the difference, or how, or whether it matters. Some will not work or play on their designated day of rest. Some include women as their religious leaders and some do not. Some abstain from certain things during certain times of the month or the year. Some have dietary restrictions. Some have differing concepts of the sacred and the profane. Some Christian denominations do not sanction drinking, dancing, or the wearing of jewelry. Some require certain kinds of dress or head coverings at services, or in their daily lives. Some Christian denominations, especially in the South, insist that women wear dresses or skirts, never pants, and that they wear long hair and even wear hats to church as a head covering. Some influence the ways men and women interact with each other. Some strive to be all-inclusive or gender-neutral, and some do not. Some have been portrayed in the media as either comics or buffoons. Some have ben the subjects of vicious or false propaganda. Some have suffered unspeakable horrors and persecution at the hands of others, not just because of their faith, but because of their race. Some Jews do not get along with each other, just as is true with some Christians. There are some Jews and Christians who don’t seem to get along with each other or anybody else, targets of other groups for reasons which may be as similar as gang or turf warfare in certain neighborhoods or toward other minority groups, or as different as the hatred, animosity, and contempt harbored in an individual’s heart. Jews struggle in the United States with such subjects as assimilation, or how or whether to remain as Jewish as they want to be, without being targeted. So do some Christians. Both Jews and Christians grapple with what they believe, and how much of it to believe or practice in order to become or remain in the faith they have chosen, or the faith into which they were born or reborn. I think each group also laments their waning influence on the society around them, and wonders how to raise up the next generation in the faith of their ancestors which their elders still hold dear. The younger generations may think that the older beliefs are now hopelessly antiquated, archaic, and out of touch, with no relevance to today’s society whatsoever, with its modern problems and ways of thinking. Both groups debate what is in the Book, how it got there, who wrote it, whether it can be trusted, what it means or should mean to us individually and collectively today, and why this particular book is different from any other book.
One of the most profound and life-changing ideas I have encountered about belonging to or relating to any group is from a book called “The Vanishing American Jew” by Alan M. Dershowitz, C.1997. Although it may seem a bit out of touch now given the recent resurgence of antisemitism in our society, one of the strongest take-aways from the book for me is not to let your enemies define you. That idea has impacted my life as a Christian, as a wife, mother, and grandmother, as a person with a disability, and as someone who cares deeply and passionately about the Jewish people in general and one Jewish person in particular.
So while each of us as individuals and groups ponders the meaning and purpose of life and where we belong as we journey together, who is in charge and makes the rules, what happens if we keep or break them, how to leave this world better than we found it, and what, if anything, happens afterwards, here we both are, over twenty years later, fellow travelers on that same road, a divided yet united household, still happy together and head over heels in love with each other and with God. We believe that the Biblical imperatives we share in this life are to love God above all else, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to treat everyone else as we would like to be treatede. We have two days of rest at our house. We read from two different translations of Scriptures. Bruce’s Scriptures have the letters OT on the cover, which he says means the Only Testament. We agree to disagree on some things, like Coke or Pepsi, but we always treat each other and each other’s religion with respect. I love learning about other cultures and foods and music and ways of thinking. One of the things I love most about the Jews I have met is how joyfully — and sometimes with profound and overwhelming sadness — they celebrate many of their traditions, and how they pass them on to their children. It breaks my heart to see the Great Falls Jewish community disintegrate, as have many Christian communities, for some of the same reasons. I hope our household of faith will continue to grow ever stronger with God as the common denominator, the firm foundation on which it is built, a foundation that will not be shaken. L-Chaim!
NOTE: This song was sung at our wedding.
Posted in 5779, Iyar, May, Ram's Horn
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The Role of Acupuncture in in vitro Fertilization: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
February 15, 2017 /in Meta analyses and reviews, Research /by Acupuncture Pregnancy Clinic
Shen C et al, 2015 Gynecol Obstet Invest 79:1-12
Gynecological and Obstetric Investigations
A review of 21 Randomized Controlled trials (that included nearly 5,500 patients) concluded that while acupuncture administered to IVF patients only at the time of embryo transfer did not confer any significant advantage, acupuncture administered during the IVF cycle stimulation phase and/or during implantation phase in addition to treatment at the time of transfer showed significant improvement in pregnancy rates.
Background/Aims: In recent years, acupuncture has become more and more popular in the management of subfertility. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of acupuncture during in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment on the outcomes of clinical pregnancy in published randomized studies. Methods: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources used were MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Knowledge and the Chinese Biomedical Database. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the acupuncture group and no acupuncture (intervention) controls around the time of embryo transfer (ET; risk ratio, RR, 1.24, 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.02-1.50) or in unblinded trials, trials blinded to physicians and double-blind trials (95% CI 1.26-1.88, 0.82-1.33 and 0.89-1.25, respectively). This was also the case when comparing acupuncture with sham acupuncture controls around the time of ET (RR, 1.03, 95% CI 0.87-1.22) or when restricting to unblinded trials, trials blinded to physicians and double-blind trials (95% CI 0.80-2.02, 0.82-1.18 and 0.77-1.17, respectively). There was a statistically significant difference when performed at 30 min after ET and implantation phase (RR 1.76, 95% CI 1.22-2.55). There was also a statistically significant difference when performed at follicle phase and 25 min before and after ET (RR 1.56, 95% CI 1.04-2.33). Conclusion: Our study showed that acupuncture did not significantly improve the IVF clinical pregnancy rate when performed only at the time of ET, while we found pooled benefit of acupuncture for IVF when performed at follicle phase and 25 min before and after ET, as well as implantation phase.
Tags: IVF acupuncture
Therapeutic effect of acupuncture on the outcomes of in vitro fertilization: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Controlling the Recurrence of Pelvic Endometriosis after A Conservative Operation:... Therapeutic effect of acupuncture on the outcomes of in vitro fertilization:...
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Story: Waikato region
Story summary
Landscape and climate
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Page 14. Sport and tourism
Gallagher Great Race
Waka ama race
Mooloo kids (1st of 4)
Balloons over Waikato
A sporting region, Waikato has produced champions such as Don and Ian Clarke (rugby), Elsie Wilkie (bowls), Daniel Vettori (cricket), Mark Todd (equestrian sports), Linda Jones (horse racing), Lorraine Moller (distance running), Tawera Nikau (rugby league) and Rob Waddell (rowing).
Horse racing was one of the first sports enjoyed by both Māori and Pākehā. There was a racecourse at the Māori village of Rangiaowhia in the 1840s and 1850s and Māori organised races on remote Ruapuke Beach in the 1870s. After militia townships emerged, racing, hunt and later trotting clubs were formed. The Alexandra Racing Club at Pirongia, established in 1866, is one of New Zealand’s oldest, and its annual Boxing Day races are a Waikato institution. The Waikato Racing Club has its course at Te Rapa, Hamilton, and there are also regular racing and trotting events at Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Matamata and Te Aroha. Other equestrian events, such as polo, are popular.
Waikato’s rivers and lakes provide opportunities for a range of aquatic sports. There were rowing and sailing events on Lake Rotoroa (also known as Hamilton Lake) from the 19th century, and in the later 20th century there were power-boat races on the Waikato River. Boating events took place on Raglan Harbour (Whāingaroa) in the early 1900s. An annual river regatta has been held at Ngāruawāhia since the 1890s. With its mix of sports, including waka events and Māori cultural activities, it draws large crowds.
From the late 1940s Lake Karapiro, a hydro lake on the Waikato River, became an international rowing and canoeing venue. The world rowing championships were held there in 1978 and 2010. Since 2002 the Gallagher Great Race, an annual rowing contest between the University of Waikato and a team from Cambridge, Harvard or another overseas university, has been held on a stretch of the Waikato River through Hamilton.
Mooloo
The symbol of Waikato rugby, Mooloo, was the creation of local radio station 1XH. In 1951 announcer Alan Burcher introduced the lowing of an anonymous cow into the breakfast session. In a children’s competition, she was named Mooloo, and soon the provincial rugby team made her its mascot. Her effigy was paraded through the streets before games, and her bellow greeted every try scored on the home ground.
Waikato rugby began in 1874 when the ‘Hamilton Bounders’ played a team of surveyors called ‘Cussen’s Elephants’. In the 1920s the Waikato Rugby Football Union, centred on Rugby Park in Hamilton, grew in strength, rising to glory in the 1950s. Under a new coach, the team began winning most of their games. In 1951 they first won the Ranfurly Shield (the provincial rugby trophy). Support from around the region was wildly enthusiastic: the Mooloo mascot was paraded down Victoria Street before each match and cowbells were rung by supporters. Waikato’s finest moment came when it won the first match with the touring South African side at Rugby Park in 1956. The cheering could be heard across the city.
Rugby Park was replaced by the Waikato Stadium in 2002. Used for a range of sporting events, it is still the home of Waikato rugby, including Super 14 rugby team the Chiefs.
Rugby league was introduced to Waikato in the early 20th century and soon caught on with Huntly miners and in nearby Māori communities. It has a large following. North of Hamilton, there are three main clubs: Taniwharau, Ngāruawāhia and Tūrangawaewae.
Car and motorcycle clubs were formed from the 1920s, and Waikato roads provided ample scope for rallies. Drag-car racing took place at Meremere from 1973, and in the early 2000s the Maramarua Forest, with its steep logging tracks, proved ideal for trail-bike riding. In 2008 the Hamilton 400 event for V8 supercars began. Central Hamilton streets were closed off as a track for races over several days. However, after controversy over the funding of the event, it was shifted to Auckland from 2013. In 2009 Hampton Downs, a motor-racing venue, opened north of Te Kauwhata. The biennial New Zealand round of the World Rally Championship has often included several heart-stopping stages in the Raglan area.
Outdoor sports grew in popularity after the Second World War. Raglan’s left-hand breaks and The Reef at Port Waikato attracted surfers. Rock climbing started at Wharepapa. The annual Balloons over Waikato festival drew visitors to the region. Kayaking, canoeing and jet-boating tours began on the Waikato River. Once seen as a place you passed through to get to other holiday spots, by the 2000s Waikato had become a destination for adventure tourism.
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How to cite this page:
Nancy Swarbrick, 'Waikato region - Sport and tourism', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/waikato-region/page-14 (accessed 19 July 2019)
Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 31 May 2010, updated 9 Jul 2015
Bell, Elizabeth Viola, 1897-1990
Clarke, Ian James, 1931-1997
Pretty, David, 1878-1947
Wilkie, Elsie Hamer, 1922-1995
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Chuck Baker
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Man Stabbed to Death After Complaining Newspaper Delivery Was Late
GuySpeed Editors
Wavebreak Media, iStock
In a crime that absolutely doesn't fit the times in which we live, a man in Germany died after he got into a fight with his newspaper delivery man.
The background: the 51-year-old customer often engaged in some verbal sparring with the delivery man, 42, because the paper didn't show up at his home when he wanted it (yet another reason to get your news online). The two got into an argument again this past weekend and the delivery man apparently had had enough because he whipped out a knife and stabbed the man.
A relative of the victim saw what happened and called authorities, who arrested the delivery man. The customer, meanwhile, was rushed to the hospital where he died.
It's a horrible story and the suspect is clearly in for a load of trouble, but it doesn't sound like he was the next Bill Gates or anything. He's a 42-year-old delivering newspapers. He's a grown man working in a business for 12-year-olds that peaked in 1995.
It's not exactly the most socially respectable occupation. Heck, there was even a sitcom about it. Remember Get a Life?
Source: Man Stabbed to Death After Complaining Newspaper Delivery Was Late
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Cross Canadian Ragweed Tribute Announced for MusicFest 2020
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‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Exceeds Expectations with $50 Million Opening Weekend
Debra Filcman
Following years of drama behind the scenes, the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody far exceeded expectations by earning $50 million on opening weekend. Experts had projected it would "only" grab $35-40 million.
That earns it the No. 2 spot all-time for music biopic opening weekends, coming in behind only 2015's Straight Outta Compton, which took in $60.2 million. To boot, the much talked about country music drama, A Star Is Born — which features music written by stars Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, as well as Jason Isbell and Lukas Nelson — opened with $42 million.
Bohemian Rhapsody has to date grossed another $91 million in other markets, for a $141 worldwide total. This is all despite reviews that have been mixed, at best. Though critics have nearly universally praised Rami Malek for his portrayal of frontman Freddie Mercury, the film was panned in many mainstream publications.
Comparing the film to the song from which it gets its name, the New York Times' A.O. Scott notes that the beloved song clocked in at a what was considered a very lengthy six-minutes on its release in 1975.
"Bohemian Rhapsody, the movie about Queen, lasts more than two hours, not a very long time by modern feature standards, even though it feels interminable," he writes. "A baroque blend of gibberish, mysticism and melodrama, the film seems engineered to be as unmemorable as possible, with the exception of the prosthetic teeth worn by the lead actor, Rami Malek, who plays Freddie Mercury, Queen’s lead singer. Those choppers may give you nightmares. And some of you who venture into the theater will surely be inspired to exclaim 'Mama mia, let me go!'"
The Hollywood Reporter bottom lines it, saying "The full-blast music says it all; the drama's too often on mute."
However, on review sites like Rotten Tomatoes, fans are telling a different story. 95 percent of viewers have liked Bohemian Rhapsody so far, giving it an average score of 4.6 out 5. Overall, their message was to ignore the critics.
Several of them suggested critics may be taking the film too seriously. "I think the reviewers are getting this one wrong. Was it a cinematic masterpiece? No. Did it stretch some truth here and there? Maybe, I really don't know or care," Peter20%B wrote in his Rotten Tomatoes review. "All I do know is that it was super fun and entertaining and made me love Queen even more. And that performance by the lead actor is jaw-dropping. He truly became Freddie down to every little mannerism or stage move. Truly amazing."
While some viewers criticized the film for not offering greater insight into Mercury and his life, others were just happy to see his work celebrated. "Critics truly get caught up in wanting the movie to take a bold stance on Freddie's life when the truth his he kept it a mystery," Sean M. wrote. "The movie was respectful of what was fact without speculating too much into the unknown."
Freddie Mercury, Year by Year
Next: The Best Song From Every Queen Album
Source: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Exceeds Expectations with $50 Million Opening Weekend
Filed Under: freddie Mercury, Queen
Filter Issue Dub Pistols Remix of 'The Best Things'
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18:52 18.07.2019 Medvedchuk spoke with Putin about peace plan he presented at European Parliament
Croatian scenario for Ukraine: Reality or special services' operation?
Author : Mykyta Sinitsyn
How the Ukrainian authorities would regain control over Donbas?
Read original article at 112.ua
Nowadays the possibility of implementing the so-called "Croatian scenario" for Ukraine in the matter of returning Donbas is being discussed in the Ukrainian information space, quite often with engagement of various experts.
In short, its essence consisted of several periods:
1) the defeat and retreat of the Croatian Armed Forces;
2) the process of internal restructuring of Croatia and preparations for the resumption of war with local and generally successful battles on the front line;
3) a successful attack, Operation "Storm", when, without any warning for 4 days, Croatia returned the territories lost earlier;
4) the peaceful reintegration of the returned territories into the Croatian state.
The similarity of the first two stages with the situation in Donbas is obvious, perhaps this caused similar analogies, but, compared with Croatia, the situation in Ukraine is still seriously different. This difference consists in the involvement in the conflict of one of the largest and strongest states on the planet - the Russian Federation, which is certainly superior in strength to Ukraine and supports separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics".
However, this circumstance is taken into account in the statements of experts and has its reservations - that the power return of temporarily uncontrolled territories of Donbas is possible only with the guarantees of Russia's non-interference in this process.
Indeed, as the events of recent months have shown, the "armed forces" of the self-proclaimed "people's republics" have problems with personnel and its training, supply, and, most importantly, morale, without which the advantage in the rest of the indicators means essentially nothing.
During the battles of recent months, the Armed Forces have achieved successes and victories, even local ones, in the form of a couple of protected settlements or several kilometers of empty land, but they have confirmed the advantage of the regular units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces before the "contractual" formations of the "armed forces" of the self-proclaimed republics.
Related: Peaceful war: How Poroshenko and Turchynov plan to return Donbas
However, a similar situation occurred in June-July 2014, when a successful offensive of Ukrainian army led it to the Russian-Ukrainian border, but the suddenly blowing "north wind" of August radically changed the entire alignment of forces. That is why non-intervention by the Russian Federation is critically important.
The possible future implementation of the "Croatian scenario" is closely related to the forthcoming presidential elections in Ukraine in 2019, the task of winning which the present guarantor of the Constitution, Petro Poroshenko, clearly faces.
The chances of winning elections based on the social and economic situation in the country, frankly speaking, are insignificant, only a loud victory can change the situation. And judging by the activation of the discussion of the forcible Donbas return, many people see the loud victory precisely in the return of seized territories.
Proceeding from the absence of LNR and DNR official recognition, the Russian Federation has no plans to integrate part of Donbas into its composition, which means that this territory may be returned under control Ukraine. In this direction, the intentions of Ukraine and Russia coincide, the only difference is their vision of ways to return the region.
We can return it in two ways:
1) military;
2) diplomatic.
The military return of Donbas, which can be implemented in 2018, will have to become a springboard for the second presidential term for Petro Poroshenko in the 2019 elections. But then there comes a contradiction - the forcible return of Donbas and the triumph of Poroshenko unambiguously mean the defeat of Vladimir Putin, which unlikely will lead to some serious upheavals within the Russian Federation, but will definitely bring him problems.
True, there may be an option that has also been exaggerated for a long time - the "exchange" of Donbas for Crimea, but this option is extremely problematic. The fact of such an exchange, fixed officially in any treaty, will devalue the return of Donbas and may prevent Petro Poroshenko from becoming president again, and the winner of this agreement can also challenge it in the future.
Some behind-the-scenes arrangements, not officially fixed, are also problematic for two reasons:
1) distrust of both sides to each other, which is confirmed by permanent non-compliance with the Minsk agreements;
2) the possibility of changing the public opinion of the Ukrainian society after the forceful return of Donbas and the demand for the same return of Crimea, which, given the inequality of the forces of the countries, is impossible. As well as it’s doubtful to admit that the "triumph" in Donbas has become possible, because Russia just allowed it. However, in extreme cases, the president of Ukraine will simply have to wasting time in this issue until the end of his term, fighting off the attacks of political opponents who want to play the "Crimean" card after 2019.
Related: Poroshenko invites French senators to Donbas
However, the Ukrainian leadership is clearly counting on the fact that it is possible for Russia to make concessions on Donbas issue under the pressure of external circumstances, for example, strengthening sanctions for the Russian economy, which will prompt them in exchange for their total or partial abolition to abandon Donbas support.
It is also possible that the Russian Federation would be further involved in Middle East policy, which, given the clearly increased interest from the United States towards this region, will lead to their further rivalry. There are two possible options:
1) The Russian Federation will transfer priority to the Middle East policy and, having decided to concentrate resources in this direction, will abandon Donbas;
2) Russia, on the contrary, will leave Syria and Middle East politics and, thus, will be able to concentrate on the Donbas, which, of course, is not in the interests of Ukraine.
The diplomatic return of Donbas is based on the Russian plan of giving guarantees for Russian-speaking residents of this territory and the special status of the region, the main thing in which should be the possibility of imposing a veto in one way or another on a possible decision on Ukraine's accession to NATO.
Of course, such an option will be viewed by public opinion as Putin's victory and Poroshenko's defeat, which also unambiguously closes the path of Ukrainian president to the second presidential term and therefore does not suit the top leadership of Ukraine.
Finally, there is another option. Periodical talks about the "Croatian scenario" for Ukraine in the matter of solving the Donbas problem are tactical operations of the Ukrainian special services designed to increase mistrust and nervousness, and even to grow panic in the ranks of the leadership of the self-proclaimed "people's republics" and the personnel of the "armed forces" of the latter.
By the way, it is not so difficult to do this, the growth of distrust to the Russian Federation is facilitated not only by the non-inclusion of part of Donbas to Russia, or at least by the absence of official recognition of LNR and DNR, but also by the facts of disregard for the population of seemingly "brotherly" republics.
One of the most striking examples of this – is the story of the former pro-rector of the Donetsk National University, named in the media as "mother of Donetsk's federalism" Tatyana Marmazova, who by court order should leave the Tula region of Russia so that she was forced in a video message to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to grant her citizenship. All this is because in Ukraine she’ll be convicted, and in the self-proclaimed DNR, perhaps, she will face something even worse.
Related: Kremlin is ready for any format of negotiations between Putin and Trump
Related: Russian intelligence agency plans assault on Fatherland office in Kyiv
Related: Russian law enforcers detain ‘DNR’ militant in occupied Crimea
ATO Ukraine Donbas Russia forces armed
Donbas Conflict: Militants violate ceasefire regime six times 17 July 2019, 23:57
One Ukrainian soldier dies in Donbas war 16 July 2019, 08:04
Five attacks at Ukrainian positions in Donbas since beginning of the day, - Defense Ministry 14 July 2019, 19:33
Donbas war: Two Ukrainian servicemen wounded 15 July 2019, 23:53
POLITICS17:00Belarus: Springboard or casus belli for Russian aggression against Ukraine?
UKRAINE TOP 14:45Zelenskiy's second act: Ukraine leader set to win snap parliamentary election
UKRAINE TOP 12:09Why getting 2% at Ukraine's snap parliamentary elections is favourable for small parties
UKRAINE TOP 10:00What does Zelensky's plan to purge Ukraine's officials mean?
POLITICS22:47Why FTA with Israel is not benefitial for Ukraine?
UKRAINE TOP 13:42Five years after MH17 tragedy in Donbas
UKRAINE TOP 10:16Ukraine's 2014-2019 Parliament: Total recall before snap elections
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POLITICS21:27Victory in the war and high-tech economy: Election agenda of Holos party
UKRAINE TOP 13:44Far-right Sternenko: Who is organizer of the rally against 112 Ukraine TV channel
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2007 Report on International Religious Freedom
International Religious Freedom Report 2007
There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during the period covered by this report, and government policy continued to contribute to the generally free practice of religion.
