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LuLu launches its first mini market at the National Guard Housing site
Aoodah Alenazi, Commander for Al Ahsa National Guard, cuts the inaugural ribbon in the presence of Shehim Mohammed, Director, LuLu Saudi Hypermarkets, government officials and LuLu dignitaries
AL MUBARRAZ —LuLu, the region’s top retailer, introduced its first ever mini market concept at the National Guard Housing site located at Al Mubarraz, Saudi Arabia, on a function held on May 2. The newly launched shop was inaugurated by Aoodah Alenazi, Commander for Al Ahsa National Guard, in the presence of Shehim Mohammed, Director, LuLu Saudi Hypermarkets, government officials and LuLu dignitaries.
The new store opening is the kick-off project from the agreement signed by LuLu and Saudi Arabian National Guard Forces (SANG) last November 2018, which states launching two shopping centers and seven supermarkets in Dammam and Al Ahsa.
Shehim Mohammed shared: “We thank the SANG Forces for trusting us in providing them a conducive shopping place for the families residing in the area. The new store is committed to bringing the best products at the most affordable prices, just like how the LuLu hypermarket brand is well-known for.”
The mini market is a neighborhood-cum-convenience store concept that brings food and lifestyle essentials closer to residential communities. LuLu highlights well-chosen categories of high-quality products, such as groceries, health and beauty, chilled and dairy food, frozen goods, fruits & vegetables, bakery, roastery, meat, sports & fitness, and so much more.
The new store is expected to generate sizeable employment for local Saudi youth. LuLu Group currently employs more than 2,700 Saudi nationals, including females in various hypermarkets across the Kingdom. LuLu’s goal is to give employment to more than 5,000 nationals by the end of 2020.
With 169 stores operating worldwide, LuLu has continuously been exerting its greatest efforts to provide and sustain the supply of global products at the best rates. With the excellent combination of high-quality offerings and organized logistics system, LuLu remains to be the favorite shopping destination in KSA.
LuLu Hypermarket, where the world comes to shop—is the top retailer in the Middle East and one of the most successful businesses worldwide. Serving more than 1,600,000 shopping patrons every day, it is the fastest growing retail chain across 10 countries that include the GCC, India, Egypt, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Founded in the early nineties, it has successfully expanded to different parts of the world and currently operates more than 169 stores with a staff force of 50,000.
LuLu Hypermarket, where the world comes to shop:
• Providing more than 1,600,000 customers an unparalleled shopping experience daily across the globe
• No. 1 retail chain in the Middle East and among the top 10 fastest growing retailers globally
• Operations in UAE, India, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Egypt, Malaysia, and Indonesia
• One of the Middle East’s top employers with work force numbering to 50,000. — SG
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Grey´s Anatomy Scoop: Is Meredith Grey pregnant and carrying Shepherd´s son?
April 20, 2009 / Guillermo Paz
It’s been announced that Ellen Pompeo and her husband, Chris Ivery, are expecting their first child, her rep, Jennifer Allen, has confirmed.
“It’s great news,” Allen said. “They’re ecstatic.”
The Grey’s Anatomy star and Ivery, a music producer, were married by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a low-key ceremony in November 2007. The couple met in a grocery store in 2003 and began dating six months later.
That´s great news for Ellen Pompeo and Chris Ivery and we congratulate them… but, what does that mean for Grey´s Anatomy? Is Shonda Rhimes going to write the pregnancy on the show or out of it?
Is Meredith Grey pregnant? Can this mean a great turn of events for next season of Grey´s Anatomy?
What do you think? Is Ellen Pompeo´s pregnancy a spoiler for the show? Or something to write around?
Categories: Grey´s Anatomy, Spoilers Tags: Baby, Derek Shepherd, Ellen Pompeo, Expecting, Grey´s Anatomy, Meredith Grey, Pregnancy, Shonda Rhimes, Spoilers
« Complete Recap and Spoilers of “Desperate Housewives” 5×19 – “Look Into Their Eyes and You See What They Know” – April 19, 2009
American Idol April 21st: How to vote in American Idol and Tonight Performances – Top 7 American Idol »
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Margo Martindale Talks Scalene, Justified’s Emmy Win
Margo Martindale is an Emmy Award-winning actress — this past year, for her supporting performance in Justified — but still more likely to be stopped by someone who thinks she might be their old guidance counselor than stalked by a TMZ photographer. That comes from more than 20 years of respected character work in everything from The Rocketeer, The Firm and 28 Days to Ghosts of Mississippi, The Hours and Secretariat. In one of her more recent films, though — the rather engrossing little independent, character-rooted thriller Scalene, which hits DVD this coming week — Martindale gets to show her chops in a leading role. I recently had a chance to speak to Martindale one-on-one, about Scalene, fight sequences, her path to acting, and the warm afterglow of her Emmy win. The conversation is excerpted over at ShockYa, so click here for the read.
Raw Faith
Religious faith is often difficult to discuss openly, let alone capture and sensitively address in something like film, owing not only to the diversity of religious affiliations and denominations, but to the problems many people have with what they view as either hypocrisy or cloying piety when it comes to how people of faith interact with those of opposite beliefs, or no particular religious convictions at all. Raw Faith, a stirring new documentary from director Peter Wiedensmith, is as holistic a portrait of religious devotion and engagement as exists in recent memory, and an achingly, profoundly moving snapshot of how the human experience is meant to be shared.
The center at the figure of Raw Faith is Marilyn Sewell, the socially progressive senior minister of the First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon, one of the largest and most esteemed Unitarian groups in the nation. As one of the few women to lead a large congregation of any faith in the United States, Sewell — a divorced, single mother of two adult sons — also brings a unique perspective to various local and national issues, making her an irreplaceable figure in liberal Christian debate. After 17 years of service, though, she’s wearing down a bit, and (even though she once said, “I want to be all used up” in her seminary interview) beginning to wonder, at least, if she might be able to retire and have any sort of separate and fulfilling life apart from her community service.
Sweet, well-mannered and reflective, Sewell is an enormously engaging subject. She is smart, savvy about the nature of her own feelings, and also exceedingly articulate, both in snippets from her sermons (“All fundamentalism puts God in a box — some are in, and others are by definition out”) and direct-address confessional segments. Most of what makes her such a compelling character, however, is her complete openness and candor. She speaks frankly in the film about sexual desire (and a bit less directly in the pulpit, shading it more in terms of romantic companionship), as well as depression and her own past hurts. (The only topics off-limits, really, are matters presently bothering her, because she says she feels some in her congregation would then feel the need to try to help her solve those problems, and that’s not the dynamic of their relationship.) Sewell rejects the agony of bearing an untold story within, and the result of this shared soul-baring is a movie so suffused with honesty as to almost take one’s breath away.
Like Cindy Meehl‘s excellent documentary Buck, Raw Faith captures, sketches and imparts macro life lessons from sharing some of the obstacles overcome by their respective protagonists. And like that film, it makes the case that grief and despair are often times our best teachers. The movie delves back into a less than ideal childhood, and connects the dots — as part of Sewell’s inexorable journey toward self-betterment — between those early traumas and her desire to find herself, so that she doesn’t act out of unconscious motives. All that said, as heartrending as it is at times, Raw Faith is a film of utterly sincere, not phony uplift. Where love has once been, love will remain, it argues, making one believe — and deeply feel — the need to put a little more love out into the world.
Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case, Raw Faith comes to DVD presented in 16×9 widescreen, with a Dolby digital 2.0 stereo audio track that more than adequately handles the movie’s fairly meager and straightforward aural demands. Bonus features are anchored by additional interviews with Sewell in which she speaks more about both her work and family. There’s also the movie’s theatrical trailer, and a clutch of deleted scenes which spotlight a trip to Washington, D.C. and Sewell’s successful efforts to craft a “hate-free zone” in her church. The only thing missing? A music video for the original song Sheryl Crow contributed to Raw Faith, and/or some other words of endorsement from her. Well… that, and some words from director Wiedensmith. To purchase the DVD via Kino Lorber’s website, click here. A (Movie) B (Disc)
A wearying, lackluster sci-fi comedy about a group of suburban men who form a neighborhood watch group in the wake of a murder, and then get caught up in defusing an alien invasion plot, The Watch is a premise in search of a compelling story, and an exemplar of indulgent improvisation gone wrong and too long. Reteaming Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn for the first time since 2004’s Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, the movie is a collection of small handful of ideas strung out into set pieces, and a superb example of the pitfalls of Hollywood studio comedy-by-committee. For my full, original review, from Screen International, click here. (20th Century Fox, R, 101 minutes)
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Cocoon to Butterfly
Cocoon to Butterfly Parenting Blog. Empowering Women, nurturing children, shaping our tomorrows
The Power of a Dream
June 11, 2015 / Sneha Cherian
zahra1
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream” C.S Lewis 20-year-old Zahra Lari, is a dream chaser and an Olympic figure skating champion hopeful, from the United Arab Emirates. As a young girl she was enraptured by the Disney movie, ‘Ice Princess,’ and soon became interested in pursuing figure skating. Her optimism drove her to reach for her personal summit, choosing to challenge the perception many have of women in the Middle East. Sheik Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai is committed to empowering women and supporting them in their pursuit. He said and I quote “Arab women make up half our community. They are sometimes better than men. Today they are rising to greater heights in society and able to achieve goals within our communities. They will only grow”
I was extremely fortunate to have attended the ‘International conference for Sports for Women’ in Abu Dhabi. While I was there I had the privilege to meet and interact with many accomplished Emirati women. One of the more notable experiences was listening to Zahra Lari. In her speech she mentions how her father initially viewed her newfound interest of figure skating skeptically. Her mother however stood in the gap to convince him to let their daughter live out her passion. Later when he accompanied his daughter and as he watched her joy displayed on ice he became her greatest supporter… She may not have started young as many promising skaters did, but this did not stop her from taking a leap and carving her mark.
Today Zahra Lari is dubbed the ‘Ice princess in Hijab’ by the media. She is not only the first figure skater from the Gulf to compete in an international competition but the first to do so wearing the hijab, paying due respect to her Arabic culture. In a frozen sea of flashy tutus and nude tights she is a princess who graces the ice with a difference, wearing modest costumes and a headscarf. Zahra is a woman who embraces her morals and values while identifying herself as a professional athlete. This is a celebration to all women who embrace culture and stand against the tide of commoditizing women.
Apart from wanting her own success, Lari added: “I want to encourage girls from the Emirates and the Gulf to achieve their dreams too, and not to let anyone tell them not to do sport, not only figure skating but all sports.” Zahra is a role model for women in the Middle East and an inspiration to those who wish to pursue their dreams. Her drive and determination to win after having to face many obstacles embodies her as a true champion. She is a testimony to the pay-off that comes along with perseverance and dedication to chase after a dream. I wish her the best, as the United Arab Emirates hopes of a medal would be set on the young shoulders of Miss Lari who is looking to make her mark at 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Video credits to HealthX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUSXTV4A87s
June 11, 2015 / Sneha Cherian/ Comment
arab women, figure skating, ice princess in Hijab, olympic figure skating, rising women in UAE, Sheik Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, uae figure skater, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, winter olympics, women empowerment, women impacting community, women impacting uae, women of influence, zahra Lari
Sneha Cherian
Barnilicious Saturday at KidZania®
The power of a story
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Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
A New Signs Initiative
Suzanna Danuta Walters
Short Takes: Provocations on Public Feminism, a new online-first feature of Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, offers brief comments from prominent feminists about a book that has shaped popular conversations about feminist issues.
The forum on Bad Feminist appears in the spring 2016 issue of Signs.
Tweet #SignsShortTakes
Short Takes: Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist:
Embodying Feminism
Jennifer Baumgardner
Feminism for Badasses
Feminism for Those Who Don’t Like Feminists
Carla Kaplan
On Imperfection and Its Comforts…
Patricia J. Williams
“Bad Feminist,” Great Rhetorician
Bad Feminist was published in 2014 by Harper Perennial.
Suzanna Danuta Walters, Editor in Chief
As part of an initiative to connect the journal to current debates in the feminist world beyond academia—and to help feminist commentators gain a greater foothold in the public sphere—we are launching a new section of the journal in which we select a book that has had wide-ranging impact and reach (for better or worse!) and solicit short commentaries from leading feminist public intellectuals and activists. These are not designed to be book reviews per se; rather, we ask our commentators to ponder broader questions of reach and resonance: Why this? Why now? And what does this say about the state of the feminist zeitgeist?
We will always invite the author to respond to the commentaries. Our plan is then to put these up on our revamped Signs website before they find their way into print.
We envision these short takes as part of a broader initiative we call (with perhaps a bit too much hubris!) the Feminist Public Intellectuals Project.
In keeping with the consistent mission of Signs to matter in the world, we will be rolling out a number of efforts to engage feminist theorizing with the pressing political and social problems across the globe. Given the current fragmentation of feminist activism and the persistent negative freighting of the moniker “feminist,” we want to genuinely reimagine the role a journal can play in activating activism. On our website and in print, Signs will offer a dialogue on some aspect of feminist public intellectual practice—from blogging to op-ed writing to DIY videocasting to public speaking and so forth. We envision a multipronged tack that engages with our social media platforms and also brings feminist public intellectuals into conversation with academic experts, activists with theorists—across lines of generation, genre, identity. On the website, specialized links (a digital archive, if you will) will highlight the interaction between scholarly work and more public intellectual presence.
This innovation moves beyond simply addressing (again) the vexing divides between feminist theory and practice. Rather, we seek to engage a feminist journal in the project of building a critical mass of public intellectuals who speak with a feminist voice. We have more feminist scholars than ever before—and more social media outposts that host feminist voices—but very few widely known feminist public intellectuals. The punditry is still largely a preserve of white masculinity. Signs, in partnership with the richness represented on the web in blogs and Tumblrs and Facebook and other social media platforms, can be a space for enhancing public discourse from a multivocal feminist perspective.
This will position Signs as actively working to create conversations between and among feminist scholars, media activists, and community leaders. We are committed to enhancing the journal’s role as a transitive space, percolating in and between intellectual production and activist engagement.
We inaugurate this initiative with Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay and are thrilled to have exciting commentaries by Naomi Wolf, Brittney Cooper, Carla Kaplan, Jennifer Baumgardner, and Patricia Williams. (Gay declined to write a response to the commentaries.)
Our next book is Katha Pollitt’s Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, and we have a similarly stellar lineup of commentators.
We have high hopes for this new endeavor. Please read, click, link, share, tweet … and let’s get the conversation going.
Why this? Why now? And what does this say about the state of the feminist zeitgeist?
Suzanna Danuta Walters is editor in chief of Signs: Journal of Women of Culture and Society and Director of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Professor of Sociology at Northeastern University. Her work centers on questions of gender, sexuality, family, and popular culture. Her most recent book, The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes, and Good Intentions are Sabotaging Gay Equality, explores how notions of tolerance limit the possibilities for real liberation and deep social belonging. She is also the author of All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America; Material Girls: Making Sense of Feminist Cultural Theory; and Lives Together/Worlds Apart: Mothers and Daughters in Popular Culture. In addition, Professor Walters has published numerous articles and book chapters on feminist theory, queer theory and LGBT studies, and popular culture. In 2004, Walters founded the first Ph.D. program in gender studies at Indiana University, where she was a Professor of Gender Studies and held positions in Sociology and Communication and Culture.
Five years ago, I attended an inspiring New York City art show produced by women in their twenties titled “i am not a good enough feminist.” The work was far-ranging—a six-foot piece of paper covered in brownish stains and tears that was under one artist’s feet for several months as she cooked for her family rather than painted, a photo of a nude woman unselfconsciously launching herself onto a dune, lots of video…. Still, it was the sad-sack title that most stayed with me. Maybe because it resonated with what I felt I heard from women and men as I traveled around the country doing talks about feminism.
Why was I a wandering feminist proselytizer? Well, in 2000, Amy Richards and I had published a book about third-wave feminism called Manifesta and began a book tour that lasted roughly fifteen years. The book was meant to chronicle the feminism we saw in our generation, sometimes called Third Wave. We dedicated it to the people who say “I’m not a feminist, but…” and to the people who say “I am a feminist, but….” It was our observation that many people felt like they were “disqualified” from feminism because they hadn’t worked out all of their shit. These would-be feminists dieted, or loved shopping, or were Christian; maybe they were men, or pro-life, or wore high heels. Maybe they were Latina or wealthy. Or maybe they were obsessed with Sweet Valley High books as a tween and listen to “thuggish rap” as an adult, like Roxane Gay.
With one title, Gay’s 2014 collection of essays, Bad Feminist, expanded popular perception of the movement to encompass those individuals Amy and I were worried about in 2000. If this prolific, politically astute, deeply knowledgeable woman was a bad feminist, then there was room for lots of flaws, lots of kinds of people, lots of kinds of feminists.
Anytime someone publicly claims feminism, they redefine the word—a little. But the reality is that it has never just meant one thing—every feminist who uses the term contains multitudes of contradictions, flaws, secret vices, judgments, and fumbled opportunities. There has always been a dissonance between one’s stated values and one’s life. With each generation of feminism, though, there is a louder affirmation of impurity—we are flawed, strong, independent, evolved females.
Roxane Gay, as messenger, complicates the expansive story that I was trying to tell with Amy Richards in Manifesta. She implicates and empathizes with feminist critics, including a mythical perfect feminist sisterhood that would blame her for faking an orgasm; she questions the advice of affluent white professional women who’ve parlayed their successes (or failures) into book deals instructing women to forget “having it all,” pointing out that many women have jobs (rather than careers) and do whatever they must to take care of their kids (with no option to “opt out”). Gay claims feminism as a complex blend of insider and outsider status. She is an academic, she is black, she is middle class, she is the child of immigrants, she is digitally savvy and prolific on Twitter, and she is fat.
Gay embodies contradictions—literally holds them in her body—and reflects, with the power of that authoritative body, that feminism contains complexity.
If this prolific, politically-astute, deeply knowledgeable woman was a bad feminist, then there was room for lots of flaws, lots of kinds of people, lots of kinds of feminists.
Jennifer Baumgardner is a writer, activist, filmmaker, and lecturer whose work explores abortion, sex, rape, single parenthood, and women’s power. She is the executive director and publisher at The Feminist Press at CUNY and the cofounder of Soapbox Inc. Speakers Who Speak Out. Her books include Manifesta, Grassroots, Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics, and Abortion & Life. Her most recent documentary is It Was Rape (2013), and she is the creator of the I Had an Abortion Project.
Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist takes away the trepidation that so many young people feel about identifying with the term “feminist.” On a very regular basis, whether I’m teaching a 100-level women’s and gender studies course or interacting with students whom I meet at conferences and panels, the line “I’m not a feminist, but…” seems to crop up. The “but” always precedes a litany of affirmations of antisexist politics, a desire for equality, and even a radical commitment to gender nonconformity. So I always scratch my head, wondering why the moniker “feminist” raises the hackles of so many, even when they clearly have antisexist, antipatriarchal politics. I have settled on the idea that many young people don’t just see “feminism” as a set of politics but as an identity that they must take on and perform. And no one wants to fail at living out identities that we choose to adopt. Particularly for young women of color, there is already a struggle to exist comfortably in the skin we are in. Feminism, it seems, comes saddled with its own baggage as an identity politic.
So when I saw that Gay’s Bad Feminist was set to drop, I eagerly anticipated it and then ran out to the store as soon as it was available. I love the defiance of the title and the content. I love the freedom that this book gives, the space it makes for those of us who are about that feminist life but who eff it up on a regular basis. In an era when we are experiencing a renewal of the war on women, through a severe reduction in access to abortion clinics and a pervasive rape culture that seems to have seen no abatement, women, cis and trans alike, need feminism more than ever. This, for instance, is what I tell people when they get upset that Beyoncé now identifies as a feminist. Many want to pull her feminist card because she has myriad contradictions. And to them, I say, “I do a million and one things that are unfeminist each and every day. But I also actively work to resist the pull of sexism and patriarchy in my life and the lives of others.” We cannot keep pulling each other’s feminist cards because of our contradictions. And even though many see Beyoncé as a bad feminist, I see her as a powerful woman searching for language to name and claim and negotiate that power.
At the Crunk Feminist Collective, where I blog with a group of hip-hop-generation feminists, we proudly proclaim a feminism that is comfortable with contradictions, a feminism that is percussive, a feminism that, as Joan Morgan has famously written, is “brave enough to fuck with the grays” (58). Gay forces us to confront these kinds of contradictions. In the essay “Peculiar Benefits,” she talks about her ongoing to struggle to accept the various forms of privilege she has, a struggle that any committed feminist knows well. At the same time, she bravely calls out the self-righteousness of the “self-appointed privilege police” (18) who aim to shoot down shoot down all accounts of experience that don’t mirror their own. “How dare someone speak to a personal experience without accounting for every possible configuration of privilege or lack thereof?” Gay asks, questioning the logic of the privilege police (18). In this particular moment of online feminist cultures, rejecting privilege policing as necessary for good feminist politics is a very bad feminist thing to do.
In “The Illusion of Safety/The Safety of Illusion,” she writes of the current debate in feminist pedagogy about the use of trigger warnings: “When I see trigger warnings, I don’t feel safe. I don’t feel protected. Instead, I am surprised there are still people who believe in safety and protection despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This is my failing” (152-53). A good feminist is supposed to believe in trigger warnings. A bad feminist acknowledges that, like most things, it’s complicated.
What I need as a grown woman feminist in this political moment is a politic that feels livable, breathable, and that gives me room to stretch and grow. Roxane Gay’s book makes space for a liberatory politic, and she’s hilarious while doing it. This book captures everything I love about feminism, mostly because her feminism makes space for me to be my very best, bad-ass self.
Feminism, it seems, comes saddled with its own baggage as an identity politic.
Brittney Cooper is assistant professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University. She specializes in Black feminist theory, Black women’s intellectual history, hip-hop studies, hip-hop Feminism, and digital Black feminisms. Her first book, "Race Women: Gender and the Making of a Black Public Intellectual Tradition," is forthcoming from University of Illinois Press. She is also cofounder of the Crunk Feminist Collective, a hip-hop-generation feminist blogging group. Professor Cooper is a sought after public commentator with a weekly column on race, gender, and politics at Salon.com and frequent appearances on cable news outlets like MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry, All In with Chris Hayes, and Al Jazeera America.
Feminist writing is ignored too often. “Rarely do our stories get to matter,” Roxane Gay writes (ix). The enviable attention it has garnered from mainstream media suggests that Gay’s Bad Feminist has cracked the code. What’s not to appreciate about popular success for a book championing “women who don’t want to be treated like shit” (303)? Gay is that rare progressive black feminist voice who has accomplished what Janie’s grandmother in Zora Neale Hurston’s 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, dreamed of, but feared might never come: a “pulpit” from which “colored women sitting on high” could “preach” to others about the world. Gay’s sermon centers respect for feminism as one of its refrains. This is a gift.
Signs’ feminists, it must be said, are not Gay’s target readers. And that may be Bad Feminist’s greatest strength. She isn’t preaching to the converted. By suggesting that feminism (a good thing, in her view) can be separated from all those rigid “rules” feminists (pink-hating dullards who follow the “sisterhood-approved” regime of not shaving, scorning Vogue, and refusing to provide blow jobs), Gay announces her mission: feminism for those who don’t like feminists. She is very smart about using that platform to get serious issues on the table in ways general readers can access: trigger warnings, racial violence, abortion rights, racism, privilege, and even the importance of intersectionality: all well-handled. She also provides a speed tour of popular culture, from music to movies to television, which is helpful for those of us who don’t keep up with all of that on our own.
Some of Gay’s smartest writing beautifully demonstrates how destructive cultural myths—such as the myth of the “magical negro” (209)—can be. One of her best essays details how to avoid succeeding at the expense of your friends. And some of her most compelling insights involve how some people “get over” on the backs of others, especially on the backs of women. She doesn’t like it when someone, like Tyler Perry, builds “his success on the backs of black women…by using them…to teach his lessons, to make his points, or to make them the butts of his jokes” (234).
Feminism—or some feminists—must have really pissed her off to make her break so many of her own good rules. While acknowledging that caricaturing feminists as “militant, perfect in their politics and person, man-hating, humorless” is a “grossly inaccurate myth” (137), it is precisely against that mythic “humorlessness, militancy, unwavering principles, and … rules” (304) that Gay’s “bad” feminism is positioned as a preferable, or as she puts it, a “relatable” (146), alternative. She challenges and perpetuates myths about feminism. She is a “Bad Feminist” because she’s bad-assed, (unlike other feminists who, apparently, are not?) and because she is not strident, not shrill, not politically correct, not militant, not man-hating, and not perfect. “Bad,” she tells us, means “interesting” (64) in distinction to those presumably boring feminists on whom Gay’s likability is made contingent (needlessly so, since she’d be quite likable enough without the conceit). The straw women aren’t helpful.
Bad Feminist is bold in offering to embody its cultural moment. It is, for example, both about social media—“hypnotic [and]…repulsive…triviality…a curious thing” (262)—and a product of the world social media has created: one that levels scale so pictures of dinners and funny glasses appear alongside ones of police brutality or climate change catastrophes, as if all were equally important and, even more peculiarly, equally interesting. Gay writes convincingly about the presumptiveness of imagining that what interests us also interests others. And yet, she inhabits those social media protocols perfectly by sharing her Scrabble scores, smoking, loneliness, and longings for a long-distance boyfriend, alongside her truly engaging responses to films like The Help and Django Unchained and important analyses of rape, racism, discrimination, and intolerance.
There is so much to enjoy in Roxane Gay’s lively, accessible writing and so much to celebrate about her success in reaching mainstream readers, that I can’t help wishing she were friendlier to the feminism—and the feminists—to whom she has rendered such service and through whose mischaracterizations this book’s success is achieved.
Feminism—or some feminists—must have really pissed her off to make her break so many of her own good rules.
Carla Kaplan, the Chair of the Board of Associate Editors of Signs, is Davis Distinguished Professor of American Literature in English and Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Northeastern University. She is the Founding Director of Northeastern University’s Humanities Center and currently serves as co-chair of the board of directors for the Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies. Her research interests include literature, African American studies, biography, and women’s and gender studies. She is the author of Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Harlem Renaissance. She is also the author of Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters and The Erotics of Talk: Women’s Writing and Feminist Paradigms. She is the editor of the Norton Critical Edition of Nella Larsen’s Passing; Zora Neale Hurston’s lost book of folklore, Every Tongue Got to Confess: Negro Folk-Tales From the Gulf States; and Dark Symphony by Elizabeth Laura Adams. A Norton Critical Edition of Nella Larsen’s Quicksand is forthcoming. Professor Kaplan’s next project is a biography of Jessica Mitford, the rebellious daughter of eccentric British peers and one of the most important American muckrakers of the twentieth century. In May 2014, on the basis of Miss Anne in Harlem, Professor Kaplan was elected a Fellow of the Society of American Historians.
Bad Feminist is the musing of a strong but lonely intelligence. Roxane Gay grew up as the daughter of conservative Haitian parents, almost always the only black kid in her school, always reading, always yearning to be popular, always wishing she were … not a bad girl precisely, but just a little less good. If the question is why this book and why now, I think the appeal lies in Gay’s casually colloquial yet highly intellectual takedowns of everything from competitive Scrabble tournaments to Lena Dunham’s Girls. Moreover, since debates about gender, race, and feminism are so often ponderously vexed—all but deadlocked before they leave the gate—Gay’s tone is refreshing. Her writing is funny, smart, accepting, kind. She is unafraid to admit her own inconsistencies, like her ability to “take pleasure in something so terrible” (199) as the terribly written Fifty Shades of Grey.
Gay does not set out to write a “revolutionary” book about contemporary feminism—she explicitly rejects the hyperbole of greeting every singular act of empowerment as such. Indeed, there is nothing new about most of her topics: rape, equal pay, the segregated cultural landscape of television and film. These are fields of inequality that have consumed us for at least a century. But while she analyzes situations that are all too sadly familiar to readers of any generation, her lens is very particular to her own.
I grew up in the generation of women breaking free from the Barbie-doll world of Mad Men. The feminist movement of my time was explicitly if diversely political—from Bella Abzug to Angela Davis to Mary Tyler Moore, and there was at least some common aim at accepting our bodies, ourselves. There was as well at least some common aim of escaping confinement—whether corsets and girdles or marital expectations and limitations in employment. In retrospect, it seems cloaked in a kind of lost optimism, an inevitability of the coming of a world of multifaceted “choice.”
In contrast, Bad Feminist speaks to the experiences of young women who have grown up with much meaner messages playing in the background: Real Housewives of New Jersey, Basketball Wives, Victoria’s Secret models’ diets, Fox News and Flavor Flav. Young women, if they are weaned on television or social media, are growing up inside the kinds of men’s brains who imagine women as perpetually mud-wrestling, always in warring tribes, using the spike heels of their fuck-me pumps to do lasting injury in showdowns in expensive restaurants. That masturbatory vision is everywhere, has been technologically enhanced, is hard to escape. Slut shaming and revenge porn have become new forms of old disciplinary practices, and civility among all humans, regardless of sex or gender, has broken down in increasingly dangerous and invasive ways.
Meanwhile, the rejected aesthetic of conical bras or underwear in which you couldn’t breathe seems to have been replaced by aesthetic endurances of a far more painful nature: dressing up occurs within a cultural bell jar of peculiar insistence that the life of the mind be inscribed on the body—tattooed onto it, pieced through it, or surgically altered—in order to be heard.
Gay speaks to the mean-spirited perfectionism that so many young women must deal with today. The book is peppered with the vocabulary of a generation many of whom don’t know who Shirley Chisolm or Gloria Steinem are—words like “crappy,” “asshole,” “drama,” and “divas”—yet Gay’s message remains quietly humane, gently humorous. It is an instruction manual for the postfeminist, post–Ms. Magazine, post-peace-and-love crowd. Bad Feminist is Miss Manners for messed-up millennials.
Gay speaks to the mean-spirited perfectionism with which so many young women must deal today.
Patricia J. Williams writes the Diary of A Mad Law Professor column for The Nation magazine and maintains a website of her journalism at www.madlawprofessor.wordpress.com. The recipient of a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, she is also the James L. Dohr Professor of Law at Columbia University
Roxane Gay’s recent collection of essays, Bad Feminist, did something that few anthologies of feminist theory and cultural criticism ever do: it jumped onto the New York Times bestseller list. And this novelist also managed to accomplish this without bashing feminism or making the case that everyone is overreacting to injustices aimed at women.
What does the success of this volume say about this moment in the fraught life of popular feminism?
While Gay is based on campus, she writes in the way you discuss feminist theory with your best friend; the voice of these essays is a funny, scathing, and colloquial. At the same time, Gay is immersed in the deep, internecine arguments of feminism and exhaustively familiar with campus discourses around issues of race and class, gender and sexuality. One of Gay’s achievements is that she offers a kind of straightforward sensibility that guides readers through what can be a morass of conflicting politically correct discourses—and she does so from a feminist and progressive perspective, which may be a first for a contemporary volume of popular feminist theory.
You can see this through line of retro common sense in her important lead essay on privilege, “Peculiar Benefits,” for example, in which she actually lays out a reasonable and compelling way to understand one’s own privilege while not being held hostage by it. “The problem is, cultural critics talk about privilege with such alarming frequency and in such empty ways, we have diluted the word’s meaning,” she correctly writes (16). She then maps the impact that a rigid wielding of the privilege label on many campuses has and identifies it, I would say bravely, as a potential burden on speech and on writing: “When we talk about privilege, some people start to play a very pointless and dangerous game where they try to mix and match various demographic characteristics to determine who wins at the Game of Privilege.… How dare someone speak to a personal experience without accounting for every possible configuration of privilege or the lack thereof?” (18). After these important mappings of a familiar route, she deploys her sometimes laugh-out-loud, almost Wildean humor, which is often epigrammatic: “On my more difficult days, I’m not sure what’s more of a pain in the ass—being black or being a woman. I’m happy to be both of these things, but the world keeps intervening” (16-17). And finally Gay concludes, as she does with thorny struggles over many issues in this volume, with a resounding cheer for a kind of old-fashioned, pre-postmodern…well, humanism, in the 1950s sense, a humanism in which there is such thing as an individual subject, in which that person’s truth matters, and in which there is even (gasp!) a universal human condition: “We should be able to say, ‘This is my truth,’ and have that truth stand without a hundred clamoring voices shouting, giving the impression that multiple truths cannot coexist…. Privilege is relative and contextual” (19).
This old-fashioned humanism, which for once is not used to transcend knowledge of race, class, and gender injustices but actually to integrate such knowledge and recast humanism in a more evolved way, is a sustained theme, and, I would argue, accomplishment, throughout the book. Again and again, Gay returns to argue on behalf of human compassion and even moral judgment and responsibility in navigating tricky issues such as how to talk about sexual violence (“The Careless Language of Sexual Violence”); how to handle popular dismissal of feminist complaints in the media (“How We All Lose,” which examines the impact of Hannah Rosin’s nonfiction bestseller The End of Men); and how to read such cultural “texts” as reality TV shows (“Not Here to Make Friends”) from a feminist perspective.
Refreshingly, Gay often structures her essays by moving us past what seem to be two unhelpful poles: either an all-or-nothing feminist judgment against the objectification and commodification of women in pop culture or an ill-making, uncritical, trendy support of that same objectification. She also shares her own sometimes not-so-PC inner processes as a reader, dreamer, fantasizer, consumer, writer, and pedagogue. This aspect of her voice really works in moving us past stuck places in some conventional feminist discourses, especially on campus and in the national media. By so transparently imparting her own intellectual and emotional journey, even in ways that are not flattering to herself (“It had never crossed my mind before that it was possible for a child to … make it to college unable to read at a college level. Shame on me” [8]), she allows us space to explore and reflect upon our own complex reactions. This rhetorical method works because, well, the truth is that we all probably have layered and nuanced reactions to the hot-button subjects in question. Gay applies this analytical, self-revealing voice to a range of sexy and au courant subjects—from the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey, to the portrayal of Katniss and female heroism in The Hunger Games (“What We Hunger For”), to the representation of women of color in the hit movie The Help, to her own infatuation with the very suburban, very white Sweet Valley High series of young adult novels. Bad feminist, for paying such serious attention to such “trivial” subjects. Great feminist writing, as it takes courage to take seriously and seriously analyze themes and texts to which millions of other women also pay close attention and also have strong responses.
This book is far from perfect; the essays are often too casually structured, suffering from repetition at times—a carelessness that could reflect a younger generation’s acclimation to the essay form through blogs. The essays of Alice Walker or Susan Sontag seem like another genre in comparison. A particularly distracting stylistic habit is that Gay sometimes uses blank space to separate ideas or subjects, which can feel as if she has not bothered to think of a transitional sentence. A second flaw is that at times Gay seems unaware of aspects of literary history in ways that lead her to strike a false note; the idea that gender is a performance did not originate with Judith Butler but rather with Simone de Beauvoir, for instance. And sometimes a whole essay can misfire from apparent lack of context: “The Smooth Surfaces of Idyll,” for instance, makes the point that unhappiness is more interesting than happiness, and bad characters are more interesting than good ones—“We struggle, as writers, to make happiness, contentment and satisfaction interesting” (121)—as if Leo Tolstoy’s lines “All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” had never been written, or John Milton’s Satan never posed this familiar critical question. In another example, Gay writes that Edith Wharton proposes that the bland, conventional May Welland is “likeable” and that “we are not supposed to like … Countess Olenska” (86) – a serious misreading of Wharton’s own ironic and feminist voice.
Finally, twice in the otherwise important essay about standing up for feminism, “How We All Lose,” Gay reads British humorist Caitlin Moran as if she is serious when she is using understated British satire. “Even the most ardent feminist historian … can’t conceal that women have basically done fuck-all for the last 100,000 years,” Moran writes; and: “All women love babies – just like all women love Manolo Blahnik shoes and George Clooney.” When Gay responds, “Again, this is funny, but it is also untrue” (104) and condemns Moran for generalizing about women, I wish Gay had read more P. G. Wodehouse, or David Lodge, or Kingsley or Martin Amis. Yes, these are all old or dead white men, but the British comic novel tradition is the tradition that Moran is writing in, and missing that means Gay misreads Moran’s own scathing feminist satire.
These, however, are quibbles. In Roxane Gay we have a bracing voice from a younger feminist generation, one that is brave and very witty and perceptive. If a critic can, as Gay has, walk us responsibly through the thicket of identity and feminist politics to a newly inclusive perspective, and can argue in a time of caution and self-censoring that “writers cannot protect their readers from themselves, nor should they be expected to” (151), then she has done a new generation of younger readers, along with the rest of us, a service.
In Roxane Gay we have a bracing voice from a younger feminist generation, one that is brave and very witty and perceptive.
Naomi Wolf is the author of the landmark international bestseller The Beauty Myth, which challenged the cosmetics industry and the marketing of unrealistic standards of beauty, launching a new wave of feminism in the early 1990s. Her latest book, Vagina: A New Biography, is an iTunes bestseller. Wolf’s New York Times bestseller The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot is a call to preserve liberty and democracy. Wolf is a regular columnist for Project Syndicate, a frequent blogger for the Huffington Post, and she writes cultural commentary for the Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, the New York Times, and the Wall St. Journal. Her TV appearances include Meet the Press and The Colbert Report. A graduate of Yale and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Wolf was a consultant to Al Gore during his presidential campaign on women’s issues and social policy. She is a cofounder of the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, an organization that teaches leadership to young women, and the American Freedom Campaign, a grassroots democracy movement in the United States. In 2015, Wolf received a doctorate from the University of Oxford, and in 2016 she will be an Assistant Visiting Fellow and the Rothermere American Institute of the University of Oxford.
Bad Feminist, brittney cooper, Carla Kaplan, Jennifer Baumgardner, Naomi Wolf, Patricia Williams, Roxane Gay, short takes
3 comments on “Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay”
Christina E. Mitchell says:
This is an interesting forum, and I applaud its arrival. I wish to request that women who are not of, or hold feminist understandings outside of, the Western, predominantly white, academy weigh in, please. I would like to know what Spivak thinks of ‘Bad Feminist’, for instance.
Nkadzi Lemang says:
Yes, Gayatri Spival!! I too would want her views, or any other two-third worlds feminists.
On Imperfection and Its Comforts… | Madlawprofessor's Weblog says:
[…] http://signsjournal.org/bad-feminist/#williams […]
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Figaro at St. John's
On Wednesday evening, May 23, the sanctuary of St. John's was host to an entire orchestra, conducted by Peabody School of Music faculty member Richard Giarusso (whom many may remember from his Williams College days as a student member of the choir) and an ensemble of young singers, including prize-winning local artists Erin Nafzinger, Gwen Tunnicliffe, and Elaina Pullano, for a concert performance of Act II of Mozart's masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro, presented by The New Opera of Williamstown.
The New Opera was founded in 2003 by Giarusso and Keith Kibler, noted baritone and Williams College artist associate in voice, to provide performance opportunities for young singers starting their professional careers, who are always eager for the chance to sing with a real orchestra. A concert performance of a one-act opera or of selections from longer works is presented each spring. Past performances have ranged from Purcell and Handel to Mozart, Puccini, Debussy, and Richard Strauss; these were presented in Williams College's Chapin Hall on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, when much of the potential audience was out of town. It was suggested that offering a performance earlier in the week would make it more accessible to a wider audience. Since Chapin Hall would not be available, Jimmy Bergin, Coordinator of Special Events at St. John's, offered the church, with its beautiful acoustics, as a venue, and, indeed, St. John's was full of eager opera-lovers of all ages, including many college students and some even younger.
Richard Giarusso
Erin Nafziger
Keith Kibler
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I Bought a Chanel at the Flagship Store in Paris
champs elysees neiman marcus
Jo Malone and MAC stores are going in, a Ted Baker store is confirmed, but the jewel in Britomart's crown is none other than Chanel. According to sources, New Zealand's first ever Chanel flagship will open in the Britomart development mid-year. Whether that will encourage the aforementioned...
Today we take a closer look at the newly opened Stone Island Flagship Store in Paris. An installation dedicated to the moon and the fascination of images inspired by space expeditions was the setting of the opening cocktail of the first Parisian address of the Italian brand. The references to...
ck Calvin Klein's has recently launched its new Pitt Street Westfield Sydney Development flagship store, with spring summer range in-store now – including shoes and handbags, small leather goods and footwear, as well as watches, jewelry, eyewear, and fragrance. A super smick fit out the store...
Dean and Dan Caten of Dsquared2 celebrate launch of their first international flagship store in Paris. Sunday, October 2nd, 2011. Dsquared2, 247/251 rue St Honoré, Paris and The Ritz, Paris. Dean and Dan Caten of Dsquared2 threw an afternoon cocktail party in their new 247/251 rue St...
10 things you need to know about the Karl Lagerfeld London flagship store: 1. The address: 145-147 Regent Street. 2. You can buy little Karls there (see image below). 3. The bags are to die for. Remember, Karl Lagerfeld also designs for Chanel. You do the math. 4. In addition to little...
The incredible growth and success of Mulberry is no better demonstrated than through the opening of a new flagship store in New York and their new London flagship store on New Bond Street. This uniquely designed building has brought together the best of traditional British crafts, including...
The store, which is actually a five-floor hotel that will function as a store/showroom/offices, is actually the first store opened by the designer since 1992. Back in the '80s during the height of his career, there were multiple stores in L.A., New York and Paris, but he eventually closed them...
The Champs Elysees hosts millions of tourists every year and sports a growing number of luxury outlets like the flagship Louis Vuitton store and US clothes retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Banana Republic. "Establishing this store on the Champs Elysees will be the ultimate symbol...
Burberry Store - Rue de Faubourg Saint-Honoré Christopher Bailey hosted an event to celebrate the opening of the new Burberry flagship store in Paris on december 1st. Inside the new flagship store The 10,000 square foot Burberry store on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which opened this...
street in Paris, it is a destination visited by the most affluent shoppers in the world. This fact lures the world's most renowned brands to establish a store on the most famous and fashionable avenue in the world.And Tiffany & Co. is the latest brand to open up a flagship store on the...
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Penguin Holiday Guide
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Books for Boys
Penguin Teen
© Penguin 2019
Chelsea Clinton; illustrated by Alexandra Boiger
Chelsea Clinton introduces tiny feminists, mini activists and little kids who are ready to take on the world to thirteen inspirational women who never took no for an answer, and who always, inevitably and without fail, persisted.
Throughout American history, there have always been women who have spoken out for what's right, even when they have to fight to be heard. In early 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren's refusal to be silenced in the Senate inspired a spontaneous celebration of women who persevered in the face of adversity. In this book, Chelsea Clinton celebrates thirteen American women who helped shape our country through their tenacity, sometimes through speaking out, sometimes by staying seated, sometimes by captivating an audience. They all certainly persisted.
She Persisted is for everyone who has ever wanted to speak up but has been told to quiet down, for everyone who has ever tried to reach for the stars but was told to sit down, and for everyone who has ever been made to feel unworthy or unimportant or small.
With vivid, compelling art by Alexandra Boiger, this book shows readers that no matter what obstacles may be in their paths, they shouldn't give up on their dreams. Persistence is power.
This book features: Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, Clara Lemlich, Nellie Bly, Virginia Apgar, Maria Tallchief, Claudette Colvin, Ruby Bridges, Margaret Chase Smith, Sally Ride, Florence Griffith Joyner, Oprah Winfrey, Sonia Sotomayor—and one special cameo.
Praise for She Persisted:
★ “[A] lovely, moving work of children’s literature [and a] polished introduction to a diverse and accomplished group of women.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Exemplary . . . This well-curated list will show children that women’s voices have made themselves emphatically heard.” —Booklist
“[She Persisted] will remind little girls that they can achieve their goals if they don’t let obstacles get in the way.” —Family Circle
“We can’t wait to grab a copy for some of the awesome kids in our lives . . . and maybe some of the grown-ups, too.” —Bustle
“A message we all need to hear.” —Scary Mommy
“This will be a great read for kids (especially young girls).” —Romper
“We cannot wait for the launch of Smart Girl Chelsea Clinton’s new book to help remind kids everywhere that the fearlessness that characterizes the thirteen women in the book is what has emboldened us to constantly strive for progress and justice.” —Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls
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Total Film – June, 2004
BLOOD ON THE SAND – by Fred Schruers
The brain-melting heat. The cash-draining setbacks. The expensive inconvenience of a real war breaking out. One thing’s for sure: making $200-million sword’n’sandal epic Troy was no day at the beach…
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Thirtieth of August 2003. It’s mid-afternoon on a typically oppressive 85F day and even the local dogs are sprawled in the shade of the giant plaster construction that forms the gates of doomed ancient city Troy. Beside them lies an exhausted, burlap-clad extra, who’s also succumbed to the heat. Not the best conditions in which to shoot a complex battle scene, but Troy’s creators-stars, extras and crew alike-don’t have much choice.
After all, this is day 100 of one of the most expensive movies shoots ever; one insider puts the expensive movie costs at $700,000 per day. Add in other massive below-the-line costs ($30 million, no less) for an ocean-spanning company move after studio Warner Bros decided the original Morocco location was too risky during the Iraq war, plus the $17,5 million Brad Pitt will pocket for playing tormented Greek warrior Achilles, and you’ve got something like a $200-million price tag. Time, as they say, is money, and not a moment can be wasted.
But neither the heat nor the pressure appears to be causing sulkiness or fits of temper-at least as far as Total Film can ascertain. "You look like you’ve got a basketball between your legs," jokes Eric Hulk Bana after witnessing co-star Orlando Bloom repeatedly run across the baking sand. The former Legolas smiles, " Yeah, my legs are a bit bow," he mutters.
As Paris, Prince of Troy, it’s Bloom who’s kicked off the massive Ancient World conflict this movie portrays, having eloped with Greek queen Helen (Diane Kruger), the wife of Spartan king Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson). With his all-powerful, Greek-ruler brother Agamemnon (Brian Cox) at his side, Menelaus has arrived at Troy’s gates to personally challenge Paris. But Paris has his big bro-Trojan commander Hector (Bana)-on hand to help fight his battles for him.
This afternoon, Bloom has to focus on a single key moment; the bloodied, post-confrontation Paris ignoring his brother’s exhortations and sprinting madly towards the charging, 50,000-strong Greek army to retrieve his symbolically weighty sword from the hard-packed dirt and carry it inside the gates. "Just when you think he’s gone mad," explains director Wolfgang Petersen, "he’s turned it into the heroic act of getting the sword of Troy."
Problem is, Petersen isn’t quite seeing what he wants in Bloom’s gritty dash and dive to earth, so he calls for a cut. "Are we doin’ this again?" asks Bloom in a neutral tone. Petersen nods. Bloom squints and asks, half-jokingly, "So, just…Act…Better?"
"What can I say?" answers Petersen who, even in his floppy white sunhat, carries some of the elegance of a master of ceremonies in a Weimar nightclub. "Just do it differently…" He pauses, then gives in to the concept. "Better…"
Petersen, a veteran German theatre director, first made his mark on world cinema with Das Boot in 1981. That model of subaquatic claustrophobia wouldn’t seem a natural calling card for a sprawling epic that he estimates to be set "90 percent outdoors". Early scenes were filmed in Malta and much of the Greek assault from beach to city shot here in Cabo, on a 2,800-acre spread that boasts two miles of mostly untouched coastline.
Sheltered momentarily from the sun by a blue tarp, the 63-year-old Petersen considers what he’s taken on: "I’ve done big, complicated movies, but nothing of this score. It’s so complex. This is, so to speak, the big one for me in the sense of the difficult logistics of it and everything. It’s challenging."
Of course, Petersen doesn’t literally have to direct a 50,000-strong army. Instead, he has one-hundredth of that number to deal with, CG-multiplication-magic creating the rest. Comparisons with The Lord Of The Rings’ massive battle theatrics are obvious and though Petersen insists he admired Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy, he says, "it’s totally different to Troy. In Troy, the intention is to at least try to give an audience the feeling they are watching real people fighting each other. And it’s not sort of darkish, magical light. It’s harsh sunlight. It’s blood, sweat and tears. It’s hopefully getting an audience sucked inside a battle to experience how that could have been. It was no fun. It was not glorious at all. And it was unorganized. It was a mess. It was 1,250 years before Christ. This is not the time of Alexander The Great with formations and all these kind of clever staging of battles. This is tens of thousands of soldiers just throwing themselves into each other and seeing what happens. Everybody hacks at everyone. There’s a lot of tough stuff."
He watches his first assistant director, Gerry Gavigan, positioning the 500 extras for their charge up the hill. They are outfitted variously as Myceneans, Spartans, Thessalonians, Ithacans, Salaminians and, most fearsome, the black-clad Myrmidons (led by Pitt’s Achilles, albeit not in today’s scene). But the first rehearsed charge, by the horde of extras that’s thick with locals as a well as sub-army of more than 200 Bulgarian jocks, isn’t convincing. "Cut, cut, cut," comes the instruction from the assistant director. "Let’s go again."
Petersen is unfazed. "It’s an extremely difficult movie, as I said," he reminds Total Film between rehearsal takes. "Such an outdoor movie. You know how vulnerable you are as a production. A lot of people get sick-a big problem we still have. Here especially, Montezuma’s Revenge, the stomach thing. It hits everybody. Some are in the hospital on an IV drip. With these logistics and the sickness and the heat…I think what keeps us going is that we have a really good movie. If there were any doubts about what we are doing here, it would be almost impossible to go through this. It’s Homer, it’s the Iliad. A wonderful combination of grand scale and intimate human relations, a multi layered story."
Preparing to head into the broiling sun and survey both the troops and the shot, he gives a poker player’s twist of the mouth, as if reminding himself of something that has served as daily inspiration: "This is one of the great stories of all time."
"I guess the best evidence of the power of the Trojan War myth," says writer David Benioff, "is that we’re still talking about it 3,000 years later." Since adapting his own book, 25th Hour, for Spike Lee, Benioff’s now one of the hottest screenwriters in Hollywood. But he’s all too aware of the magnitude of this project. After all, Benioff’s story encompasses much more than Homer’s tale of the war; it also uses Virgil’s Aeneid and various histories. "The Iliad begins with the rage of Achilles over Agamemnon’s abduction of a slave girl, Briseis (Rose Byrne)," he says. "In my script, that doesn’t occur until page 82 or so. This is the Trojan War in its entirety and I’ve taken serious liberties and been ruthless in terms of what to cut out and what to change."
The screenplay he came up with was so clean that Warner Bros took the extremely rare step of sending it straight out to Petersen (whose Radiant Productions has a deal with the studio) and around the same time slipped a copy to Pitt.
Pitt had all but signed on when he met up with Petersen. "We had a nice dinner in a German restaurant in L.A., having a good time with every heavy German food and some beers," the director recalls. "We talked about the script and the part and got very excited about it. We talked also about Eric Bana, who I’d met in the meantime-Brad had also seen Eric’s film Chopper-and we both had the feeling that he could be a great Hector. And then came the long, hard work of casting the other parts."
Bana, a formidable presence at 34, needed a younger brother who shared at least some of his chiselled features but could be the sheltered neophyte to his veteran soldier-and the impetuous lover of the most dangerously beautiful woman in the world. Bloom, then 25, had burst onto the scene just months before as earnest elf Legolas in The Fellowship Of The Ring. He’d also had a small part in Black Hawk Down but was otherwise untested.
Arriving in London to meet Bloom, Petersen was initially unconvinced. "I’d never heard of this young kid before. ‘Orlando Bloom? Oh yeah, the guy from Lord Of The Rings with that funny long blond hair. He doesn’t look right to me.’ He comes in and looks completely different, and my English people there are saying, ‘Oh, Orlando Bloom is here, my daughter is going nuts! All the girls are crazy about him!’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s good.’ He’s so perfect for Paris. Every girl loves him. That’s Paris!"
Before long, Petersen had rounded out his cast with Bloom’s Fellowship compatriot Sean Bean as Odysseus, 19-year-old discovery Garrett Hedlund as Achilles’ younger cousin Patroclus, and the venerated Peter O’Toole and Julie Christie as King Priam of Troy and Achilles’ mother, Thetis.
Finally, the epic needed the woman who intoxicates young Paris and thereby spurs all that follows. "All the blood, all the violence of the war was initiated by a passionate love story," says Petersen. Helen of Troy had to be the otherworldly, a blonde aberration among the swarthy Greeks; with her lambent blue-green eyes and aristocratic bearing, Diane Kruger won the day.
In keeping with Petersen’s wish for "fresh faces", it was not, other than Pitt, the costliest cast. Just as well, given the production’s cash-hemorrhaging setbacks. A hurricane washed away great sections of the production’s costly Cabo sets, while the Morocco-Mexico move saw massive props being broken down and crated in the bellies of Russian Antonov transport planes-including the 40-foot Trojan horse, with which the Greeks manage to penetrate Troy’s defences. (It had played its part well in Malta, though, where some scenes had already been shot. As Bean recalls: "It was expecting a trapdoor, but we actually came through doors like it was all covered in insects!")
Even worse, the work in Malta had been marred by one tragedy-bodybuilder George Camilleri was injured in a waterborne action sequence and, less than three weeks after a pin was inserted in his badly broken leg, he died from a heart attack. There was also the fact that, ironically, Pitt needed to take time out after damaging his Achilles tendon. Not to mention the hard-to-assess PR debacle of widely circulated paparazzo photos of the star, helmetless and casual, legs attractively bare, talking on a mobile phone in the Maltese sun…
There’s no escaping that much of the weight of bringing off this staggeringly expensive epic rests on Pitt’s portrayal of Achilles, whom Petersen calls "a haunted guy". Petersen grants the sceptics their question: "I would say normally, ‘Is that Brad?’ Can he pull that off? Does he have that dark side to him?’" But he adds, "He absolutely has. I think Brad has, from the very beginning, a very strong instinct about how to play this part. He felt as an actor that he was born to do this. At some point he even said to Peter O’Toole, ‘All the parts I ever did were like a preparation for this.’ His whole demeanor every single day here, his physical preparation, his mental preparation, the fact that he stopped smoking for it…He did everything to get ready for the part and into the part."
Including an attempt to get his mouth around the production’s haute-English pronounced dialogue, "There was, for Brad, maybe some struggle from the very beginning, finding the right dialect," admits Petersen. "But he got control of that very quickly and from that followed the mission of being the greatest warrior of all time."
Pitt wasn’t alone in being challenged. Bana brooded at length before accepting the Hector role. "It’s the process of convincing yourself that you’re up to it," he says, "because if you can’t do it, you’re going to make a monumental cock of yourself."
But, since shooting started, Bana’s had no regrets. He came to regard his on-screen sibling Bloom "as like a real brother", and was only too delighted to be working apposite the legendary O’Toole. "It’s just really special to perform scenes with someone you feel genuine affection for", he explains. "We had an amazing scene this week, just before I go off to battle Achilles-bidding farewell to my immediate family. Peter’s character is about the only one I allow Hector to show any emotions toward, so it was just really nice, a total no-acting-required moment."
From the moment Bloom and Bana first met, during a practise horseback ride in London, with plenty of excited speculation about the film, plus cigars and more talk afterwards, the bonding was unequivocal. "I look up to him, a real honourable man," Bloom says of his co-star. "Like Hector is to Paris, he’s a real rock."
As Bloom sits talking, studiously ignoring the long gash the make-up crew has created on his right thigh, he’s mindful that, "I still have to shoot this scene where I see my brother go out to fight Achilles. Hector is an honourable, skilful, brave and strong fighter. But Achilles is a killer. So when he goes out to fight…"He pauses and ponders the scene, "I still have to play this moment where I see my brother do what I should have done."
"Paris is a very different role for Orlando Bloom," says Benioff. "Obviously, he was he fearless hero in Lord Of The Rings, who gets to run up an elephant and shoot an arrow in his brain. And here, yeah, he is showing fear…"
"This is an epic, fantastic, huge drama," says Bloom, "but it deals with very human issues: anger, hate, love, fear, and all those things that lead a man to war, lead a country to war. As a young prince, Paris has been protected by the umbrella of his family and that environment. He’s an archer, which is more of a sport, and he’s never really taken up a blade. He’s left it up to his older brother to be the warrior. He’s a complex character, an anti-hero. There are certainly a lot of dark qualities about him because of the decision he makes…"
Bloom pauses as a sea breeze that’s accompanying the arrival of dusk sends a half-hearted dust devil across the ground toward him. Just behind it is an assistant director coming to say Bloom is wrapped for the day. Many a young actor would be halfway to the trailer in a heartbeat, heading for the hotel pool and a beer, but Bloom politely asks for a moment and walks a few paces to get his benediction from Petersen. The director just gazes back with obvious fondness and gives him an acknowledging nod. Bloom brings forth his hand with a slightly formal hitching motion to shake Petersen’s. "A pleasure doin’ business with ya, boss," he says.
Trudging through the gate, he finishes his interrupted thought. "Paris is a young man and I’m a young man. And as a young man, you’re coming to terms with an awful lot. It’s the seven deadly sins, you know? Everyone’s trying to understand what they mean to him. And so it’s been a challenge." He waits a beat, then adds: "But a really exciting one."
Total Film rejoins Petersen as crewman with long horses scurry across the dusty field trying to settle the grit the sun’s been baking all day. The director considers what’s forced him to endure so many ways where "your brain is melting". Try as he might to cling to the reality that cost him so much sweat over so many months, Petersen turns philosophical. "I think we all have Achilles and Hector in ourselves. If I look at myself, or when I was a kid, do I respond to the nobility of Hector? Yes. There is something great about that. Do I react to the fact that Achilles is so self-absorbed, that he’s got a dark side, that he wants to have fame forever? Do I have part of that myself? Yes. I think everybody has. That’s what makes this story so interesting-that it reflects more the reality of life than just, ‘Okay, this is the bad guy and this is the good guy.’
"And this is why the project is risky. It doesn’t go the clichéd way of saying, ‘This is good and this is bad.’ These characters have much to do with your own life, It’s always the same story. It always has to do with how people deal with love, with violence, with passion. It’s just told on a different scale."
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Garcia and Georges Earn All-Skyline Men’s Soccer Honors
NEW YORK — St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) sophomore Kenneth Garcia (Elmhurst, N.Y./Bayside) and junior Mateusz Georges (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Utrecht) were named to the Skyline Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams announced by the league office earlier today.
Garcia lands on the first team for the second straight season, which Georges earns his first All-Skyline nod as a second-team selection. The duo combined for 23 goals to lead a Bears squad that saw a four-win improvement over last season and nearly quadrupled their offensive output over their 2017 campaign.
Garcia was one of the most impressive offensive players in the league this season, leading the Skyline in points (39) and goals (16) while his seven assists tied two others for fourth in the conference. He compiled four multi-goal games in 2018, featuring a five-goal, two-assist outburst against Pratt, that set program records for goals and points in a single game.
Moving up to the forward position after playing in the midfield his last two seasons, Georges ranked second on the team in goals scored and was 14th in the conference with seven tallies. The junior recorded his first collegiate hat trick in a triumph over Valley Forge in September.
The All-Conference teams and Player, Rookie, and Coach of the Year are selected by the league's 10 head coaches.
Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams Announced
2018 Skyline Conference Men's Soccer All-Conference Team
Edens Avril, F, Old Westbury (So.; Hempstead, N.Y.)
Jonah Beberman, F, Yeshiva (Fr.; Highland Park, N.J.)
Connor Doyle, F, Mount Saint Mary (Fr.; New Windsor, N.Y.)
Rayneri Ruiz, F, St. Joseph's-Long Island (Jr.; Bay Shore, N.Y.)
Chris Tavernese, F, Maritime (So.; Garden City, N.Y.)
Parker Gallt, M, Maritime (Sr.; Las Vegas, Nev.)
Kenneth Garcia, M, St. Joseph's-Brooklyn (So.; Elmhurst, N.Y.)
Zach Lysakowski, M, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (So.; Reading, Pa.)
Matthew Wyant, M, Mount Saint Mary (Fr.; Beacon, N.Y.)
Marc Ceruti, B, St. Joseph's-Long Island (Sr.; Shoreham, N.Y.)
Justin Forrest, B, Maritime (Jr.; Lusby, Md.)
Sam Ney, B, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Sr.; Vicenza, Italy)
Eric Ragogna, B, Old Westbury (Sr.; Bethpage, N.Y.)
Matthew Milner, G, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Jr.; Mt. Airy, Md.)
Mike Warren, G, Old Westbury (Sr.; East Meadow, N.Y.)
Colin Berg, F, Sarah Lawrence (Sr.; Franklin, Mass.)
Damian Duda, F, St. Joseph's-Long Island (Jr.; Riverhead, N.Y.)
Mateusz Georges, F, St. Joseph's-Brooklyn (Jr.; Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Anthony Sblendorio, F, Maritime (Jr.; Bay Shore, N.Y.)
Yianni Amvrosiatos, M, Purchase (Sr. Warwick, N.Y.)
Justin Busto, M, St. Joseph's-Long Island (Sr.; Hauppauge, N.Y.)
Connor Lynch, M, Mount Saint Mary (Sr.; Clifton Park, N.Y.)
Joe Springer, M, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Sr.; Bowie, Md.)
Rob Cal, B, Purchase (Sr.; Port Jervis, N.Y.)
Dan Cohen, B, Yeshiva (Sr.; Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Kyle Gully, B, Farmingdale State (Sr.; No. Babylon, N.Y.)
Joseph Mesoraca, B, Mount Saint Mary (So.; Oceanside, N.Y.)
Sean O'Neill, B, Maritime (Fr.; Highland Mills, N.Y.)
Scott Flores, G, Farmingdale State (Sr.; Commack, N.Y.)
Offensive Player of the Year: Rayneri Ruiz, St. Joseph's-Long Island
Defensive Player of the Year: Matthew Milner, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Rookie of the Year: Jonah Beberman, Yeshiva
Coach of the Year: Daniel Gwyther, Maritime (fifth season)
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What is ART treatment for Infertility
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is any fertility treatment in which the egg and sperm are handled. An ART health team includes physicians, psychologists, embryologists, lab technicians, nurses and allied health professionals who work together to help infertile couples achieve pregnancy.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the most common ART technique. IVF involves stimulating and retrieving multiple mature eggs from a woman, fertilizing them with a man’s sperm in a dish in a lab, and implanting the embryos in the uterus three to five days after fertilization.
Each year thousands of babies are born in the United States as a result of ART. The success rate of ART is lower after age 35.
Other techniques are sometimes used in an IVF cycle, such as:
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In ICSI, a single healthy sperm is injected directly into a mature egg. ICSI is often used when semen quality is a problem, there are few sperm, or if fertilization attempts during prior IVF cycles failed.
Assisted hatching. This technique attempts to assist the implantation of the embryo into the lining of the uterus by opening the outer covering of the embryo (hatching).
Donor eggs or sperm. Most ART is done using the woman’s own eggs and her partner’s sperm. However, if there are severe problems with either the eggs or sperm, you may choose to use eggs, sperm or embryos from a known or anonymous donor.
Gestational carrier. Women who don’t have a functional uterus or for whom pregnancy poses a serious health risk might choose IVF using a gestational carrier. In this case, the couple’s embryo is placed in the uterus of the carrier for pregnancy.
Complications of female infertility treatment may include:
Multiple pregnancy. The most common complication of infertility treatment is a multiple pregnancy — twins, triplets or more. Generally, the greater the number of fetuses, the higher the risk of premature labor and delivery. Babies born prematurely are at increased risk of health and developmental problems. The goal of infertility treatment should be a single healthy pregnancy, and preventing multiple pregnancies should be discussed before treatment starts. In some cases, fetal reduction can be used to help a woman deliver fewer babies with lower health risks. Pursuing fetal reduction, however, is a major decision with ethical, emotional and psychological consequences.
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Use of injectable fertility drugs to induce ovulation can cause OHSS, in which the ovaries become swollen and painful. Symptoms may include mild abdominal pain, bloating and nausea that lasts about a week, or longer if you become pregnant. Rarely, a more severe form causes rapid weight gain and shortness of breath requiring emergency treatment.
Bleeding or infection. As with any invasive procedure, there is a rare risk of bleeding or infection with assisted reproductive technology.
Premature delivery or low birth weight. The greatest risk factor for low birth weight is a multiple fetus pregnancy. In single live births, there may be a greater chance of preterm delivery or low birth weight associated with IVF.
Birth defects. Some research suggests that babies conceived using IVF might be at increased risk of certain birth defects, such as heart and digestive problems and cleft lip or cleft palate. However, most studies conclude that this appears to be related to why couples need infertility treatment and not the IVF procedures themselves.
Complications of male infertility treatment are rare and may occur following surgery including infection, bruising, or lack of efficacy with the procedure.
This article is originated from : www.mayoclinic.org
Infertility, Men's health, Women's health
How to treat Infertility
How to prevent infertility
Infertility, Women's health
How to diagnose infertility in women
Infertility, Men's health
How to diagnose infertility in men
What are the symptoms of infertility
Infertility risk factors
First name and last name *
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FIELD SET FOR WORLD BOWLING TOUR FINALS
ARLINGTON, TEXAS (October 24, 2011) The finalists for the World Tenpin Bowling Association World Bowling Tour Finals presented by the Professional Bowlers Association were determined Oct. 22 after the conclusion of the AMF Australian Masters - the final event on the 2011 World Bowling Tour.
The top three players in the final World Bowling Tour points list in both the men's and women's divisions advanced to the World Bowling Tour Finals, which will take place Nov. 17 in Las Vegas with a total prize fund of $40,000.
Finland's Mika Koivuniemi took the top spot in the men's rankings with 198 points, while the United States' Sean Rash was second with 142 points. Jason Belmonte of Australia finished third with 120 points. On the women's side, the United States' Carolyn Dorin-Ballard finished first with 145 ranking points.
A pair of Swedes were next with Nina Flack in second at 120 and Sandra Andersson third with 111 points.
The World Bowling Tour is made up of various events around the world throughout the course of 2011.
Players earn points based on how they finish in the event and those points were tabulated throughout the season to determine the top three men and top three women who will be invited to compete in the World Bowling Tour Finals presented by the Professional Bowlers Association.
The World Bowling Tour Finals are scheduled to take place at the PBA's World Series of Bowling on Nov. 17.
The event will be aired nationally in the United States. The top three men and top three women will bowl a stepladder finals format in their respective divisions at the World Bowling Tour Finals.
