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The Cathedral Of The Blessed Sacrament Opened – 12th February 1905
Despite of the Barbadoes Street section of land – allotted by the Canterbury Provincial Council – being rather water-logged, Christchurch’s Roman Catholics couldn’t hide the excitement of the arrival of spiritual leaders in the city and the upcoming plans of a church building in 1857.
In October 1860, after being built elsewhere and transported to the Barbadoes Street site by horse and dray, a simple chapel was opened to worshippers. In 1864, Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort, the Canterbury Provincial Architect (known at that time for his design of the Canterbury Provincial Chambers) designed a larger wooden structure that over the years was built and expanded on. It was known as the Church of the Blessed Sacrament.
In 1887, Canterbury’s first Roman Catholic Bishop – John Grimes – was ordained. At this time, the Church of the Blessed Sacrament was made the pro-cathedral and the new Bishop made no secret of his desire for a fine Cathedral. In May 1897, the Bishop began a three year tour of the world, preaching and fundraising as he went, bringing not only £3,800 home but also two gifts from the Vatican to be sold for further funds.
Upper Hutt architect, Francis William Petre, was invited to submit a design for this new Christchurch Cathedral project as he worked away on the Wellington’s Sacred Heart Basilica. In keeping with the Italian Renaissance style, his design was accepted. The old church was moved on to a Ferry Road site so construction could be started. The foundation stone was laid on 10th February 1901.
The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament was opened by the Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr. Thomas Carr, on 12th February 1905.
The 4th September 2010 earthquake closed the Cathedral as the minimal damage done had already stirred up conversations of a much needed restoration of the structure. While the Cathedral’s staff ate their lunch together on 22nd February 2011, one priest later stated that he had watched the two bell towers collapse from his position under the lunch table as Christchurch was again brought to her knees by an earthquake. He also added that the screaming of the students from the nearby Catholic Cathedral College would stay with him the rest of his life.
Much like its Anglican counterpart in Cathedral Square, restoration and demolition has been discussed in great detail. The last of the talks (as of 2013) have been around the rebuilding of the Blessed Sacrament on nearby land, leaving parts of the ruins as a memorial. Lately, (as of 2017) the church is feeling confident in raising the funds for a full restoration.
*Image courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library – https://natlib.govt.nz – Exterior view of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, 122 Barbadoes St, Christchurch. Webb, Steffano, 1880-1967: Collection of negatives. Ref: 1/1-009019-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22678500 *
12th February 1905 Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament
Valerie Marshall says:
I understand that, in fact, that site on Barbadoes Street, so close to Ferry Road and the railway line, was just the spot they wanted for a basilica – it would be the first church people would see entering Christchurch via Lyttelton …
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Yaldhurst Road Giant Planted – 1881
In 1881, one of Christchurch’s oldest trees, a Tasmanian Blue Gum (eucalypts globules), was planted at what is now recorded down as 314 Yaldhurst Road. It is 40 metres tall. This beauty of a landmark has not only survived earthquakes and record-breaking storms but decades of changing tides also known as progress.
The Tasmanian Blue Gum first arrived in New Zealand unintentionally in 1842 at Wairau, near Blenheim. It is believed that seeds were carried over on cargo from visiting Australian ships. Australian miners are also credited for unwittingly carrying seeds from across the Tasman Sea.
Historians have a long debated the arrival of the Blue Gum in Christchurch. The most accepted theory is that seeds were again, accidentally brought into the city with the import of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) Onion seeds in 1851. As the Blue Gums grew on the property of Dr. J.W. Earle in Opawa, it became a guessing game of what the rapid strong growing trees were. Believed to have been English Honey Suckles, an Australian settler, who knew the Blue Gum well, finally solved the mystery.
The second Christchurch property to have a Blue Gum was that of Dr. A.C. Barker (pictured here with his daughter Elizabeth) on the North Western corner of Cathedral Square and Worchester Street. Considered a well known land mark in the city, many of Dr. A. C. Barker’s photos that were taken in his garden included many of Canterbury’s earliest characters posing with this icon – from the New Zealand Anglican Bishop George Selwyn to Christian missionary Tamihana Te Rauparaha. By the 1880’s, with the Doctor long passed away, the tree was removed in the name of progress. But by this time, the Blue Gum was very popular with Cantabs and with the seeds for sale; the Blue Gum became wide spread across Canterbury.
314 Yaldhurst Road Blue Gums in Christchurch
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Board index » Clubs » Club All Stars Teams » Spain
Real Betis Balompié All Stars
Charrúan
Real Betis All Stars
Stadium: Estadio Benito Villamarín (56 432)
COACH: Llorenç Serra FERRER
José Ramón ESNAOLA
Toni PRATS
Eusebio RÍOS
Juan Manuel COBO
Antonio BIOSCA
Antonio BENÍTEZ
Francisco BIZCOCHO
Robert JARNI
Juan MERINO
MIDFIELDERS:
Julio CARDEÑOSA
Antolín ORTEGA
Rafael GORDILLO
Gabriel CALDERÓN
Joaquín PARRA
Marcos ASSUNÇÃO
Fernando ANSOLA
Poli RINCÓN
DENÍLSON
RESERVES:
Joaquín URQUIAGA
Nery PUMPIDO
Pedro JARO
Esteban ARETA
León Lasa MÚGICA
Francesc Grau PLA
Jaume SABATÉ
Faruk HADŽIBEGIĆ
ÁLEX
Juan UREÑA
Risto VIDAKOVIĆ
Tomás OLÍAS
Luis FERNÁNDEZ
Iulian FILIPESCU
Andreu BOSCH
Francisco FRÍGOLS
Gerrie MÜHREN
Francisco Javier López GARCÍA
Sebastián ALABANDA
Gabino RODRÍGUEZ
Alexis TRUJILLO
Juanjo CAÑAS
Fernando VARELA
IRINEY
Achille EMANÁ
Luis ARAGONÉS
Rogelio RAMÍREZ
José González GONZÁLEZ
Eduardo ANZARDA
Carlos DIARTE
Hugo CABEZAS
Daniel AQUINO
Ángel CUÉLLAR
Ricardo OLIVEIRA
HISTORICAL SQUADS AND INFO:
Real Betis Balompié, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Betis, is a Spanish football club based in Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 12 September 1907, it currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at Estadio Benito Villamarín in the south of the city. Among other titles, the club – which in 1932 became the first Andalusian team to play in La Liga – won the Primera División in 1935 and the Copa del Rey in 1977 and 2005. Both the King of Spain Juan Carlos I and his son Prince Felipe de Borbon are honorary members of the club. Maintaining an historic city rivalry with Sevilla FC, its motto is Viva er Betis manque pierda! ("Long live Betis even when they lose!"). The name is derived from Baetis, the Roman name for the Guadalquivir river. Betis initially attracted support from the working classes although a large number of aristocrats, including the King of Spain also supported the team. Real was added in 1914 after the club received patronage from King Alfonso XIII.
Betis' city rivals Sevilla Football Club were the first club in Seville, founded in October 1905, while a second club, Sevilla Balompié, were established in September 1907. Balompié translates literally as football, as opposed to the most commonly adopted anglicised version, futbol. Balompié was founded by students from the local Polytechnic Academy, and were in operation for two years before being officially recognised (in 1909), despite this 1907 remains the official foundation date of the club. Following an internal split from Sevilla FC, another club was formed, Betis Football Club. In 1914 they merged with Sevilla Balompié. The club received its royal patronage in the same year, and therefore adopted the name Real Betis Balompié. Fans continued to refer to the club as Balompié, and were themselves known as Los Balompedistas, until the 1930s when Betis and the adjective Béticos became common terminology when discussing the club and its followers.
During the Spanish Second Republic (1931-1939), royal patronage of all organisations was nullified, and thus the club was known as Betis Balompié until after the Spanish Civil War when it would revert to the full name. The club reached the Copa del Rey final for the first time on 21 June 1931, when it lost 3-1 to Athletic Bilbao in Madrid. Betis marked their 25th anniversary year by winning their first Segunda División title in 1932, finishing two pints ahead of Real Oviedo, thus becoming the first club from Andalusia to play in La Liga. Under the guidance of Irish coach Patrick O'Connell on 28 April 1935 Betis won the La Liga, to date their only top division title. They topped the table by a single point over Real Madrid. A year later Betis went down to seventh. This was due to the dismantling of the championship-winning team because of the club's poor economic situation and the arrival of the Civil War, meaning that just 15 months after lifting the league title only two players who won in 1935 were left: Peral and Saro. No official league was held during the Civil War between 1936 and 1939, until its resumption for the 1939-40 season and the first year back highlighted Betis' decline as exactly five years after winning the title the club was relegated.
Despite a brief return to the top division, which lasted only one season, the club continued to decline and in 1947 the worst fears were reached when they were relegated to Tercera División. Many fans see the ten years they spent in the category as key to the 'identity' and 'soul' of the club, a time that saw it win sympathies all across Spain. During this time Betis earned a reputation for filling its stadium and having a massive support at away matches, known as the Green March. When the side returned to the second level in 1954, it gained the distinction of being the only club in Spain to have won all three major divisions' titles. Much of the credit for guiding Betis through this dark period and back into the Segunda lies with chairman Manuel Ruiz Rodríguez.
In 1955, Manuel Ruiz Rodríguez stepped down from running the club believing he couldn't offer further economic growth, he was replaced by Betis most famous former president Benito Villamarín. During his reign Betis returned to the top division in 1958–59 and achieved a best-ever third position in 1964. His purchase of the Estadio Heliópolis in 1961 is seen as a key point in the history of the club - the grounds were called the Estadio Benito Villamarín until 1997. Villamarín is also credited with helping launch rising star Luis del Sol, who would go on to earn 16 caps for Spain, but also had to make unpopular decisions such as selling him. Villamarín would step aside after 10 years at the helm and would die of cancer one year later, in 1966. Just one year after Villamarín's departure the club would again be relegated to division two, then rising and falling almost consecutively until consolidating their place in the top level from 1974–75.
On 25 June 1977, Betis played Athletic Bilbao at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, Madrid, in the Copa del Rey final. The match finished 2–2, with Betis winning 8–7 after a staggering 21 penalties. This rounded off a solid season in which the club finished fifth in the league. After that triumph, Betis competed in the European Cup Winners' Cup: after knocking out A.C. Milan 3–2 on aggregate in the first round, the side reached the quarterfinals where they lost to FC Dynamo Moscow. In spite of a good overall performance in Europe, the team suffered league relegation. The following year Betis quickly returned to the top flight and a period of good times for the club. The next three seasons saw three top-six finishes, and UEFA Cup qualification in 1982 and 1984. 1982 saw a first round defeat to S.L. Benfica, who would go on lose in the final, and the next participation also ended in the first round, on penalties against FC Universitatea Craiova. During the summer of 1982, the Benito Villamarín hosted two matches as part of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and also witnessed the Spanish national team's famous 12–1 hammering of Malta in order to qualify for UEFA Euro 1984. In 1986, Betis lost in the final of the soon-to-be defunct Spanish League Cup, against FC Barcelona.
Betis again returned to a club rising and falling from the First almost every season until 1992 when it was forced to meet new rules and regulations, meaning the club was required to cover a capital of 1,200 million pesetas, roughly double that of all the first and second division teams, despite being in level two at the time. In just three months the fans raised 400 million pesetas, an equivalent to between 60-100% of most top division teams, and vice-president Manuel Ruiz de Lopera stepped in providing economic guarantee while himself becoming majority shareholder as the team narrowly avoided relegation.
After another three seasons in the second division, with the club managed by Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, Betis returned to the top flight for the 1994–95 season, subsequently overachieving for a final third position, thus qualifying to the UEFA Cup. In the European campaign, Betis knocked out Fenerbahçe SK (4–1 on aggregate) and 1. FC Kaiserslautern (4–1) before losing to defeated finalists FC Girondins de Bordeaux (3–2). In 1997, thirty years after winning the trophy for the first time, the club returned to the final of the Spanish Cup, again in Madrid, although this time at the Santiago Bernabéu, losing 2–3 against Barcelona, after extra time. Incidentally Barça was the club Serra Ferrer would leave Betis for that summer, to be replaced by former player Luis Aragonés. Aragonés would only last one season with the club leading in to the eighth position, and to the quarterfinals in the Cup Winners' Cup, losing 2–5 on aggregate to eventual winners Chelsea. Aragonés was followed by the controversial reign of Javier Clemente, who spat on a fan and implied Andalusia was another country! The team slipped down the table, finishing eleventh and being knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Bologna F.C. 1909 in the third round. For the next couple of seasons Betis went through numerous managers, a relegation and a promotion, after which the team finished sixth in the league, with Juande Ramos at the helm. Ramos was gone after just one season, being replaced by former Cup Winners' Cup-winning manager Víctor Fernández. He led the team to eighth and ninth in the league and the third round of the 2002–03 UEFA Cup, being knocked out by AJ Auxerre (1–2 on aggregate), during his two-year reign. For 2004, Fernandez was replaced by the returning Serra Ferrer who guided the team to the fourth position in the top flight. They also returned to the Vicente Calderón, on 11 June 2005 for the domestic cup final, lifting the trophy for only the second time after an extra-time winner by youth graduate Dani, in a 2–1 win against CA Osasuna. The league finish meant Betis became the first Andalucian team to compete in the UEFA Champions League, and it reached the group stage after disposing of AS Monaco FC in the last qualifying round (3–2 on aggregate). Drawn in Group G, and in spite of a 1–0 home win against Chelsea, the club eventually finished third, being "demoted" to the UEFA Cup, where it would be ousted in the round of 16 by defeated FC Steaua Bucureşti (0–0 away draw, 0–3 home loss).
Betis celebrated their centenary year in 2007. The festivities included a special match against AC Milan, the reigning European Champions, on 9 August, with the hosts winning 1–0 thanks to a Mark González penalty early in the second half. Seven days later, the club won the Ramon de Carranza Trophy held in neighbouring Cádiz, beating Real Zaragoza on penalties in the final, after defeating Real Madrid in the semi-final. Surrounding the celebration, it was a time of great change in terms of the playing and technical teams, with eight new signings replacing fourteen departures. During the two seasons (2006–07 and 2007–08) that encompassed the centenary year Betis had four different managers. During the latter campaign, the club was the 37th-best followed team in Europe regarding average attendances. After many years of staving off relegation, Betis' 2008–09 season culminated with a 1–1 draw against Real Valladolid at home. With this outcome, the club finished 18th in the table and consequently was relegated to the second division. On 15 June 2009, over 65,000 Beticos including icons such as Rafael Gordillo, del Sol, Hipólito Rincón, Julio Cardeñosa and others joined the protest march in Sevilla with the slogan "15-J Yo Voy Betis" to let the majority owner Ruiz de Lopera know that it was time to put his 54% share of the club on the market for someone, some entity or the Betis supporters to buy those shares and remove Lopera from the day to day operations of the club." Despite the protests, no upper management changes were made during the season, which would ultimately see Betis fail to gain promotion back to the top level.
Sevilla judge Mercedes Alaya was investigating links between Betis and other Ruiz de Lopera-owned businesses leading to him being formally charged with fraud. On 7 July 2010, one week before the start of preliminary court proceedings, Lopera sold 94% of the shares that he owned (51% of Betis total shares) to Bitton Sport, fronted by Luis Oliver, for the surprisingly low figure of €16 million, leaving Lopera with only minor shares; Oliver had already reportedly taken two football clubs, Cartagena FC and Xerez CD, to the brink of bankruptcy. However, before the sale could be officially sanctioned Ayala froze Lopera shareholdings. Left with nothing, despite putting down a €1 million deposit, Oliver hastily bought a nominal number of shares from a third party and was voted onto the board of directors by the existing members (all former cohorts of Lopera), allowing him to carry on running the club. In response to this, the judge appointed well-respected former Betis, Real Madrid and Spain legend Rafael Gordillo to administrate Lopera's shares to ensure Lopera was not still running the club and that decisions made were for the benefit of the club not individual board members. Again under Pepe Mel, Betis started 2011–12 with four wins in as many games, with Rubén Castro retaining his goal scoring form from the previous season, where he scored 27 goals. The club only managed, however, one point in the following ten matches.
Betis have a long-standing rivalry with city neighbours Sevilla FC.[2] The two have met 114 times in official competition, with Sevilla holding a 45% win ratio over Betis (31%). The first match between the two clubs took place on 8 February 1915, with Sevilla winning 4–3. The match was not completed, as high tensions led an aggressive crowd to invade the pitch, forcing the referee to abandon the match. In 1916, the first Copa Andalucía was held, this being the first official derby of the Seville area. Of the 17 runnings of the cup, Sevilla were victorious 14 times, to Betis' one sole conquest; this included a 22–0 routing after the latter sent their youth team, in 1918. The first time the teams met in league, in Segunda, happened in 1928–29, with both teams winning their home matches (3–0 and 2–1). They played for the first time in the Spanish top division during the 1934–35 season, with a 0–3 home defeat for Sevilla and a 2–2 draw at Betis, with the latter winning the national championship. On 17 January 1943, Betis lost 5–0 at Sevilla, eventually being relegated. In the first game held at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium, on 21 September 1958, the Verdiblancos won it 4–2. In later years, several matches were also marred by violence, including: a security guard attacked by a Sevilla fan with a crutch (that he did not require to walk), Betis goalkeeper Toni Prats being attacked and Sevilla manager Juande Ramos being struck by a bottle of water;[9] the latter incident led to the 2007 Spanish Cup match being suspended, being played out three weeks later in Getafe with no spectators. On 7 February 2009, Betis won 2–1 at the Pizjuán, but was eventually relegated from the top flight, while Sevilla finished in third position.
Location: Šabac, Serbia
Re: Real Betis Balompié All Stars
I think that Ruben Castro deserves a spot in the first team, he is an all time top scorer.
pucela73
I think Rogelio Sosa (https://www.fiebrebetica.com/wiki/jugadores_de_leyenda), Luis del Sol (https://www.fiebrebetica.com/wiki/jugad ... is_del_sol) and Gabriel Humberto Calderón (http://www.marca.com/2014/01/20/futbol/ ... 44572.html) must be in reserves team.
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Artist Spotlight: Journeys in Glass
Through wanderings in New Zealand, Mark Leputa discovered his passion for glass art, launching a voyage that’s taken him to Alabama, Europe and a host of scenic places that supply fodder for his renowned work.
by MARCIA GRUVER
It is a rainy Fourth of July morning in Fort Payne, Ala., and glass artist Mark Leputa is focused beyond the immediate surroundings. In a few days, he will be on his way to Colorado and one of the touchstone inspirations of his work: mountains.
You can blame this mountain fascination on New Zealand.[s2If !is_user_logged_in()]
To read the rest of this article, pick up a copy of the Fall 2015 issue OR Subscribe Now for instant access to our online edition, which offers more photos (including those not published in the print edition).
[/s2If][s2If is_user_logged_in()]“There’s not one flat spot in that country,” Mark says with a grin. He spent almost three years on New Zealand’s North Island near Lake Taupo, serving his first apprenticeship in glass.
Learning the work
But that’s getting ahead of the story a bit. Leputa hails from Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Pittsburg with a degree in communications. His first job, “the worst job I’ve ever had,” he now says, was in a print shop. When the opportunity came to go to New Zealand, Leputa was already packed.
His experience there was that of a student nomad – broke, going from odd job to odd job. When he landed in the town of Taupo, he found a job at a glass studio. “I started doing all the grinding, cutting and polishing,” he relates. He fell in love with glass. After a trip back to the States to get his work visa sorted out, Leputa began working at the studio again, soaking in everything.
In addition to the education he was getting, he was experiencing Taupo’s surroundings: a volcanic crater lake, geothermal landscapes and geysers. “There are not a lot of places in the world that look like that,” Leputa says. The area remains an inspiration. Beginning in 2013, Leputa created a geothermal series of pieces based on his memories from that time.
After a few years working in the glass studio, Leputa was yearning for more. He returned to the United States, where glassmaking was experiencing a renaissance. He came back with one resolution: “I was dead set that working in glass was going to be my career until I died,” he says.
He looked at three glass studio assistant jobs, including one at Orbix Hot Glass, located near Little River Canyon, south of Fort Payne. Although he thought “Alabama might as well be as far away as New Zealand,” Leputa took up owner Cal Breed’s invitation to check things out. “We meshed,” Leputa says. “Cal was the best glass blower to learn from and had the nicest studio. Our work is totally different from each other’s, but what we want out of it is very similar.” And so Leputa moved to Fort Payne in 2007.
As part of working at Orbix, Leputa gets three hours of studio time each week to work on his own projects. This has helped jumpstart his career.
To begin a piece, he does his initial hot work at Orbix, blowing the glass into a preliminary shape and creating the layers that will later be revealed. But that’s only the start, about 25 percent of the work that will eventually go into a piece. After it cools, he transports the rough form to his garage studio and spends the remaining time doing what glass artists call “cold work” – the cutting, grinding, engraving, sandblasting and polishing that are part of Leputa’s signature style.
Recent works include “Celtic Froth,” part of Leputa’s Crystalline Series, in which he uses opaque color overlays and shapes a network of lenses in, as he puts it, “a wavy pattern reminiscent of sea foam hugging a coastline.” Part of the same series is “Digital Scales,” a goldover-lime piece that required several grinding wheels to create.
Cal Breed says Leputa’s abilities have grown by leaps and bounds during the eight years he has worked at Orbix. “If I had to put Mark’s vision for glasswork into three words, they would be: zealous for polish,” he says. “You could say he gives birth to his pieces as he labors for long, hard hours in the cold shop cutting, grinding and refining. He has a gift as a craftsman and I look forward to seeing how that gift develops.
Showing the work
Social media has been a key part of Leputa’s marketing from the get-go. “I don’t just post my pieces,” he says. “I feel like people want to know who I am as an artist, not just see the artwork.”
In fact, an early post on the MySpace social media network landed him his European representative: Netherlands-based Melvin van den Doel. “I found out that his uncle had one of the best galleries in Europe, and he [Melvin] was looking for up-and-coming artists. He believes in people who are still hungry and have that drive.” The relationship developed to the point that van den Doel’s previous gallery, Gallerie van Loon and Simons in Vught, Netherlands, hosted a solo show of Leputa’s work and invited him over.
The trip turned out to be a heady experience for Leputa and his wife Victoria. The gallery was showing more than 20 of his pieces, and during a VIP lunch before the exhibit opening, Leputa was asked to perform a daunting task: speak. “Melvin told me to just tell them my story, just get them to know me,” Leputa says. “It was pretty intimidating to go to a foreign country and give a talk. But once I got going, it was fairly easy – just talking about myself and Orbix.” After the speech, Leputa and Victoria spent the rest of the day visiting with eager glass-art lovers.
“We felt like rock stars,” he recalls. “They had read about us, they knew Victoria, they knew our wedding date and they just wanted to meet us.”
Now 70 percent of Leputa’s pieces, which retail in the $4,000 to $5,000 range, go to van den Doel’s just-opened Dock Gallery, located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. “When you start getting over $1,000 in price, it takes a certain buyer,” Leputa says. “There are lot of young, wealthy people over there who are starting art collections.” Leputa’s work also can be seen at five stateside galleries located in Seaside, Fla., Pittsburg, Dallas, Aspen, Colo., and, of course, Orbix Hot Glass in Fort Payne.
Leputa is appreciative of the opportunity to further his skills in Fort Payne. He’s working toward a goal of going out on his own, but gives props to Cal Breed at Orbix. “I don’t think I could go to work for someone else because I don’t think anyone would be better than working for Cal,” he says. “He looks at his studio as an incubator; he doesn’t want assistants; he wants artists who will grow into their own.”
The conversation returns to Leputa’s upcoming trip, hiking and rock climbing in the mountains of Colorado. “I don’t know what will happen,” he says, “or what new thing will come.” But check out his work a year from now and you’re almost certain to see the trip’s reflection.
What fires the creative life? Here’s Mark Leputa’s take:
Passion and perseverance. Leputa loves explaining his glass-making process, and has started documenting it with videos on his website, markleputa.com. “Your artwork is what you put your blood and sweat into, and that’s what makes it exciting,” he says. “At the end of the day, I might not be rich, but I didn’t come home hating my job. I had a blast all day; I’m tired because I worked hard and I’m exhausted. I’m not tired because I’m stressed.”
Documentation. Once a piece is sold, it’s gone forever. “I have always documented everything,” Leputa says. His website, markleputa.com, features photos of pieces dating to 2005. Showcasing. The Internet is a great equalizer, allowing artists to display their work before a wide, broad audience. “You don’t have to be in a gallery for someone to see it,” Leputa says. “You never know who’s looking.” Social media can be an especially fertile ground; Mark posts regular updates about what he’s creating on Facebook and just started an Instagram account. He even sold a piece on Pinterest.
Staying inspired. Austin Kleon’s two books, “Steal Like an Artist” and “Show Your Work!” have influenced how Leputa both views and displays his glass. Packed with inspirational and practical advice, they’re also quick reads.[/s2If]
← Nature’s Path: Secret Hideaway
Doing Business Here: Sweet Success →
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Running Sound Cues – The Second Time
May 11th 2015 Posted in My other gigs
In my previous post, I shared my experience of running audio cues for a show for the very first time. I was pretty nervous. I also predicted that I would be much more relaxed the second time around.
Well, I’ve just done it the second time, and I indeed felt a lot more comfortable doing it!
To recap, the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry has been putting on Puppet Slams multiple times a year. What is a puppet slam, you asked? It’s just like a poetry slam, except instead of poetry, you have puppets. Basically, puppeteers sign up to each perform a short piece in the show. It’s really fun because you have no idea what each person is going to do, even though many of us know one another.
Since I’ve already run audio cues once (and did it well), I’m doing it again for the second time. Basically, my job is to compile all the music and sound effects from all the performers beforehand, and start and stop the playback on my computer at the right time during the show.
The Preparation
Last time, the sound designer, Noel, having realized that I was basically operating the audio cues out of a Spotify playlist, recommended using QLab instead. Apparently it is what professionals use and there’s a free version that has all the basic functionalities as well.
So I downloaded QLab and put together a list of sound cues. I clicked around and was glad to find that it handled many things for me that I had to do manually in the last show. For example:
In the last show, I had some sound files that were softer and some louder. I had to take notes during rehearsal on what the desired volume was, and adjust the master volume slider before playing each cue. With QLab, I can individually set the level of each cue during rehearsal. During the show, all I do is press the space bar.
In the last show, I had to insert silent tracks between the actual audio tracks in the playlist. This is so that when a track finishes playing, the user doesn’t hear the next track. With QLab, since it’s specifically designed for running audio cues, it doesn’t attempt to play the next track like a music player would do.
In the last show, I had to take notes in a text editor and refer back to it during the show. In QLab, there’s a box attached to every cue, so all I had to do is type my notes into whichever cue it’s attached to.
In the last show, if I had to only play part of an audio file, I had to import it into an audio editor, trim off the parts I didn’t need, export the edited version, and finally throw it back into the playlist. With QLab, I just say start at this timestamp and end at this timestamp. And that’s all there is to it.
What a pleasure to use a tool that’s specifically tailored to the task at hand!
I did run into a problem while trying it out, though. Every time I pressed the spacebar on my keyboard, the program just started playing the next cue, without stopping the previous sound. So when I pressed the spacebar five times, I heard five songs playing at the same time!
Obviously not what I wanted. So I went onto Youtube and watched several tutorials. Turned out that I need to think differently.
I needed to stop thinking about it like a music playlist. When you play music, you always play one song at a time. But in sound effects, I might start with some ambient sound of rain. Three seconds later, I might cue a thunder. After that, some sound effects for wind blowing through trees, all while still playing the background rain sound in a loop. This is why they overlap. So a cue is not a sound file, but some event that happens. A cue can be starting a sound. A cue can be stopping a sound that’s currently playing. A cue can be fading out a sound that’s currently playing. It works really well when you think about it differently.
Fortunately, as a software engineer, I’m very used to thinking about one problem in several different ways, and am above average at picking up a new piece of software.
Tech Rehearsal
As usual, we arrived a few hours before the show to get ready. We went over the transitions for each piece. This includes stuff like when a performer should enter the stage, when the lights should come up at which location, when the projection gets turned on, when the audio cues come in, which set pieces should be on stage, etc. TJ, the tech guy, was just so on top of everything, working out all the lighting and microphone needs with the performers. Kajal, the stage manager, figured out where each piece would move on and off stage. They were so awesome at this, that for the most part all I had to do was sit back and take notes about the audio cues.
In the picture at the top of this article, you would see Adrian with a clipboard jotting down notes about when and how things like the puppet stage, tables, and projection screens should move. You also see a puppet (though blurry) on the puppet stage. This is TJ and the performer Erik figuring out the lighting. You can also see my view from the back of the stage. On the left side of my computer screen is the lineup, my cheatsheet for which performer was next. On the right you see QLab, what I was using to run cues.
Because I already ran the sound cues last time, and I was actually using a proper tool that I could offload most of my work to, it actually was somewhat uneventful (which was good!) for me during the show. For the most part, I just had to press the spacebar at the right moment, because I already programmed the cues during the rehearsal. Basically I just had to tell the program, “hey, do the thing that we figured out in rehearsal, now!”
When the lights came up for Tara’s piece, I pressed spacebar and proceeded to just enjoy the show. If I weren’t using QLab, I would have been adjusting the audio level, and watching the audio playback so it didn’t spill into the next cue.
With Kate’s piece, same thing. Lights came up. I pressed spacebar and just enjoyed the performance.
With Grayson’s piece, I waited for her to give me a nod. And then I… pressed spacebar and just enjoyed the performance. Are you bored about this spacebar thing yet? That’s how uneventful it can be if you had programmed the cues properly during rehearsal.
Christine’s piece was actually a more interesting one, tech-wise. The stage was dark. I was waiting for the lights to come up before I cued the music. But then it seemed to me that TJ did not have the intention of doing so. Right away it became clear to me: apparently he was expecting me to go first, while I was expecting him to go first. So I just went ahead and cued the audio. Right after that, TJ cued the lights and Christine walked her puppet onto stage.
This decision was made in a fraction of a second. The audience wouldn’t have noticed anything unusual there.
Originally, Christine told me to abruptly cut her music at around the two minute mark. Since I was using QLab, I just needed to set an end marker for the cue instead of actually editing it. During the rehearsal, I learned what her originally intention was. She wanted the music to end when she popped the balloon. She was going to time it so that the balloon pop at around the two minute mark. I told her she could just do that forever, because I would just manually cut the music whenever I saw the balloon pop. And that was what I ended up doing.
And then it was Adrian’s piece. She would get into a pose and have this funny facial expression. And that’s when I would know when to cue the music. Again, spacebar.
Afterwards, I asked to Christine whether she was expecting music or light to go first, just out of curiosity. She said they were supposed to come up around the same time, but the audio would be the one taking the lead. So I guess I was the one that was wrong (oops). She said she didn’t hear the music or see the lights come up, so she was just going to start walking the puppet onto stage anyway. And at that moment, the music and lights both went into action. So I guess there was a delay of a fraction of a second, due to me not writing detailed enough notes. However, the audience wouldn’t have noticed anything.
This is yet another fun show. And once again, everything went smoothly. It had been a much more relaxing experience for me. Because of the proper tool, for the most part I’m just pressing a key and enjoying the show as if I were a regular audience member.
Enough about tech for now. I will post some pictures from the show soon!
Running Sound Cues for the First Time!
March 16th 2015 Posted in My other gigs
The Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry has been putting on Puppet Slams multiple times a year. What is a puppet slam, you asked? It’s just like a poetry slam, except instead of poetry, you have puppets. Basically, puppeteers sign up to each perform a short piece in the show. It’s really fun because you have no idea what each person is going to do, even though many of us know one another.
I have performed in the slams before. This time, however, I did not have a piece ready. Since I already told the organizer (Christine) that I would still help out with the slam in some way, and that the person that usually runs the sound cues (Adrian) could not be there for tech rehearsal that day, I was put on sound cue duty. This means that I would press play on my computer whenever a piece of music or sound effect needs to played.
Sounds simple, huh? However, sound is one of those things that when it’s done well, you don’t really notice it, but if there are problems, it’s very jarring. I would know. I’ve definitely seen my share of missed cues in college / community / amateur theater.
So, I really wanted to do it right. Besides, it just so happened that all of the people that have sound cues that day (Robin, Grayson, Alissa, Timmy) are my friends. I know how much they care about their art and really wanted everything to go well for them. I ended up going through a lot of preparation because of that. Some of it might be overkill, but hey, I wanted to try my best to get things right.
I actually started by creating a different user account on my computer. On this account, all sound effects like opening a window, and receiving a notification, are turned off. It is not running lots of programs at the same time, just to make sure that we don’t hear something that’s not intended to be part of the show. Notably, I disabled the sound that the Mac makes when you press volume up and volume down. This was so if I needed to adjust levels during the show, you wouldn’t hear the sound effects for that. (I went to a college show a few weeks later. They didn’t think of that, so you could totally hear the sound effects when they adjusted the volume. We wouldn’t want something like that.)
Then I listened to every piece to familiarize myself with them. I even opened them up as wave forms to see the levels to know which pieces were louder, and which were softer. Finally, I compiled them all into a playlist according to the order of pieces that was just given to me.
On the day of the slam, we arrived early at the theater for a tech rehearsal. We didn’t have time for a full run-through, but we did have a cue-to-cue. This means we basically practice all the transitions (moving set pieces, performers entering / exiting, sound cues starting / stopping, making lighting changes, etc.), skipping over most of the actual performance. Due to the lack of experience, I was starting music when I wasn’t supposed to, and forgot to cut music a few times. But hey, that was why we had rehearsals. As we heard the sounds on the sound system, I also wrote down what volume level each cue should be playing at and whether there was live vocals on top of them.
There were two things that really helped. One was that the video system had its own sound set-up so we didn’t need to worry about that part. Two (and more importantly) was that the audio tech, Noelle, was very experienced and was on top of everything.
Pre-Show Time
Finally, it was time to open up the house and let people in. Kujal, the stage manager, wanted to put some house music on. Unfortunately I didn’t have any prepared. So she just set up a Motown station on her Pandora and connected her phone to the sound system. I also took the time to make a few silent tracks so I could insert them into the playlist so that one cue wouldn’t spill into the next one (which, of course, I’ve also seen in college theater, especially in the earlier days when we ran all cues from a CD player!). I was just using Spotify for this, since it was what I was familiar with, hence least likely to make a mistake during the actual show. Noelle suggested using a piece of specialized software, QLab, which would make all these problems go away. I noted that and will try it next time.
And then the show started. I have to say, running sound cues (for the very first time) is more nerve-wrecking than actually performing on stage for me. Though I was watching the show from the back, I couldn’t enjoy it as much as when I was just an audience member, because I had to think about the next cue.
As the host, Victor, introduced Robin, I got her cue ready. I waited for her to scratch her butt for the second time, and the pointing of the finger, and then set the first cue to play. And then it just went the way it was supposed to go. I sort of joked to myself, “Robin and I are still friend after the show, check.”
And then I got to watch the show a little more because there were some pieces that either didn’t use sound cues or were videos.
The next cue was for Grayson. It was a shadow puppet piece. I was to watch for a particular visual element to appear at about the two minute mark and fade the music. I was also adjusting the levels subtly throughout the piece, because she was reading a poem on top of the music. I’ve been to performances where the background music would overpower the performers’ voices. The music would sound great but then the words (and hence the meaning) would be lost. So I was very consciously making sure her voice wasn’t drown out by the background music.
I initially was a little concerned that I wasn’t able to clearly see the visual to fade the music. Good thing that was only because we didn’t turn all the lights off during the rehearsal, and the shadows actually read much better during the actual show. Greg B., who was on the lights, gradually faded the lights and I faded the music out when we saw the cue. I thought it was great that the people on light and sound cues are both performers. You can fade the lights and sound in many ways (fast, slow, gradual, abrupt, etc.) but I felt like we just had this instinct of how to do it in a way that served the piece.
Two down, two more cues to go.
Next is Alissa’s piece. Now, this was the very first puppetry piece she created a few years ago, so I know it was very personal to her. I also know how much she cared about the sound going the way it should. In some other venues we’ve performed in before, I know she would ask the music to be turned up to a certain level because those venues didn’t have monitors. (Monitors here refer to speakers pointed at the performer or those earpieces they wear.) It might surprise some that, without monitors, the audience might hear the music, while the performer couldn’t hear the music themselves. Or rather, they could hear a little bit of the sound bouncing off the wall from the speakers that are pointing at the audience, but once they started singing themselves, they could no longer hear the faint music. Yes, I’ve had that problem myself before, and couldn’t tell if I was singing on beat and in key or not.
To prevent that from happening, I walked onto the stage myself during the rehearsal just to see if she would be able to hear the music. During the actual performance, we had another problem, though: her wireless microphone had some interference and was buzzing. Since she has this beautiful, but more importantly, strong operatic voice, Noelle decided to dial down her microphone. Afterwards she told me she would rather have the performer less amplified than have the buzzing sound. In response, I also dialed down the background music. My fingers were tweaking the volume levels the whole time, though, and I was ready to turn the volume back up if it looked like she had trouble hearing. The piece went smoothly. This was another example of us making quick decisions on the spot to deal with the situation and serve the piece as a whole. This is a live show. We couldn’t just stop it and do it over, so we got to quickly make these decisions based on what we thought would be the best thing to do in that scenario.
After that we had a few more pieces that didn’t require my cues. Finally it was the last cue of the night. I just needed to play a track for Timmy and fade it out when the characters (well, really just two hands) walked off the stage together. Easy. And phew, I was done.
We had a special guest, Kate Micucci, to sing her “Puppets Understand” song (you should watch the video; it’s quite cute!). She was awesome. It was always nice to see someone that obviously loves puppets and interacts super comfortably with them.
While this was happening, I was putting my engineering skills to use. I figured that the final bow could use a little bit of music and the song Kate was singing would be perfect for it. Since I had no access to wifi there, I used my phone for tethering. This means I turn my phone into a wifi router so my computer can connect and use my phone’s cellular data plan. I buffered the music video to make sure that it would play smoothly without hiccups. When her performance ended, and the host called every performer onto stage to take a final bow, I already had the song queued up to play in the background. The song happens to be very appropriate for the finale. I kept it playing as people exited.
And I was done. Everything went smoothly. I am certainly drawing a lot from my past experiences. College theater taught me a lot about all these things that could potentially go wrong. Engineering skills helped me put in place solutions and safety measures for things that might go wrong. All the time spent performing on stage taught me how to better serve the performance pieces and fellow performers. Hanging out with these people helped me be very aware of their needs during the show.
If I am to do this again, I’m sure I would feel like no problem, I got this. First time running sound cues made me nervous but it was also very fun and rewarding at the same time. I actually was already interested in running the sound cues since my college years, but I either ended up performing on stage or stage managing, depending on what the group needed at the time. It was nice to have this opportunity to do it for the first time.
Me + Her (AKA “Cardboard”)
August 19th 2014 Posted in My other gigs
Want to see something really cool? How about a film where the entire world (characters and sceneries) were made of cardboard?
Click on the link to the film (11 minutes long) that was accepted into Sundance, and is now part of The Short List Film Festival:
http://shortlistfilmfestival.com/film/me-her
Yes, I helped out a little bit on this (you can see my name in the credits among a big list of puppeteers).
Last year, my friend Keiko sent me a message telling me that she had signed on to be the lead puppeteer in a cool project named Cardboard. She would need additional puppeteers for some more elaborated scenes and said it would be great to have my help. Of course, I said yes. Later, she sent me some pictures of the characters and set pieces, all constructed out of cardboard. I was really impressed by how good they looked and the attention to detail.
Although what I did only showed up in the film for several seconds (a mouth movement here, a hand movement there, etc.), it was just nice to be involved with a cool project and work with fellow puppeteers (many of whom old friends). I will write about this experience later, but for now, enjoy the film!
PS. Oh yeah, I haven’t posted in like eight months. For the first half of the year, I was very busy working on major overhaul of an iPhone app that needed to be wrapped up before Apple’s big WWDC conference. But really, blogging just hadn’t been my top priority. And it looks like lots of communications and discussions just take place on social media now. But hey, I still like blogging and will still post here. So for the two (?) of you that’s still reading this blog, well… Hi!
Puppet Caroling
December 23rd 2012 Posted in My other gigs
A few weeks ago, a friend had this idea of doing some Christmas caroling with puppets. We met and picked a few songs. And last weekend, we did a bit of puppet caroling at the Scholl Canyon Estates Retirement Community.
We were scheduled at noon, but there were some delays so we ended up doing it during lunch instead. We brought a smile to most of their faces. A minority of them were not showing much facial expression on their faces. They either weren’t quite capable of doing so, or were genuinely annoyed. But either way, we enjoyed doing it and most of them enjoyed it, as far as I can tell. It’s always nice to bring some joy into somebody’s life.
The songs we performed:
Dreidel Dreidel
Michael Earl Benefit
December 17th 2012 Posted in My other gigs
On November 2, we had another benefit show for our friend, puppetry teacher, and the original Mr. Snuffleupagus, Michael Earl, who had been diagnosed with colon cancer. The organizer, Kristy Pace, turned the ReDiscover Center into an intimate theater space. Puppeteers Karin Tucker, Janine Pibal, Kevin Noonchester, Sarah Ho, and I provided entertaining puppet acts. Musicians James McKenna and Juliana Joya shared their great music with us.
Sarah and I performed a sketch about how puppets can make every sad and horrific movie scene better. The three we picked on were the scenes in which Rose let go of Jack in Titanic, in which Rhett walked away from Scarlett in Gone with the Wind (the “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” scene), and in which the movie producer discovered a horse head in his bed in Godfather. Here’s a picture taken during the performance. This is most likely the Titanic scene.
The audience loved it. It’s been a little while since I last performed a piece I wrote in front of a live audience (been mostly doing projects other people wrote), so it was good to see that reception. I also enjoyed working with Sarah, whom I’ve been friends with but haven’t gotten the chance to perform with. It was also nice to have friends Randy and Alvin (both computer programmers turned actor, for some reason) in the audience, as I haven’t seen them for some time as well.
It was also nice to finally meet Karin. She also trained at Puppet School and we have many mutual friends, so I knew we would meet sooner than later. (This isn’t exactly the biggest circle, you know.) More collaborations to come.
This is a small, intimate performance, so I doubt that we actually raised a big amount of money with the event. But I think what’s more important is the positive energy we are sending over. We all wrote notes that were sent to Michael. And he knew that he is inspiring all these puppeteers to come together, share stories, and use what he taught.
This is all very positive stuff, good for the mind and soul. I procrastinated on writing about this, so he’s already gone through his first chemo therapy by now. I’ve been told that all the encouraging messages that everyone has been sending him really helped him to be in better spirit. I was glad to hear that.
(Photos by Kristy Pace)
Poor Pussy – a short film
November 14th 2012 Posted in My other gigs
At the end of October and beginning of November, I spent two weekends helping out on set of a Columbia film school thesis film. It was tiring, but was a rewarding experience. Here’s a short video from their fundraiser page to give you a little bit of a background.
POOR PUSSY is a tragic love story set in late-1960s Chinatown. Mai, a proud but impoverished seamstress discovers that she may be pregnant with the child of her boss and lover, King. Over the course of a night on the town, Mai challenges King’s love, putting their relationship and her own future on the line, discovering a truth about him that changes her perception of him forever.
The director/writer, Kevin Lau, is currently going to Columbia, but decided to do the production in Los Angeles. His good friend, Leonard Wu, is co-producing the film, so he reached out to find people to help out. I signed on originally just because there are already a bunch of mutual friends (the co-producer, the assistant directors, the casting director, the lead actor, the sound guy, the art guy) on staff.
Originally, I was just going to be offering general help since I do know my way around a film set, but I also mentioned that I read and write Chinese pretty well and can help in that department. I, then, became the translator for the portion of the script that’s supposed to be in Mandarin.
Of course, the dialogue doesn’t always translate well between languages, so there’s a bunch of back and forth between the writer, the co-producer and me. Finally we finalized the script. I also provided phonetic transcriptions and voice recordings for the actors, since some of them can only speak Mandarin, but not read Chinese.
And then came the time of the shoot. I was on set supervising the language portion, as in, if some of them said a certain line wrong, I let the continuity supervisor know that so it doesn’t end up in the final edit. I provide last minute Chinese coaching if the actor is struggling with a particular line. Also, I would walk around the set and look at the posters and decorations on the wall to see if the handwritings look authentic. And if the newspaper on the table has a headline mentioning modern day politicians, I tear that out.
Beyond that, my job was to “do whatever Dave (the assistant director) tells you to do”. So I also helped out with general duties like distributing the walkie talkies. I have known the assistant director for a while now and I think that helped. He knew what he could rely on me to do.
For example, in one shot, he needed a janitor in the background. I was thinking, hm, I think I know what’s coming. And a few minutes later, he told me to put on a jump suit. Yep, totally saw that one coming. And he knew I would do it without any hesitation.
I also ended up being a background extra on some of the days of shoot. I was hanging at a bar, sitting at a table talking to a friend. Since the other chair, where my friend was supposed to be, wasn’t in the shot, they just left it empty. So it was just me sitting there talking to my imaginary friend. Maybe it’s the puppeteer thing, I don’t know, but I am excellent at having conversations with an empty chair (watch out, Clint Eastwood). Several cast and crew members noticed and asked what conversation I was having. Well, I don’t know either. Seems like an interesting conversation, though.
While on set, I enjoyed watching people who are really good at what they do work their magic. The actors are excellent at what they do. The crew set up the camera, do a few takes, change the angle, and do more takes, so sometimes it’s the same scene over and over. But still, it’s interesting to watch over and over. And there’s just something interesting about watching people’s facial expressions through lenses / on a monitor. I somehow enjoy watching the director giving notes to the actors and their reactions. The actors’ faces really do grab my attention more so than other people’s!
And I enjoyed watching the crew as well. The costume / wardrobe person was always going around fixing everyone’s clothing, sometimes taking a needle and thread and just started stitching what the actor was wearing while they were setting up a shot. As someone that works with puppets and is routinely fixing the puppet while it’s not on stage / on camera, I can totally relate and also enjoy watching her do her stuff. And the people setting up the lights, the camera, and dressing the set are all really professional too. It’s always fascinating to watch the people that are good at what they do adjusting all these small details to achieve perfection.
You can tell just by looking at the set, the props and the operation of the whole shoot to know that countless hours have been put into the planning. Some of them flew from New York for this too. I think it’s beautiful to see a bunch of people sharing a vision and just pour in their work even though they are receiving no monetary compensation. I am really looking forward to seeing the final product.
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Ninja Theory
Talking Point: Could Heavenly Sword Cut a Pose on the PS4?
Next generation sequel unsheathed?
by Sammy Barker Mon 29th Apr 2013
Among the excitement for Ratchet & Clank’s big screen debut, the announcement of Heavenly Sword’s cinematic adaption sort of got lost in the shuffle. The flick was backhandedly referenced in a Variety article, noting that production outfit Blockade Entertainment would produce the movie and distribute it in a direct-to-video format. But even though the series isn’t getting the same theatrical treatment as its more marketable first-party counterpart, doesn’t it strike you as surprising that the historical series is making a comeback at all?
Big brute
The original Heavenly Sword released in 2007, almost six years ago. It performed reasonably well at retail, selling over a million copies within its first eight months on the market. Nevertheless, the franchise never quite attained the global traction that both Sony and developer Ninja Theory clearly coveted, and aside from cameo appearances in releases such as PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, it has all but faded out of the market’s awareness. So why invest in a movie now, when brand familiarity is at an all time low?
It could be that Blockade Entertainment merely finds the franchise appealing, which is fine, but direct-to-video is a risky business. Typically the model is employed to create cheap cash-ins based on popular brands such American Pie, not forgotten video game exclusives. The movie would make much more commercial sense if it was being produced as part of a much wider marketing strategy involving a brand new game. And that brings us to our next point swifter than a well placed strike from a godly blade.
Back in the spotlight
Earlier in the generation, Ninja Theory ruled out a sequel to Heavenly Sword, stating its intent to go multiplatform instead. It has since worked on two critically acclaimed titles in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and DmC: Devil May Cry, neither of which performed particularly well at retail. Would it be a stretch for the developer to return to its former stomping ground, and finally pick up on the trilogy that it left behind?
We already know that the studio had penned a further two titles in the series, but it left those in limbo when it changed direction. Sony’s own Studio Cambridge – which has now merged with Guerrilla Games – was rumoured to be working on a potential follow-up that was cancelled in 2008. With the animated movie on the horizon and a brand new console, though, now feels like the right time to resurrect the Heavenly Sword franchise on the PlayStation 4. And there’s some loose evidence to suggest that the hypothetical sequel may be on its way.
Theatrical beatdown
On the 5th April, the British developer teased that it’s “looking forward to showing something new soon”. It’s an ambiguous enough statement, but there’s no reason to believe that it couldn’t be talking about Heavenly Sword. To add fuel to the fire, Ninja Theory was included in the final roster of developers confirmed to be working on the PS4, and creative director Tameem Antoniades even made a cameo during the PlayStation Meeting, talking alongside other developers about what makes the next generation console special.
We’re clutching at straws, for sure, but we keep coming back to the same point: why is the brand getting a cinematic reboot now? Blockade Entertainment’s confirmed that original voice actor Anna Torv will reprise her role as protagonist Nariko, and we’d be shocked if Ninja Theory wasn’t collaborating on the release. Perhaps the reason that the movie announcement has been somewhat swept under the carpet is because Sony’s aiming to make a bigger splash regarding the franchise’s return later in the year. It’s all speculation for the time being, but it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility, does it? Let’s see what E3 brings.
Would you be interested in a Heavenly Sword sequel for the PS4? Do you think that there’s a case to be made for the title’s existence? Let us know in the comments section below.
Would you purchase a Heavenly Sword sequel for the PS4? (18 votes)
Yes, I'd stay up late for the midnight launch
Maybe, it depends if it got good reviews
No, I really didn't like the original game at all
Heavenly Sword (PS3)
rastamadeus
Mon 29th Apr 2013
I don't think a new game is coming. But I do think this is to test the water for a new game. Cheaper and less of a risk making a straight-to-video film than a game.
I've never heard of Blockade Entertainment but I would think Heavenly Sword would make for a nice anime series. Seems there are more ways to watch anime on the PS3 as there are to play games. I really hope the movie is CG and not anime inspired. If it's CG they're making another game, if it's anime they're making it into a series.
JavierYHL
yup would love 1...
Scrible
Game sucked, better left alone
InsertNameHere
I'd love a sequel, Heavenly Sword had so much potential. Even with the disappointing length of the game, Nariko still managed to gain herself a pretty large fanbase.
@rjejr What lets you watch anime on the PS3? Netflix (UK) has a really small selection and LoveFilm has none that I can see.
ThreadShadow
Tue 30th Apr 2013
@Sammy I think that should read, "Could Heavenly Sword Sequel Cut a Pose on the PS3?".
I'd definitely buy a sequel. Aside from being a little short Heavenly Sword is a great game.
@rastamadeus - 2 video channel apps, "Crunchy Roll" and "Neon Alley", I think 1 is English dub and 1 is Japanese w/ subtitles. It's been awhile since I used them.
KAPADO
Underrated little Gem,this is. I still own the game.
@Scrible Methink'st thou art a general offence, and every man should beat thee !
Death Stranding PS4 Screens Shared on Social Media by Hideo Kojima
Social strands
12th Sep 2007 (USA)
14th Sep 2007 (UK/EU)
15th Nov 2007 (JPN)
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Bouchra Khalili
Wednesday, February 20, 6:00 p.m.
Bouchra Khalili is a Berlin-based Moroccan French artist working with film, video, installation, photography, and prints. Khalili’s practice articulates language, subjectivity, orality, and geographical explorations. Each of her projects investigates strategies and discourses of resistance as elaborated, developed, and narrated by members of political minorities.
Khalili’s recent solo exhibitions include, Blackboard, National Gallery of Jeu de Paume, Paris (2018), Tempest Society & Twenty-Two Hours, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany (2018); Bouchra Khalili, Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession, Vienna (2018); Living Labour, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (2017); The Mapping Journey Project, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2016); Foreign Office at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2015); Garden Conversation, MACBA, Barcelona, Spain (2015), and Living Labour, Pérez Art Museum Miami (2013–14). Her work has been included in collective exhibitions and biennials, such as Documenta 14; Triennale di Milano (2017); Telling Tales, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2016); The Future of History, Kunsthaus Zürich (2015); Positions, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands (2014); Here and Elsewhere, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2014), and The Encyclopedic Palace, 55th Venice Biennale (2013). She was nominated for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's Hugo Boss Prize 2018, and for the Artes Mundi 8 Prize, 2018. In 2017 she was awarded a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship and an Ibsen Award.
Bouchra Khalili's website
“Twenty-Two Hours: Bouchra Khalili & Hendrik Folkerts in Conversation,” Mousse Magazine
Peetz, John Arthur. “Bouchra Khalili,” Artforum
Fraser, Holly. “Bouchra Khalili,” Hunger
Latimer, Quinn. “Disregard the Forms: The Mapping Journey Project,” Online Brochure, MOMA, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Khalili, Bouchra. “Portfolio: Bouchra Khalili,” Frieze
Presented in partnership with the Society for Contemporary Art and SAIC’s Office of Multicultural Affairs
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Home SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia signs pact with Indonesia to hire domestic help
Saudi Gazette report
JAKARTA — Saudi Arabia signed on Thursday a cooperation agreement with Indonesia for the resumption of recruitment of domestic workers. Minister of Labor and Social Development Ahmad Al-Rajhi and Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Immigration Muhammad Hanif Dhakiri signed the pact in the framework of strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries in the field of employment of domestic help, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The agreement paves the way for the arrival of new batches of Indonesian domestic help to the Kingdom after a gap of more than three years. In May 2015, Indonesia imposed a total ban on sending domestic workers to 21 countries, including Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. As of 2014, there were 1.5 million Indonesian domestic workers in the Kingdom.
In October last year, the two countries signed minutes for the recruitment of Indonesian domestic workers. Under the new agreement, there will be recruitment for various domestic jobs. On the sidelines of signing of the agreement, the two ministries have launched a single-channel system for employment of Indonesian workers. This is a unified electronic system agreed upon by the two parties to facilitate and expedite procedures for hiring domestic labor to the Kingdom.
Speaking on the occasion, Al-Rajhi highlighted the Kingdom’s close relations with Indonesia, and stressed the importance of cooperation and coordination in further enhancing bilateral interests of both the countries. “The future of labor relations between the Kingdom and Indonesia will be a promising one, based on solid foundations, and looking forward to developing this relationship through more efforts and coordination,” he said.
Al-Rajhi said that the signing of the agreement is the result of the fruitful relations between the two countries, which comes within the framework of the protection of rights and regulating the relations between workers and employers in accordance with the laws and regulations prevailing in both countries as well as with international conventions and treaties. It is also an effective step in the continuation of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in various fields of work,” he added.
Morocco King praises King Salman’s efforts to serve pilgrims
Cordon Bleu takes 30 of tomorrow’s Saudi chefs under its wings
KSA consumer sentiment stays positive
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You Can Do This at the Edge of the World's Largest Falls
Africa, Anywhere - 1 person likes this.
This photo isn't playing tricks on your eye. People really do take a dip in the natural pool at the top of this world-famous, record-breaking falls.It's the largest falls in the world 1708 meters (5604 feet) across and 108 meters (354 feet) high. It's not the highest or the widest falls, but that combination results in a sheet of falling water unmatched in size by any other falls. It's still double the height of Niagara Falls.
Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been called one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Named Victoria Falls for the Queen by Scottish explorer David Livingstone when he first came across it in 1855, it's called Mosi-oa-Tunya – The Smoke that Thunders – in local Tonga dialect.
The First Gorge, Zambian Side. Photo Credit
Upstream from the falls, the Zambezi River flows across a wide, flat plateau with no hills or mountains to channel the flow of water. So the entire 5600-foot width of the river drops over the edge of a fracture in the landscape, falling into the gorge below, and flowing through the chasm in a zig-zag series of gorges that form the border between the two countries in southern Africa.
Both issue visas to allow tourists to cross back and forth across the border to see the falls from both vantage points. A million international and local visitors a year come to see the falls and there are concerns about development and environmental management endangering the site.
The Second Gorge (with bridge) and Third Gorge. Photo Credit
And as for the top picture? Victoria Falls has a famous natural feature on the Zambian side, an 'armchair' called the 'Devil's Pool' near the edge. When the water is at a certain level, a rock barrier reduces the current in that spot to relative calm. Daredevil adventure-seekers risk death to swim only a few feet away from that 350-foot drop.
Start your Trip!Copyright BestTrip.TV/Influence Entertainment Group Inc or Rights Holder. All rights reserved. You are welcome to share this material from this page, but it may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Tags: adventure, zambia, zimbabwe, safari, africa, shore, honeymoon
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I want to go to Africa
New! Nat Geo Conservation Africa Expedition: Elephants, Rhinos and Big Cats On a trip inspired by National Geographic-sponsored effor...
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When the Suffering Undoes the Artist
8 comments Jul 10, 2009 | Article, Featured, Layne Staley, Mike Starr, News, Pictures
Home \ When the Suffering Undoes the Artist
Layne and Mike
By JON PARELES
Published NY Times: Sunday, April 28, 2002
(NY Times Article)
LAYNE STALEY lived fast, died young and probably did not leave a beautiful corpse when he was found dead in his Seattle apartment on April 19, a few days deceased with heroin paraphernalia nearby. He was the lead singer of Alice in Chains, the grunge band that sold more than 10 million albums and EP’s in the 1990’s, and he had sung as often as not about drugs and death.
”What in God’s name have you done?/Stick your arm for some real fun,” he sang in ”God Smack” on ”Dirt,” the band’s best, best-selling and most chilling album, which was released in September 1992. Like Tupac Shakur, Mr. Staley prophesied his own death in a way that now makes his songs all too realistic.
For some reason, Alice in Chains never quite commanded the cachet that was attached to Seattle bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. It hadn’t struggled on independent labels, and it had relatively quick success. Although its songs had all the somber desolation of its fellow grunge bands, Jerry Cantrell’s guitar riffs and Mr. Staley’s nasal yowl quickly pushed Alice in Chains onto mainstream radio, without the kind of resistance that makes underground legends.
Mr. Staley’s death at 34 may well draw attention to his band’s most grimly powerful songs. But it would be a shame if his addiction became a kind of credential — that the songs were more genuine and real because they were about the drugs that killed him.
A Romantic ideology that predates rock glorifies the self-destructive artist as someone who’s too honest and delicate for this world. As the myth goes, artists use drugs or alcohol to free up inspiration and to insulate their sensitive souls from ordinary life. (It’s not just that they hang out at odd hours with other creatures of the night, or get bored or stuck and fall into bad habits.)
Artists are perceptive, but they choose to write songs (or make movies or paint pictures) rather than simply keeping private diaries. The myth doesn’t recognize a more hard-nosed side of artists: they are also stubborn egomaniacs who are mysteriously — and sometimes correctly — certain that the world needs to know all about the figments of their imaginations and who gear their lives to getting those figments into circulation. It’s not an easy job, and its stresses can take their toll.
The suicides of Kurt Cobain and Ian Curtis (not to mention Sylvia Plath) and the youthful deaths of Shakur, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, the Notorious B.I.G., Charlie Parker or Janis Joplin are too often seen as certifying the artists’ art instead of merely bringing it to a sudden end. Often, artists provide vicarious experience for audiences. Gangsta rap has disseminated the lore of drug-dealing and gunfighting, mixing cautionary tales with cheap thrills; from the Velvet Underground to Eric Clapton to Alice in Chains, bands have examined the lure of drugs. When songs sound like first-person accounts, fans may want to believe that they’re hearing about lived experiences, not just observations coupled with imagination. The artist who’s ”keepin’ it real” becomes the stunt double for a more sheltered listener.
And when someone dies in the way their songs predicted, like Mr. Staley or Shakur, audiences can listen in morbid fascination to artists who sacrificed themselves to bring back tidings of mortality.
Yet for every musician who manages to transmute personal suffering into great performances, like Billie Holiday, there are more who are only human, whose excess or misery undoes their art. Mr. Staley was one of them. He, and his songs, would have been better off glimpsing the abyss than falling into it.
There was an ominous immediacy to the most memorable Alice songs, a tone of desolation combined with acceptance, as if the music was already coming from beyond the grave. That tone may have been a close reflection of Mr. Staley’s daily dread. Yet contrary to the myth of noble self-destruction, the music was not some direct impression of a haunted life magically caught by microphones and pressed onto disks. It was a fabrication, created through skill and instinct and shaped by choices of chords and timbres, amplifiers and pedals. It had as much to do with the band’s main composer, Mr. Cantrell, as it did with Mr. Staley’s struggles.
Again and again, the band’s songs described the hold of addiction and its consequences. On the 1994 EP ”Jar of Flies,” Mr. Staley sang ”Swing on This,” in which friends and family say, ”Come home,” but he responds: ”I’m just fine/ Little skinny, O.K./ I’m asleep anyway.”
Convincing as they were, the songs were still only reports from the edge, not field recordings. And if Mr. Staley or his fans thought that he had to stay messed up to maintain his bleak insights, they were wrong. He could have been realistic without being autobiographical.
Mr. Staley held on from the formation of the band in 1987, through a recording career that began in 1990, and through the band’s last tour, as a Lollapalooza headliner, in 1993, to a six-month breakup in 1994. After regrouping, the four-man band had one more album in it, ”Alice in Chains” in 1995. (Without explanation, the cover showed a three-legged dog.) There was one more significant live show; following three years offstage, the band performed on ”MTV Unplugged” in 1996, where a rail-thin Mr. Staley wore shades and sang with a fraction of his old voice. A Rolling Stone interview that year detailed the band’s resentment of an increasingly shaky Staley and noted his needle marks.
In 1998, the other three members of Alice in Chains and their producer got together without Mr. Staley, to record, ”Boggy Depot,” an album of new songs under Mr. Cantrell’s name. And at the end of the decade, Columbia Records apparently despaired of getting any more from the band. As if to wring full value from Alice in Chains’ recording contract, it released a boxed set, a live album and a greatest-hits collection. The albums already felt like memorials.
In the end, Mr. Staley wasn’t cool because he died a junkie’s death after a long downward spiral. He was only cool while he could still sing about it.
Photos: Layne Staley of Alice in Chains: he was found dead on April 19. (Ebet Roberts)(pg. 1); Tupac Shakur: like Layne Staley, he prophesied his own death. (Death Row Records)(pg. 38)
More on NYTimes
No ‘Just Say No’ Sloganeering For Alice in Chains
Pictures dug up from the past..
Layne tid bits..
The Real Dirt – Rolling Stones Article
Me and Mike 1992
Tags: 1987, Alice in Chains, Charlie Parker, consequences, death, die young, drug addiction, from beyond the grave, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, layne, Layne Staley, Layne Staley Tribute, memory, Mr. Cantrell, musician, NY Times Article, Pictures, Sylvia Plath
Sarah 09-16-18
Nasally? (To the author): bro his voice was majestic and an angelic powerhouse of thunder and pain. Definitely not nasal but hey to each his own (opinion)
Also, saying that he sang with a “fraction of his old voice” in the unplugged show is just….false. Maybe he looked weaker but his voice was powerful af. Unplugged shows (live to boot) don’t have the backing of layered vocals and multiple attempts and corrections and heavy electric guitars. Ofcourse he’s gonna sound different.
I’m pestered by your writings but I accept it as such. An opinion (Just a wrong one )
charlie 10-14-14
I miss him……
kevin 08-07-12
I don’t think layne enjoyed much. he seems like a very miserable guy that couldn’t allow himself to know happiness. I’m sure he had his moments but overall I’d guess he would be glad it ended
Hol 01-08-12
What do you think of the response writer David de Sola received from Layne’s sister Liz, in regards to Rubio’s alleged last interview? His blog about his intention to dispute Rubio’s book and Mike Starr’s Unchained book is interesting. Personally, I hope he can interview the family, band and others to put the real story out there and clear up all of the rumors.
Shark 03-20-11
Damm… Fuck what people say about your drug adiction, no one has the right to tell you how you should live… only on this fucked up distorced society… I just hope you enjoyed the time you spent here and i wish it was more but it would be selfish to ask someone to stay when they dont want to… learning that everyday!
For me your are still the greatest, coolest guy you always were… I will never forget you becus your soul is printed in my heart!
Linds 06-02-13
Well said, thank you
small business grant 01-25-11
Superb blog post, I have book marked this internet site so ideally I’ll see much more on this subject in the foreseeable future!
Leave a Reply to Hol
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August 08, 2018 / Rhett Davis
He was driving in the city and he was past the zoo and it was the time of day when the cars come out, and so he was driving among the cars in the fading winter sun. He was playing music loud and Sonic Youth’s Youth against fascism came on, and he turned it up. He’d done this many times before, driven this road, driven this highway, played this song, turned it up. But never when he was thinking about actual fascists. When it finished, he played it again. He did this four times, as he drove past the zoo, past the tree-lined parade, past the university he attended an increasingly long time ago. On the highway he’d been thinking about emboldened, dark voices that were rising from the ground. On the highway, he’d been thinking they were all around him. That history could repeat. On the highway, they were in the cars passing him. Their neck sweat, their grinding teeth, their empty eyes, their purposeless yet remorseless spite. On the highway, he couldn’t get away from them. He was going to a book launch and he was going to listen and buy the book and drink a glass of wine and talk to good people. Late winter was wild and windy and the city was where it had always been. It had never been his city. It was cold and he’d only ever arrived and left. He’d never stayed for long enough. And yet it was there, up the road, where it had always been, sometimes closer, sometimes at his feet, sometimes too far away to see, and it was entirely new and familiar. The dust that settled on it was the same dust, but it had been disturbed by passing cars and humans and winds and money; had settled on different cracks and door jambs and footpaths and windows; had shifted the light. He passed a pub he’d been to decades ago. It was the same pub. But everything around it—the people with new faces, new clothes, the way they walked, talked, the air itself—had a different shape. At the traffic lights Sonic Youth sung about impotent jerks. The people in the car next to him might not be so different. And the people next to them, and next to them. He played the song again. And again. And again. At the lights, he turned right and tried to find a park, but it wasn’t that easy. History could repeat, but the dust always settled a little differently.
tags / Writing, Nonfiction
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Scott writes to Information Commissioner to request investigation of Deputy FM’s office
Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Tavish Scott has today written to the Information Commissioner to ask it to investigate allegations that special advisers have been interfering in the content of Scottish Government freedom of information responses and whether Cabinet Secretary John Swinney and his special adviser Colin McAllister wrongly withheld information.
Last June, ministers told Mr Scott during a debate that special advisors only assess responses for accuracy. Investigations by journalist James McEnaney have now uncovered evidence that special advisors interfering in the content of replies.
In the same debate the Parliament condemned the Scottish Government's approach to freedom of information and demanded an independent inquiry.
Mr Scott said:
“I am writing to the Information Commissioner to ask it to urgently investigate this serious matter.
"These new documents suggest that special advisors were interfering in the content of replies to freedom of information requests in the very same week that ministers told me and Parliament they weren't.
"If information scheduled for release into the public domain was withheld solely on the basis that a minister would “prefer” it was not released, it would seriously damage public confidence in their right to information.
"There can be no meddling of this nature. The public’s right to information is clearly defined in legislation.
"The Scottish Government has a duty to recognise and act on the vote in Parliament calling for an overhaul of its freedom of information practices. Sadly what we have seen this week is more evidence of the culture of evasiveness and secrecy that guides the Scottish Government's approach to open information."
Mr Scott's letter to the Information Commissioner is as follows:
Daren Fitzhenry
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
KY16 9DS 8 February, 2018
Dear Mr Fitzhenry,
I write to bring to your attention an urgent need to investigate the role of Scottish Government ministers and special advisors in responding to freedom of information (FOI) requests.
As you will be aware, the journalist James McEnaney has secured documentation detailing the involvement of ministers and special advisors in responding to an information request on their contact with Teach First. I understand that this information was received seven months after the information was first requested and only after the matter was referred to your office.
During the Freedom of Information Requests debate in the Scottish Parliament on 21 June 2017, I asked the Minister for Parliamentary Business, Joe Fitzpatrick MSP, this direct question:
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD):
I am grateful to the minister for giving way on the point about responding to the concerns expressed in the journalists’ letter earlier this month. One of those concerns is that requests are being screened for potential political damage by special advisers. Is that true?
Joe FitzPatrick:
No. Requests are all prepared by Scottish Government officials. Special advisers have a role in assessing draft responses for accuracy. [Laughter.]
These documents now suggest that, in the same week that ministers gave this assurance in Parliament, special advisors were interfering in the content of replies to freedom of information requests.
A government email dated 23 June 2017 suggests that documents scheduled for release were removed following the intervention of Colin McAllister, a special advisor.
A further email on 30 June indicates that Mr McAllister then made further requests which led to changes to the response issued to the applicant.
I believe that this shows that special advisors are involved in a greater role than simply assessing for accuracy the responses to information requests. I would ask for the details of what these amendments entailed to be published so that it can be clearly seen if they were appropriate and within the limits stated by ministers that week.
In addition, I request that you investigate whether there were grounds for John Swinney MSP, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, to ask that four documents be removed from an information release, as indicated in the email of 30 June 2017.
If information scheduled for release into the public domain was withheld solely on the basis that a minister would “prefer” they were not released, it would seriously damage public confidence in their right to information.
The public’s right to information is clearly defined in legislation. As you know, it is an offence under Section 65 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to block or conceal a record held by an authority to prevent disclosure of records which an applicant is entitled to.
I am aware that you are at the assessment phase of conducting an investigation into the Scottish Government’s FOI performance, as set out in your letter of 2 February 2018 to the Minister for Parliamentary Business, Joe Fitzpatrick MSP. I believe that this new information raises serious questions about whether the government is following good practice and that it therefore merits your attention under Section 43 (3) of the Act.
Thank you in advance for considering this matter and I look forward to your response.
Tavish Scott MSP
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"Making a Murderer" lawyer inspires local attorneys
This Article was Published in the Racine Journal Times by Jon Brines:
MOUNT PLEASANT — Madison Attorney Dean Strang, made famous by the Netflix documentary “Making a Murderer,” on Wednesday implored local lawyers to work to address the social ramifications in the poverty in their community.
Strang spoke as a guest of the Racine County Bar Association Wednesday at the group’s winter dinner held at the Roma Lodge, 7130 Spring St. During the event, Strang announced that the defense team for Brendan Dassey is ready for oral arguments at the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled for Tuesday.
In August, a federal judge overturned Dassey’s conviction for his role in the 2005 killing of photographer Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County, ruling investigators coerced him into confessing. Wisconsin’s Department of Justice appealed that decision to the 7th Circuit.
“We’re ready to go,” Strang said of Dassey’s defense team.
“Making a Murderer,” which was a hit with viewers nationwide, depicted the pitfalls of the justice system through Steven Avery and his nephew Dassey’s 2007 trial for the murder of Halbach, a photographer for an auto marketing publication.
Strang talked about the regrets he had after defending Avery, which propelled him into the national spotlight.
“We had a change of venue but did not pursue it,” Strang said. “We had a right to a mistrial at the end when we lost one of the 12 deliberating jurors.”
Strang said at that point under Wisconsin law, the defense team could have requested a mistrial or substituted an alternate juror and they went with the latter decision.
“These are the kinds of decisions you drive yourself crazy with the rest of your life,” Strang said.
He continues to struggle with his own part in the case because he believed there was enough reasonable doubt in the case to acquit Avery.
“I recognized then that there was some evidence supporting Avery murdered Teresa Halbach, but I’ve never been comfortable with the integrity of all of that evidence. And I’ve never been comfortable that in the end — that if I had been put in the position of a juror — I could have honestly returned a verdict of guilt,” Strang said.
The cycle of povertyBut it was a message of addressing social challenges in society that was a key component of Strang’s talk Wednesday night.
Strang challenged the Racine attorneys to be more active in their community and “work harder and care more” because of the “poverty of hope” that holds people back and contributes to crime rates.
“They need to start thinking of poverty differently. It’s not just about how many nickels you have in your pocket,” Sprang said.
He told the group how people have little ownership in the community if they’re impoverished in education, their spiritual life and even knowing their own family’s history and genealogy.
“You see yourself as being a part of something important. And it’s a part of you. It affects the identity you create for yourself,” Strang said. “One of the problems our clients have is they often have no meaningful sense of identity. They don’t value their own lives or anyone else’s.”
Mentor and crusaderRobert Keller, president of the Racine County Bar Association, said he’s grateful Strang is willing to channel his talents and celebrity to strive for change in the criminal justice system.
“Many of our attorneys in Racine know Dean, have worked with him or have been students of his in his various law school courses. We are grateful,” Keller said.
One of those attorneys, Andrew Wier of the Mount Pleasant office of Habush, Habush and Rottier S.C., had Strang as an instructor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
“He is somebody who lives how he works. He cares and is extremely intelligent and he has walked the walk,” Wier said.
See Link for article: http://journaltimes.com/news/local/making-a-murderer-lawyer-inspires-local-attorneys/article_070febc0-34b8-5e17-a690-2f4c3590c5d5.html
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RealEstateRama San Luis Obispo Celebrates Grand Opening of New ROEM Affordable Apartments
San Luis Obispo Celebrates Grand Opening of New ROEM Affordable Apartments
By KTGY Architecture + Planning -
KTGY-designed South Hills Crossing’s 43 Affordable Multifamily Residential Units Open and Are Fully Leased
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – (RealEstateRama) — On Thursday, September 8, 2016, the City of San Luis Obispo celebrated the grand opening of South Hills Crossing, a new affordable apartment community by ROEM Corporation in partnership with the Housing Authority of the San Luis Obispo (HASLO). The grand opening celebration was held at 1:00 p.m. at 309 South Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.
“South Hills Crossing represents the coming together of the private sector, HASLO, the City and financial markets to really address one of our community’s top challenges – lack of affordable rental housing. I am excited to see this project come to fruition,” said Mayor Jan Howell Marx, City of San Luis Obispo.
South Hills Crossing stands out as a shining example of how the community benefits when partners come together in the housing industry. Due in large part to the successful collaboration of the Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo (HASLO), City of San Luis Obispo, County of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund, and ROEM Corporation, 43 families have moved into their new South Hills Crossing affordable apartments. In close proximity to restaurants, services, and entertainment downtown, South Hills Crossing brings permanent affordable housing to this beautiful California Central Coast community.
“South Hills Crossing is an excellent example of what can be accomplished by the community working collaboratively. Together we have created a permanent affordable housing resource for San Luis Obispo close to jobs, services and transportation,” said Scott Smith, Executive Director of HASLO.
South Hills Crossing is affordable to families with annual incomes at or below 60 percent of the San Luis Obispo County area median income. Designed by international award-winning KTGY Architecture + Planning, the $14.1 million development consists of three buildings in a contemporary mix of urban-industrial and craftsman style architectures with 43 one-, two- and three-bedroom units. In step with the community’s love of outdoor recreation and care for the environment, the development boasts a bike storage structure for 44 bicycle spaces (one per unit) in addition to providing 66 surface parking spaces and four motorcycle spaces.
“South Hills Crossing shows what can be done when a public sector collaborative and a for-profit developer work in partnership to begin solving a local problem such as housing affordability,” said Alex Sanchez, Executive Vice President of ROEM Corporation. “While we’re still feeling the effects of the demise of our state’s redevelopment funding sources, and with so many other economic variables working against the goal of providing affordable housing, I applaud the City and County of San Luis Obispo for creating policies that encourage affordable housing developers to build here.”
Currently pursuing USGBC LEED Platinum certification, ROEM incorporated a number of “green” features designed to ensure long-term energy efficiency and sustainability, including both solar thermal and common area photovoltaic systems; energy efficient windows; and natural ventilation with low volatile organic compound (VOC) paints and sealants. Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) Green Label Plus low VOC carpeting, pads and adhesives, and Energy Star appliances and water-efficient fixtures were also installed.
South Hills Crossing is financed with 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits and Solar Tax Credits, with additional financial support from the City and County of San Luis Obispo, HASLO, San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund, Citi Community Capital and AEGON Group. The architect is KTGY Architecture + Planning and the general contractor is ROEM Builders, Inc.
“AEGON is excited to play a part in providing 43 critically needed new housing units to the residents of San Luis Obispo,” said Gary Howe, Director, AEGON USA Realty Advisors, LLC. “We would like to congratulate all of the partners involved in this development for their efforts in making this project a reality, including ROEM Development Corporation and the Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo, as well as the County of San Luis Obispo, the City of San Luis Obispo, the San Luis Obispo Housing Trust Fund, and Citi Community Capital. This marks AEGON’s eighth investment with ROEM Development and we are confident South Street Family Apartments will be as tremendously successful as the previous seven. San Luis Obispo is already a desirable community for residents and visitors; South Hills Crossing Apartments will help to keep it accessible to those struggling to find housing in an extremely competitive market.”
South Hills Crossing is fully leased.
Guest speakers included: The Honorable Jan Howell Marx, Mayor, City of San Luis Obispo; The Honorable Adam Hill, San Luis Obispo County Supervisor, District 3; Scott Smith, Executive Director of HASLO; Jerry Rioux, Executive Director, San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund; Garry Howe, Director, AEGON USA Realty, Inc.; Alex Sanchez, Executive Vice President, ROEM Corporation; and Rebecca Heinicke, Resident, South Hills Crossing.
About HASLO
HASLO (Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo) assists 3,000 families every month with affordable housing throughout San Luis Obispo County. Formed in 1968, its mission is to provide affordable housing and programs that lead to self-sufficiency for all of its clients. HASLO owns and operates affordable housing directly, as well as through public-private partnerships collaborating with non-profit organizations, private landlords, employers and private developers. HASLO is ranked as a “higher performer” by HUD, and in 2014 was one of 19 organizations nationally that received an Award of Excellence from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials.
About ROEM Corporation
ROEM Development Corporation, ROEM Builders, Inc., and their affiliated entities are a full-service development and construction organization that has specialized in the acquisition, planning, financing, new construction, renovation and asset management of market-rate and affordable housing throughout California for more than 30 years. Ranked in Affordable Housing Financemagazine’s Top 50 Affordable Housing Developers of 2015 list and a registered member of USGBC and Build It Green, ROEM is dedicated to creating wholesome communities that are not only sustainable but also designed smarter to ensure that residents are healthier, happier and safer. ROEM has completed more than 3,000 affordable housing units with more than 1,000 units currently under construction. For more information, visit www.ROEMcorp.com.
About KTGY Architecture + Planning
Celebrating 25 years, KTGY Architecture + Planning is an international award-winning full-service architecture and planning firm delivering innovation, artistry and attention to detail across multiple offices and studios, ensuring that clients and communities get the best the firm has to offer no matter the building type or location. KTGY’s architects and planners combine big picture opportunities, leading-edge sustainable practices and impeccable design standards to help create developments of enduring value. KTGY serves clients worldwide from offices located in Chicago, Denver, Irvine, Los Angeles, Oakland, Pune and Tysons. Call 888.456.KTGY or visit www.ktgy.com, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Vimeo, YouTube
KTGY Architecture + Planning
KTGY Architecture + Planning is an international full-service award-winning Architecture Design and Planning firm.
http://ktgy.com/
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Hythe Town Council declares a Climate Emergency
Hythe Town Council has declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency and will work to make its activities carbon neutral by 2025.
The declaration was agreed at a full council meeting on Thursday evening (4 July). A sub-committee of the council will now draw up an action plan, using a framework provided by the Carbon Trust, which will be discussed by the full council later this year.
The town council will work with its partners and contractors, and investigate all possible sources of external funding and match funding, to support its commitment to carbon neutrality.
Says Hythe Town Green Party councillor, Martin Whybrow, who introduced the item: “It is vital that all levels of central and local government play their part in tackling the greatest threat to our planet. It is wholly appropriate that Hythe Town Council joins 100+ other councils around country in declaring a Climate Emergency. Urgent action is required if we are to stand any chance of limiting global warming. Locally, our communities are particularly exposed to coastal flooding and, as a result of more extreme weather events, surface water flooding, alongside the loss of biodiversity from our local gardens, open spaces and countryside.”
The precise actions that will follow the declaration will be set out by the sub-committee but among items likely to feature are a switch to renewal energy, improved energy efficiency of the council’s properties, a feasibility study for solar panels for those properties, and a programme of tree planting for carbon offsetting.
Conservatives lost control of Hythe Town Council at the local elections in May and the largest group is now a coalition of six Green Party councillors, one Lib Dem and two independent residents group councillors (there are 16 councillors in total, with a Green mayor).
The full Climate and Ecological Emergency declaration can be found below:
Hythe Town Council recognises and declares that we are facing a Climate and Ecological Emergency and will commit resources and align its policies to address this;
HTC will set a target of carbon neutrality from its activities of 2025 at the latest using the Carbon Trust framework, with an Action Plan for achieving this, to be drawn up by a sub-committee of full council which will bring recommended actions to full council for consideration, comment and approval;
HTC will report annually at full council on its progress towards the target;
HTC will work with partners and contract providers and will investigate all possible sources of external funding and match funding to support this commitment.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C described the enormous harm that a 2°C rise is likely to cause compared to a 1.5°C rise. It concluded that limiting global warming to 1.5°C may still be possible with ambitious action from national and local authorities, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities.
Prime exposures to climate change for Hythe’s residents include the effects of more severe weather events and coastal flooding, and the rapid loss of biodiversity.
Everyone, including local government, needs to commit to tackle this emergency and more than 100 councils across the UK have now declared Climate Emergencies and/or set ambitious carbon neutral targets, so too the UK parliament and Welsh Assembly.
This entry was posted on July 5, 2019 at 11:21 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Home International Young Somalis struggle to find peace in Canada
Young Somalis struggle to find peace in Canada
They are called the ciyaal baraf, or the children of the snow. The kids of a generation who fled blood-stained Somalia two decades ago.
Their parents sought refuge across the world in a mass exodus from civil war. Many settled in Canada, mostly in Toronto, where they raised their children, often in poverty. And, as the children came of age and branched out across the country, a new kind of grief emerged.
Since 2005, dozens of young men from Canada’s Somali community have been killed, most of them casualties along a cocaine-dusted corridor between the housing projects of Toronto and the oil patch in Alberta. Most cases remain unsolved.
The latest slaying was among the most brazen. Ahmed Hassan, a 24-year-old who’d been charged with dealing drugs in Alberta, was gunned down in Toronto’s Eaton Centre. His public death has nudged this grief into the spotlight and renewed calls from Somali community leaders for governments to help stop the bloodshed.
Ultimately, the shooting has forced the country to confront the vexing question of why so many of these young men who go west end up dead.
Western dream a nightmare
The Somali-Canadian community may be rooted in Toronto, but the source of its grief is in Alberta, where at least 23 young men have died in the past seven years.
There are about 3,000 Somalis who live in or near the oil-sands city of Fort McMurray. Their community is clustered in a series of low-rise apartments tucked between a grocery store, a mall and a graveyard. They come here dreaming of well-paying jobs, hoping to send money back home and end two decades of poverty. But many lack recognized skills and end up chronically underemployed, driving cabs or working as hotel housekeepers; or they’re unemployed, as is the case with more than 300 Somalis in Fort McMurray today.
“We’re called the lost generation,” explained Warsame Adam, a 29-year-old facility manager at the Fort McMurray mosque. “We’re hit from every direction, Somalis. It’s like we don’t belong anywhere.”
Mr. Adam found meaningful work out west. Others, however, heeded a different, persistent call – that of the drug trade.
“I don’t think anybody goes there saying, ‘You know what, I’m going to go over there and become a drug dealer,’ ” said Ali Abdullahi, who runs youth programs for Somalis in Toronto and knew at least one of the men killed in Alberta. “It’s a lot of young men who go over there, look for work, and some of them may not have all the qualifications to find a job.”
But they still need to make money, said Hukun Hurur, a Somali leader in Fort McMurray. “And then they turn to other things.”
Cocaine use thrives in Alberta’s oil patch, driven by those who did find well-paying jobs. In 2010, Fort McMurray RCMP laid five cocaine-trafficking charges for every marijuana charge.
It’s a brisk trade. High-level dealers can quickly gross $5,000 a day selling crack and cocaine, making $12-per-hour labour jobs seem laughable.
“We don’t get a job. So the only option is to get money, to sell drugs,” said one young Somali-Canadian in Fort McMurray, who calls himself M.J.
“There’s something wrong with this city,” he said.
Most of these children of the snow can trace their roots to strife-torn Somalia. In 1991, armed opposition groups overthrew the ruling military government, thrusting the country into a brutal and protracted civil war.
As the conflict worsened, migrants poured into Toronto, along with other cities in the United States and Britain. Many arrived with limited English skills and few resources. In places like Toronto, where there was no existing Somali community to join, families were left to fend for themselves.
Rima Berns-McGown, a University of Toronto professor who has studied the Somali diaspora in Canada and Britain, said many parents who brought their children abroad were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder – yet another challenge for young families adapting to life on a new continent.
Those who came to Canada were overwhelmingly directed to Toronto’s social-housing projects, places like Regent Park and Jane and Finch, where residents are in frequent conflict with police. And as the children of the first wave of refugees grew up, many of them faced a double stigmatization as Muslims who are black – a situation some Somalis say was acutely reinforced after the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York.
Many of the rivalries that play out in Alberta are in fact nurtured in Toronto, where an estimated 80,000 Somali-Canadians live.
“Whatever’s going on over in Toronto, it comes over here,” M.J. said. “Everybody wants to make his money, so they’re going to shoot each other.”
The deadly pull westward among Toronto’s Somali community, according to one community source, began with one young man from the East Mall neighbourhood who got involved in Alberta’s lucrative oil-sands spinoff through a friend who was working there. When the man returned home to Toronto, he drove a flashy car, bought drinks for his friends and was rich enough to leave expensive items behind at bars and nightclubs.
The siren song of easy money was attractive to some of the young men he grew up with, many of whom were struggling to find work in Toronto. A few left to join him. Soon after, others followed.
“He really recruited a lot of people into that stuff,” said the source, a respected member of the community who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It seems like there was a chain migration. One guy left and the others followed him.”
Looking to the U.S.
When Canadian law-enforcement officials attempted to better understand this phenomenon last year, one of the places they looked was Minnesota. The state is home to an estimated 32,000 Somali-Americans, the largest concentration in the U.S. There, as in Alberta, many young Somalis have sought prosperity in the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota, a 10-hour drive west of Minneapolis.
The heart of Minneapolis’s Somali community is Cedar-Riverside, an enclave often referred to as Little Mogadishu. The towers of Riverside Plaza – a social-housing complex that’s long been a haven for previous waves of refugees – are now home to thousands of Somali-Americans.
Police officer Jeanine Brudenell, who was invited to share her experiences with Canadian officials, began tracking street gangs in the city’s Somali community in 2005. Gradually, she said, her role shifted to providing programs aimed at teaching Somali-Americans about their legal rights and encouraging them to report criminal activity.
Minnesota police have long been frustrated with how difficult it is to solve crimes in the Somali community: of roughly eight gang-related homicides in Minneapolis in recent years, only one has been solved, a problem Ms. Brudenell attributes to distrust of police and the possibility of retaliation. “They don’t want to be testifying or be a witness because they fear they’re going to be in danger,” she said, adding, “It’s a fair fear.”
In recent years, the force has hired two Somali-speaking beat officers who work nights in the neighbourhood, which most people say has improved safety and helped reduce conflicts with police.
“Police are usually suspicious of [a group of] black kids who are maybe up to no good walking around,” said Saeed Fahia, a community leader. “It’s possible that they’re doing nothing. So someone who knows the culture could tell you if they are up to no good or not. An ordinary police officer cannot do that.”
They also hired a civilian liaison to work with the Somali community and opened a “safety centre” at the base of one of the public-housing towers, aimed at encouraging residents to report crime.
Ms. Brudenell said that, as the department does a better job of tracking and catching gangsters, some of the most serious criminals are turning up in other cities instead. “We get calls, ‘Oh my God, we have all your people here,’ ” she said.
The Minnesota experience may not translate exactly in Fort McMurray, where the young men getting into trouble are hundreds or thousands of kilometres away from family. But law-enforcement officials share a common frustration in getting Somali community members to talk to investigators.
In one Edmonton murder case on New Year’s Day in 2011, a restaurant full of people yielded just one suspect description. Homicide detective Bill Clark complained publicly, forcing the police chief to apologize and mend fences with Somali leaders.
M.J., sitting in Fort McMurray, said he’d never speak to police.
“Where’s my benefit, if I snitch on you? I put my life in danger. I have no benefits. They do nothing for me, they pull me over, because being black, and you think I’m going to go to them and tell them what’s going on?”
‘Positive programs’
Somali leaders want program funding for their summer camps, soccer and basketball leagues, or a community centre – anything to engage young Somali men, specifically. Existing programs are piecemeal, and rely heavily on volunteer hours at Somali organizations. “The only way we can stop them from joining these bad activities is to make them busy with positive programs,” said Bashir Ahmed, executive director of Edmonton’s Somali-Canadian Education and Rural Development Organization.
But those don’t always work. Mr. Hassan was once in one, writing he was”planning to be productive member of society.” He was later charged with cocaine trafficking before being gunned down earlier this month.
Five years ago, community leaders produced a provincially funded report on the risks facing Somali youth in Edmonton. One of the co-authors was Abdullahi Roble – Mr. Hassan’s father – who doesn’t want to talk about his dead son. “There’s nothing to prove, nothing. … We will not gain anything about him. He’s dead, that’s it. That’s enough for me,” he said.
But for those who get caught up in the game and survive, the challenges are far from over.
Saeed Ibrahim Jama’s parents fled Somalia’s turmoil and went to Saudi Arabia, where he was born, before eventually ending up in Canada in 2001. They lived in poor neighbourhoods in Toronto and Winnipeg and Edmonton, and Mr. Jama and his older brother both fell into crime.
Mr. Jama served 27 months for getting caught with drugs he planned to sell. Since being released, he said he’s turned his life around, but was denied citizenship. Last Wednesday, Canada served him a final deportation notice. On July 22, barring a last-minute legal intervention, he’ll be deported to Somalia, a country he has never stepped foot in.
The federal official ruled he faced no “significant personalized risk” by returning to a country where it recommends Canadian citizens “avoid all travel.”
Mr. Jama is repentant. “I completely understand why they want to deport me. I understand it. I did what I did,” he said this week. But, he said, the government is making it impossible for his generation to make amends.
“I’ve been working, doing everything I can. I don’t make no trouble. But they don’t see it,” he said. Once part of a middle-class family that began to struggle, he says he got into drugs for the money, and because of peer pressure. His oldest sister is a university graduate, and another sister is in university. But he and his brother, the ciyaal baraf, have criminal records.
“I was young, and I didn’t take it seriously,” he said, adding some advice for other young Somalis. “They need to look at what their parents went through to get them here. But no one sees it like that.”
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< Prev Post New “Into Darkness” Photo: Kirk and Spock Face Off Against Film’s Villain + Possible Name Revealed
Next Post > SPOILER: Klingons Confirmed for STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS
SPOILER: Alice Eve’s STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Character Revealed
By Brian Wilkins December 10, 2012 // 9:45 pm
On Monday night, at a special press event and screening of STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, Alice Eve’s character was revealed.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
While the movie won’t hit theaters until May, members of the press were treated to a special screening of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek sequel tonight at Bad Robot.
For months, fans have speculated on Alice Eve’s role in the film. The majority of which were banking on her playing Starfleet psychiatrist Elizabeth Dehner, based on her resemblance to the “Where No Man Has Gone Before” character and rumors that co-star Benedict Cumberbatch would play Gary Mitchell.
During the screening, those fans were proven to be wrong as Eve’s character was revealed to be none other than Carol Marcus, the (future) mother of Kirk’s son David (as revealed in Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan).
Alice Eve and Bibi Besch side-by-side comparison
ComingSoon.net writer Silas Lesnick tweeted the following during the event.
Alice Eve’s STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS character revealed… She’s playing Carol Marcus!
— silaslesnick (@silaslesnick) December 10, 2012
If you somehow haven’t seen it yet, check out the STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS introduction trailer below.
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Weller, Bruce Greenwood and Alice Eve, hits theaters on May 17, 2013.
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Greg Howe and Marty Friedman, two of modern rock guitar's dazzling exponents, just happen to share the same birthday!
Greg Howe (born 8th December 1964) came to prominence after being discovered by Shrapnel Records head Mike Varney who at the time was soliciting guitarists' demos and writing a monthly Spotlight column for Guitar Player Magazine. Howe's outstanding self-titled debut, Greg Howe, was released on Shrapnel Records in 1988.
Emerging at the peak of the neo-classical shred guitar era, when it seemed that a new usurper to Yngwie's crown popped up with a new album every month, Howe's album revealed a fresh musical concept that combined rock, funk and blues influences with cutting-edge rock guitar techniques. To top it off, the writing on Howe's debut was extremely mature, borrowing more from Steve Morse and the Dixie Dregs than Yngwie.
In recent years, Greg Howe has dabbled as sideman on the pop tour circuit as lead guitarist for the likes of Michael Jackson and Enrique Inglesias. He continues to embrace his rock-fusion roots on his recent albums, although he seems to have downplayed the stomping, funkier aspects of his early work.
www.greghowe.com
Marty Friedman (born 8th December 1962)also made a name for himself emerging in the late 80's from Shrapnel Records stable of virtuoso shredders. Like Shrapnel label-mates Racer X, Cacophony featured a twin-lead guitar assault, with Friedman and co-guitarist Jason Becker attempting to break new fingerboard-speed records.
After Cacophony disbanded in 1989, Friedman joined Dave Mustaine's Megadeth in 1990. Friedman's nimble fretwork and unusual use of exotic Eastern scales were the perfect foil to Mustaine's crushing rhythm style. During his 10 year tenure, the band built a huge following, selling in the region of ten million albums. It's interesting to note that even during his time with Megadeth, Friedman continued to produce solo albums which were released on the Shrapnel label.
After his departure from Megadeth, Friedman moved to Japan where he continues to live. He collaborates on numerous musical projects with Japanese artistes and has even been known to host television talk-shows given his fluency in Japanese.
www.martyfriedman.com
Labels: greg howe, jason becker, marty friedman, michael jackson, shred guitar, steve morse, yngwie malmsteen
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Nonprofit’s program affected by federal decision
bjohnson@theintermountain.com
ELKINS — Local officials say a recent federal judgment ordering the Randolph County Sheltered Workshop to pay $119,000 in back wages to employees may jeopardize the future of the program, but also point out that the court case is not completed, and an appeal of the decision may still be filed.
“This matter is not finished,” attorney Harry A. Smith III, who has represented the Sheltered Workshop in the court proceedings, told The Inter-Mountain this week. “The program benefits 31 local people who without this program may not have this opportunity to work and be productive members of society.”
The federal judgment on Feb. 21 ordered the Elkins nonprofit to pay the back wages to 34 employees, finding that the organization violated the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act
The mission of the Sheltered Workshop, which has been in operation since 1980, is to provide employment for mentally and physically challenged people. In recent years, the workshop has had three primary employment programs. The first is providing janitorial services for the Division of Natural Resources and other state agencies, and employs several workers who are high-functioning mentally and physically challenged people. The second program involves screenprinting t-shirts and hats and also employs a few people.
The third program, which employs the most people, involves assembling fishing lures for the Leland’s Lures company. This program has employed more than 30 people in recent years, and provides employment for low-functioning mentally and physically challenged people, officials said.
“The sheltered workshop has been operating for 38 years,” Smith said. “That whole time, the workshop has been testing and evaluating the clients we have … to figure out the ratio of what the average person could do, and pay our clients a percentage based on the rate at which they can perform. The results of the testing are documented.”
The federal case hinges on the workshop not having a special certificate that would allow the nonprofit to pay its workers less than minimum wage.
When the workshop was created in 1980, officials contacted the federal Department of Labor, and were told the workshop did not need such a certificate because it was not involved in interstate commerce.
The workshop began its arrangement with Leland’s Lures several years ago when the lure company was based in Belington. The company then moved to Arkansas, however, and the continuing program drew the attention of the Department of Labor.
The workshop was assembling the lures and shipping them to the purchasers. Leland’s Lures was selling the product, not the workshop, but in the government’s eyes the shipping process meant the workshop had become involved in interstate commerce, local officials said.
“As soon as we found out we needed one of these pieces of paper, we got it,” one Sheltered Workshop board member told The Inter-Mountain this week. “And we had it for two years while we were working to try to resolve the case. At the end of two years it expired, so we applied for it again. Again, we fully qualified for it, but the Department of Labor said, ‘No, we’re in litigation.’ And they didn’t give it to us.”
“And that’s the only reason we don’t have the certificate now, is because we challenged them,” Smith said. “Because we did challenge them, they’ve made us pay for it.”
“Why all these folks from D.C. want to do this to one little sheltered workshop in West Virginia, I have no idea,” the board member said.
Before the trial went to the jury phase, U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey, in his final jury instructions, pointed out that not having the certificate was the only rule the Sheltered Workshop had violated.
“The Department of Labor has admitted that other than the failure to possess a 14(c) certificate, defendant has committed no other regulatory of statutory violations of significance,” Bailey said in his final jury instructions.
“Defendant Randolph County Sheltered Workshop admits it did not apply for a special certificate for the period of Oct. 21, 2012, through Sept. 19, 2014, and it is undisputed that defendant Randolph County Sheltered Workshop was not in possession of a special certificate that covered the period of Oct. 21, 2012, through Sep. 19, 2014.
“Even though you may have found that the defendant may have violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by paying less than minimum wage without a special certificate, the defendant may assert what is called the ‘good faith defense’ which, if proven, would excuse the payment of back wages,” Bailey said.
It was a discretionary decision for the government to file the civil action, Smith said.
“I believe that they could have approached the workshop and said, ‘Listen, it appears that you guys don’t have the certificate although you’re doing things correctly. You’d better get that certificate and if it’s not in place and you’re not doing things right, we’re going to come down on you.’ They did not have to bring this action. They could have handled it in a much less formal manner than they did.”
“Clearly, the government has admitted that, if we had that piece of paper, we’re fine. If we don’t have that piece of paper, we’re not fine. It’s really a triumph of form over substance, as I see it, and I was hoping the jury would see it that way as well,” Smith said.
It remains unclear what the future will hold for the Sheltered Workshop’s employment program arrangement with Leland’s Lures.
“We have talked about what we can do, but we’re still in the talking stages,” the board member said. “We could stop working with Leland’s Lures, but that would do away with the jobs for local low-functioning people.”
The board member also said it is not clear if or when the Sheltered Workshop will receive a 14(c) certificate.
For now, Smith points out, the court case has not been finalized.
“Because post trial motions haven’t been filed, or motions for a new trial, this case is not at an end in trial court, and of course there is a potential appeal that may be considered,” he added.
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Home Viewpoint Is a switch to GPA really worth the trouble?
Is a switch to GPA really worth the trouble?
Students who make the choice to attend St Andrews do it with their futures in mind. Whether this future includes an additional degree or a job, our university looks impressive on a CV. For Americans who come here, there is the extra consideration of applying to graduate school in the States after their time at St Andrews.
Universities in America, unlike those in Scotland, evaluate students in the form of GPAs (Grade Point Average). The specific GPA scale varies from one college to the next, with some being out of 100, some being out of four, and others consisting of letter grades. Either way, any of these scales can be easily converted to the next, which is essential for the application process. This is not the case for the University of St Andrews, with our results out of 20 and our Honours and Sub-Honours.
The most comforting phrase one hears as a fresher is “it doesn’t matter- it’s only first year!” The knowledge that only a 7 is necessary to continue on to second year provides first year students with endless relaxation and the enjoyment of a “YOLO” attitude. If that requirement of only a 7 was taken away, the future generations of first year students would not have the same experiences we did. This is not to say that first year students actually do only receive marks of 7, as this is not the case at all. It is about the consolation of knowing that even with a 7, success is yours for the taking.
Louise Richardson revealed in her interview with The Saint that the university is considering introducing GPAs in St Andrews. As someone who used to work at Harvard, she can be trusted to know the benefits and drawbacks of GPAs, and how the GPA system compares to our form of assessment. Still, I doubt that other University officials will consider how much it would affect the experience of St Andrews.
There are, of course, substantial academic benefits to introducing a GPA system. I recently attended a video-chat session between the University of Michigan Law School and our university. The law school at the University of Michigan, located in Ann Arbor, is one of the most prestigious law schools in the United States. It is currently ranked at #11, following a majority of the Ivy Leagues. The UMich law school has a steady stream of applicants from St Andrews, most, but not all, of which are American. The Dean of Admissions from Michigan, Sarah Zearfoss, informed us that when we apply to universities in the United States, where it says GPA on the application, there is a zero. Of course, this does not reflect our grades, but it’s still a little daunting.
Instead, our marks out of 20 for all of our courses from all four years (including first year) are provided. The marks out of 20 are given labels; a 15 is average, a 14 is below average, a 16 is above average, and an 18 is high above average. Four years of hard work converted to the simple phrase “average” is pretty depressing.
We asked Professor Hudson of the School of History here at St Andrews whether being an applicant from St Andrews puts us at a disadvantage when applying to universities in the United States. Professor Hudson is also a Global Law Professor at the University of Michigan, so his advice is valuable. Professor Hudson explained that although St Andrews students are not necessarily at a disadvantage, students with “average” grades are not very likely to get in, even with impressive LSAT scores.
It is hard for admissions teams at American universities to understand our grading system, which makes us require more effort to consider, and puts us in a position where our intelligence can easily be negatively misconstrued. For these reasons, the introduction of a GPA system would be helpful and beneficial for students applying to universities in the United States after their time at St Andrews.
These advantages do not, however, outweigh the hindrances. The possibility of being judged on first year grades is not only dispiriting; it is also unfair to students who come from outside the United Kingdom.
In fact, it takes time for all students, whether from the UK or not, to become accustomed to university life here, so counting first year grades seems unfair and misleading.
First year is the time to find your friends, find your own voice, and find your writing style, so shouldn’t be under the pressure of seeking high grades.
The added and significant pressure of having to achieve grades high enough to get into universities that students do not even think about applying to until their final undergraduate year would be detrimental to student health and happiness.
Students should be able to enjoy their first year at university with freedom and spontaneity. The pressure of third and fourth year, as well as the stress of future academic degrees or careers, is more than enough as it is. GPAs might be beneficial in some ways, but happiness should, to a large extent, be the priority.
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10 tech-leaks that made headlines since a decade
By Shreya Bhattacharya
WikiLeaks and CIA have been in news for some time. The former published a trail of information related to the CIA’s hacking capabilities and possibilities. It did shake up the world when it popped up that CIA is able to spy on your smart gadgets even when they are switched off! It’s a huge thing to literally turn your mind towards all the negativity of technology.
While, this ‘leak news’ is making big in the headlines these days, trust me this is not the only one that made such buzz. I was running through the history on the web and found a record of last 10 years where the ‘leak news’ made some noise.
Many of these leaks have exposed difficult truths, and more than a few have led to policy changes, or at least raised public awareness of the spying powers of the government, wartime atrocities, and more. There’s a lot we still don’t know after these leaks, and while the morality of some leaks is debatable, they help to open a larger conversation about cyber security, including how it pertains to your personal information.
Here’s a look at the 10 biggest leaks we’ve seen in the last 10 years, in no particular order. This list of 10 leaks is by no means exhaustive, and we’re sure to see ones that rival even the biggest in the years ahead. What we can say is that many of these leaks will have a lasting impact in every corner of society, and none will be easily forgotten.
Edward Snowden exposes NSA spying programs
It’s impossible to not talk about important leaks without discussing Edward Snowden, an ex-National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who leaked thousands of documents related to the agency and its practice of spying on, well, pretty much everyone.
According to the documents leaked by Snowden, the NSA was collecting data pertaining to phone records. The documents revealed the existence of PRISM, a program in which the NSA demanded information from the likes of Google, Facebook and Apple to gather user data. Not only that, but the NSA was also spying on foreign leaders around the world in addition to US citizens, and it had multiple efforts to crack encryption methods so that it could keep up its surveillance. Safe to say, there was significant backlash as a result of the leaks, though any real changes have yet to be seen.