There were some reports of vandalism of Jewish graves and monuments, displays of neo-Nazi sentiment, and anti-Semitic comments. Several media outlets published items expressing intolerance towards religious or ethnic groups. The political leadership usually criticized such statements and anti-Semitic acts when they occurred.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights and tolerance and in discussions on the country's strategy for addressing its Holocaust legacy. The U.S. Embassy promoted religious freedom and tolerance through various media and public speaking events and actively denounced the few acts of religious and ethnic intolerance.
The country has an area of 25,174 square miles and a population of 3.38 million. Roman Catholicism remains dominant and influential. According to the 2001 census, approximately 79 percent (2,686,000) of the population considers itself Roman Catholic. As of April 2007 there were 685 registered Roman Catholic communities and associations (such as parishes, schools, and monasteries). The Eastern Orthodox Church, the second largest religious group, has approximately 140,000 members, with 52 communities located mainly along the border with Belarus.
Old Believers, Russian Orthodox practitioners who practice older rites, number 27,000 and have 62 registered communities. An estimated 20,000 Lutherans belong to 59 communities, primarily in the southwest. The Evangelical Reformed community has approximately 7,000 members in 17 communities. The 7 Sunni Muslim communities count approximately 2,700 members, while the Greek Catholic community has an estimated 300. The Jewish community numbers approximately 4,000. The majority of local Jews are secular, and only an estimated 1,200 belong to one of seven Jewish communities.
The Karaites have been in the country since 1397. Karaites speak a Turkic-based language and use the Hebrew alphabet. Some consider Karaites to be a branch of Judaism; their religion is based exclusively on the Old Testament. The Government recognizes the Karaites as a distinct ethnic group. Two houses of worship, one in Vilnius and one in nearby Trakai, serve the Karaite religious community of approximately 250 members. The Karaites' only religious leader is also their community president.
Some 0.23 percent of the population belong to what the Government refers to as "nontraditional" religious communities. The most numerous of these are the Full Gospel Word of Faith Movement, Pentecostals/Charismatics, Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and the New Apostolic Church. A total of 1,061 "traditional" and 179 "nontraditional" religious associations, centers, and communities have officially registered with the State Register of Legal Entities.
An estimated 9.4 percent of the population does not identify with any religious group.
Foreign missionary groups are active in the country.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Article 26 of the Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. The Government at all levels sought to protect this right in full and did not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or private actors. The Constitution provides that a person's freedom to profess and propagate his or her religion or faith "may be subject only to those limitations prescribed by law and only when such restrictions are necessary to protect the safety of society, public order, a person's health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others."
The Criminal Code contains three provisions to protect religious freedom. The code prohibits discrimination based on religion and provides for punishment of up to 2 years' imprisonment. Interference with religious ceremonies is also punishable with imprisonment or community service. Inciting religious hatred is punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years and legal entities can be prosecuted for violations under this article.
It is unlawful to make use of the religious teachings of churches and other religious organizations, their religious activities, and their houses of prayer for purposes that contradict the Constitution or the law. The Government may also temporarily restrict freedom of expression of religious conviction during a period of martial law or a state of emergency. The Government has never invoked these laws.
There is no state religion. However, under the 1995 Law on Religious Communities and Associations, some religious groups enjoy benefits not available to others, including government funding, the right to teach religion in public schools, and the right to register marriages. The Law on Religious Communities and Associations enables all registered religious groups to own property for prayer houses, homes, and other uses, and permits construction of facilities necessary for their activities.
The law divides registered religious communities into state-recognized "traditional" religious communities, other state-recognized religious groups, and all other registered communities and associations. The Constitution recognizes "traditional" churches and religious organizations, as well as other churches and religious organizations, provided that they have a basis in society and their teaching and rituals do not contravene morality or the law.
Government authorities acknowledge as traditional only those religious groups that can trace their presence in the country back at least 300 years. The law enumerates nine traditional religious communities: Latin Rite Catholics (Roman Catholics), Greek Rite Catholics, Evangelical Lutherans, Evangelical Reformed Churchgoers, Orthodox Christians (Moscow Patriarchate), Old Believers, Jews, Sunni Muslims, and Karaites.
"Traditional" religious communities and associations may register marriages, establish subsidiary institutions, establish joint private/public schools, provide religious instruction in public schools, and be eligible to receive government assistance. Their highest religious leaders are eligible to apply for diplomatic passports, their clergy and theological students are exempt from military service, and they may provide military chaplains. The Ministry of Justice does not require traditional religious communities and associations to register their bylaws. Traditional religious communities do not have to pay social and health insurance for clergy and other employees, and they are not subject to a value added tax on basic utilities.
The law stipulates that the Government may grant state recognition to "nontraditional" religious communities that have societal support and have been registered in the country for at least 25 years. Nontraditional religious communities must apply to the Ministry of Justice and provide a description of their religious teachings and a founding statement signed by no fewer than 15 members who are adult citizens. The Ministry must review the documents within 6 months and make a recommendation to Parliament for final approval.
In practice state-recognized nontraditional religions receive some privileges from the Government, but not to the extent that traditional religious groups do. The Baptists were the only state-recognized "nontraditional" religion. They are entitled to perform marriages and do not have to pay social security and health care taxes for clergy and other employees. However, the Baptists do not receive the annual subsidies, tax exemptions, or exemptions from military service granted to "traditional" communities.
The Ministry of Justice's Religious Affairs Department is responsible for processing initial registration applications, but the State Register of Legal Entities, under the national Registry Center, manages the database of registered religious communities. Religious communities can file applications at local registration centers throughout the country. Registration centers forward new applications to the Religious Affairs Department and process renewal registrations locally. New communities affiliated with traditional religious groups register for free, while nontraditional communities pay a registration fee of $41 (105 litas).
Religious communities must register to obtain official status, which is a prerequisite for opening a bank account, owning property, or acting in a legal or official capacity as a community. Unregistered communities have no legal status or state privileges. However, there were no reports that the Government prevented any such groups from worshiping or seeking new members.
While only traditional religious communities receive annual state subsidies, nontraditional groups are eligible for government support for their cultural and social projects.
Following the restoration of the country's independence, the Government began returning religious communities' property confiscated by Nazi and Soviet occupiers. The law grants all religious communities equal opportunity to reacquire property once used for religious services and other activities. The Government successfully resolved a number of claims for restitution, mostly in the early and mid-1990s. Some claims were pending at the end of the reporting period.
No single government agency handles all religious issues. A department in the Ministry of Justice adjudicates religious groups' requests for registration. The Prime Minister's advisor for Cultural and Jewish Affairs follows relevant issues within the Jewish community.
The Office of the Equal Opportunities (OEO) Ombudsperson is authorized to adjudicate complaints about state institutions, educational institutions, employment, and product and service sellers and producers that discriminate on the basis of religion (previously, the Office heard complaints on gender-discrimination issues only).
The Parliament Ombudsperson examines whether state authorities properly perform their duty to serve the people. The law on the Parliament Ombudsperson specifically notes religious beliefs in defining the functions of the office. Both Ombudspersons has the authority to investigate complaints, recommend changes to parliamentary committees and ministries regarding legal acts, and recommend cases to the Prosecutor General's Office for pretrial investigation if warranted.
While there is some overlap between the two bodies, the OEO Ombudsperson appears to have greater authority to hear complaints of individual acts of religious discrimination.
The Jounalist Ethics Inspectorate has the authority to investigate complaints under article 20 of the Law on Provision of Information to the Public, which bars publishing material that "instigates war, national, racial, religious, social and gender hatred." It has the authority to levy administrative fines on newspapers under administrative law or refer cases to law enforcement authorities for criminal prosecution.
In 2000 the Government and the Holy See agreed to allow the Catholic Church to provide religious support to Roman Catholic members of the military through chaplains. In 2002 the Ministry of Defense and the Catholic Church signed a regulation on chaplains' activities. During the reporting period, there were 16 Roman Catholic chaplains providing services to the military. Other traditional churches and religious groups provide similar support. The chaplaincy may ask the Ministry of Defense to provide religious services for other religious groups based on need or requests from service members. The Ministry of Defense provides material support and places of worship.
Conscientious objectors may petition for alternative military service within military structures, but there is no option for alternative nonmilitary service, despite requests by members of Jehovah's Witnesses. Persons enrolled in alternative military service receive noncombat assignments but must follow military regulations and reside on military installations.
Religious holidays include St. Mary's Celebration (January 1), Easter Monday, Assumption Day (August 15), All Saints' Day (November 1), and Christmas.
The Constitution establishes public educational institutions as secular. The Law on Education permits and funds public school religious instruction only in "traditional" and state-recognized religious beliefs. In practice parents can choose either religious instruction or secular ethics classes for their children. Schools decide which of the traditional religious groups will be represented in their curriculums on the basis of requests from parents for children up to age 14 (after age 14, the pupil decides). During the reporting period, the Ministry of Education and Science received no complaints about any school not providing requested religious instruction.
The number of wholly private religious schools is relatively low. There were approximately 25 schools with ties to Catholic and Jewish groups, although students of different religious groups often attended these schools. All accredited private schools (religious and nonreligious) receive funding from the Ministry of Education and Science through a voucher system based on the number of pupils; private Roman Catholic schools receive additional funds from the government to cover operational costs. This system covers program but not capital costs of school operation. Founders generally bear responsibility for covering capital outlays; however, the Ministry provides funding for capital costs of traditional religious private schools where an international agreement to do so exists.
In 2007 public schools provided religious education to 272,912 Roman Catholics, 3,804 Russian Orthodox, 762 Evangelical Lutherans, 343 Greek Catholics, 225 Jewish students, 115 Evangelical Reformed Lutherans, 15 Old Believers, and 6 Muslims. A total of 222,233 students studied ethics.
An interministerial commission coordinates investigations of religious groups. It seeks to ensure that activities of religious groups are in line with the principles of a democratic society, human rights, and fundamental freedoms. The Minister of Justice appoints the chairperson of the commission, which also comprises representatives of the Ministries of Justice, Interior, Education, Health, Foreign Affairs, the General Prosecutor's Office, and the State Security Department. The Government established the commission following some parliamentarians' calls for increased control of "sects."
In 2006 the commission concluded that so-called magical services (for example, as offered by psychics and astrologers) were properly regulated by law, and no new regulations were necessary.
In 2006 the commission decided to examine the issue of cemetery vandalism, which occurs regularly--usually between 7 and 10 cases per year. It is unclear if these cases are motivated by religious hatred. By the end of the reporting period, the commission had not met formally to discuss the issue.
While registered "nontraditional" religious communities can act as legal entities, they do not receive regular subsidies, tax exemptions, social benefits, or exemptions from military service enjoyed by traditional communities. In April 2006 the Government allocated $1,310,000 (3,279,000 litas) to traditional religious communities for capital costs associated with houses of worship, schools, and other facilities. No other religious communities received this type of support, but funds from municipal or other government sources may be available for their use. By the end of the reporting period, the Government had allocated $3,000 (7,579 litas) of funding to communities for 2007, with additional funding likely to come later.
The state additionally funds social security and health care contributions for spiritual leaders of traditional and state-recognized religious communities. Other religious communities must pay for these benefits on behalf of their spiritual leaders.
For the fifth consecutive year, Parliament deferred granting "state-recognized religion" status to the United Methodist Church of Lithuania.
At the end of the reporting period, the applications of the Seventh-day Adventists and the Pentecostals to become state-recognized religions remained pending. In 2006 the Ministry of Justice recommended to Parliament that the application of the Seventh-day Adventists to become a state-recognized religion be approved. The Parliament's Human Rights Committee supported the Ministry's recommendation and suggested including this question on Parliament's agenda. The Pentecostals (Evangelical Belief Christian Union) applied in 2004; their request awaited parliamentary consideration.
During the period covered by this report, the OEO Ombudsperson received seven complaints related to religious discrimination; only one was found to have merit. In July 2006 the OEO concluded that non-Catholic or nonreligious students were subjected to indirect discrimination after a student's father alleged that a question on the 2006 national high school graduation English language exam favored Roman Catholics. The question asked students to describe All Saints' Day and Christmas Eve and what these days meant to them. The OEO recommended that the National Examination Center (NEC) avoid topics related to the ethnic or religious identity of students. The NEC admitted that the questions about the Catholic holidays could have been misinterpreted by some students. However, the NEC stated that every student--regardless of religion--taking the exam should be at least partially familiar with the state's main holidays, traditions, and culture, and be able to express their relation to them. The NEC added that grading of the examination was based on the ability to express thoughts in a foreign language, not on knowledge of facts.
The Parliament Ombudsperson received one complaint that the administrator of one municipality exceeded her authority and violated the rights of a religious community in a nursing home. The Ombudsperson determined that the complaint was groundless.
At the end of the reporting period, the Government continued to negotiate with local and international Jewish groups about property restitution and no amendment had been introduced. In early 2002 the Government established a commission on communal property restitution. The commission's task was to identify communal property eligible for restitution and to propose amendments to the law to enable the secular Jewish community to benefit from the restitution process. The Government had promised to propose an amendment in the Parliament several times, including during the spring 2007 session.
There were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees in the country.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious conversion, including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.
On September 6, 2006, 18 tombstones in a Vilnius Jewish cemetery were vandalized. On June 22, 2006, vandals tore down 22 monuments at the same cemetery. The President, Prime Minister, and Vilnius mayor criticized the desecrations and urged local law enforcement to find and punish the perpetrators. In both cases the Vilnius municipality restored the monuments with city funds. A pretrial investigation was launched, but no suspects were identified by the end of the reporting period.
In April 2006 the Fortas bar in Kaunas drew condemnation from politicians and television commentators when it marked Hitler's birthday by decorating the bar with Nazi paraphernalia, and its staff dressed as Hitler and SS officials. The bar's director called the event a "masquerade, a carnival, and a funny show." In September 2006 a patron at the same bar dressed as Hitler greeted other customers at the door. Jewish leaders asked the Government to state clearly that Nazi symbols and figures should have no place in the country. Several politicians, including Members of Parliament (MPs) and a deputy mayor of Kaunas, made public statements condemning the incident and the bar for its role in it. The owner of the bar sent a letter of apology to the local Jewish community, stating that the management and staff did not tolerate anti-Semitism.
An August 2005 "bulletin" stamped with the Lithuanian Liberty Union (LLU) party's seal urged persons not to trust a local bank because "Jewish Latvians" allegedly established it. The bank sued the LLU, alleging instigation of hatred toward Jews, and the State Security Department (SSD) conducted an investigation. In 2006 the SSD determined that there was insufficient evidence to support charges of ethnic hatred against Jews.
In May 2005 four to six motorcyclists wearing Nazi-style uniforms rode past the Jewish community headquarters in Vilnius, yelling Nazi epithets. The mayor asked the police to investigate. The Vilnius prosecutor's office initiated an investigation but had not charged anyone with a crime by the end of the reporting period.
In April 2005 a Siauliai City Council member founded a nationalist party with anti-Semitic policies, including stopping the Jewish communal property restitution process. In June 2005 several politicians and government officials denounced the politician's statements, and the SSD recommended bringing charges. In November 2005 a Siauliai city court found the council member guilty of incitement of ethnic and racial hatred, and fined him $1,937 (5,000 litas). Several of his supporters received lesser fines.
Beginning in 2005 international Jewish groups expressed concern about the construction of a commercial/residential complex on or near the grounds of a historically significant Jewish cemetery in Vilnius. The Russian Czar closed the cemetery in 1831 and constructed fortifications on part of the land. The Soviets subsequently destroyed visible vestiges of the cemetery, disturbing graves and constructing a sports complex on the site. On December 20, 2006, the Prime Minister established a working group, headed by the Vice Minister of Culture, to establish the boundaries of the cemetery. Despite the ongoing investigation by the working group, on February 15, 2007, the city government issued construction permits for a commercial/residential complex on or near the site, based in part on the recommendation of the Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture.
Following a temporary halt to construction ordered by the Prime Minister in reaction to international pressure, construction resumed. In March 2007 at the request of the Government, the Lithuanian History Institute conducted a study of historical documents and concluded that the construction was within the historical boundaries of the cemetery. In May 2007 a group of 10 Lithuanian and international experts who were invited by the Government to examine the issue unanimously called for a halt to construction and a thorough study of the site. By the end of the reporting period, the Government had not halted the construction or conducted further study.
In February 2004 the popular national daily Respublika carried a series of editorials with anti-Semitic overtones under the title "Who Rules the World?" Government officials at the highest levels, local nongovernmental organizations, and other religious groups condemned the series, but the Jewish community and others criticized the Government for responding too slowly. The Prosecutor General's Office and the SSD launched investigations into incitement of ethnic and racial hatred by Respublika's editor-in-chief. In April 2004 Parliament formed a working group to strengthen legislation prohibiting incitement of discord, anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia. In January 2005 the Journalist Ethics Inspectorate fined Respublika $2,350 (6,000 litas) for ethical lapses. In May 2005 a Vilnius administrative court fined the editor-in-chief of the Russian-language version of Respublika $390 (1,000 litas) for dissemination of a publication that instigates national, racial, or religious discord. Prosecutors also pursued the editor and owner of Respublika, but in September 2005 the Supreme Administrative Court terminated the case against the editor and cancelled the fine of $1,180 (3,000 litas). The court annulled the ruling based on a "double-jeopardy" principle, since prosecutors were simultaneously pursuing both administrative and criminal punishment for violation of the same law. In November 2006 the Prosecutor General's Office petitioned the Supreme Administrative Court to reconsider; the court refused.
Anti-Semitic comments were written on unscreened Internet blogs and in unscreened Internet news portals' comments sections.
During the reporting period, the commission on the Holocaust and Soviet crimes published three books, organized seminars for 70 teachers, organized a Holocaust remembrance day on September 23, and celebrated International Tolerance Day at the Parliament on November 15, 2006. An estimated 10 percent of the pre-World War II population was Jewish. More than 200,000 Jews (95 percent of the immediate prewar Jewish population) died in the Holocaust. The country was still working to better understand its past and to make just recompense for its Holocaust involvement. In 1998 President Valdas Adamkus established the commission to investigate crimes of the Holocaust and Soviet occupation. The commission has held annual conferences and several seminars, published several reports, and cosponsored a Holocaust education program
Improvements and Positive Developments in Respect for Religious Freedom
During the period covered by the report, the State Register of Legal Entities registered seven traditional religious communities. The state did not deny registration to any religious group which applied.
The Government continued to engage in efforts to foster religious tolerance and understanding. In December 2006 the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee joined a statement of the European Union that condemned the Holocaust denial associated with a conference in Tehran.
In September 2006 the President awarded the Life Saving Cross to 59 persons who had worked to save Jews during the Holocaust. The President commended their selflessness and recognized the substantial number of people who perished during the Holocaust. Forty-one of the awardees received the award posthumously.
In early 2002 the Government established a commission on communal property restitution. The commission's task was to identify communal property eligible for restitution and to propose amendments to the law, enabling the secular Jewish community to benefit from the restitution process. At the end of the reporting period, the Government continued to negotiate with Lithuanian and international Jewish groups about property restitution; no amendment was introduced in the spring 2007 Parliamentary session.
Section III. Societal Abuses and Discrimination
Members of religious minorities occasionally were targets of acts of intolerance, such as insults.
In December 2006 a complaint was filed with the Equal Opportunity Ombudsperson that alleged the television channel MTV Lithuania's program Popetown "defamed and debased" the Catholic religion. Also in December the Lithuanian Bishops' Council tried to stop the broadcast of the program through a legal suit but failed. The Journalist Ethics Inspectorate and the Lithuanian Journalists and Publishers Ethics Commission issued statements condemning the broadcast of the program. In March 2007 the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission fined the director of MTV Lithuania $1,180 (3,000 litas) for broadcasting Popetown. The official condemnations, however, did not fault MTV Lithuania for religious hatred but for broadcasting the program too early in the evening when children could watch.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. The U.S. Embassy maintained a close and regular dialogue on religious issues with senior officials in the Government, MPs, and presidential advisors, as well as with religious leaders and concerned nongovernmental groups. Religious groups used the Embassy as a vehicle to voice their complaints, and the Embassy encouraged religious leaders to share their views and concerns on the status of religious freedom.
In March 2007 the Ambassador delivered a speech at an antidiscrimination conference cosponsored by the OEO Ombudsman and the Ministry of Social Security and Labor. The audience included MPs, government officials, civil society leaders, members of the diplomatic community, and media representatives. Joining a panel that included a government minister, an MP, and the Ombudsperson of Equal Opportunities, the Ambassador spoke out in defense of tolerance and strong antidiscrimination legislation as vital protectors of the country's democratic society.
The Embassy actively discussed the restitution of Jewish communal property with government officials and community leaders. The Embassy also maintained regular contact with U.S.-based missionary groups. The Embassy worked with local and international Jewish groups to encourage the Government to research the historical boundaries of the Jewish cemetery in the Snipiskes area of Vilnius and to protect it as a cultural heritage site. The Ambassador publicly criticized anti-Semitic statements in the media and encouraged a similar response from the highest officials of the Government. The Embassy spoke with government officials and the local Jewish community about the 2006 incidents of vandalism of a Jewish cemetery. The Embassy supported the efforts of the Jewish Museum in Vilnius to teach local youth about the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, and tolerance in schools across the country, with a particular emphasis on rural communities.
In a leading daily newspaper, the Embassy addressed the importance of ensuring a diversity of cultural treasures and guarding against discrimination in the preservation of cultural heritage--especially where a national, religious, or ethnic group is unable to ensure adequate preservation on its own.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, children, and persons with developmental disabilities subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Bosnian women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking within the country in private residences, motels, and gas stations. Roma boys and girls are subjected to forced labor, including forced begging and forced marriage by local organized criminal groups. In some cases of forced marriage, girls as young as 12-years-old have been subjected to domestic servitude and had their passports withheld. In past years, victims from Serbia, Bulgaria, Germany, Kosovo, and Ukraine were subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor within the country. Bosnian victims are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor in Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Spain, Italy, and other countries in Europe.
