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Do not underestimate the power of Magnavox in CD-i
>> Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The return of Magnavox in the videogames market with CD-i was for some people a major event. While we normally associate Philips with the CD-i format, Philips used a lot of knowledge of the Magnavox past with CD-i. Magnavox was the worldwide first manufacturer of the video console with the Odyssey. Even Nintendo started their business by selling Magnavox systems to the Asian market. The role of Magnavox ended with a library full of videogame patents, which generated a lot of money out of licenses including Pong and the lightgun peripheral to second party developers.
Magnavox was acquisited by Philips in 1974, mainly to get feet on the ground in the USA. However, Magnavox was more than just a manufacturer of audio and video, and it's no surprise they put out an early game system called the Odyssey in the States (The Videopac in Europe). While the system might not have been the most advanced system of its time (1), they developed several models (2) and licensed the system to other brands (3). Three aspects applicable on CD-I as well!) Last but not least the Magnavox game system was the start of an important library of patents.
These patents were so significant that later when Philips applied pressure to other companies, concessions were made. For example at one point Philips owned 10% of Activision (the software company). Activision had its roots on the original Atari 2600 unit which really started off the videogame revolution in the US. The Odyssey might have been first, but it was poorly marketed (just like CD-I). The Atari 2600 was the king of the scene, and it was all way before the Nintendo and Sega era. Just think of the history of Donkey Kong …
Something else that might be of high interest is the fact that Nintendo's first venture in the console world was selling the Magnavox Odyssey in Japan, before the company introduced its own consoles. The essence why Philips was granted the use of Nintendo's characters in CD-i games is merely a result of this war of (Magnavox) patents and patent violation, rather than negotiations of the SNES CD-ROM deal.
The importance of Magnavox in the life of Philips CD-i is highly underestimated. To name a few more examples: Magnavox proved that consoles for the home could be designed. Magnavox also won a court case against Nolan Bushnell for patent infringement in Bushnell's design of Pong, as it resembled the tennis game for the Odyssey. The Odyssey was successful enough to support an add-on peripheral, the first-ever commercial "light gun" called the Shooting Gallery. This detected light from the TV screen, however pointing the gun at a nearby light bulb also registered as a "hit".
another one, perhaps way more interesting: Ralph H. Baer (born 1922) is a German-born American inventor, noted for his many contributions to games and the video game industry. In 2005, he was named a recipient of the National Medal of Technology. He invented the home console for video games. Baer is best known for leading the development of the first home video game console with the Brown Box. He sold his idea to Magnavox who came out with the Magnavox Odyssey, which was introduced in 1972. Baer, who has a background in television work, developed the system in 1966 for the defense-electronics company Sanders Associates in Nashua, New Hampshire (now part of BAE Systems). It was licensed to Magnavox and for a time was Sanders' most profitable line, even though many in the company looked down on game development.
1972: Magnavox Odyssey - The First Home Video Game System
Production of the Magnavox Odyssey began on January 27th, 1972, with sales starting in May 1972. The Odyssey was a primitive video game system by modern standards, only being capable of generating a few moving elements on the television screen. The system used the plastic screen overlay method that originated with Winky Dink to add colored play fields to the games that came packaged with the system. The system was programmable, but achieved its logic entirely from discreet electronic components- there was no microprocessor and the cartridges were merely jumpers that reconfigured the electronics inside the console. The Odyssey was poorly marketed, with some dealers even claiming the unit would only work on Magnavox TV's, a claim they were able to get away with as the concept of attaching a device to the television antenna terminals was novel. The Odyssey was withdrawn after about a year on the market.
Engineer Ralph Baer originated the design of the Magnavox Odyssey system, and he later went on to work on the prototype ColecoVision expansion module that would have permitted RCA's SJT400 interactive VideoDisc player to communicate with the ColecoVision game console via the control port. The Dutch electronics giant Philips later acquired the Magnavox company, so they would have an American infrastructure to market DiscoVision LaserDisc players that were being jointly developed with MCA.
Here is a quote from "The Coleco Story" written by Ralph H. Baer in May 2000 concerning a five-inch CED he suggested to RCA: "Another invention of mine which I had taken with me to demo at that same meeting in 1982 also resulted in an instant license agreement with Coleco. I had a demo promoting the idea of using a video-disc under control of a ColecoVision game (and presumably ADAM, later on) for interactive game use. To make this scheme economically feasible, I had discussions with Jon Clements - who headed the videodisc program at RCA - about building a 5 inch version of their Selectavison 12 inch video disk unit... shades of computer and game systems using shiny, round 5" CD-ROM disks for interactive games... only twenty years too early. Coleco started to negotiate an agreement with RCA and all went well until the ADAM fiasco put a halt to this development effort. That was too bad...and nearly twenty years would go by until fully-digital versions of that system would reappear in the video game world. As for myself, I went on to develop interactive video-disk-based systems at Sanders which were used for military training-and-education purposes with considerable success. Coleco recovered courtesy of the ugliest dolls in the world - the Cabbage Patch dolls - Although I tried a few times, I would never be able to place a product idea with Coleco again; electronics had become at no-no at Coleco. The company finally went out of business in the late eighties. ColecoVision games continue to have a loyal following in the Classic Games community... I'm still waiting to see one of the retro-game designers interface it to a CD-ROM to extend the machine's capabilities. That would complete the circle I started in 1982 and never quite closed. Is anybody out there listening?"
This article is an altered and updated version of the Nintendo story originally published March 1, 2006 @ Interactive Dreams. Credits: Cedmagic
Labels: Hardware, History
Bas, April 25, 2007 at 9:16 PM
for those who applied to our email service: Sometimes I want to re-archive posts or re-arrange them here to get the best out of it. Therefore it happens you receive the same posts again! That's part of the service, but these things won't happen often! At least you're updated with the latest version!
BEPL continued CD-i support up to 2000
Portuguese CD-i exclusives
Accelerator: the more you drive, the more fun you ...
Tecno Plus: original third party CD-i controllers
Do not underestimate the power of Magnavox in CD-i...
The CD-i defective NV-RAM Timekeeper Battery issue...
15 years and we still don't have the ultimate mult...
The Dame was Loaded - another CD-i game cancelled
... And now for something completely different
Pictures of the Sony Portable CD-I IVO-V11 Intelli...
Interactive Dreams Site Enhancements
Litil Divil: We've got the maps!
Sony 's first foray into CD based gaming was the C...
Promotional material of Philips Media, CD-i and it...
The most beautiful CD-i player in the world
Dimo's Quest: everything you'd want in a Chip's Ch...
Electronic Arts: CD-i was interesting
A closer look at the Kyocera CD-i player
Frog Feast CD-i: a long way to go
Philips both started and ended CD-i with Atari
CD-Imagine (6) - Star Wars: Rebel Assault
Tetris: The Classic becomes a Legend on CD-i
CD-i Gold Club
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TV Review: American Idol Season 2 —Top 5 – Elton John, Personal Heroes, Bobby Bones Choices
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TV Review: American Idol Season 2 – Top 20 Duets Part One
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Comic Book Movie
Concert Movie
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Cool News of the Day: All 22 Official James Bond Films on Blu-ray in Bond 50
James Bond fans know very well that 2012 is a big year for the movie franchise, as it is the 50th anniversary of the October 5, 1962 U.K. theatrical release of Dr. No (which premiered in the U.S. the next year, 1963).
Two huge Bond events are coming this fall, with Skyfall – the latest film in the series – hitting U.K. theaters October 26 and U.S. screens November 9, 2012. Preceding Skyfall by only a few weeks, is Bond 50 – a massive 23 disc Blu-ray set, collecting all 22 official Bond films in 1080p for the first time ever. The box set will be released September 25, 2012.
Nine of the films – You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, GoldenEye, and Tomorrow Never Dies – will be available on Blu-ray for the very first time with this set.
Each film will be accompanied with hours of extras carried over from previous releases (press materials for Bond 50 have said there are, in total, more than 120 hours of bonus material total). The 23rd disc contains some newly produced features, including “The World of Bond” and “Being Bond” – the latter containing an optional pop-up trivia track, the latter looks at all six actors who have embodied Agent 007 – Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.
If that wasn’t enough, Amazon.com currently is offering an exclusive package that also includes the hardcover book, James Bond: 50 Years of Movie Posters. The Bond 50 collection is available for pre-order now.
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Chaz Lipp
July 19, 2012 January 16, 2015 Chaz Lipp
One thought on “Cool News of the Day: All 22 Official James Bond Films on Blu-ray in Bond 50”
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Research ArticleInspiring Minds
Fred Apple
Misia Landau
DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2013.217968 Published April 2014
e-mail misia.landau@gmail.com
For correspondence: misia.landau@gmail.com
Fred Apple was born in June 1953 in the Hudson River Valley city of Troy, New York, just 20 miles from the Vermont border. Every summer, his parents would pack him and his brothers into the family car, cross into Vermont, and then head northeast toward the White Mountains and the town of Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Once a sleepy mill town, Bethlehem, with its mountain air and views, was transformed into a glittering resort during the waning decades of the 19th century, the so-called Gilded Age. Wealthy patrons—along with presidents and poets like Robert Frost—came by train to fill the elegant hotels and mansions that lined the streets. With the rise of cars, they began visiting other spots and the grand buildings fell into disuse. Around 1916, Jewish families seeking relief from hay fever began flocking to Bethlehem—and they and their descendants kept coming.
“You have to picture all these people moving into the town for the summer. There were kids everywhere,” Apple said. For him, Bethlehem would be a kind of Shangri-La. “We had a community there that was just kind of an escape from the real world,” he said. His grandparents had a modest bungalow where he and his family stayed, though Apple was rarely indoors. Naturally outgoing and intensely athletic, he would spend his days shooting hoops and playing softball with friends, some of whom he still sees. They would hike and camp in the White Mountains 2 or 3 times a week. And every day, Apple would golf. He learned to play at the age of 7 and was, by all accounts, a natural.
“Fred has always had one of the prettiest golf swings that anybody's ever seen,” said his younger brother Gary Apple, who works as a sportscaster in New York City. “He was born with this really magical, in tempo, never changing swing that has never really left him. It's sort of a part of who he is. I think it goes back, in many ways, to his personality—he's somewhat unflappable. I think that's pervasive in a lot of avenues in his life.”
Apple has pursued other passions over the years—rock and roll, cooking, opera, and running. His penchant for running—he would run 12 marathons in 6 years—is the stuff of legend. He runs through wind, sleet, and rain—in the wee hours of the coldest, darkest Minneapolis morning and in the midst of snowstorms. Once, while living in St. Louis, he jumped out of a taxi and ran all the way home—7 miles through a driving blizzard—when he heard what the driver wanted to charge him. “He didn't get into an argument,” said Jack Ladenson, the Oree M. Carroll and Lillian B. Ladenson professor of clinical chemistry at Washington University School of Medicine. “He said, ‘I'm getting ripped off. I'm not going to do it—and pops right out of the car.’”
Apple revealed an almost uncanny flair early in his profession as a clinical chemist. In 1980, after a few rudderless years—he turned down a graduate program at Princeton and a postdoc at Harvard—he came to work with Ladenson. He quickly made a splash when he and a colleague, also a runner, drew their own blood and found that the reigning biomarker for heart attacks, creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), was elevated after intense exercise—an observation that helped transform the field of cardiac biomarkers. Over the following years, as medical director of clinical laboratories at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, he set out, along with Ladenson and others, to develop a new kind of assay based on measurements of the troponin I protein. Partnering with industry, he helped to refine and implement an array of troponin I tests so exquisitely sensitive that they could measure the minutest fluctuations in protein levels—which brought its own set of challenges: how do you distinguish between normal and elevated concentrations of troponin I? What does it mean to be normal? What does it mean to be at risk for a heart attack?
Intellectually curious and energetic, Apple has tackled these and other scientific challenges—he is also medical director of the toxicology laboratories at Hennepin—with relish. At the same time, he is intensely hands on and practical. Helping patients is a critical part of the bargain.
“Fred was one of the first to recognize the value of the troponin assay for myocardial infarction,” said Scott Sharkey, a cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and an old colleague and friend of Apple. “Once you make that diagnosis it easily translates into millions of lives saved.”
It's tempting to link Apple's professional success, and his renown is worldwide, to that golf swing. “He is calmly competent and calmly on top of things though sometimes when you talk with him you wonder, ‘Is he really going to pull something off?’ And then he always does,” said Ladenson. Part of it may go back to the game—in golf, decorum is prized over showmanship. But the fact is, Apple still can't quite believe his luck. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that this type of work would've allowed me to see the world and contribute to science in the field worldwide,” he said.
“His career path has surprised even him,” said his brother Gary. Serendipity may have played a role but it is possible to discern in the arc of his career another kind of motivation. Coming to work with Ladenson after turning down other offers—and then joining clinical chemistry with his love of running—it's as though Apple was waiting to find the right moment to swing. He makes his own decisions, in his own time—when he feels a personal connection. He has travelled the world and yet he has stayed at the same job for 31 years—he loves the hospital where he works. It goes back to his golf game but what drives him may also be a desire to recapture the feeling of community that he found in Bethlehem.
Certainly the Apple family roots run deep in the Northeast and, in particular, the Hudson River Valley. The Gilded Age, with its promise of opportunity and wealth, drew waves of Jewish immigrants from the far corners of Europe, including Apple's grandparents. They were less than 5 years old when they arrived in Ellis Island during the 1890s. After a short stay in New York City, Apple's paternal grandmother and grandfather moved with their families to Troy, which by then was fast becoming a melting pot of tightly knit communities. They met there and married. Raised in the Orthodox Jewish tradition, they passed the same customs of observing sabbath and keeping kosher to their son Ira, Apple's dad.
Ira, it turned out, had terrible hay fever. He heard about an organization, the Hebrew Hay Fever Relief Association, located in Bethlehem. In the summer of 1947, he met Apple's mother, Anna, there. They married the following year and had their first son, Leslie, a year later. Fred arrived 4 years after that. They had 3 more sons and raised them in a hybrid version of Judaism, less orthodox and more conservative, but always with the focus on family. “We were brought up to be extremely close. It reverberated in my mind, ‘Be your brother's keeper,’” said Gary Apple. “I can't tell you how many times Fred has been there for me.”
Ira, an accountant—and a strict but open-minded man—had another saying that stuck with his sons. “He essentially instilled in us that you go after your dreams,” Apple said. Apple took that lesson to heart, too, though not always in the way that his father intended. “I was very much an explorer. I liked to open doors which I shouldn't have opened.” He had 2 groups of friends—his close friends and “the rabble rousers.” He would shoot hoops with the first and then run 2 miles across town to meet the other. “They were fun—different, more exploratory,” he said.
He found ways to ease the tension between his adventurous spirit and his parents' expectations. One was to not tell them everything he was doing. He would say that he was going golfing with his friend, Rich—they were both members of the high school varsity team, which won 3 New York State Championships—and instead hop a train to Manhattan. “We'd hang out in the city all day and be home by 8 o'clock and they wouldn't even know. I spent every other Saturday in New York City,” said Apple.
He let his father in on his plans on at least one occasion. It was the summer after his sophomore year, when he was 15. His friend had gotten him tickets to a music festival happening an hour down the road, which he showed his dad. “My father plucked the tickets from my hands and said, “‘You're not going to a concert, hitchhiking down the thruway.’ He handed them to my friend Bobby and said, ‘You need to get someone else to use these,’” said Apple. There is a brief scene in the movie Woodstock showing his friends Eugene and Bobby. “I would've been with them,” said Apple.
He soon made up for it. That same year, he heard the Grateful Dead for the first time and was instantly hooked. He would get into his Volvo 120S—which his father had received in exchange for his accounting services—and drive 10 hours to hear them. When he was in college, he spent 5 days hitchhiking cross-country to see them play San Francisco. “There was just something about the energy,” he said. “It was your family.”
In 1970, he was at the March on Washington, the culmination of an extraordinary decade. “You can't describe to people what it was like growing up on the edge of such a counterculture,” he said. By then he was a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. He liked science but did not think he would go into it professionally, which made his college years a bit unfocused. “If you didn't have a dream of what you wanted to do, you just muddled along and took courses,” he said.
In his junior year, the chair of the chemistry department invited him to work in his laboratory. The chemical reactions reminded him of cooking, which he loves. He majored in biology because they didn't have a degree in biochemistry and decided he wanted to be a college professor. He was accepted into a graduate program at Princeton. Meanwhile, his girlfriend—whom he was hoping to marry—had her heart set on a graduate program at the University of Minnesota. He turned down Princeton and applied to Minnesota. “We broke up. She ended up going to Columbia,” he said. He went to Minnesota.
“You make decisions,” he said. “I'm a big fan of Robert Frost,” referring to his famous poem “The Road Not Taken.” He moved to Minneapolis in 1975 and spent the next 4 years working on a project on membrane fluidity and trans fatty acids. He decided to “shoot for the stars” for his postdoc and wrote to the Harvard lipid chemist Konrad Bloch, who won a Nobel Prize for his work synthesizing cholesterol. Bloch invited him to come to Harvard. “Again, I was dating someone who I liked, it was serious, and she didn't want to move to Boston,” he said. He called Bloch and told him he wasn't coming. Ten minutes later, his dean called, screaming. “I said, ‘You know, I've made my own decision. I'm not going to do this,’” Apple said. “At that point, I was kind of rudderless.”
He took a job teaching physics in the Minneapolis school district and then one across the river at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and was not enjoying it. He called his old graduate student friend Mary Ellen King. “I said, ‘What are you doing with your life?’” he said. She told him about her career in clinical chemistry and that it offered a real job on hard money.
Apple applied to several programs and was about to leave for the University of Utah but—wanting to keep his options open—decided to check out the University of Miami's program in marine chemistry. His uncle, a cardiologist, happened to live in Miami. Apple was sitting at his uncle's pool having a beer when he got a phone call. It was Ladenson, calling from Washington University, where Apple had applied. “He said, ‘Listen, you're probably sitting around the pool in Miami, having a beer. I need you to come up here. We have one slot open and we want to look at you.’ I looked around—I would've thought he was in a bush. He described exactly what I was doing,” said Apple.
“What else are you going to do when you're visiting your uncle?” said Ladenson. Apple moved to St. Louis in 1980. He and his girlfriend had split up, a good thing given the intensity of the Washington University program. “It was like doing a medical residency,” he said. He fell in love with the place—“You were judged on what you had to offer,” Apple said—and the field of clinical chemistry. It was during his first rotation that he and his colleague made their observation about CK-MB, a discovery that set the course for his entire career.
In 1982, he took a job at the Hennepin County Medical Center, which was a kind of homecoming. “I really had fallen in love with Minneapolis,” he said. Girlfriends had helped define his early career but he remained single for the next decade. “He had no trouble finding a date. But he was looking for the right person to marry and he couldn't quite find that,” said Sharkey. “And then boom, he met Jan.”
They met in 1992. She was doing a psychiatry residency at the University of Minnesota. “It was love at first sight,” he said. He found his match in Jan—intelligent, outdoorsy, artistic, and extremely adventurous. On their second date, he called his mom and told her he'd met the woman he was going to marry. On their honeymoon, they went hang-gliding in New Zealand—it was Jan's idea. “We were 5400 feet off the ground for about 8 minutes,” he said.
Years ago, they bought a house on an acre of land in the suburb of Minnetonka, 9 miles from downtown Minneapolis, which is where they raised their 2 daughters, Liz, now 25, and Molly, 18, both talented artists. Apple adores spending time with them—running, hiking, reading poetry. But living in a house of females can sometimes flap the unflappable Apple. “I grew up in a male family and now I live in a female family. I have to understand the sensitivities of the women in my life on a daily basis. That's a huge challenge because sometimes as a male, you lose track of that,” he said.
Apple rises at 5:30 am and after a run comes back to read The New York Times over breakfast. After work, he returns home, where he and Jan might concoct a fabulous dinner. They might watch TV or listen to music in the living room, where the walls are lined with paintings and family photos going back a hundred years, to the early days in Bethlehem. They also have a condo in Bretton Woods, not far from the White Mountain town where he spent all those summers.
When asked where he feels most alive, it is in those mountains. “If I could be with my family up in New Hampshire, hiking up Mt. Madison or Mt. Washington, I'd be in heaven.” Apple said, “If the 4 of us could go hiking and camping up there just for a couple of days, I'd be happy if I died on the spot.”
Author Contributions: All authors confirmed they have contributed to the intellectual content of this paper and have met the following 3 requirements: (a) significant contributions to the conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (b) drafting or revising the article for intellectual content; and (c) final approval of the published article.
Authors' Disclosures or Potential Conflicts of Interest: No authors declared any potential conflicts of interest.
Sponsored by the Department of Laboratory Medicine Boston Children's Hospital
© 2014 The American Association for Clinical Chemistry
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Pittsburgh G20 Diaries: Day Three
Photo: PDA's Randy Shannon with banner, center, next Michael McPhearson of Vets for Peace with Rick Kimbrough, right.
10,000 Marchers Beat Back
The Steel City’s ‘State of Siege’
Nearly 10,000 protesters marched through the streets of Pittsburgh on the last day of the G20 this Sept. 25 afternoon, delivering a powerful message for global justice that was expressed with a brilliantly colored display of unity, militancy and diversity.
Peace and justice groups demanded an end to wars and occupations, trade union contingents demanded green jobs and fair trade, women and people of color raised the banners of equality and empowerment, and young people called for a sustainable and liberated future in a new world.
“Will we make any difference?” Rick Kimbrough asked me a few hours earlier as we headed down a parkway heavily secured with police cars at every exit on our way into town. Kimbrough is an old high school friend, an African American steelworker with 37 years in a huge Beaver County mill that’s now shutdown and gone, Jones And Laughlin Steel. When I asked him to join me the day before, he was fired up to go already, until he heard a nephew had taken a bullet as a bystander in a senseless street fight. When he heard his nephew would do OK, he called back, ready to ride in with me and join the United Steel Workers contingent in ‘the People’s March’ at the close of the G20 sessions.
“We’ll make SOME difference, but not nearly enough, and not yet,” was my reply. “These G20 people think they can run the world as they please, but we have to show them they can’t, that there are limits, at least until we can grow stronger, and turn things around completely.” I asked Rick if he had ever been to something like this before. No, he’d been to political, union and civil rights rallies, but this was different.
We turned to discussing the news from the previous day, mainly about the efforts by anarchist youth, a thousand or so of them, to stage actions on a variety of targets, and march on the G20 without permits. They had a number of skirmishes all day and into the night with the highly militarized police, who made use of tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. Some 82 protesters were arrested overall, and the day had seen numerous smashed windows and trash cans sent rolling into the streets.
Far worse, the Pittsburgh riot police, on the night of Sept 24, swept the university neighborhood streets, downtown Oakland, clean of students with pepper spray and tear gas canisters. Students were trapped on stairwells by riot police above and below and gassed. Students were gassed in closed passages between dormitories. They had committed no crime, no offense, no discourtesy, no disrespect, but had simply been walking to get a bite to eat, or to visit a friend, or to study, or stand around in the cool night air and talk with friends.
The media accounts had worried Rick’s family about his participation. In fact, a number of other Beaver County workers I had asked to take part flat out said “No!,’ they had no interest in playing tag with heavily armed cops who were largely inexperienced--and my assertion that today’s march would likely be large and peaceful didn’t count for much. In fact, it was entirely peaceful on this last day—no windows broken, and only one arrest.
“What’s the deal with breaking windows? Don’t they realize that’s just a big diversion that waters down the message?” Rick asked about the previous night. I tried to explain that anarchists didn’t necessarily share our message, and could be manipulated by police and provocateurs. But young people had minds of their own, often having to learn things the hard way. He agreed, turning the talk back to his nephew, and venting his anger against the criminal profiteers selling guns to kids in his neighborhood. “I’ve seen too much senseless street violence,” he concluded, “I’ve got no patience for it.”
When we hit Pittsburgh, our attention turned to trying to park downtown near the Steel Workers building, so we would have the car nearby at the end of the march. Nice idea, but no way it was going to happen. Every downtown exit was blocked until Oakland, near the university. We tried twice to double back, and were turned back by police and blockaded streets.
Security was tough and serious. The militarized police, more than 6000 of them brought in from across the country, had shut down normal commerce and movement of people in the city. The city was placed in a real, not a virtual state of siege.
Finally, Randy Shannon from Beaver County’s Progressive Democrats of America got us on the cell phone. He’s across the river on the South Side, the closest spot he could find. So we picked him up, and made our way to Oakland, and luckily found a parking lot right near the head of the march.
As we neared the top of a steep block and reached the staging area, Rick got a little wide-eyed at the first thing we saw, a contingent of 200 Tibetans, some with monk robes and beating drums, and all with red and yellow flags and banners. So I gave him a quick crash course in who’s who—the Tibetans are protesting what they see as a raw deal from China threatening their Buddhist culture, the young people dressed in black with masks are mostly the anarchists we were taking about, the people with checkered scarves and green, black red and white flags are pro-Palestinian, the women in shocking pink are Code Pink, a militant peace group, and so on.
“This is wonderful, all kinds of people are here,” was Rick’s conclusion. I suggested we look for union caps and jackets, or people in fatigues with Army veteran’s stuff, and we’ll find the folks we’re looking for. Right away, Carl Redwood Jr. from the battles in the Hill District, a low-income African American neighborhood, comes over to talk. I met him at a teach-in two days before. We fill Rick in on the issues around the new Penguin stadium and gentrification.
As we neared the front ranks, I spotted Michael McPhearson, a national leader of Vets for Peace I knew through United for Peace and Justice. When I introduce Rick, it turns out Mike has folks in Aliquippa, so they are quickly making connections.
There were two groupings up front. Randy had connected with his daughter, a University of Pittsburgh student, and was positioned with the Thomas Merton Center antiwar people. Rick and I were with the Iraq Vets Against the War group along side them. Aaron Hughes, an IVAW national leader, came up to greet us. He and Rick were soon talking about post traumatic stress and it impact on communities when soldiers return. “I still haven’t spotted the Steel Workers,” I told him, “but let’s just stay here until we do.”
Suddenly the march moved out, and we’re in the front ranks, about four rows back. It’s a long walk, more than a mile, but fortunately, almost all of it is downhill. After we’ve gone twenty blocks or so and are on a little rise, I walked backwards and looked for the end. I couldn't see it; we were still filling the streets. It meant we numbered somewhere between 5000 and 10,000, and we could declare a victory for the day. Progressive activists had beaten back attempts at intimidation.
Rick picked up on all the rhythmic chanting. “The people, united, will never be defeated!” seemed to suit him best, while “This is what democracy looks like!” was my favorite for the day. As we come in sight of the Hill District, I’m informed that a feeder march of the residents numbering about 500 has merged with us, as have a number of other groupings with feeder marches throughout day.
Eventually we decide to stand to the side and wait for the USW contingent to show up. This meant we got a terrific review of the march’s composition: large banners from the Green party went by, followed by a huge HR 676 Single Payer health care contingent, then several hundred young anarchists in black with black flags, the Gay and Lesbian people, more environmentalists, then Middle East peace militants. Finally we spotted the large blue USW flags, with dozens of people in union T-Shirts, perhaps 50 in all. I waved to Maria Somma, a Steel Worker organizer. Interestingly, the front banner is featuring the rights of immigrant workers. Plenty of ‘Good Jobs, Green Jobs’ placards are also visible. We fell in at the back of the contingent, carrying our own placard with a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and a demand for jobs.
The taller downtown buildings provided and excellent echo chamber for our chants and drum beats, so spirits were high as we turned the corner to the rally scheduled at an open plaza near the City-County Building.
“We had this successful people’s march today only because we FOUGHT for it, every step of the way” declared Peter Shell of the Thomas Merton Center’s Antiwar Committee from the platform. He delivered a powerful indictment of the federal and city tactics designed to disorganize the protestors and dampen the turnout. “Look at all these militarized police brought in here from everywhere. They have taught us an important lesson, even if in a small way, about what it’s like to live under and occupation, and why we have to increase out efforts this fall to end the occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza.”
Lisa Jordan of the USW Education Dept spoke for the steelworkers. “The G20 is undemocratic and unrepresentative,” she stated. “They only speak for the CEOs; there is no voice for the workers.” She pledged the solidarity of the USW with all the ongoing fights for global and social justice.
We listened to a few more speeches, but the crowd was breaking up. One contingent would go on to the East Side within a few blocks of the convention center, where the G20 was wrapping up, and thus technically getting within ‘sight and sound’ of the gathering. It was a thin concession to what was really needed.
Rick had a bum leg, injured years back in the J&L tin mill when a sheet of metal sliced a tendon, and it was giving out on him. Given the restrictive logistics, we called it a day. Getting to a bus to get back to our car was hard enough—we had to pass through three barriers of hundreds of police, including a long line of German shepherd police dogs that looked forlorn behind their uncomfortable muzzles. The bus quickly filled, and in twenty minutes, we were back at the car and headed home.
Since the G20 bigwigs were also headed toward the airport, which is located near the border of Beaver County, security was even more intense on the highway on the way back. “It’s all overkill,” said Rick. “They just want to use us for practice. We’re just a training exercise for them, and it’ll be turned against us even more somewhere down the line.”
As I dropped him off at home, I reminded him to check the news. “The cameras all loved your picket sign; you may get your fifteen minutes of fame, and can brag to your grandkids.” When I got home and turned on the news, however, reality sunk in. There were a few brief snippets about our huge march today, followed by great detail about how many windows and storefronts had been smashed the night before, complete with charts and maps of targeted areas, and lots of footage of broken glass, with kids in black masks, while cops do their best to round them up or disperse them.
Randy Shannon called to check in, making sure we made it back OK. “In that state of siege,” he summed up, “the march today was a shining example of the courage and determination of those of us who understand the need to fight for the First Amendment.”
But on the wider messages, if we’re ever to get beyond preaching to the choir of the militant minority, and instead break through to the progressive majority, we’re going to have to find the ways and the forces to do things differently.
Carl Davidson is a writer for Beaver County Blue, and a long-time organizer going back to the 1960s New Left. Today he is a national co-chair of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism and a national board member of the US Solidarity Economy Network. He is author, along with Jerry Harris, of 'Cyberradicalism: A New Left for a Global Age.' If you like this artile, make use of the PayPal button at http://carldavidson.blogspot.com
Posted by Carl Davidson at 10:45 AM 0 comments
Labels: Antiwar, steelworkers, Youth
Pittsburgh G20 Diaries: Day Two
Photo: USW Blue-Green Rally at G20 for Green Jobs, Clean Energy
Union Teach-Ins, a Nobel Laureate
Ninja Turtles and Steel City Rockers
One of the first things you see entering Pittsburgh from the Fort Pitt Bridge is that the United Steel Workers, headquartered in this working-class town, are determined to deliver a strong message to the G20 bigwigs.
“Jobs, Good Jobs, Greens Jobs Now!’ declared the huge five-story-tall banner draped from the top of the even taller USW headquarters building that faces the Golden Triangle and its hotels. Despite squads of militarized police, some in their Ninja turtle outfits, no one anywhere near the downtown area can miss it.
Today I’m headed for the day-long ‘Teach-In on Human Rights, Global Justice and the G20’ organized by the USW at their 4th floor conference center. Later in the afternoon on this gray, drizzly and humid Sept 23 day, I plan to hear Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz speak in the low-income Hill District, and attend a labor-environmentalist rally and concert featuring local politicians and rockers.
The street heat protests are planned for the last two days, Thursday and Friday, Sept 24-25. So far, the police have been going out of their way with petty harassment of out-of-town protestors—getting permits mixed up, trying to stop a Free Food bus, challenging small encampments. Some Green Peace people get busted today for hanging a huge banner on one of the bridges, but arrests and scuffles so far are minor.
I arrived early, just in time for the freshly brewed coffee and wide array of muffins and pastries that will load my blood sugar and won’t help my waistline—but who can resist? The TV cameras are there, and the room is filling up with union people and activists from near and far. The press is focused on Richard Trumka, the new president of the AFL-CIO who’s very popular here in Western Pennsylvania. He came from the coal mining area about 40 miles south of the city, where he started as a leader of the United Mine Workers of America.
“I’ve been given the job of ‘framing’ the discussion here today,” Trumka began, but warns us he won’t be around for criticism if he doesn’t do a good job. He’s got to take off early and meet with the top labor leaders from the other 20 or so countries here for the G20 event.
Trumka gave us a big picture. “From 1946 to 1976, the productivity of the American worker and our wages rose together and nearly doubled. But from the late 1970s, and especially after Ronald Reagan, things changed. Our productivity continued to rise, but our wages stagnated, and now are declining.” He followed with a good definition of neoliberalism, urging us to use and understand the term, and how it produced the cycle of consumer debt and the financial bubbles leading to the recent crash.
The neoliberals of both parties, he continued, have tried to put labor and its allies “in a policy box with six sides”—labor ‘flexibility,’ shareholder value primacy, globalization/ off shoring, ‘personal’ responsibility over all, small government to a fault, and economic ‘stability,’ meaning austerity for us. He explained the hidden trap and fallacy in each one of these.
“We make it, and they take it, that’s what it boils down to on wealth creation,” Trumka concluded, noting that it was unacceptable. Labor wasn’t about to be imprisoned in the box defined by neoliberalism, but was going to break out of it. It was clear that the new AFL-CIO chieftain was sharp as a tack, well-versed in political economy, and not about to be easily bamboozled by anyone.
Lisa Jordan of the USW took the podium as Trumka headed for his G20 meetings. “I can’t help but report what I saw driving in here yesterday and today,” she said. “A long caravan of paddy wagons, and for what? Just waiting to arrest us and scare other people away. She added that the USW would stand up to it at the rally tonight, and especially at the large ‘People’s March’ on Friday. She urged a large steelworker turnout from the locals. “We want to see a sea of our banners, so bring out our people and every local banner you can get.”
Jordon outlined the upcoming speakers and breakout sessions at six different roundtable spots on the floor—topics included labor in Latin America, the corporate agenda, the WTO, anti-sweatshop legislation, race, gender and globalization, and several others.
I picked one on economic development battles in the Pittsburgh region. The town I’m from, Aliquippa in Beaver County, is one of the hardest hit in the area and matches the ‘boarded up communities’ phrase in the session’s description.
Barney Oursler of Pittsburgh United leads us off with an account of Pittsburgh’s contrasting areas of downtown glitter, which extends along the high-tech corridor out to the airport, with the grime of neglected neighborhoods and depressed river valley mill towns. “What’s the first word that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘development?’ he asks. “Profits, big ones,” someone answers.” “That’s exactly right,” he says, “and more often than not, it’s the elites that benefit, not the rest of us.”
The case in point offered several times over the day is the Pittsburgh Penguins demanding $750 million from the city for a new stadium, and getting it. The main opposition came from ‘One Hill,” a coalition of mainly African American groups in the Hill District, which both the new stadium site and is targeted for gentrification. One Hill fought the Penguins corporate core for restrictions on expansion and a community benefits accord. They got a deal worth $10 million, but the battle goes on.
“We have a different problem,” I interjected. “We have no development even to demand a piece of in Aliquippa, and we used to be the home of one of the world’s largest steel mills.” I went on to briefly describe some local discussions about opening a closed hospital as part of our larger battle for ‘Medicare for All, Healthcare not Warfare, ‘ as well as some discussion we started around rebuilding locks and dams on the local rivers for green barge transport and green energy infrastructure. Steffi Domike of the USW Associates staff picks up on the latter point. “The Pittsburgh plateau is a good region for wind farms, but we’d have to modernize the energy grid to get the most from it.” We agreed to follow up with more discussion on the implied projects in the weeks ahead.
One thing is quite clear about the Steelworkers. They are very serious, from President Leo Gerard’s speeches down to the brochures in the lobby, about getting beyond traditional business unionism and fighting for a major green industrial policy and new structural reforms to get out of the economic crisis. Moreover, they want to do it in a way that benefits the entire working class. This is why they are putting resources behind the Blue-Green alliance with environmentalists and the ‘Green for All’ projects associated with Van Jones and his inner city youth programs. The steelworkers know they can’t do it alone, and need all the allies they can muster. What the union is doing during the G20 week is only incidental to this broader effort.
Two videos were also highlights of the teach-in. A short version of “The Battle of Seattle” was previewed, showing labor’s role in the anti-WTO global justice demonstrations going back ten years. Leo Gerard, now USW president, who appeared in the film, told those who just watched it that the union had bought up a good number of the two-DVD versions and combined it with a number of educational tools. “We’ll make in available to you for showing in your local groups or at house meetings. All we ask is that you have people sign in, and send us the lists.”
The other video was on the super-exploitation of workers in Bangla Desh, and show horrific scenes of the harsh conditions at sites deconstructing old merchant freighters for salvaged metals. “This goes beyond abuse of workers,” said Charlie Kernaghan of the National Labor Committee. “This is murder at the hands of these bosses.”
As the afternoon sessions drew to a close, a group of us got a ride up to the Monumental Baptist Church in The Hill district. Literally near the top of the hill near the center of downtown Pittsburgh, the 100-year-old African American church, with a long legacy of involvement in social justice causes, had offered its grounds for a ‘Tent City’ of out-of-town protestors.
This afternoon, the church had also opened its sanctuary for a speech by Joseph Stiglitz, economist and Nobel laureate. A former top insider with the World Bank, Stiglitz was fired from that body for exposing and speaking out against the disastrous impact of its policies in many parts of the world. When combined with his critique of the Obama administration’s more dubious concessions and Wall Street bailouts, he has gained rock star status among global justice activists.
After an introduction by John Nichols of The Nation, Stiglitz made a small concession to the G20 by noting that adding a few countries was better than the G8, but still, some 170 countries around the world were on the outside of these deliberations.
“But make no mistake about what going on here,” he warned. “Even if we had waged war on many of these countries, we could not have done as much damage in many parts of the world as that done by indirectly by the policies of these global powers. The question is not whether we have to change our ways, but how, and by how much.”
The claim that the global recession was over was simply not true, Stiglitz went on, especially given growing unemployment. “Nor is it likely to end anytime soon. They’re simply deploying money in the wrong direction, bailing out the giant banks rather than a greater job-creating stimulus. What has happened to the banks that were supposedly ‘too big to fail?’ They’ve only gotten bigger, and their lobbyists are still thwarting needed regulation.”
Leo Gerard of the USW was next up and picked up where Stiglitz left off. “Pay attention to this number, 30 million!” he told the crowd. That’s the true number of unemployed in this country. That’s what you get when you add up those looking for jobs, those working part time when they want more, and those who have given up, what they call the ‘labor reserve.’ You can tell be my accent that I’m a Canadian, and to give you some idea of the scale, 30 million is a greater number than every human being in my native country.”
“We need jobs,” Gerard continued, “we need good jobs, and we need green jobs. What make a good job? It’s a UNION job that can support a family, and we need a second stimulus to create them and a financial transaction tax on Wall Street speculation to pay for it all.”
Emira Woods of the Institute for Policy Studies and a native of Liberia brought the voice of the third world to the discussion. “What the G20 powers do,” she explained, “is prevent the poor countries to act in their own interests and determine their own future.” She stressed the need for ‘people power’ to bring change.
Carl Redwood Jr. brought it all back to the realities of Pittsburgh. Speaking for the Hill District Consensus Group, he told the story of the battle over the Penguin stadium to this crowd, where the problems just outside the church’s doors were staring everyone in the face.
We gathered up our crew a little early to head back downtown in time for the rally in Point Park. Out on the sidewalk, Redmond came up and said, “Hey, Aliquippa guy! I heard you at the union hall earlier.” He tells me he was a reader of the Guardian back in the 1970s, when I was a writer there. We agree to stay in touch around the Green Jobs and Health Care campaigns. Making new connections is what these activities are all about.
We wind our way down the wet streets. It’s drizzling again, and still hot and humid. At a light, a UPS truck pulls up beside us, with side doors open. ‘Where is everyone?” he laughs, noting that it’s rush hour and the only crowds you see are batches of cops on every other corner. “It’s like Sunday afternoon with a Steelers game on!”
Point State Park is a large and pleasant open space at the tip of the ‘Golden Triangle,’ the site of the historic fort at the forks of the Ohio. Here the Monongahela and the Allegheny rivers come together to form what the French explorers called “La Belle Riviere, or beautiful river, their translation of the Iroquois and Seneca word ‘Ohio,’ meaning roughly the same thing.
This night, however, it had a split personality. Part of it was fenced off and occupied by militarized police and the Secret Service, wanting it as a command center for the same reason the French and British armies did more than 200 years ago: it’s a strategic location. The other part was a huge double stage with a terrific sound system and giant video screen. The Steelworkers, the Sierra Club and Al Gore’s climate change group had gone all out to claim at least part of the space to deliver their message to the G20.
The question of the moment was whether the weather and oppressive police presence would prevent a crowd from forming. As I enter the area divided off for the rally, a youth street theater group was putting on a performance in front of a long line of cops in their new camouflage gear. The kids were having fun, while those in uniform tried to look stern. Inside, people were surveying the literature tables, food stands and cheering on the local opening bands. There were only 500 or so there, but once the speakers got going and more musicians warmed up, the crowd quickly grew to about 5000—enough to make it a success, given the circumstances.
A young speaker started off the rally. "Thomas Jefferson said that every generation needs a new revolution," said Alex Loorz of Kid vs. Global Warming. He noted that some adults weren’t worried about the worst effects of climate change because it was 50 years away. But in 50 years, he said, "my generation won't be dead, and neither will our grandchildren, but if we don't act now, it is my generation that is going to pay for it."
State Senator Jim Ferlo also welcomed everyone, stressing the need for a large and unified movement. “We need a powerful force to counter these pinheaded pundits in the media who want to cater to all this nonsense coming from the right wing!”
Next Joe Grushecky and the House Rockers, a local band, really got the crowd fired up. They gave us a very polished mix of Springsteen tunes with their own original numbers full of steel city grit and energy. They would be followed later by Big Head Todd and the Monsters.
Leo Gerard took center stage for the USW the third time this day, but was still in good form. “A wind turbine is made of 200 tons of steel and 8,000 parts," he shouted out, and this crowd knew exactly what he meant. "Imagine what we could do if we could turn not just this country's jobs, but the world's jobs green. Imagine if we had the will!” PA Governor Ed Rendell followed him on the stage, and likewise committed to green and clean energy innovation on the state level.
A number of local Democrats have got the Steelworkers message, and it was evident at this event. Only a new industrial policy with major structural reform is going to create jobs on a scale needed to rescue Pennsylvania and the rest of the Rust Belt. Only political will combined with street heat could challenge the G20. But a good number also are still dragging their feet, captured by the Blue Dogs and bowing to the neoliberal anti-government tirades of the far right. This is going to be a critical battleground in the months ahead.
I caught a few tunes from Big Head Todd, and then headed back to Beaver County for the night. The next two days will put the spotlight on battlegrounds of a different sort, in the streets with the police and in the realm of public opinion over what is really going on behind the closed door deliberations of the G20. Stay tuned!
[Carl Davidson is a writer for Beaver County Blue. He is also a national co-chair of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism and a national board member of the US Solidarity Economy Network. He is author, along with Jerry Harris, of 'Cyberradicalism: A New Left for a Global Age.' If you like this article, make use of the PayPal button at http://carldavidson.blogspot.com] ]
Labels: Green Jobs, industrial policy, labor, Neoliberalism
Pittsburgh G20 Diaries: Day One
March for Jobs
in ‘The Hill’
The ‘G20' is a big deal in Pittsburgh, with multiple stories in the local press and TV, even though many everyday citizens are wondering what it’s really all about and whether it’s worth all the fuss and expense.
“I know all the big shots from around the world are coming, I see that on the news” my dad told me last week. “But what do they actually do behind all those guards and closed doors?”
It’s a good question. The ‘big shots,’ of course, are all the top political and economic leaders of the world’s nineteen largest economies, with the European Union added to make twenty. And lots of people would love to be a fly on the wall when they start wrangling over who’s really to blame for the latest financial meltdown and how to recover from it.
I told my dad, for starters, that they’re cooking up schemes to have the rest of us pay off the gambling debts of Wall Street speculators while they ship more jobs overseas. That’s why the unions are going to be in streets, along with the environmental people, the antiwar movement, and everyone else. He’s dubious that it will do any good, but I told him I’ll be in the thick of it, and I’d let him know what happens.
So today I headed for one of the first actions, a mass march for jobs, sponsored by the ‘Bail Out the People Movement.’ It’s a coalition pulled together by a number of left and community groups, with an assist from the Western Pennsylvania United Steel Workers and the United Electrical Workers. The organizers have picked Pittsburgh’s low-income African American ‘Hill District’ as the launch site, and it couldn’t be a better one, since this is the heart of the neighborhoods that need jobs the most. The route is a little under a mile, and ends at the edge of downtown, in an open space behind the Civic Arena.
Coming into town on the parkway, the first things that hit you are the giant ‘Pittsburgh Welcomes the World!” banners on the large corporate lawns lining the highway. Next is a higher density of police cars. Finally, there’s a blizzard of orange detour signs re-routing traffic so the sports arenas and casinos can function while the security zones go up around select areas downtown. I maneuvered through it all, and made my way through bleak blocks with boarded-up storefronts to the ‘Tent City’ on the grounds of the Monumental Baptist Church near the top of ‘The Hill.’ I find a tenuous place to park on a rise that gives me an excellent view for photos.
It’s immediately clear this is going to be a spirited and colorful march, but of a militant minority. The weather is good, but on the hot and humid side. Nearly 500 people are there, and perhaps half of these are from out of town. There are a number of preachers around, some ladies from churches in their Sunday finery, a number of people with UE T-shirts and Steelworker ball caps, and dozens of young people putting together picket signs and adjusting sound systems. In brief, all the components of the coalition are there, but this is going to be a relatively small kickoff march rather than a massive outpouring.
I started to survey the crowd and right away run into Scott Marshall from the ‘People’s Weekly World.’ He’s been in town for a week covering the AFL-CIO convention, which just ended.
“Whaddya think?” Scott asked. “Multiply by 100, and it would be terrific,” I answered. I added that I thought the media overkill on the supposed threats of violence and the city’s dragging out the permit process until the least minute had taken a toll. “They’re getting very clever on dealing with us, and we have to find ways to counter it.”
Next I ran into some friends from the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism from New York City and Los Angeles, who traveled from both coasts in vans. The tables of the main sponsoring left groups with the ‘People’s Bailout’ coalition are prominent. From Pittsburgh, there’s a sizable group from the Thomas Merton Center and its Pittsburgh Antiwar Committee, as well as Paul LeBlanc, a local leftist professor and antiwar leader. He reported favorably on the large educational sessions held over the weekend.
A Pickup truck with a decent sound system got positioned in the middle of the line of marchers. It’s playing ‘Ain’t No Stopping Us Now!’ and as the line moved, the chants begin: “We want a J-O-B, so we can E-A-T! is a popular one, as is ‘We’re fired up, won’t take no more!” Since it’s all downhill, it’s an easy hike. I describe a few historic sites we passed to some out-of-towners, like the Crawford Grill, center of the Pittsburgh jazz scene for decades, as well as the home of the famous Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Negro Baseball Leagues of which it was an important part.
Waiting for us at the rally site at the other end were Pennsylvania State Senator Jim Ferlo and his assistant Mikhail Pappas. Ferlo has long used his Harrisburg Senate position to advocate for labor, civil rights and antiwar causes, and today is no exception.
We’re welcomed to the rally by Rev. Thomas Smith of the Monumental Baptist Church. He started off by answering my dad’s question: “These G20 people are here to make deals that benefit the corporations; they’re not here helping the workers, or the rest of us in the communities.” Our efforts today are only the beginning, he reminds us, there’s much more to come, in Pittsburgh and elsewhere.
Senator Ferlo was next. “We’re here to speak out to right our countries wrongs, not only here but around the globe. Capitalism is in deep crisis. Some here may say capitalism IS the crisis. In any case, we have to press for a sustainable economy that works for us, the majority of the working people.”
Ferlo then took up a topic that had everyone buzzing all day. The morning’s Post Gazette including an article based on an interview with Obama, where the President said, in relation to the G20 protests: “I was always a big believer in — when I was doing organizing before I went to law school — that focusing on concrete, local, immediate issues that have an impact on people’s lives is what really makes a difference; and that having protests about abstractions [such] as global capitalism or something, generally is not really going to make much of a difference.
The Senator was furious with Obama. “This is worse than misguided and a major miscalculation; it’s intellectually dishonest. It was people in the streets that put him there. It was mass protests that built the unions, that got rid of Jim Crow, that won rights for women. This is the problem with the whole top layer of the Democratic Party in dealing with these attacks from the far right. They’re acquiescing to it; they should hang their heads in shame-and I’m telling you this as an active and registered Democrat. We have got to rise up and turn this around.”
“If we had a hundred more elected Democrats like him,” said one protester standing next to me in reference to Ferlo. “It would be a whole different ball game.”
Brenda Stokley followed up. She was with the Katrina and Rita Hurricane Survivors Committee, and delivered a blistering indictment of the government’s ongoing failures to deal with these crises. “There’s no reason for people to be homeless, no reason for people to be without jobs. We need these for survival.”
One speaker stood out in his ability to command the attention of almost everyone. Fred Richmond, a vice president of the United Steelworkers and an African American, started off by asserting that “the issue of poverty is central to labor’s agenda, and not just in this country, but globally.” He went on to describe in some detail exactly what the AFL-CIO would be pressing on the G20-fair trade, green jobs, a ‘Tobin Tax’ worldwide on financial speculation, a ’second stimulus’ on a global scale to spur job growth and the transition to clean energy and a green economy.
Richmond also put the earlier critique of Obama in a larger perspective. “This president is under a heavy and fierce attack from the far right. What he’s going through is unprecedented, unless you go back to Roosevelt. We have to back him up, but we also have to make sure all of them act in our interests.” Some were dubious on this point, but most of the crowd took him very seriously.
I missed a few of the final speakers, since I was making a point of connecting with some of the Progressive Democrats of America activists there. Western PA’s 4th CD was represented, as well as a group in from Akron, Ohio, who was passing out PDA’s ‘Healthcare, Not Warfare’ placards to use for the rest of the week. We exchanged stories of our dealings with the rightwing ‘Tea Bagger’ rallies in various places, plus the days to come.
Two important events are up soon for the remaining days of the G20. One is a union-sponsored rally in Point Park on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The negotiations for the permit there have been contentious, because the police and Secret Service wanted the same spot as a staging area. On Thursday, Pittsburgh’s anarchist youth will be heard from in one way or another-no one is quite sure what they will do. And Friday, Sept. 25, there will be ‘the big march,’ with the area’s peace and justice movements at the heart of it. Stay tuned!
[Carl Davidson writes for Beaver County Blue, the online voice of the 4th CD Progressive Democrats of America. He is also a national co-chair of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. If you like this article, make use of the PayPal button at the top of this site]
Labels: industrial policy, labor, steelworkers
Debating Anarchism on Organization & Strategy
Building Stronger
Learning to Be Makers
of Our History &
Masters of Society
[Note from CarlD: What follows is the thread of a discussion between myself and several people with anarcho-syndicalist views on matters of organization. It appears as part of a larger series of discussions on Z-Net, as part of its ‘Reimagining Society’ project. The initial post that started the discussion here is included at the end of the thread, for those who want to read it first. Otherwise, jump right in, since I summarize the main points in the first reply I make here.]
Disorganizing Principles
I disagree with most of this article, but I think it's illustrative of many things holding back the development of strong left organizations. So here goes:
Lesson 1: Reject Democratic Centralism
This is supposedly to wage class struggle against the nascent ‘coordinator class' in our organizations that are trying to grow.
But let me pose the classic counter-questions: When workers take a vote and decide by a solid majority to strike, should they make it binding on all, even those who voted ‘No'? That means should they use the social pressure at hand to sanction scabs? Moreover, should the workers elect a strike committee? Should they empower it to make tactical decisions in secret, subject to later review?
I would answer ‘Yes' to all of the above, and note that the Flint Sit-Down Strikes couldn't have happened otherwise. And contained herein are the core principles of ‘democratic centralism'—the majority rules, and the minority goes along with the decision in practice; the organization has leading bodies, with a division of labor and a hierarchy; and not all knowledge is always shared with everyone, the organization can have secrets, as needed.
Having been in several democratic centralist organizations, I'm also well aware of where the dangers, distortions and corruptions are—not permitting factions, not permitting horizontal communication among cadre, restricting debate and access to publications, cooptation of new leadership by the old, and several more.
But if you want organization that can fight and win battles, that can sum up gains, sustain itself and grow, you had best not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Lesson 2: Reject Monist and Pluralist Approaches to Organizing
How one rejects BOTH ‘monism' and ‘pluralism' is, to be kind, something of a Zen riddle, like ‘what is the sound of one hand clapping?'
But the argument here is that making priorities means the same as ‘privileging' one or several types of oppression over others.
That's simply a huge non sequitur. Of course, not all organizations have to make the same priorities—some can decide to organize Blacks in communities, others workers in factories, and still others students in community colleges. In terms of strategic overview, one could even argue at given times that all the categories of oppression are equally secondary to, say, a Wall Street crash or global de-industrialization. In any case, an organization, to grow and thrive, needs a plan of work and a deployment of forces, none of which can happen without deciding on priorities. If everything is equally a priority, then nothing is a priority, there is no plan of work and no organization to grow.
This position argues: "As an alternative to democratic centralism I would like to suggest participatory democracy. Unlike democratic centralism participatory democracy has no hierarchical division of labor. Instead, to ensure an anti-elitist culture, a participatory democracy strives to distribute empowering and desirable tasks out evenly amongst its members. "
One major organization of the 1960s New Left, SDS, when participatory democracy was its main feature, still had a hierarchy, in fact several of them, all with pluses and minuses. One was whoever could afford to come to a quarterly ‘national council' meeting. They got to make decisions, and those who didn't, couldn't. Another was our teams of ‘campus travelers' and ‘regional organizers.' These people made all sorts of decisions among themselves, which helped the organization grow to a mass scale. We set up semi-autonomous ‘elite' projects, based on knowledge and commitment, many of which thrived beyond SDS and are still around—NACLA, Radical History, Venceremos Brigade, and others.
SDS failed for many reasons, and this is not the place to go into them. But a critical structural problem was its lack of the organizational tools to resolve serious differences—and this shortcoming created a situation wide open to the wrecking activities of the FBI's Cointelpro provocations, and similar negative activates. But to think that participatory democracy—a core value I still uphold—is some magic wand is illusory
I do agree with this paper's point about ‘shared vision'—not that all the left is going to share the same vision, but one group or even an alliance of groups can, and this is to be worked for. But I also think that any given group does best to pick the vision most of its members share, and use that as a working hypothesis, rather than try to implement a multiplicity of visions at once. That's a recipe for self-sabotage.
By Tom Wetzel
Carl writes: "When workers take a vote and decide by a solid majority to strike, should they make it binding on all, even those who voted ‘No'? That means should they use the social pressure at hand to sanction scabs? Moreover, should the workers elect a strike committee? Should they empower it to make tactical decisions in secret, subject to later review?"
I have no problem with what you've described here. Scabbing is job theft and destructive to workers' class interests. It needs to be opposed. This would be true even if this were a union where not all the workers were members...perhaps an open shop situation.
But the role of a strike committee is merely delegating a task temporarily to a group of one's workmates. This is not setting up a permanent hierarchy...such as a union executive board made up of paid officials who hire staff and monopolize various aspects of running the union.
Re: union hierarchies
So 'temporary' hierarchies are OK but 'permanent' ones are not?
Suppose the strike lasts 6 months or a year? Or suppose the executive committee is voted out every four years? There's a lot of wiggle room there, rather vague, isn't it?
No one should work full time for the union? The bosses’ consultants work full time against the union. Union staff shouldn't be paid, say, the average wage of a worker in the plant?
'Monopolize' various aspect of running a union? Most locals I know welcome volunteers to help with all sorts of things.
You're defining a structure that is designed to be weak and never come to scale. We certainly need class struggle unionism over business unionism, and union democracy over union bureaucracy--but you'll never get it through the simplistic worship of spontaneity and an effort to codify weakness and primitiveness into organizational principles.
As I've suggested, the prevalence of the set of ideas is one reason we lack a strong and far larger left.
Re: Disorganizing Principles
By Mark Evans
Hi Carl - You say you disagree with most of my essay. Let me make a couple of quick statements to see if they help.
When I say we should reject democratic centralism I'm talking about the Leninist argument that the movement (and ultimately society as a whole) must be organized along democratic centralist lines to protect the revolution from counter-revolutionary forces. In my view democratic centralism is (part of) the counter-revolution organized by the co-ordinator class. The "classic counter-question" you pose is not an example of this.
Having said that, it may be true that under specific circumstances we may not be able to practice participatory democracy (as I define it) in full. In fact, this, to some extent, may be the case all of the time. However, regardless of the circumstances, we should be committed to - balancing out empowering and desirable tasks within the organization plus allowing members a say in decisions in proportion to how much they are affected by them - as best we can.
Nor do you have to be a one-handed Zen master to reject both monist and pluralist approaches to organizing. You simply recognize the limitations of prioritizing classism (for example) over racism, sexism and authoritarianism and you have rejected the monist approach. Likewise, if you recognize the limitations of prioritizing classism and authoritarianism (for example) over racism and sexism you reject the pluralist approach.
A complementary holistic approach to organizing recognizes the importance of two basic things –
1. That we need to develop shared vision and strategy for the kinship sphere, the community sphere, the political sphere and the economic sphere and that all spheres are considered equally important. This is the holistic aspect of the approach.
2. That our vision and strategy in the various social spheres co-define and reinforce each other. This is the complementary aspect of the approach.
So, I'm proposing the formation of a new international organization which is run by its members along participatory democratic lines and that has as its primary function the development of shared vision and strategy.
Now, as someone who says they "agree" with the development of shared vision and upholds participatory democracy as a "core value" I would have thought we would have a lot in common.
Carl, you write: "So 'temporary' hierarchies are OK but 'permanent' ones are not?" I didn't call it a "temporary hierarchy". A strike committee isn't a hierarchy as I use the term. Certain of the workmates are delegated the task to do coordination work, such as logistics around a strike, which is an action that presumably their coworkers have approved. They will be controlled by the fact that they have to continue working with the others and can't force the others to do things they don't want to do in that situation. This is not a hierarchy.
A hierarchy is a power relationship where there is a relative monopolization of ownership, expertise or decision-making authority. A worker committee might end up creating that sort of situation...but it might not. If we look at how AFL unions became bureaucratized originally, workers who were elected as a delegate might have gained quite a bit experience and knowledge doing that...negotiating with employers and so on. When they were fired, as they would often be, workers then hired them...and that was the origin of the "walking delegate", which became the business agent system. The problem here is that if the representative did nothing to train their co workers on how to do what he was doing, then they might become dependent on him. In AFL unions this then led to the development of circles of cronies of leaders, dependent on the paid rep doing favors for them, and it was a political machine that kept that person in office. But worker committees do not have to develop in that bureaucratic trajectory.
First, I am a monist philosophically, and see no need to reject it.
Second, I don't think there is such a thing as the "coordinator class." I think there's a stratum of coordinators with a left, middle and a right.
Third, I do believe any revolutionary gains, or even radical reforms and our democratic rights; will have to be defended against reaction. Since that is likely, I'd like to do it in the most disciplined and effective way possible. Otherwise, too much blood, including too much of ours, will be unduly shed. Combining the organizational principles of both centralism and democracy, I'd argue, is the nest way to go about it.
Fourth, I make no argument for applying these notions to the state generally--although they do apply to its armed forces. I'm one who believes sovereignty resides with the peoples themselves, and their governments are ceded only limited powers, powers subordinate to popular sovereignty and natural and universal human rights. People will find a variety of ways to make effective governments without a central plan from me.
Fifth, I'd keep politics out of private life, including much of the 'kinship sphere.' 'The personal is the political' is actually a rather feudal concept. I think politics overlaps with the personal. But they are not the same. Otherwise we abolish the autonomy of the social self, especially its conscience, one of the main achievements of the Enlightenment. Besides, people are diverse, and their kinship notions even more so. We can make laws and set standards, but the more you interfere in some things, the more trouble you make. Some things are best changed indirectly, over time, by rendering them obsolete.
Sixth, I set priorities all the time, and it serves me well. Without the process, or thinking everything in every project was 'equally important,' I'd never get anything done. Besides, no two things in the universe are absolutely equal.
So yes, I encourage people to participate in the decisions that effect their lives, to become public citizens (Dewey) and makers of their history (Marx and Mao). I try to develop a shared vision with a militant minority, but for the vast majority, I try to seek common ground, uniting all who can be united, while understanding full well that they will have a variety of visions, shared and unshared.
In brief, despite some criticism I have of their work, both Lenin and Chou En-lai are people I learn a lot from when it comes to organization. As the latter put it, it's how we turn words into deeds.
Perhaps that will explain some important differences.
By Michael McGehee
CD: First, I am a monist philosophically, and see no need to reject it.
< I see one: a monist view of the LGBT community would be very inaccurate, especially if it was economistic.
CD: Second, I don't think there is such a thing as the "coordinator class." I think there's a stratum of coordinators with a left, middle and a right.
< How do you explain making sub-classes (i.e. strata) out of a class you claim doesn't exist? You are recognizing the class but making sub-classes out of it and then offering that as evidence of its non-existence. I don’t get that.
CD: Third, I do believe any revolutionary gains, or even radical reforms and our democratic rights, will have to be defended against reaction. Since that is likely, I'd like to do it in the most disciplined and effective way possible. Otherwise, too much blood, including too much of ours, will be unduly shed. Combining the organizational principles of both centralism and democracy, I'd argue, is the best way to go about it.
< That's like combining oil and water. The two don't mix. What you are talking about is the populace getting to select from narrow choices determined by central group of (elected?) elitists, especially since you later praised Lenin for his organizing.
CD: Fifth, I'd keep politics out of private life, including much of the 'kinship sphere.' 'The personal is the political' is actually a rather feudal concept. I think politics overlaps with the personal. But they are not the same. Otherwise we abolish the autonomy of the social self, especially its conscience, one of the main achievements of the Enlightenment. Besides, people are diverse, and their kinship notions even more so. We can make laws and set standards, but the more you interfere in some things, the more trouble you make. Some things are best changed indirectly, over time, by rendering them obsolete.
< This is precisely why centralism should be avoided and participatory democracy should be sought
CD: Sixth, I set priorities all the time, and it serves me well. Without the process, or thinking everything in every project was 'equally important,' I'd never get anything done. Besides, no two things in the universe are absolutely equal.
< I think you are misunderstanding what is being said. We all set priorities but usually we observe before setting them. In this context we are talking about prejudging issues with priorities. For example, a typical Marxist might prejudge the LGBT community with an economistic lens and thus distort reality. CoHo proposes we first observe the relations between people and institutions in all spheres before making that judgment.
CD: In brief, despite some criticism I have of their work, both Lenin and Chou En-lai are people I learn a lot from when it comes to organization. As the latter put it, it's how we turn words into deeds.
< I learned from them to when it comes to organizing... on what NOT to do. Tom has written a lot about this topic so I won’t repeat what’s been acknowledged at length many times.
First: Monism means one doesn't bifurcate the universe between the creator and the creation of the creator. It affirms both our interconnectedness, including everyone in the human species, and the impermanence of all things.
Second, the coordinator strata span at least three classes in modern society--capitalists, small producers and workers. It is not a subset on any one of them. That's why I call it a strata.
Third, I have no idea what you mean by an 'economistic lens.' I know what economism means, as described by Lenin, the mother lode on the topic, and also why we do best when we fight it. That's one of the valuable lessons I take from him.
The rest of your commentary is not really argument, but simply counter-assertion of what I'm arguing against. So no need to reply.
Carl - can I ask you some questions in the hope of further clarifying our differences or maybe unravel some misunderstandings?
When you say "I'd keep politics out of private life, including much of the kinship sphere" are you arguing against feminist struggle to eradicate sexism from the kinship sphere?
As someone who understands the need to develop vision, isn't it the case that feminists need to conceptualize vision for a post-sexist kinship sphere? And if so, isn't it necessary for this vision to be compatible with vision in other societal spheres?
Isn't it the case that our strategy needs to be informed by our vision? Or to pose the question another way; that our vision and strategy need to complement each other? If we have a libertarian vision we must have a libertarian strategy. However, you advocate democratic centralism (which is an authoritarian strategy) so can you explain how your authoritarian strategy can move us towards our libertarian vision?
Given that you argue that there is no such thing as the coordinator class what class would you put Lenin in? Working class? Capitalist class? Other?
CD: First: Monism means one doesn't bifurcate the universe between the creator and the creation of the creator. It affirms both our interconnectedness, including everyone in the human species, and the impermanence of all things.
< Monism, at least in the since being discussed, is a narrow view of perception. Thus, Marxism has traditionally been a monist theory in that it tends to see everything through an economic lens; Feminism has traditionally been a monist theory since it tends to see things through a gender lens. My question was that if you don’t see a need to do away with monism in this sense that we are discussing then explain how this lens could be qualitatively useful to understand the LGBT community. Point being that you can’t. Other spheres are essential in having a qualitative understanding. And since we can’t know or understand until we empirically search to investigate we can’t put the cart before the horse, that is we can’t pre-emptively say which sphere is the sphere of all spheres, which is typical for monists.
CD: Second, the coordinator strata spans at least three classes in modern society--capitalists, small producers and workers. It is not a subset on any one of them. That's why I call it a strata.
< I suppose you can structure it that way but I see why Albert and Hahnel (and the work they drew upon by Ehrenreich) chose to conceptually make it a class among itself: the "strata" though it shares some qualities with capitalists and workers is also in conflict with those classes, and since the definition of a class is that of shared interests, recognizing these opposed interests warrants making them a separate class.
CD: Third, I have no idea what you mean by an 'economistic lens.' I know what economism means, as described by Lenin, the mother lode on the topic, and also why we do best when we fight it. That's one of the valuable lessons I take from him.
< economic lens = economism.
CD: The rest of your commentary is not really argument, but simply counter-assertion of what I'm arguing against. So no need to reply.
< Not to get too semantical, but wouldn’t an argument and counter assertion be the same thing? I mean I disagree with what you wrote and offered "commentary" opposing it and brief descriptions of why. I think that qualifies as an "argument," but whatever Carl. Listen, I tried to correct what I saw as perceptions of coho and what mark wrote. I tried to use examples to illustrate or to guide you to other people's writings on the same topic.
Words and their meanings
By Carl Davidson (with help from Lewis Carroll)
`But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument",' Alice objected. [to Humpty Dumpty]
`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'
`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so many different things.'
`The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master -- that's all.' [My Emphasis --CD]
Alice was too much puzzled to say anything; so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. `They've a temper, some of them -- particularly verbs: they're the proudest -- adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs -- however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!'
`Would you tell me please,' said Alice, `what that means?'
`Now you talk like a reasonable child,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. `I meant by "impenetrability" that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life.'
`That's a great deal to make one word mean,' Alice said in a thoughtful tone.
`When I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Humpty Dumpty, `I always pay it extra.'
Re: Words and their meanings
By Paul Brodie
From wikipedia: "Economism is a term used to criticize economic reductionism, that is the reduction of all social facts to economical dimensions. It is also used to criticize economics as an ideology, in which supply and demand are the only important factors in decisions, and literally outstrip or permit ignoring all other factors."
Carl, you're referring I think to the latter definition, Michael is talking about the former definition. It's a legitimate misunderstanding, perhaps now you can address Michael's question using the first definition of 'economism'.
And would also be interested to see you contest the reasons for labeling coordinators a 'class' as outlined by Michael in his post.
By Steve D’Archy
In those strands of Marxism that originated out of the Russian revolutionary movement -- which covers a lot of very, very different and incompatible variants of Marxism, such as 'Trotskyism,' 'Stalinism' or 'orthodox communism' as some call it, and 'Maoism,' each of which divides into numerous sub-variants -- the term "economism" refers (basically) to the idea that promoting trade union struggles of an economic character (not political strikes, as in syndicalism) is sufficient for advancing the workers' movement, and a separate political struggle, organized by a socialist political party, is unnecessary.
Economism in that sense was one of the currents on the Left in pre-revolutionary Russia.
So, obviously, economism in that sense has nothing to do with the present discussion (or with either of the two wikipedia definitions). The term 'monism' also had a specific meaning in the debates among Russian Marxists, but once again it has nothing whatsoever to do with the present discussion.
What I want to object to, though, is the idea that (quoting Michael M's post) "Marxism has traditionally been a monist theory in that it tends to see everything through an economic lens" and "Feminism has traditionally been a monist theory because it tends to see things through a gender lens."
I'm not going to 'play dumb' and pretend I have no idea what you're talking about whatsoever. However, I think that if you read "Self-determination for the American Negroes," which is a transcript of a conversation in the 1930s between CLR James (referred to here by his pseudonym "Johnson") and Leon Trotsky, at the time two very "classical-Marxist" writers, you will find that they do not seem to be "seeing everything through an economic lens" at all. In particular, Trotsky rejects the idea that Blacks should be asked to unite with their 'fellow workers,' because the racism of white workers makes it reasonable for African-American workers to be distrustful of whites. Instead, he argues that white Leftists have to make it clear to African-Americans that, if they want to form their own independent nation (which at the time was a demand made by some), the white Leftists would fully support this, and if they wanted instead to 'integrate', then white Leftists would fully support that, but the key thing was that it should be up to African-Americans to decide for themselves, and as "internationalists," the rest of the Left should fully support whatever they demanded, while taking no position one way or the other, because the "spirit of internationalism" demands that the Left support "self-determination" for African-Americans. If you read it, you'll see that the language used and the debates referenced (e.g., Garveyism) are all very old-fashioned. And clearly they are interested in class and capitalism. But in no way do they think about racism simply in class or economic terms. They have a much more subtle and (in my view) sophisticated view of it.
The same applies to the things that Lenin wrote about the "national question" in the years of the 'Communist International.'
Moreover, consider the early '2nd wave' feminists. Try reading "An Argument for Black Women's Liberation as a Revolutionary Force," by Mary Anne Weathers, from 1969. It is very difficult to read this and think she's seeing everything through the lens of gender (or 'kinship'), or the lens of race (or 'community'). In fact, she is proposing -- again -- a view that is more subtle and sophisticated than that, which integrates a certain picture of capitalism with a certain analytical and strategic perspective on how race and gender interact, all placed in the context of a historical story about global anti-capitalist revolution. She may be wrong about much or even all of it. But she is not "seeing everything through the lens of gender," clearly. (And, if she's not, and if it is easy to find lots of other feminists who are not, why would you say that feminists do that, since in fact it seems that they do not do that.)
So, in short, I think that this claim that feminists, Marxists, and others have these really simplistic views about race and/or class and/or gender, and only "complementary holists" are aware of these complexities, it is really just made up. It isn't true.
Now, more specific claims about specific people might be true. For instance, it is true that Marx claimed that changes in the 'economic structure' of society (e.g., from feudalism to capitalism) explained other changes, like from theocratic monarchism to liberal republicanism. But did he see "the Irish Question" simply "through the lens of economics or class"? No, as a matter of fact he didn't.
It is also true that Marx (and most Marxists) believed that there was a certain kind of strategic centrality to class struggles, at least under capitalism, because workers have a special kind of power that derives from their capacity to stop production. But that doesn't mean he "tends to see everything through an economic lens." It is just a "scientific" (i.e., sociological-theoretical) assessment, and it may be right or it may be wrong, but we have to look at the relevant facts to find out, not just label it as "monism" and dismiss it with a wave of the hand.
See what I mean? It is not a virtue to ignore complexity in the views of others and just pretend it isn't there or to refuse to see it. Even if it is somehow reassuring and bolsters one's sense of confidence in political debates, it is still not a virtue.
Sometimes it is better to be less confident, and to think, "I wonder if there is something important that I can learn from this feminist or that Marxist?," or at least, "I think that the actual claims made by this feminist or Marxist are one-sided, and I think they need to consider aspects of the issue that -- having read what they actually say -- I'm convinced they are ignoring."
Thanks for the correction re economism, Steve. I posted the two definitions as I had the impression from Carl's Alice in Wonderland post that he thought Michael was twisting or fabricating the definition of 'economism', when in fact there are multiple commonly used definitions.
"So, in short, I think that this claim that feminists, Marxists, and others have these really simplistic views about race and/or class and/or gender, and only "complementary holists" are aware of these complexities, it is really just made up. It isn't true."
I think that's a reasonable comment.
"Now, more specific claims about specific people might be true. For instance, it is true that Marx claimed that changes in the 'economic structure' of society (e.g., from feudalism to capitalism) explained other changes, like from theocratic monarchism to liberal republicanism. But did he see "the Irish Question" simply "through the lens of economics or class"? No, as a matter of fact he didn't."
I know that what Marx may have believed (say, a nuanced and non-economistic understanding of society) and the meaning of Marxism that is commonly used by socialist groups, such as those on my campus, is often different.
Not all Marxists have simplistic views about race, class, etc, of course - it would indeed be stupid to reject self-identified Marxists out-of-hand before hearing their arguments. However, many self-identified Marxists in fact do have narrow views about these things, and Marxist theory is used as the basis for them.
While agreeing completely that a priori condemning Marxists for being 'economistic' is a stupid idea - I don't think Michael was saying that anyway, he argued there is a tendency for Marxists on the whole to be economistic, and I think that's a reasonable assessment - I don't think that discounts the advantages of complementary holism in accounting for those 'complexities' explicitly, right up front, in the theory.
Paul, you nailed it when you used the word I used "tend(ency)."
Coming from personal experience and empirical observation of the many self-professed Marxists, feminists, anarchists and others who could be labeled as monist or pluralists I tend to see a reliance of putting the cart before the horse/a priori arguments.
I think the reason is structure. As theories there is nothing innate in Marxism or feminism, like that of coho, that dismisses a priori in place of empirical observation to best determine a qualitative understanding of societies. By structure, feminist theory goes in with gender placed high on the mind. A Marxist or anarchist does too in their own ways.
Reflecting on my anarchist and Marxist roots I can testify that I was guilty of this big time (I still struggle with it) and my encounters with others further confirms this.
What I was disagreeing with Carl on and what Steve takes objection to is my comment of what monist theorists (and pluralists for that matter) tend to do and what are likely outcomes if they are asked to qualitatively explain a society or sub-society (like the LGBT community in the US): make a priori judgments where their particular bias colors their vision.
Steve - When people are trying to understand complex systems it is necessary to simplify them in order to make the subject manageable. This usually involves some level of idealization. When dealing with society and people these idealizations can come across as caricatures. Real people and institutions rarely fit their "caricatures" but this does not make the idealizations irrelevant. There are inherent dangers to the idealization of reality so we do need to be careful how we use it, but there are also benefits.
That is how I understand and use complementary holism. I don't expect individual Marxists or feminists (for example) to fit the idealizations formulated within the framework. I do, however, want the concepts I employ to capture specific important aspects of reality. What I am looking for is a set of intellectual tools that help me understand society in order to change it.
So, if understood from this perspective, and if used carefully, I think that the benefits presented in the complementary holistic framework out-weigh the dangers involved.
I think feminists do best when they, and all of us, mainly fight against all the structures of women's oppression in the political, economic and social sphere--widening their options, improving their conditions, strengthening their independence. We also need to deal with things like violence within the family, assault and the like, taking legal and coercive measures against the perpetrators, and guaranteeing a woman's right to divorce and safe haven. But on the nature of kinship structures themselves, I would advocate considerable restraint.
I don't think it does any good to trash the nuclear family--husband, wife and children--as inherently backward. Many working class people are happy with their families as they are, even if they would like their conditions to improve. They enjoy their extended family reunions and honor their elder 'patriarchs' and 'matriarchs'--the quotes are because these roles wield little power among working class families. Single parent families are viewed as unfortunate, and they often try to lend a helping hand in various ways. We can urge tolerance for other new forms, such as gay marriage and other more experimental arrangements, such as intentional communities.
But attacking the core family structures of many people, as structure, is a bad and divisive idea. I think it only drives people to the right. Better to work for conditions that allow for more gradual, evolutionary change in this sphere.
Strategy is first about looking at our situation as a whole, and in that sense it certainly overlaps with vision. But it next poses the questions, 'Who are our friends; who are our adversaries? Then it seeks to unite the many to defeat the few. More precisely, to unite and develop the progressive forces, win over the middle forces, isolate and divide the reactionaries, and crush batches of our adversaries one by one. Tactically, it means wage struggle on just grounds, to our advantage and with restraint, i.e., don't go on strike the day before payday.
You can stick the adjective 'authoritarian' in front of anything I say all you want. It's rather meaningless, unless you simply want to say I'm not an anarchist, which is true.
But it doesn't mean I treasure freedom, liberty or mass participation any less than you. That’s why I find it a tad arrogant and off-putting on your part. The approach I outlined toward government is more libertarian than many anarchists hold for their own groups.
Here the bottom line. In my view of strategy, the revolutionaries--communists, socialists or whatever--are always in the minority. Yet the masses, in their millions and often in their majority, are the makers of history, as they are, with all their diverse views and visions. My strategy starts with people as they are, and does not have uniformity as a subtext. Its a strategy for uniting wide forces, mainly who don't agree on many points, to be able to achieve common goals and objectives, to consolidate those, and then develop a new unity to keep on going.
Democratic centralism is not a strategy. It's a method of organizing forces that can be used by many different strategies.
Lenin was from a largely feudal society with pockets of advanced capitalist production, often foreign owned. His father was a salaried employee of the Tsar's government, working mainly in developing public schools. Lenin went to university a got a law degree, practicing only briefly. He was considered a revolutionary intellectual, although far more connected to actual workers and far more democratic than most of that strata. For most of his adult life, you could say he was an employee of the RSDLP and then the new Soviet government. He was extremely skilled at growing an organization of professional revolutionaries, embedded in the working class and army, and under harsh conditions, and then awakening the revolutionary consciousness among far wider numbers of workers and soldiers.
By your definition, he was a 'coordinator' and thus a class enemy. But not in my view, not by a long shot.
Carl, I don’t buy the whole "the ends justify the means" argument. When it gets down to it that is what you are suggesting. From this conversation to many others we have had on Obama, markets and private enterprises. Broadly speaking we agree on many things but when it comes to strategy you seem too willing to accommodate features that are counter-productive for my tastes.
The means must compliment the end.
"One cannot in the nature of things expect a little tree that has been turned into a club to put forth leaves." ~ Martin Buber
No, I'm not making an 'ends justify the means' argument.
I do argue the ideas have consequences, and we should try to foresee them, and we do best when we accept responsibility for both ends and means.
I derive my politics from my values, not the other way around, i.e., my values from my politics. That means both means and ends are best when morally derived and evaluated.
But I'm also a pragmatist, in the deeper sense of the term, i.e., I follow an instrumental theory of truth, i.e., there is no Truth with a Capital T, but truths are the product of inquiry revealed in the solving of problems. Since several solutions can exist for one problem, there can be a plurality of truths. John Dewey, William James, along with Charles Sanders Pierce and George Herbert Mead, are a lot deeper than some people think.
I also believe that we often have only bad choices. So I'm with Sartre on the matter of 'dirty hands' in the making of moral choices and with St Thomas on when confronted with two evils, with no practical alternative, choosing the lesser is a moral option, if not required of us. There's lots of rhetorical salvos against 'lesser evilism' on the left. But I've yet to hear a solid refutation of St Thomas on the matter, which has held up for 500 years now.
So I'm not really sure what you're talking about here, but perhaps this gives you some perspective.
Carl, you are saying and have been saying elsewhere that we should accommodate features like markets, centralism, private enterprise, voting for Obama, etc for the success of revolution. I.e. the end justifies the means.
For example. You have shown your support for classlessness yet you incorporate it into your vision and strategy because you think the end will justify the means "hundreds of years" from now.
You have also shown your support for market abolition yet you incorporate markets in your vision and strategy because you think the end will justify the means "in due time."
You say you support participation just as much as I do but you incorporate centralism into your vision and strategy because you think the end will justify the means.
It’s one thing to support reforms that don’t mirror how they would be done in our ideal society, but its another to incorporate some of the very features we want to overcome into our vision and strategy. I wouldn’t use sexism to overcome sexism or racism to overcome racism and that is why I have a hard time accepting that the incorporation of markets, class divisions and centralism into our vision and strategy for a marketless, classless and participatory society is reasonable or acceptable.
The more interesting question is “what justifies 'the ends'?”
I do 'justify' markets as both means and ends, relatively speaking. The quotes are because it’s not so much justifying as acknowledging the fact that they are an achievement of human civilization over what predominated before them. The same can be said for class society. The surplus created and the priestly-intellectual strata created allowed for the beginnings of an explosion in knowledge, the democratization of which, of course, would come much later.
So what I'm really pleading guilty to is being an historical materialist--which doesn't mean, by the way, that just because something happened, that it HAD to happen. There were often choices and contingencies.
Modern socialized production was created with the use of markets and a rather developed division of labor. It also forms the basis for both advanced socialist relations of production and economies of abundance, wherein classes, market and states can begin to wither away. That's part of the ABC of Marxism, of which I am an admitted admirer and student.
In that's what you mean by 'the end justifies the means' in my thinking, so be it. But it's an odd ahistorical and moralistic way of framing things, and not very useful at all.
Carl, whether you think that markets and class divisions are an "achievement of human civilization" or not is hardly the point I am getting at.
My point is that if we agree on a desire for a market-less and classless society then incorporating them into our vision and strategy is counter-productive.
Carl - You write "Many working class people are happy with their families as they are..." Following this logic you could also argue that most working class people are not anti-capitalist and therefore conclude that they are happy with capitalism - but you don't and I wonder why? You seem to me to have a radical attitude towards the economic sphere and quite a conservative attitude towards the kinship sphere.
The idea behind developing vision for the kinship sphere is to overcome barriers to meaningful and sustainable participation within society that originate within that sphere and not to "trash the nuclear family".
You are also wrong when you assume that I automatically consider members of the coordinator class "class enemies". The coordinator class become a problem when they insist on organizing the movement and society along democratic centralist line. This is because democratic centralism elevates the coordinator class to positions of authority within the movement / society which tends to lead to elitism and authoritarianism. On the other hand if our organization is run along participatory democratic lines (as defined in my essay) coordinators should be able to make important contributions without the negative consequences.
There are other misunderstandings, inconsistencies and contradictions with your comments that, in my opinion, are quite typical of contemporary leftists. I think these characteristics go a long way in explaining why the left is so ineffective in its organizing efforts. I also think that the complementary holistic approach to organizing helps to highlight and iron out these inconsistencies.
First, it's true that many working-class people are not anti-capitalist, at least now. That's why we have to project a platform of both immediate demands and structural reforms that are not, in themselves, socialist, if we are to unite a progressive majority, and then develop the socialist minority and platform within that context.
Second, your formulation of the family-related changes you want to see are not different from those I proposed regarding women and children, which was precisely to overcome barriers to participation. It's good that you're not interested in 'trashing the nuclear family.' Neither am I, but there are more than a few in the anarchist and feminist movements that do.
Third, I maintain a distinction between political life and private life, although the two overlap. Kinship as part of the social sphere spans both, but is part of private life to a large degree. I'm not one who agrees with the slogan, 'The personal IS the political." I think the personal is connected to the political, but when you merge them into one, you end up with a feudal outlook, not unlike Sharia law, where there is no private sphere, private self or individual conscience, at least that deserves respect. Establishing these boundaries is partly what the Enlightenment was about, which, despite POMO faddism, is worth defending.
So in the end, I think you have to take a more gradual and evolutionary approach in the private and social spheres, as opposed to the mainly political and economic. To use Mao's frame, these are 'contradictions among the people', and are dealt with by different methods than 'contradictions between the people and the enemy.'
Finally, every factory I've worked in needed foremen and a plant manager, and they needed some authority to do their jobs, which in turn helped us do our jobs. Even in a system where the workers can choose or get rid of these people in democratic assemblies, they are still going to need some authority to function well. You can call it anything you please to prettify it, but it's still authority--and you can't run a small factory, let alone an army or an entire economy without it.
As Engels pointed out long ago in his little essay on the topic, revolution itself is rather authoritarian--doing away with an old order, and preventing it from coming back, by force of arms if need be. Even today, we take, say, men who rape and otherwise do criminal violence to women, and we arrest them, put them on trial and, if guilty, we put them in prison, or at least we would do better if we did so more consistently. All that is rather authoritarian and it make no sense to call it anything else.
So being called 'authoritarian' in these political and economic or military senses, doesn't cut any ice with me.
It's rather easy to shout 'down with patriarchy' when you're young, and rebelling against your fathers. But when you have children of your own, hold them in your arms, and realize that YOU are responsible for their well-being, since the good society is a ways down the pike, and YOU have to raise them up, educate them with decent values and protect them, then 'down with patriarchy' or 'down with authority' takes on a different light. There's one level of hierarchy you note right away--you and your spouse at one level, and the youngsters at the level one notch down. You and your spouse have some authority and some responsibility, and you best do well with it, as best as you can.
Carl, as I understand it in a Parecon some situations and projects in the workplace will call for someone to "lead" a work team. Some person might be responsible for coordinating the actions of various other work teams in a workplace to ensure that the project is completed the way it was meant to.
However, if a member of a workplace takes on a 'team leader' role, that will have to be factored into their job complex - they will have to compensate by doing a greater proportion of relatively less empowering work later on, and for the next project some other person will take on the mantle, so that the "leader" position doesn’t become entrenched. In other words, if there are going to be "leaders" or temporary authority figures in the workplace they have to be temporary, democratic, rotating, recallable and factored into a balanced job complex so that no one person gets significantly greater time in empowering positions than anyone else.
A division of labor is necessary yes, but it should be equitable and not leave the possibility open for entrenchment of authority.
Would you agree with that?
Carl wrote: "...every factory I've worked in needed foremen and a plant manager, and they needed some authority to do their jobs..."
I realize pointing out your authoritarian tendencies doesn’t "cut any ice" with you but you haven't provided anything that sufficiently explains how these prevailing practices are a "necessity." And that's what means more to me because there is a huge difference between how we perceive things and our ability to validate those perceptions.
Have you tried to get anything done in a workplace where no one had any authority or everyone had equal authority? Lots of luck.
This doesn't mean you forego democracy, the election of leaders, or worker assemblies to develop plans and set policies. But when it comes to production, a division of labor with designated responsibilities and authority works rather well.
Carl, “Authority" refers to decision-making. Wherever there is decision-making, there is "authority." Let's consider rather the concept of self-management. This says everyone is to have decision-making say or "authority" as you put it, in proportion as they are affected. Self-management in this sense is part of the positive concept of liberty.
If there is something that is only your business, then you are the person who should have control over that...that is your own personal self-management of your own affairs. But many decisions are social and affect groups of people, and the idea is that if a group is mainly affected by some sphere of decision-making then that group should have collective control over those decisions.
Another part of positive liberty is having roughly equal access to the means to develop one's potential. When we're talking about social production, these are related in the following way.
Within corporate capitalism a new main social class emerged in which decision-making authority and key kinds of expertise needed for decision-making authority came to be concentrated into the hands of a few. Tarylorism is based on this idea. When the "scientific management" movement began in the 1890s there were very few engineers (mainly in certain new fields) and technical expertise was still mainly the province of skilled workers. Since the World War I Taylorist principles have been applied systematically, and have gone hand in hand with the building up of a huge managerial bureaucracy, and the creation of certain "professional" groups who are repositories for, and responsible for developing, certain key kinds of expertise that management wants to use to control the enterprise and the labor process, such as design of jobs and equipment and software to control workers.
So the new class consists of the ranks of middle-managers and high-end professionals who work with management, such as lawyers, engineers, HR experts, financial experts, management consultants etc. We can call this the "bureaucratic class" or the "coordinator class" (as Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel do). These are the bosses that most working class people deal with day to day in corporations and government agencies.
This class participates in the exploitation of the working class. They do so in virtue of the power and responsibility accorded to them as the bureaucratic control element, which earns them substantial wage premiums, stock options and so on, and also enables them to accumulate things like houses, some small investments, etc.
The hierarchy in skill and knowledge also exists within the working class. There is a minority that is the skilled section of the working class, both blue collar skilled trades and lower-level "professionals" like school teachers and RNs and newspaper reporters. The majority of the working class is the lower working class...people who work in jobs requiring only common skill levels, little training, working in more repetitive types of work, usually under close supervision, and making lower wages than the more skilled layers.
But people in the skilled layer of working people do not effectively participate in the management of ventures or departments, are not part of a boss class, even if sometimes their work involves giving some direction to aides. Their higher wage rates reflect the fact that they are exploited to a lesser degree than the lower working class.
Nor is a person a part of the bureaucratic control class simply by virtue of helping to coordinate the work of others, such as a taxi dispatcher or a "lead." I've worked as a "lead" in a project with six others whose work I helped to coordinate but I had no power to discipline them or force them to go along with what I said. There are some jobs that we can consider to be borderline cases...and sometimes people are called "foremen" or "supervisors" or "assistant managers" but have little real authority over other workers. Some times a particular worker may be given some job of reporting on others as a way of sowing divisions and assisting management in their work.
Now, the proposal for re-integrating the decision-making and skilled tasks, and learning and knowledge that goes with it, with the doing of the physical work...the sort of thing Michael Albert calls "balanced jobs"...is intended to assure the working population of effective ability to participate roughly as equals in the running of the workplaces and industries...and in society more generally. If people must work 40 hours a week or whatever running a machine, driving trucks, cleaning, whatever, when will they have the time to learn the things needed in order to effectively participate in the running of an industry? They won't be able. They will in practice be subordinate to bosses.
Another feature about the coordinator class is that understanding the basis of this class enables us to answer the question, who were the dominating and exploiting class in the old Soviet Union?
Much of the work of middle management is essentially a police function. This accounts for why the size of the coordinator class varies significantly between advanced capitalist countries. In the USA managers are 15% of the population but non-Anglo-Saxon advanced capitalist countries have a much small bureaucratic bloat.
Managers do some useful tasks that would still need to be done...and coordination is one of these tasks. But this can be combined with a person who does some of the physical work, or does the coordination only for awhile as an elected coordinating committee member, etc. Even more importantly, the expertise and skills needed to run industries need to be broadly shared within the workforce so that there is not a class of people who simply forced to do the donkey work, the least desirable tasks, or the tasks that give the least empowerment, in terms of skill development and effective participation in the industry's direction.
This business about "authority" seems to be derived from some word-games of Engels back in the 19th century. Sensible libertarian Leftists do not say that "all authority is to be abolished." It's a question of how authority is to be re-organized. "Authoritarian" doesn't mean merely "exercise of authority." If people refer to a government as "authoritarian", they mean it is repressive, runs against popular opinion, is despotic in its methods.
Capitalist management is "authoritarian" because it is despotic.
Contrary to Engels, a working class revolution to get rid of the power of the boss classes would not be "authoritarian." It would be an act of liberation. Calling it "authoritarian" is like saying that someone who retrieves a bicycle that was stolen from them by taking it from the thief is a "thief." The process of taking over the capitalists' assets and removing management from power is unlikely to occur with their blessing. It will have to be forced on them. But the idea is not to set up some new authoritarian structure or to substitute some new despotic form of management for the old.
In regard to why Leninism leads to the empowerment of a coordinator class, we can look at the early path pursued by Lenin and the Bolsheviks. What was their trajectory? The local Soviets set up by the Mensheviks were highly top down affairs...controlled top-down by the executive committees, usually members of the "intelligentsia"...plenaries of delegates were treated as a mere rubber stamp. The approach is one we should be familiar with. It's the concept of "representative democracy" where the citizen's only role is to elect people who are given the authority to make the decisions. When the Bolsheviks gained majorities in the soviets they didn't change this...because they shared this assumption with the Mensheviks. The Russian trade unions were also set up as highly centralized bodies controlled top down by their national executive committees. This was why in the revolution Russian workers formed a large independent shop committee movement based on assemblies.
In Nov 1917 the regional organization of factory committees in St Petersburg proposed that the factory committees should gain self-management power over the whole economy and hold a congress to develop from below a plan for the Russian economy. The only political tendencies in the revolution to support that move were the libertarian socialists and syndicalists. The Bolsheviks scotched that idea. Instead once they'd gotten the Congress of Soviets to put them in control of the central government they set up, a Supreme Council of National Economy, entirely appointed from above by the government, to develop, top down, a plan for the national economy. And Lenin vigorously insisted that worker delegates were not to be more than a minority on the regional bodies set up under this planning apparatus. And shortly thereafter in the spring of 1918 you had the beginnings of the move for "one-man management"....appointment of bosses from above...and the creation of a top-down conventional army run by thousands of czarist officers paid nice salaries to do so. Now, what we can see here are the beginnings of an administrative layer with dominant control over the Russian state and economy, that is, over the immediate producers.
In his study "Before Stalinism" Sam Farber, by way of explaining these tendencies, points out that Russian Marxism, in both its Menshevik and Bolshevik forms, never really believed in direct democracy, or building direct participation by rank and file people, they didn't see this as important. What was the important thing in their view was gaining control of the central government. Their conception of democracy was representative democracy...election of people to make decisions for you, not direct participation by people affected in charting the decisions. Thus Trotsky, for example, to defend one-man management and the hierarchical army he organized, made an analogy with a trade union. He said that just as workers control of the union was in election of officers, the election by the working class of the Bolshevik party in Oct 1917 was a form of worker control. Note that he conceives of democracy in a union totally in terms of representative democracy, not the members making the decisions.