WikiLeaks Vault 7 and the CIA
The newest leak on this list is also one of the biggest, and it involves WikiLeaks, an organization that you’ll find is featured here more than once. In this case, WikiLeaks published a trove of information related to the CIA’s hacking capabilities.The CIA has developed zero day exploits that allow it to tap into smartphones, smart TVs, and even connected cars, according to the leak, letting the agency to basically turn these into spying devices.
In one example, the CIA was able to make a Samsung TV appear as if it was turned off, but in reality it was still on and recording audio of whatever happened in the room.It’s important to note that the fallout of the leak is ongoing, and we don’t yet have any evidence that the CIA was using these tactics to spy on anyone, for that matter.
Cablegate
Cablegate dates back to 2010, and includes massive dumps of files onto WikiLeaks related to countless international tensions. Diplomatic cables themselves are a confidential message exchanged between an embassy or consulate and the foreign ministry in its parent country. As you can imagine, there’s some highly sensitive information in these exchanges, and governments surely don’t want them leaked.
The cables in this case date from December 1966 to February 2010, and at the time included the largest set of confidential information ever, although they have now been surpassed. The leak brought to light that Iran may have North Korean-built nuclear missiles, the US had secretly bombed Yemen, the US bartered with prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and that a number of countries had been pressing the US to attack Iran.Chelsea Manning, who was an intelligence analyst in Iraq and known as Bradley Manning at the time, is largely credited as being behind this leak.
British National Party member list
In 2008, a list of members of the extreme right-wing British National Party was leaked online, and while the original list was eventually taken down, copies of it were posted on sites like WikiLeaks. The list included a number of prominent figures, including a police officer, several teachers, and more. The BNP is characterized as being far-right, and it promotes biological racism, calls for racial separation, and opposes non-white migration to the UK. For these reasons, you can imagine why a list like this out in the wild would cause issues for members of the party.
Iraq and Afghan War Logs
The Iraq and Afghan War Logs are also credited to Chelsea Manning, and these too were dumped onto WikiLeaks, however they specifically relate to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The leaks were first released on July 25, 2010, and exposed horrible war atrocities, including a recorded 66,081 civilian deaths out of 109,000 total deaths in the Iraq war, and an undisclosed number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
One such incident was captured on video and dubbed Collateral Murders, as it depicted a July 12, 2007 air strike on Baghdad in which multiple innocent people were gunned down, including two Reuters reporters and a man driving a van with two young children inside.It’s difficult to say if there’s been definitive fallout from these leaks, however torture and the treatment of prisoners have become topics of political discussion over the past several years, and the Iraq and Afghan War Logs almost certainly played a role in that.
‘ Sony Pictures ‘The Interview’ hack and leak! ’
In 2014, Sony Pictures was hacked by a group that called itself the “Guardians of Peace,” after which a slew of confidential documents were leaked online, including details about executive salaries and copies of unreleased films. Shortly after the hack, the group demanded Sony pull its film The Interview, which depicted the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, fueling speculation the hack was actually carried out by the country. The group even threatened terrorist attacks on cinemas that showed the movie.
How did all this affect Sony, if at all? The threat did have an impact; the film was eventually pulled from cinematic showings, however it was released digitally with huge success. It’s still not clear if North Korea was behind the hack or who else may have carried it out.
WikiLeaks reveals Scientology secrets
Scientology has long had a veil of secrecy, but that veil was at least partly lifted in March 2008, when the secret “bibles” of Scientology were published by WikiLeaks, outlining various aspects of the religion. In particular, WikiLeaks published a manual on the eight different Operating Thetan levels, or levels that Scientologists can achieve within the organization. The leaks also gave instructions on some of Scientology’s “drills,” which are somewhat difficult to understand.
After the leak was published, the Church of Scientology sent a letter of warning to WikiLeaks, suggesting the organization had infringed on the church’s intellectual property rights. WikiLeaks refused to remove the material, claiming the church “aids and abets a general climate of Western media selfcensorship.”
To date, the Panama Papers represent the biggest leak in history when it comes to the number of documents that leaked, comprising a massive 1.5 million files. But what’s included in those files? In essence, they expose a number of ways in which the rich can exploit offshore tax regimes. Named as doing so are a hefty 143 politicians, several hundred celebrities (including Bollywood actors) and 11 other national leaders.
One of the biggest pieces of information in the Panama Papers leak involves ex-British Prime Minister David Cameron, who ran an offshore investment fund and avoided taxes by having a group of residents of the Bahamas sign paperwork for the fund. The papers themselves were obtained by an anonymous source from Mossack Fonseca, the world’s fourth largest offshore law firm. The firm is Panama-based.
The Guantanamo Files
In another set of leaked documents, WikiLeaks, along with publishers like the New York Times and The Guardian, revealed a slew of information regarding Guantanamo Bay and how prisoners there were treated. A total of 779 documents were leaked, and they exposed that as many as 150 innocent Afghans and Pakistanis were being held at the prison without charges.
Not only that, but the leak also revealed the prison’s youngest and oldest detainees were an 89-year-old man and a 14-yearold boy, both of whom were suffering from mental and physical conditions. Furthermore, the leaks showed there was a heavy emphasis on attempting to extract information from prisoners, many of which were tortured at the prison.
In 2015, a group known as “The Impact Team” threatened to release the names and personal information of members of Ashley Madison, if Avid Life Media, the site’s parent company, didn’t shut the site down. Ashley Madison is an online dating site devoted to people looking to cheat on their partner.
Eventually, the group followed through on the threat, and a full database of members of the site was published online, essentially exposing people who were cheating or looking to cheat on their partners. A whopping 60 gigabytes of data was published online and verified to be valid. For its part, Avid Life Media published a statement asserting the hackers were criminals, and said it was working with authorities to investigate the hack.
Related Items:10 worst leaks, Ashley Madison, Cablegate, CIA leak news, Edward Snowden, iraq and afghan war logs, latest, News, Panama Papers, tech hacks, top leaks of the decade, WikiLeaks
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Housing market ‘settles down’ post-Brexit, says RICS
The price of houses and sales will likely continue to rise in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, with prices predicted to go up by 3.3% a year over the next five years, per the latest poll of surveyors.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that a higher proportion of surveyors expected sales to rise in the next three months than at any time since February.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, says:
“There are clear signs that the housing market is settling down after the initial surprise of the outcome to the EU referendum.
“Buyer enquiries did dip again in August but only modestly and, more significantly, sales expectations are beginning to edge upwards once again. It is likely the swift response from the Bank of England, both in terms of the lowering of the capital buffer and the cut in interest rates, has played a role in helping to support confidence.”
The poll suggests that both prices and sales are set to rise over both the next three months and 12 months as market activity becomes more stable.
While surveyors reported price increases in most parts of the UK, in London the picture was less positive, with 30% more surveyors reporting a drop-in house prices in August, as opposed to a rise.
In general, surveyors are more confident about the future though, with 10% more respondents anticipating house price growth over the next three months rather than prices falling.
Price expectations for the next 12 months are also more positive, with surveyors anticipating modest increases in most parts of the country outside London.
RICS reports that the volume of agreed house sales stabilised in August, with its agreed sales indicator rising from -32% to zero. It suggests that the continuing shortage of housing stock has had a knock-on effect on rising prices. Surveyors report a drop in the number of houses on estate agents’ books for the third month in a row, nearing December’s record low.
Surveyors also reported a drop-in demand for homes from new buyers although the pace of this decline has eased. A net balance of -7% more chartered surveyors reported a fall in demand in August – up from -25% in July.
Commenting on the report, Andrew McPhillips, chief economist at Yorkshire Building Society, says:
“Activity in the housing market appears to have recovered following uncertainty caused by the EU referendum and the effects of the increase in stamp duty for landlords.
“Although these statistics, along with other favourable economic reports for August, paint a positive picture, they could also be the beginning of the choppy market conditions we are likely to see in the medium term because of people’s uncertainty around how post-Brexit UK will look.”
References: Moneywise
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The Suzuki Method
About SSM
Pay Tuition
Diana Popowycz
Diana Popowycz is the co-founder of the Suzuki Strings of Madison. She received her BA from DePaul University and MS from the UW -Madison. Her Suzuki training has been with Kyoko Fuller, Kay Slone, Ed Kreitman, Teri Einfeldt, Margery Aber, Paul Landefeld, Alice Joy Lewis along with string pedagogy work with Mimi Zweig.
Diana holds a Dalcroze Eurhythmics Certificate from Carnegie Mellon University and has completed summer course work at Longy and Manhatten School of Music.
She has served as clinician for numerous Suzuki workshops,University programs, choirs and dance schools throughout the Midwest. Diana has been on the faculty of the Milwaukee Ballet, UW Madison School of Music, Madison Boys Choir, Peoples Music School (Chicago) and Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago).
Along with her studio and group teaching at SSM , she coaches chamber ensembles for the Wisconsin Youth Symphony. She is the mother of three young musicians.
Contact Diana
Maria-Rosa Germain
Maria-Rosa Germain is a co-founder of SSM and has taught violin for thirty years. She graduated from Michigan State University in 1980 with two Bachelor’s degrees:
one in stringed instrument education and the other in violin performance. In 1983 she earned a Masters in Violin Performance from the University of Wisconsin, having studied with Vartan Manoogian and Tyrone Greive. She has played in the Lansing Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Coloradao Philharmonic, Madison Symphony and free-lanced for years with her husband Glenn Germain. All of her Suzuki training has taken place at Stevens Point, WI (ASTEC) with Kay Slone, Doris Preucil, Craig Timmermann, Allen Lieb, Ed Kreitman, Pat D’Ercole and Marge Aber. Kyoko Fuller has also mentored her. She is the mother of two successful Suzuki trained young adult musicians.
Contact Maria-Rosa
Kathryn Taylor
Kathryn Taylor has a Bachelors degree in violin performance from the University of Wyoming and did graduate work at Michigan State University. She received her Suzuki pedagogy training from Margery Aber, Craig Timmerman, Ed Kreitman, Geri Arnold, and Kyoko Fuller at Michigan State University, Blue Lake Suzuki Camp and the Chicago Suzuki Institute. She has attended numerous Suzuki workshops, institutes, and conferences throughout the years. She currently performs in the Madison Symphony Orchestra and with the con vivo! …music with life chamber music ensemble. Her goal as a violin teacher is to help students develop self confidence and a life-long love of classical music.
Contact Kathryn
Janse Vincent
Janse H. Vincent, a violist and violinist, joined the Suzuki Strings of Madison teaching cooperative in the summer of 2000. She is also a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra viola sections. Janse has served as a clinician at the University of Memphis Suzuki Institute since 1997 and has also taught at the Capitol University Suzuki Institute in Columbus, OH.
Previously, she taught at the Cincinnati String Academy and served as coordinator or their Suzuki String program. From 1992 to 1997, Janse taught at the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City, Iowa where she completed long-term Suzuki teacher training with Doris Preucil. After concluding her undergraduate studies at Furman University, she earned a masters in viola performance from Northwestern University and a D.M.A in viola performance from the University of Iowa. Her association with the Suzuki method began early with violin lessons at the age of five in Gainesville, Florida.
Contact Janse
Heidi Kenney
Heidi Kenney has been with the Suzuki Strings of Madison faculty since 2002. She is originally from North Carolina where she began her Suzuki violin studies with her mother, Lorraine Westermark, at the age of 3. She later on received her B.M in violin performance from the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C. and M. M in violin performance with the emphasis in Suzuki Pedagogy from The Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. She has completed her long term Suzuki teacher training with Teri Einfeldt and Linda Fiore at the Hartt School, where she also served as faculty with the Hartt Community Division teaching Suzuki violin and managing the Suzuki orchestras. She is former faculty at the Lawrence Arts Academy at Lawrence University and violinist of the Fox Valley Symphony in Appleton, WI. Her principal teachers include Lorraine Westermark, Joanne Bath, Elaine Richey, and Mitchell Stern.
Contact Heidi
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Baby, It's Cold Outside
Ah, nothing says Merry Christmas quite like sexual harrassment.
Since the song "Baby It's Cold Outside" debuted in the 1949 film "Neptune's Daughter" it has, inexplicably become a holiday classic. Even Will Farrell's man/child character sang the duet with Zoey Deschanel in the children's Christmas movie "Elf." But, if you listen to the lyrics, you have to wonder why this tune is so linked with snowmen, candy canes and reindeer.
He wants her to say. She wants to go. He invades her personal space. She tries to escape. He persists. She says no, but really means maybe. It's as if Pepe LePew has found himself a more willing participant. If performed properly, you should be able to cut the sexual tension with a fruitcake knife. If performed poorly, you spend more time thinking about the horrendous driving conditions that will await our damsel if she ever does escape.
Most of the time, "Baby It's Cold Outside" is performed poorly.
In fact, that's the other great mystery of this song. Why does it attract such strange pairings? Over the years, it has been recorded by such odd couples as Alan Cumming and Liza Minnelli, Ann Margaret and Brian Setzer and, my personal bad-favorite, Bette Midler and James Caan.
One of the worst versions has to be by Dolly Parton and Rod Stewart. They should have just released a tape of an emphysema patient trying to seduce a sheep. Another incarnation that will send me fleeing from a retail establishment when it blares over the soundsystem, is Ray Charles and Betty Carter. I don't care if Ms. Carter is a jazz legend, on this song she sounds like Gingy, the talking gingergbread man from "Shrek."
Give me Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme! Give me Bing Crosby and Doris Day! Please, no more duets with Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson or, even worse, Bo Bice and Joan Osbourne!
Even the legends can come off as talentless hacks if they team up with the wrong person. In this variation, Welsh crooner Tom Jones pairs up with Welsh warbler Cerys Matthews. The whole thing is kind of creepy. Close your eyes and you'll imagine an aging pedophile trying to hit on a semi-retarded girl.
Here's the original with Ricardo Montalban and Esther Williams. Neither one of them are known for their pipes, but at least it doesn't look like something you'd see on To Catch A Predator.
I think Dean Martin had the right idea when he recorded this song as a solo.
It' nice and warm over at humor-blogs.com.
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Author: Rickey
Home » Archives for Rickey
Business, CubeSat Payloads, Education, Fashion, Marketing, Real Estate, Science
Privately owned businesses, educational institutions and different associations who plan to send research experiments on board the ISS, face a test: Each experiment requires broad safety and security checks and up to 1,000 pages of documentation as per NASA prerequisites.…
CubeSat Payloads, News
You will have heard of CubeSats, but what are they exactly and where do CubeSat operators go to keep track of the latest opportunities and technology? It is tempting to say that they are small satellites, and that anybody can build one, but that would only be half of the story.
It would take several volumes to just describe the basics, but a picture being worth a thousand words, we thought it might be a better idea to refer you to some of the best CubeSat videos we found on the CubeSat.Us website from around the internet that do a much better job of explaining what these smallsats are, what they do, and how they are launched into low Earth orbit by a range of private citizens, commercial businesses and educational organizations.…
Citizen Spaceflight, Space Tourism
What is remarkable about Simonyi, a Hungarian-born American businessman, is the fact that he paid not once for a flight to the ISS, but twice- once for a ride on Soyuz TMA-10 in 2007, and again in April of 2009, when he flew on Soyuz TMA-14.
Dr. Simonyi holds current licenses for multi-engine jets and helicopters, and has logged more than 2000 hours of flying time, which goes some way toward realizing his dreams of advancing space flight for civilians.…
Citizen Spaceflight
A shining example of the American dream, Ansari came to the US when she was a teenager that could not speak English…
When South African computer specialist sold his company to Google, he had more than enough money to pay for his trip to the ISS, courtesy of Space Adventures.
Paying a whopping $20 million for his ride in 2002, Shuttleworth performed intricate experiments during his 10-day stay on the ISS- one of which was the first of its kind…
By the end of the 1990’s, the Mir space station was a decrepit hulk, and its operators, MirCorp, which was a privately owned company, was desperate to raise funds from space tourists in order to pay for the ailing stations’ upkeep.
However, before Dennis Tito, a former Jet Propulsion laboratory scientist-turned-businessman…
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William Joseph Brown
D TRP, 1ST SQDN, 4TH CAVALRY, 1ST INF DIV, USARV
Army of the United States
April 15, 1950 to November 17, 1969
WILLIAM J BROWN is on the Wall at Panel W16, Line 86
My father went to school (and became best friends) with Billy Brown. In 1969 Bill went to Vietnam and three months later was Killed In Action.
My father said the first son he had he would name after Bill. That's where I come in - William Joseph Price. My father kept a few letters from Bill but not much concrete information. Bill was in infantry when he first got to Vietnam then transfered to the First of the Fourth Cavalry. It was in the Cav that he was killed.
Summary as follows:
"Killed by a single enemy round fired at close range while serving as point man for the ARP inserted to sweep an enemy bunker complex. Location was Binh Duong Province."
I have been registered with the In Touch program for a couple of years with no success. If you knew Bill Brown please email me.
I would like to find out more about the man I am named after.
bprice@gwi.net
I live in Columbus, Georgia and grew up with Allen H. Caldwell. He was like my brother and I loved him. We were a tight community back in the 1960s. Allen played football, baseball, basketball and was a great guy. When he died a piece of my heart died with him. He is buried at Fort Benning, Georgia. His parents are both deceased. He has two brothers and one sister. Allen had a personality and everyone who met him liked him. Vietnam was a place that changed my life and the life of so many of his friends. He will never be forgotten.
From a friend,
Glenda E. Hall
glndelln@hotmail.com
A Note from The Virtual Wall
D Troop, 1/4th Cavalry, lost two men on 17 November 1969 - SGT Allen H. Caldwell of Columbus, Georgia, and PFC William J. Brown.
Contact Us © Copyright 1997-2018 www.VirtualWall.org, Ltd ®(TM) Last update 06/29/2018.
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VNS Message Board » VNS DISCUSSIONS » Legislative Activism In Regards to VNS » Asthma
Author Topic: Asthma (Read 3712 times)
Reporter indicated a vns therapy pt is experienced an "asthma attack - extreme shortness of breath. " it was stated it was a single episode that was probably related to vns therapy stimulation. The event resolved without intervention. Good faith attempts to obtain additional info have been unsuccessful to date.
Re: Asthma
Rptr indicated a vns therapy pt is being referred to surgeon for explant of the device. The reason for the explant is exacerbation of asthma and painful stimulation. Good faith attempts to obtain add'l info have been unsuccessful to date.
Date of event; corrected data: additional information indicates that the dyspnea was first observed on (b)(6) 2008.
It was reported that a vns patient had experienced two episodes of respiratory stridor and shortness of breath. The initial episode was reported to be continuous in frequency and moderate in severity. The patient's treating physician ruled the event to be possibly related to stimulation, unlikely related to implantation and indicated that no interventions taken. The second episode was reported to be continuous in frequency and severe. The patient's treating physician ruled the event to be possibly related to stimulation, unlikely related to implantation and indicated that this episode was not a serious adverse event. The physician also indicated that the following interventions were taken: parameter changes were made, magnet used to disable generator, medication was added and that the patient was admitted to the emergency room and had an ent evaluation.
Additional information was received indicating that the vns patient¿s dyspnea was first observed on (b)(6) 2008. The patient¿s device was disabled on (b)(6) 2010 as the patient was unable to tolerate the dyspnea and stridor which were believed to be related to vns stimulation. The patient¿s respiratory issues improved following device disablement. The patient¿s device was programmed back on in 2009. Although the patient was given medications, the shortness of breath continued along with an onset of asthma. The asthma was believed to be related to vns stimulation as it resolved when the device was disabled. During an office visit on (b)(6) 2011, the physician elected to keep the device disabled and pursue explant in the future. The patient underwent surgery on (b)(6) 2013. The explanted device has not been returned to date.
Only a portion of the lead was returned for analysis which did not reveal any anomalies.
Additional information was obtained from the surgeon. He indicated that the patient was a non-responder to vns and he was unsure if the migration was occurring. There was no suspected manipulation or trauma. The physician indicated that the patient had extreme difficulty with her asthma when the device would stimulate but also stated that the surgery was performed for patient comfort.
The patient reported that the lead would migrate and "block her throat" during her asthma attacks. Per the patient, this was preventing her from breathing. The patient did not know when the event started. At the time of this report, the patient also indicated that she did not experience efficacy from the device. The patient's vns system has since been explanted and the lead and generator have been returned to the manufacturer for product analysis. Analysis is not yet complete. It is unclear at this time, if the explant was performed for the reported migration or lack or efficacy. Attempts for additional information are underway.
Product analysis on the generator was completed on (b)(4) 2012. In the (b)(4) lab, the device output signal was monitored for more than 24-hrs, while the generator was placed in a simulated body temperature environment. Results showed no signs of variation in the pulse generator's output signal and demonstrated that the device provided the expected level of output current for the entire monitoring period. The pulse generator diagnostics were as expected for the programmed parameters. In addition, a comprehensive automated electrical evaluation showed that the pulse generator performed according to functional specifications. There were no performance or any other type of adverse conditions found with the pulse generator. Product analysis on the explanted lead was also completed. An analysis was performed on the returned lead portion. Note that a portion of the lead assembly (body) including the electrodes was not returned for analysis and therefore a complete evaluation could not be performed on the entire lead product. The condition of the returned lead portion is consistent with conditions that typically exist following an explant procedure. A puncture mark was observed on the outer silicone tubing. The mark penetrated the outer insulation and one inner silicone tubing. The quadfilar coil did not appear to be damaged. Slice marks were observed on the outer silicone tubing. The marks penetrated the outer and one inner silicone tubing and the quadfilar coil appeared to be kinked. The puncture and slices appeared to be made by a sharp object which could have occurred during the explant procedure, however this cannot be confirmed. No obvious anomalies were noted. The resistance measurement taken during decontamination verified an electrical and mechanical contact between the generator and connector pin at one point in time. Continuity checks of the returned lead portion were performed, during the visual analysis, with no discontinuities identified. Based on the findings in the product analysis lab, there is no evidence to suggest an anomaly with the returned portion of the device. Attempts for additional information have remained unsuccessful to date.
It was reported by a nurse that a vns patient experiences vns related asthma. The patient claimed to not have seen her vns physician since 2009 and was warned prior to implant that this could possibly be a side effect from therapy. At the moment, the patient is looking for another physician. Additional information was received from the previous treating nurse indicating the patient suffers from psychological problems. The respiratory problems referred to by the patient have been looked at by a lung specialist and many settings were tried out in order to accommodate the patient, but patient remained unhappy, claiming depression when generator was turned off and asthma when turned on.
Moreover, additional information from the treating physician indicated the patient was psychologically unstable prior to vns. After vns was implanted, the patient would have periods of depression which nonetheless were higher than pre-vns baseline.
Additional information was received as an implant card containing generator product information.
It was reported via clinic notes received that the pt has a history of obstructive sleep apnea and uses a cpap. The pt was also noted as having asthma. The relationship of these events to vns is unk. Diagnostics taken on (b)(6) 2011, indicate normal device function. Attempts for additional info have been unsuccessful to date.
Additional information was received from the physician indicating that the patient has a long history of obstructive sleep apnea. It was originally believed to be related to the patient's seizure behavior; however, this began to be questioned on (b)(6) 2002. The relationship of the sleep apnea to vns has not been documented. The cpap use was noted as improving the sleep apnea. No changes to vns settings have been made as intervention to the sleep apnea. The patient was noted as having a sleep study done on (b)(6) 1999 secondary to large adenoids.
It was reported that the patient passed away on (b)(6) 2016. She was found deceased in her home. The physician reported that the patient had cps and gtc seizures along with morbid obesity and depression. The patient was presumably seizure free, according to the physician's report. An autopsy was not performed, but the generator and lead were explanted and discarded. The patient's last visit to her physician was on (b)(6) 2006, and the patient was receiving vns therapy at the time of death to the physician's knowledge. The patient was on topimate and lamotrigine at the time of death. The relationship of the death and vns was unknown since the cause of death was unknown, but the physician did not attribute the death to vns. Additional information was received from the national death index. The cause of death was: major cardiovascular disease, generalized and unspecified atherosclerosis, other obesity, unspecified depressive episode, unspecified epilepsy, unspecified asthma, and unspecified arthrosis. A sudep (sudden unexpected death in epilepsy patients) evaluation was performed based on information from the national death index, and the death was determined to be probable sudep.
It was reported that the patient was having issues with the vns. It was stated that the patient was experiencing asthma, tightness, and a tight throat while attempting to eat during stimulation on times. The vns was previously disabled due to these events, but then was programmed back on. Follow up with the physician's office revealed that the patient stated that she previously had asthma when she was younger and was diagnosed with mild seasonal asthma, but that it had increased. It was unclear if the increase coincided with the implantation of the vns. It was reported that the patient was on oxygen and had a pre-existing pulmonary dysfunction and that the patient's test results were very abnormal. It was stated that the patient may have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or copd. The patient stated that she had difficulty swallowing with vns stimulation due to the tightness, but the patient also experienced difficulty breathing through her nose previously, which was why the patient was on oxygen. The patient stated that she was on oxygen immediately following the vns implantation surgery due the pulse ox readings being so bad. The patient was forced to discontinue oxygen use previously due to insurance issues, but upon recently getting back on oxygen, stated that she felt better. The patient had previously been on steroid inhalers and then an asthma disk. The patient reported that she sometimes anticipated the stimulation, would tense up, and then have difficulty swallowing or drinking. However, it was stated that when she was sitting, the patient was fine and did not even perceive stimulation. The patient felt that she anticipated the previous vns on time and that it was too long. The patient was referred for a swallowing study and would also have a ct scan. The patient's stimulation on and off times were reduced to shorter periods and the output currents were increased. No additional relevant information has been received to date.
Additional information was received that the relationship of the oxygen saturation drop at night to vns is unknown. The physician coordinated a dosage of risperdal and potassium bromide on (b)(6) 2013. During follow-up, the oxygen saturation was 90%. The patient does have a history of asthma.
It was initially reported that the patient¿s oxygen saturation decrease during sleep to 83-84%. The casual relationship between vns stimulation unknown. Attempts for additional information have been unsuccessful.
Additional information was received when the physician reported that the patient¿s cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd). The patient¿s concurrent illnesses at the time of death were noted to be emphysema, copd, asthma, depression, and anxiety. The physician does not believe that the patient¿s death was related to the vns. The patient was noted to be at end stage lung disease and was on oxygen.
It was reported that the vns patient passed away. An online obituary identified that the patient passed away at home. The cause of death and relationship of the death to vns are unknown. No additional relevant information has been received to date.
Vagus nerve stimulator implanted: 2006, turned on: the following month, explanted the following month: coil/electrodes not removed. Er visit: infection at incision site on my neck: a month after the original month. I told the nurse practitioner that something felt wrong with the lead in my neck. It felt like something had moved, it just didn't fell right. The first time i told her was in five months later, i believe. Er visit: nerve stimulator malfunction: the following month, no one there knew what to do, taped my magnet on and went home. Had x-ray, that was sent to cyberonics i had it turned off for at least a month. I was so afraid of turning it back on. Once i had it turned back on, i started having migraines almost everyday. I put up with it for several more months, then i asked for it to be turned off, and i asked about getting it removed. I believe it was turned off in 2007. After it was turned off, i started getting severe cramps in my neck. I had an appointment with dr at medical center in 2008 to discuss removal of my vagus nerve stimulator. He said the surgery was too dangerous, there could be scar tissue entangled around the carotid artery and or jugular vein. Surgery could result in a stroke or even death. He also said surgeons do not like to remove items implanted by other surgeons, because he doesn't know how it was put in. He suggested i do some stretching exercises. He said a muscle relaxer might help, but would not be good for my bi-polar. He said if it were him, he would leave it in until i couldn't bear the pain any longer. He also said, he thought there may be something else going on, the leads may not be causing the spasms. I told him that if i were not able to stretch my neck and get the cramping to stop, i would have to go to the er. I am afraid of that happening more, so now after what he has said about the surgery. I had to go to the er after an adjustment caused severe electrical shocks. The doctor in the er didn't have a clue what to do, and had never heard of the vns. They told me to go to the doctor that implanted it. That doctor is in missouri! the cramps/spasms are becoming more frequent. What happens if i do have to go to the er, are they going to have a doctor-neurosurgeon- there to do emergency surgery! my asthma is worse. I have to use inhaler every night. As soon as i lay down, i start to wheeze and cough. I wake up coughing and have to use the inhaler again. I don't need the inhaler during the day? - my abdomen has sharp pains when i turn over during the night. -the abdomen pain comes and goes - happened during the day only a couple of times - i am having terrible sneezing attacks that last 12-15 hours per day. But, if i sit completely still, i will not sneeze. These attacks are about every other week, or more. They completely wear me out! i have not felt well for a couple of months, fatigue, nausea and lots of bouts of diarrhea. I have pain - comes and goes - in both my breasts, like electrical shocks from the top all the way to my nipples. They are sore to touch, comes and goes. May be: the vagus nerve stimulator has aggravated my vagus nerve - and who knows what else - and is causing some of the problems i listed above. I called the surgeon in missouri - i live in nc now - and the nurse told me the doctor said the leads should not be removed. She said the doctor said surgery would cause more scar tissue. I was never told that the complete device couldn't be removed. Had to remove device approx four months later. Dates of use: 2006 -- 2007. Diagnosis or reason for use: depression.
It was reported by a psychiatrist that a vns pt suffering from depression passed away on (b)(6) 2010. Good faith attempts to obtain more info regarding the relationship of pt's death to vns from the treating physician have been unsuccessful to date. Death certificate was obtained from the corresponding county and the manner of her death was ruled 'natural. ' it also stated that no autopsy was performed on the pt and pt's cause of death was cardiac arrest / sudden death, pulmonary embolism, and asthma.
Reporter indicated that during a ventral hernia repair surgery, a vns patient had an episode of bradycardia. The patient did not have a history of cardiac events, but the patient's father did have a history of cardiac events. The patient has pre-existing medical conditions of hypertension, depression, asthma, gerd, and tmj. The arrhythmia experienced was bradycardia; normal heart rate was 72, during event it was 39. Preoperative bp was 128/74, bp during event was 56/27 at the lowest. The vns generator was programmed on for the surgery. Interventions taken for the intraoperative bradycardia event were done to preclude a serious injury. The bradycardia has not recurred. Follow up with the reporter revealed '"pt presented for ventral hernia repair on (b)(6) 2012. Pt had eventful preoperative course, and no issues with induction of anesthesia. 1 hour into the case, during extensive lysis of adhesions in the abdomen [using electrocautery], the patient became profoundly bradycardic and hypotensive. Pt's anesthetic was decreased and he was given 100% o2, phenylephrine 600 mcg total, glycopyrrolate 0. 1 mg, atropine 0. 8 mg, calcium 0. 5 mg, magnesium 1 gm, and a total of 1. 7 mg epinephrine over the course of about 30 minutes during the severe bradycardia. A magnet was also placed over the [vns] device intraoperatively and transcutaneous pacing was used during the event. The case was aborted and the patient was subsequently extubated and taken to pacu and then the icu for overnight monitoring. He experienced no abnormal sequelae and returned several weeks later for the procedure without complication. " it was felt the combination of the extensive electrocautery used and the vns stimulation may have caused the bradycardia event per the reporter.
Additional information was received on (b)(6) 2011 when the explanted generator was returned for product analysis that was completed on (b)(6) 2011. The septum was not cored, thus eliminating the possibility of a potential unintended electrical current path through body fluids. In the product analysis lab, the device output signal was monitored for more than 24-hrs, while the generator was placed in a simulated body temperature environment. Results showed no signs of variation in the pulse generator's output signal and demonstrated that the device provided the expected level of output current for the entire monitoring period. The pulse generator diagnostics were as expected for the programmed parameters. In addition, a comprehensive automated electrical evaluation showed that the pulse generator performed according to functional specifications and there were no performance or any other type of adverse conditions found with the pulse generator.
Additional information was received on (b)(6) 2011 when the implant card was received from the hospital reporting that the patient's lead impedance after surgery was within normal limits.
On (b)(6) 2011, clinic notes from a vns treating physician were received through case management. Review of the clinic notes dated (b)(6) 2011 revealed that the patient was experiencing pain in their chest with stimulation. The patient said the pain is sharp and is at the incision location of the generator site. The patient was also reported to be experiencing sleep apnea. The patient was recently evaluated by an ear, nose, and throat physician who discovered that the patient has paralysis of the left vocal cord in the median position which is causing the patient dyspnea and coughing. The patient says that the vns does help with seizures and that if the vns is off she will have grand mal seizures. A 14-system review of the patient's systems was done by the physician and the patient was found to have asthma. The patient's settings were output=2. 75ma/frequency=30hz/pulse width=130usec/on time=30sec/off time=1. 8min/magnet output=3ma/magnet on time=60sec/magnet pulse width=130usec. The physician reported that if the patient's symptoms persist, it may be necessary to explore and possibly replace the generator as she gets benefit from a functioning system. Clinic notes dated (b)(6) 2011 report that the patient has had an increase in seizure frequency over the past few months. The patient has also noticed an increased pain in her left chest in the area of the generator pocket. Diagnostics were performed which revealed no malfunction; specifics were not provided. The physician reported that given the patient's pain in her chest, as well as decreased efficacy within the past 3 months, he is referring the patient for prophylactic battery replacement. Additional clinic notes were received from the physician dated (b)(6) 2011 which revealed that the patient was having an increase in spells. The patient went to the epilepsy monitoring unit and these were non-epileptic. The patient also feels that her asthma has worsened. The patient's settings were output=2. 75ma/frequency=30hz/pulse width=130usec/on time=30sec/off time=1. 8min/magnet output=3ma/magnet on time=60sec/magnet pulse width=130usec. A battery life calculation was performed with the patient's programming history and it revealed negative years until eri = yes. The patient went for battery replacement surgery on (b)(6) 2011. The manufacture's consultant reported that she has the explanted generator and will be sending it back for product analysis but it has not yet been received. When additional information has been received, it will be reported.
The aware date as well as the date that the implant card was received should have been listed as (b)(6) 2011.
Additional information was received on (b)(6) 2011 when the implant card was received from the hospital reporting that the patient's lead impedance after surgery was within normal limits. The manufacturer's consultant reported that she made good faith attempts to obtain additional information from the physician concerning the patient's adverse events. The physician reported that the patient is doing well after the generator replacement and that all the patient's issues have resolved except for her pre-existing conditions.
(b)(6). The aware date as well as the date that the implant card was received should have been listed as (b)(6) 2011.
It was reported that the vns patient was experiencing hoarseness, shortness of breath, and throat pain. The patient¿s asthma had exacerbated at the time. The patient was given steroids and an inhaler and the symptoms resolved. The patient later reported experiencing pain at the lead site and pain from laughing and coughing. The patient also reported discomfort at night and began snoring. The patient and patient's mother reported hearing and engine-like sound coming from the patient's device at night. The patient refused to have her device settings adjusted but noted that she was not using her magnet due to discomfort. Further follow-up revealed that x-rays were later taken and confirmed proper placement of the generator and lead; however, they showed chest wall infection with consolidation of the left lower lobe that was affecting her breathing. The patient is expected to receive antibiotics and a follow-up x-ray. Attempts for additional relevant information were made but have been unsuccessful to date.
(b)(6) 2016 notes state that the patient is here to have the vns settings decreased. Since having her duty cycle increased in august, she has been experiencing problems related to her vns. She has been wheezing, has shortness of breath, and cannot tolerate walking short distances or going up a flight of stairs. She saw an ent and was told she has vocal cord dysfunction. The md decreased duty cycle from 35% to 29%. (b)(6) 2016 -patient left to do stairs and walk briskly; came back and is still having problems with wheezing and shortness of breath. Turned device off and repeated, wheezing and shortness of breath gone totally. She feels much better. But with device off feels like she is having muscle spasms near vagus nerve, could feel the quiver of left neck which also affected her speech. Device was then decreased to 0. 5 ma then back to 1. 5 ma. So patient was set back to 1. 5 ma and will be seen in a few weeks to reduce if necessary. (b)(6) 2016 notes state the home pulmonary and ent specialists state that the wheezing while exercising is related to vns. When the vns was stopped she was able to exercise quite well without difficulties. They state that may indicate significant airway obstruction related to vagus nerve stimulation. Notes state they will get her down to 1 ma and cycle 30 sec on and 5 min off and see if that becomes more manageable in terms of her breathing.
It was reported that the patient saw a local ent and the neurologists have yet to see the patient in the office. She was not complaining at all when they previously saw her. Further follow-up showed that the patient has been wheezing, having shortness of breath, and difficulty walking short distances. She thought her asthma was flaring up so she saw her primary physician. He noticed that the wheezing was coming from her throat. She was sent to ent and had further testing done. She was told she has vocal cord dysfunction most likely from the vns.
It was reported on (b)(6) 2015 that the patient has reported left vocal cord dysfunction. The onset of the event is unknown. The patient has consulted with an ent surgeon on whether or not any intervention needs to be taken.
The patient had generator and lead explant surgery on (b)(6) 2014 to undergo other indication treatment. The explanted products were discarded.
Clinic notes dated (b)(6) 2014 reported that by the patient¿s report, she had occasions of unilateral vocal cord paralysis following vns procedure. Subsequently, she seemed to stabilized after undergoing a vocal fold injection procedure. The vocal folds were evaluated to be bilaterally mobile with exhibition of mild edema. The patient presented with report of progressively worsening breathing difficulties. The vns generator was programmed off to 0ma which the physician evaluated may provide some immediate relief with respect to the breathing issues. It was previously reported that the patient had vns programming changes made due to tolerability issues including with subtle hoarseness during stimulation but was tolerated. A note from (b)(6) 2007 indicated the patient had increasing breathing problems and was unknown if related to a recent increase in settings. Later in (b)(6) 2008, the patient felt the breathing issues were related to vns and as a result did not want to increased settings. In (b)(6) 2008, the treating physician indicated the patient¿s asthma was worse and unknown if related to vns at that time. The patient's previously treating physician who managed the vns treatment has retired.
Operative notes from explant surgery on (b)(6) 2014 were received and indicated that the pre- and post-operative diagnoses was dyspnea and chronic laryngitis. The indication for procedure detailed that the patient developed chronic laryngitis with symptoms of constriction of the larynx after vns implant, which may be related to the vagal nerve stimulator lead. The surgeon noted that they had concerns that the vagal nerve stimulator may be ¿inappropriately activating the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Because of this, the device will need to be removed. " the generator (including surrounding scar tissue) and majority of lead were explanted; all of the electrodes were not explanted, ¿recognizing the risk of additional dissection was certainly not warranted by any benefit of harvesting additional nerve lead wire. ¿.
It was reported via clinic notes received that the pt has obstructive sleep apnea, asthma, and a previous electrocardiogram indicated an arrhythmia. It was noted on the clinic notes that a recent electrocardiogram showed a "sinus arrhythmia"; however, it is not known if this is the same arrhythmia or a separate one. The relationship of these events to vns is not known. Diagnostics dated (b)(6) 2011 indicated normal device function. Attempts for additional info have been unsuccessful to date.
It was reported that the vns patient¿s device was programmed back on during an office visit on (b)(6) 2014 and began affecting the patient¿s heart rate. The patient also had asthma and choking sensations. The patient¿s device was disabled on (b)(6) 2014. Attempts for additional relevant information have been unsuccessful to date.
Reporter indicated he would not provide any information to the manufacturer regarding any patient events.
Reporter indicated a vns patient was hospitalized due to difficulty breathing with stridor, asthma, and vocal cord paralysis. The vns was disabled and the patient improved. The patient is being treated with medication. The patient had recently had the vns generator replaced on (b)(6) 2011. The patient was originally implanted with vns on (b)(6) 2007. Attempts for further information are in progress.
Date received by manufacturer (mm/dd/yyyy), corrected data: initial report selected (b)(6) 2011 as the aware date; however the aware date is (b)(6) 2011.
It was reported that a patient was hospitalized due to issues with asthma on (b)(6) 2011 and previously, in (b)(6) 2011. Per the patient, the device had previously been programmed off but when it was programmed back on, the patient began to have issues with asthma. Follow up with the patient's treating physician revealed that the device stimulation is probably a contributing the asthma as it appears to come and go with the device on and off; however, when on, the asthma is not limited to stimulation on times only. The patient does have a medical history of asthma prior to being implanted with vns. There were no causal or contributory medication or programming changes prior to the onset of the asthma. The device was programmed off on (b)(6) 2011 per the physician when the patient was in the emergency room due to asthma. No additional information was provided.
Event Type No Answer Provided
The event of the patient's worsening asthma was inadvertently omitted from the initial mdr report.
Clinic notes from the new treating physician were received indicating surgery to replace the vns generator and possibly the lead may be done in order to relieve the patient's symptoms of voice alteration, dyspnea and painful stimulation. It is suspected the lead placement may be the cause of the patient's adverse events. A surgery date has not been set. Attempts for additional information are in progress.
Rptr indicated that since she was implanted with the vns in (b)(6) 2011, she was experiencing vocal cord paralysis when the vns would stimulate. The rptr stated she had a bronchoscopy performed and it was confirmed the left vocal cord had "some sort of paralysis" during vns stimulation. The patient did not wish to have the vns disabled by her treating neurologist. Mfr follow up with the treating neurologist's office revealed the neurologist was aware of the pt's reported vocal cord paralysis, but that the pt had been released from their practice as of (b)(4) 2011 and they had no info. The office did state that the pt was seen on (b)(6) 2011 and the vns was working properly at that time. In addition, the pt refused to have the vns disabled. It is unk which physician the pt may be seeing at present.
Reporter indicated that in addition to the vocal cord paralysis, she has also experienced worsening asthma since the vns was implanted.
Reporter indicated the patient may be seen by a neurosurgeon for evaluation of the patient¿s neck at the patient¿s request, but no surgery date has been set. The reporter declined to provide additional information.
It was reported via social media comment by the patient that she experienced an asthma attack with magnet activation following the implantation of the vns. No additional relevant information has ben received to date.
It was reported that the vns patient¿s device was disabled and later explanted on (b)(6) 2013 due to respiratory issues. The patient previously experienced trauma to the airway and was respiratory issues during stimulation on-times even at low settings. The patient¿s explanted device has not been returned to date. Review of the available programming and diagnostic history showed normal diagnostic results through (b)(6) 2009. The patient¿s device was disabled on (b)(6) 2010.
Further follow-up revealed that the patient's device was programmed off on (b)(6) 2010 and that after a year with vns disabled the patient decided to pursue explant in the future. The patient first complained of respiratory stridor and shortness of breath symptoms in (b)(6) 2008. The vns was programmed off and an ent evaluation was performed. The patient's respiratory symptoms were better with vns off. The vns was programmed back on in 2009 and the patient required albuterol, prednisone and continued to have problems with shortness of breath. There was questionable asthma of new onset which was always relieved with vns off. Many attempts were made to continue vns and manage with asthma medications, but they did not help the severe shortness of breath attacks. The physician believes the vns stimulation is related to the patient's respiratory issues. The patient underwent a video stroboscopy in 2009, a vocal cord ct scan in 2011, and a diagnostic laryngoscopy under anesthesia and laryngeal emg in 2011. The patient had emergency room visits and trials with vns stimulation off then on then off again. No programming changes, medication changes, or other external factors caused or contributed to the patient's respiratory issues. The physician reported that the patient experienced prolonged intubation for a period prior to vns implant and possible structural problem of post glottis inlet. The physician reported that the patient's depression benefitted from vns therapy so the respiratory problems were tried to manage for years.
It was reported that the patient was going to the emergency room for asthma and difficulty breathing which worsened during vns stimulation on-times. Attempts for additional relevant information have been unsuccessful to date.
The treating physician's office reported that they are not aware of the patient going to the er for these symptoms, nor has the patient ever reported these type of events to their office. The patient¿s vns device was last checked on (b)(6) 2014, and it was functioning properly at that time. The office was unable to provide additional information at that time.
It was reported that patient's asthma attack was never a problem previously and the patient had a desat of 80. For intervention, the physician decreased the magnet and normal pulse width.
It was reported that the patient's mother indicated that the patient was taken to the hospital because he could not catch his breath and was coughing and wheezing. The hospital indicated that the patient was experiencing an asthma attack and would need to be placed on medication. The patient's mother reported that magnet mode stimulation was initiated during a seizure and the patient's asthma worsened and the patient could not catch his breath. Attempts to obtain additional relevant information have been unsuccessful to date.
It was reported that the patient was in the hospital with asthma. The clinician wondered whether the vns could contribute to the asthma. No further relevant information has been received to date.
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Soonish
Radio Is the Rage in Science Storytelling
I got back to wet and chilly Boston Sunday night after a mind-blowing weekend in Phoenix attending Newsgeist, the future-of-news unconference sponsored by Google and the Knight Foundation. At events like this, there's often admiring buzz around a recent project, product, or company that's seen as the potential model and savior for journalism. Back in 2010, at the first iteration of the conference, all the talk was about mobile reading apps like Instapaper and Flipboard.
So, what was hot this year at Newsgeist? Believe it or not, it was Serial, the new podcast from the team behind This American Life at WBEZ in Chicago.
Over and over again, Newsgeist attendees—and we're talking about 160 of the country's most daring thinkers about the overlap between technology and journalism—said they were completely hooked on Serial, a true-crime story spread across a nine-episode season.
Everyone seemed a little surprised and bemused by the idea that podcasting, which enjoyed an early surge in 2004-2005 but never seemed to spread beyond a community of early adopters, now seems to be the medium of choice for immersive, long-form storytelling. Conference attendees gushed about how audio is more "intimate" than other media and how it's even more visual, in a way, than video or television, since listeners have to paint the accompanying images in their heads.
I've talked before about how radio is the new Netflix and podcasts make great binge-listening material. With the fundraising success of recent infrastructure-building efforts in the world of story-driven audio such as Radiotopia, it feels like we're finally reaching the moment when millions of people (many of whom, like myself, don't even own a radio) are starting to discover and appreciate podcasting as a vehicle for all sorts of non-fiction storytelling, including science and technology stories.
The flagship podcast in the Radiotopia network, Roman Mars' fantastic architecture and design show 99% Invisible, started off as a project of San Francisco public radio station KALW, and WBEZ's Serial is podcast-only; it never airs on the radio. These feel like signs that the broadcast-focused public radio industry is waking up to the idea that they can go straight to listeners, bypassing the tyranny of the broadcast clock (and, not incidentally, the FCC).
And now WNYC, one of the country's best-funded and most influential public broadcasting stations, is beefing up its health reporting unit and, according to Columbia Journalism Review contributor Anna Leigh Clark, preparing to launch a podcast on "healthy living and wellness, healthcare economics and policy, and medical science and discovery."
That's great news. I spoke with Clark for her story, which rightly frames WNYC's project in the context of mainstream media outlets' disastrous ongoing retreat from dedicated support for science, medical, environmental, and technology coverage. To combat that trend in their own newsroom, Clark reports, WNYC looked to philanthropic support; the new health-podcasting effort will be funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
It's a great example of the types of creative partnerships that will be needed to support media innovation in the future. But news producers and other content creators, including science and technology journalists, probably need to think even more broadly about how to find the money to support their work. Clark quoted me on that:
Even if the partnerships work perfectly, Wade Roush believes it wouldn’t be a good idea to depend entirely on philanthropists. “Foundations can’t do this job by themselves,” he said, adding that he wants to see more entrepreneurial imagination in the search for additional revenue sources. Among the possibilities he suggested: live events with charged admission, corporate sponsorships, and “maybe connect directly with readers to get them to pay for some of it.”
Hybrid media-and-events companies like my own alma mater Xconomy have amply demonstrated that, as Jeff Jarvis argued at Newsgeist, journalism is really about building relationships—between reporters and sources, between reporters and their readers, and among readers themselves. Radiotopia's wildly successful $620,000 Kickstarter campaign is a sign that media consumers will pay podcast creators directly to keep whispering into their ears. Some attendees at Newsgeist—well, me, actually—floated the concept of Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms as replacements for the universally despised public-radio pledge break, and one of the first steps toward a world of post-broadcast public media. If WNYC's new health reporting unit comes up with something really cool, I'll be among the first to donate to it.
It's a time of tumult and retrenchment in the news business—but storytelling will survive, as it always has. And this time, we can expect a boost from technologies like podcasting and crowdfunding and the new forms of distribution and commerce they're enabling.
Science and technology journalist
Fan Mail from the Metaverse
Dispelling the Gloom: An Open Letter to Science and Technology Journalists
10 Museum Way
Banner photograph by Kate Flock
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1960s1964 Notre Dame-Navy Game
Here are the condensed highlights of the 1964 Notre-Dame-Navy game played at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The game is noteworthy for two reasons: It featured a matchup of Navy QB Roger Staubach, the 1963 Heisman Trophy winner, and Notre Dame QB John Huarte, who would win the Heisman in 1964. The game was also noteworthy for being the first of Notre Dame's 43 consecutive wins over Navy.
Tags: NCAA football Notre Dame Navy
1970sRIF - Reading Is Fundamental PSA
This still exists - http://rif.org
Tags: 1973 RIF reading is fundamental PSA
Added: 8th August 2009
Posted By: chrissiek
2000sGeorge O Leary Resume Scandal
In December 2001, the University of Notre Dame hired George O'Leary to be its new head football coach. Five days later O'Leary was fired because of falsehoods on his resume. Portions of O'Leary's resume, which had been made public by the university, claimed that O'Leary had earned a master's degree in education from NYU-Stony Brook University and three football letters from the University of New Hampshire. None of it was true. O'Leary had obtained only two credits from NYU and never graduated. Moreover, NYU-Stony Brook University does not exist. Also, records proved he had never played football at New Hampshire. The inaccuracies came to light when a newspaper reporter from New Hampshire wanted to write a favorable local-angle story about Notre Dame's new coach--and discovered that no one on the New Hampshire football team remembered O'Leary. O'Leary had successfully coached Georgia Tech to a national championship in 1991 and no one had thought to question his resume then.
Tags: George O Leary Notre Dame resume fraud
Multiple YearsWhen I Grow Up I Want To Be An Old Woman
Tags: When I Grow Up I Want to be an Old Woman older women 70s Julie Andrews Vanessa Redgrave Dame Judi Dench Maggie Smith Shirley MacLaine Betty White Cloris Leachman Katharine Hepburn When I Grow Up
Posted By: Laura
1930s & EarlierKnute Rockne Plane Crash
Famed Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne and seven other men perished in an airplane crash on March 31, 1931. Rockne, 43, was travelling on business from Kansas City to Los Angeles on TWA Flight 599. The plane had only been airborne a short time when it lost a wing. It crashed on a farm near Bazaar, KS. Apparently the passengers were aware of their fate: It was reported that when Rockne's body was found, he was clutching a rosary. This memorial, erected on the crash site, was maintained for years by the 13-year-old boy who arrived first on the scene. Rockne's funeral cortege was witnessed by an estimated 300,000 people. It is often claimed that Flight 599 went down in or shortly after a thunderstorm. However, meteorological records show that there was no significant convective activity at the time. The accident was actually caused by the composition of the aircraft. Fokker Trimotor aircrafts were manufactured out of wood laminate; in this instance, moisture had leaked into the interior of one wing over a period of time and had weakened the glue bonding the structural members (called struts or spars) that prevented the wing from fluttering in flight. One spar finally failed; the wing developed an uncontrolled flutter and separated from the aircraft. The accident caused numerous changes in the operations of both TWA and the Aeronautics Branch of the US Department of Commerce, forerunner of today's FAA. All US airlines operating at that time were forced to remove Fokker Trimotors from service. The expense of this compounded with the bad publicity associated with Rockne's death almost sank TWA. The intense public interest in the cause of the accident also forced the Department of Commerce to abandon its policy of keeping the results of aircraft accident investigations secret.
Tags: Knute Rockne memorial airplane crash football
1990sCafe Americain - Sitcom Flop 1993
A ratings disappointment for NBC in the 1993-94 TV season was Café Americain, a sitcom starring Valerie Bertinelli. Bertinelli played a young American woman, Holly Aldrige, who finds a job working as a waitress in a small café in France even though she speaks no French. The cast consisted of an assortment of eccentric characters from around the world who regularly visited the café, generating comedic circumstances. One, Madame Ybarra, a former dictator's wife, was a thinly veiled spoof of Imelda Marcos. Another was Fabiana Borelli, a tempestuous Italian model, and her perpetually jealous Italian lover Carlo. They regularly sparred and reconciled. The show never garnered a following, even with a favorable timeslot change. It was yanked from NBC's regular schedule in February 1994 after just 16 episodes. In May two previously unaired episodes were shown on one night.
Tags: Valerie Bertinelli Cafe Americain
1980sMadames Place- Wayland Flowers
Tags: Madames Place- Wayland Flowers puppet puppeteer bawdy showgirl Michael Miller Johnny Haymer Susan Tolsky Judy Landers Corey Feldman
1970sRainstorm Terminates 1976 NFL-College Game
Several years ago I made a post regarding the annual "Chicago All-Star Game"--an NFL preseason contest that pitted the reigning champions versus a team of top collegiate all-stars. Played from 1934 to 1976, it was held annually at Chicago's Soldier Field. The gate receipts benefited various charities. Here's a 10-minute clip from the clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the College All-Stars in July 1976. Frank Gifford and Bud Wilkinson are calling the game for ABC. One of the most severe rainstorms you'll ever see at a sports event--combined with out-of-control fans invading the field--caused the game to be terminated late in the third quarter with Pittsburgh comfortably ahead 24-0. With NFL teams becoming less and less willing to risk their promising rookies for the sake of an exhibition game, the 1976 game was the last of the series. It was also the last game that Ara Parseghian ever coached. The former Notre Dame coach had retired after the 1974 season, but he was coaxed out of retirement to coach the College All-Stars in this game.
Tags: rainstorm NFL-College All-Star Game football
Multiple YearsAra Parseghian Passes At Age 94
Here's a very good tribute to one of college football's great coaches, Ara Parseghian, who died on August 2, 2017 at the age of 94. Parseghian was the head coach of the football programs at Miami of Ohio, Northwestern, and most famously, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. In fact, Notre Dame, whose team was in the doldrums from 1956 to 1963, hired Parseghian, a non-Catholic of Armenian descent, in 1964 largely because his Northwestern team had beaten Notre Dame four times in a row. Parseghian coached Notre Dame from 1964 to 1974 and compiled a terrific record of 95-17-4. During Parseghian's tenure, Notre Dame was twice voted national champions in the post-season polls.
Tags: Ara Parseghian NCAA football Notre Dame
1960s1966 Notre Dame-MSU 10-10 Tie
This is a highlight clip of one of the most eagerly anticipated NCAA football games of all time. It occurred late in the 1966 season on November 19 when the undefeated Fighting Irish of Notre Dame traveled to East Lansing, MI to play the undefeated Michigan State Spartans. The attendance at Spartan Stadium was officially listed as 80,011, but it was likely higher. The well played game finished inconclusively in a 10-10 tie. The game ended somewhat controversially. Notre Dame had the ball at is own 30-yard line with 1:24 to play. They converted a fourth-and-one for a first down but then the Irish conservatively ran out to clock on two plays to preserve the tie. The tie ended Michigan State's 1966 schedule, but Notre Dame still had one more game on its slate--a road game the following Saturday at the Los Angeles Coliseum versus Southern California. Notre Dame easily rolled to a 51-0 win over the Trojans and won the 1966 national championship.
Tags: 1966 NCAA football Notre Dame Michigan State 10-10 tie
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The Ministers of Wern Chapel, Ystalyfera
Although the first service was held in the vestry on the Friday evening of 12th September 1864 the Chapel was, according to records, officially opened on Sunday 14th September 1864. Seventy five members formed the church in 1864 and it was built at a cost of £1,173. On 5th June 1866, Mr Owen Jones was ordained as the first minister when the membership had increased to 104. In July 1870, the Rev Owen Jones had left and two years later the Rev J H Jones took up the ministry continuing until 1877, when the membership had again increased to 148. Mr H P Jenkins was ordained on 14th April 1880 and he ministered there for five years.
Mr John Davies of Memorial College Brecon was ordained as minister in 1890 but on account of his continued ill health, he decided to resign from the pastorate in 1915. He had been suffering for the last eight years and after a ministry of a period of 26 years the Church had arranged to present him with a cheque of £52 which was handed over to him in December of 1915. Although not able to perform his ministerial duties he decided to open a business at Victoria House on Wern Road as a bookseller, stationer and dealer in fancy goods.
Read More about John Davies, Minister of Wern Chapel
In 1920 Mr E T Evans BA of Brecon College accepted a call and he began his duties in August of 1920. His was the longest ministry in the history of the Wern Chapel and in 1955 the church arranged a testimonial to him and he received a cheque for his valuable services.
Following that, Mr E Glyn Walker BA came to the Wern but after three years he resigned the position and it was during the ministry of the Rev Richard H Jenkins that the centenary services were celebrated.
The History and Heritage of Ystalyfera is put online by Swansea Valley researcher Val Trevallion and Wolfian Design. All copyright remains with the original copyright holder, and all original research is copyright Val Trevallion, YEARGroup.
You can contact Ystalyfera History by emailing: contact@ystradgynlais-history.co.uk or Val Trevallion by emailing yeargroup@hotmail.co.uk.
Wern Chapel Ystalyfera
150 Years of Wern Chapel
Wern Chapel Early Years
Wern Chapel Ministers
- - John Davies, Minister
Wern Chapel Organists
Wern Chapel Renovations 1932
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zen121 - David Kennedy: Il Hombre
a sonic exploration of the symbols and words of William S Burroughs
1. Eros and Thanatos
Eros and Thanatos, love and death, is a chapter in The Naked Lunch.
2. Yage
Yage is the secretive hallucinogenic drug that Burroughs famously tried to track down in the forests of South America.
3. Orgasm Death
Orgasm death is a repeating theme in a lot of his writings.
4. Virus
Language is a virus.
5. Il hombre
This was Burroughs' nickname, Il hombre invisible.
6. Music for Mugwumps
I couldn't have written an album inspired by Burroughs without using these sexually addictive creatures as an example of his imagination.
7. Cut Up Theory
Cut Up Theory is for me the most important theme of any Burroughs based study or inspiration. I find the practical use of cut up in writing literature and music personally inspiring. The spoken piece in this track is text taken from a web site explaining the cut up method that Burroughs used; then I placed this text through the 'text to speak' program in windows, and the resulting voice-over I 'cut up' electronically to produce what you hear on this track. (click here for a short essay on the cut up method)
8. Eros and Thanatos, Part II
In part 2 of Eros and Thanatos I reversed the initial track to produce this track. Of course where there is love and death, there is also death and love.
The album is an exploration of the symbols of the words used by the American writer William S Burroughs. All the song titles use what I believe to be the quintessential essence of the author’s art of expression. The songs themselves are not based on any of Burroughs' writings, but have been manufactured as an expression of my experience of Burroughs’ thoughts and tastes. Ironically, I found myself in Interzone whilst writing the tracks, although I do believe this is a place where any author goes when creating, writing or forming ideas.
Great thanks goes out to Sue McLeod for her inspirational lyric writing and beautiful singing on Yage. I really couldn't have completed the album without her. Thank you Sue.
Copyright (c) 2015 by David Kennedy.
My name is David Kennedy and I am a 45 year old writer and musician from Glasgow, Scotland. I have also lived in Italy and Spain. I have many interests which include reading, architecture, film making, animation, sound scape, cut up theory and practice, Buddhism and of course, music. I also try to speak a little Italian when I can and like to play guitar.
I am now currently developing a live show with electronic music and large scale video projections called BYOA. BYOA stands for Be Your Own Artist.
Mail: dave.byoa@yahoo.co.uk
Vimeo: vimeo.com/user33077642
Works to Date
My first album, The Infinite Mirror was made available on-line in 2013. Here is the synopsis for that album: The infinite mirror started as a single sound, a seed from millions of threads, which grew into the album you are now listening to. In the software I created pyramid shapes by cutting and pasting the music, thus creating ‘The infinite mirror’. From that came the idea of basing the songs on the building of the pyramids at Giza as they may or may not have been built to mirror the central belt of the constellation of Orion. So this gives us five points of reflection from the five points of the constellation of Orion. Each of the songs has five sounds and those five sounds are repeated throughout the whole album, there are no more than five sounds on each song. As the album evolves, the sounds evolve with this, first as the pyramids are built, then as the images are sent out over space and time, after this there is a moment of contemplation as the constellation of Orion ‘reads’ the images we have built in their honour and finally there is a reply from Orion, back to us here on Earth.
Each of the first five tracks are built up from the same five sounds, although through cutting, pasting and moving they each sound different from the other. This concept was built from the idea that the pyramids themselves were all made from the same materials yet they are different in size and shape.
The final three songs on the album are an interstellar conversation between mortals and the immortals, between the earthbound and the heavenly bodies where the ancient Egyptians believed the soul was delivered to when you passed on. In song 7 there is a dialogue, these are the words spoken in that dialogue:
That the pattern of stars that is frozen on the ground at Giza in the form of the three pyramids and the Sphinx represents the disposition of the constellations of Orion and Leo as they looked at the moment of sunrise on the spring equinox during the astronomical Age of Leo; the epoch in which the Sun was housed by Leo on the spring equinox, like all processional ages this was a 2,160-year period. It is generally calculated to have fallen between the Gregorian calendar dates of 10,970 and 8810 BC.
My second album, Mosaic, came from the idea to draw onto a canvas of sound. The idea for the album came around after a visit to an exhibition of John Cage’s art work at Glasgow University. There was no music at this exhibition but I was inspired to write these songs by the art work from Cage and I made an obvious connection that I could ‘paint’ simple drawings on to the ‘canvas’ of music that cubase creates. So I designed a ‘flat’ body of music and ‘painted’ on to this body simple and abstract ideas and shapes to create the final tracks.
In effect it is the silence in the tracks that makes each song different. The final song called ‘Unmade’ is in fact, the first song I wrote although I reversed the track to un-make it.
Through the use of the grey areas of silence and muting certain tracks in every piece of music the construct of the album slowly took on its own form and shape, resulting in this dark, ambient piece of music you now have before you.
My first book, Afterwards, published in 2010. Here is the synopsis from the book: In a dystopian future the year is 2050; it's the narrator's 50th birthday. William Kenneth Ian Right is a downtrodden man. He lives alone with the cracks in the ceiling, angles, pie charts, and the traffic outside his window and the darkness within his four walls. He has been beaten in his life into a shadow of his former self, he casually and uninterestingly floats around his apartment, ghost like, eating and sleeping and thinking, living off 'The State'. Suddenly he decides he wants to end his life and knows what to do; he calls 'The State' to arrange his death and funeral. This story, Afterwards, is a detailed account of the last 5 days of William Kenneth Ian Right's last week on this planet. He arranges his assisted suicide and funeral, he visits his family, he has a 'Freedom Day' and he prepares his apartment for the next occupant. Then comes his final day, his execution, his judgment day. Set over a century in the future, this story travels through time highlighting the evolution of politics, the destruction of man and the ultimate question of faith. Does God exist? What if there is no God? What if science were the saviour of the day? What if science could resurrect you? If you had another chance, if you were dealt the same DNA cards over again and if you knew what lay beyond, what would you do, Afterwards?
Releases by David Kennedy on Zenapolæ
zen110 - David Kennedy: Axis Powers
a dark ambient cycle on some not-so-glorious aspects of modern history
1. Guernica
is s track about the German air force bombing a defenseless town in Spain after instructions from Franco to raze the town of Guernica for the struggle in the Spanish civil war. It was the first ever bombing raid on a civilian population by an air force anywhere in the world. It was of course made famous by the painting of Pablo Picasso.
2. Loreto
takes its influence from the Italians and the treatment of their dictator, Benito Mussolini. He was of course killed by an angry mob in the city of Milan once he had been stripped of all his powers. Him, his partner and colleagues were then hung upside down in a square in the city, the Piazzale Loreto.
is of course relating to the single most deplorable act (amongst many) of the 20th Century. It is a monstrous track, all of 24 minutes long and traces the history of Jews under Nazi rule in Europe.
4. Atomic Shadows
is a tribute to those civilians who died in Hiroshima on that fateful day in 1945. The term 'Atomic shadows' comes from the Japanese people themselves and is recorded in the book Hiroshima by John Hersey.
zen104 - David Kennedy: Mosaic
a dark ambient music created by "painting" on a canvas of sound
The idea for the album came around after a visit to an exhibition of John Cage“s art work at Glasgow University. There was no music at this exhibition but I was inspired to write these songs by the art work from Cage and I made an obvious connection that I could „paint“ simple drawings on to the „canvas“ of music. So I designed a „flat“ body of music and „painted“ on to this body simple and abstract ideas and shapes to create the final tracks.
(detailed description included in album zip)
1. Altitude
2. Boundaries
3. Gradients
4. Unmade
5. Waves
zen157 - The EyE: Blank
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Home > About the Trust > News, blogs and publications > Latest news > 2013 > Surgeons begin orthopaedic profiling for hip and knee patients
News, blogs and publications
Surgeons begin orthopaedic profiling for hip and knee patients
Surgeons at Southampton’s university hospitals have pioneered an ‘orthopaedic profiling’ system to fit patients with the most effective hip or knee replacement.
Led by Jeremy Latham, a consultant hip surgeon at Southampton General Hospital, a team of clinicians, scientists and engineers set to work on patients who require revision surgery because their original replacements have failed.
But instead of just removing and replacing failed artificial joints, they run the materials through a series of unique laboratory tests to find out why a particular type of material has failed in an individual.
The development follows widespread concern in the last few years over the effectiveness of metal-on-metal hip replacements, with research suggesting that more than a quarter of some devices fail within five years.
“The last few years have been very difficult, particularly for patients with failing metal-on-metal hip replacements but, by looking in great detail at the reasons why they've gone wrong, we hope, in the future, to be able to tailor treatment to the individual,” said Mr Latham.
In partnership with Professor Robert Wood, director of the national Centre for Advanced Tribology (nCATS) at the University of Southampton, the team has adopted techniques used to study corrosion in the legs of oil rigs in sea water to help understand the causes of failure in some joint replacements.
They also have access to a cutting-edge measuring tool, developed in Southampton, to produce instant 3D readings of wear and damage, while a specialist in surface bacteria – biofilm – is able to examine devices for evidence of hidden infections or allergic reaction which can cause joint replacement failure.
Meanwhile, Professor Richard Oreffo, chair of musculoskeletal science at the University of Southampton, who is pioneering work with surgeons to develop stem cell techniques for hip replacement, is working with the team to develop a test to find out whether or not a particular patient will react to the materials in a joint replacement before surgery.
Mr Latham said: “Previously, patients with failed replacements had them removed and then replaced with similar devices. Tests only showed how the devices failed and not why.
“But, with our approach, we hope to be able to build profiles specific to each patient to the point where we can say ‘we are sure that a certain type of implant won’t work for you because you might react to it, but a different one will work perfectly well because you won’t react’.
“It is all about creating bespoke treatment by matching the implant to a patient rather than patient to implant.”
He added: “Additionally, as an NHS, clinician-led service, not only are we giving patients the assurance of continued follow-up care with us, we are creating a huge cohort of patients which will, over time, give us unprecedented levels of effectiveness data.”
Southampton Orthopaedic Centre for Arthroplasty and Revision Surgery (SOCARS), based at Southampton General Hospital, consists of two academic leads, seven surgeons, two physicians, six scientists, four radiologists, a pathologist, a microbiologist and an expert in trace elements.
Posted on Tuesday 12 February 2013
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Stressed? Depressed? Cowboy Up!
teresamull15 November 8, 2017
I always leave my cowboy friends’ house in a good mood, relaxed from a couple of cans of Coors, and covered in dog fur. It’s the best way to go through life.
“Cow Camp,” as they call their quaint little homestead, is frequented by cowboys, of course, eccentric old-timers, eccentric young-timers, and regular folks like me who enjoy the laid-back, old-fashioned attitude of the place. No one’s ever in a hurry there. (It’s hard to be when you’re three beers deep by three in the afternoon.) It’s a refuge for the world-weary to escape the demands and chaos of “reality” for a little while and be refreshed by a straight-talking, fun- loving remnant of outlaw culture.
Lonesome, On’ry, and Stressed
The cowboy was once the quintessential symbol of the American spirit – and still is, if international tourists to nearby Jackson Hole, Wyoming are any indication. The American cowboy used to represent freedom, adventure, and romance, but his allurements mostly faded with the advent of personal computers, if not before then.
An article published last week declared: “We’re becoming ALLERGIC to the modern world.” “Multiple Chemical Sensitivity” causes people to suffer from anxiety and depression, among other things, due to “toxic exposures in one’s home, school, or place of work.”
The nature of modern life causing anxiety and depression to rise is constantly in the news, it seems. Drudge shared a link to a story last week that reported: “Depression rates rising fast for young U.S. teens.” Research shows our addiction to technology causes, you guessed it: anxiety, not to mention fertility issues, vision problems, poor posture, and something called “cybersickness,” which is similar to sea and car sickness except you don’t leave your couch.
As a nation, we’re a mess. The DailyMail reported earlier this year modern life is “making us all ill,” blaming as culprits sweets, synthetic lighting, screens, and polluted cities. Even everyday sounds are making us sick.
Then there’s stress. “The number of young Americans who’ve struggled with [anxiety and depression] over the last 80 years has increased steadily,” The Guardian reported in 2016, citing sociologist Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me, who concluded, “Modern life is not good for mental health.”
“Twenge came to believe that our forefathers and mothers were much happier that we are today,” the article said. “Or, at least, that they were less depressed and anxious…Twenge theorizes that demographic shifts toward people leading more independent, less family-oriented lives have led to the upswing in unhappiness.”
Take This Job and Shove It
So people are more stressed and less happy than they used to be. What’s changed?
Tons of complex factors are at play making people more miserable than they were in the good ol’ days. I wrote recently about how the modern generation was raised on entitlement and self-esteem, resulting in a dull, creatively inert, sad generation without an identity. A correlation I find telling about the ever-rising rate of anxious Americans is that so many people, not only Millennials, are dissatisfied at work.
“Two-thirds [of American workers] are disengaged at work, or worse, according to a new Gallup study on the American workplace,” CBS News reported earlier this year. “Of the country’s approximately 100 million full-time employees, 51 percent aren’t engaged at work — meaning they feel no real connection to their jobs, and thus they tend to do the bare minimum.
Another 16 percent are ‘actively disengaged’ — they resent their jobs, tend to gripe to co-workers and drag down office morale as a result.”
Perhaps two-thirds of American workers, like so many Millennials, are lacking an identity, too. I once had a blue-collar man who knew I was living in Washington, D.C. at the time ask me incredulously what all those people in those tall building in the big city do in their offices all day long? I told him honestly I had no idea. Our sense of self used to be tied to our beliefs and professions. Many of us are godless, and unless you’re a cowboy or a soldier, good luck creating character in a cubicle!
There’s a running joke on the TV show Friends about no one knowing what the character Chandler does for a living. He works in “data reconfiguration and statistical factoring,” whatever that means, and he’s the only friend of the bunch unhappy in his job. The rest are employed in straight-forward professions that don’t take three paragraphs to explain: chef, masseuse, actor, waitress, college professor. And then there’s Office Space, the iconic film that’s been striking a chord in the hearts of burned-out employees stuck at soul-sucking office jobs since it came out in 1999.
Manufacturing in America is down. The factories that gave Detroit its character and Pittsburgh the name of its football team are long-gone. Over-regulation and a heavy tax burden have led to globalization which has and destroyed the little man and “replaced patriotism as the civil religion of our corporate elites,” according to Pat Buchanan (who happens never to be wrong).
The argument is that if we allow other countries to produce our goods for us, we will have the freedom to engage in more sophisticated activities. But has that happened? No. The people who worked, as the Alabama song says, a “40-Hour Week for a Livin’” and produced material American goods have lost their purpose and resorted to doing what?
Taking service jobs and working in generic, corporate, retail shops selling cheap, Chinese junk at stores to which they have no familial or community ties. Otherwise, they’ve been laid-off and gone on welfare to support their opioid addictions. The pride that came with producing something in one’s hometown has been devoured by free trade, what Buchanan (you can’t quote him too much) has called “the Trojan Horse of World Government.”
Data shows healthcare jobs have been the fastest-growing industry in the U.S. (while most manufacturing jobs make the “most rapidly declining” list) for a number of years now. Why are we all so suddenly unwell, anyway? Could it be the stress, depression, and general unhappiness caused by fluorescent lights, a sedentary office job, unfulfillment, and a vending machine lifestyle that is contributing to this our national deterioration?
Obviously, a demanding warehouse or factory job is no walk in the park, but a study released a few months ago determined, “People have an irrational need to complete ‘sets’ of things.” Other studies have shown, “Employees want to know that their work has significance within the workplace, along [with] the impact that it has on society.”
What do the jobs that have replaced manufacturing done to make workers feel more complete? Few people now can point with pride of workmanship and say, as Obama infamously mocked, “I built that.” Who now can proclaim, “I produced that Zippo lighter/Ford vehicle/coal that heats your house,” when what most people do brings about the same never-ending frustration of a dentist or postal worker whose job sees only repetitive dejection via a disgruntled customer or unhealthy fellow citizen?
Should’ve Been a Cowboy
The cowboy community I’ve been privileged to know, on the contrary, practices its own, miniature form of economic nationalism. The cowboy is a dying breed, but those who are left do a job that’s dangerous, difficult, and unlike the work of many of his fellow citizens, oh-so-tangible.
There are no “chemical sensitivities” on the range, no synthetic lighting or harsh screens. A high risk of injury, yes, but no danger of “cybersickness.” The cowboys I know are happy. They get to be outside, and studies show being in nature helps reduce anxiety and depression. They have a defined purpose, an obvious skill set, and a tight-knit community with a vibrant culture that supports one another. They work hard for little pay, but they aren’t stressed-out and depressed by a mind-numbing job the reward of which they never see, a nerve-racking commute, or loneliness brought on by isolation in a cubicle or by job the product of which they can’t comprehend.
Not everyone can have a job they love, I know, and there’s way too much complex government bureaucracy to be dealt with to say goodbye to paper-pushing (or is it PDF pushing now?) just yet. Technology has also taken away many of the jobs manufactures used to take pride in doing, and that’s inevitable. But Millennials, for once, get it. Most of them say they’d rather make less money and work at a job they love than get paid a lot for something that makes them miserable, and if that’s not a sign of snobbish egotism, then it’s a good thing.
If we’re lucky, the next generation, like our cowboys, will do what they can to devote their careers toward producing something they’re passionate about, contributing their efforts toward improving society in a definable way they can witness and experience themselves, since “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
In the meantime, if you’re stuck in a cycle of mindless monotony with no end in sight, my advice is: Go West! J/K (unless you’re a conservative, weirdo prepper). You should get a hobby that gets you out in the fresh air, gives you a creative outlet, enables you to exert yourself and produce something you can put your finger on and be proud of in that America First kind of way.
This article was originally published by The American Conservative.
The Rise of Generation Me(h)
Coming Home to Coal Country
Ghost and Other Stories of Dave’s Pubb
Socialism’s Depraved Dream Is to Deprive Us of Decadence
Searching for Toxic Masculinity in Las Vegas
Teton Valley, Idaho Epitomizes Subaru Culture
Defending Men Who Want to Woo
tessays
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Nascent Collectivities: Transnational Abandonment, I
July 24, 2010 by Rachel Riedner Leave a Comment
On November 20th 2008, as reported by George Washington University’s student newspaper, the Hatchet, a Latino worker installing windows in a GW residence hall was killed after a fall from the 7th floor. The worker, Rosaulino Montano, worked for Engineered Construction Products, a window subcontractor for primary contractor Clark Construction. His death was featured in one article in the Hatchet, which also reported that the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) was investigating the incident. The coverage of Montano’s life and his relationship to the university was brief. The Hatchet reported that he lived in Virginia and had several children. The conditions of his work, the events of the accident, and the relationship of the university to Clark Construction or Engineered Construction Products were not examined although the article did note that he was subcontracted to work at GW. There have been no follow up articles.
OSHA reported that sanctions had been imposed on the firm that had hired Montano. The firm “…received one serious violation for violating OSHA’s fall protection standard (1926.501(b)(1)) and a monetary penalty of $2,500. This was the only citation and penalty issued in relation to Mr. Rosaulino Montano, 46, fatal injury. No other employer …was deemed responsible for ensuring safety at the site.”
A brief Hatchet article dutifully marks Montano’s death: “A man fell to his death while installing a window on the seventh floor of the new GW residence hall.” It is reported that he “lost his balance” and “died instantly after he fell out of the window and hit the concrete below.” The article gives a few details about his life. Through a statement by a university spokeswoman, his family is mentioned. After this brief enunciation of concern and regret for loss of life, there is no further curiosity about his life or the manner of his death.
The language of the Hatchet article evokes personal feeling and sympathy or charity (he lived in Woodbridge and had several children) yet the structural contexts of his death aren’t explored. There is little investigation of his employment status, no investigation of what it means to be subcontracted, and no investigation of the routes, economic or otherwise, through which he came to work at the university.
The relationship between Montano and the university community is thin. His life and his death have little content or detail, and no noteworthy or substantial legal, social, economic, or emotional connection to the university community. While there are a few modes of identification, his ties to the university community are tenuous. University business continues, there is no memorial service, there are no statements of regret by university officials, and there is little coverage or desire for information about his life. The conditions of his employment, the conditions of his work, the details of the accident which killed him, and the routes through which he came to work at the university are not visible in accounts of his death.
Short lived regret and sympathy doesn’t pursue what happened to Montano’s family; they are abandoned to depoliticized charitable discourse. It doesn’t pursue the role of the state, the economic arrangement between subcontracted company and the university, the citizen status of the worker, or the relationship between his labor and the life and well-being of the university community.
Giorgio Agamben has something to say about the biopolitics of life and the institutional role of universities in neoliberalism that might help us understand `what happened to Rosaulino Montano”:
If the exception is the structure of sovereignty, the sovereignty is not an exclusively political concept, an exclusively juridical category, a power external to law … or the supreme rule of the juridical order …: it is the originary structure in which law refers to life and includes it in itself by suspending it. . . . (W)e shall give the name ban … to this potentiality … of the law to maintain itself in its own privation, to apply in no longer applying. The relation of exception is a relation of ban. He who has been banned is not, in fact, simply set outside the law and made indifferent to it but rather abandoned by it, that is, exposed and threatened on the threshold in which life and law, outside and inside, become indistinguished. It is literally not possible to say whether the one who has been banned is outside or inside the juridical order. . . . It is in this sense that that paradox of sovereignty can take the form `There is nothing outside the law.’ The originary relation of law to life is not application but Abandonment” (Agamben’s italics).
In a world of abandonment, bodies who do not fit into regimes of life are written out of discourses of mourning, structure of feelings, knowledge systems, and world view of the university. In the rhetoric of abandonment, subcontracted means outside of a collective narrative, recognition of name, traditions, and care of a community, the feelings of community belonging, and the protections of institutions of the state. A public discourse demarcates among kin and those who are not kin, differentiating and marking out, a political space between those who are directly and deeply involved in community and the university (through a relationship to an employer, a relationship to intellectual labor, or a relationship of in loco parentis) from those who are not seen as deeply or directly involved in the work of the university. Public mourning tells us who is valuable and who is not valuable, who is intelligible and not intelligible, which subjects, which bodies, which labor, and which behaviors contribute to domains of value and utility that neoliberal universities produce. Exceptional subjects are included in relationships of ethical responsibility and are mourned. Unexceptional subjects are abandoned to discourse of charity.
The single public text of Mr. Montano’s death reveals a structure of American modernity and liberalism that makes Latino workers disappear. The domesticated immigrant worker in the neoliberal center is identified through markers as father and family man. Work and heterosexuality has the effect of briefly making Montano’s life visible so he can be recognized, his death can be regretted, and responsibility can be directed to the subcontracted company. The events of his life and death are then quickly folded from view. Montano’s death does not become a presence which resonates after a fleeting moment when the events of his death are duly recorded and regret is expressed. He becomes in the structures of feeling of the university a ghostly presence, there but not there, a palimpsest of whom unactualized traces exist.
(Image Credit: Union Safety)
Filed Under: General Tagged With: abandonment, ban, biopolitics, Giorgio Agamben, Judith Butler, Latino, Nascent Collectivities, neoliberal, OSHA, Rachel Riedner, Rosaulino Montano, transnational, U.S., university, worker
Nascent Collectivities 2
Everlyn Masha Koya
In my previous posting, I looked at testimony of Everlyn Masha Koya, a twenty two year old sex worker-turned-peer educator from Isiolo, Kenya. Ms Koya’s failure to persuade women who have children to leave the sex trade led me to reflect upon contradiction between women’s economic contributions to nation-state and the nation-state’s desire to control women’s behavior and women’s sexuality. Yet it is also a story about state efforts to provide women with different economic opportunities and about women’s efforts to negotiate better lives for themselves and for other women. What else could Ms Koya’s story tell us?
Ms Koya’s grant from the state suggests that it, or its agents, have an interest in expanding women’s economic opportunities. As Rajeswari Sunder Rajan points out, the state isn’t a monolithic structure. It is made up of different institutions and individuals who do different, sometimes competing, things. While one arm of the state might be securing its sovereignty by making it possible for sex workers to have access to military bases, another arm of the state might be securing grants to give women training so they have a wider range of economic opportunities. As Sunder Rajan argues, “any understanding of state-citizen relations requires…attention to the microlevel workings of state regimes” (6).
Ms Koya’s testimony suggests that the state might participate in the exploitation and oppression of women’s bodies and lives. But if we look at different branches of the state, and different individuals who work for it, the state also can be used to improve women’s lives. As Ms Koya reports, “Then in July [2009], officials from the [government’s] Arid Lands Office held a meeting for sex workers at the Isiolo stadium. We were asked to quit. They asked us to identify what kind of business we wanted to start, trained us in how to conduct business, budgeting, keep a record of our sales, savings and also asked us to go for HIV testing. I was lucky to test negative.”
What else can we learn from this story? Within the situations that she has inherited, Ms Koya’s efforts to transform her own life and the lives of other women, to work for freedom from violence tells us about what women are doing within, and against, epistemic violence. In some locations, because of their economic contributions and their perceived social role of servicing male sexual need, sex workers have been able to emerge as a collective and make demands on the state. As Cynthia Enloe points out, there have been efforts by women in Kenya and in the Philippines to create networks of women in countries that host American military bases. This is a step towards addressing and dismantling the global gender structures on which military bases depend. There are other transnational and local efforts, including daily work of survival by growing gardens and recycling waste, organizing gender forum; occupying leftist organizations which don’t address gender and gendered labor; fighting back through state institutions and on the streets; union organizing; reporting which reframes issues as women’s issues; reporting which reframes issues as more than just women’s issues; story telling; women, and people around them, saying “enough,” and many other activities for dignity and well-being.
If we look closely, we see women actively participating in public life. Women are at the forefront of resistance movements in places like Honduras and South Africa. Women protest the failure of the state to investigate the systematic murder of women in Vancouver and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Women challenge the meaning of public space and public mourning in Argentina and Iran. Women organize feminist media in Costa Rica. And there is the more quiet, everyday work of women to improve the daily conditions and work to enable themselves and their families to survive in the face of everyday poverty or ‘natural’ disasters. This happens just about everywhere and has different contexts but let’s point to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as one place where women struggle to survive.
Paying attention to gendered violence and power, all forms and mixes of it, that work through the family, the community, the state and its institutions, and through economic structures and arrangements is important work. But so is paying attention to women’s individual and collective efforts, in the context of gendered power, all forms and mixes of it, to “transform the conditions of their lives” (Kabeer, 54). Women are not just victims of material forces, state power and cultural patriarchy. Women actively seek to work for the health and well being of their families, their children, other women, and their communities. In the context of structural constraints, we see women like Ms Koya struggling, negotiating, working, and, even, organizing. It’s important to pay attention to what women are doing, their activities and obstacles to their activities, in relation to the gender-structured conditions that they’ve inherited.
(Photo Credit: Noor Ali / IRIN)
Filed Under: General Tagged With: Argentina, Ciudad Juarez, Costa Rica, Cynthia Enloe, epistemic violence, Everlyn Masha Koya, Haiti, HIV/AIDS, Honduras, Iran, Kenya, Mexico, Naila Kabeer, Nascent Collectivities, Port-au-Prince, Rachel Riedner, Rajeswari Sunder Rajan, sex workers, South Africa, Vancouver, women
June 21, 2010 by Rachel Riedner 1 Comment
Everlyn Masha Koya, a twenty two year old sex worker-turned-peer-educator from Isiolo, Kenya, recently told a story of the limited work choices that impoverished women face which can lead them to become sex workers and the daily violence they experience from police, from clients, from families and communities.
Ms Koya became a sex worker because her family was unable to afford education fees and her home situation became unbearable once she finished school. She left sex work when she was offered training by government officials to start a small business. She then tried to convince other young women to quit the trade, with limited success. Efforts to persuade women to leave sex work are difficult despite daily violence from clients, the constant threat of incarceration, and the social stigma attached to sex work.
Why is the state interested in helping women leave the sex trade? How might the presence of trade routes and military bases conflict with state efforts to give women alternative employment? How might the expansion of the national “economy” create a situation in which multiple forms of persuasion are not effective? Why is it difficult to persuade young women who have children to leave sex work? These questions suggest a feminist investigation of the nation-state’s dependence upon women as symbols, workers, and dutiful daughters, and the role that women play in the national-economy.
The patriarchal state treats prostitution in two contradictory ways. First, prostitution as female sex work is an aspect of the economy. Prostitution services “what is generally viewed as an incessant and urgent male sexual need…and is therefore to be safeguarded in more or less overt ways for this purpose.” In a situation where nation-state wants to produce and secure livelihoods through active trade routes, sex workers are seen as “necessary” for men to be good workers. In a situation where the state builds military bases to protect the physical borders of the nation-state, sex workers are seen as “necessary” for well-being of soldiers. Thus, the nation state relies upon women to enter sex trade to preserve national economic security and military security. Ms Koya’s statement captures the material situation in which women enter sex work: “Girls are all flocking to Isiolo because there is a ready market for sex work: it has four military camps and a transit route to northern Kenya.”
Second, prostitution serves as an instance of deviant or criminal female sexuality, an activity which the state monitors and controls. The state is interested in producing a coherent population, a “culture,” a “national people” with a shared language, values, behavior, and “history.” This state wants to unify “people” as a national community and to produce citizens in specific ways and in specific roles. It is therefore deeply invested in controlling individuals and populations which exceed norms of gendered behavior. The state demonstrates its authority by placing sex workers under surveillance and controlling sex workers through state institutions, including police, courts, and social welfare-bodies. As Ms Koya says, “Sex work is risky work. I was a frequent visitor to the police station; last year, I spent two months in prison. It is very cold at night, most of the time you go home without getting a client, sometimes you take the risk and allow a customer with good money – KSh500 [$6.60] or so – to sleep with you without a condom.”
Here’s the contradiction: sex workers are “necessary” for the productivity of male workers and stability of military bases. At the same sex workers are vulnerable to surveillance and harassment by the police because they are marked by the nation-state as outside of gender and sexual norms. And, sex workers receive little support or protection from families who see sex work as degraded work.
Ms Koya is caught in this contradiction. Her family is unable to support her education. There are few economic opportunities for her after she leaves school. She enters sex work because there’s a market for it. At the same time, the state, her family, and the community stigmatize women who violate sexual norms by participating in sex work. Meanwhile, women are vulnerable to violent clients, at risk of being infected by HIV/AIDS, and at risk of developing drug addiction. In Ms Koya’s testimony, these risks are part of everyday life, not extraordinary or exceptional, mundane rather than dramatic. The conjunction of these contradictions is epistemic gender based violence – violence of the police, violence of the state, and violence of culture – which appears normal in as much as it does not appear as violence. Epistemic violence is a “logical and consistent and systematic philosophy and world view” which is built into institutions, systems, and structures of society, convergences of rule of law, national identity and citizenship, and rhetorics of ‘protection,’ ‘economy,’ ‘health,’ ‘necessity,’ ‘autonomy,’. This violence limits women’s capacities, opportunities that are available to women for freedom, for safety, for economic self-determination, and health and well-being, and for the freedom, safety, and heath of their families and those who depend upon them.
So, Ms Koya receives a small government grant and training to open a second hand clothing story which enables her to leave sex work. But for women who are responsible for children, the state’s economic modifications are insufficient. And this insufficiency becomes particularly vivid in the context of police violence, the threat of HIV/AIDS, violence from clients, and the dangers of substance abuse. Ms Koya’s failure to persuade women who have children to leave the sex trade can be understood through the contradiction produced by women’s economic responsibilities to their children and reliance of the state on women’s vulnerability and exploitability. As Ms Koya says, “I have tried to get many girls off the streets but it’s really hard. So far I have managed eight, but I am told two have already gone back. Girls with children are the most difficult to convince.”
Filed Under: General Tagged With: Everlyn Masha Koya, Kenya, Nascent Collectivities, Rachel Riedner, Rajeswari Sunder Rajan, sex workers
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You can sail on this lavish cruise from Vancouver to...
Sweeping reforms to West Coast fisheries recommended
Koi welcomed back to Vancouver Chinese garden (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
The water at Vancouver’s Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is once again flush with ornamental koi.
The pond was empty all winter after the koi were removed in late November after a river otter entered the garden and, over several days, killed 11 of the adult fish. The remaining three adult and 344 juvenile koi have been staying at Vancouver Aquarium ever since. Until today, when the three resident adult koi were returned to the pond, along with two donated mature koi and half of the juveniles.
Vancouver Aquarium biologist Michael Manalang slowly introduces one of the koi fish into the pond at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden Thursday, May 9. Photo by Jennifer Gauthier
Shored up by donations from UBC’s Nitobe Memorial Garden and a private collector, the garden is now home to 20 adult koi.
The return of koi to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen has been done in stages. The first half of the juveniles were returned to the pond in March, five of the donated koi were brought in in April and another 10 of the donated fish were introduced to the pond earlier this week.
Photo by Jennifer Gauthier
“In the past five months we have worked closely with our partners to bring our koi home safely,” said Debbie Cheung, marketing and communications manager at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.
“It has been a gradual, careful process… We are truly grateful for UBC Botanical Gardens’ act of kindness in lending another garden a hand when in need.”
Cheung said koi are an important part of Chinese garden tradition and cultural heritage.
“They’re [as] intelligent as they are beautiful — symbolizing fortune, abundance and perseverance, which they have certainly shown through this process.
“For the past 33 years, our koi have helped us bring people from all background together in understanding and appreciation,” she said. “They have delighted students and visitors on field trips and guided tours, they have given everyone, including our staff and volunteers, some incredible memories.”
She shared a story from a long-time docent at the garden who, while giving a tour of the garden a few years ago, witnessed a large koi protecting a baby turtle from an approaching heron, pushing the bird until it flew away.
Cheung said the garden is inviting members of the public to share their own stories and memories of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen koi either through email (at communications@vancouverchinesegarden.com) or on social media using the hashtag #OdetoKoi.
Howard Normann, director of parks with Vancouver Park Board, said it’s believed the otter made its way from False Creek to Andy Livingstone Park, where there is a pond and fountain, and moved into Dr. Sun Yat-Sen after the water in the park was shut off for winter.
“It was shortly after that that the river otter showed up here,” he said, adding that he’s heard from some residents in the area that people were feeding the otter.
Normann said park board staff has modified the gates at the garden, adding metal plates to deter any future visits from otters, or other animals.
“It’s really an important piece for the garden to have koi here,” he said. “I think it’s been a really happy ending to the tragic story of when we lost the koi a while ago.”
Another positive outcome from the story, is all the attention it has brought to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. The story of the rogue river otter eating many of the garden’s koi got widespread media coverage.
“I think the silver lining is the exposure to the garden… This is a really special place. It’s a bit of an oasis in the Downtown Eastside with Chinatown next door… and I think people there will be a lot of people coming down to see the koi. And maybe just enjoy the garden, that’s what it’s here for,” Normann said.
“We’re just happy to see our koi back and the new koi joining us,” Cheung said, adding that the story seemed to generate more interest from the public in the garden, the significance of the koi and Chinese culture in general. “I think this is going to see more traffic, more people coming in to visit us, so I look forward to the summer months.”
The post Koi welcomed back to Vancouver Chinese garden (PHOTOS, VIDEO) appeared first on Vancouver Is Awesome.
You can sail on this lavish cruise from Vancouver to L.A. for only $362 CAD
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They Should Get Paid MORE Than the Men!
(Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
Forget "equal pay." The US Women's soccer team should be getting paid more than the men! That's what I had to say earlier this week on Montana Talks.
As it turns out, the women do get paid more than the men, at least if you look at their pay as a percentage of revenue brought in by their respective organizations.
Rush Limbaugh pointed out this piece from Forbes that published earlier this year, adding:
Now, the women’s cut of $73 million is 13%. The men’s cut of the four billion is 9%. You could say that the women are being paid more, if you use the percentage as the qualifier or the calculator. But of course nobody will because 13% of $73 million is still gonna be less than 9% of four billion. So then you have to ask, well, why is men’s soccer, the men’s World Cup, why is it generating four billion and the women’s World Cup is only generating $73 million?
Click here for Rush's full commentary.
Matt Walsh also weighed in for the Daily Wire:
The highest-paid female soccer players in this country are paid almost the same as the highest-paid male soccer players. The pay gap in U.S. soccer only widens among the lower-tier players.
The women aren't even in the same universe, in terms of revenue. If the women were paid the same total as the men — $400 million — they would be making nearly four times more than they generate. The men make 7% of their revenue. The women apparently want 400% of theirs. That's absurd, obviously, to say the least.
Source: They Should Get Paid MORE Than the Men!
Filed Under: Aaron Flint, montana
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Dad, two others accused of tying, beating pregnant mother
Deputies say on Wednesday, a 9-month-pregnant woman was terrorized by a group of masked burglars at an apartment in northwest Harris County, and one of the suspects is allegedly the baby's father.
It was inside Apartment 1708 where investigators say the pregnant woman was tied up and beaten by a group of masked men.
"I was just freaking out and I didn't know what was going on," said Jose Cuevas, the victim's husband.
Cuevas says he's the 21-year-old victim's husband and was working when the attack happened Wednesday morning. He says his two young daughters were sleeping in another room as the armed burglars tied up and bound his pregnant wife with tape and beat her up.
"She's pretty hurt. I mean, you can see the bruises and stuff," Cuevas said.
Several neighbors in the complex say the burglars threatened them as well. Neighbors told Eyewitness News they called police when they saw masked men leaving the place and carrying electronics.
Deputies rushed to the scene and arrested 19-year-olds Isaias Arellano and Hector Ramirez. A 16-year-old is also facing aggravated robbery charges.
Investigators say Ramirez is the father of the child the victim was carrying.
"Had he been threatening her or you guys?" we asked Cuevas.
"I mean I don't know. To be honest, I really don't know him. It's just been -- he's crazy, you know," he replied.
Cuevas was guarded in his comments about the suspects. His wife was rushed to the hospital, where doctors performed an emergency C-section. Investigators say the newborn baby is in critical condition now.
Cuevas says he's still trying to take it all in.
"It just just bugs me out because it's like, if it was just robbing, you know, you didn't have to mess with her and my kids. You're going to come rob me, go ahead and rob me, but don't touch my family," Cuevas said.
Cuevas says his wife is recovering right now but doctors are closely monitoring the newborn.
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'I want to show them that I don't care': Melania Trump reveals details of her life in the White House in her first extensive sit-down interview since becoming first lady
cheyenne haslett
andluc bruggeman
Oct 13, 2018, 3:26 AM ET
PlayTony Karumba/ABC News
WATCH Being Melania - The First Lady Part 1: Melania Trump on becoming the first lady
Melania Trump, maybe America's most private first lady ever, is a woman whose quiet presence on Pennsylvania Avenue is almost the polar opposite of the image projected by her husband.
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Her reserved voice contrasts with the president, who often speaks unfiltered whenever he wants.
But when she sat down with ABC News for a rare interview during her recent trip through Africa, she spoke freely, describing times when she has disagreed with her husband as well as what she likes about her role — which she repeatedly emphasized she does, indeed, like.
“I love Washington. I love to live there. And I made the White House home — for our son and my husband — and we love to live in the White House,” Trump told ABC's Chief National Affairs Correspondent Tom Llamas.
“We are very honored to serve our great nation,” she added.
With a scenic wildlife preserve in Kenya as the backdrop, Llamas asked Melania Trump if traveling was one of the best parts of being first lady. Yes, she said, it was.
First lady Melania Trump gives an interview to ABC News' Tom Llamas.
“But it's also when I travel across the world and across the country, meeting people, and hearing and helping them as much as I can, and hearing what is important to them,” she added.
Nevermind that her husband has taken a vastly different approach when it comes to his views on a global community. Last month, he told the U.N. General Assembly, “We reject the ideology of globalism and embrace the doctrine of patriotism.” And earlier this year, President Trump sparked backlash at home and abroad after reportedly calling certain African nations “s---hole countries” during a meeting with senators in the White House. The president later denied using that language.
Long before traveling the world as first lady of the United States, Melania Trump spent her youth in a small central European town before navigating the ranks of the fashion world and eventually landing in the country she now calls home.
Born Melania Knauss in Slovenia in 1970, she worked as a fashion model in Italy and France before moving to New York in 1996. Shortly thereafter, she met a real estate developer with big buildings and an ego to match.
(MORE: Melania Trump says she supports #MeToo movement but accusers need 'really hard evidence')
During an interview with Barbara Walters in 2015, the first lady described how the two met.
“Well, he was very charming and we had the great sparkle. He came with a date. So he asked me for the number and I said, ‘I will not give you my number. So if you give me your numbers, I will call you.’ So I see what kind of numbers he will give me. Because I don't want to be one of the ladies. And he was known as kind of a lady's man.”
The mogul and the model would marry in 2005.
Ben Curtis/Pool via Reuters
First lady Melania Trump feeds a baby elephant milk at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya, Oct. 5, 2018.
“We have a great chemistry and to be with a man like my husband is you need to know who you are,” Melania Trump told Walters during the campaign in a 2015 interview. “You need to have a very independent life and supporting him, you need to be very smart and quick, and be there for him when he needs you.”
Now, 16 months into living in the White House, she says there have been challenges.
Trump says she wants to make the most of these White House years. And yet, she says not everyone wants to help. The first lady lamented that organizations have spurned her efforts to collaborate, accusing them of allowing her husband’s politics to get in the way of her charitable endeavors.
(MORE: Melania Trump says she is one of the most bullied people in the world; distrusts some in the West Wing )
“It's sad to see that organizations and foundations that I want to partner with choose not to because of the administration,” the first lady said. “And I feel they’re choosing the politics over helping others.”
Who exactly said no? Trump wouldn’t specify, saying, “I would not talk about it. They know who they are. I don’t want… I don’t want to put them out in front of the world, but they know who they are.”
There are also those repeated accusations of sexual misconduct and infidelity leveled against her husband.
One incident, in particular, garnered an apology from her famously stubborn husband – the release of the Access Hollywood tape during the run-up to the 2016 election, in which Trump is heard making vulgar comments about women.
“During the Access Hollywood incident during the campaign, your husband apologized to you. Has your husband apologized to you since you've been in the White House?” Llamas asked the first lady.
(MORE: First lady has 'more important things to think about' than Trump's alleged affairs)
“Yeah, he apologized,” she said, before declining to divulge further details.
Six days after her interview with Llamas, the first lady’s staff clarified her comments, telling ABC News, “The president often apologizes to Mrs. Trump for all the media nonsense and scrutiny she has been under since entering the White House.”
Asked if her husband’s alleged affairs — which the White House has denied — have put a strain on their marriage, she said that people and the media like to speculate and circulate gossip.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
First lady Melania Trump helps a student as she visits a language class at Chipala Primary School, in Lilongwe, Malawi, Oct. 4, 2018.
“I'm a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do,” she told ABC News. “It is not a concern and focus of mine.”
Speaking to ABC News in Africa, she addressed the #MeToo movement, calling on sexual assault accusers to present “really hard evidence” if they decide to go public with allegations.
(MORE: Melania Trump says she is one of the most bullied people in the world; distrusts some in the West Wing)
“I support the women – they need to be heard. We need to support them. And also men, not just women,” Trump said. “You cannot just say to somebody… ‘I was sexually assaulted’ or ‘You did that to me.’ Because sometimes the media goes too far and the way they portray some stories, it’s not correct. It’s not right.”
Still, the first lady presses on. She spoke of her son, Barron, who is now 12 and whom she keeps shielded from the spotlight. After the inauguration, she stayed with him in New York until he finished the school year. She said she doesn’t always go to his sports practices and games because it would “bring the attention.” “I don't go much,” she said. “He likes to be one of the boys when they play. … It's his life too, and I respect that.”
During her time in Africa, Trump sought to highlight her major policy initiative, “Be Best,” which raises awareness about the effects of online bullying on children, among other things. The first lady explained how her experience being bullied led in part to her "Be Best" initiative, going so far as to suggest she is one of the most bullied people in the world.
First lady Melania Trump is escorted by head teacher Maureen Masi as she arrives for a visit to Chipala Primary School, in Lilongwe, Malawi, Oct. 4, 2018.
"I could say that I'm the most bullied person in the world," Trump said. Pressed by Llamas on that assertion, she responded, "One of them, if you really see what people are saying about me."
Both online and on TV, people often focus on what Trump wears. Sometimes it’s because of appearances at glamorous diplomatic or ceremonial events in the White House or abroad.
But then, there was the jacket.
(MORE: 'He would be a great leader,' Melania Trump said of then-boyfriend Donald Trump in 1999 ABC News interview)
Chris Wattie/Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to board Air Force One with First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron in Morristown, New Jersey, Aug. 19, 2018.
Boarding a plane to Texas to meet with children of families separated at the border, Trump was spotted donning a green jacket with the words, “I really don’t care, do you?” emblazoned on the back. Her choice of wardrobe caused backlash before her flight landed just hours later, with her concern for those children of separated families immediately being called into question.
After her team initially denied any subtext in the jacket’s words, the first lady told Llamas that wearing that jacket was, in fact, a deliberate choice, meant “for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me. I want to show them that I don't care. You could criticize whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.”
“It was kind of a message, yes. I would prefer that they would focus on what I do and on my initiatives than what I wear,” she said.
Asked about suggestions that the jacket’s message was directed at the children of separated families.
“It's obvious I didn't wear the jacket for the children,” she said. “I wore the jacket to go on the plane and off the plane. … After the visit, I put it back on because I see how [the] media got obsessed about it.”
Aside from the media scrutiny, being in the White House presents additional challenges.
(MORE: What Trump previously said about the 2005 'Access Hollywood' tape that he's now questioning)
In spite of her appreciation for the nation’s capital, she doesn’t trust everyone who works for her husband there. Trump told ABC News some of the people in the president’s administration whom she didn’t trust have left, while others still work there.
"It's harder to govern," the first lady said, adding that she tells her husband when she distrusts someone working for him. "You always need to watch your back."
Despite all this, Trump said she hasn’t changed since uprooting her life in New York City and moving to the nation’s capital.
“I'm staying true to myself. I want to live [a] meaningful life, and that's the most important to me. I know what my priorities are, and I'm focused on that,” she said.
First lady Melania Trump visits the ancient statue of Sphinx, with the body of a lion and a human head, at the historic site of Giza Pyramids in Giza, near Cairo, Egypt, Oct. 6, 2018.
Trump says she has the same close group of friends she had before coming to Washington. “I always prefer quality over quantity,” she said. Asked if it’s hard to make friends in Washington, the first lady said, “Sometimes; you need to be careful.”
(MORE: First lady wears jacket to visit immigrant children that reads 'I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?')
“You know, our first first lady, Martha Washington, famously said the role of first lady can sometimes feel like a state prisoner. Can you relate to that?” asked Llamas.
“I don't feel like a prisoner. No. I [am] enjoying it, and this will not last forever. And it's [a] very special time,” she said.
Some of the biggest misconceptions about her, she said, have been what she called the “speculations” — that she’s “out of touch,” or doesn’t live in the White House, or rumors that spread after she spent time in the hospital for a benign kidney condition, as her spokeswoman reported.
"Speculation, speculations,” Trump said, “and my office put out the statement, a factual statement, and people still didn't believe it.”
'I want to show them that I don't care': Melania details life in the White House
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Research DescriptionCurrently selected
Science News and Searches
Research Description
Our group focuses on the development of new reactions that are either inspired by or directed toward natural products. Although technical discoveries are captivating, we are equally passionate about training next generation scientists. Skills and techniques obtained in our group are: Creative Thinking & Problem Solving, Independence & Leadership, Teamwork & Mentorship, Technology & Presentation, Synthesis Planning & Execution, Compound Isolation & Purification, Spectral Manipulation & Interpretation, Mechanism Discussion & Understanding.