The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government allocated funding for anti-trafficking activities in the national budget. Both the Brcko district and the Republika Srpska amended their anti-trafficking laws. Despite these measures, the government did not show progress in convicting trafficking offenders or identifying and protecting trafficking victims; therefore, Bosnia and Herzegovina is placed on Tier 2 Watch List. The government has not yet amended all sub-national laws to criminalize all forms of trafficking consistent with national and international law. It significantly decreased its identification of victims, representing a lack of vigorousness regarding investigations, victim identification, and prosecutions by relevant agencies. Law enforcement and judiciary agencies failed to prioritize forced labor and forced begging as criminal activities.
Recommendations for Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Vigorously investigate sex and labor trafficking and hold trafficking offenders accountable through prosecutions and appropriate sentences; increase victim identification; harmonize all sub-national laws to explicitly criminalize all forms of trafficking consistent with the state law and the 2000 UN TIP Protocol; increase assistance and protection for all victims of trafficking, regardless of their cooperation with law enforcement or outcome of prosecutions; increase efforts to provide training to officials on identification of victims of labor trafficking; train all front-line officers on the identification of victims, including law enforcement, social welfare officers, child centers, medical staff, and labor inspectors; include labor inspectors in the national referral mechanism with a goal of increasing identification of male victims and labor trafficking victims; ensure that child victims are afforded adequate care during the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases, including protection from threats and a coherent, unified system of victim care throughout trial; enhance transparency regarding victim protection, including by better integrating Roma groups into decision-making processes; make stronger efforts to prevent trafficking by reducing the demand for commercial sex acts and the use of the services of trafficking victims; and provide a reflection and recovery period for all victims of trafficking.
The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina improved anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts over the last year by increasing prosecutions and convictions throughout the state; although one of the entities and the Brcko District harmonized their laws with national and international law in 2013, law enforcement and judiciary agencies failed to prioritize forced labor and forced begging as criminal activities, and accountability for traffickers remained weak. Bosnia and Herzegovina prohibits sex trafficking and forced labor through Article 186 of the criminal code, which prescribes penalties of three to 10 years’ imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. In 2013, the state prosecutor’s office initiated investigations into alleged crimes committed by six sex trafficking suspects, compared with eight in 2012; investigations involving 28 suspects remained pending from previous reporting periods. The state prosecutor’s office initiated prosecutions against five alleged trafficking offenders, including one for forced labor, compared to at least one prosecution in 2012. The national government convicted two trafficking offenders during the reporting period, compared to one conviction in 2012, and sentenced each offender to four years’ imprisonment for sex trafficking.
Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two entities within the state, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. Each entity has political, legislative, and judicial authority. The Brcko District is a self-governing unit under the jurisdiction of the state. Because the Federation’s amendments were rejected, the government has yet to fully harmonize sub-national laws with the state anti-trafficking law and the 2000 UN TIP Protocol to explicitly criminalize all forms of trafficking. The harmonization addresses an important jurisdictional objective, as only cases with an international aspect can be prosecuted at the state level. The entity-level authorities address domestic offenses. In the absence of such trafficking-specific statutes, some trafficking offenders were prosecuted under an old Enticement to Prostitution statute, Article 210 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s criminal code. During the reporting period, Republika Srpska authorities revised Article 198a of their criminal code to bring it into compliance with the definition of trafficking under international law. During the reporting period, Article 207 Enticement to Prostitution of the criminal code of the Brcko District was amended to include Article 207(a), which criminalizes trafficking and prescribes a minimum of five years’ and maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment. Cantonal (local) prosecutors’ offices within the Federation investigated 14 alleged trafficking offenders and initiated prosecutions for eight persons, compared with three in 2012. During the reporting period, Federation courts convicted five trafficking offenders, greater than the number of convictions in 2012. Two traffickers were sentenced to imprisonment and three received suspended sentences. Courts sentenced the two offenders to 1.5 years’ imprisonment. Courts in the Republika Srpska investigated one alleged offender and initiated prosecution for one person; courts convicted one offender under Article 198, compared with two in 2012. The Brcko District investigated three persons and initiated prosecutions for two alleged offenders. One offender was convicted under Article 207 and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for forced labor.
Training for government officials focused on recognition, investigation, and prosecution of trafficking. Corruption remained a problem, and police reportedly accepted bribes in exchange for information concerning upcoming raids. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of public officials for alleged complicity in trafficking-related offenses during this reporting period.
The government’s efforts to protect victims of trafficking decreased during the reporting period as victim identifications dropped to the lowest level ever, reflecting the lack of vigorous investigation, identification, and prosecution by relevant agencies. The national referral mechanism did not incorporate labor inspectors, hampering efforts to identify and assist victims of forced labor. The government identified 16 victims of trafficking in 2013, a steep decrease from 39 victims in 2012. Of the identified victims, 13 were subjected to forced labor and three were victims of sex trafficking. Nine of the 16 identified victims were children, five were adult females, and two were adult males. Government experts noted the number of identified victims was significantly lower than the estimated incidence of trafficking. During the reporting period, seven NGOs received small grants from the government to meet basic needs of victims of trafficking. NGOs reported a lack of transparency in the allocation of government funds, particularly with regard to Roma victims. The government referred six victims of trafficking to shelters; the child victims were accommodated with their families; and some victims declined assistance. Foreign victims were permitted to permanently leave the shelter after obtaining approval; domestic minor victims were permitted to leave after obtaining the consent of a guardian; and domestic adult victims were permitted to leave the shelter at any time. The victims were not permitted to leave the shelter without a chaperone.
The government offered domestic and foreign victims of trafficking reintegration services and access to psychological assistance, medical care, vocational training, legal counseling, and aid, provided they reside in recognized or authorized shelters. Assistance to victims was provided by social welfare centers throughout the country; victims of trafficking who were no longer in shelters were not offered these rehabilitation or reintegration services or given access to the labor market. Six victims of trafficking received assistance. The government rarely referred foreign victims to legal service providers, despite agreements with an NGO to do so. Experts expressed concerns about interview techniques used with child trafficking victims, noting a victim was interviewed in front of her suspected exploiter. Foreign victims of trafficking are eligible for a humanitarian visa for a legal, temporary stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prior to requesting such a visa, victims are permitted a 30-day period to determine whether they want to request a visa. The government allows victims of trafficking who hold a humanitarian visa to work legally in the country and to count time spent under such a visa towards permanent residency; there is no special visa for trafficking victims. In practice, temporary residency permits were granted only to victims whose cases were prosecuted. One victim of trafficking requested and received a residence permit during the reporting period; the two victims who received residence permits in 2012 were subsequently repatriated. Observers reported that, once prosecutors determined a victim’s testimony was not needed, or when they closed a case due to lack of evidence, the government often initiated deportation procedures against victims of trafficking without providing them adequate assistance or arranging for their safe repatriation. NGOs reported the state prosecutor improperly required proof of recruitment as part of a child trafficking case in order to charge the case as trafficking. Experts documented problems with the continuity of victim care; after indictment, victim-witness support from law enforcement and prosecutors ended, and the court took over any support. This lack of continuity discouraged victims’ participation and was confusing, as victims did not receive timely updates on the status of their case. Furthermore, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) documented that child victims were intimidated during trials and that authorities did not use available legal protections to shield them from threats. There were no reports of victims being detained or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed as a result of their being trafficked. Only Brcko District contains a provision exempting trafficking victims from prosecution for unlawful acts.
The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina made moderate efforts to prevent trafficking during the reporting period. In 2013, the government co-organized several activities and public awareness campaigns on the prevention of human trafficking and trafficking of forced labor, especially forced begging and domestic servitude. The government allocated the equivalent of approximately $7,000 for activities associated with the 2013 European anti-trafficking day, which included a panel discussion with high school students on trafficking prevention. In cooperation with an NGO, the State Coordinator expanded existing anti-trafficking monitoring teams, which coordinated the implementation of the national action plan and incorporated mental health professionals into the team. The monitoring team produced guidelines to mental health centers on working with victims of trafficking. The government adopted a new national action plan for 2013-2015. The government allocated the equivalent of approximately $133,000 to implement the national strategy and action plan in 2014, compared with $100,000 in 2013. The government, in cooperation with the OSCE, maintained a training program for peacekeepers on identifying and reporting human trafficking. The government undertook some modest public prevention campaigns targeting the demand for commercial sex acts, although the GRETA report concluded these efforts were weak.
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Hope For Change
August 4, 2011 in Montana
I cast my first presidential vote for Ross Perot in 1996. I was 18. But I didn’t know what any of the candidates actually stood for. Bill Clinton once played the saxophone on Arsenio Hall. Bod Dole was old. I think I voted for Perot because I liked how he was depicted by Dana Carvey on SNL.
I voted for Al Gore in 2000 and still believe the election was stolen. I voted in 2004 for Kerry, because that was the only viable, reasonable option I was presented with. I voted proudly for Jon Tester in 2006, hoping a congressional comeback for Democrats would mean finally addressing the insane wars launched recklessly (with 9-11 as the perfect pretext) by a lawless president who had thieved and lied his way into office.
And I voted for Barack H. Obama in 2008.
Fast forward through half-measures, endless concessions, outright reversals, and provocative escalations, and what we are left with is unrecognizable from the campaign rhetoric of just a few years ago.
Here is what Felice Pace wonders about the American people’s capacity to take this shit:
The Democratic Party and the Republican Party have become instruments of Global Capital. That is the inevitable consequence when corporate “speech” is unfettered, information is controlled by global corporations and elections can be bought and sold. US progressives are demoralized and fractious; we have no unifying analysis and no unified program. Progressive Democrats can’t even manage a “Dump Obama” movement.
All over the world regular folks are rebelling. From England and Greece to Egypt and the Middle East – even in Israel – workers, middle class folks and the poor have taken to the streets and are demanding changes which would have the effect of limiting the economic and political dominance of Global Capital.
It is too early to tell whether the popular revolts popping up around the globe will lead to real change. The opponent – Global Capital – is well organized and powerful. The popular movements for change, on the other hand, are new, fragile and linkages among them are rudimentary or non-existent. Unlike Global Capital, organized labor remains primarily national; labor lacks strong, unified and international programs to challenge capital’s global dominance.
Will the emerging revolts be sustained? Will they link across borders? And how will everyday Americans react? Will working, poor and middle class Americans continue to absorb raids on their wealth and welfare? Can they continue to be persuaded to vote against their own interest? Will they continue to vote for the candidates Wall Street chooses?
How much abuse will the American People take before we rise up?
A hyperbolic conclusion? Read the whole article. And read The Shock Doctrine if you haven’t already.
In another Counterpunching shot, this:
Despite being elected on the premise of hope and change, 2 years in power have shown that Obama is more than happy to fulfill the role of a mere guardian of the status quo. Contrary to the expectations of certain sectors, the Obama administration stayed on the course set by the Bush administration in key issues on foreign and economic policy. The difference between the two governments has been then more a matter of style than substance.
The lack of concrete actions to address the social crisis that originated in the economic and financial collapse of 2008, have eroded the liberal base which initially supported the Obama administration. To date, 14.4 million families have lost their homes since the beginning of the crisis and about 25 million people are in a situation of unemployment or precarious employment. The policies implemented so far, have been designed to support and ensure the survival of financial institutions responsible for the economic crisis instead of addressing the urgent needs of a large segment of the U.S. population.
PUBLIC bailouts for wall street high finance junkies, and pain for everyone else. Obama 2012. No challenger?
I hope that changes.
Judge Molloy “Would Hold” Senator Tester’s Wolf Rider Unconstitutional, Maps Appeal to SCOTUS if Needed
August 4, 2011 in Congress, Environment, Jon Tester, SCOTUS
(Note: starting after this article’s note, I will no longer be linking to Lee Enterprises online newspaper articles, as they have instituted a paywall that prevents readers here from accessing those articles unless they have paid the subscription fee. Beings as I have not, and will not pay the fee, I will be linking to information from alternative sources).
“… A tearing away, an undermining, and a disrespect for the fundamental idea of the rule of law.”
“… A talisman that ipso facto sweeps aside Separation of Powers concerns.”
“Policy changes of questionable political viability, such as occurred here, can be forced using insider tactics without debate by attaching riders…”
— Federal District Court Judge Don Molloy
In a stunning decision with a scathing commentary, Federal District Court Judge Don Molloy declared that Senator Jon Tester’s wolf rider supporting delisting of wolves in Montana and Idaho, in his opinion, is unconstitutional. He also found that a 9th Circuit Court precedent prevented him from ruling against the rider, and was forced to let Tester’s controversial rider stand.
Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center For Biological Diversity, one of the groups that challenged the rider, was quoted in the Lewiston Tribune article:
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “He is not only intimating the wolf rider is unconstitutional and the 9th Circuit is wrong but he is laying out a road map on how to appeal his own ruling and take it all the way to the Supreme Court. He does everything but buy us a bus ticket to Washington, D.C.”
Judge Molloy expounds on the role that the doctrine of Separation of Powers played in his decisions, and is must reading for any who would critique the power of Congress. And his analysis sets the framework for the inevitable appeal to the 9th Circuit.
I’ve had much to say here and elsewhere about Senator Tester’s use of riders to pass policy and this court case, so I needn’t go there again. You can read the Judge’s Final Order for yourself to get a sense of how upset he was that he was constrained from upholding the plaintiff’s case against the constitutionality of Tester’s rider process.
Here are some pertinent statements from the Judge about Senator Tester’s wolf rider:
“This case presents difficult questions for me. The way in which Congress acted in trying to achieve a debatable policy change by attaching a rider to the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011 is a tearing away, an undermining, and a disrespect for the fundamental idea of the rule of law. The principle behind the rule of law is to provide a mechanism and process to guide and constrain the government’s exercise of power. Political decisions derive their legitimacy from the proper function of the political process within the constraints of limited government, guided by a constitutional structure that acknowledges the importance of the doctrine of Separation of Powers. That legitimacy is enhanced by a meaningful, predictable, and transparent process.
In this case Defendants argue—unpersuasively—that Congress balanced the conflicting public interests and policies to resolve a difficult issue. I do not see what Congress did in the same light. Inserting environmental policy changes into appropriations bills may be politically expedient, but it transgresses the process envisioned by the Constitution by avoiding the very debate on issues of political importance said to provide legitimacy. Policy changes of questionable political viability, such as occurred here, can be forced using insider tactics without debate by attaching riders to legislation that must be passed.“
You can read more excerpts from the Judge’s Order below the fold:
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Donald Trump says it's 'great' to have an openly gay presidential candidate
Pete Buttigieg revealed last month he will be running for presidency in 2020
Words: Steve Brown
Donald Trump said it’s ‘great’ to have an openly gay presidential candidate.
For the 2020 presidential campaign, openly gay Democrat Pete Buttigieg is set to run for presidency and has publicly spoken out against Vice-President Mike Pence due to his anti-gay beliefs.
Pete Buttigieg (right) wed his husband Chasten Glezman in June 2018
But now, President Donald Trump said he has ‘no problem’ with an openly gay man running for presidency – despite going against himself.
Speaking to Fox News, Trump said: “I think it’s absolutely fine, I do.
“I think it’s great. I think it’s something that perhaps some people may have a problem with.
“I have no problem, whatsoever, I think it’s good.”
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Edgar Allan Poe: London’s claim on Baltimore’s greatest poet
By Harry Lee Poe · June 25, 2015 · 1 Comment
Stoke Newington – Old Rectory (Public Domain)
During Edgar Allan Poe’s bicentennial in 2009, a great debate raged between partisans in Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore over which city had the strongest claim on Poe. Though Poe was born in Boston and died in Baltimore, London also has a strong claim to him. The last week of June 2015 marks the 200th anniversary of Poe’s voyage to Britain where he lived as a boy for five years in and around London, the city of his mother’s birth.
Poe traveled with his foster parents John and Frances Allan from whom he eventually took his middle name. John Allan, a dour old Scot, had lived in Richmond for 20 years when he returned to Britain in an effort to re-establish his import business following the War of 1812. Landing in Liverpool in late July 1815, the little family first visited Allan’s relatives in Irvine and Kilmarnock, Scotland before travelling on to Edinburgh before arriving in London in early October.
Robert Burns had lived in Irvine just a few years before young Poe’s arrival, and the lore of Burns was still ripe amongst the locals. In Edinburgh, Sir Walter Scott was the toast of the town. Eventually, Poe settled for his last two years in England at the Rev’d. John Bransby’s Manor School in the village of Stoke Newington, now deep in the heart of London, where William Cowper, the poet and hymnist, had lived and only died a few years earlier.
England and Scotland provided a rich seed bed in which young Poe’s imagination could flourish and grow. In London, the Allans lived first at no. 47 and then at no. 39 Southampton Row, Russell Square in Bloomsbury. Before attending Bransby’s school,
House in Stoke Newington (Public Domain)
Poe boarded for three years at the school of the Misses Dubourg in Chelsea. John and/or Frances Allan took a number of trips around England while living in London, including visits to the Isle of Wight for the sea air, Cheltenham for the waters, Dawlish and Sidmouth in Devon to visit friends, Brighton, Manchester, the great territory between London and Scotland which they crossed several times to visit John Allan’s family, and the final trip from London to Liverpool on the way back to Richmond. The Allans left ten year old Poe in Irvine to spend the entire summer of 1819 with relatives.
Few figures in public life have taken on such a massive mythology as Edgar Allan Poe after his death, but he must bear the full blame because he had the poor judgment to die before his most bitter literary enemy. Rufus Griswold (a name for which Dickens would have given his right arm) created the myth of Edgar Allan Poe through his notorious obituary of Poe, and then through his memoir of Poe which appeared in most editions of Poe’s works for decades.
Taking its que from Griswold, The Leisure Hour of London published a vicious attack on Poe in 1854 that included a sarcastic condemnation of Poe for failing to give so much as an allusion to England in any of his writings. Though Poe rarely gave a geographical location for any of his seventy-five stories, he actually set at least ten of them in England. England’s closest rival was Charleston with three stories. Beyond actual settings for stories, however, his time in England influenced Poe’s literary imagination in a variety of ways.
His years in England and Scotland provided a wealth of resources upon which Poe would draw for the rest of his life. His education in French, Latin, mathematics, and literature gave him an educational background that allowed him to excel in his later studies and which established a pattern of inquiry that enriched his writing. From Bransby he acquired a love for botany that appears in “The Landscape Garden” and “The Domain of Arnheim.”
Bransby also loved field sports which gave Poe the background to write a series of columns on field sports for Burton’s Magazine when he was its editor. Beyond his educational experience, however, young Poe had the opportunity of wandering the streets of the greatest city in the world. He drew upon the routine of being ushered about London by the Dubourg sisters when he wrote The Man of the Crowd, his experiment with investigation the year before he created the first detective story in 1841. In that first detective story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Pauline Dubourg makes a guest appearance.
Poe attended school in London. (chichesterliterarysocietty)
Beyond the everyday experience of London, however, Poe could lose himself in the fabulous collection of the British Museum just around the corner from the Allan house in Russell Square, a collection augmented in 1816 by the addition of the Elgin Marbles which would stoke Poe’s classical imagination. The recently acquired Rosetta Stone may have sparked Poe’s lifelong interest in cryptography which played the central role in The Gold-Bug. The collection of mummies may have been the origin of his comic tale A Few Words with a Mummy.
He drew upon his time at the Manor School in creating William Wilson in which the school played a major role. Poe used the Allans’ address at 39 Southampton Row, Russell Square in his comic Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling. He also set his satire Peter Snook in London. He set his grotesque King Pest the First in London during the plague. His science fiction tale The Balloon Hoax begins in Britain and ends in Charleston following a trans-Atlantic airship flight. His brief piece Cabs compares the London cab with what New York had to offer. For The Fall of the House of Usher and Ligeia, Poe drew on the countryside and the great houses in various states of decay to lay his scene.
My personal favorite London setting comes in the romantic comedy A Succession of Sundays (aka, Three Sundays in a Week). Besides being one of his funniest stories (one-third of all Poe’s stories were humorous), it also illustrates his fascination with science and his respect for the intelligence of woman.
He did not stop at making the point that those who circumnavigate the globe one way will lose a day, while those who travel in the opposite direction gain a day. He went farther to state that time is relative in a universe without any privileged space. He would pursue this idea until he laid out many of the basic concepts of relativity theory in Eureka which he published in 1848, the year before he died.
The telescope that Poe bought in London sits in a Baltimore museum. (Public Domain)
It was also in London that Mr. Allan bought Edgar a magnificent brass telescope with which to view the stars. The telescope now forms part of the collection of the Poe House in Baltimore. For Poe, however, it was the beginning of an adventure that ended in Eureka in which he also laid out the basic principles of an expanding universe that we now call the Big Bang Theory.
For the romantically minded, however, we can only speculate that in the course of his five years in London, young Poe would have visited the Tower of London where so many people lost their heads, and where the little princes were entombed within the walls. Here he would have seen the ravens that have their feathers clipped so that they may never fly away.
It is fitting that the English championed Poe and defended him against Griswold’s slanders. John Ingram wrote his own biography of Poe and issued a four volume set of Poe’s works in 1875. The Library of the British Museum also discovered the first known copy of Poe’s first book of poetry, Tamerlane. In 1909, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle held a great banquet in London to celebrate the centennial of the birth of Poe who had created the kind of story that earned Doyle a fortune and provided a literary form at which the English continue to excel and without which America would not have prime time television.
Read more essays on Edgar Allan Poe:
Edgar Allan Poe’s way of thinking science with Eureka
Edgar Allan Poe and Isolationism: His mysterious years in New York
See Special Reports on Edgar Allan Poe.
Harry Lee Poe serves as Charles Colson Professor of Faith and Culture at Union University in Jackson, TN. He recently completed two five year terms as president of the Poe Museum in Richmond, VA. In 2009 he was awarded an Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America for his book Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to his Tell-Tale Stories. (Poe is the cousin of my great-great-grandfather William Poe. They carried on a correspondence over many years and my ancestor financed their boarding house in New York in 1837.) Contact the author.