This view that democracy is representative democracy was one of the main influences on political Marxism....the Marxist parties...in the years before World war I. Organized political Marxism did not put an emphasis on direct democracy or self-management....those were ideas developed by the libertarian Left.
Thus we can see that 19th century liberalism contributed significantly to the weaknesses of the left. In the case of the anarchist left, some anarchists were influenced by the liberal idea of "autonomy" to the point of veering off in individualistic directions. But the debilitating influence of 19th century liberalism on organized Marxism was its poverty-stricken conception of democracy.
Now, I have no beef with Marxism as a set of ideas. When I first got involved in the radical left in the late '60s/early '70s, I participated in a Marx study group and read and was influenced by various Marxists...such as G.D.H. Cole's "The Meaning of Marxism." I still have my well-worn copy of that and it's been re-read numerous times. The first radical group I belonged to defined itself as "socialist-feminist". Around that time a member of the Los Angeles group "The Resistance" sort of converted me to anarcho-syndicalism, and brought my attention to the Spanish revolution and the role of anarcho-syndicalism in that revolution. So in the '70s and '80s I ended up working in an anarcho-syndicalist group...but I continued to agree with Marx's ideas, including his theory of history. My viewpoint in that period was sort of "libertarian-syndicalist-Marxist-feminist." Since then I've developed some more criticisms of things like Marx's theory of history but I still agree with a number of ideas from Marxism. The truth is, anarcho-syndicalism and the more working class-oriented wing of anarchism share a number of ideas in common with Marxism. So, as I say, my beef isn't with Marxist ideas.
However, Marxism historically has had a kind of dual meaning. On the one hand there are the social ideas. And, on the other hand, there is a political tradition....of Marxist political organizations. The thing about the history of political Marxism is that its main strategic orientation has been partyist. That is, the idea is that socialism is to be achieved by building up a political party that rallies behind it the oppressed groups of society and then uses this social force to capture control of a state (either the existing state or a new one built for this purpose) to implement its program top-down through the hierarchies of the state. Of course the two historic forms of partyism are social-democracy and Leninism.
I think that neither social-democracy nor Leninism is capable of being a path to the self-emancipation of the working class. The very fact they must work through the state in a top-down way will tend to favor and empower a coordinator or bureaucratic control class.
An alternative to partyism would be to think in terms of social change being driven from below by mass social movements, mass organizations, such as worker organizations and other kinds of social movement organizations, forming some sort of alliance and working out a common aim or program, what Steve D'Arcy calls a "common front".
One of the problems I have with much of the "Reimagining Society" discussion is that the focus is so much on the "vision" or program for a new society that what can be lost sight of is the process of self-emancipation, that is, the strategic path of change. Marx held that a revolution is necessary because it is only through a process of struggle that the working class...the majority of the population...change themselves, develop their knowledge, consciousness, confidence, abilities...to "fit" themselves to take over the running of society. And on this point I am in agreement with Marx.
We don't want anything to become 'entrenched.'
But we do want leaders to have authority. If they lead anyway, but without authority, they're called tyrants.
Re: Authoritarian vs. Whom?
Tom, the point made by Engels was that working-class revolution was authoritarian toward the other side, even dictatorial. That’s why it’s called the dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e., it emancipates one class and forcibly suppresses another.
But regarding your longer exposition here, I simply don't know any factories or firms that can run the way you suggest. I'm simply not an anarchist, at least since my early 20s, because I've learned that any projects of any scale, factories or otherwise, simply don't work that way.
With just one example. I ran an enterprise, and computer recycling and training project for some 30 recent ex-offenders and prisoners on work release. I was both coordinator and teacher, reporting to a board of six ex-offenders and one lawyer.
I hired two former students to help me. From the 30, I selected four more to help them. I interviewed every student in depth to see what they wanted from the class and the work; we sold recycled computers at cost to other nonprofits, but as I often told the student-workers, our main product was the skills gained between their ears.
I set industry-wide standards for them, and used trial tests so they could get certified as repair techs. Those who discovered they didn't want to be techs, but were interested in working in an office or becoming a webmaster, my leading team developed an alternate curriculum and work projects for them.
My teaching methods were hands-on; learn by doing, with individual attention.
But a third of my students ended up going back to jail (which was a success, since two-thirds is the norm otherwise). I had to put some out of the class, and fire one of the teacher-helpers, mainly for drug abuse. But a decent number succeeded in their own lives with new their new skills, not to mention the community groups that got decent equipment.
I had authority in this work, as did my team. We were not 'entrenched,' but could be replaced or removed if the board wanted too. I also had meetings, to explain tasks and methods. Everyone spoke, and sometimes we made improvements and changes from the students suggestions. But in the course of each session, I would explain our tasks, and what each had to do to succeed at getting them done. I gave orders and directions. I was one of your dreaded coordinators.
There is no way this project could function as you outline. I had another friend who ran a similar program as mine, but at 10 times the scale. Certainly no way for that one, either.
I use this example because the discipline and division of labor required for this operation to succeed was minimal and relatively loose. At other places I’ve worked, the notion of foreman or 'team leaders' or whatever you want to call them, even if they were elected, being without the authority to give an order or a directive, is laughable.
I believe in both worker ownership and workplace democracy. Worker assemblies to hire and fire managers, to set basic policy and direction that's in the interest of all, are essential to my vision of a good society. Not just annual sessions, but more frequently. But the idea of abolishing authority or coordinators as a class, is simply a non-starter for me. I'm simply not convinced that it can ever work or even get off the ground on any serious scale.
I didn't say I was for "abolishing authority"....I said the opposite. I also didn't say people should never be in a position to "give directives." If a person is coordinating work of others, they are giving directives. The issue was different: I'm talking about a class power relationship. This is where in a society there is a relative monopolization of decision-making authority and key expertise related to planning and decision-making in the hands of a few. Those few will thus dominate workers under them. This is in fact the structure that exists in the Mondragon coops, this existed under Yugoslav fake "self-management", and it exists as a subordinate class within corporate capitalism. So long as this *class* exists, workers will not be free. It's as simple as that.
Management doesn't just "issue directives." They decide on the technologies in use, how jobs are defined, who gets what job, policies that govern the workplace, have authority to hire and fire people, they monitor people and track their work and discipline them for infractions. Because they can fire people or re-assign them to less desirable jobs or suspend them, they are in a position to threaten them. And hence they exercise coercive authority over them. This is not the same kind of "authority" as someone who is a lead or "supervisor" without authority to hire and fire who simply coordinates.
I was not the person who introduced the word "authority" into this discussion. You did.
Now, what job balancing means is that these kinds of tasks and skills are broadly distributed within the working class. And thus we're talking not about something that can be achieved within capitalism, but something that a socialist society needs to embark upon at the outset. Within a libertarian socialist society, the point is to have a systematic approach to education and job design that realizes this aim.
Within such an arrangement, the useful tasks that are now done by the coordinator class would still be done...including coordination of work, developing plans, dealing with friction and personal conflicts in the workplace.
Now as to its allegedly being impossible to run workplaces this way, during the Spanish revolution the former shop stewards committees were converted into administrative committees and assemblies of the union sections became the regular worker assemblies. The administrative committee was responsible for coordination, but often members of this committee also continued to work at least part of the time at their old job. For example, a Revolutionary Railway Federation was created to run the railways. They hired an executive director but the national coordinating committee consisted of 12 delegates who continued in their old jobs. In each railway terminal there were assemblies every two weeks. The elected delegates who coordinated the work had to give reports and could be removed at any time if the workers were dissatisfied. This sort of structure is just a beginning because there also needs to be a process of training rank and file workers to do engineering and other skilled jobs and to understand finances and planning and other tasks related to administration. Even so, they did what you say can't be done.
In regard to Engels' word games, I know that Engels was pointing out that the capitalists (and I'd add, managers) are forcibly removed from power, from their ownership of assets. But my point is that he was calling this "authoritarian" as a way to criticize the libertarian Left....and this is what you're doing too. The problem is, the libertarian Left would agree that force is used in this case....but they aren't being inconsistent since they don't use "authoritarian" to refer to "any use of force" or "any situation in which someone is forced to do something." If that were so, every possible society would be "authoritarian" because in any feasible social arrangement the society's governance system will have rules and ability to enforce those rules, and this means use of force.
Rather, "authoritarian" is used as a description of institutions and how institutions are run. Institutions are "authoritarian" to the degree that they are despotic in their relation to the people they govern. Also, policies or political practices could be deemed "authoritarian" to the degree they propose undemocratic, despotic methods. Removing a despotic regime in which a minority dominate and exploit others does not count as "authoritarian" insofar as it falls out of a democratic mass movement and is working towards the creation of social democratization. If you want to say that "it is authoritarian towards the capitalists", I will simply point out that this is not how "anti-authoritarians" use the word "authoritarian." That's why it's playing games, which is not very helpful.
Carl, I am going to go out on a limb here and ask a question: Are you or have you ever been a foreman or plant manager?
No, Michael, but I've worked where I had a foreman, a plant supervisor and a manager. All of them could be replaced as individuals by democratic elections picking people from the shop floor, but they were also needed, as coordinators and organizers of production, to have the place run well. None of them had a 'monopoly' on their jobs and none of them held any ownership shares--but they got two or three times more than the average wage as salary.
I described the teacher and coordinator position that I did hold for a few years below. Since it was a classroom as well as a production unit, I wouldn't use the term 'foreman' here, but if you wanted to stretch it, I suppose one could.
As for Tom, we're back to the quote from Alice. Plus the Spanish anarchist example doesn't go very far. They were crushed, after all.
Briefly, the Spanish revolution went further than any other in history in creation of an economy directly managed by workers, and workers ran the industries for two and half years. For Carl, however, their example can be dismissed because "they were crushed." But worker management of the economy was successful. It was the people's army that was defeated...after the Communist Party gained control of it. It was defeated partly due to overwhelming advantage in foreign military aid to the fascist side from Hitler and Mussolini (as documented by Gerald Howson) and mismanagement and demoralization of the army by the Communists, as described in Antony Beever's "The Battle for Spain" and in some of the interviews in "Blood of Spain." But worker management of the transport systems, which I mentioned, was quite successful.
Carl, you advocate managerial hierarchies, market governance of society and the continued existence of the hierarchical state apparatus. That looks pretty much like what we have now. It seems to me you are proposing various reforms within capitalism...some of which I might agree with you on...but in terms of socialism, your vision seems to me just changing who the bosses are. Why the heck should the working class fight a revolution for that?
Tom, don't get carried away here.
First, I think plants need managers, preferably hired and fired by the workers themselves. with workers setting strategic policy in assemblies. If that means 'managerial hierarchies' to you, so be it. But I doubt if many workers would think so.
Second, I think society should govern markets, not 'market governance of society.' I think some markets can be abolished, some restricted and others regulated by a working-class government. If that means 'market governance of society' to you, that's also very odd, to say the least.
Third, yes, I think we need democratic government, participatory at the base, and representative beyond localities. It's a big country, so that's several levels, which makes a hierarchy. I've said many times, I am a Marxist and a socialist, with a vision of fully automated communism a hundred years or so down the pike. I am not an anarchist, so on this one, I'll just plead guilty. We'll need to coerce enemies who want to illegally bring back the old order, as well as criminals that prey on society. That's what states do. People do not become angels under socialism, although they can do better than they do under the current order.
I do indeed work for radical reforms within capitalism, and my socialism certainly does 'change who the bosses are.' It puts the workers in charge. It makes them the owners of their firms, where they can hire and fire the managers as a transitional society to one were both workers and managers are abolished, or at least reduced to near zero.
I can think of long lists of reasons why many of the more forward thinking workers today would favor such things, and I know many who do, but certainly not enough of them, so far away. But I've yet to meet an actual factory worker today who espouses anarchism. I know students who do, and I'm not saying there aren't any. But in the last 40 years, I've yet to meet one.
And yes, I think there are coordinators--good, bad and indifferent. But I don't think there is any such thing as a 'coordinator class'
CD: First, I think plants need managers, preferably hired and fired by the workers themselves, with workers setting strategic policy in assemblies. If that means 'managerial hierarchies' to you, so be it. But I doubt if many workers would think so.
< Carl, you have yet to explain this "need." I get that you "think" it but I want to know why and how that means an end to alienated and hierarchically divided is impossible. Managers hire, fire and plan, so if workers are hiring, firing and planning then why and the hell would they need a manager to do what they are already doing? If you see management as some facilitation job not imposing on workers then maybe there is something to discuss (and at which point I would argue in favor those facilitation tasks being balanced throughout a workplace), but saying we need managers yet we can and should do what they do is perplexing to say the least.
CD: Second, I think society should govern markets, not 'market governance of society.' I think some markets can be abolished, some restricted and others regulated by a working-class government. If that means 'market governance of society' to you, that's also very odd, to say the least.
< I think you are failing to take into account market pressures on people's behavior. To say society can resist the intrinsically antisocial features of markets doesn’t make much sense. Structure nurtures behavior.
CD: Third, yes, I think we need democratic government, participatory at the base, and representative beyond localities. It's a big country, so that's several levels, which makes a hierarchy. I've said many times, I am a Marxist and a socialist, with a vision of fully automated communism a hundred years or so down the pike. I am not an anarchist, so on this one, I'll just plead guilty. We'll need to coerce enemies who want to illegally bring back the old order, as well as criminals that prey on society. That's what states do. People do not become angels under socialism, although they can do better than they do under the current order.
< For the most part I agree. Your polity description is pretty similar to Shaloms parpolity - face-to-face deliberation for local issues and delegated nested councils for broader issues. On the issue of forcibly resisting "enemies" that may be but that’s now what I take opposition to. I take opposition to the incorporation of some of the most important features we need to replace to make a Good Society: markets, class divisions, private enterprise, etc. I realize we can’t overcome them over night but the sooner we incorporate participatory planning, self-management and social ownership into the institutions and movements we build the sooner we will overcome them. Including the very things we oppose into our visions and strategy for expediency has two disturbing drawbacks: 1) the undermining of our goals; and 2) unnecessarily putting off the attaining of those goals.
CD: I do indeed work for radical reforms within capitalism, and my socialism certainly does 'change who the bosses are.' It puts the workers in charge. It makes them the owners of their firms, where they can hire and fire the managers as a transitional society to one were both workers and managers are abolished, or at least reduced to near zero.
< You’re playing word games again, Carl. By changing bosses we are talking about leaving the very structures in place that perpetuate the problems we are trying to overcome. "Meet the new boss / Same as the old boss" ~ The Who
Workers control is not changing bosses, its changing the very structure. Again, back to your "first" point. If workers can hire, fire and plan - which are the tasks of management - then there is no need for management or "bosses"
CD: I can think of long lists of reasons why many of the more forward thinking workers today would favor such things, and I know many who do, but certainly not enough of them, so far away. But I've yet to meet an actual factory worker today who espouses anarchism. I know students who do, and I'm not saying there aren't any. But in the last 40 years, I've yet to meet one.
< That hardly validates the argument. 95% of the world believes in the supernatural but that doesn’t mean its true.
CD: And yes, I think there are coordinators--good, bad and indifferent. But I don't think there is any such thing as a 'coordinator class'
< Again, you "think" so but you don’t offer anything to show for it. Coordinators have considerable separate interests from the rank and file and as such that qualifies as a separate class.
I'm not sure how useful this dialogue is since you continue to repeat yourself, Carl. The name "coordinator class" is possibly misleading. I’ve found this to be the case in discussions with people. Sometimes people make the same mistake Carl makes here of supposing that the "coordinator class" is simply defined as "people who do coordination of work". To repeat my example, a taxi dispatcher might have no managerial power but coordinate the work of the drivers. She's not a member of the "coordinator class." Okay, so let's use the term I sometimes substitute, the "bureaucratic control class." I think we know who this class is.
Over the past century corporate capitalism has evolved and developed a particular division of labor for the control and exploitation of workers. In persistent de-skilling and re-org-ing of work they developed an elaborate managerial hierarchy...people who are not capital owners but who the working class is subordinate to, and controlled by, in the workplaces. This includes the legions of middle-managers and the various "professions"...which often didn't exist in the mid-19th century...like engineering, accountants and financial officers, architects, corporate lawyers and so on, who work directly with management in helping them with running the enterprise, developing plans and defending the legal and other interests of the firm. This layer in the companies and the state is the bureaucratic control class, as I call it; it's what Albert & Hahnel call the coordinator class. Again, as I pointed out before, this is not all "professionals." There is an even larger group of "professionals" who I regard as being a part of the skilled segment of the working class. Where they fall has to do with the participation in the power of management decision-making and planning and so on.
The working class cannot be free, but will continue to be dominated and exploited, as long as they are subordinate to this class. The Communist countries all had economies controlled by this sort of class. This is precisely at the heart of Communism's failure. We need to absorb and understand the lessons of that failure.
What we need to do, then, is to analyze what this class does, and figure out what is actually needed and what is there only because it is required by a system of domination and exploitation of the immediate producers. What would need to happen in a revolutionary process is to re-organize the structure of decision-making and the definition of the jobs and the nature of education and training, as it applies to workers, to empower the working class to be able to directly manage the industries themselves.
Now, it is in fact quite instructive to look at the Mondragon cooperatives...to see what is not an adequate solution. Their cooperatives may provide certain benefits for the communities as a reform in the context of capitalist society...but they are no model for workers management. This is because superimposed on a nominally democratic structure of election and assemblies is the same hierarchical division of labor as we find in capitalist corporations. We find workers working 40 hours a week running a machine in the Fagor stove factory or doing cleaning or other physical labor. But they have no time to learn financial planning or engineering...and in Sharryn Kasmir's interviews they complained of this and of being treated as subordinates by the managers.
The way jobs are organized isn't just about how to produce the product...it also has effects on the people. If some people are in charge and giving orders and doing the planning, this empowers them, and they develop a sense of confidence and of entitlement to be making the decisions. These are "empowerment effects", in the language of Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel.
What we need to do is to re-design the jobs so as to distribute these empowerment effects. There needs to a re-design of the jobs so as to ensure that skills and conceptual work and decision-making tasks are more broadly shared. It's not only "anarchists" or Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel who advocate this. There are also some writers and thinkers in the Marxist tradition who advocate this. Harry Braverman advocated this. Michael Yates advocates something like this at the end of his book "Naming the System."
As I pointed out, some of what "managers" do is a kind of police work...tracking and monitoring and pushing, for purposes of labor exploitation. This is what accounts for the huge growth in the proportion of managers in the USA since the '20s...now 15% of the workforce. Some of the work they do is still needed. But to retain the same titles as under the capitalist division of labor is to imply continuation of the class relations. In other words, when you say that there needs to be a "plant manager" in a factory, this assumes that the job description that goes with what a manager does in a capitalist corporation would still apply even after a revolution. This means the relations to the workers would be the same. And I think that is unacceptable.
As I pointed out in the case of the revolution in Spain in the '30s, the workers didn't have some powerful individual with the same title as the old managers in the industries they expropriated. Typically the former shop stewards council was converted into an administrative council. The elected delegates did have coordinating or orchestrating roles. And this was merely in the initial stage of a transition.
I've had discussions with co-workers over the years about workers managing without bosses...and people understand what I'm talking about. Social anarchism or anarcho-syndicalism does not have huge numbers of activists in the USA, so I can understand why you might never have run into any in factories...but they do exist. In the '80s my organization had groups in the meatpacking industry in the upper Midwest and in the textile and garment industry in the New York area. Nowadays our membership is more concentrated in healthcare, education and retail. Of course in countries where there are more working class anarchists you will encounter anarchists in factories...in Spain or Brazil for example.
I've worked in blue collar jobs and professional jobs. I've worked in gas stations, in newspaper production, in college teaching, in computer hardware manufacturing and the software industry. As part of various writing tasks over the years I've interviewed workers in various industries. I've also done numerous interviews with workers in the course of various writing projects. I think I know what managers do.
Why the focus on factories? The bureaucratic control structure and division of labor is the same in public utilities, transportation, retail and healthcare to what exists in factories.
Nowadays the same Taylorist methods are used and the same managerial despotism exists there.
Presumably you are suggesting there is little current support for eliminating the managerial hierarchy among factory workers. I think that the extent to which such ideas take hold depends upon the development of class consciousness and libertarian socialist ideas within the working class. But the issues for factories are not fundamentally different than for transit systems or distribution or other areas of the economy. If you're a Marxist you should be familiar with the concept of "class formation"...of the process of the working class moving from being a class "in itself" to a class "for itself", in Marx's terms.
In regard to the state, there is not a single unified theory that Marxists have agreed to...and the same is true of anarchists. Engels presented the view that the state came into existence with the emergence of class society and is an administrative layer that is separated from effective popular control, standing over society. Now, I agree with that conception of what a state is. A political governance system for a society doesn't have to be a state in this sense. I already agreed that there is some inevitable element of representation in governance over a large territory...but we can ask what the relationship is to the base of society. Are these non-professional delegates who still work a regular job part of the time? are key issues or controversial questions referred back to the assemblies at the base for decision? is the ultimate armed force based on a democratic organization controlled by the people...the armed people? or is it some professional hierarchical standing army beyond actual popular control?
The fact that a political governance structure exercises coercive force against external enemies or criminal elements does not make it a state...that is obfuscatory. I already agreed that it will be necessary for the governance system to do this. Even tribal organization of society in early hunter/gatherer bands could do this...and these were forms of social organization where there was no state according to Engels. But of course you can continue to repeat the same formulas over and over again if you wish....
I agree we've about played this out--and the conclusion is that Marxists and anarchists differ on many things, and are not the same.
The ability of a body of people with authority to put some people in prison or its equivalent for breaking the law, i.e., to forcibly deprive them of their freedom, is the core of what makes a state. States are coercive, and it makes no sense to prettify them, whatever their form--limited powers or absolutist, democratic or fascist. That's the position held by Marxists, and many others as well.
Likewise for Marxists, class is about one's relation to ownership, or not, of the means of production. Workers are alienated from owning the means of production, small producers own their own tools, and capitalists own the means of production and hire workers to use them to generate surplus value, which they, the capitalists, appropriate.
It's useful to examine and describe the groupings and subdivisions within each class and across classes in various ways--all young people, all women, nationalities, bureaucratic layers, higher-paid strata, VALS market groups ( Values and Life Styles), blue collar and white collar occupations, university-trained workers, and, yes, the coordinator strata as well. But none of these are classes in the Marxist sense of the term. Of course, you're free to come up with your own definition of a class, or even several of them, and use them just as you please. I just don't find that approach very helpful.
You and a few others can claim that workers in Mondragon can't move out of their positions. But the fact is that thousands of them do take courses in their worker-owned Mondragon university, enhance their skills, and then take new and different positions. That's built into the system, and it works. Current enrollment is 4000, and you can visit and talk to them. I'm sure many workers there still choose not to, and use their leisure time in other ways, but that's another matter.
You can likewise claim that they have a 'managerial hierarchy' like any other. But it's common knowledge that Mondragon firms have far fewer levels of hierarchy than their capitalist rivals. It's commonly used to explain MCC's competitive advantage, i.e., that worker self-management means they have fewer supervisors to pay. Not no supervisors, but fewer. And it's also widely known that in the MCC firms, workers hire and fire managers and managers do not hire and fire the worker-owners. It doesn't mean there's no hierarchy; it just means it's not the same as the rule we know.
I'm sure you won't be happy with MCC anyway. It goes against your anarchist theories, so you have to oppose it if you continue clinging to them.
But I'm an advocate of spreading the core MCC 'model' or 'organizing principles’ far and wide, including in the US. It's starting to happen in a number of workplaces and related institutions, which I endorse.
This is what our theoretical difference means in practice. Ideas have consequences, and we are accountable for ours. So we are left with a better understanding of each other, hopefully, and we just have to agree to disagree, and fight it out in the battleground of building left organization.
Reimagining Revolutionary
Left Organizing
[Contribution to the Reimagining Society Project hosted by ZCommunications]
A twenty first century revolutionary left organization established to facilitate the building of a popular movement should do all it can to learn lessons from its own history.
One of the most important of these lessons is that the elimination of capitalism does not, by itself, lead to a classless society. We can be anti-capitalist and still be opposed to classlessness. This is possible because, despite what the Marxists teach us, there are more than two classes - the working class and the capitalist class. Due to the hierarchical division of labor an elite can monopolize empowering tasks within society. The monopolization of empowering tasks and decision-making authority distinguishes this minority from the general public - thus creating a new class sometimes referred to as the "professional managerial class" or "coordinator class".
Because Marxists are blind to this third class they tend to structure their anti-capitalist organizations along democratic centralist lines. But because democratic centralism institutionalizes a hierarchical division of labor Marxist organizations elevate the coordinator class to positions of authority - thus duplicating existing class relations.
Another important lesson (relating to the first) is that none of the major social spheres (community, politics, economics, kinship) should be seen as of more importance than the others. To prioritize one sphere over all others should be understood as saying that one form of oppression is more important than other forms. So for example, Marxists tend to elevate class exploitation within the economic sphere as of primary concern. From this outlook it follows that oppression within other spheres (for example sexism in the kinship sphere) are of secondary importance - at best.
This "monist" approach to organizing has typified much of the revolutionary left throughout the twentieth century even though such an approach can only weaken the movement. However some sectors of the revolutionary left recognized this problem and tried to overcome it by synthesizing their different theories. One example of this is Marxism-feminism. However, this "pluralist" approach still tends to prioritize the struggles taking place within the economic and kinship spheres over those taking place in the community and political spheres. Another example of pluralist organizing is anarcho-syndicalism which seems to prioritize the struggles within the economic and political spheres over those taking place within the kinship and community spheres.
From the first lesson we learn that it is necessary to reject democratic centralism as an internal structure and decision-making process because it elevates the coordinator class to positions of authority within the movement. From the second lesson we learn that we must reject monist and pluralist approaches to organizing because they wrongly prioritize some forms of oppression over others.
Rejecting democratic centralism and monist / pluralist approaches to organizing is a good start because, as we have seen, these features divide and weaken the movement leading to stagnation. But of course we need to replace these features with alternative ones that promote unity, growth and strength whilst also avoiding the dangers of sectarianism.
As an alternative to democratic centralism I would like to suggest participatory democracy. Unlike democratic centralism participatory democracy has no hierarchical division of labor. Instead, to ensure an anti-elitist culture, a participatory democracy strives to distribute empowering and desirable tasks out evenly amongst its members. Also, in contrast to democratic centralism, a participatory democratic organization runs by the principle that members have a say in decisions in proportion to how much they are affected by the outcome of that decision. So for example, if a decision only affects members of the organization in a particular "chapter" or "branch" then they make that decision without interference from members in other chapters / branches.
Complimentary Holism
As an alternative to monist or pluralist approaches to organizing I suggest a "complimentary holistic" approach. Such an approach means understanding that struggles for liberation within the kinship, community, political and economic spheres are all equally important. Moreover, the complimentary holistic approach to movement building also highlights the need for the organizing within each sphere to re-enforce that of the other spheres.
I have suggested participatory democracy as a suitable decision-making process because it avoids duplicating class relations inside our organization. I have also suggested adopting a complimentary and holistic approach as a remedy to overcoming narrower and less respectful outlooks to organizing. These are suggested as basic features for a new international revolutionary left organization. But what might be some of the basic functions of such an organization?
Developing Shared Vision
One of the arguments used to justify the authoritarianism of democratic centralism is that it is necessary to organize that way in order to produce unity of action. Without centralism and hierarchy there is no effective action and therefore no hope for successful revolution.
A libertarian alternative means of creating unity of action that avoids the dangers of centralism and hierarchy is developing shared vision. By developing shared vision I mean the collective identification of the long-term objectives of the organization.
The development of shared vision would take place in accordance with the principles of participatory democracy and in line with the complimentary holistic outlook as sketched out above.
Because the shared vision of the organization affects all members equally this means that all members have an equal say in formulating the long-term objectives of the organization. Such activities could primarily taken place in local chapters filtering up to deliberative groups at the regional, National and international levels. The object of this process would be to identify shared vision that all members can work with and towards. However, the vision identified should not be seen as written in stone. An on going process of refinement and further development should remain a primary function of this organization.
Developing Diverse Strategy
One of the main reasons that developing shared long-term vision is so important is because it helps to guide our strategy. But our strategy should also be informed by the realities on the ground today. And because the realities on the ground vary from time and place this means our strategies must also vary. So diverse strategy is unavoidable. However, because our strategies are guided by our shared vision any danger of contradiction within the diversity should be minimized.
Like the development of our vision the development of our strategies will take place within a participatory democratic and complimentary holistic framework. This, for example, means that National strategies could vary considerably from one Nation to another. It also means that whilst criticism of specific strategy is welcome such diversity must be respected.
In addition to developing diverse strategies the popularization of the shared vision will be one of the primary activities of the organization. Advocating the shared vision will create opportunities for existing members to engage with the general public. Members of the general public who are sufficiently convinced by what they hear may join the organization. On joining these new members are then able to participate with other members in the development and advocacy of shared vision. This process creates a health and open relationship between the organization and the general public. The objective is to try to generate a non-elitist and non-sectarian dynamic between the organization and the public whilst also taking into account the inevitability of unevenness in the development of social consciousness and awareness of alternative ideas.
Solidarity Work
Another primary activity that members may want to get involved in is working in solidarity with other organizations on joint campaigns. Again, such activities create opportunities for members to meet others to discuss vision and strategy in ways that create a healthy and non-sectarian dynamic.
As with all other strategic considerations working in solidarity with other organizations will be subjected to the participatory democratic process. So if a member of a local chapter of the organization wants his or her chapter to work with other local groups in their area then all members of that chapter has a say in whether or not they support that action. The same goes with proposals to work in solidarity at the National and International levels.
Fortunately for people interested in establishing a new international organization as described above there is no need to start from scratch. A small number of thinker-activists have, over the past decades, been focusing their efforts on the development of participatory vision in the various social spheres. For example we have Cynthia Peters and Lydian Sargent work on participatory kinship; Stephen Shalom and Julio Chavez on participatory politics; Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel on participatory economics and Justin Podur and Mandisi Majavu on participatory community. I think it therefore makes sense that initial members use this work as a starting point for advocacy, debate and further development.
We should assume that few, if any, individual members will agree 100% with the vision and strategy developed and advocated by the organization as a whole. But we should also remember that all members have the same opportunity to influence the development of the organizations vision and strategy. From this we can expect that there will be a lively intellectual culture inside this new organization.
The organizational features described above are designed to encourage and celebrate free-thinking and dissent whilst also recognizing the need for serious organizing and united action. It is hoped that such an organization will avoid (or at least minimize) the dangers of elitism, dogmatism and sectarianism. By avoiding these dangers that have plagued so much of the revolutionary left in the past I believe we can establish a new and vibrant international organization with a growth dynamic capable of generating a popular movement.
Labels: Anarchism, Marxism, Strategy
Labor Day Bus with Beaver County Steelworkers
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Whom to Contact at Slippery Rock About …
Academic Records and Transcripts -Office of Academic Records and Summer School
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Kansas Law-1876
Statute-- District Schools Free to All Resident Children
Kansas Session Laws, 1876, Chapter 122, Article 5, Pages 256-257
[Amended by 1877 Law]
(View a scanned copy of the 1876 law)
ARTICLE V.--DISTRICT SCHOOLS.
SECTION 1. In each and every school district shall be taught orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, and arithmetic, and such other branches as may be determined by the district board.
SEC. 2. A school month shall consist of four weeks of five days each of six hours per day.
SEC. 3. The district schools established under the provisions of this act shall at all times be equally free and accessible to all the children resident therein over five and under the age of twenty-one years, subject to such regulations as the district board in each may prescribe.
SEC. 4. Any district board refusing the admission of any children into the common schools shall forfeit to the county the sum of one hundred dollars each for every month so offending, during which such schools are taught; and all moneys forfeited to the common-school fund of the county, under this act, shall be expended by the county superintendent for the education of such children in the school district thus denied equal educational advantages: Provided, That any member of said district board who shall protest against the action of his said board in excluding any children from equal educational advantages shall not be subject to the penalty herein named.
SEC. 5. No pupil infected with any contagious disease shall be allowed to attend any common school or remain in any school room while so infected.
SEC. 6. Whenever there be not public money enough belonging to any school district to support a public school the length of time determined at the annual meeting, or at a special meeting duly called, the district board, to meet said deficiency, may assess a tuition fee upon each scholar attending said school, the assessment to be proportioned to the number of days each pupil has been in actual attendance during the term: Provided, That no tuition fee shall be levied upon the scholars in any of the public schools of this state, in accordance with the provisions of this act, unless the entire amount of one per cent. for teachers' wages, as required by law, be first assessed upon the taxable property of said school district.
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Colin Firth on the Long Road to ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ and the Unconventional ‘Kingsman 2’
by Christina Radish September 16, 2016
The highly anticipated third installment of the Bridget Jones franchise, Bridget Jones’s Baby, finds the forty-something and single again Bridget (Renée Zellweger) in a very unexpected situation. After deciding to focus on her job and surround herself with friends, Bridget thinks she has everything completely under control, until she finds herself torn between her longtime love Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and dashing American Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey), not knowing which one is the father of her unborn child.
While at the press junket in London, Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth got on the phone with Collider for this exclusive interview about the journey to finally making a third Bridget Jones movie, shooting multiple endings, the joy of working with Emma Thompson, who is hilarious in the film, and why he wanted to see Renée Zellweger in this role again. He also talked about his mysterious return in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, taking on the Thomas Vinterberg film Kursk next, and why he wanted to get into producing films.
Collider: Because there was so much talk, over the years, that never quite panned out, when and how did you learn that you would actually be returning to this character?
Image via Universal Pictures
COLIN FIRTH: It went through so many stages. If I were to write a book about the progress of getting to a third film, it would be a long one. I can’t even remember dates now, but it was going to happen a few years ago. It even went into production, and then it didn’t happen, for all kinds of reasons, many of which I can’t remember. I’ve spoken to at least three potential directors. I had conversations with (book author) Helen Fielding, quite a number of years ago, about what a third film might look like, long before she wrote her third book. Mark Darcy died, and there was no Hugh Grant. There were all kinds of moments where I thought, “I suppose that’s it, then.” But Working Title and (producer) Eric Fellner had this determination to find the story, and then a momentum kicked in. I really, really, really wanted to see Renée [Zellweger] in this role again. I think that’s how we all felt. That was motivation and incentive, in itself. And Emma Thompson getting involved, as a writer, was a key moment. I think that took it forward.
Suddenly, there was a momentum and many of the key people wanted to come back. There seemed to be more of an appetite for this film than there had been. Ten years ago, there was probably a little bit of skepticism about this, as a franchise and as a sequel, just because there generally is about sequels. But, the fact that so much time has passed has added a layer of interest. In fact, I remember saying, back around the time of the second film, “I think maybe it would be far more interesting to see what these people are like at a difference age, and maybe see what the years have done to them.” What’s interesting, and it didn’t quite fully occur to me until now, is that what adds resonance to that is that the audience have aged, inevitably, with us. It doesn’t mean they’re all old, but everyone has 15 years in common since the first one.
How did you feel about shooting multiple endings for this movie, and when did you learn which ending was ultimately chosen?
FIRTH: I’m not even convinced now, which ending was chosen. They were all hedging their bets. No one was going to do this out of any particular loyalty or affection for anybody. This is a romantic comedy. It’s basically an escapist film, which tends to delight people and deliver an ending they will want. I think there was some sense that they wanted to gain responses before they committed. So, I’ll take whichever ending delivers that. If I’d been consulted, I probably would have over-complicated things. I would have been like, “Why don’t we make it his baby, but he’s the one that marries her?” No. I think the abiding feeling is that people are happy with the way it turned out.
Some of the best and funniest moments in the film are the ones with Emma Thompson, who’s just so terrific in this. Did you have trouble getting through those scenes without laughing?
FIRTH: She’s in the best moments of any movie. It’s funny how often the answer to that question is no, when people ask about that. There’s an adage about it famously being a serious business. It makes everyone neurotic because, if you try to examine a joke, suddenly it’s not funny, and that’s what shooting comedy is like. It’s not often that something the audience laughs at is something that’s fun for us, 50 times. Emma is an exception, and it was true when I worked with her on Nanny McPhee, as well. It’s very rare that there is anybody that makes me so debilitated with laughter. She doesn’t give the impression of trying to be funny, at all. I had a wonderful time shooting this movie, but the days that Emma was there were definitely a highlight. She’s a great friend, as well. She is bold, she’s outrageous and she’s fearless in what she does. I’ve worked with her three times, with Love, Actually, where she didn’t have a particularly funny role, but she tends to be a highlight in anything she shows up in.
What have you most enjoyed about being a part of this Bridget Jones world and sharing this experience with Renée Zellweger?
FIRTH: One of the greatest incentives for doing this again was to see Renée in the role again. I’ve played Mr. Darcy enough times. I enjoy playing Mr. Darcy, but I’m not hungry to play Mark Darcy again. It’s not an ambition. But, it is something of an ambition to see Renée inhabit that role again because I think it’s one of the best characters ever created. So, once I saw a script that was really worthy of her, I was very excited about doing it and I really wasn’t disappointed. Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her do it better. This is the best it’s been. It’s so alive. One of the great things about doing this film was just watching her. It was very moving, seeing everybody together again. I don’t think we’ve all thought about it endlessly over 15 years, but it has 15 years of history for all of us. So, to actually see everybody show up again and see those combinations put together gave everybody a buzz. Seeing her play this role gives people a lift.
We now know that you’ll also be in the Kingsman sequel, but when and how did you find out that you’d be returning?
FIRTH: Well, it’s still my duty to be cryptic about that, so forgive me in being creative in how I dodge that question. It’s no secret that I’m involved, somewhere and somehow. From what I’ve been able to gather, it’s not going to feel like a conventional sequel. It’s going to be something that feels very much its own thing. I’m very optimistic about it.
People are definitely excited that you’ll be back, in whatever capacity that turns out to be.
Image via 20th Century Fox
FIRTH: I can’t give too much away about in what capacity I’m back. A lot of people have speculated and a lot of people have come to the wrong conclusions about it. I want to keep the surprise alive, a little longer. I think they’re going to be surprised again.
Do you know what’s next for you?
FIRTH: I’m going to be shooting a film with Thomas Vinterberg, who did The Celebration, Far From the Madding Crowd and The Hunt, and he’s one of my favorite directors. It’s a film called Kursk, which is a true story about a submarine disaster. There was an accident on board a Russian submarine in the year 2000, and it stranded a large number of sailors. That’s next.
You’ve played a lot of different types of roles, in various genres. Is there a role you’d still love to play, but it either hasn’t been right yet, or you just haven’t gotten the opportunity to do it?
FIRTH: I don’t think that way, really. I forage and see what’s available, and try to pick up what I find. I’ve gotten involved in producing now, so the kinds of things that are more my own choice are more possible in that field because I don’t have to be castable. I can actually get involved in getting stories off the ground that no one would ask me to be in because I’m the wrong age, the wrong sex, the wrong nationality, or whatever. I’ve found it quite exhilarating to have that freedom to tell the stories that aren’t just about middle-aged white English guys.
Is that how Loving came about?
FIRTH: Yes. I didn’t do it because it ticked boxes. That actually was something that captivated me quite some time before I even contemplated producing films. That was introduced to me by Nancy Buirski, who made The Loving Story documentary, a couple of years ago. I met Nancy when I was filming in North Carolina. She was presiding over the Full Frame Festival in Durham. She was passionate about this story, and that passion was infectious. I thought it had to be more widely told. It has enormous importance today, in all sorts of areas. I was absolutely determined to tell it. And then, when I formed the production company with Ged Doherty, it was the first project I told Ged about, and he responded immediately. It was enormously satisfying, and I just felt incredibly liberated that it didn’t depend on me being in it. There just simply wasn’t a role for me. That was purely a passion project, and I’m very, very pleased with the way it’s turned out.
Bridget Jones’s Baby is now in theaters.
‘Blair Witch’ Review: Now with Bigger, More Menacing Stick Figures
'Easy' Trailer Finds Marc Maron, Dave Franco, and More Exploring Relationships in…
• Bridget Jones's Baby • Colin Firth • Interview • Kingsman • Kingsman 2 • Kingsman: The Golden Circle • Kursk
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Biologics down under
by David Hutton | Email the author
DSM Biologics
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
BRISBANE, Australia—DSM Biologics, the University of Queensland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and the state government are working together to get Australia's largest biologics scale-up facility off the ground in Brisbane. In December, DSM Biologics and the University of Queensland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) signed a memorandum of understanding securing the arrangement between the two parties.
The collaboration involves the development of biologics at a $65 million scale-up facility currently under construction at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, next to the Translational Research Institute.
The collaboration makes it possible for both development and potential large-scale commercial production of the experimental Hendra virus antibody, among other therapeutics, in Queensland.
Under the arrangement, the Queensland government entity Biopharmaceuticals Australia will own the facility, which will be run by DSM Biologics, with the AIBN collaborating on early-stage biologics development. The new facility will give preferential access to Australian firms, including the AIBN, for the manufacturing of biologics, a key motivator for the Queensland and federal governments to sign on to the project. The Queensland and federal governments are contributing $7 million and $10 million respectively in seed funding for the project.
David Hughes, CEO of Biopharmaceuticals Australia, says the overall aim of the collaboration is to address a lack of biologics manufacturing capacity in the country. With no contract manufacturing organization (CMO) in the country able to take local-origin products generated in mammalian cell cultures, there has been a resulting outflow of funds from Australian biopharma drug developers to overseas CMOs.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh points out that around $60 million currently goes offshore to small-scale drug and therapeutic manufacturers, but that's all set to change.
"This represents the final steps to ensuring that Queensland is able to seamlessly take research into new human therapeutics through to human clinical trials and subsequent production," she says.
For DSM, the facility will form an important component of its CMO strategy, enhancing its ability to serve clients at all phases of commercialization and development. In addition to early-stage biologics development, the collaboration will also focus on cell line generation, says DSM Biologics President Karen King.
"The expertise at AIBN is very complementary to DSM's skills," adds King. "The AIBN has world-class experience in mammalian cell line development."
According to King, the AIBN will collaborate with DSM on several levels, including assisting with cell line construction, process development and some technical backup for more challenging client projects. King adds that the collaboration is an important building block for "our offering for the Australian biotech community. All important process steps can be served locally, which is important with respect to communication and speed."
King says DSM Biologics intends to start with the first projects in the first half of this year and it will be ongoing after the manufacturing plant is operational.
"The goals are to have a outstanding service offering for the customers, making use of the professional skill set of both parties," she concludes.
AIBN Director Prof. Peter Gray agrees the AIBN and DSM Biologics have a great deal of complimentarily expertise, with DSM being an expert in a number of biologics technologies. Moreover, Gray says collaboration is a fitting recognition of the skill base and facilities that had been developed in Queensland.
"AIBN researchers have developed novel high speed methods for rapidly developing the cell lines and bioprocesses needed to produce the next generation of biologics," Gray says. "The collaboration will ensure that Australian bioresearchers will be able to rapidly progress their therapeutic leads into high purity material ready for evaluation in the clinic."
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Category: Cuba in The Americas
Treasury and Commerce Implement Changes to Cuba Sanctions Rules
Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) unveiled amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) to further implement the President’s foreign policy on Cuba.
CubanReporter.Net -U.S. Department of the Treasury
Editing and Illustration CubanReporter.Net Editors
LinCu Information
Cut off water and power please
These amendments complement changes to the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Export Administration Regulations (EAR), which Commerce is also unveiling today. These regulatory changes were announced on April 17, 2019 and include restrictions on non-family travel to Cuba.
“Cuba continues to play a destabilizing role in the Western Hemisphere, providing a communist foothold in the region and propping up U.S. adversaries in places like Venezuela and Nicaragua by fomenting instability, undermining the rule of law, and suppressing democratic processes,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “This Administration has made a strategic decision to reverse the loosening of sanctions and other restrictions on the Cuban regime. These actions will help to keep U.S. dollars out of the hands of Cuban military, intelligence, and security services.”
These actions mark a continued commitment towards implementing the National Security Presidential Memorandum signed by the President on June 16, 2017 titled “Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba.” These policies continue to work to channel economic activities away from the Cuban military, intelligence, and security services. The Treasury changes will take effect on June 5, 2019 when the regulations are published in the Federal Register.
For the Treasury regulations, which can be found at 31 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 515, see here. For the Commerce regulations, which can be found at 15 CFR parts 730-774, see here. Major elements of the changes in the revised regulations include:
ENDING GROUP PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE TRAVEL
In accordance with the newly announced changes to non-family travel to Cuba, OFAC is amending the regulations to remove the authorization for group people-to-people educational travel. OFAC’s regulatory changes include a “grandfathering” provision, which provides that certain group people-to-people educational travel that previously was authorized will continue to be authorized where the traveler had already completed at least one travel-related transaction (such as purchasing a flight or reserving accommodation) prior to June 5, 2019. Please note that travel-related transactions continue to be permitted by general licenses for certain categories of travel and certain authorized export transactions. For more on authorized travel to Cuba, please click here.
ENDING EXPORTS OF PASSENGER VESSELS, RECREATIONAL VESSELS, AND PRIVATE AIRCRAFT
BIS, in coordination with OFAC, is amending the EAR to make passenger and recreational vessels and private and corporate aircraft ineligible for a license exception and to establish a general policy of denial for license applications involving those vessels and aircraft.
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No Confederate Flags in Washington & Lee University’s Chapel
Published: April 16, 2014 93 comments
Update: Thanks to Stuart W. Sanders, who at one time worked as a docent at the Lee Chapel, for providing some context to this discussion. Update #2: Here is W&L president’s response to “The Committee.”
Statement by “The Committee”
I first heard about this story on one of the Southern Heritage Facebook pages, but now a group of black law students at Washington & Lee University, who are demanding that their university distance itself from its Confederate past is gaining some traction [and here]. This push comes on the heels of the steps taken by the city of Lexington to limit the display of the Confederate flag on public property.
The group of students, who call themselves “The Committee” have published a list of demands that includes a formal recognition of MLK Day and an apology from the university for its participation in slavery. They are on shakier ground, in my opinion, with the following two demands.
2. We demand that the University stop allowing neo-confederates to march on campus with confederate flags on Lee-Jackson Day and to stop allowing these groups to hold programs in Lee Chapel.
3. We demand that the University immediately remove all confederate flags from its property and premises, including those flags located within Lee Chapel.
I certainly sympathize with this group of students, but their list of demands goes too far for a college campus. First, college students and administrators should want their campuses to be bastions for the free exchange of ideas in classrooms and other venues. You will and should be offended while attending college. Students should consider all perspectives regardless of whether they find it offensive, hurtful, dangerous, etc. It’s a little disappointing to read such a demand from a group of law students.
As for the Confederate flag I do not believe that the university should fly it from buildings and other campus locations in a way that can be interpreted as an endorsement. Of course, it doesn’t. The Lee Chapel is a difficult structure to navigate on this score. After all, it is the burial site of Robert E. Lee. There are Confederate flags in the chapel, but there are also flags throughout the museum exhibit below, where they are properly interpreted. Are these students seriously suggesting that all of these flags be removed? Finally, the programs in the chapel on Lee-Jackson Day have feature some of the most respected historians we have, including Gary Gallagher, Robert Krick, and William C. Davis. Why should they not be allowed to speak? And if they feature the most rabid racists then deal with it. Again,
My suggestion is that if students feel this strongly about Robert E. Lee and the Confederate flag then they probably should stay out of the chapel. The school’s historical connection to Robert E. Lee is well documented and could not have been a surprise to its applicants. Again, the school does have a responsibility to ensure that all students feel safe and respected, but this list of demands largely falls short of its mark.
William Apr 16, 2014 @ 2:50
Kevin……..Don’t try a two face turn now. This is exactly what you have wanted and backed. First it was take the Confederate flag of government property, now it is colleges and public property. They will not stop until they have destroyed the right of Southerners to honor and celebrate their heritage. Where does it stop ? It stops t at the beginning of my property !!! I will fly whatever flag I care to fly and if it offends them or you, all I can say is……….Tough.
Kevin Levin Apr 16, 2014 @ 3:03
Thanks for the comment, Mr. Richardson.
Where does it stop ? It stops t at the beginning of my property !!! I will fly whatever flag I care to fly and if it offends them or you, all I can say is……….Tough.
You have every right to honor your heritage in this way.
Michael Rodgers Apr 16, 2014 @ 4:28
The answer to “Where does it stop?” was explained clearly by John Coski, as follows: “A suitably moderate position would recognize the Confederate flag as an American symbol with an inevitable place on the American landscape–without, however, allowing it to be displayed as a symbol of sovereignty.” This is the endgame.
Pat Young Apr 16, 2014 @ 4:47
The only place it stops is at the First Amendment.
Obviously the use of the flag will be challenged for as long as it stirs memories of slavery, and the rape, kidnapping, and torture of blacks. Those who chose to display the flag do so in the certain knowledge that that its use is offensive to many and they should not be surprised when that offense is manifested.
“The school’s historical connection to Robert E. Lee is well documented and could not have been a surprise to its applicants.”
So black students should not go there?
Isn’t part the academic experience the challenging of unexamined verities, even a 150 year old tradition?
During Robert E. Lee’s tenure as college president, Washington College barred black students from attending and this “tradition” continued until 1966.
Come on, Pat. The school is named after Robert E. Lee.
Of course students should challenge everything, but why does it always have to be in the form of a ban? Again, this is a college campus. I remember reading things in college that I found offensive and having to listen to visitors whose views I disagreed with. It seems to me that this is part of the college experience.
I am well aware of the college’s history.
Perhaps because Lee and those who revered him barred their parents from the college/university.
Anyway, you start by demanding a ban and negotiate down from there.
You start by doing your research before making demands that are largely inappropriate for a college campus.
Naming a school after a principal defender of slavery does not create a cordon sanitaire preventing the descendents of slaves from criticizing symbols and actions they see as reinforcing their exclusion from civil society for more than a century and see as a not so subtle reminder that they may still not be welcome.
When did I suggest that students shouldn’t criticize symbols that they may see on occasion? Please don’t put words in my mouth.
Rob Baker Apr 16, 2014 @ 10:46
I think it’s fair to point out that the school was named after R.E. Lee not only as a homage to a Confederate General. He was a great president to Washington College (now Washington & Lee University) in a time of great need. He got the school back on its feet, and advanced the curriculum. Plainly, he saved the institution. As far as race relations, he reportedly expelled students from the school for violent attacks on local black people and helped create black schools in the state.
Are these paternalistic actions? Probably, nor do those actions excuse a lifetime of slave ownership. But can the absence of black students during his tenure really be attributed to him, or to the de jure and de facto segregation throughout the country?
Thomas S Apr 17, 2014 @ 7:50
Yes, they should not go there.
The school name was not changed since they arrived.
Besides, they are law students and have no need to use Lee Chapel or to even visit the undergraduate campus.
Blacks being barred from a college is hardly limited to W&L, or even the South. Women were not admitted to W&L until 1984. Jews were not admitted to many Northern bourgeois neighbourhoods until the 60s.
Note also the attacks are aimed at Lee/Confederacy, as if Washington did not also own slaves (I think Lee just inherited them).
I think we should demand an apology of everyone who flies the American flag for Vietnam, Hiroshima, the firebombing of Dresden, slavery, segregation, eugenics, wage slavery in the North, the genocide of the Indians, Iraq, etc.
Johnnie Parker May 28, 2014 @ 23:30
So black students were barred from going to this university during Lee’s tenure as president……… would you please tell me which other white colleges they were allowed to attend? Did they attend any in the northern states? Seriously, I really would like to know, Pat Young.
Leslie Szumlic Aug 18, 2017 @ 19:23
My daughter is a graduate of Washington and Lee & I believe it is truly one of the best universities in the country..
You asked what colleges admitting Blacks.. & since you really want to know.. Hillsdale college in 1853..”It was the first American college to prohibit in its charter any discrimination based on race, religion, or sex, and became an early force for the abolition of slavery.”
FYI! <3
Admitted Blacks… not admitting.. ( I swear. i wrote admitted! )
Robert Moore Apr 16, 2014 @ 3:10
I think this sort of thing is absurd. Frankly, for starters, W&L HAS distanced itself from “those four years”. Yet, the Lee Chapel is what it is. If W&L concedes to these “demands”, the next demand will be that the school remove the name of Lee altogether… and then remove the Lee family from the crypt. Can we only imagine what might be next? It’s simply ridiculous.
While the university may, in fact, regret any ties it had (whatever they may be… can someone please clarify how W&L rivals other schools who can actually assess ties in monetary value to the advancement of their institutions?) to slavery, demanding an apology is without any real value. The university as an institution has its history, and people who lived in those times defined it according to those times. Again, based on the way we see things today, those who run it today may regret any role slavery had in the school’s history, but they need not apologize for the actions of others who lived in a different time. If apologies be the rule, I might as well begin apologizing to myself for the 17th century actions of my English ancestors against my Scottish ancestors.
In short, you are correct about one particular remark… if it is so offensive, they simply need to remain out of the chapel.
While the university may, in fact, regret any ties it had (whatever they may be… can someone please clarify how W&L rivals other schools who can actually assess ties in monetary value to the advancement of their institutions?) to slavery, demanding an apology is without any real value.
I tend to agree with you, though I do believe that schools can acknowledge aspects of their pasts in ways that compliment their education mission. Brown University put together an exhibit and website on the school’s connection to slavery. Walk into the History Department at W&L and you will find some amazing historians who don’t mythologize Robert E. Lee, the Confederacy or the flag. It’s a wonderful institution that does plenty to acknowledge the richness of its past.
Mr. Levin~ I agree!
While the demands of “The Committee” do seem overbroad and poorly researched, I have no reason to believe that they won’t be reasonable, going forward. It’s not at all likely, in my opinion, that “the next demand will be that the school remove the name of Lee altogether.”
Washington & Lee has an obligation to make Lee Chapel welcoming to today’s students. Likewise, today’s students should be expected to be reasonable when viewing historic, properly-interpreted displays. I’m sure that reason will prevail.
I have no reason to believe that they won’t be reasonable, going forward.
Really? How is this a reasonable response by The Committee?
If the school does not act by SEPTEMBER 1, 2014 we WILL engage in civil disobedience.
This petition is an embarrassment.
Michael Rodgers Apr 16, 2014 @ 14:52
The petition’s plan of demand, deadline and disobedience is unreasonable. I would not advise students to negotiate in this manner.
Robert Moore wrote: ” Again, based on the way we see things today, those who run it today may regret any role slavery had in the school’s history, but they need not apologize for the actions of others who lived in a different time. If apologies be the rule, I might as well begin apologizing to myself for the 17th century actions of my English ancestors against my Scottish ancestors. ”
The difference, of course is that you are not your ancestors but W&L is the same corporate entity that it was at the time of the Civil War. Its web page boasts of the continuity of the institution since 1749 and describes modern W&L as “Grounded in the timeless ideals of its legendary namesakes, George Washington and Robert E. Lee”
In the “A Brief History” on W&L’s website, the school devotes as much space to the Lee years as to the next 100 years combined. Nowhere does the “A Brief History” mention slavery or segregation. The school’s involvement in human rights abuses is simply not acknowledged at all.
There is a brief mention of the admission of the first women to the school but none on blacks.
Robert, how can the school “take credit” for its “Traditions” and “History” and not be faulted for its slave and segregation past? The problem with admitting blacks to school is that they may demand an accounting from a previously unaccountable institution.
Shouldn’t we consider the entire community when assessing whether a school like W&L has acknowledged its past? Again, I would suggest spending some time on department and faculty websites to get a taste of how this community views its past, present and future. Why are we assuming that the school ignores its past based on a “brief history” on its website? Seems to me you are reaching here, Pat.
I don’t think that they are asking each faculty member to apologize, Kevin. They are asking the corporate entity, which is legally a “person”, which was engaged in supporting slavery and segregation, to apologize. I would think that were the school to set up a “Truth Commission” that would be one of its recommendations.
In this context, the distinction between faculty/staff/students and the corporate entity makes little sense. Seems to me the students are assessing the state of their campus in connection to its Confederate past. The petition makes it sound as if W&L is somehow mired in a world of Lee mythology. Anyone who has spent any time on campus with students and faculty knows that this is simply not the case. These students have every right to ask for a formal apology, but their demand that flags in a museum and certain groups should not be allowed to hold meetings makes little sense to me.
Okay, let’s start with a Truth Commission across the United States for university cooperation with the Central Intelligence Agency.
Then, we can look at everyone who does not pay a liveable wage or who hires illegal aliens.
Then, we can look at corrupt university presidents and deans who increase their pay in huge chunks and jack up tuition 10% a year ***while decreasing the pay of faculty and number of permanent positions***.
Then, I want to see transparency in the involvement of large financial institutions in the affairs of Boards of Trustees.
That’s real reformism, not telling a group of people their ancestors are evil.
Let’s start with this…
“The difference, of course is that you are not your ancestors but W&L is the same corporate entity that it was at the time of the Civil War.”
And they are not their ancestors… so what’s your point?
Fine, I’ll use another analogy… the Shenandoah National Park and its creation at the expense of some of my ancestors. The park even acknowledges the sore point… but it the park still exists and it certainly hasn’t given back ancestral property. Am I offended? No. It’s history. In fact, I even go there, and enjoy what it has to offer (including the exhibits detailing the dislocation of people), despite what exists in its past, and the past of my people.
Want another ancestral analogy? Perhaps native American?
Look, the school bears the name Washington and Lee. Whether people like it or not, there is value in the legacy of both men, and the school (rightfully) should take pride in that. If an applicant finds the legacy of a school offensive simply because of the name, then don’t apply. At what point shall we eliminate the name altogether, because of perceptions of a few, according to what they find offensive? I ask… if the name of the school (and the complexities of its past) offend a person… the same person who applied and was accepted to the school… then perhaps its time for a transfer. When does it become a right to turn that institution (including what good we can take from its legacy) on its ear? Should it be acceptable to “throw out the baby with the bath water”? Should this sort of activism guide us in all things? No… it should not. What’s next? Should we expand this to the campus of VMI and begin dismantling many things there that remind us of the Civil War? Move along…
To be honest, I’d like to see exactly how W&L is being tied to slavery. At this point, the discussion can truly expand.
With the exception of their demand that there be formal acknowledgement of MLK Day (which surprises me if, in fact, W&L does not recognize it, in some way) you’re making this into something that isn’t even listed in the demands. It’s Kevin’s post, but I’d recommend that you become more focused on what is at the heart of the post.
With the exception of their demand that there be formal acknowledgement of MLK Day (which surprises me if, in fact, W&L does not recognize it, in some way) you’re making this into something that isn’t even listed in the demands.
I believe the Law School takes off, but not the rest of the campus. It is reasonable to ask for consistency throughout the school. Beyond that this petition rings hollow to me.
I wrote: “The difference, of course is that you are not your ancestors but W&L is the same corporate entity that it was at the time of the Civil War.”
And Robert replied: “And they are not their ancestors… so what’s your point? ”
My point is that this is the same school, the same entity as it was in the 1800s. I don’t claim to be my ancestors, but W&L claims to be the school that existed at that time. That is the difference. If GM manufactures a car that has a defect that causes an accident and then changes CEOs, it cannot claim that it is not responsible because the old CEO is gone and the new CEO has introduced a culture of safety. Corporations continue long after the people working at them leave.
But based on what are we determining that W&L has not atoned for its past transgressions? The students make claims about the current racial climate on campus, though they provide no details beyond the issue of the Confederate flag at Lee Chapel. Perhaps there are issues that need to be addressed and I certainly hope that they will be. What is this group of students doing to address these racial problems? Removing Confederate flags from a historical site and museum certainly doesn’t go very far (if at all) in that direction.
They are students. They are addressing what they are addressing.
It is for the broader university community to take up a discussion of this, or ignore it.
The school is less than half a century from graduating its first black students post-segregation. The overwhelming bulk of its alumni are white, as are its students.
I don’t know if it is still that way, but W&L used to be called “White and Loaded.”
50 years ago it would have been inconceivable that Lexington would have stopped displaying Confederate flags. Had it been suggested, many would have reacted that if you did not like the flags, why move to the city of shrines to Lee and Jackson.
These black students live at W&L. They are trying to alter its “traditions” to make other students of similar backgrounds feel welcome enough at W&L to go there to pursue their studies. If the students who wrote the letter feel that some of the “traditions” effectively turn away prospective black students, who am I to say they are wrong?
Let me ask folks here, in all honesty, do you not believe that the school has fewer black students than it might have because of its white supremacist symbolism?
Pat, do me a favor and remember who you are responding to here. No one has been more active online in pointing out the hurtful and damaging practices associated with the Civil War that can still be found throughout the country. I get it, but we are talking about an institution of higher learning. Calling for a ban on Confederate/Southern heritage organizations from campus is tantamount to surrender. It’s basically an admission that these students can’t muster ideas to counter what they perceive as offensive. As far as I know there are two Confederate flags that hang over the recumbent statue of Lee and there are a few on display below as part of an exhibit. No flag flies atop the building or outside the door. I suspect that there is no intent to offend anyone.
Are certain prospective students being turned away specifically because of the chapel? I don’t know, but I highly doubt it.
James Harrigan Apr 16, 2014 @ 6:37
Kevin, W&L has tremendous difficulty recruiting African American students (I know this from talking to friends who work there). Whether it is the chapel per se, or just the (correct) perception that the culture of the school and town are very congenial to neoconfederate nostralgia, is a distinction without a difference.
W&L has tremendous difficulty recruiting African American students (I know this from talking to friends who work there).
I don’t doubt that for a second and I am not suggesting that school administrators should not be looking for ways to address the issue. You are also right to point out that W&L is located in a neoconfederate-friendly community, though some would dispute that given recent steps by the city to limit the display of the Confederate flag. But that is just the point, the Confederate flag isn’t on display everywhere on campus. It is located in one building for a very specific reason. To reduce the issue to this and events that involve the voicing of ideas that some may find problematic is ridiculous for a college campus.
Corporate entities are always different from individuals who work at or patronize the entity. That is their legal nature as “persons”.
I knew Nora V. Demleitner, the dean named in the letter. She was my dean at Hofstra during her tenure there. I don’t think that anyone would view her as tied in to the “traditions” of slavery and segregation at the school. Not only is she not a Virginian by birth, she is a German immigrant.
No one is asking Nora to apologize, and she obviously had nothing to do with the anti-black past of the university. Some quite likely deplore it, if they are aware of it at allThe group that circulated the letter is asking for her Nora’s to take action on behalf of or to influence the corporate entity, not on her own behalf.
“I believe the Law School takes off, but not the rest of the campus.”
I agree in that.
I’m trying to remember, exactly… but can’t recall that we (the three state universities I attended) took off for the day. Nonetheless, since it is a private institution, I think they have more flexibility in that.
Also… “My point is that this is the same school, the same entity as it was in the 1800s.”
Tell us how, exactly. Give us a quote from their website or catalog.
You ignored my Shenandoah National Park analogy… and my position remains unchanged. With the exception of the MLK part, the “demands” are absurd.
Here is the school’s “Brief History” contained on its web site. It is clearly the same corporate entity that it was in the 1800s. At no point in the history does it state that the modern school has no legal relationship with the school that existed at that time:
Washington and Lee is a small, private, liberal arts university nestled between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains in Lexington, Va. It is the ninth oldest institution of higher learning in the nation.
In 1749, Scotch-Irish pioneers who had migrated deep into the Valley of Virginia founded a small classical school called Augusta Academy, some 20 miles north of what is now Lexington. In 1776, the trustees, fired by patriotism, changed the name of the school to Liberty Hall.
Four years later the school was moved to the vicinity of Lexington, where in 1782 it was chartered as Liberty Hall Academy by the Virginia legislature and empowered to grant degrees. A limestone building, erected in 1793 on the crest of a ridge overlooking Lexington, burned in 1803, though its ruins are preserved today as a symbol of the institution’s honored past.
In 1796, George Washington saved the struggling Liberty Hall Academy when he gave the school its first major endowment–$20,000 worth of James River Canal stock. The trustees promptly changed the name of the school to Washington Academy as an expression of their gratitude.
In 1813, the name of the academy was changed to Washington College. By then, the college was established on its present grounds in Lexington.
General Robert E. Lee reluctantly accepted the position of president of the College in 1865. Because of his leadership of the Confederate army, Lee worried he “might draw upon the College a feeling of hostility,” but also added that “I think it the duty of every citizen in the present condition of the Country, to do all in his power to aid in the restoration of peace and harmony.”
After Lee’s death in 1870, the trustees voted to change the name from Washington College to Washington and Lee University. Once an all-male institution, Washington and Lee first admitted women to its law school in 1972. The first undergraduate women matriculated in 1985. Since then, Washington and Lee has flourished.
Washington and Lee University observed its 250th Anniversary with a year-long, national celebration during the 1998-99 academic year.
Robert wrote: “Look, the school bears the name Washington and Lee. Whether people like it or not, there is value in the legacy of both men, and the school (rightfully) should take pride in that. If an applicant finds the legacy of a school offensive simply because of the name, then don’t apply. ”
Many schools have changed the names of their sports teams because they were seen as offensive and interfering with diversity goals. I don’t not know if the name of W&L leads black students not to apply, but if it does, then students may rightfully ask if a name change is in order. The school has already changed its name many times in the past, so it would not be unprecedented. This may be an idea you want to bring to The Committee’s attention.
… and there is nothing that I can see that is wrong with that description, nor does it suggest, in active, daily operation that it IS, in activities, the same institution that existed in the 1800s. The reality is, it does nothing more than to identify their origins. So what? What makes it any different from any other institutions developed before 1861-1865?
You are really stretching much to try and make an argument, Pat.
Eric A. Jacobson Apr 16, 2014 @ 5:50
To quote from the Committee:
“The time has come for us, as students, to ask that the University hold itself responsible for its past and present dishonorable conduct and for the racist and dishonorable conduct of Robert E. Lee.”
This group of students can say and claim what they wish, but this statement is just ridiculous. The current university trustees are NOT responsible for what Lee did or did not do and the idea of present “dishonorable” conduct is entirely subjective. Taking this a step further, if I go to Brigham Young University might I get a little exposure to Mormonism? As a Lutheran Protestant, shall I demand removal of all things Mormon simply because I don’t like it? Conduct like this from a group achieves little expect to make themselves feel good at the expense of others. That is not how a free society should operate. But most troubling is this:
So if they don’t get their way they proceed to threaten the school. That’s really a productive tactic. This is so sad on many levels. Honestly, I hope the trustees respond appropriately, but do not bow to any of these demands.
One of the things graduating seniors learn at my school is that they should expect a good deal of anti-Israel sentiment on many of the campuses they will attend across the country. I tell them that they should welcome it and do their best to meet it with a careful formulation of their own ideas as individuals or as a part of a campus organization. This is what a college campus is supposed to facilitate in my view.
To call for a ban on Confederate Heritage groups from campus is nothing less than a surrender to ideas that are deemed to be problematic. The demand to remove all flags in the chapel is reckless and the demand for an apology from the school lacks imagination. That this petition comes from law students is embarrassing.
I’m with Pat and the law students on this, and I’m surprised at your dismissive attitude, Kevin.
Kevin, a view that you have expressed many times on your blog is, to praphrase, that “the community should decide how to commemorate their history”. These law students are part of the W&L community, and they are trying to change minds through argument and protest. If I worked or studied at W&L I’d be out there supporting them. I think what they are doing is wholly admirable, and I hope they are succesful in getting W&L to distance itself from neoconfederate nostalgia and worship of the Marble Man. I think the idea of an “apology” for past institutional sins is a bit off point, but the implicit demand that the college be open about its past as a pillar of upholding white supremacy in Virginia is something I applaud.
As the students say, W&L is a pilgrimage site for neoconfederate and Lost Cause nostalgists (Tony Horwitz’ Confederates in the Attic is eloquent on this point). The university should be discouraging, not enabling, such nonsense.
Of course, the school community should decide for itself what to do about these issues. I am simply offering my opinion, which is what I’ve always done on this blog.
… and I hope they are succesful in getting W&L todistance itself from neoconfederate nostalgia and worship of the Marble Man.
What “neoconfederate nostalgia” are you referring to here? Robert E. Lee’s burial site on campus? The presence one a year of Confederate heritage folks on campus? The display of Confederate flags as part of a museum exhibit or over the recumbent statue of Lee?
I think the idea of an “apology” for past institutional sins is a bit off point, but the implicit demand that the college be open about its past as a pillar of upholding white supremacy in Virginia is something I applaud.
You are going to have to educate me. In what ways is the college not open about its past? Let’s move beyond a website on this if we can. I am certainly not familiar with what, if anything, the school community has done regarding these issues in recent years. Thanks.
What “neoconfederate nostalgia” are you referring to here? Robert E. Lee’s burial site on campus? The presence once a year of Confederate heritage folks on campus? The display of Confederate flags as part of a museum exhibit or over the recumbent statue of Lee? Yes, this is exactly what I mean, Kevin. I’m not proposing that they disinter Lee, but I support the idea of removing the flags flying over his grave, which I regard as a much more politically and racially loaded display than putting them in a museum exhibit. I don’t know to what extent the university welcomes or facilitates the presence of “Confederate heritage folks” on campus, but if they do, they shouldn’t.
In what ways is the college not open about its past? …. I am certainly not familiar with what, if anything, the school community has done regarding these issues in recent years. I don’t know either Kevin, I’d be curious to know what more well-informed people have to say about this.
I don’t know to what extent the university welcomes or facilitates the presence of “Confederate heritage folks” on campus, but if they do, they shouldn’t.
We apparently have very different ideas of the purpose of college campuses.
Maybe, maybe not. I draw a distinction between banning neoconfederates from campus (which I would not support) and welcoming them (which I oppose – though as I noted above, I don’t know what the status quo is).
There is an analogy here to the recent controversy over Brandeis rescinding their offer of an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Those opposed to giving Ali an honorary degree were not suggesting that she be barred from campus, and in fact she was invited to come talk.
Students are free to protest the presence of any visitor they deem to be worth protesting. College campuses should be places where a wide range of ideas are voiced and debated.
As I pointed out in the post, Lee-Jackson Day events at the chapel have featured historians such as Gary Gallagher, Robert Krick, James I. Robertson and William C. Davis. Students (black and white) should be sitting in the front rows when historians of this caliber give talks. Someone familiar with these events is going to have to fill us in on whether the school engages in an overt act of celebration of the Confederacy. Somehow I doubt it.
Kevin, to call the Lee Chapel simply “Robert E. Lee’s burial site” does not do it justice. It is not simply a grave or a niche in a masoleum. It was created as a pilgrimage site. It is a prime stop on the Lost Cause memory tour. Not a big deal unless you are a black kid thinking of going there who realizes during a visit that the school is built around a Confederate reliquery.
well said, Pat. I’d only add that the Lee Chapel is not just a turnoff to black kids.
What does it say about me that I am not turned off by the Lee Chapel? Is the presence of the chapel on campus a problem for white and black students. We seem to be proceeding now as if it is.
What does it say about me that I am not turned off by the Lee Chapel?
why, it says that you are a neoconfederate white supremacist racist bad person, of course!
all kidding aside, some people are more bothered by stuff like the Lee Chapel than others. But it is undeniable that the white supremacist past of W&L (and my own employer UVa, I might add) is a significant challenge in recruiting students and faculty (I could share many anecdotes to illustrate this).
But it is undeniable that the white supremacist past of W&L (and my own employer UVa, I might add) is a significant challenge in recruiting students and faculty (I could share many anecdotes to illustrate this).
Look, I lived in Charlottesville for 11 years and I know the history. Of course, both of these institutions must deal with a legacy of segregation. I have never denied such an obvious point. The presence of the Lee Chapel on the W&L campus, in Lexington, creates a number of unique challenges. We seem to be proceeding here as if school administrators, faculty, and students are unaware of this fact.
I just don’t see how what I consider to be a poorly written and conceived petition helps to move the community forward on this front.
You are absolutely right. It is a “pilgrimage site” for a relatively small number of people and a legitimate historic destination for many, many more people from around the country and beyond. It does create some unique challenges for W&L, but why are we jumping to the conclusion that they have failed simply because there are two flags in the chapel and museum and an event that takes place once a year?
Have you ever visited the museum exhibit at the Lee Chapel? You should. It places the site and everything included into proper historical context.
Not a big deal unless you are a black kid thinking of going there who realizes during a visit that the school is built around a Confederate reliquery.
Why must we categorize every “black kid” as a victim when confronted by memory of the Confederacy? With all due respect, it’s insulting. A potential black or white student is certainly capable of approaching these sites in any number of ways.
“Why must we categorize every “black kid” as a victim when confronted by memory of the Confederacy?”
Sorry, but certainly sounded that way.
The assumption seems to be that the African-American (and broader) community at W&L views the school’s relationship to its Confederate past as dominant when it comes to assessing issues of race. That may be the case, but someone is going to have to provide evidence beyond this petition.
I find your posts often very thoughtful and insightful, but this one just smacks of victim mentality. Maybe I’m being obtuse, but if a “black kid” who visits the burial site is bothered, then perhaps that is EXACTLY what should be happening. Life isn’t about sanitizing everything to make everybody feel good. If someone who is black visits the site and thinks about what Lee was, what he fought for, and what he did after the war, perhaps such an experience puts into better context what this country went through during the war and in the 150 years since. R. E. Lee fought for the Confederacy and led troops under that flag, and to strip it away and make everybody ever so comfortable diminishes the entire historical narrative, in my opinion.
Gosh, I hate to make this comparison, but the Holocaust Museum has Nazi memorabilia on display. So should that all be removed as well?
James Harrigan Apr 16, 2014 @ 10:03
I hate to make this comparison, but the Holocaust Museum has Nazi memorabilia on display. So should that all be removed as well?
Eric, context is all. As Pat has explained, the Lee Chapel, Confederate flags and all, is a shrine to Lost Cause nostalgia. As such, it is a contemporary celebration of an ideology that many of us, black or otherwise, find repugnant. It is not a museum.
The Holocaust Museum is a museum, not a shrine to Nazi ideology – and that is a distinction that makes all the difference. If the Nazi flag were flying over the graves of World War 2 German War dead, there would rightly be an outcry (and no, I’m not comparing the Confederacy to Nazi Germany, just responding to your question).
As for those who say that Lee merely “served his state”, I would just observe that what he served was the white secessionist government of his state – he was actively fighting against the wishes and interests of white Unionist and black Virginians. And after the war, as others have observed, he actively supported white supremacy in Virginia.
Eric A. Jacobson Apr 16, 2014 @ 11:05
“As Pat has explained, the Lee Chapel, Confederate flags and all, is a shrine to Lost Cause nostalgia.”
I simply disagree with this assessment. It may well have been that, as Stuart pointed out, but I don’t see that being the case any longer. That being said, it strikes me that the Committee is more interested in battering the past than dealing with the present.
But in the ever so important context of the museum at W&L, Lee served a five year, very productive tenure as President of a college. In those five years, he was not a slave owner, or a Confederate General; he was a reformer that modernized and saved that college. The museum and the university includes the narrative of slavery unapologetically.
Kevin Levin Apr 16, 2014 @ 11:14
The museum and the university includes the narrative of slavery unapologetically.
That’s right. No one is hiding anything at W&L.
The chapel was not created as a “pilgrimage” site, it has become one. Lee requested the chapel because it suited his idea for the college. It was finished in 1868, it housed his office, the treasurer’s office and the student center during that time. When Lee died, he was buried in the vault beneath the chapel. After his death in 1870, the school added his name to the title. The chapel became a museum in the 1920s, it houses Washington and Lee items.
The University continues to use the chapel today, its purpose being “support of the University’s educational mission and administrative needs.” Graduation commencement and other school activities are still held in the chapel.
http://www2.wlu.edu/x56826.xml
Is it a pilgrimage site for some? Absolutely. But that does not render its other traditional purposes moot. It is a part of the large contextual picture of Lee’s triumphs as a University president, and his vision for the school’s prosperity.
Christine Smith Apr 16, 2014 @ 7:46
I am assuming that these flags they want removed are those which hang at the four corners of the alcove where the recumbant sculpture of Lee resides. If I remember correctly, and it has been some time since I visited the chapel, they are battle flags with battle ribbons on them. The Lee Chapel is a beautiful tribute to a man who served his country and his state, and the flags should stay. Is it a non-denomination chapel, or is it Episcopalian, as was Lee? If it is the latter, and the church has any control over it, the protestors will have to deal with that issue in order to do anything. I hope W&L won’t give in to this particular part of the demand.
For those interested here is the website for the Lee Chapel.
Stuart W. Sanders Apr 16, 2014 @ 9:56
As a native of Lexington, Virginia, with a past career in Civil War battlefield preservation, I’ve followed this discussion with interest. In fact, I cut my teeth in the public history field as a docent at the Lee Chapel. I worked there immediately after the airing of Ken Burns’ PBS series, which was arguably the heyday of Civil War heritage tourism.
Because of the broad appeal of Burns’s film, the visitation at the Chapel at that time was much greater than neo-Confederate apologists (although I did meet a 6’6” biker who had Lee on Traveler tattooed across his entire back, but that’s another story for another time).
The Chapel needs to be examined within the broader context of Lexington as a whole—Burns’s film created a wide range of Civil War enthusiasts who came to that community in order to learn more about Lee, Jackson, and the overall Civil War. Many visitors from across the nation spent days touring Civil War sites in the entire Shenandoah Valley; the Lee Chapel was just one stop among many. Were there visitors with a neo-Confederate slant who espoused the Lost Cause? Of course. However, I was fortunate to interact with folks from all over the nation who were interested in the Civil War as a whole and who were there to do more than worship at the feet of General Lee.
According to current standards, the site’s interpretation at the time was limited. But, (as I recall) it did not have a neo-Confederate slant. In fact, it was more focused on interpreting the Lee family’s connection to the Custis family and Lee’s role as president of the college. Without Lee, the college probably wouldn’t exist today, and that was the focus of the exhibit space. Did it discuss Lee and slavery? Probably not, but it also didn’t delve too much into Lee’s military career, either. While I haven’t toured the Chapel in years, I’m guessing that the new museum (which was redone about ten years ago, maybe?) tells a broader story.
While the school’s name inexorably links the college to Lee and the Civil War, W&L has spent the last twenty years or so moving away from connections to the Old South. An institution does not become one of the top liberal arts schools in the nation by embracing moonlight and magnolias. Frankly, I think the students’ petition is somewhat misleading by asking the school to “remove all confederate [sic] flags from its property, including those flags located within Lee Chapel.” This makes it sound like there are several rebel banners flying across campus, which certainly isn’t the case. It’s a modern college campus, not a bastion of the Lost Cause.
It’s also important to remember that the Chapel was not built to honor Lee. It was not constructed to be a post-war “pilgrimage site.” When Lee was president, he had it constructed so that students would have a place for chapel services. After his death, he was buried downstairs, the recumbent statue was added upstairs, his office was preserved, and original Confederate flags were placed hanging over the statue. Did it then become a shrine to the Lost Cause? Yes, I think so. But, since then the role of the Chapel has changed. When the original flags were removed several years ago they were replaced by reproductions. Why? Because the Chapel is a now a museum located on the campus of a top-tier educational institution.
Instead of removing the flags, interpret them. Use the setting to teach students and the broader community about Civil War memory, Lee and race, slavery, and more. Continue to use site as a tool for a broader discussion. George Washington was a slave owner. A statue of Washington sits atop one of the most prominent buildings on campus. Should the statue be removed? Should the school’s name be changed? Or should Washington’s life be fully examined to help students understand the complexities of American history?
I fully admit that I approach this topic with my own nostalgic baggage. As a former faculty-brat who spent hours wandering all of Lexington’s historic sites, I have a bias. However, it is not a neo-Confederate bias. Instead, I understand the importance of place and the educational opportunities that these sites can provide. Although my own research and writing interests eventually wandered over the mountains to the Bluegrass and the Western Theater, it was time spent in the basement of the Lee Chapel, talking with Ohioans, Californians, Georgians, Pennsylvanians, etc., that started me on my own journey to try to understand the Civil War.
And now about that tattoo of Traveler . . .
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on this issue. You add an important perspective and I find myself in agreement with just about everything you said.
I visited the chapel last in 2011. Although I do remember there being some focus on his generalship, I recall that the majority of the focus in the museum was on his tenure as President and his daily life. I remember the shop as having numerous source materials on both Lee and Washington and I can’t recall anything being draped in the Confederate flag in the shop.
Robert Moore Apr 16, 2014 @ 10:18
Well said, Stuart.
Michael Lynch Apr 16, 2014 @ 18:03
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m a little perplexed that anyone would be either surprised or disgruntled to find Confederate-related emblems in a historic setting at a university named in part for Robert E. Lee, presided over at one time by Robert E. Lee, and housing the burial place of Robert E. Lee.
I mean, holy cow, guys.
Pat Young Apr 16, 2014 @ 19:28
Good point. The black people should just keep quiet.
Michael Lynch Apr 17, 2014 @ 6:05
Well, Pat, I’d have to say this is the first time anybody has ever implied that I’m a racist boor.
On my blog and in comments on other blogs, I’ve never been shy about criticizing the use of the Confederate flag when it’s done without regard to the feelings of others. My stance has always been that the basic human imperative to avoid hurting, offending, intimidating, or frightening another person takes priority in such situations. And I think every university has a responsibility to create an environment where students of all backgrounds feel comfortable.
What I’m saying is not that people have no right to be offended by the sight of the flag, but that its presence in the particular context of Lee Chapel is neither unexpected nor malicious. We’re not talking about a Confederate flag flying from a pole on the campus green. We’re talking about flags inside a historic building constructed at Lee’s behest, *around his burial monument*, on the campus of a university where his work as administrator was crucial to the institution’s survival.
One is probably going to see a Confederate emblem or two in the vicinity of Robert E. Lee’s tomb. That’s all I’m saying.
I did not imply that, but I do wonder why the fact that the university has Confederate associations should influence how black students there react to ways they see it impacting on the university today.
Rob Baker Apr 17, 2014 @ 6:23
From their petition it doesn’t appear that they know how Confederate associations impact the institution, or if they do for that matter.
If it’s significantly impacting the university today, then that’s a perfectly legitimate discussion for the university community to have. All I’m saying is that there’s also a perfectly legitimate case to be made that the presence of Confederate flags inside Lee Chapel is neither inappropriate nor unexpected.
I realize that many people are offended or uneasy by the sight of the flag, and their feelings are perfectly valid. But, as Kevin says, context is key when it comes to the Confederate flag, and in the context of a historic building containing the tomb of Robert E. Lee, I don’t think it’s out of place.
No university should tolerate a general atmosphere on campus where students of any background feel unwelcome or intimidated. What I’m saying is that I don’t think the presence of Confederate flags at Lee’s tomb would constitute such an atmosphere. It’s not that the school’s historic ties to Lee give the university a pass to display the Confederate flag whenever and wherever they want. My point is that the particular site of Lee Chapel is the sort of place where one could reasonably expect to see Confederate emblems displayed. The graves of Confederate soldiers and historic structures associated with Confederate memory are two settings where the flag’s presence is generally accepted by many people; Lee Chapel is both.
In such a case, I think dialogue over the flag’s connotations and associations is wonderful. A demand for removal with a deadline, on the other hand, doesn’t really take into account the circumstances of that particular setting.
Taking the president of the university’s letter into account, it appears the W&L is constantly focused on the betterment of the university and is proactive in that testament.
James Knox Apr 30, 2014 @ 14:27
Get rid of the name “Lee” in Washington & Lee? How uninformed, how unenlightened is that? Lee was extremely reluctant to break away from the United States when he did, but Virginia was his “country” at the time, the great American country was still in “chrysalis” stage, before going through the incredible ordeal, necessary as it was, of the War Between the States, only reaching all glory, fructified by the terrible ordeal of death and destruction to become the greatest country on earth that it is today, steadily for blacks, hispanics, asians as well as for whites – and, as such, Robert E. Lee is a tragic hero in the “creational” events of our history, our United States of America, and only the shallow and uninformed view would fail to see that he is to be remembered, like other great leaders, founders, the sinew, the superstructure in the formative period of our American history. Slavery is an abomination, world wide, incredible that with our great Declaration of Independence, that blacks were not included, but the point is that African-Americans were included after this cataclismic war between the states, and now on a level playing field with all Americans [as level as we can make it so far], of all colors, ethnicity and beliefs, so let us all be a model now for all the world that continues to destroy one another over idealogy, religious affiliation, ethnicity, real or imagined, we truly are the beacon, the model, the ideal (though still a “work in progress,” thank you). Amen
Julian Apr 30, 2014 @ 16:27
http://www.roanoke.com/news/washington-and-lee-students-meet-with-provost-about-lee-s/article_c0ca5b86-ccd6-11e3-8bb6-001a4bcf6878.html
The other Susan May 18, 2014 @ 21:27
Since the students’ demands were aired in public, hundreds of people across the country have weighed in. Many of their comments run along these lines: The students are ignorant of history and Lee’s heroism; the students were not slaves, so they should get over it; the students should find a more modern-day cause to champion, such as human trafficking; seeking to diminish Lee’s stature is akin to asking a Christian school to denounce Jesus; and the protesting students not only don’t belong at Washington and Lee, they ought to vacate the South entirely — just what did they expect in attending a school named after a Confederate general?
We must not be weighing in the the proper places, all these comments are against the students.
If this person’s comment is correct and people really see Lee as a god and not a human capable of huge errors in judgement, then no wonder people are having trouble getting their head around the idea that slavery is bad.
I’m sure students expect a school named Washington and Lee to convert them to neo confederatisum about as much as a patient checking into Hollywood Presbyterian hospital expects to become a Christian after having his appendix removed.
l collingwood May 17, 2014 @ 15:11
why do we have to apologize for our ancestors? the past is the past. we all want a good edu. every white person of power owned slaves back then. north and south. the whites of the north benefited from the slaves labor in the south. why isn’t anyone demanding that the tribe leaders in africa that sold slaves issue and apology for selling slaves? or that that the factory owners in the north apologize for all of the money they made off of the slave labor in the south? the past is the past. lets move on and show the world that anyone who is american is awesome? and beyond the issues of the past. from whatever continent. everyone should strive for the best. no matter what. america is about freedom. america is about the future. don’t waste time on past issues. work towards the future. the betterment of all humans. move on. everyone should prove themselves. every day. no one can change the past. no one can re write history. lets just get better as we go. and that has nothing to do with what has been done. america is about what will be done. lets just move on and be the best country that we can be. don’t ever second guess yourself. don’t ever devalue yourself. take advantage of the edu. available. strive no matter who you are or where you came from. spoken from a military person.
why do we have to apologize for our ancestors?
Who is asking you to apologize for your ancestors?
every african american. history is history. lets move foreword. i have worked and served in the company of many of african americans. we are all one in this nation. and if anyone if going to progress this nation it is the military. and the military is comprised of many many minorities. not just african americans. but i have never met one african american in the military that had a problem with some university’s name. so go ahead and get a group of new lawyers that want to make a name for themselves. come up with yet another thing to bitch about. waste a bunch of money. and in the end realize that you can’t change history. but you can move forward. we are one. we need to stay as one. we are americans. period.
It seems to me that this is not about changing the past; rather it’s about changing how that past is remembered by a specific institution?
i didn’t answer your question. i have nothing to do with my ancestors. i didn’t know them and i never will. i do know that i am my own person and that i believe in this country and the people in it. no matter what their color is. i also value my rights as a citizen. and i will stand up for them if need be. i am all for the future. and i am all for americans progressing through education. not through wasting time and money because of a disagreement from the past. washington and lee would not even be here had history not taken the course it did. along with many other historical places. i hope that we all can just value what we have and make the best of it.
you are correct, kevin. we need not rewrite history. slavery is wrong. we know that now. let’s just move forward.
Moving forward often involves looking back.
Problem is collingwood is that we are trying to move forward, but there are still people who haven’t figured out that slavery is wrong yet. If you don’t believe me, just stick around for a bit, I’m sure someone will be along shortly saying that slavery wasn’t that bad bla bla bla.
stick around for a bit? really? i was born here. i have never met a single sole here or elsewhere in the south – and i have traveled a bit – that ever promoted slavery. ever. i have never met a single person that thought that “slavery wasn’t that bad.” and i was not born yesterday either.
Bryan Cheeseboro May 18, 2014 @ 10:43
l collingwood,
With all of your talk of moving forward and moving on, you certainly looked back when you said “washington and lee would not even be here had history not taken the course it did.” Why is it OK for you to look back and no one else?
Bob May 18, 2014 @ 18:23
After decades of racial strife, I think that we have finally arrived at a loose consensus about race in America, and I don’t think that people want that tampered with. That’s not to say that it’s all sweetness and light, but I think that most people see that things have gotten a lot better, and they enjoy the fact that people of different races are getting along.
As for the demands of these students, I think that if Southern whites can revere Abraham Lincoln, after all of the things that were done to the South in pursuit of Lincoln’s policies, then these students can learn to accept Robert E. Lee.
l collingwood May 19, 2014 @ 2:25
i am always sorry to hear about anyone, especially young people, doing things that only divide americans even more. slavery was wrong and a terrible thing. and yes, it was not that long ago that it happened here. we all have choices in life. we can choose to feel hurt and anger from the way our ancestors were treated. we can choose to carry the burden of shame because of how our ancestors treated others. we can also choose to accept the past, good and bad, and not repeat the bad. we can work towards unity and not dividing the people of this county. if african americans are not proud of this country then why are so many volunteering their lives to fight for it in the armed services? another choice.
You assume quite a bit about this group of students.
what is it that i am assuming?
William Payne Aug 27, 2017 @ 18:50
Here’s a suggestion, put the Chapel up for sale or just donate it as a tax rightoff for the school to a private concern such as the Civil War Museum or to VMI, that can make it an annex of the VMI Museum. The school would need to provide a right of way to access the chapel as there is today. Then the University could delete its existence from all university’s documentation. Then it is no longer the Univerisity’s responsibily and the students can . . . . well . . . . .
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« It's Alive
MS Office in some Trouble »
Alien and Sedition Acts Return
I fear that this administration has effectively reenacted the much-hated Alien and Sedition Acts of the early 19th century. Using the "war" on terror as its excuse, the Bush administration is rapidly expanding its ability to grab and hold people indefinitely without charge or trial. This is not a huge surprise -- many presidents have tried to do similar things in time of war or in reaction to internal security threats. Much of the Patriot Act was originally proposed by Bill Clinton, after all.
What is new is that the courts and the opposition party are letting him get away with it.
The Sept. 9 court ruling concerning Jose Padilla, an
American citizen locked up in a military prison in South Carolina for
three years, is a case in point. The ruling should send shockwaves
through the American public since the decision seriously undermines
constitutional rights.
A federal appellate court ruled that constitutional rules
that apply to the police do not apply to military personnel.... The federal
government has been given a green light to deprive Americans of their
rights to due process. No arrest warrants. No trial. No access to the
civilian court system. You may not be able to see it on television, but
this court decision is the equivalent of a legal hurricane-and it is no
exaggeration to say that this is a level 5 storm with respect to its
potential havoc for civil liberties.
Federal agents arrested Padilla at O'Hare International
Airport in Chicago just after he arrived on a flight from Pakistan. The
feds claim that Padilla fought against U.S. troops in Afghanistan,
escaped to Pakistan and returned to the United States to perpetrate
acts of terrorism for al-Queda. Instead of prosecuting Padilla for
treason and other crimes, President Bush declared Padilla an "enemy
combatant" and ordered that he be held incommunicado and interrogated
by military and intelligence personnel.
Padilla has not yet had an opportunity to tell his side of
the story. For two years the government would not even permit Padilla
to meet with his court-appointed attorney, Donna Newman. Newman has
nevertheless defended Padilla's rights, arguing that the president does
not have the power to imprison Americans without trials.
Bush has not made any dramatic televised address to the
country to explain his administration's attempt to suspend habeas
corpus and the Bill of Rights, but his lawyers have been quietly
pushing a sweeping theory of executive branch power in legal briefs
before our courts.
I actually am fairly radical on this - I don't think the fact that he is a citizen or not should even make a difference. Citizenship does not confer rights, and governments don't hand them out -- rights are ours based on the fact of our existence. While some of the rules of due process may change for non-citizens, just the fact that they are from a different country doesn't give us the right to lock them in a room indefinitely. This is why I support free and open immigration - there is no reason why a person born in Mexico should have fewer rights to contract with me for a job or a home than an American citizen. The right to associate, to contract, to agree on wages, to buy a particular home, all flow from being human, not from the US government.
So I wouldn't support Padilla's treatment if he was a Iranian citizen and I certainly don't support it for an American. Yeah, I know, he may be a bad person. But we let bad, dangerous people out of jail every day. Our legal system is structured based on the premise that it is worse to lock an innocent person away than let a guilty person go free. Its a trade-off that we have made for hundreds of years and I for one am pretty comfortable with.