The prize money for each division is the same, with the winner taking $10,000, second place earning $6,000 and third place winning $4,000.
The World Tenpin Bowling Association, which is made up of 115 bowling federations, governs the sport throughout the world. For more information on WTBA and the World Bowling Tour, visit WorldTenpinBowling.com.
Posted by TexSport Publications at 10/24/2011 11:00:00 AM
Labels: bowling, USA Bowling
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« China: The new wind superpower
The real smart water »
IBM to build world’s first national smart utility grid
February 4, 2009 by Todd Woody
Photo: Visit Malta
The Mediterranean island nation of Malta on Wednesday unveiled a deal with IBM to build a “smart utility” system that will digitize the country’s electricity grid and water system.
Granted, Malta is a microstate with a population of 403,500 (smaller than Sacramento; bigger than Iceland). But the world — and utility infrastructure giants like General Electric (GE) — will be watching closely. Not only is Malta the first country to green its national grid but it will also serve as a test case for whether integrating so-called smart technologies into both electricity and water systems can help mitigate the increasing deleterious effects of global warming on the island.
As with other island states, power and water are intricately linked on Malta. All of the archipelago’s electricity is generated from imported fuel oil while the country depends on energy-intensive desalinization plants for half its water supply. Meanwhile, rising sea levels threaten its underground freshwater supplies.
“About 55% of the cost of water on Malta is related to electricity – it’s a pretty staggering amount,” Guido Bartels, general manager of IBM’s Global Energy & Utilities Industry division, told Green Wombat from Malta on Tuesday.
So how can digitizing the grid help? IBM (IBM) and its partners will replace Malta’s 250,000 utility meters with interactive versions that will allow Malta’s electric utility, Enemalta, to monitor electricity use in real-time and set variable rates that reward customers that cut their power consumption. As part of the $91 million (€70 million) project, a sensor network will be deployed on the grid – along transmission lines, substations and other infrastructure – to provide information that will let the utility more efficiently manage electricity distribution and detect potential problems. IBM will provide the software that will aggregate and analyze all that data so Enemalta can identify opportunities to reduce costs – and emissions from Malta’s carbon-intensive power plants. (For an excellent primer on smart grids, see Earth2Tech editor Katie Fehrenbacher’s recent story.)
A sensor network will also be installed on the water system for Malta’s Water Services Corporation. “They’ll indicate where there is water leakage and provide better information about the water network,” says Robert Aguilera, IBM’s lead executive for the Malta project, which is set to be completed in 2012. “The information that will be collected by the system will allow the government to make decisions on how to save money on water and electricity consumption.”
Cutting the volume of water that must be desalinated would, of course, reduce electricity use in the 122-square-mile (316-square-kilometer) nation.
With the U.S. Congress debating an economic stimulus package that includes tens of billions of dollars for greening the power grid, IBM sees smart grid-related technologies as a $126 billion market opportunity in 2009. That’s because what’s happening in Malta today will likely be the future elsewhere – no country is an island when it comes to climate change. Rising electricity prices and water shortages are afflicting regions stretching from Australia to Africa to California.
IBM spokeswoman Emily Horn says Big Blue has not yet publicly identified which companies will be providing the smart meters, software and other services for the Malta grid project.
Malta’s greenhouse gas emissions are expected to rise 62% above 1990 levels by 2012, according to the European Environment Agency, and as a member of the European Union the country will be under pressure to cut its carbon. A smart energy grid will help but Malta, like Hawaii and other island states, will have to start replacing carbon-intensive fuel oil with renewable energy.
The island could present opportunities for other types of smart networks. According to the Maltese government, Malta has the second-highest concentration of cars in the world, with 660 vehicles per square kilometer. That also contributes to the country’s dependence on imported oil and its greenhouse gas emissions.
Given that Silicon Valley company Better Place has described islands as the ideal location to install its electric car charging infrastructure, perhaps CEO Shai Agassi should be looking at adding Malta to the list of countries that have signed deals with the startup.
Posted in alternative energy, Better Place, climate change, corporate green, enviro capitalism, environment, global warming, green grid, green policy, IBM, smart grid, the green economy, water tech | Tagged climate change, global warming, green grid, IBM, Malta, smart grid, smarter water systems | 9 Comments
on February 4, 2009 at 11:05 am | Reply David Doty, Columbia, SC
It is silly for this writer to say that they are trying to mitigate the effects on global warming on this island, but there are more important issues to address here…
A “smart grid” can help reduce the price of electricity a little, but there are limits to what it can accomplish because there are limits to the demand for off-peak energy until there is an energy-storage solution. The batteries in electric vehicles aren’t going to solve the storage problem – because there won’t be enough plug-in vehicles sold to make much of a difference for at least 30 years. The grid stability problem is more immediate, and a more immediate solution is required. Fortunately, a solution could quickly be developed with adequate funding – if anyone in control of funds were really interested.
Scientists have recently shown that off-peak wind energy can be used to recycle CO2 into ethanol, gasoline, and jet fuel at up to 60% efficiency. Using off-peak renewable energy to recycle CO2 into transportation fuels addresses both the oil and the climate challenges, and it completely stabilizes the power grid, no matter how much wind and solar are added. These wind-generated carbon-neutral fuels, dubbed WindFuels, will compete when oil is above $40 to $90/bbl, depending mostly on the price of the off-peak low-carbon energy. Detailed scientific, engineering, and economics analyses are available at http://windfuels.com/ .
The seriousness of the grid stability challenge is best understood by looking at the off-peak problem. In 2006 power producers had to start paying people to take their excess off-peak grid energy for the first time. During 2008 the energy sold had negative value ~3% of the time throughout the wind corridor in the U.S. Some regions were seeing months with negative priced energy ~20% of the time. Our only hope for addressing all of these challenges is to begin now with a plan that can simultaneously address the energy storage, climate change, and transportation fuels challenges.
The essence of the grid problem is that electrical energy must be used when it is produced. To get rid of excess off-peak energy, the producers have been paying users to take it – up to $200/MWhr! Negative-price, low-carbon, off-peak energy will become increasingly available as long as wind is added more quickly than long-distance transmission capacity is expanded – or until many WindFuels plants start coming online.
The challenge with wind has been getting wind energy from good sites to where and when it is needed. Efficient conversion of off-peak wind energy and waste CO2 into standard liquid fuels solves these problems. Annual WindFuels production per land area in good wind regions will exceed biofuels production density in fertile farming areas by a factor of 4 to 30.
The cost of producing carbon-neutral ethanol and gasoline from CO2 and wind or nuclear energy will depend mostly on the cost of the off-peak clean energy. In some areas, the cost of off-peak wind energy is already below 2 cents/kWhr and it continues to drop as more wind is added. At this rate, the cost of ethanol and even gasoline from wind and CO2 can be below $1.50/gal. There is no net carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere from gasoline or ethanol that has been made from waste CO2.
on February 4, 2009 at 1:07 pm | Reply J. Langen Charlotte, NC
I agree with Mr. Doty. A smart grid can only do so much to change people’s behavior. People use their appliances when they have time to get things done – the evenings. A partial solution would be to buy programmable appliances, but that’s expensive and still wouldn’t make that much of a difference. Spending time, money & research on renewable energy (solar wasn’t even mentioned in the article) seems like a more cost-effective approach. Solar technology is progressing (such as cyclindrical easily-mounted “panels”) to where it can be used on businesses and homes soon. The only “fix” to the grid that would be necessary would be to allow for local production to be bought by the power company – unless it was just used as a charger for your electric-car battery. Finally, electric cars are closer than one might think. A company in San Francisco can turn a hybrid into fully electric (with engine just generating electricity) for a few thousand dollars. An individual tax credit for this would encourage lots of people to do so.
on February 4, 2009 at 6:14 pm | Reply Kris, Houston TX
What exactly is this author saying? Very poorly written article. Is Malta planning to generate electricity from sea water?
on February 5, 2009 at 2:10 pm | Reply Mike Chicago, IL
The process Malta uses to take the salt out of sea water (so you can drink it, etc) requires energy (like that provided by electricity).
They are not going to generate electricity from sea water.
Read this again:
“All of the archipelago’s electricity is generated from imported fuel oil while the country depends on energy-intensive desalinization plants for half its water supply.”
on February 5, 2009 at 8:38 pm | Reply hiren, chicago
“They are not going to generate electricity from sea water.”… Mike from Chicago
Not sure if Malta would ever do this or not but under-water turbines in the sea can be used to generate electricity.
on February 7, 2009 at 8:27 pm | Reply John, Detroit, MI
Anyone who thinks that this does not have the potential to change consumer behavior and reduce energy waste is naive.
on February 10, 2009 at 4:41 am | Reply Otto M. Thomasz Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In the Netherlands people start a project to generate electricity out of bringing salt and fresh water together. The capacity of the facility, being built on the fresh water lake IJsselmeer and the North Sea, is 1,000 Mega Watts. This is the same as 1,000 Wind mills. This is really green without any polution.
on February 11, 2009 at 4:28 am | Reply nona merican, Houston TX
@Posted By Kris, Houston TX : February 4, 2009 6:14 pm
so it is true that americans are stupid!
on February 11, 2009 at 8:36 pm | Reply PInk Hand, Orlando, FL, USA
Great, so now the state can regulate your power usage. You “green at any cost” nuts are gonna be sorry one day, when you realize what you have wrought.
Leave a Reply to Otto M. Thomasz Amsterdam, The Netherlands Cancel reply
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УССК
Активності
Українська Спілка Супервізії та Коучингу
СУПЕРВІЗІЯ & КОУЧИНГ
Ukrainian Society Supervision and Coaching
Adopted by the ANSE General Assembly 14, Berlin, September 22nd ,
Article 1: General Principles
Article 2: Institutional Requirements
Article 3: Codification Requirements
Article 4 : Professional Requirements
Board: Wolfgang Knopf (A) President, Sijtze de Roos (NL) Vice-President, Barbara Gogala (SL) Secretary
Eva Nemes (H) Treasurer, Beatrice Conrad (CH), Barbara Baumann(D)
Members: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland,
How could a Code of Ethics on ANSE level be useful? The answer is: because supervision is an inherently ethical activity. Imagine us flying by helicopter over the European landscape of supervision. It will shortly be obvious to us that all supervisors wield power: the power of their specific knowledge and competence, the power derived from their role and position visà-vis the supervisee, the power of formal judgment invested in them, the power of their professional experience, and so on.
Furthermore we would see that, to act in a just and careful manner, supervisors would invest in trust. They will not only show trust in their own competencies, but also see to it that they are trustworthy in the eyes of their supervisees, colleagues and constituents. They will radiate trust in the supervisee, in his or her potential, uniqueness and humanity, and they will actively substantiate it in contact with the supervisee (and others). As trust implies the recognition of shared humanity, supervisees need to feel accepted, to feel at home with themselves, with others and the world around them, and to be free to be (or become) what they want to be.
Still hovering above the supervisory landscape we finally note how supervisors mediate power and trust by responsiveness. Supervisors will act in a responsible manner as an integral part of their professionalism. Supervisors will take responsibility for the maintenance of their skills, for the reliability of the profession they exercise and for their support to the learning process of the supervisee. Supervisors will not shirk being taken to account. On the contrary, they will gladly respond to that.
In dealing with power, trust and responsibility, supervisors and coaches can only maintain their personal and professional integrity if they position themselves autonomously in relation to constituents, clients and colleagues. At all times supervisors are required to keep confidentiality, carefully handle the process of contracting and avoid becoming a party in conflicting interests.
On request of member organisations and affiliates, ANSE herewith presents its supra-national Code of Ethics. To be practical, only the term ‘supervision’ will be used, which for the purposes of this document is to be understood as also designating all other forms of professional guidance national organisations may include in their statutes, such as coaching, consultancy or organisational advice.
The ANSE Code of Ethics reflects the state of professionalism and the high ethical standards member organisations strive to uphold. Many national organisations and affiliates of the ANSE family have their own codes, most of them rather elaborate and some of them already for years. Other associations are in the process of formulating one.
The ANSE Code of Ethics is neither meant to compete with existing codes, nor to compel national organisations to replace them with this document or to rewrite them. As ANSE statutorily holds no formal power over national organisations this code cannot have a compulsory effect – unless the General Assembly should otherwise decide. The ANSE Code of Ethics is therefore meant to serve as a guideline against which national organisations may measure their own codes of conduct, ethical guidelines and general moral principles. For that reason, the character of this document is aspirational. Its main purpose is to challenge supervisors and their professional associations all over Europe to aspire to always act according to the high ethical standards that are essential to the supervisory profession. It is, moreover, a code of ethics and not a code of conduct. As such it is not meant to regulate in detail what supervisors should do or not do. This is left to the national organizations, which can be expected to have greater insight into the “do’s” and “don’ts” of local practice.
In order to be aspirational and to serve as a guideline, the ANSE Code of Ethics will therefore not repeat in detail what has already been formulated in various national codes. Given the cultural and institutional differences between member countries, and given the diverse range, directions and ways of implementing and practising supervision, ANSE will restrict itself to the formulation of the fundamental ethics that underlie the profession we all share.
This document is organised as follows. Article 1 states ANSE’s basic values and the general principles ANSE holds to be imperative. Article 2 formulates the standards of just and careful conduct on the institutional dimension, such as the way ANSE and national organisations should deal with each other; both bilaterally and multilaterally. Article 3 sets forth the standards of codification, re: what should (national) codes at minimum prescribe. Last (but certainly not least), article 4 states the basic ethics on the individual level of everyday practice.
Vienna, October 15th, 2012
Article 1 - General Principles
ANSE agrees to and always acts in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, UNDHR) and the protocols of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
All people are to be treated with equal respect, in accordance with fundamental human rights, in a just and sensitive manner, and to be valued in their integrity and authenticity.
ANSE takes supervision as a profession to be exercised autonomously, impartially and methodically.
ANSE takes supervision as an essentially ethical activity.
ANSE holds the view that justice and care are essential values of our professional ethics, to be upheld in all supervisory practice.
ANSE recognizes and respects the historical, cultural, institutional and supervisory diversity of member organisations, affiliates and individual practitioners.
ANSE will act according to the principles and requirements set forth herewith, and encourage national organisations to agree to and always act in accordance with the general principles and requirements set forth herewith.
Article 2 - Institutional Requirements
1. National organisations will act in accordance with the laws of their country. In the instance of any contradiction between the national law and the UNDHR and / or the ECHR, they will, to the best of their ability uphold the latter.
2. National organisations will act in accordance with their statutes and in accordance with their code of conduct or ethical guidelines. In the instance of any contradiction between these documents and the national law, or the UNDHR and / or the ECHR, they will, to the best of their ability, uphold the latter.
3. National organisations will recognize and respect the historical, cultural, institutional and supervisory diversity within - and outside – ANSE.
4. National organisations will be trustworthy in dealing with each other, adhering to commonly accepted and legally obliged business requirements.
5. National organisations will, to the best of their ability, enable, facilitate and support their members to act professionally, as provided for in article 4 of this code.
6. National organisations will, to the best of their ability, enable, facilitate and support the education and maintenance of competencies of their members.
7. National organisations will, to the best of their ability, enable, facilitate and support their members in holding themselves accountable to clients, constituents, colleagues and society at large.
8. National organisations will, to the best of their ability, facilitate debate, discussion and reflection on ethical topics amongst their members.
Article 3 - Codification Requirements
National organisations will develop, improve and maintain a code of ethics, preferably in line with the ANSE Code of Ethics.
National organisations will regularly and critically compare their code of ethics with those of other organisations and with the ANSE Code of Ethics.
National organisations will in their code of ethics, at minimum, provide for:
3.1.1. Professional autonomy
3.1.2. Professional impartiality
3.1.3. The protection of the integrity of clients and constituents
3.1.4. Confidentiality
3.1.5. The avoidance of conflicting interests
3.1.6. Proper and legally correct contract procedures
National organisations will make their code of ethics known to their members, and, to the best of their ability, to their clients and client systems, relevant organisations, all other interested parties and to society at large.
National organisations will, to the best of their ability, enforce their code of ethics, and develop and maintain independent arrangements1 for arbitration and judgement.
Article 4 - Professional Requirements
Supervisors are to be fully aware of the basic values of their profession, as set forth in the statutes and code of ethics of the national organisation they are a member of, and in the ANSE Code of Ethics.
Supervisors are bound by the code of ethics of the national organisation they are a member of.
Supervisors will always serve the interests and protect the integrity of their clients and constituents to the best of their ability.
Supervisors are to exercise their profession autonomously, impartially, and confidentially.
Supervisors will develop and maintain their competencies to the best of their ability.
Supervisors will hold themselves accountable to clients, constituents and colleagues for the means and methods they apply and for the quality of praxis and professionalism thereof.
1 This provision does not necessarily entail that such an arrangement should be positioned outside of the institution, organisation or association. In most cases the appointment of an independent chairperson, preferably one qualified to hold the position of judge, will suffice to guarantee neutrality.
Українська Спілка Супервізії та Коучингу © 2019 anse.com.ua
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DOE Announces $2 Million Funding Award
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the selection of the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Technology Institute (AHRTI), the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute’s (AHRI) research arm for a $2 million funding award to conduct essential research on low-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. The program will develop an essential low-GWP refrigerant database in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It will provide U.S. manufacturers with accurate refrigerant data to design, manufacture, and commercialize efficient and reliable HVACR products using environmentally friendly refrigerants.
As part of the program, ORNL will develop heat transfer and pressure drop correlations for new refrigerants, which will be used to design and optimize heat exchangers. For its part, NIST will measure property data of low-GWP refrigerant blends and implement them into the NIST Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties Database (REFPROP). The more accurate data will improve confidence in the selection and optimization of blends for particular applications. AHRTI will establish a database for the thermal and chemical stability of low-GWP refrigerants, including lubricants and the long-term compatibility with materials commonly used in air-conditioning and refrigeration systems.
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Czechia: UN Anti-Torture Experts Express Concern Regarding Ongoing Use of Cage Beds in Psychiatry
By Steven Allen • 1st June 2018
The United Nations Committee against Torture has expressed concern about the continued restraint of people with mental disabilities in so-called ‘net beds’ in Czech psychiatric facilities. The comments came following a wide-ranging review of the country’s progress in stamping out torture by the UN’s top expert body, who pointed out to Czech representatives that involuntary treatment, physical and chemical restraints breach international human rights law.
Representatives of the Government of Czechia said there were proposals to ban such forms of restraint in psychiatric facilities, yet the Committee expressed grave misgivings about the slow pace of change and the lack of legal safeguards for persons with mental disabilities in the country.
Expressing particular concern that restrictive practices are also applied to children with disabilities, the Committee urged Czechia to “prohibit, in practice, the use of cage beds in all psychiatric institutions and social care institutions in which children with mental disabilities are held.”
The Committee called on the country to adopt a legal prohibition on the use of “net beds” in all psychiatric facilities.
Czechia has often maintained that the use of net beds are ‘less abusive’ than metal-barred cage beds. The Committee’s comments, however, underline that the practice breaches core human rights standards, and rejected the country’s proposals to issue ‘guidelines’ as insufficient.
The UN’s special rapporteur on torture has said that there can be “no therapeutic justification” for the use of seclusion or cage beds in psychiatry, which can amount to torture or ill-treatment and should be prohibited.
Metal-barred cage beds were banned in Czechia after Validity (then MDAC) and partners documented the widespread use of the practice across central and eastern Europe in 2003. The publication caused an international outcry during the country’s negotiations to join the European Union.
A follow-up investigation published in 2014 found that the netted variant of cage beds continued to be used in many of the country’s psychiatric facilities, often in conjunction with other physical or chemical restraint techniques such as strapping and sedation by drugs.
Tereza Bártová, Lawyer for the Forum for Human Rights which represents victims of human rights violations in Czechia said: “Despite the numerous explicit recommendations of international human rights bodies, the Czech Government still has not taken any steps to ban the practice of placing individuals with mental disabilities in netted cage-beds. It is time for the Czech Government to fulfil its obligations and stop justifying the use of restraints which may amount to ill-treatment or torture.”
Steven Allen, Campaigns Director for Validity said: “It is unsustainable for Czech psychiatrists to continue to defend the caging of adults and children with disabilities under the guise of ‘treatment’. Coercion and institutionalisation remain the default options in the country, an outdated approach which breaches human rights standards and subjects people to abuse and segregation. Czech psychiatry needs to come into the twenty-first century. The Government should invest in community mental health services rather than institutions and must respect the right of persons with mental disabilities to consent to treatment.”
Forum and Validity submitted a report to the Committee against Torture in preparation for the review, setting out deficiencies in national legal standards, the ongoing institutionalisation of children with mental disabilities and the use of tasers in psychiatric hospitals.
Article cage beds Campaigns CAT Committee coercion Committee against Torture Content type Countries Czech Republic My Home, My Choice net beds restraints
All children have the right to family – joint position statement
Romania: Justice denied for Ştefan Stoian after a decade of legal action
Czech Republic rolls back on inclusive education for children with disabilities
Bulgarian court finds guardian responsible for harm of forced institutionalisation
Validity condemns exclusion of teenager from his school in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Statement on abuse uncovered in another Hungarian disability institution
Statement in Solidarity with Zambian Activists Calling for Amendment of Mental Health Bill
European Disability Movement Demands Council of Europe #WithdrawOviedo on World Mental Health Day
Validity challenges Russia at European Court after Constitutional Court refuses to allow people with disabilities to visit their families
Mental health law proposal in Uganda will breach human rights, says civil society coalition
Validity is an international non-governmental organisation which uses the law to secure equality, inclusion and justice for people with mental disabilities worldwide. Formerly known as the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre (MDAC). Registered as a Foundation in Hungary (No. 8689: Validity Alapítvány – Központ a Mentális Sérültek Jogaiért) and as a charity in the UK (No. 1124016: Mental Disability Advocacy Centre UK). Validity proudly receives income from a number of international sources.
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Meeting President and Mrs. George W. Bush: Unwavering courage and parenting philosophy courtesy of Midland ’64
Midland, Texas is a flat, dry, hot, sandy, and windy place full of tumbleweeds, oil rigs and Friday night lights. It is where my Dad, Bill Wood, grew up. I think there is a Midland parenting philosophy; have love and respect for your children, parents, neighbors and elders. The small West Texas town were my Dad grew up was and still is a place to raise and nurture children so they grow up with unwavering confidence and courage.
George W. Bush once said, “To understand Laura and me, you must understand Midland. All that we are, all the things we believe in, come from that one place.”
Reading Laura’s book, Spoken from the Heart, I kept thinking about my parents and grandparents; the similarities of that West Texas life. Both my Mom’s and Dad’s fathers were in the oil business. Laura writes about her dad always having his left arm twice as dark as the right arm from driving with the window rolled down to job sites. My Mom has said countless times how Papa’s arm was like that.
I had the honor and privilege of meeting President and Mrs. Bush at my parents’ house last night. I mentioned to Laura that I am a second grade teacher and how proud I am to be a teacher like my grandmother, Margaret Wood. She taught English to both Laura and George in Midland. I knew Laura had been a fourth grade teacher and I read how she adored her second grade teacher. She and George had also mentioned to my Dad at the Midland reunion at the White House that my grandmother was one of the greatest educators they had ever had. This makes me extremely proud!
My daughter wanted to know about the party, I told her it was like Santa was coming to Coco and Coach’s house. Well, Santa came and some friends from the Midland class of ’64 turned into little holiday kids again when they saw Jolly Ol’ Saint George!
In May of 2000, an article was written in the New York Times after President Bush was first elected. My Dad was mentioned in three paragraphs:
Still, former classmates say that if they had been told that one of their number would become a presidential candidate, they would not have thought of George Bush. Instead, they say, the assumption would have been that it would be Bill Wood.
Mr. Wood, as bright and ambitious as he was athletic, beat out George Bush on the football field and was the first-string quarterback on the seventh-grade team (Mr. Bush was the second-string quarterback). Mr. Wood eventually became the junior high school and high school student council president and even headed the statewide association of student councils. If any young man in Midland seemed destined for the White House, classmates remember, it was he.
“Since then, the only thing I ever ran for,” said Mr. Wood, now a lawyer and a bit flattered and amused by the memories of his classmates, “was the school board.”
The most exciting moment for my Mom was when she and my Dad were outside waiting to greet President and Laura Bush. Mom said, “As I watched outside in front of the house the caravan of cars pulling into our driveway I had never been so excited in my life! Looking out at our backyard now, I can’t believe the President and Laura Bush were at my house.”
My husband Derek and I noticed how President Bush talked with us so naturally. He connected with everyone with ease and happiness.
President George Bush is in great shape! He bikes regularly. My husband Derek (who shares that interest) heard, “Hey son-in-law!” Knowing who was calling him Derek walked over and had the best conversation about mountain bike riding. What was even more amazing is that the President showed an interest in coming up to Denton County and trying the mountain bike trails. He asked Derek what time he liked to go, how far he rides, and directions to get to Isle du Bois. At the end of the evening, President Bush called out saying, “Derek, do you hammer?” Derek replied yeah and got a thumbs up sign from the President.
George W. Bush once said, “I will always be grateful for the unconditional love of my parents. There is no doubt that that unconditional love gave me the, I guess you would say “courage,” to run for president of the United States. And to my mother and my father, I can’t tell you how much I love you.”
Growing up, my brother, sister and I have felt that Midland parenting philosophy all our lives. I still feel it now and I hope I can emulate that love and inspiration of courage for my two children. Mom and Dad, I can’t tell you how much I love you!
Photos: Ashley’s Dad, Bill Wood (number 10), Midland’s first-string quarterback. Midland reunion picture of the Bush and Wood family.
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ASN 100
Matt Ersted/isiphotos.com
ASN Playoff Preview
LA vs. San Jose: These Guys Just Don't Like Each Other
Star power, firepower, and a welcome dose of dislike fuel Sunday's Western Conference Semifinal between Los Angeles and San Jose. It's a can't-miss matchup for U.S. soccer fans.
BY Andrew Lewellen Posted
Editor's Note: ASN will preview every MLS playoff match/series. Check out our state-of-the-art Starting XI tool, which lets you set a formation and lineups for the Los Angeles Galaxy and/or San Jose Earthquakes.
INTRO: The MLS Western Conference Semifinals series between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes may not be the most intriguing of tactical battles, but for drama and excitement the matchup should rank among the best in the league. The series pits the reigning MLS Cup Champions, the Galaxy, against the winners of this year’s Supporters' Shield, the Earthquakes. And the two teams lead MLS in scoring, with San Jose having tallied 72 goals and the Galaxy 59. The in-state playoff battle kicks off on Sunday at 9pm Eastern at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, with the second leg on Wednesday at 11pm Eastern at Buck Shaw Stadium. Both matches will be televised by ESPN and ESPN Deportes.
The two teams combine to have nine players in the ASN 100, and six of them are attackers. The best known, of course, is L.A.’s Landon Donovan, who owns the MLS record for most playoff goals with 21, and San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski, who last Saturday tied Roy Lassiter’s single-season scoring record with his 27th goal of the year. Beyond those two marquee names the Earthquakes feature the feisty Steven Lenhart and the veteran Alan Gordon. Along with Donovan, the Galaxy have Edson Buddle, who has found a starting position with the team after missing the first three-quarters of the season recovering from knee surgery, and Mike Magee, who scored the game-tying goal in L.A.’s 2-1 victory over Vancouver on Thursday.
HISTORY: In their three matches this season, San Jose won the first two, the teams tied the third, and the two sides combined for 16 goals. But those results don’t belie the true tension of the matches. This season the Galaxy have struggled to consistently find the form that led them to the 2011 MLS Cup title, and their failure to beat their northern rivals has suggested that they may not have what it takes to repeat as MLS Cup Champions.
A few specific incidents this season have added fuel to an already fiery rivalry. The first came at the end of the second meeting between the two teams in July. In injury time, San Jose’s Sam Cronin lay on the pitch, apparently injured. David Beckham, who just that week had been left out of England’s Olympic team, stood waiting to take a throw-in. Then he got sick of waiting. He struck a perfectly placed and paced punt that struck Cronin on the leg. Cronin, suddenly feeling much better, jumped up and protested. Beckham got a yellow card and a two-game suspension. San Jose got the victory.
Prior to the season’s last meeting between the two teams, L.A. Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena, when asked if the Galaxy’s first two losses to San Jose bothered him, said: “I don't give two sh*** about the last time that we played San Jose." And following that last match, a 2-2 draw, Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez criticized the Earthquakes' chippy style of play, saying “those guys are a bunch of jokes.”
MATCHUPS: The most intriguing man-to-man match up is Wondolowksi against Gonzalez, the 2011 MLS Defender of the Year. Gonzalez is fighting to earn a call up to the U.S. national team, but in the team’s last meeting, Wondo won the individual battle when he broke free from Gonzalez on a corner kick and scored the game-tying goal. Along with Wondolowski, Gonzalez and the Galaxy defense will need to contain Lenhart and Gordon, either by closing off service to them or winning second balls that drop to their feet. While San Jose’s offensive trio are doing battle with the Galaxy defense, on the other side of the ball Cronin, Ike Opara, and the Earthquakes' midfield and defense will need to control L.A.’s deep attack led by Donovan, Robbie Keane and Beckham.
TACTICS: Through most of the season, the Galaxy often played a sort of 4-4-1-1, with Donovan floating somewhere between the midfield and linking with Keane. But against the Whitecaps on Thursday, with Buddle back and defender A.J. De LaGarza out with an injury, Los Angeles played a 3-4-3, with Donovan, Keane, and Buddle listed as forwards. The Earthquakes usually set up in a straight 4-4-2 with Wondolowski paired with either Gordon or Lenhart. Cronin marshals the center of the midfield, working hard on both sides of the ball to win back possession and begin San Jose’s direct and fast-paced attacks.
The matches between these two teams this season, particularly the second one in July, were often fast-paced affairs with little focus on prolonged possession. Both teams normally field most of their offensive firepower in the middle of the field, which contributes to those direct attacks. But in the Galaxy’s victory against Vancouver, Beckham often assumed a wide position, usually on the right, and throughout the entire first and second half, the team bombarded the Whitecaps penalty box with crosses. It was a cross from Sarvas that set up Mike Magee’s game-tying volley in the 67th minute.
PREDICTION: What’s so compelling about this match-up is that it finally presents the moment for one of these teams to rise to the occasion and officially prove their superiority. Will the Galaxy, who have hovered around the fourth spot in the conference most of the season, finally find their championship form? Will the Earthquakes once and for all prove that their potent offense and league-best record were no flukes? Conventional logic would see San Jose advancing. But on Thursday night against the Whitecaps, the Galaxy proved their championship pedigree, coming from behind to secure a 2-1 victory and earn the match-up with San Jose. That performance shows the Galaxy might officially be back. Expect them to take the series with a couple of 3-2 victories at home and on the road.
READER FEEDBACK: What do you think? How many goals do you hope to see those two teams tally? Will the San Jose continue their march to the MLS Cup Title? Or are the Galaxy back? Let us know your thoughts below.
With injuries behind him, Johannsson optimistic after joining Hammarby
Soto, Sargent, & Shelton scoring; Long gaining interest; & much more
Toye looking to build off recent success, eyes playoffs and U.S. U-23s
MLS Week 19: NY is Red, LAFC is the best, Toye, Almeyda, & White, & More
Notes on Americans abroad in preseason and a look at potential transfers
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Trills and pluck
1st May 2017 by harryfiddler | 2 Comments
If you buy only one record of harpsichord music in your life — and that’s a decision I would have some sympathy with – buy this sensational album. The 30-year-old Iranian-American Mahan Esfahani has been making waves among connoisseurs for several years. Now he emerges as a superstar whose musicianship, imagination, virtuosity, cultural breadth and charisma far transcends the ivory tower in which the harpsichord has traditionally been placed.
Richard Morrison, The Times
I heard Esfahani in concert once, at the York Early Music Festival in 2015. His figured bass realization was not up to the complexity of English and French music of the 17th and 18th centuries. I don’t mean he played wrong notes, which can happen to anyone; instead, the voice leading was incorrect and awkward, the chords were wrong, and the polyphonic textures were oversimplified. Let me be clear: this isn’t a judgement based on my personal taste, but a statement of objective mistakes.
Andreas Staier, harpsichord and fortepiano virtuoso, writing for Van
Mahan Esfahani polarises.
The Tehran-born, US-educated, Prague-based harpsichordist is riding a wave of acclaim; Deutsche Gramophon has signed him up and the Gramophone Award nominations are rolling in. He won the BBC Music Magazine’s “Newcomer of the Year” award in 2015, he’s professor of harpsichord at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and is the first person to give a solo harpsichord recital in the BBC Proms. He is a musicologist and a historian. He writes, speaks, plays. And as a good twenty-first century citizen of the world, he tweets, posts and gives great soundbite.
At the same time, he’s on the receiving end of some seriously pointy criticism for his technique, his choice of repertoire, his image, not to mention the interview cited above. Basically, for being who he is.
So who is Mahan Esfahani? Is he more objectionable than your average harpsichordist? And is he any good?
On the evidence of his Sydney debut, yesterday, in the Utzon Room, my answers are a/ don’t know yet, but want to find out, b/ quite possibly yes, because he’s not here just to blend into the continuo background, and c/ bloody oath yes. Note, this judgement is on the strength of being a listener rather than a musicologist or practitioner. I’m not a qualified HIP-ster. But if you were there to hear fabulous music played by a passionate, intelligent and highly-skilled performer, you would not have been disappointed.
He started out with a Bach Toccata and the first impression was of provocative instability. Not a lack of stability: a deliberate, designed instability, gravity off kilter. Some performers show off their technique with breakneck tempi or exaggerated articulation (and Esfahani freely admits he sometimes play fast to impress) but here it was the sense of invention and owlish fascination that carried the work.
By contrast, the Concerto in the Italian Style, BWV 971, was like returning home. As he explained in his lively pre-play chats, it’s a work he’s been playing since he was a child, and it was as if he met every note, every device with fondness and delight, like bumping into an old friend.
Esfahani’s repertoire ranges across periods not generally associated with the harpsichord. The twentieth-century, for example. Henry Cowell’s Set of Four was a new discovery for me. A bilious, swirling Rondo and angular Fugue felt like a different world, sonically, to the Bach, but Esfahani tucked into it with an equally impassioned commitment. And after the Italian Concerto, a mixed media work from Kaija Saariaho, Jardin secret II, played with notions of space and rhythm. I’ve talked about the amplification v. acoustic and the difficulty of losing directional sound before. Here, rather than setting up a fight between the two, Saariaho embraces it, to make an all-enveloping quadrophonic space derived from acoustic, computer-generated and pre-recorded noises. The harpsichord cuts through the sound waves with its tinny bite as soloist and sound artist bounce ideas of each other.
Esfahani brought out the heavy guns, in terms of virtuosity, to finish, playing Rameau’s Nouvelles suites de pieces de clavecin with punchy flair, followed by an encore of Scarlatti, laced with nutty trills. He’s hard to know, he’s potentially objectionable, but mediocre he ain’t.
Esfahani gives the premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin’s new Concerto for Harpsichord Ancient Letters with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on May 4, and a concert with Joseph Tawadros in the MSO’s Metropolis New Music Festival on May 6. Looking forward to hearing both!
Categories: Arts, Classical, Review | Tags: harpsichord, Mahan Esfahani, Utzon Room | Permalink
dsadsa10
Yet one more article about Mahan Esfahani . . . and yet again we see that someone who is by no means an expert on harpsichord playing has chosen to sing his praises as a harpsichordist. And yet people who have devoted their lives to the study of the harpsichord and its repertoire have consistently pointed out that Esfahani’s playing is mediocre. One of those people is Andreas Staier, who is mentioned above. What this article fails to point out is that Andreas Staier is himself a universally acclaimed harpsichordist, celebrated WITHIN the harpsichord world as well as by music critics the world over. Staier has performed across Europe, the Americas and Asia, and has won numerous awards for his many recordings of a wide range of repertoire on both harpsichord and piano. He was also a member of the legendary ensemble, Musica Antiqua Cologne. So when Andreas Staier says that someone’s playing is ‘incorrect and awkward’ and the harmonies were ‘wrong’, we should all sit up and listen. It’s also worth noting that Staier is 61 and has absolutely no reason to feel threatened by a younger colleague, as he is so well established in his field.
Ms Cunningham refers to Esfahani as a musicologist and historian. The harpsichord world does in fact have quite a few notable performers who are also accomplished musicologists. One should note, however, that Esfahani has no post-grad degree in either musicology or history (or in anything else). Esfahani has never published a single peer-reviewed article or monograph. He has made no musicological discoveries, and published no books, nor any scholarly editions. Contrast his claims to being a musicologist and historian with, for example, the late Christopher Hogwood, who performed and recorded as harpsichordist and conductor very widely, and whose scholarly publications are too numerous and varied to be summarized by me, but can be seen on this link:
http://www.hogwood.org/index.html?page_sub_category_id=1
Lastly, while it is correct to say that Esfahani was named Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Dance in London, it is worth pointing out that he is not the ONLY harpsichord professor on the faculty. (There are at least three others.) However, Esfahani is in fact the ONLY harpsichord professor at GSMD who has never had a single student, and to my knowledge has never given a single masterclass.
Esfahani busies himself with self-promotion on social media, but many of us feel that he should devote more time towards trying to raise his musical skills to the standard of so many other performers active today. And if he wishes to become a musicologist, then he should apply himself towards a doctorate, as others have done, and undertake some serious musicological research. And, last but not least, we would all appreciate it if Esfahani would stop calling us ‘privileged’ or ‘racist’ or ‘orthodox’ simply because we point out his shortcomings.
harryfiddler
Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve put in a link to Andreas Staier’s page. Mr Esfahani sure does polarise.
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National Disability Institute Facilitates NDEAM Congressional Briefing
Source: National Disability Institute (NDI)
National Disability Institute (NDI) is a founding member of the Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination (CPSD) and acts as Chair of the collaboration's Public Policy Workgroup. CPSD is an advocacy network of 10 national disability organizations who have come together to pursue modernization of the federal adult system of services and supports for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, so that they can become employed, live independently in an inclusive community and rise out of poverty.
In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) this October, CPSD organized and hosted a Congressional briefing focused on various legislative proposals that would support increased opportunities for competitive integrated employment (CIE) among youth and adults with disabilities. Many of these proposals were developed and put forth by the Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities, formed as a result of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
The discussions that took place at the briefing, sponsored by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA); Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH); and in cooperation with House Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus Chairs Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS) and Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI), were facilitated by NDI's Director of Public Policy, Chris Rodriguez, and included the following guest panelists:
Dr. David Mank, Chairman of the WIOA Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities
Charles Hill, General Manager, Embassy Suites, Washington, D.C. Convention Center
Patti Killingsworth, Assistant Commissioner and Chief of Long-Term Services and Supports, Bureau of TennCare
Laura Kuster, Consumer Products Safety Commission
For more information, including materials provided at the briefing, visit the CPSD webpage.
http://www.realeconomicimpact.org/
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Wall of Sound PR
BLACK SURF Honour The Lemonheads On New Single ‘Eleven Dando (Good Time)’
17th April 2019 • •
London alternative-rock trio BLACK SURF are pleased to present their new single ‘Eleven Dando’ which is out now on all good digital service providers.
The band’s forthcoming new EP Make Friends is set for release on 15th May 2019 and is the first of two brand new EPs scheduled for release this year, with a special EP release show at O2 Academy Islington in London on 25th May 2019. Further live dates TBA.
Commenting on the single, front man Ali Epstone said: “For my 10th birthday my babysitter made me a mixtape and the first track was by Evan Dando. This was my first introduction to alternative music and would be the catalyst to shape my musical taste and direction forever. I met Dando, just by chance, in a shop before The Lemonheads’ sold out gig in London last month. I couldn’t get a ticket and he was cool enough to put me on his guest list.
“You can hear the sunshine, urgency and unpredictability in Dando’s music. Over the years he’s been the soundtrack to blissed-out fuzzy memories of youth, freedom and general good times, and I wanted to honour the influence and inspiration he’s had on our sound, somehow. So here’s Eleven Dando to say thanks for the inspiration.”
Recorded at Greenmount Studios, the EP was produced by Lee Smith & Jamie Lockhart, mixed by Lee Smith, and mastered by Tom Woodhead at Hippocratic Mastering.
The new material is the first from the band since their 2016 debut album Let’s Pretend It’s Summer, which received rave reviews from a diverse spread of press including Goldflakepaint, The 405, Rock Sound, BBC introducing, Total Guitar, Classic Rock, New Noise Magazine and more.
Bridging the gap between the unorthodox breaks of Grouplove and the hook-heavy passion of Weezer, Black Surf are an intriguing alternative rock melting pot. The new material finds them further exploring their sound, notably with the introduction of electronic music soundscapes and elements of high-concept outsider pop.
Since the formation of the band, they have shared the stage with Lonely The Brave, Dune Rats, Francobollo, Le Butcherettes, DZ Deathrays and many more, with their accomplished live show being the perfect platform to experience their increasingly well-crafted down-tempo rock.
Further details of Make Friends will be revealed over the coming weeks.
BLACK SURF live:
25.5.19 – London – 02 Academy, Islington
Tickets available at www.blacksurf.co.uk
Make Friends tracklist:
1. Into The Night
2. Open Fire
3. Eleven Dando (Good Time)
4. Major Regiment
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Home>> The People and Their Communities>> Francophone Communities and Their History>> North Central Region>> Legal
Lac Sainte Anne
Rivière-qui-Barre
Saint-Albert
Lamoureux
The first settlers, Frenchmen Théodore Gelot and Eugène Menard, came to Legal via California in October 1894. They complied with government regulations, stipulating that new homesteaders build a permanent dwelling and live in it for six months, in a rather creative way. The two men ingeniously built across the property line. They dug a hole 1.2 metres deep and 6 metres wide, erected log walls to 1.2 metres above the ground and used sod for the roof. The concept became known as le caveau (the vault). Many newcomers made use of it temporarily while waiting for more opulent accommodations to be built. Not Gelot and Menard—they lived happily in their dugout for six whole years.
Legal owes its name to the Oblate Bishop Emile Legal of St. Albert, who in 1899, approved the site for a future church. The settlement grew from five houses in 1905, into a village (1914) around this focus. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) reached the settlement in 1911. The Grey Nuns arrived in Legal in 1920, and built a convent where they taught French and catechism. Economically, Legal became a service centre for the agricultural area surrounding it. Today, however, most of its citizens work in Edmonton or St. Albert.
The village of Legal became a town in 1993, and was proclaimed bilingual in 2000. About 65 percent of its citizens are French or of French ancestry. One third of its 1,058 inhabitants (2003) speak French exclusively. Church services are in both French and English. Legal has two school systems—almost 85 percent of the people are Roman Catholic. After Grade 9, students can attend a French high school in nearby Morinville.
The town celebrates its history, linguistic, and spiritual heritage on 28 permanent outdoor murals. Summer 2005 will see two more such murals going up. The murals are the 1997 project of L'Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta régionale Centralta. The artists used contemporary photographs to create each work. The other major attraction is the annual Fête au Village. This big, traditionally well-attended party takes place the last weekend in July.
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Copyright © 2004 Heritage Community Foundation All Rights Reserved
For more on Francophone Alberta, visit Peel’s Prairie Provinces.
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ICC reports Jordan to UN Security Council for not arresting Sudan’s Bashir
ICC reports Jordan to UN Security Council for not arresting Sudan’s Bashir /node/1207306/middle-east
This file photo taken on Sept. 22, 2017 shows Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir delivering a speech during a visit to the village of Bilel in South Darfur, near the Kalma camp for displaced people. Hilal, a former aide to President Omar Al-Bashir, was arrested in November 2017 by Sudan’s counter-insurgency forces near his hometown of Mustariaha in North Darfur state after fierce clashes that left several dead. (AFP/Ashraf Shazly)
Updated 11 December 2017
AMSTERDAM: The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Monday it would refer Jordan to the UN Security Council for failing to arrest Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir when he visited Amman in March.
The court issued arrest warrants for Bashir in 2009 and 2010 over his alleged role in war crimes including genocide in Sudan’s Darfur province. Jordan, as a member of the ICC, is obliged to carry out its arrest warrants.
Sudan is not a member of the Hague-based permanent international war crimes court, and the ICC therefore does not have automatic jurisdiction to investigate alleged war crimes there.
However, the UN Security Council referred the case to the international court in March 2005.
The Security Council has the power to impose sanctions for a failure to cooperate with the ICC, but has so far not acted on court referrals.
A diplomatic row broke out when Bashir visited South Africa in 2015 and Pretoria failed to arrest him.
South Africa’s government argued that doing so would have been a violation of the immunity Bashir enjoys as a head of state. That argument was rejected by South African courts as well as the ICC.
The ICC ultimately did not refer South Africa to the Security Council, however, saying it was not clear that doing so would have any effect.
Kenya and South Africa have threatened to withdraw from the ICC over perceived bias against African countries. Burundi, which is under ICC investigation, has actually withdrawn.
Bashir is accused by ICC prosecutors of five counts of crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape, as well as two counts of war crimes for attacking civilians and pillaging. He faces three counts of genocide allegedly committed against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups in Darfur, Sudan, from 2003 to 2008.
Topics: Omar Al-Bashir Sudan Jordan International Criminal Court (ICC) United Nations
Omar Al-Bashir in Riyadh to reinforce bilateral cooperation
Over 60 killed in South Sudan cattle battles: Officials
Boost for Egypt-Sudan trade relations
Indian minister steps up calls to deport illegal immigrants /node/1527681/world
Updated 8 min ago
Sanjay Kumar
National Register of Citizenship will be extended across country, says Amit Shah
NEW DELHI: New Delhi will deport all illegal immigrants found in the country, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah told Parliament on Wednesday.
The warning signaled a heightening of a campaign that some critics say is “aimed at alienating the Muslim minority.”
The minister’s statement comes as the state of Assam is set to release its final list of the National Register of Citizenship (NRC), an exercise to identify illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh. The Supreme Court demanded that the NRC should submit its report at the end of this month.
Of the state’s 31 million residents, almost 4 million were missing from the NRC’s report last year. Most were poor Muslims. Illegal immigration was a core election issue for the ruling right-wing party Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)
“The government will identify illegal immigrants living in every inch of the country’s soil and will deport them in line with international law,” said Shah.
He added that the NRC would be extended across the country.
Shah, a Hindu hard-liner and the second most powerful figure in the Narendra Modi government, has been belligerently opposed to illegal Muslim immigrants, who he recently described as “termites.”
Critics have questioned the need for the NRC throughout the country.
The BJP does not want to clarify what it truly means because that is part of their politics, but the opposition leaders are also silent.
Hilal Ahmad, Academic
“This is a witch hunt of the minority under the false concern of illegal immigration,” said SubHajjit Naskar of Jadavpur University.
“The way the NRC is being implemented in Assam is damaging for our secular and democratic values.”
Naskar told Arab News: “The register is part of the broader majoritarian agenda to make India a Hindu state where minority Muslims will be treated as second class citizens.”
Dr. Hilal Ahmad, associate professor at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies, said: “The substantial part of Shah’s statement is that NRC is not entirely about Muslims. It also claims that it’s an institutional process with legal support and it’s not at all concerned with Muslims.”
Ahmad added: “The BJP does not want to clarify what it truly means because that is part of their politics, but the opposition leaders are also silent. They are also trying to consolidate the impression that the NRC is anti-Muslim.”
Suhas Chakma, director of the Rights and Risks Analysis Group, said that “Shah’s plans are not practical.”
“How you are going to identify illegal migrants? Have you spoken to Bangladesh about the deportation? What the BJP government is trying to do is not implementable. It is a recipe for chaos,” said Chakma.
Sabber Ahmad, from the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative, a New Delhi-based group serving the persecuted minority community from Myanmar, said the “Indian government’s stance on illegal migrants creates panic among the small Rohingya community living here.”
“I fled Myanmar in 2012 and India gave me a new lease of life. New Dehli should show some humanity in dealing with people like us,” Ahmad told Arab News.
“India has a history of sheltering persecuted minorities from around the world. They must continue this proud tradition,” Ahmad added.
Topics: Amit Shah illegal immigrants National Register of Citizenship BJP New delhi
India’s Modi vows to halt illegal immigrants from Bangladesh
India’s Modi rails against illegal immigrants after Muslim killings
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Quarter of over-50s found to be low in vital ‘sunshine’ vitamin
Research: Vitamin D is present in a number of foods, including fish and eggs
Lack of exercise is linked to one in four adults over 50 being deficient in vitamin D which is needed to help keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy.
https://www.independent.ie/life/health-wellbeing/quarter-of-over50s-found-to-be-low-in-vital-sunshine-vitamin-38218197.html
https://www.independent.ie/incoming/article38217819.ece/19d31/AUTOCROP/h342/Depositphotos_93707522_l_2.jpg
Vitamin D has a known role in strong bones, with growing evidence for beneficial effects on muscle strength and other non-skeletal conditions, said researchers at Trinity College Dublin. The findings showed the risk of being low in the so-called “sunshine vitamin” was higher among women and the over-80s.
Smokers, people who are obese and who have poor self-reported health were more likely to be deficient in the vitamin, the study published in the journal ‘Nutrients’ said.
People who had a healthy weight, were retired and taking regular vigorous physical activity had a better chance of having adequate levels.
It also helped if people took a vitamin D supplement and had travelled to the sun in the previous year.
Associate Professor in Nutrition at Trinity College Maria O’Sullivan commented: “Our study identified factors associated with vitamin D deficiency, including being aged more than 80 years, obesity and sedentary lifestyles, all of which are increasing traits in western populations.
“Furthermore, this is one of the few studies to highlight the importance of non-white ethnicity in vitamin D deficiency in a large study of ageing.
“The findings are valuable in developing targeted strategies to eliminate vitamin D deficiency in older populations.”
Vitamin D helps to control the amount of calcium and phosphate in our bodies.
It is present naturally in a small number of foods, including oily fish, red meat, liver and egg yolks.
It’s also found in fortified foods like breakfast cereals and fat spreads.
However, it’s difficult to get the recommended amount of vitamin D from food alone.
The main source is from the action of sunlight on our skin.
Dr Niamh Aspell, who led the study, said: “Those who used a vitamin D supplement were less likely to be vitamin D deficient, as may be expected.
“But supplement use was low at 4.4pc and, therefore, food fortification and other strategies need to be considered at policy level for older populations.”
Research Fellow Dr Eamon Laird pointed out more northern countries such as Finland have implemented a successful vitamin D fortification policy which has all but eliminated deficiency in the population, and this could happen Ireland.
Independent.ie – Health & Wellbeing RSS Feed
Category: Advertising & Marketing Tags: Found, over50s, Quarter, Sunshine, vital, vitamin
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No provisions in USMCA to change U.S. pharmaceutical patent laws: Lighthizer
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HAVVK
Brooding, bold. Precise and brimming with an emotional clout most bands shy away from. Utterly unafraid of their own power and vulnerability, HAVVK are one of the most well-realised acts in Berlin. Here, Julie Hough who is also responsible for the amazing female-fronted Drawn Together, chats to us about aspirations, struggles and plans for the rest of the year.
BangOn Team: Tell us a little about your band. What’s your sound?
HAVVK: We’re HAVVK. We are four non-Berliners who formed a band in London a few years ago. Myself and Sam (drums) are from Ireland, and Chris (bass) and Matt (guitar) are from other mysterious parts of the UK which aren’t London. We make loud, grungy, dreamscapey indie about important shit we care about. We also have our own label, Veta Records. Last year we all reached peek-London and decided to move the project to Berlin. I think I’m here one year, to the day, as I write this. We live together in a flat in Kreuzberg, which currently has two other musicians and a dog crashing in it too. There’s lots of tea and musical pottering, and it’s surprisingly grown-up.
BOT: How do you go about songwriting?
H: It’s changed over the years, but myself and Matt have always been the initial songwriters. Matt is also our producer and has an amazing brain for piecing together song structures and instrumental parts. Often, he’ll introduce an idea at the studio and it will form the basis of something that gets jammed and reshuffled and picked apart until it’s got a bit of everyone in it. We are really getting better at developing ideas as a group. I think that Berlin has given us the head-space and free time we need to do that. I write the top-line which will either be something that comes together in ten minutes at the studio or painstakingly over two weeks. It’s about 50/50.
BOT: Who are your biggest influences?
H: Personally, I think my biggest influences are Sleater-Kinney and St. Vincent. They are a massive life-source for me in terms of their inventiveness, their passion, their live energy, and the things they talk about. In terms of the band, we have a huge respect for acts who have just stuck to their guns and kept making albums until the world couldn’t ignore them. We always talk about The National and Kendrick Lamar as proof that an indie act can gain traction, and can make challenging music that grabs people’s attention and has a trajectory in terms of how their sound develops.
BOT: What’s been your lowest and highest point as a band?
H: Can I be poetic and say they were probably the same moment? It was basically about four years ago, when this was more of a solo-project (singer-songwriter plus band) that bridged folk and indie in a way that nobody understood. We were making decent music, but trying too many things at once and confusing people in the process; apparently not in a constructive way. We’d just played a fairly big show in Dublin, and a ‘seasoned music industry man’ came up to me afterwards and basically started asking some pretty invasive questions about who was ‘really’ writing the songs, and making assumptions about our relationships. He had all sorts of advice, and I was basically standing there trying to justify why we sounded or looked the way we did. The worst feeling was that I felt we had given him license to do that. That night was awful. We all went home feeling completely flattened and I think I only slept about half an hour. Two things happened the next day. Matt and I went to see Prisoners. Then we went for a long walk around Dublin and had a two-hour conversation that was basically the making of HAVVK. We didn’t listen to that man’s advice. But we did decide that we never wanted to give anyone a reason to make us feel like that again. After that, we changed from a ‘solo’ project to a band, started writing much stronger material, embracing a much darker sound and putting way more time and effort into our live set. We basically decided to plug every hole where someone might come in and try to demean what we were doing, and it was easily one of the best things that’s happened to us as a band.
BOT: What’s your ultimate aim?
H: We talked about this last just week actually, during a pretty familiar chat about the general fuckery of the music industry. We were talking about how the idea of ‘success’ as a band is probably really different from what it was a few decades ago. Of course, I would love if this could be my job. That is probably my most honest answer. But beyond that, the bottom line for us as HAVVK is to make music that will invite people to listen again and again. If we could make the kind of album that gives you a new reason to enjoy it, every listen, five years on, ten years on, then that would be the dream.
BOT: You have the chance to play one song for a legend of your choice. What do you play?
H: Oh shit. Okay. We’d play Ghosts for Annie Clarke. And then we elope.
BOT: What does Berlin do for you musically?
H: There’s a level of personal investment in the music scene here that I never saw in London, and that really makes me feel like I’m part of a community. Music fans feel personally responsible for supporting bands and for keeping venues open. And musicians seem to be genuinely open to supporting and collaborating with each other.
BOT: What do we have to look forward to in the coming months from you?
H: After impending-tour-doom we have a couple of singles coming out and a new video that gave us all whiplash for three days. We’re also supporting The Drums on the 28th which is crazy exciting for us! We’re getting our label night up and running in Berlin too. We ran Veta Records night for a few years in London and now we’re in Berlin-takeover-mode. I’m super excited to get to know more local bands and inviting bands to come play in our new city.
BOT: Donald Trump has invited you to play a private party for him. He’ll pay you $1,000,000. Nobody ever has to know. Do you play?
H: We would know...
Catch HAVVK with Beauty Sleep and Vokxen on September 8th at Clash Symbols #6: Belfast Night at Bei Ruth!
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Why Dividend Growth Stocks Beat High-Yielding Stocks
Vanguard Dividend Growth fund yields a so-so 2.2%, but it may be the best way to invest in dividend-paying stocks.
The U.S. stock market, as measured by Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, currently sports a yield of 2.0%. That sure beats the microscopic yields on money-market funds, but it's still not enough for many investors, who have been scurrying after higher-yielding fare. But chasing stocks -- or any other investment -- based upon yield alone is a recipe for disaster. Many bank stocks, for instance, yielded 5% and up before they were crushed during the 2007-09 bear market.
There is a better way to invest in dividend-paying stocks. Consider Vanguard Dividend Growth fund (symbol VDIGX) or some of the stocks it owns. If you prefer exchange-traded funds, check out Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG). It tracks the Dividend Achievers Select index, which holds stocks of companies that have raised their dividends at least ten years running and that are likely to continue hiking their payouts.
You can’t go wrong with either one, but in my opinion, the fund is the better choice. Both are dirt-cheap -- the ETF’s annual expense ratio is 0.18%, and the mutual fund’s is 0.34%. But over the past five years through July 1, the fund beat the ETF by an average of 1.2 percentage points per year. Plus, the fund is slightly less volatile than the ETF, and the fund owns fewer economically sensitive stocks. (Vanguard Dividend Growth is a member of the Kiplinger 25.)
The fund also gives you the services of Donald Kilbride, 47, a patient and canny manager at Boston-based Wellington Management, which subadvises the Vanguard fund. An investment pro since 1986, Kilbride has been with Wellington since 2002 and has piloted the fund since 2006. He has four full-time analysts, and he draws on the work of about 50 other stock analysts employed by Wellington.
Kilbride has a strong interest in seeing his fund perform well. His pay depends, in part, on whether he beats an index similar to the ETF’s. Plus, he has north of $1 million of his own money invested in the fund.
Kilbride tries to identify companies that are both able and willing to raise their dividends by at least 10% annually for the coming five years. That gives him a long-term focus -- on average, stocks stay in the fund about five years. “Trading is expensive,” he says.
It also leads him to stocks that display a host of other attractive characteristics. A company that hikes its dividend regularly and substantially probably isn’t saddled with a lot of debt. Odds are that the company boasts high profit margins. On average, the return on equity (a measure of profitability) of the fund’s holdings is a sky-high 25.
The high-quality companies Kilbride invests in generally require relatively small capital expenditures to keep their businesses humming. “They’re not spending a lot of money every year to generate returns,” he says.
Kilbride picks stocks one at a time, without focusing on sector weightings. But he winds up with a slew of health care and consumer-related stocks. Health care companies are growing because of demographic trends and improving technology. “Consumer-staples companies don’t grow that fast, but they have powerful brands that endure over time,” Kilbride says. His fund also owns a fistful of mature technology companies, such as International Business Machines (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT).
Indeed, Kilbride owns a lot of old companies. On average, the 47 companies in the fund have been in business 92 years. “I love old companies because they’ve shown they have the ability to adapt,” he says.
Almost all of the stocks in his portfolio are household names. Top holdings include ExxonMobil (XOM), Pfizer (PFE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Western Union (WU) and Target (TGT). These are blue chips almost anyone can feel comfortable owning.
I’ve saved the best for last. The fund’s record is first-rate. Over the past five years through July 1, it returned an annualized 6.2%. That’s an average of 3.1 percentage points per year better than the S&P 500 and puts it in the top 5% among large-company blend funds (funds whose holdings share a blend of growth and value attributes). Longer-term results are equally superb. Kilbride has only been at the helm five years, but Wellington has run the fund since its inception in 1992.
The fund holds up better than most in down markets. It lost 42.3% in the brutal 2007-09 bear market, compared with a loss of 55.3% for the S&P 500. Over the past three years, the fund exhibited 19% less volatility than the S&P.
Many of the high-quality stocks that Kilbride owns have lagged during the bull market that began in March 2009. Many are surprisingly cheap -- and they’re due for a comeback, especially if the U.S. economy continues to grow only slowly.
Steven T. Goldberg (bio) is an investment adviser in the Washington, D.C. area.
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Family Defense Program
Advocacy & Litigation Programs
Children's Legal Program
Domestic Violence & Human Trafficking - LUCHA Program
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Pro Bono Heroes
Greenberg Traurig Holly Skolnick Fellowship
Newsletter | Spring 2013
Vol. 17, Issue No. 2
AI Justice Wins Asylum in Case of First Impression
AI Justice successfully argued that asylum should be granted to the brother of a victim of a sex trafficking ring. After the sister courageously reported the trafficking to the authorities, resulting in the traffickers’ convictions, other members of the ring began to threaten the victim’s brother. As a result, he fled to the US. AI Justice filed an asylum petition on his behalf arguing that he should be granted asylum due to the danger he faced based on his family membership to the trafficking victim. The claim was granted – the first such asylum claim on behalf of a trafficking victim’s family member.
Child Survivor of Haitian Earthquake Now Has Hope for the Future
Pierre is a 12 year old Haitian child. During his short life, Pierre has experienced years of abuse and has been repeatedly abandoned. At the age of 4 and following the death of his abusive father, Pierre and his sisters were placed in an orphanage by his mother. Following the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Pierre was sent to the United States pursuant to a humanitarian effort for Haitian orphans awaiting the finalization of their adoption. Though Pierre did not have a family willing to adopt him at the time, he was flown to the US along with his sisters who were traveling to be united with the families that were in the process of adopting them.
Pierre’s sisters were separated and sent to other states with adoptive families, but Pierre was sent to a shelter. Due to the abuse and abandonment he had suffered, the court determined that Pierre was dependent, and thus AI Justice represented him, obtaining a special juvenile immigrant visa. Although still in foster care, he is now a legal permanent resident and is on the path to citizenship with the hope for a brighter future.
Broken Systems, Broken Families
Follow @Am4ImmJustice on Twitter
6355 NW 36th St, Suite 2201
E-Mail: info@aijustice.org
10 G Street NE.
AI Justice is an award-winning non-profit law and advocacy firm that protects and promotes the basic human rights of immigrants. In Florida and on a national level, we champion the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children; advocate for survivors of trafficking and domestic violence; serve as a watchdog on immigration detention practices and policies; and speak for immigrant groups who have particular and compelling claims to justice.
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« Extra Aircraft Confirmed for Air Show
Thunder Day – Ready to Roar! »
Sir Alan Cobhams Flying Circus exhibition now on display
Date: NOW – 30 April 2017
Entrance: FREE
A brand new exhibition dedicated to a civil aviation giant is now on display at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford. The exhibition entitled ‘Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus: A life of a Pioneering Aviator’ focuses on one of Britain’s forgotten heroes, Sir Alan Cobham, a true aviation pioneer, both in the air and on the ground.
The display was officially opened by Lady Cobham on Wednesday 23 March during a private event and will run until 30 April 2017. Cobham was a long distance aviator and an aeronautical innovator who became famous for his exploits in the interwar years. This exhibition showcases his diverse flying career and the contributions he made to the world of aviation, most notably the ‘Air to Air’ refuelling technique, still used by air forces across the globe today. He inspired countless members of the public to have successful flying careers, including Shropshire born Spitfire ace Eric Stanley Lock.
Cobham learned to fly during the First World War and later went on to set many long distance aviation records. He became the first person to fly from London to Cape Town and back in 1926 for which he received the Air Force Cross. In the same year at the age of 32, Cobham was knighted by King George V after the successful completion of his Australia flight, where he famously landed his seaplane on the River Thames outside the Houses of Parliament. He won many notable aviation trophies including the King’s Cup air race in 1924 and the Britannia Trophy in 1923, 1925 and 1926. All three Britannia plaques are on display as part of the exhibition, along with a medal case which includes Cobham’s Knight Commander of the British Empire badge and star.
Cobham was one of the biggest celebrities of his day and was well-known for his series of flying tours of the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa, which became affectionately known as ‘Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus’. These tours promoted aviation to the public and were a source of inspiration for countless pilots in the Second World War. Tours of the UK during the 1930s included several shows in the Midlands; Castle Bromwich Aerodrome in Birmingham, Harlescott Flying Ground in Shrewsbury, Stafford Common in Stafford and Kitchen Lane in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton were just some of the many locations to host the show.
Brave, visionary and innovative, Cobham was a record setter who inspired a generation. One such pilot who had his first flight with Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus, was Spitfire fighter ace Flight Lieutenant Eric Stanley Lock who was born in Bayston Hill near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. He was credited with 26 confirmed victories and received the Distinguished Service Order for ‘his magnificent fighting spirit and personal example which have been in the highest traditions of the service’.
In the years that followed his circus success, Cobham went on to pioneer the aeronautical technique of air-to-air refuelling with his company Flight Refuelling Limited. So advanced was the technology he developed, his ‘probe and drogue’ technique is still used today in its fifth generation. His legacy to aviation lives on through his aerospace company which still continues to pioneer aeronautical technologies.
This exhibition is a highly visual display of Sir Alan Cobham’s life and his many notable achievements, showcasing some of the ‘treasures’ from the collection including a Union Flag that was flown on Cobham’s de Havilland D.H.50J biplane during his Cape Town flight. Other items on display include a flying helmet, log book and personal letters to his mother. The exhibition also features film footage that will show how he turned aviation into a breathtaking spectacle. Visitors to the Museum can now view the exhibition in the museum’s Temporary Exhibition Gallery in Hangar 1 until 30 April 2017.
RAF Museum Curator, Daniel Albon said:
“Sir Alan Cobham was famous for saying “It’s a full time job being Alan Cobham” and after curating this exhibition I certainly think he was right! This exhibition was extremely well received at RAF Museum London and I am really excited that it is now launching at RAF Museum Cosford. We have some brand new objects and panels in this exhibition that I’m sure will be well received by visitors at Cosford.”
For further information please visit the Museum website www.rafmuseum.org/cosford or call 01902 376200. The Museum is open daily from 10am and entry is FREE of charge.
Tags: 2016, March, News, RAF Museum Cosford
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Place of Sense(s)
Southern Oceans
Fog, Smoke, Horizons
Light Transcended
New South: Cuba
New South: India
New South: The American South, USA
Southern Revival
Embodied Cartographies
Delta Constant
Project Descriptions
Archiving Spring
Vanishing Spaces
Moving Postcards
Slices of Clarity
Passing Over and Through
Brooke C. White
Brooke White is both a practicing artist and an educator specializing in fine art photography and video art. White actively exhibits her photographs and videos nationally and internationally including the Hammer Museum, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, MASSMoCA and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Her work has been published in Aint Bad Magazine and Don't Take Pictures and her work is included in the Do Good Fund. She is the recipient of the Mississippi Arts Commission Individual Artist Grant and a Senior Fulbright Scholar.