Black Women and Political Activism in America
The "She the People Presidential Forum" felt like a seminal moment for women of color in politics. Black women, in
Bones of the Earth: An Inspector Shan Tao Yun Mystery
May 4, 2019 · No comments
The Baltimore Post-Examiner is pleased to present an excerpt of Eliot Pattison's new novel, Bones of the Earth: An Inspector Shan
Edgar Allan Poe: Master of the Universe
April 22, 2019 · No comments
The past year two new books have appeared that both place Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) in the frontline of western
March 23, 2019 · No comments
Raspy cough, white bathrobe, fingers reaching for your ivory coffee mug, red lipstick on the rim, fingers, slender and strong like vice grips, nails stripped of polish, fingers, so many years before pressing
Mill Memorabilia
Feature photo: Members of United Steelworkers Local 2609 at Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point Plant hold a “tailgate” meeting at Penwood
Frankie Paradiso says:
I thouroughly enjoyed reading this well researched article.
← Cars, Cars, Cars – Back to the 50s
Update: Hogan backs Purple Line →
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Intron
Intron Definition
An intron is a long stretch of noncoding DNA found between exons (or coding regions) in a gene. Genes that contain introns are known as discontinuous or split genes as the coding regions are not continuous. Introns are found only in eukaryotic organisms.
Here we see the structure of a pre-mRNA (or hrRNA) and a mature mRNA following mRNA processing (splicing, the addition of a 5′-cap and a poly-A tail).
Intron Discovery
Introns were discovered in 1977 with the introduction of DNA sequencing. While it was known that mature eukaryotic mRNA molecules were shorter than the initial transcripts, it was believed that the transcripts were simply trimmed at the ends. When the two molecule types were sequenced it was revealed that this was not the case; much of the removed transcript came from internal regions rather than the extreme ends. This prompted extensive research into how introns were removed from transcripts, and what their role might be.
Intron Structure
In general, introns are much longer than exons; they can make up as much as 90% of a gene and can be over 10,000 nucleotides long. Introns are prevalent in genes; over 90% of human genes contain introns with an average of nine introns per gene.
An intron is a stretch of DNA that begins and ends with a specific series of nucleotides. These sequences act as the boundary between introns and exons and are known as splice sites. The recognition of the boundary between coding and non-coding DNA is crucial for the creation of functioning genes. In humans and most other vertebrates introns begin with 5′ GUA and end in CAG 3′. There are other conserved sequences found in introns of both vertebrates and invertebrates including a branch point involved in lariat (loop) formation.
Here we see a consensus sequence for a vertebrate intron. The intron begins with GUR and ends in a polypyrimidine tract followed by YAG.
Intron Function
While introns were initially – and to an extent still are – considered “junk DNA”, it has been shown that introns likely play an important role in regulation and gene expression. As introns cause an increase in gene length, this increases the likelihood of crossing over and recombination between sister chromosomes. This increases genetic variation and can result in new gene variants through duplications, deletions, and exon shuffling. Introns also allow for alternative splicing. This allows a single gene to encode multiple proteins as the exons can be assembled in multiple ways.
Splicing
During transcription RNA polymerase copies the entire gene, both introns and exons, into the initial mRNA transcript known as pre-mRNA or heterogeneous nuclear RNA (hrRNA). As introns are not transcribed, they must then be removed before translation can occur. The excision of introns and the connection of exons into a mature mRNA molecule occurs in the nucleus and is known as splicing.
Introns contain a number of sequences that are involved in splicing including spliceosome recognition sites. These sites allow the spliceosome to recognise the boundary between the introns and exons. The sites themselves are recognised by small nucleolar ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs). There are a number of snRNPs involved in mRNA splicing which combined create a spliceosome.
Splicing occurs in three steps:
Cleavage of the phosphodiester bond between the exon and the GU at the 5′ end of the intron. One snRNP (U1) contains a complementary sequence to the 5′ splice site and binds there to initiate splicing.
Formation of a lariat or loop structure. The free 5′ end of the intron connects to a branch site, a conserved sequence near the 3′ end of the intron. A second snRNP (U2) binds to the branch site and attracts U1 to initiate the lariat. The lariat is then formed by a phosphodiester bond between the free 5′ G and an A at the branch site.
Cleavage of the phosphodiester bond between the second exon and the 3′ AG of the intron.
This figure shows the splicing of an intron through formation of a lariat. The intron is then removed leaving the two exons connected.
It is unknown how the snRNPs and the spliceosome identify which recognition sites to bind to given the that the introns can be thousands of base pairs long and there are many cryptic splice sites where the recognition sequences are found elsewhere in the gene. It is believed that certain proteins (for example, SR proteins), enhancers, and silencers are involved. Splicing silencers have also been implicated in human diseases.
Introns and the splicing mechanism also allow for alternative gene products in a process known as alternative splicing. Each discontinuous gene is made up of two or more exons, allowing for multiple ways in which the exons can be assembled. Alternative splicing can result in two to hundreds of different mRNAs. Alternative splicing is common in some species but rare in others; it is found in over 80% of human genes but there are only three known cases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast).
Alternative splicing can occur in a number of ways:
Exon skipping: one (or more) exons are not included in the final mRNA
Intron retention: part of the intron is not properly spliced and remains in the final mRNA
Alternative splice site: the spliceosome removes part of one (or more) exon as well as the intron
Different alternative splicing mechanisms
rRNAs and tRNAs
Introns can also be found in both pre-rRNAs and pre-tRNAs. Introns in rRNAs are rare, with examples so far found only in lower eukaryotes. Unlike introns in other molecules, some rRNA introns have a unique characteristic – they are self-splicing. Self-splicing introns fall into a category known as Group I introns. Rather than relying on an external enzyme to perform the excision the introns themselves act as an enzyme known as a ribozyme. Ribozymes were discovered in the ciliate Tetrahymena in 1982 and revolutionized the way scientists viewed enzymes.
Introns in tRNAs are more common than those in rRNAs but much less prevalent than in mRNAs, particularly in vertebrates (i.e., 6% of human tRNAs). Introns in tRNAs are relatively short, ranging from 14 to 60 base pairs in length. The introns form part of the stem and loop structure of the tRNA, binding to a section of the anticodon arm. Removal of pre-tRNA introns is done by a single endonuclease.
1. Which organisms do not have introns?
A. bacteria
B. fungi
C. protozoa
D. plants
A is correct. Introns are only found in eukaryotic organisms. While the prevalence of introns varies between taxa, they can be found in all eukaryotic phyla.
2. Where does splicing occur?
A. cytosol
B. ribosomes
C. nucleus
D. chloroplasts
C is correct. Splicing, or removal of the introns from a pre-mRNA, occurs in the nucleus. Splicing is a component of mRNA processing along with addition of a 5′ cap and 3′ poly-A tail. Once processed the mature mRNA is transported out of the nucleus for translation.
3. What molecules contain introns?
A. pre-mRNA
B. pre-rRNA
C. pre-tRNA
D is correct. While introns are rare in pre-rRNA, and uncommon in tRNA, they can be found in both these and pre-mRNA molecules. In many organisms introns are common in pre-mRNA, being found in over 90% of human genes and in a similar proportion of other vertebrate genomes.
Brown, T. (2012).Introduction to genetics: a molecular approach Chs. 3, 5, and 6. New York, NY: Garland Science, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. ISBN: 978-0-8153-6509-9.
Wong, J. J.-L., Au, A. Y. M., Ritchie, W., & Rasko, J. E. J. (2015). Intron retention in mRNA: no longer nonsense. Bioessays 38: 41-49.
Start Codon
tRNA
Ribosomal RNA
Frameshift Mutation
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Mesentery
Mesentery Definition
The mesentery is an organ which surrounds the organs of the gut, and suspends them from the abdominal wall. The mesentery is made of mesoderm cells, the middle of the three embryonic layers. This layer ends up surrounding all internal organs, as the peritoneum. In the gut, this layer folds over on itself and provides points of attachment for the other internal organs. The mesentery used to be known as a variety of different tissues related to the mesocolon. However, recent studies have revealed the mesentery to be a single organ, which suspends the internal organs in the abdominal cavity, and allows the various vessels of the body to reach these organs.
Mesentery Anatomy
The mesentery, for many decades, was often not considered an organ because of its thin and convoluted nature. The mesentery surrounds all of the organs in the abdomen. Because it is formed during embryogenesis, the mesentery ends up getting twisted and turned as the gut develops. Therefore, the mesentery is a complex shape which surrounds the organs. The organ consists of sheet of tissue, which surrounds organs and folds back on itself. This can be seen in the image below. The mesentery is red.
Notice how the mesentery surrounds the small intestine. The mesentery is very thin. Not shown in this picture are the many blood and lymph vessels which traverse the mesentery on their way to the intestines. On a microscopic level, the mesentery is similar to other connective tissues. It is comprised of several layers of cells, derived from mesoderm, attached to a matrix of connective fibers. The extracellular matrix of the cells allows for the creation of a very strong cell and fiber network, which can heal itself if damaged. Within this structure, blood and lymph vessels can carry their respective fluids to the intestines.
Function of Mesentery
Recent studies have shown that within these folds of tissue are complex arrays of lymph vessels, blood vessels, and immune cells. This suggests that the mesentery functions as a complex organ which carries nutrients away from the intestines while at the same time protecting from infection. The intestines are busy digesting food. As it travels through the intestine, nutrients are released and get absorbed by the cells of the intestine. These nutrients are transported to the blood, where they can be distributed to the body. The mesentery provides a stable and secure route for these vessels to pass. Without the mesentery, the fragile vessels would be subject to the pulling and stretching the body goes through.
The mesentery also allows lymph vessels to reach the intestines. This is important because nutrients are not the only thing that makes it through the intestines. Often, bacteria and viruses manage to squeeze their way through the intestines. The second line of defense is the immune system. White blood cells can defend the body and create antibodies to target the invaders. However, they must be able to reach the invaders. The mesentery gives the immune system access to this area of the body, even though it is contained within a cavity.
Besides these functions of directing and protecting vessels, the mesentery has an important role in development and support of the gut. During development, the expansions and contractions of the mesentery direct the shape of the gut. The colon, for instance, is pulled into place against the abdominal wall when the mesentery connecting the two shrinks in size. In fact, without the mesentery your organs would fall into a puddle in the bottom of your gut. The complex folds and attachment points hold your organs in place. They will even work when you are hanging upside-down or doing a backflip!
Still further research into the mesentery must be done. It has also been found to be a holder or excess fat, and is riddled with nerves stretching to the intestines and other organs. The mesentery is likely to have other, undiscovered functions which will be uncovered with time. Among these are likely to be immune defenses for the body and roles in development.
Mesentery and Disease
Along those lines, research has begun to show the prominent role the mesentery plays in several diseases. Because it is a line of defense from the digestive system, it is not surprising to find out that it is heavily involved in the defense against food-borne illnesses. More interesting however, is its function in the spread of other diseases, such as cancer.
Some studies coming out in recent years have shown that the mesentery may by an important pathway for metastasizing cancer cells to travel. These cells often travel through the lymph or blood vessels. Because the mesentery is lined so prolifically with them, it can become a central highway for distributing the cells. This may feature prominently in future cancer treatments.
Other diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, are caused by a malfunctioning mesentery. People with Crohn’s disease often have a swollen or hardened mesentery. This makes it difficult for the vessels contained in the mesentery to function properly. People with this condition often have a hard time digesting food, and can have compromised immune systems.
1. Which of the following is NOT part of the mesentery?
A. The peritoneum around the heart
B. The peritoneum around the appendix
C. The peritoneum around the colon
A is correct. The peritoneum around the heart is called the pericardium, and is specialized for that function. The heart is in the thoracic cavity. The mesentery only surrounds organs in the abdominal cavity.
2. Which of the following is NOT a function of the mesentery?
A. Digestion
B. Support
C. Access for vessels
A is correct. The mesentery has no direct function in digestion. It simply hangs the organs in the right configuration and allows vessels to reach the intestines. Digestion is completed by the time the nutrients leave the intestines and enter the bloodstream.
3. A lancelet is a very small fish-like creature. It is one of the smallest organism with a notochord. The lancelet does not have a mesentery. Why could this be?
A. The mesentery is only in complex organisms
B. The mesentery is only needed to distribute nutrients
C. No structural support or access to the intestines are needed in lancelets
C is correct. A lancelet is so small that most things can diffuse right out of the intestine and into the body. Further, the lancelet lives in water, and moves only short distances. The notochord is a rigid structure, much like the backbone, which gives the organism all the support it needs. Its gut is also very linear, negating a need for a mesentery to fold it about.
De luliis, G., & Pulera, D. (2007). The Dissection of Vertebrates. Amsterdam: Academic Press.
Feldhamer, G. A., Drickamer, L. C., Vessey, S. H., Merritt, J. F., & Krajewski, C. (2007). Mammology: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology (3rd ed.). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Widmaier, E. P., Raff, H., & Strang, K. T. (2008). Vander’s Human Physiology: The Mechanisms of Body Function (11th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Lamina Propria
How Does the Circulatory System Maintain Homeostasis
Serous Membrane
Alimentary Canal
Lymph
Pseudocoelomate
Lymphatic System
Cellular Respiration
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←prior
<a href="http://archive.today/BCRzr"> <img style="width:300px;height:200px;background-color:white" src="https://archive.is/BCRzr/9992d5cce9efa25350a7ddff5e38cdce72951b88/scr.png"><br> The View from Hell: Procreation and Responsibility<br> archived 21 Aug 2014 16:54:12 UTC </a>
{{cite web | title = The View from Hell: Procreation and Responsibility | url = http://theviewfromhell.blogspot.de/2008/09/procreation-and-responsibility.html | date = 2014-08-21 | archiveurl = http://archive.today/BCRzr | archivedate = 2014-08-21 }}
The sticking point in most discussions of antinatalism that I've witnessed has been whether it is always a harm to bring a child into existence. Most people admit that it is sometimes a harm to bring a child into existence, at least once they are educated past the identity problem. Not so for so-called "religious conservatives," who generally refuse to engage in public reason at all, and use their supernatural beliefs as a shield against moral responsibility for their actions.
Americans are currently preparing for a presidential election. Revelations about the reproductive life of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin have provoked discussion about procreation and hypocrisy (unfortunately, often at the expense of serious discussion of the real campaign issues).
One of the most morally blameworthy aspects of Palin's situation (though, of course, it is impolite to mention it) is her choice to have unprotected sex at the age of 45, resulting in a pregnancy which, at its outset, carried a 1/30 risk of Down Syndrome (trisomy 21). Palin has consistently been lauded for her "courage" in carrying a child she knew had Down Syndrome to term, rather than aborting; there is little, if any, discussion of her blind selfishness and refusal of responsibility in conceiving that child in the first place, knowing that she would not abort, much less about whether she committed a wrong against her son by not aborting. People of Palin's alleged religious beliefs generally frame children as "gifts from God" - in other words, they assert that people need take no responsibility toward conception or procreation.
I think this is appalling, and I am not alone - the California Court of Appeals agreed with me that a parent should be responsible in tort to a child born with a foreseeable defect (though the California legislature later changed the law to prevent such lawsuits):
One of the fears expressed in the decisional law is that, once it is determined that such infants have rights cognizable at law, nothing would prevent such a plaintiff from bringing suit against its own parents for allowing plaintiff to be born. . . . If a case arose where, despite due care by the medical profession in transmitting the necessary warnings, parents made a conscious choice to proceed with a pregnancy, with full knowledge that a seriously impaired infant would be born, that conscious choice would provide an intervening act of proximate cause to preclude liability insofar as defendants other than the parents were concerned. Under such circumstances, we see no sound public policy which should protect those parents from being answerable for the pain, suffering and misery which they have wrought upon their offspring. Curlender v. Bio-Science Labs, 106 Cal. App. 3d 811, 829 (1980). [Emphasis mine. Citations omitted.]
It is nauseating when religion is used as an excuse to avoid responsibility for processes that are well understood to be under human control.
Labels: antinatalism, procreation, Sarah Palin, wrongful life
Chip September 4, 2008 at 10:06 AM
I agree with you in principle about pre-reproductive responsibility (even extrapolating to all births), but I'm not sure that it is clear that a child with Down Syndrome is likely to lead a more unhappy life than someone with a "normal" chromosomal constitution. I realize that DS tracks with other medical conditions (and shorter lifespans), but is there evidence that DS's subjective well-being is deficient in comparison with what might otherwise have been? Perhaps it is an unjustified stereotype, but the DS people with whom I have had contact certainly seem to have a relatively cheery disposition.
This question seems particularly relevant since it goes to the problem of procreation and selfishness. Barring textbook ethical exceptions, I think having children is always indecently selfish. However, many pronatalists argue that NOT having children is selfish, often on the ostensible merit that voluntary childlessness must deny something to would-be children. But if it turns out that DS children lead cheerier and happier lives, those therapeutic abortion stats need some careful explaining.
Curator September 4, 2008 at 11:46 AM
I was hoping to talk about this - my experience also accords with the view that people with trisomy 12 are warm, loving, and seemingly happy (though my law school roommate's mother worked with institutionalized people with trisomy 12 and other forms of DD and had different ideas).
Anyway, I don't think subjective feelings of happiness are the only measure of well-being. I certainly would not actively pursue brain damage that would make me happy but with the intellectual capacity of a 5 year old, and I doubt many others would, either. Clearly other things are valuable besides subjective happiness or unhappiness. However, as I've written before, I'm fairly uncomfortable with judgments about people with various disabilities living somehow less valuable lives than people with "normal" human capacities (I also think even "normal" human capacities often lead to pretty miserable lives).
Though most people's reasons for reproduction are selfish, I think most people's reasons for aborting a trisomy 12 fetus are probably unselfish (concern for the child having a reasonably meaningful life in various dimensions), rather than just concern with the extra work and dashed parental hopes of Harvard. The problem is that not enough people make the same judgment for non-trisomy 12 babies, and, of course, it's just as valid in all cases.
Chip September 5, 2008 at 1:17 AM
"I certainly would not actively pursue brain damage that would make me happy but with the intellectual capacity of a 5 year old."
I don't see myself actively pursuing such an option, but if I could make a clean trade, I don't think the downside is so obvious. If I know nothing different and am happy, how am I deprived?
"Though most people's reasons for reproduction are selfish, I think most people's reasons for aborting a trisomy 12 fetus are probably unselfish (concern for the child having a reasonably meaningful life in various dimensions), rather than just concern with the extra work and dashed parental hopes of Harvard. The problem is that not enough people make the same judgment for non-trisomy 12 babies, and, of course, it's just as valid in all cases."
I agree with your closing sentence, but I am intuitively skeptical of your claim regarding people's typically unselfish reasons for aborting a DS fetus. For one thing, I suspect that the concern for a "reasonably meaningful life in various dimensions" is the product of a peculiar intellectual bias, which might specifically be characterized as an "eudomaniacal bias" assigning greater meaning to multidimensional inner lives. I fear this is just the sort of out that might be expected of inner-life-laden folks like us, which is all the more reason to tread carefully.
I see no clear reason to ascribe lesser value to the (arguably greater) subjective joy experienced by people who cannot play conceptual games or set long term goals or wallow in deeper shades of "meaning." However, I see plenty of tellingly selfish reasons why the potential parents of such a child might be predisposed to rationalize their decision to abort, and in terms that focus on the child's ostensibly limited life options. For the parents, there is not only the burden of foreseeable hardship; there is also the lack of grandchildren; there is morally tinged embarrassment, and conflicted disappointment.
It would be interesting if there were a way to prenatally predict whether an otherwise normal person were likely to experience chronic depression. Something tells me that parents of those marked with such an affliction would be less inclined to make the "selfless" choice -- for the usual selfish reasons.
Perhaps I am giving in to deeper cynicism than is justified, but I think parental agency is fraught with problems that this example helps to explain. If people with profound cognitive limits are happy, who are we to judge, on our own biased terms, the deeper quality and meaning of their happiness?
Curator September 8, 2008 at 4:23 PM
A related moral question is whether it is morally right for a pregnant woman to consume a fifth of Rebel Yell every day during her pregnancy.
The main difference between getting blotto every night knowing you are pregnant, and having unprotected sex knowing you're 45 and are carrying mostly damaged eggs, is the so-called identity problem: the FAS baby "could have been born" with normal capacities, and his mother is knowingly taking his capacities away, whereas the baby at age 45 could not have been born other than with a high risk of genetic damage.
Most people would agree that it is wrong to take away people's capacities. And people generally do not want to give up their capacities. Chip comments that if the trade-off of capacities for happiness were more straightforward, we might see more of it, but I think it would be rare. An example would be the side effects of certain prescription drugs - SSRI antidepressants, for instance, notoriously drop sex drive, while apparently (for some people) increasing happiness. But many, many people who experience the loss of sex drive find the effect intolerable and stop their meds. Some even stop over the loss of other capacities, such as the capacity for feeling (even negative feeling) and complex thought. There are studies on people valuing existing choices to irrational extremes - making choices that will preserve options, even if it will not benefit the person. (See this paper from Management Science in 2004; while it deals with discrete options, not capacities, I think the analogy holds.)
But is it wrong to bring someone into existence with less-than-normal capacities, as distinct from removing the capacities of an existing person?
Most people feel that it is morally acceptable to bring people into existence who will have normal capacities. I do not. So, of course, I find it perhaps extra-unacceptable to bring people into existence with less-than-normal capacities. Although I do think the person's likelihood of subjective suffering is an important part of the calculus, I don't think it's everything, and I certainly don't think it's true that people with developmental disability lead the kind of happy, pain-free lives that we should all aspire to.
But let's say you're one of the people who thinks it's acceptable to bring normal people into existence. Are there any people it's immoral to bring into existence? (Is the Austrian basement rapist extra wrong for conceiving seven children with his daughter and forcing her to bear them, rather than merely raping her for decades?)
I suppose ever non-antinatalist has to draw the line somewhere. It's interesting - when I discussed the issue with my non-antinatalist boyfriend, he thought it was fine to bring a baby into existence in an affluent household in the United States, but maybe not to bring a baby into a slum in Africa. Hmm.