Often referred to as the central science, chemistry continues to demonstrate wide-ranging utility. New reaction development maintains a privileged status due to extensive applications derived from organic synthesis. Since pioneering syntheses of urea (1828), acetic acid (1845), and glucose (1891), organic synthesis has impacted countless technological advances.
For centuries and perhaps even millennia, human beings have mined the natural world for remedies and cures. Now common medicinal agents such as aspirin, quinine, penicillin, taxol, and vancomycin have been used to fight pain, malaria, bacterial infections, cancer, and antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, respectively. Until recently, humanity was dependent upon the isolation of natural products directly from the environment. Beginning in the early 1800’s, chemists began to unravel the mystery of organic synthesis and, in the last century, thousands of reactions have been invented that allow for synthetic construction of useful natural and unnatural products. The total synthesis of natural products is a vibrant area of research which requires critical thinking, tenacity, and a bit of good fortune. However, it was not until R. B. Woodward and E. J. Corey, both Nobel Laureates, arrived on the scene that this field truly launched. The audacity of Woodward to attack complex natural products long before modern instrumentation was available followed by the brilliance of Corey to formalize “retrosynthetic analysis” laid a foundation for future synthetic organic chemists.
As students enter a “catalytic cycle” of organic synthesis, they are trained to solve problems and, more importantly, ask important questions. We seek to develop new reactions that can be applied toward the synthesis of natural products. Conversely, as we pursue the synthesis of a natural product, we serendipitously discover new reactions that likely would have remained undiscovered. These novel findings may be applicable to the project at hand or something unanticipated. Louis Pasteur noted that “in the fields of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind,” so we train students to observe and understand why a reaction failed to afford the desired product. Often the greatest discoveries were made by astute observations rather than perfect hypotheses. Ultimately, motivated students will be transformed by this “catalytic cycle” into next generation scientists.
On one side of the organic synthesis coin is the development of new synthetic methods in which we devise a hypothesis for a new reaction based upon a foundation of knowledge. We then test that hypothesis (sometimes in many different ways) and creativity, perseverance, and serendipity pays off with the development of new technology. These new reactions may be useful in areas such as agriculture, communications, medicine, transportation, or computers, thus contributing to human progress.
On the flip-side of the coin, upon initial evaluation of a complex natural product, the endeavor of total synthesis seems daunting. However, retrosynthetic analysis is the key to unlocking the mystery of each peculiar natural product. Solely upon inspection of the chemical structure as represented on paper, we sever this complex target molecule through “disconnections” into smaller and more manageable sub-target fragments A, B, and C, which can be simplified further with our “molecular scalpel” ultimately leading to commercially available chemicals. These commercially available chemicals are then arranged in a forward synthetic sense utilizing a proposal, akin to a builder following architectural plans. It is only then that we enter the arena of the laboratory and begin to carry out the synthetic plan. Undoubtedly, this retrosynthetic analysis will be revised many times when inevitable roadblocks are encountered in the laboratory synthesis.
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Sports Roundup: Andrew Jones Is Back!
By Chris O'Connell in Sports on September 7, 2018 at 1:42 pm | No Comments
But first, football. Here’s what you missed last week, and what’s next for UT sports.
Texas lost, there was a rain delay, and last Saturday was a total bummer for Longhorn fans. The Longhorns dropped out of the AP Top 25, and received zero votes, after losing to Maryland 34-29. There was no revenge game here after the Terps beat Texas in Austin to open last season, as Texas turned the ball over on its final three possessions and dropped to 0-1.
The Ecstasy?
Texas takes on Tulsa at home on Saturday evening, a game it should win. The Longhorns are 23 point favorites.
This is also the first home game for new AD Chris Del Conte, one in which he’ll see his gameday vision unfold. Check out all the changes coming to home games.
Backup guard Patrick Hudson was taken to the hospital with what was described as a “full body cramp” on Wednesday. Trainers tried to get his body temperature down in an ice bath following afternoon workout. Hudson’s temperature is back to normal and he is out of ICU, but he will not play this week.
Starting center Zach Shackelford is out with a foot injury. Starting right guard Elijah Rodriguez will slide over to center, starting right tackle Derek Kerstetter will play right guard, and backup redshirt freshman Samuel Cosmi will take Kerstetter’s spot at right tackle.
Safety Brandon Jones is out with a high ankle sprain. Tom Herman mentioned that he’s out “at least this week.” Jones had a stellar game against Maryland on defense and special teams. He returned three punts for 59 yards, including one that set up the scoring drive that ended on that spectacular diving catch by Devin Duvernay. True freshman B.J. Foster is next up on the depth chart.
Cliff ’Em All
According to the Austin American-Statesman‘s Brian Davis, Texas plans on playing thrash anthem “Seek and Destroy” by Metallica before kickoffs to pump up the crowd this season. “It’s a pretty powerful song,” Herman said. I didn’t peg him for an early Metallica fan, but here we are.
Earl Time
Seahawks safety Earl Thomas ended his holdout, but he’s not all that happy with his current team. Adam Schefter reported that the Cowboys—allegedly where Thomas wants to play eventually—tried to make a trade happen, but the Seahawks didn’t budge.
Gettin’ Scrappy
Have you seen our Alcalde Doc about the Dittmar Scrapbook? Dating as far back as 1913, it’s as complete of an inside look at the early days of Texas football and campus life as you’ll get.
The Other Football
On a Tear
Texas soccer destroyed Stephen F. Austin 5-0 on Sunday in Austin to remain undefeated (4-0-1). The Longhorns outshot the LadyJacks 25-2, and outpaced the visitors 9-1 in shots on goal. Texas is now on a 12-game winning streak in non-conference home matches.
Free T-shirt Alert!
The first 300 fans through the gate at Mike A. Myers Stadium tonight get a free This is Texas tank top. I bet it’s orange!
No. 2 Texas lost to No. 8 Wisconsin last Saturday 1-3 at the HotelRED Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin. The Longhorns bounced back to sweep High Point 3-0 the following afternoon. After dropping to No. 6, Texas swept Texas State to open the home season on Thursday at Gregory Gym. The Longhorns take on No. 16 Kentucky tonight at Gregory.
Track & Field/Cross Country
Running Down a Dream
Cross Country opened its season at the Texas Invitation in Round Rock, winning in both the men’s and women’s races. Destiny Collins ran the 4K in 12:58:20 and Pedro Nasta won the 5K with a time of 15:06:10. The season continues Friday night at the Rice Invitation in Houston. The women’s 4K starts at 6:15 and the men’s 6K at 6:45 p.m.
It’s All About Timing
The Big 12 announced the 2018-19 schedule on Tuesday, once again a double round robin format, with 18 games, two against each team. The Chesapeake Energy Center in Oklahoma City will host the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship for the seventh time at the conclusion of the regular season, March 8-11. Check out the complete schedule.
Game time was announced for the 40th matchup between Tennessee and Texas. They’ll play at noon at the Frank Erwin Center on Sunday, December 9. The game will be televised on ESPN2. Get your tickets here.
So What If We’re On Mystic!
The WNBA Finals begin tonight at 8 p.m. on ESPNews, and Texas women’s basketball guard Ariel Atkins is starring for the Washington Mystics. Atkins, the seventh overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft, was named to the AP All-Rookie Team and was on the All-Defensive Second Team. This is the first WNBA Finals appearance for the Mystics, as they take on the Seattle Storm. If Atkins and the Mystics win the best-of-five series, she’ll be the third Texas woman to win a WNBA title, joining NeKeshia Henderson and Fran Harris.
AJ is Back!
Andrew Jones, who left the team last year after a leukemia diagnosis, was pictured in the 2018-19 team photo, and is on the roster. Coach Shaka Smart said back in April that he knew Jones wanted to play this season, but was more focused on him getting healthy. Welcome back, young man!
The Big 12 announced the 2018-19 schedule on Wednesday, and 17 of UT’s 18 conference games will be nationally televised on an ESPN network. Texas vs. Oklahoma State on Feb. 16 will be on CBS. Is it a round-robin format? It sure is. Will each team play each other twice? Correct. Will each team have a bye during conference play? You know that they will. Will the 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship be played March 13-16 at Kansas City’s Sprint Center.
On Thursday, the times and networks were revealed for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge but I’m bored of the question and answer format so check out all that info here.
Four Texas men and two women will represent Team USA in 2018-19: Evie Pfeifer and Grace Ariola are on the women’s team roster and Townley Haas, Tate Jackson, Austin Katz, and Sam Stewart will swim for the men’s team. There are a total of 111 swimmers on the roster, with the six top swimmers from each individual Olympics event.
All times Central.
Soccer: Texas State at Texas, 6 p.m. TV: Longhorn Network
Volleyball: Kentucky at Texas, 8 p.m. TV: ESPN3
WNBA Finals: Mystics at Storm, 8 p.m. TV: ESPNews
Football: Tulsa at Texas, 7 p.m. TV: Longhorn Network; Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network.
NFL Football: About a million Longhorns are playing, just watch ’em all, starting at noon.
WNBA Finals: Mystics at Storm, 2:30 p.m. TV: ESPNews
Soccer: Houston Baptist at Texas, 5 p.m. TV: Longhorn Network
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Deb Mell
Preceded by Richard Mell
Domestic partner Christin Baker
Education Cornell College
Preceded by Rich Bradley
Name Deb Mell
Parents Marge Mell
Succeeded by Jaime Andrade Jr.
Role American Politician
Party Democratic Party
Political party Democratic
Spouse Christin Baker (m. 2011)
Siblings Patricia Blagojevich
Born July 30, 1968 (age 47) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (1968-07-30)
Relations Patricia (sister) Richard (brother) Rod Blagojevich (brother-in-law)
Similar People Richard Mell, Patricia Blagojevich, Rod Blagojevich
Deb mell 4 28 10
Deborah L. "Deb" Mell (born July 30, 1968) is an American politician from Chicago. She is a Democrat and a member of the Chicago City Council, representing the 33rd ward. She previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013.
Check please audition deb mell
Early life, education and career
Mell is the daughter of long-time Alderman Richard Mell. Her sister, former Illinois First Lady Patti, is married to former Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Mell was educated in Chicago, at St John Berchman’s Elementary School and St Scholastica High School. She then attended Cornell College with a dual major in political science and history, before earning a culinary arts degree from California Culinary Academy.
Mell returned to Chicago in 2000 and began working at Christy Webber Landscape, Chicago’s largest landscaping company owned by prominent lesbian Christy Webber.
Mell was arrested in 2004 while protesting her inability to get a same-sex marriage license from the Cook County clerk's office.
The 40th district, located on Chicago's northwest side, was represented by Rep. Rich Bradley prior to 2008. Bradley decided not to seek re-election in 2008 after Mell announced that she was running, choosing instead to challenge Sen. Iris Martinez for a seat in the Illinois Senate. Mell's campaign had the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. She won 75% of the vote in the general election of November 4, 2008; her opponents, Republican Christine Nere-Foss and Green Party candidate Heather Benno, garnered 15% and 10% respectively.
On January 14, 2009, in one of her first votes in the Illinois House of Representatives, Mell cast the lone vote opposed to impeaching her brother-in-law, then-Governor Rod Blagojevich. This was the second time the House had voted to impeach Blagojevich, and the tally was 117–1.
In November 2008, Mell expressed interest in running in the special election to replace Rahm Emanuel, who would be resigning from the U.S. House of Representatives to serve as President Obama's White House Chief of Staff. Several weeks later, she withdrew from the race.
In July 2013, Alderman Richard Mell, Deb Mell's father, retired from the city council after nearly 40 years. Mayor Rahm Emanuel was charged with appointing his successor and settled on Deb Mell. The appointment was announced on July 24 and confirmed by the city council later that day.
Mell is openly lesbian. She was married to Christin Baker from 2011 to 2014. She was one of four openly LGBT members of the Illinois General Assembly, along with Reps. Greg Harris and Kelly Cassidy, both Democrats from Chicago, and Sam Yingling a Democrat from Round Lake Beach, Illinois, in suburban Chicago.
Mell served on former Mayor Richard M. Daley's Advisory Council for Human Relations and is active in numerous LGBT activist groups. She has received a National Organization for Women award for her activism, as well as the Howard Brown Cornerstone Award for community excellence.
Deb Mell Wikipedia
Patricia Blagojevich
Richard Mell
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West Virginia Residents in Heart of Fracking Fields Join in National Action
‘Hands Across Our Land’ event draws about 40 people in hard-hit Doddridge County
By Michael M. Barrick
WEST UNION, W.Va. – About 40 people from all over North Central West Virginia joined hands at 6 p.m. on Aug. 18th over Middle Island Creek, the longest creek in the United States and one that has been severely impacted by fracking and the ongoing construction of the Stonewall Gas Gathering pipeline through four West Virginia counties. They gathered on the “Rails to Trails” bridge that spans the creek at the entrance to this tiny hamlet, which is the county seat to one of the most heavily impacted counties in the United States from fracking.
Photo courtesy of Doddridge County Watershed Association
The residents were taking part in a grassroots uprising that included people from across Appalachia and beyond opposed to the development of further natural gas infrastructure and the related extractive process of fracking. They were joined by citizens in at least nine states, from New York to Oregon, according to Sharon Ponton of Nelson County, Va. and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, a sponsor of the action. Other sponsors included the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and Beyond Extreme Energy.
Wayne Woods, president of the Doddridge County Watershed Association (DCWA), explained the significance of the location, noting, “The park is located along Middle Island Creek that has been impacted by gas drilling in the Doddridge County area. We are conducting this solidarity action to let the fossil fuel industry and community leaders know that while we are separate grassroots organizations we stand with each other in opposition to the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure.”
As folks gathered on the bridge, he added, “I remember a few years ago I was telling a state legislator that we were starting a watershed group in Doddridge County and somebody that was with him just laughed. Well, we’ve accomplished some things, we’ve opened up the eyes of people, and we’re not going to stop.”
Tina Delprete of Doddridge County shared, “I’m here to try and make a statement. I just want to let people know that not everyone loves it.” Indeed, she saw the turnout as progress in educating the public. “Usually, we get the same handful of people. This is a good turnout for such a small town. More is better. And there will be more.”
Chuck Lothes of neighboring Harrison County pointed to New York State as an example for West Virginia to follow. He explained, “We all know that the Marcellus and Utica Shell start in New York. That’s a fact. That state is also tens of millions of dollars in debt. That’s a fact. Yet, the people of New York have found that the technology associated with the extraction industry and pipeline development is so hideous, so damaging to the people and the environment, that they said they don’t want it. They did this after long, detailed, scientific research. I want the people of West Virginia to do the same.”
Douglas Geelhaar, a DCWA member, echoed those sentiments, saying, “I believe there should be a moratorium on fracking until it can be proven to be done safely and the people it impacts are taken into consideration.”
Denise Binion of Taylor County, and a member of the executive committee of The West Virginia Mountain Party, offered, “The two-party system has failed the people of West Virginia.” She added, “The West Virginia Mountain Party supports a moratorium on fracking due to the concerns of radiation, drill cuttings and frack waste.” She was also critical of the tactics used by the gas extraction industry to rely upon eminent domain to build pipelines. “We believe this is not a case of eminent domain. In fact, the opposite is true. No public good will come of it. Only the corporations will benefit.”
Steve Hamilton, also of Harrison County, said, “I don’t think the pipeline should be built. There is simply too much danger. They want to take them through two national forests. If pipelines are so great, why not take the easiest route – the highway system? They won’t do that because it is too dangerous.”
Autumn Long, who lives in nearby Wallace, said, “This day of action brings together communities that are geographically dispersed but united by exploitation suffered at the hands of the oil and gas industry. Fossil fuel development is destroying our environment, impacting our health, and degrading our quality of life. By publicly linking hands across our land, we are demonstrating opposition to this exploitation and solidarity in our shared struggle.”
Ponton said the goal of Hands Across Our Land is to call attention to the plight of rural communities, to build solidarity and to make connections. She said, “Rural America will not be a sacrifice zone for the energy industry in their attempts to put profit before people. These grassroots groups and many others stood up together to protect the watersheds of millions of Americans from dangerous drilling practices, to stop their homes and families’ health from being put at risk, and to use their collective voices to loudly proclaim that their land will not be stolen by the misuse of eminent domain.” She added, “Our elected officials should listen to the people.”
Free Nelson founder and Episcopal priest, the Rev. Marion Kanour, wondered, “What could our world become if corporations were guided by environmental and social responsibility rather than greed?”
A Dirty Dozen Reasons to Oppose Fracking
Standing Their Ground
West Virginia Couple Models Renewable Energy
Fracking Poses Threats to Public Health
© The Appalachian Preservation Project, 2015. The Appalachian Chronicle is a publication of the Appalachian Preservation Project. If you find this writing of value, we hope that you will consider support our independent work by becoming a member of the Appalachian Preservation Project. By doing so, you will be supporting not only this website, but also our other outreaches, programs and partnerships.
On Twitter: @appchronicle
Autumn Long
BREDL
Doddridge County
Doddridge County Watershed Association
Hands Across Our Land
Michael M. Barrick
Middle Island Creek
Wayne Woods
West Virginia Mountain Party
Published by Michael M. Barrick
The Appalachian Chronicle is published by Michael M. Barrick. View all posts by Michael M. Barrick
Previous West Virginians and Pennsylvanians Standing in Solidarity Against Natural Gas Industry
Next West Virginia Pipeline Project Cited for Numerous Violations
Sarah Barrick says:
Posting on FB. Great!
West Virginia’s Top Story in 2015: People and Land under Assault | Appalachian Chronicle says:
[…] Also in Doddridge County, residents joined with folks from neighboring counties to demonstrate their solidarity against the fracking industry. (Read more here). […]
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Not a Done Deal, Despite Duke Energy’s Presumptions | The Lenoir Voice says:
[…] West Virginia Residents in Heart of Fracking Fields Join in National Action […]
Don Blankenship Got by with Murder | Appalachian Chronicle says:
[…] West Virginia Residents in Heart of Fracking Field Join in National Action […]
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Criticized for Failing to Properly Study Pipeline Impacts | Appalachian Chronicle says:
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Home » Articles » iCity to become ‘Here East’ as final plans approved Over 46155 entries
Monday, 7th April 2014
iCity to become ‘Here East’ as final plans approved
iCity’s plans for a technology hub at the former broadcast and press centres at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park have been approved by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), with the new development set to be known as ‘Here East’.
The architectural designs have been developed by Hawkins/Brown, with LDA Design undertaking the landscape architecture for the project. The scheme will provide a new home with state-of-the-art infrastructure for the creative and digital industries.
In 2008, LDA Design was appointed to lead the masterplanning and detailed design of the London 2012 Olympic Park (now known as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park), and is currently working on the post-Games transformation; ensuring the permanent legacy of 102 hectares of metropolitan open land.
Here East will feature three main buildings: a 300,000 sq ft innovation centre; a 1,045 seat auditorium; and an 850,000 sq ft building housing education space, broadcast studios, office space and a state-of-the-art data centre. Creating over 7,500 jobs, and offering some of the most advanced digital infrastructure in the world, Here East will be a new community destination for east London.
Neil Mattinson, Senior Partner at LDA Design, said:
“Here East is a fantastic project to be involved with. It is set to become an exciting legacy and a world leading digital hub, providing thousands of high quality jobs set within the beautiful surroundings of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.”
Redevelopment is expected to begin in the summer with key tenants locating to the buildings from 2015, and the entire Here East area estimated to be fully operational by 2018. Key tenants include Loughborough University, Hackney Community College, Infinity SDC with BT Sport already broadcasting live directly from Here East.
LDA Design
Hawkins\Brown
iCITY
London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC)
Related projects 1 found
Here East is a campus that combines business, technology, media, education and data in the pursuit of innovation. 1,200,000 sq ft on London Queen Elizabeth Olympic [...]
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Autism, Vaccines & the Spread of Mumps – Eastern Canada
The belief that some vaccines, or mercury based vaccine preservatives, cause or contribute to today’s increasing autism rates, now estimated at 1 in 150, persists despite an almost total lack of support in the scientific community for any causal connection. The fear generated by that belief is itself believed to have contributed to higher rates of vaccine refusals with resulting increases in diseases such as measles and mumps. In Atlantic Canada we are currently suffering an outbreak of mumps, with the particular strain of mumps having orginated in the UK where immunization rates dropped from fear that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine caused autism.
Health: ALERT: INFECTIONS
Mumps outbreak spreads
CAROLINE ALPHONSO
Nova Scotia’s mumps outbreak has spread to Ontario, infecting five people so far and putting public-health officials in the province on alert for even more cases in the weeks to come.
The latest outbreak indicates that many who were vaccinated years ago are now susceptible to catching the disease. Public-health officials are now debating whether they need to administer a booster shot.
Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care confirmed yesterday that the cases, two of which are in Toronto, are linked to the outbreak in Nova Scotia, where more than 200 people have been infected by the disease. The outbreak, which began in late February, has also infected 34 people in New Brunswick and one in Prince Edward Island.
Neil Rau, an infectious disease specialist at Halton Healthcare Services in Ontario, said the current strain of mumps originated in Britain, where there was a large outbreak in 2004. Immunization rates had drop significantly in Britain because many people believed the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine caused autism. The vaccine-autism link has since been disproved, he noted.
The disease reached Iowa last year, and Dr. Rau said it has now found its way into Canada.
“It’s global travel compounded with vaccine refusal,” he said.
http://tinyurl.com/3b49fz
May 13, 2007 Posted by autismrealitynb | autism disorder, autism rates, Autism Society New Brunswick, measles, MMR, mumps, Nova Scotia, rubella, thimerosal, vaccines | 2 Comments
Evidence of Harm – The Sequel
In recent years theories that autism increases have been caused by either the MMR vaccine itself or thimerosal, the mercury based vaccine preservative, once more widely used, has dominated much public discussion of autism – despite an almost total lack of support for the vaccine causes autism theories amongst the world scientific community. But the controversy generated by the Wakefield study and the David Kirby/Robert Kennedy Jr anti-mercury campaigns has had an impact – on famlies already stressed by the realities of their children’s autism and on a decline, at least temporarily, in the numbers of persons getting their children vaccinated against serious, dangerous diseases. Evidence of harm? You bet. Not the kind Kirby and Company rant about on the Huffington post though.
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=22732
Study reveals impact of the MMR controversy on parents of children with autism
Medical Studies/Trials
Published: Thursday, 29-Mar-2007
Researchers have found that the MMR controversy caused parents of children with autism feelings of stress, guilt and frustration. Their study is published in Archives of Disease Childhood.
In the course of 10 focus group discussions across the UK between 2003 and 2005 involving 38 parents of children with autism, scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) discovered the effects of the uncertainty caused by the MMR controversy on these parents. Their aim was to assess how the parents had been affected and identify their specific needs to inform how these might be met in future debates around immunisation.
In 1998, Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues published an article in which they claimed to have found a link between the MMR vaccine and the onset of autistic spectrum disorder, although most of his co-authors subsequently disassociated themselves from the suggestion that there was a link between the vaccine and autism.
The controversy that followed affected parents’ decision-making with regards to MMR vaccination. The Health Protection Agency’s figures show immunisation rates across the UK population fell from 92% before the controversy, to 80% by 2003/04 (http://www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/vaccination/cover.htm). Vaccination rates have since started to increase again as parental confidence in the vaccine has begun to recover. However, until now no research had looked at the impact of the MMR controversy on the parents of children with autism.
Dr Shona Hilton and her colleagues at the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow found that many parents of children with autism have come under great stress and pressure as a result of the scare.
Dr Hilton found that some have experienced agonising uncertainty as to whether the MMR vaccine may have provoked their child’s or children’s autism. Many have wondered whether they are to blame for their child’s condition or felt they had “let their children down” by deciding to vaccinate. Even those who felt that their child’s autism was not linked to the MMR vaccine, either because of family history or because they had avoided vaccination, had suffered as a result of the ambiguous advice they felt that they had received.
The discussions also showed that most parents found it extremely difficult to make subsequent decisions about further vaccination for their children with autism and later children. Many parents felt let down by health professionals and health visitors as well as GPs. This appeared to be a result of the lack of clarity and consistency in what they were told. It may also have been a result of the perceived lack of empathy with and understanding of the realities of caring for a child with autism.
Dr. Hilton said: “It is clear from a review of the literature that there has been a lack of follow-up of the impact of this health scare on those likely to be most directly affected – those living day in and day out with children with autism. These parents in particular have been under a huge amount of stress about the possible impact of their decision to vaccinate or not. Often, those they turned to for guidance and advice, their health visitors and GPs, were not able to provide them with the support they needed.
Dr Hilton added “we are planning to conduct further research into whether health professionals feel that they are well-enough equipped to deal with parents during such health controversies, and how they can be better-supported. We hope to be able to develop new information materials and to identify other support that health professionals need in the difficult task they face of communicating with parents at the height of any future health controversies.”
http://www.mrc.ac.uk
March 30, 2007 Posted by autismrealitynb | Andrew Wakefield, autism disorder, David Kirby, evidence of harm, MMR, Robert Kennedy Jr., thimerosal, vaccinations | Leave a comment
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All is Yar
by CK Dexter Haven. Music, drink, food, and more. Living the good life in all of its many forms.
About All is Yar
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Rest in peace, Mark Petix
Mark Petix in Bosnia
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Mark Petix: Stories on other people with cancer
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My $0.02 on the (sad) 2017/18 LA Opera season, plus some straight talk from James Conlon
Posted on February 12, 2017 by CK Dexter Haven 6 Comments
Folks, I’m generally an optimistic, positive-thinking kinda guy. I try to find the bright side of things and give people the benefit of the doubt, even when most others wouldn’t dream of it.
So leave it to our good friends at Los Angeles Opera to test my ability to maintain a stiff upper lip and keep from screaming “Really? What the F***?!!!” at my computer when, a couple of weeks ago, they released the details of their 2017/18 season.
Because it blows. Like the wind Maria blows the stars around and sets the clouds a-flyin’. Like a toothless [CENSORED] [CENSORED] trying to [CENSORED] [CENSORED] [CENSORED]. It blows hard.
How to put this more delicately: most everything about the upcoming LA Opera season is sad and disappointing. I give it a solid “D,” and that’s even when grading on a curve to account for the company’s relatively staid recent history. Let’s look at the three primary reasons which make it so:
Small size of the season: For starters, there are only 36 total performances on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion mainstage (six different operas, with six shows each), down from a still-pitiful 38 performances from the current season. Even a crowd pleaser like Carmen is absent extra show dates.
To put that in perspective, there were a total of 75 performances of ten different mainstage operas in the 2006/07 season, James Conlon’s first as Music Director.
Even the “Off Grand” productions are fewer in number: fourteen in the current season (not counting an additional three semi-staged performances of Wonderful Town), and only ten next season.
The timid line-up of main stage operas: This grouping of six productions — two by Bizet, two by Verdi, an operetta by Bernstein, and a Gluck rarity — is thoroughly unimaginative. Sure, you expect some, perhaps even the majority of the productions to be populist filler. But where’s the spice? Where’s the variety of composers and/or any artistic depth? It’s like getting six friends together for a pot-luck, only to find that everyone brought a potato dish; sure, you’ll put with, even enjoy, one serving of mashed potatoes; but maybe not the scalloped potatoes and potato salad too, and certainly not an entire meal of variations on the same tuber.
Let’s be generous and grant them a pass for offering Carmen yet again; every season typically needs one bona fide warhorse to help pay the bills.
After kicking off with Carmen, we get The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles), a decidedly less popular work by Bizet. LA Opera notes that this will be the first time the company will produce it, and if one were trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, you’d appreciate them plugging this hole and allowing the audience to compare and contrast between the two operas by the same composer. That said, The Pearl Fishers isn’t exactly new to Southern California; both San Diego Opera and the long-lost Opera Pacific performed it multiple times, so its absence from LA Opera’s stage is more of an indictment of their past scheduling missteps than any favor they’re doing for us now.
The most noteworthy season offering is Orpheus and Eurydice sung in (gasp!) French; this is kinda nice, but when a Gluck opera done in an alternate language is your biggest splash, you’re reaching. Besides that, we get Nabucco, Rigoletto, and Candide. Don’t get me wrong: I like those shows and won’t entirely mind seeing them again; but if you’re already locked into doing the two Bizet operas, how about mixing it up a little? As I wrote when the 2016/17 season was announced,
We haven’t seen Wozzeck, The Fiery Angel, or Queen of Spades in a long time also, why not bring one of them back? The Rake’s Progress by Stravinsky is still nowhere to be seen. Ditto Janácek’s From the House of the Dead. . . . I’m not a Wagner fan per se, but a major company like this one should be doing more of his works, shouldn’t they? Even if they’re not yet ready to bring back the Ring cycle, how about some Parsifal or Tannhäuser? Or a little Lohengrin? Or to be really crazy, perhaps some Rienzi?”
It’s particularly sad when comparing the 2017/18 schedule to that of the 2013/14 season, the most recent one which also opened with Carmen: it included two productions by living composers (Einstein on the Beach by Glass and A Streetcar Named Desire by Previn), one written in the 20th Century (Britten’s Billy Budd), and one uncommon French opera (Massenet’s Thaïs), to go along with more populist shows and composers like Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti), The Magic Flute (Mozart), and Falstaff (Verdi). Some might say that this comparison is unfair since Einstein was a one-off traveling production and Streetcar was a late add; fine then, remove them, and the other operas that year still offer more balance than the coming season.
You wanna get really depressed remembering what LA Opera seasons used to look like? Here’s the line-up for Mr. Conlon’s first year, the aforementioned 2006/07 season:
La Traviata (Verdi) starring Renee Fleming, Rolando Villazon, and Renato Bruson (replacing an originally announced Dmitri Hvorostovsky);
Don Carlo (Verdi) with Salvatore Licitra and Dolora Zajick, among others;
Wagner’s Tannhauser featuring Peter Seiffert;
Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, and Anthony Dean Griffey in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Weill), the DVD of which won two Grammy awards for “Best Classical Album” and “Best Opera Recording;”
Massenet’s Manon with the megawatt pairing of Anna Netrebko and Mr. Villazon;
L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi) featuring Frederica von Stade, Susan Graham and David Daniels;
Luisa Fernanda, the zarzuela by Federico Moreno Torroba starring Plácido Domingo;
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel conducted by Alan Gilbert;
The Merry Widow (Lehar) starring Ms. Graham;
and the finale, Porgy and Bess (Gershwin) conducted by John DeMain.
Now THAT is what a typical season should look like; it might not have been perfect, but compared to the 2017/18 season, it’s a dream.
Lack of star power: Reading that 2006/07 season is a reminder of not only the breadth of productions, but also the number of established singers that used to appear at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion over the course of one year, and by comparison, the absolute dearth of big names this season.
Let’s see: we’ve got Mr. Domingo in the title role of Nabucco (though judging by past reviews in London and New York, we may be well served by keeping our expectations low), the formidable but aging Leo Nucci making his company debut in only three of the Rigoletto productions, and . . . um . . . that’s about it.
Soprano Nino Machaidze is a solid singer and we’re mostly glad that she’s one of the few regulars to appear at DCP year in and year out; however, let’s be honest, she’s no Fleming, or Netrebko, or Sondra Radvanovsky (star of this year’s Tosca), or Diana Damrau (the standout soprano making her company debut as all four of the heroines in this year’s Hoffman).
Ditto the likeable Ana María Martínez. Not only isn’t she one of those more famous sopranos, she also happens to NOT be a mezzo-soprano, a notable point given that her 2017/18 appearance is in the title role of Carmen, a mezzo-soprano staple (BTW: I’m not sure what’s worse, the hamfisted photoshopping of Ms. Martínez’s visage onto the tired and frequently recycled artwork used for the website and season announcement brochure, or the misguided decision to approve said amateurism for publication).
Taken together, those three factors make for a thoroughly underwhelming 2017/18 collection of operas — and frankly, I would’ve much preferred to have been merely “whelmed” (not even overwhelmed) by a new LA Opera season as I have been the past few years (see 2013/14 above, or 2014/15, or 2016/17).
Some of you may be wondering why I didn’t outright give the season a big fat “F” on the report card. A couple of things:
For starters, I offer two words: James Conlon. Mr. Conlon’s continued presence on LA Opera’s podium is the one thing for which we can all be grateful. Most organizations would kill to have him on the podium for one production, let alone serve as Music Director. In fact, many opera companies — including The Met and San Francisco Opera, to name just two — would probably be better off with him as their Music Director, so the fact that he chooses to make music in DCP’s pit should never be taken for granted.
The company’s collaboration with Joffrey Ballet’s and noted director and choreographer John Neumeier for Orpheus and Eurydice is a welcome bit of artistic big-thinking, representing a rare bright spot in an otherwise pedestrian season.
Still, this is a city where the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra all show how you can program diverse, even eclectic and challenging, seasons and still draw strong audiences. It’s a region where avant garde companies such as Long Beach Opera and The Industry garner popular as well as critical acclaim. We deserve better.
The really head-scratching part of all of this is that the economic depths of the Great Recession are well behind us now. Similarly, the debt burden from the company’s ambitious Ring cycle is nearly a decade in the past. As noted previously, the company had seemed to be clawing its way from the oblivion– only to roll out this lipsticked pig.
Why? Is the LA Opera artistic triumvirate of Mr. Domingo, Mr. Conlon, and Christopher Koelsch (President and CEO) lacking the vision of, say, the company’s late lamented former COO, Edgar Baitzel? Are they saving up for a truly splashy 2018/19 season or beyond? These are smart, dedicated people who are deeply passionate about their art form — they’ve gotta know that this season is pretty much a dog, right?!?!?!?
I tried to get some answers. Multiple requests for an interview with the amiable Mr. Koelsch were largely ignored; however, I was able to have a brief conversation with Mr. Conlon with regards to his guest conducting appearance with Pittance Chamber Orchestra, the moniker used by some LA Opera musicians who have their own separate concert season.
Towards the end of that chat, I asked Mr. Conlon why the 2017/18 LA Opera season is the way it is, and if/when we can ever expect a return to the relative glories of his inaugural 2006/07 season. His reply was rather direct — and telling:
“First of all, this is not a decision that lies in my domain, nor can I prognosticate. It is absolutely one of our goals to be there. It is, bluntly put, nothing other than a financial issue. . . . We have a fantastic development department, they’ve done a great job, and they’re continuing to. I’m confident that, eventually, we’re going to get back up there.”
There’s good news and bad news in that statement. Unfortunately, the use of that word “eventually” seems to indicate no concrete timetable for the good ol’ days to reappear; it would’ve been much nicer if he’d said something like “soon” or “in the next couple of years” instead.
But there’s still some reason for optimism in that he/they want to and are “confident” that they’ll return to said good ol’ days. And I think his recent contract extension is reflection of that confidence. I asked him why he’s decided to stay at LA Opera despite the financial challenges he mentioned and the strain that puts on the his artistic ambitions for the company. His response was immediate and animated.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision. I love this, I love LA Opera.
Ten years have gone by in a flash. I love the people I’m working with. Aside from the artistic standards which we try to uphold and we often succeed, it’s the nicest opera company I’ve ever worked in: from top to bottom, that means everybody — the orchestra, the chorus, the stage management, the people in the office, the volunteers, everybody – it’s one fantastic opera company. I enjoy that. I like making music with people who like making music. There is a very fresh, creative, willing spirit at LA Opera that makes it easy and rewarding to work. That’s the reason right there.
I do what I want at this point in my life. I don’t make career decisions anymore, I do what I want. As you get older, you hopefully get wiser, but you also realize that every day is precious. You might as well enjoy every day because there’s nothing much else. Enjoyment is what it’s all about.
I have goals for the opera house, yes, and I enjoy trying to make those goals happen. I have enormous latitude here. Think about the whole Britten celebration. Okay, a lot of it was outside LA Opera, but [the company] was also at the center of a lot of it and made it possible.
Also, I love LA. I should say that something like the Britten Project or the Ring Festival: these things are not possible in all cities. LA is a wonderful city from that point of view, open and willing to try, willing to hear things.
As you know, I enjoy public speaking. I’ve had an extraordinary latitude of when and how I can contact and speak with people: I speak at LACMA, at the Hammer, at Colburn, at the Huntington, etc. Most of all, I am able to speak before every performance. I don’t know many other opera companies where I could do that. I have half the audience coming to those talks now. That is unthinkable in many other opera houses. There are pre-performance talks, of course, but not at this scale.
There is Los Angeles and there is Los Angeles Opera. It was not a difficult decision.”
Well, there you go — at least we know that Mr. Conlon should be around for a while. Let’s hope that as utterly disappointing as the 2017/18 Los Angeles Opera season looks on paper, that the individual productions at least turn out to be good. More importantly, let’s hope that the money that is undoubtedly NOT being spent for next season is being saved and invested into a bigger, more artistically rich season soon after that. Because, folks, I’m an optimist. At least I’m still trying to be one for as long as possible.
Will Farrell as Ron Burgundy from the movie Anchorman: found on giphy.com
James Conlon: photo by CK Dexter Haven
Tags: Bernstein, Bizet, Christopher Koelsch, Gluck, James Conlon, Placido Domingo, The Industry (opera), Verdi. Bookmark the permalink.
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6 thoughts on “My $0.02 on the (sad) 2017/18 LA Opera season, plus some straight talk from James Conlon”
Paul Herman says:
I can’t disagree at all with much of what you said. Good for you. However, I do take some comfort in not getting any Puccini or Mozart in the announced season. Love ’em I do, but I’ve just plain OD’d on them for most of the (now 31) years of our subscription to LA Opera. Would love more Verdi, Strauss, Wagner, Britten.
Lisa R. Hirsch says:
Well, it blows. Must say that the soprano Carmen is not unknown. Price and Callas recorded it. Crespin sang it on stage. Soprano Emma Calve was a legendary Carmen.
CK Dexter Haven says:
True enough, though it’s certainly the exception and not the rule, the good ones even more so. One would think Callas would have slayed it, but it’s not a favorite of mine (among either Callas recordings it Carmens). If I were to see/hear a current soprano try the role, it’d be Netrebko.
Lisa Hirsch says:
It’s not really her style, but Christine Goerke’s amazing low register would be an asset in the role. 🙂
Pingback: LA Opera announces rest of 2017/18 season | All is Yar
I commiserate with you CK on a lackluster appeal for the upcoming 17/18 season. However, Maestro Conlon was very truthful about the companies financial situation. Ticket sales are continuing to drop as costs rise. The company is even having great difficulty selling “Tosca” which has always been a cashcow. The future of Grand Opera in Los Angeles will depend on very, very generous donors to subsidize ticket costs for the less affluent and younger set.
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Footage Of African Slave Market Sparks Outrage [VIDEO]
By Gabe Paoletti
The rate of modern slavery is highest in Africa, with 7.6 victims for every 1,000 people in the region.
In what resembles a slave market of the United States in the 1800s, a video was recently released of a slave auction held in Libya.
In cell phone video obtained and verified by CNN, young men, most of them migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, are actioned off as slaves to be used for farm work.
The auction was held in Arabic, and the migrants were referred to as “merchandise” as they were sold off for as little as $400 each.
The auctioneers advertised a group of West African migrants as “big strong boys for farm work.”
Two men are brought forward in the dark, as the auctioneer shouts out their prices.
Later in the video, CNN interviews migrants who reveal that they were sold as slaves after they could not afford to pay traffickers for a boat journey to Europe, and display scars where they claim they were beaten by their “owners.”
The practice of African migrants bound for Europe being sold into slavery in Libya has been known for some time, but this is the first known footage of one of these slave auctions.
Libya is one of the main nations through which African migrants cross over to Europe, due to its location on the Mediterranean Sea. It’s there that many of these migrants travel to, on their way to a better life in Europe.
The International Organization for Migration gathered evidence of migrant slavery in Libya in April this year.
At that time they released a statement explaining, “Apparently [the migrants] don’t have money and their families cannot pay the ransom, so they are being sold to get at least a minimum benefit from that.”
The chairman of the African Union, President Alpha Conde of Guinea, responded to the video, demanding prosecutions over this “despicable” trade “from another era.”
African nations have been grappling with the larger problem of slavery within the continent for centuries. The continent currently has the highest rate of slavery of any in the world, due in large part to states like Mauritania, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, with high rates of slave ownership.
2017 Global Estimate of Modern SlaveryThe rate of modern slavery is highest in Africa, with 7.6 victims for every 1,000 people in the region.
Hopefully, with more attention focused on this issue, the international community can do more to address the plague of slavery on the continent and around the world.
Next, learn about Queen Nzinga, the West African leader who fought off imperialist slave traders. Then, read how poaching is causing the African elephants to become tuskless.
Gabe Paoletti
Gabe is a New York City-based writer and an Editorial Intern at All That Is Interesting.
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Griffith: Joint implementation of the two phases can be initiated as soon as the outstanding problems are resolved
ALMASDARONLINE
The UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffith, described the military situation in the city of Hodeidah as "complex and fragile, which is reflected on its population", expressing "deep concern for the continued violence and civilian casualties."
The briefing, which was presented to the UN Security Council by a television service, was held at its meeting on Monday.
Griffith said the parties to the conflict have kept the violence down for about six months from the signing of the Sweden agreement, despite the delay in implementing the agreement, which he said was "caused by frustration and challenges.".
"We can begin joint implementation of the Agreement on phases I and II once the outstanding problems are resolved, allowing the parties to verify all elements of the redeployment of troops and those that have already been implemented," he said without elaborating.
"I am frustrated by the lack of progress in the exchange of prisoners and detainees, and I call on the parties to implement what they have agreed to in the interest of peace and for the benefit of thousands of Yemeni families."
"Implementing the Stockholm Accord is not enough for the Yemeni people who want to see an improvement on the ground," Griffith said, "the commitment of the United Nations to pursue a neutral and inclusive political process in Yemen, with full respect for the country's sovereignty."
"I am concerned about the attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia's Abha airport and regional tensions," the UN envoy said, adding that it was "a huge threat to the United Nations-led political process."
"Moving forward with the economic part of the Hodeidah agreement will make it possible to secure salaries and benefit the residents of the province," Griffith said, explaining that "we are continuing our discussions with the Yemeni government on the implementation of the Hodeidah agreement, especially the economic part of it."
"We must renew their commitment to the agreement of Sweden and the sovereignty of Yemen," Griffith said, noting that "we hope that the Swedish agreement will be implemented in a way that allows the two sides to cooperate to alleviate the suffering of the population."
Calling for a meeting of the Joint Committee on Taiz and consensus on economic aspects, which makes the payment of salaries to public sector employees possible, making the implementation of the prisoner exchange agreement a priority and demonstrating the necessary flexibility to achieve this.
The UN envoy concluded by stressing that ending the conflict in Yemen can only be achieved through a comprehensive political solution. He said the chances of settlement remain, expressing his confidence in the parties ' ability to reach a comprehensive peace settlement with the support of the UN Security Council to end the conflict in Yemen.
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Randolph County, Illinois
1 Taylor Street
Voice: 618.826.5000
You are here: Home Government Appointed
Welcome to the Randolph County Center of Government in Chester, Illinois
Randolph County's motto "Where Illinois Began" is indicative of this region's importance to the settlement of our state. Historians sometimes begin their discussions about early Illinois with brief mention of French Jesuit missionary, Jacques Marquette and his 1673 Mississippi River expedition with French-Canadian explorer, Louis Jolliet. However, Randolph County's history really begins around 8000 BC with evidence of prehistoric hunters who took refuge under a rock formation now called the Modoc Rock Shelter. Indian tribes were still using this limestone bluff as late as 1200 AD. Later, in 1686, Robert de LaSalle's Lieutenant, Henri de Tonti scouted the Illinois Country for possible French trading post locations and visited the area where the Village of Kaskaskia eventually developed. The French controlled the region from the late 1600s until, after the French and Indian War, the British accepted control of "New France." (Tour the Kaskaskia Cahokia Trail for a living history of the beginning of Illinois.)
The British ruled until the Revolutionary War when Colonel George Rogers Clark and his "Long Knives" captured Kaskaskia and Fort Gage July 4, 1778 (Prairie du Rocher and Cahokia surrendered soon after), and proclaimed the Illinois Country to be part of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Governor Patrick Henry appointed Colonel John Todd as County Lieutenant & Civil Commandant and named Kaskaskia as the center of government. Virginia eventually ceded its frontier holdings to the Continental Congress. In 1787, the Congress established the Northwest Territory with General Arthur St. Clair as Governor. In 1790, Governor St. Clair proclaimed what is now downstate Illinois as St. Clair County with Cahokia and Kaskaskia as centers of government. On October 5, 1795, roughly the southern half of St. Clair County became Randolph County with Kaskaskia remaining as the local center of government.
Randolph County took its name from Attorney General, Edmund Randolph, a former Governor of Virginia. In 1800, the area became part of the newly-created Indiana Territory with Governor William Henry Harrison presiding at Vincennes. In 1809, the Illinois Territory was created with Governor Ninian Edwards officiating at Kaskaskia. Illinois was admitted to the Union in 1818 with Shadrach Bond as Governor and Pierre Menard as Lieutenant Governor. Governor Bond is interred and memorialized at Evergreen Cemetery in Chester. Kaskaskia served as Illinois' first State Capitol until 1820 when the Capitol was moved to Vandalia, 90 miles up the Kaskaskia River. Kaskaskia continued as the Randolph County seat of government until the Flood of 1844 forced county seat relocation to Chester. In 1881 the Mississippi River changed course via the Kaskaskia River channel leaving Kaskaskia as an "island" on the Missouri side of the river. By 1901, the last vestiges of Illinois' first State Capitol had collapsed into the Mississippi. The former Randolph County Courthouse was later dismantled brick by brick and rebuilt as a schoolhouse. But the Indian curse supposedly placed on "old" Kaskaskia followed the relocated village as it too was all but destroyed by more recent floods. After remarkable efforts following the epochal flood of 1993, Kaskaskia Island visitors can see a restored Liberty Bell of the West Shrine, the Church of The Immaculate Conception and the southern genesis of the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail. With little motor vehicle traffic, the island is also a great place for picnicking and bicycle riding.
Randolph County prior to the Flood of 1881
Randolph County is proud of the many historic sites associated with the French Colonial era, the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail, the Revolutionary War, early Illinois statehood, the German immigration movement, Shiloh College, Mississippi River steamboat days, the coming of the railroads, the Underground Slave Railroad/Civil War era, southern Illinois coal mining, and such historical curiosities as Chester native, Elzie Segar creating Popeye in 1929, Sparta serving as the filming location for the 1967 production of In the Heat Of the Night, and Chester's mention in the 1993 film, The Fugitive.
Combined with numerous scenic and outdoor recreation attractions and amenities, including the World Shooting & Recreation Complex, these historic sites make a wonderful tourism destination, and provide overall quality of life and plentiful small business opportunities. Key industries in Randolph County include agribusiness, mining and quarrying, trucking and rail transportation, food processing and packaging, light and heavy metal castings, machining, conveyors and systems handling equipment, hand-finished ophthalmological surgical instruments, and rubber and plastic components.
Though much smaller in area than when created over 200 years ago, Randolph County's population has grown from 1,225 in 1800 to more than 33,000. The county is represented by a three-member commission form of government and has 20 communities including Baldwin, Bremen, Chester, Coulterville, Ellis Grove, Eden, Evansville, Kaskaskia, Percy, Prairie du Rocher, Red Bud, Rockwood, Ruma, Schuline, Shiloh Hill, Sparta, Steeleville, Tilden, Walsh and Welge.
From Forts to Ports ... Randolph County is Where Illinois Began!
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« Tim Kaine and Anne Holton to Campaign in New Hampshire on Thursday September 1, 2016 | Main | Governor Mike Pence at the Crown Complex in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Saturday, September 03, 2016 *Postponed »
Donald J. Trump Address on Immigration in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday, August 31, 2016
DONALD J. TRUMP: ADDRESS ON IMMIGRATION
Thank you, Phoenix. I am so glad to be back in Arizona, a state that has a very special place in my heart.
I love the people of Arizona and, together, we are going to win the White House in November.
Tonight is not going to be a normal rally speech.
Instead, I am going to deliver a detailed policy address on one of the greatest challenges facing our country today: immigration.
I have just landed having returned from a very important and special meeting with the President of Mexico – a man I like and respect very much, and a man who truly loves his country. Just like I am a man who loves the United States.
We agreed on the importance of ending the illegal flow of drugs, cash, guns and people across our border, and to put the cartels out of business.
We also discussed the great contributions of Mexican-American citizens to our two countries, my love for the people of Mexico, and the close friendship between our two nations.
It was a thoughtful and substantive conversation. This is the first of what I expect will be many conversations in a Trump Administration about creating a new relationship between our two countries.
But to fix our immigration system, we must change our leadership in Washington. There is no other way.
The truth is, our immigration system is worse than anyone realizes. But the facts aren’t known because the media won’t report on them, the politicians won’t talk about them, and the special interests spend a lot of money trying to cover them up.
Today you will get the truth.
The fundamental problem with the immigration system in our country is that it serves the needs of wealthy donors, political activists and powerful politicians. Let me tell you who it doesn’t serve: it doesn’t serve you, the American people.
When politicians talk about immigration reform, they usually mean the following: amnesty, open borders, and lower wages.
Immigration reform should mean something else entirely: it should mean improvements to our laws and policies to make life better for American citizens.
But if we are going to make our immigration system work, then we have to be prepared to talk honestly and without fear about these important and sensitive issues.
For instance, we have to listen to the concerns that working people have over the record pace of immigration and its impact on their jobs, wages, housing, schools, tax bills, and living conditions. These are valid concerns, expressed by decent and patriotic citizens from all backgrounds.
We also have to be honest about the fact that not everyone who seeks to join our country will be able to successfully assimilate. It is our right as a sovereign nation to choose immigrants that we think are the likeliest to thrive and flourish here.
Then there is the issue of security. Countless innocent American lives have been stolen because our politicians have failed in their duty to secure our borders and enforce our laws.
I have met with many of the parents who lost their children to Sanctuary Cities and open borders. They will be joining me on the stage later today.
Countless Americans who have died in recent years would be alive today if not for the open border policies of this Administration. This includes incredible Americans like 21-year-old Sarah Root. The man who killed her arrived at the border, entered federal custody, and then was released into a U.S. community under the policies of this White House. He was released again after the crime, and is now at large.
Sarah had graduated from college with a 4.0, top of her class, the day before.
Also among the victims of the Obama-Clinton open borders policies was Grant Ronnebeck, a 21 year-old convenience store clerk in Mesa, Arizona. He was murdered by an illegal immigrant gang member previously convicted of burglary who had also been released from Federal Custody.
Another victim is Kate Steinle, gunned down in the Sanctuary City of San Francisco by an illegal immigrant deported five previous times.
Then there is the case of 90 year-old Earl Olander, who was brutally beaten and left to bleed to death in his home. The perpetrators were illegal immigrants with criminal records who did not meet the Obama Administration’s priorities for removal.
In California, a 64 year-old Air Force Veteran, Marilyn Pharis, was sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a hammer. Her killer had been arrested on multiple occasions, but was never deported.
A 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office found that illegal immigrants and other non-citizens in our prisons and jails together had around 25,000 homicide arrests to their names.
On top of that, illegal immigration costs our country more than $113 billion dollars a year. For the money we are going to spend on illegal immigration over the next ten years, we could provide one million at-risk students with a school voucher.
While there are many illegal immigrants in our country who are good people, this doesn’t change the fact that most illegal immigrants are lower-skilled workers with less education who compete directly against vulnerable American workers, and that these illegal workers draw much more out from the system than they will ever pay in.
But these facts are never reported.
Instead, the media and my opponent discuss one thing, and only this one thing: the needs of people living here illegally.
The truth is, the central issue is not the needs of the 11 million illegal immigrants – or however many there may be.
That has never been the central issue. It will never be the central issue.
Anyone who tells you that the core issue is the needs of those living here illegally has simply spent too much time in Washington.
Only out of touch media elites think the biggest problem facing American society today is that there are 11 million illegal immigrants who don’t have legal status.
To all the politicians, donors and special interests, hear these words from me today: there is only one core issue in the immigration debate and it is this: the well-being of the American people. Nothing even comes a close second.
Hillary Clinton, for instance, talks constantly about her fears that families will be separated. But she’s not talking about the American families who have been permanently separated from their loved ones because of a preventable death. No, she’s only talking about families who came here in violation of the law.
We will treat everyone living or residing in our country with dignity. We will be fair, just and compassionate to all. But our greatest compassion must be for American citizens.
President Obama and Hillary Clinton have engaged in gross dereliction of duty by surrendering the safety of the American people to open borders. President Obama and Hillary Clinton support Sanctuary Cities, they support catch-and-release on the border, they support visa overstays, they support the release of dangerous criminals from detention – and they support unconstitutional executive amnesty.
Hillary Clinton has pledged amnesty in her first 100 days, and her plan will provide Obamacare, Social Security and Medicare for illegal immigrants – breaking the federal budget. On top of that, she promises uncontrolled low-skilled immigration that continues to reduce jobs and wages for American workers, especially African-American and Hispanic workers. This includes her plan to bring in 620,000 new refugees in a four-year term.
Now that you’ve heard about Hillary Clinton’s plan – about which she has not answered a single substantive question – let me tell you about my plan.
While Hillary Clinton meets only with donors and lobbyists, my plan was crafted with the input from federal immigration officers, along with top immigration experts who represent workers, not corporations. I also worked with lawmakers who’ve led on this issue on behalf of American citizens for many years, and most importantly, I’ve met with the people directly impacted by these policies.
Number One: We will build a wall along the Southern Border.
On day one, we will begin working on an impenetrable physical wall on the southern border. We will use the best technology, including above-and below-ground sensors, towers, aerial surveillance and manpower to supplement the wall, find and dislocate tunnels, and keep out the criminal cartels, and Mexico will pay for the wall.
Number Two: End Catch-And-Release
Under my Administration, anyone who illegally crosses the border will be detained until they are removed out of our country.
Number Three: Zero tolerance for criminal aliens.
According to federal data, there are at least 2 million criminal aliens now inside the country. We will begin moving them out day one, in joint operations with local, state and federal law enforcement.
Beyond the 2 million, there are a vast number of additional criminal illegal immigrants who have fled or evaded justice. But their days on the run will soon be over. They go out, and they go out fast.
Moving forward, we will issue detainers for all illegal immigrants who are arrested for any crime whatsoever, and they will be placed into immediate removal proceedings. We will terminate the Obama Administration’s deadly non-enforcement policies that allow thousands of criminal aliens to freely roam our streets.
Since 2013 alone, the Obama Administration has allowed 300,000 criminal aliens to return back into U.S. communities – these are individuals encountered or identified by ICE but who not detained or processed for deportation.
My plan also includes cooperating closely with local jurisdictions to remove criminal aliens.
We will restore the highly successful Secure Communities program. We will expand and revitalize the popular 287(g) partnerships, which will help to identify hundreds of thousands of deportable aliens in local jails. Both of these programs have been recklessly gutted by this Administration. This is yet one more area where we are headed in a totally opposite direction.
On my first day in office, I am also going to ask Congress to pass “Kate’s Law” – named for Kate Steinle – to ensure that criminal aliens convicted of illegal reentry face receive strong mandatory minimum sentences.
Another reform I am proposing is the passage of legislation named for Detective Michael Davis and Deputy Sheriff Danny Oliver, two law enforcement officers recently killed by a previously-deported illegal immigrant. The Davis-Oliver bill will enhance cooperation with state and local authorities to ensure that criminal immigrants and terrorists are swiftly identified and removed.
We are going to triple the number of ICE deportation officers. Within ICE, I am going to create a new special Deportation Task Force, focused on identifying and removing quickly the most dangerous criminal illegal immigrants in America who have evaded justice.
The local police know who every one of these criminals are. There’s no great mystery to it, they’ve put up with it for years. And now, finally, we will turn the tables and law enforcement will be allowed to clear up this dangerous and threatening mess.
We’re also going to hire 5,000 more Border Patrol agents, and put more of them on the border, instead of behind desks. We will expand the number of Border Patrol Stations.
I’ve had a chance to spend time with these incredible law enforcement officers, and I want to take a moment to thank them. The endorsement I’ve received from the Border Patrol officers means more to me than I can say.
Number Four: Block Funding For Sanctuary Cities
We will end the Sanctuary Cities that have resulted in so many needless deaths. Cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities will not receive taxpayer dollars, and we will work with Congress to pass legislation to protect those jurisdictions that do assist federal authorities.
Number Five: Cancel Unconstitutional Executive Orders & Enforce All Immigration Laws
We will immediately terminate President Obama’s two illegal executive amnesties, in which he defied federal law and the constitution to give amnesty to approximately 5 million illegal immigrants.
Hillary Clinton has pledged to keep both of these illegal amnesty programs – including the 2014 amnesty which has been blocked by the Supreme Court. Clinton has also pledged to add a third executive amnesty.
Clinton’s plan would trigger a Constitutional Crisis unlike almost anything we have ever seen before. In effect, she would be abolishing the lawmaking powers of Congress in order to write her own laws from the Oval Office.
In a Trump Administration, all immigration laws will be enforced. As with any law enforcement activity, we will set priorities. But, unlike this Administration, no one will be immune or exempt from enforcement – and ICE and Border Patrol officers will be allowed to do their jobs. Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation – that is what it means to have laws and to have a country.
Our enforcement priorities will include removing criminals, gang members, security threats, visa overstays, public charges – that is, those relying on public welfare or straining the safety net, along with millions of recent illegal arrivals and overstays who’ve come here under the current Administration.
Number Six: We Are Going To Suspend The Issuance Of Visas To Any Place Where Adequate Screening Cannot Occur
According to data provided to the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, between 9/11 and the end of 2014, at least 380 foreign-born individuals were convicted in terror cases inside the United States. The number is likely higher, but the Administration refuses to provide this information to Congress.
As soon as I enter office, I am going to ask the Department of State, Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to begin a comprehensive review of these cases in order to develop a list of regions and countries from which immigration must be suspended until proven and effective vetting mechanisms can be put into place.
Countries from which immigration will be suspended would include places like Syria and Libya.
For the price of resettling 1 refugee in the United States, 12 could be resettled in a safe zone in their home region.
Another reform involves new screening tests for all applicants that include an ideological certification to make sure that those we are admitting to our country share our values and love our people.
For instance, in the last five years, we’ve admitted nearly 100,000 immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan – in these two countries, according to Pew research, a majority of residents say that the barbaric practice of honor killings against women are often or sometimes justified.
Applicants will be asked for their views about honor killings, about respect for women and gays and minorities, attitudes on Radical Islam, and many other topics as part of the vetting procedure.
Number Seven: We will ensure that other countries take their people back when we order them deported
There are at least 23 countries that refuse to take their people back after they have been ordered to leave the United States, including large numbers of violent criminals. Due to a Supreme Court decision, if these violent offenders cannot be sent home, our law enforcement officers have to release them into U.S. communities. There are often terrible consequences, such as Casey Chadwick’s tragic death in Connecticut just last year. Yet, despite the existence of a law that commands the Secretary of State to stop issuing visas to these countries, Secretary Hillary Clinton ignored this law and refused to use this powerful tool to bring nations into compliance.
The result of her misconduct was the release of thousands of dangerous criminal aliens who should have been sent home.
According to a report from the Boston Globe, from the year 2008 through 2014, nearly 13,000 criminal aliens were released back into U.S. communities because their home countries would not take them back. Many of these 13,000 releases occurred on Hillary Clinton’s watch – she had the power and the duty to stop it cold and she didn’t do it.
Those released include individuals convicted of killings, sexual assault and some of the most heinous crimes imaginable, who went on to reoffend at a very high rate.
Number Eight: We will finally complete the biometric entry-exit visa tracking system.
For years, Congress has required a biometric entry-exit visa tracking system, but it has never been completed.
In my Administration, we will ensure that this system is in place at all land, air, and sea ports. Approximately half of new illegal immigrants came on temporary visas and then never left. Beyond violating our laws, visa overstays pose a substantial threat to national security. The 9/11 Commission said that this tracking system should be a high priority and “would have assisted law enforcement and intelligence officials in August and September 2001 in conducting a search for two of the 9/11 hijackers that were in the U.S. on expired visas.”
Last year alone, nearly a half a million individuals overstayed their temporary visas. Removing visa overstays will be a top priority of my Administration. If people around the world believe they can just come on a temporary visa and never leave – the Obama-Clinton policy – then we have a completely open border. We must send the message that visa expiration dates will be strongly enforced.
Number Nine: We will turn off the jobs and benefits magnet.
We will ensure that E-Verify is used to the fullest extent possible under existing law, and will work with Congress to strengthen and expand its use across the country.
Immigration law doesn’t exist just for the purpose of keeping out criminals. It exists to protect all aspects of American life – the worksite, the welfare office, the education system and much else. That is why immigration limits are established in the first place. If we only enforce the laws against crime, then we have an open border to the entire world.
I will enforce all of our immigration laws.
The same goes for government benefits. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that 62 percent of households headed by illegal immigrants used some form of cash or non-cash welfare programs, like food stamps or housing assistance. This directly violates the federal public charge law designed to protect the U.S. treasury.
Those who abuse our welfare system will be priorities for removal.
Number 10: We will reform legal immigration to serve the best interests of America and its workers
We’ve admitted 59 million immigrants to the United States between 1965 and 2015.
Many of these arrivals have greatly enriched our country. But we now have an obligation to them, and to their children, to control future immigration – as we have following previous immigration waves – to ensure assimilation, integration and upward mobility.
Within just a few years immigration as a share of national population is set to break all historical records.
The time has come for a new immigration commission to develop a new set of reforms to our legal immigration system in order to achieve the following goals:
• To keep immigration levels, measured by population share, within historical norms
• To select immigrants based on their likelihood of success in U.S. society, and their ability to be financially self-sufficient. We need a system that serves our needs – remember, it’s America First.
• To choose immigrants based on merit, skill and proficiency
• And to establish new immigration controls to boost wages and to ensure that open jobs are offered to American workers first.
We want people to come into our country, but they have to come in legally and properly-vetted, and in a manner that serves the national interest.
We’ve been living under outdated immigration rules from decades ago. To avoid this happening in the future, I believe we should sunset our visa laws so that Congress is forced to periodically revise and revisit them. We wouldn’t put our entire federal budget on autopilot for decades, so why should we do the same for immigration?
Let’s talk about the big picture
These ten steps, if rigorously followed and enforced, will accomplish more in a matter of months than our politicians have accomplished on this issue in the last fifty years.
Because I am not a politician, because I am not beholden to any special interest, I will get this done for you and your family.
We will accomplish all of the steps outlined above, and when we do, peace and law and justice and prosperity will prevail. Crime will go down, border crossings will plummet, gangs will disappear, and welfare use will decrease. We will have a peace dividend to spend on rebuilding America, beginning with our inner cities.
For those here today illegally who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and only one route: to return home and apply for re-entry under the rules of the new legal immigration system that I have outlined above. Those who have left to seek entry under this new system will not be awarded surplus visas, but will have to enter under the immigration caps or limits that will be established.
We will break the cycle of amnesty and illegal immigration. There will be no amnesty.
Our message to the world will be this: you cannot obtain legal status, or become a citizen of the United States, by illegally entering our country.
This declaration alone will help stop the crisis of illegal crossings and illegal overstays.
People will know that you can’t just smuggle in, hunker down, and wait to be legalized. Those days are over.
In several years, when we have accomplished all of our enforcement goals – and truly ended illegal immigration for good, including the construction of a great wall, and the establishment of our new lawful immigration system – then and only then will we be in a position to consider the appropriate disposition of those who remain. That discussion can only take place in an atmosphere in which illegal immigration is a memory of the past, allowing us to weigh the different options available based on the new circumstances at the time.
Right now, however, we are in the middle of a jobs crisis, a border crisis, and a terrorism crisis. All energies of the federal government and the legislative process must now be focused on immigration security. That is the only conversation we should be having at this time.
Whether it’s dangerous materials being smuggled across the border, terrorists entering on visas, or Americans losing their jobs to foreign workers, these are the problems we must now focus on fixing – and the media needs to begin demanding to hear Hillary Clinton’s answer on how her policies will affect Americans and their security.
These are matters of life-and-death for our country and its people, and we deserve answers from Hillary Clinton.
What we do know, despite the total lack of media curiosity, is that Hillary Clinton promises a radical amnesty combined with a radical reduction in immigration enforcement.
The result will be millions more illegal immigrants, thousands more violent crimes, and total chaos and lawlessness.
This election is our last chance to secure the border, stop illegal immigration, and reform our laws to make your life better.
This is it. We won’t get another opportunity – it will be too late.
So I want to remind everyone what we are fighting for – and who we are fighting for.
So I am going to ask all the Angel Moms to come join me on the stage right now.
[[PAUSE FOR ANGEL MOMS – EACH SAYS THE NAME OF THEIR CHILD INTO THE MICROPHONE]]
Now is the time for these voices to be heard.
Now is the time for the media to begin asking questions on their behalf.
Now is the time for all of us, as one country, Democrat and Republican, liberal and conservative, to band together to deliver justice and safety and security for all Americans.
Let’s fix this problem.
Let’s secure our border.
Let’s stop the drugs and the crime.
Let’s protect our Social Security and Medicare.
And let’s get unemployed Americans off of welfare and back to work in their own country.
Together, we can save American lives, American jobs, and American futures.
Together, we can save America itself.
Join me in this mission to Make America Great Again.
Thank you, and God Bless you all!
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Shell’s Self-serving Scenarios
[fa icon="calendar'] Mar 11, 2013 9:00:33 AM / by Carol Pierson Holding
According to Shell’s New Lens Scenarios, we’re headed for a carbon free future, where solar will be the dominant energy source by 2100. The report got pretty universally upbeat press, praised in business and even environmental websites and by Amory Lovins, Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, who seemed to endorse the report: “Shell is the most far-sighted and strategic of the majors, largely because the Scenarios informed the thinking of Shell leadership and many others in the energy ecosystem.”
And Shell gets the highest social responsiblity rating from CSRHub of any big oil company.
But assuming that the maximum additional carbon the earth can absorb is 565 gigatons of CO2 and that study after study predicts that “carbon emissions will grow by roughly three percent a year… (exceeding the) 565-gigaton allowance in 16 years,” we’ll be facing Armageddon long before we’ve shifted from carbon-producing fuel to Shell’s scenario.
Shell’s future scenario is hardly encouraging.
Up to now, I have been a huge admirer of Shell’s scenario planning. I first heard about its brilliant insight that the Soviet Union would collapse, information it kept secret while snapping up cheap Soviet oil leases. They also predicted the 1970s oil crisis and the end of Apartheid. They have a lot of credibility.
So how can Shell’s prestigious forecasting group predict a carbon free world when its strategy is to “reinforce our position as a leader in the oil and gas industry?” When it sold its solar business in 2006 to SolarWorld once they realized that solar business profits would never match the oil and gas business? Is scenario planning really that separated from corporate communications?
Then there’s the language problem. We all recognize the difference between short term exigencies and long term “unknown unknowns” as the study’s lead Jeremy Bentham, VP Business Environment and Head of Shell Scenarios, calls it, quoting Donald Rumsfeld. It's the phrase he used when explaining the link between Baghdad and terrorist cells.
Is Shell suggesting that like Rumsfeld, its people are smart enough to get away with a lie of monstrous proportions?
As a recovering capitalist, I tend to be overly cynical, especially when it comes to corporations using socially responsible research as promotion. But here, there is a case to be made.
Shell’s scenarios promote natural gas to ease the transition from fossil fuels. Why? 48% of Shell’s current production is natural gas and the company is spending big to increase its dominance, especially in liquefied natural gas (LNG). In addition to owning the world’s largest gas-to-liquids production plant , the $18 billion Pearl GTL in Qatar, Shell is investing in other liquefied natural gas projects:
Just three weeks ago, Shell acquired Repsol’s LNG businesses for $6.7 billion.
Last week, Shell announced it would build two plants, one in Louisiana and one in Ontario, to liquify natural gas for use in transport vehicles.
Using an undisclosed piece of its $1 billion+ R&D budget, Shell is developing technology to mine huge deposits of oil shale in Colorado and Wyoming – as Dan Denning of The Daily Reckoning reported, where “estimated U.S. oil shale reserves total an astonishing 1.5 trillion barrels of oil – or more than five times the stated reserves of Saudi Arabia.”
What Denning, a financial journalist, doesn’t say is what will happen when Shell and others release carbon emissions from another 1.5 trillion barrels of fossil fuel, even if it’s in the form of liquefied natural gas. Because once Shell figures out a way to mine that shale without violating EPA regulations, those reserves won’t sit untapped for much longer.
Shell’s scenarios do come with a caveat: results would be altered by “major geopolitical shifts.” Ironically, the week after Shell published its scenarios, Yale University released its 2012 report of American attitudes towards climate change: the Alarmed cohort has grown from 10 percent of the American adult population in 2010 to 16 percent in 2012. At the same time, the percentage of those who dismiss climate change have decreased, from 16 percent in 2010 to 8 percent in 2012.
Does a critical mass of outraged citizens qualify as a “major geopolitical shift”? Think of the Vietnam War. Or Apartheid, a truly global protest. We may not be there yet, but as climate change impacts get worse, so will the outrage.
Photo is courtesy of Atli Harðarson
Carol Pierson Holding writes on environmental issues and social responsibility for policy and news publications, including the Carnegie Council's Policy Innovations, Harvard Business Review, San Francisco Chronicle, India Time, The Huffington Post and many other web sites. Her articles on corporate social responsibility can be found on CSRHub.com, a website that provides sustainability ratings data on nearly 7,000 companies worldwide. Carol holds degrees from Smith College and Harvard University.
CSRHub provides access to corporate social responsibility and sustainability ratings and information on nearly 7,000 companies from 135 industries in 82 countries. Managers, researchers and activists use CSRHub to benchmark company performance, learn how stakeholders evaluate company CSR practices and seek ways to change the world.
[fa icon="comment"] 0 Comments posted in carbon emissions, carbon free, climate change, corporate social responsibility, CSR, energy, fossil fuels, natural gas, New Lens Scenarios, Shell, Uncategorized, social resp, solar, Carol Pierson Holding, CO2, CSRHub, SolarWorld
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Ian Potter Museum of Art
North South East West: Visions of mid-19th century Victoria from the University of Melbourne Art Collection
By the mid-19th century Victoria had become a destination of choice for free settlers. The discovery of gold in 1851 encouraged mass migration which saw the colony grow from 76,000 to 540,000 in a decade.
Art Exhibition previously on at Ian Potter Museum of Art in Victoria, Australia.
From Tuesday 22 July 2014 to Sunday 16 November 2014
Published by Ian Potter Museum of Art on Thursday 31 July 2014.
Cities such as Melbourne, Bendigo and Ballarat flourished becoming large population centres with corresponding economic power. This exhibition presents visions of colonial Victoria from the north, south, east and west, revealing the dynamism and development of the gold rush and coastal regions as well as the yet ‘unconquered’ romanticised landscape further afield.
http://www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au/exhibitions/exhib-date/2014-07-22/exhib/north-south-east-west-visions-of-mid-19th-century-victoria-from-the-university-of-melbourne-art-collection
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So far from the Lab
Bupa B Table
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6 Great Actors Who Went from ‘Harry Potter’ to ‘Game of Thrones’
Harry Potter movies, with all their magic and the Game of Thrones TV show with the dragons and the white walkers may sound like they have a lot of things in common, when really they’re entirely different worlds. But this doesn’t mean that the actors can’t appear in both series, linking Westeros and Hogwarts worlds even further. All we need is Emilia Clarke playing some accountant, or Peter Dinklage as pretty much anyone, in the upcoming “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”,
Here are just a few, more impactful, actors who have appeared in both series, as listing them all might literally take hours!
Michelle Fairley was Hermione’s mother in the first part of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, but “Game of Thrones” fans might recognize her as Catelyn Stark.
Natalia Tena is the amazing Nymphadora Tonks in the “Harry Potter” movies. In the GoT, however she played the fan-favorite wildling Osha. I really miss Osha.
Argus Filch played by David Bradley, was the caretaker of Hogwarts and also Walder Frey, who betrayed the Stark family, in GoT. Little did he know what was coming to him.
Ian Whyte, a 7-foot-tall real-life giant, has played many gigantic characters in his career, including the full-body shots for Madame Olympe Maxime (portrayed by English actress Frances de la Tour). In GoT, however, he got to play a White Walker, the Mountain in season two, and Wun Wun the giant.
Julian Glover is barely recognizable in Harry Potter, as he voiced Aragog, the giant spider, but his performance as the Grand Maester Pycelle in GoT is hard to miss.
Bronson Webb played a student in Slytherin and Draco Malfoy’s pal in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (on the right), and in GoT he was a member of the Night’s Watch who ran from the White Walkers only to get his head chopped off by Ned Stark for deserting his duty. IIRC, it was the very first scene of the very first episode too!
!SPOILER ALERT!
I’ve also just realized that all of these characters are currently dead (except for the Mountain, but it’s a whole different story). G.R.R.Martin and the screenwriters are shooting them down like sitting ducks. Well, at least we have Tyrion and Arya still, right?
July 7, 2016 (Updated: November 7, 2016 )
Yura Lysenko
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Independent Directors
Government plans review of functioning of independent directors
There is a need to do research on aspects such as reasons for independent directors resigning from companies and having a database would help as it would provide credible information, officials said.
January 14, 2018, 16:37 IST
Updated: January 14, 2018, 16:40 IST
NEW DELHI: The government plans to carry out a comprehensive review of the functioning of independent directors, including analysing the reasons for their exit from the boards of companies, as part of efforts to strengthen the corporate governance framework.
The corporate affairs ministry, which is implementing the Companies Act, is also looking to bolster the regime for independent directors and might also take a relook at certain regulatory requirements pertaining to their appointment and removal, a senior government official said.
Besides, the ministry would be creating a database of independent directors under the Companies Act, 2013.
Against the backdrop of the government making efforts to make its role minimal in the affairs of corporates, the role of independent directors is more vital and in recent times there have been instances of concerns being raised about the independence of such people.
The official said there is a need to have a better understanding of the role of independent directors and the kind of challenges faced by them.
There is a need to do research on aspects such as reasons for independent directors resigning from companies and having a database would help as it would provide credible information, the official added.
Section 150 of the Companies Act, 2013 provides for setting up of a database of independent directors.
Among others, an independent director can be removed by way of an ordinary resolution, wherein approval of at least 50 per cent of shareholders of the company is required. On the other hand, for re-appointment of independent directors a special resolution has to be passed. The latter requires the nod of 75 per cent or more of shareholders.
Last week, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs P P Chaudhary said that independent directors act as the fulcrum of corporate governance framework and emphasised that they have both advisory as well as monitoring role.
Independent directors should exercise special care in issues of conflict of interest in related party transactions and those pertaining to managerial remuneration as they are the watchdogs of companies, he had said.
PP Chaudhary
functioning of independent directors
Companies Act
More independent directors take the exit fearing legal scrutiny
TechM board proposes appointment of Shikha Sharma, Haigreve Khaitan as independent directors
Mindtree independent directors term L&T takeover offer ‘fair and reasonable’
Company directors will have to sit for exams in India after scandals
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Castro 2014, or 2018?
By Jonathan Gurwitz on August 3, 2012 at 3:30 PM
Democrats made a wise choice in selecting San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro as the keynote speaker at their national convention next month. Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States. Along with Asians, they constitute the fasting growing segments of the U.S. population.
Castro is a rising star — intelligent and telegenic. His appeal to young voters, Hispanic voters and a broader audience is clear to those of us who have known him in San Antonio. Castro in 2012 is also drawing obvious comparisons with Obama in 2004 — when, as a relatively unknown state senator, he delivered the Democrat’s keynote address .
Obama was, then, a sure bet to win a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Obama was on his way to Washington. The keynote address gave him a leg up to the national stage, and propelled him to the White House in 2008.
Castro is in his second term as mayor. Publicly, he has never given any indication of his desire to run for a state or federal office. On the contrary, he has advocated for long term projects — SA2020, the 2012 bond package, and the Brainpower Initiative — that suggest he wants to be an enduring presence at City Hall. Under term limit reforms adopted in 2008, Castro can serve two more terms — through 2017.
Timing is everything in politics, however. And if Castro is going to capitalize on his national notoriety — my presumption being that he will make a favorable impression on a national audience in Charlotte — he has to do so while memories are fresh.
For what offices might Castro run? Texas will have both a gubernatorial election and a U.S. Senate election in 2014. Regardless of whether Rick Perry and John Cornyn choose to remain in office, Castro would face an uncomfortable fact: No Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas since 1994.
The GOP winning streak in Texas will eventually come to an end. When it does, it will be a Democrat like Castro who breaks it. If he doesn’t seek the governor’s mansion or the Senate in 2014, that means he’d have to wait another four years.
In 2018, demographic trends favorable to Democrats will have a greater electoral effect. It’s a year after Castro will term out as mayor. It’s also well removed from the 2012 spotlight.
There’s no rush. But assuming Castro has the ambition for higher office, at some point Castro will have to decide: 2014, or 2018?
Jonathan Gurwitz
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This is a full-time, 9-month non-tenure track lecturer position to teach in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (JOMC). The position will have responsibility to teach introductory and advanced writing and reporting courses in the areas of digital/electronic and print writing, reporting and producing; and experience in the production of multimedia content for journalism or strategic communication purposes. Classes will be assigned as needed by the Department Chair. Additional duties assigned by the Department Chair may include, but are not limited to, student academic advising and career mentoring, serving on departmental/college and university committees, research and/or creative works/ This position is expected to work cooperatively with faculty and staff within the Department, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and University.
Primary Function of Organizational Unit:
The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication offers a Bachelor of Science degree with concentrations in multimedia journalism, mass media production, and public relations, which are accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC). The department is housed within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, which enrolls more than 1,850 students and has more than 105 faculty members. More than 600 students are majors in the Journalism and Mass Communication Department, which plans to establish a graduate program in the immediate future.
The mission of the Department is to prepare students with the high quality education necessary to succeed as professionals and critical thinkers and to become productive citizens of their communities, the nation and the world. With an award-winning faculty, intensive research programs, and community-focused initiatives, North Carolina A&T State University is the nation's largest historically black university with an enrollment of more than 12,000 students.
Internal job number: 003794
Master’s degree in Journalism, Communication or related discipline; Two years of college level teaching experience and three to five years of industry/professional experience.
At least five years of experience as a working news professional. Experience teaching journalism courses, such as media writing and editing, digital storytelling, and mass communication history.
You must complete and submit an electronic application for employment to be considered. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of completing an electronic application.
Applicants seeking Veteran's Preference must attach a DD 214 form. Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty with your application during the process of applying to the job posting. Final candidates are subject to criminal and sex offender background checks.
North Carolina A&T State University participates in E-Verify. Federal law requires all employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the United States.
North Carolina A&T State University is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. No one who applies or seeks employment will be denied admission to or employment at North Carolina A&T State University on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disabling condition, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or sexual orientation and sexual identity.
About North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is one of the nation’s most highly respected doctoral research, land-grant institutions. With an enrollment of almost 11,000 students, we are committed to fulfilling our mission through exemplary undergraduate and graduate instruction, scholarly and creative research, and effective public service. As a member of the A&T family you will be an integral part of its history and future – joining more than 1,800 current faculty and staff. You will be expected to be a leader and mentor. You will influence the minds that will affect our world. As a change agent, you will use your intellect and influence to make a positive impact on the greater A&T community. A&T will be more than your job, it will become your passion—and that commitment to yourself and others will last a lifetime. Because that’s what Aggies Do!
News Media Alliance CareerBank is Just One of the Benefits.
Discover what else The Alliance has to offer!
The job you are trying to reach from was originally posted at News Media Alliance CareerBank.
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SINGLETARY v. VARGAS
United States Court of Appeals,Eleventh Circuit.
James Ryan SINGLETARY, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Juan VARGAS, in his individual capacity, Defendant–Appellant.
No. 14–14424.
Decided: October 29, 2015
Before WILLIAM PRYOR, JULIE CARNES, and SILER,* Circuit Judges. Lawrence H. Hornsby, Jr., Hornsby Law, Winter Park, FL, for Plaintiff–Appellee. Donald Andrew Debevoise, Jeffrey Kenneth Grant, Thomas W. Poulton, Debevoise & Poulton, PA, Winter Park, FL, for Defendant–Appellant.
In August of 2012, Defendant Juan Vargas, a deputy with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office (“Sheriff's Office”), provided back-up during a drug bust of the driver of a vehicle in which Plaintiff James Singletary was a passenger. Perceiving that this vehicle was trying to run him down as he stood in front of it, Defendant fired shots at the car as he was falling to the ground. One of those shots hit Plaintiff, causing serious injury to his leg. Plaintiff sued Defendant in his individual capacity under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, contending that the above response by Defendant constituted excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment.1 Defendant moved for summary judgment on the ground of qualified immunity. The district court denied the motion and Defendant now appeals. We conclude that Defendant is entitled to qualified immunity, REVERSE the district court's ruling on Defendant's motion for summary judgment, and direct that court to enter judgment consistent with this opinion.
I. Factual Background2
While interviewing a drug suspect in July 2012, Sheriff's Office Deputy Thomas Walter obtained the number of a cellphone purportedly used to conduct illegal drug deals.3 Posing as an interested customer, Walter texted the number and indicated that he was looking to buy marijuana and oxycodone. Eventually directed to a second number, he this time texted that he wanted to buy high-grade marijuana. In response, the person at the other end of the text communication replied, “[C]ome see me.”
Deputy Walter showed these texts to his supervisor, Lt. Jeffrey Ludwig, who decided to set up an operation to investigate this individual who appeared receptive to Walter's efforts to purchase drugs. Defendant Vargas was assigned to the tactical support team for the operation.
Around 11:00 p.m. on August 3, 2012, Lt. Ludwig met with Walter and several other deputies, including Defendant Vargas, to discuss the planned operation. The plan was relatively simple. Walter would send another text proposing a drug buy at an agreed-upon location. Deputy Jason Roberts, dressed in plain clothes, would play the role of the drug purchaser. Followed by covert tactical personnel and Sheriff's Office deputies, Roberts would meet the suspect at the designated location, after which the other deputies would conduct a “felony stop” and investigation.
Following this planning session, Deputy Walter sent a text to the second number, stating that he wanted to buy $100 worth of marijuana. He received a response indicating that marijuana and oxycodone were available for purchase. Walter and the suspect agreed to meet at a nearby Sunoco gas station to conduct the deal. Deputy Roberts then began walking to this Sunoco station. Joined by Corporal Lyndale Smith and his service dog, Defendant moved to the back of the gas station, where he was concealed but could still observe Deputy Roberts. Two marked and two unmarked police cars hid themselves in other areas around the station. Lt. Ludwig remained about a quarter mile away, maintaining contact with the other officers via radio.
Based on Walter's earlier investigation, the deputies anticipated that the suspect would arrive in a red Toyota. And in fact, at about 1:00 a.m., a red Toyota pulled into the Sunoco station. As the officers later learned, the car was driven by Nicholas Lechner, with Plaintiff riding in the passenger seat. As the car turned into the station, Deputy Roberts told Lt. Ludwig over the phone: “This is the car. This is the car.” Lt. Ludwig then gave the “go” signal to the deputies. After waiting about 15–20 seconds, Defendant and Corporal Smith moved toward the car. Wearing his tactical uniform and patrol hat, Defendant loudly shouted, “Sheriff's office, let me see your hands,” as he approached the car.
Helpful to our review in this case, a surveillance video captured Defendant's approach and the incident that followed.4 The video first shows Roberts, the putative purchaser, walking to the passenger window and then around the back and toward the driver's side of the car. Shortly thereafter, Corporal Smith and his dog are seen running toward the passenger side of the car, with Defendant following slightly behind. Smith stops and points his handgun at the passenger window, while Defendant continues walking toward the front of the car. Defendant makes his way to the front of the car, as evidenced by the fact that the front right headlight of the car can be seen shining directly on his left pants leg. As soon as Defendant reaches this position, the car suddenly accelerates toward him, and the car's headlight beam can be seen moving up Defendant's pants leg as the car moves forward. Almost immediately, Defendant begins falling to the ground and, within one to two seconds of its initial acceleration, the car abruptly stops. While Defendant is on the ground near the right front tire, the car briefly rolls forward a second time, then stops again.
Because the video has no audio component, it does not reveal when the gunshots at issue in this case were fired. Defendant, Lechner, and Plaintiff each offered statements on that matter. Defendant testified that after approaching from the passenger's side of the car, he moved to the front of the car, at which point he stopped when the vehicle started coming toward him. Defendant tried to backpedal, but the right passenger side bumper struck him in the left leg, causing him to lose his balance, and he fell to the left. According to his testimony, he fired the first shot5 while the car was still accelerating. His first shot would have occurred “at the same time” as the vehicle made contact with him or “maybe ․ half a second sooner.” He pulled the trigger on his weapon four times, “as quick as [he] could,” and was “firing the rounds as [he was] falling to the ground.” Corroborating Defendant's testimony regarding the timing of events, Lechner confirmed in an initial statement given shortly after the incident that the shots by the officer were fired as the car was moving, but he also stated that the car never actually struck Defendant.6
Understandably, given how quickly everything happened and how unanticipated were the turn of events from Plaintiff's point of view, his account of the chronology was not very specific. He gave a statement two days after the incident and admitted that after the undercover officer had walked to Lechner's side of the window, “everything's pretty much just a blur.” He recalled that he put his hands up and “the next thing that happened [he] was getting shot through the passenger side of the door.” He opined that perhaps the officers thought Lechner was putting the car into the drive gear, but “[e]verything happened so fast ․ [he] wasn't paying attention.” As to the timing of the shots, he stated that they occurred about two seconds after the undercover officer had walked to the driver's side of the car. He was uncertain whether the car had rolled forward once the officers approached, and he never saw Defendant fall down. In fact, it was his belief that Defendant was not standing in front of the car but that instead he was standing to the right side of the front of the car when the events unfolded.
Plaintiff was deposed over eighteen months later. He testified that he saw only one of the two deputies who approached the car, but it is unclear from his testimony whether it was Corporal Smith or Defendant whom he saw. As to the timing of the acceleration of the car, Plaintiff indicated that when Lechner began talking to the undercover officer, Plaintiff asked Lechner to leave and take him home, at which point Lechner began pulling out of the parking lot. After Lechner began pulling out, Plaintiff saw a figure (one of the deputies) running toward his side of the car, at which point Lechner hit the brakes. Either right after Lechner hit the brakes or just as he hit the brakes, “the sky just lit up” “like fireworks, and they were shooting in the car.” The car was no longer moving when Plaintiff heard the gunshots. He never felt the car hit anyone or saw the car hit a deputy.
After the above events, officers found in the car a semiautomatic handgun in its locked glove compartment; a plastic bag containing 48 grams, plus nine smaller bags, of marijuana; and a cellphone containing the text messages sent between Deputy Walter and the suspect. Based on his acceleration of the car toward Defendant, Lechner was charged with battery on a police officer. He pled guilty to aggravated assault on a police officer, although he did not enter his plea until after the close of discovery and over two months after Defendant filed his motion for summary judgment in this case. In his plea, Lechner admitted that he had assaulted Defendant by “driving at him with a motor vehicle and causing in him a fear that violence was about to take place and that the motor vehicle would constitute a deadly weapon.”
II. Procedural History
Plaintiff filed the present action, asserting § 1983 claims against Defendant and Lt. Ludwig, in their individual capacities.7 At the close of discovery, both defendants moved for summary judgment on the ground of qualified immunity. As noted, a few months after the motion was filed and also after Plaintiff had filed his response, Lechner entered his guilty plea to aggravated assault on a police officer. Defendant moved for leave to submit the plea transcript, which contained Lechner's admission to “driving [the car] at” Defendant. The district court refused to allow Defendant to submit this transcript, and it subsequently denied Defendant's motion for summary judgment.8
In its summary judgment order, the district court acknowledged that Defendant was acting within his discretionary authority when he shot Plaintiff, and that it was therefore Plaintiff's burden to show that qualified immunity was not justified. But it concluded that Plaintiff had met this burden based on the court's determination that a reasonable officer would not have used deadly force under the circumstances. According to the court, Defendant had no reason to believe the suspect was dangerous because the crime under investigation involved only a $100 drug deal. Further, although the court acknowledged that an officer who reasonably believed Lechner was trying to run him over would have been justified in using deadly force, the court found that material questions of fact existed as to whether Defendant could have reasonably perceived that he was in danger. In reaching this conclusion, the court relied on (1) Plaintiff's testimony that Defendant was not in the car's path as it accelerated and that the car was stopped when Defendant began shooting and (2) the fact that the bullet holes were found in the side of the car, rather than in the front.
Defendant filed a motion for reconsideration, again raising Lechner's admission at his guilty plea hearing that he assaulted Defendant by “driving at him” with the car. The district court denied the motion, stating that the new evidence “would not change the Court's opinion that a jury question exists as to the reasonableness of the force used” by Defendant. Defendant has appealed both the district court's summary judgment order and its order denying reconsideration.
I. Standard of Review
“We review de novo a district court's denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity, applying the same legal standards that governed the district court.” Feliciano v. City of Miami Beach, 707 F.3d 1244, 1247 (11th Cir.2013). In conducting our review, we construe the evidence in favor of the plaintiff and decide whether the defendant is entitled to qualified immunity under the plaintiff's version of the facts. Id.; see also Tolan v. Cotton, ––– U.S. ––––, 134 S.Ct. 1861, 1866, 188 L.Ed.2d 895 (2014) (noting, in a qualified immunity case, “the importance of drawing inferences in favor of the nonmovant”). We acknowledge that the “facts, as accepted at the summary judgment stage of the proceedings, may not be the actual facts of the case.” McCullough v. Antolini, 559 F.3d 1201, 1202 (11th Cir.2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). Nevertheless, we view the facts from the plaintiff's perspective because the determinative issue on appeal is “not which facts the parties might be able to prove” but rather whether “certain given facts” demonstrate a violation of clearly established law. Crenshaw v. Lister, 556 F.3d 1283, 1289 (11th Cir.2009) (quoting Lee v. Ferraro, 284 F.3d 1188, 1190 (11th Cir.2002)).
II. Qualified Immunity
Resolution of Defendant's appeal requires us to decide whether Plaintiff proved that Defendant was not entitled to qualified immunity for his actions.9 Qualified immunity balances two important interests: the need to hold accountable a public official who has irresponsibly exercised his power and the obligation to protect from liability an official who has reasonably performed his duties. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 231, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009). We are required to grant qualified immunity to a defendant official unless the plaintiff can demonstrate two things: (1) that the facts, when construed in the plaintiff's favor, show that the official committed a constitutional violation and, if so, (2) that the law, at the time of the official's act, clearly established the unconstitutionality of that conduct. McCullough, 559 F.3d at 1205.
In our inquiry as to the first prong of the test, we do not deal in abstractions, but instead look carefully at the specific facts of the case. Id. at 1206. And before deciding whether a police officer has actually used excessive force, we must “slosh our way through the factbound morass of ‘reasonableness' “ because, in the end, “all that matters is whether [the officer's] actions were reasonable.” Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 383, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007). As to the second prong of the test, even if the defendant official's acts are unconstitutional, he can be held liable only if the law so clearly established the wrongfulness of his conduct that any reasonable official in his place would have understood that he was violating the plaintiff's constitutional rights. Plumhoff v. Rickard, ––– U.S. ––––, 134 S.Ct. 2012, 2023, 188 L.Ed.2d 1056 (2014).
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, we conclude that he has satisfied neither prong in this case, and therefore Defendant is entitled to summary judgment.
A. Constitutional Violation
Plaintiff's excessive force claim is analyzed under the objective reasonableness standard of the Fourth Amendment. Id. at 2020 (citing Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989) and Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 105 S.Ct. 1694, 85 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985)). The reasonableness standard “requires a careful balancing of the nature and quality of the intrusion on the individual's Fourth Amendment interests against the countervailing governmental interests at stake.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Reasonableness in this context depends on all the circumstances relevant to an officer's decision to use force and the amount of force used. See Jean–Baptiste v. Gutierrez, 627 F.3d 816, 821 (11th Cir.2010). We view the circumstances “from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.” Plumhoff, 134 S.Ct. at 2020 (internal quotation marks omitted). And we allow for the fact that officers are often required to make “split-second judgments—in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving—about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
As to deadly force, a police officer may use such force to dispel a threat of serious physical harm to either the officer or others, or to prevent the escape of a suspect who threatens this harm. McCullough, 559 F.3d at 1206; Morton v. Kirkwood, 707 F.3d 1276, 1283 (11th Cir.2013). The district court concluded that the deputies would have had no reasonable belief that either Lechner or Plaintiff posed a risk of serious harm to others had Lechner merely been trying to escape the scene.10 Thus, the use of deadly force to stop a perceived escape attempt would have been excessive. We agree with the district court on this point.
Defendant argues, however, that he fired his gun, not to prevent an escape, but in self-defense because he thought the car occupied by Plaintiff and Lechner was about to run him over. We have held that it is reasonable, and therefore constitutionally permissible, for an officer to use deadly force when he has “probable cause to believe that his own life is in peril.” Robinson v. Arrugueta, 415 F.3d 1252, 1256 (11th Cir.2005). For that reason, we have “consistently upheld” an officer's use of deadly force in cases where the officer reasonably believed his life was endangered by a suspect who “used or threatened to use his car as a weapon.” McCullough, 559 F.3d at 1207; see also Terrell v. Smith, 668 F.3d 1244, 1255 (11th Cir.2012) (granting qualified immunity where “an objectively reasonable law enforcement officer could well have perceived that [a] moving vehicle was being used as a deadly weapon”).
Indeed, the district court acknowledged the above legal principle and recognized that had Defendant believed “Lechner was trying to run him over ․ [Defendant] would have been justified in using deadly force to stop the car.” But taking the evidence in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, the court inferred that Defendant was not in the car's path and moreover that the car had stopped its forward movement before he began shooting. For this reason, the court concluded that Defendant “was not in danger of being hit by the car when he opened fire,” and thus a reasonable officer in his position could not have had probable cause to believe that he was being threatened with the infliction of serious physical harm. And because Defendant was under no threat of serious physical injury, the court found his use of deadly force to be unreasonable, which conclusion disqualified Defendant from qualified immunity.
Because we, the district court, and the parties agree on the governing legal principles, the question before us then becomes whether the district court's construction of the evidence in the record was accurate. Having carefully reviewed that evidence in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, we disagree with the district court and conclude that a reasonable officer would have reasonably perceived that he was in imminent danger of being run over by Lechner's car. Thus, the officer's firing of his gun in an effort to stop the car did not constitute excessive force.
The district court reached its conclusion that Defendant was not in the path of the car and that the car was stationary when he fired his shots based largely on a few fragmentary statements in Plaintiff's deposition testimony. It is true that in determining whether summary judgment is appropriate based on qualified immunity, a district court must generally consider the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Scott, 550 U.S. at 377. It is unclear whether Plaintiff's testimony on these points creates a viable dispute as to the above questions. Leaving aside the fact that in his original statement Plaintiff had said that the entire incident was pretty much a blur to him, that everything happened fast and he was not paying attention, and that he was uncertain whether the car had rolled forward once the officers had approached, we note that Plaintiff's somewhat clearer recollection during his deposition is likewise ambiguous. In fact, it is impossible to determine whether Plaintiff ever saw Defendant or whether his testimony instead referenced Corporal Smith. Plaintiff stated in his deposition that he could barely see anything at the time of the shooting because the parking lot was extremely dark. In addition, Plaintiff said that he saw only one of the two deputies who approached his side of the car. According to Plaintiff, he was looking out the passenger-side window when he saw the deputy approach. The video shows that Corporal Smith is the deputy who headed toward Plaintiff's side of the car and approached the passenger-side window, whereas Defendant, following behind, went toward the front of the car. If the deputy that Plaintiff observed was Smith, it means that he failed to observe the pivotal event in this case: whether the car accelerated toward Defendant when the latter was allegedly in front of the vehicle.
As to the timing of the shooting in relation to the stopping of the vehicle, Plaintiff recalled that Lechner hit the brakes at the same time as the deputy observed by Plaintiff approached his side of the car. Then, either at the moment that Lechner hit the brakes or right after, “the sky just lit up” and “they were shooting in the car.” If shots were fired around the same time as Lechner hit the brakes, Plaintiff's testimony is largely consistent with Defendant's version of the timing of events.
But even if we spruce up Plaintiff's testimony and, as did the district court, infer him to be stating either that the car did not accelerate while Defendant was standing in front of it or that Defendant was never, at any time, standing in front of the car, the surveillance video conclusively rebuts such testimony. The video establishes that Defendant was in the path of the car when it accelerated because it shows the car's right front headlight beam shining directly on Defendant's left pants leg. As the car accelerates, the headlight beam moves up Defendant's pants leg until Defendant begins falling to the ground and the car comes to an abrupt stop.
It is true that that we construe the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. But when “opposing parties tell two different stories, one of which is blatantly contradicted by the record, so that no reasonable jury could believe it,” a court should not adopt the contradicted version for purposes of ruling on a motion for summary judgment. Scott, 550 U.S. at 380 (holding that where videotape footage clearly contradicted the non-movant's testimony, the district court should not have relied on the testimony in resolving the motion for summary judgment on a Fourth Amendment excessive force claim). This is so because when the non-movant's assertion is “so utterly discredited” by the record, no “genuine” dispute of material fact exists sufficient to prompt an inference on behalf of the non-movant. Id.
And that is the case here. Given the video evidence, Plaintiff's testimony cannot call into question Defendant's assertion that he was in the path of Lechner's car when the latter accelerated toward him, thereby causing Defendant to reasonably fear for his life. As to the district court's reliance on Plaintiff's testimony that Lechner applied the brakes at the same moment the shots rang out, we assume this assertion to be true, but it does not create an issue of fact as to whether any danger had dissipated in the split-second immediately preceding Defendant's decision to use deadly force. See Robinson, 415 F.3d at 1256 (“Even if in hindsight the facts show that [the defendant] perhaps could have escaped unharmed, we conclude that a reasonable officer could have perceived that [the suspect] was using the [car] as a deadly weapon.”). Moreover, whether the car hit Defendant or just rapidly accelerated toward him, it would have been reasonable for Defendant to fear for his safety. See Long v. Slaton, 508 F.3d 576, 581 (11th Cir.2007) (“[T]he law does not require officers in a tense and dangerous situation to wait until the moment a suspect uses a deadly weapon to act to stop the suspect.”). Indeed, when previously addressing circumstances that are not materially distinguishable from the facts here, we found an officer's use of deadly force to be constitutional. See Robinson, 415 F.3d at 1256 (upholding an officer's use of deadly force against a suspect who slowly—at one or two miles per hour—drove a vehicle toward the officer as he stood between the suspect's vehicle and a parked car).
Nor do we find persuasive the district court's observation that, although not dispositive, the location of the bullet holes in the side of the car, not the front, “also supports a conclusion that [Defendant] was not in danger of being hit by the car when he opened fire.” Again, the surveillance video clearly shows that Defendant was in the path of the car when it accelerated. The only ballistics evidence in the record is the report of defense expert Richard Ernest,11 who concluded that the shots entered the side of the car because of the direction Defendant was falling when he began firing, and not because Defendant was standing at the side of the car when he began shooting.
In short, taking the evidence in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, we conclude that this evidence demonstrates that Lechner's car began accelerating toward Defendant as he stood in front of it and that his use of deadly force to stop what appeared to be an imminent threat to his life was not excessive. That being so, Defendant did not violate the Constitution when he responded with deadly force.
B. Clearly Established Law
Even assuming a constitutional violation, Defendant is entitled to qualified immunity unless Plaintiff can show that his Fourth Amendment rights were “clearly established” at the time of the shooting. Plumhoff, 134 S.Ct. at 2023. To be clearly established, the contours of a right must be “sufficiently definite that any reasonable official in the defendant's shoes would have understood that he was violating it.” Id. “The salient question is whether the state of the law at the time of an incident provided ‘fair warning’ to the defendant[ ] that [his] alleged conduct was unconstitutional.” Tolan, 134 S.Ct. at 1866 (internal quotation marks omitted).
Fair warning is most commonly provided by materially similar precedent from the Supreme Court, this Court, or the highest state court in which the case arose. See Terrell, 668 F.3d at 1256. However, a “judicial precedent with materially identical facts is not essential for the law to be clearly established.” Youmans v. Gagnon, 626 F.3d 557, 563 (11th Cir.2010). Authoritative judicial decisions may “establish broad principles of law” that are clearly applicable to the conduct at issue, and it may also be obvious from “explicit statutory or constitutional statements” that certain conduct is unconstitutional. Griffin Indus., Inc. v. Irvin, 496 F.3d 1189, 1209 (11th Cir.2007); see also Taylor v. Barkes, ––– U.S. ––––, 135 S.Ct. 2042, 2044, 192 L.Ed.2d 78 (2015) (“We do not require a case directly on point, but existing precedent must have placed the ․ constitutional question beyond debate.” (internal quotation marks omitted)).
As explained above, it is well established that an officer may constitutionally use deadly force when his life is threatened by a car that is being used as a deadly weapon. See Robinson, 415 F.3d at 1256; McCullough, 559 F.3d at 1207. The district court thus acknowledged that Defendant would be entitled to qualified immunity if he reasonably believed Lechner was trying to run him over with the car and thus feared for his safety. The court nevertheless denied qualified immunity because it discounted undisputed video evidence showing that Defendant was in the path of the car when it accelerated and that he fired just as—or a split second after—Lechner hit the brakes. Properly accounting for this evidence, our case law did not put Defendant on notice that his use of deadly force violated any clearly established rights.12
For all of the above reasons, we conclude that Defendant is entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law. Accordingly, we REVERSE the order of the district court denying his motion for summary judgment and direct that court to enter judgment consistent with this opinion.
JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judge:
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IMANI BROWN v. CITY OF NEW YORK JUSTIN NAIMOLI 26063 THEODORE PLEVRITIS
IMANI BROWN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF NEW YORK, a municipal entity, JUSTIN NAIMOLI, New York City Police Officer, Shield 26063, in his individual capacity, THEODORE PLEVRITIS, in his individual capacity, Defendants-Appellees.
Docket No. 16-1258-cv
Before: JACOBS and DRONEY, Circuit Judges, and STANCEU, Judge. * JOSHUA S. MOSKOVITZ, Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiff-Appellant. DEVIN SLACK (Richard Dearing and Julie Steiner, on the brief), Zachary W. Carter for Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, for Defendants-Appellees.
Plaintiff-appellant Imani Brown appeals an April 21, 2016 judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (“District Court”) (Forrest, Judge) in favor of defendants Justin Naimoli and Theodore Plevritis, New York City police officers, on her federal and state law claims of excessive force stemming from her arrest on November 15, 2011. The District Court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment on the federal claims on the ground of qualified immunity and dismissed the state law claims. We affirm the judgment of the District Court.
Brown brought this action on February 13, 2013 in the District Court against the City of New York, and against defendants Naimoli and Plevritis in their individual capacities, following her arrest near Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan. She asserted Fourth Amendment claims for false arrest and excessive use of force, and a First Amendment retaliation claim, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and also brought parallel claims under New York state law. In its first dispositive decision, the District Court granted summary judgment for defendants on all of Brown's § 1983 claims and dismissed the state law claims on jurisdictional grounds. Brown v. City of New York, No. 13-cv-1018, 2014 WL 2767232 (S.D.N.Y. June 18, 2014) (“Brown I”). On Brown's first appeal, this Court vacated the judgment entered by the District Court as to the excessive force claims and affirmed the judgment as to all other claims before it. Brown v. City of New York, 798 F.3d 94 (2d Cir. 2015) (“Brown II”). Brown did not appeal the District Court's judgment with respect to any of her claims against the City of New York. Id. at 95. On remand, the District Court awarded summary judgment to defendants Naimoli and Plevritis on the § 1983 excessive force claims, holding that qualified immunity insulated these officers from liability, and dismissed the remaining state law claims. Brown v. City of New York, 13-cv-1018, 2016 WL 1611502 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 20, 2016) (“Brown III”).
Because this Court affirmed the District Court's disposition of all of Brown's claims except the excessive force claims, as to which the judgment of the District Court was vacated, see Brown II, 798 F.3d at 95, the only claims remaining in this litigation are the excessive force claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and under state law. Further, because Brown did not appeal the District Court's final decision on any of her claims against the City of New York, id., the only claims remaining are the excessive force claims brought against Officers Naimoli and Plevritis in their individual capacities.
