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Gary is the creative director of Sidewalk Studio, responsible for superb titles like Surf City and Wacky World of Miniature Golf. He is also a pioneer, having created the standard to put movies on cd-i, thus paving the way for DVD. He shares his memories of Philips cd-i with Alan on Philips CDi Zone; now also on Interactive Dreams.
Gary is pictured here on holiday with his wife Rebecca Newman, who was the manager of Sidewalk Studios. Both an MBA and a fine artist, she added greatly to the smooth running of the large team there. Gary reminisces about his time working on philips cd-i ''During the course of our eight years at Philips Media, over time those of us at Sidewalk Studio improved our software, our production techniques, and our understanding as to what we were doing creatively. Due to my narrative background as a Hollywood screenwriter and movie aficionado, and the characteristics of CD-i as a television peripheral device with the benefit of a standard format as opposed to the continually changing technology of computers, this led to a certain approach in our group. This was to explore potential interactive genres for children.''
"Surf City" was of a labor of love where we were trying to expand what the category for children could mean. "Surf City" was designed for kids who were a bit older and who might enjoy the mixture of Beach Boys music, the geography of a beach town circa 1966, animated music videos, amusing games that referenced the 1960's, and a narrative that was woven in and among all of these to tell a typical story of teenage love. With regards to the Beach Boys soundtrack, we were trying to get the rights to their music for a while when, finally, someone named Ted Cohen, who had background in the music business and who was married to a Philips Media executive, Laura Cohen, became essential to working out the deal and the rights issues. Of course, as was the case at the time, rights holders had no idea as to what we were doing, so we had to endlessly describe the project as best we could and we were able to make deals that no traditional entertainment format could possibly have made. If "Surf City" had been a movie, the rights would have had to be perpetual and they would have cost a great deal more.
So many of the holes in Wacky Golf were crazy--and funny. The game was made with a number of devoted people who had a bit of sadistic fun in them and kept adjusting the holes to make them more and more difficult. I speak specifically of Dug Ward who had a lot of creative input on the holes and Todd Williams who kept turning the screws tighter as we developed the title. Also, "Wacky Golf" had the same art director, Alex Stevens, as many of our other titles, so he contributed greatly to the look of this comic and playful miniature golf course. And Brian Truitt was the editor on these sequences (as he was on all of our Sidewalk Studio titles) who helped perfect the timing. In fact, Brian was the longest lasting person on our team, besides Rebecca and me. As with all the titles, Rebecca and I were also involved in the planning and execution of "Wacky Golf." But I think on this one there were more hands involved in the design than usual, in particular Dug Ward, and it turned out well for their involvement.
A lot has been talked about regarding the difficulty of producing games on the cd-i platform. For you, what were the major obstacles?
Wow! Are you kidding?! The obstacles were innumerable. Unfortunately, every producer or production group was left to solve these on his or her own. We were fortunate in that our early titles, such as "Cartoon Jukebox" and "Sandy's Circus Adventure," which we made under Frank Huttinger, who had hired us and was our old friend, were very well liked. For those titles, for example, we had to figure out everything. While off-the-shelf software was utilized, we used it almost as soon as it was released and we had to combine anything like that with tools we ourselves created that would work together. We also had to develop software that would run video and audio in synchronization, something that was not native to the CD-i machine. So as to keep everything in order, Rebecca, whose MBA was in Marketing and Information Systems, worked with the software engineers assigned to us to develop an eight-digit file management system, wherein each digit represented a different file state. This allowed us to always know which file was a later file and should be used in the disc build. Seems obvious, right? But other groups were not so lucky to have Rebecca working with them. They didn't remember which files were which and everything was a disorganized mess. And so, while we began working on these two titles well after others started their own, "Cartoon Jukebox," as I recall, was the first CD-i title ever finished. They even had a little party for it. Furthermore, we eventually finished six of the first 32 titles available for the initial release of the CD-i platform. This was because we had conquered so many technical problems and also because we were smart enough to be unusually well organized.
Did you have any games in the pipeline for cd-i, which were unreleased? Is there a game that you would have liked to produce for the system? We had planned a title called "Junior Detective" that was a teenage adventure game set in a science fantasy future. We wrote the story concept, created the production designs, but it never moved forward, unfortunately, due to various issues. Too bad. Fortunately, at Sidewalk we didn't have too many titles like that and this was a big difference from my life in Hollywood where I would write scripts that would never see the light of day or where they did get produced were so changed by subsequent writers or the director that I never knew whether I had done something wrong or whether it was done wrong by others. The great thing about Sidewalk Studio for me was that I had rather complete creative control. So while there were many contributors to our titles without whom they would not have been as good, if something was wrong with one of them, it was most likely my fault and if something was right then it was because I thought it was worthy enough to release to the public. Our last two titles were CD-ROMs: "Babysitter's Club Friendship Kit" (based on a well-known girl teen series of books) and a wonderful original title "Story About Me." Unfortunately, neither was released by Philips because it closed down first. "Babysitter's" was sold off to another distribution company whereas "Story About Me" just never got released although we finished it. It would be instructional to see the difference between these two titles and our last two CD-i titles because they are clearly different, designed to utilize the more tool-like nature of the computer as opposed to the entertainment nature of the television.
What do you think is the main reason that the cd-i did not take off? I think it was a mixture of issues. At the basic level, no one in marketing had figured out where in the store the player would be sold. Was it an audio device, a television device, a game device? Also, it seemed to us that it wasn't sold well for what it was. It was sold as a hodgepodge. Then, there were the external issues, the fact that computer games which involved more recombination of elements than audiovisual display were worked on by so many different developers. Of course, the irony is that nowadays those games developed for Windows 95 or whatever can't be played while, if one has a CD-i player, all the discs are still playable.
Do you think that cd-i was ahead of it's time? Actually, it was out of sync of its time and I think this was because the marketing folk and hardware engineers at Philips Electronics never thought hard enough about what they were creating. Therefore, the CD-i machine was in a marketplace competing with the computer world, on the one hand, and the proprietary television peripheral systems (Nintendo, PSX, etc.) on the other hand. This is because of the nature of creating a fixed standard is something the Consumer Electronics industry always does, and the benefit of this is that all CD's play on all CD players and all CD-i discs play on all CD-i players. But CD-i was competing against both the computer industry and proprietary standards that allowed for for continuous hardware and software development. And the way things were and are is that games players prefer their machines to continually expand the edges of technology rather than have something that can be played on any player anywhere always. I think, also, there were some execs at Philips who didn't quite understand what the overall market was like.
Do you look back fondly on your time working on philips cd-i titles? Absolutely. For those of us who worked at Sidewalk, it was a highly enjoyable experience. The people were so great, both individually and in mixture. Combining game designers, software engineers, production managers, animators, writers led to a stimulating environment. Many of them said it was the best place they ever worked and Rebecca and I would absolutely agree. Of course, Sidewalk wasn't the only successful group, but we were one of the few which were most successful.
Interview with Gary Drucker (Philips Sidewalk Stud...
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Embrace Digital Transformation
By Samuel Greengard | Posted Sunday, October 20, 2013 14:05 PM
By Samuel Greengard
One of the least debatable issues involving information technology is that CIOs must embrace digital transformation. The intersection of mobility, cloud computing, social media, big data, data analytics and an array of web and IP-based tools and technologies is rocking the business world in a way that would have been unimaginable a few years ago.
A new study conducted by Capgemini Consulting in partnership with MIT Sloan Management Review, Embracing Digital Technology: A New Strategic Imperative, offers clues into how CIOs and other senior executives can achieve a competitive advantage by using digital technology to its fullest advantage.
Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of the 1,500 global executives polled said the pace of technology change in their organizations is too slow. Competing priorities and a lack of digital skills are the top two challenges in execution.
But that's just the starting point. The vast majority of organizations struggling with digital transformation display a lack of urgency or no "burning platform," and many don't create business cases, the report notes. In addition, only 36 percent of leaders have shared a vision for digital transformation with their employees, and 40 percent said they don’t have formal governance practices around digital transformation. Only 26 percent use KPIs to track progress.
The upshot? CIOs and other IT leaders must rethink everything from technology devices and platforms to collaboration methods and governance models. They must invent new roles, crumple silos and rethink skills. As David Kiron, an executive editor at MIT Sloan Management Review, puts it: "digital transformation needs to come from the top."
The report identifies Starbucks as a poster child for digital innovation and transformation. When the company hired Adam Brotman to fill the role of vice president of digital ventures, he unleashed Wi-Fi across the company's stores, built a digital landing page and content channels, and implemented an e-payment system that seamlessly incorporates the firm's loyalty program. Starbucks will soon roll out a system that allows customers to order and pay entirely through their smartphone.
Of course, not every company is Starbucks and not every company can tap into the same tools and capabilities. But the writing is on the digital wall: CIOs must begin to formulate a more focused strategy that redefines and reinvents IT and the business. Constant and ongoing digital innovation is no longer a luxury. It's at the foundation of business.
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Reed Vessel 2004
KING, Virginia
Reed Vessel
stainless steel, aluminium louvers, recycled plastic decking, aluminium, bronze castings
Commissioned by VicUrban (now Development Victoria) and later transferred to the City of Melbourne
Virginia King, Reed Vessel, Docklands, 2004
Location: Encounter Way, Docklands Park
The airy, metaphorical form of 'Reed Vessel' is achieved through the joining of more than 300 stainless-steel pieces into a canoe form. It sits upon a cradle created by two louvered water screens, down which water gently flows and through which a fine mist is emitted. The screens are etched with the words of Australian writers and poets, quotations related to the river and the sea, to memory and the passing of time. A pedestrian bridge forms part of the work, taking passers-by across the pool and through the base of the cradle.
The maritime nature of the work acknowledges the history of the site and embraces the themes of migration, passage and survival. The area on which it is located was once extensive tidal wetlands, which provided abundant food and spiritual connections to the area for its traditional owners. The basket-like vessel also symbolises a container in which memories are held – memories of the undeveloped site and its traditional uses, but also of the ocean journeys that have brought early settlers and later generations of migrants to these shores.
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Internet Verse Search Commentaries Word Analysis ITL - draft
Psalms 1:1
NET ©
How blessed 2 is the one 3 who does not follow 4 the advice 5 of the wicked, 6 or stand in the pathway 7 with sinners, or sit in the assembly 8 of scoffers! 9
NIV ©
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
NASB ©
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
NLT ©
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers.
MSG ©
How well God must like you--you don't hang out at Sin Saloon, you don't slink along Dead-End Road, you don't go to Smart-Mouth College.
BBE ©
Happy is the man who does not go in the company of sinners, or take his place in the way of evil-doers, or in the seat of those who do not give honour to the Lord.
NRSV ©
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;
NKJV ©
Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
[is] the man
that walketh
<01980> (8804)
not in the counsel
of the ungodly
<07563>_,
nor standeth
in the way
of sinners
nor sitteth
in the seat
of the scornful
<03887> (8801)_.
{ungodly: or, wicked}
How blessed
is the man
does not walk
in the counsel
of the wicked
, Nor
in the path
of scoffers
bsy
Myul
bswmbw
Myajx
Krdbw
Myesr
tueb
syah
yrsa (1:1)
makariov
A-NSM
anhr
N-NSM
R-NSM
eporeuyh
V-API-3S
boulh
N-DSF
asebwn
A-GPM
odw
amartwlwn
esth
V-AAI-3S
kayedran
N-ASF
loimwn
N-GPM
ekayisen
NET © [draft] ITL
is the one
who does not
the advice
, or stand
the pathway
with sinners
the assembly of scoffers
NET © Notes
1 sn Psalm 1. In this wisdom psalm the author advises his audience to reject the lifestyle of the wicked and to be loyal to God. The psalmist contrasts the destiny of the wicked with that of the righteous, emphasizing that the wicked are eventually destroyed while the godly prosper under the Lord’s protective care.
2 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see v. 3; Pss 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
3 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” (Generic “he” is employed in vv. 2-3). Since the godly man described in the psalm is representative of followers of God (note the plural form צַדִּיקִים [tsadiqim, “righteous, godly”] in vv. 5-6), one could translate the collective singular with the plural “those” both here and in vv. 2-3, where singular pronouns and verbal forms are utilized in the Hebrew text (cf. NRSV). However, here the singular form may emphasize that godly individuals are usually outnumbered by the wicked. Retaining the singular allows the translation to retain this emphasis.
4 tn Heb “walk in.” The three perfect verbal forms in v. 1 refer in this context to characteristic behavior. The sequence “walk–stand–sit” envisions a progression from relatively casual association with the wicked to complete identification with them.
5 tn The Hebrew noun translated “advice” most often refers to the “counsel” or “advice” one receives from others. To “walk in the advice of the wicked” means to allow their evil advice to impact and determine one’s behavior.
6 tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21).
7 tn “Pathway” here refers to the lifestyle of sinners. To “stand in the pathway of/with sinners” means to closely associate with them in their sinful behavior.
8 tn Here the Hebrew term מוֹשַׁב (moshav), although often translated “seat” (cf. NEB, NIV), appears to refer to the whole assembly of evildoers. The word also carries the semantic nuance “assembly” in Ps 107:32, where it is in synonymous parallelism with קָהָל (qahal, “assembly”).
9 tn The Hebrew word refers to arrogant individuals (Prov 21:24) who love conflict (Prov 22:10) and vociferously reject wisdom and correction (Prov 1:22; 9:7-8; 13:1; 15:12). To “sit in the assembly” of such people means to completely identify with them in their proud, sinful plans and behavior.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 ALL 1 2 3 4 5 6
TIP #19: Use the Study Dictionary to learn and to research all aspects of 20,000+ terms/words. [ALL]
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2018 Verge Fellowship Applications will be accepted from May 1 to July 1, 2018
http://apply.clevelandartsprize.org
Verge Fellowship Application Guidelines
Only one application per person will be accepted.
1. You must be at least 18 years of age.
2. You must reside in the Cleveland area. The City of Cleveland and any suburb that is adjacent by border.
3. You must be creating work in one or more of the following disciplines:
Visual Arts, Music, Literature, Dance and Theatre, and Design
4. This is a video application: Please view the how-to-apply video:
5. Application form must be completed in full.
6. No late applications will be accepted.
7. Video must be 2m or under.
Winners announced on or around August 1, 2018.
2018 Nominations: CLOSED
2018 Cleveland Arts Prize Recipients will be announced the first week of August 2018.
The Cleveland Arts Prize staff and board actively encourage nominations from a broad range of community leaders, arts organizations and the community. It is only through the CAP online nomination process that candidates can be submitted for consideration.
INELIGIBILITY: incomplete or late forms, past winners, self-nominations, nominations that do not meet the criteria will not be considered.
Robert P. Bergman Prize
The Robert P. Bergman Prize is awarded to an individual whose life and work are illuminated by an energetic and inspiring dedication to democratic vision of art. The Bergman Prize recognizes the highest possible expression art stewardship through long term commitment.
Martha Joseph Prize for Distinguished Service to the Arts
The Martha Joseph Prize is awarded to an individual or an organization that have made a significant contribution to the vitality and stature of the arts in northeast Ohio through exceptional commitment, vision, leadership, and/or philanthropy.
Barbara S. Robinson Prize for the Advancement of the Arts
The Barbara S. Robinson Prize is awarded to an individual or organization for extraordinary commitment to the advancement of the arts through leadership in policy, legislation, arts education and community development.
info@clevelandartsprize.org
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Kevin Lingerman Overcomes Adversity, Aspires to Become Professional Baseball Player
Featured, News1 2 comments
He threw the pitch and watched it sail toward home. His team was down, and he had been brought in as a relief pitcher. The first batter had struck out. The second got a hit. Now what? Where was the ball? What was going on?
He stumbled back, then caught himself.
“My first baseman was at my side and asking if I was okay. I said, ‘I don’t know what happened.’ I was still looking for the ball,” said Kevin Lingerman, senior pitcher for the George Mason University baseball team.
The next time he looked up there was blood everywhere. Lingerman sank to his knees, then to all fours as he tried to piece together what was going on.
Lingerman was still looking for the ball. Trouble was, the ball had found him first.
The batter had hit Lingerman’s pitch and returned it at 100 mph into his face.
His face was broken in five places, completely smashing his nose, orbital bone and the top of his jaw.
“The day it happened we were getting beat pretty good,” said Mick Foley, the sophomore first baseman who was first to Lingerman’s side. “It was already silent in the park because we were getting killed. Then Lingerman got hit it and it was a whole different kind of silence.”
Foley had watched the ball fly straight towards Lingerman and heard a loud snap he thought was the ball making contact with the pitcher’s glove.
But then he saw the ball rolling off the field and towards the third base dugout and noticed that the batter had slowed to a crawl in his dash to first base, and he realized that the loud snap had actually been the crack of Lingerman’s skull.
Foley ran to Lingerman’s side as he lay sprawled on his back.
“There was blood all over,” Foley said. “I couldn’t really see if his nose was broken. All I saw was blood.”
A lifelong sports fan, Foley had seen baseball players on television take line drives to the face before, but this was the first time that he or anyone else on the team had seen it in real life.
He knew that such an injury could result in blindness or brain swelling, even death.
He also knew that the metal bats used in college games made the situation all the more dangerous.
An article published in 2008 by Northeast Booster eerily foreshadowed Lingerman’s run-in with the baseball.
According to the article, “Lingerman, who plays third base, shortstop and pitcher, also will have to face hitters with lively metal bats. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. He was 20-0 in four years on the mound at Calvert Hall.”
For twenty minutes, the players, coaches and fans were consumed by anxiety as the trainers mopped up the blood from Lingerman’s wounds while they waited for an ambulance. He had lost nearly a pint of blood by the time he got to the hospital.
“The pain was excruciating. It was terrible,” Lingerman said. “My trainer was like, ‘It’s okay. You can cry.’”
But he didn’t. Throughout the whole ordeal, he didn’t cry or pass out, despite the crippling pain.
“The only thing I can really say is that he is a remarkable young man. Trust me when I tell you I don’t say this lightly. Not only is he my hero, he is the biggest reason that keeps me moving everyday,” said Patty Lingerman, Kevin’s mother. “If it wasn’t for him and his positive attitude, I would’ve been like, ‘To hell with this.’ People talk about miracles, but all I can say is that you don’t know my son’s story.”
As the wailing sirens pulled up, Lingerman rose to his feet and walked off the field toward the ambulance, a hopeful sign for everyone on the field.
In Baltimore, Lingerman’s father had been watching a live stream of the game and had lost volume on the screen just after Lingerman got hit.
He turned to his wife and told her something bad had happened.
Suddenly the volume returned on the computer to announce that a relief pitcher was coming in for Lingerman.
Then the phone rang.
“I just remember [the caller] saying ‘I have Kevin at the hospital.’ I could hear Kevin in the background saying, ‘Watch out, she’s going to get upset. Don’t tell her too much,’” Mrs. Lingerman said.
“When they came in, I had a pad over my face,” Lingerman said. “When they took it off, my mom cried and my dad just stared at me in shock.”
For the next two weeks, progress was slow. If the ball had hit him just one or two inches to the left or right, Lingerman would’ve been killed. The doctors decided not to operate on his face and let the bones reset themselves like twigs.
Plastic surgeons had to reconstruct his nose, which had been completely destroyed by the ball.
“My sinuses were completely filled with blood. I couldn’t breathe for a few weeks,” Lingerman said.
However, the worst damage was to his right eye, which was nearly sealed shut with swelling. When he finally was able to open it, Lingerman had no vision.
After two days in the hospital, Lingerman returned to his dorm room with his mother there to take care of him.
On the third day, he woke up and opened his eyes in relief. He had regained sight in his right eye.
Even though he was able to see again, the pressure behind his eye was still high, and he was put on bed rest.
The possibility of blindness was still a threat.
“The week after it happened was the worst,” Lingerman said.
Lingerman has retained his sight but suffers from permanent damage to his iris and cornea.
A few weeks after he was injured, the batter who hit the ball that crushed Lingerman’s face sent him a message on Facebook and apologized.
“I told him it was no problem. He didn’t do it on purpose,” Lingerman said. “He told me that when he hit the ball, he started walking toward the mound. He thought he killed me. They had to take him out of the game.”
With his face crushed, Lingerman was down, but he wasn’t out for the count. Baseball is, and always had been, his sustaining life force.
His father, Nemo Lingerman, played in the Minnesota Twins’ minor league system and instilled a love of baseball in his son at an early age.
Getting hit in the face with a line drive wasn’t the first hurdle in Lingerman’s career. His trainer, Debbie Coronado ,often tells him that he’s the luckiest for being the unluckiest in the world.
He has certainly beaten the odds.
“This is one in millions,” Lingerman said. “The odds of this happening are less than winning the lottery. When the ball comes back, it’s like blink of the eye. Reflexes take over.”
Lingerman has been struggling against the odds since he was 6 years old, when he was first diagnosed with a rare case of bone cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma that affects only 250 children in the United States per year.
“As a parent, I can’t begin to tell you how devastating that is.,” Mrs. Lingerman said. “The doctors did not give us good news. They didn’t expect him to make it.”
But Lingerman wasn’t about to give up.
“He took his little hands and put them on my face and said, ‘It’s okay, Mommy. I’m not going to die.’ That’s the part that you can’t explain to people. It’s devastating,” Mrs. Lingerman said.
Lingerman underwent chemotherapy treatments for a year, pumping poisons through his young body to rid him of the cancerous tumors.
Ewing’s sarcoma usually strikes pubescent children in the long bones in their legs and arms, but Lingerman’s tumors were intertwined in his ribs.
To combat the cancer, doctors removed part of Lingerman’s lung and parts of his fourth, fifth and sixth rib bones.
For a few years, he returned to health and lived his life as a normal little boy, falling even deeper in love with America’s favorite pastime.
But his struggles were far from over.
When he was 11, the cancer returned. After six months of chemo he lost his hair, but he didn’t lose his drive and continued to play baseball throughout the sixth grade.
“I stayed in shape and stayed off the couch,”Lingerman said. “I’d get sick on the field from the chemo, but the other boys were too young to understand.”
But this time, Lingerman understood. In his second battle with cancer, he became more self-aware and angry, not understanding why he was being singled out.
“That’s the part that’s hard to explain to people,” Mrs. Lingerman said. “He’s been through hell and back, and psychologically, it’s made an impact. When he gets down, only the family sees that. He won’t let anybody on the outside know he’s down.”
Eventually, the doctors elected to remove the rest of the three ribs on his right side and a quarter of his lung.
It took two years for Lingerman to return to playing full time. He had always played third, but he liked to pitch more.
Once again, the odds were stacked against him.
At 5 feet 11 inches, he is below average height for a pitcher, and with three of his ribs and a piece of his lung missing, the odds of him being able to throw with speed and precision were not promising.
“I threw 90 mph my first time during my senior year of high school. No one had any idea how it was possible,” Lingerman said.
Had the doctors’ predictions been true, Lingerman would’ve been crippled by scoliosis, if not dead after his bouts with cancer.
Without his ribs for support, the doctors couldn’t understand how his decelerator muscles, which are imperative for pitchers, were strong enough to throw the ball at such high speeds.
Decelerator muscles allow the fast-moving body parts, like a pitcher’s arm, to slow, similar to brakes on a car.
Lingerman’s medical woes had not yet ended. Once again, despite the odds, Lingerman excelled.
He was slowed once again after a spinal herniation in high school required surgery.
After being recruited by Mason, Lingerman pitched successfully his freshman year, but by sophomore year, trouble was back again. Like many other pitchers, his arm was wearing, and he had to have Tommy John surgery to repair his ulnar collateral ligament.
Nerve damage, possibly from the years of chemo, combined with faulty surgery resulted in two unsuccessful surgiers.
After coming off not one but three Tommy John surgeries, Lingerman was finally returning to full health and playing ball.
He pitched his first return game successfully at NC State and was getting back into the swing of things as he stepped onto the mound on March 3 to try and recover some runs from Bryant.
“He had finally gotten velocity and speed back up and said to me, ‘Mom, this has gotta be my year.’ Then he gets hit in the face,” Mrs. Lingerman said.
A month and a half after this harrowng incident, Lingerman has only a faint scar that stretches from the inner corner of his eye to right above his eyebrow. Shocking the doctors once again, he’s returned to full health and is now training to play in a game in the next few weeks.
“I still want to play,” Lingerman said. “When I get back out on the mound, I might be a little shaky, but baseball is what’s gotten me here. It’s gotten me through a lot of stuff. I’m one of the first people in my family to go to college. Baseball has allowed me to do things that I never would’ve been able to.”
His mother is terrified for Lingerman to step up on the mound again but knows that, while baseball has been the cause of many of his injuries, it’s also been the driving force that has motivated him through his difficult life.
“He’s very upbeat. I’m very angry. Not just that he’s gonethrough cancer twice. He’s had back surgery, Tommy John, and then to get hit in the face like that. He just can’t catch a break. I don’t want him to get back on a mound, even though at the same time I do. But that’s Kevin,” Mrs. Lingerman said.
Lingerman speaks easily about his injuries, without a trace of bitterness about beating cancer twice, spending countless hours in the hospital or battling through eight surgeries. He even grins as he recounts the ridiculous series of events he’s suffered through.
A red-shirt senior, Lingerman still has another year left of school before he’s out in the real world, but he’s already dreaming of getting drafted to the big leagues.
If that falls through, he has plans to coach in Division I. But if history repeats itself, luck just may be on his side.
elmer says:
awesome should make a movie on this GREAT KID
teachmark says:
Kevin is one tough cookie! I send positive thoughts him way and success for his future.
Colleen Wilson / Sports Editor
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Jack Ellister isn't well known in America, but he's been steadily building a following among European prog/psyche rock fans over the past few years. After leaving Yordan Orchestra, the band he formed in Holland, the vocalist/multi-instrumentalist released two solo EPs and is a regular participant on compilations from the UK vinyl-only label Fruits de Mer. Tune Up Your Ministers And Start Transmission From Pool Holes To Class O Hypergiants, his very oddly titled full-length debut, comes out on FdM in a few weeks.
Ellister whips up his own universe on "The Man With The Biochopper" (previously released as a single) using synthesizers, guitars, and an ethereal female backing vocalist. A small army of musicians and singers helps him craft multi-layered arrangements throughout Tune Up. His British-sounding vocal style evokes David Bowie on the eccentric "Saddle Up The Horse" and the sci-fi epic "Great Esmeralda," but he comes across as more sinister on shuffling and eerie "Curator."
"The Sun Sends Me Hails, Victory, Power, Peace, and Shelter" is one of the more inspiring morning songs you're likely to hear, and the way Ellister cuts loose on acoustic guitar recalls The Who and The Moody Blues back in the 1970s. "Wishmachine" is a short, psychedelic treat, and Ellister is also very effective with the simple but alluring "Old South."
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Densho Digital Repository Densho Digital Repository
By Facility
Using Materials in the DDR
densho.org
Mary Kageyama Nomura
Nisei female. Born September 29, 1925, in Los Angeles, California. Lost both parents at an early age, and was raised by older siblings as part of a large family. During World War II, removed to the Manzanar concentration camp, California. Trained in music from childhood, became known as the "Songbird of Manzanar," performing in camp. After leaving camp, moved to Pasadena, California, married, and raised a family.
Mary Nomura Interview — ddr-manz-1-7
November 7, 2002.
00:50:09 — 20 segments.
http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-manz-1-7/
Mary Kageyama Nomura Interview — ddr-densho-1000-255
July 9, 2009. Torrance, California.
http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-255/
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Sessions: Amnesty Hurts African-Americans the Most
African-American unemployment
black unemployment
executive amnesty
Senator Jeff Sessions
By CHQ Staff | 10/22/14
In an exclusive interview conducted by our friend Matt Boyle of Breitbart, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama argued that amnesty for illegal aliens and other immigration policies favored by Obama and the Democrats will be financially devastating -- especially to African-American workers.
Sessions' passion for putting the interests of working Americans first and his commitment to conservative principles demonstrates once again why he has been steadily rising in our CHQ 2016 presidential straw poll. The Alabama Senator has been a leader in the fight to expose the Democrats’ plans to legalize millions of immigrants.
Here are a few quotes from the interview:
"A nation owes its first obligation to its own citizens,” Sessions said in an emailed statement. “But our current immigration policy advantages the citizens of other countries over our own. Undeniably, one of the groups most hurt economically by unjust immigration policies are African-American citizens.”
“What amnesty is doing is setting aside a special class of individuals who are ... treated more favorably than others. In other words, they’ve already broken the law and are being given amnesty. In terms of immigration policy, it would severely affect the rights of blacks generally and all low-income Americans. What it is going to do is displace those individuals from the labor market.”
“What do Senate Democrats say to the millions of young Americans living in poverty, hoping for that first job, only to lose out to lower-paid labor brought in from overseas?” Sessions asked. “This nation has a deep responsibility to its own citizens, who are barely scraping by in this stagnant economy." He added, "We need to help our own jobseekers, our own communities, our own schools and neighborhoods. Yet the immigration bill endorsed by Senate and House Democrats would deliver a hammer blow to our struggling cities and workers.”
The rest of Boyle’s article can be seen by clicking this link:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/10/20/Exclusive-Jeff-Sessions-Democrats-And-Obama-s-Immigration-Policies-Hammer-Black-Workers
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Posts tagged with lobstermen
Where does good strategy begin?
Posted on November 11, 2013 by Jon Stamell1 Comment
There’s always a rush these days to get plans into action. Action is what we value, just as we’re always looking for someone who “can hit the ground running”. But what if they’re running in the wrong direction? And how do you know in which direction to run?
The answer to that mistakenly comes in businesses doing what they’ve always been doing and whenever possible just running faster. In the accelerated competitive environment of New York City, we’ve become accustomed to stores, restaurants, professional services and even hospitals suddenly disappearing. These businesses failed even though they worked harder and ran faster than anyone around them. Why did they fail?
Most likely, they never asked their customers whether the direction they were going, the products and services they were offering or the benefits they perceived internally met customer needs. It’s the rare manager or entrepreneur who can intuit what the market is looking for. Otherwise, there would be a lot more people like Steve Jobs around. Businesses have to get feedback from their customers and understand how to match their offerings with what customers are seeking.
Not surprisingly, customers often see product plusses and minuses in completely different terms than the companies selling them. The best advertising campaign in the world won’t convince customers that they should be seeking something different. We’re just not in that linear world of the 1950s and 60s when we could be told what detergents make our clothing cleaner and then march in lockstep to the store to buy them.
Of course, businesses don’t always listen to their customers because internal beliefs are so strong as to refuse to change their strategy to meet customer needs. Here are three examples to consider:
Several years ago, we were asked by the Chilean Pisco industry to provide a strategy that would open up the U.S. market for them. If you don’t know Pisco, it’s an eau de vie, somewhat like a refined grappa, that’s made in Chile and Peru. Our research found that bartenders believed it made most vodka-based cocktails more interesting and one of our key strategic recommendations (futureshiftpisco.com) was to unleash the creativity of bartenders with a series of tactical programs that would challenge them to develop great Pisco-based cocktails that their customers would love. But Chile is a country where perfection in planning is highly valued and established. That works when building bridges, tunnels and skyscrapers, of which you’ll see many in Santiago these days but not when variable decisions are involved as with bartenders and their customers. The Chilean Pisco industry decided to design several “perfect cocktails” that they could then promote in the U.S. The result? Peruvian producers who gained a better understanding of the U.S. bartender now dominate the market. There’s still time for Chile to adapt as Pisco still is not well known in the U.S. They simply have to acknowledge that their customers have more power than they do. Easy, right?
While we’re on Chile, let’s move to technology. This time the Chilean technology industry told us they wanted to sell their growing tech industry to U.S. companies. Chile had already achieved tremendous success in establishing itself as a successful place to locate an offshore tech center. Now, they wanted to have a presence inside the U.S. to provide SaaS and enterprise integration products. Again, we spoke to prospective customers for these talented Chilean companies and were told that if they could establish partnerships with Chilean companies in Latin America, a piece of their U.S. business would likely follow. (FutureshiftChileIT.com)In other words, help us in your territory and then we’ll reward you in ours. U.S. companies wanted to understand the Chilean miracle and how it had become an export powerhouse. But just as with Pisco, the forces that worked internally in Chile were too strong to persuade them to adopt a market-oriented strategy in the U.S. Six Chilean IT companies came to the U.S. trying to sell their services based on low prices. But why go to a company thousands of miles just for low prices when that can be found down the road? Today, there is only a small amount of programming work going to Chilean companies, as talented as they are.
Most recently, we conducted a research and strategy project for the Maine lobster industry. Following 200+ interviews, there were a number of findings in that report that showed how Maine lobster possesses attributes to restaurant and hotel chefs that were not being considered within the industry. There is ample opportunity for the Maine industry to differentiate its brand from all competitors. However, lobstering is a traditional industry and change does not come easily. Like the two Chilean examples, internal beliefs in Maine are strong. Most lobstermen are focused on their first transaction with a dealer when they bring their catch to the dock. The needs of restaurant and hotel chefs can be perceived as a distant concept and there is little patience for the time it takes to raise the foodservice market’s demand. The local dealer and summer tourist who loves to sit at the water’s edge, even though they both pay rock bottom price, is more concrete. It’s been that way for more than a hundred years so change, despite market feedback, isn’t easy. There’s cause to remain optimistic but it remains to be seen whether Maine’s lobster industry adapts.
In each of the above cases, the right strategy began with listening to customers. That helped set a direction for the industry to go. But at that point, industry members often put up obstacles to change. After all, it’s far more difficult to do something new than the things you’ve been doing for dozens of years, even though they may not be working.
FutureShift develops brands and rebranding programs by understanding how customer decisions can increase engagement and loyalty.
Tags: Action, Advertising, bartenders, Change, chefs, Chile, cocktails, Corporate Myopia, Creativity, Customers, Direction, futureshift, Information Technology, IT, Latin America, Leadership, lobstermen, Maine, Maine Lobster, Marketing, Mistakes, New York, Outcomes, Peru, Pisco, Positioning, SaaS, Situation Analysis, Steve Jobs, Strategy, Tactics, technology, Trade Associations, U.S. Marketplace, Winning
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The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
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Home » News » Re1J board struggling to satisfy cell tower critics
Re1J board struggling to satisfy cell tower critics
February 13, 2019 566 Views
Looking for a way forward that satisfies all parties
By Katherine Nettles
In another contentious public discussion on Monday about the Verizon Wireless LLC contract with the RE1J Gunnison Watershed School District (GWSD) to erect cell towers at both Gunnison High School (GHS) and Crested Butte Community School (CBCS), the school board showed signs that it might pursue alternative locations and attempt to get out of its landlord agreement with the telecommunications giant.
The discussion took place during the regularly scheduled GWSD board meeting, and allowed for more active dialogue between board members and attendees than the previous meeting on February 4.
Board member Tyler Martineau began by moving to amend the evening’s fully packed agenda, specifically in reference to public discussion on the cell towers. “There have to be some limits on that so that we can get our business done,” he said, and the board voted to allow a 45-minute discussion to begin with.
“We don’t actually engage in public discussion when we are setting our agenda. That’s in our policy,” said Martineau, referring to a provision that calls for “limited public discussion.” He said that at the January 7 meeting, “We really didn’t do it in a way that was consistent with our policy, and I want to make sure we do that tonight.”
Board member Dale Orth agreed, saying he has spent “hours and hours” talking with people over the past few weeks about the cell towers, “but due to our Sunshine Laws, one thing I haven’t been able to do is talk with [the board].”
During the general public comment segment of the meeting, Erik Niemeyer read a letter sent to superintendent Leslie Nichols on February 5 on behalf of a group of 20 Gunnison County citizens who have formed the Concerned Citizens for Smart Wireless Development in the Gunnison Valley. The letter requested that the board direct Nichols to take all actions required to abandon the cell tower plans.
“It’s about finding a way forward,” Niemeyer concluded, emphasizing that the group is determined to be of assistance in finding a suitable location for the towers that satisfy Verizon and the need for better cellular service in the area.
Superintendent Nichols then updated the board about the language of the contract and legal input from both parties. She had followed up with an attorney working for Verizon about the possibility of re-locating the towers.
“And I was reminded that our contract has a no relocation clause,” said Nichols. She explained further that according to the document, Verizon can terminate the contract, but the school district cannot.
Nichols also followed up with the school board’s own attorney to inquire about other options for the district to pursue.
“[The attorney’s] input was that it’s unlikely that Verizon would release the district from this contract, but really probably the best hope for change, should the district decide to pursue that, would be more nuanced and collaborative with Verizon and other local players to try to find a solution that Verizon would find appealing enough to pursue. Because we can’t say to them, ‘You’re not welcome here anymore,’ then other avenues would have to be investigated with them.”
Nichols said the language of the contract is pretty straightforward in both of the separate contracts for the towers, and that the discussions with legal counsel were the same for CBCS.
Nichols addressed the questions about how exposure to radio frequencies (RF) from the towers would stack up with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) limits for maximum permissible exposure for the general population. She said she “was fairly convinced that [Verizon’s] response at the [February 4] hearing was vague simply because—mine’s not doing a whole lot better—it’s a little complicated. The science is not super-accessible without going into maybe a presentation and a math lesson on how it all works.”
Nichols admitted she was “fairly frustrated as a landlord, but again we really have no recourse based on the terms of the lease. But Verizon did fail to pull one particular state permit from the Department of Public Safety office of fire control and prevention. I have expressed that I am an unhappy landlord to Verizon, and that needs to be addressed immediately. It’s not a difficult permit to obtain,” she said, and they do intend to obtain it. “I’m frustrated because this is not their first rodeo. They’ve installed towers on other district properties around the state, and they did not have an answer as to why this was not done appropriately…”
The audience came forward with several statements against the cell towers being located on school property, but many also offered to be a part of the solution.
Crested Butte town manager Dara MacDonald expressed appreciation to the school board “for the time and process that you are putting into this.”
MacDonald said, “Given the community concerns…[the town of Crested Butte] would like to offer again that Verizon consider some of the town’s properties to see if one of those locations would provide comparable service for the community as well as the school buildings. And Gunnison County Electrical Association has also reached out to us to discuss their site at the substation outside of Crested Butte. I do hope that Verizon will willingly consider some of these alternatives as a show of good faith in the community that they want to be expanding their services within. To facilitate that, I hope the school board and staff will continue to encourage your contacts at Verizon to consider these alternative sites.”
Amy Nolan, the founder and executive director of the Crested Butte Development Team, or DEVO, and mother of three children at CBCS, was among several others who read statements to the same effect.
Sandra Huckins said, “What a great opportunity for you to show the community that you … represent us.” In counterpoint to arguments that we all carry cell phones and are exposed to high RF daily, she pointed out that elementary students do not have cell phones.
“By putting a tower on the school, you’re taking away my right to choose, and that is something I have a problem with,” she said. “Please consider that the liability of making this decision does not fall on the FCC or on Verizon. It falls on you.”
Jack Siegrist said parents are most concerned with RF’s cancer-causing effects, which are very different from what the FCC and other commonly cited studies look at. “There have been only two experimental studies on lifelong effects … both only came out in the last few months, and both found evidence of increased cancer risks,” he said.
Roanne Houck repeatedly emphasized that people are asking to relocate the towers in a positive, collaborative effort. “Our ask is very, very clear. Tonight, as you talk among yourselves, [we ask] that you direct Dr. Nichols … to take every measure possible to move the towers…. You represent us; you don’t represent Verizon.”
Houck continued, “I’ve read so many ordinances, emergency ordinances, across the country, and they come to school districts… because you are vulnerable.”
Nichols acknowledged that this might be the case.
Laurie Bosearo, a parent of two children who attend CBCS, stated her concerns about health and as a property owner. She cited research that shows property values drop 20 percent when within close range to cell towers. “My request is the same as so many people’s here: Let’s find a better solution.”
The board had some thoughts of its own to share.
Board member Dale Orth was the first to discuss the matter, and spoke widely of his background as a scientist and specifically as a chemist. He said the scientific papers being submitted to the board in recent weeks came across more as advocacy than science, “which is something that as scientists, we tend to avoid. I worry that we make decisions out of fear, as much as I appreciate precaution.”
He also stated his conviction that the health concerns are scientifically unfounded. “If lights of this wavelength were going to cause cancer,” he said, then the cumulative effect of the school’s Wi-Fi, and of the RF surrounding the community already are much more significant than what can be added or subtracted by these towers being allowed or not.
Orth said that at the same time, he was not opposed to relocating the towers. “I’m not saying that we need to cling to it so that we can get our $15,000—I think that a big tower scares us, but I think it’s a good reminder of where we live in the world right now.” Orth noted he did not mean to disregard anyone, and that he appreciated all the messages and input.
Board president LeAnn Mick said she would reflect Orth’s same comments. She said she has heard comments, “more that are favorable toward maintaining the cell tower than trying to do something to stop it… but I appreciate everyone in this room, because that tells me your heart is with the kids. And that’s where my heart is too.”
Mick answered questions about the public meeting in which the idea originally came up, identifying that it was in a superintendent’s report at a regular school board meeting in 2017. “We moved through what we thought was the appropriate pathway,” said Mick, who also recognized that “in hindsight, I certainly would have advocated for something different. I cannot speak for other board members…”
Board member Courtney Fullmer said she was also on the board at the time. “In my six years on the school board, I’ve only seen people in the audience maybe four times… There was no mal-intent.” She said she has kids at the school as well.
“I feel a little bit defensive about [the health concerns]. Kids getting cancer in school—that’s not what I saw happening as a mother, or as a property owner,” she said.
Fullmer also said there will never be a place that doesn’t affect someone, and listed people she knows or employs who could be exposed to the full effect of the RF if the towers were relocated to some of the other suggested areas in town.
“It gets tricky to me to tell community members that it is okay to move it [closer to them],” she said.
Board member Tyler Martineau asked Nichols her thoughts.
Nichols tossed the question back to the board. “What would you like to see?”
Orth said he thought it “entirely appropriate” to explore alternatives.
Nichols said she would continue to press for more information, particularly in the event that any nuanced solutions could be put on the table.
“Our attorney is very engaged in this issue for us,” said Nichols.
Martineau said he is very interested in consequences of breaching the contract, and said, “I’m very interested in having us pursue alternatives. Because it may well be that we can,” he said.
Martineau also made a point of recognizing that he could understand how the board had so easily come to this decision back in 2017.
“Folks maybe don’t realize how the district has had to scratch for every dollar in order to try to provide a quality education…. I can see why there was an appeal for the $15,000… It is so difficult with Colorado school finance the way it is. It is a disaster. And yet somehow this district had managed to be successful as a district in a state that really has an educational finance crisis going on,” he said.
Nichols added for context that one of the efforts at the time had also been the district considering cell phone boosters “to get service to the nooks and crannies,” of the school, at a cost of more than $10,000 as well as additional ongoing upkeep costs, which had further added to the appeal of the Verizon contract.
Ultimately, Martineau said it carries a lot of weight that people want these to be personal decisions about exposure to hazards of any kind, rather than having a district making decisions for them.
“I can understand that,” he said.
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A Gentler Future for Knowledge Work, January 5, 2017
The French law really struck a personal note for me. The reason for that is when I was younger, it’s less over the last few years, but when I was younger I was basically working 17 hours a day.
I would be spending a little bit of the time with family, but even when I’m there the email’s going and if something important comes in I’m going to respond to it. There’s someone who I worked with for a long time, worked very closely, and certainly email was a big part of our communication. Probably more so for me, I’ve always been a heavy email-er, I’m introverted, it just email as a medium suits me pretty well. There came a point his wife wrote me and said, “Dirk, you can’t send emails on the weekend anymore.” She said, “All weekend emails flow in from you with all these big initiatives, requests, things to do, and my husband gets more and more stressed. More and more anxious. More and more unhappy, because your emails keep coming in.” She said, “You just, you just can’t do it anymore.”
I was in my 30s at that point and so you know I had been emailing my way, which is 24/7 essentially for many years. Just oblivious to the possibility that for another person, that flow of communication in certain times, in certain volumes, would be a negative. Would be something that had a deleterious effect on them, because at that phase of my life I was just sort of wired to be always working, always going, it wasn’t, it may have been subconsciously and internally stressful for me in ways I wasn’t in touch with. Consciously when emails would come in I didn’t feel stress, I just attacked them, I just took them, I just went right to them. The metaphor I’ve used for email is tennis. It’s like playing tennis. I would run around the court making sure the balls were always in the other people’s court, basically.
Fast forward now to today, and France is identifying the fact that email, receiving email, feeling the compulsion to respond to email, the requests that email may contain that spur someone to other action at certain times, in certain proportions, isn’t good for you. It’s unhealthy in ways large or small. I think that’s an important recognition. I don’t think that the French law, you know, you said the sort of- we don’t know yet, is it just one little thing, is it visionary. It’s probably one little thing. France has been a trailblazer in affecting labor law that basically no-one else adopts, right? France famously did the 30 hour work week I don’t know how many years ago, but sometime this decade. You know, nobody else is doing that, or maybe there’s a few small countries. But, the main pillars of the economy certainly are not. They’re going by the old rules, and the old modes.
I’m happy that this law is sort of making us think more about the impacts of modern technology on human life. First world life to make it more specific. But, I don’t think that this law in and of itself is going to amount to a sea-change of any sort.
I think things are going to get on differently now then in the earlier industrial revolution and there’s a few reasons why. Number one is at that time, the worst part of your life was work. You would go in, you’d lose fingers, you wouldn’t be able to sleep, it was human slavery, human torture, human- I mean it was really, the worst part of your life was the work experience. Now, the worst part of your life is not the work experience. So yeah I know, using email as the example, it can be stressful to get email at night. It can be stressful to get email on vacation, on the weekend, yadda, yadda, yadda. But, that’s not the worst part of our lives. The worst part of our lives is not the work part, it’s the life part. It’s the fact that we’re addicted to sugar. It’s the fact that we’re addicted to salt. It’s the fact that we are addicted to the call of the new. It’s the fact that we are in this broken capitalist paradigm that makes us fat, that makes us inattentive, that makes us feel unfulfilled.
There were enormous reasons why the industrial revolution needed to be reformed, and the inhumanity of work needed to be brought more in line with what’s appropriate. But, it’s so much farther down the list now. The issues we have, or rather some of the personal things that I said, or some of the more systemic things around global warming. Like, the fact that email stresses us out is just not a big deal on the list, whereas child labor laws and some of the things that didn’t exist over a 100 years ago, like the absence of those, were more sort of at the fulcrum of what was wrong with civilization.
The things that are wrong with civilization now are really far removed from the plight of the digital worker. Which, is not to say that those aren’t negative things, but it’s going to be a lot harder to coalesce around that as the rallying cry in this environment of plenty, and where the real issues and the real things that are killing us are happening at a very different level.
When I walk into a store, they have a sensor that records the person walked into the store; is that inclusive in my data? When I’m out on the street there are cameras filming, and some of them can make out my face and could come in tight on my face, and that’s data out there. Is that my data? To me that’s the trickiest, because it requires a crisp definition of what, quote unquote, your data is. I haven’t seen a good thesis for what that should be, and I think getting to the bottom of it is going to be tricky.
Permalink Source
Creativity, Future of Work, Government, Health, Humane Experiences, Law, Networked World, Personal Computing, Social Engineering
Twitter, Business Models & Information Overload, December 8, 2016
At some point, Twitter will get acquired. There’s too much money to be lost to not sell for at least something well below what they hoped and their investors were driving for. Business model, they haven’t found it yet. I’m not seeing an obvious business model in the current sort of Internet technologies stack for Twitter. I mean, look, there’s theoretical business models. They have a business model now, quote-unquote “business model,” with promoted tweets and other rubbish, which is following sort of the old-school commercial approach to attempting to monetize. That is a business model, but it’s not a very successful one.
The question is how will Internet technologies evolve in the years ahead and how could that meta-platform and the platforms within it better enable a product like Twitter based on ease of use, free information, network effects, access to celebrity, among others, not just celebrities, of course, for that to be brought together in a way that it can make money. Right now it can’t, because they’ve given it away for free. Maybe they had to give it away for free in this environment. The reality is if now they yanked it, somebody else would give it away for free. Even if you can’t find a business model around it, the power of the platform is immense. The fact that we are all essentially directly connected to everyone else, except for the very few who don’t opt for Twitter at all, even though they’re famous and would benefit from it or the people who are unknown and not sort of relevant to a networked effects conversation at that level. I mean, we’re connected to everyone, within those exceptions.
Super powerful. Super valuable in non-capitalist ways, but not super valuable relative to the investment, relative to the expectation, relative to the scale of their burn within a normal business structure.
I’m sort of a late Twitter user. I wouldn’t say I really enjoy it, but I do see the value in it. Do we need the news in the way that the news has become accepted as a thing in our lives? Do we need to know that that plane was coming down? Do we need to know that that plane landed on the Hudson River at all? Much less, do we need to know that that plane landed on the Hudson River two minutes within it actually happening? Certainly, the latter is completely unnecessary. I mean, that’s first-world privilege at the max. I would say even the other isn’t necessary. We don’t need that bit of news. That news is not relevant to us. I mean, there are some people in Manhattan or in places where the plane was coming, destinations, very specific people, but for our nation of 300 million-plus people or let’s take the whole world, six billion or whatever the number is now as it continues to spiral upwards, totally unnecessary to know that there was this plane accident on the Hudson River at that time, that it ever happened. It’s unnecessary.
We’ve become conditioned to thinking that all of this stuff is necessary. Oh my god, there’s a child in a well in Guatemala. Oh my god, this, oh my god, that. 99% of what we get on the news we don’t need and, you could argue, is bad for us in a number of different psychological ways. The sort of meta question over all of this Twitter stuff is this urgency, this notion of how it fits into some view of news in the global world, even relevant? I think no. I think that we’ve been taught it is, we’ve conditioned to it being, but my life would be better if I stopped hearing about the person who sawed somebody’s head off on a bus in Africa or all the crazy rubbish. I mean, it just makes me sad and depressed and fearful and suspicious. It’s not good at all. I don’t know, it’s not good at all.
Business Futures, Consumer Products, Networked World, Personal Computing
Design Challenges for AI & Sensor Technologies, November 4, 2016
I think that the imagination runs wilder than the reality. I mean, one of the things like with the health room that we talk about is the possibility, for example, collecting specimens in the drain in the shower, right? I mean, then evaluating those. Well, if there’s sensors in the drain of the shower, how do those sensors get cleaned, right? It’s very exciting to imagine sensors, sensors, sensors in all of these different places but how are they maintained? How do they continue to function? Once you have this distributed network of devices, essentially, all over the place, as different devices in that ecosystem fail, how does that impact the effectiveness of the ecosystem?
It’s neat, and it’s especially neat in theory, like when you talk about, “Oh, it’s so cool, all these different things that can happen,” but in reality, we live in a world governed by the rules of physics and there are requirements, whether they be in terms of power, whether they be in terms of cleanliness from the standpoint of having an electronic device able to function in the intended way, despite being in odd circumstances as well as people’s just tolerance of interest for everything that can happen. It’s interesting, nanotechnology in general is interesting. I mean, smaller means accessibility, smaller means there are more things that you can do, but the potential of nanosensors in the short term, I don’t know. I think it might start to get more interesting in the medium and long term when some of the other related enabling technologies are improved, such as batteries, for example.
Artificial intelligence is the plumbing of our digital future so that’s just the reality, and so now we’re watching and adapting as we see the quality of artificial intelligence increase, so that it is increasingly able to permeate and to influence. Again, it’s going to be slower than we think in a lot of ways, but it is what our digital future will be built around.
It’s just so far away, and again, I’ll use Siri and Alexa as two examples of that. I mean, these are products that have a lot of money from big corporations put behind them, and are designed for consumer use. I find them both to be garbage, and this is years after they’ve been released and had the chance to be optimized, and how far away are those products from being wonderful? It’s years. It’s not decades, but it’s years. We’re just not there yet. It’s clumsy, it’s clunky, but it’s not there.
There are individuals for whom the novelty and the fun of exploring those technologies and growing with them is part of it. I want to live my life. For me, the technology allows me to live my life better, and as soon as you’re clumsy and clunky and stupid, you’re making me live my life worse. It’s just two different ways of looking at it but from a money making standpoint, people better treat me as their consumer as opposed to you. Because it’s my seeing it as good enough for my life, is it at a point where it could go mainstream, whereas you definitely are on that bleeding edge of tech geeks.
AI, Consumer Products, Design, Lifestyle, Networked World, Personal Computing
Personal Computing Ecosystem, May 25, 2016
Right now, there’s too many devices in the personal computing ecosystem. We’ve got our laptop or desktop main machine. We’ve got our iPad tablet device. We’ve got our smartphone. Now they’re proposing to bring watches in at a little different level but still in that ecosystem where things like the Fitbit or these sort of complimentary IoT devices. Brass tacks, there should be no more than two personal computing devices that cover all of the use cases that people need within their ecosystem. There may be other accessories off that. I have my laptop. I also have a big monitor that the laptop plugs into. At the end of the day, the laptop is the computing device. Right? Right now, the market is trying to make four different devices fit in. Again, the personal computer, the tablet device, the smartphone device, and the watch-like device, and that’s two devices too many. It’s why watches are flailing.
I think there’s a great opportunity for innovation for the company that really nails what are the two devices. In the long term, it’s one device because the nanotechnology, the miniaturization will get to such a point that we have one thing that is the personal computing thing with accessories coming off it. Pushing that onto the farther out shelf, in the nearer term, the company that can solve for here are the correct two computing devices in people’s ecosystem to solve these use case in sort of the best hybrid way, that’s what we really need. Trying to solve at the watch level is putting one more unnecessary device into the stream. It’s just strategically wrong.
Consumer Products, Lifestyle, Personal Computing
Humanity as User Interface, May 12, 2016
The whole wearables thing is just a transitional phase. Embeddables are going to be where it’s at. Wearables are going to be clumsy clunky junk.
When you let your mind sort of go crazy and explore, it seems like dystopia all over the place, but, I don’t think the technologies will manifest that way. The technologies can’t manifest that way, and here’s why. To take your example of employers, employers being up in your shit, every damn thing you do at work, it’s not feasible, and the reason it’s not feasible is we as humans are not robots. We are going to rest, we are going to take moments where we are not linearly kerchunking away like John Henry on the railroad on the exact thing the employer wants us to do right in front of ourselves. If that level of monitoring existed, it would spoil the relationship between virtually every employee and every employer everywhere in the world, and that’s not going to happen, so, yes, there are a lot of interesting questions about where this could go, what could happen, how it impacts us, but a lot of them wouldn’t even be manifest because they would undermine the very fabric of reality.
We’re a long way away … I shouldn’t say that because neuroscience is moving very quickly, but we certainly don’t have a coherent sense yet of, and of course, it would have to be different for each person because we’re all wired so differently, but, we don’t yet have a coherent sense of the optimal way to work is in four hour shifts with two and a half hours being kerchunking, and a half an hour being daydreaming, and fifteen minutes being a power nap. At some point, that kind of stuff will be figured out, but I think we’re a long way away from that and it would only be in the context of that deeper understanding of how the human animal optimally functions that that sort of analysis of how people are spending their time at work, what they’re doing really has any value. Until that, it’s just voodoo.
I’m picking on that one example to sort of push back against the whole waterfall of interesting thought examples you had of these crazy ways it could go. A lot of them aren’t going to go that way because it would be completely undermining to the basic systems and functions we have in place. The ones that we should probably be more concerned about are the ones that would be more at the level of the government, Big Brother, tracking. Right now with our cell phones, we can be tracked in pretty granular ways, probably more so than we realize, and maybe it’s even happening in ways beyond what my naïve little brain would allow for.
I don’t know that embeddables change the game that much. I think where I’m interested with embeddables, at the end of the day, our eyes, our hands, our mouth, and other parts of our body are part of a UI. They’re part of a user interface between ourselves and the outside world and we’re going to get to a point where those user interfaces are less important, possibly to the point of obsolescence because everything can be straight into our brain, into our central nervous system, into the neurological and endocrinological and psychological aspects of who and what we are, so, we’ll have direct mind-to-mind communication, be able to picture each other in fulsome ways from across the country or from across the world, to download not even the literal sense of how we think of download per se, but to download huge chunks of data and thought.
That’s coming, it’s not super close, but we’re on that path. That opens up a lot of real interesting questions because then the frontier becomes the brain, the frontier becomes the self. Right now, cyber terrorists or hackers are trying to crack our thumbprint. Right now, our thumbprint gets us into our phone. We’re also moving towards ocular technology, right. The technologies of high resolution, which you talked about before will make it trivial for someone to copy my eye-print. Somebody who is just way off, that I don’t even realize is there is getting a picture of my eye in a way that it could in a high resolution way reproduce it, and make sort of ocular authentication completely irrelevant. That’s all trivial and that’s all greatly coming pretty much as fast as ocular recognition technology itself comes.
To me, where it gets more freaky and more interesting is when the brain becomes the final battlefield, is when we move beyond the eye, the thumb, the lettered passwords to where it’s the brain is the true essential self that is somehow unlocking systems communicating externally. Our self representation in the world is largely from our mind and spirit, whatever that is or isn’t, and that is going to be the frontier of hacking and that is going to be the frontier of terrorism. I think that’s where really interesting stuff starts to come, and now I’m going pretty far down the road.
There is a lot of learning to do, and we mysticize and privilege humanity, but we really need to step back and deconstruct it and think that we are just an IO device. Our bodies are our user interfaces, and the fact of when the wind blows, it blows my skin which makes me feel something, which makes things happen in my brain, those are all things that science can get to the point of first understanding directly from wind hitting all the way through the totality of things that you think can feel in a certain way, but the next step is to replicate those things, and whether it be wind on the skin, or the things you’re hearing in your ears or seeing with your eyes.
At the end of the day, that can be chunked down into IO stuff, into data in and data interpreted, and data making systems fire within our system, and science is well down the path of figuring those things out, and, once it’s done, the sky is the limit. Science, technology, it’s been the applied technology that has really driven the digital revolution. The next revolution to come is one that is going to be driven by the science.
Cyborgs, Designing Life, Personal Computing, Security
Future Leadership in the Design of Personal Computing Devices, November 19, 2015
Mobile is a whole different beast, we have less than a decade now of mobile. We’re still, we collectively meaning the whole, everybody is still figuring it out. Mobile doesn’t lend itself to the point-and-click paradigm that desktop personal computing lent itself to. I’m not going to make the case that the things Apple is doing or any of the manufacturers are doing are correct, but I think it’s just a new animal.< They’re saying “Here’s all these best practices, why aren’t they there?” Those are old practices and we need to really reinvent what mobile computing looks like, taking lessons where they’re appropriate but... I don’t know man, the point and click, that whole frame isn’t relevant and you have a tiny bit of pixels when you’re dealing in direct manipulation. Even on the hardware side, the whole Apple Watch thing now, to me that is just one of the many gyrations of what does mobile computing truly look like? Because I don’t think the form factor is correct of a mobile phone. I also don’t think the watch form factor is correct. We’re trying to figure all of this out on the hardware and the software side. In terms of Google, yeah, if there’s a mainstream consumer tech company that I’m going to buy the stock of it’s going to be Google. I’m very bullish on Google for a lot of different reasons but on the design side I don’t know. They’ve never been great at design, they’re really engineering-driven. Their newest Nexus phone just came out and it was produced by a different hardware manufacturer. Whereas Apple controls their hardware, controls their software, the design that emanates for that Apple takes credit for. Google can’t take credit for those. The phone is really beautiful but it’s not Google, it’s this other hardware manufacturer. The degree to which Google’s going to be a design leader and/or practice exceptional design, I’m not sure. It’s never been a staple or a hallmark. A big picture of what’s happened is that the decay of Apple over the last 5 years has just brought them back to the pack. Now, who’s the design leader? I don’t know. I don’t know that there is a leader, they’re all kind of similar-ish. Nobody is this perfect … Apple used to be this clear cut above. There ain’t the clear cut above anymore.
Business Futures, Consumer Products, Design, Personal Computing
The Future of Personal Computing Ecosystems, August 20, 2015
Look at the history of corporations, they all die, they all go away. None of them make it. If you look at the biggest companies, like an Andrew Carnegie, they don’t exist anymore. They die, despite being, at certain points, the biggest and most successful companies in the world. That’s because they’re born of a certain time and place, with a certain vision, carving out a certain space in the world. As time passes, the impact of that space, the degree to which people desire that space waxes and wanes. The more time that passes, the more it’s on the wane side.
Apple is a company that I don’t remember their initial mission statement, but it boiled down to putting computers in everyones living room. Taking these giant machines for processing and make them a personal and part of peoples everyday lives, that’s a mission that’s been addressed a long time ago. Whereas Google, their mission of organizing the worlds information … information applies to DNA, information applies to all kinds of different things. Even though Google’s first manifestation was in the context of a search engine, from the very beginning their vision for what they were trying to achieve in the world was much bigger.
I think there are still exciting things for Apple to do. It would be great if Apple could solve the personal computing ecosystem. There’s a gap right now where we’ve got the watch, we’ve got the iPhone, we’ve got the iPad, we’ve got the laptop or desktop computer, we’ve got the devices in our cars and in other places, wearables that are all part of this. It’s really clumsy. There’s too many devices, they don’t work that well together. There’s still a lot to be done in that space, and I do think Apple’s the right company to do it. The question is, do they have the leadership vision present to do that? I think the Jony Ive fan boys would say yes. I’m not so sure though. I’d like to see them do it because I own Apple devices, I’ve invested a lot of money in the iTunes store. I’d like this ecosystem to continue. There’s a big opportunity for it to really up level. I hope Apple does it.
I increasingly think it’s more likely that it’s going to be some kind of disruptor. I don’t necessarily think Google’s the one to do it, because Google’s excellence is not in design ecosystems, Google’s excellence is in engineering. On the design side, more simple, straightforward, not from a design perspective, but from an overall business model prospective, in ways that are more open but don’t necessarily result in a great user experience. It may be another company entirely. Going back to Amazon, it might be Amazon, although I don’t think it will be them either. I don’t know who it will be. There’s a big opportunity here, and it is one Apple can take advantage of. The question is will they? Your guess is as good as mine.
Business Futures, Capitalism, Consumer Products, Design, Personal Computing
Does VR Live Up to the Hype?, June 18, 2015
Will this [virtual reality] wave live up to all the promise? No, it certainly won’t. It’s a cool gadget. Where the technology is now it’s something where you use it once and it’s sort of amazing. I use it twice or three times and it starts to get stale. There’s a novelty aspect to where the technology is now. It’s cool that they’ve got it where it is, but beyond that there’s not a whole lot of there there. We have in our five senses such high fidelity input devices, and the fidelity on these cutting edge virtual reality devices is just nowhere near that. It’s giving us a simulacra of something else in a way that is not at all maximizing the sensorial potential that we all have.
It’s interesting to a point and then at some point what’s the point? Because the technology can’t take us to places where the marketing would promise. Facebook’s big thing is that, oh they’re thinking way out. They’re way outside the box and these are teleportation devices. That is such hipster bullshit. I’m sorry. There might come a day when technology that’s down this kind of a path gets to a point where you could, it’s literally not a teleportation device, but you could market it that way because of the great high fidelity level that it brings two or more people together “in a virtual space,” but it’s nowhere near that now, nowhere near it at all. It’s interesting and I think there’s a place for it. There’s a product category for it, but it’s nowhere near where the hype and the marketing are whatsoever.
I think they’re far-flung fantasies right now. You talk about surgery for example. We want a surgeon with this big, ungainly, heavy, odd thing on their head and physically manipulating someone’s body? That’s crazy. That’s just, it doesn’t make any sense. Yeah, we can dream and say, “Oh, there’s all these interesting things,” but does it really make sense to do those things with this big awkward thing strapped to us? I don’t think so. We can have giant monitors that push the same visual content to us. We an have other input devices for the audio and for the other things and still have our full range of motion and still have our full sense of being.
I think the really exciting things will come farther in the future, but the generation that we’re at now, it’s going to live like a gaming console where it’s something you have at home, it’s something you have in a specific place. It’s going to be kind of geeky. I read one of the articles that you forwarded to me about this, they were talking about protocol for using this. Someone was saying, “Yeah, if you’re the one without the headset, don’t be surprised if you get punched.” It’s your fault, basically. What the hell is that? This device is such that if somebody’s using it, everybody’s got to clear way the hell away or they’re going to get punched or kicked? That’s dumb. We’re coming at a time where we’re living in increasingly smaller domiciles, increasingly smaller spaces. We’re going to put this things on and have us gesticulating around and meeting protocols where we need five feet in every direction. It’s really dumb.
The idea that we’re going to walk around on the street with them? That’s completely idiotic. Google Glass was one of the things that sort of sunk that notion, was having that on your head, and that was really not intrusive at all. These things are horrible. I read one guy was saying the big concern is you have to worry about it being stolen because you’re lumbering around not paying attention to what’s around you with this big expensive thing on your head. Somebody rips it off and runs away. It’s just dumb. At the level that they’re trying to market it and tout it as something like a gaming device. As something an experiential device that people use in a limited, private context, okay. I can see that. Probably not for me, but I grock it and the technology’s going to just get better and better, so the potential of it I don’t think is as grand as they make it seem, but I think it’s the start of something that’s at least interesting and worthy of experimenting with.
Consumer Products, Lifestyle, Media, Personal Computing, Virtual Reality
Apple Watch Will Be a Failure, June 11, 2015
Apple’s jumped the shark. The idea of these [release] events being memorable and interesting and giant buzz-worthy things are garbage. Apple has settled into the same kind of status that Microsoft has had for decades, of a company that has had it’s best acts in the past and is living off of those past glories and is trying to wrap shit with a bow and tell us it doesn’t stink. I don’t know why anyone cares about these announcements anymore. I certainly don’t.
Consistent with Apple’s vision-less execution, in recent years, they’ve taken [an event] that had real cache, that “one more thing” was exciting. It wasn’t necessarily every time, hint-hint. It was like, “We’ve got something special that we want to do and it’s really going to take your breath away.” They’ve totally piddled that away.
I think they’re just totally out of touch. If you go into Whole Foods in Cupertino, CA, you’re gong to find yourself surround by a lot of people who look like they could and would support the iPhone and the Apple watch. You’ll see a lot of those people. You’ll even see people using both of those devices. That’s the bubble that Apple lives in. I’ve been to that Whole Foods, I’m talking about a very specific place here.
If you go and randomly pick 100 towns in the United States. If you had a random generator and you went into whatever is the closest thing to a Whole Foods in those towns. Most certainly wouldn’t have Whole Foods, right? You’re probably going to end up in more mass market supermarkets and if you observe the people in those places you will immediately realize that there is no market for this beyond the very small-high percent.
Again, what are you creating? The iPhone has penetrated into those markets. You’ll see people who, from a socioeconomic perspective, look like they probably couldn’t or shouldn’t be spending money on that kind of thing, but they are armed with their smartphone. Adding an expensive watch into that ecosystem is just stupid.
Business Futures, Consumer Products, Lifestyle, Personal Computing
Apple’s Watch Signals Decay of the Company, March 10, 2015
More than anything, [the watch] signals the demise of Apple from the standpoint of being a real innovator. Of offering a trailblazing sort of unique solution in the personal computing space. The iWatch is their biggest announcement, the thing they’ve beaten the drum on the hardest since the iPad. What was the iPad, 2010? It’s been five years. They basically had no big announcements.
This one, this is the product that they’re really hanging their hat on. All of the hierarchy is genuflecting and acting like this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s a really bad sign.
Again, I’m sure from a financial perspective, they’re still going to keep selling products hand-over-fist, but what we’re seeing is the real erosion of their position as the leader. Five to ten years ago whenever I would be in a meeting with a potential client, not everyone but most of them ostensibly, they’d say, “We want to be like Apple. We want our stuff to be like Apple stuff.”
Those days are going fast and there’s no sign of them coming back. At the same time, we’re seeing really interesting new things from Amazon, from Google, from some other companies. The things that are more likely to draw attention aren’t coming from Apple. They’re coming from other places which is concerning.
I expect the next big thing to come from, frankly, Amazon or Google. I think those are the two big ones.
Another problem with it too which flows out of what you just said is that the average person can afford it. One thing that, in the past, I liked about being an Apple user along with their great innovation was not everybody have their stuff. I’m increasingly shocked as I go through the world how so many people of all income brackets, of all levels of the socioeconomic strata are carrying around iPhones despite the expense of the device and/or despite the expense of the carrier plan.
That’s not going to be the case with the iWatch and the problem that they have is now they’re catering to presumably just more wealthy people. Watches like that market has a lot of really gorgeous high end well designed stuff. By comparison that the iWatch is a really clumsy, hacky thing.
I guess maybe they can hope that wealthy people want to differentiate themselves against the masses by being the once who are mobile computing with an iWatch as oppose to an iPhone, but if that’s the bet they’re taking, that’s a long one indeed.
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The Italy Star was granted for operational service on land in Sicily or Italy at any time during the campaign from the capture of Pantellaria on 11 June 1943 until 8 May 1945, the date of the end of active hostilities in Europe.
Operational service in the Aegean, Dodecanese, Greece and Yugoslavia after 11 June 1943, in Sicily up to 17 August 1943, in Sardinia up to 19 September 1943 and in Corsica up to 4 October 1943.
The six–pointed star is yellow copper zinc alloy. The obverse has a central design of the Royal and Imperial cypher, surmounted by a crown. The cypher is surrounded by a circlet containing the words ‘The Italy Star’.
Stars issued to Australian personnel have recipient names engraved on the plain reverse.
The ribbon has stripes of green, white stripes and red, these being the national colours of Italy.
Summary of Award Conditions of Campaign Stars, the Defence Medal and the War Medal [PDF] [Word]
Apply for the Italy Star
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14th Seanad
12th Seanad (1969)
16th Seanad (Feb. 1982)
This is a list of the members of the 14th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1977, after the 1977 general election and served until the close of poll for the 15th Seanad in 1981.
1 Composition of the 14th Seanad
2 List of senators
3 Changes
Composition of the 14th Seanad[]
There are a total of 60 seats in the Seanad. 43 Senators are elected by the Vocational panels, 6 elected by the Universities and 11 are nominated by the Taoiseach.
The following table shows the composition by party when the 14th Seanad first met on 27 October 1977.