I would like to hear where more non-antinatalists draw the line on which babies it's acceptable to bring into existence.
Tracy W September 9, 2008 at 1:25 AM
and I certainly don't think it's true that people with developmental disability lead the kind of happy, pain-free lives that we should all aspire to.
May I ask which people on the planet, disabled or not, lead pain-free lives?
And should we aspire to pain-free lives? I don't, after all it's a goal I've already thoroughly missed.
Curator,
I don't think your example of antidepressant usage provides clear support for your argument that capacity/happiness trade-offs would in fact be rare. Just look at the current numbers of people who use such drugs. It's staggering, especially when you consider the stigma and moral apprehension that was so strongly associated with the use of Prozac type drugs less than two decades ago. Sure, some people eventually decide that the sexual and curiosity-numbing side-effects aren't worth the trade, but MILLIONS of people stay with the program and claim to benefit. This is hardly rare. And I predict it will be even less so as better drugs are developed.
This may be recursive, but the example of the pregnant binger makes me wonder about a counter-scenario in which a pregnant mother ingests a mutagenic drug cocktail known to improve, rather than damage, her brood's postnatal cognitive development. Is her child's chance at having "normal" capacities thereby deprived, even when the maternal intervention produces what most people would view as an enhancement rather than a deficit? Let's further assume that the prenatally tweaked cognitive enhancement said to benefit this child brings with it a higher probability that the child will lead a less subjectively peaceful life - that the child will be more likely than his FAS counterpart to experience lifelong emotional pain and depression. Granting for the moment pronatalist assumptions on the underlying issue, which mother acts more irresponsibly? To me, the answer is far from clear. Though of course I think they are both wrong.
I don't want to get carried away with such hypotheticals. My point is simply that it seems very suspicious to devalue relative happiness (which I will provisionally define as a proportionately lower incidence of subjective suffering) for something more nebulous and rarefied that seems likely to me to be the product of a cognitive bias for...cognitive bias. If I could hop in the "tard transformer" and set the controls with every assurance that my future happy-dumb life would in no way impose on others or cause them to suffer, I would do it in a second. I'd have no compunction about signing on for Nozick's simulator, either -- especially if such a choice meant that I would never again experience paralyzing anxiety, or depression, or sexual jealousy, or inconsolable regret. The presumptive value of meaningful inner lives seems all the more questionable when you consider that objective meaning is in all likelihood a chimera.
Your boyfriend's point about the value of starting comparatively impoverished versus affluent lives seems to come up against relativistic problems that I can never dismiss. Assuming that a comfortable and predictably contented life is worth starting, it would seem to follow that such a life is worth sustaining for as long as possible. But the question of what is possible, in this sense, is bound by our current (or sub specie humanitas) expectations. If it suddenly became technologically possible for people to live healthy and affluent lives for hundreds or thousands of years, people would quickly come to look upon the prospect of creating a mere centennarian with the same sense of pity that they now reserve for third world births. Is it better for a Progerian to be born in the modernized West?
I'll leave your closing question for the non-antinatalists to consider. It's a good one.
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Barsoumian: Domestic Abuse? What Abuse? …She Fell and Died!
October 10, 2010 at 7:51 am Nanore Barsoumian Opinion 43
Twenty-year-old Zaruhi Petrosyan became one of the latest victims of domestic violence in Armenia when she was viciously beaten to death by her husband and mother-in-law, says the victim’s sister, Hasmig.
In an interview with News.am, Hasmig recounted a horrific story of abuse that her late sister, mother to an infant girl, suffered, and the impotence and unwillingness of the police to act when faced with cases of domestic violence.
Zaruhi’s relatives insist that by the time she was transported to a hospital, she had been severely beaten for days in a row.
“The neighbors have stated [to the Masis police] that on the day of my sister’s death, they entered the apartment and witnessed how they [the husband and the mother-in-law]… had broken her knees and fingers, crushed her skull, and stuffed cloth in her mouth, to stop the bleeding. Then, one of the neighbors told their son to call the cops. When her mother-in-law and husband realized that the cops would be on their way, in her beaten state, they threw [Zaruhi] down the stairs, pulled her body back into the house, so that they could tell the cops that she fell down the stairs and crushed her bones,” said Hasmig.
The sister believes that Yanis Sarkisov, her sister’s husband, broke Zaruhi’s fingers after she tried to dial for help.
[monoslideshow id=6]
Slideshow images are courtesy of Araz Artinian, a documentary filmmaker, humanitarian worker, and activist, who uses various creative modes to raise awareness about issues of concern, especially injustices affecting women and children in Armenia.
Hasmig revealed that from the beginning of her sister’s marriage to Yanis, in March 2008, she was constantly subjected to severe beatings until blood would pour out of her nose and mouth, and she would lose consciousness.
“They beat my sister even in her pregnant state,” said Hasmig.
On a number of occasions, Zaruhi went to Hasmig’s home covered in bruises. She’d tell them that her husband and his mother had repeatedly beaten her, demanding that she call her relatives and ask for money for his car payments.
“It so happened that my sister separated from her husband and lived with us for about two weeks. Every day her husband would call and threaten her, that if you don’t come back home, I will come over and kill you and your sister’s family, and if you go out of the house, I will kill you outside,” said Hasmig.
They went to the police twice, said Hasmig, “And it’s even in writing that if he so much as touches her, they would take him in…the Masis [Police Department].”
“But they all turned a blind eye,” Hasmig’s mother-in-law added.
Yanis would brag about his cousin who held a high-ranking position in the Etchmiadzin police. Since his wife was an orphan girl, he’d say, he could do anything he wanted with her, even kill her, if he wished.
Hasmig’s mother-in-law, who witnessed Zaruhi’s beatings and the bruises on her body, confirmed her story.
Gayane Markaryan, the director of Pyureghavan’s Care and Protection Center, the shelter where Hasmig and Zaruhi had stayed prior to their marriages, told a similar story. When on the few occasions Markaryan had contacted Zaruhi to ask about her wellbeing, Zaruhi had said that she was miserable and often beaten.
“Six or seven months ago, she was already complaining that my life isn’t good, I’m constantly beaten and tortured, they’re keeping me and my child in terror. And 15 days ago, she called and began to cry, saying there is always a fight in our house, my mother-in-law this, my brother-in-law that…and on and on,” said Markaryan.
Now her relatives are afraid the truth is being covered up by the police, because Zaruhi is an “unprotected child.”
According to Hasmig, when she began telling the Masis police about the beatings and abuse her sister was suffering, the investigator kept declaring that her story was unimportant and irrelevant, in an attempt to smooth over the alleged crime.
Hasmig’s mother-in-law said that when she criticized the investigator, she was escorted outside the station and reprimanded by his officers for being too loud.
Meanwhile, the police and hospital reports on Zaruhi’s death contradict one another: The cause of death and even the time of death do not match.
According to Hasmig, the police investigator claimed he spoke to Zaruhi at 2 a.m., which is when she allegedly told him that she fell down the stairs. “My sister died at 1; how could the investigator have spoken with her at 2?” said Hasmig.
Furthermore, the hospital staff claimed that before her death, Zaruhi’s request was “don’t prosecute my husband.”
Yanis, who has since been detained and is undergoing questioning, denies having committed any crime, saying “I am not guilty. She fell and died.”
‘Typical mentality’
The News.am story should bring the issue of domestic violence to the forefront of Armenia’s national agenda; at least, that is what many activists are hoping for. Some have called for legislative steps to protect the rights of women in Armenia, many of whom are victims of abuse.
Despite overwhelming evidence confirming that domestic abuse is rampant in Armenia, news reports and personal accounts make a case that Armenia’s authorities choose to ignore, or even worse, deny.
One blogger, Artmika, writes: “I remember when relatively recently the Women’s Resource Centre wanted to put posters in Yerevan to highlight the problem of domestic violence and indicate a hotline for those affected to call, the Yerevan municipality refused to allow it by claiming there is no such problem in Armenia. Typical mentality. Let’s pretend that we do not have such problem, let’s not talk about it, otherwise it may affect our image… Instead of facing up [to] the problem and developing effective means to tackle it. In the meantime, cases, like the one [above], keep happening…”
Studies show that only 17 percent of domestic abuse victims reach out to the police. However, the deputy head of the Police Order Maintenance Department, Karen Mehrabyan, has argued that “If it were so, then every third man is also subjected to violence, because women always pressure them to bring money home,” reported ArmeniaNow.
In April, the director of the Women’s Rights Center, Susanna Vardanyan, told ArmeniaNow’s Gayane Abrahamyan that her organization had initiated a draft law on domestic violence, which had been examined by various ministers and officers of the law. “Five years ago, we could not even have said that. High-ranking officials would just have laughed and said such a problem did not exist in Armenia, that these were just isolated cases, but now many are even ready to support the adoption of the law.”
Zaruhi’s death has sparked renewed efforts to protect the rights of women within the home. Citing her death, a petition has been drafted by a concerned party, titled “Armenia Must Pass Domestic Violence Legislation,” on an online petition site that aims to collect 1,000 signatures.
Because family is a strong unit in Armenia, no one wants to speak about abuse, while the government claims it is a private matter, Heather McGill, a researcher with Amnesty International told Inter Press Service in 2009.
‘The traditional Armenian image’
Meanwhile, on Sept. 29, only a couple of days before Zaruhi’s death, Armenia’s Diaspora Ministry announced it was organizing a “Miss Armenian” beauty contest.
According to the minister, Hranush Hakobyan, participants, local or diasporan, are expected to have “mastered” the Armenian language, be good cooks, and “preserve the image of an Armenian woman,” reported epress.am.
When asked to elaborate on “the image of an Armenian woman,” Hakobyan said, “To tell you the truth, I don’t accept filthy, ill-mannered girls.” A woman must be “modest.”
“I also don’t accept journalists who raise their pens and attempt to write filth about the traditional Armenian image in the papers,” she added.
“Really good things can be portrayed in these processes of globalization, while the bad is not reproduced. The world is changing very quickly, it’s getting smaller. We can see and comprehend all the social phenomena of different countries, but the traditional Armenian woman is a good mother, a good daughter, a good wife. All her actions, really, are balanced and measured,” she said.
The Armenian woman should “be within [her] limits.”
While it appears the Ministry is encouraging self-censorship in matters that could harm the national image, activists are asking for a larger and louder chorus.
In an open letter, Armenia’s Society Without Violence condemned the death of Zaruhi, adding, “As women’s rights NGO members, we call human rights organizations, activists, interested people, mass-media, and international organizations to be observant, to highlight this case by every possible way of dissemination, to provide the publicity and transparency of the case investigation and the trial for reaching the fair judgment of [the] 20-year-old woman’s murderers.”
“Otherwise the stereotypes, that such crimes are inter-family issues, that such cases do not deserve to be in the public’s and law enforcement bodies’ attention will have more and profound roots in our society.”
“With our silence we will allow such crimes to be justified and guilty people to avoid the punishment determined by law. In other words, by our silence we will have more innocent victims.”
Nanore Barsoumian
Nanore Barsoumian was the editor of the Armenian Weekly from 2014 to 2016. She served as assistant editor of the Armenian Weekly from 2010 to 2014. Her writings focus on human rights, politics, poverty, and environmental and gender issues. She has reported from Armenia, Nagorno-Karabagh, Javakhk and Turkey. She earned her B.A. degree in Political Science and English and her M.A. in Conflict Resolution from the University of Massachusetts (Boston).
@NanoreB
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Abuse of women happens everywhere, and will probably continue to happen as it has throughout the ages. But this is the shadow side of the macho society that is Armenia, where (some) men think they own their woman, once a woman has committed to them. Also Armenia is a country where corrupt baboons who siphon off millinos have hijacked and straight-jacketed an entire people and shoved them into the hell-pit of poverty, enhacing national desperation. Yanis is obviously a classic armenian neandethal and the son of a very wicked woman. There is no hope for either of them. May they both be run over by the same diesel belching truck – preferably a garbage bin on wheels topped up to the max and on its way to the dump.
It is good to see that Armenia’s domestic realities are being echoed in Diaspora media recently. The Diaspora media played a big role in keeping Hayastan and Disapora distinct and distant by promoting segregation and diaspora-centrism in the news. It is with increased awareness on life and realities in Armenia that the communities may become more aware, more attached and more integrated and engaged!
Thank you Nanore for touching upon an important issue that others would rather skip and keep deep in the closets it never happens to come out of.
Nairian says:
This is a very sad news. I don’t give a rat’s whatever about Armenian Schmarminian home values. What good is it when a murderer belligerent barbaric husband will have the right to murder our most precious sex of all (our humble beautiful women) and the murderers will get away with murder. JUSTICE MUST PREVAIL in any nationality and in any society. We do not live in the 15th, 16th or the 17th century anymore, but in the 21st century. In Armenian we say; “TSUGE KELUKHEN GE HODI” and indeed this is a case of police negligence and police’s responsibility. It is apparent that as much as the husband and the mother-in-law of Zaruhi are responsible for her death; but the police of Etchmiadsin and Masis are just as much responsible for her Zaruhi’s death; because of coverup. It is obvious that Zaruhi’s husband Sarkisov wasn’t kidding when he said that he is not afraid to killing Zaruhi because his cousin is a high ranking officer in Etchmiadsin. Zaruhi was a victim of two people (the murderer husband Yanis and his murder mother) and plus two organizations (the police department in Etchmiadsin and the police department in Masis). They all worked together to suck the blood and the life out of beautiful sweet 20 year old young angel woman, ZARUHI PETROSYAN.
Both the husband Yanis Sarkisov, his mother must face either a live sentence or the electric chair; and both the high ranking officers of Etchmiadsin and Masis must be tried for homicide cover-up for the murderers.
manooshag says:
Hye, the treatment of women in Haiastan as now evidenced by Zaruhi’s cruel treatment and death, there is not any reason for this violence against women, especially in marriages, or, as in this case a violent mother-in-law to be ignored – even by the police! NOW a law shall be passed by the Armenian Naitonal Assembly declaring the inhumanity of such actions – enough that the Armenians suffered the Turkish inhumanity to humans – we Armenians, should not be as the Turks of history, of today. ZARUHI’S LAW, in her memory, shall become a priority… Armenian women, from our own Armenian history and more, shall be cherished and cared for – for their families, for their children, for Haiastan. I am saddened for her children, for their loss of their loving mother… Manooshag
As I said above, the murderer husband of Zaruhi Petrosyan; Yanis Sarkisov and his mother must face either a life sentence or the electric chair and both the high ranking officers of Etchmiadsin and Masis must be tried for the cover up when they knew very well how poor Zaruhi was constantly being abused. This must be done so that other husbands and mother-in-laws would not take advantage of the very soft or non existing Domestic Violence laws in Armenia. That is why many beautiful, gorgeous Armenian women seek husbands outside of the country. If Armenia truly believes in the sanctitude of the home and the family, then they must prevent things like this happening and the government must see to it that the softer and the weaker gender (the women of Armenia) are completely protected.
Դրօ says:
This is what happens in a society where all men are alcoholics. Russia has always been known for all its drunks who bathe in vodka and how 100% of women in Russia are abused by their drunk husbands. When Russia became the USSR and spread and imposed its culture on all the countries it occupied, the men in Armenia turned into a bunch of drunk wife-beaters, just like the Russians. I’m sure it’s like this in every former-Soviet republic.
The USSR is the cause of a lot of problems that Armenia has today.
I’m happy that there are campaigns for protecting women and ending domestic violence, but I think there should also be campaigns for reducing alcoholism in the country. That would improve the character of men in Armenia immensely.
Unfortunately, the husband and his vicious mother may actually get away with the crime. I believe, the police are very corrupt in Armenia. Someone very powerful has to step in to make sure that the guilty get the punishment they deserve.
Many women in Armenia do not even realize that their rights are being violated. Extreme cases like this one are rare but there are a lot of women who take verbal and pshychological abuse on a daily basis and think that it is the norm. Another sad thing is that many men in Armenia are still not mature enough to stand up to their mothers who have not business sticking their noses into other peoples’ personal lives even if the person is their son.
Silva Panossian says:
Shame on abuser Armenian men, and shame on the responsible government authorities! An Armenian honorable man does not abuse even an enemy women, nor children. How you satisfy your actions when you are abusing your spouse? you must protect her, so she loves and honors you… Shame on you! Shame on Armenian governments responsible party; you must prosecute publicly any abuser so they can learn a valuable lesson that “no one is above the law”. Shame on you corrupt government authorities! You will not be able to escape God’s judgment of your actions…
DavidSassoon says:
It’s not just domestic violence in Armenia that is covered up. Why does a wife or mother fear should their man be taken to the police station? How many murderers have gotten away with a crime because the victim had no station in life? It’s as if some Armenians still wear the cloak of the bear.
Armen says:
Dear Դրօ, the treatment of women in Armenia has nothing to do with the USSR, if it wasn’t for the USSR women would be treated in Armenia worse than in Iran and Afghanistan. This is a direct result of centuries of Islamo-Turkic rule, Armenian culture has yet to shed the Islamo-Turkic values imposed on it through centuries of servitude.
I agree with Armen on the point that USSR is not to blame for the treatment of Armenian women. Also, Armenian men aren’t really into drinking. Those who abuse their wives, do so, drunk or not. It has to do more with their mentality than anything else. Of course, consumption of alcohol/drugs always makes things so much worse but that’s not what causes the problem in the first place. I also agree that in Western countries women enjoy a lot more freedom than in Islamic countries but can we take the entire blame from us and put it on Islamo-Turkic influence based on that fact? This is in Eastern Armenia. It is OUR problem and WE are the ones responsible for it.
By the way, I there is a link to sign a petition for passing a domestic violence legislation in Armenia. It’s in the next to last paragraph in section ‘Typical mentality,’ in case you haven’t noticed.
All I know, this should be the last one it happens in Armenia, and everyone was involved of the dead of the young mother of two kids, must be punished very severely and justly, where is the low of justice in Armenia? Is the Armenian government happy by what happened to the victim, her kids, and her parents, I am looking forward to see how the authorities are going to act, it will be very shameful if nothing changes, my God how painful it is just to read about what happened , is there a deference between Turkish killer and Armenian one, when they both do the same (killing Armenian woman), how ugly, shameful and sad it will be, if that so called (husband) and (mother in low), will be let to walk away unpunished. I think this is a direct result, of our people lack in understanding the Christianity, which has been taken away from them unfortunately, at the time of the communism, and before that by Islamic rulers when they occupied our lands, we need to go back to our original Armenian values, which will need a big effort of everybody, starting from the top and all the way to the bottom, and may Holly Trinity help us and prevent us from such mistakes.
So, where is the church on this issue? It is time for them to speak up about something important and stand for something in the way their Master would have and did defend women.
Adrina says:
they shouldn’t be any court order just torture them first and then throw away there body in fire. they are bastard and they are not a human. oh, I’m so upset my BP run up and my tears are running down so sorry for their family and friends.
Disgraceful.My father always told me of our writers,poets,musicians,great men of the past,always trying to underline the culture aspect of Armenian civilization.Of course Armenia is not the only country where such things happen,but do we have to accept such sick attitudes in our mother-country?
Boyajian says:
Of course this kind of abuse is seen around the world, in all nations. I am sorry to say that I heard stories like this when I was young, when the old women would gather and talk about their lives. They would tell about someone’s mean husband or in-laws in the stories about life in the villages. Still I am shocked to read it here. But it is a good thing that we are beginning to deal openly with this in our community so that it can be exposed and purged. My prayers go to Zaruhi and Hasmik and her family and all the other women too afraid to speak up about their abuse.
I agree with Jeremy, I want to hear from the church on this, as well as the top levels of government.
Resoman says:
Դրօ wrote;
When Russia became the USSR and spread and imposed its culture on all the countries it occupied, the men in Armenia turned into a bunch of drunk wife-beaters, just like the Russians.
Armen wrote;
“This is a direct result of centuries of Islamo-Turkic rule, Armenian culture has yet to shed the Islamo-Turkic values imposed on it through centuries of servitude.”
These are the silliest explanations and excuses you can find . It is just like the cover-up by the police officers. Although this kind of treatment of women is very common in particularly oriental countries, it should not be endorsed to one or two specific nations. It is time to face the reality and find solution to pull the women out of this shit. Apparently, that won’t be easy with the police force available, the police mentality is another important issue here, as important as the murderers themselves.
I condemn whoever commit this kind of crime and whoever helps them.
What a great opportunity for Armenia and Armenian bashers!! The generalizations are overwhelming. This crazed and probably mentally ill good for nothing man beats and kills his wife with the mother who raised him. They should be put away for the rest of their lives so they do not do it again, regardless of a relative working on the police force. However, condemning all the Armenian men for the sins of a few is an unjust act of generalization. For each wife beater there are many more loving husbands and fathers among Armenians. It is sad to see people leveraging any bad news like this for their own agendas.
ara z. says:
i am proud i signed a petition here in america recently for america to step up it’s pressure on governments in countries where this happens. i am appalled and ashamed to know this happens in armenia. many thanks to ms. barsoumian for revealing this horror.
Karen Mkrtchyan says:
I am from Masis myself, and know what the police there are like. I had to face some of the officials in Masis to get m papers doe to fly to India as I study here, and i must tell you, i had to go through hell. They just give no damn. You have contacts, you can get whatever you want to…No contacts???? Money might do, but if you have none, then nobody gives a damn if you are right or wrong. This is from my personal experience in Masis. I did not know Zarouhi personally, bit she was the classmate of my brother’s girlfriend and they lived right in the next building as my brother classmate. I am sorry that these stuff still happen. When i went to Armenia, i was shocked to see the dictatorial approach men have towards their wives, and even girlfriends. I could not get one good reason behind it, but this has become a common “custom” on Armenia. I argued a lot about this, and they were to cool to accept my viewpoint. I mean, how can a person fall down the stairs and break so many bones? I fell down the stairs over 50 times..Don’t I have freaking bones?..babies fall down from 10th floor and survive, and Zarouhi died just falling down the stairs? Cmo’n man…I mean this requires no investigation..Its too obvious…This part of the Armenian Government makes me sick..ARMENIA SHOULG GET OVER THE UNFAIR METHODS OF CONTACTS AND MONEY……NOW, TAKING BRIBE HAS BECOME A RIGHT IN ARMENIA…..AND A MATTER OF COMMON SENSE TO KNOW EXACTLY WHICH DEPARTMENT CHARGES HOW MUCH BRIBNE FOR A PIECE OF WORK THAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DO…I am sick reading this. LET JUSTICE PREVAIL…MAY RIGHT BE DONE>…Everyone, pray for Zaruhi and her relatives..May her soul rest in peace,…
Armenian Girl says:
Nairian I agree with you, those two animals need to be thrown in jail for life or get the electic chair, how can they kill a human being like that, you are right Zaurhi was an angel who was tortured by those monsters. Drank mard kochvelu eravunk chunen!!!!!