For two decades White has made work about the landscape. She sees it as a space that reflects much of what is taking place within the world, both on a macro and micro level. The conceptual framework of her projects is driven by the politics of place, memory and time, and the role they play in establishing identity. Living in geographically diverse places and unfamiliar landscapes have inspired her to contemplate the role that politics have in developing landscapes around the globe. In her large-format digital diptychs that feature East African landscapes, the images complicate visual representations of colonialism and current sub-Saharan development. In her work focusing on the deep southern United States, she examines landscapes divided by race, politics and the environment.
White is Professor of Art, Area Head and founder of the Imaging Arts area in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Mississippi. She also serves as affiliate faculty in the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies and Digital Media and Cinema minors. When in the classroom she teaches traditional black and white photography, digital photography, digital video, alternative photographic processes and large format digital printing at the graduate and undergraduate level. In the classroom she encourages a cross-disciplinary approach to image making that combines traditional analog techniques alongside digital strategies.
Brooke White CV.pdf
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For immediate release Tuesday, Nov.22, 2016
CONTACT: Roy L. Williams
Felicia Cooper wins turkey contest at North Birmingham Public Library
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-Felicia Cooper’s decision to drop by the North Birmingham Regional Library last week to check out Debbie Macomber’s novel, “The Inn at Rose Harbor,” has paid off in more ways than just giving her a good book to read.
Cooper’s name was drawn as winner in the library’s “Thanks for Being Our Patron Turkey Drawing.” She receives a 12-pound turkey, which Cooper says was unexpected.
“I’m very excited; it’s the first time I’ve ever won anything,” Cooper said in a phone interview.
Cooper, who plans to pick up her turkey by Wednesday morning, said she has been a regular patron of North Birmingham Library since childhood. “It’s my favorite library,” she said.
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Albrecht von Alvensleben Read more...
Albrecht von Alvensleben
*1984 in Swakopmund, Namibia
Albrecht von Alvensleben’s works are moving at the intersection between design, photography and architecture. As a student of Zaha Hadid and Greg Lynn, he could develop his interest for architecture at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. From 2009 to 2010 Albrecht von Alvensleben studied at New York City’s Cooper Union School of Architecture with a full tuition scholarship. The imprint for applied arts, which was mediated at university, can be found throughout the works of Alvensleben – the focus on design, interior fitting and architecture give prove of that. At the Moment Albrecht von Alvensleben works and lives in New York.
Albrecht von Alvensleben designs highly abstracted pictorial compositions, in which he combines objects of daily life in an unique mixture of perspective, light and sharpness, in order to transform them into surreal formations. Old doors and glasses from his grandmother’s house frequently serve as pictorial objects, which he highlights with a car’s backlight to photograph them. Without any digital manipulation richly coloured shapes are created and depending on the light reflexion, they produce multicoloured oscillating and metallic glowing surfaces. The body’s cubist splitting into coloured areas reminds of the German-American painter Lyonel Feininger and his prismatic style, whose abstraction of churches and urban landscapes arised out of the motive’s adaption into a crystalline geometrical construction. And also the in several facets subdivided paintings and sculptures of the futuristic artist Umberto Boccioni can be reduced to a common denominator with Alvensleben’s colour photos. The photos’ surfaces demonstrate a peculiar feel, which ranges between glass and metal and wants to be both concrete for the observer and concrete in regards to the content. However the surreal play of colours and forms are that highly abstracted, that a decipherment is nearly impossible – the old objects of daily use aren’t recognisable anymore.
Title: E355
Art-Nr.: ID-AAL-Ru-04
30cm x 45cmEdition limited to: 5 + 2 AP
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Help us live a faith that truly heals, young Scottish Catholics tell youth synod
2018年10月6日 peter新闻
A Catholic faith lived and taught with integrity is needed to help heal and renew the lives of young adults today, a group of young Catholics in Scotland have said in a letter about the Synod of Bishops on Young People.
“Young Catholics are inspired by the heroic virtue espoused by the Church, in opposition to the cynicism and pessimism of postmodern culture. A faith that merely legitimizes the habits we would otherwise have anyway is simply not worth it,” they said.
The September letter is addressed to Archbishop Leo Cushley of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, one of the bishops attending the synod in Rome. It was signed by more than 100 Catholics aged 18-35 who live in Scotland.
For these young Catholics, priests who proclaim orthodox Catholic teaching in its fullness with “joy and courage” are not “out of touch.”
Instead, they have “brought the light of Christ into our lives, and really offered us His Mercy – the remedy for a broken world, which does not pretend human brokenness is irremediable, but truly heals and gives the grace we need to live new lives of virtue.”
“To those priests, we are unendingly grateful,” they said. “Sadly, far too few young people have encountered this fullness of the faith lived out visibly and confidently.”
More than 300 participants have gathered in Rome, including clerics and religious, as well as 49 auditors, among them 36 young people from around the world. The Synod of Bishops is meeting Oct. 3-28 to discuss young people, the faith, and vocational discernment.
The synod’s working document outlined a number of themes for discussion including vocational discernment and the transmission of the faith. It asked how the Church can better engage with young people on issues such as sexuality and gender, social justice themes including racism, migration, and economic exclusion, and the place of young people as leaders in their communities.
In their letter, the young Scots objected to suggestions that difficult aspects of Church teaching on faith and morals “need to be downplayed, or even put aside, in order to be relevant to people’s lives and sensitive to their difficulties.”
“Some even imply that priests who hold to orthodox teaching are out of touch with the lives of lay people, and of young people especially,” said the letter. “However, it is in fact this line of thought that is utterly in contradiction to our lived experience.”
In their experience, these young Catholics said, what has made them become or remain Catholic amid increasing cultural pressure are the “uniquely Catholic” aspects of the faith, compared to what is found in social clubs, NGOs or political parties.
“What matters is precisely the Church’s claim to truth; Her liturgy and Sacraments; Her transcendent doctrine, communicated in teaching but also through beauty and goodness; Her understanding of the human person, laid out so powerfully for the modern world by St John Paul II; and Her moral teaching, that while so very challenging, also offers the only path to true joy and human flourishing as we see in the lives of the saints,” the letter continued. “These are the things that convince us that here is something worth the sacrifice, something good for us and for every human being.”
Citing the God-given blessings of encounters, pastors, and religious formation that others have not had, they said, “we desperately want to share this great gift with so many lapsed and non-Catholics among our family, friends, and colleagues, who have not rejected Catholicism but a poorly-understood shadow of it.”
“If the synod is to bear fruit, it is with this task that it must help us,” they added, advocating that Catholic communities be “permeated with a Catholic worldview” and unashamed when such a view is “very different” from the prevailing culture. They advocated the extension of the sacramental life beyond Mass to help solidify Catholics’ “foundation for existence.”
“We must draw on our rich heritage to ensure the liturgy is celebrated with beauty and splendor so as to reveal and draw us into the profound mysteries taking place,” their letter said. They emphasized the need for various examples of joyful Christian vocations in parishes and dioceses to help them discern God’s will “not in isolation but in an ecclesial context.”
“Young Catholics find priests who live their vocation to celibacy faithfully and joyfully to be highly credible witnesses to the joys and challenges of life in Christ,” they said.
The challenges facing Catholic marriage today was also a topic of the letter.
“To a large extent, Catholic married life has come to be treated as little different from secular relationships,” they said. Economic and social structures presume contraceptive use and make it difficult for couples to live faithfully.
“So many of our generation are living with the consequences of broken families, and this has engendered a cynicism about marriage,” continued the letter. “However, these young people have never been shown an alternative and therefore the Church has a great opportunity and obligation to clearly, confidently, and joyfully proclaim the truth about marriage.”
They stressed the need for parishes to be “consciously supportive” of the married vocation, saying young Catholics have a right to hear the truth about marriage. The family fosters vocaions and is a foundation for an “authentic renewal” of Catholicism, they said.
乙年常年期第廿七主日
Catholic Charities of Lubbock aids homeless youth
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about cvc
Based in Toronto with writers all over, we listen to an unhealthy number of albums to bring you the coolest new music.
favourite labels
Flemish Eye
Kranky
Out of This Spark
Shelflife
Album Review Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record
Photograph by Norman Wong
I wasn’t initially excited in the build-up to the release of Forgiveness Rock Record. Much ado was made about this being Broken Social Scene’s first album since 2005’s self-titled effort, but when you consider that in the past five years we’ve received albums from Metric, Feist, Apostle of Hustle, Jason Collett, Stars, the two “Broken Social Scene Presents…” albums from Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, as well as music from countless other members, it feels like Broken Social Scene never really went away. My mood changed when this year’s concert on Toronto Island was announced, and ‘World Sick’ started hitting the airwaves. I started wondering what getting the band back together would accomplish this time around.
Logistically, a new album would be an ordeal to write and record, with nearly every member of the band having their own successful main project. Perhaps out of necessity, the core line-up has been pared down to seven members. Nearly everyone from the past shows up in minor roles throughout the album, in addition to special guests like Spiral Stairs and Sebastien Grainger, but the core group is what carries it. Perhaps the most apparent change is Lisa Lobsinger of Reverie Sound Revue supplanting Feist (who only provides backing vocals on two tracks) as Broken Social Scene’s resident songstress. Lobsinger has been touring with the group for years, but she makes the best of her official debut, particularly with ‘All to All’. John McEntire serves as producer and drummer for the album. Knowing only his work in The Sea and Cake, I can say he brings a focus here that was lacking in the chaos that was Broken Social Scene. As a result, the album isn’t as bombastic as its predecessors, preferring a more chilled out vibe.
In keeping with previous outings, everyone is given their chance to shine. The Apostle of Hustle himself, Andrew Whiteman, takes the lead on ‘Art House Director’, which is packed to the brim with horns. Emily Haines’ guest spots are usually a high point of Broken Social Scene albums and ‘Sentimental X’s’ is no exception. Backed by Amy Millan and Feist, Haines once again gives a magnificently understated performance. Those looking for sing-alongs on this album can look no further than ‘Texico Bitches’ or ‘Water in Hell’. The latter is particularly reminiscent of ‘It’s All Gonna Break’, and would serve as an ideal closer, were it not for the ode to masturbation that is ‘Me and My Hand’. Apparently ‘Handjobs for the Holidays’ wasn’t enough.
Broken Social Scene – All to All
Broken Social Scene – Water in Hell
I normally avoid mentioning bonus material with regards to an album, but Lo-Fi for the Dividing Nights presents a special case. As a bonus EP available to those who preordered the album, these are ten songs in the style of ‘Me and My Hand’: brief, atmospheric studio experiments recorded during downtime, often lacking vocals, as a way to keep the creative juices flowing during the recording process. It serves as an interesting complement to the LP.
Following You Forgot It in People and Broken Social Scene is no easy task, but somehow Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and company managed to get it together and create something that can stand beside those two albums.
Tags: Broken Social Scene
— Kevin Kania, May 25, 2010 3 Comments
— Sal Patel, May 25, 2010
I wrote this awhile ago, and I don’t think I put enough hyperbole in it. This is really really really really good.
— Kevin Kania, May 26, 2010
I don’t like this record – I think I put too much anticipation into it and it disappointed me. Contrary to what you (Kevin) said – I feel like Canning and Drew were unable to relight that fire that once was collectively Broken Social Scene.
— Crystal, June 2, 2010
feature lists
Best Albums of 2014, Pt. 2
Okkervil River
Polaris Music Rant
Video Premiere: PS I Love You – “2012”
Karkwa Wins 2010 Polaris Prize
The Sounds of the Semester
Guestlist: Fort York
The Ca Va Cool Mixtape 2010
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CEIBS Master Class - Manila
In collaboration with Xavier School, CEIBS cordially invites you to attend our exclusive lecture on China’s New Era: What It Means for the Philippines in Manila on June 27, 2019.
About the Lecture
China has risen to become a global superpower yet it has a system vastly different from that of the West. In late-2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China has entered a “New Era.” What is President Xi’s vision of China’s New Era? How is it perceived by the West? How is it reflected in the China-US trade conflict and beyond? In particular, what does China’s New Era mean for the Philippines, and how can Philippine companies manage business relations with Chinese companies with a strong government background? CEIBS Professor Xu Bin will provide his analysis of China’s New Era and explain its implications for the world.
Moderated by the President of CEIBS Alumni Philippines Chapter Karl Leung, the panel will explore win-win opportunities for China and the Philippines.
Our speakers & panellists
Dr. Dipak Jain
President (European)
Professor of Marketing, CEIBS
Dr. Dipak Jain is President (European) and Professor of Marketing at CEIBS. He is a globally recognised marketing and innovation expert whose insights have inspired a generation of business leaders to pursue success with significance. He served from 2011 to 2013 as Dean of INSEAD. Before joining INSEAD, Prof. Jain was Dean of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management from 2001 to 2009.
Dr. Xu Bin
Professor of Economics and Finance
Wu Jinglian Chair in Economics
Associate Dean (Research), CEIBS
Prof. Xu’s current research focuses on the global and Chinese economy, multinational enterprises in China, and trade and finance issues of emerging markets. He has published extensively in both international and Chinese journals, and is author of International Trade (Peking University Press, 2009). Dr. Xu is Associate Editor of the Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, and a board member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Seminars.
Karl Leung
Managing Director, Emerging Asia Capital Partners
Director & Chief Strategy Officer, One World Filter
President, CEIBS Alumni Association Philippines Chapter
In his role as Managing Director of the boutique advisory firm and investment bank Emerging Asia Capital Partners, Karl focuses on deal sourcing and execution for energy, mining and infrastructure transactions in fast growing Asian economies. Having graduated from CEIBS MBA programme in 2008, Karl now serves as President of the CEIBS Alumni Philippines Chapter.
Dr. Bernardo Malvar Villegas
Professor, The University of Asia and the Pacific
Visiting professor, IESE
Bernardo Malvar Villegas is a Professor at The University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) and Research Director of the Center for Research and Communication, Manila. He graduated with a PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 1963. He is currently a member of the boards of directors or advisory boards of several leading national and multinational firms, such as the Benguet Corporation, Alaska Corporation, PHINMA Property Holding Corporation, AES, and Transnational Diversified.
Michael Goldsmith
Senior Advisor, Governments of the Philippines, Nigeria, Jordan and Brazil
Having spent almost an entire career influencing integrated strategies, policies and programmes around the world, Michael provides significant knowledge of the various political, cultural and financial challenges Philippine businesses face in solving critical issues. Current projects in the Philippines include a real-time data aggregation solution for maritime safety, security and trade, a Global Risk Management Center (FinTech), and pending, the first smart, eco-friendly community.
Tony Erickson
Director & CEO, One World Filter
CEO, Emerald Isles
Carl A. Erickson (“Tony”) is Director and CEO of One World Filter and CEO of Emerald Isles. He has over 30 years’ experience as CEO and 40 years’ experience in the management of companies involved in the development and execution of international business opportunities in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America and has secured over $250M of funding for companies he managed.
Date: Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 14:30 (start time)
Venue: The Garden Ballroom, EDSA Shangri-La, 1 Garden Way Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City
Registration: Click here to register or contact the Alumni Association of Xavier School on 0917 5552297 for any enquiries. To register via SMS, please text Raina Lim on 0917 8984311 and be sure to include your name, email address + CEIBS Manila Masterclass.
14:30-14:45 Welcome by Prof. Dipak Jain
14:45-15:30 Keynote speech by Prof. Xu Bin
15.30-16.00 MOU signing ceremony between CEIBS and XAVIER
16:00-17:30 Panel discussion and Q&A
17:30-19:30 Cocktail reception
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), a joint-venture for management education, was co-founded by the Chinese government and European Union (EU) in 1994, with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the EFMD serving as its executive partners. CEIBS has campuses in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Accra in Ghana, and Zurich in Switzerland.
As China’s only business school to originate from government-level collaboration, CEIBS is committed to educating responsible leaders versed in “China Depth, Global Breadth” in line with its motto of “Conscientiousness, Innovation and Excellence.” Leaders from the Chinese central government and the EU have respectively lauded CEIBS as “a cradle of excellent executives” and “a role model of EU-China cooperation.”
CEIBS offers MBA, EMBA, Global EMBA, Hospitality EMBA, Finance MBA, Executive Education and PhD programmes. Renowned for its academic rigour, CEIBS is the first business school in the Chinese Mainland to have been accredited by both EQUIS and AACSB and the only business school in Asia to have simultaneously made it to the Financial Times’ top 5 list of MBA and EMBA programmes.
Click here to register online!
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Air Max 90 Saldi 6363
Air Max 90 Saldi
<p>"In the past couple of weeks, when he had his opportunities, he has a finish mentality," offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan said of Gettis. "He's a tough guy, he's a strong guy and also very smart. He has good versatility in terms of being able to snap the ball if necessary or play on the inside. Confident that if he's given his opportunities,Nike Air Max Shop Australia, he'll make the most of them."</p>
<p>Coach Ben McAdoo announced Friday that guards Justin Pugh, Brett Jones and Marshall Newhouse all will miss Sunday's game in Cleveland. The rookie head man also said backup guard Adam Gettis is dealing with a calf injury.</p>
<p>Gettis has not started a game since Dec. 30,NBA Jerseys From China, 2011, when he played for Iowa in the Insight Bowl. He has played in 16 NFL games in four seasons,Cheap Nike Shoes Online Australia, including two this year. He has been cut five times in his career, including four times by the Giants.</p>
<p>Pugh started the first seven games at left guard before spraining a knee against Philadelphia. Jones started against Cincinnati and lasted one series before injuring a calf. Newhouse started against the Bears last weekend and sprained a knee.</p>
<p>Veteran Will Beatty,Cheap Jerseys Wholesale, who started at tackle for most of his career with the Giants, and Shane McDermott, who was cut before the season and recently added to the active roster, are the only other offensive linemen on the roster.</p>
<p>EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The New York Giants are going to be changing their starter at left guard for the fourth consecutive week.</p>
<p>Gettis has practiced this week,NFL Jerseys From China, but it is uncertain whether the Giants (7-3) can count for the contest against the Browns (0-11).</p>
<p>"It's been a culmination of everything I've been through," Gettis said Friday. "Being with the different teams and seeing so many different fronts. Just preparing like I prepare. I know I'm ready to go. I'm going to play well for the guys in the locker room."</p>
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Other CNEWA sites Beirut - English Canada - English Canada - Français Jerusalem - English
CNEWAs Early Years
U.S. Bishops Plan to Be Stronger Advocates for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
22 Sep 2014 By Judith Sudilovsky
JERUSALEM (CNS) — American bishops were returning to their dioceses after a nine-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land with a stronger resolve to advocate for peace and to urge the U.S. government to take a leadership role in ushering Israelis and Palestinians toward peace, a member of the delegation said.
“Framed by Pope Francis’ encouragement of encounters in Christ with the poor and suffering, [we have encountered] in the Holy Land Palestinians and Israelis who live sometimes with fear, sometimes with hate,” Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, told Catholic News Service on 18 September.
“In Gaza, we have witnessed the destruction, death and loss of family. We feel an urgent need to bring attention to this,” he said.
Representing the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops, the clerics met with Israeli and Palestinian religious and political leaders, spent time meeting local residents and prayed at holy sites during the pilgrimage that began on 11 September. Bishop Cantu was among five bishops who also visited Gaza a month after the recent 50-day Gaza war ended.
Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger, of Salina, Kansas, who had served as a chaplain in Oklahoma City after the 1995 bombing of a federal building there, said he had never expected to see such destruction and suffering again.
He described what he saw in Gaza as “painful to see.”
Electrical service remained sporadic and school was suspended while children healed from the trauma.
“All this makes us realize that there is no price too high to pay for peace,” Bishop Weisenburger told CNS. “[We need] the international community to coalesce to help both parties to come together for the sake of justice for both sides who have known suffering. Both sides have the right to have stability and peace.”
Just a few short years ago, the bishop noted, he had thought there would never be peace in Northern Ireland, but now peace has come.
“Hope makes it possible to envision a new future,” he said.
Bishop Bernard J. Harrington of Winona, Minnesota, said he was struck by the difficult situation in East Jerusalem in terms of building restrictions and lack of freedom of movement for residents.
“We met some wonderful Israelis who are truly interested in peace and also some who talk about peace but say there are too many restrictions, namely the issue of security,” he said of some Israeli leaders.
At the same time, explained retired Oklahoma City Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran, both Israeli and Palestinian leadership has failed their people, with Palestinians lacking “sincere leadership” while Israeli leaders have become increasingly more aggressive.
Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, noted the intensity of the experience, and admitted that he was returning home with a greater sense of the situation’s complexity because of its parallel narratives.
“I am going to have a lot more learning and thinking and praying to do,” he said. “People on both sides need to open their ears to the other side, especially the ears of their hearts.”
Tags: Middle East Christians Israeli-Palestinian conflict Middle East Peace Process Holy Land Christians U.S. Bishops
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Piczle Lines DX (Nintendo Switch) Review
By Nikola Suprak 02.02.2018
Nintendo Switch is quickly coming up on its one year anniversary, and in that short time it has built quite the impressive library. There are old standbys like Mario and Link putting forth some of their best titles to date, and a nice smattering of new IP and indie titles to keep things fresh. Then there's Piczle Lines DX, a little puzzle game that has been ported over from its original mobile platform. Strangely, this title was missing from the last couple Nintendo Directs, most likely on account of absolutely no one being interested in it. This certainly isn't the kind of title to set the world on fire, and with so many greats available, this seems like one destined to get lost in the depths of the eShop.
Piczle Lines DX is a simple concept. It is a new take on the classic nonogram puzzle -logic sort of puzzles with numbers along the side of a grid that form a picture as certain squares are darkened out. The puzzles here have that same grid and inside of the grid are blank boxes and boxes that contain a number of a certain colour. These numbers must be connected to matching numbers in grid in the same number of spaces the number indicates, and the player is allowed to go through any of the currently blank squares possible to make this happen. Therefore, for example, if a number five is shown on the grid, you can go straight through three blank squares and connect it to another number five square to make a line of five total segments. The lines can be straight or as complex as possible, and by the end the entire grid needs to be coloured in, which will form some unique little picture depending on the specific puzzle. The challenge comes from figuring out what lines go where, and it is necessary to use some logic and the process of elimination to figure out how to connect every single box together.
The game is divided between a story mode and a free play mode where you can tackle puzzles at your leisure. There is a very significant difference between the two modes, because in story mode once twenty levels are cleared a quick little comic plays while in free play it… doesn't. That's it. There are around twenty lines of dialogue in the entire story so really all there is to do here is play the puzzles, of which there is a ton. There are an absurd number of puzzles here, somewhere over three hundred in total between the two modes that should keep even the most rabid of puzzle enthusiasts busy for quite some time. They vary in size from some simple 16 by 16 grids that can be cleared in just a couple of minutes, to enormous 128 by 128 monstrosities that will likely take a couple of hours to get all the way through. The sheer size of some of the puzzles means there is quite a lot to do here, so people that are fans of the basic concept are going to get a lot of bang for their buck. Unfortunately, people that are really into the gameplay here are likely to be in the minority, because honestly this is one of the least engaging puzzle titles available on the eShop at the moment.
While puzzle games can certainly be intense and provide a significant challenge, this is not one of those. Piczle Lines DX is a lazy puzzler; not lazily designed or lazily executed, though. This is the sort of game someone plays when they want to feel lazy; a laid back in the comfiest chair in the house and try not to fall asleep sort of experience. It is a lot like an actual jigsaw puzzle in a way; a sort of relaxing and not particularly engaging experience where solving it depends less on actual mental acuity and more on whether or not someone can stand to sit down and actually do it for that long. The puzzles can get bigger, sure, but the fundamental concept here never changes or evolves from the very first puzzle. This isn't a bad thing by itself, but the basic formula is kind of boring and after wading through the first dozen puzzles or so a nagging sense of boredom is going to seep in.
It is not an exaggeration at all to say the game doesn't really progress along the way. Connect one line, connect ten thousand and this simply isn't the kind of game people are going to play for more than ten minutes or so at a time. There is some logic here, sure, and at first it is kind of fun to power through a couple of puzzles.
Figuring out ones that absolutely have to connect, and then going around and slowly picking off ones that follow from that is a fun enough mechanic, but it is the only mechanic. There are only so many ways to do this, though, and after a while there really isn't a reason to want to do this again. This is especially true of the bigger puzzles, which are a test of endurance more than intelligence. Finishing a big 64 by 64 puzzle, only to have another completely empty 64 by 64 waiting as a reward, doesn't really provide any sort of motivation to keep going. The basic mechanic here simply isn't interesting enough, and this is the kind of game someone plays for twenty minutes or so, puts down, and maybe comes back to it when they're bored a couple of days later.
This isn't to say it is necessarily bad, though, and there has to be a niche of puzzle gamers that like this sort of title. There is a lot of content here, the presentation is bright and cutesy, and for someone that is into this it might just scratch the sort of itch they have. It isn't poorly made, either, and there are bound to be some who are into this more plodding, contemplative style. It is a perfectly fine time killer, so if that is all someone is looking for then they could certainly do worse. At the same time, though, it is hard to keep on playing this after a while, which tends to be a bad sign for something that is supposed to be "fun." It is competent, perfectly bland, and kind of boring.
Piczle Lines DX isn't a bad game. In fact, it does what it wants to do almost perfectly. There are a ton of puzzles here to solve, from the small bite-sized ones that can be solved in minutes to big, sprawling challenges that can take hours. Unfortunately, it is simply that the underlying concept here simply is not that interesting. This is a boring kind of puzzler, and feels a bit like putting together an actual puzzle over and over… and over again. There is probably a niche for this, a certain kind of puzzle enthusiast that likes these slower, more plodding experiences. A vast majority of gamers, however, are going to lose interest fast because it only really has one trick that it does repeatedly. Piczle Lines DX is a perfectly adequate experience.
Piczle Lines DX (Nintendo Switch)
Rainy Frog
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explore your career
consortium members
associate partner network
Personality as determinant for competencies
Thursday, 29. June 2017
By Dr. Alec W. Serlie (GITP, The Netherlands) & Mirjam Neelen (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
The term ‘competency’ for a workplace environment is often used to describe a vast range of skills, expertise, abilities, and knowledge. There are various descriptions of the term competency available in the literature, both academic and specialist (e.g., technical literature). One of the first scholars referring to competencies as a measure for job performance was McClelland in 1973. Later on, Boyatzis defined a job competency as ”an underlying characteristic of an employee (e.g., motive, trait, skill, aspects of one's self-image, social role, or a body of knowledge) which results in effective and/or superior performance in a job” (Boyatzis, 1982, p. 20). Traditionally, competency models rely mainly on the expertise or skills of the worker in order to perform on the job. And even though expertise is not only limited to factual knowledge of a trade or profession, it is strongly determined by content or problem-related aspects of a job. However, in order to be truly effective in a job, this expertise also has to be used in an adaptive and relevant manner. One could raise the question whether a lawyer with just expert knowledge of the law and jurisprudence would be well able to defend a client in court. The answer obviously is “no” (or at least, not necessarily) as certain behavioural aspects such as presenting, pleading, and flexibility to counter arguments made by the other party are also crucial. In other words, only having the expertise is not sufficient to be an effective lawyer. Likewise, a computer programmer with excellent knowledge of a programming language may be apt in writing high quality code, but will also have to have mastered certain behavioural aspects such as collaboration and communication with co-workers, superiors, and clients in order to be really effective. Effective in this example does not only mean writing the code, but also getting others involved, making use of their insights, being a team player, and being able to share knowledge so that others understand the code. The common characteristics in these two examples is that the effectiveness of work depends on two basic elements; that is
the expertise required in order to be able to tackle the content aspects of a job and
the behavioural elements required to adapt to various situations.
The behavioural elements can be measured either indirectly, based on (evidence-based) predictors, and/or directly by observing actual behaviour. The latter is more time consuming as it generally involves not only the learners themselves, but also depends on the (expert) judgment of others.
The basis of behaviour can be found in a combination of intuition, personality, and temperament as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Behavioural repertoire
In the DEVELOP platform, personality assessment is one of the assessment types that employees can complete. In this article, we will explain at a high level how the indirect measurement of behaviour through personality assessment can contribute to gaining insight in an individual’s competency profile.
How personality assessment supports insight in one’s personality profile
The study of personality focuses on two broad areas: one is to understand individual differences in particular personality characteristics, such as sociability or irritability; the other is to understand how the various parts of a person come together as a whole (see www.apa.org/topics/personality) . The most accepted and documented model of personality is the Big Five by Costa and McCrae. This five factor model, also known as Big Five personality traits, is a lexical model based on common language descriptors of personality. These descriptors are grouped together through factor analysis. Although the names of the five factors differ somewhat, following McCrae and Costa, the following names are applied: Extraversion, Agreeableness (Altruism), Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness. Due to the negative connotation of Neuroticism, one often refers to Stability in the selection/career psychology instead of Neuroticism.
In order to adequately understand the concepts of personality and its relation to behaviours on the job, it is important to provide a brief explanation of the most important personality factors.
Extravert people are characterized by an open personality, they are people who need company, who are easy to get along with, who easily make contact with others and who are jovial. Opposites are introvert people who are reserved, who would rather keep a low profile and who do not mind being or working alone.
People who are altruistic are characterized by their helpful attitude, they are sympathetic towards others, they trust others and are tolerant. Opposites are unfriendly or harsh people, who mainly think of themselves and who do not really care about others.
Conscientious people are people who like to play by the rules, who are disciplined and persevering and who proceed in an orderly fashion and according to plan. In contrast, careless people are inclined to postpone matters, they may be chaotic, they do not strictly follow the rules and they adopt a nonchalant attitude.
Neurotic people are indecisive, quickly irritated, they have mood swings and quickly panic. People with a high Emotional Stability (=low degree neuroticism) have a strong personality, they are self-confident, they can handle tension and criticism, they have authority and are calm in nature.
Openness applies to people who are open to new experiences, who are inquisitive, who have imagination and who can form their own opinion on matters. Their opposites are conformable, in the sense that the follow the beaten path, they are superficial, they do not enjoy going deeply into any subject, who avoid difficult problems and who are obedient.
The relevance of personality assessment for Overall Job Performance (OJP) in work-related positions has been well researched and documented. Personality in relation to more specific competencies, such as Entrepreneurial Success, Leadership had also been well documented.
Studies by Bartramin 2005 and earlier Kurz and Bartram in 2002 showed that personality dimensions related to specific competency domains. Extraversion for instance is one of the determinants of Leading & Deciding and Interacting & Presenting, whereas Openness is one of the determinants of Creating & Conceptualizing (see Table 1).
Table 1. Correlations between Big Five and Great Eight Competency Criteria (Bartram, 2005)
Recent studies (Serlie, 2016) show that multiple correlations of personality, in combination with motivation and cognitive ability can exceed r=.50.
All in all, assessing personality as a basic predisposition of behavioural competencies can be useful in determining the level and the “trainability” of that competency, which is helpful for employees in the context of career development.
Find related articles on Competency Management and Learning and Development in our blog. You are welcome to discuss this article on Medium.
[1] Ashton M. & Lee, K. (2007) Empirical, Theoretical, and Practical Advantages of the HEXACO Model of Personality Structure. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, (2),150-166
[2] Bartram, D. (2005). The Great Eight competencies: a criterion-centric approach to validation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90 (6), 1185–1203
[3] Barrick, M. R., Mount, M.K. (1991). The Big Five Personality Dimensions and Job performance: A Meta Analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44: 1-26
[4] Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). The competent manager: a model for effective performance. London: Wiley
[5] Costa Jr., P.T. & McCrae, R.R. (1997). In R. Hogan, J.A. Johnson & S.R. Briggs (Eds), Handbook of personality psychology, (269-290). San Diego, CA, US: Academic Press
[6] Hogan, R., Curphy, G. J., & Hogan, J. (1994). What we know about leadership: Effectiveness and personality. American Psychologist, 49 (6), 493-504. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.49.6.493
[7] Hurtz, G. M., & Donovan, J. J. (2000). Personality and job performance: The Big Five revisited. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 869-879. doi: 10.1037//0021-9010.85.6.869
[8] Kurz, R., & Bartram, D. (2002). Competency and individual performance: Modelling the world of work. In I. T. Robertson, M. Callinan, & D. Bartram (Eds.), Organizational effectiveness: The role of psychology (227–255). Chichester: Wiley
[9] McCrae, R. R. and Costa, P.T. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 52, 81-90
[10] McLelland, D.C. (1973). Testing for Competence Rather Than for “Intelligence”. American Psychologist, 1-14
[11] Rauch,A., & Frese, M. (2007). Let's put the person back into entrepreneurship research: A meta-analysis on the relationship between business owners' personality traits, business creation, and success. European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology, 16 (4) 353-385. DOI: 10.1080/13594320701595438
[12] Salgado, F (1997). The five factor model of personality and job performance in the European Community. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82 (1), 30-43
[13] Serlie, A.W. (2016). Predicting competency composites based on personality, motivation and management orientation. Internal report GITP
[14] Tett, R. P., Jackson, D. N., & Rothstein, M. (1991). Personality measures as predictors of job performance: A meta-analytic review. Personnel Psychology, 44, 703–742
[15] University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Human Resources, (2016). The Definition of Competencies and Their Application at NU. Retrieved from http://hr.unl.edu/compensation/nuvalues/corecompetencies.shtml/#three
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Bernie Sanders Supporters Are Taking Over the Democratic Party Machine, One State at a Time
From California to Massachusetts, a grassroots revolt from the left is wresting control of the party away from the corporate establishment.
By Theo Anderson
When Kimberly Ellis entered the contest for California Democratic Party (CDP) chair in 2015, she adopted a slogan from Shirley Chisholm’s groundbreaking 1972 presidential campaign, “Unbought and Unbossed.” Four years before becoming the first woman and the first African American to run for the Democratic presidential nomination, Chisholm had defied the Democratic machine “bosses” in Brooklyn to win a House seat.
For Ellis, the slogan was both a nod to Chisholm and a dig at the bossed and bought character of the Democratic Party. She and her opponent in the race, Eric Bauman, agreed on a range of progressive policies, like single-payer healthcare and a minimum wage of at least $15. The heart of their dispute was the influence of economic elites and the political establishment over the party. Ellis, the former head of an organization devoted to recruiting women to enter politics, has long advocated reducing the influence of lobbyists and corporate money, and broadening the base by building a network of organizers and activists.
“I believe the CDP should hire organizers, not build an institute,” she noted in a statement of her principles, taking a swipe at Bauman’s idea of building a think tank devoted to progressive ideas. In her pitch at the state convention, Ellis told delegates, “If we want people to fight for the Democratic Party, we have to give them a Democratic Party worth fighting for.”
Bauman is a longtime party insider—chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party since 2000, vice chair of the state party since 2009 and senior adviser to the speaker of the state Assembly, Anthony Rendon. He also runs a political consulting firm, VictoryLand Partners. This became a major issue in the race for state chair when it emerged that VictoryLand had received more than $100,000 from pharmaceutical companies that opposed a ballot measure designed to cap prescription drug prices in California. Bauman, in his defense, said, “I’m certainly not using my personal influence with anybody on this matter.”
Because it was a ballot measure, legislators weren’t directly complicit in its defeat, but the ties between Rendon, Bauman and VictoryLand looked bad. For Ellis supporters, the issue came to sum up the rot in the Democratic Party. At the convention’s general assembly on Saturday, May 20, they frequently interrupted and chanted over speakers. Ellis supporters formed a ring around the event hall, many of them clad in bright pink “Unbought Unbossed” T-shirts, chanting “Kim-ber-ly!” The retiring state chair, 84-year-old John Burton, eventually took the microphone and invited the protesters to “sit the fuck down, please” and show “some fucking courtesy.”
Later that day, when the votes were counted and word spread that Ellis had fallen short by 62 ballots, out of about 3,000 cast—a margin so close that the Ellis camp challenged the result, triggering a review still ongoing—it seemed to many of her supporters like a rerun of the same old, same old. Bernie vs. Hillary. Ellison vs. Perez. Close but not quite. For all the passion of the insurgents, the establishment still gripped the reins of power. One Ellis supporter at the convention, Wendy Ruiz, a delegate from South Los Angeles, expressed her frustration and disappointment with the disconnect between the party’s words and deeds. “At what point are you going to step up for us and do what you said that you would?” she asked.
As Democrats gear up for the 2018 election cycle, that disconnect is fueling passionate efforts to transform the party. Whether this uprising by the party’s progressive wing is a false start or the start of a revolution, it is without doubt the most serious fissure in the party since its centrist and leftist wings came to blows over the Vietnam War in 1968—the year that Shirley Chisholm was elected to Congress as an anti-war Democrat.
The race between Bauman and Ellis was never supposed to be so close. Ellis came within striking distance only because, a year ago, progressives set their sights on changing the CDP leadership.
The plan took shape among Bernie Sanders delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. It gained momentum when the California Nurses Association (CNA)—a strong advocate for single-payer healthcare—got behind the Ellis nomination, along with the Consumer Attorneys of California and (late in the process) Our Revolution, the organization founded in September 2016 to carry forward Bernie Sanders’ “political revolution.” Victory became a possibility in January when progressives turned out in strong numbers for delegate elections across the state and won a majority of the races.
But elected delegates add up to only a third of the total. Two-thirds of delegates are appointed by party organizations, officials and politicians. That un-democratic imbalance sums up the heart of the dispute between Bauman and Ellis: whether party leaders or the party’s activist base will hold the power.
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The answer has political implications that aren’t immediately obvious. For example, progressives in California have been pushing for years to give the party’s platform more power. That was a centerpiece of Ellis’ campaign. “If there’s no enforcement mechanism, then what good is the platform?” says Karen Bernal, who served as an adviser to the Ellis campaign and was elected chair of the Progressive Caucus at May’s convention. “If there’s actually no teeth behind it—if we can’t deny an endorsement over it—then, honestly, it’s meaningless.” The party leadership has consistently resisted any reforms that would make the platform more binding.
Bernal says the progressive coalition that fought to elect Ellis and push through such reforms understood the stakes. “We’re the largest state Democratic Party,” she says. “We knew that the rest of the country would be watching.”
But if one takeaway of the struggle for the CDP is that the Democratic establishment narrowly won yet again, another is that “the resistance” won’t be limited to fighting the GOP—and it won’t be content to play defense.
“There’s a difference in the kind of resistance we’re talking about, and the kind of resistance you often see promoted as ‘the resistance’ by groups such as MoveOn.org or Indivisible,” Bernal says. “Their main thing is to resist Trump. But I’m not really sure they understand what that means. For the Berners who’ve gone into the party, they’re very clear about the agenda, which is an anti-corporate, anti-neoliberal agenda. Here in California, we know what resistance means to us. It doesn’t mean saving the ACA. It means replacing it with single payer.”
At the convention, when the CDP establishment tried to paper over intra-party tensions by talking about “the resistance” to Donald Trump, Ellis supporters weren’t buying it. “You know what I want to resist?” said RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of the CNA, to a group of Ellis supporters on the eve of the convention. “Corporate Democrats.” The line drew huge cheers.
CNA was vocal in its support of both single-payer healthcare and Ellis. DeMoro warned in a speech to the general session that if Democrats “dismiss progressive values and reinforce the status quo, don’t assume that activists in California and around this country are going to stay with the Democratic Party.”
If the movement to elect Ellis had its origins among Sanders’ DNC delegates, Ellis’ crossover appeal shattered any simple Bernie vs. Hillary assumptions. Chants of “Bernie!” became a rallying cry among Ellis supporters—many of whom had war stories about volunteering for his campaign—but Ellis herself had, in fact, endorsed Clinton. What bonded her supporters, more than their enthusiasm for Sanders or Clinton, was a fierce passion for reforming the Democratic Party. For this wing of the resistance, countering the influence of big money in politics is fundamental. Democrats don’t get a pass because they pay lip service to progressive values.
“The corporate interests have been able to buy the politics of this country and therefore buy the government,” says Jim Hightower, a board member of Our Revolution and part of the leadership of Our Revolution Texas. “The single most important thing to me about the Bernie campaign was that he put the lie to the Democratic claim that we cannot unilaterally disarm; we have to raise the big money in order to deal with the Republicans. Well, Bernie raised something like $130 million from small donors, and the average donation was $27.”
Pushing the Democratic Party to the left is a longstanding goal of progressives, of course. What distinguishes this moment is the momentum created by a combination of loathing for Trump and enthusiasm for Sanders’ call for political revolution. A wide range of progressive groups are involved on the local level, but Our Revolution has emerged as the nationwide coordinator. Within the past year, progressives associated with Sanders or Our Revolution have become party chairs in Colorado, Nebraska, Washington and Wyoming.
There was no contest for the chair at the Michigan Democratic convention in February, but about 5,000 people showed up—an unusually high turnout, fueled in large part by the organizing work of Sanders-inspired groups such as Michigan for Revolution. Progressives won caucus races and seats on the state central committee. As one member of Michigan for Revolution told the Detroit News, “Right now it’s a party that’s dominated by elite stakeholders and donors, and that’s not the way it should be.”
“It’s a big structural fight that we’re in,” says Hightower. “We’ve got to have our own political organization with the fundraising capacity to take on the moneyed interests and the plutocractic interests. And that possibility is what excites people.”
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Progressive reformers are focusing on both policy and process. On policy, single-payer healthcare and a $15 minimum wage are key rallying points. On process, the reformers are pushing for a devolution of power away from party bureaucracies—and toward the base—by increasing the percentage of the leadership that is elected rather than appointed. They also want to diminish the power of special interests through rigorous disclosure requirements on campaign contributions and through bans on donations from corporate PACs to state parties. The objective? Make the parties more responsive to the needs of people rather than corporations, and hold politicians accountable to the party platforms, which tend to be to the left of the policies many Democrats campaign on.
“If you’re taking that corporate check,” says Hightower, “you’re not pushing a $15 minimum wage; you’re not pushing Medicare for all; you’re not pushing free higher education. You’re going along with the corporate agenda.”
Our Revolution Texas is in the process of creating the infrastructure to challenge the established state party. It has divided the state into 11 regions, and the regional chapters will recruit and train candidates to run in local, state and congressional elections next year. Our Revolution Texas is also encouraging progressives to become precinct chairs in their local Democratic Party chapters. The party is so hollowed out in the state that taking it over is mainly a matter of showing up.
“In probably half of the precincts in Texas, there’s no precinct chair,” Hightower says. “So we’re going to fill as many of those as we can.” The precinct chairs elect the county chairs, who in turn choose the state party chair.
In January, Our Revolution Texas became the national organization’s first state affiliate. Hightower says it’s filling a vacuum in the state left by the Democratic Party’s reliance on corporate donors and top-down party decision making. “Democrats gave up on door-to-door and precinct-to-precinct organizing,” he says. “And we surrendered our populist voice.”
In Texas, the corrosive influence of corporate money on the Democratic Party is especially clear in its relationship to oil and gas interests. Henry Cuellar, who represents a U.S. House district in the oil-rich southern part of the state, took in upwards of $165,000 from that industry in the 2015-16 election cycle—more than any other Democratic member of Congress. The League of Conservation Voters gave Cuellar a score of 26 out of 100 for his environmental voting record in the 2015-16 cycle.
Hightower cites fracking as an example of a progressive issue that could revitalize the party and help it win in rural areas the GOP has come to dominate. The digging of fracking wells creates only temporary jobs, sometimes filled by non-locals, he says, and, “We’re left with the noise, the pollution, the methane, the illnesses, the destruction of the roads, the total usurpation of the water.” If Democrats took it on as an issue, then “people would say, ‘All right. There’s somebody standing up.’ ”
In the 2014 congressional election, Texas had the third-lowest voter turnout in the nation: just 28 percent of eligible voters. “It’s not that Democrats turned right-wing,” Hightower says. “They quit voting. If they hear candidates and political organizations talking about the things they care about, they’ll respond.”
If the weakness of the Democratic Party in Texas and across much of the West makes the state chapters ripe for a takeover, it’s a different story in the East, especially the Northeast, where the party is strong and has a reputation for being relatively progressive. As in California, though, there is an entrenched establishment that resists reform.“It’s very clearly an insiders’ club, and there are all sorts of hoops to jump through,” says Matt Miller, an activist based in Somerville, Mass., and a member of Our Revolution Massachusetts, which—along with Progressive Democrats of America, Progressive Massachusetts and other groups—set its sights on injecting a strong progressive presence into the Massachusetts Democratic Party convention on June 3 (read an update here).
Just getting basic information “about when caucuses are held and what you have to do to be elected” was a struggle, Miller says. Nevertheless, he and other progressives persisted.
For months, they carried out a methodical plan. First, get progressives to show up at the caucus meetings—held in February, March and April—to elect progressive convention delegates. They succeeded in electing about 700 of 4,529 total delegates. Second, organize strong turnout at a series of platform committee hearings in April and May. The resultant draft platform, released in late May, contained many of their demands, including single-payer healthcare, a $15 minimum wage and paid family leave.
The final step is to get delegates to attend the convention, where, with 200 signatures on a petition, they can force a vote on an amendment to the platform—to prohibit gerrymandering, for example, or to implement ranked-choice voting. In early May, more than 150 of the 700 Our Revolution delegates attended a special training session to make a game plan. In addition to pushing the party’s platform further left, they will call for the democratic election of superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention—currently selected by the DNC and approved by the state party chair—along with the restriction or elimination of donations from corporate PACs.
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In Massachusetts, as in California, there is a sense that corporate money and top-down control have warped the party’s priorities and created a disconnect between ideals and actions.
“The party is at a real fork in the road,” says Rand Wilson, a labor organizer for SEIU Local 888 and a member of both Our Revolution Massachusetts and Labor for Our Revolution. “We have to choose between building a party for the working class or for the 1%. The lines are being pretty starkly drawn.”
At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Wilson says, he attended a breakfast for the Massachusetts delegation that, unbeknownst to him, was sponsored by a charter school organization. Charters were a divisive issue in the state at the time. The state Senate, controlled by Democrats, had recently passed a bill designed to lift the cap on the number of charter schools. It eventually became a ballot measure and was defeated by Massachusetts voters that November. Support for the charter school expansion came from corporations and the financial industry, while teachers unions fiercely opposed it.
“I jumped up and said, ‘Charter schools suck!’ and I walked out,” Wilson says. “I left there going, ‘Wow, there’s really something wrong with a party that would invite and accept funding for a breakfast from the charter school people.’ It was emblematic of a Democratic Party that is clearly for sale.”
Like many progressives, Wilson has a skeptical stance toward the Democratic Party. He was a lifelong Independent until he registered as a Democrat in 2015, primarily because he wanted to go to the national convention and support Sanders.
“We’re essentially a one-party state; it’s all these so-called ‘progressive’ Democrats,” he says. “Yet they are all talk and no action when it comes to labor issues. So I think we are excited about changing the Democratic Party.”If there is broad agreement on that goal, much of the energy is being channeled into a different strategy for achieving it. Instead of seeking control of the party, groups like Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress are putting forward progressives to run against centrist, corporate Democrats.
“The party structure and democratizing it—that’s all noble, but I wonder if it would be better to just shift the actual power,” says Matt Miller, who worked on a Democratic primary race in 2015. “We knocked out a crappy Democrat and replaced him with a former Occupy guy. So I wonder if that’s not a better strategy. But I’m going to try this for as long as it makes sense.”
For many progressives, rather than racking up immediate wins, experimenting with the nature of “the resistance”—figuring out what works over the long run, where to invest resources, and how to relate to and transform the Democratic Party—seems to be what this moment is about.
For her part, Karen Bernal’s experience with the California Democratic State Convention left her feeling “not optimistic” about reforming the CDP, yet more hopeful about the progressive movement generally.
“We’re going from a mentality of protest to learning what it means to seize political power,” she says. “The new people who have come in—they’re getting a boot camp. And that is the lesson. No matter what happens with the Democratic Party, we’re going to have people who are much more savvy about how to resist politically.”
That isn’t to say the fight for the CDP is a lost cause. As with “the resistance” broadly, the path ahead is uncertain. For many in California, the recent loss felt more like the beginning of a journey than its end.
“This is a womb, not a tomb,” says Rochelle Pardue-Okimoto, a nurse and convention delegate who supported Kimberly Ellis. “It’s the rebirth of the Democratic Party. We just have to keep pushing. We all felt bloodied and bruised by this battle, but we can’t give up. We’re changing things.”
Winona Dimeo-Ediger contributed reporting from California.
This piece has been updated to correct the chronology of events at the conference. Ellis supporters ringed the event hall on Saturday, not Friday.
Theo Anderson an In These Times staff writer, has contributed to the magazine since 2010 and is currently a Schumann Center writing fellow. He has a Ph.D. in modern U.S. history from Yale and is working on a book about the intellectual and religious origins of conservatism and progressivism.
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Is Germany Reassessing Its Role in Afghanistan?
(Source: Deutsche Welle German Radio; posted March 20, 2019)
As US and Taliban negotiators make progress in their talks on the issue of foreign troop withdrawal and counterterrorism, Germany is mulling over a strategy to continue its engagement with the war-torn nation.
Germany has been deeply involved in Afghanistan since the US-led international forces invaded the country in 2001 and toppled the Taliban regime there. The first international conference for Afghanistan's reconstruction was held in the same year in the German city of Bonn, where the foundations for the current Afghan government were laid.
A decade later, in 2011, Germany hosted a second Bonn conference. Representatives of the Taliban were absent on both occasions.
As the US-Taliban peace talks progress, Germany sees an opportunity to play a key role in the Afghan reconciliation process by hosting yet another conference. This time, Berlin wants to make sure that the Taliban are represented.
"We don't want to hold a conference just for the sake of it, but a conference that can yield tangible results," Markus Potzel, former German ambassador to Afghanistan and Berlin's current special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, told DW. The timing of any such conference is therefore critical to its success, he said.
'We're not there yet'
Observers say much more needs to be done for such a conference to take place at this point of time.
The Taliban have held multiple rounds of talks with US negotiators, but have so far refused to negotiate directly with the Afghan government or commit to a ceasefire amid nearly daily attacks. The latest round of talks between the two sides ended on March 11, after 16 days of negotiations, with Taliban and US officials claiming to have made progress on the issue of foreign troop withdrawal and counterterrorism.
Other topics for discussion are direct talks between the Afghan government in Kabul and the Taliban, and a ceasefire, said Zalmay Khalilzad, US special envoy for Afghan peace efforts.
Without an agreement on these crucial issues, experts say, it would be difficult for Germany to host a third Bonn conference. "We are not there yet," Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, told DW.
Berlin's support
In recent years, Germany has played a major role in NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, training, advising and assisting Afghan security forces in their conflict with insurgent and extremist outfits like the Taliban.
Germany has stationed the second-largest contingent of foreign troops as part of the mission, with about 1,200 German soldiers based in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. But support for continuing the 18-year Afghan war is as lacking in European capitals as it is in Washington.
For this reason, US allies — including Germany — have been pushing for a resolution of the conflict which will pave the way for their troops to return home. Reports suggest that US envoy Khalilzad aims to reach an agreement with the Taliban before Afghanistan's presidential elections in July.
German officials, however, say that resolving the Afghan conflict requires more time. "These are only pre-talks. Real peace talks have to take place between the Taliban and an inclusive Afghan negotiating team led by the Afghan government," Potzel said. "I have stated time and again that it will take time to reach a comprehensive agreement on peace in Afghanistan, which should end a 40-year-old conflict," he stressed.
The pullout
US officials, however, seem to have a different opinion. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that he wants his country's military engagement in Afghanistan to either end of shrink drastically in size. The Afghan government and many Western officials fear that this could lead to a hasty peace deal with the Taliban.
"If the US decides to pull out its troops, the other NATO countries — including Germany — would quickly follow suit," Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, told DW.
In such a case, according to experts, Germany's actions will mirror that of the US. If there's a peace deal, Germany will most probably plan for a phased withdrawal — just as the US would do. But in case peace talks fail, pulling out international forces could prove very risky as the Taliban could come to power and jeopardize any gains Afghan society has made over the past 18 years.
"While Afghan President Ashraf Ghani may be right that a hasty peace deal may not result in long-term peace, there's no other option than to try to pursue a deal," Kugelman said.
Prioritizing human rights?
The Afghan war has not been popular in Germany for many years. Berlin is increasingly coming under pressure to end its security engagement in the country as well as stop providing financial assistance to a corrupt Afghan government. Against this backdrop, the Qatar peace process presents a beacon of hope for Berlin.
German officials have long linked Berlin's aid to Afghanistan to certain conditions, including the fight against corruption and respect for human rights.
Special envoy Potzel stressed that Germany's economic cooperation with Afghanistan after any peace agreement will continue to depend on constitutional continuity and the protection of human rights. "German aid has to prioritize meeting the basic needs of the population, no matter whether people live in Taliban-controlled areas or those administered by the government," Katja Mielke a senior researcher at Bonn International Center for Conversion, told DW.
Observers suspect that the US may turn a blind eye to some human rights issues in a bid to reach a deal with the Taliban. They argue that it's therefore more important that countries like Germany focus more on the people of Afghanistan and "say no to its allies when human rights, press freedom, women rights and democracy are at risk."
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I'm Tired of Sharing the Most Racist Things That Have Happened to Me, Are You?
Hello, I'm Chauncey DeVega from the blog We Are Respectable Negroes and I am making a study of black people's experiences with racism...
Noted author and journalist Toure has conducted a parallel project with his book Whose Afraid of Post-Blackness? But he is much more patient than I am:
I asked my 105 interviewees, What is the most racist thing that has ever happened to you? The response I received most often was indicative of modern racism: The answer is unknowable. "I imagine it'd be a thing I don't even know ever happened," Aaron McGruder said. "It would be that opportunity that never manifested and I'll never know that it was even possible."
A decision is made in a back room or a high-level office, perhaps by someone you'll never see, about whether or not you get a job or a home loan or admission to a school. Or perhaps you'll never be allowed to know that a home in a certain area or a job is available. This is how modern institutional racism functions and it can weigh on and shape a black person differently than the more overt, simplistic racism of the past did.
In the post-Civil Rights era and the Age of Obama, a large portion of the public imagination views racism as the stuff of mean words and small minds. Racism is an anachronism. The Klan doesn't ride through the streets killing black people anymore; multiculturalism is now a lengua franca for the Generation X Millennial crowd; ultimately, racism is dead because there is a man who happens to be black in the White House.
The reality is much more challenging. Race still structures life chances for people of color. White privilege remains real into the 21st century as a type of property, material right, and psychological investment for white Americans.
But allowing for these facts, Americans still lack a vocabulary for speaking in a sophisticated and nuanced way about racism. Moreover, they also have a void in their cognitive map, one that obviates any capacity for seeing how structures and institutions impact opportunity as 1) Americans historically describe themselves as being middle class (both millionaires and the underclass alike); and 2) many still believe that the Horatio Alger myth is real, even while the wealth gap widens and class mobility has greatly decreased and hardened in this, our time of Great Recession.
In all, these factors buttress an appeal to the oft-heard phrase that all we need is a "national conversation on race" to finally slay the bugaboo of racism.
From the beer summit, to "teachable moments," and the omnipresence of multiculturalism and diversity programs in schools and workplaces, there is a persistent belief that some type of talk therapy will cathartically free the United States from the lingering shadows of white supremacy and make Dr. King's dream real.
Here is the misdirection: Americans have been talking about race for centuries. The result of this difficult dialogue has in some ways been transformative. In others ways, this national conversation on race has resulted in quite a bit of wasted time and energy. People of color have been talking back to Whiteness for centuries; Whiteness chooses either not to listen or to selectively hear that part of the exchange which is both most self-satisfying and self-legitimating. As one would reasonably expect, a unidirectional conversation can become a bit exhausting after more than just a few decades.
Toure's piece in the Atlantic is useful here where he continues that:
"The most racist experience you have," said Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP, "is the one that's worst, and the one that's worst is usually the one that transforms the way you look at the world." These moments of suddenly discovering the pain and lack of status and power that attends being black is what comedian Paul Mooney refers to as "a nigger wake-up call."
Skip Gates calls them "the scene of instruction" and he says they exist in classic black autobiographies from slavery to recent days. "For W.E.B. Dubois it was a little girl who wouldn't take his Valentine card," Gates said.
"For James Weldon Johnson in Autobiography of an Ex‑Colored Man it was when the teacher said, 'Would all the white scholars stand up,' and he stands up and she goes 'No, you can sit down.' It's always a moment of trauma. There's always something lacking, a deprivation that makes you realize what being black means."
[A question: is this an experience, one that those not of the Other--for a moment or a lifetime--can ever "get?"]
When people of color share their personal experiences with racism a routine in colorblind, pluralist America is enacted, one wherein the struggles to overcome the brutality and limitations imposed by white supremacy and the colorline have (quite rightly) been framed as a badge of national honor. The obsession with talking--if even in a tired ritual--about national problems is a function of a faith in consensus based politics, and a belief that reasonable people can participate in a discourse that produces a sensible outcome.
Stated more simply, where matters of identity are concerned, if "we" could just "understand" each other, things would inevitably have to get better.
It takes courage to share nakedly, with vulnerability, and with honesty. I would suggest that it does not take much courage to listen fairly. Likewise, when black and brown folks share our pain with the white public in a confessional about how racism has caused hurt (as well as substantive material, economic, and physical harm), it often serves as a detour from serious talk about power, institutions, and privilege--and what real justice would look like.
I appreciate Toure's project. But, I am also made quite tired by how black and brown folks have to share our experiences with white supremacy and racism in order to receive acknowledgement and validation of those experiences from white folks (and some others) by "educating" them about the realities of race in America.
History echoes. There was a scripted moment during the anti-slavery rallies held by Abolitionists where there would be a great reveal, a living, human example of the evils of white supremacy and the peculiar institution's gross wickedness. In that ritual, an escaped slave would take off his or her clothing in order to show the scars caused by the whip, the blade, or other foul instrument to the horror of all in attendance. The "what has racism done to you moment" in the post-Civil Rights era feels like a continuation of that script, but one with a far less generous, invested, and accepting audience.
For those sincere about true and substantive social justice, the "please tell me about racism/sexism/other ism moment" is also an error in tactics: it still plays to the veto power of the privileged and the in-group, where for every honest ear there are many more who want you, the sharer, to tell a story which they, the listener can't wait to invalidate for reasons of their own investment in the status quo and/or a belief that most people are "good" and all that "ism" talk is so much chaff and belly aching.
The script is consistent:
"You were overreacting." "It can't possibly be that bad." "How do you know that was their intent?" "I go through stuff like that all the time, what is the big deal?" "If you expect to see racism, you will find it, you need to just relax." And of course the classic, "you are being too sensitive!"
Here, the common refrain is that empathy and sympathy are dependent on sharing, or that communicating one's experiences are a prerequisite and prior for confronting challenging issues of social policy. And how can we make the world a better place if there are no efforts to talk about personal subjects across lines of human difference and identity?
In the year 2011, many of those white folks who are being spoken to just don't care to listen anymore, except when it is to borrow a lazy script where they discover "reverse racism," minimize the experiences of non-whites with prejudice and bigotry, or to steal Dr. King's radical vision and struggle for their own Right-wing, in defense of Whiteness, populist Conservative agenda.
In post-racial America, a country in which some white folks absurdly claim that they are now "oppressed" by people of color and Barack Obama, the black folk racism confessional just doesn't have any zing or punch left to it.
Sorry folks, I just can't play along anymore. Those white folks on the right side of history have already heard the message and come along. Those others are deaf of ear, and there is nothing you can say to win them over.
Posted by chaunceydevega at 8:42 PM
Tags: Chauncey DeVega says, President Barack Obama, sometimes black people make me sad, white pathology
Agree; like; digg. Most White folk these days have a vague, undocumented feeling that racism is a feature of the past. If they hear individual stories from Black Americans about those wake-up-calls, they tend to find them lamentable but individual, not signs of a general condition. Whites who can see the reality of racism, in history and in current events, would tend to hear those same stories as bricks in a wall, elements of a large pattern, stories that confirm what they already know.
For the fans of the "post-racial" delusion, conversion to reality will be difficult in this age of echo-chamber information delivery.
CD super post it feels so real to my reality...
Fred your honesty once again is valued and so respected..
As a tired and now obsolete and often dismissed Black activist whose confessions have never been valued by whites or even many Blacks I have loss the energy to seek an audience or circles of cohorts for acknowledgement... Now I engaged and invoke for the witnesses that I believe are present but live beyond the corridors of now and the present..I have convinced myself these souls are present in some natural order rule of the universe to make my body of work have meaning and purpose..( I also valued the words of people like you both and others on WARN and a few close comrades)
I get validation, acknowledgement, affirmation, embracement from thier ether presence..This undocumented audience and metaphysical support fuels me..This is my confessional gallery and activism auditors..
It is the force/beings/enity/collective that I perform and conduct my life's mission for....
We must continue to proceed not with grievance forums and collective angst but with solutions, recommendations, ideas that remove the possibilties of more victims and incidents...
This is what we are tasked to do I can't stop on the trail to lament..
"I'm tired of sharing the most racist things that have happened to me, Are you?"
Not really, cd - particularly since I no longer concern myself with the catharsis (and it is that) freeing "the United States from the lingering shadows of white supremacy," (which IMO, is the misdirection) - I'm more concerned with it freeing me.
For some of us, telling our own stories, in our own words (rather than say, Katherine Stockett's) is not only freeing and even renewing (since it allows us to "do our first works over" and learn to better critically think), but it sets the record straight - regardless of whether white folk want to listen, selectively hear, or not own their shit.
"...where matters of identity are concerned, if "we" could just "understand" each other, things would inevitably have to get better."
I think, if "we-Others," would work more diligently to accept and understand ourselves - less through the distorted prism of white folk and more, through the lens of our lived experiences - things would inevitably have to get better.
"In the year 2011, many of those white folks who are being spoken to just don't care to listen anymore..."
As if "those white folks" had been "listening" all along...
"the black folk racism confessional just doesn't have any zing or punch left to it...there is nothing you can say to win them over."
Again a misdirection cd. While I am definitely still a work in progress (ridding oneself of centuries-old, continuously experienced and passed down oppression takes a lot of work!) - I'm certainly not trying to WIN anybody over.
Instead, I choose to expend my energy (and yes, it is at times, quite exhausting) working on MY OWN clarity - with the help of the "zing" and "punch" provided by my own "black folk racism confessional." Not for nothing but, I've found it increasingly encourages and affects, how I stand in truth about "how structures and institutions impact opportunity."
An interesting, and somewhat relative piece from our friend, Mr. Baldwin: http://www.thenation.com/article/159892/crusade-indignation
@Fred. Conversion to reality. You can be the white version of Morpheus in the next Matrix films!
@Thrasher. You got to stay strong and do it for yourself and not others. You are right, I could and should have extended this more directly to some black folks too as there are many who are as culpable as White America on this issue...but for different reasons.
@Deb. Deep. Now you are talking about internalized oppression. Stop scaring me with all your truth telling!
No. I'm not tired either. I don't think I've ever done it. Lessee. The most racist incident in my life? Gee. So many to choose from. That fact is probably worse than any single event. That there is so much from which to choose.
"Stop scaring me with all your truth telling!"
All I have to give, cd...
nomad...Hey! I hit send before I meant to, when I responded to cd!
Then, I got sidetracked paying my lawn guys (my 2 grown sons) - cuz they don't work for free (made 'em lunch and gave 'em a beer, so we're even)!
Just wanted to cosign your, "So many to choose from. That fact is probably worse than any single event." comment - cuz it surely is. But not only for us, because of the sheer magnitutde of the racism, but for the racists too - because it leaves an irrefutable trail of evidence which is totally, contrary to all the damned, drummed-up, dog whistles.
In continuing to tell our stories, I think, we not only "Let the record show..." - we set the record straight.
Just my 2cents...
@Deb
For me, it was never any big event, like getting beat up by the police. Though I've known people who've been beat up and worse. No. It's many incidental things. A system. As you said: "structures" "institutions". Institutional racism. It's like trying to make progress against strong relentless headwinds.
I know, Man, but the truth serves as a powerful buffer against those headwinds - as you move forward.
Too many to choose from . . . I know it's true. But many Black Americans have one, particular event that really shocked them, burned them to the core, and left a scar that never fades. I've heard a few of those, and the teller would almost cry to remember it, eyes focused way in the distance. Blessed it was to hear those stories, and flattering.
fred c...'tis true. However, where nomad's "too many to choose from" comes into play (for me at least), is I thought I'd already had my allotted, "one, particular event" - until I had another, just last year, in the post-racial age of Obama.
I'm still pretty "shocked, burned and scarred" - though the paralysis, couched in absolute, disbelief that initially had a hold of me, has somewhat subsided, replaced now, by a hefty portion of "Not this time mofo!" (And yes, when I'm ready, there will be a post.)
Don't get me wrong. It's not like those "incidental" racist events didn't have a deleterious impact, singularly as well as cumulatively. Each was a powerful blow to my well-being. It's like the same horrid event over and over again. Each time causing enormous damage. Probably the one that cost me the most, in economic terms, was the computer virus sabotage of my doctoral dissertation. And like most of the incidents, there's usually no way to prove it was racially motivated, or even who did it (except that everybody who had access to the office computer I was using was, of course, white). It simply fit a well-established pattern. And, heck, that ain't even the worst.
"shocked, burned and scarred"
I know that feeling. Like when a blatantly racist remark comes from an unexpected source. From a senior professor no less. "Paralysis" "absolute disbelief". I think you are right. I need to recapitulate some of this shit. Not to make an indifferent white audience aware of it, but for my personal catharsis.
Nomad & Deb...Both of you are blowing me away today..I so so much value your posts.....
Peace & Love on the Fields of Battle
I'm not talking about mere remarks, or incidental racism, every Black American can point to thousands of those. I'm talking about things that are personal, public and deeply humiliating, and unambiguously racially motivated. Like the story that my law school friend told me. She's a pretty woman, and very smart and sweet, and she had been voted Prom Queen, publicly at a pep-rally, at her fairly diverse high school in Los Angeles. Then the office called her in and explained to her that it had been a mistake, and they were going with the White girl. It was twelve years later, but obviously she still couldn't believe it, and had been shattered.
nomad..."I need to recapitulate some of this shit. Not to make an indifferent white audience aware of it, but for my personal catharsis."
Simply put, that's the crux - Do it for you! Then, you can at least make an informed, and purposeful-for-you decision about exactly what kind of "freedom" you're willing to "ride and die for."
Thrasher..."Both of you are blowing me away today..I so so much value your posts.....