Cult & Educ
Ind & Comm
U Dublin
Fianna Fáil 4 5 2 4 5 0 0 9 29
Fine Gael 3 5 2 4 4 0 0 0 18
Labour Party 0 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 6
Independent 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 2 7
List of senators[]
Note: The entries for Senators who were elected or appointed to fill vacancies are shown in italics
Liam Burke Administrative Panel Fine Gael Elected to 21st Dáil at a by-election on 6 November 1979[1]
Micheál Cranitch Administrative Panel Fianna Fáil
Jack Garrett Administrative Panel Fianna Fáil Died on 11 September 1977[2]
Tras Honan Administrative Panel Fianna Fáil
Thomas Kilbride Administrative Panel Fine Gael
Michael P. Kitt Administrative Panel Fianna Fáil Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Myles Staunton Administrative Panel Fine Gael
Michael Donnelly Administrative Panel Fianna Fáil Elected to Seanad at a by-election on 7 December 1977, following the death of Jack Garrett[4]
Jim Doolan Administrative Panel Fianna Fáil Elected to Seanad at a by-election in April 1980, following the election of Liam Burke to the Dáil[5]
Pierce Butler Agricultural Panel Fine Gael
Paul Connaughton Agricultural Panel Fine Gael Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
John Ellis Agricultural Panel Fianna Fáil Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Justin Keating Agricultural Panel Labour Party
Rory Kiely Agricultural Panel Fianna Fáil
Gerard Lynch Agricultural Panel Fine Gael
Joe McCartin Agricultural Panel Fine Gael Elected as Leas-Chathaoirleach on 2 November 1977[6]
Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Charles McDonald Agricultural Panel Fine Gael
Patrick McGowan Agricultural Panel Fianna Fáil
Martin O'Toole Agricultural Panel Fianna Fáil
William Ryan Agricultural Panel Fianna Fáil
Richard Conroy Cultural and Educational Panel Fianna Fáil
Patrick Cooney Cultural and Educational Panel Fine Gael Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Flor Crowley Cultural and Educational Panel Fianna Fáil Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Timothy McAuliffe Cultural and Educational Panel Labour Party
David Molony Cultural and Educational Panel Fine Gael Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Ruairí Brugha Industrial and Commercial Panel Fianna Fáil
Alexis FitzGerald Industrial and Commercial Panel Fine Gael
Desmond Governey Industrial and Commercial Panel Fine Gael Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Michael Howard Industrial and Commercial Panel Fine Gael
Liam Hyland Industrial and Commercial Panel Fianna Fáil Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Mick Lanigan Industrial and Commercial Panel Fianna Fáil
Michael Moynihan Industrial and Commercial Panel Labour Party Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Patrick J. Reynolds Industrial and Commercial Panel Fine Gael
Eoin Ryan Industrial and Commercial Panel Fianna Fáil
John Blennerhassett Labour Panel Fine Gael
Séamus Dolan Labour Panel Fianna Fáil Elected as Cathaoirleach on 27 October 1977[6]
Joseph Dowling Labour Panel Fianna Fáil
Des Hanafin Labour Panel Fianna Fáil
Jack Harte Labour Panel Labour Party
Tony Herbert Labour Panel Fianna Fáil
Brian Hillery Labour Panel Fianna Fáil
Fintan Kennedy Labour Panel Labour Party
Michael Lyons Labour Panel Fine Gael
Bernard Markey Labour Panel Fine Gael Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Andy O'Brien Labour Panel Fine Gael
Gemma Hussey National University of Ireland Independent
Augustine Martin National University of Ireland Independent
John A. Murphy National University of Ireland Independent
Conor Cruise O'Brien University of Dublin Independent Resigned from the Seanad on 13 June 1979[7]
Catherine McGuinness University of Dublin Independent Elected at a by-election on 11 December 1979, following the resignation of Conor Cruise O'Brien[8]
Mary Robinson University of Dublin Labour Party
Trevor West University of Dublin Independent
Séamus Brennan Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Séamus de Brún Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil
Eileen Cassidy Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil
Valerie Goulding Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil
Mary Harney Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[3]
Valentine Jago Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil
Gordon Lambert Nominated by the Taoiseach Independent
P. J. Mara Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil Nominated on 16 July 1981 to fill vacancy after 1981 general election[9]
Bernard McGlinchey Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil
Noel Mulcahy Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil
Joseph O'Neill Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil Nominated on 16 July 1981 to fill vacancy after 1981 general election[9]
Jim Ruttle Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil Nominated on 20 June 1980 to fill vacancy created by the resignation of Michael Yeats[10]
T. K. Whitaker Nominated by the Taoiseach Independent
Michael Yeats Nominated by the Taoiseach Fianna Fáil Resigned from the Seanad on 12 March 1980[11]
Changes[]
11 September 1977 Administrative Panel
Fianna Fáil Death of Jack Garrett[2]
27 October 1977 Labour Panel
Fianna Fáil Séamus Dolan elected as Cathaoirleach[6]
7 December 1977 Administrative Panel
Fianna Fáil Michael Donnelly elected to Seanad at a by-election after death of Jack Garrett[4]
13 June 1979 University of Dublin
Independent Resignation of Conor Cruise O'Brien[7]
6 November 1979 Administrative Panel
Fine Gael Liam Burke elected to 21st Dáil at a by-election[1]
11 December 1979 University of Dublin
Independent Catherine McGuinness elected to Seanad at a by-election to replace Conor Cruise O'Brien[8]
12 March 1980 Nominated by the Taoiseach
Fianna Fáil Resignation of Michael Yeats[11]
16 April 1980 Administrative Panel
Fianna Fáil Jim Doolan elected at a by-election to replace Liam Burke[5]
20 June 1980 Nominated by the Taoiseach
Fianna Fáil Jim Ruttle nominated to repalace Michael Yeats[10]
11 June 1981 Administrative Panel
Fianna Fáil Michael P. Kitt elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
11 June 1981 Agricultural Panel
Fine Gael Paul Connaughton elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
Fianna Fáil John Ellis elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
Fine Gael Joe McCartin elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
11 June 1981 Cultural and Educational Panel
Fine Gael Patrick Cooney elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
Fianna Fáil Flor Crowley elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
Fine Gael David Molony elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
11 June 1981 Industrial and Commercial Panel
Fine Gael Desmond Governey elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
Fianna Fáil Liam Hyland elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
Labour Party Michael Moynihan elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
11 June 1981 Labour Panel
Fianna Fáil Séamus Dolan elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
Fine Gael Bernard Markey elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
Fianna Fáil Séamus Brennan elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
Fianna Fáil Mary Harney elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[3]
16 July 1981 Nominated by the Taoiseach
Fianna Fáil P. J. Mara nominated to fill vacancy after the 1981 general election[9]
Fianna Fáil Joseph O'Neill nominated to fill vacancy after the 1981 general election[9]
Members of the 21st Dáil
Government of the 21st Dáil
Ministers of State of the 21st Dáil
"14th Seanad". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
"Senate election results". The Irish Times. 20 August 1977. p. 5. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
"Taoiseach takes chance with FF majority in Senate". The Irish Times. 26 August 1977. p. 1. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
"Taoiseach's Senate nominees join Fianna Fáil". The Irish Times. 20 October 1977. p. 18. Retrieved 2 February 2008. Two senators who were nominated by the Taoiseach, Lady Valerie Goulding and Mrs. Eileen Cassidy, have joined the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party
Notes and references[]
^ a b "Mr. Liam Burke". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
^ a b "Mr. Jack Garrett". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
^ 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 "Official Report (Seanad Éireann), Volume 95, 17 June 1981: Election of Members to Dáil Éireann". Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
^ a b "Official Report (Seanad Éireann), Volume 87, 7 December 1977: Administrative Panel". Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 30 April 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
^ a b "Official Report (Seanad Éireann), Volume 94, 16 April 1980: Election of Member". Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 21 August 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
^ a b c "Official Report (Seanad Éireann), Volume 87, 27 October 1977: Election of Cathaoirleach". Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
^ a b "Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
^ a b "Ms. Catherine McGuinness". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
^ a b c d "Official Report (Seanad Éireann) Volume 95, 16 July 1981: Nomination of Members". Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
^ a b "Official Report (Seanad Éireann) Volume 94, 24 June 1980: Nomination of Members". Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
^ a b "Official Report (Seanad Éireann) Volume 93, 12 March 1980: Resignation of Member". Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
Members of Seanad Éireann
1922 Seanad (1922–25)
2nd Seanad (1938)
3rd Seanad (1938–43)
4th Seanad (1943–44)
10th Seanad (1961–65)
21st Seanad (1997–2002)
22nd Seanad (2002–07)
23rd Seanad (2007–11)
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Roy Disney – Walt’s Older Brother and Long Term Business Adviser
Roy Disney – the man behind the curtain
No story of Walt Disney World would be complete without a tribute to the forgotten Disney. Roy was Uncle Walt’s older brother
While Walt Disney was undoubtedly one of the most creative people to live in our time, Roy O. Disney was the man behind the scenes that made the dreams come true. He had a gift for getting Walt’s nutty projects financed and getting Walt to finish them.
Walt was always more of a showman. He loved attention. He was full of energy. From the time Walt was in high school he was a performer along with an artist. Roy was the quiet one.
Walt Disney died in 1966 and the Disney company almost died with him. Walt’s dream of a “Disney World” was in disarray. There was no one left at Disney who could drive the project. Up until then every project had been driven by Walt and the company was leaderless.
Then came Roy to the rescue.
Like a lot of comic book hero’s Roy Disney led a life in the shadows. The shadows of a brilliant genius.
Walt Disney was a man with lots of dreams, he just didn’t have any real money sense. After his first company went bankrupt (his last company without Roy) he moved to California and hooked up with his older brother. Roy was able to get some financing and the brothers pooled their resources and had $750.00 to work on Walt’s newest project – and the rest as they say is history.
Roy spent his whole life making Walt’s dreams come true. He died just a couple of months after the opening of Walt’s Last Dream, Walt Disney World.
Roy O. Disney was the lesser known of the Disney brothers and that’s a shame. He made dreams come true for millions and especially for his younger brother.
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Antennaria plantaginifolia - (L.) Richards.
Plantain-leaf Pussytoes
Other English Common Names: Woman's Tobacco
Other Common Names: woman's tobacco
Related ITIS Name(s): Antennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Richardson (TSN 36717)
Element Code: PDAST0H0J0
Informal Taxonomy: Plants, Vascular - Flowering Plants - Aster Family
Plantae Anthophyta Dicotyledoneae Asterales Asteraceae Antennaria
Name Used in Concept Reference: Antennaria plantaginifolia
Global Status Last Changed: 09Feb1984
National Status: N5?
National Status: N1N2 (24Nov2017)
United States Alabama (SNR), Arkansas (SNR), Connecticut (SNR), Delaware (S5), District of Columbia (SNR), Florida (SNR), Georgia (S5), Illinois (SNR), Indiana (SNR), Iowa (S5), Kentucky (S5), Louisiana (SNR), Maine (SNR), Maryland (SNR), Massachusetts (SNR), Michigan (SNR), Minnesota (SNR), Mississippi (SNR), Missouri (SNR), New Hampshire (SNR), New Jersey (S5), New York (S5), North Carolina (S4), Pennsylvania (SNR), Rhode Island (SNR), South Carolina (SNR), Tennessee (SNR), Vermont (SNR), Virginia (S5), West Virginia (S5), Wisconsin (SNR)
Canada Manitoba (S1S2)
United States AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV
Canada MB
Herbarium, Department of Botany, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Herbarium, Museum of Man and Nature, 190 Rupert Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Scoggan, H.J. 1957. Flora of Manitoba. National Museum of Canada, Bulletin number 140.
Scoggan, H.J. 1978. The Flora of Canada. National Museum of Natural Sciences, National Museum of Canada, Publ. in Botany 7(4).
White, D.J. and K.L. Johnson. 1980. The Rare Vascular Plants of Manitoba. National Museums of Canada Syllogeus no. 27.
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November 5, 2014 – Egyptian family says thanks
On behalf of the board of the Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association, I want to thank the Coos Bay-North Bend community for its enthusiastic support for the newly opened and refurbished Egyptian Theatre. Under the direction of our new and talented executive director, Kara Long, the Egyptian is once again a favorite destination and a center for community entertainment.
The resurgence of our beloved theater follows years of fund-raising and volunteer efforts. That we are now reopened and once again presenting classic and family movies, on-stage entertainment and events that support our community is thanks to this widespread and enthusiastic support.
The association will be holding its annual meeting at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, at the theater in downtown Coos Bay. The meeting, which will be preceded at 1 p.m. by an organ concert and followed by a free, members-only movie screening, will feature an update on currently completed construction, a review of what’s left to do, and Kara talking about where we are heading with entertainment at the Egyptian. While we rejoice in all that’s been accomplished in bringing our wonderful theater to its current state, there remains a long list of tasks for us to face in the months ahead.
We urge members of the community to join the association. Our board members include Helen Doving, Anella Dumas, Alan Ellis, David Engholm, Kathy Erickson, Laura Fisher, Kathy Henry, Lee Littlefield, Paul Quarino, Bill Richardson, Susan Watson and me. These board members, along with our executive director, speak for the Egyptian and welcome any questions you may have about the rewards we are enjoying now and the challenges that remain ahead.
Dedicated work and financial support from members, individuals, businesses and foundations have brought us this far. We will always have a ways to go as a nonprofit, volunteer organization. We want to take this opportunity to thank this wonderful community for its support, and to encourage you to join us in our future endeavors by becoming members of the Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association.
Greg Rueger, President
Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association
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Headlines > Forest fires up a national debate about Scotland's nanny state
Mon 25th June, 2018
To mark the publication of 'The McNanny State', a new report by former MSP Brian Monteith, Forest is hosting a private dinner in Edinburgh on Tuesday June 26.
The theme of the roundtable event is 'The nanny state we're in'. According to Monteith:
"Scotland has become a puritan's playground and it is going to get a lot worse before enough people wake up and decide to do something about it."
Special guest for the evening is journalist and novelist Allan Massie who has written the foreword to 'The McNanny State'.
According to Massie:
"Ever since the Scottish Parliament came into being in 1999, the politicians have chipped away at the liberties of the people.
"The Scottish state today treats adults as people incapable of managing their own lives and, if they are parents, as people who cannot be trusted with the unfettered care of their children."
Simon Clark, director of Forest, said:
"Both the report and the dinner are perfectly timed. The Scottish Government's updated tobacco control plan, announced last week [June 20], is another blow for those who want less not more state interference in their daily lives.
"Proposals to ban smoking in social housing and restrict the number of shops that can sell tobacco represent further attacks on consumers and convenience stores that are already over-regulated.
"There will be a range of views and organisations around the dinner table so we don't expect our views to go unchallenged.
"The aim is to launch a national debate on the role of government in people's lives and examine the way the issue is being addressed in political and media circles.
"Our goal is to put lifestyle choices back into the hands of consumers, not politicians and taxpayer-funded pressure groups."
Brian Monteith: Scotland has become a failing nanny state (Scotsman)
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UFCW Honors the Legacy of MLK
The UFCW paid tribute to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the AFL-CIO’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference, which was held Washington, D.C., on Jan. 18 to 21.
International Vice President and Director of the Civil Rights and Community Action Department (CRCAD) Robin Williams held two workshops on restorative justice at the conference with Desmond Meade, a formerly homeless returning citizen, who is now the chair of Floridians for a Fair Democracy, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, and a graduate of Florida International University College of Law. Meade led the effort to pass Amendment 4 in Florida on Nov. 6, 2018. Also known as the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative, Amendment 4 restores a person’s right to vote after they complete their sentences, with exceptions for people convicted of murder and felony sex offenses. The restorative justice workshops focused on how labor unions can play a role with assisting returning citizens with second chance clinics and stopping the school to prison pipeline.
UFCW International Secretary-Treasurer Esther López also held two workshops titled “Immigrant Workers and the Future of the Labor Movement” with Coalition of Black Trade Unionists President Terry Melvin. The workshops focused on how the labor movement can help to ensure that the rights of all workers are protected in the workplace. López and Williams also participated in the Women’s March on Saturday, Jan. 19 and during a day of community service on Jan. 21. Williams was also honored at the conference’s gala with the “Drum Major for Justice Award.”
“Just as the case with Coretta Scott King, wherever there’s a strong movement for justice, you will find a strong black woman behind it,” said Williams at the gala. “Women are life-givers. We give birth to humanity and the greatest movements. Justice must be inclusive. Complete freedom comes when everyone works together. Our movements are one and the same.”
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Gary Dillard is a native of Cochise County, Arizona, who has spent his career in journalism — mostly in the region — and history. Writing about the present and the past.
He started at the University of Arizona in the nuclear engineering program, but soon transferred to journalism, not because the two are so closely related, but because after a physics flameout, he resorted to something he knew. As a high school senior, he had been sports editor of the Bisbee Daily Review and greatly enjoyed his work.
Not Gary Dillard — but what an avatar!
After college, he went back to work in sports reporting, at Sierra Vista, but soon found an opening as editor of the new Review, by then a weekly that right-sized the paper for Bisbee’s mine-less economy.
After a few years at the Sierra Vista and Bisbee papers, however, he was hired by Bill Epler, who had been publishing PAY DIRT, a magazine for the Arizona mining industry, and who needed more staffing to expand the publication into other states in the West. It fit nicely into his interest and (limited) training in engineering, and would become his major employment in the upcoming years.
And it was here, in participating in creation in 1981 of a seemingly monumental commemoration of Phelps Dodge’s century in the copper industry, that he was introduced to local history. He discovered the beautiful linkages of the past and the present, the “Connections,” as science historian James Burke would call them.
Once that project was complete, he took his new-found passion and created his first booklet, the 16-page “A Brief History of Bisbee,” which sold several thousand copies and was later was doubled in size and turned into an audio book. He is now taking the expanded version, and tripling its size to create a “regular” book, scheduled for publication by the end of 2017.
His next major adventure in history was writing a weekly article, each filling two broadsheet pages, including illustrations, during the centennial of the Bisbee Daily Review in 1998. That gave him a year to immerse himself in the microfilm records of a host of Arizona papers at the library of the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum.
In the ensuing years, he put together a raft of articles and research notes, all of which have being lying fallow. Now, he has declared 2017 as “year of the book,” and expects to have at least three published in time for Christmas and the start of the next tourism season.
Gary also has been driving for Lavender Jeep Tours as an opportunity to “try out” some of his research to see how it relates to what is desired by folks interested in the community. He also has restarted local history talks, which have been well attended in the past. And he is getting encouragement and wherewithal to produce more history products through Patreon.
Obviously, there’s much more to say, but it’s best to spend that time turning out history articles. Enjoy what is being posted in this blog and on other sites (see My Links.)
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How Four Girlfriends Became Some of Japan’s First Women Entrepreneurs
These female entrepreneurs started their clothing business in Japan 65 years ago. The business has evolved including an e-commerce division, providing experiences that make them more than just a clothing store.
FedEx, Jeff Martinez, Keiko Inoue| 13 September 2018
In 1948, not long after World War II, then 30-year-old Atsuko Banno and her three friends became four of Japan’s first women entrepreneurs.
“It was a new time, a new era for women,” says Atsuko’s grandson, Tadahiko Okazaki, now the President and Creative Director of Familiar, the children’s clothing store his grandmother and her friends founded, a shop that is still going strong 65 years later.
The company was named Familiar because they wanted to create a homey atmosphere for their company.
Watch the video above to take an inside look at Familiar, and read on as Okazaki shares his grandmother’s unique entrepreneurial adventure.
Your grandmother and her friends are considered some of Japan’s first female entrepreneurs. How did they break the mold?
The early 20th century was a very different time in Japan, and in many parts of the world women weren’t running their own businesses.
For a woman to start her own business was not something my grandmother and her friends thought was possible when they were young. |It just did not happen in our country.
In post-war Japan, there was nothing left, especially in Kobe, which was heavily hit by air raids. To say it was a difficult time is an understatement.
People’s bank accounts were restricted. You were not allowed to withdraw your own money from the banks. People had to sell whatever was left to have cash on hand.
After the war, our family’s storehouse remained intact. A lot of my grandmother’s things were there, including six pairs of custom-made shoes.
She brought those shoes to the shoemaker who made them, hoping she could get some money.
The owner of the shoe store told her, “No, I made these shoes for you. I can’t sell them to other people. I put my heart into making them for you.”
But on that visit, my grandmother was carrying a purse and a photo frame she had made herself, and the shopkeeper noticed the items.
Impressed by how well-made they were, the shoemaker offered her two display cases in the store, suggesting that she could start selling them. That was her first business opportunity, and she asked three friends to join her.
My grandmother’s father, along with other friends, encouraged the foursome to start a new career and found a company. The advice was encouraging, and became the building blocks to ‘Familiar.’
How did they go from purses to baby clothes?
As Japan was rebuilding, there was this notion that children’s well being was more important than ever. My grandmother and her friends started Familiar with that in mind.
They started the company because they wanted to make children’s clothes filled with a mother’s love and caring, the kind of clothes they wanted for their own children.
That passion has never changed throughout our company’s history.
Today, Familiar is not just a clothing store. We help expecting and new parents with classes on childcare. On top of that, we have an e-commerce division that is growing every year. In this era of omni-channel, we have to offer the same great experiences in our stores, our content, our clothing, our classes and our website. Every visit must be memorable.
What advice did your grandmother give you that you can share with other aspiring entrepreneurs?
My grandmother was curious and always challenged herself.
When I was a child, she told me people should never lose their sense of curiosity. She said that to me so many times, it was almost like her own lullaby.
Also, she was a fair and open-minded person. If she found someone’s idea better than hers, she would change the direction of what she was doing without hesitation.
Never lose your sense of curiosity and be willing to change. Don’t be narrow-minded or have tunnel vision. If someone has an idea better than yours, don’t let pride get in the way.
From my perspective, she was an innovative woman who was very forward thinking. She was not afraid of change, and created business models to help the company grow.
Where is Familiar going in the future?
Our heritage and our roots lie in the philosophy “For Children.” Everything we do is for the well being of children. That’s how we started, and our mission is to keep that heritage alive for the next generations.
Since our founding, we’ve never compromised product quality.
These days, fast fashion is all the rage, trends change constantly. We see ourselves as “slow fashion.”
We create high quality products that are timeless and also comfortable.
Industrial machines produce fabric very fast, whereas we knit ours gently, slowly.
When a fabric is knitted quickly, the texture becomes rather tough. It’s stiff and resistant when stretched.
Fabric that is made slowly is fluffier. Some companies think this is inefficient–our machines work at 1/6th the speed as more modern equipment– but we believe 100% in our way of making fabric.
We want to make the very best. We always think of the children.
You actually chose FedEx with that in mind, didn’t you?
We make our products with love and passion, so the most important quality that I look for from our courier is a love for delivering their packages.
That’s something I’d never compromise. Our customers are very important so I want a courier with great customer care, one with superb tracking ability.
The world is advancing at such a fast pace, but at the end of day, we believe the human factor still matters in the service industry. I expect a courier to take great care of the packages and products we made with so much love.
Automation and advancement is important, but at the end of the day, there should still be a human touch.
Source: https://about.van.fedex.com/blog/familiar/
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Third Lifetime Achievement Award
In 2006, the third Legacy of Servant Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Dabney Kennedy.
Dabney Kennedy was born in March 1936, in Stephenville, Texas, a little town about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth. He enrolled in Cub Scouting and earned the Arrow of Light. When old enough, he became a Boy Scout, serving first as patrol leader and later as senior patrol leader. He earned the Eagle Award, with palms, and then went on to join Explorers and earn that program’s Silver Award.
Dabney Kennedy
The annual end of year gathering of Section Chiefs took place in Dallas, Texas and although there was no NOAC to plan, there were two National programs of emphasis.
The first was Philbreak, a spring week at Philmont to help with conservation efforts after fires destroyed forestland in Philmont. The second event to plan was the first Indian Summer.
First Indian Summer
The 2003 OA Indian Summer took place in August 2003 at the Ridgecrest Conference Center near Ashville, North Carolina. Indian Summer was designed to help strengthen Arrowmen’s understanding of the American Indian culture and the relationship it has in OA ceremonies.
The 2003 National Planning Meeting was held at the end of the year in Dallas, Texas. With a NOAC set for the summer, planning the conference was the top priority of the meeting. In the much-anticipated national officer elections Jeff Hayward from Tetonwana Lodge, Pierre, South Dakota was elected National Chief. David Dowty was elected National Vice Chief. David became the first national officer elected from an overseas lodge.
National Planning M
For the eighth conference in a row, the number of Arrowmen exceeded 6,000 as 6,504 delegates and staff attended NOAC 2004. The Order of the Arrow returned for a second time to the site of the 1998 NOAC, Iowa State University in Ames. The conference theme "Chosen to serve, Inspired to lead" was featured throughout the meeting. The 2004 NOAC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Carl M. Marchetti, MD, personified this theme.
The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) is presented to those Arrowmen who have rendered distinguished and outstanding service to the Order on a sectional, regional, or national basis. The following were presented the DSA at the 2004 National Order of the Arrow Conference - Courtney Allen, Paul C. Anderson, Steven Howard Beckett, Riley Berg, Cortland Bolles, Clay Capp, Andy Chapman, Edward T. Clifford, III, Linley Joseph Collins, Christopher Crowley, Nicholas P. Digirolamo, Matt Dukeman, Adam Enerson, Brian J. Favat, Nathan McBride Finnin, Matthew R. Griffis, Brian Howard Herren, Jon L.
The OA gathered for a third time at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville site of the 1977 and 1992 NOACs for the 85th Anniversary 2000 NOAC. 6,632 delegates were in attendance. The Conference Theme selected was "Bound in Brotherhood, Led By the Spirit".
The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) is presented to those Arrowmen who have rendered distinguished and outstanding service to the Order on a sectional, regional, or national basis. The following were presented the DSA at the 2000 National Order of the Arrow Conference - Mark Christopher Angeli, Daniel T. Asleson, Richard "Dick" Henry, John C. Bicket, Peter Arnold Cash, Benjamin Whitlow "Whit" Culver, Brandon Fessler, Michael A. George II, Joseph W. Glenski, David Golden, Brian S. Hashiro, John Isley, Kenneth R.
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George Soros, a major progressive donor, speaks in March 2014. (Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung / Flickr)
Features » June 26, 2006
The New Funding Heresies
What everyone knows (but no one will say) about funding the left
BY Christopher Hayes
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Their names, for the most part, are unknown. But we know a bit about what they've been up to. In early May about 100 well-heeled progressive donors from around the country assembled in a luxury resort on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, for a 21st century version of the smoke-filled room (i.e., the smoke-free room). The occasion was the second meeting of the Democracy Alliance, a group of millionaires—including George Soros and insurance magnate Peter Lewis—who've pledged to give a minimum of $200,000 a year for the next five years to progressive organizations. Also in attendance were representatives from 25 organizations seeking Alliance funding.
The three-day meeting was partly a conference on the future of the progressive movement—featuring panels on America's Role in the World, 21st Century Economics and a surprise talk by Bill Clinton, who caused a stir with his testy response to a question about his wife's continued support of the Iraq occupation—and partly a meeting to decide who would be the beneficiaries of the Alliance's largesse. On the last afternoon, all of the partners met behind closed doors to make their final decisions.
Oh, to be a fly on that wall.
Since word of the Alliance first spread through progressive circles last year, it has loomed large in the imagination of many in the movement. Its tight-lipped approach to publicity has given rise to rumors, speculation and grumbling about a lack of transparency. But the Alliance's approach to long-term funding also suggests the promise of a significant change in the way the left is funded, one that many say is long overdue.
In the wake of the 2004 presidential election, more and more progressive funders are coalescing around what might be called the Infrastructure First theory of progressive revival. Originally pioneered by former Clinton Treasury official and Democracy Alliance founder Rob Stein, and now advocated by everyone from DNC chair Howard Dean to SEIU President Andy Stern, the theory goes something like this: The single most important factor in the right's political dominance over the last several decades is its superior infrastructure—a network of well-funded, tightly coordinated advocacy organizations, grassroots groups, think tanks and media platforms that are capable of mobilizing the base, drawing in new converts, moving the national political debate and exerting astounding influence on elected politicians. In a somewhat legendary PowerPoint presentation, Stein documents the way this conservative infrastructure was built, who funded it and how it works. The Democracy Alliance's mission is to help build a countervailing force on the left, what is cheekily referred to as the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy.
Indeed, there's been a shroud of mystery surrounding the group from its very beginning. “Now that we are fully operational, we recognize our responsibility for greater transparency and accessability to the center-left community, including the press,” Stein, who was at the meeting, told me recently. “But last year when the Alliance was literally in formation, we consciously chose not to ballyhoo or promote ourselves.”
Secrecy isn't limited to the Alliance. In progressive circles, it seems the first rule of fundraising is: Don't talk about fundraising. Call up someone at a major foundation or a development director and their first response is to go off the record. “There's a deafening silence within the movement around the role of money in movement building,” says Daniel Faber, who teaches sociology at Boston's Northeastern University and edited Foundations for Social Change: Critical Perspectives on Philanthropy and Popular Movements. “It's very difficult to penetrate that veil of secrecy.”
It makes sense. Progressive activists, organizers and leaders are rarely in a position to openly criticize their funders. (That includes In These Times—here's hoping that the foundation that pays my salary admires our bracing honesty.) And funders find themselves so besieged by requests for money (not to mention right-wing invective, as Soros can tell you), there's a tendency to fly beneath the radar. But if the progressive movement is going to build an infrastructure to rival the right, it has to examine and undo the numerous dysfunctions that stem from the way it is currently funded. In order to do that, it must initiate a public debate, no matter how awkward such a discussion might be. It might seem churlish to criticize foundations and donors that are giving away hundreds of millions of dollars, but it's the people writing the checks that tend to make the rules and nearly everyone now agrees those rules need to change.
In more than three dozen interviews, I tried to suss out what the major criticisms of the existing funding mechanisms were and what new models were being set up to address the problems that funders, organizers, academics and observers had identified. I found, much to my surprise, a shocking degree of consensus about what's broken and how to fix it.
So here, then, are the five heresies held by the new funding consensus.
1) Big foundations aren't the answer
When you ask Daniel Faber who funds the left, he bluntly says that the dirty little secret is that most of the money comes from large foundations. Faber estimates that “foundation dollars provide 70 to 90 percent of funding support for most social movements.”
The majority of this money comes from just a few large foundations In a recent study of social justice philanthropy, the Foundation Center noted that two foundations, Ford and Robert Wood Johnson, provide 25 percent of foundation grants for social justice work. “That's a tremendous concentration of influence,” Faber says. “And the problem with the mainline foundations is that they don't attack social problems in political terms. They look at them in terms of providing services—so they look at them in isolation.”
A program director at one major foundation that funds a wide variety of progressive groups agreed with Faber. “I can't think of any topic we work on domestically where we feel like we want to build a movement,” she said.
This attitude comes from the reformist culture of philanthropy, which grew out of a distinctly apolitical belief in noblesse oblige and neutered “charity.” But it also results from a concerted effort by conservatives to bully and intimidate foundations away from funding groups that seek to build political power. Foundations like Ford, which funds hundreds of very progressive groups, live in fear of being hauled before Congress, nailed by the IRS or mau-maued by right-wing critics for any perceived political project. (A recent cover story in The Nation recounted the latest dust-up over Ford's funding of a U.N. conference on racism that exploded into a controversy over anti-Semitism and -Zionism.)
Things are quite different on the right. Partly because conservatives felt shut out of major foundation funding, a network of conservative family foundations grew up in the '60s to fund the nascent movement. And unlike their mainstream counterparts, the Olin, Scaife, Coors and Heritage foundations all proudly view themselves as funders of the conservative movement.
But for the progressive movement, the single largest source of funding comes from institutions that don't consider themselves part of the movement itself. This means that organizations are caught between pursuing their political objectives and pleasing their apolitical funders. Kim Klein, a development consultant who has spent three decades helping progressive organizations raise money, says that an over-reliance on foundation money is the “number one dysfunction” of the movement. “It reflects a lack of political analysis about the nature of money,” she says. “If you're really serious abut social change and social justice, then you want the people engaged in membership to feel ownership. Imagine there are two lines on your phone. One is someone from the so-and-so foundation and the other is a person who lives down the street. I'll tell you which call most executive directors take.”
2) Fund institutions and organizations, not programs
It's tempting to view money as money: Why should it matter who a check comes from as long as it clears? But most money comes with strings attached and foundation money tends to have the most strings. Often those strings come in the form of grants for specific programs as opposed to general operating support. By granting money for specific programs, foundations can exert a tremendous amount of control over the organizations they fund. Faber says that the Ford Foundation once had a reputation for being so overbearing that grantees used to ask each other: “Have you been driven by Ford lately?”
Again, this differs from the conservative movement. A 2004 report by the National Committee For Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) found that between 1999 and 2001 the top 79 conservative foundations gave $94.3 million in general operating support to policy and advocacy organizations against $77.5 million in program funds. In 2005, NCRP released another report which showed that the 10 best-funded conservative advocacy organizations receive 90 percent of their foundation funding in the form of general operating support. By contrast, their counterparts on the left receive just 16 percent of their foundation funding in the form of general operating support.
“There's a place for project funding,” Stein says, “but if we're going to build a movement, there has got to be sustainable financial security for our organizations.” This is why Democracy Alliance has committed to primarily providing general operating support. “It is almost impossible to be an aggressive, bold, problem-solving oriented institution without financial security,” Stein says. “By way of example, the Heritage Foundation has a budget of $40 million dollars but they have cash and investments of $100 million. That's two and half years' worth of money to be creative.”
3) Think and fund for the long term
Stein says his chief goal is to cultivate a culture of “strategic long-term investment.” Emphasis on programs, he and others say, leads to a flavor-of-the-month effect, where funders support fashionable programs for a few years and then move on to the next new thing. Alison Fine, who has served as CEO of the E-Volve Foundation and consulted with grant-seekers, says, “It's very hard to get people to put money into long-term infrastructure because it's not sexy. Funders want to fund things they can count, something they can bring back to their trustees or their country club and say 'Look at what I funded,' and what we desperately need is someone who is going to fund the process of progressive change.”
Long-term funding helps organizations focus on those kinds of activities—grassroots organizing and base-building—that by nature require long gestation and don't readily produce the kind of immediate returns on investment that so many funders look for. Barbara Osborn, communications director at the small progressive Liberty Hill foundation, says that the recent immigration marches, which surprised many observers by turning out millions, are perfect examples of the fruits of this kind of long-term commitment. “Liberty Hill has invested $4.5 million in immigrant rights work in Los Angeles since 2000,” she said by email. “What erupted on the streets March 25 was no accident and no surprise to us.”
Calls for long-term funding and more general operating support are by no means new. Indeed, nonprofit sector expert Pablo Eisenberg and members of the NCRP have been sounding this refrain for years. But the failures of 2004 have succeeded in knocking loose the status quo, even in the uber-conservative and risk-averse world of philanthropy. While Stein cautions that changing the approach is like moving an “oceanliner,” the fact that Democracy Alliance and other groups now exist and can pursue grantmaking that incorporates these critiques signifies the beginning of a sea-change. Stein says he's even found that program officers at foundations now quietly ask him to tell their bosses that they need to increase the lengths of their grant cycles.
4) Fund innovation, provide startup money.
New organizations, particularly those with a novel approach or issue, face a Catch-22: They can only secure funding if they have a good reputation and a demonstrated record of achieving results, but without any money it's hard to gain much of a reputation or get much of anything done. This might be called the problem of funding inertia: organizations that are funded tend to stay funded and those broke tend to stay broke. “There's really only a handful of people that are going to fund new ideas,” a staff member at a small progressive startup told me. “You can be a community arts organization that's been around for 15 years, and you can get $50,000 from a foundation. For something like our open media software, we're scrambling to get $50,000.”
The leading voices for a more innovation-oriented, risk-seeking style of progressive investment are Andy and Deborah Rappaport. Andy Rappaport made his fortune investing in communications and technology companies and has been giving to progressive organizations for years. In 2004, the Rappaports started a donor circle called Band of Progressives, modeled after the Band of Angels, a group of fellow Silicon Valley investors who would meet regularly to evaluate start-ups. The couple gained a reputation for giving generously to a variety of non-traditional organizations like Music for America, which sought to mobilize young voters through organizing concerts.
The venture capital model drew lots of converts and last year, the Rappaports set up a new organization called the New Progressive Coalition. NPC functions as a virtual marketplace of progressive giving, connecting organizations seeking money with those with money to give. Its Web site features MySpace-like profiles of different member groups (including In These Times) that investors can browse. The approach and vocabulary is frankly entrepreneurial: There are no donors, only “investors,” staff members talk about measuring the “political return on investment” and setting up “portfolios” of organizations that investors can manage like a mutual fund.
The idea is that by opening up the funding process to a free-market approach NPC can avoid the conservatism that tends to prevail. “The political capital market is broken,” says NPC's Investor Services Director Catalina Ruiz-Healy. “We're trying to fix it. The way politics has traditionally worked, there hasn't been much transparency, analysis or accountability. It's more someone told you to give to this or your friend is doing that.” Those are valid data points, she says, but you would never use them to decide how to make financial investments.
“We're trying to build a mutual fund approach,” she says. An investor can come to NPC with some parameters, and they can suggest a bundled set of organizations to invest in. “We can say: 'Here's a way for you to invest, we've done the due diligence. You need the big elephant and these three startups. One startup might fail, but your money isn't down the tubes.' We need to take risks. We create an environment where there is calculated risk-taking.”
5) Expand the small donor base
Due in no small part to Rob Stein's infamous PowerPoint, the dominant narrative of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy tells of a nefarious cabal of rich masterminds getting together and single-handedly funding modern conservatism. But “nobody understands that much of the right's work was self-funded,” says Jean Hardisty, who founded Political Research Associates to study the conservative movement. “The religious right raised its money for the most part from its own people.”
“The Heritage Foundation has 275,000 individual donors,” says Kim Klein. “The Right-To-Life organizations have thousands of small donors. The grassroots of the right wing is actually funded by the grassroots and the grassroots of the left wing is funded by foundations, and I think it's an enormous problem.”
Self-funded movements were once the norm on the left as well. The labor movement is funded almost entirely through union dues, and the early Civil Rights movement, though it received key support from small, progressive family foundations, was bankrolled overwhelmingly by African-American business people and congregants in black churches.
But in the '60s and '70s, progressive organizations outside civil rights and labor came to rely heavily on foundation support. At the same time, conservative mastermind Richard Viguerie pioneered direct mail, a method of mail solicitation that proved enormously successful and helped capture an entire generation of Republican and conservative small donors.
The great hope for progressive organizations is that the Internet can be for the left what direct mail has been for the right. Traditionally small donor cultivation has been relatively expensive, meaning that the largest organizations are best equipped to pursue it. The Internet changes that calculus significantly, providing a means of reaching thousands of potential donors and processing donations with an incredibly low overhead.
But it's unclear whether Internet giving will simply make small donor fundraising less expensive and more efficient, or whether it has the ability to expand the universe of people who are willing to give money.
Even if Internet small-donor cultivation doesn't solve an organization's funding problems, it has a substantive effect that ranges beyond the immediate financial return. “People need to own and run their organizations, elect officers, set the budget for the staff,” says Steven Kest, executive director of ACORN, which requires dues from all of its members. “Paying for the organization is one way of owning the organization.”
It's almost too obvious a point to articulate, but it bears repetition nonetheless: The arithmetic of fundraising is not the simple arithmetic of democracy. There is no one person, one vote. American hyper-capitalism creates winners and losers, people who can write $20 checks and people who can write $2 million checks. Even if the Internet provides a platform for massive small donor giving, large donors are still going to play a disproportionately large role in funding the progressive movement. But the specter of a progressive movement funded largely by wealthy individuals, or even members of the comfortable upper middle class, raises some thorny issues, ones that hover over the technical and strategic critiques outlined above.
It's not often stressed, but the conservative movement was motivated as much by class self-interest as it was by ideology. While key funders like Scaife and Coors were furthering their beliefs they were lining their own pockets by agitating for reduced taxes on wealth, union-busting and deregulation. “There's something much more authentic on the right about what they were doing,” says Jeff Krehely, research director at NCRP. “Spending $5 million on grants would bring so many more rewards in the long run because the policies would change to benefit them. “
This isn't the case for progressives, who will have to rely upon a kind of What's the Matter with Kansas? effect in which ideological principles trump personal class interests. “Trying to fund an economically progressive movement from a bunch of rich people is a tough sell,” says Krehely. “I don't think anyone's tried to figure out what we do about that. Until we figure that out I don't think we're going to get very far.”
Jane Covey, development director for United for a Fair Economy, disagrees. She cites UFE's work with wealthy individuals in fighting against the repeal of the estate tax. “They ended up being a very surprising voice on the side of economic justice and fairness.”
“All of us want our stock prices to do well,” says Larry Litvak, a former Working Assets executive and current investor with NPC, “but at the same time you're not satisfied if just that aspect of your goals are being addressed.” The silver lining of the increase of inequality over the last 30 years, Litvak says, is that now a lot of people “both have assets and have this broader set of values.”
But what exactly is in that “broader set of values” is what's at issue. Last year I spoke to one Democracy Alliance partner who expressed frustration with his fellow partners' reluctance to fund groups that would attack the free-trade consensus. “I think this is a really dangerous period to be mindless free-traders. I don't think the Democracy Alliance is wrestling with that stuff,” he said. “That's one of those things that's really hard for wealthy people to do, to feel how working people feel.”
There might not be a simple way of resolving this inherent tension, but in all the ink spilled over Soros in the last election cycle, it was easy to miss that Big Money is only part of the picture. In fact, the big donors themselves are the most eager to point that out. “We do not believe that we are the end-all, be-all source of financial security and health,” says Stein. “We will not build a healthy center-left movement in America without a diverse base of small- and medium-sized donors.”
If there's one answer to the question of how best to fund the left, then, it's this: Raise as much money from as many sources as possible. For the last 36 years, ACORN has managed to win crucial victories in states and localities around the country. It's survived and even thrived during a time of conservative ascendancy, growing its staff and operations and spearheading minimum wage campaigns and organizing drives.
Kest chalks up the organization's longevity to the diversity of its funding sources and its reliance on members. “There are valuable partnerships to be made with wealthy donors and foundations—there's no way in which we are purists about this.” Indeed, ACORN receives money from the Rappaports and foundations. “But,” says Kest, “if we were solely dependent on contributions from wealthy individuals and foundations, I don't think we would have survived for 36 years.”
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I've grappled with the meaning of 'Left' for some time. Since most parties move rightward over time, I guess we need to be aware of that. It's hard enough to stay focussed when various groups get creative with language, so that progressive can mean regressive, etc.. This is why media, such as In These Times, is powerful, a fact that we need to appreciate. Therefore, I won't argue with those who want to call In These Times (which I've read, on and off, for many years now) a progressive journal. And I won't argue with it's idea of what 'progressive' means. I'll just say that I might have no use for ITT's progress, even if I appreciate the informational value which that outfit presents. I've been a follower of 'alternative' media for many years. I gave up on the The Nation long ago. It, like ITT, is bookmarked in my 'media > favorites' area, but not because I'm a beliver. Republicrats (Republicans & Democrats) aren't going to fix the problems they've created and their boosters aren't fooling me. The same goes for my country's Coniberals (Conservatives & Liberals). Our New Democratic Party has really gone down the toilet - to the point now where our rightwing Green Party wants to ditch NAFTA while the NDP is happy with it and with the imperialistic direction of Canadian foreign policy generally. Witness their jello stand on Canada's participation in the overthrow of the Aristide government in Haiti. They squeaked a little and then shut up. I'm encouraged to comment by the comments of the other posters, which give me more hope than the article which we are responding to. Humans can't fix this mess. The folks who are here wringing their hands over their political infrastructure problems aren't going to do a thing for the poor and vulnerable in society. Of that I'm certain. Someone commented on identity politics vs discussions about economics. It really is simple, Isn't it? I express it this way: You have horizontal - shallow, not as important as other issues - vision, which is promoted by the establishment and our capitalist political classes (minus I suppose fringe parties like the communist and socialist parties), which they promote by seeming to possess that vision themselves. But it's a big game they play. Jean Chretien's effort to save the country via marketing benefitted Liberal-connected ad companies etc and led to an inquiry here on the millions that were stolen from taxpayers. I think we needed to lose Quebec long ago, for reasons like the above. The Quebec independence issue continues to prevent Canadian progress, and that's fine with capitalists who don't want to deal with the social deficits they create regularly. Let's talk about poverty in Canada and 'do something' about it. Amazingly, The corporate-owned media here 'is' talking, regularly, about poverty in Canada. But absolutely nothing gets done about it. That's because those with power don't have to do anything they don't want to do. We have a laissez faire society, unfortunately. And we do not have properly representative politics. If you aren't wealthy and connected and an owner of capital, don't expect your concerns to be acted on, if they're heard. Then you have vertical vision - not shallow but looking at important matters and not just matters that are important to a few - which plain speaking, mostly thoughtful but powerless players, promote by setting their own honest example of simply refusing to talk nonsense just because those with more power and privilege choose to. I don't care whether I wave the Canadian flag (I'm Canadian) or the American flag, for example, as long as my standard of living doesn't go down once capitalists get their way. The harmonization of standards is in the direction of downward. Capitalists are always seeking cost cutting. That's why they want North American integration. And they have the political classes as partners in their project to do uber capitalism, which just creates social deficits and shrinks the middle class and expands poverty, since in their view benefits (good wages, job security, workplace health & safety regs etc) to workers are a cost rather than an investment, not to mention other benefits such as government regulations (oversight of water, air etc) generally. Our continentalist leaders, despite fine sounding patriotic language and trips to the Arctic in an effort (ostensibly) to see how Canadian sovereignty can be protected, are on board with the capitalist class's project of American/ Canadian integration. I recently asked a young fellow who I met (a fellow security officer at the recent AIDS convention in Toronto) whether he cared if Canada remained Canada rather than get swallowed up by the US. His answer is typical, and a product of propaganda and horizontal vision projected by the establishment and it's media. He said he didn't want that because he wants Canada to retain it's uniqueness. But he didn't offer me any thoughts on what he meant by that. Our health care system? Don't get misty eyed about that. The CMA - Canadian Medical Association - recently elected as it's chief a fellow who doesn't even believe in our single payer system. But I've been trying to tell people for years that it's unrealistic to expect that a large scale socialistic program like our health care system should survive within the neoliberal capitalist system we have. You can't have both, and our powerful and privileged elites have no interest in dismantling the system that provides them with their 'freedom' just so we can preserve and strengthen our socialistic Medicare. Capitalism is, in fact, just another religion. And it also happens to be one that is very successful and subscribed to by most of the planet, including it's 'Left'. If folks don't want lose socialistic programs and solutions that they believe in, then they should start talking, not about how to fix a Left that agrees with the Right on fundamentals, but capitalism itself. You don't see the word in the media much, Do you? Out of sight, out of mind. I told that young fellow that culture is fine and important. But the priority, in my view, should be 'Do I eat or don't I?' I didn't have the time to tell him that I hardly see any difference between Canadians and Americans anyway, or I would have.
Posted by Arby on 2006-08-28 19:04:35
Hi Christopher, Though Kim stands firmly on the left, on this point, she is absolutely right when she says "an over-reliance on foundation money is the 'number one dysfunction' of the movement." Recently just got back from Raising Change, an inspiring conference that she and the Grassroots Fundraising Journal hosted in Berkeley for 500 progressive fundraisers from the U.S., Latin America, Canada and the Pacific Rim. The main focus was that fundraising is organizing, and that if we don't provide individuals the opportunity to invest in their own communities, then we can't claim to represent the grassroots. For more on the conference, check out the post on my blog, Fundraising for Nonprofits, gayleroberts.com/blog. Have also linked to this article on my blog. Thanks for your work. Peace, Gayle
Posted by gaylesf on 2006-08-20 08:29:53
This article missed some very important things that should have been included. It could have gone into Soros and his soft-power imperialist ventures around Eurasia. It could have mentioned PACIFICA RADIO, and its long history of listener-supported public interest broadcasting. By all means go to the pacifica.org website and learn more if you are unfamiliar. And it steered clear of questionsquestions.net and Left Gatekeepers, a website that has been exposing the foundation connections of these alleged "alternative" media for quite some time. No links to CIA were mentioned in this article, concerning Ford Foundation and others. So, the article was basically a neutered defense of the current abysmal alternative press, and a glossing over of the behind the scenes manipulation by foundation money and CIA connected foundations. Not impressed. Dig deeper, if you've got the balls. John Doraemi publishes Crimes of the State at: http://crimesofthestate.blogspot.com/
Posted by johndoraemi on 2006-07-02 11:33:02
A QUIOTE FROM THIS ARTICLE: "Foundations like Ford, which funds hundreds of very progressive groups," Yes, Ford Foundation and its ilk have funded the American Left for decades. And the American Left has become what the Ford Foundation, et al., wants. And what sorts of "progressive groups" have these huge nonprofits funded? IDENTITY POLITICS! That is what these foundations fund! They have funded a generation of pseudoLeft "progressive" activism that has shifted the focus of the American Left from economics to race and gender oriented activism. And now we see the results of what this PseudoLeft hath wrought! Our progressive tax base is in a shambles! We are the only western nation without single payer healthcare. Our labor market is flooded mass immigration of aliens driving down our wages. The plutocrats and megacorporations set up these large nonprofit foundations like Ford in order to divert American Leftism from economics. That way the rich can keep their money by leeping the American Left focused on race and gender politics. Read Joan Roelofs book MASK OF PLURALISM for more on this. And PseudoLeft outfits like IN THESE TIMES, PBS, NPR, Alternet, etc are the fruit of the years of propaganda created by PseudoLeft media organs.
Posted by cryofan on 2006-06-30 17:59:58
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Silver, E.A., Kastner, M., Fisher, A.T., Morris, J.D., McIntosh, K.D., and Saffer, D.M., 2000. Fluid flow paths in the Middle America Trench and Costa Rica margin. Geology, 28:679-682. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2000)028<0679:FFPITM>2.3.CO;2
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When Teachers Threaten a Strike, Call Their Bluff
n 1981, President Ronald Reagan put a marker down for the rule of law when he fired more than 11,000 Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers who had walked off the job in violation of federal law, despite enjoying the backing of their union, PATCO, in the 1980 presidential campaign.
Is there a school board in Illinois willing to put a marker down for the next time its teachers walk the picket line?
In recent months, there have been three missed opportunities.
The 150 teachers at Prospect Heights School District 23 were out for a week in September before they came to terms with the board for a contract that provides a 14.25 percent pay increase over four years for teachers making less than $90,000 annually and a 9.75 percent pay increase over four years for teachers making more than $90,000.
Mari-Lynn Peters, the school board president, told me that for every job opening in District 23, the board receives 200 to 300 applications.
In October, it was the 248 teachers at McHenry County School District 156 who walked for a week. They agreed to come back after the board agreed to a 9 percent raise over three years in addition to splitting the cost of covering increased health insurance contributions.
Before the new contract, the average teacher salary in District 156 was just under $80,000, with 15 percent of teachers making more than $100,000 and two-thirds of teachers making more than $70,000. As in Prospect Heights, McHenry 156 board President Steve Bellmore told me that a substantial number of applications are received when there is a job opening in the district.
On Nov. 2, East St. Louis District 189 teachers returned to class after 21 days on strike with a four-year deal that provides an average salary increase of $12,834 over the life of the contract along with fully paid employee medical, dental, vision and life insurance (no deductible).
In East St. Louis, all of the more than 6,000 children in the district qualify for the free or reduced school lunch program. The median household income in East St. Louis is $19,000. The median pre-strike District 189 teacher salary was $72,000. Only 6 percent of East St. Louis students are deemed college-ready in spite of the fact that in the 2012-13 school year, East St. Louis spent $14,462 per student, compared with a statewide average of $11,483 among similarly sized school districts. And, when I say the district, I really mean the state of Illinois, because District 189 has been under state oversight since 2011 and receives two-thirds of its funding from state government.
My grammar school basketball coach used to tell us, “The graveyards are full of indispensable people.”
The school boards in Prospect Heights, McHenry and East St. Louis all had the opportunity to put that pithy aphorism to the test in an environment where it appears that demand for teaching jobs outstrips supply.
I understand why they demurred. Replacing people is no fun.
But no individual teacher or even district full of teachers is more important than moving the K-12 culture away from conferring salaries and benefits to the adults and toward schools that are child-centered and outcome-focused.
Some will dismiss this piece as an attack on teachers because it is easier to propagate the imaginary battle between pro-teacher and anti-teacher forces.
But someone has to put a marker down.
School districts throughout Illinois, including in the leafy suburbs, are following the trajectory of the bankrupt, junk-rated Chicago Public Schools.
So it’s apropos that CPS is up next for its second teacher strike in five years.
Rather ironically, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis seems to be the last honest potentate in the Illinois edu-ocracy. To keep CPS teachers enjoying the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed, Lewis supports a LaSalle Street tax on financial transactions and a progressive state income tax, and she is open to a city income tax if that’s what it takes.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPS chief Forrest Claypool pretend they can make a go of it at CPS with a $500 million state bailout of a system where a $1 billion annual budget deficit is the new normal.
Clearly the PATCO moment will not occur inside the leadership vacuum that is Chicago.
But it is going to happen if for no other reason than the axiomatic Herbert Stein’s Law: If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.
Our K-12 school systems cannot go on forever in their current form. Even if the will is weak, the math is inexorable.
This article was originally published in the Chicago Tribune on December 9, 2015.
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Operations Rules
David Simchi-Levi
Delivering Customer Value through Flexible Operations
In recent years, management gurus have urged businesses to adopt such strategies as just-in-time, lean manufacturing, offshoring, and frequent deliveries to retail outlets. But today, these much-touted strategies may be risky. Global financial turmoil, rising labor costs in developing countries, and huge volatility in the price of oil and other commodities can disrupt a company’s entire supply chain and threaten its ability to compete. In Operations Rules, David Simchi-Levi identifies the crucial element in a company’s success: the link between the value it provides its customers and its operations strategies. And he offers a set of scientifically and empirically based rules that management can follow to achieve a quantum leap in operations performance.
Flexibility, says Simchi-Levi, is the single most important capability that allows firms to innovate in their operations and supply chain strategies...
David Simchi-Levi is Professor of Engineering Systems at MIT, editor-in-chief of the journal Operations Research, and coauthor of Designing and Managing the Supply Chain and The Logic of Logistics. He is the founder of LogicTools (now a division of IBM’s ILOG), which provides software solutions and professional services for supply chain planning.
Playing Our Game
Edward S. Steinfeld
Why China's Rise Doesn't Threaten the West
Conventional wisdom holds that China's burgeoning economic power has reduced the United States to little more than a customer and borrower of Beijing. The rise of China, many feel, necessarily means the decline of the West--the United States in particular.
Not so, writes Edward Steinfeld. If anything, China's economic emergence is good for America. In this fascinating new book, Steinfeld asserts that China's growth is fortifying American commercial supremacy, because (as the title says) China is playing our game. By seeking to realize its dream of modernization by integrating itself into the Western economic order, China is playing by our rules, reinforcing the dominance of our companies and regulatory institutions. The impact of the outside world has been largely beneficial to China's development, but also enormously disruptive. China has in many ways handed over--outsourced--the remaking of its domestic economy and domestic institutions to foreign companies and foreign rule-making authorities. For Chinese companies now, participation in global production also means obedience to foreign rules. At the same time, even as these companies assemble products for export to the West, the most valuable components for those products come from the West. America's share of global manufacturing, by value, has actually increased since 1990. Within China, the R&D centers established by Western companies attract the country's best scientists and engineers, and harness that talent to global, rather than indigenous Chinese, innovation efforts. In many ways, both Chinese and American society are benefiting as a result. That said, the pressures on China are intense. China is modeling its economy on the United States, with vast consequences in a country with a small fraction of America's per-capita income and scarcely any social safety net. Walmartization is not something that Asian manufacturing power is doing to us; rather, it is how we are transforming China.
From outsourcing to energy, Steinfeld overturns the conventional wisdom in this incisive and richly researched account.
Edward S. Steinfeld is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Director of the MIT-China Program. He is the author of Forging Reform in China: The Fate of State-Owned Industry.
A.K. Peters, Ltd.
Bright Boys
Tom Green, with Special Foreword by Jay W. Forrester
The Making of Information Technology
MIT Sloan School of Management Professor Emeritus Jay Forrester’s foreword shares insight into the school’s entrepreneurial spirit that helped launch the world of electronics and created the first real-time computer. An original member of MIT’s “bright boy” team, Forrester is a pioneer in early digital computer development and the inventor of random-access magnetic-core memory.
In his foreword, Forrester credits MIT for supporting such creativity in uncharted waters. Forrester writes, “Innovation means trying ideas outside of the accepted pattern. It means providing the opportunity to fail as a learning experience rather than an embarrassment. … An innovative spirit requires years for developing the courage to be different and calibrating oneself to identify the effective region for innovation that lies between the mundane and the impossible.”
Everything has a beginning. None was more profound—and quite unexpected—than Information Technology. Here for the first time is the untold story of how our new age came to be and the bright boys who made it happen. What began on the bare floor of an old laundry building eventually grew to rival in size the Manhattan Project. The unexpected consequence of that journey was huge—what we now know as Information Technology. For sixty years the bright boys have been totally anonymous while their achievements have become a way of life for all of us. “Bright Boys” brings them home. By 1950 they’d built the world’s first real-time computer. Three years later they one-upped themselves when they switched on the world’s first digital network. In 1953 their work was met with incredulity and completely overlooked. By 1968 their work was gospel. Today, it’s the way of the world.
A pioneer in early digital computer development and a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Jay Forrester invented random-access magnetic-core memory during the first wave of modern computers. He also pioneered the growing field of system dynamics. He has researched the behavior of economic systems, including the causes of business cycles and the major depressions; a new type of dynamics-based management education; and system dynamics as a unifying theme in pre-college education. Forrester has received numerous awards for his books and has been awarded nine honorary degrees from universities around the world.
The Delta Model
Arnoldo C. Hax
Reinventing Your Business Strategy
In today’s challenging economic environment, finding ways to differentiate and grow a business is more important than ever. In a new book, The Delta Model, MIT Sloan School of Management Professor Arnoldo Hax presents a fundamentally new approach to strategy focused on the customer rather than competitors.
“If you focus on competitors as your benchmark then you start to imitate them, which causes congruence in your industry. That is the worst thing that can happen because it leads to lackluster performance, ineffective customer service, and products and services that don’t excite anyone,” says Hax. “The alternative is to concentrate on the customer, which is the premise of The Delta Model.”
Based on more than 30 years of research, teaching, and consulting, Hax offers a unique perspective on management strategy as well as practical tools to help executives successfully implement the Delta Model into their organizations. The model, which applies to small and medium-sized businesses as well as large corporations and nonprofits, builds on existing ideas yet expands and often counters conventional wisdom.
Arnoldo C. Hax is the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Management Emeritus at the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as Deputy Dean of the Sloan School from 1987 through 1990. During his career at Sloan School, Professor Hax has been the Chairman of the Strategy Group, the Program for Senior Executives, and the Sloan Fellows Program at MIT.
Pantheon Books/Random House
13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
Simon Johnson, James Kwak
Even after the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, America is still beset by the depredations of an oligarchy that is now bigger, more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever. Anchored by six megabanks—Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley—which together control assets amounting, astonishingly, to more than 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, these financial institutions (now more emphatically “too big to fail”) continue to hold the global economy hostage, threatening yet another financial meltdown with their excessive risk-taking and toxic “business as usual” practices. How did this come to be—and what is to be done? These are the central concerns of 13 Bankers, a brilliant, historically informed account of our troubled political economy.
In 13 Bankers, Simon Johnson—one of the most prominent and frequently cited economists in America (former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT, and author of the controversial “The Quiet Coup” in The Atlantic)—and James Kwak give a wide-ranging, meticulous, and bracing account of recent U.S. financial history within the context of previous showdowns between American democracy and Big Finance: from Thomas Jefferson to Andrew Jackson, from Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They convincingly show why our future is imperiled by the ideology of finance (finance is good, unregulated finance is better, unfettered finance run amok is best) and by Wall Street’s political control of government policy pertaining to it.
As the authors insist, the choice that America faces is stark: whether Washington will accede to the vested interests of an unbridled financial sector that runs up profits in good years and dumps its losses on taxpayers in lean years, or reform through stringent regulation the banking system as first and foremost an engine of economic growth. To restore health and balance to our economy, Johnson and Kwak make a radical yet feasible and focused proposal: reconfigure the megabanks to be “small enough to fail.”
Simon Johnson is Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a senior fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is coauthor, with James Kwak, of The Baseline Scenario, a leading economic blog, described by Paul Krugman as “a must-read” and by Bill Moyers as “one of the most informative news sites in the blogosphere.”
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CHET DANIELSON - A PERSON TO REMEMBER!
Chet Danielson, was my boss and my pastor for three years in the late 1960s. He was my boss first, choosing me to fill in as office secretary at The Salvation Army Corps in Ontario, California, and then bumping me up to what we casually called welfare worker when that position opened. I just wanted to work there, and I really just did whatever needed doing. In rank, he was a Captain, and with such a small office as we had, he most of the time answered to "Cap." After about a year, my husband and I began attending the Ontario Corps, feeling that our ministry should be there, too.
I loved the "helping" part of my job, and Cap taught me a lot about christian compassion, warmth, caring, and he especially demonstrated in his own life what General Booth so had intended The Salvation Army to be. I had lots of lines drawn in my own understanding of "church" and "christians" - and it was Chet who exemplified by his life, both business and spiritual, that drawing lines are NOT what Christianity was about.
My husband and I moved out of the area in 1971, and the Ontario part of my life was over. I was pleased when in the 1990s, I got a call from his daughter Dawn asking if I would speak at his retirement celebration. I had a lot to say about the ministry of Chet and his wife Vicki. It was factual and it was personal, and I meant every word of it. Chet, by then a Major, told me afterwords that he was dumbfounded that I remembered so much and especially had learned so much. And I told him it was all true, no flattery involved.
Chet died in April of 2014. But here I am, myself at 80, still remembering the times that Chet ministered to the south end of Ontario, California with love and compassion, and remembering specifically the little kids and their families who came to church on the bus that Chet drove, learned about Christ through his Sunday School classes, and taught them how to play musical instruments, supplying the horns, tambourines and music books so they could join the little Salvation Army Band that went out on Sunday afternoons to witness at John Galvin Park. What lovely memories I have.
Chet's got stars in his Crown, for sure!
Posted by Bobby Dobbins Title at 10:32 AM 2 comments:
Labels: Chester "Chet" Danielson, John Galvin Park, Ontario California
PALS, REALLY GOOD PALS
In February of 1987 my pal Jerry Russom died. He was only 51, way too young for sure! He was taken swiftly by a rare and terminal neurological disorder, leaving a wife, two teenage daughters, his folks, his sister Patsy and a passel of friends.
Until Jerry and I headed off to different colleges, we had shared three years of intensive work in our high school journalism department. I had been in classes with him through junior high school but it wasn't until meeting again as sophomores at Long Beach Poly High in 1951 that our friendship really jelled. In our senior year of Poly each of us held the position of Editor of the weekly school newspaper "High Life" for a semester. The picture below is from our yearbook.
It is certainly true that one can have a "best friend" of the other sex, for Jerry and I were inseparable, especially the last two years. Early on we had tried dating, and that just wasn't in the cards for us. But truly, my joys of high school happened because Jerry and I were together constantly, both in school and after school. In the summers, many evenings a bunch of our journalism classmates got together at my house in a backyard patio my dad had built so his "girls" would have a safe place to hang out – and each night we tried to solve the problems, big and small, of our world. Or we would go to Jerry's house where his mom and dad (and his little sister) always sat in with us while we laughed ourselves silly over all the nonsensical thing that teenagers think about.
Jerry and I kept in touch throughout our lives, mainly with little notes now and then. The last time I saw him was when I was in San Francisco in the mid-1980s. I dropped by his public relations business downtown. We had a good chat about our lives and once again shared that special feeling of being pals forever.
Interestingly, several years later when word of his death came down to Long Beach, I received a couple of sympathy cards from old friends who remembered our friendship – and who knew I would feel his death very personally. I did.
In my estimation, Jerry is definitely not an Immortal NOBODY, but I figure he would laugh like old times if he knew that I was putting him in that category here. He doesn't need me for posthumous prestige, for sure. He "made it" himself – but it makes me feel good to know he won't be forgotten.
Labels: Jerry Russom, Long beach Poly High Life
GOLD CALLED, AND HE ANSWERED!
TIMOTHY MADDEN
Timothy was the second child and first son of Stephen & Hannorah Hurley Madden, who started their lives in the Parish of Kilbrogan, the town of Brandon, County Cork, Ireland. Their tombstones in the Catholic Cemetery of Mendota, Illinois gave me the information of where they were born.
Their first three children were born in Ireland - Julia in 1825, Timothy in 1828, and John in 1830. Their last child, Ellen, was born in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts in 1834. Ellen was my great-great Grandmother.
In the late 1850s the family moved to Mendota, LaSalle County, Illinois. All can be accounted for on the censuses except for Timothy.
While I was actively researching this family and nosing around Mendota by mail, one of my letters was passed on to a fellow named Peter Donohue, who was a descendant of the Peter Donohue who married Julia Madden. This, of course, made me a distant relative of Pete himself, and he was a gold mine of information on the Maddens.
In one of those all-too-rare surprises in genealogical research, in the 1960s he had received, and kept, a letter from another Madden researcher (Lucille Fulton York), who descended from Ellen Madden just as I did. Ellen was her grandmother, and Lucille remembered a lot of what her grandmother had told her about the family. Pete forwarded a copy of her letter to me, dated from 1967, and it was there that I discovered why Timothy was absent. There were no details, but it simply said that Timothy went to California looking for gold and was never heard from again.
Timothy Madden was a very common Irish name, and in my research I found dozens of Timothy Maddens in California during the gold rush period. I could not find the one to whom I was related, which is not at all surprising.
It is for this reason that I have picked him to at least be acknowledged as part of a family by appearing here --- but without a date of death.
Labels: Bandon, Hurley, Illinois, Ireland, Kilbrogan, LaSalle, Madden, Mendota, Peter Donohue
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The Online Home of Kevin M. Levin
Welcome to Forrest – Wells Park
Published: February 5, 2013 2 comments
There are a number of plans on the table that would change the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest Park in Memphis, Tennessee. Any plan that involves removing the Forrest monument would also have to include the removal of his remains which are buried below. That presents all kinds of challenges. As I’ve said before, I am not a fan of tearing monuments down, though I do believe there are always exceptions to the rule. In this case I think a name change is certainly justified, but rather than discard Forrest’s name I would like to see Ida B. Wells’s name added. Welcome to Forrest – Wells Park. It has a nice ring to it. The Memphis City Council meets today to consider a proposal to do just that. Stay tuned. In the meantime…
What is it about pastors and Confederate generals, especially someone like Forrest? Of all the historical figures to utilize as representative of living a good life, is Forrest really the best we can do? I certainly know enough to explain this, but I will never understand it.
About the author: Thank you for taking the time to read this post. What next? Scroll down and join the discussion in the comments section. Looking for more Civil War content? You can follow me on Twitter. Check out my forthcoming book, Searching For Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth, which is the first book-length analysis of the black Confederate myth ever published. Pre-order your copy today.
Lyle Smith Feb 6, 2013 @ 8:34
Of all the historical figures to utilize as representative of living a good life, is Forrest really the best we can do?
Forrest was an exceptional human being in a lot of ways. He is a quintessential American success story of growing up on the frontier, and making something for himself and his family out of practically nothing. He then goes on to be this super soldier during the Civil War, rises to the level of Lt. General, and somehow survives the war. By the end of it all plenty of Yankees have a lot of respect for him.
So in the eyes of probably a majority of white southerners at the end of the Civil War he’s some kind of hero. He’s one of the best they’ve got. He’s someone to celebrate among the detritus of the Confederacy. He’s someone to ask to lead this new Ku Klux Klan group and to go politic up North for the preservation of white supremacy.
So, he was a slave owning slave trader? That was perfectly legal and made him wealthy. So, he was a white supremacist? That makes him one among many. So, he used violence against blacks and whites? Not at all extraordinary for the times and was effectively legal. He was like a poor man’s George Washington during his day.
Although hard it’s quite possible to mentally segregate Forrest’s white supremacist life from his achievements as a man. We do this with Washington and Jefferson, and some people do it with Forrest.
Kevin Levin Feb 6, 2013 @ 8:55
You can certainly make that argument, though it doesn’t come off as a very strong statement in support of the kind of lionization that Forrest has enjoyed. In the end it doesn’t really matter what I think. This is a matter for the people of Memphis to decide. I’ve said it before, but what I value is the fact that we now live at a time where the entire community can voice their concern through their local elected officials if they so choose.
That certainly was not the case when the Forrest monument was first dedicated. One wonders what our commemorative landscapes might look like if they had not been shaped at a time when many people were disfranchised.
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Next post: Update on Nathan Bedford Forrest Park Controversy
Previous post: The View From Virginia in 1861
Copyright (c) 2005-2019 by Kevin M. Levin. All rights reserved. Please do not reprint original material from this blog without permission.
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Death in a Serene City by Edward Skelopwich
Edward Sklepowich's detective is amateur sleuth and longtime Venice resident Urbino MacIntyre. MacIntyre is an ex-pat from the States and an author of biographies of Italophiles who have lived in Venice. His partners in sleuthing are an Italian Countess and Venice, both beautiful and glorious. There are 9 books in the series.
Here is the last line of the book:
Urbino laughed. The Contessa, as usual when it came to things Venetian, was probably right.
The book description for Death in a Serene City, published in 1990, reads:
Death in a Serene City is a wonderfully sophisticated and witty murder mystery set in Venice, with its canals, exotic architecture, spectacular art, and echoes of Ruskin, Diaghilev, Sargent and Henry James. With a cast of characters that includes mast makers, glassblowers, priests and nuns, aristocrats, washerwomen, celebrated novelists, and hunchbacks, here is a debut that will surely establish its author, Edward Sklepowich, as one of the brightest new talents among suspense novelist.
"It all begins when scandal rocks the city of Venice: the 1,100-year-old body of little Santa Teodora is stolen from the parish church of San Gabriele and a devout washerwoman is found murdered at the foot of the smashed crystal reliquary....
Mr. Sklepowich is a solid writer who leaves no loose ends, and who writes in the style of the classic mystery writers. His books are not police procedurals, but are the classic three act mysteries, with the murder happening at the end of Act I, after we've met all the potential suspects. Lengthy ruminations on facts uncovered fill Act II. And the killer is revealed at the end of Act III, followed by an Epilogue that wraps up all the loose ends.
The author peppers his books with literary and historical references that will stimulate readers, who have similar interests, to rush to references and to read books, to flesh out the backdrop of the mystery series stories. The extra research is not necessary to enjoy the stories, but it just an extra level of intellectual entertainment provided by the erudite author.
The books in the series are:
Death in a Serene City
Farewell to the Flesh
Liquid Desires
Black Bridge
Death in the Palazzo
Deadly to the Sight
The Last Gondola
Frail Barrier
The Veils of Venice
I have read all but the last book in the series. I must say, I enjoyed the first 7 books more than number 8 and 9.
The author was inspired by the iconic American novelist Henry James. Jamesian motifs, allusions and direct references dot all the books in the series. Mr. Sklepowich's first proposal for the series was to have Henry James as the sleuth. I imagine the Contessa character might have been originally intended as Mrs. Arthur (Katherine) Bronson, a famous ex-pat society hostess and philanthropist who lived in Venice for twenty years, had a Grand Canal villa, and who was a close, platonic friend of Henry James.
Mr. Sklepowich departs from the Henry James model during the course of the Urbino MacIntyre series. But there are plenty of Jamesian references to Urbino as a "monk" who retreats to his Venetian palace as if it were a "cell", and to Urbino's good manners, kindness, modesty, need for privacy and personal freedom, and his reticence about his sexual life, all reminiscent of Henry James.
Urbino's sexuality is downplayed and never spoken of directly. Only subtle allusions are made to or about it. In fact, Urbino is said to approve of lies, presumably about private things such as sexuality, in this imperfect world of ours, because the truth might cause too much damage to the innocent. I found that it added an extra, interesting level to the books.
This is my favorite mystery series set in Venice. I enjoyed the classic-traditional cozy style, the quality writing, the depth of character, and that the author left much to the reader to interpret, rather than spelling everything out in the modern fashion. Classic is the word that comes to mind for the Urbino MacIntyre series.
The books have been re-released as Kindle e-books available via Amazon.com. Here are all the books in the series at Amazon:
You will find many second-hand hardcopies. I suggest the on-line, second-hand bookstore Better World Books, which offers free delivery worldwide.
Direct Link to Edward Skleopwich's books at BWB
Labels: Amateur Detective, Cozy, Hyphenated Italian, Male Protagonist, Mystery, Series, Venice
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ITA On-Serve With Molly Fletcher
> ITA Tennis Homepage > About ITA > News > ITA On-Serve With Molly Fletcher
Molly Fletcher, the founder and CEO of The Molly Fletcher Company, delivered a captivating keynote address last month to attendees of the 2015 ITA Coaches Convention. Fletcher, who played college tennis at Michigan State, has been hailed as the “female Jerry Maguire” by CNN as she recruited and represented hundreds of sport’s biggest names as a sports agent.
Below is a conversation with Fletcher and ITA Director of Communications, Dan Johnson, that took place at the Naples Grande Resort during the ITA Convention. To find out more about The Molly Fletcher Company and Molly herself, visit www.MollyFletcher.com.
Question: What was the message you wanted to get across to the coaches at the 2015 ITA Coaches Convention?
Answer: Well one, I want to thank them for what they do for tennis and for kids, and the opportunity for kids to be college athletes. College tennis changed my life forever, and so I’m thankful for them and I appreciate it. Two, I want to talk about what I saw in the best athletes and coaches that I worked with; what did they do differently than everyone else, what they did better, what can we learn from them?
At the same time, as an agent I recruited a lot of athletes, probably signed about 300 over 20 years, and so, these are coaches that wake up every day trying to get kids to play for them, so what are the kinds of things that I saw work in that capacity? The message is a little bit about being your best self, as well as how do (coaches) recruit and get in front of the people that we want to connect with.
Q: If a coach signs up for one of your online courses at MollyFletcher.com, do you feel that they will be able to take those lessons and impart them on their student-athletes?
A: Absolutely. I believe we can make some change in a 40-minute Keynote Address, but change takes time. Getting better takes consistent and intentional behaviors that allow you to make a shift in your life. That was the reason behind my online courses; how do I take a platform from a Keynote, and extend it on after for the people in the room that said ‘you know, I liked what she said and I need more of that.’ Go sign up for the courses and allow them to keep driving your improvement.
Q: You were in the sports agency field for a long time. What prompted you to make the career change and head in the direction you are now?
A: When you pull back and think about why you do what you do, for me, it was really about connecting with people in a really short period of time and allowing them to capitalize on a window of time they have in their lives. Athletes do what they do for five, 10 years tops, right? These guys and gals make in two to five years what we all make in 40 years. What I loved about that space was connecting and capitalizing in a short window of time. What I realized is that speaking and coaching is so much of that. I realized that the why around why I was an agent and why around why I want to present now is the same. It’s connecting with people in a short period of time and helping people in a short window of time take that content and information and capitalize, so that they can get even better.
When you write books (Fletcher has authored three; A Winner’s Guide to Negotiating: How Conversation Deals Get Done; The Business of Being the Best and The 5 Best Tools to Find Your Dream Career) people start asking you to speak and what I began to realize, I enjoyed it a bit more than I did the 24/7 mindset of the representation space.
Q: The decision to go into the sports agency business was groundbreaking at the time you did it. What was the biggest obstacle for you when you entered that field?
A: A lot of people would think it was being a woman. You’re a woman in a male-dominated field and trying to recruit athletes that are all guys, what is that like? But I actually took those moments and shifted them into a positive. For example, I’d be the only female on (golf) range; there were no women on a PGA Tour range, there just weren’t. People would come up to my players and ask them why their wife was standing behind their bag at the Masters.
What I began to realize is there was an opportunity being different that was helpful for me, from the standpoint of guys remembered me, and others players liked, I think, that I could connect with their wives and if they were worried about something, like if their husband had been traded, they could call me and was right there beside the wife as much as I was the athlete. In a way, we shifted the industry to focusing more on the entire family and not just an athlete, and being full-service and relationship centric. Being a woman at times was challenging, but overall I think you can shift it into being an awesome thing.
Q: Were there times from your experiences as a student-athlete at Michigan State that helped you prepare for the careers that you had?
A: Being a student-athlete was a remarkable gift. I’ve never stood on the mound in a Game 7 of the World Series like John Smoltz has, but I did have to be the last girl on the court and if I won, we won the match, so there were experiences like that were I could relate to the athletes. I could relate to what it felt like to have to execute, to have to recover from adversity and evolving. In some regards, it also gave me some credibility, even though I wasn’t a professional tennis player or even close to it, it did allow me to connect with the guys.