I also get the argument that we are at war -- in Iraq. If someone is captured in Iraq, that may be another story. But Chicago is not in the war zone, by any historic definition of that term (unless you want to use WWII Japanese internment as a precedent, which I doubt). Just calling it a "war on terror" does not make Chicago a war zone any more than declaring a "war on drugs" makes Miami a war zone where suspected drug users can be put in jail without trial. Perhaps if Bush could get Congress to officially declare war, he might have firmer legal footing, but I don't think that's going to happen. As I wrote here:
Yes, I know that there is a real risk, in fact a certainty, that
dangerous people will be let out on the street. But that is the bias
of our entire legal system - the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard
and other protections of the accused routinely put bad people back on
the street. We live with that, because we would rather err in putting
bad people back on the street than in putting good people behind bars
for life. Give them a trial, deport them, or let them go. Heck,
airdrop them into Paris for all I care, but you have to let them get
due process or go free.
Sure, terrorists are using our free and open society against us, and its frustrating. But what's the alternative? I just don't think there is a viable alternative which says that we should destroy our open society in order to save it. We've got to learn to be smart enough to work within the rules, and it may be that we have to expect that in the future our freedom comes at some statistical increase in the danger to ourselves (by the way, isn't that exactly the trade-off we have enforced on Iraq, without even asking them -- citizens are much freer that under Saddam but at an increased risk of terrorism?).
By the way - where the hell is Congress? Stop grandstanding in confirmation hearings and get to work reigning this stuff in.
Tags: Afghanistan, Donna Newman, Iraq, Jose Padilla, Pakistan, Paris, President Bush, risk, South Carolina, trade
Category: Individual Rights
Max Lybbert:
While I agree that citizenship should have nothing to do with legal rights, I have to disagree in the case of Padilla. Padilla was picked up in the airport as he arrived from Pakistan. Padilla has been given the ability to challenge his detainment (per the Supreme Court case Padilla vs. Ashcroft). Padilla made a statement in the most recent court appearence that makes it clear he's no innocent man.
Padilla hasn't been charged with a crime because he's more of a prisoner of war than a criminal. He's called an unlawful combatant because his role in the war is more like a spy or sabator, not a uniformed soldier. As such he's not entitled to a pack of cigarettes or his weekly paycheck under the Geneva Conventions.
But, yes, I agree that the simple fact he's a US citizen shouldn't confer any extra rights that any Afghani picked up in a US airport on a trip from Pakistan should have.
Matt:
I have to wonder why Bush and company aren't scared of repercussions from this. Given how much his political opponents hate him and everyone who supports him, isn't he worried that the GOP might lose the White House one day?
After all, now that "anyone anywhere can be locked up forever without access to counsel, just as long as the president says he's an 'enemy combatant'...oh, and 'enemy combatant' is defined as meaning whatever the president wants it to mean on a moment-to-moment basis, since neither the policy nor any specific detention case requires the presentation of a definition or evidence of any kind" is the apparent law of the land, the only thing standing between America and the mass arrest of people with out-of-favor political beliefs is the indulgence of the occupant of the White House.
Tom:
And just who creates those rights that are "ours because of the fact of our existence"? I've never been able to figure that one. Certain rights may be desirable in the abstract, but in reality rights are won and kept through politics and war. I want my government to protect my rights, as an American, from the likes of Padilla. My rights, as an American, are to live, to live without undue governmental restraint, and to be able to pursue "happiness." My rights are more secure, not less, when govenment protects me from a Padilla. He wasn't imprisoned on a whim. If he had been, I might share your indignation.
/* And just who creates those rights that are "ours because of the fact of our existence"?
Thomas Jefferson said our Creator. The UN is a little more murky and implies that people should just treat each other right because that's the right thing to do. Either way, there have always been limits built into constitutional rights, and true "human rights" are far more limited than many people would like to believe.
That is, yes, you have a basic human right to not be brutally whipped each day. There's no limit on that right. OTOH you do not have a human right to have a legally-sanctioned marriage to whomever you wish. You may have a legal right, or a moral right, but not a human right (cf. Canada's recent debacle with trying to define gay mariage as a human right).
And while you have a constitutional right to free speach, the government has always had the ability to limit what speech is protected. Yes, I know that's a sore spot for Coyote. However, it's also a legal fact of how things are, not how things ought to be.
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Barker & Taylor of Worcester, Massachusetts
This fine example features a case that is constructed in pine and retains it’s original painted surface. The pine was wash over in a brown stain and is enhanced with a grain painted detail that was intended to simulate the coloring and grain pattern of mahogany. This treatment is still consistent throughout. The case is a typical Ashby form in terms of it’s from, proportions, and construction. This case stands on a simple applied bracket feet. These are attached to a molding that is mounted to the lower section of the base. The base panel is grain painted in a diagonal format. A crotch pattern starts from the lower left corner and rises to the upper right. The waist section is fitted with a large rectangular door. This is trimmed with a molded edge and is also grain painted with a crotch veneer pattern that runs vertically the entire length of the door. This door opens to access the interior of the case. The molded arched bonnet features a traditional pierced and open fret work and three chimney or finial plinths. The plinths are capped. Smoothly turned and subtly shaped bonnet columns are fitted aside the bonnet door. The bonnet door is an arched form. It is fitted with glass and opens to access the arched dial.
The wooden arched dial is colorfully painted. The four spandrels and the arch are decorated with a strawberry theme. This dial is signed by the Makers above the Roman numeral six on the time ring. It is signed, “Barker & Taylor, Worcester.” The time ring is formatted with Roman hour numerals and Arabic numerals are used at the five minute intervals. Pewter hands indicate the time. This dial is then attached to the wooden movement with two batons or strips that receive the four wooden dial feet and are pinned in place. The wooden geared movement is the construction one expects from the Ashby Massachusetts clockmaking school. The winding of this example is done by pulling a cord from inside the waist of the case. The movement is a time and strike design and of fine quality. It is designed to run 30 hours on a full wind. It features a count wheel striking system that will strike each hour on a cast iron bell. The count wheel is located on the outside of the movement on the back plate.
This clock was made circa 1800. The overall height of this example is approximately 7 feet 1 inch tall.
This clock is inventory number CC-164.
About Barker & Taylor of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Jonathan Barker and Samuel Taylor formed a partnership as Barker & Taylor sometime before 1807. Little is currently known of these two individuals and their clocks are considered rare. In fact, this is one of the two tall case examples currently known to us signed in this manner. A third example is signed ‘J. Barker, Ashby.’ Based on the number of clock that are known to have survived, we can assume that they were not prolific clockmakers. All three feature wooden geared movements that share the same construction characteristics and format of the Ashby Clockmaking school. In addition, the painted dials are from there as well. As a result, it is logical to assume that Barker received his training there and later moved to Worcester and joined Taylor in the Barker & Taylor venture. It is recorded that Barker died in 1807. Samuel Taylor was born in 1780 and died in 1864. He is listed as a clockmaker in 1807 through 1856. So it is reasonable to assume that he carried on the business after Barker died.
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Selena Gomez Series ’13 Reasons Why’ Picked Up By Netflix
Jason Merritt, Getty Images
For those of you who missed seeing Selena Gomez's beautiful round face peer out at you from your TV, get ready to experience true joy again: The former Disney actress is set to star in an upcoming Netflix drama based on the young adult novel 13 Reasons Why.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the streaming site already ordered 13 episodes of the drama, which Selena is set to both appear in and executive produce.
The series, which will be based on Jay Asher’s best-selling novel 13 Reasons Why, is about a student named Clay who discovers a box of cassette tapes on his doorstep, recorded by fellow classmate Hannah Baker (reportedly played by Selena), who recently committed suicide. Each tape is addressed to a different classmate, all of which played a role in Hannah's decision to kill herself. The subjects are then given instructions on who to pass the collection of tapes onto next, ultimately delivering the message that "everything affects everything."
According to Variety, Selena (along with the help of her mother Mandy Teefy and producer Kristen Laiblin) wanted to turn the novel into a screen adaptation after reading it back in 2012. Although it was in development to be made into a feature film, Netflix ultimately picked it up as a series instead.
See Selena Gomez's Hottest Stage Looks
Next: Selena Gomez Is Billboard's 2015 'Chart Topper' Recipient
Source: Selena Gomez Series ’13 Reasons Why’ Picked Up By Netflix
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Our 2013 NYC Candidate Questionnaire
DFNYC 2013 Candidate Questionnaire
Answers: To learn about the candidates, you can read both the questions, and specific candidates' answers at our website - click here!
Candidates - Please contact us before you submit answers: info-at-dfnyc.org. We've already done our first round of endorsements, and we'd like to learn about your race.
Questions? Ask DFNYC Political Director Richard Wallner at rwallner-at- dfnyc.org or Matt Ward at enologic-at-gmail.com
(1) Money in NYC Politics. Large donors, specifically real estate developers and landlords, have a huge amount of influence in NYC politics due to their campaign contributions. While NYC’s matching funds programs is seen as one of the most innovative public funding campaigns in the country, many DFNYC members feel that big money donors still have too much influence and candidates still spend too much time fundraising. Would you support a change to full public financing of campaigns, similar to the Clean Money Clean Elections programs in Arizona, Connecticut and Maine?
(2) Tenant Protection & Cost of Housing. Do you support rent stabilization and rent control laws? What will you do to crack down on landlords that break the law? Would you call on the state legislature to repeal vacancy decontrol and more generally, the Urstadt Law, so that New York City – and not Albany – can enact its own housing laws?
(3) Paid Sick Leave. There is currently a bill in the city council that would require companies in NYC with 5 or more employees to give 5 paid sick days per year to each employee (if they do not already). While many councilmembers support this, it has not been brought to a vote. Supporters feel this is much needed public health legislation that would only raise labor costs by 2%, while opponents say that it would be an unfair financial burden to small business. Do you support the bill and will you actively work to get it passed?
(4) Fair Police Practices & Occupy Wall Street: The New York City Police Department has been highly criticized for its Stop & Frisk policy, which disproportionally affects racial minorities and poor and working class New Yorkers. The NYPD has also been criticized for its treatment of activists in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Do you support ending or modifying Stop & Frisk? If running for mayor, will you keep Ray Kelly or appoint a new police commissioner? Do you think Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD should have handled events in the OWS movement differently and what measures will you take to protect political demonstrations?
(5) Mayoral Control of Education. Mayoral Control of NYC schools is set to expire in 2016, but the state legislature can renew it. If elected to city government, you will not directly vote on mayoral control, but you will have a ‘bully pulpit’ as renewal is discussed in the next 3 years. Do you support keeping Mayoral Control as is, letting it expire, or making changes, for example to the hearing process for controversial decisions? (Examples: Co-locations of multiple schools in one building, providing district school space to charter schools, phasing out schools that have been labeled as “failing” due to high dropout rates, low test scores, or other factors.)
(6) Teacher Evaluation. A key area where the mayor has influence in public education is in the negotiation of a contract with NYC’s public school teachers. Please give your opinion on the following proposed ways to evaluate teachers for the purpose of tenure, salary and other job benefits: Improvement in student test scores, observations by other teachers, student surveys, whether the teacher has an advanced degree, a principal’s evaluation of a teacher. Should principals be allowed to do unannounced observations of teachers? Do you have any experience negotiating labor union contracts?
(7) Co-location of charter schools. City officials do not decide how many charter schools can exist, or grant requests to be a charter school. However, the Department of Education - currently controlled by the Mayor - may decide to provide charter schools with space, usually by "co-location" with district public schools. While more than half of NYC schools (not just charters) are co-located, it is a controversial topic when a charter school is involved. Critics argue that cash-strapped district schools should not be forced to share resources with charter schools and that co-location creates a morale problem when students and parents see the contrast. Co-location advocates argue that charter schools are public schools and should have an equal right to publicly owned resources such as buildings, charter schools do not receive funding for space and therefore operate at a severe financial disadvantage if they have to find private space, and that differences between co-located schools result from decisions the principals make about how to spend their per-pupil funding. Do you support the DOE giving public school space to charter schools? Sources: Against - funding and space arguments. In Favor - funding & space (pdf).
(8) The City Wage Tax. New York City’s budget depends in large part on the city wage tax, which is only paid by residents, not everyone who works in NYC. Would you call on the state legislature to allow NYC to collect the tax from people from the suburbs who work in NYC and benefit from our services (police, fire, etc.)? Would you support efforts to collect the tax from people who actually live in New York City but use a second home (a loophole not available to middle class New Yorkers with just one home) to avoid the city wage tax? If these efforts work, would you be willing to reduce the city wage tax so that workers would have more take home pay, and there would be less incentive for people to move to the suburbs, reducing our tax base?
(9) Other Taxes. Do you support progressive taxation? Do you support Governor Cuomo’s approach to the marginal tax rate on high incomes? What is your opinion on the current property tax in NYC? Would you support a federal financial transaction tax to either raise revenue, reduce the practice of high frequency trading, or both?
(10) Poverty & the Social Safety Net: According to a 2012 report by the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, many struggling New Yorkers are eligible for welfare, but have not been able to obtain it due to onerous application requirements, and the excessive and arbitrary use of “sanctions” by the City’s Human Resources Administration (HRA). These obstacles have caused very little increase in welfare cases during the recent recession, as contrasted with large increases in Food Stamps and Medicaid. Would you change HRA to make it easier for eligible families to obtain cash assistance, connect them to jobs or meaningful job training, and reform the improper use of sanctions? How would you manage New York City's social safety net programs to ensure that people get the help they need, while at the same time preventing fraud?
(11) Homelessness. When Mayor Bloomberg first ran, he promised to introduce policies to drastically reduce the numbers of people who are homeless in our city. But during the twelve years of his administration, the numbers of homeless have increased dramatically each year. This is in addition to the approximately 50,000 people sleeping in shelters on an average night, according to a recent report by the Coalition for the Homeless. What would you do to deal with this sad situation?
(12) Hurricane Sandy & Environmental Protection. The devastating impact that Hurricane Sandy had on New York City poses short term and long term challenges, namely immediate support for those who lost their homes and businesses, and climate change, respectively. What measures do you support for helping Sandy recovery efforts, as well as energy conservation and reducing the carbon footprint of New York City? What is your position on hydraulic fracturing and the Spectra pipeline?
(13) Gun Control. While DFNYC members have long supported gun control, the December 14th shooting in Newtown, Connecticut seems to have changed the debate on the national level. Do you support the proposals President Obama made to (a) renew and fix the assault weapons ban, (b) ban high capacity magazines (limit the number of bullets that can be shot before reloading), and (c) improve the background check system? Please indicate any other methods you would support to reduce gun violence, including how you would implement them, for example: gun buy-back programs, training programs for gun owners, improved access to mental health care, and involving the business community in gun safety.
(14) Choice & Marriage Equality. Please briefly state your position on the following three issues: marriage equality for gays & lesbians, a woman's right to choose, and access to birth control. (25 words or less)
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Russian scientists are developing a mission to deliver soil from Mars to Earth
by space · June 13, 2018
Russian scientists are developing a mission to deliver soil to Earth from Mars, the scientific director of the Lev Green Institute said at a scientific conference at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Currently, Russia and Europe are implementing the project “ExoMars”, aimed at finding life on Mars. The first stage of the transfer to the Red Planet of an interplanetary station for the study of the planet from orbit was realized. For 2020, it is planned to launch a Russian-European landing station to Mars.
“For the future, we are thinking about preparing a mission to return ground from Phobos, and, finally, this, of course, will be a step towards a more complex mission to return soil from Mars,” he said.
According to the presentation presented by him, such a project is possible after 2025. It should be a continuation of the mission “Boomerang” for the delivery of earth from the satellite of Mars Phobos. The implementation of this project is possible in 2024-2025.
The presentation indicates that the participation in these projects of the European Space Agency is being discussed.
Next story AI learned to recognize people through walls
Previous story The earth can be covered with ice very quickly
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Saturday, March 28, 2009 0
Fox News' Female Short Skirts Get Ratings Over CNN
For the first time, according to Nielsen, CNN came in third place in cable news program ratings behind Fox and MSNBC. CNN had 1.14 million viewers in March, compared with 1.16 million for MSNBC and 2.3 million for Fox News. Some say the reason is Fox is conservative; it's really their focus on women anchors with short skirts.
So Fox could be liberal as heck and still have the same ratings if they had the same "sex sells" strategy. There have been a lot of Fox female anchors doing the showing of a lot of leg: E.D. Hill, Ainsley Earhardt , Linda Vester, Gretchen Carlson, and Catherine Herridge to name some of them.
That's a lot of women, and I'm sure I've left someone's name off the list without intention. The point is, it's too much of a habit to ignore, thus it's part of the high ratings, because it builds expectations that a viewer will see women in short skirts, especially in the morning.
Is this a bad thing? Well, yes and no. Look, we can't deny that above all else, television is a visual medium. It's not radio at all. So people react to what they see. Moreover, we're wired to reproduce -- people forget that -- so visual cues that appeal to our sexual nature will get more attention than those that don't.
That's a fact.
I can't blame Fox for this. But I can blame Fox for coupling it with some lame reporting. Much of it's so biased I don't watch it at all. I flip between CNN and MSNBC. And CNN has some attractive female anchors, but they don't present them like Fox does. If they did, I hate to write this, but CNN would overtake Fox for the ratings lead.
The question is will they do this?
'Building a Mystery' by Sarah McLachlan on QTV
Q was fortunate enough to have Sarah McLachlan as the live musical guest for the Toronto live special broadcast out of the CBC's Glenn Gould Theatre. Playing to a packed house Sarah started her appearance off with her hit 'Building a Mystery'.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 0
Natasha Richardson Accident - Richardson Passed Away Tonight
From CBS: Actress Natasha Richardson and wife of Liam Neeson is reportedly in critical condition after suffering a head injury in a skiing accident at a Canadian ski resort. Randall Pinkston reports.
I later learned that the actress passed away this evening at the age of 45 years old.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 0
Star Trek Movie: Where Are The Black Men?
There's a lack of Black men in the Star Trek trailers and director J.J. Abrams called and invited Tyler Perry to be in the movie to make up for the oversight
Martha Stewart and Lucaris Have Lunch - Seriously
One interesting aspect of taste maven Martha Stewart's life is that she keeps company with some hip members of American Culture, one of them is rapper Ludacris, who had lunch with Martha on March 4th. Here's what Martha wrote on "The Martha Blog ":
Here I am having Lunch yesterday with Ludacris (Chris Bridges). We had a nice salad, paella, and chocolate cake for dessert. He is a nice young man and very, very busy. He is extremely excited about his new flick and new album. Ludacris also really liked the chocolate cake!
But why is this not part of her overall image? A good question that begs for an answer!
Labels: lucaris, martha stewart, news
Thursday, March 05, 2009 1
Chris Brown / Rihanna: Brown charged with two felonies; details of pop star girlfriend Rihanna's assault revealed
More at NY Daily News: “Disturbing details of Rihanna's car ride from hell were revealed Thursday after R&B singer Chris Brown was charged with beating up the pop star as they drove home from a pre-Grammy Awards bash.
"I'm going to beat the s--t out of you when we get home," Brown screamed, according to an affidavit. "You wait and see!"
But almost immediately Brown began raining blows on Rihanna, who was identified as Robyn F. in the court papers.”
-- This reveals a sick, controlling person who should go to jail for what he did. Ramming her head into the passenger window. Trying to kick her out of his rented car. It goes on and is a terrible story.
Labels: chris brown, news, rihanna
"Midnight Cowboy" Featured By Directors Guild of America Theatre in New York City
I got an email from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that they are going to screen the classic "Midnight Cowboy" in New York City, March 16th. You can gain a "taste" for the film from this fan-made trailer:
The Academy reports: "The 1969 Best Picture winner “Midnight Cowboy” will screen for New York audience as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Monday Nights with Oscar®” series on Monday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in New York City.
"Academy Award®-winning producer Jerome Hellman will join Academy Award-nominated actress Sylvia Miles in a post-screening discussion. David V. Picker, the executive-in-charge at United Artist during the film’s development, will moderate the onstage conversation, which also will include actor Bob Balaban, cinematographer Adam Holender, composer John Barry and costumer designer Ann Roth.
“Midnight Cowboy” stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight as two mainstream society outcasts who forge an unlikely friendship on the lonely and unforgiving streets of New York City. The film endures as a powerful story of friendship, compassion and redemption.
The tickets are cheap: $5 and the DGA Theatre is located at 110 West 57th Street in New York City. The box office opens at 5:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved, which means get their early. For more information, call (212) 821-9251
Labels: dga, directors guild of america, midnight coyboy, new york
Vanity Fair 2009 Oscar Party: The Wrapup Video
BARE Magazine Launch Party, Berkeley, CA 2-28-09
I attended a great launch party of a new and innovative magazine called BARE. It was started by UC Berkeley student Doreen Bloch and captures the Bekeley fashion style, but also taps into the lucrative college student fashion scene.
Fox News' Female Short Skirts Get Ratings Over CNN...
Natasha Richardson Accident - Richardson Passed Aw...
Chris Brown / Rihanna: Brown charged with two felo...
"Midnight Cowboy" Featured By Directors Guild of A...
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Top 10 Overplayed Wedding Songs
Anyone who has ever been to a wedding knows that there are certain songs that can't be avoided. TIME picks the most predictable reception tunes.
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‘The Way You Look Tonight’
By Alexandra Silver Aug. 02, 2010
Artist: Frank Sinatra
Get This Album
Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields’ 1936 song “The Way You Look Tonight” is without a doubt one of the most romantic songs ever written, thanks to both a beautiful melody and pitch-perfect lyrics. As such, it has been recorded by all the greats — Frank Sinatra, of course, as well as Ella, Billie and (insert favorite artist here).
But originally, and long before it was used in My Best Friend’s Wedding, it was Fred Astaire’s in Swing Time. He’s singing to Ginger Rogers, who’s in the next room shampooing her hair. Sure, he doesn’t realize this until after he’s serenaded her, and she runs away embarrassed, but there’s wisdom in this humorous scene. After all, the loveliness in the song isn’t about an elaborate dress or hairdo, but rather a warm smile and a soft cheek, a word and a laugh. Granted, a wedding would presumably be a time for all those attractive features to shine through. But “Tonight” is that much more romantic when it’s referring to a seemingly unremarkable evening shared by two lovers and felt spontaneously — no wedding necessary.
Next ‘Amazed’
They're Playing Our Song -- Again
‘At Last’
‘What a Wonderful World’
‘I Only Have Eyes for You’
‘Unchained Melody’
‘From This Moment On’
‘Amazed’
‘Wonderful Tonight’
‘It Had to Be You’
‘Unforgettable’
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Evaluating community engagement as part of the public health system.
South, J and Phillips, G (2014) Evaluating community engagement as part of the public health system. Journal of epidemiology and community health, 68 (7). 692 - 696. ISSN 0143-005X DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2013-203742
Community participation and leadership is a central tenet of public health policy and practice. Community engagement approaches are used in a variety of ways to facilitate participation, ranging from the more utilitarian, involving lay delivery of established health programmes, to more empowerment-oriented approaches. Evaluation methods within public health, adapted from clinical medicine, are most suited to evaluating community engagement as an 'intervention', in the utilitarian sense, focusing on the health impacts of professionally determined programmes. However, as communities are empowered and professional control is relinquished, it is likely to be harder to capture the full effects of an intervention and so the current evidence base is skewed away from knowledge about the utility of these approaches. The aim of this paper is to stimulate debate on the evaluation of community engagement. Building on current understandings of evaluation within complex systems, the paper argues that what is needed is a paradigm shift from viewing the involvement of communities as an errant form of public health action, to seeing communities as an essential part of the public health system. This means moving from evaluation being exclusively focused on the linear causal chain between the intervention and the target population, to seeking to build understanding of whether and how the lay contribution has impacted on the social determinants of health, including the system through which the intervention is delivered. The paper proposes some alternative principles for the evaluation of community engagement that reflect a broader conceptualisation of the lay contribution to public health.
Faculty of Health and Social Sciences > School of Health and Community Studies
https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2013-203742
Humans; Program Evaluation; Public Health Practice; Community Networks; Great Britain
Note: this is the author's final manuscript and may differ from the published version which should be used for citation purposes.
J South
G Phillips
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Jacksonville Business Journal by By Sarah Mueller
Jacksonville Aviation Authority Monday elected Dr. Chester Aikens as chairman for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
Aikens, a practicing dentist who was appointed to the JAA in 2007 by then Mayor John Peyton, replaces Ernie Isaac Jr. as chairman. Isaac continues to serve as a board member.
“As the Jacksonville Aviation Authority gets ready to celebrate its 10th anniversary, I am honored to be selected as the next chairman,” Aikens said. "I look forward to chairing the authority and working with my fellow board members and JAA staff as we continue to grow our four-airport system and provide jobs and economic stability to our region.”
The other newly elected officers include A.L. Kelly as vice chairman, Ron Weaver as secretary (corrected from original) and Deborah Pass-Durham as treasurer (corrected from original).
The board has seven members. Three members are appointed by Jacksonville’s mayor and the other four are appointed by the governor.
Source: http://bit.ly/nsIFYT
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IN DUE TIME REUNION SHOW!
In Due Time was formed in 2001 in Jacksonville, FL and signed to Strike First records in 2003. In Due Time released two records on Strike First, “Back to Basics” in 2004 and “Final Showdown” in 2005. It’s been 4 years since these guys have played a show together and on Dec 11th they decided to reunite for a great cause. The show is called Carly Fest which will be in honor of Carly Driscoll, who was diagnosed in February 2009 with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer, and passed away in September 2010. The proceeds from the show are being donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Here’s the show info:
-December 11th at Murray Hill Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida.
-Doors open at 7 PM and the show starts at 7:30 PM.
-Tickets are on sale now through the Murray Hill Theatre Web site and/or box office for $12 and tickets are $15 on the day of the show
-Playing with – Our Finest Hour, The Red Baron and With Blood Comes Cleansing.
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BREAKING: Yemen’s Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh Dead [PHOTOS]
By: Randi Nord
In: Yemen
Tagged: Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Ansarullah, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United States
Sana’a (GPA) – After a weekend of fierce clashes in Yemen’s capital city, Ansarullah forces have killed Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Despite waging several wars against Ansarullah (aka Houthi) forces, Ali Abdullah Saleh entered an alliance with the growing movement when Saudi Arabia began their war against Yemen in 2015 after forces loyal to Ansarullah seized control of the capital. The then-current president, Saudi puppet Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, fled to Aden and currently resides in Riyadh due to lack of public support.
Last week Saleh and his party, the General Peoples Congress (GPC), turned their backs on Ansarullah allies. Infighting began between Ansarullah and GPC troops with Saudi Arabia proving air support for GPC-backed forces. Saleh spoke on air Sunday afternoon expressing a willingness to negotiate with Saudi Arabia and their coalition.
RELATED: 9 Things the MSM Doesn’t Want You to Know About the War in Yemen
By late Sunday night, Ansarullah forces had either captured or killed all GPC traitors. Fighters raided Saleh’s hideouts, his family’s homes, and the office of GPC media outlet Yemen Today.
Today, Ansarullah’s Ministry of Interior announced they have killed Ali Abdullah Saleh and secured control of Sana’a. They also thanked the citizens and local tribes for their support fighting treason.
Now that the aggressor’s plan has backfired, it appears that the Saudi and UAE-backed government in Yemen’s south is preparing for an intense offensive to take Sana’a from Ansarullah forces. The Aden-based government just announced they will offer amnesty to anyone willing to betray Yemen’s revolution in support of the Saudi-led coalition.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW
Inside the Yemen Today media office
Inside Saleh’s hidehout
Previous Post: Kurt Volker, US Envoy for Ukraine Is About to Fail in His Mission
Next Post: Saudi Arabia Arrests Second Richest Man in Kingdom
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Five heroes honored for saving teenage swimmers from rip current | News
Five heroes honored for saving teenage swimmers from rip current
Submitted by WZZM13, News Staff
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015, 11:03pm
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) - Three weeks ago, two teenage girls nearly drowned when a rip current pulled them into Lake Michigan, but they were saved because of five individuals' selfless acts. On Wednesday, the City of Grand Haven and the Grand Haven Coast Guard honored the men who risked their lives.
Before a packed room in Grand Haven, a video played showing the water rescue as recorded by security cameras. The waves on Lake Michigan were rough, and five men can be seen pulling a teenager out of the water.
Doug Jedel was honored, but was unable to attend the ceremony. He was the second rescuer who went out to save the 14-year-old girl.
Trevor Reeths was at the beach when he could see rip currents were pulling the girls farther from shore. He ran for help. "I did not expect this; it was kind of a big surprise," Reeths said.
Bill Gramprie, a ranger at the state park, went into the water with a life jacket. "I had to do what I had to do," Gramprie said.
Darryl Vansledright was enjoying a day at the beach with his wife when he saw the girls needed help. He grabbed a life ring and went into the water. "'Did they (the girls) want to be out that far?'" Vansledright recalls asking himself. "'Was I infringing on them?' and I said, 'No they were in trouble.'"
Lastly, Zeb Boeskool was surfing that day and jumped in to rescue the girls. He said that he was tired and unsure if could get the girl back, but he didn't quit. He saved the girl's life that day. "I would just say just keep your eyes out, and try to help people out whenever you can if you see someone in need," Boeskool said. "Sometimes people need help."
Zeb's father was able to see his son receive the award, because a GoFundMe page was set up to fly him from Hawaii.
"The world gets to see the person that I always knew he was," Steve Hart, Zeb's father, said. "And now you all get to see it, and that is a pretty amazing thing."
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Technology Implementation
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Why technology must be invisible during ed tech roll outs
Written on January 14, 2015 .
Source: eSchool News
One district leader shares his philosophy for invisible tech roll outs that focus on goals, not tools
When it comes to classroom and infrastructure technology implementations, it’s the equipment, software, and apps that usually take center stage. Rob Dickson thinks he’s found a better way to approach K-12 technology implementations, and in his mind the tech itself is not the focal point. In fact, Dickson, the executive director of information management systems (IMS) at Omaha Public Schools, thinks the equipment and tools being installed and put to work should be “invisible.”
“Implementing a project should begin with a vision,” writes Dickson, in a post for SmartBlog on Education. “Technology shouldn’t be the main focus but a vein running through a strategic plan touching every objective and outcome, providing the highway to efficiencies and collaboration. Every district is different across the country, with different views, demographics, policies and procedures.”
Dickson, who has been in his current position for six months, bases his philosophy on the fact that technology should be viewed as a utility that’s provided by the district, rather than a key driver or central focus, during implementation. “Just like gas, water, or electricity, the technology is the utility or the service that’s being provided,” says Dickson, who developed the idea during a recent cloud-based Office 365 implementation, “we shouldn’t be focused on the technology itself, but on the actual learning and benefits that students and teachers get from it.”
This doesn’t always happen in K-12 environments where teachers, administrators, and IT directors are focused on adopting ebooks or rolling out iPad implementations. In these scenarios, the technology tools and applications behind those rollouts become the central focus for everyone involved. “The actual learning that will be enabled by the technology takes a backseat,” says Dickson, “and the question of, ‘How can we provide the best learning environment for our students?’ isn’t always answered by technology, to be honest.”
Focus on doing
When Dickson arrived at Omaha Public Schools in mid-2014, he says the district’s technology platform was a “blank slate” (i.e., its technological infrastructure was sparse and aging). Recently the district completed a needs assessment and is working on several initiatives, such as workshop-based professional development, planned obsolescence, and new digital curriculum.
Dickson’s now keeping an eye on the extent to which the tools and applications become the central focus during implementation. He realizes that keeping the technology invisible won’t come naturally for teachers and others who have for years been taught that it’s “all about the tools.”
“When you think about instructional technology, teachers learn how to use a whiteboard in the classroom or tablets in a one-to-one environment. That’s how things were traditionally managed,” says Dickson. Instead, he sees the shift to his “invisible” approach as a significant cultural change that starts with a different way of measuring goals and results. “It’s not about measuring specific technology usage; the focus should be on the actual activity that’s going on – the actual ‘doing’ of something with the technology.”
Dickson points to the Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition (SAMR) model as one good measuring stick for this process. Centered on how computer technology impacts teaching and learning, the SAMR model develops a progression that adopters of educational technology can follow as they progress through teaching and learning with technology. At the “substitution” level, for instance, instructors and pupils replace old technology tools with new ones (Office 365 or Google Docs instead of Microsoft Word), as a way to test out new tools to conduct the same activities (in this case, writing).
“You can use SAMR to measure the activity that students are partaking in. If you couldn’t have done that activity before – and without technology – then there’s a real cultural change taking place there,” says Dickson, who has used the SAMR model to switch out traditional classroom instructional tools like whiteboards with a combination of interactive whiteboards and overhead projectors. “In doing so, we added some augmentation to the equation,” he explains, “in that the end result was an interactive environment where multiple individuals were able to edit and collaborate.”
As a starting point for other districts, Dickson says a good first step in the “invisible technology” direction is to identify digital curriculum strategies across a future timeline of about five years. Will the curriculum be “canned,” developed from the ground up, based on open educational resources, or a combination of all three? The answers to these questions will then help fill in some of the holes that districts are currently grappling with – such as how to promote collaboration in flipped classroom environments – and make the technology itself less of a focus during implementations.
According to Dickson, professional development is the key to achieving the “invisible technology implementation” nirvana.
“Many teachers do not have the technical knowledge or skills to recognize the potential for technology in teaching and learning. Just knowing how to use a computer is not enough,” says Dickson. “Instead, teachers must become knowledgeable about technology and self-confident enough to integrate it effectively in the classroom.”
District IT departments also need to step up to the plate, according to Dickson, and get more involved at the classroom level. “All it takes is a little time spent in the classroom to see exactly what students are – or aren’t – getting out of the technology,” says Dickson. “As IT professionals, too many times we sit back and take relative guesses as to how much bandwidth or support is needed, when in reality we should be spending time in the classroom gathering that information ourselves.”
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Wilbur Mills
Title: Wilbur Mills
Subject: Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1972, United States presidential election, 1972, 1972 Democratic National Convention, Al Ullman, Electoral history of Ted Kennedy
Collection: 1909 Births, 1992 Deaths, Arkansas Democrats, Democratic Party Members of the United States House of Representatives, Harvard Law School Alumni, Hendrix College Alumni, Members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas, People from Kensett, Arkansas, People from Searcy, Arkansas, United States Presidential Candidates, 1972
Chairperson of the House Ways and Means Committee
January 7, 1958 – December 10, 1974
Jere Cooper
Al Ullman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 2nd district
January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1977
Jim Tucker
Wilbur Daigh Mills
(1909-05-24)May 24, 1909
Kensett, Arkansas, U.S.
May 2, 1992(1992-05-02) (aged 82)
Searcy, Arkansas, U.S.
Wilbur Daigh Mills (May 24, 1909 – May 2, 1992) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Arkansas. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 1939 to January 1977, becoming one of the top three longest serving Arkansas officials, and was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He was briefly a candidate for President of the United States in 1972.
Youth and early political life 1
In Congress 2
Ways and Means Committee 2.1
Presidential candidate 2.2
Scandal and retirement 3
Honors 4
Youth and early political life
Mills was born in Kensett in White County to Abbie Lois Daigh Mills and Ardra Pickens Mills. Kensett was the first public school in Arkansas to integrate, under Mills' father, who was first superintendent and then chairman of the school board and the banker for the school district. Mills attended public schools in Kensett but graduated as valedictorian from Searcy High School in the county seat of White County. He thereafter graduated from Hendrix College in Conway as salutatorian, having resided in Martin Hall. He studied constitutional law at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts under Felix Frankfurter, who was subsequently nominated and confirmed (1939) as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Mills received his law degree and was admitted to the bar in 1933.
Mills served as the 29th County Judge of White County, between 1935 and 1939, and began a county-funded program, with a $5,000 fund to pay medical bills, prescription drugs which were sold at cost, and hospital treatment for the indigent which were lowered to $2.50 per day, as well as have doctors see qualified patients free of charge. Patients were qualified for the program through petitioning the local Justice of the Peace, who would in turn make a recommendation to Mills as County Judge.
Ways and Means Committee
Mills served in Congress from 1939 to 1977 and for seventeen years (1958–1974)[1] was the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, a post he held longer than any other person in U.S. history. Mills was often termed "the most powerful man in Washington" during his tenure.
His accomplishments in Congress included playing a large role in the creation of the Medicare program. Mills initially had reservations about the program because he was worried about the eventual cost, especially since the early proposals by the President and some Members of Congress proposed funding Medicare from the Social Security Trust Fund, but Mills eventually shepherded it through Congress and had a large hand in shaping its program. His original concern was that medical costs continue to rise each year, until both Social Security and Medicare would have to be terminated, due to these escalating costs. Mills was also acknowledged as the primary tax expert in the Congress and the leading architect of the Tax Reform Act of 1969. Mills favored a conservative fiscal approach, adequate tax revenue to fund government programs, a balanced budget, while also supporting various social programs, especially Social Security and Disability, adding farmers to Social Security, unemployment compensation, and national health insurance.
Mills was drafted by friends and fellow Congressmen to make himself available as a candidate for Secretary of Treasury in a McGovern administration, but McGovern's resounding defeat by President Richard Nixon made this moot.[2]
Scandal and retirement
Mills was involved in a traffic incident in Washington, DC at 2 a.m. on October 9, 1974.[3] His car was stopped by U.S. Park Police late at night because the driver had not turned on the lights. Mills was intoxicated, and his face was injured from a scuffle with Annabelle Battistella, better known as Fanne Foxe, a stripper from Argentina. When police approached the car, Foxe leapt from the car and jumped into the nearby Tidal Basin in an attempt to escape.[3][4][5] She was taken to St. Elizabeth's Mental Hospital for treatment.
Despite the scandal, Mills was re-elected to Congress in November 1974 in a heavily Democratic year with nearly 60% of the vote, defeating Republican Judy Petty. On November 30, 1974, Mills, seemingly drunk, was accompanied by Fanne Foxe's husband onstage at The Pilgrim Theatre in Boston, a burlesque house where Foxe was performing. He held a press conference from Foxe's dressing room.[3] Soon after this second public incident, Mills stepped down from his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee, acknowledged his alcoholism, joined Alcoholics Anonymous, and checked himself into the Palm Beach Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida.[6]
Mills did not run for re-election in 1976 and was succeeded by Democrat Jim Guy Tucker.[7][8] Thereafter, Mills practiced law at the prestigious Shea and Gould Law Firm of New York's Washington Office, until he retired in 1991 and moved back to Arkansas to work on the establishment of the Wilbur D. Mills Treatment Center for Alcoholism, the University of Arkansas Medical School's Wilbur D. Mills Endowed Chairs on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, and the Masonic Grand Lodge's fundraising campaign.
Mills died in Searcy, Arkansas in 1992. He is interred at Kensett Cemetery in Kensett, Arkansas.[9]
Various schools, highways, and other structures in Arkansas are named for Mills:
Wilbur D. Mills University Studies High School in Sweet Home, Pulaski County, Arkansas
Wilbur D. Mills Treatment Center for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Searcy, Arkansas
Wilbur D. Mills Lock and Dam on the Arkansas River in Desha County, Arkansas
Wilbur D. Mills Campgrounds, Tichnor, Arkansas
Wilbur D. Mills Freeway in Little Rock, Arkansas (Interstate 630)
Wilbur D. Mills Avenue in Kensett, Arkansas
Wilbur D. Mills Park in Bryant, Arkansas
Wilbur D. Mills Building, Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas
Two Wilbur D. Mills Endowed Chairs on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, University of *Arkansas Medical Science Campus
Wilbur D. Mills Education Services Cooperative, Beebe, Arkansas
Mills Park Road, Bryant, Arkansas
Mills Street, Walnut Ridge, Arkansas
Wilbur D. Mills Courts Building, Searcy, Arkansas
Wilbur D. Mills Library, Arkansas School for the Deaf, Little Rock, Arkansas
Sculptures of Mills are located at:
Arkansas State Capitol
Hendrix College, Mills Building, Mills Congressional Office Replica
Wilbur D. Mills University Studies High School, Sweet Home, Arkansas
Wilbur Mills Treatment Center, Searcy, Arkansas
Boswell Law Office, Bryant, Arkansas
Kay Goss Office, Alexandria, Virginia
John F. Kennedy Park, Greers Ferry Lock and Dam, Heber Springs, Arkansas
^ "Economic statesman; Wilbur Daigh Mills". The New York Times. December 19, 1957. p. 22.
"Jere Cooper dead; a leader in House. Tennessee Democrat was Ways and Means chairman—first elected in 1928". The New York Times. December 19, 1957. p. 31.
Lyons, Richard D. (December 11, 1974). "Mills quits as chairman; young Democrats advance". The New York Times. p. 1.
^ "ISSUES: McGovernomics: A More Modest Proposal". Time. September 11, 1972.
^ a b c
^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". google.com.
^ "Mills arrival puts spotlight on Palm Beach Institute". The Palm Beach Post. 1975-03-01. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
^ "The Fall of Chairman Wilbur Mills".
^ Farquhar, Michael (2003). A treasury of great American scandals (illustrated ed.).
^ "Wilbur Mills, Long a Power In Congress, Is Dead at 82". New York Times.
Wilbur Mills at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Wilbur Mills at Find a Grave
Oral History Interviews with Wilbur Mills, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
Wilbur Mills materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
United States House of Representatives
John Miller Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 2nd congressional district
Jere Cooper Chairperson of the House Ways and Means Committee
Chairmen of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means
Fitzsimons
W. Smith
G. Campbell
Eppes
Cheves
McLane
McDuffie
Cambreleng
J. W. Jones
McKay
Bayly
L. Campbell
J. G. Jones
R. Mills
Dingley
Kitchin
Fordney
Doughton
Knutson
W. Mills
Rostenkowski
Rangel
VP nominee
Spiro Agnew
John M. Ashbrook
Pete McCloskey
Sargent Shriver
Walter E. Fauntroy
Fred R. Harris
Vance Hartke
Wayne Hays
Hubert Humphrey
Henry M. Jackson
John Lindsay
Eugene McCarthy
Patsy Mink
Edmund Muskie
Terry Sanford
Sam Yorty
Third party and independent candidates
John G. Schmitz
Thomas J. Anderson
Gus Hall
Jarvis Tyner
John Hospers
Tonie Nathan
Benjamin Spock
Julius Hobson
E. Harold Munn
Linda Jenness
Alternate nominee: Evelyn Reed
Andrew Pulley
Gabriel Green
Other 1972 elections: House
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas
Hynes
Gause
Gathings
2nd district
A. Rogers
O. Snyder
Slemons
Brundidge
W. Oldfield
P. Oldfield
T. Robinson
V. Snyder
3rd district
J. Cravens
J. Rogers
Fulbright
Hammerschmidt
T. Hutchinson
A. Hutchinson
Boozman
W. B. Cravens
O. Wingo
E. Wingo
W. F. Cravens
Tackett
Jacoway
Ragon
S. Taylor
C. Taylor
McClellan
W. Norrell
C. Norrell
Arkansas Democrats
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Harvard Law School alumni
Hendrix College alumni
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas
People from Kensett, Arkansas
People from Searcy, Arkansas
United States presidential candidates, 1972
Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Politics
Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1972
Hubert Humphrey, Democratic Party (United States), New York, Minnesota, Indiana
United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Oregon, Mark Hatfield, United States House Committee on Ways and Means
Electoral history of Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Jimmy Carter, Robert F. Kennedy, Robert Byrd
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Franchise law won’t be retroactive
So even though it’s a big business, it’s surprising that the province’s franchising industry itself is effectively unregulated.
According to the Canadian Franchise Association, the franchise industry accounts for almost 50 per cent of Ontario’s retail economy with annual revenues in Canada approaching $100 billion.
That could soon change, however, with the introduction in the Ontario legislature last December of the Franchise Disclosure Act, 1999. This bill, now receiving committee study at Queen’s Park, is similar to legislation Alberta has had in place for many years.
The full name of the proposed legislation – “an act to require fair dealing between parties to franchise agreements, to ensure that franchisees have the right to associate and to impose disclosure obligations on franchisors” – really says it all.
The legislation does not deal with existing franchises, but will apply only to franchise agreements entered into after the act comes into force. Exempt as well are “continuing commercial relationships or arrangements” such as employer/employee relationships, partnerships, membership in co-operative associations and certain leases.
A franchise is defined in the legislation as a right to engage in a business for which:
1) The franchisee is required to make a payment or continuing payments to the franchisor.
2) The franchisor must grant the franchisee the right to sell goods or services substantially associated with the franchisor’s trade mark.
3) The franchisor must exercise significant control over the franchisee’s method of operation.
Both the franchisor and the franchisee will have a duty of “fair dealing,” although this term is not defined and the legislation limits the duty to the performance and enforcement of the franchise agreement specifically.
Franchisees will have the right to associate with other franchisees and to form or join an organization of franchisees.
In addition, a franchisor may not interfere with, prohibit, or restrict, by contract or otherwise, a franchisee associating with other franchisees.
Any franchise agreements with provisions that do interfere with the franchisee’s right to associate are void, and a franchisee will have a right of action for damages where a contravention of such right occurs.
Most important of all, the legislation requires franchisors to provide prospective franchisees with specific disclosure not less than 14 days before the earlier of the signing of a franchise agreement or the making of the purchase payment by the new franchisee.
The disclosure document must contain all material facts, financial statements, and copies of certain other documents and information required by the legislation.
A franchisor must also provide the franchisee with a written statement of any material change as soon as practicable after the change has occurred before the earlier of the signing of the agreement and the payment of any money.
Material change is a change in a material fact that would be expected to have a significant adverse effect on the value or price of the franchise or a decision to acquire the franchise.
There are certain types of franchises that are exempt from the disclosure requirements, including a franchise sold to an officer or director of the franchisor, or to a sophisticated investor, or to a person or company buying an additional substantially similar franchise to an existing franchisee.
If a franchisee is not given the disclosure required by the legislation, a franchisee will be able to rescind the franchise agreement without penalty within 60 days after receiving the disclosure document or if the franchisor never provided the required disclosure, within two years after entering into the agreement.
The franchisor has a number of obligations on rescission, including refunding money received, re-purchasing inventory, supplies and equipment, and compensating the franchisee for any losses.
As well, a franchisee who suffers a loss because of misrepresentation or non-disclosure in a disclosure document has a right of action for damages against the franchisor. However, a franchisor will not be liable in an action for misrepresentation if the franchisor proves the franchisee acquired the franchise with knowledge of the misrepresentation.
The bill is now before the standing committee on regulation and private members bills, which has the mandate to review the proposed legislation and make recommendations to the government. The committee held traveling hearings during March in Toronto, Sault Ste. Marie, Ottawa and London.
David Petras is head of the Waterloo Region Technology Law Group of Gowling, Strathy & Henderson
Risks: Canadian Franchise Association, CFA, Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000, Canada, Disclosure laws: 10 per cent solution, Canada, 20000426 Franchise law
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FanFiction Contest/Who was Dracula?
Who was Dracula? Fanfiction Competion
Posted on April 19, 2013 by Joyousreads / 0 Comment
Just a quick note to let you know about this contest that Tarcher/Penguin is holding. If you have the flair for writing stories, enter this fanfiction contest for a chance to win some wonderful prizes. This is open to U.S. residents only.
WHO WAS DRACULA?
Fanfiction Competition
Tarcher/Penguin announced today the launch of the WHO WAS DRACULA? Fanfiction Competition to celebrate the much-anticipated new book from LA Times bestselling author, Jim Steinmeyer (THE LAST GREATEST MAGICIAN IN THE WORLD, CHARLES FORT). The winner of the competition will be rewarded with a 16GB iPad Mini and a signed copy of the book!
Steinmeyer’s work has been praised by the likes of author Neil Gaiman, who called Steinmeyer’s “combination of enthusiasm and erudition a joy,” to Teller (of Penn and Teller) who said he “writes about events a century ago as vividly as if he had been there.”
In the spirit of bringing new life to classic characters, Tarcher’s WHO WAS DRACULA? fanfiction competition will reward the best adaptation (fitting into the provided guidelines) of Dracula’s creation story with an iPad Mini and a signed hardcover copy of WHO WAS DRACULA? Bram Stoker’s Trail of Blood by Jim Steinmeyer.
There is no fee for entry, though reading the book is encouraged.
Guidelines for the WHO WAS DRACULA? Fanfiction Competition
Email a vignette of 800-1000 words to tarcherpublicity@us.penguingroup.com by no later than April 11th.
Title of the vignette must be “WHO WAS DRACULA?”
Story must include at least two (or more) of these five people who appear inWHO WAS DRACULA?: Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, Henry Irving, Bram Stoker, or Count Dracula
Story must also incorporate at least two (or more) facts from the WHO WAS DRACULA? fact sheet found here: http://bit.ly/Dracu1a
In more than a century of vampires in pop culture, only one lord of the night truly stands out: Dracula. the infamous character—first introduced to the general public in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel of the same name—has grown to such a level of popularity over the years that it has spawned limitless reinventions in books and film.
But where did literature’s undead icon come from? What sources inspired Stoker to craft a monster who would continue to haunt our dreams (and desires) for generations? Historian Jim Steinmeyer explores a question that has long fascinated literary scholars and the general public alike: Was there a real-life inspiration for Stoker’s Count?
Hunting through archives and letters, literary and theatrical history, and the relationships and events that gave shape to Stoker’s life, Steinmeyer reveals the people and stories behind the Transylvanian legend. In doing so, he shows how Stoker drew on material from the careers of literary contemporaries Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde; reviled personas such as Jack the Ripper and the infamous fifteenth-century prince Vlad Tepes, as well as little-known but significant figures, including Stoker’s onetime boss, British stage star Henry Irving.
Along the way, Steinmeyer depicts Stoker’s life in Dublin and London, his development as a writer, involvement with London’s vibrant theater scene, and creation of one of horror’s greatest masterpieces. Combining historical detective work with literary research, Steinmeyer’s eagle eye provides an enthralling tour through Victorian culture and the extraordinary literary monster it produced.
JIM STEINMEYER is one of today’s most renowned historians of stage magic. He is the author of The Glorious Deception and Hiding the Elephant, a Los Angeles Timesbestseller. He is also a leading designer of magic illusion who ahs done work for television, Broadway, and many of the best-known names in modern magic. He lives in Los Angelesand can be found online at www.jimsteinmeyer.com.
Enter for the opportunity to win:
Grand Prize: an iPad Mini (Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $329.00) and an autographed copy of Who Was Dracula? Bram Stoker’s Trail of Blood by Jim Steinmeyer. (ARV: $26.95) Total ARV of Grand Prize: $355.95.
Second Prize: A copy of Who Was Dracula? Bram Stoker’s Trail of Blood (ARV: $26.95)
To enter, email tarcherpublicity@us.penguingroup.com a short fanfiction story of 800-1000 words, incorporating two characters from Who Was Dracula? Bram Stoker’s Trail of Bloodby Jim Steinmeyer. The title of the fanfiction must be “Who Was Dracula?”
Open to residents of the fifty United States, and the District of Columbia, age 18 or older.
Contest begins April 4, 2013. Entries must be received no later than April 24, 2013 11.59:59 PM Eastern Time (ET).
On or about May 1, 2013, two (2) winners will be selected by a qualified panel of judges chosen by Sponsor. Entries will be judged on writing skill and incorporation of two characters from Who Was Dracula? Bram Stoker’s Trail of Blood, with equal weight being given to each criterion. The decisions of the Sponsor with respect to the selection of the winners, and in regard to all matters relating to this Contest, shall be final and binding. Winners will be notified via email and/or telephone.
Void where prohibited by law.
For full Official Rules, go to http://bit.ly/Dracu1a
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History Students Participate in and Win at URCA Conference
Posted on: April 20th, 2019
Several history majors recently participated in the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) Conference on campus.
Emily Adams presented “Ethical Espionage: The Role of Covert Operations in a Democratic Government,” a project she has completed with Dr. Caroline McClure in the Geography Department. This research explores whether ethically-ambiguous covert action operations have a place within the foreign policy of a democratic government by analyzing the United States’ covert operations in Cuba during the Cold War. By combining research in political theory, historical study, published interviews, case studies, and a personal trip to Cuba, Adams seeks to answer the question: “Is espionage necessary for international relations?”
Molly Buffington presented her ongoing project with Dr. Kirk Summers of Classics, “A War of Words: The Lutheran-Calvinist Debate on Acts 3:21 and the Eucharist.” In her work, Buffington explores a sixteenth-century conflict between the Lutheran and Calvinist churches over the translation of Acts 3:21, a passage describing the ascension of Jesus, and how these differences of translation and interpretation shaped the two faiths’ understanding of the Eucharist and of themselves. This work ties into larger discussions of Confessionalization in the late Reformation, translation theory, and the relationship between the logical and the supernatural.
Margaret Lawson presented on her work, “Mississippi Memories: Lynchings in Hinds County, Mississippi, 1880-1934.” Lawson worked with Dr. John Giggie to map the history of lynching victims in Hinds County, discovering four previously unrecorded killings, and tracked how stories about them circulated through the press. Researching local and national newspaper databases, she discovered that the nearly two dozen lynchings in Hind County generated over 1000 news reports – mostly in white newspapers published North and Midwest – that contributed to the formation of a national vocabulary of black criminality.
We are very proud of our undergraduates and the research they are conducting around campus!
Additionally, we would like to extend our congratulations to Margaret and Molly, who both received awards for their presentations! Margaret won first place in the Social Sciences – Completed Work division, and Molly won first place in the Arts and Humanities – Works in Progress division. Congratulations to you both!
Tags: Awards, Margaret Lawson, Molly Buffington., research, Undergraduate Research, URCA
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Are gut bacteria to blame for anxiety, depression in obesity?
Obesity brought on by a high-fat diet might be accompanied by changes in gut bacteria that alter brain chemistry in such a way as to promote anxiety and depression.
Gut bacteria (depicted here) could cause anxiety and depression among people with obesity.
This was the conclusion that researchers from the Joslin Diabetes Center of Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, and colleagues came to after studying the link between gut microbes and brain function in mice with diet-induced obesity.
They report their findings in a paper that is now published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
In the paper, they note how giving the animals antibiotics — which changed the composition of their gut bacteria — reduced inflammation, improved “insulin signaling in the brain,” and reduced “signs of anxiety and depression.”
“What this study says,” says senior study author C. Ronald Kahn, a professor of medicine at Harvard University and co-head of the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism at Joslin Diabetes Center, “is that many things in your diet might affect the way your brain functions, but one of those things is the way diet changes the gut bacteria or microbes.”
Obesity, diabetes, and gut microbes
Obesity and diabetes are serious public health problems across the globe. Since 1975, worldwide prevalence has almost tripled. Global figures for 2016 estimate that around 650 million people, or 13 percent of the world’s population, are obese.
Much of this obesity epidemic is fuelled by diets that are high in fat and “energy-dense foods,” along with reductions in physical activity.
Global rates of diabetes have also risen significantly in the past 30 years. In 1980–2014, they rose from 108 to 422 million.
The vast majority of cases are type 2 diabetes, which is driven largely by excess weight and lack of physical activity.
Our guts contain vast and complex populations of microbes that exert a significant influence on our health, especially through their effects on metabolism and immune function.
Diet is recognized as the main driver of gut microbe composition, as it is in both obesity and type 2 diabetes. This effect occurs throughout our lives, during which an average of 66 tons of food will pass through our guts.
Probing link to mood disorders
In their study paper, the researchers note that diabetes and obesity “are associated with increased rates of anxiety and depression.”
In addition, symptoms of these mood disorders can be replicated in mice by feeding them on a diet that makes them obese.
The team considered whether the gut microbiome might be a factor in this relationship because other studies have revealed that changing the composition of gut bacteria in mice “can improve neurobehavior.”
In previous work, they had found that changes in gut bacteria were partly responsible for mice fed on high-fat diets becoming obese and developing diabetes and “related metabolic diseases.”
They also found that giving the animals antibiotics, which changed their gut bacteria, reversed these conditions.
In this new study, the researchers added a new feature to the previous set of experiments. After developing obesity and diabetes from being fed a high-fat diet, the mice underwent behavioral tests for anxiety and depression.
These tests were the same as those used in screening drugs for mood disorders.
Gut microbes and insulin resistance
The additional tests showed that mice fed on a high-fat diet had behaviors that were “reflective of increased anxiety and depression,” compared with mice that were fed a normal diet.
But, when the mice were given antibiotics in their drinking water, the levels of raised anxiety and depression disappeared and the animals’ behavior “returned to normal.”
Can the changes to gut microbe composition wrought by the antibiotics be responsible for the reduction in anxiety and depression behaviors?
To test this idea, the scientists transferred fecal samples, which are laden with gut bacteria, from the diet-induced obese and diabetic mice into the guts of germ-free mice.
The previously germ-free mice began to show raised levels of anxiety and depression behavior. However, this was not the case when they received antibiotics in addition to the gut bacteria.
Finally, examination of brain tissue showed that the high-fat diet had induced insulin resistance in the brain. Insulin resistance is a condition in which cells lose their ability to use insulin to convert glucose into energy and is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes.
“We demonstrated,” Prof. Kahn explains, “that just like other tissues of the body, these areas of the brain become insulin resistant in mice on high-fat diets.”
Insulin resistance given to germ-free mice
He and his team also found that “this response to the high fat is partly, and in some cases almost completely, reversed by putting the animals by antibiotics.”
In addition, the researchers found that the insulin resistance in the brain transferred to the germ-free mice when they introduced gut microbes from the high-fat diet mice.
This shows, Prof. Kahn says, that the “the insulin resistance in the brain is mediated at least in part” by influence from the gut microbes.
The scientists also managed to pinpoint some of the chemical messengers in the brain that were involved in the process.
They now want to identify which microbes are responsible for these changes and, in particular, which of the molecules that they produce exert the most influence.
The idea is that this could lead to supplements or medications that promote “metabolic profiles” that improve brain health.
“Your diet isn’t always necessarily just making your blood sugar higher or lower; it’s also changing a lot of signals coming from gut microbes and these signals make it all the way to the brain.”
Prof. C. Ronald Kahn
Tagged Endocrinology
Why does diabetes cause fatigue?
It is common for people with diabetes to experience fatigue. Causes can include high blood sugar levels, depression, being overweight, and other related health conditions. Controlling blood sugar levels and lifestyle changes can help a person reduce fatigue. Learn more here.
Is pineapple good for diabetes?
Pineapple has a higher glycemic index (GI) score than other fruits, but people with diabetes can still include it as part of a healthful diet. In this article, we look at how pineapple affects diabetes and the best ways to eat it.
Diabetes Nutrition / Diet
What are the health benefits of guava?
Guava is a traditional remedy for a variety of ailments. Initial research suggests that compounds in guava leaf extract could help treat a number of conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, menstrual cramps, diarrhea, the flu, and cancer. Learn more here.
Religious belief may extend life by 4 years
What to expect from a bronchoscopy
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The Psychiatrist Whistleblower Big Pharma Can’t Shut Up
David Healy, an Irish psychiatrist and professor at Cardiff University School of Medicine in Wales
Image courtesy of AlterNet
Meet the Doctor Big Pharma Can’t Shut Up
The pharmaceutical industry has compromised the Western medical establishment and hooked America on drugs. One psychiatrist is fighting back.
By Tamara Straus
For the last 33 years, David Healy, an Irish psychiatrist and professor at Cardiff University School of Medicine in Wales, has written heavily researched university press books and academic journal articles on various aspects of psychopharmaceuticals. His output includes 20 books, 150 peer-reviewed papers and 200 other published works. He is not only well-pedigreed, with degrees and fellowships from Dublin, Galway and Cambridge medical schools, he is a widely recognized expert in both the history and the science of neurochemistry and psychopharmacology.
Yet Healy says his output and reputation have had little to no effect—both on the pharmaceutical industry he argues buries relevant information about prescription drug harms, and on the psychiatric and medical professions he claims are being “eclipsed” by drug companies.
“It’s been clear to me that writing books or articles banging on the risks and hazards of drugs is just going to increase the sale of drugs,” said Healy, who speaks calmly, dresses mostly in black and looks a bit like Rod Serling.
Rather than write another university publication, Healy has taken his frustration to the street. In November, he launched a nonprofit website called Rxisk.org with a group of like-minded and highly credentialed international colleagues. The site aggregates FDA data about prescription drug side effects and urges patients to submit a detailed report on their own pharmaceutical drug reactions.
Healy is not the first psychiatrist to express boiling frustration with the pharmaceutical industry or to pen dire warnings about drug-based healthcare. He is joined by people like American psychiatrist Peter Breggin, who has written several books critical of “biological psychiatry,” and Irving Kirsch, who directs the Program in Placebo Studies at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical School and is best known for The Emperor’s New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth. Healy is the author of such dire sounding titles as Pharmageddon and Let Them Eat Prozac: The Unhealthy Relationship Between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Depression.
For years, it was fairly easy for people in the pharmaceutical and medical industries to label Healy, Kirsch and Breggin as alarmists. But two summers ago, one of the most prominent members of U.S. medical establishment, Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of New England Journal of Medicine, published an article damning the over-prescription of psychoactive drugs. In two essays in the June 23, 2011 and July 14, 2011 New York Review of Books, Angell backed arguments by the university clinician Kirsh, the mental heath journalist Robert Whitaker, and Boston psychiatrist Daniel Carlat that there is something extremely suspicious about the following trends: the number of people treated for depression has tripled since the launch of Prozac in 1987; 10 percent of Americans over age six are taking antidepressants; and 30 antipsychotics like Risperdal, Zyprexa and Seroquel are replacing cholesterol-lowering agents as the top-selling class of drugs in the U.S., largely because they are being prescribed to children.
Angell’s articles should have been a bomb on the medical establishment. She wrote:
“The industry-sponsored studies usually cited to support psychoactive drugs—and they are the ones that are selectively published—tend to be short-term, designed to favor the drug, and show benefits so small that they are unlikely to outweigh the long-term harms. … Both the pharmaceutical industry and the psychiatry profession have strong financial interests in convincing the public that drug treatment is safe and the most effective treatment for mental illnesses, and they also have an interest in expanding the definitions of mental illness.”
But like Healy, Angell’s warnings have fallen on deaf ears. Recent data indicates that U.S. prescription drug use is growing. The September 2012 Consumer Reports National Research Center report found that among the 46 percent of American adults taking prescription drugs, a fourth of those ages 18 to 39 regularly take two prescription drugs, indicating that multiple drug use is no longer confined to older Americans. Congressional testimony in 2012 by the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians revealed that Americans consume 80 percent of opiate painkillers produced in the world. And a January 2011 report from Stanford University Medical School warned that antispychotics are now regularly being prescribed to treat conditions for which they have not been approved, including anxiety, attention-deficit disorder, sleep difficulties, behavioral problems in toddlers and dementia.
According to a Feb. 7, 2013 report from Drugs.com, the No. 1 best-selling U.S. drug (in dollar volume) is an atypical antipsychotic for schizophrenia treatment called Abilify. Sales for the last quarter of 2012 soared to $1.5 billion, because Abilify is widely prescribed off-label—i.e., not for schizophrenia in adults, but, for example, for irritability in children. Although Bristol-Myers Squibb, the maker of Abilify, was fined $515 million in September 2007 for recommending off-label uses of Abilify, doctors are still doling out the drug. Why?
“The reason for the increase in prescription drug use is that the entire Western medical complex is run by pharmaceutical companies,” said a Stanford University professor of medicine who preferred to remain anonymous (and who was not involved in the 2011 report on antipsychotics). “The medical training you get in Western medical schools is largely about learning which drugs to treat which diseases.” She added: “You would think that recent studies, such as the one that said antidepressants are no more helpful than a placebo, would have an effect. But they haven’t.”
Read the Full Article Here: http://www.alternet.org/meet-doctor-big-pharma-cant-shut
The Emperor’s New Drugs
Exploding the Antidepressant Myth
by Irving Kirsch Ph.D.
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Lord Of The Rings The Two Towers
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (J. R. R.) was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. While he was at Pembroke College, Oxford, as a Professor of Anglo-Saxon from 1925 to 1945 and then, until his retirement in 1959, he was a professor of English language and literature. His chief interest was in the literary and linguistic tradition of the English West Midlands. As he taught, he wrote the trilogy of books that served as a sequel to The Hobbit?the Lord of the Rings. He then died on September 2, 1973. He is well known by the reading public as the author of Farmer Giles of Ham, The Hobbit, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, The Lots Tales and the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings.
Songs and rhymes are used in Tolkien?s books to forward the plot. Songs that Tolkien writes in his books also suggest the telling of the history of Middle-Earth. Because Tolkien uses songs in Lord of the Rings for telling the history of middle earth, it also helps develop the plot, which might be the reason the book is awfully long. Using poems and rhymes
lord, ring, two, towers, hobbits, gandalf, frodo, songs, orcs, one, world, book, sauron, sam, gollum, very, tolkien, own, mordor, great, fellowship, two, saruman, out, long, known, isengard, books, after, war, time, rohan, rhymes, made, language, help, because
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Structures by State
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Structures by Type
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Building Description Wiley Bates High School, Annapolis Maryland
The Wiley H. Bates High School Complex, on Smithville Street in Annapolis, was begun in the early 1930s. The first portion was completed in 1932, and replaced the original Annapolis Colored High School which had been located in the Stanton School on West Washington Street in Annapolis. The original portion of the building is a flat roofed, two story building of brick and masonry bearing walls and wood frame floor and roof structure. A center, double loaded corridor runs north/south the length of the building with classrooms, lavatories, and stairs on the western side, and classrooms, library, offices and a two story auditorium on the eastern side of the corridor. The second floor corridor opened to the two story auditorium space as a gallery. First floor classrooms were added to both the north and south in 1937, and second floor classrooms were added in 1945. The major architectural treatment is reserved for the auditorium section which is embellished with three segmentally arched windows, a low cast stone belt course, and a pattern of pilasters and panels; the remainder of the building facade is relieved with cast stone belt courses and ganged double hung windows. The resource achieved its current configuration in 1950, when additional teaching facilities were added. The most recent portion of the building is also of masonry construction, and is completed in a simplified International or Modern style. The entire building complex continued in use until 1981.
The original portion of Bates High School is a two story (with partial basement), flat roofed, brick masonry building. The original building, completed in 1932 at a cost of $58,596.00, forms part of a large complex, the result of a series of additions and expansions over the period 1937-1950. Minor additions completed in 1937 and 1945 were followed in 1950 by a major addition and expansion which more than tripled the size of the 1932 building. The complex, including the original building, continued in use until 1981.
The principal (east) facade of the original portion of the building (facing the entry court of the complex as it now stands) has two entry doors and three segmentally arched window openings (opening to the large space of the auditorium) in a large scaled, simply detailed elevation broken by a cast stone belt course at the mid-door level and a repeating pattern of pilasters and panels. This center section is flanked on both the north and south with two story additions having a similar facade treatment of brick with two contrasting cast stone belt courses at the line of the window heads. The 1937 and 1945 additions continue this treatment. The original fixed sash in the large auditorium windows has been removed and replaced by aluminum replacement windows; the double hung sash in the flanking windows remains in place, but boarded over with plywood panels.
The plan of the original (1932) block consists of a double loaded corridor on the first floor with classrooms, lavatories (on the first floor only), and stair towers on the western side, and a large auditorium space, classrooms and offices on the east side. The second floor repeats this plan, with a gallery (now closed in with glass block units) opening into the auditorium, and a library. Interior modifications (dropped lay-in ceilings, partitions, etc.) have been minor and are reversible. The 1937 and 1945 additions consist of additional classrooms, lavatories and locker space. Minor renovations to the original building carried out in these campaigns, included the installation of a terrazzo floor in the first floor corridor, the renovation of existing locker space as a lavatory, and the creation of shop classrooms in the basement at the southern end of the building.
Sometime in 1937-1938, the wooden frame Germantown Elementary School, previously located a block away on West Street, was moved to the grounds. This building was used as an annex for classrooms and also contained a home economics room from which meals were served. This annex was incorporated into a subsequent addition, but traces of its location are still visible. The annex no longer stands.
The building complex was enlarged to its present size in 1950, more than tripling the original building area. This addition was completed as a series of wings, two of which embrace the entry court on Smithfield Street, with a new entry and lobby replacing the former entry through the 1932 building. The plan of this addition consists of a series of wings with double loaded corridors, and the program included classrooms, laboratories, offices, a gymnasium-auditorium, a cafeteria, shop classrooms, and a 399-seat theater (at the time the only such facility in an Anne Arundel County school building). This addition is of masonry and concrete construction and was designed in a simplified modern style with brick and stone trim.
More Information and Pictures
Main Page for this Structure
Next Page Pictures
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[NOTEBOOK] Gender Equality, Still a Long Way to Go
Practical Management Is Important in Achieving Gender Equality
"I want to work at the Ministry of Gender Equality. What is required to be employed there?"
At the end of January, immediately after the release of a report on the launching of the Ministry of Gender Equality, a woman reader made a phone call to JoongAng Ilbo and asked the question above. She said that she had been a teacher and added that she was willing to prepare for the public service employment examination to work at the Ministry of Gender Equality.
Job applications at the Ministry of Gender Equality show that there is a great deal of expectation for this newly established cabinet agency. The competition rate for selecting positions for regular government service was 10 applicants for every job opening. And the competition between men and women applicants was encouraging, with 117 male hopefuls compared with 113 women. An associate of the ministry who served in the office of second Minister of Political Affairs and Presidential Commission on Women's Affairs, which were predecessors of the Ministry of Gender Equality, voiced surprise at the attention, saying, "Previously, the department which had 'woman' in their title was neglected."
The expectation from the women's movement is even greater. Han Myung-sook, who is the newly appointed minister of gender equality, was president of Korea Women's Association United, which is Korea's most prominent women's civic organization. Recently, at a congratulatory party marking the appointment of Minister Han, the minister confessed, "I have never felt stress and pain like this before." Her younger associates who suffered oppression with her during the democratic movement, recalled the minister saying, "Rice and briquette are all I ever need."
The coming Feb. 29 is the day the Ministry of Gender Equality will mark its first month. At the end February, the recruitment of public employees will end.. But the future of the Ministry of Gender Equality does not look rosy. On the homepage of the Ministry (www.moge.go.kr) there are the voices of men filled with anger.
"If the women want equal treatment, they should be drafted also." "Do you see what state the patriarchs are in?" These angry comments illustrates that the men of our society have a strong hostility to the pursuit of gender equality. The problem of sexual harassment is again becoming a hot issue. The legislation of "Act on the Prevention of Domestic Violence," "Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crime," "Act on the Prohibition and Remedy for Sexual Discrimination," and the launching of the Ministry of Gender Equality show that Korean society is making efforts to eliminate gender bias. But can gender equality be achieved by these developments? Considering that legislation cannot be a solution to every problem, the answer is "No." The law and the administration departments are important in achieving gender equality. But more effort should be concentrated on the practical management of the law. It is an assignment for all members of our society to construct the software of "Gender Equality."
The writer is an information and science news reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo.
by Lee Eun-ju
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U.S. airman in jail for molestation
A former U.S. senior airman is serving a 15-year jail sentence for sexually molesting two Korean male orphans and possessing dozens of child pornography videos, court records showed.
Robert Keldgard, who was stationed at Kunsan Air Base in North Jeolla between 2012 and 2013, was convicted by a court-martial in April 2016.
Col. John Bosone, the commander of the 8th Fighter Wing at the base, confirmed the information last week in a response to questions from Yonhap.
Bosone called Keldgard’s crimes “heinous and despicable,” noting that his wrongdoings have resulted in a dishonorable discharge from the Air Force, 15-year sentence in a military prison, total forfeiture of pay and allowance and demotion.
“As soon as United States Air Force investigators stationed at Kunsan Air Base were made aware of the incidents, they, with Korean National Police, immediately and aggressively investigated the allegations, and Keldgard was militarily prosecuted for his crimes,” the commander said.
“This is a very shameful past moment for Kunsan Air Base and our community,” he added, stressing that the crimes by the “predator” are not reflective of U.S. service members who serve here for the defense of Korea under an alliance treaty.
In October 2014, Keldgard was investigated for an unrelated incident that happened during his stint at Kadena Air Base in Japan. Investigators searched his computer hard drive and discovered at least 41 child pornography videos acquired from the Internet.
This finding expanded the scope of the probe to Keldgard’s prior assignments, including the Kunsan Air Base. In cooperation with Korean police, the Air Force investigators looked into his contact with two Korean boys.
The authorities then found that Keldgard had “inappropriate sexual contact” with the boys on and off base, the 8th Fighter Wing commander explained. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and molesting the victims.
Court documents indicated that the young victims chose not to participate in the proceedings of the military criminal trial.
But a social worker’s statement on the victims’ behalf that demanded justice for the pain they had suffered was instrumental in the sentencing of the assailant, Bosone said.
Following the crimes, the 8th Fighter Wing has taken steps to prevent a recurrence, such as implementing a more intensive background check of all unit personnel who volunteer to spend time with Korean neighbors outside the base.
All Kunsan Air Base programs that involve individuals under the age of 18 have chaperones that closely monitor their interactions and relationships. In addition, all 8th Fighter Wing personnel must complete annual Green Dot Training, an interactive training program that teaches airmen to intervene and prevent situations of sexual and domestic violence, abuse and stalking.
“We take all allegations concerning child sexual assault and child pornography very seriously and pledge to fully pursue all appropriate actions,” the commander said, noting that “maintaining trust is a priority.”
The U.S. currently maintains 28,500 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korean aggression and provocations.
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Death, dreams brew in ‘Gyeongju’
Park Hae-il, left, and Shin Min-a form an undefinable relationship in the surreal movie “Gyeongju,” directed by Zhang Lu. Provided by Invent D
When Korean-Chinese filmmaker Zhang Lu visited Gyeongju for the first time in the mid-1990s, he was mesmerized by the unique landscape that marks the Silla-era capital.
“It was my first time in Korea, and in Gyeongju I saw how naturally the tombs and the lives of everyday people were intertwined,” said Zhang at a press conference on Monday.
Zhang’s latest film is full of uncomfortable silences and awkward moments between characters while a hint of death looms around every corner.
“It’s hard to get away from a tomb in Gyeongju,” says Shin Min-a’s character, Gong Yoon-hee, to the film’s lead, Choi Hyun (Park Hae-il), who she forms an undefinable and poignant relationship with.
The story begins with Choi, an ethnic Korean professor from Beijing University who visits Korea for the funeral of an old friend.
While in the country, he decides to take a trip to Gyeongju, to a traditional tea shop he visited with his deceased friend seven years ago.
Once he arrives at the shop, he looks for a chunhwa, or erotic painting, he remembers seeing on the wall, although not even the shop’s owner seems to know about it.
While the journey begins with a search for a painting and the overall plot has a surreal vibe, the lead was at least based on a real person.
“The character is based on me foremost. I went to a funeral, went to the tea house and saw a chunhwa there,” said Zhang.
From left: Zhang Lu, Park Hae-il and Shin Min-a talk about their latest film at a press conference on Monday.
“But, of course, I didn’t call over my ex-girlfriend, nor did I meet Shin Min-a there,” joked Zhang.
Choi, like the filmmaker, is a professor, a Korean who speaks perfect Chinese, and a sort of alien in his native culture.
But although the character is based on Zhang, the film doesn’t have a definite sense of genre or storyline.
Zhang describes the movie’s meaning as “about what didn’t happen mixed in with what happened.”
And in usual Zhang style, the subtle screenplay was often too vague for even the actors to decipher.
“While working, I’d question, am I interpreting this right?” said Park.
In the end, Park worked out that the film was “about love, not just between a man and a woman, but between people.”
Shin professed, too, that like her co-star, she felt the film was a little abstract at times.
“When I first read the scenario, like Park, there were parts I didn’t really get ... I wasn’t sure if it was romance or about death.”
But still, the chance to work with Zhang was an opportunity she didn’t want to miss, even if it came with having to learn proper tea ceremony protocol or filming long shots, which actors usually find difficult.
“When you look at Zhang’s works, you feel something from the use of space, regardless of the dialogue or words,” said Shin.
Yoon Jin-seo who plays Choi’s former love, said that she had no trouble with the experience, having worked with Zhang before.
“In the scenario, there wasn’t much to go by, but I did think the director would have some deeper background knowledge about the characters,” said Yoon.
“He would say, ‘Jin-seo, cry as you eat,’ and I would. Then he’d say, ‘Cry as you run,’ and I would.”
Although the narrative of Zhang’s latest film is more detailed than his previous documentary “Scenery,” it’s easy to see that Zhang was again moved by the same concept of dreams. In “Scenery,” he asked his interview subject what bizarre dreams they’d had while in Korea.
“The distinction between dream and reality … it was always something I wanted to portray, and this is the end result,” said Zhang.
“For the first time while shooting, I started thinking I wish this wouldn’t end.”
And for their part, Shin and Park said they’d be willing to act together on another project.
“If Park consents, I’d like to work with him again,” said Shin.
“How about ‘Jeonju’ for the next movie?” joked Park.
“Gyeongju” opens June 12.
BY CARLA SUNWOO [carlasunwoo@joongang.co.kr]
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On top of the world, BTS remains humble: K-pop megastars credit their chart-topping success to the power of their fans
Members of BTS met with the local press on Tuesday at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul for a global press conference following the release of their latest EP “Map of the Soul: Persona” on April 12. From left are members V, Suga, Jin, Jungkook, RM, Jimin and J-Hope. [NEWS1]
Over the years, K-pop superstars BTS have consistently been compared to other musical acts, but thanks to their success, there’s no longer a need to describe them as anything but BTS. Having conquered not only Korea but the world with records never achieved by any other K-pop act, the group is seeing its success grow once again after the release of “Map of the Soul: Persona,” the septet’s seven-track EP that has taken the world by storm since its release on April 12.
The group met with press from all around the world at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul on Wednesday for its very first global press conference, which was also streamed live on the group’s official YouTube channel. During the meeting with hundreds of local and foreign reporters, the members spoke of their gratitude for their fans (known as ARMY), detailed their journey to the top of charts worldwide and their plans for the future.
“We’ve prepared something new for this press conference,” said leader RM. “I’m so glad that we have the chance to speak to not only the local and global press, but also ARMY, like this. We hope to tell you everything about our album [and about] the hard work we put into making it.”
Throughout the 30-minute press conference, each member chose from 150 keywords that each contained a question related to the word, then continued onto a question-and-answer session for reporters on site.
The group’s leader RM was asked what inspired the members most while making this new album.
“Over the past two and a half years, we were constantly giving the message that loving yourself is true love. We were able to experience some things that we didn’t even dare dreaming of. So when we thought of what to say this time [for the new series of albums], we decided to talk about love, and the source of the love that brought us here to where we are today. I think it was all part of getting to know ourselves and how we are inside.
“If ‘Love Yourself’ was what we told ourselves, then ‘Map of the Soul’ will be about finding out how our souls are shaped,” he added.
Suga answered questions about “Boy With Luv,” the new album’s lead track, and Halsey, the American singer featured on the track.
“We talk about the smallest love and attention in our lives, the joy that we get from the smallest and humblest of things. And just like RM said, we believe that we are here because the fans allowed us to be here, which is why we went back to the beginning. That’s how [‘Boy With Luv’] came about,” he said.
Halsey shared her appreciation for having collaborated with the septet through a pre-recorded video, calling the opportunity something that happened “by fate.”
Jungkook described ARMY as an “inseparable” part of the group. “They are everything to us, the people who made [us] BTS who we are today,” he said.
Having had more success than any other K-pop act before them, the group does feel the weight of the burden, but according to Suga, they have been able to overcome that pressure thanks to their fans.
“We came together because we wanted to make music together,” said Suga. “But we went through such a long period of hard times. We pulled ourselves together, failed and then started all over again so many times. I think that’s why ARMY are so proud of us, which is why we always think about how we can repay them. So we try to be a positive influence for people, because they are the ones that influence us positively.”
Jimin added, “We give them good vibes, but the fans are the source of our positivity. They are the sole reason that we could climb this high. We want to make you happy, because you make us happy.”
At the end of the day, BTS attributed their success not to luck or hours of practice, but to the fans that made everything possible.
“I think what makes us special is the fact that we have met very special fans,” Suga said. “We thought so much about it on our own, and we wondered about why so many people love us. And as much as we are different from everyone else, we are just as similar. So what we think is that the fans, who are always there for our new music, [are the answer].”
RM even revealed a dark secret about the hardships the group once faced.
“There were even times when the lights would scare me so much. The audience scared me. I couldn’t see them sitting because of the heavy lights, but they were watching my every move and expression. I wanted to run away. But I realized I wanted to achieve things on stage more than run away. The fans gave me that energy, and it helps me keep balance.”
The septet’s newest music has created a sensation across many fields, not just music. Big Hit Entertainment announced prior to the press conference on Wednesday that “Map of the Soul: Persona” topped Japan’s Oricon digital albums chart for the fourth time in its first week of sales, the most ever achieved in the history of the Japanese chart. The news comes after Billboard and Britain’s Official Chart reported on Tuesday that BTS will rank No. 1 on their albums chart when the chart is renewed this week, as the group has already reached the necessary sales and streaming numbers. Local music charts are filled with the pink album cover of “Map of the Soul: Persona,” while their music can be easily heard on the streets.
Outside of music, author Murray Stein’s book “Jung’s Map of the Soul” found itself on the best-selling book list in Korea in late March thanks to the group’s ardent fans who bought the book to understand the overall theme of “Map of the Soul: Persona.” The group members were said to have read parts of the philosophical book while working on the new EP, using the idea of the soul and the self from psychologist Carl Gustav Jung.
“Honestly, we didn’t read all of it,” confessed RM. “But we did watch a lot of YouTube videos and read posts online [to understand the concept]. A lot of people are curious about what we are going to be doing next. We can’t say too much, but it will be about the energy that brought us here, the source of that power and the tomorrow that we will be living in.”
The new works, however, will not include songs sung in English, according to the leader. “We don’t have any plans for making English albums. But just like remix versions of our songs, or like our collaboration with Steve Aoki, we’re open to all kinds of new and fresh collaborations in the future.”
The group had words of advice for younger celebrities who look up to the group and dream of one day becoming the next BTS.
“I don’t think there will ever be a second BTS,” said Suga. “For instance, we had our very own heroes when we were younger. And when I started working in music, I thought that I wanted to become just like them. But at the end of the day, I became BTS, not them. So instead of there being another BTS, I think the greatest thing will be if different great artists keep coming.”
V added, “I want to tell them not to get hurt by the failures they face. Because those [hardships] are the experiences that help you step up. They will become memories that will help you grow bigger one day.”
So what does the group see as the next chapter in the book of BTS?
“There are so many things that I would like to do in the future, but we have to focus on what we have to do here and now. And so right now, I’d like to pull off the stadium tours,” Suga said. “And maybe take home an award at the Billboard Music Awards, because we’ve been nominated for two awards.”
The resolute RM said, “We are so grateful to be compared to The Beatles. I’m a huge fan, but it makes me feel more humble and modest every time I hear someone say that. I’m so grateful, but BTS will be doing their best as BTS, as a group from Korea.”
BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]
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Kottayam Social Service Society (KSSS) is a registered charitable organization (Reg. K-15/1964) under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies’ Registration Act XII of 1955. The organization was registered in the year 1964 by the Archdiocese for delivering its social ministry. The activities of KSSS are spread mainly in the five districts of Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta covering 80 rural villages. The main focus of the organization is the empowerment and improvement in the quality of the poor and other vulnerable sections in society. It has completed four and a half decades of dedicated services in the development sector and has a rich experience in facilitating capacity building, community health, promotion of grassroots level organizations, watershed development and other community level organizations for social change and transformation. More than 35000 families are directly linked with the organization through the network of community based organizations.
KSSS had its humble beginnings in a room at the Catholic Bishop’s House, Kottayam and Rev. Fr. Joseph Maliekal was appointed its first Secretary. Later in 1978, the office was shifted to the Chaithanya Pastoral Centre at S. H. Mount, Kottayam and finally in 1993 the office was shifted to the present seat of Chaithanya at Thellakom, Kottayam. Initially it was working with the prevailing concept of charity. Later with the conceptual changes in social activities aiming at integral development of the human society, KSSS also introduced drastic changes in its policies and programmes.
For more details visit the KSSS.
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Century-old mystery forgotten
Richmond Byers vanished from Seeleyville, Indiana
The Disappearance of Little Richmond Byers
Shortly after the turn of the century, the presumed abduction of Richmond Byers made national headlines. Before Catherine Winters and Charles Lindbergh, the inexplicable vanishing of the child horrified Americans. The boy’s father searched for years, bankrupting the family in a vain attempt to find his son. In the end, it was futile. He went to his grave wondering what had become of the six-year-old boy he and his family called “Rich.”
As time went on, Dr. L. S. Byers wrote to newspapers across the country explaining what had happened in the small town of Seeleyville, Indiana and urging editors to publicize the case. I’ve published one of his letters below. (Although Dr. Byers doesn’t use the term in his letter, it’s clear that he thought a group of “gypsies” had taken his son.)
The letter, published in the Fort Wayne News in 1906, reads:
“After coming to the ball ground at about 3:15 p.m. Sunday, the 29th of May, 1904, bringing home his tricycle, [Rich] immediately left, we supposing he expected to return to the company of children at the game. It has not been definitely settled that he got back there, but he was seen by Mrs. Coffy [a resident of the town], who called him back and asked him what he had said to a man to whom he was talking. He told her that he said to the man: ‘You have a blackened eye, where did you get it? At the saloon?’
“The man was in his shirt sleeves. Now, he had a coat somewhere. He would not have been dressed like that had he been a resident of any town near here, as everybody was dressed up, it being the first really fine Sunday that spring, which makes me believe he had a wagon somewhere near the town. Besides, five wagons passed through the town that afternoon and six wagons were together when they passed through Terre Haute, eight miles west of here.
“One of them came back next day. Four were overhauled the next night [and searched], but the sixth one has never been overtaken.
“A doctor of Clinton, sixteen miles from Terre Haute, wrote me that a covered wagon went into a lane four miles from his home that Sunday night. Now it is the custom for these rovers to go into camp before sundown, as they depend on the children to beg their food and let their emaciated horses graze. It is useless to try and convince me that that wagon did not have my boy in it. And then a covered wagon was seen over 100 miles north, near the state line, making good headway.”
Richmond Byers was described as having a light complexion, and gray eyes. His left eye was noticeably crossed. He had a V-shaped scar on the edge of his left ear. He was said to be small for his age, and very bright.
Shortly after the child vanished, citizens of Seeleyville turned out en masse to search the area. There were many deserted coal mines nearby and each was thoroughly searched. The fields and woods and ponds surrounding the town yielded no clues, nor did the abandoned houses in the vicinity. An article in the Logansport Journal described the search and concluded: “There was then only one solution to the mystery--that the boy had been kidnapped by a band of gypsies who had been camping in the vicinity and who left on the night of his disappearance.”
Later in the article, the editor wrote: “Persons who were near the camp of the gypsy band south of this city last week say they saw a boy fitting the description of Richmond Byers playing around the wagons. His face, they say, was scarcely tanned and it was believed that he had been with the band only a short time. While playing around the camp, he was reprimanded several times by the women and told to get back into one of the wagons.”
Dr. Byers and his wife Maggie began the long search for their child by visiting local law enforcement officials in cities surrounding Seeleyville. As reports of children who resembled their son came in, Dr. Byers would rush to another town, only to be disappointed to learn that the boy was some other child. He visited cities in Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas and numerous other states. A $2,500 reward was established by friends of the family as Dr. Byers’ practice suffered because he was gone for so much of the time.
For years, the doctor and his wife had high hopes of locating his long-lost son. But it never happened. Richmond Byers was as lost as yesterday.
What happened to the boy?
Today, when a child goes missing, law enforcement officials always investigate the family first. Simultaneously, they track down sex predators and try to eliminate or include each in the investigation.
At the turn of the century, “gypsies” were always a convenient scapegoat when a child went missing. While there are few documented cases of these groups actually abducting a child in America, it’s always possible. But the more likely scenario is that the stranger seen talking to Richmond Byers abducted him for sexual gratification, then murdered him and hid his body.
While articles about the vanishing of Richmond Byers can still be found in the old newspapers of the time, the case has largely been forgotten today.
If anyone has additional information about this case, please contact me.
Georgia Tech Student Turns Tables on Career Criminal
Yuhanna Williams brought a knife to a gunfight
Another self-defense shooting
After the shooting of armed robber Yuhanna Williams, Alice Johnson, executive director of Georgians for Gun Safety, is reported to have said: “It’s certainly appropriate to defend yourself if your life is in danger. [But] I really have to wonder why anyone would want to kill another human being over the money in the cash register.” Unfortunately, more often than not, the reverse is true. Thousands of clerks have been killed by thugs after they gave robbers the “money in the cash register.” This story, however, is not about a clerk complying with the orders of an armed psychopath--it’s about a carjacker who got what was coming to him.
Just before 8:00 p.m., on December 11, 2010, twenty-three-year-old Ryan Moore stopped in the parking lot of Ingles supermarket in Rockdale, Georgia. A student at Georgia Tech, he’d just completed his last final exam for the semester. He borrowed a friend’s car and drove to the store to buy orange juice.
Police reports state that when Moore stepped out of his car, two men approached and tried to rob him. At least one of the assailants had a knife. Newspapers reported that the robbers attempted to take Moore’s car.
There was a brief struggle, and Moore was cut on the chin and arms. The victim, who possesses a concealed carry permit, drew a .357 Magnum and fired. Yuhanna Abdullah Williams, 30, died at the scene. He'd been shot in the head. The second robber fled and, as of this writing, has not been identified.
Ryan Moore was taken to Rockdale Medical Center and later released. He has not been charged.
Yuhanna Williams was transported to the morgue.
A month earlier, a customer at a video store in the same plaza shot and killed another robber.
According to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, at least six self-defense shootings have occurred in or around the metro Atlanta area this year.
• A clerk at a liquor store in Cobb County killed a robber in an exchange of gunfire.
• In Stone Mountain, a barber shot a suspected burglar and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.
• The owner of a tattoo parlor killed one of three armed robbers.
• A resident in DeKalb killed one burglar and wounded a second one.
• A homeowner in Ellenwood killed one of three armed intruders as his children lay asleep in another room.
• Three armed home invaders were captured by police when a Decatur resident heard them kicking in his back door--the homeowner shot one of the men.
None of the victims who fought back were charged with any crime.
In most of the incidents described above, the assailants had long criminal records. Yuhanna Williams, for instance, had been arrested numerous times in the nine years since he turned 21. Charges included simple battery, disorderly conduct, public indecency, DUI, violation of probation, and possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute at a school.
Lucille Giscombe, a frequent shopper at Ingles, perhaps said it best. “I feel everyone has to defend themselves,” she said. “These people [robbers] are ruthless. They have no regard for human life. I have a gun. I am like Rambo, so they need not bother me.”
Posted by Robert A. Waters at 12:57 AM 1 comment:
Quirky Quotes from Old Newspapers
Vintage Quotes
Compiled by Robert A. Waters
From the Statesville (GA) Landmark, March 8, 1907
"The jury in the case of William T. Gilpin, charged with the murder of W. W. McDonald, a prominent attorney, of Douglas, Ga., tonight brought in a verdict of not guilty, after having been out several hours. Gilpin shot McDonald in his wife's room at the Rimes House in Vidalia one night last October. He had concealed himself in the closet of the room. After McDonald had entered, Gilpin sprang from his place of concealment and emptied two revolvers at McDonald, and the latter subsequently died from his wounds. (Gilpin was, of course, guilty of premeditated murder, but the unwritten law is that a man has a right to slay the despoiler of his home.)"
"John Bullard was hanged Friday at Marietta, Ga., for the murder of his 17-year-old daughter last September. He was a victim of consumption and it had been a question whether he would die before the day of his execution. He was so weak from the disease that he had to be supported on the scaffold and with his dying breath he declared that the death of his daughter was due to an accident."
From the Frederick (MD) News, September 26, 1902
Nashville, Indiana, Sept. 25--"Mrs. John Browning missed her 2-year old baby. After searching for the child over an hour, she found it 100 yards from the house, sitting in some tall grass and in its lap lay a large rattlesnake. The baby was patting the snake on its head and body, and the snake lay coiled. The mother screamed and the snake moved slowly into the grass. The child was taken to the house and was found to be unhurt. Afterward, Mrs. Browning went to the spot where the child was found, and a few feet away she found the snake and killed it. It was almost three feet long, and had eight rattles and a button. What puzzles the family most is the fact that a small gold ring worn by the child was found on the ground close to the snake. The reptile had undoubtedly carried it to the place. Perhaps it fell off the child's finger, but maybe the snake took it off. The snake was charmed by the rlng, so the Brownings think."
From the Atlanta Constitution, January 26, 1910
MAN WHO WROTE "GOO-GOO EYES" PUT IN THE POOR HOUSE BY BOOZE
"Hugh Cannon, who wrote Goo Goo Eyes, Ain’t That a Shame Bill Bailey and other classics of ragtime, was sent to Eloise poor house today at the age of 36. He told the story of his life in short expressive sentences. 'I quit the coke easy,' he said. 'Fifteen days in the jail cured me of that. I hit the pipe in New York for a year and stopped that. I went up against the morphine hard and quit but booze--red oily booze—that’s got me for keeps. I started when I was 16. I’m 36 now and except for seven months on the wagon I’ve been pickled most of the time. It was twenty years--twenty black, nasty, sick years--with only a little brightness now and then when I made good with some song.'"
NOTE: Hughie Cannon died two years later in a Toledo infirmary. Cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver. Cannon sold the rights to all his songs and died in abject poverty.