Thanx - for alla that! I very much appreciate your shared "knowing." And right backatcha on the "Peace & Love on the Fields of Battle" too - cuz I know, despite the damned dog whistles, we are not ALL, Don Quixotes - tilting at windmills.
fred c..."I'm not talking about mere remarks, or incidental racism, every Black American can point to thousands of those. I'm talking about things that are personal, public and deeply humiliating, and unambiguously racially motivated."
Yeah - me neither.
My 19 year old nephew and all his other white buddies who grew up in a working class suburb of Detroit justify calling each other 'nigga' on their Facebook messages because they've convinced themselves that their generation has 'passed the point where it's a racial word.' I try and instruct him about white privilege, and told him that when he grows up and leaves behind his faux ghetto chic, he'll never have to deal with the real history of the word. But to him, I'm just Grandpa Simpson going on about wearing onions on my belt. My nephew and his buddies think that their generation is beyond racism. I know eventually, his black buddies will get that wake up call. Unfortunately, I don't know if he'll ever acknowledge the freebies accorded to him for being white, male, straight and nominally Christian.
I'm sorry, Deb. I did seem to be shortchanging you there, it was careless of me. Maybe I should be sorry for helping to dredge these stories up at all. Mea culpa.
Thanks. You brightened my rather dismal day yesterday.
@Fred
The problem is all such acts are ambiguous, unless we are talking outright Aryanism. There is always a pretext that the perpetrator can hide behind. The one that I get all the time: It's not because you're black, it's because of your attitude. In either case it results in acts of hostility.
Well, that caused me to recall a relevant incident that demonstrates the ambiguous nature of such racism. I was working a job where my supervisor repeatedly discriminated against me; treating me differently than she treated my coworkers. Could have been because I was male. Could have been because I was tall. Could have been cause I wore glasses. Could have been because I had a bad attitude. Whatever it was the treatment differential was noticeable. I suspected it was racism on the basis of various cues. Most notably she pronounced the word "Negro" "Niggra". Anyway after putting up with this discrimination for almost to years, I finally filed a grievance. Immediately, she was transferred but some other reason than her dispute with me. So the operation that employed us was not to blame for anything racial. They just all of a sudden thought she'd be better somewhere else. There was no racism here. On her departing day she said this to me. "I've never seen one like you." "One what?" I said. She paused and said with a sly smile: "Person".
fred c..."I'm sorry, Deb. I did seem to be shortchanging you there, it was careless of me. Maybe I should be sorry for helping to dredge these stories up at all."
I appreciate your willingness to apologize. As in any kind of reconciliation between people(s), that's always a good 1st step.
But rather than careless, I saw it as normal behavior from one of those white folks, who, cd described as, "having already heard the message and come along."
I've found that, as well-meaning as those folks mean to be, it always comes off sounding "careless," because they're attempting to share our stories without benefit of having experienced any of them - and therein lies the problem with US not telling them ourselves, because the importance seems to always get minimized and/or distorted.
I wasn't the one shortchanged - but I think you and your brethren (and even some of mine) have been, and continue to be by not really listening to, and/or learning from - the abundant, lived experiences of Black folk and other POC.
I watched a documentary last weekend - "The Healing Passage: Voices From the Water" - and the sole white person, a descendant of the DeWolf famiy from Bristol, NH who were among the most "successful" slave traders, said (after her own discoveries separate and apart from the documentary) she realized that she and other white folks needed to ask themselves:
"What do I have to look at, in order to look at you?"
She realized it was plenty, so much so, that she, with some of her other relatives, worked on telling THEIR OWN horrific stories of having been one of the largest purveyors of human flesh during the slave trade.
Twas a powerful segment as she owned some serious shit. And that's what I suggest to any white folks wanting to have a conversation about race. Tell your own stories - honestly, then maybe we can all have a real conversation about race and reconciliation.
Merriam-Webster denotes "dredge" as: to bring to light by deep searching — often used with up . (emphasis mine) Trust me, you didn't help "dredge up" anything - not for me anyway. I already knew, and have experienced "these stories."
But can you honestly say that what you shared, was the result of deep searching? Something to think about...
Yes, Deb, I can say that deep searching was, is, involved for me. Frequently what I find out about myself is uncomfortable. For me, the "Naked Lunch" moment was the Rodney King matter, I experienced a sea-change at that time and jettisoned a good deal of youthful error (I was 43 at the time). Before that time I thought that I was fairly enlightened, and that illusion was shattered. I resolved to seek deeper understanding, of things in general and myself in particular. I resolved to be helpful, albeit in my own small, ineffective and perhaps self-serving way. But we change one person at a time, do we not?
I do wonder if it's a case of, "I want to be helpful in the worst way," (to paraphrase W.C.Fields). I would be miserable to think that my efforts cause anybody discomfort.
My efforts have not been limited to sitting at my computer chewing my cud. And face-to-face I do share personal stories that do not place me in a good light, and I own them. I'm not sure that this is the place for that, because, after all, it's not about me.
Thanks as always for your patience, Deb, and for your insight.
fred c..."I resolved to be helpful, albeit in my own small, ineffective and perhaps self-serving way. But we change one person at a time, do we not? "
Yes we do. And no, if you ARE, in fact, deeply searching and always, always OWNING your shit - then your efforts are neither ineffective, nor self-serving - they are growth.
You are always very welcome fred c, and don't get it twisted, I truly appreciate your "wanting to be helpful in the worst way"
What am I, the Invisible Man? Not to beat a dead horse The dismissal of "incidental" is a gross error when talking about the effects of racism.
No “Mr. Ellsion,” you are not. You and Anon were next on my list for a reply!
But between trying to reply and: a kidney ultrasound (no food for some time before, makes Deb a slow, cranky old girl!); getting my car in for a long overdue service appointment and picking up the husband from the airport after his having been gone for a month and a half (I missed him okay?!) - at the same time (mix-up in arrival time); a follow-up kidney MRI (more, no-food irritability, coupled with waiting-for-results anxiety); a continuing legal/court issue (in which my side appears to be more, fighting against me than for me); a grueling dental appointment for a crown and a filling (so that I could eat without pain, when I was finally allowed to); visiting you and commenting on "ironymous" (twice); the Troy Davis murder (which slayed me emotionally) – this week’s been crazy (I know, a little TMI, but you needed to know that I do exist outside of my computer - though marginally)!
You are right of course, that we cannot dismiss the “incidentals” because they are, indeed, deleterious.
Coupled with overt racism and those racial micro-aggressions (like her, "I've never seen one like you." "One what?" I said. She paused and said with a sly smile: "Person.") about which cd wrote here earlier – they make up that “system” to which you alluded.
I see that “Nefarious 3” kinda like a pressure cooker (Do people even use them anymore?) with that little, silver, disc-shaped thing on the lid that regulates the steam as the meat is cooking. If that thing is not there, or isn’t sitting just right, when you unlock those handles – you get a shitload of “meat parts” splattered all over the place (I know, I've done it)!
To my mind, “truth” is the little disc-shaped regulator that ensures your/my/our well-being (“meat parts”) is not splattered all over the place. And as thoroughly exhausting as it is to do our part in ensuring that “it’s there, and sitting just right” – we must tell it – to ourselves, to those that would step to us with any bullshit - and to the world (if, and when, we are presented an opportunity to do so).
Anon…not leaving you out, but I’m headed north in about an hour, this evening, to listen to Michelle Alexander on “The New Jim Crow.” I'm hoping for an interesting presentation and/or a lively participatory discussion!
I will certainly address your comment when I get back, because I have 2-more-cents to add on that!
Best wishes. I sometimes forget there is a world outside the Internet. Though I seldom talk about my experience with racism, I have definite notions about what it is and how it works. Hopefully they are accurate insights. From my perspective ambiguity and incidentalness are essential qualities. And even unspokeness. Worse than the award given and taken away, due to racial discrimination, is the award never given in the first place, due to racial discrimination. At least the first former is visible and can be be brought into the realm of discussion, but the latter is invisible. And routine. You know that you're not going to win because they don't give that award to colored people.
nomad...Thanks. I think we all do at some point.
My medical anxiety is tied to the fact that if there's something wrong, it will limit the work of re-examining, re-learning and ultimately sharing with others what I am trying to do - not about death, because I have no control over when that actually happens.
"You know that you're not going to win because they don't give that award to colored people."
I guess I'd have to say (if I'm understanding you correctly) that I've found shifting my motivation for doing things has helped me tremendously in understanding and dealing with "most" shit. As I told cd earlier, I'm not trying to "win anybody over," nor am I trying to "win" anything - gives too much control over my life to the other guy. Simply put, I do what moves me deeply and to hell with what it might garner.
For some reason, I want to share this snippet of my sister, bell hooks with you. I hoe you enjoy it: http://youtu.be/GE87baFz0I4
Anon..."My 19 year old nephew and all his other white buddies who grew up in a working class suburb of Detroit justify calling each other 'nigga' on their Facebook messages because they've convinced themselves that their generation has 'passed the point where it's a racial word.'
I've experienced this phenomena first-hand, having two racially mixed sons, who've been military brats all of their formative years. Their father is Italian, but not of the olive-skinned variety, more like pale, with reddish-tinted brown hair - but the "Roman" nose cannot be denied! And no, I knew absolutely nothing of Algeria, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia or Libya, for that matter, when I married him (which speaks volumes about what children ARE actually taught here in America!).
They are now 27 and 30, and more, now than ever, when their friends come over (they live together, 15 minutes away from me), it's a veritable UN here in the belly of the beast - so I regularly see what you're talking about. And I'm not havin'- ANY OF IT!
The sons always warn friends about the things they might say (the "ghetto" and "nigga" things particularly - too close for comfort) in my presence, which will immediately and absolutely earn them an immediate and unvarnished, "You better check yo'self, Bruh!" and why, from me. Trust me, it's often not pretty, but definitely, to my mind anyway, necessary. They've been told on more than one occasion - "Your Mama's crazy!" - and I like it just like that.
So, all I can deduce, is that while the sons have had "the wake-up call" more times than I care to count, they want to see/feel something else. And that's fine with me - but not at the expense of who I am/they are (I'm, sometimes, the most dreaded presence in the joint, but I really don't give a shit).
I say all that to say that, even if your nephew (and friends) never " acknowledge the freebies accorded to him for being white, male, straight and nominally Christian," it's still up to us, to keep making them aware, of whence they ALL came (and if that doesn't work - send 'em to see me!).
A side note: instead of spending the usual Xmas here in America, we're shunning the whole tree, decorating the house with lights and over-priced gifts, etc. Instead, the whole family will be in Africa - cuz we all need some learnin'!
In that last comment, make that "hope" - not "hoe" :-(
That's deep, Deb. I have this recapitulation that keeps wanting to get out. I'll write about it tomorrow.
Just thought I'd share.
"I'll write about it tomorrow."
And I shall be over at ironymous to read it! :-)
OK, soon as my brain cells start functioning again. In the meantime, this term I keep using, recapitulation, is from Carlos Castaneda:
Recapitulation is a term used by Carlos Castaneda in his book, The Eagle’s Gift, published in 1982. In The Eagle's Gift, Florinda, one of don Juan's party of warriors, teaches Castaneda about the process and purpose of recapitulation. She explained that recapitulation consisted of "recollecting one's life down to the most insignificant detail" and that when a woman's recapitulation was complete she "no longer abided by the limitations of her person."[1] She further explained that in the process of recapitulation one recounts all the feelings they invested in whatever memory they were reviewing.
(WikiP)
A sorcerer's tool.
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Home / Ecumenical Patriarch addresses Arctic Circle Assembly
Ecumenical Patriarch addresses Arctic Circle Assembly
In a keynote speech during the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavík, Iceland, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I termed their purpose “a fresh deliberation on the fate of the earth.”
The assembly, which drew more than 2,000 participants from 50 countries, joined religious leaders with scientists, government officials, advocates, and indigenous people on October 13-15 2017 for the largest annual international gathering focused on the future of the Arctic.
In his address, the Ecumenical Patriarch recalled a time when religious people were relatively indifferent, and sometimes even hostile, to science. “Today, however,” he said, “as some of those connections have become more perceptible and tangible, there is hardly a religious leader in the world who is not in one way or another concerned about the challenges posed by pollution and climate change.”
More and more people recognise that religious consciousness and environmental science are both concerned with the ultimate questions – with the way that we are shaping the destiny of humankind, the planet, and the whole of creation, reflected Bartholomew. “For that reason alone, then, spiritual leaders and ecologists cannot avoid engaging in a profound dialogue with one another”, he said. “Climate change is a matter of livelihood, food, and individual and cultural survival.”
For the indigenous people of the Arctic, climate change is not just a theory but a stark and dangerous reality, said Bartholomew. “It is – above and beyond all else – a vital human issue. “For scientists, the Arctic is the barometer of the globe's environmental health.”
The ecological misdeeds committed in other regions – including chemical contamination and nuclear radiation – are clearly evident in the Arctic environment, said the Ecumenical Patriarch. “When we visit this pristine part of the planet, we cannot hide our eyes, either from the beauty of God’s creation or from the changes which human folly has generated”, he said. “Nor can we avoid pondering the terrible consequences for the remainder – and the future – of the world, if glaciers continue to melt and sea-levels continue to rise.”
Creation is an intricate web of life, he concluded. “If the environment of the Arctic Circle is now changing at a frightening pace, it is because of economic activities and energy choices in the industrialised world in the south, west and east”, he said.
* Read the full text of the Ecumenical Patriarch's address here
* The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, by the end of 2012 the WCC had 345 member churches representing more than 500 million Christians from Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other traditions in over 110 countries. The WCC works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church.
* World Council of Churches http://www.oikoumene.org/en
Keywords:Arctic | climate change | Ecumenical patriarch | environmental science | pollution | spiritual leaders | wcc. world council of churches
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Abu Dhabi City Campus
Welcome to Emirates National Schools – Abu Dhabi City Campus. The caring staff and faculty at ADC are proud to offer an unsurpassed blend of an American standards-based and national curriculum within the International Baccalaureate framework. You are cordially invited to our campus to experience a dynamic learning environment. We, in partnership with our parents and students, are committed to providing “our learners with a multi-faceted and comprehensive education that will equip them with the skills to succeed…throughout the world.”
Dieu-Anh Nguyen
Campus Director
Follow us on Instagram: ens.adc
For Registration information please click here.
We, Emirates National Schools – Mohammed Bin Zayed City Campus –are honored to welcome you all to this great educational edifice that aims to
Preparing future leaders through innovation in education and treasuring of cultural heritage.
Whereas we strive to push our children in the pathways of highness and knowledge, we hope to make a generation believing in Allah, trust its abilities, proud of its values and patriot to contribute to the increasing development of home.
Since its inception, ENS – MBZ Campus – exerted distinguished efforts that resulted in many achievements and successes, all praise to Allah, on which we thank all those who worked to achieve them as our schools has got the certification of the international academic organization “AdvancED”. We are the largest school in the world that achieved this excellence. We were also approved by the International Baccalaureate Organization in all its three programs (the Diploma Program (DP) for advanced years, the (MYP) middle years program and (PYP) primary years program). Therefore, we became the largest school in the world to apply the International Baccalaureate Program for primary years, as well as applying the guiding strategies based on the database that raise the quality of education and teaching and raise the level of our students to compete with their peers all over the world.
All the staff performance was developed by enrolling them in specialized courses and workshops for the benefit of our students. Some of our students were involved in scientific and national research programs to raise their academic and social levels.
The wise policy of the Board of Directors of the Emirates National Schools played an important role in increasing confidence and excellence enjoyed by Mohammed Bin Zayed City Campus from parents, which made it one of the largest private schools in Abu Dhabi, this leads to the campus expansion to accommodate 4300 students, God willing.
The Campus is characterized by the diversity of its educational programs and activities which made it achieve a new achievement to be added to its track record and win in educational and scientific competitions including the first place, at the country level, in Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan Award for outstanding school projects in the academic year 2014/ 2015. The Campus is one of the first schools to publish educational stories written by its primary school students. With these stories, they participated in the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. International scientific organizations selected some of the students to participate in international educational conferences. Also, some of the outstanding students won prizes in various competitions both locally and internationally.
We realize that the students success depends upon activating the role of the true partnership between home and school which will have a positive impact upon the student’s academic achievement, as we look forward to your permanent active involvement in our schools’ various programs and activities. We will be pleased to receive your constructive comments and suggestions that enrich the educational process of our students.
Once again, I greet each father, mother and teacher that contribute to take care of the nation’s most precious wealth and form their future. I look forward to work with you for a promising future for our students.
Ahmed Ali Al Bastaki
Emirates National School-Al Ain City Campus continues to grow and improve. Our schools aspire to engage all 1400 students in a safe learning environment with excellent teachers and the latest resources. Al Ain City campus has achieved International Baccalaureate World School Status by obtaining Primary Years Program Authorization Middle Years Program Authorization, and Diploma Program Authorization. All of our teaching and learning practices are based on IB guidelines and standards. Students who obtain this diploma will be very marketable for the best universities and careers in the world. Emirates National Schools are now accredited through the AdvancEd organization, which means that we offer a comprehensive, holistic program to each student built on physical, intellectual, social, and emotional needs. Furthermore, ENS AAC recognizes the fact that students have different learning needs and we cater to all learning styles by constantly seeking and developing innovative methods that enhance teaching and learning. Emirates National School’s Al Ain City Campus seeks to develop and establish a strong bond between the home, the community, and the school. We acknowledge the fact that if we can strengthen this bond, students will experience success in the classroom.
Kholoud Matar Al Dhaheri
Welcome to Emirates National Schools-Ras Al Khaimah Campus. Our school is a newly built school that opened its doors to students at the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year. As an ENS school, we are committed to offering a quality education in a well-rounded environment, catering to all aspects of our students’ needs. The school, although new, is envisioned to become a leader in education in Ras Al Khaimah. The school’s curriculum is an American standards-based program coupled with the national curriculum resulting in bilingual students who are firmly rooted in their own UAE culture. As a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program, we plan to receive authorization for the PYP, MYP, and DP International Baccalaureate programs.
The school boasts spacious facilities which fulfill international specifications and that provide students with extensive indoor specialized teaching and learning areas, canteens, physical education facilities (e.g. basketball courts, gymnasiums, football and tennis pitches and two swimming pools), as well as a 900+ seat auditorium for special events and productions.
We do hope that you will consider ENS RAK campus for your child(ren). Our goal is to develop the skills and talents of every student by working in close partnership with our valued parents. Our vision is to prepare our students as leaders and positive change agents for a dynamically complex and increasingly interconnected world.
Sandra Kellec
MBZ City Campus
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Home > News > New school year off and running in EASD
New school year off and running in EASD
By Mary Louise Sholly on August 29, 2018
Ephrata ‘Life Ready Graduate’ program drawing national interest
The Ephrata Area School District’s 2018-2019 school year is off to a great start, members of the school board told administration Monday evening. The school year officially started for students on Aug. 27, the same date as the first school board meeting for this year. A number of the school board members who have children or grandchildren in the district said their students came home after the first day of school excited and looking forward to their school year.
“The first day was buzzing with energy,” Superintendent Brian Troop told the board. “Lots of great things are happening already.”
This year, Troop said the district has three media “channels” with which to share information: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Clay Elementary First Day of School. Mr. Zeni escorting the students into the building.
“It’s a great way for parents and folks in the community to stay in touch with what’s happening in the district,” Troop said. The district must be doing something right, he added, as organizations have requested to learn more about the district’s “Ready Life Graduate” program. The Ready Life Graduate program begins in kindergarten, where it is integrated into the curriculum, and continues through the high school years. It addresses characteristics needed in today’s world that aren’t covered in standardized tests, Troop said, like the “Four Cs,” cooperation, critical thinking, creativity, and communication.
“Tests required by the federal government (to assess learning) don’t go into these areas and these are very important factors needed to succeed in the 21st century,” Troop said. Standardized tests are not ignored, Troop said, but the content of the LRG program seeks to expand upon students’ knowledge, including areas like civics, financial literacy, technological proficiency, and even integrity.
Ephrata Intermediate First Day of School. A group of friends walk together to school. Pictured (left to right) Bria Burkholder, Brynn Thomas, Ella Pfautz and Cara Slider.
Officially endorsed by the school board in the fall of 2017 and started that school year, the Life Ready Graduate program was created to prepare students to have a positive impact in an ever-changing world.
The Ephrata district has been asked to share information about the program with districts throughout the country by way of two organizations, Troop told the board Monday evening. The Pennsylvania Department of Education has asked an EASD representative to make a presentation at a professional development gathering of the PDE later this year. In addition, the EdLeader 21, a network of school districts across the country, has also requested more information about the LRG program.
A number of school administrators will attend the organization’s annual conference to explain the LRG program when the group meets in Arizona at the end of September, Troop said.
The EdLeader21 organization initially began as a network of superintendents concerned about finding better ways to help students learn, he said.
“The (LRG) program was created for the kids, setting them up for a successful future, but it’s nice to see other professional organizations taking an interest in it,” Troop said.
A number of high school departments have received grants from the Dart Foundation, Troop told the board. These include a $2,000 grant to the music department for music supplies; a $4,150 grant to the science department; and a $5,000 grant to the Introduction to Robotics Project. Troop also gave an update on the high school’s new media center, a building improvement that will house areas of higher technology for the students’ use.
Due to unforeseen project complications, the media center will be costing an additional $59,894.56, Troop told the board. As with many building projects, when walls and ceilings are opened, more problems are found that need to be addressed, he explained. Additional demolition will cost about $5,400; changing fire-rated doors will add another $1,075; removing unforeseen VCT flooring and adding fire-rated glazing will cost about $6,450; materials and labor for a revised ceiling plan, $17,900; materials and labor to meet load requirements, $17,775; and additional drywall and labor, $2,325.
The occupancy date for the state-of-the-art media center will be Sept.17, Troop said.
“It’s a great space, primarily designed by the kids,” Troop said, referring to the input given by students last year. In another matter, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education, Dr. Jacy Clugston Hess, was appointed as the School Safety and Security Coordinator. Board member Chris Weber, liaison for the Ephrata Area Education Foundation, informed the board of a 5K “color run” that will take place Sept. 22, to support the foundation.
“We’ve seen some real growth in charitable giving,” Weber said.
In another matter, a new student activity club was established, called “Golden Arrows.”
The name comes from the Native American symbol for friendship. The club will be a friendship group geared toward connecting students in Life Skills with typical peers.
Contracts for special education services provided by Eastern Lancaster County School District were approved by the board for the school year. Seven secondary students and three elementary students will receive autistic support at a cost of $37,000 per student for a total contract amount of $370,000. Two secondary and one elementary student will receive multiple disabilities support at a cost of $31,500 per student, with a total cost of $94,500. Special education contracts were also approved with the Warwick School District, with one elementary school student receiving life support services at a cost of $18,685, and one elementary student receiving multiple disabilities support at a cost of $21,464.
An agreement was also signed with Warren County School District for an online instructional program to be administered by certified instructional personnel to provide credit and educational opportunities to students through the Cyber Service Program. The cost is $2,500 for a yearly fulltime seat, or four or more courses, or $1,250 for a second semester of four courses. In other business, the board approved a memorandum of understanding with Compass Mark to implement school-based drug and alcohol prevention services for the school year in all four elementary schools, as well as the higher grades at a cost of $5,600.
The “Children Deserve a Chance Foundation – Atollo Prep, also received a memorandum of understanding from the board, and cost of the program will be $9,300 to serve up to 35 juniors for a total of 1,080 student hours. The training program helps high school students to gain access to college. The district will also compensate Atollo for the 16 current seniors who are engaged in Attollo programming at a rate of $340 per student.
In other matters, the board addressed a raft of personnel changes for the new school year, including 10 professional appointments, the hiring of 19 support personnel, 14 transfers of position, 15 resignations, and four leaves of absence. In extracurricular hiring, Kole DeHaven will serve as a boys soccer assistant coach; Mason King was hired as a boys soccer assistant coach; and Joshua Miller as Spanish Honor Society co-advisor.
Volunteer coaches include Rebecca Gehman, girls soccer; Kyle Gesswein, football; and Micaela Sensenig, girls volleyball. A few professional vacancies still exist for the school year, including a speech and language pathologist for the district, certified school nurse, and part-time high school alternative education teacher.
The next regular meeting of the school board will be Monday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.
About Mary Louise Sholly
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The Bat Segundo Show & Follow Your EarsThe Bat Segundo Show is a cultural radio program devoted to quirky and very thorough long-form interviews with contemporary authors, idiosyncratic thinkers, and other assorted artists. Guests have included John Waters, John Updike, Stephen Fry, Marilynne Robinson, Karen Russell, David Lynch, Weird Al Yankovic, Robert A. Caro, and more than 500 others. Follow Your Ears is an investigative radio program committed to original inquiry and the pursuit of a specific subject through several angles.
Guests A-Z
Thomas Frank (BSS #428)
January 5, 2012 2 comments Article Ideas
Thomas Frank is most recently the author of Pity the Billionaire.
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 59:05 — 54.1MB)
Condition of Mr. Segundo: Wondering why Grover Norquist keeps leaving voicemails about tax pledges.
Author: Thomas Frank
Subjects Discussed: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s notion of “compromise,” the Republican failure to acknowledge Reagan’s complete history, Reagan’s Continental Illinois bailout, efforts to “erase” liberalism from Washington, Barack Obama’s failings, Congressional disapproval by the American people (as reflected by recent polls), how George W. Bush became a toxic Republican figure, the Tea Party movement, the Great Recession, how the Right co-opted populism after 2008, the 2010 extension of the Bush tax cuts and Bernie Sanders’s filibuster, Obama signing the NDAA “with serious reservations,” the Democratic Party less about the working man and more about expertise and technocrats, Obama’s TARP bailouts vs. Roosevelt’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation bailouts, government agencies that become instruments of Wall Street, “purified” capitalism, firing bank managers, conservatives mimicking progressive ideologies of the past and protest movements of the 1930s, co-opting outrage, Orson Welles’s influence on Glenn Beck, The War of the Worlds, being subscribed to Beck’s email newsletter, Jack Abramoff, Grover Norquist, the Republican base being united over the past few decades by “quasi-military victory” and lack of civility, Howard Phillips and “organized discontent,” why the Democrats are allergic to discontent and anger, Roosevelt’s tendency to stump and explain legislation vs. Obama’s failure to do so, the Democratic tendency to use experts as a selling point, Jon Stewart and the New Political Privilege, the Rally to Restore Sanity, Occupy Wall Street, blue-collar invisibility in DC, living in a neighborhood in which 50% of the population have PhDs, NASCAR, idiosyncratic hangover cures, diffidence and resistance against righteous indignation in the last few years, the hard times swindle, Scott Walker and attacks on the Wisconsin labor movement, attempts to investigate why liberalism can’t stick in recent years given The Wrecking Crew‘s suggestion that people inherently expect a liberal state, the myth of small business job creation (specific data breakdown on new jobs creation from 1992-2008 from Scott Shane discussed by Correspondent and Frank), George Lucas calling himself an “independent filmmaker,” C. Wright Mills’s White Collar, small business serving as a propaganda front for big business, America’s reticence in discussing how we are all corporate slaves in some sense, Tea Party memorabilia, Glenn Beck’s CAPITALISM painting, Rep. Nan Hayworth’s dodging questions about Verizon with empty utopian bluster, whether it’s possible to take back the term “small business,” the Black Panther Party, ways to organize political movements, whether it’s possible to build a dedicated base to combat a corrupt two-party system, legal blockades to third party movements, protesting out of resentment and self-pity, self-pity and the resurgent Right, whether the Tea Party is protesting with a shared sense of humiliation, populist politics as a gateway drug, searching for good things to say about the Tea Party, liberalism and populist movements, Atlas Shrugged, Walter Issacson’s Steve Jobs biography, Jobs being selfish with his money, why selfishness is a uniquely American draw, retreating into laissez-faire purity, Ayn Rand’s prose style, capital strikes as fantasy, leftist versions of Atlas Shrugged, John Dos Passos, Steinbeck, Frank’s collection of proletarian fiction, Upton Sinclair, the cold sex and descriptions of steel and machinery in Atlas Shrugged, the connections between recent political movements and mythology, German sociologists from the 1930s, the social construction of reality, Karl Mannheim’s Ideology and Utopia, how the Left might find political possibilities in passion, pragmatism, and anger, the neutered Left falling prey to forms of mythology that are just as nefarious as present myths on the Right, organized labor, Steven Greenhouse’s The Big Squeeze, how politics tends to inspire perverse behavior, and train wrecks.
Correspondent: We’re talking only a few nights after a really fascinating 60 Minutes interview with [House Majority Leader] Eric Cantor. I’m not sure if you saw this.
Frank: I didn’t see it.
Correspondent: Well, it was interesting. Because it reminded me very much of your book. I’m about to talk with you and this happens. So [Cantor] appears. And it’s this fairly amicable, typical segment. And then Lesley Stahl basically says, “Will you compromise in any way?” And he dodged the issue of being able to compromise on anything. And then Lesley, of course, brings up the Reagan tax increase.
Frank: The 1986?*
Correspondent: Yes. And he denies that Reagan ever did that. And then, to add an additional monkey wrench into this, there’s an off-camera press secretary who says that’s a lie. And then, of course, they play the clip.
Frank: What?
Correspondent: Yes! And they play a clip of Reagan using “compromise” as a verb** when he’s talking about this tax increase. So this seems a very appropriate beginning to some of the issues in your book.
Frank: That’s amazing. That’s exactly what I’m writing about. These people who are essentially blinded by ideology. But when I say it that way, it sounds like some kind of slang term. Or something like that. But I mean it in a very serious way. That these are people who have bought an entire utopian way of seeing the world and are able to close their eyes to things that are obvious. And what you just said about Reagan, that would be a juicy detail that I would have loved to have had for the book. But there are so many other examples — essentially, they deny. Look, I went to a graduate school and studied history. One of the baseline things that historians agree on is that for the last thirty or forty years, we’ve been in a conservative era. That people around the world — governments, politicians, elites around the world — have discovered the power of markets and have moved in this direction towards markets that are deregulated, have privatized, have done all these things. This is common knowledge. A conservative movement today — you talk to a guy like Eric Cantor? No, that’s never happened. We’re still living under socialism. And we have been since Woodrow Wilson. Or something like this.
Correspondent: But why is it that Cantor and the Freshman Republicans want to just keep their blinders on about history? About their man Reagan? Is there a specific…
Frank: They have to have a hero and they’ve thrown George W. Bush under the bus. Because of the bailouts. But at the end of the day, look, it’s opportunism. Reagan is very popular. Bush is not popular. Nixon is not popular. So they have to have a hero. And it has to be someone who is beloved. Ipso facto, it has to be Reagan. But they have to deny all sorts of thing about Reagan. For example, Reagan bailed out Continential Illinois Bank — at the time, the biggest bank failure in U.S. history. Reagan, as you’ve just mentioned, raised taxes. Reagan sold weapons to Iran. You remember that one? Iran-Contra. I mean, there are all sorts of other crazy things that Reagan did that don’t look so good. I mean, Reagan really liked Franklin Roosevelt. Reagan was a more complicated person. But none of that is admissible. If you’re going to follow this ideology and this utopian vision that they have of what I call “market populism” — if you’re going to follow that all the way — and, of course, part of the idea of this is that you’re going to have to follow it all the way — and we’ll get into that a minute — you basically have to whitewash history. I mean, it’s almost Soviet, what you’re describing.
Correspondent: The phrase you use in The Wrecking Crew. “The Washington conservatives aim to make liberalism not by debating, but by erasing it.” And I’m wondering if there’s any past political precedent that would suggest they could entirely efface liberalism from our political machinations.
Frank: Or from our memory.
Correspondent: Or from our memory. It’s very strange.
Frank: Well, that was the big subject a few years ago — when The Wrecking Crew was published. One of the topics of conversation was these grand schemes that the Republicans kept coming up with. The Republicans in Washington here, I’m talking about. I’m not talking about your rank-and-file Republicans. But the Republicans in Washington kept coming up with the grand schemes for some kind of political checkmate. Some kind of move that would end the debate forever and yield victory for their side forever. And they include — privatizing social security was a big one. Another one — the one that I focused on in The Wrecking Crew — is deficits. And that, I’m sorry to say, I turned out to be right about the one. By deliberately running up the deficits in the Bush years, it doesn’t give them permanent victory, but it does stay the hand of whoever, whatever liberal follows — in this case, Barack Obama — and it has worked exactly as they planned it to. Although Obama pushed it a little farther than they thought possible with the stimulus package. But now look at what’s happened with the debt ceiling catastrophe and all that sort of thing. So that turned out to be effective. They were able to limit the debate by some deeds that they pulled while they were still in power. And some of the other things that they are trying or will try or I predict they’ll try, they are things about tricking the franchise. Somehow keeping or dissuading people from voting. That sort of thing. But there’s always this search for the doomsday device. Yes, and it still goes on.
Correspondent: But this level of no quarter, no compromise. I mean, isn’t there some kind of “uncanny valley” or Hubbert’s Peak to what they can do before it’s just not acceptable? I mean, there was that latest Rasmussen poll where Congress got a 5% approval rating. That was a few days ago.
Frank: 5%?
Correspondent: 5%.
Frank: Well, that makes a difference in the Presidential Election. But that really won’t make a whole lot of difference, strangely enough, in the Congressional Election. Because people might hate Congress, but they like their own Congressman. That’s the classic, the old saw. But, look, what you’re getting at is a really interesting phenomenon of these people, instead of being pulled to the center — as all of your political science theorizing and all of your DC punditry insists that the gravity of politics pulls people to the center. Political scientists have believed this for fifty years. And this is a pet peeve of mine. Because I think it’s rubbish, okay, for reasons that we’ll go into. But it’s been just dramatically disproven in the last couple of years. Think back to 2008. You had the Republican Party in ruins. You had all these scandals in the Bush Administration. All this corruption. And then it ends with this catastrophic meltdown in the market. The housing bubble bursts. The banks start to go under, one after another. Then Wall Street starts shedding 700 points per day. It’s this crazy disaster. The financial crisis. And then they do the bailouts, forever sealing Bush’s fate not only with the general public but with the Right. One of the most unpopular Presidents of all time. The Republican Party is in ruins in 2008. And you have pundit after pundit weighing in and saying, “These people are done for. Bush led them too far to the right.” The era of George W. Bush was where they went too far to the right, and Tom DeLay and all those guys, they went too far to the right, and now they have to make their way back to the center or they will risk being irrelevant forever more. Or for the next twenty years or something like that. And look what happened. They did the opposite. Guys like Eric Cantor, they did not embrace the moderates in their party. They excommunicated them. They purged them. I mean, these guys, they behave like Communists in a lot of ways. This is one of those things. They purged these guys. They throw people out. And they don’t want them in the Party anymore. And they moved deliberately to the right. Way to the right. That’s what the Tea Party movement is all about. And I’ll be damned if it didn’t work. They just scored their biggest victory in eighty years. Or seventy what — a whole lot of years in the 2010 off-term elections. They had a huge victory. So obviously that strategy has vindicated for them. It worked! It paid off! And there’s no reason why they would go back on something that just succeeded. It was a success.
Correspondent: But in the chapter in this book, “The Silence of the Technocrats,” you describe this collapse of Democratic populism from 2008. You point to the failings of the Democrats to challenge the Tea Party, people at the town hall meetings. You point also to the manner in which they formed corporate alliances with healthcare and also the bailouts that we were just talking about. The failure of the stimulus package. The list goes on. Only a few days ago, Obama signed into law the NDAA, which essentially gives the government the right to detain any citizen, and he had this whole “with serious reservations” claause that he did while he signed it. So the question I have is: if Democrats are offering the defense that Obama is being forced into this predicament…
Frank: They’re listening to the pundits. The Republicans did the opposite of what the pundits suggested. The Democrats are listening to them. There’s this DC elite that the Democrats are listening to. This is what Obama’s Presidency is all about — it’s looking for a grand compromise. But the Republicans, they’re not interested. Make him come to us, they say. He can come to us. He can compromise in our direction. Look, at the end of the day, this is something you can figure out with game theory. It’s really simple. If they’re the side that stands pat and makes the other guy come to them, they win. But that’s neither her nor there. I think the Democrats really misplayed the hand they were dealt with. I mean, misplayed it in a colossal manner. In a catastrophic manner. And Obama may well get re-elected in 2012 at this point. Who knows at this point?
Correspondent: Well, with the crop of candidates, it’s a big clown car.
Frank: Elected for what purpose? After what’s happened, why bother? They didn’t understand the needs of the moment. The cultural and political needs of the moment, which were populist. They didn’t understand that all that political science theorizing that I was telling you about, where the center is where the gravity always pulls you — you have to move to the center. You have to make compromises with the other side. That all of that old way of thinking about everything was discredited. The financial crisis. The Great Recession. The huge business slump. We were going into Great Depression II, it looked like back then. And what was called for was 1930s style politics. The conservatives offered it. The Republicans offered it. Or I should say the Tea Party offered it and has since grafted it on the Republican Party. And the Democrats behaved as if everything was just as it was in the 1990s. That if they acted like Bill Clinton, everything would be fine. They did not understand that the old scheme was completely out the window.
Correspondent: Why though would they continue to act as if they wished to rise above partisanship? This notion…
Frank: That’s who they are.
Correspondent: I mean, even after the whole debt ceiling showdown. That whole business.
Frank: Can you believe that? Don’t you think that that would be the big convincer?
Correspondent: But why do you think this is? I mean, why didn’t Obama just go to the people and say, “Look, this is going to have serious actions even if I approve it or veto it. I am actually going to you, the American people, and I am explaining to you that the Republicans want to throw the Bill of Rights into a flaming trash can…
Frank: (laughs)
Correspondent: “So I can’t in good conscience sign this.” Why do you think he can’t do that?
Frank: Well, the point where this really got out of hand — I mean, there were several big turning points in the Obama Presidency, but the one that really just blew my mind because it was such a misplayed moment. And we think Obama’s a very intelligent man. And he is. I met up. He’s a super-duper smart guy. But some of the political moves have just been total rookie mistakes. The one that got me was when he still had a Democratic Congress. It was a lame duck session. This would have been at the end of 2010. And he renewed the Bush tax cuts. Why not make the Republicans come to him and offer something in exchange for that? No. He just gave it to them. It’s like the biggest prize on the table. And he just handed it over.
Correspondent: Leaving Bernie Sanders to do that long filibuster. But that ended up being all for nought. Even though it was an impressive theatrical display. Everybody was behind Bernie Sanders. Finally somebody standing up.
Frank: Oh sure. But it wasn’t up to Bernie Sanders. It was up to Barack Obama. And he just gave it away — the one ace he had in the hole, he just gave it away. And so maybe he did it as a good faith gesture to the Republicans. And look what it got him? This terrible smackdown with the debt ceiling crisis.
Correspondent: An embarrassment.
Frank: The kind of naivete that that takes. To not understand that that’s how these guys play the game. There’s plenty of journalists that wrote about the DeLay Congress and the Gingrich Congress. We know how these guys play. Or George W. Bush. Look at the career of Karl Rove. These guys play to win. They don’t mess around. And the innocence of Washington that it took to make a blunder — let’s call it what it is. A blunder like that is shocking to me.
Correspondent: If he’s so smart, why does he constantly come to them? I mean, why give the game away like that?
Frank: Because that’s who they are. That’s the Democratic Party nowadays.
Correspondent: It’s been like that for a while though, you know?
Frank: It has. And, hey, let’s be fair. Obama isn’t the — all of their last six Presidential candidates have been cut from the same cloth. I think Obama is, in lots of ways, smarter and a better speaker, and more talented than a lot of their previous leaders. But this is who the Democratic Party has become. Many years ago, they were the party of the working man. Everyone knew that. They were also a party that had an ideology. An ideology that arose from organized labor, that arose from the New Deal. And that has been lost. They are the party of technocrats now. Look, everything I’m telling you right now is right on the surface down at Washington DC. The big Democratic Party thinkers talk about this all the time. We are the party of the professional class. And if we aren’t that yet, that’s who we’re going to be when we’re done. We’re going to get there eventually.
* — This is a very pedantic stickler point, but one that nonetheless demands clarity. Reagan raised taxes twelve times during his administration. Frank is referring to the Tax Reform Act of 1986. But, to be clear, Stahl was specifically referring to Reagan’s 1982 tax increase in the 60 Minutes segment.
** — Another highly pedantic (and perhaps needless) stickler point. Reagan used “compromise” as a noun, not as a verb: “Make no mistake about it, this whole package is a compromise.” And while Reagan’s specific words convey the same point (indeed more definitively with a noun), it is important to remain committed to painstaking accuracy — especially when the corresponding approach being discussed over the hour involves how political parties cleave to mythology.
Tags: author, interview, pity the billionaire, politics, thomas frank
Frances Madeson January 9, 2012 at 4:21 pm -
Ah yes, blinders of ideology, Obama’s naive and a rookie and very smart and talented at the same time. You can baffle some of the people some of the time…etc. I wish, I mean I really wish, you’d have asked him a paradigm-shifter, Eddie, instead of being the uber-informed and impressively fluent collegial interviewer. When is his world going to get rocked, his blinders yanked the fuck off, if not on Bat Segundo? Why be such a people-pleaser? Why not turn the tables on his perceptual incapacities, help him see all the equivelancies with his Republican brothers in his own analyses–let’s not “call it a blunder.” And if we don’t call it a “blunder,” what else might we call it, Mr. Frank? Don’t you even read The Baffler, didn’t you even see the photos of feral houses in Detroit that you published last issue? Where’s the bodily integrity in “calling it a blunder” when things are already so far gone. I would have asked him this, and this alone: What was the precondition, the faculty, required for sentient beings to be able to perceive the wisdom in making the leap from Newtonian physics to Einsteinian physics? And why might that be important and relevant for this moment?
Børre January 10, 2012 at 3:41 pm -
This is the reason why I have listened to all of these shows. Thank you! By the way, I really need to know what that song in the beginning is.
If you enjoyed this program, please chip in a few clams and help keep the show running. Your support helps to make these distinct and detailed conversations possible.
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Potrero Hill
Dogpatch
Shipyards in Decay
by Alexandra Berzon, Sunday, July 3, 2005
photo: David Green
View of Union Iron Works from the Bay, c. 1890s.
Photo: Bancroft Library (brk00012274_24a)
Striking workers about outside office building of Bethlehem Steel at 20th and Illinois, January 1941.
Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library
Striking Bethlehem Shipyard workers outside offices on 20th near Illinois, 1945.
Photo: Acme Photo
The pinnacle of the Bay Area’s once-formidable shipbuilding industry, Pier 70 remained one of the last authentic sites of the old San Francisco. Once the Union Iron Works established the city’s iron shipbuilding industry in the 1880s, the shipyard’s role in the Bay Area economy grew through the early 1900s, peaking during World Wars I and II. However, the decline of ships’ use in US military strategy, combined with the globalization of commercial shipbuilding, shifted Pier 70’s focus from production to mere repairs. (More than a decade after this article was written, Pier 70 is becoming an office and restaurant center based on the restoration of its historic buildings and the addition of hundreds of new apartments and offices.)
A place in town that will not die:
Shipbuilding's heyday gone with two World Wars, but dry docks survive at Pier 70
In a city that made a mall out of a chocolate factory and lines its historic fishery with wax museums, Pier 70 is perhaps the best place to see the old San Francisco -- the blue-collar port town left to die, but still breathing.
Between the high-tech, half-built glass structures of Mission Bay and the toxic, closed-down military base at Hunters Point, the bay shore makes a slow curve. Here, at the base of Potrero Hill, the new economy of biotechnology and baristas almost touches what remains of the world of giant industrial ships and machinists.
In old photographs of Pier 70's glory days from the Maritime Museum Library, wood scaffolding towers over the building blocks of a 1945 destroyer, workers scattered around the dock next to the ship. Debonair women holding roses pose in giant hats next to the finished military vessels.
(Above) Launch of the USS Monterey from the Union Iron Works, April 28, 1891.
Photo: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Museum (A4.28,556)
A riveter identified as Joseph Torres holds a piece of metal against a drilling machine in 1918, on the day he was named the "Rivet Champion of the World" after his team had driven 6,075 rivets in a single day.
Thousands of cheering workers fill the spaces between the buildings and hover on the rooftops to catch a glimpse of film star Mary Pickford at a World War I-era pep rally.
Comparing then to now, you might make the easy first assumption that Pier 70—today littered with old tires and pulleys and slabs of metal, empty warehouses covered with graffiti and blasted out windows, and railroad tracks that go nowhere—is a ghost town, a mausoleum holding San Francisco's rich past. But spend some time there, and it will start to look quite different.
You'll find people like Cielito Balantae, who works in the stateroom of the cruise ship Infinity, asking for directions to downtown and lamenting over lost tip wages since the ship broke down the other day. Or Jim Heryford, a plumber working as a pipe-fitter on ships now, a position he sees as a step down. Or Ari Nelson, a Coast Guard member working on the interior repairs of his boat while the dockworkers sandblast the outside.
You'll find these workers signing in and out at the gates of San Francisco Drydock, Inc., the vastly scaled-down remnant of the teeming shipyards of yesteryear, but a reminder still that San Francisco's past is not entirely gone.
The shipbuilding business has closed, but there are still a few hundred ship workers here in one small section of the pier, doing mainly repair, chiefly for commercial ships.
Old cranes near 20th and Illinois, long out of use in this 2010 photo.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
Old-timers might remember Union Iron Works or Bethlehem Steel. They might know that Pier 70 was part of the nexus of shipyards, including Sausalito, Richmond, Alameda, Oakland, Mare Island and Hunters Point, that made the Bay Area one of the great shipbuilding centers of the world.
It began more than 150 years ago.
One clear Sunday in 1850, Peter Donahue, founder of Union Iron Works and one of San Francisco's early industrial titans, climbed to the top of the sand hills in the southern part of the city and, looking out across the peninsula, was struck by what he saw before him.
"This is going to be a great city at no distant day. There will have to be gasworks and ironworks here, and whoever has the faith enough to embark on either of these enterprises will make great money from them," Donahue reportedly remarked to a friend.
Irving Scott bought Union Iron Works in 1865, and steered the iron foundry into the shipbuilding industry, recognizing that "transportation on the waters had been neglected."
Perhaps what Scott was most prescient about was the fact that the floundering nation would soon grow into a major military power, and that much of that power would come from ships. Who better to capitalize on the growing market than an iron company in a Pacific Coast port?
The next industrialist to partake was Charles Schwab, who ran Bethlehem Steel, the company that bought Union Iron Works in 1905. Bethlehem Steel reached the height of activity during the two world wars. During World War I, the San Francisco yard employed 16,000 people and built 84 ships for the Navy. After World War II, shipbuilding declined, and the primary role of the yard was repairs and alterations.
The last two ships built at Pier 70 were two U.S. Navy frigates, the Bradley and the Garcia, between 1962 and 1965. The yard also got a huge job when it was commissioned to build 57 steel sections for BART's underwater tunnel between Oakland and San Francisco.
Todd Industries, at one time the largest ship company in the country, bought the shipyards in 1982. But by 1987, Todd, facing bankruptcy, broke its lease with the port and abandoned the property. San Francisco Drydock Inc. eventually leased the land and bought the dry-dock facilities from the port for $1. By then, with shipbuilding no longer viable, most of the old buildings had been abandoned. For Pier 70, all of this has meant a mostly barren landscape with a treasure trove of buildings left behind—and a unique set of challenges.
"As we've been working on this site, we've fallen in love with the historic buildings," says Lynda Weisberg Swanson, the Port of San Francisco project manager in charge of planning Pier 70.
"They're generous spaces, absolutely dazzlingly beautiful and completely unique. These buildings tell the story of how the West was built. So here we have something quite wonderful and special, but it will be very expensive."
A plan to develop the site as an artist and nonprofit community fell through after the dot-com crash. Now, Swanson says she would like the dry docks to stay, but the Port has not discussed long-term plans with San Francisco Drydock, Inc.
Swanson says, "Having those huge ships there is special. People can see how a rough and ready industry works, and it's a little bit of history.
"San Francisco started as a port and was a huge water-oriented enterprise until the '40s. People who live closest to it have long memories of it being a really vital place, and there's a lot of desire to not turn that into a faux historic site, to keep it authentic, to not become Disneyfied."
Another challenge is the old machine shop. Built in 1886 and located directly across from the dry dock gates, the striking red brick structure was used continuously as a machine shop up until last year, when it was deemed seismically unsound.
Swanson explains that it was built with unreinforced masonry. The building also has extensive water damage and possibly asbestos. The roof alone is expected to cost $2 million to repair. Swanson says her dream project for the machine shop would be a museum of Western American industry.
"The big lays and cranes are still there, so it wouldn't take much to reproduce the atmosphere of a machine shop," she says. Swanson is perhaps right that the day may not be far away when we will need a museum to remind us what industry in San Francisco looked like.
Old cranes still haunt the shoreline at the old shipyards in this 2010 photo.
But right now, you can still get a little taste of the real thing at the dry docks. Follow the white lines from the guard station down to the docks, turn a corner, and suddenly, the ships come into view. The Infinity towers over Drydock No. 2, the bigger of the two dry docks. The ship, a luxury liner owned by Celebrity Cruises, has what looks like a giant red nose that juts out of the front from the bottom of the ship and curves upward.
Celebrity Cruises' website highlights the ship's marble walls, polished granite decks and opulent suites. "Infinity's reason for being," it says, "is simply to indulge and pamper you."
Shipyard workers are still at Pier 70, although perhaps not for long. In the 35 years Juan Ramirez has worked in the San Francisco waterfront as a machinist, he's seen thousands of ships come in and sail away again. Tall and grizzled but looking far younger than his 77 years, he says he has no plans to retire.
"I would miss the shipyard," Ramirez says. "I would miss my friends, getting mad, getting happy. I don't want to be in the house in the rocking chair."
But Ramirez is working in a field that is closing up around him. "There used to be a lot more work. There used to be a lot more money," he says. In what was once a steady profession, Ramirez, like most of the dockworkers, now works just six months out of the year and collects unemployment the rest of the time.
The last operating power plant in San Francisco, running on the shoreline near Dogpatch and the old shipyards, owned at the time this 2010 photo was taken by Mirant Corporation.
For the big picture, of course, you can look to globalization. True, as we become more of a consumer and less a producer society, we need more ships to handle imports coming in all the time from other countries. But that globalized economy has also meant that the ships bringing in the goods can be built in other countries too.
For the dry docks, which have historically relied on military contracts, a big factor is the declining role of ships in U.S. military strategy. The first issue of the Bethlehem Star, the employee newsletter printed June 1918, has a picture of Bethlehem Steel director Charles Schwab on the cover. His head far larger than his body and sporting a top hat and a tuxedo, Schwab stands on top of an outline of the United States, a baton in each hand pointing to the oceans around the country, which are filled with tiny ships. The caption under the picture reads, "Director General Schwab says 'Ships Mean Victory.' "
Today, the Navy is down to 288 ships, from 590 ships in the 1980s. In the Bay Area, most of the military ship repair contracts dried up more than a decade ago with the local naval base closures. But instead of closing up, the dry docks have come back somewhat. Cruise ships have been a big reason for that.
"It's nothing but bright right now for the cruise ship industry," says Mike Hardigan, vice president of the Port Commission. The port plans to build a new cruise ship dock as part of its $261 project at Piers 30-32 to accommodate at least 84 cruise ships a year.
"The cruise ships can unload passengers and schedule a dry dock (repair) at the same time," says Hardigan. The cruise ships that provide the port one remaining connection to its maritime past are a far cry from the cargo carriers that once dominated the city's waterfront or the military ships that were built here. While the Navy markets itself as a "life accelerator," cruise lines sell themselves as a life de-accelerator—relax, unwind, indulge.
Yet, in their own way, the passengers lounging in the Aquaspa on the top deck of the Infinity are helping to preserve a bit of old-time San Francisco, the scrappy blue-collar town without a single T-shirt for sale at its fishing pier.
—Alexandra Berzon
Alexandra Berzon was, in 2005, a student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She is spending the summer at the Anchorage Daily News. This article appeared originally in the San Francisco Chronicle, Insight section.
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/ssfSTRK1917" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A strike begins at the Union Iron Works at the foot of Potrero Hill in 1917. Unskilled workers at the Union Iron Works went on strike in 1917 in solidarity with their counter-parts at Iron works in Oakland. They were seeking an 8 hour day and basic wage increases.
Video: Prelinger Archive
Potrero's Own Patron: Irving M. Scott
If one person could be considered as a major contributor to the development of the Potrero, it would be Irving M. Scott. Scott was born of English stock on Christmas day in 1837. After working in his chosen profession, engineering, on the East coast, he moved to California. He obtained a position as a draftsman at the then small Union Iron Works, known at that time as H.J. Booth & Co., and later as Prescott, Scott & Co. By 1861, Mr. Scott had become a partner, and under his management, the company became the Union Iron Works. Although a major shipbuilder on the coast, Scott also worked on engines for commercial use. Many of his engines worked in the Comstock Mines.
While helping the Potrero grow in jobs and income, Scott also realized the great need for better education. This prompted him to lend financial aid to the schools of the area. The grateful citizens repaid him by naming a school after him.
The former Irving M. Scott School, now in private use, 2012.
Former office building of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, 1997, designed by F. Meyers in 1917
Continue Labor History Tour
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furia furialog · New Particles · The War Against Silence · Aedliga (songs) · photography · code · other things
The War Against Silence
↑78 · Midge Ure, Spirit of the West, Zoe
· 77 · Crowded House, Hunters and Collectors, Sarah McLachlan, Linda Thompson
↓76 · Primitive Radio Gods, Magnapop, Pooka Stew
The War Against Silence was a weekly music-review column, and then a weekly column about music, and then a weekly column that was often inspired by music. It was written by glenn mcdonald, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, through a decade of devices and dreams and sleepless Wednesday nights. It was against many things, beginning with but not necessarily including silence, and in favor of many more, including some of the things it was once against and eventually its own end.
It may or may not occasionally be updated in its demise.
Where Last Year's Light Is Shining
77 · 18 July 96
Crowded House: Recurring Dream + Live Album
Hunters and Collectors: Living...In Large Rooms and Lounges
Sarah McLachlan: Rarities, B-Sides & Other Stuff
Linda Thompson: Dreams Fly Away
My CD-shelving scheme recognizes three different interpretations of "pop". The center one, which I called "Alternative" when I started categorizing things, back in 1985, before it became clear that if I didn't think up some better terms 80% of my collection was going to end up under this one, has now been clarified to be the American guitar-centric version of pop that starts, for me, with Big Star, follows Scott Miller and Mitch Easter threads through a thicket of interrelated and largely South-Eastern bands (including, most popularly, REM), loses its geographical coherency in a sequence that goes from Pop Art to American Music Club via Del Amitri, and ends up, at the frenetic extreme, with Too Much Joy. The right-hand one, as you face my shelves (and lean to your right to read the case spines) is my amalgamation of synth-, dance-, power-, trash-, quirk-, geek- and other miscellaneous hyphenated -pops, which covers things from Yaz to ABBA to the Knack to Pat Benatar to They Might Be Giants to the Bobs, with an emphasis, TMBG notwithstanding, on the shiny and ultracommercial. And the left-hand one is, vaguely speaking, the British complement to the American wing, starting at XTC and Joe Jackson, skittering out to the Beautiful South, and from there continuing along a chain of associations past the Smiths to the Icicle Works and out, before you have time to really protest, to EMF and Jesus Jones, which is where you realize that you've lost track of whatever point it is I think I'm making, and are tired of holding your head to the side like that for so long.
Inclusion and position in these genres is rather arbitrary, to be generous, but some minor relevance, at least, devolves from the fact that, while I have a hard time explaining the boundaries of these groupings, I do at least have extremely clear ideas about what bands constitute their cores and make, most purely, the music that I mean the divisions, as sets, to refer to. In the American section it's the Connells, and in shiny commercial pop it is, of course, Roxette. In the Britpop section it used to be the Housemartins/Beautiful South continuum, or maybe it was XTC. Or Squeeze. Or perhaps Prefab Sprout. In fact, that whole section only really started making sense a couple years ago when "Locked Out" turned me suddenly into a crazed Crowded House fan, and I realized that they're the archetype I was looking for. Pop, to me, is the triumph of melody over all else, and its British incarnation achieves this victory unhurriedly, with dignity and grace. Nobody epitomizes this balance of rapturous beauty and smooth unobtrusiveness better for me than Crowded House. Of course, Crowded House aren't technically British, but to Americans, the distinction between Basil Fawlty and Crocodile Dundee was always a little tenuous, and given that most people educated here couldn't get you from Topeka to Toledo without a snorkel and a passport, asking them to remember that New Zealand is yet somewhere else, a thousand miles of ocean away from that funny clamshell building that vies with the big Foster's can for the tiny slot most people free up in their mind for a mental image of "Down Under", is probably overambitious.
As is usually the case with bands I really like, on some level I will always be mystified that anybody would want a collection like this. Crowded House's albums are so great, and there's only four of them, so why would anybody need such a manageable canon abridged? If given the task of whittling the forty-eight songs from the four albums down for the purposes of a compilation, I'd promptly draw a line through "Chocolate Cake", which has always grated on my nerves, and then I'd be stuck. I could eliminate a few more if I started sniping at any song whose chorus didn't immediately spring to my mind from reading the title ("I Walk Away"? "In the Lowlands"? "Tall Trees"?), but if I went and listened to those songs to refresh my memory, I'm sure I'd want to reinstate them. Part of the fractal mastery of Crowded House is that their chiming guitars, aching harmony, and elegant melodies are wherever you look for them. No amount of inspection will reveal hidden ugliness, because it just isn't there. Put the other way, I guess this is their fatal flaw, as well: it is rare for a Crowded House song to really stand out. By sacrificing barbs to escape flaws, they achieve a sort of covert perfection which you have to go out of your way to experience. These are not songs that you hear once and develop a mad crush on for a week, these are songs that you take for granted for years, and then, when some other musical romance sours and leaves you in a state of unusual awareness, suddenly realize that you've gradually fallen in love with, and know that this slow conversion will outlast a thousand seemingly more spectacular affairs. Every one of you who can't say that they hate Crowded House, how do you know that you aren't a tiny epiphany away from adoring them? I'm projecting my own experience onto you again (here, let me get you a napkin), but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. I suppose I'm also revealing my biases about the structure of romance; I don't believe in love at first sight, in dating services, even really in dates. I believe in friends first, and one day, in my versions of all the fables, you marry your best one. This would be a much more useful belief if more of my best friends weren't already married or engaged to other people.
But whatever the factors that militate against this collection's construction, the task was assigned to somebody less convinced than I of its futility, and so we have Recurring Dream, a nineteen-song synopsis of Crowded House's oeuvre for the completist and the novitiate alike. Looking over its track listing, it's clear that the first tactic used to avoid my paralysis was starting from nothing, not everything. Without all forty-eight songs protesting their cases at once, it becomes possible to make a few unassailable selections: "World Where You Live" and "Don't Dream It's Over", certainly, from the debut; "Into Temptation" and "Better Be Home Soon" from the underrated Temple of Low Men; "Weather With You" and "Four Seasons in One Day" from the dual-Finn-ed Woodface; "Locked Out" and "Private Universe" from Together Alone. Surely these choices could hurt nobody else's feelings. And then, on a second pass, you take a couple supplements from each record. They're all good, so it doesn't make that much difference (and if you move quickly the omissions won't have time to hurt): "Something So Strong" and "Mean to Me", "When You Come" and "I Feel Possessed", "Fall at Your Feet" and "It's Only Natural", "Pineapple Head" and "Distant Sun". These are all great songs. Yes, if you go back and itemize the ones left behind, you can make yourself sad (no "Hole in the River"? no "Sister Madly"? "There Goes God"? "How Will You Go"? "Catherine Wheels" and "Together Alone"?), but just don't do that. These sixteen tell the story as well as any sixteen could, and there's only so much room on a CD.
Filling the rest of it, in fact, are three new songs, included to sell a few more copies to fanatics like me. The first of these, "Not the Girl You Think You Are", is a bit slight for a "Very Best of", unless George Harrison homages are much more to your liking than they are to mine. "Instinct", though, simmers and breathes like a demo for the fifth album that never was, and the rumbling "Everything Is Good for You", which concludes the collection, acts as the band's farewell in a way that none of their existing songs, inextricable from their contexts of beloved familiarity, could have. Crowded House are gone now, Neil's energies turned with Tim to the Finn Brothers, and so this album is both a celebration and a requiem. It's rare that a set of songs serves both purposes so admirably.
(And since no good wake is complete without an encore, my early import copy comes with a bonus live album. Live versions have adorned the backs of many Crowded House singles over the years, and while the band's anti-pyrotechnic nature may make concert recordings seem like a less than exhilarating prospect, for me the original versions of their songs seem so unalterable and necessary that I always find hearing them done any other way to be unexpectedly thrilling. When Neil's voice dips here, ever so slightly, on "Don't Dream It's Over", in a place where the album version doesn't veer, it makes me pay closer attention both to this twist and to the place in the original where it isn't, and my devotion to both versions becomes all the more fierce for their interplay. The bonus further endears itself to me by rescuing several of the songs I missed from the first disc, including a set-opener of "There Goes God" and a breathtakingly beautiful rendition of "How Will You Go". For people with no Crowded House to their name, the flimsy argument against buying the four albums falls apart most of the rest of the way if you admit that you're willing to sit through two and a half hours of them, since the full catalog just grazes three, but for devotees, this is like a b-sides collection that simply (and, for those of us buying the singles at this end of the trans-Atlantic levies, mercifully) skips the uncollected step.)
The application for a rock band license in Australia and New Zealand must include some blanks for sibling endorsements that aren't present in the American version. In addition to the obvious other Finn, Crowded House's bass player, Nick Seymour, is the brother of Hunters and Collectors' singer Mark Seymour. Somewhere I even have Crowded House covering H&C's trademark anthem "Throw Your Arms Around Me". Disappointingly, perhaps, this two-disc Australian Hunters and Collectors live album doesn't feature any Crowded House covers. Then again, perhaps it's just as well. Crowded House's gentle reworking of H&C's storming love theme was electrifying in its restraint, but subjecting Crowded House's meticulous trio pop songs to H&C's pack-the-stage volubility might easily come off as unpleasantly brutal.
Like Crowded House, Hunters and Collectors are, in my opinion, unrivaled masters of a particular song form. They do catharsis. Every H&C song has the same aim, which is to make you simultaneously sweat like you're being wrung for humanade, and howl like a Valkyrie in a stretch limo is swooping toward you with your name on a golden airport placard shining like the sun. Whatever the lyrics actually say, the message in all these songs is either "It's over and we won", or "It's not over yet, and we're damn well going to win before it is", and in good Ouroboros style, the distinction between the two is frequently trampled on with gusto. The Alarm were good at this, too, in their day, but H&C makes them sound like Frippertronics. Part of it is Seymour's bar-fight delivery (he sounds like he's on the verge of voice death even in his best moments, and hearing him fight through a throat infection on the first disc is awe-inspiring), and part of it is the fact that there are practically more people in H&C than there were in the Alarm's whole hometown, so that I get the distinct impression they could form a decent-size uprising without even resorting to outside recruiting. And part of it, too, though maybe this shouldn't matter, is that the Alarm are gone, and they went messily, without the good sense to quit before they embarrassed themselves, while H&C, despite some problems getting distribution here in the US, have soldiered on for eight or eleven albums, depending on how you count, as if there really is no force that could deter them.
This double-disc set's ostensible organizing rationale is that the first one was gleaned from three nights at a small Melbourne cafe, while the second came from "venues with full scale production". Don't bother expecting MTV-Unplugged-style acousticity out of the first half, though. You could lock H&C in a closet with nothing but picnic plates for gear, and they still wouldn't sound unplugged. Somehow they'd figure out how to convert static electricity into overdrive, and make trumpets out of the plates, and your neighbors would be phoning the police before you could cram a sheet of Bounce into Seymour's mouth. Yes, technically there are acoustic guitars in some places on the first disc where there would normally be electrics, but no mere instrumental substitution can alter H&C's emotional palette much. Any venue large enough to fit the whole band at all is large enough for them to transform into a virtual arena by their very presence. Still, the Continental songs are notably rawer and the frayed state of Seymour's voice is arresting, while the "full scale" songs sound a bit more like you're hearing them from the back of a very large crowd, with some of the protection from their intensity that that distance affords, and the contrast of these makes the halves an interesting pair.
The bulk of this material is drawn from 1994's Demon Flower (the choppy we-survived-our-brush-with-evil anthem "Courtship of America", the squarely mid-tempo "Betrayer", the prison-guard's-home-life song "Back in the Hole", and the scornful slow-brass meditation "Ladykiller" on the first disc, the bluesy ballad "Mr. Bigmouth" and the raspy "The One and Only You" on the second) and its predecessor, 1992's Cut (the amiable "True Tears of Joy" on 1, the chattering dance track "Head Above Water" and the eminently arena-scale "Where Do You Go?" on 2). Both discs also have versions of Human Frailty's angular lead track, "Say Goodbye" (the first disc actually has two), and Cut's buoyant single "Holy Grail", which seem to have become the band's dual standard-bearers, and Demon Flower's cartoon-blues opener, "Easy". The rest of the first set has the immortal "Throw Your Arms Around Me", from 1986's Human Frailty, the similar "When the River Runs Dry" from 1989's Ghost Nation, and a lone track, "The Slab", exhumed from the early album The Jaws of Life. The second disc pulls out two more old ones, "Chalkie" and "42 Wheels", and then moves on to Human Frailty's wistful "Stuck on You" and desperate "Everything's on Fire", Fate's pounding "Do You See What I See?", and Ghost Nation's deliberate "Blind Eye". Human Frailty and Fate were the albums I discovered H&C with, so naturally I miss some of my other favorites from them, like "January Men", "Back on the Breadline", "Faraway Man" and especially the harrowing war song "What's a Few Men", but the token treatment of the disappointing Ghost Nation and the somewhat unapproachable early albums seems about right. And while it's sad that the US seems to have left H&C behind, it's encouraging that the feeling appears to be mutual.
Now, on to the next one.