Q: There are many examples of former college tennis players that have gone on to accomplish great things in their respective profession. What is it about tennis players that maybe grooms them to be leaders of men and women as they go into the field of business?
A: I think the data is remarkable surrounding tennis; I think the stats are 76 percent of women that played tennis are in the c-suite, so I think there’s something to it. Number one, the overall fact of being a student-athlete, where you learn discipline, sacrifice, recovery, failure and all those things. Just being a student-athlete in itself is powerful. Tennis, for me it’s an individual sport, and certainly when you’re a leader of a large organization, you’ve got to be a team-minded guy or gal, so that’s probably in some regards what college athletics teaches a tennis player.
A young kid comes up through tennis and competes as an individual and the first time they’ve ever been a part of a team was at the college level, so that’s a beautiful combination; they know how to push it and be the only guy or gal and it all lands on them, which is what it is as a business-owner or as a leader. At the end of the day, yes you’re a part of a team, but you’re the guy or gal and have to execute or else the ship doesn’t sail. The opportunity to be a student-athlete is profound, but I think tennis has a nice mix in what it gives people.
Q: Growing up, what was it about tennis that attracted you to the sport?
A: I started playing when I was 13, which is pretty late, especially today. I was playing basketball, swimming and tennis, and my freshman year of high school, I made the varsity tennis team. I thought maybe there was something there and started playing more, and just loved it. I think I loved the competitive part of it, the ability to be in control of how good I could get and I loved just practicing, standing on a baseline and knocking 50 serves in. I loved that and I’ve loved the sport certainly more than any other sport I’ve experienced.
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A Matter of Record: The Commonwealth vs. Richard Charles Haefner
Derek J. Sherwood
Review by Robert A. Waters
Derek J. Sherwood is the author of the successful true crime book, Who Killed Betsy?: Uncovering Penn State University's Most Notorious Unsolved Crime. Like that book, A Matter of Record is meticulously researched and written in a readable and dramatic style. Richard Haefner, who had a Ph.D. in Geology from Penn State University, was later fingered as the probable killer of Betsy Aardsma, but never charged.
Haefner, a former professor at several universities, bounced from job to job. Everywhere he worked, valuable rocks would disappear. Eventually, he drifted back home and worked in his family's rock shop which had a large contract to provide samples to the Smithsonian Institute. Haefner, a genius when it came to identifying rock specimens, even identified a once-undiscovered stone. He was known to be socially awkward, vindictive toward perceived enemies, and had a history of abusing women.
While still a doctoral student, Haefner was questioned by police about the stabbing death of Aardsma in Penn State's Pattee Library, but was never considered a suspect.
The family's rock shop hired young teenaged boys to help collect rocks. When two young teens accused Haefner of molesting them, he was hauled to the police station and interrogated for five hours. Although he admitted nothing, and the young men could offer no tangible proof that the sexual encounters had occurred, Haefner was arrested and brought to trial.
A Matter of Record describes this case, which, according to the author, "had set a precedent in [Pennsylvania] law and after I uncovered the related items mentioned in the book, I was able to write a story about police incompetence, prosecutorial misconduct, judicial prejudice, and the ultimate vindication of a man who should have gone to jail, but didn't."
Sherwood located thousands of file documents related to the case, including formerly expunged transcripts of the trial. Haefner filed a complaint against the Lancaster Police Department alleging civil rights violations for their treatment of him, and Sherwood found these documents as well. Along with interviews with many of the participants, A Matter of Record is well-researched.
The book is at once the record of a major criminal trial, an exploration of local history, and the continued documentation of Richard Haefner's sordid past. It should be added to your true crime book collection.
Who Murdered the California Schoolgirls?
Karen Lynn Tomkins
More than 50 years later, the cases are unsolved…
On July 3, 1962, eleven-year-old Dorothy Gale Brown (called Gale) was reported missing from Torrance, California. Her bicycle lay on the sidewalk a block from her home, but the girl was nowhere to be found.
Police immediately suspected she’d been kidnapped because of a previous abduction. Karen Lynn Tompkins, also 11, had disappeared from almost the exact same spot a year before. Karen’s case was still unsolved.
A massive search for Gale turned up nothing until July 6 when the Torrance Herald reported that “the nude body of the girl was discovered by skin divers near Corona del Mar about noon Wednesday. It was floating in a kelp bed about 150 yards off shore.”
The article continued, “About an hour and a half before the body was discovered, the 12-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Shanklin, Long Beach, found the girl’s white dress stuffed in a beer can in the water at Tin Can Beach. The dress was taken home and laundered by Mrs. Shanklin, who said she knew nothing about Gale’s disappearance at the time. After reading about the disappearance in the newspapers, Mrs. Shanklin turned the dress over to police. Mr. and Mrs. Brown identified it here Friday morning. A pink plastic hair band was discovered later. It was also in a beer can near Tin Can Beach. Police have questioned several known sex offend- ers in the area…”
The coroner stated that Gale had been in the water for six to eight hours, and that she’d drowned.
Gale’s parents, William and Charlene Brown, were so distraught that they offered to give their daughter’s clothes to a needy child. Gale was buried, but not before the pastor prayed for her killer to be caught and “punished as he ought to be.”
In the first two years after Gale’s murder, the Torrance Police Department interviewed thousands of people. All known sex offenders in the area were grilled—several were given lie detector tests and “truth serum.” All were eliminated as suspects.
Karen Lynn Tomkins was never found, and is still missing today. Dorothy Gale Brown’s murder remains unsolved.
A child-rapist and serial killer named Mack Ray Edwards roamed California in the 1950s and 1960s raping and murdering children. He confessed to killing six children and was convicted of the murders of Stella Darlene Nolan, 8, Gary Rochet, 16, and Donald Allen Todd, 13.
Edwards also confessed to killing Donald Lee Baker, 15, and Brenda Jo Howell, 12, who were kidnapped from Azusa in 1956. He was not charged because their bodies were never found. He claimed to have killed one other victim, fifteen-year-old Roger Dale Madison.
Did Edwards also murder Dorothy Gale Brown and Karen Lynn Tomkins? Police suspected as much, but were never able to prove a connection.
Sentenced to death, Edwards hung himself in San Quentin Prison in 1971.
His many sordid secrets were buried with him.
Posted by Robert A. Waters at 12:38 PM 1 comment:
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National Security Advisor John Bolton at the White House on Aug. 2 2018
Kim and Trump promised to work to end North Korea's weapons programs at their summit in Singapore, but the two countries have been struggling to reach a detailed accord to meet that goal.
The US remains cautious as it wants to see progress in denuclearization talks first.
"However, the US responded to our expectation by inciting worldwide sanctions and pressure against the DPRK", it said in a statement carried by KCNA news agency. "As long as the U.S. denies even the basic decorum for its dialogue partner and clings to the outdated acting script which the previous administrations have all tried and failed, one can not expect any progress in the implementation of the DPRK-U.S. joint statement including the denuclearization", it said.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment. North Korea also accused unidentified high-level USA officials of "going against the intention of President Trump" by "making baseless allegations against us and making desperate attempts at intensifying the global sanctions and pressure". "It's just North Korea that has not taken the steps we feel are necessary to denuclearise", National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday in an interview on Fox News Channel. The United States has dismissed calls to ease sanctions until the North delivers on its commitments to fully denuclearize.
In late June, the Pentagon indefinitely suspended military exercises with South Korean forces on the Korean Peninsula in an effort, initiated by Trump, to support the negotiations with North Korea.
The United States was "attempting to invent a pretext for increased sanctions against the DPRK".
US officials have declined to comment on a report on the Vox news website on Wednesday saying that North Korea had repeatedly rejected a USA proposal for it to cut its nuclear arsenal by 60 to 70 per cent within six to eight months.
"This is all in North Korea's court", Haley told reporters traveling with her during a visit to Colombia.
They said it had also not agreed to definitions of the key terms of any agreement, or to any inspection of its nuclear test site, which it claims to have decommissioned, but which USA intelligence officials have said may still be operable.
Following the landmark inter-Korean summit in April, the two held a lower-key meeting in May in Panmunjom after the USA abruptly canceled its planned summit with the North - which it later pulled a U-turn on.
While the weather continues to play tricks at London , it is not all gloom and doom for the Indians. I do think that a result is still possible if the rain stays away - and that's a big if.
If you have yet to pick up a copy of the game, there's still time to pre-order the game on Amazon ahead of its release this fall. Take a look: You'll get to try all of this out for yourself when Red Dead Redemption 2 is released on October 26th.
Litman said he believed the indictment was hard to put together - "but once put together, a pretty straightforward case to prove". Numerous emails admitted into evidence Wednesday showed how Manafort personally directed wire transfers from such accounts.
Worldwide rights groups repeated calls for an end to the war and strongly condemned the bus attack and other civilian massacres. The Iran-aligned Houthis regularly fire into Saudi Arabia and have targeted its capital, Riyadh, with ballistic missiles.
Carole Radziwill confronted with targeted Facebook ads involving Bethenny
Frankel says she realizes she's come a long way since starting on RHONY , and she's committed to giving back. "Wow, I can't believe I live here".
The savings get a little better when you add two lines of Essentials , which costs $90 ($106 with the nationwide average tax). The "Un-carrier" says the T-Mobile Essentials plan is for those who "just want the basics". [T-Mobile] wants to make it easy.
Leonard, who was craving Los Angeles, reportedly was not happy to be shipped out of the country, and his letter did not address the Raptors.
None of the Best Picture winners over the last five years broke $100 million in the box office, according to Box Office Mojo . They have also set an earlier air date for their 2020 awards ceremony, telling fans to mark their calendars for February 9.
If you're interested in watching the Unpacked event, the live stream is available on Samsung's page as well as YouTube . Samsung is about to launch its highly-anticipated Galaxy Note 9 , the latest phone in its premium smartphone range.
Brad Pitt says he has given Jolie Pitt millions since split
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Wladimir Klitschko retires: Anthony Joshua rematch OFF after Ukrainian calls it quits
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Cisse: Senegal stronger for Algeria rematch
Belmadi made his debut for Algeria on 9 July 2000 against Morocco. In January 2000, Belmadi returned to Marseille, eventually securing a regular place in the first team's midfield in 2000/01. How do you see Algeria's journey in AFCON 2019? "This move by CAF speaks volumes about South African match officials - as we have always maintained that they are held in high esteem on the continent for the good work they are doing".
Portrush attendance 2nd highest in British Open history
Australian cyclist Rohan Dennis missing after abandoning Tour de France
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Altalena – Louis Arthur Norton
My given name is Natan, but my surname is not important. My adolescent years from age twelve in Poland and now at nineteen in Austria were at an end. I was repatriated from the death camp at Mauthausen, Austria, weak and emaciated. My education had been halted at the sixth grade, deprived of my adolescence with its schoolmate friendships, ball playing, a first crush and the emotion of teen-age “puppy love.” The horror of war ended for me in May 1945, but a scar from a tattoo I cut from my arm would regularly remind me of both my prisoner number and the several camps in which I was interred.
I had the good fortune to be treated in an American field hospital and was well cared for. After my partial recovery, I was astonished to see British soldiers with a golden Star of David over two vertical blue stripes as their unit insignia. They were from a unit that fought in Italy as part of the British Eighth Army and Fifteenth Army group. The Jewish Brigade members were searching for Holocaust survivors to aid and assist those who wanted to return to their former countries of origin and homes. In time they played a vital role in helping displaced Jews escape Europe for British Mandated Palestine; a task that many of its members continued after the Jewish Brigade was disbanded.
The members of the brigade had allegiances with diverse political groups in Palestine, but all had the same goal, the establishment of a Jewish state and recruitment of strong survivors to help build a Jewish homeland in Palestine. One such band recruited me to become first a sailor, then a soldier and help in the establishment of the State of Israel. That group was called Irgun Tzvai Leumi (National Military Organization) under the command of Menachem Begin. After I had sufficiently regained my health, they smuggled me into southern Italy and assigned me to engage in intelligence activity for Irgun in Rome, Italy. After only a month my small unit received orders to leave Rome for the port of Genoa. When we arrived and met our contact, we were brought to a refurbished LST (Landing Ship Tank) and told that we were to replace the crew that had sailed her across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Mediterranean. The plan was to use the vessel to transport weapons and people to Israel. Not only was I finally to get to Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel) myself, but I was going to help others to get there as well.
LSTs were special logistical-transport warships used by the American navy in WWII. Relatively slow, ugly and ungainly, these 342-foot vessels transported tanks, large wheeled vehicles and troops mostly for amphibious invasions during World War II. They were designed to unload their cargo under enemy fire directly onto a beach and proved vital during the Normandy and Sicily invasions. LSTs had two huge steel doors at the bows that could be opened to unload the tanks that drove over a heavy steel ramp that was lowered onto a beach. The ship’s bottom was flat out of necessity, so that the vessel could run aground onto a beach to discharge the mechanized heavy equipment it carried. Unfortunately this feature allowed an LST to easily pitch and roll when underway at sea making them efficient seasickness generators for the crew and/or passengers.
After the World War II the United States Navy mostly decommissioned the LSTs or sold some for scrap. The Irgun purchased the decommissioned rusting LST USS 138. All her guns and other military installations had been removed; the steel bow doors were welded shut, all related mechanism disabled and most of her mechanical equipment was in need of repair. The ship was refurbished and registered in Panama as the cargo ship Altalena, a pseudonym of the Zionist leader Zèev Jabotinsky.
The Mariner
A skeleton crew of mostly non-Jewish sailors was hired to man the vessel and disguise its true purpose and ownership. In January 1948 the Altalena left Norfolk, Virginia bound for Genoa, Italy, its mission a secret. The Jewish crew took over LST once she made port in Italy. The plan was to use the Altalena to transport weapons and people to the hoped-for the new State of Israel. For a young man full of patriotic zeal, an emotion that had been missing in my life, this was exciting!
Each member of the Altalena‘s crew was given an English nickname because the Irgun did not want anybody in Genoa to know that we were Jews. Instead of being called Natan, my given name, I became Mike. And so the Altalena became my home for 158 days. We pretended that the Altalena was just another Panamanian cargo ship visiting and revisiting Mediterranean and North African ports hauling all kinds of cargo mostly between Marseilles, France and into the Atlantic to Casablanca, Morocco. My personal reward was experiencing some of the exotic life that these shores provided, something of which I had been deprived during my years in the concentration camps.
Like all seagoing iron vessels, the decommissioned navy ship easily rusted. As one of the deckhands, I chipped the rust away down to clean bare metal, applied a coat of a red rust-inhibiting primer, before painting it with a blue/gray marine grade oil paint. It was simple and tedious, but a trivial job that had to be done; a far less arduous task than that I faced as a slave laborer.
We had several lifeboats on board, one of which was a small landing craft itself. The captain was concerned that these small boats be in good working order because they might have to be used to land refugees on the Israeli shores. Another important job was to release the ship’s bow doors by cutting through the welding and then repair its complex opening and closing system. This had to be done at sea to avoid being observed. This suspicious activity might be reported to Arab or British forces, hostile to Jewish immigration activities.
I was assigned the dangerous job of cutting through the weld. While underway, far from land, two of my fellow crewmen lowered me over the bow in a boatswain’s chair. With an acetylene torch in my hand, I was suspended on a rope about twenty-five or thirty feet above water. I had to carefully cut through the welds using an ungainly torch. I could only do this exacting work when the sea was calm, precariously hanging and sometimes swinging above the ocean. During many hour-long sessions over several days, I succeeded in severing all the welds. In order to operate the huge doors, the defunct electric motors had to be refurbished. A shipmate nicknamed Augie had been an electrical engineer. He relished the challenge of figuring out how to reconnect wires and switches. After working on the problem for several days Augie linked the motors to the ship’s electrical system, pushed a button and the bow doors rotated open. We all cheered.
Among my duties as a crewman I stood watch in the crow’s nest, a small platform on the tallest mast. Once there I scoured the horizon with binoculars and reported the position of any ship or potential problem spotted to the bridge below. Occasionally a fierce windstorm churned up the Mediterranean Sea causing series of waves to lift the grunting ship and then violently dropped the vessel with a resounding bang. The Altalena became an oversized diver executing repeated huge belly flops. During these storms I tied myself to a rail to prevent the wind or waves from sweeping me off my precarious perch, an unforgettable feeling of utter helplessness before the power of nature.
We now prepared the ship for its intended mission. Although we acted like we were a Panamanian cargo ship, we anxiously awaited instructions to sail east to Israel that was being attacked by five Arab armies. The nascent state needed all the help it could get. The military order from the Irgun headquarters finally came. We set sail to Port-de-Bouc, France to pick up over 900 Holocaust survivors from assorted displaced persons camps, all desperately wanting to immigrate to Israel. Our secondary purpose was to transport a load of weapons, ammunition and other military supplies for Israel’s War of Independence.
While in Port-de-Bouc we guarded our ship closely. Anyone approaching the Altalena, whether from land or water, was viewed with apprehension. I had the early morning watch when a convoy of heavily loaded French military trucks approached the ship at dawn delivering the military cargo. For me this was an exhilarating sight. Longshoremen started unloading the trucks and moving the cargo into the ship’s hold. Then they quit. Most of the dockworkers were Arabs from Morocco and Algiers and they had discovered the ship’s ownership and its likely destination. The Jewish crew was now forced to take on the job of loading of the ship, but in a reasonable amount of time it was completed. Shortly thereafter trucks loaded with refugees started arriving and these passengers quickly came onboard. On the next high tide, a French tugboat guided us out of the port and we left for Israel. It was Friday, 11 June 1948.
Swimming to the Promised Land
The passage to the ancient Levant might be precarious. Our captain, Monroe Fine, was concerned that the British Navy might intercept us or the Arabs might attack us from the air so he set additional watches. Also to counter this threat, we sailed a zigzag course for nine days, thus slowing our approach to Israel. I was on lookout and the first onboard to see the Israeli coast. I yelled into the voice tube to the bridge below, “Land ahead at one o’clock.” It was Saturday, 19 June 1948.
We made a slow approach and stopped some distance west of the shore. We did not know exactly where we were. Waiting until evening, we lowered our small landing boat. An older more experienced crewman and I were selected to take the boat to shore along with an Irgun ranking official. A dim red light on dark shore guided us. When we got closer I spotted a man swimming in the sea. I asked him in Hebrew, “Where are we here?” In the typical, brash Israeli manner, he replied, “What do you mean where you are? You are at the Redding power plant.” We now knew that the ship’s position was near Tel Aviv’s power plant and we radioed the captain that information. We landed the Irgun operative on a beach and returned to our darkened ship.
The Altalena slowly cruised well offshore and, hopefully, out of sight. The next evening we moved north towards Kfar Vitkin. The Altalena, along with the Irgun’s military commander Eliahu Lankin, reached the beach off Kfar Vitkin on 20 June 1948. There we off loaded most of our passengers sending them to shore. Towards late morning we set a southerly course toward Tel-Aviv. Something was wrong. An Israeli ship suddenly appeared over the horizon and started to shadow us.
The Altalena arrived at a beach across from north Tel-Aviv’s Frishman Street. Two of our small boats loaded with men headed toward shore under a white flag. Viewing the ship as a challenge to its authority, the newly formed defense forces of Israel, the Tzahal, fired upon the Altalena. A warship, Israel’s only corvette, fired a machine-gun at us from the sea and artillery fire came at us from shore. A heavyset Altalena crewman named Sam who was standing nearby suffered a wound in the knee. I tended to him the best I could by placing a tourniquet above the wound, but I was unable to move him safely below deck. The bullets were now whistled at us from several directions, many of them pinging off the ship’s bulkhead. The captain gave an order to haul in the stern anchor (a kedge) and, in turn, pull the vessel stern-first off the beach back to open sea. We moved only a short distance then stopped abruptly with a shudder. The Altalena had grounded on the sunken wreckage of another ship. Suddenly, an artillery shell struck the ship, causing an explosion. Thick black smoke rose from an open cargo hatch. The Altalena was on fire. Captain Fine reluctantly gave the order to abandon ship.
I stripped to just my trousers and a life jacket, but kept my big hunting knife, a souvenir of the episode that I still have to this day. Bullets continued whizzing around me. I jumped off the stern to have the ship between the shooters on land and me. I swam away from the now exploding and burning ship. Israeli machinegun bullets shattered the placid surface seawater around me with a popping sound. The projectile entry-points produced small orange and black geysers reflecting the light from the blazing ship I had just abandoned. First I headed away from the shore into the open sea to the west then I slowly turned towards the beach. The orange life jacket hampered my swimming and presented a potential target, so I discarded it. I swam for approximately four or five hours until dusk. At about this time I spotted a large pipeline coming from the land into the sea. It was the North Tel Aviv sewer line. I swam behind it and reached the beach, completely exhausted. Exhausted, I dragged my body onto a sandy beach, the shore of my ancestral “Promised Land.” At that moment, it did not seem very promising. Luckily two strangers picked me up and reunited me with some of the surviving crew. It was Tuesday, 22 June 1948.
Conflicting Politics
I later learned why we received such a hostile reception. There was a convoluted and complex struggle between several novo-Israeli political factions grappling for power. Several parties were discussing the political makeup of Israel’s nascent Defense Force. David Ben-Gurion was the leader of more conventional forces like the Haganah (Hebrew for defense) and Menachem Begin was a commander of the militant guerrilla-like Irgun. Begin had demanded that 20% of all arms onboard the Altalena would be retained by Irgun forces to be used in its attempt to take military control of Jerusalem. The negotiations subsequently broke down between Ben-Gurion and Begin. Ben-Gurion delivered an ultimatum to Begin stating that the Altalena would be attacked if the Irgun did not relinquish it cargo to Ben-Gurion’s Israel Defense Forces. When Began refused, artillery and small arms fire erupted from both the shore and sea. The Altalena was stranded roughly one hundred meters from the beach when an explosion ripped through the ship igniting a devastating fire. The human cost was sixteen Irgun men and three Israel Defense Force soldiers killed. Dozens more were wounded. After the sinking of the Altalena, approximately 200 Irgun fighters were arrested, but were soon released due to public pressure. The Altalena incident had great partisan costs involving some of Israel’s most renowned early political figures and resulting in animosity that festered in the nation for many years.
Narrator’s note:
This is a complex true story; my friend requested that this memoir be quasi-anonymous, evocative of the stories of many Holocaust survivors who eventually made it to the “Promised Land.” This ex-slave laborer, Israeli soldier, and blue-collar mechanic and welder became a scholarly mechanical engineer. His greatest sources of pride, however, were his wife, children and grandchildren as well as his many friends. Sadly, Natan’s stout heart gave out a little over a year ago and he died peacefully. –Louis Arthur Norton
Louis Arthur Norton, a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, has published extensively in both the scientific and maritime history literature. His books having to do with maritime history include “Joshua Barney: Hero of the Revolutionary War, Captains Contentious: The Dysfunctional Sons of the Brine” (finalist, 2011 Eric Hoffer book award) and a children’s book “New England’s Stormalong.” Dr. Norton received Mystic Seaport Museum’s LOG’s 2002 and 2006 Gerald E. Morris Prize for maritime historiography and three Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association’s awards for fiction and non-fiction writing.
2 thoughts on “Altalena – Louis Arthur Norton”
Lou Norton November 28, 2016 at 5:38 pm
I am pleased to communicate with you and hopefully answer any questions that you might have concerning my article and late friend.
harvey blumenthal November 1, 2016 at 5:43 pm
please send me e-mail of Louis Arthur Norton.
My own memoir, “Rose Returns to Brooklyn,” was published in JLJ last year.
Harvey Blumenthal
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learning together: the universal commons of humanity
EVENTS PRESENT & PAST
education in the public interest
Category Archives: Green Money Journal
R I C H A R D . L O U V The Coming Wave of Natural Education Reform
January 15, 2009 Green Money JournalJoan Jaeckel
Reprinted from GREEN MONEY JOURNAL winter/08/09
Many of us are no longer willing to allow the growth of what, in Last Child in the Woods, I dubbed “nature-deficit disorder” – the psychological, physical and cognitive costs of human alienation from nature. During the past couple years, as I’ve spoken on this issue in the United States and other countries, I’ve been moved by the number of college students who come up to tell me that they’ve decided to change their career choice, that they’re now committed to bringing nature to the lives children (and adults) – including in education.
Environmental educators and others have worked for decades to reintroduce children to nature. But in recent years, too many school districts have turned inward, building windowless schools, banishing live animals from classrooms, and even dropping recess and field trips. But we are beginning to see progress. There have been a number of recent successes in the United States and elsewhere that may point to a cultural shift, reflecting a rapidly expanding grassroots children and nature movement – which has changed the tone of the public conversation.
The nonprofit Children & Nature Network ( http://www.cnaturenet.org ), for which I now serve as chairman, has tracked and encouraged more than fifty regional campaigns that are helping reintroduce children to nature. These campaigns, often focused on children’s health, will offer added power to a nascent, overdue movement for what might be called natural school reform. Bucking the status quo, an increasing number of educators are committed to an approach that infuses education with direct experience, especially in nature – one that redefines the classroom.
On September 18, the U.S. House of Representatives took a step in that direction, by voting to approve the No Child Left Inside Act of 2008. Approved by a bi-partisan vote of 293 to 109, the bill would require K-12 school systems to build environmental literacy, strengthen teacher training and provide federal grants to help schools pay for outdoor education. In coming months and years (whether or not the Senate version of the bill is approved) educators will be encouraged to return nature to the classroom – but the key to success will be if sufficient support comes to educators who take students beyond the classroom, into the rich environments of nearby nature: parks, farms, the woods and creeks and canyons adjacent to schools.
This approach to education is not new, and the definitions and nomenclature of this educational movement are tricky. In recent decades, the approach has gone by many names: community-oriented schooling, bioregional education, experiential education and, most recently, place-based or environment-based education. The basic idea is to use the surrounding community, including nature, as the preferred classroom. When it comes to reading skills, “the Holy Grail of education reform,” says researcher and educator David Sobel, place-based or environment-based education should be considered “one of the knights in shining armor.” Students in these programs typically outperform their peers in traditional classrooms. Sponsored by many state departments of education, a 1998 study documented the enhanced school achievement of youth who experience school curricula in which the environment is the principal organizer.
More recently, factoring out other variables, studies of students in California and nationwide showed that schools that used outdoor classrooms and other forms of nature-based experiential education were associated with significant student gains in social studies, science, language arts, and math. One recent study found that students in outdoor science programs improved their science testing scores by 27 percent.
A nature-balanced life reduces many barriers to education, including stress and attention deficit. Researchers at the University of Illinois have shown that the greener a child’s everyday environment, the more manageable their symptoms of attention-deficit disorder. Teachers could also benefit from natural education reform. Canadian researchers found that teachers expressed renewed enthusiasm for teaching when they had time outdoors. In an era of increased teacher burnout, the impact of green schools and outdoor education on teachers should not be underestimated.
One exciting development is the increasing popularity of nature preschools, where children learn to track wildlife even as they learn to read. Design approaches are central to the movement. “Natural spaces and materials stimulate children’s limitless imaginations and serve as the medium of inventiveness and creativity,” says Robin Moore, an international authority on natural school design, who heads the Natural Learning Initiative. New schools must be designed with nature in mind, and old schools can be refitted with playscapes that incorporate nature into the central design principle. Another approach is the use of nature preserves by environment-based schools, or the inclusion of established farms and ranches as part of these “new schoolyards.” Norway’s departments of Education and Agriculture support partnerships between educators and farmers to revamp school curriculum and to provide more direct outdoor experience and participation in practical tasks.
Ultimately, K-12 education cannot be transformed without reforming higher education – which sets many of the standards and expectations for primary and secondary education. In higher education, greater public knowledge about the generational nature gap should educate policy-makers to require universities to teach the fundamentals of natural history, which have been displaced in recent decades, especially at research universities, by a patent-or-perish emphasis on microbiology and genetic engineering. Higher education can also more consciously engage students as researchers on topics involving the relationship between children and nature, and the opportunities that will emerge as nature takes a more central role in people’s lives.
In coming decades, environmental challenges will require fundamental changes in our lives and institutions, including the reintroduction of nature to the classroom and the young to the natural world.
Article by Richard Louv, Writer
Richard Louv is chairman of the Children & Nature Network and the author of seven books, including his most recent, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder” (Algonquin). He is the recipient of the 2008 Audubon Medal, and has served as an adviser to the Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World award program, is a member of the Citistates Group, appears often on national radio and television programs, and speaks frequently in the United States and overseas.
Useful links for this article include:
o The Children & Nature network: http://www.childrenandnature.org
o Related research and studies: http://www.childrenandnature.org/research/Intro
o Toronto Star report on homework loads and play: http://www.childrenandnature.org/news/detail/canadian_report_advocates_less_home…
o New York Times article: Why are Schools Designed Like Prisons? http://www.childrenandnature.org/news/detail/why_are_schools_designed_like_priso…
o Finland education system: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4033593.stm
o Track No Child Left Inside Act: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3036
* Natural Learning Initiative: http://www.naturalearning.org/aboutus/rmoore.htm
E L I Z A B E T H . G O O D E N O U G H Secret Spaces of Childhood and the Pedagogy of Place
Reprinted from GREEN MONEY JOURNAL winter08/09
There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.
– Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory (1940)
If you drive around cities and suburbs in the U.S., you will notice that children no longer play much outside. As you observe streets devoid of children, your first assumption may be that they are at school or at parks competing in team sports. Gradually it dawns on you that as more green space is paved over, as inner cities are further neglected, as fear of strangers intensifies, children are relegated to worlds without sidewalks or main streets connecting them to a wider community of neighbors. At this point you ask, “Where do the children play?”
In the last 30 years the range of independent mobility for North American 12-year-olds has shriveled from one mile to 550 yards. Children have less privacy, yet paradoxically, more access to media. Current statistics indicate more hours are spent watching screens than attending school. Should we worry that growing up minimally engaged with plants and animals might prove dangerous to nature itself?
The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre’s report on the well being of children indicated that of 21 wealthy nations in 2007, the United States was rated at the bottom of the list and came in last or next to last on three of six criteria–health and safety, behaviors and risks, and family and peer relationships. These statistics suggest that childhood itself is increasingly under fire as a worldwide demographic, cultural invention, and
social institution. Grim as the figures are, they only hint at the reality of growing up in a society disrupted by violence, driven by competition, and divorced from nature. As Brian Sutton-Smith, play specialist, has put it, “the opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression.”
How educators use and create spaces for children determines how the next generation experiences reality. Yet, in a world of high stakes testing, we may be losing not just recess but also those psychic locales where imagination and confidence can grow. That’s why we need collaborative pedagogies to look at where children and adults learn most enjoyably. Certainly practices of self-discovery where learning and play meld deserve to be treated with as much care by educators and families as the cultivation of literacy and mastery of math. Yet we know little, it seems, about the vitality recreation draws from sites of natural beauty.
Starting as a question about how the young process their own ecology, Secret Spaces of Childhood developed in 1998 at the University of Michigan as an investigation of cultural memory. Campus-community partnerships, coordinated by Residential College students, grew from our study of children’s literature. Curious about the power of fantasies like “Crusoe’s Island” or the “Secret Garden” to shape our core identities, I wondered how children’s stories change over time, and how images like Hogwarts or Tarbeach fashion feelings within society.
A two-day conference enabled a thousand children to celebrate Nichols Arboretum with performances and story telling. At the Residential College, architects, children’s authors, educators, storytellers, and artists discussed issues of environmental justice and the need to preserve sanctuaries for free play. Walls displayed illustrations from children’s books. Participants shared a sense of having been profoundly shaped by hideouts of their own making. Even the sole public zone in the exhibition, Gerald McDermott’s charcoal drawing of a medieval winding stone staircase at the Detroit Institute of Arts, conjured a “pathway to the infinite”: “We all have secret spaces…where we separate ourselves from the rest of the world, and incubate. We imagine ourselves into existence.”
Recently The Poetry of Everyday Life has provided me tools to plan and even document community-engaged scholarship, observing how and where children make their own structures, whether in shelter building, collage, poetry, or drawing. Seminar participants seek to understand the role of children’s voices in public and city life; to develop teaching, collaboration and leadership skills in school settings; to experience poetry as an imaginative response to local geography such as the Huron River watershed. Partnering with local children and their teachers, we embark on field trips, journal, write poems and make art about place-making, organize a poetry reading, and mount an exhibition at the Ann Arbor Public Library.
Some explore the role of forts; others photograph and map schoolyards, theme parks, and designated “kid spaces” as these reflect class backgrounds and assumptions about the nature and needs of elementary school children. Or they examine and compare specialized curricula related to local organizations like Retired Police Horse Adoption, The Greening of Detroit, and Hands On Museum. Some document contested land use or a problem that prevents playing in the neighborhood (application of pesticide, recent crime, lack of access).
The project produced mini-documentaries about children’s “places of special meaning” and how “ordinary” spaces often inspire stories. It filmed children’s author Christopher Paul Curtis (The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963) in his hometown Flint speaking with schoolchildren about their experiences of play and place. Such sharing can help us look around and find common ground with others. Some of these children helped inspire Where Do the Children Play? airing on American Public Television through 2010 (http://www.michigantelevision.org/childrenplay ). As William Cronon puts it, “To protect the nature that is all around us, we must think long and hard about the nature we carry inside our heads.”
Article by Elizabeth Goodenough, Scholar and Activist in Children’s Studies
Dr. Elizabeth Goodenough of the University of Michigan helped produce “Where Do the Children Play?” a project that encompasses an award-winning PBS documentary written and directed by award-winning filmmakers Christopher Cook and Mark Harris for Michigan Television, a three-volume anthology, and an outreach campaign to promote outdoor play via community conversations throughout the U.S. Located at the Ginsberg Center in Ann Arbor, WDCP? builds partnerships with organizations such as the Alliance for Childhood, the National Wildlife Federation, and Children & Nature Network. In addition to A Place for Play: A Companion Volume to WDCP?, Goodenough’s books include Infant Tongues (1994), Secret Spaces of Childhood (2003), and Under Fire: Childhood in the Shadow of War (2008).
More information at http://www.wfum.org/childrenplay/index.html
O C E A N . R O B B I N S Education in the 21st Century
I don’t know about you, but I’ve met students whose eyes are lit and whose spirits are aflame with meaning and purpose. And I’ve met others who seemed mired in an almost pathological level of boredom and cynicism. What are the dynamics at work that lead some to thrive, and others barely to survive? What can be done to nurture the potential in the next generation?
Is it possible that, like a walnut carries within it the DNA it needs to grow into a magnificent tree, we all have within us a particular calling? If we were to contemplate the role of education as being to “educe”, or to bring forth, the wisdom, the courage, the creativity and the brilliance that are within each child, then how might that inform our way of thinking about it? Are there ways that conventional education sees kids as needing to be shaped and stuffed with cookie-cutter information so that someday they can be people? What if we could recognize children as little people, whole and complete in who they are, and needing the right soil, the right sunshine, the right loving attention, to help them manifest their particular gifts?
I grew up with pretty loving soil. My parents were committed to nurturing my gifts and helping me to believe in myself. Twice, our family moved specifically to be near to a particular school that my parents wanted me to be able to attend. Then, when I was ten, I became a home-schooler. Believing with Mark Twain that “you can’t let school interfere with your education”, I got off to an early start in taking responsibility for my own learning journey. My parents supported me every step of the way, as I became an entrepreneur with the launch of my own Bakery, “Ocean’s Bakery,” selling natural organic baked goods to more than 100 neighborhood customers door-to-door. As I grew a little older, I went on to facilitate two international youth summits in Moscow at age 14, and at 16 had founded YES!, an international youth leadership organization that I continue to direct now, 18 years later.
I believe that we all have a desire, in fact a need, to contribute to the world around us. As young people grow up, they come to realize that we are facing some fairly daunting challenges in the world. Typical schooling may teach about history and current events, but it often does little to help young people feel like they can be active participants in the world around them. More often, they tend to wind up feeling like cynical and passive victims. In a world with nuclear weapons, with a resource consumption overshoot that has us on a collision course with systemic environmental collapse, and with increasing numbers of people living in desperate poverty, there is little space for the most powerful generation in the history of the world to be schooled in a culture of apathy. A change in our culture of education is not only important to the well-being of the next generation, it may be fundamental to our survival as a species.
What, then, do I suggest?
Service learning, parental engagement, cultural education, engaging older kids in helping teach younger kids (thus making their own learning come to life), expanded use of the arts and creative expression, cross-cultural exchanges (where kids from different communities visit each other and learn from each other), cultivating an environment of honesty and trust in the school culture (making use of circle sharing and other formats to encourage kids to talk about what matters to them and listen to each other with respect), on-site environmental stewardship (such as trash clean-ups, recycling programs, school gardens, etc.), conflict resolution trainings and programs, and space for kids to share about their dreams for the future. In general, kids need to spend les time listening, and more time talking. Less time absorbing, and more time creating.
As they get older, kids need space to explore issues like gender roles, race, class and power. We all inherit a legacy that includes the work and dreams, as well as the bigotry and fears, of those who have gone before us. Teens need a space to explore these dynamics for themselves, and to consider what kind of values they hold and what kind of people they want to be as they grow up. In time, cultural exchanges and even citizen diplomacy can be extraordinarily valuable.
If it takes a village to raise a child, then perhaps it takes more than schools to educate children. Perhaps it takes all of us. When we treat children with respect, they learn to respect themselves. When we set an example of living with consciousness and purpose, we help them to find their place in the world.
Article by Ocean Robbins, Youth Activist
Ocean Robbins is director of YES! – “Helping Visionary Young Leaders Build a Better World”, which he founded at age 16 in 1990. YES! has held 100+ week-long gatherings for young leaders from 65+ nations, and spoken in person to more than 650,000 people. Ocean is a 2008 recipient of the national Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service. He speaks widely at conferences and events. For more information about YES!, go to http://www.yesworld.org , and for more information about Ocean and his life and work, go to http://www.oceanrobbins.com
G A Y L E . D A V I S 12 Ways Arts-Integrated Education Grows Furure-Oriented Minds
Business sage Edward Deming observed decades ago that an education system in which 50% of the students are below average is in serious need of a paradigm shift.
His point was that though mathematically correct, such a formulation is educationally misguided. The focus on high stakes testing perpetuates this unfortunate mindset. We “teacher proof” classroom instruction with scripted teaching devoid of the ARTS at the expense of innovative, meaningful student-teacher interaction. Young seekers are in danger of being consigned to an unimaginative wasteland, devolving into parched souls ill equipped to attain the full stature of their humanity and without the capacity to imagine, invent, improvise, re-frame problems, and transcend boundaries. In an attempt to prepare children for the “real world”, we have focused on transitory facts and technology at an early age, oblivious that whole industries become obsolete overnight. Our over-emphasis on information impoverishes the very faculties and capacities that should be being cultivated in future-oriented education.
The world needs confident, creative, visionary, and altruistic individuals. I am convinced that the educational approach best able to stimulate, develop and nourish such capacities is one replete and richly permeated with the ARTS.
Twelve Essentials – the ARTS Teach Children:
1) The ARTS educate and heal senses over stimulated from television, computer games, traffic noise, i-pods, etc. We filter out the richness of the world in order to cope, damaging the ability to perceive and discriminate the subtleties of quality, yet our conceptual life is rooted in observation and the forming of relationships between perceptions, and sensory-integration is fundamental for learning.
2) The ARTS teach discipline. Practice, focus, concentration, patience, precision, fine-tuning and accepting disappointment are critical counterpoints in our attention-deficient world.
3) The ARTS promote pleasure, self-esteem and empowerment.
4) The ARTS teach us that there are not single answer solutions, but many perspectives, levels, and interpretations. Life is more ambiguous than a multiple-choice test.
5) The ARTS promote appreciation for materials – think sable paintbrushes and Stradivarius violins – and the basis for “true-value” economics to a throwaway world.
6) The ARTS teach respect for artistry, craftsmanship, creativity and ultimately “Creation”.
7) The ARTS are a unique window on history, and a common language to appreciate various peoples and cultures.
8) The ARTS give us a whole, contextual vision. Design, patterning, harmony, balance, order, proportion and coherence are principles that contribute to ecological consciousness and whole system thinking.
9) The ARTS speak a language of the heart, reverse spectator consciousness and demand involvement. Passionate love for a subject leads to insight.
10) The ARTS are hygienic, bringing healing and harmony to our lives.
11) The ARTS give us a means to look at the darkness of humanity man to man. Great poetry, novels, paintings and music allow us to grapple with the unfathomable. Joseph Chilton Pearce calls criminality “a lack of imagination”.
12) The ARTS cultivate higher-level thinking and stimulate creativity. They invite levity through improvisation, imagination, inspiration, and even intuition. They foster the capacity to generate the hypotheses that advance knowledge
I invite educators to imbed the ARTS fully into the curriculum both as single subjects and integrated into all courses, not just as a reward. As Morris Tannenbaum, former CFO of AT&T, has commented, “Tomorrow’s scientists and engineers need grounding in the arts to stimulate their creativity, to help them perceive the world in new and different ways. If nothing else, a blending of the arts and sciences can cement a foundation for learning how to learn, a trait that is proving all the more critical at a time when knowledge simply won’t stay put.” For guidance in the implementation of such a program, I recommend looking to the Waldorf school movement founded by Rudolf Steiner, which has successfully practiced this approach for nearly ninety years.
Article by Gayle Davis, Educator
Gayle Davis is President and CEO of Rudolf Steiner College: A Center for Transformative Education and Arts ( http://www.steinercollege.edu ) in Fair Oaks, California offering programs in Waldorf education, Anthroposopical Studies, Bio-Dynamic Agriculture, Consciousness Studies, Eurythmy, and the Arts. She has worked at the College for over twenty-five years. Her interests include music, philosophy, educational reform, organizational development, and change management.
Email: rsc@steinercollege.edu
D E B O R A H . M E I E R Democracy-Friendly Education
Re-thinking schools starts with re-thinking its fundamental purposes and function. There are, first and foremost, only two purposes that matter to me. Everything else is a luxury.
The first purpose of education is to do no harm to the individual children and their families, which includes leaving them a little better off than when they came to us. Let us leave them stronger and more loveable.
The second purpose is to inspire a generation of Americans to take on our collective task of preserving and nourishing the habits of heart and mind essential for a democracy, and, as we now see, the future of the planet itself.
The purpose of education is not: (1) to produce a small “leadership” political elite to lead us to the Promised Land or (2) to produce employees to fit into some particular niche determined by others, and surely, (3) it is not to produce higher test scores and give out more diplomas-which isn’t even a very good way to do the previous two things!
Democracy, and the kind of thinking that’s good for it, doesn’t just happen. It is not “natural”-like walking and talking. But it is not unnatural either. We need then to ask ourselves, what happens in schools that make for greater devotion and understanding of democracy and its place in our complex modern global world? An educational system that keeps this first and foremost on its mind will not have to sacrifice the so-called “basic skills”. It might have to place calculus lower on the agenda than statistics and probability, or modern history before ancient history. Maybe yes, maybe no. It may have to sacrifice the arts, or it may have to place greater demands on them.
But what a democracy-friendly education surely must do is change the way people relate to each other in schools, and how their voices are heard and taken into account. And the change we need is not tinkering on the edges, but fundamental.
What we do know is that creative and critical thought are not natural allies of multiple-choice tests or stereotype short-answer quizzes. The inventiveness we need cannot be left to elite few, because in a democracy such out-of-the-box thinking will be sabotaged by ordinary citizens and rightly so, if they are not well-educated too and become a party to the needed changes. We pay an enormous price for dismissing the impact of an alienated political public. We’ve even gone so far as to dismiss the need for the voices of teachers-viewing them as merely tools of reform, not at its heart. Our parents and teachers have replaced our financial and business leaders as the new “special interest” group. Thus the answers become increasingly divorced from the problems on the ground.
Let’s imagine how we’d design the life of youngsters from birth to 22 if we hadn’t got stuck in the traditional school model and just extended it for 10 more years? Let’s imagine how we might re-design if we spent more time listening to those in the real “know.” Based on what we know about human beings, how else might we ask the young to spend their precious time? Would we have cut them off from relationships with adults engaged in interesting work-and vice versa-for 12-16 years? Would we have labeled so much of the world’s important and critical work as “menial”, and “nonacademic”? Would we expect that efficient learning takes place by sitting till and listening for 5 hours a day? Would we have measured success by a multiple choice test rather than a “road test”?
We can’t change overnight, but we can begin to make sure that the policies we adopt do not strangle the innovation we need. Too many big-time reforms today try to “fix” the current system in stone-making it ever more standardized rather than ever more inventive. We need to ban the use of the word “rigorous” in schools – with all its unmistakable dictionary meaning of harsh and inflexible-and find a language that suits the task ahead of us.
Yes, small is good. But, aimed at the wrong “ends”, it’s just another shifting of the chairs on the sinking Titanic. Yes, technology is useful, but…Yes, better teacher “training” is good, but…Yes, observing the impact of our work is critical, but…Yes even more money is good, but…
But, none will matter until we are prepared to tackle the “what for?” And on that question we are all experts. On that question we don’t want anyone to lead us to the Promised Land; we want to lead ourselves, with our families, neighbors and children right alongside us.
Article by Deborah Meier, Writer
Deborah W. Meier is currently on the faculty of New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education as senior scholar and adjunct professor as well as Board member and director of New Ventures at Mission Hill, director and advisor to Forum for Democracy and Education, and on the Board of The Coalition of Essential Schools. She is active with the In Defense of Childhood organization http://www.indefenseofchildhood.org . Her books, The Power of Their Ideas, Lessons to America from a Small School in Harlem (1995), Will Standards Save Public Education (2000), In Schools We Trust (2002), Keeping School, with Ted and Nancy Sizer (2004) and Many Children Left Behind (2004) are all published by Beacon Press.
More information at http://www.deborahmeier.com
R O N . M I L L E R Five Principles of the Coming Education Revolution
Our system of schooling was shaped by a particular worldview, a mechanistic/technocratic mindset that gave rise to the age of industrial and imperial expansion that began in the mid-nineteenth century. It is increasingly apparent that this historical era has spent its creative energies and is now on the verge of decline. Another worldview is emerging, one concerned with sustainability, interconnectedness, and celebration of human diversity. It is a holistic worldview, which brings with it entirely different ideas about education.
The growing interest in educational alternatives-Montessori and Waldorf schools, homeschooling, “democratic” schools, Quaker education, charter schools and various other approaches-represents a leaderless, self-organizing revolution riding the incoming wave of this new worldview. I think it is a genuine social movement, which will eventually replace our current system of schooling with a decidedly different form. Unlike the standardized routines of industrial-age schooling, these alternatives engage young people in an active, meaningful, caring relationship to the world and encourage them to participate in building a just, compassionate, sustainable culture.
Although the movement comprises diverse educational methods, it is unified by five foundational principles:
1) Respect for every person
Maria Montessori said it well: the child is the builder of a unique human personality, driven by a creative force from within to engage the world inquisitively and purposefully. Human beings are naturally endowed with both the capacity and the imperative to fashion an individuality that will experience and live in the world in ways that no other does, and we require autonomy and security in order to fully achieve this potential. We carry the seeds of our highest aspirations and potential evolution within our own hearts. The purpose of education is to nourish these seeds.
2) Balance
The education revolution reflects an openness to the complexity of life. To live in balance means holding our beliefs with humility, remaining open to aspects of reality that are dissonant or surprising, recognizing that all manifestations of reality are contingent rather than final. This principle enjoins us to approach each learner with sensitivity and flexibility, not with ideology and method. A public system of education seeking for balance would no longer be a coercive monoculture; it would provide diverse alternatives representing various philosophical and cultural possibilities.
3) Decentralization of authority
Today, truly important decisions that affect the lives of millions are made by political and corporate elites, not by citizens engaged in public deliberation. The standardization of schooling, the frenzied pursuit of accountability that leads to prescribed curricula and textbooks and relentless testing, was not driven by those most intimately involved in the educational endeavor -teachers, parents or young people-but by corporate CEOs and powerful foundations and the mass media. No Child Left Behind (sic) is the educational policy of a technocratic empire. The educational alternatives movement represents a striving for grassroots, participatory democracy-decision making on a human scale.
4) Noninterference between political, economic, and cultural spheres of society
Philosopher Rudolf Steiner (the founder of Waldorf education) argued that a society is healthiest when its three primary functions or spheres-economic, political, and cultural-are allowed to maintain their own integrity, without interference from the others. He observed that in modern times, economic enterprise has spilled over its proper boundaries, so that every aspect of our lives, including education, has become a commodity-something with a market value rather than intrinsic value. The education revolution seeks to return teaching and learning to the cultural sphere of freedom and creativity. Those who have left public schooling for independent alternative schools or homeschooling are not simply out to privatize the educational system, for this is still to treat learning as a commodity in the marketplace. Rather, they are intuitively responding to the awareness that genuine learning is an organic, spontaneous, and deeply meaningful encounter that requires autonomy from the political and economic forces that have taken over public education.
5) A holistic worldview
From a holistic perspective, the primary goal of education is not to transmit authorized portions of knowledge but to help students experience a sense of wonder and passionate interest in the world, along with habits of open-ended inquiry and critical reflection. Possessing these qualities, holistically educated people can engage the world purposefully, creatively, and transformatively.
Taken together, these five principles constitute a thorough rethinking of the assumptions and beliefs underlying the present system of schooling.
Article by Ron Miller, Educator, Writer
Dr. Ron Miller has been involved in the educational alternatives movement for more than twenty years. He has written or edited nine books; this essay is adapted from his latest one: The Self-Organizing Revolution. He has founded two journals and is currently editor of Education Revolution magazine, published by the Alternative Education Resource Organization ( http://www.edrev.org ). Ron established the Bellwether School in Vermont and is now helping to organize a Quaker school there. Meanwhile, he teaches history at Champlain College. His contact information and writings are featured at http://www.pathsoflearning.net
S O N J A . W I L L I A M S Please Find a School Your Child Does NOT Attend, and Volunteer!
So, how does K-16 education need to change in order to prepare young people to become effective participants and change agents in the 21st Century?
First, a disclaimer. I teach in the “inner city” of Los Angeles, so my perspective comes from a place where, as near as I can tell, not many people are expecting those, these, OUR, inner city children to be “change agents” or “effective participants” in the 21st Century. By “inner city” I mean un-academically educated, non-middle class, not generally a part of the American mainstream, whether perceptively or concretely. By middle class I mean academically educated, and a part of mainstream society, and literate. I do not want to get too heady into why I think inner city kids are not perceived as agents for change in the future, but I do think it is important to note that my opinions are based on my experiences working in an overcrowded, over 100-year-old, hardly diverse and VERY ISOLATED – from middle class ideas and resources – middle school in South Central Los Angeles for the past eight years. Most of my students are Latin American, with a small percent being African American. I am solidly middle class, brought up with educated parents, went to summer camp, and was read to often, and always, as a child. The arts were a central part of my academic upbringing. I have a lot to learn from my students and their families. And they from me.
To dispel some common myths and assumptions: Urban kids are just like non-urban kids in almost every way: They are eager to learn, eager to do things and eager to get their hands into things. They don’t like to be bored, they don’t like to be in trouble, they don’t like to be disrespected or yelled at or ignored. They don’t like to read textbooks and they jump at the chance to play music, do art, perform in plays, and they LOVE science. They love to APPLY math. They are silly, and funny, and test me and don’t like to sit in their seats for too long. They like to eat, chew gum and write notes in class. They like to have hobbies and lots of colorful things to create with. They like to be class clowns, out-wit their teachers and their peers and they like to be loved and encouraged. They like to feel comfortable and challenged and try out new things. They like to show off for each other and they like to be popular. They like to take care of each other, especially when it really, really counts, and they will. I’ve never had a discipline issue on a field trip, or a tagging issue or disrespect of elders. They think that the way they live is the way all people live. They like themselves. They are normal.
How they differ from their middle class counterparts: they most often have un-academically educated parents; they don’t get to go to camp; they have too many kids on their campuses; they don’t get enough field trips; their parents work really long hours, or have lots of stress, and sometimes see school as day care. They have a really boring curriculum in school. The slightest infringement is met with the threat of citation or even arrest by the school police officer. Sometimes their classes are interrupted in a “search and seizure” manner to confiscate their pencil sharpeners which have “blades that can be used as weapons.” Sometimes this makes them cry. They live far from the beach. They can’t play outside. They often have close family members in prison. They don’t have books at home. There are no bookstores in their neighborhood. They have to be “extraordinarily extraordinary” to succeed and go to college or even have that choice. They can’t just be normal and succeed academically. They are very strong when they do succeed. They often don’t know they have these things working against them. They often have very strong family support mechanisms. Their families have huge social networks. They often know how hard their parents work for them. They want to be kids anyway. They speak at least three languages: English, Spanish and/or Black-inner city English and they often must translate between two cultures. Standardize test that!!!!!! They travel between here and South American countries often. They have foreign relatives with foreign ideas. They get to visit them. I have seen my students go out of their way to make a child they’ve never met, on a field trip, feel comfortable on a play ground. I’ve never had a discipline issue on a field trip. I’ve seen them come to each other’s aid without hesitation when one of them was feeling uncomfortable or in distress. They have a sensitivity I don’t remember seeing when I was a sixth grader, and I certainly never hear about it on the news or mainstream media. There are so many things I don’t see because I am not living there.
At our school, over 90% Latin American, and in our district, English tests are the litmus for how” intelligent” a student is considered to be, what class level they are placed in and what extra-curricular subjects they are allowed to study. For example, the music and art options – and they are not many and they are a recent addition to our curriculum – are offered primarily, if only, to the “English-only” and honor’s strand of students. Humanities are an “elective” class that is taught by English teachers to a strand of their students that fall into the above categories. This means that if you are a beginning English learner, thus a low tester, you do not get subjects outside of math, science, history and English. Subjects, incidentally, taught via Sixth Grade English Level Text books. This approach also disregards any aptitude in math, as students are placed in ALL subjects according to their English levels. I believe this is done because it is easier for the administrative process.
So, what do our students need? From the school, and district, they need us to educate them with the vigorous assumption that they are intelligent and eager to learn no matter how low or high their level of English. They “ALL” need music, drawing, sculpture, wood working, singing, music, theater and CREATIVITY – in all sizes and shapes, every day and every year and these subjects need to be considered as important as the “testable subjects,” math, English, history, etc.
What they need from “US.” The greatest challenge our urban kids face is that their parents are largely less academically educated than their middle class counterparts. Inner city kids are more isolated. I do not believe that a lower economic status naturally leads to a lower educational level. I do think, however, that it needs more attention to correct the tilt. We need to start thinking about all kids as OUR kids. Schools need the parental attention the middle class schools get. We need middle class parents volunteering in inner city schools. And I don’t mean to overrun the cultures that exist in those schools, but to bring the academic presence up. I’d love to know more about Hispanic culture. I need to incorporate more of my students’ parents’ strengths and interests into my classroom. We need parents who know how to participate to show the parents that don’t know, how. The inner city is woefully over looked by the middle class. I called Big Brothers Big Sisters to get help for some of our boys who needed a positive outside influence I was told that there are NO volunteers for South Central! There are none within the South Central community and none outside willing to come in? There are over eight million people in Los Angeles! Are they all saving Darfur or adopting kids from China? My colleagues who teach in independent/private schools can’t get rid of their over-achieving “helicopter” parents fast enough. I’ll take them. I want parent aids in my class room to help with field trips, organize fund raisers, science fairs or theater productions. I want them to show our parents how they can be involved. And it’s not that our students’ parents don’t want to help, many of them don’t know what it looks like. They do not come from academic backgrounds.
Please, find a school near or far from you that your child does NOT attend and volunteer. Become a class rep for an urban school. Organize a PTA. Become a Big Brother or Big Sister to an urban youth; there are NONE in South Central. Help get the word out in urban areas that Big Brothers Big Sisters even exists. There are mentors within the inner cities! Volunteer to do a reading program after school. Help get a theater department going. Organize a science fair. It’s not money we need, its participation and education. Head up a garden. Do some landscaping. Organize parents to get homework clubs going. And do these things with the parents of our students who really do want to be a part of what their child is doing but in many cases do not know how. WE need ALL of OUR children to be willing and enthusiastic participants of society. And OUR children really DO want be WILLING and enthusiastic participants in OUR society, and WE need to show them how, by being WILLING and ENTHUSIASTIC participants ourselves, in OUR own society.
Article by Sonja Williams, Public School Teacher, Circus Performer
Sonja Williams attended Highland Hall Waldorf School from kindergarten through 12th grade, and graduated with a BA in History from UCSB after years of academic experimentation at six city colleges. She has been teaching since 2000, and loves to travel, cycle, and perform in the local circus. [Sonja is GMJ guest editor Joan Jaeckel’s daughter.]
Email: redridernine@gmail.com
More information at http://www.cirqueberzerk.com/show/index.html
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Education for the Whole Child – It’s the Equitable Thing To Do April 3, 2017
Equity Presupposes Mindfulness February 14, 2014
R I C H A R D . L O U V The Coming Wave of Natural Education Reform January 15, 2009
E L I Z A B E T H . G O O D E N O U G H Secret Spaces of Childhood and the Pedagogy of Place January 15, 2009
O C E A N . R O B B I N S Education in the 21st Century January 15, 2009
G A Y L E . D A V I S 12 Ways Arts-Integrated Education Grows Furure-Oriented Minds January 15, 2009
D E B O R A H . M E I E R Democracy-Friendly Education January 15, 2009
R O N . M I L L E R Five Principles of the Coming Education Revolution January 15, 2009
S O N J A . W I L L I A M S Please Find a School Your Child Does NOT Attend, and Volunteer! January 15, 2009
I N G R I D . O ‘ B R I E N Learning Needs Teaching January 14, 2009
A R T H U R . Z A J O N C We Need an Educational Philosophy Fit For Human Beings January 14, 2009
T H O M A S . A R M S T R O N G, Ph.D Kindergarten is the New High School January 14, 2009
B E T T Y . S T A L E Y To Educate Future Change Agents, Change Education Today January 14, 2009
W I L L I A M . C R A I N Animal Feelings: Learning Not to Care and Not to Know January 14, 2009
L I N D A . L A N T I E R I Building Emotional Intelligence January 14, 2009
Archives Select Month April 2017 (1) February 2014 (1) January 2009 (16) December 2008 (2) November 2008 (2) October 2008 (6)
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Home page > 1. IV Online magazine > 2019 > IV534 - July 2019 > Indonesia’s Election and Polarization
Indonesia’s Election and Polarization
Tuesday 2 July 2019, by Alex de Jong
The Indonesian elections of April 2019 were a competition between a disappointment and a thug. Incumbent president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo defeated former army officer Prabowo Subianto, but there remains little of the enthusiasm of his 2014 victory. But compared to Prabowo, a political criminal campaigning on a combination of authoritarian leadership, chauvinism and political Islam, Jokowi appeared to many as the preferable option.
Even before the official results came in, it was clear that Jokowi had defeated Prabowo, and that Prabowo would not accept this. As he did five years ago, Prabowo blamed his defeat on fraud, but this time he chose to escalate the situation.
The Prabowo camp called for massive street rallies and defiance against the government, what it called “people power.” The protests escalated into riots that left at least six deaths and over 700 injured. Both sides, Prabowo’s supporters and Jokowi’s government, blame each other for the violence.
Prabowo remained silent when violence broke out and his supporters circulated rumors aimed at increasing sectarian and ethnic violence. One such message for example claimed that “China has sent security forces to Indonesia disguised as foreign workers.”
Andreas Harsono, Indonesian researcher for Human Rights Watch, stated: “These groups, including Prabowo and many of his advisers, have a dark reputation of using ethnic and religious sentiment, including anti-Chinese racism, in mobilizing people to get power,” adding that “they did it in Java in 1998 with the anti-Chinese riots and they are trying to do it again today.”
Prabowo, however, seems to have overplayed his hand as security forces took control. Several (retired) army officers linked to Prabowo are accused of organizing the violence and of planning killings to destabilize the government. Prabowo left the country in his private plane for “medical care.”
The elections were a huge undertaking; in more than 800,000 election locals some 193 million voters could vote for the presidency, as well as for national, provincial and local parliaments. In total, there were over 245,000 candidates.
But the political system in no way reflects the diversity and inequality of Indonesian society. Capitalist development across the 5000 kilometers of the archipelago has been extremely uneven; the GDP of the highest grossing district is over 400 times that of the lowest grossing district.
The so-called “miracle of Indonesian development” during the ’70s and ’80s relied on the exploitation of a workforce that was deprived of political rights and trade unions, and on the plunder of natural resources.
Indonesian “industrialization” mainly consists of mining (important resources are gold, coal and oil), and the manufacture of low-end products like textile, paper and simple, labor-intensive electronics in relatively small enterprises. But the Indonesian working class is without political representation. No labor-party or left-wing party was able to participate in the national elections.
Indonesian politics is a business for the rich. Many of the parties charge candidates a fee in return for a place on their list. The higher on the list, the higher the fee. Candidates negotiate with “political financiers” to provide them with the cash to buy gifts for potential voters and communities. In return, if elected, the candidate will provide the financier with protection and government contracts.
Competition among these parties is competition for spoils. Actual political disagreements are secondary, if they exist at all. The main parties all support extractivist and export-oriented “development” policies that rely on the exploitation of the country’s cheap and young labor force, the unsustainable use of natural resources, and infrastructure projects that provide plenty of opportunities for kickbacks and lucrative government contracts.
Writing before the 2019 elections, leftist intellectual Martin Suryajaya declared that the Indonesian left lacked the potential to have significant impact on the elections, estimating that even if taken together the left would mobilize less than one per cent of the vote.
High demands are placed on parties before they can present themselves in the elections. For example, they are required to have a significant presence throughout the whole country before they can register for the elections. This makes it very difficult for newer parties without wealthy backers to participate. But most of all, the Indonesian left remains crippled by the decades of violence and repression of Suharto’s dictatorship.
Legacy of Suharto’s New Order
From 1965 to 1998, Indonesia was ruled by general Suharto, whose “New Order” regime received considerable support from Western powers. The regime was the product of a coup against the country’s founding president Sukarno, who in the ’60s had increasingly leaned towards China and the Indonesian Communist Party.
The New Order, in which the army played an important role, established its power over the country by massacring over half a million leftists in late 1965 and early 1966.
In the ’70s and ’80s, the New Order regime was praised internationally for supposedly modernizing the Indonesian economy and bringing prosperity to broader layers of the population. “Development” was the watchword of the regime.
With Western aid, followed by the oil boom and the kind of “industrialization” described above, the New Order regime achieved relatively high growth rates — until the Asian economic crisis of the late ’90s.
The New Order’s statist development schemes lead to some modernization of the country, but despite its natural wealth, Indonesia in many ways remained behind its neighbors Malaysia and the Philippines.
In 2008, after the death of Suharto, Benedict Anderson pointed out that per capita GDP was about $12,100 in Malaysia, $5100 in the Philippines and $3600 in Indonesia. And “given the enormous inequality prevailing especially in the Philippines and Indonesia, the real annual ‘product’ for the mass of people is substantially lower than these figures suggest.”
The corruption and plunder Suharto and his cronies engaged in is difficult to overestimate. Suharto himself is alleged to have embezzled between U.S. $15 to $25 billion.
After the Asian crisis and social unrest led to the fall of Suharto, Indonesia went through several rounds of “structural adjustment” programs. These led to increased inequality as well as renewed economic growth. Most of this growth benefited the better off.
According to World Bank figures, 15 years of sustained economic growth after the turn of the century “primarily benefited the richest 20% and left behind the remaining 80% of the population.” The richest 10% of Indonesians own over 75% of the country’s wealth. Half of the country’s assets are owned by a literal one percent.
Disappointment and Opportunism
Five years ago, Jokowi aroused hopes among many liberal and progressive Indonesians that he would tackle some of the worse inequalities and legacies of the New Order. Unlike his predecessor, Jokowi had no links with the dictatorship. Neither was he one of the oligarchs who dominate top-level politics.
He had been a modest businessman and mayor of a small city before becoming governor of the region of Jakarta, the country’s capital, with a population of over 10 million. He cultivated the image of an honest man of the people, a defender of the country’s pluralism against religious and ethnic bigotry, and promised to look into human rights violations committed by the dictatorship.
Once elected, Jokowi disappointed his idealistic supporters. Going against Indonesia’s culture of impunity for human rights violations, or consistently defending the country’s minorities, would require confronting established political forces and influential leftovers from the New Order regime. Jokowi did not come from the political elite, but his party does, and he has proven to unable to go against his political protectors.
One of the first signs that Jokowi would be a disappointment was his pick for minister of defense: a former general who has been accused of human rights violations in West Papua. Jakarta continues to treat West Papua as essentially a colony.
Sectarian hostility increased with massive rallies against Jokowi’s successor as governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, in 2016. Ahok was (unjustly) accused of blasphemy, and the movement against him was fueled by bigoted hatred of his Christian beliefs and Chinese ethnicity. Ahok was sentenced to two years in prison.
Jokowi not only failed to oppose the sectarian and racist attacks against his former friend and ally — he further legitimized such views by picking Ma’ruf Amin as his running mate in 2019. Ma’ruf heads the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), a semi-official government body which issues fatwas, and supported the sentencing of Ahok.
Human Rights Watch describes him as “fueling worsening discrimination against the country’s religious and gender minorities.” HRW reports: “Over the past two decades at the MUI, Amin has helped draft and been a vocal supporter of fatwas, or religious edicts, against the rights of religious minorities, including the country’s Ahmadiyah and Shia communities, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.”
Especially Ahmadiyahs, a minority current in Islam, have been attacked, murdered, and their houses destroyed by far-right groups like the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).
Jokowi’s main priority was always economic growth. In 2014, he set a goal of seven percent yearly growth. That goal was not met, but with around five percent economic growth was still considerable.
Infrastructure was improved and Jokowi’s government implemented some social reforms: health care was extended, conditional cash subsidies to the poor established and subsidies on oil retained.
A Product of the New Order
Just as five years ago, Jokowi faced off against Prabowo Subianto. Prabowo is Suharto’s former son-in-law; his father was minister during the dictatorship.
Prabowo joined Kopassus, the country’s elite forces, shortly after the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. This was the beginning of a quarter century of brutal occupation that led to around 200,000 Timorese dead. Prabowo took part in campaigns against the East Timorese resistance, and received “anti-terrorist” training in Germany and the USA, rising to the rank of Lieutenant General.
In 1998, as the New Order regime crumbled, Prabowo was involved in a secretive group of army officers, businessmen and Muslim leaders that tried to preserve the army’s political power and fend off the democratic movement.
In Jakarta they incited pogroms against the Chinese-Indonesian minority, killing hundreds. Dozens of Chinese-Indonesian women were the victims of rapes. Stoking sectarian and ethnic violence in Jakarta and elsewhere was an attempt to divert discontent, and create renewed support for an authoritarian regime. Prabowo was also involved in the abduction, torture and murder of pro-democracy activists, including members of the radical left Partai Rakyat Demokrat (PRD, People’s Democratic Party).
After the end of the dictatorship, Prabowo for a few years went into voluntary exile in Jordan. After returning to Indonesia, he went into business, joining his brother who had become rich as a Suharto crony. Prabowo’s properties include oil, gas and coal companies as well as palm oil plantations.
Since 2004 he has been trying to make it to the country’s top position. To support his ambitions, he built a coalition of some of the most reactionary forces in Indonesian society, leftovers of the New Order regime, those nostalgic for the “peace and order” of dictatorship, and increasingly forces of political Islam.
While the Jokowi camp basically argued for politics as usual, Prabowo in classic far-right fashion used social demagogy, and railed against foreigners exploiting the country — while hiding his own links with Indonesian oligarchs.
Inviting the obvious comparison, Prabowo in one speech asked; “Why are the Indonesian people afraid to say Indonesia first, make Indonesia great again? Why are there no Indonesian leaders daring to say the important thing is jobs for Indonesian people?’
During the campaign, Indonesian social media were inundated with assertions that Jokowi was secretly Christian, Chinese, even an undercover Communist.
Rise of the Religious Right
The 2016 protests against Ahok, as well as Prabowo’s campaign, attracted international attention to the growing influence of fundamentalist Islamist forces in Indonesia.
Almost 90% of Indonesia’s population of over 260 million identify as Muslim. In addition, the government officially recognizes five other religions: Protestant, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian. Atheism is not legally banned but is taboo, and people who declared atheist views have been prosecuted under blasphemy laws.
Support for political Islam in the widest sense, meaning a political current that wants to make Islam the foundational principle of politics and the state, is not a new development in Indonesia. From the late ’50s to 1965, president Sukarno was not only opposed by army leadership but also by the leaders of political Islam. Many of them were landowners and merchants who saw that the left threatened their privileges.
But what today exists as political Islam is a product of the authoritarian capitalist development and class differentiation under the New Order regime. The regime initially made use of Islamist forces to destroy the Indonesian Communist party and the left more generally, but political Islam was marginalized by the dictator.
Only in the later years of his regime did Suharto reach out to Islamist hard-liners, partly as a counterweight to rivals in the Indonesian army, partly to integrate potential opposition forces into the patronage networks of the regime.
Throughout the New Order regime and beyond, parts of the Indonesian security apparatus cultivated links with radical Islamic groups. They did this to flush out Islamic radicals, but also saw such groups as potential tools against the left and social movements.
The FPI for example, which supported Prabowo, has its roots in such maneuvers. It was established in 1998 with support of then military commander-in-chief Wiranto. Wiranto was also responsible for organizing militias that attacked anti-Suharto protestors and is implicated in massacres during the New Order regime. Jokowi made him a minister.
But the fall of the dictatorship and democratization did not only make visible already existing support for political Islam. The country’s Muslim majority is not a homogeneous category, and deep disagreements exist about what it means to be a believer. But for the past two decades a turn has been taking place towards more restrictive and more literal interpretations of religious doctrine, away from the syncretism (religious admixture) that was considered typical of Islam in Indonesia.
This turn is partly responsible for the growth in support for political Islam. Since the late ’90s, it has grown in influence on politics and won increased popular support. It is a varied movement, encompassing those want to make Indonesia an Islamic state; those want to apply Shariah legal law either for all Indonesians or for Muslims; and supporters of terrorist violence as well as of electoral politics.
Indonesian Islam can not be divided into a “good,” traditional and syncretic Islam and a “bad,” non-traditional purist political Islam. Parts of NU, the largest movement of traditional Muslims, are known for their sectarian hostility toward non-Muslims as well as against minority groups in Islam, such as the Ahmadiyah and Shia.
All the mainstream Muslim organizations were part of the architecture of the New Order regime. On the other hand, most of the supporters of the Indonesian left were and are Muslims, although today there are only lingering influences of left-wing Islam in Indonesia.
The growth of political Islam results from the urbanization and modernization of Indonesian society. The cadres who build the organizations of political Islam and the intellectuals who interpret it for Indonesian society often come from the urban middle classes. They find support in regions that are known to be religious and conservative, but in the rapidly growing cities a new potential for Islamist mass politics has grown.
As society modernized, tradition lost power as the criterion for right and wrong. Parts of the new urban population found answers in international strands of political Islam, breaking with inherited interpretations of Islam. The well-educated cadres of the movement view the syncretism of traditional Indonesian Islam as the result of the mixing of so-called “real Islam” with local superstition.
The appeal to international sources as the genuine authorities on Islam becomes a way for people from the new middle classes to emancipate themselves from traditional authority figures. Their education and international links enable them to present themselves as the experts in, and carriers of ”genuine Islam,” thereby claiming positions of power and influence.
In a way, such activists are following in the footsteps of the landowners and merchants who led political Islam over half a century ago. But after the destruction of the left, in place of a progressive alternative, political Islam became a major articulator of social grievances during and after the New Order regime. Political Islam thus acquired much more a mass character than previously.
Out of strategic considerations and shared hostility to emancipatory movements, parts of the movement have allied with Prabowo, who is not particularly religious himself. In fact, Prabowo’s campaign became so closely associated with radical Islamists that some of his supporters began worrying that it was scaring off potential voters.
Jokowi’s record is tattered, but it was enough for him to win a victory of around 55% over his rival. It is clear many voted for Jokowi as a form of self-defense against the sectarian forces supporting Prabowo. In addition, for people on the edge of absolute poverty, Jokowi’s social measures can make a crucial difference.
Rebuilding the Left
Despite the crisis of 2008, and the slowing down of economic growth, the numbers of the industrial working class have grown considerably in the last decade. Industrial workers have shown a large potential for mobilization, facilitated by their concentration in special economic zones.
After 2011, the country saw large labor mobilizations with millions of workers on strike. This movement succeeded in forcing significant concessions from bosses and the state. Several times, minimum wages were increased by over a quarter and healthcare coverage was increased.
Spread throughout the country, there are many other social movements, sometimes very combative. Environmental activists and peasants fight the destruction and pollution of the countryside, and human rights activists defend civil rights, challenge the culture of impunity and oppose the army’s renewed attempts to claw back political influence it lost after 1998.
In Jakarta, hundreds of thousands rallied against gender-based violence and child marriage. Despite a wave of anti-LGBT rhetoric, often from government figures and heterosexist violence, LGBT activists continue to organize.
The capitalist class, however, retaliated. New legal limits were put on the right to strike and on the minimum wage. Social movements were further weakened by an ideological offensive against progressive and leftist ideas, and by a right-wing shift in the leadership of the important Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI).
KSPI includes the Metalworkers Trade Unions Federation (FSPMI) which was at the heart of many of the mobilizations. Its uniformed stewards, the Garda Metal, were literally in the front line of many mobilizations, together with supporters of much smaller but radical “red unions.”