From the Iowa Press Citizen, December 21, 1920
TWO BANDITS TAKEN AFTER HARD BATTLE
MILLTOWN, N. J., Dec. 21--"Two bandits were captured by a citizens posse here shortly after midnight following an unsuccessful attempt to rob the First National bank. Two other bandits escaped. A watchman heard the noise in the bank and sounded the alarm. Thirty citizens responded. Armed with rifles, pistols, shotguns, axes , etc., they started for the bank. Two of the robbers surrendered. They said they were Clifford Jackson of New York and Frank Voorhees of New Brunswick. They refused to identify their companions."
From the Ukiah (CA) Republican Press, November 22, 1939
"NEWS DISPATCHES the other day carried a story [that the] failure of the Ham and Eggs amendment to pass at the recent election was believed responsible for the suicide of 72-year-old Henry Brutt, of Los Angeles. The unscrupulous heads of the Ham and Eggs racket have the blood of this unfortunate old man on their hands, if the story is true. Aged men and women all over California were led to believe Ham and Eggs was a panacea for all their misfortunes. Some method must be found to drive this racket, the most infamous and cruel yet devised, from California."
NOTE: The Ham and Eggs Amendment was an effort to give all unemployed Californians (about 800,000) $ 30 per month. It was to be funded, of course, with a massive set of new taxes and bonds.
From the Waterloo (IA) Courier, December 26, 1894
"DIED IN PRISON.—Charles Holchrist, who was sent to Anamosa in 1878 from Grundy county for life, for murder, has recently died. A letter from Anamosa says that Holchrist was a farmer in Grundy county and while riding through the country in a wagon with two other men (all three of them in a drunken condition) a quarrel arose and Holchrist struck one of his companions with a hammer and killed him. The murdered man was his farm hand and a mere boy. An arrest followed and a trial resulted in Holchrist's conviction and sentence to prison at hard labor for life. When the penitentiary doors closed upon him Holchrist left a wife and daughter and a little property in Grundy county. He was assigned to the stone shed and worked there faithfully for fifteen years. The prison officials speak of him as an orderly and good workman. His courage did not desert him and his cheerfulness was habitual until a year ago. Mrs. Holchrist and the daughter communicated regularly with the husband and father until last year, when the wife importuned him in a letter to give her a deed to the family property, which consisted of some town lots. He hesitated about doing so, but finally yielded. As soon as the wife obtained possession of the property she began an action for divorce, obtained a decree and is now married and living at Lake Park, Iowa, near the Minnseota line. Then his daughter, who is a school teacher, stopped writing to him, all of which tended to crush him. He lost his strength, became unable to work and was sent to ward No. 6, which is peopled by old and infirm men. Here he merely existed for the last six months."
Posted by Robert A. Waters at 4:47 PM No comments:
Twenty Quotes About Murder
Murder quotes
"There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colorless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from the Sherlock Holmes book, A Study in Scarlet.
"There are 4 kinds of Homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy." Ambrose Bierce, Writer.
"Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder." Arnold J. Toynbee, Historian.
"What the detective story is about is not murder but the restoration of order." P. D. James, Author.
"I didn’t want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat." Perry Smith, as quoted by Truman Capote in the classic true crime book, In Cold Blood.
"Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men." Psalm 59:1-3, New King James version.
"You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You're looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God!" Ted Bundy, serial killer.
"The boys with their feet on the desks know that the easiest murder case in the world to break is the one somebody tried to get very cute with; the one that really bothers them is the murder somebody only thought of two minutes before he pulled it off." Raymond Chandler, Author.
"It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night." Edgar Allan Poe, from "The Tell-Tale Heart."
"These concerns (for orphan children in India and elsewhere in the world) are very good, but often these same people are not concerned with the millions that are killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers..." Mother Teresa (1910-1997).
"I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?" Clint Eastwood, in the movie Dirty Harry.
"Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." George Orwell, Author.
"You shall not murder." Deuteronomy 5:17, New King James version.
"The very emphasis of the commandment: Thou shalt not kill, makes it certain that we are descended from an endlessly long chain of generations of murderers, whose love of murder was in their blood as it is perhaps also in ours." Sigmund Freud, Psychoanalyst.
"I never killed a man who didn't need it." Clay Allison, western outlaw.
"Unnatural death always provoked a peculiar unease, an uncomfortable realization that there were still some things that might not be susceptible to bureaucratic control." P.D. James.
"You know, everybody uses this word [closure] and banters it around...I don't have any closure and most parents of murdered children or crime victims don't really have closure because your life is changed forever by that event." John Walsh, whose son Adam was kidnapped and murdered.
"There is a legitimate argument over whether the death penalty effectively deters violent crime, although my personal observation is that not one of the criminals who have been executed over the years has ever killed again." Dinesh D'Souza, Author.
"I can't express the feeling. I felt so much better. I'm so glad Florida has the guts to keep the electric chair. At least there was a split second of pain. With lethal injection, you just go to sleep." Raymond Neal, brother of murder victim Ramona Neal, after serial murderer Gerald Stano was executed for her slaying.
"There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother. There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness. There is a generation--oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, And whose fangs are like knives..." Proverbs 30: 11-14, New King James version.
Posted by Robert A. Waters at 2:21 AM 1 comment:
AMBER Alert for Twelve-Year-Old Brittany Smith
Suspect’s mother asks him to “come home”
On Friday, December 3, when Tina Smith, 41, didn’t show up for work at the Richfield Retirement Community in Salem, Virginia, a co-worker called police. Investigators found Smith murdered inside her home. (Details haven’t been released concerning the cause of death.)
After they were unable to locate Tina’s twelve-year-old daughter Brittany at her school, authorities issued an AMBER Alert. “We found out pretty quickly that Brittany had not shown up for school,” Roanoke County Police Spokesman Chuck Mason said. “Nobody seemed to know where she was.”
The chief suspect in the murder and the presumed kidnapping is Jeffrey Scott Easley, 32. According to police, he had met Tina online and had recently moved in with her and her daughter.
Yesterday, authorities released a video that allegedly shows Easley buying items at a local Walmart on Friday night. The suspect used a credit card belonging to Tina Smith to pay for his purchases. In the video, Brittany is seen with Easley.
Easley’s mother, Sallie Martin, held a news conference pleading for her son to return home. "Last night I went to bed and I was worried from what I know about you and Brittany,” she said. “I wondered if you were hungry or if y'all were cold. You know you can call me and I just want you to come home and I want you be safe."
Investigators have stated that they feel Brittany is in grave danger. Until the video surfaced, the pretty seventh grade student had last been seen on Friday morning. She was supposed to attend Glenvar Middle School, but never showed up. “We are extremely concerned for Brittany’s safety and have asked Virginia State Police to extend the AMBER Alert for another 24 hours,” said Roanoke County Police Chief Ray Lavinder.
Jeffrey Scott Easley is five feet, eleven inches tall and weighs about 265 pounds. Easley, originally from Wilmington, North Carolina, is likely driving a silver 2005 Dodge Neon sedan with Virginia tag XKF-2365.
Brittany is five feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds. She has straight brown hair and brown eyes. Brittany usually wears a bright green rubber bracelet in memory of her brother who died last summer.
If you know anything about Brittany Smith's disappearance, authorities urge you to call the Roanoke County Police at 540-777-8641 or the Virginia State Police at 800-822-4453.
Who Was the Tape Recorder Man?
Sheila and Katherine Lyon
The Strange Disappearance of the Lyon Sisters
“Hope springs eternal,” wrote the poet. For families of kidnapped victims, those words often bring solace. On the other hand, once a child is missing for more than a few days, cops look at the odds and are much more pessimistic.
Occasionally, a victim survives and returns home. Steven Staynor was held captive for seven years before escaping from a brutal sex predator. Elizabeth Smart was kept for nine months. Shawn Hornbeck was rescued after four years and Jaycee Lee Dugard came home eighteen years later.
There seems to be little hope, however, that the Lyon sisters will ever be seen again. After all, it’s been thirty-five years since they were snatched from the streets of Wheaton, Maryland.
On March 25, 1975, Sheila Mary Lyon, 12, and her sister, Katherine Mary Lyon, 10, left their home sometime between 11:00 a.m. and noon. They planned to walk a half-mile to the Wheaton Plaza, a local mall, to buy a birthday gift for their mother.
Mary Lyon, the girls’ mother, told them to be home by 4:00. Their father, John Lyon, a well-known announcer for one of the most popular Bethesda radio stations, was working.
Sheila and Katherine were seen at the plaza by several friends as well as her brother. They ate pizza at a local restaurant and window-shopped. At some point, they were seen speaking into a microphone held by a middle-aged man. The sisters left the mall sometime between 2:30 and 3:30 and were last seen walking along Drumm Avenue toward their home.
Neither Sheila nor Katherine Lyon has been seen since. Despite a desperate door-to-door search and thousands of volunteers scouring the surrounding woodlands and fields, the girls were never found.
There have been few leads. Two men who lived in the area and were later convicted of crimes against children became suspects. Nothing was ever found to link either to the missing girls.
Perhaps the best lead is the man with the tape recorder. He was never identified, even though investigators requested that he come forward. If you lived in the area at the time, think back and try to remember someone you knew who would take a tape recorder in his briefcase and record young boys and girls at local malls.
Here’s what we know about him:
He was about six feet tall, middle-aged, and wore a brown suit. He carried a brown or tan briefcase. When he opened the briefcase, there was a portable cassette tape recorder inside. The recorder had a microphone attached to it.
Some reports say the Tape Recorder Man, as he was called, said he was recording women’s voices to be used in an answering machine. Some children thought he was a reporter and volunteered to be recorded so they could see themselves on television. An eyewitness who helped police sketch a likeness of the man said that he saw Sheila and Katherine speaking to him.
“Are any of you two involved in sports?” the man asked. The boy moved on and didn’t hear the response.
The boy added that “the man was holding a microphone in his hand between the girls, and asking questions. He had a tan briefcase on the ground. It was one of the those hard ones that sat up.”
Many people saw the Tape Recorder Man and helped police develop a sketch of him. In the weeks before the girls disappeared, he was also seen at the Iverson Mall and the Marlton Heights Shopping Center in nearby Prince George’s County.
Whether he had anything to do with the disappearance of the girls is unknown. But police, who have never let the case go cold, would still like to speak with him.
If you have any knowledge of this case, or of anyone in the area at the time who had a briefcase with a tape recorder in it, please call Montgomery County Police Department at 301-279-8000.
Police sketch of the Tape Recorder Man
NOTE: This message came from Adam Klein. He has developed an intriguing theory about who the Tape Recorder Man (TRM) may have been. Thanks to Adam for letting me share it with my readers.
The Tape Recorder Man was, I believe, James Mitchell DeBardeleben the II. In my trauma as a 9 year old boy growing up in quiet Kemp Mill, I held on to the pain and gripping fear of the Lyon sisters.
Later in life I was reminded of their nightmare once again. In my extreme curiosity I studied the case with enthusiasm. I asked the question to myself over and over again - if a man was going to kidnap two middle class white girls out from under their family's and community's noses - why the hell would he be seen in public talking to the girls before he kidnapped them? Would the public display help him? If so I could not work out in my mind how it would help him?
I thought about this question. I meditated on many more like: Did he want to get sketched? If so why? Was he taunting the police? What was he doing for the weeks before the kidnapping acting as a Tape Recorder Man? How does a full-grown man, well-dressed man, get his face drawn in the paper and NO-ONE in the whole community recognizes him?
Then I went to sleep one night and I had a dream. The dream related to me seeing a group of bullies in a high school in the late 1950's attempting to stuff the head of another teenagers/classmates head into the opening of a vending machine. The sadism was over the top and the rage toward the one getting bullied was intense. They were enraged at him for his violence toward a female classmate.
When I awoke I saw exactly how the crime could have happened. I sat on the edge of my bed and had an experience I have never had in my life and never had since: I literally watched my mind show me how this crime very likely could have happened. It answered every question I had puzzled over and then many many more.
At the edge of my bed I watched a "movie" of sorts delivered from somewhere deep inside of my mind. Whoever kidnapped them impersonated a police office. He either was a cop or he had a police uniform. His whole tape recorder man routine was his way of either tormenting the community and or communicating to someone is some sick psycho-sexual drama.
If he had a police uniform then he could sit in a car near the most obscure point on the normal route of teenagers on their way from Kensington to Wheaton Plaza. Such a move would allow him to immediately gain the girl's trust. Once they saw him as a police officer they would be willing to "help" the officer by speaking into a microphone in the middle of the mall. A simple lie, like "the Police force has been seeking a criminal -well known to come up here to Wheaton Plaza - I will change to plain clothes and come up to the mall -if you girls would be willing to speak into this mic this would help decrease the criminal's suspicion that he is be followed by the police...."
Then he could kidnap them when they are walking home. He could tell the girls "this is top police work there is no danger to you, but if you could not talk about it, at least till you have dinner with your family tonight, that would help the police". He can simply lie in wait for the girls return and then ask them for further assistance. If they could just get in the car and go up to the station for about 10 minutes. And if they get in the car, which they did, that's it.
I sat on the edge of bed slack-jawed. I said to myself well great but if their has been no criminals in the DC area that impersonate police, and kidnap girls/women such a theory is worthless. Since it is so many years later if any such person existed then forget it. Furthermore, I would have to believe that such a criminal would NOT be a cop so Police uniforms would have had to have been stolen.
I googled police impersonator, Washington DC area. And there he was, one of the most dangerous serial rapists in the history of America was right here in the DC area - James Mitchell DeBardeleben. Between 1979 and 1983 he was named the "mall passer" because he loved to pass counterfeit money at shopping malls. He especially had a passion for committing crimes in crowded malls, and beyond that he liked crowded holiday malls. His counterfeit operation was a way of financing much darker and more sinister crimes - kidnapping, torturing and raping girls and women.
DeBardeleben was a sexual sadist. He was a murderer. He was a kidnapper. He was a highly sophisticated and extremely dangerous criminal.
He was all over the DC area - especially Wheaton. He robbed the bank that existed in the parking lot of Wheaton plaza. He followed the bank manager for weeks and watched his coming and going behavior. When he went to work one morning DeBardeleben went to his house and lied to his wife stating that he was a Federal Banking Official. When she opened the door he burst in put her at gun point, tied her up and gagged her. He called the bank and told the husband/manager that he would kill his wife if he did not leave $ 30,000 in the Wheaton Library bathroom. Again a highly sophisticated and extremely lethal criminal.
I wanted to know if Police uniforms had ever been documented as having been stolen. When I went into the Washington Post Archives I discovered 3 Maryland State Police uniforms went missing in a Robbery of A Baltimore Dry cleaning business in February of 1975. The article was published in Sept of 1975 when one of the stolen uniforms re-appeared in bizarre crime scene involving a police impersonator attempting to rape male truck drivers.
The February robbery of the dry cleaners coincided perfectly with the appearance of the Tape Recorder Man at area malls. This fits not only my crime theory but the profile DeBardeleben.
Further exploration of the crime brought me into another coincidental and highly compelling piece that I had never known before: A nearly identical crime took place at an outdoor mall in Fort Worth Texas on December 23,1974. 3 young girls went to a mall, very similar to Wheaton Plaza, and went missing, never to have been seen or heard of again.
I did more research on DeBardeleben. He lived in Fort Worth in 1974 - in the house his mother owned. She died in the Spring of 74 his wife (Carol Miller of Arlington Virginia) left him and went into hiding up in Arlington, VA in the Autumn of 1974. This reportedly enraged this well documented psychopath.
The sketch of the TRM is definitely an attempt at the schoolteacher face of one James Mitchell DeBardeleben - including the birth anomaly-related to his bizarre looking nose.
Furthermore, the sighting of Lyon Girls in Manassass fitsDe Bardeleben's crime profile as well. Arrogant, sadistic, seeking attention but only to a point. Well thought out escape routes, hoping to get spied, unlikely to get caught.
2 years ago I told the police my crime theory. They agreed that DeBardeleben was a very likely suspect. Politics likely prevent the Montgomery County Police from doing more. The Secret Service convicted DeBardeleben because of his counterfeiting crimes - and therefore they retained all evidence.
The family likely does not want tenuous or complicated legal matters to make their lives come back to the spotlight - they have been through WAY WAY TOO MUCH already.
The Fort Worth police blew there case as well but surviving family members and the Fort Worth police may be interested in helping.
The Secret Service is absolutely off limits to most mortals like me.
But Carol Miller may know something. I believe she may have known in real time who was doing this - so she may have extreme guilt. She has received immunity for her willingness to cooperate with police in previous criminal procedures related to James Mitchell DeBardeleben.
DeBardeleben is dead so she may be willing to talk more now.
The TRM had a very brief moment in public on March 25, 1975. He wore a brown leisure suit.
A brown leisure suit reminds me of a Maryland State Police uniform. An image of Maryland State Uniform from 1975 would be beneficial if produced for the sake of this exploration.
The Lyon girls were reported to have approached TRM almost immediately upon his appearance in public March 25, 1975 at the Wheaton Plaza.
They spoke to him immediately with seemingly no apprehension or in a more care free. Then the TRM left the plaza. Got what he needed and out.
Only in retrospect this "coincidence" was likely totally loaded. Boys, who were the same age as the Lyon girls looked on the strange TRM scene with cautious curiosity. If this made boys suspicious by all right and reason such a man would (AND DID) make most girls and women feel troubled. Why not the Lyon girls?
So some falsely induced trust makes maximal sense - if the girls thought that TRM was a police officer in plain clothes speaking into his microphone would make perfect sense.
Georgia Tech Student Turns Tables on Career Crimin...
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Overview of life
Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), more commonly known simply as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian footballer. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his career as a left-back and has been described as the “most offensive-minded left-back in the history of the game”.
He was nicknamed el hombre bala (“the bullet man”) due to his powerful bending free kicks, which have been measured at over 105 miles per hour (169 km/h). He is also known for his stamina, running speed, technical skills, crossing ability, long throw ins and 24-inch (61 cm) thighs. In 1997, he was runner-up in the FIFA World Player of the Year. Considered one of the best left backs in history, he was chosen on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team, and in 2004 was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players.
Roberto Carlos started playing for the Brazil national team in 1992. He played in three World Cups, helping the team reach the final in 1998 in France, and win the 2002 tournament in Korea/Japan. He was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 1998 and 2002.
At club level, he joined Real Madrid in 1996 where he spent 11 highly successful seasons, playing 584 matches in all competitions and scoring 71 goals. At Real, he won four La Liga titles and the UEFA Champions League three times. In April 2013, he was named by Marca as a member of the “Best foreign eleven in Real Madrid’s history”. In August 2012, he announced his retirement from football at the age of 39. Roberto Carlos took up management and was named as the head coach of Sivasspor in the Turkish Süper Lig in June 2013. He resigned as head coach in December 2014. In July 2015, he was appointed player/manager of Indian Super League club Delhi Dynamos.
On 24 June 2005, Roberto Carlos was robbed by two gunmen while doing a live radio interview. The thieves did not harm him, however, merely taking his watch and the interviewer’s cellular phone.
On 2 August 2005, he received dual Spanish and Brazilian citizenship. This proved important for Real Madrid, as it meant that he now counted as a European Union player, opening up one of the club’s allowed three slots for non-EU players and enabling Real to sign fellow Brazilian star Robinho. Roberto Carlos has a son named João Afonso. For his 38th birthday, it was reported that Anzhi Makhachkala owner Suleyman Kerimov bought him a Bugatti Veyron.
Club Career
“I owe all clubs for which I worked, even to my little União São João, because we must never forget our origins. But I owe my coming to Spain to Atlético Mineiro, who gave me the opportunity to work on the team in 1992, a trip to the country. So I made a point to make it clear and I thank this important club for me to have opened the doors here in Europe.”
—Roberto Carlos paying tribute in 2014 to the two Brazilian clubs whom he started his career with.
Roberto Carlos began his professional career playing for União São João, a football club based in Araras in the state of São Paulo. In 1992, despite playing at what was seen as a lesser club and only being 19 years old, he was called up for the Brazil national team. In August 1992, aged 19, he joined Atlético Mineiro on loan and went on the club’s tour of Europe. The tour consisted of the B team, as the club was prioritising the first Copa CONMEBOL in South America at the same time. The tour served as a test for many players, and those who stood out could be integrated definitively to the main group. Roberto Carlos did not participate in the first two games in Italy but played the full match against Lleida in Spain on 27 August in a match for the Ciutat de Lleida Trophy. He remained in the team for the next two games, held in Logroño, against Logroñés and Athletic Bilbao. Before retiring from football in 2014, Roberto Carlos thanked Atlético Mineiro for the opportunity.
In 1993, Roberto Carlos joined Palmeiras, where he played for two seasons, winning two consecutive Brazilian league titles. After almost signing for Aston Villa side in 1995, Roberto Carlos chose a move to Inter Milan, in the Serie A, playing one season for the Nerazzurri. He scored a 30-yard free-kick on his debut in a 1–0 win over Vicenza but his season at Inter was unsuccessful, with the club finishing seventh in Serie A.
In an interview with FourFourTwo in a May 2005 issue, Roberto Carlos said that the then-coach of Inter, Roy Hodgson, wanted him to play as a winger, but Carlos wanted to play as a left-back. Carlos spoke to Inter owner Massimo Moratti “to see if he could sort things out and it soon became clear that the only solution was to leave”.
“Roberto Carlos can cover the entire [left] wing all on his own.”
—Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque on Roberto Carlos having the ability to defend and attack the left side of the field by himself.
Roberto Carlos joined Real Madrid in the year 1996 close season, where he was given the number 3 shirt and held the position as the team’s first choice left-back from the 1996–97 season until the 2006–07 season. During his 11 seasons with Madrid, he appeared in 584 matches in all competitions, scoring 71 goals. He is Real Madrid’s most capped foreign-born player in La Liga with 370 appearances, after breaking the previous record of 329 held by Alfredo Di Stéfano in January 2006. During his Real Madrid career, Roberto Carlos was, alongside Milan and Italy legend Paolo Maldini, considered the greatest left-back in the world. As a high-profile player and one of the most influential members of the team, Roberto Carlos was considered one of Madrid’s Galácticos during Florentino Pérez’s first tenure as club president.
He won four La Liga titles with Madrid, and played in the 1998, 2000 and 2002 UEFA Champions League finals, assisting Zinedine Zidane’s winning goal in 2002, considered one of the greatest goals in Champions League history. Roberto Carlos was named as Club Defender of the Year and included in the UEFA Team of the Year in 2002 and 2003. In the later part of his Real Madrid career, Carlos was named as one of the club’s “three captains” alongside Raúl and Guti. Renowned for getting forward from his left-back position and scoring spectacular goals, in February 1998, he scored arguably his most memorable goal for Real Madrid with a bending volley struck with the outside of his left foot from near the sideline in a Copa del Rey match against Tenerife in what was described as an “impossible goal”.
“As well as being one of the best free kick takers ever, he [Roberto Carlos] is also one of the finest left backs ever. So important to all of Real Madrid’s Champions League wins.”
—Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho.
On the final day of the 2002–03 season, with Madrid needing to beat Athletic Bilbao to overtake Real Sociedad and win their 29th La Liga title, Carlos scored from a free-kick in the second minute of first half stoppage time to put los Blancos 2–1 ahead. The team eventually ran out 3–1 winners to wrap up the title. On 6 December 2003, Roberto Carlos scored the opening goal for Madrid as they beat Barcelona in El Clásico at Camp Nou for the first time in a La Liga match in 20 years.
In March 2007, in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Bayern Munich, Roberto Carlos failed to control the backpass when Madrid kicked off, allowing Bayern’s Hasan Salihamidžić to steal the ball and feed to Roy Makaay, who scored the quickest goal in Champions League history at 10.12 seconds. Roberto Carlos bore the brunt of criticism for that mistake which led to the team’s elimination from the Champions League, and, on 9 March 2007, he announced he would leave Real Madrid upon the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2006–07 season. His final goal for Real Madrid was a stoppage time winner against Recreativo de Huelva with three games remaining in the 2006–07 La Liga season. The goal proved to be crucial to Real Madrid winning its 30th league title as they eventually finished level on points with Barcelona, becoming champions via the head-to-head rule. Madrid clinched La Liga in Roberto Carlos’ final match, a 3–1 win over Mallorca at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
On 19 June 2007, Roberto Carlos signed a two-year contract (with one year optional) with the Turkish Süper Lig champions Fenerbahçe; he was presented at club’s home ground, the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, in front of thousands of fans. In the first official match he played with the team, Fenerbahçe won the Turkish Super Cup against Beşiktaş by a score of 2–1. During a league match against Sivasspor, he scored his first goal for Fenerbahçe on 25 August 2007 from a diving header, which was only the third headed goal of his career. He was injured during the final period of the same season and missed the title race between Fenerbahçe and rivals Galatasaray. His team eventually lost the title to their rivals, while guaranteeing a place for themselves in Champions League knockouts for the next season. He announced that he was unhappy about the final result and would do his best to carry the domestic trophy back to the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.
On 7 October 2009, Roberto Carlos announced that he would leave Fenerbahçe when his contract expired in December 2009. He offered to return to Real Madrid and play for free, though he also said return to the Brazilian domestic leagues was a possibility, and announced his departure on 25 November. He made his last appearance for Fenerbahçe on 17 December, as a late substitute against Sheriff Tiraspol in the UEFA Europa League.
Roberto Carlos in Corinthians signing ceremony
After 15 years away from Brazil, Roberto Carlos returned to his country in 2010 to play for Corinthians, joining his friend and former Real Madrid teammate Ronaldo. On 4 June 2010, Roberto Carlos scored a goal against Internacional and helped Corinthians to move to the top of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A table. The Timão won the game 2–0. On 16 January 2011, Roberto Carlos scored an impressive goal directly from a corner kick against Portuguesa. Concerned with his safety after being threatened by fans after the Copa Libertadores da América defeat to Colombian club Tolima, Roberto Carlos requested his release by the club, which promptly facilitated by Corinthians.
Roberto Carlos in August 2011
On 12 February 2011, Roberto Carlos signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Russian Premier League club Anzhi Makhachkala, worth approximately €10 million. Playing in a defensive midfield position, Roberto Carlos was named captain of Anzhi on 8 March. On 25 April, he scored his first goal for Anzhi in a 2–2 draw with Dynamo Moscow, converting a 58th minute penalty. On 30 April, he scored his second goal, converting a penalty in a 1–0 win over Rostov, and on 10 June, he then scored his third goal on a 20th minute in a 2–0 win over Spartak Nalchik.
On 11 September 2011, Roberto Carlos scored his fourth goal in a 2–1 win over Volga Nizhny Novgorod. As of his first season for Anzhi, Roberto Carlos made 28 appearances and scored five goals. On 30 September, he became the caretaker coach of Anzhi following the sacking of Gadzhi Gadzhiyev, before Andrei Gordeyev assumed the role also in a caretaker capacity. Roberto Carlos announced his plans to retire at the end of 2012, but continued to work behind the scenes at Anzhi. In August 2012, Anzhi coach Guus Hiddink confirmed his retirement at a news conference in Moscow, also stating, “Roberto was a world class football player. Every master’s career ends at some point.”
Racism in Russia
In March 2011, during a game away at Zenit Saint Petersburg, a banana was held near Carlos by one of the fans as the footballer was taking part in a flag-raising ceremony. In June, in a match away at Krylia Sovetov Samara, Roberto Carlos received a pass from the goalkeeper and was about to pass it when a banana was thrown onto the pitch, landing nearby. The 38-year-old Brazilian picked it up and threw it by the sidelines, walking off the field before the final whistle and raising two fingers at the stands, indicating this was the second such incident since March.
International Career
Roberto Carlos amassed 125 caps, scoring 11 goals for the Brazilian national team. He represented Brazil at three FIFA World Cups, four Copa América tournaments, the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 1996 Olympic Games.
He is especially famous for a free kick against France in the inaugural match of Tournoi de France 1997 on 3 June 1997. He shot from 35 m (115 ft) from the centre-right channel with his left foot, and scored. The ball curled so much that the ball boy ten yards to the right ducked instinctively, thinking that the ball would hit him. Instead, it eventually curled back on target, much to the surprise of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, who just stood in place. That particular attempt is considered by some to be the greatest free kick of all time. In 2010, a team of French scientists produced a paper explaining the trajectory of the ball.
Roberto Carlos’s famous ‘banana shot’ against France in 1997 Tournoi de France
At the 1998 World Cup, he played seven matches, including the final loss to France. After a qualifying game for the 2002 World Cup which was held in South Korea/Japan, Paraguay goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert spat on Roberto Carlos, an action which caused FIFA to give Chilavert a three-match suspension and forced him to watch the first game of the World Cup from the stands. Roberto Carlos played six matches in the finals, scoring a goal from a free kick against China, and was a starter in the final against Germany, with Brazil winning 2–0. After the tournament, he was also included in the World Cup All-Star Team.
Roberto Carlos’ next international tournament was the 2006 World Cup. In July 2006, after Brazil’s 1–0 defeat to France in the quarter-finals, he announced his retirement from the national team, saying, “I’ve stopped with the national team. It was my last game.” He said he no longer wanted to play for Brazil because of the criticism he faced from fans and Brazilian media for his failure to mark goalscorer Thierry Henry on France’s winning goal.
Upon signing with Corinthians in January 2010, Roberto Carlos told TV Globo that he hoped to play at the 2010 World Cup and believed his return to Brazilian football may help him return to the national team, as manager Dunga had yet to settle on a left back. However, he was left off the 30-man provisional squad that was submitted to FIFA on 11 May 2010, along with Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. Despite his deep desire to do so, Roberto Carlos was ultimately not named in Dunga’s final squad of 23 for the Brazilian squad for the World Cup. Instead, Brazil newcomer Michel Bastos earned a spot for the left back position.
Managerial Career
Roberto Carlos in 2012
Roberto Carlos had a brief spell as interim manager at Anzhi Makhachkala in early 2012. He later criticised the club upon resigning alongside manager Guus Hiddink.
Roberto Carlos was appointed manager of Turkish Süper Lig team Sivasspor in June 2013. On 21 December 2014, he left the club following a defeat to İstanbul BB.
On 2 January 2015, Roberto Carlos was appointed as manager of Akhisar Belediyespor.
Delhi Dynamos
After finishing his season in Turkey, Roberto Carlos signed for Al-Arabi of the Qatari Stars League, but due to talks breaking down, he did not join the Qatari club. Then, on 5 July 2015, it was announced that he had signed to be the head coach of the Delhi Dynamos of the Indian Super League for the 2015 season.
At the end of the season, it was announced that he would not return to Delhi Dynamos in 2016.
1993 Palmeiras Série A 20 1 5 0 – 321 1
1994 24 2 3 0 6 1 33 3
1995 0 0 4 1 9 3 13 4
1995–96 Inter Milan Serie A 30 5 2 1 2 1 34 7
1996–97 Real Madrid La Liga 37 5 5 0 – 42 5
1997–98 35 4 1 1 9 2 45 7
1999–00 35 4 3 0 17 4 55 8
2007–08 Fenerbahçe Süper Lig 22 2 3 0 9 0 34 2
2010 Corinthians Série A 35 1 – 8 0 572 42
2011 0 0 – 1 0 43 13
2011–12 Anzhi Russian Premier League 29 4 3 1 – 32 5
2015 Delhi Dynamos Indian Super League 2 0 — 2 0
Also played 6 (1997, 2001, 2003) Supercopa de España matches.
Also played 3 (1998, 2000, 2002) UEFA Super Cup matches where he scored 1 goal (2002).
Also played 3 (1998, 2000, 2002) Intercontinental Cup matches where he scored 1 goal (2000).
Also played 1 (2007) Turkish Super Cup match.
1includes 7 matches and 0 goals in 1993 Torneio Rio – São Paulo.
2includes 14 matches and 3 goals in 2010 Campeonato Paulista.
3includes 3 matches and 1 goal in 2011 Campeonato Paulista.
Brazil national team
Managerial statistics
Sivasspor 2013 2014 60 23 9 28 38.33
Akhisar Belediyespor 2014 2015 18 5 6 7 27.78
Delhi Dynamos 5 July 2015 20 December 2015 16 7 4 5 43.75
80 29 15 36 36.25
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (2): 1993, 1994
Campeonato Paulista (2): 1993, 1994
Torneio Rio-São Paulo (1): 1993
La Liga (4): 1996–97, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07
Supercopa de España (3): 1997, 2001, 2003
UEFA Champions League (3): 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2001–02
Intercontinental Cup (2): 1998, 2002
Turkish Super Cup (2): 2007, 2009
FIFA World Cup: 2002
Copa América: 1997, 1999
FIFA Confederations Cup: 1997
CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament: 1996
Umbro Cup: 1995
Lunar New Year Cup: 2005
Bola de Prata: 1993, 1994, 2010
FIFA World Player of the Year: 1997 (Silver Award)
ESM Team of the Year (7): 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (2): 1998, 2002
Trofeo EFE: 1997–98
UEFA Club Defender of the Year (2): 2002, 2003
UEFA Team of the Year (2): 2002, 2003
Ballon d’Or: 2002 (Runner-up)
Golden Foot: 2008
Brasileirão Team of the Year: 2010
Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame
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Leilani Blog
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Founder – Laurelee Blanchard
Laurelee Blanchard, Founder and President of Leilani Farm Sanctuary, and author of “Finding Paradise”, left a lucrative career as Senior Vice President at the national firm of Lee and Associates Commercial Real Estate Services to devote her life to animal protection and humane education. In 1999, she cashed out her life savings and moved from Orange County, California, to Haiku, Maui. There she acquired an eight-acre parcel of land, on which she created a farm sanctuary—a refuge where animals would be protected from neglect, abuse, and slaughter.
Leilani Farm Sanctuary, an all-volunteer, non-profit organization, is now home to nearly three hundred rescued animals, including goats, chickens, rabbits, ducks, donkeys, geese, deer, cats, pigs, sheep, turkeys, guinea pigs, tortoises, and a cow. The Sanctuary provides educational programs for school groups and special-needs visitors; it also offers tours and humane education to the general public.
Since the mid-90s, Ms. Blanchard has focused her attention on the protection of farm animals. She served as a pro- bono communications director for Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), a national non-profit that devotes its efforts to bringing to an end the practice of using living, sentient beings for food.
She also worked for three years as campaign consultant to Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s largest farm-animal protection organization. In 2010, Laurelee was hired as consultant to the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), specifically in its campaign to end the long-distance transport of live farm animals from the Mainland U.S. to Hawaii. She successfully negotiated with Foodland and Times Supermarket chains to implement policies against purchasing pork from pigs shipped to Hawaii, initially reducing the number of pigs transported and slaughtered by approximately seventy-five thousand per year, until the transport halted permanently.
In 2012, Laurelee was presented the “Vegan of the Year in North America” commendation for her outstanding animal activist work; and in 2015, she received a national award and grant from the Godiva Company for embodying the attributes of Lady Godiva through selflessness, generosity, leadership, and the spirit of giving back to the community.
Shelly Brown, Psy.D
After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, Shelly earned a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and a Doctorate of Clinical Psychology, working in the social services field as advocate for animals and children.
Shelly has held program director positions at Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resources Centers, Aloha House Co-Occurring Disorders Program, and Maui Drug Court. She has also contracted as a Family Therapist for Family Court Drug Court and as Clinical Supervisor for the Ka Pu’uwai O Na Keiki Program at Maui Family Support Services.
Shelly has always had a passion for animals. She has been vegetarian since 1983, and vegan since 2002. In addition to serving on Leilani Farm Sanctuary’s Board of Directors, Shelly volunteers with Food Not Bombs serving vegan food.
Erin Pinto
Erin Pinto is a retired civil engineer who has been a volunteer and supporter of Leilani Farm Sanctuary for several years. She has been vegan since she had her eyes opened to the inherent cruelty of the meat, egg and dairy industry in 2005.
Erin has served as an elected representative in local government, and on the Board of a non-profit supporting small-scale, community-initiated international development. She volunteered for California’s Proposition 2, which enacted significant improvements in farm animal treatment, and she volunteers and advocates on measures to bring about sustainable farming of plant-based food on Maui. She is a passionate researcher and advocate for a vegan, whole food, plant-based lifestyle and completed a certificate in plant-based nutrition from Cornell University.
She believes that nearly all people care about animals and are interested in doing as little harm as possible. She seeks to show people how easy and delicious it is to do just that. Erin feels compelled to spread the urgent message of the need to avoid animal products for our health, the environment and animals.
She and her husband have fostered and/or adopted a number of animals in need over the years. They currently enjoy pampering several rescued bunnies.
David Raatz
David Raatz has been a vegan since 2004. A lawyer and former sports journalist, David has lived in Hawaii since 1993 after growing up and going to school in California. He’s served a variety of roles with various nonprofit organizations on Maui, including as program director with Maui Economic Development Board, grant writer with Friends of the Maui Drug Court, community organizer with MoveOn, and volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters and Hawaiian Islands Land Trust. A committed animal advocate, David volunteers at SPCA Maui spay-neuter clinics, enjoys time with his rescued cats at home in Wailuku, and has been supporting Leilani Farm Sanctuary 2009
Barry Sultanoff, M.D.
Barry Sultanoff, M.D., has been vegetarian since 1969 and vegan since 2007. He is a long-time advocate for animal rights. He earned his medical degree, with honors in research (public health), at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, with an undergraduate degree in chemistry (cum laude) from Cornell University. He has practiced as a psychiatrist and holistic family doctor, with emphasis upon nutrition and self-care, for four decades. Dr. Sultanoff is the co-author of Putting Out the Fire of Addiction (Keats, 2000) and was a columnist for many years with The Townsend Letter for Doctors. His active lifestyle includes long-distance running, daily ocean swimming, outrigger canoe paddling, and yoga Dr. Sultanoff hosts a popular radio show on Maui’s Mana’o Hana Hou Radio, FM 91.7, and streaming worldwide at manaoradio.com . He is a prolific writer and published poet who teaches poetry classes on Maui as fundraisers for Leilani Farm Sanctuary.
Catherine Blake
Catherine has devoted 28 years to researching, teaching, and counseling about natural wellness, specializing in medicinal plants, nutrition, and spiritual well-being. She earned a Certificate of Nutritional Biochemistry in Micronutrients from the College of World Health and a Bachelor of Divinity. Catherine lives on Maui with her husband Dr. Steve Blake, two cats, and rescued chickens. She is also an active member of Vegetarian Society of Hawaii on Maui.
Peter Dobias, DVM
Dr. Dobias is a holistic veterinarian whose outside interests include kite-boarding, travel, reading, yoga, healthy lifestyle, photography, skiing, and surfing. Born in the Czech Republic, the tradition of healing has been in his family for generations. His grandfather was an experienced herbalist and his father was a veterinarian. He spent most of his teenage and university years around horses, admiring them for their connection to nature, their strength, and their gentleness. He recognized the undeniable fact that animals have personalities, emotions, individual needs, and the ability to perceive the world around them on a deeper energetic and intuitive level.
In 1999, he established Healing Place, a holistic veterinary medicine center in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Dr. Dobias had become increasingly interested in exploring the connections between physical health and emotional well-being. He saw clearly that clients’ well being played an important role in their animals’ healing process. This realization sparked his interest in courses on human homeopathy, and he studied with some of the most progressive and prominent teachers in the world.
The next step in his evolution was marked by the recognition of the undeniable similarity of animals to the people with whom they live. After years of experience and observation, Dr. Dobias confirmed that animals mirror their guardians’ emotions, personalities, and often share the nature and location of their physical diseases. This connection led Peter to establishing a modern holistic healing system that offers clients the opportunity to become directly involved in the treatment process.
Cathy Goeggel
A founding member of Animal Rights Hawai’i (1977) and current Director of Research and Investigations, Cathy’s work focuses on ending a wide range of animal abuse in Hawai’i, on the mainland and internationally. Cathy was President of the Honolulu Zoological Society and currently serves as Hawai’i State Chair of Project Patriot of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which provides support for wounded soldiers.
Melody Hofmann
Melody Hofmann brings to Leilani Farm Sanctuary a background in counseling, social work, legal advocacy and activism on behalf of women, children, the disabled and victims of violence. Melody started her professional life in business, having earned an M.B.A. in Marketing from U.C. Berkeley. She was a long-time business owner and consultant. Melody returned to the university to earn a B.S. in Psychology, with a specialty in early childhood development. She is a certified behavioral health outpatient clinician, specializing in assessment and intensive case management of children and youth with serious health and life challenges. Melody deeply cares for animals and people and advocates the human-animal bond in the healing process.
Lorri Houston
Lorri Houston is considered one of the “pioneers” of the farm animal sanctuary movement. In 1986, she opened the country’s first shelter for farm animals as co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, at a time when rescuing and protecting farmed animals was unheard of. In 2005, Lorri Houston founded the nonprofit organization, Animal Acres, the Los Angeles Farm Animal Sanctuary and Compassionate Living Center.
Over the years, Lorri has directly saved thousands of animals from the cruelties of factory farming, and brought national attention to the plight of animals used for “food production”. Her efforts have been the topic of numerous media new features (The New York Times, CBS This Morning, Wall Street Journal), documentaries, and books.
Joy Karakas
Joy Karakas loves animals and good vegan food! She, her husband, and her brother moved from California to Maui to start a vegan food truck. They opened Aloha Joy Food Truck in November 2018. Their mission is to spread veganism by sharing delicious cruelty-free food to the community! When Joy is not in the kitchen, she is most likely spending time with her three dogs, practicing yoga, spending time in nature or napping.
Sarah Taylor
Sarah Taylor has an MBA in Research Methodologies from Seattle University, as well as a Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition from Cornell University. She was on faculty at the Nutritional Education Institute, where she worked as a Motivational Trainer for Joel Fuhrman, MD, the NY Times best-selling author of Eat to Live. Sarah has been a writer for Veg News magazine and Aloha Living magazine, and has been interviewed for numerous radio and internet shows, including NPR, PBS and EarthSave Radio. Her first book, Vegan in 30 Days, has sold thousands of copies and is printed in multiple languages around the world. Her second book, Vegetarian to Vegan, was included in the “Top 10 Vegan Cookbooks of 2014,” and is the new and increasingly respected ‘go-to’ book for vegetarians who want to give up dairy and eggs, and finally go vegan for good.
In her free time, Sarah is a ranked tennis player with the United States Tennis Association, and is the inventor of the Stackable Gourmet, as seen on the Home Shopping Network. She is happily married with many companion animals, and lives in Gig Harbor, WA.
Christine Warren
Christine Warren is a 35 year national presenter, transformational life coach and counselor who has devoted her life to the development of the human spirit and potential. A founding member of Kripalu Center, the nation’s largest workshop center, she has been on the faculty of Esalen Institute, Omega Institute, Rowe Center, and auxiliary faculty of Long Island University, Lesley College, American Humanistic Psychology Conferences and other venues.
Christine’s organizational vision background includes directing leadership, team building and vision retreats for the executive teams of Warner Brothers TV, ABC, CBS, and over 50 other corporate teams. She was the executive director of the Foxhollow Conscious Leadership Center and of New Resources for Growth, a Corporate Training company. She moved to Maui with her husband Kenn from their Santa Fe ranch last year and fell in love with the compassion and love for animals embodied at Leilani Sanctuary. Christine has a transformational life coaching practice in upcountry and is a painter and a singer in Maui Choral Arts.www.ChristineWarrenWorkshops.com
Your sustaining support helps us provide food, shelter, and veterinary care for rescued animals; and humane education to the community.
Contributions are tax-deductible and go directly toward our life-saving work at Leilani Farm Sanctuary. We are 100% volunteers.
Help us provide care for a rescued animal and receive an “adoption” certificate with a picture of your sponsored animal.
Take a tour in paradise, meet the animals, and learn their stories! Register a spot for a one hour tour on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
By submitting this form, you are granting: Leilani Farm Sanctuary, 260 E. Kuiaha Road, Haiku, Hawaii, 96708, United States, permission to email you. You may unsubscribe via the link found at the bottom of every email. (See our Email Privacy Policy for details.) Emails are serviced by Constant Contact.
©2016 Leilani Animal Farm
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Watch "Ancestors in Americas," Part 1 by Loni Ding
For those who already saw this, part 2 will be shown at First Chinese Baptist Church on Sunday, May 22, 2016.
Watch Part 1 of the video now
Asian immigrant population has become one of the most visible and fastest growing immigrant populations in America. The Chinese Laundromat has become a common sight in the urban and suburban sprawl, Asian cuisine has experienced an increase in popularity, and close-knit communities of Asian immigrants can be found in most major American cities. However, the question remains: Where did these Asian immigrants come from? When and why did they come? What impact have Asian immigrants had on American culture, society, and history?
The first part of Loni Ding’s documentary series Ancestors in the Americas attempts to tackle some of these questions, plotting the history of Asian immigration to America with particular focus on the role of Asian immigrants in American history. The documentary focuses on China’s trade relations with Europe and the Americas in the 19th century, providing an especially rich discussion of China as a world exporter of tea, the opium trade in China, and the resulting Opium Wars. Setting the stage for the European and American imperial dominance of Asia in the second half of the 19th century, the documentary explores the importation of Chinese laborers known as "coolies" to the Americas. Although the film’s narration is at times overpoweringly didactic — harshly criticizing European and American exploitation of Asian peoples — Part I of Ancestors in the Americas is an informative and accessible treatment of the history of Asian immigration to America.
Watch Part 1: COOLIES, SAILORS, SETTLERS Now!
Part 1: COOLIES, SAILORS, SETTLERS
Traces the global forces that brought the first Asians -- Filipinos, Chinese and Asian Indians -- to the Americas and the Caribbean in the 18th and 19th centuries, and looks at their lives as sailors, coolies, and finally settlers. Running time: 60 minutes.
Part 2 will be shown at First Chinese Baptist Church on Sunday, May 22, 2016.
Sign up to watch Part 2 at this website
Watch Ancestors in the Americas Part 2 Tomorrow in...
Watch "Ancestors in Americas," Part 1 by Loni Ding...
Call for Volunteers
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Wire Stories > Trillium Power Wind Corporation > Ontario far offshore wind comp... > You Are Here
Ontario far offshore wind company Trillium Power files Amended Statement of Claim for $500 Million after Appeal Court win
Friday, December 13th 2013 11:25:46am
Claim states Ontario Government avoided discussion with International Consortium to create 15,000 jobs
(Toronto, Ontario December 13, 2013) Trillium Power Wind Corporation yesterday filed a "Fresh as Amended Statement of Claim" as ordered by the Court of Appeal. Ontario Superior Court of Justice filing responds to an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling last month that allowed Trillium Power its day in court to seek damages arising from their claims of “misfeasance in public office” by the Ontario Ministries (Natural Resources, Energy and Environment) named in the action.
The amended Statement of Claim shows a resolution in size of a claim for $500 million in response to the November 13th, 2013 ruling.
This action stems from a decision made by the Ontario government to cancel Trillium Power’s TPW1 project on February 11, 2011 only hours before Trillium Power was to secure a $26 Million funding tranche. Consistently, since the hasty and unexpected cancellation of Trillium Power’s far-offshore wind project (the news was delivered to Trillium Power via a government’s press release), Trillium has maintained their position of advancing the project and employing Ontarians instead of going to the courts.
Trillium Power is a Toronto-based company supported by small individual Ontario investors and this far-offshore wind project has the potential to drive local economic development and provide good jobs (between 55,000 and 62,000 person-years of construction employment) in Ontario (with significant concentration in the Kingston-Quinte area), while producing clean, renewable and reliable power.
At cancellation time, Trillium Power was well advanced in developing several far-offshore wind projects located (between 10 and 120 km. from the mainland) in various Great Lakes location. The project known as the TPW1 far-offshore wind site in eastern Lake Ontario (see map) was a priority project. As the map shows TPWI, located near the Ontario-USA border, will be functionally invisible to the closest landfall distances of 17 km, 20 km and 29 km.
Far-offshore wind production is very different than land-based wind generation. The dynamics of wind and differential heating over water means a more consistent, steady and predictable wind supply, including during periods of high demand in the summer. This crucial difference in wind regimes is not always understood however it has already been proven at freshwater locations in Europe for over 20 years.
“I had hoped after the positive 2013 legal Court decision to see a sign of cooperation from the Province. This would have allowed speedier construction rather than into a lengthy legal process and risk a $500 Million payment on the citizens of Ontario,” said John Kourtoff, President & CEO, Trillium Power Wind Corporation. The TPW1 project is compatible with the new Long-Term Energy Plan, not visible from shore and will produce clean power. Trillium Power remains open to working with the Premier and her team as we are dedicated to providing good jobs for Ontarians and producing clean power.”
“I like to remain optimistic that we will moving forward, but after countless attempts to reach out to the government of Ontario it is becoming increasingly difficult,” stated Kourtoff, “I remain open to discussing this issue with the correct officials to find a mutually beneficial solution--one that creates jobs for Ontarians and drive economic development, instead of costing tax payers money.”
For interviews or to secure a copy of the Amended Statement of Claim please contact: Michael Zupanic, mzupanic@ecostrategy.ca, 416-972-7404.
Trillium Power was notified of an immediate moratorium via the Province’s media release.The Ontario government media release announcing its intention was distributed on the afternoon of Friday, February 11, 2011. This occurred mere hours before Trillium Power was to complete financing arrangements for its TPW1 far offshore wind project located 28 km from shore in Lake Ontario.
Courtesy notifications of the financial closing had been provided to the Government two (2) days before by Trillium Power. The Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR Registry# 011-0907) outlines the actual action taken by the Province--being the cancellation and confiscation of all existing offshore wind applications including those with Applicant of Record (AoR).
The Great Lakes offshore wind production potential is immense and remains Ontario’s largest near-term reliable renewable energy asset. Very conservative estimates see it as a $250 billion industry over a 10-year period. Subsequent to the Ontario announcement, the US Federal government has accelerated their support for offshore wind, including in The Great Lakes. Trillium Power has been steadfast against any near-shore developments.
When the North American agent of a multi-billion dollar, Asian-European consortium requested in August 2011 (prior to the election) a meeting with Premier McGuinty to discuss the creation of a full supply-chain in Ontario, export from Ontario and create 15,000 jobs (with no monies from the taxpayer) due to their interest in the offshore and onshore wind section, and Trillium Power’s projects specifically, they were ignored.
The Conference Board of Canada report of December 8, 2010 Economic and Employment of Ontario’s Future Offshore Wind Power Industry confirmed that the development of less than 6% of Ontario’s shallow water offshore wind potential in The Great Lakes would generate at least “$1.03 Billion in personal and indirect taxes not including corporate taxes”, “between 55,000 and 62,000 person-years of construction employment”, “generate 6,700 direct permanent supply chain jobs” and “boost real GDP by a cumulative $4.8 to $5.6 Billion.”
Trillium Power’s proposed ‘TPW1’ far-offshore Wind site is located in the centre of eastern Lake Ontario, far from landfall (distances of 17 km, 20 km and 29 km), adjacent to the international border. The TPW1 site is recognized as the most optimal Offshore Wind location in The Great Lakes. The development of TPW1 would jump-start the creation of several thousand Ontario-based sustainable manufacturing jobs, over $1.6 Billion in private sector investment in Ontario and generate between 420 MW and 600 MW of clean, reliable, non-risky and stable-priced electricity for the benefit of all Ontarians.
More By Trillium Power Wind Corporation
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Nylon Rope creates life safety barrier
Nowadays people enjoy the incomparable superiority of life, however, in this kind of life can not be separated from all kinds of high-altitude workers for us to create this quality of life environment. In advanced technology today, a variety of network lines and electrical wiring facilities need to operate to ensure that people's lives and work of the normal, so the personal safety of Spider-Man is particularly important.
And nylon rope will be able to make a strong guarantee for the safety of staff. Nylon Nylon rope is made of a fiber-chip made of a finished product. Because the production cost of this kind of rope is low, so the price in the market is also relatively low, so it can be widely used. And the characteristics of nylon rope is more heat and wear-resistant, and therefore applied to the safety of the rope is the most suitable.
In addition, many mechanical start-up in the use of the rope, as well as boarding, traction rope and so on are made with this nylon rope. For the former nylon rope, because the elasticity is too good, in the use of the process is extremely inconvenient and thus become a big blind spot. But today's nylon rope in the production can be avoided, through a new way of preparation for people to provide a new type of nylon rope, the preparation of a good nylon rope is clearly the most ideal of a mountaineering tool. This kind of rope can avoid before the nylon rope appears stiff, the friction is too big and the elasticity is good many unfavorable side, conquer the flaw, becomes the most high-quality safety rope tool.
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Miami art paints evolving picture of South Florida identity
July 18, 2016 Christopher Vazquez
“To Be Determined: An Artificial Excavation,” a collaboration piece between Felice Grodin and Noel Palacios, is featured in Grodin’s Miami Beach studio. Grodin returned to her native South Florida to pursue an art career. (Photo by Danyel De Villiers)
After living in New York during the September 11 attacks, South Florida native Felice Grodin realized two things: she wanted to become an artist, and she couldn’t stay in the city.
“That actually is what caused me to be an artist, to be honest,” Grodin, 47, said. “So after that happened, I really reevaluated everything and decided to, in a way, come home. And it just so happened that South Florida, and especially Miami, was this incredible community for art.”
South Florida artists have begun showcasing their work across multiple platforms, from crowded city streets to chic gallery showrooms. The Miami art scene has always existed, but only recently has the city become a hotspot for creative minds, helping shape its cultural identity.
“It’s like night and day,” said Lilia Garcia, Coconut Grove Art Festival curator and gallery director. “When I was growing up, maybe there were one or two galleries.”
Now home to more than 200 galleries, South Florida’s art scene has gone from barely visible to globally acclaimed. In 2015, Art Basel Miami Beach attracted approximately 77,000 attendees and exhibitors from 32 countries.
Miami has emerged into an artistic hub, developing its own iconic art district, Wynwood, now home to more than 70 galleries.
“I’ve only been here for four years,” said Lisa Leone, YoungArts Foundation vice president of artistic programs. “Even in those four years, I’ve seen so much growth. In Wynwood, there were a few walls and restaurants. Now I can’t even find a parking spot.”
Katerina Wagner, founder of the blog The Miami Art Scene, agreed.
“It reminds me of New York City with all these little neighborhoods starting to develop,” she said. “And Miami didn’t have that before.”
While South Florida has experienced a recent artistic boom, art made its way to the area before on a smaller scale. In 1963, the Coconut Grove Art Festival began as merely a promotional effort for the Coconut Grove Playhouse.
“It started off as a clothesline art festival, which was as simple as it sounds. People hung up their art on clothes lines,” said Katrina Delgado, the festival’s artist director. “As time went by, it grew.”
That growth, however, was slow.
The Center of Fine Arts, Miami’s first public art museum, opened in 1984, 19 years after the Coconut Grove Art Festival. The facility’s name was eventually changed to the Miami Art Museum to reflect its goal to build its collection, said Rene Morales, curator at the Perez Art Museum.
Meanwhile, more galleries began adding local color to South Florida, especially in Miami’s Coral Gables neighborhood. But most venues left some locals wanting more.
Felice Grodin, in her Miami Beach studio, believes local art will continue to grow in popularity. (Photo by Danyel De Villiers)
“The works didn’t really excite me,” said Brook Dorsch, founder of the Emerson Dorsch gallery. “They would be very similar, the same style of painting each month. I always thought that galleries should try to challenge the viewer.”
So in 1991, Dorsch opened his own gallery in his apartment. Helen Kohen, a longtime Miami Herald art critic, eventually stopped by.
“She basically told me I had a good eye,” Dorsch said. “And I think that’s what kept me going.”
In 1999, Dorsch decided to expand and opened one of the first galleries in Wynwood.
“It was in complete disrepair,” he said. “You couldn’t step foot into it. And next door was a house that had three rabid pit bulls and two crackheads living in it, basically. I said, ‘This is perfect.’”
Around that time, a turning point arrived when Art Basel set its sights on Miami Beach, a city with empty hotel rooms and a tourist-friendly climate. The first festival took place in 2002. More than 30,000 people attended.
Miami was the second city world-wide to introduce Art Basel, following Basel, Switzerland and preceding Hong Kong. The festival serves to connect galleries with art lovers from around the globe, making Miami’s diverse cultural landscape an ideal location.
“Many people in greater Miami didn’t know how to spell or pronounce ‘Art Basel,’” said Robert Goodman, an Art Basel Miami Beach spokesman. “You plant a tree, and as it grows, flowers sprout around it. And that’s sort of what happened with us.”
As the local art scene grew after Art Basel, Wynwood went from housing a handful of galleries to Miami’s definitive art district.
“Year after year, everything got bigger and bigger,” Dorsch said.
Soon after, the Miami Art Museum moved downtown and became the Perez Art Museum in 2013. With the art scene still growing, artists such as Grodin believe that the art world won’t turn its gaze away from Miami anytime soon.
“I think it’s just scratching the surface of what it can be and what it can do.”
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Miami Beach combats rising tides with new pump stations
July 22, 2015 Anthony Martinez
With its historic Art Deco hotels, countless shops, boutiques and international cuisine, Miami Beach offers plenty to see and enjoy away from the water – at least for the near future.
Even on days without rain, larger waves during high tides are causing flooding in Miami Beach, just one effect of climate change. In response, the city of Miami Beach is installing water pumps to move water from the streets of the coastal resort city.
“We have seven pumps coming online this summer,” City Engineer Bruce Mowry said. “And next year, I would hope to have 10 to 15 more pumps.”
Mowry said the city plans to have 60 to 80 pumps running by 2020, depending on the size of the units. The pumps will be placed in locations where a large amount of water from high tide spills onto the streets, and will pipe 14,000 gallons of water back into the sea every minute.
With a $300 million price tag, the pumps are a big purchase for a city with a $502 million annual budget.
“You not only have to have support,” Mowry said. “You have to back the support with finances.”
Toward a drier future from Trevor Green on Vimeo.
The city commission is funding these projects with three $100 million bonds, which allow Miami Beach to borrow money at a low interest rate. Also, a new tax, the Stormwater Utility Fee, is being collected from all homeowners, businesses and hotels.
Despite their high cost, the pumps are necessary to support the constant construction and renovation of resorts and condominiums. Because of its tax structure, Miami Beach relies on its thriving real estate market, especially premium apartments on the coast. Property tax revenue will continue to grow only if buyers are certain their investment is worthwhile.
“There are groups of people who are concerned about their investments in high-end apartment units and their property values being in jeopardy,” said Eileen Nexer, a local real estate agent.
These concerns have fueled plans to have seven new pumps in operation by November. Although this is a milestone for the project, the city has no intention of slowing down soon.
“We’re taking action and moving ahead. We’re not just looking at short term, we’re looking at middle and long term,” Mowry said.
Once construction is completed, the pumps will run constantly to move flood waters. Water will be collected through sewage drains, stored in reservoirs and pumped back into the ocean through a sea wall in Biscayne Bay.
An initial concern was the condition of the water being sent back because the water comes into contact with trash, motor oil and other contaminants. As a result, the collected water must be treated and decontaminated. Mowry said he hopes to see similar projects in other at-risk areas.
“Sea level rise isn’t just happening in Miami Beach,” said Mowry. “It’s worldwide.”
Mowry said unprecedented construction makes it difficult to manage traffic, nightlife and major infrastructure changes.
“It’s always a challenge to do construction while keeping a city moving.” Mowry said.
Even with the disruption, local residents have supported the pump installations since construction began.
“We need their involvement and we need their investment into the future,” Mowry said.
Even after all pumps are installed, efforts to combat sea level rise will be far from over and alternative solutions are being considered.
One of the most daring ideas is to elevate the entire city up to four feet off the ground, which would involve major structural modification to the entire city’s infrastructure.
“We have staff today working on solutions that really don’t have to be completed for 20 years,” Mowry said.
“The city has the drive, the vision and the support to do this,” Mowry said. “We’re rising above, we’re gonna take on the challenge, and we’re gonna succeed.”
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Preseason over, Mee has men’s basketball set to launch
Posted on November 14, 2018 in Sports
After an offseason filled with changes, the VC men’s basketball team will rely on experienced seniors such as Paul Grinde (pictured above) to lead the way. Grinde averaged 14.3 points per game last year. Courtesy of Joe Clifford.
The Vassar men’s basketball team is set to begin another season this weekend. Their 2018–2019 campaign kicks off with a home opener against the New Rochelle Angels this Friday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. The new-look Brewers hope to build on last season’s success with fresh faces on and off the bench.
The Brewers ended last season with an appearance in the Liberty League tournament, but the tournament berth was an unlikely testament to the grittiness of last year’s squad. After starting the season winless through the first eight games, the Brewers rallied, eventually qualifying for the Liberty League playoffs.
The turnaround was in part thanks to the resolve of the group. Starting behind the eight ball meant the Brewers had to win more games with higher stakes. But the team, led by senior and captain Jesse Browne—who averaged 15.6 points a game—went 7-1 in conference play in the second half of the season.
The comeback culminated in a win over Ithaca College and a subsequent trip to the Liberty League tournament.
This year, the Brewers are without Browne, their 1,000 point scorer, but they maintain a strong foundation.
Vassar welcomed new head coach Ryan Mee last May. Mee brings Division I experience, coming to the team from Davidson College, where he was an assistant coach for six years.
I had the chance to ask Mee about the upcoming season earlier this week. When discussing his mindset heading into the season at the helm of a new team, Mee said, “We’re dedicated to building an environment of trust, commitment and care.”
Mee went on to say that those objectives entail a sense of responsibility that the players owe to their teammates, their coaches and themselves.
Earlier in the semester, The Miscellany News conducted an extensive interview with Mee, in which Mee spoke about his transition to Vassar. I wanted to ask him what he has learned in the month or so since regular practices began. “We’re focused on the now,” Mee replied. “We had eight guys on the sidelines to start practice. But those guys are back and healthy, so we’re excited to get started with a healthy roster.”
Mee takes the approach to the now seriously.
As he’s no stranger to the Liberty League (he played basketball for the University of Rochester), I asked the new coach if there was a team against which he was looking forward to playing. But he wasn’t looking that far ahead.
Instead, Mee wanted to stay focused on the short term—he was most excited about the upcoming game against New Rochelle: “[the New Rochelle players] get out and run, they’re fast paced. It’s going to be a great test for us to start the season.”
The Brewers look to their experienced returners to build off of last year’s success. Senior center Paul Grinde averaged 14.3 ppg and 8.2 rpg in his junior campaign, anchoring the team with 34.1 minutes per game.
Grinde and sophomore Zach Bromfeld comprised a tough-minded frontcourt that helped the Brewers crash the boards to third in the Liberty League in rebounding margin. Guard Alex Seff brings his 7.9 ppg and 25 steals from an injury-shortened last season into a senior role.
The team has a tough road ahead of them, no doubt. Starting a new season with a new coach can present a difficult adjustment. But the transition brings with it opportunities, said Mee, who stated, “Sometimes it’s easier on the younger players under a new system.”
And the underclassmen are ready for the challenge. Sophomore Lance Tebay, a forward, will look to build off a stellar first season in which he worked his way into the starting lineup to average 23.8 mpg and 7.0 ppg.
Whatever happens results-wise, the 2018–2019 season should bring an exciting brand of basketball to Vassar. Mee models his system after the pace-and-space style that currently dominates the NBA.
The Brewers will look to get out on the break and spread the defense. Playing in a four-out, one-in set, the Brewers hope to light it up from three in a continuity-driven, flowing offense.
Looking ahead, the Brewers have several non-conference tune-ups before their conference opener against Ithaca later in November. Ranked sixth in the Liberty League preseason poll, the Brewers have the Liberty League tournament in their crosshairs once again.
While it is going to be a drawn-out regular season, culminating in February— over 25 games from now—the Brewers are poised to take on the challenges and joys of another chapter.
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"Not an electoral machine but an instrument for the empowerment of the working class and all the oppressed"
Founded on December 25, 1980, the Communist Ghadar Party of India (CGPI) is an organized detachment of communists who have devoted their lives to the liberation of India and to the emancipation of labour on the world scale.
The doors of the CGPI are open all those who wish to make revolution the mission of their lives — who agree to implement the program, work in one of the party organizations and pay monthly dues.
The CGPI is committed to the restoration of unity of all Indian communists.
The CGPI works to unite all communists, irrespective of party affiliations, in the course of providing leadership to the class struggle and preparing the subjective conditions for ending all exploitation of persons by persons, for the victory of revolution and communism on Indian soil.
The CGPI opposes all forms of conciliation with social-democracy and the idea of a “middle road” between capitalism and socialism.
The CGPI opposes all illusion mongering about the State of the Indian Union, which is neither democratic nor secular but the bulwark of the colonial legacy, an instrument of capitalist-feudal exploitation and imperialist plunder.
The CGPI opposes those who justify state terrorism in the name of defending “national unity and territorial integrity”.
The CGPI does not seek political power for itself. It is organised around the aim of securing power in the hands of the working class and the oppressed.
The entire membership sets the line and tasks of the party, at the Congress, which is the highest body. The Congress elects the Central Committee to implement the line and carry out the tasks set, until the next Congress is convened.
The foundation of the CGPI lies in its basic organisations in the factories, work places, mohallas, chawls, villages and college campuses — the basic organs of class struggle.
Party organizations provide leadership at all levels. The party’s work is carried out on the basis of the principle of collective decision making and individual responsibilities.
The CGPI is committed to the development of Indian revolutionary theory, a theory emerging out of the conditions of India and suited to the development of communism here. It invites all communists and enlightened minds to contribute to this work of theory, by basing themselves on the rich Indian thought material and summing up the experience of the working class movement, starting from the present.
The work of CGPI is based on the theoretical thinking of Marxism-Leninism and guided by contemporary Marxist-Leninist thought. Contemporary Marxist-Leninist thought is the summation, taken in general form, of the experience of the application of Marxism-Leninism to the conditions of socialist revolution and socialist construction, to the struggle against modern revisionism and capitalist restoration, against fascism, militarism, imperialism and medievalism. It is not the final form of Marxism-Leninism under the economy, empowerment of the people and the democratic renewal of India.
Come all who are concerned about the fate of out people, our ancient civilisation! Let us raise the banner of liberation, of deep going transformations! Let us build the revolutionary united front around this fighting program!
Revolution is our right and duty. To fight for the democratic renewal of India is the immediate task.
Let us unitedly take up this task so that the crisis can be ended and the door opened for the progress of society!
Inquilaab Zindabaad!
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Women in the forefront of the struggle for a new society
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IV. Austria
NOVEMBER 7th, 1851.
WE have now to consider Austria: that country which, up to March, 1848, was sealed up to the eyes of foreign nations almost as much as China before the late war with England.
As a matter of course, we can here take into consideration nothing but German Austria. The affairs of the Polish, Hungarian, or Italian Austrians do not belong to our subject, and as far as they, since 1848, have influenced the fate of the German Austrians, they will have to be taken into account hereafter.
The Government of Prince Metternich turned upon two hinges; firstly, to keep every one of the different nations subjected to the Austrian rule, in check, by all other nations similarly conditioned; secondly, and this always has been the fundamental principle of absolute monarchies, to rely for support upon two classes, the feudal landlords and the large stockjobbing capitalists; and to balance, at the same time, the influence and power of either of these classes by that of the other, so as to leave full independence of action to the Government. The landed nobility, whose entire income consisted in feudal revenues of all sorts, could not but support a Government which proved their only protection against that down-trodden class of serfs upon whose spoils they lived; and whenever the less wealthy portion of them, as in Galicia, in 1846, rose in opposition against the Government, Metternich in an instant let loose upon them these very serfs, who at any rate profited by the occasion to wreak a terrible vengeance upon their more immediate oppressors. On the other hand, the large capitalists of the Exchange were chained to Metternich's Government by the vast share they had in the public funds of the country. Austria, restored to her full power in 1815 restoring and maintaining in Italy Absolute Monarchy ever since 1820, freed from part of her liabilities by the bankruptcy of 1810, had, after the peace, very soon re-established her credit in the great European money markets; and in proportion as her credit grew, she had drawn against it. Thus all the large European moneydealers had engaged considerable portions of their capital in the Austrian funds; they all of them were interested in upholding the credit of that country, and as Austrian public credit, in order to be upheld, ever required new loans, they were obliged from time to time to advance new capital in order to keep up the credit of the securities for that which they already had advanced. The long peace after 1815, and the apparent impossibility of a thousand years old empire, like Austria, being upset, increased the credit of Metternich's Government in a wonderful ratio, and made it even independent of the good will of the Vienna bankers and stock-jobbers; for as long as Metternich could obtain plenty of money at Frankfort and Amsterdam, he had, of course, the satisfaction of seeing the Austrian capitalists at his feet. They were, besides, in every other respect at his mercy: the large profits which bankers, stock-jobbers, and Government contractors always contrive to draw out of an absolute monarchy, were compensated for by the almost unlimited power which the Government possessed over their persons and fortunes; and not the smallest shadow of an opposition was, therefore, to be expected from this quarter. Thus Metternich was sure of the support of the two most powerful and influential classes of the empire, and he possessed besides an army and a bureaucracy, which for all purposes of absolutism could not be better constituted. The civil and military officers in the Austrian service form a race of their own; their fathers have been in the service of the Kaiser, and so will their sons be; they belong to none of the multifarious nationalities congregated under the wing of the double-headed eagle; they are, and ever have been, removed from one end of the empire to the other, from Poland to Italy, from Germany to Transylvania; Hungarian, Pole, German, Roumanian, Italian, Croat, every individual not stamped with "imperial and royal authority," etc., bearing a separate national character, is equally despised by them; they have no nationality, or rather, they alone make up the really Austrian nation. It is evident what a pliable, and at the same time powerful instrument, in the hands of an intelligent and energetic chief, such a civil and military hierarchy must be.
As to the other classes of the population, Metternich, in the true spirit of a statesman of the ancien regime, cared little for their support. He had, with regard to them, but one policy: to draw as much as possible out of them in the shape of taxation, and at the same time, to keep them quiet. The trading and manufacturing middle class was but of slow growth in Austria. The trade of the Danube was comparatively unimportant; the country possessed but one port, Trieste, and the trade of the port was very limited. As to the manufacturers, they enjoyed considerable protection, amounting even in most cases to the complete exclusion of all foreign competition; but this advantage had been granted to them principally with a view to increase their tax-paying capabilities, and was in a high degree counterpoised by internal restrictions on manufactures, privileges on guilds, and other feudal corporations, which were scrupulously upheld as long as they did not impede the purposes and views of the Government. The petty tradesmen were encased in the narrow bounds of these Mediaeval guilds, which kept the different trades in a perpetual war of privilege against each other, and at the same time, by all but excluding individuals of the working class from the possibility of raising themselves in the social scale, gave a sort of hereditary stability to the members of those involuntary associations. Lastly, the peasant and the working man were treated as mere taxable matter, and the only care that was taken of them was to keep them as much as possible in the same conditions of life in which they then existed, and in which their fathers had existed before them. For this purpose every old, established, hereditary authority was upheld in the same manner as that of the State: the authority of the landlord over the petty tenant farmer, that of the manufacturer over the operative, of the small master over the journeyman and apprentice, of the father over the son, was everywhere rigidly maintained by the Government, and every branch of disobedience punished the same as a transgression of the law, by that universal instrument of Austrian justice—the stick.
Finally, to wind up into one comprehensive system all these attempts at creating an artificial stability, the intellectual food allowed to the nation was selected with the minutest caution, and dealt out as sparingly as possible. Education was everywhere in the hands of the Catholic priesthood, whose chiefs, in the same manner as the large feudal landowners, were deeply interested in the conservation of the existing system. The universities were organized in a manner which allowed them to produce nothing but special men, that might or might not obtain great proficiency in sundry particular branches of knowledge, but which, at all events, excluded that universal liberal education which other universities are expected to impart. There was absolutely no newspaper press, except in Hungary, and the Hungarian papers were prohibited in all other parts of the monarchy. As to general literature, its range had not widened for a century; it had narrowed again after the death of Joseph II. And all around the frontier, where ever the Austrian States touched upon a civilized country, a cordon of literary censors was established in connection with the cordon of customhouse officials, preventing any foreign book or newspaper from passing into Austria before its contents had been twice or three times thoroughly sifted, and found pure of even the slightest contamination of the malignant spirit of the age.
For about thirty years after 1815 this system worked with wonderful success. Austria remained almost unknown to Europe, and Europe was quite as little known in Austria. The social state of every class of the population, and of the population as a whole, appeared not to have undergone the slightest change. Whatever rancour there might exist from class to class—and the existence of this rancour was for Metternich a principal condition of government, which he even fostered by making the higher classes the instruments of all Government exactions, and thus throwing the odium upon them—whatever hatred the people might bear to the inferior officials of the State, there existed, upon the whole, little or no dissatisfaction with the Central Government. The Emperor was adored, and old Francis I. seemed to be borne out by facts when, doubting of the durability of this system, he complacently added: "And yet it will hold while I live, and Metternich."
But there was a slow underground movement going on which baffled all Metternich's efforts. The wealth and influence of the manufacturing and trading middle class increased. The introduction of machinery and steam-power in manufactures upset in Austria, as it had done everywhere else, the old relations and vital conditions of whole classes of society: it changed serfs into free men, small farmers into manufacturing operatives; it undermined the old feudal trades corporations, and destroyed the means of existence of many of them. The new commercial and manufacturing population came everywhere into collision with the old feudal institutions. The middle classes, more and more induced by their business to travel abroad, introduced some mythical knowledge of the civilized countries situated beyond the Imperial line of customs; the introduction of railways finally accelerated both the industrial and intellectual movement. There was, too, a dangerous part in the Austrian State establishment, viz., the Hungarian feudal Constitution, with its parliamentary proceedings, and its struggles of the impoverished and oppositional mass of the nobility against the Government and its allies, the magnates. Presburg, the seat of the Diet, was at the very gates of Vienna. All the elements contributed to create among the middle classes of the towns a spirit, not exactly of opposition, for opposition was as yet impossible, but of discontent; a general wish for reforms, more of an administrative than of a constitutional nature. And in the same manner as in Prussia, a portion of the bureaucracy joined the bourgeoisie. Among this hereditary caste of officials the traditions of Joseph II. were not forgotten: the more educated functionaries of the Government, who themselves sometimes meddled with imaginary possible reforms, by far preferred the progressive and intellectual despotism of that Emperor to the "paternal" despotism of Metternich. A portion of the poorer nobility equally sided with the middle class, and as to the lower classes of the population, who always had found plenty of grounds to complain of their superiors, if not of the Government, they in most cases could not but adhere to the reformatory wishes of the bourgeoisie.
It was about this time, say 1843 or 1844, that a particular branch of literature, agreeable to this change, was established in Germany. A few Austrian writers, novelists, literary critics, bad poets, the whole of them of very indifferent ability, but gifted with that peculiar industrialism proper to the Jewish race, established themselves in Leipsig and other German towns out of Austria, and there, out of the reach of Metternich, published a number of books and pamphlets on Austrian affairs. They and their publishers made "a roaring trade" of it. All Germany was eager to become initiated into the secrets of the policy of European China; and the Austrians themselves, who obtained these publications by the wholesale smuggling carried on upon the Bohemian frontier, were still more curious. Of course, the secrets let out in these publications were of no great importance, and the reform plans schemed out by their well-wishing authors bore the stamp of an innocuousness almost amounting to political virginity. A Constitution and a free press for Austria were things considered unattainable; administrative reforms, extension of the rights of the Provincial Diets, admission of foreign books and newspapers, and a less severe censorship—the loyal and humble desires of these good Austrians did hardly go any farther.
At all events the growing impossibility of preventing the literary intercourse of Austria with the rest of Germany, and through Germany with the rest of the world, contributed much toward the formation of an anti-governmental public opinion, and brought at least some little political information within the reach of part of the Austrian population. Thus, by the end of 1847, Austria was seized, although in an inferior degree, by that political and politico-religious agitation which then prevailed in all Germany; and if its progress in Austria was more silent, it did, nevertheless, find revolutionary elements enough to work upon. There was the peasant, serf, or feudal tenant, ground down into the dust by lordly or Government exactions; then the factory operative, forced by the stick of the policeman to work upon any terms the manufacturer chose to grant; then the journeyman, debarred by the corporative laws from any chance of gaining an independence in his trade; then the merchant, stumbling at every step in business over absurd regulations; then the manufacturer, in uninterrupted conflict with trade-guilds, jealous of their privileges, or with greedy and meddling officials; then the school-master, the savant, the better educated functionary, vainly struggling against an ignorant and presumptuous clergy, or a stupid and dictating superior. In short, there was not a single class satisfied, for the small concessions Government was obliged now and then to make were not made at its own expense, for the treasury could not afford that, but at the expense of the high aristocracy and clergy; and as to the great bankers, and fundholders, the late events in Italy, the increasing opposition of the Hungarian Diet, and the unwonted spirit of discontent and cry for reform, manifesting themselves all over the Empire, were not of a nature to strengthen their faith in the solidity and solvency of the Austrian Empire.
Thus Austria, too, was marching slowly but surely toward a mighty change, when, of a sudden, an event broke out in France, which at once brought down the impending storm, and gave the lie to old Francis's assertion, that the building would hold out both during his and Metternich's lifetime.
LONDON, September, 1851.
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FRANCES P. GORTON vs. JOHN J. SCHOFIELD.
November 3, 1941 - April 2, 1942
Present: FIELD, C.J., DONAHUE, QUA, DOLAN, & RONAN, JJ.
Upon findings in a suit in equity that at least sixty years before the suit was brought a predecessor in title of the defendant by excavating at the rear of his lot had removed support from adjoining land of a predecessor in title of the plaintiff and had built on his own land a retaining wall to supply the support thus removed, and that the defendant had permitted the wall to fall into disrepair, causing subsidence in the plaintiff's land from time to time, especially after heavy rains, a decree was warranted ordering the defendant to provide adequate support to the plaintiff's land.
BILL IN EQUITY, filed in the Superior Court with a writ of summons and attachment dated October 7, 1938.
The case was heard by Forte, J.
F. X. Hurley, for the defendant, submitted a brief.
F. H. Tarr, for the plaintiff.
DOLAN, J. This is a bill in equity by which the plaintiff seeks to compel the defendant to rebuild or repair a retaining wall on the defendant's land which provides lateral support to the plaintiff's land. The judge entered an interlocutory decree overruling the defendant's exceptions to the master's report and confirming the same, and a final decree ordering the defendant to "provide adequate support to the plaintiff's land, at the rear thereof, adjoining the retaining wall . . . by strengthening the said retaining wall now existing, or by any other effective means which will provide adequate support to the plaintiff's land . . . [and enjoining the defendant] from doing any acts, or permitting any acts to be done, which will weaken further said retaining wall or in any way deprive the plaintiff's land of its present lateral support." Under the terms of the decree the defendant was further enjoined from removing props and beams supporting a portion of the retaining wall "until permanent support to the plaintiff's land is made," and the defendant was ordered to pay the plaintiff $15 (damages) and costs. The defendant's appeal from the final decree brings the case before us.
Material facts found by the master follow: The plaintiff is the owner of a parcel of land with a dwelling house thereon situated on the southerly side of Middle Street in Gloucester. The lot runs easterly along the street sixty-five and thirty-seven hundredths feet, southerly one hundred one and seventy-six hundredths feet, then westerly eighty-three and twenty hundredths feet and northerly one hundred and sixty-five hundredths feet. [Note 1] The defendant's lot faces on Main Street which runs parallel to Middle Street and the rear of his lot adjoins and abuts the rear of the plaintiff's lot. The defendant's lot extends back from Main Street about one hundred sixty-six feet, the deeds describing it as running back as far as the Gorton lot. The retaining wall is erected on the rear line of the defendant's property and is "constructed entirely upon the Schofield land." The wall is three feet from the plaintiff's boundary line at the
southeast corner of the Gorton lot and coincides with the boundary line at a point two feet from the southwest corner. On the top course of the wall there are five stones which project toward Middle Street. Three of these stones project a few inches over the Gorton line and are used as supports for perpendicular poles which are part of a wire fence constructed on the plaintiff's land along its rear boundary to a jog in the wall.
The wall, of granite construction, is approximately eighty-five feet long and fourteen feet high, and on its top at the easterly part thereof there is a brick wall four feet high and approximately fifty-five feet long. The granite wall is in disrepair and is not sufficiently strong to support the land of the plaintiff without being repaired or properly braced. The plaintiff's land has caved or fallen in, and is cracked to a greater or lesser degree along the entire rear line of her property. Originally the plaintiff's and the defendant's lands were on a "sloping ridge or hill, which sloped southerly from Middle Street down to the sea." The defendant's land, due to excavations, is now level, but the plaintiff's land still slopes down to the retaining wall. The plaintiff's and the defendant's respective lots "were never held by the same ownership."
Prior to 1937 there was standing on the defendant's property a stable built close up against and abutting the retaining wall. This building was erected prior to the year 1880. It was a substantial structure with upright timbers close up against the wall, and the roof of the easterly part of the stable was fastened directly to the wall. This building furnished support to the wall. In 1937, however, this stable was completely demolished, and in the spring of 1938 there was a sinking of the land in the rear of the plaintiff's lot forming a large hole four or five feet deep, ten or twelve wide, extending six or eight feet to a point about four feet from the rear of the plaintiff's house. Later other holes appeared.
To remedy this condition the plaintiff, with the defendant's permission, shored and supported the most unstable part of the wall with wooden timbers and the parties
stipulated that no admissions of liability or waiver were made by so doing. The wall, however, particularly the easterly part, is still unsafe, unstable and in danger of collapse. The master further found that the total amount expended by the plaintiff to the time of the hearing was $15, but that the cost of repair of the wall would be between $1,000 and $1,500. He also found that there had been no damage to the plaintiff's house.
The master found that there "was no evidence establishing the date, when, or the person by whom, this excavation of the defendant's land was made, or when or by whom the wall was built," but he also found on all the evidence and the reasonable inferences therefrom that the excavation had been made by a former owner of the defendant's land (between 1848 and 1876) and that the wall was constructed at that time by the same person to provide support for the plaintiff's land.
The defendant has argued that the finding of the master that the wall was constructed entirely upon the defendant's property is inconsistent with the subsidiary facts found by the master. This contention cannot be sustained. There is nothing inconsistent between that finding and the subsidiary finding that the wall and the rear line of the plaintiff's property coincide. The wall could still be on the defendant's land and be coincident with the boundary line. Moreover, the maps and charts incorporated by reference in the report of the master, which are before us, demonstrate that the wall is on the defendant's land, as found by the master. That he found that three stones on the top course of the wall projected a few inches over the plaintiff's boundary line does not vitiate the general finding under discussion.
The defendant also contends that the findings of the master that the excavation had been made by a former owner of the defendant's land between 1848 and 1876, and that the wall was constructed by that owner to provide support for the plaintiff's land are inconsistent with the subsidiary finding that there was no evidence establishing the date when, or the person by whom, the excavation of
the defendant's land was made or when or by whom the wall was built. Read casually without reference to other subsidiary findings, the finding objected to would appear to be inconsistent with the subsidiary findings just referred to. But the finding objected to did not purport to be a mere conclusion from subsidiary facts fully stated but was declared to be based upon all the evidence. All the evidence is not reported, and it is not stated in the report nor does it show on its face that the ultimate facts found by the master are based solely upon the subsidiary facts found, and we are of opinion not only that the subsidiary facts found considered as a whole are not so inconsistent with the ultimate finding in question that it cannot stand, but also that, read as a whole and properly interpreted, the subsidiary facts support the conclusion that the excavation was made and that the wall was built by a predecessor in title of the defendant to provide lateral support for the plaintiff's land over sixty years prior to the hearing before the master. See Dodge v. Anna Jaques Hospital, 301 Mass. 431, 435; MacLeod v. Davis, 290 Mass. 335, 339; Rule 90 of the Superior Court (1932).
The decisive question is what are the legal duties and responsibilities of the defendant with relation to the maintenance of the retaining wall built by a predecessor in title in the circumstances before set forth. The law with relation to lateral support is of ancient origin and is firmly established. "The right of an owner of land to the support of the land adjoining is jure naturae, like the right in a flowing stream. Every owner of land is entitled, as against his neighbor, to have the earth stand and the water flow in its natural condition . . . [and] in the case of land, which is fixed in its place, each owner has the absolute right to have his land remain in its natural condition, unaffected by any act of his neighbor; and, if the neighbor digs upon or improves his own land so as to injure this right, may maintain an action against him, without proof of negligence." Gilmore v. Driscoll, 122 Mass. 199, 201 et seq., and cases cited. Kronberg v. Bulle, 247 Mass. 325, 328. Triulzi v. Costa, 296 Mass. 24, 27. See cases cited in 50 Am. L. R. 486 et seq.
This being the basic law, the question in the case at bar is whether the defendant, the present owner of the land upon which the excavation was made and the wall built by a predecessor in title, is bound to maintain the wall in such condition as to prevent damage to the plaintiff's land. The plaintiff has not argued that the structure on her land is in danger of collapse as a result of the condition of the retaining wall, and hence we are not concerned with any question relating to the structures thereon. See, however, Gilmore v. Driscoll, 122 Mass. 199, 204, 205. There seems to be but little authority upon the precise question under discussion. The point does not seem to have been decided heretofore by this court. The plaintiff has cited in support of her position Lyons v. Walsh, 92 Conn. 18, Cavanaugh v. Weber, 11 Ky. Law Rep. 858, and Foster v. Brown, 48 Ont. Law Rep. 1. In the last case cited it appeared that an excavation had been made upon land by the predecessor in title of the defendant, and that the former had built a retaining wall for the purpose of providing support to the plaintiff's adjoining land; that this wall "got out of repair and failed to answer the purpose for which it was built" (page 3), and that from time to time as a result a subsidence of the plaintiff's land occurred after the defendant became the owner of the land upon which the wall had been erected, and the soil fell into the excavation. The court held, in substance, that the defendant was responsible for the damage that the plaintiff had sustained, saying, at pages 5-6, that it saw "no reason why, if a person who is in possession of land in which there is an excavation which is a source of danger to the public, although the excavation was not made by him but by a predecessor in title, is liable for the consequences of his permitting the dangerous condition to continue, the same rule should not be applied where a lateral support has been withdrawn by a predecessor in title, and the condition so caused has been permitted to remain and to cause injury to his neighbour, the owner of the land at the time the injury occurs should not be answerable for it." In that case the court pointed out that the consequences "of holding otherwise would be
that where a land-owner had made an excavation in his land, and thereby removed the lateral support to which his neighbour is entitled, but had built a solid retaining wall to prevent subsidence, which, during his ownership, prevented it, and had then sold his land to another and that other to others, and, owing to a subsequent owner -- it might well be fifty years after -- permitting the retaining wall to decay and no longer to answer the purpose for which it was constructed, with the result that his neighbour's land has subsided, he would be liable to answer in damages for the injury, and the man whose failure to keep up the retaining wall was the effective cause of the injury would go scot free, and that too where the subsidence would not have occurred if the retaining wall had been kept in repair." And at page 6, Fry, L.J., expressing his concurrence said, in part: "I am unable to understand why the failure of a subsequent owner to provide the necessary support, and a fortiori where he suffers a retaining wall to decay, is not equally a continual or continued withdrawal of support . . . ." See 10 B. R. C. 918, and annotation.
These principles were recognized for the most part in Lyons v. Walsh, 92 Conn. 18, but it is true that in that case the court, while holding that the plaintiff was entitled to recover damages from a subsequent owner of the servient land, was of opinion that the equitable relief sought, that is, that the defendant should restore the wall to its original condition, should not be granted because the court was not satisfied that irreparable injury was "clearly enough disclosed to warrant the exercise of so drastic a power."
We have already said, in substance, in Foley v. Wyeth, 2 Allen 131, and Gilmore v. Driscoll, 122 Mass. 199, that the right to lateral support of soil in its natural state is a property right which naturally attaches to and passes with the soil without any grant thereof. We concur in the reasoning in Foster v. Brown, 48 Ont. Law Rep. 1, which we have hereinbefore set forth at some length, and are of opinion that the burden of providing lateral support to the plaintiff's land in its natural condition is one of continued support running against the servient land.
The defendant has argued that the plaintiff's prayer for equitable relief should not have been granted by the judge because she has not shown irreparable damage. We do not sustain that contention. The findings of the master relative to subsidences in the plaintiff's land have already been recited. They have been occurring from time to time. They still occur "especially after heavy rains." It is a reasonable assumption that as time goes on they will continue to occur, and it follows that a mere award of expenses incurred by the plaintiff to the time of the trial would not give her adequate relief. Such an award would not prevent foreseeable future damage resulting from the failure of the defendant to continue to provide lateral support to the plaintiff's land. See Marcus v. Brody, 254 Mass. 152; Geragosian v. Union Realty Co. 289 Mass. 104, 109, 110, and cases cited. The only effective remedy that can be afforded the plaintiff and which will put an end to litigation is to require the defendant to conform to the terms of the final decree entered by the judge. See Simon v. Nance, 45 Tex. Civ. App. 480; Thompson, Real Property, Section 559, and cases cited.
Decree affirmed with costs.
[Note 1] Through apparent inadvertent but immaterial error the directions of these bounds were stated incorrectly by the master.
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Occasional literary links, amusements, culture, politics, and rants
My introduction to the conversation with Donna Tartt
by Maud | October 31st, 2013
By popular demand, by which I mean because I think Carrie Frye will enjoy it, here’s a lightly edited version of my introduction to the conversation Donna Tartt and I had after her reading last night.
There are very few novelists writing today — or in any era, I suppose — of whom it can be said with certainty that they will be read in a hundred or two hundred years. Donna Tartt is an exception. In three gorgeous and propulsive novels, all winding and character-driving but also skillfully, satisfyingly, psychologically plotted, she has combined the immersive Victorian pleasures of someone like Dickens with an aloof, slightly antisocial, lightly barbed perspective not unlike that of Iris Murdoch or Nabokov. Perhaps because her prose is so lush, or maybe because she’s a southerner skilled at sliding the most deadly observations into view in a light, offhand way, critics don’t often remark on how eviscerating some of her characters’ insights are, or how funny. Even as the eras she’s writing about, and the eras in which she’s writing, recede into the past, her writing itself stays fresh and urgent.
A not-yet-twenty-year-old friend of mine who lives in Flagstaff, Arizona probably would have sold a kidney to be here tonight, and she’s not the only person much younger than me I know to be enraptured by Tartt’s novels.
In her latest book, The Goldfinch, Theo turns his gimlet eye on Park Avenue and on Las Vegas, exposing their shallow, unique horrors, but also getting at the weird appeal of each of them. Following his mother’s death and a series of other miscalculations and misfortunes, Theo is hobbled by a choice he makes in the opening pages, and by his inability to know how to set it right, but over time he increasingly lives by his own rules, on his own time, surrounded by friends of his own choosing, some of whom are very definitely not friends his mother would have chosen for him.
As Laura Miller wrote for Salon, “Donna Tartt’s characters have a habit of falling into bubbles of one kind or another, places where they are a bit cut off from the world and where they grow fiercely attached to the handful of other people with whom they share their half-dreamlike existence…. [Even Theo Decker] doesn’t quite seem to occupy the same jangly, information-bombarded dimension as the rest of us urbanites.”
Tartt’s books are set and meander all over, but the spirit of her writing — the gestalt of it — is southern. There are many different souths, of course, and I don’t intend a comparison to the religious steeliness of Flannery O’Connor or the in-your-face harshness of Harry Crews or even to the gentle send-ups of Eudora Welty so much as to call attention to a wry, baffled, deeply disassociated perspective that, despite the completely different lush beauty and stylistic flourishes of her writing, reminds me a lot of Charles Portis. You can see this kinship most of all in some of her essays, and these in turn cast an interesting light on her novels.
In 2005 she wrote an essay for Vogue about making Hunter S. Thompson the beneficiary of her high school life insurance policy. “During those years (when I was either trapped in my cinder-block bunker of a school down in Mississippi or — more entertainingly — roaming drunk around airports as the all-expenses-paid guest of political organizations whose valuses I didn’t share),” she wrote, “Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was my constant companion. I kept his books in my locker at school, and I smiled for group pictures on the Capitol steps with his gloomy voice (psychotic… delusional… how long can we maintain?) echoing in my ears. In my own view, I was a double agent: an outwardly cheerful and apparently harmless American child who had by some insane whim of the governing class been welcomed deep into the heart of Republican darkness. I believed that I was a member of Uncle Duke’s secret army, entrenched behind enemy lines; and furthermore, I believed that I was not alone. I believed that scores of other kids like me were keeping their eyes and ears open in hick towns all across America: a nest of hissing vipers, nursed deep in the bosom of Jesse Helms and the Moral Majority. And I believed that someday, when we grew up, we would take over the country. I was wrong.”
In a 1994 Harper’s essay, “Team Spirit,” she recalled being a cheerleader and reading 1984 to and from football games during her freshman year of high school. Realizing that there was “a certain correspondence between this totalitarian nightmare and my own high school, she writes: “gave me at first a feeling of smug superiority but after a time I began to have an acute sense of the meaninglessness of my words and gestures. Did I really care if we won or lost? No matter how enthusiastically I jumped and shouted, the answer to this was unquestionably No. This epiphany both confused and depressed me. And yet I continued — outwardly at least — to display as much pep as ever. ‘I always look cheerful and I never shirt anything,’ says Winston Smith’s girlfriend, Julia. ‘Always yell with the crowd, that’s what I say. It’s the only way to be safe.’”