Until last year, I would have laughed at the very idea of a Sarah McLachlan b-sides collection. Her single output through her first two albums was most remarkable for the total absence of new songs anywhere in it. Aside from a couple of covers, the rest of the track slots were made up of remixes (and not always new ones) and radio sessions, and while some of them are quite good, it would have been silly to make an album out of them, especially next to 1992's limited edition live album, which featured several of the same songs. Around Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, though, Sarah loosened up a little, putting an impressive cover of Joni Mitchell's "Blue" on the single for "Good Enough", contributing "I Will Remember You" to the soundtrack for The Brothers McMullen, covering "Dear God" (if stiffly) on the unfortunate XTC tribute Testimonial Dinner, and consigning my pick for the year's fourth coolest song, "Full of Grace", to the bowels of Nettwerk's expensive tenth-anniversary box set Decadence. Suddenly a b-sides comp made some sense. I felt bad about telling even die-hard Sarah fans that "Full of Grace" justified buying a five-disc $60+ box, but a $20 import b-sides collection is a much more easily condoned indulgence.
And so here it is. Besides those four songs, it also has otherwise unavailable (I think) dance remixes of "Fear" and "Possession" (decent ones, too, not generic house loops with two-second samples of the singer's voice on top, like on some recent Tori singles), old-fashioned pre-techno extended mixes of "Vox" and "Into the Fire", both from the Vox single, the "Violin Mix" of "Shelter" from the Into the Fire single, the live version of "Drawn to the Rhythm" from the limited EP (fair, since "limited" appears to have been a genuine claim), the dark "Gloomy Sunday" cover from the Drawn to the Rhythm single, a Gordon Lightfoot cover ("Song for a Winter's Night", whose origin eludes me; I fear I have missed a Lightfoot tribute), and a Manufacture track called "As the End Draws Near" that Sarah sang on. For destitute completists keeping score, this is a good sample of the available obscurities, but it leaves out other remixes of "Steaming", "Vox", "Into the Fire", "Fear" and "Mary", radio versions of "Sad Clown" and "Black", a MuchMusic performance of "Drawn to the Rhythm", and a particularly good live version of "Good Enough" from that single. But if they put any more tracks on the disc they couldn't fit the blurry QuickTime version of the "I Will Remember You" video on the CD-ROM portion, and I'm sure you'll want to watch that time after time, memorizing the delicate nuances of pixels the size of Legos.
Rykodisc, on the other hand, you can rely on to brook no nonsense when it puts together a collection. Watching the Dark, the three-disc compendium they assembled for Richard in 1993, was virtually a model for a career retrospective (my only quibble concerned their decision not to sequence the songs chronologically), and Dreams Fly Away was compiled with the same care and concern (and, in fact, by the same compiler). In addition to album tracks from Sunnyvista ("Lonely Hearts", "Sisters"), Pour Down Like Silver ("For Shame of Doing Wrong" and "The Poor Boy Is Taken Away"), I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (the title track) and Linda's one solo album, One Clear Moment ("Telling Me Lies"), it has the version of "Walking on a Wire" from the never-released Rafferty/Murphy-produced sessions for Shoot Out the Lights, an unreleased cover of Sandy Denny's "I'm a Dreamer" from the same sessions, demos of "I Live Not Where I Love" with Simon Nicol and "Sometimes It Happens" with Brian Patten, British TV performances of the traditional "Shay Fan Yan Ley" and "Blackwaterside", a charmingly overproduced remix of "One Clear Moment" itself, its b-side "Talking Like a Man", a demo with Richard of "First Light", a frighteningly intense German radio recording of Richard and Linda doing "Pavanne", a live version of "The Great Valerio", the stunning demo a cappella duet "Many Dreams Must Fly Away" with Betsy Cook and another Cook co-composition demo called "Insult to Injury", and a bizarrely countrified 1987 LA studio remake of "Dimming of the Day" with Jennifer Warnes singing backup and Bruce Hornsby playing piano. Twenty tracks, fourteen of them new to the public, seventy-eight minutes of music, and no disposable multi-media clutter. Let this be a format lesson to everybody else.
The big difference between Richard and Linda Thompson, of course, is that Richard is a major and prolific figure in modern folk and rock music, who is widely considered to be one of the finest guitar players and songwriters alive, while Linda was a singer of uncertain technical merit who sang the songs he wrote until their marriage self-destructed, made one solo album, and then stopped singing entirely. I bought this not knowing whether it was going to document an artist underappreciated in her own right, or expose someone whose success was entirely a product of her context. And in a sense it does both. The best of her moments, to me, are the plainest, the ones in which she sings with the least polish or affect. Her fear and uncertainty, often, are palpable, but even more than that, she sounds harrowingly normal. She sounds like somebody who got to sing on records because she was dating people who made them, and her performances are rivetingly personal because they have to be, because she has no technique to hide behind. Her singing is chilling for exactly the same reason that Meryl Streep's version of "Amazing Grace" in Silkwood was chilling: because she sounds like a person, not a singer. She is not performing, and we so rarely hear singing stripped of its performance that I'm not sure we know quite what to make of it when we hear it. It's tempting to somehow construe the effect as artistically dishonest, or to consider Richard as the real author of Linda's singing, on the grounds that the real creative act was putting her in front of a microphone, like she's a found sound-producing device, not a independent entity. But she's not a robot or an idiot, she's an intelligent person, her singing is compelling, this collection is better than most whole careers, and I refuse to hold her streak of great luck with material against her, or Richard's presence against her, or her presence against Richard. Their making albums together seems to me like the most natural thing in the world. Frankly, and this is pertinent to another Linda's case, as well, if I ever have a band and a wife, and the wife wants to be in the band, she's in, and she can sing or play whatever, and however, the hell she wants to. If I've married somebody, it's because I care more about what she wants then all the rest of you put together, and if she wants to be part of the band then the band, by definition, is whatever she and I make it.
I'm working on the liner notes for our Rykodisc collection already.
Site contents published by glenn mcdonald under a Creative Commons BY/NC/ND License except where otherwise noted.
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Glove Trotter
July 25 — August 26 2000
Exposição no 1º piso
This work from 1991 consists of a series balls in different sizes, colors and materials, that were collected through the years and now lay on the floor. The balls are covered by a metallic mesh, like the ones used in the Medieval Age as armors. The title of the work is a clear reference to the expression ‘Globetrotter’, and the concept of the work derives from act of throwing a net to capture a series of elements. This piece deals with universal objects (the sphere) against antique objects (the mesh). The final result has a high-tech appareance in contrast to its materials.
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What has upswings and downturns, troughs, peaks, and plateaus? Though such terms could easily describe a roller coaster ride, in fact they are commonly used to refer to something known as the business cycle.
The business cycle — also known as the economic cycle — refers to fluctuations in economic activity over several months or years. Tracking the cycle helps professionals make forecasts about the direction of the economy. The National Bureau of Economic Research makes official declarations about the economic cycle, based on factors such as the growth of the gross domestic product, household income, and employment rates.
Recovery & Recession
An upswing, or recovery, occurs when the economic indicators improve over time. A recession occurs when the same indicators go through a contraction. A particularly long or severe recession is referred to as a depression.
Despite being called a cycle, it’s important to understand that the business cycle is not regular. It doesn’t happen at set intervals. Some recoveries have lasted several years while others are measured in months. Recessions, too, can last for a number of years or be as short as a few months.
Moving in Waves
The economic cycle moves through periods of recession and recovery. Despite being called a cycle, it’s important to understand that the economic cycle is not regular.
Stages of Cycle
So how should investors look at information about the business cycle?
Investors who understand that the economy moves through periods of recovery and recession may have a better perspective on the overall cycle. During recovery, understanding whether the economy is at an early or late stage of the cycle may influence certain investment decisions. Conversely, during a recession, deciphering whether the economy is passing through a shallow or deep cycle also may influence certain decisions.
Generally, the business cycle will transition from recovery to recession — and recession to recovery — over several months. Understanding that the economy travels through cycles may help you put current business conditions in better perspective.
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Dale Jr. and J. Cole Cover 'ESPN The Magazine's' Music Issue, Represent N.C.
Posted by Jarvis Holliday On 1/23/2015 1 comment
Two of North Carolina's brightest stars and proudest natives have united -- and met for the first time -- for the new issue of ESPN The Magazine. In the sports mag's Music Issue (dated February 2, but hitting newsstands today), you'll find NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr., who reps Mooresville, and hip-hop star J. Cole, who's always shouting out his hometown of Fayetteville.
Junior and Cole are featured on one of two covers of ESPN The Magazine's Music Issue (the other features music star Katy Perry and NFL star J.J. Watt). Credit: ESPN
Says Junior on meeting Cole, which all started from a shoutout the rapper gave the racer in a song:
"You pull for a guy because of the local connection. Normally, on the rare chance that a celebrity comes to my property, I get real nervous. But I wasn't nervous with him, because I knew this looks just like his backyard. It's a connection, a North Carolina connection, and he reps North Carolina in his music, and he's proud of where he's from and bringing recognition to Fayetteville. I'm proud of North Carolina too."
It's a great interview with the N.C. duo, "Dale Earnhardt Jr. and J. Cole: The Perfect Strangers."
Michael Jordan's Emotional Speech Makes Me Proud to Live in Charlotte
The G.O.A.T. and Charlotte Hornets team owner Michael Jordan delivered an emotional speech last evening when he accepted the Charlotte Business Journal Business Person of the Year award. In his nine-minute-long remarks, he spoke from the heart--wiping tears from his face--and made you feel proud to live in Charlotte and North Carolina, saying specifically that when he bought the team five years ago it gave him the chance to come home.
Photo credit: @DavidHeadCLT
We all know that M.J. was raised in North Carolina and went on to be a college star at UNC, but he admitted that many people will always associate him with Chicago, understandably, because it was his years and accomplishments with the Bulls that made him a household name. But he elaborated on his many ties to Charlotte, one of which was that his parents moved to the Charlotte area when he got drafted by the Bulls in 1984, and was something I didn't know.
Luckily, someone recorded Jordan's speech and has posted it to YouTube, which you can watch below.
Enjoy Brunch, Honor Dr. King
My twin brother and I are co-hosting a brunch this Sunday, January 18, in Charlotte in honor of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The event begins at noon and takes place at Sydney's Martini and Wine Bar in Uptown. We're looking forward to presenting a culturally and socially enriching afternoon, which will include a live band and MLK-themed performances. Admission is free, but RSVP is required at mlk.hollidaysocial.com; the cost of the brunch buffet is $15.
Credit: The King Center
I hope you will join us on Sunday!
It's Been A Long Time...
...I shouldn't have left you, without a strong [blog] to step to (ode to Rakim, in case you aren't so hip-hop-classic inclined). I've been absent from Grown People Talking for the last two months, the longest such break I've ever taken from this blog I started in 2008. But lemme explain.
At the end of October, I ended my six-and-a-half year run as a full-time freelancer, during which time I wrote, blog, edited, interviewed, strategized, and more for a number of media outlets--in print, digital, and broadcast--and others. I launched GPT in April 2008, a month after diving into my freelance career, and over the years it's provided me with a platform to opine on many things, usually deriving from the numerous people, places, and events I encountered as a freelancer in Charlotte.
Credit: LGA
My decision to go back to work on staff somewhere was in the making for a long time, and the opportunity I was looking for and the transition I desired all came together when I was hired mid-fall by one of Charlotte's--and the region's--leading creative firms. So over the last two and a half months, my new job has been my top priority, as I've focused on learning the ropes there, and, most impactful, adjusted to having a Monday through Friday office schedule again. I'm drinking more coffee than ever these days! LOL. But it's going great.
Now that I'm settled, I can start giving GPT a little TLC again, and I hope you will follow along. Thank you for reading the blog over the years, and I look forward to continuing to offer you my perspective, insight, and tidbits on these pages.
Dale Jr. and J. Cole Cover 'ESPN The Magazine's' M...
Michael Jordan's Emotional Speech Makes Me Proud t...
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HomeNewsLong Graduates FEMA EM Executive Academy
David Long Graduates from FEMA’s National Emergency Management Executive Academy
06 September 2018 |
Emmitsburg, MD— David Long, the Interim Executive Director of Tidewater Emergency Services Council, Inc., graduated from FEMA’s National Emergency Management Executive Academy at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, MD, after he completed the full curriculum that supports the advancement of the emergency management profession at strategic policy and executive leadership levels.
David completed the four resident courses in the Executive Academy to include: E0680 Examining Emergency Management Policy and Doctrine; E0682 Leading Complex Systems; E0684 Interpreting the Contemporary Emergency Management Environment; E0686 Creating the Emergency Management Stakeholder Community; and a collaborative capstone project. The Executive Academy instills emergency management leaders with a deeper understanding of contemporary and emerging emergency management issues, debates, and public policy. It provides insights, theories, tools and resources that enable decision-makers to think and act more strategically and to build capacity to protect against, prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all types of disasters.
The Executive Academy provides the opportunity to work collaboratively, share smart practices, and participate in exercises with other senior leaders facing similar challenges. FEMA’s National Emergency Management Executive Academy is for senior executives at the pinnacle of their careers. It’s the final phase of FEMA’s Emergency Management Professional Program (EMPP).
The EMPP curriculum is designed to provide a lifetime of learning for emergency managers and includes three separate, but closely related, training programs including the National Emergency Management Basic Academy, a specialized and technical training program to develop specific skill sets; the National Emergency Management Advanced Academy, a program to develop the next generation of emergency management leaders who are trained in advanced concepts and issues, advanced leadership and management, critical thinking, and problem solving; and, the National Emergency Management Executive Academy, a program designed to challenge and enhance the talents of emergency management senior executives through critical thinking, visionary strategic planning, negotiation, and conflict resolution applied to complex real-world problems.
David completed his training on August 30, 2018.
For more information on FEMA’s training classes through the Basic, Advanced, and Executive Academies, or other emergency management courses, go to: http://training.fema.gov/empp/.
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IAR INTERVIEW: Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes and Kelsey Grammer Talk 'The Expendables 3'
Wednesday, 13 August 2014 22:59 Written by Jami Philbrick
Academy Award-winner Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, and Kelsey Grammer are now Expendables! The three iconic actors have joined Sylvester Stallone’s crew of action stars in The Expendables 3, which is the latest installment in the popular action franchise and opens in theaters on August 15th.
Gibson has appeared in such popular movies as the Mad Max trilogy, the Lethal Weapon series, Maverick, Conspiracy Theory, Payback, The Patriot, We Were Soldiers, Signs, Edge of Darkness, and Machete Kills. He won two Oscars for producing and directing Braveheart, as well as writing and directing The Passion of the Christ, which is the highest grossing non-English-language film of all time. Snipes made his first onscreen appearance in Wildcats, and went on to appear in a string of successful films including Major League, New Jack City, Jungle Fever, White Man Can’t Jump, Passenger 57, Rising Sun, Demolition Man, The Fan, U.S. Marshalls, and the Blade trilogy. Grammer is probably best known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Dr. Frasier Crane on both Cheers and Frasier, but he also appears in two of the most successful films of the summer - X-Men: Days of Future Past (reprising his role as Dr. Henry McCoy/Beast from X-Men: The Last Stand), and Transformers: Age of Extinction.
In The Expendables 3, Barney Ross (Stallone) augments his team with new blood to take down Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), the Expendables co-founder and notorious arms trader who is hell bent on wiping out Barney and every single one of his associates. Snipes plays Doctor Death, a former medic and one of the original Expendables, while Grammer portrays Bonaparte, a retired mercenary that helps Ross recruit his new team. In addition to Gibson, Snipes, and Grammer, new additions to the franchise include Antonio Banderas (Haywire), and Harrison Ford (Paranoia), as well as younger actors Kellan Lutz (The Legend of Hercules), and Glen Powell (The Dark Knight Rises), professional boxer Victor Ortiz, and MMA fighter Ronda Rousey. Reprising their roles from the previous films are Stallone, Jason Statham (Homefront), Jet Li (Unleashed), Dolph Lundgren (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning), Randy Couture (Red Belt), Terry Crews (The Single Moms Club), and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Sabotage). The movie was directed by Patrick Hughes (Red Hill), and written by Stallone, who penned the previous films.
I recently had the pleasure of attending the Los Angeles press conference for The Expendables 3 and hearing what Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, and Kelsey Grammer had to say about their new film. Gibson discussed his first reaction to the script, how he helped improve it, and when he will direct again, while Snipes talked about why he chose this film for his cinematic comeback, and Grammer discussed why he’s always wanted to work with Sylvester Stallone.
Gibson began by talking about his first reaction after reading The Expendables 3 screenplay. “When I first read the script I thought it was very involved. There were a lot of characters,” he explained. “I didn't know how they were going to jam it all in, but somehow they managed to do it. Everybody got a fair shake and there are a lot of people in it, so hats off to Sly for enabling that to happen. When I read it, I didn't read it thinking I was the bad guy,” he continued. “In fact, I didn't know I was the bad guy until I saw it. I thought Dolph Lundgren was the bad guy,” Gibson joked. “It's a surprise to me. I'm kind of shocked and a little offended. I wanted to be the love interest, but there was no one to love, really.”
The Oscar-winnerr has a fantastic monologue in the film that he helped write, and the actor explained how that process worked. “Well, I kind of worked on the script a little bit and then came in and hammered out. I handed out the pages to Sly and Patrick (Hughes). They looked at it and went, yeah, it's cool. It was just a theme of somebody who was subcontracted by his government and then thrown under the bus, but is a real person.”
Gibson, who has not directed a movie since ‘2006s Apocalypto, was asked if he has any plans to get behind the camera again soon. “Oh yeah. I think the most fun you can have standing up is directing a film,” he explained. “It's like my primary want. That's my gift, direction. I'm going to pursue that. I've got a few irons in the fire. It doesn't pay to talk too much about it because of industrial sabotage. The minute you say anything somebody swipes the idea. But I'd direct TV. TV is getting amazing. I definitely have my sight set on that and will do. Yes.”
Since the first film, The Expendables model has always been to bring together the biggest action stars of all time with the action stars of today. However, many fans were skeptical when the actor who played TV’s Frasier Crane was announced to join the franchise and Grammer addressed this issue. “I know that it spurs a kind of surprise that Kelsey Grammer would be on this ride, but I’m tougher than a lot of people think,” he assured the audience. “If you know anything about my personal life you’ll realize that. I think it was an interesting part of the story to explore. It was a presumptive joy to do that. I had a great time, and we fleshed out Bonaparte to a point where I hope he comes back and maybe he can kick some ass next time, because I’m ready to. I’m working out at the gym, and I’m punching people in the streets,” he joked.
Grammer also talked about why he was so excited to appear in The Expendables 3 and have a chance to work with Sylvester Stallone. “I’ve always wanted to work with Sly. I never knew if it would happen. I’d think; I wish I could find a way to work with this person. We have a good mutual friend, director John Herzfeld (2 Days in the Valley). I kind of went after this in a way,” he explained. “I called John and said, can you get in touch with Sly and tell him that I’d like to be in the next Expendables. Something worked out and my agent became a bit of a pest. I had to get away from Transformers 4 for a week so I could fly to Bulgaria for Expendables 3, but Michael Bay was great about that. I flew in and they told me that they had organized four days for my character, Bonaparte. I had the best time. It was a revelation to me just how smart and improvisatorial Sly is, as well as generous with his time, and generous with his acting. Except when he changes the camera angle a little bit to make me look shorter,” Grammer laughed.
“I just had the best time with Sly,” the actor continued. “What happened was that I discovered this real sense of fondness for the man and I figured that Bonaparte had the same relation to Sly’s character. They had a history, a kindness, and a love for one another that had to be reflected in those scenes. I just had the best time ever, and Wesley and I have known each other for years off and on but still haven’t had a chance to work together. I think he’s fantastic. I was thrilled to be in this film with all these extraordinary actors, but mostly I was so happy to finally work with Sly and find out how fantastic he really is. I’ve been impressed ever since, and I hope we do something else together soon.”
The Expendables 3 marks Snipes first major film appearance since being released from a two and a half year prison sentence for tax evasion. The actor was asked why he felt this film, and his role as Doctor Death, was the right project and character for him to play in his return to the big screen. “Well it was a great opportunity to work with some of the actors I’ve always admired,” Snipes explained. “It was great to get up close to them and see what they are like off screen versus what you see them like on screen in the characters that they portray. Also I liked the chance to act a little crazy. My character is a medic but he’s been away for about 8 years. He was quite lonely. He had to spend a lot of time talking to himself and telling his own storylines to himself. So he comes out crazy.”
Finally, both Snipes and Gibson were asked which of their past film characters they think would make fun additions to the Expendables team. “Blade,” Snipes replied confidently. “The obvious one is the crazy cop from the Lethal Weapon series,” Gibson answered. “But I don’t know, maybe that whack job from Conspiracy Theory.”
The Expendables 3 opens in theaters on August 15th.
To read our interview with Sylvester Stallone about The Expendables 3, please click here.
To read our exclusive interview with Terry Crews about The Expendables 3, please click here.
To watch our exclusive video interview with Kellan Lutz about The Expendables 3, please click here.
EXCLUSIVE CLIP: 'Absolution'
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Writer/Director Alex Garland Talks 'Ex Machina'
iamROGUE
Arnold Schwazenegger
iamROGUE.com
Jami Philbrick
IAR interview
XMen: Days of Future Past
Victor Ortiz
Conspiracy Theroy
Rhonda Rousey
IAR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Michelle Monaghan Talks 'Machine Gun Preacher,' a possible sequel to 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' and more. IAR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Documentary Filmmaker Bert Marcus Talks ‘Champs’
Latest from Jami Philbrick
Marvel's Ant-Man
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Al Thompson Brings Harlem to the Web With 'Lenox Avenue'
Monday, 01 October 2012 11:58 Written by iamrogue
With a plethora of critically acclaimed series on the air, it's commonly asserted that we're in the middle of a television renaissance, where long-form storytelling can eclipse the narrative possibilities of theatrical films. Even if this is a golden age for television, though, the medium has inherent strictures that can prove limiting.
Al Thompson is stepping around those strictures and limitations with Lenox Avenue, his innovative new dramatic web series.
Thompson is probably most familiar as an actor, having appearing in films such as Love Don't Cost a Thing, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Conspiracy X, as well as lending his voice to animated shows like The Cleveland Show and Family Guy. While he stars on Lenox Avenue alongside Dorian Missick (Southland), Ryan Vigilant (Gossip Girl), Lauren Francesca (Louie), and Michael K. Williams (The Wire), Thompson is, in fact, the director and executive producer on the series.
Lenox Avenue is the latest project from ValDean Entertainment, Thompson's production company, which previously produced the acclaimed web series Tilt-A-World and Johnny B. Homeless.
This endeavor on the cutting edge of digital distribution is particularly close to Thompson's heart, as he reveals in a new interview with Brennan Williams of Huffington Post. "The foundation of where it all comes from is with myself being born and raised in Harlem, and kind of seeing the transitions of what Harlem has been going through," Thompson says. "Especially being in Manhattan, a lot of times in film and television shows you never really get to see Harlem in its extension of Manhattan. You’ve seen it a little bit as far as New Jack City, Sugar Hill, or New York Undercover and that was pretty much it. I really felt it was time for Harlem to have its own TV series."
"It comes from a lot of different places," Thompson explains of the influences on Lenox Avenue. "Some are from old school television of what’s really missing today and what are some of the things that I want to see on TV. It’s like, 'What are some of the things that would entertain my mother, my sisters, or my brother that would be really cool.' And then I get inspired by a lot of other artists from seeing what they’re doing. So it comes from so many different places."
Creating a web series allows for greater control and self-reliance than a television series, as Thompson says, "For me, my motto is if you create a digital series on the internet the studios can never cancel you. They don’t really give TV shows a chance, considering all of the money that they put into for a pilot. You’ll see four episodes and then it disappears. And I think the biggest thing is showing what today’s world represents."
The online approach also enables Thompson and his crew to create a more accurate reflection of the New York neighborhood he knows so well. The director says, "The world is no longer marketing in strategic check boxes, where’s it like, 'Oh, we have a white person here, check. We have an Asian person here, check.' It’s more of a universal situation, where we have these characters in the series who are living, working, and playing in Harlem and they’re not going downtown any more. We have a multicultural aspect to it."
"For me, even though this series is created by me, it’s not my series," Thompson says. "And I genuinely mean that. This series is for all the people who are not happy with what they’re seeing on network television or film, and seeing projects that don’t speak to them."
For more on Lenox Avenue and his next digital series The Realness, head over to Huffington Post for the full interview with Al Thompson.
Be sure to stay tuned to iamROGUE and ValDean Entertainment for an official Lenox Avenue launch date.
IAR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Method Man Talks 'The Cobbler'
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Apollo Robbins Talks 'Focus'
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Writer/Director Theodore Melfi and Jaeden Lieberher Talk 'St. Vincent' Blu-ray/DVD
The Royal Tenenbaums
Michael Kenneth Williams
Al Thompson
Lenox Avenue
The Realness
Dorian Missick
Love Don't Cost a Thing
MTV's 'Catfish' Double Life Reality Series Continues Casting IAR EXCLUSIVE: Four New 'Dust Up' Stills
Latest from iamrogue
'Poltergeist' Trailer: The Remake Replaces Tangina With Lane Pryce from 'Mad Men'
KILLER HEADLINES Trailer
Ditch_Trailer_2010
Forget Me Not Official Trailer
JoomlaXTC JomSocial Video Wall - Copyright 2010 Monev Software LLC
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Joint Seminar No 19
Rheology and processing of polymer nanocomposites with graphene and other 2D materials
Dr. Ricardo Andrade
Mack Graphe Centre, University Mackenze, Sao Paolo, Brazil
The seminar will be held on 5-th June 2018 (Tuesday) at 1 pm in hall 200.
Assoc. Prof. Roumen Krustev Secretary of the Joint Seminar
International Conference on Engineering Vibration
Sofia, Bulgaria, 4-7 September 2017
Personal Page - T. A. Angelov
Research Interests: Mathematical Modelling & Numerical Methods in Solid Mechanics
contact and coupled problems in elasticity and plasticity;
variational and numerical methods, variational inequalities;
finite element methods, algorithms and computations.
# Finite Element and Iterative Methods for Nonlinear Problems
# Mathematical Modelling of Plastic Forming Processes: Contact Problems in the Plastic Flow Theory
Recent Papers:
Angelov, T.A., Variational analysis of a thermomechanically coupled quasi-steady rolling problem, Math. Mech. Solids, 2013, doi:10.1177/1081286513492748.
Angelov, T.A., Variational analysis of thermomechanically coupled steady-state rolling problem, Appl. Math. Mech., 2013, doi: 10.1007/s10483-013-1751-6.
# Contact Problems in Elasticity
Selected Papers:
Angelov, T.A., On a class of Winkler-type contact problems, ZAMM, Vol.76, No.5, pp.273-279, 1996.
Angelov, T.A., A. A. Liolios, An iterative solution procedure for Winkler-type contact problems with friction, ZAMM, Vol.84, No.2, pp. 136-143, 2004.
Angelov, T.A., A. A. Liolios, On the two-step iterative method for solving frictional contact problems in elasticity, Int. J. Appl. Math. & Comp. Science, Vol.15, No.2, pp.197-203, 2005.
# Computational Procedures for Static, Dynamic and Wave Propagation Problems in Elasticity
Angelov, T.A., Infinite elements - theory and applications, Computers & Structures, Vol.41, pp.959-962, 1991.
Angelov, T.A., Ts. Ivanov, Finite-infinite element analysis of P- and SV-wave propagation in a semibounded medium, Computers & Structures, Vol.54, pp.377-382, 1995.
International Projects (bi-laterally funded)
"Waves in multilayered media" - joint project between Bulgarian and Austrian Academies of Sciences (1988-1992)
"New models in continuum mechanics and structural dynamics" - joint project between Bulgarian and Romanian Academies of Sciences (1992-1996)
National Projects (funded by the National Science Fund)
No. 8 "New mathematical models for deformation and fracture of anisotropic bodies" (1988 -1990)
No. 1041 "Methods for computer simulation of contact solid bodies" (1988-1990)
No. MM16 "New mechano-mathematical models for nonelastic bodies" (1991-1994)
No. MM206 "Waves in semibounded medium" (1992-1995)
No. MM447 "Variational approaches to nonlinear processes of plastic forming with damage" (1994-1998)
No. MI-02/05 "Nonlinear problems in the mathematical physics: singularity of the solutions, new methods, visualization, numerical simulation and applications" (2005-2009)
Papers in Journals:
Angelov, T.A., Modelling and solvability of a class steady-state metal forming problems, Nonlinear Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 227-237, 2014.
Angelov, T.A., Solvability of a quasi-steady rolling problem for porous materials, ZAMP, 2013, DOI 10.1007/s00033-013-0335-z.
Angelov, T.A., Variational analysis of a rolling problem with damage and wear, Q. J. Mech. Appl. Math., Vol. 65, No. 3, pp. 361-372, 2012.
Angelov, T.A., Analysis of a class rigid-plastic rolling problems by a modified secant-modulus method, Int. J. Appl. Mech., Vol. 4, No. 1, 1250011(17p.), 2012.
Angelov, T.A., Metal-forming problems with combined hardening, Appl. Math. Mech. -Engl. Ed., Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 233-242, 2012.
Angelov, T.A., Modelling and numerical approach to a class of metal-forming problems - quasi-steady case, Math. Meth. Appl. Sci., Vol. 34, No.11, pp.1330-1338, 2011.
Angelov, T.A., Modelling and solvability of a rigid-plastic rolling problem, Math. Mech. Solids, Vol.15, No.6, pp. 639-654, 2010.
Angelov, T.A., Modelling and analysis of a class of metal-forming problems, Adv. Appl. Math. Mech., Vol. 2, No.6, pp. 722-745, 2010.
Angelov, T.A., Variational and numerical approach to a steady-state rolling problem, J. Eng. Math., Vol. 66, No.4, pp. 311-323, 2010.
Angelov, T.A., Solvability of a quasi-steady rolling problem with slightly compressible material model, Int. J. Comput. Methods, Vol. 4, No.2, pp. 335-351, 2007.
Angelov, T.A., A variable stiffness parameters method for a quasi-steady rolling problem, ZAMP, Vol. 58, No.5, pp. 889-904, 2007.
Angelov, T.A., Analysis of a rigid-plastic rolling problem with slightly compressible material model, Int. J. Comput. Methods, Vol. 3, No.2, pp.245-262, 2006.
Angelov, T.A., Existence and uniqueness of the solution of a quasi-steady rolling problem, Int. J. Eng. Science, Vol.44, No.11-12, pp.748-756, 2006.
Angelov, T.A., Variational analysis of a rigid-plastic rolling problem, Int. J. Eng. Science, Vol.42, No.17-18, pp.1779-1792, 2004.
Angelov, T.A., Variational and numerical approach to a quasi-steady rolling problem, Int. J. Eng. Modelling, Vol.16, No.1-2, pp.23-28, 2003.
Angelov, T.A., On a rolling problem for porous materials, Mech. Res. Comm., vol.27, No.6, pp.637-642, 2000.
Angelov, T.A., A thermomecanically coupled rolling problem with damage, Mech. Res. Comm., vol.26, No.3, pp.287-293, 1999.
Angelov, T.A., On a rolling problem with damage and wear, Mech. Res. Comm., vol.26, No.3, pp.281-286, 1999.
Angelov, T.A., A. Nedev, Numerical analysis of a hot-rolling problem with Coulomb-Siebel friction, Eng. Comput., Vol.15, No.8, pp.1000-1010, 1998.
Angelov, T.A., A. Nedev, Finite-element analysis of a hot-rolling problem with nonlinear friction, Adv. Eng. Software, vol.28, pp.555-560, 1997.
Baltov, A., T.A. Angelov, Variational approach of a problem for the non-steady rolling process, Mech. Res. Comm., vol. 22, pp. 555-560, 1995.
Angelov, T.A., A. Baltov, A. Nedev, Numerical analysis of a steady-state rolling problem, Mech. Res. Comm., vol.22, pp.547-553, 1995.
Angelov, T.A., A secant-modulus method for a rigid-plastic rolling problem, Int. J. Non-linear Mech., vol. 30, pp.169-178, 1995.
Angelov, T.A., A. Baltov, A. Nedev, Existence and uniquenes of the solution of a rigid-plastic rolling problem, Int. J. Eng. Sci., Vol.33, No.9, pp.1251-1261, 1995.
Angelov, T.A., Ts. Ivanov, Finite-infinite element analysis of P- and SV-wave propagation in a semibounded medium, Comp. and Struct., vol.54, pp.377-382, 1995.
Angelov, T.A., Infinite elements - theory and applications, Comp. and Struct. vol.41, pp.959-962, 1991.
Ivanov, Ts., P. Dineva, L. Hadjikov, T.A. Angelov, Propagation of transient SH-waves in a dipping structure by finite and boundary element methods, Acta Mechanica, vol.80, pp.113-125, 1989.
Angelov, T.A., E. Manoach, A point-in-domain identification program, Adv. Eng. Software, vol.11, No.2, pp.99-106, 1989.
Angelov, T.A., Existence and uniqueness theorem for a class of contact problems in elastodynamics, Univ. Annuals - Appl. Math., vol.24, No.4, pp.191-199, 1988.
Brankov, G., Ts. Ivanov, T.A. Angelov, Numerical investigation of wave propagation in layered media. Part 1. Propagation of SH-waves, Theor. Appl. Mech., XIX, No.4, pp.32-41, 1988.
Ivanov, Ts., T.A. Angelov, Earthquake response analysis of underground structures, Annuaire de l'Universite de Sofia, Vol.78, livre 2, pp.57-65, 1984.
Ivanov, Ts., T.A. Angelov, Cross section investigation of underground structures subjected to seismic excitations, Theor. Appl. Mech., XV, No.3, pp.53-63, 1984 (in bulgarian).
Papers in Proceedings:
Angelov, T.A., On the solvability of the steady-state rolling problem, In: Zhilin Li, Lubin Vulkov, Jerzy Wasniwetski (eds.), Numerical Analysis and its Applications: Third International Conference, NAA 2004, Rousse, Bulgaria, June 29 - July 3, 2004, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag, Vol. 3401, pp.125-132, 2005.
Angelov, T.A., The Kachanov method for a rigid-plastic rolling problem, In: Dimov, I., Lirkov, I., Margenov, I., Zlatev, Z. (eds.), Numerical Methods and Applications., Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag, Vol. 2542, pp.372-378, 2003.
Angelov, T.A., The Kachanov method for some metal forming problems, pp.425-430, In: C.C. Baniotopoulos (ed.), Proceedings of Int. Conf. on Nonsmooth/Nonconvex Mechanics with Appl. to Engineering, 5-6 july 2002, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Angelov, T.A., A conception for constructing infinite elements, 6th Nat. Congress Theor.Appl.Mech., vol.2, pp.270-273, (ed. G.Brankov), Publ. house of BAS, Sofia, 1989.
Angelov, T.A., On contact problems in linear elastostatics, 2nd Int.Conf.Num.Meth. Appl., pp.28-31, (Bl.Sendov, R.Lazarov, I.Dimov eds.), Publ. house of BAS, 1989.
Ivanov, Ts, T.A. Angelov, Friction forces influence on the responce of underground structures subjected to earthquake motions, 5th Nat.Congress Theor.Appl.Mech., pp.448-453, (ed. G.Brankov), Publ. house of BAS, Sofia, 1985.
Angelov, T.A., Ts. Ivanov, On a model for determining the response of underground structures to earthquake motion, 3rd Conf.Diff.Eqn.Appl., pp.449-502, Rousse, 1985.
Angelov, T.A., Ts. Ivanov, Computational procedures in finite-element analysis of underground sructures subjected to earthquake motions, 1st Int.Conf.Num.Meth.Appl., pp.165-172, (Bl.Sendov, R.Lazarov, I.Dimov eds.), Publ. house of BAS, Sofia, 1985.
Angelov, T.A., Mechano-mathematical modelling and numerical analysis of underground structures subjected to seismic excitations, Ph.D. Thesis, Sofia, 1986.
(Adviser: Prof. Dr.Sc. Ts. P. Ivanov)
Angelov, T.A., An analysis of underground structures subjected to seismic excitations, M.Sc. Thesis, Sofia, 1981.
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Spanish Ship Laden With Gold Found After 300 Years
By: Nidhi Goyal | May 28th, 2018
Ceramics and other artefacts (WHOI)
A Spanish ship hauling gold and silver that sank to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea more than 300 years ago was found with the help of an underwater autonomous robot.
In 1708, the San José, a 62-gun galleon carrying a treasure worth £12.6 billion ($17 billion) was sunk by British warships. Described as the holy grail of shipwrecks, the Spanish ship contained one of the most valuable hauls of treasure ever lost at sea.
It was found three years ago off the coast of Colombia by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) underwater robot, though details about the treasure have only been released recently.
Rob Munier, WHOI’s vice president for marine facilities and operations, said: “We’ve been holding this under wraps out of respect for the Colombian government.”
According to WHOI, the San Jose, which is sitting at a depth of more than 600 meters (2,000 ft.) of water, was found by a REMUS 6000 robot that used sonar to find it.
WHOI expedition leader Mike Purcell explained, “During that November expedition, we got the first indications of the find from side scan sonar images of the wreck.”
“From those images, we could see strong sonar signal returns, so we sent REMUS back down for a closer look to collect camera images.”
“The wreck was partially sediment covered, but with the camera images from the lower-altitude missions, we were able to see new details in the wreckage and the resolution was good enough to make out the decorative carving on the cannons.”
The wreck has been shrouded in secrecy, as the treasure has been the subject of legal battles between several nations. As far as treasure is concerned, it still remains on the seabed.
Nidhi Goyal
Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. You can also find Nidhi on Google+.
Human Participatory Sensing Data Leading to Huge New Bodies of Knowledge
Juno Sends Back Closest-Ever Images of Jupiter “Like Nothing We Have Seen Before”
NASA Discovers a Second Moon Circling Earth
Keeping Nanotechnology Safe While Improving Consumer & Industrial Goods
7.5 MWh Giant Solar Hourglass Can Power 1000 Danish Homes
“Refracking” Redefining Scope and Size of Shale Oil and Gas Revolution
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STDs/STIs
Drug and Alcohol Facts
In a survey of young people ages 15-24 by the Kaiser Family Foundation found:
9 out of 10 people surveyed reported that their peers use alcohol or illegal drugs before sex at least some of the time.
Seven out of 10 also reported that they do not always use condoms when alcohol and drugs are involved.
Twenty-nine percent of those teens and young adults surveyed said that they’ve “done more” sexually while under the influence of drugs or alcohol than they normally would have when sober.
For more data on substance use and sexual activity:
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation,
18% of young people aged 13-19 reported they were drinking the first time they had sexual intercourse.
1/4th of sexually active students (9th to 12th grade) used alcohol and/or drugs before/during their last sexual intercourse.
Effects of Drugs and Alcohol
The effects of drugs and alcohol can make it hard to think clearly, let alone make the best possible decisions about sex. While you’re under the influence of drugs or alcohol, it is easy to make a decision you’ll regret later–decisions that can lead to a sexually transmitted infection or an unwanted pregnancy. Even worse, some people will use the effects of alcohol and other drugs to force you into having sex with them.
Check Yourself: A resource for older teens to think in a focused way about their relationship with drugs and alcohol, and to consider whether their substance use risks turning into a problem for them.
How to communicate
Making the decision: deciding whether or not to have sex
Love vs. sex
Talking to your parents
Abuse and assault
Connect with ASHA
Copyright © 2019 · American Sexual Health Association
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» Roger Fry’s artworks and art criticism
Fields of study: Roger Fry’s artworks and art criticism
Roger Fry self-portrait (REF/4/8/12)
Over the next three months we shall focus on well-known figures associated with King’s College who have had a profound impact on their particular field of study. The first will focus on a famous art critic.
Roger Eliot Fry came up to King’s College in 1885, and was elected to the secret society the Apostles in 1887. Readers who know him from his work as an artist and art critic might be surprised to learn that he took the Natural Sciences tripos. Despite earning a First, he twice failed to secure a Fellowship and he chose to focus on art rather than science.
Upon going down from Cambridge Fry moved to London and studied art under the honorary secretary of the New English Art Club, a competitor of the Royal Academy. Then he spent two months in Paris where he attended classes by Walter Sickert. Further travels included visits to Italy.
In 1894 he lectured on Renaissance art, for the Cambridge University extension scheme. By this time he was an expert on old Italian masters and French Post-Impressionist painters – he is credited with coining the phrase ‘Post-Impressionist’. Fry curated two controversial exhibitions of modern French art, ‘Manet and the Post-Impressionists’, held at the Grafton Galleries in 1910, and ‘The Second Post-Impressionists Exhibition’, held there in 1912.
Fry wrote reviews for The Pilot and The Nation. He also helped launch the Burlington Magazine, of which he became joint editor (1909-1918). Fry was often outspoken and somewhat controversial.
He was unable to accept an offer to become the director of the National Gallery because he had already accepted the role of curator of paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. He held this position from 1906 until 1910. He later refused an offer to become the director of the Tate Gallery.
He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at King’s College in 1927, and in 1933 became the Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge University.
Roger Fry’s papers at King's College include lectures, correspondence and sketchbooks accumulated by Fry during his lifetime.
Click on an image to enlarge it:
'The Cambridge Fortnightly' no.1 vol.3, 1888, cover by Roger Fry (REF/4/4)
Watercolour of the Pincian Hill, Rome (REF/4/9)
Page from a sketchbook chiefly on Venetian history and painting (REF/4/1/22)
Notes from Leonardo da Vinci's writing on anatomy, physiology and philosophy, c.1885-1899 (REF/4/1/1)
Article on Fry's appointment as curator of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, taken from Western Daily Press 7 February 1906 (REF/10/4)
Sketch of Helen Anrep, drawn in Paris, 1925 (REF/4/8/14)
Roger Fry on Janus
Roger Fry on Tate
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Patti Smith, Jackson Browne, Cyndi Lauper Toast Lennon's Legacy at Concert
Jillian Mapes / November 15, 2011
"I looked to Yoko [Ono] for how to carry oneself as a widow," Patti Smith told concertgoers Friday (Nov. 12) at the 30th annual John Lennon Tribute Concert at New York City's Beacon Theater, just before ripping into "Oh Yoko!"
Ono was not at the performance, a benefit organized by Theatre Within for the Playing For Change Foundation, but that deflected little from the many artists who were there to pay tribute to the long-deceased Beatle. Jackson Browne, who shares a birthday (Oct. 9) with Lennon, got by on "Revolution" with a little help from his friends -- specifically, the Playing For Change Band, a large group ensemble that features musicians from around the world. While Browne's solo performance of "Help!" track "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" was an excellent choice for the acoustic legend, he hit a home run with "Revolution," accompanied by Playing for Change's vocal harmonies and wailing harmonica.
Reimagining John Lennon: A Billboard Special Feature
Other stars, however, did not fare as well. Cyndi Lauper appeared ill-prepared for her performance, forgetting the words to "Across the Universe" even after telling the crowd that the "Let It Be" cut "got her through" when she was a teenager. Dressed in an all-leather get-up, the "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" singer referenced a piece of paper, assumedly the lyrics, during her rendition.
"A Day in the Life," her duet with Browne, started off better, with Lauper joking that she was playing John and Jackson Browne filling in as Paul McCartney -- roles that fit their personalities well. But the musical results were less than stellar, as Lauper stumbled over her words again (although the fact that they attempted the elaborate, orchestral song was a feat in the first place).
Most of the night's musicians impressed with their Lennon tributes. An androgynously dressed Aimee Mann gave a beautifully understated rendition of "Jealous Guy," while blues guitar legend Taj Mahal and his daughter, Deva Mahal, shined with a soulful, powerful version of "Come Together." Folk singer-songwriter Martin Sexton's chill-inspiring performance of "Working Class Hero" -- the most emotionally moving showing of the night -- embodied the sincerity of the original.
Documentary Screening Draws Lennon Fans
to Central Park
There were also unconventional tributes throughout the night. YouTube juggling sensation Chris Bliss distracted the crowd during "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," while Joan Osborne and Maura Kennedy dueted on the track. The absurdity of the number seemed oddly fitting for a psychedelic song such as "Lucy." Alejandro Escovedo's sobering rendition of "Help!" brought new meaning to message behind the upbeat track.
The show's finale of "Give Peace a Chance" again found Lauper tongue-tied on her specific verse, but the group's celebratory effort made this an afterthought. Spirits were far too high, even in celebration of a musical visionary who had died far too young.
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Discovering the Depot: 09/15/2012
Does the Depot Have a Twin?
Second in a series
See more from: Doug Offenbacher
The late 19th century was a period of great optimism in California, fueled to a large degree by the completion of the transcontinental railroad and eastern markets suddenly being accessible to west coast manufacturers and farmers.
The sweeping changes underway throughout the state were not lost on the quiet agricultural corridor of Sonoma Valley, still largely marshland.
Local business interests with influence at Southern Pacific succeeded in building a railroad from Carquinas to Santa Rosa designed to carry quarried cobblestones to San Francisco and fresh produce to those promising new markets in the east.
Investors, many with ties to the railroad, also saw great opportunities in real estate development along the path of the proposed rails. The town of Los Guilicos (later called Kenwood) was mapped out and home sites were marketed to San Franciscans as exclusive vacation get-a-ways.
Of course such a place would need a railroad station befitting its exclusivity, so a handsome stone depot of Richardsonian Romanesque design was built to welcome prospective buyers arriving by train.
How such an unlikely style of architecture, all but unknown in California, came to be used is a mystery. Searching for clues to that mystery will eventually take you to the city of San Carlos in San Mateo County. There, unbeknownst to the citizens of Kenwood, stands a near duplicate of the Kenwood Depot.
In fact much of the San Carlos Depot is an exact copy of Kenwood. Or is it the other way around?
Both depots were designed and built simultaneously and both went into service in 1888. Both depots are masterful applications of Richardsonian Romanesque styling. Both depots share the same detailing inside and out and both were built of locally quarried stone.
Our Kenwood Depot was built of Basalt quarried near Santa Rosa. The San Carlos depot was built of Almaden sandstone quarried south of San Jose.
And both depots were built to be the centerpiece of a new real estate development, one called San Carlos, the other Los Guilicos. A coincidence?
With so many things in common, including sketches of both by the same person, there’s no question the two depots were designed by the same architect.
The perplexing mystery is, “Who?” All available evidence suggests the same celebrity candidate who we’ll learn about next time.
Send comments to doug@kenwooddepot.com. Be sure to attend the 125th Anniversary Celebration and Barbecue at The Depot on Sunday, Sept. 30 from 3-7 p.m. Advance tickets are available at the Kenwood Press office. The Kenwood Depot is managed and preserved by the Kenwood Community Club. Join the club today by going to www.kenwooddepot.com.
Email: offenbacher@kenwoodpress.com
08/01/2015 - Art Show and Chamber Music
06/01/2013 - History of the San Carlos Depot
05/01/2013 - Discovering Our Sister Station
04/01/2013 - Marketing Los Guilicos
03/01/2013 - Arthur Brown, Senior
02/01/2013 - Some Additions
01/15/2013 - Mark McDonald
12/15/2012 - T. J. Ludwig
12/01/2012 - N.W. Griswold
11/15/2012 - Charles Allerton Coolidge
11/01/2012 - The west was young
10/15/2012 - Tales and tangents
10/01/2012 - An impressive family tree
09/01/2012 - A Quiet Treasure
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Architecture + People
Documentation Images
Linear City: Los Angeles River
Linear City: The Trench
Linear City: Wilshire Boulevard
Blog | Architecture of Seeing
A blog about architecture photography, art, and conceptual issues that I hope will help photographers reach beyond their technical skill set to become better artists, writers, and thinkers.
Desert Morning
I'm having some trouble knowing quite what to say and how to say it when I am blogging because I am not use to it yet. My first entries were about architectural work with some weightiness to them, and now I want to chill a little. So I'm mixing it up with some journaling. I've been looking at this image lately, realizing that it brings me back into the moment when it was made. It really does for me what photography is suppose to do. I can look at this and feel what I felt early in the morning on the desert with a camera and a good cup of coffee. The air was crisp, cool and fresh. The day lay ahead unencumbered by worry. The sun seemed to breath life into everything inanimate.
I grew up in North Carolina. I have lived in Florida, New York City, upstate New York, San Francisco, New Mexico, and Los Angeles. I knew when I got to New Mexico that there is nothing like the desert – I felt relieved of a heavy weight and released from close quarters. I couldn't stop staring at the view on the landscape where you can look out and see unobstructed miles of land with thousands of years of geological time etched across it in detail. The light dryness of the air and the clarity of light cannot be found back east in the moist climes and like now, I wanted to photograph everything.
It also reminds me of my early years studying photography, and realizing through the work of artists like Walker Evans and Paul Caponigro, that photography has its own distinct set of qualities that have to do with a particular way of seeing and knowing about the world. The stillness in a sunlit room begins to have its own intrinsic meanings, images become markers for memory. My awareness about what matters shifts from factual tensions in the immediate past and future, to a visual sensitivity about the presence in a state that Uta Barth has called "ambient vision". I become inspired and excited about nothing much at all - just the details of things lying about on tables, or the wrinkles in the sheets by the window.
When I look out across the desert in this state of mind, it draws me into it like a magnet. I go out wandering without knowing exactly why I came, what I am looking for, or what I expect to find but it doesn't seem to matter much as long as I have a camera, a hat, and enough water to keep from doing harm to myself. The act of photographing in that way is more than documenting the landscape or details within it, it's a way of completing the experience of seeing before I move on. It may be a form of madness now that I think about it and actually write it down where other people might read it. But if it is, it's a madness I am ok with.
Categories: journal Tags: light, landscape, desert
April 21, 2016 by Lane Barden
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Mail Order Bride – the Detective’s New Wife By Doreen Milstead
A mail order bride travels to Wichita, Kansas, to become wife of a detective. Immediately thrown into a murder mystery, they form a strong partnership, but it’s tested as they begin to gather... More > clues about the case.< Less
The Smallest of the Orphans By Doreen Milstead
A destitute woman in New York gives birth to a tiny baby and the orphanage there is unsure of the newborn’s survival. After feeling that it’s the baby’s only chance for a good life,... More > a friend of the orphanage takes the baby out to Indiana for adoption by a childless couple. This is the story of that little one and how she made her way through life and how she affected the couple that adopted her, with the help of the Lord.< Less
Mail Order Bride – the Cat Loving English Woman By Doreen Milstead
A woman from Liverpool with an enormous talent for painting and a huge love of cats decides to go to Bakersfield California and become the wife of a farmer, even though she is very young. She meets... More > another young woman, another artist like herself, who creates Chinese calligraphy art. At first, she doesn’t tell her husband because her father destroyed all of her paintings when she was a child, but when she does, he becomes very proud of her, but suddenly disappears for several days and she gets worried.< Less
Mail Order Bride - Trying to Find Her Husband In the Woods By Doreen Milstead
A woman arrives at her fiancé’s ranch in California, but he’s nowhere to be seen. She decides that a walk along a path to the woods will clear her head but once into the forest,... More > she encounters a Native American man, immediately runs off, and gets lost. She is found but encounters her fiancé for the first time and finds his moodiness unnerving and it’s then that she wonders if she will every get to marry him.< Less
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The Light that Remains
Navigation Project Stories BIBLIOGRAPHY Book News Contact
July 21, 2016 by Lyse Champagne
Amy Attas reflects on The Light That Remains in the Winnipeg Review:
A labyrinth, as I understand it, is a maze where every path leads to the prize; there are no dead ends. Walking a labyrinth is said to be illuminating, as the combination of forward movement and a simple route drops the participant into meditation. Place Canada, with all its faults, at the centre. Each path is a story that explains who we are. In high-school history, I walked the path of the Iroquois and Huron, the English and the French. But Canada is more than that. It is the Armenians in Montreal who were deported by the Ottomans during the First World War. It is the Ukrainians in Manitoba who were systematically starved out of the Soviet Union. The Chinese in Vancouver who escaped the Japanese army in World War II. Lyse Champagne’s collection of stories, The Light That Remains, is a diary of modern Canada, a labyrinth that guides readers to a deeper understanding of this country. As in walking a labyrinth, the reader can relax, trusting Champagne’s deft writing to guide us towards what it might mean to be Canadian.
Read the whole review.
July 21, 2016 /Lyse Champagne
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Earthrise, Apollo 8’s Photo of Earth from Space, Turns 50: Download the Iconic Photograph from NASA
in Astronomy, History, Photography | December 28th, 2018 3 Comments
Just a little over fifty years ago, we didn't know what Earth looked like from space. Or rather, we had a decent idea what it looked like, but no clear color images of the sight existed. 2001: A Space Odyssey presented a particularly striking vision of Earth from space in the spring of 1968, but it used visual effects and imagination (both to a still-impressive degree) to do so. Only on Christmas Eve of that year would Earth be genuinely photographed from that kind of distance, captured with a Hasselblad by Bill Anders, lunar module pilot of NASA's Apollo 8 mission.
"Two days later, the film was processed," writes The Washington Post's Christian Davenport, "and NASA released photo number 68-H-1401 to the public with a news release that said: "This view of the rising earth greeted the Apollo 8 astronauts as they came from behind the moon after the lunar orbit insertion burn."
The image, called Earthrise, went "as viral as anything could in 1968, a time that saw all sorts of photographs leave their mark on the national consciousness, most of them scars." Life magazine ran it with lines from U.S. poet laureate James Dickey: "Behold/ The blue planet steeped in its dream/ Of reality."
It's often said of iconic photographs that they make their viewers see their subjects in a new way, an effect Earthrise must exemplify more clearly than any other picture. "The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring," said Apollo 8 command module pilot Jim Lovell at the time, "and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth." At the recent celebration of the mission's 50th anniversary at the Washington National Cathedral, Anders remembered, "As I looked down at the Earth, which is about the size of your fist at arm’s length, I’m thinking this is not a very big place. Why can’t we get along?"
You can download Earthrise from NASA's web site and learn more about the taking of the photo from the video above, made for its 45th anniversary. Using all available data on the mission, including audio recordings of the astronauts themselves, the video precisely re-creates the circumstances under which Anders shot Earthrise, forever preserving a view made possible by a roll of the spacecraft executed by Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman. To what extent their photographic achievement has convinced us all to get along remains debatable, but has humanity, since the day after Christmas 1968, ever thought about its blue planet in quite the same way as before?
The Wonder, Thrill & Meaning of Seeing Earth from Space. Astronauts Reflect on The Big Blue Marble
Countries and Coastlines: A Dramatic View of Earth from Outer Space
What It Feels Like to Fly Over Planet Earth
The Beauty of Space Photography
The Captivating Story Behind the Making of Ansel Adams’ Most Famous Photograph, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico
Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles and the video series The City in Cinema. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on Facebook.
by Colin Marshall | Permalink | Comments (3) |
I remember it. People stopped in the street to hear the astronauts reading about God’s creation, and His love for humanity. A very moving moment. Added bonus: It made Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s head explode! Satan and his follower don’t like it when God is glorified, as He should be.
Tyson Bender says:
Thanks Bill W.! I just looked up Madalyn Murray O’Hair. I have a new role model now!
Her pastor son would agree! She accidentally led more people to Christ, than she pushed-away from him. Good for her!
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The NextGen Player team was at the Xbox X'08 CANADA event that was held a few days ago to preview and demo some of the hottest games coming out for the Xbox 360 later this fall and for the holiday season. We've sacrificed our time (ya, right...) so that we could share all the goodies with you...our valued readers.
This year's event brought much excitement because of the large number of anticipated titles that are due out between now and the end of the year. The usual big names in the gaming industry were present including Ubisoft, Activision, EA, Konami, Eidos/Crystal Dynamics, Harmonix, Bethesda and Epic Games to name a few. The event was held at Circa nightclub in the heart of downtown Toronto...fitting considering that Circa used to be the Playdium entertainment centre years back.
With so many upcoming titles to preview and demo, here is my recap of some of the titles I was able to check out.
Oddly enough, I decided to first wander to the back of the main floor and somehow found myself chatting with a rep from Disney Entertainment. Immediately the rep started to demo their newest action/adventure game called Bolt. This is actually a game based off of Disney's upcoming animated movie by the the same name. Without going into too much detail, Bolt is about a movie dog that believes he has superpowers. At this point, I was thinking to myself 'great...what a first game to demo...'. But I have to admit that as the rep was going through the demo, I found this game to be charming. Let's put it into perspective, it is a game targeted at the 7 - 12 year old demographic and based on that I was quite impressed with what I saw. The game's graphics are quite clean and sharp and akin to watching a CG animated movie. The game play is well thought out and adds just enough complexity in that it provides a moderate level of challenge and not a simple button masher. This looks to be a potential hit with the kids for the holiday season as the game is set to launch on November 18th which will coincide with the movie's release in the theatres.
The next game I checked out was Naruto: The Broken Bond by Ubisoft. For any of you who are anime fans will know Naurto and most definitely will know or probably have played Ubisoft's first Naruto game called Naruto: Rise of a Ninja. Broken Bond is the much awaited sequel to the original game and more importantly continues the Naruto storyline as you play through it. Stephane Cardin who is the producer took the time to walk me through a demo of the game and point out some key features and improvements. The same great 3D cell animated graphics are back and look better than ever. In addition, the environments are vast and more explorable. Aside from being able to run around in the village of Konoha, you can now explore the forests outside of Konoha as well as another village. Another key change is that teamwork is now part of the game. You get to take control of 3 characters and can switch between them when playing. This is useful of course as certain characters have certain abilities that will come in handy when advancing through the game. In battles, you can pull of special moves that require assistance from a teammate for greater impact. Finally, a big new addition is that all the original voice acting and music from the anime have been incorporated into the game. A huge plus for Naruto and anime fans looking forward to this game. Naruto Broken Bond is scheduled for an October release.
Next up is Tomb Raider Underworld. The game's graphics seemed fairly similar to that of Legend. The demo took place in the Thailand level and immediately the richly detailed and vast environment brought back memories of the original Tomb Raider game. As soon as I was done reminiscing, Lara was being attacked by a couple of tigers that she had to eliminate. Oh...more flashbacks. While battling the tigers, Lara's new gun play mechanics were demonstrated. You can now use both guns to lock on and shoot separate targets. Very cool. While hanging off a cliff or ledge, Lara can shoot at enemies as well. Another key addition to Lara's repertoire of moves is the ability to perform wall jumps. Think Super Mario. Some new weapons such as the sticky grenade were shown off. Lara can also further interact with the environment around her with introduction of "portables". Portables are items that Lara can pick up and use as a weapon or as a means to solve a puzzle or to help her get to an out-of-reach spot. All in all, this latest iteration of the Tomb Raider franchise looks to be promising. Look for it in mid November.
Lastly, the big game everyone is waiting for...Gears of War 2. I was able to get some much important time in the multiplayer mode. The type of game that was going on was similar to capture the flag where the objective is to take control of the flag for as much time as possible. While playing, all of the basic game play from the original was easy to get used to and a few new features such as using an injured enemy as a shield or a chainsaw battle between lancers added so much more enjoyment. Graphics are stunning and audio is crisp and clear. And as before, taking out the enemy is spectacularly gruesome. With the first Gears of War having been executed so well, it is probably safe to say that the folks at Epic Games have another winner on their hands. I guess time will tell later this fall.
Other games I got to check out included NHL 09 from EA (great graphics and controls), Guitar Hero: World Tour from Activision/Neversoft (vast play list and studio mode 'rock' but drums are fairly noisy), Silent Hill Homecoming from Konami (still as creepy as ever), Wanted from Universal Pictures Digital (takes place after the events of the movie - game is like a cross between Gears of War and The Matix with its cover, bullet-time and bullet curving mechanics...the rep called it "cover and curve") and Call of Duty 5 from Activision (we're back to WWII with the same great game play and same great graphics from COD4).
There are much others that I haven't touched on, but doing so would have me take up more real estate on this page than I can afford. That said, NextGen Player is confident that the fall 08 line up of games for the Xbox 360 will be strong one. So save up your hard earned cash as you'll likely ante up for many of them when they come out.
Patrick Houghton said...
good to hear you had a good time.
Just one little typo...you put "Rock Band: World Tour"...I think you meant to say "Guitar Hero: World Tour"
Paul Hunter said...
Thanks Patrick for the correction. I fixed the typo.
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Upon reclaiming the Temple, the Maccabees had to re-purify it, beginning with re-lighting the “eternal light” with oil. This special light was meant to never go out, but throughout the area, only one small jar of kosher oil could be found. They used the oil, even knowing it would only last for one day. According to legend, however, the oil continued burning for eight days: the same amount of time it would take for someone to travel and bring back more oil. This particular story did not actually appear in the Talmud until hundreds of years after the re-dedication of the Temple, but lighting menorah candles has come to be a major part of how Jews celebrate the Maccabean revolt.
Chanukah candles made in Israel burn brighter than others
Not from a scientific point of view, of course. But because they were made in the land where the First and Second Temple were built, and where the Maccabees defeated the Seleucid Empire and re-dedicated the Temple, hence lighting a menorah with Chanukah candles made in Israel is more meaningful. Many varieties of Hanukkah candles available from ChocolateGelt.com, which range from the inexpensive to the beautifully hand-decorated and Israeli-made. All their menorah candles ship from New York City, nationwide. Get yours just in time for Hanukkah.
Currently viewing:Why Do Jewish Housholds Light Menorah Candles for 8 Days?
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Post details: A passive defence against the flu?
11:02:11 pm, by Tom, 799 words, 2442 views
A passive defence against the flu?
Influenza is a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people every year, and periodically causes global pandemics that kill many millions. There are three major types, A, B and C that can infect humans, although the A is responsible for the most cases and deaths. Within influenza A virus there are two major groups, 1 and 2, each of which includes several subtypes, and finally within each subtype there are many strains. Currently available vaccines can only protect against a narrow range of strains, sometimes only one, and as a consequence every year the World Health Organization (WHO) has to try to predict which strains will cause problems over the following year and make vaccines to protect vulnerable people from them, and naturally they can't always get the prediction right. More worryingly it takes several months to develop each vaccine so in the event that a new pandemic strain arises a vaccine to protect against it may not become available before it has spread widely. For this reason scientists are working to develop vaccines that will protect against a broad range of influenza strains and subtypes, as we have discussed in a post last year, while at the same time others are developing improved treatments for those who do become infected.
In an exciting paper published online in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (1) a team led by Wayne Marasco of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Robert Liddington of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, and Ruben Donis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have used an in vitro screening method to identify human antibodies that bind to a protein called hemagglutinin (the "H" in H5N1) that is found on the surface of the virus and is required for the virus to enter a cell once it has bound to it. As described in in Nature news the antibodies they identified using an in vitro phage display screening method bind to a portion of hemagglutinin known as the stem that varies little between different subtypes of group 1 influenza A virus and stop the virus entering the cell. Having proved that the antibodies could block virus entry into cells in vitro the scientists then tested if clinically realistic doses of antibody could protect animals from an otherwise lethal influenza A infection. They found that when these antibodies were given to mice that had previously been infected with highly pathogenic strains of the H5N1 and H1N1 virus subtypes the mice remained healthy and the spread of the virus through their organs greatly reduced, while mice that were not given the antibodies died. While H5N1 and H1N1 are both group 1 subtypes of influenza A currently available vaccines against one do not protect against the other, so this result taken with the in vitro data demonstrated that the antibodies provide broad protection against group 1 influenza A viruses. This protection was even observed when the antibodies were given 3 days after infection, indicating that these antibodies are suitable for a passive immunization approach to the treatment of influenza following infection, which would be a very valuable addition to the limited range of treatments currently available. Their research also indicated that their screening technique can be used to identify antibodies that can be used to protect against other groups of influenza virus.
But what of "classic" vaccines that stop people acquiring the flu in the first place? Well, the authors of this study suggests that by designing vaccines that direct the immune system to target the conserved stem region of hemagglutinin, rather than the more variable portions of hemagglutinin as is now the case, it may be possible to have vaccines that confer protection against a broad range of influenza subtypes. A combination of only a few such vaccines could yield a "universal" flu vaccine, which is certainly an exciting prospect, though since flu is also found in many wild and domesticated animal populations which can transmit it to us we will probably never be possible to control it as thoroughly we have controlled polio.
Paul Browne
1) Sui J. et al "Structural and functional bases for broad-spectrum neutralization of avian and human influenza A viruses" Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. Advanced Online Publication , 22 February 2009, doi:10.1038/nsmb.1566
p.s. Just in case you are wondering how the proposed hemagglutinin stem targeting vaccine would differ from the influenza A vaccine developed by Acambis that we reported on earlier, the difference lies in the protein targeted. The Acambis vaccine targets a virus membrane protein called the M2 ion channel that is required for full virulence and is also highly conserved among influenza A subtypes. If both strategies are successful (and at this stage that is by no means a given) they could be combined in a future flu vaccination schedule for even better coverage.
franhab
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Public Domain Picture: Looking over a tidal wetland area to oak and palmetto forest.
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Looking over a tidal wetland area to oak and palmetto forest.