Brown raises three arguments on appeal. Pointing to language in this Court's opinion in Brown II remanding the case “for trial,” she argues, first, that under this Court's mandate the District Court was required to hold a trial and, therefore, lacked discretion on remand to grant summary judgment. Second, she argues that the two defendant police officers waived any defense of qualified immunity. Finally, she argues that the District Court erred on the merits in holding that qualified immunity shielded the officers from liability.
We determine de novo the meaning of a previous mandate of this Court. Carroll v. Blinken, 42 F.3d 122, 126 (2d Cir. 1994). In doing so, we reject Brown's first argument, i.e., that the mandate required the District Court to preside over a trial rather than resolve the excessive force claims on a second summary judgment motion.
Plaintiff-appellant's argument relies on language in the opinion in Brown II stating that Brown's claim against the officers “for use of excessive force must be remanded for trial,” Brown II, 798 F.3d at 95, that “[t]he assessment of a jury is needed in this case,” and that “a jury will have to decide whether Fourth Amendment reasonableness was exceeded ․ ,” id. at 103. Brown interprets this language as a directive to the District Court to conduct an actual trial, but this interpretation fails to construe the references to a “trial” and a “jury” in the context of the issue this Court was deciding. That issue was whether the District Court erred in granting summary judgment to defendants on the ground that the force used in arresting Brown was not excessive. In considering the issue of whether excessive force was used, this Court applied the “objective reasonableness” standard as explicated in Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 392 (1989). The references to “trial” and “a jury” in the opinion are properly understood in the context of the requirements a movant must meet to obtain summary judgment. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) (requiring movant to show absence of a genuine issue of material fact and entitlement to judgment as a matter of law). On the record before it in Brown II, this Court viewed the question of whether the force used in arresting Brown was reasonable under the Graham factors as a question to be decided by a jury rather than by the trial court on a summary judgment motion. Brown II, 798 F.3d at 102-03.
As the opinion in Brown II explained, the objective reasonableness standard governs whether the force an officer used to make an arrest was excessive and therefore in violation of rights protected by the Fourth Amendment. Brown II, 798 F.3d at 100 (“The Fourth Amendment prohibits the use of excessive force in making an arrest, and whether the force used is excessive is to be analyzed under that Amendment's ‘”reasonableness” standard.’ ” (citing Graham, 490 U.S. at 395)). The Brown II opinion discussed the three factors the Supreme Court identified specifically, i.e., severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to safety of the officers or others, and whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest or attempting to flee. Id. (citing Graham, 490 U.S. at 396). The District Court erred, this Court concluded in Brown II, because “[a]n aggregate assessment of all three relevant Graham factors would seem to point toward a determination of excessive force and, at a minimum, to preclude a ruling against the victim on a motion for summary judgment.” Id. at 102 (footnote omitted).
Following this Court's vacatur of the judgment the District Court entered in Brown I, the excessive force claims on remand reverted back to the prior, pre-trial status. A trial court generally must have discretion to rule on matters prior to presiding over an actual trial, including dispositive motions, and an appellate court vacating an award of summary judgment ordinarily would not confine the discretion of a district court as to how to proceed from that point unless doing so was necessary to correct the error determined to have occurred below. Here, a trial was not necessary to correct the error the District Court was held to have committed. That error was corrected by vacating the summary judgment disposing of the § 1983 excessive force claims against the two officers on the ground that excessive force was not used in Brown's arrest. Consistent with the mandate, the District Court was not free to entertain a second summary judgment motion on the same ground, but it was not constrained from considering a second summary judgment motion raising the issue of whether the § 1983 excessive force claims were defeated by qualified immunity, an issue that neither Brown I nor Brown II decided. Therefore, we decline to interpret the Brown II mandate to have required a trial on the issue of objective reasonableness under the Graham standard. The District Court retained its ordinary, and necessary, discretion to manage the remainder of the litigation consistent with the mandate, which addressed only the question of the reasonableness of the force used by the officers, not the question of qualified immunity.
Brown argues that the issue of qualified immunity, if not explicitly decided, was “implicitly” decided in the previous appeal, maintaining that “[i]t was not necessary for this Court to expressly address qualified immunity for that issue to be subsumed in the mandate and foreclosed on remand.” Br. for Pl.-Appellant with Special App. 19 (Aug. 12, 2016), ECF No. 32 (“Pl.-Appellant's Br.”). The District Court concluded in Brown III that the issue of qualified immunity was not implicitly decided in Brown II, and we agree. Brown II mentioned the qualified immunity defense in analyzing plaintiff-appellant's false arrest claims, see 798 F.3d at 99, but it did not do so in addressing the excessive force claims. As to the latter claims, we can be sure that Brown II did not intend to rule on them implicitly: the issue was not decided in the District Court's initial opinion, it was not argued on appeal, and Brown II never addresses it. Instead, Brown II confines its analysis to the issue of objective reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment standard of Graham. Notably, Graham did not involve the question of qualified immunity of police officers. 490 U.S. at 399 n.12 (“Since no claim of qualified immunity has been raised in this case, ․ we express no view on its proper application in excessive force cases that arise under the Fourth Amendment.”).
What is more, the District Court's disposition of the excessive force claims that was before this Court in Brown II did not require this Court to decide whether qualified immunity applied. In granting summary judgment on the excessive force claims in Brown I, the District Court disposed of the § 1983 excessive force claims against the City of New York (a disposition that became final when it was not appealed), in addition to those against the two officers in their individual capacities, by concluding that the officers did not use excessive force. Having done so, the District Court had no need to consider whether the doctrine of qualified immunity protected the two individual defendants from liability. Under the District Court's holding in Brown I, the two officers could not be liable to Brown in their individual capacities for damages arising from a violation of the Fourth Amendment prohibition against excessive use of force that the District Court held not to have occurred.
Arguing that the District Court erred in failing to follow the mandate in Brown II, plaintiff-appellant relies on Statek Corp. v. Dev. Specialists, Inc. (In Re Coudert Bros. LLP), 809 F.3d 94 (2d Cir. 2015) (“In Re Coudert Bros.”). She relies, further, on Puricelli v. Argentina, 797 F.3d 213 (2d Cir. 2015), for the principle that “where a mandate directs a district court to conduct specific proceedings ․ , generally the district court must conduct those proceedings ․” Pl.-Appellant's Br. 19 (quoting Puricelli, 797 F.3d at 218).
In Re Coudert Bros. is not on point. In that case, a bankruptcy court expressly was instructed “'to apply Connecticut's choice of law rules in deciding Statek's motion to reconsider.' ” 809 F.3d at 99 (citation omitted). Noting that the bankruptcy court did not do so, this Court concluded that “[f]ar from giving full effect to our mandate ․ , the bankruptcy court here essentially gave it no legal effect.” Id. When we consider the context of the vacatur of the summary judgment and the ordering of further proceedings, we cannot conclude that Brown II expressly or unambiguously ordered the District Court to conduct a trial on the issue of whether the force used in arresting Brown was excessive under Fourth Amendment standards. In response to the vacatur of the summary judgment, the District Court conducted appropriate further proceedings. It would be incorrect, therefore, to conclude that the District Court gave “no legal effect” to the mandate in Brown II.
Because Brown II did not expressly direct the District Court to hold a trial on remand, Puricelli is also distinguishable from this appeal. In Puricelli, this Court specifically directed that “on remand, the district court shall conduct an evidentiary hearing to resolve” certain specified factual issues pertaining to awards of damages in class action suits to recover on defaulted government bonds. 797 F.3d at 217 (quoting Hickory Sec. Ltd. v. Republic of Argentina, 493 Fed. Appx. 156, 160 (2d Cir. 2012)). Rather than follow that mandated procedure, the district court modified the class definitions and granted new class certifications. Id. This Court held in Puricelli that the mandate in question “gave the District Court specific instructions that did not permit expanding the plaintiff classes.” Id. at 218.
In summary, Brown II did not rule, explicitly or implicitly, on the issue of qualified immunity and is not properly interpreted to have required the District Court to conduct a trial on whether excessive force was used in arresting Brown. We hold, therefore, that the District Court did not err in considering a motion for summary judgment on the qualified immunity issue.
Plaintiff-appellant's second argument is that Naimoli and Plevritis waived their qualified immunity defense, first by raising it in only a “half-sentence argument” in support of their summary judgment motion before the last appeal, and again by failing to raise it in the last appeal. Pl.-Appellant's Br. 23. Brown argues that in their original summary judgment motion, defendants argued, only summarily, that “the officers are entitled to qualified immunity as it was reasonable under the circumstances for the officers to use the force shown.” Id. at 23-24 (citing Mem. of Law in Supp. of Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. at 17, Brown I, 2014 WL 2767232 (No. 13-cv-1018)). She submits that “[t]his contention does not argue that the law was not clearly established, nor that reasonable officers could be unsure whether the force employed was unconstitutional.” Id. at 24. Further, Brown argues that defendant-appellees' failure to raise qualified immunity on appeal in Brown II is “a concession that they had not properly raised it in the court below” and that this failure, in any event, waived the qualified immunity defense. Id. at 25.
The discretion trial courts may exercise on matters of procedure extends to a decision on whether an argument has been waived. Olin Corp. v. Am. Home Assur. Co., 704 F.3d 89, 98 (2d Cir. 2012) (“A district court's determination that a party has not waived an argument by raising it earlier is reviewed for abuse of discretion” (citing Stichting Ter Behartiging Van de Belangen Van Oudaandeelhouders In Het Kapitaal Van Saybolt Int'l B.V. v. Schreiber, 407 F.3d 34, 45 (2d Cir. 2005))). The District Court reasoned that Naimoli and Plevitis did not waive the qualified immunity defense because they “pled the defense in the Answer, raised it specifically as to the excessive force claim in the first summary judgment motion, and raised it again on summary judgment now.” Brown III, 2016 WL 1611502 at *5 n.6. It also reasoned that the “quality of the argument in defendant's briefing does not here serve as a proper basis for a waiver.” Id. Applying an abuse of discretion standard, we do not find error in the District Court's deciding that the officers did not waive the qualified immunity defense.
In arguing that the defendant officers inadequately raised the issue in their summary judgment motion, Brown relies on Blissett v. Coughlin, 66 F.3d 531 (2d Cir. 1995), and McCardle v. Haddad, 131 F.3d 43 (2d Cir. 1997). This reliance is misplaced.
Plaintiff-appellant characterizes Blissett and this case as involving “similar circumstances.” Pl.-Appellant's Br. 24. We disagree. In Blissett, this Court affirmed a district court's ruling that the defense of qualified immunity had been waived where the defendants, although having “raised a general immunity defense in their answer” to the complaint, “did not raise the issue of qualified immunity during the subsequent five years of pre-trial proceedings,” 66 F.3d at 538, and even at trial “never articulated a qualified immunity defense distinct from the contention—the heart of their defense throughout these proceedings—that no constitutional violation occurred.” Id. at 539. Here, the officers raised the defense of qualified immunity during pre-trial proceedings, in their first motion for summary judgment before the District Court.
McCardle, which also affirmed a district court's ruling that the qualified immunity defense was waived, is inapposite as well. In McCardle, the defendant included the qualified immunity defense in its answer but made no motion for summary judgment on that basis nor showed that he had raised it in any pretrial motion, discovery, or court conference. 131 F.3d at 52. The defendant in McCardle raised the qualified immunity defense at the close of his case at trial as to one claim against him, but not as to another, and he did so in an improper motion. Id.
We next consider Brown's argument that the officers waived their qualified immunity defense by failing to argue it before this Court in the prior appeal. Concluding that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in ruling otherwise, we reject this waiver argument as well.
The role of the appellee is to defend the decision of the lower court. This Court has not held that an appellee is required, upon pain of subsequent waiver, to raise every possible alternate ground upon which the lower court could have decided an issue. See Universal Church v. Geltzer, 463 F.3d 218, 229 (2d Cir. 2006) (stating, in the analogous context of an appeal to a district court from a bankruptcy court, that “[a]lthough it behooves appellees to raise all their defenses on appeal because the appellate court can affirm on any basis supported by the record, even one not relied on by the lower court, Pollara v. Seymour, 344 F.3d 265, 268 (2d Cir. 2003), we are not aware of any case requiring them to do so.”). For its argument to the contrary, Brown relies in part on United States v. Quintieri, 306 F.3d 1217 (2d Cir. 2002), but that case is not on point. Quintieri involved successive appeals by appellant Carlo Donato of a criminal sentence and a remand for resentencing that this Court concluded was a limited, not a de novo, resentencing remand. This Court held that “[b]ecause the remand was limited, Donato may not now raise arguments that he had an incentive and an opportunity to raise previously but did not raise, absent a cogent and compelling reason for permitting him to do so.” Id. at 1225. Donato, notably, was the appellant, not the appellee, and the holding in Quintieri as to the limited scope of the resentencing remand establishes no rule or principle relevant to this appeal of a civil judgment. Brown also argues that allowing the defense of qualified immunity in Brown III was error because qualified immunity is to be resolved at the earliest possible stage in litigation and because permitting “this type of piecemeal litigation will waste tremendous resources.” Pl.-Appellant's Br. 26. According to Brown, the wastefulness results from “two de novo appellate reviews of the same record” and “[a]ll of this can be avoided in the future if the Court strictly enforces its mandate and remands for trial.” Id. at 27. Resolving the qualified immunity defense at an early stage furthers the rule that qualified immunity insulates a defendant officer from suit as well as shielding him from liability. See Lynch v. Ackley, 811 F.3d 569, 576 (2d Cir. 2016). This rule, which benefits defendant officers, does not translate to an obligation of an appellee in the situation of Naimoli and Plevritis to have raised the defense of qualified immunity when as appellees they were arguing for affirmance of the judgment below, which was based on a different ground. Nor do we find merit in Brown's argument concerning “piecemeal litigation.” Avoiding the “piecemeal litigation” as posited by plaintiff-appellant is not a valid reason for disturbing the legitimate exercise of discretion by the District Court on the question of waiver.
We next consider Brown's argument that the District Court, on the merits, impermissibly awarded summary judgment to Naimoli and Plevritis on the ground of qualified immunity. We review a summary judgment award de novo, with all evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and all reasonable inferences drawn in that party's favor. See Okin v. Vill. of Cornwall–on–Hudson Police Dep't, 577 F.3d 415, 427 (2d Cir. 2009); Russo v. City of Bridgeport, 479 F.3d 196, 203 (2d Cir. 2007). Summary judgment is warranted only where “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a).
This Court's opinion in Brown II summarized a number of undisputed facts material to Brown's excessive force claim. The two officers “were arresting Brown for disorderly conduct, a violation that[,] under New York law, is subject to a maximum punishment of 15 days in jail.” Brown II, 798 F.3d at 101. “Officer Plevritis was 5' 10”” and weighed 215 pounds; Officer Naimoli was 5' 7” and weighed 150-160 pounds; Brown was 5' 6” and weighed 120 pounds.” Id. “Officer Plevritis asked Brown to place her hands behind her back so that they could apply handcuffs, and she refused to do so.” Id. “One of the officers kicked Brown's legs out from under her, causing her to fall to the ground.” Id. “One officer succeeded in placing handcuffs on Brown's right wrist.” Id. “Both officers struggled with Brown, forcing her body to the ground.” Id. “Officer Plevritis used his hand to push Brown's face onto the pavement.” Id. “Brown's left arm, without a handcuff, was under her as she fell to the ground.” Id. “The officers endeavored to take hold of Brown's left arm and bring it behind her to complete the handcuffing.” Id. “While on the ground, Brown did not offer her arms for handcuffing in part because she was trying to keep hold of her phone and wallet and reach for the scattered contents of her purse.” Id. “Officer Plevritis twice administered a burst of pepper spray directly to Brown's face.” Id. “The officers completed the handcuffing while Brown was still on the ground.” Id. “Officer Naimoli was aware of techniques for applying handcuffs to a reluctant arrestee, other than taking a person to the ground.” Id.
The District Court relied upon these same uncontested facts in granting the summary judgment motion in Brown III. Brown III, 2016 WL 1611502, at *3. The District Court identified as an additional uncontested fact that “[d]uring the time that plaintiff was refusing to comply with the officers' instructions, and prior to each administration of pepper spray, the officer informed plaintiff that she would be sprayed.” Id. at *2 n.3 (citations omitted). The District Court added that it is “also undisputed that the New York City Police Department Patrol Guide requires that pepper spray be used in ‘two (2) one second bursts, at a minimum distance of three (3) feet, and only in situations when the uniformed member of the service reasonably believes it is necessary to ․ [e]ffect an arrest, or establish physical control of a subject resisting arrest.’ ” Id. at *2 (quoting New York City Patrol Guide, Procedure No. 212-95 (Jan. 1, 2000)).
The District Court recited two contested facts from the Brown II opinion, each of which it construed in favor of Brown for purposes of ruling on the summary judgment motion: “According to Brown, the pepper spray was administered one foot away from her face[ ] (Officer Plevritis claims the first dose was from two feet away and the second dose was from three feet away[ ] ),” and “[a]ccording to Brown, she was trying to use her free arm to pull down her skirt, which was exposing her behind.” Id.
“Qualified immunity shields government officials from civil damages liability unless the official violated a statutory or constitutional right that was clearly established at the time of the challenged conduct.” Reichle v. Howards, 566 U.S. 658 (2012) (citing Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U.S. 731, 735 (2011)). “To be clearly established, a right must be sufficiently clear that every reasonable official would [have understood] that what he is doing violates that right.” Id. at 664 (citing al-Kidd, 563 U.S. at 741) (quotations omitted). Controlling authority serves to put officials on notice of what is unlawful; however, “existing precedent must have placed the statutory or constitutional question beyond debate.” al-Kidd, 563 U.S. at 741.
On the uncontested facts and the two facts that it presumed in Brown's favor, the District Court held that the officers were shielded from liability by their qualified immunity. We agree. As instructed by the Supreme Court, we are “not to define clearly established law at a high level of generality,” al-Kidd, 563 U.S. at 742 (citations omitted), and we consider, as we must, the particular circumstances in which the force was used in effecting Brown's arrest. The force applied, which was the repeated use of pepper spray, the kicking of Brown's legs out from under her to bring her to the ground, and Plevritis's using his hand to push Brown's face onto the pavement, occurred after Brown refused to comply with the instructions to place her hands behind her back for handcuffing. During her noncompliance with the instructions, she was warned prior to each application of the pepper spray. The issue presented, therefore, is whether, under clearly established law, every reasonable officer would have concluded that these actions violated Brown's Fourth Amendment rights in the particular circumstance presented by the uncontested facts and the facts presumed in Brown's favor. Here, those circumstances involved a person's repeatedly refusing to follow the instructions of police officers who were attempting to apply handcuffs to accomplish an arrest.
No precedential decision of the Supreme Court or this Court “clearly establishes” that the actions of Naimoli or Plevritis, viewed in the circumstances in which they were taken, were in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The excessive force cases on which Brown relies do not suffice for this purpose.
Brown first directs our attention to Robison v. Via, 821 F.2d 913 (2d Cir. 1987), a decision vacating a district court's summary judgment award in favor of a defendant state police officer on a § 1983 claim. Summary judgment in favor of the officer was not proper, this Court held, due to the plaintiff's testimony that the officer “'pushed' her against the inside of the door of her car, ‘yanked’ her out, ‘threw [her] up against the fender,’ and ‘twisted [her] arm behind [her] back.’ ” Id. at 923-24. The plaintiff also “testified that she suffered bruises lasting a ‘couple weeks.’ ” Id. The case is inapposite in key respects. The alleged force was more severe than that presented here, and the opinion in Robison does not state that the police officer exerted physical force to overcome resistance to arrest. To the contrary, no arrest was attempted, and the force was applied while the officer sought to prevent the plaintiff's interfering with her children's removal from her custody. See id. at 916-17.
Brown next cites Bellows v. Dainack, 555 F.2d 1105 (2d Cir. 1977), in which the plaintiff contended that defendant police officers twisted his arm and pushed him into a police car; he further alleged that an officer in the front seat pulled him by the scruff of his neck and struck him in the ribs while the plaintiff was sitting in the back seat. Id. at 1106. These allegations are not analogous to the force used against Brown, if for no other reason than that the alleged force was used while the plaintiff in Bellows was seated in the back of the police car, i.e., after the plaintiff was secured in the officers' custody.
Amnesty America v. Town of West Hartford, 361 F.3d 113 (2d Cir. 2004), also cited by Brown, involved police actions taken in response to resistance to arrest but additionally involved allegations of serious physical abuse of the plaintiffs that are readily distinguished from the salient facts of this appeal, including, inter alia, “pressing their wrists back against their forearms in a way that caused lasting damage,” dragging a plaintiff “by his legs, causing a second-degree burn on his chest,” and “ramming” a plaintiff's “head into a wall at high speed.” Id. at 123. Vacating an award of summary judgment in favor of the municipal defendant, this Court opined that “[i]t is entirely possible that a reasonable jury would find, as the district court intimated, that the police officers' use of force was objectively reasonable given the circumstances and the plaintiffs' resistance techniques” but also that “a reasonable jury could also find that the officers gratuitously inflicted pain in a manner that was not a reasonable response to the circumstances ․” Id. at 124. Plaintiff-appellant argues, unconvincingly, that the force alleged in Amnesty America “compares to, and if anything, is less than, the force used here.” Pl.-Appellant's Br. 28.
Brown argues, further, that “Tracy v. Freshwater, 623 F.3d 90 (2d Cir. 2010), clearly established that the officers' use of pepper spray in this case was unconstitutional.” Id. Brown's reliance on this case ignores a critical factual distinction. In Tracy, this Court vacated an award of summary judgment in favor of a defendant police officer after noting that there was an issue of fact as to whether pepper spray was used against the arrestee before handcuffs were applied, or after. Tracy, 623 F.3d at 98. The opinion concludes that “a reasonable juror could find that the use of pepper spray deployed mere inches away from the face of a defendant already in handcuffs and offering no further active resistance constituted an unreasonable use of force.” Id. It is uncontested that Brown received pepper spray prior to, and in furtherance of, the officers' attempts to accomplish the handcuffing.
Finally, Brown draws our attention to several cases from other circuits. There is some tension in this Court's case law concerning whether out-of-circuit precedent can ever clearly establish law in this Circuit. Compare Pabon v. Wright, 459 F.3d 241, 255 (2d Cir. 2006), with Garcia v. Does, 779 F.3d 84, 95 n.12 (2d Cir. 2015). Even assuming that such precedent may suffice in certain circumstances, however, we conclude that no such circumstances exist in this case. This is not a case, for example, “where the law was established in three other circuits and the decisions of our own court foreshadowed” the establishment of the rule of law on which Brown seeks to rely. Matusick v. Erie Cty. Water Auth., 757 F.3d 31, 61 (2d Cir. 2014).
Similarly, we must reject Brown's argument that summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds was improper because the officers allegedly violated the New York City Police Department Patrol Guide directive not to use pepper spray from a distance of less than three feet. Our presuming in Brown's favor the disputed fact as to the distance the officers maintained, as the District Court did, does not change our conclusion. Brown is unable to demonstrate that any administering of pepper spray at a distance of as short as one foot upon an uncooperative arrestee violated “clearly established” Fourth Amendment law against excessive force.
Brown argues that the two officers “were not entitled to qualified immunity since they violated clearly established law by using substantial and unnecessary force to arrest Ms. Brown when she posed no threat to the officers or others, and there were less aggressive techniques to arrest her for a noncriminal and slight offense.” Pl.-Appellant's Br. 27. She adds that “[s]ince the officers knew other less aggressive techniques to arrest Ms. Brown, it was unreasonable and excessive to use more aggressive force than needed.” Id. at 32. Her argument is grounded in the Graham factors, but this Court already has concluded that these factors “would seem to point toward a determination of excessive force,” Brown II, 798 F.3d at 102, in concluding that a jury possibly could find the force used against Brown to have exceeded that permitted under the Fourth Amendment. Her positing that she posed no threat and that less forceful methods existed to accomplish her arrest is not directed to the inquiry we must make as to qualified immunity. Again, that inquiry is whether every reasonable police officer would view the force used by Naimoli and Plevritis, in the circumstances in which that force was applied, as excessive according to clearly established law.
The mandate of this Court in Brown II did not preclude the District Court's considering, and ruling on, defendants' motion for summary judgment on the ground of qualified immunity. Defendants did not waive their qualified immunity defense, and the District Court committed no error in granting that motion. Accordingly, the judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED.
STANCEU, Judge:
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US 4th Cir.
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. LLC LLC
United States Court of Appeals,Fourth Circuit.
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. PIRATE INVESTOR LLC; Frank Porter Stansberry, Defendants-Appellants, Agora, Incorporated, Defendant, James Dale Davidson, Intervenor/Defendant. Forbes, LLC; Hearst Corporation; Tribune Company (including the Baltimore Sun); Eagle Financial, Incorporated; Investorplace Media, LLC; American Society of Newspaper Editors; California First Amendment Coalition; Radio-Television News Directors Association; Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Society of Professional Journalists; Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, Amici Supporting Appellants.
Decided: September 15, 2009
Before WILLIAMS, Chief Judge,* and NIEMEYER and MOTZ, Circuit Judges. ARGUED:Bruce D. Brown, Baker & Hostetler, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Appellants. Michael Conley, United States Securities & Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. ON BRIEF:Bruce W. Sanford, Lee T. Ellis, Jr., Laurie A. Babinski, Baker & Hostetler, LLP., Washington, DC; Matthew J. Turner, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellants. Brian G. Cartwright, General Counsel, Andrew N. Vollmer, Deputy General Counsel, Jacob H. Stillman, Solicitor, Mark Pennington, Assistant General Counsel, Rada L. Potts, Senior Litigation Counsel, Securities & Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. Walter Dellinger, Mark S. Davies, Allison Orr Larsen, O'Melveny & Myers, LLP., Washington, D.C.; Kai Falkenberg, Editorial Counsel, Forbes, L.L.C., New York, New York; Eve Burton, Jonathan Donnellan, The Hearst Corporation, New York, New York; David S. Bralow, Assistant General Counsel, Tribune Company, East Coast Publishing, New York, New York; Lucy A. Dalglish, Gregg P. Leslie, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Arlington, Virginia; Kevin M. Goldberg, American Society of Newspaper Editors, Arlington, Virginia; Kathleen A. Kirby, The Radio-Television News Directors Association, Washington, D.C.; Robert M. O'Neil, Josh Wheeler, The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Amici Supporting Appellants.
Frank Porter Stansberry and Pirate Investor LLC (collectively, “Appellants”) offered and sold an e-mail stock tip. The offer and the tip contained representations that information in both documents was the product of conversations with a senior executive inside the company that was the focus of the tip. After conducting a bench trial, the district court concluded that the representations concerning the source of information in the e-mail stock tip were false, and it determined that Appellants had violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C.A. § 78j(b) (West 2009), and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5 (2008), by offering and selling the stock tip. The district court ordered disgorgement of Appellants' profits from the sales of the stock tip, imposed civil penalties, and issued an injunction against future violations of Section 10(b) and Rule l0b-5.1 Appellants argue that the facts of this case do not support the district court's finding of liability, and that the injunction against future violations of § 10(b) is overbroad. For the following reasons, we affirm.
Pirate Investor LLC is a Maryland limited liability company that publishes investment newsletters.2 Pirate also provides an e-mail service to its subscribers called the “Blast.” Pirate is wholly owned by Agora, Inc., a Maryland corporation that publishes books, magazines, and newsletters covering a wide range of topics.3 Stansberry is the editor-in-chief of Pirate, and in this capacity he writes and publishes investment newsletters.
Sometime in April 2002, Stansberry became aware of a company called USEC, Inc. USEC is a provider of uranium-enrichment services that began as an arm of the United States government.4 The company currently is the executive agent of the United States government under a disarmament pact that was signed between the United States and Russia in 1993. Under the pact, known as “Megatons to Megawatts,” Russia sells uranium that was formerly used in Soviet nuclear warheads to the United States for use as fuel in nuclear power plants. The pact further requires USEC and OAO Techsnabexport (“Tenex”), its Russian counterpart, to periodically renegotiate the price of the uranium. Any new pricing agreement is subject to approval by both the United States and Russian governments. The pricing agreement between USEC and Tenex expired at the end of 2001, and the two companies negotiated a new agreement in February of 2002. Neither the Russian nor the United States governments had approved this new agreement as of May 2002, however, and USEC requested that the United States government place the pricing agreement on the agenda for a summit between President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin that was planned for that month.
After becoming aware of the circumstances surrounding USEC's pricing agreement, Stansberry contacted Steven Wingfield, USEC's Director of Investor Relations, and on May 2, 2002, conducted a telephone interview with Wingfield. This case revolves around two communications-a special report on USEC (“USEC Special Report”) and a solicitation hawking that report (“Super Insider Tip E-mail”)-that Stansberry prepared following that telephone conversation.
The Super Insider Tip E-mail was a promotional document calling on investors to “DOUBLE YOUR MONEY ON MAY 22ND WITH THIS ‘SUPER INSIDER’ TIP.” (J.A. at 2972.) Specifically, the document purported to contain information obtained from “a senior company executive” that would allow investors to know exactly when “a major international agreement between the United States and Russia” would be concluded, resulting in substantial profits for a particular U.S. company. (J.A. at 2972.) The document identified May 22 as the day the deal would close and inveigled investors with assurances that “[t]his is the kind of insider information that could make you a lot of money.” (J.A. at 2972-73.)
The Super Insider Tip E-mail also included some back ground on the company, as well as details of how the upcoming deal would benefit the company.5 The document did not provide the name of the company. For that nugget of information, investors were told that they would have to pay $1,000. Stansberry signed the e-mail under the pseudonym “Jay McDaniel.”6
Those who responded to the Super Insider Tip E-mail and paid $1,000 would receive the USEC Special Report. This communication identified USEC as the company referenced in the Super Insider Tip E-mail. The USEC Special Report engaged in a financial analysis of USEC's fundamentals and discussed its role as the United States' agent under the 1993 disarmament pact. It observed that USEC had reached an agreement with its Russian partner regarding a market-based pricing agreement for nuclear fuel, but cautioned that “implementation of the agreement is subject to review and approval by the U.S. and Russian governments.” (J.A. at 3111.) The USEC Special Report then repeated the claim made in the Super Insider Tip E-mail that: “A USEC senior executive has assured me that the new Russian agreement will be approved prior to the upcoming Bush-Putin summit. In fact, he said ‘watch the stock on May 22nd.’ ” (J.A. at 3111.)
On May 13, 2002, Stansberry sent the Super Insider Tip E-mail to the Pirate Investor Blast Database, a list of e-mail addresses of subscribers to Pirate products. After an initial favorable response,7 Stansberry caused the Super Insider Tip E-mail to be sent to numerous other electronic databases associated with Agora products, as well as at least one database that had no affiliation with Agora. Ultimately, over 800,000 individuals received the Super Insider Tip E-mail. Investors purchased 1,217 copies of the USEC Special Report, resulting in net proceeds of $1,005,000. Pirate received $626,500 of that sum.
Of course, what investors did not know, and what became the focus of the SEC's case against Stansberry and Pirate, was that Wingfield had never told Stansberry that approval of the USEC-Tenex pricing agreement would be announced on May 22.8 Indeed, nothing was announced on May 22, and the pricing agreement was ultimately announced on June 19, 2002. On April 18, 2003, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a civil complaint charging Agora, Pirate, and Stansberry with securities fraud under § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Following a bench trial, the district court concluded that Appellants violated § 10(b) by falsely claiming that a company insider provided the information in the Super Insider Tip E-mail and the USEC Special Report. Appellants were held jointly and severally liable for disgorgement of the profits of the scheme, plus prejudgment interest. Civil penalties were also imposed on Appellants, and the district court entered a permanent injunction enjoining them from further violations of § 10(b).9 Appellants timely appealed, raising three issues: (1) whether the conduct in this case constituted a violation of § 10(b); (2) whether, if the conduct here does fall within the purview of § 10(b), the First Amendment entitles Appellants to the heightened protections it affords the media in other contexts; and (3) whether the permanent injunction entered by the district court is an improper prior restraint on speech.
We begin with Appellants' claim that their conduct did not constitute a violation of § 10(b). In a civil enforcement action under § 10(b), the SEC must establish that the defendant “(1) made a false statement or omission (2) of material fact (3) with scienter (4) in connection with the purchase or sale of securities.”10 McConville v. SEC, 465 F.3d 780, 786 (7th Cir.2006). The SEC bears the burden of establishing each element by a preponderance of the evidence. Herman & MacLean v. Huddleston, 459 U.S. 375, 387-91, 103 S.Ct. 683, 74 L.Ed.2d 548 (1983) (preponderance of the evidence standard applies to § 10(b) actions). We address each element in turn.
Section 10(b) requires that a defendant act deceptively in order to fall within the coverage of the statute. Santa Fe Indus., Inc. v. Green, 430 U.S. 462, 473, 97 S.Ct. 1292, 51 L.Ed.2d 480 (1977) (“The language of § 10(b) gives no indication that Congress meant to prohibit any conduct not involving manipulation or deception.”). Deceptive acts include misstatements, omissions by those with a duty to disclose, manipulative trading practices, and deceptive courses of conduct. Stoneridge Inv. Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., 552 U.S. 148, 128 S.Ct. 761, 769, 169 L.Ed.2d 627 (2008). The facts of this case easily satisfy this element. The district court found that Wingfield never told Stansberry that approval of the pricing agreement would be announced on May 22, and the Appellants do not challenge that finding on appeal. Thus, Appellants' representations that they based their predictions on information obtained from a source within USEC were misstatements of fact.11
It is not enough, however, for the SEC to point to a false statement-the misrepresentation must concern a material fact. See Basic Inc. v. Levinson, 485 U.S. 224, 238, 108 S.Ct. 978, 99 L.Ed.2d 194 (1988) (“It is not enough that a statement is false or incomplete, if the misrepresented fact is otherwise insignificant.”); Greenhouse v. MCG Capital Corp., 392 F.3d 650, 656 (4th Cir.2004) (“The plain language of Rule 10b-5 ․ requires any successful securities-fraud suit to allege a fact that is both untrue and material.”). We have adopted the following standard for addressing materiality:
[A] fact stated or omitted is material if there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable purchaser or seller of a security (1) would consider the fact important in deciding whether to buy or sell the security or (2) would have viewed the total mix of information made available to be significantly altered by disclosure of the fact.
Longman v. Food Lion, Inc., 197 F.3d 675, 683 (4th Cir.1999). Determining whether the facts of a particular case meet this standard “requires delicate assessments of the inferences a ‘reasonable shareholder’ would draw from a given set of facts and the significance of those inferences to him, and these assessments are peculiarly ones for the trier of fact.” TSC Indus., Inc. v. Northway, Inc., 426 U.S. 438, 450, 96 S.Ct. 2126, 48 L.Ed.2d 757 (1976). Accordingly, we review for clear error the district court's determination, made after a bench trial, that Appellants' misrepresentations were material. See Miller v. Thane Int'l, Inc., 519 F.3d 879, 888 (9th Cir.2008) (reviewing district court's findings on materiality for clear error); SEC v. Merchant Capital, LLC, 483 F.3d 747, 754 (11th Cir.2007) (same); Lawton v. Nyman, 327 F.3d 30, 42 (1st Cir.2003) (same); SEC v. Maio, 51 F.3d 623, 637 (7th Cir.1995) (same).
Applying that standard, we see no clear error in the district court's finding of materiality. Appellants promised investors that the information they were receiving was the product of a conversation with a company insider. The materiality determination thus turns on whether the reasonable investor would treat a particular stock recommendation differently depending on whether or not the recommender was acting on inside information. We fail to see any clear error in the district court's determination that an investor would consider this question important in deciding whether to purchase the recommended security.12 Cf. Va. Bankshares, Inc. v. Sandberg, 501 U.S. 1083, 1090-91, 111 S.Ct. 2749, 115 L.Ed.2d 929 (1991) (noting that statements by directors raise “no serious question” of materiality because directors “usually have knowledge and expertness far exceeding the normal investor's resources”). Moreover, purchasers of the USEC Special Report testified that it was important to them that the information conveyed in the report came from a source inside USEC, and that this characteristic influenced them to purchase the report and, subsequently, USEC stock. See Harris v. Union Elec. Co., 787 F.2d 355, 366-67 (8th Cir.1986) (finding no error in jury determination of materiality where the jury heard testimony from various purchasers and market experts); Alton Box Board Co. v. Goldman, Sachs & Co., 560 F.2d 916, 922 (8th Cir.1977) (noting the relevance of “testimony from sophisticated institutional purchasers that [omitted] facts would have been important to them”). In short, we find no clear error in the district court's conclusion that the misstatements in this case concerned material facts.
Next, we consider whether Appellants acted with the requisite intent, or scienter. “[T]he term ‘scienter’ refers to a mental state embracing intent to deceive, manipulate, or defraud.” Ernst & Ernst v. Hochfelder, 425 U.S. 185, 193 n. 12, 96 S.Ct. 1375, 47 L.Ed.2d 668 (1976). The SEC meets its burden of proving scienter by establishing that the speaker acted intentionally or recklessly; the negligent speaker, however, avoids liability. Ottmann v. Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc., 353 F.3d 338, 343-44 (4th Cir.2003). Here, the district court determined that the SEC met its burden of proving that Stansberry acted with the requisite intent, and the court imputed Stansberry's scienter to Pirate.13
In challenging the district court's scienter determination, Appellants contend that the First Amendment protections recognized by the Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964), apply to this case. They claim that the SEC needed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that they acted with “actual malice.” To support this claim, they direct us to Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc., 466 U.S. 485, 104 S.Ct. 1949, 80 L.Ed.2d 502 (1984), a case involving the application of the New York Times standard to a product disparagement action.
In Bose, the Supreme Court was concerned with determining the proper standard of review for courts of appeals to apply when confronted with a district court finding that a particular statement was made with the “actual malice” required by New York Times. After determining that the Constitution requires independent appellate review of “[t]he question whether the evidence in the record in a defamation case is of the convincing clarity required to strip the utterance of First Amendment protection,” id. at 510-11, 104 S.Ct. 1949, the Bose Court moved on to a review of the facts of that case and noted that “the only evidence of actual malice on which the District Court relied was the fact that the statement was an inaccurate description of what [the defendant] had actually perceived,” id. at 512, 104 S.Ct. 1949. The Bose Court then held that the defendant's statement fell within the protections afforded by the First Amendment. Id. at 513, 104 S.Ct. 1949.
Relying on the Bose Court's statement that “there is a significant difference between proof of actual malice and mere proof of falsity,” id. at 511, 104 S.Ct. 1949, Appellants argue that we cannot uphold the district court's resolution of the scienter issue because the district court “confused proof of falsity with proof of fault.” (Appellants' Br. at 48.) They claim that there is no evidence in the record to support the district court's finding of scienter, absent the falsity of the claim that an insider provided the information on which they based the tip, and implore us to follow Bose's lead by holding that an absence of additional evidence of intent necessarily means that the clear and convincing evidence standard mandated by New York Times has not been satisfied.
As we discuss elsewhere in this opinion, see infra Part III, we do not believe that the New York Times standard is applicable to this case. Thus, we reject Appellants' argument insofar as it relies on the mistaken belief that the SEC needed to prove intent by clear and convincing evidence, rather than under the preponderance of the evidence standard typically applicable to civil enforcement actions under § 10(b). Similarly, we reject the notion that independent appellate review of the district court's scienter determination is necessary under Bose and instead review the district court's finding that Appellants acted with scienter for clear error. See Merchant Capital, 483 F.3d at 766 (questions of scienter are reviewable under the clearly erroneous rule); see also Healey v. Chelsea Res., Ltd., 947 F.2d 611, 618 (2d Cir.1991) (“Matters of misrepresentation, knowledge, reliance, causation, and scienter are questions of fact, and the trial court's findings as to those facts may not be set aside unless they are clearly erroneous.”).
After reviewing the record, we are convinced that the district court's conclusion that Appellants acted with scienter was not clearly erroneous. The district court rested its conclusion on the circumstances surrounding the phone call between Stansberry and Wingfield. Having concluded that Wingfield did not, in fact, disclose to Stansberry that approval of the pricing agreement would be announced on May 22, the district court simply inferred that Stansberry, having been a party to that conversation, must have known that his claim that he had heard from a senior USEC executive that the announcement would occur on May 22 was false. The district court surmised that Stansberry “could not possibly have had a belief that the information he provided in the Super Insider Solicitation and Special Report was correct in all material respects” because he “knew full well that Wingfield had not told him that the pricing agreement would be announced on May 22.” (J.A. at 170.)
We see nothing clearly erroneous about this conclusion. The district court did not premise its finding on the falsity of the statements, but on the fact that Stansberry was in a position to know whether or not his statements were true. As other courts have recognized, the fact that a defendant publishes statements when in possession of facts suggesting that the statements are false is “classic evidence of scienter.” Aldridge v. A.T. Cross Corp., 284 F.3d 72, 83 (1st Cir.2002); see also Fla. State Bd. of Admin. v. Green Tree Fin. Corp., 270 F.3d 645, 665 (8th Cir.2001) (“One of the classic fact patterns giving rise to a strong inference of scienter is that defendants published statements when they knew facts or had access to information suggesting that their public statements were materially inaccurate.”). Stansberry, having conducted the interview with Wingfield, would have known whether or not Wingfield told him to “watch the stock on May 22nd.” Once the district court found that Wingfield never made such a statement, there is nothing controversial in drawing the logical conclusion-that Stansberry would know that his claim was false.14
In addition, it would take an act of willful blindness to ignore the fact that Appellants profited from the false statements. Appellants surely knew that absent claims of insider knowledge, it is highly unlikely that investors would pay $1,000 for a stock recommendation. This inference is borne out by the emphasis that the solicitation e-mail placed on the “inside” nature of the tip as it encouraged investors to purchase the USEC Special Report. Given such a clear financial motive for the misrepresentations, the district court's conclusion that they were made with scienter is hardly surprising. The clear error standard of review demands something much more egregious than what confronts us here. Parts & Elec. Motors, Inc. v. Sterling Elec., Inc., 866 F.2d 228, 233 (7th Cir.1988) (“To be clearly erroneous, a decision must ․ strike us as wrong with the force of a five-week-old, unrefrigerated dead fish.”).
Finally, we turn to § 10(b)'s fourth requirement, the “in connection with” requirement. Appellants claim that the fraud in this case did not make the necessary connection to securities transactions because Appellants did not trade in USEC stock or breach any fiduciary duties. We disagree, and for the reasons discussed below we find no error in the district court's determination that Appellants committed fraud “in connection with” the purchase or sale of securities.
“The Supreme Court has consistently embraced an expansive reading of § 10(b)' s ‘in connection with’ requirement.” SEC v. Wolfson, 539 F.3d 1249, 1262 (10th Cir.2008); see also SEC v. Zandford, 535 U.S. 813, 819, 122 S.Ct. 1899, 153 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002) (“In its role enforcing the Act, the SEC has consistently adopted a broad reading of the phrase ‘in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.’ ”). We construe the statute “not technically and restrictively, but flexibly to effectuate its remedial purposes.” Zandford, 535 U.S. at 819, 122 S.Ct. 1899 (internal quotation marks omitted). Under Supreme Court case law, fraudulent activity meets the “in connection with” requirement of § 10(b) whenever it “touches” or “coincides” with a securities transaction. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Dabit, 547 U.S. 71, 85, 126 S.Ct. 1503, 164 L.Ed.2d 179 (2006) (“Under our precedents, it is enough that the fraud alleged ‘coincide’ with a securities transaction-whether by the plaintiff or by someone else.”); Superintendent of Ins. of N.Y. v. Bankers Life & Cas. Co., 404 U.S. 6, 12-13, 92 S.Ct. 165, 30 L.Ed.2d 128 (1971) (holding “in connection with” requirement satisfied where injury occurred “as a result of deceptive practices touching [a] sale of securities”).
Of course, to say that a fraud is “in connection with” a securities transaction whenever it “coincides” with that trans action hardly clarifies the matter. We find direction in several factors that other courts have considered relevant when determining whether the “in connection with” requirement has been satisfied in a particular case. These factors include, but are not limited to: (1) whether a securities sale was necessary to the completion of the fraudulent scheme, Zandford, 535 U.S. at 820-21, 122 S.Ct. 1899; (2) whether the parties' relationship was such that it would necessarily involve trading in securities, Rowinski v. Salomon Smith Barney Inc., 398 F.3d 294, 302-03 (3d Cir.2005); (3) whether the defendant intended to induce a securities transaction, United Int'l Holdings, Inc. v. Wharf (Holdings) Ltd., 210 F.3d 1207, 1221 (10th Cir.2000), aff'd, 532 U.S. 588, 121 S.Ct. 1776, 149 L.Ed.2d 845 (2001); and (4) whether material misrepresentations were “disseminated to the public in a medium upon which a reasonable investor would rely,” Semerenko v. Cendant Corp., 223 F.3d 165, 176 (3d Cir.2000). Importantly, these factors are not mandatory requirements that a fraud must satisfy in order to meet § 10(b)'s “in connection with” requirement. They exist merely to guide the inquiry, and we do not presume to exclude other factors that could help distinguish between fraud in the securities industry and common law fraud that happens to involve securities. See Zandford, 535 U.S at 820, 122 S.Ct. 1899; see also Stoneridge Inv. Partners, 128 S.Ct. at 771 (“Though § 10(b) is not limited to preserving the integrity of the securities markets, it does not reach all commercial transactions that are fraudulent and affect the price of a security in some attenuated way.” (internal citations and quotation marks omitted)). Moreover, a fraud need not satisfy all of the factors to be “in connection with” a securities transaction; a close fit with one factor may well be enough for a fraud to result in § 10(b) liability. The application of the factors should be rooted in the understanding that the “in connection with” requirement is a flexible one and that questions concerning its scope are best examined on a case-by-case basis. See Semerenko, 223 F.3d at 175 (noting that “the scope of the ‘in connection with’ requirement must be determined on a case-by-case basis”); Chem. Bank v. Arthur Andersen & Co., 726 F.2d 930, 942 (2d Cir.1984) (“In cases near the borderline, courts have warned that ‘[i]t is important that the standard be fleshed out by a cautious case-by-case approach.’ ” (quoting Smallwood v. Pearl Brewing Co., 489 F.2d 579, 595 (5th Cir.1974))).
We first consider whether a securities transaction was necessary to the completion of the fraudulent scheme. In Zandford, for example, the Supreme Court noted that the stock sales in that case were a fundamental component of the defendant's fraudulent scheme:
[E]ach sale was made to further respondent's fraudulent scheme; each was deceptive because it was neither authorized by, nor disclosed to, the Woods. With regard to the sales of shares in the Woods' mutual fund, respondent initiated these transactions by writing a check to himself from that account, knowing that redeeming the check would require the sale of securities.
Zandford, 535 U.S. at 820-21, 122 S.Ct. 1899. See also Alley v. Miramon, 614 F.2d 1372, 1378 n.ll (5th Cir.1980) (“[T]he ‘in connection with’ test ․ is satisfied when the proscribed conduct and the sale are part of the same fraudulent scheme.”); In re Franklin Mut. Funds Fee Litig., 388 F.Supp.2d 451, 472 (D.N.J.2005) (“[T]he only way for this scheme to succeed was for investors to purchase securities (shares of the defendant mutual funds).”).
Appellants argue that the fraud in this case was complete when investors purchased the USEC Special Report because the $1,000 purchase price was the only material benefit that Appellants received. Under this theory of the case, Appellants derived no benefit from the purchasers' securities trading. They claim:
[T]he alleged fraud was consummated and concluded when the Report was sold and the reader paid $1000. If there was a fraudulent scheme, no subsequent securities transactions were necessary to it, as neither the Publisher nor the Author derived any benefit from such trading. Indeed, the defendants would have committed fraud if not a single purchaser of the Report bought USEC shares, or if the Report named a fictitious company with a fictitious ticker symbol, because they still would have ‘defrauded’ readers of the cost of the publication.
(Reply Br. at 9.) We believe that this is a rather short-sighted view of the fraudulent scheme and, taking the facts in the light most favorable to the SEC, we conclude that Appellants did benefit from securities trading by purchasers of the USEC Special Report.
First, Appellants' characterization of the fraud fails to recognize that Appellants used stock purchases by early purchasers of the USEC Special Report as a way of enhancing the credibility of the report. Over 800,000 investors received the Super Insider Tip E-mail that offered the USEC Special Report for sale, but they did not receive the solicitation at the same time. Rather, Appellants sent out the solicitation in waves to various groups of investors. And, later versions of the solicitation pointed to a rise in USEC's stock price-which the district court determined was the result of purchases by early recipients of the solicitation and special report-as supporting the trustworthiness of the tip.
When Stansberry first circulated the solicitation to the Pirate Investor Blast Database, on May 13, the solicitation noted that the stock was “only a $7.00 stock.” (J.A. at 2979.) On May 17, however, Stansberry edited the solicitation e-mail to reflect a change in the stock's price. Future versions of the e-mail reflected the stock's updated price of $9.00 a share. Moreover, and most importantly, future versions of the solicitation e-mail used this jump in price as a selling point. The e-mail pointed out that the stock in question “has jumped this week and looks poised to go much higher,” and quickly followed with an offer to sell the identity of the company for $1,000. (J.A. at 3034.) Thus, the rising stock was important to the success of the scheme because it served to motivate later purchasers to part with their requisite $1,000 payment. The fraud was not complete when investors paid $1,000 to learn the identity of the company in question; Appellants also needed those investors to purchase the stock thereby increasing the stock price so as to boost the credibility of the solicitation e-mail to obtain more $1,000 payments.
These facts are similar to those that the Third Circuit faced in Rowinski. In that case, Salomon Smith Barney, a stock brokerage and investment firm, allegedly provided “research [that] was unlawfully biased in favor of the firm's investment banking clients, to the detriment of its retail brokerage customers.” Rowinski, 398 F.3d at 296. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that Salomon Smith Barney systematically misrepresented the value of securities to investors who used the firm's retail brokerage services in order to “curry favor with investment banking clients and reap hundreds of millions of dollars in investment banking fees.” Id. at 296-97. Seeking to avoid the provisions of the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (“SLUSA”), which provides for the removal and federal preemption of certain state court class actions alleging “a misrepresentation or omission of a material fact in connection with the purchase or sale of a covered security,” 15 U.S.C.A. § 78bb(f)(1)(A) (West 2009), the plaintiffs argued that the fraud in that case did not occur “in connection with the purchase or sale of a covered security.”15
Much like Appellants' argument that the conduct in this case sounds in common law fraud, the plaintiffs in Rowinski argued that their complaint stated a “straightforward breach of contract claim, i.e., Salomon Smith Barney agreed to provide unbiased investment research and failed to provide it.” Rowinski, 398 F.3d at 300. The Third Circuit disagreed, observing:
For this purported scheme to work, investors must purchase the misrepresented securities. Absent purchases by “duped” investors and a corresponding inflation in the share price, Salomon Smith Barney's biased analysis would fail to benefit its banking clients and, in turn, would fail to yield hundreds of mil lions of dollars in investment banking fees. The scheme, in other words, necessarily “coincides” with the purchase or sale of securities.
Rowinski, 398 F.3d at 302. In other words, the alleged fraud was not confined to the firm's representations to individual investors-the court realized that the stock purchases of investors who acted on that advice would lead to third parties, the companies, providing a benefit to the firm. Likewise, in this case Appellants used the inflation in the stock price caused by investors who purchased USEC stock in reliance on early versions of the USEC Special Report to influence third parties-investors who received the updated versions of the solicitation-to purchase copies of the USEC Special Report. Thus, securities transactions helped Appellants to maximize the profitability of their scheme.
In addition, the record shows that Appellants were not only relying on the rise in USEC's stock price to boost the credibility of this particular stock recommendation. They expected that the rise in USEC's price would lead to a general increase in Appellants' reputation as trusted purveyors of internet investment advice. The fraud's ultimate success involved not only the $1,000 purchase price, but also the boost in reputation that would accrue with those who purchased stock in reliance on the report-a reputational gain that would lead to future purchases of future reports on different companies. As Stansberry noted in an e-mail, “[i]f we're able to sell this to 250 people and it works, we'll be able to charge almost whatever we want next time.” (J.A. at 3143) (emphasis added). In effect, Appellants' own definition of success depended on people purchasing securities in reliance on the report.
The next factor that we consider-whether the parties' relationship was such that it would necessarily involve trading in securities-weighs in favor of Appellants. Appellants sold investment advice; ultimately, the decision to purchase securities rested squarely with those who received the solicitation and USEC Special Report. In this respect, Appellants differ from the defendant in Zandford. In that case the defendant, a broker, possessed a general power of attorney-granted by his victims-allowing him to engage in securities transactions on their behalf. 535 U.S. at 815, 122 S.Ct. 1899. The very purpose of the broker/investor relationship is trading in securities. Rowinski, 398 F.3d at 303. No such relationship existed in this case.
Indeed, we believe that the lack of a trading relationship serves to distinguish this case from one of the cases relied on by the SEC and the district court, SEC v. Terry's Tips, Inc., 409 F.Supp.2d 526 (D.Vt.2006). Like Appellants, the defendant in Terry's Tips was an online financial advisor who made trading recommendations. Id. at 529. Significantly, however, the SEC's case against the defendant in Terry's Tips revolved around misrepresentations relating to the defendant's provision of auto-trading services. In an auto-trading arrangement, subscribers authorize an online financial adviser to direct trades on their behalf-the customers often are not aware of the trades until after they have already occurred.16 In such a scenario, the adviser is no longer merely a purveyor of information to investors who can choose to invest or not invest. Rather, in such a relationship investors explicitly delegate their decision-making authority to the online investment advisor; the parties' relationship becomes one that would necessarily contemplate trading in securities. The parties in this case contemplated no such arrangement.
The third factor we consider is whether Appellants made their misrepresentations with the intent to induce a securities transaction. Compare United Int'l Holdings, Inc., 210 F.3d at 1221 (representations made with the purpose of inducing the purchase of an option are made “in connection with” the purchase or sale of a security), and SEC v. Jakubowski, 150 F.3d 675, 679 (7th Cir.1998) (statements made directly to the issuer in order to induce the issuer to accept an offer to purchase satisfy the “in connection with” requirement), with Ketchum v. Green, 557 F.2d 1022, 1028 (3d Cir.1977) (“in connection with” requirement unsatisfied where the purpose of the deception was not to cause a securities transaction). See also Zandford, 535 U.S. at 823-24, 122 S.Ct. 1899 (noting defendant's secret intent to keep the proceeds from sales of his client's stock); SEC v. Rana Research, Inc., 8 F.3d 1358, 1362 (9th Cir.1993) (noting that defendant “intended to affect the market for [the] stock”). On this point we find no error in the district court's conclusion that “[t]he very essence of the fraudulent scheme was to induce its victims to purchase USEC stock prior to May 22, 2002․” (J.A. at 174.) We have already discussed how securities purchases by recipients of the misrepresentations would inure to the benefit of Appellants, and we believe that the text of the USEC Special Report itself forecloses any argument that Appellants did not intend for investors to purchase securities in reliance on the false statements.
The USEC Special Report, which, it bears repeating, Appellants sent to investors after those investors had parted with their $1,000, repeated the false claim that “[a] USEC senior executive has assured me that the new Russian agreement will be approved prior to the upcoming Bush-Putin summit. In fact, he said ‘watch the stock on May 22nd.’ ” (J.A. at 3111.) The report also called upon investors to “call your broker now and tell him to buy shares of USEC.” (J.A. at 3109.) This raises the question: If, as Appellants claim, the misrepresentations were only intended to induce investors to purchase the USEC Special Report, why were they repeated in the report itself, which directly called investors to action? The record evidence compels the conclusion that Appellants intended the recipients of the solicitation and the USEC Special Report to trade in securities.
Finally, we turn to the factor that the district court primarily relied on in making its determination that the fraud satisfied the “in connection with” requirement-whether Appellants utilized a device “that would cause reasonable investors to rely thereon” and “so relying, cause them to purchase or sell a corporation's securities.” In re Carter-Wallace, Inc. Sec. Litig., 150 F.3d 153, 156 (2d Cir.1998) (internal quotations omitted). This standard is derived from a Second Circuit opinion, SEC v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Co., 401 F.2d 833 (2d Cir.1968) (en banc). In Texas Gulf, the Second Circuit held that “Rule 10b-5 is violated whenever assertions are made ․ in a manner reasonably calculated to influence the investing public ․” Id. at 862. Subsequent decisions have refined Texas Gulf, and several circuits now agree that:
Where the fraud alleged involves public dissemination in a document such as a press release, annual report, investment prospectus or other such document on which an investor would presumably rely, the “in connection with” requirement is generally met by proof of the means of dissemination and the materiality of the misrepresentation or omission.
Rana Research, Inc., 8 F.3d at 1362; see also Wolfson, 539 F.3d at 1262; Semerenko, 223 F.3d at 176.
Under the Texas Gulf standard, the SEC must establish two distinct elements: (1) the misrepresentations in question were disseminated to the public in a medium upon which a reasonable investor would rely and (2) they were material when disseminated. Semerenko, 223 F.3d at 176. We have already considered whether the misrepresentations in this case were material. Here, we focus our attention on the first element of Texas Gulf. The SEC must show that reasonable investors would base their investment decisions on the types of communications at issue in this case-mass e-mails from a purveyor of internet investment advice.17
At first glance, we question whether any reasonable investor would rely on the Super Insider Tip E-mail.18 As we noted above, the Texas Gulf standard encompasses “press release[s], annual report[s], investment prospectus [es] or other such document[s].” Rana Research, Inc., 8 F.3d at 1362. Courts have applied this standard, for example, when misrepresentations are disseminated in investment research reports from a reputable broker, see Rowinski, 398 F.3d at 302; prospectuses, see In re Lord Abbett Mut. Funds Fee Litig., 407 F.Supp.2d 616, 628 (D.N.J.2005); the sales and marketing materials at brokerage houses and other points of sale, In re Dreyfus Mut. Funds Fee Litig., 428 F.Supp.2d 342, 355 (W.D.Pa.2005); SEC filings, In re Tyco Int'l, Ltd. Multidistrict Litig., No. 02-266-B, 2004 WL 2348315, at *4-5, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20733, at *15-16 (D.N.H.2004); and detailed drug advertisements published in sophisticated medical journals, In re Carter-Wallace, Inc. Sec. Litig., 150 F.3d at 156. Clearly, the communications at issue in the present case have little in common with the types of communications that have heretofore led to liability under the Texas Gulf standard. Cf. SEC v. Benson, 657 F.Supp. 1122, 1131 (S.D.N.Y.1987) (registration statements and annual and quarterly reports are clearly the types of documents that investors rely on). In fact, we feel confident that a reasonable investor would not base investment decisions on mass e-mail communications such as these-which the SEC's attorney characterized as SPAM during oral argument-that purport to offer a stock tip based on insider information.
Thus, at first blush, it would appear that this factor weighs in favor of Appellants' arguments. We fear, however, that applying the Texas Gulf standard to remove Appellants' fraud from coverage under § 10(b) would neglect the reasoning behind the Texas Gulf standard. At its core, the Texas Gulf standard is about notice-attaching liability under the securities laws for statements made in any medium, no matter how tangentially related to the securities markets, would run the risk of roping in speakers who had no idea that their conduct might implicate Section 10(b). Thus, by requiring that misstatements be communicated in a medium upon which a reasonable investor would rely, the Texas Gulf standard protects these unknowing speakers from liability and ensures that there is a sufficient nexus between the misrepresentations and the securities sales that they induce to satisfy the Supreme Court's command that the fraud and securities sales “coincide.”
This case simply does not implicate the notice concerns that animate the Texas Gulf standard. To the contrary, Appellants knew that recipients of the solicitation and USEC Special Report would rely on them when making their investment decisions. After all, Appellants did not target the public at large when they circulated the solicitation e-mail. Rather, Appellants circulated the e-mail solicitation to investors on the specific subscriber lists of internet investment newsletters. These were investors who trusted internet investment advice
Appellants certainly should not have been shocked to learn that their fraudulent statements induced securities transaction. Under these circumstances, an application of the Texas Gulf standard to exclude the communications would run contrary to § 10(b)'s core purpose-“to protect investors, to prevent inequitable and unfair practices and to insure fairness in securities transactions generally.” 3 Fletcher Cyc. Corp. § 900.65 (perm. ed.2002). Although ordinary reasonable investors might well have taken one look at Appellants' solicitation and marked it for the SPAM box, Appellants knew that they were directing their misstatements to particular investors who did rely on internet investment advice. We believe that this knowledge supports finding that the misstatements occurred “in connection with” securities transactions.19 See SEC v. Park, 99 F.Supp.2d 889, 900 (N.D.Ill.2000) (“[F]raud in the sale of investment advice may qualify as ‘in connection’ with the sale of securities when it is expected that the advisees will act on the advice.”) (citing R & W Technical Servs. Ltd. v. CFTC, 205 F.3d 165, 172-73 (5th Cir.2000)).20
As our previous discussion shows, there are at least three reasons to conclude that the fraud in this case occurred “in connection with” the purchase or sale of securities. First, record evidence supports a conclusion that securities purchases were necessary to complete Appellants' fraudulent scheme. Second, such evidence supports the district court's finding that Appellants made their misrepresentations with the intent to induce securities transactions. And, third, Appellants directed the misrepresentations to investors that they knew were likely to rely on them. Given these characteristics, the application of § 10(b) is not barred by the fact that there was no securities trading relationship between the Appellants and the recipients of the e-mail misrepresentations.
Appellants, however, joined by amici, argue that our treatment of the “in connection with” requirement raises First Amendment issues: “As applied in the way the SEC now urges, § 10(b) would not be restricted to the statements of fiduciaries or those who trade in stocks, but would cover all statements about securities by anyone who cared to speak to anyone who cared to listen.” (Appellants' Br. at 33.) The great concern is that publishers of financial news and commentary will face potential liability under § 10(b) and that this will chill publishers' attempts to report on financial matters. The amici, in particular, point out that financial news and commentary is especially important because so many Americans are actively involved in trading in the securities markets and there is a high demand for information about investment opportunities. Appellants and the amici argue that these constitutional concerns require that we interpret § 10(b)'s “in connection with” requirement narrowly, and they suggest that we can do so by recognizing an exception from the coverage of § 10(b) for publishers of nonpersonalized financial news and commentary who do not possess a financial interest in the securities that they discuss.
To support this claim, Appellants direct us to Lowe v. SEC, 472 U.S. 181, 105 S.Ct. 2557, 86 L.Ed.2d 130 (1985). In Lowe, the Supreme Court faced the question of whether the petitioner, who had been convicted of various offenses involving securities, could be permanently enjoined from publishing securities newsletters because he had not registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. That Act defines an investment adviser as, and thus requires registration for, “any person who, for compensation, engages in the business of advising others, either directly or through publications or writings, as to the value of securities or as to the advisability of investing in, purchasing, or selling securities, or who, for compensation and as part of a regular business, issues or promulgates analyses or reports concerning securities․” 15 U.S.C.A. § 80b-2(a)(11) (West 2009). The Court conceded that the petitioner's activities fell within this definition, but noted that Congress, expressing its recognition of the serious First Amendment problems implicated by a law requiring registration of the press, see Lovell v. City of Griffin, 303 U.S. 444, 58 S.Ct. 666, 82 L.Ed. 949 (1938), included a statutory exception for “the publisher of any bona fide newspaper, news magazine or business or financial publication of general and regular circulation,” § 80b-2(a)(11)(D). Lowe, 472 U.S. at 203-05, 105 S.Ct. 2557. The Court, noting that First Amendment concerns “support[ed] a broad reading of the exclusion for publishers,” concluded that the petitioner's newsletters were “described by the plain language of the exclusion” and were thus exempt from coverage under the Investment Advisers Act. Id. at 205-06, 211, 105 S.Ct. 2557.
Appellants argue that the canon of constitutional avoidance, which compelled the Supreme Court to read broadly the exception for publishers in the Investment Advisers Act, likewise requires that we create a new exception for disinterested publishers from the coverage of § 10(b) of the Exchange Act. The district court rejected this argument by reasoning that, even if there were an exception from § 10(b) for such publishers, Appellants could not invoke the exception because the Super Insider Solicitation and the Special Report were not publications “of regular and general circulation,” as the Lowe Court interpreted those terms. While we do not agree with its reasoning, we do agree with the district court's ultimate conclusion-that Appellants fall within the coverage of § 10(b).21 The district court's ultimate conclusion was correct because, quite simply, the text and purpose of § 10(b) admit of no exclusion for “disinterested publishers” of financial news and commentary, thus rendering constitutional avoidance arguments irrelevant.
The canon of constitutional avoidance is “a tool for choosing between competing plausible interpretations of a statutory text, resting on the reasonable presumption that Congress did not intend the alternative which raises serious constitutional doubts.” Clark v. Martinez, 543 U.S. 371, 381, 125 S.Ct. 716, 160 L.Ed.2d 734 (2005). The canon is a tool of limited purpose, however. As the Court quite recently explained: “The canon of constitutional avoidance does not supplant traditional modes of statutory interpretation. We cannot ignore the text and purpose of a statute in order to save it.” Boumediene v. Bush, --- U.S. ----, 128 S.Ct. 2229, 2271, 171 L.Ed.2d 41 (2008) (citations omitted). Accordingly, we utilize the canon “only when, after the application of ordinary textual analysis, the statute is found to be susceptible of more than one construction; and the canon functions as a means of choosing between them.” Clark, 543 U.S. at 385, 125 S.Ct. 716. If traditional modes of statutory construction sufficiently resolve the issue, then, there is no need to reach deeper into our toolbox. And, in this case, we believe that ordinary principles of statutory construction foreclose the argument that we can interpret § 10(b) to include an exception for disinterested publishers.
The first step in any case of statutory interpretation is to consider the language of the statute in order “to determine whether the language at issue has a plain and unambiguous meaning with regard to the particular dispute in the case.” Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co., 534 U.S. 438, 450, 122 S.Ct. 941, 151 L.Ed.2d 908 (2002) (quoting Robinson v. Shell Oil Co., 519 U.S. 337, 340, 117 S.Ct. 843, 136 L.Ed.2d 808 (1997)). “When the words of a statute are unambiguous, ․ this first canon is also the last: ‘judicial inquiry is complete.’ ” Id. at 462, 122 S.Ct. 941 (quoting Connecticut Nat'l Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. 249, 254, 112 S.Ct. 1146, 117 L.Ed.2d 391 (1992)). Thus, we must first consider the text of § 10(b), and Appellants direct us to the “in connection with” requirement, claiming that the requirement is “exactly the sort of loose, ambiguous language that must be confined to avoid constitutional concerns.” (Appellant's Br. at 34.)
We are mindful, however, that “statutes are not read as a collection of isolated phrases.” Abuelhawa v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 129 S.Ct. 2102, 173 L.Ed.2d 982, 987 (2009). Looking to the entire statute, § 10(b), by its plain language, applies to any person. In this respect, § 10(b) is wholly different from the statute the Supreme Court interpreted in Lowe, where the Supreme Court used First Amendment concerns in interpreting an already existing exception broadly. Section 10(b) excepts no one from its reach, and the Lowe Court recognized that the statute constitutes a backstop against fraudulent activity-even those publishers otherwise excepted from the provisions of the Investment Advisers Act remained subject to the coverage of § 10(b). See Lowe, 472 U.S. at 209, 105 S.Ct. 2557 n.56. Thus, we find Appellants' reliance on Lowe unpersuasive, because § 10(b) includes no exceptive language of the type that the Supreme Court interpreted in that case.
Even if we focus solely on § 10(b)'s “in connection with” language, we note that Congress intended the requirement to be flexible. Indeed, the Supreme Court has described § 10(b) as “a catchall clause to enable the Commission to deal with new manipulative or cunning devices.” Hochfelder, 425 U.S. at 203, 96 S.Ct. 1375 (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted); see also United States v. Russo, 74 F.3d 1383, 1390 (2d Cir.1996) (“The purpose of the Section and its implementing regulations is to prevent fraud, whether it is ‘a garden type variety of fraud, or present[s] a unique form of deception. Novel or atypical methods should not provide immunity from the securities laws.’ ” (quoting Bankers Life & Cas. Co., 404 U.S. at 11 n. 7, 92 S.Ct. 165)). It necessarily must be applied to radically different and ever-evolving sets of facts, and that goal is accomplished by interpreting the statute flexibly.22 Thus, Appellants' reliance on any ambiguity in the phrase “in connection with” as a reason to employ the canon of constitutional avoidance fails in light of the statute's purpose-providing a flexible regime for addressing new, perhaps unforeseen, types of fraud. Creating a blanket exception for “disinterested publishers” hardly seems consistent with this purpose, and the Supreme Court has required that we avoid “technical[ ] and restrictive[ ]” interpretations of the statute. Zandford, 535 U.S. at 819, 122 S.Ct. 1899 (internal quotation marks omitted).
To conclude our discussion of § 10(b), we find the district court correctly found that Appellants' conduct constituted a violation of the statute. Appellants made misrepresentations of a material fact-whether an insider had provided the information in the stock tip-and Appellants did so with the requisite scienter. Moreover, the misrepresentations were “in connection with” securities transactions because securities transactions were necessary to maximize the fraudulent scheme, Appellants made their misrepresentations with the intent that investors would rely on them, and Appellants knew that investors would so rely. This conduct violates § 10(b), and Appellants cannot avoid application of the statute by invoking constitutional concerns because the text and purpose of § 10(b) admit of no exception for “disinterested publishers.”
We next consider Appellants' argument that, even if their conduct fell within the coverage of § 10(b), the Super Insider Tip E-mail and USEC Special Report constitute speech entitled to some measure of First Amendment protection. Admittedly, our conclusion that constitutional concerns do not compel an exclusion from § 10(b) for Appellants' conduct does not answer this question. The canon of constitutional avoidance is a method of statutory interpretation, not a way of adjudicating constitutional issues. Defendants remain free to bring constitutional challenges to a statute as applied to their conduct, and in this case Appellants argue that the district court should have found that the Super Insider Tip E-mail and USEC Special Report were entitled to the heightened protections for expression that the Supreme Court recognized in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, because the SEC sought to impose liability on the basis of “pure expression”-Appellants' recommendation of USEC stock. Under this theory the SEC should have borne the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the statements were published with “actual malice,” and we would have to engage in an independent review of the record in order to ensure that the SEC met that burden. According to Appellants, the Constitution requires that we recognize these protections whenever we impose liability on the alleged falsity of a publication.
We cannot agree with Appellants. Punishing fraud, whether it be common law fraud or securities fraud, simply does not violate the First Amendment. The Seventh Circuit has articulated this principle in Commodity Trend Serv., Inc. v. CFTC, 233 F.3d 981, 992 (7th Cir.2000), explaining: “Laws directly punishing fraudulent speech survive constitutional scrutiny even where applied to pure, fully protected speech.” The Supreme Court has stated the principle almost as directly: “[T]he First Amendment does not shield fraud.” Illinois ex rel. Madigan v. Telemarketing Assocs., Inc., 538 U.S. 600, 612, 123 S.Ct. 1829, 155 L.Ed.2d 793 (2003). Of course, the government cannot label certain speech as fraudulent so as to deprive it of its constitutional protections, id. at 617, 123 S.Ct. 1829, but we need not worry about such strategic labeling here because § 10(b) clearly forbids actual fraud. Thus, Appellants' First Amendment argument fails.
For this same reason, Appellants' challenge to the district court's issuance of an injunction permanently enjoining them from violating § 10(b) also fails. The injunction does not constitute an unlawful prior restraint because it only enjoins Appellants from engaging in securities fraud, which we have held is unprotected speech.23
In conclusion, for the reasons stated above, the judgment of the district court is
Affirmed by published PER CURIAM opinion.
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Freedom Day 2019: A reminder of unfinished business
South Africans celebrate Freedom Day on April 27 every year to mark the country’s first democratic elections in 1994.
Henning Melber, University of Pretoria
A quarter of a century later, though, questions remain: how much and whose freedom is to be celebrated? The differing answers among voters might affect the results of the national elections on May 8.
South Africans can still not celebrate freedom from want. They are painfully aware that one cannot eat democracy. Formal political equality is rightly celebrated as an achievement by those who suffered under dictatorship, minority rule and other forms of oppressive regimes that denied them basic rights. But democracy doesn’t put food on the table. Nor does it provide decent shelter or secure a dignified living.
Former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous 1941 speech to Congress identified four freedoms: those of speech, of worship, from want and from fear.
Freedom from want, [as he explained],
means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants – everywhere in the world.
Acutely aware of this, the drafters of the Freedom Charter – which was adopted in 1955 by the African National Congress (ANC) that now governs South Africa, among other anti-apartheid activists – included far more than just political freedoms. It also has the sharing of the country’s wealth among all people as a fundamental principle.
But these ideals, still considered a basic blueprint for the country, have – to a large extent – remained remote goals.
The South African Constitution is among the very few to recognise socio-economic rights as human rights – including the right to food, health care, shelter, water and education. But there is a huge gap between setting norms and implementing them.
Today, South Africa is one of the most consistently unequal countries in the world. More than half the population lives in poverty, while a staggering 27% of people are unemployed.
According to Eunomix, which advises some of the biggest mining companies in the country, the past 12 years saw the country suffer more declines in its socio-economic and governance performance than any other nation that’s not at war.
This is thanks largely to worsening corruption and policy paralysis during former President Jacob Zuma’s nine years in office. And, things are not about to get any better soon.
The country’s Reserve Bank has painted a gloomy picture of the country’s prospects for growth. This is thanks to rampant corruption, whose effects have been acutely felt at Eskom, the electricity utility, crippling the country’s power supply and hobbling economic growth.
Discontent and disruption
Freedom Day should be a forceful reminder of the democratic rights enshrined in the Constitution. These include the right to free speech and to protest, basic human rights which were suppressed under centuries of colonial and apartheid rule.
The problem is that South Africa’s political culture today does not live up to the ideal the Constitution enshrines. There is a massive gap between declared norms and actual realities.
For example, in early April protesters from Alexandra township, one of Johannesburg’s poorest black settlements, were prevented by police from marching to Sandton, the adjacent, affluent suburb. In the same week rogue elements of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League disrupted a book launch in the posh suburb. They tore up copies of a
book by an investigative journalist exposing the network of corruption allegedly overseen by the governing party’s secretary-general Ace Magashule, while he was the premier of the Free State.
Many South Africans have yet to see freedom bear fruit. EPA/Kim Ludbrook
The Youth League was later forced to abandon plans for a public burning of the book after the ANC intervened. The party implored its members to
protect the values and reputation of the ANC, by practising political tolerance and defending the rights enshrined in the Constitution.
Such noble words, however, only point to the governing party’s inability to walk the talk. For example, when the ANC’s deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte was confronted with questions she did not like from a journalist who works for eNCA, an independent TV station. The question was about the party’s controversial proposed list of MPs. Duarte attacked the reporter, fuming
you don’t even have a right to exist as a TV station in this country.
Much more to do
On Freedom Day, South Africans might or should celebrate the fact that they have covered some distance on the road to freedom. But it will remain a long and winding road. As Raymond Suttner, an ANC liberation struggle hero who spent years in solitary confinement, says
even though elections with all people entitled to vote for the first time was a massive victory, freedom is never finally realised. … It needs to be seen as a concept with an indefinite scope and meaning.
Where there is no fight for it, there is no freedom. The end of minority regimes does not equate freedom. Liberation movements as governments are no guarantee of good governance ensuring equal rights and benefits for all.
New regimes often just create space for privileges to a new elite in cohorts with earlier vested interests. They do not live up to the promises made to the ordinary people. Rather, they disclose the limits to liberation.
The old slogan that the struggle continues – a luta continua – is as valid today as it was during the struggle for liberation. The difference is that others now have to carry the torch.
Maybe Freedom Day can serve as a reminder of such unfinished business.
Henning Melber, Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria
Read – Google Doodle recognises South Africa’s Freedom Day
Previous Nelson Mandela’s Robben Island drawing to go on auction [picture]
Next In photos: Freedom Day celebrations across the country
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Stroke Hospitalizations Up in Teens, Young Adults
But rates are dropping for older men and women
By Kathleen Doheny
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 9, 2011 (HealthDay News) -- Older Americans are suffering fewer strokes, but new government research shows that stroke hospitalizations are sharply rising among children and younger adults, especially for men under 35.
Although the study doesn't explore the reasons for the trend, experts point to the obesity epidemic, increasing rates of diabetes and high blood pressure as likely culprits.
Recreational drugs may play a role as well, they added.
Clues to Why Women Have Higher Odds for Alzheimer's
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HIV Lurking in Spinal Fluid Linked to Thinking Problems
High Blood Pressure, 'Bad' Cholesterol Risky for Young, Too
"Young people should see their doctor for regular checkups," said Dr. Brett Kissela, a professor of neurology at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute, who has conducted previous research on strokes but was not involved with this study. Routine check-ups can help control risk factors for stroke, such as high blood pressure, he explained.
Dr. Mary George, a researcher with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is scheduled to report the findings Wednesday at the International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles.
Experts note that research presented at meetings typically has not been subjected to the same scrutiny as studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals.
For the study, CDC researchers examined hospitalization data for the period from 1994 to 2007 from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, identifying patients with a primary diagnosis of ischemic stroke. Ischemic stroke, which occurs when a blood clot or clogged artery blocks the blood supply to the brain, is more common than hemorrhagic stroke, the result of a ruptured blood vessel.
The increases and decreases in stroke rates varied by gender and age group, the researchers found.
Among males aged 15 to 34, the rate surged by nearly 51 percent. Among females in that age group, it increased 17 percent. Strokes soared 31 percent in boys aged 5 to 14 and 36 percent in girls of the same age.
Men between 35 and 44 years old had a 47 percent increase in stroke incidence. For women in that age range, stroke incidence rose 36 percent.
For older adults, the news was better. Stroke rates declined 12 percent in men 45 to 64 years old and 13 percent in women in that age range. The rates went down even further for 65-plus men and women: 25 percent in men and 28 percent in women.
"This study doesn't really address what is underlying these trends, and that needs to be looked at," George said. However, she said more awareness, and better detection, of strokes on the part of doctors may help explain the escalation in some age groups.
The findings echo those presented at last year's conference by Kissela. His research found that the average age of a stroke patient decreased by nearly three years between 1993-1994 and 2005. He also found stroke on the rise among young adults.
His study was regional, looking at residents of Ohio and Kentucky, while the CDC study was national in scope. "It is confirming what we are seeing locally," he said of the latest research.
His study did not examine reasons for the trend either, but he speculated that the unhealthy eating habits and sedentary lifestyles that cause obesity and diabetes may be fueling strokes among younger people. Use of illegal drugs such as cocaine may also contribute to the upswing, he said.
To learn more about stroke, visit the American Stroke Association.
SOURCES: Mary George, M.D., M.S.P.H., researcher, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Brett Kissela, M.D., professor, neurology, and vice-chair, education and clinical services, University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute, Ohio; International Stroke Conference 2011, Feb. 8-11, Los Angeles, Calif.
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Blake Shelton / Garth Brooks
Country Radio Loves Garth Brooks’ “Dive Bar” Featuring Blake Shelton
Garth Brooks’ “rowdy” (Rolling Stone) and “anthemic” (Billboard) new song featuring Blake Shelton, “Dive Bar,” is the most added song at country radio today with 135 total stations. Additionally, the song has the highest debut in seven years landing at No. 23 on Mediabase, and the second highest debut on Billboard of 2019 at No. 16. Fans can tune in exclusively to any country radio station to hear the song before it becomes available on Amazon Music as part of Amazon Prime Day. Praised as “an anthem that recalls Brooks’ massive hit “Friends in Low Places” (Billboard) “Dive Bar” is taken from Brooks’ forthcoming studio album FUN, and is his first musical collaboration with Shelton, whose current hit, “God’s Country,” is in the Top 5 at country radio. A preview of “Dive Bar” can be heard here.
Brooks and Shelton previously thrilled fans with the news they are set to perform the song live for the first time at a sold-out show in Boise, ID on 7/19, at a stop on the monumental THE GARTH BROOKS STADIUM TOUR. Since launching the tour, Brooks has broken attendance records in St. Louis, MO at The Dome at America’s Center, Glendale, AZ at State Farm Stadium, Gainesville, FL at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, two sold-out nights at Minneapolis, MN’s U.S. Bank Stadium and Denver, CO at Mile High Stadium. Additional upcoming shows are already sold-out in Eugene, OR at Autzen Stadium on 6/29 with Regina, SK’s Mosaic Stadium show on 8/10 and Boise, ID’s Albertsons Stadium show on 7/20 both selling out in under an hour, averaging just over 75,000 tickets in each city. Brooks also added a second date in Regina, SK on 8/9 due to demand.
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Tags: country radio, Dive Bar, Garth Brooks
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brexit, Politics
The Quiet Revolution
BY DAVID EYLES
A rarely spotted phenomenon, sometimes acknowledged by one or two of the more astute political pundits, is that the Labour Party has moved away from its core of working-class voters. The leadership has now fully embraced the demands of its middle and upper-middle class hierarchy and has gone full-on Quinoa Marxist.
However, the Labour Party is not alone, because the Conservative Party has also moved in the same direction, albeit not quite so far. The leadership indulges in wholesale political correctness. It then signals its virtue by casual obeisance to whichever favoured minority group is flavour of the week. Accordingly, the Tories have also stepped away from their voters – most of whom are utterly bored with this infantile nonsense.
There has been some floundering recognition that the sheer nastiness of the Labour Left is causing some Labour MPs to panic and talk of forming a new centrist party. But that will only occupy the same ground that the Tories already occupy, by virtue of their own leftward manoeuvrings. Talk of a Tony Blair led centre-left party, perhaps embracing the Liberal Democrats, would be a move into an already overcrowded marketplace with decreasing numbers of voters to whom this will appeal. Tony Blair is the most toxic brand in British politics.
Largely unrecognised by the punditry is the awful void that this has created in the minds of the public. Surrounded by the magnificence of the heaving metropolis and the constant roar of traffic, the political elites are unaware of matters outside their own remarkably restricted bubble. They believe that they are the masters – and that we, in the ‘provinces’, will follow wherever London leads. And whilst they continue to be as arrogant and hubristic as they are, they will remain unaware of the quiet revolution brewing outside the claustrophobic confines of Inner London.
Now that it is September, school holidays are over. The weather is taking a damper turn. In the darkening evenings the village halls and community centres all over the country are bustling with activity. These rather dowdy but well used buildings have their car parks filled and the main halls are occupied with ladies’ yoga, or oriental martial arts of some description (the halls are filled with the thudding of twelve-year olds hitting the mat in a heap, thrown by cool seven-year olds who are half the weight of their elders). Or the halls may be filled with the reedy squeezings of an accordion and the merry jingle of bells, the stamp of feet and the waving of freshly laundered hankies, as the local Morris Dancing group practice their moves. But these bucolic stompings are but the ordinary rhythms of the seasons in passage.
This is not what we are looking for.
The quiet revolution is being hatched in the back rooms of these village halls. Around the table will be a dozen people from a variety of backgrounds – builders, tradesmen, white van drivers, local business owners, the odd keyboard warrior, retired doctors and lawyers and so on. The Chairman could be any of these. Apologies for absence are received and noted. Secretaries report that membership is going up; treasurers report that bank balances are in the black and there’s even a small surplus to return to Central Funds. The agenda is (mostly) adhered to with customary restraint. Until finally it gets to ‘Any Other Business’ and then the room lights up. Ideas are floated, examined, shot down in flames or adopted as working possibilities. Mini think tanks are mooted, policies proposed. Answers to questions are sought and resolutions made; strategy is agreed upon and tactics debated.
It is here, in these dowdy village halls – not in the august chambers of Westminster or the elegant terraces of Downing Street – that the next revolution in British politics is being shaped.
The referendum was just the beginning.
The last time a revolution occurred in British politics was in the General Election of 1997. This was when Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, then the fresh young faces of an increasingly competent opposition, took on an ageing and fractious Conservative government lead by John Major, and won a landslide victory. In that election, the Liberal Democrats actually lost 700,000 votes compared to 1992, but the vagaries of the first-past-the-post system allowed them to gain an extra 28 seats. The Conservatives lost 4.5 million votes. From a comfortable majority of 50 seats in 1992, the Conservatives were humiliated, lost 178 seats and then relegated to opposition for thirteen years. Overall, about 40% of people who had previously voted Conservative, voted for either Labour or the Liberal Democrats. Many Conservative voters voted for the Lib Dems because they could not bring themselves to vote Labour. Nearly 3 million people who voted in the 1992 General Election did not bother to vote at all in 1997 – a 9% reduction in the number of votes cast.
Most of the causes for this dramatic change in public opinion lay in the government’s handling of the exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism caused by ‘Black Wednesday’; when the activities of George Soros resulted in an estimated loss of £3.3 billion from the economy overnight. A recession followed because of very high interest rates. In the meantime, attempts to implement the Maastricht Treaty into British law were frustrated by Conservative rebels. The ensuing continuous discontent resulted in a steady drip of bad publicity for the government, until catastrophe hit them in the 1997 General Election.
The message often taken home from this is that the electorate will not tolerate division within a government. But that is not all – the public demand economic, fiscal and administrative competence. These were all qualities markedly lacking in John Major’s government and it was this breakdown which caused the punishment in the election.
The parallels between then and now are becoming starker by the day. The government has been running a two-year battle against a group of prominent Conservative MPs who are a mirror image of the 1997 Maastricht rebels. The former wanted to keep the UK out of closer union with the EU: the latter want to keep us in. The news has been a daily round of sniping, wildly exaggerated claims; demands made by the EU which are completely contrary to democracy and the result of the referendum; nonsensical concessions made by the government in response to unreasonable demands; and continual political capital expended over the Irish border. Gradually, the Prime Minister’s promises made in her Lancaster House speech have been watered down. Jacob Rees-Mogg has described the policies now on offer as giving the UK the status of a “vassal state”. As I write this, a leadership challenge against Theresa May is expected within “days”. The whole of Westminster appears to be in chaos and the public are thoroughly fed up with the lot of them.
The anger which is felt towards the Chequers proposals is being loudly and forcibly expressed by Conservative Associations across the country. Increasingly, Conservative Party members who turn out willingly to deliver leaflets on behalf of their candidates, are suggesting that they will no longer do this. When Peter Bone told Theresa May exactly this in Prime Ministers Questions, he was treated to May’s contemptuous non-answer. Theresa May was expressing the contempt towards ordinary party members, and the electorate generally, which is common currency amongst nearly all Conservative MPs. There seem to be only a handful of MPs who actually value their members and constituents.
The Labour Party is little different and may actually be even worse.
At the moment, UKIP are registering at around 5-8% in the opinion polls. As such, the Westminster punditry has dismissed UKIP as a busted flush – a bunch of single-issue populists who are not worthy of serious attention. The raison d’être for UKIP – the referendum – has been fought and won, so this motley crew of far-right golf club and pub bores can shuffle off into obscurity. Or so the contemptuous Westminster correspondents (and MPs) will tell you.
But UKIP are poised, waiting on the periphery of this moral and political vacuum. They have quietly re-organised. Their local groups are coming out of hibernation and their finances are said to be in order. Gerard Batten has been speaking about a number of things which have struck chords in the minds of the public. They have conspicuously embraced freedom of speech – and a number of prominent internet bloggers who loudly and continuously criticise political correctness, have joined the party.
Under Nigel Farage, UKIP have been consistently right about a number of things: The consequences of wholesale mass immigration into Europe from the Middle East and North Africa; the consequences of eastern European mass immigration under Schengen rules; the increasingly undemocratic nature of the EU and its institutions; the impoverishment of Greece and southern Europe; the formation of the EU army, and many other things. Unlike the Lib Dems, UKIP have not been blemished by close association with the Tories in government. In stark contrast with the Labour Party, any member accused of any form of racism, antisemitism or other unacceptable behaviour is immediately suspended, investigated and, if guilty, thrown out of the party. The whole process, from suspension to sentence, takes only a matter of days.
In 2015, nearly four million people voted for UKIP. They came second in many constituencies, throwing Labour into third place. Some Lib Dems candidates not only came fourth, but also lost their deposits. Despite the vagaries of the First-Past-The-Post system granting UKIP only one MP, the results were sufficient to push David Cameron into having a referendum on membership of the EU. Thus, UKIP directly influenced government policy in a way that no other opposition party has ever achieved before or since.
Compared with 2010, the 2015 General Election saw an increase of one million more voters. There were reports of people who had never voted before coming out of housing estates that were traditionally thought of as being mostly non-voters. A year later, in the 2016 EU Referendum, a further 2.9 million people voted. From the electorally dead years of the early 2000s, people became progressively more politically animated and inclined to vote.
Even without Brexit, there are serious social, economic, political and foreign policy problems that will hit the UK over the next decade. Conversely, there are a large number of opportunities for our nation to rebuild its self-respect and standing in the world. The country is crying out aloud for constructive, positive solutions. But the political establishment is not listening. It is deaf to all offers of help. It is blind to the proffered hand of support.
The consequences of the Parliamentary Conservative Party’s mutton-headed isolation from the rest of the world are perilous. They are propelling themselves into a kind of inverse repeat of the Maastricht rebellion during the 90s. Their inability to heed the very obvious public disgust at their continued delays and disruption to Brexit, are very likely to lose them 40% of their vote – just as they did in 1997.
UKIP, if they are so minded, can step around the political elites and fill the void. There are millions of voters out there just waiting for the right kind of leadership.
In the village halls up and down the country, the quiet revolution is just beginning.
David Eyles spent the first twenty years of his career as a quantity surveyor in civil engineering. He started work on the Thames Barrier Project in the mid 1970s and from there moved on to building hardened aircraft shelters in East Anglia – those being the days of a rather warm Cold War. On RAF Lakenheath, he was once observed nearly slithering his mini under the wheels of a taxiing F111 loaded up with tactical nuclear weapons. If nothing else, it would have been one helluva motor insurance claim and a sense of humour loss by the US Air Force. Later, he went to Nigeria for two years to build roads and see first hand what corruption can do to bring down an intrinsically prosperous country. There he had his first experience of seeing British overseas aid being wasted. He returned to the UK and attempted to write a novel, but was instead diverted into bird ringing and spent far too many nights chasing radio tagged Nightjars around Wareham Forest at dangerously high speed. By a mysterious route, then fell into farming via six worn out commercial hens; and wound up with a flock of 350 Dorset Down ewes and forty Traditional Hereford cattle. He then divorced, changed his life and arrived in Cornwall to find solace in the pedantry of hard data, wonderful pubs, good people and writing. His other interest include walking; some very poor quality photography; the philosophy of consciousness as it pertains to animals and humans; and a certain amount of politics. David’s writing can be found here.
countrysquiremagazine September 17, 2018 brexit, corbyn disaster, david eyles, featured, labour brexit, labour mess, second referendum, the quiet revolution, tory seats in danger, ukip, wolfstan's ghost
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Approved for Adoption – French Movie Review
2013/08/19 Leave a comment
While the general plight of growing up Asian in a predominantly non-Asian community may not be the most mainstream of stories told, it has been run into the ground at least for the audience that said story is being aimed at. Recurring themes of redemption from your parents conflicting with goals of making them proud, having dreams forced upon you by another, a general coming of age tale done Asian American (replace “American” with any other secondary culture) style… it’s not exactly something Hollywood would give a second glance and from what I’ve been exposed to, I’m of the camp of “you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a million times.”
Or at least I would have said that before seeing Approved for Adoption.
Approved for Adoption (or Couleur de peau: miel, translating to “Skin Color: Honey”) is a French film telling the story of the influx of Korean adoptees from the perspective of the movie’s writer/director Jung. Right off the bat, Jung weaves an interesting tale of being adopted into a French family at the age of five, establishing an interesting dynamic not only between Jung and his adopted parents, but between him and the family’s biological children.
The movie is based on Jung’s graphic novel of the same name, bringing his sketchy art style to life and near-seamlessly melding it together with CG animation (think Monster House style) as well as live action footage of Jung himself as he roams the streets of Korea 40+ years after having left said country. Switching between styles keeps things fresh, but doesn’t come off as quirkiness for quirkiness’ sake, as each jump in aesthetic serves as a proper lead-in for the scenes to follow.
Growing up, you never really question the order of things, especially within your family, and Approved for Adoption successfully runs with that theme. As we follow Jung through his almost Dennis-the-Menace-like childhood, the fact of him being a Korean child in a French household is downplayed for the most part (sans visits from blatantly racist extended family) and things feel more like a film about family rather than about a Korean facing identity issues. Earlier scenes help develop the sense of belonging Jung has with each of his family members to the point that you really feel for each of them once the drama is delivered come the latter half of the movie when the elephant in the room that is Jung’s past is better inspected.
Suddenly this well-meaning family you’ve seen in its childhood has exploded into scenes of drama and introspection without anyone to truly blame for the shortcomings involved along the journey. You feel for Jung and his fish-out-of-water dilemma, but at the same time you feel for his parents and siblings who honestly have no way of relating to his problems or finding a solution to them themselves.
By the end of the movie, you’ve been exposed to so much misfortune along with signs of hope that any clear-cut finale would be an insult to what has developed so far. Rather, you are left with a lot to think about, and signs that while things may get bad, there will always be time to take on your problems one step at a time.
(Approved for Adoption was seen at San Jose’s CAAMFest. Check local theaters/festivals for showings.)
Filed under Animation, Movie Tagged with approved for adoption, Couleur de peau: Miel, jung
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Victorian State Schools Spectacular this September
Posted on: 21/6/2019 6:00PM
The 2019 Victorian State Schools Spectacular (VSSS) will bring together 3000 young performers from more than 200 government schools across Victoria, for two shows on Saturday 14 September at Melbourne Arena.
Students dedicate many hours across many months preparing for the three-hour, live Spectacular. This opportunity of a lifetime gives them the chance to perform to an audience of around 12,000 people at Melbourne Arena and a TV audience later in the year on Network Seven.
The theme for this year’s Spectacular is ‘Made of Stars’. With a talented 80-piece orchestra and some of the best vocalists and dancers from Victorian state schools, the show will feature a galaxy of out- of-this-world performances from a top musical line-up of songs from artists including, Justin Timberlake and Madonna, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Daft Punk, Blur, Bruno Mars and Rhianna to Imagine Dragons, Stevie Wonder, Yothu Yindi, Sheppard, Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton.
Expect to see athleticism at its finest when for the first time the Spectacular meets the X Games at Melbourne Arena with dare-devil BMX riders, skaters and scooter riders. And the audience will get a front row seat at a fashion parade inspired dance featuring glitterati – a fun take on a tongue-in-cheek look at the world of fashion featuring dancers dressed as paparazzi and multiple Anna Wintour’s all trying to get on to the red carpet to be seen by the TV cameras!
Following on from their mesmerising debut last year, the Pasifika Choir returns, and a specially commissioned Haka titled ‘Wikitoria’ (Victoria in Maori) which speaks of living together on this land created by Maori Haka Teacher Luke Hiki (from Narre Warren South P-12 College).
Since its inception in 1995, the Victorian State Schools Spectacular has been helping students to get hands-on training and mentoring both on stage – as singers, dancers and performers – and behind the scenes in audio, lighting, video production, stage management, costume, hair and make-up.
Rehearsals are underway across metropolitan Melbourne and Victorian regional centres. Participating primary and secondary school students have the unique opportunity to work with industry professionals including Creative Director Neill Gladwin, Musical Director Chong Lim AM, Dance Director Deon Nuku, (Scooby Doo, Happy Feet, Moulin Rouge), Associate Dancer Director Yvette Lee, (Dancing with the Stars, X-Factor Australia, So You Think You Can Dance), PRG for lighting and rigging, Mediatec for cameras and Norwest Group for Audio.
Bookings are through Ticketek : www.ticketek.com.au/spectacular
Image Courtesy of VSSS
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Restricted Access Dissertations and Theses
Theodoret of Cyrus and the ideal monarch
3132472.pdf (5.564Mb)
Dan Laing, Stefana Doriana
Blaising, Craig A.
Theodoret, -- Bishop of Cyrrhus -- Political activity.
Theodoret -- Bishop of Cyrrhus -- Theology.
Monarchy.
This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.
This work seeks to demonstrate that Theodoret of Cyrus used his published writings, specifically the Historia Ecclesiastica and Interpretatio in Psalmos , in order to offer a veiled criticism of the reigning monarch, Theodosius the Younger. Theodoret offered King David as an exemplar of the ideal Christian monarch for all monarchs, especially Theodosius, to follow. A brief survey of the historical situation within which Theodoret found himself reveals a weak emperor and a persecuted bishop. Theodosius II was virtually controlled by members of his imperial court and influential bishops. Theodoret suffered unjustly at the hands of Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, who he opposed more than once in the Christological controversies, and Chrysaphius, eunuch Grand Chamberlain, while Theodosius did nothing. An examination of the literary conventions available to Theodoret has been undertaken. Frances Young's discussion of mimesis and Leo Strauss's explanation of exoteric interpretation are particularly helpful. It is suggested that Theodoret made use of both literary devices in his writings on the Davidic Psalms. This usage serves as an explanation for the various irregularities found in Theodoret's exegesis, particularly with regard to the biblical references to David. The Hellenistic conception of the ideal monarch has also been presented, albeit briefly. An examination of Theodoret's presentation of David has shown that the characteristic traits of that ideal have been ascribed to him. Theodoret strategically compares the good emperors Constantine and Theodosius the Elder to David, while Theodosius the Younger is never mentioned in that context. This omission, as well as Theodoret's personal correspondence, reveal his critique of Theodosius's reign.
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Jamaica's Bobsleigh Savior Could Be The Olympics' Best Story
Filed to: jamaicaFiled to: jamaica
winston watts
jamaican bobsleigh team
The Jamaican team is one good weekend away from qualifying a two-man sled for the Sochi Olympics, in what would be the island nation's first appearance since the 2002 games. They just might not have the money.
As brought to our attention by CBS, the Telegraph had a great piece this week on pilot Winston Watts. Ever the optimist, Watts believes the Jamaican team is the driver's seat for a Sochi appearance. (It's not so clear what their chances actually are. The simple version is this: The top three countries receive three sleds apiece, the next six each receive two, and a total of 30 sleds make the Olympics. The Jamaicans currently sit 33rd, which given the complexities of qualification, should be good enough.)
[Update: They qualified.]
Even if they make it, they might not have the cash to attend the games. They already ran short of cash and won't be able to compete at this weekend's meet in St. Moritz, Switzerland. It was to be their insurance policy for qualification, but now Watts will be sitting at home, hoping not too many teams pass him.
They receive almost nothing from the Jamaican Olympic Association, and rely on sponsorships and private donations to keep the team alive. A plan for a four-man sled was scrapped for lack of funds, and at times, Watts has even paid out of his own pocket so his team could fly to the U.S. to train.
"In truth, we still don't really know at the moment if we'd even have enough funds or sponsorship to fly to Sochi itself for the Games itself," Watts shrugs. "It all depends. Our families need to be taken care of first. If there's no funding, who knows?"
Yes, we've all seen Cool Runnings, the highly fictionalized version of the 1988 Jamaican team. Watts has seen it too—he considers himself "the second generation"—but a movie you enjoyed as a kid is no reason to root for the Jamaicans. How about just rooting for Watts, one of the sport's most unique and genuine characters?
Born in a rough area of Kingston, Watts joined the army as a teen. In those days, the military was where the country's bobsleigh program was nurtured, and his soccer and track and field experience made him an ideal pilot. He competed in three Olympics, from 1994 through 2002, but then the nation's interest in the novelty of having a bobsleigh team dried up—and so did the funding.
After missing out on the 2006 games, Watts left the sport. He moved to the United States, eventually landing in Evanston, Wyoming, with a girlfriend, a son, U.S. citizenship, and a job as a wireline operator at an oil field. An hour away from the U.S. bobsleigh training facility, Watts would watch teams practice—and decided that he could still do it. So he came out of retirement, despite the fact that at age 46 he would be the second-oldest bobsleigh pilot to ever compete at the Olympics.
"Man, you should see me! Age is just a number. You'd never believe I was a man of 46. You'd say maybe 30, 35. I'm big, dark and handsome, like a 6ft, 235lb running back."
Half the work of resurrecting the team was finding the cash. Watts has tirelessly raised money, much of it coming from local businesses in Evanston, which has been the adopted home of Jamaican bobsleigh for more than a decade. He's hoping that officially qualifying for the Sochi games will inspire one big sponsor to come forward.
Last summer, Watts told NBC just how badly he wants this.
"I came here out of retirement and decided, look, I'm very hungry. A hungry man is an angry man. And that is me. I am very angry because I want it."
If you'd like, you can donate through the Paypal link on the team's website.
Jamaica's cool runners are back and hope to qualify for Sochi Games [Telegraph]
Could Jamaican bobsled team return for Sochi Olympics? [NBC Sports]
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You Can Now Visit Mars on Earth with Google
Meagan Kozlovs — March 26, 2019 add comment
If you want to know more about the lives on the Red Planet, Google will allow you to see more of the Devon Island, which is also known as “Mars on Earth”, right on your screen.
Google Street View has added images of the Devon Island, which is a huge uninhabited island on Earth. It’s been said that the island is unlivable and it’s planed in the Canadian Arctic. It got its “Mars on Earth” nickname, due to the fact that the weather and the terrain are the closest of Mars we have on our planet.
Google made a great website, that’s dedicated to the Devon Island, and it has shown the rocky terrain and the polar-desert climate. These work pretty well for the researchers who want to visit the area. It’s also perfect for those scientists who want to prepare for possible Red Planet explorations.
Haughton Mars Project’s role in this
The company has teamed with Haughton Mars Project (HMP) to offer information about the Devon Island. According to the website, there are different types of strategies and technologies for future Mars missions. The HMP also has its focus on the moon, the deep space, which are very important for the exploration of Mars.
The most important area of HMP is currently studying the 23-million-year-old Haughton crate which is similar to the surface of Mars than any place on our Earth. This crater was once occupied by a massive lake, and it has a structure of 12.4-mile-wide, caused by an asteroid.
Because of the cold climate from the Devon Island, the crater did not suffer a lot of erosion damage. According to Google Earth, the crater is one of the best-preserved impact structures from our planet.
Devon Island Mars Mars on Earth
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Home ENTERTAINMENT Celebrity Actor-comedian Kevin Hart will host 2019 Oscars
Actor-comedian Kevin Hart will host 2019 Oscars
Kevin Hart has a new job — he will host the 2019 Academy Awards, a role the prolific actor-comedian says fulfills a longtime dream.
Hart announced his selection for the 91st Oscars in an Instagram statement Tuesday. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences followed up with a tweet that welcomed him “to the family.”
The announcement came hours after trade publication The Hollywood Reporter posted a story calling the Oscars host position “the least wanted job in Hollywood.”
Hart clearly doesn’t feel that way, writing on Instagram that it has been on his list of dream jobs for years. The 2019 Oscars will be broadcast Feb. 24 on ABC.
“I am blown away simply because this has been a goal on my list for a long time…To be able to join the legendary list of host that have graced this stage is unbelievable,” Hart wrote. “I know my mom is smiling from ear to ear right now.
“I will be sure to make sure this years Oscars are a special one,” Hart wrote.
Hart takes over hosting duties from Jimmy Kimmel, who presided over the last two ceremonies, including 2016’s flub that resulted in the wrong best picture winner being announced. Last year’s ceremony was an all-time ratings low, and the film academy has announced a series of changes to the upcoming show .
Those include shortening the broadcast to three hours, and also presenting certain categories during commercial breaks and broadcasting excerpts of those winners’ speeches later in the show.
The 39-year-old Hart has become a bankable star with films such as “Ride Along,” ”Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and “Night School.”
Celebrities including Martin Lawrence and Chris Rock, who hosted the ceremony in 2005 and 2016, posted congratulatory messages about Hart’s selection Tuesday night.
“Damn I’ve lost another job to Kevin Hart,” Rock posted on Instagram, echoing a joke he told during his 2016 opening monologue . “They got the best person for the job.”