This sense of not-belonging, of estrangement from the community while living and moving with apparent seamlessness within it, pervades all her fiction. Her characters are in a lot of different places, but they are very rarely of them.
In Fairy Tale Review, she remembered being read to by her grandmother, the way the two of them returned to some books “doggedly, like religious texts.”
“Treasure Island and Kidnapped were the real bridge for me between the child’s world and the adult’s,” she wrote. “Essentially, they were the books that turned me into a novelist, and they did partly through the beauty of the language and partly through the sheer gallop of story but mostly because they made me preoccupied with the kinds of questions that novelists ask. Why do smart people make foolish decisions? Why are honest people so vulnerable to lies, and trusting ones so susceptible to flattery and manipulation? If all people are fallible — a mixture of good and bad — at what point does the equation tip and a good person become bad and vice versa?…. The word romance has been used to describe (and to dismiss) Stevenson’s work for the last hundred years. But I’ve always wondered more critics don’t see that Treasure Island, despite its fanciful stage trappings (spyglasses, cutlasses, pieces of eight), is despite its many enchantments a work of frightful psychological realism.”
Much of this praise could be lavished equally on Tartt’s own novels. It’s not at all hard to imagine readers finding and returning to them in just this way a century or two from now.
First photo courtesy of Brooklyn by the Book. Second photo swiped from Alana Leigh at Instagram. Related: Tartt’s remarks on slow writing (transcribed by Elon Green and Iris Blasi from last night’s conversation); an essay I wrote earlier this year, “Some Company for Slow Writers,” about Tartt as my inspiration and touchstone in this regard; and the book inscription from last night that I couldn’t help but share.
Talking with Donna Tartt in Park Slope tonight
by Maud | October 29th, 2013
I’m thrilled: Tonight Donna Tartt will read from her wonderful new novel, The Goldfinch, at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, and then she and I will have a conversation about it.
We’re filling up, but you can still reserve a spot, if you’re interested. And if you’d like to join us but can’t make it for one reason or another, here are some highlights from her archives as consolation.
Nobody’s Stranger, Part 2
by Maud | October 3rd, 2013
Part two of “Nobody’s Stranger,” my Miami noir love story, is up at Medium today. (Part one. The story’s loooong history.)
Tags: my fiction
Nobody’s Stranger: My Miami noir love story
by Maud | September 30th, 2013
“Nobody’s Stranger,” a new (and also very old) twisted Miami-noirish short story of mine, goes up in two parts at Medium this week.
I say “old,” because I wrote the first version of it in Harry Crews’ class at the age of twenty. That early draft got lost, but my friend Andy and I reminisced about it (and about studying with Crews) on this site nine years ago, and afterward I wrote this version.
Since then I’ve tinkered with it here and there but it’s mostly been sitting around in a folder. Not long ago, Julie read and liked it, so when Lizzie asked if I had any fiction she could consider for Open Ticket, her great new Medium collection, I sent it along. She’s read big chunks of my novel-in-progress (excerpted at Narrative), which is very different, so I was nervous. To my surprise and delight, she asked to run it.
Here’s part one.
Tags: my fiction, published elsewhere, tgbiw
My teeny NYT Magazine columns, in one place
by Maud | August 4th, 2013
I’ve been meaning to create a slideshow of my New York Times Magazine columnlets, for my own archival purposes more than anything, and I’ve finally done it. They appear in the “One-Page Magazine” every Sunday, in print and online. My ambit is loosely historical, so I don’t always focus on books and writers, but in one way or another I often do.
My profile of Joan Didion for Humanities
by Maud | July 20th, 2013
Anyone who’s stopped by this site over the years probably knows that I revere Joan Didion. I had the great honor of interviewing her for Humanities Magazine in the lead-up to her receipt of the National Humanities Medal. The profile that resulted is pretty brief, so I posted some outtakes on my Tumblr.
The short time I spent with her will stay with me always.
Sunday reading, a day early
My New York Times Magazine columnlet this week is about Chris Offutt’s attempts to bake a “Bible Cake” recipe (first published in a Kentucky P.T.A. cookbook in 1967) without cursing.
Just about every time I mention a piece of writing in one of these tiny columns, it’s because I hope everyone who sees it will seek the thing out and read it. This one is no exception. I hope I captured a fraction of the flavor (sorry) of Offutt’s full essay, which appears in The Oxford American.
Last week’s columnlet was on Joan Schenkar’s speculations about Patricia Highsmith and marriage equality for The Fertile Fact. Another recent one was devoted to Brett Fletcher Lauer’s faux Missed Connections, which he wrote about for A Public Space.
Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s conversation with Jonathan Franzen about his forthcoming novel, The Sound of Things Falling, is only available in the galley, but it’s a fascinating prelude to an excellent book.
It got better
by Maud | June 26th, 2013
My father used to theorize, proudly, that Bowers v. Hardwick was based partly on reasoning from some law review note he wrote. The details are hazy in my memory, and the claim was always speculative, not to mention (characteristically and horrifically) grandiose, but whether or not my father actually helped preside over this era of hatred and bigotry, I’m thrilled it is finally coming to an end.
(Thanks, Ken, for the U.S. rainbow flag.)
Summertime salutations
I sometimes miss writing here, on this website. It seems so old-fashioned to me now, a tiny Internet island disconnected from everything else. I remember first starting to type in this little box, or one very much like it, and the wonder and excitement and anxiety I felt when people responded from their own little boxes and linked to what I’d written. That was eleven years ago. Eleven years!
I’m not the sort of person who wishes things had stayed as they were. I like Tumblr and Twitter, etc., etc., and I’m interested to see what comes next. But I do feel a little wistful from time to time for the newness of the experience of typing some stream-of-consciousness thing like this — which is not at all what I was expecting to write when I opened up WordPress — and setting it loose into the world.
Now I’m putting that energy into my book, which feels good and right, but I wanted to say hello to any longtime readers who might be passing through. So, hello out there! Isn’t this blogging thing crazy?
I originally popped in to link to some things I’ve done in the past couple of months and neglected to mention here: an essay for The New Republic, “How Occupy Changed Contemporary Art: Molly Crabapple’s ‘altarpieces to the revolution’,” and an interview with Naomi Alderman about religion, Margaret Atwood, and The Liars’ Gospel, for Barnes & Noble Review. I’m still having a lot of fun doing my columnlet for the New York Times Magazine’s One Page Magazine every Sunday. The panda mask at the top of this post is Kyle Hilton’s illustration for the one based around Emily Witt’s fascinating “What Do You Desire?” Last Sunday’s subject was the great Sinead O’Connor.
Right now, apart from my novel, I’m working on a dream of an assignment for another of my favorite magazines. I’m so excited, I keep wondering if I made this up. But I have a contract, so if all goes well, you can read it there eventually.
Finally, I need to thank the illustrious Bud Parr of Sonnet Media, who quickly redid my site and got it back online the last time it went belly-up. If you’re looking for someone to design and maintain a website for you, you really can’t do better than Bud.
Happy summer, you guys! If you were here, I’d make you a salty dog. We could drink them on the terrace with all my herbs and flowers, and my lemon tree, which survived the winter indoors, but we’d have to do it really quickly. It’s getting ready to storm.
Stuff from me, in the mail
by Maud | May 15th, 2013
Putting together packages for Quarterly Co. has been a lot of fun and a lot of work. I’m ironing out the details for for my very last one right now.
The most recent shipment included Colson Whitehead’s Colossus of New York, art from Molly Crabapple, a short story from Roxane Gay, (a link to) Patty Griffin’s “Florida,” and a letter. The subject was places. Muriel Spark, Roland Barthes, Denise Levertov, Bill Hickok, and Breaking Bad made appearances in previous packages, which were about work and grief, but not the combination thereof.
I’m also excited to be contributing to the Rumpus’ Letters in the Mail. My dispatch goes out in June. Subscriptions are $5 monthly, if you’d like something fun to keep the bills company in your mailbox.
Tags: letters, packages, postal mail
On the rise of the “Christian bar mitzvah”
by Maud | April 8th, 2013
For the weekend’s New York Times Magazine, I wrote about the increasing popularity of traditional Jewish rituals among American evangelical Christians — including, in a small but growing sector, “bar mitzvahs” for their kids. The article, “Oy Vey, Christian Soldiers,” appeared in the March 22 issue, and you can see some photos and videos of these practices in a related post.
Tags: christian bar mitzvah, maud newton, new york times magazine, reality tv
On Rachel Kushner’s The Flamethrowers
For NPR, I review Rachel Kushner’s brilliant lightning bolt of a novel, The Flamethrowers, which straddles two revolutions: the squatter-artist colonization of Manhattan’s SoHo in the 1970s, and the rise of Italy’s radical left during the same period. An excerpt:
Its young artist narrator, Reno, is wistful and brutally candid at once, with a voice like a painting — lush and evocative — but also like a scythe. “Enchantment,” she says, describing her dashed hopes after a one-night stand, “means to want something and also to know, somewhere inside yourself, not an obvious place, that you aren’t going to get it.”
The rest is here. See also: Kushner’s Paris Review essay on the photos that inspired her while writing; praise from James Wood and Ron Charles.
Letter from Jerusalem
by Maud | February 13th, 2013
It’s impossible to choose a favorite thing in Jerusalem so far, but right now I believe it may be the Bulgarian feta with hyssop and sun-dried tomatoes that’s laid out every morning with the rest of our hotel’s immense breakfast spread.
I’m here for the Jerusalem International Book Fair, where Mark Sarvas, Boaz Cohen, Naomi Alderman and I spoke yesterday about books, the Internet, and writing and creating art from a place of passion and authenticity.
Mark and I don’t see each other nearly often enough these days, and it’s been great to roam the city and catch up. Boaz is smart and charming; it’s easy to see why his radio show and his blog are beloved here. And I adored Naomi, whose first novel, Disobedience, I praised on this site years ago and whose game-writing I’ve always wanted to know more about. She and I nerdily compared iPad apps and promised to meet up in New York to talk about being refugees from fundamentalism.
Max and I spent Monday in the Old City, and had drinks and dinner that night at Mona (yum) with the writer Menachem Kaiser, Israel Museum Director James Snyder, and some other fine people. Yesterday was all about the book fair, but after drinks at the National Library, Max, Mark, and I slipped off to dinner at Eucalyptus.
This morning Max and I head to Bethlehem for a few hours, and then we’ll meet up with Mark at Yad Vashem. Tonight we dine at Canele. Tomorrow morning we go to the Israel Museum for the new Herod exhibition, and in the afternoon to the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane. Early Friday morning — a little after midnight — we head home. So far, thanks to my body’s time zone confusion, I’m averaging three-and-a-half hours’ sleep a night. I’d really like to get a nap in; for now I have jetlag limericks from Facebook friends.
Max took this photo, looking east from the Tower of David Museum, on Monday afternoon.
On literary prizes
by Maud | February 8th, 2013
At the New York Times’ Room for Debate, some of my thoughts on literary prizes. (And on only recently discovering Rabindranath Tagore.)
In the latest Bookforum: Florida, true and fake
by Maud | February 1st, 2013
I wrote about T.D. Allman’s Finding Florida, a history of the state, and a history of the state’s fake history of itself, for the latest Bookforum. It’s only available in print.
Updated July 4, 2014, to add this scan:
Some company for slow writers
by Maud | January 23rd, 2013
For Tin House’s site, I write about finding solace for the slow pace of my own novel in the writing of Donna Tartt and my friend Alexander Chee.
Ellen Ullman and the mess we make of connecting
“Search is a deep human yearning, an ancient trope in the recorded history of human life.” Please get to know Ellen Ullman’s novelistic and critical brilliance (which I discuss at length at Salon) if you haven’t yet.
The tavern as tabernacle
“The model I saw was that a writer was someone who sat at the table writing.” At B&N Review, I talk with writer, bartender, and NYT Mag drink columnist Rosie Schaap about her new book Drinking With Men.
New Yorker classics
by Maud | January 5th, 2013
At The New Yorker’s Double Take, Alexander Chee, Laura Miller, Dwight Garner, Sloane Crosley, and I choose some of our favorite longreads from the magazine’s archives.
Things I’m Doing
I’ve updated events page to include upcoming appearances at the Pratt Writers’ Forum, Jerusalem International Book Fair, and 2013 AWP Conference, and a reading from the anthology What My Mother Gave Me, at Greenlight Books.
Later updated to say: I just saw Kirkus’ nice bit of praise for my essay, “Mess Up Your Mind,” from the anthology (now a New York Times bestseller!): “Maud Newton writes about how she and her mother circle each other warily, their orbits held by a love of literature.” We’ve had some bumpy times, mama and me, but I
Tags: maud newton, mothers, new york times bestseller, what my mother gave me
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2008 10/11 Year Old All-Star Baseball District 4 Champions!
The McLean American 10-11 year old All-Star baseball team won the District 4 Championship, sweeping through the tournament with four straight wins. In three of the games, McLean came from behind to win. In the opener, McLean rallied from a 0-2 deficit to win 5-2 over Vienna National. In the first game, Cam Hester hit the first of his three home runs. He was walked intentionally four times during the tournament.
In the second game, McLean had 16 hits to out slug Falls Church 13-10. In game 3, McLean beat the Vienna Colonial squad that had not been scored upon previously, winning 7-6. Jameson Culp, Caleb Beatty and Cam Hester led the attack.
In an incredible final, McLean American faced Alexandria, the winner of the losers’ bracket. Alexandria took a 9-1 lead after 2 innings by excellent hitting from the Alexandria players, including a grand slam home run by Antonio Diz. McLean fought back but still trailed 9-7 going into the top of the 6th inning. The team rallied to bat through the order in the top of the sixth to go ahead 10-9. William Rau pitched well and recorded the win, while Matthew Spidi recorded the save.
On July 25th, McLean American begins play in the Virginia State Tournament in Virginia Beach. The first game is Friday at 3 p.m. again Louisa. The McLean American team headquarters are at The Oceanfront Inn. This is the first McLean baseball team to win a District 4 title in 5 years.
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Moving Image[remove]125
Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)[remove]125
Northwestern University Football Films122
Bursar's Office Collection1
Northwestern University School of Commerce Building Demolition Films1
University Archives Audiovisual Media1
Northwestern University Archives125
You searched for: Format Moving Image Remove constraint Format: Moving Image Main contributor Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) Remove constraint Main contributor: Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)
1. Big Ten Conference Presents Its 1952 Football Highlights (34:11)
Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)
Big Ten highlight reel of the 1952 season. Narrated by Jack Drees. Introduction by Kenneth L. "Tug" Wilson, Big Ten Conference commisioner. NU coach during the 1952 season: Bob Voigts
2. Big Ten, Big Time, 1971 (25:43)
Big Ten highlight reel of the 1971 season. Narrated by Bill Flemming. Music by the Purdue University "All-American" Band. Conducted by Al G. Wright and William D. Kisinger. NU Coach during the 1971...
3. Demolition of Northwestern University's School of Commerce Building (Memorial Hall) (11:00)
Footage of the demolition of the School of Commerce building. The first part is a NBC news report about the demolition and plans for the future. The second part is silent footage of the demolition....
4. Evening with Kathryn Ogletree, Reflections on the Bursar's Office Takeover (1:23:17)
Kathryn Ogletree (WCAS’71, TGS’76) reflects on the Bursar's Office Takeover at Northwestern University in 1968. Ogletree was one of more than 100 African American student activists who occupied the...
5. Northwestern Football fifth scrimmage, 1971 (04:06)
Fifth scrimmage, May 1971. Coach: Alex Agase.
6. Northwestern Football first scrimmage, 1971 (39:38)
First scrimmage, 1971. Coach: Alex Agase.
7. Northwestern Football highlight reel, 1931 (11:33)
Games appear in order: Northwestern vs. Nebraska (white helmets), October 3, 1931, home game, final score: NU 19, Nebraska 7. Northwestern vs. Notre Dame (in rain), October 10, 1931, played at Sold...
Touchdown highlights from games against Ohio State University, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin during the 1935 season. Coach: Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf.
Touchdown highlights from games against the University of Iowa, Ohio State University, the University of Illinois, and the University of Minnesota during the 1936 season. Coach: Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf.
10. Northwestern Football highlight reel, 1937 (07:58)
Touchdown highlights from games against Iowa State, the University of Michigan, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin during the 1937 season. Coach: Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf.
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Rule G-12 Uniform Practice
(a) Scope and Notice
(b) Settlement Dates
(c) Dealer Confirmations
(d) Comparison and Verification of Confirmations; Unrecognized Transactions
(e) Delivery of Securities
(f) Use of Automated Comparison, Clearance, and Settlement Systems
(g) Rejections and Reclamations
(h) Close-Out
(i) Settlement of Secondary Market Trading Account
(j) Interest Payment Claims
(a) Scope and Notice.
(i) All transactions in municipal securities between any broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer and any other broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer shall be subject to the provisions of this rule, provided, however, that a transaction submitted to a registered clearing agency for comparison shall be exempt from the provisions of section (c) and, to the extent such transaction is compared by the clearing agency, section (d) of this rule, and a transaction which is settled or cleared through the facilities of a registered clearing agency shall be exempt from the provisions of section (e) of this rule.
(ii) Failure to deliver securities sold or to pay for securities as delivered, on or after the settlement date does not effect a cancellation of a transaction which is subject to the provisions of this rule, unless otherwise provided in this rule or agreed upon by the parties.
(iii) Unless otherwise specifically indicated, any "immediate" notice required by this rule or any notice required to be given "immediately" shall be given by telephone, telegraph or other means of communication having same day receipt capability and confirmed in writing within one business day.
(b) Settlement Dates.
(i) Definitions. For purposes of this rule, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(A) Settlement Date. The term "settlement date" shall mean the day used in price and interest computations, which shall also be the day delivery is due unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
(B) Business Day. The term "business day" shall mean a day recognized by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority as a day on which securities transactions may be settled.
(ii) Settlement Dates. Settlement dates shall be as follows:
(A) for "cash" transactions, the trade date;
(B) for "regular way" transactions, the second business day following the trade date;
(C) for "when, as and if issued" transactions, a date agreed upon by both parties, which date: (1) with respect to transactions required to be compared in an automated comparison system under rule G-12(f)(i), shall not be earlier than two business days after notification of initial settlement date for the issue is provided to the registered clearing agency by the managing underwriter for the issue as required by rule G-34(a)(ii)(D)(2); and (2) with respect to transactions not eligible for automated comparison, shall not be earlier than the second business day following the date that the confirmation indicating the final settlement date is sent; and
(D) for all other transactions, a date agreed upon by both parties, provided, however, that a broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer shall not effect or enter into a transaction for the purchase or sale of a municipal security (other than a "when, as and if issued" transaction) that provides for payment of funds and delivery of securities later than the second business day after the date of the transaction unless expressly agreed to by the parties, at the time of the transaction.
(c) Dealer Confirmations. All municipal securities transactions that are ineligible for automated comparison in a system operated by a registered clearing agency shall be subject to the provisions of this section (c).
(i) Except as otherwise indicated in this section (c), each party to a transaction shall send a confirmation of the transaction to the other party on the trade date.
(ii) Confirmations of cash transactions shall be exchanged by telephone on the trade date, with written confirmation sent within one business day following the trade date.
(iii) For transactions effected on a "when, as and if issued" basis, initial confirmations shall be sent within one business day following the trade date. Confirmations from a syndicate or account manager to the members of the syndicate or account may be in the form of a letter, covering all maturities of the issue, setting forth the information hereafter specified in this section (c). Confirmations indicating the final settlement date shall be sent by the seller at least three business days prior to the settlement date.
(iv) **Reserved for future use.**
(v) Each confirmation shall contain the following information:
(A) confirming party’s name, address and telephone number;
(B) "contra party" identification;
(C) designation of purchase from or sale to;
(D) par value of the securities;
(E) description of the securities, including at a minimum the name of the issuer, interest rate, maturity date, and if the securities are limited tax, subject to redemption prior to maturity (callable), or revenue bonds, an indication to such effect, including in the case of revenue bonds the type of revenue, if necessary for a materially complete description of the securities and in the case of any securities, if necessary for a materially complete description of the securities, the name of any company or other person in addition to the issuer obligated, directly or indirectly, with respect to debt service or, if there is more than one such obligor, the statement "multiple obligors" may be shown;
(F) CUSIP number, if any, assigned to the securities;
(G) trade date;
(H) settlement date;
(I) yield at which transaction was effected and resulting dollar price, except in the case of securities which are traded on the basis of dollar price or securities sold at par, in which event only dollar price need be shown (in cases in which securities are priced to call or to par option, this must be stated and the call or option date and price used in the calculation must be shown, and where a transaction is effected on a yield basis, the dollar price shall be calculated to the lowest of price to call, price to par option, or price to maturity);
(J) amount of concession, if any, per $1000 par value unless stated to be an aggregate figure, provided, however, that for a transaction in securities maturing in two or more years and, at the time of the transaction, paying investment return solely through capital appreciation, the concession, if any, shall be expressed as a percentage of the price of these securities;
(K) amount of accrued interest;
(L) extended principal amount;
(M) total dollar amount of transaction; and
(N) instructions, if available, regarding receipt or delivery of securities, and form of payment if other than as usual and customary between the parties.
The confirmation for a transaction in securities traded on a discounted basis (other than discounted securities traded on a yield-equivalent basis) shall not be required to show the pricing information specified in subparagraph (I) nor the accrued interest specified in subparagraph (K). Such information shall, however, contain the rate of discount and resulting dollar price. Such confirmation may, in lieu of the resulting dollar price and the extended principal amount specified in subparagraph (L), show the total dollar amount of the discount.
The confirmation for a transaction in securities maturing in more than two years and paying investment return solely at redemption shall not show the par value of the securities specified in subparagraph (D) and shall not be required to show the amount of accrued interest specified in subparagraph (K). Such confirmation shall, however, show the maturity value of the securities and specify that the interest rate on the securities is "0%."
The initial confirmation for a "when, as and if issued" transaction shall not be required to contain the information specified in subparagraphs (H), (K), (L), and (M) of this paragraph or the resulting dollar price as specified in subparagraph (I).
(vi) In addition to the information required by paragraph (v) above, each confirmation shall contain the following information, if applicable:
(A) dated date if it affects the price or interest calculation, and first interest payment date, if other than semi-annual;
(B) if the securities are available only in book-entry form, a designation to such effect;
(C) if the securities are identified by the issuer or sold by the underwriter as subject to federal taxation, a designation to that effect;
(D) if the interest on the securities is identified by the issuer or the underwriter as subject to the alternative minimum tax, a designation to that effect;
(E) if the securities are "called" or "pre-refunded," a designation to such effect, the date of maturity which has been fixed by the call notice, and the amount of the call price;
(F) denominations of securities other than bonds, and, in the case of bonds, denominations other than those specified in paragraph (e)(v) hereof;
(G) if the securities pay periodic interest and are sold by the underwriter as original issue discount securities, a designation that they are "original issue discount" securities;
(H) any special instructions or qualifications, or factors affecting payment of principal or interest, such as (1) "ex legal," or (2) if the securities are traded without interest, "flat," or (3) if the securities are in default as to the payment of interest or principal, "in default," or (4) with respect to securities with periodic interest payments, if such securities pay interest on other than a semi-annual basis, a statement of the basis on which interest is paid; and
(I) such other information as may be necessary to ensure that the parties agree to the details of the transaction.
(d) Comparison and Verification of Confirmations; Unrecognized Transactions.
(i) Upon receipt of a confirmation, each party to a transaction shall compare and verify such confirmation to ascertain whether any discrepancies exist. If any discrepancies exist in the information as set forth in two compared confirmations, the party discovering such discrepancies shall promptly communicate such discrepancies to the contra party and both parties shall promptly attempt to resolve the discrepancies. In the event the parties are able to resolve the discrepancies, the party in error shall within one business day following such resolution, send a corrected confirmation to the contra party. Such confirmation shall indicate that it is a correction and the date of the corrected confirmation. In the event the parties are unable to resolve the discrepancies, each party shall promptly send to the contra party a written notice, return receipt requested, indicating nonrecognition of the transaction.
(ii) In the event a party receives a confirmation for a transaction which it does not recognize, it shall promptly seek to ascertain whether a trade occurred and the terms of the trade. In the event it determines that a trade occurred and the confirmation it received was correct, such party shall immediately notify the confirming party by telephone and, within one business day thereafter, send a written confirmation of the transaction to the confirming party. In the event a party cannot confirm the trade, such party shall immediately notify the confirming party by telephone and, within one business day, thereafter send a written notice, return receipt requested, to the confirming party, indicating nonrecognition of the transaction. Promptly upon receipt of such notice, the confirming party shall verify its records and, if it agrees with the non-confirming party, promptly send a notice of cancellation of the transaction, return receipt requested, to the non-confirming party.
(iii) In the event a party has sent a confirmation of a transaction, but fails to receive a confirmation from the contra party or a notice indicating nonrecognition of the transaction, the confirming party shall, not earlier than the fourth business day following the trade date (the sixth business day following the trade date, in the case of an initial confirmation of a transaction effected on a "when, as and if issued" basis) nor later than the eighth business day following the trade date, seek to ascertain whether a trade occurred. If, after such verification, such party believes that a trade occurred, it shall immediately notify the non-confirming party by telephone to such effect and send within one business day thereafter, a written notice, return receipt requested, to the non-confirming party, indicating failure to confirm. Promptly following receipt of telephone notice from the confirming party, the non-confirming party shall seek to ascertain whether a trade occurred and the terms of the trade. In the event the non-confirming party determines that a trade occurred, it shall immediately notify the confirming party by telephone to such effect and, within one business day thereafter, send a written confirmation of the transaction to the confirming party. In the event a party cannot confirm the trade, such party shall promptly send a written notice, return receipt requested, to the confirming party, indicating nonrecognition of the transaction.
(iv) If procedures are initiated pursuant to paragraph (ii) of this section, the procedures required by paragraph (iii) need not be followed; and conversely, if procedures are initiated pursuant to paragraph (iii) of this section, the procedures required by paragraph (ii) need not be followed.
(v) In the event any material discrepancies or differences, basic to the transaction, remain unresolved by the close of the business day following receipt by a party of a written notice indicating nonrecognition or by the close of the business day following the date the confirming party gives telephone notice of the transaction to the non-confirming party pursuant to paragraph (iii) above, whichever first occurs, the transaction may be cancelled by the confirming party or, in the event there exists disagreement concerning the terms of the transaction, by either confirming party. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect whatever rights the confirming party or parties may otherwise have with respect to a transaction which is cancelled pursuant to this paragraph.
(vi) Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the settlement of a transaction prior to completion of the procedures prescribed in this section (d); provided that each party to the transaction shall be responsible for sending to the other party, within one business day of such settlement, a confirmation evidencing the terms of the transaction.
(vii) The notices referred to in this section indicating nonrecognition of a transaction or failure to confirm a transaction shall contain sufficient information to identify the confirmation to which the notice relates including, at a minimum, the information set forth in subparagraphs (A) through (E), (G) and (H) of paragraph (c)(v), as well as the confirmation number. In addition, such notice shall identify the firm and person providing such notice and the date thereof. The requirements of this paragraph may be satisfied by providing a copy of the confirmation of an unrecognized transaction, marked "don't know," together with the name of the firm and person providing such notice and the date thereof.
(e) Delivery of Securities. The following provisions shall, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, govern the delivery of securities:
(i) Place and Time of Delivery. Delivery shall be made at the office of the purchaser, or its designated agent, between the hours established by rule or practice in the community in which such office is located. If the parties so agree, book entry or other delivery through the facilities of a registered clearing agency will constitute good delivery for purposes of this rule.
(ii) Securities Delivered.
(A) All securities delivered on a transaction shall be identical as to the information set forth in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (c)(v) and, to the extent applicable, the information set forth in subparagraphs (A) and (E) of paragraph (c)(vi). All securities delivered shall also be identical as to the call provisions and the dated date of such securities.
(B) CUSIP Numbers.
(1) The securities delivered on a transaction shall have the same CUSIP number as that set forth on the confirmation of such transaction pursuant to the requirements of subparagraph (c)(v)(F) of this rule; provided, however, that, for purposes of this item (1), a security shall be deemed to have the same CUSIP number as that specified on the confirmation (a) if the number assigned to the security and the number specified on the confirmation differ only as a result of a transposition or other transcription error, or (b) if the number specified on the confirmation has been assigned as a substitute or alternative number for the number reflected on the security.
(2) A new issue security delivered by an underwriter who is subject to the provisions of rule G-34 shall have the CUSIP number assigned to the security imprinted on or otherwise affixed to the security.
(iii) Delivery Ticket. A delivery ticket shall accompany the delivery of securities. Such ticket shall contain the information set forth in subparagraphs (A), (B), (D) (except in the case of transactions in zero coupon, compound interest and multiplier securities, in which case the maturity value shall be shown), (E) through (H), (M) and (N) of paragraph (c)(v) and, to the extent applicable, the information set forth in subparagraphs (A) through (I) of paragraph (c)(vi) and shall have attached to it an extra copy of the ticket which may be used to acknowledge receipt of the securities.
(iv) Partial Delivery. The purchaser shall not be required to accept a partial delivery with respect to a single trade in a single security. For purposes of this paragraph, a "single security" shall mean a security of the same issuer having the same maturity date, coupon rate and price. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to deliveries made pursuant to balance orders or other similar instructions issued by a registered clearing agency.
(v) Units of Delivery. Delivery of bonds shall be made in the following denominations:
(A) for bearer bonds, in denominations of $1,000 or $5,000 par value; and
(B) for registered bonds, in denominations which are multiples of $1,000 par value, up to $100,000 par value.
Delivery of other municipal securities shall be made in the denominations specified on the confirmation as required pursuant to paragraph (c)(vi) of this rule except that deliveries of notes may be made in denominations smaller than those specified if the notes delivered can be aggregated to constitute the denominations specified.
(vi) Form of Securities.
(A) Bearer and Registered Form. Delivery of securities which are issuable in both bearer and registered form may be in bearer form unless otherwise agreed by the parties; provided, however, that delivery of securities which are required to be in registered form in order for interest thereon to be exempt from Federal income taxation shall be in registered form.
(B) Book-Entry Form. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section (e), with respect to a security which may be transferred only by bookkeeping entry, without the physical delivery of securities certificates, on books maintained for this purpose by a person who is not a registered clearing agent, a delivery of such security shall be made only by a book-entry transfer of the ownership of the security to the purchasing dealer or a person designated by the purchasing dealer.
(vii) Mutilated Certificates. Delivery of a certificate which is damaged to the extent that any of the following is not ascertainable:
(A) name of issuer;
(B) par value;
(C) signature;
(D) coupon rate;
(E) maturity date;
(F) seal of the issuer; or
(G) certificate number
shall not constitute good delivery unless validated by the trustee, registrar, transfer agent, paying agent or issuer of the securities or by an authorized agent or official of the issuer.
(viii) Coupon Securities.
(A) Coupon securities shall have securely attached to the certificate in the correct sequence all appropriate coupons, including supplemental coupons if specified at the time of trade, which in the case of securities upon which interest is in default shall include all unpaid or partially paid coupons. All coupons attached to the certificates must have the same serial number as the certificate.
(B) Anything herein to the contrary notwithstanding, if securities are traded "and interest" and the settlement date is on or after the interest payment date, such securities shall be delivered without the coupon payable on such interest payment date.
(C) If delivery of securities is made on or after the thirtieth calendar day prior to an interest payment date, the seller may deliver to the purchaser a draft or bank check of the seller or its agent, payable not later than the interest payment date or the delivery date, whichever is later, in an amount equal to the interest due in lieu of the coupon.
(ix) Mutilated or Cancelled Coupons. Delivery of a certificate which bears a coupon which is damaged to the extent that any one of the following cannot be ascertained from the coupon:
(A) title of the issuer;
(B) certificate number;
(C) coupon number or payment date (if either the coupon number or the payment date is ascertainable from the coupon, the coupon will not be considered mutilated); or
(D) the fact that there is a signature;
or which coupon has been cancelled, shall not constitute good delivery unless the coupon is endorsed or guaranteed. In the case of damaged coupons, such endorsement or guarantee must be by the issuer or by a commercial bank. In the case of cancelled coupons, such endorsement or guarantee must be by the issuer or an authorized agent or official of the issuer, or by the trustee or paying agent.
(x) Delivery of Certificates Called for Redemption.
(A) A certificate for which a notice of call applicable to less than the entire issue of securities has been published on or prior to the delivery date shall not constitute good delivery unless the securities are identified as "called" at the time of trade.
(B) A certificate for which a notice of call applicable to the entire issue of securities has been published on or prior to the trade date shall not constitute good delivery unless the securities are identified as "called" at the time of trade.
(C) For purposes of this paragraph (x) and Items (D)(2) and (D)(3) of paragraph G-12(g)(iii), the term "entire issue of securities" shall mean securities of the same issuer having the same date of issue, maturity date and interest rate.
(xi) Delivery Without Legal Opinions or Other Documents. Delivery of certificates without legal opinions or other documents legally required to accompany the certificates shall not constitute good delivery unless identified as "ex legal" at the time of trade.
(xii) Insured Securities. Delivery of certificates for securities traded as insured securities shall be accompanied by evidence of such insurance, either on the face of the certificate or in a document attached to the certificate.
(xiii) Endorsements for Banking or Insurance Requirements. A security bearing an endorsement indicating that it was deposited in accordance with legal requirements applicable to banking institutions or insurance companies shall not constitute good delivery unless it bears a release acknowledged before an officer authorized to take such acknowledgments and was designated as a released endorsed security at the time of trade.
(xiv) Delivery of Registered Securities
(A) Assignments. Delivery of a certificate in registered form must be accompanied by an assignment on the certificate or on a separate bond power for such certificate, containing a signature or signatures which corresponds in every particular with the name or names written upon the certificate, except that the following shall be interchangeable: "and" or "&"; "Company" or "Co."; "Incorporated" or "Inc."; and "Limited" or "Ltd."
(B) Detached Assignment Requirements. A detached assignment shall provide for the irrevocable appointment of an attorney, with power of substitution, a full description of the security, including the name of the issuer, the maturity date and interest date, the bond or note number, and the par value (expressed in words and numerals).
(C) Power of Substitution. When the name of an individual or firm has been inserted in an assignment as attorney, a power of substitution shall be executed in blank by such individual or firm. When the name of an individual or firm has been inserted in a power of substitution as a substitute attorney, a new power of substitution shall be executed in blank by such substitute attorney.
(D) Guarantee. Each assignment, endorsement, alteration and erasure shall bear a guarantee acceptable to the transfer agent or registrar.
(E) Form of Registration. Delivery of a certificate accompanied by the documentation required in this paragraph (xiv) shall constitute good delivery if the certificate is registered in the name of:
(1) an individual or individuals;
(2) a nominee;
(3) a member of a national securities exchange whose specimen signature is on file with the transfer agent or any other broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer who has filed specimen signatures with the transfer agent and places a statement to this effect on the assignment; or
(4) an individual or individuals acting in a fiduciary capacity.
(F) Certificate in Legal Form. Good transfer of a security in legal form shall be determined only by the transfer agent for the security. Delivery of a certificate in legal form shall not constitute good delivery unless the certificate is identified as being in such form at the time of trade. A certificate shall be considered to be in legal form if documentation in addition to that specified in this paragraph (xiv) is required to complete a transfer of the securities.
(G) Payment of Interest. If a registered security is traded "and interest" a delivery of such security made on a date after the record date for the determination of registered holders for the payment of interest shall be accompanied by a draft or bank check of the seller or its agent, payable not later than the interest payment date or the delivery date, whichever is later, for the amount of the interest.
(H) Registered Securities in Default. If a registered security is in default (i.e., is in default in the payment of principal or interest) and a date for payment of interest due has been established, a delivery of such security made on a date after the date established as the record date for the determination of registered holders for the payment of interest shall be accompanied by a draft or bank check of the seller or its agent, payable not later than the interest payment date or the delivery date, whichever is later, for the amount of the payment to be made by the issuer, unless the security is traded "ex-interest."
(xv) Expenses of Shipment. Expenses of shipment of securities, including insurance, postage, draft, and collection charges, shall be paid by the seller.
(xvi) Money Differences. The following money differences shall not be sufficient to cause rejection of delivery:
Par Value Maximum Differences Per Transaction
$1,000 to $24,999 $10
$25,000 to $99,999 $25
$100,000 to $249,999 $60
$250,000 to $999,999 $250
$1,000,000 and over $500
The calculations of the seller shall be utilized in determining the maximum permissible differences and amount of payment to be made upon delivery. The parties shall seek to reconcile any such money differences within ten business days following settlement.
(f) Use of Automated Comparison, Clearance, and Settlement Systems.
(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections (c) and (d) of this rule, an Inter-Dealer Transaction Eligible for Comparison by a Clearing Agency Registered with the Commission (registered clearing agency) shall be compared through a registered clearing agency. Each party to such a transaction shall submit or cause to be submitted to a registered clearing agency all information and instructions required from the party by the registered clearing agency for automated comparison of the transaction to occur. Each transaction effected during the RTRS Business Day shall be submitted for comparison within 15 minutes of the Time of Trade, unless the transaction is subject to an exception specified in the Rule G-14 RTRS Procedures paragraph (a)(ii), in which case it shall be submitted for comparison in the time frame specified in the Rule G-14 RTRS Procedures paragraph (a)(ii). Transactions effected outside the hours of an RTRS Business Day shall be submitted no later than 15 minutes after the beginning of the next RTRS Business Day. In the event that a transaction submitted to a registered clearing agency for comparison in accordance with the requirements of this paragraph (i) shall fail to compare, the party submitting such transaction shall, as soon as possible, use the procedures provided by the registered clearing agency in connection with such transaction until such time as the transaction is compared or final notification of a failure to compare the transaction is received from the contra-party. A broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer ("dealer") that effects inter-dealer transactions eligible for comparison by a clearing agency registered with the Commission shall ensure that submissions made against it in the comparison system are monitored for the purpose of ensuring that correct trade information alleged against it is acknowledged promptly and that erroneous information alleged concerning its side of a trade (or its side of a purported trade) is corrected promptly through the procedures of the registered securities clearing agency or the MSRB.
(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of section (e) of this rule, a transaction eligible for book-entry settlement at a securities depository registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (depository) shall be settled by book-entry through the facilities of a depository or through the interface between two depositories. Each party to such a transaction shall submit or cause to be submitted to a depository all information and instructions required from the party by the depository for book-entry settlement of the transaction to occur; provided that, if a party to a transaction has made arrangements, through its clearing agent or otherwise, to use one or more depositories exclusively, a transaction by that party shall not be subject to the requirements of this paragraph (ii) if the transaction is ineligible for book-entry settlement at all such depositories with which such arrangements have been made.
(iii) For purposes of paragraph (i) of this section (f) a broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer who clears a transaction through an agent who is a member of a registered clearing agency shall be deemed to be a member of such registered clearing agency with respect to such transaction.
(iv) Definitions.
(A) "Inter-Dealer Transaction Eligible for Comparison by a Clearing Agency Registered with the Commission" means a contract for purchase and sale between one dealer and another dealer, resulting in a contractual obligation for one such dealer to transfer municipal securities to the other dealer involved in the transaction, and which contract is eligible for comparison under the procedures of an automated comparison system operated by a registered clearing agency.
(B) "Time of Trade" is defined in Rule G-14 Transaction Reporting Procedures.
(C) The "RTRS Business Day" is defined in Rule G-14 RTRS Transaction Reporting Procedures.
(g) Rejections and Reclamations.
(i) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the terms "rejection" and "reclamation" shall have the following meanings:
(A) "Rejection" shall mean refusal to accept securities which have been presented for delivery.
(B) "Reclamation" shall mean return by the receiving party of securities previously accepted for delivery.
(ii) Basis for Rejection. Securities presented for delivery may be rejected if the contra party fails to make a good delivery.
(iii) Basis for Reclamation and Time Limits. A reclamation may be made by the receiving party or a demand for reclamation may be made by the delivering party if, subsequent to delivery, information is discovered which, if known at the time of the delivery, would have caused the delivery not to constitute good delivery, provided such reclamation or demand for reclamation is made within the following time limits:
(A) Reclamation or demand for reclamation by reason of the following shall be made within one business day following the date of delivery:
(1) not good delivery because a coupon, or an interest check in lieu thereof, required by this rule to accompany delivery was missing; or
(2) not good delivery because a certificate or coupon was mutilated in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of paragraphs (e)(vii) or (ix) hereof; or
(3) not good delivery because a legal opinion or other documents referred to in paragraph (e)(xi) hereof were missing.
(B) Reclamation or demand for reclamation because an interest check accompanying delivery was not honored shall be made within three business days following receipt by the purchaser of the notice of dishonor.
(C) reclamation or demand for reclamation by reason of the following shall be made within 18 months following the date of delivery:
(1) irregularity in delivery, including, but not limited to, delivery of the wrong issue (i.e., issuer, coupon rate or maturity date), duplicate delivery, delivery to the wrong party or location, or over delivery; or
(2) refusal to transfer or deregister by the transfer agent due to presentation of documentation in connection with the transfer or deregistration which the transfer agent deems inadequate; or
(3) information pertaining to the description of the securities was inaccurate for either of the following reasons:
(i) information required by subparagraph (c)(v)(E) of this rule was omitted or erroneously noted on a confirmation, or
(ii) information material to the transaction but not required by subparagraph (c)(v)(E) of this rule was erroneously noted on a confirmation.
(D) Reclamation or demand for reclamation by reason of the following may be made without any time limitation:
(1) the security delivered is reported missing, stolen, fraudulent or counterfeit;
(2) the security delivered is the subject of a notice of call applicable to less than the entire issue of securities that was published on or prior to the delivery date and the security was not identified as "called" at the time of trade; or
(3) the security delivered is the subject of a notice of call applicable to the entire issue of securities that was published on or prior to trade date and the security was not identified as "called" at the time of trade.
The running of any of the time periods specified in this paragraph shall not be deemed to foreclose a party's right to pursue its claim via other means, including arbitration.
(iv) Procedure for Rejection or Reclamation.
(A) If a party elects to reject or reclaim securities, rejection or reclamation shall be effected by returning the securities to the party who had previously delivered them. In the case of a reclamation, the reclaiming party may reclaim all (or, in the case of a reclamation of securities reported to be missing, stolen, fraudulent or counterfeit, any part) of the securities which were not in "good delivery" form on the delivery date in lieu of reclaiming all of the securities delivered. In the case of a reclamation of securities reported missing, stolen, fraudulent or counterfeit, in the event that the securities have been seized by the issuer, an agent of the issuer, or a law enforcement official, reclamation by means of a presentation of a receipt for such securities executed by such person will meet the requirements of this subparagraph (A).
(B) The rejecting or reclaiming party shall also provide a written notice which contains sufficient information to identify the delivery to which the notice relates. The notice shall have attached to it a copy of the original delivery ticket or other proof of delivery, and shall state, to the extent not set forth on the attached document, the following:
(1) the name of the party delivering the securities;
(2) the name of the party receiving the securities;
(3) a description of the securities;
(4) the date the securities were delivered;
(5) the date of rejection or reclamation;
(6) the par value of the securities which are being rejected or reclaimed;
(7) in the case of a reclamation, the amount of money the securities are reclaimed for;
(8) the reason for rejection or reclamation; and
(9) the name and telephone number of the person to contact concerning the rejection or reclamation.
(C) A party demanding reclamation of securities shall send to the contra-party a notice demanding reclamation of the securities. Such notice shall have attached to it a copy of the original delivery ticket or other proof of delivery, and shall state, to the extent not set forth on the attached document, the information specified in items (1) through (9) of subparagraph (B) above.
(D) In the event of a reclamation or a demand for reclamation of a security reported missing, stolen, fraudulent or counterfeit, the reclaiming party or the party demanding reclamation shall also provide a document or documents made available by the issuer, an agent of the issuer, or other authorized person evidencing the report and, in the case of securities reported missing or stolen, evidencing that the loss or theft that is the subject of the report had occurred on or prior to the original delivery date.
(v) Manner of Settlement of Reclamation. Upon reclamation properly made pursuant to this rule, the party receiving the reclamation shall immediately give the party making the reclamation either the correct securities in proper form for delivery in exchange for the securities originally delivered, or the money amount (or the appropriate portion of the money amount) of the original transaction. A party receiving a notice of demand for reclamation shall reclaim the securities which are the subject of such notice as promptly as possible.
(vi) Effect of Rejection or Reclamation. Rejection or reclamation of securities shall not constitute a cancellation of the transaction. In the event of a reclamation of securities, unless otherwise agreed, the party to whom the securities have been reclaimed shall be deemed to be failing to deliver the securities, as of the original transaction settlement date, until such time as a proper delivery is made or the transaction is closed out in accordance with section (h) of this rule.
(h) Close-Out. Transactions which have been compared or otherwise agreed upon by both parties but which have not been completed shall be closed out in accordance with this section, or cancelled by the parties, no later than 10 calendar days after settlement date.
(i) Close-Out by Purchaser. With respect to a transaction which has not been completed by the seller according to its terms and the requirements of this rule, the purchaser may close out the transaction in accordance with the following procedures:
(A) Notice of Close-Out. If the purchaser elects to close out a transaction, the purchaser shall, not earlier than the first business day following the purchaser’s original transaction settlement date, notify the seller via an inter-dealer communication system of the registered clearing agency through which the transaction was compared of the purchaser’s intention to close out the transaction (“notice”).
(1) The purchaser’s notice shall state:
(a) the date and time by which the transaction must be completed, which shall not be earlier than 5:15 p.m. EST of the third business day following the date notice is given (the first business day, in the case of a second or subsequent notice);
(b) the period of time, during which the purchaser intends to execute the close-out transaction, provided that the close-out transaction initiated by the notice (or subsequent notices) must be completed and settled no later than the tenth calendar day following the purchaser’s original transaction settlement date; and
(c) contain the information specified in item (1) of subparagraph (C) below.
(B) Retransmittal. Any party receiving a notice of close-out may retransmit the notice to another broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer from whom the securities are due (“obliged party”). The retransmitting party shall, not later than 5:15 p.m. EST of the first business day following its receipt of the notice from the originating party:
(1) provide the obliged party the name of the originating party and note the dates applicable to the notice are extended by one business day;
(2) retransmit the notice to the obliged party, which shall contain the requirements specified in section (C)(2) below; and
(3) notify the originating party, of the retransmittal notice of extension dates, which shall include the information specified in section (C)(3) below.
(C) Contents of Notices. Notices sent in accordance with the requirements of subparagraphs (A) or (B) above shall contain the following information:
(1) The notice of close-out required under subparagraph (A) above shall set forth:
(a) the identity of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer originating the notice;
(b) the identity of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer to whom the notice is being sent;
(c) the contact to whom the originator provided the required notice;
(d) the date of such notice;
(e) the par value and description of the securities involved in the transaction with respect to which the close-out notice is given;
(f) the trade date and settlement date of the transaction;
(g) the price and total dollar amount of the transaction;
(h) the date by which the securities must be received by the originating dealer, which shall be completed within 10 calendar days of the purchaser’s original transaction settlement date;
(i) the date or dates during which the notice of close-out may be executed; and
(j) the name and telephone number of the person at the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer originating the notice to contact concerning the close-out.
(2) The notice of retransmittal required under subparagraph (B) above shall set forth:
(a) the identity of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer retransmitting the notice;
(b) the identity of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer to whom the notice is being retransmitted;
(c) the identity of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer originating the notice;
(d) the contact to whom the retransmitting party provided the required notice;
(e) the date of such notice;
(f) the par value and description of the securities involved in the transaction with respect to which the retransmittal notice is given;
(g) the trade date and settlement date of the transaction;
(h) the price and total dollar amount of the transaction;
(i) the date by which the securities must be received by the dealer originating the notice (as extended due to the retransmittal);
(j) the date or dates during which the notice of close-out may be executed (as extended due to the retransmittal); and
(k) the name and telephone number of the person at the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer retransmitting the notice to contact concerning the retransmittal.
(3) The notice of extension of dates required under subparagraph (B) above shall set forth:
(a) the identity of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer originating the notice of close-out;
(b) the identity of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer retransmitting the notice;
(c) the identity of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer to whom the notice is being retransmitted;
(d) the contact to whom the retransmitting party provided the required telephonic notice of the extension of dates;
(f) the par value and description of the securities involved in the transaction with respect to which the notice is given;
(g) the date specified by the originating dealer as the date by which delivery of such securities must be made;
(h) the date by which such delivery must be made, as extended due to the retransmittal;
(i) the effective date or dates for the notice of close-out, as extended due to the retransmittal; and
(j) the name and telephone number of the person at the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer retransmitting the notice to contact concerning the close-out.
(D) Seller’s Responsibilities. Once the seller receives a notice it is required to use its best efforts to locate the securities referenced in the notice.
(E) Purchaser’s Options. If the securities described in the notice of close-out are not delivered to the originating purchaser by the date specified in the original notice, or the extended date resulting from a retransmittal, such purchaser may, at its discretion, grant the seller one 10 calendar day extension. To close out a transaction in accordance with the terms of the notice as provided herein the purchaser may, at its option, take one of the following actions:
(1) purchase ("buy-in") at the current market all or any part of the securities necessary to complete the transaction, with the seller bearing any burden from any change in the market price, and any benefit from any change in the market price remaining with the purchaser; or
(2) accept from the seller in satisfaction of the seller’s obligation under the original contract (which shall be concurrently cancelled) a transaction in municipal securities which are comparable to those originally bought in quantity, quality, yield or price, and maturity, with any additional expenses or any additional cost of acquiring such substituted securities being borne by the seller; or
(3) require the seller to repurchase the securities in a transaction on terms which provide that the seller pay an amount which includes accrued interest and bear the burden of any change in market price or yield.
A purchaser executing a close-out shall, upon execution, notify the selling dealer for whose account and liability the transaction was closed out, stating the means of close-out utilized. The purchaser shall immediately thereafter confirm such notice in writing, sent return receipt requested, and forward a copy of the confirmation of the executed transaction. A retransmitting party shall give immediate notice of the execution of the close-out, in accordance with the procedure set forth herein, to the party to whom it retransmitted the notice.
A close-out will operate to close out all transactions covered under retransmitted notices. Any moneys due on the transaction, or on the close-out of the transaction, shall be forwarded to the appropriate party within five business days of the date of execution of the close-out notice. A buy-in may be executed from a long position in customers’ accounts maintained with the party executing the buy-in or, with the agreement of the seller, from the purchaser's contra-party. In all cases, the purchaser must be prepared to defend the price at which the close-out is executed relative to market conditions at the time of the execution.
If the purchasing dealer has multiple transactions in fail status with multiple counterparties, the purchasing dealer may utilize the FIFO (first-in-first-out) method for determining the contract date for the failing quantity.
(F) "Cash" Transactions. The purchaser may close out transactions made for "cash" or made for or amended to include guaranteed delivery at the close of business on the day delivery is due.
(ii) Close-Out by Seller. If a seller makes good delivery according to the terms of the transaction and the requirements of this rule and the purchaser rejects delivery, the seller may close out the transaction in accordance with the following procedures:
(A) Notice of Close-Out. If the seller elects to close out a transaction in accordance with this paragraph (ii), the seller shall at any time not later than the close of business on the first business day following receipt by the seller of notice of the rejection, notify the purchaser via an inter-dealer communication system of the registered clearing agency through which the transaction was compared of the seller's intention to close out the transaction.
(1) The seller’s notice shall state:
(a) the date and time by which the transaction must be completed which shall not be earlier than 5:15 p.m. EST of the close of the business day following the date the notice is given, the transaction may be closed out in accordance with this section; and
(b) contain the information specified in subparagraph (B) below, and shall be accompanied by a copy of the purchaser's confirmation of the transaction to be closed out or other evidence of the contract between the parties.
(B) Content of Notice. The written notice sent in accordance with the requirements of subparagraph (A) above shall set forth:
(1) the identity of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer originating the notice;
(2) the identity of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer to whom the notice is being sent;
(3) the contact to whom the originator provided the required telephonic notice;
(4) the date of such notice;
(5) the par value and description of the securities involved in the transaction with respect to which the close-out notice is given;
(6) the trade date and settlement date of the transaction;
(7) the price and total dollar amount of the transaction;
(8) the date of improper rejection of the delivery;
(9) the date by which the delivery of the securities must be accepted, which shall be completed within 10 calendar days; and
(10) the name and telephone number of the person at the broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer originating the notice to contact regarding the close-out.
(C) Execution of Close-Out. Not earlier than the close of the business day following the date notice of close-out is given to the purchaser, the seller may sell out the transaction at the current market for the account and liability of the purchaser. A seller executing a close-out shall, upon execution, notify the purchaser for whose account and liability the transaction was closed out by telephone. The seller shall immediately thereafter confirm such notice and forward a copy of the confirmation of the executed transaction. Any moneys with any additional expenses or any additional cost due on the close-out of the transaction shall be forwarded to the appropriate party within five business days of the date of execution of the close-out notice.
(D) Acceptance of Delivery. In the event the transaction is completed by the date and time specified in the notice of close-out, the seller shall be entitled, upon demand made to the purchaser, to recover from the purchaser all actual and necessary expenses incurred by the seller by reason of the purchaser’s rejection of delivery.
(iii) Close-Out Under Special Rulings. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent brokers, dealers or municipal securities dealers from closing out transactions as directed by a ruling of a national securities exchange, a registered securities association or an appropriate regulatory agency issued in connection with the liquidation of a broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer.
(iv) Recordkeeping. All records regarding the close-out transaction shall be maintained as part of the firm’s books and records.
(i) Settlement of Secondary Market Trading Account. Final settlement of a secondary market trading account formed for the purchase of securities shall be made within 30 calendar days following the date all securities have been delivered by the account manager to the account members.
(j) Interest Payment Claims. A broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer seeking to claim an interest payment on a municipal security from another broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer may claim such interest payment in accordance with this section. A broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer receiving a claim made under this section shall send to the claimant a draft or bank check for the amount of the interest payment or a statement of its basis for denying the claim no later than 10 business days after the date of receipt of the written notice of the claim or 20 business days in the case of a claim involving an interest payment scheduled to be made more than 60 days prior to the date of the claim.
(i) Determining Party to Receive Claim. A claimant making an interest payment claim under this section shall direct such claim to the party described in this paragraph (i).
(A) Previously Delivered Registered Securities. An interest payment claim made with respect to a registered security previously delivered to the claimant which is registered in the name of a broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer at the time of delivery shall be directed to such broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer. A claim made with respect to a previously delivered registered security not registered in the name of a broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer guaranteeing the signature of the registered owner or, if neither the registered owner nor its signature guarantor is a broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer, to the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer that first placed a signature guarantee on any assignment or power of substitution accompanying the security.
(B) Previously Delivered Bearer Securities. An interest payment claim made with respect to a bearer security previously delivered to the claimant shall be directed to the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer that previously delivered the security.
(C) Securities Delivered by Claimant. An interest payment claim made with respect to a security previously delivered by the claimant shall be directed to the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer that received the securities.
(D) Deliveries by Book-Entry. An interest payment claim arising out of a transaction with a contractual settlement date before, and settled by book-entry on or after, the interest payment date of the security shall be directed to the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer that made the delivery.
(ii) Content of Claim Notice. A claimant seeking to claim an interest payment under this section shall send to the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer against which the claim is made a written notice of claim including, at minimum:
(A) the name and address of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer making the claim;
(B) the name of the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer against which the claim is made;
(C) the amount of the interest payment which is the subject of the claim;
(D) the date on which such interest payment was scheduled to be made (and, in the case of an interest payment on securities which are in default, the original interest payment date);
(E) a description of the security (including any CUSIP number assigned) on which such interest payment was made;
(F) a statement of the basis of the claim for the interest payment;
(G) if the claim is based on the delivery of a registered security, the certificate numbers of each security on which the claim is based and a photocopy of the certificate(s) on which the claim is based or (in lieu of such a photocopy) a written statement from the paying agent identifying the party that received the interest payment which is the subject of the claim; and,
(H) if the claim is made against the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer that previously delivered the security on which the claim is based, or the broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer that received such security, the delivery date or settlement date of the transaction.
Last Updated Date: June 3, 2019
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The Phenomenology of Henry James (review)
John F. Desmond
Volume 9, Number 1, April 1985
Reviews The Phenomenology of Henry James, by Paul B. Armstrong ; xiii & 242 pp. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1983, $26.00. A critical study linking HenryJames and phenomenology would seem to be a natural, both culturally and philosophically. Phenomenological ideas were "in the air" throughout James's career and he certainly imbibed them. Moreover, his philosophical views, insofar as they can be gleaned both from his nonfiction and fiction, seem to suggest a strong affinity with the phenomenological school, the essence of which is summarized by Armstrong as follows: "Although nothing beyond experience guarantees our meanings and values, James and phenomenology discover within experience the basis for a purposeful existence" (p. 211). These similarities serve to inspire Armstrong's study, a discussion of phenomenological concepts in five works: What Maisie Knew, Roderick Hudson, The Portrait ofA Lady, The Golden Bowl, and The Spoils of Poynton. The focal point of the correspondences Armstrong finds between James and phenomenology is, logically, James's emphasis on consciousness, the received impression, and the act of knowing as constitutive of reality. Given this focus, Armstrong argues for a unity between the epistemological and the moral in James's fiction, between knowing and doing, centered in the mind's apprehension of experience. Using analogous concepts from Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, and Heidegger, Armstrong provides an insightful discussion of the significance of the impression as the "intentional ground" ofJames's art. He then proceeds to show how this form of intentionality becomes the unifying point between consciousness and moral vision in What Maisie Knew. Roderick Hudson, on the other hand, is an example of the extravagant imagination, detached from its phenomenological ground, and therefore self-destructive. Armstrong broadens his perspective to a consideration of freedom, necessity, and, echoing Ricoeur, the paradox of the "servile will" in The Portrait ofA Lady. Then, following Sartrean lines, he examines the moral implications of "knowing and doing" manifested through Maggie Verver's growing consciousness in The Golden Bowl, and concludes with a phenomenological reading of The Spoils ofPoynton based on Marx's concept of alienation from things. 110 Reviews1 1 1 Yet for all the logical connections betweenJames and phenomenology, Armstrong 's study is only partially satisfying. While the parallels he draws are convincing , they tend to remain just that — parallels. The interdisciplinary approach as such produces few insights into James's work that have not already been deduced without the phenomenological apparatus. In fact, Armstrong's paralleling sometimes seems an exercise in critical translation, a kind of linguistic mystification in which the lucidity of the text is clouded with pretentious philosophical jargon. Consider, for example, these not atypical phrases: "Maggie transcends the transcendence of her existential captors, objectifying the subjectivities that had objectified her . . ." (p. 171); or, "The 'anomal/ of Osmond's and Madame Merle's 'relative position' is a 'gestalt shift' for Isabel — a rearrangement in the order of things contrary to her perceptual expectations because it is discontinuous with the way the world ordinarily reveals itself ..." (p. 122): i.e., Maggie and Isabel wised up. James always suffers in translation, but this kind of verbal embalmment suggests a deeper problem: Armstrong's uncritical absorption of the assumptions and vocabulary of phenomenology and his selective application of its concepts to James's thought and art. Did James believe exclusively that no fixed principles extrinsic to personal experience had credence? Did he believe that only experience was determinative of character? Or was there a strain of fatalism in his thought, an intuition of certain "givens" in human nature? The answers seem far more complicated than Armstrong's use ofphenomenology suggests. James may indeed be a phenomenologist, but he is not only a phenomenologist. A more discriminating treatment would have proven less tractable, but more illuminating . That Armstrong has not achieved this is particularly unfortunate because, once the critical language is decoded, what he has to say about the fiction is on the whole sensible and perceptive. Whitman CollegeJohn F. Desmond Roland Barthes, by Jonathan Culler; 130 pp. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983, $19.95 cloth, $5.95 paper. Unlike other recent studies of Barthes — e.g., those of Annette Lavers (1982) and Steven Ungar (1983) — Culler's seeks not...
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Dr Taras Papchenko
Relative afferent pupillary defect: role and assessment
September 24, 2018 Dr Taras Papchenko
Relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD) is one of the more important clinical signs in neuro-ophthalmic examination. Quite often its presence is the only objective sign of unilateral or asymmetric dysfunction of the optic nerve. Hence, its detection plays a critical role in making a diagnosis of retrobulbar optic nerve pathology where examination at the slit lamp may not show any abnormality of the ocular media, retina or optic nerve head.
The history of RAPD testing is long, spanning nearly two millennia. Its modern definition and standardisation of assessment, however, is only a few decades old. As far back as 200AD, Galen was using a cover test, ie. exposure of the eye to darkness, to help him to decide whether couching the cataract in that eye would be successful (in other words the eye was healthy besides the cataract) or whether it was irreversibly blind and was best to be left alone1. Galen noticed that in a patient with good vision in both eyes, upon covering one of the eyes with a hand, a small but definite dilation of the pupil occurs in the other eye. The same was true if the eye with cataract, that had good chance of visual improvement after couching, was covered. However, if the blind eye (with or without cataract) was covered, there was no dilation of the other pupil. What Galen observed would, in the 20th century, be termed a “reflex to darkness” but essentially, it was one of the first methods of detecting RAPD. Over the first half of the 20th century, the importance of observing and measuring the difference between pupil sizes, under the conditions of sequential eye cover or pupillary constriction after exposure to bright light, has been further emphasised and different methods described until the “swinging flashlight test” was introduced by Paul Levatin in 1959, when a current way of testing for RAPD was finalised.
Relative afferent pupillary defect arises due to the different amount of sensory input reaching the brainstem from each eye when pupillary constriction is assessed with the alternating light test. The pupillary light reflex is composed of four neurones (Fig 1). The afferent fibres run within the optic nerve and partially decussate at the optic chiasm before entering the midbrain and synapsing with second order neurones in the pretectal nucleus. The second order neurones then synapse with third order neurones in Edinger-Westphal nuclei on both sides. Thus, the sensory input from one eye results in motor output of the same amplitude to both pupils. The efferent fibres leave in the oculomotor nerve and enter the orbit via its inferior division to synapse with final neurone in the ciliary ganglion. Then the fourth order neurone travels via short ciliary nerves to enter the eye and innervate sphincter pupillae muscle.
The alternating light test is employed to detect the presence of RAPD. The test should be done in a dim but not completely dark room. Commonly, a bright source of light from a muscle torch or a direct ophthalmoscope is employed. The dim room and bright, focused light are required to maximise the amplitude of the pupillary movement from a dilated state to fully constricted one, thus making a change in pupil size more obvious for the examiner. A patient is instructed to look at a target in the distance, which will prevent pupillary constriction due to accommodation and therefore ensure larger amplitude of pupillary movement during its exposure to light.
When the eye is illuminated, the light source is held about 20cm away from patient’s face and shown directly onto the pupil. It is held there for two to three seconds and then rapidly swung across and shown directly onto the other pupil for the same duration of time. The pupillary reaction of the eye under the light is then observed. The swinging manoeuvre can be repeated two to three times until the examiner is confident in the findings. If there is still doubt, the light source can be removed from the patient’s eyes for a short period of time to let the retinae recover from bleaching. It is important to illuminate each eye for the same amount of time, otherwise uneven duration of illumination can lead to an artefactual RAPD where in reality there is none present.
The RAPD is not an all or nothing phenomenon and can be of different magnitude depending on the severity of the pathology and thus the amount of afferent information reaching the midbrain. It can generally be divided into mild, moderate or severe. In a mild RAPD, when the light is swung from the normal eye to the one with pathology, the illuminated pupil will constrict but to a lesser degree than in the normal eye. There may also be a faster “release” – that is the pupil in the abnormal eye will dilate faster compared to contralateral eye after the initial maximal constriction. In a moderate RAPD, illumination of the pupil in the abnormal eye (following illumination of the normal eye), will not lead to a constriction, instead the pupil will either stay the same size or show mild dilation. In a severe RAPD, the light switching from the normal eye to an abnormal one will lead to a profound dilation of the illuminated pupil.
The main disease entities responsible for RAPD presence are a variety of either unilateral or asymmetric optic neuropathies of different aetiologies, such as infective or inflammatory optic neuritis, non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy, compression of the optic nerve by a tumour, traumatic optic neuropathy or asymmetric glaucoma. Asymmetric or unilateral retinal pathology can also result in RAPD, but it has to be severe and involve either most of the retina or the entire macula.
Examples of retinal pathologies causing RAPD are central retinal artery occlusion, ischaemic central retinal vein occlusion with severe macula oedema, macula-off retinal detachment and very asymmetric severe age-related macular degeneration. Non-retinal conditions capable of producing RAPD include dense amblyopia (only a mild RAPD is usually present) and intracranial lesions involving optic tract. There is also a very small proportion of subjects with normal visual pathway that were demonstrated to have a very mild RAPD, mostly detected using infrared pupillometer in a research setting and this was attributed to the presence of some variability of the afferent visual system.
In the spirit of the old wisdom that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, I have created a video together with Professor Helen Danesh-Meyer where assessment technique and RAPD grading (described above) are demonstrated using real clinical cases which could enhance the understanding of the test. The video can be found on YouTube under the title, Assessment of Relative Afferent Pupillary Defect (RAPD), or at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0bmA2rS-0o
Fig 1. Light reflex pathway. Yellow arrows, first order neurones, green arrows, second order neurones, blue arrows, third order neurones and red arrows, fourth order neurones
Dr Taras Papchenko is a consultant ophthalmologist at Greenlane Clinical Centre. After finishing his ophthalmology training in New Zealand, he completed specialist training in the UK in oculoplastic surgery and neuro-ophthalmology. He also gained a PhD in ophthalmology (2013) from Auckland University for investigating the effects of laser-induced rodent optic neuropathy on the glia of the optic nerve.
Thompson HS. The Vitality of the Pupil: A History of the Clinical Use of the Pupil as an Indicator of the Visual Potential. J Neuro-Ophthalmol, 2003; 23 (3): 213-224.
Lowenstein O, Givner I. Pupillary Reflex to Darkness. Arch Ophthalmol, 1943; 30 (5): 603-609.
Kawasaki A, Moore P, Kardon RH. Variability of the relative afferent pupillary defect. Am J Ophthalmol. 1995; 120 (5): 622-33.
Wilhelm H, Peters T, Ludtke H, Wilhelm B. The prevalence of relative afferent pupillary defects in normal subjects. J Neuroophthalmol. 2007; 27 (4): 263-7.
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US Army Chaplain Resigns in Protest Over Drones, ‘Policy of Unaccountable Killing’
“I resign because I refuse to support U.S. policy of preventive war, permanent military supremacy and global power projection.”
Written by Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams.
Image via Common Dreams.
An Army chaplain has resigned in protest over the United States “policy of unaccountable killing” through drone warfare and the nation’s continued investment into nuclear weapons, which “threaten the existence of humankind and the earth.”
In his letter sent April 12, 2016 to President Barack Obama, Rev. John Antal, a Unitarian Universalist Church minister in Rock Tavern, New York, wrote, “The Executive Branch continues to claim the right to kill anyone, anywhere on earth, at any tie, for secret reasons, based on secret evidence, in a secret process, undertaken by unidentified officials.”
Antal served as a chaplain from September 2012 to February 2013 at the Kandahar Airbase in southern Afghanistan. “While deployed,” he wrote in Feb. 2015 a the Times Herald-Record, “I concluded our drone strikes disproportionately kill innocent people.”
Less than a month after I deployed to Afghanistan, on Oct. 24, 2012, a grandmother who lived over the hill from our base camp was out gathering okra in a field when she was killed by a U.S. drone strike.
Or was she?
Official sources claimed they killed “militants” that day; I didn’t see her, or anyone else, die. All I saw were the drones, taking off, landing, and circling around. I did not even hear the explosion.
Months later I watched the testimony of 13-year-old Zubair Rehman, describing how he saw his grandmother blown to bits by two hellfire missiles on the day in question, asking his American audience: “Why?”
They didn’t have an answer.
From the perspective of both religious wisdom and military values, drone warfare, as conducted by the United States today, is a betrayal of what is right. My faith affirms the inherent worth and dignity of all people, everywhere. I believe Americans who share that affirmation have a responsibility to advocate for a U.S. foreign policy that reflects our regard for human dignity. Military leadership also has a responsibility to advocate for a method of war-fighting consistent with military values like respect, integrity, and personal courage. Too often, I worry, our program of drone warfare falls short of these ideals.
“I resign because I refuse to support U.S. policy of preventive war, permanent military supremacy, and global power projection,” his letter of resignation states.
Military.com, which spoke to Antal on Wednesday, reports that he “remains a chaplain with the 354th Transportation Battalion at Fort Totten, New York” while his resignation is being processed.
Stopping drone strikes and providing transparency for ones that already took place is essential, Antal wrote last year.
“We owe this to Zubair, and the thousands like him. We owe this to our service members who yearn to fight justly. We owe this to the many veterans like myself living in moral pain.”
His full letter of resignation is below:
MEMORANDUM FOR Commander-in-Chief, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20500
THRU U.S. Army Resources Command, ATTN; AHRC-OPL-P, 1600 Spearhead Division Avenue, Ft. Knox, KY 40122
SUBJECT: Resignation in Protest
I hereby resign my commission as an Officer in the United States Army.
I resign because I refuse to support U.S. armed drone policy. The Executive Branch continues to claim the right to kill anyone, anywhere on earth, at any tie, for secret reasons, based on secret evidence, in a secret process, undertaken by unidentified officials. I refuse to support this policy of unaccountable killing.
I resign because I refuse to support U.S. nuclear weapon policy. The Executive Branch continues to invest billions of dollars into nuclear weapons, which threaten the existence of humankind and the earth. I refuse to support this policy of terror ad mutually assured destruction.
I resign because I refuse to support U.S. policy of preventive war, permanent military supremacy and global power projection. The Executive branch continues to claim extra- constitutional authority and impunity from international law. I refuse to support this policy of imperial overstretch.
I resign because I refuse to serve as an empire chaplain. I cannot reconcile these policies with wither my sworn duty to protect and defend America and our constitutional democracy or my covenantal commitment to the core principles of my religion faith. These principles include: justice, equity and compassion in human relations, a free and responsible search for truth; and the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
Christopher John Antal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
This entry was posted in Civil Rights, Government, Human Rights, Human Spirit, International Agreements, Military, Solidarity, Terrorism, War Crimes and tagged Afghanistan, Atrocities, Civil Rights, Drones, Human rights, International Agreements, Kandahar Airbase, nuclear weapons, social justice, Solidarity, terrorism, War Crimes on May 14, 2016 by MNgranny.
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The Menendez Murders
By Robert Rand
erik Menendez
Six Degrees of Incarceration: When Erik Menendez Met O.J. Simpson
Erik and Lyle Menendez were arrested in March 1990, seven months after they killed their parents.
By June of 1994, the Beverly Hills brothers had been in custody for over four years. During that time, they shared the slammer with many notorious prisoners, including their Brentwood neighbor Orenthal James Simpson, who was arrested 25 years ago today.
Now that O.J. is back in the news — planning to “set the record straight” on Twitter — let’s take a look back to 1994, when Erik met O.J.
Robert Rand June 17, 2019 June 17, 2019 Blog, The Book Read more
After two decades apart, Erik and Lyle Menendez were reunited one year ago today
The Menendez brothers were reunited a year ago today, after not having seen each other for almost 22 years.
The brothers were reunited at the R. J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego.
The last time they’d been together was in 1996, two months after they were sentenced to life without parole following their first-degree murder conviction.
The day of the sentencing, the Beverly Hills Police filed a motion asked the judge to place the brothers in separate prisons because they had been co-conspirators in committing a crime.
The judge agreed.
Robert Rand April 4, 2019 April 4, 2019 Blog, The Book Read more
‘Hard Copy’: My exclusive interview with Erik Menendez (video)
On March 15, 1990, one week after the arrest of the Menendez Brothers, Hard Copy featured my interview with Erik Menendez for the Miami Herald.
I quizzed Erik two months after the murders and five months before he was arrested.
Erik lied to my face as he told me he wished he knew who had killed his parents.
The Beverly Hills Police had the same wish.
Robert Rand March 15, 2019 March 14, 2019 Blog, The Book Read more
The Menendez Brothers have been in jail for 29 years
On March 8, 1990, Lyle Menendez was arrested in Beverly Hills and charged with killing his parents.
Brother Erik Menendez surrendered several days later.
The Menendez brothers have been in jail for more than half their lives.
Robert Rand March 8, 2019 March 6, 2019 Blog, The Book Read more
The Menendez Brothers make their first court appearance (video)
On Monday, March 12, 1990, Erik and Lyle Menendez – who were being held without bail – were arraigned at Beverly Hills Municipal Court.
The charges against the brothers were read to a packed courtroom that included many supportive family members.
Erik Menendez looked exhausted because he hadn’t slept since his voluntary surrender and return from Israel a day before.
It was the beginning of the end the lives the boys once knew.
Robert Rand February 5, 2019 March 12, 2019 Blog, The Book Read more
Erik Menendez wrote a screenplay: Kid kills parents, inherits $157,000,000 (video)
Yes, Erik Menendez was the co-author of a screenplay about a young man who kills his parents and inherits $157,000,000. The script that was completed — and shopped around Hollywood — before the murders.
No, it was never included as evidence in either of the two trials.
Did the media firestorm influence the verdicts?
Robert Rand February 4, 2019 February 3, 2019 Blog, The Book Read more
Jay Leno thought The Menendez Murders were just a big joke (video)
The mainstream media signed on to the District Attorney’s 1993 theory that Erik and Lyle Menendez were a pair of greedy rich kids, and that included NBC’s Jay Leno.
Leno’s monologues on The Tonight Show often featured at least one joke based on the Menendez testimony of the day.
When Erik admitted that he had a hard time getting dates, this was Jay’s gag:
Yesterday, Erik said his parents made fun of him because he never had a girlfriend. You know, I don’t know how to break it to him, but shooting your Mom and Dad isn’t really going to help your chances.
Robert Rand October 15, 2018 October 16, 2018 Blog, The Book Read more
I’m spreading the truth about ‘The Menendez Murders’ on iHeart Radio
Thanks to the iHeartRadio stations, I was able to share the Menendez brothers’ story in Chicago, Philly, San Diego, Minneapolis, St. Louis and more.
I’m grateful to be spreading the truth – one station at a time.
Here’s my iHeart interview with La Dona Harvey and Ted Garcia of KOGO radio in San Diego, the local station near the prison where the Lyle and Erik are now incarcerated.
Robert Rand September 6, 2018 September 12, 2018 Blog, The Book Read more
Here Is My Appearance This Morning on NBC’s Megyn Kelly TODAY (video)
Lyle and Erik Menendez were sexually molested by their father Jose, and they told others about it before the killings.
It wasn’t a fabricated tale; it was a real-life horror story.
So despite what the prosecutors would like you to believe, these boys were in fear for their lives and at most should have been convicted of manslaughter — not murder.
Thank You, Stu Bykofsky, Columnist at Philly.com – You Got It Right!
Three decades after the infamous Menendez brothers killed their parents and were sentenced to life, who gives a damn about what happened to them?
One former Philadelphian does, disturbed by a perceived miscarriage of justice.
Robert Rand is a latter-day Don Quixote, a journalistic knight errant carrying a pen rather than a broken lance. He has no Sancho Panza as a sidekick, just an unquenchable pursuit for justice. — Stu Bykofsky, Philly.com
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Diane’s Blog
Listen to this episode… just click play ▶️ on the player below
The Change Foundation…
Today’s healthcare system is offering up new hope for so many, but its not without its own twists and turns, bumps and bruises. Few know the snags and frustrations better than caregivers— but mostly, their voices go unheard. One amazing organization in Ontario, Canada is changing all that. This week on Parents Are Hard To Raise, how clinicians, patients, and family caregivers are working together to make the system better.
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Parents Are Hard To Raise® S03 Episode 117 Transcript
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Announcer [00:00:37] This week on Parents Are Hard To Raise Diane talks with Dr. Erin Heisz of the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance in Ontario, Canada about what they are doing to connect the dots for family caregivers.
[00:00:50] Join 180 million monthly subscribers who can now listen to Parents Are Hard To Raise on Spotify.
Diane Berardi [00:01:07] Welcome to Parents Are Hard To Raise. Helping families grow older together without losing their minds. I'm elder care expert Diane Berardi.
[00:01:18] When a family member falls ill, Family caregivers come head on with many challenges and obstacles while still trying to care for their loved ones. Navigating a complex system of health care providers and organizations that lack connectivity and even decent communication can be maddening for caregivers as many of us know firsthand. My guest this week is part of a team that's trying hard to change all that.
[00:01:45] Dr. Erin Heisz has been a physician with the Star Family Health Team in Stratford, Ontario since 2008. She did her medical training at the University of Western Ontario and has focused her practice on family medicine ever since. Her decision to join the Connecting The Dots team came from a strong personal desire to better recognize and help the amazing family caregivers who are an integral part of the health care system and our communities. And today like many parents she spends the majority of her time trying to balance work, family and taxing kids around town. Dr. Erin Heisz welcome to Parents Are Hard To Raise.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:02:25] Hi. Thank you for having me.
Diane Berardi [00:02:27] Oh we're so happy that you're here and it really warms my heart that we're all focusing on the caregiver and recognizing the caregiver and that they have a voice.
[00:02:40] So how did you as a physician get involved with the Change Foundation and the Connecting The Dots project?
Erin Heisz, MD [00:02:48] Well it's a bit of an interesting story, so bear with me.
Diane Berardi [00:02:51] No that's great. We love stories.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:02:52] Oh Great. I'm good at telling stories. So this is excellent. [laughing] [00:02:57] And so I graduated from residency in two thousand eight and I already had one child. I had a child during residency and I was super keen so I started my practice in around Stratford Ontario. And I was asked, Oh will you be on this committee? Will you be this? Will you lead this project? And I kept saying, yes, because I thought, Oh yeah. I'm so interested in that. I'm so interested in that. And that's what people why people going to family medicine. Right? We're kind of interested in a bit of everything.
Diane Berardi [00:03:24] Yes.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:03:25] And but I had a great support system so I felt okay with saying yes and yes and yes. And fast forward about five or six years and I had a lot of meetings because over the six years you know they accumulate all these commitments and projects and things. But then my support system started to fade a little bit and I found it really hard to continue with that level of commitment.
[00:03:47] So my father in law he got diagnosed with esophageal cancer and passed away sixteen weeks later.
Diane Berardi [00:03:53] Oh I'm sorry to hear that.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:03:55] Yeah. And then my brother in law had a first episode psychosis right around the same time. My nanny moved back to B.C., and my husband quit his job and started his own business. So all of a sudden what I could manage before I really couldn't. So I stepped back from everything. I stepped back from all the committees all the meetings all the leadership positions I had. And just to make things work to focus on the family and my practice and everything. So then fast forward another couple of years and they get an email from our executive director Monique Hancock about attending a lunch session at the hospital for a project that our family health teams involved in called Connecting the Dots.
[00:04:33] And Monique doesn't ask a lot of me, so I always try to when she does ask I always really try hard to respect that in to attend whatever, you know what she wants me to do. And so I booted over to the hospital after my last patient in the morning and I thought I was just going to sort of sit there for 45 minutes and maybe let my mind wander a bit. But that was not the case.
[00:04:57] The minute they started the presentation, I hadn't felt excited like that for years. And I was like OK. So I really paid attention. I loved the slides like it was just set clear crisp slides with not really medical jargon and I got a bit tired of you know I only use the big long words when I'm talking to specialists or another colleague, I don't like to always use like words that nobody understands. So I thought the presentation was so straightforward and simple and it was but yet really effective.
[00:05:29] And in the audience were like normal, not medical people, caregivers, people, some physicians that... Like a nice smattering of people. And then I learned about the Change Foundation I had never actually heard of the Change Foundation before. So for me to hear about this cool independent think tank for changing policy in Ontario that was outside of the government got me very excited. Because I've watched millions of dollars sometimes be spent on a project that doesn't actually end up helping people in a tangible way.
Diane Berardi [00:06:05] Sure.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:06:05] So this looked. Really. You know there were deadlines. There were goals. And it seemed like they were going to be met. And so that also got me wanting to be involved because I figured OK I could dedicate some time and I could actually see some results instead of maybe six years later you see that something is coming out of the project you worked on you know five years ago. And then the major reason obviously was the content. So helping caregivers.
[00:06:34] That really struck a chord with me from those past experiences. And I have often felt helpless in the office when I've done everything I can medically and I've made all the appropriate referrals to you know to the home care. The patients on a long term care waitlist. I've referred to a specialist maybe to backup my thoughts of what the diagnosis and treatment plan is. And then it's sort of a waiting game for all those things to come in place. And I feel helpless. And I don't like doctors don't like feeling helpless.
Diane Berardi [00:07:11] Sure yeah.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:07:12] So I thought, well if this can help me at that stage when I've done everything I'm supposed to do if it can help me somehow make them feel better or make their life better or do something beyond what I'm already doing then it's definitely a worthwhile effort of my time.
Diane Berardi [00:07:31] You know I've been in health care my whole adult life and I've become a caregiver. You know recently to my mom and then my dad now.
[00:07:40] And even if you know where to go or who to call or what to do it's still... There's still so many other things and so many things that pop up and it's still so overwhelming.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:07:54] Yeah. I don't know how people can navigate the system, because I as well... Like there was another relative recently who unfortunately passed away and I helped a little bit by going to some oncology appointments and things and I found the system hard to navigate. And and I am a family doctor. Like if anybody in the world should be able to do this like a family doctor or a home care nurse like someone like that should be able to easily navigate.
[00:08:19] But it's not. It's Impossible.
Diane Berardi [00:08:21] You know I started getting calls from all different people for my mom's care, and every 10 minutes my phone was ringing with somebody else calling to schedule an appointment.
[00:08:33] I'm like oh my gosh you know. And I of course gave them my number because my mom doesn't hear well.
[00:08:40] Even though she swears she doesn't need hearing aids. [laughing] Because she polled I think three different... She went to three different audiologists. You know. Yeah. And the last one said, Well, I don't think, you might not need them. I don't know what she heard, honestly. [laughing]
Erin Heisz, MD [00:08:58] Well, she can't hear very well. [laughing].
Diane Berardi [00:09:02] And so you know you have to shout with her. So I was like, Oh she's not even going to hear the phone. And my father doesn't answer the phone. He just watches it ring, you know hears it ring...
Erin Heisz, MD [00:09:10] Well you know, it's a real problem because so many of our patients have cognitive problems that you can't call them with the appointment.
Diane Berardi [00:09:19] Right.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:09:20] And so then you're trying to reach the caregiver.
Diane Berardi [00:09:23] Yeah.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:09:23] And they're working and then it's this phone take situation. Yeah sometimes it's an appointment that's the next day. And so if we can't reach someone by 4:00 o'clock we got to cancel the appointment and you know book it for another day because you know you don't know that they've gotten the message.
Diane Berardi [00:09:40] And I can imagine because then the people think they have the appointment. I'm sure.
[00:09:44] Right. Exactly. Well you phone again and you leave a message saying Ok sorry, this one cancelled, but now we have one for the next day. Call us back to confirm. And then those patients can usually call in like first thing in the morning before the caregiver before they go to work or something.
Diane Berardi [00:09:58] So connecting the dots. Tell us about the goals and what it's all about really.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:10:04] Yeah. So connecting the dots project was a proposal put together from six organizations around the Huron Perth community. When the change foundation was originally looking for proposals for projects. So our connecting the dots project is a three phase project and each step is a co-design format.
[00:10:25] Now I had no idea what co-designed meant till I showed up to my first co-design meeting. [laughing] the.
Diane Berardi [00:10:28] Yes. What does that mean? [laughing].
Erin Heisz, MD [00:10:32] Yeah. So now I know. I've been doing this.
[00:10:35] So co-design means that the health care practitioners and the care givers in this situation.
Diane Berardi [00:10:42] OK.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:10:43] Are both at the same table and in the same room and have equal positions and equal voices. So we're facilitated by members of the Change Foundation who were part of the connecting the dots project, we're facilitated by them. But around the table there is no doctor Heisz it's you know we're all even and we all got to take our turns and respect each other. Every code as a meeting started with a little bit of a reminder about that. Now they did a great job, the steering committee did a great job of picking the people for the project. Because I think they picked people whose egos wouldn't sort of interrupt the flow of the project. And right... even on the steering committee, caregivers sat on that steering committee. And this one woman, oh my gosh, she amazes me. She's 91 years old. And she showed up to all these meetings brighter and better dressed than the rest of us. [laughing] [00:11:34] And she's so eloquent. And I just I was amazed at these people I met through the Co-design format. I was really lucky and honored to be working with them.
[00:11:44] I was nervous though. I was nervous about being interacting with people who could maybe be my patients and that they might possibly show me a rash just like we were talking about earlier. [laughing] That someone might corner me at the lunch table and just say, Hey I've got this thing on my arm. And I really wanted to step outside my family doctor role and be more of a participant like an equal participant, not sort of on duty in terms of clinical diagnosis during these sessions. But it didn't happen. It really was good. Everyone was respectful of each other.
Diane Berardi [00:12:19] And you also have this Time To Talk program.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:12:23] Right. So one of. So the three co design projects. I was involved mostly with the first one and that first one our logo or slogan was "time to talk". And it's sort of brilliant, I think. I did not come up with it. I'm not tooting my own horn. [laughing] So, time to talk really has a dual meaning and that's why I think it's really smart.
[00:12:43] And so it means that I as a practitioner need to make time to talk with my caregivers.
Diane Berardi [00:12:51] Wow. Okay.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:12:52] But the flip side is that it's time for the caregivers to identify themselves as a caregiver. Be proud of that. Stand up. Tell their story and ask for help.
Diane Berardi [00:13:04] You know it has to be such a weight off of caregivers because somebody is listening, and really listening.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:13:13] Yes I. So that for me is the biggest thing that changed for me. So earlier when I was saying I felt helpless, now I don't. Because I've learned through this whole thing and through Pat who I think you've probably seen the video that was linked to this project. Maybe not. But you should watch it if you haven't. It's it's amazing.
[00:13:35] And so Pat is a caregiver who tells this story about her husband's stroke and the following sort of six to nine months after that and ongoing obviously. But to know from her that just telling her story to us as the co-design group and as the audiences for these videos is healing and therapeutic. And so I never considered that. I didn't consider that in that room, you know, let's say for example, I've got you know a 60 year old couple and the husband's had a stroke. I didn't think that just by listening to the wife's story that that would actually help. So I feel like I almost rushed those patients because I felt helpless and I felt bad right. So, the longer I'm in there with them the worse I feel because I have nothing. I can't boost them up on the waitlist, it's out of my control how to get you know once I've done my referrals and I've pestered and pestered I and I'm sort of out of options to help anymore for certain issues. But learning that just listening it really changed the way I practice.
[00:14:42] That's wonderful because I think some physicians don't know what to do. They don't know how to react. And we're going to continue talking with Dr. Erin Heisz. But first if you're a woman or there's a woman in your life there's something you absolutely need to know.
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Announcer [00:16:52] You're listening to Parents Are Hard To Raise. Now thanks to you, the number one eldercare talk show on planet Earth. Listen to this and other episodes on demand using the iHeart Radio app. iPhone users can listen on Apple podcasts and Android users on Google podcasts.
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[00:18:20] So Erin, we were talking about you know you as a physician you do everything you are medically supposed to do. And I was talking to my husband the other night and I said my gosh I'd been in health care you know my my whole adult life and he's a physician as well. And I can't navigate the system. How does a person who isn't involved in health care at all know what to do or where to turn or... You know they just sit silently, I think, caregivers. And it's no good for their mental or physical health.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:18:53] No. That's one of the things that came up in our co-design groups when we were talking together. That the caregivers really had this bond forming every session you could see it getting stronger because of the information sharing between them. And they really wanted to come up with some way that they could share that with other caregivers. Because I can't answer those nitty gritty details, actually.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:19:20] You know where's. What's the best way to get CCAC or... like that's our home care program.
[00:19:25] Okay.
[00:19:26] But What... What are the tips and the tricks? I actually don't know what the whole thing is.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:19:32] So one of the things that has come from the co-design II group, which I wasn't as involved with but, is that we have a caregiver group run by caregivers for caregivers, so the doctors are cut out of the loop here, at the library.
Diane Berardi [00:19:49] That's great.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:19:50] Yeah. And it's starting to spread.
[00:19:52] So we have people who want... So Stratford's a town of 30,000. And some of the. But we have a large catchment for our hospital. And so some of the tiny little villages outside, they want a program. And so they're looking into you know church basements or what can they do and who can be the local sort of ambassador caregiver to get that running.
[00:20:14] And because with this project it is a limited time frame. So, everything has to be running independently by the time that the entire project wraps up in a year or two. And so these startup groups have been so important to help them system navigate. And one of the other projects of co-design II is a binder full of all that information that the caregiver needs to have with them. And I've had some positive, really positive feedback from some of the caregivers that the specialists are like, Oh, this is really good! And they start asking them about connecting the dots. And like that never happens.
Diane Berardi [00:20:57] Yeah. Right.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:20:58] Like usually you're so rushed. Your crunched for time. You don't start asking them about a project that they're doing it. So we've had some really good response to that.
[00:21:08] And back to the time to talk toolkit.
[00:21:10] So that was the one that I was more involved with.
Diane Berardi [00:21:12] Okay.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:21:13] And the parts of the toolkit are posters.
[00:21:16] So basically on the Change Foundation Web site you can find the link to the time to talk toolkits. And there are posters that you can download. And those posters are going to be put up in the waiting room or in the hallways, it's very translatable across whether you're a hospital, an office you know public health, whatever. And those posters just are trying to catch a caregivers eye to say, Are you a caregiver? It's really not set for staff.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:21:47] If you're not a caregiver you're not going to go the caregiver group. Right?
Diane Berardi [00:21:50] Right. Exactly.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:21:50] Yeah. So for identification. The tool kit also has in it a provider tip sheet which just is really a reminder to health care workers to ask the caregiver how they're doing. Help them identify themselves and include them as part of the health care team. Tell caregivers what's happening in what they can expect next. That was a huge one from our groups.
Diane Berardi [00:22:13] I would imagine yes.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:22:14] Yes.
[00:22:14] They want to some idea of what to expect. Encourage caregivers to accept help. Help connect them to resources, and revisit this conversation throughout the journey. Not just sort of you know, Oh. I've done the tip sheet. Check. We're never gonna do that again.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:22:31] Then also the tool kit has the video which I was talking about, with Pat's experience. I'm in the video, too. But Pat's the star. She is amazing. And I seriously think she may go on to have a career in acting. She is a wonderful woman. And then there's a really great pamphlet that we came up with. And again, all of this was designed with caregivers having equal input to the rest of us about what we should include in it.
[00:22:57] So again a section for identification, a section on caregiver burnout, local resources, phone numbers, Web sites. And just encouraging people to take that time to talk with their family, with their friends, with their health care practitioners, with everybody.
Diane Berardi [00:23:15] How do you try to avoid burnout? What are some of the suggestions you have for caregiver burnout? Do you find that people... You know it's so hard to ask for help. I think.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:23:28] It is. It is. And I find also that people are so reluctant to accept the help that's offered from friends or neighbors. And I don't know whether it's that they're embarrassed maybe sometimes because something might happen while they're gone, that isn't socially acceptable.
Diane Berardi [00:23:49] Yes. Yeah.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:23:51] Yeah. Like with a dementia or with a disabled child. Like because we also had, it wasn't just them and people caring for older people within our co-design group, it also were some parents caring for disabled children. And so I think in a way they're nervous that something's going to happen while they're gone. That person can't handle, maybe. But if you don't give it a try then that burner just continues. Right? So accept the offer of help for someone to sit with your loved one for two hours so you can get a haircut and won't feel guilty.
[00:24:23] Yeah. The stories and the amazing things, like that just broke my heart to hear some of the stories of what people go through. One of the members of the co-design team was actually my friend. Like I knew her as a hockey mom on my hockey team. But she has a daughter who's 15 with Down's and autism and she gave me permission to talk about her.
[00:24:44] And I had no idea what she struggled with on a daily basis and now believe you me I say, HEY I'M COMING OVER FOR A COUPLE HOURS. YOU NEED ME. AND YOU GO AND I WILL DEAL WITH WHATEVER IS GOING ON.
[00:24:55] She accepts me. She accepts that now. She'll take my offer.
[00:25:01] I guess you know we kind of suffer in silence. And I'm the first one, I've always been the first to say, You have to ask for help. You have to tell people what you need and blah blah.
[00:25:10] But I don't know. You know me in the role now, I feel like I have to do everything.
Diane Berardi [00:25:16] It's like tasks. And I feel guilty if I don't.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:25:20] The guilt is so hard.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:25:23] And you can never be perfect and you can never do it all. And so the guilt is such a wasted emotion for everybody. Right?
Erin Heisz, MD [00:25:33] It serves no purpose for anybody.
[00:25:35] And so I think part of this project is to really inspire the health care practitioners to help caregivers recognize who they are. But also to say, What's the one thing today I could do for you to make your life better?