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Loudoun Trail 10K 2015
Camp Highroad Middleburg VA
tsimonds
1. 49 Nathan Dawes 00:42:08.4 00:00:00.0
2. 50 Matthew Moore 00:42:10.0 00:00:01.6
3. 64 Adam Borbidge 00:43:38.1 00:01:29.7
4. 46 William Funkhauser 00:46:36.3 00:04:27.9
5. 71 Brian Murphy 00:53:10.4 00:11:02.0
6. 53 Russ Shaw 00:53:50.5 00:11:42.1
7. 42 Mark Fox 00:53:56.5 00:11:48.1
8. 9 Daniel Mccloskey 00:55:04.0 00:12:55.6
9. 73 Colin Mcdonough 00:55:29.3 00:13:20.9
10. 103 Jessica Hall 00:55:38.8 00:13:30.4
11. 68 Staffan Wassvik 00:55:44.8 00:13:36.4
12. 39 Conan Mobray 00:56:15.4 00:14:07.0
13. 69 Eric Meister 00:56:24.9 00:14:16.5
14. 23 James Sullivan 00:57:14.7 00:15:06.3
15. 63 Brian Leonard 00:57:30.4 00:15:22.0
16. 150 Joanne Hawelka 00:57:37.8 00:15:29.4
17. 52 Gareth Croke 00:57:50.3 00:15:41.9
18. 43 Christopher Houck 00:58:32.4 00:16:24.0
19. 135 Anne Mortimer 00:58:34.8 00:16:26.4
20. 17 Joshua Gilmore 00:58:39.6 00:16:31.2
21. 72 Mark Hanna 00:58:42.0 00:16:33.6
22. 34 Jim Mcevers 00:58:56.1 00:16:47.7
23. 138 Rebecca Edwards 00:59:28.1 00:17:19.7
24. 62 Pedro Hurtado 01:00:21.4 00:18:13.0
25. 107 Melissa Conway 01:00:22.9 00:18:14.5
26. 161 Amelia Pettit 01:00:32.8 00:18:24.4
27. 153 Jocelen Pearson 01:01:18.8 00:19:10.4
28. 21 J M 01:01:20.9 00:19:12.5
29. 1 Ted Bielawa 01:01:49.8 00:19:41.4
30. 27 Mark Davenport 01:01:51.9 00:19:43.5
31. 44 Joseph Pravati 01:02:05.4 00:19:57.0
32. 20 Paul Donohue 01:02:13.2 00:20:04.8
33. 125 Antoaneta Fitzpatrick 01:02:22.9 00:20:14.5
34. 35 Russ Townsend 01:02:25.0 00:20:16.6
35. 147 Katherine Makris 01:02:27.6 00:20:19.2
36. 31 Nate Kost 01:03:01.3 00:20:52.9
37. 28 Dan Barfield 01:03:03.0 00:20:54.6
38. 120 Amanda Leonardi 01:03:09.9 00:21:01.5
39. 134 Darcy Gruttadaro 01:03:27.9 00:21:19.5
40. 55 Rob Balinger 01:03:30.6 00:21:22.2
41. 145 Kat Davidson 01:04:02.0 00:21:53.6
42. 3 Mark Fostek 01:04:19.9 00:22:11.5
43. 8 Danny Valdez 01:04:22.5 00:22:14.1
44. 76 Nicolas Dantzlerward 01:04:32.7 00:22:24.3
45. 14 Ben Beavers 01:04:42.6 00:22:34.2
46. 61 Denis Pachas 01:04:51.1 00:22:42.7
47. 33 Chris Wolforth 01:04:55.1 00:22:46.7
48. 157 Nadine Briden 01:05:00.1 00:22:51.7
49. 113 Lauren Mccloskey 01:05:45.9 00:23:37.5
50. 57 Marty Mahoney 01:05:49.0 00:23:40.6
51. 41 Gary Glueckert 01:06:05.0 00:23:56.6
52. 15 John Cantrall 01:06:30.7 00:24:22.3
53. 29 Jeff Graybeal 01:06:36.6 00:24:28.2
54. 108 Kate Marincic 01:06:50.0 00:24:41.6
55. 54 John Gorham 01:06:52.2 00:24:43.8
56. 130 Susan Gorham 01:06:54.5 00:24:46.1
57. 148 Whitney Martz 01:07:31.3 00:25:22.9
58. 141 Lisa Kolas 01:07:33.2 00:25:24.8
59. 122 Suzanne Krop 01:07:49.3 00:25:40.9
60. 110 Melanie Ziarko 01:08:11.2 00:26:02.8
61. 6 Bradley Moore 01:08:31.3 00:26:22.9
62. 32 Michael Brown 01:08:54.5 00:26:46.1
63. 118 Brianna Cantrall 01:09:03.6 00:26:55.2
64. 48 Andrew Donnelly 01:09:14.0 00:27:05.6
65. 124 Jo-Elle Burgard 01:09:39.4 00:27:31.0
66. 22 Brian Ewell 01:09:55.2 00:27:46.8
67. 114 Sarah Wilt 01:10:07.9 00:27:59.5
68. 102 Luci Black 01:10:17.4 00:28:09.0
69. 109 Kelly Pollard 01:10:36.9 00:28:28.5
70. 70 Timothy Brown 01:10:52.4 00:28:44.0
71. 66 Jonathan Harrill 01:11:00.7 00:28:52.3
72. 137 Nancy Adams 01:12:33.1 00:30:24.7
73. 16 Peter Thaler 01:12:44.9 00:30:36.5
74. 162 Luzma Zabkowski 01:13:14.0 00:31:05.6
75. 136 Laurie Tansey 01:13:43.8 00:31:35.4
76. 36 Greg Flury 01:13:54.8 00:31:46.4
77. 2 Ryan Kula 01:14:06.4 00:31:58.0
78. 152 Heather Merritt 01:14:42.7 00:32:34.3
79. 47 Ramsey Hamilton 01:14:50.0 00:32:41.6
80. 59 Heath Cline 01:15:08.4 00:33:00.0
81. 144 Tamera Davidson 01:15:24.4 00:33:16.0
82. 156 Ellen Irwin 01:15:31.9 00:33:23.5
83. 142 Amanda Marks 01:15:37.8 00:33:29.4
84. 101 Laura Gillespie 01:15:42.4 00:33:34.0
85. 25 Vincent Martinez 01:16:24.5 00:34:16.1
86. 133 Kristin Wallner 01:16:40.9 00:34:32.5
87. 106 Melani Telles 01:17:09.3 00:35:00.9
88. 146 Jessica Conyea 01:17:15.1 00:35:06.7
89. 151 Shannon Cotugno 01:17:30.7 00:35:22.3
90. 67 Justin Rubens 01:17:35.0 00:35:26.6
91. 159 Nitra Lagrander 01:17:37.8 00:35:29.4
92. 139 Ksenia Merska 01:17:42.6 00:35:34.2
93. 38 Minh Nguyen 01:17:44.4 00:35:36.0
94. 115 Kelly Whetstone 01:18:20.6 00:36:12.2
95. 117 Meghan Whitmore 01:18:33.0 00:36:24.6
96. 119 Kelly Edwards 01:18:35.4 00:36:27.0
97. 105 Andrea Elbaum 01:18:38.0 00:36:29.6
98. 163 Christine Haas 01:19:06.4 00:36:58.0
99. 155 Erin Meehan 01:19:20.7 00:37:12.3
100. 51 Kevin Kuhn 01:19:29.1 00:37:20.7
101. 154 Lindsay Brancato 01:19:33.0 00:37:24.6
102. 129 Carol Mull 01:20:24.9 00:38:16.5
103. 40 Michael King 01:20:54.1 00:38:45.7
104. 4 Jim Conway 01:21:44.4 00:39:36.0
105. 143 Elly Kugler 01:21:48.9 00:39:40.5
106. 128 Morgan Hanzlik 01:21:58.3 00:39:49.9
107. 116 Mary Beth Farran 01:22:00.4 00:39:52.0
108. 13 Scott Farran 01:23:04.5 00:40:56.1
109. 37 Robert Pion 01:23:23.0 00:41:14.6
110. 78 Daniel Kugler 01:24:13.0 00:42:04.6
111. 75 Vaughn Bynoe 01:25:20.8 00:43:12.4
112. 131 Ida Lara 01:25:51.8 00:43:43.4
113. 123 Alexandra Fazeli 01:26:38.7 00:44:30.3
114. 58 Mark Wisecarver 01:26:40.0 00:44:31.6
115. 104 Susie Barry 01:28:47.7 00:46:39.3
116. 111 Jessica Hunter 01:34:36.1 00:52:27.7
117. 7 Martin Hunter 01:34:39.7 00:52:31.3
118. 77 Scott Petrowski 01:34:42.4 00:52:34.0
119. 132 Lisa Allen 01:38:30.5 00:56:22.1
120. 158 Allison Monnet 01:38:33.1 00:56:24.7
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Top » The Vatican
To view our full line of Vitican Medals, Click here
The Vatican is the geographical head of the Catholic Church. Its is 109 acres in the middle of Rome that is its own sovereign nation that is home to the Pope. The estimated population is 813 that live within the wall of the city state. And, the government is an ecclesiastical government with the Pope at the head of it. The Vatican was giving its sovereignty in 1929 and reaffirmed in 1984.
The history of the Vatican and it being the primary residence of the pope dates back to the 5th century. It was in the 5th century when Constantine had St Peter’s Basilica built. Prior to this the pope lived in the Lateran Palace until the 14th century at the time of the Babylonian captivity in france. At that point the Papacy to Rome and the Vatican became home of the Pope. This is usually dated to 1377.
The Vatican is the keeper of the traditions of the Catholic Church as well. They set the liturgical policy for the church. This covers how the mass is celebrated; the words that are spoken. It has put for the missal for the readings of the church for the given day. It makes changes to improve the way things are done or clarify the existing ones. An example of this was the change Rome made in how extra ordinary ministers arrive at the altar during the distribution of communion. It was previously that they would approach and help the presiding priest and deacon pour the Precious Blood into the challises. Rome, as it is colloquially known changed the process to extra ordinary minister not approaching the altar until the priest had already readied the chalices and the patents. This is just one example of the changes that the Vatican can make.
The method of how a saint is selected was another process that was modified by Rome in more recent times. Pope John Paul canonized more Saints in recent history adding to the rich tapestry that makes up the Catholic Church.
The Vatican has one of the largest art collections in the world. And has the Sistine Chapel which was painted by Michelangelo in 1508-1512, which is one of the largest paintings in the history of man. The popes that ruled in the Renaissance time worked to amass one of the greatest collections. They built fine galleries for this art. Additionally Pope Gregory XIII and Sixtus V dedicated to building the Vatican and built the Quirinal, which was a place for the pope. The popes lived there from 1870 to 1946. Presently its is now the royal palace of Italy and where the president of Italy now resides.
The Vatican also have their own news agency and most all major events are cleared though the Vatican. The Vatican also has huge library including the transcripts that date back to the Spanish Inquisition. It is believed that this library is one of the largest collections of ancient and medieval writings in may languages. It has much history and tradition that it maintains within its walls.
Catechism and Books Reviews
01. Gold Finger Rosary
02. St. Cecilia Medal and Holy Card
03. Gift Set with Carved Rose Petal Rosary
04. Child's Multi-Colored 22 in. Wood Rosary
05. Jesse Tree Ornaments
06. 4" St Francis Statue
07. 12" Saint John Vianney Statue
08. Pennies From Heaven Bank
09. 12" St Florian Statue
10. 12" St Rita Statue
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2015 Bear Lake Brawl Triathlon Utah State Park Rendezvous Beac Laketown, UT September 19, 2015
Women's Half Ironman Triathlon
1. 137 Angela Lavery 39:47.3 02:55.0 2:32:38.0 00:41.0 1:58:38.2 5:14:39.5
2. 143 Heidi Madsen 42:56.9 04:26.4 2:43:33.8 00:57.6 1:49:00.4 5:20:55.1
3. 114 Hannah Stillings 35:41.6 05:51.2 2:56:52.3 03:22.6 1:49:56.5 5:31:44.2
4. 79 Lindsey Kennedy 49:44.8 04:51.7 2:48:36.4 04:02.6 1:58:11.2 5:45:26.7
5. 89 Kate Logsdon 39:24.3 04:14.1 3:02:54.3 02:31.0 1:57:18.5 5:46:22.2
6. 117 Kristy Swanson 47:40.0 04:30.9 2:52:09.0 01:41.5 2:02:49.2 5:48:50.6
7. 32 Ashlee Walker 48:01.9 03:18.3 2:49:56.0 01:48.0 2:12:29.1 5:55:33.3
8. 99 Amelia McBride 44:50.0 05:56.4 2:53:10.0 03:15.1 2:09:50.1 5:57:01.6
9. 78 Becky Babcock 40:19.8 10:46.4 2:44:27.9 04:12.4 2:17:25.7 5:57:12.2
10. 111 E J Harpham 46:43.2 07:24.7 2:48:02.6 01:30.2 2:18:21.2 6:02:01.9
11. 120 Jeannine Groll 48:03.8 03:32.0 2:58:47.6 02:15.9 2:10:35.5 6:03:14.8
12. 104 Dixie Madsen 51:03.5 07:10.0 2:37:24.6 03:12.3 2:28:16.5 6:07:06.9
13. 96 Kassie McGonegal 55:43.1 05:02.6 2:59:21.6 01:12.0 2:11:00.4 6:12:19.7
14. 121 Whitney Groll 52:59.2 02:13.5 3:15:44.4 03:51.4 1:58:46.1 6:13:34.6
15. 84 Lorena Corgatelli 48:59.4 09:57.7 2:55:16.5 05:56.0 2:15:00.0 6:15:09.6
16. 108 Christina Jackson 35:11.7 06:10.7 3:09:57.5 04:53.8 2:19:19.8 6:15:33.5
17. 97 Kami Shupe 49:27.1 03:38.1 2:55:33.1 03:50.0 2:24:26.8 6:16:55.1
18. 95 Kristy Money 51:52.8 08:01.9 2:49:46.3 02:07.7 2:27:36.8 6:19:25.5
19. 110 Tamra Vawdrey 57:15.0 08:18.9 3:03:34.0 02:43.4 2:13:22.9 6:25:14.2
20. 77 Tracy Dustin 45:52.4 07:48.2 2:59:16.5 02:03.1 2:35:03.0 6:30:03.2
21. 107 April Steck 48:16.6 04:49.9 3:06:42.4 03:19.2 2:33:35.6 6:36:43.7
22. 76 Diane Peck 43:52.1 06:32.3 3:08:47.5 08:17.4 2:31:03.3 6:38:32.6
23. 83 Dani Moffit 43:05.9 05:05.5 3:13:33.4 05:33.9 2:34:01.5 6:41:20.2
24. 116 Melanie Mortensen 50:30.0 05:59.8 3:03:41.3 02:43.1 2:38:44.3 6:41:38.5
25. 105 Laura Ladd 59:20.8 3:14:28.5 03:32.0 2:25:11.1 6:42:32.4
26. 91 LeAnn Books 47:03.2 05:03.0 3:17:38.1 01:06.5 2:41:19.6 6:52:10.4
27. 101 Judith Calhoun 48:26.7 09:42.7 3:09:12.5 04:24.0 2:52:39.5 7:04:25.4
28. 103 Jessica Wagner 39:55.8 04:51.8 3:39:49.4 04:52.1 2:51:16.2 7:20:45.3
29. 82 Megan Hinds 47:22.1 04:32.8 3:29:16.8 03:21.5 2:57:49.0 7:22:22.2
30. 113 Michelle Farnsworth 57:50.4 06:46.6 3:38:54.5 06:22.7 2:41:11.8 7:31:06.0
31. 200 Kathy Jo White 1:04:58.5 04:48.2 3:27:43.0 05:30.1 3:02:51.2 7:45:51.0
32. 81 Wendy Baron 49:27.9 09:17.8 3:46:50.9 04:21.3 3:11:44.2 8:01:42.1
33. 86 Rachel Beverlin 56:18.6 01:15.3 4:08:11.8 07:10.5 2:57:29.9 8:10:26.1
34. 102 Cheryl Weill 59:40.0 11:19.9 3:30:22.8 15:46.1 3:19:35.1 8:16:43.9
35. 109 Jen Hall 52:30.1 05:00.9 3:56:39.9 04:32.2 3:31:20.8 8:30:03.9
36. 118 Cyndee Musselman 43:33.2 16:45.4 3:54:03.3 10:40.0 3:28:00.9 8:33:02.8
37. 85 Gail Beverlin 1:20:18.5 18:59.7 4:39:19.5 10:05.7 3:16:18.8 9:45:02.2
38. 87 Carly Beverlin 1:20:12.0 19:16.9 4:46:45.4 02:29.2 3:16:18.7 9:45:02.2
39. 119 Chris Perkins 1:48:38.6 08:35.3 3:47:33.8 07:35.5 3:57:32.6 9:49:55.8
DNF 80 Stephanie Holbrook 58:43.1 DNF
DNF 88 Sarah LaBrec 58:42.8 DNF
DNF 92 Sofia Benson-Goldberg 58:43.3 DNF
DNF 98 Holly Green 58:42.4 DNF
DNF 100 Meg Scharman 58:42.8 DNF
DNF 115 Bridget Hass 58:42.9 DNF
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End-of-Year Clearance Thoughts
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm typing this with one eye closed.
I don't know about you, but I don't know about me either.
I need something to do for the next 7 seconds. Any ideas? Retroactive help is fine. When I travel back in time, I'll be sure to put you in the credits.
Self-awareness is all well and good provided one is not a contemptible louse.
Kids in school today don't know the glory of the good old days when you had your own desk with a bottle of paste to eat any time you wanted.
Don't be sad it's over. Rather, show some real ambition and be sad you were ever born.
I never shy away from commitment. Instead, I run from it like a banshee.
If introverts should occasionally get out of their comfort zone and socialize, shouldn't extroverts also get out of their comfort zone and stop talking?
It blows my mind that there are artificial colors. They all look so real to me.
Has there ever been a successful person named Melvin?
To anyone I've ever offended, you may have deserved it so let's not rush to judgment.
People go to sporting events because they want to cheer on their team, and so they pay somewhere around $30-50 to go into the stadium, but that's not enough for the team, which feels obligated to use the scoreboard and organ music to prompt the fans to cheer even more than they normally would. I’m a little suspicious they’re just herding us into the games just so we can make noise for them.
There is no mention of the Internet in Neo-Classical literature, a clear sign that they were all heartless snobs.
Johnny-come-lately's aren't nearly as annoying as Jenny-come-early's.
These new ultra-compact cars would be perfect for getting around in a parking lot.
If you can't make your own mark, then train a surrogate to mimic you well.
The universe is conspiring against me today, but I'm still going with me and the points.
Allstate has accident forgiveness, but then they also have deductible purgatory, so it's probably a wash.
Happiness is not a destination. It's a railroad stop, so get off now.
If cherries aren't a berry, I don't want to be right.
How we define a thing has no bearing on its state of being.
It's fascinating how colors can change one's mood. After adjusting all my computer settings to neon green, I've curiously developed a highly functional elevated and palpable sense of unmitigated angst layered on top of the uncontrollable urge to molt.
If we were to send Justin Bieber into outer space, aliens might take it as an act of aggression.
You can't spell antidisestablishmentarianism without five i's.
Let's all synchronize our watches. On my mark.... (for those of you without watches, just count)
I've never seen a normal person. They must be invisible with normal superpowers.
When you sign out of Facebook, it says "Log in to continue." I've been insecure before, but never like that.
Don't be in such a hurry — the universe isn't going anywhere.
Alien journal: The most important aspect of the human transport vehicle appears to be that it be shiny.
Everybody has something to say, but nobody knows what it means.
I want to make a non-linear clock, one that doesn't rely on e=mc2 as a variable. It will have no mechanical parts. I call it the mind.
I've gone viral in my house. Everybody is talking about me.
Having a family-friendly checkout lane at the supermarket is a nice enough gesture, although it doesn’t obscure the harsh reality that 90% of the checkout lanes are still intentionally family unfriendly.
Greek yogurt is just a passing fad, which will soon give way to Hungarian tofu.
It's often said that a certain thing could end the world as we know it. But then again, how do we know it?
I'm going to count to 10. Not because I'm mad, but just to rebuild my confidence.
Plug-ins like to crash so much I'm thinking of buying a couch just for them for whenever they stay over.
If you eat string cheese without pulling down the strings, you may be a Bohemian, plus we can't be friends. I will befriend other Bohemians.
Sure, Words With Friends is fun, but Words With Complete Strangers on a Bus in Dusseldorf is scads more invigorating.
Scientist says there's now a cure for the hangover. What, they just invented sobriety? Yeah, there's a cure for jumping off a cliff too.
What if I'm not really moving down the road, but instead everything is just coming toward me? I believe this is what Copernicus would posit in his BMW.
Some people say a particular movie wasn't true to the book, but how can you be true to something that’s fiction?
I can't always tell when people are being sarcastic in print. Even myself.
If someone tells you your shoes are untied, tell them it's still safer than flip-flops. Do they go around telling people with flip-flops, "Hey, your flip-flops are on"?
Computers are to bagpipes as nomenclature is to phrenology. Think about it. (It won't help though)
There's nothing quite like a nap. Even another nap isn't like a nap.
I’m a tad suspicious about joggers always seeming to find the missing bodies. I think they're in on it somehow, their alibi being they “just happened” to be jogging by.
Never say never, always say always, and only sometimes say sometimes. Is that a coincidence or did they plan it that way?
My person of the year is me again. I'm the only one who ever lets me sleep in on Saturdays.
I hope I don't die on TV, because they only have graveside services, and just the main characters and three relatives show up.
Confucius is now looking at Twitter from above. Are you happy what you started, eh?
Metal stuck in your lips and eyebrows is tolerable, but if you put toilet paper in your ears and nostrils, people would think you're weird.
What to get for the person who has everything… a lawn gnome-mower.
/end of rant......... Now it's time to start a new one.
L.A. only has a high population because most of the people are stuck in traffic and can't get out.
"Must-see" TV is kind of like must-eat rocks.
Pearl Jam's latest release isn't necessarily bad, if you take it back into the Neolithic Period and compare it with beating on rocks.
Pay attention to tap dancers who know Morse Code.
It's unscientific to believe in things that are invisible. Like gravity, energy, magnetic forces, electricity, waves, consciousness…
What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, but seriously, I'd like more options.
Don't buy the new Pearl Jam CD. Instead, consider donating $15 to their disaster relief fund to help rescue them from their music.
Social networking is to friendships as lemmings are to swimming.
You've never seen another person through your eyes. What you see are their physical frame, expressions, mannerisms. Those are manifestations.
Overwhelm. Underwhelm. Whelm. My daily stabilizing exercise. (performed on a closed track by a professional emotionalist — do not attempt)
This sentence is entitled "Knick-knacks in the Attic": Dust-laden vestiges of tilted, half-painted wooden pulltoys from a bygone era…
People want to change the world, but it's a tricky game. Last week after I changed the world, somebody else who was also trying to change the world changed it again, so probably not many people noticed my version, but for eight minutes last Thursday the equator went through Montana and the only understandable language was Esperanto, which is why you were getting all those funny looks.
During a power outage today, I had to text on Post-it notes. It was awful!
I don't understand what the big deal is about Krispy Kreme donuts. I had five of them, and I didn't notice any difference.
Modern TV programming has restored my faith in the ability of the average person to come up with their own better material.
If you have to wear a hat to look cool, you're only borrowing coolness.
Things are unexpected due to our expectations not being aligned with reality. What shifts is not reality but rather our perceptions.
If there were truth in advertising, we'd have three minutes of dead air at every commercial break.
People who don't want to be taken seriously should not be taken seriously.
Pearl Jam's album "Lightning Bolt" is #3 in the Vedder household for recordings, behind 2) the dog howling and 1) the blender on frappe.
People who can't be bothered to use their turn signal ought to be ostracized to an island full of mimes.
Joggers don't look like they enjoy jogging all that much. In fact, they look like they're in a bit of a hurry to get it over with.
My doctor asked me if I always wear my seatbelt, and I was ashamed to confess that I take it off each night when I go to bed.
The Tower of Babel has resurfaced in our time via remote controls. And though people teach of a universal remote, none are truly compatible.
Perhaps Robin's greatest asset as a crime fighter was his uncanny ability to solve riddles. Invariably, he would figure them out before Batman, who would begrudgingly intone, 'Good work, ole chum." While the Boy Wonder doesn't get much credit comparatively, he was undeniably an integral part of the dynamic duo.
My personal mission statement — Wake up each morning. See also: afternoons.
I'm simultaneously dumbfounded by but not surprised at the human predicament. I can comfortably, if not objectively, embrace incompetence.
There aren't very many fat birds.
Sign for the Keno game said "The secret to winning: You have to play the game." Yeah, but it’s the secret to losing much more often.
Bonus tip: You should make your passwords so you can easily type them with one hand just in case you're ever trapped and need to defuse a bomb real fast.
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Court of Appeal Rejects Proposition 218 Challenge to City Cell Phone Tax
RWG lawyers have prevailed for the City of Norwalk in a class action challenge to its voter-approved utility user tax (UUT) on cell phone usage. The Court of Appeal decision has potentially significant benefit for other cities with similar cell phone tax ordinances.
The City first adopted the UUT in 1992 and the voters ratified and approved the 5.5% UUT at an election in 2003. For administrative convenience, like many other California cities, the 2003 ordinance incorporated definitions from the Federal Excise Tax (FET) and provided that persons who were exempted from the FET were also exempt from the City’s UUT. In 2006, the IRS issued a notice declaring the FET was unlawful as it applied to long distance telephone plans which charged customers according to the length of the call without regard to distance (such as cell phone plans). In response, like many other cities, the City adopted an ordinance in 2007 deleting the FET reference from the City’s UUT ordinance.
In the lawsuit, Plaintiffs contended that the 2006 IRS notice invalidated the UUT and that the City’s 2007 ordinance violated Proposition 218 and Proposition 62 because it “imposed, increased or extended” the UUT without voter approval. After the lawsuit was filed, in November 2014, the voters again resoundingly approved the UUT at another election at the same 5.5% rate.
In a published decision issued on December 4, 2017, the Second District Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s judgment and held that the City’s deletion of the FET reference did not “impose, extend, or increase” the UUT and, therefore, did not violate Proposition 218 or Proposition 62. RWG attorneys Saskia Asamura and B. Tilden Kim represented the City of Norwalk. The case is Gonzalez v. City of Norwalk.
For more information on Proposition 218 and Proposition 62 challenges to local cell phone taxes or this Court of Appeal decision, please contact Saskia T. Asamura.
Saskia Asamura
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Let Your Inner Carpathian Cut a Rug at the Dracula Ball
I vant to suck your blood ... and eat canapés, and look at some cool-ass dracula orchids at the Conservatory of Flowers.
Ali Wunderman
Fri Oct 13th, 2017 6:35am
CultureThe Exhibitionist
(Conservatory of Flowers)
Gala season is a special time, when bejeweled philanthropists and new players in the social elite scene commingle at events I could only ever dream of affording to attend. It’s a cliche to draw comparisons between New York and San Francisco, but truthfully, NYC is more regularly cosmopolitan throughout the calendar year, so when gala season rolls around, West Coasters can finally don ballgowns, silk gloves, and I don’t know, brandy snifters.
Fortunately for those of us who missed the chance to dress up for the Opera and Symphony galas in September, a similar annual event at the Conservatory of Flowers is still coming up — and it has a much more Halloween-appropriate theme than any of its peers.
Taking inspiration from the dracula orchid of Andean cloud forests, the elegant landmark is hosting the Dracula Ball on Thursday, Oct. 19 — and tickets are still available. They range between $350-$500, pretty standard for gala pricing, and they’ll highlight “the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile beauty of rainforests all over the world.” Drinks, food, and ample entertainment are included, and guests are encouraged to wear their finest with a Halloween edge, which is not something most events of this stripe encourage.
It’s worth noting that after the Ball comes The Gaslamp Fantasy after party, which is much more affordable at under $75 a pop, and still includes an open bar. Also food and entertainment. It’s hosted and produced by Mustafa Khan of Daybreaker/Midnight Brunch/Silicon Valley Fashion Week fame, so you know it’s going to be good.
This is more than just a night to rub elbows with the ruling class of San Francisco, it’s a chance to participate in an institution that has made this city exceptional for more than a century. Funds from this event will be dedicated to renovating their Cloud Forest Gallery, which is where the orchids live. It’s also a rare opportunity to party inside the greenhouse, since it’s more of a quiet, thoughtful place during the daytime.
The Dracula Ball and The Gaslamp Fantasy, Thursday, Oct. 19, 5:30-9:30 p.m., at the Conservatory of Flowers, 100 John F. Kennedy Drive, Golden Gate Park. $350-$500, conservatoryofflowers.org
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Ryan Massey
Owner / Studio Manager / Staff Engineer
Ryan has been playing and performing music almost his entire life. At age 6, he joined the San Francisco Boys Chorus, and spent the next five years singing and traveling the world.
Some highlights included performing with the San Francisco Opera, Mahler’s 8th at the Hollywood Bowl, and recording at Fantasy Studios for Neil Young’s “Landing on Water” album. Somewhere, things took a left turn and he ended up obsessed with rock and roll in general, and specifically, punk rock.
He played in typically awful high school bands, and ended up recording many of the local bands on a crappy Fostex 4 track (it could only record two tracks at a time!) After high school, he joined up with longtime friends Rory Henderson and John Peck and formed American Steel. The band has put out four albums, several EP’s and toured constantly. In the middle of all that, they took a pop turn and released a host of new songs as Communiqué. Communiqué has one full length (Poison Arrows) and two EP’s (A Crescent Honeymoon, Walk into the Light). They have toured the world with the likes of Tegan & Sara, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday; These Arms are Snakes, Minus the Bear, Sugarcult and more.
Between all the tours, Ryan has produced and engineered albums for many bands, including Desa, The Cost, The Criminals, Radio Noise, Ted Leo, Cipher in the Snow, Quest for Quintana Roo, and much of Communiqué and American Steel’s output as well.
He continues to play with American Steel, runs Sharkbite, builds Lugosi Amplifiers and generally doesn’t sleep.
<< Back to Staff
Sharkbite Studios - Oakland, California | Contact Us | Website by Hand Carved Graphics
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Tracheotomy versus prolonged intubation in medical intensive care unit patients
By Boubaker Charra, Abdelhamid Hachimi, Abdellatif Benslama, Said Motaouakkil
SIGNA VITAE 2009; 4(1): 21 - 23
DOI: 10.22514/SV41.042009.4
In Original articles, Volume 4 Number 1
Introduction. The contribution of tracheotomy in comparison to intubation in patients on the resuscitation ward is debated. The main purpose of our study is to assess if tracheotomy compared to prolonged intubation, reduces the whole duration of ventilation, the frequency of nosocomial pneumopathy, the mean duration of hospitalisation in the resuscitation ward and mortality.
Patients and method. It is a retrospective and comparative study between two groups of patients who presented neurological or respiratory pathology and required mechanical ventilation for more than three weeks. The study lasted 7 years and involved 60 patients divided into 2 groups : the Tracheotomy Group (TG, n=30), in which a tracheotomy was performed between the eighth day and the fifteenth day, after the first period of tracheal intubation; and the Intubation Group (IG, n=30), where the patients were intubated throughout the period of hospitalization until extubation or death. We monitored the whole duration of ventilation, the frequency of nosocomial pneumopathy, the incidence of each technique as well as the mean duration of hospitalization in the resuscitation ward and the mortality rate. The two groups were similar in age, sex and gravity score : SAPS II and APACHE II.
Results. The results showed a significant statistical decrease of the whole duration of mechanical ventilation for the TG: 27.03 ± 3.31 days versus 31.63 ± 6.05 days for the IG (P = 0.001). However, there is no significant difference between the two groups, whereas the frequency of nosocomial pneumopathy is about 53.3% in the group with tracheotomy versus 70% for the intubated group (P = 0.18). This shows, on the other hand, the late prevalence of nosocomial pneumopathy in the tracheotomy group patients.
We noticed one case of bleeding after tracheotomy. Sinusitis was also diagnosed but without a significant difference between the two groups, 6.7% (2 cases) in the TG and 10% (3 cases) for the IG (P = 0.31). The mean duration of hospitalization didn’t differ between the two groups; it was 30.96 ± 9.47 days for the TG versus 34.26 ± 9.74 days for the IG (P = 0.10). The study shows that there is no statistically significant difference in mortality between the two groups, 26.7% in the TG versus 46.7% for the IG (P = 0.10).
Conclusion. It seems that tracheotomy, in medical ICU patients, leads to a shorter duration of ventilation, delayed nosocomial pneumopathy without the modification of its frequency and the mean duration of hospitalization or death.
Keywords: tracheotomy, prolonged intubation, pneumopathy, mechanical ventilation, mortality
Palliative care in heart failure
by Gorazd Voga
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A look at how Democrats and Republicans differ
It is an absolute fact that no matter which of the two major parties in Washington, D.C., is in power, the freedoms and liberties of the American people continue to be eroded. However, this does NOT mean that there are not basic differences between the two parties. The two parties differ greatly on HOW government will take our liberties. Where they are similar is in the fact that neither of them has any interest in preserving liberty. Until the American people awaken to this reality, whatever freedoms we have left in this country are doomed.
Let me ask you a question: does it really matter whether a free man is enslaved by a socialist state or a fascist state? Are the prisons any more accommodating? Are the lashes from the whip any less painful? Is the agony of losing a loved one any less grievous? Is the persecution any less revolting? What difference does it make to a free man if his liberties are stolen by an Adolf Hitler or by a Joseph Stalin?
Do you want a quick reference to the difference between how the Democrats and Republicans in Washington, D.C., are stealing our liberties? When the Democrats control things, America gets more socialism; when the Republicans control things, America gets more corporatism, which is a polite word for fascism. Socialism requires government to own everything, while fascism requires government to control everything. And remember, too, fascists and socialists have always hated each other. Big deal! Fascists and socialists alike hate freedomists, which is why inside-the-beltway Repubs and Dems can't stand people like Ron Paul, Bob Barr, and yours truly. (Remember the MIAC report identifying the three of us, and our supporters, as being potential "dangerous militia" members?) So who cares which of these two parties happens to be in power? Our freedoms continue to be under siege. That's why the battle in Washington politics has nothing to do with preserving freedom, but everything to do with HOW government will take freedom. Will they take it by ownership or by control? And, unfortunately, what we have right now is the worst of both worlds: government is using a combination of both ownership and control to steal our liberties. Why? Because except for a very precious few elected civil magistrates (like Congressman Ron Paul), there is no one on Capitol Hill or the White House who remotely understands — or fights for — the principles of liberty.
Even worse is that when the Donkeys and the Elephants do agree, it almost always is in an effort to point the bayonets at the American citizenry. What does it matter whether government owns it or controls it? What does it matter whether it more resembles socialism of corporatism? What it doesn't look anything like, is FREEDOM!
Take the Democrat/Republican debate over Obamacare. Even if Mitt Romney and the GOP prevail in the November elections, Obamacare will be replaced with Romneycare. And Romneycare will be 85% Obamacare, with a slight shift toward government control and a slight shift away from government ownership. Again, I say, BIG DEAL! What neither party is talking about is that the federal government has no business being in health care. Period! Just like the federal government has no business being in over 90% of everything it is involved in today. But who do you hear saying that in Washington, D.C., except Ron Paul?
Take the issue of the burgeoning surveillance society. What does it matter which major party is in power in Washington, D.C.? The TSA gets more and more obnoxiously tyrannical; abuses of civil liberties under the guise of fighting a "war on drugs" continues unabated; abuses of the Bill of Rights under the guise of fighting a "war on terror" continues unabated; the federal police state continues to grow exponentially; unconstitutional foreign entanglements continue to proliferate; ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
In a book that I have recommended numerous times, "Hitler's Cross," Erwin Lutzer writes on page 72, "Through surveillance, wiretaps, spying, and rewarding those who betrayed their friends, Hitler tried to control the citizens of Germany." On page 73, Lutzer continues the thought saying, "But Hitler did not have the technology to bring every subject of his realm into line." So, given the technology that is available today, what would Hitler do differently if he were running things in Washington, D.C.? I ask readers to think seriously about that question. What would Hitler do differently?
Today, the federal government monitors virtually every piece of electronic communication. The federal government monitors virtually every major banking transaction. It has spies infiltrated in even harmless organizations all over the country. It threatens people with the loss of their jobs or freedom (or both) to betray their friends. It spies on us with satellites; it spies on us with drones. On July 6, 2012, President Obama signed an Executive Order authorizing the federal government to take control of America's entire communications industry. In 2006, under President George W. Bush, the US military began planning armed confrontation against the American citizenry. (I have the document in my possession.) And, of course, we must not overlook the Patriot Act which has been authorized and reauthorized under both Republicans and Democrats; the Military Commission Act which was signed by G.W. Bush; NDAA 2012 and 2013 which was signed by President Barack Obama, and which was passed by both Republicans and Democrats. And let's not forget the federal attack against the Branch Davidians under Democrats Bill Clinton and Janet Reno, and the assault against the Randy Weaver household under Republican President George Herbert Walker Bush.
So, again, pick your poison. Both the socialist-leaning Democrats and the corporatist-leaning Republicans in Washington, D.C., meet together in pointing the bayonet against the American citizenry. And you really wonder why nothing significant changes in this country?
And in this regard, the platforms of the two major parties are completely meaningless! I dare say that Barack Obama has never read the Democrat platform and doesn't care one iota what it says. I also guarantee you that Mitt Romney hasn't read the Republican platform and doesn't care one iota what it says either. Can anyone remember when Republican Presidential candidate, Bob Dole, in a rare moment of candor, publicly admitted that he had not read his party's platform and didn't care what it said? Party platforms are for the benefit of rank and file party members to make them feel like their ideas count for something to the party leadership. They don't!
So, do the Democrats and Republicans in Washington, D.C., differ? Yes! They differ on how our freedoms will be taken from us. They differ on the degree of government ownership and control. They differ on the nuances of political tyranny. Where they are twins is in their lust and ambition for power, in their approval of stripping more and more freedoms from the American people, and in their absolute and total disregard for constitutional government.
Without some sort of "Great Awakening" both politically and spiritually, whatever is left of our liberties is doomed — and both major parties in Washington, D.C., are equally culpable.
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Home > screeNZ News > The media is the message
The media is the message
Starlight Runner’s Jeff Gomez talked transmedia at the recent edition of FILMART in Hong Kong. After headlining the event’s T for Transmedia conference session, the world’s #1 exponent of successful transmedia campaigns sat down for a chat with SCREENZ about his work.
This is part one of a two-part article. Part two, including Gomez’s take on Avatar and other projects and initiatives in NZ, will be published on Friday 17 April.
For hundreds of years, Gomez told the Hong Kong audience, the world has told stories in the same way. The storytellers, the few, present their tales to the many, regardless of whether the medium of transmission has been the spoken word, a printed text, radio, TV or a cinema screen.
“That’s changed now,” said Gomez, “and there’s no going back. Millennials expect, demand, participation.”
The Millennials are, he explained, the most published and social generation the world has ever seen. They’re capable of taking different parts of a story, delivered in different forms across several platforms, and assembling a whole that suits the level with which they want to engage with the material.
If your content is good, Gomez suggested, a large proportion of those people will want it all: from the teaser to the book, the film, the TV show, the tee-shirt, the game, the key ring and – if you’re inclined to offer one – the sleep set. And then they’ll want the sequels, extensions and spin-offs.
Luckily, many members of that younger generation have either disposable income or indulgent parents, and they want to support and engage. They also want to tell their own stories, sometimes within a canon you’ve established.
What they don’t want, Gomez insisted, is repeats. They can have “all new, all the time – and they expect it”. So, if your content is not engaging, they’ll take it apart. If they’re feeling charitable they’ll offer opinions and constructive suggestions to improve things; if they’re not, they’ll leave – possibly sharing their distaste on the way out the door.
Delivering for such a demanding if willing community is a time- and energy-consuming job. Many content creators (including millennials) don’t have the time or skills to develop and implement a transmedia strategy around their idea. Their focus is on creating the ‘primary content’ as they envisage it – the book, film, TV show, webseries.
Which is where Gomez and Starlight Runner come in, delivering many years of experience in transmedia to maximise the value of clients’ brands and IP by expanding vision and essence to create a (theoretically limitless) story universe that can be accessed from many different starting points. Or, from the client side, removing a potential headache and delivering a return in the process.
“It’s important to engage audiences where they exist – not where you wish they existed,” said Gomez, explaining one of the most common problems content creators face. If your IP isn’t where it’s going to be found, it isn’t going to deliver much for its creators. Even when it is found, it’s not necessarily through the most obvious door.
Despite the massive numbers of book sales for the seven volumes of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter, it’s not the way most children have been introduced to the canon, or Potterverse as it’s now known. Even the films are not the main door through which new arrivals have first encountered Harry, Hermione, Ron et al. More children around the world have first met Harry thanks to Lego Potter branded toys and console games.
While Harry Potter’s level of success is not one that’s regularly replicated, it should be viewed as a model not an exception, Gomez reckons.
The exception or the rule
“’Ah, but that’s the exception’ is a phrase I’ve been hearing all my life,” said Gomez. “It’s what people say about the success of Star Wars.”
Sometimes a film or show that outperforms the wildest expectations is indeed the exception, but more often the reason something looks like an exception is because it’s out on its own: few other projects around at the time are offering similar levels of transmedia content and opportunities for engagement.
“You can make a quick hit and move on,” said Gomez. “But these days the cost of content development and production is so high, it pays to apply these new, practical transmedia techniques to make them work better across different media, and make them last longer.”
Fans like to engage, to immerse themselves, to build knowledge and to have that depth of knowledge and commitment recognised and appreciated.
While there are projects that succeed as standalone entities, a transmedia approach can work not just for blockbuster feature titles but also for many forms of screen content: serial dramas, soaps, anything around which a fanbase exists or can develop.
In Mexico, broadcaster Televisa has drawn back many younger female viewers who’d been deserting telenovelas by creating integrated social media campaigns and allowing those women to connect and contribute to discussions about the shows. By being where the audience was (on social media) the broadcaster turned around a worsening situation.
While Star Wars started out as a kind of naturally evolving transmedia narrative, Gomez suggests, a more formal transmedia production approach initiated by Lucasfilm studio head Kathleen Kennedy spearheads the new wave of shared movie universes in Hollywood. Now, a new generation of Star Wars books, animated TV series, comic books, video games and movies have each been declared to be “canon,” an official new segment of the Star Wars saga. The results are that fans have been supercharged to get them all, significantly improving revenues for the nearly 40 year-old franchise. Of course, there’s still Jar Jar Binks, but nothing’s perfect!
Part two of this article, Talk don’t tell, can be found here.
featured, FILMART, Jeff Gomez, Transmedia
Path of Exile sets clock for Awakening
Doc Edge takes seat at The Desk
FILMART’s Australasian presence
Filmart opens 21st edition
Filmart 16: love, sex and death
Packing the bags for Filmart
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Team Realty Blue "Doing Business For Life"
Welcome to California!
California is the most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W).
Area, 158,693 sq mi (411,015 sq km).
Pop. (2000) 33,871,648, a 13.8% increase since the 1990 census.
Capital, Sacramento.
Largest city, Los Angeles
Nickname, Golden State.
Motto, Eureka [I Have Found It].
State bird, California valley quail.
State flower, golden poppy.
State tree, California redwood
Ranking third among the U.S. states in area, California has a diverse topography and climate. A series of low mountains known as the Coast Ranges extends along the 1,200-mi (1,930-km) coast. The region from Point Arena, N of San Francisco, to the southern part of the state is subject to tremors and sometimes to severe earthquakes caused by tectonic stress along the San Andreas Fault. The Coast Ranges receive heavy rainfall in the north, where the giant cathedrallike redwood forests prevail, but the climate of these mountains is considerably drier in S California, and S of the Golden Gate no major rivers reach the ocean. Behind the coastal ranges in central California lies the great Central Valley , a long alluvial valley drained by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. In the southeast lie vast wastelands, notably the Mojave Desert, site of Joshua Tree National Park.
Rising as an almost impenetrable granite barrier E of the Central Valley is the Sierra Nevada range, which includes Mt. Whitney , Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite National Park. The Cascade Range , the northern continuation of the Sierra Nevada, includes Lassen Volcanic National Park . Lying E of the S Sierra Nevada is Death Valley National Park. California has an enormously productive economy, which for a nation would be one of the ten largest in the world. Although agriculture is gradually yielding to industry as the core of the state's economy, California leads the nation in the production of fruits and vegetables, including carrots, lettuce, onions, broccoli, tomatoes, strawberries, and almonds. The state's most valuable crops are grapes, cotton, flowers, and oranges; dairy products, however, contribute the single largest share of farm income, and California is again the national leader in this sector. The state also produces the major share of U.S. domestic wine.
California's farms are highly productive as a result of good soil, a long growing season, and the use of modern agricultural methods. Irrigation is critical, especially in the San Joaquin Valley and Imperial Valley. The gathering and packing of crops is done largely by seasonal migrant labor, primarily Mexicans. Fishing is another important industry.
California continues to be a major U.S. center for motion-picture, television film, and related entertainment industries, especially in Hollywood and Burbank. Tourism also is an important source of income. Disneyland, Sea World, and other theme parks draw millions of visitors each year, as do San Francisco with its numerous attractions.
*Information from Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
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Home / Fast Facts / Parker Kligerman / Paula Thompson / Fast Facts: Parker Kligerman
Fast Facts: Parker Kligerman
photo: Getty Images for NASCAR/
John Harrelson
Camping World Truck Series driver Parker Kligerman has had quite the season, being on the verge of his first win with two separate teams in the series. Learn more about the driver of the No. 7 Toyota for Red Horse Racing in this week’s Fast Facts.
Parker Kligerman was born August 8, 1990 in Westport, Connecticut. Unlike many drivers, his family had no background in auto racing, but that didn't stop Kligerman from wanting to participate. He began karting competitively at age 13 in the Norwalk Karting Association, and in his second year of karting he completed two courses at Skip Barber Racing School.
Kligerman excelled at open-wheel racing while still in high school, racing in the USAC Midget Series in 2007 while setting his sights on NASCAR. In 2008, he signed with the Cunningham Motorsports Junior Team, part of the Penske Racing driver development program, and made his ARCA Racing Series debut at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
In 2009, Kligerman officially signed with Penske Racing’s driver development program, and went full-time in the ARCA Series with Cunningham Motorsports. Kligerman won nine races that year, finished second in points by five points and won the rookie of the year award. He also made his Nationwide Series debut at Kansas Speedway in October of that year, winning the pole and finishing 16th.
After a part-time season in the Nationwide Series in 2010, Kligerman moved to the Camping World Truck Series full-time with Brad Keselowski Racing, finishing 11th in points with eight top 10 finishes including two runner-up finishes. After starting the 2012 season with BKR, Kligerman moved over to Red Horse Racing in August.
Find out more about Kligerman at his website, www.parkerkligerman.com.
Fast Facts: Parker Kligerman Reviewed by Paula on Tuesday, October 02, 2012 Rating: 5
Tags Fast Facts X Parker Kligerman X Paula Thompson
Paula Thompson
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1980s comedy films •
Comedy horror films •
1980s horror films
1980s comedy horror films
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Griffin Powers Sooners to 72-61 Win
Final Stats | Coach & Player Quotes | Game Notes
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FG Made-Attempted
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2008-09 OU Men's Basketball Central
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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Blake Griffin and No. 6 Oklahoma had yet to encounter a defense as smothering as Nebraska's. It wasn't until the Sooners came up with a defensive stand of their own that they were able to break free.
Griffin had 27 points and 18 rebounds for his 15th double-double, and Oklahoma slugged out a 72-61 victory over the Cornhuskers on Wednesday night to become the first team in the nation with 18 wins.
Nebraska kept it close with a solid defense that has become its hallmark under coach Doc Sadler, but went 4 minutes without scoring down the stretch as the Sooners (18-1, 4-0 Big 12) closed out their sixth straight victory.
"It's just a different look than you see from most teams. They kind of just scatter around, and they work on that all the time so they're good at it," Oklahoma point guard Austin Johnson said. "That's all they ever work on. It's just a different look, and you've got to get used to it."
Griffin found enough openings to break a Big 12 record with his eighth game of at least 20 points and 15 rebounds, surpassing the previous mark set by Kevin Durant of Texas and Michael Beasley of Kansas State. But the Sooners got themselves into trouble by settling for 3-pointers much of the night.
Nebraska (12-5, 2-2), with a defense that has yielded the second-fewest points in the nation, frustrated Oklahoma by sagging in to keep the ball out of Griffin's hands and sending a quick double-team whenever he did get it. The Sooners fell right into the trap, settling for 3-pointers on 13 of their first 23 shots despite making only 35 percent from long range this season.
That allowed Nebraska to open a seven-point lead in the first half before Sooners coach Jeff Capel made some adjustments at halftime.
"They're a very good defensive team. What they lack in size, they make up for with how hard they play and how physical they play," Capel said. "When you don't move -- like we weren't moving in the first half -- it plays right into what they're doing."
The Sooners pulled ahead by pounding it in to Griffin, who tried to make quicker moves to get his shots off before the Huskers could crash in on him.
"It's tough because a lot of times teams when they play a triple-team or double-team, they leave a guy open -- obviously open," said Griffin, a 6-foot-11 forward who was a preseason All-America selection. "They didn't do that."
Oklahoma ended up 9-for-25 from 3-point range, including a few key shots at the right times.
Omar Leary's 3 put the Sooners ahead for the first time in the second half at 47-46 with 12:11 to play, but Nebraska fought back to tie it at 53 on Paul Velander's 3 with 8:25 left.
Johnson followed that with a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 6:36 remaining, and Oklahoma didn't trail again. After Toney McCray's layup, the Huskers went 4 minutes without scoring while the Sooners extended their one-point lead to 64-55 after Tony Crocker's three-point play off a botched shot with 1:21 remaining.
Crocker headed to the basket along the right baseline and went for a scoop shot that caught nothing but air. He was able to recover in time to catch it, and got fouled by McCray in the process.
Johnson finished with 15 points and Crocker added 12 for the Sooners, whose only loss came in a 96-88 shootout at Arkansas on Dec. 30.
Ryan Anderson scored 19 to lead the Cornhuskers, but all but two came in the first half. Steve Harley had 11 points and Sek Henry added 10. Nebraska, which had been giving up only 55.8 points per game, allowed more than 65 for the first time this season.
"Our guys fought, man," Sadler said. "Our guys fought hard."
Anderson was a surprising star for the Huskers. He had started Nebraska's first 10 games but was taken out of the lineup as his production continued to drop. He hadn't made a shot in his last two games and had reached double figures only once this season with an 11-point performance against Alabama State.
He was thrust into action early when starter Ade Dagunduro hurt his tailbone on a hard fall after going up for a rebound, and then got even more playing time after Dagunduro got into foul trouble.
Anderson hit four of his first six 3-pointers and had 17 points in the first half as the Huskers led by as many as seven before Johnson's free throw brought Oklahoma to 38-32 at halftime.
Anderson was back on the bench at the start of the second half and never got it going again. His only points after halftime came on a jumper with 1:13 left that finally ended Oklahoma's decisive run.
"It doesn't always look pretty, it drives me crazy sometimes," Capel said. "But I like being 18-1."
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In Which The Last Picture Show Reminds Me Why I Love Movies
January 8, 2013 · by Supreme Being · in Active Observation, Best Of Mind Control, I Like to Watch. ·
Wind blows dust and leaves through a small Texas town. Everything is fading, everything is dying. Cracked, dirty windows obscure the view. The pool hall is empty, its screen door banging in the wind. A kid with a broom sweeps the street all day long. It never gets any cleaner. No one goes to the picture show anymore. The theater marquee is blank, the hope for the future seen in its last presentation, Red River, existing only in the movies. Sam The Lion remembers a girl from twenty years ago. She was wild then. She was married and miserable and young and wild. Now she’s still married, and still miserable. And Ruth Popper, she too is married and miserable. She hasn’t left her husband because she was raised not to. Sonny comes into her life and suddenly her world is full of colors. They don’t last either. The town of Anarene is blowing away.
Peter Bogdanovich shot The Last Picture Show (’71) in black & white because Orson Welles told him to. Smart guy, that Orson. Black & white movies are imbued with age no matter when they were made. They too are suggestive of a fading past. Bogdanovich, a film historian before he ventured into directing, is in love with old movies, with eras disappeared, with the notion of time swallowing up everything and leaving only dust behind. All of which he brings to The Last Picture Show. It’s his second feature, following his debut, Targets (’68), made on the cheap for Roger Corman, whose requirements, aside from the low budget, were that Bogdanovich use Boris Karloff (who still owed Corman two days of work), and parts of Corman’s own film The Terror. Samuel Fuller helped Bogdanovich with the screenplay. Targets wasn’t a hit, but it made an impression, and gave Bogdanovich his start.
The Last Picture Show is based on the novel by Larry McMurtry, his third. McMurtry collaborated with Bogdanovich on the screenplay, but didn’t enjoy it. He’d already written the story once. Having read the book, I think this is one of those rare instances where the movie is better. It’s better because the strength of the performances allows what in the book are pages of inner dialogues to be shown through nothing more than a look in someone’s eyes, how they carry themselves, the way they’re framed in a shot. The movie does what cinema does best: it shows us the inner lives of people without words getting in the way.
Cloris Leachman as Ruth
The final scene may be the best example of all (don’t fear, this won’t spoil anything). It’s the emotional core of the movie. Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) returns to the older woman with whom he had an affair, Ruth (the incomparably brilliant Cloris Leachman, about whom more in a moment). In the book there are pages spent describing the swirl of emotion going through her head, every angry thought she’s had in the last three months, every depressing vision of her waning life, every thwarted hope for a future that can’t be, everything the affair and its end mean for her, and why they mean what they do. In the movie she has one emotionally explosive speech, not a long one. Sonny says not a word. As she holds his hand she tries to say more, but can’t get out the words. In her face we see those pages of writing. It’s all there, her entire journey. From a place of mad havoc to a kind of inner peace. She says her last line, the same as in the book, and it’s among the most powerful moments I’ve ever seen in a movie.
Cybill Shepard and Jeff Bridges
The story focuses on one year in the life of Anarane, Texas, ’51 to ‘52. The teenagers are Sonny and Duane (Jeff Bridges), football players who, the old-timers remind them in a running joke, never learned to tackle, and Jacy (Cybill Shepard), the pretty rich girl who plays with men until she’s bored, leaving wrecks in her wake. Bogdanovich discovered Shepard on the cover of a magazine. It’s one of the those great examples of a filmmaker using someone who’s not an actor in a way that relies more on who they are than what they’re able to play. Famously, Bogdanovich began an affair with Shepard during the production, which essentially killed his marriage, though his wife, production designer Polly Platt, says she put all her personal issues aside and finished the movie anyway. Bogdanovich continued to use Shepard in movies to worse and worse effect, refusing to listen to those (i.e. everyone) who told him she couldn’t act and was sinking his career. Not until his career was sunk did he seem to realize what he’d done. After The Last Picture Show he made a couple more somewhat successful pictures, followed by a series of terrible ones, all of which bombed. He never made another movie as good as The Last Picture Show.
Timothy Bottoms and Eileen Brennan
Among the older townspeople is Sam The Lion, played by Ben Johnson, a veteran of westerns. He didn’t want to do to the movie. Too much dialogue, he said. Bogdanovich got John Ford to call him and convince him. Johnson anchors the movie, same as he anchors the town of Anarane.
Ben Johnson as Sam The Lion
The other best scene of the movie is all his, when he takes Sonny and his own son Billy (Sam Bottoms) to an old watering hole, and talks about the wild woman he knew in his youth. Bogdanovich shoots the scene like he does the rest of the movie: subtly and with care, giving great power to the simplest of camera moves. Sam sits on a log. As Sonny sits beside him the camera pushes in slightly. Sam begins his speech. As the sun breaks through the clouds (nice work, sun), the camera begins pushing in slowly, until only Sam is in the frame. He continues, and we pull back. Finally, a last pull-back to where we began, as the scene fades out. Too many directors use tight close-ups and endless, rapid cutting to shoot emotionally powerful scenes. When done purposefully, simple camera movements are far more meaningful and emotional.
Sonny and Duane decide on a whim one night to drive to Mexico. Sam sees them in their truck as they’re about to leave. He says if he were younger, he’d go with them. He takes a long moment, then. Sam’s thinking hard about coming along, but knows he can’t. His wild years are over. He stands back watching the truck drive away.
Sonny and Jacy
A lot is said in The Last Picture Show with nothing more than a look. In a later scene (which, okay, is another best scene in the movie), when Jacy’s mom Lois (Ellen Burstyn) drives Sonny home, they too have an unspoken moment after each tells the other they can see what Sam saw in them. There’s a pause where she considers Sonny with a little smile, then says, “Nope, I’m just gonna go on home.” In her younger days, she would have jumped him.
Ellen Burstyn as Jacy’s mom Lois
Sex plays a big part in The Last Picture Show. Every sex scene manages to be in one way or another uncomfortable, sad, brief, scary—in every case, far from romantic. There’s poor Billy, who never talks, just sweeps the road all day long. The other kids decide to get him laid, take him to an obese whore in the backseat of a car. It’s not pretty. Sonny and Ruth’s first sexual encounter is preceded by their first kiss, outside, standing over a garbage can. When they make love, she clings to him, turns her face away and cries. The bed squeaks and through her tears we see a woman for whom nothing has ever gone right. There’s a rich boy who won’t sleep with Jacy if she’s a virgin. She decides to let Duane go all the way with her, then lies on the motel bed insulting him, demanding that he “just stick it in!”, the poor guy. The hottest sex scene is also the most disturbing. Jacy lures her mom’s older lover to the empty pool hall, where he takes her on top of the pool table. Two shots in the scene are close-ups of Jacy’s hands reaching through the netting of the table’s pockets, and holding on tight.
One of my favorite performances by any actor in anything is Cloris Leachman as Ruth. She portrays a whole life without having to say a word (not that she doesn’t have lines, it’s that all you need to know is in her eyes). Bogdanovich refused to let her rehearse the crucial final scene in front of him, said he wanted to see it the day they shot it and not before. She did the scene once. He said “Cut it and print it.” He wouldn’t let her do another take. Now that’s a ballsy move for a director.
time for a naked pool party
There’s not a bad performance in here. Randy Quaid shows up as a dorky rich kid, Eileen Brennan is wonderful as the tired café waitress, and Clu Gulager (who I will always have a soft spot for based on his role in The Return of The Living Dead) nails the creepy Abilene, a man of few words and many lovers. More impressive still is that none of the actors was a star at the time. Shepard and Bridges and Quaid had never been in anything. Many of the others were just starting out, or like Leachman was really only known for television work. Leachman and Johnson won Oscars for their performances. Bridges and Burstyn were nominated.
Clu Gulager as Abilene
The movie is shot by Robert Surtees, who got his start in ’43. He turns the town into its own character. The wind always blowing. The streets empty. Wide, cold panoramas, dark interiors. Every scene is full of life, even if that life is drifting away with the leaves. There’s no music score, only source music coming from radios and record players, of songs popular at the time, mostly by Hank Williams Sr. (“Blue Velvet” also plays, making me think of Lynch’s Blue Velvet, which makes me think of the lone traffic signal hanging on a cable over the road in Twin Peaks. There’s the same lone signal in The Last Picture Show.)
Sam The Lion waves goodbye
The Last Picture Show isn’t exactly depressing, despite the seeming bleakness. It’s a coming of age story intertwined with the story of an age coming to an end. And it suggests that this is the way of every age, that it’s happening now, and will forever continue to happen. What happens to these kids shouldn’t be read as bad or awful or miserable; what happens to them happens to every kid. Youth isn’t romantic to those living it, it’s romantic to those remembering it. The past is romantic, and it’s forever vanishing. It’s as though the characters are nostalgic for the present.
Late in the movie, Sonny and the other kids, newly graduated, driving to some kind of party, pass the watering hole where Sam gave his speech, and tears fill Sonny’s eyes. He cries for Sam, for Ruth, for himself, for the fading past.
no more picture shows
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9 responses on “In Which The Last Picture Show Reminds Me Why I Love Movies”
Evil Genius January 8, 2013 at 10:10 am · · Reply →
This may be the best thing you’ve written for this site yet.
When I showed Last Picture Show to Dr. Genius, it was only halfway through, when some breasts are bared, that she realized the film wasn’t shot in the 40s. That’s how convincing it is. Last Picture Show starts and you’re in it. You aren’t watching a movie.
Everything about it is brilliant.
Supreme Being January 8, 2013 at 12:16 pm · · Reply →
why thank you, sir. it is an inspiring movie.
thatmashguy (@thatmashguy) January 11, 2013 at 2:54 am · · Reply →
catching up on a few post. This was a great read.
Another one of the films mentioned in Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders and Raging Bulls I think, still not watched it.
Supreme Being January 11, 2013 at 10:03 am · · Reply →
oh yeah, Bogdanovich’s insanity is all over that book. and as you may have gleaned from this post, i highly recommend watching this movie. (well, after you watch Time Bandits, anyway).
Jason Streitfeld August 25, 2013 at 9:21 am · · Reply →
I saw Peter Bogdanovich present Targets and The Lady From Shanghai at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX. Targets was great. The other was not as memorable, though he did say that it marked the end of his relationship with Cybil Shepard. I’m pretty sure he said it had something to do with the prostitutes in Shanghai. Anyway, I always thought Paper Moon was his best, but it’s been about a decade since I’ve seen either that or The Last Picture Show. I think I need to rewatch both. (PS, even more memorable than Targets may have been his impressions of Cary Grant and Orson Welles.)
He’s a great story-teller for sure, always fun to hear him talk about the old days. I re-watched Paper Moon recently and didn’t like it nearly as much as I remembered liking it long ago. Something about it felt a bit fake. But surely it’d be an excellent double bill with Last Picture Show.
Evil Genius August 25, 2013 at 9:35 am · · Reply →
Hmm… I think your memory may be off? Lady From Shanghai is a 1947 Orson Welles film — and it’s fantastic. I can picture that being a double feature with Targets but not how Bogdanovich could blame Shanghai for his break up with Shepard. If memory serves, he broke up with Shepard for Dorothy Stratton, who was then murdered by her husband.
Targets I haven’t seen. Paper Moon is pretty good but you’ll want to watch Last Picture Show again. It’s in a whole other league of filmmaking.
BTW, read your piece on Affleck on your blog. I think it’s all got something to do with our immediate gratification culture and I’m trying to find the time to write something coherent about it…
Jason Streitfeld August 25, 2013 at 12:46 pm · · Reply →
Wow, yeah. Completely. It was Saint Jack, and Singapore, not Shanghai. And the way he told the story, he didn’t break up with her. She’d had enough of him. More specifically, if my memory serves (I know I haven’t give you much reason to trust it, but . . . ), she was tired of his promiscuous tendencies. I think we both want another source before we trust my memory on this, but I’m not completely making it up.
By “we both,” I mean “we all.” And by “promiscuous tendencies,” I mean I think he suggested (without outright admitting) that he was getting it on with some of the prostitutes he used while filming the movie. Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing those other two Bogdanovich movies again. I only saw them each once.
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David Byrne Announces Special Color Guard Performances, “Contemporary Color”
Featuring Music Written by St. Vincent, Dev Hynes, How to Dress Well, tUnE-yArDs, and More
Always the experimentalist David Byrne has announced a partnership with the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Toronto’s Luminato Festival for special set of shows called Contemporary Color, pairing original music with color guard performances. In addition to Byrne's own compositions, artists such as St. Vincent, Blood Orange's Dev Hynes, tUnE-yArDs, How to Dress Well, Kelis, and Nelly Furtado while be providing their own pieces for the color guard teams of the U.S. and Canada.
Contemporary Color is scheduled to take place June 22 and 23 at Toronto's Air Canada Centre as part of the Luminato Festival, as well as June 27 and 28 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.
First introduced to color guard in 2008 when he was asked to contribute a piece of music to a performance, Byrne says after watch a DVD of the show "I was stunned at what I was seeing and being a musician I naturally wondered to myself: what if these performances had really great live music? Wouldn’t that lift it to another level?" Byrne goes on to describe the performances of Contemporary Color as "the biggest glitter cannon show of your life."
Scroll down below to watch a trailer for Contemporary Color, formatted as part of a fake high school news program.
(http://davidbyrne.com)
Pixx Shares Strange Lyric Video for “Duck Out” (News) — Pixx
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Home Hot News Robin Yap awarded Gold Medal for Tourism from ATOUT France
Robin Yap awarded Gold Medal for Tourism from ATOUT France
Hotelier Indonesia at July 08, 2017 Hot News,
The Travel Corporation President, Asia – Robin Yap awarded Gold Medal for Tourism from ATOUT France
Singapore, 8 July 2017 – Robin Yap, Asia President of The Travel Corporation received the prestigious Gold Medal for Tourism (“Médaille d’or du Tourisme”) from Atout France, the France tourism development agency, on 7 July 2017. The award was presented by His Excellency Marc ABENSOUR, Ambassador of France to Singapore at his excellency’s residence.
Operating in 60 countries, The Travel Corporation (TTC) is a highly successful international travel group with over 25 award winning brands. These include Insight Vacations, Trafalgar Tours, Contiki Holidays, Uniworld Cruises, Thompson Gateway Africa, Red Carnation Hotels and other leisure interests.
The Tourism Medal was created in 1989 and is the most prestigious token of recognition awarded by the French Tourism Industry. It is described as an honorary award for outstanding and valuable professionalism, either in France or abroad, to those who have contributed throughout their career to the development of tourism in France. The medal is awarded to individuals either in France or abroad, and Robin Yap is the second person in Singapore to receive this honour.
On presenting the medal, His Excellency Marc ABENSOUR said, “On behalf of the French Tourism industry, I am delighted to give the Gold Tourism Medal to Robin Yap, The Travel Corporation, President, Asia to honour and thank him for being a true ambassador for our country. Robin has been a voluntary member of our International Advisory Board from 2005 and this award is our way of showing him our appreciation for his active role in promoting French tourism. “
“I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious award from Atout France and from His Excellency Marc Abensour, Ambassador of France to Singapore. I am a firm believer that Tourism plays a key role in promoting mutual understanding and respect between countries. At The Travel Corporation (TTC), we understand that travel matters and we are deeply passionate about sharing our love for travel. Through enriching experiences, our guests can gain a deeper understanding of each destination, learning about history, culture and cuisine of the people they meet along the way,” said Robin Yap, The Travel Corporation, Asia President.
We also recognize that it is our responsibility to protect the places we visit and take care of the world around us. Hence, we established TreadRight Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that works to help ensure the environment and communities we visit remain vibrant and preserved for generations to come. To date, TreadRight has supported more than 40 sustainable tourism projects worldwide. Therefore, promoting tourism is definitely not a one-man show and I humbly receive this award on behalf of The Travel Corporation and all my travel agency partners in Singapore.” added Yap.
Robin serves as a member of the Advisory Council of Pacific Asia Travel Association’s (PATA) Singapore Chapter and member of Outbound Travel Committee of National Association of Travel Agents (NATAS).
He is deeply passionate about sports, and counts bowling and cycling as his two favourite sports. Robin is currently Chairman of Singapore Bowling Pte Ltd, a business unit of Singapore Bowling Federation and Resource Advisor of Singapore Bowling Federation, which seeks to promote bowling in Singapore.
Robin is active in community work and has volunteered with several grassroots committees. He is currently serving his seventh term as District Councillor of the Northwest Community Development Council of Singapore and is Patron of the Canberra Community Club Management Committee.