Sirvart says:
Resomen, that’s what I also said above. The coverup of this barbarity came from both heads of the police stations of Etchmiadsin and Masis police. They must be condemned as much as the murderers themselves (the husband Yani and his murderer mother). Also the corrupt police system. The government is also responsible if they don’t condemn and severely punish this barbarity. I am earnestly waiting to see what the government and the Church is going to do about this. The Church must get involved and they must condemn the government if the government fails to put both the husband and the mother-in-law in prison for at least 100+ years or the electric chair. As for both the police stations of Etchmiadsin and Masis, the heads of the police must also be tried and severely punished. Bottom line, the Church must get involved as our Khrimian Hayrig, may God bless his beloved soul used to promote Fedayi behaviour against the barbarity of the Turks. Now where is our Katolicos of all Armenians to have a great say in this matter and see to it that the government does the right thing and punish the murderers and the police who covered up the whole mess. We need to put a law in Armenia in the name of Domestic Abuse law. We need to see that our softer and the lovely women of our motherland Armenia are protected from these beastly behaviours of the men of Armenia who think and act barbarically with their women. They must realize that women have the right to think, act and live as freely as their male counterpart. Women are not anymore subservient to men than men are to women. There is such a thing as compromise, free speech and freedom to be given and granted to women as it is to men. These laws must prevail in Armenia as they are elsewhere, particularly in the west.
Fredrick,
What are you talking about? What agendas? None of us has any agendas here, we are simply outraged towards a good number of the male mentality in Armenia who think that women that are weaker in gender, must be and are subservient to men and therefore the men can beat the hell out of them and get away with it. Whether it is their abusive beatings or their verbal abuse, it is the same. These abusiveness even if it is 30% must be stopped. We have the right to speak up about it and see to it that the government immediately and/or very soon to pass the Domestic Violence law for the sake of our women. The system in there is also corrupted and we know this. It is not news for us that a good number of male behaviours are abusive towards their women in Armenia. We should all see to it that new laws be put to protect our women in there. I said 30% but I know that I am being very lenient. I know that the mentality of the male in there is more than 50% that act abusively towards their women, just because they are the weaker gender. We must all work together to improve the situation in our motherland for the good of the sanctity of the Armenian household and for the future generations of Armenians. Let us not forget that the children of these abusive husbands will be just as much abusively effected by their fathers and they will do the same thing to their own wives when they grow up. We surely do not wish that these bad trends to continue for generations to come, right? So now is the time to act and be actively involved to start changing for our entire peoples’ mentality. We must look to the west and not to the east. We don’t want these horrible trends to continue for generations to come. So lets start putting our constructive criticisms and our constructive inputs for the better.
Dear Armenian Girl, I was recently there and I saw how gorgeous the young Armenian women are. They are the sweetest, the most beautiful women in the world. I made friends with some of them and they are mostly gems. I never saw in any given country the warmth, the beautiful smiles and the kindheartedness of these young women anywhere else. And when I hear such animal behaviours from some of the males in there it truly breaks my heart. The warm and the sweet girls and women in Armenia surely do not deserve this kind of behaviours. They must live freely, happily and produce beautiful children and be protected by the government and the Church as well. No other country bears such warmth from their women as the Armenian women. Plus our women are hard working, strong and brave too. These kind of news breaks my heart to the point of bleeding. If these horrible trends continue, it will undoubtedly affect the coming generations of Armenian males. We must see to it that these horrible behaviours and trends are stopped immediately. The only way is to have in effect the Domestic Violence law immediately in our country.
Fredrick is right in saying that there are many Armenians that are loving husbands and fathers. My own father never raised his voice or a finger on my mother. I personally know lots of others in Armenia who love and respect their spouses. In fact, in the list of those who signed the online petition you will see lots of names of Armenian men who condemn what happened and demand that proper legislation be put in place.
However, we must accept, Fredrick, that Armenia is still very much a male dominated society, and there IS a problem of domestic violence.
Stepan says:
This is a horrible and sad story. It is also one that made the media. God only knows about the tragedies that happen under the media radar. Our church has a moral responsibility to stand up and be heard. Clergy must speak to this in their sermons to their parishionersm and the church leadership must use their influence to defend the rights of our women in these situations. The church must always be the voice of respect for each other and mutual love. Change will occur when outrage is expressed. The church states a desire to be relevent in the lives of our people according to the traditions of the Armenian church…… here is an opportunity to help.
Maybe, an organized protest march on the main streets of the Capital city, may wake the some sleeping ignorant dummies up. We know that some women’s organizations supported by people and some other civil organizations can achieve some progress towards better living conditions for women.
As for those two creatures I hope they would go to the bottom of hell and burn there for ever.
Please sign the petition against the domestic violence of women in Armenia, on an online petition site http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/armenia-must-pass-domestic-abuse-law/#show%20more%20content
Hye,Jeremy, certainly, in addtion to the government, the police ineffectiveness which reflects the ‘male’ mentality against the
women… too, as you said, our Armenian church shall need to
bring this issue – requiring all couples,all youth (male/female)
attend appropriate services and local meetings to bring this
open and out – to educate those who most need to learn that
men and women are full and equal in the eyes of God, and full
and equal before all the laws of Haiastan. Turks have given our
Armenian nation enough slaughters and worse – we Armenians are
and should be recognizant of any such acts of INHUMANITY – we
are an ancient and advanced peoples – not to be as the Turk!
Manooshag
Eugenie Kazandjian says:
What century we are leaving that the wives will be beaten to death. Women are not slaves to their husbands neither to their in laws, women should be protected within their rights.
peto says:
its these kinds of things that make me not want to do anything for my own country , no matter how much you organize fund raisers and help the country grow there is no point, there is always greed , and i as an armenian know that in our culture money is most important to the majority of people. Crooked cops , government and everyday people is the problem here . Makes me sick.
LILO says:
What an idots…… Him and his mom both need to be in jail rest of their lives or die the way they killed her.Talking about Armenia, i was born there unfortunatlly… i have lived here more than i lived in Armenia. There is no such thing as LAW in Armenia, it is all about MONEY. if you want ot get somewhere you have to show some cash otherwise…
Im ashamed to represent my self as an Armenian when i hear things like this and proud to be living in this country, LOVE USA. Shame, shame, shame …….
Lilo,
what an unfortunate fool you are. Yes, what happened was very tragic, and we all condemned the husband and his mother, and, yes, there is lots of corruption in Armenia, unfortunately. However, there are many people born in Armenia and currently living there who are ten times better than you, trust me. Armenia has been through extremely difficult times, and people there have a lot to be proud of. Your sense of superiority is simply ridiculous. I don’t know how long you have lived here but you still haven’t learned how to write in English. You better focus on your own problems.
Armenia says:
Jeremy, you are exactly right! Speak up, holy church! Armen is right, this is as loathsome as the killing of Armenian women by Turks.
PLEASE DON’T GENERALIZE.
Hye, our Armenian church, our Armenian lawyers, our Armenian leadership, our Armenian police organizations, our Armenian youth of today, should all be made fully aware of the saddness of Zaruhi’s life… Not one more life is to abused in this manner. Not one more member of the the Armenian government, at all levels – shall escape knowing of the death of Zaruhi, because she was a woman! God created men and women – both with the heart and minds to recognize the value of life… Too, men and women are equally capable – not to be treated as Armenians have been by the ignorance and mentality of the Turks. Armenians, Christians, know, abide by higher value for human life – we know because we lost so many to the Turkish Genocide of the Armenian nation. Let us not be as of Turkish who kill/eliminate lives… still. Manooshag
Louise Kiffer says:
I have been outraged by Zaruhi’s dreadful story.
In Armenia the police is corrupted, and what about the doctors ?
Has this poor Zaruhi never been to a medical visit ?
Is there no social workers in Armenia ?
No priests ?
Shame on the Government of Armenia !
Vananca says:
How the authorities are going to act….Shame on them …as our friends said: they are real monsters.
Are we sure this will be the last one ???????
Hey frineds, break the silence ….
Avetis says:
The problem in Armenia is not its “police”, it is not its “politicians”, it is not even “men”… The problem in Armenia is “Asiatic and Islamic mentalities” masquerading as Armenian traditions and cultural practices. A thousand years of cultural, genetic and spiritual damage as a result of Turkic, Semitic, Persian, Islamic and Bolshevik rule cannot be fixed in a few short years. Armenian folk traditions/culture needs a – thorough – overhaul. It sometimes feels as if we Armenians are more Turkish/Islamic than Turks these days… However, I have hope in the new generation.
Arsen says:
Avetis –
“Asiatic and Islamic mentalities” masquerading as Armenian traditions and cultural practices may be present in a segment of Armenia’s population, but there are also segments that are less influenced by such mentalities. The problem therefore is not societal per se, because the illegitimate ruling cliques—past or present—their “politicians”, policemen, and semi-literate oligarchs, exhibiting the traits of “Asiatic mentalities,” namely: inherited corruption, nepotism, self-centeredness, narrow-mindedness, mismanagement, etc., do not represent ALL segments of our nation, leaving out the most open-minded, broad-based segment existing mostly outside of the Republic. Also, there is no such thing as “Semitic”, “Islamic” or “Bolshevik” rule. You have dumped ethnic, religious and political influences in one trash can. Semitic is Arab rule (Jews never ruled Armenia). Islamic is Persian, Arab, and Ottoman Turkish rule. Bolshevik is Russian Soviet rule. Be consistent.
Garbis Korajian says:
As heart-breaking the article was, I disagree with Ms. Barsoumian’s section on ‘The traditional Armenian image’ and her characterization of the Minister of Diaspora Mrs. Hranush Hakobyan.
Fortunately, I have had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Hakobyan in person while in Armenia where I delivered a short speech for the staff of the Ministry of Diaspora on the Armenians of Ethiopia. I am an Armenian man living in Canada, born and raised in Ethiopia, where there once existed a small Armenian Diaspora population. In my opinion, I found Mrs. Hakobyan to epitomize a liberated and free Armenian woman who speaks her mind without any fear or hesitation. She is astute, intelligent, a strong organizer, and more than anything, deeply devoted to and concerned with the current condition of women in Armenia and the Diaspora. Her main aspiration in life is to improve the image of Armenian women around the globe. She deplores violence against women and has always worked towards the realization of these goals by protecting the most vulnerable.
Let me begin with Ms. Barsoumian’s reference to the “Miss Armenia” beauty contest. This particular endeavour of organizing such a contest is meant to uplift the morale of Armenian women and allow them to organize in various ways that will give them great pleasure and perhaps a sense of recognition within their communities. Although there are women and women’s groups who are unsupportive of such events, there are many countries around the world, particularly in the west, with millions of beauty pageant viewers. Moreover, these beauty queens are not only judged by their beauty but their intelligence, past services to community, knowledge of current global events, as well as their intellectual capacity. Therefore, the criteria that Mrs. Hakobyan puts forward that participants should be judged and should have “mastered” the Armenian language, have knowledge of Armenian cuisine, and “preserve the image of an Armenian woman,” is not an evil thing to hope for, and should not be misconstrued as such. In fact, not only do I think it is a valuable asset for Armenian women to possess these attributes, but further believe that this image should also extend to Armenian men as well.
Mrs. Hakobyan has undoubtedly witnessed the perils of women who have fallen victim to the international sex trade industry, global prostitution and related networks which foster an environment of abuse against these women. For someone who has perpetuated women’s rights and freedoms, Mrs. Hakobyan is certainly not one to refer to women in a derogatory manner, whatsoever.
Ms. Barsoumian further went on to quote Mrs. Hakobyan, “I also don’t accept journalists who raise their pens and attempt to write filth about the traditional Armenian image in the papers.” I can understand the anger of an Armenian journalist such as Nanore Barsoumian as she is a capable and a popular journalist both amongst the Diaspora and within Armenia simply doing her job. As I read the entire article, I was very saddened and moved by the unfair and inhumane treatment of Zaruhi Petrosyan and her eventual murder by her husband and mother-in-law. However, her assertion and characterization of the Diaspora minister is misleading and somewhat biased. Instead of taking the words of the minister contextually, I would have preferred she exposed more coverage on the achievements that the Minister has made in fighting for Armenian women’s rights and freedoms. I believe that if Ms. Barsoumian had met the Minister in person and understood how she thinks and how hard she works in helping disadvantaged women, this article would have been a bit more objective.
Furthermore, the Minister continues to say, “Really good things can be portrayed in these processes of globalization, while the bad is not reproduced. The world is changing very quickly, it’s getting smaller. We can see and comprehend all the social phenomena of different countries, but the traditional Armenian woman is a good mother, a good daughter, a good wife. All her actions, really, are balanced and measured.” What is there to disagree with this statement? I am sure we Armenians, like any other race or nationality, would like to have good mothers, good daughters and good wives including ones who are balanced and measured in their actions and behave “within limits” of acceptable human dignity. It probably comes as no surprise that not only Armenians want to have good mothers, daughters, etc. but that this desire is universal among all men in the world. I am sure the same is true for women, expecting the same from men.
I would not be surprised in the least bit if one day we see Mrs. Hakobyan occupy the highest political position in Armenia. This will be the day when all Armenian women will be liberated, at least begin to be liberated, from all forms of abuse and domestic violence. There is much that needs to be done with regards to the legislation and social perception of abuse in Armenia and within the Diaspora and Mrs. Hakobyan is one of the many women actively fighting for these rights and freedoms on behalf of all women, Armenian or otherwise.
Garbis Korajian
G. Korajian a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School of Government. At present he is a senior advisor and trainer on “Good Governance” in developing countries. He could be reached at:
gabekorajian@hotmail.com or gabeKorajian@yahoo.com
Lilit says:
They are idiots………………………. Their place is in prison
Air Traffic in Armenia Expanding, Low Fares Up in the Air
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The juice is loose —
Have your cake and then squirt it out of your body with new stomach pump
Why eat less when you can instead eject pre-vomit directly into a toilet?
Lee Hutchinson - Jan 14, 2013 5:40 pm UTC
Dean Kamen has been responsible for a whole slew of inventions, some beneficial and some less so. The latest creation with his name on it, described in a patent application filed on January 3 of this year, falls more into the "less so" category.
The patent application, titled "APPARATUS FOR TREATING OBESITY BY EXTRACTING FOOD," describes a device and method for sticking a tube into a person's stomach and allowing them to eat whatever they want, and then to eject the masticated but undigested food into a convenient toilet. The idea is to reduce the amount of calories your body absorbs by yanking the food out of your stomach, after you've enjoyed eating it but before it makes its way into your digestive tract.
USTPO
Lest you think that the contents of your stomach are safe and the invention exists only on paper, a company called Aspire Bariatrics already offers the system in Europe, proudly proclaiming, "The AspireAssist Aspiration Therapy System received CE mark approval in December 2011 to market in the European Union, and is now commercially available in selected regions in Europe and beyond." The company's website notes that the device and procedure aren't yet approved for use in the USA; that (and the FDA) are presumably the reasoning behind filing the patent.
The goal is to cut down food and calorie intake by about 30 percent. Aspire Bariatrics' site notes that the device should be used about twenty minutes after each main meal and that it sucks out about a third of the food eaten from that meal, slurping out the chyme and replacing it with some amount of water. Aspire Bariatrics is quick to point out on its FAQ page that this is not bulimia:
Aspiration Therapy does not cause bulimia. Bulimia is a psychological illness characterized by excessive and uncontrolled binging episodes followed by purging. Bulimia is medically unsupervised, while Aspiration Therapy is under the control of a physician and electrolytes and metabolites are carefully monitored. One of the primary dangers of bulimia is the damage to the teeth and esophagus due to stomach acid; Aspiration Therapy poses no such risk.
When coupled with lifestyle modification, the device provides "portion control without deprivation," letting folks still enjoy the sating effects of eating to fullness while at the same time reducing the full caloric impact of what's in the stomach (by removing the stomach's contents). It's a bit extreme, and the hair between bulimia and medically supervised food removal seems to be split very thinly, but it's an option.
Though if I may be permitted one small editorial comment: Eeew. Just... eeew.
Lee Hutchinson Lee is the Senior Technology Editor at Ars and oversees gadget, automotive, IT, and gaming/culture content. He also knows stuff about enterprise storage, security, and human space flight. Lee is based in Houston, TX.
Email lee.hutchinson@arstechnica.com
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The Fan Awakens
December 14, 2015 Andrew R. Cameron movies 2 comments
I haven’t been very active on my blog lately. The period leading up to Christmas has kept me fairly busy, and when I’ve had spare moments to write, I’ve been (happily) working on some short fiction. But there’s also another reason: I’m finding it hard to concentrate on anything else aside from Star Wars.
With only two more sleeps until I get to see The Force Awakens, Disney’s intense marketing campaign over the last few months has finally driven me into a salivating frenzy. First it was Force Friday, then it was the slew of new trailers and new photos. I’ve been opening my Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar every morning (much to the chagrin of my Instagram followers, I’m sure), and I’ve been playing Battlefront on my PS4 so much that my fingers have been cramping. The last few months have felt like a flashback to my childhood and the giddy excitement that only Star Wars can incite. It all comes to a climax on Thursday morning at 12.01am, when I finally get to sit down and watch the first new Star Wars film in a decade.
But I’ve been in this situation before. And I’ve been burnt. There was a lesson to be learnt from the prequel trilogy: just because a film should be great, it doesn’t mean it’s going to deliver. The prequels had all the ingredients for amazing films, but they were undermined by a poor script and some cringe-worthy acting. It’s the only thought that tempers my excitement. I keep thinking of the last scene from the film Fanboys, as the characters are finally about to watch The Phantom Menace and one of them says “What if the movie sucks?”
So I thought I’d take the opportunity in the final few days before The Force Awakens to record my hopes and worries for the film, with the aim of being able to look back on this article next week and say “you didn’t know what you were talking about, Andrew!” Hopefully that will mean that The Force Awakens exceeds my expectations.
It’s shots like this that make me confident that the film will recapture the magic of the original.
My Hopes
Most people would point to director J.J. Abrams’s work on the last two Star Trek films as evidence for his ability to embrace and continue a franchise (for better or worse). However, it’s his 2011 film Super 8 that inspires me with more confidence. He set out to capture the aesthetic and feel of a 1980’s Spielberg film, and succeeded in creating something that looks almost identical to parts of E.T. or Close Encounters of the Third Kind. His ability to replicate a pre-existing aesthetic bodes well for Star Wars. One of the problems of the prequel trilogy is that it abandons the grimy war-torn aesthetic of the original trilogy and presents a Republic that is all gleaming chrome surfaces and shiny starships. Yes, there was a consistent reason why Lucas chose to do this – he was depicting the Republic during their glory years – but it didn’t feel like Star Wars.
Abrams has often spoken about his approach to The Force Awakens – a return to practical effects, a focus on the experience of seeing a Star Wars film. And this inspires me with confidence. It’s a director who respects the franchise.
One of the reasons why The Empire Strikes Back is widely considered the best film in the franchise is due to its amazing script, which brought added complexity to the movie’s beloved characters. Lawrence Kasdan, who co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, has also co-written The Force Awakens with Abrams. The script went through a number of changes before it was finished, with Lucas drafting an outline before Abrams joined the project, and original scriptwriter Michael Arndt leaving in its early stages. But Kasdan’s presence is a good sign – he understands the franchise; he knows how to put emotion into dialogue. Hopefully the result will be better than the uncomfortable dialogue that plagued the prequels.
On a brief note, I also believe that The Empire Strikes Back‘s script was so nuanced because of Kasdan’s co-writer, Leigh Brackett, who is an amazing science fiction writer and deserves far more credit than she’s received. Her novel The Long Tomorrow (1955) is one of the most sophisticated examinations of nuclear war.
The casting announcement of the film was accompanied by this photo, featuring the old generation and the new generation sitting side by side.
My Concerns
Too much nostalgia
I’ve written previously this year about Hollywood’s over-reliance on nostalgia to sell their films. We’ve certainly had some films this year that shamelessly cash in on audience’s love of the originals: Jurassic World and Terminator Genisys come to mind. (And today’s release of the Independence Day: Resurgence trailer looks like another one.) But herein lies my complicated relationship with the whole concept of nostalgia. Because although I hate the idea of Hollywood churning out endless nostalgia-driven sequels at the cost of original science fiction projects, my own nostalgia for Star Wars is entirely overwhelming. (I believe this makes me a hypocrite.)
Yes, I want to see Han Solo piloting the Millennium Falcon. I want to see R2-D2 and Luke Skywalker and Imperial Stormtroopers. I want to see X-Wings and TIE fighters and lightsaber fights. But I don’t want to see them solely for the sake of nostalgia, as if the film is just ticking off a list of essential elements that will make the film work. I want to see them because they are essential to the plot. I want a film that recognises the weight of the franchise, but is looking forward to the future, not mired in the past.
What’s happening here? Are they surrendering or doing the Macarena?
Soft reboot
Coupled with this concern about nostalgia is the fear that The Force Awakens will be a soft reboot of the Star Wars franchise. A soft reboot is when the continuity of a franchise is preserved, but the style/tone/storyline is taken in a completely different direction, usually to revitalise the series for a new generation (and Jurassic World and Terminator Genisys are prime examples).