Realizing that the increased militancy was opening up space for left-wing ideas among workers, the conservative KSPI leadership dialed back its support for mobilizations. They instead turned towards making deals with right-wing and Islamist forces.
This year, instead of joining other movements rallying in Jakarta for the commemoration of May Day, KSPI organized its own meeting, and called on its members to support Prabowo.
The New Order did not only destroy the Indonesian left in 1965, but until 1998 systematic propaganda attacked all progressive ideas. To prevent a potential rebirth of the left and social contestation, the regime pursued a policy of dismantling any kind of popular organization and turning the popular classes into what it called a “floating mass” to be excluded from politics.
Even the parties that were controlled by the regime were not allowed to operate on the village level. The most important trade union organization, the PKI-aligned union central SOBSI, was destroyed. The remaining trade unions were forcibly merged into a single trade union central that was incorporated into the New Order’s structure.
When after more than three decades the New Order fell in 1998, its combination of repression and social engineering left deep marks on society. For radicals, there is no center-left current to relate to, nor is there a trade-union movement or other social movement that could provide a home and field of activity for activists. The left had to be rebuild from scratch.
Central to the rebirth of socialist activism in Indonesia was the PRD. Originally established in 1994 by left-wing student activists, the party adopted a socialist platform. It was quickly repressed by the New Order, but re-emerged after 1998.
PRD activists played an important role in establishing a left-wing of the new trade-union movement that took shape after 1998. The PRD, however, did not succeed in establishing itself as a national force. Its attempts to organize united fronts and participate in national elections failed, and in the first decade of the new century the party entered a process of fracturing and splits.
Many of the different socialist groups in Indonesia trace their existence to the PRD. Some of the PRD’s activists had received training from the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). But the PRD did not adopt a Maoist-guerrilla strategy, instead focusing on the organization of the urban working class.
In terms of organizational practice however, the CPP model had a more significant impact. Like the CPP, the PRD went on to establish its own social organizations, the leadership of which was the party, and which were expected to become the party’s base.
This organizing model was retained by different groups coming out of the PRD. Even very small groups attempt to set up their own “mass organizations,” including their own trade unions. Such “red unions” are quite militant, boosting protests, but have difficulty uniting. The red unions also remain much smaller than the main trade union centers that rely on clientelism and deals with politicians.
Among leftists, but also among disappointed former supporters of Jokowi, there was a call to boycott this year’s elections as a first step to building an independent alternative. But the road to this goal is still long.
At the height of the workers’ protests, there was renewed discussion among activists on establishing a new party based on the labor movement, but with little concrete results so far. The counter-offensive by the bosses and the state, and the divisions inside the trade-union movement, make the need to organize a political answer only more urgent.
To provide a center of gravity for the various existing movements, a new political left needs to have sufficient social weight. It seems that only the trade-union movement can provide this.
After the Elections
Some relief that we don’t have to add Prabowo’s name to the authoritarian rulers’ list of Duterte, Trump, Bolsonaro etc. is understandable, but Jokowi’s reelection solves nothing. The unsustainable development model, the mass poverty and inequality, the anger this generates and its uses by reactionary forces and political manipulators who learned their tricks during the New Order, religious and ethnic bigotry and hate — none of this will go away.
With the recent violence by Prabowo supporters on one side, and on the other side security forces commanded by his former colleague Wiranto, it could not be clearer that Indonesia is still not free from the legacy of the New Order. Jokowi’s government only offers more of the same — which brought the country to this condition in the first place.
Parts of society are polarizing around sectarian and regional lines, while a real social alternative is lacking. A left with some social weight could channel part of the anger and provide a counter-weight to regressive tendencies. Every day it becomes only more needed.
Looking at the presidential duel
Sulawesi, East of Java
1968: A Crushing Defeat for the Indonesian Left
A New Wave of Water Privatisation in Indonesia
Being Brave Because It Is Right
Alex de Jong
Alex de Jong is editor of Grenzeloos, the journal of the Dutch section of the Fourth International.
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If the War Goes On . . .
by Hermann Hesse
One of the most astonishing aspects of Hesse's career is the clear-sightedness and consistency of his political views, his passionate espousal of pacifism and internationalism from the start of World War I to the end of his life. The earliest essay in this book was written in September 1914 and was followed by a stream of letters, essays, and pamphlets that reached its high point with Zarathustra's Return (published anonymously in 1919, the year that also saw the… (more)
One of the most astonishing aspects of Hesse's career is the clear-sightedness and consistency of his political views, his passionate espousal of pacifism and internationalism from the start of World War I to the end of his life. The earliest essay in this book was written in September 1914 and was followed by a stream of letters, essays, and pamphlets that reached its high point with Zarathustra's Return (published anonymously in 1919, the year that also saw the publication of Demian), in which Hesse exhorted German youth to shake off the false gods of nationalism and militarism that had led their country into the abyss. Such views earned him the labels "traitor" and "viper" in Germany, but after World War II he was moved to reiterate his beliefs in another series of essays and letters.
Hesse arranged his anti-war writing for publication in one volume in 1946; an amplified edition appeared in 1949 and that text has been followed for this first English-language edition. In his foreword Hesse describes the heart of the philosophy expressed here: "In each one of these essays I strive to guide the reader not into the world theater with its political problemns but into his innermost being, before the judgment seat of his very personal conscience." This faith in salvation via the Inward Way, so familiar to readers of Hesse's fiction, is persuasively set forth as the answer to questions of war and peace.
Non-Fiction Social science Political science
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (January 22, 2013)
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Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Thrillers
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (17)
Sarah Crichton Books (6)
Germanophone (1)
Hispanophone (1)
by Mai Jia, Olivia Milburn & Christopher Payne – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (March 18, 2014)
One of China's bestselling novels, an unusual literary thriller that takes us deep into the world of code breaking
In his gripping debut novel, Mai Jia reveals the mysterious world of Unit 701, a top-secret Chinese...
Hydra Head
by Carlos Fuentes & Margaret Sayers Peden – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (May 14, 2013)
Carlos Fuentes, Mexico's leading novelist, author of The Old Gringo, Terra Nostra and The Death of Artemio Cruz, has produced what is probably the first Third World spy thriller, an action-filled, quick-paced...
Havana Requiem
by Paul Goldstein – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (May 08, 2012)
Fueled by alcohol and legal brilliance, Michael Seeley once oversaw his law firm's most successful litigation. Until it all fell apart. Recklessness and overreach cost him his wife, his job, and likely the life...
by Stephen Amidon – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (October 01, 2005)
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM FILM MOVEMENT
It's the spring of 2001. Drew Hagel has spent the last decade watching things slip away—his marriage, his real estate brokerage, and his beloved daughter, Shannon,...
by Colin Harrison – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (April 17, 2007)
A high-voltage international thriller about a millionaire businessman catapulted into a world of criminal intrigue, sexual obsession, extortion, and death.
Charlie Ravich is a survivor whose brutal experience...
In the Shadow of the Law
by Kermit Roosevelt – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (June 13, 2006)
Morgan Siler is one of Washington, D.C.'s most powerful K Street law firms, its roster of clients stocked with multi-billion-dollar corporations. Through the obsessive efforts of its founder's son, Peter Morgan,...
Reversible Errors
Kindle County #6
by Scott Turow – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (November 01, 2002)
A super-charged, exquisitely suspenseful novel about a vicious triple murder and the man condemned to die for it
Rommy "Squirrel" Gandolph is a Yellow Man, an inmate on death row for a 1991 triple murder in Kindle...
The Guilty Plea
Detective Greene #2
by Robert Rotenberg – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (July 05, 2011)
With The Guilty Plea, a gripping sequel to the international bestseller Old City Hall, Robert Rotenberg has delivered another sharp, suspenseful legal thriller with an explosive conclusion.
On the morning his...
The Devil She Knows
Maureen Coughlin #1
by Bill Loehfelm – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (May 24, 2011)
An audacious thriller from a major new talent
Life isn't panning out for Maureen Coughlin. At twenty-nine, the tough-skinned Staten Island native's only excitement comes from . . . well, not much. A fresh pack...
The Laws of our Fathers
by Scott Turow – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (June 11, 2010)
A drive-by shooting of an aging white woman at a gang-plagued Kindle County housing project sets in motion Scott Turow's intensely absorbing novel. With its riveting suspense and idelibly drawn characters, The...
Presumed Innocent
by Scott Turow – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (December 31, 1986)
The novel that launched Turow's career as one of America's pre-eminent thriller writers tells the story of Rusty Sabicch, chief deputy prosecutor in a large Midwestern city. With three weeks to go in his boss'...
by Scott Turow – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (August 31, 1999)
A gripping, suspenseful, deeply satisfying new novel about corruption, deceit, and love.
Robbie Feaver (pronounced "favor") is a charismatic personal injury lawyer with a high profile practice, a way with the...
Ordinary Heroes
by Scott Turow – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (April 01, 2007)
Stewart Dubinsky knew his father had served in World War II. And he'd been told how David Dubin (as his father had Americanized the name that Stewart later reclaimed) had rescued Stewart's mother from the horror...
Nobody Move
by Denis Johnson – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (April 27, 2010)
From the National Book Award–winning, bestselling author of Tree of Smoke comes a provocative thriller set in the American West.
Nobody Move, which first appeared in the pages of Playboy, is the story of an...
Pleading Guilty
The star litigator from a top-notch law firm has gone missing , along with 5.6 million dollars from a class-action settlement, and "Mack" Malloy, a foul-mouthed ex-cop and partner-on-the-wane must find both....
by Robert Rotenberg – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (March 30, 2010)
"Breathtaking . . . A tightly woven spiderweb of plot and a rich cast of characters make this a truly gripping read." —Jeffery Deaver, author of The Bodies Left Behind
It should be an open–and–shut case....
by Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (October 13, 2009)
The International Thriller that Stockholm City hailed as the Best Crime Novel of the Year has finally crossed the Atlantic!
Three years ago, Lydia and Alena were two hopeful girls from Lithuania. Now they are...
by Stephen Amidon – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (February 03, 2009)
There isn't much crime in Stoneleigh, Massachusetts. It's a college town, a mountain getaway for the quietly rich,
where the average burglar alarm is set off by foraging wildlife. So when Edward Inman, the owner...
The Arbogast Case
by Thomas Hettche & Elizabeth Gaffney – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (November 01, 2003)
A compelling international thriller that explores the terrain between erotic love and death
On a warm September evening in 1953 Hans Arbogast, a young travelling salesman, picks up a hitchhiker, a refugee from...
Late one spring afternoon, Alejandro Stern, the brilliant defense lawyer from Presumed Innocent, comes home from a business trip to find that Clara, his wife of thirty years, has committed suicide. In this book,...
One L
One L, Scott Turow's journal of his first year at law school introduces and a best-seller when it was first published in 1977, has gone on to become a virtual bible for prospective law students. Not only does...
Our Kind of Cruelty
by Araminta Hall – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (May 08, 2018)
“A searing, chilling sliver of perfection . . . May well turn out to be the year’s best thriller.” —Charles Finch, The New York Times Book Review
“This is simply one of the nastiest and most disturbing...
by Ryan Gattis – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (August 01, 2017)
Winner of the First Annual McIntyre’s Fine Books Mystery Prize
“Safe is a propulsive thriller that confirms Ryan Gattis as one of our most gifted novelists.” —Michael Connelly, author of The Wrong Side...
by Colin Harrison – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (June 06, 2017)
The long-awaited new novel by “the class act of the urban thriller” (Entertainment Weekly)
YOU BELONG TO ME . . . Paul Reeves is a successful immigration lawyer, but his passion is collecting old maps of...
by Warren Ellis – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (November 29, 2016)
A smart, tight, provocative techno-thriller straight out of the very near future—by an iconic visionary writer
Some people call it "abyss gaze." Gaze into the abyss all day and the abyss will gaze into you....
Hurt People
by Cote Smith – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (March 01, 2016)
Summer of 1988. Leavenworth, Kansas: a town with four major prisons, gripped by the recent escape of a convict. Yet for two young brothers, all that matters is the pool in their apartment complex. They spend...
The Crooked House
by Christobel Kent – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (January 12, 2016)
"A taut psychological thriller, loaded with mood, and a puzzle tricky enough to keep you guessing to the final page" —The Washington Post
In the chilling tradition of Daphne du Maurier and with the acuity of...
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Constrained analyses > Redundancy Analysis >
The main idea...
Distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA) developed by Legendre and Anderson (1999) is a means to conduct RDA, a method which is intended to detect linear relationships, on (dis)similairties generated by measures which may be non-linear. A (dis)similarity matrix, calculated using a measure appropriate to the response data, is used as input to a principal coordinates analysis (PCoA). The result of this is a set of principal coordinates which represent the (dis)similarities in a Euclidean space, which is appropriate for analysis using standard RDA.
db-RDA
Figure 1: Schematic of a distance-based redundancy analysis. A (dis)similarity or distance matrix is taken as input to a principal coordinates analysis. The user will select informative principal coordinates to be used - along with explanatory variables associated with the (dis)similarity matrix - as input for a standard RDA.
While the original variables lose their individuality, the results of db-RDA can reveal whether a matrix of explanatory variables has some significant impact on the (dis)similarities derived from the response data as a whole. If the matrix of response variables from which the (dis)similarity matrix was calculated is available, they may be correlated with the PCoA axes to suggest which response variables contribute the most to the PCoA ordination.
Partial db-RDA is available in some implementations. As in partial RDA, this extension of db-RDA allows the influence of a matrix of conditioning variables to be partialled-out (approximately, "removed") prior to analysis.
If the analysis task can be addressed in ANOVA-like terms (i.e. the explanatory variable(s) define(s) the group membership of objects and the main concern is difference between groups) then dissimilarity or distance matrices may be directly tested using a non-parametric MANOVA (NPMANOVA). Click here for more information on NPMANOVA.
The function capscale() in the package vegan performs constrained analysis of principal coordinates, or distance-based RDA
Legendre P, Anderson MJ (1999) Distance-based redundancy analysis: testing multispecies responses in multifactorial ecological experiments. Ecol Monogr. 69:1–24.
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Campaigning for Truth in the Battle for Renewable Energy
THREE PER CENT
Back in April, the results of an Ipsos MORI poll were published.
More than 1,000 people were surveyed. The question they were asked was simple:
"To what extent are you in favour of or opposed to the use of wind power in the UK?"
See? Nice and simple.
The nimbies hate this sort of survey, because it just asks a simple question. If they had their own way, the anti-wind fascists would seek to skew the questions (e.g., "Given that windfarms eat babies, cause global warming and provide homes for immigrants, how much would you like to see one built in your living room?") or to manipulate the results - which was how VVASP managed to turn a minority of local residents opposed to the proposed Lenchwick Windfarm into an "overwhelming" majority. Basically, as usual, they lied. And then Karen Lumley MP repeated their lies at the Wychavon District Council planning meeting. But then, Karen Lumley doesn't really get it, does she?
Back to the April poll. As we've seen, the question was pretty straightforward. And here are the results:
TO WHAT EXTENT ARE YOU IN FAVOUR OF OR OPPOSED TO THE USE OF WIND POWER IN THE UK?
Strongly in favour - 28%
Tend to favour - 38%
Neither favour nor oppose - 22%
Tend to oppose - 5%
Strongly oppose - 3%
Don't know - 4%
Let's look at those figures in more detail.
The total of the 1,000+ Britons polled who were broadly or strongly in favour of wind power was 66% - or roughly two-thirds of the population.
The total who were broadly or strongly opposed was 8% - or less than one-tenth of the population.
More people didn't know what they thought than were strongly opposed.
The number of Britons who neither favour nor oppose wind power was nearly three times the number who are opposed to it.
The number of Britons who do favour wind power was more than eight times the number opposed.
Now, our local group of nimby liars and nutters played about with the results of parish council surveys in order to get the result they wanted (a completely fictional "75%" against), and one of the ways they did that was to discount everyone who didn't express an opinion.
But let's be realistic. If you're not opposed to wind power, then you're not opposed. You may not be especially keen on windfarms, but you don't really have a problem with them.
So, if we add the "don't care very much either way" respondents to the number who were fairly or strongly in favour of wind power in the UK, we get the grand total of 88%.
We'll leave the "Don't know's" out of it, for now.
What this means is that, while just EIGHT PER CENT of the population are either mildly or massively opposed to wind power in the UK, EIGHTY-EIGHT PER CENT are strongly in favour, broadly in favour or just not particularly bothered.
This means that TEN TIMES AS MANY BRITONS ARE IN FAVOUR, OR CERTAINLY NOT OPPOSED TO, WIND POWER AS ARE AGAINST IT.
When we look at the real, out-and-out fanatics - the brainwashed nimby brigade who see it as their duty to spread clueless lies about windfarms in order to "protect" an already spoiled landscape - they amount to a grand total of ...
Wait for it ...
THREE PER CENT OF THE UK POPULATION!!!
Now, let's take the 2010 figures for the British population, which stood at just over 62 million. Less than two million of those are "Strongly opposed to wind power in the UK". About 3 million "Tend to oppose" wind power. So, almost five million Britons aren't very happy about the idea of wind power. While 57 million Britons like it or don't have a problem with it.
So, why oh why oh why do we only ever hear from the hugely unrepresentative, dishonest, noisy, thuggish loudmouths of the Three Per Cent?
And why has our idiot Chancellor suddenly made it his mission to destroy the wind industry in the UK by slashing what are laughably called "subsidies" - actually, ROC payments made by energy companies - to wind by a crippling 25%? The industry is ready and prepared for a proposed 10% cut in the ROC payments, because improved technology and increasing deployment mean that the costs of generating wind energy are coming down. But in a sop to the swivel-eyed lunatics on the government's backbenches - the dishonest cretins who have got it into their thick, echoing skulls that wind power is some sort of "scam" - George "Desperate" Osborne is thinking of destroying one of the only growth industries in the country.
When nearly 90% of the British population are strongly in favour of, broadly in favour of or totally unfazed by windfarms!
Of course, Osborne is playing to the extreme right-wing - the same sort of unpatriotic maniac who is happy to see the UK's economy blitzed on ideological grounds, and who never takes the slightest bit of interest in what's happening in the rest of the world. Everywhere, from Mexico to Morocco, huge windfarms are springing up as the world recognises the need to wean itself off dirty fossil fuels and expensive, dangerous and unreliable nuclear. Everywhere, that is, except in Britain - where a bunch of fanatics are playing King Cnut with our futures, like the brainless drones they are!
Want some fun facts? In the first three months of 2012, the amount of electricity generated by wind in the UK was up by a massive 46.8% on the same period last year.
Only a third of the UK's 340 windfarms are based in England - where almost all the anti-wind lunacy originates.
Remember, only THREE PER CENT of the British population is "Strongly opposed to wind power in the UK".
So let's hear a bit of truth about wind, from time to time, from the Mail and the Telegraph, please - or are they exclusively the mouthpieces of the demented and selfish 3%?
Posted by AEOLUS at 17:13
'Wind of Change' has been archived by the British Library as part of their Special Collection on 'Energy' and under the subject 'Society & Culture'. We are very proud that our detailed record of a dishonest, deceitful and divisive campaign of terror in rural England has been saved for the nation.
I'm a fan
Contact Aeolus at wind-in-the-orchard@hotmail.com or become a follower of this blog
This blog would not have been possible without the help and input of many in the local area who have not forgotten what decency, democracy and community spirit mean. Thanks to all for their insights, invaluable information and unstinting support.
http://blog.ewea.org
http://www.backlocalwindfarms.co.uk
http://www.bwea.com
http://www.embracewind.com
http://www.green-blog.org
http://www.lenchwickwindfarm.com
http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com
http://www.se-alliance.org.uk
http://www.stopclimatechaos.org
http://www.windenergyplanning.com
http://www.yes2wind.com
TWITSTORM
EVER SO HUMBLE
WIND TURBINE SYNDROME DOES NOT EXIST
THE DELINGPOLE DELUSION
DON'T BE FOOLED BY NIMBY LIES ...
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Tim McGraw Thanks Soldiers in Nashville
Veterans Day Is Sunday
Tim McGraw surprised 30 soldiers and their families during a Veteran’s Day appreciation luncheon at Outback Steakhouse in Brentwood, Tenn. on Thursday. According to tasteofcountry.com, the singer gave out handshakes, words of encouragement and thank yous to the men and women for their service.
“I just feel lucky to do what I do for a living and things like this that I get to do,” McGraw told Nashville, Tenn. newspaper theTennessean at the event. “I think it’s the most important thing that we have.”
McGraw’s connection to the military runs deep. His sister is a veteran of the first Gulf War, his grandfather was a World War II veteran and his uncle was a Vietnam veteran. “It’s in the family, but in the larger scope, we wouldn’t be able to tick with out it in our country and do the things we do, we wouldn’t be able travel like we travel,” the singer explained. “Our military in a lot of ways makes the larger part of the world a safer place.”
McGraw has done much to support the troops, including partnering with Operation Homefront, ACM Lifting Lives and Chase Bank to help provide 25 mortgage-free homes to wounded soldiers and their families during the tour stops on his recent Brothers of the Sun Tour with Kenny Chesney.
“12-12-12” Concert To Benefit Victims of Hurricane Sandy
Madison Square Garden - Bloomberg
Clear Channel Entertainment Enterprises is teaming up with Madison Square Garden and the Harvey Weinstein Company for a December concert to benefit Hurricane Sandy victims.
The line-up for the concert, called “12-12-12”, has not yet been released. However, promoters are promising some of the biggest names in pop music and rock’n’roll. Negotiations are said to be on-going.
According to the NYTimes “12-12-12” is being produced by James Dolan of Madison Square Garden, John Sykes of CC and Harvey Weinstain. They also produced “Concert for New York City” after the 9/11 attacks. That events drew 14,000 and raised more than $30M.
Among the musicians who performed were Paul McCartney, Melissa Etheridge, John Mellencamp, Elton John, the Backstreet Boys, The Who, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Jay-Z, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, and Destiny's Child. Notably both the Who and the Rolling Stones have concerts in the New York metropolitan area that week.
Tickets for the show — which are not available yet — will be sold to create a pool of money that will be administered by the Robin Hood Relief Fund, the active arm of the Robin Hood Foundation. Formed in 1988 by a team of corporate executives drawn mostly from the financial services industry, the Robin Hood Foundation has contributed to hundreds of New York City nonprofits over the past three decades. The foundation's Relief Fund was established in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and has once again become active in the wake of the storm. The Fund promises that 100 per cent of the money raised by the concert will go directly to hurricane relief.
Burbank heads into Radio Hall of Fame
Museum in Chicago honors former WLW-AM humorist
From John Kieswetter, Cincinnati.com
Michael E. Keating photo
Is there room in the National Radio Hall of Fame and Museum for Gary Burbank and his alter-egos Earl Pitts, Gilbert Gnarley, the Rev. Deuteronomy Skaggs and Synonymous Bengal?
“Gary should have his own wing, just so there’s room enough for his incredible cast of characters,” said Roger Naylor, one of his writers in the 1990s.
Burbank, who retired from WLW-AM in 2007, will be honored by the Chicago museum Saturday with Howard Stern, “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” and personalities Jack Cooper (Chicago), Ron Chapman (Dallas), Art Laboe (Los Angeles) and Luther Massingill (Chattanooga).
“I never really expected much. I had so many people tell me to find something else to do because I wasn’t very good (at first). I insisted on doing characters,” said Burbank, 71, who splits his time between homes in Alexandria and Florida. “I appreciate it enormously. I don’t even have a high school education. I went into the Army when I was 17.”
Born William Purser in Memphis, he was a drummer for the Mar-Keys soul band before debuting as DJ Johnny Apollo in 1964 in Lake Providence, La.
After stints at Louisville’s WAKY-AM and WHAS-AM, and Detroit/Windsor’s powerful CKLW-AM, Burbank came to WLW-AM in 1981 planning to work for a year and return to Louisville so his wife, Carol, could be near family.
He never left, in part because WLW-AM hired a producer to help him crank out up to 10 new comedy bits a day. His sidekicks say they knewthey were working with a Hall of Famer years ago.
“Business Decisions” Mean Cox Cuts In San Antonio
The latest round of shocking cuts, which occurred less than a week ago, include (but are not limited to) KONO staple Steven O. Sellers (47-years in radio) and Magic 105 lovely, Katrina Curtiss.
S.A. rock vet Tom T-Bone Scheppke of X106.7 (KTKX-FM), who, previously, had spent many years at KISS and KZEP, also got the ax, according to Jeanne Jakle at mysantonio.com.
Of course, none of these longtime voices got the opportunity to say goodbye to their loyal listeners.
What was at the root of the changes? Dan Lawrie, vice president and market manager of Cox Media Group, said Thursday that it was “a business decision.” In other words, the cuts weren’t performance related.
That was indeed confirmed by Sellers, who said he got a cheery exit interview that emphasized how great his ratings.
Sellers said he’ll miss his friends and audience. After getting his start at KONO-AM, he then hopped around the country a bit to larger markets before landing back in San Antonio and at the ‘greatest hits’ station 13 years ago.
His latest KONO gig was the prime afternoon shift – 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. That’s now being handled by Steve Casanova.
Read More Now.
Study: 50% of Internet Users Listen To Pandora
According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, 50 percent of Internet users (96 million) listened to music on an Internet radio or on-demand music service in the past three months. More than one-third (37 percent) of U.S. Internet users listened to music on Pandora and other Internet radio services, while an equal percentage (36 percent) used an on-demand music service, like YouTube, VEVO, Spotify, MOG, Rhapsody, and Rdio.
The audience for Internet radio grew 27 percent year over year, as the on-demand music audience increased by 18 percent. As Internet radio and on-demand listening has risen, the number of consumers who reported listening to music on CDs dropped 16 percent, while the music audience for AM/FM radio fell 4 percent, and the number of consumers listening to digital downloads declined 2 percent.
“Although AM/FM radio remains America’s favorite music-listening choice, the basket of Internet radio and streaming services that are available today have, on the whole, replaced CDs for second place,” said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis at NPD. “We expect this pattern to continue, as consumers become more comfortable with ownership defined as a playlist, rather than as a physical CD or digital file.”
NPD’s “Music Acquisition Monitor” revealed that since 2009 the percentage of Pandora users who also listened to AM/FM radio declined by 10 percentage points, those listening to CDs on a non-computer device fell 21 percentage points, and listening to digital music files on portable music players also dropped 21 points. Part of these declines can be attributed to the fact that 34 percent of Pandora users are now listening to music on the service in their cars -- either connecting through an in-car appliance, or listening via car-stereo-connected smartphones or other personal listening devices.
Although listening to music on YouTube and VEVO generally appeals to a younger audience, NPD noted similar changes in traditional patterns among these users, since 2009. Among YouTube and VEVO users, CD listening on players and in cars dropped 22 percentage points, listening to digital files on portable players declined 17 points, and listening to AM/FM radio fell 12 points.
Consumers who listened to music on Pandora, VEVO, and YouTube also noted a significant positive effect on their overall discovery and rediscovery of music. In fact 64 percent of these services’ users reported rediscovering older music, and 51 percent were learning about new music. “AM/FM radio has traditionally played a significant role in helping consumers learn about new music from well known artists, as well as finding new ones; however, Pandora and other music services are an increasingly important part of the music-discovery process.”
New Radio Format In Charlotte Snatches Ears
A year ago, Radio One was looking to sell its under performing Charlotte stations.
It couldn’t get a good offer, so the Maryland-based broadcasting company decided to go all-in and try to make a dent against CBS Radio’s powerhouse urban duo of WBAV-FM (“V” 101.9) and WPEG-FM (“Power” 97.9).
Based on the October rankings from Arbitron, Radio One hit its target with a vengeance.
According to a story by Mark Washington at charlotteobserver.com, key to the strategy was its $7.75 million acquisition of WNOW-FM (105.3). Radio One switched formats from Spanish to classic hits in September.
It was renamed “Old School” for its menu of black artists like the Isley Brothers, Stevie Wonder and Rick James. In a single month, the station’s overall audience shot up nearly 140 percent, landing in a tie at No. 11 with Clear Channel Radio’s WHQC-FM (“Channel” 96.1).
LISTEN TO OLD SCHOOL 105.3, CLICK HERE.
This week “Old School” (WNOW) changed its call letters to WOSF-FM. CBS Radio quickly picked up the WNOW call letters for 92.3 FM in NYC.
“That’s for ‘Old School Flavah,’ says Gary Weiss, who oversees Radio One’s stations in Charlotte, Raleigh and Richmond. “Spell it right – it’s F-L-A-V-A-H.”
Radio One’s gains came at the expense of CBS Radio’s stations. WBAV-FM, which has long dominated radio rankings with its bookend syndicated shows of Steve Harvey in the mornings and Michael Baisden in afternoon drive time. It fell to No. 3 behind the city’s two country stations in October, a 20 percent tumble for WBAV-FM. Sister station WPEG-FM fell 11 percent in overall listeners, landing at No. 5.
LISTEN TO V101.9, CLICK HERE.
In nearly every ratings period since the beginning of 2006, WBAV-FM has been Charlotte’s the No. 1 station. It lost Tom Joyner’s morning show to Radio One’s WQNC-FM (and is now on “Old School”) in late 2004 and faded before landing Harvey a year later. He was an instant success and WBAV-FM has topped ratings since.
WBAV-FM’s operations director Terri Avery says she expected some dip because every new station attracts sampling. But she believes that CBS’s stations will continue to dominate against “Old School,” which plays music but has no local hosts, because of CBS’s intensely local focus and popular talents like Chirl Girl, Gary Knight and Jewel Carter.
R.I.P.: WGFB Rockford Morning Co-Host Jeannie Hayes Was 29
UPDATE 11/13/12: WREX airs Hayes Tribute
Original Posting....
Even mice could count Jeannie Hayes as their friend, according to a story at the Rockford, Ill Register Star.
The critters that infiltrated the cornfield-surrounded WREX studio were released to outside safety after Hayes caught them in garbage cans, said Rebecca Klopf, a producer and reporter at the TV station where Hayes has worked as a producer, anchor and show host.
Hayes, a vegetarian, also insisted that whomever was making her sandwich at Subway put on new gloves so her lunch would be free of any meat residue, said Maggie Hradecky, former news director at WREX who hired Hayes in 2005. Hradecky now is manager of the Community Content House for GateHouse Media, which owns the Register Star.
Hayes, 29, died Thursday night. She was hospitalized at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center on Tuesday when doctors diagnosed her with an aggressive form of leukemia.
Hayes was diagnosed with a bladder infection when she sought medical treatment Monday. She called 911 on Tuesday after her condition had worsened. Doctors diagnosed her with leukemia and performed emergency surgery on Wednesday, as a result of which she fell into a coma.
Hayes has been a producer and anchor of WREX’s weekday noon newscast and host and producer of “13 Cares,” a community talk show that runs Sunday mornings on the station. The past several months, she was the co-host with Sean Henry on the WGFB / B103 morning show.
Hayes grew up in Granger, Ind., near South Bend with her parents and two sisters. Her cellphone ringtone off-and-on: the theme song to the “I Dream of Jeannie” TV show.
A posting on the B103 website said “ Jeannie had two grown sisters and two wonderful parents – we know that she will be missed by all of them. As one of the sweetest, kindest, and most genuine people we will have ever gotten to meet - we know the people of Rockford will miss Jeannie Hayes.”
Larry O'Connor Joins WMAL For AM Drive
Larry O’Connor, talk host and Editor-In-Chief of the Breitbart.tv website, joins Brian Wilson as co- host of Cumulus News/Talk WMAL/Washington’s morning program, “Mornings On The Mall”.
O’Connor, who has regularly guest-hosted the nationally-syndicated “Dennis Miller Show” as well as programs on WMAL, WABC and WOR/New York, WPHT/ Philadelphia, and WLS/Chicago (among others), began his talkradio career by creating the highest-rated nightly news show on Blog Talk Radio.
Cledus T. Judd Hooks up With WTCR Huntington
Radio personality/comedian Cledus T. Judd is departing country WQYK Tampa, F. for – Huntington, WV. Huh? WTH?
The move apparently is for family reasons, Judd says he’s been looking for an opportunity which would allow him to be closer to his daughter and family.
“Most radio people spend their careers trying to get out of a small town and I’ve been working most of mine trying to figure out how to get back to one,” said Judd. “I want to thank the Clear Channel Media and Entertainment team for giving me my dream gig on WTCR 103.3.”
Judd is joing CC’s country WTCR and will partner with long-time hosts Judy Eaton and Clint McElroy for a rebranded morning show “The Cledus T. Party with Judy and Clint”. The new show starts November 19th.
Judd is nationally known for his parody of country songs.
Compliments Are Complementary At WGNE Fair Booth
Eden Kendall of WGNE /99.9 Gator Country's morning show set up an Affirmation Station booth at thr Jacksonville (FL) Fair this week. Visitors can walk-up and get a free compliment.
A Jacksonville.com posting says Kendall plans to set up the booth Friday, starting around 6:30 p.m. The booth will be next to the stage, where former "American Idol" Lauren Alaina plays at 8 p.m.
She said the booth resembles the one Lucy used when she dispensed psychiatric advice in the "Peanuts" cartoon.
The idea came after a morning show discussion. "I mentioned that I had always wanted to create a drive thru kiosk called The Affirmation Station, and dole out free compliments. Hours later, Players By the Sea theatre company had this thing built!"
93.9 Lite-FM Chicago Holds Christmas Music 'Hostage'
UPDATE 11/09/12 1:15pm: Chicagoradioandmedia.com reports WLIT-FM has pulled the switch. For the twelfth November in a row, "The Lite" is now "The Holiday Lite," having dropped its regular Adult Contemporary/Hot AC programming and now gone to 100% Christmas music. As of 11:16am this morning, with the playing of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" by Bing Crosby, the station will now be playing only holiday tunes until December 26th.
Recently, the WLIT-FM website added their annual Christmas Countdown Clock, changed the website's theme to that of the Holiday Lite, and gave a link to their non-stop holiday music web stream.
Chicago listeners who want to hear all their Holiday favs on Clear Channel’s WLIT 93.9 FM will have to “pay-up”.
The station is involved in a fundraiser to benefits Mercy Home for Boys & Girls and not only can listeners make a difference in the lives of needy kids, but the sooner they make become a guardian angel, the sooner 93.9 turns-on “Christmas Lite”.
Listeners can become a guardian angel by pledging to make a monthly donation to a child. Listeners are being urged to phone 1-800-961-6185 today until 8 and Friday 6a to 8p.
The station says they’ll keep track of how close we are to our fundraising goal. The quicker the Christmas tree on their website becomes completely decorated, the sooner CC will flip to All-Christmas music!
“Christmas is all about kids, and when Corder & Karen heard about the great work Mercy Home for Boys and Girls has been doing for children here in our community, they wanted to help,” said Tony Coles, vice president of programming and operations for Clear Channel Chicago and program director of Lite FM told Robert Feder at timeoutchicago.com. “We were planning to start Christmas music next weekend, but if listeners would like to hear it sooner — and help a great cause at the same time — we hope they will donate today. The abused, abandoned and neglected children will appreciate it greatly.”
In addition to providing full-time residential care since 1887, the nonprofit agency offers counseling and critical, life-saving services to more than 650 hurting and troubled young women and men each year.
If all goes as expected, Coles said, the Christmas music could start as early as Saturday.
Opinion: Why Media Go Wild Over Trump
Donald Trump calls the election a “sham” and demands a revolution–do the media have to keep taking this guy seriously? Mitt Romney’s team didn’t. Lauren Ashburn and Howard Kurtz on The Donald.
Tom's Take: Hey radio this video should give you some ideas. Easily produced and a great addition to website or to Tweet!
Employer Tells KXNT: Obama Won–So I Fired 22 Employees
A Las Vegas business owner with 114 employees fired 22 workers today, apparently as a direct result of President Obama’s re-election.
“David” (he asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons) told Host Kevin Wall on 100.5 KXNT that “elections have consequences” and that “at the end of the day, I need to survive.”
Here’s an excerpt from the interview. Click the audio tab below to hear even more from this compelling conversation:
“I’ve done my share of educating my employees. I never tell them which way to vote. I believe in the free system we have, I believe in the right to choose who they want to be president, but I did explain as a business owner that I have always put my employees first. I always made sure that when I went without a paycheck that [I] made sure they were paid. And I explained that I always put them first and unfortunately I’m at a point where I’m being forced to have to worry about me and my family now and a business that I built from just me to 114 employees."
Scarborough Criticizes GOP Leaders For Kowtowing To Talk Radio
Video Surfaces Of Diane Sawyer Boozing It Up On Set
Veteran news anchor Diane Sawyer prompted speculation that she was drunk during Tuesday night's election coverage with her slurred speech and erratic behavior, and RadarOnline.com has unearthed old footage of Diane in which she's seen drinking wine and popping pills before going live on air!
Diane, 66, was a co-anchor on ABC's Primetime Live between 1989 and 1998 and in raw video taken at some point as she was preparing to go live on air, she's seen sipping on a large glass of red wine and then popping pills she dug out of her purse.
Throughout the clip Diane, who seems to channel Princess Diana with her look, is seen fixing her hair and making sure she looks presentable for the broadcast.
FCC Likely To Ease Media-Ownership Rules
Federal regulators are poised to ease ownership restrictions on major-market media outlets in what could be a boost to some big players in the struggling newspaper industry.
After two failed attempts to loosen its rules, the Federal Communications Commission is expected by the end of the year to approve a new proposal that would allow newspapers and television or radio stations in the 20 largest markets to consolidate, arrocing to a story by Jim Puzzanhera at latimes.com.
And unlike previous battles, there is little opposition this time to easing the so-called cross-ownership rules.
A decade of Internet growth, fast-changing technologies and plunging newspaper revenues — along with the nation's focus on recovering from the Great Recession — have altered views.
Few people seem to care much if newspapers and television stations hook up in the same metropolitan area.
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Apologizes For Sandy Comment
MSNBC's Chris Matthews apologized on his Hardball show Wednesday (November 7th) for comments he'd made during election coverage the night before about Hurricane Sandy that had drawn criticism.
While speaking Tuesday night about President Obama's victory, Matthews said he was glad Sandy happened, because it showed undecided voters Obama could come together to work with Republican leaders like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
He stated, "I'm so glad we had that storm last week," then tried to clarify, saying, "No, politically I should say. Not in terms of hurting people. The storm brought in possibilities for good politics."
As he opened Hardball yesterday, Matthews said in a lengthy, apparently heart-felt apology, "I said something terrible. I said something not just stupid but wrong."
He also stated, in part, "I was too deeply enmeshed in political thinking, deep in a world of numbers and issues and people and stakes and focused on who would win and who would lose. But I left out the number one job of anyone on air: To think about the lives, the real lives of people, their losses, their relatives and friends who died in this disaster, their dreams that have been hurt and even destroyed."
As he concluded, Matthews said, "I intend to take serious steps to show that I am sincere on this. Please believe me, I am determined to do what I can to help the people who have already been hurt enough, who are suffering and have suffered enough hardship without hearing stupid stuff from me."
Radio HOF Hopes Howard Stern Shows
There’s no doubt Howard Stern will be inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame Saturday. But whether the King of All Media will accept the honor is another question, according to Robert Feder attimeoutchicago.com. Stern, who was passed over four times in previous balloting, was chosen this year by the Chicago-based shrine’s steering committee.
“We would hope that Howard would show up,” said chairman Bruce DuMont. “He certainly deserves to be in the Radio Hall of Fame. We’ll be delighted to welcome him and honor him. I hope that he rises to the occasion. We think we did the right thing, and I hope he does the right thing, too.”
Stern, who has ridiculed the Radio Hall of Fame in the past, acknowledged the honor on his SiriusXM Radio show when he read a note of congratulations from Chaz Ebert, wife of movie critic Roger Ebert.
But Stern and his agent have never responded in any way officially.
DuMont said Stern’s presenter will be Bears defensive tackle and longtime fan Amobi Okoye. Other 2012 inductees include Gary Burbank, Ron Chapman, Art Laboe, Luther Masingill, Jack L. Cooper (posthumously), and NPR’s Fresh Air, hosted by Terry Gross.
Geraldo Rivera will host the nationally broadcast event from the Museum of Broadcast Communications, 360 North State Street.
Imagine Jocks Picking Their Own Music
It’s 11:30 on a weekday morning at the WDVX studio, and DJ Grace, aka Grace Toensing, is running around like a jitterbug, in and out of the studio and the adjacent storage room, pulling faxes and choosing CDs, answering phones while an especially lengthy music selection keeps the airwaves full.
David Luttrell photo
“I swear I think that woman called me ‘sir’,” she laughs. Toensing is one of those people who brings to her job a very real and singular enthusiasm, an effervescent joi de vivre that seems to defy proscriptions against perpetual motion.
Mike Gibson at metropulse.com writes that sort of indefatigable spirit is useful at WDVX, licensed to Clinton, TN and serving the Knoxville market, an Americana station with the almost unheard-of policy—in today’s era—of allowing its DJs to operate with no playlist, pulling songs track by track from a wall of CDs in the abutting room. With no computer bank to fall back on, there’s an awful lot of to-and-fro going on.
But Toensing wasn’t always a DJ dynamo. Upon first coming to WDVX some 15 years ago, she says, “I didn’t know Bill Monroe from a hole in the ground.”
She was also scared stiff at the prospect of saying more that a few words at a time on the air. “You could have wrote down everything I said,” says Toensing. “But I fell in love with the place,” Toensing say. “It’s been more fun than you can shake a stick at. It’s been a blessing to be part of it all.”
Like Toensing, WDVX has persevered. In 2011, the station won its seventh Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music Association award for Bluegrass Station of the Year. Having begun webcasting in the late 1990s, it has pockets of fans in unexpected places the world over. And it’s been featured on ABC’s World News, PBS NewsHour, the BBC, No Depression, and in a slew of other domestic and foreign outlets.
And now it’s celebrating its unlikely 15th anniversary, with a Nov. 9 concert at the Bijou Theatre featuring Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale, the Shawn Camp Band, Jay Clark, Robinella, and the Naughty Knots.
But when station svengali and program director Tony Lawson accounts for that 15 years, he starts when WDVX took to its first “permanent” digs—the infamous Anderson County camper where the station took root in 1997 and remained until 2005, when it moved to the Knoxville Visitor Center on Gay Street. “Nov. 5 and the camper—I consider that our real birthday,” he says.
R.I.P.: “Caller Lew” Passes from St. Louis Sports Radio Scene
From Earl Austin for Stlamerican.com
Lewis Jones
The St. Louis sports community lost one of its favorite people last week when Lewis Jones passed away at the age of 78.
In recent years, Lewis Jones had become quite the St. Louis sports celebrity. The irony was that he wasn’t an athlete, a coach or even a member of the local sports media. Lew was a man who spent much of his time calling local sports talk shows and voicing his opinions.
If you listen to sports talk in St. Louis, you knew “Caller Lew.” Everyone did. He was a fixture on the sports radio airwaves for many years with his hard-hitting opinions about our local sports figures.
Lew was very knowledgeable and quite provocative in his opinions. He did not hold back. Some of his favorite targets included former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, current Cardinals outfielder Matt Holiday and St. Louis Rams’ quarterback Sam Bradford. Whenever Lew called, it was must-listen radio.
Whether you agreed or disagreed with Lew, everyone grew to love and respect him. So, when news of his death started to make its rounds around the sports talk shows, the sports radio-talk community was in a state of mourning for a week.
Lew’s impact in local sports was clearly evident at his homegoing service last Friday at a packed West Side Missionary Baptist Church in North County. Many members of St. Louis’ sports talk fraternity were present, including Mike Claiborne, Charlie “Tuna” Edwards, Alvin Reid, Kevin Slaten and Evan McKovsky among many others. Long-time talk show host Richard “Onion” Horton was also present.
Posted 2:59:00 AM 3 comments:
Clear Channel Shakes Up St. Louis
"The Brew" is gone, and the "Majic" has moved.
Joe Holloman at stltoday.com changes at Clear Channel radio:
• "Majic" is now at 100.3 on the FM dial. It still features the same urban/R&B as before.
• Its old frequency of 104.9 is now the home of "Wild 104," which features pop and hip-hop.
With the draining of "The Brew," which played classic rock, the well-known "Bob & Tom Show" is off the air.
Posted 2:35:00 PM 1 comment:
Weather Service: No Names Please
The Weather Channel took it upon themselves on Wednesday to name a huge New England winter storm and now the National Weather Service is telling their meteorologists not to follow suit.
Examiner.com is reporting the Atlanta-based Weather Channel began marketing the storm as Winter Storm Athena today, explaining to viewers it will bring cold temperatures, high winds and dump heavy snow upon the already devastated northeastern states caused by Super Storm Sandy.
"Winter warnings this early in the season, that is pretty significant for that area," Weather Channel winter weather expert Tom Niziol explained on-air at 8:50 a.m. EDT. "What really compounds this is the aftermath of Sandy, and that again is the main reason why we are naming this storm."
Minutes later, the National Weather Service issued a bulletin asking NWS meteorologists to cease calling the winter storm by a name.
"TWC has named the Nor'easter Athena," the National Weather Service in Bohemia, New York said. "The NWS does not use name winter storms in our products. Please refrain from using the term Athena in any of our products."
The term "products" is what the NWS refers to as their forecasts and information.
Media Meltdown: Carl Rove On Fox
Although Barack Obama was re-elected in historic fashion, winning a second term with a majority of the popular vote and sizable lead in the Electoral College, he was a sideshow in his own victory. Instead, a highlight of the night was Carl Rove, now a Fox News Channel pundit. Rove spent the better part of an hour sputtering on air that Obama hadn’t really won.
Media Buzz: What Was up With Diane Sawyer on ABC?
UPDATE 11/7/12 3PM: ABC's Diane Sawyer has broken her silence about her on-air performance during Election Night. She Tweets:
A wacky sounding Diana Sawyer, slurring her words and rambling on about nothing, spoke haltingly as she tried to navigate the election returns. Something very different was going on with her as she clumsily threw to reporters in the field.
"What We Learned From Testing Christmas Music"
From Sean Ross, For Edison Research
When Edison Research did its last national test of holiday music in 2007, nearly half of the best songs–those making up the top sixth of the songs tested–came from 1967 or before. In any other radio genre, time marches on, songs lose their currency, and new listeners age into the target demo and bring a new handful of songs with them. But not holiday music.
Edison has just completed a test of more than 200 women ages 30-49 who like or (in most cases) love hearing Christmas music on the radio. And the era balance of the music has held, essentially. Now 53% of the best-testing songs come from 1968 or before.
The top-testing song, the Andy Williams version of “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year,” is from 1963. The newest recording in the top 10, Air Supply’s version of “Sleigh Ride,” is from 1987. The newest holiday hit of any significance that is not a cover, Newsong’s 2000 tear-jerker, “The Christmas Shoes,” just misses the top 100. And developments below the top tier of songs make some of the holiday standards look even stronger by comparison than they were five years ago.
AC radio’s holiday strategy–more emphasis on the standards, earlier start dates to be “first in,” even at the risk of alienating listeners for a few weeks if they’re not really ready for holiday music–takes a little more flak every year, particularly for any AC station that looks vulnerable again after January. Yet, holiday music actually looks as strong as ever in the 2012 research.
Atlanta Ratings: Power 96.1 Breaks Open
WSB gains with Rush’s arrival
The recent shakeup in Atlanta radio is showing its effects in the ratings, according Rodney Ho at ajc.com.
One station with a new format — the heavily advertised Top 40-based WWPW / Power 96.1 – broke into the overall top 10 in its first full month of Arbitron ratings, covering Sept. 13 through Oct. 10.
Power, which debuted in late August, finished with a 4.3 rating, good for No. 10, just behind Star 94 (4.4) and Q100 (4.5). Those are better numbers than its predecessor rock station, Project 9-6-1, pulled even in its best months.
As a result of Power’s success, rival Q100 dropped from a 5.4 to a 4.5. That’s Q100’s worst overall performance since December 2010. Its 25- to 54-year-old demographic numbers fell 1 ratings point from 6.0 to 5.0, its lowest since February. But Q100’s 18-34 numbers held steady.
Power’s entry also had an effect on one of its Clear Channel sister stations, Wild 105.7/96.7. Wild started playing more hip-hop to distinguish itself from the more youthful pop-dance sound of Power. Wild slipped from 3.1 to 2.5 last month, its worst month since July 2011.
The more adult-pop oriented stations B98.5 (ranked fifth overall) and Star 94 (ranked ninth) held steady from the previous four weeks, despite all the changes across the radio dial.
Rush Limbaugh’s arrival at AM 750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB on Oct.1 helped boost the station’s ratings. Over the 10 days measured that Limbaugh was on board, ratings jumped 50 percent compared with to the previous 18 days during the same time period. Previously, Neal Boortz and Clark Howard occupied the 12-3 p.m. time.
Syracuse Radio Wars: KROCK Ad Taunts 95X Manager
First, two guys left their morning show at Cumulus Media’s 95X (WAQX) and went to work across town at Galaxy’s KROCK (WKRL/WKRH/WKLL). Next, Cumulus got upset and took the two guys to court. Twice.
According to CNYRadio.com, although the two guys were banned from using phrases they coined at 95X, neither court blocked them from working at KROCK. And now, Galaxy’s returning fire at Cumulus, by way of a somewhat taunting display ad that’s appearing on the area’s busiest local news website.
CNYRadio reports the ad appeared on syracuse.com’s home page Monday. The first frame, at left, features a picture of Cumulus General Manager Shane Bogardus, with the text, “Why is the ‘X-Boss’ afraid?” After a few seconds, the image changes to the panel at right, promoting “Hunter and Josh Mornings” on their current station. The photo of Bogardus, wearing a straw hat and a lei around his neck, appears to have been taken at a party of some sort.
Cincy’s MOJO Going All-Sports Jan. 2
UPDATE 11/16/12: Radio-One's 100.3 WMOJ Cincinnati has changed calls to WCFN as it prepares to become the local CBS Sports Radio affiliate on ½.
Say goodbye to Jammin’ Oldies WMOJ-FM (100.3), reports JohnKiesewetter at Cincinnati.com. The Radio One station pulled the plug on urban oldies during the night and switched to all-Christmas music, to start the transition to CBS Sports Radio Network talk on Jan. 2.
The CBS Sports Radio Network will launch with author John Feinstein 9 a.m.-noon, Jim Rome from Fox Sports at noon-3 p.m., former ESPN host Doug Gottlieb 3-6 p.m. and Scott Ferrall at 10 p.m.-2 a.m.
This is the second try at FM talk here. WFTK-FM (96.5) was “SuperTalk96.5″ for about 13 months before switching to 96 ROCK.
The new station will compete against a trio of Clear Channel stations – ESPN WCKY-AM (1530), Fox Sports WSAI-AM (1360) and WLW-AM (700), plus afternoon local sports talk with Dennis “Wildman” Walker and Jeff Piecoro on WQRT-AM (Real Talk 1160).
Program director Steve Harris says “the opportunity was to great to pass up” to do sports talk on FM here.
No decision has been made about doing a local morning show or carrying a nework morning show. Former Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason, who does mornings on CBS’ WFAN and CBS’ Sunday NFL pregame show, will do customized content for MOJO, Harris says.
DC’s Top News Stations Differ On Traffic Reports
From Paul Farhi, The Washington Post
Non-com WAMU (88.5 FM), the Washington area’s top-rated station, gets its up-to-the-minute news about local roads from reporters in . . . Florida. And Philadelphia.
Jerry Edwards, the venerable traffic reporter who does the station’s morning updates, describes the daily fight of the lights from his home in the Sunshine State’s Sarasota. Dave Solomon, who handles afternoons, broadcasts from up the interstate in Philly.
Radio stations have long used “voice tracking,” a technique that makes a distant disc jockey sound like he or she is broadcasting locally. But traffic reporting — a vital service for rush-hour drivers — has generally remained a local affair. Most Washington area stations get their updates from a company called Total Traffic Network, whose reporters work out of a regional office in downtown Silver Spring.
Even so, technology makes it possible to produce traffic reports far, far from the madding crowd. Edwards’s home studio in Sarasota is outfitted with computers and other equipment that he says gives him access to the same cameras and government traffic information that reporters in the Washington area use. Traffic tips come in from listeners via a Washington phone line that forwards calls to him. High-quality audio links make it sound as if he’s describing conditions from down the street, not from down South, 960 miles away.
WAMU, a non-commercial station that carries local news and talk programs as well as NPR programming, has not said on the air where Edwards and Solomon are when they’re reporting. But it leaves a strong impression that its traffic reporters are right in the middle of the action, what with preliminary banter — “Hi, Jerry,” “Hi, Dave” — and patter about local conditions (“Be careful out there in this rain,” etc.).
The whole thing gets Jim Farley, of rival news station WTOP (103.5 FM), about as riled up as a commuter stuck in a rush-hour jam.
“It matters” where the reporters are, says Farley, WTOP’s vice president of news and programming. His station, which battles WAMU for ratings supremacy, employs its own staff of 20 full- and part-time traffic reporters who broadcast traffic conditions every 10 minutes around the clock.
Farley says every member of his traffic staff experiences local conditions every day. “They drive in it, see it, feel it,” he said.
At the very least, Farley says, WAMU should disclose to its listeners that its traffic reports are coming from out of town. “Not doing that is deceptive and misleading,” he says. “It’s not honest reporting.”
Kids Enjoy The Trip of a Lifetime
Tip of the headphones to Kidd Kraddick as more than 50 chronically or terminally ill kids and their families get to enjoy the trip of a lifetime. They’re headed to Walt Disney World tomorrow. For the 21st year, Kidd Kraddick in the Morning show (now airing on 70+ stations) raised more than $533,000 from listeners and corporate sponsors during a fundraising campaign. Children selected for the trip are between the ages of 5 and 12, suffer from a chronic or terminal illness, are physically challenged and/or have a catastrophic impairment due to an injury or accident.
R.I.P.: FL Radio Personality Lenny Davis Was 50
A veteran law enforcement officer and morning radio personality died Monday, the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said in Florida.
Deputy Lenny Davis, 50, died from natural causes at his home, according to tcpalm.com. He was a deputy in St. Lucie for 22 years.
For the last few years, Davis recorded a sports segment "Sports My Way" for WPSL-AM 1590 in Port SaintaLucie as part of The Morning Show.
"Lenny could have become one of the ESPN guys," said Morning Show host George "Mr. G." Coles. "He had developed a following and he was very entertaining. He was in your face, calling out certain players for being big dummies."
Davis had been doing sports broadcasting on the side for at least seven years, including hosting a NASCAR show on WSTU-AM 1450 in Stuart, Coles said. Davis went from calling in to radio shows to hosting his own segments, he said.
"He'd record his stuff for our show before he went to work," Coles said. "Sometimes he'd record it on his iPad while driving in his patrol car."
R.I.P.: Radio Veteran James Brand Was 78
James Maitland Brand II passed away quietly in Hospice Care in Gainesville, FL this past Saturday.
Brand got his start in Dallas, TX working overnights at KGKO. After stops in Tyler, Austin and Denver, he spent ten years in Louisville, Kentucky, working for WAKY. He was hired by Gordon McLendon as Program Director and remained with the station under LIN Broadcasting as group Program Director. He hired and motivated one of the finest air staffs ever assembled in gthe ‘60s.
After being Program director of WLEE in Richmond, VA, from 1969-1970, he worked for WMEX in Boston, MA as Program Director. Brand moved to Florida in March, 1970. A close friend has purchased WDVH in Gainesville. Brand orchestrated the change from top 40 to country.
He stressed staff involvement in the community through his own actions, and supervised a staff of six on-air dee-jays and a news department of seven.
WJZ-FM’s Jim Duquette Donates Kidney To Daughter
Many people know former Orioles executive Jim Duquette, who now broadcasts on WJZ-FM The Fan in Baltimore. But few know the pain his family has lived with for years. Like so many others in this country, Duquette's little 10-year-old girl needed a kidney transplant to live.
CBS Baltimore went inside the operating room where a father/daughter miracle takes place before our eyes.
A kiss to start a new life.
"You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be great," Duquette said.
That was a conversation between Lindsey Duquette and her dad, Jim, moments before her kidney transplant-the ultimate gift from a father to his 10-year-old daughter.
"I'll see you when we're out, OK?" he said.
Lindsey's kidneys started failing when she was just two years old. She doesn't remember ever not having problems with them.
Doctors tried everything to avoid a transplant.
"When you start to get the experiment drugs, you're at the end of the line, really," Duquette said.
A year and a half ago, doctors were forced to remove both of Lindsey's failing kidneys. She needed dialysis to live.
Last summer, doctors knew Lindsey needed a transplant. Now they had to find a donor.
"They tested [my dad] from blood," Lindsey said.
He was a match.
Five Year-old WHO Video Goes Viral
WHO Morning host Jan Mickelson who grilled Mitt Romney about his Mormon faith in a 2007 interview is expressing dismay that a clip of that conversation has gone viral as Election Day arrives and says whoever put it out was trying to make the GOP nominee “look weird.”
“I’d say, No. One, it wasn’t a gotcha interview,” Mickelson, the host of the radio talk show based in Des Moines, Iowa, told Kathy Glueck atPolitico. “It wasn’t designed as an ambush for Romney.
The clip in question, which resurfaced last week and has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube, “left out the context,” Mickelson said.
The video making the rounds shows Mickelson and Romney sparring over the GOP presidential nominee’s Mormon faith in the lead-up to the 2008 primary contests. That piece of the interview, which was conducted after the two were already off the air, continued the on-air interview’s broader conversation about how Romney’s position on the abortion question had evolved since his time as governor of Massachusetts, he said.
“It wasn’t about his theology,” Mickelson said. “It was about the transition of his ethics, and why did he change his view, under what circumstances. I thought I was asking totally coherent questions that I thought were softballs.”
But the viral video focuses heavily on questions surrounding Romney’s religion, as the two delved into religious texts and discussed the Mormon Church’s positions on subjects including the second coming of Christ and abortion.
“I’m not running to talk about Mormonism,” Romney snapped toward the end of the clip.
Mickelson speculated that whoever is behind the YouTube clip — the user’s identity is unclear — likely wanted to highlight elements of Romney’s Mormon faith because “it makes him look weird.”
When Will We Know?
From Michael Calderone for Huffington Post:
At 11 a.m. Tuesday, representatives from five TV networks and the Associated Press will head into the "quarantine room," an undisclosed location with no cell phone or Internet access.
That's where the National Election Pool -- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox and the AP -- start sifting through exit poll data provided by Edison Research. Six hours later, staffers will be permitted to start sending data to their respective news organizations, while additional exit polls, especially on the West Coast, keep coming in. While news outlets can begin reporting after 5 p.m. on some general trends they have observed in exit polls, such as whether voters consider the economy the most important issue in the 2012 election, they're not permitted to publish or broadcast any information that suggests which way a state is leaning until its polls close and actual vote numbers start streaming in.
Four years ago, there was no mystery about who would become the 44th president when polls on the West Coast closed at 11 p.m., with all five TV networks and the AP calling the election for Barack Obama, who handily defeated Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the Electoral College. But executives and editors overseeing 2012 election calls -- like most of the news media -- expect a much closer outcome on Tuesday, resulting in a very long night.
The Boss Meets the Gov
Al Roker photo
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who's have a difficult week dealing with the big blow Hurricane Sandy dealt to his state, and who's gotten a lot of political attention -- some of it positive, some of it not -- for his effusive praise of President Obama's handling of the storm, said yesterday (November 5th) that getting to meet his idol, rocker Bruce Springsteen, three days earlier moved him to tears.
While speaking at a briefing on storm recovery Monday, Christie disclosed that he'd unexpectedly spoken to Springsteen earlier in the day, when Obama, during a phone call to discuss Sandy-related matters, handed the phone to "The Boss," who was traveling with the president on a campaign trip.
Christie also said he got a hug from Springsteen at Friday's (November 2nd) benefit concert for storm victims and that he cried at home after meeting his idol, saying it was a major highlight of a tough week.
Christie hasn't made a secret of how big a fan he is of Springsteen, saying that he's attended more than 100 of his concerts. But the politically liberal Springsteen had never previously acknowledged the Republican governor.
Aerosmith: the Rock Of Boston
Yesterday (November 5th), Aerosmith returned to their Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood to perform an hour-long set in front of thousands of fans. The concert was played in celebration of the release today (November 6th) of their long awaited new studio album, Music From Another Dimension, the 2012 Presidential election, along with Boston Mayor Tom Menino declaring the 1325 Commonwealth Avenue building -- where Aerosmith lived from 1970 to 1972 -- a historic landmark, with a special commemorative plaque placed outside on the building. The band was introduced by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son Jonathan. Joining the Kraft's was Pats quarterback Tom Brady and linebacker Jerod Mayo.
Among the tunes the band performed yesterday was the Rufus Thomas R&B classic "Walking The Dog," "Movin' Out" -- which Steven Tyler and Joe Perry wrote at the Commonwealth Avenue apartment, "Mama Kin," the new song "Lover Alot," "Back In The Saddle," "Sweet Emotion," the band teased a bit of the James Brown nugget "Mother Popcorn" before launching into "Walk This Way." Aerosmith closed the hour-long set with encores of the new track "Oh Yeah" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'."
Jim Rome Horsing Around
CBS Radio host Jim Rome has been in the horse racing game for a number of years -- his stable runs under the name Jungle Racing LLC.
But accoerding SI columnist Richard Deitsch Rome never experienced a day like he had on Saturday.
The four-year-old filly Mizdirection -- co-owned by Rome -- hit the wire first in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park.
"It was spectacular and surreal," Rome told SI.com on Sunday. "It really was thrilling."
R.I.P.: KTKS Owner Jay Fisher
Jay Fisher, longtime local radio personality and owner of KTKS / KS95.1 Versailles, MO passed away Monday, Nov. 5. He also was a local county commissioner.
A resident of the Versailles area, Fisher had been battling cancer for some time.
Arrangements are pending.
The Tribute Wall for Jay Fisher at www.kidwellgarber.com is already filling with people honoring the memory of Fisher.
R.I.P.: ESPN Radio NBA Voice Jim Durham
Jim Durham, lead play-by-play commentator for the NBA on ESPN Radio since its inception in January 1996, passed away over the weekend at his home in Tomball, TX (outside of Houston). Durham was 65 and is survived by his wife, Helen, their three children, Patrick, Richard and Tracy and several grandchildren.
In 2011 Durham was honored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with the Curt Gowdy Media Award, presented annually to members of the print and electronic media whose longtime efforts have made a significant contribution to the game of basketball.
“Jim was a respected play-by-play specialist who combined a tremendous gift for storytelling with a Hall of Fame voice,” said Mo Davenport, ESPN Senior Vice President and General Manager, ESPN Radio. “He’s been a dedicated friend and a trusted teammate to so many at ESPN for two decades and he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with his wife Helen and the entire Durham family.”
Durham’s final assignment for ESPN was last Tuesday’s season-opener between Boston and Miami. He worked the game with long-time partner, Dr. Jack Ramsay.
Early in his career, Durham worked on WJBC radio in Bloomington, Illinois. During his time there, he covered the career of Illinois State University basketball star Doug Collins, later coincidentally the coach of the Bulls during the early Jordan years in Chicago, including the famous call listed below.
Since 1995, he has called numerous National Basketball Association games for ESPN and ESPN Radio. Durham has spent more than 32 years calling NBA games on TV and radio; his previous assignments were with the Chicago Bulls, the Dallas Mavericks, TNT and TBS. With the Bulls, he was the play-by-play announcer when Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and their teammates won the 1991 NBA championship. In 1999, Durham called men's NCAA basketball tournament games for CBS.
John Cusack To Portray Rush Limbaugh In Film
Rush Feuds With NBC’s Brian Williams
Rush Limbaugh will be the subject of an upcoming movie from actor and filmmaker John Cusack. The conservative radio host has never shied away from attention but it could be tough for him to see his likeness portrayed by an actor who has been outspoken about his liberal views.
Director Betty Thomas told the Associated Press she’s finishing up the film’s script, and production will start in 2013. The working title is “Rush.”
Limbaugh, 61, has yet to comment on the news, according to ibtimes.com.
Cusack has been vocal about his critical views toward President Bush and President Obama’s policy of drone warfare in the Middle East.
Limbaugh has been in the news of late for his recent sparring match with NBC news anchor Brian Williams. Limbaugh attacked New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for working together with President Obama in the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. On his daily show Limbaugh said the two had a “man love” and that Christie “has gone overboard in praising a failed president.”
Williams said on his show “Rock Center” that Limbaugh went too far by being too critical of the Obama administration after the devastation Sandy caused.
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Lunar Orbiter Program Anniversary Postal Cover
Lunar Orbiter Stamp
“First Day of Issue: October 1, 1991 First Issue Location: Pasadena, California From 1966 to 1967- coming as close as 29 miles to the lunar surface- NASA’s Lunar orbiters photographed 99% of the Moon, including both polar regions and the mysterious dark side. It was an amazing feat considering that three of the five Orbiters experienced equipment failures. From the high-resolution photographs, maps 100 times more accurate than previously possible were created, and several primary landing sites for upcoming Apollo missions were chosen. NASA didn’t take any chances– it was vital to avoid locations where craters, rocks, and holes filled with dust could be hazardous to the lunar module. Thus, when the Apollo 11 astronauts made their historic trip, their landing site was the basaltic surface of the Sea of Tranquillity, an area shown to be virturally crater-free by the Lunar Orbiters. As a result, when astronaut Neil Armstrong made his “giant leap for mankind,” he was following in the figurative footsteps of the intrepid Lunar Orbiters, which had blazed a safe trail for him and all subsequent Apollo astronauts.”
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By Delila Ames
Posted on March 27, 2019 in Arts
Artist Hilma af Klint created over 1,000 paintings, most of which were not publicly available until almost a century after her death. She is now recognized as a pioneer of the artistic style known as abstractionism. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
For a long time, the public believed that men like Vsily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich pioneered the art form of abstractionism. On Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, an exhibition opened at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum which disproved that misconception. Hilma af Klint’s “Paintings for the Future” is the first solo show dedicated to the artist in the United States. Her work was largely private during her lifetime, leading to the aforementioned misunderstanding about abstractionism. In reality, Klint preceded those men by nearly a decade with work that incorporated spiritual and divine aspects typically attributed to the art form.
Klint’s explorations of abstractionism were unknown to her modernist contemporaries, forcing historians to reconsider how we tell stories of “modernism, and the discovery, invention, exploration of abstraction in the early decades of the 20th century,” said Guggenheim Director of Collections and Senior Curator Tracey Bashkoff in the museum’s audio guide (SoundCloud, “Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future,” 10.2019). Austen Juul-Hansen ’22 commented, “Klint was clearly ahead of her time, and her work transcends the limitations of influence.”
Klint began painting in 1906, and left behind over 1,000 pieces, mostly unseen until 1986. Attendee Eliza Callahan noted that this indicates the artist’s sense that her current world was unprepared for her work, that future audiences would be more receptive: “Af Klint’s reluctance to show her work until 20 years after her death, marked by ambiguous X and + signs in her notebooks, was also interesting. This decision communicated that she knew (or at least thought) that the world was not ready to correctly embrace her art.”
Klint’s work was largely informed by a religious movement known as Theosophy, which maintains that connections with God may be fostered through divinity and the state known as “spiritual ecstasy.” It was a transcendental spiritualism that took hold in America and Europe within literary and artistic circles in the early 20th century. Based on the belief that spirits can communicate with the living, Theosophy involves meetings known as séances, in which people gathered to receive messages relayed through a medium from dead spirits.
As a teenager, Klint began participating in séances. Theosophy is concerned with the natural and spiritual worlds. The Guggenheim narrated tour explained, “Theosophists seek to discover deeper meaning in nature and the divine through a combination of inner experiences and knowledge of the physical and spiritual realms” (SoundCloud, “Hilma af Klint”). Theosophy teased out an idea centering around the existence of a “oneness” when the world began, which was later shattered. According to the religion, life’s mission is to reunite the opposing forces. Hansen also noted this aspect of the artist’s work, remarking, “I was shocked by how much her art served as a connection to some alternative spiritual reality. I felt very impacted by her work because of my own spirituality.”
Klint’s main exhibition was a series of ten paintings entitled “The Ten Largest.” Motivated to create art spiritually, the artist claimed that an entity beyond had asked her to produce paintings on a transcendental plane that would one day be hung in a circular temple designed specifically to house them. Klint wrote instructions: “Ten paradisiacally beautiful paintings were to be executed; the paintings were to be in colors that would be educational and they would reveal myfeelingstomeinaneconomicalway…it was the meaning of the leaders to give the world a glimpse of the system of four parts in the life of man” (The Paris Review, “The First Abstract Painter Was a Woman,” 10.12.2018).
Bashkoff found the location of the exhibition perfect: “It’s a lovely coincidence, and sort of has a wonderful resonance that the works of Hilma af Klint are now being shown in the Guggenheim Museum building” (SoundCloud, “Hilma af Klint”). There is a natural connection between Klint’s ideas for her paintings temple and the building’s architecture. New York City resident Eliza Callahan concurred: “I also remember thinking that the Guggenheim was the perfect museum for this exhibit because the spiral lines of the building mirrored the swirling shapes and lines in af Klint’s work.”
The works in this specific series are gathered in one room and hung floor to ceiling—almost 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Klint sometimes walked across her work when she needed to lay down the paint upon giant canvases on the floor. She studied in Stockholm’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts before branching off into more abstractionist and modernist styles. The meshing of her relatively formal artistic education with groundbreaking abstractionist techniques is evident in the simultaneous incorporation of words and letters, alongside floral and geometric aspects.
Klint additionally chose colors that juxtapose brilliantly: bright pinks and greens against pastel oranges and vivid yellows. Her incorporation of words, color and shapes was innovative. One attendee of the exhibit, Anne Rothman, stated, “Her use of color was fabulous and inventive. It shouldn’t surprise usbecausewomenhavealwaystakensuch backstage roles, and here is another example of a real artist breaking barriers and going under the radar for decades.”
Hilma af Klint may have been unknown to her contemporaries, but she has taken 2019 bystorm.
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Dan Harley
Chris M Nemo No comments
I come by my interest in psychology, learning and intelligence the honest way. Back in third grade, when I still couldn’t read, my teacher told my mother, “Daniel is a slow learner.” But in sixth grade, I received straight A’s. In-between, my best friend had started reading Spider-Man and other Marvel comics. When I discovered them, and began writing and drawing my own, my life as a writer began.
My first job after graduating from Beloit College in Wisconsin was to help create and serve as editor of the Clayton Times, based in the suburbs just outside of St. Louis. Determined to write for national publications, I sold a few stories to the National Examiner, a supermarket tabloid, including my first cover story, “I Was Attacked by Killer Bigfoot.”
In 2009, after more than 25 years as a freelance science journalist, I wrote a piece for Neurology Today, the official publication of the American Academy of Neurology, about research into drugs that could improve the cognitive abilities of people with Down syndrome. One of the doctors I interviewed, Alberto Costa, had published the first study to show that a drug could immediately improve the ability of mice with a version of Down syndrome to navigate a maze; he was now testing the drug on young adults with Down syndrome. His own daughter, the same age as mine, had been born with the disorder. I ended up writing about Dr. Costa and his search for Down syndrome in the New York Times Magazine.
Then I wondered, “Is it possible to increase the intelligence of people who don’t have Down syndrome?” I learned that dozens of studies had been published showing that the intelligence of children, adults and older people, whether healthy or facing cognitive challenges, could be increased through a variety of methods: physical exercise, specially designed computer games, learning a musical instrument, mindfulness meditation, transcranial direct-current stimulation, and more. A handful of prominent skeptics continue to insist that it’s all a lot of baloney, that IQ is forever. I’ve now described the latest research in two other feature articles in the New York Times Magazine. And for my new book, “Smarter,” I personally combined all the methods shown to work, including learning to play the Renaissance lute. (That would surprise some of my old friends, who recall my college band, the Mutations, for which I sang songs like “I Hate You” and “I Want Your Body.”) As a result of my training, my fluid intelligence increased by 16%.
Another part of my career as a writer is something called 60-Second Novels. Back in 1983, I decided to take my manual Remington typewriter onto Michigan Avenue in Chicago, tape a sign to it that said, “60-Second Novels, Written While You Wait,” and see what the heck would happen. It was meant to be an absurd performance-art experiment in which I expected most people to squint at me and tell me to get a job. But like in “The Producers,” my bizarro idea turned out to be a success: a line of people formed and started handing me five dollars a pop to talk with them and then write something inspired by our conversation. Within a year I quit my job as an editor at the American Bar Association, moved to New York, and became a full-time 60-Second Novelist, earning as much as $300 a day on the sidewalks of New York. Eventually I started writing 60-Second Novels at corporate and private events around the country. Is this a great country or what??
But after 30 fricking years of it, I’m giving up 60-Second Novels. This science writing thing just might work out.
Source: Author’s page on Amazon.com
Cynthia R. Green
Daniel Barett
ONLY $9.99 FOR LIFETIME ACCESS TO ANY OF MY COURSES- by using this coupon on Udemy: MNEMOBAY2018
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Mohammed Jawa Official » Mohammed Jawa proud to fly flag for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Gulf 12hr with McLaren 12C GT3
Mohammed Jawa proud to fly flag for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Gulf 12hr with McLaren 12C GT3
Abu Dhabi, UAE, 9th Dec, 2013:- Proud Saudi driver Mohammed Jawa is racing this weekend under the flag of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with his own M-Team. This is the first representation of a Saudi national in this prestigious endurance race at Yas Marina’s acclaimed Formula 1 circuit. Mohammed will team up with co-drivers Khaled Al Mudhaf from Kuwait and Jordon Grogor to race with the Dubai Dragon Racing squad.