Robin was conferred the Pingat Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Medal), PBM by the President of Singapore in 2010, and a Community Long Service Medal in 2015 by the Mayor of the Northwest District for rendering commendable public service in Singapore.
About The Travel Corporation
Operating in 60 countries, TTC (The Travel Corporation) offers an extensive selection of award-winning international travel and tourism companies including Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Contiki Holidays, The Red Carnation Hotel Collection, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, and more. TTC is committed to sustainable tourism through the TreadRight Foundation which has to date donated more than two million dollars to sustainable tourism projects worldwide. www.ttc.com. To learn more about TreadRight, please visit TreadRight.org
About Atout France:
Atout France is the France Tourism Development Agency, responsible for promoting France worldwide & developing France’s tourism economy. As the French government's sole operator regarding the promotion of all aspects of tourism in France, we provide services and events for tourism professionals (press, tour operators and travel agents as well as event planners) and information to the general public. We work in partnership with public and private organizations and companies involved in the tourism industry, i.e. over 1,200 members representing the whole spectrum of France's tourism sector, as well as with local partners all over the world. Atout France is the official government agency whose mission is to develop travel and tourism to France. It specialties cover: Tourism, Travel, Marketing, Advertising, Media Relations / PR, Partnerships, Event Planning, Social Media, Advice, Sales missions, Branding, Strategy.
Photo Credit : The Travel Corporation
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washingtonpost.com > World > Middle East
Page 3 of 4 <
At a Crossroads, Saudi King Tests the Winds of Reform
(By Amr Nabil -- Associated Press)
Abdullah has been very careful not to allow himself to be seen as a northern or Shammar partisan, which could split the kingdom on tribal lines. "He's a fair man. He's not going to give favors," said Saleh Shurayhi, leader of the Shammar in Hail.
In a family sometimes stereotyped for ostentatious living, Abdullah is seen by many as reserved, sincere and somewhat ascetic. He moved to end the royal family's habit of flying for free on the national airline, and of princes not paying electricity and water bills.
The new king is also frequently described as curt, and sometimes blunt. Prince Turki al Faisal, the onetime Saudi intelligence chief and next ambassador to the United States, recalled when the leader of a country he declined to name visited Abdullah in Riyadh while he was still crown prince: "I want to tell you something I hear about you," Turki quoted Abdullah as saying. "I hear that the money that comes from us in aid goes to your pocket. I'm not saying this. I hear this from people in your country."
"He brooks no niceties," Turki said. " If you make your argument short and sweet, you will get a short and sweet answer. If your speech is flowery with a lot of insubstantial wording and vocabulary, he will be polite but ask you, 'Why didn't you say it this way?' "
Abdullah's base has long been the National Guard, a praetorian army drawn from the country's tribes, including the Shammar, which maintains several battalions in its ranks. On most Wednesday afternoons, Abdullah conducts his majlis, a meeting open to the public, from the guard's headquarters. One son is a senior general in the guard, and other sons hold key positions. Even as king, he has yet to surrender his title as its commander.
While the guard is Abdullah's main source of power, patronage and protection, there are competing groups, including a set of influential family clans known as the Sudeiris, who control many important parts of the government.
Two of these brothers command other wings of the Saudi security apparatus: Abdullah's first deputy and crown prince, Sultan, is defense minister, in charge of the kingdom's military forces, while Sultan's brother, Nayef, runs the Interior Ministry, in charge of vast national police forces, including the domestic secret services. Another Sudeiri, Salman, serves as governor of Riyadh, where he has earned a reputation as a mediator within the family.
The sheer extent of the Sudeiri hold on government checks Abdullah's potential as king, many Saudis believe. While he has built good relations with Sultan and others in the clan, he is still outnumbered in his own court. "The National Guard will help him as a shield, but he can never use it as a sword," said Bassim Alim, a lawyer, writer and democratic activist. "The civil service is loyal to the Sudeiris. The National Guard is not involved with the daily life of the people. That's all the Interior Ministry," which also controls the kingdom's ubiquitous road checkpoints and border security.
A Country's Future
If there is one edgy theme to Abdullah's ascension, it is uncertainty about the future of his relationship with his half brother Nayef, the interior minister.
Although the seniority rules are not strict and depend on a family consensus, many see Nayef as next in line, perhaps sooner rather than later. Yet reformers see him as a powerful obstacle to change, a man close to the clergy, and inculcated with the inflexibility that comes with enforcing a sometimes draconian security regime. Nayef eschews the word "reform" for "development," preferring a term that does not suggest the system needs fixing.
The issue may come to a head in Abdullah's choice of second deputy prime minister, who would be second in line to the throne.
In January 2004 at the National Guard headquarters, Abdullah met more than a dozen reformers, among them the three jailed until their release this month. They presented their demands: greater room for political discourse, an independent judiciary and power exercised within constitutional limits. In a conversation that lasted more than an hour, Abdullah was said to have listened closely. "Your demands are my project," he told them.
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washingtonpost.com > World > Europe
Riots Spread Across France And Into Paris
By Molly Moore
Washington Post Foreign Service
PARIS, Nov. 6 -- Violence and arson spilled from the suburbs of Paris to at least 15 cities across France Saturday, as police and government officials struggled unsuccessfully for the 10th day to stem the expanding unrest.
Early Sunday, the Interior Ministry said the disturbances had spread to the capital itself where 11 vehicles were burned, the Associated Press reported.
Police said groups of young men torched nearly 900 vehicles and at least a dozen schools, police stations and youth centers around the country. Though the unrest remained concentrated in the poor suburbs ringing Paris, violence erupted in Strasbourg near the German border, Bordeaux in the southwest, Rouen in Normandy and Orleans in the Loire Valley.
Tactics were similar in all areas: mobile bands of youths set random blazes, according to police and local news media accounts. Police responded more aggressively -- about 258 suspects were arrested Friday night -- but remained largely helpless in preventing the violence, the most serious to hit France since the student riots of 1968.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called eight ministers and a senior Muslim cleric to his offices in an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the violence, but President Jacques Chirac maintained his silence. Chirac has not publicly addressed the crisis since it began Oct. 27 after two teenagers from the Paris suburbs were electrocuted at a power substation while dodging a police checkpoint.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who called the rioters "scum" in the opening days of unrest, toned down his language to reporters after Saturday's emergency meeting. "Violence is not a solution," Sarkozy said. "Once the crisis is over, everyone will have to understand there are a certain number of injustices in some neighborhoods. We are trying to be firm and avoid any provocation. We have to avoid any risk of explosion."
Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Great Mosque of Paris, told reporters after the meeting: "What I want from authorities -- from Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, the prime minister and senior officials -- are words of peace."
While fewer incidents of arson were reported in the towns hardest-hit in the first days of rioting, violence flared dramatically in other surrounding communities, police reported.
Youths in the eastern suburban town of Meaux hurled rocks at paramedics attempting to evacuate a sick patient from a housing project, then set the waiting ambulance ablaze, according to police. In the town of Acheres, west of Paris, rioters burned a nursery school and a dozen cars. In Torcey, to the east of the city, rioters set a youth center and a police station ablaze.
Police said almost 900 cars, trucks and buses were torched, nearly twice the number as the previous night.
Residents and civic leaders held small, quiet marches in several towns in the Paris suburbs to protest the violence. In Aulnay-sous-Bois, Nadjia Chouiter, a 16-year-old student, joined about 300 demonstrators who marched behind a firetruck with rock-shattered windows.
"I'm here because we're sick of the violence," she said. "And we're scared."
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washingtonpost.com > Opinions
Did someone say we're at war?
By Matt Miller
If we keep taxes low on America's high earners, the terrorists win.
Or at least they'll have a point.
The way we've compartmentalized our current tax debate - and kept it hermetically sealed from the fact that we're a nation at war - is evidence of the moral rot from which our enemies say America suffers.
Listen to the back-and-forth in Washington. Nothing would be different in the way this debate sounds if we were not borrowing $150 billion a year to fund more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Where's the outrage?" is always the last gasp of those losing the debate, but this should shock us all. Never before have Americans made it a national priority to keep taxes low on the best-off at a time of war. This argument is MIA today because, for 99 percent of us, the wars that presidents of both parties have deemed critical for national security don't touch our lives at all.
As Robert Gates has pointed out, "the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns represent the first protracted large-scale conflicts since our Revolutionary War fought entirely by volunteers. Indeed, no major war has been fought with a smaller percentage of this country's citizens in uniform full-time."
Less than 1 percent of us serve today.
To be fair to Democrats, a majority in the House and Senate wanted to let tax cuts for the top expire. But since we don't have majority rule in the Senate, this didn't suffice. Why couldn't Democrats have hammered this home? Why didn't they say there's something wrong when 41 Republicans can mandate an immoral outcome - immoral not because tax relief for the best-off is inherently wrong (it's obviously not), but because it's wrong at a time of war and surging debt?
"There's something preposterous about a nation that has been 'at war' for almost a decade, yet insists on remaining completely oblivious to the implications," says Andrew Bacevich, the retired army colonel and Vietnam veteran who now writes and teaches at Boston University. Bacevich lost a son in Iraq.
"What's troubling is the moral aspect," he told me. "Are we citizens or are we not?"
When I make this case - most recently in cable news "debates" - conservatives won't engage. They act as if I'm beaming in with arguments from another planet.
"How can we talk about this as if the economic debate is totally segregated from the fact that we're at war?" I say.
"The real war is the class war being waged by Democrats against job creators," runs a typical reply. Can this resort to the same old talking points be serious?
One conservative wrote this week that "the politics of higher taxes now rests almost purely on stoking resentment." But that's absurd. I'm in the top marginal bracket and don't resent myself a bit.
Isn't it obvious that the question is how the burden of war should be shared?
"We're not spending that much on the wars anyway," is a final GOP argument I've heard. Huh? Since when did $150 billion a year - more than a trillion all told on both wars - not count as "a lot"?
All of it borrowed.
During the Civil War, the ability of the well-off to buy their way out of service actually made them fear a backlash and helped spur passage of America's first (temporary) income tax. Today, by contrast, there's no stigma attached to calling for extended tax relief for the top while hiring poor people (or private armies) to do the dirty work of empire.
Why is this an orphan argument? Democrats are either blind to it or don't want to remind folks of unpopular wars. John McCain circa 2000 might have made this case, back when he fought the original Bush tax cuts for their tilt to the rich. And that was before our endless wars began. But no one's seen that John McCain for years.
I never thought I'd say this, but Sarah Palin is my Hail Mary pass.
Suppose Palin said tomorrow that she'd talked it over with her son, the Iraq veteran, and concluded that now is not the time to devote $120 billion over the next two years to ease taxes for comfortable families like her own. The money could be better used on deeper payroll tax cuts that would really boost jobs, or to help pay for our wars. She'd call us to our highest values as nation, saying we're all in this together.
Does anyone doubt that if she tweeted thus the impact would be thunderous?
What about it, Ms. P?
Matt Miller, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and co-host of public radio's "Left, Right & Center," writes a weekly column for The Post. He can be reached at mattino2@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mattmillernow.
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Watertown News (http://www.watertownmanews.com/2016/12/16/patriots-day-filmmakers-wanted-to-get-it-right-for-survivors-first-responders/)
Patriots Day Filmmakers Wanted to ‘Get it Right’ for Survivors, First Responders
By Charlie Breitrose | December 16, 2016
Karen Ballard / CBS Films
Mark Wahlberg plays a Boston Police officer in “Patriots Day.” He was also a producer of the film about the Boston Marathon Bombings.
Getting it right was so important to the team behind the Boston Marathon Bombing movie, “Patriots Day,” that it became their motto.
Producer and star Mark Wahlberg said he initially was hesitant to take on the task of telling the story of the attacks on his hometown, but knew there were other efforts to capture the story of the Marathon Bombings. He wanted to capture the “strength our community showed and how well we came together,” he said at Thursday’s press conference for the movie.
“I’m so damn proud of how my city responded,” he said.
He was concerned how the film would be received in Boston but finally got confirmation after Wednesday’s premiere.
“It was a huge sense of relief,” Wahlberg said. “I think it was the reaction I thought it would be.”
He worked with Boston Police to shape his character, Tommy Saunders, who was a compilation of several officers responding to the attacks and participated in the investigation and manhunt. He said the two Boston Police officers that were the biggest inspiration were Sgt. Danny Keeler and Det. Bobby Merner.
Producers also enlisted some of the Watertown Police officers involved in the shootout – Jeff Pugliese and John MacLellan – with the bombers to get that scene right.
Former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said the filmmakers “nailed it.”
“They squeezed an amazing amount of detail in two hours,” Davis said.
But the attacks were not, and the movie is not, just about the police and first responders. It is about the victims and the survivors of the bombings.
According to the Boston Globe, producers originally approached the family of Martin Richard about making him the focus of the movie, but the family did not want to be included. In the final version, much of the film focuses on the survivors of the attacks.
Richard DesLauriers, the FBI Speical Agent in Charge of the investigation, said the often visited survivors and they provided a source of inspiration.
“They are one of the most heroic demonstrations of strength,” DesLauriers said. “I never left Spaulding Hospital without tears in my eyes.”
Charlie Breitrose
Marathon Bombing survivor Jessica Kensky chats with Dun Meng, the man carjacked by the Bombers, at the press conference for “Patriots Day.” Watertown Police Sgt. Jeff Pugliese (right), who took on the Tsarnaevs in the Watertown Shootout, also attended.
The story of Jessica Kensky and her husband Patrick Downes, both of whom had both legs amputated after the bombing, plays a big part in the story of Patriots Day.
“The question, did they get it right? I think that’s an impossible question for a survivor,” Kenksy said. “I think that’s what I realized (at the premier), that this movie is never going to feel ‘right’ to them because what happened to us was anything by right.”
Kenksy said Wednesday that when she and her husband got the call about participating in a movie documenting the attacks she thought it would be an opportunity to get a nice lunch but she did not think that they would really do it.
Wahlberg was amazed by how Kensky and Downes reacted during the recreation of the bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line.
“When we were filming ‘Lone Survivor,’ I worked with the toughest Navy Seals I have met and he could not be on set for certain scenes,” Wahlberg said. “When Jess and Patrick wanted to come down to the Finish Line set, we said we don’t think that’s a good idea. They said ‘we have been through this in real life.'”
While one might expect reliving the horror of the attacks on screen would be the worst of it, that was not the case for Kensky and other survivors.
“What I heard was it was so hard to see the bombers on screen,” Kensky said.
The Bombers
Asked about putting the Tsarnaev brothers on screen, Berg said they thought long about how to portray them.
“We didn’t want to portray them as righteous men,” Berg said. “They are not real Muslims. They are cowardly and hypocritical.”
Wahlberg said he is not worried about the moving stirring up anti-Muslim sentiment.
“All of the Muslim brothers I know are about love and peace and unity,” Wahlberg said.
Kensky said she was glad the movie told the story of the heroism shown by people after the attacks, particularly Dun Meng, the Chinese immigrant who was carjacked by the Tsarnaevs but escaped and alerted police.
“I’m not sure I would have the bravery he showed,” Kensky said.
Downes said he hopes the legacy of the Marathon Bombings is how Boston responded.
“The goal of terrorism is to pull us apart,” Downes said. “We have shown how to respond in the way we came together.”
Much of the source material for Patriots Day comes from the work of Michael Radutzky and his colleagues at “60 Minutes.” Within hours of the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, they were on the ground researching the story behind the bombings and the aftermath. In the reporting, what struck him was the heroic, selfless acts by police and first responders.
Radutzky, who is one of the film’s producers, said he worked with the right people to turn the story into a Hollywood film, Wahlberg and director Peter Berg.
“Mark and Peter shared the same goals as 60 Minutes, to make sure the story is accurate and present it accurately,” Radutzky said.
Berg had his own up-close view of terrorism. He was in Nice, France, when a man drove a truck into a crowd of people on Bastille Day 2016, killing 86 people. The immediate reaction was similar to the attacks in Boston – everyday people running to assist the first responders to tend to the injured.
“My son asked, ‘Why,'” Berg said. “The why is important, but I don’t think we will every find out exactly why.
“We want to show how evil doesn’t win. That love wins.”
4 thoughts on “Patriots Day Filmmakers Wanted to ‘Get it Right’ for Survivors, First Responders”
Bruce Gellerman on December 17, 2016 at 10:43 AM said:
As a reporter for WBUR I was on Boylston St 20 minutes after the bombing, I continued to report from downtown the next 4 day and was on Mt Auburn & Franklin st @ 1:10 am on 4/19 minutes after the shoot out. I continue to investigate What happened and have many questions but I’ll ask just one here: why did the brothers come to Watertown that night?
Marian on December 17, 2016 at 8:07 PM said:
That’s a good question. I don’t know the answer, but I believe they had some familiarity with Watertown. I remember reading that the older brother had a friend who lived on Boylston St. and that he and other friends used to hang out at his house frequently. They hadn’t been in touch in a while, I think several years, but it at least indicates some familiarity with the town.
The day before the bombing the bombings tamerlan bought 2 backpacks at Target in Watertown yet there was a target just a few blocks from his apt in cambridge and only 1 of the backpacks was used in the bombings. I know about his friend on Boylston. He was living there the night of the shootout. Tamerlan seems to have been know by others in town. And he certainly knew his way around the web of streets in that area.
Charlie Breitrose on December 18, 2016 at 11:18 AM said:
I heard recently from a resident that he got a pizza delivered to his home by Tameralan.
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Keep Up
Tori Tees
Tori Anchors U.S. to 4 x 100 Meter Gold
ToriBowie.com Staff 2017-02-09T03:59:12+00:00 August 20th, 2016|Keep Up|
Tori Bowie shined brightly in her first Olympics, and her final run of the games was golden.
Tori anchored the U.S. women in the 4 x 100 meter final on Friday night and closed strong to bring the gold back home to the United States. The victory gave the 25-year-old, who won silver in the individual 100 and bronze in the 200 earlier in these 2016 Olympic Games, a medal of each kind as she finishes up her first Olympic Games. That golden one is one she’ll treasure.
“This gold medal means the world to me. This is one of the moments I’ll never forget. This is my first gold medal at the Olympics,” she said after the race. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely content with my silver and bronze medals. But once I won the gold, I fell in love!”
It took an all-out full team effort to make it happen.
Tori was setup for success by a phenomenal start from her U.S. teammates. Despite starting out of Lane 1, the Americans got out to a lead thanks to 2016 Women’s Long Jump gold medalist Tianna Bartoletta. She was followed by U.S. track icon Allyson Felix who pushed her medal total up to nine, including six golds, in Rio. Then came 2016 U.S. 100-meter champion English Gardner, who handed off to Tori with a big lead.
“I had full confidence in Tori Bowie,” said Gardner. “I knew she was going to be able to get the job done, finish the race. I remember telling her, don’t worry, I’m going to clean up anything that’s left on the third leg, you’ll just have a smooth ride home. All you’ve got to do is hit gear five and go straight down.”
Matched up against two-time 100-meter gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, TB took the baton with the lead and held off her Jamaican counterpart, streaking to the line for the win to finish off a 41.01-second 400 for the U.S. women, the second fastest in history.
Afterward, Tori spoke about the honor of anchoring Team USA to gold.
“I was determined, I know how competitive Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is,” the Mississippi native said. “I was determined to not let her catch me. I think my teammates did a wonderful job on the first three legs. I for sure didn’t want to be a disappointment.”
It’s the second straight gold for Team USA in the Women’s 4 x 100 meter relay at the Olympics, after the 2012 quartet broke a 16-year drought with a world record run of 40.82 seconds in London. The 2016 squad’s mark ranks second only to that in the history books.
But they almost didn’t have the opportunity to race at all, as controversy nearly knocked the U.S. out of the 4×100 meter field in the preliminary heats.
During their prelim run on Thursday morning, Team USA botched the baton exchange when Felix’s path to handoff to Gardner was impeded by a Brazilian runner. The U.S. did not complete the race, but appealed the result, and were granted a solo heat to try to make it into the field while Brazil was disqualified. The U.S. cruised through that solo heat in a time of 41.77, the fastest in the field, which knocked out China to qualify Team USA for the final round.
Tori and her squad still faced adversity in the final as the odd result placed them in lane No. 1—which is notorious for slower times and harder turns. But the U.S. was undeterred. Bartoletta, Felix and Gardner ran hard and passed the baton flawlessly, leaving it to Tori to close out their coronation.
“I feel like my teammates made this moment extremely easy for me. Everyone is so talented and motivated, so my job was easy,” TB said. “We have heart, to be in lane one and neither one of us ever doubted each other. I knew everyone was going to do an amazing job, and was going to do their job. I knew if all four ladies did their job, I knew we’d come out with a gold medal.”
When all was said and done, they did just that, with rival Jamaica close behind in 41.6 to take silver and Britain in third at 41.77 to claim the bronze. The finish also gave the Americans consecutive gold medal finishes in the event—the first repeats since the 1990s. With the Jamaican team having dominated the individual 100 and 200s for so long, Tori noted how important it was to the whole team to keep the 4×100 gold in the States.
“I think it was important. They’re amazing sprinters and well-known for the sprints,” she said of the Jamaican team. “But I knew we had to take tonight. Such an amazing moment.”
After watching the 2012 Olympic games from her couch nursing a freak injury, Tori finishes these Olympics as one of the world’s best athletes. Her hard work has earned her three medals, making her one of just 23 athletes in the world to win three or more medals at the 2016 Olympic Games and one of just 11 American athletes to do so.
She’s also established herself as one of the biggest breakout stars in the track-and-field world as she heads home for a hero’s welcome in her hometown of Sandhill, Mississippi.
“I’m excited, but I don’t think I’ve had a moment to have it sink in yet,” Tori said. “My dad asked me, ‘how does it feel.’ I said, ‘I don’t think it will hit me until I get off the plane in America.'”
Sprinter Tori Bowie: When I Saw My Gold Medal, ‘I Fell in Love’ (People.com, Aug 21, 2016)
U.S. Women Go From Gaffe To Gold in 4×100 Meter Relay (NY Times, Aug. 20, 2016)
Tori Bowie takes home a gold medal with 4×100 relay team (Clarion Ledger, Aug. 19, 2016)
Superstars Bartoletta, Bowie, Gardner, Felix Sprint To Team USA’s Second Straight 4×100-Meter Gold (TeamUSA.org, Aug. 19, 2016)
Athlete Quotes – Olympics, Day 8 (USATF, Aug. 19, 2016)
© Tori Bowie | Speed Force By Athlete Interactive
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Observatoire Européen du Logement Durable
European observatory of Transition
» Scotland's climate campaigning success
Scotland's climate campaigning success
Since its Climate Change Act in 2009, Scotland has been a frontrunner in the fight against climate change. This political success is also due to the great mobilisation of the civil society, which demanded new reforms for a greener country.
Scotland’s Climate Change Act remains one of the most ambitious piece of legislation regarding environmental matters. The legislation committed Scotland to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050. These objectives could not be met without the actions of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS), a coalition of around 60 organisations that succeeded in putting popular pressure on their Members of the Parliament to support the plan.
The country's natural assets and its interets in social justice have played an important role in citizen's awareness about climate issues. But there is nothing that could not be done elsewhere in Europe or in the world.
In the months to come, the coalition will launch the new ‘For the Love of’ campaign and build projects to mobilise people for a more sustainable environment. But it will also specifically aim at creating coalitions with partners around the COP 21 in Paris.
Sharing the love, an article from Beatrice White, published in the Green European Journal
Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009
‘For the Love of’ campaign
Photo par Angus /CC BY 2.0
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Welcome to test-consulting.com
By C. Redge. Flagler College.
Kohn’s commitment to helping members of – mundane and medical communities express themselves profound – of their goes back to his early years at Northeast Ohio Medical University buy actonel 35 mg with amex, where he founded an chosen profession order 35mg actonel visa. But it wasn’t until he had co-founded and begun co-directing the Center for Literature in Medicine at Northeast Ohio’s Hiram College that he had a real epiphany about arts and medicine. He had started collaborating with the then-named Great Lakes Theater Festival, working with theater artists on a narrative bioethics program and “It just opened up my world,” he said. In this way, his Medical Humanities program has sought to help students refect on their identity, their role in society and larger cultural patterns as they face the issues – mundane and profound – of their chosen profession. Kohn’s approach helps turn a young doctor like Bryan Sisk into a different type of physician: one who is not only a scientist, but a human being, as well. He found that the group writing exercises, thought-provoking speakers and the wide range of arts and media that made up his training in humanities at Lerner have given him the ability to cope better with his patients’ feelings and his own. The following best practices are important considerations when developing and implementing programs that bring together the arts and culture and the health and human services sectors: • Understanding context. Before embarking on an arts and health program, it is essential for all parties involved to develop a solid understanding of what populations will be served, what their specifc needs are and what available resources exist for implementing the program. It is essential that arts and culture practitioners recognize the unique strengths, challenges and backgrounds of each participant, as well as the resources and limitations of each healthcare setting. Funding arts and health programs can be challenging in light of lower levels of available philanthropic support, limitations on what types of activities are covered by insurance, and rising healthcare costs. The formation of strategic alliances can help broaden the base of philanthropic support, while research can provide evidence that documents the medical costs savings and other benefts associated with such interventions. In order to achieve full integration of, and participation in, arts and health activities, it is important to consider barriers to access. For example, artists who are not trained expressive arts therapists may not know how to get involved in healthcare facilities, healthcare providers might have preconceived ideas about the nature of arts and culture activities and patients may think they are not skilled enough to participate. Additionally, practical barriers may include diffculty traveling to arts and health programs, lack of funding for programs and inadequate space to carry out programs. Collaborations can yield numerous benefts such as the sharing of expertise, access to resources and greater effciency and effectiveness of service delivery. When the arts and health felds intersect, partnership offers a way to further humanize healthcare settings and empower patients to share their stories and interact with others in different ways. As with any collaboration, success is achievable only when the parties involved communicate regularly, set clear and measurable goals and delineate expectations. Populations being served should also be given opportunities to share their experiences and talk about what best meets their needs. The collection and dissemination of verifable, high-quality data are essential to bolstering the case for continued integration of the arts and culture and health and human services sectors. The most powerful accounts meld quantitative data into a patient’s personal journey. In this way, the patient’s story humanizes the numbers in data tables, while the data tables can lend verifability to the intrinsic values of arts and culture experience. Community Partnership for Arts and Culture 63 Creative Minds in Medicine • Educating the public, healthcare professionals and artists about the intersection. In order to foster and strengthen the intersection between arts and health, it is essential for arts and health stakeholders to be given opportunities to share their experiences and educate others about the different ways arts and health intersect. Since the intersection runs along a continuum that varies according to factors such as engagement, programmatic structure and goals, it is important to think about arts and health defnitions broadly to invite new avenues for participation. When introducing arts and culture into healthcare settings, strategies to ensure the maintenance of sterile environments are essential to protecting the safety of patients. For artists, gaining a shared understanding with healthcare providers during the development of arts and health projects can allow them to customize programming to meet the special needs of patients and understand how to best engage them in arts and culture activities. Conversely, for healthcare providers who are inviting artists to do work in their facilities, orientation sessions can be useful because artists’ levels of clinical experience with patients may vary. Such training can include primers on privacy requirements, workplace safety regulations, management of emotionally challenging situations and working with different populations. Recommendations for Future Policy The health and human services sector provides assistance to people from all backgrounds at some of the most defning moments of their lives. This white paper has highlighted four overarching views of how arts and culture intersect with the health and human services feld: through arts and culture integration in healthcare environments; direct patient engagement in arts and culture activities; community-based, arts and culture projects that address public health issues; and the incorporation of arts and culture in medical curricula. This paper has also shown a breadth of examples of what is happening between the arts and health felds in Cleveland. While not exhaustive, this white paper’s goal was to defne and identify a sampling of the strong body of work that is resulting from collaboration among the wealth of local arts and health assets. While Cleveland’s legacy as an industrial city has left it with signifcant challenges, it is also responsible for giving the city key assets that are defning its future.
To prevent the disease purchase actonel 35mg with amex, nonimmune persons who must go into the jungle should use insect repellents on exposed body parts and on clothing actonel 35 mg visa. Regular use of chemo- prophylaxis would be justified only if the nonimmune person had to live in an area where human malaria is endemic. A primate model for human cerebral malaria: Plasmodium coatneyi-infected rhesus monkeys. In: First Inter- American Conference on Conservation and Utilization of American Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical Research. Studies on transmission of simian malaria and on a natural infection of man with Plasmodium simium in Brazil. Sero-epidemiological stud- ies of malaria in Indian tribes of the Amazon Basin of Brazil. The evolution of primate malaria parasites based on the gene encoding cytochrome b from the linear mitochondial genome. A nonhuman primate model for human cerebral malaria: Rhesus monkeys experimentally infected with Plasmodium fragile. Plasmodium ovale: Observations on the parasite development in Saimiri monkey hepatocytes in vivo and in vitro in contrast with its inability to induce parasitemia. Hydrolytic enzymes of rhesus placenta during Plasmodium cynomolgi infection: Ultrastructural and biochemical studies. Although there are some 700 species that infect verte- brates and invertebrates, the species identified to date as parasites of man are Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Encephalitozoon intestinalis (formerly Septata intesti- nalis), Encephalitozoon hellem, Encephalitozoon cuniculi, and some species of the genera Nosema, Pleistophora, Trachipleistophora, and Vittaforma (Scaglia et al. Enterocytozoon causes intestinal infections almost exclusively, while Encephalitozoon may cause intestinal or systemic infections which may spread to various organs. Parasites of the genera Nosema, Pleistophora, Trachipleistophora, and Vittaforma are uncommon in man and do not affect the intestine (Field et al. Proof of the existence of isolates with genetic differences exists, at least within E. The genera Cryptosporidium, Isospora, and Cyclospora belong to a completely different phylum: Apicomplexa (formerly Esporozoa). Microsporidia are small intracellular protozoa that undergo a phase of asexual mul- tiplication—merogony—followed by a phase of sexual multiplication—sporogony— during which they produce spores, or oocysts, inside the infected cell. The spores are released from the host cell and are eliminated into the external environment, where they may infect other individuals. They are small, double-walled bodies measuring 1 µm to 3 µm which contain a parasitic cell, or sporoplasm, with one or two nuclei. At their anterior end, they have an extrusion apparatus, the polaroplast, which everts the polar tube or filament that is coiled around the polaroplast and sporoplasm within the spore. Infection takes place when the polar tube is extruded and penetrates the host cell, allowing the sporoplasm to pass through it and enter the host. Occurrence in Man: Microsporidiosis is one of the most frequent complications occurring in immunodeficient patients, but it is rare in immunocompetent individu- als. As of 1994, more than 400 cases had been recognized, most in immunodeficient patients. The parasites were detected in 60% of patients with chronic diarrhea but in only 5. Occurrence in Animals: Microsporidiosis occurs in a great number of vertebrate and invertebrate species, but as it is not generally pathogenic for vertebrates, its dis- covery is accidental, and there are thus no reliable statistics on its frequency. The clinical manifestations include chronic diarrhea with passage of watery or semi-watery stools numerous times (2–8) a day, but without evidence of intestinal hemorrhage; malabsorption with atrophy of the microvilli, which is aggravated by the ingestion of food; and subsequent progressive and irreversible weight loss. Although the causes of the intestinal disease are not well understood, it is presumed that it is due to loss of microvilli and enterocytes. Trachipleistophora hominis may affect the skeletal musculature, the cornea, and the upper respiratory tract (Field et al. The Disease in Animals: Most infections in vertebrates seem to be asympto- matic, except for E. Source of Infection and Mode of Transmission: The presence of microsporidia spores in the host stools and urine suggests that the infection could be transmitted by fecal or urinary contamination of the environment, especially water. Diagnosis: Diagnosis of microsporidiosis is difficult owing to the small size of the spores. Specimens are obtained, inter alia, from body fluids, feces, duodenal aspirates, urinary sediment, and corneal scrapings, and they are then stained using methods that facilitate microscopic examination. Fluorescence with calcofluor white is the most sensitive method but, as it also stains yeast cells, it may give false posi- tive results. Weber’s modified trichrome stain is almost as sensitive as calcofluor white, but it is more specific because it does not stain yeasts; however, it is slower.
Ensuring this consistency was a major advance and is an essential first All-Cause Mortality for 192 Countries step in measuring the disease burden buy cheap actonel 35mg. If the sample registration systems of China and carrying out analysis for a single cause trusted 35mg actonel, researchers may India are considered to provide information on their entire easily be overinclusive in counting the deaths attributable to populations, then information is available for around 72 per- the cause of interest, even without any intent to maximize cent of the global population. Agency for International Development and the number of deaths by age and sex provided an essential Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey program carried out by “envelope” that constrained individual disease and injury the United Nations Children’s Fund. Competing claims for the magnitude of sources of information on levels of child and adult all-cause The Burden of Disease and Mortality by Condition: Data, Methods, and Results for 2001 | 51 Table 3. Completeness of death registration data was assessed using standard demographic methods (see text). Includes countries where death registration data for years prior to 2001 were used to project levels of child and adult mortality to construct a life table based on a country standard derived from the last available year of death registration data. Note that these estimates refer to de facto popula- techniques (Preston-Coale, Brass growth-balance, general- tions, that is, they include residents such as guest workers ized growth-balance, and Bennett-Horiuchi methods) were and refugees, rather than de jure populations, meaning citi- first applied, as appropriate, to assess the extent of com- zens, and in some countries, permanent residents. Death registration data may cover tion for children was assessed separately using other avail- less than 100 percent of the population not only because able sources of information on child mortality. Murray these rates to the United Nations Population Division esti- Based on the predicted level of child mortality in 2001, mates of de facto populations for 2001. Such data ity (Lopez and others 2002; Murray, Ferguson, and others were used directly to construct life tables for 56 countries 2003). These estimated levels of child and adult mortality after adjusting for incomplete registration if necessary. Evidence on adult (adjusted if the registration level was incomplete) mortality in Sub-Saharan African countries remains lim- between 1985 and the latest available year was used to ited, even in areas with successful child and maternal project levels of child and adult mortality for 2001. This groups: method was applied for 40 countries using a total of 711 country-years of death registration data. Beyond this level, two further disaggre- from death registration data, official life tables, or mor- gation levels were used, resulting in a complete cause list tality information derived from other sources such as of 136 categories of specific diseases and injuries. The extent of underre- Group I causes of death consist of the cluster of condi- porting of deaths in the 2000 census was estimated at tions that typically decline at a faster pace than all-cause about 11. The all-cause mortality enve- mortality populations, Group I dominates the cause of lope for India was derived from a time series analysis of death pattern, whereas in low-mortality populations, age-specific death rates from the Sample Registration Group I accounts for only a small proportion of deaths. Note also that a number of causes of death act of deaths occurring during the perinatal period, such as as risk factors for other diseases. Although each revision has diabetes are included, the global total of attributable deaths produced some discontinuities in cause of death data, the rises to almost 3 million (Roglic and others 2005). Additional problems in compar- and blindness (mortality attributable to blindness whether ing data on causes of death across countries arise from vari- from infectious or noninfectious causes). In most developed countries, medical practitioners certify Countries with Complete or Incomplete Death the underlying cause of death even though they may not Registration Data always have had prior contact with the deceased or access to relevant medical records. Where the latest available year was earlier than 2001, stantially across countries with death registration systems. The threshold of coverage of 85 percent used for causes of death differs from that used for registration of deaths (95 percent) because the biases from underreporting of the fact of death are more serious for assessing levels of all-cause mortality than for assessing the distribution of causes. Includes countries with death registration or surveillance systems relying heavily on verbal autopsy methods for ascertaining causes of death. These garbage codes or ill-defined codes include Deaths resulting from war are not systematically includ- deaths from injuries where the intent was not determined ed in the cause of death data. The percentage of deaths coded using other sources of information as described later. When the coverage of death ing data on death registrations since 1990 with at least registration data was assessed as less than 85 percent, cause 50 percent completeness or coverage. In more than 15 information on cause of death distributions was available for high-income countries, more than 10 percent of deaths 37 percent of the world’s population, or 76 percent if China were coded to these ill-defined conditions, not so much and India’s sample registration and mortality surveillance because of overuse of codes for symptoms, signs, and ill- systems were included. Correction algorithms were also applied tion data with information on underlying cause available for to resolve problems of miscoding for the cardiovascular, each country, together with information on the methods cancer, and injury garbage codes. These include codes for heart failure, ven- causes there is substantial use of coding categories for un- tricular dysrhythmias, generalized atherosclerosis, and ill- known and ill-defined causes. Note: Table includes those countries supplying data on death registration for most recent year since 1990 and with at least 50 percent completeness or coverage. These data exclude South Africa, where 93 percent of deaths from external causes were coded to ill-defined injuries. For each country, the fraction of car- diovascular deaths (excluding stroke) assigned to the ill- 0. This second group includes Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom (Scotland). In other countries, including Australia, Statistical models can only go so far in extracting truth from Canada, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and the poorly coded deaths data, and more precise country-specific United Kingdom (Northern Ireland and Scotland), no cor- analyses really require recoding studies for samples of rele- rections were suggested by this analysis. Second, due to the nonstandard disease death rates across countries from a fivefold to a fourfold classification used in Russia and other newly independent variation and also change the relative rankings of countries. The use of the code “sudden death” to 70 percent greater in females compared with what was describe mortality often associated with binge drinking in recorded in vital statistics. This com- system into an urban stratum and four socioeconomic stra- parison identified four sites that did not appear to have any ta for rural areas, based on an analysis of nine indicators for significant coding of cancer deaths to the garbage codes rural counties from the 1990 national census.
Structure of the gene of tum transplantation antigen P91A: the mutated exon encodes a peptide recognized with Ld by cytolytic T cells buy 35mg actonel with mastercard. A 44 kilodalton cell surface homodimer regulates interleukin 2 production by activated human T lymphocytes buy discount actonel 35 mg online. Intracavitary Bacillus Calmette-Guerin in the treatment of superficial bladder tumors. Cancer regression and autoimmunity induced by cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 blockade in patients with metastatic melanoma. Anti- programmed-death-receptor-1 treatment with pembrolizumab in ipilimumab-refractory advanced melanoma: a randomised dose-comparison cohort of a phase 1 trial. Gene transfer into humans-- immunotherapy of patients with advanced melanoma, using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes modified by retroviral gene transduction. Half or more of the somatic mutations in cancers of self- renewing tissues originate prior to tumor initiation. Development of ipilimumab: a novel immunotherapeutic approach for the treatment of advanced melanoma. Edvard Smith , Rikard Holmdahl , Olle Kämpe & Klas Kärre 1 2 3 Professor of Molecular Genetics; Professor of Medical Inflammation Research; Professor of Clinical 4 Endocrinology; Professor of Molecular Immunology Adjunct Members of the Nobel Committee and Members of the Nobel Assembly Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, September 30, 2018 Correspondence: edvard. It also ofers physicians a greater understanding of the standards and requirements imposed on them by law. This will better equip physicians to recognize and avoid medical-legal difculties. It is important to highlight that some of the legal principles addressed in this document arise out of the common law system, which applies to all provinces and territories in Canada except Québec. Similarities exist nevertheless in the application of these two legal traditions in Canada. The interaction between law and medicine permeates almost all aspects of a physician’s practice and, of course, goes far beyond events or mishaps that might give rise to litigation. They receive the beneft of advice from people who understand their situation — experienced physician advisors who are doctors with clinical practice backgrounds in various specialties and settings. Physician advisors are available to provide advice and, when warranted, arrange further legal assistance for matters arising from a member’s professional work, including the following: ▪ civil legal actions ▪ regulatory authority (College) complaints, investigations, and disciplinary hearings ▪ coroners’ inquests or other fatality inquiries ▪ billing audits or inquiries ▪ hospital privilege matters ▪ criminal proceedings ▪ some general contract or research contract matters ▪ privacy legislation breaches and privacy complaints ▪ human rights complaints When members face a medical-legal action, they are eligible for assistance in the form of legal representation, and payment of legal costs, judgments, or settlements to compensate patients where it is determined those patients have been harmed by negligent care (in Québec, professional fault). The Canadian Medical Protective Association 1 Legal proceedings The Canadian legal system Generally speaking, activities are governed by two sources of law: the law created by statute, either federally, provincially, or territorially; and the common law developed by judgments rendered in legal actions that have proceeded through the courts. In Québec, a codifed system of civil law is used, though for the most part the underlying principles of medical-legal jurisprudence are similar in common law provinces and territories. A civil action involves the resolution of disputes between two or more parties by resort to the litigation process. Criminal actions involve the prosecution of an individual charged with committing an ofence as defned by statute, usually the federal Criminal Code. Civil and criminal actions are heard by much the same courts, although the jurisdiction of some courts is split into civil and criminal divisions. An absolute right to a jury is only available to plaintifs in a civil action in Saskatchewan. Traditionally, civil actions in the remaining provinces and territories are heard by a judge alone, but in recent years there has been an increasing trend toward jury trials. A defendant in a civil action may be found liable if the essential elements of the claim are established on a balance of probability, while the accused in a criminal action will not be found guilty unless the charge is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. A defendant found liable in a civil action must pay an amount of money awarded to the plaintif in damages. The plaintif or defendant in a civil action, and the Crown or the accused in a criminal action, may appeal any judgment rendered. The appellate court will not interfere with the decision, however, unless the court is satisfed there has been an error in law or the decision is plainly unreasonable and unjust when reviewing the evidence as a whole. While the accused in a criminal action may appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada without permission (depending on the circumstances), a party in a civil action must obtain the leave (permission) of the court to appeal the judgment of a provincial or territorial Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Canadian Medical Protective Association 3 The litigation process A number of events might alert the physician to impending litigation: ▪ A clear error is made (e. Many legal actions are commenced by disgruntled patients who feel their physician did not give them enough time or attention; these patients may then attribute a result that is less than perfect to the carelessness of the physician rather than being an acceptable complication or outcome. The most common announcement of an impending legal action, however, is the receipt of a letter from a lawyer on behalf of the patient. Some of these letters simply request copies of the medical records and may include general questions for the physician about the treatment rendered, the It is essential that complication that occurred, and the current prognosis for the patient. Service of the notice of action is usually accomplished when a document is delivered personally to the defendant physician by a bailif or other process server. In some provinces and territories, the legal action is initiated by a statement of claim, which is again almost always served upon the defendant physician personally. In Québec, this document is called a “Judicial application originating a proceeding” and follows a formal demand letter. The statement of claim sets out, in a concise manner, the facts and particulars upon which the plaintif is relying to establish a cause of action or alleged wrongdoing against the defendant. It is not unusual for the statement of claim to include allegations that challenge the defendant physician’s competence and reputation.
The case of yellow fever may be cited as an example of a treatment regimen for a disease best actonel 35 mg. If the patient was vomiting generic actonel 35mg without prescription, a nitre mixture (consisting of saltpeter, water, and an alcoholic solution of ethyl nitrite) would also be given. The handbook goes on to discuss three cardinal rules to observe in treating yellow fever. First, insure that the patient gets sufficient rest by giving Dover’s powder (which contained opium) and inducing the patient to remain in bed. Third, strengthen the patient by means of weak whiskey and water, beef tea, quinine, and other stimulants. The handbook proved to be so useful that a second edition, revised and expanded appeared in 1904. Containing 101 pages, the second edition was more than twice the size of the original 45-page publication. The work continued to be revised and new editions issued over the course of the twentieth century. In addition to the two editions previously noted, the National Library of Medicine holds editions published in 1929, 1947 (reprinted with additions and changes in 1955), 1978, and 1984. By the 1929 edition, the book’s title had changed to The Ship’s Medicine Chest and First Aid at Sea. With the 1978 edition, the title was slightly altered to The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea, perhaps to emphasize the fact that medical care going beyond what we normally think of as first aid would often be required aboard ships. Although designed for use aboard merchant ships, the work has also found use over the years in other situations, such as on fishing vessels and in backwoods areas. For over 100 years it has filled a need for reliable medical information in cases where medical care by a health professional is not available. Chief Historian United States Public Health Service v Editorial Board and Other Contributors Editor-in-Chief Rear Admiral Joyce M. Ryan, Lake Carriers Association, Cleveland Ohio for sharing old editions of The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea and related books. Concern for the health of merchant mariners has, from the beginning, been a part of our nation’s history. In the 1700’s, legislation mandated that a Medicine Chest be carried on each American Flag vessel of more than 150 tons, provided it had a crew of ten or more. By 1798, a loose network of marine hospitals, mainly in port cities, was established by Congress to care for sick and disabled American merchant seamen. Called the Marine Hospital Service, later the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service, and finally the Public Health Service, these federal entities continued to provide healthcare to merchant seamen until 1981. The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea has been a part of much of this maritime history. The Public Health Service published the first Medicine Chest in 1881 under the title, Handbook for the Ship’s Medicine Chest. The early editions of the Medicine Chest provided step-by-step instructions on how to treat a variety of illnesses that might be expected underway when the ship was days from shore, and had limited communication with land. The master or designated crewmember had to independently manage whatever injury or illness might occur. Fortunately, for the health of all merchant seamen and others at sea, the world has changed. Modern technology allows for nearly continual “real-time” communication between the ship and shore. In today’s world, serious medical problems underway will be managed via communication with shore-based physicians and other medical resources. More sophisticated tele-medicine capabilities, often including video as well as audio components, are also continually being expanded. As a result of these changes in technology and medical practice, this edition has limited the “how to” aspects of medical management. Instead, it identifies when medical consultation may be needed, and describes how to do a basic physical exam and then how to communicate these medical findings to shore-based experts. As in any aspect of treatment or consultation, effective communication is key to quality healthcare. Prevention, of both acute and chronic disease, will improve the quality of the merchant mariner’s life while at sea, and also many years into retirement. Prevention will also maximize the productivity of the crew and its ability to meet its missions. Coast Guard health capability requirements will be of particular value to merchant mariners.
For example buy discount actonel 35 mg on line, this new program can opportunities is a challenge for many investigators actonel 35 mg lowest price. This challenge was intended to crowd- and development for arthritis and related diseases source human genetics with the ultimate objective by recruiting 1) trainees who are experts in arthritis of identifying genetic predictors that could improve research but would beneft from training in interdis- treatment for those suffering from rheumatoid ciplinary scientifc research and development skills, arthritis. To steer the tors interested in applying their talents to arthritis investigators into the validation phase, Sage Bionet- research, and would beneft from understanding works quickly realized the need to provide training the history and current needs in the feld of arthri- about the history and needs of rheumatoid arthritis tis research (Figure 4). The Arthritis Foundation will research so that investigators new to arthritis could provide curriculum for the interdisciplinary trainings build upon existing knowledge and improve the and identify experts who will be paid for their time deliverables being produced. Arthritis research history and current needs Trainees and experts Curriculum b. Interdisciplinary skills to turn scientifc discoveries into real-world uses 03 Pilot test the training program Local connections are strengthened 04 Evaluate the pilot training program Quality proposals Successful scientifc research and development that accomplishes a 05 Revise the training program based on evaluations specifc scientifc goal 06 Implement the training program including ongoing evaluation 07 Track the impact of the training program Scientifc research pipeline is strengthened and scientifc discovery is catalyzed and accelerated for arthritis and related diseases Building Human Capital: How You Can Be Involved 01 Spread the word about the interdisciplinary training program 02 Be a trainee 03 Identify and provide lessons learned from other mentoring and training programs 04 Volunteer to be an expert who develops or teaches the curriculum 05 Volunteer to assist with planning, implementation and/or evaluation of the program 06 Donate and/or raise funds to support the mission of the Arthritis Foundation 24 “Science has Arthritis on the Run” Arthritis Foundation Scientifc Strategy 2015-2020 25 Goals and Targets he Arthritis Foundation’s mission is to improve lives through leadership in the prevention, control and cure of arthritis and related diseases. The scientifc strategy is the direction the Arthritis Foundation Science Department is going during 2015-2020 to bring everyday wins now and in the future for Ta lifetime of better. Each pillar is designed to champion and accelerate progress for achieving our mission. The goal for each pillar is the impact of the inputs and outputs for each pillar (see Figures 2-4). The three pillars and their goals are as follows: Pillar #1: Delivering on Discovery Improved decision making and better lives through improved prevention, earlier diagnosis and new treatments to prevent, control and cure arthritis and related diseases Pillar #2: Decision Making With Metrics Fact-based metrics for decision making and guiding actions to improve the health of people across the lifespan with arthritis and related diseases Pillar #3: Building Human Capital Scientifc research pipeline is strengthened and scientifc discovery is catalyzed and accelerated for arthritis and related diseases In collaboration with other organizations, the Arthritis Foundation Scientifc Strategy 2015-2020 is contribut- ing to the achievement of the following Healthy People 2020 targets. One of the criteria for selecting these targets is that existing data sources are available to measure progress on meeting the targets. The Biomarkers the movement agnosed arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitation — United Consortium. Estimates of the prevalence of arthritis and other 21 Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. Arthritis Rheum Biomarkers Project May Lead to Better Quality of Life for Those with 2008;58(1):26–35 Osteoarthritis. Accelerating Medicines Project: arthritis and other rheumatic conditions in the ambulatory health care Autoimmune Diseases of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus. Risk factors for symptomatic knee 15 osteoarthritis ffteen to twenty-two years after meniscectomy. Measuring and Improving Impact: A Toolkit for study of radiographic and patient relevant outcomes. Joint injury in young adults Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health: What’s In a Name? A pathway and approach to biomarker validation and qualifcation for osteoarthritis clinical trials. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc As part of the strategic planning process, the Arthritis Foundation identifed organizations conducting scientifc tics and Outcomes in Selected European and U. Risk factors for the incidence 51 Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System. The United States Rheuma- Funding, Treatment Education published; has awarded two small research grants 2014. A summary of selected organizations is standards for data collection and management; fve focus provided in this appendix. Komen Komen supports a range of grants from training to large Komen Grant and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. 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Guilak is the Laszlo Ormandy Professor and Vice-Chair The William and Flora Outcome focused grantmaking: a hard-headed approach to Outcome Focused formation in these disorders. Guilak’s research Cancer Research Funding Chief of the Section of Rheumatology, and Professor of focuses on the study of osteoarthritis. Garfeld Weston Canadian organization focused on education, land Weston Mandate At Yale, he teaches graduate and medical students, and laboratory has used a multidisciplinary approach to Foundation conservation, science in Canada’s North, neuroscience directs a research laboratory devoted to understanding investigate the role of biomechanical factors in the onset and translational research and other trustee-initiated grants T lymphocyte differentiation and function in normal progression of osteoarthritis, as well as the development of and autoimmune responses. Craft is Director of the new pharmacologic and stem-cell therapies for this disease. Keck Foundation Grants open to early career investigators; undergraduate Keck Grant program Investigative Medicine Program at Yale, a unique program He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biomechanics, education program designed to provide PhD training for physicians. He is Associate Editor for Osteoarthritis & Cartilage, and serves former chair of the Immunological Sciences Study Section on the editorial boards of seven other journals. Tuan is Distinguished Professor; Director, Center for of Research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Foundation’s Great Lakes Region. Chari and Director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Biology and states: Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky Pennsylvania and West and Executive Vice Chairman, Department of Orthopaedic Medicine at Washington University in St. Today the Great Lakes Region carries out the mission Surgery; Associate Director, McGowan Institute for a leader in the feld of orthopaedic research, pioneering the of the Arthritis Foundation by advocating for people who Regenerative Medicine; Director, Center for Military Medicine use of molecular biologic techniques, protein biochemistry, have arthritis, offering programs and services that improve Research; Professor, Departments of Bioengineering and large screening technologies, microscopy and computational the lives of millions of people of all ages diagnosed with Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the biology to study cell responses to cartilage cell injury and arthritis, as well as investing in cutting-edge research.
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the editor's disclaimer
never let an assumption of stupidity overwhelm your suspicion of venality
Now that the election is settled, it’s time to put America back to work.
I propose we start with me. And since the Republican wave that swept Democrats from power in the House of Representatives Tuesday and greatly reduced their numbers in the Senate is directly attributable to young people staying away from the polls in droves, I further propose that I get one of their jobs.
I’ve got my eye on one right now at the Los Angeles Times where I worked for 19 years. I’m pretty sure it’s a job I am well-suited for, since it’s the job I used to have. Apparently the fresh-faced, newly-minted graduate they hired as an intern only days after my departure is now on staff and well-regarded. But judging by my positive work reviews, regular promotions and steady raises, that is by no means a qualification for continued employment.
The main qualification is being in the right place at the right time.
Nineteen years ago, I was there. Right there. In the sleepy northern suburban edition enclave of The Times known as The Valley. I had just come over from the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, shuttered by the Hearst Corporation for its alleged inability to compete with The Times.
I was a new homeowner. My wife was 5-months pregnant. I had no employment prospects when the Her-Ex closed. The outlook was bleak … for about a couple of hours. Word quickly spread that our cross-town rival was in an expansive mood and was offering jobs with big raises to virtually all the copy and news editors, of which I was one.
Within months of my arrival, the newspaper created an edition for nearby Ventura County and tapped me as its inaugural news editor. I worked a 10-hour shift, five days a week. Designing 20 columns of space was considered a normal news editor shift at the paper; I averaged around 40. My record was 100 columns for a Sunday paper, with four open color pages. There was no time for meals and no time for breaks. Not infrequently, I would reach the end of the shift wondering, “Wasn’t I dying to go to the bathroom about three hours ago?”
We lived and died by our dicey fax/phone/computer connection to the mothership downtown, 40 miles away. We were inventing our product, a hyperlocalized version of the LAT, as we went along. The pressure was relentless.
In short, it was the BEST … JOB … EVER.
Newspapers are a deadline business, and we took ours with a deadly seriousness. One evening, as we careened toward our 11 p.m. drop-dead cutoff, one barely noticed that there were workmen all around us laying new carpet atop the stripped concrete floors. In order to do so, they first put down a coating of glue which needed to set before final adhesion. What we didn’t notice at all, until too late, was that they had laid down an expanse of glue between the newsroom and the fax machines we used to send our layout dummies downtown to be processed.
There was no time for hesitation. Little time for fear. And less time for common sense. I grabbed my final dummies and headed out, carefully, though decisively, navigating the slippery sea of goo. I made it halfway before my feet slipped out from beneath me, jettisoning my lower torso and legs 90 degrees north and leaving me hovering parallel to the ground, four feet up, before the final plummet to Earth.
I stood up unharmed, covered head to toe in glue, yet determined to march on. But first, I attempted to wipe the glue from my hands and instinctively reached for the closest material nearby: a stack of newspapers. That was wrong. And I learned a valuable lesson. It’s very difficult to type when your hands are covered with newspapers and glue.
But that evening ended the way almost all of our evenings ended. We would sit quietly awaiting the computer message from our production liaison near the presses downtown. Had we sneaked in under the deadline? The margin for error was usually a few minutes, sometimes seconds. We rarely missed. And we always celebrated our success, though some nights were more amenable to high-fives than others.
Those were glory days at the Los Angeles Times. The Chandler family still ran the paper it had founded and like most newspapers it printed money along with the news. But there had always been conflict within the family over control of the empire and as patriarch Otis Chandler distanced himself from its daily operation, high double-digit profit margins and circulation began to slip.
Still, the ’90s were a time of expansion at Times Mirror Co. and in 1995 when Mark Willes was hired to run the parent company, his goal of increasing the newspaper’s circulation 50 percent was met with hopeful enthusiasm, though tempered by a measure of skepticism. What followed was the modern method of corporate profit-generation forged in the flames of the Reagan Revolution. The former General Mills boss, known fondly to his new employees as the Cereal Killer, shed assets, reduced the quality of the product and started laying off people.
He quickly fired more than 2,000 employees and closed the New York City edition of Newsday as well as the evening edition of the Baltimore Sun. He killed the national edition of The Times. Within a year, he cut costs by $232 million.
Expenses plummeted, profits soared and the stock price tripled. Briefly. Over the next five years, the fortunes of the still highly-profitable Times Mirror Co. waned and in 2000 amid a scandal involving undue advertiser influence over editorial content, the Chandler family cashed out.
Tribune Co. made them an offer they couldn’t refuse that amounted to twice the market value of the company. Within hours the stock price doubled and the idiot photographer I worked with, days from retirement, who had defied every sensible financial adviser for years and put all his 401k investment in company stock, became a genius, and a millionaire, overnight.
The Chandlers walked away with billions.
By then, I had been promoted to executive news editor of the Valley and Ventura County editions. Our resources were reduced, but our retooled versions of the downtown edition were responsible for over 20 percent of The Times circulation. We were no longer the golden child, but not yet regarded as a leaden anchor.
The corporate savior best known for its grasp of synergy and utilization of new technology to create innovative cross-platform economies of scale never before seen was going to end the rolling layoffs of the past five years and restore stability and sanity.
But almost immediately, everyone at the Los Angeles Times gained new insight into the maxim, “Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t know.”
From day one, Tribune executives in Chicago battled with their new Times Mirror squires, especially those in Los Angeles. The Times was one of a handful of top-tier newspapers in the nation and the Chicago Tribune, though a fine newspaper, clearly was not. The financial fortunes of Tribune began to ebb and squabbling over dwindling resources escalated.
Two years later Tribune closed the Valley office and sold its presses. The editions were allowed to linger as faux zoned editions with few if any editorial changes. Eventually, they were scrapped entirely along with the larger Orange County edition that serviced the community south of Los Angeles. Layoffs continued apace. Seemingly every three or four months there would be a blood-letting.
In April 2007 billionaire Sam Zell bought Tribune. Another savvy savior had arrived. How smart is Sam Zell? He had entered the radio biz just after its deregulation and accumulated a string of stations that eventually became the behemoth Clear Channel; he cashed out of that and bought real estate which he eventually sold for $34 billion (that’s a “B”).
Like all smart guys he knows how to take big risks with other people’s money. He bought the $7.6 billion Tribune with $300 million of his own money. The rest of the inflated purchase was financed with new debt. Banksters, bond salesmen, hedge fund investors, lawyers, Tribune executives and witch doctors conjured up an innovative structure centered around an Employee Stock Ownership Plan that allowed everyone involved to make huge sums of money up front while the company pretended to be owned by its employees and avoided most taxes.
The result: a crushing debt load of $13 billion. That’s $13 billion that ended up in someone else’s pocket.
A year later, the company was in bankruptcy. It’s been there for two years and has just experienced a major escalation of legal hostilities. It’s not the longest bankruptcy in history (that may be the maker of Hostess Twinkies, which was ensnarled for five years), but with four separate restructuring plans before the court, it may be the most convoluted.
And through it all, the Los Angeles Times remains a quality newspaper. And profitable. But we’ll never know how good it could have been if its owners hadn’t cut the staff in half, abandoned its suburban and inner-city subscribers, outsourced its circulation department to a foreign country, failed to establish a functional sales force, prostituted its news pages to advertisers and hired hacks to run the place.
Newspapers are always dying, and someone is always killing them. Radio was supposed to bury them. So was television. So was their aging readership. So was USA Today. So was the Internet.
David Plotz, Slate Magazine
So were their liberal reporters, elitist editors and insular management.
Turns out, though, it was pirates that done the deed. They boarded the ship in the middle of the night. Raped, robbed and pillaged. Then snuck away with their ill-gotten gain. OK. That’s not fair. It’s technically not ill-gotten.
No one has been formally accused of a crime, although one of two complaints filed in bankruptcy court against Zell, et al has a damning admission of guilt from one of the buyout engineers: “This is like carrying a fat person up Everest, hopefully it doesn’t kill us.”
Each successive wave of new owners and management that engulfed my newspaper swept to power behind a mandate for change. They would listen to the people and give them what they wanted. And what they wanted was a quality product that reflected their interests and values, took advantage of technological innovation and provided more value for their dollar.
What they got were pirates.
Tuesday, for the first time in a long time, I watched the midterm elections from home, not the newsroom. I saw a grassroots revolt, seized with the fervor of reform; people trying to retake government from forces who they felt did not truly represent them. While I don’t share many of their values, I too would like a government that wasn’t owned by special interests, protected us from forces of evil, reflected our core values and didn’t blow our money.
What we got, I fear, are pirates.
Crazy morons
There is no shortage of crazy morons in the world.
In fact, it looks like we have a surplus, though a cursory survey can be misleading.
I was born in the Eisenhower ’50s, matured in the ’60s, stagnated in the ’70s and ’80s, and regressed in the ’90s in anticipation of a millennium surge forward. Throughout these formative years, there was always craziness and moronic behavior on the periphery of our culture and expressed through our politics, but it was contained just beyond the fringes of good taste; the John Birch Society often standing as a symbol of the former and The Three Stooges the latter.
And thus it has ever been.
Two hundred years ago, we had a political party called the Know-Nothings. Founded on the oldest of American ideals, hatred for anything not “American,” the party (officially known as The American Party) rallied around a platform of anti-immigrant (i.e. anti-Irish Catholic) hatred and moronic posturing. The party had grown out of a plethora of secret societies and when challenged by non-believers early-on they were often heard to exclaim Sgt. Schultz-style, “I know nothing.”
Eventually they extended their franchise to include opposing freedom for slaves, which didn’t go over well with their base in the pre-Civil War North and prompted this reprimand from Abraham Lincoln in a letter to a friend five years before being elected president.
I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor of degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that “all men are created equal.” We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except negroes” When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read “all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.” When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy [sic].
The party suffered its final ignominy when it selected former President Millard Fillmore as its standard bearer in 1856. Back then, there was still a line of taste and impropriety that could not be crossed.
Before Americans knew nothing, they apparently knew too much.
For instance, in 1783, seven years after the Declaration of Independence lulled Americans into thinking they had formed a new nation, the United States was secretly still a British colony and remains so to this day. Nowadays we don’t argue about it much, but in the 18th century it was a hot topic of conversation, along with mysterious plots by Masons and Illuminati to pervert our nation and cast us into the wilderness that lasted well into the 19th century and resonates to this day.
[It was] a libertine, anti-Christian movement, given to the corruption of women, the cultivation of sensual pleasures, and the violation of property rights. Its members had plans for making a tea that caused abortion—a secret substance that “blinds or kills when spurted in the face,” and a device that sounds like a stench bomb—a “method for filling a bedchamber with pestilential vapours.”
Richard Hofstadter, Harper’s 1964
They were met head on by “[an anti-Masonic] folk movement of considerable power, and the rural enthusiasts who provided its real impetus believed in it wholeheartedly. … It attracted the support of several reputable [supporters] who had only mild sympathy with its fundamental bias, but who as politicians could not afford to ignore it.”
Hofstadter thinks it’s all about paranoia and peppers the historical record with tales of plots by Jesuits, international bankers and munitions makers before hurtling into the 20th century where the contemporary right-wing holds court. But when he arrives he finds one serious distinction: these folks, unlike their heirs who were defending their way of life, are fighting to reclaim an America that is by and large gone.
And now they want their country back.
I take it as an article of faith that we are talking about crazy morons. Wrong-thinking folks driven to distraction by the unsettling vicissitudes of life. And I don’t mean that disparagingly. I believe in the big tent. The melting pot. And the God-given right to make a horse’s ass of yourself in public. I also believe that you can find crazy morons on the political left and right, but since there is no left left in this country, there are markedly fewer of a pinkoish hue.
So what’s new and different?
Well, we’ve got the Internet-driven, 24-hour news cycle. A heavy-duty economic downturn that is eviscerating the middle-class. A wave of immigration. More money awash in politics than ever before. A calcified legislature. Lousier schools. An aging national infrastructure. A corrupted financial system. A wavering sense of confidence.
Though not inconsequential, does any or all of that explain how a single macaca moment could derail a popular senator’s slam dunk re-election bid just four years ago yet far more antagonistic, nee, crazy and moronic behavior, barely survives a single news cycle?
In 2006, when conservative Sen. George Allen, R-VA, referred to a volunteer for his Democratic opponent who is of Indian descent as macaca, it became the dominant subject for the next three months of the campaign. A double-digit lead became a loss.
Though the word has multiple meanings and the candidate denied it, many thought he was using macaca as a monkey reference. In some European cultures, macaca is considered a racial slur against African immigrants. Maybe here, too.
You’ve got to be crazy to think you can toss around a racial slur in public, deny you meant it as a slur and think you can carry on as if nothing happened. Or a moron.
But in this campaign, mainstream candidates:
cop to witchcraft, but not masturbation;
denounce the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act;
tell pissed-off Hispanic audiences they look kinda Asian;
muse that Obama may be a Muslim;
mount the third rail of politics by calling for privatization of Social Security;
suggest the President isn’t a U.S. citizen;
email bestiality porn to friends;
admit to having children outside their marriage;
smirk at the suggestion that separation of church and state is derived from the First Amendment;
claim that “America is now a socialist economy”;
oppose the minimum wage law and then apologize for the stand;
compare their opponents to Nazis;
admit they have prayed to Aqua Buddha;
belie their femininity by kicking a guy in the junk on TV;
defend BP during the Gulf oil spill;
tell their opponent “to put his man pants on”;
ask for votes because, unlike the female opponent, “I do not wear high heels”;
denounce “Tea Party dumbasses,” despite heavy Tea Party support;
claim, then retract, that beheaded bodies had been found in the Arizona desert;
call for privatizing the Veterans Administration;
compare homosexuals to alcoholics … or pedophiles;
and aver that “American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains.”
Boy, that was too easy. Easy for me, and easy for the candidates. Because most of them are gonna be winners on election day.
Crazy moron behavior is all anyone talks about on the airwaves, in newspapers, on the web and at the dinner table (when they aren’t talking about who is winning or losing the horse race). It’s part of the common culture. It’s what we all know about. It’s a hoot and a half.
Slack-jawed commentators and incredulous pundits plow through the day’s news, barely taking a breath between cackles to wonder aloud and in print, “How could these people say that? Do they seriously expect us to believe it. That is truly beyond the pale. It’s not worth a minute of our time.” And then we give it all of our time.
But it’s entertainment and, therefore, inconsequential. It has pushed aside all discussion of real issues, but hasn’t substituted any alternative basis for decision-making. Our national political currency has been reduced to Third World status.
So many macaca moments have devalued the macaca.
So what’s a voter to do when he’s got no facts and too much fun?
Apparently you go with the gut. Michael Schudson, after studying our long history of political ignorance, concludes that, “People may be able to vote intelligently with very little information.” They grab the party affiliation and a general sense of who the candidates are and punch the chads.