Diane Berardi [00:25:54] Oh my gosh. I think people would feel so... They probably want to cry, hearing a practitioner say that to them.
Diane Berardi [00:26:05] How do you convince your colleagues to use the tool kit or to do this?
[00:26:09] Yeah it's a it's a tough one. Right? Because we're... You know, we're busy. We're running. We've got stress, burnout, government cutbacks. You've got all these things weighing on you.
[00:26:23] However, when I watched that video of Pat that was really the moment where I felt in my gut, I went into medicine to help people and I think most of us did.
Diane Berardi [00:26:34] Sure. Yes.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:26:35] And that just really brought it back to me that this woman is suffering. And my job is to help suffering. So I need to also focus on her. And so when I felt that, I knew if I could get other physicians to feel that... Now the thing is to get them to watch the video, right?
[00:26:58] When you watch the video. Like honestly, I cry still every time, and it's been over 30 times.
Diane Berardi [00:27:02] Right. Yeah.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:27:04] So if they could take the time to watch the video then they have that feeling, most of them. Honestly a lot of them have given me that feedback. That Pat's story just hits them. And then they're much more open to using the rest of the toolkit. Right? To review the tip sheet. To have the pamphlets in their exam room. To support the patients to going to our Web site. Because that was one of the further co-design projects, they just released the Web site caregivershuronperth.ca which is really a great resource for a caregiver to go and just kind of click around on the different...
[00:27:42] They've got the videos up there like Pat's story. And then they don't feel so alone to see what Pat went through and that she's talking about it.
Diane Berardi [00:27:49] Right. Right.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:27:49] And Pat's life is very different. So just from being part of this project she says her life is so improved. People ask her how she is now. They see her. They don't just look at her husband. Her Grandchildren have told her how proud they are of her for looking after their grandpa like that.
[00:28:08] Again, I’m getting like tears right now, talking about it. I've gotta stop. But, so I need the physicians and health care practitioners to feel. And when they feel we do a really good job when we feel. And a lot of times that's almost reserved for a diagnosis of cancer, or for things that are end Stage. Right? And then are feeling really comes in. Otherwise, if you feel everything for every cough, cold, you know... You have compassion fatigue not be able to feel anything anymore.
Diane Berardi [00:28:36] That's right.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:28:37] So if you can bring that feeling out again and the physicians then they buy in and they're part of this.
Diane Berardi [00:28:44] You guys are doing such remarkable work. How do people find the Web site? Could you tell us the Web site?
[00:28:51] Yes. So for this part of the project it's CaregiversHuronPerth.ca. And then for the Change Foundation I don't actually have it in front of me but if you just Google Change Foundation. I think it's changefoundation.ca Sorry that I don't have it with me. [laughing]
Diane Berardi [00:29:04] No that's fine. We'll have it on our Web site as well.
[00:29:11] Dr. Heisz... Thank you so much for being here today.
Erin Heisz, MD [00:29:14] Oh thank you so much for having me. It was a real pleasure.
Diane Berardi [00:29:17] Parents Are Hard To Raise family, I love getting your e-mails and questions so please keep sending them. You can reach me at Diane at Parents Are Hard To Raise dot org or just click the green button on our home page.
[00:29:28] Parents Are Hard To Raise is a CounterThink Media production. The music used in this broadcast was managed by Cosmo Music, New York, New York. Our New York producer is Joshua Green. Our broadcast engineer is Well Gambino. And from our London studios, the melodic voice of our announcer Miss Dolly D.
[00:29:44] We love our parents, but parents sure are hard to raise. Thank you so much for listening. Till next time, may you forget everything you don't want to remember and remember everything you don't want to forget.
[00:29:59] See you again next week!
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Can these 8 Positive Emotion Skills Really Impact Your Health? Dr. Judy Moskowitz, Northwestern U. School of Medicine – Episode #114
Free Expert Eldercare Advice... With a Jersey Accent.
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Case: Red Baron-Franklin Park, Inc. v. Taito Corp.
Posted By : PatentArcade Admin/
Red-Baron-Franklin Park, Inc. v. Taito Corp.
883 F.2d 275 (4th Cir. 1989).
Some of you may remember twin martial artists Billy Lee or Jimmy (who also went by Hammer and Spike). For those not familiar with the duo, they can be found in the 1987 beat ‘em up game “Double Dragon.” Hammer and Spike were the subject of this 1989 lawsuit. Taito is a Japanese corporation that sells video games and electronic printed circuit boards used in coin-operated video game units. Taito is the owner of United States Copyright Registration No. PA-327-710, issued June 26, 1987, for the video game audiovisual work Double Dragon.
Red Baron operated arcades where it allowed the public to play games. Red Baron, without license from Taito or Taito America, purchased circuits of Double Dragon from Japan and fitted them into their already existing game units, making the game playable to the customers. Taito took offense, arguing that they had intended the Double Dragon game to be sold in the United States as a complete video game unit, not just its circuit board. Taito claimed that each of the boards displayed the following restrictive note: “This game is for use in Japan only. Sales, exports, or operation outside this territory may violate international copyright and trademark law and the violator subject to severe penalties.”
The question in the case was whether Red Baron infringed Taito’s copyright in “Double Dragon,” when Red Baron imported the game from Japan and installed it in its video arcades for public enjoyment. The district court ruled that Red Baron did not infringe upon Taito’s copyright. This, of course, led to an appeal to the Fourth Circuit . . .
II. Argument
On appeal, Taito argued that it had a separate and distinct right to “perform” Double Dragon, and that it had not conferred this right on Red Baron. As a result, Red Baron infringed Taito’s copyright by its activities in making use of the circuit boards available to the public for a fee.
The court had to determine the following: 1. whether Red Baron’s use of Double Dragon constituted a public performance within the meaning of § 106 (4) and if so to consider 2. whether the first sale doctrine has any application to the performance right as distinguished from actual ownership of the copyrighted work.
A Public Performance
To “perform” a work and to perform it “publicly” are defined by the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.
“Perform” is defined as: “to recite, render, play, dance, or act [a work], either directly or by means of any device or process or, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to show its images in any sequence or to make the sounds accompanying it audible.”
“Public” performance is defined as: “To perform . . . a work ‘publicly’ means- (1) to perform . . . it at a place open to the public . . . .”
The court concluded that Red Baron publicly performed Double Dragon because once a coin was inserted into the machine the television monitor displayed a series of images while the speakers made audible accompanying sounds. Also, because Red Baron’s video arcade was open to public and it was Red Baron’s aim to attract members of the public to its establishment, Red Baron’s arcade was considered a public place.
B. The First Sale Doctrine and the Performance Right
The second issue the court ruled on was Red Baron’s assertion that by selling the circuit boards, Taito intended to transfer the performance right. The court concluded that the first sale doctrine did not apply to the performance right and that Taito America possessed and retained a valid copyright in the public performance of Double Dragon in the United States. They also concluded that since Taito had not granted a performance license to Red Baron, the latter was guilty of copyright infringement.
III. Conclusion
In this early gray-market goods case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court and remanded the case for further proceedings.
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Migraine is a complex condition, but it is characterised as a moderate to severe, pulsating headache that is typically unilateral, and is often accompanied by nausea and disturbed vision (aura). Migraines can last from two hours to several days. Associated symptoms can include nausea and vomiting, as well as sensitivities to light, sound or smell.
Medical intervention is indicated when the migraines become frequent and/or are severe.
Treatments for acute migraine
Simple analgesics including aspirin, paracetamol and NSAIDs may provide symptomatic relief. Concomitant anti-emetic treatment (e.g. metoclopramide or domperidone, or phenothiazine and antihistamine antiemetics) may be beneficial.
If analgesics are ineffective, acute attacks can be treated with 5HT1-receptor agonists (triptans). The triptans available to treat acute migraine include almotriptan, eletriptan, frovatriptan, naratriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan, and zolmitriptan. 5HT1-receptor agonists can be co-administered with a NSAID such as naproxen in patients with prolonged and recurrent attacks.
Historically ergot alkaloids such as ergotamine were used to treat migraine, but since efficacy is limited (by difficulties in absorption and adverse side-effects) their use is best avoided.
Migraine prophylaxis
For patients experiencing frequent attacks, identifying and reducing potential provoking factors (such as stress, lack of sleep, or chemical triggers including alcohol and nitrates) can be beneficial.
Preventative treatments should be considered for patients who:
experience >2 attacks per month
experience increasing attack frequency
experience significant resistance to prescribed treatments
are intolerant to suitable anti-migraine treatments
suffer from rare migraine subtypes or are at risk of migrainous infarction.
In these patients groups beta-blockers (propranolol, atenolol, metoprolol, nadolol, and timolol) can be effective. Tricyclic antidepressants, topiramate, valproic acid, and gabapentin show some efficacy, but use of these drugs as migraine prophylactics is unlicensed. Botulinum toxin type A is licensed for the prophylaxis of headaches in adults with chronic migraine.
Novel mechanistic approach to migraine prophylaxis
A recent advance in migraine prophylaxis saw the FDA approval (in May 2018) of the first-in-class biologic drug erenumab (Aimovig). Erenumab acts as a functional calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CGRPR) antagonist, by selectively blocking binding of endogenous calcitonin-related polypeptide (CGRP) to its receptor complex and arresting downstream signalling. CGRP is a neuropeptide that is involved in migraine pathophysiology (Hansen et al., 2010), and the receptor-ligand pathway has been validated as a novel mechanistic target for drug discovery as a migraine prevention strategy by erenumab's clinical approval (Edvinsson et al., 2018; Edvinsson, 2018). As a result of the long serum half-life of monoclonal antibodies, erenumab need only be administered once-monthly. See Dodick et al. (2018) for detailed results from the Phase 3 ARISE clinical trial.
Schizophrenia is a disorder of the mind that is debilitating and chronic. The prevalence of this disorder is about 1% of the population and seems to affect all areas of the globe equally. It is not well understood what causes the disorder. Some combination of genetic and environmental factors contributes toward the development of this disease, which is characterized by an alteration of brain structure and chemistry mainly involved in dopamine and glutamate pathways.
Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thoughts and behaviors that cause an individual to withdraw socially and exhibit psychosis such that they are unable to differentiate the hallucinations and delusions from reality. As with most diseases, schizophrenia can range in severity. Some individuals exhibit mild symptoms and are able to live relatively normal lives while others exhibit severe symptoms requiring hospitalization and specialized care.
Symptom onset typically begins in early adulthood. Diagnosis is made based upon the symptoms exhibited instead of on lab tests. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) lists the criteria by which a schizophrenia diagnosis is made. DSM-5 lists both positive and negative symptoms of the disease, which are included below.
Positive Symptoms
Hallucinations – sensing things that are not real (hearing voices, seeing things)
Delusions – believing things that are not real (the doctor is poisoning me through my medications)
Disorganized thoughts/behaviors – incoherent speech, purposeless behavior, difficulty communicating thoughts (jumbling words together meaninglessly or stopping in the middle of a sentence)
Negative Symptoms
Loss of interest in everyday activities
Lack of emotion
Poor hygiene
Loss of motivation
Lack of speech
Schizophrenia is believed to be a disorder involving abnormalities in brain chemistry. Patients with schizophrenia have elevated dopamine levels within certain parts of their brain and also altered glutamate levels. The role of glutamate is not well understood, so treatment primarily involves blockade of dopamine receptors. Newer agents also block other receptors including serotonin, but as the pathophysiology of the disease is not fully understood, it is unclear how alteration of other neurotransmitter pathways exert therapeutic effects. Drugs are effective at treating positive symptoms of the disorder, but often are poor at treating the negative symptoms. If negative symptoms do respond to treatment, they typically take longer to correct compared with positive symptoms.
First Generation Antipsychotics (FGAs) such as chlorpromazine, thioridazine, perphenazine, thiothixene, and haloperidol work primarily by blocking dopamine (D2) receptors and also block serotonin (5-Hydroxytryptamine) receptors in the brain to a lesser extent. Most first generation antipsychotics carry a risk of extra-pyramidal symptoms (EPS), sedation, orthostatic hypotension, tachycardia and anticholinergic effects. Other side effects include weight gain and sexual dysfunction. In addition, thioridazine and haloperidol carry risks of QT prolongation.
Second Generation Antipsychotics (SGAs) such as clozapine and aripiprazole work by blocking D2 and serotonin receptors; however, some agents have additional mechanisms of action. Aripiprazole, brexpiprazole and cariprazine are D2 and serotonin 5-HT1A receptor partial agonists. Brexpiprazole also acts as a serotonin 5-HT2A antagonist. SGAs have multiple unwanted effects including metabolic side effects (hyperglycemia, weight gain and lipid abnormalities) and increased prolactin levels (risperidone and paliperidone) causing gynecomastia, irregular menstrual cycles, and sexual dysfunction. QT prolongation is a concern with ziprasidone, quetiapine and risperidone. Clozapine is one of the most effective agents for treatment resistant schizophrenia, but carries a host of black box warnings for seizures, agranulocytosis, myocarditis and metabolic abnormalities. As a result of clozapine’s side effects, absolute neutrophil count and white blood cell count must be monitored at baseline before initiation of the medication, periodically thereafter as long as the patient remains on therapy, and for 4 weeks after therapy is discontinued. SGAs typically have a lower risk of EPS compared to FGAs, but they can still occur, especially at higher doses.
Some antipsychotic agents carry an increased risk of cerebrovascular effects (e.g. stroke) when used to treat dementia-related psychosis in elderly patients.
Schizophrenia/psychosis is a concern in patients with Parkinson’s disease because agents used to treat Parkinson’s disease typically increase dopamine levels. Almost half of patients with Parkinson’s disease will experience hallucinations or delusions at some point during their treatment. Treating psychosis in these patients can be difficult because antipsychotics that antagonize dopamine receptors can worsen movement disorders in these patients. As a result, quetiapine is typically used because it carries the least risk of EPS among all antipsychotics. Additionally, pimavanserin can be used in this patient population because it treats psychosis by altering serotonin levels and does not affect dopamine levels, minimizing the risk of EPS and disrupting Parkinson therapy.
Medication adherence is poor among schizophrenia patients. Delusions can lead these patients to believe that the medication prescribed is actually poison; medication side effects can be difficult to tolerate, and disorganized thought patterns can lead to the belief that the medication is unnecessary, causing patients to stop taking prescribed therapies. To aid with adherence, some medications are available in formulations aimed to improve medication adherence. Long acting depot injections are popular and are available for several FGAs and SGAs; effects last between 2 weeks and 3 months per injection. Also, orally disintegrating tablets are popular methods in improving adherence; these tablets dissolve as soon as they reach the mouth and prevent “cheeking” of medications (storing medication in the cheeks and spitting out when medical professionals exit the room).
Finally, antipsychotics, especially FGAs, cause a variety of EPS ranging from akathisia (restless movements of extremities accompanied by anxiety), parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesias (TD). Akathisia is treated utilizing central anticholinergics such as diphenhydramine. It can also be treated with propranolol. Parkinsonism looks like Parkinson’s disease with tremors, rigidity and abnormal gait. It is caused by imbalance of dopamine levels in the basal ganglia and can be treated with central-acting anticholinergics, and more importantly the fine titration of the antipsychotic drugs. TD involves abnormal involuntary movements of the tongue, lips, face, trunk or eyes. If TD develops, the FGA must be discontinued and replaced with an SGA with low EPS risk such as quetiapine or clozapine. TD can be irreversible and the risk of it becoming irreversible affects the duration of the treatment.
Daniel Paul, Kelly Karpa
Schizophrenia Treatment
This is a 6-minute narrated, animated video describing the treatment of schizophrenia, including first and second generation antipsychotics. It is suitable for beginners.
Produced by the Khan Academy.
This summary, created by the National Institute of Mental Health, provides a written overview of schizophrenia, detailing its signs and symptoms, risk factors and treatments. It is suitable for beginners.
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Megaworld Ramps Up Developments in Luzon
16/06/2017 PHStocks 0 Comments MEG, Megaworld
Manila—(PHStocks)—Township developer Megaworld Corp. (PSE: MEG) is strengthening its presence in various provinces in Luzon with its aggressive expansion of its development portfolio in Pampanga, Cavite, Rizal, Batangas and Laguna.
The company is allocating around PhP10-billion capital spending for the various Luzon developments this year. This includes the construction and completion of more residential, office, commercial and hotel developments in Twin Lakes near Tagaytay and Southwoods City in Cavite-Laguna, as well as for land development in Capital Town in San Fernando, Pampanga and in Eastland Heights in Antipolo, Rizal.
“There is so much opportunity here in Luzon and we believe that after aggressively expanding in the Visayas and Mindanao, it is time to give focus on our Luzon developments. But of course, we will still simultaneously and continuously develop our existing townships all across the country,” says Jericho Go, senior vice president, Megaworld. “Aside from our existing developments, we are eyeing on the expansion of our development portfolio, particularly for our new concept of ‘integrated lifestyle community’, in other Luzon provinces down south and all the way up north. We will be announcing these new, exciting locations within the year.”
Last week, Megaworld announced that it is scheduled to start the construction of its 21st township, Capital Town, in the City of San Fernando in Pampanga this year. The new township, located near the Pampanga Provincial Capitol, will have a cyberpark, mall, museum, leisure parks and shophouse district with wide avenues and boulevards that connect the township to major roads in San Fernando leading to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and Clark International Airport. The company has also commissioned local and foreign experts on flood prevention and control to address issues related to flooding in the area.
The company, through its subsidiary Global-Estate Resorts Inc. (GERI), is also completing the land development and township infrastructure in the 1,200-hectare Twin Lakes, particularly in its first residential projects – Domaine Le Jardin Village and The Vineyard Residences, which will start turning over this year. The first phase of the 10-hectare vineyard, where grapes will be grown, is also being set up within the township. Moreover, the first and only hotel in the township, the Twin Lakes Hotel, is also in its final construction phase and is ready for completion next year.
In the 561-hectare Southwoods City located within the boundaries of Cavite and Laguna near the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), the company is set to open Southwoods Mall and the Southwoods Office Towers this year. Land development and construction of the clubhouse and amenity area of Pahara, are also scheduled for completion this year. Likewise, the first two clusters of Holland Park, the first residential condominium development in Southwoods City, will be completed this year.
Eastland Heights, the company’s first ‘integrated lifestyle community’ on the highlands of Antipolo, will also start sprucing up the development’s main entrance along Marcos Highway as well as some of its amenities and facilities such as nature and water parks this year. The 640-hectare community is already highlighted by its abundant nature amenities which will be exclusively enjoyed by its residents.
Within the next few months, Megaworld will also start land development in Maple Grove, another new 140-hectare township in General Trias, Cavite.
← Alliance Select Holds 2017 Stockholders’ Meeting
January to April 2017 Remittances Reach $10B →
Alliance Global 9M Net Profit Grows 7% to PhP17.3B
PH Stocks Maintain Rise
PH Stocks Sustain Uptrend
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ESA Regulations 2018
OVERVIEW OF New Endangered Species Draft Regulations
On July 19, federal agencies released a comprehensive package of proposed regulations for the Endangered Species Act. In the interest of prompting a constructive dialogue, the Innovation Center has reviewed and summarized our initial perspectives on the proposals in the chart below and in this report. We counted 36 individual proposals and rated each one based on its effects on wildlife conservation.
Our initial conclusion is that nearly half of the proposals merely put current practice into regulations–in other words, they are not a change, just bookkeeping. Approximately eight proposals would likely hinder conservation, six would likely improve conservation, and the remaining three would likely have mixed results. This is only our initial analysis, as some of the proposals require further research. We will update the table as we learn more about the proposals.
Click on each row to expand it to see additional text.
Summary of proposal
Most likely effect on conservation
Language from proposal
Redefines “destruction or adverse modification.” Clarifies or codifies current practice Negative
Although the “as a whole” requirement conflicts with the Services’ ability to evaluate cumulative adverse effects (the Services do not systematically track cumulative authorized take for most species), it simply codifies FWS’s longstanding practice. The proposed definition also removes the second sentence of the current definition, which provides an example of an appreciable alteration.
Destruction or adverse modification means a direct or indirect alteration that appreciably diminishes the value of critical habitat as a whole for the conservation of a listed species
Clarifies reference to “director.” Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
Director refers to the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries for the National Marine Fisheries Service, or his or her authorized representative; or the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or his or her authorized representative.
Clarifies use of programmatic consultations Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
The definition of programmatic action is consistent with the Services’ 2015 rule that defines framework and mixed programmatic actions.
Programmatic consultation is a consultation addressing an agency’s multiple actions on a program, region, or other basis. Programmatic consultations allow the Services to consult on the effects of programmatic actions such as: (1) Multiple similar, frequently occurring or routine actions expected to be implemented in particular geographic areas; and (2) A proposed program, plan, policy, or regulation providing a framework for future proposed actions.
Clarifies requirements to initiate formal consultation Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
This is largely consistent with current practice.
Initiation of formal consultation. (1) A written request to initiate formal consultation shall be submitted to the Director and shall include: (i) A description of the proposed action, including any measures intended to avoid, minimize, or offset effects of the action. Consistent with the nature and scope of the proposed action, the description shall provide sufficient detail to assess the effects of the action on listed species and critical habitat, including: (A) The purpose of the action; (B) The duration and timing of the action; (C) The location of the action; (D) The specific components of the action and how they will be carried out; (E) Maps, drawings, blueprints, or similar schematics of the action; and (F) Any other available information related to the nature and scope of the proposed action relevant to its effects on listed species or designated critical habitat. (ii) A map or description of all areas to be affected directly or indirectly by the Federal action, and not merely the immediate area involved in the action (i.e., the action area as defined at § 402.02). (iii) Information obtained by or in the possession of the Federal agency and any applicant on the listed species and designated critical habitat in the action area (as required by paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section), including available information such as the presence, abundance, density, or periodic occurrence of listed species and the condition and location of species’ habitat, including any critical habitat. (iv) A description of the effects of the action and an analysis of any cumulative effects. (v) A summary of any relevant information provided by the applicant, if available. (vi) Any other relevant available information on the effects of the proposed action on listed species or designated critical habitat, including any relevant reports such as environmental impact statements and environmental assessments.
402.14(c)(1)
Clarifies biological assessment as prerequisite to formal consultation. Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
Initiation of formal consultation….(3) Formal consultation shall not be initiated by the Federal agency until any required biological assessment has been completed and submitted to the Director in accordance with § 402.12.
Clarifies Services responsibilities during formal consultation Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
Service responsibilities during formal consultation are as follows:…. (4) Add the effects of the action and cumulative effects to the environmental baseline and in light of the status of the species and critical habitat, formulate the Service’s opinion as to whether the action is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat.
402.14(g)(4)
Clarifies that Services will consider beneficial actions in formal consultation Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
Service responsibilities during formal consultation are as follows:…. (8) In formulating its biological opinion, any reasonable and prudent alternatives, and any reasonable and prudent measures, the Service will use the best scientific and commercial data available and will give appropriate consideration to any beneficial actions as proposed or taken by the Federal agency or applicant, including any actions taken prior to the initiation of consultation.
Clarifies contents of biological opinion generally Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
Biological opinions. (1) The biological opinion shall include: (i) A summary of the information on which the opinion is based; (ii) A detailed discussion of the effects of the action on listed species or critical habitat; and (iii) The Service’s opinion on whether the action is: (A) Likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat (a “jeopardy” biological opinion); or (B) Not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat (a “no jeopardy” biological opinion).
402.14(h)(1)
Clarifies contents of biological opinion with jeopardy Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
This is largely consistent with current practice. However, the proposed language does not mention “adverse modification” as a finding independent of jeopardy.
Biological opinions….(2) A “jeopardy” biological opinion shall include reasonable and prudent alternatives, if any. If the Service is unable to develop such alternatives, the Service will indicate that to the best of its knowledge there are no reasonable and prudent alternatives.
Clarifies that reinitiation of informal consultation is also possible Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
Clarifies that reinitiation on informal consultation is also possible by removing “formal” from current regulation. This affirms the breadth of the reinitiation requirement (clarifies a more protective standard).
Reinitiation of consultation. (a) Reinitiation of consultation is required and shall be requested by the Federal agency or by the Service, where discretionary Federal involvement or control over the action has been retained or is authorized by law and….
402.16(a)
Establishes no requirement to reinitiate consultation on certain land management plans Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
Services explain that this proposal merely affirms/clarifies current practice. But the proposal conflicts with the Ninth Circuit’s Cottonwood Council decision. We agree with the Services that reinitiating a programmatic consultation on a forest plan in response to a new listing or critical habitat designation offers little for conservation. The only potential downside is that a reinitiation would allow the Service to better assess the cumulative effects of all projects covered by the programmatic action. But this assessment usually leaves a lot to be desired in the first place.
Reinitiation of consultation. (b) An agency shall not be required to reinitiate consultation after the approval of a land management plan prepared pursuant to 43 U.S.C. 1712 or 16 U.S.C. 1604 upon listing of a new species or designation of new critical habitat, provided that any authorized actions that may affect the newly listed species or designated critical habitat will be addressed through a separate action specific consultation.
402.16(b)
Establishes that the activities and effects of an action must be “reasonably certain to occur” Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
The reasonably certain to occur standard applies to both direct and indirect effects now, although this does not necessarily deviate considerably from current practice.
Activities that are reasonably certain to occur. To be considered reasonably certain to occur, the activity cannot be speculative but does not need to be guaranteed. Factors to consider include, but are not limited to: (1) Past relevant experiences; (2) Any existing relevant plans; and (3) Any remaining economic, administrative, and legal requirements necessary for the activity to go forward.
Clarifies that the “reasonably certain to occur” standard does not apply to the proposed action Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
Whether the proposed action itself will be implemented does not need to undergo the reasonably certain to occur test–only the effects/activities of the proposed action do.
The provisions in paragraph (a) of this section apply only to activities caused by but not included in the proposed action and activities considered under cumulative effects.
Rejects concept of “baseline jeopardy” Clarifies or codifies current practice Negative
Clarifies rejection of “baseline jeopardy” concept, in contradiction to some court decisions. Baseline jeopardy
concept could help the Services arrive at needed jeopardy findings more readily, although the actual frequency of such a situation is likely small.
While we acknowledge that for a species with a particularly dire status, a smaller impact could cause an alteration that appreciably diminishes the conservation value of critical habitat or appreciably reduces the likelihood of survival and recovery of the species, there is no “baseline jeopardy” status even for the most imperiled species.
In preamble
Rejects concept of a “tipping point” for jeopardy Clarifies or codifies current practice Negative
Clarifies rejection of “tipping point” concept, in contradiction to some court decisions. As with the baseline jeopardy concept, a tipping point could help the Services arrive at needed jeopardy findings more readily.
Neither the Act nor our regulations state any requirement for the Services to identify a “tipping point” as a necessary prerequisite for making section 7(a)(2) determinations. Section 7(a)(2) provides the Services with discretion as to how it will determine whether the statutory prohibition is exceeded. We have not interpreted that statutory language as requiring the identification of a tipping point.
Clarifies definition of “foreseeable future” Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
Contrary to some media coverage on this issue, the proposed definition closely tracks the FWS’s 2009 opinion on foreseeable future (M-37021), which has been in use ever since then. Specifically, the language below from the opinion is near identical to the proposed definition: “The Secretary’s analysis of what constitutes the foreseeable future for a particular listing determination must be rooted in the best available data that allow predictions into the future, and the foreseeable future extends only so far as those predictions are reliable. ‘Reliable’ does not mean ‘certain’; it means sufficient to provide a reasonable degree of confidence in the prediction, in light of the conservation purposes of the Act.” Note that the proposed rule seems to use “reliable” and “probable” interchangeable. This should be fixed in the final rule.
The term foreseeable future extends only so far into the future as the Services can reasonably determine that the conditions potentially posing a danger of extinction in the foreseeable future are probable. Under proposed section 424.11(d), as under current practice, the foreseeable future for a particular status determination extends only so far as predictions about the future are reliable. “Reliable” does not mean “certain”; it means sufficient to provide a reasonable degree of confidence in the prediction.
424.11(d)
Clarifies identical standards for listing and delisting Clarifies or codifies current practice Negligible
This should already be standard practice, and clarifying it in regulation is useful.
In section 424.11, we propose to redesignate current paragraph (d) as paragraph (e) and revise it to clarify that we determine whether a species is a threatened species or an endangered species using the same standards regardless of whether a species is or is not listed at the time of that determination.
424.11(e)
Simplifies definition of effects of action Minor change Negligible
Simplifies definition of “effects”–eliminates interdependent and interrelated approach. Adds “reasonably certain” standard to direct effects, although appears to be standard practice. Continue evaluating this proposed change for any other implications.
Effects of the action are all effects on the listed species or critical habitat that are caused by the proposed action, including the effects of other activities that are caused by the proposed action. An effect or activity is caused by the proposed action if it would not occur but for the proposed action and it is reasonably certain to occur. Effects of the action may occur later in time and may include effects occurring outside the immediate area involved in the action.
Separates environmental baseline from effects of action Minor change Negligible
Environmental baseline is now a standalone definition, instead of part of the definition of effects of an action. The definition remains the same.
Environmental baseline includes the past and present impacts of all Federal, State, or private actions and other human activities in the action area, the anticipated impacts of all proposed Federal projects in the action area that have already undergone formal or early section 7 consultation, and the impact of State or private actions which are contemporaneous with the consultation in process.
Creates efficiency in drafting initiation package Minor change Positive
Reduces paper and analysis on part of action agency, without compromising quality of consultation (all elements of initiation package must still be met). Consultation Handbook already allows BiOp to reference description of action in NEPA documents.
Initiation of formal consultation….(2) A Federal agency may submit existing documents prepared for the proposed action such as NEPA analyses or other reports in substitution for the initiation package outlined in this paragraph (c). However, any such substitution shall be accompanied by a written summary specifying the location of the information that satisfies the elements above in the submitted document(s).
Allows concurrent initiation of multiple related actions Minor change Positive
Minor reduction in paperwork / process. Confirm this is a change from current practice.
Initiation of formal consultation….(4) Any request for formal consultation may encompass, subject to the approval of the Director, a number of similar individual actions within a given geographical area, a programmatic consultation, or a segment of a comprehensive plan. This provision does not relieve the Federal agency of the requirements for considering the effects of the action or actions as a whole.
Establishes Services responsibilities during formal consultation Minor change Negligible
Minor changes to accommodate the propose to separate “baseline” into its own definition.
Service responsibilities during formal consultation are as follows:…. (2) Evaluate the current status and environmental baseline of the listed species or critical habitat.
Establishes that conservation measures need not require specific plan or resource commitment Minor change Negative
Eliminates requirement for action agency to provide specific and binding plan with clear, definite commitment of resources (in Ninth Circuit). Because the Services have few resources for compliance monitoring, requiring action agency (or applicant) to establish specific plan and/or show resource commitment will help ensure the conservation measures are followed through.
Service responsibilities during formal consultation are as follows:….(8)….Measures included in the proposed action or a reasonable and prudent alternative that are intended to avoid, minimize, or offset the effects of an action are considered like other portions of the action and do not require any additional demonstration of specific binding plans or a clear, definite commitment of resources.
Establishes biological opinion to adopt other documentation Minor change Positive
Efficiency measure to expedite biological opinion.
Biological opinions. (3) The Service may adopt all or part of: (i) A Federal agency’s initiation package; or (ii) The Service’s analysis required to issue a permit
under section 10(a) of the Act in its biological opinion.
Establishes no consultation requirement for “global processes” such as many greenhouse gas emitting activities Minor change Negative
This appears only in the preamble, not the proposed 402.03. This is largely from the 2008 rule finalized during the final days of the George W. Bush administration (73 Fed. Reg. 76272). It is reasonable to avoid spending time consulting on global greenhouse gas emission activities if no take is anticipated and the effects are minor or not measurable. It is also difficult to imagine the Services spending their resources completing such consultations given current funding levels and scrutiny from Congress. However, one could argue that the proposal should not allow an action agency to make that no effect determination on its own. Either way, the change from the status quo is likely negligible (the Services were generally not consulting on these types of actions anyway), but out of an abundance of caution we have rated this proposal as negative.
More specifically, the Services seek comment regarding revising § 402.03 to preclude the need to consult when the Federal agency does not anticipate take and the proposed action will: (1) not affect listed species or critical habitat; or (2) have effects that are manifested through global processes and (i) cannot be reliably predicted or measured at the scale of a listed species’ current range, or (ii) would result at most in an extremely small and insignificant impact on a listed species or critical habitat, or (iii) are such that the potential risk of harm to a listed species or critical habitat is remote, or (3) result in effects to listed species or critical habitat that are either wholly beneficial or are not capable of being measured or detected in a manner that permits meaningful evaluation.
The Services have learned through time that such actions are far removed from any potential for jeopardy or destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat, and that consultation on these actions does little to accomplish the intent of section 7(a)(2) of the Act—to ensure that any action authorized, funded, or carried out by a Federal agency is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat.
In preamble (affects 402.03)
Clarifies standard for delisting species and establishes that delisting follows from status review that triggers the standard Minor change Negligible
Generally no change to current practice, but the “will delist” reference suggests that the Services will automatically proceed with a proposed delisting rule after the status review. Clarify this.
The Secretary will delist a species if the Secretary finds that, after conducting a status review based on the best scientific and commercial data available: (1) The species is extinct; (2) The species does not meet the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species. In making such a determination, the Secretary shall consider the same factors and apply the same standards set forth in paragraph (c) of this section regarding listing and reclassification; or (3) The listed entity does not meet the statutory definition of a species.
Establishes factors for making discretionary not-prudent determination for critical habitat Minor change Negligible
The Services would no longer be required to issue a not-prudent determination if specific factors are met. Rather, the agencies “may” issue such a determination if any of a non-exhaustive list of circumstances exist. Thus, there may be less certainty about when a designation is not prudent, but the Services rarely issue such findings in the first place (we found only 19 such findings by FWS from 2000-18). With few exceptions (see below), the non-exhaustive list of circumstances appears consistent with current practice for not-prudent determinations. By not pursing designations that provide little to no conservation value, the Services can use their resources for other actions that offer higher value (the cost of each critical habitat rulemaking is about $150k – $300k). From this perspective, the proposal might benefit conservation in some circumstances. The proposal does include two new factors for not prudent determinations: evaluating the benefits of section 7 consultations, and considering the conservation value of US habitat for transboundary species. Note that courts have generally not upheld FWS’s not-prudent determinations based on the agency’s claim that designation would not benefit a species.
The Secretary may, but is not required to, determine that a designation would not be prudent in the following circumstances: (i) The species is threatened by taking or other human activity and identification of critical habitat can be expected to increase the degree of such threat to the species; (ii) The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of a species’ habitat or range is not a threat to the species, or threats to the species’ habitat stem solely from causes that cannot be addressed through management actions resulting from consultations under section 7(a)(2) of the Act; (iii) Areas within the jurisdiction of the United States provide no more than negligible conservation value, if any, for a species occurring primarily outside the jurisdiction of the United States; (iv) No areas meet the definition of critical habitat; or (v) After analyzing the best scientific data available, the Secretary otherwise determines that designation of critical habitat would not be prudent.
424.12(a)(1)
Defines environmental baseline to include ongoing impacts Moderate or major change Mixed
This requires further analysis, but we initially believe the results will be mixed. For many consultations, the difference will likely be negligible, as the complexities of ongoing actions do not arise. For other consultations, the proposed definition appears consistent with how the Services sometimes address ongoing actions as part of the baseline. But the inclusion of ongoing actions in the baseline definition, combined with separating the baseline from the effects of the action, raise questions about whether the scope of RPMs or any RPAs might change. This is one of the most technically complex proposals to evaluate, and we will provide further analysis in the coming weeks.
Environmental baseline is the state of the world absent the action under review and includes the past, present and ongoing impacts of all past and ongoing Federal, State, or private actions and other human activities in the action area, the anticipated impacts of all proposed Federal projects in the action area that have already undergone formal or early section 7 consultation, and the impact of State or private actions in the action area which are contemporaneous with the consultation in process. Ongoing means impacts or actions that would continue in the absence of the action under review.
Limits scope of consultation to actions within jurisdiction of agency Moderate or major change Negative
Regardless of legality, limiting the scope of consultations would reduce the number of actions subject to consultations. The 2016 NMFS consultation on FEMA’s flood insurance program is an example of such a consultation. Limits on the scope of consultation also arise in some Army Corps of Engineer consultations on Clean Water Act section 404 dredge and fill permits for wetlands. If finalized, this proposal would likely have serious negative effects for some species.
In prior consultations under section 7(a)(2), agencies with regulatory authority have consulted on actions that include effects to listed species or designated critical habitat that occur outside of the specific area over which they have regulatory jurisdiction. We also seek comment on whether the scope of a consultation under section 7(a)(2) should be limited to only the activities, areas, and effects within the jurisdictional control and responsibility of the regulatory agency.
Creates optional collaborative consultation process Moderate or major change Positive
Allows action agency to better coordinate with the Services on developing analysis and documentation to facilitate Service’s BiOp. The Services can already incorporate by reference or adopt an action agency’s analysis.
Biological opinions. (4) A Federal agency and the Service may agree to follow an optional collaborative process that would further the ability of the Service to adopt the information and analysis provided by the Federal agency during consultation in the development of the Service’s biological opinion to improve efficiency in the consultation process and reduce duplicative efforts. The Federal agency and the Service shall consider the nature, size, and scope of the action or its anticipated effects on listed species or critical habitat, and other relevant factors to determine whether an action or a class of actions is appropriate for this process. The Federal agency and the Service may develop coordination procedures that would facilitate adoption. The end result of the adoption consultation process is expected to be the adoption of the initiation package with any necessary supplementary analyses and incidental take statement to be added by the Service, if appropriate, as the Service’s biological opinion in fulfillment of section 7(b) of the Act.
Creates expedited consultation process Moderate or major change Positive
Proposal suggests focus on expediting recovery action BiOps (although current practice already largely allows that). This can create incentives for action agency to strive for a net benefit or recovery standard. But this approach can also be abused if the Services are too permissive in overlooking adverse effects. Note that 402.14(l) is already taken–maybe Services meant 402.14(m)?
Creates expedited consultation process. Expedited consultations. Expedited consultation is an optional formal consultation process that a Federal agency and the Service may enter into upon mutual agreement. To determine whether an action or a class of actions is appropriate for this type of consultation, the Federal agency and the Service shall consider the nature, size, and scope of the action or its anticipated effects on listed species or critical habitat and other relevant factors. Conservation actions whose primary purpose is to have beneficial effects on listed species will likely be considered appropriate for expedited consultation. (1) Upon agreement to use this expedited consultation process, the Federal agency and the Service shall establish the expedited timelines for the completion of this consultation process. (2) Federal agency responsibilities: To request initiation of expedited consultation, the Federal agency shall provide all the information required to initiate consultation under paragraph (c) of this section. To maximize efficiency and ensure that it develops the appropriate level of information, the Federal agency is encouraged to develop its initiation package in coordination with the Service. (3) Service responsibilities: In addition to the Service’s responsibilities under the provisions of this section, the Service will: (i) Provide relevant species information to the Federal agency and guidance to assist the Federal agency in completing its effects analysis in the initiation package; and (ii) Conclude the consultation and issue a biological opinion within the agreed-upon timeframes.
402.14(l)
Creates deadline for informal consultation Moderate or major change Mixed
The effects on consultation depend largely on when the deadline would start (the Services are asking for comment on this issue). Regardless, a 60-day deadline applied to the official start of informal consultation would not affect most FWS consultations, as most are under 60 days. But it would affect more NMFS consultations. The proposal does not mention the implications of no mutual consent to extend informal consultation. Our initial view is that the clock should start ticking when an action agency has submitted the required documents to initiate consultation.
The Services are considering whether to add a 60-day deadline, subject to extension by mutual consent, for informal consultations. We seek comment on (1) whether a deadline would be helpful in improving the timeliness of review; (2) the appropriate length for a deadline (if not 60 days); and (3) how to appropriately implement a deadline (e.g., which portions of informal consultation the deadline should apply to [e.g., technical assistance, response to requests for concurrence, etc.], when informal consultation begins, and the ability to extend or “pause the clock” in certain circumstances, etc.).
Combines consultation affecting species under joint jurisdiction Moderate or major change Positive
Although there are differences between the quality of certain FWS and NMFS consultations (see Evansen et al. 2017. Same law, different results: comparative analysis of Endangered Species Act consultations by two federal agencies), we think that the greater efficiency gains from collaborating on a single biological opinion outweigh the potential compromises in the quality of the opinion.
While not reflected in any proposed changes to our regulations at this time, we also seek comment on the merit, authority, and means for the Services to conduct a single consultation, resulting in a single biological opinion, for Federal agency actions affecting species that are under the jurisdiction of both FWS and NMFS
In preamble (affects 402)
Removes prohibition on referring economic impacts Moderate or major change Negative
It is difficult to prevent economic analysis from influencing final listing decision (remember that listing decisions are not actually based solely on science, despite what the ESA and its regulations state–See Holly Doremeus’s 1997 article on why better science isn’t always better policy under the ESA).
We propose to remove the phrase, “without reference to possible economic or other impacts of such determination”, from paragraph (b) to more closely align with the statutory language.
Modifies order and standard for designating unoccupied critical habitat Moderate or major change Negative
There are three proposals here: evaluating occupied habitat before evaluating unoccupied habitat; identifying the two situations when unoccupied habitat is deemed “essential”; and requiring a “reasonable likelihood” that unoccupied area contribute to conserving the species (although the preamble confusingly states that a lower standard may also be used). The main problem with forcing the Services to evaluate occupied habitat first is that it creates the risk of overlooking unoccupied habitat that may be more effective or less costly at recovering a species. But the proposed language tries to address this concern by allowing unoccupied habitat to be designated if doing would result in more “efficient conservation.” Also note that FWS might not have designated the unoccupied unit for the dusky gopher frog in the Weyerhaeuser v. USFWS Supreme Court case if it had to find a “reasonable likelihood” that the area will contribute to conservation. A person’s view of this proposal depends largely on whether he or she believes in the value of critical habitat. For the sake of argument, we adopt a precautionary approach to conservation by assuming that critical habitat has meaningful conservation value (as the Services do) and arrive at a “negative” rating for this proposal in light of that assumption.
The Secretary will designate as critical habitat, at a scale determined by the Secretary to be appropriate, specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the species only upon a determination that such areas are essential for the conservation of the species. When designating critical habitat, the Secretary will first evaluate areas occupied by the species. The Secretary will only consider unoccupied areas to be essential where a critical habitat designation limited to geographical areas occupied would be inadequate to ensure the conservation of the species or would result in less efficient conservation for the species. Efficient conservation for the species refers to situations where the conservation is effective, societal conflicts are minimized, and resources expended are commensurate with the benefit to the species. In addition, for an unoccupied area to be considered essential, the Secretary must determine that there is a reasonable likelihood that the area will contribute to the conservation of the species.
424.12(b)(2)
Withdraws general section 4(d) rule Moderate or major change Mixed
The withdrawal of the general 4(d) rules for wildlife and plants will likely have mixed results, depending largely on when and how FWS issues species-specific 4(d) rules. For many species, the withdrawal will likely have negligible effects because, under the Obama administration, FWS was already issuing species-specific 4(d) rules for many of its threatened animal species. The withdrawal will likely hinder conservation where FWS does not issue a species-specific rule and doing so would have helped conserve the species. The cost for FWS to issue 4(d) rules is unclear at this point, particularly rules that are detailed enough to substitute for the conservation measures that would have flowed from section 10 agreements for the species. Further, approximately 56% of US listed species are plants, and FWS has never issued a species-specific 4(d) rule for any threatened plant. If the agency does not plan to start doing so, then the discrepancy between protections for endangered and threatened plants becomes real (at least on paper–the section 9 habitat-based protections for endangered species are very limited).
On the other hand, forcing FWS to purposefully identify activities covered by a 4(d) rule may lead to better conservation in some instances, such as by excluding activities for which applying the take prohibition does not advance recovery.
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, propose to revise our regulations
extending most of the prohibitions for activities involving endangered species to threatened species. For species already listed as a threatened species, the proposed regulations would not alter the applicable prohibitions. The proposed regulations would require the Service, pursuant to section 4(d) of the Endangered
Species Act, to determine what, if any, protective regulations are appropriate for species that the Service in the future determines to be threatened.
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Home / International News / National Security Dominates St. Lucia Prime Minister’s Meeting With Outgoing Taiwan President
National Security Dominates St. Lucia Prime Minister’s Meeting With Outgoing Taiwan President
in International News March 17, 2016 0
Photo above: From left to right: St. Lucia Prime Minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony; Belize Prime Minister,, Dean Barrow; President Ma Ying-jeou: St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris; and Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Mar. 17, (CMC) – The extension of Taiwanese assistance in the field of national security was the main talking point, when St. Lucia Prime Minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony, met with outgoing Taiwanese President, Ma Ying-jeou, in Belize, yesterday.
Details of the discussions were not immediately available, but a government spokesman said, further discussions on security-related issues will be held with the new administration later this year.
Taiwan is rated by many indices, including those furnished by the FBI and World Bank, as one of the safest nations on the planet, with exceedingly low crime levels.
The highlight of the trip, was the bilateral meeting with President Ma, during which Anthony thanked the Taiwanese leader for his friendship and support.
Specifically, the Prime Minister spoke of assistance given by the Republic of China (Taiwan) in culture, community transformation, health, technology, and education.
A joint statement noted, that both President Ma and Prime Minister Anthony remarked on the close friendship they have developed over the years, mirroring the friendship between their two countries.
“It is never easy to say goodbye to a friend; but that is what we must do. You are representing your country, as President, but you are also a friend — a reliable friend, and a trustworthy friend.
“In our country you have changed lives. Politicians are really remembered for their ability to impact on the lives of others. The test is very simple.
“I look back on the time I have spent in office and I ask, have I changed the quality of the lives of the citizens of my country for the better? In St Lucia, you have certainly impacted on the lives of our people, and you are fondly thought of.
“When history reflects on what you have achieved, in terms of international relations, in Asia and beyond, you will be remembered as a great man, and a man of peace. I have no doubt that history will be kind to you when that time comes.
“On behalf of the Government and people of St. Lucia, I want to thank you. Not just as one leader to another, sharing views, sharing ideas. I want to thank you as a friend,” Anthony noted.
During the course of his visit, Anthony also held a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Belize, Dean Barrow.
He also attended a round-table discussion with President Ma; Prime Minister Barrow; Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Timothy Harris; and Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.
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Home / National News / Guyana High School Alumni Donates Musical Instrument To Alma Mater
Keira Marie Allum-Rowe, centre, receives her bursary from Sharmon Carrington, left, President of the Central High School Alumni Association of Guyana (Canada)-Toronto chapter, and Christopher Moriah, a member of the Bursary Committee. Photo by Colin Rowe.
Guyana High School Alumni Donates Musical Instrument To Alma Mater
in National News October 26, 2016 0
By Michael Van Cooten
PRIDE Publisher/Editor
TORONTO, Ontario October 26, 2016 — In response to an urgent request for a keyboard from its alma mater, last month, the Central High School Alumni Association of Guyana (Canada)-Toronto Chapter (CHAAG) purchased the musical instrument, last Thursday, and is in the process of shipping it.
Sharmon Carrington, who was elected as President at CHAAG’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in February, announced the request for the musical instrument for the school’s music program and solicited donations, during her welcoming remarks at the organisation’s annual fundraising dinner and dance, last month.
In response to President Carrington’s remarks, Kevin Ramkissoon, a non-Guyanese, was moved and responded by donating C$100.00 towards the purchase of the keyboard.
“I have been in contact with the music teacher, Mrs. Yvonne Cummings, as well as Ms. Ruth Howard, the Chair of The Board of Governors of the school, as well as Mr. Clairmonte Cox, Teacher and Board Member, and I am making arrangements to have it shipped, while I await a response from Ms. Howard as to the status of the application for Tax Exemption,” Carrington informed CHAAG”s members, in a letter, last week Thursday.
The Toronto chapter of CHAAG, which claims, on its website, to be the most active of the school’s alumni chapters worldwide, includes in its mandate “a dedication to assisting Central High School (founded around 1928) in its efforts to provide quality education to students and helping to restore all related facilities of the school”.
At its fundraising event this year, the high school alumni re-launched its bursary program, which was temporarily suspended due to a dearth of eligible prospects. It presented four bursaries — to two students in Guyana and two Canadian students of Guyanese decent, Keira Marie Allum-Rowe of Scarborough and Connor Samuel Choy of Oshawa — at its fundraiser on September 24.
Allum-Rowe, a former student of Francis Libermann Catholic High School, is a recipient of The Ontario Scholar Award. She was involved in several after-school programs, one of which was an instrumental music program, in which she practised as well as assisted junior students to learn their musical instruments.
Allum-Rowe participated in volunteer activities in her church, and in costume making for the 2016 Toronto Caribbean Festival. Accepted by the Faculty of Science at York University, she is pursuing studies in the Biomedical Science Degree Program.
Connor Choy, centre, receives his bursary from Sharmon Carrington, left, President of the Central High School Alumni Association of Guyana (Canada)-Toronto chapter, and Christopher Moriah, a member of the Bursary Committee. Photo by Colin Rowe.
Choy, a former student of R.S. McLaughlin Collegiate and Vocational Institute, has experience in freelance Graphic Designing and has acquired several leadership skills, as he volunteered as an Assistant Hockey and Basketball Coach of Atom level teams. He is attending Durham College pursuing studies in Game Development.
“We congratulate these recipients and wish them success with their studies and all their future endeavours,” said Carrington, who is also the Chair of CHAAG’s Bursary Committee. “It is hoped that the presentation of these bursaries will attract the participation of younger, former students of Central High School and their families.”
In addition to the appointment of Carrington as its President, in February, CHAAG, which was formed in 1987, welcomed other elected officials: Dennis Choy — Treasurer; Patricia Wailoo – Secretary; Rita Graham, James Mangar, Christopher Moriah and Peter Mitchell – Directors-at-Large.
CHAAG’s immediate Past-President is Jennifer St. Aubyn, who served diligently for two consecutive terms, and the organisation’s Vice-president, webmaster, who also acts as photographer, is Colin Rowe.
During her remarks at the fundraiser, Carrington reminded the audience that their alma mater, formerly a private co-ed institution, had its inception, because of “the great vision of its founder, the late Mr. Joseph C. Luck, known to many as JC”.
She added that the co-ed institution “has made many invaluable contributions to our homeland and to Canada via its teachers and students, many of whom excelled in academics and subsequently in several career fields: medicine, education, law, science, politics, engineering. architecture, business, journalism etc.
“Its students developed a sense of pride, purpose, camaraderie, concern and respect for each other and others outside of the institution.”
CHAAG’s Toronto Chapter President, Sharmon Carrington, addresses the audience at the organisation’s fundraising dinner/dance, last month. Photo by Colin Rowe.
The President informed her listeners that the home school was taken over by the former Guyana government, a few years ago, and is not what it used to be: “Our school is currently in an overcrowded situation, with approximately 600 students housed in one building, which was initially built to house 250 students; while its other two buildings have either been sold or re-appropriated.
“However, despite this, its students continue to excel, and this year, it achieved 83.63 percent passes at the recent CSEC exams, which replaced the London GCE ‘O’ levels, and the school’s debating team won the national debating championship, three years in succession.”
The current Guyana government has advised that it is contemplating amalgamating the school with the Brickdam Secondary School — which is also overcrowded — and housing it in a state-of-the-art school, which will be built as soon as a suitable location is identified and acquired, Carrington said.
“It is clear to me that the students are working very hard, despite their current school conditions, and we need to continue supporting them,” she strongly suggested.
Canada Signs Memorandum Of Understanding With Guyana
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Libel Threat Against Conservative Leader, Andrew Scheer: A Great Canadian Political Tradition
Toronto Officially Recognises The UN Decade For People Of African Descent
Peel School Board Approves Recruitment Of Black And Indigenous Teachers
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Home | News | General | FG rules out military action against rampaging herdsmen
FG rules out military action against rampaging herdsmen
Larry Nwabuoku
…Mulls privatisation of Prisons
By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA – Despite the ferocious wave of attacks on indigenous communities by rampaging herdsmen in some parts of the country, the Federal Government has ruled out the possibility of deploying military option to quell such violent activities.
It said since the police have not been overwhelmed by the attackers, military option is not on the table.
Minister of Interior, Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd) stated this on a Sunday midnight television programme “Question Time” on Channels TV.
“We must protect the country which is the main function of the police. The Civil Defence are there to complement them too.
“This is a non-military issue that borders on law and order. It is not every security issue that you call in the military. It is the responsibility of the police to maintain peace. I believe that if we put the police in proper position in terms of discharging its functions, then there would be no need for military option. The police are equal to the task. If you have to deploy the army, then you are going above board (sic). In any case, I do not even have the power to deploy the military for anything. It is only when the situation gets out of hand that you invite the military”, he said.
According to the Global Terrorism Index 2015 report, “Fulani militants” killed 1,229 people in 2014 — up from 63 in 2013 — making them the “fourth most deadly terrorist group” globally.
Privatization of Prisons, an option
Dambazau also hinted the possibility of privatizing Nigerian Prisons, saying the only challenge with the proposal is that most prison inmates are not serving their sentences but awaiting trial.
“Privatization is an option. How we go about doing that is another thing. Outside the country, for instance in the United Kingdom UK, they rely on ‘Prisons Labour’ to do that and it is from prisons labour they do that to recoup their investment.
“Here, 70 per cent of our inmates are awaiting trial and by international law, you cannot engage inmates who are awaiting trial in such labour, but it is still something that we can sit down with those who are interested”, he said.
‘FG not spending N14, 000 prisoners’
The minister however dismissed reports that government was spending N14, 000 to feed each prisoner on a daily basis, but said Nigeria currently spends about N10.6 billion feeding over 65, 000 prisoners yearly.
“It is not sustainable given that we have about 65, 000 to 70,000 prisoners. If you have 65, 000 prisoners, the feeding that was approved by former President Jonathan, you raised the feeding to N450 per day including gas; if you multiply it by 65, 000 prisoners in 365 days, you get roughly N10.6 billion. That was what we met and there was no budgetary provision for that. This was why we said there was need to look into prisons farms so that prisons can feed themselves”, he stated.
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Hosted at The Cooper Union in New York City. Application Deadline: 07.08.2019.
Our cities have undergone shifts that even a decade ago were unthinkable, and one of the biggest challenges for architects today is to plan for rapid advancements in technology and the changes these innovations have on society. In response to this, this Visiting School will explore emerging possibilities in advanced architectural design and urban futures, exposing students to both professional expertise and the utilization of new technologies capable of blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres of what will encompass new conceptions on aspects of the city. This endeavor not only hopes to reveal a glimpse of what the city could be, but also initiate discourse that can destabilize dominant thinking and offer future urban solutions to the changing landscapes of our metropolises around the world.
The programme will focus on digital and scripted design methodologies, realised through digital representation and fabrication techniques. Focused on the utilization of Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, Python, and Maya, each invited tutor will be introducing their own advanced methods of working within these platforms for a diversity of design outcomes and an exposure for participants in each group to differentiated design methodologies.
Studio Workshop
Each group of students will produce an urban proposal driven by new, advanced computational techniques that will postulate their versions of a future urban outcome driven by technological and urban changes happening today. These proposals will be expressed through renders, animations, and diagrammatic representations.
Throughout the programme a series of morning presentations and evening public lectures will be presented to the participants on topics relevant to the workshop agenda, offering exposure to a wide range of methodologies and applications used by instructors and guest speakers in their practices. A list of local and international keynote lecturers will present for several evenings on specialised subjects to provide a rich platform for discussions and exchange of ideas.
With its ever‐increasing densification and re‐development, as well as the growing diversity of its cultures, New York is one of the best locations for students to witness an evolving city. AAVS New York will act offer site visits to several prominent buildings that have shaped and influenced urban habitation, and will offer the ability to explore firsthand the dynamic shifts taking place in our cities today.
Closing Presentations
To conclude the programme, a public event will be held to present final group projects and lead into a discussion session covering the programme topics of future urban growth within New York, and the use of computational methodologies to address the issues impacting contemporary urban systems.
Programme Leaders
Local, Regional, and International Contributors to AAVS New York
Ali Farzaneh
Ali Farzaneh is a designer and architect based in the USA. He attained his PhD in Architectural Design at the Architectural Association (AA) in London with a focus on complex systems in design and their application in generating novel spatial and morphological formations. He has worked at Coop Himmelb(l)au in Vienna and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in Washington DC. He co-directed the AA Aarhus Visiting School in Denmark researching the implications of digital fabrication tools and robotic manufacturing in design and their use in rationalising complex geometries.
Andrew Haas is a New York based designer focused on biologically inspired, computationally driven approaches to design. He received his Master’s in Emerging Technologies & Design at the Architectural Association (AA) in London and his Bachelors of Science at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities. He has professional experience at Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA); Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); and is currently with Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF) as a Computational Designer in New York. He has taught internationally, including at the Architectural Association, Hong Kong University, and Tsinghua University, among others. He is a Fellow at the Urban Design Forum, an Emerging Leader for the Regional Plan Association, an Executive Steering Committee member of Emerging New York Architects, and Founder of the New York Digital Design Community, a forum dedicated to advancements in design through technology.
Jan Klaška
Studio Instructor
Jan Klaška is a New York based licensed Architect from the Czech Republic and holds a Master of Architecture and Urban Design Degree from the Technical University in Prague. His focus lays in advanced computation design and methods, specifically in the advanced development of form and rationalisation of complex geometry. Jan has worked internationally for several high-profile firms, in Prague, Vienna and most recently in London for Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). Since joining ZHA in 2013, Jan has collaborated on variety of commissions and competitions, ranging from interior urban design, sport venues, cultural projects, and residential and office buildings. He is currently working on international bridge design, which he has been involved with from its design inception to final design stages.
Angela Huang
Angela Huang is a New York based Architectural Designer. She received her Master’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania where she was the recipient of the Arthur Spayd Brooke Memorial Prize for exceptional work in Architecture Education as well as the prestigious Studio Prize by Architect Magazine in 2017. She has had the opportunity to work at globally recognized design offices such as UNStudio in Amsterdam, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) in London, and currently with Skidmore Owings and Merrill in New York, where she has worked on multiple high profile international tower projects. She is co-teaching at the University of Pennsylvania in the Advance Architectural Design program and the Master of Architecture program, in the third year Design Research Studio. Her work focusses on aesthetics in Architecture and advanced digital design techniques. She has undertaken numerous architectural competitions, including the Lixil International competition, in which she was a finalist. Additionally, in 2018 her work was exhibited at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
Ramon Weber
Ramon Weber is a Research Assistant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Media Lab in the Mediated Matter Group. Working with experimental fabrication platforms and digital building technologies he is investigating how computational design and robotics can impact future architecture. He received his master’s degree in Integrative Technologies and Architectural Design Research with distinction from the University of Stuttgart and holds a bachelor’s in architecture from ETH Zurich, where he conducted research at the Block Research Group, the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) and was a designer at the lightweight composite construction company FibR. He previously worked for Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) in London, where he was involved in projects across all scales and design research in the in-house ZHA|CODE research group.
Paul Clemens Bart
Paul Clemens Bart is a German architect, designer and educator, currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Paul holds a M.Sc (Dipl. Ing. eqv) from Technical University Munich and a M.Arch from the Design Research Lab at the Architectural Association in London. His ongoing research and design ambitions are focused on emergent technologies and digital methodologies and their application in performance-orientated, mobile and ecological building systems. He has been a frequently invited speaker and teaching instructor at UCL Bartlett London, Universidad International SEK Quito and TU Munich and international institutions like DETAIL Magazine and Ars Electronica Linz. His work has been widely published, patented and exhibited, including the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show, the 13th Architectural Biennale in Venice and the Nesta Future Fest London. It has been featured by major architectural media, such as WIRED, Financial Times, ArchDaily and Autodesk Redshift. Paul is co-founder of the design and research collaborative BART//BRATKE working at the intersection between new mobility and urban futures. Previously he has been holding leading industry and academic positions at Zaha Hadid Architects in London, L.A.V.A. Asia-Pacific and Berlin, and the German Institute for Science and Technology in Singapore.
Presenters + Discussion Panelists
Throughout the programme a series of morning and evening lectures will be presented to the participants on topics relevant to the workshop agenda, offering exposure to a wide range of methodologies and applications used by tutors and guest speakers in their practices, and providing a rich platform for discussions and exchange of ideas. Attend our events: http://digitaldesigncommunity.com
Dr. Tom Verebes
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Professor, School of Architecture and Design at New York Institute of Technology NYIT; Director, OCEAN CN Limited
Marvin Bratke
Head of Architecture at Brandlab, Founding Partner of BART//BRATKE, Visiting Professor at Universidad Internacional SEK
Luc Wilson
Director, Urban Interface, Kohn Pedersen Fox; Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP
Violet Whitney
Product Manager, Sidewalk Labs; Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP
Stefan Al, PhD, LEED AP
Senior Associate Principal at KPF, TED Resident
Snoweria Zhang
Researcher, MIT Senseable City Lab
Wolf Mangelsdorf
Partner, BuroHappold Engineering
Ali Farzaneh, AA PhD
Co-Director, AA Visiting School New York
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RatcliffeBlog: Mitch's Open Notebook
Always a work in progress
Tag: media evolution
Let’s talk about the economics of great journalism
Responding to various recent postings about journalism, including Ethan Zuckerman, Seth Godin, Dan Gillmor, Amy Gahran and Lisa Williams. I think the economics of journalism and ethics are deeply related and we tend to talk about them separately, emphasizing the dying channels for distribution at the expense of understanding the net loss of reporting.
When I worked with the team that built the ON24 iFinancial Network, a personalized financial news network that delivered hundreds of long- and short-form investment news each day, we tried to grow on advertising. Even though we had several million viewers who spent an hour or more a day getting much deeper reports than other sources provided—complete coverage of conference calls, analyst reports, company statements and executive speeches—advertisers were slow to adopt the idea.
ON24’s news team operated on approximately $1.8 million a year at its peak, when it was producing 28 hours, and more, of programming a day, far below the cost at competitors like CNBC, which paid just one of their anchors almost as much as ON24’s news staff of 85 full-time employees. Such radical changes in the economics of news are always possible, especially now.
Media innovation cannot be dependent on advertisers, they will not take the risk. Innovation must find a foothold with people who demand that great news be available. The users of news have to support it to get it going. In the past, rich men made this investment and we got what they paid for. Are we going to pay for better news in the coming century? Are we going to pay for it now, when media is down and change can overwhelm the old controlled media that delivers more pabulum than hard news?
Having been in and around journalism, citizen journalism and publishing for a long time, let me suggest we stop talking about the ethics of providing complete and useful information to citizens of a democracy, which are barely changed by the requirements of social media and cloud computing technology, in isolation from the economics of journalism. If someone delivers great journalism on a regular basis, what does it cost to do it? What is it worth to you to get better news coverage of an important issue?
Let’s posit that if the journalism is “great” or even “good,” it will be ethical, and face the problem of paying for the change we want. Unethical reporting is not journalism.
Forget about advertising and the like as a means of support. What’s a solid source of useful reliable information worth to you? A dollar a month? Twenty dollars a year? I’d bet you’d pay more for great local coverage, whether your locality is geographic, including your own home town, or topical but global, such as global warming or eliminating pandemic disease.
For example, if you could count on someone to examine federal elections reporting for you and deliver all the articles you need to be fully informed about your reprsentatives’ potential conflicts of interest, as well as alerts via Twitter, Friendfeed or SMS, what would you pay? Or comprehensive coverage of your favorite baseball team in the context of the whole of Major League Baseball? Perhaps you’d like extensive research into the activity of the World Bank or the Department of Interior. How about your state legislature? Maybe you’d like grass-roots coverage of USAService.org projects in your region that included financial analysis of the use of funds—that costs money.
The cost of any of these specialties is a good living for someone doing the work, whether that is doled out in parts to members of a team or to a single individual. We can talk in terms of voluntary effort, but even that needs financial support and some organization and analysis that ties together all the bits and pieces, whomever might provide it. If the reporter makes their living some other way, the work of reporting becomes secondary and conditional—they can’t commit to deliver news no matter the time or cost if they have to work a day job.
The obvious potential bias of a “press” that can only work voluntarily, making it the playground of the wealthy, makes the benefits of a self-supporting independent media self-evident. The media that people complain about is the product of wealth investing in messages they would support. Any replacement of an egalitarian grass-roots funding with one rich man doling out largesse or investments will get you the same media we have today.
Let’s assume that a competent reporter delivering original reporting, not simply reworking other sources, is worth the same as a senior mid-level manager in a corporation, such as Microsoft or Google—they may make between $90,000 to $130,000 a year. We’re talking about a good source of information, someone that people find reliable and responsive to the community’s ideas. Remember, that could be $10,000 to nine to 13 people sharing the task of coverage or more to participants in a smaller team.
Of course, a smaller beat, such as a town or city’s government, might be less expensive to cover. These reporters working directly for the community could price the service any way they like. A kid covering Lakewood, Wash., where I live, might build a living that gives them a platform for covering the Washington State Legislature, a local industry or other “bigger,” more lucrative topic.
Good reporters have costs you might not envision when thinking of someone sitting at a desk, using the Internet to do research. For example, subscriptions to various publications and source of background information costs, at minimum, a few hundred dollars a month. Should the reporter need to travel to do any research, conduct interviews or collect information that is not available electronically, that’s a minimum of $1,500 per trip for airfare, plus a week’s food and lodging.
But, hold on, let’s say the reporter needs to file a Freedom of Information Act request? The last time I did it for a story on the National Security Agency, in the 1990s, it cost $7,500 to get the filing shepherded through the process and pushed to success by an attorney. A good reporter might also find themselves the subject to legal attacks or, if they cover a war, captured by insurgents—do you expect them to just languish unaided if they can’t deliver the news?
What isn’t necessary for the news to flow effortlessly these days is a big company to distribute articles and programming. They might be good at selling advertising, but that need not be part of the business of news, if we begin with the assumption that funding sources also have some influence over coverage—people reading and viewing may be carrying the freight.
The fully loaded cost of a great reporter doing great work, then, falls somewhere in the $180,000 range:
$130,000 salary and benefits
$4,800 a year in subscriptions and other information sources
$2,500 a month in travel
$1,250 a month in legal and insurance coverage
$179,800 total, and that’s before the cost of IT, telecom and office space
After salary and benefits, the average cost of supporting a reporter will range between $20,000 and $50,000 a year. This assumes they have no bonuses for great work or world-changing stories. Yes, they might write a book about that story to supplement their income, but this takes away from time that can be dedicated to uncovering the next story and contributes to the phenomenon of the celebrity journalist in sharp contrast to the beat writer. In short, if every other sector of the economy works best when people can compete for success and compensation, this one is going to take some incentives from readers/viewers and, even, collaborators and amplifiers who reblog, rewrite and extend the hard work of original research. It’s a system that the Creative Commons licenses could handily support.
How could we make this work? Obviously, legal, benefits and other general and administrative features of this process (such as getting bulk rates on travel and subscriptions), can be lowered by a distributed non-profit or cooperative organization. That entity could also handle distribution of compensation, handling the splitting of payments. This is critical, since it is most likely that supporters of reporting will want a collection of sources, not just one source. So, there might be a “Collective Press” feed on U.S. government, on the state of California, the auto industry, green energy, and so forth, the fees for which are split between many contributors.
Let’s also assume that the news should not be behind any kind of pay wall, that it should be freely accessible so that people can use and decide if they want to support the work. Added convenience or increased interaction would be the best way to reward supporting. My thought is to give supporters enhanced commenting, Twitter access to the reporter, and other benefits, such as forwarding with private discussion links.
In the simplest scenario, then, what does an independent journalism supported by the users of information, as compared to being designed to support the producer-of-information’s advertisers, look like?
How about this? Pay $1 a month or $12 a year to a reporter who has offered an online “contract” to deliver thorough coverage of a topic. They might ask for more, but they’d have to sell the idea, just as they do in editorial meetings today. In exchange, you’ll get alerts about new articles and comments by the writer through email, Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed or SMS. Another feature would be a social page of your own, where your input to the feed is available, delivered to the reporter for their thoughts, and your own feeds to share with friends. The reporter benefits from these re-feeds by supporters as a form of marketing for their work.
Since this would likely be an entrepreneurial effort, reporters would have to start off building their communities, with the help of early supporters. We could rally around a reporter and get them started with commitments of $1 a month ($0.03 a day). A reporter offering to cover a major federal program that has significant impact on 500 companies and 5,000,000 people should be able to recruit 5,000 supporters after a few months.
Using the costs described above, the break-even point for a $130,000-salaried reporter would be 15,000 readers. That’s well within the realm of possibility for a reporter supported by a non-profit that lists their offerings and ensures payments will be fulfilled. Assuming that reporters will be subscribing to other reporters, some of this needs to be kick-started by the members of the “new press” finding one another.
I’ll commit right now to support 40 such reporters who will give me a unique, comprehensive and informed feed of information and analysis on subjects about which I want to keep apprised. The kind of quality and coverage I want is of higher quality than the momentary mentions of television and deeper than beat coverage in newspapers or magazines. And I want to discuss the topics I care about with informed reporters and other readers/viewers.
Author Mitch RatcliffePosted on January 19, 2009 Categories Business & Technology, Media Comment & CrimesTags economics, media evolution, news, production2 Comments on Let’s talk about the economics of great journalism
Scribes and professionals
Clay Shirky, in his Here Comes Everybody, devotes a chapter, “Everyone is a media outlet”, to a comparison of the decline of scribal production to the decline of “professional” journalism. He sets up this analogy on faulty legs that leave the argument that “what was once a chasm is now a mere slope [between “professional” journalism and committing acts of journalism or journalistic-like writing or photopublication]” completely unsupported.
The problem is that the scribe’s production of books, which was, for the most part, merely rote copying (with mistakes sometimes adding very interesting flavor to the resulting books), is not analogous to the acts of research and authorship that a journalist does. And I don’t mean a “professional” journalist, just the act of researching and writing a thorough report of an event or events.
Clay mixes in photojournalism and stock photography, two very different functions in the scheme of things, as one is concerned with immediacy and the other with illustration of events with handy and cheap symbolic images, to make his point that it is in organizing data that most value is created:
“Who is a professional photographer? Like ‘journalist,’ that category seems at first to be coherent and internally cohesive, but it turns out to be tied to scarcity as well….. Much of the price for professional stock photos came from the difficulty of finding the right photo rather than from the difference in quality between photos….”
Photojournalism was and still is expensive, because someone has to take the bet that they can be in the right place at the right time. As a result, one photo can be worth months’ or, even, a year’s pay, because it took a year to be in the right place. Likewise, the reason stock photos exist is that they have been composed in the past from false realities (models posed in “natural” settings) or captured during the long effort to make a valuable image, and were ready for the future need as a result. In both cases, production rather than distribution is the essential cost. Widespread amateurization doesn’t make it cheaper to produce a staged photo, it simply increases the likelihood that you can find a “real” image of something at a lower cost than the composed image of the photojournalist or stock photographer.
He cites the music and film industry, which engages in “distributing music and moving images” that is being undermined because “laypeople can now move move music an d vido easily.” Without getting into the distinctions between artists who can produce themselves and those that need packaging by a marketer before their music doesn’t suck too much for human consumption, the real value in these industries is production, not just distribution. Try to make The Lord of the Rings trilogy on less than $500,000 and you will see what I mean. Production includes the financing of risk, too.
Additionally, Clay dwells on “professionalism” as the essence of journalism. I’d like to see his take on the evolution of journalism, which is characterized by amateur writers becoming paid writers as they try to fill their own or a friend’s press with content. Over the long run, most great journalists never had a journalism degree. Professionalism actually rose with the proliferation of media outlets as a way of credentialing people, mostly to the detriment of the dedication to reporting the perceived truth that drove the rise of mass journalism.
In many ways, Shirky treats anything flowing over a network as an undifferentiated mass of content on which his economic and social rules operate.
“The entire basis on which scribes earned their keep vanished not when reading and writing vanished but when reading and writing became ubiquitous,” Clay writes. Indeed, it is so, but that is also when those scribes began to write their own works, as he points out with regard the Abbot of Sponheim’s 1492 defense of the scribal life, which he chose to print and distribute through movable type. Rather than a chaos during that 100 to 150 year period when scribes and printing presses competed with one another, there was a long process of change that was largely comprehensible to everyone involved. For an excellent history of this period, see Elizabeth Eisenstein’s The Printing Press as an Agent of Social Change.
What changed for the scribes was that the church would no longer pay for their work, because it no longer had a monopoly on readers, so they had to evolve different skills or, rather, focus on improving existing skills for the new channels of distribution. In other words, they had to become authors.
Scribes were copyists whose errors did introduce some of the most interesting elements of the books they reproduced (and, so, were failing as “copyists”). At best, they were masterful annotators and commentators on those works that passed beneath their quills, but not authors in the modern sense. Both authoring and annotation/commentary survived and thrived because of the enlarged markets for printed work. The scribes didn’t die off, they evolved into, among other things, academics, scientists and historians.
Author Mitch RatcliffePosted on June 10, 2008 Categories Business & Technology, Media Comment & CrimesTags Here Comes Everybody, journalism, media evolution, scribes, Shirky
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Middle East Peace: A Call for Proposals
Masonic Lobbies
The Future of the Church
Not Guilty?
Our Father Who Art on Twitter
Have Gun. Will Travel.
Thank You, Babylonians. Thank You, Romans. Happy T...
Brahmin Class
“Jewish Whistle Blowers” or “Up Against the Wall”
A Better Monument to Human Wisdom
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is initiating another round of talks between Israelis and Palestinians. You may be optimistic or pessimistic about the chances of anything coming out of these talks, but I'm curious about how you would solve the problem.
Imagine you could impose a peace deal on all parties. I say "impose" so you won't have to explain how you would negotiate your ideal settlement. Just tell us what you think that settlement should be: one state, two states, no states and just dump the whole mess on the British who made it, or what?
I look forward to reading your responses. And please feel free to respectfully respond to those of others.
According to the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) during an 80 minute conversation with journalists on his airplane, Pope Francis said, “The problem is not having this orientation (homosexuality). We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem.”
I’m not gay, or all that greedy or political, but I am a Mason, and I had no idea we had Masonic lobbies pressuring the church. I thought we let Dan Brown to that for us.
This history of the Church and Freemasonry is a rough one. And I am interested in any Masons reading this who might want to comment. And if you are in a Masonic lobby, please tell us what you do.
Pope Francis is in Brazil for World Youth Day. According to USA Today part of the Pope’s mission is to help stop Catholics from abandoning the Church in favor of evangelical and often Pentecostal Protestant churches.
What is fueling the shift from Catholicism to Protestantism? According to the paper many Catholics prefer the ecstatic worship style of charismatic and Pentecostal churches, and find the message delivered there to be more relevant to their lives.
I asked an Hispanic pastor I know why this might be so. He said that people want to tap into something greater than themselves, and the ecstasy generated in some charismatic churches may do just that, while the more introspective nature of the Catholic Mass doesn’t.
As for the message Protestant churches offer and the Catholic Church lacks, he suggests it the Protestant focus on the individual: Jesus wants you to succeed and be wealthy, and will support you if you join the capitalist entrepreneurial cause. The Catholic message, he says, is more focused on helping the poor through social justice than it is on helping you out of poverty by faithfully embracing capitalism.
I have no way of testing these ideas, but I would love to hear from you on this. If you are Catholic, help us understand the challenges your church is facing, and why you think Catholics in Latin America are trending Protestant. If you made the change yourself, tell us why. If you are a life-long Protestant, tell us what you think is lacking in the Catholic Church and why Protestantism, especially in its charismatic and Pentecostal forms is so enticing to people.
Let’s see if we can learn from one another.
I don't get it. If you're a terrorist murdering people in the name of your God, why would you plead not guilty? If you are doing God's will why not be proud of your actions? Yet Dzhokhar Tsarnaev the alleged (alleged?) Boston bomber did just that. Seven times he claimed "not guilty" seven times he denied his God.
I suspect his lawyer told him to do this. But he should have refused. This kid is evil. What he did was evil. And the God who sanctioned it is evil. But at least he should have the courage of his convictions.
Pope Francis has just announced that he is granting plenary indulgences via Twitter to all Catholics who follow him on the social media service and who ask for such a boon. Plenary indulgences lessen the punishment one receives for sin both in this world and in Purgatory. I am a Twitter follower of the Pope, and I was going to request an indulgence, but it turns out you also have to be Catholic. Drat.
Not exactly sure what I was missing out on, I looked up indulgence in the Code of Canon Law: "An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment for sins the guilt of which has already been forgiven, which a properly disposed member of the Christian faithful obtains under certain and definite conditions with the help of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies authoritatively the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints".
Talk about “being under the Law”! This sounds more complicated than the software contracts I agree to when I update my computer programs. But if you are Catholic and you have sinned and confessed, you might as well Tweet the Holy Father and get the perks that only The Church can provide. I know I would. "Better safe than sorry" is my motto. Especially when it comes to Purgatory.
At the risk of inviting the ire of some readers: two more comments related to the Zimmerman trial.
“No justice, no peace” is once again making the rounds as people unhappy with the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman case take to the streets and the airways. The phrase itself, however, is ambivalent. Is it an assessment or a threat? Does it mean, “If there is no justice, then true organic peace is impossible,” (think of a peaceful totalitarian state—secular or religious—totally lacking in justice) or does it mean, “If you don’t give me justice as I define justice, then I will act violently”?
We have a justice system. It is flawed. It is biased. It can and should be continually evaluated and improved. But the way we do that isn’t by violence. As far as I know, violent reaction to the verdict has been minimal, but even nonviolent protesters chanting “no justice, no peace” leave me uneasy unless I know what they mean.
The Stand Your Ground law wasn’t part of this case, but the trial aside, the law is troubling. I live in a Stand Your Ground state. As I understand it, if I’m in fear of losing my life or sustaining serious bodily injury I can kill the person who is frightening me. Does this mean that had Trayvon killed George, and has invoked Stand Your Ground as his defense, he would have been acquitted?
When living in Florida a guy in a pick-up truck who thought I said “F-you” rather than “Thank you” when he honked at me to slow down in a school zone chased me for many blocks until I finally pulled over and confronted him. When I told him what I actually said, he told me about his daughter being hit by a driver speeding through a school zone. We calmed down, chatted, and parted amicably. Had the Florida Stand Your Ground law had been in place, would I have been justified in killing this dad before we talked? I was pretty sure he was armed. Or, when I stopped and confronted him, would he have been justified in killing me, since he could see I was angry and could fear I was armed?
Don’t misunderstand me: I am not anti-gun. I'm just trying to figure out whether nor not to buy a gun. It seems to me that the only logical response to living in a state with a Stand Your Ground law is to buy a gun, get a concealed weapon permit for it, and carry it with you at all times. Not that anyone in particular scares you, but you might scare someone else, and, since they may be carrying a gun, any altercation with that person would legitimately cause you to fear for your life. Shooting first and fatally is the only way to protect yourself from both bodily harm, real or perceived, and a law suit if the person you fear and shoot lives. Is my logic flawed here?
Thank You, Babylonians. Thank You, Romans. Happy Tisha b’Av
Today is Tisha b’Av, the Jewish fast day commemorating the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 586 BCE and 70 CE. I should probably be in shul praying for the Temple to be restored speedily in our day. I’m not, of course. I can’t imagine a worse fate for Jews.
Never mind that the Temple Mount is now the site of the Muslim Dome of the Rock, and that knocking down the latter to rebuild the former would bring on World War IV (the Cold War was WWIII). Even if neither Armageddon nor the return of Jesus happened, rebuilding the Temple would force us Jews to once again slaughter animals to placate our God. I don’t look forward to the day when in order to be a good Jew I have travel to Jerusalem three times a year, buy some animals, and have a fella named Levine barbeque them for the Almighty. Sure, we all get to eat the leftovers, but still is this a religion of which I want to be a part? Spoilers: NO!
The destruction of the Temple was the best thing that ever happened to us. When it was destroyed in 586 BCE we responded by inventing Torah, ethical monotheism, and setting the foundations of a culture built on sacred story rather than sacred space. When it was destroyed in 70 CE we completed the reinvention of Judaism as a literary civilization and unleashed a flood of literary creativity that eventually gave us Mishnah, Gemara, Midrash Rabbah, Zohar, and created the unique Jewish mindset of argument, paradox, and doubt that I value so highly. If we had stayed a religious backwater of sacred barbeque we would have converted to Islam in the 7th century, if there would even have been an Islam.
So, while I bemoan the loss of life and sovereignty, I do not bemoan the loss of the Temple. On the contrary, for me Tisha b’Av is a testament to Jewish creativity and our capacity to reinvent ourselves so that we remain a living religion rather than a frozen one.
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Charles Desmond
Charles Desmond teaches us a thing or two
Having held the position of Chairman of the Board of Education for Massachusetts, Charles credits UMass Amherst for inspiring him to improve the way students learn.
Charles Desmond '92
Senior Fellow, New England Board of Higher Education
College of Education, Educational Leadership, Education
with Charles Desmond
about New England Board of Higher Education
UMass Video Profile Series Transcript :Charles Desmond
For me, being in a school of ed, it was about service. You don't go into teaching to get rich. You don't go into teaching because you want to get on national TV. For the most part, it's people who have a deep sense of wanting to give something back to the broader community. I was actually fortunate, really, at UMass Amherst. I was exposed to some really wonderful people who said, "You know, our education system can be great, much better than it is. And you can make a difference. Why don't you get out there and see if you can do something about the things that you're concerned about?" So that motivated me to push ahead. I just stepped down as the chairman of the Board of Higher Ed for the commonwealth. I was appointed by the governor to provide guidance and support to our 29 public colleges and universities. UMass Amherst and the College of Education believe that we can bring high- quality teachers into schools that really love children and want to work with children and want to inspire them to do great things in their lives and give them the tools and educational resources necessary for success. I don't think that I would have accomplished the things that I've accomplished in my life or gone on to do the things that I'd done had I not gone to UMass Amherst. But I think it's part of the culture of the University of Massachusetts to try to inculcate in the students that go there an understanding of the fact that it's the citizens of Massachusetts who are making this education available to you. It's the citizens of Massachusetts who are investing in you. It's the citizens of Massachusetts who believe in you and think that this education that you are going to receive will empower you to do great things in the world. And I think when you leave there with your degree, you leave there a larger person, a stronger person, a more fulfilled person. I'm Charles Desmond. I'm a senior fellow at the New England Board of Higher Education. And I chair the board of Inversant. I stand for the University of Massachusetts College of Education. And I stand for UMass.
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What the Trump Era Could Mean for Librarians and Educators – Historical Reflections on Promoting Tolerance, Intercultural Understanding, and Global Perspectives
Posted on November 18, 2016 by swwitt@illinois.edu
Protesters in front of former Chicago Public Library and Grand Army of the Republic Hall, Chicago, Illinois, November 11, 2016
Regardless of political affiliation, the recent elections in the United States have left many educators and librarians wondering how to make sense of what appears to be a dramatic political shift that impacts both our ideas of knowledge and notions of tolerance, multiculturalism, and global perspectives. This is not the first time we’ve experienced this kind of societal challenge, and a historical perspective may provide guidance regarding the challenges educators, librarians, and funding agencies that focus on fostering global and intercultural perspectives may face.
In a recent op-ed piece, Benjamin Soskis, historian of philanthropy at the Center for Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy and Policy at George Mason University, addresses how philanthropists and foundations might need to adjust to changes in the political landscape and respond to apparent lapses in support for both rural populations and others disconnected from the global economy[i]. Soskis’ analysis pointedly looks back to the challenges and activities of 20th Century philanthropy programs that broadly addressed educational issues in the US. Soskis also alludes to the need to support dialogue and understanding that counters worldviews focused narrowly on ethnic nationalism and skepticism of international entanglements.
Soskis’ look back at the 20th Century is prescient in the observation of a focus on the educational needs of rural Americans but also in pointing to political parallels to what the United States and world may be facing. Edward Kolodziej, Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois, recently noted in a lecture on global governance that global politics may be moving back to a model last seen in the 1920’s.[ii]
How did some educators and librarians address these problems during this era?
Bookplate from International Mind Alcove program.
In 1918, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) partnered with educators and libraries to promote what we would now consider global perspectives and intercultural understanding. Through what were called International Mind Alcoves the CEIP freely distributed books aimed to encourage cosmopolitan thinking across the globe in order to foster the social and economic conditions for peace.[iii] During the program’s 40 year history, the alcoves grew from a group of small, informal, book collections to a well-funded and highly organized operation. These books were used to promote learning about international relations and cultures and to influence people to realize their “duties, rights, and obligations” as humans within an international system.[iv] Beginning in 1918 and ending in 1948, the International Mind Alcove program established 1,120 adult collections and 447 juvenile collections in mainly rural US public libraries, plus additional collections throughout Europe, Latin America, the Near East, and Asia.
The notion of the “International Mind” was promoted heavily by the CEIP’s chairman of the Division of Intercourse and Education, Nicholas Murray Butler. The overall aim of this work was to replace nationalism with internationalism by nurturing perspectives that transcended political boundaries. This type of advocacy falls within Akira Iriye’s definition of cultural internationalism and the “variety of activities undertaken to link countries and people through the exchange of ideas and persons, through scholarly cooperation, or through efforts at facilitating cross-national understanding”.[v] Central to cultural internationalism is the idea that the key to a sustained peace is cross-cultural knowledge engendered by education and exchange. In the early and mid 20th Century, this new form of internationalism focused on the growing sense of a “global community in which all nations and people shared certain interests and commitments”.[vi]
The International Mind Alcove program’s history reveals an often complicated and controversial relationship between the State, education movements, society, and funding agencies. Just as current debates focus on the authority of knowledge and the confusing distribution of propaganda and false news through social networking platforms, early and mid 20th Century information dissemination generated debate about the value and power of knowledge in the public sphere. These debates often played out in public libraries around the selection of books. For example, in Harlingen, Texas, it was reported that the Public Library board debated the need for “more books on Americanism” as a way to “combat the spread of communism” in an article that also noted “an interesting report on the popularity of the International Mind Alcove collection”.[vii]
The role of knowledge and media in the juxtaposition of Americanism and internationalism also featured heavily on Capitol Hill. In a series of Congressional speeches Massachusetts Representative George Tinkham, who was skeptical of internationalism, warned that “the manipulation of public opinion from sources which do not represent the general public will become the poisoned cup from which the American Republic will perish.” Tinkham called for “a congressional investigation of the propaganda methods of the CIEP and its allies [to] . . . insure preservation of American independence and American neutrality”.[viii] By the early 1950’s, these educational programs were again under fire. Through House Resolution 561, the 82nd US Congress investigated whether or not tax-exempt foundations were misusing their funds to support activities that countered national interests. The committees were charged with conducting a “full and complete investigation and study of educational and philanthropic foundations and other comparable organizations which are exempt from Federal income taxation to determine if any foundations and organizations are using their resources for purposes other than the purposes for which they were established, and especially to determine which such foundations and organizations are using their resources for un-American and subversive activities; for political purposes; propaganda or attempts to influence legislation”.[ix] The Chicago Daily Tribune, which had long been critical of internationalist programs, editorialized that “huge foundations in the country have been diverted into propaganda for globalism”.[x] On the other hand, the New York Times, editorialized on the “dangers to freedom of scholarship, research and thought that lie half-hidden between the lines” of the committee’s investigation.[xi]
There is a clear historical connection between the continued debate between worldviews and the pendulum may be swinging once again toward ethnic nationalism and isolationism. It is also apparent that educators and librarians continue to play a key role in helping communities navigate differences in worldviews amidst a media environment that inspires distrust in knowledge and the existence of multitruths. What lies ahead is unknown. It is clear, however, that our work to provide opportunities for cultural engagement and to promote a critical understanding of the media and knowledge production are as important now as a century ago.
[i] Opinion: New Realities for Philanthropy in the Trump Era. (2016, November 10). Retrieved November 18, 2016, from https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Opinion-New-Realities-for/238379/
[ii] See: Kolodziej, E. A. (2016). Governing globalization : Challenges for democracy and global society. London: Rowman & Littlefield International.
[iii] See: W, W. S. (2014). International Mind Alcoves: The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Libraries, and the Struggle for Global Public Opinion, 1917–54. Library & Information History, 30(4), 273–290. https://doi.org/10.1179/1758348914Z.00000000068
[iv] Butler, N. (1923). ‘The Development of the International Mind.’ Advocate for Peace, 85 (1923), p. 344–45.
[v] Iriye, A. Cultural Internationalism and World Order. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), p. 3.
[vi] Iriye, A. Global Community: The Role of International Organizations in the Making of the Contemporary World. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), p. 18.
[vii] ‘Rotarians make gift to library.’ Heraldo de Brownsville. October 16, 1938, p. 5.
[viii] Tinkham, G. H. (1933). ‘Nicholas Murray Butler’s Attitude ‘Seditious’. Milwaukee Sentinel, February 26, 1933.
[ix] US Congress. House. Special Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations. Tax-exempt Foundations: Hearings before the Special Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations and Comparable Organizations. 83rd Congress. (US Government Printing Office, 1954), p. 1.
[x] Fulton, W. 1951. ‘Foundations Wander into Fields of Isms: Divert High Aims; Probe Planned Diverted to Globalistic and Red Propaganda.’ Chicago Daily Tribune, October 15, 1951, p. 1.
[xi] ‘Foundation Inquiry.’ New York Times, December 11, 1952.
Posted in Culture, Global Events | Tagged books, Ethnic nationalism, foundations, globalism, globalization, intercultural education, international studies, libraries, nationalism, Peace | Leave a reply
"Glocal" comes from the term "glocalization," which comes to us by way of Japan from the term "dochakuka" (土着化). In Japanese it means the process of indiginization but also the blending of global and local or cultural hybridity. The term focuses on the particularism of global phenomena and is thus a blend of international and area studies.
International and Area Studies Library Events
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The museum of V.F. Rudnev
Phone: (48734) 4-15-29
Address: 301005, Tula region,
- W431, official web site www.museum-tula.ru/
The museum of V.F. Rudnev was opened in 2004, when the 100th anniversary of the naval battle
between the Russian ships "Varyag" and "Korean" and the Japanese squadron in the bay Chemulpo was celebrated. The museum is named for the commander of the cruiser "Varyag" Vsevolod Rudnev, the hereditary naval officer, whose ancestors served the fatherland for 200 years. The museum exposition tells about the heroism of the Russian ships, which entered into an unequal battle with the Japanese squadron and didn't disgrace the Russian naval flag. Unique exhibits from the museum, the gifts Central Naval Museum, State History Museum, Main Staff of the Russian Navy and other military and public maritime organization are presented here. Some exhibit are of particular interest, these are personal belongings of Rear Admiral Rudnev, which were with him at the time of the battle , were raised from the seabed and returned to him by the Japanese
museum shop, equipped for people with disabilities
restaurant(s) or caffes
Historical,Regional museum
372, rare collection's items: 209
Copyright (c) 1996-2017 The museum of V.F. Rudnev
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Thanks to a generous gift, USFSM now has 12 Bloomberg financial terminals.
Bulls Notebook: USFSM welcomes Financial Literacy Day, gift of terminals
By: Rich Shopes
SARASOTA, Fla. (March 31, 2017) – USF Sarasota-Manatee crowned its recent gift of 12 Bloomberg terminals Thursday by hosting a Financial Literacy Day that brought out more than a dozen renowned financial experts including William C. Dudley, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The gift of the terminals, courtesy of Sarasota-based financial firm Cumberland Advisors and David R. Kotok, Cumberland’s founder and Chief Investment Officer, represented the afternoon’s highlight, especially for students, alumni and, in particular, USFSM’s College of Business.
Dr. James Curran
“These terminals will expose our students to one of the best information systems in the world,” Dr. James Curran, dean of the college, said. “The Bloomberg network provides data and analysis in real time and is used by financial analysts and business decision makers around the globe.”
The donation, amounting to about $60,000, was not intended for USFSM students only, although they will benefit tremendously from the terminals, but for all students attending the institutions within the C4 (Consortium of Colleges on the Creative Coast). That consortium includes, in addition to USFSM, New College of Florida, Ringling College of Art & Design, State College of Florida, FSU/The Ringling and Eckerd College.
Many distinguished leaders from those campuses attended Thursday’s Financial Literacy Day, which was sponsored by Cumberland Advisors, as well as the ribbon-cutting on the campus’s second floor to officially open the David Kotok and Cumberland Advisors Bloomberg Lab.
David R. Kotok
In addition to Dudley, speakers at the Literacy Day included Michael Chriszt, vice president and public affairs officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; David Berson, senior vice president and chief economist at Nationwide Mutual; Kathleen Hayes, worldwide Bloomberg TV and radio journalist; fellow Bloomberg journalist Michael McKee; Edward F. Keon, Jr., managing director and portfolio manager at Quantitative Management Associates; Kozo Koide, chief economist at DIAM Co., Ltd., Japan; and Michael Drury, chief economist at McVean Trading & Investments and chairman of the Global Interdependence Center.
Dudley, the keynote speaker, talked about the importance of financial markets in influencing the economic outlook and U.S. monetary policy. In comments broadcast worldwide on Bloomberg, he sounded an optimistic tone about the U.S. economy.