However, it doesn’t always work. A problematic example is Abrams’s Star Trek, which uses the time travel plot device to allow him to reset the chronology and re-tell the stories from the original USS Enterprise. A great idea to introduce new fans to the franchise, but it all fell apart in Into Darkness, when Abrams tried to reimagine Star Trek‘s most iconic villain. The film relied too much on the audience knowing Khan’s background, without showing him being a real threat in the actual film. When he revealed his true identity, the sense of threat was more due to our prior knowledge of his character, rather than any of his actions in Into Darkness. The revelation had no weight.
From the trailers of The Force Awakens, I worry that Abrams is essentially remaking A New Hope. We’ve got outcast characters on a desert planet, a group of resistance fighters, some sort of superweapon, and a masked bad guy. I sincerely hope that part of Abrams’s goal of replicating the experience of Star Wars is not replicating the plot of the original. Fingers crossed – I think he’s better than this.
J.J. Abrams has already demonstrated in his Star Trek films that he’s not afraid to sacrifice the established “rules” of the franchise in favour of a good story. In previous Star Trek series and films, transporters were only capable of moving people a very short distance, usually between a ship and a planet, but in both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, transporter technology is used to move characters considerably further – onto a ship moving at warp speed, and between distant planets. It benefits the story, sure, but it flies in the face of what’s been established. (If transporters are so effective, why do they even need starships?) And the transporter problems are just the tip of the iceberg for my issues with Into Darkness.
So I’m concerned that the same thing could happen with Star Wars. We’ve had six films to establish the rules of the Galaxy Far, Far Away, and the fans’ expectations of how they work is part of their love for the franchise.
Having said that, George Lucas already broke a lot of his own rules when he made the prequels. It was established in the original trilogy that journeys through hyperspace can often be quite long, which is why the Empire doesn’t have a strong presence in the Outer Rim territories and the Rebellion was able to gather support out there. But in the prequel trilogy, especially Revenge of the Sith, hyperspace travel times take a backseat to the plot. Obi-Wan and Amidala, and later Palpatine, seem to travel from Coruscant to Mustafa (an Outer Rim world) suspiciously quickly. I’ve heard a few fan arguments that defend this point, but not a single one stacks up against the evidence. So if Lucas was able to break his rules in the prequels, why not the new films? What elements of the franchise can be bent or broken before it damages the continuity?
Very much looking forward to this scene.
All of my hopes and worries will be wonderfully, hopelessly obsolete by Thursday morning. No matter whether the film exceeds my expectations, meets them, or dashes them, it’s been an incredible experience these past couple of months, revisiting that sense of promise and excitement that only Star Wars can create.
Let’s hope it’s a movie worthy of the title of Star Wars.
filmhan solojj abramslawrence kasdanmoviesscience fictionstar trekStar Warsthe force awakens
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hollidayx says:
Well said man
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Posts Tagged ‘Switzerland’
FORMER PRESIDENT FACES “WIKI-ARREST”
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor
Former President George “W” Bush has been forced to cancel a highly paid speaking engagement to an Israeli group in Switzerland. Bush was going to be arrested as a war criminal. He is now fighting extradition. This will not be reported in any American mainstream media.
Wikileaks, an organization many say exposes American hypocrisy while serving Israel’s global ambitions, a hypothesis well supported by even a cursory examination of the carefully chosen material “leaked” to date, has had one quite positive result worldwide. Human rights activists around the world have been vindicated and government after government is prepared to use the legal process to lash out at the remnants of America’s unilateralist policies during the Bush administration.
Bush, whose two term presidency saw a virtual takeover of most US government functions, both domestic and foreign, by Israeli interests, now faces imprisonment largely because of Wikileaks, an organization said to be directly controlled by Israeli intelligence.
Psychological warfare and disinformation are not perfect sciences. This may be the biggest “Wiki-backfire” yet.
MANY AMERICANS WHO TRAVEL UNDER THREAT
Americans abroad are seldom subject to legal scrutiny. That, however, seems to have changed. Now it seems, only Israelis will enjoy the privilege that has allowed acts like Israel’s piracy attack on the Freedom Flotilla to go unpunished. Now, however, with the chilling of relations between the US and Israel, more Americans are likely to be subjected to laws demanding accountability for their parts in governmental crimes, even though they were involved in a private capacity.
NATIONS UNDER OBLIGATION TO DETAIN THOSE COMPLICIT IN TORTURE OR DETAINEE ABUSE OF ANY KIND
In coloring America’s government as conspiratorial and criminal, Wikileaks has shined a spotlight on the broad involvement of many sectors in America, both public and private, and their roles in torture, murder, kidnapping and war for profit. At one time or another, every court, every police agency, every military command, every newspaper or network has knowingly advocated human rights abuses and too many have openly participated.
Totally by accident, Julian Assange may have done more to restrict air travel by Americans than the TSA, or even Michael Chertoff and the bogus “crotch bomber” or the long forgotten “Times Square fizzler.”
Wikileaks has placed a target on any American who travels.
“Did he torture in Iraq as a soldier?” “Did he advise on the legality of waterboarding as a law professor?” “Did she help prosecute an alleged terror suspect who had been abused?”
Not only Wikileaks, but the string of revolutions, all based on rights abuses to which the United States may have been fully complicit, has made the atmosphere even more charged. With many worldwide doubting the credibility of America’s claim its government wasn’t involved in staging 9/11, over 77% in Australia in a recent national poll, the human rights “rampage” waged at the demand of the United States under the discredited “war on terror” is facing wide legal review.
“GEORGE “W” BUSH, WANTED FOR TORTURE AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY”
An Israeli based ultra-nationalist group, Karen Haysod, is going to wait a long time to hear George W. Bush speak. Arrest warrants have been issued in Switzerland for Bush, charging him with a broad list of war crimes under a United Nations convention that obligates any signatory nation to take a violator, one believed to have been involved in torture in any manner, into custody. Though Bush is the highest profile target of this law, literally dozens of high government officials in the US are no longer free to travel openly, along with thousands of others including judges, prosecutors, law enforcement, security and intelligence officers and members of the US military.
Any American involved in the apprehension, detention, interrogation or prosecution of anyone who was subjected to any pain and suffering, mental of physical, is considered a war criminal and subject to arrest.
For the first time in American history, a former president is not free to travel, even to peaceful Switzerland, because of an outstanding warrant for his arrest. A 2500 page criminal indictment of George “W” Bush was said to be awaiting Bush if he entered Switzerland. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair faces similar “challenges” during travel, both men paralleling the situation Hitler and Mussolini might have been in had they survived World War II due to a negotiated peace, which could have been a real possibility, many historian say.
Bush has a tenuous claim to diplomatic immunity as a former chief of state. However, continual admissions of ordering “waterboarding” or “enhanced interrogation,” obligate the 147 nations that are signatory to the United Nations Convention on Torture to arrest, not only Bush, but members of his administration along with tens of thousands of members of America’s armed forces who have violated this law.
Precedents set at Nuremberg established a framework for even diplomats to be executed.
Von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister (diplomatic immunity)
Article I is simple and straight forward:
For the purposes of this Convention, torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider application.
Even more curious is Article 15. Other articles cover mandatory extradition for any violator and provide for no excuses, not “following orders” or taking legal advise from former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who, by the way, also faces criminal charges.
Each State Party shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made.
REPORTERS/PUNDITS/BLOGGERS EVEN ACTORS FACE ARREST
Everyone from conservative bloggers to talk radio hosts to starts of prime time TV dramas may be at risk for prosecution, not just for torture, international law, but under expanded national “hate crime” laws, some of which are quite undemocratic and draconian, all pushed through by powerful Zionist interests. Hundreds have been imprisoned already in Europe, Canada, Australia, jailed for “thought crimes,” generally criticism of Israeli foreign policy which is labeled as racism or Antisemitism. Defense of torture is covered by those same acts and now, with the current rift between the US and Israel, Americans who violated these laws in support of Israel face prosecution.
MOVIE POSTER PROMOTING TORTURE
Is this “perfect irony” or what?(sic)
Before 9/11, well organized penetration of the internet by a coordinated consortium of groups funded by the Heritage Organization, the American Enterprise Institute and the Republican Party, partnered with ultra-nationalist extremists in Israel, Netanyahu’s Likudists and their American branch, AIPAC set the tone for the wave of propaganda that would follow 9/11. The takeover of Fox News by Rupert Murdoch, an Israeli-Australian Likudist billionaire, put into motion the “cheerleaders of torture.”
Joining this group were dozens of former military officers, hired by the Pentagon, to spread news stories meant to justify torture and illegal detention. These “Pentagon Pundits” were only a part of the US government’s “psyop” (psychological operations) warfare program waged against the American people, a program carefully designed to condition the public to accept, not only diminished civil rights but widespread war crimes.
With websites like http://www.familysecuritymatters.org and its hundreds of virtual clones, some financed by “think tanks,” some by public relations firms representing munitions manufacturers, the post 9/11 internet environment seethed with “Islamophobia” and open advocacy of, not only torture and rendition, but “death squads” and assassinations as well.
The most effective tool in this psychological warfare operation against America, conditioning the public to, not only accept war crimes as acceptable but to openly support them, was the television and motion picture industry. Literally thousands of television shows and movies were produced with themes favoring torture, rendition and assassination.
Shows like “Rescue Me” continually “sold” the now refuted 9/11 cover story while others, NCIS and dozens of police dramas, vilified Muslims while presenting a bucolic view of life in Israel. Many openly depicted acts of torture and abuse of prisoners, carefully produced to gain public support, evil and cartoonish villains, heroic Mossad agents, leering “terrorists.”
Almost all shows were produced for viewing in America and Western Europe by Israeli citizens of members of pro-Zionist groups.
TORTURE AND EVANGELICAL ZIONISM, WAR CRIMINALS IN THE PULPIT
Torture was “sold” to congress, to the troops, to the American public as “Christian righteousness,” part of a “clash of cultures.” Half “crusade” and half “inquisition,” America’s military took on much of the language and many of the obscene practices of the Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición, the monstrosity of senseless imprisonment, degradation and abuse in order to extract confessions used to justify more torture and abuse.
From TV studios across America, from hundreds of pulpits, religious leaders, Christian Evangelicals, Zionists, Dominionists, hundreds of pastors including and especially the Chaplain’s Corps of the United States military, the call came out, justifying torture, murder and rape.
America chose to put the face of Christ on the mask of the torturer and executioner and in doing so, spat in the face of g-d himself.
INQUISITION-1478 SPAIN OR 2005 IRAQ?
The marriage between America’s primitive and often violent religious sects and right wing extremist politics that had begun during the Reagan administration reached full flower after 9/11, no longer constrained by any human accountability. America had contracted rabies.
All world religions are subject to attack, dogma should always be questioned. Any organization that holds belief over fact is subject to extremism. Fundamentalist sects, not just Islam, but Judaism and Christianity as well, seek a return religious law or Sharia, the Islamic name for the sacred law. Witch burning, stonings for adultery, all a part of Christian fundamentalism, one”Taliban” much like another.
One difference used to damn Islam, the extremes of dress in some Islamic nations have no basis in Koranic education but are derivative of 16th century Wahhabi “reforms unrelated to the teachings of the Prophet. (Peace Be on Him)
Where 7th century Islam may be spread by the sword, 20th century Judaism speaks of humans as “goyim” or cattle and religious leaders openly suggest that killing non Jews, even on whim, is consistent with “righteousness.” The rantings of the murderous Rabbi friends of Benjamin Netanyahu are mild in comparison to the calls for nuclear incineration of “non believers” that are heard daily during the hours of religious indoctrination that cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs are subjected to.
Torture becomes second nature. This is how Dr. Aafia could be held on an American Air Force base for five years, tortured and raped, then put on trial afterwards. As religious extremism infected the military, starting with the Commander in Chief downward, personal responsibility was abrogated for the Third Reich mentality and the old excuse, “I was only following orders.”
America’s expansion of Israeli tactics, kidnapping, torture, mass detentions, military tribunals, on a massive scale with innocent victims dragged off the streets in dozens of countries, later to be released without apology or “disappeared,” having died in captivity, succumbed to torture and abuse, has put every American under a microscope. Existing laws in Canada and Europe, enacted at the behest of Israel in order to suppress reexamination of the holocaust, can now be applied against any individual, even members of the press, who have spoken or even blogged in support of torture.
Wikileaks has, it seems, been very successful and perfectly timed. People around the world are standing up, yearning for freedom. America is an easy target. It invaded Iraq after starving 700,000 children to death. Its private airlines move kidnap victims, a rare few captured in battle, most kidnapped from streets, bus stations, dragging them to a slow death from torture. America’s friends, like Mubarak in Egypt, where hundreds of illegal detainees were tortured and killed in secret detention centers, are now coming under attack.
Though Wikileaks, despite empty promises, has failed to disclose secrets outlining the slaughter of 300,000 Palestinians in an open program of apartheid and ethnic cleansing and has safeguarded the secrets of 9/11, an awakened public will seek justice and not always look toward the misdirection Assange and his friends stage.
Today, one hateful and miserable failure, a “Bush” has been “inconvenienced.” The powerful and privileged of the world cringe at the idea that “one of them” might be asked to answer for crimes against humanity. Forces are being marshaled even now, legions of the cruel, the ignorant and unwashed, drawn to the side of the foppish thug.
Will Canada Arrest George Bush? (jonathanturley.org)
Canada urged to arrest and prosecute George W. Bush (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)
Amnesty International Wants George W. Bush Arrested (blippitt.com)
Amnesty International Seeks Bush’s Arrest (stevebeckow.com)
9/11: Video of Missile Hitting Pentagon Leaked (terorismsicontraterorismdotwordpressdotcom.wordpress.com)
Posted in 911, 911 attacks | Tagged: Bush, George W. Bush, Israel, Julian Assange, Michael Chertoff, Prisoner abuse, Switzerland, Tony Blair, United States, WikiLeaks | Leave a Comment »
The Truth About The Rothschild Family, Fractional Reserve Banking And The Great Hoax Called The Federal Reserve
Posted by angelbabe43 on July 29, 2011
Evidence Piling Up: Government, Elites Are Preparing For A Catastrophe (alternativenewsreport.net)
Video of The Month June 2011: Citizen Journalist Decodes Nibiru Flight Path Printed on A Swiss Bank Note (alternativenewsreport.net)
Michelle Obama’s Decadent Half Million Dollar African Junket (alternativenewsreport.net)
US Economy Has Been “Stimulated to Death” Under Obama’s Presidency (altnewsreport.wordpress.com)
Drudge Report: Watchdog Of Usurped Government’s Growing ‘Police State’. (politicalvelcraft.org)
Reuters [Wholly Owned By Rothschild] Says Reid [Elected By Voter Fraud] Moving Forward With Debt Limit Bill. (politicalvelcraft.org)
Rothschild’s Federal Reserve & New North American Dollar Ready: Hostile Takeover With Aid Of Canadian Prime Pimpster Stephen Harper! (politicalvelcraft.org)
The Rothschilds and the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (anationbeguiled.wordpress.com)
Rothschild’s New World Order Multiculturalism: Its All Just A Money Making Hoax ~ That Demands Your Loss Of Your Own Identity. (politicalvelcraft.org)
Posted in BLOODLINES, censorship of all kinds, Conspiracy, Currency, David Rockefeller, Deception &lies, FEDERAL RESERVE | Tagged: BarackObama, Economy of the United States, Federal Reserve System, Glass–Steagall Act, Michelle Obama, President, Switzerland, United State | Leave a Comment »
Americans Increasingly Concerned About Sovereignty
By James P. Tucker Jr.
The Bilderberg group will continue to try to profit from blood and hunger when the Group of 20 (G-20) and the Trilateral Commission meet in Washington, D.C. April 8 to 11. The two groups traditionally meet in the same city at the same time so orders are conveniently transmitted.
They recognize that patriotic Americans (those nasty “nationalists”) strongly oppose globalization and war for profit but are trying to make the case that America is constantly under threat. It appears they will sustain the recession that some call a depression into 2012, so that jobs created by manufacturing war machines seem more acceptable. This clearly emerged in the ringing words of participants at a warm-up meeting of G-20 finance ministers and international moguls in Paris in late February.
Protecting Israel “might require a military strike on Iran’s nuclear program,” Michael Mandelbaum wrote in the Bilderberg-controlled Washington Post on Feb. 20. “A war with Iran, like all wars, would be a decidedly perilous undertaking. But this administration . . . may ultimately decide that any alternative policy would be even more perilous. Continued American influence in the Middle East is crucial.”
Mandelbaumis a Bilderberg-Trilateralist mouthpiece and a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
In Washington, William Kristol, editor of the neo-con The Weekly Standard, joined in the Israeli cheerleading. He called for “the use of force” to protect Israel’s interests in the Mideast. “It means a full-scale engagement of the U.S. government, an across-the board effort with allies and international organizations.”
In Paris, calls for creating a world treasury department under the United Nations, a long-sought Bilderberg goal, were shrill if cautious, including from U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
“We must do something to protect the global economy [and] have some international control,” he said. There is “plenty of debate about how to solve global challenges in a multi-polar, interdependent world,” said Lawrence Chandy of the Brookings Institution, which is a public relations arm of Bilderberg-TC. Brookings annually publishes “white papers” supporting Bilderberg-TC goals, and several Brookings members participate in Bilderberg and TC meetings.
“The rise of the developing world quite rightly shapes our understanding of investment opportunities, the balance of military power, global government and more,” Chandy added.
But the international financiers glumly looked at new polls conducted by their own Washington Post showing that most Americans are overwhelmingly “nationalists” who would never knowingly surrender sovereignty to a world government. In 2001, the polls showed 60 percent of Americans were amenable to a world government. As public education increased through AMERICAN FREE PRESS and other nationalist journals, attitudes changed.
In 2003, only 42 percent would accept global government. That figure fell to 36 percent this year and continues to decline—and that is good news for you, and bad news for the global elite.
2011 Bilderberg Group Meeting Set In St. Moritz, Switzerland (angelbabe43.wordpress.com)
Understand the very real planned and growing NEW WORLD ORDER: (angelbabe43.wordpress.com)
Bilderberg Owned Publication The Economist: Yes, Powerful “Globocrat” Elites Are Running Things, It’s Not A Conspiracy (nwoandsecretsocieties.wordpress.com)
High Ranking Bilderberg Mason Spills the Beans on His Death-bed (angelbabe43.wordpress.com)
Bilderberg Group Exposed (unclesamsboot.wordpress.com)
Bilderberg Group Responsible for Unrest in the Arab World? (adamshallah.wordpress.com)
Posted in Bilderberg | Tagged: American Free Press, Bilderberg Group, Brookings Institution, Middle East, St. Moritz, Switzerland, Trilateral Commission, United States | 2 Comments »
2011 Bilderberg Group Meeting Set In St. Moritz, Switzerland
Posted on March 21, 2011 by Beyond The Curtain
James P. Tucker Jr.
The shadowy group known as Bilderberg will be gathering this year for its annual meeting at the resort city of St. Moritz, in southeastern Switzerland, June 9-12, but they will have a lot of company. St. Moritz is a short distance from Davos, the site of the regular high-priced meeting of thousands of bankers, political leaders and other notables called the World Economic Forum. But unlike at Davos, where the press is always welcome, Bilderberg still tries to maintain absolute secrecy.
Bilderberg has met in Switzerland four times over the years but never in the same city. Normally, when their sibling in crime, the Trilateral Commission (TC), meets in North America, Bilderberg does, too. This year, the TC will meet in Washington on April 8 to 10, but the Bilderbergers are avoiding the United States, in what may be an effort to fool the press.
Bilderberg has been called the most exclusive and secretive club in the world. To be admitted, you have to own a multinational bank, a multinational corporation or a country. Since its first meeting in 1953, it has been attended by the top powerbrokers, financial minds and world leaders.
The Bilderbergers hope that part of their common agenda with the “Trilateralists” will be accomplished by the time they meet: a U.S. invasion of Libya to generate increased Middle East turmoil so America can go to war with Iran, on Israel’s behalf.
As has happened for several years, the Bilderbergers will blubber about how “ evil nationalists” are blocking their efforts to achieve world government. They will order oil prices to climb so desperate Americans might be made more willing to surrender sovereignty to a world government. They will promote wars for profit, and will advance the call for a world government to impose peace—as if peace can be imposed.
It is ironic that Bilderberg attendees love Switzerland so much because they are poles apart politically from Switzerland, which declared itself a non-interventionist neutral country four centuries ago. It has been involved in none of the world’s bloody wars since.
The Bilderbergers can expect to be loudly greeted by AFP, European news outlets and some in the U.S. independent media. In Europe, major metropolitan daily newspapers from Paris, London and other cities give major coverage to Bilderberg. But The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times and their numerous chains will submit to muzzling because their top representatives are actual Bilderberg participants themselves.
AFP editor James P. Tucker Jr. is a veteran journalist who spent many years as a member of the “elite” media in Washington. Since 1975 he has won widespread recognition, here and abroad, for his pursuit of on-the-scene stories reporting the intrigues of global power blocs such as the Bilderberg Group. Tucker is the author of Jim Tucker’s Bilderberg Diary: One Man’s 25-Year Battle to Shine the Light on the World Shadow Government. Bound in an attractive full-color softcover and containing 272 pages—loaded with photos, many never published before—the book recounts Tucker’s experiences over the last quarter century at Bilderberg meetings. $25 from AFP. No charge for S&H in U.S.
Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Former Nato Secretary-General Admits Bilderberg Sets Global Policy
Bilderberg To Prolong Global Financial Recession For Another Year
Fed Denies Bernanke Attended Bilderberg
Bilderberg 2010 Agenda Leaked
http://beyondthecurtain.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/2011-bilderberg-group-meeting-set-in-st-moritz-switzerland/
Bilderberg To Meet In Switzerland (birdflu666.wordpress.com)
Was Obama The Bilderbergers’ Chosen One?| The Post & Email (gunnyg.wordpress.com)
Bilderberg Owned Publication The Economist: Yes, Powerful “Globocrat” Elites Are Running Things…. (mountainrepublic.net)
Posted in Bilderberg, NWO, STOP NWO, The committee of 300 | Tagged: American Free Press, An Interview With Aaron Russo, Bilderberg Group, full Documentary, Jim Tucker, Proof of Conspiracy, Reflections And Warnings, St. Moritz, Switzerland, Trilateral Commission, United States, World Economic Forum | 5 Comments »
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The Acid Bath →
Uncle Sam’s Fifth Column.
by Anna Raccoon on September 24, 2010
The tentacles of France’s obsession with equality run deep. It was originally an equality of the sexes and equality of the social status that was envisaged and enshrined in French law, long before the mass movement of peoples from different continents ever occurred to anyone.