Mohammed is a passionate racing driver who has crafted his sport over several years at a GCC level, now with his goal firmly set on improving his International experience, this is his debut in Endurance racing and a prelude to the Dubai 24hr race in January.
“I’m enjoying this high level of racing and I’m benefiting mentally and physically from my step up in my physical training. I knew this would be more demanding than I have experienced before and racing for longer in the car drains the energy if you are not prepared. I have been taking my fitness and health to new levels recently and I am enjoying working within the team along with my personal coach Michael Vergers. I’m improving on pace every time I race the car.”
“Its part of a fresh personal challenge and provides me with valuable life skills, improving my fitness, my agility and communication these are all essential skills for life in general. I have so much still to learn, and I’m soaking up all the information like a sponge, I can’t wait for the race on Friday,” commented Mohammed prior to testing today.
The Abu Dhabi Gulf 12hr endurance race starts on Thursday 12th with qualifying and is contested over a two part race format, with a grid of 60 cars, giving teams two separate races of six hours. The first starts at 9:30am on Friday 13th and finishes at 15:30pm, culminating in the final, night-time race, which starts at 17:45pm and finishes at 23:45pm.
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New Team for World Cup 2014
I stayed up last night to watch what I knew was the final game for Portugal in this 2014 World Cup (I didn't get to see that unfortunate match against Germany). Although the chances of going through to the knockout stage was very slim, I still had hope that maybe they could score a miraculous 5. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. You could tell though that everyone was fighting for it, including and especially Ghana because they had better chances of overtaking the USA for the top two.
You may wonder why I support Portugal. It's not because of C. Ronaldo. I just happened to like Nuno Gomes back in the early 2000s, and that was the time of their golden generation. There were a lot of great Portuguese players in the team when Ronaldo was still a rookie. Through the years, they may have lost some of their spark, but they still give very entertaining performances. Força Portugal! See you in two years!
Portugal's Goalkeeper Beto crying on his way out of the field
after a decision to replace him due to an injury.
Seeing players cry is always heartbreaking. My heart went out to Ghana's Boye when he scored a goal for Portugal.
Since Portugal and Spain are both out of the game, I want to support another team. There are three teams in my mind. First is Argentina, just because of Messi. Then, there's the Netherlands and underdogs Costa Rica. But I will have to watch them play first.
Posted by Julienne at June 27, 2014
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A self-reflexive peek behind the curtain. The Golf Widow in action:
The reverie toward childhood allows us a condensation, in one single place, of the ubiquity of the dearest memories. This condensation adds the house of the beloved to the house of the father, as if all those whom we have loved were, at the summit of our age, supposed to live together, remain together.
Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Reverie: Childhood, Language, and the Cosmos (1960)
I want to actively add myself to something that’s beautiful but that I lack, that I require.
Roland Barthes, The Preparation of the Novel (1977)
Suppose that the intellectual’s (or the writer’s) historical function, today, is to maintain and to emphasize the decomposition of bourgeois consciousness. Then the image must retain all its precision; this means that we deliberately pretend to remain within this consciousness and that we will proceed to dismantle it, to weaken it, to break it down on the spot, as we would do with a lump of sugar by steeping it in water…by decomposing, I agree to accompany such decomposition, to decompose myself as well, in the process: I scrape, catch, and drag.
Roland Barthes, Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes (1977)
a) those that belong to the emperor; (b) embalmed ones; (c) those that are trained; (d) suckling pigs; (e) mermaids; (f) fabulous ones; (g) stray dogs; (h) those that are included in this classification; (i) those that tremble as if they were mad; (j) innumerable ones; (k) those drawn with a very fine camel’s-hair brush; (l) etcetera; (m) those that have just broken the flower vase; (n) those that at a distance resemble flies.
Jorge Luis Borges, John Wilkins’ Analytical Language (1942)
Alles hängt von der Entscheidung ab, ob wir die Chronisten oder die Erfinder unseres Lebens sein werden. (Everything depends upon the decision whether we will be the chronologists or the discoverers of our life.)
Hermann Burger, Brenner (1989-92)
Let us say yes to who or what turns up, before any determination, before any anticipation, before any identification, whether or not it has to do with a foreigner, an immigrant, an invited guest, or an unexpected visitor, whether or not the new arrival is the citizen of another country, a human, animal, or divine creature, a living or dead thing, male or female.
…conditional laws would cease to be laws of hospitality if they were not guided, given inspiration, given aspiration, required, even, by the law of unconditional hospitality. These two regimes of law, of the law and the laws, are thus both contradictory, antinomic, and inseparable. They both imply and exclude each other, simultaneously. They incorporate one another at the moment of excluding one another, they are dissociated at the moment of enveloping one another, at the moment (simultaneity with simultaneity, instant of impossible synchrony, moment without moment) when, exhibiting themselves to each other, one to the others, the others to the other, they show they are both more and less hospitable, hospitable and inhospitable, hospitable inasmuch as inhospitable.
Jacques Derrida, Of Hospitality (1997)
Your life will be safer and much less exciting than you ever dreamed possible.
F. Deschamps, Life in a Book (1978)
There’s nothing left to play for but a gold-plated helicopter.
Frank Dömeland (in conversation, Hannover DE, 1987)
…intermedial performances may, through staging the media in a context in which they do not normally appear, offer the opportunity to intervene critically in the flow of media…encouraging more active and critical spectatorship.
Greg Giesekam, Staging the Screen: The Use of Film and Video in Theatre (2007)
Exegi monumentum aere perennius. (I have erected a monument more durable than bronze.)
Horace, Odes (23 and 13 B.C.E.)
One could always choose not to keep score, but at the cost of rendering oneself invisible.
Christopher J. Phillips, Keeping Score, Cabinet, Issue 56, Winter 2014-15
If he should ever have to plead before a bench, he would employ not the sentences calculated to convince his judges, but such Bergottesque sentences as his peculiar literary temperament suggested to him and made him find pleasure in using.
Marcel Proust, Remembrance of Things Past (1913)
This past, too, has no reality beyond the moment it is evoked with sufficient force; and when it finally triumphs, it has merely become the present, as if it had never ceased to be so.
Alain Robbe-Grillet, Introduction to Last Year at Marienbad (1962)
That Thursday in early April my learned friend Martial Canterel had invited me, along with several other close friends of his, to visit the huge park surrounding his beautiful villa at Montmorency.
Locus Solus, as the property is called, is a quiet retreat where Canterel enjoys the pursuit of his various fertile labours with a perfectly tranquil mind. In this solitary place he is adequately sheltered from the turmoil of Paris – and is yet able to reach the capital within a quarter of an hour whenever his research requires a session in some specialist library or when the moment comes for him to make some sensational announcement to the scientific world at a prodigiously packed lecture.
Canterel spends almost the entire year at Locus Solus, surrounded by disciples full of passionate admiration for his continual discoveries, who lend their enthusiastic support to the completion of his work. The villa contains several rooms fitted out as luxurious model laboratories, run by numerous assistants. Here the professor devotes his entire life to science – for he is a bachelor with no commitments whose large fortune at once removes any material difficulties incurred by the various targets he sets himself, in the course of his strenuous labours.
Raymond Roussel, Locus Solus (1914)
The bus passed over the first monument. I pulled the buzzer-cord and got off at the corner of Union Avenue and River Drive. The monument was a bridge over the Passaic River that connected Bergen County with Passaic County. Noon-day sunshine cinema-ized the site, turning the bridge and the river into an over-exposed picture. Photographing it with my Instamatic 400 was like photographing a photograph. The sun became a monstrous light-bulb that projected a detached series of “stills” through my Instamatic into my eye. When I walked on the bridge, it was as though I was walking on an enormous photograph that was made of wood and steel, and underneath the river existed as an enormous movie film that showed nothing but a continuous blank.
The steel road that passed over the water was in part an open grating flanked by wooden sidewalks, held up by a heavy set of beams, while above, a ramshackle network hung in the air. A rusty sign glared in the sharp atmosphere, making it hard to read. A date flashed in the sunshine…1899…No…1896…maybe (at the bottom of the rust and glare was the name Dean & Westbrook Contractors, N.Y.). I was completely controlled by the Instamatic (or what the rationalists call a camera). The glassy air of New Jersey defined the structural parts of the monument as I took snapshot after snapshot. A barge seemed fixed to the surface of the water as it came toward the bridge, and caused the bridge-keeper to close the gates. From the banks of the Passaic I watched the bridge rotate on a central axis in order to allow an inert rectangular shape to pass with its unknown cargo. The Passaic (West) end of the bridge rotated south, while the Rutherford (East) end of the bridge rotated north; such rotations suggested the limited movements of an outmoded world. “North” and “South” hung over the static river in a bi-polar manner. One could refer to this bridge as the “Monument of Dislocated Directions.”
Robert Smithson, A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey (1967)
The walker in familiar fields which stretch around my native town sometimes finds himself in another land than is described in their owners’ deeds, as it were in some far-away field on the confines of the actual Concord, where her jurisdiction ceases, and the idea which the word Concord suggests ceases to be suggested. These farms which I have myself surveyed, these bounds which I have set up, appear dimly still as through a mist; but they have no chemistry to fix them; they fade from the surface of the glass; and the picture which the painter painted stands out dimly from beneath.
Henry David Thoreau, Walking (1862)
I wanted to be an Art Businessman or a Business Artist.
Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) (1975)
I have never managed to handle the guilt. In the act and the course of writing stories, these are two of the springs, one bright, one dark, that feed the stream.
Eudora Welty, One Writer’s Beginnings (1983)
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The Director's Prism
Cloth Text – $99.95
Dassia Posner (Author)
Drama & Performance Studies
E. T. A. Hoffmann and the Russian Theatrical Avant-Garde
Dassia N. Posner
The Director's Prism investigates how and why three of Russia's most innovative directors— Vsevolod Meyerhold, Alexander Tairov, and Sergei Eisenstein—used the fantastical tales of German Romantic writer E. T. A. Hoffmann to reinvent the rules of theatrical practice. Because the rise of the director and the Russian cult of Hoffmann closely coincided, Posner argues, many characteristics we associate with avant-garde theater—subjective perspective, breaking through the fourth wall, activating the spectator as a co-creator—become uniquely legible in the context of this engagement. Posner examines the artistic poetics of Meyerhold's grotesque, Tairov's mime-drama, and Eisenstein's theatrical attraction through production analyses, based on extensive archival research, that challenge the notion of theater as a mirror to life, instead viewing the director as a prism through whom life is refracted. A resource for scholars and practitioners alike, this groundbreaking study provides a fresh, provocative perspective on experimental theater, intercultural borrowings, and the nature of the creative process.
Illustrating cutting-edge developments in the evolution of the book, Northwestern University Press is pleased to announce the publication of The Director's Prism on Fulcrum. Combining a traditional print monograph with an innovative web-based archive of digitally-enriched source materials, Fulcrum is a publishing platform that helps publishers present the full richness of their authors' research outputs in a durable, discoverable, and flexible form.
To view the source materials from The Director's Prism and learn more about the project, go to the Fulcrum website at https://www.fulcrum.org/northwestern
DASSIA N. POSNER is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University.
“Posner explores the many ways in which Hoffmann’s literary fantasies prompted a theatrical revolution in Russia during the first decades of the twentieth century. Through close analyses of archives and directorial promptbooks, she illustrates the rich lines of influence among three of Russia’s most important avant-garde directors.” —Sharon Marie Carnicke, author of Stanislavsky in Focus
"In The Director’s Prism, Dassia Posner... not only authoritatively establishes Hoffman’s importance but also offers an insightful account of the complex webs of innovation and inspiration at the heart of the Russian and early Soviet theatrical avant-garde. The Director’s Prism convincingly establishes E. T. A. Hoffmann’s poetics as a central component of Russian modernist aesthetics, offering clear evidence for its place in the work of each of the directors in question, bridging the divide between pre- and post-revolutionary work. While the book is essential reading for anyone interested in the Russian theatrical avant-garde, Posner’s theorization of the concept of refraction makes it quite valuable for anyone interested in questions of artistic influence—especially as these are problematized by Modernism’s thirst for innovation." —Slavic and East European Journal
"Provocative... Posner’s book on the refraction of the ‘fantastical Romantic Hoffman’, informed by a depth of understanding of the context of revolutionary Russia and by meticulous original research, makes a valuable contribution to theatre history and to contemporary theatre study and practice." —Theater Research International
“The Director’s Prism is a splendid contribution to the history of Russian theater and more broadly to European and world theatrical and cultural history, combining expertise in various fields rarely found in a single scholar.” —Harlow Robinson, author of Russians in Hollywood, Hollywood’s Russians: Biography of an Image
"The Director’s Prism takes as its starting point the works of E.T.A. Hoffmann and his influence... Yet, the work is much more than that. Take the sections on Hoffmann’s influence away and this book would still have meaning and add new knowledge. Posner encourages us, like the directors that she examines, to see the role of theatricality in theatre. She creates an alternative lens through which we can examine how directors interpret text... As a director, the prism lens through which Posner shines a directorial light is both useful and meaningful: it also enables a clear frame in which we are able to re-examine these practitioners... Posner’s ability to draw on a variety of sources including promptbooks, diaries, reviews, government documents, and letters lies at the heart of the book’s strength. In a time where our assumptions are shifting in relation to Russian theatre practice, The Director’s Prism should be recommended reading for all." —Stanislavski Studies
“Dassia Posner’s eloquently written book demonstrates originality and impressive research. It will be useful to a wide range of audiences, including academics and students whose research involves Russian theatre, European modernism, Russian modernist directors and the theater of the grotesque.” —Julia Listengarten, author of Russian Tragifarce: Its Cultural and Political Roots
"Hoffmann’s impact on the Russian literary imagination, from the Romantics and Gogol on, is well known; so is the German author’s prominence in the theatrical space at the turn of the twentieth century, up to the centenary of his death in 1922, which Posner, in an elegant and compelling way, situates as an epilogue to the Soviet engagement with Hoffmann and to her study... She makes extensive (as well as illuminating and loving) use of archival sources... [an] original and stimulating book." —Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema
"...highly original and successful... a truly exceptional source for theatre scholars and practitioners alike." —Theatre Survey
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Tag Archives: computerized voting
With Broken Machines and Hours-Long Waits Stopping Voters From Casting Ballots, Majority Says, “Make Election Day a Federal Holiday”
“Is voting meant to be an obstacle course?”
By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 11-6-2018
Photo: Big Dubya/flickr
A poll released as Americans cast their ballots in the midterm elections on Tuesday shows that more than half of the country believes Election Day should be made a national holiday—a likely partial solution to a number of problems that plague the voting system.
Fifty-four percent of respondents to the survey, taken by Hill.TV and HarrisX, say workers should be given the day off on Election Day, allowing them far more time to vote, saving them from having to leave their polling places without voting due to long lines and issues with voting machines, and potentially changing the United States’ generally low election turnout for the better. Continue reading →
This entry was posted in Civil Rights, Corruption, Elections, Government, Living Examples, Racism, Social Justice, Solidarity, Technology, Voting, Women's Issues, Workers' Issues and tagged Arizona, Civil Rights, computerized voting, Corruption, Democracy, Elections, Equality, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Racism, social justice, Solidarity, technology, Voting, voting machines, Women's Issues, workers' issues on November 7, 2018 by ew.
House GOP Quietly Moves to Kill Commission Charged With Securing Elections
House Committee also voted to abolish public financing for presidential elections
By Lauren McCauley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 2-7-2017
Tuesday’s votes by GOP committee members, as The Nation’s Ari Berman put it, are “more proof of how the GOP’s real agenda is to make it harder to vote.” (Photo: Keith Ivey/cc/flickr)
Amid national outrage over possible foreign interference in the 2016 election and President Donald Trump’s own lies about so-called voter fraud, House Republicans on Tuesday quietly advanced two bills that “could profoundly impact the way we administer and finance national elections,” watchdogs are warning.
The GOP-dominated Committee on House Administration voted along party lines to approve the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Termination Act (HR 634), which would abolish the only “federal agency charged with upgrading our voting systems” and “helping to protect our elections from hacking,” as Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at NYU School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice, put it. Continue reading →
This entry was posted in Campaign finance, Civil Rights, Corruption, Cybersecurity, Elections, Government, Human Rights, Social Justice, Technology, Voting and tagged Atrocities, Campaign Finance, Civil Rights, computerized voting, Corruption, cybersecurity, Democracy, Elections, HR 634, Human rights, social justice, Voting on February 8, 2017 by ew.
Media Worried Too Many Americans Will Question Legitimacy of 2016 Election
By Nick Bernabe. Published 8-22-2016 by The Anti-Media
Photo by Ben Combee from Austin, TX, USA (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
2016 is the year many, many Americans began to question whether or not our elections, and to a lesser extent, our democracy (insert “it’s a constitutional republic, big difference!” here) are rigged. As I’ve argued many times in the past year, there is plenty of evidence suggesting these skeptical Americans are, indeed, onto something with their suspicions.
But the corporate media has come out in defense of America’s “democracy” — and political elites are defending the system, too. In the wake of Trump’s recent rhetoric regarding the “rigged” system, the ruling class of the United States is peddling the fiction that somehow Trump’s irresponsible sensationalism is solely to blame for the newfound feelings of illegitimacy plaguing our elections. Continue reading →
This entry was posted in Campaign finance, Civil Rights, Corruption, Elections, Government, Media Issues, Voting and tagged Bernie Sanders, Civil Rights, computerized voting, Corruption, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democracy, DNC, Donald Trump, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Media Issues, RNC, social justice, Ted Cruz, Voting on August 26, 2016 by ew.
How vulnerable to hacking is the US election cyber infrastructure?
Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Voting stand and the notorious “butterfly ballot”, from Palm Beach County from the disputed 2000 U.S. Presidential election. Photo: Infrogmation (Own work) [CC BY 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons
Following the hack of Democratic National Committee emails and reports of a new cyberattack against the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, worries abound that foreign nations may be clandestinely involved in the 2016 American presidential campaign. Allegations swirl that Russia, under the direction of President Vladimir Putin, is secretly working to undermine the U.S. Democratic Party. The apparent logic is that a Donald Trump presidency would result in more pro-Russian policies. At the moment, the FBI is investigating, but no U.S. government agency has yet made a formal accusation.
The Republican nominee added unprecedented fuel to the fire by encouraging Russia to “find” and release Hillary Clinton’s missing emails from her time as secretary of state. Trump’s comments drew sharp rebuke from the media and politicians on all sides. Some suggested that by soliciting a foreign power to intervene in domestic politics, his musings bordered on criminality or treason. Trump backtracked, saying his comments were “sarcastic,” implying they’re not to be taken seriously.
Of course, the desire to interfere with another country’s internal political processes is nothing new. Global powers routinely monitor their adversaries and, when deemed necessary, will try to clandestinely undermine or influence foreign domestic politics to their own benefit. For example, the Soviet Union’s foreign intelligence service engaged in so-called “active measures” designed to influence Western opinion. Among other efforts, it spread conspiracy theories about government officials and fabricated documents intended to exploit the social tensions of the 1960s. Similarly, U.S. intelligence services have conducted their own secret activities against foreign political systems – perhaps most notably its repeated attempts to help overthrow pro-communist Fidel Castro in Cuba.
Although the Cold War is over, intelligence services around the world continue to monitor other countries’ domestic political situations. Today’s “influence operations” are generally subtle and strategic. Intelligence services clandestinely try to sway the “hearts and minds” of the target country’s population toward a certain political outcome.
What has changed, however, is the ability of individuals, governments, militaries and criminal or terrorist organizations to use internet-based tools – commonly called cyberweapons – not only to gather information but also to generate influence within a target group.
So what are some of the technical vulnerabilities faced by nations during political elections, and what’s really at stake when foreign powers meddle in domestic political processes?
Ohio citizens using electronic voting machines during the 2012 presidential election. Aaron Josefczyk/Reuters
Vulnerabilities at the electronic ballot box
The process of democratic voting requires a strong sense of trust – in the equipment, the process and the people involved.
One of the most obvious, direct ways to affect a country’s election is to interfere with the way citizens actually cast votes. As the United States (and other nations) embrace electronic voting, it must take steps to ensure the security – and more importantly, the trustworthiness – of the systems. Not doing so can endanger a nation’s domestic democratic will and create general political discord – a situation that can be exploited by an adversary for its own purposes.
As early as 1975, the U.S. government examined the idea of computerized voting, but electronic voting systems were not used until Georgia’s 2002 state elections. Other states have adopted the technology since then, although given ongoing fiscal constraints, those with aging or problematic electronic voting machines are returning to more traditional (and cheaper) paper-based ones.
New technology always comes with some glitches – even when it’s not being attacked. For example, during the 2004 general election, North Carolina’s Unilect e-voting machines “lost” 4,438 votes due to a system error.
But cybersecurity researchers focus on the kinds of problems that could be intentionally caused by bad actors. In 2006, Princeton computer science professor Ed Felten demonstrated how to install a self-propagating piece of vote-changing malware on Diebold e-voting systems in less than a minute. In 2011, technicians at the Argonne National Laboratory showed how to hack e-voting machines remotely and change voting data.
Voting officials recognize that these technologies are vulnerable. Following a 2007 study of her state’s electronic voting systems, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer L. Brunner announced that
the computer-based voting systems in use in Ohio do not meet computer industry security standards and are susceptible to breaches of security that may jeopardize the integrity of the voting process.
As the first generation of voting machines ages, even maintenance and updating become an issue. A 2015 report found that electronic voting machines in 43 of 50 U.S. states are at least 10 years old – and that state election officials are unsure where the funding will come from to replace them.
A rigged (and murderous) voting machine on ‘The Simpsons’ satirized the issue in 2008.
Securing the machines and their data
In many cases, electronic voting depends on a distributed network, just like the electrical grid or municipal water system. Its spread-out nature means there are many points of potential vulnerability.
First, to be secure, the hardware “internals” of each voting machine must be made tamper-proof at the point of manufacture. Each individual machine’s software must remain tamper-proof and accountable, as must the vote data stored on it. (Some machines provide voters with a paper receipt of their votes, too.) When problems are discovered, the machines must be removed from service and fixed. Virginia did just this in 2015 once numerous glaring security vulnerabilities were discovered in its system.
Once votes are collected from individual machines, the compiled results must be transmitted from polling places to higher election offices for official consolidation, tabulation and final statewide reporting. So the network connections between locations must be tamper-proof and prevent interception or modification of the in-transit tallies. Likewise, state-level vote-tabulating systems must have trustworthy software that is both accountable and resistant to unauthorized data modification. Corrupting the integrity of data anywhere during this process, either intentionally or accidentally, can lead to botched election results.
However, technical vulnerabilities with the electoral process extend far beyond the voting machines at the “edge of the network.” Voter registration and administration systems operated by state and national governments are at risk too. Hacks here could affect voter rosters and citizen databases. Failing to secure these systems and records could result in fraudulent information in the voter database that may lead to improper (or illegal) voter registrations and potentially the casting of fraudulent votes.
And of course, underlying all this is human vulnerability: Anyone involved with e-voting technologies or procedures is susceptible to coercion or human error.
Voting machines in the warehouse before they are sent out to local precincts. Chris Keane/Reuters
How can we guard the systems?
The first line of defense in protecting electronic voting technologies and information is common sense. Applying the best practices of cybersecurity, data protection, information access and other objectively developed, responsibly implemented procedures makes it more difficult for adversaries to conduct cyber mischief. These are essential and must be practiced regularly.
Sure, it’s unlikely a single voting machine in a specific precinct in a specific polling place would be targeted by an overseas or criminal entity. But the security of each electronic voting machine is essential to ensuring not only free and fair elections but fostering citizen trust in such technologies and processes – think of the chaos around the infamous hanging chads during the contested 2000 Florida recount. Along these lines, in 2004, Nevada was the first state to mandate e-voting machines include a voter-verified paper trail to ensure public accountability for each vote cast.
Proactive examination and analysis of electronic voting machines and voter information systems are essential to ensuring free and fair elections and facilitating citizen trust in e-voting. Unfortunately, some voting machine manufacturers have invoked the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act to prohibit external researchers from assessing the security and trustworthiness of their systems.
However, a 2015 exception to the act authorizes security research into technologies otherwise protected by copyright laws. This means the security community can legally research, test, reverse-engineer and analyze such systems. Even more importantly, researchers now have the freedom to publish their findings without fear of being sued for copyright infringement. Their work is vital to identifying security vulnerabilities before they can be exploited in real-world elections.
Because of its benefits and conveniences, electronic voting may become the preferred mode for local and national elections. If so, officials must secure these systems and ensure they can provide trustworthy elections that support the democratic process. State-level election agencies must be given the financial resources to invest in up-to-date e-voting systems. They also must guarantee sufficient, proactive, ongoing and effective protections are in place to reduce the threat of not only operational glitches but intentional cyberattacks.
Democracies endure based not on the whims of a single ruler but the shared electoral responsibility of informed citizens who trust their government and its systems. That trust must not be broken by complacency, lack of resources or the intentional actions of a foreign power. As famed investor Warren Buffett once noted, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
In cyberspace, five minutes is an eternity.
Richard Forno, Senior Lecturer, Cybersecurity & Internet Researcher, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
This entry was posted in Civil Rights, Corruption, Cybersecurity, Cyberwarfare, Elections, Government, Technology, Voting and tagged Civil Rights, computerized voting, Corruption, cybersecurity, cyberwarfare, Democracy, Diebold, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, e-voting, Elections, technology, Voting on July 31, 2016 by ew.
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Greene County Biographies
Adams, Hurl R.
Hurl R. Adams, who has been in the bakery business at Yellow Springs since 1901, having moved there in that year from Waynesville, in the neighboring county of Warren, where he had been engaged in business for three years or more, was born in the city of Xenia on April 15, 1874, son of David M. and Etta (Rader) Adams, both of whom also were born in this county, the former on a farm three miles south of Xenia, in 1840, and the latter, in the city of Xenia, m 1844, who were married in 1872 and whose last days were spent in Xenia.
David M. Adams received his schooling at Xenia and was early trained to the trade of carpenter and bridge builder, which vocation he followed all the rest of his life. He had a shop in Xenia and during the winters employed his time in the making of sleighs and in the general upholstery business. He died in 1885, leaving two sons, the subject of this sketch having a brother, Joseph Harry Adams, born on January 4, 1880, who married Ella Mason, of Xenia, and is still residing in that city.
Hurl R. Adams received his schooling in the schools of Xenia and when fifteen years of age becoming employed during school vacations in one of the local elevators. When eighteen years of age he became interested in the bakery business and after learning the details of that business was for three years engaged as the manager of C. W. Trader's bake shop in Xenia. Thus qualified by practical experience, Mr. Adams then went to Waynesville, in the neighboring county of Warren and there became engaged in the bakery business on his own account, and was thus engaged there for three years, at the end of which time he sold his shop there and moved to Yellow Springs, where, in 1901, he opened a bakery and has since been quite successfully engaged in business. In 1906 he bought the property he now occupies on Xenia avenue and is well equipped for handling the trade he has built up.
On September 29, 1896, while living at Waynesville, Mr. Adams was united in marriage, at Xenia, to Meddie Hartman, who was born at Starbuck, in the vicinity of Wilmington, in the neighboring county of Clinton, daughter of William and Hannah Hartman, and to this union three children have been born, namely: Harold R., born on November i, 1899, who is now engaged in the Edison Laboratory at Orange, New Jersey; Thelma, January 16, 1904, who is now a pupil in the Yellow Springs high school, and Mildred, February 28, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Adams are members of the Methodist church. Mr. Adams is a member of the local lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918
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Home » Featured » Windows From Prison – PhotoWings + Ashoka U InSights Grantee: George Mason University
Windows From Prison – PhotoWings + Ashoka U InSights Grantee: George Mason University
Click here to learn more about the grant and view all InSights grant winners
Windows From Prison - George Mason University
Grantee: Mark Strandquist
Title: George Mason University Alumni
Windows from Prison asks the question, “If you could have a window in your cell, what place from your past would it look out to?” to hundreds of prisoners who were convicted in the Washington, DC area and are sent to prisons throughout the country. The corresponding answers/photo requests are then fulfilled by GMU students and mailed back to the incarcerated participants. An exhibit of the photographs includes a ‘Skype forum’ with incarcerated individuals, film screenings, letter writing workshops, and teach-ins. As a way to engage with the larger GMU community, students are working with faculty to design and print an exhibit newspaper.
View Project Website
The Archive of Unmade Photographs
Performing Statistics
What is your idea for the InSights project?
Windows From Prison utilizes photography as a way to connect incarcerated men and women to their alienated pasts and to create space and humanistic entry points for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members to discuss the sources, impacts, and alternatives to mass incarceration. “If you could have window in your cell, what place from your past would it look out to?” This question is asked to hundreds of prisoners who were convicted in the Washington, DC area but sent to prisons across the country. The corresponding answers/photo requests are then fulfilled (by GMU students) and mailed back to the incarcerated participants. When exhibited the project utilizes the images as a humanistic starting point to engage with a multidisciplinary group of GMU scholars, policy/justice activists, and community members. The highly participatory project creates alternative, collaborative, and activated models for the form and function of contemporary photography.
What is the story that you will convey through the project? How do you hope people will think or act differently as a result of your project?
The project creates space where the histories, ideas, and desires of incarcerated men and women are made public. No photo can capture the hegemonic effects of mass incarceration, nor any of the most pressing issues throughout the world. Likewise, no research or activism will ever reach it’s full potential without involving the human beings and communities most affected. The project brings together a multidisciplinary group of collaborators and participants to create as comprehensive a “story” as possible. The photo-requests and corresponding writing by prisoners become the catalyst and humanistic meeting place for a multitude of scholars, researchers, policy advocates, and community members to build upon and provide the critical context. The culminating exhibit and extensive list of public programing will not only create a complex, human, and activated story about incarceration in the United States but will create social, artistic, and political models that can be transposed in other localities.
Grantee:
Mark Strandquist
Mark Strandquist (Richmond, VA) is an artist, educator, and community organizer. His projects facilitate interactions that incorporate viewers as direct participants and offer alternative models for the creative, social, and political ways we engage the world around us. Each interactive installation functions not as a culmination, but as a starting point and catalyst for dialogue and exchange. While photography is often used, the visual aesthetics and technical mastery of the medium become secondary to the social process through which the images are created, and the social interactions that each exhibition produces.
His work has been exhibited in museums, conferences, film festivals, publications, and galleries. The project Write Home Soon was exhibited in the 2012-13 international showcase of Socially Engaged Art at the Art Museum of Americas, Washington, DC and The People's Library, which he co-produces, is on permanent display at the Main Branch of the Richmond Public Library.
What expertise and experience equips you to lead this project?
Facilitating space where diverse communities come together to engage creatively is fundamental to my work as a public artist. The project ‘Write Home Soon,’ which was exhibited at the international showcase of socially engaged art at the Art Museum of the Americas, was a cross-city project that involved over a thousand participants and more than forty workshops. For the ongoing project ‘The People’s Library,’ a permanent installation I co-produce at the Main Branch of the Richmond Public library, dozens of workshops have been held to create a library designed, built, and authored by community members. Additionally the ongoing project, ‘Some Other Places We’ve Missed,’ uses photography and education as catalysts for connecting incarcerated youth to their high school peers across Washington, DC. Through a series of creative writing and photography workshops, and extensive partnerships (Georgetown University Law, Human Rights Watch, ACLU and many more) the project offers students a meaningful set of artistic, social, and civic skills, while showcasing the powerful role of art and education within social justice and policy work.
How are you going to create an event that brings together people from different disciplines and backgrounds?
For the exhibit, the requested images become the starting point and catalyst for additional actions that engage diverse communities in collaboration, dialogue, and exchange. Corresponding programing will include a 'Skype forum,' where incarcerated individuals read poetry and engage in conversation with those present in the gallery. This event will be broadcast live by a local radio station completing a social circuit (from prison to gallery to the general public). Additionally, the exhibit will host film screenings, letter writing workshops, and teach-ins led by GMU scholars, students, and community members affected by incarceration. Students will work with faculty to design and print an exhibit newspaper which will be given out across campus as a way to extend the work beyond the gallery and engage with the larger GMU community. The newspaper will include images and writing from the incarcerated participants, exhibit information, local prison demographics, and editorials written by GMU scholars.
What are your ideas for keeping the dialogue and community going?
By creating space where hundreds of incarcerated individuals, scholars, students, and community members can connect in creative, critical, and compassionate ways, the project creates a meaningful bridge of dialogue and action. We hope that the project is the starting point for these relationships to continually expand in unforeseen and organic ways. Throughout the year additional photo requests will be uploaded to the project’s website for GMU students to fulfil. Funding would allow for programing to continue throughout the year. Additionally, through extensive documentation, reflection, and writing, the project provides a visual toolkit for how this could be transposed in other communities and campuses.
Following on the success of the PhotoWings/Ashoka U Insights Grant project "Windows from Prison" at George Mason University (GMU), the PhotoWings Outreach Program has funded community outreach and documentation of a second iteration of the project in Richmond, Virginia. PhotoWings has also provided funding for a strategic Toolkit that will offer collaborative solutions used by the "Windows from Prison" organizers to implement the project in Richmond and other locations (GMU, Parsons School of Design and the University of Michigan).
The latest project, Performing Statistics, New Monuments is a city-wide art and advocacy project spearheaded once again by AshokaU/PhotoWings Insights Grant winner, Mark Strandquist. It features collaborative exchanges between prisoners, youth, artists, musicians, community activists, and policy advocates. Working with the Legal Aid Justice Center and other partners, including the 1708 Gallery and Virginia Commonwealth University, the project will generate media campaigns, photo-based public installations and performances to engage with the causes, effects, and alternatives to mass incarceration in Richmond, VA.
Merging art, education, and community activism, the project works with individuals most affected by mass incarceration (incarcerated men and women, and teens in a sentencing diversion program) to develop the tools, skills, and networks to positively impact their lives and communities.
In 2014, the project was also awarded a Magnum Foundation Project Development Grant and a Puffin Foundation Grant.
Images courtesy Mark Strandquist
via Performing Statistics:
"The criminal justice system is so complex, that to challenge it in a meaningful, lasting, and generative way, the project links efforts across discipline, race, class, experience, and expertise. To this end, Performing Statistics, New Monuments brings together artists, activists, radio DJs, trauma care specialists, lawyers, currently incarcerated men, women, and teens, and many others. This rare and robust collaborative community helps ensure that the project reaches a multitude of audiences (from fellow prisoners to policy makers) and is able to build and expand the local leadership and advocacy needed to engage with this social emergency.
Within Virginia, 1 in 5 African-Americans (more than 200,000 individuals) are politically disenfranchised because of criminal records. This disenfranchisement has helped widen the distance between those in power and those most impacted by these issues. The Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) has described their most significant hurdle in convincing policy makers to adopt their proposals as a "radical lack of empathy" for those caught up in, or affected by incarceration.
Performing Statistics, New Monuments addresses this context by looking to those most affected by mass incarceration as the experts society needs to listen to (through a Think Tank of prisoners and at-risk youth). By utilizing creative exchanges and collaborative media strategies, the project will create visual campaigns that foster empathy and understanding, while further developing avenues for communities to advocate for themselves, their neighbors, and future generations. "
Learn more about the Performing Statistics project:
http://performingstatistics.weebly.com
Featured article and interview via Juvenile Justice Information Exchange:
http://jjie.org/windows-from-prison-provides-visions-of-home
Click here to see all of the InSights: Past, Present and Future Self Through Photography Winners
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News, Pacific News » PNG Court sentence man to death by hanging for murdering four Chinese
PNG Court sentence man to death by hanging for murdering four Chinese
Posted by Staff Reporter on Saturday, February 13, 2016 in News, Pacific News | 0 comments
A man from the Gulf Province has been sentenced to death by hanging for the “unnecessary cold blooded murder” of four Chinese nationals in Port Moresby back in 2013.
The National Court today sentenced Keith Lasi-Aira of Ihu village to death by hanging after he viciously attacked and chopped three men and a woman to death with a bush knife in the early hours of June 24, 2013.
Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika when handing down the sentence described the incident as one of the worst homicide and brutal murder he has seen in the country.
The cold blooded murder of the four was a merciless act that saw Aira kill the owner of Poomo Enterprise in Koki, along with the wife and two other men.
The cold blooded murder was so brutal; the head of the owner of the shop and bakery was chopped off with only the skin from his chin holding his head to the body.
The fifth Chinese national managed to escape death when he ran back into the house at the top of the Poomo bakery and locked the door.
All these took place at the bakery in the early hours of a Saturday morning when staff from the bakery were in the process of mixing flour in a machine to bake.
Airia’s co-accused and cousin Erick Lato however escaped the death sentence and was given 30 years in prison with hard labour.
Sir Gibbs said despite Aira’s guilty plea to all four counts of willful murder and expression of remorse, the mitigating factors surrounding the brutal killing was more.
He said the fact that Aira killed someone in authority (his boss) and more than two people in a series of acts is punishable by death.
Sir Gibbs said the ultimate maximum penalty for Aira for the willful murder of the four is for his life to pay for the cold blooded act.
He told Lato the fact that he was there during the time of the murder and encouraged Aira has landed him 30 years with hard labour.
“By your presence you encouraged Aira to do what he did,” Sir Gibbs said.
Lato has been in custody for the past three years and time served will be deducted from the sentence. He will now serve 27 years.
The court heard that during the record of interview with Police in July 2013 they said they were upset over their pay because the owner of the shop would force them to get goods on credits from his shop and deduct their pay more.
PNG Loop
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I’m Pam Rushby and I’m a writer. When people ask me what I write, I usually say “Just about anything”.
I write:
children’s books (fiction and non-fiction)
young adult novels
television, video and audio scripts
short stories and freelance journalism
radio and television commercials
Lizzie and Margaret Rose (Omnibus Books 2016)
London, 1940. Bombs are falling. Ten-year-old Margaret Rose survives a deadly air raid, but her family home is destroyed. Her parents are gone. In faraway Townsville in Australia, her aunt and her family are very ready to take her in – although eleven-year-old Lizzie is not so sure. But first, there is a long and dangerous journey to a strange country. Margaret Rose knows it’s not going to be easy. And Lizzie is not about to make it any easier.
Princess Parsley (Omnibus Book 2016)
Could there possibly be anything more absolutely, mega embarrassing than being named Parsley? You bet. Parsley’s dad decides to set up his own principality, making him Prince Kevin. And twelve-year-old Parsley … Princess Parsley of the Principality of Possum Creek. But it’s the way Parsley approaches being a princess that lands her in trouble with the Blondes – the mean girls – at school. And gets her own family seriously off-side. Will she ever get them back?
Sing a Rebel Song (Omnibus Books 2015)
It’s 1891 and one of the most dramatic events in Australia’s history is taking place in western Queensland: the Shearers’ Strike. The closest Australia ever came to outright civil war, when workers rebelled against the employment conditions laid down by landowners.
Twelve-year-old Maggie McAllister and her family are caught up in the struggle between unionists, the landowners and the government.
Torchlight protest marches and violent confrontations in the streets, woolsheds and property fired, the arrest of union leaders at gunpoint. Maggie plays a part in no small way herself. But her friends do not see things the same way, and for Maggie, singing a rebel song may have heartbreaking consequences.
The Ratcatcher’s Daughter (HarperCollins 2014)
It’s 1900. Thirteen-year-old Issy McKelvie leaves school and starts her first job – very reluctantly – as a maid in an Undertaking Establishment.
Issy thinks this is about as low as you can go. But something worse, much worse, is coming, as a very unwelcome visitor arrives in Australia.
It’s the plague, the Black Death, carried by the fleas on rats.
Issy loathes both rats and her father’s pack of yappy, snappy, hyperactive rat-killing terriers. But when her father becomes ill, it’s up to Issy to become an unwilling ratcatcher,
and to join the battle to rid the city of the plague-carrying rats.
However, many things about the city’s control of the plague are not as they seem. Issy comes to realise that the real world is very different from the one she thought she knew …
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#045 - If only every Project ran like an old Honda Civic
When I was in my late teens, I bought my first car. My friends were all doing the same - we all had our licenses and we wanted to put them to good use. Of course, not having a lot of money, we each ended up buying older, cheaper cars. I bought a 1974 Mazda RX4 from a family member, one friend bought an old Chevy Nova, another had an old sports car, and one had bought a 1977 Honda Civic.
CC Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1973-1978_Honda_Civic_5-door_hatchback_01.jpg
All of these cars were made near the end of an era- close to the last generation of vehicles you could actually fix yourselves. All of them even had carburetors - no fancy fuel injection, and definitely no computer control systems. My car had only an AM radio, which I updated to AM/FM (but no cassette deck). When these cars were made, most computers filled a small room, and Personal Computers were not yet available.
Wheels = Freedom
Well, we were all very happy to have our own set of wheels, so we took good care of our cars - washed them regularly, learned how to do our own repairs, change the oil and spark plugs, the whole bit. Besides, we couldn't afford to send them in to the shop for anything but the most significant of problems; the rest we did ourselves, brake pads, shocks and all.
Although we had our own cars, we helped each other and worked like a team. We learned from each other, and each became the "go-to" person for a particular specialty. Brian went into auto mechanics in a big way, eventually extending it into a career that included welding and being able to fix just about anything. He quickly became the expert in everything automotive, and for anything major we all went to him for help.
As you would expect, Brian was the one with the best car.
However, at the time, we didn't think so. My RX4 was sleek and fast, the Nova was solid and gutsy, and our other friends' cars were sporty. We all kind of felt sorry for our mechanic friend Brian who only had a little red Honda Civic.
I mean, a 1977 Honda Civic wasn't really a serious car. Sure it was small, and good on fuel - but it wasn't much for show, not really. Not something you would want to take a girl on a date with, compared to any of the other cars we had. It wasn't gutsy, it wasn't fast, it wasn't much more than a tin can on wheels. Four or five people could pick it up and move it (and occasionally we did).
But over the years, Brian proved us just how wrong we were about his car.
#045 - If only every Project ran like an old Honda...
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Abortion Resources
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Euthanasia is a reality; be informed
By Bonnie on 2017/12/27 in Education, Local Events & News
Bill C-14 has is now in place. Read more about the decision on Euthanasia Prevention Coalition’s website (www.epcc.ca)
Ontario’s health minister says the province will ensure that drugs for medically assisted dying will be available at no cost.
Eric Hoskins also says the province will establish a referral service that will connect physicians unwilling or unable to provide medically assisted dying with those who are willing to complete a patient’s consultation and assessment on the matter.
As of June 6, 2016, medically assisted dying is now legal in Canada, governed by the eligibility criteria set out in a ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada last year, which struck down the ban on assisted dying as a violation of the charter right to life, liberty and security of the person.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, speaking with reporters at a transit-related news conference, said those seeking a doctor-assisted death in the province no longer need to go to court to get permission.
Instead, Wynne said, “they would have to work through their doctor.”
Wynne said Ontario has protocols in place and officials have been working with College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario on the issue.
Hoskins says Ontario’s health regulatory colleges will provide guidance to health-care providers on the matter.
Hoskins also urged the federal government to pass legislation on assisted dying as quickly as possible so a national framework could be established on the practice.
Liberal MP Adam Vaughan, who was at the event with Wynne Monday morning, said assisted dying remains a “complex and sensitive issue.”
Vaughan said even when the federal government passes legislation on the issue — which it is expected to do soon — it will need to pay attention to the issue.
“We’re going to have to have an evolving conversation,” Vaughan told reporters.
There are some new videos which might help you become aware of the harsh realities of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Becoming more educated on this issue is very necessary for the days ahead…
For more information about Alex and Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, please go to the website www.epcc.ca or look at Alex’s blog at www.alexschadenberg.blogspot.ca. There are excellent articles about “Seniors against assisted suicide” and more!
Below you will see a brief synopsis of what Euthanasia Prevention Coalition believes and its concerns for Canada:
Euthanasia is the deliberate killing of someone by action or omission, with or without that person’s consent, for what are claimed to be compassionate reasons.
Assisted Suicide is counselling, abetting, or an act of aiding someone to kill himself or herself.
Hospice/Palliative Care is the active total care of patients whose prognosis is limited due to progressive, far-advanced disease; its purpose is to alleviate pain and other distressing symptoms and to enhance the quality of life, not to postpone or hasten death. (World Health Organization)
The members of the Coalition believe that euthanasia and assisted suicide should continue to be treated as murder/homicide, irrespective of whether the person killed has consented to be killed.
The present law in Canada does not distinguish between euthanasia, assisted suicide and other forms of murder. The key consideration is the intention to cause death. Consent or motive – even one of compassion – does not change the reality of killing a human being.
There is a growing tendency to promote “mercy killing” as a solution to suffering, pain, aging, mental or physical challenges, social ills, rising health costs and cost containment.
Sanctioning of euthanasia and assisted suicide (as in the Netherlands) has led to increased use of euthanasia without consent, circumvention of the law, and abuse of the vulnerable.
Advances in hospice/palliative care and pain management methods are threatened when euthanasia and assisted suicide are sanctioned as a means of relieving pain and suffering.
The medical profession need more instruction and the public needs more education regarding hospice/palliative care and effective pain control.
Depression is the most common factor in requests for assisted suicide. Depression can be diagnosed and treated successfully. Requests for assisted suicide is a call for help.
About Bonnie
Bonnie has worked for 4LifeLondon since November 2012. She is pro-life without exception and prays every day for all those affected by abortion and for their healing & peace.
View all posts by Bonnie →
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Visit our IVF Resource Page for more info..
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IMPERIALISM A LA MODE
I listened very carefully to Obama's speech about Libya last night. It was intelligent, careful, prudent, restrained, high-minded, and -- I thought -- admirably clear. In short, it is just about the best version we are going to get of American Imperialism. As I suggested yesterday, Obama's foreign policy is entirely continuous with the Imperial stance that America has adopted for the past two-thirds of a century. The United States, despite its economic troubles, bestrides the world like a colossus [if I may borrow a phrase from Shakespeare]. Its military power, unmatched in magnitude, flexibility, and efficiency, underwrites our imperialism in much the way that Britain's navy underwrote hers and Rome's legions hers. Obama proposes to wield that power with restraint, with intelligence, with international cooperation, and with determination both in defense of what we conceive to be our vital national interests and in pursuit of our collective policies, be they the opening of markets, the securing of friendly rulers in oil-laden lands, or even the protection of subject populations yearning to be free. As I have several times argued in this space, this imperial project is the shared commitment of every sector of the American political establishment, and of the vast majority of the American people as well. There is, I believe, no realistic prospect of America giving up this project until it is forced to do so by circumstances, as has happened sooner or later to every previous empire. I am not in principal opposed to a powerful, militarily dominant America, inasmuch as there will always be some nation or nations dominating the international scene. I would simply have liked America, when it ascended to this eminence, to use its power to advance the progressive and revolutionary interests of common people around the globe, rather than to undermine those interests while supporting dictators, tyrants, and religious fundamentalists. I would have liked this country to throw its support unreservedly behind Fidel Castro, so that he could create the socialist paradise he dreamed of for Cuba. I would have liked America to support Mossadegh, not assissinate him, to embrace Daniel Ortega, not plot to overthrow him. But I am well aware that there is not the slightest hint of popular or elite support in this country for a truly progressive use of our military power. Would it be better if we were to retire from the world scene, disband our enormous military-industrial-governmental complex, and maintain only enough military power to protect the country from genuine threats? That would certainly allow us to repair the economic damage of two thirds of a century of war-making and war-preparation, although I have no reason to believe that the vast funds thus freed up would be used for anything other than further enrichment of the super rich. Were we to adopt that course, we would then live in a world dominated by the Chinese, whose imperial ambitions are no less deeply rooted than ours. Would that be a better world? I honestly do not know. But these are idle speculations. The reality is that for at least another generation or two, America will be the dominant imperial power in the world [and there are no Jedi knights waiting on out of the way planets to step in and sort things out.] So I guess we are left with Obama's version of imperialism for the next two to six years. We shall have to wait and see how things work out.
A GUEST POST BY JUDITH BAKER
Judith Baker, an old and good friend, is currently working in Southern Africa in a program she has had a great deal to do with creating that teaches teachers how to teach writing. Judith is an old leftie, and one of the truly good people in the world. She was in South Africa when I received my honorary degree, but was unable to come to Cape Town, as she had planned, because of her commitments in the rural areas. I feel very deeply the disproportionality between the bits I do, for which I received an honorary doctorate, and the enormous amount she does, for which she receives very little public recognition.
Earlier today I received a circular email she sent to a number of friends about political and ideological issues in Southern Africa. She has agreed to allow me to post it as a guest blog. I am sure you will find it interesting. Here it is:
"This is a musing on political ideology in Africa, so don't feel obligated to read further if that does not interest you. I've been talking with several people including an astute activist from Zimbabwe who has lived all over Africa and been involved with many of the anticolonial leaders over many years. I have been struggling to understand the appeal of people like Mugabe in Zimb, Qaddafi in Libya and others, particularly the leadership in Rwanda and Uganda with whom you may be less familiar, and in South Africa which is of course actually democratic despite a certain level of neoliberal economic madness and corruption. In Zimb, the ruling party is Zanu PF, Mugabe's party. My friend feels that the reason Mugabe actually has a large following is that he does project a credible ideology of returning land and industry to 'the people' and taking it from previous colonial [white] owners. This 'Africanization' ideology resonates strongly with a fairly large portion of the Zimb population, while the opposition does not have as powerful a message, and is also much more influenced by Western and neoliberal economic policy which is even more suspect than it might have been before because of the economic isolation imposed on Zimb. Mugabe blames Zimb's problems on the world economic boycott, particularly the lack of access to credit. Now one thing which has bothered me very much about the US left's political philosophy is that we have a hard time dealing with the critical issue of credit/borrowing. But we all have mortgages and we oppose the balanced gov't budgets that restrict social spending, so we know that credit is a huge issue for those who want to live well, especially for the poor. Mugabe has made his point about the economic blockade, and it wins him many followers. However, my other informed activist friends say very clearly that if that were the actual Mugabe rather than the smoke screen dictator, this ideology might be meaningful, even if limited. However, the real Mugabe is a billionaire and his circle of power is a circle of others who want to take his place, not as an ideologue or leader but as billionaires. The wealth that comes from diamond mining and from mineral concessions in southern Congo [where Zimb forces have been involved many times in exchange for supporting Congolese politicians] never gets discussed much less distributed or used for the common good. When the govt does something which looks really good, for instance over 10,000 young people are given scholarships to study around the world, it is always for 'supporters', never for 'the people' at large. Brook says this is not a system of support for Mugabe but rather an old fashioned 'patronage' system of buying support and controlling and demonizing opponents. Our friend says that though it is so, the Zanu PF activists believe in it very strongly, even apart from their support of the man Mugabe - they 'own' it. Indeed, my friend says that whenever a crime is committed in Zimb, the police solve it quickly as popular support for the justice system is very high and that this makes living in Zimb feel safe and comfortable. However, the very same police officer will come to you and say, look I am watching you, so don't do anything questionable - meaning politically opposed to Zanu PF. He reports feeling very unsafe in Johannesburg or Nairobi where crime is very bad. But he is safe in Harare unless he criticizes Mugabe or joins the opposition. The older generation of African activists was very interconnected - they studied at major hotspots like Univ of Dar es Salaam, Makerere in Uganda, Fort Hare in South Africa - they read Steve Biko and all the anti-colonials like Fanon, Nkrumah, etc - they interacted with Black Liberation leaders and Civil Rights leaders in the US - and for an old person like me, they provided ideological leadership and controversy and a forum to discuss ideas. Those who remain activists work on AIDS and economic development and education, etc, but feel cut off and isolated to a large extent. They also, in my experience, tend to be bitterly disappointed by those who have inherited or taken over their governments. In short, they are like us - working hard on issues, but have no 'ism' or unifying theory or philosophy - and thus nothing with a name to pass along to the next generations. But unlike us, a lot of that generation became the post-colonial government and power structure, so that whole piece needs a separate examination. As for Libya, I think Obama will get a lot of credit from progressive Africans for his support of a multinational response to Qaddafi's threats against the rebels. We'll see later if that will turn into something else, but I think people feel that Obama has genuinely tried to involve Africans in this, has listened to them, and has, unlike Clinton and Bush, actually supported people who asked for support. I have no idea whether this will turn out to have been the right thing to do or not. I wish I could see the future, but having seen anti-colonials turn into dictators, and knowing little about the 'rebels' themselves, I would not venture a guess. What I will say, however, is that IF some of these rebels begin to engage philosophically and ideologically with the world community, we should also engage. Wherever there is a forum where we can talk about what we believe and how we should work to achieve change, we should be there in some way. I don't think we have an 'ism' with which to proselytize, but I do think we can be a legitimate member of the discussion."
SOME COMMENTS ON THE COMMENTS
While I have been preparing for teaching and trying to catch up on my sleep, I seem to have provoked two streams of comments on my recent posts that deserve some sort of response by me. [Today I finish talking about Book Nine of the REPUBLIC, in which Plato completes his long connected argument for the proposition that it is better to suffer injustice than to commit it. What an extraordinary work the REPUBLIC is! But that is not exactly news to two and a half millennia of readers.] First, let me respond to Noumena's comments about FTEs and the pressure on Humanities Departments. I agree with pretty much everything he said, and I am sorry I did not make it clearer that my post was to be read in the context of my earlier remarks about the different ways in which the sciences and the humanities are treated in universities. [By the way, for our overseas participants who may not be au courant with American acronyms, "STEM" stands for "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics."] One of the problems with running a blog is that I tend to make the mistake of assuming that everyone has read everything I have ever posted on it, and will construe each comment in the light of all the others. If I were Shakespeare, that would be a fair assumption, but we ordinary mortals have to make less heroic assumptions. So: I indicated in an earlier post [one of the Thoughts on Education series] that a central problem for the humanities is its relative inability to secure external funding., I plan to write a good deal more about that as the series develops. It is quite true that Humanities departments generate a great many FTEs. This is true principally because they tend to be large service departments teaching many undergraduates in required distribution courses. It is routinely the case that STEM departments have lower teaching loads, generate fewer FTEs, but are given a pass by the administration because they are bringing in large amounts of external funding that carries with it, as I explained, valuable overhead money. The case of the professional schools is somewhat different. Business schools tend to garner large alumni/ae donations and corporate funding, and also [for obvious reasons] to be in good odor with corporate-type trustees and administrators. They tend as well to have greater support from state legislators, many of whom are beholden to the business community. The counting of FTEs is used as a device by administrators to squeeze Humanities budgets in part because they do not see any use for the Humanities anyway and find the FTE device a useful excuse. Incidentally [although this was not what Noumena and I were discussing], in some state universities [such as UMass], where out of state tuition is very much higher than in-state tuition, universities will actively seek out of state students to pump up their budgets. This is especially noteworthy with regard to foreign students, who typically pay the full charge, and thus actually bring in more money than they cost to educate. I am not sure that this entirely sorts out the differences between Noumena and me, but it may go part of the way at least. Now to the difficult and contentious matter of America's military intervention in the Libyan affair. I have many times said on this blog, and in fact repeated as part of my initial response to Chris, that I believe the United States has for sixty years and more pursued an imperial foreign policy, under Democrats and Republicans alike, that has for the most part supported repressive and exploitative regimes and done its best to undermine the legitimate aspirations of peoples of almost every nation of the world. Using first the excuse of the existence of the Soviet Union and then the excuse of the imagined threat of China and the ever-present threat of terrorist attacks, the United States has built and maintained a military establishment that dwarfs the collected military of the rest of the world. I think that is a bad thing. I opposed it in 1960, and I have been opposing it ever since. I think there is about a zero chance that this will change in my [admittedly short] lifetime, or in the much longer lifetimes of my sons. That is no reason to stop opposing it, but it is a reason not to get one's hopes up. The contrast with domestic policy is instructive. I happen to be a socialist, but I have no problem distinguishing between all manner of good programs pushed by progressive Democrats and all manner of really bad programs pushed by right-wing Republicans. I do allow myself to hope that in my lifetime, some good things will happen domestically, and over the past sixty years I have vigorously supported the Democratic Party, even though it is in no way, shape, or form a socialist party, because I think its policies make life better for tens of millions of Americans than do the policies of the Republicans. By contrast, the basic shape of American foreign policy remains unaltered with every change in administration. To be sure, George W. Bush's version of that policy was especially egregious, but it was recognizably continuous with the foreign policies of all of his post-World War II predecessors. I based my support for the Libyan intervention [as did Juan Cole and, if I understand him, JT Christie] on the belief that in this case the use of our military power, which exists anyway and is ready to hand, would have consequences that I think are good. Just that, nothing more. I made no judgment about the motives of the Obama administration [or of the French and British governments, for that matter], nor did I imagine that taking action in this case, which I support, somehow would confer a sort of retrospective grace on the motives or previous actions of the administration. Chris is obviously very angry with America's foreign and military policy. I don't blame him. So am I, although I have been angry for so long that I have become somewhat numb by now. Unless you are constituted for it, long sustained gut-wrenching anger will do that to you. But he also makes one substantive point that I think deserves some serious consideration. If I may paraphrase what seems to me to be his central argument, he says that supporting a peremptory military intervention even when it is justified on the merits in this case risks strengthening and justifying the general polucy of which it is a particular instantiation, with the long-term consequence of making it easier for this and future administrations to continue and even to expand a fundamentally malign policy. Do I have that right, Chris? This is a serious argument, and I am not at all sure that I am giving it its proper weight in my thinking about Libya. On the one side are the lives of large numbers of men and women who are at risk of being murdered by Qadaffi's forces. On the other side is the possibility that if Obama pulls off this intervention swiftly, successfully, and with no loss of American lives [as I think he very well may], that will simply cement into place a fundamentally wrong military and foreign policy. Why, faced with the difficult task of balancing these two consideratuions, do I come down on the side of intervention? I think the simplest answer is that I believe America's imperial foreign and military policy to be so solidly and unshakeably entrenched in American public life that neither victories nor defeats will much alter its untouchable status. When I think back to the Viet Nam disaster -- so much greater a disaster in every way than our Iraq and Afghanistan forays -- I am struck [and depressed] by the fact that the basic shape of America's foreign policy survived it unaltered. The military completely reorganized itself in the aftermath of Viet Nam, so bad a disaster was it, and yet despite political upheavals that were truly remarkable, the shape of America's imperial policy survived unaltered. Am I sure that I am right? Good heavens, no. But I cannot watch tens of thousands of people being slaughtered simply out of the forlorn hope that something, anything, will cause America to rethink its foreign policy.
I very strongly urge all of my readers to go to Professor Juan Cole's blog [ www.juancole.com ] and read his long post today on the moral justification of the Libyan intervention. It is, in my opinion, completely correct. This is a must read. If you look for it in Google, try "informed opinion," which is the name of his blog.
I figure that the job of really deep thinkers like me [hem, hem] is to make connections between items in the news that seem on the surface unrelated. Today, I should like to tease out the subtle filiations connecting Toyota's production problems, the protests in Wisconsin, and the fragile job prospects of graduate students in the Humanities. A comment in the on-going coverage of the Japanese disaster caught my eye [or perhaps my ear -- I think I actually heard it on the radio]. The interruption in industrial production in Japan is causing problems for the Just in Time supply chain of automobile parts to Toyota assembly plants in the United States, with the result that Toyota dealerships are experiencing a shortage of product that will put a crimp in their sales figures. A few words of explanation for readers not familiar with the concept of Just in Time production. Capitalist production firms buy inputs, combine them into final goods [those made for the consumer markets] and then sell them, recouping their capital outlays, making a profit, and initiating another cycle of production. Retail outlets do something similar, buying their merchandise from wholesalers and marking them up for sale to consumers. Although it is somewhat obscured from view by the equations of economic theorists, the production process is not simply a matter of jumbling together a collection of inputs to produce output. Rather, it is a carefully sequenced process determined by the concrete particularities of the engineering of the commodity being produced. This is easily seen in an automobile assembly plant, where frames, side panels, transmissions, carburetors, exhaust manifolds, headlights and tires are assembled in a precisely specified order. A shortage of any one of these components brings the entire process to a halt, idling machinery and workers until the missing component can be supplied. For this reason, and also in order to take advantages of quantity price breaks, capitalists traditionally have bought their inputs in large lots and then warehoused them, drawing down on their stocks as needed to meet the demand for their output. But warehousing is expensive, both because it ties up capital that could otherwise be earning some rate of return and because the physical warehouse costs a good deal to build and maintain. Some while ago, manufacturers began devising methods for predicting the required flow of inputs and then ordering them from suppliers so that they arrive "just in time" to be used in the production process. Managing this so that costly bottlenecks do not develop, forcing a shutdown of production, requires sophisticated techniques for tracking inputs and the production process, all of which becomes possible with the use of modern computerized data management systems. Exactly the same thing is done by your neighborhood supermarket, which uses the data from barcodes scanned at checkout to keep track of the flow of thousands of different categories of items, thereby reducing both warehousing and spoilage. Now, from the point of view of capital, labor is just another input into production, indistinguishable from steel or rubber or cotton or coal. Maintaining a stable full time labor force is, to capital, the equivalent of warehousing an input so that it is available when needed in production. This is as costly and wasteful as storing ten thousand carburetors just so that an automobile assembly line will not grind to a halt because the carburetor maker missed a shipment date. One can think of labor's health benefits as a cost akin to the cost of maintaining a refrigerated locker for sides of beef that must be kept ready for butchering and sale. So it is that capital is constantly engaged in efforts to transform its labor supply into a Just in Time system that minimizes costs. One solution to the problem of fixed and inflexible labor costs is to substitute "self-employed" temporary workers for a regular full-time labor force. Like independent suppliers of production inputs, temporary workers are not the responsibility of the capitalist, who can go into the labor market and hire them by the hour, the day, or the week, without taking on the burden of a regular year in year out bill for wages. Just as stored carburetors are not earning any profit while they sit in the warehouse, waiting to be needed, so full time employees typically spend idle hours on the job costing their employers money but producing no profit. Much of the time of the secretary at the front desk in an office, for example, is spent waiting for the phone to ring or for someone to walk in and ask for directions. Service firms experience analogous problems of bottlenecks and warehousing, and endlessly seek ways of streamlining the providing of services so as to maximize profits and minimize costs. I thought of this last Wednesday when I went to the Ambulatory Care Center of the UNC Health System for my annual physical checkup. Any American reading this will recognize the process I went through [I am not sure about health care systems overseas.] I walked into a large waiting room, got on line, and eventually was checked in at the reception desk, where a relatively low wage employee took my UNC Health Care Card, my Medicare Card, and my supplementary insurance card, checked them against his computer, stamped them onto a sheet, and told me to wait until I was called. Some while later, my name was called, and a health care provider [also, I suspect, low wage] brought me through a door into the examining room area, took my weight [always a nervous moment], and my blood pressure and pulse [nice and low, thank you], and asked why I was there that day. After a while, my [high wage] doctor came in, spent more time with me than he should have [one of the benefits of a university health system with medical faculty as health care providers is that they are hard to discipline], told me it was time for a fasting cholesterol blood work [I hate the fasting], and sent me on my way. The entire rather efficient system is designed to maximize the profitability of the process by passing me along [rather like a half assembled car] from station to station, with as little waste time as possible in the day of the high wage doctor. The principal wastage in the system is the time of the patients, who have little choice but to sit idly in the waiting room until called, or in the examination room until the doctor arrives, takes the patient's chart from a holder in the door as he or she enters, and efficiently examines the patient. Well, more and more these days, universities are being run by fugitives from the corporate world who look at the labor-intensive, time-wasteful, pre-capitalist process called education and dream of introducing Just in Time technology into the classroom. Using the bludgeon of budgetary exigency, especially at public institutions, they start by introducing metrics for quantifying the delivery of educational services. Each department is evaluated according to the number of FTEs ["full time equivalent" students] that it generates in its classes. If the normal course load for a full time student is five 3-credit courses per semester [as it is at the University of Massachusetts, where I taught for many years], then a one semester course enrolling 30 students can be thought of as generating 90 credits, which is 6 FTEs. A full time instructor teaching three courses a semester, each with 30 students, is thus generating 270 credits, or 18 FTEs. From the standpoint of a rational university corporate manager it makes no difference whether an instructor teaches ninety students a semester in three 3o student sections or takes over full time responsibility for the education of 18 students for that semester. There may be all the difference in the world in the educational experience for the students and the pedagogical techniques employed by the instructor, but none of than shows up on the spread sheets with the aid of which the managers monitor the production of education in the university. Once the unruly, craft-like, idiosyncratic process of education has been reduced to the metric of credit hours, it is immediately obvious what steps need to be taken to improve efficiency on the shop floor. The first step is to identify underperforming units -- clusters of faculty not generating the required stream of FTEs. The threat of budget cuts and lost faculty lines prompts the underperformers to ramp up their production of FTEs by changing their product line [offering popular courses that draw larger numbers of students, eliminating speciality courses that enroll only a handful]. Struggles break out in the Faculty Senate over the precise content of the array of courses required to satisfy "General Education" requirements. These struggles tend to be couched in elevated philosophical terms that would have warmed Plato's heart, but they are really about FTEs and faculty lines. The Philosophy Department at UMass, for example, scored a brilliant tactical victory when it got its baby logic course classified as "Mathematics" for purposes of distribution requirements, thereby drawing each year floods of students who quite rightly concluded that it would be less demanding than Intro Calculus. In the desperate scramble for FTEs. graduate students play a crucial but often overlooked role. Just as it is more efficient to use low wage labor at the UNC Health Services for check in, weight, and blood pressure, saving the costly time of the doctor for a brief but indispensable examination of the patient, so it makes accounting sense to put a high paid professor in front of three hundred students for two hours a week, and then parcel out to low paid graduate students the labor intensive work of conducting discussion sections and grading exams. The professor is credited with a staggering 900 credit hours, or 60 FTEs, while the underpaid and exploited graduate students are said to be acquiring "teaching experience that will help them in the job market." When even these dodges and devices do not succeed in ramping up FTEs satisfactorily, the next step is to increase the faculty teaching load, first from two courses a semester to three, then from three to four. Heavier teaching loads interfere with scholarly productivity [also reduced to the metric of numbers of articles published, or even numbers of pages published], of course. Scholarly books, like hand crafted furniture and artisanal cheeses, come to be viewed as luxury items suitable only for the carriage trade [which is to say, well endowed private universities.] Finally, a true Just in Time system is substituted for the old-fashioned, expensive, wasteful system called the Faculty. Itinerant teachers travel from campus to campus picking up a course here, a course there, sans tenure, sans benefits, sans careers. Capitalism has finally arrived on the campus. What can we pre-capitalist throwbacks do to fight this seemingly inexorable process? Wisconsin has lessons to teach us. Capitalism views labor as just another input into production, but labor is performed by men and women who, despite capitalism's best efforts, remain sentient, purposeful human beings. And in the service sector especially, labor is hard to dispense with [although the recent practice of taping the lectures of Master Teachers and selling them as canned college courses would, if it caught on, go a long way to eliminating labor in the education business!] And we can organize, threaten to withhold our labor, bargain for binding contracts. In this effort, the workers in the advanced industrial sector -- the Ivy League -- need to take the lead. They have no signs of doing so, of course, being by and large the worst sort of class traitors, regardless of their professed political leanings, but we need somehow to persuade them to join the movement for faculty unions and graduate student unions. Say what you will about UMass, it has a strong faculty union, a strong graduate student union, and a strong staff employee union. Well, that is my effort to connect up the Japanese disaster, Toyota's production problems, the Wisconsin protests, and job prospects of Humanities graduate students.
IT MAY BE TIME FOR ME TO HANG IT UP
I was idly wondering what I might blog about today, and it occurred to me to write something about Stephen Jay Gould, Joltin' Joe's immortal fifty-six game hitting streak, and a fundamental logical error that I have for a long time thought Gould made in writing about that famous sports record. But then I thought, "Surely I have already written about that." With the help of Google, I soon found that I had indeed posted a nice comment on the subject just about a year ago, on March 7, 2010. I have always thought that I would run out of time in life before I ran out of things to say, but perhaps I have lived too long.
Oh well, there is always Michelle Bachman.
A propos, now that Bachman, arguably the craziest person in the U. S. House of Representatives, is about to start a run for the presidency, the news media are doing little backgrounders on her. I recently read that in addition to raising five children of her own, she has served as a foster parent to more than twenty children. Now, any way you want to look at it, that is truly admirable. It does not make her any less crazy, or any less of a spotlight hog, but it does make it a great deal more difficult simply to have contempt for her.
If we are going to ridicule Newt Gingrich because of his appalling record of serial divorces, then fairness demands that we acknowledge Bachman's honorable record of private good works.
Sigh, the world is not nearly so simple as I would like it to be.
I think later today I will say something about Wednesday's seminar class, in which two graduate students made a very interesting presentation about Charter Schools. Some of the data they found are rather surprising.
A PAUSE TO REFLECT
Since returning from South Africa last Friday, I have been scrambling to catch up with work while fighting jet lag that has me even more turned around than usual. Now that this week's Plato class and graduate seminar are behind me, and I am feeling sort of normal, I thought I would pause just for a moment to reflect on where this blog has taken me. It would seem that in the last year or a bit more, I have posted the equivalent of three or four full length books of material, including my autobiography [which is in three volumes, but only runs 800 pages or so], a 150 page tutorial on the use and abuse of formal methods in political philosophy [on my other blog], extended tutorials on the thought of Karl Marx and how to study society, and hundreds of daily comments on the passing scene. That is a good deal of writing, even for me. There seem to be any where from 700 to 1500 people who check in to this blog on a regular basis -- possibly even more [I do not have the ability to track unique visits and all of that]. It is all somewhat like a grand seminar, done in the best possible way, which is to say voluntarily both by me and by my many commentators and collaborators.
In a few days, I hope to resume my series of posts on the future of the Humanities in higher education. I am continuing to pursue the idea of starting some sort of center or institute devoted to defending the Humanities against its enemies foreign and domestic, and will report any developments on that front. I continue to take great pleasure in the discomfiture of the Republicans, and hope against hope that the revival of progressive populist sentiment, sparked by the anti-union efforts of a number of Governors, betokens the long awaited stirring of the great American progressive beast. [A propos, I trust you all noticed that the newly elected Governor of Maine has chosen to take down a mural depicting the history of working people in that state because it was too heavily biased toward -- working people. Apparently the Republicans have decided that their previous attacks on working people were too subtle, and must be made more overt so that no one misses the point.]
Two idle bits of personal reportage about my odd reading habits. While preparing for my South African trip, I downloaded a Kindle App onto my IPad so that I could access free books [my wife's daughter-in-law told me about them], but the only one I could find that was at all tempting was THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, so I downloaded it to read on the plane. It turned out to be monstrously long [1313 pages in one edition I found on Amazon], and it has taken me forever to finish, but I plowed through it, and thought it was great fun. Meanwhile, a new anniversary edition has appeared of the very first Dr. Seuss book: AND TO THINK THAT I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET. I loved that book when I was little, so I bought a fresh new copy, and plan to fly out to California to read it to my grandchildren. There are some benefits to being old!
Oh yes, this morning, for ninety-nine cents, I downloaded the King James version of the Bible to my IPad, so I am prepared for all eventualities. [An English version of the Q'uran is also available for ninety-nine cents.]
During my week away, a good deal happened in the world, needless to say. A godawful earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, triggering a nuclear disaster, and the United States launched yet a third war in a Muslim country. I feel a need to say something about these events, although I am no kind of expert on either of them. By the way, the cable television service in our room [at something called The Excellent Guest House -- no kidding] carried Al-Jazeera English, which turns out to be the best straight news channel I have ever watched. I read the print version on line here in the States, but the television show is not available -- a real shame.
All of you have watched the horrific pictures of walls of water rolling over Japanese villages, so I need not expatiate on them. But as the problems developed at the nuclear power plants, an old question posed itself in my mind: What is the right way to weigh the pros and cons of a controversial public policy? Nuclear power is clean energy. It does not spew hydrocarbons into the atmosphere day in and day out. Hence, it does not contribute to all manner of environmental and medical evils. But inevitably, predictably, unavoidably, every so often there is a nuclear accident, the consequences of which, as we see, can be horrendous. The rational course seems to be to make careful estimates of the long-term harm of oil and coal, and compare that with the episodic harm of nuclear energy, always of course pushing for maximum safety and minimum harm in both cases. Surely any satisfactory theory of rational choice leads to that conclusion. And yet, I am for some reason not entirely comfortable with that way of making social policy. I welcome your thoughts.
As for the Libyan adventure, it seems wrong to leave the Libyan rebels to be slaughtered by Ghadafi, and wrong to launch yet another war. My own belief, suggested several times on this blog, is that the United States should not have an enormous imperial military establishment in the first place. It ought to have a force only large enough to protect the United States from the -- at this point minuscule -- threat of invasion. Once we build a military establishment that dwarfs that of the entire rest of the world, it is inevitable that we will find all manner of excuses for using it. The Libyan case is actually one of the very rare instances in which the United States can be said to have entered a foreign conflict on the right side, but it would be far better if we had a military force quite incapable of playing that role on the world stage. Sixty-five years of experience since World War II demonstrates that this nation is quite incapable of using its enormous military force wisely or well.
Well, I must prepare to teach the REPUBLIC later this morning. If I manage to get some pictures of the events in South Africa, I will post one or two.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY HONORIS CAUSA
Susie and I are back from South Africa -- four days of traveling for a three day stay. Despite the fact that I am now exhausted, I am completely delighted with the trip. I am going to write two posts about it. Today, I will talk about the Commencement Ceremony, and tomorrow I will talk about a wonderful lunch with one of my favorite people in the world, Dr. Renfrew Christie of the UWC Administration, and about the extraordinary celebration of my scholarship organization, USSAS, that the student bursary recipients organized.