“The economy has continued to grow modestly above its sustainable long-term pace. This has led to continued, sturdy monthly job gains and a gradual diminution of the amount of slack in the U.S. labor market. Forward-looking indicators foreshadow a continuation of this trend. For example, household and business confidence has increased markedly over the past few months.”
Other financial experts took turns throughout the day discussing issues from personal finances to trade issues with China to monetary policy to issues affecting women.
Dr. Amy Santos, chairwoman of the Business and Technology Department at State College of Florida, said she most enjoyed hearing from the “women’s panel,” which delved into women’s workplace issues.
“Everything they said was supported by facts and research,” she said. “One of the speakers talked about how for women who go on job interviews that it’s not enough to ask questions. It’s important to not let the interviewer fill in the gaps, but to speak up and talk about yourself and your skills.”
The Financial Literacy Day ran from 8:30 a.m. to about 6 p.m. It was followed by the ribbon cutting for the Bloomberg lab. Dr. Curran said the importance of the terminals cannot be under-estimated. By becoming certified to operate the financial terminals, students seeking financial-sector jobs will receive instant attention from hiring managers.
Speaking of Kotok, he added, “We would not have been able to bring this lab to the campus without his help and we are going to need partners moving forward to keep it going.
“Having private partners who are interested in helping our students prepare for their careers give us the financial flexibility to enhance our programs in ways that are not otherwise possible,” Dean Curran said.
USF Sarasota-Manatee carnival coming April 7
The second-annual USF Sarasota-Manatee Carnival is scheduled from 3 to 8 p.m. April 7 at the USFSM campus, 8350 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.
This event, which comes at the end of USFSM Week, is free and open to the public. Other events that week include a balloon drop in the rotunda at noon Monday, a “Splash Bash” Wednesday and a craft festival Thursday.
The carnival will be help in the USFSM south parking lot. Rides, games, balloon artists, caricatures and more will be offered. Free parking. Bring your family and friends to this spirited event.
USFSM Week is a weeklong celebration of USF Sarasota-Manatee. Each campus within the USF System holds similar weeklong celebrations.
Student research showcase to be held
USF Sarasota-Manatee’s annual Student Showcase for Projects, Research & Innovation is scheduled for April 7 at USFSM’s Selby Auditorium.
This year’s student presenters represent all four of USFSM’s colleges.
Dr. Shyam Mohapatra, of the USF Institute of Advanced Discovery and Innovation, will provide the keynote address. Afterward, student awards will be presented.
Come attend this important event to support USFSM students. This event is free and open to public.
To attend, or to learn more, visit usfsm.edu/Showcase2017.
Read more news stories below or view as a list
U.S. News and World Report Ranks Florida #1 in Higher Education for Third Consecutive Year
USF Sarasota-Manatee researchers study how to improve workplace writing
USF Sarasota-Manatee to host ‘Future Bulls Boot Camp’ for prospective students
Corey Posey named as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer
USFSM Spotlight: Seth Coston
Steve Miller to lead expanding USF Sarasota-Manatee Risk Management and Insurance program
TEDxUSFSM issues call for speakers
Bulls Notebook: USF Sarasota-Manatee to host info session about second degree nursing program
USF System President Steven C. Currall visits USF Sarasota-Manatee
USF Sarasota-Manatee welcomes new USF System President Steven C. Currall
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Home Attractions Ancient City of Sigiriya
Known as the eighth wonder of the world, Sigiriya is one of the most popular travelers’ destinations in Sri Lanka. The ancient city of Sigiriya dates back to the 477 AD when the King Kashyapa ruled. He became the ruler after he murdered his father by plastering him up to a mud wall. After murdering his father, the King Kashyapa had to run away from the capital of Anuradhapura. Then he built his kingdom in the midst of the forests where he finds a magnificent rock standing up among the forests. The King Kashyapa built his castle on this rock of 600 ft high with luxurious pavilions, halls, gardens etc. Before it became the capital of the kingdom in the 5th BC, Sigiriya has been a Buddhist monastery since the 3rd century BC. For its unique and incredible architecture and historical importance, Sigiriya was declared a World Heritage site in 1982 by the UNESCO.
The main attractions of Sigiriya include,
Citadel of Sigiriya Rock- the remaining of the castle is open for the travelers on the top of the rock where you will find gardens, fountains and ponds, halls, pavilions, balconies and the throne of the King Kashyapa.
Sigiriya Lion Claws- The entrance to the rock is designed as a lion, whose claws and the feet of the lion are still remaining at the entrance. This is located in the northern side of the rock. It is said that the rock has gained its name ‘Sigiriya’ after the lion (Lion rock- Sinhagiri in Sinhala) at the main entrance to the
Famous Frescos of Sigiriya – Sigiriya is famous for its most amazing frescos of females painted on the western wall of the rock. These frescos are said to be painted after the wives of the King and also some of the critics argue that they are ladies performing religious activities since they are holding flowers in their hands.
Mirror Wall- another important aspect of the rock is the Mirror wall. During the time of the kingdom, the wall has been polished so well that one could see one’s reflection on the wall. It is said that it has been polished well so that the King could see him on the mirror. However, after the collapse of the kingdom, the rock has become a famous among the travelers and they have written poems, verses and paintings all over the wall. The oldest inscriptions are found to be dated back to the 8th century.
Sigiriya Ancient Pools- the engineering and architectural skills of the Palace is still amazed by the researchers as the pools and fountains of the gardens are still functioning even today after thousands of years. The skilled and advanced water management system of the palace includes a canal running around the palace, lakes, ponds and fountains, sewage system as well as the underground water pumps.
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Press Statement: SIS congratulates Tengku Maimun as Malaysia’s first woman CJ (2 May 2019)
Sisters in Islam (SIS) conveys its heartiest congratulations to Federal Court judge Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat on her appointment as Malaysia’s Chief Justice.
The appointment, which was agreed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong upon recommendation by the Prime Minister in consultation by the Conference of Rulers, sees Tengku Maimun as being the first woman in Malaysia to be accorded the position.
All 15 previous judges to hold the Chief Justice position in the country since 1963 had been men. Tengku Maimun began her career in 2006 as a judicial commissioner at the Kuala Lumpur High Court and was appointed as a High Court judge almost one year later. She served the position for over five years before being appointed as a Court of Appeal judge in January 2013. In November 2018, she was further promoted as a Federal Court judge.
Tengku Maimun’s appointment makes her an inspirational role model for women and girls in Malaysia. As Malaysians, we consider this a great milestone for women and for the Malaysian judiciary.
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Hey Atlantis. We love democracy. We are so enthusiastic that come voting time we have so many senate candidates we need bigger and bigger voting slips to accommodate all our eager aspirational representatives. We take democracy so seriously its actually a legal obligation to turn up on polling day (if you haven't pre-polled) and have your name checked off the registered. What you do afterwards is your own business. You can submit a blank or write rude things on it.
Here is where Crocodile Dundee comes from. The USA is where Trump comes from. If you had our system ...... Say no more.
shapethrower said:
Excuse me, Loon? Um, my Crocodial Dundee was just some random Australian I happen to think of, the rest of the "feelings" are ALL YOU. You might want to think about that before you start inferring motives to someone you don't even know.
Oh, and just so we're clear I'm not comfortably couched behind some thinly veiled euphemism when I called you a "loon".
I've been in the Stanford ICU for 8 days straight with crappy sleep and nothing but time on my hands with my son. I apologise - I'm probably just hyper sensitive at the moment.
He is getting better every day BTW, not fishing for sympathy posts, rather giving context.
Here is where Crocodile Dundee comes from. The USA is where Trump comes from. If you had our system ...... Say no more.[/QUOTE
Well that is odd, I can't imagine how that goes about. I was thinking maybe you all got together & wrote your names on one big cloth or something. Whoever got the most names on the cloth won! You know you're going to make me have to actually look this up later! THANKS, like I have nothing better to do. The deer are eating all the pears off my trees so instead of running them off I'll be looking THIS up. LOL
oh god... why would your bring up President Trump now? I don't understand, are you saying we should "vote Trump off the island"? no, he'll win in 2020 as well. Look at the maps of the voting in the USA. Wait I'll put a link: https://blueshift.io/election-2016-county-map.html
Oh okay, I'm sorry then too. I hope your son gets better soon. I completely understand.
Nowadays everyone has become obsessed with not hurting other people's feelings (except for those who happen to be white middle class heterosexual males, who are always fair game). I think most people are sick of that PC nonsense, let's return to the time when Australians could refer to "whinging poms", and others could make jokes about cork hats, and then everyone laughed and had a beer.
However, OK you were upset about other things, so lets drop it, or the forum will start to read like the BBC!
It must be hard to be a man. I remember when I was a kid, a little boy & I were talking. He said, "I'm glad I'm not a girl!" I said, "how come?" He said, "because you have to have the babies." I thought a second & said, "well, you have to go to war & get your head blown off." That ended the conversation.
It's probably hard to be either. I want to be God. Just for a few days... I'd fix it all.
Song of the day (which I sing at the top of my lungs when I ride my bike):
you all are invited to ride along.
Likes: Michael Patterson, David Bailey, LetsEat and 1 other person
One of the things I like about Trump is that he is actually a fairly peaceful guy. He didn't kill 150 Iranians in response to the downing of a military drone. If at all possible he wants to stop the Iranians getting a nuclear bomb by means of sanctions. I very much hope he succeeds.
Without the prospect of going to war, being a man is probably preferable!
For every man blown to pieces, several more would be maimed for life.
OMG I know! Somebody "reasonable" for once~ I'm pretty surprised, I mean I agree with him 100%. But, he is surrounded by war hawks (L.Graham (who I like), the walrus (Bolton) I like him too, I guess I like everybody LOL, but, the news media here, the generals & the Demorats are yelling at him. You'd think he'd be loaded for bear after all this but he kept his wits about him.
The Iranians should pay the 175 million though for blowing it up (and we'd want cash) like obama sent them in the middle of the night.
ne of the things I like about Trump is that he is actually a fairly peaceful guy. He didn't kill 150 Iranians in response to the downing of a military drone. If at all possible he wants to stop the Iranians getting a nuclear bomb by means of sanctions. I very much hope he succeeds.
You believe that?
I wouldn't have said it if I didn't believe it! A substantial aspect of his campaign was that America should not be entering wars all over the globe unless US interests are at stake. While some would characterise that as uncaring, I think very few places have benefitted from US military 'care', and many have been harmed. In Iran, he seems to content to to face the regime out without taking aggressive action first, while waiting for sanctions to work. Sanctions are by far the most humanitarian way to contain potentially dangerous conflicts.
Sanctions are by far the most humanitarian way to contain potentially dangerous conflicts.
Really? I’d say they only turn up the heat.
Steve said:
Well I don't think it is in anyone's interest for Iran to get a nuclear weapon - that is what this is all about. Just doing nothing isn't really an option. The trouble with the deal that was brokered under Obama, is that it was due to run out at a certain point, and the regime could have gone full steam ahead making fissile material for weapons!
Incidentally, a few months back I talked briefly to an Iranian who is married to a Chinese woman who used to run the local take-away (i.e. he probably wasn't someone with an axe to grind). He said that the regime their has almost no support from the people, most of whom no longer believe in Islam. They attend the prayers and demos against the US and the women dress as they do because they are forced to.
I would think Trump knows the same thing, and in that situation, the regime may be far more vulnerable to slow gentle pressure than it appears.
Incidentally, a few months back I talked briefly to an Iranian who is married to a Chinese woman who userd to run the local take-away (i.e. he probably wasn't someone with an axe to grind). He said that the regime their has almost no support from the people, most of whom no longer believe in Islam. They attend the prayers and demos against the US and the women dress as they do because they are forced to.
Totally agree with David. Trump doesn't like or want war. He's a businessman. He didn't even want to go. NOBODY wants to go to war (who has a brain) unless you're behind the scenes making money (our local psychopaths). I do think the Demorats, war hawks & war machines will push us into something. They always do.
This time, it won't be so easy. Too many eyes watching now. Like Russia being blamed for the nerve gas used in the U.K.. Total BS. Russia didn't do that.
I wonder why they didn't have better cameras filming those oil tankers though. You'd think with all the things going on, there would be cameras on all those tankers. Grainy shots of bad guys attaching explosives to the ships side (?).
Likes: Eric Newhill and David Bailey
This time, it won't be so easy. Too many eyes watching now. Like Russia being blamed for the nerve gas used in the U.K.. Total BS. Russia didn't do that
I agree - this was clearly done to be highly inconvenient to President Putin - he had no motive to behave like that. Moreover, Sergei Skripal and his daughter both survived and were promptly hidden from view - nobody knows where they are now. His daughter made one rushed phone call to her family in Russia prior to them disappearing - presumably they were going to tell some uncomfortable truths if they had been allowed to speak freely.
Salisbury is also just 2 miles from Porton Down - the main biological chemical warfare establishment in the UK! My guess is that someone at that establishment went rogue, and the government decided to cover it up and blame Putin instead.
There is a former British Ambassador, Craig Murray, who resigned over UK arms sales to an unsavoury regime. He now speaks from Moscow, and he covered this story at the time:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/?s=novichok
Perhaps the most absurd aspect of this story is that neither of the two victims died from the attack from a deadly nerve agent smeared on their door knob - what incompetence would that be? A couple died, supposedly of the same poison about a week or so later, but this was blamed on the remnants of the poison having been discarded in a waste bin! This was after nerve gas experts had combed Salisbury for traces of the poison!
Likes: Eric Newhill, The Ethical Skeptic and Atlantis
When it all went down, I was yelling at one of my Russian friends & he told me it was a lie. He said why would Putin do this now, he was up for election? Besides, he had them in jail he could have killed them there. The big take away was the daughter was trying to run back to Russia. I don't think you'd got back to where people are trying to kill you.
Likes: David Bailey
Yep. This is a case where the official story is pure bunk. The Brits have been caught lying and being involved in nefarious plots (such as the attempted take down of Trump) lately. They demonstrate a high level of incompetency in concocting their stories; can't tell if it's because they are actually incompetent or they just have so much contempt for people that they are lazy.
As I said, I doubt if this incident was actually planned. The proximity of Porton Down, is almost certainly the clue. I think someone there went rogue, and admitting that would have really scared the public, and possibly lead to pressure to close the place down. Then they discovered who the victims were, and some idiot had a bright idea.
There was also an earlier incident, the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko with polonium 210, that was also blamed on Putin.
We live in crazy times
I haven't seen the videos of the mosque shooting, so I can't offer an opinion. Yes. there should be spent brass everywhere and blown out plaster, etc on the walls (if they're masonry), but maybe there were and the camera didn't pick it up? If the walls are drywall, there'd only be little holes that you might not see on the camera. Maybe the fire was too low to hit the windows? IDK.
I think the Newtown shooting happened just like they said it did, but there are people who say it didn't happen at all; that is was a staged event. It kind of bothers me that conspiracy theorists go there because it's clear to me that it did happen. I am extremely cautious buying into the conspiracy theory based on scant evidence and facts.
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TV / Web Reviews
Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny | Review
Wonder Woman | Review
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie | Review
The Boss Baby | Review
Power Rangers | Review
Land of Mine | Review
Logan | Review
LEGO Batman Movie, The | Review
Silence | Review
Paterson | Review
Fences | Review
Jackie | Review
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Review
Nocturnal Animals | Review
Manchester By the Sea | Review
Bad Santa 2 | Review
Moana | Review
Loving | Review
Hacksaw Ridge | Review
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Hannah Arendt | Review
By Don Simpson | May 29, 2013
Director: Margarethe von Trotta
Writers: Margarethe von Trotta, Pam Katz
Starring: Barbara Sukowa, Axel Milberg, Janet McTeer, Julia Jentsch, Ulrich Noethen, Michael Degen, Nicholas Woodeson, Victoria Trauttmansdorff, Klaus Pohl
Hannah Arendt begins as Adolf Eichmann is captured during a covert action by the Israeli police. Eichmann is whisked away to Jerusalem to be tried and punished for the war crimes committed against Jewish people by the Nazi government during World War II. Hannah Arendt (Barbara Sukowa) immediately submits a pitch to the New Yorker to travel to Israel to cover the trial. The New Yorker editor William Shawn (Nicolas Woodeson) jumps at the opportunity to have the highly regarded New School political theory professor — and author of The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) and The Human Condition (1958) — covering such a landmark story for them.
A German Jew, Arendt was interned during WWII in a concentration camp in France but escaped, eventually emigrating to the United States with her husband Heinrich Blücher (Axel Milberg). Despite her firsthand experience with the Nazis, Arendt’s approach to the Eichmann trial is nothing short of humanist. Arendt sees Eichmann as a government employee who took an oath in which he promised to blindly abide by the Nazi agenda. Even as a high-ranking SS officer, Eichmann merely played a small-yet-integral part of a much larger bureaucratic machine. Eichmann coordinated the transportation of Jews during WWII to various concentration camps, but it could not be proven that he ever participated firsthand in the gruesome mass murders. He was just a paper-pusher, rendered unable to think for himself by the Nazi system. Eichmann’s thoughtlessness is precisely what attracted Arendt to his case.
Witnessing Eichmann’s trial led Arendt to conclude that evil grew from the thoughtlessness of ordinary people who obeyed orders without consideration of the consequences of their actions. The problem is, a hyper-intellectualized lecture about “the banality of evil” was not exactly the type of coverage of Eichmann’s trial that people — especially Jews — wanted to read in the New Yorker. They wanted journalistic reporting on the trial, not a philosophy lesson on the nature of evil. Arendt was also quite critical of the actions of some Jewish leaders during the Holocaust, thus igniting tremendous controversy and animosity toward her. Arendt was considered to be snobbish, cold and unsympathetic towards Jews; but, in her own defense, Arendt explained that anyone who writes about the Nazis and the Holocaust should attempt to understand what turns seemingly ordinary people such as Eichmann into tools of totalitarianism.
Writer-director Margarethe von Trotta’s approach to Arendt is as calculated and pragmatic as the philosophies of the subject it so minutely contemplates. Rather than functioning as a frothy bio-pic, Hannah Arendt focuses on the shaping of Arendt’s concept of the “the banality of evil.” Practically every line of dialogue serves as a building block for Arendt’s ideologies and philosophies. By way of the fiery debates that Arendt enjoys with her colleagues and friends, we witness as Arendt forms her hypotheses; and as we observe Arendt slowly digesting the transcripts from Eichmann’s trial, we practically see the proverbial wheels turning inside her brain. Von Trotta also allows us to flashback to conversations between Arendt and her teacher-turned-lover Martin Heidegger that also fueled her opinions on Eichmann.
As cold and emotionless Arendt seemed at the time, in retrospect she appears to be a humanist whose philosophies looked beyond religious and political agendas, who could separate the individual from the masses. It would certainly not hurt for our modern day politicians to take a few lessons from her.
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Small Leach mug
Small Leach mug (mark)
Small Leach mug - 3¼" (82 mm) high.
In 1920 Leach and Hamada made the journey half-way around the world to set up a pottery at St Ives in Cornwall. St Ives had long been an artists' colony, and the pottery was built with the aid of a grant from the Handicrafts Guild.
The first kiln, which was wood-fired, was made with three climbing chambers, each six feet high, six feet wide and four feet deep. This was the first of its type to be built in Britain, and was a disaster. In 1922 Leach had to ask Tsuronosuke Matsubayashi to come from the Asahi Pottery in Japan to re-build it. Matsu stayed for two years and was a tremendous influence on the St Ives potters. His knowledge of the chemistry of ceramics was a great help and something of an innovation to Leach who had been concerned primarily with the aesthetics of pottery rather than the technical aspects.
Leach and Hamada were like-minded and worked and relaxed well together. Their ideal was a fusion of arts-and-crafts principles and a desire to make pots of classic, simple beauty. Early English and Eastern designs in pottery were their paradigm.
The early years were fraught with failures. Many firings were unsuccessful, and expenses were high. There was also a lack of acceptance in many quarters of the work, which often appeared crude by the standards of the day. Even so, there were successful exhibitions in St Ives and in London, and many pots found an eager welcome in Japan. Hamada returned to Japan in 1928, but frequently visited St Ives.
The pottery was home to a succession of students and apprentices that almost comprise a complete who's who of studio pottery, Michael Cardew heading the list. Every student and apprentice was taught that his first aim should be to throw to a standard; to be able to execute repetitive work accurately. Only when this was achieved, said Leach, could a potter call himself a thrower rather than an improviser. Leach's sons, David and Michael learnt their craft at the Leach Pottery before taking part in regular production and management.
The post-war years brought more success and critical acclaim, perhaps helped by Leach's writing. He continued potting until 1972 with the help of William Marshall, his very first apprentice, and died in 1979. The pottery remained open under the direction of Bernard's wife, Janet Leach. After her death in 1999 it was bought by businessman Alan Gillam, owner of the Western Hotel in St Ives. Trevor Corser and Joanna Wason are the main potters. The Pottery Cottage, next to the pottery, is now open as a museum, showing many examples of work of the fine potters who have contributed to the astounding reputation of the Leach.
Further Reading: Bernard Leach, Hamada and Their Circle by Cornelia Wingfield Digby and Tony Birks
A Potter's Book by Bernard Leach
Bernard Leach by Edmund de Waal
The Leach Legacy by Marion Whybrow
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Guest Mixtape + Interview / Picture Atlantic: 22 Going on 40 – The Soundtrack of Growing Up
Artists, Interviews
Photo credit: Future Sounds
Like certain music blogs or labels, we all have those friends that we can turn to for a good band recommendation. More often than not, when those people tell you that a band is good – they are right. That is precisely how I became acquainted with Bay Area indie rockers, Picture Atlantic. Somewhere between winding down from a California tour this past August and pushing through the final stages of a brand new EP titled When Everything Is Numbers, band members Nik Bartunek and Ryan Blair were able to put together a gut squirming mixtape definitely evocative of their own raw, emotive sound. In it they reflect on the tricky part of growing up that I like to call “freshman year of life.” Rather than elaborate myself, I’ll let Nik and Ryan explain what they’ve called “22 Going On 40 – The Soundtrack For Growing Up.” And make sure to check out a couple of Picture Atlantic’s own tunes at the end of the article – a free download of “Muses” as well as a track off their new EP!
22 Going On 40 – The Soundtrack For Growing Up
For some reason both Grooveshark and SoundCloud had issues with the original version of “Champagne Supernova” by Oasis, which is what the band intended the final song of the mix to be. You can stream it below:
Oasis “Champagne Supernova”
TA: First of all, how old are you guys?
Nik: 22
Ryan: 22
TA: Most people consider “growing up” what you do until you reach 22 – why start at that age?
Nik: 22 has been a strange age for me. Somehow, it didn’t feel like the real world hit me until then, and when it did, it was in a sharp and distinct way. Aaron Weiss has these great lyrics, that go “We’re all children dressing, in our parents clothes”, and that’s really what I feel when I look at “Young Adults”. In many ways, my generation , even in our early 20’s, are just kids. Kids with bigger more real problems. I can’t say that 22 is the age for growing up in everyone’s life, but for me, it certainly made sense.
Ryan: I’ve started to feel like people at this age are finally taking time to reflect on the past four years or so (the college years for many of my friends,) we may be prematurely wallowing in the idea that our youth has passed us by. In reality, our lives are again just beginning, as depressing as some of these songs make it seem.
TA: Did you start with a particular song, or the theme – “22 going on 40 – The Soundtrack For Growing Up”?
Nik: I think it was really the theme. It reflected very much of what I was listening to at the time, and some favorites between Ryan and I. In some ways, I think it also was my stream of thought for the most part about the past several months.
TA: If you could describe this playlist in three words, what would you use?
Nik: Life, Reassuring, Terrifying
TA: It seems like your goal was to paint a picture of an outlook on life, rather than tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Is that a correct assessment?
Nik: It’s an outlook. These songs, for better or for worse, strike chords in how myself and Ryan feel about certain situations. I can’t think of a song that has every really covered “it all”. Sometimes having a song to champion specific moment is the best.
TA: For the most part the tone is full of disillusionment, resentment, and ennui – none of the songs are too loud or really emotional. Was this on purpose or did it just happen that way based on your song choice?
Nik: I certainly didn’t mean it to be that bleak. I guess you could call it a Freudian slip. At the same time though, the songs do represent how Ryan and I feel about our generation, and the youth culture we’re in at the moment. We’ve had long, long, long conversations about all kinds of topics, some of which are referenced or noted in these songs. It’s hard not to be a little disappointed sometimes, but we also have a morbid sense of hope that rides up to take the lead in the end.
Ryan: Disillusionment and resentment are probably two of the most resounding emotions for people at this age, so I would have to disagree and say the tone may even be overly emotional.
TA: Are all the artists – The National, Rogue Wave, Blur, The Jesus and Mary Chain – featured on this mix important to you guys, or did they just have songs that fit your theme? Do you think they are bands that will withstand the test of time?
Nik: Since the mix was democratic to an extent, it’s safe to say that these bands mean a great deal to Ryan and I. And yes, I think they really will stand the test of time. Half the bands you just mentioned are some of the biggest mainstream and Indie bands. Their track record speaks for itself.
TA: Is this how you perceive the world – like your younger, vivacious years are behind you?
Nik: How I perceive the world is an 80 song symphony with guest appearances by Arvo Part and Chopin’s corpse. To really get specific though, this mix is definitely more about the trials and tribulations. Growing up rocks at the same time. Some of the very same bands make me want to climb to the top of a mountain and fly a kite. The harsher realities can be a little too present for me at the same time though.
Ryan: I don’t think youth is ever truly behind you as long as you can keep some of who you once and always were.
TA: Does that outlook show in Picture Atlantic’s sound and songwriting? If not, how would you describe yourselves?
Nik: Yes, I think both those outlooks can show. There is a pretty wide range of thoughts and emotions in our songs. Some songs are happy, some are streams of specific thought, and then even others are angry or cynical. I usually hate to describe our sound though, because even if I think I have a solid idea of it, I’m honestly pretty stuck at a basic level for a good description. The way I view Picture Atlantic is very different than the next person.
TA: Rogue Wave’s “California” is a pretty specific, bitter song. You’re based in Northern California – do you have allegiances elsewhere, or do you just hate your homestate?
Nik: We’re just crabby bastards I guess. I was born in Colorado, and moved to Susanville (which is basically still Colorado) when I was only two weeks old. I’ve truly grown up in the south bay (Los Altos, Mountain View) and the Silicon Valley, but in the back of my head, there is this pretentious idea that I somehow still belong back at home with John Denver. California is great at the same time though. It’s a love/hate relationship. Really, I wouldn’t imagine myself anywhere else except Middle Earth, but we all know that place got bought out by New Line Cinema.
Ryan: I love California. I can safely say it is my favorite state. Rogue Wave are also from the Bay Area and from what I’ve gathered they don’t hate it here either. “California” has both sides of the coin, detailing the somewhat impersonal and fleeting relationships we all have here, while also giving the sense of hope and wonder our state holds, especially the line “…she could light you up like a holiday tree in the summer months.”
TA: Who’s the classical music fan that included the piece by Estonian composer, Arvo Part – what was the reasoning behind including his work in this mix?
Nik: That was me. I got turned on to him by a friend whose musical tastes I highly respect. He also has a perfectionist’s dream of a sound system at home. He built all the speakers himself. If you hear Arvo Part on these speakers, you are ultimately transported to another world. This specific track is just a heartbreaker for me. It’s all about the dynamics, and the tones, and the layering. The musical idea is simple, but ultimately its pure sorrow in my eyes. The first time I heard it, it made me want to cry. I usually don’t get “emotional” in that sense when I listen to music.
TA: The last song on the mix is the classic, “Champagne Supernova” by Oasis. Do you see that song as hopeful anticipation of future or afterlife? Or as a melancholy reflection on all the songs before it?
Ryan: Two years ago, a friend of ours suddenly passed away. From the moment I heard the news, to the candlelight vigil at our old high school, even as far as the memorial service itself, I just couldn’t believe something like that could ever happen. Our group of friends had never experienced anything like that. Of course we’ve all lost loved ones before, but it was the first time for me that a group of friends had lost someone who had truly become family. The group had been drifting apart for some months before she passed away, but losing her brought everyone back together again. It made me realize how short all of our time together can be.
My fondest memory of her will always be the Christmas party we had the year before she passed away. I was sitting next to her on the floor while we were all singing along to Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova”, lost in a moment of every emotion a teenager could ever have, embracing that feeling of just being alive. Every time I hear this song I think of her and because of the kind of person she was, it always makes me hopeful.
TA: I have to imagine there are plenty of things that Picture Atlantic has to look forward and get excited about in the coming months – what are they?
Nik: So much actually. If I can toot my own horn. We’re just putting out a new EP which we’re very proud of. It will be out end of November, early December. At the same time though, we’re also writing for a brand new full length which we’ll be recording early next year. Another tour is in the works, which is always fantastic. Whenever we can put out, and record lots of music, we are happy. Those are just two new things on our horizon, but they spell out much more activity and speed for our band in the end.
NEW TRACK :: Picture Atlantic “Guerilla”
FREE DOWNLOAD :: Picture Atlantic “Muses”
Guest Mixtape + Interview / Marvelous Toy: WAKE UP!
Guest Mixtape + Interview / Princeton / Road Trippin: On The Road Again (A California Adventure)
Guest Mixtape + Interview / Mystery Claws / Summer Lovin’ : BBQ Days
Tags: 22, 40, adulthood, Arvo Part, Bay Area, Bloc Party, Blur, California, Coldplay, disillusionment, emotion, Fionn Regan, growin up, indie, interview, Jamie T, life changes, mewithoutYou, Oasis, Pedro The Lion, Picture Atlantic, Rogue Wave, San Francisco, San Jose, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The National, transition, When Everything is Numbers
« Music in Media RETROSPECTIVE / TV / The Adventures of Pete & Pete
Guest Mixtape + Interview / Andrea von Foerster: I Know When I’m Not Wanted »
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Kingsmen Creatives – FY 2010 Comprehensive Analysis Part 3
Part 3 of this comprehensive analysis will focus on the industry outlook for Kingsmen, in terms of its M&E division and Interiors division, and to review if recent trends in South East Asia and China in particular are helping Kingsmen to grow and expand the business. There have been many news reports in Singapore of increase MICE activities being planned since the opening of the two IRs, and the exhibitions and events scene is also becoming more vibrant as a result. Due to the planned revamp of the Orchard belt, there are also opportunities existing for Kingsmen to overhaul and refurbish malls in that stretch. Beyond our shores, news reports have also mentioned theme parks and amusement parks being opened in many parts of South-East Asia to capture the tourist dollar, as more and more people flock to Asia as a result of the economic fallout in America and Europe.
Tourism and MICE Outlook
For Singapore, our Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has a very ambitious plan – it wants to increase tourist arrivals to the 17 million mark by the year 2015. This was unveiled by Minister for Trade and Industry Mr. Lim Hng Kiang on January 11, 2005 in this speech, in which the aim was to increase tourism receipts to S$30 billion as well. Of course, at the time, the hot debate which was going on was whether or not to construct the Integrated Resorts, along with the associated casinos and MICE facilities. We all know what happened and now Singapore has some of the most advanced facilities for MICE as well as a booming IR to cater to tourists for all purposes (gambling, shopping, events and exhibitions). The STB 2009 Tourism Report found here mentioned that visitor arrivals stood at 9.7 million for 2009, a dip of 4.3% over 2008. 2010’s full year figures are not out yet on the site, but the reason for the dip in 2009 over 2008 was due to the global economic recession. In fact, 2010 numbers should show a sharp increase as the economy has rebounded after nearly falling off a steep cliff. Page 7 of the same report shows that roughly 27% came for MICE events, down from 30% in 2008. This still represents more than a quarter of all visitors or about 2.5 million visitors, not a small number indeed! With the full suite of MICE facilities up and running at MBS, Kingsmen would have more opportunities to tender for exhibitions and conventions for 2011.
An October 15, 2010 article in the Straits Times stated that MICE events have increased by as much as 20% over the past year as compared to 2009, as the economic recovery took hold and also due to the opening of RWS and MBS, says industry observers. The pie has enlarged for all players in the MICE industry and will give a boost to business in years to come, as the addition of the IRs has increased the exhibition space to 180,000 square metres from the previous 135,000 square metres. Industry players also agree that “the outlook looks bright” for MICE, with new shows debuting here including the inaugural Art Stage Singapore, a high-end art fair at MBS and the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention at Suntec Singapore. All this increased activity can only mean better business for all MICE players, of which Kingsmen is one.
Theme Park “Boom”
Theme parks is another buzz phrase which is going around in Kingsmen’s industry. With Asia’s middle class booming and China and India churning out more (and faster) billionaires than anywhere else in the world, South East Asia is set to be the next big boom in terms of tourism and is seen as the place where a lot of monies will flow, whether it be for infrastructure projects, investments or tourism projects. With rising wealth and consumption patterns also comes the need to build more places for the money to flow to, hence there has been a flurry to build more theme parks in Asia, beginning with Disneyland in Hong Kong and Universal Studios in Singapore.
I refer to an article in Channel News Asia dated September 19, 2010 which mentioned that Asia’s growing middle class is fuelling a “boom” in theme parks. To summarize the article, it mentioned that Asia is fast becoming the new destination for tourists due to cheaper air travel (i.e. budget airlines) and growing affluence in countries like Indonesia, China and India. The theme park phenomenon is shifting to Asia, says Christian Aaen, Asian regional director of research firm AECOM Economics, which specialises in entertainment and leisure industry analysis. Universal Studios has signed a deal to build its largest theme park (larger than all four of its current theme parks combined) in South Korea (ready by 2014) at a cost of 2.67 billion dollars. Disneyland is also setting up in Hong Kong (as mentioned) while Legoland is building a theme park in Malaysia to replicate famous landmarks using their trademarks bricks. Kingsmen’s press release has also mentioned a slew of other projects coming up over the next few years in Asia, namely Kidzania in Malaysia, Samsung Everland in Korea and Fushun Dreamworld in China. All these upcoming theme parks give the impression that there is a lot of activity in the near term which will benefit all players and there is optimism that Kingsmen, with their recent experience garnered from working on USS, will be able to capture significant parcels of work to add to their order book.
Interiors – Singapore, China and Malaysia
As mentioned in Part 2, the Interiors Division is the division with the higher margin compared to M&E, but this Division also has the lowest barriers to entry. However, with Kingsmen focusing on international brand names and their roll-out programmes, this means that they can target the mid to high-end premium segment of the market and thus build some form of competitive moat with their expertise and delivery timeliness.
A news article in November 2010 announced that luxury brand H&M was opening a store in Singapore at Orchard Road in late 2011, and it has been the case that many international brands are setting up shop in Asia as Asia’s wealth has increased over the years and the people’s spending power has also grown in tandem. Orchard road malls are getting facelifts more often now as more and more malls are being sold to REITs, which are managed by REIT managers. These managers will want to engage in asset enhancement works to increase rental yields for their unit-holders, and so will do more frequent and extensive refurbishment as compared to previously (before the mall was sold to a REIT). New malls are also coming up in the heartlands such as the recent Nex mall in Serangoon and Bedok Point in Bedok (Bedok’s first mall), and all these provide opportunities for Kingsmen to capture business. Though one may argue that the bulk of FY 2010’s revenues for Interiors came from the fitting out of about 30+ stores at Marina Bay Sands Shoppes, there remains ample opportunities for Kingsmen to fit out retail interiors within Singapore.
In China, Kingsmen is planning to increase the capacity of an automated facility (i.e. factory) there to cater for growing demand for retail fixtures fabrication. More on this in the next section.
Interview with Kingsmen on Industry Prospects
To add on to the news reports and industry updates which I had managed to collect over the last couple of months, I also gave a call to Kingsmen and spoke to its General Manager Mr. Andrew Cheng about Kingsmen’s prospects, and I shall briefly mention those which relate to the industry and their business divisions:-
1) Roll-Out Management services are increasing for Kingsmen’s international clientele, as more and more companies expand and set up shop in Asia. This is Kingsmen’s competitive edge as many small players and even local outfits (for example in China) cannot co-ordinate a simultaneous roll-out for retail outlets located in different regions and/or countries.
2) Retail fixtures export business is growing and makes up about 10% of Interiors’ revenue. Most of the fixtures are exported to the USA.
3) The new Beijing facility as mentioned in the press release actually relates to the expansion in capacity of an existing facility and it will enable Kingsmen to grow their revenues with regards to their China operations. The estimated capex is small (about S$100,000) and the facility will perform fabrication for fixtures used in fitting out. The rate of expansion has accelerated in recent years due to the Beijing Olympics in China as well as the recent Shanghai Expo, which increased demand for such services.
4) Kingsmen envisions a lot more growth traction in India and North Asia, which is why they had increased their stakes in the companies located in these two regions. The theme park industry is booming and many more international clients are seeking a “one-stop shop” for their fitting out solutions. Kingsmen is active not just in getting repeat clients but is also increasing their client base at the same time through winning new customers.
Part 4 will touch on Kingsmen’s competitors, namely Cityneon (listed in Singapore) and Pico Far East (listed in Hong Kong) and compare some key ratios, as well as to assess if Kingsmen has an edge over them. Some mention will be made of their different business models and focus so as to draw some comparisons and to assess if Kingsmen can hold its own against them.
Labels: Kingsmen Creatives
Part 2 of my Kingsmen analysis will focus on the segmental discussions, namely on two aspects – divisional revenue and margin analysis using segmental information; as well as segment analysis by geography using information provided by the Company. The segmental analysis and breakdown numbers can be obtained from Note 13 (Additional Information) to be found in Kingsmen’s FY 2010 financial announcement for FY 2010. The other numbers were obtained from my analysis of purchase. Geographical revenue spread can also be obtained from the same note but is presented in a separate table for clarity and ease of discussion and analysis.
Divisional Revenues
Taking a look at the table above, I’d like to first focus on the divisional revenues breakdown. One can see that historically, Kingsmen’s Interiors division has always had the greater share of the revenue pie as compared to Museums & Exhibitions (M&E). M&E division started to catch up during FY 2008 and FY 2009 due to the opening of the IR, and the subsequent mega-contracts from USS, and also the Formula One race. This tipped the balance somewhat, with Interiors and M&E almost having equal share in FY 2008, to M&E taking the lion’s share of revenues for FY 2009 (due to USS contract as previously mentioned). However, for FY 2010, some normalization occurred and the Interiors division once again became the largest revenue contributor at 49.6%, with M&E coming in rather close at 44.7%. The absence of large contracts for M&E division enabled Interiors to catch up in terms of revenue, but there was still enough business for M&E as Asia had many events going on such as Shanghai Expo, YOG, Formula One as well as exhibition projects such as Food and Hotel Asia 2010 and Singapore Airshow 2010, to name a few. Interiors division, I believe, had a boom year due to the many retail fittings done at Marina Bay Sands Shoppes, with Kingsmen helping to fit out more than 30 shops. The good news is that Interiors also helped to fit out boutiques in China as well as India and Vietnam for internationally-renowned clients such as Tiffany and Burberry. Note that many of these clients are repeat customers and Kingsmen stands to benefit from their expansion plans as they roll out retail outlets in key countries like China and Vietnam. Roll-out Management services constitute a large portion of Interiors’ revenue and cements the long-term relationship between Kingsmen and a client, therefore a lot of the “value” in Kingsmen is not just in delivering quality products and finishings, but also in the relationship and network building with these repeat clients. It is noteworthy that the retail export fixtures business is also gaining traction, with more exports being made to USA/Canada; these are all classified under “Interiors” and have the same margins as the fitting out business.
Though Research and Design (R&D) and IMC tend to be smaller contributors to revenue, thee divisions’ revenues have also increased in tandem with the increase in activities for the Group. But their proportional contribution to total revenue remains small and is unlikely to be significant going forward. More will be mentioned on R&D and IMC in a later section on net profit margins.
Net Profit Contribution by Division
The net profit contribution is somewhat more interesting, as it does not follow too closely to revenue contribution proportions by division. Interiors has always been contributing to more of the profit pie, as compared to M&E. Only FY 2009 was an exception as the large USS contract propelled profits at M&E division to S$9.3 million, which was 47% of total profit versus 44.2% for Interiors. Yet if we compare FY 2009 M&E contributed 56.8% to revenues while Interiors contributed just 38.7% to revenues; so this would imply Interiors was more profitable at the margin level as compared to M&E. This phenomenon presented itself once again in FY 2010’s numbers, because even though Interiors only had a marginally higher proportion of revenues compared to M&E, net profit for Interiors took up 57.6% versus 35.8% for M&E. This seems to indicate that Kingsmen would be better off focusing on growing their Interiors division as it is more profitable than M&E, but the flip side of the argument is that M&E contracts are much larger and “prestigious” and so far have also opened up more doors (i.e. customers) for Kingsmen. Scenic and Thematic works, which is grouped under M&E, is a growing segment for the Group as Asia takes centrestage in hosting mega-events and governments spend large amounts of money on theme parks to attract tourists. According to Kingsmen, the initial contract (parcel of work) tends to be the largest but has lower gross margins (<20% for USS due to deployment of more staff and tight deadlines), while future variation orders and refurbishment/overhaul works would be smaller in terms of size and scale but command better gross margins.
Research and Design and IMC
R&D has traditionally only been a minor contributor to the Group’s revenue and net profit, but note that net margins are very high for this small division and revenue will grow along with the growth in Group revenue. IMC, however, was burdened with higher depreciation expenses due to the purchase of a large panel screen worth about S$500,000, and so reported a small net loss for FY 2010. I was assured by the Company that IMC would have been profitable if not for the higher expenses relating to this purchase.
Net Margins by Division
Looking at net margins, it is interesting to note that M&E division usually has lower net margins as compared to Interiors. After discussion with Andrew Cheng of Kingsmen (General Manager), it would seem that both M&E and Interiors actually garner the same net margins, but M&E typically requires more manpower deployment and more intensive preparations, hence the margins are eroded as a result. Interiors had an 8-year average net margin of 6.9%, while M&E’s 8-year average net margin was just 6.5%. If averages do not tell the story, then look at the last 3 years and you can see that Interiors posted better net margins of close to three percentage points better than M&E.
Surprisingly, R&D has traditionally shown very strong margins and FY 2010 was no exception, with net margins touching 21.6%. Since FY 2006, net margins have been very healthy for this division, while the opposite can be said for IMC as net margins are traditionally very thin and are very erratic. As mentioned by Andrew of Kingsmen, IMC had bought a large screen costing about S$500,000 and the depreciation basically wiped out all the profits for IMC division. One point he did mention was that both divisions have to work together to deliver a total solution to the client, hence the reason for not divesting IMC due to weak margins. Even though the two divisions are small contributors to revenues and profits, nevertheless they have a part to play in the overall scheme of things at Kingsmen.
Geographical Breakdown of Revenue
Singapore has traditionally been Kingsmen’s mainstay in terms of geographical revenue spread. The proportion had actually been dipping since listing from a high of 72.2% to 40.6% in FY 2008, then FY 2009 came along and the huge USS contract pushed the proportion up to 60.3%; but I see this as more of a one-off event and will not persist. For FY 2010, the % dropped back to 46.9%, if only because of the large number of store fitting outs they did for Marina Bay Sands Shoppes (about 30+). Otherwise, the trend for Kingsmen (also verified by Andrew) is that they will be relying much less on Singapore for revenues moving forward, and their aim is to focus their attention on North Asia (namely China, Taiwan, India, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan) as these countries have much more opportunities and business potential.
Malaysia’s contribution has also dropped in recent years below the 10% mark. DMG’s report did mention that malls in Malaysia are ready for sprucing up and Kingsmen may see opportunities there for Interiors division. Andrew affirmed this by saying that the life cycle of malls is about 3 to 4 years, and many malls in Malaysia are due for a revamp. Hence, there should be opportunities there for Kingsmen to grab some work.
The region to take note of is China, where revenue contribution started off at 2.8% in FY 2006, and which has jumped by leaps and bounds to 22.8% for FY 2010. Kingsmen reiterated that there is a lot of potential for China market as many international brands are setting up shop there, and many spanking new malls are being built to cater to the nouveau rich and rising middle-class. The economic boom in China has attracted many international brands there and they have the need for roll-out Management services (i.e. co-ordinating simultaneous store openings in various regions of a country, or across different countries). Theme parks are also being planned and China also had recent mega-events such as Shanghai Expo and Beijing Olympic Games. Kingsmen are setting up a facility in Beijing to cater to increased demand (more on this in Part 4.
Fixtures export is also a growing business and Kingsmen mainly export to USA, hence the contribution from USA/Canada is 7.4% for FY 2010, up from 2.2% in FY 2009.
Associated Companies – Comments
Kingsmen had increased its stake in Kingsmen Fairtech in India (additional 15.5% investment completed on May 6, 2010) and also Kingsmen North Asia in China (additional 11.7% to 92.2% in December 2010). This reflects Kingsmen’s confidence in these two countries being growth engines for the Company moving forward, and therefore the Group wishes to recognize greater contributions in terms of % from these two regions. For FY 2011, Kingsmen will be recognizing greater contributions as a result of the stake increases.
Regarding the loss-making associates, Kingsmen Middle East LLC’s poor performance is mainly due to the recent Middle East troubles, and the Middle East contributes only a small portion of revenues to the Group. Kingsmen has offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Kingsmen Nikko is also not doing well mainly due to the sputtering Japanese economy. However, things should start to look better for FY 2011 in terms of associates’ contributions.
Part 3 will touch on the industry outlook and I will present news on MICE, Interiors, tourism and some other pertinent trends in order to present an objective view of the industry. Discussions will branch out from there.
This is intended to be a rather comprehensive analysis for Kingsmen Creatives, and will cover many aspects of the Company including financials, segmental breakdown, geographical revenue contribution, qualitative aspects, industry outlook, competitive landscape, prospects, plans and other pertinent facts. I guess it was conceived after reading through the recent reports which OCBC, DMG and Kim Eng had come up with on reviewing Kingsmen’s FY 2010 results. Most of them did a one to four-page write-up which I felt did not sufficiently cover all aspects of the Company, and thus could not lead shareholders and investors to make an informed decision on the Company. Of course, my review and analysis is NOT expected to be objective (as I am a shareholder), but it serves to at least highlight the many issues facing the Company and hopefully provide explanations and in-depth discussions on them.
Part 1 shall focus on the numbers aspect, and will cover the Profit & Loss Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statements. 8-year historical numbers will be presented, as well as dividend payment history for Kingsmen since listing in FY 2003. Part 2 shall cover segmental analysis and associated companies, including discussions on stake increases for Fairtech and North Asia; as well as how the other associated companies will fare in the coming years. Part 3 will delve into the industry outlook, and provide some recent news articles which highlight the MICE industry, tourism industry and also outline plans for retail malls in Singapore, Malaysia and China. Part 4 will touch on the competitors for Kingsmen, namely Cityneon (a smaller local player) and Pico Far East (a much larger Hong-Kong listed rival), and attempt to dissect their numbers and place them side by side with Kingsmen. Part 5 shall end off with a discussion on the investment merits and also draw in some insights of mine which I formulated with respect to my investment in the Company.
Disclaimer: Please note throughout that ALL information here is solely provided by myself and should not be relied on as investment advice; therefore please verify facts and numbers independently and do not use this blog or any associated charts/figures/tables as a definitive source of information. The blog owner shall NOT be responsible for any factual errors or any losses arising from any reader relying on the information herein to make financial decisions. To summarize, when in doubt, please consult a qualified professional.
Profit and Loss Analysis
The above table only shows the key metrics and numbers which I have served to highlight, and discussion on the Income Statement should extend beyond the 8-year numbers shown above. Note that revenue for FY 2010 had dipped marginally by -2.8% to S$235.2 million from S$242 million a year ago; but was still respectable considering about S$78 million of last year’s revenues consisted of a large contract from Universal Studios Singapore (“USS”). The more important fact was that COGS dropped by a larger -7%, resulting in an increase in gross profit of 10% from S$59.5 million to S$65.4 million. Gross margin increased from FY 2009’s 24.6% to FY 2010’s 27.8%, and if you glance at the 8-year history of Kingsmen since listing, this gross margin was equalled only in FY 2003 (listing year) and bettered in FY 2008 (at 30.7%). Whether Kingsmen can maintain this gross margin moving forward is in question, but assuming the thematic projects it takes on involve smaller parcels of work, then gross margins can be sustained. One of the major gripes of the large USS contract was that gross margins were negatively impacted.
The bottom line was, however, impacted by the fact that other income was slightly lower, while staff salaries and related expenses rose by 8.1% and other expenses rose by a larger 17%. If we break down the reasons, it was mainly due to the increase in staff salaries of about S$2.6 million, as well as higher operating lease expenses of S$300,000 and a write-off for their fire-gutted Malaysian factory premises of S$400,000. All these added up to increase expenses to the tune of about S$4.4 million. Share of results from associates also dropped 74% to just S$87,000 from S$332,000 and was another disappointment which caused the profit attributable to shareholders to increase just 1.1% from S$14.9 million last year to S$15.1 million for FY 2010.
Historical PER remains relatively low at about 7x, but this is probably reasonable considering Kingsmen’s growth prospects are not expected to be strong, and competition in their arena is also keen. The next section will discuss salient aspects of the Balance Sheet, while also commenting on the net cash per share and using that to compute valuation metrics for ex-cash.
With a glance at the above table, one can immediately conclude that revenue growth seems to be tapering off in FY 2010, which explains why there is a drop in valuation for Kingsmen’s forward prospects. Of course, as mentioned before, if we stripped out the USS contract, then Kingsmen’s revenue growth would be more gradual and steady, rather than seeming to “spike” in FY 2009 and level off in FY 2010.
Trade Receivables has actually dropped about 9% from last year while Trade Payables has remained fairly constant. Trade Payable days has increased to 81 days (a good sign) while Trade Receivable Days has fallen by 7 days to 107 days (still high, sadly). The cash conversion cycle is a negative 26 days which is an improvement from FY 2009’s -40 days, but this still has more room for improvement. Of course, one can argue that it could be a matter of the timing of receipt and payment of cash which resulted in such ratios being generated, and this is one factor which readers should take into account as well.
The current ratio for Kingsmen is at its highest level in 6 years, at 1.45. The Group also has a high level of net cash at S$24.6 million, and net cash per share stands at 13 cents. Return on equity, the all-important metric, stood at 26.4% for FY 2010, dipping from 33.2% in FY 2008 and 28.7% in FY 2009. Still, at above 25% and with an increasing shareholder’s equity number (note that FY 2010’s equity number is about 33.6% higher than that of FY 2008), this is still a very respectable performance, and done without excessive leverage.
Interestingly, ex-cash historical PER for Kingsmen for FY 2010 is at 5.34x, one of the lowest as compared to prior years. This means that if you strip away the cash per share, in essence you are getting the entire business at just about 5.3x price-earnings; implying that you can make back your investment in just 5.3 years time with the business’ current profitability and cash flows.
Kingsmen always had very strong operational cash flows and very little need for capital expenditure (“capex”), so I would expect this to continue into the foreseeable future unless they suddenly had a drastic need for capex. Thus far, the only large capex item I see on the near-tern horizon is their announced plan to build an automated facility in China to be ready by 2H FY 2011. Otherwise, their capex requirements have always been low as Kingsmen’s core assets are its people and the brains behind their ideas and designs. It is, after all, a design company!
It can be seen that operational cash flows improved drastically for FY 2010 as compared to FY 2009, as cash flowed in from the completed USS contract which was booked as a Trade Receivable as at end-FY 2009. S$20.3 million worth of operational cash inflow was booked, while capex only amounted to S$6.2 million (and this includes two warehouses built in Selangor after fire destroyed the existing one), resulting in free cash flows of S$14.2 million. Financing cash outflows were low due to absence of repayments of loans to banks, unlike in FY 2009 when S$12.4 million was repaid to banks. Dividend payments formed the bulk of financing cash outflows, and this is likely to continue into the foreseeable future as Kingsmen usually is able to generate cash in excess of what it requires for working capital and capex. In fact, Kingsmen’s net cash level is at its highest since listing at S$28 million, which probably also explains why they can afford to pay a special dividend of 0.5 cents per share to celebrate Kingsmen’s 35th Anniversary!
From the above table, it can be seen that Kingsmen’s dividend history has been consistent and increasing. From paying just 0.75 cents per year (once a year) in FY 2003, Kingsmen has now increased it to 3.5 cents per share twice a year (excluding the 0.5 cents special dividend). I believe this is because Kingsmen’s business model does not entail high levels of working capital, and neither does the business require constant and consistent spending on capex to keep up with competitors and ensure the business stays viable. Staff costs are, however, an area of concern as Kingsmen has to continually tap on good talents to ensure it can innovate and deliver the best service to clients.
Part 2 will deal with segmental breakdown and margin analysis, and provide some discussions on these aspects.
Kingsmen Creatives – FY 2010 Comprehensive Analysi...
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BMW announces Android app integration
By NY - NewsRoom on March 24, 2016
BMW was among the first auto manufacturers to introduce integration with iPhones in 2011. Now, five years later, the company has at last announced at the New York International Auto Show that BMW Apps will integrate with Android devices. The first three apps to work with the iDrive system in the 2016 BMW 7 Series are all about the music: iHeartRadio, Pandora and Spotify.
So far, it’s just those apps and that one BMW model, but this opens the possibility of more BMWs and Minis having more Android apps in the future. Users need to download the BMW Connected app to stream music from their phones through iDrive via Bluetooth. The features that each service’s devotees love remain intact in iDrive: you can still give a thumb up or down to a song in Pandora; paid and free Spotify accounts can access playlists and browse; and your saved Favorites in iHeartRadio are there along with live radio stations across the country.
Apple keeps a tight lid on apps developed for its platform, and as one of the first manufacturers to integrate smart phones with its on-board entertainment system, BMW appreciated being able to easily evaluate iPhone apps for safety while driving. Android devices are part of a deliberately more open environment, but all those devices in the pockets of potential buyers can’t be ignored forever.
BMW obviously chose three popular apps to start with that would be very easy to safely operate as a driver. All apps available for use with the iDrive system, no matter the platform, must be “optimized for safe use” while driving (e.g. not requiring the driver to take his eyes off the road to scroll through a near-infinite list of songs), according to the press release. If it works with iDrive, BMW has certified that the app won’t take too much of your attention.
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GRAMBLING DROPS SEASON OPENER 49-13 TO FBS FOE NEVADA
RENO, NEVADA (August 31, 2008) Grambling State came up on the short end during its 2008 season opener as the Tigers dropped a 49-13 decision to the University of Nevada Wolf Pack before a crowd of 20,078 at Mackay Stadium in Reno.
Grambling fell behind early as the Football Bowl Subdivision member Wolf Pack took advantage of a Greg Dillon interception and had little field to go as quarterback Colin Kaepernick ran it in for a 7-yard run. The Tigers regrouped on their next possession and recorded their first big play of the night when Dillon connected with a wide-open Dante Cheek for a 40-yard pass reception. Unfortunately, the promising drive fell short on fourth down after a blocked field goal.
Both teams traded possessions after the block but Nevada found its scoring touch as Kaepernick led the Wolf Pack on a four-play, 40-yard drive that was capped off by a 19-yard run by Kaepernick. However, Grambling once again began to move the ball as Dillon found Nick Lewis for a 26-yard strike and freshman Van Phillips recorded an 11-yard reverse to the UNR 28. But in similar fashion to the last drive that ended deep in UNR territory, the Tigers were stopped on fourth down and were forced to turn the ball over on downs.
The offensive highlights came to a halt as the second quarter began but midway through the quarter, Nevada's Vai Taua broke free for a 62-yard scamper to move the Wolf Pack to GSU's 3. Three plays later on third down, Taua rewarded himself for the run with a 1-yard touchdown rush up the middle of the GSU defense. The PAT was good by Brett Jaekle and the Wolf Pack moved ahead 21-0 with 6:55 left in the first half.
Grambling had its moments as the first half came to an end as a
Derrick Johnson sack led to a UNR fumble. Kendall Robinson picked up the ball
and scampered 46 yards downfield but the drive once again stalled on the
offensive end. Nevada made a big splash towards the end of the half and drove
the length of the field but the defense held ground and kept them from
attempting a field goal to close out the half.
The second half didn't begin on a positive note as the Wolf Pack drove 73 yards in nine plays to up their lead to 28-0. GSU was forced to punt on its opening possession but redeemed itself defensively when Desmond Lenard picked off a pass and returned it 61 yards for GSU's first touchdown of the 2008 season. Luis Leal's PAT was good and drew the Tigers to within three touchdowns at 28-7 but the momentum didn't last long as Nevada marched down the field once again behind the strength of its rushing attack. The Wolf Pack needed only five plays to score their fifth touchdown of the night en route to a 35-7 margin midway in the third quarter.
After the score, GSU managed to make things interesting on its next two possessions as Dillon eluded the Wolf Pack rush and connected with redshirt freshman Kenneth Batiste for a 59-yard pass reception on 3rd-and-long that ended at the 2-yard line. Unfortunately, GSU didn't get the result it was looking for as Nevada held its ground and completed the goalline stand by stopping GSU at the one on fourth-and-goal. Several plays later, UNR fumbled at its own 20 but the Tiger offense couldn't capitalize as they turned the ball over on downs.
With offense the highlight of the night, the fourth quarter didn't disappoint as UNR added two touchdowns to GSU's one. In the final stanza, Dillon drove the Tigers 66 yards in five plays and concluded the drive with his first career touchdown pass as he found Batiste for a successful 21-yard reception.
For the game, UNR finished with 629 (426 R, 206 P) total yards offensively while GSU amassed 230 (225 P, 5 R) yards. In his first-ever start, Dillon passed for 225 yards and one touchdown on 13-of-25 passing. Cornelius Walker led all GSU rushers with 14 yards on eight carries while Batiste caught six passes for 95 yards.
Taua eclipsed the 100-yard mark for UNR as he rushed for 103 yards on 12 carries. Kaepernick passed for 122 yards on 10-of-17 passing while Mike McCoy caught six passes for 67 yards.
Labels: Football, Grambling State
Cougars beat Bearkats in 2008 SHSU home-opener
HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS (August 30, 2008) Sam Houston State Freshman Britni Martin scored the first goalof her college career Friday night in a 3-1 home-opening loss to Universityof Houston at Pritchett Field.
Martin, a freshman from Conroe, found the back of the net early in thesecond half to cut the Cougar lead to 2-1. She took a pass from Deanna Longand buried it in the back of the net in the 56th minute. The Kats had twoother chances to even the scored before the Cougars went up 3-1 in the 69th minute on a goal by Riley Canfield.
Houston scored a pair of goals in quick succession in the first half. Afterplaying 20minutes of scoreless soccer, Christine Nieva broke the ice withgoal in the 21st minute. Three minutes later, Jessica Zavalza scored to put Houston up 2-0. The Cougars outshot SHSU 25-13.
In the 82nd minute Zavalza was given a yellow card and three minutes laterwas sent off the pitch with a red. Lynn Baker was also yellow carded in the34th minute for Houston.
The Bearkats will be back in action Sunday when they take on Prairie View A&M at 1 p.m. at Pritchett.
Labels: Rice Owls, Sam Houston State, Soccer
Rice VB Takes Care of Business
HOUSTON, TEXAS (August 29, 2008) The Rice Owls volleyball team sports a 2-0 record after cruising to identical 3-0 set wins over UT-San Antonio and Louisiana-Lafayette in the Owls' Mizuno Invitational.
In the first match of the day, Rice cruised over UTSA 25-13, 25-15, 25-18 and had a balance attack as Karyn McCord and Ashleigh McCord each had 9 kills, while Natalie Bogan had 8 kills and Jessica Holderness pounded 7 kills. Setter Meredith Schamun was smooth in running the offense with 35 assists. Tracey Lam led Rice with 20 digs.
Against the Ragin' Cajuns, Rice won 25-13, 25-16, and 25-14. Bogan led the Owls with 13 kills and Karyn Morgan followed with 10 kills. Morgan also had 10 digs as Lam again led all with 16 digs.
"Being 2-0 and 6-0 in sets is a great way to start the season," commented Rice head coach Genny Volpe. "The execution was certainly evident. I thought that Ashleigh McCord, though a freshman, was physical and aggressive and that's a great way to start your career."
The senior leadership of Morgan and Holderness was prevalent in the day's first two matches.
"The seniors' leadership and composure was key in today's two wins," said Volpe. "Also, our sophomore setter Meredith Schamun did a great job leading and running the offense efficiently."
In other action at the Mizuno Invitational, Michigan defeated Lousiana-Lafayette 3-0 (25-10, 25-22, 25-17). Beth Karpiak had 10 kills for the Wolverines (1-0), while setter Lexi Zimmerman had 27 assists.
The Owls next play Michigan at 7 p.m. on Saturday night in Fox Gym. Admission is free.
Labels: Rice Owls, Volleyball
First Ever Multiplatform Broadcast of Paralympic Games Coming to U.S. via Universal Sports
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO (August 28, 2008) U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is pleased to announce that Universal Sports, a multiplatform destination for amateur sports programming, will provide the first-ever multiplatform broadcast coverage of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, presented by GE in the United States. Daily video highlights will also be webcast on the official site of the U.S. Paralympic Team, usparalympics.org.
The groundbreaking broadcast will premiere on Sept. 6, on UniversalSports.com and Oct. 8, on Universal Sports TV, followed by a special presentation of the events on NBC, Oct. 18.
"The U.S. Olympic Committee is making a tremendous investment in building the Paralympic movement in the United States. That commitment has helped significantly raise the awareness of Paralympic programs since 2004, and this broadcast agreement is clear evidence of the growing interest nationally in Paralympic sport," said Charlie Huebner, Chief of Paralympics, U.S. Olympic Committee. "The amazing platform provides an exceptional opportunity to showcase the talents of the 2008 U.S. Paralympic Team, introduce more individuals with physical disabilities to the Paralympic movement and inspire all Americans."
Viewers will have the opportunity to watch the Paralympic Games, Sept. 6-17, with daily live and delayed highlight shows on UniversalSports.com and usparalympics.org. The official U.S. Paralympic Team site will also host daily video blogs from U.S. athletes and delegation members. Beginning in 2009, the U.S. Olympic Network will re-air portions of the 2008 Paralympic Games.
The Paralympic Games are an elite sporting event for persons with physical disabilities. In Beijing, a total of 4,000 athletes from around 150 countries will be competing in 20 sports and the U.S. will be represented by 213 athletes.
For current Universal Sports scheduling information for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, please visit UniversalSports.com.
Labels: Beijing Paralympic Games
USA records best Olympic gymnastics finish since 1984 with 10 medals
BEIJING, CHINA (August 27, 2008) At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the United States amassed with its greatest medal haul since the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The medal tally of 10 – two gold, six silver and two bronze – is the most earned by the USA in gymnastics in a non-boycotted Olympic Games.
“We are very proud of our gymnasts’ accomplishments,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. “Our athletes were outstanding, not only on the field of play but also in how they represented both our sport and our country. The combination of team and individual medals is an indication of USA Gymnastics' commitment to remaining among the best gymnastics countries in the world.”
Here’s the medal breakdown by discipline and event.
Men Team – bronze medal
Horizontal bar – Jonathan Horton, silver medal
Women Team – silver medal
All-around – Nastia Liukin, gold medal; Shawn Johnson, silver medal
Uneven bars – Nastia Liukin, silver medal
Balance beam – Shawn Johnson, gold medal; Nastia Liukin, silver medal
Floor exercise – Shawn Johnson, silver medal; Nastia Liukin, bronze medal
In addition to the overall medal count, the U.S. gymnasts also established some noteworthy milestones.
It is the first time the United States has won team medals at consecutive Olympic Games for both men and women. The women earned their second straight silver medal, and the men also were repeat medalists, this time taking home the bronze.
The U.S. women won eight total medals (two gold, five silver and one bronze), topping China’s six (two gold and four bronze). Romania was third with two (one gold and one bronze).
The women’s all-around set two USA firsts: Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas, and Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa, became the first U.S. women to go one-two in the all-around; and the first time the USA has won the all-around title for two consecutive Games.
Liukin joins Mary Lou Retton (1984) and Carly Patterson (2004) as the only U.S. women to win an Olympic all-around title.
Liukin tied the U.S. gymnastics record of five Olympic medals at one Olympics set by Mary Lou Retton, who earned one gold, two silver and two bronze, at the 1984 Olympic Games, and matched by Shannon Miller, who claimed two silver and three bronze at the 1992 Olympic Games. Liukin’s Olympic medal haul includes one gold (all-around); three silver (team, balance beam and uneven bars); and one bronze (floor exercise). Liukin also surpassed the four medals won by her father, Valeri, at the 1988 Olympic Games (two gold and two silver).
Johnson is only the second U.S. gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal on the balance beam (Miller, 1996). Liukin finished second, making this the first time the USA has won two medals in this event at the same Games.
Johnson earned four medals at the 2008 Olympic Games: gold on the balance beam, and silver in the team competition, all-around and floor exercise.
Liukin garnered the most medals of any female gymnast at the 2008 Olympics with five. Johnson was second with four medals, followed by China’s Cheng Fei and Yang Yilin at three (one gold, two bronze).
Jonathan Horton of Houston captured the silver medal on the horizontal bar.
“I am tied with her (Shannon) for world medals too,” said Liukin, who owns nine world medals. “I guess it is meant to be that we are tied. I think I won the most medals of any woman (in gymnastics in Beijing). That is something neat. I will remember this time for rest of life. I am glad I got to do it with my dad. The Olympics has been harder but better than any Worlds. Nine Olympic medals in our family is not too bad.”
Along with Johnson and Liukin, the members of the U.S. Olympic Team for women’s gymnastics are: Chellsie Memmel of West Allis, Wis./M&M Gymnastics; Samantha Peszek of Indianapolis, Ind./DeVeau’s; Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, Mass./Brestyan’s; and Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind./Sharp’s. Johnson trains at Chow’s Gymnastics, and Liukin’s gym is WOGA. The three replacement athletes are: Jana Bieger of Coconut Creek, Fla./Bieger International Gymnastics; Ivana Hong of Blue Springs, Mo./GAGE; and Corrie Lothrop of Gaithersburg, Md./Hill’s. Liang Qiao of Chow’s gymnastics was head coach, with Valeri Liukin of WOGA serving as assistant coach.
The members of the bronze-medal team are: Alexander Artemev of Highlands Ranch, Colo.; Raj Bhavsar of Houston; Joseph Hagerty of Rio Rancho, N.M.; Horton; Justin Spring of Burke, Va.; and Kevin Tan of Fremont, Calif. David Durante of Garwood, N.J., was the replacement athlete, and Paul and Morgan Hamm of Waukesha, Wis., withdrew from the team due to injuries. All nine men are members of Team Chevron. Kevin Mazeika of Houston Gymnastics Academy was the head coach, and Miles Avery of Ohio State University was the assistant coach.
Erin Blanchard of Lafayette, La., and Chris Estrada of Colorado Springs, Colo., were members of the U.S. Olympic Team for trampoline. Both train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center with Dmitri Poliaroush, who was the Olympic coach.
The U.S. women went head-to-head with China in the team competition in one of the most dramatic and exciting team finals in history. When the chalk dust had settled, the USA earned its second consecutive Olympic team silver medal with 186.525 points. China won the gold medal with 188.900 points, and Romania claimed the bronze medal with 181.525 points.
“The fight was extremely close,” said Martha Karolyi, women’s national team coordinator. “We fought equal to equal. We were two very strong teams.”
“I feel proud of the USA and our team,” Johnson said. “We are proud of each other no matter what. I think that we represented USA very well.”
“My goal was to come out and know that at the end of the competition, I’d have no regrets,” Liukin said. “I definitely have no regrets. I’m happy with how everything went and to say that you have an Olympic medal is just amazing.”
The USA was paired with China in the same rotation and opened the team finals on vault. Johnson earned a 16.000 for her Yurchenko 2.5 vault, and Sacramone scored a 15.675 for her Rudi vault. Sloan performed a Yurchenko double and posted a 15.200. Russia, who began the competition on uneven bars, led the competition after one rotation with 46.950 points, followed closely by the USA in second with 46.875 points. China was third at 46.350.
Memmel, who only competed on one event in the team finals, was the first U.S. woman up on uneven bars and scored a 15.725 for her routine that included a jam to invert to a double front dismount. Johnson kept the momentum going with a 15.350. Liukin’s pirouette work in her difficult routine with a 7.7 start value earned a 16.900, the highest score of the day on any event. The USA’s aggregate bars score 47.975. China moved into the lead after posting a 49.625 on the uneven bars for a two-rotation score of 95.975. The USA was second at 94.850 and Russia dropped to third with a 91.850.
The USA posted a score of 47.250 on balance beam. Johnson posted a 16.175 for her routine that included a full-in dismount. Liukin earned a 15.975 and Sacramone scored a 15.100.
Heading into the final rotation, China led the USA, 143.100 to 142.100. Romania was third with 136.250 points.
Liukin led the USA on floor exercise with a 15.200, with Johnson scoring a 15.100 and Sacramone earning a 14.125 for a total of 44.425. China sealed its victory with a 45.800 on floor exercise to win its first-ever women’s Olympic team gold medal.
“I’m definitely happy with silver,” said Memmel, who injured her ankle during training before the qualification round. “It’s the Olympic Games and we have a silver medal. The Chinese were the better team today. We had a few mistakes. The only disappointment for me was that I couldn’t contribute more to the team.”
“Leaving Beijing with a silver medal is such an honor,” said Peszek. “To have a medal hanging around my neck from the Olympics is remarkable. We’re all so proud of everyone.”
“You have good days and bad days, and I just wish that today was a good day for me,” Sacramone said. “My teammates were amazing today, but I just wish that my performance was a little better.”
“It’s amazing and having any medal is remarkable,” Sloan said. “We gave it our hearts, but China was just having a really good day today.”
All-around
Liukin joins Retton (1984) and Carly Patterson (2004) as the only U.S. women’s gymnasts to win an Olympic all-around title. Johnson’s second place finish also gave the USA another first – finishing one-two in the all-around. Liukin finished with a score of 63.325, followed by Johnson with a 62.725 and China’s Yang Yilin, who earned the bronze with a 62.650.
“Just to be here at the Olympic Games is amazing,” Liukin said. “To stand on the podium and hear ‘Olympic champion’ next to my name was a dream come true. I knew it was a close fight and I knew I’d done all I could do.”
“It’s been a really long road and I’m just so proud to be here,” Johnson said. “I’m honored to be representing the USA. I had a great meet today and finishing on floor was probably my favorite moment because I knew I’d given it my all.”
Liukin is coached by her father, Valeri, who won four medals, including two gold, at the 1988 Olympic Games. Liukin trains at WOGA in Plano, Texas, where Patterson trained until winning her Olympic all-around title in 2004.
Because they finished 1-2 in the qualification round, Johnson and Liukin competed in the Olympic order (vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise) in the finals. Johnson scored a 15.875 for her Yurchenko 2.5 vault, and Liukin earned a 15.025 for her Yurchenko 1.5. After one rotation, Romania’s Steliana Nistor was first with a 15.975, followed by Johnson in second and Italy’s Vanessa Ferrari in third with a 15.600. Liukin was 10th.
Moving to the uneven bars where she has a 7.7 start value, Liukin posted a 16.650 for her routine that includes intricate pirouette work. Johnson stuck her layout double double dismount for a score of 15.275. Yang moved into first place after the second rotation with a score of 31.900 with Liukin in second with a 31.675 and Nistor in third with a 31.525. Johnson dropped to fifth with a 31.150.
Liukin opened her beam routine with a front aerial to flip flop layout and posted a 16.125 to take the lead with a score of 47.800 heading into the fourth and final rotation. With a score of 16.050 for her balance beam routine that includes full in dismount, Johnson moved into third place with a 47.200. Yang dropped to second with a 47.650.
Johnson and Liukin scored identical 15.525s on floor exercise in the final rotation to secure gold and silver. Yang, who scored a 15.000 on floor, fell one spot to third place.
Individual events
The U.S. women won five medals in three individual event finals. Liukin captured three medals, silver in the uneven bars and balance beam and a bronze in the floor exercise; and Johnson won the gold medal in the balance beam, as well as a silver medal in the floor exercise.
Vault. Sacramone scored a 15.750 on her first vault, a Rudi, and followed with a 15.325 for her Yurchenko double, averaging a score of 15.537. Korea’s Hong Un Jong won the gold medal with a 15.650. Germany’s Oksana Chusovitina won the silver medal with a 15.575 and China’s Cheng Fei claimed the bronze medal with a 15.562. Sacramone finished fourth.
“I’m disappointed that I didn’t at least place, but all the girls had higher start values that I did,” Sacramone said. “I went out there and finished my Olympic Games, and I did the best I could.”
Uneven bars. Liukin and China’s He Kexin both posted scores of 16.725, but He was awarded the gold medal over Liukin due to a tiebreaker based on deductions. Both women performed difficult routines, He’s punctuated with her intricate handwork and Liukin’s featuring her trademark pirouettes. China’s Yang earned the bronze medal with a score of 16.650.
“I don’t have any regrets in my training plan or in the routine that I performed today,” Liukin said. “Missing out on the gold medal today is a little hard to take, but when I look back at this week, I couldn’t be more proud of my accomplishments.”
Balance beam. Johnson and Liukin won the gold and silver medals, respectively, on the balance beam. Johnson ended her balance beam routine with a full-in dismount and scored a 16.225. Liukin was second at 16.025. China’s Cheng, the first competitor on balance beam, scored a 15.950, which held up for the bronze medal.
“It’s the Olympics and I just wanted to finish it off the best that I could,” Johnson said. “Beam is my favorite event and I’ve been working so hard on it at home. I just put everything toward the beam. To finally get the gold for my beam coach (Liwen Zhuang) and for me on my very last routine, it meant the world.”
Floor exercise. Johnson was the first to take the floor and scored a 15.500 for her routine that includes a tuck double double on her first pass. Liukin scored a 15.425 after ending her routine with a two-and-a-half twisting back. Romania’s Sandra Izbasa won the gold medal with a score of 15.650.
“I wasn’t sure how things were going to hold up today, but I didn’t really care about scores,” said Johnson. “I didn’t care about placements. I just wanted to go out and have a good time. Sitting there and watching seven other girls compete was the most nerve-wracking experience.”
“I felt so calm, and I had to get that adrenaline going,” Liukin said. “I think just because I know floor isn’t my best event, I wasn’t as nervous. I just felt that whatever happens, I’m just going to try my best.”
Men’s competition
Despite last minute team changes, the U.S. Olympic Team for men’s gymnastics went out and showed their stuff, winning the team bronze medal with a total score of 275.850. China won the gold medal with 286.125 points with Japan taking second at 278.875 points.
“The whole way through, we focused on one event at a time, one routine at a time,” said Kevin Mazeika, head coach of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for men’s gymnastics. “It’s just unbelievable considering everything we’ve been through. It’s been a roller coaster ride. I couldn’t be prouder of these guys, of all the coaches and this whole collective, collaborative effort.”
“I think the most important thing for us was to be on that podium, which we knew that we could do,” said Horton. “Bronze, silver, gold, it doesn’t matter. We’re excited because nobody thought we’d be close.”
The USA began the competition on still rings, posting a score of 46.375. Horton earned the team’s highest score with a 15.625, followed by Tan and Bhavsar with a 15.425 and a 15.325, respectively.
Horton again led the USA with a 16.200 on his stuck handspring double front vault. Bhavsar posted a 16.125 on his handspring double full vault with Spring earning a 15.900 on his Kasamatsu one-and-a-half for a total team score of 48.225.
On parallel bars, the USA earned a total of 47.050. Spring posted a 15.850 to top the USA’s scores, followed by Horton with a 15.625 and Bhavsar with a 15.575. The USA was in first place halfway through the competition with 141.650. China was second at 140.825 and France was third with 140.025 points.
With high-flying release moves and chants of “USA” from the crowd, the U.S. men posted a score of 46.925 on horizontal bar. Horton and Spring earned a 15.700 and a 15.675, respectively, with each sticking his dismount, a laid-out triple double for Horton and a triple back for Spring. Hagerty earned a 15.550.
With a score of 49.325 on vault, China moved into the lead after the fourth rotation with a four-event score of 190.150. The USA dropped to second with 188.575 points and Japan was third with a 185.200.
Horton led the USA on floor exercise with a score of 15.575 after nailing all of his tumbling passes, including his tucked full in dismount. Spring posted a 15.200 for his routine that included a triple full dismount. Hagerty rounded out the USA’s scoring with a 14.625. The team earned a total of 45.400 on floor exercise.
Heading into the sixth and final rotation, China was in the lead with 239.175 points, followed by the USA with a 233.975 and Japan with a 232.275. Artemev’s full Kehr into his flare sequence on the pommel horse had the crowd cheering, and he earned the USA’s highest score on that event with a 15.350. Bhavsar posted a 13.750 and Tan earned a 12.775. The USA’s total pommel horse score was 41.875.
“It’s been an up-and-down roller coaster,” Artemev said. “For me personally, I usually get excited about things too quickly and then if I have a let down, I get pretty angry about it. So I taught myself not to handle situations like that, to take it a little bit more professionally. I learned that from Dave with the way he handled things (being an alternate). This is a nine-man team. Paul, Morgan and Dave, this is for them, too.”
“It’s a dream come true, and dreams can come true,” said Bhavsar. “I’m a firm believer that in life, when you have nothing left to give, you have to dig down deep and find it within you to keep going. I hope that my message carries into the spirit of other people that if I can do it, so can you.”
“I’d characterize this medal as a nine-man team,” said Hagerty. “This was for our country. This was for Dave, Paul and Morgan. This is for everybody, our friends and family.”
“I think the medal was somewhat unexpected, but we knew that we had this potential,” said Spring. “I know a lot of people doubted that we would make the second day (team finals), but this team never doubted ourselves. We had two last-minute replacements and anything you threw at this team, we rolled with it with smiles on our faces.”
“We pulled together,” said Tan. “We had that support from everyone. We went out there and showed what we could do today. My day didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, but I was focused, I stayed on and I fought as hard as I could. I believe I left it all out there, heart and soul.”
Horton and Artemev finished ninth and 12th, respectively, in the men’s all-around at the 2008 Olympic Games. China’s Yang Wei won the all-around title with a score of 94.575. Japan’s Kohei Uchimura earned the silver medal with a 91.975 and France’s Benoit Caranobe claimed the bronze medal with a 91.925. Horton’s score of 91.575 was just four-tenths of a point shy from the silver-medal-winning score. Artemev posted a 90.675.
“There were a lot of incredible competitors out there who had a great meet,” Horton said. “Hopefully with some more time and experience in this sport, I’ll learn how to put together two incredible meets instead of just one (men’s team final). Today I was really calm and just stayed relaxed in my gymnastics. I definitely didn’t have that fired-up feeling that I had with the team, but I’m really happy with how I did. I don’t have any regrets with my competition today.”
“I had a bobble on floor that lowered my B score (execution score), but other than that, it was pretty good,” Artemev said about his performance. “I didn’t really hold back on anything. (Pommel) horse is getting better every day, so hopefully in finals, it’s even better.”
Artemev and Horton opened the competition on still rings and pommel horse, respectively, and posted scores of 14.275 and 13.675.
In the second rotation, Artemev jumped to 12th after scoring a 15.975 on his Yurchenko 2.5 vault. On still rings, Horton posted a 15.575 for his routine that included a full twisting, double layout dismount and moved into 19th place.
Artemev scored a 15.200 on parallel bars and remained in 12th place with 45.450 points. Horton jumped five spots to 14th with 45.350 points after earning a 16.100 on his handspring double front vault.
Korea’s Yang Tae Young led the field halfway through the competition with 47.325 points, followed by Yang in second and Caranobe in third with a 47.150 and a 46.650, respectively.
After four rotations, Horton was 12th with a 60.625 after scoring a 15.275 on parallel bars. Artemev stuck his stretched double double dismount on horizontal bar and scored a 15.075 to move into 14th place at 60.525.
In the fifth rotation, Horton earned a 15.350 on horizontal bar for a score of 75.975, and Artemev posted a 14.625 on floor exercise for a score of 75.150. Horton ended the competition on floor exercise, scoring a 15.600. Artemev’s crowd-pleasing pommel horse routine that includes a full Kehr to flair sequence earned a 15.525.
Horton won the silver medal on the horizontal bar. Artemev competed in the pommel horse finals, and Tan was the first reserve athlete for the still rings finals, with Hagerty the third reserve gymnast for high bar.
In the horizontal bar finals, Horton took a chance and performed a new, more difficult routine that he had never completed, even in practice. His routine had a 6.9 start value, up five-tenths of a point from his routine in the team finals. He earned a score of 16.175, just 0.025 points behind the 16.200 of gold-medal-winner Zou Kai of China. Germany’s Fabian Hambuechen, the 2007 horizontal bar world champion, finished third with a score of 15.875.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever done that routine,” said Horton. “I’m not going to sit here and say it’s luck because I’ve done every one of those skills millions of times. But it was maybe a little bit of luck to put it together in the same routine at once and do it as well as I did. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, right? I hit the floor and looked at Mark (Williams) and said, ‘Can you believe that just happened?’ Instantly, I knew I was going to medal with that routine. I kind of wish I had stuck my landing because I’d be gold.”
On pommel horse, Artemev scored a 14.975 after falling toward the end of his routine. China’s Xiao Qin won the gold medal with a 15.875. Croatia’s Filip Ude and Great Britain’s Louis Smith both posted scores of 15.725, but Ude claimed the silver medal through a tiebreaker, giving Smith the bronze.
“I wish I walked away with a medal (on pommel horse), but I’m happy that the team got a medal and that’s the most important thing to me,” said Artemev. “With my set, I laid out a hard routine and I wasn’t ready.”
The other individual event gold medalists were: China’s Li Xiaopeng , parallel bars; China’s Chen Yibing, still rings; Poland’s Leszek Blanik, vault; and China’s Zou Kai, floor exercise.
Blanchard finished 13th for the women and Chris Estrada placed 15th for the men in the trampoline at the 2008 Olympic Games, also held at the National Indoor Stadium. In men’s trampoline, China’s Lu Chunlong won the gold medal with a score of 41.00. Canada’s Jason Burnett earned the silver medal with a 40.70, and China’s Dong Dong claimed the bronze medal with a 40.60. For the women, China’s He Wenna won the gold medal with a score of 37.80, followed by Canada’s Karen Cockburn in second with a 37.00 and Uzbekistan’s Ekaterina Khilko in third with a 36.90.
Blanchard earned a total score of 60.90 after posting a 27.10 for her compulsory routine and a 33.80 for her optional routine.
“I was happy that I made it and that I did both of my routines,” Blanchard said. “It wasn’t good, but I did it and stayed on my feet. I did all ten skills and did the best I could. I was really, really nervous because I wasn’t expecting the stands to be filled like this. It was a lot crazier than I thought it would be.”
Estrada’s 28.50 for his compulsory routine and his 37.40 for his optional routine earned a total of 65.90.
“I did okay, but I could have done better,” Estrada said. “I did the best I could today, so I’m happy with that. Being in front of the crowd was amazing because it was a new experience for me (to jump in front of a large audience). I want to thank my coaches for getting me this far.”
This was the first Olympic Games for both Blanchard and Estrada. The USA competed in the Olympic Games in women’s trampoline for the third straight Olympiad and in men’s trampoline for the first time.
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. Its disciplines include men's and women's artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, and acrobatic gymnastics. For more information, log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org.
National Indoor Stadium
1. China, 188.900
2. USA, 186.525
3. Romania, 181.525
4. Russia, 180.625
5. Japan, 176.700
6. Australia, 176.525
7. France, 175.275
8. Brazil, 174.875
1. Nastia Liukin, USA, 63.325
2. Shawn Johnson, USA, 62.725
3. Yang Yilin, China, 62.650
4. Ksenia Semenova, Russia, 61.925
5. Steliana Nistor, Romania, 61.050
6. Jiang Yuyuan, China, 60.900
7. Anna Pavlova, Russia, 60.825
8. Sandra Izbasa, Romania, 60.750
9. Oksana Chusovitina, Germany, 60.125
10. Jade Barbosa, Brazil, 59.550
11. Vanessa Ferrari, Italy, 59.450
12. Becky Downie, Great Britain, 59.450
13. Georgia Bonora, Australia, 58.950
14. Lia Parolari, Italy, 58.925
15. Shona Morgan, Australia, 58.800
16. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Canada, 58.375
17. Koko Tsurumi, Japan, 58.100
18. Ariella Kaslin, Switzerland, 58.000
19. Marine Petit, France, 57.975
20. Kyoko Oshima, Japan, 57.625
21. Kristyna Palesova, Czech Republic, 56.975
22. Ana Silva, Brazil, 56.875
23. Laetitia Dugain, France, 56.775
24. Gaelle Mys, Belgium, 53.950
1. Hong Un Jong, North Korea, 15.650
3. Cheng Fei, China, 15.562
4. Alicia Sacramone, USA, 15.537
5. Ariella Kaslin, Switzerland, 15.050
6. Carlotta Giovannini, Italy, 14.550
7. Jade Barbosa, Brazil, 14.487
8. Anna Pavlova, Russia, 7.812
1. He Kexin, China, 16.725
4. Beth Tweddle, Great Britain, 16.625
5. Anastasiia Koval, Ukraine, 16.375
8. Dariya Zgoba, Ukraine, 14.875
5. Gabriela Dragoi, Romania, 15.625
6. Li Shanshan, China, 15.300
7. Ksenia Afanasyeva, Russia, 14.825
8. Koko Tsurumi, Japan, 14.450
5. Ekaterina Kramarenko, Russia, 15.025
6. Daiane Santos, Brazil, 14.975
4. Germany, 274.600
5. South Korea, 274.375
1. Yang Wei, China, 94.575
2. Kohei Uchimura, Japan, 91.975
3. Benoit Caranobe, France, 91.925
4. Hiroyuki Tomita, Japan, 91.750
5. Sergey Khorokhordin, Russia, 91.700
6. Maxim Devyatovskiy, Russia, 91.700
7. Fabian Hambuechen, Germany, 91.675
8. Yang Taeyoung, Korea, 91.600
9. Jonathan Horton, USA, 91.575
10. Rafael Martinez, Spain, 91.500
11. Kim Daeeun, Korea, 90.775
12. Alexander Artemev, USA, 90.675
13. Philipp Boy, Germany, 90.675
14. Luis Rivera, Puerto Rico, 90.175
15. Adam Wong, Canada, 89.800
16. Anton Fokin, Uzbekistan, 89.750
17. Nathan Gafuik, Canada, 89.625
18. Flavius Koczi, Romania, 89.575
19. Enrico Pozzo, Italy, 89.375
20. Daniel Keatings, Great Britain, 89.000
21. Thomas Bouhail, France, 87.000
22. Luis Fuentes Bustamante, Venezuela, 86.300
23. Dmitry Savitski, Belarus, 82.175
24. Chen Yibing, China, 74.225
1. Zou Kai, China, 16.050
2. Gervasio Deferr, Spain, 15.775
3. Anton Golotsutskov, Russia, 15.725
6. Diego Hypolito, Brazil, 15.200
7. Marian Dragulescu, Romania, 14.850
8. Alexandr Shatilov, Israel, 14.125
1. Xiao Qin, China, 15.875
2. Filip Ude, Croatia, 15.725
3. Louis Smith, Great Britain, 15.725
6. Kim Jihoon, Korea, 15.175
7. Alexander Artemev, USA, 14.975
8. Fuentes Bustamonte Luis, Venezuela, 14.650
1. Chen Yibing, China, 16.600
3. Oleksandr Vorobiov, Ukraine, 16.325
4. Andrea Coppolino, Italy, 16.225
5. Danny Pinheiro Rodrigues, France, 16.225
6. Matteo Morandi, Italy, 16.200
7. Robert Stanescu, Romania, 15.825
8. Jordan Jovtchev, Bulgaria, 15.525
1. Leszek Blanik, Poland, 16.537
2. Thomas Bouhail, France, 16.537
6. Dmitry Kasperovich, Belarus, 16.050
7. Flavius Koczi, Romania, 15.925
8. Isaac Botella, Spain, 15.737
1. Li Xiaopeng, China, 16.450
2. Yoo Wonchul, Korea, 16.250
3. Anton Fokin, Uzbekistan, 16.200
5. Mitja Petkovsek, Slovenia, 15.725
6. Huang Xu, China, 15.700
8. Nikolay Kryukov, Russia, 15.150
Horizontal bar
4. Igor Cassina, Italy, 15.675
5. Takuya Nakase, Japan, 15.450
7. Epke Zonderland, Netherlands, 15.000
8. Yann Cucherat, France, 14.825
1. Lu Chunlong, China, 41.00
2. Jason Burnett, Canada, 40.70
3. Dong Dong, China, 40.60
4. Yuriy Nikitin, Ukraine, 39.80
4. Tetsuya Sotomura, Japan, 39.80
6. Dmitry Ushakov, Russia, 38.80
7. Alexander Rusakov, Russia, 38.50
8. Mikalai Kazak, Belarus, 38.10
From preliminary round
15. Chris Estrada , USA, 65.90
1. He Wenna, China, 37.80
2. Karen Cockburn, Canada, 370
3. Ekaterina Khilko, Uzbekistan, 36.90
4. Olena Movchan, Ukraine, 36.60
5. Irina Karavaeva, Russia, 36.20
6. Luba Golovina, Georgia, 36.10
7. Rosannagh Maclennan, Canada, 35.50
8. Anna Dogonadze, Germany, 18.90
13. Erin Blanchard, USA, 60.90
Labels: Beijing 2008, Olympics 2008, USA Gymnastics
UP-AND-DOWN DAY FOR U.S IN TEAM EVENT AT MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
BANGKOK, THAILAND (August 26, 2008) After and up-and-down morning Tuesday, Team USA finds itself tied for fourth place halfway through preliminaries in the team event at the 2008 World Tenpin Bowling Association Men's World Championships.
Team USA's five-player lineup - Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., Bill Hoffman of Columbus, Ohio, Patrick Allen of Wesley Chapel, Fla., Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, and Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C. - posted 3,010 in three games on the low-scoring long oil pattern.
Norway holds the lead with 3,198, followed by Finland in second with 3,046 and England in third with 3,027. Korea, also at 3,010, shares fourth place with the United States.
The top four teams after six preliminary games advance to the one-game semifinals at 7 p.m. Wednesday (8 a.m. EDT), with the winners meeting in the one-game finals at 8:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. EDT). The semifinal losers will each receive bronze medals.
Team USA put together games of 1,032, 991 and 987 - the last of which featured a late flurry of strikes by each player to avoid a disastrous finish.
"The event wasn't going to be won today, but you definitely could've lost it today," said Jones, who shot 597 Tuesday. "It was challenging obviously. We didn't get off to a very good start, but the troops rallied at the end. We made a lot of good shots at the end to right the day."
Hoffman led Team USA with 639, followed by Williams at 608, Allen with 585 and Barnes with 582.
Team competition continues Wednesday with the final three preliminary games on the short oil pattern. Rhino Page of Topeka, Kan., joins the five-player lineup on the short oil pattern with Allen, Barnes, Jones and Hoffman, while Williams will pace for his all-events total in the second squad at 2 p.m. local time (3 a.m. EDT).
"We need to make some good shots," said Jones, who is averaging 223.5 over 10 games on the short pattern at the World Championships. "We put ourselves a little bit behind today by not getting as many pins as we wanted, when we knew other teams would struggle. A lot more teams are going to bowl good tomorrow."
In all-events, Allen is currently fourth after 15 of 24 games with 3,282 (218.8 avg.), trailing leader Alejandro Cruz of Mexico by 75 pins. Norway's Tore Torgersen and the United Arab Emirates' Mahmood Ahmad Al Attar are tied for second with 3,295.
Page, who entered the day second in all-events, shot 533 as a pacer to move to 3,273, dropping to seventh place.
Jones is 18th with 3,223 in the all-events standings, from which the top 16 after 24 games will advance to the best-of-five, single-elimination Masters event.
The 2008 Men's World Championships marks the much anticipated first appearance of professionals in major WTBA competition thanks to a change in legislation last August.
The Men's World Championships, which is being held at SF Strike Bowl Ngamwonwan and continues through Saturday, features more than 300 athletes from 57 countries competing in six disciplines - doubles, trios, team, singles, all-events and Masters.
Visit bowl.com for complete coverage of the 2008 WTBA Men's World Championships, including videos, photos, stories, results and blogs.
United States Bowling Congress
The United States Bowling Congress, as the national governing body, ensures the integrity and protects the future of the sport, provides programs and services to more than 2.6 million adult and youth members and enhances the bowling experience.
Bowl with US
2008 WTBA MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
(at Bangkok, Thailand)
Tuesday's Results
(Through 3 of 6 games)
1. Norway, 3,198; 2. Finland, 3,046; 3. England, 3,027; 4. (tie) United States, 3,010; Korea, 3,010; 6. Philippines, 2,995; 7. China, 2,987; 8. Germany, 2,985; 9. Colombia, 2,987; 10. Sweden, 2,964.