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Coming Soon: The Army's New Submachine Gun
byWarrior Maven
European armies on the Western Front saw the need for a compact, high-firepower weapon
European armies on the Western Front saw the need for a compact, high-firepower weapo n
Warrior Maven Video Above - Navy Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center Preps for High-Tech War
The result could be the most technologically advanced, practical and lethal small-arms arsenal ever to arm the U.S. Army.
byKyle Mizokami
The U.S. Army is testing submachine guns in advance of what could be its first official sub-gun in more than fifty years. The Army's Sub Compact Weapon System program is scouting the field for a weapon that delivers assault-rifle level firepower in a platform smaller than the M4 carbine. The gun is destined for the service's Personal Security Details but could be expanded to wider use throughout the Army.
The submachine gun was first invented in World War, a product of trench warfare. European armies on the Western Front saw the need for a compact, high-firepower weapon useful for clear trenches of enemy troops, a task the bolt action rifle was ill-suited for. The result was a wave of fully automatic, compact weapons with shoulder stocks, typically firing pistol caliber ammunition.
Submachine guns continued to be popular in World War II, where they were useful in jungles and fighting in built-up areas such as cities. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army went to war with the famousM1928A1Thompson submachine gun. The Thompson, made famous by police and gangsters like during the 1920s and 1930s was well-liked, though complicated and slow to mass produce.
The Army, needed a simpler, easier to manufacture design to supplement the “Tommy Gun” and the result was the M3 “Grease Gun,” also in .45 ACP. Adopted in 1944, the M3 was used throughout the latter half of World War II and the Korean War. The gun mostly fell out of circulation except with some National Guard armored units, which carried them as late as 1991’s Operation Desert Storm. The U.S. Army’s Delta Force also used the M3 early in the unit’s career, reportedly due to the .45 ACP round’s lack of deep penetration, a useful feature on hijacked airliners.
The U.S. Army has eschewed submachine guns, even as its NATO allies continued to use designs such as the British Sterling, Italian Beretta M12S, and the Israeli Uzi. The Army streamlined its small arms to a long gun and a handgun, with the long gun taking the form of the M14 battle rifle, M16 assault rifle, and now M4 carbine. While this has simplified the Army’s global logistics, it’s also been less than ideal for infantry riding in troop carriers, vehicle crews, and rear area troops.
Now, seventy-four years after the adoption of the M3, the Army is looking at submachine guns again. The Army’s Project Manager Soldier Weapons recently posted a solicitation for a Sub Compact Weapon (SCW) System. The solicitation asked the firearms industry for a submachine gun-sized weapon chambered in nine millimeter Luger (the same as the new M17/M18 Modular Handgun System) with the ability to fire fully automatic, a Picatinny rail for attaching lights and optics, and the ability to install suppressors. Furthermore, the original solicitation was pulled and quickly replaced with a new one that included suppressors as part of a trials package.
According to the Army, the goal of the program is, “to acquire a highly concealable SCW system capable of engaging threat personnel with a high volume of lethal force while accurately firing at close range with minimal collateral damage.” The sub-guns are reportedly destined for the Army’s Personal Security Details (PSDs), troops that act as bodyguards for army generals and their staffs in forward areas. PSDs originated inthe Iraq War to protect command personnel that traveled in less than secure areas. The Army intends to buy up to 1,000 SCWs.
The SCW program could actually grow much bigger if the Army sticks to its small arms roadmap. The service is interested in procuring a new cartridge, possibly in 6.8-millimeter, for its Next-Generation SquadAutomatic Weaponand next-generation carbine. The 5.56-millimeter M4A1 carbine has relatively low recoil and is small enough to easily fit inside vehicles and other enclosed spaces. A 6.8-millimeter weapon would ideally be more lethal and have a longer range, but the price would be a heavier and possibly bulkier weapon that requires more training to use effectively. Rear area troops such as unit staffs, truck drivers, maintainers and other combat service support troops require a more compact weapon. They also practice at the range less often and so may be better off with an SCW-type weapon for self-defense.
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The ten companies awarded contracts include Colt Defense with the Colt Modular 9mm Sub Compact Weapon, likely a variant of the Colt 9mmSubmachine Gun. Others include the CMMG Company with its Ultra PDW, Lewis Machine & Tool, and the MARS L-9 Compact Suppressed Weapon, Quarter Circle 10 and the LLC 5.5 CLT and 5.5 QV5 Sub Compact Weapon, PTR Industries and its TR 9CS Sub Compact Weapon, and the Zenith Firearms Z-5RS, Z-5P and Z-5K Sub Compact Weapons. Sig Sauer received a contract for its MPX Sub Compact Weapon, Beretta for the PMX Sub Compact Weapon, CZ USA for the Scorpion EVO 3 A1 submachine gun, and B&T for their MP9 Machine Gun. Almost all of these weapons are mature designs, some of which are very similar to the M4A1 carbine in operation.
If all goes according to plan, the U.S. Army will field a new submachine gun in the near future, in addition to a next-generation carbine and next-generation squad automatic weapon. Along with the new M17 handgun, the Army could very well introduce a totally new slate of small arms for future fights within a relatively short time, and one that is tailored to the needs of the soldier. The result could be the most technologically advanced, practical, and lethal small arms arsenal ever to arm the U.S. Army.
Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national-security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in theDiplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. In 2009, he co-founded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter:@KyleMizokami.
-- This story first appeared in The National Interest ---
Image: U.S. Army Pfc. Rohan Wright, center, a cavalry scout with a personal security detachment with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, prepares to fire an M320 Grenade Launcher Module (GLM) at the weapons range at Forward Operating Base Thunder in Paktia province, Afghanistan, Oct. 18, 2013. Flickr / The U.S. Army
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Tag Archives: Department of Psychiatry: University of Michigan
Management of BPSD in Alzheimer’s Disease (International Psychogeriatrics)
Posted on August 5, 2018 by Dementia and Elderly Care News
Summary A recent review examines current and emerging treatments for Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) in Alzheimer’s Disease. This research was first aired at the 2015 International Psychogeriatric Association Meeting. The consensus view is that non-pharmacological approaches are … Continue reading →
Posted in Acute Hospitals, Antipsychotics, Community Care, For Doctors (mostly), For Nurses and Therapists (mostly), For Researchers (mostly), International, Management of Condition, Mental Health, Models of Dementia Care, Non-Pharmacological Treatments, Person-Centred Care, Pharmacological Treatments, Quick Insights, UK | Tagged 2015 International Psychogeriatric Association Meeting, Agitation, Agitation and Aggression, Alternatives to Antipsychotic Drugs, Alternatives to Medication for Agitation, Antipsychotics in Elderly People with Dementia, Antipsychotics Limitation in Dementia, Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD), Behavioural Alternatives to Antipsychotic Drugs, Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD), BPSD in Alzheimer’s Disease, BPSD: Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia, Consensus Statements About Dementia, Delphi Consensus, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences: Johns Hopkins Bayview, Department of Psychiatry: University of Michigan, Describe Investigate Create and Evaluate (DICE) Approach, Dextromethorphan / Quinidine (DM/Q: Nuedexta™), Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide-Quinidine Sulfate, Dextromethorphan-Quinidine, Dextromethorphan-Quinidine for Agitation in Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease, Drugs for BPSD, Efficacy of Music Therapy, International Psychogeriatric Association Meeting (2015), International Psychogeriatrics, Interventions for BPSD, Johns Hopkins University, Management of BPSD in Alzheimer’s Disease, Managing Agitation, Medical School: University of Exeter, Music Therapy, Music Therapy and Dementia, Music Therapy for BPSD, Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (NPS), Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in People With Dementia, Pimavanserin, Potentially Inappropriate Medications (PIM), Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing (PIP), Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing in Advanced Dementia, Prescribing of Antipsychotic Drugs For People With Dementia, Program for Positive Aging, Reducing Agitation and Distress, Risperidone, United States, University of Exeter, University of Exeter Medical School, University of Michigan, USA | Leave a comment
Dementia Risk Reduction: Suggestions for Lifestyle Modification (NHS Choices / Lancet / BBC News / AAIC)
Posted on July 22, 2017 by Dementia and Elderly Care News
Summary A large-scale international review, by the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care (LCDPIC), suggests that perhaps one in three cases of dementia could be prevented if people took steps to follow healthier lifestyles and so protect their … Continue reading →
Posted in BBC News, Commissioning, Community Care, Depression, For Carers (mostly), For Doctors (mostly), For Nurses and Therapists (mostly), For Researchers (mostly), Hypertension, In the News, Integrated Care, International, Mental Health, Models of Dementia Care, NHS Digital (Previously NHS Choices), Non-Pharmacological Treatments, Quick Insights, Statistics, Systematic Reviews, UK, Universal Interest | Tagged 2017 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC®2017), Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age: University of Melbourne, Access to Education: Social Economic and Environmental Determinant (SEED) of Health, Active Lifestyle, Advancing Health Disparities Research in Alzheimer's Disease (NIA Grants), Ageing Population, Alzheimer's Association 2017 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures, Alzheimer's Association: 10 Ways to Love Your Brain, Alzheimer’s Association AAIC Press Office, Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC®2017), American Indians / Alaskan Natives (NIA Health Disparities Populations), Asian Americans (NIA Health Disparities Populations), Association Between Physical Activity and Cognitive Function and / or Dementia, Auditory Impairment, BBC Health News, Behind the Headlines, Blacks / African Americans (NIA Health Disparities Populations), Blood Pressure, Brain Training, Brighton and Sussex Medical School: University of Sussex, Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, Canada, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Center for Innovative Care in Aging: Johns Hopkins University, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences: University of Edinburgh, Centre for Dementia Studies: University of Manchester, Centre for Dementia Studies: University of Sussex, Centre for Old Age Psychiatric Research (Innlandet Hospital Trust), Centre for the Health Care of Elderly People - Geriatric Medicine: Dalhousie University, Childhood Education, Childhood Education: Social Economic and Environmental Determinant (SEED) of Health, Chronic Diseases and Hearing Loss, Cognitive Impairment (Potential Risk and Protective Factors), Cognitive Impairment (Potential Risk Factors), Cognitive Interventions, Cognitive Training, Creating Dementia Friendly Environments, Cumulative Benefit of Reducing Risk Factors, Dalhousie University (Canada), Dementia and Diabetes, Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, Dementia Prevention, Dementia Research Centre: University College London, Dementia Risk Factors, Dementia Risk Reduction and Prevention, Dementia: End of Life, Department of Health Promotion: Tel-Aviv University, Department of Medicine: University of Washington, Department of Neurology and Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioural Sciences: Keck School of Medicine, Department of Old Age Psychiatry: King's College London, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences: Johns Hopkins Bayview, Department of Psychiatry: University of Michigan, Department Psychosocial and Community Health: University of Washington, Disability Populations (NIA Health Disparities Populations), Division of Psychiatry: University College London, Environmental and Lifestyle Factors, Epidemiology, Epidemiology and Statistics, Exercise, Faculty of Medicine: University of Oslo, France, Grants for Advancing Health Disparities Research in Alzheimer's Disease (NIA), Healthy Behaviours, Healthy Lifestyles, Healthy Living, Hearing, Hearing Loss and Cognition, Hearing Loss and Cognitive Decline, Hearing Loss and Cognitive Impairment, Hearing Loss and Dementia, Hearing Loss in Adulthood, Hearing Loss: Risk of Dementia, Heczeg Institute on Aging: Tel Aviv University, High Blood Pressure, Hispanics / Latinos (NIA Health Disparities Populations), Hypertension, Impact of Hearing Loss, Innlandet Hospital Trust (Norway), Institute of Health and Society: University of Oslo, Institute of Neurology: National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Intervention and Care, Intervention and Care (LCDPIC), Israel, Johns Hopkins University, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Keck School of Medicine, Kings College London, La Colombière Hospital (Montpellier), Lancet, Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, LCDPIC: Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology: University of Southern California, Lifestyle Factors, Lifestyle Risk Factors, Loneliness, Loneliness and Social Isolation, Loneliness Harms Health, Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department: University College London, MCI: Mild Cognitive Impairment, Medical School: University of Exeter, Mediterranean Diet, Midlife Hypertension, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), Minerva Center for Interdisciplinary Study of End of Life: Tel Aviv University, Moderate Exercise, Modifiable Risk Factors, National Ageing Research Institute: Australia, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute on Aging (US), National Institute on Aging: Grants for Advancing Health Disparities Research in Alzheimer's Disease, Native Hawaiians / Other Pacific Islanders (NIA Health Disparities Populations), Neuroprotective Lifestyles, Neuropsychiatric Symptoms, Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in People With Dementia, Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease, Neuropsychiatry - 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Reducing Antipsychotic Prescribing for BPSD (BMJ / JAMA / JAMA Psychiatry / BJCP)
Posted on November 6, 2014 by Dementia and Elderly Care News
Summary This BMJ “Change page” article discusses the potential harms associated with use of antipsychotics in people with dementia, and covers guidelines recommending restrictions in their use. Risperidone is the antipsychotic recommended for use in the treatment of aggression associated … Continue reading →
Posted in Acute Hospitals, Antipsychotics, Community Care, For Doctors (mostly), For Nurses and Therapists (mostly), For Researchers (mostly), International, Management of Condition, Mental Health, Models of Dementia Care, Non-Pharmacological Treatments, Person-Centred Care, Pharmacological Treatments, Practical Advice, Quick Insights, Standards, Statistics, UK | Tagged Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs), Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs): Type A (Potentially Avoidable and Associated With Commonly Prescribed Medications), Adverse Drug Reactions in the Elderly, Adverse Effects, Aggression, Aggressive Behaviour, Alternatives to Antipsychotics, Antidepressants, Antihypertensives, Antipsychotic Drugs, Antipsychotics, Antipsychotics and Risk of Venous Thromboembolism, Antipsychotics Limitation in Dementia, Antipsychotics Side Effects, Antipsychotics-Related Mortality Risks, Antipsychotics: Absolute Mortality Risk Increase, Antipsychotics: Neuroleptic Sensitivity, Antipsychotics: Number Needed to Harm (NNH), Atypical Antipsychotics, Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD), Benzodiazepines, BMJ, BPSD, BPSD: Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia, Brief Psychosocial Treatment, British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, British Medical Journal (BMJ), Campbell Institute (CAMH): University of Toronto, Cardiff University, Center for Clinical Management Research: Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System (Michigan), Center for Statistical Consultation and Research: University of Michigan, CitAD Research Group, Citalopram for Agitation in Alzheimer's Disease: CitAD Trial, Clinical Biotechnology Research Institute: Roper St Francis Healthcare (Charleston: South Carolina), College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, DART-AD: Dementia Antipsychotic Withdrawal Trial (DART-AD), Dementia Antipsychotic Withdrawal Trial (DART-AD), Department of Psychiatry: University of Michigan, Department of Psychiatry: University of Southern California, Discontinuation of Antipsychotics, Effect of Citalopram on Agitation in Alzheimer Disease (CitAD Randomized Clinical Trial), Falls Prevention, Hotchkiss Brain Institute: University of Calgary, Inappropriate Prescribing, Inappropriate Use of Antipsychotics in Dementia, International Conference on Harmonization, JAMA, JAMA Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Bayview and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Baltimore, Kings College London, Medication Reviews, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR): Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre and Dementia Unit, NEST Approach, Neuroleptic Discontinuation, Neuroleptics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Patients’ Needs and the Environment Stimulation and Techniques (NEST), Perelman School of Medicine: University of Pennsylvania, Personalised Social Interaction, Pharmacokinetics, Polypharmacy, Potential Harms of Antipsychotic Use, Prescribing Anti-Psychotic Drugs to People with Dementia, Reducing Agitation and Distress, Reducing Antipsychotic Medication in Care Homes, Reducing Antipsychotic Prescriptions in Dementia, Reducing Inappropriate Use of Antipsychotics in Dementia, Reducing Violence and Aggression, Risperidone, Seattle Protocols, Simulated Presence Therapy, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Stanford University School of Medicine, United States, University Hospital Llandough (Cardiff), University of Calgary, University of Manchester, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Southern California, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, University of Toronto, Violence and Aggression, Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases: King’s College London | Leave a comment
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Elizabeth Melon
Elizabeth melons have a round to slightly oval shape and are relatively small, averaging 2 to 3 pounds. They have a thick outer rind like cantaloupe or honeydew and are bright yellow with a smooth texture. Their inner flesh is translucent white and gives off a sweet floral fragrance when fully ripe. The intensity of the aroma is a good indicator of Elizabeth melon’s maturity. When choosing Elizabeth melons, it is also better to pick ones that are heavy and dense, an indicator of their sweet juice content. They are well known to be among one of the sweetest melons on the market.
The Elizabeth melon is available from early spring into summer.
The Elizabeth melon is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family and of the species Cucumis melo, cultivator inodorus. Elizabeth melons are named after Queen Elizabeth, because they are considered to be the “queen” of all melons in terms of sweetness. Elizabeth melons were originally produced in Japan, but today its cultivation has spread throughout Asia. Outside of Asia the Elizabeth melon is known as a variety of Canary melon.
Elizabeth melons have a high sugar content, about 15%, and they are rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and minerals. They also have the highest concentration of digestive enzymes of all melons. As a result, the Elizabeth Melon has been recognized to be beneficial in the treatment of intestinal diseases.
The Elizabeth melon is ideally suited for raw applications. Add the sliced flesh to salads and cold soups. Pureed, it can be used to make sauces, dressings, sorbets, beverages and fillings for desserts. Its sweet flavor pairs well with salty cured meats, fresh cheese, ginger, mint, hot chilies, citrus, honey and lychee. To store, keep uncut Elizabeth melons at room temperature until fully ripe, cut melon can be kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator for three to five days.
The Elizabeth melon was first developed in Japan and remains a favorite cultivar still grown in the region today. It has very high adaptability and can withstand low temperatures, high moisture and lack of sunlight. Therefore, it was easily introduced all over Asia. Currently, the Elizabeth melon is the most cultivated thick-skinned melon in China. Due to the rich soil in areas north of the Yangtze River, Elizabeth melons are predominantly grown in Shandong and Hebei province.
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Home > Members > Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman
Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (1945 - )In Congress 2015 - Present |
New Jersey 12 House: 114th-116th (2015-Present)
https://watsoncoleman.house.gov/
Legislation Sponsored or Cosponsored by Bonnie Watson Coleman
1. H.R.3815 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To increase access to pre-exposure prophylaxis to reduce the transmission of HIV. Sponsor: Rep. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA-28] (Introduced 07/17/2019) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, Veterans' Affairs, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Armed Services, Financial Services Latest Action: House - 07/17/2019 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, Veterans' Affairs, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Armed Services, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in... (All Actions) Tracker:
2. H.R.3799 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote family unity, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-27] (Introduced 07/17/2019) Cosponsors: (35) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 07/17/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
3. H.R.3778 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize certain grants (for youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies) to be used for school personnel in elementary and secondary schools and students in secondary schools to receive student suicide awareness and prevention training, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Cleaver, Emanuel [D-MO-5] (Introduced 07/16/2019) Cosponsors: (17) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 07/16/2019 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
4. H.R.3773 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To direct the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe a motor vehicle safety standard requiring new commercial motor vehicles to be equipped with an automatic emergency braking system, to require automatic emergency braking installed in commercial motor vehicles to be used while in operation, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [D-GA-4] (Introduced 07/16/2019) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 07/17/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. (All Actions) Tracker:
5. H.R.3748 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to in absentia removal proceedings, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-20] (Introduced 07/12/2019) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 07/12/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
6. H.R.3731 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Strategic and Humane Southern Border Migrant Response Act Sponsor: Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2] (Introduced 07/11/2019) Cosponsors: (19) Committees: House - Judiciary, Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 07/11/2019 Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as... (All Actions) Tracker:
7. H.R.3712 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act Sponsor: Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L. [D-CT-3] (Introduced 07/11/2019) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 07/11/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
8. H.R.3693 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To prohibit private passenger automobile insurers from using certain income proxies to determine insurance rates and eligibility. Sponsor: Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] (Introduced 07/10/2019) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: House - Financial Services, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 07/10/2019 Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
9. H.R.3675 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Trusted Traveler Reconsideration and Restoration Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Katko, John [R-NY-24] (Introduced 07/10/2019) Cosponsors: (3) Committees: House - Homeland Security Latest Action: House - 07/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
10. H.R.3668 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue an occupational safety and health standard to protect workers from heat related injuries and illnesses. Sponsor: Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-27] (Introduced 07/10/2019) Cosponsors: (31) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 07/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
11. H.R.3666 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) STRONGER Patents Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Stivers, Steve [R-OH-15] (Introduced 07/10/2019) Cosponsors: (17) Committees: House - Judiciary, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 07/10/2019 Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
12. H.R.3645 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Correct the Census Count Act Sponsor: Rep. Clay, Wm. Lacy [D-MO-1] (Introduced 07/09/2019) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: House - Oversight and Reform Latest Action: House - 07/09/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. (All Actions) Tracker:
13. H.R.3632 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Fair and Open Skies Act Sponsor: Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4] (Introduced 07/09/2019) Cosponsors: (12) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure Latest Action: House - 07/10/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation. (All Actions) Tracker:
14. H.R.3628 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Motor Carriers Accountability Act Sponsor: Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2] (Introduced 07/09/2019) Cosponsors: (25) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure Latest Action: House - 07/10/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. (All Actions) Tracker:
15. H.R.3606 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) High Speed Gunfire Prevention Act Sponsor: Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (Introduced 07/02/2019) Cosponsors: (31) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 07/02/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
16. H.R.3570 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-33] (Introduced 06/27/2019) Cosponsors: (72) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 06/27/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
17. H.R.3553 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to ensure that all firearms are traceable, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (Introduced 06/27/2019) Cosponsors: (28) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/27/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
18. H.R.3525 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act Sponsor: Rep. Underwood, Lauren [D-IL-14] (Introduced 06/27/2019) Cosponsors: (19) Committees: House - Homeland Security Latest Action: House - 06/27/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
19. H.R.3517 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Restore Honor to Service Members Act Sponsor: Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] (Introduced 06/26/2019) Cosponsors: (105) Committees: House - Armed Services, Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 06/26/2019 Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
20. H.R.3509 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) LGBTQ Data Inclusion Act Sponsor: Rep. Grijalva, Raul M. [D-AZ-3] (Introduced 06/26/2019) Cosponsors: (97) Committees: House - Oversight and Reform Latest Action: House - 06/26/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. (All Actions) Tracker:
21. H.R.3498 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Combating Deceptive Immigration Enforcement Practices Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Velazquez, Nydia M. [D-NY-7] (Introduced 06/26/2019) Cosponsors: (22) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/26/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
22. H.R.3483 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Integration of Baseball Commemorative Coin Act Sponsor: Rep. Richmond, Cedric L. [D-LA-2] (Introduced 06/25/2019) Cosponsors: (113) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 06/25/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
23. H.R.3464 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To establish a National and Community Service Administration to carry out the national and volunteer service programs, to expand participation in such programs, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1] (Introduced 06/25/2019) Cosponsors: (185) Committees: House - Education and Labor, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 06/25/2019 Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
24. H.R.3463 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Cartwright, Matt [D-PA-8] (Introduced 06/25/2019) Cosponsors: (71) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 06/25/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
25. H.R.3454 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Help Empower Americans to Respond Act Sponsor: Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] (Introduced 06/24/2019) Cosponsors: (9) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/24/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
26. H.R.3452 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Help Separated Families Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Roybal-Allard, Lucille [D-CA-40] (Introduced 06/24/2019) Cosponsors: (24) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 06/24/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
27. H.R.3451 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections for Separated Children Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Roybal-Allard, Lucille [D-CA-40] (Introduced 06/24/2019) Cosponsors: (27) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/24/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
28. H.R.3435 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Local Public Health And Safety Protection Act Sponsor: Rep. Clay, Wm. Lacy [D-MO-1] (Introduced 06/24/2019) Cosponsors: (15) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/24/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
29. H.R.3381 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency on Campus Sexual Violence Act Sponsor: Rep. Speier, Jackie [D-CA-14] (Introduced 06/20/2019) Cosponsors: (49) Committees: House - Education and Labor, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/20/2019 Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
30. H.R.3376 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Lady Liberty Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Connolly, Gerald E. [D-VA-11] (Introduced 06/20/2019) Cosponsors: (76) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/20/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
31. H.R.3375 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Stopping Bad Robocalls Act Sponsor: Rep. Pallone, Frank, Jr. [D-NJ-6] (Introduced 06/20/2019) Cosponsors: (172) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 06/25/2019 Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote . (All Actions) Tracker:
32. H.R.3353 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Parent PLUS Loan Improvement Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Fudge, Marcia L. [D-OH-11] (Introduced 06/19/2019) Cosponsors: (15) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 06/19/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
33. H.R.3315 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act Sponsor: Rep. Haaland, Debra A. [D-NM-1] (Introduced 06/18/2019) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 06/18/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
34. H.R.3307 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for payments to possessions of the United States related to the application of the earned income tax credit in such possessions. Sponsor: Rep. Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [D-NJ-9] (Introduced 06/18/2019) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 06/18/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
35. H.R.3280 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) LGBTQ Essential Data Act Sponsor: Rep. Maloney, Sean Patrick [D-NY-18] (Introduced 06/13/2019) Cosponsors: (74) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 06/13/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
36. H.R.3265 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) 3D Printed Gun Safety Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Deutch, Theodore E. [D-FL-22] (Introduced 06/13/2019) Cosponsors: (42) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/28/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
37. H.R.3252 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Global Respect Act Sponsor: Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (Introduced 06/13/2019) Cosponsors: (62) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/28/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. (All Actions) Tracker:
38. H.R.3246 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Traveling Parents Screening Consistency Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Taylor, Van [R-TX-3] (Introduced 06/13/2019) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: House - Homeland Security Latest Action: House - 06/25/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
39. H.R.3239 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in Customs and Border Protection Custody Act Sponsor: Rep. Ruiz, Raul [D-CA-36] (Introduced 06/12/2019) Cosponsors: (153) Committees: House - Judiciary, Homeland Security Latest Action: House - 06/28/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. (All Actions) Tracker:
40. H.R.3230 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Defending Each and Every Person from False Appearances by Keeping Exploitation Subject to Accountability Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9] (Introduced 06/12/2019) Cosponsors: (25) Committees: House - Judiciary, Energy and Commerce, Homeland Security Latest Action: House - 06/28/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
41. H.R.3197 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Restoring Overtime Pay Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Takano, Mark [D-CA-41] (Introduced 06/11/2019) Cosponsors: (72) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 06/11/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
42. H.R.3195 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act Sponsor: Rep. Van Drew, Jefferson [D-NJ-2] (Introduced 06/11/2019) Cosponsors: (146) Committees: House - Natural Resources Latest Action: House - 06/19/2019 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 21 - 13. (All Actions) Tracker:
43. H.R.3190 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Engel, Eliot L. [D-NY-16] (Introduced 06/11/2019) Cosponsors: (46) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Judiciary, Financial Services, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 06/20/2019 Committee Agreed to Seek Consideration Under Suspension of the Rules. (All Actions) Tracker:
44. H.R.3189 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Improving Legal Services for Female Veterans Act Sponsor: Rep. Wild, Susan [D-PA-7] (Introduced 06/10/2019) Cosponsors: (32) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 06/25/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. (All Actions) Tracker:
45. H.R.3166 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To direct the Secretary of Defense to modernize certain forms and surveys of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Hastings, Alcee L. [D-FL-20] (Introduced 06/10/2019) Cosponsors: (48) Committees: House - Armed Services Latest Action: House - 06/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
46. H.R.3138 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) "Six Triple Eight" Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (Introduced 06/05/2019) Cosponsors: (48) Committees: House - Financial Services, House Administration Latest Action: House - 06/05/2019 Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
47. H.R.3131 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7] (Introduced 06/05/2019) Cosponsors: (17) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 06/05/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
48. H.R.3115 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Living Shorelines Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Pallone, Frank, Jr. [D-NJ-6] (Introduced 06/05/2019) Cosponsors: (15) Committees: House - Natural Resources Latest Action: House - 06/18/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. (All Actions) Tracker:
49. H.R.3114 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Every Child Deserves a Family Act Sponsor: Rep. Lewis, John [D-GA-5] (Introduced 06/05/2019) Cosponsors: (101) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 06/05/2019 Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
50. H.R.3106 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Domestic Terrorism DATA Act Sponsor: Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2] (Introduced 06/05/2019) Cosponsors: (29) Committees: House - Homeland Security, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/28/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
51. H.R.3098 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Student Loan Interest Deduction Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Swalwell, Eric [D-CA-15] (Introduced 06/04/2019) Cosponsors: (23) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 06/04/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
52. H.R.3085 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Ebola Eradication Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Bass, Karen [D-CA-37] (Introduced 06/04/2019) Cosponsors: (35) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs Latest Action: House - 06/07/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations. (All Actions) Tracker:
53. H.R.3082 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Woman on the Twenty Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3] (Introduced 06/04/2019) Cosponsors: (101) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 06/04/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
54. H.R.3032 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Maya Angelou Congressional Gold Medal Act Sponsor: Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3] (Introduced 05/28/2019) Cosponsors: (21) Committees: House - Financial Services, House Administration Latest Action: House - 05/28/2019 Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
55. H.R.2977 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) DISCLOSE Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (Introduced 05/23/2019) Cosponsors: (180) Committees: House - House Administration, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/23/2019 Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
56. H.R.2975 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Women's Health Protection Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-27] (Introduced 05/23/2019) Cosponsors: (198) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 05/23/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
57. H.R.2938 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) HAVEN Act Sponsor: Rep. McBath, Lucy [D-GA-6] (Introduced 05/23/2019) Cosponsors: (37) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/28/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. (All Actions) Tracker:
58. H.R.2931 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) SERVE Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Pappas, Chris [D-NH-1] (Introduced 05/22/2019) Cosponsors: (30) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 06/12/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
59. H.R.2901 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Maintain Access to Vital Social Security Services Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (Introduced 05/22/2019) Cosponsors: (10) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/22/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
60. H.R.2865 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Reverse Mass Incarceration Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Cardenas, Tony [D-CA-29] (Introduced 05/21/2019) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/26/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
61. H.R.2829 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) AUMF Clarification Act Sponsor: Rep. Levin, Andy [D-MI-9] (Introduced 05/17/2019) Cosponsors: (73) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs Latest Action: House - 05/17/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
62. H.R.2809 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Improving Access to Nutrition Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-13] (Introduced 05/16/2019) Cosponsors: (37) Committees: House - Agriculture Latest Action: House - 06/10/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations. (All Actions) Tracker:
63. H.R.2778 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine Act Sponsor: Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] (Introduced 05/15/2019) Cosponsors: (71) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, Oversight and Reform, Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 05/15/2019 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Oversight and Reform, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as... (All Actions) Tracker:
64. H.R.2775 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Protecting LGBTQ Youth Act Sponsor: Rep. Shalala, Donna E. [D-FL-27] (Introduced 05/15/2019) Cosponsors: (99) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 05/15/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
65. H.R.2755 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Buy America 2.0 Act Sponsor: Rep. Boyle, Brendan F. [D-PA-2] (Introduced 05/15/2019) Cosponsors: (14) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 05/16/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation. (All Actions) Tracker:
66. H.R.2747 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] (Introduced 05/15/2019) Cosponsors: (67) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 05/15/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
67. H.R.2708 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Disarm Hate Act Sponsor: Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (Introduced 05/14/2019) Cosponsors: (118) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/26/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
68. H.R.2687 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Customer Non-Discrimination Act Sponsor: Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] (Introduced 05/10/2019) Cosponsors: (28) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/26/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. (All Actions) Tracker:
69. H.R.2684 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) FAIR RATES Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Takano, Mark [D-CA-41] (Introduced 05/10/2019) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 05/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
70. H.R.2660 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Election Security Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2] (Introduced 05/10/2019) Cosponsors: (52) Committees: House - House Administration, Homeland Security, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Science, Space, and Technology, Foreign Affairs, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/28/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. (All Actions) Tracker:
71. H.R.2649 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Tax Equity and Prosperity for Puerto Rican Families Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [D-NJ-9] (Introduced 05/09/2019) Cosponsors: (10) Committees: House - Natural Resources Latest Action: House - 05/09/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. (All Actions) Tracker:
72. H.R.2639 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Strength in Diversity Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Fudge, Marcia L. [D-OH-11] (Introduced 05/09/2019) Cosponsors: (34) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 05/16/2019 Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 26 - 20. (All Actions) Tracker:
73. H.R.2637 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Preserving Overseas Immigration Services Act Sponsor: Rep. Espaillat, Adriano [D-NY-13] (Introduced 05/09/2019) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: House - Homeland Security, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/26/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. (All Actions) Tracker:
74. H.R.2635 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) PREP Act Sponsor: Rep. Cummings, Elijah E. [D-MD-7] (Introduced 05/09/2019) Cosponsors: (19) Committees: House - Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 06/26/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
75. H.R.2630 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Cash Always Should be Honored Act Sponsor: Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (Introduced 05/09/2019) Cosponsors: (10) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 05/09/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
76. H.R.2590 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) DHS Overseas Personnel Enhancement Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Katko, John [R-NY-24] (Introduced 05/08/2019) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: House - Homeland Security | Senate - Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Reports: H. Rept. 116-95 Latest Action: Senate - 06/11/2019 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
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77. H.R.2585 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3] (Introduced 05/08/2019) Cosponsors: (50) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 05/31/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
78. H.R.2576 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Federal Government Advertising Equity Accountability Act Sponsor: Rep. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (Introduced 05/08/2019) Cosponsors: (11) Committees: House - Budget Latest Action: House - 05/08/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Budget. (All Actions) Tracker:
79. H.R.2545 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Data Breach Prevention and Compensation Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Cummings, Elijah E. [D-MD-7] (Introduced 05/07/2019) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 05/07/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
80. H.R.2489 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Waiver Accountability and Transparency Act Sponsor: Rep. Cummings, Elijah E. [D-MD-7] (Introduced 05/02/2019) Cosponsors: (40) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 05/31/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. (All Actions) Tracker:
81. H.R.2481 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Gold Star Family Tax Relief Act Sponsor: Rep. Luria, Elaine G. [D-VA-2] (Introduced 05/02/2019) Cosponsors: (165) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/02/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
82. H.R.2476 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Securing American Nonprofit Organizations Against Terrorism Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2] (Introduced 05/02/2019) Cosponsors: (104) Committees: House - Homeland Security | Senate - Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Reports: H. Rept. 116-92 Latest Action: Senate - 06/11/2019 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
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83. H.R.2474 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [D-VA-3] (Introduced 05/02/2019) Cosponsors: (175) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 05/02/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
84. H.R.2420 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) National Museum of the American Latino Act Sponsor: Rep. Serrano, Jose E. [D-NY-15] (Introduced 04/30/2019) Cosponsors: (96) Committees: House - House Administration, Natural Resources, Transportation and Infrastructure Latest Action: House - 05/08/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. (All Actions) Tracker:
85. H.R.2415 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7] (Introduced 04/30/2019) Cosponsors: (96) Committees: House - Judiciary, Homeland Security Latest Action: House - 05/20/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. (All Actions) Tracker:
86. H.R.2411 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Tobacco to 21 Act Sponsor: Rep. DeGette, Diana [D-CO-1] (Introduced 04/30/2019) Cosponsors: (49) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 04/30/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
87. H.R.2410 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) REDEEM Act Sponsor: Rep. Cummings, Elijah E. [D-MD-7] (Introduced 04/30/2019) Cosponsors: (24) Committees: House - Judiciary, Agriculture, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/20/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
88. H.R.2407 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act Sponsor: Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4] (Introduced 04/30/2019) Cosponsors: (20) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs Latest Action: House - 04/30/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
89. H.R.2402 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Fair and Equal Housing Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Schneider, Bradley Scott [D-IL-10] (Introduced 04/30/2019) Cosponsors: (44) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 05/20/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. (All Actions) Tracker:
90. H.R.2354 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Eshoo, Anna G. [D-CA-18] (Introduced 04/25/2019) Cosponsors: (79) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs, Armed Services Latest Action: House - 04/25/2019 Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. (All Actions) Tracker:
91. H.R.2328 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. O'Halleran, Tom [D-AZ-1] (Introduced 04/15/2019) Cosponsors: (83) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 07/11/2019 Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote . (All Actions) Tracker:
92. H.R.2311 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Anti-Lunch Shaming Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Haaland, Debra A. [D-NM-1] (Introduced 04/12/2019) Cosponsors: (58) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 04/12/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
93. H.R.2292 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) ACA OUTREACH Act Sponsor: Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-43] (Introduced 04/12/2019) Cosponsors: (28) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 04/12/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
94. H.R.2279 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Safe Step Act Sponsor: Rep. Ruiz, Raul [D-CA-36] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (77) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 04/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
95. H.R.2275 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) District of Columbia Local Juror Non-Discrimination Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (36) Committees: House - Oversight and Reform Latest Action: House - 04/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. (All Actions) Tracker:
96. H.R.2271 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Scarlett's Sunshine on Sudden Unexpected Death Act Sponsor: Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (47) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 04/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
97. H.R.2262 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Environmental Health Workforce Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Lawrence, Brenda L. [D-MI-14] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (28) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 04/10/2019 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
98. H.R.2256 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Driving America Forward Act Sponsor: Rep. Kildee, Daniel T. [D-MI-5] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (92) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 04/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
99. H.R.2232 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) New Pathways Act Sponsor: Rep. Cummings, Elijah E. [D-MD-7] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (25) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 05/15/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
100. H.R.2231 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (26) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 04/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
Cosponsored Legislation [1,389]
Bills (H.R. or S.) [1,153]
Crime and Law Enforcement [148]
Government Operations and Politics [134]
Emergency Management [33]
Science, Technology, Communications [18]
Animals [13]
Law [12]
Energy [11]
House [1,443]
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Home > Members > Representative Gwen Moore
Representative Gwen Moore (1951 - )In Congress 2005 - Present |
Wisconsin 4 House: 109th-116th (2005-Present)
https://gwenmoore.house.gov
Legislation Sponsored or Cosponsored by Gwen Moore
111 (2009-2010) — 112 (2011-2012) House
1. H.R.6599 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Stop Subsidizing Childhood Obesity Act Sponsor: Rep. Kucinich, Dennis J. [D-OH-10] (Introduced 11/16/2012) Cosponsors: (11) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 11/16/2012 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
2. H.R.6597 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) EACH Act Sponsor: Rep. Biggert, Judy [R-IL-13] (Introduced 11/16/2012) Cosponsors: (62) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 11/16/2012 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
3. H.R.6591 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) SIMPLE Voting Act Sponsor: Rep. Miller, George [D-CA-7] (Introduced 11/15/2012) Cosponsors: (89) Committees: House - House Administration Latest Action: House - 11/15/2012 Referred to the House Committee on House Administration. (All Actions) Tracker:
4. H.R.6482 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 respecting the scoring of preventive health savings. Sponsor: Rep. Burgess, Michael C. [R-TX-26] (Introduced 09/21/2012) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: House - Budget Latest Action: House - 09/21/2012 Referred to the House Committee on the Budget. (All Actions) Tracker:
5. H.R.6421 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-14] (Introduced 09/14/2012) Cosponsors: (23) Committees: House - Natural Resources, House Administration Latest Action: House - 09/21/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. (All Actions) Tracker:
6. H.R.6419 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) America Votes Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Larsen, Rick [D-WA-2] (Introduced 09/14/2012) Cosponsors: (43) Committees: House - House Administration Latest Action: House - 09/14/2012 Referred to the House Committee on House Administration. (All Actions) Tracker:
7. H.R.6364 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) World War I Centennial Commission Act Sponsor: Rep. Poe, Ted [R-TX-2] (Introduced 09/10/2012) Cosponsors: (14) Committees: House - Oversight and Government Reform, Natural Resources Committee Reports: H. Rept. 112-701 Latest Action: 01/14/2013 Became Public Law No: 112-272. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-12-31 [displayText] => Resolving differences -- House actions: On motion that the House suspend the rules and agree to the Senate amendment Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 401 - 5 (Roll no. 654).(text as House agreed to Senate amendment: CR H7496-7497) [externalActionCode] => 19500 [description] => Resolving Differences )
8. H.R.6257 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) United States Civil Rights Trail Special Resource Study Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Clay, Wm. Lacy [D-MO-1] (Introduced 08/01/2012) Cosponsors: (31) Committees: House - Natural Resources Latest Action: House - 08/10/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. (All Actions) Tracker:
9. H.R.6256 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Recidivism Reduction Act Sponsor: Rep. Carson, Andre [D-IN-7] (Introduced 08/01/2012) Cosponsors: (14) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 08/06/2012 Referred for a period ending not later than August 6 2012, (or for a later time if the Chairman so designates) to the Subcommittee on Social Security, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the subcommittee concerned. (All Actions) Tracker:
10. H.R.6211 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Miller, George [D-CA-7] (Introduced 07/26/2012) Cosponsors: (117) Committees: House - Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 09/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. (All Actions) Tracker:
11. H.R.6186 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To require a study of voluntary community-based flood insurance options and how such options could be incorporated into the national flood insurance program, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (Introduced 07/25/2012) Cosponsors: (3) Committees: House - Financial Services | Senate - Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Latest Action: Senate - 09/11/2012 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-09-10 [displayText] => Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 364 - 11 (Roll no. 559).(text: CR H5736) [externalActionCode] => 8000 [description] => Passed House )
12. H.R.6157 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Patient Centered Quality Care for Life Act Sponsor: Rep. Cleaver, Emanuel [D-MO-5] (Introduced 07/19/2012) Cosponsors: (27) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 07/20/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
13. H.R.6155 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act Sponsor: Rep. Engel, Eliot L. [D-NY-17] (Introduced 07/19/2012) Cosponsors: (39) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 07/20/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
14. H.R.6121 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Victory for Veterans Stamp Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1] (Introduced 07/12/2012) Cosponsors: (116) Committees: House - Oversight and Government Reform, Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 07/12/2012 Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the... (All Actions) Tracker:
15. H.R.6116 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To amend the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands to provide for direct review by the United States Supreme Court of decisions of the Virgin Islands Supreme Court, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Christensen, Donna M. [D-VI-At Large] (Introduced 07/12/2012) Cosponsors: (33) Committees: House - Judiciary | Senate - Judiciary Latest Action: 12/28/2012 Became Public Law No: 112-226. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions) Tracker:
16. H.R.6038 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Global Conservation Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Fortenberry, Jeff [R-NE-1] (Introduced 06/27/2012) Cosponsors: (42) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs Latest Action: House - 06/27/2012 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
17. H.R.5978 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L. [D-CT-3] (Introduced 06/20/2012) Cosponsors: (64) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/28/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution. (All Actions) Tracker:
18. H.R.5937 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Breast Cancer Patient Education Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Lance, Leonard [R-NJ-7] (Introduced 06/08/2012) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 06/08/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
19. H.R.5905 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) International Violence Against Women Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] (Introduced 06/07/2012) Cosponsors: (55) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs Latest Action: House - 06/07/2012 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
20. H.R.5901 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Catching Up To 1968 Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. [D-IL-2] (Introduced 06/06/2012) Cosponsors: (23) Committees: House - Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 09/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. (All Actions) Tracker:
21. H.R.5840 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) National Park Service 100th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act Sponsor: Rep. Duncan, John J., Jr. [R-TN-2] (Introduced 05/18/2012) Cosponsors: (65) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 07/11/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology. (All Actions) Tracker:
22. H.R.5816 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Holt, Rush [D-NJ-12] (Introduced 05/17/2012) Cosponsors: (100) Committees: House - House Administration, Science, Space, and Technology Latest Action: House - 06/18/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation. (All Actions) Tracker:
23. H.R.5799 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Voter Empowerment Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Lewis, John [D-GA-5] (Introduced 05/17/2012) Cosponsors: (140) Committees: House - House Administration, Judiciary, Science, Space, and Technology, Veterans' Affairs, Oversight and Government Reform, Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 09/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. (All Actions) Tracker:
24. H.R.5748 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) United States Leadership to Eradicate Obstetric Fistula Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L. [D-CT-3] (Introduced 05/15/2012) Cosponsors: (8) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs Latest Action: House - 05/15/2012 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
25. H.R.5705 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Municipal Bond Market Support Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Reed, Tom [R-NY-29] (Introduced 05/09/2012) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/14/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade. (All Actions) Tracker:
26. H.R.5647 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Sponsor: Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-8] (Introduced 05/08/2012) Cosponsors: (112) Committees: House - Education and the Workforce, House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 09/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker:
27. H.R.5331 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Violence Against Immigrant Women Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] (Introduced 05/07/2012) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: House - Judiciary, Financial Services, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 10/01/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity. (All Actions) Tracker:
28. H.R.5188 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Ensuring Child Care for Working Families Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. McDermott, Jim [D-WA-7] (Introduced 04/27/2012) Cosponsors: (16) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 09/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. (All Actions) Tracker:
29. H.R.4979 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) End Abuse in Later Life Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI-2] (Introduced 04/27/2012) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 05/18/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
30. H.R.4933 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To authorize the award of the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing for acts of valor during the Civil War. Sponsor: Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3] (Introduced 04/26/2012) Cosponsors: (7) Committees: House - Armed Services Latest Action: House - 07/10/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. (All Actions) Tracker:
31. H.R.4609 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Social Security Equality Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Sanchez, Linda T. [D-CA-39] (Introduced 04/24/2012) Cosponsors: (100) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/02/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Social Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
32. H.R.4470 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Routine HIV Screening Coverage Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-35] (Introduced 04/19/2012) Cosponsors: (40) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Oversight and Government Reform Latest Action: House - 09/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker:
33. H.R.4379 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Women's Option to Raise Kids Act Sponsor: Rep. Stark, Fortney Pete [D-CA-13] (Introduced 04/18/2012) Cosponsors: (21) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 09/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. (All Actions) Tracker:
34. H.R.4378 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Crowley, Joseph [D-NY-7] (Introduced 04/18/2012) Cosponsors: (38) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 04/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
35. H.R.4367 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to limit the fee disclosure requirement for an automatic teller machine to the screen of that machine. Sponsor: Rep. Luetkemeyer, Blaine [R-MO-9] (Introduced 04/17/2012) Cosponsors: (145) Committees: House - Financial Services Committee Reports: H. Rept. 112-576 Latest Action: 12/20/2012 Became Public Law No: 112-216. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-06-29 [displayText] => Reported by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 112-576. [externalActionCode] => 5000 [description] => Introduced )
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-07-09 [displayText] => Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 371 - 0 (Roll no. 453).(text: CR H4665) [externalActionCode] => 8000 [description] => Passed House )
36. H.R.4315 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Veterans Mental Health Accessibility Act Sponsor: Rep. Carnahan, Russ [D-MO-3] (Introduced 03/29/2012) Cosponsors: (16) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 04/10/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
37. H.R.4287 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand the definition of homeless veteran for purposes of benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Sponsor: Rep. Hahn, Janice [D-CA-36] (Introduced 03/28/2012) Cosponsors: (73) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 03/28/2012 Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
38. H.R.4286 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Student Loan Grace Period Extension Act Sponsor: Rep. Hahn, Janice [D-CA-36] (Introduced 03/28/2012) Cosponsors: (23) Committees: House - Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 09/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. (All Actions) Tracker:
39. H.R.4277 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. [D-MI-14] (Introduced 03/28/2012) Cosponsors: (61) Committees: House - Education and the Workforce, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 09/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. (All Actions) Tracker:
40. H.R.4271 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (Introduced 03/27/2012) Cosponsors: (101) Committees: House - Judiciary, Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Financial Services, Natural Resources Latest Action: House - 09/26/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. (All Actions) Tracker:
41. H.R.4235 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Swap Data Repository and Clearinghouse Indemnification Correction Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Dold, Robert J. [R-IL-10] (Introduced 03/21/2012) Cosponsors: (40) Committees: House - Agriculture, Financial Services Committee Reports: H. Rept. 112-471 Latest Action: House - 05/09/2012 Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 112-471, Part I. (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-05-09 [displayText] => Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 112-471, Part I. [externalActionCode] => 5000 [description] => Introduced )
42. H.R.4226 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the full exclusion applicable to qualified small business stock. Sponsor: Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (Introduced 03/20/2012) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 03/20/2012 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
43. H.R.4195 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To improve services for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Sponsor: Rep. Sablan, Gregorio Kilili Camacho [D-MP-At Large] (Introduced 03/09/2012) Cosponsors: (6) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 03/15/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
44. H.R.4169 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-3] (Introduced 03/08/2012) Cosponsors: (100) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 05/07/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights. (All Actions) Tracker:
45. H.R.4154 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) SAVE Native Women Act Sponsor: Rep. Boren, Dan [D-OK-2] (Introduced 03/07/2012) Cosponsors: (20) Committees: House - Judiciary, Natural Resources Latest Action: House - 03/15/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
46. H.R.4126 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Voter ID Accessibility Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] (Introduced 03/01/2012) Cosponsors: (11) Committees: House - House Administration Latest Action: House - 03/08/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Elections. (All Actions) Tracker:
47. H.R.4105 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To apply the countervailing duty provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 to nonmarket economy countries, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Camp, Dave [R-MI-4] (Introduced 02/29/2012) Cosponsors: (129) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: 03/13/2012 Became Public Law No: 112-99. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-03-06 [displayText] => Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 370 - 39 (Roll no. 96).(text: CR H1166-1167) [externalActionCode] => 8000 [description] => Passed House )
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-03-07 [displayText] => Passed/agreed to in Senate: Received in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S1441) [externalActionCode] => 17000 [description] => Passed Senate )
48. H.R.4104 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Pro Football Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act Sponsor: Rep. Renacci, James B. [R-OH-16] (Introduced 02/28/2012) Cosponsors: (294) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: Senate - 08/02/2012 Received in the Senate. (All Actions) Tracker:
49. H.R.4040 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of Congress to Jack Nicklaus in recognition of his service to the Nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship in golf. Sponsor: Rep. Baca, Joe [D-CA-43] (Introduced 02/15/2012) Cosponsors: (341) Committees: House - Financial Services | Senate - Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Latest Action: Senate - 04/17/2012 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-04-16 [displayText] => Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 373 - 4, 1 Present (Roll no. 153).(text: CR H1820-1821) [externalActionCode] => 8000 [description] => Passed House )
50. H.R.4010 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) DISCLOSE 2012 Act Sponsor: Rep. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD-8] (Introduced 02/09/2012) Cosponsors: (165) Committees: House - House Administration, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 07/12/2012 Motion to Discharge Committee filed by Mr. Van Hollen. Petition No: 112-4. (All Actions) Notes: On 7/12/2012, a motion was filed to discharge the Committees on House Administration and the Judiciary from the consideration of H.R.4010. A discharge petition requires 218 signatures for further action. (Discharge Petition No. 112-4: text with signatures.) Tracker:
51. H.R.3903 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI-2] (Introduced 02/06/2012) Cosponsors: (72) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: 02/07/2012 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H522) (All Actions) Tracker:
52. H.R.3881 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Ensuring Mental Competence in Immigration Proceedings Act Sponsor: Rep. Stark, Fortney Pete [D-CA-13] (Introduced 02/02/2012) Cosponsors: (10) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 02/16/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement. (All Actions) Tracker:
53. H.R.3873 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Enhancing the Quality of Parental Legal Representation Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (Introduced 02/01/2012) Cosponsors: (3) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 02/09/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Human Resources. (All Actions) Tracker:
54. H.R.3868 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To grant the congressional gold medal to John H. Johnson in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the United States. Sponsor: Rep. Rush, Bobby L. [D-IL-1] (Introduced 02/01/2012) Cosponsors: (31) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 02/09/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology. (All Actions) Tracker:
55. H.R.3866 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To award a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the pioneers and participants of the Civil Rights movement. Sponsor: Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] (Introduced 02/01/2012) Cosponsors: (63) Committees: House - Financial Services, House Administration Latest Action: House - 02/09/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology. (All Actions) Tracker:
56. H.R.3863 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Fair Military Leave Act Sponsor: Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3] (Introduced 02/01/2012) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: House - Armed Services Latest Action: House - 02/23/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. (All Actions) Tracker:
57. H.R.3841 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Principal Reduction Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-35] (Introduced 01/31/2012) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: House - Financial Services, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 02/09/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises. (All Actions) Tracker:
58. H.R.3829 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) CARE for Kids Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (Introduced 01/25/2012) Cosponsors: (7) Committees: House - Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 03/29/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. (All Actions) Tracker:
59. H.R.3826 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend the reduced interest rate for Federal Direct Stafford Loans. Sponsor: Rep. Courtney, Joe [D-CT-2] (Introduced 01/25/2012) Cosponsors: (154) Committees: House - Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 03/29/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. (All Actions) Tracker:
60. H.R.3821 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) After School for America's Children Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Kildee, Dale E. [D-MI-5] (Introduced 01/24/2012) Cosponsors: (16) Committees: House - Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 03/29/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. (All Actions) Tracker:
61. H.R.3760 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Collaborative Academic Research Efforts for Tourette Syndrome Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Sires, Albio [D-NJ-13] (Introduced 12/20/2011) Cosponsors: (41) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 12/23/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
62. H.R.3743 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Levin, Sander M. [D-MI-12] (Introduced 12/20/2011) Cosponsors: (179) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, Budget Latest Action: House - 01/12/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity. (All Actions) Notes: For further action, see H.R.3765, which became Public Law 112-78 on 12/23/2011. Tracker:
63. H.R.3741 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Rilya Wilson Act Sponsor: Rep. Wilson, Frederica S. [D-FL-17] (Introduced 12/20/2011) Cosponsors: (109) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 01/06/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
64. H.R.3704 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act Sponsor: Rep. Ackerman, Gary L. [D-NY-5] (Introduced 12/16/2011) Cosponsors: (29) Committees: House - Agriculture Latest Action: House - 01/17/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry. (All Actions) Tracker:
65. H.R.3676 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To amend the detainee provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 to specifically state that United States citizens may not be detained against their will without all the rights of due process afforded to citizens in a court ordained or established by or under Article III of the Constitution of the United States. Sponsor: Rep. Landry, Jeffrey M. [R-LA-3] (Introduced 12/15/2011) Cosponsors: (68) Committees: House - Armed Services, Foreign Affairs Latest Action: House - 12/15/2011 Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. (All Actions) Tracker:
66. H.R.3665 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Wall Street Accountability through Sustainable Funding Act Sponsor: Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L. [D-CT-3] (Introduced 12/14/2011) Cosponsors: (28) Committees: House - Agriculture Latest Action: House - 01/17/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management. (All Actions) Tracker:
67. H.R.3635 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Investing in America's Small Businesses Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-14] (Introduced 12/12/2011) Cosponsors: (15) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 01/12/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. (All Actions) Tracker:
68. H.R.3627 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act Sponsor: Rep. Roe, David P. [R-TN-1] (Introduced 12/08/2011) Cosponsors: (92) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 12/09/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
69. H.R.3618 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) End Racial Profiling Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. [D-MI-14] (Introduced 12/08/2011) Cosponsors: (76) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 01/06/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
70. H.R.3613 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Part D Beneficiary Appeals Fairness Act Sponsor: Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [D-GA-4] (Introduced 12/08/2011) Cosponsors: (34) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 12/13/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
71. H.R.3606 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Jumpstart Our Business Startups Sponsor: Rep. Fincher, Stephen Lee [R-TN-8] (Introduced 12/08/2011) Cosponsors: (53) Committees: House - Financial Services Committee Reports: H. Rept. 112-406,Part 1; H. Rept. 112-406,Part 2 Latest Action: 04/05/2012 Became Public Law No: 112-106. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-03-06 [displayText] => Supplemental report filed by the Committee on Financial Services, H. Rept. 112-406, Part II. [externalActionCode] => 5000 [description] => Introduced )
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-03-22 [displayText] => Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 73 - 26. Record Vote Number: 55. [externalActionCode] => 17000 [description] => Passed Senate )
Array ( [actionDate] => 2012-03-27 [displayText] => Resolving differences -- House actions: On motion that the House suspend the rules and agree to the Senate amendment Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 380 - 41 (Roll no. 132).(text as House agreed to Senate amendment: CR H1586-1588) [externalActionCode] => 19500 [description] => Resolving Differences )
72. H.R.3596 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act Sponsor: Rep. Bishop, Timothy H. [D-NY-1] (Introduced 12/07/2011) Cosponsors: (138) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Government Reform, Armed Services, Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 12/09/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. (All Actions) Tracker:
73. H.R.3573 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) RISE Out of Poverty Act Sponsor: Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (Introduced 12/06/2011) Cosponsors: (23) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Oversight and Government Reform Latest Action: House - 12/13/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Human Resources. (All Actions) Tracker:
74. H.R.3561 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Small Business Pension Promotion Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3] (Introduced 12/05/2011) Cosponsors: (5) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 03/29/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker:
75. H.R.3528 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Statistics Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30] (Introduced 11/30/2011) Cosponsors: (22) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 12/05/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
76. H.R.3526 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) HEART for Women Act Sponsor: Rep. Capps, Lois [D-CA-23] (Introduced 11/30/2011) Cosponsors: (47) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 12/02/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
77. H.R.3522 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Family Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Lewis, John [D-GA-5] (Introduced 11/30/2011) Cosponsors: (33) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 11/30/2011 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
78. H.R.3515 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) SMART Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Lewis, John [D-GA-5] (Introduced 11/29/2011) Cosponsors: (22) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 12/05/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
79. H.R.3513 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) To require at least 10 percent of certain transportation funding to be made available for small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Sponsor: Rep. Brown, Corrine [D-FL-3] (Introduced 11/29/2011) Cosponsors: (39) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure, Small Business Latest Action: House - 11/30/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. (All Actions) Tracker:
80. H.R.3485 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI-2] (Introduced 11/18/2011) Cosponsors: (140) Committees: House - Oversight and Government Reform, Education and the Workforce, House Administration, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 03/29/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. (All Actions) Tracker:
81. H.R.3483 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Veterans Education Equity Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Butterfield, G. K. [D-NC-1] (Introduced 11/18/2011) Cosponsors: (57) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 03/08/2012 Subcommittee Hearings Held. (All Actions) Tracker:
82. H.R.3465 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act Sponsor: Rep. Inslee, Jay [D-WA-1] (Introduced 11/17/2011) Cosponsors: (113) Committees: House - Agriculture, Natural Resources Latest Action: House - 12/19/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry. (All Actions) Tracker:
83. H.R.3461 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act Sponsor: Rep. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV-2] (Introduced 11/17/2011) Cosponsors: (192) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 02/01/2012 Subcommittee Hearings Held. (All Actions) Tracker:
84. H.R.3437 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Eva M. Clayton Fellows Program Act Sponsor: Rep. Butterfield, G. K. [D-NC-1] (Introduced 11/16/2011) Cosponsors: (63) Committees: House - Agriculture, Foreign Affairs Latest Action: House - 12/19/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Horticulture . (All Actions) Tracker:
85. H.R.3435 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) STOP Act Sponsor: Rep. Speier, Jackie [D-CA-12] (Introduced 11/16/2011) Cosponsors: (133) Committees: House - Armed Services Latest Action: House - 02/07/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. (All Actions) Tracker:
86. H.R.3423 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) ABLE Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Crenshaw, Ander [R-FL-4] (Introduced 11/15/2011) Cosponsors: (235) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 11/18/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
87. H.R.3421 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act Sponsor: Rep. Shuster, Bill [R-PA-9] (Introduced 11/14/2011) Cosponsors: (332) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: 12/23/2011 Became Public Law No: 112-76. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2011-12-14 [displayText] => Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by recorded vote (2/3 required): 416 - 0 (Roll no. 929).(text: CR 12/13/2011 H8825-8826) [externalActionCode] => 8000 [description] => Passed House )
88. H.R.3405 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Increased Student Achievement Through Increased Student Support Act Sponsor: Rep. Towns, Edolphus [D-NY-10] (Introduced 11/14/2011) Cosponsors: (25) Committees: House - Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 03/29/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. (All Actions) Tracker:
89. H.R.3402 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Hiring Our Veterans Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Schwartz, Allyson Y. [D-PA-13] (Introduced 11/10/2011) Cosponsors: (41) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 11/10/2011 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
90. H.R.3395 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Concrete Masonry Products Research, Education, and Promotion Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Shimkus, John [R-IL-19] (Introduced 11/04/2011) Cosponsors: (54) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 11/10/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade. (All Actions) Tracker:
91. H.R.3373 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) STEM Education Innovation Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Honda, Michael M. [D-CA-15] (Introduced 11/04/2011) Cosponsors: (24) Committees: House - Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 11/04/2011 Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. (All Actions) Tracker:
92. H.R.3368 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Latin America Military Training Review Act Sponsor: Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-3] (Introduced 11/04/2011) Cosponsors: (51) Committees: House - Armed Services Latest Action: House - 12/08/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. (All Actions) Tracker:
93. H.R.3364 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Equity and Access for Podiatric Physicians Under Medicaid Act Sponsor: Rep. Terry, Lee [R-NE-2] (Introduced 11/04/2011) Cosponsors: (87) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 11/04/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
94. H.R.3357 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Child Marriage Violates the Human Rights of Girls Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4] (Introduced 11/03/2011) Cosponsors: (63) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs Latest Action: House - 02/03/2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights. (All Actions) Tracker:
95. H.R.3346 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Doggett, Lloyd [D-TX-25] (Introduced 11/03/2011) Cosponsors: (89) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Transportation and Infrastructure Latest Action: House - 11/10/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Human Resources. (All Actions) Tracker:
96. H.R.3333 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Foster Children Opportunity Act Sponsor: Rep. Stark, Fortney Pete [D-CA-13] (Introduced 11/03/2011) Cosponsors: (9) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Agriculture Latest Action: House - 11/29/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Horticulture . (All Actions) Tracker:
97. H.R.3324 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Real Education for Healthy Youth Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-9] (Introduced 11/02/2011) Cosponsors: (65) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce Latest Action: House - 11/18/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. (All Actions) Tracker:
98. H.R.3317 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Same Day Voter Registration Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Ellison, Keith [D-MN-5] (Introduced 11/02/2011) Cosponsors: (12) Committees: House - House Administration Latest Action: House - 11/02/2011 Referred to the House Committee on House Administration. (All Actions) Tracker:
99. H.R.3316 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Voter Access Protection Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Ellison, Keith [D-MN-5] (Introduced 11/02/2011) Cosponsors: (14) Committees: House - House Administration Latest Action: House - 11/02/2011 Referred to the House Committee on House Administration. (All Actions) Tracker:
100. H.R.3300 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Half in Ten Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-9] (Introduced 11/01/2011) Cosponsors: (69) Committees: House - Oversight and Government Reform Latest Action: 11/03/2011 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H7262) (All Actions) Tracker:
Amendments (H.Amdt. or S.Amdt.) [17]
Failed One Chamber [1]
House amendment offered [17]
House amendment offered/reported by [17]
Amendment agreed to Committee of the Whole [10]
House amendment agreed to [10]
Roll call votes on amendments in House [6]
Amendment failed in Committee of the Whole [5]
House amendment not agreed to [5]
Amendment agreed to by House [1]
Government Operations and Politics [55]
Housing and Community Development [21]
Sports and Recreation [16]
Arts, Culture, Religion [12]
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs [18]
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions [10]
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Harding Family Crest, Coat of Arms and Name History
Lieutenant Colonel Colin Harding (1863-1939)
1) (King's Newton, co. Derby; granted 3 July, 1711). Gu. on a chev. ar. fimbriated or, three escallops sa. Crest—A mitre gu. banded and stringed or, charged with a chev. ar. fimbriated of the second, thereon three escallops sa. Motto—Audax omnia perpeti.
2) (co. Kent). Per pale ar. and sa. two wolves and three cinquefoils counterchanged, a bordure per pale gu. and or.
3) (Lieut.-Col. Harding, Upcott House). Ar. on a bend az. three martlets or. Crest—A falcon displ. ppr.
4) (Baraset, co. Warwick). Erm. a fesse chequy or and az. Crest—On a chapeau az. turned up erm. a boar pass. or.
5) (Comb Martin and Upcot, co. Devon; the learned Thomas Harding, D.D., Fellow of New College, Oxford, the antagonist of John Jewell, Bishop of Salisbury, bom at Comb Martin, was a son of this family). Ar. on a bend az. three martlets or. Crest—A falcon, wings expanded.
6) (Coaley, co. Gloucester, and Rockflelds, co. Monmouth). Gu. three greyhounds in palo courant or, collared az. Crest—A demi leopard ramp, erased erm. attired and gorged with a chain or.
7) (Houldingfield co. Durham). Gu. three greyhounds courant in pale or, collared az. (another, ar.).
8) (William Harding, citizen of London. Visit. 1568). Gu. three greyhounds courant in pale or, collared az. Crest—A demi leopard ramp. erm. gorged with a collar az. bezantee, chained or.
9) (London; granted 30 Aug. 1568). Or, on a bend az. three martlets ar. a sinister canton of the second, charged with a rose of the first, betw. two fleurs-de-lis of the third. Crest—A demi buck ppr. attired or, holding an anchor of the last.
10) (Newtowne, co. Wilts). Ar. on a bend az. three martlets or.
11) Vert three acorns or.
12) Ar. a saltire engr. az.
13) (Robert Harding, Treasurer’s Remembrancer in Ireland, 1655, Fun. Ent. of his dau. 1660). Or, on a bend az. three martlets ar.
14) (allowed by Betham, Ulster, 1820, to Henry Harding, Esq., of the Treasury). Ar. on a bend sa. betw. two annulets gu. three martlets or. Crest—A martlet or, billettee gu.
15) (Reg. Ulster’s Office). Ar. on a bend az. three martlets or, a canton ermines.
Field Marshal Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge (1785-1856)
16) (Maryborough, Queen’s co.; Fun. Ent. of Margaret (d. 1639), wife of Hugh Harding, of Dublin, third son of Thomas Harding, of the former). Ar. on a bend sa. three martlets or.
17) (granted to Rev. Henry Sirre Hardinge, of Monkstown, co. Dublin). Ar. a bend betw. two mascles gu. on a canton or, a fleur-de-lis az. Crest—A raven rising ppr. Motto—Non melior patribus.
18) (Boundes Park, co. Kent, bart.). Gu. on a chev. ar. fimbriated or, three escallops sa. and as an honourable augmentation, on a chief wavy of the second a dismasted French frigate with her colours struck, towed by an English frigate all ppr. Crest—Of augmentation, on a wreath a hand fessewise, couped above the wrist, habited in naval uniform, holding a sword erect, surmounting a Dutch and French flag in saltire, on the former inscribed “Atlanta,” on the latter, “Piedmontaise,” the blade of the sword passing through a wreath of laurel near the point, and a little below, through another of cypress, with the motto “Postera laude recens.’’ Family Crest—A mitre gu. charged with a chev. as in the arms. Motto—Postera laude recens.
19) (Viscount Hardinge). Gu. on a chev. ar. fimbriated or, three escallops sa. Crest—A mitre gu. thereon a chev. ar. fimbriated or, charged with three escallops sa. Supporters —On either side a lion ppr. that on the dexter murally crowned or, and supporting a flagstaff ppr. therefrom flowing to the dexter a flag or, and that on the sinister crowned with an eastern crown and supporting a like staff, therefrom flowing to the sinister a flag also or. Motto—Mens aequa rebus in arduis.
Origin, Meaning, Family History and Harding Coat of Arms and Family Crest
Kinsarvik, Norway in red
© Google
Harding Surname Name Meaning, Origin, History, & Etymology
Harding is a primarily southern English, southern Welsh, and Irish last name that derives from the Old English personal (first) name Hearding, which itself was originally a patronymic (son of) from the name Hard. The name made its way into Ireland during the 1400s AD. It can also be a Dutch or North German name, a shortened form of various Germanic names that all begin with the word hard, meaning hardy, strong, or brave, perhaps referring to a person with such attributes. In medieval times or the Middle Ages, a Viking family (Vikings, from Scandinavia had raided the coast of the British Isles) bore this surname. In summary, the names to appear Germanic or Anglo-Scandinavian in origins. This Nordic or Teutonic name is still very popular today, ranking in the top 1,000 most common last names in the following countries: United States, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
The following website offers an interesting story or saga in regards to this surname: “King Harding ruled Hardanger in the time of the Vikings (c.900ad) and lived in Kinsarvik. During a crusade to eastern England in 900ad King Harding was captured by the English and put in a prison tower. The Hardings liked their King and decided to rescue him. They equipped a Viking ship, called Hardinggeita (lit. "The Harding ship") to set sail to England and set their King free. The Hardings painted one side of the ship white and the other side black. When they approached the English shore they did so with the white side facing towards the shore after which they managed to get to the prison tower and switched the king with an old man dressed like the king. Then they set sail and made their escape but with the black side of the ship facing the shore. The English did not recognize them as the invaders as they were looking for a white ship. The saga ends with King Harding returning safely to Kinsarvik, Hardanger.”
The websites also offers the following interesting theory: “There seems to be two sources which may be linked, one from Norway - the Hardanger Fjord, where people are still called "Hardings" or “Hardinger” (Viking times: "Hardingar"): the dialect of the people from this area is known as Hardingmål. The other as Danish/Angle hordes where they were recorded in the Anglo Saxon Rune Poem as the Germanic warrior tribe "Heardingas". Both groups may have originated from the same source – the Charudes of the Jutland peninsula, who under pressure of expanding groups around them moved to Horderland/Hardanger area where they became the Horders or Hardinger”.
The name Harding was present in the literature and mythology of several cultures. For examples, in Icelandic stories, they were called the “Haddings”, and had a leader named Hadding who was protected by the gods Odin and Thor.
Some spelling variants or names with similar etymologies include Hardin, Hardinge, Hardings, Hearding, Hardding, Hartding, and others.
Popularity & Geographic Distribution
The last name Harding ranks 823rd in popularity in the United Status as of the 2000 Census. The name ranks particularly high in the following four states: Delaware, Utah, and Maryland.
Ivy Hall, Solihall, Warwickshire, home of Walter Harding
The surname Harding frequency/commonness ranks as follows in the British Isles: England (164th), Scotland (655th), Wales (134th), Ireland (759th) and Northern Ireland (1,105th). In England, it ranks highest in counties Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire, and Hampshire. In Scotland, the surname ranks highest in Wigtownshire. In Wales, it ranks highest in counties Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire. In Ireland, it ranks highest in county Kilkenny. In Northern Ireland, it ranks highest in county Antrim. The name is also present throughout the remainder English speaking world: Canada (604th), New Zealand (246th), Australia (235th), and South Africa (690th).
Henry Brougham Guppy’s 1890 book Homes of Family Names in Great Britain states the following in regard to this last name: “Mostly confined to the south - west of England, being at present best represented in Somerset and Wilts. Its disconnected occurrence in other parts of England is, however, noticeable”.
Early Bearers of the Surname
The Hundred Rolls of 1273 AD, a census of Wales and England, known in Latin as Rotuli Hundredorum lists two bearers of this surname: Hugh Harding in Cambridgeshire and Nicol Harding in Oxfordshire. Robert filius (son of) Harding and Maurice filius Harding are both documented in the Rotulo Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Londinesi. The Fine Roll of 1161 AD lists one Nicholas filius Hardinge. The Poll Tax of Yorkshire lists Johannes Hardyng and Thomas Hardyng in 1379 AD.
Harding Family Tree & Harding Genealogy
The following is a discussion of seven different noble, royal, landed, or aristocratic families bearing this last name.
William Harding of Baraset (1760–1822)
Harding of Baraset
The lineage or ancestry of this branch of the Harding family tree traces back to Judd Harding who was born in 1662. He married Susanna, daughter of William Arden of Hampton, and had a son with her, also named Judd. This Judd was born in 1692. He also had a son named Judd. This son, Judd Harding, was an Esquire of Solihull, county Warwick, a Justice of the Peace, and a Captain of the Warwickshire militia, who was born in 1730. He married Elizabeth Hunt, of Stratford-on-Avon, and had one daughter (Charlotte) and the following give sons with her: 1) Joseph (his successor at Solihull, a lawyer, had son named George), 2) William (see below), 3) John (member of Royal Artillery, second in command under the Duke of Wellington at Copenhagen, had a son named Major-General George Judd), 4) Judd, and 5) Thomas. His second son, William Harding, was an Esquire who went to India in the Civil Service, who returned to England and established an estate on which he built the mansion of Baraset in 1800. He was the Magistrate of that county and was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to George III. In 1784, he married Harriet Sweedland, and had issue with her as follows: 1) William Judd (of Baraset), 2) Charles (E.I.C.’s Civil Service, Bengal, married Eliza Anne Hamilton), 3) Reverend Henry (married Lady Emily Feilding, daughter of Viscount Fielding, and had a son named William Fielding, discussed more below, as well as three daughters), 4) Reverend John (married Anna, eldest daughter of Reverend Thomas Cutler of Rudston Read), 5) Francis (Captain of the Royal Navy, married Davidona Eleanor, daughter of Brigadier General Charles Dallas, Governor of St. Helena, had children) 6) Edward (Benegal Civil Services, died in the East Indies), 7) Catherine (married W.H.C. Plowden was an Esquire, died in China), 8) Charlotte Sophia (married Reverend William Wheler, son of Reverend Sir Charles Wheler, Baronet), 9) Elizabeth Octavia (married George Baker, Commander of the Royal Navy, son of Sir Robert Baker), 10) Jane (married Reverend Thomas Hunt of Boreatton Park), 11) Harriett (married James Molony of Kiltanon), 12) Sophia (married Samuel Steward, Esquire of Lincoln’s Inn, son of Colonel Samuel Steward of Leamington). He died in 1822 and was succeeded by his son, William. This son, William Judd Harding was an Esquire of Baraset, county Warwick, Justice of the Peace, and Deputy Lieutenant who was born in 1788. In 1830, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Denison of Kilnwick Percy and Frances Brooke, but died without posterity in 1867, whereupon he was succeeded by his nephew, William F. William Feilding Harding was an Esquire of Baraset, county Warwick, was a Justice of the Peace and member of the Royal Navy who was born in 1829. In 1863, he married Louisa, daughter of Reverend George Rudston Read, Rector of Sutton-on-Derwent, county York, and had issue with her as follows: 1) William Basil, 2) Henry George, 3) Arthur Hamilton, 4) Cecil Cholmley, 5) Helen Louisa, and 6) Katherine Emily. The Harding family crest of this branch of the family is blazoned in the medieval art of heraldry as follows: Ermine, a fess chequy or an azure. Crest: On a chapeau azure turned up ermine, a board passant or. They were seated at Baraset, Stratford-on-Avon, county Warwick.
Upcott House
wiki: Lobsterthemidor, SA3.0
Harding of Upcott
This family was seated in ancient times at Comb Martin, Devon. Thomas Harding, D.D., Fellow of New College, Oxford, was born in 1512. He was the son of this family. Later came Robert Harding. Robert and his wife Ms. Limebear, had a son named Thomas. This son, Thomas Harding, Esquire of Upcott, married Mary Bryan, and had issue with her as follows: 1) Robert (heir), 2) Thomas (had son named Reverend John Limebear Harding of Monkleigh, had sons Thomas Goldie and Reverend Joseph Limebear), 3) Reverend John, and 4) a daughter (married Thomas Terry). His eldest son, Robert Harding, was an Esquire of Ucpott, who in 1780, married Dionisia, daughter of Sir Bourchier Wrey, Baronet of Tawstock Court, and had issue with her as follows: 1) Thomas Wrey (his heir), 2) Robert (Justice of the Peace and Captain in the Royal Army), 3) William (of Upcott), 4) Reverend John (Rector of Goodleigh, born 1800), 5) Dynonisia, and 6) Anna Maria. His eldest son, Thomas Wrey, died in 1866 and was succeeded by his second brother, William. Lieutenant Colonel William Harding of Upcott House, county Devon, England, was a Justice of the Peace born in 1792. The Harding Coat of Arms for this branch of the genealogical family tree is blazoned in heraldry as follows: Argent, on a bend azure three marlets or. Crest: A falcon displayed proper. This landed/gentry family was seated at Upccot, near Barnstaple, in England (once called Great Britain).
Harding of Tamworth
The genealogy or ancestry of this branch of the Harding family tree traces back to around 1630, when they offshoot from the old Warwickshire branch, and moved from Packington to Tamworth where they procured property. In 1668, William Harding became a magistrate and was chosen to carry the charter of the Borough to London and delivery it to King James II of England. In 1669, he married Mary Pickard, and had a son with her named William. This son, William Harding, was an Esquire who in 1694, married a first cousin of Thomas Guy (founder of Guy’s Hospital), and had a son, also named William. This William Harding, Esq. married Mary, daughter of John Bradburn of Winchester, and had an only son with her, also named William. This William Harding, Esq. was born in 1750. He married Martha, daughter of Samuel Tuffley of Leicester, and had children with her as follows: 1) William (see below), 2) Thomas (died in Hamburgh), 3) Charles (of Bole Hall, married Ellen Willock, had issue named Anne, Ellen, Charlotte, Mary, Emily, and Frances Augusta), 4) Samuel Tuffley (of Manchester), 5) John (a banker, of Bridlington, county York, England). William Harding was an Esquire of Copeley Lodge, county Warwick, was born in 1778. In 1800, he married Rebecca, daughter of Samuel Pemberton of the Laurels and his wife Mary, and they had two children together: William Sextus (born 1806, married Anne, daughter of Charles Harding of Bore Hall) and Caroline (married Henry Talbor of French House). The coat of arms is blazoned as follows: Azure, a fesse argent, between three fleurs-de-lis, or. Crest: A fox, sejant. The family was seated at Copeley Lodge, county Warwick.
Nicholas Hardinge (1699–1758), grandson of George Hardinge
Viscount Hardinge
This pedigree begins with Reverend Hardinge, Rector of Stanhope, who was a member of the Baronet Hardinge family. He had a son named Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, who was born at Wrotham, county Kent, in England in 1785. He entered the British army and rose through the ranks. He served in the Peninsular War and was wounded at Vittoria and Blucher at Ligny. After this, he held numerous positions, including Chief Secretary of Ireland, Secretary at War, and Governor General of India in 1844. He fought a rebellion of the Sikhs there in 1848. He was created Viscount in 1846. He was a Colonel of the 57th Regiment of Foot and held one cross and five clasps for his service. He was a Knight of orders in Prussia, Holland, Portugal, and Spain. He was a member of the House of Commons in 1820. In 1821, he married Lady Emily Jane, daughter of the 1st Marquess of Londonderry, and had four issue with her as follows: 1) Charles Stewart, 2nd Viscount (see below), 2) Sir Edward Arthur (General in the Army, Colonel of the Coldstead Guards, Commander in Bombay Army from 1881-1885, Governor Gibraltar from 1886-1890, married Mary Georgiana Frances, daughter of Colonel A.F. Ellis, had issue named Sir Arthur Henry, Alberta Mary, Mary, and Alice), 3) Francis Elizabeth (married General Sir Arthur Thurlow Cunynghame, son of Sir David, had issue), and 4) Emily Carolina (died 1876). He died in 1856 and was succeeded by his elder son, Charles. Charles Stewart Hardinge, 2nd Viscount Hardinge, was a Deputy Lieutenant, Colonel of the 1st Volunteers Bn. R. West Kent Regiment, and a Member of Parliament from Downpatrick, who was born in 1822. In 1856, he married Lavinia, daughter of 3rd Earl Lucan, and had children with her as follows: 1) Charles Henry (3rd Viscount), 2) Charles (created Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, see next section), 3) Arthur Stewart (Major of the Royal Scots Fusiliers), 4) Robert Nicholas (born 1863, married Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Lynche-Blosse, 10th Baronet, had a son named Patrick Robert who was a Major of the Cameronians Scottish Ridles who served in World War I), 5) George Arthur (Captain of the Royal Navy, born 1864), 6) Lavinia, 7) Emily Maude (married George Hanbury Field of Ashurst Park), and 8) Mary Hilda Madelina (married Reverend Ernest Wild, Rector of Barming, Maidstone, had issue). He died in 1894 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry. Henry Charles, 3rd Viscount, was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for county Kent, England who also served in the Nile Expedition. He was born in 1857. He was also a Colonel of the 6th Bn. Rifle Brigade and a Captain of the Rifle Brigade. In 1891, he married Mary Frances, daughter of Ralph Nevill, and had four children with her as follows: 1) Lieutenant Henry Ralph (born 1895, killed in action in May of 1915), 2) Caryl Nicholas Charles (4th Viscount), 3) Ruby (Justice of the Peace, in 1928 she married Major-General Frederick George Beaumont-Nesbitt, had issue), and 4) Sybil Mary (married the 4th Baron Penrhyn and later Lieutenant Colonel Denzil George Fortescue). He died and was succeeded by his son Carly in 1924. Caryl Nicholas Charles Hardinge, The 4th Viscount Hardinge, of Lahore, and King’s Newton, county Derby, was born in 1905 and educated at Harrow and R.M.C.
George Hardinge (1743–1816), Judge & MP
He was a Lieutenant of the 7th Hussars, was a member of the London Stock Exchange, and the A.D.C. to Governor-General of Canada from 1926-1928. In 1928, he married Margaret Elizabeth Arnot, daughter of Hugh Fleming or Wynyards, Rockville, Ottawa, Canada, and had three children with her as follows: Henry Nicholas Paul (1929), Carolyn Mary Wynyard (1932), and Gay (born 1938). The line continued:
Henry Nicholas Paul Hardinge, 5th Viscount Hardinge (1929–1984)
Charles Henry Nicholas Hardinge, 6th Viscount Hardinge (1956–2004)
Andrew Hartland Hardinge 7th Viscount Hardinge (1960–2014)
Thomas Henry de Montarville Hardinge, 8th Viscount Hardinge (born 1993)
Jamie Alexander David Hardinge (heir presumptive, born 1996)
The Hardinge family crest is blazoned in heraldry (an art very popular in the Middle Ages and well into the 20th century) as follows: Gules, on a chevron argent, fimbriated as in the arms. Supporters: On either side a lion proper, that on the dexter morally crowned or, and supporting a flagstaff proper, therefrom flowing to the dexter a flag or; and that on the sinister side crowned with an eastern crown, supporting a like staff, therefrom flowing to the sinister, a flag, also or. Motto: Mens aequa rebus in arduis. They were seated at South Park, Penshurt, Kent, England in present day United Kingdom.
Baronet Hardinge
Sir Robert Hardinge of King’s Newton, a Master in Chancery, raised a Royalist Troop of Horse in the reign of King Charles I of England, and also entertained Charles II at King’s Newton Hall. He was knighted in 1674. He married Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Sprignell, Baronet, and died 1679, leaving, with other issue: 1) Robert, of King’s Newton, and 2) Reverend Gideon (Vicar of Kingston in Surrey, had issue named Nicholas, Caleb, and Mary. His grandson, Nicholas Hardinge, was a Barrister-at-law, Clerk of the House of Commons, Secretary of the Treasury, and Member of Parliament for the Borough of Eye who was born in 1669. In 1738, he married Jane, daughter of Sir John Pratt, and had the following children: 1) Sir Charles (2nd Baronet), 2) Reverend Henry (Rector of Stanhope in Durham, married Frances, daughter of James Best, had issue named a) Sir Charles, 2nd Baronet, b) George Nicholas, Captain of the Royal Navy, born 1781, fell in action while in command of the H.M.S Fiorenzo after capturing the Piedmontaise frigate, c) Henry(1st Viscount Harding), d) Richard, Major-General, Royal Army, married Anne Papillion, had issue named Lieutenant Colonel Henry and Frances Anne, later married his second wife Caroline Johnson Callander, had issue with her named Major George Nicholas, e) Edward, Admiral of the Royal Navy, f) Bradford who married Caroline Jane Christina and had a son named George Nicholas, g) Herbert Richard, Lieutenant Colonel of the 32nd Regiment who married a daughter of William Adair Bruce, and h) Emma Augusta, a twin to Herbert), 3) Sir Richard (1st Baronet), 4) Jane (born 1740, married Henry Cresset Pelham of Crowhurst), 5) Caroline, and
Sir Richard Hardinge (1756-1826)
6) Juliana. His son, Sir Richard Hardinge, 1st Baronet, of Belleisle, Fermanagh, was born in 1756 and created a Baronet in 1801. In 1793, he married Mary, daughter of Ralph Fore, Earl of Ross, and later Caroline Munster, daughter of Major-General Wulff. He died without posterity in 1826 and was succ.eeded by his nephew, Charles. Reverend Sir Charles Hardinge, 2nd Baronet, was born in 1780. In 1816, he married Emily Bradford, daughter of Kenneth Callander of Craigforth, county Stirling, Scotland, and had the following issue with her: 1) Sir Henry Charles (3rd Baronet), 2) Sir Edmund Stracey (4th Baronet), 3) Robert James (married Martha, daughter of Major Sadlier of Sopwell Hall, Kingston Canada, had issue named Charles Kerkomer, Edmond Cecil, and Emily Bligh), and 4) Caroline Bradford (married Ven. R.W. Browne, Archdeacon of Bath and Canon of Wells). He died in 1864 and was succeeded by his son, Henry. Sir Henry Charles Hardinge, 3rd Baronet, was born in 1830. He died in 1873 and was succeeded by his brother, Edmund. Sir Edmund Stracey Hardinge, 4th Baronet, was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant who was born in 1833. In 1877, he married Evelyn Stuart, daughter of Major-General Evan Maberly, and had the following issue with her: Sir Charles Edmund (5th Baronet), Evelyn Violet, Marion Laura, and Muriel Emily (married John Christie MacLeod of Duncaple, Westend). He died in 1924 and was succeeded by his son Charles. Sir Charles Edmund Hardinge, 5Th Baronet, was born in 1878 and educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. He died in 1920. He married Evelyn Stuart Maberly. The coat of arms of this family is blazoned as follows: Gules, on a chevron argent, fimbriated or, three escallops sable, and as an honourable augmentation, on a chief wavy, of the second, a frigate, wholly dismasted, with the French flag flying beneath the British ensign, towed towards the dexter by a frigate of apparently inferior forces in a shattered state, the British colours hoisted all proper. Crests: 1) A dexter hand, couped above the wrist, vested in the uniform of a British Naval Office and grasping a sword proper, pomel and hilt or, surmounting, a Dutch, and French flag in saltire; on the former inscribed “Atalanta” on the latter “Piedmontaise”; the blade of the sword passing through a wreath of laurel near the point and a little below through another of cypress, all also proper, 2) (Hardinge) a mitre gules, garnished or, thereon a chevron, charged and fimbriated, as in the arms. Motto: Postera laude recents. They resided at Daleham Gardens.
George Rogers Harding (1838-1895)
Harding of Australia
George Rogers Harding was of St. John’s Wood, Ashgrove, Brisbane, Queensland Australia. He was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, and was at times, Chief Justice. He was born in 1838 at Taunton, county Somerset, England. In 1861, he married his first wife, Emily, daughter of Thomas Morris of Stone House. In 1889, he married his second wife, Isabella, daughter of John Grahame of Sherbourne Lodge in Sydney. He had issue, including four sons: George Rogers (1868), Walter Charles (1870), Francis Arandel (1872), and Thomas William Amyas (1882). He attended Magdalen College, Cambridge and was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1861. He arrived in Queensland, Australia in 1866.
Baron Hardinge of Penhurst
The lineage or pedigree of this branch of the Hardinge family tree begins with Charles Steward, 2nd Viscount Hardinge. His second son was Charles, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst. He was born in 1858. He held numerous positions throughout the British Empire (ex. Secretary of Embassy at St. Petersburg and Viceroy of India from 1910-1917). In 1890, he married Winifred Selina Sturt, daughter of the 1st Baron Alington, and had children with her as follows: 1) Edward Charles (Lieutenant of the 15th King’s Hussar, wounded in World War I), 2) Alexander Henry Louis (2nd Baron), and 3) Diamond Evelyn Violet (married Major Robert Alexander Abercromby in 1823).
Lord Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (1858-1944)
He was sworn of the Privy Council of Great Britain in 1904, and was reasied to the Peerage in 1910, as Baron Hardinge of Penshurst. Sir Alexander Henry Louis Hardinge, the 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, of county Kent, England was born in 1894. He was a Major of the Grenadier Guards, Viceroy of India in 1915-1916, and Private Secretary to King Edward VIII in 1936 and to King George VI from 1936-1943. In 1921, he married Helen Mary, daughter of late Lord Edward Cecil, and had the following issue with her: 1) George Edward Charles (born 1921, married Janet Christine Goschen, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Cecil Campbell Balfour of The Cleeve, had issue named Julian Alexander and Hugh Francis, 2) Winifred Mary (served in World War II as a nurse, married Lieutenant John Anthony Jerningham Murray, had issue), and 3) Elizabeth Rosemary (joined W.R.N.S). The line continued:
George Edward Charles Hardinge, 3rd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (1921–1997)
Julian Alexander Hardinge, 4th Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (born 1945)
Hugh Francis Hardinge (heir presumptive, born 1948)
The Hardinge coat of arms is blazoned as follows: Gules, on a chevron argent, fimbriated or, three escallops, sable; and as an honourable augmentation, on a chief wavy, of the second, a frigate, wholly dismasted, with the French flag flying beneath the British ensign, towed towards the dexter by a frigate of apparently inferior force in a shattered state, the British colours hoisted all proper. Crests: 1) (of augmentation): a dexter hand couped above the wrist, vested in the uniform of a British naval officer and grasping a sword in saltire; on the former inscribed “Atalanta” on the latter “Piedmontaise”; the blade of the sword passing through of wreath of laurel near the point, and a little below through another cypress, chevron charged and fimbriated, as in the arms. Supporters: On the dexter side a brown bear, and on the sinister side a Bengal tiger, both proper. Morro: Pro rege et patria.
Other Harding Pedigree & Family Trees
Edward (or John) Harding was born in Chesham, county Buckinghamshire, England around 1513 AD. In 1513, he married Joan Benning, daughter of Richard Benning and Mary Vining, and had the following issue with her: Thomas, William, Richard, Margarite, Richard, Elizabeth, Mary, and John. The following is a pedigree beginning with his son Richard:
Richard Harding (born in Northampton in 1545)
John Harding (born in Norhampton, England in 1565, went to colonial America). He had the following issue: Richard, John, Lemuel, Amos, Oliver, Joseph, George, and Phebe (Brown). His son George was born in St. Mary’s London IN 1603. He married Mary Orley and had a son with her named Thomas. Thomas Harding was born in Middlesex, England around 1635. He married Anne Moseley and went to Virginia. His son, Henry Harding, was born in Heathsville, Virginia in 1664. He married Mary Jane Aldridge, and had three sons with her: Henry, William, and John. His son Henry was born in Virginia around 1690. He married Ann Belcher and had a son with her named Charles. Charles Harding was born in St. Stephen’s Parish, Stafford, Virginia. He married Rachel Lunsford and had the following children: William, Ann, Jane, Charles H., John Scott, Thomas, Moses, and George. His son, John Scott Harding, was born in Overwharton Parish, VA.
Robert Harding died in London, England in 1515 and had the following issue: Robert, Thomas, Elizabeth (Pakington), William, Antony, and Agnes (Harlowes). His son William was born in London around 1505 AD. He married Cecily Marshe and had the following issue: Helen (Browne), Frances, and Catherine (Onslow).
Early American and New World Settlers
The book Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers, mentions nine bearers of this last name:
1) Abraham Harding (or Harden?) of Dedham, lived at Braintree, was a freeman in 1645, and was one of the founders of Medford. He died in 1655. He married Elizabeth and had issue named Abraham, John, and others.
2) George Harding of Marblehead, 1649
3) John Harding, a freeman in 1640, may have been from Weymouth, where he shared in a division of town lands in 1682.
4) John Harding of Duxbury, 1643 (may have been the same as no. 3 above)
5) John Harding of Eastman, married, in 1660, Bethia (perhaps daughter of Joseph Cook) and had the following issue with her: Martha (1662), Mary (1665), Joseph (1667), Josiah (1669), Maziah, John (1637), Nathaniel (1674), Joshua (1676), Abiah (1680), and Samuel (1685).
6) Philip Harding of Boston, MA, in 1659, married Susanna Haviland. He was at Marblehead in 1674.
7) Robert Harding, of Boston, came with Winthrop in the fleet in 1630. He married Philippa Hammond. He was a captain and selectman. He moved to Rhode Island. He later married Esther, daughter of George Willis of Hartford, and later went come and was a merchant in London.
8) Thomas Harding of Boston, 1656.
9) William Harding on New Haven, Connecticut, 1642
Elizabeth Harding, age 12, came to New England aboard the Abigall in 1635. Christopher Harding owned 100 acres of land in the territory of Greate Weyonoke, and he was recorded as living in Virginia in 1623. Other settlers in colonial America bearing this surname who came in the eighteenth century include: Conrad Harding (New York 1743), James Harding (Philadelphia 1745), and Philip Harding (Pennsylvania 1765).
In Canada, one of the first settlers bearing this last name was Michael Harding, who came to Nova Scotia in 1757. In Australia, in 1823, John and William Harding, English convicts from Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire, respectively, came to Van Diemen’s Land (present day Tasmania) aboard the Asia. In 1824, Stephen Harding, a convict from Essex, England, came to New South Wales, also aboard the Asia. In 1842, the following bearers came to Wellington, New Zealand: John Harding, age 21, a carpenter by trade, and Emma Harding, age 30, aboard the Birman.
Early Americans Bearing the Harding Family Crest
Charles Bolton’s American Armory (1927) contains two entries for this surname:
1) Or on a bend azure 3 martlets argent, a sinister canton [azure] charged with a rose of the first bet 2 fleurs-de-lis argent Crest: a demi-buck proper attired [or] holding an anchor [of the last]. Notepaper Benjamin Fosdick Harding, Milton, Mass.
2) Argent on a bend engrailed gules a crescent bet 2 leopards' faces; on a chief azure 3 catharine wheels or Crest: a leopard's head couped ppr. Framed with Simes of Portsmouth, into which Hardy married. Water color in house at Petersham, Mass.
Matthew’s American Armoury and Bluebook (1907) and Crozier’s General Armory (1904) do not contains any entries for this last name.
I have identified nine Harding/Hardinge family mottoes:
1) Audax omnia perpeti (Boldness endures anything)
2) Non melior patribus (Not better than my ancestor)
3) Postera laude recens (Ever fresh in the admiration of posterity)***
4) Mens aequa rebus in arduis (A level head in dire straits)****
6) Piedmontaise**
7) Mens ae qua rebus in arduis (An equal mind in difficulties)
8) Vigilant and resolute (Harding of Petherton, B.)
9) Pro rege et patria (For king and country)
Captain George Nicholas Hardinge (1781-1808)
*In the crest of augmentation granted to this family, are a Dutch and French flag in saltire, on the former of which the name, “Atalanta”, on the latter, “Piedmontaise”, is inscribed. These words commemorate the gallantry of Captain G. Nicholas Hardinge, who when in command of H.M.S Fiorenzo, took the Dutch frigate Atalanta, and afterwards fell in action with the French frigate Piedmontaise, which he also captured.
**Captain G.N. Hardinge captured a French frigate in 1808, and her name, “Piedmontaise,” was inscribed on his crest of augmentation.
***Wreath of laurel and cypress form part of the crest of augmentation
**** or: The steadfast heart be the peril never so great
We have 22 coats of arms for the Harding surname depicted here. These 22 blazons are from Bernard Burke’s book The General Armory of England, Ireland, and Scotland, which was published in 1848. The bottom of this page contains the blazons, and in many instances contains some historical, geographical, and genealogical about where coat of arms was found and who bore it. People with this last name that bore an Harding Coat of Arms (or mistakenly called the Harding Family Crest)
1) Hugh (or Henry) Harding, an Englishmen in a duel at Perth with William de St. Lowe, a Scothman, for bearing the same arms. St. Lowe Surrendered. Perth, 2 April 1312 AD
2) John Harding, citizen, merchant, and tailor of London, brother Robert (Alderman and Sheriff of London), son of John of Newport Pagnell, county Buckinghamshire, grant of arms and crest 30 August 1568 by G. Dethick and Cooke.
3) Robert Harding, citizen, alderman, and Sheriff of London, son of John of Newport Pagnell, August 1568, by Sir. G. Dethick, Cooke, and Flower.
4) Harding of South Molton and Torr Down, and Combe Martin, county Devon
5) Harding to Nott, of South Molton and Torr Down, and Combe Martin, county Devon, 1850s.
6) John Harding, son of Thomas, of Dowlais, county Glamorgan, Wales
7) William Harding of Leamington, county Warwick, 1879
8) Q.R. Harding of St. Anne’s Tower, Headingly, county York, 1888
9) Edward Colin Harding, son of Charles, of Salisbury, Mashonaland, South Africa, 1899
10) Reverend John Taylor Harding, son of John, of Pentwyn, county Monmouth, Wales
11) Captain Harding of the Royal Navy, son of Rector of Stanhope, Commander
12) Captain Harding of the Royal Navy, of the “San Florenzo” frigate
President Warren G. Harding
There are hundreds of notable people with the Harding surname. This page will mention a handful. Famous people with this last name include: 1) Aaron Harding (1805-1875) who was a US Representative from Kentucky who was born in Campbellsville and was in office from 1861-1867, 2) Abner Clark Harding of East Hampton, Connecticut (1807-1874) who served in the US House of Representatives from Illinois from 1865-1869, 3) Arthur Flowers Harding (1878-1947) who was an international rugby player born in Market Rasen, England who played for Cardiff and the London Welsh between 1901-1907, 4) Benjamin Franklin Harding (1823-1899) who was attorney born in Pennsylvania who became a US Senator from Oregon from 1862-1865 and was previously the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1860-1861, 5) Warren Gamaliel Harding (1865-1923) who was the 29th President of the United States who was in office from 1921-1923 and was previously a US Senator from Ohio from 1915-1921, the son of George Tryon Harding, born in Blooming Grove, 6) Tonya Maxene Harding (1970) who was an American figure skater from Portland, Oregon who won a silver medal in 1991, 7) Thomas Harding (1448-1532) was an English religious dissident who while waiting to be burned at the stake, was hit on the head with a piece of wood by a spectator and died instantly, 8) Stephen Selwyn Harding (1808-1891) who was the Governor of Utah Territory from 1862-1863, born in Palmyra, New York, 9) St. Stephen Harding (1050-1334) who is a Catholic Saint who was born in Sherborne, Dorset, an English monk and abbot, one of the founders of the Cistercian Order, 10) Sir Peter Robin Harding, son of Peter Harding and Elizabeth Clear, was the Marshal of the Royal Air Force born in 1933, having served in the Gulf War, and 11) Ralph R. Harding (1929-2006) who was a member of the US House of Representatives from Idaho from 1961-1965, having previously served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having served in the Korean War.
Hardings in the American Revolution
Records indicate that many men with the surname Harding(e)served during the American, which should be considered a great matter of family pride. Here are a handful of examples:
1) Private Isaral Harding of Pennsylvania
2) Corporal James Harding of Virginia
3) Captain & Lieutenant John Harding of Pennsylvania
4) Major Thomas Harding or Virginia
5) Lieutenant Thomas Harding of Virginia
6) Private Benjamin Harding of Rhode Island
7) Private George Harding of Virginia
8) Private John Harding of New Jersey
9) Lieutenant John Harding of Pennsylvania
10) Sergeant Thomas Harding of Virginia
11) Private Henry Harding of Connecticut
12) Private Oliver Harding of Connecticut
Harding Coat of Arms Meaning
Three of the main heraldic symbols depicted within the Harding Coat of Arms (incorrectly referred to as the Harding Family Crest or Harding Family Shield) are the escallop and greyhound, each which have their own unique meaning.
The escallop occurs often in arms, represented as the outside of the shell, sometimes “fluted” of a different color. It has been part of heraldic tradition almost from the beginning of the art, Henry III of England awarded Gules, 3 escallopes argent to Herbert de CHAMBERLEYNE in the 13th century, and it is present in the heraldry of almost all countries. It is believed that they were adopted as badges (pinned on clothes) of those going to the Holy Land on pilgrimage and can be found in the arms of many a crusading family. It is said the pilgrim would be provided food and water by local churches and castles if the bore the escallop. Hence Wade’s suggested association of the scallop with those that “complete long journeys to far countries”. This symbol is long journeys can also be a symbol of hospitality. It should also be noted the escallop is a symbol of Apostle St. James the Greater. According to The Road to Santiago: “Having been a fisherman in Galilea and having taken the road that helped him discover his spirit, the Scallop Shell is the emblem of St. James and its symbolism relates to two layers of the human condition; the physical and the spiritual. St. James was an ordinary pilgrim like the rest of us. He walked a long difficult road with Jesus; he was imprisoned by his raging emotions, and he went through metaphoric fires to free himself and discover the vastness of his spirit. He learned how to live an authentic, peaceful life and he shared his personal lessons with others”.
Unlike many of the creatures to be found in heraldry, the greyhound is shown in a very natural aspect and lifelike poses. It is probably the most common member of the dog family to be found in arms, and Wade suggests that we see in its appearance the suggestion of “courage, vigilance and loyal fidelity”. It is a very old breed of dog, dating back to around 3,000 BC in ancient Egypt. Starting in the 800’s AD, the English aristocracy began breeding and raising greyhounds, and for 700 years thenceforth, it was illegal for a commoner to own one. It was used to hunt small animals like rabbits and hares. Clergy often bred greyhounds for nobles.
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D.C. Law 21-159. Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program Act of 2016.
↪ D.C. Laws Codified in the D.C. Code
↪ Council Period 21
↪ Permanent Laws
↪ D.C. Law 21-159. Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program Act of 2016.
D.C. Law 21-159 (PDF)
63 DCR 10771
Law 21-159, the “Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program Act of 2016,” was introduced in the Council and assigned Bill No. 21-463 which was referred to the Committee on Business, Consumer, and Regulatory Affairs. The bill was adopted on first and second readings on June 28, 2016, and July 12, 2016, respectively. After mayoral review, it was assigned Act No. 21-487 on Aug. 18, 2016, and transmitted to Congress for its review. D.C. Law 21-159 became effective Oct. 8, 2016.
To establish the Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program within the Department of Employment Services to educate, train, and assist returning citizens in becoming responsible entrepreneurs, to require the Department of Employment Services and the Department of Small and Local Business Development to operate the program, and to establish the Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Fund.
New subchapter V-C of Chapter 12 of Title 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the "Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program Act of 2016".
New § 2-1210.51
Note § 2-1210.51
Sec. 2. Definitions.
For the purposes of this act, the term:
(1) "DOES" means the Department of Employment Services.
(2) "DSLBD" means the Department of Small and Local Business Development.
(3) "Fund" means the Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Fund established by section 4.
(4) "IIEP" means the Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program established by section 3.
Sec. 3. Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program.
(a) There is established within the Department of Employment Services the Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program, a business development program for returning citizens, which shall be operated by DOES, in conjunction with the Department of Small and Local Business Development, to:
(1) Invest in for-profit and nonprofit businesses owned, operated, or managed by returning citizens;
(2) Provide a program to assist a returning citizen in obtaining a general education development diploma;
(3) Provide classes to improve math, reading, and writing abilities;
(4) Provide business and microenterprise development training to include:
(A) Accounting;
(B) Finance;
(C) Administration;
(D) Business planning;
(E) Budgeting;
(F) Marketing;
(G) Business law;
(H) Accessing startup capital, and other business startup topics as identified by the U.S. Small Business Administration and Certified Community Development Financial Institutions;
(I) Training and guidance on the certification process for becoming a certified business enterprise pursuant to the Small and Certified Business Enterprise Development and Assistance Act of 2005, effective October 20, 2005 (D.C. Law 16-33; D.C. Official Code § 2-1801.01 et seq.); and
(J) Technology training;
(5) Provide educational workshops and seminars on financial literacy;
(6) Provide ongoing mentorship and support;
(7) Place participants in apprenticeships at established businesses;
(8) Provide monthly networking meetings with business leaders, such as:
(A) Business owners;
(B) Angel investors; and
(C) Heads of venture capital and investment firms; and
(9) Provide scholarships or grants for returning citizens to enroll in business classes at the University of the District of Columbia or the University of the District of Columbia Community College.
(b) DOES shall confer with other agencies, organizations, and individuals such as:
(1) The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity;
(2) The Workforce Investment Council;
(3) The Mayor's Office on Returning Citizen Affairs; and
(4) Any other relevant agency or organization that DOES and DSLBD consider necessary to meet the objectives of this act.
(c) For the purposes of this section, the term "returning citizen" means a resident who was previously incarcerated.
Sec. 4. Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Fund.
(a) There is established as a special fund the Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Fund, which shall be administered by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity in accordance with subsections (c) and (d) of this section.
(b) Up to $10 million from the following sources shall be deposited into the Fund:
(1) Funds appropriated for the purposes of this act;
(2) Donations from the public;
(3) Donations from private entities; and
(4) Funds provided through a sponsorship agreement.
(c) Money in the Fund shall be used to implement, operate, and administer IIEP.