The University of the Western Cape [UWC] was founded half a century ago by the old apartheid government as a university reserved for the mixed race people whom South Africa calls Coloured. This is a primarily Afrikaans speaking group of people situated in the Western Cape, in and around Cape Town. When Jakes Gerwel was appointed Rector in '88 [I think], he declared UWC South Africa's "University of the Left," and it played an important role in the successful struggle against apartheid. Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and many other ANC leaders were imprisoned, lies off the coast within sight of Cape Town. UWC, when I first visited it in 1986, was a small university of perhaps 7,000 students. It has now grown to 18,000 or more, and enrolls large numbers of African students as well as Coloured students, along with much smaller numbers of Indian students and a small number of White students.
In South Africa, the principal administrative officer of a university holds the title of Vice-Chancellor and Rector. The Chancellorship is an honorary title. The current Vice-Chancellor, a man whom I am proud to call my good friend, is Brian O'Connell. Brian has led the way in the growth and development of UWC, and has also taken a courageous leadership position in the fight against HIV-AIDS on the UWC campus. He long ago appointed Dr. Tania Vergnani to head up that effort, and she, with her aide Joachim Jacobs, has created the best HIV-AIDS awareness and prevention campaign in the country. More about that tomorrow.
I was awarded an honorary doctorate to recognize the work of University Scholarships for South African Students, a little one-man organization I started twenty-one years ago to provide bursaries [i.e., scholarships] for poor Black students going to historically Black universities and technikons in South Africa. [See my autobiography, in the archives of this blog, for a full description, or visit www.ussas.com.] UWC's commencements are held in five or six parts over more than a week. The session in which I received my degree was held on Tuesday evening last, in a beautiful hall [in a newly opened building] holding perhaps a thousand people.
After gathering for a little finger food with senior administrators and guests, we were led into the hall to the strains of Gaudeamus Igitur in academic procession. I took along my bright crimson Harvard doctoral robes, which I have worn all too infrequently over the past fifty-four years. [They were a graduate present from my parents in 1957.] The ceremony itself is quite formal, drawing on Continental and English traditions. The Chancellor sits on a raised chair in the middle of the first row on the stage, and as each graduate for any degree is announced, he or she walks across the stage and kneels before the Chancellor on a red velvet stool. The Chancellor then "caps" the candidate, which is to say taps him or her with a big floppy velvet academic cap. The candidate continues to along the stage and is "hooded" [receives his or her hood] before returning to the audience. A candidate for the doctorate is accompanied by the dissertation director, who reads out a summary of the research that the candidate has completed. Each degree recipient is applauded by the faculty on the stage and the students and guests in the audience.
My honorary doctorate was awarded first, and I am deeply proud to be able to say that the Chancellor who capped me was none other than retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who for twenty-four years has served as the Chancellor of UWC, and is stepping down this year from that post. When I was invited to receive the honor, I immediately composed in my head a one hour address to the students, but Cheryl Jason of the Vice-Chancellor's office told me, after I had accepted the honor, that they hoped I would speak "for three to five minutes." Well, as I explained to the students, anyone who has sat through academic lectures knows that in a one hour lecture there at most three to five minutes worth hearing, so I pared things away to the following remarks, which I duly delivered after receiving my degree:
"Chancellor Tutu, Vice-Chancellor O'Connell, Distinguished Deans and Faculty, Graduates and Friends,
I accept this great honor with pleasure, with gratitude, and with pride. I accept it, not for myself, but for the more than one thousand American men and women who have, over the past two decades, donated faithfully to our scholarship fund so that deserving young men and women here in South Africa may have the opportunity to seek a higher education. I accept it for those generous men and women in South Africa without whose efforts our scholarship programme could not have succeeded: for the late Prem Singh, who taught for many years at the University of Durban-Westville, for Dr. Tania Vergnani, who runs here on the campus of UWC the finest AIDS awareness and prevention campaign in the country, for Rensche Bell, formerly of your Financial Aid Office, who for years looked after the bursary recipients, for your former Chair of Council Sheila Tyeku, who manages the funds I am able to send from America, and I accept it for the bursary recipients, past and present, who have made all of us in the United States so proud.
Twenty-one years ago, on February 3rd, 1990, I had the great privilege of meeting for an hour with His Grace, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, during one of his many visits to America. It was just eight days before Nelson Mandela was to be released from Robben Island, and during the meeting, the Archbishop spoke movingly about the need for re-investment in what would shortly be the new South Africa. Inspired by his words, I founded University Scholarships for South African Students in the hope that I could, in some small way, be a part of the historic transformation about to take place in this beautiful land. Each year, I send appeals to my donors and bring here the bits of money they are generous enough to donate. The amounts are not large -- they dwindle into insignificance in comparison to the need -- but over these twenty-one years we have been able to help more than one thousand five hundred young Black men and women attend South Africa's historically Black universities.
Let me address a few words to those of you who will in a very few moments be awarded the degrees you have worked so hard for. This is a day of joy for you, a day of triumph, and a day of joy and triumph as well for your parents and family who are here today to witness the ceremony. I bring you congratulations from all of my American donors -- from Nobel Laureates, from Professors, from Doctors, from Lawyers, to all of whom I will carry back the happy news that you have successfully completed your studies. This is your day, and you have every right to enjoy it.
But I also bring to you a message, a challenge, an admonition. One hundred fifteen years ago a group of Black women in America founded the National Association of Colored Women, to fight the horrors of lynching and to seek complete equality of all Americans. These women, born as slaves or the daughters of slaves, chose as the motto of their new organization "Lifting As We Climb." They meant by this that as each of them climbed the ladder of success, winning for herself some measure of freedom and equality, she would look back, reach down, and offer a hand to others who were lower down on that ladder. They were not content merely to gain advantage for themselves. They committed themselves to fighting for all of their brothers and sisters, not stopping until they could all say, in the words of the old hymn, "free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last."
As you receive your well earned recognition on this happy day, I call on you to commit yourselves to helping others in South Africa who have not yet had your advantages. Take as your personal motto, Lifting As I Climb. Find some way in your work, in your daily lives, to look back, reach down, and offer a hand to someone lower on the ladder of success. If you will do that, then I will know that our little organization has truly been a success.
It remains only for me to give to your Rector, Professor O'Connell, a check for this year's USSAS donation to UWC, in the amount of 250,000 Rand. The money sits in a Pretoria bank, and as soon as Sheila Tyeku can pry it loose, it will be sent to this campus to aid more young people to earn their degrees. Thank you once again for this great honor.
Nkosi sikelel iAfrica."
Or, more accurately, vale atque ave. Tomorrow morning, Susie and I leave for South Africa, where I shall be awarded an honorary degree by the University of the Western Cape. Four days on a plane, there and back, and three days actually in Cape Town. Then it is back to teaching, and to blogging. I shall post a report of the trip when I return, and then continue with my thoughts on education.
Let me take this opportunity to reply briefly to several comments I have received, either by email or in the Comments section of the blog.
One of my readers interpreted today's post as a complaint about the unfairness of the way in which research monies are distributed to different segments of the higher educational community. I am afraid I must have failed to make myself clear. I do not think it is unfair for the sciences to receive so much more external funding than the Humanities. I simply think this fact poses a challenge to those of us in the Humanities, one that I shall address later in my series of posts, with some practical suggestions, based in part on my own experience in raising somewhat more than two million dollars for programs run by, and in some cases for the benefit, of Humanities programs.
Another reader [with the handle EnglishJerk] asks: "Is there any inconsistency between the claim that the Conversation serves as a spur to reflection and that it holds out the hope of total gratification? For me, the experience of literature is an experience of affective power necessarily combined with a feeling of perplexity, of bafflement; and my interpretive impulse arises from that combination. The experience of literature thus seems to me rather remote from gratification, not least because the powerful affects involved almost never amount of unalloyed pleasure."
This is, I think, a very good description of the experience many of us have when struggling with great literature, or indeed great philosophy, etc. I did not mean to suggest otherwise. The key to my argument in yesterday's post is Marcuse's phrase "reconciliation is by grace of the oeuvre as form." The seeming effortlessness with which the great artist [or philosopher or political economist or anthropologist or sociologist, for that matter] surmounts the formal constraints of his or her undertaking to produce something of great beauty, while at the same time completely conforming to those constraints, is a model, an instance, a paradigm [in the correct sense of that much misused word] of the infantile desire for instantaneous and effortless gratification that lies repressed but never forgotten in each of us. Perhaps I am relying too heavily on my own experience, but I have no other guide. When Bach composes a perfect fugue that seems to flow free-form from his infinite imagination; when Matisse, with a handful of lines conjures with such ease the face of a young woman; when Kant extracts the validity of the Causal maxim from the elementary unity of subjective consciousness -- it takes my breath away. It may take me years to reach the point at which I can appreciate the fugue, the face, the philosophical argument, but once I do, it is as though I have, by a gift of grace, been vouchsafed a vision of omnipotence. And in that moment, I can, fleetingly, imagine liberation.
Well, off to South Africa.
THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION PART FIVE
Having ventured into depth psychology and other treacherous realms in search of a defense of the Humanities, I shall now return to the quotidian struggle for jobs and paychecks. Today, I wish to talk for a bit about what is happening to Humanities departments in universities. My comments will be anecdotal, and restricted by and large to this country, simply because of the limitations of my knowledge and experience. I invite my readers from other countries to tell us what is happening there.
The assault on the Humanities is almost entirely budgetary. Wealthy schools [particularly, in America, well-endowed private colleges and universities] are content to leave their Humanities departments in place, and even to underwrite their expansion and multiplication. But the budget crises that periodically afflict public institutions seem almost always to take the heaviest toll on the Humanities. The experimental sciences have for many decades now relied on government and corporate funding for most of their research, and a combination of capitalist self-interest and national defense anxiety has sufficed to keep their money pouring in.
Many of the readers of this blog will understand quite fully how all of this works, but for those of you who do not hold faculty positions at tertiary institutions, permit me a few words of explanation. A grant proposal emanating from a university-based research scientist routinely includes money for research assistants, which is to say doctoral students, who will form part of the team working in the "Principal Investigator's" laboratory. Science these days is virtually always carried on by teams, in sharp contrast to the research of Humanist scholars. [Compare the publications of the two groups. The science papers always have multiple authors, with the grant-getter's name appearing first. Only rarely do humanists publish jointly.] The grant proposal also routinely includes money for phones, travel, "research materials," and other expenses that Humanists rely on their Deans to provide.
In addition -- and this is profoundly important in the finances of a university -- funders such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes for Health permit grant applicants to include a very large overhead allowance -- a standard percentage of the dollar amount of the grant application -- ostensibly to compensate the home institution for the expenses incurred by hosting the research team. At most universities, this overhead, which can be as much as 40% added onto the total grant, is then divided up, by a standard formula, among the Principal Investigator [PI], the home department, the Dean of the Science Faculty, and the Provost or central office. The money going to the PI and to the home department funds graduate students, travel, phones, equipment, and all the other amenities of academic life.
In return for this largesse, as I have already noted, the grant applicants must search the existing databases of funders for money available to underwrite the research they wish to carry out, while creatively shaping their research proposals to fit the announced priorities of the funders. If there is money to fund a search for a vaccine for AIDS, but little or no money to fund a study of previously undiscovered flora and fauna in the Amazon rainforest, then the challenge is to persuade funders that potential breakthroughs in AIDS vaccine development lie waiting in the canopy of the Amazon jungles. A mathematician interested in the topology of connected tree-structures will shape her proposal so that it appears to promise a solution to traffic jams in big cities. And so forth.
Research scientists will tell you that they spend a great deal of their time writing grant proposals, and departments in the sciences weigh a candidate's success in securing grants very heavily when making tenure and promotion decisions.
By and large, humanists know nothing of this world of external funding, and many of them resist as a matter of principal shaping their research to fit the funding priorities of foundations, corporations, and government agencies. There is much less money available for humanistic research, and virtually none for teaching in the humanities. Over time, a class structure has evolved in the American academic world. Science doctoral students are routinely fully funded; doctoral students in the Humanities scrounge for funding, making do with partial teaching assistantships, back-breaking assignments in Freshman Composition, and jobs in fast food emporia. Science departments have travel budgets, research budgets, conference budgets, travel budgets, and multiple phone lines. Humanities Departments pay by the sheet for Xeroxing.
During the Golden Age of American higher education -- the 60's, 70's, and 80's of the last century, which is to say during a time coterminous with my own career -- the number and size of tertiary institutions expanded rapidly. First in response to the demand from returning World War II GI's funded by the GI Bill, then as a National Security response to the Cold War and the Soviet Union's early successes in space exploration. money poured into higher education. State Colleges were jumped up to campuses of the State University, and Community Colleges promoted to State College branches, all needing Humanities Departments to justify their new status. The available jobs so far exceeded the supply of scholars holding doctorates in the Humanities that graduate students were being offered full time positions even before having passed their qualifying exams. Thanks to the multiplication of campuses and money from the National Defense Education Act, some of which inevitably trickled down into university library budgets, publishers found that they could at least break even on virtually any academic title they published. A scholar in the Humanities willing and able to crank out manuscripts could get contracts and advances simply on the basis of an idea and a one page rationale. "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive/But to be young was very heaven."
Well, Thermidor comes to all revolutions, and pretty soon the money started to dry up. At first expansion stopped. Then travel money and research assistance disappeared. Funding for graduate students dwindled, and Deans desperate to avoid firing faculty removed professorial phone lines. These cheese parings served for a while, but as we entered the new millennium, serious cuts replaced these trimmings. Poorly paid part time faculty began to replace tenure track faculty, and when that was not enough, Universities required by law to declare "financial exigency" before contemplating the firing of tenured faculty ventured into that previously forbidden territory. Doctoral programs were summarily terminated as "too expensive," and teaching loads were raised.
One of the most bizarre of the many budget cutting moves has been the merging into one of previously distinct departments of language and literature. Apparently, the corporate managers who have found soft berths for themselves as university chancellors look at the array of language departments in the Humanities faculties -- Germanic Languages and Literature, Classical Studies, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Spanish and Portuguese, and all the rest -- and decide that since they aren't English, they all belong together. This maneuver always reminds me of one of my favorite passages in the novels of Mark Twain, the famous argument between Huck and Jim about whether the Duke and the Dauphin really speak something called French. Here it is, verbatim, from Chapter 14 of THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. I hope you will not mind my quoting the entire passage. Huck is narrating, of course:
"I told about Louis Sixteenth that got his head cut off in France long time ago; and about his little boy the dolphin, that would a been a king, but they took and shut him up in jail, and some say he died there.
"Po' little chap."
"But some says he got out and got away, and come to America."
"Dat's good! But he'll be pooty lonesome—dey ain' no kings here, is dey, Huck?"
"Den he cain't git no situation. What he gwyne to do?"
"Well, I don't know. Some of them gets on the police, and some of them learns people how to talk French."
"Why, Huck, doan' de French people talk de same way we does?"
"NO, Jim; you couldn't understand a word they said—not a single word."
"Well, now, I be ding-busted! How do dat come?"
"I don't know; but it's so. I got some of their jabber out of a book. S'pose a man was to come to you and say Polly-voo-franzy—what would you think?"
"I wouldn' think nuff'n; I'd take en bust him over de head—dat is, if he warn't white. I wouldn't 'low no nigger to call me dat."
"Shucks, it ain't calling you anything. It's only saying, do you know how to talk French?"
"Well, den, why couldn't he SAY it?"
"Why, he IS a-saying it. That's a Frenchman's WAY of saying it."
"Well, it's a blame ridicklous way, en I doan' want to hear no mo' 'bout it. Dey ain' no sense in it."
"Looky here, Jim; does a cat talk like we do?"
"No, a cat don't."
"Well, does a cow?"
"No, a cow don't, nuther."
"Does a cat talk like a cow, or a cow talk like a cat?"
"No, dey don't."
"It's natural and right for 'em to talk different from each other, ain't it?"
"Course."
"And ain't it natural and right for a cat and a cow to talk different from US?"
"Why, mos' sholy it is."
"Well, then, why ain't it natural and right for a FRENCHMAN to talk different from us? You answer me that."
"Is a cat a man, Huck?"
"Well, den, dey ain't no sense in a cat talkin' like a man. Is a cow a man?—er is a cow a cat?"
"No, she ain't either of them."
"Well, den, she ain't got no business to talk like either one er the yuther of 'em. Is a Frenchman a man?"
"WELL, den! Dad blame it, why doan' he TALK like a man? You answer me DAT!"
I see it warn't no use wasting words—you can't learn a nigger to argue. So I quit."
I think I will close today's post on that triumphant note.
A MESSAGE FOR LISA
This is a very public way of saying something to my cousin Cora's daughter [second cousin? first cousin once removed?] One of the irritating features of the Google blog format that I use here is that comments on earlier posts can get lost. If my sister, Barbara, had not emailed me about your comments, I might have missed them.
I am absolutely delighted that you read and enjoyed the book I wrote about my Socialist grandfather and grandmother. When I wrote it [and the companion volume about my parents, Walter and Lotte], I knew they would never be published, but I hoped that they would serve to keep alive the memory of some remarkable people for future generations of the extended Wolff family. It seems that in some small way that has happened. How marvelous.
If we count the book I wrote in 1962 about the ideological uses of Game Theory by nuclear war theorists, and the two books about my family, and my enormous autobiography, and my book length tutorial on The Use and Abuse of Formal Methods in Political Philosophy, there are now five unpublished books sitting on my bookshelves. After I pass on, which I trust will not be for some while yet, I shall leave it to my sons to decide what to do with that great mass of pages.
At any rate, Lisa, welcome to the blog.
THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION PART FOUR
What can we say of these three defenses of liberal education: as the stigmata of the upper classes, as the royal road to upward mobility, and as the entree into the Great Conversation? For the defense of liberal education as the distinguishing mark of aristocracy, I have nothing but contempt. If all this to-ing and fro-ing, all these reading assignments, term essays, multiple-choice examinations, and curriculum revisions have no further point than to put the latest polish on those born to, or headed for, the upper reaches of society, then I for one shall turn my attention to more honest labor, like the cleaning out of sewers. As for the second rationale for liberal education, as an instrument of upward mobility, I have no objection to ambition, and given the American pyramid of wealth and income, whose shape, incidentally, has remained essentially unchanged in at least eighty years, save to become even steeper, it is perfectly sensible for those lower down to attempt to climb to a more comfortable and secure position. But unfortunately for those of us whose task it is to administer the requisite doses of liberal education, there is an entirely accidental relationship between the content of that education and its function as a leg up for shirts who would be suits. Entry to the privileged positions in society could as easily be determined by one's ability to write a poem or practice calligraphy, as in Mandarin China.
As for the third defense of liberal education as admission to the Great Conversation, you will no doubt have discerned that I am more than half in love with it. I have spent my life listening to, and even on occasion contributing a few words to, that great conversation. If all the injustices of this world had been rectified, if all the suffering had been alleviated, if, in the words of Isaiah, every valley had been exalted, every mountain and hill made low, if the crooked had been made straight, and the rough places plain, then I could justify to myself and to others a life spent initiating young men and women into the Great Conversation, for there is no denying that it is wonderful talk.
But there is an even deeper, more compelling justification for liberal education that can reassure and strengthen those of us who have devoted our lives to it. The true rationale for liberal education, in my considered and passionate judgment, is our society's desperate need for a reservoir of negative thought -- and for some protected place in which young men and women can explore what my sons, some years ago, would have called the dark side of the force. In these remarks, as in much that I have done, I draw for insight and inspiration on the work of my old friend and co-author, Herbert Marcuse.
I take as my texts two of Marcuse's most profound and provocative phrases: "surplus repression," which makes its appearance in his early work, EROS AND CIVILIZATION, and "repressive desublimation," from his best known book, ONE-DIMENSIONAL MAN. By an explication of the notion of surplus repression, and a close reading of a single paragraph from the chapter on repressive desublimation, I can, I think, lay before you a deeper justification of liberal education that will explain both how it plays a central role in the critique and reformation of society, and why it is so appropriately undertaken at that moment in late adolescence and early adulthood which we in the United States identify as the undergraduate years.
Marcuse, who as a member of the Frankfurt Institute of Social Research, participated in the great early twentieth century attempt to fuse the central insights of Marx and Freud, begins EROS AND CIVILIZATION by accepting the pessimistic thesis of Freud's CIVILIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS, that some measure of psychic repression is the necessary precondition for the organized social existence of humanity.
The new-born infant does not possess a coherent rational self or ego with which to negotiate its relationship to the external world. Indeed, it does not yet so much as possess a conception of itself in contradistinction to its surroundings. What we think of as the ordinary thought-processes of reality orientation - the distinction of self and other, the recognition of relations of space, time, and causality, the distinction between desire and satisfaction, wish and actuality - are in fact secondary accomplishments, painfully acquired in the wake of initial and continuing frustrations. Each of the stages of what we consider normal childhood development has a profoundly ambivalent significance for the child, at one and the same time a source of power, satisfaction, and self-esteem, and a suffering of frustration, pain, and rage.
One example can perhaps stand for the entire years-long process. Little babies are at first unable to express their desires, of course, save by the inefficient method of crying. Still, a fortunate baby will succeed in getting its parent's attention by crying, and the parent will become hyper-sensitively attuned to those slight variations in the cry which indicate whether it is hunger, fatigue, colic, or teething that is the cause. Eventually, the baby learns to sit up in a high chair and eat with its hands or a spoon, and [we may suppose] it learns as well that when it waves its hands and makes a demanding noise, it gets a cookie. The baby, note, will be deeply ambivalent about this learned behavior, for what the baby wants [or so Freud persuasively tells us] is to have its hunger, or its desire for a cookie, instantaneously gratified, without even the temporary frustration of waiting until the parent decodes the cry and responds. But though this state of affairs has come about at the cost of frustration and pain, it is also a source of power and gratification. By learning how to command its parent's response, the baby can get the cookie. What is more, the parent is likely to respond with manifest pleasure to the baby's ability to sit up and communicate its wants.
One day, something inexplicable, terrible, frustrating, painful happens. The baby makes its demanding noise, with the cookie in full view just outside its reach, and the parent, instead of immediately handing it over, as has happened every day for as long as the baby can remember, now picks up the cookie, holds it tantalizingly before the baby, and says in what can only be construed as a deliberately sadistic voice, "Can you say 'cookie'?" Well, all of us know the rest of this story, for all of us have lived through it. The acquisition of language, the mastery of one's bowels, the control of one's temper - all of the stages in development that make one an adult human being who is recognizably a member of a society - all have a negative side, a side associated with shame, rage, pain, frustration, resentment, a backside, as we learn to think of it, as well as a positive side associated with praise, self-esteem, public reward, power, satisfaction - a front, which, as our language very nicely suggests, is both an officially good side and also a pretense, a fake.
By and large, we do not forget the frustration, the pain, the rage. We repress it, drive it out of consciousness, deny it, put it behind us, as we like to say. But, like our own backsides, and the feces which issue from them, they remain, and exercise a secret, shameful attraction for us.
This brief reminder of our common heritage makes it clear that the repression of "unacceptable" wishes - as Freud so quaintly and aptly labeled them in his earlier writings - is an essential precondition for our development of the ability to interact effectively with the world, and with one another. Mastery of our own bodies, mastery of language, the psychic ability, and willingness, to defer gratification long enough to perform necessary work, the ability to control destructive, and self-destructive, rages or desires - civilization, society, culture, survival depend upon them. But necessary though they are, they are painful; throughout our lives, we carry, repressed, the delicious, illicit fantasies of total, immediate, uncompromised gratification, of instantaneous, magical fulfillment, of the permission to indulge the desires that have been stigmatized as negative.
With great flair, Marcuse combines Freud's thesis, of the necessity of some repression for the existence of human civilization, with the central concept of Marx's political economy - surplus value. According to Marx, it is the labor required for the production of commodities that regulates their exchange in a capitalist market. Inasmuch as workers sell their own capacity for labor in the market like a commodity, through the wage bargain, competition eventually sets its price - the wage - at a level equal to the amount of labor required to produce that capacity, which is to say the amount of labor required to produce the workers' food, clothing, and shelter. This labor, Marx says, can be called "necessary labor," for in any economic system whatever, it must be performed if the workers are to be able to remain alive and continue their labors. But, Marx argues, the workers are forced, by the conditions of the labor market, to work more hours than is embodied in their consumption goods, and the extra labor time, through the processes of market exchange, is transmuted into surplus exchange value. That surplus value, Marx demonstrates, is the source of the profits, interest, and rents that the propertied classes appropriate. In sum, Marx asserts, capitalism rests upon the capitalist appropriation of surplus value, or, more succinctly, upon exploitation.
Marcuse transfers these concepts of necessary and surplus labor to the sphere of the psyche, and rechristens them "necessary and surplus repression." Just as there is a certain quantum of necessary labor that must be performed in any society, so there is a certain amount of necessary repression, as we have seen, that is the precondition of human existence as such. But in some societies, just as workers are forced to perform more than merely necessary labor, its fruits being appropriated by a ruling class, so in those same societies, and most particularly in capitalist society, workers, and indeed others as well, have inflicted upon them extra, or surplus, repression, whose function is not to make human society in general possible, but rather to serve and support the particular exploitative, unjust, repressive economic and political institutions and policies of the ruling classes.
Over and above the deferral of gratification demanded by the exigencies of nature and human intercourse, the capitalist workplace demands an additional level of work discipline, of self-denial, of obedience, of surplus repression. Marcuse notes, by way of rough proof, the extraordinary fact that despite the doubling, trebling, quadrupling of worker productivity achieved by technological advance, the average work week has shortened only slightly, if at all, in the past three-quarters of a century.
In ONE-DIMENSIONAL MAN, in what has always seemed to me one of the truly inspired texts of twentieth century social theory, Marcuse deploys this insight to explain the structure and conditions of social protest, and the subjective psychological sources of the energy that fuels social change. The argument goes like this: The energy on which we draw for work, for art, and for politics, as well as for sex, is the fund of originally undifferentiated libidinal energy with which we are born, and which we attach to various objects through the psychic processes of sublimation, displacement, and cathexis. The gratifications we obtain are, as Freud poignantly shows us, always somewhat diminished, compromised, shadowed by the unavoidable adjustments to reality. The pleasures of useful, fruitful, unalienated labor, the satisfactions of artistic creation, even the sensuous delights of sexual intercourse, necessarily fall short of what is longed for in our repressed fantasies. To give a single, elementary example: all of us who write books of philosophy will acknowledge, I imagine, that in our most secret dreams, we lust after a review that begins something like this: "Not since Plato wrote THE REPUBLIC has a work of such power and brilliance burst upon the scene" - after which, we become instantaneously rich, young, thin, and flooded with absolutely risk-free offers of polymorphic sexual satisfaction. What actually happens, if we are fortunate, is that we are moderately favorably reviewed, by someone with his or her own fantasies of instant gratification, and have the genuine, but subdued pleasure, in years to come, of stumbling on references to our production, or of encounters with a praising reader.
Now, Marcuse suggests, there is real surplus psychic repression inflicted on all of us in our society, most particularly on those at the bottom of the economic pyramid, and the established, institutionalized structures of political and economic repression being what they are, it takes an enormous, painful, dangerous mobilization of psychic energy to fight those structures and reduce the quantum of surplus repression. But since the dangers of revolt and resistance are so great, and most especially because the repression has been internalized in each of us in the form of an unnecessarily punitive set of self-inflicted restraints, a reasoned, measured, realistic call for incremental improvements is unlikely to elicit the burst of revolutionary energy needed for any change at all. "Workers of the world, unite! You have a modest reduction in surplus repression to win!" is not a slogan calculated to bring suffering men and women into the streets.
What in fact happens, Marcuse suggests, is that revolutionary change is energized by the utopian, siren call of liberation, which, whatever the language in which it is couched, is experienced subjectively as a promise of the gratification of those infantile fantasies of instantaneous, magical, total gratification which lurk within us all. Workers' liberation, Black liberation, Women's liberation, Gay liberation - all appeal, necessarily, meretriciously, and yet productively, to these universal repressed fantasies. Only the tapping of such powerful wellsprings of psychic energy can move us to the heroic feats required for even modest reductions in surplus repression.
The upshot of every revolution is therefore disappointment, for no matter how successful the revolution, it cannot, in the nature of things, liberate us from necessary repression. After the victory celebrations, we must still go to work, use the toilet, submit ourselves to some code or other of dress, of speech, of sexual conduct. Despite the inevitable and repeated disappointments, we must keep alive the fantasies, and attach them to our political aspirations, for they are the essential motor of real world social, economic, and political progress.
In this project, the great works of art, literature, philosophy and music of our cultural tradition play an essential, and rather surprising, role. Regardless of their manifest content and apparent purpose, these works, which we customarily consider the appropriate content of a liberal education, play a continuingly subversive role. They keep alive, in powerful and covert ways, the fantasies of gratification, the promise of happiness, the anger at necessary repression, on which radical political action feeds.
To explain somewhat how even the most seemingly abstract works of art perform this function, let me read to you a single paragraph from Marcuse's discussion, and then explicate it by reference to a Bach fugue. Here is the passage:
"The tension between the actual and the possible is transfigured into an insoluble conflict, in which reconciliation is by grace of the oeuvre as form: beauty as the "promesse de bonheur." In the form of the oeuvre, the actual circumstances are placed in another dimension where the given reality shows itself as that which it is. Thus it tells the truth about itself; its language ceases to be that of deception, ignorance, and submission. Fiction calls the facts by their name and their reign collapses; fiction subverts everyday experience and shows it to be mutilated and false. But art has this magic power only as the power of negation. It can speak its own language only as long as the images are alive which refuse and refute the established order." [ONE-DIMENSIONAL MAN, pp. 61-62]
Consider a Bach fugue, which can stand, in our analysis, for any work of art or literature that submits itself, as all true art must, to some canon of formal constraint. We could as well consider a sonnet, a portrait, a statue, or indeed a Platonic dialogue. The rules governing the composition of a fugue are extremely strict. They constitute, psychologically speaking, a repression of the composer's instinctual, creative energies. In the hands of a novice, the fugue-form is a strait-jacket, painfully forcing one to adjust one's musical line in unnatural ways. It is, speaking at the very deepest psychological level, the equivalent of being required to use the toilet, or to say "cookie" before being fed. But in the hands of Bach, all is transformed. Bach's fugues seem effortless. They magically transcend the constraints of the form, all the while rigidly conforming to them.
The result is sheer, sensuous beauty which is, at one and the same time, liberated from the constraints of form and completely consonant with those constraints. The fugue thus holds out, magically, the promise of total satisfaction, the "promesse de bonheur," that is to be found in the unconscious of each of us. In the same fashion, a Dickinson poem, a Rodin sculpture, a Platonic dialogue, a van Gogh still life reawaken in us the fantasy of perfect, effortless gratification. These works of art and literature remind us of the possibility that there is a life better than the network of compromises in which we are enmeshed, a second dimension to existence in which freedom replaces necessity, happiness replaces suffering.
The great works of humanistic writing, be they philosophy, history, theology, or criticism, accomplish the same end. The pure, rational arguments of Spinoza's ETHICS recall for us the image of a world in which reason is an instrument of liberation, not of domination. The sheer formal beauty of a mathematical proof, the effortless derivation of the most powerful conclusions from apparently innocent premises, holds out to us the hope of instantaneous ecstasy.
In all seriousness, I suggest to you that this is the deepest justification for keeping alive the great tradition of liberal arts and letters in our colleges and universities. Not as a patina for modern aristocrats, not as an instrument of upward mobility, not even as an introduction to the Great Conversation, but as a way of putting young men and women in touch with their repressed fantasies of gratification, in such a fashion as to awaken in them the hope, the dream, the unquenchable thirst for liberation from which social progress must come.
By way of final illustration, I should like to close with a true story. More than forty years ago, I taught for a year as a visiting professor at Rutgers University, in New Jersey. One semester I was assigned an Introduction to Philosophy that met, thanks to the peculiar schedule pattern then in use at Rutgers, on Monday mornings at 8:00 a.m. and Thursday afternoons at 4:00 p.m. For the only time in my teaching career, I assigned a casebook - a collection of readings from the great philosophers - instead of a group of complete original works, and each Monday morning and Thursday afternoon, I soldiered away, "covering" the material, as we delicately put it in the trade.
Some time in the late Fall, I got to Hume, who was represented by a few well-chosen pages from Part iii of Book One of the TREATISE - which, as some of you will know, is the locus for his famous sceptical critique of causal reasoning. I was dead bored with the material, with the course, and with myself by this time, and I can confidently assure you that I was not doing a superlative job of teaching. I had studied Hume first as a Freshman, then as a Sophomore, then while writing my doctoral dissertation, and innumerable times since. I was so thoroughly inoculated against the force of his arguments that I could scarcely recall a time when I had found them even mildly provocative.
One day, after class, a young man came up to talk to me, very agitated. He had been troubled by Hume's arguments he said - I found this rather astonishing, as you can imagine - and had gone to talk things over with his priest. The priest, whose seminary training had not prepared him for this sort of problem from his parishioners, referred him to the Office of Information of the Diocese. The young man called the Diocese, and was referred to a Monsignor, who, after listening to his concerns, said abruptly, "Well, some people think that. But we don't," and hung up the phone. What should he do?, the student wanted to know.
Let me tell you, I was humbled by the episode. Despite my best efforts to deaden the impact of the text, and the utterly unpromising conditions of an 8:00 a.m. introductory class, David Hume had reached his hand across two centuries, seized that young man by the scruff of the neck, and given him a shaking that bid fair to liberate him from a lifetime of unthinking subservience to received authority.
That is what a liberal education can accomplished, at its best, and that is why, in every college and university, a protected sanctuary must be preserved for undergraduate liberal education.
THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION PART THREE
INSIDE BASEBALL
THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION PART TWO
PANDERING TO MY BASE
A REPLY TO MICHAEL
THE STATE OF THE HUMANITIES
ORDINALS, CARDINALS, AND POLITICS
READING THE REPUBLIC
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Wisconsin educators deserve credit for rising graduation rates, Martin says
WEAC President Ron Martin on Tuesday praised Wisconsin educators for the key role they played in helping raise graduation rates.
“Tremendous credit for high graduation rates is due to Wisconsin Public School educators who are working harder in more difficult conditions,” Martin said. “There is still much work to do to close gaps, and educators are already implementing solutions through our union. We stand ready to partner on addressing this critical issue with families, administrators and elected officials.”
Below is the news release from the Department of Public Instruction:
Students in the class of 2018 graduated at higher rates than their predecessors. The overall graduation rate jumped a point from the 2016-17 school year to 89.6 percent. Four-year graduation rates improved from the prior year for most subgroups of students as well.
“Congratulations to the class of 2018. A high school diploma is a ticket to the future,” noted State Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor. “Graduation is to be celebrated because it improves students’ opportunities for better jobs, income, and further education, which contributes to life success.”
There were some notable gap closures for some subgroups of students. The largest gap closure was 5.1 points between 2013-14 and 2017-18 for students learning English and their English proficient peers, though this may be due to changes in criteria for exiting English learner identification. English learners in the class for 2018 had a graduation rate of 70.1 percent compared to 90.2 percent for English proficient students. For economically disadvantaged students the gap closed 1.6 points over five years.
Economically disadvantaged students in the class of 2018 had a graduation rate of 80.2 percent compared to 94.5 percent for students who are not economically disadvantaged. By race and ethnicity, notable graduation rate gap reduction over five years was 3.7 points for black or African American students, 3.6 points for Hispanic students, and 0.5 points for Asian students.
“Disparities in graduation rates by race and ethnicity and for English learners, students with disabilities, and students from economically disadvantaged families are truly troubling,” Stanford Taylor said. “We must persist in our work with schools and communities to close gaps.”
The high school graduation rate counts only students who earn a regular diploma. Students are assigned to a cohort year when they first enroll in a Wisconsin public high school, which for the class of 2018 would be students who started high school in the 2014-15 school year. Graduating in four years or less is the standard for federal graduation rate reporting.
However, Wisconsin’s Constitution guarantees young people the right to a public education from the ages of 4 to 20. Additionally, federal law requires educational services for students with disabilities, if needed, until the age of 21. Thus Wisconsin calculates five-, six-, and seven-year graduation rates to honor the additional time and effort of students who, due to illness or injury, personal or family events, or lifetime or temporary disabilities, need longer to complete their high school education.
For 2017-18 data reporting, the five-year graduation rate for the class of 2017 was 91.5 percent. The six-year rate for the class of 2016 was 90.6 percent, and the seven-year rate for the class of 2015 was 92.5 percent.
For a more detailed chart, click here.
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Home > An Invitation to a Road Less Traveled: Theological Faculty and the Future of Theological Education
An Invitation to a Road Less Traveled: Theological Faculty and the Future of Theological Education
by Fernando A. Cascante-Gómez, Association for Hispanic Theological Education
Theological education, as it has been conceived and implemented in the North Atlantic (i.e., Europe and United States), is undergoing a series of crises that calls for urgent and radical changes. These are changes necessary not merely to secure the permanence of institutions but, more importantly, to ensure that theological education will be pertinent to the church and society in the 21st century.
My own sense is that the road most traveled by faculty in the midst of so many changes has been found in looking primarily outside themselves for the causes of the crises as well as their possible solutions. Thus, the solutions they find look a lot like these external models. They seem concerned only with controlled budgets, more efficient recruitment methods, a smarter use of facilities, the incorporation of new communication technologies, more creative fundraising campaigns, reduction of staff and faculty, or a few curricular revisions and adaptations to make programs look a little more relevant to some ecclesial and societal models. As valid and necessary as many of these proposals may be, finding solutions to the crises in theological education must extend beyond a survival mentality animated by the structures of the world.
Rooted in the conviction that more is needed in the present moment than practical tweaks to existing structures, I propose a road less traveled—one that theological faculty might take to discern and implement solutions that ensure a vital future for theological education. The changes needed in theological education demand a revision of how we conceive the nature, purpose, content, and method of theological education. And theological faculties are crucial to this work. Institutions don’t really change until those who lead them or have power within them are willing to change. Therefore, traveling this road requires faculty to identify the role they play—whether as catalyzers or deterrents—to moving forward in a direction in which fundamental changes will be necessary.
To assume our role as agents of change and to acknowledge the need to change ourselves, those of us who are faculty and policymakers in theological education need to do something alien to academic culture. In the words of Parker Palmer, “we must talk to each other about our inner lives—risky stuff in a profession that fears the personal and seeks safety in the technical, the distant, the abstract.”1 This requires consciously reflecting on our own personal journeys into the profession of theological education, the sources of our own theological formation, and the visions and commitments that have resulted from them. For in remembering anew our own theological journeys, we can rediscover insights that might help us reimagine the purpose and nature of theological education. And in light of present trials, we may discover that some of our visions and commitments need to be revisited, renewed, or even transformed.
In what follows, I attempt to model what taking this road less traveled looks like by narrating my own personal journey into the profession of theological education, reflecting on the sources of my theological formation, and by summarizing the visions and commitments that have resulted from them in the form of a personal creed about the nature and purpose of theological education.
My Journey as a Theological Educator
On January 3, 2000, I moved from my native country of Costa Rica to the United States to take the position of assistant professor of Christian education in one of the oldest mainline theological seminaries in this country. For most of the first decade of the 21st century, I had the unique opportunity to work as a full-time theological educator in the North American socio-cultural-ecclesial context as the only Hispanic and one of only a few racial/ethnic minority faculty members. For ten years, I was part of regular faculty meetings and served on a variety of faculty committees. I participated in multiple seminars and consultations: for new faculty, for racial/ethnic minority faculty, for Hispanic/Latino/a faculty, and for faculty within my discipline. These gatherings gave me a larger picture of the different traits, realities, expectations, commitments and, yes, concerns and frustrations of theological faculty and students from seminaries of various denominations across the country. I regularly participated in my seminary’s community events throughout the academic year, including chapel services. I also accepted invitations to serve the church at large and became involved in meaningful activities to serve the community where I lived. I organized these countless events and experiences in printed form to apply for tenure. I eventually applied for tenure. But I did not receive it.
I believe I did not receive tenure due to a combination of at least three factors. First, a personal factor: I did not accomplish everything stipulated in the faculty manual to be granted tenure. Second, an institutional factor: the seminary’s unspoken culture of white privilege and its lack of awareness of the social and cultural realities affecting the broader church and society impeded my ability to advance within it. And third, a societal-economic factor: the gloomy financial reality that the seminary—like many theological institutions at the time—was forced to face as a result of the downturn of the economy in 2008; the years that followed resulted in less tenured faculty. Thus, my career as a theological educator at the seminary level ended in June 2009.
From the start of the second decade of the new century until today, I have served a non-seminary organization (Association for Hispanic Theological Education, AETH), which has as its mission promoting pertinent and excellent theological formation of Hispanic leaders in their service to the church and society. My role and vocation as a theological educator did not end. It just shifted.
The Sources of My Theological Formation
My formation as a theological educator has had three main sources: home, church, and seminary. I was almost born in a pew. The earliest bible stories, bible verses, and Christian songs I remember are ones I learned from my parents during meals, at bedtime, and at church. I saw my father, a baker by trade, move from the position of part-time janitor of the only Protestant church in my neighborhood to becoming its full-time pastor immediately following his ordination by our small denomination. While he never finished high school, he did complete a Bible Institute Diploma. Following in the footsteps of my parents, I took on every possible ministry within the church: Sunday school teacher, youth leader, deacon, and elder. The opportunity to attend seminary eventually came while I was still finishing my first university degree in science and education and working part-time as a physics teacher at a high school. And through it all, I remained heavily committed to ministry in my home church.
Three things prompted me to go to seminary. First, I began to share with other pastors and leaders a growing dissatisfaction with the limited way in which our denomination understood the mission of the church in the world, especially in light of the harsh socioeconomic and political realities people were facing in my country and in neighboring countries. Our community became increasingly aware of the need for a kind of theological education that could help us answer urgent questions without uprooting us from our ecclesial contexts and personal family and job situations. Thus, like many other church leaders of my generation, I went to seminary not to become an ordained minister, but to find ways to become a more faithful and relevant church leader for the community in which I was living.
Second, the ability to attend a seminary in my own city, intentionally committed to dealing with the kinds of urgent questions we were raising, was critical in shaping my choice to pursue a seminary education. This commitment was made visible in the curriculum, in chapel services, in the active participation of faculty in local congregations and community projects, and in the problem-posing and dialogical nature of the teaching-learning process for which most professors advocated. All core foundational courses in theology, bible, and practical theology were offered in the evenings so that bivocational pastors and church leaders like me could study with the same professors as residential students. In a time when computers were unknown to most faculty and students alike, and the Internet was not even conceived as a possibility in our minds, the seminary implemented a modular theological program that could reach out to people who could not come to the classes at the seminary.
Finally, the fact that there were substantial scholarships available to individuals already involved in pastoral ministry made it financially feasible for me to go to seminary. Tuition costs and funds for books were all I needed to start and eventually complete my formal theological studies. My local congregation provided some additional help with transportation costs. And I covered the expenses related to food and school supplies out of my own pocket. This ecology of financial support was critical for me to complete my first theology degree.
The seminary was truly there for me: to help me answer theological questions evoked by my service to the church; to help me connect the life of the church with its mission in the midst of the social and economic realities in which we were living; and to help me complete my studies in the midst of my personal economic and bi-vocational circumstances. I can honestly say that my seminary saved me from leaving the church altogether or from reducing my Christian faith to personal piety or to church-centered activities.
The Nature and Purpose of Theological Education: A Personal Creed
This “creed” emerges out of my experience as a theological educator and out of my understanding of the collective realities and changing times we as theological educators are facing. It aims at being illustrative of the kind of reflection I believe we all need to do. Ultimately, it is my way of inviting colleagues to a critically personal reflection and a much-required collective conversation.
I believe that…
The ultimate purpose of theological education (whether at home, church, bible institute, or seminary) is to promote transformative acts of love for God, for neighbor, and for all creation.
The primary work of theological schools is teaching, learning, and research for the sake of the church and the transformation of the world according to Jesus’s greatest commandment and the values of God’s reign he preached in deeds and words.
The most critical role of the theological educator is that of being an “organic intellectual,” one who keeps a productive tension between theory and practice, and between the commitment to advance his/her theological academic discipline and the work of advancing the values of God’s reign.
The most urgent programmatic and pedagogical strategies for theological schools today require finding creative, collaborative, and effective ways to extend and expand meaningful theological education to individuals and groups wanting and needing theological education where they live and serve.
A Call to Conversion
The different crises theological institutions now face represent concrete opportunities to bring about the changes for which the signs of the times call. If theological institutions are truly going to thrive in the new millennium as a means of transforming church and society for the sake of God’s reign in the world, the why, what, and how of theological education in North America need to be reconstructed. Nevertheless, radical changes in theological education result not so much from changes in institutional administrative and programmatic structures but rather from changes in the individual and collective visions and commitments of those who teach in them. I argue for a road less traveled to review our visions and commitments as theological educators and to think about how they affect the ways in which we understand and implement the nature and purpose of teaching, learning, and research in theological schools.
Do we dare reconstruct theological education centered on the values of God’s reign for the 21st century? My prayer is that we will. Even if that reconstruction means reviewing our personal theological journeys and taking the risk to share our stories with others; even if that reconstruction means acknowledging the cultural and institutional captivity under which we may have fallen; even if that reconstruction means confessing that we have been seduced and dominated by the social status and financial perks that come with a profession that, in most cases, sets us apart from the majority of people in church and society. But all of this will require more than an exercise of the mind. It will require a conversion of the heart.
1 Parker J. Palmer, 1998. The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers), 12.
Fernando A. Cascante Gómez is the executive director of the Association for Hispanic Theological Education (AETH.org). He holds degrees from the University of Costa Rica and the Latin American Biblical Seminary and completed his EdD at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia. He has taught courses in the areas of multicultural religious education, theology and education, and the educational ministry of the church. He has written articles for a variety of journals and books, among them: “Pluralist Latin American Theology: Theological Themes and Educational Challenges” in Teaching Religion, Teaching Truth: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives, edited by Jeff Astley and others, and “A Decade of Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Theological Education: The Continuous challenge of Inclusion with Justice,” in the Journal of Race and Ethnicity in Religion. He also has a book in Spanish, La Planificación Eficaz de la Educación Cristiana.
Source URL: http://rsn.aarweb.org/spotlight-on/theo-ed/between-the-times/invitation-road-less-traveled-theological-faculty-and-future-theological-education
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Nasty Fog
By Damond Benningfield
430317-Nasty Fog 2.jpg
Fog in San Francisco on the Golden Gate Bridge. Credit: Wikipedia/public domain
A foggy California coastline is a staple of Hollywood mysteries and horror tales, enfolding everything from murderers to monsters. Today, the California fog is enfolding another hazard: a nasty form of mercury. There’s not enough of it to hurt people, but it may have effects on other life.
Researchers began studying the fog in 2011. They knew that, during the summer months, the level of mercury went up in Monterey Bay, near San Francisco. They wondered whether some of the mercury could make its way into the fog and drift ashore.
The first year of observations showed the answer was “yes.” They found high levels of a toxic form known as methyl mercury, which can cause health problems. So the scientists expanded their studies of the fog. Those studies are showing even higher levels of mercury. And related studies are showing high levels in some coastal animals as well.
Mercury enters the water through runoff, or from pollution from coal-fired power plants and other sources. Organisms in the water convert some of the mercury to a harmless form, which settles to the bottom.
During summer, currents bring water from the bottom to the surface. Some of the mercury in the water is carried into the air by the winds, where it can be incorporated into droplets of fog. Researchers say the fog can be acidic, transforming the harmless mercury to methyl mercury. The fog deposits the mercury as it drifts ashore. Over time, the mercury can build up in plants and animals — a scary menace from the fog.
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Name: MICHAEL J. LEWIS
Number: LEWUNSEEN
No. Tracks: 39
UNSEEN + 11 HARROWHOUSE (2 CD) (CD)
Composed by: Michael J. Lewis
THE UNSEEN (85:00,)11 HARROWHOUSE (16:00) PROMO, BIT MASTERING, 2 CD
FROM: THE UNSEEN
1. MAIN TITLE (4:04)
2. WILL YOU PLAY? (2:03)
3. WHY WON'T YOU PLAY WITH ME? (2:11)
4. I WOULD LIKE TO BE PLAYFUL (2:10)
5. PASSING TIME (2:24)
6. DARK LOOKS (1:31)
7. GETTING ANGRY (1:05)
8. AGITATED (1:24)
9. PA PA'S MUSIC (3:16)
10. BROODING (2:23)
11. I LIKE MY PLAY BOX (2:11)
12. MOODY (2:12)
13. I NEED TO BE LOVED (1:12)
14. MEDITATING (6:03)
15. DADDIES BIG BAND (5:30)
16. GETTING ANGRY AGAIN (3:03)
17. I DON'T LIKE THEM (1:51)
18. MORE BROODING (0:59)
19. COME PLAY WITH ME (1:51)
1. WILL I GO TO COLLEGE? (2:27)
2. GETTING MAD (6:38)
3. IF ONLY (1:35)
4. ROUND AND ROUND (1:22)
5. PLAYNG ALONE (3:04)
6. KNOCKING (0:57)
7. THATS IT! (3:04)
8. WHAT DID I GO? (1:10)
9. AT IT AGAIN (1:04)
10. I ONLY WANTED TO BE LOVED (3:22)
11. ITS OVER (1:08)
12. FINALE MAIN THEME (2:38)
FROM: 11 HARROWHOUSE
14. SUNRISE (3:58)
15. DAY AFTER DAY (2:15)
16. BACH IN HOLLAND (2:00)
17. DIAMOND ROCK (2:52)
18. LONG LIVE LOVE (3:00)
THE UNSEEN - In this taut horror outing, three female journalists head out for isolated Soveg, California to cover a popular Danish festival. Unfortunately, they can't find a motel and end up staying at a strange old mansion owned by a mysterious fellow who is far worse than he seems. He has not only committed patricide, he is also incestuously involved with his own sister who gave birth to their deformed son, whom he has chained in their basement. The three spend a terrifying night, and in the morning only one has survived. 1980
11 HARROWHOUSE - Based on the novel by Gerald A. Browne, 11 Harrowhouse is a 1974 heist spoof with an all-star cast. The story concerns millionaire Clyde Massey (Trevor Howard) pressuring diamond merchant Howard R. Chesser (Charles Grodin) into robbing a London diamond exchange owned by Meecham (John Gielgud. Howard gets help from his girlfriend Maren Shirell (Candice Bergen), discontented employee Charles D. Watts (James Mason), and a cockroach in order to execute the plan. Once he has the fortune, Massey tries to double-cross his team of forced thieves, but his wealthy partner-in-crime Lady Anne Bolding (Helen Cherry) helps them escape. Charles Grodin, who also co-wrote the screenplay adaptation, provides voice-over commentary. 11 Harrowhouse is also known as Anything for Love and Fast Fortune. 1974
Customers who bought this title also bought:
MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT
THE NAKED FACE / UNMAN, WITTERING AND ZIGO
ISLAND OF ADVENTURE/ON THE THIRD DAY
UPON THIS ROCK
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A Valley Family History
Contributed by Ellen Martin
Personal identities are a key part of who we are. I am a mother, a daughter, a wife, a Greek a Daughter of the American Revolution, and a Sacramento Valley resident – just to name a few.
My valley roots run deep. My grandmother was born to Greek immigrants in Woodland. Her father ran an ice cream shop in Sacramento and then bought land Sutter County near Yuba City where he ran a peach farm on what I grew up calling “The Ranch.”
My grandmother and her three sisters grew up on “The Ranch” and all settled down in valley towns. My dad was born in Marysville, where my grandfather was coaching football at Yuba Jr. College and then moved to Chico when my grandfather became the head football coach at Chico State.
My grandfather died young, when my dad was just seven years old, leaving my grandmother with three young children to tend to. They moved back to Sacramento and the rest of the family – but spent a lot of time exploring the far corners of the valley.
My dad grew up with a love for the valley and an special love for the wildlife in the valley. A Sacramento Valley naturalist at heart – he passed that love on to me. We still celebrated Easter at “The Ranch” when I was young and we spent hours birdwatching in the fields and wildlife refuges throughout the valley.
My dad is still involved in the bird scene in the valley and compiles the annual Christmas Bird Counts in Marysville and Honey Lake. And he still enjoys spending time looking at birds at many of the valley hotspots.
We are now starting to pass these family histories and traditions on to my children. Like spending the first day of the new year out bird watching and enjoying the crisp cold air and the wildlife. This year our New Year’s Day excursion took us to Gibson Ranch – but others have led us to Gray Lodge, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge or just on the hunt for a rare bird seen on a recent Christmas Count.
I’m proud of my family ties to the valley and how they shape me. I look forward to what Sacramento Valley life continues to hold for me and my family.
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Car Insurance Asking For 3 Years History Of War Of Roses
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[Edit 3/2014: I no longer endorse all the statements in this document. I think many of the conclusions are still correct, but especially section 1 is weaker than it should be, and many reactionaries complain I am pigeonholing all of them as agreeing with Michael Anissimov, which they do not; this complaint seems reasonable.
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Season 4, Episode 12, 13 and 14
There’s No Place Like Home
January 22nd, 2009 - No Comments
There is only one thing that I hate about Lost, and that is that its shown in the US before it is here in Australia. Its not Lost’s fault though, its the fault of the stupid television networks in this part of the world. As a result I download the latest episode as they a shown (and, yes, I watch it again when its on TV, especially now that its shown in HD), otherwise I run the risk of having the whole thing spoiled before I get to see it. Mind you, Channel 7 do a good enough job of spoiling major plot points in their “promos” almost every week.
So while I wait for the Season 5 premiere to finish, I’m going to have a look at a few questions that sprung to mind during my re-watching of the Season 4 finale over the past two nights. I think this might be a better format for my recap posts to take, since the “full recaps” were taking way to much time to prepare and write, which is why I only ever managed to get half of Season 4 done. Anyway, on with the questions.
Where is Claire?
She wandered off into the jungle one night, and since then we’ve seen her just once, in the cabin with Christian Shephard. The real question I guess is, is Claire dead? Its been reported that Claire won’t be seen in at least the first half of season 5, but that itself doesn’t mean she’s dead. I think that given we’ve seen her “appear” to Kate in a dream in the future that we can assume that she is dead at that time (the future), but I’m not convinced that she’s dead yet on the island. And if she is actually dead, who killed her? Zombie Ethan?….
Why did they choose Boone, Libby and Charlie for their story?
When the Oceanic Six front up to their press conference they name those passengers who “survived the crash, but died on the island”. The name Boone, Libby and Charlie. Why did they pick these three out of all the people that had died. Charlie perhaps because he was famous, but why Boone and not Shannon, why Libby and not Ana Lucia, Mr Eko, Dr Arzt, Jin etc etc. There would have to be a reason why. The second episode in season 5 is entitled “The Lie” so theres a chance that we might find out then.
Continue reading There’s No Place Like Home →
questions, recap, s4e12, s4e13, s4e14, Season 4
October 26th, 2008 - No Comments
After the madness that was ‘The Constant’ this episode doesn’t venture nearly as far, in fact its all set on the island, including the flashbacks.
Juliet is sitting in a room, looks like she’s waiting for someone, a woman comes in and introduces herself as Harper. Juliet begins to explain that she doesn’t think that she needs therapy, Harper suggests that they just “call it talking” instead. We then find out Juliet has “been here a week” (at this point we still don’t know where “here” is exactly). Juliet tells Harper that she doesn’t really like being treated like a celebrity, or being the centre of attention.
There’s a knock at the door, and its Tom, we now know that we are on the island. This interruption ends their “talk” and as Harper leaves she says “Welcome to the island”. Tom takes Juliet to meet with Ben who is waiting outside one of the houses in the other’s village. Ben tells Juliet that it’s hers. She tells Ben that they shouldn’t have gone to all the trouble as she’s only going to be there for 6 months.
Current time, back on the beach and Juliet is setting up her shelter, Sun offers to lend a hand, then Jack approaches asking if they’ve seen Charlotte and Dan as they are both missing and their stuff is gone. Jin says that he saw them head off into the jungle.
The four of them set off to try and track down Charlotte and Dan. Once in the jungle Juliet begins to hear the whispers, and when she turns around Harper is standing behind her. Harper says “long time no see”, and tells Juliet that she’s there to deliver a message from Ben.
Continue reading The Other Woman →
recap, s4e06, Season 4
The Constant
October 5th, 2008 - No Comments
So… Its only taken about 6 months to get back to finishing this post, it was going to be tough to get it to make sense to begin with, but with a huge break in the middle of writing it it was even harder, sorry about that. Lets get on with it.
Des flashes back…then forward…repeat. Flashback? no, not really. Remember the episode ‘flashes before your eyes’ from last season, kind of like that only way better.
The episode picks up where we left Sayid and Des a couple of episodes back, they are on the helicopter and heading towards the freighter. Des is looking at the photo of him with Penny. Frank is looking at a map that Daniel drew for him, which he was told to follow very closely. Struggling to control the chopper Frank flies straight into what Sayid calls a “thunderhead”… we’ll call it a storm.
Des awakes, all clean shaven, and at an Army barracks. He says that he was having a dream, and that he was on a helicopter, and he was in a storm… hang on a second. We snap back to the chopper, and Des is freaking out, he’s got no idea where he is, what he’s doing, or who on earth Sayid is.
Continue reading The Constant →
He moved the Island
June 8th, 2008 - 1 Comment
So Ben “moved” the island, how about that. First lets go back to episode 9 “The Shape of Thing to Come”, remember that Ben wakes up in the middle of the Sahara Desert (presumably in Tunisia) wearing that jacket with the Orchid station emblem, and the name Halliwax on it, and with a cut on his right arm. When he arrives at the hotel in Tunisia he asks what the date is… its October 21st 2005. Right, ok.
Ben told Locke that whoever moved the island couldn’t come back. He didn’t say anything about traveling over 10 months into the future at the same time. When Ben ‘moves’ the Island its around day 100-101, which would be around New Year’s Day 2005. It seems pretty straight-forward that Ben ends up in the Sahara as a direct result of moving the Island, especially since he’s still got the cut on the arm (from when he fell down the ladder), and he’s wearing the jacket with the same name on it.
Continue reading He moved the Island →
s4e09, s4e14, Season 4
Eggtown
March 6th, 2008 - 6 Comments
The episode begins with Locke cooking up some food which he takes down to Ben, who is now in the basement of the house Locke is living in. I guess this is/was probably Ben’s house, although I don’t know if its been mentioned or not. Locke tells Ben that they are the last two eggs, not sure why, is he trying to trick Ben. Ben has a go at Locke in an attempt to psych him out, it works and he definitely hits a nerve with Locke, who storms out taking the eggs with him.
Before we head off on the first flashforward, Sawyer is talking with Kate and asks her why she stayed, little elaboration is given. Now in the flashforward, Kate arrives to a rather large media frenzy, where is she arriving…a court house. In court one of the Lawyers rattles off the list of felonies for which she is being tried. I don’t think there was anything too surprising in there, I’d say we’ve probably seen just about all her crimes. Fraud, arson, armed robbery, theft, murder…you know the usual. Kate enters her plea of not guilty (even though she couldn’t be any more guilty if she tried), and when the prosecution try to have her remanded in custody because she’s a flight risk, Kate’s lawyer protests stating that she has on of the most recognisable faces in the world and is not a risk.
Continue reading Eggtown →
February 25th, 2008 - 2 Comments
This week’s contestant on the magical mystery ride that is Lost is Sayid. He’s won a golfing holiday and a new job.
The opening sequence sees Sayid meditating, or something like that, before getting up and walking toward Naomi’s body where he puts his hand over her eyes and closes her eyelids. Why they hadn’t already done that I’m not sure. He removes a bracelet that she was wearing, on the inside is an inscription which reads “N, I’ll always be with you. R.G.”. This begs the question who is R.G., and how are they connected.
To the first ‘flash’ of the episode, and we see Sayid playing golf when he is approached my a man. After a brief talk Sayid reveals to this man that he was the recipient of a large amount of compensation, from a plane crash, and that he is one of the Oceanic 6, instantly this guy looks worried, why? As the man goes to leave Sayid calls out to him by name, “Mr Avellino”, and as he turns around Sayid shoots him and then leaves. Seemingly Sayid has gone bad since leaving the island, but why? And who exactly was Mr Avellino and why did Sayid kill him?
Continue reading The Economist →
Confirmed Dead
Better late than never, but sometime you can not help these things. Onwards. The Losties all 324 of them are confirmed dead…really? but…but?
We open with a familiar scene to anyone who was following the Fund 815 ARG in the lead up to the premiere, we see two remotely operated vehicles (ROV) searching for something in the depths of the ocean. Low and behold what do they find but the wreckage of Oceanic 815 at the bottom of a trench.
There are a couple of inconsistencies between the way it played out in this episode and how it played out in Find815, but I think thats probably something to do with them being produced separately. After all they do say that it was the crew of the Christiane 1 that found it, so that fits, but in Find 815 there was only one ROV. At least I’m pretty sure there was.
Continue reading Confirmed Dead →
Times are shifting…
I’ve already covered bits of this in a couple of other posts, but episode 2 “Confirmed Dead” adds some interesting points to my argument.
On the Island it is supposedly almost Christmas 2004, remembering that the plane crashed on the 22nd September 2004.
In Find815 the main character Sam made mention that he wouldn’t be home for Christmas (no year mentioned), which would lead you to believe that the expedition he was on was taking place around December/January. Originally I thought this was taking place at the end of 2007/start of 2008, to coincide with the “press release” from Oceanic stating that they would begin flying again on the 31st December 2007. Seemed to make sense that they would abandon the search, and then resume flying. Right?
Continue reading Times are shifting… →
Flash Forward, s4e02, Season 4
February 9th, 2008 - 5 Comments
So Lost has finally returned, and now that the first episode has aired here in Australia I can fairly safely share my thoughts without spoiling things. This will be the case each week, so effectively I’ll be a week behind with my theorisations.
I don’t know about everyone else but I almost instantly picked up that it was Jack who was watching the TV at the beginning. Not sure why, maybe it was that he was having some sort of alcoholic drink early in the morning, or maybe because up to this point all season premieres had revolved around Jack.
Continue reading The Beginning of the End →
February 3rd, 2008 - 1 Comment
Yes, I’ll be posting my thoughts on Season 4, but I’ll hold off at least until its aired here in Australia. I’m also planning to post my thoughts and observations from the 13 mobisodes, and the Find815 ARG that were happening over the past couple of months. All in good time.
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Janet Ivey
Janet Ivey is President of Explore Mars, President/CCO at Janet’s Planet, and is a member of the National Space Society Board of Governors.
Janet is committed to enriching the lives of children through education and programming. With over 17 years in the media, she has captivated Nashville and beyond with her work and she has received 12 Regional Emmys and 5 Gracie Allen awards for her work.
Most notably, she has been recognized for her work on Nashville Public Television children’s series Janet’s Planet, an interstitial series she helped create. This dynamic and fast-paced series is geared to 6–10 year olds and focuses on scientific and historical facts and events. Viewers get to travel at the speed of thought and the interstitials air throughout the day between acclaimed children’s shows like “Zoom”, “Maya and Miguel”, and “Arthur”.
Watch her YouTube channel. View her Facebook page and her Instagram photos. Read her IMDb profile and her LinkedIn profile. Follow her Twitter feed.
Space Settlement Board
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Tufts Medicine
Magazine of the Tufts University Medical and Sackler Alumni Associations
School of Medicine Sackler School
Contact Archives Tufts Home
The Mercy Ship
Born from a wish to improve the lives of Boston’s poor, sickly children by exposing them to fresh air, the original Floating Hospital quickly created new and better forms of pediatric medicine
By Lucie Prinz
The boat was both a refuge and a harbinger of better things to come. Photos: Digital Collections and Archives, Tufts University
Most people who hang out at Tufts have picked up the notion that the Floating Hospital for Children, now part of Tufts Medical Center and a flagship institution in the field of pediatric medicine, began life as a boat of some kind. (Hence the nicely buoyant name.) But the details on that early evolution are hazy at best. Who cast off the mooring lines, and why did they do it?
A recent book tells the story complete with vintage black-and-white photographs that show, among other things, just how nicely people used to dress for their doctor appointments. It makes an entertaining page-turner for anyone interested in the early, enterprising days of modern medicine. We present here a sampling of that story and those images, selected from The Boston Floating Hospital: How a Boston Harbor Barge Changed the Course of Pediatric Medicine, by Lucie Prinz with Jacoba van Schaik (Boston Floating Hospital in collaboration with Union Park Press, 2014), used with permission. Enjoy the cruise. —Bruce Morgan
From 1855 to 1865, more than 96 children out of every 1,000 in Boston died before they were 5 years old. Lemuel Shattuck, a Massachusetts public health pioneer, wrote in 1845 about one poor section of Boston that “children seem literally ‘born to die.’ ” The rise in deaths was due to diseases that found a breeding ground in the poorly ventilated, unsanitary surroundings of the urban slums that had sprung up to house the thousands of new immigrants. These included diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, cholera infantum, dysentery and a host of other maladies ravaging the poorest children of the city.
The origins of the Floating [Hospital] were simple and modest. Its founders wanted a practical solution to a pervasive problem: Poor children were dying by the hundreds during the summer from intestinal diseases that were rampant in the crowded slums. The doctors of that time were only beginning to forge weapons against these intestinal illnesses, but they knew that if children could get into the fresh air, away from their environment, if they could be given good food and compassionate medical care, they would have a better chance to recover.
On the morning of July 25, 1894, those citizens of Boston who regularly took an early morning stroll near Snow’s Wharf were astonished to see the barge Clifford being towed out into the harbor. Typically, the Clifford returned to her berth at midnight, after a night during which her decks were crowded with revelers out for a romantic cruise. But now, where deck chairs and dining tables had stood, there were hammocks and cots. The bar and the bandstand had been replaced by hospital gear. If they had been able to go belowdecks, those who saw the Clifford that morning would have noted the lower decks had been divided into wards and a dispensary. From the roof of the Clifford’s cabin hung a 20-foot-long white banner emblazoned with green crosses.
The barge no longer resembled a pleasure craft. Between midnight and its 9 a.m. departure time, the Clifford had been transformed into the Boston Floating Hospital.
Public Support
From the outset, it was part of the Floating’s philosophy to be supported by public contributions. Even before the boat was launched, the hospital was a pet project of Boston’s newspapers, and the papers continued to help raise funds throughout its earliest years on the water. Every week, the Boston Evening Transcript published the contributions received to date. Gifts were even received from other parts of the country; the first donation for the 1895 season was from an otherwise unidentified “Gentleman on the Mississippi River.” This was followed by many small and some larger contributions: $2 came from seven little girls in Arlington; $100 from Mrs. Thayer of Lancaster; $1 from the South Evangelical Sunday School, West Roxbury; $2.25 from the Longfellow Literary Circle, Brockton; $5 from a “friend.”
People of all sorts, well-to-do and middle class, fashionable society ladies and children, garden clubs and sewing circles, were all attracted to helping the hospital and its little patients. In just a few years, it became one of Boston’s most popular charities.
Changing Attitudes
In those [late 19th-century] days, most hospitals still purposely prevented the parents from visiting their children—or at least discouraged them from doing so. Visiting hours were deliberately set during the working weekday, and there were no visiting hours on weekends. Healthy children were not permitted in the hospital. These stringent rules made it virtually impossible for parents to find the time to see their sick children. By contrast, the Floating routinely provided free access to parents of all patients.
The doctors who served on the Floating in the early days came from the Boston Dispensary, which was established in 1796 as the first permanent medical facility in New England [and predecessor to today’s Tufts Medical Center]. In 1856, the Boston Dispensary abolished the prevailing system that allowed wealthy subscribers, by dint of their support, to indicate who was to be treated. Doctors who joined the Floating brought this enlightened culture with them.
Unlike most of the hospitals of that time, the Floating did not look down on uneducated mothers or blame those immigrant women who did not understand much English and needed help in learning how to take better care of their children. For example, it was part of the routine for the doctor at the gangplank to search the bags mothers brought on board for contraband food. But this was done in a kindly, gentle and nonjudgmental manner so that mothers would not consider it a punishment. The unhealthy food and drink they tried to bring aboard was destroyed after explanations about why this was necessary. Mothers were given vouchers in exchange for their food, entitling them and their healthy children to lunch on board, and refreshments were served later in the day.
However, mothers were not only permitted to remain on board with their babies—they were, from day one, encouraged to form a partnership with the doctors and nurses overseeing their children’s care. The children were treated with compassion, the mothers with dignity. Moreover, by 1896, the Floating recognized that there were often other children in the family who could not be left alone at home, and mothers were allowed to bring one healthy child onto the boat if necessary. The Floating provided a kindergarten for healthy children under the age of 6. This daycare facility gave mothers time to concentrate on their sick child and provided the healthy youngster with a pleasant excursion at sea.
From the first voyages of the Floating, there were classes to teach mothers how to take better care of their children. These classes became more formalized as the years went by.
The Goodness of Milk
From the nurses who traveled around Boston collecting donated breast milk to the invention of formula, the Floating was always at the forefront of infant nutrition and the advances in the treatment of milk. By the turn of the 20th century, when a food laboratory had been established on board, doctors were using 20 different kinds of food or combinations of food to prepare formula on the Floating. The hospital’s work established how modern-day doctors, nurses and parents view and use milk and formula.
By 1909, the Floating was the largest and most important infants’ hospital in the United States, because it offered doctors an opportunity to study the largest number and variety of the diseases of infants. Intestinal diseases continued to be alleviated and controlled through modifying the babies’ food, and because milk was basic food for young children, the investigators increasingly focused on the role of milk in those illnesses. The Floating was a pioneer in providing formulas made from cows’ milk and other ingredients to its patients.
New scientific advances made it possible for the Floating’s food lab to furnish a formula carefully calibrated to suit the needs of each infant.
Patients who were sent home were given enough milk to ensure that they would have the benefit of 24 hours of pure milk—beginning the day they arrived on board.
(Editor’s Note: Experiments undertaken by doctors and scientists aboard the Floating led to the development of Similac, a powdered infant formula first marketed in 1927 and still widely used around the world today.)
Staying Cool
Even on the water, the [Boston summer] weather could be oppressive, especially to children suffering from intestinal diseases. The innovators who put a hospital on a barge, however, did not accept this as an insurmountable problem.
In 1898, the directors began to look for a way to “modify the air in our wards in such a way that our patients shall have dry air of moderate temperature which shall be uniform irrespective of the weather.” They heard that Lowney & Co., chocolate manufacturers in Mansfield, Massachusetts, had “modified” the air in their factory at a cost of $20,000. If $20,000 could be spent to cool chocolates, the Floating should not hesitate to find a way to reduce the temperature in its wards in order to save the lives of children, the directors stated.
It would be an extraordinary addition to the hospital, to any hospital, at that time, but the dedicated board of directors had decided it was a necessity and consulted an engineer from MIT. By the following year, the new “Atmospheric Plant” had been installed. So it was that in 1899, a small hospital established only five years earlier and functioning on a remodeled barge in Boston Harbor, became the first hospital in America to air-condition its wards.
Keeping History Afloat
By the time of the [current Floating Hospital’s] groundbreaking ceremony in 1979, the estimated $38 million cost for construction had risen to $55 million because of inflation. A 100-foot “bridge” of glass and steel, 35 feet above ground, connects the two parts of the building. Just one short flight above the lobby, a children’s waiting room has been built in the shape of a boat. Miniature portholes can be seen from the street through the glass walls of the building. Inside the room, children can play in the “wheelhouse” and pretend they are sailing in the harbor. Today, most of them probably do not realize that the room was built as a fond tribute to an old hospital ship.
Floating Hospital Milestones
The evening party barge Clifford is launched as a daytime hospital ship on Boston Harbor to serve sick children during the summer months.
Clifford purchased for $5,000 and converted to full-time medical use.
The Floating is first U.S. hospital to have air-conditioning.
A much bigger ship is designed, built and launched as the new Floating Hospital; it features a large, airy dining room, clinical laboratory, a kindergarten and six wards containing 100 beds on the main deck.
The Floating ranks as largest, most important hospital for infants in the U.S.
First on-shore branch of Floating established at Norfolk House Center, a building housing various charities in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
Soon after being docked for repairs in East Boston, the Floating is destroyed by fire, marking the end of shipboard medical care. The glare from the blaze could be seen in Salem, Massachusetts, 15 miles away.
The infant formula Similac, derived from years of research aboard the Floating, is first released in commercial form.
Formal affiliation established between Boston Dispensary, Floating Hospital and Tufts Medical School.
The Floating Hospital is dedicated at the current site on Washington Street in Boston’s Chinatown
neighborhood; by this time, more than half of practicing pediatricians in New England had been trained at the Floating.