That approach apparently served us well for the first 100 years of our nation’s history. “The Founding Fathers were certainly more concerned about instilling moral virtues than disseminating information about candidates and issues,” according to Schudson.
For years, nearly twice as many people voted at election time than now.
There is no doubt that parades, free whiskey, free-floating money, patronage jobs, and the pleasures of fraternity all played a big part in the political enthusiasm of ordinary Americans.
Michael Schudson
But then petulant Progressives and ill-tempered Mugwumps, “who recoiled from the spectacle of powerful political parties using government as a job bank for their friends and a cornucopia of contracts for their relatives,” spoiled the party.
The reformers “enshrined the informed citizen as the foundation of democracy.” Ballots were redesigned to include all the candidates; voting was made secret; pamphleteers replaced parades; public education spread; newspapers stopped being house organs for political parties.
And voting dropped off precipitously.
So now we are faced with a horrible dilemma. Though we have managed to bring back the spectacle of political corruption, propel extravagant pageants and parades across the media landscape, and restore the crazy moron to his rightful place in America, we seem to lack the party spirit that once brought us all together at the voting booth.
Former Sen. George Allen has apparently detected the change and from all reports will be bringing his special sensitivity, insight and leadership to the political field when he runs for Senate again in 2012. He probably still thinks he has a shot at becoming president.
But we all know what a crazy moron he is.
I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor or degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that “all men are created equal.” We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except negroes” When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read “all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.” When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy [sic].
Tags: crazy, George Allen, Illuminati, Know-Nothings, macaca, Masons, Millard Fillmore, morons, Mugwumps
I am a weather god. And a parking god. Many people claim to be one or the other. But I am both.
I can’t pinpoint when I made the separate ascensions. Certainly, when I was in college the brutal Michigan winters precluded any claim to weather godliness. But even then my campus parking prowess was noted by dorm roommates, especially after late-night drunken bacchanals left us frantically searching for the last elusive vehicle space at 3 a.m. To this day, I never fail to find that parking place, either on the street or in the lot. I knew I had ascended when I found a legal spot on the street midday in San Francisco’s North Beach, one block from my City Lights bookstore destination.
Living in Southern California, I am surrounded by many false weather gods; people claiming credit for the perfect weather day in and day out that is simply their good fortune to have stumbled into.
The true test is on the road, when that Hawaiian vacation during rainy season hangs in the balance. When that Big Sur sojourn finds the “ever-present” October fog lifting just in time for two days of glorious hiking with abundant views of migrating whales. When the November Michigan sleet and snow stop the day you arrive, and begin anew just as you pull up at the airport to turn in your rental car on the way out of town. When you defy the omniscient weather.com and its warning of miserable heat, humidity and precipitation and still pay a Fall visit to the folks in Boca Raton.
On that potentially ill-fated trip to Florida with my then-wife and tater-tot of a daughter, my parents treated us to a day at Disney World in Orlando. The forecast was rain. Heavy rain. All-day rain. So we took along bright orange plastic ponchos and some among us prepared for the worst. The weather was sufficiently intimidating that the usual Disney hordes were nowhere to be found, and the classic long lines were totally absent. And so was the rain. It literally stopped as we arrived and began again as we departed. Best Disney visit ever.
I always prevail. Always. Even when I am in the company of someone like my girlfriend, who has a never-ending litany of weather-driven holiday disaster tales to tell, I prevail.
I used to be shy about flaunting my weather prowess, for fear that I might offend the true weather god — who seemed forever to smile upon me — and be forsaken. I would mention it to people after the fact, but try not to tempt the fates beforehand. However, after years of unambiguous success and an ever-escalating bravado, I came to the conclusion that I need not fear that god, for He was I.
The danger here, obviously, is hubris, which “often indicates being out of touch with reality and overestimating one’s own competence or capabilities.” It got Achilles and Oedipus in deep doo back when the Greeks were inventing the concept and now has apparently ensnarled President Obama. (Googling “Obama hubris” turns up 489,000 hits.)
In between, most everyone who thought they got it right and the other side got it wrong, has been accused of having it.
According to HBO, Caesar, when he wasn’t inventing salads and lending his name to resort hotels, said, “It’s only hubris if I fail.” Ultimately, he did fail, but he accomplished so much before the fall that it is difficult to determine how much of his life was hubris and how much was not.
Hitler, of course, had hubris in spades and it is one of the main reasons conservatives liken Obama to him. Genghis Khan, Bismark, Napoleon, Louis XIV and more than a few popes were similarly impaired. You can look it up.
Eliot Spitzer dallied with it. Peter Beinart has written how hubris caused three 20th Century U.S. presidents to drag this country into unjust wars. And, of course, the original weather god, Al Gore, probably contracted it shortly after he invented the internet.
Sometimes, as with Rudolph Giuliani or multi-national states, hubris seems to be only one ingredient (or two) in a simmering cauldron of competing pathologies. Other times, as in the case of John Edwards, it looks like a small part of a larger narcissistic pathology that includes “grandiosity, entitlement, arrogance, hubris and exploitative actions.”
That sounds kinda sick. And according to Brain: A Journal of Neurology, it probably is. The study disagrees with HBO’s Caesar about hubris being a loser’s affliction (it “develops irrespective of whether the individual’s leadership is judged a success or failure”) but did come up with 14 symptoms to aid in the diagnosis of your boss at work. None of them are complimentary and you only need three of the 14 to qualify as a douche.
The researchers at Brain studied the presidents and prime ministers in the U.S. and Britain over the past 100 years, but were quick to point out you can also find hubris among artists, religious gurus and bankers. Most of us already had suspicions about the last group. But the key is: no power, no hubris. Which probably accounts for why my first 8 hours of random Googling of hubris failed to turn up a single reference to hubris among women.
The Brainiacs zeroed in on hubris by eliminating all the politicians with serious mental illness. As an aside, they noted that between 1776 and 1974, 49% of American presidents “met criteria suggesting psychiatric disorder: depression (24%), anxiety (8%), bipolar disorder (8%) and alcohol abuse/dependence (8%) were the most common.”
So once you toss out the deranged presidents, you’re left with … who? Well, Nixon was a drunk. No hubris there. Teddy Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson were bipolar. Cross them off the list. Woodrow Wilson’s brain exploded, so he gets a pass. And Kennedy was a speed freak. They all exhibited hubristic traits but none of them were categorized as having hubris syndrome.
The rest of the presidents between between 1908-2008 were judged reasonably sane and untarnished by hubris syndrome.
Except for one: George W. Bush. They pointed out that he had once been a drunk, but now was simply a victim of hubris. They desperately wanted to give him a pass because of the pressures from 9/11, but had trouble getting past this:
His appearance in flying gear on the aircraft carrier, Abraham Lincoln, cruising off the coast of California, on 1 May 2003, and then speaking on television with the slogan ‘Mission Accomplished’ emblazoned on the ship control tower behind him, marked the highest point in his scale of hubris. This episode is particularly interesting when one considers that the so-called success in Baghdad was only 10 days later described in a memo to Prime Minister Blair by the then British Ambassador to Iraq, John Sawers, as involving a complete absence of any serious planning for the aftermath of the taking of Baghdad: ‘No leadership, no strategy, no coordination, no structure and inaccessible to ordinary Iraqis’.
Not everyone is as restrictive in their definition of hubris as the Brain researchers.
David Mayatt, in his groundbreaking essays regarding “white hordes of homo hubris“, maintains that there is apparently an entire subspecies of humans with the affliction: “the White, or Caucasian, peoples of Europe and the so-called New World.”
Homo Hubris is distinguished by their generally uncouth, vulgar, behaviour; their lack of manners; their arrogance and insolence; their pride, and their innate, often unconscious belief (or rather, delusion), that they and their kind are ‘superior’ and have a sort of ‘destiny’ or duty to interfere in the lives of other peoples, often now by imposing some abstraction on them, by force and killing, but most often, in the past, by occupation, conquest, and imperialism.
In addition, Homo Hubris is in thrall to causal abstractions, and is easy swayed and manipulated by others, lacking as they do any real personal noble character and deficient as they are in both empathy and honour.
In brief, the people of Homo Hubris often act and behave like spoilt children and/or bullies.
Hubris, perhaps better known in some circles as chutzpah, is not a difficult concept to grasp. Even a child can understand it. But what fun is it to have a vice that can’t be construed as a virtue?
Hubris has been suggested as one of the three virtues of successful programmers, according to computer whiz Larry Wall. It is ‘the quality that makes you write (and maintain) programs that other people won’t want to say bad things about.’ The other two virtues are laziness and impatience.
Spiritus-Temporis.com
Lazy, impatient and filled to the brim with hubris. That sounds like me.
I feel like a god.
Tags: god, hubris, politics, weather
Life in Venice
“It is so miserable here, I don’t really want to do anything. It’s like seriously, actually, genuinely depressing.”
Caitlin Pence, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
These are, indeed, dark days in California. Unemployment is 12.4% (third worst in the nation), the state faces a $19 billion budget shortfall, the housing industry has hit the wall, the social safety net is being eviscerated and the gridlocked legislature is powerless to act.
Despite the superhuman efforts of Gov. Schwarzenegger and early warnings from former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld about the danger of becoming like “old Europe,” that spectre of gloom continues to envelop us.
“You see what is happening in Greece, you see what is happening in Ireland, you see what is happening in Spain now,” Schwarzenegger said the other day. “We are left with nothing but tough choices.”
However, Caitlin Pence of Manhattan Beach wasn’t talking about any of that.
She was talking about the weather. More precisely, she was talking to the New York Times about the weather along the beach in Southern California.
“Climatic Bragging Rights Are Waning for Angelenos,” the headline read in Sunday’s paper. The party is over. June temperatures were 2.4 degrees cooler than usual, and there were traces of rain four days in July. This disaster was likened to a September frost in Miami.
The Paper of Record was concerned that it might be December before Los Angeles “finds its rightful smug spot in the weather world again.” At least it’s nice to see the NYT retains its snarky, East Coast self-absorption year-round.
I suppose it’s all justifiably just a matter of perspective. Back East, where they’ve been frying eggs on their foreheads — or in the windblown, water-deluged Midwest — or down South, where the tarball season is in full swing — any talk of SoCal inclement weather seems obnoxious. But the fact is, there is arguably enough crap going on somewhere in the world every day to reduce the most anguished wail, by comparison, to the wimpiest of whines. And the folks in Haiti probably don’t have much sympathy for Louisiana fishermen.
My first summer at the beach was in 1977. I had just moved west from Bloomington, Indiana, with my future wife and was looking for an apartment and my first newspaper reporting job. We ended up gazing at the water through picture windows on the Venice boardwalk for $406 a month.
Venice has a storied history. Shortly after the turn of the century, Abbot Kinney built canals and developed it as a resort town just to the west of Los Angeles. Eventually, he turned the city into an entertainment tourist mecca with arcades and roller coasters. After he died, the city went to seed, its infrastructure deteriorated and it was annexed by L.A. Many of the canals were paved over and derricks went up everywhere after oil was discovered in 1929. The depression drove a final stake through its heart and Venice wasn’t much to speak of til a young counterculture of artists, poets and writers evolved in its mostly low-rent, European emigre community heavy with Holocaust survivors. The Beats of the ’50s gave way to the hippies in the ’60s and creeping affluence in the ’70s.
By the time I arrived, Venice was still a sleepy, underdeveloped community of artists, artisans and artist and artisan wannabes, but was literally moments away from becoming home to a whirring blur of crazed roller skaters, outrageous street performers and the world’s foremost supply of storefront T-shirt shops.
Robin Williams traded quips with local talent like Swami X just feet from my door. Actress Stockard Channing used to visit the guy living upstairs. I recognized all the film locations from Cisco Pike. And the music never stopped. Ed Brown (the Singing Piano Mover), Slavin’ David, Jingles, the Canaligators, Don (the Mad Cosmic Violinist) and, of course, this guy. Away from the boardwalk, where the sand meets the sea, the faint sound of drumming mixed with the steady rhythm of the waves in the earliest incarnation of the fabled Venice Drum Circle.
Wet drenched the zeitgeist.
Although Venice was home of the homeless before they moved to the suburbs, you wouldn’t really have known it walking around the beach. Maybe that was because they lacked contrast with the heavy influx of tourists yet to arrive. Or maybe they knew better than to get in the way of the Hare Krishnas, who paraded down the boardwalk every summer with elephants and dancers in tow.
All of this was chronicled in the Venice Beachhead, a free community newspaper that foreshadowed the kind of hyper-local online publication championed these days by AOL.
A year later, I was still unemployed but the newly rediscovered enclave was already transformed.
July 4th was a lost scene from Apocalypse Now, with drug-crazed celebrants gathered in circles in the sand firing rockets back across the boardwalk and onto our own rooftops. The atmosphere was so thick with smoke, and our brains so addled by the festivities, that you could barely make out Robert Duvall roaring in the distance about the smell of napalm in the dawn’s early light. OK. The movie was still a year away, but Coppola must have been somewhere nearby.
My girlfriend quickly got a job, but it was 15 months before I found something. Fifteen months of occasional temp work in the city and regular tan work at the beach. When I wasn’t walking my dog or sending out resumes and calling newspapers (you could cold call a prospective employer back then and they remembered who you were) I was learning to skate, jogging up and down the boardwalk, or reading in the wooden pagoda by my apartment, listening to nearly-blind Uncle Bill play his guitar and sing the blues.
It didn’t matter that I didn’t have a job. It didn’t matter that the idealism and hopefulness of the ’60s was giving way to economic uncertainty and that the rank commercialism of the approaching Reagan Revolution was transforming the boardwalk before my eyes. It didn’t matter that Uncle Bill tried to seduce my girlfriend. All right. That mattered a little.
As I approach my fifteenth month of unemployment, I am buoyed by the thought that I’ve been here before.
Perhaps it was being young and in love and on my own for the first time. Perhaps it was the sheer exuberance of finally having a vocation to pursue after years of doubt and pain. Perhaps the passage of time has dimmed my memory of the early struggle to establish a career. But I don’t recall ever feeling troubled by the prospect of an uncertain future in troubled times.
I think it was the perfect weather.
Tags: california, venice, weather
“Several things I’ve learned: You can’t apply for jobs well under what your previous job was; you won’t be taken seriously and will be considered over-qualifed. You must fall completely to the bottom and get the occasional minimum wage, temporary job. No one will commit to any training for a new position. If you’ve done exactly the job advertised before, you’ll be considered. But you’ll be considered incapable of learning anything new. General experience will not be considered. Stuff learned on your own will be denigrated or discounted. University degree qualification doesn’t matter. Age discrimination is alive and well.”
a commenter on Andrew Sullivan’s blog
Today marks the one-year anniversary of my separation from the Los Angeles Times. I was laid off four months shy of 20 years and joined hundreds of former colleagues at the newspaper in the burgeoning jobless market.
Although my friends who remain there say they miss my news editing contribution, institutional knowledge and technical expertise (not to mention my jovial camaraderie) as they struggle with a new computer system and an oppressive work environment, others in parent company Tribune’s ivory tower appear to be getting along just fine without me.
I can’t say that I have enjoyed being unemployed these past 12 months, but it hasn’t exactly been time wasted. I’ve retooled my website; learned a new computer management system (CMS); wrote an e-book I can’t link to until I’ve copyrighted it; started a couple of blogs, including this one; played around with new software (Dreamweaver, Flash and RubyOnRails); explored new hiking trails and paths through my heart after moving from the westside of L.A. to Pasadena near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains; rediscovered the joys of participating in home ownership after years of renting; been adopted by five cats; expanded my daily trek through the blogosphere to over 50 sites (admittedly, I have over 1,000 bookmarked); and sharpened my writing skills, churning out 65 cover letters to prospective employers.
By necessity, I apply for a wide range of jobs: university publication writer, museum editorial manager, think tank researcher, editor at a political blog, JPL media relations specialist, film website editorial writer. I’ve even applied for my old job at the L.A. Times, where interns and other former employees now toil in my place for significantly less money and few, if any, benefits.
All the positions interest me and would utilize skills I have developed throughout a varied career as reporter, columnist, editor, staff manager, newsroom tech troubleshooter and designer for web and print .
Nearly each new job application has brought about a flurry of activity to reacquaint myself with the area of expertise in which I profess to be conversant. Years ago, I wrote a newspaper column on the “new” baseball statistics and ran a baseball fantasy league utilizing a computer program I wrote. Now, I am applying for jobs at Fox Sports and though still a fan am scrambling to absorb stats on the 600 or so baseball players who have joined the league since my heyday. And I’m boning up on soccer.
In my youth, a trip to the central library near downtown Detroit, with its early-Renaissance architecture, marble floors and walls, cavernous ceilings and room after room containing row upon row of books, confirmed that this quiet sanctuary of knowledge is where the spirit of man is truly at home.
When I graduated from college, it was my fervent wish that I spend the rest of my life emulating the life of a student. Journalism gave me that gift. We used to have a cartoon on the wall at work showing a reporter preparing to throw a dart at a board divided into spaces with labels such as Economics, Urban Development, Transportation, Crime and Pollution. The chart’s title was Today I Am An Expert In …
Now, I include in many of my cover letters a phrase that gives me a large measure of comfort to write:
It has been my great fortune to be associated throughout my career with an institution vital to the community, dedicated to fostering a greater understanding of issues crucial to a functioning democracy …
Hopefully, Andrew Sullivan’s blogster overstates his case and the fate he foretells isn’t mine. But all things considered, it is hard for me to complain.
Tags: jobs, journalism, unemployment
The time for mere words has passed.
When a crisis is upon us, lamentations about mistakes made, commiseration for all the human suffering and cries for justice are not enough.
The President must act. He needs to weigh in on the disaster and put the full force of his administration and the public will behind righting this wrong. He needs to own it. He needs to go before the American people and compel the forces of evil to do the right thing.
Or else the baseball umpire’s call that robbed Detroit Tiger pitcher Armando Galarraga of a perfect game will forever be a blemish on his administration’s record.
Major league baseball has long claimed that adequate safety measures are already in place and there is no need for the prying eyes of instant replay cameras. The men in black who call ’em as they see ’em, they aver, are highly skilled professionals with proven track records and unimpeachable integrity. Another bureaucratic layer of decision-making will certainly slow the game, dull the senses and imperil the institution.
Yes, over the years, the occasional corked bat, sign stealing and steroid use have tarnished baseball. But, the game’s defenders argue that our great national past-time still represents the very essence of America. It encapsulates the inventiveness, the toughness, the can-do spirit upon which our country was built. And few can argue otherwise.
When Americans streamed off the farms and into our cities a hundred years ago, we turned to baseball to power the engine of our imagination. When corruption and the chaos of competition threatened to hobble the game, the nation responded by protecting it with an anti-trust exemption. And when the most unruly of our masses attempted to weaken the institution, we came together as a people to protect the purity of our mission. At least until 1947.
But times change. And little by little some have begun to wonder if perhaps there is a better way to represent the American ethos than the enrichment of a small cadre of greedy individualists. Especially when there are much larger cadres of greedy individualists clamoring to participate. Occasionally the cry goes up that Bobblehead Night is insufficient compensation for overpriced inclusion in the game. Man does not live by Cheese Whiz nachos alone.
This is not to say that some day we may be compelled to ween ourselves off the need for ball and bat diversion. There are arguably cheaper and more efficient alternative recreational sources, like soccer, being championed by a distinct minority. But they are out of the mainstream of American life and, while some day we may have no choice but to explore those alternative paths, for now baseball is a critical part of what makes America the great international leader it is.
Questions are asked about how far we want to go subsidizing large private enterprises with public money and polluting our landscapes. Privatizing our gains and socializing our losses. And though these questions are, from time to time, asked by powerful public representatives in Congress, the representatives of baseball are not always forthcoming:
July 8, 1958, Senate Anti-Trust and Monopoly Subcommittee Hearing
Senator Estes Kefauver: Mr. Stengel, are you prepared to answer particularly why baseball wants this bill passed?
Manager Casey Stengel: Well, I would have to say at the present time, I think that baseball has advanced in this respect for the player help. That is an amazing statement for me to make, because you can retire with an annuity at fifty and what organization in America allows you to retire at fifty and receive money?
I want to further state that I am not a ballplayer, that is, put into that pension fund committee. At my age, and I have been in baseball, well, I say I am possibly the oldest man who is working in baseball. I would say that when they start an annuity for the ballplayers to better their conditions, it should have been done, and I think it has been done. I think it should be the way they have done it, which is a very good thing.
Now the second thing about baseball that I think is very interesting to the public or to all of us that it is the owner’s fault if he does not improve his club, along with the officials in the ball club and the players.
Now what causes that? If I am going to go on the road and we are a travelling ball club and you know the cost of transportation now — we travel sometimes with three pullman coaches, the New York Yankees and remember I am just a salaried man and do not own stock in the New York Yankees, I found out that in travelling with the New York Yankees on the road and all, that it is the best, and we have broken records in Washington this year, we have broken them in every city but New York and we have lost two clubs that have gone out of the city of New York.
Of course, we have had some bad weather, I would say that they are mad at us in Chicago, we fill the parks. They have come out to see good material. I will say they are mad at us in Kansas City, but we broke their attendance record.
Now on the road we only get possibly 27¢. I am not positive of these figures, as I am not an official. If you go back fifteen years or if I owned stock in the club I would give them to you.
Senator Kefauver: Mr. Stengel, I am not sure that I made my question clear. (Laughter).
Mr. Stengel: Yes, sir. Well that is all right. I am not sure I am going to answer yours perfectly either.
For now, Major League Baseball stands firm. Rules are rules. What kind of a world would we have if honor trumped order. If justice trumped profit. If men were made to answer for their actions and stand judged by their peers.
“While the human element has always been an integral part of baseball, it is vital that mistakes on the field be addressed. Given last night’s call and other recent events, I will examine our umpiring system, the expanded use of instant replay and all other related features.”
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig
The tone may be perfect, but Selig’s pitch is wide of the mark. It’s time for action. It’s time to think outside the batter’s box and reverse this call. Or we shall forever be tarred by these scandalous proceedings.
Tags: baseball, BP, oil
Like many sporting enthusiasts, including President Obama, I filled out my bracket early last week.
It’s been a long season, and in the end my pick to win it all was the same team I had picked in the preseason. But because I had seen them enter the year as a heavy favorite, stumble out of the gate, recover their balance, then hit a long losing streak before getting hot just before the regular schedule ended, I entered the final days hopeful, yet wary.
I’ve seen the Democrats screw up tasks far less challenging than health care.
Wait a second. That was too easy. A sports metaphor applied to a political battle with the intention of entertaining the reader through use of misdirection.
Let me try that again.
I was hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains a couple days ago in unseasonably warm weather. It was nice to break out the shorts and t-shirt and wend my way up the Santa Ynez trail to Trippet Ranch in Topanga State Park.
It wasn’t so nice to wake up the next morning with a bloody thigh where a deer tick, picked up along the trail, had bored his way under my skin, no doubt carrying infectious Lyme disease to my vulnerable nervous system.
All the early symptoms of impending disaster were there. Soreness around the wound where the blood-sucking parasite was munching away, a radiating spiral of red surrounding the spot, headache, joint and muscle pain, drowsiness and, yes, I think my lymph nodes were already starting to swell.
A quick trip to the Internet confirmed my diagnosis and affirmed my notion that I had precious little time to get myself to the doctor for treatment.
Fortunately, I have health insurance and could see a doctor for immediate confirmation of my worst fears. Unfortunately, I have been unemployed for nine months and my federal Cobra coverage will probably run out just before neuro borrelia sends me to the hospital where I can savor a “slowly developing destruction of the nervous system, numbing, partial hearing impairment and the development of dementia.”
Too bad the health care legislation the Democrats are pushing through Congress mostly doesn’t kick in til 2014.
That’s better. I like stories that begin with a personal anecdote. I also like stories with a happy ending, but I suspect even if one is written for this saga not many people will read it. They’ve barely followed the plot to this point.
The health care “debate” seems to have been everything but a debate. It’s been a morality tale of good versus evil, with Che, Mao and Stalin lurking in the shadows. It’s been a soap opera of ever changing fortunes in a sad and scary world. It’s been a sporting contest with a never ending supply of subtexts; like a baseball season dominated by talk of steroids, ballplayer bling, egomaniacal owners and financially troubled franchises.
What people generally don’t know and haven’t been discussing among themselves is whether they want this:
Legislation that covers 32 million people. A world in which 95 percent of all non-elderly, legal residents have health-care coverage. An end to insurers rescinding coverage for the sick, or discriminating based on preexisting conditions, or spending 30 cents of each premium dollar on things that aren’t medical care. Exchanges where insurers who want to jack up premiums will have to publicly explain their reason, where regulators will be able to toss them out based on bad behavior, and where consumers will be able to publicly rate them. Hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to help lower-income Americans afford health-care insurance. The final closure of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit’s “doughnut hole.”
The single most ambitious effort the government has ever made to control costs in the health-care sector. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill cuts deficits by $130 billion in the first 10 years, and up to $1.2 trillion in the second 10 years. The excise tax is now indexed to inflation, rather than inflation plus one percentage point, and the subsidies grow more slowly over time. So one of the strongest cost controls just got stronger, and the automatic spending growth slowed. And then there are all the other cost controls in the bill: The Medicare Commission, which makes entitlement reform much more possible. The programs to begin paying doctors and hospitals for care rather than volume. The competitive insurance market.
Thousands of hours and millions of words devoted to the subject, yet poll after poll reveals that while people seem to have a visceral feel for the underlying culture war being waged, they haven’t the faintest idea what all the health care noise is about.
Only 15 percent of Americans, for instance, know that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the legislation will decrease the federal budget deficit over the next 10 years. And 55 percent believe the CBO has said the legislation will increase the deficit over that period.
Kaiser poll
But just because you don’t know how to play seven-card Texas hold ’em doesn’t mean you can’t go to Las Vegas and place your bet. As long as you can pull the lever on the slot machine, or punch the chad on your ballot, you can play the game.
So now is your last chance to step up to the table and put your money where your mouth is. The vote is two days away and the betting line at Intrade, the Prediction Market says health care passage is a slam dunk.
Tags: cobra, health care, hiking, lyme disease, sports
Frances Fragos Townsend
This is, like, my fourth blog posting and I must admit I don’t know a lot about the game of getting noticed. No one has noticed me so far. My blog doesn’t show up in Google searches, and really, why should it. There is nothing remarkable to be read here. And not very much of the unremarkable to capture the attention of Google’s roaming spiders and bots.
The blogosphere overflows with compelling writing, diverse subject matter and inventive communication techniques. There are over 100 million blogs, according to Technorati, and surveys show your average blogger is pretty educated. Oh, yeah, I don’t show up in Technorati searches either, though my virus protection program indicated someone thought enough of my presence to slip me a Trojan horse while I was exploring the site.
There are not only a lot of blogs, there are a lot of prolific bloggers. “The sad truth is the more content you produce the more page views you get,” according to blogging evangelist Duncan Riley. He also once said that no one will visit pages that have ads on them. Riley was wrong about that, but right about the sadder truth.
I don’t really care about any of this. I’m not trying to build an audience, make a statement or earn a buck.
My master plan is to blog infrequently for an audience of one.
And I established forever in the ’80s my total lack of the entrepreneurial gene when I wrote one of the first computer programs for running a fantasy baseball league and limited its free use to a small group of friends. Even when I took it to the web a few years later it was limited, free and unknown, by design.
That’s probably a good thing, because as Riley points out:
“If you want to get rich quick, don’t even bother. There is no such thing as get rich quick. I know everyone goes out there and sells ‘make money from blogging.’ It’s rubbish.”
No money. No fame. Probably not much intellectual satisfaction. I get that by belittling Glenn Beck from my living room couch. So what’s in it for me? Well, now I have some writing clips to show when trying to convince potential employers to end my extended sabbatical from the workplace. I’m talking to you, Firedoglake.
And I have an activity to help me battle my growing addiction to Malcolm in the Middle reruns.
But it’s not enough. Not nearly enough.
In this age of lists, I want to be on one. And this list doesn’t appear to offer advice that I can, or am willing to, make use of.
So, I’m gonna try this.
Frances Fragos Townsend.
There. I’ve done it. I’ve mentioned the name of a former homeland security adviser to former president George W. Bush. When I searched Google blogs for a monthly mention of her name only 17 links appeared. I want to be Number 18.
I don’t need to be Number 1. It’s not just about me, you know. I’ll be waiting for the chant to go up. “We’re Number 18. We’re Number 18.”
Instant recognition in the marketplace of ideas.
Update: Two weeks later, this blog entry turned up as the ninth entry listed out of 240 on a Google search for mentions of Frances Fragos Townsend during the past month. She seems to have become more popular. I would like to think I helped.
Tags: firedoglake, Frances Fragos Townsend, google, technorati
I don’t know anything
I spent a not insignificant part of my formative years in Michigan cowering in a school basement, or under a desk, curled up in a fetal position and waiting patiently for disaster to be visited all about me. But not upon me.
We were being trained how best to survive a nuclear disaster. Or a tornado. Duck and cover. It was drilled into us on a regular basis. Signs on walls and ads on television made sure I knew what to do when the end of the world was near. We all knew what to do.
When I moved to California, I brought my knowledge of how the world worked with me to earthquake country. My wife and I taught it to our daughter, and put it to good use when the 1994 Northridge earthquake jolted us from our beds and sent us scurrying to the doorjamb in the kitchen. We cowered beneath it as the walls shook and the floor rocked, secure in the knowledge that we were taking all the proper precautions under difficult circumstances.
But just the other day, I received an e-mail from a friend who forwarded me an article from “rescue expert” Doug Copp, who had crawled through 875 collapsed buildings, worked at a high level for the UN and was a member of the world’s most experienced rescue team. He categorically refuted everything I ever knew about surviving the Big One.
He called his method The Triangle of Life.
Falling buildings crush big things and everything under them. Don’t get under things. Lie next to them. Don’t go to the center of a building. Cuddle up to a wall. Don’t curl up under a doorjamb. It will skewer you to death. The only safe place was in the space next to objects, beneath the triangle of wreckage. About all the two approaches agreed on was that when disaster struck, it was OK to assume the fetal position and regress back to the womb.
Copp shot a video of a staged disaster that validated all his natural experience.
Once again, the conventional wisdom had proven to be the wishful thinking of people who felt the desperate need for safe, concrete solutions in a world of deadly uncertainty. Like the efficacy of vaccines, the insights of Keynesian economics and the lasting value of a good smoke, yet another unshakable truth was replaced in short order by its diametric opposite.
If only they knew this in Haiti, how many lives might have been saved, I wondered.
But I didn’t wonder for long. Another friend e-mailed that their father, an aerospace engineer, was skeptical of this most unconventional wisdom. He detailed a number of specific objections to Mr. Copp’s article and linked to a U.S. Geological Survey website that linked to, uh, this.
And just like that, I had yet another new contradictory set of facts.
In a world of diminishing returns and growing uncertainty, it’s good to know that the unceasing flow of information, streamed at us our entire waking lives, will continue to provide an unending supply of simple truths.
They’re cheap. Help yourself.
Tags: disaster, doug copp, earthquake, facts, triangle of life
After watching President Obama go head-to-head with Republicans at their annual retreat in Baltimore, and dominating every aspect of the conversation, I am once again intrigued by the possibility of real dialogue about issues on a national stage.
Anyone who has seen the British prime minister debate his rivals on the floor of Parliament knows that there is much to be gained from a legitimate exchange of information and ideas. Unfortunately, in this country, the closest we come to that are staged debates, so formal in their structure, that any meaningful exchange is smothered at the outset.
And the substitute dialogue, hammered out hourly by surrogate talking heads on the cable news networks, only serves to emphasize our paucity of legitimate public forums.
So its no surprise to find that only a third of Americans know what the health care public option is, 39% believe in evolution, nearly half think the President can suspend the Constitution and a majority still think there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq when we invaded the second time. Let’s hope that the 50% of Americans who believe we are protected by Guardian Angels are right. Someone has to take care of us.
I would like to see President Obama issue a challenge to the loyal opposition to debate him, one on one, every week for an hour on C-SPAN. Two people sitting across a table having a spirited discussion of whatever issues come to mind. Participants would venture into the seamy world of wedge issues and demagoguery at their own peril. It would be a fine replacement for the weekly presidential radio address and maybe make it up to the TV network for jobbing them on Obama’s pledge to televise the final stages of health care negotiations.
Update: How delightful. Not only did Obama arrange to have televised the final stages of health care negotiations, he sat down one-on-one with the loyal opposition and debated a range of issues.
Tags: debate, dialogue, Obama
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Weekend Estimates: 'The Boss' ($23.48M) & 'Batman v Superman' ($23.44M) in Tight Race for First Place; 'Hardcore Henry' ($5.10M) Arrives SoftlyApril 10, 2016 09:42 AM
by Daniel Garris
It was an extremely close race between Universal's The Boss and Warner's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for first place this weekend. The Boss is currently estimated to come out ahead with $23.48 million, but with an estimated lead of only $45,000, either film could ultimately end up in first place this weekend.
Regardless of whether or not it ends up in first place this weekend, The Boss outpaced expectations and performed well with its modest price tag in mind. The Melissa McCarthy led R-rated comedy also proved to be critic-proof this weekend. The film's opening weekend performance was 9 percent ahead of the $21.58 million opening weekend of 2014's Tammy (though it should be noted that Tammy's opening weekend take was softened by a Wednesday debut) and 19 percent below the $29.09 million debut of last year's Spy (it should be noted that The Boss had been widely expected to open below Spy). With this weekend's performance of The Boss, McCarthy continues to remain one of the more consistent box office draws in recent years. McCarthy will next appear in Sony's Ghostbusters, which arrives on July 15.
The Boss started out with $8.11 million on Friday (which included an estimated $985,000 from Thursday night shows), increased a healthy 20 percent on Saturday to take in $9.73 million and is estimated to decline 42 percent on Sunday to gross $5.64 million. That gave the film an estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio of 2.90 to 1. The Boss skewed heavily toward female moviegoers (67 percent) and slightly towards moviegoers under the age of 35 (51 percent). Audience reception to The Boss appears to be lackluster as the film received a C+ rating on CinemaScore and current has a Flixster audience score of just 50 percent. With that in mind, it's quite possible that The Boss won't hold up as well going forward as McCarthy's previous hits have. On the other hand, the film's mentioned strong Saturday hold is an early encouraging sign.
After leading the box office for the past two weeks Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice fell to a close second place this weekend with an estimated $23.44 million. The blockbuster 3D superhero film starring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill continued to fall off sharply, as the film was down 54 percent from last weekend. Batman v Superman is now on the verge of reaching the $300 million domestic mark with a 17-day take of $296.69 million. However, as a result of its soft holding power thus far, Batman v Superman is now running just 1 percent ahead of the $294.51 million 17-day take of last year's Furious 7 (which fell 51 percent in its third weekend to gross $29.16 million). With that in mind, Batman v Superman will soon fall behind the pace of Furious 7, especially with Disney's highly anticipated The Jungle Book entering the marketplace this coming Friday.
While Batman v Superman continued to decline sharply this weekend, Disney's Zootopia continued to display strong holding power with an estimated third place take of $14.35 million. The blockbuster 3D computer animated film was down just 26 percent from last weekend. Without taking into account ticket price inflation, Zootopia registered the eighth largest sixth weekend gross of all-time. Zootopia is also on the verge of reaching the $300 million domestic mark with a 38-day take of $296.01 million. The film is now running just 8 percent behind the $320.39 million 38-day take of last year's Inside Out and will continue to make up ground in that comparison going forward. Zootopia already has a current total gross to opening weekend ratio of 3.94 to 1.
Universal's My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 placed in fourth with an estimated $6.42 million. The PG-13 rated comedy sequel starring and written by Nia Vardalos was down 43 percent, as the film took a hit from the debut The Boss this weekend. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 continues to perform towards the higher end of expectations with a 17-day take of $46.75 million. That places the film 6 percent behind the $49.59 million 17-day gross of last year's The Intern (which fell just 26 percent in its third weekend to take in $8.68 million). My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 will hope to re-stabilize next weekend with the debut of The Boss behind it.
Hardcore Henry rounded out the weekend's top five with an estimated $5.10 million. The low-budget action film from STX Entertainment opened below pre-release expectations and delivered a lackluster per-location average of $1,690 from just 3,015 locations. The trailer for Hardcore Henry had gone over well, especially online, but that reception ultimately failed to get moviegoers to see the film this weekend. Hardcore Henry delivered the lowest debut for STX Entertainment to date in the distributor's young history. The film opened with $2.01 million on Friday (which included an estimated $380,000 from Thursday night shows), declined a concerning 7 percent on Saturday to gross $1.87 million and is estimated to slide 35 percent on Sunday to take in $1.22 million. That places the film's estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio at a fairly front-loaded 2.54 to 1. Much like The Boss, Hardcore Henry doesn't appear to be going over all that well with moviegoers. Hardcore Henry also received a C+ rating on CinemaScore and has a respectable current Flixster audience score of 66 percent.
Faith-based films Miracles from Heaven and God's Not Dead 2 claimed sixth and seventh place with respective estimated takes of $4.80 million and $4.05 million. Sony's Miracles from Heaven was down a very solid 34 percent this weekend, while God's Not Dead 2 was down a sizable 47 percent. Miracles from Heaven passed the $50 million mark this weekend and continues to perform nicely with $53.81 million in 26 days. God's Not Dead 2 has been far less impressive with $13.84 million in ten days and clearly isn't duplicating the word of mouth or the performance of its predecessor, 2014's God's Not Dead, which grossed $21.75 million in its first ten days after falling just 4.5 percent in its second weekend to take in $8.80 million.
Daily Domestic Gross Fri, Aug. 11 2017
Wide (1000+)
Fri, Aug. 11 2017
Wks.
1 Annabelle: Creation $15,012,427 -- 3,502 -- $4,287 $15,012,427 1 Warner Bros. / New Line
2 Dunkirk $3,120,296 73% 3,762 -252 $829 $145,427,847 4 Warner Bros.
3 The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature $3,010,381 -- 4,003 -- $752 $3,010,381 1 Open Road
4 The Dark Tower $2,310,883 77% 3,451 0 $670 $28,741,647 2 Sony / Columbia
5 Girls Trip $2,064,340 90% 2,303 -279 $896 $92,737,845 4 Universal
6 The Emoji Movie $1,935,023 35% 3,219 -856 $601 $58,921,970 3 Sony / Columbia
7 Spider-Man: Homecoming $1,726,392 62% 2,607 -509 $662 $302,080,086 6 Sony / Columbia
8 The Glass Castle $1,650,668 -- 1,461 -- $1,130 $1,650,668 1 Lionsgate Lionsgate
9 Kidnap $1,497,041 98% 2,418 40 $619 $15,666,324 2 Aviron Pictures
10 Atomic Blonde $1,293,755 59% 2,093 -1233 $618 $39,540,980 3 Focus Features
11 War for the Planet of the Apes $1,004,816 79% 2,098 -606 $479 $134,633,309 5 Fox
12 Despicable Me 3 $882,970 38% 2,013 -432 $439 $245,489,415 7 Universal
13 Detroit $852,214 73% 3,007 0 $283 $11,263,678 3 Annapurna Pictures
Limited (100 — 999)
1 Baby Driver $418,180 56% 865 -559 $483 $99,010,107 7 Sony / TriStar
2 Wonder Woman $411,121 71% 961 -346 $428 $401,139,206 11 Warner Bros.
3 The Big Sick $405,202 94% 709 -296 $572 $35,754,252 8 Lionsgate
4 An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power $278,613 271% 556 376 $501 $1,774,274 3 Paramount
5 Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets $251,274 14% 877 -918 $287 $37,709,268 4 EuropaCorp/STXfilms
6 Toilet: Ek Prem Katha $184,596 -- 178 -- $1,037 $184,596 1 Reliance Pictures
7 Cars 3 $91,252 26% 308 -169 $296 $148,085,448 9 Disney
8 Step $88,781 866% 185 156 $480 $288,284 2 Fox Searchlight
9 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 $73,574 53% 210 -42 $350 $388,695,522 15 Disney
10 Transformers: The Last Knight $70,053 138% 255 -67 $275 $129,621,536 8 Paramount
11 Captain Underpants $44,617 51% 178 -51 $251 $73,045,783 11 Fox / DreamWorks Animation
12 47 Meters Down $41,663 166% 173 -238 $241 $43,258,716 9 Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures
13 The House (2017) $40,163 291% 148 24 $271 $25,229,431 7 Warner Bros. / New Line
14 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales $34,859 52% 125 -42 $279 $171,487,949 12 Disney
15 Lady Macbeth $22,838 0% 119 -13 $192 $863,950 5 Roadside Attractions
16 The Mummy $16,385 9% 102 -44 $161 $80,029,360 10 Universal
17 Rough Night $11,848 -- 185 158 $64 $21,986,450 9 Sony
Platform (1 — 99)
1 Wind River $187,524 1253% 45 41 $4,167 $415,742 2 The Weinstein Company
2 Good Time $54,149 -- 4 -- $13,537 $54,149 1 A24
3 Ingrid Goes West $48,822 -- 3 -- $16,274 $48,822 1 Neon
4 Menashe $31,043 195% 47 37 $660 $254,788 3 A24
5 The Only Living Boy In New York $17,471 -- 15 -- $1,165 $17,471 1 Roadside Attractions / Amazon Studios
6 Megan Leavey $12,429 23% 75 -21 $166 $13,020,718 10 Bleeker Street
7 A Ghost Story $12,411 -43% 57 -151 $218 $1,426,757 6 A24
8 Beatriz at Dinner $10,131 96% 41 -3 $247 $6,964,811 10 Roadside Attractions
9 The Boss Baby $7,516 -31% 87 -33 $86 $174,861,951 20 Fox / DreamWorks Animation
10 We Love You, Sally Carmichael! $7,158 218% 11 4 $651 $52,799 2 Purdie Distribution
11 Mubarakan $6,893 -41% 22 -106 $313 $721,262 3 Sony Pictures Releasing International
12 The Hero $6,234 10% 41 -12 $152 $3,949,474 10 The Orchard
13 It Comes At Night $3,411 255% 5 -10 $682 $13,865,562 10 A24
14 Alien: Covenant $3,219 -4% 45 -29 $72 $74,220,117 13 Fox
15 Love, Kennedy $2,348 3% 12 -2 $196 $361,273 11 Purdie Distribution
16 4 Days in France $727 102% 2 1 $364 $6,624 2 Cinema Guild
17 In Pursuit of Silence $564 -64% 1 -- $564 $15,818 8 Cinema Guild
18 The Exception $508 -7% 4 -1 $127 $698,581 11 A24
19 The Girl Without Hands $460 111% 4 0 $115 $8,623 4 GKIDS
20 L'Important C'est D'Aimer (2017 re-release) $54 6% 1 0 $54 $16,251 5 Rialto Pictures
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Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald 3D (PG-13) Release Date: November 16th, 2018
Director: David Yates
Genres: Action/Adventure, Family
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol
At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.
In an effort to thwart Grindelwald's plans, Albus Dumbledore (Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.
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Home / photo report / The spectacular space achievements of the USSR. Photo
The spectacular space achievements of the USSR. Photo
27.02.2017 photo report 203 Views
There were victories, there were defeats, but they are the young generation knows little.
It is well known that the Soviet Union launched the first space satellite, living being and man. During the space race of the USSR to the extent possible, sought to overtake and surpass America. There were victories, there were defeats, but they are the younger generation that grew up after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there is little that he knows, because space success, according to the Internet, is the destiny of the American astronauts.
The first flyby around the moon
Launched 2 January 1959, the satellite “Luna-1” was the first spacecraft that successfully reached the moon. 360-kg spacecraft that carried on a Soviet coat of arms had to reach the lunar surface and to demonstrate the superiority of Soviet science. However, the satellite missed, after 6,000 miles from the lunar surface. The probe released a cloud of sodium vapor, which for some time was shining so bright, that allowed to track the satellite motion.
“Luna-1” was at least the fifth attempt of the Soviet Union to land on the moon, a secret information about the previous failed attempts are stored in the folder “top secret”.
Compared to modern space probes “Luna-1” was extremely primitive. It had no engine, and the electricity supply was limited to the use of primitive batteries. The probe had no cameras. Signals from the probe stopped coming three days after launch.
The first flyby of another planet
Launched February 12, 1961 the Soviet space probe Venera-1 was supposed to make a hard landing on Venus. This was the second attempt of the USSR to launch a probe to Venus. Landing capsule “Venera-1” also had to deliver to the planet the Soviet coat of arms. Although most of the probe, as expected, had to burn when entering the atmosphere, the Soviet Union hoped that the reentry capsule reaches the surface, automatically making the USSR the first country to reach the surface of another planet.
The start and the first communication sessions with the probe were successful, the first three treatment indicated normal operation of the probe, but the fourth took place with a five-day delay and showed a fault in one of the systems. In the end the contact was lost when the probe was at a distance of about 2 million kilometers from Earth. The space ship drifted in space at a distance of 100,000 kilometers of Venus and was not able to get data for course corrections.
The first spacecraft photographed back side of the moon
Launched October 4, 1959, the satellite “Luna-3” was the third spacecraft successfully launched to the moon. In contrast to the two previous probes “Luna-3” was equipped with a camera for photographing. The task that was put before the scientists was to use the probe to take a photo of the back side of the moon, which at that time had never been photographed.
The camera was primitive and difficult. A space ship could make only 40 pictures, which were to be removed, manifested and dried on the spacecraft. Then side a cathode-ray tube had to scan the developed image and to transfer data to the Ground. The transmitter was so weak that the first attempts of transfer of images failed. When the probe, having made an orbit around the moon, close to Earth was received on 17 photos are not of very high quality.
However, scientists were excited about what they found on the image. In contrast to the visible side of the moon, which was flat on the reverse side were the mountains and the dark region.
The first successful landing on another planet
17 August 1970 launched the spacecraft “Venera-7”, one of two Soviet spacecraft-Gemini. After a soft landing on the surface of Venus probe was supposed to deploy a transmitter to transmit data to Earth, setting a record as the first successful landing on another planet and to survive in the atmosphere of Venus, the lander was cooled to -8 degrees Celsius. Soviet scientists also wanted the lander remained in a calm state. Therefore, it was decided that the capsule during entry into the atmosphere of Venus would be connected to the carrier as long as the resistance of the atmosphere will not cause them to split up.
“Venus-7” entered the atmosphere as planned, but for 29 minutes before touching the surface of the drag chute broke and broke. Initially considered that the lander could not withstand the attack, but later analysis of the recorded signals showed that the probe gave temperature readings from the planet’s surface for 23 minutes after landing, as expected the engineers who designed the spacecraft.
The first artificial object on the surface of Mars
“Mars-2 and Mars-3” spacecraft-Gemini, launched one day apart from each other in may 1971. Spinning in orbit around Mars, they had to map its surface. In addition, these spacecraft is planned to launch the landers. Soviet scientists had hoped that these landing capsule will be the first man-made objects on the surface of Mars.
However, the Americans are ahead of the USSR, first reaching the orbit of Mars. “Mariner 9”, which also started in may 1971 reached Mars two weeks earlier and became the first spacecraft to orbit Mars. Upon arrival, both American and Soviet probes found that Mars is covered by a global dust veil that prevented data collection.
Although the lander “Mars-2” crashed lander “Mars-3” has successfully landed and began transmitting data. But after 20 seconds the transfer stopped, was passed only a photo with hardly discernable detail and low light. Likely, the failure occurred due to a major sandstorm on Mars, not given to the Soviet apparatus to make the first clear pictures of the Martian surface.
The first returned an automated system that delivered samples
NASA had rocks from the lunar surface, taken by astronauts of “Apollo”. Soviet Union, failing to land the first men on the moon, was determined to overtake the Americans in an automated space probe to collect lunar soil and shipping it to the Ground. The first Soviet probe, “Luna 15”, crashed during landing. The next five attempts fail near the Earth due to problems with the booster. However, the sixth Soviet probe “Luna-16” was successfully launched.
After landing near the Mare fecunditatis, the Soviet station took samples of lunar soil and placed them in the recovery vehicle started and returned samples to Earth. When the sealed container was opened, the Soviet scientists received a total of just 101 grams of lunar soil, compared to 22 pounds, delivered on the “Apollo-11”. The Soviet model was carefully investigated, it was found that the structure of the soil on the qualities is close to the wet sand, but it was the first successful automatic return lander.
The first spacecraft for three people
Launched 12 October 1964 “Voskhod-1” was the first spacecraft capable of delivering into space more than one person. Although “Sunrise” was declared by the Soviet Union, the new spaceship, in fact, it was an upgraded version of the device that was taken into space by Yuri Gagarin. However, for the Americans, who at that time had no vehicles even for a crew of two, it sounded impressive.
Soviet designers thought “Sunrise” is unsafe. They continued to argue against its use until, until the government bribed them with the offer to send into orbit one of the constructors as an astronaut. However, in the security design of the spacecraft had a number of serious concerns.
First, it was impossible emergency ejection of the cosmonaut in case of unsuccessful start, it was not possible to construct a roof for each astronaut.
Second, astronauts in the capsule was so crowded that they could not wear spacesuits. As a result, in case of depressurization, they would have died.
Thirdly, a new boarding system, consisting of two parachutes and braking of the engine was tested before the flight only once.
Finally, the astronauts had before the flight to follow a diet to the total weight of the astronauts and the capsules were small enough for launch.
Considering all these serious problems, it was just amazing that the flight went flawlessly.
The first person of African descent in space
18 Sep 1980 “Soyuz-38” flew to the orbital space station “Salyut-6”. On Board was a Soviet cosmonaut and the Cuban pilot Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez, who became the first person of African origin who went to space. His flight was part of the Soviet “Intercosmos” program, which allowed other countries to participate in Soviet space missions.
Mendez remained on Board the “Salyut-6” during the week, but he spent more than 24 experiments in the field of chemistry and biology. Investigated its metabolism, structure and electrical activity of the brain, and reshaping bones in microgravity. Upon returning to the Ground, Mendes was awarded the title “hero of the Soviet Union” — the highest award of the USSR.
Because Mendez was not American, America didn’t have that achievement, so for US the first African-American in space in 1983 became Gaillon Stuart Bluford, a member of the crew of space Shuttle “Challenger”.
First docking with a dead object in space
11 February 1985 silent Soviet space station “Salyut-7”. At the station there is a cascade of short circuits, disconnect all the electrical systems and plunge the “Salyut-7” in a frozen dead state.
In an attempt to save the “Salyut-7” of the USSR sent two astronauts-veterans for the repair station. The automated docking system was not working, so the astronauts had to get close enough to try to make a connection in manual mode. Fortunately, the station was stationary and the astronauts were able to make a dock, first demonstrating that it was possible to dock with any object in space, even if he is dead and unmanageable.
The crew reported that inside the station is covered with mold, the walls were covered with icicles, and the temperature was -10 degrees Celsius. Work to restore the space station took place over several days, the crew had to check out hundreds of cables to determine the source of malfunctions in an electrical circuit, but they managed it.
Were not only achievements, and also tragedy
June 30, 1971, the Soviet Union was looking forward to the return of three of the world’s first cosmonaut, who spent more than 23 days in orbit. But when the capsule landed, the crew inside was not followed by any signal. Opening the hatch, ground officials found three dead astronauts with dark blue spots and streaks of blood from his nose and ears. What happened?
According to investigators, the tragedy occurred immediately after separation of the descent module from the orbital module. The valve in the descent module remains open and less than two minutes the capsule released all the air. When the pressure fell, the astronauts quickly suffocated, not being able to locate and close the valve before they lost consciousness and died.
There were other deaths, but they occurred during startup and passing through the atmosphere. The accident of the spacecraft “Soyuz-11” occurred at the height of 168 kilometers, when the astronauts were still in space, making them the first, and only, lost in space.
Tags achievements photo space spectacular
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The Duchess has prepared a draft of his garden “Back to nature”. 37-year-old Kate Middleton …
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Thread: Ams wrap up injury-riddled season
By Annie Fowler
Bob Tory had high hopes going into the 2014-15 season.
The Tri-City Americans general manager knew his team’s goaltending and defense would be solid. Scoring had been an issue for a couple of seasons, but Tory was confident that Parker Bowles, Brian Williams, Lucas Nickles and Beau McCue would come through.
For the first six weeks of the season, things went well. The Americans were 13-10-0-0. They went 4-2 on their Eastern road swing, handed previously unbeaten Kelowna its first loss, came out on top of a goaltending duel with Edmonton and posted back-to-back wins over Kamloops and Red Deer.
Then the injuries came. Not just one player, but many. Some players went on the disabled list more than once. When goalies Eric Comrie and Evan Sarthou both were out of commission, the Americans lost four in a row. They ended the season last in the U.S. Division at 31-38-0-3, and they lost more than 200 man-games to injuries.
“Obviously, we expected to have a better regular season,” Tory said. “Our expectations were high. We got off to a good start, but then came the injuries. I have never seen the number of injuries, and serious injuries, that we had. We never had a full team. They battled as best they could. We went from battling for home ice to barely making the playoffs.”
The Americans made the playoffs for the 12th consecutive season, but Kelowna ousted them in the first round for the second year in a row.
“We had a lot of young guys in the lineup,” Tory said. “The way the guys battled that last game, a lot of teams would have thrown in the towel, and they didn’t. I’m proud of them for that.”
The Americans finished the regular season with just 190 goals — second-to-last among the 22 teams in the Western Hockey League. Bowles had 13 goals and 44 points in 47 games, but he missed the last 18 games of the regular season because of a shoulder injury.
Williams, who had 36 goals last season, managed 17 this season, but he missed several games because of a lower-body injury. McCue led Tri-City with 26 goals and 51 points in playing all 72 games, while Richard Nejezchleb, who joined the team in early November, finished with 20 goals and 51 points in 49 games.
“We need to improve our offense,” Tory said. “Scoring has been a problem the last couple of years. We had some young guys step up when our veterans went down, but this is still a league where the elite players dominate. You saw that with Kelowna.”
Comrie was limited to 40 games, and Sarthou played 28, including a string of 20 in a row when Comrie went to the World Junior Championship and came back with an injury. Sarthou got hurt in late January and missed a month before making his return.
“We expected Eric to be gone for World Juniors, then he got hurt,” Tory said. “Then Evan got hurt. It was after the trade deadline, and we couldn’t make any moves. We had to use (Richland native) Casey Kaiser, then we brought in Nick Sanders and Beck Warm. They were 15 and 16, and had to step up for us at a crucial time of the year when everyone is making a push for the playoffs.”
With the injuries piling up, the Americans turned to their younger players to fill out the game-day rosters. Jordan Topping came on strong, finishing the season with 10 goals and eight assists, and rookie defenseman Dylan Coghlan carried a hefty load of minutes every game.
“You can’t expect the young guys to be your leaders,” Tory said, “but the older guys weren’t doing what we need them to do. The young ones did a good job. We need them to keep growing as individuals, as a team and stay healthy.”
The Americans will return 20 players next season, including five overage players — McCue, Williams, Bowles, Justin Gutierrez and Tyler Morrison.
“The plan is for all five of them to come back,” Tory said. “We really haven’t seen the best of Parker Bowles, and Brian Williams can be a dynamic scorer in this league. We need him to rebound. He is a skilled, quick, fast player, and we need Parker to be healthy for a full season. It’s nice when you don’t have to trade for a 20. You want to develop your own. You don’t want to have to give up an asset to trade for one.”
The Americans lose Justin Hamonic off the back end, but everyone else will return, including rugged Riley Hillis and two of the best young defensemen in the league, Brandon Carlo and Parker Wotherspoon.
Sarthou will return to man the net, with a slew of younger goalies vying to back him up.
“The torch has been passed, and Evan is ready to take it,” Tory said. “He had seven shutouts this year. He’s shown he’s ready.”
That goes for a lot of the younger players, who at 16 and 17 got considerable playing time but still have plenty to learn.
“There will be a lot of growth between April and September,” Tory said. “We have a lot of players coming back, and they need to take that jump and get back to where we were. We want to be a team that consistently wins 40 games a season.”
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2015/0...up-injury.html
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Check Out Great New Songs/Videos from Debut Album of Big Red Machine (Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner)
Aug 31st, 2018 in Music
Virtually everything that the members of Bon Iver and The National touch turns to musical gold. Both those bands are, for us, at the top of the indie-rock realms. And when their members step out and collaborate with others, more magic ensues. Whether via Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon’s varied productions or his collaborations in Volcano Choir or Sean Carey’s soaring solo recordings, or via The National’s Matt Berninger’s El Vy project or the Dessner Twins’ various projects and productions, these members consistently create fecund musical fields and savory song harvests. Vernon’s and Aaron Dessner’s new project Big Red Machine is yet another example.
Ramping up a collaboration that began eons ago (via the Big Red Machine song included in the Dark Was The Night fundraiser) Vernon and The National’s Aaron Dessner have today released The Big Red Machine’s debut album that once again inflames the ineffable (with inevitable f-ables). Vernon and Dessner have repeatedly collaborated before. They founded the Eaux Claires Festival and recently developed (with Bryce Dessner) a new music/artist platform dubbed PEOPLE, which seeks to further artistic collaboration. Now comes Big Red Machine. And we’re all in.
The album reflects both Bon Iver’s and The National’s recent entreaties to electronica, but still features Vernon’s affecting, post-Expressionist lyrics, guitar plenitude and melodies befitting of both bands. The luminous list of participants is similarly impressive: Bryce Dessner, Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry, the unjustly unsung Lisa Hannigan, fulgent Phoebe Bridgers, the earth-eclipsing harmonists The Staves, and This is the Kit’s Kate Stables.
To match the release of their eponymous album, Big Red Machine has delivered videos for three of our favorite songs off the album: Forest Green, Gratitude and the comparatively folkified I Won’t Run From It. Forest Green is a particular highlight, with its emotionally propelling bass-line and Vernon’s enigmatic lyrics that can’t help but tug the heartstrings. Who doesn’t want to give or receive more time? The inventive videos were directed by Eric Timothy Carlson and Aaron Anderson.
You can pick up the album HERE. Or stream it HERE.
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The Science News Reporter
Anomaly In CERN Data Has Put Us Closer To The Physics Beyond The Current Model
Particle physics is a curious discipline. Its key theory, the Standard Model – our best understanding of how the basic building blocks of matter are governed by three of the four fundamental forces – is one of the most tested scientific systems and has allowed researchers to predict the existence of particles decades before we had the instruments to actually find them.
At the same time, we know that it is limited. It doesn’t include gravity for example. Or dark energy or dark matter.
These limitations are important, but they are extremely difficult to test in particle accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Researchers are currently approaching things in almost the opposite way by instead proving one of the many predictions of the standard model wrong. They have not had much luck with this either, but a new study inches us closer to doing just that.
As reported in the European Physical Journal C, researchers have studied a particular particle decay that happens to beauty mesons, an unstable particle made by a very rare beauty antiquark and a down quark (found in both protons and neutrons). The beauty mesons decay in a number of ways, all predicted by the standard model. However, experiments looking at these decays have detected a slight anomaly from the Standard Model predictions, suggesting either the predictions are wrong or hinting at unknown physics.
"For a long time in the LHC, there has been an intense hunt for everything whose presence cannot be explained by current physics," co-author Dr Marcin Chrzaszcz, from the Institute of Nuclear Physics and the University of Zurich, said in a statement.
"At present, the search for new particles or phenomena in a direct way remains fruitless. However, several anomalies have been found in data containing decays of beauty mesons. They are becoming more interesting day by day because the more data we process and the more effects we take into account when describing them, the better they are visible."
There was not enough data to claim a discovery but there was enough to make people raise an eyebrow about it.
To make sure that an unexpected result is not just a blip, or a fluke, or a mistake it has to be rigorously tested. If, for example, it differs from the predicted outcome by three standard deviations it has a level of 3 sigma. This anomaly had a precision of 3.4 sigma, or 99.97 percent. The goal is to confirm that the anomaly is real beyond the five sigma golden standard or 99.9999 percent.
“In previous calculations, it was assumed that when the meson disintegrates, there are no more interactions between its products," co-author Dr van Dyk said.
However, when the team expanded the theoretical background of the beauty meson decay to also include long-distance interactions, according to the Standard Model, the data goes way beyond the five sigmas, up to 6.1, suggesting that there is really something there.
Despite the new analysis, this is still not an official discovery but it does make the anomaly a lot more tantalizing.
"We will probably have a sufficient amount within two or three years to confirm the existence of an anomaly with a credibility entitling us to talk about a discovery," explains Dr. Chrzaszcz.
The beauty meson anomaly is the not the only experimental hint that we are close to finding physics beyond the Standard Model. We might soon have to explain a lot of phenomena, which our theoretical edifice currently cannot.
In August, the Andromeda galaxy will move closer to Earth : a cosmic event that only happens once every 150 million years
This August, the Andromeda galaxy will be even bigger than the moon in our sky!
The last time this cosmic event occurred was during the era of the dinosaurs… Share this information as much as you can with your friends because NO human being living today will be able to see this incredible event a second time.
This summer, don’t forget to look up at the sky in the middle of the night: the Andromeda galaxy will be shining brightly. And for a good reason since this galaxy’s apparent diameter will be larger than the Full Moon! Through a unique cosmic phenomenon, a galaxy will be visible to the naked eye and will appear to the Earth’s inhabitants to be even bigger than the moon!
This is the first time that humanity will be able to observe this exceptional phenomenon. The last time the Andromeda galaxy was so close to the Earth was exactly 150 million years ago, during the era when dinosaurs ruled its surface. Just imagine, mankind didn’t yet exist!
This unique cosmic phenomenon known as “Andro…
This Albino Turtle Is Absolutely Stunning
This is an Albino Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima, also known as the painted wood turtle.
Credit: albinoturtles.com /
Albino Wood Turtles are one of the rarest turtle morphs in the world.
Credit: albinoturtles.com
11-Year-Old Iranian Girl Gets the Highest Mensa IQ Score, Beating Einstein, Hawking
An 11-year-old Iranian high school student in the United Kingdom is making headlines for getting a remarkable result on her Mensa IQ test that even surpasses those of great thinkers such as Albert Einstein and the late Professor Stephen Hawking.
Tara Sharifi, a student at Aylesbury High School, recently took the Mensa IQ test in Oxford where she scored well above the “genius benchmark” of 140.
The 11-year-old student scored 162 points on the test, which is two points ahead of Einstein, a theoretical physicist who is considered as one of the two pillars of modern physics, and famous cosmologist Professor Stephen Hawking.
The Mensa IQ test, which needed to be answered within a set time, focused on the student’s ability to understand the meanings of words, according to Iran Front Page.
“I was shocked when I got the result – I never expected to get such a good score,” Sharifi said.
With the score she received, Sharifi now qualifies for the Mensa membership, which is also known as the High IQ s…
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About Us / Testimonials
Could there be hope for caregivers?
We're going to run out of caregivers. People like me, you and your neighbor. No, not tomorrow or by the end of the week - but soon. Too soon. In 2010, there were seven people (or potential care givers) for every person over 80. By 2030, there will be four people for every person over 80 and by 2050 there will be fewer than three. These numbers are from a recent AARP report, that looked at the number of "aging-in-place" caregivers in the United States. (Aging-in-place means that an aging individual remains at home as opposed to being moved into a common care facility.) Care for those aging-in-place is generally provided by children, who themselves are aging quickly.
Baby Boomers are particularly effected. Boomer women had fewer children than the generations before them and some have opted out of having children at all. The Senate Aging Committee is looking at a novel solution to the looming problem. Senator Bob Casey is drafting a plan to form a National Caregiver Corps.
This is from the Committee:
"Volunteers who participate in the program would receive specific guidelines and structure from the Department of Health and Human Services in order to provide assistance to families by "cleaning, preparing food or even shopping for people who want to remain at home" as they age, as well as respite care for existing family caregivers. The proposal also includes providing volunteers with a stipend, tuition credit or even academic credits."
What do you think? Is a Caregiver Corps a good idea? Leave a comment below and let me know your opinion. As always, I will share them with our elected officials.
For a complete downloadable PDF copy of the AARP report, click here.
Take Care and Stay Healthy!
Debbie Carroll
Founder, The Senior Sage
Janet Snyder
Most people would not volunteer to be caregivers, unless they are family members. Because of the aging population, there are businesses that provide CNAs to care for disabled people, so their family members can get a break. They insure that the CNAs are licensed and capable of providing care.
The Senior Sage link
Janet, thank you for your opinion.
I hear what you're saying about Senator Casey's plan to engage unlicensed volunteers. Perhaps written in to the bill would be training for the Caregiver Corps?
The question still remains: Will people want to volunteer for training in a Caregiver Corps, when they can get trained and licensed to do this work for a salary ?
What about the many people who cannot afford the $15-20 an hour charge that licensed caregivers charge?
Yes, I do think that some people will want to volunteer because of the stipend, tuition/academic credit training component of the bill.
The bill could potentially be a win/win for people who have no family or friends to help them and for people who have limited funds and prospects for education.
You are more optimistic than I am, about the willingness of people to volunteer for just a stipend and/or tuition/academic credit. Back in 2010 I paid $22.00 an hour for a CNA to stay with my husband, with a 3-hour minimum each day and a minimum of 3 times a week. There are community organizations that give grants to caregivers to give them respite care. I received a $1,000 grant to take my husband to an adult day care. He only went twice, and hated it, and refused to go back. I returned the grant to the organization that gave it to me, to use for another person. There is no "right" or "best way" for everyone. We're all individuals.
Bert Simonis
Janet, of course people will volunteer. If they didn't the Peace Corps would not be operational, Senior Corps would cease to exist. Most churches, museums, festivals, and other non-profits could not exist without their volunteers - and most organizations do not provide anything as far as a stipend, or the promise of a college education. You've shown you have a heart by giving back the grant - now come on out and volunteer at your local senior center!
Debbie Carroll is the Founder of The Senior Sage and knows first hand what it's like to be a caregiver.
The Senior Sage assists in coordinating community and in-home resources. The final decision about your care arrangements must be made by you. In addition, the quality of a particular provider must be solely determined and monitored by you. Information provided to you about a particular provider does not imply and is in no way an endorsement of that particular provider by The Senior Sage. The information on and the selection of a particular provider has been supplied by the provider and is subject to change without written consent of The Senior Sage.
All content is copyright © 2013-2019 of Debbie Carroll and The Senior Sage, LLC
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