(d) Money in the Fund shall not be used for any other purpose other than for the purposes of this act.
(e)(1) The money deposited into the Fund, and interested earned, shall not revert to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of a fiscal year, or at any other time.
(2) Subject to authorization in an approved budget and financial plan, any funds appropriated in the Fund shall be continually available without regard to fiscal year limitation.
(f) The Fund shall be subject to a yearly audit by the Office of the District of Columbia Auditor and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
Sec. 5. Reporting requirements.
(a) Within one year of the applicability date of this act, and by June 1 of every subsequent year, DOES, in consultation with DSLBD, shall submit a report on the operations of the IIEP to the Mayor and the Council.
(b) Subject to subsection (c) of this section, the report shall include, at a minimum:
(1) The profiles of IIEP participants;
(2) Recidivism rates of IIEP participants;
(3) The number of businesses formed and launched by IIEP participants;
(4) The number of businesses formed by IIEP participants that have sustained operations for at least 12 months following their launch; and
(5) Recommendations on how to improve the IIEP and ensure its sustainability.
(c) IIEP participants may expressly authorize that their anonymity be preserved in the report.
Sec. 6. Applicability.
Note subchapter V-C of Chapter 12 of Title 2
(a) this act shall apply upon the date of inclusion of its fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan.
(b) The Chief Financial Officer shall certify the date of the inclusion of the fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan, and provide notice to the Budget Director of the Council of the certification.
(c)(1) The Budget Director shall cause the notice of the certification to be published in the District of Columbia Register.
(2) The date of publication of the notice of the certification shall not affect the applicability of this act.
Sec. 7. Fiscal impact statement.
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a).
Sec. 8. Effective date.
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.
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Start Over You searched for: Subjects Faculty, Medical ✖Remove constraint Subjects: Faculty, Medical Genre Addresses ✖Remove constraint Genre: Addresses
1. Address delivered at the opening of the Medical Department of the Columbian University, District of Columbia, October 1, 1892: with a sketch of life and work of Edward T. Fristoe, LL. D., late professor of chemistry, Columbian University
Prentiss, D. W. (Daniel Webster), 1843-1899, author
Washington, D.C. : Issued from the office of the National medical review, 1892
Fristoe, E. T.
2. An address delivered at the opening of the Rock Island Medical School: November 7, 1848
Knapp, M. L. (Moses L.), 1799-1879
Chicago : Campbell & Fuller, printers, 1849
Schools, Medical
Rock Island Medical School.
3. An address on the life and character of the late professor John Locke: delivered at the request of the Cincinnati Medical Society
Wright, M. B. (Marmaduke Burr), 1803-1879
Cincinnati : Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co., [1857]
Locke, John, 1792-1856.
4. An address on the life, character and writings of Elisha Bartlett, M.D., M.M.S.S: late professor of materia medica and medical jurisprudence in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York : before the Middlesex North District Medical Society, December 26, 1855
Huntington, Elisha, 1796-1865
Lowell [Mass.] : S.J. Varney, 1856
Bartlett, Elisha, 1804-1855.
5. Addresses commemorative of James L. Cabell: delivered at the University of Virginia, July 1, 1890
Charlottesville, Va. : Chronicle & C.M. Brand, 1890
Cabell, J. L. (James Lawrence), 1813-1889.
6. The Chair of Surgery in Rush Medical College
Senn, Nicholas, 1844-1908, author
Chicago : Printed at the Office of the Association, 1891
General Surgery -- organization & administration
Rush Medical College.
7. An inaugural discourse, delivered at the opening of Rutgers Medical College: in the City of New-York, on Monday, the 6th day of November, 1826
Hosack, David, 1769-1835
New-York : Printed by J. Seymour, 1826
Rutgers Medical College.
8. Introductory lecture to a course of anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania: delivered November 7th, 1831 and published at the request of the medical class
Horner, William E. (William Edmonds), 1793-1853
Philadelphia : Published by Auner for the class, 1831
University of Pennsylvania. Department of Medicine.
Schools, Medical2
Anatomy1
Bartlett, Elisha, 1804-1855.1
Horner, William E. (William Edmonds), 1793-18531
Hosack, David, 1769-18351
Huntington, Elisha, 1796-18651
Knapp, M. L. (Moses L.), 1799-18791
Prentiss, D. W. (Daniel Webster), 1843-1899, author1
Address delivered at the opening of the Medical Department of the Columbian University, District of Columbia, October 1, 1892: with a sketch of life and work of Edward T. Fristoe, LL. D., late professor of chemistry, Columbian University1
Addresses commemorative of James L. Cabell: delivered at the University of Virginia, July 1, 18901
An address delivered at the opening of the Rock Island Medical School: November 7, 18481
An address on the life and character of the late professor John Locke: delivered at the request of the Cincinnati Medical Society1
An address on the life, character and writings of Elisha Bartlett, M.D., M.M.S.S: late professor of materia medica and medical jurisprudence in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York : before the Middlesex North District Medical Society, December 26, 18551
Addresses✖[remove]8
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97th ESA Annual Meeting
ESA Home
PS 27-93 - Spatiotemporal variation in community structure of fish assemblages in two river systems
Exhibit Hall, Oregon Convention Center
Lloyd W. Morrison, Biology Department, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO and Hope R. Dodd, National Park Service, Heartland Inventory & Monitoring Network, Republic, MO
Background/Question/Methods
Community structure may vary spatially and temporally. A number of univariate indices have been developed to quantify community structure, although much information is lost in this approach, which results in a single number to describe an entire community. Multivariate methods provide more information-rich results, although they may be more difficult to interpret. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) is a nonparametric ordination approach that reduces the dimensionality of a complex data set to two or three dimensions, which can be easily interpreted visually. Communities can be compared in reduced-dimensionality ordination space, and important habitat or environmental variables may be inferred by evaluating the strength of the correlation between each variable and the ordination axes. We used NMS as part of a long-term monitoring project to compare structure in fish communities in two river systems: the Buffalo National River (BUFF) in northern Arkansas, and the Current River and its major tributary the Jacks Fork at Ozark National Scenic Riverways (OZAR) in southern Missouri. Goals were to compare community structure both among sites and over time, and elucidate potentially important habitat variables. Six sites were selected at BUFF, and nine at OZAR, and sampled annually for five years by electrofishing.
Results/Conclusions
NMS ordinations revealed that sites at OZAR were generally well separated in ordination space and were characterized by very similar community structure over time. In other words, most sites were distinctly different from each other, regardless of the year sampled. In contrast, at BUFF the position of sites in ordination space varied greatly over time; communities often grouped together by year sampled more strongly than by site. In other words, communities changed from one year to the next, exhibiting patterns of nonrandom annual variability. With a single exception (watershed area), the habitat variables most strongly correlated with ordination axes differed between the two river systems. The rivers at OZAR receive substantial flow from numerous large springs, and thus base flows tend to be more constant in terms of temperature and volume. The river at BUFF, in contrast, is fed primarily by numerous small tributaries, and varies more dramatically in these characteristics over time. Water temperature, for example, was strongly correlated with the ordination axes at OZAR, but not at BUFF. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the NMS ordination approach in ecological monitoring, and reveals how spatiotemporal variation in fish communities may vary among different types of river systems.
See more of: Community Pattern And Dynamics
See more of: Posters
1990 M Street, NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036 phone 202-833-8773 fax 202-833-8775 email esahq at esa.org
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Flash Editorials November 5, 2011
The Nation: Herman Cain gets a taste of the bloodsport that is presidential politics this week when someone leaked a story that Cain had been charged with sexual harassment back in the 1990s when he was running the National Restaurant Association. We learned that at least one woman, and possibly two, received a cash settlement to settle the charges with the proviso that they were prevented from discussing it…EVER. That’s called a confidentiality clause. I am an insurance claims specialist by trade, and have settled many cases just like this one. If the Plaintiff has no real case, it only makes sense fiscally to pay a settlement, rather than enduring a costly court fight. I’m certain that the settlement was cheaper than the legal fees would have been. On the nightly news, the attorney representing one of the women called for the settlement agreement to be set aside so his client could “tell her story.” Wanna bet that this shyster lawyer is looking for a payday also to keep him…and his client…quiet? You gotta love watching this stuff. High entertainment value. The smart money also bets that the story came from the Mitt Romney campaign staff.
International: The heads of the G20 nations met in Cannes France this week and agreed that they would all support the sick nations of the European Union. It was an entirely meaningless gesture, since all the nations in attendance are terminally ill. But this weekend, the Greek and Italian governments might flame out. Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi is in danger of losing his majority in the Parliament, and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou just survived a no-confidence vote Friday night.
Business: MF Global (wonder what the MF stands for…certainly not what I’m thinking right now), a brokerage firm that specializes in derivatives, filed for bankruptcy in October, but made headlines this week when it was revealed that the firm had misused $630 million of their own customer’s money and could not account for that amount. The company bought heavily leveraged sovereign debt from EU countries like Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain (PIIGS). They ended up on the wrong side of the bet. Jon Corzine, former New Jersey governor, is now the FORMER president of the company, having resigned Friday. I hope that if laws were broken, prosecution will ensue. It is said that the derivatives market worldwide is over $100 TRILLION, and derivates are not regulated in any way.
Economy: 397,000 new unemployment claims in the last 7 days!! I will bet that every person who reads this column knows at least one person who has been laid off or permanently let go in the last year. Remember, dear readers. BOTH parties are responsible for the state of the economy.
Religion: Members of Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral are pissed after getting emails from Schuller asking them to provide meals to his sick wife. They were told to deliver the meals to one of the church buildings where Schuller’s limo driver would pick them up and take them to Mrs. Schuller. Apparently, the church filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2010 didn’t affect the Senior Pastor’s lifestyle nor his sense of entitlement.
Sports: Saturday night’s BCS football matchup is #1 LSU at #2 Alabama. This could easily be a game for the national championship, but this is just an SEC regular season game. Shows you how far superior the SEC is to all the other athletic conferences. I like LSU over ‘Bama.
Entertainment: Puss in Boots, the animated spin-off from the Shrek money machine, pulled in $34.1 million in its first week. I don’t know if Antonio Banderas was the major draw, but my money’s on Salma Hayek as Kitty Softpaws…that’s some pussy.
Leave a Comment » | Culture, Editorials, Written By Russ | Permalink
You are currently browsing the DumpDC blog archives for the day Saturday, November 5th, 2011.
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Couple divorced 50 years ago; now, they’re remarrying
Local/Region Education Health Southwest Life Travel Nation & World
By Allison Klein The Washington Post
Friday, April 6, 2018 8:59 PM
Harold Holland and Lillian Barnes in 1961, several years before their divorce.
Courtesy of the Holland family
Harold Holland and Lillian Barnes in their first wedding picture in 1955.
Harold Holland and Lillian Barnes were teenagers when they met and fell in love in rural Kentucky. They had five children together, but after 12 years of marriage, their relationship fell apart – they divorced in 1968.
Now, 50 years later, they are proof that love never dies. Next week, they will marry again. Holland is 83; Barnes is 79.
“I saw them a couple months ago, and I’m telling you, it’s like puppy love. They call each other honey, sugar, baby, all these pet names,” said the couple’s grandson Joshua Holland, 34. “They light up when they see each other. They’re like two teenagers in love. They hold hands, they joke with each other.”
Both Holland and Barnes married other people after their divorce, but they stayed in touch with each other, mostly about their children. They were cordial at graduations, birthdays and weddings.
“I wouldn’t call it close friends, but we got along,” said Holland, who is the founder of the family’s floor-covering business based in Lexington. “For the kids’ sake, more than anything else.”
As fate would have it, both of their spouses died in 2015.
Holland hosted a family reunion at his house last summer, as he does every year. But this time, Barnes attended. The chemistry was still there.
“One thing led to another, and we had dinner together,” Holland said. “We got a little more friendlier when we were alone.”
Holland said he was surprised his bride-to-be gave him another chance. He takes responsibility for their first marriage not working out, saying he was at the office seven days a week. There were some other issues he said he preferred to keep private, but added that she’s forgiven him.
“I thought from the time we got a divorce she’d never look at me again,” he said. “I say all the time it was all my fault.”
Being together again has been familiar, bringing them back to many decades ago when they first met. “First love is hard to get rid of,” he said.
“She hasn’t changed in 50 years,” he added. “She was a beautiful, black-haired girl with brown eyes. She’s still the same, but her hair is white now. Mine is, too.”
He said their blended families include 10 children, more than 20 grandchildren and 30-plus great-grandchildren. He’s lost exact count.
He delighted in calling them and telling them the news.
“The kids and grandkids got a big bang out of that,” Holland said. “Grandma marrying grandpa sounds a little weird.”
Their grandson, Joshua Holland, who is a pastor in New Orleans, plans to officiate the wedding, which will be April 14 at Trinity Baptist Church in Lexington.
“When you’re the preacher in family, you do all the weddings and funerals,” he said. “This one will top the cake. This is the most monumental wedding I’ll probably ever do in my life.”
Harold Holland said the wedding was to be simple: Mostly just family. He didn’t know how many people were invited, but he figured there could be as many as 300 guests.
“People say they’re coming whether we invited them or not,” he said with a laugh.
Joshua Holland said he needed to do some thinking about what he’ll say at the wedding. He might use the couple’s own words, which he quoted: “We started out the first mile together, now well walk the last mile together.”
Staff researcher Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this story.
Recent Nation & World
Taking a look at what didn’t happen this week
Redacted Mueller Report released
Massive fire engulfs beloved Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
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Owolab, O., Adeyemi-Ale, O. (2018). In Vivo Acute and Chronic Toxicity of Pendimethalin on Haematological and Biochemical Indices of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822). Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, B. Zoology, 10(1), 71-81. doi: 10.21608/eajbsz.2018.13431
Olufemi D. Owolab; Olutomi A. Adeyemi-Ale. "In Vivo Acute and Chronic Toxicity of Pendimethalin on Haematological and Biochemical Indices of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822)". Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, B. Zoology, 10, 1, 2018, 71-81. doi: 10.21608/eajbsz.2018.13431
Owolab, O., Adeyemi-Ale, O. (2018). 'In Vivo Acute and Chronic Toxicity of Pendimethalin on Haematological and Biochemical Indices of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822)', Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, B. Zoology, 10(1), pp. 71-81. doi: 10.21608/eajbsz.2018.13431
Owolab, O., Adeyemi-Ale, O. In Vivo Acute and Chronic Toxicity of Pendimethalin on Haematological and Biochemical Indices of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822). Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, B. Zoology, 2018; 10(1): 71-81. doi: 10.21608/eajbsz.2018.13431
In Vivo Acute and Chronic Toxicity of Pendimethalin on Haematological and Biochemical Indices of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822)
Article 7, Volume 10, Issue 1, Winter and Spring 2018, Page 71-81 PDF (579 K)
Olufemi D. Owolab; Olutomi A. Adeyemi-Ale
Department of Zoology, University of Ilorin, P.M.B. 1515, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria
In vivo acute and chronic toxicity effects of pendimethalin were carried out on the haematology and biochemical parameters of juvenile Clarias gariepinus subjected to different acute (0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00 mg/l) and chronic (0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 mg/l) concentrations of pendimethalin for 4 and 28 days, respectively. As concentration of the toxicant increased in both assays, there were significant (P < 0.05) increase in red blood cells (RBCs), haemoglobin (HB) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), while the white blood cells (WBCs), packed cell volume (PCV), mean cell volume (MCV) and mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) significantly decreased compared to the control. Alterations in biochemical parameters in C. gariepinus tissues during both acute and chronic exposures exhibited similar trend of either increase or decrease in activities as the concentration of toxicant increases. In both exposures, the activities of aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) significantly increased (P < 0.05) in the blood, gill and liver, whereas the activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), glucose and protein in these tissues were significantly inhibited (P < 0.05) compared to the control groups, though the magnitude of induction or inhibition in each tissue differs. The study shows that exposure of C. gariepinus to pendimethalin toxicity could cause oxidative stress and alterations in the haemato-biochemical profile of the fish. Therefore, the use of pendimethalin should be minimized and discouraged especially around aquatic bodies so as to prevent adverse effects on the fauna inhabiting them.
pendimethalin; Clarias gariepinus; Haematology; Biochemistry; oxidative stress
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2. Ship Burials, Stone Ships and the Afterlife.
The Scandinavians believed that their gods came from two tribes: the Aesir and the Vanir. The latter, with their strong connection to water and ships, as well as the afterworld,
Fólkvangr and Freyja
Freyja was a goddess of the afterlife, who took half the slain:
And Freyja is the most excellent of the Ásynjur, she has that homestead in heaven which is called Fólkvangar, and wherever she rides to battle she has half of the slain, but the other half belongs to Óðinn, as is said here:
Fólkvangr is called where Freyja decides the seat choices in the hall. Every day she chooses half the slain but half belongs to Óðinn.
Her hall Sessrúmnir is large and beautiful. (trans. Faulkes)
There is some ambiguity in the name Folkvangr, because it can mean either something like “People-Field” or else “Army-Field”. (Lindow: 118) Given that it holds half of those killed in battle, most people incline towards the latter interpretation. If so, Folkvangr would be an alternate Valhalla.
We know from Sorla thattr that Freyja was commanded to stir up the eternal combat between two evenly matched lords, which could link up with the continual battle-practice at Valhalla. (Lindow: 174) There isn’t anything else in the sources to support the idea of Folkvangr and Valhalla being the same sort of realm, however, so it must remain speculative.
Viking burial stone ships, Lindholm Høje, Denmark. 1000-1200 AD. From Tumblr.
Within Folkvangr is Freyja’s home, Sessrumnir, which can be translated as “space with many/roomy seats”. And this is where it gets interesting, because in the Þulur or lists at the end of Snorri’s Edda (see Faulkes’ edition; some of the others leave it out), there is a list of ships:
Now I will set forth the names of ships: Ark, oar-claw, bark, Sessrumnir, longship, cutter, ship and Skiðblaðnir, vessel, Naglfari, rowboat, smack. (Hopkins and Þorgeirsson: 16.)
Hopkins and Þorgeirsson in their article, analyze the list of ship-names and concluded that it is a genuine thulr and not happenstance; therefore Sessurmnir must mean a ship, at least to the person who composed the list. Hopkins and Þorgeirsson suggest that the many burials in Scandinavia and England in the form of a “ship in a field”, usually stone ships. (Hopkins and Þorgeirsson: 16.)
Stone ship burial from Anund, Sweden.
Stone ship burials in the Bronze Age are found especially in south-west Scandinavia, an area lots of metal goods such as jewellery, weapons and bracelets. (Skoglund: 392) Each burial was within a mound, with one person to a ship, even if other people were in the mound, they were usually at some distance from the stone ship and the person in it. (I have linked to the distribution map.)
The stone-ship burials spread to the island of Gotland about 200 years later. During the Iron Age shipbuilding technology improved dramatically, and people were able to build the light, fast ships that allowed the Viking Era raiding and trading to take place. Stone ship burials changed, with both small ships and a newer, large ship model built from large stones or boulders set in an oval. These new-style, larger, ship burials were exposed, unlike the earlier ones which were always mounded over, and they seem to have spread across all of southern Scandinavia.
The Meaning of Ships
The meaning of the ship seems to have changed over time. The Bronze Age art seems to suggest that the ship is part of the sun’s journey, the night part. The sun would travel across the sky with horses, then travel back to the east by boat. Later, going by the picture stones, that symbolism was dropped in favour of warships, appearing in contexts suggesting either heroism or widsom. (Skoglund: 396.)
The other aspect of the newer ships was inequality: in both art and life there are the rowers, and the styresman. Also, men could be “called up” to serve as rowers, and were taxed to pay for voyages and shipbuilding.
All this goes to show that ship burials were very much associated with the elite. The elites who owned ships and compelled others to pay for them and row in them, were the ones who set up the picture stones showing warriors and warships. As such, it would be appropriate if Freyja’s hall was a stone ship, in a field.
Hopkins and Þorgeirsson think that Freyja’s ship could be connected to the “Isis” of the Suebi, whose symbol was a ship, according to Tacitus:
Part of the Suebi sacrifice to Isis as well. I have little idea what the origin or explanation of this foreign cult is, except that the goddess’s emblem, which resembles a light warship, indicates that the goddess came from abroad. (trans. Mattingly)
Nehellenia with oar and ship.
That is not to say that Freyja “is” the Isis Tacitus was writing about; but that elements of her cult might have been similar. (Nehallenia is a good candidiate for Isis, as her oar attribute indicates.) They go on to suggests that since Indo-European beliefs about the afterlife include both a water element and a field (the Elysian Fields, for example), the Vanir might be far more involved in the afterworld than we knew.
A further afterworld – water – Vanir connection may relate to Njörð. Freya’s home, Folkvangr, has echoes in the Eddic himinvangar ‘fields of heaven/sky’ and hebenwang. Other names for paradise include Gothic waggs, and Old English neorxanwang. (Hopkins and Þorgeirsson: 15) There have been many attempts to connect this last to Njörð, either as coming from the same root as his name or else as a field for Njörð.
If this were true, and Nóatún was Njörð’s hall within whatever the Old Norse for neorxanwang would be, that would establish a strong connection between Njörð’s realm and his daughter’s, with both as afterworlds. (Hopkins and Þorgeirsson: 17, n. 5.) It is ironic that Njörð did have a paradise at Nóatún, Skadi had no desire to live there.
Dubois points out that neither Njörð nor Þor seem to have any interest in housing the dead, unlike Odin and Freyja: “Not all Scandinavian gods appear interested in hosting the dead, even if their halls are known to men and wondrous to behold,” (Dubois 1999: 80.) On the other hand, Harbardsljod seems to imply that while Oðin gets the aristocrats, Þor gets the thralls after death.
Another possible derivation for Njörð’s name, is connected to the word “north”, and the Greek νερτερος, nérteros “lower, nether (world).” (Shields: 219, McKinnell: 51) This in turn comes from the root *n(e)r-, meaning “under” and an adverbial affix *t(e)r-o-. (Shields: 219) As I mentioned in my post on Idunn, the idea of an otherworld located in the north, such as Glaesisvellir and Údáinsakr, was a common idea in Germanic thought. If Njörð’s name comes from either “north” or “underworld”, then either way he can be connected to afterworld myths.
While it may seem strange that so much marine symbolism attaches to Freyr when Njörð is the god in charge of sailors and fishermen, Simek suggests that as time went on, Njörð’s importance decreased, and many of his associations became attached to his “stronger” son. (Simek 1977: 36.) Since Freyr was a fairly major deity at the time that this material was being written down, it is intriguing to speculate on how important Njörð was in the Viking and Brone Age past.
Ships and the Afterlife
So we know that the Vanir, and especially Njörð’s children, Freyr and Freyja, had a connection with ships and the afterlife. The other major incident in the Eddas to do with ships and burial is Baldr’s funeral, which has all the features we associate with a Viking burial, with the burning ship being pushed out to sea. It seems that Baldr was destined for Hel, which seems odd for Oðin’s son, but we know from various sources that he was there.
Odin receiving Sinfjolti’s body.
Other men’s sons were accorded a different end, as in Volusnga saga 10 where Sigmund’s son Sinfjolti is poisoned:
Sigmund rose and his sorrow was almost his death. He took the body in his arms and went into the woods and came to a fjord. There he saw a man in a small boat. The man asked if he wanted to accept from him passage across the fjord. Sigmund said yes. The boat was so small it could not bear them all, so the body was carried first and Sigmund walked along the fjord. The next moment the boat and the man disappeared before Sigmund’s eyes. ( trans. Byock: 51. In note 37 he identifies the boatman as Odin.)
It usually assumed that the man is Oðin, acting as psychopompos. In this instance we can assume that Sinjfjotli is going to Valhalla, especially since he was a reknowned warrior. (Oðin also appears waterside, as a ferryman, in Harbardsljod, and once again a main character is denied passage.)
There are many ship-burials in the sagas, of which the most notable is that of Thorgrim in Gisla saga. Despite his name, Thorgrim was a priest of Freyr, and the saga tells us how he held a blot to Freyr, and later, after he is killed, he is buried in a ship inside a howe. Afterwards, we are told that Freyr’s power kept snow from piling up on the leeward side of Thorgrim’s mound, because “Freyr would have no frost between them.”
Another man, Gisli, is also buried in a ship in Gisla saga. Ingimundr in Vatnesdaela saga and Audr in Laxadaela saga are also buried in ships. There are many other instances in Old Norse literature, including one in Flateyjarbok and some other sagas. (Full list in The Road to Hel: 39-50.)
In other parts of the Indo-European world we can find beliefs about the afterlife that match up to those of the Norse. The ferryman of the dead, the journey across water, and the field or meadow of the dead, can all be found in other mythologies.
Oðin’s role as ferryman is echoed by Charon, who also is figured as a white-haired man. (Oðin’s role is also taken by the giant Hyrmir, whose beard has icicles in it, and who, unlike Oðin, does row Þor out to the ocean.) Lincoln sees Hyrmir as another version of a white-haired ferryman of the dead.
There is also the Celtic Barinthus, whom Brendan the Navigator meets, and who also appears in Arthurian legend as the one who takes him to Avalon. Barinthus has been reconstructed as Barfind, or “white hair”. (Lincoln 1980: 67.) Lincoln also finds similar imagery among the Slavs and in the Vedas.
Equally, there are many examples of a field or meadow where the souls of the dead reside. The Elysian Fields, and more broadly, the IE root for “die”, derived from ON valr, Lith veines, TochA walu, may be formed from the same root as the IE root for pasture, i.e. Slavic Volosu “cattle god”, Hit, wellu “meadow”. (Mallory and Adams: 153) Thus Folkvangr and neorxwang fit into a larger tradition, along with possibly Glasesisvellir and other paradises.
Of course, when most people saw a ship go by, their thoughts were probably more mundane than this. They saw a chance for riches, either through long-distance trade or raiding, or the possibilty of travel and adventure, or, more negatively, impressed labour and a burdensome tax.
Ships and boats were part of the fabric of everyday life, as well as carrying a mythic freight. After all, if Bruce Lincoln could write two papers on symbolism and ships, one of which concerns the ferryman of the dead and the other the mercantile and social aspects of ships and shipbuilding, then clearly the symbolism is many-sided, and takes in both this world and the other.
Edda, Snorri Sturluson/Anthony Faulkes, Everyman, London, 1987.
The Prose Edda Snorri Sturluson/Jesse Byock, Penguin Clasics, 2005.
Germania and Agricola Tacitus/H. Mattingly, Penguin, 2010.
Davidson, H. R. E. 1968: The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature, Praeger (reprint).
Dubois, Thomas 1999: Nordic Religions in the Viking Age, University of Pennsylvania Press.
Hopkins, Joseph S. and Haukur Þorgeirsson 2011: “The Ship in the Field,” RMN Newsletter 3: 13-8.
Lincoln, Bruce 1980: “The Ferryman of the Dead,” Journal of Indo-European Studies 8: 41-59.
Lincoln, Bruce 1999: “Gautrek’s Saga and the Gift-Fox,” in Theorizing Myth, University of Chicago. (Reprinted from The Ship as Symbol in Prehistoric and Medieval Scandinavia)
Lindow, John, 2001: Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs, OUP, New York and Oxford.
Mallory, J P. and Douglas Q. Adams 1997: Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Taylor and Francis.
McKinnell, John 2005: Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend, D. S. Brewer.
Rønne, Preben 2011: “Horg, hov and ve – a pre-Christian cult place at Ranheim in Trøndelag, Norway, in the 4rd – 10th centuries AD,” Adoranten: 79-92.
Shields, Kenneth 2008: “Some Comments about Early Germanic Cardinal Direction Words”, Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics Bd. 121 (2008): 219-225.
Simek, Rudolf 1977:”Skíðblaðnir: Some Ideas on Ritual Connections Between Sun and Ship,” Northern Studies 9: 31-9.
Skoglund, Peter 2008: “Stone ships, continuity and change in Scandinavian prehistory,” World Archaeology 40:3, 390-406.
If you like the image at the top, click here.
This entry was posted in Mythology, Norse and tagged Freyja, paradise, ships, Valhalla, Vanir on February 25, 2015 by solsdottir.
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Lawsuit Filed to Protect Endangered Steller Sea Lions
Government action would allow industrial fishing in protected habitat
Consultation has been the Act's most effective and successful safeguard by, for example, keeping factory trawlers out of Steller sea lion rookeries.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Photo
Female sea lions that are pregnant or nursing need the fish to be abundant and accessible. Now, there are fewer and fewer sea lion pups being born in the Western Aleutians.
Jon Warrenchuk
Senior Scientist, Oceana
Anchorage, AK —
Conservation groups filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging the National Marine Fisheries Service’s decision to roll back protections for the western Steller sea lions, a population protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Read the complaint.
In November 2014, the Fisheries Service issued a rule that would allow industrial fishing fleets back into waters that were put off limits four years ago to reduce competition between Steller sea lions and large commercial fisheries that catch millions of pounds of the Steller’s prey species, including: pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel. The decision to undermine the protections comes even as the population continues to decline precipitously in the far western Aleutian Islands.
“Steller sea lions in the Western Aleutians are still in decline and they still need protection,” explained Earthjustice attorney Colin O’Brien. “Allowing industrial fishing fleets to come in and scoop up their food will harm the Steller sea lion. Federal actions that may lead to the extinction of a species are not legal under the Endangered Species Act.”
“Female sea lions that are pregnant or nursing need the fish to be abundant and accessible,” said Jon Warrenchuk, Senior Scientist and Campaign Manager for Oceana. “Now, there are fewer and fewer sea lion pups being born in the Western Aleutians.”
“This rule reverses course on decades of science, government policy, and court decisions,” said John Hocevar, a Marine Biologist with Greenpeace. “This new rule will allow factory trawlers to take millions of fish away from the areas where Steller sea lions need to feed on them the most.”
“We have been forced back to court once again by an agency that appears intent on sacrificing healthy ocean ecosystems for short-term economic gain,” said Michael LeVine, Pacific Senior Counsel for Oceana. “We hoped that the Fisheries Service would show the leadership needed to find long–term, sustainable solutions, but instead, we find ourselves back in court to defend the basic premise that sea lions need fish caught by industrial fisheries to survive.”
Colin O’Brien, Earthjustice, (907) 277-2500, ext. 7103
John Hocevar, Greenpeace, (512) 577-3868
Mike LeVine, Oceana, (907) 723-0136
Saving Steller Sea Lions
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Please Remove The Bullet – Part 2 of 2
Posted on May 31, 2018 October 23, 2018 by divorcedanddatingat30
I never thought going back would be easy, but I could never have imagined how much it would tax me. To live everyday second guessing what your partner is telling you, trying to determine if they’re lying, looking for telltale signs of the behaviour repeating itself. Meanwhile dealing with the fallout of friends who think you made a mistake by going back, or had so vociferously made their feelings clear when you were separated that now they can’t backtrack the things they said about the man you’re giving it another go with.
We went to couples counselling, well, mostly I went. I think he joined for two sessions. I was familiar with counselling already, having gone after my parents divorce and then seeing a life coach before I got married. I’m not sure how much this particular instance helped but I felt I had to go because it was the right thing to do?
It took around six months for me to stop checking his phone. I did it almost daily for the first few months, and then slowly weaned myself off. I sometimes think I shouldn’t have gone back if I couldn’t not check his phone but it seemed like the minimum viable action to allow me to be present in the marriage but to also feel a tiny bit of peace.
And peace wasn’t something that was easy to come by. My brain and my thoughts and my dreams ran wild. I was in a constant state of turmoil, feeling like I wasn’t trying hard enough to make it work, not appreciating enough that he had seemingly changed, not fully feeling like myself. I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel like her again. In fact, I’m not sure I knew who she was by this stage.
We went to Vegas with some family for his 30th birthday in the March, ten months after the whole sorry mess had come out, 11 months after we got married. My aunt commented while on the trip that it was the most relaxed she’d seen both of us in a long time and it definitely felt like a bit of a line in the sand for us.
Then in the April we were in Portugal to celebrate his parent’s (some important coloured) wedding anniversary. It fell right around the time of our first wedding anniversary and so we didn’t get to properly celebrate our anniversary which actually felt like a bit of a relief to me, I didn’t know if the first year of our marriage was worth celebrating. Sure we’d made it but at what cost?
Instead we moved through spring, past the May date that was ingrained in my head from the year before, hoping there would be no random, unprovoked argument that led to a night of horrors. Thankfully not.
The only thing for me to deal with was a hospital procedure for an abnormal smear result that had come back. Hospital visits had never been something I’d experienced in the past, pretty much since I’d left the hospital as a baby I’d had no reason to return. Yet since I’d been married I had been to hospital twice. Can we say omen?
I’d been warned that after the procedure I would potentially not feel great and may experience some pain – both of which turned out to be true, not least because my body does not deal well with anesthesia. I’d been told I wouldn’t be able to drive and probably shouldn’t go to work and I was glad for the day off. But as I lay still snoozing in bed at the time I would normally be up and in the shower and instead was listening to my husband in the shower earlier than his usual allotted time because I wasn’t going first, his phone pinged with a message.
As I had finally grown able to do, I ignored it and didn’t instantly jump to any stomach churning conclusions. But as it did the usual iPhone second ping to remind you there’s a message, I suddenly thought that it might be one of the guys from his work. He managed a removal company and if one of the workers was texting to say they couldn’t make it in or there was a problem with one of the trucks then I knew my husband would want to know sooner rather than later, as that sort of stuff could really fuck up his days.
There’s something ironic in the fact that I only looked at his phone to make sure his day wasn’t going to be fucked up and instead it fully fucked up, not just my day, but my life. Again. Damn that motherfucking phone.
Opening up a text that came from a name that could have been male or female alongside the name of his company, making me instantly think it was a work text and so continuing to open it I was faced with a picture of a women’s backside in a thong.
Just staring back at me. At 7am in the morning. Some women’s half naked arse. On my husband’s phone.
I put the phone down, rolled back over and pulled the covers over my head. I couldn’t bear to deal with it. I almost, for a split second, thought about ignoring it. I was in so much physical pain already that the thought of dealing with something that I knew already had no good outcome was really past what I was feeling up to at that precise moment in time.
Instead I waited until he was almost dressed, then half sat up in bed and said “you got a text message while you were in the shower, I checked it because I thought it might have been about work, it wasn’t, it was a girls arse, I can’t do this.”
With panic flashing across his face he picked up his phone to look and then instantly tried to excuse it away as a joke from one of the guys. But I knew all the guys he worked with and I’d never heard that name before. Then he tried to tell me it was a contact he met through work and they’d obviously sent it to the wrong number. He told me I was being ridiculous if I thought a girl would just send a photo like that to him at that time on a Thursday morning.
Again, gaslighting in full effect. With no one around to validate you and the person you love more than anyone in the world standing over you telling you you’re wrong and have made a mistake, it’s hard not to start to doubt yourself. It’s funny what the brain can do to you, even as the memory of a lace thong is still burning a hole in your eyes.
But I really didn’t have the energy to fight him on it. I told him “ok, just go to work” and I could see he didn’t trust that it was ok or that in anyway was I accepting of what he was telling me. But I just wanted him out the house. I wanted to not have to deal with it. He finally left for work, promising to come back at lunchtime. As I heard the car drive away, I called my Mum and had her come over from work and pick me and a few suitcase up.
For the second time in 14 months of marriage, I was back living at my Mum’s.
This time, I told even fewer people. I couldn’t bear the questions. The judgement. The pity. I couldn’t stand having to dissect my marriage all over again. And so I kept going to work, I avoided most social situations and instead hibernated at my Mum’s, while she wondered how on earth her daughter was going to navigate this.
The second time felt more cut and dry. All I had to go on was one picture. I didn’t have all the mounting evidence of the first time, I hadn’t seen anything else. I hadn’t witnessed any other inappropriate behaviour and his constant denials and rebuttals that it had been in anyway what I thought really made me question myself.
I moved out, he kept telling me I was wrong, didn’t give me space, begged me to go back. And while not motivated by my vows so much, this time, I couldn’t fathom not going back due to mostly logistical reasons – negative equity on our house, credit card debt, weddings we were already booked to attend later in the summer. So because of stupid financial, travel, RSVP reasons I returned to my cheating husband for a second time.
And in that moment, I knew that as much as I was being judged by others for my choice, no one was judging me more harshly than I was myself. In that decision, I lost respect for myself.
What had I become?
I moved back in sometime in August, and at first it wasn’t too bad. I felt numbed by so much of it, I compartmentalised a lot of what had happened and instead tried to focus on something, anything else. But I was different. I was incredibly tightly wound, I couldn’t relax, I couldn’t enjoy anything. Life became more and more joy-less. Where I once found joy, I would often find tears. Escaping a room full of friends laughing, I would tuck myself away in a bathroom and allow myself to silently weep. For what? I wasn’t sure.
I continued, mostly in silence for around six months, but into the new year I started to notice that the anxiety which had been rising within me was becoming unavoidable. I’ve written about it in a previous post, but that feeling of the wind being physically taken from you when you think about this being the rest of your life. The startling realisation that this “normal” could be your only “normal” for years to come was literally breathtaking to me. And not in a good way. That was happening more and more often. I had started to have panic attacks in the shower before work. I would scream tears but no noise would come. I would fold into the corner of my shower, feeling trapped in a life that I had a thought would be my forever. I needed to be rescued and I couldn’t make a sound.
By the beginning of summer, I realised I had to get help. Paranoia was driving me crazy. And I truly mean that. I was so convinced that he was still doing things behind my back that I had begun to try and catch him out. I would feign being sick at work so I could go home and be there at lunchtime to see if he came back to the house. I would make the bed a certain way, with something specifically placed in a way I’d remember to see if it had been moved when I came home from work, so I’d know if he’d been in bed with someone else. And I started sniffing the seat belt in his car every time I got in. I told you, crazy! But hear me out…
The seat belt was the thing that gave my Dad’s cheating away. I remember he picked me up from school one day, which was an unusual occurrence, and I happened to smell the seat belt as I was pulling it across myself to put it on. And it was a perfume scent I’d never smelled before. In all fairness, it was lovely, but it wasn’t any of the perfumes my Mum wore. And I remember thinking to myself, for the seat belt to smell that strongly of a fragrance, the person wearing it must have been in the car a lot. Long story short, seat belts can be the downfall of a cheater.
Mostly my husband’s passenger seat belt smelled of me but it didn’t stop me having a quick sniff every time as I got in. And with every lunchtime stakeout, precision bed making or seat belt whiff, I was slowly losing my mind. It was absolutely the start of what could have easily ended up in certifiable insanity. I can entirely understand how people go there.
After one particularly tough morning when I wasn’t even sure I could get into work, I texted my Mum and asked if we could meet for coffee. Our offices were near each other and there was a perfectly placed Starbucks in the middle.
Sitting with our coffees at a little corner table, I explained to her how bad things were, the panic attacks, the resignation to a joyless marriage, the anxiety, and she was, naturally, shocked. Everyone thought we were doing so much better and in some respects I’m glad we’d managed to create that facade, I didn’t like the thought of people having to go through this with us. But I realised that it did however mean that if/when I told people about the reality, they were likely to be incredibly surprised.
I told her that when we were in the supermarket I wanted to wring his neck, for no apparent reason. I explained that I had begun to flinch when he wanted to have sex, that it felt like a stranger. And I noted that unlike in the beginning, I no longer felt safe in his arms. It was that last part that I was finding hardest to deal with. I longed to feel secure, protected, safe.
My Mum, having gone through a tumultuous marriage and, possibly, even more horrific divorce with my father, was well placed to offer good advice, which she did. She suggested I set myself a time frame. Be it two months, ten months, whatever I felt comfortable with. And in that time, to really be aware of what was causing me to feel the way I was. Was it solely what had happened in the past, or was it other external factors, that would usually just amount to a bad day.
While she knew I’d obviously been trying like a motherfucker to make it work, she wanted me to be sure that I’d done everything I could before I called time. But she was emphatic that if I knew I’d done that and I was still feeling this way, then I had to walk away, for my own sanity. I was aware that her having to say those words to me were hard. I know she believes in the sanctity of marriage, despite her divorce, and I know she would have have done anything for us to be able to work things out and stay together, she loved both of us even after all he’d done. But her concern, ultimately, was for me.
In my head I gave myself six months. It would take us to November and I hoped that for the first time since we’d been married we could at least make it through the summer, given that the first year shit had blown up in May and in the second year it had been June.
As chance would have it, summer wasn’t to be our favourite season and on the last day of July we returned home from a weekend away with friends. Having taken the Monday off because I wasn’t sure how late we’d be home, I wasn’t in any rush to get to bed. But he needed to be at work in the morning so while he unpacked, I settled onto the sofa with our laptop to go online, having been on an island off the west coast of Scotland for the past 3 nights.
Opening the web browser, I saw an unfamiliar login screen. To an MSN account. With an email address pre-populated in the login field. It was a nickname of his (that I’d always hated) from university. Wondering why he had an email address I didn’t know about, I called him through from the bedroom to ask him about it.
Had he come through and just admitted it was his email address, I don’t know how things might have ended up. However the story he tried to spin me was… incredulous. Initially, he said he knew nothing about the email address. Then he finally (we’re talking five, ten minutes here) admitted that he had previously had that email address but he hadn’t used it since university. When I pressed him as to how it had then ended up on a login screen on our laptop he proceeded to tell me that someone must have logged into it from our computer.
When I feigned shock that he was suggesting someone had broken into our house and we should call the police, as if I was believing a single fucking lie that was coming out of his mouth, he then offered that what must have happened was someone logged onto our wifi, then hacked into our laptop which was connected to the wifi, and finally password hacked the login to an msn email address he used to have at university.
Did he hear himself? Did he genuinely think I was going to believe a single word of that? Even if I hadn’t been working in the tech industry by this stage, I’m hopeful I still would have been aware that it was a big pile of stinking bullshit.
But that was his story and he stuck by it. In fact, he still sticks by it today. It’s fascinating to me.
I gave him every opportunity to provide the true story, to backtrack on what he’d just told me with no repercussions, if he would just tell the truth. But no, he was adamant. Deny, deny, deny. To the point that he stormed out the flat after about an hour of relentless back and forth, apparently hurt by the accusations I was levelling at him.
While he was out I made myself busy hacking into the email account that he insisted he didn’t know about, until he remembered, but definitely didn’t remember the password. I went through all the security questions, had to track down the backup email account, get that reset because it was an old email he definitely didn’t have anymore, reset the security questions and, not long after he’d returned to the apartment, finally I was in.
I didn’t say anything to him about the extreme password reset skills I’d just discovered I possessed and instead gave him one last opportunity to come clean. I vividly remember looking over the back of the sofa at him and saying “I don’t think you understand how crucial what’s happening right now is going to be to our marriage”. He yet again flat out denied there was anything else he wanted to tell me and took himself to bed.
While he was likely drifting off to sleep, I genuinely don’t think he was lying awake and concerned by what was going on, I started to delve into an online world that felt dark and secret and disgusting.
It wasn’t an email account per se, it was a type of MSN account I’d never seen. I didn’t even know MSN still existed at this stage but it turns out it did and my husband appeared to be a seasoned user. All of his friends on there were female, mostly women with profile pics of them in their underwear. There were also a few names of women I knew. Friends of his sisters, a woman he worked with.
There was so much information and I was taking screenshots and trying to get timestamp clarifications on things so I could put together a timeline. It was saying February, but was I just to presume it was February of that year? What if it was from his university days?
Writing this now, I’m aware it doesn’t fucking matter! Either way, it was fucking shady, he’d clearly lied about something and I didn’t need anymore proof. But for me I wanted to be sure. I wanted to be 100% sure before I effectively blew apart my marriage. For what I knew would absolutely be the last time.
I went from looking at the MSN account to Googling how to do a deep dive on your laptop’s history. I knew you could easily wipe the browsing history but I also knew that it didn’t completely clear it. I spent hours reading all sorts of articles and doing all sorts of things in the depths of my laptop. I was truly on a mission.
As I finally discovered browsing history that confirmed my inclination that he had been coming home at lunchtime, I also discovered that while he maybe hadn’t been coming home to have sex with people (though who knows), he had definitely been coming home to go on this MSN account and had also been partaking in dating sites.
I had a chilling realisation that this didn’t even hurt me. My overriding feeling was actually one of relief. Relief that I had a final reason to walk out, that I had validation that the choice I was about to make was the right one, and that finally I was going to be able to end this on my terms.
I barely slept, and as soon as I heard his car leave the next day, I called my Mum who was already at work. I gave her a brief overview of the previous night’s cyberspace investigation and asked her to ask one of her colleagues who works in IT, that I knew, if there could be any other feasible explanation for what I found. I didn’t even care that the guy must have been like “WTF, why are you pulling me into your family drama?!”
I sent her the details of what I needed to know word for word in a text which she relayed to him, ending with “can there be any other explanation?” Her reply came back “no”.
Trying to make a relationship work after cheating can be like being shot and the bullet being lodged in you. The doctor tells you that you could probably survive. So you try, with the bullet still inside, to heal, you hope it’ll just take time.
But you find that the long term effects of having that bullet lodged in you isn’t something you can live with so you choose to remove it. You know that in the act of removing it you’re going to cause yourself far more short term pain. When that bullet’s pulled out, the vacuum it created is soon going to be flooded with blood, pain and tears, and it could well kill you.
It was that day that I decided to remove the bullet and let the flood come.
Categories: Divorce, Heartbreaks, Lessons, Uncategorized
4 thoughts on “Please Remove The Bullet – Part 2 of 2”
S.K. Johnston says:
Please write more like this.
divorcedanddatingat30 says:
I’ll definitely try to 😊
Thanks for sharing such a big part of your story. My heart was breaking for you as I was reading :*(
Thank you for reading Melody 🙂 It was easier to write now that it’s so far in the past, but it’s still pretty hard to re-live.
PreviousIn Sickness & In Health & In(fidelity) – Part 1 of 2
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REPLY by Plaintiffs John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc., Blitz Realty Group, Inc., Vincent E Jackson, Vulcan Golf, LLC in Support of Motion for Class Certification (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 2)(Foote, Robert)
Vulcan Golf, LLC v. Google Inc. et al Doc. 217 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION VULCAN GOLF, LLC, JOHN B. SANFILIPPO & SON, INC., BLITZ REALTYGROUP, INC., and VINCENT E. "BO" JACKSON, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Lead Plaintiffs, v. GOOGLE INC., OVERSEE.NET, SEDO LLC, DOTSTER, INC., AKA REVENUEDIRECT.COM, INTERNET REIT, INC. d/b/a IREIT, INC., and JOHN DOES I-X, Defendants. � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � Civil Action No. 07 CV 3371 Honorable Blanche M. Manning PLAINTIFFS' REPLY IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION Dockets.Justia.com Table of Contents Preliminary Statement ............................................................................................ I. 1 Plaintiffs' ACPA Claim is not a Traditional Infringement Claim and should be Certified .................................................................................................................... 1 A. B. "Confusingly Similar" vs. "Likelihood of Confusion".... ......................... The Simonson Declaration .......................................................................... 1 2 3 3 3 6 7 II. The Proposed Class Is Objectively Ascertainable................................................. A. B. The Originally Proposed Class ................................................................... The Doubly-Registered Subclass ................................................................ III. IV. The Proposed Class is Manageable ........................................................................ Common Issues Predominate.................................................................................. A. Distinctiveness or Famousness can be Litigated on a Class-wide Basis ................................................................................... There are no Individual Issues Involved in Determining whether Domain Names are Confusingly Similar..................................... 1. Pre-pending "www" or "http" or post-pending "com" ................................................................................................ Changing a single character or adding a Dictionary word .......... 7 B. 9 9 10 2. C. Any Individual issues relating to trademark ownership will not defeat class certification................................................................. Claims for Violations of the ACPA for the Improper Use of Personal Names can also be Resolved on a Class-wide Basic .................. Plaintiffs do not Assert Claims Under the "Dilution" Test Of the ACPA................................................................................................. Affirmative Defenses do not Preclude Class Certifications ..................... 10 D. 11 E. 11 12 F. V. Plaintiffs' Unjust Enrichment Claim should be Certified.................................... i 12 A. California Law Should Be Applied to Plaintiffs' Unjust Enrichment Claims ...................................................................................... Applying California Law To Plaintiffs' Unjust Enrichment Claims Is Constitutional .............................................................................. Conflict of Laws Analysis Favors The Application of California Law to Plaintiffs' Unjust Enrichment Claims ........................ Even if the Laws of the Fifty States Applied, Certification Of Plaintiffs' Unjust Enrichment Claim is Appropriate.......................... 1. The Elements of Unjust Enrichment Are Similar Across the Country .......................................................................... 12 B. 13 C. 14 D. 15 16 17 VI. VII. A Class Action is the Superior Method for Resolving This Litigation .............. Napster and the other Copyright Class Action cases cited by Plaintiffs Support Class Certification.................................................................................................... 19 VIII. Class Treatment Is Appropriate Under Multiple Subsections of Rule 23 (b) ............................................................................................................ A. Class Treatment is Proper Under Rule 23 (b)(2) Because The Primary Relief Requested is Equitable in Nature ............................ Class Treatment is Proper Under Rule 23 (b) (1) ..................................... 21 22 22 22 B. IX. Class Treatment is Proper Under Rule 23 (a) ....................................................... A. The Named Plaintiffs are Adequate Class Representatives And Do Not have Conflicts with the Class they seek to Represent ......... The Named Plaintiffs are Typical Class Representatives ........................ 22 24 B. V. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 25 ii Table of Authorities Cases Allison v. Citgo Petroleum Corp., 151 F.3d 402 (5th Cir. 1998)............................................ Arthur Rutenberg Homes, Inc. v. Nobles, 2008 WL 2571861 (M.D. Fla. 2008)................... Avery v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 746 N.E.2d 1242 (Ill. App. 2001)......................... Avlon Industries v. Robinson, 2005 WL 331561 (N.D. Ill. 2005) ......................................... Baltimore Orioles v. Major League Baseball Players Ass'n., 805 F.2d 663 (7th Cir. 1986). Boyes v. Greenwich Boat Works, Inc., 27 F. Supp.2d 543 (D.N.J. 1998) ............................. Castano v. Am. Tobacco Co., 84 F.3d 734 (5th Cir. 1996).................................................... Chamberlan v. Ford Motor Co., 402 F.3d 952 (9th Cir.2005) .............................................. Coca-Cola Co. v. Purdy, 382 F.3d 774 (8th Cir. 2004)......................................................... Contact Buyers League v. F. & F. Investment, 300 F. Supp. 210 (N. D. Ill. 1969) .............. 25 Cox v. Joe Rizza Ford, Inc., 1996 WL 65994 (N.D. Ill. 1996).............................................. DISC Intellectual Properties LLC v. Delman, 2007 WL 4973849 (C.D. Cal. 2007) ............ Dunn v. City of Chicago, 231 F.R.D. 367 (N.D. Ill. 2005).................................................... Emilio Pucci Societa a Responsibilita Limitata v. Pucci Corp., 10 U.S.P.Q.2d 1541 (N.D. Ill. 1988) ..................................................................................... Esser v. McIntyre, 661 N.E.2d 1138 (Ill. 1996)..................................................................... 15 Factory Mutual Ins. Co. v. Bobst Group, 2004 WL 757061 (N.D. Ill. 2004) ...................... Feder v. Electronic Data Systems Corp., 429 F.3d 125 (5th Cir. 2005)................................. Freeland v. AT & T Corp, 238 F.R.D. 130 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) ................................................ Garner v. Healy, 184 F.R.D. 598 (N.D. Ill. 1999)................................................................. Gates v. Towery, 2004 WL 2583905 (N.D. Ill. 2004) ........................................................... 22 21 14 8 14 16 19 7 2 2417 2 12 11 14, 19 7 23 14 4 iii Gordon v Boden, 586 N.E.2d 461 (Ill. App. Ct. 1991 ........................................................... Gruber v. Price Waterhouse, 117 F.R.D. 75 (E.D. Pa. 1987) ............................................... 17 Hamil America v. GFI, 193 F.3d 92, 100 (2d Cir. 1999)....................................................... Hammond v. Air Line Pilots Ass'n, 1988 WL 121595 (N.D. Ill. 1988)................................. Harris v. General Dev. Corp., 127 F.R.D. 655 (N.D. Ill. 1989)............................................ Hill v. Galaxy Telecom., L.P., 184 F.R.D. 82 (N.D. Miss. 1999).......................................... In re Abbott Labs. Norvir Antitrust Litig., 2007 WL 1689899 (N.D. Cal. 2007) .................. In re Activision Securities Sec. Litig., 1985 WL 5827 (N.D. Cal. 1985)............................... In re Domestic Air Transp. Antitrust Litig., 137 F.R.D. 677 (N.D. Ga. 1991)...................... In re Honeywell Intern. Inc. Securities Litig., 211 F.R.D. 255 (D.N.J. 2002 ........................ In re LILCO Sec. Litig., 111 F.R.D. 663 (E.D.N.Y. 1986).................................................... In re Napster Copyright Lit., 2005 WL 1287611 (N.D. Cal. 2005) ...................................... 18, 19, 20, 21 In re ORFA Sec. Litig., 654 F. Supp. 1449, 1462-63 (D.N.J. 1987)...................................... In re Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc., 51 F.3d 1293 (7th Cir. 1995)............................................. 19 In re Sears Roebuck & Co. Tools, Marketing & Sales Practices Litig., 2006 WL 3754823 (N.D. Ill. 2006) ....................................................................................... In re Warfarin Sodium Antitrust Litig., 2002 WL 2007850 (D. Del. 2002) .......................... King v. Wright, 1995 WL 579546 (N.D. Ill. 1995)................................................................ Kingvision Pay Per View v. Boom Town Saloon, 98 F. Supp. 2d 958 (N.D. Ill. 2000)......... Lobo Exploration Co. v. Amoco Prod. Co., 991 P.2d 1048 (Okla. Civ. App. 1999)............. 14 Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc. v. Smith, 172 F.R.D. 236 (E.D. Mich. 1997)........................ Martin v. Heinold Commodities, Inc., 510 N.E.2d 840 (Ill. 1987) ........................................ Mashantucket Pequot Tribe v. Redican, 403 F. Supp. 2d 184 (D. Conn. 2005).................... 14 14, 21 4 4 16 15 13 4 24 13 10, 13 18- 14 13 4 19 13, 1 14 10 iv Matter of Colorado Springs Air Crash, 867 F. Supp. 630 (N.D. Ill. 1994)........................... Merk v. Jewel Food Stores Div., 702 F. Supp. 1391 (N.D. Ill. 1988).................................... Murry v. America's Mortg. Banc, Inc. 2006 WL 1647531 (N.D. Ill. 2006) .......................... Murray v. GMAC Mortgage Corp., 434 F.3d 948 (7th Cir. 2006) ........................................ N. Light Tech., Inc. v. N. Lights Club, 236 F.3d 57 (1st Cir. 2001)....................................... Navigation Catalyst Systems, Inc., 2008 WL 2651163 (C.D. Cal. 2008).............................. Omega S.A. v. Omega Engineering, Inc., 228 F. Supp. 2d 112 (D. Conn. 2002).................. 10 Panache Broadcasting of Pennsylvania, Inc. v. Richardson Electronics, Ltd., 1999 WL 342392 (N.D. Ill. May 14, 1999) .......................................................................... Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 472 U.S. 797 (1985) ......................................................... 14 Pinkett v. Moolah Loan Corp., 1999 WL 1080596 (N.D. Ill. 1999) ..................................... Portis v. City of Chicago, 2003 WL 22078279 (N.D. Ill. 2003) ........................................... Powers v. Lycoming Engines, 245 F.R.D. 226 (E.D. Pa. 2007) ............................................ Purcell and Wardrope Chartered v. Hertz Corp., 530 N.E.2d 994 (Ill. App. Ct. 1988)....... 14 Regents of University of California v. Credit Suisse First Boston (USA), Inc., 482 F.3d 372 (5th Cir. 2007) .................................................................................................. Rota v. Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, 64 F.R.D. 699 (N.D. Ill. 1974)............................................................................................... Ryan v. Carl Corp., 1999 WL 16320 (N.D. Cal. 1999)......................................................... 21 Sanders v. Lincoln Service Corp., 1993 WL 211358 (N.D. Ill. 1993) .................................. Scholes v. Moore, 150 F.R.D. 133 (N.D. Ill. 1993) ............................................................... Shields v. Zuccarini, 254 F.3d 476, 484 (3d Cir. 2001)......................................................... Singer v. AT&T Corp., 185 F.R.D. 681 (S.D. Fla. 1998) ...................................................... TCPIP Holding Co. v. Haar Communications Inc., 2004 WL 1620950 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) .. 13 12 7 18 2 10 3, 1 13, 12 12 16 13- 7 4-5 20, 13 12 3 16 10 v Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay, 2008 WL 2755787 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) ............................................ Tristar Pictures, Inc. v. Del Taco, 1999 WL 33260839 (C.D. Cal. 1999) ............................ Walsh v. Chittenden Corp., 798 F. Supp. 1043 (D. Vt. 1992) ............................................... Weiss v. Winners Circle, 1995 WL 755328 (N.D. Ill. 1995)................................................. Weld v. Glaxo Wellcome Inc., 746 N.E.2d 522 (Mass. 2001) ............................................... Zeno v. Ford Motor Co., Inc., 238 F.R.D. 173 (W.D. Pa. 2006)........................................... 18 19 24 24 25 7 Statutes 15 U.S.C.A. � 1115................................................................................................................ 15 U.S.C. � 1125(d)(1)(A)..................................................................................................... 11 15 U.S.C � 1125(d)(1)(B)(i)(II) ............................................................................................. 15 U.S.C. � 1125(d)(1)(B)(i)(VIII)........................................................................................ 6 3, 12 6 Restatements Restatement (Third) of Restitution & Unjust Enrichment, � 1............................................... 16 vi PRELIMINARY STATEMENT "The gestalt of much of defendants' argument is an attempt to make this case appear overwhelmingly complicated and thereby remove the class action tool from plaintiffs' hands." Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc. v. Smith, 172 F.R.D. 236, 246 (E.D. Mich. 1997). Like the court in Little Caesar, this Court "believe[s] defendants' complexity arguments are exaggerated, should not intimidate or overwhelm this Court, and should not prevail." Id. Panache Broadcasting of Pennsylvania, Inc. v. Richardson Electronics, Ltd., 1999 WL 342392 at *7 (N.D.Ill. 1999). In their opening brief, Plaintiffs provide a workable class definition and methodology for ascertaining membership in that class. In response, Defendants miscast Plaintiffs' claims, misrepresent that a detailed trial plan is required and trump up a slew of claimed material individual issues, despite established law holding that those individual issues (such as affirmative defenses) do not defeat class certification. Defendants' efforts to end this case by removing the class action tool from Plaintiffs' hands must fail. ARGUMENT I. Plaintiffs' ACPA Claim is not a Traditional Infringement Claim and Should be Certified Defendants ignore entirely the distinctions between an ACPA claim and a traditional trademark infringement claim and argue as though Plaintiffs are seeking certification of traditional trademark infringement claims. Nothing could be further from the truth. A. "Confusingly Similar" vs. "Likelihood of Confusion" Chief among the distinctions between an ACPA claim and a traditional trademark infringement claim is the difference between the "confusingly similar" standard under the ACPA and the "likelihood of consumer confusion" standard that governs traditional trademark infringement claims. As Defendants point out throughout their brief, the "likelihood of confusion" test involves a multi-step analysis that includes such factors as the "area and manner 1 of concurrent use" and "whether actual confusion exists." Defendants ignore, however, that this test is not applicable to ACPA claims. In sharp contrast, the ACPA's "confusingly similar" standard requires only a facial comparison of the mark and the domain name. See, e.g., DISC Intellectual Properties LLC v. Delman, 2007 WL 4973849, 5 (C.D. Cal. September 17, 2007) ("the ACPA requires only facial comparison of the domain name to the mark rather than the more involved likelihood of confusion analysis."); see also Coca-Cola Co. v. Purdy, 382 F.3d 774, 783 (8th Cir. 2004) ("The inquiry under the ACPA is thus narrower than the traditional multifactor likelihood of confusion test for trademark infringement."); N. Light Tech., Inc. v. N. Lights Club, 236 F.3d 57, 66 n. 14 (1st Cir. 2001) ("[T]he `likelihood of confusion' test of trademark infringement is `more comprehensive' than the `identical or confusingly similar' requirement of ACPA, as it requires considering factors beyond the facial similarity of the two marks.") B. The Simonson Declaration The Declaration of Itamar Simonson is not relevant to whether Plaintiffs' ACPA claims should be certified. Simonson focuses exclusively on the "likelihood of consumer confusion" standard, opining on the various factors considered in assessing "likelihood of confusion" and on the use of consumer surveys, which are often employed to estimate "likelihood of confusion." See, e.g., Simonson Dec. at && 12, 19, 30-35. As such, he concludes that "members of the proposed class have very little in common with respect to the factors that determine likelihood of confusion." Simonson Dec. at & 39. In contrast, the standard for determining whether a domain name is "confusingly similar" is quite simple. The "conduct covered by the phrase `confusingly similar' is the intentional registration of domain names that are misspellings of distinctive or famous names, causing an 2 Internet user who makes a slight spelling or typing error to reach an unintended site." Shields v. Zuccarini, 254 F.3d 476, 484 (3d Cir. 2001). Courts make this determination by doing a facial comparison between the domain in question and the mark in question. See also Omega S.A. v. Omega Engineering, Inc., 228 F. Supp. 2d 112, 126-27 (D. Conn. 2002) (ACPA "directs that whether a domain name is confusingly similar to a trademark is to be evaluated `without regard to the goods or services of the parties'"); 15 U.S.C. � 1125(d)(1)(A). II. The Proposed Class Is Objectively Ascertainable A. The Originally Proposed Class Contrary to Defendants' arguments, the proposed class does not contain all mark owners or all individuals in the United States � nor does identifying class members require merits determinations. As Plaintiffs make clear, the class consists of those mark owners and individuals whose names and marks Defendants have appropriated by parking domains with specific, identifiable variations on the names and marks, such as pre-pending "www" or "http," postpending "com," or changing one letter. In the section of their brief addressing ascertainability, Defendants ignore entirely Plaintiffs' proposed methodology for ascertaining the class (which, of course, is derived from Google's own arguments in prosecuting domain disputes). To the extent that Defendants quarrel with the methodology because it is not expressly included in the language of the class definition, that concern is easily remedied: The ascertainment methodology set forth elsewhere in Plaintiffs' brief can be moved directly into the class definition itself. B. The Doubly-Registered Subclass In response to Defendants' stated concerns, Plaintiffs have moved the ascertainment methodology into the definition of a subclass including: (1) only those mark owners that have 3 registered their marks as domains; and (2) only the simplest and most straightforward steps from the ascertainment methodology set forth in Plaintiffs' opening brief: Any owner of a mark appearing on the principal or secondary registry of the United States Patent and Trademark Office who has registered a domain name containing that mark (a "mark owner's domain name"), and whose "mark owner's domain name" differs from a domain name parked and advertised on by one or more of the Defendants only by addition of a pre-pending "www" or "http" or post-pending "com." While the class defined in Plaintiffs' opening brief is certifiable for the reasons set forth in that brief and herein, the above subclass (the "doubly-registered subclass") includes only those mark owners that have registered their marks both as marks (with the PTO) and as domain names (with an ICANN registrar), and therefore meets all of the challenges raised by Defendants.1 As noted in Plaintiffs' opening brief, the class must be adequately defined and clearly ascertainable. Harris v. General Dev. Corp., 127 F.R.D. 655, 658 (N.D. Ill. 1989). In Harris, the court initially found that identification of class members would entail individual adjudications and that the class definition was imprecise and speculative. certification, the court, instead, redefined the class. Moreover, a class may be certified even though the initial definition includes members who have not been injured or do not wish to pursue claims against the defendant. Rota v. Modifying the class definition in the reply brief, in response to defense arguments, is a common and appropriate practice. See, e.g., Gates v. Towery, 2004 WL 2583905, *1 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 10, 2004) (certifying class after plaintiffs "revise[d] their initially proposed class definition" in their "reply brief"); King v. Wright, 1995 WL 579546, *2 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 30, 1995) (certifying class after "[p]laintiffs. . . in their reply memorandum [proposed] the following modified class definition"); Hammond v. Air Line Pilots Ass'n, 1988 WL 121595, *5 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 8, 1988) (certifying class where "[i]n their reply brief, plaintiffs revised their proposed class definition"). See also In re Domestic Air Transp. Antitrust Litig., 137 F.R.D. 677, 683 (N.D. Ga. 1991) ("The act of refining a class definition is a natural outcome of federal class action practice. Rule 23 requires that the motion for class certification be presented to the Court at the earliest practicable date. As a result, a plaintiff's original class definition is often framed on the basis of little, if any, discovery, to be opposed by defendants who have a wealth of information concerning the industry."). 4 1 Rather than denying class Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, 64 F.R.D. 699, 706 (N.D. Ill. 1974). Once discovery is permitted to proceed and Defendants provide a list of all of the domain names they have parked, it will be a relatively simple matter to generate a list of all members of the doubly-registered subclass: 1. Compare a list of all registered word trademarks (easily accessible through the TESS system made available by the United States Patent and Trademark Office) to a list of all registered domain names (available from domain registrars or through websites such as www.whois.net) and identify those mark owners that have registered domains that contain their marks ("mark owner's domains").2 Compare the list of "mark owner's domains" to the list of all domains parked by Defendants and identify those parked domains that differ from a mark owner's domain by only a pre-pended "http" or "www," or a postpended "com." Reduce the list of mark owners generated in Step 1 to only those whose "mark owner's domains" have a corresponding typosquatting domain in the list generated by Step 2. 2. 3. This process would, for example, identify Plaintiffs Vulcan Golf, LLC ("Vulcan") and John B. SanFilippo & Son, Inc. ("SanFilippo"). Vulcan has registered its mark "vulcan" and also registered the domain "vulcangolf.com," which contains its mark. SanFilippo has registered its mark "fisher" and also registered the domain "fishernuts.com," which contains its mark. See TESS and "whois" search results (attached hereto as Exhibit 1). To the extent that any irregularities in trademark registration or domain registration prevent automated matching, a claim form or other claim procedure will allow class members to provide supplemental information to confirm their membership in the class. Also, as is well known to Defendants, many domain names are registered through third-party service providers on behalf of the mark owner. Discovery directed to such third parties may be necessary to identify those class members. 2 5 This administrative process, which can only be conducted once all Defendants provide their full current and historical lists of parked domains, does not require any individual inquiry or merits determinations by the Court. III. The Proposed Class is Manageable Defendants' manageability arguments are easily answered. Because the doubly- registered subclass is limited to owners of registered trademarks who have registered their marks as (or within) domain names, issues of ownership and distinctiveness are subject to prima facie proof through systematic class-wide methodologies. Ownership and current validity of a trademark are matters easily ascertained through the TESS system of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Once ownership and current validity of the mark are shown there is a presumption of distinctiveness. 15 U.S.C.A. � 1115. Determining whether one of Defendants' parked domains is "confusingly similar" to a mark is no more complicated than making a facial comparison of the class member's registered domain name to the Defendants' parked domains. Defendants do not seriously contest Plaintiffs' ability to prove the "bad faith" element of their ACPA claim on a class-wide basis (indeed, they list it in their charts but fail to discuss it). Indeed, Defendants' bad faith intent can easily be shown on a class-wide basis. The ACPA provides a list of statutory factors that may be used to determine "bad faith intent," and those factors are tailor-made for this group of Defendants. For example, one factor evidencing bad faith intent is the "registration or acquisition of multiple domain names which the [defendant)] knows are identical or confusingly similar to marks of others." 1125 (d)(1)(B)(i)(VIII). 15 U.S.C. � 6 It is well-settled that Plaintiffs are not required to prove the merits of their case or provide a detailed trial plan at the class certification stage.3 Notwithstanding this clear authority, it is already evident here that Defendants have systematically typosquatted others' protected marks on an unprecedented scale using Google's "semantic technology" and Google's ability to acquire, store, manipulate and search data on an unprecedented scale, and that class treatment is therefore appropriate. Plaintiffs respectfully suggest that once a class has been certified and Google is subjected to discovery, the simplicity and ease of managing this case as a class action will become even clearer and more evident. IV. Common Issues Predominate The majority of the claimed individual issues conjured up by Defendants are either inapplicable or may arise only with respect to affirmative defenses. suggestions, no discovery from individual mark owners will be required. A. Distinctiveness or Famousness can be Litigated on a Class-wide Basis Contrary to their Defendants suggest that a trial plan is a necessary prerequisite to class certification. This is not the law and none of the cases cited by Defendants so hold. There is no authority for this requirement in the Seventh Circuit and courts that have considered the issue have rejected this approach. See, e.g., Regents of University of California v. Credit Suisse First Boston (USA), Inc., 482 F.3d 372 (5th Cir. 2007) (trial plan submitted one month post certification); Feder v. Electronic Data Systems Corp., 429 F.3d 125 (5th Cir. 2005) (trial plan not required to prove superiority of class treatment); Chamberlan v. Ford Motor Co., 402 F.3d 952, 961 n. 4 (9th Cir.2005) (per curium), (the Ninth Circuit "decline[d] Ford's "suggestion that the district court's failure to adopt a trial plan or to articulate how the class action would be tried was an abuse of discretion ... [since] [n]othing in the Advisory Committee Notes suggests grafting a requirement for a trial plan onto the rule."); Zeno v. Ford Motor Co., Inc., 238 F.R.D. 173 (W.D. Pa. 2006) (granting class certification even though plaintiff failed to submit trial plan which had been specifically requested by the court); Murry v. America's Mortg. Banc, Inc. 2006 WL 1647531 (N.D. Ill. 2006) ("Defendants first argue that the motion for class certification must be denied because plaintiffs have failed to present a trial plan. However, defendants fail to cite any controlling authority for that proposition."). Certainly, if and when this Court requests Plaintiffs to submit a trial plan they will comply. However, Rule 23 does not require a trial plan, nor does it comport with common sense to require one prior to discovery, if ever. 3 7 Defendants concede, as they must, that marks registered on the PTO's Principal Register are presumed distinctive. (Def. Brief at 13.) Defendants go on to point out that marks registered on the Supplemental Register are presumed not to be distinctive, but ignore the fact that this Court's ruling on distinctiveness in Avlon Industries v. Robinson, 2005 WL 331561 (N.D. Ill. February 8, 2005) (Manning, J.) is logically applicable to all registered marks, whether registered on the Principal Register or the Supplemental Register.4 In Avlon, this Court held that certain marks were distinctive where the defendant had registered several domain names containing multiple variations of the plaintiff's mark: With respect to the degree of the KeraCare mark's distinctiveness, Robinson contends that only the "upscale African-American women's marketplace" is aware of the marks and that they are otherwise not well known. Robinson, however, is using numerous variants of the KeraCare marks to lure customers to his website. He has also conceded that people searching on the Internet for the word "KeraCare" would be only looking for Avlon's KeraCare products. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. If the marks were indeed unfamiliar to the vast majority of shoppers, Robinson would not have registered at least fifteen variants of the word KeraCare as domain names in connection with his website. Avlon Industries, 2005 WL 331561 at *2. Nothing in the Avlon decision suggests that this distinctiveness holding would be limited to marks on the Principal Register, or even to registered marks. The Court saw that "the proof is in the pudding," i.e., that registration of multiple domains containing the mark or misspellings of the mark indicate that a mark is distinctive. Defendants incorrectly argue that "in Avlon, the distinctiveness of the marks was not at issue, only their fame." (Def. Brief at 15.) If that were so, the Court would not have engaged in the distinctiveness analysis set forth above. Instead, it is clear that the defendant, Robinson, attempted to rebut the presumption of distinctiveness (i.e., arguing that only a limited group was aware of the mark), but that the multiple registrations were strong enough evidence of distinctiveness to overcome his challenge. Indeed, this Court's only mention of a presumption came after already concluding � on the basis of the multiple domain registrations � that the plaintiff's mark was distinctive. Avlon at *2. Further, the presumption mentioned by the Court in connection with its famousness analysis was not the presumption of distinctiveness that attaches to a mark immediately upon inclusion in the Principal Register, but rather a more general presumption of validity and protectability that attaches after a mark becomes uncontestable. Id. 8 4 Also, the Avlon holding can and should be extended to famousness. Where a cybersquatter registers and profits from multiple domain names that are identical or confusingly similar to a registered mark, it is clear that the mark is either distinctive or famous, or both. In sum, distinctiveness will be easy and manageable to litigate on a classwide basis. Not only are all marks on the Principal Register entitled to a presumption of distinctiveness, but defendants have provided no reason to believe that they will have any basis to even attempt to rebut that presumption under any circumstance. Even where Defendants might attempt to rebut the presumption, Defendants' multiple registrations of confusingly similar domains will be ample evidence to overcome their challenge. In any event, determinations will be made either strictly by presumption, or where Defendants attempt to rebut the presumption, by application of a computerized search through Defendants' records. The Court will not be required to make any individualized determinations. B. There are no Individual Issues Involved in Determining Whether Domain Names are Confusingly Similar. All the examples that Defendants use to attack Plaintiffs' proposed methodology for determining "confusingly similar" domain names on a class-wide basis are either fundamentally flawed or irrelevant to the doubly-registered subclass: 1. Pre-pending "www" or "http" or post-pending "com". Defendants manage to find a few examples where these pre-pends and post-pends are used in content-based sites that are not confusingly similar to the corresponding marks. (See Def. Brief at 17-19: "www2008.com," "httpwatch.com" "httpguru.com," "telecom.com" and "bearcom.com".) But each of these examples fails for the same reason: these are content-based sites, not Defendants' parked advertising-only sites. Thus, these domains are not included in the class definition (either with respect to the full, originally proposed class or the doubly-registered subclass), and these "examples" are wholly irrelevant to this class certification motion. The same will be true for any other example of this type that Defendants may manage to locate. 9 2. Changing a single character or adding a dictionary word. There is strong case law to support inclusion of these categories.5 However, because Plaintiffs recognize that these categories of cybersquatting may require more creative and proactive management than the simpler ACPA violations described above, Plaintiffs have removed this and the related categories (e.g., adding a controversial or objectionable word; combining a typographical error with the addition of a word, etc.) from the doubly-registered subclass. Treatment of these infringements may be appropriate at some later date. Thus, it is feasible and manageable to apply objective criteria that will consistently identify confusingly similar domain names. Defendant's attempt to show that class certification is inappropriate on this basis must therefore fail. C. Any individual issues relating to trademark ownership will not defeat class certification. As noted, ownership and current validity of a trademark are matters easily determined through the TESS system of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Defendants provide no reason to believe that they will have grounds to challenge ownership on any significant number of marks. Indeed, this very argument has already been rejected in similar class certification disputes. See, e.g., In re Napster Copyright Litigation, 2005 WL 1287611 at *7 5 See, e.g., Mashantucket Pequot Tribe v. Redican, 403 F. Supp. 2d 184, 195-96 (D. Conn. 2005) ("`[F]oxwood" and `foxwoods' differ by only one letter, the final `s.' The court concludes that Redican's foxwood.com site is confusingly similar to Mashantucket's foxwoods.com site."); TCPIP Holding Co. v. Haar Communications Inc., 2004 WL 1620950, *5 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (at least eighty domain names found to be confusingly similar where "the domain names add[ed] or omit[ted] one or two letters of Plaintiff's registered mark"); Verizon California Inc. v. Navigation Catalyst Systems, Inc., __ F.Supp.2d __, 2008 WL 2651163, *5 (C.D. Cal. 2008) (finding confusing similarity where "ve3rizon.com and veri8zon.net" both "consist[ed] of Plaintiffs' actual domain names, including Plaintiffs' trademarks, plus one extra character � in both cases a character located on the computer keyboard next to a letter found in the correct domain name"); Omega S.A. v. Omega Engineering, Inc., 228 F. Supp. 2d 112, 127-28 (D. Conn. 2002) ("the `confusingly similar' analysis can be applied to domain names consisting of another's mark coupled with a generic word or term"). 10 (N.D.Cal. 2005) ([W]hile it is true that proof of ownership . . . ultimately requires a work-bywork inquiry, viewing these determinations as purely `individual issues' ignores the fact that the claims of every member of the class are uniformly premised upon the uploading or downloading of a copyrighted work by Napster users."). D. Claims for Violations of the ACPA for the Improper Use of Personal Names can also be Resolved on a Class-wide Basis. Defendants claim that personal names must have "acquired distinctiveness and secondary meaning" before they can be protected. (Def. Brief at 20.) However, the only support they can muster for that proposition is a traditional trademark infringement case decided before the ACPA was even enacted.6 See Emilio Pucci Societa a Responsibilita Limitata v. Pucci Corp., 10 U.S.P.Q.2d 1541 (N.D. Ill. 1988). The fact is that the plain language of the ACPA demonstrates an intent to protect all personal names. See 15 U.S.C. � 1125(d)(1)(A) ("a personal name . . . is protected as a mark under this section"); 15 U.S.C � 1125(d)(1)(B)(i)(II) (court may consider "extent to which the domain name consists of the legal name of a person or a name that is otherwise commonly used to identify that person"). E. Plaintiffs do not Assert Claims Under the "Dilution" Test of the ACPA. Defendants raise the false specter of yet more individual issues by arguing that they will arise "to the extent any class member attempts to prove . . . that a particular domain name is `dilutive of' a `famous mark.'" (Def. Brief at 21). But Plaintiffs' class clearly implicates only the "confusingly similar" test of the ACPA. See 15 U.S.C � 1125(d)(1)(A)(ii)(I) and (II). Whether a mark has been diluted will never need resolution, so the purported "individual issues" raised by the "dilutive of" test represent yet another transparent defense attempt to raise individual issues where none exist. 6 As noted in Plaintiffs' opening brief, Congress passed the ACPA in 1999. 11 F. Affirmative Defenses do not Preclude Class Certification. According to Defendants, class certification should be denied because Defendants have pled a number of affirmative defenses, such as fraudulent registration, abandonment, and fair use � each of which, Defendants claim, will require individual determinations. (Def. Brief at 22 and charts at 11). Once again, Defendants are wrong. Indeed, Defendants do not provide even a single example to support their argument. In any event, the law is clear that affirmative defenses that may apply to some class members do not defeat class certification. Otherwise, any defendant could defeat class certification simply by pleading affirmative defenses and then pointing to the various possible individual issues that might hypothetically arise. Thus, "the existence of individualized defenses does not preclude class certification." Dunn v. City of Chicago, 231 F.R.D. 367, 375-76 (N.D. Ill. 2005). See also Portis v. City of Chicago, 2003 WL 22078279, *3 (N.D. Ill. 2003) ("Individual affirmative defenses do not preclude class treatment."); Pinkett v. Moolah Loan Corp., 1999 WL 1080596, at *4 (N.D. Ill. 1999) ("[I]t is well established that individual counterclaims or defenses do not render a case unsuitable for class certification."); Merk v. Jewel Food Stores Div., 702 F. Supp. 1391, 1395 (N.D. Ill. 1988) ("The existence of affirmative defenses as to some class members is not by itself enough to warrant the denial of certification."). this basis. V. Plaintiffs' Unjust Enrichment Claim should be Certified. Defendants argue that state variations regarding the law of unjust enrichment preclude class certification.7 For a number of independent reasons, Defendants are wrong. A. 7 Accordingly, class certification should not be denied on California Law Should Be Applied To Plaintiffs' Unjust Enrichment Claims. Defendants misrepresent that that no court in this District has granted class certification of an unjust enrichment claim. See, e.g., Scholes v. Moore, 150 F.R.D. 133 (N.D. Ill. 1993). 12 This Court may and should apply only California law to Plaintiffs' unjust enrichment claims. California's unjust enrichment law is materially the same as that of the other states and the uniform policy against unjust enrichment is furthered by applying California law. Cf. In re Warfarin Sodium Antitrust Litig., 2002 WL 2007850 at *14 (D. Del. 2002); Sanders v. Lincoln Service Corp., 1993 WL 211358, at *1 (N.D. Ill. 1993). In addition, application of California unjust enrichment law would further the important goals of certainty, predictability and uniformity of result, and the protection of justified expectations. Matter of Colorado Springs Air Crash, 867 F. Supp. 630, 635 (N.D. Ill. 1994). Here, Defendants Google and Oversee cannot object that they could have expected a different result, since they are both headquartered in California. Id. In addition, given Google's role as creator, master facilitator and beneficiary of the Deceptive Domain Scheme, the other Defendants cannot credibly argue that applying California law is improper or somehow unfair. B. Applying California Law To Plaintiffs' Unjust Enrichment Claims Is Constitutional. Application of a single state's law to Plaintiffs' unjust enrichment claim is Constitutional.8 See Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 472 U.S. 797, 818 (1985). Accordingly, numerous courts have applied one state's laws to claims brought by nationwide or multistate classes. See, e.g., In re Activision Securities Sec. Litig., 1985 WL 5827 (N.D. Cal. 1985); See, e.g., Lobo Exploration Co. v. Amoco Prod. Co., 991 P.2d 1048, 1053 (Okla. Civ. App. 1999), cert. denied, 529 U.S. 1124 (2000); In re ORFA Sec. Litig., 654 F. Supp. 1449, 1462-63 (D.N.J. 1987); In re LILCO Sec. Litig., 111 F.R.D. 663, 670 (E.D.N.Y. 1986). 13 8 Purcell and Wardrope Chartered v. Hertz Corp., 530 N.E.2d 994, 996 n.1 (Ill. App. 1988) (citing Shutts), appeal denied by 537 N.E.2d 818 (Ill. 1989).9 Here, applying California law would comport with due process because of the significant contacts between the claims of all plaintiffs and all class members and that state. Defendants Google and Oversee are headquartered in California. Given Google's primary role in the Deceptive Domain Scheme, the core of the challenged conduct and creation of the scheme occurred in California. These contacts clearly establish a sufficient nexus between California and Plaintiffs' unjust enrichment claims such that application of California law is neither arbitrary nor fundamentally unfair. See, e.g., Avery v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 746 N.E.2d 1242, 1254-55 (Ill. App. 2001). Application of California's unjust enrichment law is therefore constitutional. See, e.g., Gruber v. Price Waterhouse, 117 F.R.D. 75, 82 (E.D. Pa. 1987). C. Conflict Of Laws Analysis Favors The Application Of California Law To Plaintiffs' Unjust Enrichment Claims. As the forum state, the Illinois choice-of-law rules apply.10 Baltimore Orioles v. Major League Baseball Players Ass'n., 805 F.2d 663, 681 (7th Cir. 1986). Illinois follows the most significant relationship test of the Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Law. Esser v. McIntyre, 661 N.E.2d 1138, 1141 (Ill. 1996). When applying the most significant relationship test, a court should consider: (1) where the injury occurred; (2) where the injury causing conduct occurred; (3) the See also Lobo, 991 P.2d at 1048); Garner v. Healy, 184 F.R.D. 598 (N.D. Ill. 1999); Gordon v Boden, 586 N.E.2d 461, 467 (Ill. App. Ct. 1991) , appeal denied by 591 N.E.2d 21 (Ill. 1992); Martin v. Heinold Commodities, Inc., 510 N.E.2d 840 (Ill. 1987). 10 Because Plaintiffs' unjust enrichment claim alleges that defendant procured a benefit "as a result of Defendants' deception, misconduct, and material misrepresentations involving the Distinctive and Valuable Marks of Lead Plaintiffs and the Class," TAC at �470, a tort choice-oflaw analysis should be applied. Cf. In re Sears Roebuck & Co. Tools, Marketing & Sales Practices Litig., 2006 WL 3754823, at *2 n. 4 (N.D. Ill. 2006). 14 9 domicile of the parties; and (4) where the relationship of the parties is centered. (Ingersoll, 46 Ill.2d at 47, 262 N.E.2d 593.) The court must look at the contacts of the jurisdictions under these four factors and then evaluate those contacts in light of the policies underlying the laws of those jurisdictions. * * * * Section 6 of the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws (1971) sets forth seven general principles to apply when making a choice-of-law decision: "(a) the needs of the interstate and international systems; (b) the relevant policies of the forum; (c) the relevant policies of other interested states and the relative interests of those states in the particular issue; (d) the protection of justified expectations; (e) the basic policies underlying the particular field of law; (f) certainty, predictability and uniformity of result; and (g) ease in the determination and application of the law to be applied." Id. at 1141 and 1142 n.1. Consideration of the above factors results in California law applying to Plaintiffs' unjust enrichment claims. Here, the creator, facilitator and implementer of the Deceptive Domain Scheme, Google, is headquartered in California. Google's operations are directed and controlled from California, which is also where the scheme was designed and hatched. In addition, one of the parking company defendants, Oversee, is headquartered in California. These facts strongly support the application of California law to Plaintiffs' unjust enrichment claims. D. Even if the Laws of the Fifty States Applied, Certification of Plaintiffs' Unjust Enrichment Claim is Appropriate Where federal claims and common law claims are predicated on the same factual allegations and proof will be essentially the same, even if the law of the different states might ultimately govern the common law claims � an issue that need not and is not decided at this juncture � certification of the class of the whole action is appropriate. The spectre of having to apply different substantive laws does not warrant refusing to certify a class on the common law claims. See In re Abbott Labs. Norvir Antitrust Litig., 2007 WL 1689899 at *9 (N.D. Cal. 2007). Even if this were not so, the elements necessary to establish unjust enrichment are similar from state to state. Accordingly, individual questions of law do not predominate. 15 1. The Elements Of Unjust Enrichment Are Similar Across The Country. Defendants attempt to portray the unjust enrichment claim as a monster of mind-boggling complexity with laws that conflict from state to state. See Defs. Consol. Mem. at 22-24. In fact, to the extent that any conflicts exist, they are minor and in no way counsel against class certification.11 See Powers v. Lycoming Engines, 245 F.R.D. 226, 231 (E.D. Pa. 2007) ("Although there are numerous permutations of the elements of the cause of action in the various states, there are few real differences."). All jurisdictions recognize the basic equitable principle that "[a] person who is unjustly enriched at the expense of another is liable in restitution to the other." Restatement (Third) of Restitution & Unjust Enrichment, � 1 (1937).12 The universal elements of unjust enrichment are: (1) a benefit conferred upon a defendant; (2) knowledge by the defendant of the benefit; and (3) retention of the benefit by defendant under circumstances where it would be unjust to do so without payment. Singer v. AT&T Corp., 185 F.R.D. 681, 692 (S.D. Fla. 1998) (unjust enrichment is a "universally recognized cause[] of action that [is] materially the same throughout the United States.") (emphasis added); see also Hill v. Galaxy Telecom., L.P., 184 F.R.D. 82 (N.D. Miss. 1999). Accordingly, any differences in state unjust enrichment principles A mere difference between the laws of the states at issue is not sufficient to demonstrate an "actual conflict." Boyes v. Greenwich Boat Works, Inc., 27 F. Supp.2d 543, 547 (D.N.J. 1998) (citations omitted). Rather, differences between the laws must "represent competing or conflicting resolutions of a particular policy issue." Id. at 548. 12 Notably, courts in at least 42 states and the District of Columbia have followed expressly, or cited with approval, the Restatement's definition of unjust enrichment. In addition, Nebraska, Virginia and Louisiana should be considered Restatement jurisdictions because the law in these states contains all the elements and language of the Restatement. See Nationwide Survey of Unjust Enrichment (attached hereto as Exhibit 2). 16 11 are immaterial and abundantly manageable.13 (attached hereto as Exhibit 2).14 VI. See Nationwide Survey of Unjust Enrichment A Class Action is the Superior Method for Resolving This Litigation Plaintiffs have shown that, based on the factors identified in Cox v. Joe Rizza Ford, Inc., 1996 WL 65994, *11 (N.D. Ill. 1996), class treatment here will advance "the interests of efficiency and economy" and is the most appropriate manner to resolve Plaintiffs' claims. (Plffs' Motion at 25-27). Defendants' argument that their own procedures, arbitration proceedings and/or private individual lawsuits are more efficient methods to adjudicate plaintiffs' claims ignores the very nature of this large-scale dispute and the benefits of class action resolution itself. In particular, money damages are not available in either UDRP proceedings or under Defendants' complaint procedure. That ends any consideration of UDRP or complaint proceedings as viable alternatives to class treatment, for there is nothing "superior" about giving up a substantial right to significant money damages. Moreover, the repetitive and identical arbitration or individual litigation of each of the class members' claims would consume enormous judicial and party resources and an unimaginable amount of time. By Defendants' own admission, an individual claim would take an average of 50 days to resolve using their suggested method, i.e., the UDRP proceedings. (Def. Br. at 26). Applying Defendants' method, and even assuming that 100 proceedings may move forward simultaneously without interruption on parallel tracks, adjudicating these disputes would require hundreds of years. In marked contrast, the class action mechanism is ideally suited to See Gruber v. Price Waterhouse, 117 F.R.D. 75, 82 (E.D. Pa. 1987) ("[A]ny state would prefer to see a class action proceed rather than for there to be no action at all."). 14 Some states (Florida, Maine, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee) require a showing of all of the Restatement elements, plus the additional element of "appreciation," "acceptance" or knowledge of the benefit on the part of the defendant. In such jurisdictions, a subclass could be created. 17 13 resolve matters of this kind. As the court in Napster recognized: "the case management problems that may arise upon certification of the class must be compared to the alternative method of adjudicating the parties' claims: that is, thousands of actions by individual class members." Napster, 2005 WL 1287611, *9. The decision in Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay, 2008 WL 2755787 (S.D.N.Y. 2008), upon which Defendants nearly exclusively rely, did not involve a motion for class certification and, indeed, never even mentioned class action litigation. In that case, the court merely adjudicated one private dispute. Significantly, Defendants cite no case in which multiple individual litigations were chosen over class treatment in a dispute similar to the present proceeding. Defendants also argue, without support, that the statutory damages under the ACPA are an incentive for individual class members to file separate actions. (Def. Br. at 26.) Defendants ignore the realities facing individual class members. "Even with the incentives to bring such claims that the [statute] provides in the form of statutory damages and attorneys' fees [citation omitted], it nonetheless remains true that many [absent class members] individually lack the time, resources, and legal sophistication to enforce their [intellectual property rights]." Napster, 2005 WL 1287611 at *10. "[P]laintiffs' prospects for class certification should not suffer because [the statute] provides for statutory damages." Id.; see also Murray v. GMAC Mortgage Corp., 434 F.3d 948 (7th Cir. 2006) (Seventh Circuit held that class certification should not be denied because statutory damages were available). Defendants have also failed to show how this action could "destroy defendants' businesses and the entire domain-development industry." (Def. Brief at 27.) Defendants' unsupported assertions should not suffice. Moreover, the cases relied on by Defendants do not support Defendants' contentions. In In re Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc., 51 F.3d 1293 (7th Cir. 18 1995), the plaintiffs sought to have a jury determine "the negligence of the defendants under a legal standard that does not actually exist anywhere in the world." Id. at 1300. Yet even that fact alone was not enough to dissuade the court from denying certification. Ultimately, the court denied class certification because "[e]ach plaintiff if successful is apt to receive a judgment in the millions." Id. The court acknowledged that individual proceedings "would not be a feasible option if the stakes to each class member were too slight to repay the cost of suit, even though the aggregate stakes were very large and would repay the costs of a consolidated proceeding." Id. Similarly, Castano v. Am. Tobacco Co., 84 F.3d 734 (5th Cir. 1996) was another mass tort case that involved claims which historically could not be resolved in the class context. None of those impediments to certification exist in this action. VII. Napster and the other Copyright Class Action cases cited by Plaintiffs Support Class Certification. Defendants attack Plaintiffs' reliance on In re Napster, Inc. Copyright Litig., 2005 WL 1287611 (N.D. Cal. June 1, 2005)15 and other copyright class action cases cited by Plaintiffs on the basis that there is "no overlap" between copyright and trademark law.16 (Def. Brief at 27). However, not only are the similarities between trademark and copyright claims greater than Defendants admit, but Plaintiffs' reliance on the copyright cases is not based on any contention that copyright and trademark infringement are based on identical legal doctrines. Rather, Defendants' attempt to undermine the persuasive authority of Napster by emphasizing the decision as "unpublished" should be rejected. See Factory Mutual Ins. Co. v. Bobst Group, 2004 WL 757061, *2 n.1 (N.D. Ill. 2004) (unpublished opinions have the same persuasive authority as any other district court opinions); Kingvision Pay Per View v. Boom Town Saloon, 98 F. Supp. 2d 958, 959 n.1 (N.D. Ill. 2000) ("There is no rule in the Northern District of Illinois barring citation to opinions that are published only on Westlaw or Lexis."). 16 Cf. Tristar Pictures, Inc. v. Del Taco, 1999 WL 33260839, *2 (C.D. Cal. 1999) ("While these two doctrines seem similar and may often overlap, they are neither mutually dependant nor mutually exclusive."). 19 15 Plaintiffs contend that, for purposes of analyzing the viability of certifying a class, Napster and other copyright cases are instructive. The defendants in Napster made arguments similar to those offered by Defendants herein. The Napster court rejected those arguments: [W]hile it is true that proof of ownership, registration, and actual damages ultimately requires a work-by-work inquiry, viewing these determinations as purely "individual issues" ignores the fact that the claims of every member of the class are uniformly premised upon the uploading or downloading of a copyrighted work by Napster users. This shared factual predicate in turn gives rise to a host of common legal issues concerning Bertelsmann's involvement in the operation of the Napster network. There can be no serious dispute that these issues are sufficiently "significant" to warrant adjudication of the parties' dispute on a representative rather than individual basis, accord Culinary/Bartender Trust Fund, 244 F.3d at 1162, nor is there any question that considerations of judicial economy heavily favor litigating these common issues once, as part of a single class action, rather than rehashing the same questions of law and fact in each of what could likely amount to thousands of individual lawsuits. The court therefore finds that the predominance requirement of Rule 23(b)(3) has been satisfied. Napster, 2005 WL 1287611 at *7. Similarly, in Ryan v. Carl Corp., 1999 WL 16320 (N.D. Cal. 1999), the court rejected a typicality argument similar to one advanced by Defendants herein: This argument neglects the fact that litigation of this case will likely center around UnCover's uniform practice of copying and selling copyrighted articles without securing the authors' permission. Because of the centrality of common issues, the issues unique to individual copyrights are reduced in importance and do not interfere with a finding of typicality. Id. As in Ryan and Napster, there is a "centrality of common issues" in this case � the Deceptive Domain Scheme. Because the claims of each member of the proposed Class arise from the same factual predicate; namely, that Defendants licensed, trafficked in, and used the Deceptive Domain Scheme to monetize domain names that are confusingly similar to marks owned by members of the proposed Class, class certification is appropriate and warranted. 20 Defendants further attempt to distinguish copyright infringement cases as involving simpler standards. (Def. Brief at 28.) Defendants are wrong. Indeed, a copyright infringement claim is more complex than an ACPA claim, because copyright claims involve detailed and factintensive analyses. See Hamil America v. GFI, 193 F.3d 92, 100 (2d Cir. 1999) ("Because the `actual copying' prong of the infringement test requires a fact-intensive inquiry, the district court's determination as to whether the defendant actually copied the plaintiff's copyright material warrants our deference."); Arthur Rutenberg Homes, Inc. v. Nobles, 2008 WL 2571861 (M.D. Fla. 2008) (test of substantial similarity in copyright infringement action is necessarily fact intensive). In sum, copyright infringement cases often involve highly detailed factual inquiries and numerous affirmative defenses, yet courts have certified copyright claims for class treatment. ACPA claims, which involve no such detailed factual inquiries, are even better suited for class treatment. Finally, Defendants contend that, in the copyright class actions that have been certified, there was no real dispute as to whether widespread unlawful copying had taken place. (Def. Brief at 28.) Here, although Defendants say that they "intend to show at trial there is no likelihood of consumer confusion," (Def. Brief at 28), again, that inquiry is irrelevant to ACPA claims. Defendants cannot seriously contend that their business practices do not result in widespread violations of the ACPA. Indeed, the very existence of their complaint procedure confirms that Defendants know that their conduct promotes the registration and monetization of domains that are confusingly similar to registered marks. The question is simply whether class treatment of their widespread scheme is appropriate. It was in Napster, Ryan and the other copyright infringement cases, and it is here, as well. VIII. Class Treatment Is Appropriate Under Multiple Subsections of Rule 23(b) 21 A. Class Treatment is Proper Under Rule 23(b)(2) Because the Primary Relief Requested is Equitable in Nature Incidental damages are those "that flow directly from liability to the class as a whole on the claims forming the basis of the injunctive or declaratory relief." Allison v. Citgo Petroleum Corp., 151 F.3d 402, 415 (5th Cir. 1998) (emphasis in original). Here, the damages sought are damages that class members would automatically be entitled to through the ACPA, and would be calculated by the objective standard set by the ACPA. Therefore, the damages sought should be considered incidental, and should not stand as a bar to establishing a class under Rule 23(b)(2). Moreover, as noted at page 28 of Plaintiffs' opening brief, it is common in this District to certify classes under multiple subsections of Rule 23(b). It makes abundant sense to do so in this case because the Court could immediately grant injunctive relief under the Rule 23(b)(2) class (without the need for class notice, etc.), and then proceed with the normal notice procedures for purposes of awarding damage. B. Class Treatment is Proper under Rule 23(b)(1) Defendants' arguments against certification under Rule 23(b)(1) are likewise unpersuasive. Plaintiffs do not argue about the possibility that recoveries may vary between plaintiffs, but rather that inconsistent adjudications could establish uncertainty through incompatible standards of conduct for Defendants. Moreover, as explained above, the Rule 23(b)(1) certification would be limited to injunctive relief, so all of the Defendants' arguments regarding damages are beside the point. IX. Class Treatment is Proper Under Rule 23(a) A. The Named Plaintiffs are Adequate Class Representatives and Do Not have Conflicts with the Class they Seek to Represent. 22 As the Court stated in Freeland v. AT & T Corp, 238 F.R.D. 130 (S.D.N.Y. 2006), a conflict that will prevent a plaintiff from meeting the Rule 23(a)(4) adequacy prerequisite "must be fundamental, and speculative conflict should be disregarded at the class certification stage." Id. at 141. Rule 23(a)(4) "is designed to ferret out potential conflicts between representatives and other class members." Id. at 142. Accordingly, "the focus, then, should be on the ways in which the interest of the named plaintiffs in this case is antagonistic to the interests of other class members." Id. Defendants fail to raise any conflict or antagonistic interests between the class representatives and the class they seek to represent. Instead, Defendants raise purported intraclass conflicts unrelated to the class representatives, which are speculative and in no way render the representatives inadequate. First, Defendants suggest that several class members might assert a claim associated with the same mark. As an initial matter, even if true, this is not an issue related to the adequacy of the class representatives. Instead, Defendants are making the illogical argument that because their wide ranging Deceptive Domain Scheme may have actually damaged more than one party with respect to the same mark they should be effectively sheltered and insulated from resulting liability. If Defendants have injured more than one party with a particular Deceptive Domain, the proper course is to allocate the damages between and among the injured parties at the damage allocation stage � not to deny class certification. Moreover, this argument does not even apply to the doubly-registered subclass, because that subclass is limited to only those mark owners that have registered their marks as (or within) domain names. While fifty entities may register the same mark with respect to varying goods and services, only one of those fifty can register the mark as a domain name (or a particular domain name containing the mark) within each top-level domain (.com, .net, etc.). Once it is taken, it is gone. 23 Second, Defendants claim that current and former AdWords participants may have divergent financial interests related to the ongoing success of the Google advertising program. This type of speculative argument is routinely rejected. See, e.g., In re Honeywell Intern. Inc. Securities Litig., 211 F.R.D. 255 (D.N.J. 2002) (rejecting the defendant's Rule 23(a)(4) adequacy argument that plaintiffs, who no longer retain any interest in the company, have an incentive simply to obtain the largest possible recovery, while those who retain their interest have an incentive to maximize the combined value of their recovery and the stock that they retain); Walsh v. Chittenden Corp., 798 F. Supp. 1043 (D. Vt. 1992) (holding that stock purchaser's continued ownership of shares that were the subject of the securities fraud lawsuit did not create a conflict of interest with class members who no longer owned stock, and thus did not preclude the purchaser from serving as a class representative); 3B Moore's Federal Practice � 23.06-2 at 23-182 (2d ed. 1993 & Supp. 1994) (citing cases) (a court is not authorized to dismiss a class action based upon a substantial legal claim merely because some members of the class prefer to leave the violation of their rights unremedied). In sum, Defendants have not raised any conflicts between the class representatives and the putative class that would render them inadequate under Rule 23(a)(4). B. The Named Plaintiffs are Typical Class Representatives. The typicality requirement requires a district court to focus on whether the named plaintiffs' claims have the same essential characteristics as the claims of the class at large. Defendants have not disputed that courts within the Seventh Circuit have consistently applied the juridical link doctrine to class actions finding that named plaintiffs are not required to have direct contact with each of the named defendants to bring their claims on behalf of a p
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TIJANI BANDE OF NIGERIA IS NEW UN PRESIDENT
Jun 10, 2019 63 views 0 Admin II
Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Professor Tijjani Mohammed Bande, has been elected the 74th President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Professor Muhammad-Bande contested as the sole candidate for the position, and was elected through acclamation at the 87th plenary meeting of the Assembly in New York today, June 4 and will be inaugurated in September.
He is the second Nigerian to hold the office after Joseph Garba, a retired military officer and diplomat, who led the organ between 1989 and 1990.
Professor Tijani Mohammad-Bande, has given details of his priority areas even as he secured the support of world leaders. He pledged to provide a vibrant and purposeful leadership anchored on accountability and transparency.
“As I announced in my mission statement and during the interactive dialogue on May 13, the implementation of existing mandates and the 2030 agenda with particular focus peace and security, poverty eradication, zero hunger, quality education, climate action and inclusion will constitute the major priority of my presidency.
“I am committed to promote partnerships that are needed from all stakeholders to achieve our objectives, and ultimately ensure that we do our best to ensure peace and prosperity, particularly for the most vulnerable.
“ I wish to reiterate that as President of the 74th session of the General Assembly, openness, inclusivity and transparency will guide all actions of the office of the President of the General Assembly.”
This was even as the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, assured Professor Tijani Mohammad-Bande, of his support to actualize his vision
“It is my pleasure to congratulate Prof. Tijani Mohammad-Bande as President of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
“Prof Bande, you bring many important and remarkable qualifications to the job. From your years as Permanent Representative of Nigeria, you know the United Nations well.
“And from your wide ranging academic pursuit; you are an expert in political science and public administration.
“And as a Nigerian and an African, you have invaluable insight into the continent’s challenges such as the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin, and more broadly to the challenges our world faces across the six pillars of our work – peace, sustainable development and human rights.
“We wish you well in your preparations for this role in the months ahead.
“Mr. President-elect, we all look forward to working with you and you can count on my support, as we strive to reach our shared goals and uphold universal values.’’
In her remarks, outgoing President of the 73rd Assembly, Ms Maria Espinosa, also congratulated Mohammad-Bande, describing him as the man for the job.
“Amb. Tijani’s career and experience both as a scholar and a diplomat should serve him and the General Assembly well in a session that promises to be pivotal.
“Amb. Bande is well seasoned to provide the strong and creative leadership our august assembly requires as he positions himself to be relevant in a world in rapid change.
“Your presidency, Ambassador, comes at a very critical moment for the United Nations and multilateralism.
“I am confident, however, that under your able leadership we will make meaningful progress to advance the implementation of 2030 agenda for sustainable development, in sustaining peace and conflict prevention as well as the promotion of human rights and the empowerment of women and girls.’’
She assured the president-elect of her commitment to a smooth transition in September.
In his acceptance speech, Muhammad-Bande thanked the Federal Government for nominating him for the position, and the African Group in the Assembly for endorsing his candidacy.
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« Movie of the Month: May 2019
Movie of the Month: June 2019 »
Star Wars TV
June 18, 2019 by fandangogroovers
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know that in their ongoing effort to take over the world, Disney have announced a series of television programmes in the Star Wars universe. You would be forgiven for thinking by the title this is about those shows, it isn’t! This is about other Star Wars television programmes, in other words television programmes from the past and currently airing that like Star Wars are set in space and feature some form of conflict. There are many other shows that fit the criteria, some that I have seen, others that I haven’t, these are my recommendations:
Blake’s 7 (1978-81) I saw the last ever episode of Blake’s 7 as a kid, I then watched the whole series over thirty years later. Made by the BBC in the late 70’s and early 80’s, the production design is amazing but the production values are on a par with early Doctor Who. A group of political dissident’s, rebels and criminals escape the totalitarian federation who rules Earth and its colonised planets. As with many of the best shows on this list the thing that makes it great is a combination of a great cast of characters and timeless political subtext.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999) The most relevant Star Trek show to this list. A spinoff from The Next Generation, DS9. Set on a space station rather than a exploring starship,it is a departure from the other shows in the Star Trek Franchise. There are two distinct story arcs the involving conflict with other races. Although not as initially popular as The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine holds up better to repeat viewings.