Immigrants to France, especially those from the African sub-continent, arrived into a secular world in which they were apparently guaranteed equal education, and equal employment. The law said so.
In truth, it is so, in the bland world of the lawyers and legislators. Those early immigrants discovered an essential truth which is only just dawning in the UK. Neither law nor legislation changes the emotions in the hearts of those they seek to control.
The children of the Algerian immigrants were guaranteed a seat in their local school, guaranteed a teacher who taught them equally. Gained French citizenship. It was when they left school that the problems started. In theory they should have been eligible for any job. In practice the job interviews failed to materialise. True, in a few isolated cases, you may be able to show that you have been discriminated against, providing you have the time, money, and inclination to take on the arcane French legal system – but nothing could prevent the vast majority of Frenchmen from preferring to employ other Frenchmen.
The notorious banlieues – the ghetto communities clustered round the legs of the vast over ground motorways that speed you on your way South – at a price – began to fill up to bursting point with the flotsam and jetsam of a society that couldn’t get a job, was permanently broke, and mysteriously, almost exclusively black, and Muslim.
It is the hidden racism of France. Despite all the concessions made by the UK government towards a similar community – there is very little difference in the size or number of these ghettoes.
One thing that is different, as of this week, is the response of other countries, notably America, to this problem.
For America has decided that the French have abandoned their poor, black, Muslim neighbourhoods, and kindly Uncle Sam has stepped in to fill the breech. I am not sure it is an initiative that should bring cheer, nor how the British would feel if it was supplanted to, say, Bradford.
Since Barack Obama was elected, the United States Embassy in Paris has been running an ‘outreach’ programme in the ghettoes – heavily sub-titled ‘the French may have forgotten you, but Uncle Sam cares’.
With a budget of $3 million dollars, Uncle Sam has been on a hearts and minds campaign, importing popular American rap artistes, running seminars for budding local politicians, coaching them in communications, electoral strategy and fund raising, and organising ‘urban renewal programmes’.
On one level it is good to see the US spending its money on something other than bombing Muslims back into the third century, but on the other hand, are they not deliberately fostering and supporting an already explosive sense of being alienated from the state to which they should owe their allegiance?
The French governments response to ‘unrest’ – as the periodic car-B-ques and riots are politely referred to, is to contain the area, let the residents flambé as much of their own property as they wish, and then to denounce them as criminals. It is a no nonsense approach.
The American initiative is closer to the British idea of appeasement and compromise, but if, (as scarcely seems likely) the British government suddenly started to expect the so called ‘deprived areas’ to behave with decorum and respect towards their hosts, or face the consequences – how would the British feel about the US muscling in and saying in effect ‘There, there, we understand, Uncle Sam will give you some treats and baubles, even if your nasty government has put you on the naughty step’.
Previous American interference in sovereign nation’s affairs has been preceded by Exocet missiles, followed by the hearts and minds campaign.
This time the hearts and minds campaign is in the vanguard. I just hope they don’t follow it up with the Exocets if the French government doesn’t do as they want.
Antisthenes September 24, 2010 at 17:47
Exocets if memory serves are French made.
Indyanhat September 24, 2010 at 17:48
Oh how I wish America would just f…become isolationist again!
Ian R Thorpe September 24, 2010 at 18:52
Sidi Obama truly believes he was elected (by members of minorities only) as President Of The Entire Universe And Everything Else Besides.
France does not have a great recod on dealing with immigrants but where is Africa, Asia or South America are things any better.
And as for Australian, don’t even go there (unless you are European)
JuliaM September 24, 2010 at 19:03
“… something other than bombing Muslims back into the third century…”
Are you sure you didn’t mean forward..?
indigomyth September 24, 2010 at 19:14
//something other than bombing Muslims back into the third century//
considering the social and political landscape of those benighted places where Islam is powerful, ought that to be
//bombing Muslims forward into the third century//
Dammit, I see that Julia got there ahead of me. Pipped at the post by 11 minutes
Paleo September 24, 2010 at 19:32
Well considering the Mohammedan heresy didn’t manifest itself until the 7th century Anno Domini the point is moot…
English Viking September 24, 2010 at 19:35
There were no muslims in the 3rd Century. Mo was born in 570/71.
That I presume is the intention of the US then. Before Mo.
Quite possibly, but let’s not pretend that Islam and Christianity were almost contemporaneous.
gladiolys September 24, 2010 at 20:21
From the NY Times, 22nd September… “has grown in scale and visibility since the election of Barack Obama.”, which would imply it began under a previous administration, probably Bush, in an effort to prevent disaffected French African muslims from becoming terrorists. Given that the embassy is working WITH French local government. what’s your problem? Given that your article implies that French muslims have every reason to feel disaffected, what’s your problem? Given that the Americans don’t want to be Twin Towered back a few decades, what’s the problem.? You sneer at war and you sneer at outreach, so I’m interested in what would be your solution?
gladiolys,
I don’t ‘sneer’ at war, I simply don’t understand how killing thousands of people is supposed to solve anything. I don’t agree with people marching over borders and imposing their will anymore than I agree with people marching into your house, my house, and imposing their will. I don’t agree with people interferring with other peoples business in some mistaken belief that their truth is more valid than anybody elses. I don’t agree with violence.
That is completely different from ‘sneering’ at it.
France is a democracy. The people voted for their government, as we do in the UK – with all the frailties and drawbacks of the electoral system. If people living under a government don’t like it, then pack your bags and leave quietly. As for other countries ‘not liking’ how a country is run – none of their busienss, any more than it is anybody elses business how I run my home or my blog. The US is free to treat its own citizens as it pleases/as they are prepared to put up with. What business is it of the US if French Muslims become terrorists? Only if they attack America is it their business.
Are you happy for the US to step into Britain and start a programme designed to stop British Muslims from becoming terrorists – or do you think that is rightfully the concern of the British government? Perhaps you are happy that the US sees itself as some sort of world policeman? A lot of people are, so long as they confine their activites to Afghanistan or Iraq, but when they seriously start interferring in the business of the government you have voted in power, you might feel differently.
Oh look, the US thinks the Con-Dem government has ‘abandoned’ everyone north of the border, they are going to start pumping money into training politicians, no forget that, they think they might start arming everybody in the North as they once armed Al Quaeda…….
Hi Anna…. ok, sneer was the wrong word. Sorry. I should have used “dismiss”. And I agree with you about war . Afghanistan should have been a Mossad-like police operation: get in, grab bin Laden, get out, put him on trial in USA, execute him (if found guilty – and I’m not pro death penalty either but the Yanks can do it under their law). Warn the Taliban their leaders face the same actions if terrorism happens in USA again that can be traced to them. Iraq should never ever have happened at all.
But the article you wrote appeared to me to miss the point that the French are co-operating with this. Is it possible their government is happy to accept Uncle Sam’s dollar to help combat their own threat of home grown terrorism? Al Quaeda in the Mahgreb have said France is its number one target and France is on a high terror alert.. So maybe France is quite happy this time to co-operate with the USA, who began this programme before Barak Obama. He has tried to wind down the war operations in both Iraq and in Afghanistan and is doing all he can to avoid it in Iran.
Terror is a global phenomenon, with communities linked in ways never before possible, through internet and phone etc so it’s possible the French home grown threat could spread USA=wards.
American citizens were happy to by-pass their government to finance Irish terrorism in Great Britain (and their government did bugger all to stop it). The world is global. Everybody thinks they have a stake in somebody else’s affairs. I, probably like you, think we should deal with problems in our own home before we start re-arranging the furniture in somebody else’s. That would be my approach. Or maybe we have to accept that all life will always be a war between competing ideas, philosophies, faiths and needs and we should find a way to incorporate that into a way of being where they can compete without violence. (Fat chance, I’d admit, but we can but aspire.)
But I was genuine in my last question. I have no answers in how to solve any of this in the violent cocked-up world we live in.. Do you?
Gladiolys
Woman on a Raft September 25, 2010 at 10:39
History note, as it seems to be overlooked: at the time of the Afg invasion the West had been under pressure from groups such as RAWA
http://www.rawa.org/index.php
and other humanitarian and feminist groups to DO something. There had been a great deal of handwringing and how the world didn’t care when it was just women and children being treated worse than cattle.
In respect of Iraq, the lunacies of Sadam’s brother in particular attracted attention and was regularly discussed in mens general interest magazines, such as Maxim. There was a general perception that if we were Iraqi/Afghani, we too would hijack planes in order to get the hell out, they could hardly be blamed for wanting to live.
There was, therefore, an argument that the regimes had to be controlled if only because the alternative was that almost the entire population of both countries would have to be allowed to reside here. Although the anti-war protestors were active by then, public opinion was much more divided than it currently is over the general case for Doing Something.
Further to Gladyolis: she is correct about the funding of terrorism in N Ireland, however it is no coincidence that something approximating to peace broke out just after 9/11. Bush suddenly was able to exert financial controls which would never have been allowed before; essentially he was able to stem the private funding of a war on what is supposed to be one of America’s allies.
Just a point: The Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland which has (largely) led to the cessation of terrorist actions came into force on 2nd December 1999.
The Twin Towers plane attack was on 11th September 2001 so I’m not sure how relevant it is to say that: “Bush suddenly was able to exert financial controls which would never have been allowed before; essentially he was able to stem the private funding of a war on what is supposed to be one of America’s allies.”
Private money cared not a jot for the GF agreement. Nobody really gives a damn what Tony Blair negotiated, except Blair would like to get a mention in the history books.
It wasn’t until there were concerted efforts based on stopping money to Al Qaeda, which coincidentally stopped the money to the IRA, that Adams was much more sensible about accepting the Danegeld from the British taxpayer and playing nicely. Previously his strategy had been to take the money but reserve his weaponry.
The IRA announced decommissioning on 24 October 2001, after what was diplomatically described as negotiations.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/1616686.stm
History will have to sort out exactly how the money gyrated (some commentators insist Libya was the main conduit rather than direct donations via fake charities) but the shock of 9/11 and the determination that money would not flow from America to its enemies, allowed Bush to hustle through the constitutionally dodgy Patriot Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act
which sounds like it was drafted by Tom Clancy and works that way, too. At any other time in US history the American public would not have stood for it.
The Act was signed in to law on October 26, 2001, which is two days after the IRA announced decommissioning. This means they weren’t connected at all, no siree.
The GF Agreement broke down by 2002 and the IRA hung on to its weapons indefiance of what had been agreed, but by then the Patriot Act was beginning to squeeze Adam’s wallet. Money that had previously gone, allegedly, via drugs and the PLO to Libya which used it to sponsor IRA training and arms, dried up. Besides, better investigation exposed more thoroughly what had been known for years; the IRA was largely an organized crime syndicate. It was no longer possible for US donors to keep patting themselves on the head for sponsoring terrorists and gangsters.
The IRA formally renounced violence on 28 July 2005,
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/international/europe/29irish.html
finally agreeing to decommission weapons in the wake of the 7/7 attacks in London.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings
They eventually realized that they didn’t have long enough spoons to eat with that particular devil. It was wryly noted by Alexandra Colen at the Brussels Journal and by Dymphna at The Gates of Vienna that the IRA wished to make it known that they weren’t as bad as the Jihadis because, er, they didn’t kill themselves and their victims were not nearly as dead.
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/132
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2005/08/george-bush-defeats-ira.html
I stand enlightened.
“… I simply don’t understand how killing thousands of people is supposed to solve anything.”
It’s perfectly possible. But it has to be the right thousands of people…
Châtelaine September 24, 2010 at 23:42
Right, Anna.
I have, so far, not found any interference of the USofA having been of benefit anywhere, anytime for the locals. Apart from [a genuine thank you!] their help on ending the WWII. But for the rest, they have been supporting and then fighting, training, supporting and then fighting the same groups for decades. Trigger: what would benefit them. Can we call it Oil, just to name one?
Robespierre September 25, 2010 at 15:33
Moot point. The main beneficiaries of the US intervention in the 1940′s were the Americans. The European empires were dismantled, our commercial secrets were looted, we were enslaved by their debt for decades, and they still didn’t rid us of the “ism” from the east. America looks after America first and foremost.
They didn’t donate us their weapons, they lease lent them. We paid for them.
Dave Lodge September 25, 2010 at 17:46
Spot-on, Robespierre!
ChrisM September 25, 2010 at 17:20
Interesting article Anna thanks.
I wonder if whats going on is less about stopping extremism and is more about politicising France’s minorities to increase the likelyhood of a left wing government. With the number of new American citizens voting democrat every election it will be very hard for the republicans to get into power again. Perhaps Obama wants to duplicate this outcome elsewhere. Particulary with the rise of the far right in Europe.
Forget the Republicans. The Tea party is making the U.S. political weather…………..for now. Which, on reflection, would lend credence to your theory.
My own feelings are that you could be right Chris.
Elaine September 26, 2010 at 17:59
a) French left wingers and American democrats have about as much in common as Catholics and born-again evangelists – the words “left” and “christian” respectively, not much else.
b) the French left wing is already more than alive and well – almost fully transitioned from Marxism/Leninism to Trotskyism/altermondialism now, with a few burgeons of social democracy slowly emerging to supplant old school socialism when you lean to the centre. Its liveliness is in fact something of a national trait.
The children of the Algerian immigrants were guaranteed a seat in their local school, guaranteed a teacher who taught them equally.
You have the same view of French schools as the Guardian journalist you quoted a while back – and are both equally mistaken imho.
We can’t go to the (state) school we want, we have to go to one in the neighbourhood, so poor neighbourhoods will have schools populated with children with poor backgrounds (and neighbourhoods with a high proportion of immigrants will have schools with a high proportion of children whose mother tongue isn’t French, so while everyone will speak French to native level by the baccalaureat, it might be with a slight accent, which is even worse than a regional accent to find a job). Teachers, however, do chose which schools they’ll go to (within availability of teaching posts). So the best teachers – those who had the best grades at the IUFM, those who get the best notations by their inspector – will get to chose first. Oh coincidence, they prefer to go to quiet schools, with children from middle class backgrounds who already speak French and whose parents will pay for no end of private tuition if that’s what needed to get them to the right university. And the poor schools will be taught by the newest, most incompetent teachers, who even with the best of wills will find it considerably harder to get everyone to the same standard.
This was not the case 50 years ago when the examen d’entrée en classe de sixième made it hard for everyone to go to high school (the alternative was technical training). It was hard enough to weed the idiots out and easy enough to make it an attainable goal for lower-class children. Ditto for the baccalauréat before entrance to university. Fewer pupils meant fewer schools, meaning the “being in the right neighbourhood” factor was less important. The classical progression was then poor parents, gifted child becomes a teacher, gifted grandchild becomes a lawyer, doctor, university professor etc. Président Pompidou’s grandfather shovelled manure in someone’s stable for a living. We’ve progressively lowered our standards, school is now that rite of passage thing we do before becoming whatever our parents were rather than a genuine social selection / recognition process.
There is prejudice in job discrimination, but I do think it’s social class / economic status prejudice rather than racism. Add to that a 10% unemployment rate and you have the present situation.
Americans are however, in my experience, highly unused to dealing with anything outside of the racism angle.
Elaine – I said guaranteed a teacher who taught them equally – not guaranteed a teacher of equal quality……! I do agree with the rest of what you say though.
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HANSARD 1803–2005 → 1960s → 1960 → July 1960 → 27 July 1960 → Commons Sitting
New Clause "B".—(EFFECT OF REGULA TIONS UNDER S. 64 OF Rom) TRAFFIC ACT, 1960.)
HC Deb 27 July 1960 vol 627 cc1734-8 1734
§ Lords Amendment: In page 26, line 37, at end insert new Clause "B": B. No such provision contained in regulations made or having effect as if made under subsection (1) of section sixty-four of the Road Traffic Act, 1960, as imposes or varies requirements with respect to the braking systems with which motor vehicles must be equipped shall be taken, for the purposes of subsection (3) of that section, or of any other provision of the regulations, to be one relating to the construction of vehicles.
§ Mr. Hay
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
On this point I must stand in a white sheet. The House will recollect that at a very early stage in our discussions on the Bill we had to make strong suggestions to hon. Members that they should exercise a self-denying ordinance regarding the extension of the scope of the Bill. At that stage it appeared likely that if the scope of the Bill were widely extended from matters in the original draft, and if road safety and cognate matters were introduced, there might be a serious risk that we should lose the Bill altogether in view of the timetable 1735 to which we were working. We therefore urged hon. Members not to extend the scope of the Bill.
7.30 p.m.
In another place the Government had to swallow their own words and ask far the scope of the Bill to be extended because this new Clause became necessary. The problem we are up against is this. As the House knows, the vehicle testing scheme is due to start on 12th September. The standard which must be applied by the test, particularly in respect of brakes, is laid down in new amending Regulations which we have recently made to the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations. Those Regulations themselves provide that certain standards must be complied with by all vehicles at all times and the new test will be conducted in respect of the amending regulations.
A risk we have to face when we are talking about brakes is that someone might claim that brakes are not part of the equipment of a vehicle, but part of its construction. The fact is that the statute law which governs the making of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations appears to require a standard to be laid down related only to the equipment and not to the construction of vehicles for the purposes of the test.
We were in this difficulty, that, although we ourselves were satisfied that brakes were part of the equipment of a vehicle and not part of its construction, there was a risk that after 12th September someone might go to a testing station with his car, have it failed because his brakes were wrong, and then take the matter to court, saying that our regulations were ultra vires, and that, therefore, his test certificate ought to have been issued. If the court then decided—and it is a possibility, in view of a recent case—that the brakes were not part of the equipment, but part of the construction, the new scheme would have been "bust" right open and we would be in great trouble. For that reason, we have to take the opportunity presented by this Bill to ask Parliament to enact this new Clause, which puts the matter beyond -any kind of doubt. I hope that with that explanation and apologies for having broken the advice I myself gave to the 1736 House, the House will give us this new Clause.
§ Mr. Benn
The hon. Gentleman is always plausible and, in a white sheet, he is irresistible. It would be a pity, however, if we passed this new Clause without comment. We have been told over the last four years that there were legal difficulties which prevented the implementation of the vehicle testing scheme. The scheme, when it comes in, will be a modest and a poor measure. It will make compulsory testing of vehicles over ten years old, but in other countries—in Germany for example—cars are tested every two years. We regard this as a poor scheme, but it has been delayed for four years because of this particular legal difficulty.
This is the only legislative change that it has been necessary to make to bring the scheme into operation. We have the Orders already on the Table of the House and they do not concern us here, but those Orders derive from legislation already passed by the House. The only legal difficulty which requires legislation was the one which is being corrected by this new Clause. It seems quite startling, and amazing, that this House should have to delay the implementation of the testing scheme for four years until a Bill on a quite different subject happened to come from the Department to the House.
We are all experimenting in traffic control, road safety, and everything else. I think that the lesson of this new Clause—which we on this side of the House warmly welcome—is that we must be prepared to accept from the Minister certain powers even if the House does not always know exactly for what they are needed. We must, of course, build into that the precaution of the affirmative Resolution. If we can get over the difficulty by the Department having greater powers to prevent a delay of this kind—which, on a statistical basis, must have cost many lives because it is known that the scheme will lead to a reduction in the number of deaths on the road—we ought, in future, to have enough powers in reserve to prevent such a thing happening.
I do not say this in a truculent spirit, but when we first saw the Bill we said that the Long Title was too tightly 1737 drawn. We pleaded with the hon. Gentleman to widen the Title and the Financial Resolution so that it would have been possible for us to correct other anomalies and omissions which we thought existed in road traffic and road safety law. We should certainly have put them forward in a very constructive spirit. We would have brought them for ward in Committee and the Government would still have had the Bill by tomorrow, but they turned down our suggestion.
Now the hon. Gentleman comes along with a nice smile and a good case—and those two together are unbeatable—and says that we shall have to alter the Title. Without saying "I told you so", we feel tint there are lessons to be learned from this. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will be promoted in future, but, if we have another Bill from his Department I very much hope that there will be an opportunity to make the powers wide enough to deal with contingencies as they arise.
Mr. Gresham Cooke
I do not think that the hon. Member for Bristol, South-East (Mr. Benn) quite appreciates that anything to do with motor vehicles has an effect on the law which makes the lane exactly contrary to what everyone else thinks it is. The ordinary person has always regarded brakes as part of the construction of the vehicle, but apparently legally they are part of the equipment. This little difficulty is not by any means the only difficulty in the testing of vehicles. There are all sorts 1738 of guarantees of braking, standards of braking, and so on. From my experience of this matter I think that we ought to pass this Clause to put the matter right.
I am obliged to the hon. Member for Bristol, South-East (Mr. Benn) for the way in which he has received the new Clause. I thought it might be trying human nature a little hard to expect him to refrain from trying to rub our noses in it to some extent, but I am obliged to him.
Since he has asked about it, I should like to put on record that this is the only legislative change we have had to make before bringing in the testing scheme, if, by legislative change, we mean a change in Statute law, but there have been other changes in administrative and legislative arrangements. I can assure the House that we think that we have now got the thing absolutely right. I beg the House to consider what would have happened, and what an outcry there would have been—how triumphant some people outside who have been inveterate opponents of the vehicle testing scheme would have been—if it were discovered that there was a loophole or error which could have brought the scheme down. That is why I think that we are justified in bringing this forward and I am obliged for the way in which it has been received.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Remaining Lords Amendments agreed to.
Back to Clause 14.—(CHARGES FOR REMOVING AND STORING VEHICLES.)
Forward to BETTING AND GAMING BILL
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