ALL-EVENTS
(Through 15 of 24 games)
(Top 16 after 24 games advance to Masters)
1. Alejandro Cruz, Mexico, 3,357; 2. (tie) Tore Torgersen, Norway, 3,295; Mahmood Ahmad Al Attar, United Arab Emirates, 3,295; 4. Patrick Allen, United States, 3,282; 5. Choi Bok-Eum, Korea, 3,280; 6. Joe Ciach, Canada, 3,274; 7. Rhino Page, United States, 3,273; 8. Mads Sandbakken, Norway, 3,270; 9. Choi Ki-Bong, Korea, 3,265; 10. Hussain Nasir Al Suwaidi, United Arab Emirates, 3,264.
11. Martin Larsen, Sweden, 3,258; 12. Pasi Uotila, Finland, 3,256; 13. Glenn Morten Pedersen, Norway, 3,255; 14. Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,240; 15. (tie) Andrew Frawley, Australia, 3,231; Robert Andersson, Sweden, 3,231; 17. Saed Al Hajri, Qatar, 3,229; 18. Tommy Jones, United States, 3,223; 19. Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, 3,216; 20. Jaime Monroy, Colombia, 3,215.
Other U.S. placements
30. Bill Hoffman, 3,186; 46. Walter Ray Williams Jr., 3,129; 53. Chris Barnes, 3,119.
Labels: USA Bowling, World Championships
TEAM USA TAKE TWO TRIOS BRONZE MEDALS AT MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
BANGKOK, THAILAND (August 25, 2008) With the possibility of an all-American final, Team USA settled for a pair of bronze medals in trios competition Monday at the 2008 World Tenpin Bowling Association Men's World Championships.
Patrick Allen of Wesley Chapel, Fla., Rhino Page of Topeka, Kan., and Bill Hoffman of Columbus, Ohio - seeded second after preliminaries - lost a heartbreaker to Japan's Toshihiko Takahashi, Shota Kawazoe and Tomokatsu Yamashita, 615-614.
In the first semifinal, top seed Choi Bok-Eum, Choi Ki-Bong and Kim Tae-Young of Korea remained hot on the short oil pattern in defeating Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, and Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., 673-603, en route to the gold medal.
Korea defeated Japan, 723-553, for its second straight trios gold medal at the Men's World Championships.
Allen, Page and Hoffman started strong in their match, with Allen striking on five of his first six shots and Page on four of his first five. However, Hoffman only struck twice and opened in the final two frames, failing to convert on a 2-4-10 split in the 10th.
"We started off pretty well, but caught a little transition in the middle of the game and the ball started to do some sporadic things down the lane," said Page, who struck out in the 10th frame for a 222 to force Yamashita to convert a 1-2-8 spare on his final ball for the victory. "Hoff just didn't have a very good look on that pair.
"We gave them a good scare toward the end. Japan bowled really well and got us by a stick. That happens sometimes."
Allen led the trio with 223, while Hoffman finished with 169.
Like their Team USA brethren, Williams, Barnes and Jones - who had the front five strikes - started strong and led Korea by as many as 35 early in their semifinal. Korea, however, took over as Kim closed with seven consecutive strikes while Team USA struggled to string strikes together.
"We probably were the underdogs going in. Everybody beat us by at least 100 on the short," said Barnes, who had 194 in the semifinal. "Walter struggled on the short the whole time, which I know is hard to fathom. We didn't have great ball reaction and we haven't matched up on these patterns. We grinded our way through to qualify (for a medal), though."
Jones led the squad with 221, while Williams - who converted on two of three consecutive splits - had 188.
Earlier Monday in preliminaries, Allen, Page and Hoffman took the lead after the morning session - finishing their six-game total with 3,826 on the strength of 2,021 in three games on the short oil pattern.
Williams, Barnes and Jones moved into third place after the second squad with 3,787 - shooting 1,947 in the final three games. Japan moved into third on the final squad, finishing with 3,805.
Korea took the top spot with 3,833 on the strength of a dominating 2,109 set in the second squad. Kim converted on a 4-7-9 split in the 10th frame and struck on his fill ball to push the Koreans past Allen, Page and Hoffman.
In all-events, Page is currently second after 12 of 24 games with 2,740 (228.33 avg.), trailing Mexico's Alejandro Cruz by seven pins. The United Arab Emirates' Mahmood Ahmad Al Attar is third with 2,734, while Allen is fourth with 2,697.
Team competition begins Tuesday with the first three of six preliminary games. Williams, Barnes, Allen, Jones and Hoffman will form the U.S. squad competing on the long oil pattern with Page pacing for his all-events total in Squad 1 at 9 a.m. local time (10 p.m. EDT Monday).
Monday's Results
Gold medal: Choi Bok-Eum/Choi Ki-Bong/Kim Tae-Young, Korea
Silver medal: Toshihiko Takahashi/Shota Kawazoe/Tomokatsu Yamashita, Japan
Bronze medal: Bill Hoffman/Patrick Allen/Rhino Page, United States; Walter Ray Williams Jr./Chris Barnes/Tommy Jones, United States
(1) Korea (Choi Bok-Eum, Choi Ki-Bong, Kim Tae-Young) def. (4) United States (Walter Ray Williams Jr., Chris Barnes, Tommy Jones), 673-603
(Choi B-E 212, Choi K-B 226, Kim 235; Williams 188, Barnes 194, Jones 221)
(3) Japan (Toshihiko Takahashi, Shota Kawazoe, Tomokatsu Yamashita) def. (2) United States States (Bill Hoffman, Patrick Allen, Rhino Page), 615-614
(Takahashi 187, Kawazoe 226, Yamashita 202; Hoffman 169, Allen 223, Page 222)
(1) Korea (Choi Bok-Eum, Choi Ki-Bong, Kim Tae-Young) def. (3) Japan (Toshihiko Takahashi, Shota Kawazoe, Tomokatsu Yamashita), 723-553
(Choi B-E 223, Choi K-B 255, Kim 245; Takahashi 155, Kawazoe 224, Yamashita 174)
(6 games)
1. Korea (Choi Bok-Eum, Choi Ki-Bong, Kim Tae-Young), 3,833.
2. United States (Bill Hoffman, Patrick Allen, Rhino Page), 3,826.
3. Japan (Toshihiko Takahashi, Shota Kawazoe, Tomokatsu Yamashita), 3,805.
4. United States (Walter Ray Williams Jr., Chris Barnes, Tommy Jones), 3,787.
5. Norway (Mads Sandbakken, Petter Hansen, Tore Torgersen), 3,780.
6. Mexico (Daniel Falconi, Benjamin Corona, Alejandro Cruz), 3,766.
7. United Arab Emirates (Hussain Nasir Al Suwaidi, Shaker Ali Al Hassan, Nayef Eqab Al Abadla), 3,750.
8. Sweden (Robert Andersson, Tomas Leandersson, Martin Larsen), 3,732.
9. Sweden (Dennis Eklund, Tobias Karlsson, Peter Ljung), 3,729.
10. Malaysia (Zulmazran Zulkifli, Mohd Nur Aiman, Alex Liew), 3,725.
1. Alejandro Cruz, Mexico, 2,747; 2. Rhino Page, United States, 2,740; 3. Mahmood Ahmad Al Attar, United Arab Emirates, 2,734; 4. Patrick Allen, United States, 2,697; 5. Choi Ki-Bong, Korea, 2,693; 6. Pasi Uotila, Finland, 2,688; 7. Mads Sandbakken, Norway, 2,678; 8. (tie) Joe Ciach, Canada, 2,677; Martin Larsen, Sweden, 2,677; 10. Gery Verbruggen, Belgium, 2,672;
11. Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, 2,667; 12. Andrew Frawley, Australia, 2,660; 13. Frederick Ong, Philippines, 2,639; 14. Hussain Nasir Al Suwaidi, United Arab Emirates, 2,639; 15. Choi Bok-Eum, Korea, 2,631; 16. Tommy Jones, United States, 2,626; 17. Saed Al Hajri, Qatar, 2,624; 18. Cheng Hsing-Chao, Chinese Taipei, 2,618; 19. Jaime Conroy, Colombia, 2,616; 20. Tore Torgersen, Norway, 2,603;
42. Bill Hoffman, 2,548; 43. Chris Barnes, 2,537; 50. Walter Ray Williams Jr., 2,521.
IOC President Jacques Rogge Predicts Positive Legacy From Games
BEIJING CHINA (August 24, 2008) The Beijing Games raised the bar for the Olympic Movement and brought positive changes to China that are likely to continue well into the future, Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, said Sunday.
Speaking at the closing press conference of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Rogge said the Beijing Games demonstrated the universal appeal of Olympic values. A record 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) sent athletes to China, and a record 87 NOCs joined the medal count.
The competitors established 43 world records and 132 Olympic records, although some only lasted until the next heat.
“It is clear that China has put the bar very high,” Rogge told reporters.
The IOC president also noted that the Games are likely to be the most-watched Olympic Games in history, seen by more people in more places than ever. The Beijing Games were the first to have worldwide digital coverage.
Rogge left no doubt that the IOC was pleased with its decision in 2001 to bring the Games to China for the first time, a move that gave one-fifth of the world’s population more exposure to Olympic values. He said some benefits from that decision are obvious now and that others will become more apparent in the future.
Rogge said the tangible benefits include the sports venues, a new airport terminal, new roads, improvements to mass transit and other infrastructure that was put in place for the Games. He said most of the sports venues were built near universities to ensure their use after the Olympic Games.
“That means that no white elephant has been built and the after-Games use of these venues will be optimal,” he said. “These venues will be used by the students of the universities, by the owners of the different venues, the workers’ unions. This is, I believe, a great legacy.”
He said the Games would encourage more mass participation in sports in China. He also expressed confidence that Games-related environmental improvements, which he recently reviewed with Chinese authorities, will have a lasting impact.
“The efforts on water cleaning and water remediation will be stepped up. More trees will be planted. All of this, I believe, is a legacy of the Olympic Games.”
Rogge said other benefits are harder to evaluate or will require time to fully assess. As an example, he cited the new media regulations that were put in place for the Games.
“The regulations might not be perfect, and we acknowledge that they are not perfect, but they are a sea change compared to the situation before. We hope, and we have expressed this hope, that they would continue,” he said.
While Rogge declared the Games a big success, he acknowledged issues related to Internet access, media freedom and Beijing protest zones. He said the IOC had made its position clear to Chinese authorities but cannot force changes on sovereign governments.
“We acknowledge that the situation has not been perfect,” he said, referring to the Internet issue. “But we acknowledge, at the same time, that the situation is a major change.”
He expressed hope that the Olympic experience would encourage more openness in China.
“Through the Games, China has been scrutinised by the world, it’s opened up to the world,” he said. “The world has learned about China and China has learned about the world. And I believe that this is something that will have positive effects on the long term.”
Labels: 2008 Olympics, Beijing 2008, IOC
U.S. Olympic Baseball Team Captures Bronze Medal With 8-4 Win Over Japan
BEIJING, CHINA (August 23, 2008) A four-run fifth inning highlighted by Taylor Teagarden’s (Dallas, Texas) two-run double and a two-run homer from Jason Donald (Fresno, Calif.) helped lift the U.S. Olympic Baseball Team to an 8-4 win over Japan clinching the bronze medal for Team USA. Matt LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.) and Matt Brown (Bellevue, Wash.) added home runs as well as the U.S. rallied from an early three-run deficit to earn the victory. Team USA finishes Olympic competition with a 6-3 record.
Down 4-1 entering the bottom of the third inning, the U.S. mounted its rally on the back of a three-run homer by Brown. Brian Barden (Templeton, Calif.) would reach base to lead off the inning on a dropped fly by left fielder Takahiko Sato. After a walk to Jayson Nix (Dallas, Texas), Team USA tied the game as Brown launched a homer to left center. After fouling off several full count pitches from Japan starter Tsuyoshi Wada, Brown delivered with a blast to even the game at four apiece.
With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth, the U.S. went ahead by four runs on the back of two key two-out RBI hits from Teagarden and Donald. With runners on the corners, Teagarden laced a double off the wall in right center scoring Brown and Nate Schierholtz (Danville, Calif.) giving the U.S. a two-run cushion. That lead would then extend to 8-4 as Donald ripped a two-run homer off the left field foul pole.
Starting pitcher Brett Anderson (Midland, Texas) settled in after giving up two early home runs and picked up the victory for Team USA after seven innings of work. Anderson allowed four runs on four hits with six strikeouts and three walks. Japan reliever Kenshin Kawakami suffered the loss after 2.1 innings of work, in which he allowed four runs on four hits.
“It was a great game,” said manager Davey Johnson. “Our bats woke up and Brett really pitched a great ball game. He had a little trouble in the second and third inning; I guess his rhythm was a little off. He wasn’t locating pitches like he would like to. He gave up a couple of home runs but then he settled down and really won the game for us. He was very dominant after the home run by (Japan’s) right fielder. Our big bat, Matt Brown did a heck of a job and Jason Donald has played great the whole time. He hit a two-run shot that really put the game out of reach.”
The U.S. finished with a 9-6 advantage in hits including two hits apiece from Brown, LaPorta and Donald. Brown, Teagarden and Donald drove in seven of the nine runs for the U.S. Donald finished the Olympics leading the U.S. in hitting with a .381 average (8-for-21). Brown was the team’s leading run producer with 10 RBI as well as a pair of homers. LaPorta also had two homers for the competition.
“I thought we did a great job today,” said Jason Donald. “After last night and coming into today, we could have folded really easily, especially when they got up 4-1. I think we just kept fighting and kept having great at-bats knowing that we had a good amount of time in the ball game. It was a great win. We would have liked to have won a gold (medal) but we won today and getting out of here with a medal, that is huge.”
Both teams used home runs in the early innings to get on the scoreboard. Japan’s Masahiro Araki knocked a one-out solo shot to left field in the top of the first with LaPorta answering for the U.S. with a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the second.
The home run continued to be the story of the game as Japan went ahead 4-1 on Norichika Aoki’s three-run homer in the top of the third inning. Walks issued to both Shuichi Murata and Tsuyoshi Nishioka set the stage for Aoki, who turned on a 2-0 pitch from Anderson for the second homer of the game for Japan.
That would be it for Japan though as Anderson and reliever Kevin Jepsen (Anaheim, Calif.) shut down the Japanese the rest of the way through.
The bronze medal is the second won by the United States in Olympic baseball competition. The first came at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Team USA won the gold medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
Labels: Baseball, Beijing 2008, Olympics 2008, USA Baseball
Cougar Soccer Drops Season Opener 1-0
HOUSTON, TEXAS (August 22, 2008) The University of Houston soccer team lost 1-0 in double-overtime to UTSA, as the Cougars opened their 2008 season on Friday at Robertson Stadium.
Veronica Najera put in the game winner in the 102nd minute, scoring off Katie Dugan’s pass into the box.
“We are disappointed by the result, but we are not disappointed by the effort,” head coach Susan Bush said. “Fitness was obviously a problem for us at the end of the game. We just need to get some key players healthy. We played hard, we just didn’t get the result we wanted.”
Houston (0-1-0) out shot the Roadrunners 17 to 12, but could not find the back of the net.
The Cougars battled through the physical match despite being shorthanded. The two teams combined for 24 fouls in the contest.
Sophomore Islara Rodriguez led the team with four shots, while sophomore Lauri Byrne and senior Maegan Kiphart each ripped three.
Houston will have a week to prepare for its next match, when the Cougars travel to Huntsville to face Sam Houston State at 7 p.m. on Aug. 29.
Labels: Houston Cougars, Soccer, University of Houston, UTSA
Rice's Funmi Jimoh in Olympic Long Jump Finals
BEIJING, CHINA (August 21, 2008) Former Rice Owl All-America track and field athlete Funmi Jimoh (Rice, 2007), a member of the U.S. Olympic team will compete in the women's long jump finals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics this evening at 6:20 p.m. (Central). She will be the third long jumper in the start list.
She qualified for the finals of the women's long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by posting a jump of 6.61m (21-8.25) on her third and final attempt.
During qualifications, she posted a mark of 6.42 (21-0.75) on her first attempt and then she jumped 6.28 (20-7.25) on her second attempt.
All three U.S. women's long jumpers are in the finals. Brittney Reese posted the night's longest mark at 6.87 (22-6.5), while Grace Upshaw jumped 6.68 (21-11). There were 42 competitors in the women's long jump competition at the 2008 Olympics.
A graduate of Dulles High School in Sugar Land, Texas, Jimoh became the first Rice women's track and field athlete to make a U.S. squad when she jumped 6.72m/22-0.75 in front of a crowd of over 20,000 fans at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Former Rice shot put champion Regina Cavanaugh was an alternate on both the 1984 and 1988 teams.
Labels: 2008 Olympics, Beijing 2008, Rice Owls, Rice University, Track and Field
2008 University of Houston Soccer Team Season Preview
HOUSTON, TEXAS (August 20, 2008) The 2008 University of Houston soccer team enters the upcoming season with high hopes and appears poised for a breakout season in Conference USA.Coming off a challenging 4-12-2 season that saw its share of struggles, one might expect the Cougars to face the upcoming season with a sense of uncertainty or reservation.
But second-year head coach Susan Bush has brought in a talented crop of exciting, young players as she continues to build what could become a powerhouse program for years to come in C-USA.
"My goal is simple," Bush said. "I want to create a positive and winning atmosphere at UH where our players continually improve their abilities on and off the field.
"The University's campus, facilities and personnel are among the best in the nation. There's no reason why this program should not compete on a national level.
"We have added depth, speed and athleticism for the 2008 campaign. We have a good mix with nine returning starters and eight returning players who could all make an immediate impact this year."
Bush looks forward to the 2008 campaign with great optimism, knowing her team will outwork their opponents each game day.
"This season, our fundamental goal is to play as a unit and outwork our opponents," Bush said. "This style of play is about mentality and a willingness to do whatever it takes to get a result."
The Defensive Third
Senior captain goalkeeper Shelby Scott returns to anchor the Cougars' defense. Scott has great reactions in goal and is a great shot stopper.
Last season, Scott posted 122 saves as she went on to break the school's all-time record with 225 career saves. Scott also tied the program's record with eight clean sheets after posting four shutouts a year ago.
Freshman Lauren Frazier will likely be the team's backup in goal. She is athletic, fearless and is excellent with her feet.
The defensive backline for Houston will be highlighted by junior Stephanie Beyelia, sophomore Jessica Rathweg and sophomore Brittany Cannon.
The trio helped lead the Cougars to four shutouts last season, including an impressive outing in which they held the mighty LSU Tigers scoreless at Robertson Stadium.
Joining them in the back are senior Maegan Kiphart and freshmen Ashlee Briggerman and Stephanie Derieg.
Kiphart is a composed distributor of the ball and has the defensive presence to win the 50/50 balls. Briggerman and Derieg are both versatile defenders who aren't afraid to move up on the attack.
The Midfield
In what appears to be one of the strengths of the club, the Cougars should have a very dynamic midfield with great speed, capable of helping lead the team's offensive attack.
Christine Nieva, Islara Rodriguez and Nikki Echeverria will form the heart of this unit and will look to be more aggressive on the attack.
All three are crafty players who handle the ball with great precision. Their speed and vision on the field will help launch counter-attacks and set up the forwards in front of the goal.
Junior transfer Kaitlin Thulin will provide an instant offensive spark to the lineup. Expect much of the Cougar offense to go through Thulin, whether she plays in the midfield or up top at forward.
Fellow freshmen Ryan Bruz and Riley Canfield will provide some much needed depth
to the midfield with their playmaking abilities.
The Forwards
Sophomore Lauri Byrne returns up front for the Cougars. Byrne is a dynamic offensive player and, with the addition of offensively minded players around her, should be on the brink of a breakout season.
A year ago Byrne led UH in assists, total scoring and shots taken, while tying for the club lead in goals scored, earning a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman Team.
Joining Byrne up top will be freshman Jessica Zavalza. Zavalza should add speed and athleticism to the front line. She is a crafty striker who has a knack for finding a way to put the ball in the net.
Look for Zavalza to challenge for the team lead in scoring this year.Senior Lynn Baker also will challenge for playing time at forward. A goalkeeper her first two seasons at UH, Baker moved into the field last year.
Baker is a strong player who has the size to be a target in front of the goal on set pieces.
Fellow senior Brittney Pfeiffer will also see time at forward. She has great size to win 50-50 balls and brings a hard working mentality to the lineup.
The Cougars open their 2008 season at home against UTSA on Aug. 22 at Robertson Stadium.
From there they head to Sam Houston State on Aug. 29 before returning home to face Stephen F. Austin at the Carl Lewis International Track Complex on Aug. 31.
Houston then faces Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 5 before embarking on a tough four-game road trip where they face Texas, LSU, Texas State and Baylor.
UH returns home to open conference play when they take on Marshal and East Carolina on Sept. 26 and Sept. 28, respectively. They then face Tulsa and SMU the next weekend before leaving on the team's second four-game road swing.
The Cougars face Memphis, UAB, Southern Miss and UCF before returning to Robertson Stadium to square off against UTEP on Nov. 24.
Houston travels to face Colorado College for its last road game of the season before coming home to face crosstown rival Rice in the season finale on Nov. 31.
The C-USA Championship will be held just across town at the Rice Soccer Stadium on Nov. 5 to Nov. 9.
Labels: Houston Cougars, Soccer, University of Houston
Fellow freshmen Ryan Bruz and Riley Canfield will provide some much needed depth to the midfield with their playmaking abilities.
The Cougars open their 2008 season at home against UTSA on Aug. 22 at Robertson
Stadium.
CharlieInBeijing: August 18, 2008
BEIJING, CHINA (August 18, 2008) Today, CharlieInBeijing has a slide show, taking you to a park north of the Forbidden City where the bird cages are found.
Labels: CharlieInBeijing
Rice's Jimoh Long Jumps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
BEIJING, CHINA (August 18, 2008) Former Rice Owl All-America track and field athlete Funmi Jimoh (Rice, 2007), a member of the U.S. Olympic team, begins competition Monday evening in the women's long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in Beijing, China.
Jimoh has the fifth-best long jump mark in the world for 2008 at 6.91m (22-8).
Jimoh will jump sixth in Group A starting at 8:40 p.m. (Central). Her coach Jim Bevan, Rice University head women's track and field coach, accompanies her.
There are 21 competitors in Group A and in Group B and each will get three attempts to place in the top 12. The top 12 performers will then advance to the semi-finals on Aug. 22 with the top eight advancing to the finals that same day.
Continental Baseball League’s Championship Week Begins In Texarkana August 18-20
TEXARKANA, TEXAS (August 17, 2008) In a season which found all four teams in the Continental Baseball League spending time in first place during the regular season, it now comes down to the one-week playoff session to determine which team will win the coveted Ferguson Jenkins CBL Championship trophy.
The first round of the playoffs begins Monday night in Texarkana, a best 2-out-of-3 series between the host Gunslingers and the Corpus Christi Beach Dawgs, the league’s first half champion. The winner of this series advances to the league title series in Texas City to face the Bay Area Toros, which clinched a first round bye by virtue of having the best overall season record. The title series, also a best 2-out-of-3 set, will be played at Robinson Stadium in Texas City beginning on Friday night, August 22, and continuing Saturday evening and Sunday evening, if necessary.
Last season’s inaugural winner, the McKinney Blue Thunder, won’t be involved in the playoffs this time around. The team which relocated from Tarrant County to McKinney finished in fourth place during the regular 72-game season despite spending time in first place during the opening weeks of the campaign. Texarkana, which got off to starts of 0-6 and 2-9, rebounded well after Chris McKnight took over for manager Steve Trout in early June. The Gunslingers rode the offense of CBL batting leader Anthony Edwards during June, July and August. Edwards also led the CBL in RBI, runs, hits, triples and total bases.
At one point in late July, the Gunslingers had the best overall record in the league until a late season burst by the Bay Area Toros, winners of 12 of 13 games during one stretch during the past two weeks, allowed the Toros to clinch the best mark overall and a first round bye.
Despite finishing in third place after winning the first half title, Corpus Christi played well against the Gunslingers, finishing with a 14-8 mark in head-to-head competition, including a 7-5 record at George Dobson Field in Texarkana. The Gunslingers, however, did fare well overall at home, posting a 23-14 mark heading into Sunday night’s final regular season game. Texarkana also led the league in home attendance and is expected to have a good turnout for the first round playoff competition.
“This has been an exciting season in the CBL and the league was very well-balanced in that all four of our teams were in first place at some point during the summer,” said CBL league operations director Bob Ibach, who along with CBL commissioner Ron Baron started the independent league in 2007. “Last year we had a team like Bay Area which had a horrible start, yet finished strong and made it into the championship game against the Blue Thunder before they lost.
“Manager Jim Bolt and general manager Mike Pede of the Toros are to be commended for taking that franchise to another level this season, and for an exciting and strong stretch run in late July and August to finish on top and earn a bye into the championship series which they’ll host.”
The CBL is looking to add two, and perhaps four, new franchises for the 2009 season. Baron was extremely pleased by the progress made by Bay Area in its second season, and the warm enthusiasm displayed in Texarkana under the ownership of Frank Snyder. Texarkana had been without professional baseball since 1954 until the Gunslingers began playing in that city in May.
“Frank has done a first class job in promoting baseball in Texarkana, and we’re very encouraged by the response from fans in that city. After a bumpy start on the field, the Gunslingers have turned it around,” noted Baron. “It’s gonna be a fun series to watch this week with the Beach Dawgs because those two teams have gone at it pretty hard all season.”
Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins, who starred several years with the Texas Rangers and was inducted into Cooperstown in 1991 after a 284-win career, lent his name to the CBL Trophy and the league is honored by that association.
“We’re proud to have Fergie associated with our league trophy and with our independent league,” said Ibach, a former front office member of the Chicago Cubs who was with that franchise at the close of Jenkins’ career. “Fergie has always been a first class act, and he has spent a lot of his time during the past 25 years helping out youngsters through the Fergie Jenkins Foundation that he has established.
“I know he’s probably thrilled to see how our league this season has evolved into a pitcher’s league, quite a reversal from our inaugural year in 2007 when the hitters seemed to rule.”
Jenkins, born in Canada, was recognized by his native country in 2007 with the Order of Canada Award. Jenkins played for the Texas Rangers in 1974-75 and again from 1978-1981. He began his career with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1965-66, and then played for the Chicago Cubs from 1966-1973 and again in his final two seasons in the big leagues from 1982-83. He also pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 1976-77.
“Having Fergie Jenkins’ name associated with our league trophy really adds prestige and stature to our championship series,” said Baron. “Whatever team wins the title, that team will forever linked to one of the greatest pitchers in major league baseball history.”
Ferguson Jenkins Continental Baseball League
2008 Championship Series
Schedule of Games
First Round (best 2 of 3) at George Dobson Field, Texarkana
Monday, August 18: 7:05 p.m. Corpus Christi at Texarkana
Tuesday, August 19: 7:05 p.m. Corpus Christi at Texarkana
Wednesday, August 20: 7:05 p.m. Corpus Christi at Texarkana (if necessary)
Championship Series (best 2 of 3) at Robinson Stadium, Texas City
Friday, August 22: 6:35 p.m. winner of first round at Bay Area Toros
Saturday, August 23: 6:35 p.m. winner of first round at Bay Area Toros
Sunday, August 24: 6:35 p.m. winner of first round at Bay Area Toros (if necessary)
Previous CBL Champions:
2007: Tarrant County Blue Thunder (manager, Curtis Wilkerson)
Labels: Baseball, CBL, Continental Baseball League
Two U.S. Diver Advance to Finals in Beijing
By Olivia Dodson
BEIJING, CHINA (August 17, 2008) Conroe, Texas' Nancilea Foster and Christina Loukas of Riverwoods, Illinois advanced to today's final in the women's 3m springboard as a result of the semi-final competition which was held Saturday evening at the National Aquatics Center.
Foster was fourth with a score of 338.90, 59.65 points behind the leader, Guo Jingjing of China. Loukas was seventh with a 329.00.
Julia Pakhalina of Russia, who trains at the University of Houston under coach Jane Figueiredo was second with a 383.50, while China's Wu Minxia was third at 345.30.
The finals are scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Sunday evening, August 17.
Labels: 2008 Olympics, Beijing 2008, Diving, University of Houston, USA Diving
BEIJING, CHINA (August 16, 2008) In this video, CharlieInBieijing and Mooch Maus, a reporter for the Mouse Olympic Network (MON) reports live from the Olympic green with a clip from the Olympic McDonald's and one of the 100 meter finals.
Light Flyweight Luis Yanez Eliminated from 2008 Olympic Games
BEIJING, CHINA (August 16, 2008) Light flyweight Luis Yanez of Duncanville, Texas was eliminated from the 2008 Olympic Games on Saturday at the Workers Indoor Arena in Beijing, China, falling to Mongolia’s Serdamba Purevdorj in an 8-7 nail biter.
Yanez opened the bout with a commitment to his jab, popping it in Purevdorj’s face in an attempt to keep the Mongolian from coming in. Despite the active jab, both boxers remained relatively cautious, not wanting to give their opponent an opening. Yanez scored the first blow, but trailed by a 3-2 margin after two minutes of action. He was held scoreless in the second round, while Purevdorj added one scoring blow to his slim margin. Yanez came out firing in the third, throwing a furious flurry in the opening minute of the round to take a 6-5 lead. Yet Purevdorj evened the score before the round ended and the two boxers went into the final round deadlocked at six. The two boxers exchanged ties and leads during the fourth round before Purevdorj moved out to a two-point lead in the final minute. Yanez pressed the Mongolian, looking to regain his advantage, and he pulled with one late in the round, but he couldn’t even up the score and lost the 8-7 final decision.
“This is most tournament of my life. Before I came up here, I talked to my dad and he told me just go in there and do everything you can, and that I’m in his heart and I feel like I let him down,” Yanez said. “I went in there and gave it my all, and I think I should have won this fight. It was definitely an experience. I’m facing the top guys in the world. The best guys in the world, and I want to give a big thanks to God because if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be in this position today.”
“We had a game plan going into the bout. We wanted him to box, but the main thing we wanted him to do was to get up early and get up first,” Olympic Head Coach Dan Campbell said. “We wanted him to engage early. We knew he had faster hands and more power. We wanted him to engage the guy and get up by three and make the guy have to come to him.”
The loss eliminates Yanez from the Olympic Games and leaves only two U.S. boxers remaining in the tournament. Welterweight Demetrius Andrade (Providence, R.I.) and heavyweight Deontay Wilder (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) will kick off quarterfinal competition on Sunday at the Workers Indoor Arena. 2007 World Champion Andrade, who already boasts two victories at the Olympic Games will face Korea’s Jung Joo Kim at approximately 8:45 p.m. Wilder will compete in his second bout of the tournament on Sunday as well, battling Morocco’s Mohammed Arjaoui at 9:30 p.m. As there are less heavyweights in the Olympics, Wilder only had to win once to advance on to the quarterfinals. A victory in Sunday’s competition guarantees each boxer a spot in the medal rounds.
Luis Yanez Quotes
“I think I should have won the 8-7 draw. In the first two rounds, I was just trying to keep it close. That way in the last round, I will be up. In that third round, I came out firing, I thought I was maybe up by two, but they said they had it tied up. In that last round, I went in there hands up; I knew I leaned in with the straight left and he caught me with the straight hook. I give him that. I think I got him with two more punches and it should have been an 8-7 win for me.”
“He (his father) said he was going to be awake and he told me to call him as soon as I’m done. He’s having a lot of prayers around me. He’s my motivation for everything, he plays a big role. He and my coach Dennis Rodarte and Hector Beltran; all three of them are in my heart. I don’t think I could have done anything better out there.”
“Dennis just told me to go out there, have fun and be the Latin Legend that I am. I went in there, I had fun. I didn’t get tired in there. I went in there and did what I had to do.”
“They were trying to tell me to go at him, go at him, go at him. I’m not that fighter to just go out there and throw punches. If I do that, I’m going to get caught with shots and I want to go out there, play it smart and keep my hands up. I wanted to make the fight close. I went in there the last round, I know I should have the last round. That’s the way the judges see it and you can’t overrule the judges.”
“That’s the way my coach always taught me to do, everything off the jab. Throw the jab, make him throw and counter right back with the 2-3-2. Like I said, I went in there, I had my coach and everybody in my heart. When they see this fight, I know they will think I should have won this fight. I have no doubt that I shouldn’t have lost this fight.”
“That’s a big word, it’s over. I can’t consider anything being over. I’m going to go back home with my family. My little brother and sister and especially my dad are there. I don’t know how I’m going to deal with talking to him yet. I know he was really nervous before when I talked to him. I know I could have medaled. I know I could have gotten in the ring with Zou and beat him, but if I can’t beat the opponent in front of me.”
“I love you Dad, I love you Dennis and I love you Hector.”
“My teammates said that they weren’t playing it fair. A lot of World Champions have been getting beat in this tournament and that’s a big disappointment to a lot of people. I wanted to be the disappointment to Zou Shiming. I went in there and gave it my all. I did what I had to do and I guess that’s what the judges saw.”
“Dan told me that I had to throw. I felt like I was up and they told me I was down so I went in there with my hands up and obviously he was running. I went there and I couldn’t get that last point.”
“I just want to go back to my family right now.”
Dan Campbell Quotes
“He started playing the waiting game from the beginning, which we didn’t understand. We were yelling to him in between rounds. We asked him several things – to engage this guy, he has faster hands and to get his hands up. He’d throw half a punch and pull straight back. The main thing was the when he did throw a punch, he was pulling back with his hands down and those were the things that caused him problems.”
“He’s actually a very aggressive boxer until tonight. One of the things that has always helped Luis is his aggression. He didn’t exhibit that. Tonight he decided to stand back and wait and it cost him. He’s always been an aggressive fighter and that’s how he has won in the past.”
“I saw several things and I called back to my technical advisor and asked what he saw. Number one, most of those jabs weren’t landing and so they didn’t give him credit for it. I did see him throw a punch in the third round, catch the guy squarely and the other guy got a point. It is just a carryover of what’s been happening with the officiating. Lack of execution on the part of our boxers, particularly tonight, cost him the bout.”
“When guys start feeling like they are going to get robbed anyway, they revert to a safe way of boxing and to wait seems safe. Even though, they might have the better hand speed and more power, to them, it’s safer to wait because that way they can’t get hit.”
Labels: 2008 Olympics, Beijing 2008, USA Boxing
BEIJING, CHINA (August 15, 2008) In this video, CharlieInBieijing takes a ride around the Forbidden City and visit a hutong that is trying to hang on to its remaining bricks.
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Sunspur Global Fund
Long Only, Absolute Return, Global Equities Fund
Loke Wen Wei, CFA
Loke Wen Wei is a Fund Manager at Swiss-Asia Financial Services Pte. Ltd. and is the primary portfolio manager of the Fund. He is directly responsible for the management and performance of the Fund.
Wen Wei has over 10 years experience in financial services and related industries. Prior to starting up the fund, he was part of the investment team at AR Capital, a Singapore-based, Asia ex-Japan long only absolute return manager with approximately US$1bn in assets under management. He has prior experience with the strategy consulting team at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Australia, and with the investment banking division of Citigroup in London, United Kingdom.
He holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne and a BEng. (1st Class Hons) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Imperial College, University of London. He is also a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.
Steve Knabl
Steve Knabl, Managing Partner & Chief Operating Officer of the Investment Manager, is a Swiss national with experience in financial services field at general management level since 1999.
Steve has an in-depth knowledge of brokerage and customer service operations as well as experience and proficiency in project coordination and operational implementation of complex business strategies.
Steve joined Swiss-Asia as Chief Operating Officer in February 2008 and his responsibilities encompass deal & project negotiation and structuring of funds and private wealth management deals in Asia, operations management, legal & compliance, technology and finance functions, human resources, due diligence processes and structural risk management for the firm as a whole.
About Swiss-Asia
Swiss-Asia Financial Services Pte. Ltd. serves as the Fund’s Investment Manager and is responsible for investment management decisions.
Swiss-Asia Financial Services Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore registered company holding a Capital Markets Services License under the Securities and Futures Act of Singapore to conduct the regulated activities of fund management.
For more information, please visit www.swissasia-group.com.
Copyright © 2017 Sunspur Global Fund - Disclaimer
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The Johns Hopkins study of Iraqi deaths since the US invasion has stirred much discussion, mostly prejudiced and uninformed since it was made public a few days ago. I've been skeptical of he 600,000 plus number that seems to be the most commonly cited figure but I have no doubt that the death toll is somewhere toward the lower end of the range that fits within the margin of error, somewhere in the vicinity of 300,000. That number seems intuitively right to me.
My intution is borne out in Zeyad's latest post at Healing Iraq:
Simply put, the methods used by the study are valid, but in Iraq’s case, where the level of violence is not consistent throughout the country, I feel that the study should have been done differently. 654,965 excess civilian deaths is an absurd number. My personal guesstimate would be half that number, but the total count is not the point now.
Now I am aware that the study is being used here by both sides of the argument in the context of domestic American politics, and that pains me. As if it is different for Iraqis whether 50,000 Iraqis were killed as a result of the war or 600,000. The bottom line is that there is a steady increase in civilian deaths, that the health system is rapidly deteriorating, and that things are clearly not going in the right direction. The people who conducted the survey should be commended for attempting to find out, with the limited methods they had available. On the other hand, the people who are attacking them come across as indifferent to the suffering of Iraqis, especially when they have made no obvious effort to provide a more accurate body count. In fact, it looks like they are reluctant to do this.
Zeyad is no disinterested observer. He has lived under the occupation and seen his country slide into chaos and served as a public health official during this time. He is now in the US studying journalism at Columbia Univerrsity and has this observation about his hosts:
I am realising that some Americans have a hard time accepting facts that fly against their political persuasions.
Billmon offers another perspective:
The moral of the story, I guess, is that you don't need to be an inhuman monster to cause an inhuman amount of death, destruction and suffering. You don't even need evil -- ignorance and arrogance and incompetence can manage the job quite nicely. But, as I've said before, it does require a rare combination of those qualities to take a situation like Saddam's Iraq and make it worse.
The numbers may be (and will be) debated, but at this point they strongly suggest that Shrub and company have managed to do just that -- or will, in the fullness of time.
Candor is dangerous in these oh-so-carefully worded times. In Britain, army commander General Richard Dannatt sparked a controversy when he was quoted as saying that British troops should leave Iraq "sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems."
Parsing began immediately; now both the general and Prime Minister Tony Blair have "clarified and contextualized" the general's comments. All seem to agree that British withdrawal is contingent on completing the mission. A stiff upper lip version of Stay the Course, so to speak.
Public solidarity notwithstanding, the general's statements reflect a real difference between the government and its army, namely, the army's concern that an open-eneded commitment in an uncertain mission environment will harm the army. As General Dannatt says,
"I am just saying, 'Come on, we can't be here forever at this level.' . . . I have got an army to look after, which is going to be successful in current operations, but I want an army in five years' time and 10 years' time. Don't let's break it on this one. Let's keep an eye on time," Dannatt said.
"Let's face it, we have been there three and a half years," he said. "We have an interest in getting on with this."
Not unlike similar reservations now current within the US military. And for those who take the general's public reconciliation with the prime minister at face value, the rift over Britian's involvement in Iraq remains very real.
Sometimes Capitalism Works
Cell phones are changing the dynamics of capitalism for at least some of the world's poor. Free marketeers always boast that competition and reward are the spur to economic growth that benefits all. Which is a nice theory. In reality many barriers distort that wonderful model. Chief among the barriers is information. Some players have none; they are at the mercy of others who have more. The Washington Post reports today that cell phones are evening the playing field for small entrepreneurs in India.
A convenience taken for granted in wealthy nations, the cellphone is putting cash in the pockets of people for whom a dollar is a good day's wage. And it has made market-savvy entrepreneurs out of sheep herders, rickshaw drivers and even the acrobatic men who shinny up palm trees to harvest coconuts here in Kerala state.
"This has changed the entire dynamics of communications and how they organize their lives," said C.K. Prahalad, an India-born business professor at the University of Michigan, who has written extensively about how commerce -- and cellphones -- are used to combat poverty.
"One element of poverty is the lack of information," Prahalad said. "The cellphone gives poor people as much information as the middleman."
For less than a penny a minute -- the world's cheapest cellphone call rates -- farmers in remote areas can check prices for their produce. They call around to local markets to find the best deal. They also track global trends using cellphone-based Internet services that show the price of pumpkins or bananas in London or Chicago.
[Fisherman]Rajan said the dealers don't necessarily like the new balance of power, but they are paying better prices to him and thousands of other fishermen who work this lush stretch of coastline. "They are forced to give us more money because there is competition," said Rajan, who estimated that his income has at least tripled to an average of $150 a month since 2000, when cellphones began booming in India. He said he is providing for his family in ways that his fisherman father never could, including a house with electricity and a television.
"When I was a kid we never had enough money for clothes and books, so we never really went to school," said Rajan, 50. "Now everything is different."
Cellphones won't totally eliminate the disparate advantages and disadvantages of capitalism but they make useful information available to more players. That is always good.
Supporting the Troops Until It Costs the Special Interests Money
I haven't been reading PTSD Combat regularly in recent weeks. Ilona has been posting less frequently as she finishes up work on her forthcoming book, Moving a Nation to Care. When I checked in yesterday I found this post about Congress killing a requirement that drug manufacturers be required to offer prescription medications to military retirees (TRICAP) at the same discounts available to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Unlike those of us fortunate enough to obtain prescriptions through the VA, which has negotiated substantial discounts through high volume purchases, military retirees and the Defense Department which funds their medical care will pay full price. The entire story is here.
Apparently, using purchasing power and volume to obtain lower prices is a fine strategy for Wal-Mart but not for government. Congress specifically prohibited Medicare from negotiating lower prices when it passed the prescription drug benefit program. I wonder how much longer the drug companies will tolerate the VA's assault on their profits.
posted by Rez Dog at 10:51 AM 1 comments
Fruits of War
BushCheney has long used "who can argue that the world isn't better off with Saddam Hussein removed from power" as the unassailable justification for his Iraq war. Three and a half years later that premise is looking ever more assailable.
Let's see, the war has destabilized the region, creating an opening for radical organizations such as al-Qaeda to establish operations, allowing Iran to indulge its great power ambitions by supporting a Shi'ite majority government and spawning an new generation of Islamic terrorists. Iraqis, who once looked forward to a post-Saddam future live in a primitive, violent state. Saddam Hussein's brutality and dictatorship were in fact horrible. The replacement regime is no better with no prospect for improvement in any reasonable time fram.
The latest evidence for this conclusion comes from the recent epidemiological study estimating that the Iraq war has killed more than 600,000 Iraqis since the invasion. That number is twice the number of deaths attributed to Saddam Hussein's entire tenure. In short, BushCheney's decision to invade Iraq has left the world a more dangerous place.
Administration supporters will immediately question this study, arguing its limitations and methodology. I direct anyone wondering about the study to Informed Comment where Juan Cole has a thoughtful post about the study's metholdology and plausibility.
Looking at the numbers, it's hard not to see the Iraq war as a tragedy equal to its strategic blunder.
A Republican Victory
Handwriting is becoming a lost art, according to today's Washington Post. Schools don't teach much penmanship these days amid the demands for other, seemingly more relevant skills and standardized test requirements.
Many educators shrug. Stacked up against teaching technology, foreign languages and the material on standardized tests, penmanship instruction seems a relic, teachers across the region say. But academics who specialize in writing acquisition argue that it's important cognitively, pointing to research that shows children without proficient handwriting skills produce simpler, shorter compositions, from the earliest grades.
In one...stud[y], Vanderbilt University professor Steve Graham, who studies the acquisition of writing, experimented with a group of first-graders in Prince George's County who could write only 10 to 12 letters per minute. The kids were given 15 minutes of handwriting instruction three times a week. After nine weeks, they had doubled their writing speed and their expressed thoughts were more complex. He also found corresponding increases in their sentence construction skills.
So...if handwriting is related to complex thinking and more and more children are growing up without learning how to write cursively, they will be the ideal Republican voters.
No thinking required in that Brave New World.
The Way Life Should Be
That was the message on the sign at the Maine-New Hampshire state line when I crossed it on my Appalachian Trail thru-hike. Three weeks walking in Maine as I completed the trail left me with impressions of an interesting, quirky and beautiful place. Definitely quirky.
NEWRY, Maine -- John Farra, a former Winter Olympian from Caribou who trained by running up a ski slope with 80 pounds of mortar mix, won the seventh annual North American Wife Carrying Championship on Saturday at Sunday River.
Farra's first-place finish earned him and his 110-pound wife Tess her weight in beer and five times her weight in cash, or $550. They also are eligible for a $1,000 reimbursement toward a trip to the world championships in Finland next July.
The Farras completed the 278-yard course, which includes a water trough and log hurdles, in 1 minute, 6 seconds in the critical heat and 1 minute, 4 seconds in the final. Daniel Brown and Janel Worcester of Brewer were second, about 10 seconds behind, in the field of 27 couples.
Farra, who competed in cross-country ski races in the 1992 Games in Albertville, France, trained for the wife carry by running up a slope near his home each morning before work with 80 pounds of mortar mix in a backpack.
Several hundred spectators turned out for the competition during the height of western Maine's fall foliage season.
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195 Chrystie Street
195 CHRYSTIE ST. | MANHATTAN
FORBES: Artist Matthew Tierney Disregards The Limitations Of Linear Perspective →
March 12, 2018 Bryant Toth
Written by: Adam Lehrer
Silicon Valley-raised, New York-based artist Matthew Tierney is an information nerd. When I spoke with the artist at his recent exhibition at Bryant Toth Fine Arts, our conversation jettisoned from topic to topic, with Tierney thoughtfully ruminating on each subject that came up. A conversation discussing his San Francisco upbringing moves from San Francisco’s lack of an art structure, to Sarah Lucas’s recent museum survey in San Francisco, to Sarah Lucas’s cultural importance in comparison with her fellow Young British Artist peers, to other YBA’s that have stood the test of time, to Tierney’s love of under-appreciated YBA, poet and musician Billy Childish. Moving through subjects with ease and clarity, Tierney looks at the entirety of culture through a credible, informed and open-minded viewpoint.
Adam LehrerTierney’s cultural outlook is undeniably contemporary, viewing the world through a decidedly Duchampian mindset that makes no delineation between high and low culture. He appreciates Supreme as much as high end designers like Raf Simons, listens to electronic music with the same understanding that he does opera, and watches as many pop corn films as he does Truffaut movies. That outlook is filtered into his paintings.
“The separation of culture, the fact that fashion, music, performance and art is separated, is ludicrous,” he says. “Go back to Plato. There is no separation between mediums. Fashion, philosophy, art: these things are all connected. They just want to commoditize all these separate mediums, so corporations dictate that creative people stay in their lanes. The fact that people want to commoditize my work is great, but there’s no way I’m going to allow for a disintegration between the culture that I create."
Tierney’s Bryan Toth show, Empires Fall/The Dance Goes on, was the artist’s first solo exhibition. Remarkably, however, Tierney has already cultivated an influential group of collectors and has seen his paintings placed alongside 20th century masters like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ed Ruscha and Andy Warhol.
Tierney has earned the support of important mentors. The iconic British curator Norman Rosenthal, who is widely regarded for his support of various neo-expressionists in the 1980s (Julian Schnabel, Francesco Clemente and Anselm Kiefer) and the Young British Artist’s in the 1990s, took an early interest in Tierney’s work. Rosenthal then introduced Tierney to none other than David Hockney who also champions Tierney’s work and has given him notes and feedback. Hockney latched onto the concept of time in Tierney’s paintings. Hockney, among others, have noted Tierney’s ability to stretch his perspective capturing something wider and more open, as opposed to being frozen within a singular moment. "He really pushed me to take time, extend time, make it cyclical and explode it,” says Tierney. “That was my whole idea with these paintings was to do away with linear perspective.”
The majority of the paintings in the show, or The Dancer series, employ a Mattisean color palette and renders form recalling both the commercial imagery of Warhol’s vision of pop (especially when considering the fashion and glamorous element in the paintings) and Francis Bacon’s incomprehensible surrealist shapes. The subjects are female dancers captured during a moment that suggests something far more infinite than the poses allude to.
Tierney, unlike many young artists, embraces the history of modern art, and discerns how that language can be reinterpreted and shattered for a contemporary digital world. I asked Tierney if he thought his respect for his forebears had anything to do with the appreciations he’s earned from icons like Hockney or Rosenthal. Tierney thought there was something to that assertion, but that there was something deeper at play. “I’ve just had these opportunities to be in the room with someone like Hockney, and I’ve felt blessed to be in those rooms and took that time to learn,” says Tierney. “Maybe it is connected to art history somehow, but I think it’s more an openness to ideas and to learning.”
Tierney grew up drawing, and has never stopped drawing. He thinks about drawing as a language, and wants to keep building upon that language and uses it to guide his notions of form and beauty. But instead of studying painting or the fine arts, Tierney actually went to UCLA film school. But he soon felt out of place and turned his focus to painting.
While respectful of his teachers, it was quickly noted that Tierney’s passions lied slightly outside the traditions of a film education. Amazingly, the Dean of his program was remarkably understanding of Tierney’s needs and allowed him to take a quarter off of school and focus on the creations of Tierney’s choosing. “I was painting all the time, making music, making my own short films,” says Tierney. “So what he thought was best for me was to produce a body of work and present it to faculty after every quarter. That’s what I was graded on. It could be a show about painting. About music. Something that relates to sciences or mathematics. As long as I created a body of work he’d pass me.”
At the end of the quarter, while his classmates were presenting pieces of writing, short films, and plays, Tierney presented a cross-platform multimedia art experience. He put 250 paintings that he had recently made along a wall, and on the opposite wall projected a video. He had composed 30 minutes of music that accompanied the video stream for 29 minutes. For the last minute of music, the lights were switched back on and the audience was instructed to face the paintings for one solitary minute. When the music was done, the room faded to black. “They all thought I was crazy,” he says with a bemused smirk.
Man Ray, the iconic surrealist photographer and artist, was asked by press constantly whether he’d ever give up painting because at a certain point he was making a much more sizable income from his photographic pursuits. Ray would shoot down these questions, reinforcing his belief that artists being forced to “stay in their lane” was a bourgeoise notion handed from the elite class to the working class that was used to control artists by still making them choice a vocation. Tierney subscribes to this belief 100 percent. While mastering his painting, he has also continued making music and designing sets for operas and plays. He is particularly passionate about a project he’s working on with his friend and opera composer Harley Adams. Adams is headed towards India on a Fulbright scholarship to study the Thugee tribe. The Thugees were both activists and bandits, halting the spread of colonialization with violent means. The American gang culture nomenclature “Thug Life” is believed to be influenced by these gangs. Projects like these are testament to Tierney’s restless spirit and insatiable thirst for knowledge and new ideas.
In an essay, Adams has said that Tierney’s work acts as “an archive of human and digital processes.” Though it’s hard to read into the statement devoid of context, it feels accurate. Though Tierney is playing with concepts inherent to our digitized world, his work is much better experienced in-person. The vastness of the moments depicted in his dancer paintings don’t necessarily translate through a screen. It’s art to look at directly from the human eye to the canvas, without the buffer of the computer and all the existential baggage that gets tacked onto the digital experience. He’s an artist that doesn’t exist in a vacuum and he doesn’t claim to. He acknowledges the history that came before him and defines what the culture is to him now. That’s all an artist needs to do. “If we hit all those cornerstones of 20th century art, we’re appropriating all the mediums and embracing what our culture is now,” he says.
← Cool Hunting: TOM BLACHFORD’S “MIDNIGHT MODERN IV”THE KNOCKTURNAL - Matt Tierney's "empires fall | the dance goes on" BRYANT TOTH FINE ART →
195 CHRYSTIE STREET NEW YORK, NY 10002 | INFO@BRYANTTOTHFINEART.COM
© COPYRIGHT 2019 TOTH GALLERY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Taj Rishikesh Resort & Spa, opens with 79 rooms
The Indian Hotels Company has opened door for its Taj brand in Rishikesh with the opening of Taj Rishikesh Resort & Spa, Uttarakhand. This will be the company’s third hotel in the state. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IHCL, said “We are honoured to partner with Mr. Mehra for Taj Rishikesh Resort & Spa, an exciting new addition to IHCL’s expanding resort portfolio. With its idyllic setting and unrestricted views of the Himalayas, the resort is well positioned to tap into the growing potential of the wellness and spiritual tourism market. This is consistent with our commitment to offer global travellers new and unique experiences in hospitality.” The resort, 30 kilometres from Rishikesh, is spread over 12.5 acres of terraced gardens on the banks of the river Ganges in the shadow of the mighty Himalayas. Each of the spacious 79 rooms have panoramic views of the Ganges with its white sandy beach, and the majestic mountains. Taj Rishikesh is a unique blend of contemporary and rustic in communion with nature. It is an architectural tribute to the Garhwal region in the Himalayas where it is located.
“Rishikesh is an extremely popular destination across the world. We are delighted to partner with The Indian Hotels Company Limited. We look forward to working with them to bring the legendary Taj brand to this unique location.” said Mr Arjun Mehra, Managing Director, Darrameks Hotels & Developers.
Guests have a choice of distinctive culinary options which include an all-day diner; a specialty restaurant offering cuisine inspired from the entire Himalayan belt, and an open-air pizza bar. The resort is an ideal destination for intimate weddings and conferences with indoor and outdoor banqueting spaces. It is home to the Jiva Spa, spread over 20,000 sq. feet which includes treatment rooms and an expansive Yoga Pavilion. Jiva Spa is rooted in the rich and ancient wellness traditions of India, offering holistic programmes including yoga and meditation. Guests can also partake in a private Ganga Aarti on the resort’s Pebble Beach or in adventure-filled activities like white-river rafting, rock climbing, rappelling, kayaking, local village visits and hiking.
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Shohei Ohtani Makes Long-Awaited Debut; Scheduled to Take Mound Tomorrow
Shohei Ohtani, the “Japanese Babe Ruth,” made his Major League debut Thursday for the Los Angeles Angels against the Oakland Athletics, the American Yakult Swallows. Ohtani went 1 for 5 as the designated hitter, batting 8th in the 6-5 loss to my favorite team on Opening Day.
Ohtani was the most talked-about player in the off-season. MLB announced his eligibility to play for an American team in November; he signed with Los Angeles two weeks later, and speculation about how the Angels would or should use him has been non-stop ever since.
Ohtani is a unicorn in the Majors: the first player expected to see regular action as both a pitcher and hitter since Babe Ruth in the 1930s. As a pitcher, he holds the Nippon Professional Baseball record for the fastest pitch ever thrown (102.5 MPH). As a hitter, he hit a respectable .286 over five seasons with 48 home runs.
He had a less-than-impressive spring training at the plate and on the mound, leading many to suggest that the Angels were hurrying him along, at least in their expectation to use him as both a pitcher and a hitter.
While Ohtani was in the Opening Day lineup as a DH, he didn’t bat Friday against the left-handed Oakland starter Sean Manaea (Ohtani throws right-handed but hits left-handed), and he’s not in the lineup for today’s game, since he’s scheduled to pitch Sunday.
At least for now, this seems to be the Angels’ plan. Ohtani is fourth in the pitching rotation and will be eased into his role as a hitter, most likely as a DH but not on days before he pitches, and perhaps with limited action against left-handed pitchers. Slotting him eighth in the batting order further decreases the pressure to become acclimated to American pitching.
However, pressure will undoubtedly be a constant all season as the Japanese media gives him the Ichiro Suzuki treatment. Most American fans won’t be watching quite as attentively, but until he explodes into stardom or fizzles as a disapointment, he’ll remain one of 2018’s big stories in the Majors.
Sunday’s game against Oakland is at 1:05 p.m. at the Oakland Coliseum.
Author: Mitchell K. Dwyer
@scrivener likes movies. View all posts by Mitchell K. Dwyer
Author Mitchell K. DwyerPosted on March 31, 2018 March 31, 2018 Categories SportsTags Baseball, los angeles angels, shohei ohtani
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Illinois Supreme Court Justice to Speak on Innovation in Judicial System
Wednesday, February 13 @ 4:00 pm
« Tax Assistance from Monmouth College
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Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas L. Kilbride will speak on the history and innovation in the Illinois judicial system on Wednesday, February 13, at 4 p.m. in the Trustees Room on the third floor of Alumni Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
Kilbride’s talk will focus on the selection of state Supreme Court justices and judicial innovations that have occurred in Illinois since he was elected to the court in 2000. Two of those innovations include the introduction of cameras into Illinois courtrooms and the citation of online opinions, two initiatives that occurred during his term as Chief Justice from 2010 to 2013.
These innovations can be viewed as a continuation of the traveling Bicentennial of Illinois Law Exhibit, which is on display in the Bayer Study Area on the third floor of Alumni Hall through February 18. The exhibit showcases the contributions of the legal community to the history of Illinois.
Kilbride received his law degree from Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C., and practiced law for 20 years in Rock Island as a legal services attorney, then in civil and criminal practice. He was elected to the Supreme Court of Illinois for the Third Judicial District in 2000 and was retained for a subsequent 10-year term in 2010. He was elected to a three-year term as Chief Justice by his colleagues on the Supreme Court in 2010.
During Justice Kilbride’s tenure as Chief, the Supreme Court approved several initiatives, including: enhancing the use of technology in all Illinois courts by encouraging electronic filing and other digital means of conducting court business; establishing a pilot project allowing cameras in Illinois trial courtrooms; and creating the Commission on Access to Justice to make it easier for all parties, including the poor and those with limited English proficiency, to navigate the Illinois court system.
Kilbride’s talk and the Bicentennial of Illinois Law Exhibit are sponsored by the Illinois Supreme Court Historical Preservation Commission to commemorate 200 years of the Illinois judicial branch.
Knox College
www.knox.edu
2 E. South St., Galesburg, IL 61401 United States
Julie McVey Reading Day – Step Up Challenge
Saturday, April 27 - Saturday, July 27
GCS Summer Care Program
Tuesday, May 28 - Friday, August 16
July/August Featured Artist, Michael Godsil
Monday, July 1 @ 10:00 am - Saturday, August 31 @ 5:00 pm
105.3 KFM © 2019 Powered by One CMS™ | Served by InterTech Media LLC
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What's in a number plate?
I came across a notification recently from the regional transport controller in my home town, regarding number plates or license plates (as known in some other countries), which are mandatory and need to be fixed on the front and at the rear of all motorized vehicles in India. I do not know, why it is called a number plate, since some alphabets are always included in the so called number. I feel it is really a misnomer. The rules specify the sizes of the plate as well as that of the inscribed letters that form the number. For privately owned vehicles, the plate has to be white with black letters and for vehicles that are given on hire such as taxis, the plate has to be yellow with black letters.
All the vehicles are identified with an alpha-numeric string allotted to vehicle owners by the regional transport authority. This Alpha-numeric string, besides having a 4 digit serial number at the end, also has details such as name of state, transport authority office identification in coded form of two alphabets and two numbers.
Since the serial numbers are usually given as a 4 digit number only, it puts a limit on allotted numbers as between 1000 and 9999. Such is the rush for new registration of vehicles in India, that this limit could get exhausted in some of the regions just in fifteen or thirty days. To overcome this difficulty, two alphabets are also included in vehicle identification string, just before the four digit number. These two alphabets denote a series and vehicle serial numbers can be repeated again and again with a new series. These series start from AA and might go on till XX.
There are always people around, who want a special number for their car. A person, I know always wants to have a serial number of 3468 for all his vehicles and is willing to pay extra fee for that purpose. Some want special numbers as 8888 or 7777. Some what to be even more special and want to have only a 3 digit number instead of four.
Regional transport controllers, usually allot numbers serially, there is nothing much you can do, but to accept, whatever number is allotted to the vehicle. Someone in the controller's office therefore thought that why not make use of people's craze for special numbers and make some money for the Government. The Transport authorities have now started an auctioning system for numbers, whenever a new series such as GH or LK is to be introduced. Prospective bidders can bid for the special serial numbers that are on offer. Whosoever wins the auction, gets that serial number. Some crazy people even bid in hundreds thousands Rupees to get a desired number. Besides this special number, there is not much you can legally do with the vehicle license plate in India. Though many try to write the English alpha-numeric in Devnagri script or write numbers in tilted fashion so as to extract some meaning. But that is all.
When compared to what Americans do with their license plates, Indian number plates would simply pale and fade in comparison. In US, number or license plates made there appearance right from the times, modern horseless carriages started running on roads. State of Texas decreed in 1907 that all motorised vehicles must be registered - and drivers must display their digits. To start with, these plates were totally a personal choice being made from wood, roof tiles and even leather.
Today, their size has been standardised and generally all that is expected is the owner selects a seven digit alpha-numeric string for the registration, and writes it on the license plate along with the name of the state. So we have nicknames, humourous slogans, lucky numbers, whatever the owner wants.
There is no restriction at all about the colour, script and use of graphics. So don't be surprised if a colourful licence plate celebrating any such thing as the Boy Scouts or the soft drink like Dr Pepper appear in the rear view mirror of your car, while driving. Some motorists write Anti-abortion slogans like "Choose Life" and also might indicate their food choices like with "Mighty Fine Burgers" or advertise for an issue like "Trees Are Cool". In short, there is no limit or end.
In US, at least all license plates, however bizarre they are, are at least legible and decipherable, because they are written in English script. Just imagine the confusion in India, if motorists start writing the number plate in any of the fourteen official languages. The plates would be simple illegible and undecipherable. Its good that we have a strict regime for license or number plates. I just can not imagine the confusion and chaos that may happen otherwise.
Labels: advertisements, auctions, cheeky slogans on license plates, license plates, messages, number plates on vehicles, regional transport authorities, special numbers, US license plates
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About The Auto Economy
The Auto Economy
Just another autos.fyi site
Anger Increasing Greatly
The government has given $170 billion of your dollars to AIG to stabilize them.
Angry yet?
For that $170 billion, the government owns 80% of a company worth $4.33 billion as of this writing.
Via the New York Times – Andrew Cuomo sifts through the bonus payouts for AIG employees. From the $165 million in bonuses paid, 73 people received $1 million or more.
The bonuses were “retention” bonuses designed as incentives for the recipients to remain with the company. Eleven people who received such bonuses over $1 million are no longer with the company. One person was paid $4.6 million as a retention bonus. He/She is gone.
If not, what’s it gonna take?
Oh yeah…. the CEO suggested that up to half of each bonus be voluntarily given back.
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Out to Lunch Concert Series: Joe Lule
Arts & CultureJeffrey Kirshenbaum June 26, 2019 0
Joe Lule, a lifetime Bethlehem resident, spent his late teenage years playing the guitar and singing on Bethlehem’s main street, trying to make a couple bucks here and there. Now, as a graduate of Lehigh’s Master of Arts program in Environmental Policy and City Planning, he continues to perform in Bethlehem. The Southside resident has played at local venues such as Fun House, Godfrey Daniels, and Social Still. His latest performance kicked off the Out to Lunch Concert Series.
The Out to Lunch Concert Series is run by the Southside Arts District, where Lule was previously an intern. He emphasized that the Southside Arts District holds many fantastic events every year, and that they are a great way to get involved in South Bethlehem’s music and arts scene. The Series brought me to Social Still on a gorgeous Friday afternoon. You’d never guess that the quaint distillery and restaurant on East Third Street used to be a bank. The small patio to the side of the restaurant provided a nice escape from reality, giving cover from the busy street corner.
Lule played an array of alternative folk songs; some were originals and others were covers of lesser-known pieces. The performance started off hot, with Lule acting as a one-man band, creating rich sounds with his guitar, tambourine, and voice. Many songs were upbeat and energetic. Listening to Lule gleefully play the guitar and harmonica while singing, I could feel the stress of the week lifting from my shoulders. Other songs were smoother and more thought-provoking. While relaxing and enjoying the sun, my mind wandered, and I began to think of past experiences. Though Lule’s performance was slated for only one hour, he ended up performing for nearly two because of increasing attendance. He frequently talked to and bantered with the crowd, at one point joking that it felt weird to perform at a distillery without a drink. He finally helped himself to one later. Toward the end of the concert, Lule sang happy birthday to a crowd member who was celebrating with his family. The concert flew by and offered a refreshing break in the middle of the work day.
Joe Lule performing at Social Still for Out to Lunch Concert Series. Photo credits: Sam Layding
The talented Lule said the aspect of the Series he enjoys the most is that the performers are local artists performing at local venues. In this way, he feels the concerts represent actual South Bethlehem culture as opposed to an “imported” one. He praised the Series for being community-oriented, emphatically stating that he personally knows many of the restaurant owners who host the concerts. Lule wasn’t originally slated to play at Social Still, but filled in for another artist last-minute. He pointed out that his ability to step in on such short-notice illustrates the close-knit community aspect of the Concert Series. Since many of the artists know each other, it’s easy for them to cover for each other.
Despite beginning his job for Artefact, Inc., an architecture firm located on Third Street, Lule says he doesn’t think he’ll ever stop playing. Music is part of who he is, and he’s played nearly every day since he first picked up a guitar. In fact, the Southside resident said music was a factor which drove him to live in South Bethlehem. Because live music is such a big part of his life, Lule loves that the Southside has live performances every night. He enthusiastically exclaimed that local and different music is always offered, and that you never know what you’re going to get. He stressed the uniqueness of South Bethlehem, noting: “Southside in itself is a nice place where you can go to listen to music on Friday for lunch.”
Feature photo credits: Sam Layding
“Out to Lunch” Concert Series: Kara Hartzell On the Road, In the Round: Songwriters & Story Tellers Dick Boak at Northampton Community College’s Fab Lab Coffee House
Posted in Arts & Culture, MusicTagged Bethlehem Southside, Joe Lule, Out to Lunch Concert Series, Social Still, Southside Arts District
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HomeArtsWhy the City Never Sleeps
Why the City Never Sleeps
February 15, 2012 Kate Koenig Arts, Music, Vol. 90, Spring 2012 0
Katrina Steier, Managing Editor
“The city never sleeps, except tonight!” yelled an impatient (possibly inebriated) fan from the audience at the Oneonta Theatre last Friday. Shortly after this unabashed demand for music, the band, The City Never Sleeps took the stage and opened for SIRSY and Erin Harkes and began their kickoff show for a one month tour. Originally from Oneonta, the indie band now resides in Albany and has been successful in the upstate New York region and other areas as well. The band is comprised of John Glenn (vocals/guitar), Erik Flora (guitar/vocals), Curt Mulick (drums), Kyle Hatch (guitar) and Dave Parker (bass). At the start of the band’s history, Mulick and Glenn were already in a band with a bassist, but they eventually teamed up with Flora in 2004 to form a band called Fourfit. In 2008, the band changed to their current name, and recorded their first EP. Their most recent album, “Madison,” was released in November 2011 and they played a number of tracks off it during the show. “What makes this album different from our EP is that it has a jazz influence and some intricate bass lines,” Glenn said, “It’s more collaborative, we all wrote for each other.”
TCNS is well known around the Capital region and when asked if they had plans for migrating to a bigger city, Glenn said, “ Albany may not be the biggest city but it’s a great northeast hub and is centrally located to other places we like to play, such as Boston or the City. There’s a decent music scene there, though we wouldn’t mind going to the west coast some time.” Though they do not have set locations for their tour, they did get a van to ride around the country in from donations on their kickstarter. They raised an impressive $6,181 for a tour van and promoted their cause through an informative, quirky video that explained why they needed a van, and the prizes donators would receive — one of which prizes is a handmade robot suit. Awesome.
TCNS is undoubtedly talented, and to use a cliché phrase, “catchy as hell.” A song they recorded in their apartment, “Crumble at the Fault” rings with clarity, as does the song “Mistakes” which is full of anything but, seguing into “Over All Over” which has a more heavy, frantic sound to it.
The two SUNY Oneonta Alumni, Glenn and Flora said “It feels good to be back in town again, we are really excited to be here tonight at our old stompin’ ground.” TCNS will be playing a few more upstate shows before hitting the road, so check their facebook for more details.
Driving Tips for an Upstate Winter
Spectacular Average Boys Are Anything But Average
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On Calvin and Hobbes and Des Linden’s Success
Desiree Linden surprised even herself when she won the Boston Marathon in 2018. The Olympian’s sense of humor could be her superpower.
When she stood on the starting line of the 2018 Boston Marathon, the rain pouring down, the headwind blowing in her face, the temperature chilling her body, Desiree Linden had no choice but to laugh.
“I was thinking, ‘this is absurd, but it’s also kind of funny,’” she said, during a phone interview with Women’s Running ahead of the 2019 Boston Marathon. “That’s kind of how I approached the day. I mean, it’s just running. Humor can put it in perspective.”
As a kid, Linden’s favorite reading material was Calvin and Hobbes, a comic strip that features the adventures of six-year-old Calvin and his stuffed, cynical tiger, Hobbes. At age 35, Linden has gained more than a few fans because of her quick wit and subtle wisecracking.
“I use humor when I’m super uncomfortable—it helps me manage that,” Linden said. “I’ve been put into this position where I’m sitting on stages and doing press conferences and whatever else. Nobody signs up to be a pro runner to be put in the spotlight, right?”
But this year, there’s no avoiding the attention. Linden, who is a two-time Olympian in the marathon, returns to race Boston for the seventh time, with another distinction: defending champion. Last year, she became the first U.S. woman to win the event in 33 years, and when she lines up at the start in Hopkinton, she’ll have the honor of wearing bib No. 1.
She’s counting on her experience to contend among a talented professional field, which includes fellow American Jordan Hasay (2:20:57, the second-fastest in U.S. history), Sara Hall (2:26:20), and top international athletes like the 2017 Boston champion Edna Kiplagat, Woknesh Degefa (2:19:53), Meskerem Assefa (2:20:36), and Mare Dibaba (2:19:52). Linden’s personal best, 2:22:38, is from the 2011 Boston Marathon, when she was runner-up by just two seconds.
“This field has quite a few former champs, so that’s a nice pat on the back for me, but I don’t think it changes anything for me on race day,” Linden said. “Monday is a fresh race.”
Linden, who spent part of the training cycle in Phoenix, before going home to Charlevoix, Michigan, has had to learn how to balance the increase in requests for appearances and promotional events with her need to continue training, recovering, and focusing. The travel involved, as well as the demands on her energy, have been challenging at times—but also rewarding. She knows when to cut back on mileage or move important workouts to days when she’s feeling more rested.
“I’d just be sitting on the couch at home watching Netflix anyway, so why not go out and talk about the sport and get people excited about it?” she said. “If I were 26, I for sure wouldn’t have this aggressive of an appearance schedule, but being on the back half of my career, I think I’m more disciplined and mature about knowing what different stresses are.”
She also got some valuable advice from a certain other U.S. Boston Marathon champion—Meb Keflezighi, who won in 2014.
“He said, ‘When you get to crunch time, just pick the stuff that’s super important and just do that. Other times, if you can do it all, go for it, because it’s great for the sport, it’s great for you, and it’s great for Boston,’” Linden said.
She’s prepared to go for the win again, but the ultimate goal is to compete as well as she can in a race where “you train for the course, not the distance.” Boston is notoriously tactical, and Linden knows the terrain and the conditions better than most.
“It’s just getting to the finish line and feeling like I poured everything out and not having any regrets about what I’ve done on the course,” she said. “I want to use all my energy on the day in a good, positive way.”
And what if the forecast holds, which currently shows a 100 percent chance of rain, Linden will hope for the worst.
“I think any extreme that gets into other people’s heads and makes them overthink and be overly concerned, the mental part of that I handle really well,” she said. “Hot, cold, whatever.”
If Mother Nature cooperates, there’s no doubt the returning champ will be laughing all the way to Boylston Street.
This article was originally published by Womensrunning.com. Read the original article here.
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Three internationally renowned sculptors, all members of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, have been selected to create three original public sculptures over a three-week period, 9-27 November 2015. Their innovative pieces will celebrate Anguilla's culture, history and beauty.
ALMUTH TEBBENHOFF
Born in Fürstenau in North West Germany, Tebbenhoff came to England and studied Ceramics at the Sir John Cass School of Art. She lives and works in London. Inspired by process, Tebbenhoff is fascinated by the way objects of beauty and intrigue can emerge from industrial processes like cutting and welding steel. Constantly seeking to balance opposing forces and create new harmonies, she finds inspiration in the natural world and in astronomical space. She has exhibited widely across the UK and Europe and her work is included in a variety of collections, including the Library of Leicester University, the Cass Sculpture Foundation and the Goodwood Estate.
http://www.tebbenhoff.org
Bisig, wood
Cene, wood
Hadia, wood
ALEXANDRA HARLEY
Alexandra Harley’s dynamic sculptures capture and conjure a sense of movement and animation in non-kinetic sculpture. Working predominantly in wood and stone, Harley produces lively and robust carved constructions with a rich variety of textures. Based in London, Alexandra Harley studied at Central St. Martins and Wimbledon School of Art. She exhibits regularly internationally and has participated in numerous residencies and symposia across Europe and the US.
http://www.alexandraharley.co.uk
Jon Barlow Hudson
Jon Barlow Hudson creates public sculpture, private sculpture installations and corporate sculpture environments world-wide. He is particularly sensitive to designing for compatibility with the architectural context, environmental ambience and thematic requirements of the sculpture project, resulting in unique works that transform their situation. His influences range from molecular structures to Zen Buddhism. Hudson earned an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts and has exhibited across the US, UK, Europe, China and Japan. An internationally renowned artist, he has installed public sculpture projects in 23 countries around the world.
http://www.hudsonsculpture.com
The First Anguilla Sculpture Symposium, LTD is a non-profit company.
Photography by Patrick Constable
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former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft released ‘These People,’ touring this spring (NYC at Terminal 5)
Onetime frontman for The Verve, Richard Ashcroft released his fifth solo album, These People, earlier this year. He coproduced the album himself with longtime collaborator Chris Potter and keeps with his sweeping, orchestrated style. You can check out videos for singles “Hold On,” “This is How it Feels” and “They Don’t Own Me,” plus stream the album, below.
Richard has just announced a short North American tour where he’ll perform both solo songs and The Verve favorites. That tour begins in NYC at Terminal 5 on March 27. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday, December 16 with an AmEx presale beginning Wednesday (12/14) at noon. All dates are listed below.
In other news, The Verve‘s first two album — 1993’s A Storm in Heaven and 1995’s A Northern Soul — have been reissued in three disc-deluxe versions with the original album remastered from the original tapes, plus a bevvy of b-sides, non-LP singles, BBC sessions, live recordings and more. There are also single-disc vinyl reissues. If you’re only familiar with “Bittersweet Symphony” and “Lucky Man,” The Verve began as a much different band, making gorgeously atmospheric psych-rock, highlighted by Nick McCabe’s inventive guitar playing and killer rhythm section. I think A Storm in Heaven (from when they were just Verve) is a masterpiece and the band’s early singles, which are included in this reissue, are terrific too.
Richard Ashcroft – 2017 Tour Dates
3/27 New York, NY Terminal 5
3/29 Boston, MA House of Blues
3/30 Chicago, IL House of Blues
4/3 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
4/5 Oakland, CA The Fox Theater
4/7 Toronto, ON Danforth Music Hall
Posted by Muddy at 11:54 PM
Labels: ’ touring this spring (NYC at Terminal 5), former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft released ‘These People
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Black 2 Comm 18th December 2016
Featuring John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Husker Du, Malcolm McLaren and plenty more. Cheq out this 1987 video for "Possessed To Skate" from Suicidal Tendencies' 2nd album that saw the group fusing the hardcore sound of their debut LP with metal and thrash influences. Look out for 60's LSD guru Timothy Leary who puts in a cameo appearance, playing the kid's father. There's plenty of old school skateboarding tricks on display too.
Featuring Donovan, the Abrasive Wheels, Candi Staton and much more. Cheq out this full length film / documentary of the legendary punk poet John Cooper Clarke, directed by Nick May and produced for the Arts Council of Great Britain and Channel 4 in 1982. Highlights include the bard of Salford running the wrong way in a marathon, dressed in his trademark suit, Chelsea boots and shades as well as fellow performance poet Linton Kwesi Johnson's recital of Sonny's Letter at the Ritz.
Black 2 Comm 4th December 2016
Featuring The Clash, Bill Drummond, The Chocolate Watchband and more. Cheq out this rare, early footage of the Cocteau Twins playing a faster version of Wax and Wane at De Meervaart Theatre, Amsterdam in January 1983. The line up includes their original bassist Will Heggie who would leave the band later in the same year. Though in great voice as always, singer Liz Fraser is looking a little nervous during this performance and breaks out the autistic shapes towards the end of the song.
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On the Big Board
Position Staff In Brief
29/169 Max Braden This is a peculiarly quiet film.
It's George Clooney's world. We're all just living in it.
In the month of November 2009 alone, he will have three movies that see theatrical release. Two of them, The Men Who Stare at Goats and Up in the Air, are your more traditional live-action fare roles for the actor. The other one is a singular stop-motion animated production from the director of such well-regarded, quirky fare as The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore.
Yes, Wes Anderson takes his strange blend of humor and particular attention to detail and lends it to a movie that will look different from everything he's done before. Rather than a movie that features the faces of the Anderson repertoire, including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman, it will instead feature the…voices of Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman. Of course, Clooney is new to the mix, as he has the lead role of Mr. Fox. Other voice work is provided by Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody and Michael Gambon (who both had previous roles in Anderson films), along with grande dame of cinema Meryl Streep and Brian Cox. Needless to say, the talent providing the voices in the film is stellar, with most of them having worked in the format previously.
The movie itself adapts a classic tale by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). The story pits farmers against a sly fox who just keeps on taking their chickens. When they band together to take him on, and this impacts both Mr. Fox's family and all of the woodland creatures who live in the same area.
As with most of Anderson's work, The Fantastic Mr. Fox is likely to be a love it or hate it proposition. It's likely to be too eccentric to work as a proper family film, and will have the animation stigma attached to it, precluding it from being a big draw for adults. The likely box office result for this one is that it will draw out fans of the director (myself included) and people curious about the adaptation of the book. It might be tough to get back the $30 million budget, but if it behaves like other Anderson films, it will be a slow grower anyway. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
See the latest developments for this project on the Fantastic Mr. Fox Movie News page.
Vital statistics for Fantastic Mr. Fox
Main Cast George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman
Supporting Cast Bill Murray, Wally Wolardarsky, Eric Chase Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Jarvis Cocker
Screenwriter Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach
Distributor 20th Century Fox
Trailer Click Here for Trailer
Official Site http://www.fantasticmrfoxmovie.com/
Rating PG
Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture
Return to November 2009 Release Schedule
Return to Release Schedule
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Cho Won-tae Confirmed as Hanjin Group’s Next Chairman
Late Chairman's Son Takes Hanjin Group's Helm
By Jung Min-hee
Hanjin Group chairman Cho Won-tae
Cho Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin KAL, has been confirmed as Hanjin Group’s next chairman.
Hanjin Group announced on May 13 that it filed a formal application with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to change the group’s chairman from the late Cho Yang-ho to his son Cho Won-tae.
Analysts say that the submission of the application to the FTC would eliminate the possibility of sibling rivalry over the group’s control among Cho Won-tae and his two sisters, Cho Hyun-ah, former vice president of Korean Air, and Cho Hyun-min, former senior managing director of Korean Air.
"Hanjin Group submitted an application to change the group’s chairman and related documents in the afternoon of May 13," an FTC official said. “We will announce the heads of large business groups in Korea, including Hanjin Group, as scheduled on May 15."
Earlier, Hanjin Group failed to meet the May 8 deadline for submitting the application form to confirm the change of the group’s leader. This invited speculation that a dispute over the group’s control erupted among the three children of the late chairman Cho Yang-ho.
The late chairman held a 17.84 percent stake (based on common stocks) in Hanjin KAL, the group’s holding company. Cho Won-tae holds 2.34 percent in Hanjin KAL, not much difference from Cho Hyun-ah’s 2.31 percent and Cho Hyun-min’s 2.30 percent. The new chairman needs to inherit the late father’s shareholdings to defend his control from KGCI, an activist private equity fund that holds a 14.98 percent stake.
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Prof. Fang Er’s Paper Wins Award for Impact on Field of Marketing
May 28, 2018. Shanghai – Professor Fang Er’s contribution to the field of marketing has been recognised with a paper he co-authored winning the prestigious Journal of Marketing’s Shelby D. Hunt/Harold H. Maynard Best Paper Award. It beat out six other finalists for the honour of being selected the article that made the strongest contribution to marketing theory and practice in 2017.
The paper, Group Marketing: Theory, Mechanisms, and Dynamics, was published in last July’s issue of the Journal of Marketing. Prof. Fang’s co-authors are Colleen M. Harmeling, Robert W. Palmatier, and Dianwen Wang.
“I am humbled by this recognition of the work done with my fellow co-authors,” said Prof. Fang in reacting to the news. He also thanked the CEIBS leadership and colleagues with whom he works in the marketing department for their strong support. “This honour is not mine alone, it really belongs to the CEIBS family,” he said.
Nominations for the award were solicited from members of the Journal of Marketing AE and Editorial Review Board. In explaining its selection, the award committee said while all finalists were “outstanding papers, it had been guided by its mandate to select the best among the best”.
The Shelby D. Hunt/Harold H. Maynard Award is presented annually at the Summer American Marketing Association (AMA) Conference.
Prof. Fang is no stranger to accolades. In 2015, the AMA rewarded him with the Varadarajan Award for Early Career Contributions to Marketing Strategy Research and he was the Marketing Science Institute MSI Young Scholar in 2011.
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Jamaica’s Governments Have Refused To Face The Hard Truths On Crime
It is a universally agreed fact that crime thrives where it is allowed to.
As it is in well-run nations in which democracy is built on the rule of law, so too are totalitarian nations conversant that crime must be suppressed at all cost.
Unfortunately for our small Island Nation of Jamaica, that memo seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle.
Crime affects nations in varying ways outside the obvious danger it poses to life, liberty, and property.
Crime impoverishes nations and destroys generations of people yet unborn.
The [Borgen Project] argues that Beyond the protected walls of the all-inclusive hotels, crime, violence, and poverty plague the populations of Caribbean nations. While tourism may be growing back to pre-recession levels in pockets of resorts, the majority of the population continues to battle with rising rape, murder and poverty levels.
In 2013 Professor Anthony Clayton of the University of the West Indies, in a report prepared for the Ministry of National Security, called A New Approach: National Security Policy for Jamaica said, for example, that the direct medical cost of injuries due to interpersonal violence accounted for nearly 12% of Jamaica’s total health expenditure in 2006, while productivity losses due to interpersonal violence-related injuries accounted for approximately 4% of Jamaica’s GDP. If the latter is added to the estimate of security costs by Francis et al, then the combined total is 7.1% of Jamaica’s GDP.”
It is important to consider that serious crime has continued to rise each year since that report and has done so for decades. Which means that each year crime continues to take a larger chunk of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) with no clear end in sight.
There is more data available which shows in real dollars and cents just how crime is driving Jamaicans deeper and deeper into poverty year over year.
Over the last several decades’ various studies have been done which have all seem to conclude that crime and violence in the Caribbean and in Jamaica, in particular, may be attributed to poverty.
Of course, it is easy to settle on poverty if you want to be intellectually dishonest or just plain lazy.
There is no denying that if a person is hungry and has no money he or she goes into survival mode and is likely to steal to survive.
On the other hand, if you look at the real drivers of crime, a-la greed, gangs, drugs, deportations coupled with the nations refusal to put a foot on the neck of criminals you begin to get a clearer picture of why Jamaica has continued to have a pervasive and growing crime problem.
TRUTH..
There are foreign publications which have naively written at length about Government’s attempt to arrest crime without an attendant deeper understanding of the role politicians and politics play in creating and exacerbating serious crime proliferation on the Island.
Those of us who came out of the trenches and have a deeper understanding of how the Island inner cities and towns work, we are quite confident when we say “no, poverty is absolutely not responsible for the massive escalation of shootings, sexual assaults, and murders sweeping the Island”.
Additionally, there are many nations with far lower standards of living which does not have Jamaica’s astronomic crime problem.
SAD PROGNOSIS
It has been said that Jamaicans have a violent predisposition.
I am not in a position to litigate that, what I do believe is that any people any place who are allowed to be violent to each other, with at worse, a slap on the wrist, may very well continue to use violence as a conflict resolution mechanism.
Unfortunately, there is a regrettable mindset in the country among the most influential that despite the seriousness of the crimes committed, the offenders should be given a slap on the wrist as punishment for their actions.
That perception supports my position that serious crimes in Jamaica and a lack of a serious punitive component, has precious little to do with poverty and everything to do with rich and powerful people wanting to stay out of prison for their own crimes.
This writer has consistently articulated a cohesive and cogent path forward to deal with this monster plaguing the nation.
Among my suggestions are the need to pass tougher laws, better train equip and pay police officers, build more courthouse and hire more judges from the prosecution’s side of the fence and hire more prosecutors as well.
Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn
Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Paula Llewelyn recently voiced frustration at the growing caseload her office is forced to handle with a staff which is not growing to meet the demands.
Llewelyn argues that her plea for more prosecutors have effectively fallen on deaf ears.
She revealed that she wrote to the Public Service Establishment Division of the Ministry of Finance pleading for six temporary posts to be approved, as her office was told that the ministry was awaiting the completion of a general organisational review before her request for additional staff could be granted. However, to date, she has not been given the courtesy of a response.(jamaicaobserver.com)
As cases continue to pile up at the DPP’s office, there are those who continue to scapegoat the police about not doing enough to curtail crime.
So my question to those who make those scurrilous and malicious statements is this, have you asked Government, past or present why they have refused to build courthouses, improve the bail act, better train and pay police officers among the things needed to be done?
The Island’s justice Minister Delroy Chuck
The police are arresting murderers at a merry clip but their efforts are being thwarted by liberal judges with their own agendas.
Judges continue to use the criminal justice system as a revolving door, resulting in more homicides as a consequence.
While criminals are being let loose on the society and cases cannot get to trial because of the shortages frustrating the chief prosecutor, the Island’s minister of justice is lobbying for murder cases over five years to be purged from the court dockets.
When you consider the forgone a better picture comes into focus on where they are taking the country.
This is not about party politics it is about facts and figures, neither party has clean hands.
Neither party has demonstrated a willingness to point the country in the right direction so that the hard work of taking back the country can begin.
It must be understood that despite everything been done at the moment if the policies being employed are not commensurate with an appropriate resolution of the crime issue it is all for nought.
The policies being employed cannot resolve the Island’s crippling crime problem so you may form your own conclusions.
The strategies needed to begin the southward trend in serious crime once undertaken will leave no doubt in the minds of those who would engage in and or offer support and succour to criminals that this is different.
Nothing past or present has occurred which would convince them that there is a seriousness by Government to put the brakes on their activities.
The right strategies will inexorably and categorically be clear to all that Jamaica has finally decided to do something about this problem.
Thus far we have seen nothing which would suggest that there is even a recognition much less a declared will to seriously tackle the problem.
On that basis, crime will continue to increase, more innocent people will, unfortunately, become victims in the process.
In order to begin the process, the government must stand up so that those who would commit crimes may stand down.
That will only be accomplished when the policy is actually made in consultation with real Jamaicans and not with foreign-funded entities with their own agendas antithetical to Jamaica’s interests.
The average Jamaican who play by the rules is being sacrificed for the good of those who have killed time and again.
The human rights of the guilty supersedes that of his victim.
Unless we dispense with those who prostitute human rights as a means to make a name for themselves crime will continue to escalate.
One thought on “Jamaica’s Governments Have Refused To Face The Hard Truths On Crime”
Michael ellis says:
very well said
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The Eight Hosts of Deva, Naga, and Yakshi
天龍八部羅叉女衆
Part of a set. See all set records
China, Ming dynasty
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Painting: 140.2 x 78.8 cm (55 3/16 x 31 in.); Overall: 226.5 x 111 cm (89 3/16 x 43 11/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1973.70.2
240A Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy
The grandest of the Buddhist mortuary rites is the Water-Land (shuilu) ritual. This esoteric ceremony is conducted for the salvation of “all souls of the dead on land and sea.” The ostentatious ritual was performed for imperial ancestors and high officials from the Song (960–1279) to the Ming dynasties and drew large crowds. On the second day of the weeklong ceremony, paintings are hung in the inner altar.
This scroll represents the Eight Hosts of Celestial Nagas and Yakshis as described in the Lotus Sutra. Together with the scroll nearby, it belongs to a set of 36 Water-Land ritual paintings that are the finest works of their types known from the Ming period. With their bright, opaque color and fine-line gilt decoration intact and unfaded, both paintings share a remarkable state of preservation.
Upper right corner: Offered on the third day of the eighth month, the fifth year of Jingtai (1454) of the Great Ming Dynasty. [seal] Guang yun zhi bao (The Treasure of Grand Destiny). 大明景泰五年八月初三日施 [印] 廣運之寳
Lower left corner: Under the Imperial Command, Shang Yi and Wang Qin, Senior Eunuchs in the Directorate Accouterments, supervised the production. 御用監太監尚義王勤等奉命提督監造
Right edge: The Eight Hosts of Deva, Naga, and Yakshi 天龍八部羅叉女衆
Ming imperial collection (Jingtai era, 1450–1456)
?-1973
(Shunichi Yabumoto Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, ?-1973, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1973-present
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 348 archive.org
Ho, Wai-kam, Sherman E. Lee, Laurence Sickman, and Marc F. Wilson. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1980. Reproduced: pp. 153-154; cat. no. 131a
Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: pp. 211-217
Wang, Chiang-Ling. "Weiderentdeckte Schatze: Drei Chinesische Thangkas im Ethnologischen Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin." Baessler-Archiv 62: 117-136. Reproduced: p. 129, fig. 15
Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 10-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982); The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (December 3, 1982-February 28, 1983).
Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism 850-1850. Spencer Museum of Art (August 9-October 31, 1994); Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (November 30, 1994-January 29, 1995).
"Taming Tigers – Releasing Dragons: Masterpieces of Chinese Buddhist Art" – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c – February-August 2019. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 8-August 11, 2019).
{{cite web|title=The Eight Hosts of Deva, Naga, and Yakshi|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1973.70.2|year=1454|access-date=18 July 2019|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
ASIAN - Hanging scroll
John L. Severance Fund
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FBI Releases 2010 Crime Statistics
See the full release
Download Printable Document
Washington, D.C.—According to the figures released today by the FBI, the estimated number of violent crimes in 2010 declined for the fourth consecutive year. Property crimes also decreased, marking the eighth straight year that the collective estimates for these offenses declined.
The 2010 statistics show that the estimated volumes of violent and property crimes declined 6.0 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, when compared with the 2009 estimates. The violent crime rate for the year was 403.6 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants (a 6.5 percent decrease from the 2009 rate), and the property crime rate was 2,941.9 offenses per 100,000 persons (a 3.3 percent decrease from the 2009 figure).
These and additional data are presented in the 2010 edition of the FBI’s annual report Crime in the United States. This publication is a statistical compilation of offense and arrest data reported by law enforcement agencies voluntarily participating in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.
The UCR Program collects information on crimes reported by law enforcement agencies regarding the violent crimes of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault as well as the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. (Although the FBI classifies arson as a property crime, it does not estimate arson data because of variations in the level of participation by the reporting agencies. Consequently, arson is not included in the property crime estimate.) The program also collects arrest data for the offenses listed above plus 20 additional offenses that include all other crimes except traffic violations.
In 2010, there were 18,108 city, county, university and college, state, tribal, and federal agencies that participated in the UCR Program. A summary of the statistics reported by these agencies, which are included in Crime in the United States, 2010, follows:
Nationwide in 2010, there were an estimated 1,246,248 violent crimes.
Each of the four violent crime offenses decreased when compared with the 2009 estimates. Robbery had the largest decrease at 10.0 percent, followed by forcible rape with a 5.0 percent decline, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter with a 4.2 percent decrease, and aggravated assault with a 4.1 percent decline.
Nationwide in 2010, there were an estimated 9,082,887 property crimes.
Each of the property crime offenses also decreased in 2010 when compared with the 2009 estimates. The largest decline, 7.4 percent, was for motor vehicle thefts. The estimated number of burglaries decreased 2.0 percent, and the estimated number of larceny-thefts declined 2.4 percent.
Collectively, victims of property crimes (excluding arson) lost an estimated $15.7 billion in 2010.
The FBI estimated that in 2010, agencies nationwide made about 13.1 million arrests, excluding traffic violations.
The 2010 arrest rate for violent crimes was 179.2 per 100,000 inhabitants; for property crime, the rate was 538.5 per 100,000 inhabitants.
By violent crime offense, the arrest rate for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter was 3.6; forcible rape, 6.5; robbery, 36.6; and aggravated assault was 132.6 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants.
By property crime offense, the arrest rate for burglary was 94.3; larceny-theft, 417.5; and motor vehicle theft, 23.1 per 100,000 inhabitants. The arrest rate for arson was 3.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.
In 2010, there were 14,744 law enforcement agencies that reported their staffing levels to the FBI. These agencies reported that, as of October 31, 2010, they collectively employed 705,009 sworn officers and 308,599 civilians, a rate of 3.5 employees for each 1,000 inhabitants.
Note: Caution against Ranking—Each year when Crime in the United States is published, some entities use the figures to compile rankings of cities and counties. These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state, tribal area, or region. Consequently, they lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents. Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction. The data user is, therefore, cautioned against comparing statistical data of individual reporting units from cities, metropolitan areas, states, or colleges or universities solely on the basis of their population coverage or student enrollment.
Sep 19, 2011 | 0 comments View Post
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