Babylon 5 (1994–1998) Airing at the same time as DS9 above and sharing some similar ideas. Set in the 23rd Century on the Earth Alliance space station Babylon 5, located in neutral territory, it becomes the centre of the universe and its best chance at peace, and survival. Filled with diverse characters and interesting stories with contemporary relevance. revolutionary in its day as the creators went into the project with a five season story arc planned out. It dived opinion in its day, but has been hugely influential since.
Farscape (1999–2003) Similar to Blake’s 7 and Firefly with its mismatched crew of fugitives and the totalitarian regime. Our way into the show is a modern-day America who arrives via a wormhole. The notable thing about the show is the Henson Company puppets. I haven’t actually seen the final season of the show, but like what I have seen enough to include it on this list.
Firefly (2002 -03) – Running for just fourteen episodes and often referred to as the most prematurely cancelled shows. Created by Joss Whedon, it is essentially a space western. Set in a future where mankind has colonised space. A mismatched crew are living on the edge of society run by the totalitarian “Alliance”. Keeping exposition to a minimum, the brilliance of the show is a snappy script, universally relevant stories, and a fantastic cast.
Battlestar Galactica (2004-09) When I was kid in the early 80’s I used to watch the original Battlestar Galactica every Sunday evening for years. Or did I? How the mind plays tricks on us, it only ran for 21 episodes (plus 10 episodes of Galactica 1980, which I didn’t see). While I loved the show at the time, re-watching it in the 90’s revealed that it wasn’t very good. However, the re-imagined version is nothing short of a masterpiece. Retaining the original concept, and technically a sequel to the original show. The action and drama of the show were enhanced by a smart script with political undertones with contemporary relevance.
Killjoys (2015- ) What started out looking like it was going to be a second-rate Syfy channel space opera gradually became more interesting and compelling. As well as an overriding story arc, it also included more relevant characters and storylines. Beyond all this, the real reason for watching is the shows secret weapon, rising star Hannah John-Kamen in the lead role.
The Expanse (2015- ) Based on a series of novels by James S. A. Corey (the pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). Set in a future with a colonized Solar System, a fragile cold war like peace exists between Earth, Mars and the Belt (an asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter). Essentially a cold war/conspiracy thriller, the brilliance of the show is that as an audience we don’t take sides; all three sides are represented, and there are good and bad on all sides. This is further complicated as the good characters are flawed, and the bad ones have redeeming features, just like real life! Simply one of the best shows around at the moment.
Posted in Movie Blog | Tagged Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Blake’s 7, Farscape, Firefly, Killjoys, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Wars TV, The Expanse | Leave a Comment
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Tag Archives: Ibanez
Who Has Standing To Foreclose? – A Review of Massachusettes Case & Other Jurisdictions
Posted by BNG in Affirmative Defenses, Appeal, Banks and Lenders, Case Laws, Case Study, Federal Court, Foreclosure Defense, Fraud, Judicial States, Legal Research, Litigation Strategies, MERS, Mortgage Laws, Non-Judicial States, Note - Deed of Trust - Mortgage, Pleadings, Pro Se Litigation, Securitization, State Court, Your Legal Rights
Fannie Mae, Foreclosure, Ibanez, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, U.S. Bancorp, Uniform Commercial Code, US Bank
As a result of the collapse of the housing market in this country in or around 2008, the number of residential foreclosures has increased exponentially, putting unprecedented strains on the system.
Although most foreclosures are uncontested, since there is rarely any doubt that the borrower has defaulted in repayment of the debt, in the past several years a cottage industry has developed challenging the creditor’s “standing” to foreclose, sometimes colloquially known as the “show me the Note” defense.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has seen its share of this phenomenon, maybe more than its share.
This post will briefly review the string of Massachusetts judicial decisions over the past several years addressing various aspects of the foreclosure standing question, and will use those cases to “issue-spot” and frame questions that practitioners in every state should consider and perhaps need to answer before moving ahead with foreclosures or to defend past foreclosures in litigation, whether in defense of borrowers’ lawsuits or in eviction proceedings. Other notables decisions will also be surveyed to flesh out the issues and arguments further, without attempting to be exhaustive of the subject or to present the proverbial 50-State survey.
The Massachusetts Story
We begin with the Massachusetts foreclosure story. In early 2009, a judge on Massachusetts specialized Land Court called into question a title standard of the State’s Real Estate Bar Association that had been relied upon by the Massachusetts foreclosure Bar. REBA Title Standard No. 58 said that a foreclosure was not defective so long as an assignment of the mortgage was obtained at any time before or after the foreclosure. In other words, the title could be cleared by obtaining an assignment even after the conduct of the foreclosure auction sale. Land Court Judge Keith Long in U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Ibanez, 2009 WL 795201 (Mass. Land Ct. Mar. 26, 2009), held that the title standard did not correctly state Massachusetts law, and that under the Massachusetts foreclosure statute, M.G.L. c. 244, a creditor had to be the mortgagee to foreclose. In 2011, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Ibanez, 458 Mass. 637 (2011), affirmed, holding that a foreclosing entity, if not the original mortgagee, must hold an assignment of the mortgage at the time it first published the notice of sale.
If the assignment of the mortgage was obtained after publication of the notice, a subsequently-completed foreclosure is unlawful and void.
Because Massachusetts is a non-judicial foreclosure jurisdiction, the foreclosing creditor does not have available ares judicata defense to a post-foreclosure challenge to title or possession.
Thus, the Massachusetts Court has held that a borrower or other defendant in an eviction action can defend by contesting the validity of a purchaser’s title if it stems from an invalid foreclosure, even if the mortgagor had done nothing to contest the foreclosure itself. Bank of New York v. Bailey, 460 Mass. 327 (2011).
The plaintiffs in Ibanez were securitization trustees and while the evidence in the record was incomplete, contributing to the result, the trustees were presumed to have held the notes in the respective loan pools, including the defendants’ notes, for the benefit of the investors. The Ibanez Court required the mortgagee to hold an assignment, and implicitly found that it would not be sufficient to confer standing to foreclose to hold the note without also holding the mortgage or obtaining an assignment, but nothing in the decision presaged a requirement that the mortgagee possess the note.
The argument that the mortgagee must also hold the note to foreclose was pressed to the Massachusetts high court almost immediately in the wake of Ibanez. This issue arises in Massachusetts because, contrary to the majority and longstanding American rule that the mortgage is mere security for the note and follows the note as a matter of law, Carpenter v. Longan, 83 U.S. 271 (1872), Massachusetts is a title-theory state that allows for the note and mortgage to be held separately. Under Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”), a note can be transferred by delivery of possession of an endorsed note, but Massachusetts, as a title theory state, requires a signed instrument to convey a mortgage, “which represents legal title to someone’s home.” Ibanez, 458 Mass. at 649. Comparable to the equity of redemption residing in the mortgagor, to reclaim legal title by repaying the debt and redeeming the mortgage, the owner of the note under Massachusetts law holds beneficial ownership of the mortgage and has the right to compel an assignment of the mortgage by the mortgagee, who holds the mortgage in trust for the holder of the note, in what has been described as a resulting trust implied by law. Id. at 652.
In Eaton v. Fannie Mae, 462 Mass. 569 (2012), the Court laid down a new rule that foreclosing mortgagees must either (a) hold the note, or (b) be acting on behalf of the note holder. In other words, the Court held that “one who, although not the note holder himself, acts as the authorized agent of the note holder,” may exercise the power of sale. Id. at 586. Notably, unlike in Ibanez where the Court rejected entreaties for prospective application of its decision, the Eaton court chose to apply its holding prospectively only to foreclosures noticed after the date of the decision out of “concern for litigants and others who have relied on existing precedents,” this being a “new rule.” Id. at 588.
Massachusetts courts, like courts elsewhere, have also considered the standing of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”) to foreclose mortgages and to assign mortgages for foreclosure. MERS, discussed in greater detail below, holds title to mortgages as nominee for MERS Members. The Eaton court discussed MERS in several footnotes, see 462 Mass. 569 nn. 5, 7, 27 & 29, and implicitly accepted MERS’ pre-foreclosure assignment of the mortgage to the mortgage servicer.
In a federal court appeal earlier this year, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston held expressly that MERS has the authority to assign mortgages it holds as nominee. Culhane v. Aurora Loan Services, — F.3d —-, 2013 WL 563374 (1st Cir., Feb. 15, 2013). Indeed, in the District Court decision the Court of Appeals affirmed, District Judge William Young remarked that “the MERS system fits perfectly into the Massachusetts model for the separation of legal and beneficial ownership of mortgages.” Culhane v. Aurora Loan Services, 826 F. Supp. 2d 352, 371 (D. Mass. 2011).
The recent Massachusetts mortgage foreclosure decisions were surprising, bordering on shocking, both to lenders and the Massachusetts real estate and foreclosure bars. In Ibanez, the Court disapproved a title standard of the well-respected statewide real estate bar group that conveyancers and others looked to for guidance, and in Eaton the Massachusetts Court for the first time announced a requirement that a foreclosing mortgagee be able to demonstrate its relationship to the mortgage note notwithstanding that there is no requirement under Massachusetts law to record or file notes or note transfers. 462 Mass. at 586;see also Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. McKenna , 2011 WL 6153419, at *2 n.1 (Mass. Land Ct. Dec. 8, 2011) (“There never has been recording of notes at the registries of deeds at any time. Notes are never recorded—not (as they may be in some other states) when the initial mortgage is recorded, nor at any time after that, including at the time, following the auction sale, when the foreclosure deed and
affidavit are put on at the registry.”). Whether the greater numbers of foreclosures and the perceived financial excesses and highly publicized alleged “sloppiness” of the mortgage industry have caused some courts to be more “pro-consumer,” or it is only that some of the legal doctrines underlying foreclosure standing had not been closely examined in a century or more, the rulings were unexpected. In part, they may represent the challenge of adapting historical, and in some cases ancient, property law to modern commerce, or vice versa. But they point out the critical need to understand state law, and to not take for granted that traditional custom and practice will be upheld, or that courts will not struggle applying that law or those established customs and practice to non-traditional modern mortgage ownership structures.
Mortgage notes, representing the debt for which the mortgages are collateral, will generally qualify as negotiable instruments whose ownership and transfer is governed by the principles of Article 3 of the UCC, adopted largely intact in most American jurisdictions. But despite the efforts of the UCC Commissioners to harmonize the law of security interests, including in some respects in real property, mortgage law and mortgage foreclosure in particular remains predominantly a creature of local state law. Thus, for mortgage foreclosure purposes, where the foreclosing creditor stands, in the legal vernacular, may depend on where the house sits. The discussion below frames some of the key standing inquiries suggested by the Massachusetts experience, and surveys some recent case law from across the country addressing the same or similar questions, and compares and contrasts the judicial precedents.
Although subsidiary questions such as whether the state is a title theory or lien theory jurisdiction, and whether the mortgage is deemed to follow the note as a matter of law, may affect how the questions are answered in any particular state, the core questions remain the same and can generally be framed in the following terms:
1. What relationship must the foreclosing entity have to the mortgage (or to the corresponding deed of trust in jurisdictions that know the security instrument by that terminology), and at what time must it hold or have it?
2. What relationship, if any, must the foreclosing entity have to the promissory note secured by the mortgage (or by the deed of trust), and at what time?
3. Does MERS when it holds the mortgage as nominee (or when it is named as beneficiary under a deed of trust) have standing to foreclose, or the ability to assign the mortgage (or deed of trust) to the lender, trustee or servicer for foreclosure?
4. Who has standing to foreclose in the securitization context, given the legal relationships under the standard Pooling and Servicing Agreement between and among the securitization trustee, the mortgage servicer and, where applicable, MERS as nominee under the mortgage (or deed of trust)?
There is a large body of case law nationwide on all of these questions, with additional decisions being handed down on virtually a daily basis; what follows below is only a representative sampling intended to illustrate the more significant issues and arguments, to inform the analysis of applicable local state law.
1. Relationship Between Foreclosing Entity and Mortgage.
In U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Ibanez, 458 Mass. 637 (2011), as discussed above, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that a foreclosing entity must hold an assignment of the mortgage at the time of the publication of the notice of sale. Other states differ on whether they require a foreclosing party to hold the mortgage either at the time of the foreclosure sale itself or when notice is issued.
In considering any question of a party’s status in the foreclosure process, it is first important to note whether jurisdictions are judicial or non-judicial jurisdictions:
– Judicial foreclosure states require the foreclosing party to initiate a court proceeding in order to foreclose. The foreclosure complaint seeks permission from the court to foreclose on the secured property.
– Non-judicial foreclosure jurisdictions do not require court involvement. Instead, the foreclosing entity must follow certain practices as set by state statute, such as mailing notices of acceleration and default, and publishing notice in the local papers. That entity often is the deed of trust trustee, under state law. If the borrower wishes to contest the sale, he or she may seek to enjoin it before the sale occurs.
Twenty-two states are considered judicial foreclosure jurisdictions, whereas 28 are deemed non-judicial.
In New York, where foreclosures are conducted judicially, one court recently stated that “a plaintiff has standing where it is both the holder or assignee of the subject mortgage and the holder or assignee of the underlying note at the time the action is commenced.” Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v Wine, 90 A.D.3d 1216, 1217 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep’t 2011).
To a similar effect, one Florida court has said a party must “present evidence that it owns and holds the note and mortgage in question in order to proceed with a foreclosure action.” Gee v. U.S. Bank N.A., 72 So. 3d 211, 213 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 5th Dist. 2011). But a different Florida appellate court has held that an assignment of the mortgage may not be necessary at the time a complaint is filed. Standing to bring a judicial foreclosure requires “either an assignment or an equitable transfer of the mortgage prior to the filing of the complaint.” McLean v. JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A., 79 So. 3d 170, 172 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 4th Dist. 2012). Because ownership of a mortgage follows an assignment of the debt under that case, the mortgage does not need to be assigned to the plaintiff before the Complaint is filed if it proves ownership of the note at that time.
New Jersey, also a judicial state, has said that if a foreclosing creditor bases standing to foreclose on assignment of the mortgage, the assignment must precede filing of the foreclosure complaint; however, if the foreclosing creditor held the note at the time of filing the complaint, assignment of the mortgage is unnecessary to establish standing to foreclose. Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co. v. Mitchell, 422 N.J. Super. 214, 222-25 (App. Div. 2011). There, although Deutsche Bank had not proved its standing because the mortgage assignment it relied on was executed a day after it filed its complaint, the Court remanded to allow Deutsche Bank to demonstrate standing by proving that it possessed the note prior to filing the complaint. Contrast state filing rules with the law of a non-judicial state like Michigan, which allows a foreclosing party to be “either the owner of the indebtedness or of an interest in the indebtedness secured by the mortgage or the servicing agent of the mortgage.” MCL 600.3204(1)(d)). Thus, under the statute, a loan servicer is expressly authorized to foreclose regardless of whether it holds the note or mortgage. However, by the date of the foreclosure sale, the mortgage must be assigned to the foreclosing party if it is not the original mortgagee. MCL 600.3204(3).
Where an assignment of the mortgage may be required in order to foreclose, there are differences regarding whether the assignment of mortgage is required to be recorded.
– Massachusetts: In U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Ibanez, 458 Mass. 637 (2011), although the Court required the foreclosing entity to hold the mortgage, it notably did not require the assignment of mortgage be recorded – or even be in recordable form.
– California, likewise, does not require that assignments of a deed of trust be recorded prior to foreclosure, despite a statutory pre-foreclosure recording requirement for mortgage assignments (mortgages are uncommon in California). Calvo v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A., 199 Cal. App. 4th 118, 122-2 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. 2011).
– New York, recording is also not required. See, e.g., Bank of NY v. Silverberg, 86 A.D.3d 274, 280 (N.Y. App. Div. 2nd Dep’t 2011) (rejecting contention that absence of recorded assignment allowed inference that plaintiff did not own the note and mortgage; “an assignment of a note and mortgage need not be in writing and can be effectuated by physical delivery”).
But some non-judicial states require that assignments of deeds of trusts or mortgages be recorded before a foreclosure can occur:
– Oregon: Ore. Rev. Stat. § 86.735(1)
– Idaho: Idaho Stat. § 45-1505(1)
– Minnesota: Minn. Stat. § 580.02(3)
– Montana: Mont. Code Ann. § 71-1-313(1)
– Wyoming: Wyo. Stat. § 34-4-103(a)(iii)
Regardless of any requirement, assignees typically record mortgage assignments to put the world on notice of their interest. See MetLife Home Loans v. Hansen, 48 Kan. App. 2d 213 (Kan. Ct. App. 2012) (“The assignment of the Mortgage was merely recorded notice of a formal transfer of the title to the instrument as required by recording statutes, which are primarily designed to protect the mortgagee against other creditors of the mortgagor for lien-priority purposes, not to establish the rights of the mortgagee vis-à-vis the mortgagor.”
Need for Correct Corporate Names
When an assignment of mortgage is required, it must also be assigned to the correct corporate entity. Confusion over corporate names can impede foreclosures.
For example, the servicer of a loan filed a judicial foreclosure action alleging that it was the assignee of the original lender. Bayview Loan Servicing, L.L.C. v. Nelson, 382 Ill. App. 3d 1184 (Ill. App. Ct. 5th Dist. 2008). Reversing the trial court’s judgment in favor of the servicer (Bayview Loan Servicing, L.L.C.), the Court of Appeals held that the servicer was not allowed to foreclose because the mortgage was not assigned to it. Rather, the mortgage had been assigned to an affiliated entity, Bayview Financial Trading Group, L.P. Id. at 1187. Without any evidence that the foreclosing entity held the note or mortgage, the fact that it was servicer was insufficient to allow it to foreclose. Id. at 1188.
But the situation was different in a judicial foreclosure filed in the same state by Standard Bank, which was the successor to the originator of the loan as a result of several mergers and name changes. Std. Bank & Trust Co. v. Madonia, 964 N.E.2d 118 (Ill. App. Ct. 1st Dist. 2011). The mortgagors argued that the plaintiff bank was required to show a mortgage assignment or endorsement of the note to it. Rejecting that argument, the Court held that the plaintiff bank retained all of the interests of the originator, including those under the note and mortgage, as a result of the mergers. Id. at 123.
A court may require proof of a merger. The note and mortgage in this case were assigned to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. deBree, 2012 ME 34 (Me. 2012). Upon the borrowers’ default, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. filed a complaint as “Successor by Merger to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc.” The trial court granted summary judgment for Wells Fargo Bank. On appeal, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court held that Wells Fargo Bank had not proved its ownership of the mortgage note and mortgage because there was no evidence that it, as opposed to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc., owned the instruments. Id. at ¶ 9. The Court rejected the Bank’s arguments that the borrowers had waived their argument, and it declined to take judicial notice that Wells Fargo Home Mortgage had merged into Wells Fargo Bank. Id.at ¶¶ 9-10. The showing of ownership was necessary for the Bank to prevail on summary judgment, so the foreclosure judgment was vacated. Id. at ¶ 11.
2. Relationship Between Foreclosing Entity and Note
In Eaton v. Fannie Mae, 462 Mass. 569 (2012), discussed above, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court announced a new rule, applicable to foreclosures noticed after June 22, 2012 (the date of the decision), requiring that foreclosing mortgagees must either (a) hold the note; or (b) be acting on behalf of the noteholder, at the time of foreclosure. In other words, the Court held that “one who, although not the note holder himself, acts as the authorized agent of the note holder” may exercise the power of sale.
Various courts in other states are split as to whether a foreclosing entity must hold the note.
California, for example, allows by statute non-judicial foreclosure by the “trustee, mortgagee, or beneficiary, or any of their authorized agents.” Debrunner v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., 204 Cal. App. 4th 433, 440 (Cal. App. 6th Dist. 2012) (quoting Cal. Civ. Code § 2924(a)(1)). The party foreclosing need not have possession of or a beneficial interest in the note because no such prerequisite appears in comprehensive statutory framework. Id. at 440-42.
In Idaho, a non-judicial foreclosure state, the state supreme court expressly rejected the idea that a party must have ownership of the note and mortgage. Trotter v. Bank of N.Y. Mellon, 152 Idaho 842, 861-62 (2012). Rather, “the plain language of the [deed of trust foreclosure] statute makes it clear that the trustee may foreclose on a deed of trust if it complies with the requirements contained within the Act.” Id. at 862.
Despite these states’ rejections of any requirement to hold the note, some courts in other jurisdictions do seem to require the foreclosing party to also be the noteholder, for example, or perhaps at least an agent or authorized person:
– New York: According to this intermediate appellate division, judicial foreclosure plaintiff must both hold the note and the mortgage at the time the action is commenced. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v Wine, 90 A.D.3d 1216, 1217 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep’t 2011).
– Florida: In Florida, the holder of a note, or its representative, may foreclose. Gee v. U.S. Bank N.A., 72 So. 3d 211, 213 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 5th Dist. 2011). If the plaintiff is not the payee of the note, it must be endorsed to the plaintiff or in blank. Id.
– Maryland: The transferee of an unendorsed promissory note has the burden of establishing its rights under the note by proving the note’s prior transfer history, especially where the mortgagor requests an injunction to stop foreclosure. Anderson v. Burson, 424 Md. 232, 245 (2011). Thus, the Court held that although the agent of the substitute trustee under the mortgage had physical possession of the note, it was not a holder of the note because there was no valid endorsement; it could nevertheless still enforce the note based on concessions from the mortgagors. Id. at 251-52.
– Oklahoma: “To commence a foreclosure action in Oklahoma, a plaintiff must demonstrate it has a right to enforce the note and, absent a showing of ownership, the plaintiff lacks standing.” Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Heath, 2012 OK 54, ¶ 9 (Okla. 2012).
– Washington: Under Washington’s non-judicial foreclosure statute, the trustee is required to “have proof that the beneficiary is the owner of any promissory note or other obligation secured by the deed of trust.” RCW61.24.030(7)(a). Note, however, that borrowers cannot bring a judicial action based on a beneficiary or trustee’s failure to prove to the borrower that the beneficiary owns the note. Frazer v. Deutsche Bank Nat. Trust Co., 2012 WL 1821386, at *2 (W.D. Wash. May 18, 2012) (“[T]he Washington Deed of Trust Act requires that a foreclosing lender demonstrate its ownership of the underlying note to the trustee, not the borrower.”).
Some jurisdictions more clearly take an either/or approach to foreclosing. In Michigan, for example, the foreclosing entity must be “either the owner of the indebtedness or of an interest in the indebtedness secured by the mortgage or the servicing agent of the mortgage.” Residential Funding Co., LLC v. Saurman, 490 Mich. 909 (2011) (quoting MCL 600.3204(1)(d)). The question in Saurman was whether foreclosures by MERS, as a mortgagee that did not hold the note, were proper. The Michigan Supreme Court upheld the foreclosures because the mortgagee’s interest in the note—even though not an ownership interest—was a sufficient interest in the indebtedness to allow it to foreclose.
There are other state courts that follow the either/or approach as well, for example:
– Ohio: In CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Patterson, 2012 Ohio 5894 (Ohio Ct. App., Cuyahoga County Dec. 13, 2012), the Ohio Court of Appeals held that a party has standing if “at the time it files its complaint of foreclosure, it either (1) has had a mortgage assigned or (2) is the holder of the note.” Id. at ¶ 21. Thus, the plaintiff in Patterson had standing because it possessed the note when it filed its complaint, even though the mortgagewas not assigned until later. Id. at ¶ 22.
– Alabama: In Sturdivant v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP, — So.3d —-, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 361 (Ala. Civ. App. Dec. 16, 2011), the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals ruled that a party lacked standing to foreclose because it was not yet the assignee of a mortgage when it initiated foreclosure. In Perry v. Fannie Mae, 100 So. 3d 1090 (Ala. Civ. App. 2012), the Court explained that the mortgage need not be assigned to a foreclosing party at the time it initiates foreclosure if it is a holder of the note. Because the evidence showed that the foreclosing party held the note at the time it initiated foreclosure proceedings, the foreclosure was proper. Id. at 1094-96.
– New Jersey: As noted in the preceding section, New Jersey recognizes standing to file a complaint to foreclose based on either assignment of the mortgage or possession of the note. Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co. v. Mitchell, 422 N.J. Super. 214, 222 (App. Div. 2011).
MERS is a system for electronically tracking interests in mortgages that are traded on the secondary market. MERS members (approximately 6,000) agree that MERS serves as mortgagee or beneficiary, and when loan ownership or servicing rights are sold from one MERS member to another, MERS remains the titleholder to the security.
3. Standing of MERS
What is MERS?
MERS is a system for electronically tracking interests in mortgages that are traded on the secondary market. MERS members (approximately 6,000) agree that MERS serves as mortgagee or beneficiary, and when loan ownership or servicing rights are sold from one MERS member to another, MERS remains the titleholder to the security instrument as nominee on behalf of whomever owns the loan. MERS is modeled on the “book entry system” used to track ownership in stock exchanges.
The use of nominees predates MERS: “The use of a nominee in real estate transactions, and as mortgagee in a recorded mortgage, has long been sanctioned as a legitimate practice.” In re Cushman Bakery, 526 F. 2d 23, 30 (1st Cir. 1975) (collecting cases). However, the concept of a nominee serving as agent for one member of a group of possible principals—where the principal may change in a way not reflected in the public record—has fostered arange of reactions, from commendation to criticism to confusion, but ultimately MERS (and its members) have repeatedly prevailed in foreclosure challenge litigation.
Authority of MERS to Foreclose
Most courts to consider the issue have ruled that MERS may serve as mortgagee or beneficiary and foreclose, for example:
– Texas: Athey v. MERS, 314 S.W. 3d 161, 166 (Tex. App. 2010) (MERS could foreclose, though it never held the note).
– Utah: Burnett v. MERS, 2009 WL 3582294 (D. Utah Oct. 27, 2009) (“MERS had authority under the Deed of Trust to initiate foreclosure proceedings”).
– Nevada: Croce v. Trinity Mortg. Assurance Corp. 2009 WL 3172119, at 3 (D. Nev. Sept. 28, 2009) (collecting cases from Georgia, California, Florida, and Colorado rejecting argument “that MERS does not have standing as a beneficiary under the Note and Deed of Trust, and therefore, is not authorized to participate in the foreclosure proceedings.”); see also Edelstein v. Bank of N.Y. Mellon,286 P.3d 249, 254 (Nev. 2012) (“The deed of trust also expressly designated MERS as the beneficiary… it is an express part of the contract that we are not at liberty to disregard, and it is not repugnant to the remainder of the contract.”).
– Michigan: Residential Funding Corp. v. Saurman, 805 N.W. 2d 183 (Mich. 2011) held that MERS had a sufficient interest to foreclose because it owned “legal title to a security lien whose existence is wholly contingent on the satisfaction of the indebtedness.”
In addition, at least two states—Minnesota (Minn. Stat. § 507.413) and Texas (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.0001)—have enacted statutes recognizing that MERS can foreclose.
Some state courts, nevertheless, have raised various questions about MERS’s role as it relates to foreclosures.
– Oregon: In Niday v. GMAC Mortg., 284 P. 3d 1157 (Or. App. 2012), the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that MERS did not meet Oregon’s statutory definition of “beneficiary,” disagreeing with the majority of trial court rulings that had ruled MERS could serve as beneficiary.
Niday is on appeal to the Supreme Court of Oregon; oral argument was heard January 8, 2013.
– Maine: The Maine Supreme Court has ruled that MERS cannot meet its definition of “mortgagee,” and thus had no standing to foreclose judicially. MERS v. Saunders, 2 A. 3d 289 (Me. 2010) (“MERS is not in fact a ‘mortgagee’ within the meaning of our foreclosure statute”).
– Washington: Bain v. Metro. Mortg. Group, Inc., 285 P.3d 34, 46 (Wash. 2012) ruled that MERS did not meet the statutory definition of deed of trust beneficiary, though Bain did not explain whether this impaired foreclosure proceedings.
Nearly two years ago, MERS changed its rules of membership to provide that the noteholder must arrange for an assignment to be executed from MERS to the foreclosing entity prior to commencement of any foreclosure proceeding, judicial or non-judicial. So, this issue may be a legacy question after all.
Authority of MERS to Assign Mortgage
Even before the change in the membership rules, MERS often assigned mortgages to the foreclosing entity so that entity could foreclose. Some borrowers have argued that, as nominee, MERS does not have the power to assign the mortgage. These challenges have been almost universally rejected, as the security instruments expressly authorize MERS, as nominee, to take any action required of its principal and refer to the mortgagee or beneficiary as MERS and its “successors and assigns.” Indeed the First Circuit recently rejected this very argument. See Culhane v. Aurora Loan Services, — F.3d —-, 2013 WL 563374 (1st Cir., Feb. 15, 2013).
Likewise, the fact that an assignment of the security instrument may occur after the transfer of the note is not problematic, and makes sense under the MERS model: “[MERS] members often wait until a default or bankruptcy case is filed to have a mortgage or deed of trust assigned to them so that they can take steps necessary to seek stay relief and/or to foreclose…. [T]he reason they wait is that, if a note is paid off eventually, as most presumably are, MERS is authorized to release the [deed of trust] without going to the expense of ever recording any assignments.”Edelstein, 286 P.3d at 254.
Borrowers have also claimed that MERS lacks authority to assign the note. Since MERS typically does not hold notes, language in MERS assignments referencing the note in addition to the mortgage likely reflects a lack of precision. Insofar as MERS did not hold a note the issue is immaterial.
Splitting” the Note and Mortgage
Some borrowers have alleged that the naming of MERS as holder of title to the mortgage, while the lender holds title to the note, separates the note from the security instrument thereby rendering assignments void and the security instrument unenforceable. As one court has colorfully described it, the debt is the cow, and the mortgage the cow’s tail—while the debt can survive without the security instrument, the instrument has no independent vitality without the debt. See Commonwealth Prop. Advocates, LLC v. MERS, 263 p.3d 397, 403 (Utah App. 2011).
As noted, in Massachusetts, those arguments have been squarely rejected as Massachusetts permits the note and mortgage to be held separately. Indeed the District of Massachusetts remarked that the “MERS system fits perfectly into the Massachusetts model for the separation of legal and beneficial ownership of mortgages.” Culhane v. Aurora Loan Services, 826 F. Supp. 2d 352, 371 (D. Mass. 2011), aff’d — F.3d —-, 2013 WL 563374 (1st Cir. Feb. 15, 2013).
This theory has typically been rejected elsewhere as well, as, if successful, it would “confer[] an unwarranted windfall on the mortgagor.” Id. (citing Restatement (Third) of Prop.: Mortgages § 5.4 cmt. a). In Edelstein, 286 P.3d 249, 255 (Nev. 2012), for example, the court held that in Nevada, “to have standing to foreclose, the current beneficiary of the deed of trust and the current holder of the promissory note must be the same.” However, under the MERS system, the parties agree that MERS holds the security instrument while the note is transferred among its members—as long as the two instruments are united in the foreclosing entity prior to foreclosure, the Nevada court held, the foreclosing entity has standing to foreclose in that state.
Along similar lines, some borrowers allege that operation of MERS makes it impossible to identify who the proper noteholder is, because only the security instrument (not the note) was assigned by MERS. “A ‘show me the note’ plaintiff typically alleges a foreclosure is invalid unless the foreclosing entity produces the original note.” Stein v. Chase Home Fin., LLC, 662 F. 3d 976, 978 (8th Cir. 2011). Of course, when the foreclosing entity is able to produce the note, the claim is typically defeated on summary judgment, id., and many courts considering “show me the note” arguments in the MERS context have dismissed them as a matter of law without any inquiry into note ownership. E.g., Diessner v. MERS, 618 F. Supp. 2d 1184, 1187 (D. Ariz. 2009) (“district courts have routinely held that Plaintiff’s ‘show me the note’ argument lacks merit”) (collecting cases from California, Nevada, and Arizona) (internal quotations omitted).
Unrecorded Assignment Theories
Some states (including Massachusetts after November 1, 2012)statutorily require that, in order to bring a non-judicial foreclosure, all assignments of thesecurity instrument must be recorded. E.g., ORS 86.735(1) (Oregon) (trustee sale may proceed only if “any assignments of the trust deed by the trustee or the beneficiary … are recorded”). In Oregon, a few borrowers have successfully argued that, because the security follows the debt as a matter of law, transfers of the debt while MERS remains lienholder of record result in assignments that go unrecorded, precluding non-judicial foreclosure. See Niday, 284 P. 3d at 1169 (“any assignments” language in ORS 86.735(1) includes “assignment by transfer of the note, ” and that all such assignments from the initial lender to subsequent lenders must be recorded prior to commencement of a non-judicial foreclosure proceeding). Niday is under review by the Supreme Court of Oregon, which heard oral argument on January 8, 2013.
Other courts considering the same argument have rejected it. For instance, Minnesota, Idaho, and Arizona have the same statutory requirement that assignments must be recorded, but have not found note transfers to trigger an obligation to create and record an assignment of the corresponding security instrument. E.g., Jackson v. MERS, 770 N.W.2d 487 (Minn. 2009) (answering “no” to certified question: “Where an entity, such as defendant MERS, serves as mortgagee of record as nominee for a lender and that lender’s successors and assigns and there has been no assignment of the mortgage itself, is an assignment of the ownership of the underlying indebtedness for which the mortgage serves as security an assignment that must be recorded prior to the commencement of a mortgage foreclosure by advertisement under Minn. Stat. ch. 580?”); Homeyer v. Bank of America, N.A.,2012 WL 4105132, at *4 (D. Idaho Aug. 27, 2012) (“Idaho law does not require recording each assignment of a trust deed based upon transfer of the underlying note.”); Ciardi v. Lending Co., Inc., 2010 WL 2079735, at *3 (D. Ariz. May 24, 2010) (“Plaintiffs have failed to cite any Arizona statute that requires the recording of a promissory note or even the assignment of a promissory note.”). These cases ruled that a transfer of a promissory note does not create an “assignment” for purposes of those statutes.
4. Securitization Standing
What is Securitization?
Securitization is the packaging of debt into instruments broadly referred to as “mortgage-backed securities”; one court has described it with analogies: “One could analogize this process to taking raw ingredients and combining them to make bread then selling the slices individually, or putting different kinds of meat into a sausage grinder then selling the individual sausages. What is born from this process are new debt instruments, sold on the open market, that have pooled-and-sliced home loans as their ingredients. Different debt instruments work in different ways, but the basic concept is that home loan debt gets repackaged and sold to other investors rather than being held by the bank that originated the loan.” Bisson v. Bank of America, N.A., — F.Supp.2d —-, 2013 WL 325262, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 15, 2013). The securitization market emerged to facilitate the inflow of capital to fund home loans, and it “allows banks to spread mortgage risk across the financial system rather than hold it all themselves.” Id.
Although securitization has fallen well off its peak of approximately $1 trillion in originations in 2006, it is projected to rise from $4 billion in 2012 to $25-30 billion in 2013.
There are several parties to a securitization agreement, but the borrower is not one of them. A typical securitization arrangement involves the following parties:
· Originator: The originator is the party identified as “lender” on note and mortgage (or deed of trust).
· Depositor: The depositor is either the originator or someone that buys loans from originators and pools them into securities pursuant to a Pooling and Servicing Agreement (“PSA”) to which the depositor, trustee, and master servicer are parties.
· Trust: Entity into which loans are pooled (e.g., “Structured Asset Securities Corp. Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-Z”). Sometimes referred to as a “Special Purpose Vehicle,” “Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit” or “REMIC,” orsimply a “Mortgage-Backed Security.”
· Trustee/Custodian: The trustee of the securitization trust (not to be confused with the trustee of a deed of trust, which conducts non-judicial foreclosure sales in deed of trust states) holds loans on behalf of the individual security holders, receiving the borrower’s payments from the loan servicer.
· Individual Investors: Shares of mortgage-backed securities are purchased by investors who, when loans are paid on schedule, ultimately benefit from borrowers’ mortgage payments.
· Master Servicer: The master servicer under the PSA services the individual loans in the pool, interfacing with borrowers, collecting loan payments and transferring them to the trust, and often handling foreclosures and post-foreclosure property management.
The Effect of Securitization on Foreclosure
Securitization adds complexity to chain of title to the mortgage, and chain of ownership of the note. See, e.g., In re Almeida, 417 B.R. 140, 142-45 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2009) (describing chain of title to a mortgage securing a securitized note); In re Samuels, 415 B.R. 8, 16-22 (considering challenge to direct assignment of mortgage from originator to trustee, not including an intervening assignment to the trust).
Some borrowers have claimed that insurance contracts or credit default swap agreements preclude default—i.e., the trust was insured against loss, collected the insurance when the borrower defaulted, and should not be allowed to foreclose as well because such foreclosure would grant a “double recovery.” Larota-Florez v. Goldman Sachs Mortg. Co., 719 F. Supp. 2d 636, 642 (E.D. Va. 2010). These arguments have not gained traction. Horvath v. Bank of N.Y., N.A., 641 F.3d 617, 626 n.2 (4th Cir. 2011) (rejecting argument that trustee of securitization trust “should not have been able to foreclose on his property because they did not suffer any losses from his default,” because “that defense does not allow individuals in default on a mortgage to offset their outstanding obligations by pointing to the mortgagee’s unrelated investment income”); Commonwealth, 2011 UT App 232 ¶¶ 3, 10 (rejecting argument “that defendants, having been paid off in the sale of the loan, could not seek a second payoff by foreclosure of the Trust Deed” as a “mere conclusory allegation” that could not sustain a viable claim).
Other borrowers have commissioned “securitization audits,” which purportedly trace the history of the loan in an attempt to cast doubt upon whether the foreclosing entity has standing. These arguments have also generally failed. E.g., Norwood v. Bank of America, 2010 WL 4642447 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Oct. 25, 2010); Dye v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP, 2012 WL 1340220 (D. Or. Apr. 17, 2012) (granting motion to dismiss despite findings of “Mortgage Securitization Audit”). Still other borrowers have challenged the foreclosing entity’s compliance with the PSA. As noted above, borrowers are not parties to these agreements; as such, courts have generally found that borrowers do not have standing to challenge the foreclosing entity’s compliance or lack thereof with it. See, e.g., In re Correia, 452 B.R. 319, 324 (1st Cir. B.A.P. 2011) (stating that debtors, who were not parties to the PSA or third-party beneficiaries thereof, lacked standing to challenge defendants’ compliance with PSA); Sami v. Wells Fargo Bank, 2012 WL 967051, at *5-6 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 21, 2012) (rejecting claim “that Wells Fargo failed to transfer or assign the note or Deed of Trust to the Securitized Trust by the ‘closing date,’ and that therefore, ‘under the PSA, any alleged assignment beyond the specified closing date’ is void”).
Which Securitization Parties May Foreclose?
As discussed above, there are several parties to a securitization. The parties most likely to be involved in a foreclosure are the trustee and servicer. On occasion, foreclosures have been conducted in the name of MERS.
As the party interfacing with the borrowers on a day-to-day basis, the servicer is often in best practical position to handle foreclosure proceedings, but may be required, under some states’ laws, to demonstrate its entitlement to foreclose on behalf of the securitization trustee. So, for example, in Maine, a judicial foreclosure state, the servicer must show its authority to enforce the note. See Bank of America, N.A. v. Cloutier, 2013 WL 453976, at *3 (Me. Feb. 7, 2013) (foreclosure plaintiff must “identify the owner or economic beneficiary of the note and, if the plaintiff is not the owner, to indicate the basis for the plaintiff’s authority to enforce the note pursuant to Article 3-A of the UCC”).
Most non-judicial states do not apply special requirements to loan servicers; the only significant inquiry is whether the trustee of the deed of trust was properly appointed by the beneficiary of record. In Utah, for example, “the statute governing non-judicial foreclosure in Utah does not contain any requirement that the trustee demonstrate his or her authority in order to foreclose. The court declines to create a requirement where the legislature chose not to include one. Therefore, the court holds that, under the terms of the relevant documents and the current statute, [a trustee] is not required to demonstrate its authority to foreclose before initiating a foreclosure proceeding.” Hoverman v. CitiMortgage, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86968, at *16-17 (D. Utah Aug. 4, 2011); see also Trotter, 275 P.3d at 861 (Idaho 2012) (“A trustee is not required to prove it has standing before foreclosing on a deed of trust” as long as “the Appointment of Successor Trustee, Notice of Default, and Notice of Trustee’s Sale complied with the statutoryrequirements and were recorded as specified in the statute”).
The situation can change, however, if the loan becomes involved in a judicial proceeding, such as a bankruptcy. To move for relief from stay in bankruptcy—even in a deed of trust state—a servicer must somehow show authority to enforce the note, though assignment of the security instrument may not be necessary. E.g., In re Tucker, 441 B.R. 638, 645 (Bankr. W.D. Mo. 2010) (“even if, as here, the deed of trust is recorded in the name of the original lender…, the holder of the note, whoever it is, would be entitled to foreclose, even if the deed of trust had not been assigned to it.”). And, conversely, failure to show authority to enforce the note can lead to denial of motions for relief from stay. E.g., In re Wilhelm, 407 B.R. 392 (Bankr. D. Idaho 2009) (denying relief from stay to group of movants that included both servicers and securitization trustees because they presented insufficient proof that they owned the notes in question); In re Mims, 438 B.R. 52, 57 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2010) (servicer that held title to themortgage but did not show it had been assigned the note was not a “real party in interest” in proceeding to lift stay).
In addition to the servicer, the trustee is often the foreclosing party. As the party holding title to the loan on behalf of the loan investors, the trustee is certainly a proper party to foreclose—if it has the right to do so under state law, which may require that it have been formally assigned the mortgage.
In Massachusetts, for instance—and as discussed more above—the trustee must also hold an assignment of the mortgage. In Ibanez, the trustee commenced foreclosures before they had been assigned the mortgages, and did not record assignments until after the foreclosure was completed. The trustee argued it had already received the note when the loan had been securitized years earlier, and that gave it all it needed to foreclose. The court rejected that argument—Massachusetts, as a “title theory” state, requires assignment of mortgage to foreclose. Securitization may have showed intent to assign mortgages, but was not an actual assignment.
Lien-theory states often take a different position, and do not require a trustee to also hold the mortgage, which is nothing more than the right to enforce a lien. See, e.g., Edelstein v. Bank of N.Y. Mellon, 286 P.3d 249, 254 (Nev. 2012);KCB Equities, Inc. v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. , 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 4418, at *4-5 (Tex. App.—Dallas).
The recent Massachusetts foreclosure case law is likely some what atypical, driven as it has been by some relatively unusual aspects of Massachusetts law.
But the questions the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has been called upon to answer, concerning the necessary relationship between the lien of the security interest, the debt and the foreclosing creditor, are universal and have been the subject of considerable litigation across the country during the recent “foreclosure crisis.” And the questions are controlled for the most part by state law, and state property and foreclosure law are much less uniform than the law governing the notes themselves as negotiable instruments. This paper has identified the principal issues and arguments so practitioners can ask the right questions and try to determine the law in their particular jurisdiction before proceeding.
For More Information How You Can Use Solid Augments To Effective Challenge and Save Your Home Visit: http://www.fightforeclosure.net
How Backdated Mortgage Assignment Came Back To Haunt Foreclosure Lender
Posted by BNG in Appeal, Case Laws, Case Study, Foreclosure Defense, Judicial States, Legal Research, MERS, Non-Judicial States
Foreclosure, Ibanez, Juarez, Loan, Massachusetts, Mortgage loan, U.S. Bancorp, US Bank
(1st Cir. Feb. 12, 2013)
U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals Reinstates Borrower’s Wrongful Foreclosure Claim. (What Makes This Case Appealing is the Ibanez Ruling As Earlier Published on this Blog).
In a rare victory for a wrongful foreclosure claimant at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, the court reversed a dismissal of the borrower’s claims, ruling that a back-‐dated mortgage assignment rendered a foreclosure void.
The case is Juarez v. Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. (11-‐2431)
Backdated Mortgage Assignment Proves Fatal
Melissa Juárez purchased a home in Dorchester, Massachusetts on August 5, 2005, financing it with reputed sub-‐prime lender New Century Mortgage.
The mortgage was packaged and bundled into a real estate mortgage investment conduit (“REMIC”), a special type of trust that receives favorable tax treatment, ultimately being held by U.S. Bank, as trustee.
Juárez could not afford the payments on the mortgage and defaulted.
Foreclosure proceedings began in the summer of 2008, culminating in the sale of her home at an auction in October 22,2008.
She claims, however, that lender did not hold the note and the mortgage at the time they began the foreclosure proceedings against her, and that the foreclosure was therefore illegal under Massachusetts mortgage law.
The problem in the case centered around the mortgage assignment into U.S. Bank, as trustee — the same problem the same bank faced in the landmark U.S. Bank v. Ibanez case.
The “Corporate Assignment of Mortgage,” appears to have been back-‐dated. It was dated October 16, 2008 and recorded in the corresponding registry of deeds on October 29, 2008, after the foreclosure had been completed. However, at the top of the document, it stated: “Date of Assignment: June 13, 2007,” in an obvious attempt to date it back prior to the foreclosure.
First Circuit Reinstates Borrower’s Wrongful Foreclosure Claims
After federal judge Denise Casper dismissed Juarez’s claims entirely on a motion to dismiss, the First Circuit reinstated the majority of Juarez’s claims.
U.S. Bank claimed that the back–‐dated mortgage assignment was merely a confirmatory assignment in compliance with the Ibanez ruling, but the appeals Court concluded otherwise:
Nothing in the document indicates that it is confirmatory of an assignment executed in 2007. Nowhere does the document even mention the phrase “confirmatory assignment.” Neither does it establish that it confirms a previous assignment or, for that matter, even make any reference to a previous assignment in its body.
Lacking a valid mortgage assignment in place as of the foreclosure, U.S. Bank lacked the authority to foreclose, the court ruled, following the Ibanez decision. Ms. Juarez will now get the opportunity to litigate her claims in the lower court.
Will Lenders Learn Their Lesson?
The take–‐away from this case is that courts are finally beginning to scrutinize the problematic mortgage assignments in wrongful foreclosure cases.
This ruling may also affect how title examiners and title insurance companies analyze the risk of back titles with potential back–‐dated mortgage assignments.
If a lender records a true confirmatory assignment, it must do much better than simply state an effective date.
To learn how you can use similar invalid assignment arguments to effectively challenge and reverse your wrongful foreclosure, visit http://www.fightforeclosure.net
The Effects of “US Bank v. Ibanez” in Mortgage Securitization Cases
Posted by BNG in Appeal, Case Laws, Case Study, Foreclosure Defense, Fraud, Legal Research, Litigation Strategies, Non-Judicial States, Notary, Note - Deed of Trust - Mortgage, Pleadings, Pro Se Litigation, Securitization, Trial Strategies
Bank of America, Foreclosure, Ibanez, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, U.S. Bancorp, US Bank, Wells Fargo
THIS DECISION WAS A GREAT WIN TO HOMEOWNERS!
For those new to the case, the problem the Court dealt with in this case is the validity of foreclosures when the mortgages are part of securitized mortgage lending pools. When mortgages were bundled and packaged to Wall Street investors, the ownership of mortgage loans were divided and freely transferred numerous times on the lenders’ books. But the mortgage loan documentation actually on file at the Registry of Deeds often lagged far behind.
In the Ibanez case, the mortgage assignment, which was executed in blank, was not recorded until over a year after the foreclosure process had started. This was a fairly common practice in Massachusetts, and I suspect across the U.S. Mr. Ibanez, the distressed homeowner, challenged the validity of the foreclosure, arguing that U.S. Bank had no standing to foreclose because it lacked any evidence of ownership of the mortgage and the loan at the time it started the foreclosure.
Mr. Ibanez won his case in the lower court in 2009, and due to the importance of the issue, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court took the case on direct appeal.
The SJC Ruling: Lenders Must Prove Ownership When They Foreclose
The SJC’s ruling can be summed up by Justice Cordy’s concurring opinion:
“The type of sophisticated transactions leading up to the accumulation of the notes and mortgages in question in these cases and their securitization, and, ultimately the sale of mortgaged-backed securities, are not barred nor even burdened by the requirements of Massachusetts law. The plaintiff banks, who brought these cases to clear the titles that they acquired at their own foreclosure sales, have simply failed to prove that the underlying assignments of the mortgages that they allege (and would have) entitled them to foreclose ever existed in any legally cognizable form before they exercised the power of sale that accompanies those assignments. The court’s opinion clearly states that such assignments do not need to be in recordable form or recorded before the foreclosure, but they do have to have been effectuated.”
The Court’s ruling appears rather elementary: you need to own the mortgage before you can foreclose. But it’s become much more complicated with the proliferation of mortgage backed securities (MBS’s) –which constitute 60% or more of the entire U.S. mortgage market. The Court has held unequivocally that the common industry practice of assigning a mortgage “in blank” — meaning without specifying to whom the mortgage would be assigned until after the fact — does not constitute a proper assignment, at least in Massachusetts.
The Case in Review:
On Jan. 7, 2011, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
ruled against U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co. in their appeal of a Massachusetts Land Court decision in March 2009 invalidating their foreclosure sales because both banks had failed to make the requisite showing that they were the mortgage holders at the time of the foreclosures. The case made headlines across the country, but turned on the prosaic notion that only the mortgage holder can foreclose on a mortgage.
Documentation provided by the banks in their efforts to prove that they were the present assignees of the mortgages at the time of the notice of foreclosure and subsequent foreclosure sale failed to convince the court that the proper party had initiated the foreclosure.
Because Massachusetts does not require a mortgage holder to obtain judicial authorization to foreclose on Massachusetts property, the decision in U.S. Bank National Association v. Ibanez serves as a forewarning to banks that foreclosures will only be upheld as valid by a showing of strict compliance with the statutory power of sale requirements, that is, that they were the mortgage holder at the time of notice of foreclosure and execution of the foreclosure sale.
Copycat litigation has followed in Massachusetts and elsewhere, but the ramifications of Ibanez could be broader than just an increase in courtroom activity. Legislatures will wrestle with the possibility of increased regulations, and prosecutors will likely scour the files for possible illegal activity concerning the dates of mortgage transfers.
Case Background
In July 2007, U.S. Bank NA and Wells Fargo Bank NA, as trustees of two securitization trusts, foreclosed on the mortgages of the respective properties and purchased the properties at the foreclosure sale. In September and October 2008, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo brought actions separately in the Massachusetts Land Court seeking among other things, a declaration that title to the two properties was vested in them.
The Land Court heard the two actions together and ruled that the foreclosure sales were invalid because the banks acquired the mortgages by assignment only after the foreclosure sales and therefore had no interest in the mortgages being foreclosed at the time of the publication of the notices of sale or the foreclosure sales.
At issue was whether the banks had shown sufficient documentation that they were in fact the mortgage holders at the time of the sales pursuant to a valid chain of assignments. In U.S. Bank’s case, the original lender was Rose Mortgage Inc., which assigned the mortgage in blank. At some point the blank space was stamped with Option One Mortgage Corp. as assignee, and was recorded on June 7, 2006.
On Jan. 23, 2006, before recording, Option One executed an assignment in blank. U.S. Bank claimed that Option One assigned the mortgage to Lehman Brothers Bank FSB, which assigned it to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which assigned it to the Structured Asset Securities Corp., which then assigned the mortgage, pooled with over 1,000 other loans, to U.S. Bank, as trustee, on or around Dec. 1, 2006.
U.S. Bank filed for foreclosure on April 17, 2007, and purchased the property at the foreclosure sale on July 5, 2007. On Sept. 2, 2008, American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc., as successor in interest to Option One, the record holder of the mortgage, executed a written assignment of the mortgage to U.S.Bank, as trustee, which was then recorded on Sept. 11, 2008.
In the Land Court proceeding, however, U.S. Bank failed to put in the record the trust agreement, which it claimed constituted the assignment of the mortgage. U.S. Bank did offer the private placement memorandum, an unsigned offer of mortgage-backed securities to potential investors, which included the representation that mortgages “will be” assigned to the trust. The memorandum also stated that each mortgage would be identified in a schedule attached to the trust agreement. U.S. Bank also did not provide any such schedule identifying the particular loan as among the mortgages assigned to the trust.
In Wells Fargo’s case, the original lender was Option One, which executed an assignment of the mortgage in blank on May 25, 2005. Option One later assigned the mortgage to Bank of America Corp. in a flow sale and servicing agreement, which then assigned it to Asset Backed Funding Corp., which assigned it, pooled with others, to Wells Fargo, as trustee, pursuant to a pooling and servicing agreement.
On July 5, 2007, the day Wells Fargo purchased the property, Option One, the record mortgage holder, executed an assignment of the mortgage to Wells Fargo as trustee, which was recorded on May 12, 2008, but had an effective date of April 18, 2007.
In the Land Court proceeding, Wells Fargo did not provide the flow sale and servicing agreement reflecting the assignment by Option One to Bank of America. Wells Fargo did produce an unexecuted copy of the mortgage loan purchase agreement, which made reference to a schedule listing the assigned mortgages, but failed to provide a schedule showing that the mortgage was among those assigned to Asset Backed Funding Corporation.
Wells Fargo also provided a copy of the pooling and servicing agreement, but this copy was only downloaded from the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission website, was unsigned and did not contain the loan schedules referenced in the agreement. Wells Fargo produced a schedule that it represented identified the mortgage by the property’s ZIP code and city because the payment history and loan amount matched the loan at issue.
SJC Decision
In Massachusetts, a mortgagee must strictly comply with the statutory power of sale by proving its authority to foreclose and complying with the notice requirement. Only a present holder of the mortgage is authorized to foreclose on the mortgaged property. As highlighted by the SJC in this case, the statutory power is also limited to those who are holders of mortgages pursuant to valid, verifiable assignments at the time of the notice of sale and the subsequent foreclosure sale. U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo failed to prove that they were.
The court rendered U.S. Bank’s foreclosure invalid for several reasons: 1) It failed to produce the document,the trust agreement, which it claimed assigned the mortgage to it; 2) the private placement memorandum described the trust agreement as having only an intent to assign mortgages to U.S. Bank in the future, not as an actual assignment; 3) U.S. Bank did not produce the schedule of loans mortgages that was supposedly attached to the agreement, so it failed to show that the mortgage at issue was among those assigned by that agreement; and 4) U.S. Bank failed to produce any evidence that the assigning party, Structured Asset Securities Corp., ever held the mortgage to be assigned. The court determined that Option One, not U.S. Bank, was the mortgage holder at the time of the foreclosure.
Similarly, the court rendered Wells Fargo’s foreclosure invalid because: 1) While the pooling and servicing agreement reflected a present assignment, the mortgage loan schedule provided by Wells Fargo failed to identify with specificity the mortgage at issue as one of the mortgages assigned; and 2) Wells Fargo did not provide any documentation showing that Asset Backed Funding Corporation held the mortgage that it was purportedly assigning under the pooling and servicing agreement. Because Wells Fargo failed to submit anything demonstrating that the mortgage was ever assigned by Option One to another entity before the notice and sale, the court found that Option One was the mortgage holder.
Ibanez in Practice
The SJC provided insight into the documentation it believes is required to support a valid foreclosure in the case of assignments and securitization trusts. Whether pending and future legislation or regulations change how the court views these matters remains to be seen.
* An assignment does not have to be in recordable form at the time of the notice of sale or the foreclosure sale, though it may be the better practice. An executed agreement that assigns a pool of mortgages along with the schedule that “clearly and specifically” identifies the mortgage at issue may suffice to establish the trustee as mortgage holder.
* A bank must provide proof that the assignment was made by a party that validly held the mortgage. This can be accomplished by providing a chain of assignment linking the bank to the record holder or a single assignment from the record holder of the mortgage.
* An assignment in blank does not constitute a lawful assignment of a mortgage.
* An assignment of a note without an assignment of the underlying mortgage does carry with it an assignment of the mortgage, and therefore does not give the holder of the note sufficient financial interest in the mortgage to permit it to foreclose.
* A mortgage holder may not be permitted to rely on Title Standard No. 58 issued by the Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts for the proposition that an entity that does not hold a mortgage may foreclose on a property and later cure the cloud on title by a later assignment of a mortgage. However, an assignment that is confirmatory of an earlier, valid assignment made prior to publication of notice and execution of sale may be executed and recorded after the foreclosure without defecting title. A confirmatory assignment cannot confirm an assignment that was not validly made earlier, or backdate an assignment being made for the first time.
* A post foreclosure assignment may not be treated as a pre-foreclosure assignment by declaring an “effective date” that precedes the notice of sale and foreclosure.
Retroactive Implications of Ibanez
Because the court found that it was not creating new law, but rather applying tried and true standards, it made its decision retroactive. In his decision, Judge Gants stated, “The legal principles and requirements we set forth are well established in our case law and our statutes. All that has changed is the plaintiffs’ apparent failure to abide by those principles and requirements in the rush to sell mortgage-backed securities.” Thus it is likely that homeowners will seek recovery for homes that were wrongfully foreclosed upon.
But beyond that, questions arise. For example, Massachusetts is not a state that requires judicial approval of foreclosures, whereas about 23 states already require some sort of judicial authorization or judicial intervention in the foreclosure process. Would the facts in Ibanez have allowed a foreclosure to progress as far as it did in a state that required judicial foreclosure? Should there be more regulations around the foreclosure process? The Ibanez court didn’t seem to think so, as it found the existing rules to be relatively straightforward and capable of controlling the situation.
Even so, lawmakers in Massachusetts wasted little time in introducing legislation that appeared to be reactionary to the Ibanez decision. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley drafted legislation that would reportedly establish standards to ensure that creditors undertake “commercially reasonable efforts to avoid unnecessary foreclosures” and would also codify Ibanez by requiring a creditor to show it is the current mortgage holder before foreclosing and require creditors to record their assignments before commencing foreclosure proceedings.
A violation of this legislation as introduced would constitute a violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act as well. There have been at least 10 other bills introduced in the Massachusetts House and Senate that address various aspects of the foreclosure process, including legislation that would require foreclosure mediations and judicial review of foreclosures.
The great danger may be for an overeager bank official who realizes that the bank’s paperwork suffers from the defects outlined in Ibanez. The temptation to back-date documents and to “fill in the blanks” may be too great for some to resist. Prosecutors and regulators will likely be looking for just such situations as they attempt to make cases.
What the court in Ibanez really ruled is that the banks need to strictly comply with the laws already on the books in proceeding with foreclosures, and in light of the court’s candid opinion, and harsh concurrence by Justice Robert J. Cordy, banks would do well to ensure that they have their ducks in line. Banks would also be wise to educate their staff on Ibanez and how not to react to it.
But when all is said and done, however, what Ibanez may ultimately have done is provided the impetus for legislators, regulators, and prosecutors to change the way foreclosures proceed in Massachusetts, and possibly all over the country, in creating new requirements for banks, and courts, far beyond those at play in Ibanez.
My Analysis of the Case
Winners: Distressed homeowners facing foreclosure
Losers: Foreclosing lenders, people who purchased foreclosed homes with this type of title defect, foreclosure attorneys, and title insurance companies.
Despite pleas from innocent buyers of foreclosed properties and my own predictions, the decision was applied retroactively, so this will hurt Massachusetts homeowners who bought defective foreclosure properties.
If you own a foreclosed home with an “Ibanez” title issue, I’m afraid to say that you do not own your home anymore. The previous owner who was foreclosed upon owns it again. This is a mess.
The opinion is a scathing indictment of the securitized mortgage lending system and its non-compliance with Massachusetts foreclosure law. Justice Cordy, a former big firm corporate lawyer, chastised lenders and their Wall Street lawyers for “the utter carelessness with which the plaintiff banks documented the titles to their assets.”
If you purchased a foreclosure property with an “Ibanez” title defect, and you do not have title insurance, you are in trouble. You may not be able to sell or refinance your home for quite a long time, if ever. Recourse would be against the foreclosing banks, the foreclosing attorneys. Or you could attempt to get a deed from the previous owner. Re-doing the original foreclosure is also an option but with complications.
If you purchased a foreclosure property and you have an owner’s title insurance policy, contact the title company right away.
The decision carved out some room so that mortgages with compliant securitization documents may be able to survive the ruling. This will shake out in the months to come. A major problem with this case was that the lenders weren’t able to produce the schedules of the securitization documents showing that the two mortgages in question were part of the securitization pool. Why, I have no idea.
The decision opens the door for foreclosing lenders to prove ownership with proper securitized documents. There will be further litigation on this. Furthermore, since the Land Court’s decision in 2009, many lenders have already re-done foreclosures and title insurance companies have taken other steps to cure the title defects.
We don’t know how other state court’s will react to this ruling. The SJC is one of the most well respected state supreme courts in the country. This decision was well-reasoned and I believe correct given that the lenders couldn’t even produce any admissible evidence they held the mortgages. The ruling will certainly be followed in states (such as California) operating under a non-judicial foreclosure system such as Massachusetts.
Watch for class actions against foreclosing lenders, the attorneys who drafted the securitization loan documents and foreclosing attorneys. Investors of mortgage backed securities (MBS) will also be exploring their legal options against the trusts and servicers of the mortgage pools.
The banking sector has already dropped some 5% today (1.7.11), showing that this ruling has sufficiently spooked investors.
For more info on how you can use the Valid imperfected Securitization arguements such as the ones used in this case to effectively and successfully challenge and win your Foreclosure Defense, please visit http://www.fightforeclosure.net
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You are here: Home / JHD / Predict-HD
Inside PREDICT-HD: The view of a young personHDYO was contacted by a young person who was working with the PREDICT-HD team and wanted to share her experiences of both being impacted by HD and working in HD research. At HDYO we are always... Find out more...
Predict-HD studyWhat is the PREDICT-HD study? The PREDICT-HD study is one of the most important research studies currently being undertaken in Huntington's disease research. At the moment, people are typically... Find out more...
Inside PREDICT-HD: The view of a young person
Predict-HD study
Predict-HD studyTYPJP47174717 people shared this0 commentsWhat is the PREDICT-HD study? The PREDICT-HD study is one of the most important research studies currently being undertaken in Huntington's disease research. At the moment, people are typically diagnosed with Huntington's disease once they show recognisable motor symptoms (such as involuntary movements), but doctors and Huntington's disease family members believe that the disease starts to effect people way before they are officially diagnosed. The PREDICT-HD study was set up to find out just how much earlier in life Huntington's disease effects people, and what impact that has on a person....Find out more...
Inside PREDICT-HD: The view of a young personTYPJP38973897 people shared this0 commentsHDYO was contacted by a young person who was working with the PREDICT-HD team and wanted to share her experiences of both being impacted by HD and working in HD research. At HDYO we are always thrilled to share young peoples’ stories and I think you will all agree Jolene has shown great resilience in life and is now tackling HD head-on with great positivity. This is Jolene’s story:Jolene’s HD Story My name is Jolene Luther and I’m a 20-year-old Spanish/pre-med major at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA, USA. I’d like to share my story.My journey with Huntington disease started when I...Find out more...
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(Redirected from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
This article is about the Canadian city. For other uses, see Saskatoon (disambiguation).
Saskatoon (/ˌsæskəˈtuːn/) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as the cultural and economic hub of central Saskatchewan since its founding in 1882 as a Temperance colony.[8]
From left to right: central Saskatoon featuring the South Saskatchewan River and three of its bridges; the Delta Bessborough hotel; the Saskatoon Fireworks Festival; Broadway Avenue; Wanuskewin Heritage Park; the University of Saskatchewan; the Saskatoon berry; Saskatoon skyline featuring the Broadway Bridge in foreground
"Paris of the Prairies", "Toontown", "S'toon", "Hub City", "POW City" (for potash, oil and wheat), "The City of Bridges", "Saskabush"[1][2][3][4]
Location of Saskatoon in Canada
Show map of Canada
Saskatoon (Saskatchewan)
Show map of Saskatchewan
Coordinates: 52°08′N 106°41′W / 52.133°N 106.683°W / 52.133; -106.683
Charlie Clark
• Governing body
Saskatoon City Council
• MP
List of MPs
Sheri Benson (NDP)
Brad Trost (CPC)
Kevin Waugh (CPC)
• MLAs
List of MLAs
David Buckingham (SKP)
Vicki Mowat (NDP)
Danielle Chartier (NDP)
Ken Cheveldayoff (SKP)
Bronwyn Eyre (SKP)
David Forbes (NDP)
Lisa Lambert (SKP)
Paul Merriman (SKP)
Don Morgan (SKP)
Eric Olauson (SKP)
Ryan Meili (NDP)
Cathy Sproule (NDP)
Corey Tochor (SKP)
Gordon Wyant (SKP)
5,890.71 km2 (2,274.42 sq mi)
481.5 m (1,579.7 ft)
(2016)[5][6]
1,080.0/km2 (2,797/sq mi)
50.1/km2 (130/sq mi)
Saskatonian
UTC−6 (CST)
Forward sortation area
S7A - S7C, S7H - S7W
/ˌsæskəˈtuːn/
www.saskatoon.ca
With a 2016 census population of 246,376, Saskatoon is the largest city in the province, and the 17th largest Census Metropolitan Area in Canada, with a 2016 census population of 295,095. The City of Saskatoon has estimated its population to be 278,500 as of July 2018,[9] while Statistics Canada has estimated the CMA's population to be 323,809 as of 2017.[10]
Saskatoon is home to the University of Saskatchewan, the Meewasin Valley Authority which protects the South Saskatchewan River and provides for the city's popular riverbank park spaces, and Wanuskewin Heritage Park, a National Historic Site of Canada and UNESCO World Heritage applicant representing 6,000 years of First Nations history. The Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344, the most populous rural municipality in Saskatchewan, surrounds the city and contains many of the developments associated with it, including Wanuskewin.
Saskatoon is named after the berry of the same name, which is native to the region, and is itself derived from the Cree misâskwatômina. The city has a significant Indigenous population and several urban Reserves. The city has nine river crossings and is nicknamed "Paris of the Prairies" and "Bridge City."
Historic neighbourhoods of Saskatoon include Nutana and Riversdale, which were separate towns before amalgamating with the town of Saskatoon and incorporating as a city in 1906. Nutana, Riversdale, their historic main streets of Broadway Avenue and 20th Street respectively, the downtown core and other central neighbourhoods are seeing significant reinvestment and redevelopment. Sutherland, the rail town the city annexed in 1956 that lies beyond the University lands, is now another historic neighbourhood.
The name Saskatoon (in Cree: sâskwatôn, "Saskatoon" or the locatives: misâskwatôminihk, lit: "at the saskatoon berry", misâskwatôminiskâhk, "at the place of many saskatoon berries", mînisihk "at the berry") comes from the Cree inanimate noun misâskwatômina "saskatoon berries", which refers to the sweet, violet-coloured berry that grows in the area.
Saskatoon archivist Jeff O'Brien wrote that the traditional story of the centre's name is that it was due to presence of Saskatoon berries in the area. "There is even an almost-certainly-apocryphal story to the effect that John Lake, upon being given a handful of these berries and told their name immediately cried “Arise, Saskatoon – Queen of the North!”
However, he wrote, "the truth appears to be somewhat less dramatic. The area was long-known to the local Cree as a good place to stock up on willow wands for arrow shafts. Thus the name of the place was “Sask-kwa-tan” – roughly, “the place where willows are cut”", close but not the saskatoon berry.[11]
Main article: History of Saskatoon
Barr Colonists in Saskatoon in 1903. The settlement of Saskatoon saw an economic boom when the traveling Barr Colonists encamped around the community.
In 1882, the Toronto-based Temperance Colonization Society was granted 21 sections of land straddling the South Saskatchewan River, between what is now Warman and Dundurn. The aim of the group was to escape the liquor trade in that city and set up a "dry" community in the Prairie region. The following year settlers, led by John Neilson Lake, arrived on the site of what is now Saskatoon and established the first permanent settlement. The settlers travelled by railway from Ontario to Moose Jaw and then completed the final leg via horse-drawn cart as the railway had yet to be completed to Saskatoon.[12]
In 1885 the Northwest Rebellion affected the tiny community in a variety of ways. Chief Whitecap and Charles Trottier passed through the present day University campus on their way to join Louis Riel's armed forces at Batoche, Saskatchewan. Following the fighting at the Battle of Fish Creek, and the Battle of Batoche, wounded Canadian soldiers convalesced at the Marr Residence which is today a historic site. A few died in care and were buried in the Pioneer Cemetery near the Exhibition Grounds.
A town charter for the west side of the river was obtained in 1903 (Nutana became a village in that year). In 1906 Saskatoon became a city with a population of 4,500, which included the communities of Saskatoon, Riversdale and Nutana. In 1955 Montgomery Place and in 1956 the neighbouring town of Sutherland were annexed by the fast-growing City of Saskatoon.[13]
Main article: List of neighbourhoods in Saskatoon
View of the Aspen parkland outside the city limits. The area is a transitional biome between the Boreal Forest and the Prairies.
Saskatoon lies on a long belt of rich, potassic chernozem in middle-southern Saskatchewan and is found in the aspen parkland biome. The lack of surrounding mountainous topography gives the city a relatively flat grid, though the city does sprawl over a few hills and into a few valleys. The lowest point in the city is the river, while the highest point is disputed between the suburb of Sutherland in the east side and the Silverwood-River Heights areas in the city's north end. Saskatoon, on a cross-section from west to east, has a general decline in elevation above sea level heading towards the river, and on the east bank of the river, the terrain is mostly level until outside the city, where it begins to decrease in elevation again.
Saskatoon is divided into east and west sides by the South Saskatchewan River. It is then divided into Suburban Development Areas (SDA) which are composed of neighbourhoods.[14] Street addresses are demarcated into north and south (for avenues aligned in those directions) and similar east and west (for streets aligned in those directions). West of the river the demarcation line for north and south addresses is 22nd Street, while east and west are divided by Idylwyld Drive (north of 20th Street) and Avenue A (south of 20th). On the east side, Lorne Avenue demarcates east and west while Aird Street marks the north/south boundary, except in the Sutherland community where a separate east/west demarcation takes place with Central Avenue as the boundary (there is, however, no separate north/south divide). As a result of the unusual demarcation on the east side, few streets actually carry a "North" or "West" designation.
A second major water feature aside from the river is the Hudson Bay Slough, a remnant of a glacier-formed body of water that at one time dominated the northern end of the city. Industrial development has resulted in most of the slough being drained, however a large remnant has been preserved off Avenue C as part of RCAF Memorial Park, and another portion remains intact within the Hudson Bay Industrial area.
Pike Lake and Blackstrap Provincial Parks are 40 km (25 mi) south of the city. Blackstrap Park is often used for school field trips. Batoche is 90 km (56 mi) north of the city.
Saskatoon experiences a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk) near the humid continental climate (Dfb), with typically warm summers and long, cold winters. Climate data from University of Saskatchewan, in the inner city meets semi-arid criteria. This is due to slightly higher average annual temperature and slightly lower average annual precipitation than the Airport, on the city's northwest periphery.
Winter skyline of Saskatoon with the South Saskatchewan River bisecting the city. Winters in the city are long, and cold.
The city has four distinct seasons and is in plant hardiness zone 3b.[15] Saskatoon has a dry climate and sees 340.4 mm (13.40 in) of precipitation per year on average, with the summer being the wettest season. Saskatoon is sunnier than average in Canada as a result, averaging 2,268 hours of bright sunshine annually. The extreme temperatures are typically accompanied by below average levels of humidity. Thunderstorms are common in the summer months and can be severe with torrential rain, hail, high winds, intense lightning and, on rare occasion, tornadoes. The frost-free growing season lasts from 21 May to 15 September,[16] but due to Saskatoon's northerly location, damaging frosts have occurred as late as June 14[17] and again as early as August. The average daytime high temperature peaks at 25.8 °C (78.4 °F) from July 31 to August 8.[18][19]
The "Blizzard of 2007" was described by many residents as the worst they had seen and paralyzed the city with its low visibility, extreme cold and large volume of snow.[20] Winds rose to over 90 km/h (56 mph) and an estimated 25 cm (9.8 in) of snow fell throughout the day.[21] Many area residents took refuge overnight at area work places, shopping centres, hospitals and the university.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Saskatoon was 41.5 °C (107 °F) on 6 June 1988.[22] The lowest temperature ever recorded was −50.0 °C (−58 °F) on 1 February 1893.[23]
Climate data for Saskatoon SRC (University of Saskatchewan), 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1915–present[a]
(105.8) 40.0
−8.8
(9.7) 3.3
(2.7) −9.7
(−51.0) −45.0
(−51.0)
(0.57) 9.1
(0.50) 340.4
Average rainfall mm (inches)
Average snowfall cm (inches)
(3.5) 12.1
9.4 7.3 8.5 8.2 9.7 12.2 10.5 9.5 9.0 7.8 7.1 9.6 108.7
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm)
0.5 0.2 1.9 5.7 9.5 12.2 10.5 9.5 8.8 5.3 1.1 0.4 65.5
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm)
9.1 7.1 6.9 2.6 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 2.9 6.2 9.3 44.9
106.2 131.1 173.1 222.0 263.0 266.8 308.8 269.6 192.5 157.0 91.3 86.5 2,267.8
Percent possible sunshine
Average ultraviolet index
Source: Environment Canada,[25] Extremes 1915–1966,[26] Extremes 1966–present[25] and Weather Atlas[27]
Climate data for Saskatoon International Airport, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1892–present
Record high humidex
5.9 7.6 19.2 30.6 36.0 42.7 43.9 42.0 38.7 30.0 18.6 10.7 43.9
(29.8) −8
(21) −13.2
(−0.9) −3.5
(−56.0) −50
(−58) −43.3
(−58)
Record low wind chill
−60.9 −59.0 −50.1 −38.3 −16.2 −7.7 0.0 −4.8 −14.5 −33.4 −46.4 −57.6 −60.9
10.3 7.1 8.2 8.3 9.5 12.1 11.2 9.4 8.4 7.4 8.0 9.7 109.7
0.74 0.56 1.9 5.9 9.2 12.1 11.2 9.4 8.1 5.3 1.3 1.0 66.7
11.7 8.4 8.0 3.7 0.78 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.56 3.0 8.5 10.9 55.4
Average relative humidity (%) (at {{{time day}}})
Source: Environment Canada[23]
DemographicsEdit
12,004 +10523.0%
25,739 +114.4%
193,653 +4.1%
Canada 2016 Census[28]
% of total population (2016)
Visible minority group
South Asian 13,335 5.5%
Chinese 7,675 3.2%
Black 5,390 2.2%
Filipino 10,870 4.5%
Latin American 1,915 0.8%
Arab 2,305 1%
Southeast Asian 2,235 0.9%
West Asian 1,170 0.5%
Korean 570 0.2%
Japanese 405 0.2%
Other visible minority 445 0.2%
Mixed visible minority 1,465 0.6%
Total visible minority population 47,780 19.8%
Aboriginal group First Nations 17,765 7.4%
Métis 12,050 5%
Inuit 130 0.1%
Total Aboriginal population 28,065 11.6%
European 168,145 69.6%
Total population 246,376 100%
Ethno-cultural Groups in Metropolitan Saskatoon, out of 222,635 (number is greater than 222,635 because many reported more than one ethnicity)[29]
Canada census – Saskatoon community profile
246,376 (10.6% from 2011) 222,189 (9.8% from 2006) 202,340 (2.8% from 2001)
228.13 km2 (88.08 sq mi) 209.56 km2 (80.91 sq mi) 170.83 km2 (65.96 sq mi)
Population density:
1,080.0/km2 (2,797/sq mi) 1,060.3/km2 (2,746/sq mi) 1,184.4/km2 (3,068/sq mi)
Median age:
35.8 (M: 34.8, F: 36.9) 35.6 (M: 34.2, F: 37.0) 35.9 (M: 34.2, F: 37.4)
Total private dwellings:
107,098 96,257 89,646
Median household income:
$79,001 $68,288 $49,313
References: 2016[30] 2011[31] 2006[32] earlier[33]
The 2016 census listed Saskatoon's population at 246,376, a 10.6 per cent increase over 2011.[34] A civic estimate at the end of 2016 had Saskatoon's population at 265,300[9] and Saskatoon's CMA population as 323,809.[10]
According to the 2006 census, 18% of the population consists of youths under the age of 15, while those over 65 constitute 13% of the population. The median age of Saskatoon residents is 35.5 years of age, four years younger than Canada as a whole.[35]
The above land area figure was provided by the City of Saskatoon in January 2006 and takes into account recent annexations up to that point. It does not include the two large annexations of land that occurred in the summer of 2010. These portions of land have been zoned under the provincial land management acts.
In terms of race, according to the 2001 census,[36] 190,120 or 85.4% of the city's population were white Canadians, 19,900 or 8.9% were Aboriginals, with less than 5% belonging to other visible minority Canadians such as Han Chinese, South Asians, etc. combined.
Located outside the city limits, Wanuskewin Heritage Park is a National Historic Site, and an archeological site. The park showcases the history of the Northern Plains peoples in the region.
Some 78.5% of Saskatoon's inhabitants profess to be Christian, mostly Protestant (40.1%) and Roman Catholic (32.5%).[37] Another 19.6% of Saskatoon's inhabitants do not profess a religious faith at all.[37] Minority faiths include Sikhism, Buddhism (0.7%), Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam (0.6%).[37]
First NationsEdit
The Saskatoon area was inhabited long before any permanent settlement was established, to which the ongoing archaeological work at Wanuskewin Heritage Park and other locations bears witness. Canada's First Nations population has been increasingly urbanized, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Saskatoon, where the First Nations population increased by 382% from 1981 to 2001;[38] however, a portion of this increase, possibly as much as half, is believed to be due to more people identifying themselves as Aboriginal in the census rather than migration or birth rate. Saskatoon has the second highest percentage of First Nations population among major Canadian cities at nearly 9%,[39] behind Winnipeg at 10.2% and Regina close by with 8%; in certain neighbourhoods such as Pleasant Hill, this percentage exceeds 40%.[citation needed] Most First Nations residents are of Cree or Dakota cultural background although to a lesser extent Saulteaux, Assiniboine, and Dene communities also exist.
Saskatoon also has a substantial Métis population and is close to the historically significant Southbranch Settlements to the north, as well as the Prairie Ronde settlement near Dundurn, Saskatchewan.
CultureEdit
Events and festivalsEdit
Saskatoon's major arts venue is TCU Place, which is next to Midtown Plaza downtown. Since opening in 1967, it has hosted scores of concerts, theatrical performances, live events such as the Telemiracle telethon, high school graduation and university convocation ceremonies, and conventions. It is also home to the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. It recently underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation to its main theatre (named in honor of former mayor and senator Sidney Buckwold). Saskatoon was the 2007 host city for the Juno Awards, Canada's foremost music industry honours.
Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan is an annual Shakespeare in the Park festivals held in Saskatoon.
For rock concerts and major shows, SaskTel Centre is the main venue. It is Saskatchewan's second largest arena, with a capacity of 15,195 for sporting events and 14,000 for concerts. Musical acts from Saskatoon include Joni Mitchell, Kyle Riabko, Wide Mouth Mason, The Northern Pikes, The Sheepdogs, and The Deep Dark Woods, as well as countless others popular at both local and regional levels.
Saskatoon hosts many festivals and events in the summer, including the Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Festival, The Great Plains Comedy Festival, the Jazz Festival, the Saskatchewan Children's Festival, the Saskatoon Fringe Theatre Festival (a showcase of alternative theatre), Saskatoon Folkfest (a cultural festival),[40] Doors Open Saskatoon and the Canada Remembers Airshow.[41]
For over 25 years, Saskatoon has hosted a gathering of antique automobiles, (mainly from the 1960s) that has grown into an event called "Cruise Weekend". The event is usually held on the last weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) in August. Activities include a poker derby, dances, and a show 'N' shine with over 800 cars from all over western Canada. No admission is charged and everyone is free to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere.
The city's annual exhibition (now called the Saskatoon Exhibition but also known in previous years as Pioneer Days and "The Ex") is held every August at Prairieland Park. In the late 1990s, the Saskatoon Exhibition was rescheduled to August so that it no longer was in direct competition with the Calgary Stampede, which frequently overlapped the event.
Saskatoon's Sikh community celebrates the festival of Vaisakhi with a parade held in May.[42]
The francophone community is represented by the Fédération des francophones de Saskatoon which organizes many cultural events.
Galleries and museumsEdit
Mendel Art Gallery is an art gallery and conservatory located on the bank of the South Saskatchewan River.
The Mendel Art Gallery was situated on the bank of the South Saskatchewan River. Its permanent collection exceeded 5,000 works of art. In 2005, it began a major renovation project that was to expand the size of the gallery by seventy percent. In September 2005, however, the City of Saskatoon announced it had entered discussions with the Mendel to the end of having the Mendel abandon its renovation/expansion project in favor of instead relocating the facility to a new arts and culture centre that is planned for the south downtown area.
The Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan constructed at River Landing, southwest of the previously constructed Remai Arts Centre, which houses the Persephone Theatre company. The Art Gallery had been built with matching contributions of $13 million from the Government of Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan. The City of Saskatoon and other key partners had also committed funding in support of the project. The total estimated costs for the Gallery, which serves as the destination centre for the River Landing project, was approximately $80.2 million.[43]
Established in 2017, Remai Modern is an art gallery located in Saskatoon's Central Business District.
The Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan is a multistory building, 80,000 square feet (7,400 m2).[44] The design for the museum won the Award of Excellence from the Canadian Architect magazine in 2011. The decision to drop the Mendel name has been controversial.[45][46][47] Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and other 20th-century artists have a home in the Remai Modern museum.[48] Opened in October 21, 2017, the Remai Modern has been listed at no. 18 in the New York Times "52 places to go in 2018: A starter kit for escaping into the world." [49]
The Saskatchewan Craft Council Gallery is on the main floor of the Saskatchewan Craft Council building in the Broadway Avenue area. It is Saskatchewan's only public exhibition gallery dedicated to fine craft as an art form. Saskatchewan Craft Council Gallery presents seven to eight exhibitions each year. The SCC Fine Craft Boutique, located in the gallery, features the work of over 75 SCC fine craft artists.
The Ukrainian Museum of Canada www.umc.sk.ca is on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River. The foremost attraction for Ukrainian culture in Saskatoon, it houses various artifacts such as textiles, tools, musical instruments, and clothing, with many pieces on display for public viewing. The Ukrainian Museum of Canada has other branches in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Toronto.
The Saskatchewan Railway Museum is a railway museum located west of the city limits.
The Meewasin Valley Centre, in Friendship Park, has information on Saskatoon's history, the South Saskatchewan River, and the future of the Meewasin Valley.[50]
Saskatoon is also home of the Saskatchewan Western Development Museum. This museum, one of four throughout the province, documents early pioneer life in Saskatchewan. It is noted for its interior recreation of a "Boom Town" main street, including one original building relocated from its original site. The Saskatchewan Railway Museum is just outside the city and includes displays of rolling stock and historic railway buildings from various parts of the province.
The Forestry Farm Park and Zoo is a National Historic Site situated in the northeast region of the city. The Forestry Farm was a historic nursery (dating from 1913) responsible for growing many of the trees planted within the prairie provinces. In 1966 the nursery operations were discontinued and part of the region turned into a municipal park. The city zoo is also housed within the park and features over 80 species of animals.[51]Wanuskewin Heritage Park is a National Historic Site situated five km to the north of Saskatoon. It is an Aboriginal archaeological site and features displays, special events, and activities, recent renovations are on hold due to a lack of funds during the renovations.
TheatresEdit
The Remai Arts Centre is a performing arts centre and home to the Saskatoon-based theatre company, the Persephone Theatre.
Live theatre is a central, vibrant part of Saskatoon's culture. Saskatoon is host to a number of live theatre venues such as the Persephone Theatre, which is in the Remai Arts Centre at River Landing in downtown Saskatoon, The Refinery and the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company.
The Broadway Theatre primarily shows arthouse films – while the two-screen Roxy Theatre is an "atmospheric-style" second-run theatre that reopened in 2005 after sitting unused for over a decade. The remainder of the city's theatres are multiplexes. The only movie theatre in the downtown core is the Scotia Bank VIP Theatre; the Capitol 4 shut down on April 3, 2008.[52] The city's other movie theatres are The Landmark Theatre in the new subdivision of Brighton, Rainbow Cinemas (a second-run cinema) and the Centre Cinemas in The Centre mall on the city's east side.
Among the many movie theatres of the past that have come and gone was the Capitol Theatre, which opened in 1929 with a showing of the first talkie to be exhibited in Saskatoon.[53] The Capitol closed in the early 1980s to make way for the Scotia Centre office tower; its name was transferred to the aforementioned Capitol 4 a block away. Saskatoon is home to a large blues/jazz community that frequents many bars and clubs known for their blues- and jazz-related acts, including Amigo's, Buds on Broadway, The Black Cat Tavern, Village Guitar & Amp Co., The Bassment, Capitol and formerly Lydia's. The Canadian rock band The Sheepdogs are from Saskatoon. Joni Mitchell calls Saskatoon her hometown. The Deep Dark Woods are from Saskatoon.
Other attractionsEdit
One of the city's landmarks is the Delta Bessborough Hotel, known to locals as the Bez. Built by the Canadian National Railway, it was among the last railway hotels to be started before the Great Depression of the 1930s brought their era to a close. Although the building was completed in 1932, it did not open its doors until 1935 due to the Depression. The Bessborough and the Mendel Art Gallery are the only major structures on the river side of Spadina Crescent. One of the most frequently circulated photographs of Saskatoon is of the hotel framed in one of the arches of the Broadway Bridge.[54]
Completed in 1932, the Delta Bessborough is a Canadian grand railway hotel, and a historical landmark in Saskatoon.
The Meewasin Valley Trail follows the South Saskatchewan River through Saskatoon. Summer activities include cycling, jogging and walking through parks and natural areas. Cross-country skiing is popular during the winter months, along with skating in Kiwanis Memorial Park. Access points are found throughout the city with interpretive signage and washrooms along the route. There are parks throughout the Meewasin Valley, with washrooms, picnic facilities, and lookout points along the river bank.[55] In the winter the Meewasin Skating Rink is open free to the public; it is in Kiwanis Memorial Park beside the Delta Bessborough hotel. The outdoor rink has been open since 1980.
For years, a parcel of land west of the Traffic Bridge, south of 19th Street, and east of Avenue C has been the subject of on-again, off-again redevelopment plans. The site formerly held the Saskatoon Arena, a power plant, a branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, and the head offices of the Saskatoon Public School Division; all these structures have been demolished to make way for redevelopment, with plans for same dating back to the 1980s. The most recent version of the plan called River Landing is ongoing.[56] Calgary developer Lake Placid has proposed a 200 million dollar mega hotel/condo project to be built on the site although Lake Placid had difficulty securing financing and missed an October 30, 2009, deadline to submit a 4.5 million dollar payment for the parcel of land which seemingly killed the deal.[57][58] On November 16, 2009, it was revealed by Lake Placid that the financing should be secure within a week.[59] In April 2010, Saskatoon City Council voted in favour of entering new negotiations with Lake Placid over the site.[60]
Located in Saskatoon's Central Business District, Midtown Plaza is one of several shopping centres in the city.
The Saskatoon Farmers' Market and some commercial sites have also been developed. Future plans separate from Lake Placid include the development of a new art gallery to replace the Mendel Art Gallery by 2014.[61] Other landmarks in the city include the iconic Traffic Bridge (which was demolished in 2016 and is currently being replaced by a new structure evoking the appearance of the original), the University of Saskatchewan campus, and the large Viterra grain terminal which has dominated the western skyline of the city for decades and is large enough to be visible from Pike Lake Provincial Park 32 km away.
Shopping centresEdit
Main article: List of shopping malls in Saskatoon
Blairmore Shopping Centre
Confederation Mall
Erindale Centre/University Heights Mall
The Mall at Lawson Heights
Market Mall
Midtown Plaza
Preston Crossing
River City Mall
Scotia Centre Mall
Stonegate Shopping Centre (in Stonebridge)
This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2010)
Main article: Economy of Saskatoon
Headquarters for Cameco, the world's largest publicly traded uranium company. Saskatoon's economy has traditionally been associated with the primary sector of the economy.
The economy of Saskatoon has been associated with potash, oil and agriculture (specifically wheat), resulting in the moniker "POW City".[62] Various grains, livestock, oil and gas, potash, uranium, gold, diamond, coal and their spin off industries fuel the economy.[63][64] The world's largest publicly traded uranium company, Cameco, and the world's largest potash producer, Nutrien, have corporate headquarters in Saskatoon. Saskatoon is also the new home of BHP Billiton's Diamonds and Specialty Products business unit.
Nearly two-thirds of the world's recoverable potash reserves are in the Saskatoon region.[7] Innovation Place founded in 1980 brings together almost 150 agriculture, information technology, and environmental, life sciences and agricultural biotechnology industries in a science park or technology park setting.[65] Saskatoon is also home to the Canadian Light Source, Canada's national synchrotron facility.[66]
Saskatoon’s digital media scene is growing with start-up tech companies such as Noodlecake, Point2, Vendasta Technologies, and Zu.[67]
One of Saskatoon's nicknames, "Hub City", refers to its ideal central location within Canada for distribution and logistics.[62] Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport with 105,620 aircraft movements in 2008 was listed as the 19th busiest airport in Canada, 12th busiest in passenger traffic.[68][69]
Saskatoon is developing the South Central Business District, or block 146, which is called the River Landing Project.[70][71][72] Long range planning is underway for an expected city population of 325,000 by 2028 (2011 MXD report).[73]
Saskatoon was expected to see a 4.2 percent growth in gross domestic product for the year 2012.[63] The city saw a 3.4% growth in 2004, 5.1% increase in 2005 and a 2.8% increase in 2006. Saskatoon held Canada's No. 1 economic growth spot for Canada in 2005 according to the Conference Board of Canada.[74][75] The Conference Board again predicted the city would rate first for economic increase in 2012, showing a growth rate of 4.2%. The Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA) has also been ranked amongst Canada's top ten economic development organizations by Site Selection magazine.[76]
InfrastructureEdit
Health careEdit
The Saskatchewan Health Authority is responsible for health care delivery in the area. They operate three hospitals within the city boundaries, these include Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon City Hospital, and St. Paul's Hospital (Saskatoon). Royal University Hospital is a teaching and research hospital that operates in partnership with the University of Saskatchewan. The health authority also operates hospitals in smaller neighbouring communities.[77] In addition to hospitals the health authority operates long-term care facilities, clinics and other health care services. Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital began construction in 2014 and is expected to open in 2019 under the Saskatoon Health Region.[78][79]
PolicingEdit
Headquarters for the Saskatoon Police Service. The service provides municipal policing for the city.
The Saskatoon Police Service is the primary police service for the city of Saskatoon and holds both Municipal and Provincial Jurisdiction. The following services also have jurisdiction in Saskatoon: Corman Park Police Service, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian National Railway Police Service and the Canadian Pacific Railway Police Service. As of December 31, 2012, the SPS had 442 sworn members, 59 Special Constables, and 136 civilian positions.[80]
CrimeEdit
The 2006 census crime data, released July 18, 2007, showed Saskatoon leading Canada in violent crime, with 1,606 violent crimes per 100,000 residents annually. However, crime statistics produced by the Saskatoon Police Service shows that crime is on the decline. In 2010, total crimes against people went up 1.28% and total crimes against property fell by 11.75%.[81]
There were accusations in the early 1990s that the Saskatoon police were engaging in starlight tours, where officers would arrest Aboriginal men and drive them out of the city in the dead of winter to abandon them. The majority of the accusations turned out to be true; however, several starlight tours cases lacked evidence.[82][83]
Broadway Bridge is one of several bridges that crosses over the South Saskatchewan River.
Saskatoon is on the Yellowhead Highway spur of the Trans-Canada Highway system, also known as Highway 16, which connects Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia. Highways 5, 7, 11, 12, 14, 41, 219, 684, and 762 all meet at Saskatoon, with Highway 60 terminating just outside the southwestern city limits. The following bridges cross the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon (in order from upstream):
Grand Trunk Bridge (rail)
Gordie Howe Bridge
Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge
Traffic Bridge
Broadway Bridge
University Bridge
CPR Bridge (rail)
Circle Drive Bridge
Chief Mistawasis Bridge
Construction of Saskatoon's ring road, Circle Drive, began in the mid-1960s (after first being proposed in 1913), and was completed on July 31, 2013 with the opening of the $300-million South Circle Drive project.[84]
The Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport is the international airport for the Saskatoon metropolitan area.
The Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian National Railway have connections to Saskatoon. Both railways operate intermodal facilities and trans-load centres; while Canadian National Railway also operates an automotive transfer facility.[85] Saskatoon is a stop on The Canadian passenger transcontinental rail route operated by Via Rail. The Saskatoon railway station is in the city's west end; it opened in the late 1960s as a replacement for Saskatoon's original main station which was on 1st Avenue downtown—the relocation of the station sparked a major redevelopment of the downtown that included the construction of the Midtown Plaza, TCU Place (aka Centennial Auditorium) and other developments. The many provincial transportation connections and geographic location of Saskatoon give it one of its nicknames The Hub City. The Saskatchewan Railway Museum is just outside the city. Recent debates about moving all the railways out of the city are raising questions about a future LRT system, but the city's Mayor says the population is too small.[86]
Saskatoon/John G. Diefenbaker International Airport, located in the city's northwest, provides scheduled and charter airline service for the city, and is a significant hub for mining and remote locations in Northern Saskatchewan. Non-stop scheduled destinations include Calgary, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Ottawa, Prince Albert, Regina, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg. Seasonal and Charter service is provided to Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Phoenix and Churchill, MB. Air Canada, Westjet and Purolator Courier all have cargo facilities at the airport. Saskatoon/Corman Air Park is a general aviation airport 15 km southeast of Saskatoon.
Transit services in Saskatoon are provided by Saskatoon Transit. The route system was revamped on July 2, 2006, creating increased access to most parts of the city. An up-to-date schedule is posted at Saskatoon Transit Route & Schedule Adjustments.[87] Saskatoon was serviced by Greyhound Canada for inter-provincial bus service between Manitoba and Alberta until Greyhound discontinued service on October 31, 2018.[88]
The Peter MacKinnon Building at the University of Saskatchewan. A National Historic Site, the building represents an example of early-20th century Collegiate Gothic designs.
Saskatoon has a number of higher education institutions:
St. Thomas More College is a Catholic federated college of the University of Saskatchewan. Affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan are the Lutheran Theological Seminary, College of Emmanuel and St. Chad (Anglican Church of Canada), and St. Andrew's College (United Church of Canada). All three are on the university campus.
The First Nations University of Canada – Saskatoon campus.
Saskatchewan Polytechnic
Gabriel Dumont Institute
Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies
Saskatoon has 78 elementary schools and 14 high schools, serving about 37,000 students. Saskatoon has three main school boards, the Saskatoon Public School Division, the Saskatoon Catholic School Division and the Conseil des Ecoles Fransaskoises.
The western annexation of what is now called the Blairmore SDA also brought the Yarrow Youth Farm within the city limits; operated by the Province of Saskatchewan, this was a correction facility for at-risk youth. The facility was subsequently closed in March 2015 and the land, located within the under-development Kensington community, was out up for sale the following autumn.[89]
Sports and recreationEdit
Further information: List of sports teams in Saskatoon
SaskTel Centre is a multi-purpose arena, home to the WHL's Saskatoon Blades and the NLL's Saskatchewan Rush.
Ice hockey is one of the most popular sports in Saskatoon and is home to numerous amateur teams such as the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL, who host their games in SaskTel Centre (formerly known as Credit Union Centre and Saskatchewan Place). Saskatoon is also home to amateur teams at the Junior B and Midget AAA levels, as well as several youth teams. Saskatoon was a major league hockey city from 1921 to 1926 when the WCHL/WHL Sheiks/Crescents played. They made it as far as the league semi-finals twice, not far enough to challenge for the Stanley Cup.
The biggest chance for a return of major professional hockey came in 1982. Bill Hunter, a local sports promoter, attempted to purchase the St. Louis Blues of the NHL and move it to Saskatoon, but the move was prevented by the league. This was due to Saskatchewan's and especially Saskatoon's small size in relation to both St. Louis and the other cities in the NHL at the time. However, it did cause the building of the Credit Union Centre, on the city's northern edge. Prior to hosting the 2010 World Junior Hockey tournament, the arena underwent a major expansion which increased seating capacity to approximately 15,000 and also created several new box suites.
Starting in 2016, the Saskatchewan Rush played in the National Lacrosse League after moving from Edmonton. The Saskatchewan Rush won the league Championship against the Buffalo Bandits that same year.
Griffiths Stadium is an outdoor stadium used primarily by the University of Saskatchewan's varsity teams, the Huskies.
Canadian football is one of the most successful on field sports in Saskatoon. The University of Saskatchewan Huskies are one of the top University football programs in Canada, with three Vanier Cup national championships and 19 Hardy Trophy Canada West championships. The Huskies have made nine Vanier Cup appearances since 1990, and were the first team from outside of Ontario to host the Vanier Cup, hosting the game in 2006. As well, the Saskatoon Hilltops of the Canadian Junior Football League host their games at Gordie Howe Bowl. The Hilltops have won 19 national junior championships throughout their history.
The University of Saskatchewan Huskies play Canadian Interuniversity Sport league games at the University Campus. Their facilities include 6,171 seat Griffiths Stadium, 700 seat Rutherford Arena, and the state-of-the-art Physical Activity Complex, opened August 2003 in conjunction with the new College of Kinesiology Building. The Huskies participate in twelve sports at the CIS level and have been most successful in football (Conference champions 18 times/National champions 3 times),[90] men's volleyball (Conference champions 11 times/National champions 4 times)[91] women's basketball National Champions once and men's and women's Track and Field(Conference champions 37 times/ National champions 12 times).[92] Saskatoon is also currently constructing a new arena to be home of the university hockey team. This complex will consist of two areas and a hard court surface for indoor sports events such as soccer. The area is being constructed on the university campus.
The Saskatchewan International Raceway is a drag racing facility located outside the city limits. The facility features a ¼ mile NHRA-sanctioned dragstrip.
In 2007, two new sports teams came into being in Saskatoon, the Saskatchewan SWAT of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League and the Saskatoon Accelerators in the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League. The Accelerators play at the Kinsmen/Henk Ruys Soccer Centre, while the SWAT play at the Gordie Howe Kinsmen Arena. There are currently no baseball teams in Saskatoon. In the past there have been various teams including the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets, Saskatoon Riot, Saskatoon Smokin' Guns, Saskatoon Stallions, and the Saskatoon Legends.
Motor racing is a popular sport in Saskatoon. Saskatchewan International Raceway has been in operation for over 40 years; SIR is home to 1/4 mile NHRA drag racing and holds racing events from May to September. As well, just north of the city lies Wyant Group Raceway; the track is home to local stock car racing, as well as races for several different Western Canadian series. In 2009, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series make its inaugural stop at Wyant Group Raceway, Formerly known as Auto Clearing Motor Speedway, signaling a move to a larger profile track in Saskatoon. Marquis Downs at Prairieland Park offers live horse racing from May to October.
The city also is home to a number of sports and recreation centres, including two full size soccer facilities under the control of the non-profit Saskatoon Soccer Centre organization. The Kinsmen/Henk Ruys Soccer Centre is composed of four sport court indoor fields and the SaskTel Sports Centre hosts two full sized outdoor turf fields, one indoor full sized turf field, one indoor half sized turf field, and one sport court field. Lions Skatepark was built in the Riversdale area in 2003. As well Saskatoon is home to several golf courses and various parks which include tennis courts, ball diamonds and soccer pitches for spring, summer and fall use and outdoor rinks for winter use. Blackstrap Ski Hill is also 30 minutes south of the city, however, has been closed since 2006 due to financial difficulty.
The Crown in SaskatoonEdit
Main article: Crown in Saskatoon
The Royal University Hospital is one of four institutions in Saskatoon that was designated with royal status from the Canadian monarchy. The hospital received royal status from Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.
Saskatoon has welcomed members of the Royal Family since 1919. The Queen most recently visited for a gala concert at Credit Union Centre, before a live audience of 12,000 and television viewers nationwide in 2005. The Queen was presented with the key to the city on the same visit, after touring the Canadian Light Source synchrotron and greeting thousands of well-wishers on a walkabout at the University of Saskatchewan (the Queen traditionally stays at the on-campus residence of the President of the University of Saskatchewan when she visits the city). Sovereigns and consorts who have visited include Edward VIII as Prince of Wales in 1919, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939, and Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, as Princess Elizabeth in 1951 and afterwards as Queen in 1959, 1978, 1987 and 2005.
Other members of the Royal Family who have visited include Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon in 1980, the Prince of Wales (Charles) in 2001, the Princess Anne in 1982 and (as Princess Royal) in 2004, the Duke and Duchess of York (Andrew and Sarah) in 1989, and the Prince Edward in 1978. Governors General and Lieutenant Governors also pay regular visits to Saskatoon. Saskatonian Ray Hnatyshyn is credited with popularising his office as Governor General from 1990 to 1995. Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governors Barnhart, Fedoruk, McNab, Monroe, Porteous and Worobetz were all former residents of Saskatoon.
Connections to the crown include the royal namesakes of about one hundred neighbourhoods, parks, streets, schools and other places. These include King George, Queen Elizabeth and Massey Place neighbourhoods, and Victoria, Coronation and Princess Diana parks. It was at one time considered that Saskatoon's Broadway Bridge would be renamed George V Bridge.[93] Landmarks and institutions also have connections and these include the Royal University Hospital, one of four royal designations in Saskatchewan. Grade schools named for royals include Ecole Victoria School, King George School, Queen Elizabeth School, Prince Philip School and Princess Alexandra School.
Existing and historic hotels with royal namesakes include the King George Hotel which has been recently converted to ultra-luxury condominiums, the King Edward Hotel, the Queen's Hotel and the Patricia Hotel. The Hotel Bessborough was named for a Canadian Governor General who visited the landmark under construction in the 1930s. The Queen Elizabeth Power Station is within the city and named after Queen Elizabeth. The Prince of Wales Promenade along the South Saskatchewan River is a focal point on the riverfront trails. In 2002, 378 Saskatoon residents were presented with Canada's Golden Jubilee Medal by vice-regals to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.[94]
MediaEdit
Main article: Media in Saskatoon
Main article: List of people from Saskatoon
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^ "U of S Huskie Athletics – Volleyball". Huskies.usask.ca. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
^ "U of S Huskie Athletics – Track & Field". Huskies.usask.ca. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
^ Key to Landmarks Archived December 27, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
^ Government House Canadian Honours database Archived February 7, 2008, at Archive-It
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saskatoon.
Look up saskatoon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Saskatoon.
^ Provincial Gazette
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saskatoon&oldid=906836607"
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This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2016)
Original band members.
A-180, Audio A (1986–1990)
Grayson, Kentucky
Christian rock, alternative rock, contemporary Christian music
ForeFront, Fair Trade
Know Hope Collective, Stellar Kart
www.audioa.com
Adam Agee
Dave Stovall
Brandon Bagby
Jason Walker
Dave Ghazarian
Mark Stuart
Tyler Burkum
Ben Cissell
Brian Whitman
Bob Herdman
Barry Blair
Phil Vaughan
Jonathan Schneck
Ron Gibson
Kevin Max
Jared Byers
Will McGinniss
Dwayne Larring
Josh Engler
Audio Adrenaline is an American Christian rock band that formed in 1986 at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky. The band gained recognition during the 1990s and received two Grammy Awards and multiple Dove Awards.[1] Audio Adrenaline were regular performers at the annual Creation Festival, Spirit West Coast festival, Agape Music Festival, and Alive Festival. In 2006, the group disbanded due to lead singer Mark Stuart's spasmodic dysphonia. During this time, they released eight studio albums.
After a six-year hiatus, the band reformed in 2012 with only bassist Will McGinniss returning from the original line-up. The new Audio Adrenaline was fronted by Kevin Max, formerly of DC Talk, as the new lead vocalist. This new line-up released a new studio album titled Kings & Queens in March 12, 2013. In June 2014, Max stepped down as lead singer of the band. He was replaced by Josh Engler, a former member of the band Abandon until February 2015 when Adam Agee of Stellar Kart was offered and accepted the role.