On Fighting Ebola
Alumna Nahid Bhadelia takes a big-picture approach to stemming the spread of disease
Son of Confucius
This junior faculty member in neuroscience is a proud descendant of the ancient Chinese sage
The Awkward Fit
Geographically, culturally and politically, Maine lobstermen have some distance to go if they are ever going to connect with better health care
Veterinarians and physicians confer to help deliver a knockout blow to the cancers their patients share
Dockside Medicine
Born into a lobstering family, I worry about their well-being in a special way
Less Salt, Live Longer
Study finds too much sodium a worldwide killer
Nanoscale Cancer
Igor Sokolov’s research could yield better ways to identify and track malignant cells early on
On Designer Babies
Genetic enhancement of human embryos is not a practice for civil societies
Our Ailing Patient
U.S. medicine is not delivering the value it should, says Rishi Manchanda, who offers a prescription for the future
Spin Doctors
Hospital websites give unbalanced medical information, according to a systematic survey of 262 institutions
Copyright © 2019 Tufts University | Privacy | Follow Tufts Medicine: Facebook RSS Feed
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Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee
2 - The Future Development of Transport for Wales: Unions
3 - The Future Development of Transport for Wales: Transport for Wales
4 - The Future Development of Transport for Wales: Minister for Economy and Transport
Start Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest The Future Development of Transport for Wales: Unions The Future Development of Transport for Wales: Transport for Wales The Future Development of Transport for Wales: Minister for Economy and Transport
End Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest The Future Development of Transport for Wales: Unions The Future Development of Transport for Wales: Transport for Wales The Future Development of Transport for Wales: Minister for Economy and Transport
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The Raspberry Pi 2 offers a step up in performance for the same price, making it even better for those looking for a device to build projects, and you can still use it to learn to code, too....
-- As reviewed by V3.co.uk
$42 on Amazon
Last revision on June 8, 2018
It's a $35 computer
Drastically improved performance, feature set over the previous iteration
Quadcore processor with 1GB memory
Runs Linux & Windows 10
Only for the adventurous
Software, setup may be challenging to some
Requires patience to use
Open circuit board can easily be damaged
No support for Android
Raspberry Pi Model B+
Intel NUC D54250WYK
Zotac Nano XS AD13 Plus
Raspberry Pi Model B
Maingear Spark
By PC Mag on March 05, 2015 80
The Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is the same size and the same price as its predecessor, but major hardware improvements make this mini computer much more delectable...
By Android Authority on February 19, 2015 90
9.0 The Raspberry Pi 2 builds on the solid foundation of the first generation models. It offers a huge performance jump compared to the Raspberry Pi 1: Single core to quad-core, ARMv6 to ARMv7, 512MB to 1GB, but the same...
By Trusted Reviews on February 16, 2015 90
Extra power turns the Raspberry Pi 2 into a viable little computer and emulation station. But you have to be prepared to get your hands...
By TechRadar on February 05, 2015 100
An almost perfect single-board computer that marries great hardware with a lively and supportive community. Keeping the hardware and software backwards compatible will please tinkerers around the...
By V3.co.uk on February 05, 2015 100
By PC Pro on February 03, 2015 100
For those who love the Raspberry Pi and all it brings to the table, the Pi 2 is most definitely a good thing. It offers much more power, yet the price remains the same, and the package is completely backwards compatible with the previous model, so...
By IT PRO on February 02, 2015 80
The Pi gets beefed up hardware and the promise of a Windows 10 release later this year opens up a new world of possibilities for...
By APC Magazine on March 20, 2013 90
The original Pi had two main issues: its relatively low 700MHz clock speed and its smallish 256MB cache of RAM. Since its release, factory-backed overclocking to 1GHz...
By TechRadar AU on November 06, 2012 80
How you go on to use the Raspberry Pi is up to you. Thanks to the use of Debian, you can install exactly the same software you can with any other Linux distribution. If you want to access the GPIO pins, there's a command line utility and several APIs for...
By FlatpanelsHD on March 23, 2015
Raspberry Pi 2 is more nerdy - or technical - than most other media boxes we have tested, but it can also be much more than simply a media box. It is a do-it-yourself solution that you can turn into many different things. Still, it is very easy to set up...
By businessspectator.com.au on February 18, 2015
The $35 Raspberry Pi, a tiny computer the size of a credit card. Source: News Corp AustraliaOur computers have become too easy to use.Right out of the box, they're ready to go. No installing operating systems, no typing into a command-line prompt like in...
By brisbanetimes.com.au on February 18, 2015
Return to videoVideo settingsPlease Log in to update your video settingsVideo will begin in 5 seconds.Don't playPlay nowMore videoRecommended$40 computer gets an upgradeAus Open day 14 - Can Murray prevail against Djokovic?Aus Open day 12 - Djokovic set...
By wsj.com on February 17, 2015
Our computers have become too easy to use.Right out of the box, they're ready to go. No installing operating systems, no typing into a command-line prompt like in the old days. We don't even have to hit save anymore.Most weeks, I'm the first to celebrate...
By The Inquirer on February 03, 2015
MINI PC The Raspberry Pi 2 has been unveiled, boasting double the amount of RAM at 1GB and an updated ARMv7 quad-core processor, which the firm says makes the device six times faster than the original. The Pi 2 touts...
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Steve Carell Drops By The Late Show
I just put a bullet in Tuesday night’s episode of The Late Show, on which Steve Carell appeared to tout tomorrow’s release of Get Smart, and share stories of Father’s Day gifts from his kids (he joked that he told his 7-year-old daughter it wasn’t true that the best gifts are made, not bought) with host David Letterman. An awful lot of the one-segment chat was non-movie-related, interestingly enough. The competitive reception of Get Smart — an adaptation that an entire generation doesn’t even know is an adaptation, kind of like 2002’s I Spy — up against the return of Mike Myers in The Love Guru will be an interesting barometer reading of possibly converging comedy stars.
Aero Spotlights Diminished Capacity, Across the Universe
Director Terry Kinney’s poignant and bittersweet comedy Diminished Capacity poses the query: How much is a
good memory worth? That’s the question that faces newspaper editor
Cooper (Matthew Broderick) after a debilitating concussion takes him
from the political pages to comic strip detail. Looking for answers,
he travels home to Missouri, where his senile uncle (Alan
Alda) is on the verge of losing his home. When a valuable baseball
card is thrown into the mix, these two men, along with a motley group
of hometown friends — including Cooper’s high school sweetheart, played by Virginia Madsen — head to a memorabilia expo to make the
deal of the century. The movie screens this coming Thursday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m., in advance of its limited theatrical release in early July. Also, this Sunday, June 22, director Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe screens at 7:30 p.m., with a special post-screening appearance and discussion by choreographer Daniel Ezralow.
The Aero Theatre
is located at 1328 Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. Tickets for these movies, as well as other special events, are available through Fandango, but for 24-hour recorded
information on directions and the Aero’s upcoming schedule,
phone (323) 466-FILM.
Ever Dreamed of Swimming Naked with Watermelons?
Ever dreamed of swimming naked with watermelons? Well now you can live vicariously through Israeli artist Sigalit Landau’s wall-spanning projection, on view at MoMA through July 28. No hugely tangible cinematic connection here, except for the fact that I just really expected to first see this image in a Tarsem film.
The Three Stooges Collection: Volume Two
I’ve written before about the sort of direct-line connection between base-level slapstick and the the things that first tickle our funny bones, and few acts embody that synergistic relationship with more commitment, fervor and longevity than the Three Stooges. To that end, The Three Stooges Collection: Volume Two gathers more slap-happy
hijinks from the lovable Larry, Curly and Moe, in the form of 24 chronologically
arranged, digitally re-mastered short films, from 1937 to 1939. This
latest volume follows the success of the first set of Stooges film shorts, from 1934-36, released last year by Sony, and comes in advance of more like-minded releases.
It goes without saying that the Three Stooges are one of the most important screen comedy teams of the 20th century, and an inspiration to generations of screen comics that followed. After their initial retirement late in the 1950s, television reruns helped reintroduce them, at home and abroad, to a new generation of kids and adults alike, and their enthusiastic reception certainly indicates an abiding love for anarchic silliness.
At the time of the material here, the vaudeville-born Stooges were no longer some mere novelty act seeking attention in the still nascent world of filmed entertainment; they had achieved fame, and their countrywide personal appearances, of which there were many, were frequently mobbed. Naturally, even with such mainstream embrace (or perhaps because of it), there were cultural warriors who viewed the Stooges’ eye-poking, head-slapping, pie-tossing antics as too violent, and crusaded to have them banished. Thankfully, their efforts didn’t succeed.
With the guys’ rapport now even more settled upon, Larry, Curly and Moe were able to focus a bit on coming up with some rich scenarios to serve as backdrops for their antics, cranking out a new short film every six-and-a-half weeks or so. 1937’s slate consists of Grips, Grunts and Groans; Dizzy Doctors, one of many hospital-set shorts; Three Dumb Clucks; the bizarre and hopelessly dated Back to the Woods, in which the Stooges are exiled from England and sent to protect colonists from “savage” Native Americans; Goofs and Saddles; Cash and Carry; the racetrack-set Playing the Ponies, in which a prize horse is powered by hot peppers; and The Sitter Downers, a domestic-leaning sketch in which the Stooges attempt to build a house to satisfy their future father-in-law. The films from 1938 are: Termites of 1938; Wee Wee Monsieur; Tassels in the Air; Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb, one of many Stooges shorts to assay issues of class; Violent is the Word for Curly; Three Missing Links; Mutts to You; and Flat Foot Stooges. Finally, 1939’s slate consists of Three Little Sew and Sews, in which the Stooges become seamen tailors; We Want Our Mummy; A Ducking They Did Go; Yes, We Have No Bonanza; the island-set Saved By the Belle (of which surely Mario Lopez is a fan); Calling All Curs; the hilariously named Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise; and Three Sappy People, in which the boys are mistaken for respected psychiatrists.
The across-the-board value here is of a high quality, with only a couple of the forced “genre” offerings (Western-inflected Yes, We Have No Bonanza, for instance) coming across as forced. Calling All Curs, Grips, Grunts and Groans and Three Little Sew and Sews all score particularly high marks. Three Sappy People, meanwhile, remains one of the more popular syndicated Stooges efforts, if chiefly for its cream pie shenanigans. Frequently plumbing class friction for laughs, the Stooges seem best when placed out of sorts and forced to madly improvise in order to maintain the plausible cover of their scenario or promise, and there are plenty of examples of that here.
Presented in full screen with an English language mono audio track, The Three Stooges Collection: Volume Two looks pretty great, all things considering (only contrast levels would be a point to quibble on), and if the sound design isn’t something to stand up against the comparatively brawny mixes of movies of today, it certainly serves the relatively meager demands here, with just a slight bump in volume level over similar mono mixes. The films are housed on two dual-layered discs in slimline cases that are in turn stored in a nice cardboard slipcover.
Apart from a small handful of unrelated preview trailers (like from the first volume: Seinfeld, Meatballs and… Close Encounters of the Third Kind?), there is unfortunately no supplemental material, a fact established by the first release in the series. This cuts two ways; the sheer volume of material (including five more shorts than in the first volume) makes for plenty of entertainment, and its straightforward cataloging is invaluable, but just a brief talking-head retrospective or two would help contextually root the material for a lot of younger viewers for whom the term “classic comedy” perhaps only means Eddie Murphy, circa Raw. To purchase the set via Amazon, click here. A (Movies) B- (Disc)
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Roxanne Traxler Named Vice President of Finance and Operations
“I would like to thank the many college and community members that assisted us in our extensive search for this important position,” said Dr. Annette Parker, president of South Central College. “Ms. Traxler comes to South Central College with a solid background in financial operations, strategic planning and administrative management. I am confident that she will provide transparent and collaborative leadership to the College and support our efforts in the community as well. We are especially happy to have her on board as we prepare to embark on an exciting, large-scale renovation on our North Mankato campus.”
Roxanne Traxler is an experienced administrator with more than 12 years of experience providing strategic fiscal management and budgetary advice to community managers, department heads and leadership teams. She has proven experience working collaboratively with all levels of personnel from staff to department directors, and with elected officials, external business partners and county residents. See her full bio here.
“I am very happy to have this opportunity to join South Central College in its ongoing commitment to accessible education, student growth and regional economic development and I look forward to aligning my efforts with SCC’s outstanding faculty, staff and administration. It will be exceptionally rewarding for me to work with this vital, successful college and to have a chance to engage with people throughout Southern Minnesota in ways that support South Central College and the region.”
Ms. Traxler has a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from College of St. Scholastica, a master’s degree in public administration (MAPA) and bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Minnesota State University, Mankato. She will begin her tenure at South Central College or before April 17, 2019.
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Inside the Industry
Just Plain Good
Music in Media
Film / Soundtrack Review / Eat, Pray, Love
Film, Reviews
I saw Eat, Pray, Love this past weekend without skimming the soundtrack even once beforehand and I have to say my first impression leading the theatre was not – in the words of Larisa Oleynik – whelmed. Neil Young somehow seems an obvious choice for a soul-searching 40-something. M.I.A “Boyz” is a great song, but now three years old. And the collaboration between Eddie Vedder and Nursat Fateh Ali Khan (“The Long Road”) while lovely is off of ANOTHER soundtrack released in 1996. The only original song on the album is “Better Days” by Vedder.
Now that I’ve listened to the soundtrack over and over again a few times – I still hold true to my above criticisms, but at the same time definitely appreciate how good of a job music supervisor P.J. Bloom did choosing music that supports the film. And the film is really what is whelming.
Film / Soundtrack Review / Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
As with all highly anticipated soundtracks, I wanted to wait until I actually saw the movie before passing final judgement, and I have to say I’m surprised at the assessment I’m about to make. The biggest revelation being that while Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is definitely a very music oriented film, its prime motif is video games. The editing, the music, the production design, the costume design, style, special effects, everything – are all geared to support this. I know, I know, everyone else knew that but me. And I did know it. But now I understand just how important it is for anyone taking a listen to the soundtrack to be aware of that.
Film / Soundtrack Review / Hot Tub Time Machine
I know most of you scoffed when you heard that a movie titled “Hot Tub Time Machine” was actually coming to a theatre near you. The only reason I even saw it was because a friend somehow got nine passes to a free screening of the film a few weeks before release. I thought it was some sort of joke, but still – free is free and everyone went, rolling our eyes the whole way. Of course, none of us would have been there if it had cost money. We sat through the entire thing (all 99 minutes of it) and when the lights came up, all turned to each other hesitantly, almost embarrassed:
“Guys, did you think…was that…that was actually really funny”
TV / Your Music in Media Guide to the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
The nominations for the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced yesterday and were – let’s face it – fairly predictable, and sorely lacking in noms for Community. Check out the nominees in the music categories below – including some streaming clips and tracks where I could get ‘em. Watch the broadcast on Sunday Aug 29 8pm ET / 5pm PT to see who wins…
Outstanding Composition for A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special (Original Dramatic Score)
The Pacific (Part 10) – Music by Blake Neely, Geoff Zanelli and Hans Zimmer (HBO)
When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story (Hallmark Hall Of Fame Presentation) – Music by Lawrence Shragge (CBS)
Temple Grandin – Music by Alex Wurman (HBO)
You Don’t Know Jack – Music by Marcelo Zarvos (HBO)
Blessed Is The Match – Music by Todd Boekelheide (PBS)
Georgia O’Keeffe – Music by Jeff Beal (Lifetime)
Music + Film / The Kinks "Schoolboys in Disgrace" as a Movie Musical
Seems like it’s pretty often these days to see albums turned into stage musicals, and/or stage musicals turned into musical movies. It’s less often the pattern jumps from album to musical movie, but it someone had to do it. And that someone is this guy:
And by that I mean Bobcat Goldthwaite, set to write and direct Schoolboys in Disgrace based on The Kinks 1976 LP of the same name – an album without any hit singles that peaked at No. 45 on the Billboard 200 when it was released. No classic song for us to spend the entire movie waiting to hear? BLASPHEMY.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Goldthwaite is quoted:
“Schoolboys in Disgrace is a story that any kid who has felt that they are not being treated fairly can relate to, all set to some of the greatest rock songs you’ll ever hear…It’s the genesis story of a supervillain set to music. It’s the story of the world’s most charming criminal and a realistic high school musical for all the kids who hate sugary, sweet, unrealistic high school musicals.”
…which was apparently pretty much how he won over Ray Davies – Kinks frontman and writer of all the songs on the album – as well as an executive producer of the movie. From Goldthwaite’s Guest DJ Set on KCRW last October before the project was confirmed:
“Ray was asking, “Well, who would you make this movie for, if you made a musical of Schoolboys in Disgrace? And I said, “I would make this movie for all the kids who f**king hate High School Musical.” And then I actually saw him smile a little bit.”
Now as much as I not-so-secretly love High School Musical, that’s an attitude I can get behind. Honestly though, my first question when I heard about this was, “The Kinks know about this, right?” I mean, it makes immediate sense that the ABBA folks would be like, “YAY MUSICAL THEATRE!” but a seminal band out of the 1960’s British Invasion? I have to admit my knowledge of The Kinks was limited to one album on vinyl and a love for the use of “Village Green Preservation Society” in Hot Fuzz. So I did some reading.
It turns out storytelling through music is a trademark of their style – Davies created a reputation for concept albums, including Schoolboys in Disgrace (actually fashioned as a prequel to their earlier albums Preservation Act 1 and Preservation Act 2). Check out the album’s liner notes:
Once upon a time there was a naughty little schoolboy. He and his gang were always playing tricks on the teachers and bullying other children in the school. One day he got himself into very serious trouble with a naughty schoolgirl and he was sent to the Headmaster who decided to disgrace the naughty boy and his gang in front of the whole school.
After this punishment the boy turned into a hard and bitter character. Perhaps it was not the punishment that changed him but the fact that he realised people in authority would always be there to kick him down and the Establishment would always put him in his place. He knew that he could not change the past but he vowed that in the future he would always get what he wanted. The naughty little boy grew up… into Mr. Flash. (via BroadwayWorld.com)
So adding a book to the music doesn’t really seem that far off. Other than Davies producers include: duo Howard Gertler and Tim Perell (Last Chance Harvey, World’s Greatest Dad – another Goldthwaite directed flick), Sarah de Sa Rego and Andrew D. Tenenbaum. The project is currently in development. No release date is set.
Stage to screen adaptations most often fail because filmmakers get too attached to the original production. Staging is flat, clunky and well – too theatrical for the medium. Without any middle ground however, I have to say I’m interested to see how the album to screen translation works out.
Now, let’s please hope this dies.
The Kinks “The Hard Way” from Schoolboys in Disgrace
The Kinks – The Hard Way by tadpole of july
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Amanda Krieg Thomas is a Music Supervisor in Los Angeles at leading music supervision company, Neophonic Music & Media.
Tadpole Audio is her personal blog of industry advice, news, and sometimes even music she likes (and thinks you might as well!) All opinions are her own. Her music supervision credits can be found here.
She also enjoys entertaining friends, good coffee, living in Eagle Rock, but being a Connecticut girl at heart, adventures large and small with her husband and two cats, roadtrips, wine tasting, yoga, and brunch.
She is also very short.
© Copyright Hacked By Ahmed 01 2019. Theme by Bluchic.
© 2010-2019 Tadpole Audio All Rights Reserved -- Copyright notice by Blog Copyright
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Other Neoaves
'Land Birds'
Cuculidae
Otididae
'Water Birds'
Musophagidae
Opisthocomus hoazin
Pteroclididae
Phaethontidae
Aegotheles
Eurypyga helias
Rhynochetos jubatus
Mesitornithidae
Podicipedidae
Phoenicopteridae
Columbiformes
Pigeons and Doves
Relationships after Pereira et al. 2007. Taxa not included in this analysis are placed incertae sedis.
Containing group: Neoaves
Other Names for Columbidae
Baptista, L. F., P. W. Trail, and H. M. Horblit. 1997. Family Columbidae (pigeons and doves). Pages 60–243 in Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. Lynx Editions, Barcelona.
Crome, F. and J. Shields. 1992. Parrots and Pigeons of Australia. Angus and Robertson and the National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife, Sydney.
Goodwin, D. 1983. Pigeons and Doves of the World. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
Gibbs, D., J. Cox, and E. Barnes. 2001. Pigeons and Doves: A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Hardy, J. W., G. B. Reynard, and B. B. Coffey. 1989. Voices of the New World Pigeons and Doves. ARA Records, Gainesville, Florida.
Johnson, K. P. 2004. Deletion bias in avian introns over evolutionary timescales. Molecular Biology and Evoluiton 21:599-602.
Johnson, K. P. and D. H. Clayton. 2000. Nuclear and mitochondrial genes contain similar phylogenetic signal for pigeons and doves (Aves: Columbiformes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 14:141–151.
Johnson, K. P., S. De Kort, K. Dinwoodey, A. C. Mateman, C. ten Cate, C. M. Lessells, and D. H. Clayton. 2001. A molecular phylogeny of the dove genera Streptopella and Columba. Auk 118(4):874-887.
Lijtmaer, D. A., B. Mahler, and P. L. Tubaro. 2003. Hybridization and postzygotic isolation patterns in pigeons and doves. Evolution 57(6):1411-1418.
Mahler, B. and P. L. Tubaro. 2001. Relationship between song characters and morphology in New World pigeons. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 74(4):533-539.
Pereira, S. L., K. P. Johnson, D. H. Clayton, and A. J. Baker. 2007. Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA Sequences Support a Cretaceous Origin of Columbiformes and a Dispersal-Driven Radiation in the Paleogene. Systematic Biology 56(4):656–672.
Shapiro, B., D. Sibthorpe, A. Rambaut, J. Austin, G. M. Wragg, O. R. Bininda-Emonds, P. L. Lee, and A. Cooper. 2002. Flight of the dodo. Science 295(5560):1683.
Steadman, D. W. 1997. The historic biogeography and community ecology of Polynesian pigeons and doves. Journal of Biogeography 24(6):737-753.
Information on the Internet
Dove Detectives. A study of where doves and pigeons are seen in cities. Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Bedfordshire UK
Collared dove
This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
© 2005 Steve Makin
Ptilinopus regina
Shortland Wetlands, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove
© 2006 Marj Kibby
Ducula bicolor bicolor
Tangkoko, Sulawesi, Indonesia
park stock
Pied Imperial Pigeon, Ducula bicolor bicolor
© 2007 Lip Kee Yap
Page: Tree of Life Columbiformes. Columbidae. Pigeons and Doves. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.
Tree of Life Web Project. 2007. Columbiformes. Columbidae. Pigeons and Doves. Version 23 September 2007 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Columbidae/26404/2007.09.23 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
Columbiformes Branch Page
Columbiformes Images
Columbiformes Movies
Columbiformes People
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This project is about chirality; its importance, its applications, and how we plan to measure it in a robust, sensitive, and versatile manner. So, a few words about chirality, and the basic idea behind this project are due.
Chirality is a fundamental property of life, making chiral sensing and analysis crucial to numerous scientific subfields of biology, chemistry, and medicine, and to the pharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetic, and food industries, constituting a market of 10s of billion €, and growing. Despite the tremendous importance of chiral sensing, its application remains limited, due to the chiral signals typically being very weak. The most widely used techniques for chiral analysis are the optical techniques of optical rotary dispersion (ORD) and circular dichroism (CD). These weak signals (< 10-5 rad) are limited by spurious birefringence and slow and imperfect background subtraction procedures. The poor detection sensitivities of current instruments do not allow important biological and medical processes to be probed, and prevent further understanding and treatment of various diseases. Recently, the project-coordinating FORTH team has introduced a new form of Chiral-Cavity-based Polarimetry (CCP) for chiral sensing (Sofikitis et al., Nature 514, 76; 2014), which has three groundbreaking advantages compared to commercial instruments: (a) The ORD and CD signals are enhanced by the number of cavity passes (typically ~1000); (b) otherwise limiting birefringent backgrounds are suppressed; (c) rapid signal reversals give absolute polarimetry measurements, not requiring sample removal for a null-sample measurement. Together, these advantages allow improvement in chiral detection sensitivity by 3-6 orders of magnitude.
The aim of ULTRACHIRAL is to revolutionize existing applications of chiral sensing, but also to instigate important new domains which require sensitivities beyond current limits, including: (1) measuring protein structure in-situ, in solution, at surfaces, and within cells and membranes, thus realizing the “holy-grail” of proteomics; (2) coupling to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for chiral identification of the components of complex mixtures, creating new standards for the pharmaceutical, medical, and chemical analysis industries; (3) analysis of chirality in bodily fluids as a diagnostic tool in medicine, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics; (4) the measurement of the chirality of single molecules, by adapting CCP to microresonators, which have already demonstrated single-molecule detection; and (5) real-time chiral monitoring of terpene emissions from individual trees and forests, as a probe of forest ecology.
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The Alternative World Drug Report
Counting the Costs of the War on Drugs
The Alternative World Drug Report, launched to coincide with publication of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s 2012 World Drug Report, exposes the failure of governments and the UN to assess the extraordinary costs of pursuing a global war on drugs, and calls for UN member states to meaningfully count these costs and explore all the alternatives.
Download the report (PDF - outside link)
After 50 years of the current enforcement-led international drug control system, the war on drugs is coming under unparalleled scrutiny. Its goal was to create a "drug-free world". Instead, despite more than a trillion dollars spent fighting the war, according to the UNODC, illegal drugs are used by an estimated 270 million people and organised crime profits from a trade with an estimated turnover of over $330 billion a year – the world’s largest illegal commodity market.
In its 2008 World Drug Report, the UNODC acknowledged that choosing an enforcement-based approach was having a range of negative "unintended consequences", including: the creation of a vast criminal market, displacement of the illegal drugs trade to new areas, diversion of funding from health, and the stigmatisation of users.
It is unacceptable that neither the UN or its member governments have meaningfully assessed these unintended consequences to establish whether they outweigh the intended consequences of the current global drug control system, and that they are not documented in the UNODC’s flagship annual World Drug Report.
This groundbreaking Alternative World Drug Report fills this gap in government and UN evaluations by detailing the full range of negative impacts resulting from choosing an enforcement-led approach.
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Today is International Women’s Day – and at Unite members throughout the union are making their voices heard
Hajera Blagg, Friday, March 8th, 2019
On International Women’s Day today (March 8), Unite is marking the day to celebrate women and their achievements – but just as importantly to highlight the many injustices women in the UK and across the world still face.
After all, decades on from the Equal Pay Act, the gender pay gap still persists. Women still take on a massively disproportionate share of family caring responsibilities, affecting their career progression, earnings and pensions. And both in the UK and across the world, women are subject to sexual and domestic violence, with those in conflict zones often raped and tortured.
That’s why Unite has a full programme of events across its regions this week to bring a range of issues – from sexual violence to equal pay to period dignity in the workplace – into sharp focus.
In Scotland, Learn with Unite is delivering a pilot welding course for women today (March 8) at West College Scotland Campus in Clydebank to give them a taster of what it would be like should they wish to pursue a pathway within the STEM industries. Interest has reached over 52,000 hits through social media.
“Feedback from the participants will give us an idea of how we can encourage more women to take up predominantly male-dominated roles,” explained Unite learning organiser Janet Dunbar. “We will also look to further develop opportunities within this sector and would encourage employers to assist with the programme.”
In Wales women are coming together for a summit celebrating women’s legal rights wins over the last 100 years, including talks from Unite regional secretary Peter Hughes and Jo Stevens MP, for Cardiff Central. There will also be workshops on mental health in the workplace and equal pay and the gender pay gap.
Unite women’s officer for Wales Joanne Galazka who organised the events said, “Today is all about celebrating what women before us have accomplished and also about inspiring today’s women to get more involved, maybe become a rep and ultimately to help shape the future for women.”
“Unite is proud to be developing women activists to ensure that our policies are shaped by women in order to win for women and to be securing more women in decision making,” she added.
“The summit will also look closely at Unite’s period dignity campaign as well as our menopause policy, which both will benefit all women in our movement.”
In the South West, Unite celebrated International Women’s Day early with a South West Women’s Leadership weekend in Torquay last weekend (March 1-3). Unite women reps and members received training to boost their confidence in campaigning for women’s concerns in and out of the workplace.
Among the speakers was Zimbabwean opposition MP Thabitha Khumalo who has been fighting for justice and equality for women for decades.
“I was impressed by the enthusiasm and energy of the women attending the SW Women’s Leadership weekend in Torquay,” said Unite regional women’s officer Karen Cole.
“We were overwhelmed by the powerful speech from Thabitha Khumalo, who inspired us with her bravery and the demand for women’s rights across the world, rallying us with the cry of ‘nothing about us without us’.
Today (March 8) Unite’s South East region is ramping up the union’s Period Dignity campaign in the area to highlight the issue of access to sanitary products, which affects women and girls in schools and workplaces everywhere.
Today especially, Unite South East is encouraging reps to push Unite’s Period Dignity charter, where committed employers sign up to offer free sanitary products in their women’s and disabled toilets. The region is also assisting the local Red Box project to collect pads and tampons to be donated to girls in local schools, many of whom will miss school because they cannot afford sanitary protection.
“Whilst we fully recognise the need for government to take on and tackle this issue, we can’t watch from the side-lines as neutral by-standers while this is going on,” Unite South East women and equalities officer Janet Henney said. “That’s why Unite South East region has been working closely with local community Red Box Projects – with local collections and donations direct to the projects. We will make a difference where government fails to act.”
Young women are an instrumental part of Unite – that’s why Unite in North West is using the day to celebrate their roles.
Thanks to the work of Unite’s North West young members committee chair Victoria Egerton and others, there has been a substantial increase in the number of active young women in the region.
Unite regional women’s officer Sarah Hutchinson said that for her, “working with these young women gives me great hope for the future of our union and we should celebrate International Women’s Day by encouraging more young women to get involved.”
London & Eastern
Unite’s London & Eastern region put the ‘international’ in International Women’s Day with an event on Wednesday (March 6) highlighting the lessons we must learn from the Bosnian War.
“Our region’s event featured Bakira Hasecic of the Women Victims of the War, an organisation fighting for justice for the tens of thousands of women and child rape victims during the Bosnian War,” explained Unite London & Eastern region vice chair Bronwen Handyside.
“This was a very timely meeting for the dangerous times we are living in,” she added. “The far right is gathering in strength and popularity as austerity damages the living standards of millions of working people across Europe.
“Now is the time to look back at the Bosnian War, to see the atrocities that reactionary nationalism carries out — the mass rape, torture, concentration camps and genocide – so we learn from that history and we don’t walk blindfolded yet again into the same scenes from hell written in history’s darkest pages.”
Unite’s Irish Executive Committee (IEC) has endorsed an all-Ireland #Time4Equality campaign in the run-up to International Women’s Day, which will be a broad initiative in conjunction with other unions to highlight the gender pay gap, sexual harassment, childcare and other issues women face in and out of the workplace.
To publicise the campaign, at 3.24pm in the Republic of Ireland and 2.48pm in Northern Ireland, members will mark the respective times at which women stopped getting paid compared to male colleagues, with mobilisations at Albert Dock in Belfast and O’Connell Street in Dublin.
Unite regional women’s officer Taryn Trainor, speaking from a regional women’s leadership conference today (March 8) said that the #Time4Equality campaign launch earlier this year and today’s events are ‘just the beginning’.
“We will be pushing the campaign in our RISCs and branches throughout the year so that women’s equality issues are put at the top of our agenda,” she said. “We will also be linking up with other organisations and initiatives to highlight issues such as abortion laws. Our message to Unite’s women members today is to speak up and demand a seat at the table. It is your right and you deserve to have your voices heard.”
Unite national officer for women Siobhan Endean hailed Unite’s participation in International Women Day’s today (March 8).
“Unite is empowering women in the workplace — women in Unite are making a big difference in the fight for equal pay, flexible working, and sexual harassment, while also taking a stand internationally to stop violence against women across the world,” she said. “On International Women’s Day we stand with the women of Zimbabwe, Bosnia and everywhere.”
These are just a handful of the many events Unite is hosting today. Stay tuned on UniteLive for a full day of exclusive International Women’s Day coverage.
#IWD live from Scotland
Period dignity win
← Not entirely satisfied
Women need their union →
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Urban Space Analysis Lab
SPATIAL BEHAVIOR AND COGNITION
URBAN MORPHOLOGY
URBAN MOVEMENT MODELING
Omer, I. (2018) How are geographical judgments and a geographical entity’s shape connected in cognitive mapping?, Built Environment, 44 (2), 205-217.
Ma, Ding., Omer, I., Osaragi, T., Samdberg, M and Jiang, B. (2018) Why Topology Matters in Predicting Human Activities, Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. DOI: 10.1177/2399808318792268
Omer, I. (2018). Effects of city form and socio-spatial divisions on cognitive maps. Journal of Urban Affairs, 40 (4), 560–575.
Omer, I. (2018). Editorial: Urban Modeling and Social Media. Geoinformatics and Geostatistics: An Overview, 6:1, DOI: 10.4172/2327-4581.1000180.
Omer, I. and Kaplan, N. (2018). Structural properties of the angular and metric street network’s centralities and their implications for movement flows. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. DOI: 10.1177/2399808318760571.
Omer, I., Goldblatt, R., Romann, M. and Khamaisi, R. (2018). Tolerance, intergroup contacts and municipal-spatial organization: The case of Jews and Arab Palestinians in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie: Journal of Economic and Social Geography, 109 (1), 57-72.
Khamaisi, R. and Omer, I. (2017). The Spatial-Functional Dimension of Jewish-Arab Relations: from Mixed Cities to Mixed Regions. The Jewish-Arab Center, University of Haifa. (Hebrew; ISBN: 978-965-92634-0-0).
Magen, R., Omer, I. and Yodan, R. (2017). Relationship between spatial planning, retail activity and movement in the Israeli city. Planning (Tichnun) - Journal of the Israel Planners Association, 14 (2), 10-24. (Hebrew)
Omer, I., Gitelman, V., Rofè, Y., Lerman, Y., Kaplan, N. and Doveh, E. (2017). Evaluating crash risk in urban areas based on vehicle and pedestrian modeling: a case-study in Israel. Geographical Analysis, 49 (4), 387-408.
Omer, I. and Goldblatt, R. (2017). Using space syntax and Q-analysis for investigating movement patterns in buildings: the case of shopping malls. Environment and planning B: Planning and Design, 44(3), 504-530.
Omer, I. and Kaplan, N. (2017). Using space syntax and agent-based approaches for modeling pedestrian volume at the urban scale. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 64, 57-67.
Omer, I., Kaplan, N. and Jiang, B. (2017). Why angular centralities are more suitable for space syntax modeling? Proceedings of the 11th Space Syntax Symposium. Lisbon 3-7 July 2017.
Shao, L., Mittlstadt, S., Goldblatt, R., Schreck, T., Omer, I., and Bak, P. (2017). Analysis and Comparison of Feature-based Patterns in Urban Street Networks. LNCS – Communications in Computer and Information Science, Springer, CCIS 693, 1-23.
Goldblatt, R. and Omer, I. (2016). Arab Minority Residential Patterns in Israeli “Mixed Cities”: A “Space Syntax” Analysis. Horizons in Geography, 89, 114-132. (Hebrew)
Goldman, A., Portugali, J. and Omer, I. (2016). Backyards in Tel Aviv. Planning (Tichnun) - Journal of the Israel Planners Association, 12, 48-73. (Hebrew)
Lavi, A., Potchter, O., Omer, I. and Fireman, L. (2016). Mapping air pollution by biological monitoring in the metropolitan Tel-Aviv area. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 26(3), 346-360.
Lerman, Y. and Omer, I. (2016). Urban area types and spatial distribution of pedestrians: Lessons from Tel Aviv. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 55, 11-23.
Mark, S., Alfasi, N. and Omer, I. (2016). Environmental awareness in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Ashdod. Ecology and Environment, 7(2), 145-152. (Hebrew)
Omer, I. (2016). Residential Neighborhoods in an Ethnically Mixed Area: Factors that Shape Coexistence. In: Moroni S. and Weberman D. (eds.), Space and Pluralism, CEU Press, pp. 225-251.
Omer, I. and Goldblatt, R. (2016). Spatial Patterns of Retail Activity and Street Network Structure in New and Traditional Israeli Cities. Urban Geography, 37(4), 629-649.
Omer, I. and Kaplan, N. (2016). An agent-based pedestrian model considering spatial behavior parameters. Transportation Research Procedia, 3rd Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility, 3rd CSUM 2016, 26 – 27 May 2016, Volos, Greece.
Omer, I., Rofe, Y., Lerman, Y. and Cohen, Y. (2016). A Prediction Model for Pedestrian Traffic Volume in Urban Space in Israel. Horizons in Geography, 89, 38-60. (Hebrew)
Plaut, P., Omer, I. and Shach-Pinsly, D. (eds.) (2016). special issue: “Quality of life in the built environment”. Horizons in Geography, Ofakim, 89. (Hebrew)
Shao, L., Mittlstadt, S., Goldblatt, R., Schreck, T., Omer, I. and Bak, P. (2016). StreetExplorer: Visual Exploration of Feature-based Patterns in Urban Street Networks. Proceedings of the 11th Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications - Volume 2: IVAPP, pp. 86-97, 27-29 February, 2016.
Spiro, H. and Omer, I. (2016). Urban morphology, spatial behavior and perceived neighborhoods: the case of Tel Aviv. Merhavim, 7, 319-348. (Hebrew)
Omer, I. (2015). How network, spatial behavior and land uses shape urban movement?. Plurimondi: An International Forum for Research and Debate on Human Settlements, ECTQG2015 proceedings issue, September 3-7 September 2015, Bari, Italy.
Omer, I. and Jiang, B. (2015). Can cognitive inferences be made from aggregate traffic flow data?. Computers. Environments and Urban Systems, 54, 219-229.
Omer, I., Rofè, Y. and Lerman, Y. (2015). The impact of planning on pedestrian movement – contrasting pedestrian movement models in pre-modern and modern neighborhoods in Israel. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 29, 2121-2142.
Omer, I., Svory, T. and Akerman, O. (eds.) (2015). special issue: “Spatial theories”, Geographic Network, 2. (Hebrew)
Omer, I. and Zafrir-Reuven, O. (2015). The Development of street patterns in Israeli cities. Journal of Urban and Regional Analysis, 7(2), 113-127.
Goldblatt, R. and Omer, I. (2014). “Perceived neighbourhood” and tolerance relations: the case of Arabs and Jews in Jaffa,Israel. Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 21(5), 555-572.
Goldblatt, R. and Omer, I. (2014). The Association Between Land-use Distribution and Residential Patterns: the Case of Mixed Arab-Jewish Cities in Israel. Journal of Urban and Regional Analysis, 6, 15-34.
Goldblatt, R. and Omer, I. (2014). The Relationship between Spatial configuration and Arab Minority Residential Patterns in Israeli Mixed Cities. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie: Journal of Economic and Social Geography, 106 (3), 321-338.
Lerman, Y., Rofè, Y. and Omer, I. (2014). Using Space Syntax to Model Pedestrian Movement in Urban Transportation Planning. Geographical Analysis, 46, 392-410.
Omer, I. (2014). A Pedestrian Volume Model for Israeli Cities. AESOP - From control to co-evolution, July 9 – 12, 2014, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Lerman, Y. and Omer, I. (2013). The Effects of Configurational and Functional Factors on the Spatial Distribution of Pedestrians. In: Vandenbroucke D. et al. (eds.), Geographic Information Science at the Heart of Europe, Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, pp. 383-398.
Omer, I. (2013). How do regional categories affect the potential for rotation distortion in geographical judgment. Spatial Cognition and Computation: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 13, 129-149.
Omer, I., Romann, M. and Goldblatt, R. (2013). Geographic scale of tolerance in the urban area. Journal of Urban Affairs, 36 (2), 207-224.
Schreck, T., Omer, I., Bak, P. and Lerman, Y. (2013). A Visual Analytics Approach for Assessing Pedestrian Friendliness of Urban Environments. In: Vandenbroucke D. et al. (eds.), Geographic Information Science at the Heart of Europe, Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, pp. 353-368.
Lavi, A., Puchter, O., Omer, I. and Fireman, L. (2012). Mapping PM2.5 concentrations by Biological Monitoring in Tel -Aviv Metropolitan area. ICUC8 – 8th International Conference on Urban Climates, UCD, Dublin, Ireland.
Omer, I., and Goldblatt, R. (2012). Urban spatial configuration and socio-economic residential differentiation: The case of Tel Aviv. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 36 (2), 177-185.
Rofè, Y., and Omer I., (2012). How urban grids generate urbanism – examples from Israel. EAAE/ISUF International Conference on ‘New Urban Configurations’, Delft.
Lerman, Y. and Omer, I. (2011). The implications of urban morphology on pedestrian distribution. Traffic and Transportation, 99, 42-46. (Hebrew)
Omer, I. (2011). Errors in the estimation of directions between cities in northern Israel. Ofakim, 77, 82-93. (Hebrew)
Omer, I. (2011). Ethnic residential segregation, land-use distribution and spatial configuration of the urban built environment. Built Environment, 37 (2), 199-212.
Omer, I. (2011). Topological structure of street network and vehicular flows in the city. Traffic and Transportation, 99, 37-41. (Hebrew)
Omer, I. and Zafrir-Reuven, O. (2011). Space syntax of Israeli cities. Planning – Journal of the Israeli Association of Planners, 8 (1), 289-306. (Hebrew)
Bak, P., Omer, I. and Schreck, T. (2010). Visual Analytics of Urban Environments using High-Resolution Data. In: Painho M. et al. (eds.), Geospatial Thinking, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 25-42.
Omer, I. (2010). Distortions in geographical judgment: The relationship between hierarchical organization and rotation. AGILE: Geographic Information Science, pp. 1-6.
Omer, I. (2010). High-resolution Geographic Data and Urban Modeling: The Case of Residential Segregation. in: Jiang B. and Yao X. (eds.), Geospatial Analysis and Modeling of Urban Structure and Dynamics, Berlin: Springer, pp. 15-30.
Omer, I. (2010). Residential differentiation at two geographic scales – The metropolitan area and the city: The case of Tel Aviv. Journal of Urban and Regional Analysis, 2, 63-79.
Omer, I., Bak, P. and Schreck, T. (2010). Using visual analytic methods and spatial diffusion model for exploring local-scale ethnic residential segregation. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 24 (10), 1481-1496.
Omer, I. and Jiang, B. (2010). Imageability and topological eccentricity of urban streets. In: Jiang B. and Yao X. (eds.), Geospatial Analysis and Modeling of Urban Structure and Dynamics, Berlin: Springer, pp. 63-175.
Omer, I. and Zafrir-Reuven, O. (2010). Street patterns and spatial integration of Israeli cities. The Journal of Space Syntax, 1 (2), 280-295.
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Steps Toward Achieving Advanced Energy Performance in Existing Buildings
Sheet Metal Workers Local 36, 2319 Chouteau, Suite 200 (63103)
ASHRAE St. Louis Member
Non-Member – $20.00
For individuals who do not hold a current USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter Membership
USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter Member
August 9 Program
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: ASHRAE
97% of the U.S. building stock are existing buildings. According to CBECS, these buildings are becoming more energy inefficient each year.
What will be presented are the standards and guides that will make existing commercial buildings more efficient, healthy and comfortable. Examples of discovery for a library, fire hall, university classroom and lab facility, and a government office building will be presented.
Going from "energy efficiency & proper IEQ" to Net-Zero Energy Buildings will be introduced as a lead-in to the "Energy Goals and lntegrated Design" seminar which will take place the following morning, August 10, 2016 from 8:00-10:00 am. Click here for more details on the Energy Goals and Integrated Design seminar.
Identify how to determine Energy Utilization lndex (EUI) for buildings.
Examine differences between process and technical (testing-based) retro-commissioning approaches.
Discuss application of Standards and Guides for achieving advanced energy performance and proper IEQ in existing buildings.
Explore how results were obtained in Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, Chicago and Bermuda buildings.
Terry E. Townsend, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, President of Townsend Engineering Inc. (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
Terry E. Townsend has served as president-elect, treasurer, vice president, and Region VII director and regional chair for ASHRAE. He was the ASHRAE representative to the ASHRAE/U.S. Green Building Council Steering Committee and ASHRAE liaison to both the American Society for Healthcare Engineering and the National Environmental Balancing Bureau. He held all offices in the Tennessee Valley Chapter. He is the recipient of the Exceptional Service Award, the Distinguished Service Award, a Region VII Technology Award, a Regional Award of Merit and a Chapter Report Award.
CONTINUING EDUCATION:
Submitted for approval of 1 GBCI CE Hour and 1 AIA LU/HSW
Free for ASHRAE St. Louis Members, USGBC-MGC Members, and full time students; $20 for Non-members
REGISTER: Click on the Register button on the left side of this screen.
QUESTIONS? Contact USGBC-Missouri Gateway staff by email or phone (314) 577-0225.
THANKS TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS!
icon Mechanical
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE USGBC-MISSOURI GATEWAY WEBSITE
Flance Learning Center opened to students in June 2014, and aims to be an exemplary early
learning center, serving children of all incomes and backgrounds, six-weeks to six-years of age in a new, $11.5 million facility. The center’s design team placed heavy emphasis on ensuring that indoor and outdoor spaces were resource-efficient, free of toxins, healthy for students, comfortable for teachers, and cost-effective. In recognition of this emphasis on health and environmental
sustainability, Flance Center is registered to become only the 4th LEED for Schools Certified
Preschool in the world. Universal Design features are also incorporated to create a convenient
experience for staff and students, regardless of physical ability, thereby creating an environment in which special-needs and typical-needs children can thrive side-by-side in the same classrooms.
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“Gertie the Dinosaur” (1914) IMDb
Following on from “How a Mosquito Operates” (1912), Gertie is the first animation drawn with systematic key frames and inbetweens, integrating physical impossibility and lively comedy (later the stereotypical animation genre) with appealing characterization as opposed to technical demo or formalism. Produced for display as part of a vaudeville act.
In a live-action framing device, Winsor McCay makes a bet that he can make a dinosaur from a museum “live again”.
Drawn on paper, not a transparent material like the plastic cels that would dominate industrialized 2D animation a little later. The most amazing thing about the medium is McCay’s choice of fairly complex, geometrically irregular terrain in deep focus, implemented with tracing paper by an assistant, showing subtle variations (jitter) throughout the film.
The integrated image on rice paper, instead of cels layered over a background, allows McCay to manipulate the terrain in surprising ways that never happened in the mature industry, and which are still difficult in modern 2D animation software that retains a separation of background and foreground.
Animation could have gone in a very different direction from here. The setting and characters are whimsical compared to Jurassic Park (1993), but much more detailed and realistic than early Fleischer or Disney.
References here: “Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid” (1929), “Daffy Duck & Egghead” (1938).
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The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
The Scarlet Letter: History
The Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
Secret History (Mistborn, #3.5)
Anne of Green Gables: History
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
real out of 5
The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
The Catastrophic History of You and Me
A Little History of the World
A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1)
Gulag: A History
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
The Secret History of Wonder Woman
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La Inglesa y el Torero (2010)
Move Over, Mrs Robinson
The Toyboy Diaries
The Toyboy Diaries 2 – The Daily Male
My grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. My father hailed from Buenos Aires. My mother studied art in Paris in the 1930s. The eclectic provenance into which I emerged via London’s East End was once rabble of refugees. It’s now a trendy hotspot.
In 1946, we left England for the glamour of the USA. Los Angeles and New York failed to cure my mother’s homesickness so we returned to post-war Blighty where the only nod to colour were pea soup fogs.
Educated at the Lycée Français, I learned to flirt fluently in four languages. By the age of 9, I’d danced flamenco under Spanish stars, picked grapes in the vineyards of Tuscany, eaten Bouillabaisse in the back streets of Marseilles and developed a passion for the art of tauromachia.
At 18, I travelled through Andalucía interpreting on the biography of the world’s most famous bullfighter, El Cordobés. The book was entitled … or I’ll Dress You in Mourning and became an international best seller. It may have been his story, but it was also mine . . .
At 21, newly-returned to London, I married, had a darling daughter, divorced, married again, had another darling daughter, started my antiques business, and moved home 14 times in 19 years.
At 42, freshly-divorced with two teens in tow, I flung myself into the swirling waters of the singles social scene. Younger men became my choice du soir and I, apparently, became theirs.
In 2003, I co-authored my first book: Move Over, Mrs. Robinson -The Vibrant Guide to Dating, Mating and Relating for Women of a Certain Age. The chapter which received the most media attention was called An Unsuitable Boy. This encouraged me to continue the back-bending research that led to my first boudoir memoir: The Toyboy Diaries followed by The Toyboy Diaries 2 – The Daily Male released in the UK, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Russia and Spain.
My first novel, Blood on the Sand, followed, inspired by life as the girlfriend of a matador.
On January 18th 2018, the musical production of The Toyboy Diaries will hit the stage at The Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester for a 4 week run!!
This will hopefully be followed by a national tour.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42651921
The achievements of which I am most proud, however, are my two children and my five wonderful, beautiful grandchildren.
http://www.wendysalisbury.com
Wendy: info@wendysalisbury.com
Copyright © 2019 wendy salisbury. All rights reserved.
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Railtown 1897 Offers Wildly Popular Wildflower Trains -- 4/13, 14, 20 & 21!
Jamestown, CA...With an extraordinary spring wildflower season expected this year, California State Parks, Railtown 1897 State Historic Park and the California State Railroad Museum Foundation are proud to provide guests with a unique opportunity to experience spring wildflowers from aboard a historic train. While the Park is open daily, special Wildflower Train Rides are available on two weekends – April 13-14 & 20-21 – and depart from the Depot promptly at 3 p.m. Prior to boarding the train, passengers will have the opportunity to learn about the wildflowers of California’s Sierra Nevada foothills with an informative naturalist presentation at 2:30 p.m.
Railtown 1897 SHP’s popular Wildflower Trains feature naturalists and Interpretive Park Rangers from the nearby Bureau of Reclamation’s New Melones Lake along with interpretive staff from Railtown 1897 SHP, answering questions and pointing out flower groupings along the way. Wildflower Trains take guests on a six-mile, one-hour roundtrip ride through the scenic landscapes of California’s Gold Country. While the abundance of wildflower viewing is dependent on annual rainfall and weather conditions, trains encounter meadows and rolling hills, with such local flora as “meadowfoam,” “goldfields” and other colorful flowers typically in bloom. Train ride guests receive a checklist, wildflower booklet and poppyseed packet, and more.
Popular Wildflower or excursion train ride tickets cost $20 for adults, $14 for youth ages 6-17 and children five and under ride free. With limited open air seating available, train ride tickets are available online in advance at https://railtown1897.org/event/wildflower-trains/ or at the ticket window beginning at 10 a.m. on the day of the ride (based on availability). Tickets include Park admission, capacity is limited, and advance reservations are suggested.
In addition to the special Wildflower Trains in the afternoon, Railtown 1897’s regular excursion trains are operating on these four dates with departures at 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m. Regular weekend excursion ride tickets are available online or at the Depot Store, on a first-come, first-served basis. All regular weekend excursion train ride tickets include Park admission and cost $15 for adults, $10 for youth ages 6-17 and are free for children five and under.
The excursion train ride schedule is subject to change with expanded service offered on most holiday weekends. For more information about Railtown 1897 SHP, visitors are encouraged to call 209-984-3953 or visit www.railtown1897.org.
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Spelling Tales
Dr. N. N. LaBrooy received her Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in history, from the University of Ceylon in Sri Lanka where she was born. She began her career as a schoolteacher, before working as an Assistant Lecturer in history at the University. She was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to Oxford University where she earned her Doctorate in history. After ten years of raising her family in Adelaide, Australia,
Dr. LaBrooy returned to teaching, but this time focusing on English as a second language. She received a Diploma in Education from the University of Adelaide, and a Graduate Diploma in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).
The Spelling Witch was written for her three grandchildren.
To Contact the Author
Please fill out the form below and click submit
*(denotes required field)
© 2012 N. N. LaBrooy
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http://thestir.cafemom.com/celebrities/183692/If_Madonna_Cant_Report_a
If Madonna Can't Report a Rape, Who Can?
Kiri Blakeley March 12, 2015 at 11:23 AM
Madonna's recent interview with Howard Stern is already being hailed as one of the best interviews of a celebrity ever, which is no surprise given Madonna's colorful history combined with Stern's uncanny ability to get celebs to answer questions they never would with anyone else. Madonna touched on subjects ranging from her dating life -- which was even more varied than we knew (Tupac Shakur?!) -- to her mom's death. But probably the most shocking moment of the interview came when she discussed the rape she suffered when she was a 19-year-old who had just moved to New York City to make it in the music industry.
Madonna has spoken on the subject of her rape in the past, but not much. And given how little she has ever talked about it, you tend to forget that she ever experienced such a horror.
But Howard got her to open up about this trauma in a way I don't think many people could have. For one, Stern never seems to judge anyone. We all know that Howard is as flawed as they come, so I think stars feel comfortable talking to him about their own darkest moments.
Madonna told him that at the time the rape happened, she had just moved to the city, and was still a naive "dork" who would say "hi" to strangers on the street.
She recalls how she needed to make a phone call and the man in question convinced her to use his phone (this was before cell phones). She said he was a "very friendly guy," so she trusted him and went to his apartment, where he raped her at knifepoint.
Asked if she reported it, Madonna said:
You've already been violated. It's just not worth it. It's too much humiliation.
It's jarring to think of Madonna, who we normally don't associate with not speaking up or standing up for herself, as being so humiliated that she didn't want to report a rape.
If Madonna -- so strong, so outspoken, so brave -- found it impossible to bring her story of rape to the police, then you can only imagine what "average" women go through.
Let's remember she was only 19 at the time -- she didn't know anyone in the city, and this was also a time of high crime. She probably sensed that cops wouldn't exactly prioritize her case. And who would believe her, once she told them she willingly went to the man's apartment? Additionally, Madonna was making a living as a nude model -- would that be held against her?
More from The Stir: Madonna Can Dress Up Like a Teen If She Wants To
Somehow it is strangely comforting to know that even someone as brash and ballsy as Madonna would find herself too intimidated to report her rape -- because I think that helps all of those other women (such as the women allegedly raped by Bill Cosby) not feel so alone.
It happens. You make your decisions as you can with the tools you have at the time. Madonna clearly felt she didn't have the tools she needed at the time. Many women do not, and hopefully they can forgive themselves. And we need to be empathetic to them -- rape victims have already been through enough. They don't need the guilt of not reporting a rape on top of it.
Listen to the entire interview here.
Do you understand why she may not have reported it?
If you have suffered a sexual assault of any kind and wish to talk to someone about it, please call 1.800.656.HOPE (4673).
Image via Howard Stern Show/Facebook
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813-817-2705 Gary@3GWealth.com
About 3G
Our Managing Partner
Estate Planning Strategies
Retirement Planning & Funding
Contact 3G
Gary Garcia II
Gary Garcia II has two decades of experience in the financial services industry, with experience as a research analyst, financial advisor and a branch manager. Gary has worked with several of the largest brokerage firms throughout his career. His passion for helping clients achieve their financial goals while providing unbiased advice led Gary to form his own firm, 3G Wealth Management. Operating as an Independent advisor will allow Gary to act as a Fiduciary and provide the highest level of service and transparency to his clients. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, Gary assists clients with developing financial plans and monitoring their progress. He focuses on providing customized investment solutions and advice in wealth preservation, retirement planning, insurance analysis, charitable giving, and asset allocation. Through his guidance, clients can comfortably grow their wealth for the benefit of multiple generations.
Gary obtained his undergraduate degree in Economics from Harvard University where he played football for the Crimson. In the community, Gary has supported many organizations, including service as past Treasurer at Quantum Leap Farm, a member of the Institutional Review Board at Bayfront Hospital, and previously served as President of the Harvard Club of the West Coast of Florida. Gary enjoys traveling, triathlons, and collecting art. Gary lives in his hometown of Tampa with his wife, Christina, and their two children.
Designed by Mellow Melon Media |Powered by HR | © 2019 3G Wealth Management | 4419 W. Vasconia Street | Tampa, FL 33629
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Middletown Introduces Budget
Written by Middletown Township Public Information
Conforms With 2% Cap Levy Law
MIDDLETOWN – The 2011 municipal budget introduced by the Township Committee last night is 4.5 million or 6.8% less than the total 2010 budget and conforms to the State’s new 2% cap levy law.
“Middletown’s proposed municipal budget is very austere and in full conformance with the new 2% cap levy law despite the Legislature’s continued failure to enact the Governor’s tool kit reforms that would empower the Township to make further cuts,” said Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore. “We are hopeful to continue to rein in spending through ongoing negotiations with the Township’s collective bargaining units with a focus on decreasing the Township’s health care costs.”
“Cuts in the proposed budget include the layoffs of 26 employees, including 10 police officers, and the third consecutive year of salary freezes for the Township’s managerial employees,” continued Fiore. “Middletown will continue to focus on core governmental functions while seeking other ways to continue to reduce costs though interlocal agreements and the Township’s solar initiative that is currently under way.”
The proposed 2011 budget anticipates an increase in the total tax levy of $1,357,855 which complies with the new 2% cap levy law and will cost the average Middletown homeowner approximately $5 per month.
Before the recent reassessment the township’s total net taxable value was $11.383 billion, the average home in Middletown was assessed at $435,000 and the tax rate was 39.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. Using pre-reassessment calculations, the 2011 tax rate would increase 1.2 cents to 41.0 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The completed reassessment has reduced the total net taxable value of the township to $9.898 billion and the average house assessment to $380,000.
The 2011 introduced budget can be viewed at www.middletownnj.org. A Public Hearing on the 2011 Municipal Budget has been scheduled for May 2, 2011 at 8 p.m. in the conference room at Town Hall, 1 Kings Highway.
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- Local News for the - Jersey Bayshore
Bayshore Trail Closed to Public - Bridge Damaged
Written by Allan Dean
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ - The Borough of Atlantic Highlands announced that a section of the Bayshore trail will be closed indefinitely due to extensive damage to a pedestrian bridge. The 1.4 mile extension of the Monmouth County Park System trail connects the Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor to Pompamora Park in Highlands. The surface is hard-packed cinder and sand. The extension contains four boardwalks and a bridge that traverses several marshy areas.
In an e-mail message, Borough Clerk Dwayne Harris wrote:"Due to extensive damage to one of the pedestrian bridges along the Bayshore Trail, the trail will be closed indefinitely. Please remain off of the trail until repairs have been made. There is currently no anticipated time to re-open the trail but updates will be posed on the Borough website."
photos courtesy Monmouth County Park System
The trail is built on an abandoned railroad line and was opened to the public on April 25, 2009. The cost for the project totaled $1.2 million. $566K thousand came via a NJDOT grant, $300k from a Monmouth County bike way grant, $125K from the Monmouth County Open Space program, and $300k from Atlantic Highlands taxpayers.
The Nor'easter of March 2010 was particularly harsh on the trail which required repairs. Insurance claims were filed. During the summer, the council approved $15,000 for a redesign of the trail and appointed Birdsall Engineering to draw up the plans. The project then went out to bid.
In December 2010, Councilman Jack Archibald wrote:
"Atlantic Highlands has turned the trail over to the Monmouth County Park System. This has been the long term goal of the trail, to allow Atlantic Highlands to construct our portion of the Trail as we see fit, and to have the County maintain the Trail going forward. It should be noted that Atlantic Highlands was the only municipality to build and fund our portion of the trail. The County was reluctant to fix the Trail after the storm because they didn’t possess the deeds, but now the paperwork has been turned over to the County.
"With a small exception from the Harbor to the dredge pit, the maintenance and patrol of the Trail is up to the County Park System. Park System rangers will make it part of their patrol routine and the maintenance workers will also be present on the Trail. Harbor personnel will still partner with the Park System to perform routine maintenance, but the costs for the Trail are solely the County responsibility."
The area is in the steep slope zone of the borough.
Karen Livingstone of the Monmouth County Park System said heavy rains two weeks ago caused a mudslide which came down on the pedestrian bridge. She said the trail will be closed for a while. "We don't have a timetable. It is still being evaluated." The County must first remove mud and debris from the bridge before evaluating the structure. The trail is at the foot of the steep slope area of Atlantic Highlands. Engineers must also look at the terrain.
The Monmouth County Park Commission will meet on June 11th.
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Notebook: Eagles pick up Wentz’s fifth-year option
The Philadelphia Eagles said Monday that they have exercised the fifth-year option on quarterback Carson Wentz for the 2020 campaign.Wentz will make more than $20 million in 2020 though exact figures for fifth-year options won’t be firmed up until a later date.Wentz, the second overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, has passed for 10,152 yards, 70 touchdowns and 28 interceptions in 40 career games. He finished third in MVP balloting in 2017 and passed for a franchise-record 33 touchdowns in 13 games before tearing the ACL in his left knee.Wentz returned from the injury to play in 11 games last season and passed for 3,074 yards and 21 touchdowns against seven interceptions.Wentz, 26, is the Eagles’ undisputed starter after Super Bowl-winning Nick Foles departed for the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason.–The Detroit Lions exercised the fifth-year option of offensive tackle Taylor Decker.
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In Perspective
HEPTA – PERCEPTION OF AIRMAS ASRI
Agustinus Sutanto
“The body is our general medium for having a world”
(Maurice Merleau – Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception)
“Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things”
(Miyamoto Musashi)
Through its work, Airmas Asri can be considered as having an important part of indonesia’s history of architecture. Attempt to understand its work would bring us to various perceptions on particular style, typology, form and character. In the end, there would be sort of spatial image on the variation of the firm’s works of architecture.
There are meanings present in the world. Then, the body experiences the objects around it. A perception is formed based on the relationship amongst meaningful object found in this world while keeping a certain distance from the object, enabling us to study, to synthesize, to analyze and to question. This would give the quality of the perception itself. Here is a question: What sort of meaning forms our perception of Airmas Asri’s works? This article attempts to seek various possibilities, early assumptions and reasons to comprehend the meaning of the firm’s works.
This article offers seven perceptions (The Hepta-Perceptions) which may serve as an intellectual reference to read and comprehend the works of Airmas Asri. The seven perceptions are: (1) The Beauty of The Crown (2) Contextual Iconic (3) Think Logically – Act Rationally (4) Building as Ornament of Urban Fabric (5) The Need of Spirit of Place (6) The Aesthetics of Building Mass Composition (7) The Power of Image Diversity. The Hepta-Perception is a spatial study that can be used to reveal the meaning of product of architecture.
THE BEAUTY OF THE CROWN
The word “crown” is related to head covering object such as a cap, a turban and so forth. A crown can be understood as a round adornment worn on the head of a ruler as symbol of power. Usually, a crown consists of valuable metal and gems. A crown signifies legitimation, victory, respect, majesty and immortality.
In Greek wedding, a crown of white flowers is a symbol of marriage. In Slavic wedding, the crown is made of a precious metal which is used as a design to look like an emperor’s crown and is worn by the groom. A crown is an important symbol in our life.
In Indonesia’s architecture, the roof is the crown and the head of a building. For instance, Javanese traditional architecture has five roof forms: Panggang Pe roof, Kampung roof, Limasan roof, Joglo roof and Tajug roof. Each roof form represents social status. The crown – the pinnacle of a building – can become a part of spatial legitimation which ascribes a certain meaning.
The presence of the crown is also evident in the works of Airmas Asri such as in The Pakubuwono View. Though seemingly unrelated, this work was inspired by Prambanan temple complex. As in the case of the temple, The Pakubuwono View was conceived as a composition of head (crown), body and foot. The crown of The Pakubuwono View itself was conceived based on that of the Prambanan yet, here the crown of Prambanan is re-interpreted through a rather art deco design resulting in a crown tower that acts as a focal point of the city. The detailing of this crown refers to a batik pattern. It is an application of a “Java ancient” on the tower’s design. The form of a Javanese temple was transformed elegantly to produce a shape that blends with the body and the foot of the building.
CONTEXTUALLY ICONIC
Two terms come to mind herewith: context and icon. The term context suggests that there should be harmony between the work and surroundings. The term icon pertains to a particular character which requires attention. When something iconic becomes a center of attention, its iconic value pertains to representation. Symbolism, power of expression and image.
When terms of context and icon are combined, we will have an idea that a building can become a contextual iconic when it fits its surroundings while becoming the center of attention. Uniqueness may arise not out of contrast. Instead, it may arrive out of harmony between the building and surroundings. The concept of contextual iconic would prompt public imagination about a building. Being contextual means creating a relationship while being iconic means creating an image. Relationship and image, in their turn, would provide a perfect expression in a given environ. One should also mention use, as it is something useful for citizens.
One work by Airmas Asri that represents the concept of contextual iconic is Talavera Office Park. Situated between TB Simatupang Road and Pangeran Antasari Street on a side of the bustling Jakarta Outer Ring Road, it is an icon for the area. Referring to the area’s condition in 2005 (when the project started) which was not as busy as it is today, the design conveys a courage to develop the area. Talavera Office Park is the area’s landmark that has succeeded in creating an identity for the area. The design of the building has a rather ‘aerodynamic’ character, as it is visible to those in a fast moving vehicles.
THINK LOGICALLY – ACT RATIONALLY
Think Logically – Act Rationally pertains an ethos of logical thinking and of carrying out rational acts. Being logical and rational has a high degree of being pragmatic.
A logical person acts based on facts. Mathematics is logical for in order to arrive at the correct conclusion, one should follow logical steps. A rational person acts based on reasoning. Rationally makes it possible for one to think and act methodically.
Hannes Meyer (director of Bauhaus, 1928-1930) challenged the tendency to view architecture as a form of fine arts, a view that had been dominant since the Renaissance. He believed that an architect did not have the rights to act based solely on intuition. Instead, each architectural design should be based on a solid and scientific foundation. There should be things to be measured or observed. Meyer developed a design method that referred to scientific criteria in which facts were to be systematically and precisely analyzed. According to Meyer, after we logically organize buildings based on their functions and act scientifically, then the design would be developed.
In the case of an Airmas Asri’s work – The Langham Residence in Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD), extraordinary thinking was required in conceiving and completing the project as the site sits on Jakarta’s most expensive area. It was necessary to think logically on how to build efficiently without sacrificing the aspect of spatial quality. Such complexity requires rational acts by various parties involve in the project. Collaboration through logical thinking and rational act is the keyword for this project.
BUILDING AS ORNAMENT OF URBAN FABRIC
The daily sight in a city has to do with physical, social and metal aspects of every element that forms the city.
The city is a landscape made out of layers. A city comes in many different types and waves: different building types, infrastructure, open spaces, frontages and streetscapes. One should not omit environmental, function, political, economic and social-cultural aspects of the citizen’s lives.
When a building is present in a city, it would encounter three main aspects of a city. First, would the psychical presence of the building give added value to its surrounding? Second, socially speaking, could a building form interaction and public value for the city’s inhabitants? Third, could a building create memories through its visible image? When a building responds to these aspects, it has become an ornament of a city.
Creating continuity between a building and the city is prominent part in designing contextually. When a building has become an ornament for its city, it is not merely a sculpture on the site. The building should create a positive spatial perception for its users.
A work of Airmas Asri, Tilal Mixed Use Development project in Muscat, Oman, has become a new symbol for the area. The project’s orientation towards the surrounding urban life has turned into an ornament for the city. The need for social space and open space are responded through artistic touch. Here, combination of building masses and open space is conceived comprehensively as an integrated order. The combination also creates spatial network in the surrounding area.
THE NEED OF “SPIRIT OF PLACE”
Each place has its own spirit or genius loci. Each place has its own uniqueness, potentials, conflicts and problems which reflect the spirit of the place. This is something that creates the perception that a place is always different from another. The aim of architecture is to build and ascribe meaning. The place, with its genius loci, is from where the meaning arises. We are all aware that the “taste of a place” is important for people in every region, every city, every location and culture, and every age group. Most of us perceive a building as a formal object. However, to see a place as a significant thing would help us to understand the meaning of contextual architectural creation.
In Grand Galaxy Park project, Airmas Asri realized that a place’s uniqueness might provide a good image for a work of architecture. Trying to create a visual icon on one hand while negotiating with the place on the other hand would eventually contribute positive results to inhabitant’s lives. There is a view that the static nature of public space can be re-questioned. A place with its spirit can be reference to create new forms and programs
for its architecture.
THE AESTHETIC OF BUILDING MASS COMPOSITION
When a work of architecture is conceived, form and space are important elements to be composed in order to attain building mass. Such composing is an attempt to organize various elements, interrelating existing elements and producing a total form. This act of composing requires three dimensional imaginations in order to get the right proportion and delight.
In architecture, building mass is not just about how composition attains its aesthetical value through order. Building mass should also be able to take other roles as its surroundings require. A strong analysis-synthesis process is necessary when one is to deal with say, the building position in relation to sun path, the problem of noise in and around the site, the concept of circulation, views, the buildings relation with the city’s skyline, the city’s regulation, potentialities of the site, and so forth. All these would be the reference for composing building mass.
In the case of Santika Hotel at Harapan Indah, Bekasi, strict analysis-synthesis process was the mean to create continuity between the building mass and its surroundings. The east-west path of the sun became a consideration in orienting the building mass. Also, circulation system within the site effects of basic pattern of the building mass. Overall, the iconic shape on the pinnacle of the building gives a strength, as well as delight to beholders.
THE POWER OF IMAGE DIVERSITY
Image is probably the main inspiration in an architectural creation. Various factors may shape the image of a building. For instance, the style of the building, the typological basis on which the building is conceived, the usage and application of materials, the finishing of the buildings surface, and so on.
An Indonesian architect, the late Mangunwijaya, believed that image could be determined by cultural condition. Image is a “symbol that communicates” the development of civilization and anything that is human, such as aesthetical value, etc.
An image is not only related to something corporeal, such as style, but also to immaterial dimension. This immaterial dimension speak of the beauty and soul of a building. An image should be allowed to become itself and to keep becoming itself. In order to create an image, one needs to able to accept things such as ideas, openness, development, creativity, inspiration and immaterial power.
Airmas Asri has taken its position in giving image to its works. Image is viewed as something to create diversity. For example, Condotel Jineng Bali and The Ananta Legian Hotel are allowed to be touched by Balinese culture. In another case, TangCity (Tangerang City) tries to create contemporary image through the dynamic play of buildings skyline. One would also find in the cases of Hotel Ibis Tanah Abang the fractal image as inspired by pieces of broken glass and The Capital Residence which tries to project an elegant image through the play of black colors. Such image diversity allows Airmas Asri not to submit to any particular style.
Beauty is universal, yet, there is something distinct in each experience of it. To cite David Hume, “Beauty is no quality in things themselves. It exist merely in the mind which contemplates them and each mind perceives a different beauty”
Visually, works of architecture by Airmas Asri have developed their qualities to be perceived. Each work has its own quality considering that each observer and each user should experience distinct pleasure.
Vitruvius triad of firmitas, utilitas and venustas is usually regarded as the principle of a “good” building. However, looking at what Airmas Asri has produced, there seems to be an opportunity for a different set of thinking and a different manner of making design strategy and intervention. What needs to be considered in doing architecture, as explained by Airmas Asri’s Jusuf Setiadi, “Architecture is a question, of which we need to seek the answer for people’s well being. After all have taken place, then perception on a work would come to being by itself.
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Home Consulting Indie Film News Jobs Advertise Feature Your Film ▼
Our New Movie 20 Weeks Begins Production!
We are two days into production on our new film! We are filming in Los Angeles and it's awesome to be home making a movie. Though the permit process in LA is intense and most locations require a fee for use, it's nice to be able sleep in my own bed at night.
I am producing Leena Pendharkar's new feature film titled 20 Weeks. Leena and I have been creating content together for a few years now (remember our So Natural TV shoots?) and with the support of a number of people such as our executive producer Renuka Pullat, who has been key to making this shoot possible, and those contributing to our 20 Weeks IndieGoGo campaign, we have been able to greenlight Leena's second feature 20 Weeks.
DP Daud Sani and Writer/Director Leena Pendharkar
The script was inspired by Leena's own experience:
In the summer of 2014, as I was pregnant with my second daughter and making my short film, Dandekar Makes a Sandwich, my daughter was diagnosed with a serious issue health issue at the 20 week scan called micrognathia, in which the baby’s chin is undersized. My husband and I were just shocked as it seemed to come out of nowhere.
The doctors knew the measurements weren’t coming out right, but they couldn’t definitively diagnose what she had or what the issue might be when she was born. We had to undergo genetic testing, and we also were forced to come in and do sonograms every couple of weeks to make sure her growth was on a typical curve. It was a very difficult experience, so many thoughts were going through my head….
My daughter was born in October of 2014 with a serious but treatable health condition called Pierre Robin Sequence. We didn’t know exactly what her prognosis would be when she was in utero, but the doctors had given us a range from not being able to breathe at all and having to wear tubes in her neck for two years, to something as mild as not being able to breastfeed. Me and my husband told no one we were going through this, I think we were in shock, and both of us on some level, were hoping it was nothing.
But when she was born, all of the in utero testing prepared us to be ready. We gave birth at a major trauma hospital, with doctors who knew how to treat her condition. There was a huge learning curve because we had to learn how to feed her with special bottles, and she had to undergo four surgeries… That first year was so tough… I almost don’t know how we made it through.
Going through this experience, I was really struck by the marriage of science and ethics, and how fragile the balance really is. Sitting in the room, looking at a sonogram the doctors ask you to make decisions that are tough, that are not easy, and you have to go on faith to move forward…
The part that was so challenging for us was just not knowing, staring at these images of a sonogram that feel like nothing but light and sound, and yet… It’s so much more….
I am so honored to be producing this heartfelt story. We have a phenomenally talented cast and crew. Here are a few pictures from set showcasing a few of them:
Anna Margaret as Maya & Sujata Day as Ruby
Anna Margaret Hollyman and our DP Daud Sani
Amir Arison as Ronan, Anna Margaret Hollyman, and Leena Pendharkar
We have a three week shoot and we already have our editor David Hopper working. But we need your help! We need additional financing for our post production and we have 5 days left on our IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign. We have partnered with the Make-a-Wish Greater Los Angeles on the campaign and every dollar contributed will have a portion going toward a young child's wish.
Click on the below widget to be directed to our campaign where you can learn more about the film and contribute toward its creation. Thank you so much for helping us make this important and special film.
Me, Sujata, Anna, Leena - Women Making Movies!