In 2015, McGinniss departed from the band, leaving no original members left in the lineup. The first single of the new Audio Adrenaline was released in 2015 under the title "Love Was Stronger". It was included in their tenth studio album titled Sound of the Saints.[2]
1.1 1986–1990: Formation as A-180
1.2 1990–1993: Record deal with ForeFront and first albums
1.3 1994–1999: Maturity and success
1.4 2000–2005: Last albums with original members
1.5 2006–2012: Retirement and other projects
1.6 2012–present: Reformation and new singers
2 Band members
3 Other projects
4 Discography
4.1 Tapes (A-180)
4.2 Albums
4.3 Live albums
4.4 Videography
4.5 Compilations
4.7 Music videos
5.1 Grammy Awards
5.2 GMA Dove Awards
1986–1990: Formation as A-180[edit]
The band was formed as A-180 in 1986 by Mark Stuart (lead vocals), Barry Blair (guitars), Will McGinniss (bass), David Stuart (keyboards), and Phil Vaughan (drums), who all attended Kentucky Christian University. The band went on hiatus the following year when Mark traveled to Haiti for a semester. Upon Mark's return to Kentucky, the band reformed with Ron Gibson on drums. They became a popular local band, booked by the school nearly every weekend and traveling as far west as Texas, north to Chicago, and south to Florida. The band did over 100 shows during this time and recorded two independent releases under the name A-180. The first was You Turn in 1989 and Reaper's Train in 1990. Reaper's Train featured the original version of the song "DC-10", which would later be included on the first Audio Adrenaline release.
The band's big break would come upon meeting Bob Herdman. Herdman approached A-180 with two songs he had written, one of them called "My God", and asked A-180 to record it. The song was described in a CCM Magazine article as "a curious marriage of heavy metal and rap". After the song was recorded at Landmark Recording Studio, in Ohio, A-180 asked Herdman to join them as their songwriter. As a result, Herdman also started to learn to play keyboards and guitar. The demo tape of "My God" was sent to radio stations and quickly scaled the charts. Following this, the song caught the attention of Toby McKeehan (from dc Talk), who brought it to the executives at ForeFront Records. The label decided to offer a record deal to A-180 but had them change their name to Audio Adrenaline[3] a name that Herdman had come up with previously.[4]
1990–1993: Record deal with ForeFront and first albums[edit]
After signing their deal with Forefront, the band started writing and recording demo songs similar to "My God" for the first album. The band has described this period as one of adaptation and experimentation since ForeFront wanted a hip-hop act. As a result, Dave Stuart and Ron Gibson left the band. Singer Mark Stuart said in an interview "We had no idea what we were doing. Forefront signed us to do this rap/metal stuff, and we only had one song" while original guitarist Barry Blair said "We thought 'If they liked My God, we'll send them more songs like that." Blair added that it was a "big, long process of getting to where we are now, of creating music we like, not music we think is what they [ForeFront] would like."[3]
The band's first Forefront album was the self-titled Audio Adrenaline, released in 1992. Filled with drum machine beats, rap and hip-hop it eventually went out of print. It included "DC-10", the only track from the original A-180 recordings (live drums) and was well received selling 75,000 copies.[3] However, the band wasn't happy with the end result. Blair was quoted as saying:
If it was up to me, I would burn them all, make them disappear. It did well, it sold 75,000 units. But a lot of people don't understand. It is more than about it being a good record. It's about it being a true representation of us. There is nothing personal about that record.
— Barry Blair, CCM Magazine[3]
The follow-up album, Don't Censor Me, came the next year and featured what is considered the biggest hit of the band, "Big House". The album sold 250,000 copies and launched the band into stardom. The album also includes the song "We're a Band", which remained one of their live staples. Next the band released a live album titled Live Bootleg.
Although Don't Censor Me leaned more towards rock, the band still wasn't happy. Stuart said of the songs "there are really only a few songs I love to play live. I like to do 'Big House,' 'We're a Band' and 'Scum Sweetheart.'" On the other hand, most of the band members disliked "Jesus and the California Kid" which Stuart referred to as "pure agony". Still, the album earned them their first Dove Award for Long Form Music Video of the Year for "Big House", as well as a Billboard Music Award Nomination.
1994–1999: Maturity and success[edit]
As a result of the success of Don't Censor Me, Audio Adrenaline went on tour opening for DC Talk on the Free at Last Tour and Newsboys' Going Public Tour. However, on interviews the band expressed their interest to grow beyond the shadow of their musical counterparts.
Up until this point it's been great to be in their shadow. It's a great shadow to be in. But at a certain level it really does need to change to be where we grow into our own. We deal with this a lot with the record label. When you are on a record label with one of the [fastest-rising] Christian bands of all time, you are always going to be in the shadow. We would like to be recognized as Audio Adrenaline instead of 'the band that opens for DC Talk.
— Mark Stuart, CCM Magazine[3]
In 1996, their third studio album, Bloom, was released. The album featured the band returning to their original rock roots, as opposed to their experiments with rap music. Many reviewers praised the band's decision to change and referred to the album as showcasing the maturity in the band members.[5]
Bloom was a huge hit becoming (in 1999) the only album of the band to be certified gold by RIAA. It also marked guitarist Blair's final album, who decided to become a music producer. In a 2015 interview with Breathecast, Blair talked about his reasons to leave citing his love of "the creative part of writing, recording, being in the studio, putting songs together" as the main factor. In the interview, he refers to the Bloom album as something he was "exceptionally proud of", and how he knew he was creating something that had "meaning and will touch people". Blair also added how his interest started to move away from the touring aspect until he "decided to make the jump to see if I can sink or swim as a producer".[6]
With Blair gone, Audio Adrenaline needed a new guitarist. They found a temporary fill-in with Brian McSweeney (from Seven Day Jesus),[7] but he decided to stay with his full-time act. They then turned the guitars over to Tyler Burkum, who joined the band at only 17 years of age, just in time to record some guitars on the band's next album, Some Kind of Zombie. The album, released in 1997, included a song from Barry Blair and was the first to feature Ben Cissell as the band's full-time drummer, though Cissell had played percussion on their previous album.
In 1999, the band released Underdog, its fifth studio album. Songwriter Bob Herdman called the album "more fun" than the previous one, while bassist Will McGinniss said how they wanted to "explore more artistically", while merging "ideas from the last three records".[8] The album includes a remake of the band's own "DC-10", which was originally featured in their first album, but this time using a swing style. The album was well received by critics, while peaking at #76 on Billboard.[9] After the release, the band also opened for dc Talk on the Jesus Freak World Tour.
2000–2005: Last albums with original members[edit]
After a short break, Audio Adrenaline released their first greatest hits compilation, Hit Parade, in March 2001. Included in the album are three of their most popular songs, "Big House", "Hands and Feet", and the live staple "We're A Band", as well as a song with The O.C. Supertones, "Blitz", from the album Some Kind of Zombie. It was at this time that Herdman left the band to become president of a new record label, Flicker Records, which he co-founded along with Stuart and McGinniss.
In November 2001, the band released a new studio album, Lift which several critics have classified as the band's best.[10][11] Lift also marked the first time that guitarist Burkum shared lead vocals with Stuart. The band then followed with their ninth album, Worldwide, released in 2003. Worldwide went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album in 2004, the first of two Grammys for the band. In 2004, the band, along with Herdman, founded a project in Haiti called the Hands and Feet Project, in which the band built an orphanage for children.
The band's tenth studio album, Until My Heart Caves In, was released on August 30, 2005. The album featured most of the lead vocals by Burkum, with only a few sung by Stuart. Until My Heart Caves In received another Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album in 2006. "Clap Your Hands" was also played on ESPN with football game highlights.
2006–2012: Retirement and other projects[edit]
On January 18, 2006, Audio Adrenaline announced that they were retiring from active music ministry and cited Stuart's "ongoing vocal challenges" stemming from vocal cord damage as the primary factor.[12] On July 27, 2006, the band played at the popular Christian music Creation Festival, where they had performed every year since the group formed, for the last time with their original lineup. On August 1, 2006, they released their final compilation album, Adios: The Greatest Hits, a farewell album containing two new tracks as well as a selection of the band's greatest hits to date.
For their final national tour in early 2007, Audio Adrenaline opened for MercyMe on their "Coming Up to Breathe Tour". The band performed their last live concert on April 28, 2007, at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu, Hawaii. Their final project, which was released on August 28, 2007, is a live CD–DVD combo entitled Live From Hawaii: The Farewell Concert. The album earned two nominations at the 39th GMA Dove Awards, winning Long Form Music Video of the Year. The group's reunion performance was at Easterfest '09 in Queens Park, Toowoomba, Australia.[13]
After the band's retirement, their members dedicated their time to other projects. Mark Stuart and Will McGinniss started a project called Know Hope Collective, which features a changing group of musicians singing worship songs and presenting testimonies.[14] They both have also been working extensively with The Hands and Feet Project in Haiti. Tyler Burkum has been playing for several bands and as a session musician. He also started his own band called The Leagues. Ben Cissell ran a skate club/youth ministry venue called Rocketttown, and then started pursuing film work.[15] Finally, Bob Herdman has been working as a Project Manager for several companies in the Nashville area.[16]
2012–present: Reformation and new singers[edit]
In 2012, former members Stuart and McGinniss, along with the band's new manager Wes Campbell, decided to re-launch the band with a new line-up.[17] According to them, one of their options was to ask Kevin Max, formerly of DC Talk, to be the new lead vocalist. Max, who had worked with Audio Adrenaline previously, said it was "a no-brainer" for him when they approached him.
I'm just really super excited. These are guys I look up to ... The only [question] that I had in the whole scenario was: 'What's this going to be like musically?'
— Kevin Max, Billboard[15]
In addition to Max as the new lead vocalist, the band also added Dave Ghazarian of Superchick on the guitar, Jared Byers of Bleach on the drums, Jason Walker on the keyboard, and McGinniss on bass. Former singer Stuart remained as producer and songwriter. On March 3, 2013, Audio Adrenaline released Kings and Queens.[18] The album peaked at No. 70 on the Billboard 200 chart,[19] and No. 4 on the Christian Albums chart.[20] Aside of its chart performance, Kings & Queens received praise from critics who referred to it as "possibly the greatest comeback project in Christian music today" and a "fresh album that will keep both old and new fans alike".
In 2013, Dave Ghazarian and Jason Walker left the band, and were replaced by Dwayne Larring formerly of Sonicflood. In June 2014, Kevin Max also stepped down as lead vocalist. In an interview with Jesus Freak Hideout, Max said the decision was "amicable" and cited a difference of opinion in terms of the band's musical future as the reason for his departure. According to Max, the band's management wanted to move the band towards a more "worship music mode", even becoming the house band for the Acquire the Fire events, whereas he was more interested in a more "alternative or indie pop rock" style.
I felt like I didn't really fit the worship music leader mode and they agreed ... It became pretty apparent that we were on separate paths when it came to musicality and creativity ... To add to that, I wanted to push the envelope with the band musically. I wanted to create art on the level of The Killers, Switchfoot, Coldplay, U2, etc. I think that eventually, the band was at a place where it needed to evolve. Management decided to go a different direction... I had to be honest and realize that I probably didn't fit what they wanted to do.
— Kevin Max, JesusFreakHideout[21]
Max was temporarily replaced by Josh Engler from Abandon who transitioned in taking on vocal duties.[2] In February 2015, drummer Jared Byers left the band to pursue other interests, but was followed by Dwayne Larring, Engler and founder Will McGinniss.[22] McGinniss wrote a statement in which he called the last years "an incredible blast and honor", but cited his desire to work more fully with the Hands & Feet Project as his reason to leave the band.[23]
On February 10, 2015, Adam Agee, lead singer of Christian rock band Stellar Kart announced that he would assume the role of lead singer for the band along with guitarist Brandon Bagby to replace Larring, bassist Dave Stovall to replace McGinniss, and drummer Jack Campbell to replace Byers.[23] They also released "Love Was Stronger" on February 10, 2015 off the album, Sound of the Saints.[citation needed]
Band members[edit]
Adam Agee – lead vocals (2015–present, former lead vocalist of Stellar Kart)
Dave Stovall – bass guitar, vocals (2015–present, current lead vocalist of Wavorly)
Jack Campbell – drums (2015–present)
Brandon Bagby – guitar, vocals (2015–present, former touring member of Plumb and Seventh Day Slumber)
Mark Stuart – lead vocals, guitar (1986–2007, founding member A-180/Audio A)
Dave Stuart – keyboards, vocals (1986, 1991, founding member A-180/Audio A)
Phil Vaughan — drums (1986-1988 - founding member A-180)
Ron Gibson – drums (1988–1991 – drummer for A-180 & founding member/original Audio A drummer)
Bob Herdman – keyboard, guitar, vocals (1991–2001, founding member of Audio A)
Barry Blair – guitar, vocals (1986–1996, founding member A-180/Audio A)
Ben Cissell – drums (1995–2007)
Tyler Burkum – guitar, vocals, keyboard (1997–2007)
Dave Ghazarian – guitar (2012–2013)
Jason Walker – keyboards, vocals, guitar (2012–2013)
Kevin Max – lead vocals (2012–2014, former member of dc Talk)
Jared Byers – drums, vocals (2012–2015, former member of Bleach and Relient K)
Josh Engler – lead vocals, keyboard (2014–2015, former member of Abandon)
Dwayne Larring – guitar, vocals (2013–2015, former member of Sonicflood and Kelly Clarkson)
Will McGinniss – vocals, bass guitar (1986–2007, 2012–2015, founding member A-180/Audio A)
Touring musicians
Brian Hayes – drums (1993–1995)
Jon Knox – drums (1995 replacing Brian Hayes on various dates before Ben Cissell joined)[citation needed]
Brian Whitman – guitar, vocals (2005–2007)
David Stuart – keyboard, vocals (1986–1991 You Turn and Reaper's Train)
Ron Gibson – drums (1988–1991: You Turn and Reaper's Train drums on original "DC-10")
Jonathan Schneck – backup guitar, backing vocals (2003–2005, Now with Relient K)
Brian McSweeney – guitar, vocals (1996–97, replacing Barry Blair; 2007, filled in for Tyler Burkum for final shows)
Jared Byers – drums (2007, filled in for Ben Cissell for final shows)[7]
Mike Biddle – keyboards, backing vocals (2009)
Other projects[edit]
On September 1, 2003, the band released its first book Dirty Faith: Becoming the Hands and Feet of Jesus, with Think Books. Co-written with Mark Matlock, the book discusses reaching out to the needy and features an organization called Mission Year.
In 2003, Mark Stuart was involved in !Hero the Rock opera, playing Petrov. !Hero was a modern adaption of the story of Christ. Also involved in this production were then-dc Talk band member Michael Tait (presently the frontman of the Newsboys) as HERO, CCM pop vocalist Rebecca St. James as Maggie, Skillet's John Cooper as Kai, the chief Rabbi, and rapper T-Bone as Jairus.
On September 5, 2006, the band released Hands & Feet: Inspiring Stories and Firsthand Accounts of God Changing Lives, with Regal Books. It takes the reader on a journey to Haiti with the band as they build houses for the children there. The reader also meets Drex and Jo Stuart, the parents of frontman Mark Stuart. The book gives an explanation of life in one of the poorest nations on earth. It also tells of the band's building of The Hands and Feet Project (an orphanage for poor, hungry children).
in 2007, Stuart and Will McGinniss launched a post-retirement speaking venture titled "Audio Unplugged" (also known as "Audio Talks") and offer "a night of encouragement, testimonies, Audio A classics and worship."[24]
Discography[edit]
Tapes (A-180)[edit]
1989 You Turn Landmark Recording Studio
1990 Reaper's Train Landmark Recording Studio
Albums[edit]
Lead vocals
Peak chart positions
(sales thresholds)
1992 Audio Adrenaline
Label: Forefront Records
Mark Stuart — —
75,000[3]
1993 Don't Censor Me
Released: October 1, 1993
250,000[3]
1996 Bloom
US: Gold[26]
1997 Some Kind of Zombie
1999 Underdog
Released: September 14, 1999
2001 Lift
Tyler Burkum 169 12
2003 Worldwide
2005 Until My Heart Caves In
Released: August 30, 2005
2013 Kings & Queens
Released: March 12, 2013
Label: Fair Trade Services
Kevin Max 70 4
2015 Sound of the Saints
Released: May 5, 2015
Adam Agee 69 1
"—" denotes the album failed to chart or was not released.
Live albums[edit]
1995 Live Bootleg ForeFront
2007 Live From Hawaii: The Farewell Concert ForeFront
Videography[edit]
1995 Big House ForeFront
2001 Audio Goes Video ForeFront
2002 Lift DVD ForeFront
2003 Alive DVD ForeFront
2006 Adios: The Greatest Hits (Special Edition CD/DVD) ForeFront
2007 Live From Hawaii: The Farewell Concert CD/DVD ForeFront
Compilations[edit]
Record label(s)
2001 Hit Parade ForeFront
2006 Adios: The Greatest Hits ForeFront
2008 Greatest Hits ForeFront/EMD
2009 The Ultimate Collection Chordant
2013 Big House to Ocean Floor ForeFront
Singles[edit]
Christian peak chart positions
1991 "My God" — — — — — — 5 Audio Adrenaline
1992 "Who Do You Love?" — — — — 13 — —
"Audio World" — — — — 16 — —
1994 "My World View"
(featuring Kevin Max of dc Talk) — — — 33 3 — — Don't Censor Me
"We're a Band" — — — — — 3 —
"Big House" — — — — 1 14 —
"Can't Take God Away — — — — 1 — —
"Rest Easy" — — — — 10 — —
"Don't Censor Me" — — — — — 18 —
1995 "A.K.A. Public School" — — — — 14 — —
"Righteous Rocker #3" — — — — — 1 — One Way: The Songs of
Larry Norman
1996 "Never Gonna Be as Big as Jesus" — — — — 3 — — Bloom
"Secret" — — — — — 1 —
"Walk on Water" — — — 38 1 — —
"I'm Not the King" — — — — — 1 —
"Good People" — — — — 3 — —
1997 "Free Ride" — — — — 9 2 —
"Man of God" — — — — 2 — —
"Some Kind of Zombie" — — — — — 1 — Some Kind of Zombie
"People Like Me" — — — — 1 4 —
1998 "Blitz" — — — — 25 1 —
"Chevette" — — — — 5 1 —
"God-Shaped Hole" — — — — 17 — —
1999 "New Body" — — — — 11 2 —
"Get Down" — — — — 1 7 — Underdog
"Hands and Feet" — — — 7 1 6 —
2000 "Underdog" — — — — — 5 —
"Good Life" — — — — 3 — —
2001 "Mighty Good Leader" — — — — — 14 —
"One Like You" — — — — 2 — — Hit Parade
"Will Not Fade" — — — — — 2 —
"Beautiful" — — — — 1 — — Lift
"Lonely Man" — — — — — 1 —
2002 "Rejoice" — — — — 2 — —
2003 "Dirty"/"Ocean Floor" — — — — 2 — — Worldwide
"Pierced" 12 — — 14 — — —
"Church Punks" — — — — — 9 —
"Strong" — — — — — — —
"Worldwide" — — — — — 30 —
2004 "Leaving 99" 5 — — 3 1 — —
"Miracle" — — — — 9 — —
2005 "Start a Fire" — — — — — — —
"King" 17 — — 18 17 — — Until My Heart Caves In
"Undefeated" — — — — — 19 —
"Starting Over" — — — — — — —
"Melody (Lost Inside the Wonder)" — — — — — — —
2006 "Goodbye" — — — — 29 — — Adios: The Greatest Hits
2012 "Kings & Queens" 4 — 11 7 4 — — Kings & Queens
2013 "Believer" 19 — — 23 — — —
"King of the Comebacks" — — — — — 22 —
2014 "He Moves You Move" — 49 — — 22 — —
2015 "Love Was Stronger" — 33 — — — — — Sound of the Saints
"Move" — — — — — — —
"—" denotes singles that did not chart.
Music videos[edit]
"PDA" (Audio Adrenaline, 1992)
"AKA Public School" (Don't Censor Me, 1993)
"Big House" (Don't Censor Me, 1994)
"We're a Band" (Don't Censor Me, 1994)
"Never Gonna Be As Big As Jesus" (Bloom, 1996)
"Free Ride" (Bloom, 1996)
"Some Kind of Zombie" (Some Kind of Zombie", 1997)
"Blitz (featuring The O.C. Supertones)" (Some Kind of Zombie, 1998)
"Get Down" (Underdog, 1999)
"Hands and Feet" (Underdog, 2000)
"Ocean Floor" (Lift", 2001)
"Rejoice" (Lift, 2002)
"Church Punks (live)" (Worldwide, 2003)
"Leaving 99 (live)" (Worldwide, 2003)
"Kings & Queens" (Kings & Queens, 2012)
"Believer" (Kings & Queens, 2013)
Grammy Awards[edit]
Best Rock Gospel Album (Bloom) Nominated
Best Rock Gospel Album (Some Kind of Zombie) Nominated
Best Rock Gospel Album (Underdog) Nominated
Best Rock Gospel Album (Lift) Nominated
Best Rock Gospel Album (Worldwide) Won
Best Rock Gospel Album (Until My Heart Caves In) Won
GMA Dove Awards[edit]
Long Form Music Video of the Year ("Big House") Won
Modern Rock Recorded Song of the Year ("Some Kind of Zombie") Won
Rock Recorded Song of the Year ("Get Down") Won
Rock Recorded Song of the Year ("Will Not Fade) Nominated
Group of the Year Nominated
Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year ("Ocean Floor") Nominated
Rock Album of the Year (Lift) Won
Rock Recorded Song of the Year ("Dirty") Nominated
Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year (Worldwide) Nominated
Long Form Music Video of the Year (Alive) Nominated
Rock Album of the Year (Live from Hawaii: The Farewell Concert) Nominated
Long Form Music Video of the Year (Live from Hawaii: The Farewell Concert) Won
^ "AA Talks". AudioA.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011.
^ a b "Audio Adrenaline announces new lineup with Josh Engler at the helm". The Underground. June 4, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
^ a b c d e f g Selby, Marykay (April 1996). "100% Adrenaline". CCM Magazine. Flicker of His Light at Homestead.com.
^ Herdman, Bob (October 25, 1999). "Get Down with the Underdogs" (Interview). Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
^ DiBiase, John (2005). "Audio Adrenaline, "blOom" Review". JesusFreakHideout.net. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
^ Sarachik, Justin (June 8, 2015). "Former Audio Adrenaline Guitarist Barry Blair Wishes 3.0 'Success' & is 'Proud of the Legacy They are Carrying On'". BreatheCast. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
^ a b Concert Reviews: The Coming Up To Breathe Tour. Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
^ "Some Kind of Underdog". Crosswalk.com. October 5, 1999. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
^ Underdog on Billboard
^ DiBiase, John (November 6, 2001). "CD Review: Lift". Jesus Freak Hideout.
^ Cummings, Tony. "CD Review: Lift". Cross Rhythms.
^ Audio Adrenaline Says "Adios". Audioa.com, Audio Adrenaline Official Website. Retrieved July 28, 2011. Archived May 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
^ Easterfest delivers, promises more in 2009. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Southern Queensland (March 24, 2008). Retrieved July 28, 2011.
^ Know Hope Collective on Jesus Freak Hideout; Spinhouse (June 3, 2010)
^ a b Evans, Deborah (September 12, 2012). "Audio Adrenaline Reboots With ex-DC Talk Singer, New Single, Label". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
^ "Bob Herdman, PMP". LinkedIn. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
^ "Audio Adrenaline's Back! dcTalk's Kevin Max as Lead Singer". CBN.com. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
^ "Max Joins Audio Adrenaline: Kevin Max now lead singer of re-formed hitmakers Audio Adrenaline". Cross Rhythms. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
^ "Audio Adrenaline - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
^ DiBiase, John (June 3, 2014). "Kevin Max Explores Broken Temples". JesusFreakHideout. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
^ "Jared Byers Leaves Audio Adrenaline 2.0". New Release Today. February 6, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
^ a b "It's Official: Audio Adrenaline 3.0 is Here". New Release Today. February 10, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
^ "AAtalks". AAtalks. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
^ a b "Audio Adrenaline > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
Van Pelt, Doug (November – December 1998). "Album Reviews: AUDIO ADRENALINE Some Kind Of Journey (Video)". HM Magazine (74). ISSN 1066-6923. Archived from the original on July 7, 2001. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
Audio Adrenaline Members Reflect on the Songs that Inspired a Generation.ADIOS: The Greatest Hits
Adios, Audio Adrenaline: Interview of Will McGinniss on Beliefnet.com
Brian McSweeney
Don't Censor Me
Some Kind of Zombie
Until My Heart Caves In
Sound of the Saints
Live from Hawaii: The Farewell Concert
Adios: The Greatest Hits
Lift DVD
Adios: The Greatest Hits (Special Edition CD/DVD)
"Big House"
"Kings & Queens"
MusicBrainz: f12a9472-02be-40f4-9ff3-a836e2b9ece8
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Audio_Adrenaline&oldid=901903283"
Christian rock groups from Kentucky
ForeFront Records
Grammy Award winners
Carter County, Kentucky
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2007
Wikipedia articles in need of updating from August 2016
Use mdy dates from February 2018
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Joel Kovel
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. (May 2019)
Joel Kovel, in 2009
Joel Stephen Kovel
(1936-08-27)August 27, 1936
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
New York City, New York, U.S.
Scholar, writer
joelkovel.com (Archived)
Joel Kovel (1936–2018) was an American scholar and author, known as the founder of "Eco-socialism."[1][2][3]
2.1 Academic
2.2 Political
3 Personal and death
4.1 Eco-socialism
4.2 Critique of capitalist expansion and globalization
4.3 Use and exchange value
4.4 The role of the state and transnational organisations
4.5 Critique of other forms of green politics and socialism
4.5.1 Opposition to within-system approaches, voluntarism and technological fixes
4.5.2 Critique of Green economics
4.5.3 Critique of Deep Ecology
4.5.4 Critique of bioregionalism
4.5.5 Critique of variants of eco-feminism
4.5.6 Critique of Social Ecology
4.5.7 Critique of 'Actually Existing Socialisms'
4.6 Strategies
4.6.1 Agency
4.6.2 Prefiguration
4.6.3 Internationalization of prefiguration and the 'Eco-socialist Party'
4.7 Eco-socialist revolution
4.7.1 Transnational trade and capital reform
4.7.2 Ecological production
4.7.3 Commons, property and 'usufruct'
4.7.4 Non-violence
4.8 Zionism
6 Controversies
7 Selected publications and interviews
Joel Stephen Kovel was born on August 27, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, immigrant Jews, were Louis Kovel (an accountant known for the "Kovel Rule") and Rose Farber. He attended Baldwin Senior High School (New York) in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York. In 1957, he received his B.S. summa cum laude from Yale University. In 1961, he received his M.D. from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and in 1977 was a graduate of the Psychoanalytic Institute, Downstate Medical Center Institute, Brooklyn, New York.[1][4]
Academic[edit]
From 1977 till 1983 he was Director of Residency Training, Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (where he was also Professor of Psychiatry from 1979–1986). From 1980 to 1985, he was an Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the New School for Social Research in Marxism and Freud.[1]
In 1986, Kovel abandoned the field of Psychiatry.[1] From 1986–7, he was a Visiting Professor of Political Science and Communications, University of California, San Diego. He also held short-term positions as a Visiting Lecturer at San Diego State University in the spring of 1990 and another Visiting Professor position at UCSD in Winter 1993.[4]
In 1988, Kovel was appointed Alger Hiss Chair of Social Studies, a non-tenured position, at Bard College. In February 2009, he was informed that his position would not be renewed after the contract ended on June 20, 2009 and that he would be moved to "emeritus" status at that time.[5] Kovel argued in a letter sent to the faculty of Bard College that his contract was not renewed due to his political views.[6] He reiterated his argument in a statement posted on his official website that the "termination of service is prejudicial and motivated neither by intellectual nor pedagogic considerations, but by political values, principally stemming from differences between myself and the Bard administration on the issue of Zionism".[5] The college president, Leon Botstein, responded in a letter sent directly to Kovel by arguing that his termination was not political but part of a larger move by Bard to reduce part-time faculty. Botstein stated: "To take what is self-evidently a result of economic constraint and turn it into a trumped-up case of prejudice and political victimization insults not only your intelligence but the intelligence of your readers."[6] While Kovel called his dismissal illegitimate and vowed to fight the decision, he did leave Bard permanently per the university's decision in 2009.[2]
Political[edit]
Kovel became involved in political activism in the 1960s as a result of the Vietnam War. He began to study Marx which created a "conflict with his identity as a Freudian psychoanalyst"[citation needed] and led him to characterize himself as a "Marxist psychoanalyst", two categories which he described as "contrary" to each other.[7] He would eventually abandon medicine, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis in 1985. He also worked in defense of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua.[4]
By the late 1980s, he became involved with the Environmental movement. He then had a brief career with the Green Party of the US, under which he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1998 and "sought the party's presidential nomination in Denver in 2000."[2][3][4]
Kovel was an advisory editor of Socialist Resistance.[8]
Personal and death[edit]
Kovel married Virginia Ryan, a filmmaker, with whom he had a daughter and a son before they divorced. He then married Dee Dee Halleck, with whom he had a daughter.[1]
Kovel died age 81 on April 30, 2018, in New York City from pneumonia and autoimmune encephalitis.[1][2][3]
Views[edit]
Eco-socialism[edit]
In 2001, Kovel and Michael Löwy, an anthropologist and member of the Trotskyist Fourth International, released An ecosocialist manifesto. which set out to define eco-socialist ideology.[9]
Critique of capitalist expansion and globalization[edit]
Kovel was anti-capitalist and anti-globalization, seeing globalization as a force driven by capitalism – in turn, the rapid economic growth encouraged by globalization causes acute ecological crises.[10] He believed that capitalist firms have to continue to generate profit through a combination of continually intensifying exploitation and selling to new markets: this means that capitalism must grow indefinitely to exist, which seems impossible on a planet of finite resources.[10]
In the Ecosocialist manifesto, Kovel and Löwy suggest that capitalist expansion causes both "crises of ecology" through "rampant industrialization" and "societal breakdown" that springs "from the form of imperialism known as globalization". They believe that capitalism's expansion "exposes ecosystems" to pollutants, habitat destruction and resource depletion, "reducing the sensuous vitality of nature to the cold exchangeability required for the accumulation of capital", while submerging "the majority of the world's people to a mere reservoir of labor power" as it penetrates communities through "consumerism and depoliticization".[9] Furthermore, Kovel sees the form of neo-liberal globalization as "a return to the pure logic of capital" that "has effectively swept away measures which had inhibited capital's aggressivity, replacing them with naked exploitation of humanity and nature"; for Kovel, this "tearing down of boundaries", which was "a deliberate response to a serious accumulation crisis" in the 1970s, has become the definition of modern 'globalization'.[11]
As eco-socialists disagree with the elite theories of capitalism, which tend to label a specific class or social group as conspirators who construct a system that satisfies their greed and personal desires, Kovel suggests that the capitalist system itself is self-perpetuating, fuelled by extra-human or impersonal forces. He uses the Bhopal Union-Carbide industrial disaster as an example. Many anti-corporation observers would blame the avarice of those at the top of many multi-national corporations. Conversely, Kovel traces systemic impulses. Union Carbide were experiencing a decrease in sales that led to falling profits, which, due to stock market conditions, translated into a drop in share values. The depreciation of share value made many shareholders sell their stock, weakening the company and leading to cost-cutting measures that eroded the safety procedures and mechanisms at the Bhopal site. Though this did not, in Kovel's mind, make Bhopal inevitable, it illustrates the effect market forces can have on increasing the likelihood of ecological and social problems.[10]
Use and exchange value[edit]
Kovel follows Marx's theories about the contradiction between use values and exchange values. As he explains in The Enemy of Nature, within a market economy, goods are not produced to meet needs but are produced to be exchanged for money that we then use to acquire other goods. As we have to keep selling in order to keep buying, we must persuade others to buy our goods just to ensure our survival, which leads to the production of goods with no previous use that can be sold to sustain our ability to buy other goods. Kovel stresses that this contradiction has reached a destructive extent, where certain essential activities – such as caring for relatives full-time and basic subsistence – are unrewarded, while unnecessary economic activities earn certain individuals huge fortunes.[10]
The role of the state and transnational organisations[edit]
Capitalist expansion is seen by Kovel as being "hand in glove" with "corrupt and subservient client states" that repress dissent against the system, governed by international organisations "under the overall supervision of the Western powers and the superpower United States", which subordinate peripheral nations economically and militarily.[9] Kovel further claims that capitalism itself spurs conflict and, ultimately, war. Kovel states that the 'War on Terror', between Islamist extremists and the United States, is caused by "oil imperialism", whereby the capitalist nations require control over sources of energy, especially oil, which are necessary to continue intensive industrial growth – in the quest for control of such resources, Kovel argues that the capitalist nations, specifically the United States, have come into conflict with the predominantly Muslim nations where oil is often found.[10]
Kovel believes that state or self-regulation of markets does not solve the crisis "because to do so requires setting limits upon accumulation", which is "unacceptable" for a growth-orientated system; they believe that terrorism and revolutionary impulses cannot be tackled properly "because to do so would mean abandoning the logic of empire". Instead, eco-socialists feel that increasing repressive counter-terrorism increases alienation and causes further terrorism and believe that state counter-terrorist methods are, in Kovel and Löwy's words, "evolving into a new and malignant variation of fascism". They echo Rosa Luxemburg's "stark choice" between "socialism or barbarism", which was believed to be a prediction of the coming of fascism and further forms of destructive capitalism at the beginning of the 20th century (Luxemburg was in fact murdered by proto-fascist Freikorps in the revolutionary atmosphere of Germany in 1919).[9]
Critique of other forms of green politics and socialism[edit]
Kovel criticises many within the Green movement for not being overtly anti-capitalist, for working within the existing capitalist, statist system, for voluntarism, or for reliance on technological fixes. He suggests that eco-socialism differs from Green politics at the most fundamental level because the 'Four Pillars' of Green politics (and the 'Ten Key Values' of the US Green Party) do not include the demand for the emancipation of labour and the end of the separation between producers and the means of production.[10]
Opposition to within-system approaches, voluntarism and technological fixes[edit]
Kovel is highly critical of those Greens who favour "working within the system". While he recognises the ability of within-system approaches to raise awareness, and believe that "the struggle for an ecologically rational world must include a struggle for the state", he believes that the mainstream Green movement is too easily co-opted by the current powerful socio-political forces as it "passes from citizen-based activism to ponderous bureaucracies scuffling for 'a seat at the table'". For Kovel, capitalism is "happy to enlist" the Green movement for "convenience", "control over popular dissent" and "rationalization". He further attacks within-system green initiatives like carbon trading, which he sees as a "capitalist shell game" that turns pollution "into a fresh source of profit".[10][2]
In addition, Kovel criticises the "defeatism" of voluntarism in some local forms of environmentalism that do not connect: he suggests that they can be "drawn off into individualism" or co-opted to the demands of capitalism, as in the case of certain recycling projects, where citizens are "induced to provide free labor" to waste management industries who are involved in the "capitalization of nature". He labels the notion of voluntarism "ecopolitics without struggle".[10]
Kovel notes that "events in nature are reciprocal and multi-determined" and can therefore not be predictably "fixed"; socially, technologies cannot solve social problems because they are not "mechanical". He posits an analysis, developed from Marx, that patterns of production and social organisation are more important then the forms of technology used within a given configuration of society. Under capitalism, he suggests that technology "has been the sine qua non of growth" – thus he believes that, even in a world with hypothetical "free energy", the effect would be to lower the cost of automobile production, leading to the massive overproduction of vehicles, "collapsing infrastructure", chronic resource depletion and the "paving over" of the "remainder of nature". In the modern world, Kovel considers the supposed efficiency of new post-industrial commodities is a "plain illusion", as miniaturized components involve many substances and are therefore non-recyclable (and, theoretically, only simple substances could be retrieved by burning out-of-date equipment, releasing more pollutants). He is quick to warn "environmental liberals" against over-selling the virtues of renewable energies that cannot meet the mass energy consumption of the era; although he would still support renewable energy projects, he believes it is more important to restructure societies to reduce energy use before relying on renewable energy technologies alone.[10]
Critique of Green economics[edit]
Kovel believes that eco-socialists must reject at a fundamental level what he calls "ecological economics" or the "ecological wing of mainstream economics" for being "uninterested in social transformation". He furthers rejects the Neo-Smithian school, who believe in Adam Smith's vision of "a capitalism of small producers, freely exchanging with each other", which is self-regulating and competitive. The school is represented by thinkers like David Korten who believe in "regulated markets" checked by government and civil society but, for Kovel, they do not provide a critique of the expansive nature of capitalism away from localised production and ignore "questions of class, gender or any other category of domination". Kovel also criticises their "fairy-tale" view of history, which refers to the abuse of "natural capital" by the materialism of the Scientific Revolution, an assumption that, in Kovel's eyes, seems to suggest that "nature had toiled to put the gift of capital into human hands", rather than capitalism being a product of social relations in human history.[10]
Other forms of Community-based economics are also rejected by Kovel, including followers of E. F. Schumacher and some members of the Cooperative movement, for advocating "no more than a very halting and isolated first step". He thinks that their principles are "only partially realizable within the institutions of cooperatives in capitalist society" because "the internal cooperation" of cooperatives is "forever hemmed in and compromised" by the need to expand value and compete within the market. For Kovel, Community-based economics and Green Localism are "a fantasy" because "strict localism belongs to the aboriginal stages of society" and would be an "ecological nightmare at present population levels" due to "heat losses from a multitude of dispersed sites, the squandering of scarce resources, the needless reproduction of effort, and cultural impoverishment". While he feels that small-scale production units are "an essential part of the path towards an ecological society", he sees them not as "an end in itself"; in his view, small enterprises can be either capitalist or socialist in their configuration and therefore must be "consistently anti-capitalist", through recognition and support of the emancipation of labour, and exist "in a dialectic with the whole of things", as human society will need large-scale projects, such as transport infrastructures. He highlights the work of leading ecological economist and steady-state theorist Herman Daly, who exemplifies what eco-socialists see as the good and bad points of ecological economics – while he offers a critique of capitalism and a desire for "workers ownership", he only believes in workers ownership "kept firmly within a capitalist market", ignoring the eco-socialist desire for struggle in the emancipation of labour and hoping that the interests of labour and management today can be improved so that they are "in harmony".[10]
Critique of Deep Ecology[edit]
Kovel has attacked deep ecology because, like other forms of Green politics and Green economics, it features "virtuous souls" who have "no internal connection with the critique of capitalism and the emancipation of labor". He is particularly scathing about deep ecology and its "fatuous pronouncement" that Green politics is "neither left nor right, but ahead", which, for him, ignores the notion that "that which does not confront the system becomes its instrument".[10]
Even more scathingly, Kovel suggests that in "its effort to decentre humanity within nature", deep ecologists can "go too far" and argue for the "splitting away of unwanted people", as evidenced by their desire to preserve wilderness by removing the groups that have lived there "from time immemorial". Kovel thinks that this lends legitimacy to "capitalist elites", like the US State Department and the World Bank, who can make preservation of wilderness a part of their projects that "have added value as sites for ecotourism" but remove people from their land. Between 1986 and 1996, Kovel notes that over three million people were displaced by "conservation projects"; in the making of the US National Parks, three hundred Shoshone Indians were killed in the development of Yosemite. Kovel believes that deep ecology has affected the rest of the Green movement and led to calls from restrictions on immigration, "often allying with reactionaries in a ... cryptically racist quest". Indeed, he finds traces of deep ecology in the "biological reduction" of Nazism, an ideology many "organicist thinkers" have found appealing, including Herbert Gruhl, a founder of the German Green Party (who subsequently left when it became more Left-wing) and originator of the phrase "neither left nor right, but ahead". Kovel warns that, while 'ecofascism' is confined to a narrow band of far right intellectuals and disaffected white power skinheads who involved themselves alongside far left groups in the anti-globalization movement, it may be "imposed as a revolution from above to install an authoritarian regime in order to preserve the main workings of the system" in times of crisis.[10]
Critique of bioregionalism[edit]
Bioregionalism, a philosophy developed by writers like Kirkpatrick Sale who believe in the self-sufficiency of "appropriate bioregional boundaries" drawn up by inhabitants of "an area",[12] has been critiqued by Kovel, who fears that the "vagueness" of the area will lead to conflict and further boundaries between communities.[10] While Sale cites the bioregional living of Native Americans,[12] Kovel notes that such ideas are impossible to translate to populations of modern proportions, and evidences the fact that Native Americans held land in commons, rather than private property – thus, for eco-socialists, bioregionalism provides no understanding of what is needed to transform society, and what the inevitable "response of the capitalist state" would be to people constructing bioregionalism.[10]
Kovel also attacks the problems of self-sufficiency. Where Sale believes in self-sufficient regions "each developing the energy of its peculiar ecology", such as "wood in the northwest [USA]",[12] Kovel asks "how on earth" these can be made sufficient for regional needs, and notes the environmental damage of converting Seattle into a "forest-destroying and smoke-spewing wood-burning" city. Kovel also questions Sale's insistence on bioregions that do "not require connections with the outside, but within strict limits", and whether this precludes journeys to visit family members and other forms of travel.[10]
Critique of variants of eco-feminism[edit]
Kovel acknowledges the importance of "the gendered bifurcation of nature" and supports the emancipation of gender as it "is at the root of patriarchy and class". Nevertheless, while he believes that "any path out of capitalism must also be eco-feminist", he criticises types of ecofeminism that are not anti-capitalist and can "essentialize women's closeness to nature and build from there, submerging history into nature", becoming more at place in the "comforts of the New Age Growth Centre". These limitations, for Kovel, "keep ecofeminism from becoming a coherent social movement".[10]
Critique of Social Ecology[edit]
Though Kovel recognises Social Ecology as part of a similar radical tradition as eco-socialism, he still distinguishes one from the other because Social Ecologists see hierarchy "in-itself" as the cause of ecological destruction, whereas eco-socialists focus on gender and class domination embodied in capitalism and recognise that forms of authority that are not "an expropriation of human power for ... self-aggrandizement", such as a student-teacher relationship that is "reciprocal and mutual", are beneficial. In practice, Kovel describes Social Ecology as continuing the anarchist tradition of non-violent direct action, which is "necessary" but "not sufficient" because "it leaves unspoken the question of building an ecological society beyond capital". Furthermore, Social Ecologists and anarchists tend to focus on the state alone, rather than the class relations behind state domination (in the view of Marxists). Kovel fears that this is political, springing from historic hostility to Marxism among anarchists and sectarianism, which he points out as a fault of the "brilliant" but "dogmatic" founder of Social Ecology, Murray Bookchin.[10]
Critique of 'Actually Existing Socialisms'[edit]
For Kovel and Lowy, eco-socialism is "the realization of the 'first-epoch' socialisms" by resurrecting the notion of "free development of all producers", distancing themselves from "the attenuated, reformist aims of social democracy and the productivist structures of the bureaucratic variations of socialism", such as forms of Leninism and Stalinism.[9] They ground the failure of past socialist movements in "underdevelopment in the context of hostility by existing capitalist powers", which led to "the denial of internal democracy" and "emulation of capitalist productivism".[9] Kovel believes that the forms of "actually existing socialism" consisted of "public ownership of the means of production", rather than meeting "the true definition" of socialism as "a free association of producers", with the Party-State bureaucracy acting as the "alienating substitute 'public'".[10]
In analysing the Russian Revolution, Kovel feels that "conspiratorial" revolutionary movements "cut off from the development of society" will "find society an inert mass requiring leadership from above". From this, he notes that the anti-democratic Tsarist heritage meant that the Bolsheviks, who were aided into power by World War One, were a minority who, when faced with a counter-revolution and invading Western powers, continued "the extraordinary needs of 'war communism'", which "put the seal of authoritarianism" on the revolution; thus, for Kovel, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky "resorted to terror", shut down the Soviets (workers' councils) and emulated "capitalist efficiency and productivism as a means of survival", setting the stage for Stalinism.[10] Lenin, in Kovel's eyes, came to oppose the nascent Bolshevik environmentalism and its champion Aleksandr Bogdanov, who was later attacked for "idealism"; Kovel describes Lenin's philosophy as "a sharply dualistic materialism, rather similar to the Cartesian separation of matter and consciousness, and perfectly tooled ... to the active working over of the dead, dull matter by the human hand", which led him to want to overcome Russian backwardness through rapid industrialization. This tendency was, according to Kovel, augmented by a desire to catch-up with the West and the "severe crisis" of the revolution's first years.[10] Furthermore, Kovel quotes Trotsky, who believed in a Communist "superman" who would "learn how to move rivers and mountains".[13] Kovel believes that, in Joseph Stalin's "revolution from above" and mass terror in response to the early 1930s economic crisis, Trotsky's writings "were given official imprimatur", despite the fact that Trotsky himself was eventually purged, as Stalinism attacked "the very notion of ecology ... in addition to ecologies". Kovel adds that Stalin "would win the gold medal for enmity to nature", and that, in the face of massive environmental degradation, the inflexible Soviet bureaucracy became increasingly inefficient and unable to emulate capitalist accumulation, leading to a "vicious cycle" that led to its collapse.[10]
Strategies[edit]
Kovel advocates the non-violent dismantling of capitalism and the state, focusing on collective ownership of the means of production by freely associated producers and restoration of the Commons.[9]
Agency[edit]
Kovel focuses on working-class involvement in the formation of eco-socialist parties or their increased involvement in existing Green Parties; however, he believes that, unlike many other forms of socialist analysis, "there is no privileged agent" or revolutionary class, and that there is potential for agency in numerous autonomous, grassroots individuals and groups who can build "prefigurative" projects for non-violent radical social change. He defines "prefiguration" as "the potential for the given to contain the lineaments of what is to be", meaning that "a moment toward the future exists embedded in every point of the social organism where a need arises". If "everything has prefigurative potential", Kovel notes that forms of potential ecological production will be "scattered", and thus suggests that "the task is to free them and connect them". While all "human ecosystems" have "ecosocialist potential", Kovel points out that ones such as the World Bank have low potential, whereas internally democratic anti-globalization "affinity groups" have a high potential through a dialectic that involves the "active bringing and holding together of negations", such as the group acting as an alternative institution ("production of an ecological/socialist alternative") and trying to shut down a G8 summit meeting ("resistance to capital"). Therefore, "practices that in the same motion enhance use-values and diminish exchange-values are the ideal" for eco-socialists.[10]
Prefiguration[edit]
For Kovel, the main prefigurative steps "are that people ruthlessly criticize the capitalist system ... and that they include in this a consistent attack on the widespread belief that there can be no alternative to it", which will then "deligitimate the system and release people into struggle". Kovel justifies this by stating that "radical criticism of the given ... can be a material force", even without an alternative, "because it can seize the mind of the masses of people", leading to "dynamic" and "exponential", rather than "incremental" and "linear", victories that spread rapidly. Following this, he advocates the expansion of the dialectical eco-socialist potential of groups through sustaining the confrontation and internal cohesion of human ecosystems, leading to an "activation" of potentials in others that will "spread across the whole social field" as "a new set of orienting principles" that define an ideology or "'party-life' formation".[10]
In the short-term, Kovel advocates activities that have the "promise of breaking down the commodity form". This includes organizing labor, which is a "reconfiguring of the use-value of labor power"; forming cooperatives, allowing "a relatively free association of labor"; forming localised currencies, which he sees as "undercutting the value-basis of money"; and supporting "radical media" that, in his eyes, involve an "undoing of the fetishism of commodities". He advocates economic localisation in the same vein as many in the Green movement, although only as a prefigurative step rather than an end in itself. He also advises political parties attempting to "democratize the state" that there should be "dialogue but no compromise" with established political parties, and that there must be "a continual association of electoral work with movement work" to avoid "being sucked back into the system". Such parties, he believes, should focus on "the local rungs of the political system" first, before running national campaigns that "challenge the existing system by the elementary means of exposing its broken promises".[10]
Kovel believes in building prefigurations around forms of production based on use values, which will provide a practical vision of a post-capitalist, post-statist system. Such projects include Indymedia ("a democratic rendering of the use-values of new technologies such as the Internet, and a continual involvement in wider struggle"), open-source software, Wikipedia, public libraries and many other initiatives, especially those developed within the anti-globalisation movement.[10]
Internationalization of prefiguration and the 'Eco-socialist Party'[edit]
The Jewish-born Kovel "experiencd in his later years what he called a Christian spiritual conversion"[1] and was baptized.[2]
Kovel believes that examples like the Christian Bruderhof Communities (despite elements of patriarchy that he attacks) show that "communistic" organizations can "survive rather well in a heavily industrialized market" if they are "protected" from the dependence on the market by "anti-capitalist intentionality".[14] He further posits that class struggle is "internationalized in the face of globalization", as evidenced by a wave of strikes across the Global South in the first half of the year 2000; indeed, he says that "labor's most cherished values are already immanently ecocentric". Kovel therefore thinks that these universalizing tendencies must lead to the formation of "a consciously 'Ecosocialist Party'" that is neither like a parliamentary or vanguardist party. Instead, Kovel advocates a form of political party "grounded in communities of resistance", where delegates from these communities form the core of the party's activists, and these delegates and the "open and transparent" assembly they form are subject to recall and regular rotation of members. He holds up the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and the Gaviotas movement as examples of such communities, which "are produced outside capitalist circuits" and show that "there can be no single way valid for all peoples". Nonetheless, he also firmly believes in connecting these movements, stating that "ecosocialism will be international or it will be nothing" and hoping that the Ecosocialist Party can retain the autonomy of local communities while supporting them materially. With an ever-expanding party, Kovel hopes that "defections" by capitalists will occur, leading eventually to the armed forces and police who, in joining the revolution, will signify that "the turning point is reached".[10]
Eco-socialist revolution[edit]
Kovel uses the term "Eco-socialist revolution" to describe the transition to an eco-socialist world society. In the immediate socio-political transition, he believes that four groups will emerge from the revolution – revolutionaries, those "whose productive activity is directly compatible with ecological production" (such as nurses, schoolteachers, librarians, independent farmers and many other examples), those "whose pre-revolutionary practice was given over to capital" (including the bourgeoisie, advertising executives and more) and "the workers whose activity added surplus value to capitalist commodities". In terms of political organisation, he advocates an "interim assembly" made up of the revolutionaries that can "devise incentives to make sure that vital functions are maintained" (such as short-term continuation of "differential remuneration" for labor), "handle the redistribution of social roles and assets", convene "in widespread locations", and send delegates to regional, state, national and international organisations, where every level has an "executive council" that is rotated and can be recalled. From there, he asserts that "productive communities" will "form the political as well as economic unit of society" and "organize others" to make a transition to eco-socialist production; he adds that people will be allowed to be members of any community they choose with "associate membership" of others, such as a doctor having main membership of healthcare communities as a doctor and associate membership of child-rearing communities as a father. Each locality would, in Kovel's eyes, require one community that administered the areas of jurisdiction through an elected assembly. High-level assemblies would have additional "supervisory" roles over localities to monitor the development of ecosystemic integrity, and administer "society-wide services" like transport in "state-like functions", before the interim assembly can transfer responsibilities to "the level of the society as a whole through appropriate and democratically responsive committees".[10]
Transnational trade and capital reform[edit]
Part of the eco-socialist transition, in Kovel's eyes, is the reforming money to retain its use in "enabling exchanges" while reducing its functions as "a commodity in its own right" and "repository of value". He argues for directing money to "enhancement of use-values" through a "subsidization of use-values" that "preserves the functioning core of the economy while gaining time and space for rebuilding it". Internationally, he believes in the immediate cessation of speculation in currencies ("breaking down the function of money as commodity, and redirecting funds on use-values"), the cancellation of the debt of the Global South ("breaking the back of the value function" of money) and the redirecting the "vast reservoir of mainly phony value" to reparations and "ecologically sound development". He suggests the end of military aid and other forms of support to "comprador elites in the South" will eventually "lead to their collapse".[10]
In terms of trade, Kovel advocates a 'World People's Trade Organization' (WPTO), "responsible to a confederation of popular bodies", in which "the degree of control over trade is ... proportional to involvement with production", meaning that "farmers would have a special say over food trade" and so on. He posits that the WPTO should have an elected council that will oversee a reform of prices in favour of an 'Ecological Price' (EP) "determined by the difference between actual use-values and fully realized ones", thus having low tariffs for forms of ecological production like organic agriculture; he also envisages the high tariffs on non-ecological production providing subsidies to ecological production units. The EP would also internalize the costs of current externalities (like pollution) and "would be set as a function of the distance traded", reducing the effects of long-distance transport like carbon emissions and increased packaging of goods. He thinks that this will provide a "standard of transformation" for non-ecological industries, like the automobile industry, thus spurring changes towards ecological production.[10]
Ecological production[edit]
Kovel pursues "ecological production" that goes beyond the socialist vision of the emancipation of labor to "the realization of use-values and the appropriation of intrinsic value". He envisions a form of production in which "the making of a thing becomes part of the thing made" so that, using a high quality meal as an analogy, "pleasure would obtain for the cooking of the meal" – thus activities "reserved as hobbies under capitalism" would "compose the fabric of everyday life" under eco-socialism. This, for Kovel, is achieved if labor is "freely chosen and developed ... with a fully realized use-value" achieved by a "negation" of exchange-value, and he exemplifies the Food Not Bombs project for adopting this. He believes that the notion of "mutual recognition ... for the process as well as the product" will avoid exploitation and hierarchy. With production allowing humanity to "live more directly and receptively embedded in nature", Kovel predicts that "a reorientation of human need" will occur that recognises ecological limits and sees technology as "fully participant in the life of eco-systems", thus removing it from profit-making exercises.[10]
In the course on an Eco-socialist revolution, Kovel advocates the "rapid conversion to ecosocialist production" for all enterprises, followed by "restoring ecosystemic integrity to the workplace" through steps like workers ownership. He then believes that the new enterprises can build "socially developed plans" of production for societal needs, such as efficient light-rail transport components. At the same time, Kovel argues for the transformation of essential but, under capitalism, non-productive labour, such as child care, into productive labour, "thereby giving reproductive labour a status equivalent to productive labour". During such a transition, he believes that income should be guaranteed and that money will still be used under "new conditions of value ... according to use and to the degree to which ecosystem integrity is developed and advanced by any particular production". Within this structure, Kovel asserts that markets will become unnecessary – although "market phenomena" in personal exchanges and other small instances might be adopted – and communities and elected assemblies will democratically decide on the allocation of resources.[10]
Kovel is quick to assert that the focus on "production" does not mean that there will be an increase in production and labor under Eco-socialism. He thinks that the emancipation of labor and the realization of use-value will allow "the spheres of work and culture to be reintegrated". He cites the example of Paraguayan Indian communities (organised by Jesuits) in the 18th century who made sure that all community members learned musical instruments, and had labourers take musical instruments to the fields and takes turns playing music or harvesting.[10]
Commons, property and 'usufruct'[edit]
Kovel focuses on a modified version of the notion of 'Usufruct' to replace capitalist private property arrangements. As a legal term, Usufruct refers to the legal right to use and derive profit or benefit from property that belongs to another person, as long as the property is not damaged. According to Kovel, a modern interpretation of the idea is "where one uses, enjoys – and through that, improves – another's property", as its Latin etymology "condenses the two meanings of use – as in use-value, and enjoyment – and as in the gratification expressed in freely associated labour". The idea, according to Kovel, has roots in the Code of Hammurabi and was first mentioned in Roman law "where it applied to ambiguities between masters and slaves with respect to property"; it also features in Islamic Sharia law, Aztec law and the Napoleonic Code.[10]
Kovel highlights the fact that Marx mentioned the idea when he stated that human beings are no more than the planet's "usufructaries, and, like boni patres familias, they must hand it down to succeeding generations in an improved condition".[15] Kovel has taken on this reading, asserting that, in an eco-socialist society, "everyone will have ... rights of use and ownership over those means of production necessary to express the creativity of human nature", namely "a place of one's own" to decorate to personal taste, some personal possessions, the body and its attendant sexual and reproductive rights. However, Kovel sees property as "self-contradictory" because individuals emerge "in a tissue of social relations" and "nested circles", with the self at the centre and extended circles where "issues of sharing arise from early childhood on". He believes that "the full self is enhanced more by giving than by taking" and that eco-socialism is realized when material possessions weigh "lightly" upon the self – thus restoration of use-value allows things to be taken "concretely and sensuously" but "lightly, since things are enjoyed for themselves and not as buttresses for a shaky ego". This, for Kovel, reverses what Marxists see as the commodity fetishism and atomization of individuals (through the "unappeasable craving" for "having and excluding others from having") under capitalism. Under eco-socialism, he therefore believes that enhancement of use-value will lead to differentiated ownership between the individual and the collective, where there are "distinct limits on the amount of property individuals control" and no-one can take control of resources that "would permit the alienation of means of production from another". He then hopes that the "hubris" of the notion of "ownership of the planet" will be replaced with usufruct.[10]
Non-violence[edit]
Kovel asserts that "violence is the rupturing of ecosystems" and is therefore "deeply contrary to ecosocialist values". He believes that revolutionary movements must prepare for post-revolutionary violence from counter-revolutionary sources by "prior development of the democratic sphere" within the movement, because "to the degree that people are capable of self-government, so will they turn away from violence and retribution" for "a self-governed people cannot be pushed around by any alien government". It is therefore essential, in Kovel's view, that the revolution "takes place in" or spreads quickly to the United States, which "is capital's gendarme and will crush any serious threat", and that revolutionaries reject the death penalty and retribution against former opponents or counter-revolutionaries.[10]
Zionism[edit]
In 2007, Kovel said on Democracy Now! television:
I feel that the notion of Zionism, as that there is this kind of destiny of the Jewish people to have their own state, is just a wrong idea. And it's an idea that requires signing on to imperialism. It means signing on to ethnic cleansing. It means—despite everything that has been said about it, it means basically becoming a racist situation, where you're oppressing an indigenous population and depriving them of their right to existence, and then thinking that somehow you can go ahead and have a decent life on that basis. And you can't, in my view. And I join hands with those people who feel that the time has come to basically think of Israel in the same category as South Africa, as a state that just has gone wrong and needs replacement.[3]
Writing in Capitalism Nature Socialism, Doug Boucher, Peter Caplan, David Schwartzman and Jane Zara criticise eco-socialists in general (and Kovel in particular) for a deterministic "catastrophism" that overlooks "the countervailing tendencies of both popular struggles and the efforts of capitalist governments to rationalize the system" and the "accomplishments of the labor movement" that "demonstrate that despite the interests and desires of capitalists, progress toward social justice is possible". They argue that an ecological socialism must be "built on hope, not fear".[16]
Controversies[edit]
Main article: University of Michigan Press § Controversies
In June 2008, The University of Michigan Press severed ties with the British independent publishing firm, Pluto Press for which it served as the American distributor.[17][18][19] The decision came after a series of events tied to the distribution of Kovel's 2007 book Overcoming Zionism which argues "that the creation of Israel was a mistake and urges adoption of the "one state" solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which Israelis and Palestinians would form a new country, without a Jewish character."[20] According to University Spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham, The University of Michigan Press stopped distributing the book in the Fall of 2007, after "serious questions" were raised about the book by "members of the university community."[20] Later in September, The University of Michigan Press announced that it would resume distribution of Overcoming Zionism after receiving complaints that it was conducting censorship.[21] The Executive Board of The University of Michigan Press asserted in a statement that though it, "has deep reservations about Overcoming Zionism, it would be a blow against free speech to remove the book from distribution on that basis. We conclude that we should not fail to honor our distribution agreement based on our reservations about the content of a single book. Such a course raises both First Amendment issues and concerns about the appearance of censorship. As members of the university community dedicated to academic freedom and open debate among differing views, the Executive Board stands firmly for freedom of expression, and against even the appearance of censorship. In this instance, both legal and value considerations lead us to the decision to resume distribution of the book."[21] At the same time, The University of Michigan Press also stated that, "had the manuscript gone through the standard review process used by the University of Michigan Press, the board would not have recommended publication. But the arrangement with Pluto Press is for distribution only; the UM Press never intended to review individually every title published by Pluto (or any other press for which it holds distribution rights). By resuming distribution, the board in no way endorses the content of the book."[21]
Selected publications and interviews[edit]
Kovel's book White Racism (1970) received a nomination for the National Book Award.[1] His works include: A Complete Guide to Therapy (1979), The Age of Desire (1982), Against the State of Nuclear Terror (1982), In Nicaragua (1986), The Radical Spirit: Essays on Psychoanalysis and Society (1988), History and Spirit (1991), Red Hunting in the Promised Land (1994), The Enemy of Nature (2002), and Overcoming Zionism (2007). He is the Editor-In-Chief of Capitalism, Nature, Socialism.[4] His last work, published in 2017, was a memoir entitled The Lost Traveller's Dream.[1][2]
Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine (Pluto Press, February 2007), ISBN 0-7453-2569-6.
The Enemy of Nature: The End of Capitalism or the End of the World? 2nd edition, (London: Zed Books, 2007), ISBN 1-84277-871-4; 1st edition, (London: Zed Books, 2002), ISBN 1-84277-081-0
Red Hunting in the Promised Land (New York: Basic Books, 1994), ISBN 0-465-00364-8.
History and Spirit (Boston: Beacon Press, 1991), ISBN 0-8070-2916-5.
The Radical Spirit: Essays on Psychoanalysis and Society (London: Free Association Books, 1989), ISBN 0-946960-57-7.
In Nicaragua (New York: Columbia University Press, 1989), ISBN 0-946960-90-9.
White Racism: A Psychohistory (New York: Columbia University Press, 1984), ISBN 0-231-05797-0.
Against the State of Nuclear Terror (Boston: South End Press, 1984), ISBN 0-89608-220-2.
The Age of Desire: Case Histories of a Radical Psychoanalyst (New York: Pantheon, 1981), ISBN 0-394-50818-1.
A Complete Guide to Therapy (New York: Pantheon, 1976), ISBN 0-394-48992-6.
"Therapy in Late Capitalism". Telos 30 (Winter 1976–1977). (New York: Telos Press).
Overcoming Zionism: An interview with Kovel on the psychopolitics of Zionism on Doug Henwood's radio show Behind the News (June 14, 2007).
^ a b c d e f g h i Roberts, Sam (4 May 2018). "Dr. Joel Kovel, a Founder of Ecosocialism, Is Dead at 81". New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
^ a b c d e f g Weiss, Philip (3 May 2018). "Remembering Joel Kovel, a restless explorer". Mondoweiss. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
^ a b c d "Scholar and Activist Joel Kovel Dies at 81 in New York City". Democracy Now!. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
^ a b c d e "Joel Kovel". Environment and Ecology. environment-ecology.com. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
^ a b Kovel, Joel. "Statement of Joel Kovel Regarding His Termination from Bard College". joelkovel.com. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
^ a b Jaschik, scott (2009-02-19). "Anti-Israel Prof Loses Post at Bard". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
^ Kovel, Joel (1982). The Age of Desire. Pantheon Books. p. xi. ISBN 0-394-50818-1.
^ "About : Socialist Resistance: Fourth International in Britain:". Socialist Resistance. Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
^ a b c d e f g Kovel, J.; Löwy, M. (2001). An ecosocialist manifesto.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj Kovel, J., The Enemy of Nature, 2002.
^ Joel Kovel: Why Ecosocialism Today?
^ a b c Sale, K., 'Principle of Bioregionalism', in Goldsmith, E., and Mander, J. (eds),The Case against the Global Economy, Sierra Club Books (San Francisco, CA), 1996
^ Trotsky, L., Literature and Revolution, 1924
^ "Life Among The Bruderhof". The American Conservative. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
^ Marx, K., Capital Vol. 3., 1894
^ Boucher, Doug; Schwartzman, David; Zara, Jane; Caplan, Peter (2003). "Another Look at the End of the World". Capitalism Nature Socialism. Informa UK. 14 (3): 123–131. doi:10.1080/10455750308565538. ISSN 1045-5752. Archived from the original on January 12, 2013.
^ Jaschik, Scott (2008-06-18). "Michigan Severs Ties to Controversial Publisher". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
^ Kroll, Andy (2008-01-23). "Under fire, 'U' Press changes guidelines". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
^ "The University of Michigan Press: Distributed Clients". University of Michigan Press. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
^ a b Jaschik, Scott (2007-09-11). "A Book on Hold". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
^ a b c Jaschik, Scott (2007-09-12). "Michigan Resumes Distribution of Anti-Israel Book". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
Proyect, Louis (2 May 2018). "Joel Kovel (1936–2018): An appreciation". Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist.
Green Party of the United States
Presidential tickets
1996: Nader/LaDuke
2004: Cobb/LaMarche
2008: McKinney/Clemente
2012: Stein/Honkala
2016: Stein/Baraka
Presidential primaries
2000 (Denver)
2004 (Milwaukee)
2008 (Chicago)
2012 (Baltimore)
2016 (Houston)
Parties by state
and territory
Global Greens
Green Parties of the Americas
Green National Committee
Green Senatorial Campaign Committee
Greens/Green Party USA
Association of State Green Parties
Green politics
Office-holding politicians
BNF: cb12162755j (data)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joel_Kovel&oldid=905772505"
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
Activists from New York (state)
American anti-globalization writers
American anti-war activists
American economics writers
American environmentalists
American Marxists
American non-fiction environmental writers
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
American political writers
American socialists
Anti-corporate activists
Anti-globalization activists
Bard College faculty
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni
Ecosocialists
Green thinkers
Jewish American writers
Jewish anti-Zionism in the United States
Marxist writers
New York (state) Greens
People from Brooklyn
Writers on Zionism
Yale University alumni
Articles with unsourced statements from May 2018
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N'Dolo Airport
Kinshasa N'Dolo Airport
Aéroport de N'Dolo
IATA: NLO
ICAO: FZAB
Airport type
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Elevation AMSL
915 ft / 279 m
04°19′36″S 015°19′38″E / 4.32667°S 15.32722°E / -4.32667; 15.32722
Location of Airport in Democratic Republic of the Congo
08/26 1,680 5,512 Asphalt
Google Maps[1]
N'Dolo Airport (IATA: NLO, ICAO: FZAB), also known as Ndolo Airport, is a secondary airport in the city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the commune of Barumbu near the city center.
The Aviation militaire de la Force Publique was established here in October 1940 with requisitioned aircraft.
The airline Air Kasaï had its head office on the airport property.[2]
Runways are limited to aircraft under 15,000 kilograms (33,000 lb) since the disastrous crash of January 8, 1996, in which an Antonov An-32 aborted takeoff and overran the runway into a market.
Runway length includes a 315 metres (1,033 ft) displaced threshold on Runway 08.
1 Airlines
1.1 Charter
Airlines[edit]
Air Tropiques Boma, Matadi, Muanda
Kin Avia Bandundu, Kikwit, Matadi, Nioki
Charter[edit]
Mission Aviation Fellowship Bokoro, Semendua, Vanga
Democratic Republic of the Congo portal
Aviation portal
Transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
List of airports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
^ "Ndolo Airport". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
^ "Nos Contacts Archived 2013-03-07 at the Wayback Machine." Air Kasaï. Retrieved on 4 March 2013.
Accident history for N'Dolo Airport at Aviation Safety Network
Airport information for N'Dolo Airport at Great Circle Mapper.
Airport information for N'Dolo Airport at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
OpenStreetMap - Ndolo Airport
Kinshasa at Wikimedia Commons . Democratic Republic of the Congo portal
Main airports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Basankusu
Gbadolite
Kindu
Kinshasa-N'Djili
Kinshasa-N'Dolo
Lisala
Lodja
Muanda
Tshikapa
This article about an airport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=N%27Dolo_Airport&oldid=837428491"
Airports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Buildings and structures in Kinshasa
Transport in Kinshasa
Democratic Republic of the Congo airport stubs
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Waagner-Biro is a Vienna, Austria-based corporation which owns companies in steel and mechanical engineering. It has about 1000 employees in 14 locations in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
1 Businesses
3 Selected projects
Businesses[edit]
Tessellated roof of the Great Court of the British Museum, constructed by Waagner-Biro
Inscription of the Bulgarian St Stephen Church in Istanbul
Waagner Biro Stahlbau Group has divisions in steel and glass engineering and bridge construction.
Waagner-Biro Stage Systems Group is a major manufacturer of stage equipment.
Waagner-Biro Gulf deals with infrastructure.
Qualter, Hall & Co Ltd. builds bridges and also deals with mechanical engineering and contract manufacturing.[1]
On October 16, 1854, the Vienna city magistrate granted Rudolph Philipp Waagner an "Iron trade authorisation". That same year, Anton Biró and Albert Milde & Co. merged. The company first used the name Waagner-Biro in 1924.
In 1906, the company provided the Vienna State Opera with stage equipment. Forty years later, the company rebuilt the opera house's roof. Other roof projects include Vienna's Stephansdom in 1948, the Munich Olympic facilities in 1969, the Prater Stadium in Vienna in 1985, and the Reichstag dome in Berlin, for which the company won a European Steel Design award in 1999. Waagner-Biro won another award in 2003 for the British Museum's Queen Elizabeth II Great Court.
Between 1910 and 1932, the company completed Schweden Bridge, Floridsdorf Bridge, Frieden Bridge, Augarten Bridge, and other bridges in Vienna. Other bridges built by Waagner-Biro include Europa Bridge in Innsbruck, Austria in 1962, North Bridge in Vienna in 1964, and bridges over the Danube River in the Vienna districts of Floridsdorf in 1979 and Brigittenau in 1980.
In 1960, Waagner-Biro worked on stage engineering for Sydney Opera. The Waagner-Biro process for cooling and quenching hot coke was introduced in the 1970s.[2]
In 1982, the Dubai branch office opened. In 2000, Waagner-Biro Gulf LLC was established.
In 2003, the stage engineering companies went under the name Stage Systems.[3]
Selected projects[edit]
Lärchwandschrägaufzug, High Tauern National Park, Austria (1952)
Reichstag dome at Reichstag building, Berlin, Germany (1993)
Sony Center, Berlin, Germany (2000)
Great Court at British Museum, London, United Kingdom (2001)
Złote Tarasy, Warsaw, Poland (2007)
Yas Marina Hotel, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2009)
Estrella–Pantaleon Bridge, Metro Manila, Philippines (2011)
One Angel Square, Manchester, United Kingdom (2012)
^ "Waagner-Biro Group". Retrieved 2010-09-02.
^ 1981 Year book - Association of Iron and Steel Engineers. Association of Iron and Steel Engineers. pp. 246-248.
^ "Milestones". Retrieved 2010-09-02.
Media related to Waagner-Biro at Wikimedia Commons
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waagner-Biro&oldid=897516603"
Construction and civil engineering companies of Austria
Companies based in Vienna
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Windthorst, Texas
Town in Texas, United States
St. Marys Catholic Church
Location of Windthorst, Texas
Coordinates: 33°35′N 98°26′W / 33.583°N 98.433°W / 33.583; -98.433Coordinates: 33°35′N 98°26′W / 33.583°N 98.433°W / 33.583; -98.433
Archer, Clay
0.08 sq mi (0.2 km2)
160/sq mi (62/km2)
UTC-6 (Central (CST))
UTC-5 (CDT)
Windthorst General Store, established c. 1921
Windthorst is a town in Archer and Clay counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 409 at the 2010 census.[3] The town is named for Ludwig Windthorst, a Catholic statesman in Germany.
Windthorst is the home of the St. Mary's Grotto, a Roman Catholic outdoor shrine, which was paid for with money sent home by 64 military service members from Windthorst who served in World War II.[4] All of the 64 returned home.[5][6][7] A new entrance to the shrine was constructed in 2009.[8]
Bridwell Park in Windthorst is named for the oilman, rancher, and philanthropist Joseph Sterling Bridwell of Wichita Falls.[9]
4 Notable people
Windthorst is located in northern Texas, primarily in eastern Archer County but extending eastward into Clay County. U.S. Route 281 passes through the center of the town, leading north 25 miles (40 km) to Wichita Falls and southeast 33 miles (53 km) to Jacksboro. Texas State Highway 25 leads west from the center of Windthorst 11 miles (18 km) to Archer City, the Archer County seat.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Windthorst has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.6 km2), of which 2.5 square miles (6.5 km2) is land and 0.077 square miles (0.2 km2), or 2.35%, is water.[3]
2010 409 −7.0%
Est. 2016 389 [10] −4.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[11]
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 509 people, 154 households, and 119 families residing in the town. The population density was 175.9 people per square mile (68.0/km²). There were 162 housing units at an average density of 64.8 per square mile (25.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 83.86% White, 0.23% Native American, 14.09% from other races, and 1.82% from two or more races. 23.41% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 154 households out of which 40.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.4% were married couples living together, 1.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.7% were non-families. 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.34.
In the town, the population was spread out with 31.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $37,708, and the median income for a family was $45,000. Males had a median income of $30,833 versus $17,917 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,146. About 6.5% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.3% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.
Windthorst is served by the Windthorst Independent School District. Windthorst High School is a University Interscholastic League Class A school in education and sports. The school has won state championships in volleyball, football, baseball, softball, and track; its most recent championship is the 2010 Class A Baseball State Championship.[citation needed]
Hank Gremminger, American football player.
^ a b "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Windthorst town, Texas". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
^ "St Mary's Catholic Church - Windthorst, Texas - Outdoor Altars on Waymarking.com". waymarking.com.
^ "The grotto at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Windthorst, Texas. The grotto was dedicated in 1950 to "Our Lady of Perpetual Help" in honor of 64 veterans that served in World War II. They all returned f". highbeam.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04.
^ YankeeTexan. "The International House of Kaos". houseofkaos.blogspot.com.
^ Dallas Morning News
^ "BBC NEWS - Programmes - From Our Own Correspondent - The hero who casts a long shadow". bbc.co.uk.
^ "Jack O. Loftin, "Joseph Sterling Bridwell"". Texas State Historical Association online. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
^ "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved June 9, 2017.
^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
Media related to Windthorst, Texas at Wikimedia Commons
Windthorst Independent School District
Handbook of Texas Online: Windthorst, Texas
Municipalities and communities of Archer County, Texas, United States
County seat: Archer City
Lakeside City
Windthorst‡
Mankins
Anarene
Municipalities and communities of Clay County, Texas, United States
County seat: Henrietta
Buffalo Springs
Halsell
Hurnville
Stanfield
Thornberry
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Windthorst,_Texas&oldid=883397034"
Towns in Archer County, Texas
Towns in Clay County, Texas
Towns in Texas
Wichita Falls metropolitan area
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150 Years Ago Today – 2nd Bull Run Day 2
2nd Bull Run (2nd Manassas) – Day 2
The following long post is an excerpt from my book research project on the life of Abner Doubleday. This post, along with others surrounding the Bull Run Battle and aftermath, is from the perspective and writings of Doubleday and those close to him. “Noyes” was a staff officer for Doubleday who wrote very colorfully… he was a lawyer from Maine. “Smith” is the historian of the 76th New York.
2nd Bull Run Day Two – August 30, 1862
Lee had gained the ground from which he could launch his attack of this next day. Pope continued in delusional thinking throughout the night, and determined to give battle again the next day in order to defeat Jackson. Greater wisdom would have advised a retreat across Bull Run toward a reunion with the forces of the Army of the Potomac.
In Pope, Lincoln had an aggressive fighter, but not a wise warrior. Doubleday was relatively gracious in his assessments of Pope, perhaps not so much due to his admiration of Pope, but rather in consequence of his disrespect for the entire McClellan contingent of the army. Doubleday wrote: With the expectation of receiving large reinforcements of men and supplies of forage for the cavalry horses from General McClellan at Alexandria, General Pope determined to hold out for another day and try the chances of battle again. His hopes, however, were all disappointed. McClellan virtually declined to send any forage, and the scant reinforcements were purposely sent forward so as not to arrive until the conflict was over—as they only marched for and six miles in a single day, and made frequent halts with the noise of the battle ringing in their ears urging them forward.
In fact, McClellan was not energized, and had written to Lincoln on the 29th that it may be best to allow Pope to “get out of his scrape,” while making the capitol secure. McClellan’s fixation was upon the scant resources to protect Washington from rumored pending advances upon the very doorsteps of the city.
Pope continued in his grand optimism as dawn arrived. Support had not arrived, and in fact, a courier brought a message from Franklin that supplies were available and awaiting Pope to send a cavalry escort to receive them. Obviously, this could not be done in any timely fashion. As discouraging as this news was to Pope, he recovered his hopes quickly. Particularly reversing his mood was a report brought in by General Marsena Patrick, describing a Confederate movement of troops to the west. The last arriving division of the Confederate army—that of Richard Anderson—had completed a 17-mile march and arrived on the scene at 3:00 a.m. As dawn approached, it was understood by Confederate command that Anderson’s Division had halted in a position too far in advance, were therefore dangerously exposed, and needed to move back to the main line of the army. This redirecting of the division was observed by Patrick, who sent a few artillery shells to hasten their movement. Along with a number of reports by captured prisoners that the Confederate command was overheard to be considering a withdrawal, Pope construed combined events and information to confirm such an action. He sent Halleck an early morning message embellishing accomplishments of the previous day as a solid victory, and stating: “news just reaches me from the front that the enemy is retreating toward the mountains. I go forward at once to see.” <<O.R. XII, Pt. 3, p.741
At dawn, the men engaged in the twilight battle of the previous evening had opportunity to sort themselves out from the entangled conglomeration and regain their fighting units. My brigade which had been driven back the previous evening by Longstreet’s advance, was reformed at daybreak, and as many stragglers who joined me, who had fallen out of the ranks from fatigue the day before, my number of fighting men was considerably increased. Noyes was not as encouraged by the numbers he saw in the brigade: “… it was enough to give a man the heartache to see the little brigade drawn up in line, not five hundred strong. More than fifteen hundred rank and file had marched with us out of Fredericksburg; some had undoubtedly skulked behind; some were absolutely worn out by our long marches, sleepless nights, and battle fatigues; some, separated from their commands during last night, had not yet rejoined them; but probably the larger portion of the missing were prisoners to the enemy, lay wounded in the hospitals, or slept the last sleep of the patriotic brave.”
As it became obvious through morning reconnaissance efforts that the Confederates had not retreated, Pope ordered his forces under Generals Butterfield and Porter to again attack Jackson, who occupied the same position as the previous day. The attack produced a severe engagement with a savage defense of the strong Confederate position. Doubleday’s Brigade was in a supporting position on the right flank of this assault. Porter’s advance under Butterfield ascended the hill beyond Groveton, but there they encountered such masses of the enemy both in their front and on their left flank, that it soon became evident the enemy were there in full force… Unfortunately, General Pope not knowing what the enemy were doing behind the thick curtain of woods which screened them from view, came to the conclusion that Longstreet’s force would simply be used to reinforce Jackson who still remained in nearly the same position. Pope there threw the main body of his army to the north of the pike to confront Jackson… The strength of the Confederate position in the front of the Union advance, along with an open enfilading artillery fire from the area of the Brawner Farm, resulted in significant losses for the Northern attackers. Though exhausted from continuous battle, Jackson’s troops were more vulnerable than Union command might have imagined from the punishment they were afflicting. A strong reinforcement from A.P. Hill’s command swayed the balance of the conflict in favor of the Confederate efforts, and the Army of Virginia was obliged to fall back. Doubleday’s Brigade was in a third line of assault and was subjected to a severe canister fire, but the general retreat was in motion before his advance could be made.
A mere 8,000 men had been retained on the Union left flank to the south of the pike. Longstreet had about 30,000 amassing for an attack. About the time of the Union retreat, McDowell made the largest tactical error of the day. In order to reinforce the entire situation on the right, he ordered Reynold’s Division to relocate from the left flank and move to the north of the turnpike. This left only 2,200 troops to face the pending attack of Longstreet’s wing. Old Pete’s wing extended a full 1.5 miles in width, and only had about that distance, or a bit more, to cover in order to seize the Henry House Hill. This hill, the scene of the most intense action of the First Bull Run, was again the key to the battle. Seizing it would give the Rebels the high ground from which they could prevent the escape of the Army of Virginia across the stone bridge over Bull Run toward the relative safety of Centerville and Washington. The terrain in front of Longstreet was convoluted and difficult—with streams, woods, and ridges. But the numbers were vastly in his favor. Doubleday described this entire scenario in his journal: General Reynolds, in order to cooperate with Porter and with a view also to ascertain what was in his own immediate front; sent forward two regiments preceded by skirmishers, and also a third regiment, the 6th PA reserves under Colonel Sinclair, to examine the ground on the left of the division. He accompanied this last reconnaissance himself, passed beyond his line of skirmishers in the woods, and went to the outer edge behind which the enemy were formed. There he saw the whole of Longstreet’s forces massed in readiness to seize the commanding elevations south of the pike, drive us from Bald Ridge and the Henry House Hill, and cut us off from our line of retreat by capturing the stone bridge over Bull Run.
Just as Longstreet was about to advance, Reynolds was ordered to vacate his position and with his division to the right, in order that Porter’s lines might be rallied behind these fresh troops. This movement was wholly unnecessary for there was little or no disorder in Porter’s command. My men fell back in as perfect a line as if they were on parade, and the other corps seemed equally steady. Reynolds therefore was not needed by us and the order was most inopportune for him to leave his important position, just as the enemy were advancing against it.
A savage fight erupted on the Union left as Longstreet unleashed his attack. Extraordinarily gallant efforts were made by the few numbers of troops retained for the defense of this critical juncture. The defenders held out long enough for Reynolds to return and for other forces to be applied to this stand. Doubleday wrote of the fortuitous nature of the shape formed by the forward battle lines of the two armies at this point: It was fortunate for General Pope at this juncture that the convex formation of his army enabled him promptly to reinforce every assailable point, for while our troops moved on the chord of the arc, the enemy moved on the circumference.
Doubleday’s Brigade had withdrawn during this course of events to the area of the Stone House—a beautiful home marking a distinctive feature of the battlefield—just north of the Warrenton Pike at the intersection with the Manassas-Sudley Road. General Hatch had been wounded, and the command of the division had devolved to Doubleday. A solid line of defense was being established along the Manassas-Sudley Road. Though the most savage of the fighting was now occurring slightly to the left and south of Doubleday’s location, his brigade occupied a position in the relative center of the entire line. He wrote: General Hooker who had relieved General Porter rode up to me, pointed to a depression several hundred yards in front of me on the turnpike near Groveton, and said briefly, “General Doubleday, go into that ravine and hold it.” I immediately formed my division across the turnpike facing west and held the position until dark. We were exposed to a heavy fire from the Rebel artillery in our front, losing a number of men. In the meantime, the roar of battle on my immediate left on Bald Ridge was constant and unintermitting. The broken fragments of regiments came out of the strife all cut to pieces and rallied around me with cries and protestations of loyalty to the flag. Among others, I recollect particularly the 12th Mass regiment, which had just lost its Colonel Fletcher Webster and a large number of its best officers. This Colonel Webster was the only surviving son of the great statesman Daniel Webster. The son had raised up this regiment, who had elected him their colonel; and the regiment was also known as the “Webster Regiment.”
Doubleday’s Division was now the western most unit of Pope’s army. Sufficient defense had been rallied to prevent Longstreet from achieving his ultimate objective of the Henry House Hill, and a general retreat was now in operation. It was very late in the day. The division of Doubleday was under fire from the enemy, but also, due to their advanced position, by the friendly fire of Sigel’s artillery. I then had a flag waved to let them know who we were, but, they took this as a defiance and redoubled their firing. Finding they were getting my exact range I sent Major Doubleday to stop their artillery practice, and fell back a short distance to let the balls pass over us. When the firing ceased, I moved forward again and resumed my first position. It was somewhat trying to be commanded in front by the enemy, and in rear by our own troops.
Doubleday’s Division fell back as darkness descended. The bridge was much crowded, and he therefore had his command cross at a ford above it, and bivouac on the east side for the evening. His final written remarks for this date say: With ample time and means to reinforce General Pope, General McClellan had only sent him 21,000 men from the 90,000 veteran troops which came from the Peninsula, and had wholly evaded his request for food and ammunition. Now that the battle was over, Franklin’s and Sumner’s Divisions of that army came up, raising our forces to a number somewhat superior to that of the enemy. Notwithstanding this, as our army was out of supplies, it became necessary to fall back on Washington.
© Randy Buchman, 2012
Posted by Randy Buchman on August 30, 2012 in Abner Doubleday, Sesquicentennial Series and tagged 2nd Bull Run, 2nd Manassas, Abner Doubleday, Army of Virginia, John Pope.
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Tag Archives: National Minimum Drinking Age Act
Finally! A Drinking Age Debate
This may be more significant than people seem to assume: university and college administrators in the United States are discussing the potential effects of reverting the drinking age back to the age of maturity in their country (18 years-old). This Amethyst Initiative (blog), which was launched last month, may represent a turning point in not only alcohol policy but campus life in the United States.
This “story” has started to go around recently. And it happens to be one I care about. Read about this on Tuesday, while doing some random browsing.
College presidents seek drinking age debate – Life- msnbc.com.
And it’s coming back as a source of jokes:
College Presidents Rethinking Drinking Age | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source.
Though I may be a big fan of humour, I really hope that people can also take this issue seriously. For some reason, people in the United States tend to react to alcohol-related discussions with (possibly uneasy) humour. Fair enough, but there’s clearly a need for dispassionate, thoughtful, and serious discussion about the effects of current laws or the potential effects of new laws.
I have a lot of things to say about the issue but I’lll try to RERO it.
Now, obviously, the media coverage is typical “wedge issue” journalism. Which might well be working. In a way, I don’t care so much about the outcome of this journalistic coverage.
What I do care about, though, is that people may start discussing the social implications of alcohol prohibitions. It’s a much larger issue than the legal drinking age in the United States. I sincerely hope that it will be addressed, thanks in part to these administrators at well-known academic institutions.
Possibly the best person to talk about this is Indiana University’s Ruth Engs, professor of Applied Health Science. Engs has written extensively on the health effects of alcohol, with a special emphasis on the negative effects of the raised legal drinking age in the United States. She also has fascinating things to say about cultural dimensions of alcohol consumption, which happens to be a topic that I have been exploring on my own.
According to Engs, discussion of responsible drinking are quite rare in public events related to alcohol research in the United States. I personally get the impression that responsible drinking has become a taboo subject in those contexts. I certainly noticed this while living (as full-time faculty) on a “dry campus.”
It’s no secret that I care about responsible drinking. Part of this might have to do with the Éduc’alcool message which has been engrained in Quebeckers over the years: «la modération a bien meilleur goût» (“responsible drinking is more tasteful”). My strong impression is that at least some of those who wish for the drinking age in the United States to remain high share the opinion that, for adults, responsible drinking is more appropriate than binge drinking. They may think that any type of alcohol consumption has negative effects, but it’d be quite surprising if they actually preferred binge drinking over responsible drinking.
Where we seem to disagree is on the most effective strategies to reach the goal of responsible drinking among adults. IMHO, there is at the very least strong anecdotal evidence to show that increasing legal drinking age does very little to encourage responsible drinking. Unfortunately, with issues such as these, there’s a strong tendency for advocates of any position to dig for data supporting their claims. Stephen Jay Gould called this “advocacy masquerading as objectivity.” I may care strongly about the issue but I’m not really taking sides. After all, we’re talking about a country in which I’ve lived but in which I don’t have citizenship.
Let’s call a spade a “spade.” What’s at stake here is the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, which was pushed by the MADD lobby group (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). With all due respect to people involved in MADD and similar anti-alcohol advocacy groups, I have strong reservations as to some of their actions.
As a group, MADD is a “textbook example” of what sociologist Howard Becker has called “moral entrepreneurs.” In the United States, these moral entrepreneurs seem to be linked to what Ruth Engs calls clean living movements. What’s funny is that, though these movements may be linked to puritanism, Puritans themselves did use alcohol in their diet. So much so that the Mayflower landed in Plymouth Rock partly because of beer.
There’s a lot to say about this. From diverse perspectives. For instance, libertarians surely have interesting points about the NMDAA’s effects on state laws. Health researchers may talk about the difficulty of alcoholism prevention when responsible drinking is left undiscussed. Teetotalers and Muslims may see this as an opportunity to encourage complete abstinence from drinking. Road safety specialists may have important points to make about diverse ways to prevent drunk driving. Law researchers may warn us about the dangers to the legal system inherent to laws which are systematically broken by the majority of the population. Border officers may have some interesting data as to the “alcohol tourism” related to college drinking. University and college students clearly have diverse approaches to the subject, contrary to what the media coverage (especially the visuals used) seem to indicate.
My own perspective is quite specific. As a very responsible drinker. As a Quebecker of recent European origin. As a compulsive pedestrian. As an ethnographer interested in craft beer culture in North America. As a homebrewer. And, more importantly, as a university instructor who, like Barrett Seaman, has noticed widely different situations on university campuses in the United States and Canada.
Simply put, it seems quite likely that widespread binge drinking on university campuses has originated on U.S. campuses since 1984 and that the trend is currently spilling over to affect some campuses outside of the United States. College binge drinking is not a global problem. Nor is it a problem entirely specific to the United States. But the influence of U.S. college and university campus culture in other parts of the world often comes with binge drinking.
Apart from the fact that I find binge drinking to be extremely detrimental to physical and mental health, my observation is about campus life in general. AFAICT, on university and college campuses where alcohol consumption by a significant proportion of the student population is illegal, illicit alcohol consumption pushes younger students outside of the broader campus life. This self-segregation makes for a very uncomfortable learning and teaching context. In other words, the fact that students hide in fraternity houses or off-campus locations to binge drink may have the same socialization effects as regular campus life elsewhere on the planet, but the isolation of these people is a net loss in terms of generating an academic environment which is nurturing and tolerant.
To be clear: I’m not saying that the legal drinking age in the United States needs, of necessity, be brought back to 18 years-old as it was in several States until fairly recently. I’m not even saying that States should necessarily be allowed to set their own drinking age laws. I simply wish for this debate on legal drinking age to happen. Actually, I hope that there will be real, thoughtful dialogue on the issue.
Really, it’s the tasteful thing to do.
3 Comments | tags: alcohol research, Amethyst Initiative, Éduc'alcool, Barrett Seaman, binge, border control, Canada, clean living movements, debates, dialogue, Europe, forbidden fruits, Howard Becker, illicit behaviours, legal systems, MADD, mental health, moral enterpreneurs, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, National Minimum Drinking Age Act, NMDAA, Public Health, Puritanism, Ruth Engs, teetotalers, university administrators, university presidents, wedge issues | posted in academic institutions, activism, advice, advocacy, Alcohol, alcohol laws, Beer, beer in media, beer laws, beer politics, Beverages, binge drinking, college life, colleges, consumption, craft beer culture, drinks, Education, ethics, Food, food and society, freedom, grassroots, groupthink, health, journalism, Learning, learning and teaching, linkfest, moral enterpreneurs, news, opinions, optimism, policy, politics, professors, ramblings, rants, responsible drinking, schools, students, Teaching, teaching and learning, U.S. exceptionalism, U.S. media, U.S. politics, United States, Universities
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Inside 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'
by Gerri Miller
Browse the article Inside 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'
Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson and Anita Briem, stars of "Journey to the Center of the Earth"
Sebastian Raymond/New Line Cinema
In the crowded summer movie marketplace, a great gimmick can make a film stand out, provided it's done well and fits the story. As the first live-action flick shot in digital 3-D, "Journey to the Center of the Earth" scores big on both counts. This latest adaptation of Jules Verne's 1864 novel is an eye-popping thrill ride thanks to the illusion of depth created by the 3-D process.
Under the direction of first-time feature director Eric Brevig, who served as visual effects supervisor on such films as "Pearl Harbor," "Men in Black," and "Total Recall" -- for which he won an Oscar -- "Journey" significantly improves on the old-style 3-D experience that required paper glasses with blue and red colored lenses. Here, you quite realistically get flying piranhas and a T-Rex snapping at -- and drooling on -- you as the underground adventure unfolds.
Director Eric Brevig
In this re-imagination of the tale first adapted as a Pat Boone feature in 1959 and subsequently in several made-for-TV versions, Brendan Fraser plays Trevor, a seismologist and professor whose scientist brother Max disappeared on an expedition years before. When Max's visiting teenage son (Josh Hutcherson) shows him an annotated copy of the Verne novel bearing directions to an underground portal in Iceland, uncle and nephew jet off to investigate, with the aid of a local guide (Anita Briem).
The Verne novel serves as a jumping off point rather than a template for the screenplay by Michael Weiss, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, because as visionary as the tale was in the 19th century, "it's way out of date for today's audiences," Brevig explains. "Half the journey was just getting to Iceland, and they walk for months to the center of the earth. The fantastic part is when they're down there. So we kept the spirit of it but modernized it."
According to Brevig, who'd replaced another director on the project when it went 3-D, the story and characters evolved significantly before filming began in Montreal in June 2006. Post-production took more than a year due to pervasive CG elements, around 750 shots split between four visual effects houses. Those posed their own set of challenges, but with a shooting schedule of a mere 48 days, getting the complicated movie completed was equally difficult. Brevig explains why in the following sections, with additional input from actor Hutcherson and visual effects editor Ed Marsh.
On the way to the center of the Earth
"The idea was to present the audience with things that they've never seen before. Using modern visual effects tools and computer graphics, I can create an environment that's pretty much seamless," begins Brevig. "As the adventure progresses, things get more and more fantastic-a much heightened reality-- and that's echoed in the photography, the lighting and the color palette of the movie" he outlines.
That intensity is heightened in 3-D; a process that involves filming images with two cameras simultaneously at a 90-degree angle using mirrors so that the viewer, wearing special glasses, sees a single three-dimensional image.
He assembled a team well versed in 3-D and digital HD filmmaking and tested all available systems before choosing the one pioneered by James Cameron and Vince Mason. " For 90 percent of the movie, we used a beam splitter camera. A beam splitter is a mirror that you can both see through and see reflections off of," he explains. "By mounting two cameras, or at least the lenses and the optical sensors from two cameras, onto this rig, you can adjust the lenses so they're different distances apart. For the big close-ups in the movie, I wanted the lenses to be very close together -- closer than the two lenses can fit. So by using this mirror rig, the lenses can appear to be 3/4 of an inch apart. This allows me to get big close-ups that don't hurt your eyes when you see the movie."
Most scenes were filmed in front of a green screen. The background was added later with a computer.
Brevig commissioned a compact version of the camera that mounted on a crane or a Steadicam, or used as a hand-held camera. "To my amazement, it worked from the first day through the end of photography. We had one hour of down time the entire production," he notes. But the 3-D format nevertheless presented other challenges after filming wrapped.
"Shots went through at least five or six iterations more than they would have for a regular film just to handle 3-D issues," comments Ed Marsh. "If you spend all day slaving over a tiny 24-inch monitor making the 3-D look perfect, don't be surprised when the image is projected onto a 40-foot theater screen and things aren't in the right place. You have actors embedding in the wall or you have those ducking objects that are way in front of them, or behind them. So you have to work big, early and often," by viewing footage on a large screen.
Because of limitations to the distance the eye can register 3-D, it's difficult to create an illusion of depth for objects more than 100 feet away. The filmmakers solved this by creating depth references, such as a rope in the climbing sequences, particles and bubbles in the water, and the flock of flying glow birds in the underground cavern that establish size and depth of the space. We'll give you the 411 on these and "Journey's" other CG creations in the next section.
Having survived a "trial by fire" on "Journey," Eric Brevig is ready for whichever of several effects-heavy possibilities is scripted and ready to go first.
Josh Hutcherson will play a vampire, "a hardcore bad guy" in "Cirque du Freak," and the now-catatonic survivor of a diner shooting in the indie drama "Winged Creatures."
Ed Marsh recently completed work on the 2-D thriller "Eagle Eye," due out Sept. 26.
Brendan Fraser stars in "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" opening Aug. 1, "Inkheart" due Jan. 9 and "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra" slated for next August.
Featured Creatures
A green screen was likely used to create this scene.
"The idea for a glowing bird had come up in one of the scripts prior to me coming on, and my idea was having these things swarm, to make it a magical moment," relates Eric Brevig. "There are shots where it looks like they're flying in the movie theater. Everybody reaches out and tries to grab one."
Computer-generated sequences like this were shot against a green screen, so the actors had to react to invisible objects that would be added later. "For the swarm shots I would just give them a place on the stage ceiling to look at, and for the close-up where the bird casts a glow onto Josh, we had a guy with a stick and a light bulb," says Brevig.
Similar methodology was utilized for the giant albino Tyrannosaurus Rex, carnivorous plant and razor-toothed flying fish that menaced the characters. For the latter, the actors "were responding to blue Nerf footballs," notes Ed Marsh.
Brevig provided artwork and animatics -- cartoon versions -- of all the action scenes to show the actors how the scene would play. Nevertheless, 15-year-old Josh Hutcherson, who had helpful experience working with green screen on "Bridge to Terabithia" and "Zathura," found it difficult to react to "a big, terrifying dinosaur when in reality it's a little pink dot. But Eric did a really good job of drawing it out for us and giving us an idea of what it was going to look like in the end."
The dinosaur posed different problems for the designers. "By choosing to have a bright white albino dinosaur they were making the 3-D harder for themselves. They had to play with skin tones and textures to make it believable because it could look like it's not finished yet," explains Marsh. "So they spent a lot of time adding dirt and scarring to make it look more real. Then there was the drool issue -- how far could we push it," he says of the T-Rex saliva, noting that Brevig didn't want to go too far over the top, but "the studio wanted a big 3-D moment" -- and it got it.
Dinosaur out to claim Trevor (Brendan Fraser)
As for the giant Venus flytrap that terrorizes Trevor, approval for the sequence was granted at the last minute, "So planning fell by the wayside," reveals Marsh. "We didn't have time to check the shots. It was literally two camera teams working for 18 hours with Brendan Fraser pantomiming the whole thing, with the grand hopes that we'd be able to clean it up in post. We spent a very long time figuring out how the plant should look and move, and changing that motion.
To Brevig, the most technically complex sequence was the raft getaway, "because water is very complex and challenging to simulate. There's ocean and fish and sea serpents, all CG, all interacting with each other and the actors." And, adds Marsh, "in 3-D, you can't cheat. The foam coming off the top of waves had to be rendered like foam coming off the top of waves. It required a much tighter tracking of every element and its position."
We'll discuss other tricky action sequences in the next section.
Locations and Logistics
Part of the scenery of "Journey to the Center of the Earth"
A couple of days in Iceland notwithstanding, "Journey" was mainly shot indoors on soundstages in Montreal, "so we were spared the weather issues," notes Brevig, who still had to work out how to build 40 sets on four stages, "knowing that we can't film and build on the same set at the same time. How do you change the lighting from an orange-lit desert to the blues and greens of the waterfall set without holding up the set builders below?" The solution? A pre-set lighting grid on a dimmer board that could be changed with the push of a button. "It probably saved us two weeks' production time."
Since big action set pieces are time-consuming to shoot, even with animatic blueprints as guidelines, Brevig "had two 3-D rigs so we would shoot two shots at a time, giving me more editorial coverage and a faster pace. I made a still frame grab of every shot and put them up on boards on the set in shooting order. We'd take them off one by one as we shot the sequences," he details.
His team had only one night to shoot an underwater sequence at the Olympic Stadium pool in Montreal, so "safety divers getting in the shot" were the least of his worries. But advance planning on the lighting end and not having to reload the digital camera allowed him to finish in seven hours.
Several physically demanding scenes involved suspending actors in midair in harnesses while they delivered dialogue. They were shot against a blue screen for part of the free-fall to the center of the earth, except for the portion where the camera is looking up at them. "We put the actors on their sides and we'd dolly past them with the camera on its side," Brevig explains.
He used a similar low-tech method for the waterfall scene, placing the stars on a 50-foot table covered in black plastic. "We went out in the parking lot at night, aimed fire hoses up the table and dragged the actors by wires on their feet. We put the camera on its side so it looks like it's vertical."
A scene underground: Is it real or computer generated?
Josh Hutcherson enjoyed doing "as much as they'd let me do" stunt-wise, including rock climbing and the sequence where he shoots into the air on a giant kite. He was spared injuries, but Fraser incurred several, including a burned hand from getting too close to an exploding magnesium flare.
"That was day three of shooting and we had to shut down for two days. Not that I wished it on him, but it allowed me 36 hours to go to Iceland and scout locations," notes Brevig, adding that Fraser hurt his back later on. "He was on a big rig and a got smacked in the tailbone. He took the brunt of the injuries, but everyone got scrapes and bruises from brushing against concrete and plaster."
Such SNAFUs aside, "Journey" came in well under its $70 million budget, according to Brevig, who'd happily direct a sequel -- mention of the search for the lost city of Atlantis was included precisely for that reason, he says. "I'd do it in a heartbeat," Hutcherson concurs.
For more information on this movie, 3-D formats and related topics, journey over to the next page.
How Digital 3-D Works
How 3-D Glasses Work
How Computer Animation Works
How CFX3 Works
Journey to the Center of the Earth -- Official Site
Eric Brevig and Josh Hutcherson interviewed June 20, 2008
Ed Marsh interviewed June 23, 2008
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Dan Marino was the most productive passer the NFL has ever known with 4,967 of 8,358 passes completed. He is considered by many people to be the greatest quarterback to have never won a Super Bowl title. Learn more about the legendary Dan Marino.
Don Maynard
Don Maynard is one of only five players to record 50 or more receptions and more than 1,000 receiving yards five times. He was named to the all-time AFL team in 1969 and was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.
Hugh McElhenny
Hugh McElhenny was one of only three players to have gained more than 11,000 all-purpose yards. He frequently left defenders dazed with his amazing speed and ability to change direction at will. Learn more about thrill runner Hugh McElhenny.
Joe Montana helped the 49ers win four Super Bowls, and he received three Super Bowl MVP awards for his effort. He was named to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994 and is a sure-shot Hall of Famer.
Marion Motley
Marion Motley amassed 4,720 yards on 828 carries for an astounding 5.7 yards per carry in only nine seasons. He entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968 and was named to the NFL's All-Time Team in 1994.
Anthony Munoz received the prestigious NFL Man of the Year Award in 1991 for being a great role model on and off the field. He played in 11 Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994. Learn about Anthony Munoz.
By the Editors of Publications International, Ltd. Players / Offensive Line
Bronko Nagurski
Bronko Nagurski symbolized power running and possessed a brute force that has never been matched. He retired in 1938 to become a professional wrestler but later returned to the Bears in 1943. Find out more about powerhouse Bronko Nagurski.
In 1967, Joe Namath became the first player to pass for more than 4,000 yards in a season. He won major acclaim as the face of the Jets franchise for 13 seasons and his awesome 27,663 passing yards and 173 touchdowns.
Steve Van Buren
Steve Van Buren grew to be a giant in the game of football. In 1947, he became the second player to rush for over 1000 yards with 1008 total yards. He retired with a record of 5860 rushing yards. Learn more about Steve Van Buren, the great Eagles player.
Turk Edwards
Turk Edwards was a lineman for the Boston Redskins. He helped the Redskins win a division title in 1936 and a national championship in 1937. Learn why Turk Edwards was one of the most powerful players on either side of the line.
Tom Fears
Tom Fears was an extremely precise catcher who set records only to break them himself. He led the league in receptions in his first three seasons as a pro. Fears was known for running precise routes. Read about Tom Fears' triumphs with the Los Angeles Rams.
Len Ford was one of the best defensive players in pro football history, playing in six championships with the Browns. He needed facial reconstruction due to an injury, but was able to come back and play for a championship in 1950.
Dan Fortmann
Dan Fortmann joined the Chicago Bears in 1936 and became the youngest NFL starter. He retired from football in 1943 and became a highly respected doctor on the West Coast. Find out how Dan Fortmann wen from football field to medical field.
Dan Fouts
Dan Fouts was ideally suited to be the Chargers' quarterback. He played for 15 seasons and completed 3,297 passes for 43,040 yards. Fouts entered the Hall of Fame in 1993. Read how Dan Fouts and coach Don Coryell's offense led to championships.
Bill George started out in a middle guard position but found his full strength as a linebacker. His talents on defense helped him get elected to eight Pro Bowls and a Hall of Fame induction in 1972. Learn how Bill George excelled at middle linebacker.
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