Unknown at 6:34 PM
Independent film is about community. I would love to read your comments and create a dialogue.
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Search AA:
California Nights
The duo of Bobb Bruno and Bethany Cosentino, better known as Best Coast, just released their third LP. The new album, “California Nights” is their follow-up to their 2013 EP, “Fade Away.” “California Nights” has Best Coast making some of their best music to date but they don’t explore a lot of new territory on the new album.
Best Coast is a lot like Hole. Not only does Bethany Cosentino have a similar delivery to Courtney Love, but a lot of the inspirations behind their music are the same. Everything from punk, grunge, surf-rock, and 60’s pop is infused into the music. They've always shared a lot of similarities, with the lone break being their sophomore album, “The Only Place” – the vocals on that album were smoother and Cosentino’s did some different things on that album.
With “California Nights” Best Coast does a number of things exceptionally well. The sound might not be entirely different for the band, but they do a really good job of shifting the tone and mood of the record from time to time. Cosentino gets a lot of much-deserved credit for Best Coast, but if you become a regular listener of the group you’ll fall in love with Bobb Bruno. His work on this album is exceptional. He drums like a mad man and his guitar work is just as much of an identity for Best Coast as Bethany Cosentino’s vocal.
If you’re looking for something vastly different than today’s synth-driven indie pop, then you should look into Best Coast. It’s as far removed from a synthesizer driven record as you’re going to hear in 2015. This album grows a bit stagnant towards the end of the album, but for the most part Best Coast delivered an album that organic music fans should love.
Polar States - All You Couldn't See EP
Collective Soul - Blood
The Black Keys - Let's Rock
Mat Kearney - City of Black & White Revisted
The Raconteurs - Help Us Stranger
Bastille - Doom Days
X Ambassadors - ORION
SYML - SYML
The Get Up Kids - Problems
Parachute - Parachute
The Black Keys Debut “MasterCourse” Trailer Via Funny Or Die
Jack White Performs Intimate Birthday Show In Detroit
Of Monsters And Men's 'Alligator' Reaches No. 1 On Adult Alternative Songs Chart
The 1975 Announce Fall U.S. Tour Dates
Ben Folds Hits the Road this Summer for a Cross-Country Concert & Book Tour
AA Indie Song of the Day - Club Yorke - "To Love Someone Deeply"
flor Announce New Album, "ley lines"
Tegan And Sara Announce New Album 'Hey, I'm Just Like You'
AA Indie Song of the Day - Tenderhooks - "Stardust Memories"
Review of:
© 2018 Alternative Addiction - All Rights Reserved
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District 12 of ‘The Hunger Games’ is now a historic place
Martha Waggoner
RALEIGH, N.C. — What would the folks in the Capitol think? District 12 is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Henry River Mill Village, which served as the home of the three main characters from the original “The Hunger Games,” was named a historic place last month and announced by state officials last week. It’s a designation that the new owners sought for the 72-acre property because they “wanted to be the ones who got this property the recognition it deserves,” said Calvin Reyes, who bought the village in 2017 with his mother and stepfather.
When “The Hunger Games” was filmed in North Carolina in 2011, the mill village served as the home of Katniss, Peeta and Gale. But when Reyes talks about the proper recognition, he’s not referring merely to the filming of a box office smash.
“People come for ‘The Hunger Games,’ but they stay for the history,” Reyes said in a phone interview Thursday.
That history began about 1905 when the Henry River Manufacturing Co. established the mill in Hildebran in western North Carolina, about 70 miles east of Asheville. The mill, which closed in 1970, burned down in 1977. It now includes a two-story company store and about 20 wood-frame textile workers’ homes.
The historic places nomination form says “the abandoned site took on the appearance of a ghost town” in the two decades after the mill burned, with 14 houses lost to decay and the boarding house demolished.
Despite the decay, the mill village “is a distinguished collection of unaltered mill housing in a planned rural village associated with North Carolina’s important textile industry in the early twentieth century,” the form says.
Reyes and his family were looking for property where they could build homes for their extended family when they found the mill village. The front door of the brick building that once was the company store and served as Mellark Bakery in the movie was screwed shut with a piece of plywood, and the inside looked like an episode of “Hoarders,” Reyes said.
Still, the three of them were charmed. They toured the property one afternoon and had it under contract the next day, paying $360,000 — a bargain considering the previous owner once was asking $1.4 million. That owner, Wade Shepherd, died in 2015, two years before the village sold.
“We knew from the beginning that we wanted to save these houses,” Reyes said. “We’re not preservationists or developers. But it spoke to us, and it was something we wanted to do.”
Shepherd, had complained about visitors and vandals even before “The Hunger Games” opened. Now the property is protected by cameras, lights and tours that take place five days a week. In addition, a “Hunger Games” tour group brings visitors on weekends. Since some people believe the property is haunted, paranormal tours also are available.
The National Park Service manages the historic places register, which doesn’t limit what an owner can do with their property. However, the designation may make property owners eligible for preservation funds and federal historic tax credits.
Author Suzanne Collins announced earlier this week that she’s releasing a prequel to her trilogy about a post-apocalyptic world. It’s set for release next year. That can only fuel interest in all things about Panem.
Reyes and the Namours plan to eventually restore the property, starting with a museum and gift shop, then maybe a house or two renovated for overnight stays. They hope to open a restaurant as well. They’ve set up the Henry River Preservation Fund that takes the money from the tours, which cost $15 with a guide and $10 unguided.
“We’re making sure that … this place (visitors) think of District 12, they know is a place where multiple generations grew up,” Reyes said. “A lot of people in North Carolina can trace their lineage to these mill villages that were all over the state.
“To me, the South is this, the story and the culture and where they came from. It’s a great story.”
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The Coin Bottle
Reese Saturday, April 30, 2011 opinion No comments
Constant change is here to stay. Literally. At least, so far.
Over the years, I’ve accumulated coins until curiosity, need, or whim has led to me to break the piggy bank. This has resulted in cash at several year intervals for a John Deere self-propelled mower (which lasted 20 years), a Ruger 22 rifle (which continues to operate just fine), a wooden bench swing (which doesn’t last to this day), and… something else. Maybe it was a credit card payment, but I hope it was something more lasting. I think I used the funds for vacation spending at one point. Whatever.
Coins just come to me. Much of my life on the road involved drive thru breakfast and lunch. “Here’s the change,” (not including my as yet unidentified clogged arteries). Since then, well, any cash transaction usually results in change. I tend to use cash less and less, but the change still arrives. It shows up in my car, in my couch, on countertops, in my desk drawer at work, and,of course, in my pockets. Then there’s my wife’s contributions when she gets tired of lugging coins around in her purse (and I thank her for her contributions). It’s got to go somewhere, so it may as well go into my piggy bank.
Truth be told, I don’t have a piggy bank. I don’t want one. Instead, I have a large, stylish, wide mouth bottle. And, recently, I began to worry about the stress on the curved glass from the weight of all the accumulated coins.
Yep, coins. Lots of them. And buried in there somewhere is filler material, also known as coin rolls. Yip. E. That’s the unpleasant aspect of coin accumulation. Almost as unpleasant are the bank tellers who smile at me while I’m waiting in line while earnestly hoping that fortune does not deposit me at their window. I’m sure there’s a cash drawer reconciliation headache at the end of the day. But hey, its my money, even if the bank doesn’t like it.
There you go. Rolled coins, in a shoebox (their natural habitat). $276 worth. But, truth be told, that’s not all of it. Why? Because I have another place to put coins, and I tend to segregate most of the quarters. Voila:
Cha-ching! Another $140 (it was full).
But still, that’s not all. Because, well, I hate rolling pennies. It takes a lot of effort, and where’s the return? I don’t think I’m alone i n this. Besides that, I ran out of penny wrappers. In any case, I dumped them into shoebox #2.
At our local supermarket, there’s a machine that will do the work for me. It’s one of those machines in the front of the store that I’ve never actually seen anyone use. It will accept all coins, count them and pay the total less 9.something %. I’m not willing to pay that for nickels and up, but pennies? Yeah, fine. And especially after my wife got tired of seeing the box of pennies sitting on the table for days, then by the fireplace for days, then on another table for days…. until she put it in my trunk, where it slid around while I drove. Okay, I’ll turn them in!
A better blogger would have taken a picture of the machine. I wasn’t thinking along those lines. I was just trying to funnel pennies into the tray, clear the resulting jams, get my cash and depart under the cover of night.
There’s a good ending to this episode. If you want cash back, you lose the percentage. But, if you accept a gift code to various retailers, you get full value. And here’s how it all comes together nicely. Being fond of music, CDs and concert tickets do have related costs.
So far, I have $416 added to my concert funds, and with the contributions of the coin machine:
I now have $32.50 to buy CDs from what I affectionately term “The Big River,” the sole remaining major tributary of physical CDs. It works for me. Note that there were three dimes mixed in, which leaves 3,220 pennies I didn’t have to roll. Rock on!
And finally, here’s the transition to whatever point I’m making. The concert money? Deposited into my bank account where I’ll pay for my tickets, bar bills, etc. via my Debit Card. The pennies? Converted to an electronic credit from which CDs can be deducted.
I keep getting all this change and converting it to electronic funds. What’s the point of cash?
The Aite Group released a study in January, 2011 indicating that cash use will decline 17% through 2015, a net reduction of $200 Billion in physical money. That will still leave $1 Trilion out there (U.S.
Frustratingly, the Federal Reserve releases regular studies regarding non-cash payments, but I can’t find a comparison for cash vs non-cash payments. Less scientifically and reflecting on experience and observation, non-cash payment must be ruling the marketplace.
And to toss dirt on the grave of physical money, the U.S. Mint in its 2009 Annual Report indicated that pennies cost 1.6 cents to produce and nickels 6 cents. (Interestingly, the Mint can change the metal content of $1 Dollar coin metal composition without outside approvals, making it extremely profitable to manufacture).
Regardless, one has to wonder whether changing commercial transactions, the costs of manufacturing, and the sleeze factor (germs on coins and banknotes, apparently not seriously investigated since 1972), whether the piggy bank will go the way of the album, the clothes line, film developing, and the arcade.
In the meanwhile, you can still see how it used to be done in the good ol’ days, while they’re still here.
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_tours/index.cfm?action=vtShell
Radiohead – The King of Limbs
Reese Tuesday, April 26, 2011 CD Review No comments
Never were truer words spoken by Thom Yorke, Radiohead’s writer/singer, than in the second song of this CD, “Morning Mr. Magpie.”
Good morning Mr. Magpie
How are we today?
Now you’ve stolen all the magic
Took my melody
At least we have an explanation for this unimaginative, tired even, release from Radiohead. Mr. Magpie, you’re not welcome here. We want the melodies back.
Yorke’s lyrics have become less and less important over the past decade, merely providing consonants and vowels for Yorke’s vocals that are increasingly heard as just another instrument in the aural mix. It’s not a bad one, certainly, especially when he has something to say. But, as Yorke’s solo CD The Eraser made abundantly clear, his voice needs “something” more than unfocused electronic sounds to provide life to it. In The King of Limbs, his lyrics don’t make the task easy for his band mates. As an example, the entire lyric of “Codex” is listed below. It reads well as poetry, but as far as evoking a tone, a refrain, a melody (never mind providing sufficient lyrics to support a full song)… no.
Jump off the end
Into a clear lake
No one around
Just dragonflies
Flying to our side
No one gets hurt
You’ve done nothing wrong
Slide your hand
The water’s clear
And innocent
There’s certainly no fault to be found with drummer Phil Selway, who delivers snappy percussion throughout the CD. However, with this in place, the rest of the band doesn’t build from there.
Bassist Colin Greenwood contributes where there’s enough to work with, at least. There is no true rhythm section here, because while the songs certainly have a beat, a “rhythmic” approach doesn’t leap to mind. To be fair, Greenwood provides the only identifiable hints of song structure on two of the three that have more than a cocktail napkin’s worth of lyrics, “Little by Little” and “Lotus Flower.” Otherwise, he’s left with dropping a note here and there, or maybe even several in row. It’s hard to work in a vacuum, poor guy.
Meanwhile, guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien are MIA. Sure, they’re in the background twisting dials, making electronic squirks or other effects that ultimately don’t matter. Have they lost interest? Or were these new squirks that I don’t fully appreciate? Hmm. Or, were they not invited to the studio and sampled into the music from recorded bits over the last decade? The King of Limbs is missing its trunk.
The King of Limbs is a detached work. Each “music” track could generally be used for any of Yorke’s songs; they don’t follow or provide a tune, largely. Would anyone notice if they mixed the track and the vocal in concert? Would they care?
And Yorke’s delivery is detached as well. Detached from exuberance, passion, pointedness… anything, really. It’s mostly an exercise of taking each word and stretching it over multiple beats. They’re so few, and they have so far to go.
Radiohead is loaded with talent and has demonstrated they can deliver high level rock music as well as approach the extremes of the music forms. But there’s nothing new here, and it’s disappointing that when they finally seemed to be plying their explorations to more accessible songs (specifically their last outing, In Rainbows), this can be summed up as an unnecessary outing that should boast another title, perhaps “Exit Music (for a Band).”
Okay songs: “Little by Little,” “Lotus Flower”
Good Seats… For a Price
Reese Friday, April 22, 2011 economics , music 1 comment
As a fairly frequent concert-goer, I’ve clearly developed a preference for Variety Playhouse and similar small venues in the Atlanta area. Variety was originally built in WWII for movies, and it retains that character today, with 750 movie style seats, plus standing room for an additional 400.
Tickets are General Admission, and if you get there early, you can decide whether you would prefer the lower seats, the balcony seats, or to stand at the stage front. The fact that cameras are allowed at most shows is just a bonus. Prices for all tickets are the same, even the bad seats are good, and, clearly, “the early bird gets the worm.” Tickets are typically $20 – $30. “Reasonable,” says I.
Then there’s the larger places where concerts become “events.” The Fox Theater. The Tabernacle. Chastain Amphitheater. Lakewood Amphitheater. Verizon Amphitheater. The Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. The Arena at Gwinnett. Philips Arena. The GA Dome. Tickets for these venues are sold exclusively through Ticketmaster/LiveNation, and I won’t stoop to join the blogged-to-death indignations against associated printing, shipping, and '”service” fees. (Oops. I just did). But so-called primary markets like TM strike deals with the venues and promoters to sell the tickets. Pricing generally seeks to maximize revenue while minimizing empty seats. Everyone gets a cut.
General Admission just isn’t done. I think everyone desires the best seats possible at the price they’re willing to pay, and in order to get those tickets, one has to know the exact moment that tickets go on sale, because it’s a competition.
For whatever reason, Ticketmaster usually opens their sales at 10:00 a.m. on Fridays. And when the clock chimes, the experienced buyer will already be logged in, at the correct page, and repeatedly clicking “Find Seats” until the sale is “on.” Despite a history otherwise, there remains an expectation of finding a great seat… only to find that you can buy Row W, in the wings. And for a hefty price. Is it worth it?
It depends on what you want from the experience. If you want to hear live music with friends, have a beer or two, and maybe dance in the seats, the particular seats you’re in don’t matter very much. If, though, there’s a particularly gifted instrumentalist or an artist that you would truly like to see in some detail, you can’t do that in Row W (unless the venue has live video screens).
For The Moody Blues last year, I was ready to buy at the appointed hour. I don’t recall exactly, but at less than a minute into the sale, the “best seats” option was far enough back that I logged out in disgust. (To be fair, in that specific case, it was later revealed that the first 30 or so rows were reserved for a Public Television fundraiser, at elevated but charitable prices, of course). But the experience is a common one.
There are other means of buying tickets, and they’re costly. In street terms, they’re scalpers, but in the internet age, they’re more politely known as the secondary market or ticket re-sellers. Concert promoters are all too aware that some percentage of the buying population is willing to spend potentially significantly more for the better seats. Why else would Ticketmaster acquire re-seller Ticketsnow.com? If you can’t beat/profit like them, join/buy them.
For those getting Row W at 20 seconds into the sale, you can’t help but wonder if there’s not a conflict of interest for Ticketmaster in holding back tickets for their more lucrative re-selling outlet. Or, for that matter, that a savvy venue operator doesn’t have a special “in” for specified seats at any show for resale and personal profit. Well, I wonder, at least. After all, it’s a big business. Primary and secondary markets are billion dollar industries, and there’s going to be those who don’t play nice.
There are other .com vendors, of course.
The well publicized StubHub.
The not so publicized Stub.
Seathound.
Ticketliquidator (they turn tickets into cash).
Coasttocoasttickets. (virtually all web re-sellers have national ticket offerings).
Gotickets. (I’d rather they arrive than go, but that’s me).
Goodseattickets (they don’t have any great ones?).
Justgreatseats (they don’t have any that are just okay?).
Frontrowtickets (they’re not quite so exclusive as the name would suggest).
Here we go… Thebestdamntickets.
And, of course, don’t forget eBay.
So, if, for example, you were looking for tickets in a given section, you could go to these sites and find what you’re looking for. Okay, I rarely blog without pictures, so I’ve chosen an upcoming event that I have no interest in. It’s Bon Jovi, at the 18,000+ capacity Philips Arena.
First, let’s go to Ticketmaster, now well after tickets have been on sale, and see what’s what.
Good seats – $135 ea. The nosebleeds, $25. That’s classic rock at 21st century prices. Okay, let’s see what’s left to be had. *click*
Okay, the best available seats are Section 317, Row R… Check the map… and, hey now. That’s almost directly behind the stage! Shouldn’t they drop a curtain so people don’t get stuck there? Still, for $30 per per ticket, you can at least say you saw Bon Jovi, or at least his back side. Or top. That may appeal to some, but not to me. So, let’s see what “our friends in the business” can offer.
From hockey experience, I happen to know that Section 204 is very good – it’s a balcony section but with a straight-on view to the stage. Besides that, I’d rather sit on an incline in a balcony rather than in row whatever on a flat floor. Stubhub!
$300 per ticket, or $600 if you want to share the experience. Ouch. But that’s life in the big city! Perhaps seeing whether Bon Jovi has thinning hair isn’t so bad. Next!
Allgoodseats.com has, hmm. Same section, same row for $184. It pays to shop around.
Various others:
Well, dang. And the beer isn’t going to be a bargain, either. But if you want a better view, it’s yours for a price.
But, some people don’t want “better.” They want “best.” So let’s go check out the floor seats, directly in front of the stage. That would be Floor Section 2 (in pink), depicted below at right.
The bottom entry, *cough*, indicates $1243 per ticket? For row L? Yeah, we’re in a recession. Maybe I can save a percent or two. On to the next site!
Ha! Saved $200 for myself and my date! But, seeing how surfing the internet doesn’t have tolls, let’s try another:
Win! Only $1050 for two tickets, plus it’s two rows closer! It’s a jimdandy bargain! And, let’s see (scratches head while calculating), that’s only $390 above face value each!
And there we have the root of my problem with Row W. Profit.
Feeling adventurous, I spoke with a smaller purveyor to see if I could find out the inside scoop. To hear it said, the reselling business is really not (quite) as sinister and corrupted as my frustrations would leave me to believe. But when I mentioned that it’s a competition, it very much is.
There are people who buy the good seats with the sole purpose of profiting from them. It’s a business, not just a college student trying to earn a few $ for an escape from a meal plan. Just the name, www.bonjovitickets.biz makes that abundantly clear.
The art of buying tickets for profit is to have:
1) Sale Knowledge. This is often not the moment Ticketmaster starts selling, in their own terms, “to the public.” There’s all kinds of hold-backs, for the promoter, radio station giveaways, friends of the band… whatever. For the rest of us, if you have a credit card, you’re probably aware of associated “Concierge” services that allow you to buy tickets Pre-Sale. Or, perhaps you have the inspiration, as I did with the Moody Blues, to check out an artist’s official website. Yes, loyal fans (as evidenced by your arrival on their site), also have access to reserved premium seats… at inflated prices still, but usually includes extras). But buying tickets before they go on sale is a no-brainer for those expecting to make bucks.
2) Artist/Venue knowledge – Let’s face it, parents aren’t going to pay a whole lot extra to take their kids to see Barney on stage. But a long time fan of Eric Clapton just might. Geographically, Bon Jovi proves that Atlanta is a city rich for plunder. Big name acts + big cities = $$$.
3) The power of networking – Sure, individuals can sell their own tickets on most of these sites with some fees, but people who intend to resell them also post them across multiple sites, increasing the exposure and the likelihood of sale. There’s commissions all around.
4) Technology – I hate deciphering the goofy string of characters that I have to type before seeing the seats option. It’s a pain and it slows me down. And that’s just as it is intended, so that an automated bot can’t multi-core process the best seats from the system in seconds. But today’s technological hurdle is just someone else’s pet project to overcome. Ah, computers…
5) The power of large numbers – with estimates of more than 1,000 resellers, and (remembering that this is a billion dollar business) with some resellers employing up to 100 people who are trying to buy the same tickets… Yeah. Row W in the first minute of the sale. Sorry about that. The article linked above even points out that even ticket buying is being outsourced to India and Mexico. Profit, remember?
And not that I want to encourage even more competition for the seats I want, but a Google search shows tips, books, and YouTube videos on how to become a professional scalper. Sorry, re-seller.]
Meanwhile, thank you, Variety Playhouse.
Robbie Robertson – How to Become Clairvoyant
Reese Saturday, April 16, 2011 CD Review No comments
A critic's darling.
How else would you explain the attention given To Robbie Robertson’s new release? Appearances on Letterman, The View, Jools Holland? Even an NPR review.
The necessary introduction in any venue is that Robertson played in a band that most (middle aged) people have heard (“Rag Mama Rag,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”) but a band of which they have not heard. Right? The name of that band? The Band.
You can read the linked Wiki article if you want, but in short, they backed Bob Dylan when he went electric, at once offending many of Dylan’s fans but bringing a mature, creative backing band to greater attention. They are partially credited with laying the foundation for what is now “Americana” music, with a good helping of traditional, acoustic instruments (never mind that 4 of the 5 were Canadian). But they were successful in blending rock, country, gospel, blues, etc. into songs that formed a solid groove through a disk.
In the late 60’s they released two superb albums, Music From Big Pink and a self titled album, before mediocrity became associated with each follow-up. Their last hurrah was The Last Waltz (1976), recorded for theatrical release and starring many guest musicians of the era in winning versions of their own and others’ work.
Robertson, then, wrote most of The Band’s better songs, sang a few, and ably played lead guitar. He re-emerged in 1989 with a self-named release, well written and well produced (though now sounding dated by virtue of tired U2 treatments). Like his previous track record, he then followed with a great idea that failed to deliver (Storyville) or were more personally meaningful works that were completely forgettable. Now, 13 years after his last clunker, he’s released something much better…
… for long time fans. Sure it’s listenable music to an unfamiliar audience, quite listenable, actually. But it’s the lyrics that set this apart from his songs over the last 20 years. Robertson has always been known as a story teller, and this CD reads like a logical extension of his work with The Band. A couple of the tracks even sound like he had a 70’s groove in mind (“When the Night Was Young” and “The Right Mistake”) in part due to the complementary backing vocals from Angela McCluskey, who unfortunately isn’t featured on more of the disc.
The production values are excellent but at the same time muted. Robertson, , as would befit a story teller, is more successful in context as a narrator than a singer himself. He has a raspy, whispered, gravelly or similar throaty voice that, while limited in range, offers ample expression to his own words. However, he no longer has the volume to rise above the din of the instruments. Accordingly, the music has to lie low, whether the band is in full momentum or even during a lead guitar duet (as opposed to a duel). It’s all good, but the mood is affected, likely positively for those who appreciate Robertson’s gifts and frustratingly for those who would prefer more evident musical payoffs.
Eric Clapton contributed to 7 songs in a reserved manner, with the only strike against being one of his too-common repetitive saccharine riffs in “Fear of Falling.” Robert Randolph’s pedal steel shines in its two opportunities (“Straight Down the Line” and “How to Become Clairvoyant” (a difficult phrase for a chorus if ever there was one). Tom Morella (from Rage Against the Machine) shows well in a tribute to guitarists (“Axman”) as well.
Lyrically, themes include weathered idealism, the juxtaposition of the spiritual and the worldly in music and in life, the excesses of touring, the breakup of The Band, and the (futile) desire to foretell among others. Also included are two instrumentals which neither add nor detract, but from song to song and in total, the CD contains a generous 54 or so minutes of music. It should be noted that the “bonus” disc included in the Best Buy version isn’t either generous or a bonus.
Recommended Songs: “Straight Down the Line,” “When the Night Was Young,” “The Right Mistake,” & the title track.
No Goal, No Gain
Reese Wednesday, April 13, 2011 entropy 2 comments
I do not enjoy going to the gym. Still, I congratulate myself on having gone to the gym, sort of regularly, over the past two years. Sometimes, my appetite for chicken wings won’t wait until later. You know how it is…
My first gym membership came when I was in my 20’s, when I realized that I no longer was burning through calories absent the recreational opportunities of college life (racquetball, Frisbee, intramural sport). Meh. There wasn’t anyone to play with.
Gym #2 resulted from the general realization that I was 1) getting older 2) eating at Lipids-R-Us during frequent business travel and 3) wanted to play with my kids as they got older. Unfortunately, the gym seemed to cater to those who spent an hour choosing their attire and makeup before going to their social workout. Ciao. It wasn’t for me.
Gym #3 arrived without fanfare. Playing with the kids turned out to require only finger dexterity for video game controllers. Still, one’s weight takes on a measured reality of slow addition, and the word “limber” finds context only on a Scrabble board.
Excuses aside, the reasons for quitting a gym usually involve 1) no apparent improvement, 2) budgetary constraints, 3) lack of priority and 4) physical discomfort. Oh yes, and putting oneself in an “uncomfortable” environment.
My wife and I anted up beaucoup cash to hire a personal trainer for our first three months. Nothing spells commitment more than cash. I’d like to say I regret the outlay, but I don’t. When you pay someone, you make it a point to show up on time. You form an attendance habit. More importantly, being put through the paces familiarized us with the various workout equipment. This isn’t a small thing. As literally everyone else in the gym obviously knows what they’re doing, appearing uncertain invites the silent judgment of the masses as being unworthy.
Or, perhaps that’s just a curse of being analytical, as follows:
1) The iconic iPod reigns in the gym. People are tuned out, and, considering the music rotated through the sound system, this is a good thing. I’d estimate fully 90% of those not in a group workout environment are isolated sonically. Conversation? It’s really not the place for it.
2) People don’t work out with their eyes closed. Eyes have to look… somewhere. I’ve become less judgmental of those who check themselves out in the mirror. Sure, there are some with bulging muscles and veins who perhaps love themselves a bit much. But for most, mirrors provide the most likely means of positive feedback… eventually.
3) Actual eye contact is… well, I’m not sure. It’s not exactly frowned upon, but it is carefully considered in the design of the workout space, in that machines are almost uniformly ordered so that everyone looks forward, such as in a classroom. Looking at other people, then, is usually done from the aisles for the purpose of identifying which equipment is available. Otherwise, it’s like being with people in elevators, airplanes, or subways. Don’t stare. It freaks people out.
4) But that’s eye contact. Regardless of the gym, and mine includes people of all shapes, sizes, and degrees of fitness, there will be some who want to be looked at elsewhere. And, it’s hard not to do so. Like in Las Vegas when I can’t help but wonder if someone’s companion is personal or paid, I’m left to wonder at the motivations of wearing bikini style gym “workout suits,” form-fitting anything, and glamour make-up. Sure, “if you have it, show it” plays a part, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s a secret language being shared amongst the glamour crowd, which, obviously, I’m not in.
5) Hygiene – Properly exercised, people sweat. People hold onto handles, sit on seats, press touchscreens, lay down on benches, etc… There’s ample sanitary wipe dispensers, but few actually use them. Workouts and hygiene? Fail.
6) Rarely do I detect perfume or cologne, thankfully, but I have to admit that it makes sense to brush your teeth before going to the gym. As a good workout requires oxygen, both inhalation and exhalation are required. For the latter, yeah. Colgate. Workouts and dental hygiene? Win.
7) Beginning an exercise program also creates a workout for the brain. Not only do you not want to do those 15 curls, but you lose track of how many you’ve already done. Work at it long enough, though, and counting becomes part of the subconscious. When you do upwards of 50 repetitions, this is a good thing.
There’s other things I could comment on, like how the unlikeliest of people, based on shape, can jog for miles, or how others can ride a stationary bike and never drop a bit of sweat onto the book they’re reading, but I’ll move on to some kind of point.
I don’t feel better after a workout. I begrudge “the waste of time,” including travel and resulting shower. However, I hate when I skip a week, because not only is motivation lost, but pain is increased from quickly diminished strength.
But, overall, I feel much better when I’m not in the gym, and that’s worth something. A the saying goes, “no pain, no gain.”
That’s not exactly a motivating rally to jump into fitness of any sort. I am, in my opinion, in a pretty good place. I lost some weight, I’m significantly stronger, and I no longer feel tightness or hear odd sounds when stretching or bending. All of that comes with exercising 2-3 hours per week and no particular goal in mind. All said, I don’t look much different.
And to that point, I’m rephrasing common parlance to “no goal, no gain.” I have a friend who has been participating in the USMC Mud Run the past two years. It combines things I liked when I was a kid, or things I would have liked had there been the opportunity and a permissive parent. Now, hey? Why not?
Having reviewed various footage on You-Tube, I’m motivated to get stronger and to work on what I really dislike… endurance, because I want to succeed at it. 4.3 miles, 32 or so obstacles, 4 person team, timed event… Yeah. October 15th, here I come.
And, just like that, the routine of what I’ve been doing at the gym suddenly has context. More reps, more weight, farther distances… I have a place to go, and I’m not there yet.
And there better be one fine (and clean) T-shirt waiting at the end.
Al Di Meola – Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody
Reese Monday, April 11, 2011 CD Review No comments
A friend in High School loaned me Elegant Gypsy, a 1970’s jazz fusion album by a young guitarist named Al Di Meola. It was different from the music that I listened to at the time (now mostly referred to as “classic rock”), but it was adventurous in its tones and shied away from the standard pop formulas that it appealed to the part of me that liked progressive rock music (Pink Floyd, Genesis, Renaissance). A couple years later, two live discs made me a fan – Tour de Force – Live, which was an electric guitar jazz fusion showcase and Friday Night in San Francisco, an acoustic tour de force with two other fleet-fingered guitarists, John McLaughlin and Paco DeLucia.
Di Meola soon ventured into other guitars and sounds, and I lost interest, until I finally had an opportunity to hear him in concert a year or so ago. The music that he played then, and during his follow up tour this year with the same band, is largely what is recorded on this CD.
I don’t listen to enough jazz or “world music” to be able to dissect this CD as much as I might prefer. I do know that I don’t need a lot of this type music in my collection – in fact, this one should suffice nicely.
Di Meola plays an acoustic/electric guitar, and literally with the flip of a switch, the sound moves from acoustic to an effects-laden electric lead. He doesn’t use both modes in every song, and it’s possible that holding with one or the other might be better suited for a particular song. But when he goes electric, those who favor a rock edge to the music will be pleased, even if immersed in songs that share nothing in common with popular music, and, perhaps, little with what most would refer to as jazz. His fret work, as always, is blazingly fast, even if occasionally distracting from the tone. In concert, that’s awesome. On disc, maybe. Maybe not.
Otherwise, the guitar maestro works within varied styles (salsa, flamenco… I don’t know what else) that help the CD avoid a static lulling to sleep that comes to mind with mid-tempo jazz. While my preference for supplementing the core rhythm section would be piano or keyboards, the accordion is used heavily both in carrying melodies or alternating leads with Di Meola’s guitar. This might be off-putting to some, but the playing here will not bring to mind any vaudevillian connotations.
All said, this isn’t elevator music, by far, though to some instrumental music may wear thin by the 70th minute. Likewise, it’s not so lost in music theory that it fails to connect. The instrumentation is mixed, melodies are beautiful at times, and both the playing and recording are superb. Radical Rhapsody is not demanding of one’s attention in the background, yet still appreciated. But more importantly, if one cares to listen, there’s plenty of richness in the details to enjoy.
Recommended Songs: “Gumbiero” and “Destination Gonzalo” (There are no songs suitable for a general purpose iPod playlists; it’s best taken as a whole).
The Manatee That Wasn’t
Reese Sunday, April 10, 2011 environmentalism , travel 1 comment
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Anthony Martino
at Westbeth Gallery May 21 - June 7
Major Exhibition by American Artist Anthony Martino
to Open in Downtown Manhattan on May 21, 2015
New Sights/New Sounds: Portraits and Paintings of the Jersey Shore
May 21-June 7, 2015
Opening reception Thursday, May 21, 6-9 pm
Westbeth Gallery
55 Bethune Street
Gallery hours: Wed-Sun, 1-6 pm; closed Mon and Tues.
NEW YORK, NY, May 7, 2015 — Anthony Martino, a contemporary American artist, revitalizes and infuses with new energy portraiture from life and plein air painting. The portraits are influenced by an environment of music shared by artist and sitter during their creation.
Anthony Martino’s exhibit demonstrates the impact music has on painting for an artist deeply immersed in sound, specializing in jazz on the edges of performance art. He paints the quantum physics of a visual field. Matter is both a particle and a wave in his art. Forms are both solid and fluid. Against strong dark backgrounds, Martino constructs lines and deconstructs spaces that describe the mystery of the sitter while unfolding a map of their features. He sees his work in sync with avant-garde jazz musicians who believe playing music is a paradox of traveling in time.
Martino also exhibits an accomplished repertoire of New Jersey beachscapes. These colorful configurations of bodies in atmospheric space celebrate the Jersey Shore and its unique shimmering diffusion of sunlight. He is an alchemist of light with materials such as gouache, casein, tempera, watercolor, acrylics and even distemper, an ancient medium that mixes egg white, rabbit skin glue and powdered pigments heated to a precise temperature, that few artists use today.
This exhibit is a tribute to his years of experimental craftsmanship and creativity. He is an artist’s artist, yet any viewer will find delight in his work.
— J. Taylor Basker, Ph.D., art historian
Anthony Martino’s direction as a portraitist and plein air painter was established early in his career, winning him fellowships to Artists for the Environment in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Columbia, New Jersey; and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. Rooftops, a cityscape of Soho painted above the studio of his friend and mentor, the late Robert De Niro, Sr., won the National Academy of Design’s S.J. Truman Prize for a Painter Under 35.
Later, Self Portrait won the National Academy’s Henry Ward Ranger Fund Purchase Award, was exhibited at the Seattle Museum of Art, and later acquired for the permanent collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson.
Anthony Martino has exhibited in solo shows throughout the country at venues including the Freedman Hackett Gallery, San Francisco; College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA; the Asbury Park Public Library, Asbury Park, NJ; and Wenniger Graphics, Provincetown, MA; and in New York City at the Salena Gallery, Long Island University, Brooklyn; the Bowery Gallery; 20/20 Gallery; The Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy; NYU Langone Medical Center; and the Westbeth Gallery.
He has exhibited nationally in group shows at the Cleveland Museum of Art; Seattle Art Museum; Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson; Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, MS; Hoyu Bussan, Tokyo; Freedman Hackett Galley, San Francisco; the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Lancaster, PA; The Hofstra Museum, Hempstead, NY; Edward Hopper House Art Center, Nyack, NY; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA: Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore; Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum, Cape Girardeau, MO; Delaware College of Art and Design, Wilmington, DE; Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Roanoke, VA; Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN; Gibson Gallery, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY; University Art Museum, SUNY Albany, NY; and many others.
His work has also been exhibited extensively in the New York City area, including at the American Academy of Arts and Letters; National Academy of Design; Forum Gallery; Lori Bookstein Fine Art; Kouros Gallery; The Museum at FIT; The Durst Foundation; Newhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Staten Island; and many others. He exhibits in traveling shows with the Zeuxis Association of Still Life Painters; and the annual exhibitions of the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic, where his paintings of the Jersey Shore at Ocean Grove have won frequent honors, including the John J. Newman Award and Shiva/Richeson prizes.
Anthony Martino’s work is in the collections of the Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson; ExxonMobil; Hoyu Bussan, Tokyo. New York City collections include the former Shearson Lehman Hutton; Fashion Institute of Technology; The Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy; Bellevue Hospital Center; and private collectors.
Anthony Martino is featured in 100 New York Painters, by Cynthia Maris Dantzic, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.; Drawing Dimensions: A Comprehensive Introduction, by Cynthia Maris Dantzic, Prentice Hall (Seated Figure); and in personal contributions to Robert De Niro, Sr., 1922-1993; exhibition catalog, La Musée d’Art et d’Industrie de Roubaix, Paris: Somogy éditions d’art; and Robert De Niro, Sr., Salander-O’Reilly (frontispiece, Baltimore Harbor). A book of his digital prints, Color Keys: The Jersey Shore at Ocean Grove, can be previewed online here.
He earned a B.F.A., magna cum laude, on scholarships from the Maryland Institute College of Art in his native Baltimore and a M.F.A. on fellowships from Parsons/The New School for Design. He has been a visiting artist at SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY; and the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. He teaches on the faculty of the Fashion Institute of Technology and lives and works in New York City.
The Westbeth Gallery is a nonprofit gallery, located at 55 Bethune Street in the Far West Village, four blocks south of the High Line and the new home of the Whitney Museum. The gallery presents the work of resident artists and independently curated exhibitions.
For further information and images, please visit:
www.westbeth.org; email: westbethg@gmail.com.
Facebook: Anthony Martino Studio
Anthony Martino Studio
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Fethiye is a tourist town with an international atmosphere. It has an excellent marina and good night life. The town also serves as an excellent base for touring the inland country-side, and is probably the only city in the world where you'll find sarcophagus in the streets. These pre-Roman Lycian relic s are especially spectacular when floodlit at night. The town has a population of around 50,000 but the population increases dramatically during the high season, from April to end of October, when off-shore residents spend their summers at their second homes.
Summers are extremely hot with temperatures well above 40°C in July and August, you should drink plenty of water to keep hydrated which is important in a very hot place such as Fethiye. Winters are cool with temperatures around 14-20°C. Spring and Autumn are the wettest seasons, yet still very sunny, which is the best time to go for people who want a warm holiday that is not too hot like the summer, with temperatures around 20-28°C.
The cave tombs — Located in the cliff on the south side of town
The Lycian sarcophagus — There are a number of stone sarcophagii carved in typical Lycian style scattered around the town…
Saklikent Gorge — — a stunning geological site located inland on the Teke Peninsula (between Fethiye and Antalya), about 40 km southeast of Fethiye. This is a great place for a leisurely hike. If you want to explore the gorge a bit further upstream, be prepared for some clambering and getting wet!
Kayakoy Village — It is a hiking destination, these are the ruins of a Greek settlement abandoned in 1923 when the governments of Turkey and Greece mandated population swaps. It features some well-preserved structures, including a church.
About Oludeniz
The village and the beach by the lagoon was locally known as Belcekız or Belceğiz before the area became a magnet for mass tourism. Although today many people in the area have no idea about what Belcekız is and the town as well as the lagoon are both known as Ölüdeniz, which literally means "dead sea" and originally referred only to the lagoon itself.
Inland to the north, 2 km to Ölüdeniz, are the former villages of Ovacık and Hisarönü, with occasional family-run guesthouses only a decade ago, but are today concrete sprawls of hotels and bars, agglomerated almost without a gap with the town of Ölüdeniz. Both serve as "bedroom communities" that offer accommodation that is close to but cheaper than Ölüdeniz proper.
5 minutes from Congress Venue by shuttle services
The Blue Lagoon —A famous (perhaps the most famous in Turkey) beach area located in Ölüdeniz to south of Fethiye, with a pretty nice lagoon seperated from open sea by a sandbar
Butterfly Valley — An isolated canyon bordering the seashore to the south of Fethiye. It features waterfall. Butterfly Valley is hippie haven situated in a narrow canyon with almost no overland connection to the rest of the World.
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A new Arab Advisors Group survey of the awareness of hybrid, electric, connected, and autonomous cars in KSA was released in February 2019. The survey revealed that the awareness of electric cars is higher than the awareness of hybrid, autonomous and connected cars in the Kingdom. More than 40% of the respondents who reported having a driver license are aware of electric cars in Saudi Arabia.
A new major survey of the awareness of hybrid, electric, connected, and autonomous cars in Saudi Arabia was released by Arab Advisors Group in February 2019. Arab Advisors Group’s survey helps automotive companies and dealers determine factors influencing respondents to purchase hybrid, electric and connected cars, and defines what holds respondents back from taking a step towards owning such cars.
The survey report, "Hybrid, Electric, Connected and Autonomous cars survey in Saudi Arabia” provides the results of a major comprehensive Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) survey of the awareness of hybrid, electric, connected, and autonomous cars in Saudi Arabia. The survey probes the respondents’ awareness and customers’ satisfaction of technologies, services, features, performance, and cost of hybrid, electric and connected cars. This survey report can be purchased from Arab Advisors Group for only US$ 3,500. The survey was conducted in Saudi Arabia for the population above 18 years old and targeted driving license holders. The report has 100 pages.
Respondents were randomly called through randomly generated numbers. The survey results encompass answers from 583 respondents who own a driving license, passed rigorous quality control checks. Quality control was conducted by Arab Advisors Group. The survey yields a confidence level of 99% with a margin of error of less than 6%.
Please contact Arab Advisors Group to get a copy of the report's Table of Contents and the survey questionnaire.
“In compliance with the digitization initiatives carried out by governments to develop their countries, Saudi Arabia has permitted the import of electric and hybrid cars for personal use, which came in line with the National Transformation program launched by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, supporting the environmental friendly direction in Saudi Arabia’s economy and the Kingdom’s 2030 vision.” Ms. Hiba Rabadi, Research Manager at Arab Advisors Group, stated.
“Arab Advisors Group’s has conducted a multi-client survey focusing on hybrid, electric, connected and autonomous cars survey in Saudi Arabia. The survey revealed that around 60% of driving license holders in Saudi Arabia who already know electric cars, do believe that it saves expenses, thus around 44% of those who do not own electric cars would consider purchasing one.” Ms. Rabadi added.
Arab Advisors Group’s team of analysts in the region has already produced over 5,216 reports on the Arab World’s communications, media and financial markets. The reports can be purchased individually or received through an annual subscription to Arab Advisors Group’s (www.arabadvisors.com) Strategic Research Services (Media and Telecom).
To date, Arab Advisors Group has served over 930 global and regional companies by providing reliable research analysis and forecasts of Arab communications markets to these clients. Some of our clients can be viewed on http://www.arabadvisors.com/clients/a
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Ars Mathematica
Dedicated to the mathematical arts.
What Did Grothendieck Do?
Posted on 1 January, 2015 by Walt
Happy New Year! The publicity in the wake of Grothendieck’s death has left a certain number of non-mathematicians with the question of what it was exactly that he did. I wrote an answer elsewhere that people seemed to find informative, so I’m saving it here for posterity.
This post is as untechnical as I could make it. Grothendieck’s work is incredibly technical, even by modern standards of abstract mathematics, so my description is, if you’re being charitable, highly impressionistic, and if you’re not, wrong in many major details. I also only discussed schemes and the Weil conjectures, which is only part of what Grothendieck is famous for.
Since Descartes, a major topic of mathematics research is understanding the solutions to polynomials equations. Descartes observed that while finding solutions is a matter of algebra, that when you view all of the solutions together, you enter the realm of geometry. For example, the set of solutions to X2 + Y2 = 1 is a circle.
The set of solutions to one or more polynomial equations is called a variety, and the study of such things is called algebraic geometry.
Originally, algebraic geometry involved solutions in real or complex numbers. (Usually the complex numbers, because that turns out to be much easier, since you can freely take square roots, etc., without having to worry about signs.) But the only things you need for the definitions to work is that you can add, subtract, and multiply. (A set where you can add, subtract, and multiply is called a ring.) There are lots of rings.
So Grothendieck set out to generalize algebraic geometry to arbitrary rings. His generalization of a variety to this setting is called a scheme. Interestingly, if you start with a variety (over the complex numbers), there’s a standard way to associate a ring with it, and in that case Grothendieck’s construction doesn’t give you anything new. It’s for the other kinds of rings that you get something new. So there’s a partial dictionary between varieties and rings, and schemes are missing entries in the dictionary.
Another example of a ring is the integers — you can add, subtract, and multiply integers. Here the idea of schemes captures a weird idea that goes back to the nineteenth century. The scheme for the integers consists of one point for each prime number. So you can picture the integers as points on a straight line at 2, 3, 5, 7, … and nowhere else. (Physicists would put an extra point at 9, and Grothendieck himself would put an extra point at 57.) So schemes are naturally related to number theory, and in fact have helped proved theorems in number theory such as Fermat’s Last Theorem.
On to the Weil conjectures. Think of clockwork arithmetic. You can add, subtract, and multiply hours or minutes on a clock face. In each case, you do the arithmetic with ordinary numbers, and then you throw away multiples of 12 (for hours), or 60 (for minutes). This operation of throwing away multiplies is called the “modulo” operator. So 7 times 2 modulo 12 is 2.
There are a couple of other instances of the modulo operator that you’ve probably used without knowing about it. Taking the last digit in a number is the same as that number modulo 10. So 1234 modulo 10 is 4. Adding up the digits of a number is the same as modulo 9. If you ever learned the trick to check if a number is a multiple of 3 by adding up the digits and checking that, you are actually working modulo 9.
Numbers modulo N give you another ring — you can add, subtract, or multiply modulo N, and that gives you another number modulo N.
What’s nice about numbers modulo N is that there are finitely many of them. They’re also useful in number theory. Let’s say that you want to know there are solutions to some polynomial equation over the integers — say X3 + Y3 = Z3. One easy check is see if there are any solutions modulo N. If there aren’t, then there aren’t any solutions at all. So an interesting question for number theory is how many solutions are there modulo N?
Andre Weil (whose sister was Simone Weil) conjectured a kind of formula for the number of solutions modulo N. He did so via a far-fetched analogy with topology.
Take a disk (a filled-in circle), and consider a continuous map of the disk to itself. One example of a continuous map is a rotation, where you spin the disk around its middle. The point you spin it around is a fixed point — it doesn’t move. You can prove (and it’s a difficult theorem) that every continuous map has to have at least one fixed point. There is a more general formula, called the Leftschetz fixed point formula, that allows you to count the number of fixed points in general (for shapes more complicated than disks).
For the integers modulo N, you can add, subtract, and multiply, but you can’t always divide, and you can’t always do things like take square roots. (Here, x is the square root of y modulo N if x*x is y modulo N. So 3 is the square root of 2, modulo 7. Pretty weird, huh?)
The division problem is easily fixed — just make N be a prime. The root problem is harder to solve, since some numbers don’t have square roots, cube roots, etc. even if N is a prime. The solution is to add “imaginary numbers” modulo N, the same way that we add i, the square root of -1 to get the complex numbers. The complex numbers have an operation defined on them, called conjugation, that sends i to -i. There’s a similar operation modulo N, called the Frobenius automorphism.
Weil said that we pretend that working modulo N was a kind of space, then we could apply the Lefshetz fixed point theorem, and count the number of solutions. This is a completely far-fetched anology, because there’s no geometry here.
That’s where schemes come in. Schemes supply the missing geometry. Grothendieck showed how to generalize the topological techniques to this setting so that a version of the Lefschetz fixed point theorem could be proven to settle the Weil conjectures. The proof is absurdly hard and abstract, but it is related to a relatively concrete question. (Unfortunately, the formula the conjectures give you is it itself a bit hard to use, so I don’t know any easy explanation of what it means, but I think it does have some real-world applications in coding theory and cryptography.)
This entry was posted in Mathematics by Walt. Bookmark the permalink.
9 thoughts on “What Did Grothendieck Do?”
Farbod on 1 January, 2015 at 4:34 pm said:
Nice post, thanks!
A historical remark : “Descartes observed that while finding solutions is a matter of algebra, that when you view all of the solutions together, you enter the realm of geometry”
Kyhayyam in 1070 had already written about “geometric algebra”
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Khayyám
(Incidentally he also had written about “Pascal’s” binomial theorem)
Walt on 2 January, 2015 at 9:05 am said:
Farbod, thanks! I didn’t know that.
palma on 4 January, 2015 at 4:44 am said:
ain’t bad. what needs to be understood quickly about Alex Grothendieck is that his work shows an extreme (divine?) vision in unifying what seems to have nothign to do with anything (schemes do that.)
on a secondary point WEIL (IAS) *whose* sister was the religious thinker Simone Weil (& ~ Weil who’s sistert etc.) best for 2o15
Daniel McLaury on 4 January, 2015 at 12:11 pm said:
“Interestingly, if you start with a variety (over the complex numbers), there’s a standard way to associate a ring with it, and in that case Grothendieck’s construction doesn’t give you anything new. It’s for the other kinds of rings that you get something new.”
I’ve seen a bunch of these “schemes for the layman” things since Grothendieck died, and I think it’s *really* worth saying that this ring is just the ring of coordinate functions on the variety. The way it is now this just sounds like some arbitrary, inscrutable algebraic invariant, whereas in reality it’s something very simple. Most people will be able to make a mental picture of things like the latitude and longitude functions on a sphere. (Okay, technically one of those isn’t an actual coordinate function, but it at least gives a morally correct picture.)
Also it’s probably worth making the point that Grothendieck didn’t just say “Let’s associate geometric-ish objects to arbitrary rings and see what happens.” He knew that representable functors had better categorical properties than arbitrary ones, that certain functors “ought” to be representable, and that the prime spectrum of a ring was what controlled the associated hom-functor. I think it’s really more accurate to say that Grothendieck’s primary insight here was that instead of taking the objects you’re interested in and dealing with whatever category they form, you should build a good category including them and then understand the new objects.
John Baez on 4 January, 2015 at 3:30 pm said:
I wouldn’t say Grothendieck’s work is “incredibly technical” ; I’d save that for something like Andrew Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. I’d say it was “incredibly novel”, bringing in simple new concepts that take time to get used to because they require that we change our idea of what mathematics is about… and lots of them!
He broke his proofs down into small steps so that each step is “trivial” if you remember all the new concepts and all the previous steps. But developing an intuition for all the new concepts takes real work. You have to rewire your brain.
Avi Levy on 5 January, 2015 at 2:35 am said:
Great essay! By the way, at one point you write:
“(for shapes more complicated that disks)”
Typo: “that” -> “than”
Also I must have missed the reference – what do you mean by a ring punishing Moby for his sins?
Walt on 7 January, 2015 at 2:51 pm said:
palma and Avi: Thanks for the corrections. I’ve updated the post. (The bit about Moby was a joke for the person I originally wrote this for, and forgot to delete.)
John Sidles on 9 January, 2015 at 1:51 am said:
Roadmaps are a keystone species in the STEAM literature, and in mathematics a type specimen of a Grothendieck-era roadmap is The Mathematical Sciences; a Report (1968, National Academy of Sciences pub. #1681).
After 47 years, this 1968 roadmap’s discussion of the significance of Grothendieck’s work stands up pretty well:
Homological Algebra and Category Theory Modern mathematics is characterized by an ever-increasing range of applications of algebra to other mathematical subjects. A particularly striking example is topology, a branch of geometry concerned with qualitative rather than quantitative aspects of shapes of geometric figures. In the early 1920’s it was recognized, under the influence of Emmy Noether especially, that the methods used by topologists are basically algebraic. But just as everu science that uses mathematics not only exploits the existing mathematical theories but reshapes them to its own needs, so topologists developed algebraic tools suitable for their needs. The next step was a return to pure algebra. Algebraic methods created for the needs of topology have been analyzed, codified, and studied for their own sake. This led to two new subdivisions in algebra: category theory and homological algebra. They are perhaps the most abstract specialities in algebra. Categories provide a language for discussing \emph{all} algebric systems of a given type. The result is, as is so often the case in mathematics, a wide variety of applications to diverse mathematical fields, in this case from logic to such “applied” fields as the theory of automata.
Algebraic Geometry An oustanding problem was whether, given $k-n$ independent algebraic equations in $k$ unknowns, it is possible to represent all solutions of this system by a smooth geometric figure. (More precisely, can one transform the variety defined by this system into a smooth figure by using so-called birational transformations?). […] Recently the general case (any $n$) was settled affirmatively by Hironaka.
Another achievement, of a quite different nature, is the systematic rebuilding of the foundations of algebraic geometry now led by Grothendieck in France. His work, which also leads to solutions of important concrete problems, has influenced many young mathematicians, including those working in different fields.
Nowadays engineers regard Hilbert space as the “smooth figure” of the above observations, which arises as the algebraically birational (and computationally efficient) resolution of an underlying varietal state-space.
Quantum dynamical trajectories computationally “unravel” (in the sense of Howard Carmichael) upon these algebraic state-spaces, in service of innumerably many objectives of modern system engineering. Mark Murcko’s recent video essay “Accelerating Drug Discovery“ (reference below) surveys the astounding pace of development of the resulting mathematical and computational capabilities capabilities that (as it seems to me) are grounded entirely in Grothendieck’s transformational vision.
Who authored this foresighted assessment from 1968? One candidate is lattice theorist Robert P. Dilworth (whose thesis advisor Eric Temple Bell and student Juris Hartmanis will be familiar to many students of mathematics and theoretical computer science). And it is impressive too (as it seems to me) that this early assessment of Grothendieck’s work could receive the public imprimatur of a committee so diverse as the collection of mathematicians listed below.
Conclusion Not every STEAM roadmap committee gets it right … this one did!
@book{NAS:1968, Title = {The mathematical
sciences; a report}, Year = {1968} Address =
{Washington}, Author = {{Committee on Support of
Research in the Mathematical Sciences of the
National Research Council for the Committee on
Science and Public Policy of the National Academy
of Sciences}}, Publisher = {National Academy of
Sciences}, Series = {Publication number 1681},
Annote = {Committee members: Lipman Bers, T. W.
Anderson, R. H. Bing, Hendrick W. Bode R. P.
Dilworth, George E. Forsythe, Mark Kac, C. C.
Lin, John W. Tukey, F. J. Weyl, Hassler Whitney,
C. N. Yang }}
@inproceedings{Murcko:2014aa, Title =
{Accelerating Drug Discovery: The Accurate
Prediction of Potency}, Author = {Mark Murcko},
Note = {URL:
\url{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa59ZgflJD8}
, Booktitle = {Advances in Drug Discovery and
Development}, Month = {24 September},
Organization = {Chemical \&\ Engineering News
(Virtual Symposium)}, Year = {2014}}
Dominic van der Zypen on 15 January, 2015 at 1:00 am said:
I think Alexandre Grothendieck is much overrated when people claim that he was one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century.
The most important work in the last century was done in foundations:
– Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems;
– Computable functions in the sense of Turing, Church, Kleene and others; especially Turing’s work is the origin of computing and today’s computers.
Oh – and did any algebraic geometrist help win a war like Turing did?
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Dr Nathan Goodrick
Send your enquiry to Dr Nathan Goodrick
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Dr Nathan Goodrick is a Specialist Anaesthetist who works in both public and private practice in Brisbane.
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Dr Goodrick's private and public practice has provided him with the ongoing opportunity to give advice, training and support to students and junior doctors.
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100 Top Interior Designers From A to Z – Part 4
August 22, 2018 August 20, 2018 jpinto
In Partnership with the Covet International Awards, Best Interior Designers decided to Promote a List of 100 Top Interior Designers From A to Z. Check Out Part 4
Check Out Part 1
Peter Marino, one of the best interior designers in the world, is the principal of Peter Marino Architect PLLC, an internationally acclaimed architecture, planning and design firm founded in 1978 and based in New York City, with several offices around US, like Philadelphia, Miami and so on. Marino’s designs can be usually.
Patrick Jouin was born in Nantes, France, in 1967. After graduating from the École Nationale de la Création Industrielle (ENSCI) in 1992, he started to design for Thomson multimedia under the Art Direction of Philippe Starck. The designer founded his own agency in 1998 in the 11th arrondissement in Paris and in 1999 he met Alain Ducasse with whom he collaborated designing many restaurants such as the Alain Ducasse au “Plaza Athénée”, “Be boulangerie-epicerie”, in Paris, and Mix New York restaurant.
Born in Oviedo, Spain but currently living in Milan, Italy, Patricia Urquiola is a famous interior designer, architect and product designer. She is known internationally thanks to her great designs that are suitable for so many projects. She also works a lot with known furniture companies such as Molteni or Boffi.
Phillipe Starck
Internationally acclaimed French creator, designer and architect, Philippe Starck is an untiring and rebellious citizen of the world, who considers it his duty to share his ethical and subversive vision of a fairer planet, creates unconventional places and objects whose purpose is to be “good” before being beautiful. Most of his designs have become cult objects, and his hotels are timeless icons that have added a new dimension to the global cityscape. An enthusiastic advocate of sustainability, this visionary recently developed the revolutionary concept of “democratic ecology” by creating affordable wind turbines for the home, soon to be followed by innovative wooden prefabricated ecological houses and solar boats.
Phillipe Mainzer
Born in Germany on 23 of October, 1969, Philipp Mainzer studied product design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and architecture at the Architectural Association both in London. In 1995 Philipp Mainzer co-founded with Florian Asche the modern furniture brand e15. Named after the postcode of the East London Borough of Hackney, where was Mainzer’s first studio was located, the company was mainly known for the solid wood table Bigfoot and the stool molar. Both pieces of furniture have now become design classics.
Piet Boon is one of the most relevant and iconic designers of our time, and belongs to most famous Dutch architects and interior designers. Together with a creative director Karin Meyn, Piet leads his own team of designers, top interior designers and architects. Those who wonder how Piet Boon succeeded to break through as a top designer not only in the Netherlands, but also internationally should look at his collection of furniture and home designs will provide the answer.
Piero Lissoni was born in 1956 and is one of Italy’s golden boys. He is a world-famous architect and designer who graduated in 1978 from the very prestigious Politecnico di Milano. In 1986 He opens Lissoni Associates with Nicoletta Canesi and ever since that he has lead groundbreaking projects. Today his studio is made of a staff of over 60 people, and has projects that cover all design fields such as: architecture, interiors, industrial design and graphics project.
Pierre-Yves Rouchon
Pierre-Yves Rochon, Inc. (PYR) was established in 1979 by Pierre–Yves Rochon to create interior design solutions for luxury hospitality environments. Through their designs, the firm aims to enhance each aspect of the guest experience. Each unique space is composed of elements drawn from each property’s location, culture and history, supported by classic French style and ideals. Traditional and modern materials, textures and furniture combine to create new interiors that are elegant, engaging and soothing.
Rockwell Group
Founded in New York in 1984 by one of the top interior designers and architects David Rockwell, the Rockwell Group creates the most extraordinary designs all around the world. The group of over 250 people with offices in New York, Madrid and Shanghai specializes in a wide array of work from luxury hospitality, cultural, and healthcare projects, to educational, product, and set design. Some of the greatest works created by David and his team include interiors of Nobu and the W Hotels, the exuberant Mohegan Sun Casino, the pop-tastic scenery for the Broadway musical Hairspray and the sublimely hilarious high-modern sets for Team America: World Police.
Rolf Indermuhel & Mattias Mohr
Rolf Indermühle and Mattias Mohr are the founder and partners of ZMIK, a Swiss interior design company. ZMIK exists to create unique, bold and accurate spacial environments. As a Sutdio for Spacial Design, they design spaces as well as spacial strategies and plots. ZMIK operates at the fringes of various disciplines, such as interior design, scenography, architecture, object design and installation, blending these to achieve integrated solutions to complex questions.
Rosie Uniacke
Rose Uniacke isn’t only an interior designer, she’s also a lighting and furniture designer – for individual clients as well as for her showroom – and a dealer in both antiques and pieces by other, usually well known, designers. Currently married to David Heyman, the producer of the Harry Potter films, Rose became known to a wider public after taking over the decorating job of Beckham’s house, a project previously given to Kelly Hoppen.
Sabina Kober
Sabina Kober is one of the best Interior designers and stylists from Germany. She has studied Harp, church music and conductorship at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. Now with a long professional career as Interior Designer, she finds her inspiration to create rooms in the harmony and aesthetics she finds in the music! In 1986, she and her longtime partner interior designer Norbert E. Kern, founded the KERN-DESIGN, the studio for holistic interior design, in Frankfurt am Main.
Santiago Calatrava was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1951. Architecture and engineering are the two areas where Santiago Calatrava is known for. He is from Spain and moved to Zurique after finishing his degree in architecture, in 1974. There he studied engineering. During his degree in architecture he and some fellow students published to architecture books about the vernacular architecture of Valencia and Ibiza. Calatrava is also a sculptor and a painter, which reveals his strong artistic vein.
Sarah Lavoine
Reference in the field of decoration, Sarah Lavoine created its interior architecture firm in 2002. In ten years, her name has become synonymous with Parisian taste, contemporary aesthetics and craftsmanship of excellence. Sarah Lavoine defended a new art of French living, which, combined with his talent passion for color, magnifies living areas entrusted to it. The young woman also connects the personal creative projects. The iconic brand CFOC (French Company of the Orient and China) called this year in his knowledge of sourcing and decoration to rethink space and range of interior luxury.
Sarah Richardson
Sarah Richardson is an award-winning designer, known around the world for jaw-dropping transformations that turn ordinary spaces into magazine-worthy rooms with an incredible wow factor. She is one of the Canada’s best interior designers. Sarah started out in 1995 working behind the scenes as a prop stylist and set decorator, but it wasn’t long before she’d switched to the other side of the lens and was parlaying her innate charm and inimitable style into a burgeoning on-camera career.
Sig Bergamin
Graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of Santos, Sig Bergamin signed residential and commercial projects throughout Brazil and even Europe and the United States, with a style he himself states as a summation of eclecticism, ethnic diversity, humor and versatility. The architect has participated in exhibitions and architecture country’s most important decoration such as Casa Cor, show houses and Showcases and his work has gained prominence in books, magazines, newspapers, TV and radio programs.
Sofie Lachaert
Gallery Sofie Lachaert specializes in introspective research in the fields of contemporary design, art and craft. Objects as art. Art as object. Questioning function and representation, thoughtfully chosen objects communicate with space, interiors and the human body. The gallery is an important platform for designers who freely cross the borders between applied and visual art, offering visitors an overall picture of work by prominent designers from all over the world and from a vast range of disciplines.
Sophie Paterson
Sophie Paterson Interiors has begun in 2008, At the relatively young age of 32 her office is located in London and Surrey and it´s considered one of the top interior design studios in the UK. She has been entirely focused on her goal to build an interior design brand that is respected for its modern classic style. The company is famous for working on high-end projects in the residential and commercial sectors abroad Britain.
Steve Leung Studio
Steve Leung, an icon in Chinese architecture, established his self-titled architecture and urban planning consultancy in 1987. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Steve Leung Designers Ltd. has branch offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu. With over 400 highly-caliber staff including experienced and qualified architects and interior designers, the company is now one of the biggest interior design firms in Asia.
Suzanne Kasler
For over twenty years, Kasler has created warm, inviting environments that strike a balance between elegant, traditional design and practical comfort. Her neutral palette, spiced with hits of color, creates warm spaces that are elegant yet inviting. Suzanne often asserts that “a room should be collected, not decorated.” Incorporating the personal collections of her clients with fine art and antiques, contemporary pieces and custom-designed furniture, Suzanne’s meaningful interiors straddle that rare middle ground between sophisticate and ingénue. She brings a comprehensive knowledge of interior architecture and decorative arts to her design work.
Tadao Ando is a self-taught architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as “critical regionalism”. He was raised in Japan and this country really shaped his style as an architect and designer through religion and other culture aspects. Ando’s architectural style is said to create a “haiku” effect, emphasizing nothingness and empty space to represent the beauty of simplicity. He favours designing complex spatial circulation while maintaining the appearance of simplicity.
Timothy Corrigan
Timothy Corrigan would be the first to say that his interior design firm was launched with good fortune. An advertising executive, Timothy (who grew up in Mexico and California) lived in Paris in cosmopolitan style for several years. A friend asked Corrigan to design his apartment. Timothy discovered a new passion and in just a few years has made first the real estate business, and now decoration and restoration of his highly successful career.
Worldwide famous designer Tom Dixon
Tom Dixon is a British designer who is known across the world, his works have been acquired by museums across the globe including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum of Modern Art New York and Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Established in 2002, Tom Dixon is a British product design brand. With a commitment to innovation and a mission to revive the British furniture industry, the brand is inspired by the nation’s unique heritage and produces extraordinary objects for everyday use.
Tristan Auer
Drawing on the heritage of the leading interior designers from the 1920s and 30s, Tristan Auer applies his fluid style behind the four walls of private homes, in luxurious hotels and to furniture. He extols the way they worked hand-in-hand with artists and craftsmen, suggesting designs without ever imposing anything. “As the craftsmen knew their trade, they adapted the designs into something that it was possible to make and these technical constraints enhanced and made sublime abstract drawings that were often produced independently and alone at the worktable,” explains the designer.
Victoria Hagan
Since founding her firm over 20 years ago, Victoria has designed an extensive number of versatile projects throughout the country, from the most elegant urban residences to casual weekend retreats, noted residential developments, and innovative corporate interiors. Soon after Victoria began her career, The New York Times described her work as “the most cerebral, the one bound to be influential,” and she continues to be a major force in the design community. She is continually featured in such publications as Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, W, Town & Country, Harper’s Bazaar, Traditional Home, In Style and Interior Design. Vogue exclaimed that she defies the old school implications of the term ‘lady decorator.’
Van Duysen got his start as an assistant to Aldo Cibic in the legendary Milan studio of Ettore Sottsass. In 1990, he went on to establish his own studio in Antwerp, Belgium. He comes from the long and rarefied line of architects who refuse to concentrate only on the shell and also project a sense of living that is as much inside as outside. Van Duysen calls it the “art of living,” and he’s done much to refine that art in industrial design, having created everything from slender outdoor furniture and earthenware containers to Swarovski crystal chandeliers.
Yabu Pushelberg
Yabu Pushelberg is an international design firm, with studios in Toronto and SoHo, New York, founded in 1980 by Glenn Pushelberg and George Yabu. Focused teams of design and project management personnel specialize in interior, furniture and product design for the hospitality and retail industries. The firm also does residential projects.
Walda Pairon
Walda Pairon is one of the best interior designers we can find in Belgium. And while antiques dealer and designer Axel Vervoordt still is the most recognizable designer of this country (he operates out of the Kanaal, a complex of restored 19th-century warehouses and grain silos in Antwerp), it would be remiss not to mention his compatriot Walda Pairon. Pairon, who lives and works in a small town north of Antwerp, is one of Belgian’s most influential designers and offers a restrained version of Belgian luxe where materials and light take center stage.
Waldo Works
Luxurious, witty, and oh-so-British, the architectural-design studio, Waldo Works, is the epitome of “design with a twist.” Translating brand identity into engaging design perceptions, the studio is truly dynamic, with a professional eye for details. Tom Bartlett founded Waldo Works over ten years ago and works with partners Sasha von Meister, Andrew Treverton and staff across a wide variety of projects including interiors and architecture as well as custom products and furniture.
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Remembering the Resurrection Annually
Richie Thetford
04/16/17 - Jesus
The calendar reads “Easter Sunday.” As a result, many people throughout the world will be attending the “church of their choice” to remember the resurrection of Jesus. It won’t be the “normal” service, but rather a “special” service of remembering the resurrection of our Lord that no doubt will include different plays, skits, and dramas. The world calls this day “Easter Sunday,” the day of our Lord’s resurrection from the grave. But is it really?
I don’t recall reading anywhere in the Bible of the day nor the special celebration of the resurrection mentioned. Yet many “good intentioned people,” honestly believing that they are commemorating the resurrection of Christ, celebrate this “holy day” having no biblical authority whatsoever for the practice. Because of tradition, most people today believe that Easter has always been observed from apostolic times and is authorized in the scriptures. But how could they get such an idea?
There is an unfortunate translation in the King James Version of the New Testament which has, perhaps, led some astray. The Greek, pascha, is translated by the word “Easter” in Acts 12:4. This same word is properly translated in other versions and in every other passage where it is used in the King James Version, as “Passover.” Undoubtedly it was mistranslated here in Acts. And even if the word was properly translated, there is still no authority here for the observance of anything. That is why “Easter” as we know it is celebrated without proper Bible authority. The text of Acts 12:4 was in regard to the apostle Peter when he was put into prison during the days of Unleavened Bread or “Passover” as the NKJV, ASV, NASV, and NIV indicate. It is obvious that this passage of scripture is referring to the seven-day Passover festival. There is no place indicated in the New Testament that a “yearly” celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ was ever practiced. Yet today, thousands of people remember Him only this one day per year and they make it a grand festival.
Where Did "Easter" Come From Anyway?
The word “Easter” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word “Eostre,” the name of the goddess of spring. Sacrifices were offered in her honor at the first full moon that came at the time of the vernal equinox. By the 8th century, the term came to be applied to the anniversary of Christ’s resurrection (ISBE, Vol 2, page 6). There has been much controversy about the time of this celebration. The Jewish Christians and Gentiles could not agree on a set date. But as time passed an increasing number of people celebrated the anniversary of the resurrection on the first day of the week annually. By the 7th century the practice of religious groups had become universally uniform. The agreed upon time is now the first Sunday following the full moon that comes on or after the vernal equinox and that date was set as March 21st. This is why there is a variation in Easter dates from March 22nd through April 25th. There has even been talk among the different religions as setting the date permanently on one Sunday between March 21st and April 25th.
The Proper Remembrance Of Jesus
I’ve filled you in on the history of this word “Easter” so that you will understand that it originated as a pagan holiday festival and later became a yearly festival to remember the resurrection of Christ among different religious groups across the world.
The Lord’s church does not celebrate “Easter.” Members of the Lord’s church celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the first day of every week as we are instructed in the New Testament. We can turn to the book of Acts and read: “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread…” (Acts 20:7). We have an approved example from this text that lets every Christian know when one is to partake of the emblems which represent Christ’s shed body for us. It says the first day of the week. It does not say “The first day of the week, once a year!” In 1 Corinthians 11:23-29, we can further understand the significance of this memorial feast that we partake of weekly. We learn that it represents the body and blood of Jesus and it says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.” Again, how often should a Christian eat the bread and drink the cup? The first day of the week! There are many religious denominations out there today that do not partake of the Lord’s Supper once per week. Some will do it bi-monthly, others monthly, still others just once or twice per year. Any individual that is striving to do “all the oracles of God” (1 Pet. 4:11), must understand that God sets the standard (rules) that we must go by today – not man (Acts 5:29). The New Testament is our standard. I urge you to examine the Bible, and then look at what you may be practicing in your religion, and then determine whether it is from God or from man!
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Learn to Run is a popular 9-week program with a weekly coaching session. Runners at any level of experience are welcome to attend.
“The Learn to Run program began in 2008 and has been going strong since then,” says Nick Burke, Fiddlers Run Race Director.
“We’ve had hundreds of people of all ages and abilities, and from various communities participate in Learn to Run.”
Over the course of the eight-week Learn to Run program, participants follow a walk/run schedule and eventually work their way up to running a 5km distance. In addition to the weekly group runs, physicians, dietitians, physiotherapists and other experts visit to discuss everything from injury prevention to proper nutrition. “The goal is to see Learn to Run graduates participate in the Fiddlers Fun Run in June upon completing the program,” says Burke.
The Learn to Run program is a partnership between the Cape Breton Fiddlers Run and the YMCA of Cape Breton.
Anyone interested in joining is encouraged to visit to register online:
The cost is $25 per person for the nine-week session, which includes a technical running t-shirt and automatic registration for the Fiddlers Fun Run.
Participants should come prepared to run each night, including the first night, rain or shine.
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How James Gunn and Disney ended up where they are today
Posted above is a full statement from the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in support of fired director James Gunn.This statement follows the leak of his controversial tweets several weeks ago, but to understand how we got here, we need to look back to establish a time line of what just happened. It all began with indie director and popular HBO collaborator, Mark Duplass and Ben Shapiro sharing a conversation which resulted in a controversial tweet by Duplass himself, encouraging those who are interested in 'crossing the aisle' to follow Shapiro, an already controversial right wing commentator. After the initial apology from Duplass, following a swift backlash, director James Gunn stepped in to defend the difference between 'intent' and 'impact' (in so few words) in Duplass' statement. After another backlash, now aimed at the Marvel director, another right wing commentator and conspiracy theorist, Mike Cernovich, dug up the deleted James Gunn tweets as a move to discredit the popular director, resulting in quick action by Disney with the removal of Gunn from the director chair for Guardians of the Galaxy 3 [For reference, you can see some of the tweets in question at here. Warning, the content is disturbing.] After a fan circulated petition began to make the rounds of the internet, actor Dave Bautista stepped up to defend Gunn before the rest of the cast joined in this morning. This also took place during SDCC, normally one of Marvel's biggest events during the year but it might have worked in Disney's favor that they did not host a panel in Hall H this year due to the fact that they are keeping the final Avengers film under wraps. We also know that James Gunn was due to announce a new project with Sony, teasing this image (which resembles an image from Berserk, but could be a witches brand from Bloodborne) on his twitter but has yet to follow it up with any news and was absent from Comic Con.
Disney was most certainly put in a corner when the news broke. Either they had prior knowledge of the tweets and chose to ignore them, in which case they should have seen this coming or had no knowledge and would have to make a decision whether to keep the director behind one of their best received franchises or fire him (which they ultimately did). They were also guaranteed backlash either way due to the alarming content of the tweets in question and the time period of when they were placed online. Either way, it looks like the new Guardian's petition is quickly growing in signatures and it will be interesting to see what Disney decides to do and how the impact of Gunn's firing impact Hollywood moving forward.
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